Some Christmas thoughts

I'm sure you've seen the news reports. People complaining about certain retail stores posting "Happy Holidays" messages, and front door greeters expressing "Holiday" wishes. Sure, it bothers me too that Christ is being left out of Christmas, but I think Christians are fighting the wrong battles. Christmas doesn't belong in a retail store anyway.

Christmas belongs in our homes.

What we should be trying to change are the minds of those people who read "The Night Before Christmas" to their children instead of Luke Chapter 2, on Christmas Eve.

We should be trying to change people that teach their children about Santa Claus, but don't teach their children about the birth of Jesus.

We should be changing the hearts of people who sing "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer," while forgetting to sing the praises of our Lord in hymns like "God rest ye merry, gentlemen" or "Silent night".

What we should be trying to change are people who pride themselves on all the gifts they purchased for their friends and family, but fail to share with their loved ones the greatest gift ever given to humanity by our Lord Jesus Christ. When you give your gifts this year, tell the people you love that your gift is in rememberance of the gifts of God. Of the gift of His only begotten Son.

We are so blessed to live at a time and in a nation where we can worship freely and openly. We should remember that so many of our Christmas traditions were adopted by Christians who were desperate to hide the fact that they were celebrating the birth of our Lord, under fear of death. I will gladly display a Christmas tree, and decorate it with tinsel and lights, and remember those brave people who found a way worship the Lord even in times of persecution.

And I will remember that the Lord himself was humble enough to come into the world as a helpless infant, that we could learn from his example. That God loved us enough to sacrifice His only begotten Son, that we may be forgiven of our sins, that we will be ressurrected, and that if we choose to, we can live with Him again someday.

Merry Christmas.

Sariah and Aaron's song

Extraordinary Way by Conjure One

What I have is nothing to my name
No property to speak of
And no trophy for my game
Intangible and worthless
My assets on the page
My coffers are empty
Any offer of safety has faded away
But what I have
What I have is

On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this

That makes me lucky
God, I'm lucky, so much luckier than I ever thought I'd be
'Cause what I have (what I have)
Means so very little to this world
A promise that I kept and a bridge that I saved before it burned
The sacrifice that I made
Brought me to my knees
A choice that cost me everything and set somebody else free
But what I have
Is the value that you see in these things

On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this

That makes me lucky
God I'm lucky, so much luckier than I ever thought I'd be
'Cause what I have
Is the value that you see in these things

And everytime I forget those things you bring them right back to me

With your patience
When I'm blinding mad
And your passion
When I'm really, really bad
And your eyes
Taking in everything I am
And your body and soul and the way that you know
How I treasure you

On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this

That makes me lucky
God I'm so lucky
So much luckier than I ever thought I'd be

On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this

Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody!!

Hey, enough negativity already.

It's the holidays, and I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Whether you spend it with friends or family, enjoy the holiday. Give thanks to God for all we have been given.

Let's remember for a moment why we celebrate Thanksgiving.

The true story as chronicled by Governor William Bradford in his book, "Of Plimouth Plantation".

The Pilgrims set up a communist system in which they owned the land in common and would also share the harvests in common. By 1623, it became clear this system was not working out well. The men were not eager to work in the fields, since if they worked hard, they would have to share their produce with everyone else.

Bradford wrote that their experience taught them that communism, meaning sharing all the production, was vain and a failure

The Pilgrims changed their economic system from communism to geoism; the land was still owned in common and could not be sold or inherited, but each family was allotted a portion, and they could keep whatever they grew.

Their new geoist economic system was a great success. It looked like they would have an abundant harvest this time. But then, during the summer, the rains stopped, threatening the crops. The Pilgrims held a "Day of Humiliation" and prayer. The rains came and the harvest was saved. It is logical to surmise that the Pilgrims saw this as a sign that God blessed their new economic system, because Governor Bradford proclaimed November 29, 1623, as a Day of Thanksgiving.

iPOD Porn

"For the busy pervert who just can't wait 'til he gets home"

There's only one comment I can make -
Is there really a need in this depraved society for pornographic videos on the go?

Thou Shalt Not Bootleg

As I've indicated in previous posts I am an enthusiastic lover of music. I especially love live performances, if a group or artist can't give a good performance live then they should find a new career. As such, I attend lots of concerts. Something I enjoy doing is taping the Concerts for my own personal listening for many years to come.

Let's be clear, I have never sold a CD or Tape in my life. I believe music should be shared freely. At no time would I ever tape a show for my own personal financial gain, and would never endorse such a practice. I also avoid copying or downloading music that is copyrighted.

Another thing I want to stress is that this practice, contrary to what some people would have you believe, is not illegal. TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 113 > § 2319A of the US code states, "Whoever, without the consent of the performer or performers involved, knowingly and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain fixes the sounds or sounds and images of a live musical performance in a copy or phonorecord..." Therefore, unless you intend to record a show for personal gain, you've got no problem. Unfortunately, each concert venue has their own rules regarding recording shows, as I found out Saturday night.

In 5 years and about 40 concerts worth of recording I have never before been caught. Saturday night, I attended a Journey concert in Houston, and had a couple of disadvantages in trying to conceal my recording devices. One, I was wearing a white shirt, it had been hot earlier in Dallas and I know Houston is usually even hotter, so I chose to wear a short sleeved white shirt. Two, I hung the microphone from a cord around my neck and left it on the outside of my shirt in plain view. I worry that placing the microphone under the shirt might muffle the sound. Third, the seat my ticket put me in was on an aisle, a very busy aisle where lots of ushers and security people passed me all night. So, during the final song of the concert I was approached by a security grunt and asked to come with him.

He took me out of the main seating area to an open vendor area near the exits. At that point I was surrounded by about 5 of these Security people. I then started telling blatant lies that I had forgot to bring a disc for my minidisc recorder, that I hadn't actually recorded anything, that the mike was hanging around my neck because I had forgotten that it was there. When one of these low wage security punks asked me if I thought they were stupid, I had to fight hard the urge to tell him just how stupid I thought they were. These guys were just absolutely jumping up and down, you'd think they'd caught Osama Bin Laden or something. Now at this point, I realised that the only way I was going to leave without further trouble was to give up the disc I had ejected from my recorder in secret and hidden in my belt.

There is a reason I use a minidisc recorder rather than some kind of digital recorder. With a minidisc recorder you can eject the disc. This comes in handy when you are caught; if you bring an extra disc, you can give the security guys the extra blank disc, and keep the one with the actual show recorded on it. Well after 40 shows and never being caught I had grown complacent and had failed to bring an extra disc. So to get out of there without any more hassle I gave up the disc, even though I was completely within my rights to refuse to give them anything.

Now I confess all this for a reason. I think my days of recording shows like this may be over. Even though this is not a crime, it is certainly against the rules of the venues where these concerts are held, and I'm sure the band and their management would not want this happening either. So, after some weekend soul searching I felt that this form of dishonesty, although a victimless crime in my opinion, isn't in keeping with the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I ask the forgiveness of everyone who feel my actions and dishonest practices have harmed them in any way.

Democrats Are Against Free Speech?

Yesterday, Nov 2nd, the House Democrats successfully voted down the Online Freedom of Speech Act.

77% of the House Democrats voted against the act, or abstained from voting, in contrast to the 78% of House Republicans who voted for it.

The Online Freedom of Speech Act ammends Paragraph (22) of section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. The 1971 Act regulates disclosure of Election Campaign finances. Paragraph 22 of this act defines Public Communications, such as television, telephone, mail, newspapers, etc. The purpose of the amendment voted on yesterday was to exclude internet communication from the list of Public Communications. Essentially making all internet communications exempt from all Election Campaign finance rules.

I'm inclined to agree with the Democrats on this one. This vote was not about free speech as some people would have you believe. I agree with a lot of the limits set on what candidates can and can't do during Election Campaigns, and I would hate to see the Internet become an unrestrained vehicle for politic ads. Lets keep the internet focused on its main purpose, the distribution of free pornography.

Singing Mice

Here is a really interesting article about mice:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,174173,00.html

Apparently male mice sing to the female mice. I guess I must have mice genes in me, because since I found my eternal mate, I can't stop singing.

Music, being the 4th greatest thing in the world, is an important part of my life. Singing is something I enjoy a great deal. But, for the last 3 years I really haven't done much singing. I just haven't been in the right state of mind, or so I thought. Turns out I just hadn't met the right mouse who makes me want to sing.

A little over a week ago I decided that I wanted my future bride to hear my singing, so I spent the weekend recording songs for her. At times I was up until 4:30 in the morning singing for her. I'm sure my neighbors loved that. In the end I ended up with a CD of 14 songs that I was pretty proud of. Some were better than others, and some were off key. But, I felt it was representative of how I've been feeling.

Just call me Mickey and give me some cheese.

Calvin and Hobbes, I miss you.

I remember reading my very first Calvin and Hobbes cartoon in a newspaper while sitting in the waiting room of a Dentist's office. Following my appointment, I just had to show it to my Mother. I started collecting some of the funnier and inspired strips and still have them in a box in my closet.

Calvin and Hobbes wasn't just about jokes and making people laugh. It was about imagination, enjoying life, and seeing the beauty and fun in everything. It was about a 5 year old learning new things from his parents, and teaching them a thing or two in return. It was about friendship and love.

There has been no other piece of cartoon art that has touched me the way Calvin and Hobbes has. I miss those little black and white drawings the way I would miss an old friend.

Journey proves once again that they always have been and always will be a Rock band

Dateline Sept 28, 2005. Grand Prairie, Texas

I can't say enough good things about this show. The crowd was on it's feet for most of the show. Even jumping up and clapping along as Mystery Mountain was counted in. Every member of the band was in true form and rocked the house. From the jam band blues starting the show to the jam band blues that closed it I couldn't get enough. The Dallas crowd loved every minute of it.

And the stage set. WOW! That set, the backdrop lights, the psychedelic video projections. Whoever design this stage show needs to win awards. I can't wait to see the DVD.

Yes, its true they filmed tonight's show for a Television Special and DVD release. This DVD is gonna kick the 2001 DVD's Butt. This is the kind of show that I've been waiting for Journey to play for the last 20 years. And true to the Texas spirit the show was complete with Steve in a cowboy hat, and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.

There's nothing holding these guys back.
Thank You Neal, Ross, Jon, Deen, and Steve. None of us are worthy.

My letter to Senator Harry Reid of Nevada

Dear Senator Reid,

I want to thank you for spearheading the investigation into the causes of the current tragedy in New Orleans and the gulf states. As a concerned American I there are some questions that I hope will be answered by this commission.

1) What special powers has God bestowed on George W. Bush that allowed him to create a category 4 hurricane?

2) How did he manage to steer the hurricane into the gulf and then north to inflict the maximum amount of damage on the south, Biloxi and New Orleans in particular?

3) Did he choose these cities because of the utopian societies set up there by the many years of government led by elected democrats?

4) Did George W. Bush specifically time this event to coincide with the terms of the corrupt Mayor of New Orleans, Nagin, and the inept Governor of Louisiana, Blanco? Did President Bush do this at this time knowing that Mayor Nagin would fail to implement the city's emergency plan to evacuate the infirm, impoverished, and those without transportation? Did President Bush choose this timing knowing the Governor Blanco would fail to use her power as Governor to deploy the National Guard to assist in evacuation, rescue, and security operations before and after the storm?

5) Did George W. Bush use Cindy Sheehan as a puppet to distract the nation and hide the implementation of his secret Hurricane agenda?

6) What method did President Bush use to destroy the New Orleans Levies? Were bombs used? Were any military assets used?

I want these questions answered because as an American I want to be reassured that if the Nation had elected John Kerry in November 2004 the winds that blow across this great planet would have blown in a different direction. I want to know that this Hurricane would never have happened if George W. Bush was not President. I would hate to see the people of this nation elect anyone with such superhuman powers again.

Aaron R. Carter