Mental Musings

Sad that something this stupid makes the news (and of course from a Baptist Church). Wonder what God thinks of a pastor supporting the burning of His Word. And did he actually call Billy Graham a heretic? Sad, sad, sad. I hope this pastor learns someday about the scripture that King James had added to his version of the Bible in order to justify his sinful lifestyle. But it doesn't sound like this pastor has had very much education at all.

Watching this not only made me think about our struggles and victories, but it also reminded me of when I played basketball way back in first grade at the W.W. Houston Boy's Club in Norfolk, Virginia. The team was not age based. We had boys of all ages and I was by far the youngest. I had attended all of the practices and sat on the bench week after week at the games. On the final game both teams decided to allow me to make a basket. I was passed the ball and threw it up as hard as I could again and again. It never came close. Finally one of the other boys lifted me onto his shoulder and the ball was handed up to me. I shot again and made a basket. I can remember being so happy that I not only made my first basket, but that I scored 2 points in a real game. I salute the coach who made the decision to let Jason McElwain play in this game.

So, the big news today is that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. My question is what has he done to bring about peace anywhere? The American mainstream media may see him as a rock star, but the world continues to laugh at him. And it has nothing to do with his race, religion or skin color. Let's look at his accomplishments: He spends hundreds of thousands of dollars, takes two airplanes full of staff and dignitaries including his wife and Oprah, pours out his life story in an unprecedented personal appeal, and is still rejected by the Olympic Committee in the first round. How sophomoric. He visits the 73 year old Queen of England and presents her with the gift of an iPod loaded with videos of his speeches. How vain and ignorant. He receives a visit from the legally blind British Prime Minister and gives him a gift of a DVD collection purchased at Blockbuster Video. How insensitive. He allows the Iranians to continue testing long range missiles including on Jewish holidays which is a

This time I am going to court to serve on the jury...maybe. I realize that this is our duty as citizens to serve as a jury of peers for those being tried in court. However, jury duty never comes at a convenient time. I hope that the court case gets dismissed or they make a deal outside of court. I do not want to be on one of those 3 days or longer cases. The last time I served on a jury was around 1988. That case was one concerning eminent domain. The defendant did not show up to court, so the judge instructed us that we must find for the government. He did explain that we did have the right to determine any amount of judgment for payment to the defendant for his property, up to the fair market value for the property. Of course I am sure that the fair market value is nowhere near what that property was worth to the owner. Since 1988 eminent domain lawsuits have given even more power to the government to seize lands whenever they want.