To Die or Not To Die

The day was all a buzz with the news of Stanley "Tookie" Williams execution. It pretty much dominated the radio talk shows, newspapers and TV. I only picked up the story a week or so ago while reading a blog out of Sacramento, CA. In fact I went to about a dozen different local California blogs that day and most of the sentiment seemed to favor clemency.

My personal feelings on the matter did not agree, but I tend to be more dogmatic when it comes to the law. We all make choices in life. Some choose to live life free of conflict and others choose conflict as life. I have made my own bad decisions in life and I still deal with the consequences of my actions from back then. No one is an island when it comes to right and wrong unless they truly are suffering from dementia. The law is very clear when it comes to violence. The consequences are also well known.

Did Mr. Williams find redemption for his past life? I don't know, and apart from GOD, I doubt that any one but Mr. Williams really knew. He never let it be known publicly of any remorse, but then again he may have been innocent. Only God and Mr. Williams knows for sure, except if there was someone else who was guilty for the crimes Mr. Williams went to prison for. But again, I doubt we will ever know.

I have not read any of the works that Mr. Williams wrote, but I pray they have and will reach the lives of many children who might be influenced by violence and change their minds. At least what Mr. Williams has left behind has more potential for good than his own personal past.

Whatever the truth is, GOD knows and I presume that Mr. Williams has already had a chance to address the issue with Him. One thing I am very sure of, if Mr. Williams was guilty and he did find redemption, he is far more content in his current surroundings with GOD than here on earth, and if he was innocent, then the LORD already promised vengeance on our behalf so either way once he passed to the other side, there is no way he would want to be back here if given the choice.

We have a system based on Biblical principles which dictates that anyone who kills another should be put to death. Second guessing the Bible is what has caused most of the problems that we are dealing with in our country today. Our entire system of government is based on Biblical principle and when you deviate from the truths intertwined therein then chaos enters the picture. The alternative is socialism and that has failed every time it is tried.

There are plenty of opinions on the subject and there are plenty of hearts and minds that are torn about the decisions to put to death inmates legally convicted. But the law is there and sometimes it doesn't seem fair. But who comforts the victims? Where is the law and the justice for the victims of those who face death row?

I don't have all the answers and neither does anyone else. But we have the law and if we follow it we can at least be sure that we have done our best with what we have to work with. It won't please every one, but it will help us keep from making greater mistakes, trying to make individual decisions based on emotions.

May GOD have mercy on Mr. Williams and may his soul be at rest.

House Cleaning

I sat down at this keyboard nearly a dozen times this weekend to put a few thoughts together and every time something came up that drew me away from my thoughts. So far this weekend I have changed the entire layout of this site three times. Each time having to rebuild the sidebars by hand. That's the price you pay for a little autonomy.

Approximately an hour ago I sat down and was about two paragraphs into a piece on torture and the current free-for-all that the Dems. are having trying to tie the hands of our intelligence community. Of course, just as I was actually getting into it, a "Fatal Exception" occurred in my Operating System and I lost everything I was working on. That was about the time I decided to take a break.

Oh well. The week-end is nearly a memory and I am sure that my wife is deeply immersed in the latest episode of "Desperate Housewives". It isn't one of my favorite shows. Far too many gratuitous scenes of total depravity.

So rather than sit here and try to postulate on something my mind is not interested in at the moment, I think I will call it quits for the day and go snuggle up next to my loving wife and who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and not fall asleep before the news comes on.

Liar, Liar

I'm not sure what possesses us to lie. Why we assume that no one will ever find out and how we arrogantly let ourselves believe that we are above reproach because our lie is so much smaller than anyone else's. Why do we even think that who we are will be so much more perfect if we only embellish a little to make the edges seem not so sharp?

I remember long ago being constantly afraid that someone was going to catch me in a lie. I don't have a clue about the things I know I must have lied about but I am sure that I did on more than a few occasions. But I do remember that I was always afraid of someone, anyone finding out that I had lied. I guess I assumed I would be in real trouble, which of course I would have been. For the most part I don't recall getting in trouble for lying, but I know I did. Even as an adult I have told
a few whoppers, but I also know that there came a time when I realized that lying was no longer the sport it was. It wasn't cool and it wasn't easy enough to make it worth the trouble.

Okay, I know I'm not much different from the average "Joe", and I do not consider myself better than anyone else, except if there are points in life for not lying. Personally I come to really dislike people who lie. On a religious level I know it is a sin. However I know that not everyone is inclined to profess a religion but there are those that are not devout in any religious persuasion who do not lie. So why is it that people can reach a certain age and they stop doing things like lying, and others can not? What is so appealing about lying that makes people continue to do it no matter what age they are and yet still expect that everyone will just simply believe every word? Or better yet, what is so un-appealing about being honest with everyone?

Typically there is no real benefit to lying. Yes, you may get ahead for a short time, but nearly all lies are eventually found out and there is no excuse, nor is there an easy way to face those you have lied to. I assume I am allowed to have this opinion because of being a past liar. It's been more than eleven years for me, and in those years I have learned a lot about the lives that are changed, the hearts that are broken and the people who are truly hurt by liars. And there is no good liar.

I currently have an individual which has been working with me that has an apparent lying problem. I am not sure what they have to cover up and I am not really sure I want to know. I suppose I would like to be able to help them understand that they don't have to lie. That they would be accepted without the embellishments. That they would be allowed to remain if they could only tell the truth, but alas it seems that they are not interested in truth, except as they assume it. But who does it really hurt?

I, on one hand will lose a little money. I don't particularly like or appreciate that, but it is actually a small price to pay considering the loss the other person will endure. It will mean the loss of a possible friendship. It will mean the loss of income for them. It will mean the expense of their reputation in the eyes of others that know us. But more importantly, what will be the true cost to that person, if they do not recognize the problem and they continue the lying pattern for years to come? I always wonder if their family realizes how bad it is or do they just not care? Or do they even know at all? But how could they not? How long will they go from place to place pointing the finger at others?

There is no reason for anyone to lie! Some will say that it is better than hurting someone else. That is so far from true. Anyone will be much more hurt in the end if they find out they have been lied to. The truth is far more easy to live with. It's easier to remember than a lie and you don't have to worry about making anything up to go with the truth. If you lie, you will have to tell another one in order to cover up the first one and it becomes a stupid, endless cycle. You will just have to believe me when I say that people really do not like liars. Not even little ones. The truth allows people to function normally in the real world. And the truth does have a way of keeping you free from guilt and shame. And remember, there is no room for liars, not in the hearts of people and not even in Heaven.

Where Has The Time Gone

I am in total disbelief that this week is half over and tomorrow begins the last month of the year. There are 25 days till Christmas and I haven't bought a single thing and frankly I have no ideas yet. My wife doesn't appreciate this particular
aspect of my personality but I look at it like this, if this is the worst thing about me, then everything else can only get better right?

I had every plan to set down here this evening and hammer out something about the days events, cause Heaven knows there has been a basket full. The President's speech was awesome. And in true democrat fashion, they hated every syllable of it and rushed out to make total horse's behinds of themselves trying to paint their way out of the picture the President accurately painted of them. The dem's would have done better just to keep their mouths shut and they would have actually suffered less at the hands of us who see them for what they really are.

Nevertheless I will save my rantings for another day. Although I will touch on something that I was thinking about today that may be of help to others. I have a friend who went to Louisianna to help some of the victim's of hurricane Katrina
get their homes and properties back in shape and I found that I was really missing him. We typically get together on a weekly basis and talk nearly everyday. His wife and children get together with my wife and I and we usually go out to dinner
or just sit around and enjoy a little conversation.

I was rather struck by my feelings and wondered why. Not that there really has to be a reason. He is my very best friend and he has been gone for weeks. Though I am sure that I don't miss him nearly as much as his wife and children do nevertheless my feelings are what they are. Actually if you listen to my wife, she thinks I'm a rather mushy hearted guy. Be that as it may, I realized that there was a principle to emotions such as these. I saw it much the same as our heart. It pumps blood to every portion of our bodies, then it is routed back, filtered, and the pumping process continues forever, till you die. If for some reason the heart pumped, but nothing was ever returned, it would only take seconds for the process to end and the body would cease to function.

Love works the same way. Emotions are real and in some people emotions are as real as the nose on their face. It is ever present and they live by them. I do not live by my emotions but we all need and expect love (and/or friendship, and kindness) to be returned in the same way that we offer it. When we do good deeds for others, whether we admit it or not, we expect something good in return. Not necessarily from the person we were good to, but maybe from someone else at another time or even Spiritually in Heaven.

In a nutshell, As we give and express love for others, our love tank, (if you will), can be depleated. Not that we ever run out of love, but as with the theory of relativity, as we give, we need to receive in return. As we empty our love tank
on behalf of others, we need to have that tank refilled. Typically this is done through those we are closest to, our spouse's, boyfriend/girlfriend or just our friends. Missing someone, as I have been missing my friend, is a sign that my tank is nearing empty and it needs to be refilled. Usually this isn't a problem, my wife is wonderful and she bestows upon me more Love and Kindness than any one man deserves, and even though she is really my best friend, there is no replacement
for simple, innocent, male bonding, (If you doubt it, try and do some of the activities you enjoy most with someone other than one of the guys).

I am sure there will be plenty of guys that see this who turn up their nose and snarl at the idea of expressing emotions, but if honesty can prevail, we all want it and we all need it. So allow yourself to think about it carefully and honestly
and don't worry that it might seem a little weird. Love is a wonderful thing. I love my friends and I want them to know it. So go call your friend or your spouse and let them know how much you really care about them and how they make you feel like a million bucks. Let some of that Love get pumped out and see how good it feels when it gets poured back on you by heaps and bounds. Now that's livin.

Is it really almost Christmas?

Sport Shorts

Okay, I have to say something. And I want to admit right up front that sports are not my forte. In fact I know less about sports than I do physics and I don't know squat about physics. But there is something I do know a little about and it is this;
Chopping off your head will do absolutely nothing to ease the problem of being overweight. Of course you will ask "what does that have to do with football"? Well let me explain.

Currently living in Michigan, I have tried to keep up with things that are happening around me. Now sports is not something I care one whit about and frankly I don't get what others see in it, but we all have our vices and/or hobbies, and I accept
the fact that there are in fact a vast majority of those around me that virtually live and breath sports. I prefer fresh air and what I see in the sports world, well..... sort of leaves the air smelling a bit foul.

Last week the Detroit Lions lost to the Atlanta Falcons 27 - 7. You can read about it here: Falcons rout Lions.
   Now, whether they lose or win makes no difference to me, except that it tends to determine the mood of some of those I have to come in contact with. But... Today they fired the head coach, Steve Mariucci.
If you haven't heard about it, you can read it here; "The Mooch"

So here is where I offer my advice:
The coach was never in any of the plays except to maybe tell the players which ones to use and when. He never ran the ball and he never threw a pass. Now I understand that the coach is responsible for trying to whip a bunch of guys into shape and make winners out of them. But if I may ask a stupid question, who is in charge of hiring those players? The Coach didn't hire them. Seems to me there is someone else in the mix that may also be a whole lot more responsible for the loses than the coach. It is my understanding as well that President and CEO Matt Millen is the one actually responsible for the procurement of the players on the team. Why doesn't he get fired? Mr. William Clay Ford should be taking a step back and asking himself a few more questions about what might be wrong. It's going to cost Mr Ford about 11 million dollars over the next few years for today's decision. If it were me, I think I would be asking myself why?

Say you're the owner of a multi-billion dollar corporation and a few unmotivated employees, that are being paid very well to perform a certain job, find themselves feeling depressed and uninspired and just don't perform the tasks that they are
being paid to do. They show up and they dress in the proper uniform and they do go through the motions, but overall they just aren't performing up to expectations. Their actions in fact, cost you several jobs that you will never be able to get back.
What would you do? Me.... I'd fire them! So how come in the sports world, only the coach seems to ever get fired? Why not the players? They are the ones responsible to perform on the field. If they do not perform, then why keep them around? Is it the hope that another coach may be able to enspire them to turn around and do better? I'm really grasping here. Because this is something that has bothered me for a very long time.

I say again, I am not any kind of scholar on the game of football or any other sport, but I know that there are certain elements that are true no matter where they are applied. If someone is responsible for an action, then that person should
be held responsible. If someone is expected to do something or even not to do something, then it should be anticipated that the someone will do exactly as expected, or not, which ever is the case. It doesn't seem to me to serve any good purpose to punish someone else for the actions, or in this case, the inability to play the game well enough as a cohesive unit to even come close to winning the game.

Be it far from me to tell anyone who has been in the "know" of the game for any length of time what or how to do anything, but if it was my team, I think it would be lacking a few players. These players get paid very well for what they do. Playing is their job. It should not be the responsibility of the coach to have to motivate any one of these players to show up and do their jobs to the best of their physical ability. I say if they can't win then they are not living up to their responsibility as an employee of the franchise. As such, they should be fired. End of story. The coach shouldn't be the scapegoat for the failure of the players to do their job. It's a game for heaven's sake. If they can't keep up the pace then maybe they should take that supposed diploma from whatever college they came from and go find a job flippin hamburgers or making commercials. Something they can actually do.

Mother Sheehan In The Desert

I think we all need to have a view and a willingness to speak out about what we believe even when it is typically the minority world view. The problem is, mine really isn't the minority view. My views are the same as millions of others around the country and the world, however to many are to embarrassed of their beliefs to state them openly.

Cindy Sheehan, in my opinion, is a political wanna be that has found glory in the press where they placed her in a false position of importance. Actually using her for their own means. The press no more cares about Cindy Sheehan, than Liberals care for our President. She is a pawn. And frankly she is an embarrassment to military personnel everywhere. I would be horrified if my mother had done something like this in my name.

Her son died a hero and she has tarnished his hero status. As a former military enlistee I am proud of what we are doing. As enlistees we take an oath to uphold and defend, not to back-down or turn and run because some of us die in combat.

Death is a terrible thing. No one in their right mind wants to see another person killed for any reason. But there are circumstances that call for extreme measures and someone has to answer that call. Not one person reading this would think twice about dialing 911 if an intruder came into their home and they had the chance to make the call. Not one of us would think twice in expecting the responding officer to place him/herself in harms way to protect our home or our life, even if it meant that the officer may in fact get killed. Does their comments mean we should NOT call 911 for protection? Of course not.

The firemen and policemen and/or women, that ran into the twin towers to help and to rescue people put their life on the line to help people they have never met and owed nothing to. BUT, they were and still are paid to perform a service that ALL of them know could lead to their death or injury. Does that mean we should not require police or firemen to put their lives in harm's way? Of course not, and there is not a person that would hesitate to call 911 if their house was on fire.

Policemen and Firemen die everyday in the line of duty. It is sad for the families and we owe them a debt of gratitude for what they do. We owe them the honor to not drag them through the dirt because some may feel that their death was in vain.

People who do these jobs, including the military, KNOW the risks involved. They do it because that is what who they are. They are heroes, mighty men and women of valor. Wherever they are serving for whatever reason, they know the risks and they choose to take them. I did and so have countless millions of others through the years who have willingly joined the military or the civil services
and served proudly.

War may not be pleasant, and it may not be the answer to every problem. But there are times when it just must be. Like it or not, there have been wars since the beginning of time. The Bible is filled with them and many times at the demand of GOD Himself. War is not pretty and it is not always popular, but war will be with us until the very last day. Armageddon! There is no way around it.

People don't have to like war and they don't have to agree with those who participate in war, but they should respect those who do and they should never create a situation that distracts from the mission or gives aid to the enemy against those we owe our very lives to. Our military is what keeps us free and we owe them our support and our respect. Public demonstrations that are carried by national news channels do nothing but disrespect our troops in the eyes of the enemy. It makes them even more vulnerable to continued threat.

People like Cindy Sheeham, and those that follow her around are not affecting the President in any way nor are they making an impact on what we do in the war or how long it will last. What they ARE doing is helping and aiding the enemy in their efforts to shape world opinion that our military and our government is evil, which is simply not true. The evil is shown in the cowardice of the enemy and it is empowered by the likes of Cindy Sheeham who in effect is rallying for the enemy against our troops.

I am not unsympathetic to her loss. I am truly sorry that any of our military has died or been harmed in this war. However I am more angry at people like Cindy Sheeham, Sen. Harry Reid, Sen. Edward Kennedy, Sen. John Kerry, Congressman John Murtha, and the list goes on. They are reprehensible and a disgrace to our country and it is these people that feed the hatred of suicide bombers and those that seek to do us harm.

What these people always fail to remember is that we did nothing to provoke the bombings of 9-11. We did nothing to provoke the bombing of the USS Cole. We did nothing to provoke the bombing of our military barracks in numerous foreign cities that have been attacked. We have talked about these things until the blue on our flag is running.

Killing is awful. Whether it's abortion, (which the democrats seem to support), or the lives of our civil servants, (which everyone takes for granted), or our military, (which the democrats hate). There is no difference. If Cindy Sheeham and her ilk were truly appalled by the deaths of our military, she should be equally repulsed by any abortion clinic and should be willing to go protest regularly in front of them. I guarantee you, the day she does, there will not be any press coverage of it. They will abandon her the same way they did when she said something negative about the lefts "poster child", Hillary Clinton. Or maybe they already did, if her Crawford, TX. booksigning event was any guage!