Quick note to T.O.

Dear Terrell Owens,
You are the richest bald-faced liar I know of. Please reign in your ego long enough to make news with your football abilities.
Thanks, Todd

Good advice from Tyra Banks

Please take a moment to read and savor some words of wisdom from super-model- turned talk show host- turned theologian Tyra Banks. Evidently Banks has a syndicated morning talk show on television and so, of course, that makes her a role model. According to her website Banks is a "groundbreaking, international fashion icon" and "multi-faceted". I assume "multi-faceted" is the word that she uses instead of "Doctor" or "Counselor".
Today on Yahoo.com Banks is asking the question 'What can we do to give teen females more self-esteem?". Great question, Tyra. Evidently she has some ideas on that subject that she is anxious to share with today's teens. It will probably go hand in hand with the other advice she gave today on her show. Her website worded it like this: "At the end of the show, Tyra said virginity was a special thing that shouldn't be rushed. She urged people to take their time before deciding to take the big step and when they did, she reminded them to be safe."
Counselor Banks makes a good point - considerably incomplete - but good. This great nugget of knowledge was passed on at the end of this morning's "Virginity" show. I guess Banks gave this advice to one of her guests named Anika who was a 24 year old virgin who Banks invited on the show to "lose it" on camera (which she did).
I also assume that Dr. Banks gave this advice to "be safe" to 39 year old Bobby just before she sent him to a nightclub with comedian Aries Spears (?) so he could be "successful with the ladies". You know, a prescription to hook a brotha up! All of this was of course recorded for today's show along with advice from Aries on being smooth with the ladies.
I am sure that Banks' doctoring instincts really came out with her next guest who had a physical abnormalty that made physical relations impossible. Dr. Banks quickly got her fixed up so she too could "lose it".
No where on her show or website that I can find is there anything about abstinence until marriage. Now I'm no doctor, counselor or talk show host and so I realize I don't know or understand everything. I'm also no angel. I have made alot of mistakes in my life and I'm not going to print them here but, believe me, I know the Bible is true when it talks about the benefits of obedience and the consequences of disobedience. The Bible is clear on this subject. You may call it "youthful indiscretion" or "what everybody else is doing" or even "natural" but God calls it Sin! All sin comes with a price. Maybe now, maybe later.
Jehova God is dripping with mercy and love for all of His creation but He is also a just God. Please don't let Tyra be your moral compass! Man, I sound like an old man! I sound like a guy who doesn't want people to have fun. "Kids didn't do that stuff in my day". Oh, yes, they did and you see the consequences in the divorce rate, the out-of-wedlock pregnancies and disease. I'm afraid that what we don't see are the emotional scars and the spiritual blessings missed.

Racism

I hate racism. I'm sure the vast majority of people on earth would say that same sentence. Everyone can cite the horrors of the sin of racism and yet I am concerned that it still raises its ugly head in our modern world. Sudanese men, women and children are still today being taken as slaves. The Ku Klux Klan still survives. Political scandals are common when someone says something they think no one will hear. These are obvious and usually well publicised. My concern is for racism in subtler forms.
Racism is a mental problem. It starts in your mind. It has alot in common with gossiping. The racist and the gossip both feel inadequate. They feel it necessary to bring another person lower so that they can feel better about themselves. This may stem from hundreds or even thousands of years of repression in word or deed or it may be something you heard in the elevator this morning.
The problem is that racism is a bucket of acid. The bucket starts out with a small hole in it. It needs more racism to fill it up but the racism is the acid that makes the hole bigger. Pretty soon a person is consumed with trying to fill that bucket but it's never enough. The more a person tries to make himself feel better by putting others down the worse he feels. He may not believe it or even realize it. It also starts out very shallow. Rarely does one set out to become a racist. A small feeling of inadequecy may reveal itself with a small amount of racism.
I hear you. "Why spoil a friendly blog with such talk?" Mainly because I don't want racism to spread like the cancer that it is to me or my family or my friends. If someone is racist to me I may be tempted to be racist to someone else. It may make me feel inadequate and I may wrongly choose to bring someone else lower than me so I could feel better about myself. Then I wind up with the bucket of acid.
The age-old question is, "What do we do about it?" I'm not here to give all the answers but I have a place to start. The place to start is to do nothing. Yes, nothing. When you hear someone say something slanderous about another race or religion the worst thing you can do is to publicize it. When you read about the drunken tirade of someone putting down another group of people just remember that person has an inadequecy he is trying to compensate for and that talking about that tirade is just going to make other people feel inadequate and will fuel the bitter fire of racism. When a public figure says or does something that is racist the best way to quench that fire is not to feed it!
Again, I do not have all the answers. Not publicizing racism is not going to make it go away. If you ignore something it very well could get larger. Drastic steps may need to be taken to combat racism in the near future and if I can be a warrior in that battle I will. For now, though, I'm going to empty my bucket.

Controversial new show: Desperate Housedogs

Our illegal dog...

A couple of months ago we bought a dog from a rescue service. This is a great way to get a dog. We went online and found the perfect little girl. This is Sara. A perfect princess in a house used to having princesses around. It was an otherwise ordinary adoption. We signed an agreement that as soon as possible we would have Sara neutered. We immediately called the vet and were told that we could bring her in in mid-October when she was old enough. With a female dog it is considered surgery and they have to be a certain age. Yesterday we received this email from the rescue service:
Greetings from All God's Creatures!!! I truly hope that you have enjoyed your new "family member" so far and graciously thank you again for opening up your hearts and homes to a homeless and rescued pet.

You are receiving this message because, according to our files, you are PAST DUE sending the proof of sterilization of your pet, according to paragraph 3 of our contract! We urgently need a copy of your veterinarian's statement/receipt of the spay/neuter of your pet.

We are legally bound by contract with our local city and animal control agency to provide proof of this within a limited period of time, or we are no longer able to continue rescuing and saving pets out of our local shelter.... which means we will not be able to save any more lives. So, you in turn are bound by a contract with us; more than likely because your pet was too young to be altered at the time of adoption.

We are, at this point, unable to save more lives from the shelter until we have proper documentation from you, so PLEASE get this to us ASAP!

You may send us the proof of sterilization to the address below or digitally scan and email a copy to this email address.

If, for any reason, you have not had the surgery done yet and need our assistance in any way, or need to find a low-cost veterinarian, please contact us immediately and we will be happy to help you in any way we can!

Please be aware that if we do not receive your proof of sterilization within ONE week, you will be receiving a letter from our attorney for "Breach of Contract." We definitely do not want it to come to legalities, but we will pursue it to the fullest extent if necessary.

THANK YOU for your immediate attention to this matter, and have a BLESSED day!

I appreciate where they are coming from and the position they are in. I don't have any problem with this note except for the sentence in bold letters. Letter from an attorney?! You have to be pretty low on the totem pole down at the attorney's office to be stuck sending illegal dog notices! Can't you just see me now in prison? "What ya in for?" says Bubba. "Illegal non-sterilization" says Todd. "Hope to get out by Christmas for good behaviour."
So, if I have to go to the Big House for this, please, somebody take care of my princesses while I'm away!

Celebrity power

George Clooney spoke to the United Nations on Thursday and Brad Pitt made national news recently saying he won't get married until everybody has the right to marry. My next door neighbor says windmills should be outlawed. Nobody is listening to my neighbor.

My thoughts on Madonna:

Pop singer Madonna on Thursday defended staging a mock crucifixion during her record-breaking "Confessions" world tour, saying it was not "anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous" -- but a plea for people to help one another. I don't know what would qualify as sacreligious to Madonna nor do I understand how her being perched on a glittery cross makes people want to help one another. I do know that I wish I could help her. I don't hate her even though I am highly offended by her at times. I wish she knew the Man she makes fun of! John 3:16 says that God gave His only Son so that even foul-mouthed Madonna could have eternal life. OK, obviously not an exact quote, but He said for the whole world. He loves Madonna that much! Thank you Lord for Your incredible grace that keeps Madonna and me alive!

Bo the blogging dog

My mentor: Calvin Coolidge

Perhaps the most famous story about Coolidge's behavior concerns the enthusiastic female dinner companion who said to him; "You must talk to me, Mr. Coolidge. I made a bet today that I could get more than two words out of you." Coolidge replied: "You lose."

Thought for the day:

If every other country in the world hates the United States so bad why do all their citizens want to live here?

stuff that makes my mom cringe!