I just read an article on ESPN.com that I thought was hilarious. In the article it is reported that league officials have told their referees that they are allowed to take bribes but they are not allowed to let those bribes influence the outcome of games. Apparently bribing refs is quite common in the Nigerian Football (aka Soccer) league. League officials are apparently okay with that but say that "Referees should only pretend to fall for the bait, but make sure the result doesn't favour those offering the bribe."
Two questions -
1. WHAT??? Can you imagine the NFL, MLB or NBA coming out and publicly telling their Referees that it is okay for them to accept bribes? What are these league officials thinking?
2. What exactly should the refs tell these people who have just given them a load of cash when the game doesn't go the way they thought it would? Keep in mind that they are probably trying to influence the refs for good reasons - maybe they are overzealous fans but maybe, just maybe, these people are putting some serious cash on the game. These people aren't going to be to happy. And if these people aren't bothered by giving you a bribe they probably won't be bothered by inflicting bodily pain on you either. I would think twice about taking bribes and not following through.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Stupid People Saying Stupid Things
This week in U.S. News and World Report I read two quotes I could hardly believe:
"Call me insane, but did it sorta look like those buildings came down in a controlled demolition?"
- Charlie Sheen
I don't know if I wish Sheen was joking or not. What an insulting quote either way. Hey Charlie did you see the planes flying into the building? Did you hear about the thousands of people that died? Who precisely was involved in this conspiracy? What is the point of saying something so foolish? It has been awhile since I have heard something so insulting.
Well Charlie, if you insist, we will call you insane.
It didn't take too long to be insulted again though. The very next quote in fact:
"This bill would literally criminalize the good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself."
- In an attempt to keep this from becoming a Red State vs. Blue State argument this person will remain anonymous. Lets just say she is a potential Presidential candidate who was commenting on proposed immigration reform legislation. I have a couple of problems with what this person said:
1. The misuse of the word "literally" do people not know what the word "literally" means? It is one of the most misused words around today. Literally means it would actually happen. However, since immigration reform has nothing to do with the good Samaritan, and since the good Samaritan is a fictional character (a character from one of Jesus' parables told some 2,000 years ago) I find it quite unlikely that Good Samaritan is literally in danger of being criminalized.
2. I am sick and tired of people trying to use Jesus to support their political positions. Particularly when it requires putting words in Jesus' mouth. Don't get me wrong I am a big Jesus fan. In fact it is because I am a big Jesus fan that I find this so insulting. Sorry Senator but Jesus never said anything about immigration laws and there is no direct Biblical discussion on the topic. Neither you nor I know how Jesus would have felt about this particular legislation. And we can't either without a careful consideration of what the Bible says and careful consideration of the legislation.
So do me a favor and keep your words out of Jesus mouth.
"Call me insane, but did it sorta look like those buildings came down in a controlled demolition?"
- Charlie Sheen
I don't know if I wish Sheen was joking or not. What an insulting quote either way. Hey Charlie did you see the planes flying into the building? Did you hear about the thousands of people that died? Who precisely was involved in this conspiracy? What is the point of saying something so foolish? It has been awhile since I have heard something so insulting.
Well Charlie, if you insist, we will call you insane.
It didn't take too long to be insulted again though. The very next quote in fact:
"This bill would literally criminalize the good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself."
- In an attempt to keep this from becoming a Red State vs. Blue State argument this person will remain anonymous. Lets just say she is a potential Presidential candidate who was commenting on proposed immigration reform legislation. I have a couple of problems with what this person said:
1. The misuse of the word "literally" do people not know what the word "literally" means? It is one of the most misused words around today. Literally means it would actually happen. However, since immigration reform has nothing to do with the good Samaritan, and since the good Samaritan is a fictional character (a character from one of Jesus' parables told some 2,000 years ago) I find it quite unlikely that Good Samaritan is literally in danger of being criminalized.
2. I am sick and tired of people trying to use Jesus to support their political positions. Particularly when it requires putting words in Jesus' mouth. Don't get me wrong I am a big Jesus fan. In fact it is because I am a big Jesus fan that I find this so insulting. Sorry Senator but Jesus never said anything about immigration laws and there is no direct Biblical discussion on the topic. Neither you nor I know how Jesus would have felt about this particular legislation. And we can't either without a careful consideration of what the Bible says and careful consideration of the legislation.
So do me a favor and keep your words out of Jesus mouth.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Whacked Out Weekend
Well the weekend started out fairly normal - Sara and I went to Monk's on Friday night for Burgers and Brews and it was pretty good. Monk's specializes in Belgian beer, hamburgers, and mussels, and they come highly recommended. Sara and I both got a burger and fries and each tried a different kind of beer. The food was really good and we had a good time, it was a nice start to the weekend.
I worked a double shift Saturday at the front desk so I was there from 7am-11pm. The company is in the process of redoing the building so they can sell the units as condos and this weekend they started to work on the front desk area. So they needed to move us somewhere else and they decided to put us by the side entrance. It was quite the set up, we had a folding table out there with all your stuff on it. Unfortunately there is no heat in that area and it was cold Saturday morning so Wynona and I had to set up little space heaters to keep from freezing to death. We working the electricity so hard that we actually blew a fuse at one point - oops.
The rest of the day was alright until about 7:00pm when things started to go crazy. Wynona was actually on the phone with Sara at the time and Sara started to hear a weird noise. Then the fire alarm went off and Sara realized that the strange noise she was hearing was our neighbor's fire sprinklers. Next thing we know Dave1 was standing in front of Wynona and I soaking wet telling us that his sprinkler had randomly started to go off. (They still aren't sure what caused the sprinkler to go off. Dave says he was just hanging out but the maintenance workers say that it wouldn't have just gone off by itself; something must have prompted it.) While Wynona called the maintenance guys I went down stairs to see if I could help Dave with anything. When I got down there it was ridiculous.
I don't know if you have ever seen a fire sprinkler going off before but it basically looks like a downpour only inside - very unnatural looking. Seriously one of the weirdist things I have seen in awhile.
The maintenance guys got down there as quickly as they could and shut off the electricity and the water supply and then did their best to drain the pipes. By the time the water stopped Dave's apartment was pretty much trashed and there was so much water that it had gone through the wall and come into our living room, ruining the carpet. The maintenance guys, Sara, and I spent about 3-4 hours cleaning things up in Dave's apartment and in ours. The carpet needed to be taken out of our living room so once again we are without carpet.
(For those of you who don't know this is the second time we have flooded while at this apartment...In less than a year) It looks like we are going to try and move upstairs - Look out higher ground here we come.
Of course through this all I was still technically working so I was bouncing back and forth between the basement and the front desk. The most aggravating part for me was that tenants were getting annoyed that the fire alarm was sounding sporadically (they were attempting to reset the system) and kept calling down to the front desk to complain. Very annoying - especially the guy who threatened to call 911 if the Alarm went off one more time even though he knew it wasn't an emergency, he was just annoyed.
1. Names have been changed to protect the "innocent"
I worked a double shift Saturday at the front desk so I was there from 7am-11pm. The company is in the process of redoing the building so they can sell the units as condos and this weekend they started to work on the front desk area. So they needed to move us somewhere else and they decided to put us by the side entrance. It was quite the set up, we had a folding table out there with all your stuff on it. Unfortunately there is no heat in that area and it was cold Saturday morning so Wynona and I had to set up little space heaters to keep from freezing to death. We working the electricity so hard that we actually blew a fuse at one point - oops.
The rest of the day was alright until about 7:00pm when things started to go crazy. Wynona was actually on the phone with Sara at the time and Sara started to hear a weird noise. Then the fire alarm went off and Sara realized that the strange noise she was hearing was our neighbor's fire sprinklers. Next thing we know Dave1 was standing in front of Wynona and I soaking wet telling us that his sprinkler had randomly started to go off. (They still aren't sure what caused the sprinkler to go off. Dave says he was just hanging out but the maintenance workers say that it wouldn't have just gone off by itself; something must have prompted it.) While Wynona called the maintenance guys I went down stairs to see if I could help Dave with anything. When I got down there it was ridiculous.
I don't know if you have ever seen a fire sprinkler going off before but it basically looks like a downpour only inside - very unnatural looking. Seriously one of the weirdist things I have seen in awhile. The maintenance guys got down there as quickly as they could and shut off the electricity and the water supply and then did their best to drain the pipes. By the time the water stopped Dave's apartment was pretty much trashed and there was so much water that it had gone through the wall and come into our living room, ruining the carpet. The maintenance guys, Sara, and I spent about 3-4 hours cleaning things up in Dave's apartment and in ours. The carpet needed to be taken out of our living room so once again we are without carpet.
(For those of you who don't know this is the second time we have flooded while at this apartment...In less than a year) It looks like we are going to try and move upstairs - Look out higher ground here we come. Of course through this all I was still technically working so I was bouncing back and forth between the basement and the front desk. The most aggravating part for me was that tenants were getting annoyed that the fire alarm was sounding sporadically (they were attempting to reset the system) and kept calling down to the front desk to complain. Very annoying - especially the guy who threatened to call 911 if the Alarm went off one more time even though he knew it wasn't an emergency, he was just annoyed.
1. Names have been changed to protect the "innocent"
Monday, March 27, 2006
Abdul Rahman
It is being reported that Afghan Officials are prepared to drop their case against Abdul Rahman (see below). Their stated reason for doing so is that they consider Rahman mentally unfit to stand trial. The news was not well received, as it is reported that several hundred people protested the decision. Rahman is now seeking asylum in another country. Praise God that Rahman will be released and pray for the continued protection of Abdul Rahman and his family.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
True Faith
I just saw a story on cnn.com about Abdul Rahman, an Afghan man who is facing the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity. A few thoughts on this:
1. Praise the Lord for Mr. Rahman's faith. A faith that he is apparently willing to die for if necessary. Would that all our faith be so strong. Pray that Mr. Rahman would be protected and that his faith would be strong through this trial. Pray that if the Lord is willing Mr. Rahman's life would be spared.
2. Praise the Lord that a secular news organization such as CNN would deem this to be front page worthy. The case of Mr. Rahman is not an unusual one in extreme Islamic countries. It is not unusual for Christians in these countries to be persecuted - whether it be individuals or the official Islamic government doing the persecuting. Pray that the news coverage of this event would raise more awareness of the persecution that Christians in certain Islamic countries, and around the world, face.
3. Praise God for the freedoms that we have in the United States - freedoms that we often take for granted.
4. Contact your Senator and urge him to have the United States continue to apply pressure on Afghanistan relating to this persecution and others. You can find your Senator's contact information at this site: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
- Matthew 5:10-12
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to dies is gain"
- Philippians 1:20-21
I pray that I would say this confidently with Paul, and now with our brother Abdul Rahman.
1. Praise the Lord for Mr. Rahman's faith. A faith that he is apparently willing to die for if necessary. Would that all our faith be so strong. Pray that Mr. Rahman would be protected and that his faith would be strong through this trial. Pray that if the Lord is willing Mr. Rahman's life would be spared.
2. Praise the Lord that a secular news organization such as CNN would deem this to be front page worthy. The case of Mr. Rahman is not an unusual one in extreme Islamic countries. It is not unusual for Christians in these countries to be persecuted - whether it be individuals or the official Islamic government doing the persecuting. Pray that the news coverage of this event would raise more awareness of the persecution that Christians in certain Islamic countries, and around the world, face.
3. Praise God for the freedoms that we have in the United States - freedoms that we often take for granted.
4. Contact your Senator and urge him to have the United States continue to apply pressure on Afghanistan relating to this persecution and others. You can find your Senator's contact information at this site: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
- Matthew 5:10-12
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to dies is gain"
- Philippians 1:20-21
I pray that I would say this confidently with Paul, and now with our brother Abdul Rahman.
Oh the Madness!!!
Well this is one of my favorite times of year - March Madness Time.
The NCAA (that's "N-C-A-A" or "N-C Double A" but please don't call it the "N-C Two A") Tournament is one of the best championships in all of sports. In fact I would probably put it above the Super Bowl even. The Super Bowl has become more of a social event then a sports championship - Think about it people talk about the commercials the next day instead of the game. Granted the Super Bowl means a ton to you if your team is playing but for most people it isn't that important. The Tourney on the other hand is so fun and exciting that your team doesn't even have to make the field of 64 for it to be great.
The start to this years Tournament has been no different - it is off to a great start. There have been a lot of exciting finishes and some great upsets. One of my favorite stories so far is that Wichita State and George Mason are playing each other in the Sweet Sixteen so one of the two is guaranteed to make it to the Elite Eight - that is fantastic. I bet whoever makes it will have a lot of fans rooting for them to make the Final Four - it would be a great story.
I can't wait for Thursday so the games will start up again. I will be parked in front of my TV watching one of the best traditions in sports. Hope you enjoy it too.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Here we go
So everybody and their Uncle is blogging these days so I figured why shouldnt I be blogging. Really when it comes right down to it I owe it to the world to bless them with my opinions and insight. Trust me, you will be better off having listened to me. Anyways - I am going to use this site to offer updates on my life and to express my opinion on anything and everything - sports, religion, politics, family, books, TV, movies, anything at all. Not that you really need to bother with what my opinion is but I will have fun doing it anyways. So sit back and listen while I offer my little pearls of wisdom:
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