Dr. Dobson gets the boot for more loot

Dr. James Dobson of Focus on The Family and Family.org lost the support of his old friend recently. Dr. Neil Clark Warren of eHarmony.com wants to distance himself from Focus on The Family saying they they are 'deadly'. Warren has recently bought back his books that Focus has published, so that he can remove the "Focus on The Family" logo from the their covers. eHarmony started out marketing to only Christian websites and only Christian 'customers'. But Dr. Warren wants to appeal to and assist a global base. He wants to help people of all backgrounds, all races, all political orientations etc. to find their soulmates, not just Christians. Dr. Warren says that, "If we have Focus on The Family on the top of our books, it's a killer! Because Focus on The Family occupies a very precise political position and a very precise spiritual position"
Dr. Warren says that his site promotes heterosexual marriage because he has done extensive research on it and designed a website for matching heterosexual couples.But Dr. James Dobson has a problem with Dr. Warren not actively speaking out against gay and lesbian couples and marriage. For anyone who knows Dr. Dobson or listens to his daily show, knows that when he speaks out, he really speaks out about something. And he has a HUGE following of people who will do whatever whenever he says to. He has a devout following. (almost as devout as a muslim extremest) If Dr. Dobson says to call your state represenative's office and complain about something, millions of people will call. If he says to boycott a certain product, it will be boycotted for sure. Sort of reminds you of a cult following, it's so devout. If Dr. Neil Clark Warren is a businessman. Now from a strictly business point of view, Dr. Warren made a very good decision to further his business and his customer base when he decided to distance himself from Dr. Dobson and Focus on The Family. Focus holds very narrow political views compared to the Liberal side of our country. Focus holds many spiritual views that most of our country finds odd at the least. Focus speaks out against most non-christian political decisions. You see, Focus on the Family has it's set of beliefs and standards and if you or your organization do not fall within those beliefs and standards, they will speak out against you and in some extreme cases load your switchboard with calls, or mass email you or even boycott your products. Now, by no means am I saying that Focus is wrong, I'm just saying that they have taken a big step to stay in what they believe is the 'right light'. To do what's right, in other words. By taking that step and putting themselves in that position, they have to expect to lose some support from people who have a broader view than Dobson does. If Dr. Warren wants to grow his business, he will first have to throw down anything that would limit him. First and foremost, Focus on the Family and Dr. James Dobson would severely limit him and his companies growth. If Dr. Dobson is hated by most of the more liberal politicians and most of the media and alot of the people in our country, how could a dating service such as eHarmony gain those people as customers if they see that Dr. Dobson and Focus are supported by eHarmony. The answer is clear for eHarmony, dump Focus to boost sales. It would sort of be like if a man was trying to sells weed on the corner of North Philly, if he were clean cut with a blue uniform and a silver badge he wouldn't get many customers, but if that same man put on dingy clothes and was a big more scruffy, his business would boom. It's all in what you are associated with.

King George

This is probably the 5th blog to post this but just incase you didn't see it. Think about this.

How important are you anyway?

I've been thinking about how people make themselves to be self-important. What I mean by that is the way they carry themselves or how they present themselves or who they do not associate with etc. Recently at a church picnic, we were all in line for our buffet style food and the person in charge said, "If we could bow our heads Pastor " " will ask the blessing on the food". I was surprised when I saw that this person never removed his hat for the prayer. Now i've been taught since I was knee high to a camel that you always remove your hat when you pray, when you eat and when you enter a house. My theory on this particular person this time is that I think they were focusing so much on being important and receiving the glory for the 'big day' they planned that they forgot to remove their hat. Yeh i know that praying with your hat on won't send you to hell, it's just that this person actually believes you should remove your hat but this time forgot about it. So back to the self importance... There are many people who make themselves out to be important. I think that that goes along the lines of my theory on those who know alot and those who know little. "Those who know alot will talk little" "Those who know little will talk alot". you do the math.

Down sizing

Ok, so it's final. I'm downsizing my fish collection and their habitats. My two Motaguensis are leaving me no later than Monday May 16 and one of my 75g setups is going the follwing week. I am keeping my Dovii in my original setup. Wish me good luck in catching him. He is 12+ inches and super aggressive. My Motaguensis pair are laying eggs as I write and they are up to about 500 and counting. So I will have some babies to raise in my 29g tank that I'm keeping for now. That's my excitement for now and yes.. you are right.. its not taht exciting.. its been one of those couple months.

Happy Mother's Day, Momma

Well, it's here again Mom, it's your day. Your day to be pampered and to relax and to celebrate you being the greatest mom. And yeah, you've been greater than any mom could, you've taught more and advised more than any other. I wouldn't trade our time together for anything in the world. Momma, I miss your terribly, when I need to turn to someone, all the important people are out of my life. When there is something significant that I want to tell, the excitement fades fast when I realize that anyone who'd genuinely care is gone. Yeh, Mom, sure there are people who would listen, but I don't want that. I will never have what you gave me again. I was the world. The kisses on the head when I was home from school sick. The love when I was hurt by someone else. The fun times and the laughs. Mom it was the words and now it's gone. I sit here and wonder what is supposed to happen now. I know its almost 8 years later but the hurt and emptiness is still there. I've needed you in the last few months and you're gone but the love is always there!! I'll see you someday but i'm not there yet! Well Mom, if there is anyway to get you the message "Happy Mother's Day".

You're in a better place, I've heard a thousand times
And at least a thousand times I've rejoiced for you
But the reason why I'm broken, the reason why I cry
Is how long must I wait to be with you

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

Help me Lord cause I don't understand your ways
The reason why I wonder if I'll ever know
But, even if you showed me, the hurt would be the same
Cause I'm still here so far away from home

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

In Christ, there are no goodbye
And in Christ, there is no end
So I'll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again
To see you again

And I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow

I've never been more homesick than now

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Yes im still here

Just a note that I am still alive. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.

Whew!

Ok, not that anyone remembers what im talking about. But I got over all my Birthday disappointments. And things are back to normal. I know you're thinking.. "wow that's a warped state of normal". But it's normal to us. :) Anyway. Have mixed feelings about my aquariums after I spent the night in the yard cleaning, grooming and fixing the machines used to do that, I enjoyed myself. Maybe it's a sign of getting old and hopeless, I spend evening in the yard fixing lawn mowers, cutting the grass and watering flowers, alone, and enjoy myself. If that seems to be a concern.. then save me, I may be falling into my 50's before I hit 25!! But im sure i'm ok, i think

FDNY

I listened to the 9/11 radio transmissions between the fire companies tonight. One word, Chilling. They were brave.

WTF?

Was that funny? My weekend wasn't. It was supposed to be a fun weekend. They had things planned and asked me to go. They only had me looking fwd. to it for two weeks and 18 hours before it's time to leave they say "we're not going". When I asked 'why not?'. They said, "becasue half the ppl don't wanna go". When I asked all the ppl, only one of them said it was true. "Just tell me the damn truth!" So yeah, my weekend sucked but that's not an anomaly it's more like a trend. I'll end this post abruptly before I decide to post my real feelings and then this post will not have any relevance!!!

The Worst City ?

Monday's edition of Time Magazine ran a story that claimed Mayor John Street of Philadelphia one of the three worst mayors or big cities in the U.S.

Apr 17, 2005 10:11 am US/Eastern
NEW YORK (AP) Time magazine has named what it calls the “five best big city mayors” in America, giving the distinction to New York’s Michael Bloomberg, Atlanta’s Shirley Franklin, Baltimore’s Martin O’Malley, Chicago’s Richard Daley and Denver’s John Hickenlooper.

And in a sure boon to their political opponents, Detroit’s Kwame Kilpatrick, San Diego’s Dick Murphy and Philadelphia’s John Street were dubbed the nation’s three worst mayors.

The lists appear in the issue of the magazine that hits newsstands Monday. Neither list was ranked, and the mayors were listed in alphabetical order. Gavin Newsom of San Francisco received an honorable mention; No dishonorable mention was awarded.

The magazine said it consulted with “urban experts” who chose from among the 29 mayors who lead cities with populations greater than 500,000.

“It is tempting to judge our mayors for the little things that make city life livable, the depth of the potholes, the smell of the streets, whether or not the traffic lights are in synch,” the magazine said. “But the best mayors have also been those who act on a grand scale, building bridges, saving schools, finding the funds that cities lack.”

Time praised O’Malley for implementing the computerized statistics program CitiStat and Bloomberg for trimming New York’s budget deficit and taking control of the public schools.

It cited Daley’s “near imperial power” in Chicago, Franklin’s work on a new ethics code for municipal employees and Hickenlooper’s high approval ratings.

The magazine criticized Kilpatrick for leasing a $24,995 cherry red Lincoln Navigator for his wife on the city’s dime, despite a $230 million budget deficit. It mentioned Murphy’s handling of a $1.3 billion deficit at the city’s public-employee pension fund.

Time singled out Street for criticism because of the corruption allegations involving his administration.
Former City Treasurer Corey Kemp is on trial over allegations that he took bribes. Jury deliberations in the case are expected to resume Monday.

A spokesman for Street said the magazine ignored the mayor’s role in helping turn around a blighted city.
“Crime is down. Taxes are lower. Housing values are up. Population loss has virtually stopped for the first time in 50 years. But instead they are basing their criticism on unproven allegations,” said Street spokesman Dan Fee. “They are not applying a consistent standard.”

I could have told you that without all the research! From the beginning when he said, "The brothers and sisters run this city now" to the corruption scandal that took place, maybe not with him, but with his 'brothers and sisters'. It has been problem after problem from what the average person can see. Let me make a point; if we had a white mayor and he said, "Finally us white folk can run this city right once again", you'd have Jesse Jackson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Robinson, Matthew Henson, Thurgood Marshall, Ruby Bridges and James Baldwin in this city crying that civil rights were violated! Ok ok, maybe not all those people, some of them are dead and some really wouldn't give a hoot. But you got my point im sure! The corruption, who pays for the legal fees that are in the millions of dollars? We do!! The City tax payers do, why not? If I were being investigated for fraud or corruption im sure the government at some level would kick in and foot the bill right? why not? They are doing it for this man who brought this on himself! Now my whole point in all of this is not to prove to you that i'm a racist, because I don't think I am. The point being that we may not live in the worst city or necessarily be the worst people, BUT, we do have the worst mayor and alot of really really dumb people. I can see electing John Street into office as mayor for his first term, seeing that he was a failure and saying to ourselves "Ok, we made a mistake, let's learn and move on". But no, we have to stick our heads in our hind quarters and re-elect him a second term! And say to him, go ahead take our city down a few more notches,,, brother.

the pope

It's amazing how so many people can put so much into one mortal man. I know it is sad when people die and especially if you look to that man or have alot of respect. But to think that a mere man is next to Jesus Christ is a little over the top. And as the Angry Agnostic said the american media puts so much emphasis on such insignificant things. The pope is insignificant in the way that what does it matter who the pope is, he is just a man who makes church law. He cannot forgive sin, he cannot save a person from hell and he may not even escape hell himself. There is nothing that says that the pope is guarenteed a place in heaven. He must go by the same grace that the rest of us seek. It is just reall intersting that a mortal man is held almost as high as our Holy Father. (and no, I don't mean the pope, he is not our Holy Father)

A Pile of Rant

I find it amusing that people will actually remember what I blogged ages ago. The other day someone asked me about a film or something and when I replied, they'd like to have a cow because that is not how I responded a year ago. Well excuse me! You see, a year ago was a long time. If ppl kept the same opinions about things and the same convictions or beliefs to the T it would be a boring world with boring people! RT? Anyway, finally got into the spring yard work mood this weekend. went out and got an S load of topsoil for the box around my plum tree and planted wild flower seeds. Hopefully they grow to look nice. I got tired of trying to get flowers to grow in that shaded area. Although the Impatients are nice they are too common and we've had them for the last 25 summers. Cindy wants to plant tomatoes this year, so more power to her, we will buy her some tomato plants when its time to plant. I think it's more important to let someone of her age to get involved and plant something or help out in a hobby kind of yard work thing, even if it is totally wacked.. she will keep the interest as long as someone pats her on the back and says.. 'good job'! So the yard may look funny (im sure it wont) but Cindy will plant what she wants! The baby fish are growing fast.. no new pics yet but they are coming.. im busy and lazy.. so i guess the happy medium is normal.. RT?Anyway I added a new blog to my list of daily read blogs (Angry Agnostic) while at the same time I deleted one from my daily read list because it had music playing.. I dont know why.. but it pissed me off that someone would have the nerve to play their music on my computer trying to read and enjoy my own music. The part that pissed me off the most is that I use Mozilla Firefox for my browser and when I read my blogs I open all 15 of them in tabs. So when the music started playing.. I had to exit them one at a time to see who was playing the music.. and at that point.. I just deleted it! If you dont use Mozilla Firefox you've got to try it. its great if nothing more than using tabs. I can open pages in tabs instead of a new browser window therefore saving system resources and keeping my comp running fast as usual.

TURN IT OFF!

I don't read blogs with music- Kelly said it good - although i'm probably not a music snob only because i'm not sure what exactly it mean.......... my music is better than yours.

Arrgh with my photos

Still having trouble finding a lens that will focus close enough to the fry before they get any bigger. my regular 18-55mm lens won't focus close enough. An extension tube will not fit the lens. I now am borrowing a macro lens and for some odd reason, it will not focus through glass and water. OH WELL !! I'm thoroughly frustrated, time for bed!

Pro Sports players

You ever see those people who are so wrapped up in sports that their moods are actually dictated by the player or team that they idolize? Well it's true, there are those people that have 'their player' and their life is run by them. If it be a basketball star, they have the shoes, the shorts, the jersey the sweat band etc. And they act like them and think they are as good as them but in reality they are not as good as them. But because they carry that star's name on their clothing and on their walls and the team logo on their vanity plate they now feel more worthy. If their player has a good game or scores big it makes them feel good and strong and skilled and athletic. Like they just played hte game. Pretty much there are those people who are never going to be pro so they live a life through a professional athlete.

Living a lie

i often wonder if i'm living a lie or how many people i interact with each day are living a lie. i mean, like we get up each morning eat breakfast go to work or school come home eat dinner indulg ourselves in what we like or have to do for about 6 hours then go to bed just to start the routine over again. dont get me wrong i enjoy most of my days at work and what i do when i arrive back home, but in the grand scheme of things its like a tiny world inside his big world and everyone does their part to make it go round. what could the lie be that we live? i often here people say that the christian life is a lie. could it be? they say that god is a lie. could he be? they say that being nice and good and thoughtful is decietful and a lie. is it? i dont think so. i think it is all true all good and all desperately necessary. so why the doubts and wondering about the big lie?