The End of Innocence

I recently attended a "60th Birthday Party" with my high school graduating class. It was a cleaver idea to have an off year class reunion as most of us are now turning 60. It was great seeing everyone and most of the conversations revolved around stories of life, kids and grandkids.

One of the common themes discussed was we experienced the end of an era - in some ways the end of innocence. Over the years, my wife Susan (who graduated three years after me) has heard over and over about my high school life. Unfortunately, she did not share the same experience. Not to sound trite, to me high school was a form of Camelot. Most everyone got along and looked forward to coming to school. My graduation class was over 800 - very large even for today's standards. Yet out of that large number, very few smoked, alcohol consumption was rare, and drugs were not yet in the picture.

As good as things were, they were not perfect. There was the Viet Nam War, the draft, and how they related affected most of us. In addition, the country started experiencing the first seeds of social unrest. However for the most part, life was very good. Fridays in the fall were full of high caliber football, sock hops, pizza at Beek's, eating out at Lincoln Dell, and of course, cruising the "Robin's Nest" (A+W Root Beer Stand).

A radio show describes a mythical town in which the boys are strong, the girls are good looking, and all are above average. To me, that was our graduating class. We dressed up for school, respected teachers, led relatively clean lives, went to church, and hung around as friends. There were no metal detectors, no drug sniffing dogs, no gangs, and very, very few pregnancies. It was a time if you could safely walk to and from school without worrying your parents.

I feel badly that social unrest and drugs crept into society and tainted my wife's high school experience. I feel even worse that my daughters high school experience was not memorable to them. They will never have what I had, and I grieve for that. All that remains for those of us in the Robbinsdale Class of "67" are the memories of a time, of a place which is now gone and never again to be duplicated. Our experiences have formed us, nurtured us, and made us who we are. It was special. It was Camelot. It truly was the end of innocence.

Pill Popping Party!

Yea! We are having a party! Not just any party, we are having a pill popping party! In case you have not noticed the myriad of commercials that are on TV, we are encouraged to take pills from everything from ED to toenail fungus. And if the pills cannot be purchased over the counter, you are also encouraged to talk to your doctor to write you a prescription for the "cure all" pills.

So what is my beef? Don't pills give us health, longer and better life? Yes, to a degree I do. I have been taking hypertension pills for some time now (three pills a day), cholesterol pills (one a day), 81 Mg aspirin (one a day), multi vitamin (one a day) and calcium pills (two a day). My wife also take some of the same and some different pills every day. We are prisoners to our medicine cabinet and the mail order company for getting us the pills we need to keep the supply going. We have become addicted to the pills we take.

Earlier this week I was in a small repair shop for a tire repair. As I was talking to the owner, I noticed he had his five pills that we was going to take at noon time lined up all in a row. They were different colors and different sizes. I had no idea what they were for nor did I ask him. We all seem to have the unique "cocktail" mix of pills that we take.

I read in the ads now that taking a multi vitamin is not enough - now we have specialized vitamins for men, women, cholesterol and so on. Also, lets not forget about the epidemic of ADD, ADHD, depression, manic-depression disorders and so on. So if you are an adult with hypertension, borderline diabetes, high cholesterol, depression, ED, and so on, think of how many pills you would have to take just to maintain. Now consider going into your local health store because you are feeling a bit run down. Maybe a vitamin D deficiency? Take two a day and call me in the morning. Not wanting to catch an early cold, vitamin C every morning should help. Lets not forget about the wonder vitamin, B12 and fish oil, omega 3 supplements and on and on and on.

Now for one more pet peeve. One of the local radio personalities a few years ago had a one man campaign again all of the ED pills being advertised during prime time on TV. I agreed him. By the time the advertising blitz really began, my two girls were old enough to know better. However, if one had small children, is it really necessary to go into embarrassing detail on what ED is and why it is important to take pills to fix it. Also, why is having an erection for four hours bad for you, and by the way dad, what is an erection? With the non stop advertising for pills that will "keep you ready whenever the moment is ready", we get the message. Enough already!

So the next time you take your morning meds or vitamins, think about what you are doing. Are you taking pills to really extend or enhance your quality of life, or are we all slaves to the pharmaceutical industry. I don't know. I just know this - I am tired of popping pills every day and just wish there was a shot I could take once a year that would give me the same benefit.

Obesity: Who is Really to Blame?

There is an old expression that goes "Success is always a father whereas failure is most surely an orphan." Most of us have heard in the current health care debate various opinions on what the drivers are for the skyrocketing cost of health care. Smoking, alcohol, sedentary lifestyles and obesity are the most common lifestyle causes I have heard. For the purpose of this posting, I will address only obesity.

One of the many things the CDC (Center for Disease Control) is currently investigating is why obesity is epidemic among our population in general. Some racial subgroups are more prone to affliction from this disease and our children have shown the greatest increase in the last 30 years. For example, over the last 30 years, the obesity rate for Americans has risen from 10% to 20%. Some experts predict if we do nothing to curb this problem, the number could climb as high as 40%. In addition, 30 years ago, our children had an obesity rate of 4% - it is now 20%. African Americans have a slightly higher propensity for obesity than Caucasians so their overall numbers are higher.

We live in a society that gravitates towards food. Listen to the radio, watch TV, drive around town and all you see are temptations for eating. We now live to eat rather than eat to live. We have all you can eat buffets, happy hours (snacks included), two for one specials, Wednesday freebies and so on. The temptation to stuff our pie holes is with us 24/7. Many people blame McDonald's - they deserve part of it for sure. However, it goes much beyond Micky Dee's. It goes to our grocery stores, restaurants, other fast food establishments and so on. There is plenty of blame to go around, including us. If we did not crave over indulgence, there would be no market for it - period.

So obesity is caused by over and incorrect eating. It is also caused by sitting on our butts from sun up to sun down. We get in a car to go to work, sit at a desk for hours at end (usually only getting up to go to lunch and eating something that is unhealthy) get in a car to get home, finally watching the telly until we fall asleep. The next day it starts all over again. Groundhog Day.

For our kids it is worse. Take the bus to school, sit in class all day (PE has become an elective in many schools) eat some government subsidized crap for lunch, talk the bus home and sit in front of the computer or TV screen until it is time for bed. We are hurting our kids, sentencing them to shorter, unhealthier life style by allowing this to go on.

So what to do. It is easy to see the problem and complain about it, but are there some simple things we can do right now? I believe there are. First and foremost, this has got to be a cooperative effort between government, industry and us. Every workplace should allow 1 1/2 hours for lunch and exercise. Schools should have mandatory PE, even if it means extending the school day to fit it in. All companies and institutions should encourage flex time, telecommuting, flex days to keep us from being stationary in our cars for the extended time periods we are now.

We need to stop buying Big Macs, fries, shakes and so on with the regularity we do. The market will prevail - companies like McDonald's will start offering more healthy (yet tasty) alternatives. We all need to walk more. Mark Twain, a voracious walker, use to say he had two doctors - his right leg and his left leg. Walking, bike riding, treadmills need to become a mandatory part of our daily regimen rather than something we will get around to eventually.

We need to buy healthier at the grocery store. The stores could continue to put up nutritional guides and suggestions for shoppers on what to buy for maximum health benefits yet minimal costs. As obesity is also a poverty issue, encourage through the food stamp program healthier choices and more restrictions on foods which are high is starch, sodium and empty calories.

This problem started with us and will end with us. There is no evil company that started this and made many of us fat. We just have companys that are reacting to supply and demand. Good habit are like bad habits - both take a while to develop. Lets start with the good habits to fix this problem once and for all.

Texas or Tax Us

Once upon a time in America, there were two kingdoms. One was named Texas and the other was named, well lets say New York or California or one of many other kingdoms that exist in America.

Recently someone who lives in Texas was asked how she was weathering the recession. She answered the question with a question - "What Recession?". Texas it seems, has dodged the bullet whereas many of the rest of us have not. To add insult to injury, Texas does not even have a state income tax. Finally, the unemployment rate in Texas (as of July 2009) is 2% behind the national average (7.5% compared to 9.5%).

Coming from a "blue state" as I do, I cannot understand why my state and many or the other blue states are struggling. In fact, many have unemployment rates either by state measures, or major city measures that are higher than the national average. The solution in most blue states is to become more like "tax us" than Texas. In other words, where Texas believed that a state tax would be regressive, California has a state tax of 10.5%. New York is close and might even surpass California by the end of the year.

How did we get this disparity between a state like Texas and many other progressive states in the union. Simple - all of us (but the most radical liberals) have learned a long time ago there is no such thing as a free lunch. In other words, someone always has to pay the bill, pick up the tab. States that are really in hot water such as California and New York, seemed to have forgotten that lesson. The solution always is to tax the producers and let more and more non-producers have a free ride. To quote a prominent politician in Washington, " When we have more people riding in the wagon than pulling the wagon, it is hard to go forward". The producers in high tax states understand what is going on - they are now voting with their feet. For example, last year California lost 10,000 millionaires to lower taxed states. Simple math - the number of producers decreases, the number of non-producers increases and the net result in California is a $20B deficit and growing.

What I find the most interesting is this problem has become endemic - it is in most states as well as the Federal Government. Dr. Art Laffer who advised President Reagan as part of this Economic Team, has written and spoken out many times on how much taxes drag on the economy. There comes a point in diminishing returns when the marginal rate becomes so high that the producers simply stop producing. They either take their business elsewhere (out of the high tax state or even the country) or cash in. When taxes are low, productivity and innovation flourish; when they are high, the opposite occurs. This has been proven over and over throughout time.

When Minnesota had a very liberal senator years ago, the standing joke was, "Don't worry, the good news is we are only going to tax the rich. The bad news is that you are rich". What that means is if we cannot control the appetite of government, and once the producers start to disappear, then the unsustainable tax burden will fall on each of us and that will be the beginning of the end for prosperity in America.

To Infinity and Beyond.....

During my working career I have been a long distance runner. Not the exercise type of runner - the commutes that I have had. Since I have been in the Twin Cities workforce for over 30 years, I have really seen the changes in the traffic flow, particularly from the Northwest part (in which I live) to just about anywhere south, east or west of here.

In particular, the last job I had (which I really liked) was in St. Paul. Getting from my driveway to plugging in my computer at my desk in St. Paul took 1 1/2 hours on a good day. If it was raining, snowing or if there was an accident on the freeway, the time could easily go over 2 hours (one way). The bus service was no better. There were only four express routes that went to St. Paul in the morning and four that came home in the late afternoon. If the last bus was missed (left at 5:05) one needed to take a bus to Minneapolis and transfer to another bus which would travel (with many stops) to the area in which I live. Many times as I was sitting in traffic going nowhere, I thought about how we got here and what we (as a society) were doing to fix it. I could think of many reasons for the first part of the question, but sadly, nothing for the last part. As much as I liked my job in St. Paul, the commute became a real stopper and I left in July of 2008.

As I pondered the state of commuting in the Twin Cities many time as I was immobilized in gridlock, I thought more of my children than of myself. I knew this was a "sunset" tour for me and my days of putting up with this mess were coming to an end. My kids however, had decades left to endure.

How did we get here? By doing the same thing that we are doing now - nothing. Last year when the price of gas went up to almost $4.00/gallon, everybody was talking about our "energy problem". Some ideas were floating around on how to maximize our mass transit, different fuels to use, maybe enhanced telecommuting and so on. Nothing came out of it. This year, with a new crowd occupying the house on the Potomac, we are concerned with the economy, banks, health care and carbon tax. Meanwhile, as the expression goes, "the band played on...".

We are still using the old playbook that everyone should work 8:00-5:00, M-F. Everybody leaves home or work at the same time and jump on the freeway system which is inadequate at best. Our mass transit system is a mess and not equipped for the 21st century. When I worked at the Control Data Corporation in the 1980's, if I left work at 4:30 (from Bloomington) I could beat the traffic bubble. Now the traffic bubble starts at 3:00 every day. After the energy crunch of the late 1970's and early 1980's, companies encouraged employees to van pool or car pool. Now they don't give a damn how you get to work, just as long as you get there and give your pound of flesh.

So the world we are leaving our kids is no advances in fuel cells, coal gassification, oil shale, efficient bio fuels, improved mass transit and on and on and on. No, the future we are leaving our kids is sitting in their cars, wasting gas, wasting time, thinking of Buzz Lightyear...."to infinity and beyond..."

Game On!

As they say in sports, "Game On!". The yearly battle is in full swing with two of the biggest perps in the neighborhood - Jeff "Sticky Fingers" Squirrel and Blue "Bandit" Jay. Every year my wife Susan and I try to be good stewards of nature and feed the ever growing number of birds which visit us. We buy copious amounts of bird seed, suet, grape jelly, thistle and so on. We spare no effort nor expense in taking care of our fine feathered friends.

In the midst of all this goodness comes an evil - it comes from the forest. The evil is familiar as it comes cloaked in stealth and deception and invades the yard every daylight minute of every day. This evil comes either by land (traveling from tree to tree), by air (swooping down from the tree tops), or both. It is insidious. This evil (in the form of Sticky Fingers and Bandit) comes for one purpose only - to strip every seed, every morsel that we have put out to feed our non-offending birds. This is war and victory must be claimed at all costs. I have used every weapon in my arsenal. I have yelled, chased, chained my loyal dog in the back yard and yes, even resorted to using my single pump BB gun. I have the tools, they have the numbers. Game on.

At the time of this writing, the battle continues to rage. Both sides are tired and are licking their wounds. My dog goes to bed every night so tired she can hardly walk up the steps. I am running out of ammunition and I search the seed catalogs for more food as the attrition by the enemy is high. I don't know how much longer I can hold on. Both the Bandit and Sticky Fingers gangs are adept and resilient. I will fight the good fight and hold on as long as possible. However, in the end I might have to say what the Minnesota Twins say annually....."wait til next year..." Until then I will continue the fight and continue my yearly battle cry.."GAME ON!".....

The Real Neverland

I am a bit upset that the late Michael Jackson used the name Neverland for his amusement park. I thought the name Neverland which was used for the magical land that J. M. Barrie created in his infamous book, Peter Pan had the place down pat. In the novel as well as the subsequent Walt Disney film adaptation, had Neverland as a place where the inhabitants were known as the "lost boys" whose credo was they would never grow up.

Believe it or not, we have a real life Neverland today - and it is not the Michael Jackson amusement park. No, this Neverland is much more real and you don't need pixie dust to get there. In this Neverland the "lost boys" have become just the "lost". The lost will eschew all authority, rebuke religion, embrace nihilism and adopt hedonism. In short, this is today's Neverland.

From someone growing up in the 60's I fully understand young people in a counter culture environment. There was vigorous rebellion against the war (Viet Nam), against government( mostly Nixon), and against authority in general. Oh, don't forget this one - "Never trust someone over 30.". The difference between today and the 60's, is back then the Hippies, even the "Yippies", believed in something. They knew they existed for a purpose greater than themselves. I have seen how today's counter culture young people live - what they read, the music listened to, the shows attended. The life style defies logic or understanding. Cynically and deliberately, they live on the edge without margin. Filth permeates everyone and everything. Sleep all day, party all night, listen to music whose negativity becomes a tool to attack the very soul of joy and optimism. Wear all black, have numerous piercings and have tattoos adorning most of the body.

For those in the faith, the enemy has taken up a major encampment in that environment. There are enormous ministry opportunities that beacon. However, the battle will not be easy as the ground will not be given up easily. Most churches that I know of do not even bother with the lost and tattered that dwell here.

The next time you see one of the "lost" walking the streets of Uptown (or just there about) think of how lost they really are.

The Higher Education Quiz

Every now and again my wife tells me I say the words "I wonder" too much. I hear things, read things or see things about topical items and I think about them afterwards. One of the things I have thought about, and wondered about for years is why the cost of higher education is so out of control. When I say out of control, I mean that the yearly increases in higher education is much higher than the cost of living increases we all experience.

What really got me thinking this time was an article I recently read which stated that due to the recessed economy, many private colleges are holding down their tuition increases to somewhere between 4 and 5 percent. Wow - what a savings! However, the cost of living increase is projected to be nowhere near that amount. So the question I ask this year is the same I ask every year - what are the cost drivers? It seems that I have to ask this question because the "lap dog" media we have never asks this question - they just blame certain groups for not giving more tax dollars to support education "for the children".

With the CPI (which includes lots of items) averaging slightly less than 2.8% during the decade of the 2000 - 2007, it is hard to fathom why higher education goes up so steeply every year. We all know the reported cost drivers for why health care goes up faster than everything else, but education?

My solution to how to fix this problem is not to play the game the way it is presented. In other words, if private colleges cannot control their costs, avoid them like the plague. Use the state university system instead. If their increases are unsustainable, use the community college system. If those too are out of control, find some online, easily transferable classes to take. It is all about supply and demand. If we tell our higher education institutions that we are not going to support them anymore until they get their costs under control, one of two things will happen. They will cease to exist or they will be better stewards of the money that we (privately) or we (publicly) send them. This is a quiz they must be able to pass.

Confessions of a Lexicologist

It was not until I was well past thirty that I realized I had both a gift and a curse. I was consumed by words. All kinds of words. All sizes of words. I was interested in where words came from, why they were used they in the ways they were, and most importantly, why we use so few of the words we have available to us.

It started when I took a vocabulary test to become an officer in the United States Navy. I failed. The strong vocabulary that I thought I had did not hold up to this basic Navy test. Being determined to retake this test and to pass it, I started to read the dictionary. This was hard for me as 1.) it was not very exciting and 2.) I felt like I had traveled far down the path of Nerd.

However, after a while, I started to enjoy it. Not only did I enjoy it, but I also started buying additional books on word power, word usage, work derivations and so on. I became obsessed with the signification and application of words. In other words, I became a toxicologist.

Now that I am past fifty, I am still very interested in words. In particular, I am interested in the power of communication by the proper usage of words. However, what still mystifies me is the vast amount of “general usage” words that are not only unused, but also unlearned.

So I will continue on with my journey of being an aspiring toxicologist. I know in my heart that this journey will last me a lifetime as no person has ever mastered the entire vocabulary. As most explorers believe, I will enjoy the journey and look forward to the next bend in the road (or dictionary).

15 Minutes.....

This one is for old times sake. For anyone who thinks we all don't have one shot at our fifteen minutes of fame, think of Cindy Sheehan. Mrs. Sheehan, whose son served this country faithfully for more than one tour in Iraq, went off the deep end when he lost his life trying to free a people who had long since given up any hope of freedom.

The following is an example of how Mrs. Sheehan dissolved into insignificance rather than honoring the valor of her son...

"We are not waging a war on terror in this country. We’re waging a war of terror. The biggest terrorist in the world is George W. Bush!" So declared Cindy Sheehan earlier this year during a rally at at San Francisco State University. Sheehan, who is demanding a second meeting with Bush, stated: "We are waging a nuclear war in Iraq right now. That country is contaminated. It will be contaminated for practically eternity now." Sheehan unleashed a foul-mouth tirade on April 27, 2005: "They’re a bunch of f........ hypocrites! And we need to, we just need to rise up..." Sheehan said of the Bush administration. "If George Bush believes his rhetoric and his b...s..., that this is a war for freedom and democracy, that he is spreading freedom and democracy, does he think every person he kills makes Iraq more free?" "The whole world is damaged. Our humanity is damaged. If he thinks that it’s so important for Iraq to have a U.S.-imposed sense of freedom and democracy, then he needs to sign up his two little party-animal girls. They need to go to this war." "We want our country back and, if we have to impeach everybody from George Bush down to the person who picks up dog s... in Washington, we will impeach all those people."

Brothers and Sisters, be not bitter nor resentful to Mrs. Sheehan. Pray for her that she might free her heart from hatred in the same fashion her son tried to free the Iraq people from tyranny.

Love, Like and Lust

As humans, most of us will experience love, like and lust as we go though life. It is possible to love someone without liking them, and to lust after them without even knowing them. Lets’ discuss lust first. Back in the 1970's, when Jimmy Carter was president, he shocked the faith based world by admitting that he lusted in his heart. How could he do that? After all, he was a Southern Baptist and a born again Christian. Simple - President Carter told the truth. Most people have at sometime or another had a minor or not so minor unclean thought about a person of the opposite (or sometimes same) sex. The enemy has convinced us that this fine and normal. After all, who is hurt? It is just a fantasy. As time has passed, the enemy has also convinced us to "hang the fruit lower on the tree". What that means is that today we have almost unlimited opportunities to have our minds wander. We wander when we see magazines at the grocery store, watch soap operas and other television shows, movies, video games, clothing styles and so on. Keeping lust out of our hearts has become a big problem.How about love? Do we love the way that the bible commands? Or is our love conditional? Christ’s final commandment to us was to love each other the way that He loves us is a tall order. Truthfully, we will probably never get there. However, it does not mean that we should not try. Human love, no matter how pure, is still conditional to some degree. God’s love, on the other hand, is unconditional to every degree. Many of us have heard there is nothing so good we can do to make God love us more or nothing so bad we can do to make God love us less. He loves us absolutely; period, end of story. Even though we may never love each other absolutely as God loves us, we should still use it as our guide, our goal.Finally, what about like. While on this planet, there are going to be people that just rub us the wrong way. We may try our best, but there are some things the person says or does that we don’t care for. The bible understands that, but still commands us to do the following with our fellow man or woman: 1) love them, 2) serve them, and 3) forgive them. One final thought on like – we can pray for discernment. The problem may not be with the other person, but rather us. We can pray for understanding and tolerance towards others.Like, love and lust are all part of our daily lives. When we stumble from lust, the bible wants us recognize it, repent and confess in prayer. We will be forgiven if we come to Him in prayer with a repentant heart. As we get deeper in our faith walk, we will do it less often because we will recognize it easier and become more uncomfortable with it. When we don’t love as we should, we should pray for God to open the eyes of our hearts. God will answer that prayer by allowing us to look at others more like the way Christ looks at us. Finally, pray for tolerance and understanding. Not only that we can understand and tolerate others better, but they might also understand and tolerate us as well.

Africa: A Continent up for Adoption

I have thought for many years that Africa, a continent made up of many countries should be adopted by the United Nations and managed by them until Africa is ready to join the league of nations. Wow - did that sound harsh? I hope not. On the contrary - I want Africa to succeed, to flourish and not to fail.

Ever since I can remember, there has been some kind of turmoil in Africa. Some tribal, some nation against nation and some civil unrest. Whatever the case of the conflict is, the end result is suffering, starvation and death. In a continent, which is thought by many as the cradle of civilization, which has vast natural resources, this is wholly unacceptable.

For example, in the Congo, a nation of 63 million people in the heart of Africa, a peace deal signed more than three years ago was supposed to halt a war that drew in combatants from at least eight other countries, producing a record of human devastation unmatched in recent history. The International Rescue Committee estimates that 3.9 million people have died from war-related causes since the conflict in Congo began in 1998, making it the world's most lethal conflict since World War II.

Then we have Sudan. A former U.N. humanitarian chief recently stated there is no question that tens of thousands more people have died since a 2006 estimate of 200,000 killed. He cited the dramatic increase in the number of people affected by the conflict and the recent upsurge in fighting, and said 400,000 dead is probably closer to the truth. Think of this happening to a country in Europe of a state in our country. Unthinkable and unacceptable - yet we have watched this from the sidelines for years.

However, one of the more insidious examples of the barbarism in Africa was the Rwandan Genocide from April 6 to mid-July in 1994. During this time period the world witnessed the mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Rwanda's Tutsis and Hutu political moderates by Hutus under the Hutu Power ideology. Over the period of 100 days, from 6 April through mid-July, at least 500,000 people were killed, although some estimate the total could be over 1,000,000 (which is about 20% of the population. As we saw on the news most every night during that time period, AK-47s, grenades but mostly machetes were the weapons of choice to carry out this butchery. Again, the world did very little to stop this carnage.

Ethiopia/Somalia conflict is a trouble spot right now. In fact, the number of minor skirmishes and unsettled truces within the continent are too many to mention in this post. So what is the answer? Keep looking at the distended bellies from malnutrition and hunger on the nightly news? See young people maimed by having limbs cut off with machetes? See young women disfigured by having their breasts cut off so they cannot feed their young? No - this carnage and suffering needs to stop now!

The world needs to use the United Nations to "adopt" Africa. The U.N. needs to be peacekeepers, nation builders and teachers to every dysfunctional nation that exists in the African continent. Much of the starvation that exists are not due to lack of food - it is due to food being withheld from people either by an existing government or one from a neighboring country. The U. N. could put a stop to this immediately. Aid has poured into Africa from all over the world, in particular the United States.

Once Africa has proven to the world that it can govern itself as a collection of individual autonomous countries, the U. N. can return control to the African people. Until then, like a troubled child, Africa needs parental control and guidance.

What the Bible Says about Abortion

I can't think of an issue more devisive than abortion. When in doubt go back to the source of ultimate truth for a reading.


For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.


Psalm 139, verses 13-16 (NIV)

Say it ain't so Joe.....

If you smoke cigarettes, thank you very much. If you smoke a lot of cigarettes, many more thanks. If you don't smoke, please start.

The little known fact these days is that we would be in deep, deep weeds if it were not for the smokers. With only 25% of the population in the United States admitted smokers, we really need the tax revenue on cigarettes. Why? Because $1.01 of every pack of cigarettes goes into the Federal coffers. In Minnesota for example, the tax on the pack of smokes is now $1.56. If you happen to live in Rhode Island, you will pay over $3.00/pack for state taxes. Many states, as well as the Federal Government under the SCHIP Program, use this tax money to pay for much needed health programs.

Because I am slow on government type thinking at times, I am consumed by this conundrum. We raise the price of a pack of cigarettes to discourage consumption. Yet we need the tax dollars to pay for certain health programs. If the price for a pack of smokes went up to $10 or $20 and nobody bought them anymore, what happens to the programs that are dependent on the tax funding? In other words, to use the current buzz word, this is not a sustainable program.

Before I finish, a bit of true confession. I am a former smoker. I started smoking in Navy Boot Camp in 1969. It was almost an expectation to smoke. When there was a break in the action we were told to take a "coke and smoke". When I got overseas, the price on a pack of smokes was $.17; for those in Viet Nam it was $.13. It was easy to start and hard to stop. It took me until I was 31 and my first daughter was born before I quit. Anybody who would start today at $4 and up a pack and knowing the health risks is an idiot. Plain and simple, an idiot.

Exodus

This is the theme song from the movie Exodus (words added after the movie was made). The movie (and the novel by Leon Uris) is a compelling story how after the genocide practiced during World War II, the Jewish people fought for the homeland which was divinely promised to them in ancient times. It is one of my favorite books, one of my favorite movies, one of my favorite songs...

This land is mine, God gave this land to me
This brave and ancient land to me
And when the morning sun reveals her hills and plain
Then I see a land where children can run free
So take my hand and walk this land with me
And walk this lovely land with me
Though I am just a man, when you are by my side
With the help of God, I know I can be strong
If I must fight, I'll fight to make this land our own
Until I die, this land is mine.

Shay's Story

This a story that come to me via e-mail. It is reproduced with permission as the author requested it be passed on.

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.Where is the natural order of things in my son?'The audience was stilled by the query..The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'Then he told the following story:Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat..At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.The game would now be over.The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!Run to first!'Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.B y the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball . the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay! Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!Shay, run to third!'As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team. 'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

The REAL Truth about Social Security

By now we have all heard the horror stories about Social Security and how long it will last. As a baby boomer who is married to a baby boomer and facing retirement in the near future, I feel this issue has to be addressed as factually as possible.

First a wee bit of history. Social Security came into being on August 14, 1935 under the mantle of the Social Security Act. This act not only promulgated Social Security, but also allocated money to the states to provide assistance to aged individuals (Title I), for unemployment insurance (Title III), Aid to Families with Dependent Children (Title IV), Maternal and Child Welfare (Title V), public health services (Title VI), and the blind (Title X). The act has been embroiled in controversy and constitutional arguments since it's inception. Although it has been modified many times since the 1930's, two of the bigger changes are as follows. In 1965, Medicare was added under the Social Security Act of 1965, part of the Great Society program. In October 1972, Congress amended the Social Security Act to incorporate Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

So with all of this Congressional oversight and tinkering, why is Social Security going broke? The answer can first be used by giving an example. The first monthly payment was issued on January 31, 1940 to a woman in Vermont. From 1937 to 1939 she paid a total of $24.75 into the Social Security System. Her first check was for $22.54. After her second check, she already received more than she contributed over the three-year period. She lived to be 100 and collected almost $23,000. My parents are another good example. My Dad worked until 70 and then started collecting Social Security - he lived to be 90. He died 5 1/2 years ago and my Mother has been receiving a pro rata share of his benefit. My Mother, now 91, has received many times the amount that she and my Father contributed into the Social Security Trust Fund.

To use a term that is being bantered around with abandon these days, the Social Security system is unsustainable. It is unsustainable because the premise on which it was based is no longer valid. First, the system assumed that more people would be paying into the system than receiving benefits. That might have been the case at one point in our history, but it surely is not the case now. Next, we have many people who are receiving benefits that have not contributed one dime into the system. Finally, we are living much longer these days than our grandparents did. In short, it would have been a miracle for Social Security to work as well in 2010 as it did in 1950.

To add insult to injury, most know the system needs major repair and needs it now. However, this issue in not called "the third rail" for nothing. People (like me) who have involuntarily contributed into this fund my entire working life will not take lightly any diminution of benefits which were promised to me years ago by the Federal Government. I pride myself on being a law abiding citizen, however if the hundreds of thousands of dollars that my wife and I have taken our of our paychecks, put into the fun suddenly evaporated, it would be time to get the torches and pitchforks.

The solution? If I knew, I would be in Washington D.C. making a fortune as a consultant. One thing the Federal Government could do is offer an opt out clause to people like me. In other words, give me back every dime of social security money that has been taken from myself and my employers and distribute as a lump sum. No interest would be required and all rights waived for receiving any other Social Security retirement funds from the United States Government. I would take that in a heartbeat. I would manage the account, live on it, and have money left over to pass on to my kids.

The bottom line is, as the old saying goes, "bad news does not get better with age". We need to fix this and fix it now without shooting the wounded and imprisoning the innocent.

Tribute to the Men and Women of Challenger

This is the tribute that President Ronald Reagan gave in honor of the brave men and women who lost their lives on board the space shuttle Challenger. Even though he did not write this, the way he delivered it made it sound as if they were his words.


Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings
Sunward I have climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds- and done a hundred things you have not dreamed of- wheeled and soared and swung.
High in the sunlit silence- hovering there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
I’ve topped the windswept nights with easy grace,
Where never lark or even Eagle flew.
And, while the silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The highest untrespassed sanctity of space
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Eino

Sometimes we just have to lighten things up a bit. I found this in my stack of nonsense that I have accumulated over the years.

Eino -- a Finlander from Embarrass, Minnesota -- was an older, single gentleman who was born and raised a Lutheran. Each Friday night after work, he would fire up his outdoor grill and cook a venison steak. Now, all of Eino's neighbors were Catholic... and since it was Lent, they were forbidden from eating meat on Fridays. The delicious aroma from the grilled venison steaks was causing such a problem for the Catholic faithful that they finally talked to their priest.
The priest came to visit Eino, and suggested that Eino convert to Catholicism. After several classes and much study, Eino attended Mass... and as the priest sprinkled holy water over Eino, he said, "You were born a Lutheran and raised a Lutheran, but now you are Catholic."Eino's neighbors were greatly relieved, until Friday night arrived, and the wonderful aroma of grilled venison filled the neighborhood. The priest was called immediately by the neighbors and, as he rushed into Eino's yard, clutching a rosary and prepared to scold Eino, he stopped in amazement and watched...There stood Eino, clutching a small bottle of water which he carefully sprinkled over the grilling meat, and chanted: "You were born a deer, and raised a deer, but now you are a walleye..."

Eat your Vegtables; Save your Money

Most of us heard over and over as we were growing up the importance of eating our vegetables and saving money. We heard it from our parents, most likely we also heard it from our grandparents. It was good counsel as our elders wanted us to grow up with good, solid health and financial habits. As we read in the paper these days, some of us followed this advice, but many did not.

The Federal Government has also given us a myriad of financial tips and advise over the years. Live within your means, save 10% of what you make, pay your bills on time and so on. However, the Government, unlike our parents, is a hypocrite. Everything the Federal Government has told us to do financially, they have done the opposite. For example, living within your means. If the Federal Government lived within their means, there would be no yearly deficit or accumulated debt. Our national debt has been bad in the past, but is totally out of control now. If every family in this country spend considerably more than they took in as income (like the Federal Government does), everyone would be bankrupt.

In most families, if monthly expenses exceed earned income, expenses are cut back. Some families who can cut back no further might take a second job to bring in more income. The Federal Government on the other hand, never cuts back on expenses - the cost of government just keeps on growing every year. The solution suggested by some is for the Federal Government to take the equivalent of a second job - raise taxes. When taxes have been raised to the breaking point, borrowing money and printing more money is the next step. Unlike a family going bankrupt, our country now has a recessed economy and staggering debt.

How about savings? After we have been told to save 10% of our money, the Federal Government has nothing in the coffers - per our President, we are dead broke. We spend faster than we can print it. The result of this reckless spending has resulted in the dollar continuously slipping against the Yen and Euro. It is so bad that John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign said "I would say our country is spending like drunken sailors, except I don't want to offend drunken sailors".

We need to have RESPONSIBLE people running our government that act as good stewards with our hard earned tax dollars. We need to use micro-economics in managing our national financial affairs rather than macro-economics. If we can't persuade the current crowd in Washington D. C. to financially run our country like a large family rather than a monopoly game, we need to throw the bums out and quickly. We owe our children no less.

.

One Small Step for Man, One Missed Step for Mankind

As we know, this week is the 40 year anniversary of mankind first landing on the Moon. This event, like the day President Kennedy was shot, the attack on 9/11 or Pearl Harbor is etched into our memories like a bookmark on a computer. If you asked someone of the appropriate age, most could tell you where they were and what they were doing the moment Neil Armstrong first set foot on the Moon and uttered, "One small step for man and one giant leap for mankind".

Those were wonderful days for not only the United States, but also the world. In the early 1960's, President Kennedy challenged the nation to put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. Our technology was minimal at best. We had successes with the Mercury and Gemini Programs, but this was different. To propel three human beings out of low Earth orbit, send them hurtling towards the Moon in a space capsule hooked up to a LEM (Lunar Excursion Module), land, explore, and take off (with no problems) was almost more science fiction than science. However, as a nation, we mostly agreed that this was worth the investment and the risk. During that time, there were some but not many protestations saying that we should feed the hungry or ameliorate poverty rather than explore a dead rock 240,000 miles away.

After the first landing, this was a time a national victory! We did it - using less technology than most of us have in today's cell phones, we used spit, chewing gum and a whole lot of national resolve to be the first to plant our feet, our flag on something other than Earth. By the way - forget all the crap that the Moon landing did not happen - it really did. We had the technology in 1969 (barely) to do it and we do today. We had nothing to gain by staging this event at a Warner Brothers back lot to fool gullible, tax paying Americans.

With all this being said, what is the purpose of this posting? Quite simply, the past 40 years since 1969 have betrayed Neil Armstrong's infamous words. We have not done the "giant leap for mankind" - quite the contrary, we have done practically nothing in the colonization of the Moon. In fact, other than bringing back some moon rocks, we have done little. All of our successes in space (which have been many) have been adjunct to the success of the past lunar landings.

So where do we go from here? Is there any reason to double down our investment in going back to the Moon and doing it again?

In the business world, questions on return on investment or value proposition are frequently asked. In other words, it would be paramount on the part of NASA to explain (in simple terms) to the United States taxpayers what we hope to gain by going back to the Moon. For example, does it make sense to establish a Moon base where low gravity experiments can be conducted that would yield results not obtainable on Earth? Does it make sense to this Moon base to be "bunkered in" to offer more safety (from radiation and fast moving space junk) than the international space station? Is there mining for much needed minerals that we can economically harvest and bring back to Earth? Anything else?

Forty years ago it was good for our national soul to do the almost impossible. Today, it is imperative that we do the practical. Many have asked "wither NASA?". I too, have wondered what we are gaining by each unmanned probe, each shuttle flight. Other than the Hubble, I have trouble seeing the tangible results. If we are gaining value, it is incumbent on NASA to explain to us what that value is and how we are going to utilize it. Don't get me wrong - I am not against the exploring space. I just want NASA to do the right thing and show us a path rather than a dead end like we experienced in 1972 when the last LEM left the surface of the Moon and slipped into history rather than science.

Droughts and Water Farms

There are very few words in the English dictionary that I dislike more than "drought". Droughts affect many lives in many different ways - mostly bad. The only positive thing I ever heard about droughts was from a AM 1500 talk personality many years ago who stated that droughts were good for the golf courses he used. Even though it cost the courses a fortune in watering just to keep the fairways in marginal condition, this talk jock liked the fact he could hit "burners" because the ground was so hard.

The simple fact is that droughts hurt and they hurt bad. Just from my situation alone, droughts affect my fishing as many the local lakes are very hard to launch into and out of; we will in a forest of pine trees and they can get tender dry; we have many gardens and 1 1/2 acres of sodded yard which requires much moisture. Now that is just my situation. Look at topographical map of the state of Minnesota and see how much or our land is dedicated to agriculture. The majority of farms that I have seen out state do not have irrigation and those that do pay a hefty price for this artificial rain.

When I am driving around greater Minnesota, it seems that many of the farms are without irrigation. For those farms who do not have irrigation, they leave having a good crop up to chance the same way farmers did a century ago. With all the progress we have made in agriculture with hybrids and better soil conditioning, the one thing that we still leave up to chance is moisture.

For those farms who do have irrigation that are watering from sunrise to sunset, I often wonder how much of that badly needed water actually gets into the subsoil to benefit the crops. Many times during droughts the air humidity in the upper Midwest can almost match the desert southwest. I would guess that a high percentage of that water goes into evaporation rather than irrigation.

One of the things I have thought about for years and would love to see as part of a "stimulus" from our government is building water farms. A water farm is a desalination plant that would be built in a place in the country that has available space and lots of sunlight. This is not new technology - it has existed for some time now. If we built a water farm in Death Valley, California, which is solar powered, we could convert sea water, pumped in from the Pacific Ocean, into fresh water and sell it as a commodity. Water would become like electricity - a utility.

We would then have to construct infrastructure to deliver this water to areas which need it and want to buy it. It would be similar to the pipelines in which we deliver oil and gas throughout the country. Water would be delivered to a farm, be metered and the cost of the water would become a cost of doing business to raise and deliver a crop. Because water would have a tangible value, we would by nature look to use it more wisely and not to waste it. The old style of irrigation would finally give way to more efficient drip irrigation for farms where it is practicable.

Water, water everywhere. With over 70% of the surface of our planet covered by water, there is no excuse to have the water shortages we have today. We have the technology to change this. With the concern about ocean levels rising, there is no chance that by using salt water (and lots of it) to be converted to potable water that we would negatively affect the oceans. Let us take this opportunity to finally put a dent into the damage that droughts can cause not only in this country, but also world wide by investigating and investing in water farm technology.

The Night Jesus Came

This article was taken from Worship.Net on March 24, 2005. It is a true story that was orginally printed in a southern newspaper in June 2001(author unknown).

There was a atheist couple who had a very sweet little girl...they never told her about the Lord and did their best to discredit or entirely keep all knowledge of the Lord from her... One night when the little girl was only five years old, her parents fought viciously with each other. It certainly wasn’t the first time she had seen any fights break out between them, but this time was by far the worst, and it scared her terribly. In the end, her Father shot her Mother and then turned the gun on himself. This little girl saw the horrors of it ALL... She was then made a ward of the state and was sent to live in a foster home. The foster mother was a Christian woman and took the little girl to church with her every Sunday. However, the first day of Sunday school, the foster mother informed her teacher that the little girl had never heard of Jesus and to have patience with her. After hearing the little girl’s sad story, the teacher agreed... During the course of Sunday school, the teacher happened to hold up a picture of Jesus and asked her class, "Does anyone know who this man is and why He is so famous?" The little girl held up her hand and mystified as well as rather intrigued, the teacher called on her with a kind smile. The little girl smiled back and then the smile faded and her eyes took on a very sad and far away expression as she answered in a small voice barely heard, "I DO know who He is because that is the man who was holding me the night my parents died."

Scientist of Faith

I cannot remember where I got this or who said it - all I know is I have had it for quite a while as I was awed by it's profundity....


When I look though a telescope, I can see God’s grandeur;

When I look though a microscope, I can see God’s intricacy;

When I look at nature, I can see God’s harmony;

And when I read the Word, I understand God’s love, mercy and grace.

The fact that God created everything great and small and still loves me as He does, humbles me beyond belief.

Growing Up in a MOST Modern World

This is another item I wrote for my two girls not too long ago. I think it still applies today...


Know and understand the world in which you live

o The world today is much different that the world that people grew up in 30 to 40 years ago. Not better, not worse, just different.
o 40 years ago, this country was at war with Viet Nam. A brutal, directionless war that was fought 100% on foreign soil. If you were a young man living in this country, the war would affect you in some manner on the way to becoming a man.
o Today we are at war. Have no doubt, this country as well as most of the western world is at war. We are at war with an unseen enemy that does not claim a country nor wear a uniform. This enemy is in this country right now with the dual goals of destroying our economy and killing our people. They don’t want to change us, they want to kill us.
o Whether we like it or not, our economy is becoming segmented into haves and those that do not have. Training and education are the best tools that a person can have to ensure that they will not become a “have not”. This nation has made a decision in the 1990’s to greatly increase our immigrant population. Many of these people have no skills, no training, and no education. However, most are hungry and highly motivated. These are the people that you will be competing against in the job market if you decide not to have advanced education or training.

Health care/health insurance is your biggest expense

o If you can work for an organization that offers benefits (health insurance), great. It is still very expensive as organizations tend to pay less and less of the cost every year.
o If you do not have benefits were you work, health insurance can be prohibitively expensive.
o This is critically important. As a young person, the best strategy to being covered by health insurance is to STAY IN SCHOOL. By staying in school, you will be able to be covered by health insurance until you are 25.
o If you get sick without having health insurance, you will be taken care of. This is a law in our state. However, the health provider will be coming after you for years for remuneration.
o If you get sick in a socialist country like Canada, be aware they have rationed health care. Elective treatment may have a waiting list of months. Many Canadians come across the boarder for treatment of illness as time to wait and quality of care is much better in this country.
o Many in this country think that the health care crisis will be over in 5 to 10 years in this country. The cost growth is simply not sustainable. You will have the opportunity to be part of the solution to fix it.

Not having plans and strategies are no longer options

o In the post modern world, having strategies for success are just has important as putting gas in your tank. Not have strategies and Plan “A”, Plan “B” and so on, will leave you defenseless against the onslaught of the ever changing world.
o One of the things that the former Soviet Union did well was to keep five year plans on everything. In other words, where to you want to be in five years and what are the steps in getting there. Everyone should do the same with their lives. Where am I now, and where to I want to be in five years. This could be physically, educationally, vocationally, financially and so on.
o “Plan the work and work the plan” is an old business adage which simple means once you have the plan, implement it.
o Write your plan and strategies down. Many of the aspects of your life plan are too complex to remember. Also, having it written down makes it easier to modify and validate as time goes on.

Make friends with God

o This is the most important one and yet it is in last place.
o As you go though life, you will have some close friends and you will have some friends that will greatly disappoint you. Many of your friends will come and go as time goes on. In this world, it is your parents that will show you the most unconditional love. However, your parents will not be here as long as you will be.
o There is only one constant for eternal love and acceptance. There is only one friend who will never desert nor betray you. Nothing you have done in your life has changed that love one bit.
o Faith makes facing death much easier, but it also makes facing life much easier also. Having a strong relationship with God will not solve all your problems, it just makes them so much easier to bear.
o Many people that become friends with God notice that ALL aspects of their lives start to improve. God created us all to succeed.