In the News

Sunday, January 24, 2010

My church is amazing. Because of our area we have a very connected congregation. We have media people, government people (from the lowest echelon (like me) to more high-falutin’ types, doctors, lawyers, etc. You name the industry and it is probably represented in our church. And we are generous - there are a lot of local missions to which our church supports, not just financially but with volunteers as well. And then there are the global missions that we support, including an orphanage in Haiti.

Since we have a long-standing relationship with them as well as our denomination having missions in Haiti, this is one disaster where we felt we could have both an immediate and long-reaching impact. It has been cool to read the Facebook updates of our global missions pastor in the past couple of weeks as he worked to find out the needs in Haiti and then to put together a response team. That team left today and you can read about it here.

The team is composed of 7 people. Our global missions pastor is leading this team of medical personnel that includes the Chief of Orthopedics from a local hospital, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, the former Chief of Surgery at Walter Reed (he’s in private practice now), a physician’s assistant, an anesthesiologist, and the local hospital’s Disaster Response specialist. From what I’ve heard on the news, medical care is the most urgent need (aside from food/water/shelter, of course). There are people with open compound fractures and other wounds that have not received any treatment because there aren’t enough doctors, not enough equipment/supplies, not enough medicines. I know that these few people will be greatly used, not just to provide the practical care, but also to minister, to share God’s love and grace and mercy. I am excited for how the Lord will use them.

Updates from a couple of the people while they traveled today included:

1. US Airlines waiving fees for extra and heavy bags. Seven people took 16 bags that were overfull with medical and other supplies. Thank you, USAir.

2. A cab driver in Ft. Lauderdale (where they flew to today before leaving for Port-au-Prince on a chartered flight) was Haitian and had family in Port-au-Prince. He wouldn’t let them pay the fare and took them wherever they needed to go (I think they were getting more supplies).

They have already taken off and should land in Port-au-Prince sometime around 10pm. Will you join me in praying for them? Pray for the logistics of the rest of their travels tonight. Pray that they are able to get some good rest tonight so that when they hit the ground running in the morning they are rested and ready for the things they will face. Pray that they won’t lose any of their equipment and supplies and that they will have enough for the week that they will be there.

And pray for the teams even now being assembled for future trips. Our church is committed for the long haul in Haiti. I know there are already plans to send more medical teams as long as they are needed and then we will send teams to help rebuild.

I will post updates as I get them, if you’re interested…

Thursday, January 21, 2010

So Our Esteemed Leader did an interview with ABC News in which he explained that his low approval ratings are because he didn’t spend enough time communicating the core values of the American people to the American people.

In his first full year in office, OEL gave over 900 speeches and had almost 60 press conferences. Seems like he did a little too much talking and not nearly enough listening.

He needs to take some Q-Tips to his tin ears, methinks.

I don’t need OEL and his team to tell me what my core values are, thanks.

The American people have been trying to remind you, OEL! You’re ignoring us. That is your problem.

Oh, and stop blaming the previous administration for all of your problems. You’ve been in the job long enough that it doesn’t hold up any longer and it’s just rude.

Friday, November 13, 2009

There were 14 murdered, not 13. Are they forgetting Laci & Conner’s Law?

So the Prez thinks it’s time to hold a summit to discuss the economy/jobs. Really? A forum? Yeah, that’s helpful.

And he ignores his War Council. I don’t know why he even has one if he’s going to ignore them. He’s not dithering. I think he’s being very deliberate on this issue.

On a lighter note, last night’s Survivor was awesome. I love the sneak attacks.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Who knew that McDonalds uses so many varieties of potato for their fries or that they had so much influence over the industry?

Monday, September 14, 2009

They covered the rally live w/out comnmentary. You can watch here.

But not in the American media.

The pictures are awesome!

[UPDATE]: I should clarify - the Obama = Hitler signs I don’t agree with. I didn’t like them when Bush was President, I don’t like them now. However, the one picture of Obama’s Teleprompter is my favorite - we saw them all over the place and I regret not taking my own pictures of them.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

We went to the 9/12 March on Washington yesterday. It was the first time that Beau or I had ever attended any kind of political rally or protest in our lives. Seems that was true for most people out there yesterday.

It was an adventure hauling two little kids, but they were troopers and both did really well with the crowds, no naps, and general chaos through out the day. Jesse enjoyed the ride in on the Metro, although not so much the ride home. Molly Ann hung out with me most of the day, although if you look closely at about 25-27 seconds in the video, you’ll see me sitting in a chair eating a bag of chips with MA on the blanket on the ground at my feet. There are two handmade signs stuck in the ground near me, too, that we made the night before.

We weren’t planning to march at all, but to get right to the rally point at the Capitol. But when we got to street level at the Metro station, we saw the marchers just down the block. We figured that was simply the easiest way to get to the rally area and so we headed that way and just blended into the crowds walking down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Since it was wall-to-wall people (TV outlets are reporting crowds in the 10’s of thousands. There was one person from the podium who announced some official count closer to 1.5 million people. Beau was at the Promise Keepers thing in DC years ago where there were actually 1.5 million people on the Mall and he said yesterday felt similar in terms of bodies, if not in spirit. So, it was crowded), we opted to stop trying to work the stroller through the lawns once we hit the back of the Reflecting Pool area. We found a small patch of clear grass and settled in. It turns out the area wasn’t the best for being able to hear any of the speeches, but we had a good time interacting with our fellow protesters and looking at all of the signs being walked past. At separate times, Beau and I each took one child for a walk closer, but we really didn’t get too far since the crowds got fuller the closer we moved up.

We stayed for a couple of hours then packed up and headed back to the Metro station when we knew both kids had had about enough of the day. As we got closer to the Metro station, we realized had been in a terrible location for being able to listen. The speakers got louder and more clear as we crossed the Mall area - if we had headed to our right about 200 yards we would have had a perfect spot for listening. Oh well, it was fun in any case.

All in all it was a positive experience and we think we may do it again since we know the kids will tolerate it well. I have a bunch of pictures. Those will get posted in a bit.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Choosing Thomas - A family’s decision to let their son live, if only for a brief time.

Have a box of tissues handy.

Monday, August 10, 2009

So Speaker Pelosi and Majority Whip Hoyer think that those of us who disagree with Obamacare and speak out about it are “un-American?”

I seem to recall that during the previous administration, those who spoke their dissent of Bush policies were the ultimate patriots.

You can’t have it both ways, folks. Speaking dissent is either patriotic or un-American. Since the Constitution backs up free speech of every kind, I’m going to go with patriotic.

* You get the satisfaction of being pop culturally literate to those who know the post title reference. Make your guess in the comments.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

I didn’t even know this was the trial going on upstairs for the past several weeks. I noticed cameras out front yesterday and asked who was in court. For some reason it didn’t occur to me that he would go on trial in Virginia since I thought it would be in DC. But of course, his home is in Northern Virginia, so our courthouse makes sense.

I’m glad for the conviction.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Via Thinkling Bill, I’m getting my nerd on this weekend by checking out We Choose The Moon. It’s a website devoted to running the audio of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon in real time. I’ve got a window open and it’s kind of cool to just listen to the static and hum of the radio transmissions. Then randomly someone will key the mic to say something rather mundane. Of course, I haven’t really had a chance to listen when they’re in the midst of a full work day yet, although I did hear some conversation yesterday between Buzz Aldrin and Houston about some problem with their TV signal in space - apparently they were getting wavy lines on their screen up there and they wanted to check with the contractor if that was to be the norm or if it was some glitch that could be fixed.

[UPDATE (9:15 am)]: Just ordered my new glasses and heard CapCom explain that while it is now 40 minutes past the scheduled rest time, they have opted to let the astronauts continue to sleep since there’s nothing pressing for them to do at this point. Love that little nerdlet of info.

Somehow I forgot that ole Uncle Walter was still with us. His death marks the end of an era in journalism. We weren’t fans in our household and he definitely was not “the most trusted man in America” to us. His commentary about the Vietnam war in his newscasts raised my father’s ire, which trickled down to the rest of us. We were a Harry Reasoner family instead. Still, he was an icon in journalism and he shall be missed.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

From Al Gore:

Al Gore on Tuesday compared the battle against climate change with the struggle against the Nazis.

The former vice president said the world lacked the political will to act and invoked the spirit of Winston Churchill by encouraging leaders to unite their nations to fight climate change.

[...]

Gore admitted that it was difficult to persuade the public that the threat from climate change was as urgent as the threat from Nazi Germany.

No, really?

A widely disputed scientific theory about weather is not at all like an evil dictator mass-murdering millions of people, Al.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

1. On Gov Sanford: He’s not my governor, but he was one of the politicians that I believed to be a solid guy. Turns out not to be the case. I was willing to forgive the transgression since he seemed so open and genuine in his confession of it, although the whole thing seemed super weird last week. This week? Gross. And it may be time for him to resign.

2. On Michael Jackson: Sad. His whole life was sad and his death is sad, too. A sad, sad circus freak show.

3. On Congress/The President: They’re all nutso and not paying attention to their constituents. This will come back to bite them on their rears. I’m hoping that happens before they destroy the very foundations of our country. I feel a deep forboding that grows daily.

4. On Tea Parties: We’re considering attending the Northern Virginia Tea Party on the 4th since it’s to be held near home. At this point it is mere consideration since I’m not enthused about being out in the heat in the hottest part of the day, there’s Molly Ann feedings to consider, and we’re going to my parents’ for a cookout that afternoon/evening. I’m totally with the protesters in spirit, though.

On that note, I heard author Brad Thor on the Glenn Beck radio show yesterday say that he thinks that no federal employee should be allowed to vote. They were talking about the special interests and Congress and how politics has gotten crazy lately. I understand where’s he is coming from, but he needs to remember that not every fed employee is a politically motivated bureaucrat with an agenda. Most fed employees are just regular citizens, many of whom feel the way he does about the direction we seem to be headed as a country.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Billy Mays, too?

Movies: Blood Work was OK.

Books: Shadow of Power by Stever Martini was pretty good, although I figured out the major mystery about halfway through the first chapter.

Food: Judging from the Roasted Mango-Chipotle sauce we had on our chicken last night, Bronco Bob’s sauces are awesome. I have a sample jar of the Raspberry-Chipotle sauce as well that I’m saving for some salmon in our future.

I’m on worship team this weekend. Our church is only having services on Sunday morning since July 4th is on Saturday. That will make things easier for our family. I have mixed feelings about it since it will be my first time back since having Molly Ann and also since our worship leader left. That is a whole long story about which I still feel weird. His leaving was a surprise and under odd circumstances. I miss him a ton as a worshipper and I know that I’m going to miss him more as our team leader. I’m very curious about what kind of person will come in to replace him - it’s hard to imagine anyone else, really.

I’ve posted a bunch of new items at Ticklish Giggles recently and there’s a new theme as well.

Happy Monday.