Kyles first time being an Altar server

Katie Joke

Kate's joke. Not sure if it will post correctly

Oak Harbor defeats Gonzaga Prep

Fake Noise?

It has been reported that the Seahawks are using artificial crowd noise at Qwest field. Mike Holmgren did the right thing and used the situation to incite the Qwest field fans to be louder than ever.

I would love to be in that stadium on Sunday. Nationally televised game, rematch of a great game from last year, controversy, intrigue, and best of all; whiney New Yorkers filing official complaints about how loud it is at Qwest Field.

The Giant's players are going to look like a bunch of Pee Wee Hermans running around yelling, WHAAT? WHAAAAATTTT?

nice to hear

This news story surprised me this morning. I wonder if the wrong people were killed. Or perhaps she is being punished for failing. Or maybe some reasonable people are actually starting to surface.

I screwed up

somehow, while trying to fix a problem with the title to one of my posts, I erased all of my links and some other stuff from my profile. I will try to rebuild, but it may take some time.

Medical Ethics

Don't be alarmed by the specific organ that was transplanted in this story. My question/comment has to do with the donor and the fact that they are in China.

I have a difficult time respecting the determination that this transplant was done ethically. First, because they say the organ was donated by a "brain dead" person. What does that mean? Was this person dead with the exception of them being on a heart/lung machine? Was he "brain dead" the same way Terry Schiavo was in a "vegitative state"? Second, was the "donor" mutilated and left alive without the donated organ? was the person killed to harvest the organ?

I fear that this is a case of eugenic donation. I define that as the harvesting of body parts from non productive "donors" so that the body parts can be given to and used by "productive people" for the "betterment of society as a whole". How much longer until people start holding off on having abortions until the third trimester so that they can sell the "biological substances" contained in their wombs for medical research and procedures such as organ "donation"?

Pyro

IRONY ALERT!

Outraged over Pope Benedict XVI's remarks made during a speech in Germany, Muslims worldwide are calling for a personal apology. The link above will provide for you the text of the Pope's remarks. In short, he cited a 14th century text from a Christian Emperor that characterized Islam as violent, and that that violent spreading of a religion is wrong.

Now to the Muslim world... So outrage by this unfair assesment, or reading of a 14th century assesment, they are rioting and burning the Pope in effigy. So let me get this staight, It's not acceptable to call Islam violent. If you do make the mistake of calling them violent, they burn you in effigy, fire bomb your churches, and recall their ambassadors.

I told a guy at work that he swears and curses too much. He told me to #$%@ &@#. Nothing like proving someones point. I'm glad that the pink elephant is starting to be pointed out.

Pyro

single gender schools

Just read this article, and it brings to mind something. The use of the words "equal" and "same". For some of today's people, the words are synonyms. In actuality they are not. I don't have the same rules for each of my kids (because of age differences). I don't treat all people the same. That doesn't mean that I don't use equal fairness when interacting with others. Men and women are not the same. They are, however, equal in dignity. Because of their equal dignity they deserve to be treated justly.

I believe that history bears out that single gender education is effective and cuts out lots of problems that are present when the genders are mixed. Many private schools have been doing it for hundreds of years.

The complaints against single gender schools are mostly red herrings that are being fished up to support an agenda. After all, if we recognize that women and men aren't the same (and they aren't) then somehow the genderless, same sex marriage, homosexual adoption, secular feminist, agendas will be defeated. Right? I don't know, but those seem to be the groups that fight against it. Sometimes it's easier to pick a side on an issue when you see where your enemies line up.

Do you think it bothers the left that TITLE IX was championed and signed in to law by President Richard Nixon?

Pyro

Long time no blog II

Well, It's been nearly two weeks since I blogged. We were very busy at work. Several red flag days, (extreme fire conditions). I had one stretch where I was on duty (24 hour shifts) 5 out of 7 days. When I was home I had other things to do besides sit at the computer.

In a way it was similar to lent. Sometimes it does a person good to deprive themselves of an activity. It helps to refocus ones attention to some of the basics.

There is so much that occured in the last two weeks; The 9/11 anniversary, Steve Irwin's death, NFL football regular season starting, election stuff, huge oil discoveries, faith news...

I can't go back and catch up, so I will just start in again.

Back in School!!!!!!

Kids are back in School. Funny thing is, they were telling me last week how they were done with Summer! I don't know if that's because Summer was terrible or because it was so good that they were all rested up. I think they really just missed their friends and were ready to get back to work.

Thankfully my kids' school is headed by a pastor who is attentive to the Catholicity of their education. There is a Mass every Friday and get this, the Mass is celebrated with fidelity to the authentic liturgy of the Church. The pastor focuses his homily on the kids and their issues but, he doesn't dumb down the liturgy or invent his own "Children's Mass" to make Church more "entertaining" for the kids. I had a similar experience when my kids went to a Missouri Synod Lutheran school. The pastor there had a church service every Wednesday for the school kids. It was done with almost identical similarity to the regular Sunday worship service. The sermon was geared at the kid level but the other stuff wasn't "dumbed down". I think lots of Christian communities sell kids short. Or maybe there is an over commercialization of "church". In order to compete in the free enterprise church environment you have to excite your customers and give them something unique. I think having a "kids service" that uses the "entertainment value" concept to make kids interested does much harm in the long run. It focuses the service on the individual instead of on God. The adjective "service" begins to modify the mortal subjects as opposed to the Divine Person. Then, when the kids are adults and out looking for their own church, they instinctively look for a community that entertains them. Maybe not on the conscious level, but it certainly happens. And it happens in both the Catholic and Protestant worlds.

Anyway, (How'd I get off on that tangent) My kids are happy to back in school. I'm happy they're back in school. My wife's happy they're back in school. Everyone's happy!! Now I have the computer and X-BOX to myself!!!!!! I mean,.... Now my wife and I can spend more quality time together.

Just wait till next week after the first test...

John Mark Karr

Well, looks like Karr is just a stupid, demented, pervert and not responsible for JonBenet's murder. Will they be able to keep him off the streets? Probably not, we will most likely have to wait until he brutalizes some poor innocent child before we can protect society from this sexual deviant.

Will the news media just go to using his first and last name now? They seem to use the full name whenever they report on a serial killer or molester. Shouldn't they refrain from using the middle name until the guy is at least put on trial?

Seahawk 2006 team preview - Running Backs

This part of the preview seems like a no brainer. The problem with no-brainers is that they have a way of making you look dumb. You can't take credit for being right because, it is after all a no-brainer! And if you're wrong, your dumb for not seeing it coming and just going along with the prevailing opinion. But here goes...

Half Back - Shaun Alexander 5'11" #225
What is there to say? 1800+ yards and 29 TD's last year. Shaun has talked about how he needs to have an even better year this year for the Hawks to win the Superbowl. I like that kind of talk. Realistically however, there will probably be a drop off in productivity. Even with only 1400 yards and 20 touchdowns though, Shaun will still be the starting pro-bowler.

Full Back - Mack Strong 6'0" #245
Mack finally got his due last year and started in the pro bowl. He is the best blocking full back in the NFC and that doesn't look to change this year. Mack also had a good year running the ball in 2005 and set a Seahawk playoff record for the longest run during the Redskin game after Alexander went out with a concussion. He is in the twilight of his career with 14 years in the league.

Backups -
Maurice Morris 5'11" #202
Mo is faster and quicker than Shaun but doesn't have the field vision or shiftyness that #37 brings to the game. Mo is experienced with the offensive scheme and can be trusted to spell Shaun without it affecting the play calling. He is not a legitimate starting NFL half back but is a good insurance policy for Shaun.

Leonard Weaver 6'0" #251
Weaver has been impressive thus far this pre-season. He has shown the ability to fill in at both fullback and halfback. He is a big bruising back who is also fast on his feet. This in two pre-season games he has 15 rushes for 54 yards and a touchdown. He also has two catches for 7 yards.

Josh Scobey 6'0" #220
Scobey was with us last year and was used mostly as a kick returner. He stuggled in the playoffs and isn't really that reliable in my opinion.

Ran Carthon 6'0" #218
four rushes for 19 yards this pre-season. Father was a good running back

David Kirtman 6'0" #230
Drafted out of that USC program. Overshadowed by Reggie Bush and Lendale White. Time will tell if he's a diamond in the rough. He has three yards in his only attempt so far.

We have the talent, the health, and a history of success. This is the stronges part of our team. Hopefully Alexander doesn't slack off now that he has the big contract. And I don't believe in curses so the Madden and Superbowl loser things have no bearing on my outlook. The only thing to improve as far as I'm concerned is Alexanders pass blocking skills.

Overall A

Crossing yourself illegal in Scotland?

This is alarming.

There may be more to the story, or maybe not... But at face value I find this alarming. Especially when other physical gestures, (such as those done by the female music star who refers to herself as "Madonna"), openly mocking Christianity and other religions throughout Europe are ignored by the European governments.

Hopefully the United Nations Human Rights Committee will condemn this action by the Scottish government because of it's religious intollerance.... YA RIGHT!!!!!

Lt. Watada is a "disgrace"

Lt. Watada is the Army officer who earned his commission after the war on terror started. The Army helped pay for his education and he in turn agreed to serve. He subsequently decided that the invasion of Iraq was unjust so... when his unit is deployed to Iraq, he refuses to ship out. Pretty convenient. Hey Watada!! the invasion is over!!!!! Iraq is now occupied and the troops there are preventing a civil war and large scale sectarian violence. If all the allied troops pulled out, there would be enormous atrocities. To go to Iraq and assist in the stabilization of the legitimately elected Iraqi government is moral and just. I think you have been studying too many Democratic Party talking point memos... Didn't you get taught to think when you went to college?

Here's what Japanese-American veteran groups have to say about Watada.

Labor Unions Are Their Own Worst Enemy

After reading this post, I am reminded what it is that people despise about organized labor. The fact that I'm pro labor doesn't transfer to the fact that I "Goose Step" with organized labor politically. As with many political groups, they lose focus of the issue they are addressing and begin to promote agendas that have little to do with the purpose for their existance.

I'll do a quick review here of what labor unions justly stand for.

1.- A fair living wage for their family.
2.- Reasonable hours of work.
3.- Reasonably safe working conditions. Both physically safe and psycholigically safe from being treated unjustly by managers or other people of authority.

Justice for workers is derived from the fact that we are created "Imago Dei". By virtue of this fact people have a right to be treated with justice. Treating workers unjustly is specifically condemned in Scripture (Deut 24: 14-15, James 5: 1-5). There are two great Encyclicals written regarding workers justice including: Loberm Excercens, Rerum Novarum, and the letter Centesimus Annus. These writings by the Popes do much to promote social justice and were written at times of great injustice (the industrial revolution with it's horrible working conditions and reliance on child labor, and the rise of modernism).

I am pro-labor. But I am not going to compromise my morality and Christian witness to blindly support and defend the actions of labor unions. I particularly can't stand the NEA. They are culpable for erroding our public education system. To draw an analogy, they are washing away the top soil of our public schools and have created the dust bowl of education.

JonBenet

So, there has been a lot of attention again pertaining to the JonBenet Ramsey murder case. I remember back when this all first came out in the news 10 years ago. My feelings now are the same as they were then. What the h*$% is the matter with parents who dress up their six year old to look like she's a women in her 20's? It's just creepy the way they do it, it's not right. It can't just be modeling because models are selling something. You get attractive men or women to put on new and stylish clothing and you take pictures of them. Then those pictures are put in a magazine. People read the magazine, see the pictures, think the models look nice in the clothes, or the clothes look nice on the models, then they go buy the clothes so they can look nice too. Models are used to sell make-up, cars, alcohol, furniture, jewelry, electronics... you name it. There are also legitimate child models. They are dressed up like kids and used to market kid stuff.

JonBenet and other kids like her are different. You don't see them used to market merchandise, because people are weirded out by a 6 year old that is made to look like she's 20. The only people who enjoy looking at them are their parents (usually their mothers) and perverts. There must be something missing in the mothers life to want to emmerse their little daughter in to the world of JonBenet style modeling.

I think that these parents have a disorder similar to Munchausen's Disorder or Munchausen's by Proxy. Munchausen Disorder is a psychological illness whereby a person seeks attention by making their child sick. A very famous case of this was Kathleen Bush who was paraded around by Hillary Clinton for being a devoted mother back in 1994. This disorder is of course named after the famous Baron Von Munchausen. John Neville starred in a movie adaptation of the books called The Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen.

I have a pretty harsh take on this whole JonBenet story. First, it's a horrible tragedy, what happened to JonBenet. She was a true victim of a hideous crime. An innocent life snuffed out by perversion. Second, I believe that JonBenet's parents share culpability in her death because of the type of modeling environment they had her in. Third, the person most responsible for JonBenet's death is the person who actually killed her. The killer deserves very harsh treatment by our judicial system.

Homily Joke

Got this from a priest who has a blog. He posts his homilies there (usually). This one is pretty funny. I'm going to send it to my Fire Chief. That should get me some brownie points!! Oh well, my family has never been accused of playing the corporate game... We're to smart for that!

“Welcome to Heaven,” said St. Peter. “Before you get settled in though, it seems we have a problem. You see, strangely enough, we’ve never once had someone like you make it this far and we’re not really sure what to do with you.”
“No problem, just let me in” said the woman. “Well, I’d like to, but I have higher orders. What we’re going to do is let you have a day in Hell and a day in Heaven and then you can choose whichever one you want to spend an eternity in.”
“Actually, I think I’ve made up my mind, I prefer to stay in Heaven”, said the woman. “Sorry, we have rules...” And with that St. Peter put the executive in an elevator and down it went, straight to hell.

When the doors opened she found herself stepping out onto the putting green of a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a clubhouse and standing in front of her were all her friends - fellow executives that she had worked with and they were all dressed in evening gowns and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times. They played an excellent round of golf and at night went to the clubhouse where she enjoyed an excellent steak and lobster dinner. She met the Devil who was actually a really nice guy (kinda cute even) and she had a great time telling jokes and dancing. She was having such a good time that before she knew it, it was time to leave. Everybody shook her hand and waved good- bye as she got on the elevator. Up and up the elevator went and opened back up at the Gates of Heaven where good old St. Peter waiting for her.

“Now it’s time to spend a day in heaven,” he said. So she spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing. She had a great time and before she knew it her 24 hours were up and St. Peter came and got her. “So, you’ve spent a day in hell and you’ve spent a day in heaven. Now you must choose your eternity,” he said.

The woman paused for a second and then replied, “Well, I never thought I’d say this, I mean, Heaven has been really great and all, but I think I had a better time in Hell.” So St. Peter escorted her to the elevator and again down she went, straight back to Hell. When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends were dressed in rags and were picking up the garbage and putting it in sacks. The Devil came up to her and put his arm around her.

“I don’t understand,” stammered the woman, “yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a clubhouse and we ate lobster and we danced and had a great time. Now all there is a wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable.”

The Devil looked at her and smiled. “Yesterday we were recruiting you, today.....you’re staff.

Seahawk 2006 team preview - wideouts

This years wide receivers are hard to figure out. There is potential for them to be very good. There is also the potential for them to be a great weakness. There were lots of injuries last year and the glue that held them together (besides Hasselbeck) was Jurevicius who is now gone to Cleveland. This years two starters are the same as last years.

WR1- Darrell Jackson 6'0" #200
D-Jack was hurt last year only starting 6 games. He had offseason knee surgery and won't play in pre-season until late August. When he's healthy he's very good. He runs well after the catch and is able to get good separation. He lacks the speed to make him a deep threat or the size to make him a good target over the middle.
WR2- Bobby Engram 5'10" #188
Engram is the small posession receiver that teams like to have. He's tough and will go over the middle. Last year he was hurt (broken ribs) during the Redskins loss in game 4. He finished the game and then was in and out of the line-up the rest of the year. Very dependable but starting to get a little old.
WR3- Nate Burleson 6'0" #192
Burleson was a free agent acquision after the loss of Jurevicius. I loved Jurevicius and only hope that Burleson can provide the leadership and example the Joe provided last year when the receiver corps was depleted by injury. Burleson is supposed to be the speed guy that stretches the defense. He was injured last season but put up good numbers prior to the injury for the Vikings. He's a hometown boy and a graduate of O'Dea High School.
Backups-
Peter Warrick 5'11" #195 - starting his second year with the Hawks. Heisman Trophy winner with Florida State six years ago. Has all the tools to be an NFL great. But hasn't done it on the field yet. Will he finally break out with the Hawks.....? I sure hope so!
D.J.Hackett 6'2" #199 - Had some nice catches last year. Has filled the role of the "speed" receiver, but only gets maybe 1-2 catches a game. The D doesn't stand for dependable. Has an injured hamstring and isn't traveling with the team to Indy for the pre-season game.
Taco Wallace 6'1" #190 - I included him here because he has a cool name. Not someone to be excited about on the field however. Probably will be covering kickoffs and punts.

Tight End- Jeramy Stevens 6'7" #260
Stevens was much improved last year and turned in to someone for defenses to plan against. Big target over the middle with dependable hands (except in the Superbowl) he seems to be injury prone and is now out 6 weeks with a torn cartlidge in his knee. Had a history of personal problems in college (Washington). Another hometowner (Tacoma).

Iutla Mili 6'4" #260
hurt last year but a dependable receiver and a better blocker than Stevens.

Will Heller 6'6" #265
brought in from Tampa to be a third string player. Not much excitement out of him in Tampa his first 4 seasons.

It's a good thing that our running game dominates. That makes our receivers better than they really are. If they play up to their potential, escpecially Warrick and Jackson, and avoid injuries they could be a big surprise to the rest of the NFL.

overall B-

Way to go France!!??

Those French!!!

If France was a football player they'd be the 2nd string punter.

(I know who that is in the photo, it's just the closest I could get to a chicken all talk and no action Frenchman)