Religion is killing us???

This is a post I have wanted to get out for almost a week but I just have not had time to get all I wanted to say typed up. Just as a warning I know it is going to be long but I feel it is worth it... I don't exactly frequent USA Today's website, reading their slant on the news tends to just get me riled up. I do on occasion read their articles though, usually found when I am looking at headlines on other sites. There was an article published last Monday by a Rev. Oliver Thomas that I honestly read with my mouth open in amazement. It starts off like this:

"Is what we preach — and ultimately, what we believe — hastening the destruction of our planet? The answer appears to be a resounding yes. Be fruitful and multiply," says the book of Genesis, and Lord knows we have. To the tune of more than 300 million at home and more than 6 billion abroad. But as we go about the heavenly task of multiplying, a poignant question arises: Might our religion be killing us?"

It continues:

"We all remember the Aztecs. Some say their religion, with its penchant for violence and human sacrifice, played a critical role in the destruction of their civilization. We moderns are far more sophisticated, of course, but if we persist with some of our religious practices, we could be heading down the same disastrous dog trot. Sort of a reverse Noah story. Noah is credited with saving humanity during the big flood. We could be the ones who get blamed for destroying it.

Here's why. The hundreds of scientists who make up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned recently that the environmental crisis is more dire than originally believed. We might have reached a tipping point."

I am going to snip it there and just say that I do not believe there is a environmental crisis. A majority of the people pushing this scare-a-thon are also happen to be evolutionists and thus I'm immediately suspect as to their scientific reliability. Besides that, even secular scientists are widely divided on the fact that carbon emissions are causing global warming. Further, many reputable scientists remain unconvinced that the current warming of the earth is the result of any human contribution at all.

On top of all that, this past winter has been one of the coldest in memory for folks in the northern US or so I have read, which just another reason against a supposed environmental crisis. Yes the earth may be warming up slightly, at the same time 20 some years ago wasn't everyone worried about the world cooling off? The earth's temperature obviously fluctuates, like most things on our earth, it has a cycle. But in the interest of the article lets assume global warming is a serious issue.
Back to the article:

"much of our environmental problem is due to overpopulation. There are simply too many people for the planet to sustain — at least the way we expect to be sustained. Each new person requires more food, water and oxygen. At the same time, each is producing more carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane. For each additional human, planet Earth (and the rest of us) pays a price.
Now, consider the Roman Catholic Church's continued opposition to modern birth control or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' (i.e. Mormons) encouragement of large families. This might not alarm you unless you realize that nearly one in every five humans on the planet is Roman Catholic and that the Latter-day Saints belong to one of the fastest-growing religions in the Western Hemisphere. Many Orthodox Jews and some Muslims also eschew birth control."

You see where he is headed don't you? We as humans are supposedly killing the very earth we live on with our very lives. So what is Rev. Thomas' solution? (If you have not guessed it, you might want to sit down)

"In the interest of preserving our planet and our species, shouldn't religious organizations be encouraging smaller families? Do our spiritual leaders need additional divine revelation to realize that our current doctrines — which threaten to take the entire world down with us — have become ethically and theologically questionable?"

"Shouldn't religious organizations be encouraging smaller families?" :o Yeah, that is right, because the population is contributing to the theory, the theory mind you, of global warming and humans obviously must be the leading contributors to this bogus cause. Religious organizations should be happily encouraging smaller families for the sake of our planet!!! The Bible is obviously outdated and the spoken word of our very Creator is ethically and theologically questionable. Right?

I SERIOUSLY DISAGREE! The Rev. Oliver Thomas is speaking blasphemy in the very truest sense of the word, claiming to know better than God. It seems Rev. Thomas is part of the growing group of liberal "Christians" who feel the need to either re-interpret the Bible or even worse, completely disregard it as being behind these modern times in favor of a more "Politically correct" religious worldview. He continues on later in the article to say:

"we must stop having so many children. Clergy should consider voicing the difficult truth that having more than two children during such a time is selfish. Dare we say sinful? The average American might not listen to his elected representatives, but he darn sure listens to his pastor."

I guess in Rev. Thomas' mind I would be pretty sinful, because I certainly want more than two children! I would not be so rash as to tell God the exact number of children I want but, whatever number He sees fit to bless me and my future wife with I will take. Though if I were lucky enough to have 13 the transportation situation might become interesting. :p The article closes with another look back in time at the Aztecs:

"When Aztec society was threatened by disease and military defeat, their religious leaders appear to have let them down. Most likely, these leaders encouraged even more human sacrifice to appease the gods, thereby further weakening the society and ultimately facilitating its collapse. Let's hope we can learn from their mistakes."

That closing statement adds yet another flaw to the entire article's thought process. First, the Aztec were a carnal society which followed false gods, we trust in the one true God, the command's we receive from Him far outweigh some crazyness an Aztec witchdoctor told the people about sacrifices. Second the last sentence, "Let's hope we can learn from their mistakes." is almost an oxymoron of the article.

A sentence before he is talking about how the Aztec's desire to appease their false gods through sacrifice resulted in the weakening of their society in numbers and it's ultimate collapse. Yet for the whole article the main theme is for a limiting of children, forgetting our Biblical mandate of being fruitful and multiplying, isn't limiting the number of children we have doing the same thing the Aztec's did with their sacrifice, weakening the number of people with our beliefs and our society as a whole?

Environmentalists who value the earth above everything else, who view humans as expendable, would do well to remember Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. Yes, we should take care of the earth, nobody wants to live in a nasty pollution filled earth, but we also should remember that it is the Lord's, if He wants to cook our current earth, (which will happen eventually, Revelation 21:1) nothing we finite human do will stop Him.

To say I disagree with Rev. Thomas' article would be a understatement, I vehemently disagree in every sense of the word. To be opposed to having a quiver full of arrows, one of God's greatest blessings, is I feel, a serious offense towards all of humanity and God Himself. The fact that this man also is a Baptist minister as well as a constitutional lawyer only worsens that bitter taste in my mouth.

The whole article can be read here, I only took pieces from it as there were several other things said which I could continue ranting on but I knew this post was going to be long from the start without having a whole article pasted in my post.....

Speedtest...

I placed 199248 out of 274070 on the ranking list37 words

~Anna~

I'm sticking with you, 'Cause I'm made out of glue....

Pretty catchy little line eh? It's been in my head all day :p Last Wednesday afternoon I climbed in my car and headed south to help my dad with some work. If you have been reading the blog for a while, you know I love driving, especially with the music cranked up and the windows down. It being a beautiful spring day, perfect for driving, I was happy to spend several hours with the wind whipping my hair as I sang along with my music.

I arrived at my destination roughly two and half hours later, met my dad and we got checked into the place we were staying. No sooner had we parked the cars when his phone rings and he gets a call requesting us to do an interior shot. This requires lights, which are at home several hours back up the interstate.

Being the crazy always willing to drive person I am, five minutes later I was back in my car, windows rolled down retracing my steps. Fortunately the lights were not needed until the next day so I arrived home, put them in my car and got to sleep in my own bed Wednesday night before I was back on the road early the next morning.

Several hours later back on site, we set the lights up for one shot, ate some lunch and headed outside to do another shot. It was then realized that one of our lenses had some serious issues, as in, it was not working at all. What do you suppose happened? I got back in my car and drove yet again back in the direction of home.

Except this trip I stopped before I got all the way home to pick up the replacement lens from a friend. Then I reversed course for the 4th time and headed back down south! I arrived back around 9pm and was just getting ready to park (literally feet away from the parking space) and grab something to eat when the lovely sound of a police siren filled my ears followed by the flashing of bright multi-colored lights. "Rats!" was my only thought as I pulled over and waited for the officer to come to my window.

No, I was not speeding, my passenger tail light was out so I spent 20 minutes out in front of the restaurant waiting on the officer. Finally he comes back and tells me the reason for such a long wait is because his printer is on the blink and he was having issues printing off the warning he wanted to give me. :p Friday was downright slow in comparison to Wednesday and Thursday, the only driving I accomplished was the few hours return trip.

Overall though, I drove 590 odd miles in three days which is not much by my standards, a little more than driving to New York City and a little less than getting to Boston. Unlike a drive up the east coast though, it was the same stretch of road just repeated over and over and over again. It is a good thing I have my ipod in my car, because by the sixth time driving on the same part of the interstate it was getting pretty boring and I could probably have driven it with my eyes closed. I did come up with a cheesy song though and since it has been a while since I posted any seriously crazy stuff I thought I would share:

Well I hopped in my car
for a little drive
a two hour tour
that got multiplied

With the windows rolled down
I'm zipping along
the music blaring
'an I'm singing a song

Pulled by the police
but not for burning rubber
seems my taillight
had gone undercover

With the windows rolled down
I'm zipping along
the music blaring
'an I'm singing a song

Drove the same stretch
of road six times
you can bet by now
I've got it memorized

With the windows rolled down
I'm zipping along
the music blaring
'an I'm singing a song!

Pictures from final concert of the season

Yesterday was the last orchestra concert of the season for everyone, no video this time but here are some pictures:

Sam:

Molly:

Anna:

Sarah:

Molly playing:

Anna playing:

Sarah playing:

The ever enthusiastic Mrs. Kitchen:

Notebook Blogging #10

Well, after several weeks of MIA notebook blogger is back, though this might be a short post. Doesn't it seem like the year is just flying by? In one week it will be the 1st of May! The 1st of May!! 114 days into the new year and exactly 35 weeks until Christmas, which BTW, I already have some gifts for. :p While it seems the days are just flying off the calender, there is also a part of me that feels like time is just crawling along. It is a weird feeling, to know the year is moving right along but at the same time some things in life have their own timetable and all you can do is be patient and wait.

Take our house, granted, we only work on it a couple hours a day when it is not pouring rain (something that has been quite common recently) and the work ethic of some class members leaves sometime to be desired, but taking that all into consideration it is still mildly irritating that construction has been so slow, but at least if I get too frustrated there are usually plenty of things handy that need a good hammer. :p And like I said in January, while there are a lot of things I want to happen or get accomplished you just have to be patient and trust the Lord's timing even for something as minor as building a house.

One recent element of construction that I thought was great fun was dragging trusses for our roof. We had them all dropped at one end and we had to space them evenly across the top of the framework. This involved balancing on the 2x4 top-plate and walking trapeze style 48 feet to the other end of the house which is actually really easy. We were going to have three people move each truss just to get the job done faster except almost everyone chickened out of getting up there! So the few individuals, myself included who were not scared to death of a little 15' drop balanced ourselves on the 2x4, gripped the truss in the center and dragged them individually to the other end of the house.

The first time I have to admit I shuffled my way across the length of the house, this was mainly due to my feet being the size they are and the fact that I kept kicking myself in my heels. After that first run though, I was good and we got them spaced out relatively quickly considering most of the class was on the ground. Once we got the sheeting down on the roof, most of the class was a little more willing to get on the roof to put down the tar paper and shingles but that could be a post all of it's own.

Remember the I mentioned sunburn in the Earth day post a few days ago? Well, I did not follow my own advice and I actually got rather red, though not severely when we were working on getting the trusses set up and the sheeting on the roof. Since that day I have religiously been putting on sunscreen, I have vowed not to revisit lobster land!

Anyone remember the furniture I was going to build? :p Well it seems like free time we have in the shop is few and far between but I have almost finished the bookcase. I just need to stain it and put it back together. I will post pictures whenever it is fully completed.

Life In The Orthodontist Chair

Last Sunday, one of the brackets on my braces came loose. I'm not sure why... The first time I had a bracket come loose, I thought my tooth was falling out!! :o (My braces make my teeth feel really loose sometimes)

When I called them last Monday afternoon, the only appointment they had was 8:50 Thursday morning. I had to be at my violin lesson at 9:45 that morning , but I went ahead and made the appointment hoping that I would be able to move my lesson later. I was able to move my lesson 30 minutes later. Since the receptionist assured me that it only took about 15 or 20 minutes to put a bracket on, I was confident that I would get to my lesson on time.... as long as I left by 9:30. Forty minutes for one little bracket.....no way it is going to take that long.... or so I thought. :)

So, Thursday morning I get there a little bit early. I only had to wait a few minutes before they called me back. As I was walking back with the Orthodontic Assistant (Morgan) who would be fixing my bracket, She asked what wire was poking me. I explained that it was a loose bracket not a wire sticking into me. (I just ignore wire poking into me. When you have had braces as long as I have you get used to them.) It turns out the that the guy I had talked to on the phone was new and he had put the wrong code on the appointment slot. After Morgan had gone to the front desk and set him straight, she got right to fixing my bracket. She had just finished when the orthodontist Dr. H came over and looked in my mouth. He was quite pleased with how my teeth looked. He hadn't seen my teeth in a few months. I am a special case (really!) so the only Dr. who works on my braces is Dr. B.

Dr. B came over to look at my teeth and apparently thought I was there for a regular appointment and started messing with my braces. I, off course could not say anything with his hands in my mouth...so Morgan told him that I was just here to re-glue a bracket. His reply was "Two of the back brackets need to be converted ?? but they are not convertible so I am trying to see how I can convert them." Yeah... it didn't make too much sense to me either. So he ends up sawing off the little hooks on my brackets and then leaves the Orthodontic Assistant (I was tired of typing Morgan) to "tie the brackets in steel" But, because he had sawed off the little hooks, the wire didn't have anything to attach onto. :0 To make a long story short.... Dr. B ended up having to take off the brackets, find new "convertible" brackets and attach them. I finally got out of there at exactly 9:30 just in time to get to my violin lesson. :) Unfortunately, a few hours later as I was eating lunch the bracket came loose. :( So, yesterday I was back in the chair for the 3rd time in two weeks. (I think my orthodontist is great, but come on! )

For those who don't know, this is the second time I have had braces. I had weird jaw problems that my 1st orthodontist didn't fix. I should be getting my braces off in a few months... just about the time Olivia get hers back on. I feel your pain Olivia.

Today is Earth day....

And in celebration of such a glorious day as well as Arbor day this Friday I present the following picture from the "Sarah and William crazy picture archive"

Note, our faces are turned away from the camera so it would not appear like this was a publicity stunt. Today and Friday are days in which we should be celebrating nature and we wanted our true feelings for both Earth and Arbor day to be conveyed through the power of the photography without a distraction which might arise from seeing our smiling visages.....

Ok enough of that gobbledygook! (yes it's a real word) Since it seems spring is upon us, how about some helpful advice on avoiding potentially painful experiences which can arise between now and the fall.

So it is getting warmer, the sun is shinning, the flowers are starting to bloom, bees are flying from flower to said flower, though none of them are mine since my hives died, the pollen is turning my car a nasty yellowish green, and people are starting to wear shorts. If you happen to not believe in wearing shorts, let me be the first of the season to tell you that you are a smart person, though probably a very hot one as the weather continues to heat up. Why are you a very smart person for not wearing shorts? For the simple reason that by wearing shorts you present the lower half of your legs to serious injury.

Case in point:

As you can see, exposed legs seem to attract hard pointy objects as well as possess a strange, almost magnetic pull towards any hard surface, especially that of concrete. Yes shorts are MUCH cooler in warm weather, but are they worth it? I leave it up to the readership to decide for themselves.

Something even worse and much more serious than injuries to the lower extremities comes from our always shining source of light, the sun. I am talking about sunburn! Now maybe some people don't have this problem, count yourself blessed if you don't, but the sun really likes shining it's bright rays onto my skin and toasting it a nice shade of reddish orange. Maybe toast is too light a word, fry would probably be more like it. The times I have had to deal with skin peeling off in quarter sized pieces is sadly too numerous to count.

Fortunately there is a solution to both injuries to your legs and sunburn, stay indoors! :D (This is not a very feasible option however) A better approach is to wear sunblock to prevent sunburn, yes, it is a slight pain to put on but you are saving your skin. As to bloody injuies on your knees and legs, if you can't wear long pants, at least always have band-aids handy to keep the blood at bay and maybe Neosporin to prevent infection.....Oh and avoid mulch piles in the dark ;)

The folks who run this blog are slackers, or A very random sprawl

Seriously! A whole week without a single post, not even an explanation as to why there are no posts! Booo! Actually I have an excuse and I posted last Friday they the blog might be slightly dead but I figured at least one of my sisters would at the very minimum make one post. I guess it was too much to ask. So yes, I have been very busy, the following is a rather long rambling post on some of the various highlights from the past two weeks.

Two weeks ago I was commissioned to build a privacy fence of an extra long length, since Nick has to take it easy for 6 weeks, I grabbed my cousin who had nothing better to do and we set to construction. The fence post holes were marked out and we started merrily drilling away with a two-man auger. Well we were merrily drilling for maybe a minute then the auger hit a root and decided it wanted to turn into a paper weight and stop drilling. It was coaxed back to life only to die several rotations later. After several hours of messing around with not much visible success, I decided to return said auger, get my money back and go a different route.

The different route involved shovels and manual post hole diggers, which is actually the correct name for those things. Something like 12 hours were spent digging our holes by hand. For some strange reason, the man we were building the fence for wanted it built right through a miniature jungle, hanging vines and all. This involved first hacking a trail for the fence, then as we dug, hacking through a plethora of roots just to get to actual solid ground. The second day rolls by and we still don't have the holes dug, though they surrounding jungle is pretty much taken care of. I decided to grab another auger this time one a little more powerful from a local place. The second go around with an auger worked without a hitch. Day three ends and we are ready to set the posts.

Not much can be said about setting posts other than it is messy work. It probably would not have been so messy except halfway through the day it decided to rain just enough to make everything muddy. I had close to a quarter inch of concrete mixed with mud covering my entire body. My mother wanted me to strip just to come inside the house, but the posts got set.

Rather than rest heading into the weekend, I decided the best way to end a 55 hour work week was to kick off the weekend by dancing late into the night! I am after all member of the "Manly Men Know How to Dance...And Do" group. (Yes that is an actual group and I am an actual member) So I headed west to a monthly Contra dance get together with some friends.

Four hours later my feet were not sore (this thanks to converse) but I was as sweaty as I had been when I was digging holes for the fence posts. It was a lot of fun though, contra dancing involves lots of fast swinging of your partner and there were several dances where my parter and I were swinging so fast that had I not been looking at her face I probably would have gotten dizzy as everything else was a blur. I would post some video but I am still waiting on it, so I just have this lousy picture of the crowd. If you don't know I am the guy in the brown shirt to the far right.Monday morning my cousin and I were back at it building the actual fence on the posts. It took longer than I would have liked but we got the job done and it looks pretty good if I do say so myself. Something that was rather funny that kept occurring as we worked on the fence was the fact the people driving by, mainly of the female variety kept yelling at us. The chorus of yells such as "Ooooh" and "Hey Baby" as they drove by just made me laugh. The completed fence:



If you notice the fence curves along with the sidewalk so you can't see the whole length but this was the best picture I could get without standing in the middle of the road. :p The day after the fence was completed my dad and I made a quick trip to Florida that for a job which was why I was silent on the blog this past week. Next week is already shaping up to be just as busy as the last two but I will try to at least post a "Notebook Blogger" and "Stupid People News" and maybe my sisters will come out of hiding with a post or two of their own. Though I could continue babbling on about FL in this post I think I will go clean (yes a guy cleaning) my room as it has looked like a bomb went off in it for the past two weeks and yesterday I had a hard time finding some clothes I was looking for which of course means they are probably buried somewhere in my room.

Magic Cookie point winner + Stupid People News

Sorry the the blog has been dead this week, I wasn't even able to get a notebook blogger posted. I have been a little under the weather the past couple of days with a headache and sore throat plus I have not been getting home until 9pm and after dinner and a shower I have pretty much just crashed. I don't think I have been online more than 5 minutes since Monday and that was just to check email. The next couple of weeks I probably will be just as busy, which is good, I can't stand having nothing to do, but that means I won't be posting much, so I apologize in advance if my sisters can't keep the readers entertained. :p

As to the winner of the Anna's Magic Cookie point quiz, rahraht was the winner with a whopping 4/12 right! Yes! 4 our of 12, you rock! I guess maybe Anna's questions were too hard for our readers, I will see if she can post easier ones next time. ;) The answers in case anyone was wondering are as follows:
1. B
2. B
3. A
4. B
5. A
6. B
7. C
8. C
9. A
10.A
11.A
12.A

And now I bring you this week's stupid criminal:

Candy Wrappers Help Police Nab Suspects

CINCINNATI (AP) - Police in Cincinnati say a trail of candy and wrappers led them to suspects in a break-in at a downtown candy store.

Four people have been charged with breaking and entering. One of the four also has been charged with child endangering.

Police say 19-year-old Christine Ruther had her 7-week-old daughter with her when she and three others broke into Peter Minges (MIHNG'-guhs) & Son candy store Thursday. They are accused of taking about $400 in candy.

The group was arrested a few blocks away.

Update on Nick

Nick was released from the hospital tonight. He will be staying at the Ronald Macdonald House for tonight. He has the see the doctor one last time tomorrow, then hopefully, they will be on the way home. I think everyone in my family is ready for them to be home.
Well, that's pretty much it. I'm sorry that the blog has been kinda dead the past week and a half. :)

~Sarah~

Magic Cookie points and a quiz

Anyone willing to answer some crazy questions? No, I did not make these up they are all from a book as well as a game with the same name that we own. The person with the most correct will get 20 magic cookie points! If anyone gets them all right they get an extra 10 cookie points. If you happen to own the book or the game and I know some readers do then you should have no problem getting them all right. ;) Email Will your answers, his email is in his profile.

1. How to Moisten Lip without Lip Balm?
A. Put butter on your finger and then rub on your lips.
B. Rub the outside of your nose, then rub your lips with it.
C. Stick your finger in your ear, then rub your lips with it.

2. How To treat A fractured Collarbone ?
A. Attach a Straight shaft, such as a shortened broomstick, along the victim's spine, so the victim will stand erect with shoulders back.
B. Have the victim wear a backpack filled with 15 lbs. of cargo.
C. Remove the victim's pants, wrap them around his/her chest, and tie the pants legs together tightly at the top of the rib cage.

3. How To Prevent Someone From Choking On His/Her Tongue ?
A. Pass a large safety pin or wire through the tongue and pull the tongue out of the throat.
B.Quickly flip the victim on to his/her stomach.
C. Turn the head of the victim to one side and hole the tongue down with your other hand.

4. How To know IF you are Near Land When Lost At Sea?
A. Small sharks seldom swim more than 10 miles from land.
B. Cumulus clouds, in an otherwise clear sky, often form over land.
C.If the sea is very flat, then you are no more than 20 miles from land.

5. How To treat Chocolate Poisoning In Dogs ?
A. Orally administer a hydrogen peroxide and water solution.
B. Give the dog one tablet of Alka Seltzer dissolved in water.
C. Give the dog salt water to cleanse it's system.

6. How To Survive Being trapped in a Walk-In-Freezer ?
A. Use your heat to thaw food.
B. Eat ice.
C. Keep moving to stay warm.

7. How To Perforce Mouth to mouth Resuscitation ?
A. Stop if the victim has not recovered in 30 minutes.
B. Stop when the victim seems to be enjoying it.
C. Stop if the victim has not recovered in four or more hours.

8.How To Survive A Poisonous Snack Bite ?
A. Immediately place ice on the wound.
B.Make two deep cute over the wound and suck out the poison.
C. Immobilize the bitten ares and keep it lower than your heart.

9. How To Prevent A Cold ?
A. Sit in a sauna two or more times a week.
B. Use a dehumidifier in your house to reduce germs.
C. Wash hands each time you touch something.

10. How to treat swollen feet ?
A. Soak the feet in cold water, then elevate them.
B. Soak the feet in warm water, elevate them, then wrap them tightly with an Ace bandage.
C. Soak the feet in either warm or cold water, then wrap them in ace bandage.

11.How To Survive Spilling Coffee on Your Keyboard?
A. Immediately wet your finger and run it over the area where the spill is. Then use a paper towel or toilet paper to clean up the spill.
B. Immediately blow on spill. Continue blowing for at least a minute, while you grab around for something to mop up the liquid.
C. Immediately flip your keyboard over. Let it stand down for a few moments before turning it back over and mopping off the liquid.

12. How to Tan a hide ?
A. After soaking the hide in water, smash the animal's brains into a thick moisturizing solution, then work it into the hide.
B. Rub the hide with dirt and small rocks to make it smooth.
C. Dry the hide in the sun. Periodically spit on it, and rub the spittle into the hide.

Have fun Answering!
~Anna~

Update on my brother

Just a quick update for those who have asked and anyone else wondering. Nick is doing great, he is off the epidural and is probably going to be leaving the hospital tomorrow. He will then spend a few days in the Ronald McDonald House just so the doctors can keep an eye on him and if all goes well, should be home later this week. Thanks once again to everyone for their prayers. :)

People being stupid news item of the week

Spanish Police Nab Burglar Playing Dead at Funeral Home

MADRID, Spain — A burglar who broke into a funeral
home tried to fool police by playing dead, but two things gave him away.

First, he breathed. Plus, he wore grungy clothes rather than the Sunday best of those dressed for eternal rest.

Police and the Crespo Funeral Home said Wednesday they have no idea what the 23-year-old Spanish man was trying to steal in the break-in March 17 in Burjassot, a small town just outside Valencia.

Neighbors alerted police when they heard the front door of the business being forced open in the middle of the night.

Police officers arrived with the owner, and eventually found the suspect lying on a table in a glassed-in chamber used for viewings of deceased people during wakes, a local police official said from Burjassot.

"The custom here is for dead people to be dressed in suits, in nice clothes that look presentable. This guy was in everyday clothes that were wrinkled and dirty," the police official said. Department rules barred her from giving her name.

"He was trying to fake being dead, but he was breathing," she said.

The suspect's name was not released. Police said he had served jail time in the past for robbery.

The funeral home said it was mystified as to what the man wanted. There were no valuables or cash in the funeral parlor.

Notebook Blogging #9

More than half the guys in my class are African American and they are all great guys but I have to say their clothing style for the most part leaves something to be desired. I just want to knock upside the head the dude who started the fashion of extremely baggy clothes and pants riding at least halfway down your waist.

It seems that pants are no longer there to cover your rear, rather they are just there to cover your legs. I am dead serious here, there are several of my class mates who literally wear their pants on their upper thighs, as in below their rears, as in they have to walk funny to keep their pants from just falling to the floor.

Maybe pants are much more comfortable riding on your upper thighs but I doubt it. It seems they are all just succumbing to some weird fashion trend. The lowness of the pants actually explains the overly large shirts and when I say overly large I mean just that. These shirts reach almost to their knees. But then since their pants are on their thighs, they have an excuse for such large shirts, they don't want to be exposing their undergarments or worse to the world.
At least I think that is the idea, it works relatively well while standing, but sitting down is another issue :o :red:

Yeah, I think this is one style that seriously needs to go. Another one has to do with baseball hats or lids as they are now called. It seems when you buy a hat you keep the size sticker on. Why? You might ask, for the world to know what size you wear of course! Also make sure you buy several sizes too large and definitely wear it at a jaunty angle. Whatever you do, do not bend the brim it, needs to be as flat as possible so as to offer a clear view of your size sticker.

To illustrate the hat style popular today, I went into the "Sarah and William crazy picture archive" and present to you a rather bad example.

If you notice, the "do not bend the brim" law was broken, but we tried to make up for it by placing our hats at an even more jaunty angle than is normally seen.

Update on Nick

As of 7:30 this morning, Nick was doing very well. They haven't had to give him any morphine since yesterday afternoon. His epidural is now covering the pain. That is a big answer to prayer. Everyone, thank you so much for praying. I don't even know some of you personally. You how no idea how encouraging it is to know that there are people from all over praying for Nick and my family.

~Sarah~

For those of you who don't read the comments :)

Nicholas' surgery went really well this afternoon. He is now resting comfortably. He had to get a dose of morphine because his epidural only goes up so far. They can't put the epidural any higher because it might affect his breathing. Right now the prayer requests are that the pain will be be managed and He will get hydrated.

Thank you

~Sarah ~

Prayer Requests

There are a couple of prayer requests I wanted to share. First, my brother Nick is scheduled to have surgery tomorrow. Those who know us may or may not know that his ribs are slightly inverted, which means they are pressing his lungs and trachea causing a decreased air supply. It is not quite as serious as that sounds, he can still breathe fine and everything, but it is something that definitely needed to be fixed.

He was planning to have the surgery next month with another doctor, but the Lord really moved in a mighty way and Nick is going to be able to have the doctor who invented the surgery as the lead guy for his operation.

They go about fixing the issue by inserting two titanium rods under his ribs in such a way that his ribs are moved to their normal place. So the surgery is not some cupcake walk in the park, it is a pretty major operation. Please pray that the doctor, who is a Christian, will have wisdom performing the procedure, everything will go as planned and that Nick will have a quick recovery. The pain after the operation is probably going to be the hardest part. It is comparable to having broken ribs so for about a week he is going to be in the hospital doped up with some heavy stuff and he is going have to take it easy for at least a month or two.

Also tomorrow our good friend John Paul Taylor (on right) heads back to Iraq for seven months on his third tour. Please keep both him and another of our friends Josh Eaton, (on left) who is already in Iraq in your prayers. Both these guys are putting their lives on the line defending our freedom as a nation and they as well as their families could really use our prayers.