Those were the Days 1980-85

Sometimes you just need to remember with pleasure the glory days. For Some people, its football. Some it’s a job or a great vacation or a band they used to play in. For me, it’s a group of men and a Church. I got a call from Jeff today, one of those men. It brought back memories. And then:

I read in today’s Wall Street Journal Personal section that men hate Church. That most denominations are losing men. There’s a reason. Men see church as sissy stuff because for many men it feels that way. So, many churches try to make up for that loss by having football or baseball games. Chili cookouts. Tailgate parties. Men stuff. It always fails. It’s a poor imitation for the real thing.

I never go to those things.

I know what it’s like to be a man among men in a Church of men, how that feels sounds and smells. I long to be there again. I may be getting close.

It was in the early 80’'s. I hadn’t been saved that long. I joined a charismatic church in Fargo ND. I met the other men. We were all in our mid 30’s. All married. All with kids. All working and all full of the Holy Ghost and fire. A few of us came together and became a team of sorts. We never had meetings. We never had strategy sessions. We only knew one thing. We believed God and we hated the devil.

There was Lee (He’'s gone now). He had been a Rock and Roller. He was pure Gospel. He believed what it said and that’s that. There was Jeff, strange and wonderful. He was a cop. He brought a cop’s sensibilities to the Church. He believed in the power of prayer. Not some namby pamby prayer. Power Prayer. Hell shaking heaven-reaching prayer. No missing his gender. There was Gaylon. He was an engineer. He could teach. But he would prophecy and demons trembled. If he looked at you funny you knew he knew everything you had done. He probably didn'’t but it kept you from stupidity. There was Pete. Pete was a body builder. Binding and losing. Take back territory from the enemy. No holds barred. Ex Military, he was tough. He now goes to Ukraine and takes back territory, starts churches, and never quits. He ducks bullets and gets thrown in the slammer a lot (in Ukraine) but he never quits. Then there was me.

Jeff’s brother Curt was at that time a pastor in the Church. My brother Steve came and developed the media (TV) ministry. Pastor Dan (Really operating as an Apostle) kept an eye on all of us. It is wonderful being in submission to an Apostle who says sic em and you know if it gets weird you can trust him to keep it on course. There were men who could move mountains with direct faith like Mike Johnson and Pastor Nate. When we had a men'’s retreat things happened. Good Things. Radical life changing things.

I remember Pastor Dan saying to me, "“With the men we have in this Church nothing is impossible for us". I knew what he meant. It was a heady feeling. We were all submitted but we had a spiritual swagger that John Wayne would have envied. We didn’t know that there was anything but victory over the enemy.

Every time we had a meeting, sometimes late night Friday prayer meetings, sometimes on Sunday nights, there was a sense that Jesus might just show up bodily. We had no idea what might happen. Every service was different. It was always a surprise. It was always supernatural. We wished that they would bring the dead so they could be raised up. Sickness, infirmity, demons in need of being cast out, nothing was impossible. We had a growl in our Spirit that made demons run when we walked in the room. Jesus was so big in us that we didn’t see ourselves. We saw only him and what he could do. Any devil in hell that tried to rise up against the power of Jesus was dead meat in seconds.

Oh we weren’t perfect. We were MEN. In ALL ways. But we believed God for a practical tangible line of attack. Nothing theoretical. We read Mark 16 and looked for scorpions and snakes to step on. We didn’t wait for the Devil to attack us. We looked for the Gates of Hell because we believed that they would not prevail when we attacked. We read it in the book so we attacked.

But most of these men moved up or out and new team members pulled punches a bit. Like the 85 Chicago Superbowl Bears who became the 95 and 05 Bears, same team name, not the same team.

I was so acculturated in this radical faith that when I moved to Chicago and began attending Church here it was a shock. One time (because I was a weird believer in the Power of God) I was asked to pray for a woman with Parkinsons who shook badly. Is the Name of Jesus above Parkinsons? YES! So, cinched up the armor and took out after this devil. About 5 minutes into this a pastor from the Church came and asked me to stop. He didn’t want to get her hopes up that she might be healed. What?? That’s exactly what I was hoping to do. Faith is the substance of things HOPED for.

I then began to realize what most Churches and many pastors (including this large Charismatic Church we joined when we first came to Chicago) didn't really believe in the supernatural power of God. Form of Godliness, no power.

Where are all those men today? All who are still alive are still in ministry. Some full time, some not. But still kicking the devil’s behind and loving it. We’re all late 50’s or 60’s now. That Church is not the same. It has evolved in to a good church but lacking the fierceness, passion and fire of those days. Oh, it’'ll grow. Fierceness frightens the women and women go to church and then men lose interest and then they leave and..... That’s a pattern many churches go thru. Chili Suppers and Tailgate parties don’'t attract men. Being on the team and kicking devils in the butt does.

I'’m not critical as much as pitying. I long to get back on the team. A team of Manly Men of GOD who believe, who run to the battle. Men with spiritual swagger who have Holy Ghost fire deep in their bones. I’'m like Sampson, just once more Lord, show me those Doorposts. Let'’s bring the house down. I really miss those days. Once more Lord, just once more.

Golf North Dakota

I was reading this article about someone with Golf Rage.

 

Well, it's true.

 

I have golfed enough in Illinois to tell you that the "Rangers" push you.  If you aren't a good golfer you are run off the course.  People are quite rude when you don't golf at 80 miles an hour.

 

So, I'm left with the lousy courses to play.  Even if you pay big greens fees ($100 including cart) you are still harassed.

 

The only times I really enjoy the game is when I golf back in ND. 

 

I have been a bit hard of my home state (mostly for it's politics, Republican-Socialism). 

 

But, there's nothing like a nice slow incompetent round of pasture pool in the wide open big skies of North Dakota. 

 

The nineteenth hole is great too.

Have a Blessed Sukkot

Today October 18, begins the 8 day Festival called Sukkot, Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of Booths.
This is full of prophetic significance.

This is theday when Jesus was born. Not Christmas. The first day of Sukkot 5 BC. So Happy Birthday Jesus.

This is the time he is predicted to come again. Sukkot.

There is a great deal of history, joy, and celebration during this wonderful season. The solemn feasts are done, the feasts of celebration kick in to full gear.

So, go outside, sit under a tree, think about the Goodness of God. Give thanks for all his provision. Eat, drink and be a little merry.

Look at the stars. I love this time of year. Oh, and happy New Year. Party like it’s 5766. The New Year is begun again.

You are blessed. Enjoy. I will. And look to the sky, evenso come Lord Jesus.

Encouragment and Advice

A little boy was giving a book report on Socrates that went as follows:

Socrates was a wise old man who went around giving people advice. They poisoned him.

I feel like Socrates a bit sometimes. Not everyone loves being encouraged or advice. Knowing how and when is difficult. Particularly when I have a positive influence from time to time it's hard not to try and be the encouragement so many have been for me. Sort of Pass it Forward.

In 1975 I became a Dale Carnegie associate under Loehle Gast in Fargo. For the next 10 years I traveled all over the upper Midwest Dakotas and Minnesota conducting training and development programs for Dale Carnegie and Associates. We had 3 programs all of which I taught.

1. Sales Training 12 weeks
2. Confidence Building and Public Speaking 14 weeks
3. Management Development (Sort of an MBA without the Finance part) 8 weeks

I enjoyed what I did and the people I had in my classes found them helpful. Many still point to those experiences and pivotal for their future. So many times people have told me what a difference I made in their life. It’s so rewarding. I keep in touch with many of the approximately thousand people I trained in one of these disciplines.

I have watched many of them go on to great things. Some are very wealthy today. Some have become movers and shakers in politics. Some are Church leaders today. And some are just really great people.

Then there were a few who just didn'’t take. They were people who usually came because their boss told them to. They just showed up. They weren’t going to let anyone encourage them no matter who. Anti Networkers. "I’m miserable and I’m not going to let anyone try to help me." They succeeded at failing. Still do.

So, like the classic lightbulb question: How many Dale Carnegie Instructors does it take to change a lightbulb? Just one, but the lightbulb has to want to change.

SO WHAT, you ask? As an observer of humanity and particularly those with whom I was in Dale Carnegie years ago I have come to these conclusions:

• People who complain about their life but are unwilling to change it should stop complaining
• People who tell you they are happy just the way things are and then are constantly depressed about how things are just conning themselves
• Who you think you are or can be is the limit to who you will become. If you think you are beaten you are, if you think you can’t you’re right.
• Fear of Failure or ridicule keeps more people from trying than incompetence.
• Self Image when enhanced will cause the reality around you to rise to that new level.
• Trying and failing and trying and failing is how things get done.
• Your potential is not limited by your circumstances. Only what you believe about yourself.
• A positive outlook coupled with action is a force multiplier. Colin Powell said that and it’s absolutely true.
• We make the decisions about our future with every action we take. Repetitive action will create a repetitive future. Stuck in the Rut so to speak.
• It takes a firm mindset to reject the influences and limitations others put upon you. You must become your own best counsel. The past is gone. The lies and putdowns which put you in this box will keep you there until you bury them.
• Other people’s encouragement and belief in you to go higher is a gift they give. But it has to be unwrapped before you benefit from it. Then become a regifter.

It’s never too late to rise up. I remember a woman who took our class less than 10 years from her dying day; who’s last years were double the joy because she began to believe in herself. The last 8 of her 75 years on the earth were her best.

I will never forget a young man from Valley City who worked in a grain elevator and suffered from a debilitating disease who was in our class. He became manager and rose to great heights in industry.

There were times I really had to try to see good in what others were doing. I worked at being encouraging. I involved myself in their quest. It nearly always paid off. Those people were ready to move up. There were some that resented it.They had made the decision that there was nothing anyone could offer that would help. They had tried it all before. Nothing would work out. They were right.

I have worked with people coming out of prison. I am doing so now. Helping them release the past and move forward is a real challenge. Some make it, some don'’t. It’s a tough sled. It’s all about believing.

A bigger prison is self-doubt, fear, routine and the lack of a big dream that drives you on. I have known a few people who were carrying in their person true greatness. A potential gift to all of humanity. Who have nothing short of their own self-degradation that holds them back. Who will die with their unrealized potential buried with them.

I have also known people like John Redlin who had NOTHING going for him health wise but who believed he could make a difference. Even when they cut both his legs off he fought for a chance to matter to the world. He did. He taught in the public school, was in politics, a firefighter, and hundreds of other things. He mattered to those who knew and loved him. Gone too soon, he left much of his potential behind for those of us who survive to enjoy and remember.

Be like that. Matter, reach, believe in yourself. Try fail try fail try fail and eventually you will soar. That’s how you learned to walk and then run.

Am I talking to you?

YES!

I wish I had said that, Wait, I DID

I wish I had written this, I have sort of, but, this new book seems to say everything I have been saying. Go out and get it, you'll feel better.

In "Black Gold Stranglehold," Corsi and Smith expose the fraudulent science and irresponsible politics that have been sold to American people in order to enslave them. By debunking several myths, Corsi and Smith provide an outline for progress that would help to establish America as energy-independent.

Be prepared to be challenged by:

* The myth of fossil fuels: Corsi and Smith argue that the deep abiotic theory of oil is a more reliable theory than the fossil fuel theory. It rejects the contention that oil was formed from the remains of plant and animal life that died millions of years ago. Instead, they believe in Thomas Gold's argument that oil is abiotic: "a primordial material that the earth forms and exudes on a continual basis" and is "pushed upward toward the earth's surface by the intense pressures of the earth's core and the influence of the centrifugal force that the earth exerted upon the specific gravity of oil as a fluid substance."

* The running-out-of-oil myth: The 1970s scientific study known as Hubbert's Peak, predicting we would exhaust oil reserves by 2003, has been proven false. We are currently sitting on "more proven petroleum reserves than ever before despite the increasing rate at which we are consuming petroleum products. New and gigantic oil fields are being discovered at an increasing rate, in places the fossil fuel theory would never have been predicted as possible.

* The global warming hoax and other environmental myths: Corsi and Smith present compelling evidence that "burning fossil fuels does not release into the air chlorofluorocarbons or halon compounds, the types of chemicals identified as the culprits causing holes in the ozone." Instead, "human beings breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide" while "plants absorb carbon dioxide and throw out oxygen."

* The folly of oil conservation: "Black Gold Stranglehold" presents and documents how no alternative energy option has been able to provide enough energy and how each alternative has been deemed uneconomical.

* Oil playing a part in the illegal-immigration problem: Mexico has the third largest proven reservoirs of crude oil in the Western Hemisphere behind Venezuela and the U.S. As a result, the United States imports virtually all the oil Mexico exports. Consequently, "the U.S. government finds it difficult to take a systematic, hard look at the nearly free flow of illegal immigrants coming across our southern border. As a hedge against instability in the Middle East, the U.S. government has to calculate our oil needs when considering any steps we take regarding Mexico or illegal immigrants.

* The value of the dollar and its effect on terrorism: "In recent years the buying power of the dollar has decreased 40 percent on the average against all major foreign currencies. Since dollars can no longer be exchanged for gold, no hard, fixed commodity stands behind the U.S. international payments, including oil purchases. Osama bin Laden's "war against America was fueled by his belief that the U.S. has stolen the oil of Muslim countries. At the core of the issue is bin Laden's perception that America has paid for oil, a hard commodity, with paper dollars that are no longer backed as they once were by the hard commodity of gold."

* How high the price of oil?: "Today, the U.S. oil industry is sitting on a quantity of oil reserves that has never been higher. Still, we have built no new refineries, and the refineries in operation are producing at or near capacity. The picture that emerges is one of industry conglomerates simply sitting on large reserves and waiting for oil prices to go even higher. At some point, increased gasoline prices become an inevitable drag on the economy."

* Terrorism and Its Threat to Oil: Terrorists are "willing to bet that the U.S. will not be able to afford politically or economically a protracted global war against radical Islamic terrorism. Terrorists, like governments determined to impose price controls on oil, act to disrupt free markets. In doing so, they clearly understand the economic harm they can inflict."

Corsi and Smith believe that America can and will become energy independent if some steps are taken to correct the aforementioned problems. In addition, they not only meticulously lay out the problems facing American oil interests, but have developed a seven-step action toward U.S. Oil Independence by:

Promoting scientific research to investigate alternative theories.

* Expediting leases offshore and in Alaska to encourage oil exploration.

* Providing tax credits for deep-drilling oil exploration.

* Creating an oil research institute to serve as a clearinghouse of oil industry information.

* Developing a public broadcasting television series devoted to the oil industry.

* Reestablishing a gold-backed international trade dollar.

* Establishing tax incentives for opening new refineries in the U.S.

In the end, "Black Gold Stranglehold" not only provides solutions, but it will empower consumers and oil industry professionals to drastically change the debate about oil. This book is sure to cause thoughtful people to reconsider the U.S. dependence on foreign oil and its effects on our economy.

"Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil"

I know you have been worrying about this

Almost every year I get asked the same question.

Gene, you're in such terrific shape, why don't you run the Chicago Marathon? I mean you could run it between those vigorous workouts you put yourself thru.

After all, it's only 26 miles.

Piece o' Cake.

I have my reasons I DON'T run the Chicago Marathon.. If you know me you know what they are.

But, every year, rewind, Every YEAR! After the Toronto marathon someone crosses the finish line and immediately DROPS DEAD.

I'm imagining the Pearly Gates, St Pete, etc. Classic scene from all bad theology.

St. Pete: "You're 38, why are you here? Your time isn't up yet."

Runner "I just finished the Toronto marathon, and I dropped dead leaving behind my wife and children who will now have to fend for themselves, but boy was I in shape".

St. Pete: "(Insert your own derogatory remark here regarding selfishness stupidity etc.)"

I now believe in purgatory for runners.

Theoretical Theologians

I haven't wanted to pick a fight. I have no axe to grind.

I'm just becoming frustrated with the theological theoreticians. They are theorizing about a theoretical god. It's becoming another gospel. It's time to call them to account. They need to come back to the true God. Not one of their imaginations.

I;m going to start another blog. (Like the world needs this).

But, somehow I must put in front of people who consider themselves Christians, particularity among those who consider themselves theologically sophisticated the danger of their hubris.

The simplicity of the Word of God has confused the brilliant.

SO, I'm going to begin, In my "spare" time.

There's too much Really FUZZY thinking among Christian leaders.

I'm open for discussion, I'm ready for debate, I prepared for dialogue, I'm going to shut off degradation, and unthought dogma.

Reason is fine, but reason thru the screen of scripture.

What qualifies me or anyone to ask these questions and try to steer the ship back on course?

Read First Corinthians Chapter 2:10

But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

1Cr 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

1Cr 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

1Cr 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

1Cr 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

1Cr 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

1Cr 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

So, when I'm ready I will direct those of you interested to this.

Wait and See.

Things I have been Ranting and Raving About

As you know, I post from time to time as a guest on Say Anything. I just want to make sure that if you want content that's where it is. I will remain bland and uninteresting on this blog so as not offend sensitive readers.

So, Danger, Danger Will Robinson, Vile Political speech at:

Louis Farrakahn's quite a few man march

10 Bird Flu Truths you need to Know

K seeking K al Queida Letters

Global Warming, Cooling or Something

News of the very strange

LAST PICK FOR THE TEAM

The old man and his Newspaper

9-11 this explains everything

So, read with caution.

I'll post these links weekly so you don't have to be tormented to find the wheat among the chaff. Not that there's any chaff on Say Anything.

The Nursery Business isn’t as easy as it looks sometimes

Maybe nothing is. If I were a dogcatcher there would be days……….

I have been working with various growers to supply landscapers nursery stock for a couple decades now. I didn’t just fall off the pickle truck.

Sometimes I get frustrated with the amateurs. This morning I get a call from a guy who wants a 14’ spruce and wants to haul it in the back of his pickup truck. What? I tried to be as nice as I should be, finally I just blew him off. Amateur landscapers are the worst. They don’t know what they are doing, expect more than anyone can provide and don’t know why we on the grower end don’t get excited at their call.

I have been working with a few growers who are new to selling wholesale. I have tried to be nice and considerate of their naiveté in the marketplace. But, my time is worth something too. Learn the market or get out. If you don’t believe me, believe the fact that you have trees in the nursery that were 3” last year and are now unsaleable.

I get calls from people wanting help them establish a nursery. I did that a few times. Those nurseries are up and running. My check for my consulting help? Not yet on the way. I’ll not do that again.

So, I’m harder now, I’m less tolerant now, I do business on my terms, not theirs. I am unwilling to bend my core principles. I learned long ago that no good deed in the nursery business goes unpunished. We do business my way or not at all.

I have lots of people who want to buy product. I just need to figure out what to do about all the amateurs in the business who don’t know how or when to sell their product. Then they whine when things don’t sell and they have to push them over with a bulldozer.

My old boss, Jerry Rice, used to say, “Every plant in the nursery will find a buyer given enough time and the right price”. He was exactly right.

Time and Price. That’s the rub.

So, to whom am I talking here? ME.

Thanks for letting me blow off a little steam.

Back to work.

Peggy Noonan Scores Again

Smart Woman Post:

Peggy Sounds off on Harriet Meirs.

How bout Ms Noonan for Supreme Court?

If you know my story, you know why this quote matters to me

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."


"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

I wonder if they had this story on for my Grandma Redlin

I saw the story below on the news. My first thought was, Ja und? (So What in German, sort of).

The family of my Father, The Robert Redlin's of Watertown, numbered children from one mother and one father well into the teens. Depending on counting birth and shortly thereafter deaths. It would have been 18. None of those namby pampy hospital births either. Get up in the morning, have a baby and cook dinner for the harvesters in the evening. Those were real women of the prairie.

So, this story makes me say just one thing, LIGHTWEIGHT!

Arkansas Mother Gives Birth to 16th Child
Oct 12 1:55 PM US/Eastern

By MELISSA NELSON
Associated Press Writer

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.

Michelle Duggar just delivered her 16th child, and she's already thinking about doing it again.

Johannah Faith Duggar was born at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and weighed 7 pounds, 6.5 ounces.

The baby's father, Jim Bob Duggar, a former state representative, said Wednesday that mother and child were doing well.

He said Johannah's birth was especially exciting because it was the first time in eight years the family has had a girl.

Jim Bob Duggar, 40, said he and Michelle, 39, want more children.

"We both just love children and we consider each a blessing from the Lord. I have asked Michelle if she wants more and she said yes, if the Lord wants to give us some she will accept them," he said.

The Discovery Health Channel filmed Johannah's birth and plans to air a show about the family of 18 next May.

The Learning Channel is doing another show about the family's construction project, a 7,000-square foot house that should be finished before Christmas. The home, which the family has been building for two years, will have nine bathrooms, dormitory-style bedrooms for the girls and boys, a commercial kitchen, four washing machines and four dryers.

Jim Bob Duggar, who sells real estate, previously lost his bid for the U.S. Senate. He said he expects to run for the state Senate next year but isn't ready to make a formal announcement.

Michelle Duggar had her first child at age 21, four years after the couple married.

Their children include two sets of twins, and each child has a name beginning with the letter "J": Joshua, 17; John David, 15; Janna, 15; Jill, 14; Jessa, 12; Jinger, 11; Joseph, 10; Josiah, 9; Joy-Anna, 8; Jeremiah, 6; Jedidiah, 6; Jason, 5; James, 4; Justin, 2; and Jackson Levi, 1.

I get some Strange Emails

You do too. Mostly about enlarging bodily members.

But today I got one from a Carlos Guzman. He was hawking a stock (I think). I'm not sure of the topic. He also included some philosophy. So stock picks by a philosopher. They are kind of thought provoking however:

• Conceal a flaw, and the world will imagine the worst.
• Television has raised writing to a new low.
• Guilt is a rope that wears thin.
• It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
• The world belongs to the enthusiast who keeps cool.
• Streets full of water; please advise.
• Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies.
• When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.
• When women kiss, it always reminds me of prizefighters shaking hands.
• The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
• It is only the first step that is difficult.
• We don't get offered crises, they arrive.
• To generalize is to be an idiot.
• Visions come not to polluted eyes.
• Everybody likes a kidder, but nobody lends him money.
• Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.
• We're all in this alone.

Honestly I don't agree with that last one, but the others are food to chew on.

This is a tirade free zone

I have strong opinions on everything. And worse, I’m convinced I am right. Not just right wing. Correct. That’s what makes me so popular at dinner parties during which I sit alone. You want my opinion, just ask, no don’t bother, I’ll give it to you anyway.

Nothing is more dangerous than absolute certitude. I’m a dangerous man.

So, I am going to return the tone of this blog to ruminations on life, love, Jesus, Family, and other less offensive topics.

My inflammatory comments and opinions will now reside in a more suitable place. I now write as a guest contributor for Say Anything. This is a political and cultural blog written and edited in large part by Rob Port. I have enjoyed his blog since I became aware of it a year ago. I believe it’s one of the best on the net. I go there first in the morning not because I wrote something, but because I think it’s so well done.

There are several comments on nearly every post. Rob has thousands of readers. They all have strong opinions. It’s great fun if you love good political debate.

And here’s the beauty part. Sometimes I write while incoherent. When I am banal, unclear, stupid, and potentially about to look like an idiot, Rob won’t publish my rant. He sends it back for rewrite. And sometimes he just fixes the stupid parts.

Thanks to Rob (and his associate Likwidshoe) for allowing me to be part of your lively forum and giving a home for my more radical offensive right wing views. I will keep the Gleaner as content free as possible so as not to offend more sensitive readers.

So, bookmark Say Anything. It’s some of the best on the net today. Just ask me.

Recent rants:
Miers Nomination
ND Ebay Licence
Failure of Multiculturalism
Arab MTV saves the world
Patriot Act Police State Howard Dean
Blind Rage from the Left
Helping Katrina Victims, no good deed goes unpunished
Faint Praise from Democrats for Meirs
Bush Withdraws from Iraq
No Sign of Reaction to Bush's Speach
Churchill Bush
Socialist North Dakota
You can balance the Budget
Bali Bombers

Fall is a Beautiful Time Here

Living where I do has genuine benefits. Fall color is one of them. We had drought this summer. Color is off. But all in all it’s still spectacular.

Growing up in ND, going to college in Fargo, I saw posters of the fall on campus pictures from around the country. Oranges, Reds, Golds, Purples and Magenta, magic colors far off the prismatic scale. In ND. Green, frost, brown or No frost, a few weeks of yellow, then brown. Then that special day all people from North Dakota know well. Yellow leaves on the tree all fall off in an hour as the sun rises after a hard freeze. Yesterday it was clothed in bright yellow (Elm and Ash do this best), a cold night and by noon she stands naked. I have intentionally stood under these trees as they molted to experience the effect.

I didn’t know different, I thought we should be happy for what we got. I was. It was pretty in it’s own way. I still enjoy it when I have been hunting in ND and there are leaves on the trees with a muted expression as if a Norwegian introvert had painted them. (a Norwegian introvert looks at his shoes when he talks to you, a Norwegian extrovert looks at yours).

Nothing too bold or colorful.

Color says winters coming. I’m not ready. It was too hot to enjoy summer.

Maybe global warming will set in and we won’t have winter this year. I can only hope.

End of the Age?

I heard Pat Robertson say that all the upset in the last year starting with the Tsunami and up to the Earthquake in Pakistan with tens of thousands dead means that the end of the world (or something like it) is near.

I don’t know.

I guess I read the Bible as well as the next guy. I’ll withhold my opinion.

I do know that I am more thankful for every breath, every hug, every kiss, every touch, every single manifestation of life than I was before.

I have touched and seen those empty shells of people I once knew and loved.

I understand that in Medical School, early on they take students to a newly deceased body. They make them hold the hand of the carcass. They then talk about how only a few hours ago this person loved, had anger, sexual drives, felt heat, pain, talked, and reasoned. Now, nothing.

That’s why I believe in an eternal soul. This is more than just a cluster of synapses. We live on.

Naive? Or is it naive to believe that there is nothing beyond this life.

Time will tell. I’m with Pascal, “if there’s nothing beyond this life, I’m not harming myself living and loving as if there is”.

If I’m wrong it doesn’t matter, if I’m right, WOW!

Your hometown a business haven?

By Paul Tulenko

Scripps Howard News Service

Are you a young professional looking for a place to settle down and call home? Maybe you went off to college to get the knowledge and grounding for a job that has been calling to you.

Maybe you and your potential mate are looking for a place where you can not just get a great job, but can satisfy that burning passion for hunting, fishing, camping, skiing or some other excitement that calls.

Maybe you’re looking for a place where you can rent a loft apartment over an old storefront and sell your art, live downtown where the action is and still make a wonderful living.

Maybe you miss the closeness of having friends who like the things you like, and where you are now just doesn’t offer those moments.

Then again, maybe you’ve been out there for a few (or quite a few) years, and you’re still looking for a place where you can be “you” again. You have skills, knowledge and experience, and you don’t seem to have lost that drive, but at the same time, you don’t want to tie yourself down to some corporate job at the expense of friends, family and what’s left of your life.

Does any of this resonate with you? It resonates with me. Over the past few years, I’ve been privileged to talk with a lot of people just like you (and me), and I’ve discovered the secret place where we’ve all longed to be: It’s called home!

For example, I recently visited two very small towns in North Dakota – Bismarck, the capital, and Grand Forks, a town so much like the sleepy town in mid-Missouri I grew up in that I almost pitched the career and all that stuff on the chance that I could again be near friends and relatives who talked like me, who came from that good rich old-country stock, people who believe in people, people who have a positive outlook on life, go fishing for walleyes, hunt Ring-Neck Pheasants, plant a garden, build make-believe cities with grandkids on the muddy banks of the Missouri river, have a beer down at the local watering hole, and cuss and discuss the challenges of the day with friends both old and new.

Have you thought about something like this? A lot of the new people in North Dakota have, and I’ve talked with them, had meaningful discussions across a table groaning with a platter piled high with walleye fillets that just makes your mouth water and piles of steaks that are the tenderest meat ever served, and it’s all home-grown.

These people have moved back home, bought the old place down the road, built the home of their dreams, enrolled their kids in schools that seem to hold promise of actually helping them to succeed in life, found a job with one of the new firms just starting to grow, or in some cases, starting new businesses of their own.

They’ve also found that there is money in their hometown – money to lend to entrepreneurs who want to buy out some business and make it their own or to buy that homestead that will allow them the freedom to be themselves, provide the challenges of the new century and allow them to work with other talented people to open new doors.

If you are looking for a new challenge in your life, consider making a trip back to where you came from, whether it’s that big city, sleepy village or a town in North Dakota. Is there a challenge out there you could solve? Are any of your old friends or family still around? Maybe you and they could walk back up that memory hill one more time. Maybe that bend in the road is the one you’ve been looking for.

Thomas Wolfe said you can’t go home again, but Dorothy did – and I’m going to tell you that, yes, you also can go home again. So come on home. They’re waiting for you.

American job search

by Vince Corelli
Published October 8, 2005

Chicago -- I woke up one recent morning after setting my alarm clock (made in Japan) while my coffeepot (made in China) was perking. I shaved with my electric razor (made in Hong Kong) and put on a dress shirt (made in Sri Lanka), designer jeans (made in Singapore) and tennis shoes (made in Korea).

After cooking breakfast in my new electric skillet (made in India), I sat down with my calculator (made in Mexico) to see what my budget for the day was.

I set my watch (made in Taiwan) to the radio (made in China), got in my car (made in Germany) and started yet another search for a good-paying American job.

At the end of another fruitless and discouraging day, I decided to relax for a while, put on my sandals (made in Brazil), poured a glass of wine (made in France), turned on my TV (made in Indonesia), and then wondered why I can't find a good-paying job in America.

This is Really Amazing

You might think this is a case of people not having enough to do, but, these painted hands are truly stunning.

What in the World is Going on?

As I woke this morning I hear that a giant earthquake has just taken place in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Thousands dead.

That took off the news a mudslide in Guatemala which buried a village that killed many.

Bird Flu threatening to kill millions of people.

Hurricanes

Tsunami

And.........

The other shoe will drop but what and when will that be.

I could give theological reasoning for all this. I could give links to those. I don't know if I believe them.

We are undergoing a tremendous shake up world wide. Is there a design in all this?

I just got this dispatch from North Dakota from Surviving Relatives

WEATHER BULLETIN

Up here in the Northern Plains we just recovered from a Historic --- may I
even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" with a historic
blizzard of up to 24" inches of snow and winds to 50 MPH that broke
trees   in half, stranded hundreds of motorist in lethal snow banks, closed
all roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of  thousands.
 

George Bush did not come.... FEMA staged nothing.... no one howled for
the government...no one even uttered an expletive on TV...nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards...no one asked for a FEMA Trailer House.... no news anchors.

We just melted snow for water, sent out caravans to pluck people out

of snow engulfed cars, fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or
Aladdin lamps and put on an extra layer of clothes.
 
 Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen
 this early...we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.
 Everybody is fine.

 

What Does This Map Mean??

I saw this map on Fire Ant Gazette today.

You look at it and ask yourself, of all the states in the whole lower 48, which state shows NO Katrina Refugee Transplants?

WHY?

I know some had to be, maybe they want to keep it a secret. HUH?

Thank God for President Bush

Even though I wrestle with some of the domestic spending and education issues with our President, In a former post I tried to explain why I believed we had to win the war in Iraq.

I heard the President explain it as well as anyone could. This is a struggle of Good over Evil. The key phrase was, this is a foe more dangerous than any we have ever fought against.

This is about world domination by a force which wants to destroy you and me. His words today were prophetic in many ways.

Even though I come down on the other side (Meirs) of his position on many things, he's right about this.

I trust him to do the right thing.

Conservatives and Liberals

A student of Philosophy away at college came home for his Thanksgiving break. While there he posed a question his professor had wrestled with the students. Taking a glass from the cupboard, filling the glass to half, he asked the question.

Is the glass half full or half empty?

Expecting a spirited discussion his grandmother, looked up and said, "depends if you are pouring or drinking".

And that is the difference between Conservatives and Liberals..

Secret Release of 2006 Political Platforms

The 2006 Congressional Elections are coming up. The two main parties are getting their talking points in order. From correspondent KLR in our east coast Bureau we have this inside information on the respective platforms thus far:

Republican:

Four out of five rednecks and white trash agree... Vote Republican

Lets give the rest of the world and the environment the third index of our right hand again.

We make the rich richer.

Next time, we're liberating Canada.

We just about got that whole Israel/Palestinian peace accord thingy figured out.

"Yeah, I got your Weapon-of-Mass-Destruction right here, huh...its right here..."

Congressmen and Senators make better Lap dogs if they’re Republicans

Where's my spine, I know I left it somewhere?

Democrat:

We're the lesser of two evils like: BUSH – ROVE – CHENEY – DELAY - LOTT

Fresh New faces of “not as evil” to get used to: Maxine Waters, Charlie Rangle, Howard Dean, Ray Nagin, and Mary Landrieu.

We're the best way to shut Michael Moore up.

We'll not only legalize gay marriage, we'll ban straight marriage.

Think "Chief-of-Staff Morgan Freeman" in 2008. Sure he's just an actor , but so was Ronald Reagan.

We've found the solution for low taxes.

We kinda miss the days when Rush Limbaugh was relevant.

Our guy dated Marilyn Monroe. How many American icons have they dated (if you know what I mean)?

And how bout that Monica. OOOOO Babeolishous sort of.

Don’t you miss us as all? Please, We’ll promise you anything. Just vote for us. You won't be sorry.

Fema and Me

It was 1975, July, a black cloud moved from the east to the west. I was driving north on MN 75 to go home. We lived north of Harwood ND then. I would cross the bridge. The dark wall seemed almost green. It moved inexorably.

I got home in time to beat the storm. It rained, and rained, and rained. Poured really. 10” inches in 5 hours.

When it stopped raining the floods came. It washed over us and all our neighbors up and down the Sheyenne river. Our house was high and dry. My brother lived next door. His was a little wetter.

We had a trailer in the woods for a hired man. Boat was the only way in or out to his place.

Equipment sat in water. Our crops were lost completely. We raised Muskmelon. A lot of muskmelon.

For the next 10 days we drove thru a half mile of water. I ruined the rear axle on my Pontiac. The road repair was expensive. It was actual devastation.

But, never fear, Fema was here. I trotted into the Air Guard armory at Hector to see about what kind of relief I could get. I lost crops, I had damage, I needed to do repairs, I had income problems because of this.

They said, fill out this form, and this, and this and this and this……

I did. They looked at this and told me I was ineligible for any relief because:

• I chose to live where I did and that was my problem

  I had not insured my crop against flood

  I should not have driven thru the water

  The people who were now out of a Job that worked for me could always go on unemployment and welfare.

In the end almost no one got anything from Fema in that flood. Some years later there was a spring flood of the same proportions in Fargo. Fema showed up there.

No one got anything from that either.

I believe Fema is like the process of renewal in Logans Run. People who’s indicator went off participated in a ritual of renewal. The idea was that if you were fortunate you would survive and live on. The people rose up and chanted “Renew, Renew, Renew”. Only later does Logan learn that NO ONE ever renews.

That’s the way Fema is. No one actually gets anything from them. Its all a ritual designed to make us think we might. Fema should be decommissioned along with the depts of Energy, Education, HUD, and Labor. It’s all smoke and mirrors.

The people of New Orleans are about to learn this sad story.

During this same time there were farm grants being made to farmers for crop loss due to the flood. I looked in to that. I didn’t make enough money to qualify.

So, the only people who got hundreds of thousands of dollars from the government were those who had the financial depth to survive the catastrophe and were connected well enough to participate.

Those getting didn’t need it and those giving didn’t have it.

We used to call that being a big shot with someone else’s money. Still is.

That’s why I have a hard time with socialism as practiced among farmers on the Great Plains. Those what has gets from those to whom it doesn’t belong.

This is such a BAD idea

Clear Channel Radio is complaining that it can only have 8 Radio stations in any market. "That's not fair", they said. I'm not a fan of conglomerate vanilla radio. I spend a lot of time on the road. The blandness is ubiquitous..

Isn't there enough Clear Channel babble already cluttering our airwaves with audio Soylent Green? I'm a Sat Radio Subscriber. Sirrus and XM have a total of 6 million users. There's 300 million of us who can hear clear channel FREE. Clear Channel, MAYBE IT"S YOUR PROGRAMMING! If you provide quality programming like IPOD and Sat you won't lose listeners. This is a sorry excuse for not being competitive. Besides, even as a Sat Radio Subscriber I listen more to broadcast radio 10 times more than I do listen to satellite. When I hear the simul broadcast Muzak I tune out. Take a hint.

Maybe the FCC is staffed with people who care about genuine radio now. I can only hope.

Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by
holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked,

"Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up.
He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you
but first, let me do this.

He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.
He then asked, "Who still wants it?"

Still the hands were up in the air.
Well, he replied, "What if I do this?"
And he dropped it on the ground
and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.

He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.
"Now, who still wants it?"

Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.
No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it
because it did not decrease in value.
It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives,
we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt
by the decisions we make and
the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are worthless.
But no matter what has happened or
what will happen, you will never lose your value.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to
those who DO LOVE you.

The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know,
but by WHO WE ARE and WHOSE WE ARE.
You are special- Don't EVER forget it."

Count your blessings, not your problems.
And remember: amateurs built the ark ..
professionals built the Titanic.
If God brings you to it - He will bring you through it.

Tip o' the hat to Terri Naylor

I have been way too serious lately

SO, in the interest of a little levity, take a peak at a Wonderful Blog from a Pastor Friend of Mine's post on Men.

Guaranteed to make you smile.

There are also the official RULES OF MEN

There are lots and lot of Gender Funny links on this page too.

Have fun. Don't hold anything off color against me. I didn't write this stuff.

Bush and Bird (flu)

I'll bet you thought I was kidding. Bird flu and all.

Today, I had a hard time believing my ears, Pres Bush said he had asked congress to allow him to quarantine whole states if necessary.

So, if you thought this was just fearmongering. Think again.

We are on the brink of something big here.

I want the Government to Subsidize my Life Insurance

A few months ago we missed a life insurance policy payment. Those commies canceled my policy. That’s not fair. So we sent them a check and said OOPS.

“NOT SO FAST, we don’t take you back just like that”, Insurance Guy Said.

So, the agent intervened (he doesn’t get his commission if they don’t keep me on). They sent out a medical interrogator to examine me.

DO I: Smoke, Drink, Do Drugs, Overweight, Exercise, Cholesterol, blood pressure, Aids, Sugar Diabetes, Family History of dying, etc etc etc??.

They asked and examined me every way from Sunday, took 4 quarts of blood (it seemed) I filled a half gallon bucket with (well you know). Tested my Stress.

The whole nine yards.

Then 6 weeks later after an actuarial with green eyeshades made a godlike decision on an overweight inactive person who’s 60 yrs old and who’s blood pressure just a bit too high could be insured I hung in limbo uninsured.

I thought about this because of the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans that is going on. Should we rebuild New Orleans just as it was? Should there be any restrictions on anyone building on oceanfront property again if they want to?

I have an answer, sure, build away. But don’t ask ME as a taxpayer to subsidize your decision to build with federal flood insurance. Banks should lend money and insurance companies should insure with the same care and consideration that the Life Group gave me. Actuarialialize away.

My lifestyle isn’t perfect. I have bad habits. I don’t work out. I eat poorly. I have made lifestyle choices and for that reason I pay a price when I buy life insurance. If it’s fair for people building in risky areas to get a socialistic insurance subsidy, where’s mine? The government should pick up the rating part of my insurance policy. Right?

If you build a 2 million dollar home directly on the Gulf you have made a lifestyle choice. The actuaries will help you decide if that’s a good choice or not. Don’t ask me to help you live a lifestyle that doesn’t make good sense.

If you can’t get flood insurance and you can’t get bank financing for that reason, don’t build. Now is a good time to rethink this whole thing.

The same thing goes for flood prone parts of New Orleans. If the actuaries won’t take the chance why should the rest of America subsidize a lifestyle choice that is a bad risk?

Eliminate federal subsidies for flood insurance. It’s not flood insurance, it’s lifestyle insurance.

Oh, and yes the life insurance company did take me back, no increase in premium. I’m still the man, (sort of).

Hardhearted Republicans Put Money Over Lives

I’ll bet that’s a headline you never thought you’d see here.

The other day Harry Reid was passionately on the floor of the Senate pleading for money to be included in a defense appropriation for the antiviral vaccine Tamiflu. 3 Billion or so. He was heartfelt, talked of his grandchildren and wife. There was palpable fear and trembling in his voice. His sincerity is not in question. If your family is at risk of dying when a pandemic of Avian Flu breaks out you will be too. His plea was, we have to do something, anything. This threat is real. Avian Flu is coming.

The problem is the “we have to do something” action is meaningless. Tamiflu is useless. If you google up Avian Flu there are 20 Tamiflu advertisements that will pop up. They are all snake oil. Don’t waste your money. They are sugar pills essentially. Expensive ineffective panaceas.

Great Britain has spent 300+ million dollars stockpiling Tamiflu. Wasted money.

The Republicans were sympathetic but unwilling to allocate money for something that is useless. The Democrats were incensed. They claim that money was being saved and that it would cost lives. I submit they need to go back to college and learn something than how to be a lawyer. Science is still a course last I looked.

I know something about viral genetic mutation. What must happen is a clearly identifiable replicating strain of Avian Flu being transmitted successfully between humans has to be isolated. At that point the ova based production of vaccine gets underway. We will be racing the clock (8-10 months) to have enough to do some good in wide range inoculation.

If we are lucky and the flu doesn’t move thru the population too fast due to effective quarantine methodology we may just be able to inoculate enough people against the virus to whip this. If we don’t millions, maybe a billion will die.

If we are going to spend any money before that time it would be best spent preparing the infrastructure for production that once the mutation is stabilized and begins spreading so we can begin effective specific antiviral production of a flu shot that is effective against this killer. Keep up on this here.

This is a crapshoot, but putting all your money on the table with no chance at winning at all is a bad gamble.

German in American - The ballpark: Place of mystery

By Christian Thiele

"Basically, it's about hitting a ball and running around."

"Oh, so I know this: It's like tennis, right?"

My colleague Kevin had a difficult mission -- but he was up to the task: Teaching me "Baseball 101." Me, who couldn't tell a pitcher from a batter. And since theory is always best when backed up by practice, we went out to Cellular Field: White Sox vs. Indians.

Germany's favorite pastime is soccer (one lawn, two goals, 22 men and one ball, just FYI). When we go to the soccer stadium, we cheer, sing some songs about our team (usually nice ones) and some songs about the other team (usually not so nice ones). Arriving at Cellular Field, thought that we were at the wrong place, some theater play or a funeral -- so silent was everybody. The Sox, I thought, should immediately dissolve the audience and order another.

If the crowd was on tranquilizers, however, they were losing their effect about two hours into the game: the Sox -- as I learned -- had finally scored two points, and all of a sudden, the audience woke up, clapping, cheering, rising from the seats. I realized that I was attending a sporting event and looked at the billboard.

It read things like: "Rowand .277, 12 HR, 64 RBI." Or "Pitch speed 87." And next to us, there was this man sitting, scribbling something down on his lap -- bored by the game, I figured, doing last Sunday paper's crossword. OK, I thought, might be an accountant who just got laid off, easing his pain over the lost job by going to the ballpark. But then I realized that there were so many people out there taking those notes. Kevin explained to me, these people were keeping track of the game, marking down strikes and outs and everything.

Germans may be bean counters in many a sense, but when we're at the soccer stadium, we actually only care about who's winning -- and, maybe, about who scored the goals, but that's rather something for the sophisticates. When we flip open the after-game day sports section, we want to see some dramatic pictures, read some juicy quotes -- but we don't do this data porn U.S. papers do.

Maybe it's the success thing: Since achievement is so important in American society -- and what better measure for success is there than numbers? -- maybe that's why you find sports statistics so sexy. Anyway, after a sudden outbreak of emotion, Cellular Field fell into silence again, the only thing to be heard was the scrawling of the pencils, so we took a stroll around the ballpark.

I was amazed by the huge variety offered at the merchandise stands. Sure, I can wear my favorite sports team's jersey back in Germany -- at night, in bed, when lights are low and my girlfriend's not at home. But otherwise I wouldn't dare to publicly express my affection for a specific sports team. Too uncool a thing, I suppose. Here, however, just about everybody lets the world know whom his heart beats for -- be it on bumper stickers, coffee mugs or jerseys.

The other day, Michael, the lawyer, explained to me at great length why he "is White Sox instead of Cubs" with the same sobriety of, say, a UN diplomat explaining why he supported the Indian concept for reform of the Security Council instead of the Italian one. (By the way: I'm for the Indian UN plan; I just can't make up my mind on the Cubs-Sox thing.)

As the game progressed, I started grasping some of the basics: that there is a top and a bottom to every inning, that you can be overweight and still be a baseball pro, etc. But at the same time, I was losing my ground on more and more of other basics: Why do pitchers bat in the American League and why do they not in the National League? (Or was it the other way round?) Why is there an American League and a National League in the first place? And who decides upon who's in which?

Kevin couldn't answer those questions and basically said that nobody else could. Maybe those are questions like: Why is the East Coast on the East? Or maybe I just have to come back to the ballpark.

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Christian Thiele, who lives in Berlin, has spent the last two months working at the Chicago Tribune as the newspaper's Arthur F. Burns fellow. You can reach him at: cthiele@tribune.com.