Alphabet Soup

As the title of this post indicates, just some random shizzle. First item of business...

Someone – or something – left a comment on the last post. It’s really weird and posted below as it came:

Fister says.More car shoppers are Southwest Airlines flight skidded off a file charges until next week. features, and Acanthostega, the clear path to American citizenship for

This was from Manuel Spindleberger. It was posted at 4:44 pm yesterday. Hmmm. Interesting, isn’t it? Manuel must be a Hispanic-Germanic American. And who is Fister? If it's a he, then he'd be Mr. Fister. This whole thing is a little disturbing.
Next topic….

Went to Doc Chey’s last night with the ol’ crew. It was good. Had these funky salted beans...they were really good. After eating oodles of noodles, we went to Piedmont Park for the movie thing DaveFM does on Thursday nights. I don’t remember the name and don’t feel like finding it. There were thousands and thousands of people there. We didn’t see any of the feature – Ferris Beuller’s Day Off – because it was so packed. There are a lot of weirdoes and crazies that come out at night at Piedmont Park. But crazy people have to come out in public. Otherwise they’d just be people with big holes in their noses and ears with body art, sitting in their apartment watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
Onward….

I’ve updated the content at noname52.blogspot.com. For those who have been there, you know what I’m talking about. Those who haven’t, don’t worry about it. Anyway, there are 5-10 more chapters available for your enjoyment – or ridicule, whatever’s taking you there – so enjoy.
Furthermore….

Today one of our supervisors brought in Chik-Fil-A for everyone. I mean a TON of it. I’d guess 20-30 Chikin’ biscuits, 20-30 boxes of tots, 20-30 boxes of Chikin breakfast burritous, 20-30 sausage biscuits and a big platter of some kind of cinnamon roll thing. I’m not exaggerating these numbers. It was like manna…but better...and not from heaven...and easily identifiable...and provided by Amy...I guess the only correlation I can draw is we were thankful for it. (I’m hoping that isn’t blasphemous, saying Chik-Fil-A breakfast foods are better than manna.)
Additionally…

Does it make me less of a man that I like the song For You I Will by Teddy Geiger? That's a rhetorical question, so no smart comments. You hear me Manuel? Sie hören mich, Manuel? ¿Usted me oye, Manuel?
Some other random songs I enjoy: Sister by The Nixons, Closer to Free by The Bodeans, Steal My Sunshine by LEN, Banditos and Interstate and Go Down by The Refreshments, and Zip-Lock by Lit.
Finally (and most disturbing)…

Why am I getting the shaft? In six short years I’ve built a dynasty out of the tiny Richmond Spiders, boosted attendance from a measely 8,000 to a maxed out 25,000, overcame NCAA probation (resulting in a limited number scholarships to recruit with), playing in a weak conference (the MAC), have won three National Championships, am currently undefeated and with one regular season game left am not slated to play in the championship game. It’s a travesty, a sham and a mockery…it’s a traveshamockery! Another example of the problems with the BCS system…
Isn't that incredible all that is 100% true...and can be found in a video game? I love techonology! Ich liebe Technologie! ¡Adoro la tecnología!

Teach the Children

So I have a new church calling. I’ve been called as the second councilor in the Young Men’s presidency; that doubles as the Deacon’s Quorum advisor. Trying to teach a bunch of 12 to 14-year-old’s gospel oriented material and helping to inspire in them testimonies of the divinity of Jesus Christ and how to use the Spirit to guide them is an interesting challenge. Kids will be kids and boys will be boys. It’s a trip.
Basically, there are four types of kids: The one who’s oblivious to all things gospel related; the one who knows everything and answer ever question; the annoying one who thinks he’s funny; the one who gets stuck on some tangent because his parents forgot the Ritalin. A couple weeks ago we had a lesson about fasting. The typical spectrum of answers to my questions sort of go like this:

What’s the difference between starving and fasting?

“What is fasting?”
“Fasting is going without food or drink for 24 hours; it is for a purpose and should be combined with prayer and scripture study. Starving's just not eating. Sometimes I…”
“It means you can run fast.”
“I’m hungry. I like licorice.”

Okay…great. Why do we fast?

“Does it mean you run fast?”
“To learn to put the physical desires of our bodies secondary to things of a spiritual nature. We are asked to fast once a month – the first Sunday – and pay fast offerings. Our fast offerings should be generous and aren’t the same as tithing. Tithing is actually a…”
“Seriously, I’m really fast.”
“I like red licorice.”

Right…good. What are some of the blessings that come from fasting?

“You mean like a medal for winning a race?”
“There can be an increase in testimony; people can be healed. Sometimes there is rain after a drought. In our family history, there was this time my great-great-great-grandpa was a boy and there was a drought….”
“You’re blessed I don’t race you.”
“I don’t like black licorice.”

Um huh...Did you know who fasted 40 days?

“That’s impossible. A person would die!”
“Jesus. He was in the wilderness and was tempted by Satan in three ways: turning the rock into bread, being given wealth and popularity, and also to have angels catch him. But these are also all figurative temptations… ”
“I bet I’m faster than you are. You’re old”
"Are Twizzler’s and Red Vines both licorices?”

OK! I think that's the bell. Time to go.

Justify this

Tragically, a nine year-old boy paid the price for a lax immigration policy earlier this week in Sandy Springs, Georgia, on Monday night. Santos Cabrera, a 21-year-old illegal immigrant from Honduras, leapt from a car after Jordin said that the cars tire looked like it was going to fall off. He proceeded to yell at the little boy before using an ax to kill the child.
Cabrera was later shot to death by police after he attempted broke an officers arm by throwing a tire and then coming after the fallen officer with a metal pipe. The real kicker is late last month Cabrera was arrested after he was caught with a stolen vehicle. He was released after a brief stay in prison. Why wasn’t an illegal immigrant removed from the country after he had broken the law? This is because there is no law as of yet that requires an individual to provide proof of legal status in the United States; hence, this criminal was able to stay, steal another vehicle which transported him to this apartment complex, where he planted an axe in the head of an innocent 9-year-old boy.
Pundits who espouse the ideology of illegal aliens (oops, allow me to be PC: undocumented immigrants) as individuals who are upstanding people who just want a better life are making an overarching assumption that is erroneous from its genesis: upstanding individuals don’t participate in illegal activities. This holds true to the illegal immigrants and to those who knowingly employee them; but the line is continually blurred, with those who seek to enforce the laws of the land as racist or elitist who hold the little man down. But this isn’t about race; it isn’t about classes/subclasses. It’s about letting people into this country who are honest and forthright; there is no honesty or forthrightness about being illegal. And that is dangerous
Just ask Jordin.

Brotherly love

Brotherly love

This video was introduced to me by Natalie and Will last night. I think it is hilarious; my body hurt after watching it, I was laughing so hard. Enjoy

The WWW

I was recently forwarded an email concerning the war in Iraq, putting the effort in perspective in regards to the other struggles in which the United States has been engaged. That is a post for another day when I have more time to contemplate what I read. Anyway, I enjoyed what I read and wanted to post it (which I will), but before that happened I thought it wise to verify the authenticity of it. Eventually I was able to verify the dialogue as accurate, though the purported timing of the event was off by 30 years. I found this to be interesting.
In my reply to the forwarder (my dad) and another forwardee (my dad's twin brother), I relayed what I'd found and then commented on the essence of the article. I included a quote I love, but couldn't remember the source. So I Googled it:

‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’

Well, it was attributed to Edmund Burke, the 18th century British statesman. I went to a website, http://www.tartarus.org/martin/essays/burkequote.html, and was stunned to find there is no actual proof Burke said that. At all. Isn't that incredible? There are over 1000 variations of this quote (a 1001 if you count mine), all attributed to Burke. But there is no source to which a person can look as the authentic statement.
Regardless, it's a great moral statement. If - and when - evil (and yes, there is good and evil) triumphs, it is because good, moral individuals chose to do nothing to prevent its proliferation. Rather, they have done as Alexander Pope said:

'Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen to oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then
embrace'

They endured, pitied and then embraced the vice until has become a part of their lives. Are these 'good' individuals, therefore, any more good? (It's rhetorical.)
Well, basically I was amazed at all the stuff floating around out there that probably isn't true, but that we've been led to believe because of the simpleness of throwing around stories across the world. Crazy. If you've received an email or seen pics on the 'Net that are way out there, check out these two sites; they are pretty good about discerning the legitimacy of these types of things: They are http://www.snopes.com and http://www.truthorfiction.com
Oh, and that Pope quote: Alexander Pope, Essay on Man (ep. II, l. 217).