New York New York

As Frank Sinatra sings.... I'm thinking about vising New York City in a week or two.. Just for the day on a Sat. But I've never been there and was looking for stuff online of what's in walking distance from the train and all that jazz.. if anyone is so inclined to share any info with me i'd be glad to hear it. either as a comment or at jfm@safeplace.net. :)

Scott Peterson deserves to die?

As you probably heard, Scott Peterson got the death penalty for allegedly killing his wife and her un-born child. I mean, if that's what the jury and the judge think is justice, ok, but I would love to ask the jurors these questions;

1. How could you put yourself in such a powerful position to say whether a man lives or dies?
2. Did "Thou shalt not kill" come to mind during the sentencing phase?
3. Do you think an eye for an eye is still relevant in todays society?
4. If you believe an eye for an eye, does 'turn the other cheek' or 'do not avenge your wrongs, I will repay, I am the Lord' have any weight to it or is it just selective scripture?
5. Do you think it will haunt you that you decided that a man should die?
6. Do you have a conscience?
7. Are these questions annoying
8. Do I look fat?

Oh wait, sorry, forgot where I was... But for real.. I think it is one of the most amazing things that a person can assume such power to decide that a man should stop breathing and die. I think that one of the hardest verses in hte Bible for Christians to believe or go by is "Do not avenge your wrongs, I will repay, I am the Lord" (paraphrased) .. idk.. I will never serve on a jury because I don't believe that we as humans should decide punishment when it clearly says "do not avenge your wrongs". Idk, maybe i'm the only one who doesn't get it.. [shrugs]

Welfare addicts

Ok, so i couldn't wait till later to write this.....I think that each one of us honest working tax payers in the City of Philadelphia supports a family from the ghetto. My reasoning is this.. I would guess that 75% of the people who live in certain parts of the city are on welfare, have an access card (food stamps), live in section 8 housing, and send their kids to public schools. Maybe they really cannot get the job to pay for their bills. BUT here is one big reason I would be willing to bet, why they don't try to earn an honest living like the rest of us! Because if they are low income, they are eligible for a welfare check, food stamps/access card, and section 8. If they were to get a job they would be bumped up into the next bracket and would lose some of their ridiculous benefits from the city. So in their state of mind,, why get a job and try to earn a living like the honest ppl do? If they do they will lose out! It is the City making it too easy to stay where they are.. But then again as Mayor John Street said himself, "We run this city now"> Yeh, we can tell.

Gun control, YES

Actually, NO! After the 22 fatal shootings in one week and 76 so far this year in our wonderful City, our wonderful Mayor decides that we need stricter gun laws, a moratorium on gun permits and make it harder to get guns......legally. Now you see that is the key word here,,, "LEGALLY". Thinking that stricter gun laws and making it harder to get a permit to carry will cut down on gun violence and will get illegal guns off the street is the same thing as thinking that if we say it is bad for society, low income families will get off of welfare and foodstamps and move out of section 8! It just ain't happenin. (the welfare/section 8 ppl are a rant for another time, but believe me.. i got my opinion) If it were illegal to own a gun in the city, those shootings would have still happened last week. It is not the legal people with guns and permits to carry that are the danger and the menace to innocents.. it is the drug dealers, the crack addicts, the thieves.. etc. they are the ones with illegal guns and doing the crime with them. If a person wants to purchase a gun for protection and they pass the background checks.. good for them, if they have a clean record they deserve to have a gun if they so desire.. Our wonderful Mayor needs to get his head out of the dark area and realize that if they were make it illegal to own a gun, the honest people would lose out and the criminals would still have them. There would actually be MORE illegal guns owned in our wonderful great city.

Legal Justice?

Sometime it seems that the justice system we have in our great nation is the "easy way" out for some criminals.. it never really physically hurts them. At the Acme in our neighborhood.. a few guys have been robbing women as they go back to their cars. They will sometime ask if they can walk them to their cars or help with their bags.. then rob them of cash AND groceries.. I mean, yeh, you could call the cops and have them arrested.. but that won't necessarily stop them.. I was talking to a friend about it and we thought it would be cool to bait them.. when we suspect them to be in the lot.. to send a willing girl into the store and on her return.. allow the man to walk to the car and when he attempts to rob her.. we move in.. and beat the piss out of the guy and then.. we call in the police.. I'm sure he would be alot less prone to assume his prior activities after that beating.. cops can't beat a guy and get away with it.. so it needs to be ppl off the street gettin pissed about this guy/guys and doin something about it. And yeh,, its legal.. its called "citizen's arrest" he just happened to resist a little bit.. that's all.

Annoyance

The nations suckiest cell phone service provider has got to be Nextel. Yeh, yeh i know that they at one time were the biggest but they are also the worst! Everytime I call a "Nextel Subcriber" I get one of two messages, either "The nextel subcriber you are trying to reach is unavailable, please try your call again later".. OR "please wait while we locate the nextel subcriber you are trying to reach".. or both!! Never with any other company.. even T-Mobile.. which I have. they just go right through.. but for some reason with Nextel.. the network cannot locate its subscibers.. tonight I was trying to get ahold of someone for something that was somewhat important and I kept getting the first message! Now when I talk to them tomorrow.. They will probably tell me that they had their phone on all night! AS USUAL!! NEXTEL SUCKS!!

WHile I'm at it I might as well add another annoyance.. i think it only annoyed me because i was already annoyed.. but something that i think it really dumb.. is "Under Construction" signs on a website... I mean.. aren't all websites under construction all the time.. if they weren't ppl would get bored with them and never come back!! I could put a big UNDER CONSTRUCTION sign on this blog because I update it every once in awhile..

I really wanted a grilled chicken sandwich from Salerno's tonight.. but I slept too long and they closed...

iTunes to go

Well not exactly. but I would buy it if they came out with iTunes to go.. you know.. sorta like satellit radio.. but all the iTunes channels.. for your car or headphones..

[shrugs]

FREE TECH SUPPORT!

FREE TECH SUPPORT!! And it works !! This site that I came across on google offers free tech support via forum and these guys really know their stuff !! I posted my problem and within 24 hours my computer went from having no access to any type of file to completely restored! I would recommend these guys to anyone who's got computer issues. Cosider a donation if they help.. check them out here >>>>>

Criminal vs. Victim

Michael Schiavo is an animal, a criminal, a scum, and is hiding something. Terri Schiavo is an innocent victim, being denied what she is entitled to and has a secret to tell if she could talk.

One (or two) simple question; why does Michael Schiavo want her dead? He has moved on, started a new family has two kids with another woman. Why wouldn't he divorce Terri and let her parents take custody of her (as they want to) and fully support her and her costs for care? Why does he want her to suffer greatly through starvation and then when she is dead to have her body cremated immediately? Why no autopsy? Why does Michael want to deprive this woman the right to life that we all have? She deserves to live just as much as anyone else on this planet does. There is no written record of her that says she wanted to be starved to death or killed in the event that she could not express herself. Michael is a liar! You see, there are reports from the doctor that prove that Michael has something in the past that he wants to hide and make go away. And the only thing left that could put him away for something he did.. is Terri speaking or communicating. The doctors did a bone scan (something like that) and it came back and the report showed that she has fractures in her chest that resulted from being beaten by someone at some time. Was Michael beating her? Did Michael Schiavo cause this woman's brain damage? Is he the reason she is in the state that she is in? That is the conclusion that I come to given all the facts. Oh and by the way, Terri is not in a 'constant vegetative state' as the wacko judges and far left liberals want you to believe. I have seen a bunch of videos of Terri in her current state and she is very responsive, she can see and recognize people, she can respond to different things such as music, talking, and tracking things. I guess it doesn't help much that the gentleman representing Michael Schiavo is a big 'right to die' advocate. George J. Felos is Michael's attorney and I think is just as sick in the head as Michael. Here are some more details; Michael got a huge amount of money (not sure the amount, but its in the millions) and it was to take care of Terri. He does not do what he should do. He ordered that her teeth not be brushed and havent been for more than 5 years. He ordered that they do not give her therapy or rehab of any kind. I'm gettin too digusted with this guy.. i'll stop here!!

In a nutshell; If Michael wanted the money ,, take it, but let Terri's parents take care of her. Michael has to be hiding something terrible he did to her because why else would he want her killed and cremated immediately? WHY? She has the right to live in any state that God allows her to be put in. She could be learning an immense amount of lessons from the Lord as she lays in her current state. The Lord could be using this time to teach her all kinds of things! And when God sees fit, he will bring her back to a more able state. I don't think anyone has a problem with Michael walking away from her and leaving her to the care and expense of her parents. Well almost no one, the only person that doesn't want that to happen, is Michael Schiavo who has something in his past he is trying to make go away. Well, Michael, you scum bag, you trash, you filth, give this innocent woman her right to live and don't torture and murder her as you are trying to do!!

This makes me sick, time for a commercial break!

Church Canceled!

Oh wait, no it's not! I was listening to KYW1060 today and heard all the school closings and community cancelations. Along with all the public schools that were closing early and canceling evening classes, there was the churches in our great city that were canceling evening services. That got me thinking about who must run these churches, or at least make the decisions for the church. It got me thinking about the commitment and the passion people have for the Lord and the "Do not forsake the assembling.................. " verse. You see, a few weeks back there was a football game in our city. It was a championship game but none-the-less a football game. We had the biggest snowfall in a couple years and the whole city was shut down for a time.. schools, churhes, stores, etc. everything buy the most dedicated, passionate, worshipful people in our city,.. no, these are not Christians, muslims, Jews or anything other religion, these are Eagles fans. My thought was,, "we can't dig out a church, but we can dig out Lincoln Financial Field inside and out with no problem." btw, yes we dug our church out for that Sunday. I just thought it was a bit amusing! :)

Give me Liberty!

This is how I usually feel on Fridays at 5 o'clock. But this week I could have used that feeling on Thursday. Oh well, I guess i'll just have to wait another day. Anyone got a job opening? This job is gettin old!

A Prison of the mind

I write letters frequently, some people correspond with me daily, some weekly etc. Of all the people that I write to one of them is an inmate in a Florida Correctional Facility. While my other friends and contacts write about life and what they do and want to do and what they have and want to get, the prisoner is quite content in his position. The people on the outside complain, and talk about what they don't have and how oppressed they are, and how hard it is etc. While my buddy in prison talks about how awesome God's love and grace is and how he knows God is in control over every single aspect of his life. He says that he is content with knowing that God wants him where he is right now and will be until God chooses ot move him to another season of his life. It is amazing how we see what we don't have and yearn for more more more.. not appreciating what we do have and my friend in prison sees it all and understands that even though he is not a free man, 'he has it all'. And that all is Jesus Christ. That makes me wonder.. "who is the real prisoner here? Us or him?

A little sad but alot funny!

As I pulled up to park today at noon, a man flagged a cop over and pointed out what seemed to be a mentally disturbed man hitting cars with a mop. yes I said a mop! When the officer approached this mop wielding gentelman he got into some neat kung fu looking stances and wanted to fight the cop. It was so funny to watch!! When other cops got on the scene they tried to tackle the guy but he got away and tried to get into a squad car, the cop slammed the door and hit the guy a few times.. they finally got him cuffed and in the back of the car and the guy tried to kick the windows out! so they got him back out and shackled his ankles..this pic shows him finally being transferred from a squad car to the wagon. It was just a little excitement for our Sunday afternoon!

Right and wrong

Is there always a right and wrong in every issue? Is there a truth about every issue that can be traced back to the Bible? I was thinking about human cloning, is it right or wrong? God creates human life wouldn't it then be sacred? The Bible says that "all life is sacred". So if all life is sacred, wouldn't the human species be the 'most sacred' ? I would say yes, based on the fact that we are the only life form that has an eternal soul. So if God creates us, he also creates our soul. If scientists clone a human being, it would look like a human, walk like a human, talk like a human and think like a human the only big difference is the cloned human being would have no soul! The scientists may be able to create an embryo by cloning, but they cannot create a soul. So the creature that they clone would then be like a pig or a rabbit, a creature who lives and dies with no afterlife. Now some questions about the new cloned humans; what could we use them for? THey could be raised on a farm to harvest the organs, why not, if there is a shortage.. it is not inhumane to kill them, they aren't real humans. If you killed them you couldn't get charged with murder because they would have no civil rights.. they could only have the same rights as animals! They could be raised for servants.. bring back slaves.. why not? They are like mules now with no souls.. they are souless aninmals in human form... So to answer the question, Yes cloning is wrong! No matter what benefit it would be to the human race, God created humans and we are messing with what only He can create. So there are people who believe that it would benefit the human race to clone.. there were also those who thought it would benefit the human race to wipe out the Jews, but just as they were then.. they are WRONG!

Cursing and Foul Language

I've had the privilege of reading several people's opinions on curings/swearing via their blogs recently. I must say that it is very interesting at the least. At first I thought that I would comment on the blogs, but then I thought it may come across as me being judmental toward their position/opinion on the subject. So I resorted to blogging my thoughts in what one blogger adequately said about it; "on this blog I have the freedom to use whatever words I think are appropriate." Very well said. So on to my thoughts; As far as Christians, I think that the Bible is pretty much upfront about cursing/swearing. But I am sure that there are many opinions on it. To say that my parents felt this way , but now we are the next generation and we curse alot more frequently is kinda weird.. Do we now read a diffrerent Bible, or not read one at all? The Bible hasn't changed from when our grandparents were our age, God's Word has been truth for thousands of years, why would it change now? I think it would make alot of us get angry and have a problem if we sat in church on Sunday and the pastor was explaining how bad things happen when we disobey God and he were to paraphrase like this, "King ____ wanted to go into battle but God told him no, but King ____ thought to himself F___ that, im going anyway". I know that it's an extreme example, but if the language is not welcome in church, then why else where. Hey, don't get me wrong, I am in no way saying that I am more righteous or holier than anyone, I use language that I would NEVER use around certain people, esp. my pastor and more so Jesus if He were here. I am not proud that I do and am making a conscious effort not to. But for me to say that I am learning how to use certain taboo words in their correct context sounds alittle absurd. I really don't care how much people curse or swear, I live in it all day at work, some of my friends use it, whatever. But it's the fact that a person could say, "I'm a Christian, there is nothing wrong with using 'every word in the book' " just sounds funny. Is it really a sin to use that kind of language? Could using that kind of language really "Get you box seats in hell"?? Idk, but as with any other life question, if you want to find the 'truth' of the matter, turn to the Truth, God's Word...
James 3:10 "Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be."
Proverbs 4:24 "Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips."
Proverbs 10:21 "The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out."
Those are just a few of the many verses in the Bible that speak about our mouth and the words we use. "Praise and cursing out of hte same mouth"? The Apostle James says "this should not be". But all the verses that speak in relation to our lips speaking praise and cursning and things like that .. one of them says it pretty clear to me. I'm sure you all are familiar with Psalm 19:14 where the Psalmist says "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." We sing that song in our praise service and when we worship. We know the lyrics as;
May the words of my mouths and the thoughts of my heart. bless your name bless your name Jesus and the deeds of the day and the truth in my way speak of You speak of You Jesus.. for this is what im glad to do it's time to live a life of love that pleases You. and I will give my all to You. Surrentder everything I have and follow You... I'll follow You.
Lord, will You be my vision. Lord, will You be my guide. Be my hope, be my light and the way. And I'll look not for riches nor praise on this earth. Only you'll be the first in my heart.

The first part of the song which is based on Psalm 19 is most relevant to this post. One minute we pray that the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart be pleasing to God and then we freely use curse/swear words in the name of completeing our vocab or fitting in our generation, or just giving into peer pressure. I guess our generation of Christians may soon be called the "Cursing Christians". Oxymoron?

Thats all for now on this post, but I've been thinking, after reading on this blog that (my parents' generation tends to be a little more reserved (read: saying 'shit' is equivalent to purchasing box seat tickets to hell). I've been that what does send a person to hell? who goes and what makes them go there? Is everyone inherently saved or are some who think they are saved able to do things that send them south instead of singing lala with the angels? (those of you who know me, know what I meant by that) :)


the other source for wriring this post (i feel I should share) is this blog. Which I read faithfully along with about 10 others. I find them all insanely interesting, amusing, educational, and yes.. some are downright insane.. but that's what makes our little world go round.

JF

I'm convinced-everyone loves to complain

You ever hear someone complain about how it's unfair that all our jobs are sent overseas to Japan, Taiwan and China and we import all our stuff from them. We shut down our factories in the U.S. and import from other countries instead. Maybe you are one of them who complains about our jobs going to other countries. A guy from work was complaining about it and I'll ask you (if you are one of them) the same thing I asked him. If we brought those jobs back to the U.S. and manufactured here instead of overseas, would you be happier? Before you answer yes, consider this; almost everything you use daily has some part of it that is made overseas. It would be impossible to live strictly off of things made in the USA. If we were to bring the jobs back, the prices of those goods would no doubt go up steeply in price. And then, don't miss this, the same people would continue to complain but this time, about the price. So it just goes to show you that we as humans just love to complain, it somehow makes us feel intelligent if we can point out the faults of others i guess. And yes, i'm sure someone will complain about this post. :)

Still here

I'm still here and still progressing. I've wondered and observed how we can get so caught up in something that almost forget about our own life and our purpose. whether it be school, a job, a relationship or whatever. Just an observation. I also came to the conclusion that with certain ppl no matter what you say, they will challenge it with something they say is fact but really it is just a challenge because if you are taking to them, 'you are always wrong'. zzz time

Drums

These are Jessica's new drums. She is the drummer for 'Toolbox' .. and yeah, it's a band. those are not her legs. I was threatened and had to tell you that.

New engagement and brides fam starting fights

So my brother got engaged on Saturday. I am assuming that I will be his best man or whatever you call it.. .. the bride-to-be's maid of honor had this to say about me. "I think my Uncle Walt may have an extra suit". (her uncle walt is about 350lbs.) I say to her.. that she's not lookin to slim these days either and maybe she ought to hit up her aunt carol m. for an extra dress or TWO!

As you may have noticed, I haven't been online in awhile. Actually, in contrast to my previous online habits I have been spending an average of 1 hour per week online! Imagine that. That should explain alot anyway. Been taking an interest in digital photography got some cool shots of the kiddies snow boarding.. but since im not on my computer. i cannot post them on here. the eagles go to the super bowl this year.. but honestly.. I couldn't care less.. I know alot of ppl go nuts about the game but after seeing how some ppl neglect church because of it and get so into it it becomes there life.. it turns me off.. I guess just like everyting else.. there is a right way and a wrong way.. But why should i worry.. i dont care about them. btw, Philly is not a suburb.. so all yall in the suburbs or other cities.. they aren't 'your eagles' if you are north of the city.. cheer on the pats or something :)