Chris's Musings

I was wanting to write about this earlier, but the day has been really crazy... you can chalk that up to Halloween.   Honestly, when this entire election season started two decades ago (at least it feels like it's been that long, maybe it's only been two years), I made an observation about Barak Obama to most of my friends that I thought (at the time) that he was an "honest liberal" - that he was an overall positive guy (which I still think is true) that holds some very progressive (liberal) beliefs... and while I respected him I would probably not vote for him because I do fundamentally disagree with the direction that he would likely want to steer the country.   The conversation he had with Joe the Plumber confirmed that basic opinion... that he really believes in this almost socialistic world view and in an unscripted moment attempts to convince a voter that that course of action is the right way to go.  Like I said, respect that he has these strong views... would ...

Joe the Plumber has hired a publicist... seriously. http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/election08/articles/2008/10/30/20081030joetheplumber1030.html I'm going to be happy on November 6th (I hope)

Tonight after work, I made my way over to Daryl and Betsy Griswolds' condo to again have an opportunity to hang out with the friends I have made in Estonia, have some dessert (always a plus), and listen about what God is doing 7 time zones across the world. It was fun and of course great to see Peep and Tarmo again since being at English Camp in Estonia last July. The cool thing about Daryl and Besty's place is this really huge clubhouse on the first floor of their building that is really perfect for events like this (that, and their amazing knack for hospitality). When we all arrived, the desserts were all set and we mingled for a while catching up, followed by Peep, Mart, and Tarmo each talking about Estonia, the Going Up/Risttee ministry, and what God has been doing over the last year. What was really cool about the evening, other than seeing these friends again and hearing their stories, was the cool "déjà vu" moments I had from the evening... I'll share a c...

http://www.theroot.com/id/48533?GT1=38002 Interesting... I like it. I'm not sure if it does enough. I've heard that we in the U.S. pay more per capita on health care than any other industrialized country in the world, and that only 2% of that spend is on preventative care. That's a tragedy, in my honest opinion. If less people have expensive health issues, then obviously the health care costs will naturally go down as we won't be as dependent on crazy procedures, prescriptions, etc. So, here's my proposal. Every year, if your doctor gives you a bill of "excellent" health, you get a $1,000 tax credit... doesn't matter what income bracket you're in (based on BMI and other risk factors). And also to encourage people to progress toward health goals, a $500-$1000 credit to anyone with a doctor's physical note indicating "significant progress" (over last year) in case they don't meet the criteria for the "excellent health" tax...

I don't know why I thought about this today, but sometimes I get a little frustrated when politicians (particularly liberal ones, but some "conservatives" are doing the same thing) talk about how much they "care" and when you ask them what they will do about their deep concern their answer usually revolves around spending government (taxpayer) money and creating another government agency to manage it.  This does beg the question... "is this caring?"   I mean, here's the deal... I care about poverty, the environment, giving hope to people that need hope... but as a conservative I don't want the government to take on my causes for me, I want to work myself to make that happen... donating to charities, volunteering on a Habitat build, sponsoring a child or two for Compassion, buying a hybrid, recycling my plastic and aluminum.  You know.  What bugs me, however, is when someone "cares" but doesn't put any skin in the game to fix the i...

I just want it to be known that I do respect anyone that has a liberal political point of view.  I believe that debate and the free exchange of ideas is essential to our great country continuing to flourish, and would hate for anything to damage that.   PLEASE... vote your conscience and be informed when you vote.  Believe me, if you agree with Barak Obama's recipe for change and understand what it means for you and America... please vote for him.  If you believe in John McCain's recipe for change and understand what it means for you and America, please vote for him... same goes for anyone who wants to "Protest vote" :) haha with Bob Barr or Ralph Nader.   But, if you're a.) undecided or b.) are voting for a candidate because you either are impressed with his charisma, are brainwashed with the word "change" or "maverick", or know only the talking points and TV ad pop shots... then please do us a favor and get some objective research on each of ...

I was watching Bill O'Reilly earlier today as a means to catch up on what's being talked about with less than 2 weeks to go till the election.  Among other things (Simon's salary news from American Idol, Michael Moore being a pinhead, etc.), he had Mike Huckabee on the show and was talking about Joe the Plumber and this whole "spread the wealth around" thing... and the fact that Barak Obama still leads John McCain by at least 4 points in most of the polling that's going out.   Didn't know this, but apparently Huck now has a show of his own and was the first to break the whole Joe the Plumber thing... will have to check on that.  So, O'Reilly and Huckabee are talking on the show, and Huck makes a comment that if John McCain wins this election, he will have Joe the Plumber to thank.  I think 96% of everyone that follows politics would agree with that statement, because it brought Obama's wealth redistribution objectives to light and is making America...

This morning, I opened up my Bible to (curiously) skim over a few pages in Judges following the story we used for discussion in small group yesterday about how God grew Gideon's faith through calling him to a specific personal ministry and the pivotal circumstances surrounding Israel and his own life.  It was amazing to see how God transformed a weak man that cowered under his circumstances and low family (and probably self) esteem into a mighty warrior that led Israel to victory over a menacing enemy and led them for 40 years.  I won't cover that, it is a great story and created a great discussion in small group. What caught my eye was what the writer said about what happened when Gideon died... it said: " No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals.  They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side."  - Judges 8:33-34 What c...

In case you have been living under a rock (or just don't watch TV or read the news) over the last week, you've probably heard something about a guy in Ohio that's nicknamed "Joe the Plumber" that has accidentally catipulted himself into the national spotlight due to a discussion he had with Barak Obama when the Democratic candidate visited his town near Toledo, Ohio and made a campaign visit to his neighborhood... this discussion happened to get on camera and has been talked about in the media, YouTube videos, and social media and THEN became prominent when Joe's name was mentioned over 2 dozen times in the third Presidential debate.   I first heard about Joe when I got home late on Wednesday from a busy day and checked my Facebook account to find all kinds of status alerts mentioning "Joe the Plumber" and "Average Joe," etc...  my thoughts were... "Oh no, not another remake of the 'Average Joe' reality show."  (the one wh...

Last night, I hosted a dinner club outing for myself and some friends at Two Urban Licks, an incredible trendy restaurant in East Atlanta... I highly recommend. Dishes I would recommend include: The banana cupcake, the scallops, and the duck with sweet potato puree... def get the calimari appetizers... they rock. At the end of the evening, I went to work out the check-splitting with the waiter and came back to find our table, which had formerly been arranged in the best "boy-girl-boy-girl" fashion before split into the "junior high dance" configuration of all the girls on one side of the table and all of the boys on the other side of the table. The girls wanted a picture taken with all of them together... which turned out very well. Now, the girls wanted to reciprocate this by getting an all-boys picture... this is what we (they) got... Oh NO!   What's coming?   Maybe if I look away then they will not point that thing at me and shoot.... Too much stress... th...