0 - 45 in 1 day!

****WEATHER SNOW WINTER WATCH WARNING ADVISORY in EFFECT UNTIL ....... ****

Wisconsinites experienced an abnormally insane amount of snow this December, or so it seemed. The news was plastered with terms like Snow Advisory, Winter Weather Advisory, Winter Storm Watch, Winter Storm Warning; as if it were supposed to mean anything different to us...and then all within about 1 day of 45 degrees it became the slushy rainy crap I hate about Wisconsin. So just when you thought the Global Warming talk was tabled for a while, it's right back in your face. No thanks, I'll take the snow and cold weather anytime over this. Enjoy!

Oh Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree origin has a number of different theories depending on who you ask, but every story encopasses the similar positive feelings. For me a couple things come to mind when I think about the meaning of Christmas....but mainly the tree serves as a symbol of Jesus's birth and eternal life, and the lights we adorn the tree with (like the Christmas star) help me never lose sight of him.

Candles in the Window

A candle in the window has long been a welcomed sign for weary travellers. It is not a symbol that is just displayed at Christmas time, but it definitely is more common among the holidays. The correlation is has to Christmas, is that it reminds us that weary travellers like Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, letting them know that they are welcome!

Christmas Wreath

Did you ever wonder why Greeks are always sporting wreaths on their heads in movies? Apparently there is some meaning and history to that. At the beginning of the Persian Empire (~700 B.C.) it was decided that a wreath, or what they called a diadem, was a sign of success and wore by great athletes, philosophers, and chief leaders like Julius Cesar. Speculation exists as to how it got to being hung on a door and related to Christmas, but some say a great athletic warrior hung it on his door as a souvenir for his victory.

Since a wreath was adorned to the successful or superior beings in the Grecian culture at the time, we could look at the wreath in a few ways. It could just be the beautiful accent to your front door decorations, it may serve as a reminder to all that God, the one and only superior being is present in your house, or it could mean a pleasant memory from Christmas's past.

Any other ideas as to how it may have become a Christmas adornment?

Candy Canes

You may have heard the story about the Candy Cane, and it's Christian symbolism. Apparently snopes.com has deemed this rumor untrue. My arguement though is why do we care? Shouldn't our faith and belief in Christ our saviour be seen in anything and everything? So despite snopes best efforts to poo poo the Candy Cane origin I for one choose to see;

• The letter “J” as in Jesus
• or, the staff of a Good Shepherd
• or, the white color to represent his purity and virgin birth
• or, the bold red stripe of God's love
• or, the 3 stripes defining our Holy Trinity
• or, anything else for that matter that continues to remind me of the joy he has brought to my life!

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care...

...in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there!

There is a story tied to this, about a poor and widowed nobleman with 3 daughters who he could not wed away due to financial woes. In the time of this story's origination (and in some customs today) fathers of the daughters were expected to provide huge dowries to their husbands. As a poor nobleman this was not possible. Soon though his prayers would be answered by a good man...Saint Nicholas! One night after the girls had finished washing their stockings and hung them by the fire to dry, he came and dropped 3 gold bags, one into each of the daughters stockings. This act of random kindness led to the nobleman's daughters to be wed and have families of their own.

True or Not the story exemplifies the good nature of what Christmas should be; after all haven't you always been told "it is better to give than to receive!"

Bah humbug!

First before I get to deep into this topic I need to state for the record that Alastair Sim was the best Scrooge (1951). Now to the topic at hand...bah humbug!

Is what Scrooge was saying all that bad? Perhaps some clarification is needed....was he directing his disgust toward people's general happiness to the holiday, or possibly the over indulgence or commercialization of Christmas? As a Christmas Carol devotee (viewed 50+ times) I think the message is simply to enjoy the holiday and cherish the relationships of those in your life. This is most apparent at the end of the story as Scrooge reaches out to Bob Cratchit and his family, specifically Tiny Tim.

True, Christmas has been capitalized on and the true meaning has been a little lost. So throughout this month I will create posts regarding symbolic references to Christmas. Stay tuned!

Cadillac Desert

My return to the Cadillac Desert (Arizona) this past weekend wasn't a trip done for some R & R, instead it was a 48 hour working binge!

To take you through the roller coaster of emotions here is what happened...
Our condo, and former home, was reported trashed and unfit for anyone to move into. So after receiving this disappointing news on Thursday morning, we quickly bought 2 flights to AZ leaving that same night. We landed about 8pm, and drove straight to the condo to assess the situation. It definitely wasn't fit to move in, but was far better than I had imagined. We painted, cleaned, fixed, and got it in tip-top shape just in time for our new tenant!

As we reflected on our trip we came to a few conclusions;

• Damn was that expensive
• Wow, I really miss the winters in Arizona
• It is tough being away from the kids
• Our family is amazing*

*I need to explain how amazing our family is...First, Grandma and Grandpa took the kids cancelling whatever else they had planned. Next, we arrived to open arms (and a very tasty Pumpkin Brew) for which the Brew Master and his wife (Tia) provided room, board, a car, supplies to fix the home, and always great conversation. Finally, we enjoyed a perfect meal; from conversation, to the people we were with, and yes the food too! This potentially disastrous trip was actually rather amazing, and I don't think I could have said that had it not been for our family. So in a weird twist of events and despite the expenses accrued, I am actually happy this all happened the way it did.

Thank you!

Mickey is 80...or is he!

Mickey Mouse turns 80, but his pancake head (picture) is only 47...dilemma??? (kidding)
In all seriousness though, Mickey first debuted on the screen in Plane Crazy on May 15, 1928, which bombed at the box office. However, the more notable date in history, November 18, 1928, is the "official" Mickey Mouse birthday due to his debut in Steamboat Willie. Here's to another 80!

When the day is done...

...we should breathe a sigh of relief. Ok maybe relief is a bad word depending on your candidates result, but how nice will it be not to be bombarded with mudslinging ads on the TV and radio, the barrage of emails in your inbox, or the late night political party phone calls asking for your vote. I will be relieved of that if nothing else.

Reflections on the 2008 Presidential Campaign:

Do as I say, not as I do -or- Do as I do, not as
I say: Three instances resonate in my mind as we look back at the political campaigning of 2008;

Moral Mistake#1: The promise from both candidates to "take the high road" clearly was left in the quick sand 18+ months ago. Negative campaigning has sent a message that lying is ok, and it could even be equated to lying to your employer (in this case the American people).

Moral Mistake #2: "Greed" has driven an over spending economy (referring to the financial crisis we experienced this year). Very true, but then how is spending over $1 Billion on campaigning not greedy? (Yes I know the money was donated and not paid for by the American taxpayer like the Bailout Plan of $700 Billion is). Somehow I don't think our children, nor many adults see that difference...it still shows that spending in excess is acceptable.

Moral Mistake #3: More the media's fault than any was the constant reminder in the division of sex and ethnicity in this election. Cue the marching band for segregation! We should be more united, but this only seems to divide us more.

As a parent I tend to over think these things more than most people, probably sometimes to a fault...I guess I just care.

Base Load

No this isn't about baseball, this is about energy options to power future generations.

A term that we need to understand before talking about viable energy sources for the future is called base load. It essentially is defined as the minimum power needed to supply the reasonable consumer demand. This can help us gauge what we use on average, although differences exist depending on season and location.

Starting with the basics we look at all energy sources today, classified into 3 main groups:

1. Fossil fuels---coal, petroleum, and natural gas
2. Renewable forms of energy---hydroelectric, biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind
3. Nuclear power

Now looking at the graph above and focusing only on the Residential front, our base load hovers right around 20 Quadrillion Btu.

What then is Needed:For a more accurate example we can look at the Census Bureau's stats on 119,117,000 homes in the census for 2001. Using the average number of 923kWh used per household per month we would then need nearly 110 Million MW/month (equating to roughly 4.5 Quadrillion Btu)...and that is just residential.

What is the Solution/Options: Looking to alternative renewable measures we need to consider what their output is and if it can maintain a base load to meet our demands (or be more conscious of over consumption...but that would be a miracle).

1. Hydroelectric: If Hoover Dam had all 17 generators running at full capacity it would produce 2080 megawatts of power (7.1 Billion Btu or .000007 Quadrillion Btu)
2. Wind Turbines: According to the AWEA the largest wind farm located in Horse Hollow, TX outputs 736MW (2.5 Billion Btu). A total of 16,818MW (.000057 Quadrillion Btu) are generated in the US.
3. Solar: The Nevada Solar One produces a maximum capacity of 75MW (256 Million Btu).

You can see by these three examples that it is difficult to attain a base load using renewable energy today, which is why renewable energy only accounts for 18% of our global energy source (majority in large hydro-power) ...BUT that is no reason to sit by the wayside and use up our fossil fuels. If anything we need to create more renewable energy options, which in turn creates jobs, fuels more money into the US economy (keeping it away from our enemies, all while still keeping in mind that we can't use it as our sole source of energy...at least not for some time. So as glamorous as it sounds to use ONLY green energy, according to educated scientists, environmentalists, economists (proponents and opposition) we do need to fund an option that will help to keep our base load where it needs to be and prolong the exhaustion of our fossil fuels.
Note: If you read my blog you'll find I'm about as green as a leprechaun, but I am also a realist and know that in order to talk this great idea we need a realistic plan too.

Accountability has many names...

See if you recognize my top 3 socially irresponsible individuals associated with the recent financial debacles on Wall Street:

1. James A. Johnson
2. Phil Gramm
3. Franklin Raines

So what if I told you there was a common thread that tied Countrywide Financial Corporation, Fannie Mae, Lehman Brothers, and AIG together...surprised? You shouldn't be too much because in the world of finance they "were" all big players. But, what if you could tie a name(s) to all that, thus holding someone and not just a company accountable...justice right? Well not so fast, but James A. Johnson made my list at #1.

James A. Johnson currently works for the merchant bank and private equity fund management company called Perseus LLC, which also employs Richard C. Holbrooke who has ties with AIG. Prior to this Jim held numerous executive positions at Fannie Mae, and prior to that Lehman Bros. So what right...coincidences that all this is happening now and perhaps was unavoidable considering the downward spiral of our economy. Not exactly...through severe mismanagement, manipulation, excessive sub-prime lending, and an "estimated $16 Billion in misstated earnings" left Freddie and Fannie is disarray, yet still monopolizing the housing industry (Investors Daily). That's how it affected you, but you can always get a good judge of character by looking at their personal life, and for this we look at his ties with Countrywide;

Through a group internally known as "Friends of Angelo", a reference to Countrywide Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo (who also made my top 10 list), Jim cashed in on some serious mortgage deals. To date records indicate he received some $7 million in loans under market value for homes in Washington's Dupont Circle, Palm Desert, Idaho, and some personal home equity loans. This trend was continued with #3 on my list; Franklin Raines, who also managed to take full advantage of his professional role at Fannie Mae by securing even better interest rates and more money up. That is until his forced resignation in 2004 from Fannie Mae after "its regulator found it had violated accounting rules in an effort to conceal fluctuations in profit and hadn't maintained adequate risk controls" (Simpson&Hagerty). He's only #3 and not higher on the list because he followed suite from Jim's lead, and there's a better #2 out there...his name is Phil Gramm.

Senator of Texas, Phil Gramm, has been credited with leading "the charge in 1999 to repeal a Depression-era banking regulation law" (Lerer). This lack of regulating credit derivatives was etched in stone through the "Commodities Future Modernization Act of 2000, which specifically exempted new derivative markets from government oversight" (Leonard). In short, it would "protect financial institutions from over regulation"(Corn). The bottom line though is that through these steps to deregulate it ended up lining his pockets directly (his role with UBS), or indirectly (his wife working for Enron).

Do you see the root of the problem through all these details...GREED. Regardless that James Johnson and Franklin Raines have strong ties to the Democrats, or Sen. Phil Gramm's ties to the Republicans...they are all greedy scum! So where do we go from here if everyone in power is getting free handouts and leaving you on the back burner to bail out problems they leave behind????

Best Brewed Octoberfest ... Milwaukee Brewers!

The 26 year drought is over for the Brewers organization and it's fans. As the game ended on Sunday with a Brewers 3-1 win over the Cubs, fans stuck around at Miller Park to watch the NY Mets lose, which assured the NL Wild Card spot for Milwaukee.

Many emotional ups and downs of this season have helped get the Brewers to this point, but definitely the most notable of those was the acquisition of CC Sabathia. How awesome is this man? Not only should he collect this year's Cy Young, making him a back to back award winner, but his off the field character is better than his on the field performance.

• What player takes out a newspaper ad to thank his fans? CC
• Who takes the ball every chance he's got? CC
• Who plays for the love of the game and his teammates, regardless of money? CC

It took a team though to win and that is one thing you can tell CC recognizing. Braun, Weeks, Hardy, Cameron, Kendall, Hart, Fielder, a deep bull pen and everyone else stepped up at the right time. Now lets go into The City of Brotherly Love and tear it up!

Thanks Dub, your a true role model and someone we all look up to!

Fear

Given the recent debacle on Wall Street, and the topic of fear being raised in the political debates currently, I think it safe to say fear is prevalent in today's society. We label these fears when they reach an uncomfortable level, calling them phobias. There are thousands of phobias that exist, and its even more ridiculous to think that there are twice as many drugs out on the market to address those fears. So, why are there so many fears and where do they stem from? Or more importantly how do we cure a fear? and what is the result of fear?

We first need to understand the components of fear:

1. Subjective (what is in our mind...thoughts)
2. Physiological (i.e. physical and chemical processes you feel...anxiety)

Let's look at the first two questions, why so many and where do they stem from? Throughout time we have always been advancing. This is not a bad thing, but it has created more distractions. It is our innate ability to adapt to the changes that come into our life, which of course prompts thought or ideas. Whether it's a positive or negative thought we begin to associate feelings with those thoughts, and a fear can then be acknowledged by us. (Example1 - The earliest UFO report to record was in 1947, shortly after that we made it our mission to land on the moon, which was successfully accomplished in 1969. This is a great accomplishment, but eventually some creative ideas morphed into a fear. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a sci-fi flick as much as the next guy, I am only saying this new found knowledge or idea eventually could spur a fear). This is the point though that humans need to control their thoughts and not let one crazy idea run their life. So how do we control or cure this, and what is the result of fear?

How do we cure them? The easy answer in today's society would be drugs, but since I don't believe in supporting that route I'll tell you a far more rewarding route. It is through God, Jesus Christ your savior that you will ultimately cure this fear. It he who said: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine."(Isaiah 43:1). You need to change your mind set and understand that he gave his life for you, which means turning over everything to him...anxiety and stress included. Easier said than done...I know, I am a human and sinner as well.

So, what is the result of fears controlling your life? Worry, anxiety, stress, billions of dollars spent on drugs to help you cope, an early untimely death, but most painful is that you are not sharing it with God.

This topic was due in large part to Rev. Dr. Ferguson addressing fears experienced in our lives and how to cope with each of them we experience on a daily basis

Aged to Perfection

Thrity-one years ago today marks the day of my birth into this big exciting world. Thank you mom and dad!

DNC + RNC = "Change"

Upon the conclusion of last nights Republican Convention and last weeks Democratic Convention the message seemed to echo "change" across the board. Obama stated it some 15 times in his speech, and McCain referred to it 10 times as well. If we dig deeper into that statement from them are they only referring to "change" on the top issues...
•Afghanistan •Energy •Health Care •Immigration •Iran •Iraq •Taxes
...or all the issues!

Certain issues are going to strike different chords with each of us, and many will follow the crowd simply because it is easy to do. Sad I know, but yes it's true. My wish for you would be to educate yourself about these candidates beyond the negative emails in circulation, or the attacking commercials aired, and of course the media bias's. So here are a few sites that help address the issues (always considering the source):

•CNN
•Washington Post
•NY Times
•Vote Smart
•website:2 Decide

And if you really want to get specific about all the issues, check out each candidate individually; McCain,Palin,Obama, and Biden.

Voting is a right, an individual right at which you (yes, you alone) arrive at your decision in a small voting booth somewhere in America all by yourself. Think about how amazing that is...that's America people!

Weekend Refuge

What does a perfect weekend look like? Here's a start:

Agenda: Nothing
Destination: Up North on a lake somewhere
Supplies: Golf clubs, guitars, fishing poles
Food: Eggs, sausage, hash browns , 2 large pizzas, 3 cases of beer, and a bottle of vodka (green olives too)

Although that was pretty much what the list consisted of, it really came down to the four other people I was with...my dad and 3 brothers that made this trip the beginning of many more to come!



Our journey began with a simple idea...start a family "man's" tradition! Little did we know this idea landed the 5 of us at this beautiful cabin (thanks to the Jon and Michele)


We took in a peaceful game of golf (for the record I think Dad won)...

...and then moved to the campfire for many more hours,








but not before a dusk kayak around the placid Lake Mary.


Although this trip came and went quickly, the tradition we have started has served as the catalyst for trips to come. Our agenda was "nothing", but for good reason. For some of us it was a time to reflect, reconnect, release, or just relax. Whatever the reason was for each of us, it only left one question in my mind as I sit here today; "where is next year's location going to be?"

Olympic Winner

There is no way I can overlook the athletisim and determination of Michael Phelps. Not only dis he break records by acheiving 8 gold medals, but he crushed world time records and his competition in almost every race. Amazingly awesome and it couldn't have happened to a nicer person!

Olympic Whiner

Certainly the Olympics bring out the greatest competition, but it also brings out the biggest losers too...thanks to Sweden's Ara Abrahamian. As a representative of your country that is certainly not putting your best foot forward, of course Spain's basketball team flubbed that too.

WTF... Jets?

Brett Favre is going to in a NY Jets jersey!?!?!?!?!

(apparently I spoke too soon on Monday)

Favre Saga Comes to an End

Well not exactly an end, but it seems to be making headway. Favre is in Green Bay right now and that is enough for a lot of people. Funny I think I called this though when he retired back in March???

There is no way I can do justice to this topic like my cousin Jeff so I will simply direct you to his website Passion=Truth. For S & G check out how many articles he has devoted to Favre...there is no bigger fan than Jeffrey!

Oil turns to Gold

On the annoucement of Record Oil Profits today, I thought we'd look at what countries our money is going to;

Top 10 (accounts for 88% of US consumption):

1. Canada (1.840 million barrels per day)


2. Saudi Arabia (1.579 million barrels per day)


3. Mexico (1.116 million barrels per day)


4. Venezuela (1.030 million barrels per day)


5. Nigeria (0.851 million barrels per day)


6. Iraq (0.583 million barrels per day)


7. Angola (0.464 million barrels per day)


8. Algeria (0.440 million barrels per day)


9. Brazil (0.318 million barrels per day)


10. Kuwait (0.263 million barrels per day)

I am sure you notice a few countries that jump out as known (past, present, or future) threats to the U.S.; so what do we do about it? We can continue to fund countries that hate us; or we can look internally on how to put money into our own economy. Ideas???

*Special thanks to my brother Paul for stimulus on this topic

High Five Still Alive

The greatest universal language for a celebration is the "high five". Most commonly associated with sports this gesture became popular nearly 30 years ago.

On Saturday, we watched the Brewers comeback against the Astros and close out to win 6-4. Partaking myself and witnessing others around me, it was a high five frenzy. No chest bumps or fist pumps here my friends...just high five's all around!!

Perfect Breakfast

Every morning begins with breakfast, but this morning as I poured the syrup onto my sons waffles I wondered if this breakfast was healthy at all. I mean why not choclate cake instead("Dad is great he's giving us choclate cake"-Bill Cosby)! What's the difference? They're both loaded with sugars and starches and I'd be willing to bet there are some cakes out there that are much healthier than the waffles we have in the morning. So this probes my questioning of how we decide what is and isn't "breakfast food"???

Well first off, let's look at what a breakfast should consist of, or rather how we ruin it:
1.Adding sugar
2.No protein
3.Eating the fats (yummmm...bacon)
4.No fiber (coffee is not a substitute)
5.No vitamins and minerals (fruits and veggies)

So although a fruit smoothine with added protein is best, I'll settle for a piece of peanut butter whole grain toast with an egg (and some bacon). I care, but not that much and given I only have one life to live I am going to induldge a little.

Da' Box

Since being done with school I have been more conscious about my time on the weekends and how great it has been. This weekend was no exception as I spent it visiting with friends, cruising on the lake, and dog sitting for Booker "T" (Paul and Allison's dog).

Ahh, "da box", as Uncle Thomas used to say. A few boxer dog names that have graced the presence of my extended family: Sootie, Gypsey, Otto, Newman, Tuffy, Elvis and Booker. Although most people assume these dogs were breed to be aggressive fighters that is not the case. Don't take them light heartedly either though as they are protective of their owners too. We saw this first hand with Booker as he protected our house from people walking by. Nothing like seeing a big dog in the window with a deep intimidating growl...fear, I love it. Who would have thought this 2 year old lover boy rescue boxer would adapt to us so quickly? He became my shadow for the next few days...and I loved it!

Pic: I got a few of these looks as if to say "dude, are your serious" or "when are these kids going to shut up". Funny stuff!

Half Full

Despite a second-quarter net loss of $2.5 billion from Citigroup Inc. , the loss was reported as "smaller-than-estimated loss". Talk about seeing the glass half full and convincing Wall Street of this as well. Good job Vikram Pandit, good job!

Terrorists=1 Million and breeding

What would a terrorist watch list consist of in your mind? Someone that is evil, perhaps more specifically evil communist dictators, or maybe more general like offensive or aggressive behaviors, etc. How about a 6 year old child? No, come on not even Michael Oliver in the movie "The Problem Child"?

Well this list encompasses now over one million people and one could be you! Not exactly you per say, but if your name was more common like Dave Nelson, chances are you've been stopped or even harassed while trying to fly. The problem with a list like this is that it is beyond out of control. It attempts to simplify finding a terrorist by specific criteria. The ACLU mentions the plethora of reasons why having a list so large is pointless, but I think you understand how ridiculous this system and list of names really is!

Hart seeing Stars

All Star that is!! After receiving nearly 8 million votes he was the final NL player voted onto the roster. Not only is he a Milwaukee Brewer, but he seems to represent one of the more down to earth professional athletes in today's arena.
Congrats!

Unavoidable War

In recent days we have seen Iran launch numerous test missiles that have the capability of striking any area within a 1250 miles radius. So because we are out of range we shouldn't worry, right? Wrong, we are allies of Israel and according to Condoleezza Rice "we are sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies." Now we're involved, and as the world's largest military power to some degree we always will be involved. It's like a parent trying to stay out of your child's business if conflict happens, you want to remove yourself but you can't by virtue of your role.

Upon seeing the movie Lord of War with Nicholas Cage and my own personal beliefs on war, I'll attempt to answer the question that if war is unavoidable, what then have we learned from our mistakes to help make it more manageable? Some examples;

-In 1953, Operation Ajax, would bring trade between Iran and the US of oil for weapons, which ultimately led to our alliance with Iraq (see 1979)
-In 1979, we turned to Saddam Hussein of Iraq providing him with weapons galore amongst other American resources, which led to the Gulf and Iraq Wars
-1980's we supplied Afghan militants (notably Osama Bin Linden) with money and weapons to fight Soviet troop advances, which led to 9/11 and the battle in Afghanistan in 2001
-2007 a summit meeting announced a US deal to send major new weapons systems to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and other governments in the Middle East to counterbalance Iran's growing threat

Given these few examples we (political/appointed leaders) haven't learned much, and you will see similar patterns if you look back 200 or 2000 years ago as well. War strategies seem to be merely temporary fixes, not permanent ones...

...and for the record I'll always support the courageous efforts of our troops!

Told Ya!

What can I say, but I told you so back in March's article about Favre Retiring .

Kalahari Oasis

On this weekend that represents the birth of the greatest country in the world, we took the family to The Kalahari Waterpark in the Wisconsin Dells. We owe special thanks for this trip to my brother Paul and sister-in-law Allison...they gave us a vacation that was truly enjoyable.

We arrived Thursday, July 3rd about midday and were able to check in right away. the kids and I meandered around the lobby while Stacie checked us in...and Graeme dug for gold in this Gorilla's nose.
After a quick stop in the room to change, we were off to the waterpark. Other than an evening visit to Pirates Cove golf and the Tommy Bartlett Show (ouch), the waterpark is where we would spend the next three days of fun filled excitement!

Fun pics:
This is me and Gabe rocking out to a few poolside tunes (ya dig the Indiana Jones hat...it's Gabe's)
...and even managed to catch some fireworks too while sitting in the back of our minivan.

Thanks Pablo and Allison, your generosity is too much for words!!!!

AMERICA

Happy Birthday America!!



So what prompted the Declaration of Independence? Well it was a number of events that eventually drove the wedge;

French-Indian War (1754-1763)
Sugar Act (1764)
Stamp Act (1765)
Quartering Act (1765)
Townshend Acts (1767)
Tea Act (1773)
Boston Port Act (1774)
Quebec Act (1774)

...Paul, did I miss any???

In short, this series of laws/acts listed above forced colonists to give (financial through taxes, physically their homes, land and food). It's like a bully taking your lunch money and embarrassing you in front of others, so naturally colonists became extremely frustrated (pissed off) with the British...hence the ultimate fix Declaration of Independence!

There is much more to our history so grab a book and check it out!

June 29th...today was a good day!

This day marks my 7 year wedding anniversary and also graduation from school forever (at least for now). Happy to be at both these points in my life I reflect on the past 7 years of marriage and 2 years of graduate coursework.

Did you know that most marriages end within 7 years(except in Hollywood where you're lucky to last more than 7 months)? In keeping with tradition we exchanged gifts, and for a 7 year anniversary the gifts are copper and wool. So my wife gave me some copper pipe and said this is to fix the kitchen sink and I gave her a wool sweater and told her to not turn on the heat in the winter anymore. Only kidding, but I couldn't resist. This humor though is reflective of what it takes to get to 7, 27, 47 years of marriage. In my young wisdom I have learned that life in general is a heck of a lot better when you laugh and find humor in situations.

As for school, that isn't very funny. I don't know why but 2 years ago I decided I like homework so much that I should do more of it...well not exactly. I wanted to teach at the collegiate level and now with my masters completed I begin to teach in fall at Concordia. I feel great and relieved to know I'm done and wondering what I am going to do with all my free time...perhaps its time to learn guitar from my little bro!!

Women crave Protein

Since Matthew McConaughey replaced Sam Elliot as the voice of the "Beef, its what's for dinner" ads, women now crave (his) protein.

This was perhaps one of the more ingenious advertising campaigns ever. Think about it, who does most of the grocery shopping...women; and what is the best way to help a woman remember...something that let's her escape little Bobby screaming in the grocery cart isn't number one on the list, but its damn close. Genius!!

So the next time you see a woman gazing up at the ceiling in a grocery mart in front of the beef section, go gently blow on her ear. Whatever happens could be worth the risk!

Little Sponges

You always hear the term children are "little sponges" and if you are a parent you see it more and more everyday with your own kids. I see it with both my boys all the time, especially in language development and comprehension.

I'll give you a couple examples;

1.Stacie speaks to both of my boys in Spanish daily, and Gabriel already knows well over 100 words in Spanish.
2.We read to both and sing songs with our children, so much so that Graeme has picked up on certain words that have helped him compose a sentences that make sense.

Now true I am a proud dad, but there is more to this than just that...Why can children absorb so much at a young age?

The way our brain develops is actually quite amazing. At birth we have all the cells/neurons we will need for our lifetime and as time progresses we will form connections/synapses to other parts of the brain. These connections (aka-learning pathways) are formed partially due to your genetics, but are also based off our experiences. Since every experience is so new to a child they form very rapid connections in the brain, so much so that at 3 years of age the child has twice as many connections as an adult. As the child grows into an adult we end up not using all the new connections we had made, but rather strengthen the ones we do use. The example of pruning a tree is used to help give you a visual. Bonsai! You may have a tree with 10 limbs each of them representing a different content area, but to help 7 of them exceed standards you need to cut back 3 of them. That choice is made in the brain by the shortest/weakest connections that are essentially not being used.



So in conclusion, the more repetitive and beneficial experiences the child has, the more the brain strengthens those connections to avoid having them cropped. Pretty amazing, and to think I got this information from the Department of Education

Summer Solstice

Summer brings with it lots of joy, hope, promise, comfort (although uncomfortable at times too), and sanity. In Wisconsin, we've been like caged animals for 6 months out of the year and now that the weather is nice enough we are free!

There is one bad things about summer though...mosquito's. What is there purpose? They are only about 1/2 inch in size yet these blood suckers pass disease and kill millions of animals and people each year. Again, what is their purpose. The females are actually the blood sucker (surprise), but before biting and irritating us they inject saliva that ultimately helps to give us that nice looking itch red bump.

So, since I can't answer as to where these bloodsucking demons of life are here, I can tell you their natural predator is the Dragonfly. Needless to say my idea to make millions is through harvesting dragonflies, which I intend to begin this week.....muuhhhaaa!



...and by the way we are supposed to have record numbers of these fuckers all summer long! You can purchase Dragonfly's by coming to my home with large sums of cash!!!

Untouchable

Certain athletes just seem untouchable; names like Jordan, Aaron,and Woods come to mind. If you didn't see Tiger's performance this weekend in the surge for another US OPEN title, check out these two eagles and a birdie on Saturday;



and then to top it off he hit this birdie putt on the 18th hole Sunday to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate....unbelievable!



Balls are now in the air!

Half-Million Dollar Views

Thought this was an interesting photo of the Riverwalk in Grafton, where about 2 years ago they built $500,000 condo's with walkout access to the riverwalk. Ouch, check out more photo's from this storm at JSOnline

Waterpark Capital of the World - Drained

Well not exactly are the water parks empty, but a major tourist destination in the Dells is. Lake Delton, home to the Tommy Bartlett Thrill Show, has overflowed taking with it peoples homes and dreams of a peaceful summer on the lake.

It is truly sad yet awesome to see the power mother nature once again shows us she has. No matter how many damns, levy's, or protective barriers we put in place, she reminds us that nothing can stand in her way. We pray for the people in these situations and are glad to know it is only material things that were lost in this disaster.

On a personal note, my in-laws who live on the Milwaukee River are experiencing a record high and thank god to this point haven't lost much more than a couple hours of sleep. It is times like this that I think of what Noah had to face on his ark, and we are only seeing about 1/1,000,000,000 (maybe more) of what he saw.

Money "Not" Well Spent

Well if you recall my former post about Political Headaches you will remember my disgust with the campaign spending getting out of control. Now that Hilary has dropped out (surprise) I was going to write about it too but CELESTE KATZ of the DAILY NEWS said it best with this laundry list of how $212 million could have been better spent.

Damn, that's a lot of coin!

Truth

How many lies are you exposed to everyday? email? politicians? personal communication? I'm willing to bet more than 5 per day...so where does this addiction to lies stem from?

I think it first stems from our parents (yes, I am to blame). As children we ask questions like "how are babies made?", or one that my friends nine year old son asked "what's a pedophile?" We don't give them the exact answer because it is too graphic so instead we sugar coat it and make up some reasoning. If we understand this is a lie, this is the introduction to a lie or an exaggeration to the truth.

Another reason people lie is to usually gain something or get out of something; acceptance, praise, acknowledgement, etc. I do believe that most of the time this is harmless, maybe you said you shot a 46 but really with that penalty stroke should have been 47. Even so there are varying degrees of lies as our politicians so evidently prove everything they speak; "landed under sniper fire", which again doesn't really harm me in any personal way but if you exaggerated and lied about this..."where does it stop?"

The lies that are really bad though lead to manipulation and hurting someone. I'll give you a personal example that happened to Stacie and I about 2 years ago from a very close friend. Stacie's best friend at the time was watching our home in Arizona while we were back home in Wisconsin visiting family. She had our home and car keys so access was pretty wide open. After returning home, we discovered about $7000 overall had been stolen (identity theft crime) via credit cards and ATM. Stacie, the investigative detective, quickly linked it to her best friend and questioned her...at first she lied straight out to Stacie. Hung up, only to call her back later and get the truth confessed to her. OUCH! That is when lies can lead to pain.

So what's my point in all this...it is simply to be cautious! Of what you read, what you hear, and even what you see. There is a fine line between being paranoid though too and that is no way to live your life either. My belief is to question but to also have trust and faith in your own judgement, and that there is more truth than lies in your life.

Big News on Campus

Well as you know I work for Concordia University here in Mequon Wisconsin, and over the past months their has been some big stir around two main events that came and are coming to Concordia's campus;

1. Henry "Hank" Aaron was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws this past weekend where he gave the Commencement Address.
2. The St.Louis Rams have decided to declare our campus as their Summer Training facility from late July into late August.

As a baseball fan, it was quite the honor to be associated with having MLB's all time home run leader (minus Bonds with 762) on our campus. Mr. Aaron's role on, and more so off the field spoke to his character and the leader he is. You have to be very humble in your life success to address graduates with these statements:

"This is advice from an old man who has been a lot of places, seen a lot of things," "Be careful before you make choices. Avoid shortcuts. They are quick fixes and unrewarding."

You can see why there are few professional athletes across the board that I hold in the same high esteem as him.

(picture) Ernie Banks congratulating Hank on the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award in 1970 before Cubs-Braves game (two class act guys)

As for St. Louis coming to campus this is neat because it increases the exposure for our small Lutheran campus on Lake Michigan. I'll probably be seeing a lot of them in the halls and roaming around campus. Although Belichick has called me to request videotape, I had the moral intelligence to say no...unlike Matt Walsh (I couldn't resist...kidding)

Well 2008 is turning out to be an exciting year on campus and come fall I'll be teaching too!!!

Rationing

This day in history (1942) is known as the day in which the United States placed an official restriction as to how much each individual person could purchase in a number of different goods areas . So why did this come about? It came about after we entered into WWII and the Japanese had strategically taking control of the Dutch East Indies. Perhaps the most dramatic impact this had was that it rationed the amount of gasoline you could purchase, maxing most drivers out at 4 gallons per week, and a maximum national speed limit was set at 35. Yep, that picture below is for real and the funniest thing about it all was that it was due to a fear of the loss of rubber...not gasoline!

I guess that probably wasn't so bad because for the 3 years that went on, we probably gained back a little of our ozone...but that's a whole new debate.

Bike to Work!

It's only fitting that we have seen gas prices blast through the roof this week, which also happens to be "Bike to Work Week". Thought this picture was fitting...



With oil price above $125 per barrel we shouldn't expect prices to drop anytime soon. Oh and by the way stamps went up to $.42. This is why I am so glad I work less than 5 miles from home....ahh!

Ho, ho, ho!

Step back in time to when you had your junior or senior prom. Did this look like a typical prom dress? Now most girls I knew liked playing hard to get, but clearly "Marche" just laid it all out there for the taking. Hmm...what potential future industry might she be getting into???

Reading between the Lines

Well, believe it or not the Democratic race is still going. Why? Despite recommendations for Hillary to throw in the towel, her stubbornness or competitiveness pushes it on. Would you have thrown in the towel if you were her? Consider these facts before answering...

1. Obama has 1,846.5 delegates to 1,696 for Clinton in The Associated Press tally. It takes 2,025 delegates to win the nomination in Denver this summer.
2. Clinton disclosed that she had loaned her campaign an additional $6.4 million in recent weeks; her original loan was for $5 million.
3. Your husbands friends support your competition. Just look at these three Bill Clinton chums/cabinet members who now back Obama; Greg Craig, Anthony Lake, Robert Reich
4. The irony of her comment this past week about betting on the filly Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby (the only female in the group of males), and while the horse finished second she collapsed breaking two ankles only to be euthanized, and then considering the winner was Big Brown...odd?

So would you still be in? It is getting to the point where she is hurting her party, yet she doesn't seem to care. Why? Ponder this theory by one of my friends...

1st - In 1870, the 15th Amendment was ratified which gave all males over 21, regardless of race or color, the right to vote. The problem was that a segregated America at the time did not enforce this so then the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which essentially followed the 15th Amendment but provided the power to be enforced. This is typically viewed as the first time all African Americans were allowed to vote.
2nd - The first movement of women voting rights dated back to the 1820's with some small state successes, but no national recognition. That is until in 1920, when the 19th Amendment was ratified and it gave women the right to vote.
3rd - In addition in the 40's and 50's society had painted the image of the happy stay at home housewife doing everything for the family and their husband (FYI..that job is 10 times more difficult than what you do). Even today there are still reports that women are paid less than men for performing the same job.

The theory concludes that Hillary continues to fight because our founders and society has viewed women as the lowest possible ranking individual. Which then begs the question that despite her obstacles is she pushing on to prove a rank of race and/or gender? (I'm not touching that one with a 9 1/2 foot pole.)

Thoughts???

Meteorologist Flop

Perhaps you may have heard that a deadly cyclone hit Myanmar killing an estimated 15,000 people thus far, and the death toll continues to climb. What you maybe have not heard was the serious miscalculation on the part of their local meteorologists and the government. These quotes come from the World News on MSNBC;

-----"The government misled people. They could have warned us about the severity of the coming cyclone so we could be better prepared," said Thin Thin, a grocery store owner.

-----"Before the cyclone hit, the government had only put out “storm news,” saying the cyclone would travel at about 30 miles an hour, whereas it struck with winds of almost four times that speed"

In an area that has seen many of these natural diasters (tsunami's, tidal waves, cyclones/hurricanes) strike over the past few years no mild storm should every be assumed.

From insanity to humor...2 days

So to bring you up to speed on my United lost luggage issue, I now have my bag. What a nightmare of events to get me to the actual point of getting it though. Through this process I spoke with five baggage claim agents (located in India via the phone), all of which ran through the same scripted garbage with me, and then to top it off the moron behind the counter in MKE clearly echoed the same dumbfoundedness of his colleagues on the phone. Clearly United has serious customer service training issues...correction, no customer service!
---In the great words of Clark Griswold I'd like to tell United "what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit they are. Hallelujah. Holy shit. Where's the Tylenol?"---

Now that I have my luggage back I truly do have to laugh at the ignorance and stupidity of one of the world's largest airlines...no wonder they are looking to merge with any other airline willing Perhaps this is what the discussion went like at corporate...

United untied

Long gone are the days of peaceful travel, airport customer service, and luggage that actually arrives with you when you at your final destination. Yesterday (and still today) United Airlines has made certain I have had to witness this loss first hand.

My letter sent to customer service explaining the story is attached as the picture below if you care to read it...


The cliff note version: poor customer service, delayed flight, lost baggage from United

The question then becomes who is to blame?
1. Terrorists - they stole the most precious commodity from us; time.
2. Airlines - apparently they are not keeping their employees happy nor are they doing a great job of forecasting. Nearly every airline has experienced bankruptcy, or merging with others to broaden their reach and also to avoid any further financial complications
3. Employees - again unhappy might be an understatement, but these employees will soon top the USPS as the most disgruntle employees in the world
4. Overseas call centers - do I need to explain this one?
5. Travelers - true some people are idiots when it comes to travel and they do slow down the process but that only accounts for slow check-in, security checkpoint, and boarding...not my lost luggage!

In closing I will say that United Airlines, which I have traveled nearly 20,000 miles with, has continually disappointed me...yes I have now learned my lesson!

Only today: Going Green

Depending on who you see as the founder of Earth Day and where abouts you might live may depend on when you actually celebrate the Earth. Regardless if you credit John McConnell, which then signifies you (along with the United Nations) celebrate it on the March Equinox; or you credit Gaylord Nelson who was a Wisconsin senator and most noted for the Earth Day celebration on April 22, you are doing your "green-duty"...or are you?


This is not a rant to tell you what you should be doing to save the planet, or to save money because if you wanted that you'd visit sites like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the U.S. Department of Energy, or just tune into HGTV. I think it is more important to share with you about companies, people, and places that are headed in the right direction.

Companies:
Continental (American): Spent $16 billion to become more efficient
-reducing emissions by 5%
-reduced the nitrogen oxide output from ground equipment by over 75%
S.C. Johnson (American-Wisconsin)
-eliminated millions of pounds of waste from product
-building power plant that is fueled from a landfill
Patagonia (American)
-the entire mission has been based on the quote "There is no business to be done on a dead planet"
Subaru (Japanese)
-zero waste landfill

People:
Elon Musk (South Africa)
-entrepreneur that is taking on the auto industry with cars like the Tesla Roadster, a sports car that reaches 60 mph in less than four seconds, and can go 220 per charge...puts the water cooler debate of speed and distance in electric cars to a hush (minus the $100+k price tag)
Robin Murray (UK)
-industrial economist coining the "zero-waste" phrase and argues that one mans trash is another man's resource (consuming everything your discard)
...and a list containing many more people can be found through a weekly UK publication called the Guardian

Places:
Reykjavik, Iceland
-good old green Iceland has runs hydrogen buses and its electricity and heat come from geothermal and hydro power sources
Portland, Oregon
-a model for new public/green transportation, not to mention it has 92,000 acres of green
...and quite a few more places in the world according to the Grist

Basically be conscious and smart about what you do from an environmental perspective. It's not a new concept and we don't need stupid politicians to tell us what to do and how to do it, your an adult figure it out. After all if we don't, the way you see nature today may not stay that way for long!

Shook to Sleep

While you were snug in your beds this morning at 4:36 a.m. you were being shook by an earthquake that measured 5.2 on the Richter Scale. Its epicenter struck at near the town of West Salem, Ill., which is a small town that lies near the Wabash fault line, or the larger New Madrid fault.




This is big news here because we don't see earthquakes as large or as often as some of our other states. In the past two weeks alone the United States (Puerto Rico included) has experienced 1009 earthquakes. So by that measure if I have ever been to California, Alaska, or Nevada, I probably experienced an earthquake before...but then again that is where the major fault lines fall (San Andreas and Denali).

Do you know we learned all this in 7th and 8th grade yet I feel like a seismologist working for the USGS...awesome!

Lucky to live in the U.S.

So I came across this article 'We are under siege' and it made me count my blessings for the country I call home. I always thank God for the blessings he has bestowed on me and my family but this is one that really made me think about how lucky we are.

The article is a journal from a family living in Zimbabwe at a time when the country is in political turmoil. It talks about the threats and fear they live with on a daily basis in this election year. The current president Mugabe has been in power since the 80's and has essentially destroyed its economy at any cost. So how does someone like this stay in power and keep threatening families like the ones in the article?

First of all the country's rate of inflation is 100,000% with an 80% unemployment rate. Is that possible? To give you an idea of how bad this is lets use the misery index, which takes unemployment rate plus the inflation rate. Now in the past 60 years the U.S. average has been about 11.25, that is nearly 4,500 times better off than the average of Zimbabwe today.

The other quite obvious point would be to control the political scene by threatening voters and rigging the elections, death has been the fate of some opposed to his ideals. This is loosing steam though as the elections right now are in re-count, which could spell the end for this 82 year old rein in Zimbabwe. We can only pray that someone, anyone will be a better leader for them than him.

So the next time you hear someone complain about their living situation in the US add this to your ammunition box and tell them how lucky they are. This is only one of thousands of stories as to why you are lucky to live in the U.S.!


Also in Zimbabwe is the beautiful Victoria Falls

where amazing happens

At 26-51 the Bucks new tagline "where amazing happens" doesn't seem to fit. However, as Bucks fans we are troopers and my brother Paul and I when we went to see the Milwaukee Bucks take on the Boston Celtics last night. Ok, maybe we wanted to see Garnett, Allen, and Pierce, or it may have been the stellar seats we had(not as good as Mikey's 3rd row seats but good enough), or maybe it was the timeout entertainment, but really it simply about getting out and enjoy a sporting night out with my bro's.

Anyway back to the game...
...After watching about 3 quarters of the game, it was pretty clear to see why they only had won 26 games thus far. Turnovers galore, missed layups, masked men (Bogut), but really the ball just appeared to be everywhere but in ther hands. Apparently though in the 4th quarter they found their groove, correction Michael Redd and Bobby Simmons found it! It was a great comeback to tie and take it in to OT, but was disappointing to then lose it. To give you a fun stat though and leave on a high note, we watched a game played last night between a $75.5 and a $62.6 million dollar team - insane!!!

Home Opener: Milwaukee Brewers

The words "opening day" and "home opener" just conjure up an array of pleasant memories. As a kid, it was the excitement of what a Brewers new season brought and the beginning of the Pepsi Fan Club. Now as an adult it still holds excitement of what the Brewers season could bring, but now my "Pepsi Fan Club" is all about brats and beer. Brats, Beer and Baseball...ahh BBB!

As the game is currently in the bottom of the second, with the brew crew up 3-0 over the Giants, you can see that I am not there...but alas there will be about 158 more to catch this year!

Tune in here for live action

Opening Day: Brewers almost Fukudome!

Only separated by a stretch of about 1 hour and 15 minutes on I-94, the Cubs and Brewers for a long time were split between the National and American leagues, so it gave me two teams to watch and root for. To top it off, my house in Arizona is 1 mile from the Cubs Spring Training facility and about 20 minutes from where the Brewers play. Needless to say this year provided a dream Opener and one I wish I could have made!

Before the game even began there was a statue unveiling of Ernie Banks and to add the icing to the cake Hank Aaron was also there to congratualte his friend as well. These two legends are the true athletes that have helped me look past baseball's low points like the 1994 baseball strike and the current day steriod debacle. I found a picture of the two in 1970, after Aaron was presented with the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award.



Opening Day 2008: Now on to the actual game
Aside from battling some challenging weather conditions these two teams put on quite a great performance. I'll save you the explanation of the first 8 full innings as the box score read 0-0, but the ninth inning was exciting. Braun singles in the ninth which brings in the first run, then Cory Hart drives in two more on his double. So going into the bottom of the 9th with Eric Gagne on the mound, you should feel comfortable...until Fukudome comes to the plate and jacks a 3 run homer. Who is Fukudome? Don't know yet, but I am sure we'll hear more about him in the months to come. So after retiring 3 out of the next 4 batters we move to the 10th. Up to bat comes big Tony Gywnn Jr. who to this point has been having a phenomenal day. Not only does he put the winning RBI on his box score with a sac fly to score Counsell, but also manages to make a sliding catch to end the game and give the Brewers a 4-3 victory in 10 innings at Wrigley.

Oh how I wish I was there, but instead captured my real live scoring and pitch by pitch on mlb.com.

Water

As I drove to my office today, which although located on the shores of Lake Michigan offers no view of the water, I pondered the attraction for water. Why do we want ocean views or lake property, what does it offer us that land doesn't it? Sure, its beautiful, just look at the pictures of any of your vacations but I think it's deeper. See if you can follow along with my theory on this (its pretty deep).

Before we are even born we are surrounded by water, ok amniotic fluid, but essentially its water. In our mothers stomachs despite the kicks and jabs we give her we are pretty peaceful and really have little to worry about.

So why water gives us this overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility has to do with the feelings we experienced as an embryo. Do you see the correlation I am making? If you do you then also see why an embryo is a child...yes (had to plug the pro life stance)!

Another strong and obvious reason we may strive for water is the life line it provides. Your body is comprised of mostly water, making up between 45 and 75% of body weight. So the theory that we are attracted to water as a means to fulfill what the body may be innately wanting is also not so far fetched.

Whatever the reason I am not sure but the amazing attributes it provides to me controls many of my emotions. For example, look at still bath water in a tub and tell me how it makes you feel? Now splash or have someone constantly splash the bath water...now how do you feel? Not the same, right...pretty wild. That is the physical presence of any water, now add color to the water and you add a whole new dimension to water. Why does the blue/green ocean in Guam where Joe and Brenda live conjure up thoughts of peace, tranquility, and stability. Perhaps because it is not the norm and away from our day to day routine (yet another theory in itself), but it actually has more to do with the psychology of colors instead. Can you tell I need a vacation to somewhere warm with water?

Picture of pathway entering Ritidian Beach (Guam) - courtesy of JosePH and Brenda