Great Morning Sky!!!

This morning(January 30,2008)was cold as hell in Bellefontaine..The temperature was only 6 degrees and the wind chill was a freezing minus 15 degrees(F).Yet,as I left my car at work's parking lot,I saw an amazing sight.Glowing brightly in the bible black per-dawn sky were these absolutely shining objects.Venus and Jupiter seemed almost together and Antares off to the right seemed almost as bright.At first,I thought that,perhaps,i was was seeing three airplanes.but I wasn't!

As cold as the air and the wind were,this amazing,magnificent sight was what really took my breath away.Venus and Jupiter will be here awhile.I suggest making sure you get up to see this just plain awesome spectacular at least once.

Double WoW!!!

Let's Waste Some Time With Another Good Sex Story

"...the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, manager of his household affairs."

And so we must leave Joseph to his own devices.Soon,he will go through some actual trials and tribulations that are so wildly coincidental that it must be assumed that they are the inspired works of the hand of God.These circumstances,however,have to play out in their own good time....just how will the Biblical writers show this passage of time??

Here,I'll tell ya...no,wait...this is so good,I am just going to let Genesis 38 tell the story(again form 'The Message' Bible):

About that time, Judah separated from his brothers and hooked up with a man in Adullam named Hirah. While there, Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua. He married her, they went to bed, she became pregnant and had a son named Er. She got pregnant again and had a son named Onan. She had still another son; she named this one Shelah. They were living at Kezib when she had him.

Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn. Her name was Tamar. But Judah's firstborn, Er, grievously offended God and God took his life.

So Judah told Onan, "Go and sleep with your brother's widow; it's the duty of a brother-in-law to keep your brother's line alive." But Onan knew that the child wouldn't be his, so whenever he slept with his brother's widow he spilled his semen on the ground so he wouldn't produce a child for his brother. God was much offended by what he did and also took his life.

So Judah stepped in and told his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Live as a widow at home with your father until my son Shelah grows up." He was worried that Shelah would also end up dead, just like his brothers. So Tamar went to live with her father.

Time passed. Judah's wife, Shua's daughter, died. When the time of mourning was over, Judah with his friend Hirah of Adullam went to Timnah for the sheep shearing.

Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law has gone to Timnah to shear his sheep." She took off her widow's clothes, put on a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the road to Timnah. She realized by now that even though Shelah was grown up, she wasn't going to be married to him.

Judah saw her and assumed she was a prostitute since she had veiled her face. He left the road and went over to her. He said, "Let me sleep with you." He had no idea that she was his daughter-in-law.

She said, "What will you pay me?"

"I'll send you," he said, "a kid goat from the flock."
She said, "Not unless you give me a pledge until you send it."

"So what would you want in the way of a pledge?"
She said, "Your personal seal-and-cord and the staff you carry."
He handed them over to her and slept with her. And she got pregnant.

She then left and went home. She removed her veil and put her widow's clothes back on.

Judah sent the kid goat by his friend from Adullam to recover the pledge from the woman. But he couldn't find her. He asked the men of that place, "Where's the prostitute that used to sit by the road here near Enaim?"
They said, "There's never been a prostitute here."

He went back to Judah and said, "I couldn't find her. The men there said there never has been a prostitute there."


Judah said, "Let her have it then. If we keep looking, everyone will be poking fun at us. I kept my part of the bargain—I sent the kid goat but you couldn't find her."

Three months or so later, Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law has been playing the whore—and now she's a pregnant whore."
Judah yelled, "Get her out here. Burn her up!"

As they brought her out, she sent a message to her father-in-law, "I'm pregnant by the man who owns these things. Identify them, please. Who's the owner of the seal-and-cord and the staff?"

Judah saw they were his. He said, "She's in the right; I'm in the wrong— I wouldn't let her marry my son Shelah." He never slept with her again.

When her time came to give birth, it turned out that there were twins in her womb. As she was giving birth, one put his hand out; the midwife tied a red thread on his hand, saying, "This one came first." But then he pulled it back and his brother came out. She said, "Oh! A breakout!" So she named him Perez (Breakout). Then his brother came out with the red thread on his hand. They named him Zerah (Bright).

WoW!You can't make this stuff up(...or can you???)Anyway,this is raunchier then 'Desperate Housewives'.Don't worry...The Bible gets duller.

The Comics

This 'Brewster Rockit(by Tim Rickard)from Thursday,January 25 is the second place comic this week.It is both topical and LOL funny:-)


This week's best cartoon is this 'Candorville',by the amazing Darrin Bell.Not only is this Friday,25 of January strip LOL funny and very topical,but it goes beyond that.This comic strip actually made me think.Not just ethics amongst mudslingers,but ethics amongst ethics....and funny to boot!That is why this is the comic of the week.

Which Twin Is Witch?

I forget which Olsen twin is Ashley and which
one is Mary Kate,but,man,talk about going from cute to creepy:-(

Just Taking Up Space.

The fine people from Stephenville,Texas are not buying that the resently sighted U.F.O.'s were just fighter jets. Maybe they weren't.

Joseph>The Dreamer Pt:I

Israel lost Rachael when she was giving birth to her second child,Benjamin.Since Jacob loved Rachael best,her two children,Joseph and Benjamin,were his favorites.

Understandably,the other 10 children of Izzy were jealous of them...especially of Joseph...though younger then most of his brothers.Of course Joseph didn't help matters by telling his brother's his....dreams.

The thing was,though the brothers thought he was being arrogant,they were actually real dreams....dreams that forecast the future.And Joseph was just explaining the dreams...or was he?I believe his brothers were correct in being jealous of their pampered brother.

I mean come on,Israel gave Joseph a muti-colored coat,the envy of all his brothers.His brothers were rightly angered.

And you didn't want to piss his brothers off.When Shechem,son of Hamor(a Hivite chieftain),raped Leah's daughter,Dinah,the son's of Israel told the head over heals Shechem that he could marry Dinah if everyone in his clan got circumcised.After the Hivites circumcised themselves and they were still in pain,the son's of Jacob went into their camp and slaughtered them.


You did not want to piss these boys off.


But that is exactly what the young,smart,good looking,arrogant Joseph did.Here,let The Bible tell it:

Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said, "Listen to this dream I had. We were all out in the field gathering bundles of wheat. All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and your bundles circled around it and bowed down to mine."
His brothers said, "So! You're going to rule us? You're going to boss us around?" And they hated him more than ever because of his dreams and the way he talked.
He had another dream and told this one also to his brothers: "I dreamed another dream—the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed down to me!"
When he told it to his father and brothers, his father reprimanded him: "What's with all this dreaming? Am I and your mother and your brothers all supposed to bow down to you?" Now his brothers were really jealous; but his father brooded over the whole business.

So,when Israel sent Joseph to(of all places)Shechem to check up on his brothers,his scheming siblings decided to take their revenge.First,they took Joseph and threw him down a dry well.They were going to leave him there to rot. They changed their plan when some traders heading towards Egypt happened along."Why should we kill him?"they said amongst themselves,"Why not just sell him to these traders?"

And that is what is what they did.To make the story more believable,the brothers killed a goat and took Joseph's colorful coat and wiped it in the goat's blood.They were then going to tell Israel that Joseph must had been attacked and killed by a wild beast.

Thus God set in motion a series of unfortunate events that would change history forever.

Like Father,Like Son!?!

George H.W.Bush had his 1,000 points of Light.

George W.Bush has his 937 lies that got us into a war!

Hey!'W'!It's 1,000 points of'lights'-not'Lies'!

Get it right,will,ya!?!

There's Got To Be A Mourning After

First,there's this:



The 'Right' is 'wrong' on so may things,and Bill O'Reilly is their poster boy.This man is so far off base on so many things that this incredible statement-given as smug fact-is just another example of his pompous 'ass'ininess.I am not sure that I am not just propelling this line of propaganda further along by promoting it.

But,ignoring this problem is just what these neo(conservative)Nazi's want us to do.The problem with homeless vet's is just too big of a problem to do that.

Never having served in the military,I admire those that do.I believe that most veterans fight for the right of other Americans-like me- to serve their country in many other different ways.The military troops of a America are a breed a part.Both God and country should bless them.

According to this article from 'Comcast.net/news,The Department Of Veterans Affairs,states that there are 1,500 returning vets from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that could be considered homeless.In the same article,'The National Alliance To End Homelessness',states that during 2006,336,000 vets were considered homeless at one time or another.

Bill O'Really,is more then just blowing smoke up are asses,he is almost committing treason.He is not just ignoring the problem,he is derogating the problem-pooh-poohing it away.This so called,patriot,and Republican flag waving war monger,is disclaiming the very heroes that are fighting for his and our freedom!

O'Really is just chump change when it comes to our homeless vets.The reason most vets become homeless is because they have a difficult time re-acclimating themselves into the mainstream society.According to this article from AlterNet.Org,here's why:They're heroes.Everyone knows about boot camp.How fighting and becoming a well oiled soldier is drilled into fresh new recruits.These young men and women are taught the ways of war.Kill without thinking.Obey orders.Make quick judgements.Normally sound social values are pushed to the side to make a better soldier.


I don't know how a person could survive a war without this training.


When a soldier comes home minus a limb,we can see his or her cost at serving our country.What we can't see is his or her mental cost.How does one come back to the world of opening doors for Gramma,smiling mothers strolling their babies,and stop and go traffic after seeing all these as ghostly apparitions in the daily trials of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan?We've all read the stories,see it on the news;how can a man or woman come back home without some emotional backlash?


And they probably should.It is a sign of mental stability and finely breed values clashing with the cost of war that is leaving these men and women homeless.It is a heart breaking lost.I don't see how any soldier returns without some type of shadow following them.

The government sees this as a problem as well.In what they call,'The Psychological Kevlar Act',they have come up with a solution made for nipping this problem at the bud....a cheap drug called,Propranalol.Sometimes called,'The Mourning After' pill,it is taken to relieve the taker of the emotional baggage associated with warfare.Propranalol supposedly does not take away the memory of combat,but makes the subject feel nonchalant about it.

I ask,this helps,how?

Why do I feel this drug will end up causing more problems then it stops?Soldiers are coming home,some,because they can't (or can) add up two and two together,and are having a very difficult time adjusting to HOME.This makes them human,perhaps needing of medical attention,and the very least,our respect.

Is a drug(probably under tested and with no known testing for long term side effects) that possibly will turn our fighting men and women into emotionless zombies really the answer...?

...I don't know.You tell me.

Roe vs.Wade:35 Year Anniversary

Presented as fact: There are currently 25 pregnant girls in our town's school system.The youngest is in fifth grade.

Presented as fact: Last year had the lowest abortion rate since 1990: one million,five hundred thousand.

Presented as fact: Many Pro-life citizens are Christian.They believe abortion is murder,and that the taking of an innocent unborn child is particular abhorrent.They base their belief on such Biblical references as the Old Testament's ,'Thy Shall Not Kill',and This from Jeremiah 32:31-35: And then they went out and built shrines to the god Baal in the valley of Hinnom, where they burned their children in sacrifice to the god Molech—I can hardly conceive of such evil!—turning the whole country into one huge act of sin.' And from such passages from the New Testament as Mark 10:13-16:The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: "Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.

The very idea of sacrificing children to the god of 'convenience' seems horrible and strange to these Christians that are taught that all human life has value.

Presented as fact: The Pro Choice movement in America is against government interference(or for very limited interference) when it comes to a woman's reproductive rights.Pro choice 'is not' pro abortion,but for reproductive choice.The pro-choice movement is about personal responsibility for one's own body.The pro-choice movement worries that any laws prohibiting choice will limit personal freedoms.Pro-choice believes that a government should have very limited involvement in personal life choice decisions.

The Pro-Choice movement believes that giving the United States government the final say on whether your mother,daughter,or sister lives or dies a prohibitively abhorrent concept.

Presented as fact:If you believe that abortion is justifiable in case of saving the mother's life,or in cases of rape and/or incest:you are pro-choice.

Presented as fact:There are many forms of legalized murder in the United states:Executions of criminals;self defense;defending your country and/or it's interests;medical legalized euthanasia[pulling the plug on terminally ill],etc.

Presented as fact:There is no definitive definition to when 'human' life begins,let alone when it is first considered murder to terminate that said life(i.e. a fertilized egg may,through a woman's natural cycle,be washed from her system.This could never be considered murder).If a women with a 20 week old fetus is murdered,the killer could be charged with a double homicide,yet the woman could still legally have an abortion.What would the outcome be if she was on the way to an abortion clinic is any body's guess.

Presented as fact:Women who've had abortions can suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

Presented as fact:In the United States,it is believed that there are over 3,200 pregnancies a year in this country caused by rape.

Presented as fact:fetuses as young as 22 weeks can now survive outside the womb.

If you have anything to add to this list,let me know.

HARSH!

Martin Luther King Day

Here is a repeat of a 'classic' TheDrew that I posted last year for MLK Day(January 15th,2007)




I have always been a fan of Martin Luther King.I remember-as a preteenager-hearing him preach how only nonviolent and peaceful protests could achieve equal rights.I became more of a Christian because of his leadership role in the civil rights movement.After seeing pictures of white firemen spraying down black teenagers,and white policemen attacking elderly black women with vicious police dogs,AND THE PROTESTERS NOT FIGHTING BACK,no matter how some of my prejudiced elders and friends tried to justify these actions,I just could not buy into them.All I could picture was my grandmother being attacked by police dogs,my older cousins being sprayed with the very forceful fire hoses.AND NOT FIGHTING BACK.

I knew their cause was just.I knew that these whites were ignorant and wrong.Yet Dr.King preached not to hate these protagonist,but to pray for them.He dared to live the Christian dream.It was mind expanding.Because they would not fight,and would not back down,they showed to me that their cause was just.And I became a believer.

It also tainted my beliefs.It made me see the power of assembly.So when Kent State happened,I fully believed that that students were using a correct form of protest.

I could go on and blabber long and hard about my feelings,but I would rather leave you with something from the New Testament that may have nothing at all to do with what we are celebrating today,or just about everything.This is First Corinthians,Chapter 13.It,in my opinion,deserves to be read at every wedding(it was in mine).It is just about one of the best descriptions of love anywhere:

If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.

And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous,love is not pompous, it is not inflated,it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.For we know partially and we prophesy partially,but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things.

At present we see indistinctly,as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.In the end,there are three things that endure:faith, hope,and love,and the greatest of these is love.

In closing,buy someone a book for MLK Day.Pass knowledge around.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

The Comics

It is not often that I pick a Sunday strip for the comic of the week,but last Sunday's'[1/13/08]Stone Soup',by Jan Eliot,was this week's winning strip.Stone Soup is a fun strip about your somewhat normal American family....yes,I know,only if you consider a now-a-days,single mom,extended family as a normal(like I do).It is one of my daily reads.


The strip is unique in the fact that the characters age slightly,and while some days the strip has a timeless quality to it,other days it seems fresh as today.One of the perks of the strip is the single mom,Val Stone's yearly book club meeting with female characters from other comic strips(Rose Is Rose,Cathy,Dilbert,For Better or Worse,Zits,etc).This book club is what originally brought me to the comic.The art is great(Do the other strip artists draw their characters?)...and it looks like this might be the only time we are going to met the whole book club this year(drat!).That is why this is the comic of the week.

The Jacob Story-or-The Stairway To Heaven-or-Hip To Be Square

Jacob would become Israel.This is his story.

Issac,Jake's pop,sent Jacob to go visit Jacob's uncle,on his mother's side,Uncle Laban.On his way to Laban's,Jacob stopped at a place called Haran to sleep for the night.Using a rock as his pillow,he had a dream.In this dream,he saw the 'The Stairway To Heaven. DuDE!.{While traditionally,this has been know as 'Jacob's ladder',the more accurate translation is 'stairway'.}God told Jake that this land is your land.Jacob called the place,Bethel...or Bethlehem,and went on his merry way.

When the Jake-man finally got to unk's,Jacob immediately fell in love with his first cousin,Rachael.Jake said,"Hey,old man,what ya' say that you let me marry your babe daughter,Rach,I'll work seven years for ya'?Good deal,huh,old,man?"

Laban said,"Righteous."

However,thanks to there being no electricity and it being very dark,the Jakester woke up in his wedding tent,not with his beautiful bride,the Rach-babe,but with her older sister,Leah.Now,though,Leah had pretty eyes,she wasn't Jacob's beloved.So,Jake went to his uncle Laban and said,"DuDE!?!"

Uncle replied,"'Tis truely bogus,bro,but the man says that the OLDEST daughter has to get hitched first.Hey man,how many righteous DuDES like yourself gets to marry not one but two of his first cousins?Work seven more years for me and I'll let ya have Rachael,too.What ya say,Bro?"

This put Jacob over a barrel,"DuDE!"

So,Jacob worked 14 years for Pop-in-law,but they seemed like days because he loved Rachael....

....and he got busy.Leah was popping out babies by the score,but since Rachael wasn't,she had Jake get busy with her maid.Leah had her made maid join the party,too.DuDE! What a par-tee!

Soon,God blessed Rachael,and Jacob knew it was time to go home.He said to his father-in-law,"I'm going home,man."

Laban replied,"Don't you want paid?God's good to you.I should pay you something."

"Well,DuDE,since you ask,I'll take your spotted sheeps.There ain't too many of those."

"Deal,"But,uncle Laban then took all of his spotted sheep and gave them to his son's.That was un-cool.

This did not stop Jacob.To quote for the good book itself:

But Jacob got fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled the bark, leaving white stripes on them. He stuck the peeled branches in front of the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. When the flocks were in heat, they came to drink and mated in front of the streaked branches. Then they gave birth to young that were streaked or spotted or speckled. Jacob placed the ewes before the dark-colored animals of Laban. That way he got distinctive flocks for himself which he didn't mix with Laban's flocks. And when the sturdier animals were mating, Jacob placed branches at the troughs in view of the animals so that they mated in front of the branches. But he wouldn't set up the branches before the feebler animals. That way the feeble animals went to Laban and the sturdy ones to Jacob.

Soon,Jacob said,"Enough of this,I am outta here."and he booked.

Ol' man,Laban didn't like losing his daughters and his hired hand so he went chasing after him.Rachael,unknown to Jacob,stole her dad's idols.Laban used the missing idols as an excuse to chase The Jake.When he caught up with Jacob,Laban said"Hey,man,leaving without saying goodbye was nasty,but did you have to take my idols.too?"

This outraged Jacob,"DuDE!If anyone in my party has your idols,I'll kill 'em myself."

Rachael,who was sitting on a pillow hiding to idols gulped and thought real fast,"Aah...I'm on my period,I'm not getting up."

"WoW!Bummer,man.I could have swore you took them.My bad."

"This is bogus,DuDE.Unrightous.Hey,I got an idea.Let's get stoned...make peace not war."

And so they did.

Jacob was heading for home.He had totally forgotten about Esau,"DuDE!"

So Jake-Up started sending Esau mucho presents and as he got closer he divided his party into two camps,sending the women and children up ahead in front of him.

That night,Jacob ran into a man of God and wrestled with him all night long.Jake said to the angel,"Say uncle,"and Jacob wouldn't let go.Finally,at the break of dawn,the angel struck Jacob's hip,but still Jake would not let him go,"Bless me,first,"he said.

The angel said,"OK,Things will be cool with Esau.And from now on you will no longer be called Jacob.From now on you will be known as 'The God Wrestler'.We can shorten that to Israel.

The angel was as good as his word.Jake was now Israel...

...and as for Esau....He was cool.He turned out to be one rightous DuDE.

Fit To Spit

That goofball Huckleberry Hound is at it again.This time the wacko compares homosexuality to bestiality.As you all know,I am a Bible thumper myself,but this guy is so off base,that he wants to Christianize The Constitution.

I am sorry,America does not need this guys brand of Christianity(I question his Christianity.His preachings of intolerance and hate are 'anti-Christ').

But,let's say he's' right' in his thinking.Christ+Country= Good.Mmmm...see...this is why separation of church and state are soo important.Right now,at this time,we are trying to bring 'democracy' to Iraq.Most Iraqis are Muslim.This presents a very BIG problem for a guy who wants to Christianize America...big conflict of interest.

How so?If Huckleberry Hound believes that Jesus Christ was crucified,died and resurrected.If he preaches that everyone by Constitutional law has to to believe this,then,then..em..how does he handle that fact that according to the Qur'an,most Muslims do not believe that Jesus died on the cross?

For The Qur'an says:That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not: Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.—Qur'an, [Qur'an 4:157

Some Muslims even believe that Jesus wasn't even the guy on the cross!But that he had a doppelganger up there,instead.

Now,'my' beliefs are not dependent on some other religion's,so this doesn't bother 'me'...but dawg man here,is openly showing he is more hard core on the subject.I mean,he wants ALL of America to believe in Christ.This should really piss Huck off.What would stop him from saying something really stupid like,"Well,then Muhammad is a phooney!"

Can you say."Instant WWIII ?Can you say,"No more democracy in Iraq?"

The man is the wrong man for the job.

And the nutcase Romney is no better.The man is anti-union.When I was growing up,America was about great jobs with great wages;the highest standard of living in the world!That's 'world',ladies and gentlemen.

But since Reagan,unions and the working man have been given the shaft.Now,the line is,'we have to compete;unions are corrupt;American workers are lazy.well,I am here to tell ya' man...you are wrong.I am part of the vast underpaid non-union work force.Most American workers I see work every day are hard working,honest folk made to work harder for even less money.10 plus hours without over time.Little or no insurance.Nepotism.All the while we have Enron,Halliburton,and CEO's making proportionately more money off their companies then they ever have before.

Not that all unions are perfect.This story about the N.F'n'.L.Breaks my heart.I did not know that great players from the sixties and early seventies,like Leroy Kelly,made only $12,000.00-$20,000.00 a year.I didn't know that they only get pentions of under $300.00 a month!And now that they're crippled they don't even get disability!

The N.F'n'.L. makes billions of dollars.This seems like blood money.I don't know if I even care to watch it anymore.

Women,you have got to be kidding me.Designer vaginas!?! Look,ladies,men are just happy anywhere near a vagina.Believe me,most men love you gals for just being you gals.Unless there is some sort of medical reason for this...why?Are you ladies that judgemental with each other..and do you check each other out this much?I mean,there is scrutiny and then there is scrunity.Stop this madness at once!You are beautiful just the way you are!

Now,i've got a picture of Joan Rivers in my mind I wish I didn't have.Arrgh!My eyes!


Speaking of eyes....people have been seeingUFO's Ev-ery-where.





Of course,people have been saying I have been taking up space for years.You've been real.That's for listening:-)

Proving Once Again People From Michigan Are Idiots

Once Again the people of Michigan have proved themselves to be idiots.The blue collar state voted for a picket line crossing strike breaker.Yep,Mitt Romney won the Michigan primary.Hey,you folks up north?Aren't you looking for good jobs?And you vote for a strike breaker?What's next,voting in,'Hang On Sloopy',for the University of Michigan fight song?

My Jacob & My Esau

One of the problems I find with taking The Bible literally is that the morals of one time and place do not necessarily fit into another place and time.The glory of the story from one place and time period then,is the 'lesson' that the other place and time can learn from it.

Here is an example of what I mean.Issac married his second cousin,Rebekah.They had twin children,Esau,the older,and Jacob,the younger.Esau grew into a burly outdoors man,with a red furry hair.Jacob,was the apple of his mother's eye.He was dotted over by her.

Issac was old,and blind and on his death bed.He told Esau to go hunt and bring back his(Issac's)favorite game,and then to cook it up and serve it to him.Then,Issac would give Esau his blessing.

Rebekah over heard this conversation and told her younger son that she would cook this favorite dish for her husband and then have Jacob disguised as Esau go to his father and receive Esau's blessing.

Of course this did not sit well with Esau once he got back from the hunt only to find that his father had given away his blessing.Esau had already given away his birth right as oldest son for a bowl of stew to Jacob.So,perhaps the blessing of the first born was rightfully Jacob's.But the way Jacob and his mother went about procuring this right was terribly wrong in many ways.

Of course Mommy suggests to Jacob that he should book out of there for a while.So,while this is not the end of the Jacob story(more like the middle...after all,he does become 'Israel'),this is where I am going to stop for now,with is now...

...which brings me to this now,our present.Until the big layoff of Oh' six,I was a 'product selector' in a big food distribution warehouse.I would select food products from the bins along either side of the many isles that they placed in and along.I would then put this product on either one of two pallets.I would pile this product up to eight feet tall.I dragged my loads along on a doubly long pallet jack.Perhaps you have seen my work.Have you ever been in a grocery store and seen pallets stacked high with cans etc and wrapped with what looks liked Saran Wrap.That was me.

Now,most food packaging (i.e. cans of soup,dog food,soda pop,etc.)were selected off of their own pallets.These goods were stacked on pallets in what we would call 'a block'.A block was the amount of cases that it took to make a full-level-layer.You then could build another full level layer on top of that one.Ten double cases of pop made a flat layer;nine cases of Campbell's soup made a layer...and so on.

The object for the selector was to build as even of a load(or loads)as possible.For instance,if you had fifty double cases of soda pop,you would try to select these all first.Then you could build five flat layers on your pallet.Next you could get the 27 cases of Campbell's soup,and so on.

But...allot of times,you would have 54 cases of soda;25 cases of soup.You would still want to build a nice level load,but you had all these extra cases.

This is where,'My Jacob & My Esau' comes in.On the back skid of my double length pallet jack,I would throw all my even-level-rows.On the front pallet,I would throw the rest.Of course,the back,nice and pretty level pallet,I called,'My Jacob,' and the monster ugly load in front that always looked like it was going to tip over or fall down,I called,'My Esau'.

Jacob was the good load because Jacob took Esau's birthright and stole his blessing,right?And Esau is the bad load because all he did was feel very hungry after hunting outdoors all day while his brother stayed in the house.I mean,the only reason he didn't get his Holy father's blessing was because he did what he was asked to do.He went out to hunt for his dying father's last supper.

That would be exactly right if you took this story literally.Jacob,whom soon becomes father of the twelve tribes of Israel,was deemed righteous because he had God on his side.Am I correct...but that is not exactly correct,didn't he trick Issac,his father,whom also had God on his side?That doesn't seem right,nor,fair.

No,I believe that the main point to this story is that God works through every day,ordinary people.God did not necessarily pick Jacob over Esau because Jacob was any better then Esau,but he could have picked Jacob to prove that he is in us all...even folks like Jacob..especially through folks like Jacob...folks just like you and me.

That is why I had my 'Jacob' and my 'Esau'.For you see,I could not have had my perfect little Jacob without my dishevelled Esau.And,after doing load after load,Jacob always was the correct nearly perfect pallet,but it was through Esau,that I learned to build better loads,and become a better grocery selector.

Literally,doesn't that kind of figure?Just because bad things happen,that doesn't mean God isn't with you.He is.He is.

Oh,and soon on into our story...Jacob figures that one out,too.

The Comics

This very funny 'Tiny Sepuku' ,from Wednesday,January 10,asks the very hard question of whether love should hurt and then gives us the answer.It is the comic of the week.
'Tiny Sepuku is an advice comic strip. The name is a butchered spelling of the Japanese word "seppuku" which roughly means "sacrifice for the benefit of others". It began as a parody of Hello Kitty in 1997' (quote from the Tiny Sepuku website)


The Comic Of The Week It is not often that I pick a Sunday strip for the comic of the week,but last Sunday's'[1/13/08]Stone Soup',by Jan Eliot,was this week's winning strip.Stone Soup is a fun strip about your somewhat normal American family....yes,I know,only if you consider now-a-days,single mom,extended family as a normal(like I do).It is one of my daily reads.

The strip is unique in the fact that the characters age slightly,and while some days the strip has a timeless quality to it,other days it seems fresh as today.One of the perks of the strip is the single mom,Val Stone's yearly book club meeting with female characters from other comic strips(Rose Is Rose,Cathy,Dilbert,For Better or Worse,Zits,etc).This book club is what originally brought me to the comic.The art is great(Do the other strip artists draw their characters?)...and it looks like this might be the only time we are going to met the whole book club this year(drat!).That is why this is the comic of the week.



The Comic Of The WeekThis 'Brewster Rockit(by Tim Rickard)from Thursday,January 25 is the second place comic this week.It is both topical and LOL funny:-)


This week's best cartoon is this 'Candorville',by the amazing Darrin Bell.Not only is this Friday,25 of January strip LOL funny and very topical,but it goes beyond that.This comic strip actually made me think.Not just ethics amongst mudslingers,but ethics amongst ethics....and funny to boot!That is why this is the comic of the week.



I was going to save my Groundhog Day package of 'toons for today.That was until I saw this,'EEK!'(by Scott Nickel)yesterday.This is just too gosh darn funny:-)That is why it is the comic of the week.



First off,I would like to give a fine round of applause to 'Frog Applause' for a great week of 'thinking inside the box'.A big shout out and an even bigger thank you to Teresa Dowlatshahi for reminding me that all comics and,therefore,all cartoonists should be appreciated.Thank you,Teresa.

At first I did not know what to make of 'C'est La Vie',by Jennifer Babcock.It was sketchy,unevenly drawn,and sometimes even skipping around somehow apparently seemingly totally out of sequence.

But then,suddenly,I really liked it.It's Disneyesque princess types,Donna and Kacey were supreme comic foils for the devil-may-care star of the strip:Mona Montrois and her stuffed naughty bunny,Monsieur Smokey.

A testament to the strip is this funny comic from last Sunday,February 3rd.What a hilarious send up.'Gay face-straight body'...what a hoot!It's been a long while since I laughed so hard at a comic,that is why it is the comic of the week.

This Saturday's 'Moderately Confused',by Jeff Stahler,is this week's runner up.

But this week's winner is a Valentine's strip from the perpetually in the running,'Frog Applause'.Teresa Dowlatshahi has made more than a clever,funny,sexy,erotic almost naughty Valentine strip,here.It is chalked full of cartoony goodness.There is more thought put into this day's strip then most other comics have put into them in a month.That is why this is the comic of the week.

As you can see,though it was a tuff week to pick one single toon,you just can't beat a good Cleveland joke.That is why last Sunday's,'The Meaning Of Lila',by said John Forgetta and L.A. Rose is the comic of the week.

I was going to go old school and pick this fantastic 'Blondie'...

But This La Cucaracha was just to funny to pass up.That is why it is the comic of the week.

Meanwhile,Back At The Ranch...

When we last left Abraham and Sarah,Sarah was with child.Sarah had a boy.They named him,Issac(which means,laughter).

But,Issac was not Abraham's first child.That honor went to Ishmael.When Sarai was barren,struck in grief,she had Abraham conceive with her maid,Hagar.

Since Abraham was going to the father of many nations,God put him to the test(I believe this was for Abraham and his decedents benefit more than for God's).Here is where the story gets a little complicated.According to Genesis 22 God told Abraham to sacrifice his son,'Issac'-his heir-to prove his(Abe's) loyalty to God...Muslim tradition thinks otherwise.Most Muslims today think that it was Ishmael who was supposed to be sacrificed.

The Muslim faith believes Surah 37:99-106 refers to Ishmael:


[He said: "I will go to my Lord! He will surely guide me!

100. "O my Lord! grant me a righteous (son)!"

101. So We gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear.

102. Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: "O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: now see what is thy view!" (The son) said: "O my father! do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if Allah so wills, one practicing Patience and Constancy!"

103. So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah), and He had laid Him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice),

104. We called out to him, "O Abraham!

105. "Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!"--thus indeed do We reward those who do right.

106. For this was obviously a trial--]

Either way you argue it,either for or against Issac,since the Bible chooses him,I,as a Christian,have to go with my own Holy text.I throw this out there as an interesting tidbit.People hate each other over this.A strange case of Dad loves me more.

Well,Abraham didn't go through with it anyway.Issac grew up and went off to be wed.He married his second cousin,Rebekah and got Ambilech into trouble again!Poor,Abimelech.

Sarah died and remarried.He wed and had children with Keturah.Nothing is ever said of the children of Keturah.I wonder what happened to them.I often think their story would make a great book for me to write(or wrong:-) Wouldn't that make a great book title:'The Children Of Keturah'?

And finally,this is as far as I am going to go here,Abraham dies.

Next-the story of the twins that didn't get along.

NEWS FLASH: Jesus Comes Out For Seperation Of Church And State>Candidates To Quit Pandering

Good evening,I am The Drew for W.W.J.D. News.Our top story tonight is Jesus Christ our Lord has pronounced that he is for the separation of 'church' and 'state'.In this 'Underground' exclusive,here is the story and words of Jesus as reported by our Biblical reporter,Luke-the physician:

20:22Watching for a chance to get him, they sent spies who posed as honest inquirers, hoping to trick him into saying something that would get him in trouble with the law. So they asked him, "Teacher, we know that you're honest and straightforward when you teach, that you don't pander to anyone but teach the way of God accurately. Tell us: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
23-24He knew they were laying for him and said, "Show me a coin. Now, this engraving, who does it look like and what does it say?"
25"Caesar," they said.
Jesus said, "Then give Caesar what is Caesar's and give God what is God's."
26Try as they might, they couldn't trap him into saying anything incriminating.

WoW!Luke,that is pretty damning evidence.It is just like Jesus to come right out with it like that.Thank you.It is this reporter's hope that the presidental candidates will now quit their pandering on this subject and just get on with the real issues.

Now with the 40 day forcast,here is our own weather reporter.Noah,is it ever going to stop raining ?

Can You Hear Me Now? or Why It Maybe Harder For Hillary To Get Elected

According to this news report,men actually have a hard time listening to women.I assume this is why men often zone out their wives.Could this make a difference for Hillary Clinton?

Candidates are somewhat elected on their charisma.This makes their ideologies easier to swallow.A great speech can make you comfortable and excited about a candidate.Think JFK.Think Bill Clinton.Think hillbilly boy,George Bush.The drawl of their accents excites us.Comforts us.Makes us believe in them.

But...if men have a discomfort in hearing Hillary because of her feminine voice...couldn't that have the opposite effect?If men have to strain to hear her,wouldn't that,at least on a subconscious level,irritate them a tad,maybe even put a little fear or distrust into their psyche?And wouldn't that be enough to make most men draw back away from her?

I'm thinking 'could be'.And,as a man,that scares me.Could I be throwing away the best candidate just because I have to strain to hear her?I don't know,but I am going to take the extra effort to find out.

Are you hearing me,Mrs.Clinton?I'm listening.What do you have to say?Can you hear me now?

FALLING IN WITH A BAD 'LOT'

Genesis 19

Abraham had a nephew who was a pain in the ass.The nephew's name was'Lot'.Lot had grown prosperous under Abraham's tutelage.So prosperous that Abe took him aside and said,'Look,Lot,together we have too much stuff.Pick a direction,you go one way and I will go the opposite direction.

This was very nice of Abraham,as the elder,he could have picked any direction and told Lot to get lost.But he didn't.Lot,with the folly of youth,picked the best area to traverse(showing little respect to his Uncle Abe).Abe went along with Lot's choice,and went the opposite way.

Of course,Abraham had to come to Lot's aid a couple of times.The first time Abraham had to actually get involved into a war:the War of The Nine Kings.Lot had wandered too close to Sodom and he and his family had ended up getting captured.Abe to the rescue.

Lot must have lost most of his possession's in the war(though the Bible doesn't say so)because he moved his family inside the city gates of Sodom...no mean city.

This is where Abraham saved him again.Two angels of the Lord came to Abraham and told him that Sarah was going to be with child.Before they left they told Abraham that they were going to destroy the sinful Sodom and Gomorrah.

Abraham,having to have known that Lot lived in Sodom,talked the angels into not destroying the city if only ten faithful people lived in it.(Abraham talked them down from a minimum of 50).This act by Abraham basically saved Lot and Lot's families lives.

I believe that Sodom deserved it's reputation as an evil city,but not for the reason most Bible thumpers proclaim.I believe that that men of Sodom were just hard evil folk.It had nothing to do with being homosexual.Though they may have been homosexual,that was not what got the city dissed,it was that these men were mean and evil.I know of no homosexual that would have done what these evil men were willing to do.

At this point,I'll get to the jest of the story.The Bible writers were now making it perfectly clear that it was advantageous to have God on your side.Because if the people of Sodom and Gomorrah deserved to get whacked.Lot and his relationship with his daughters...well...let's just say that they had a very strange relationship.

Here,read it for yourself:

The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening. Lot was sitting at the city gate. He saw them and got up to welcome them, bowing before them and said, "Please, my friends, come to my house and stay the night. Wash up. You can rise early and be on your way refreshed."

They said, "No, we'll sleep in the street."

But he insisted, wouldn't take no for an answer; and they relented and went home with him. Lot fixed a hot meal for them and they ate.

Before they went to bed men from all over the city of Sodom, young and old, descended on the house from all sides and boxed them in. They yelled to Lot, "Where are the men who are staying with you for the night? Bring them out so we can have our sport with them!"

Lot went out, barring the door behind him, and said, "Brothers, please, don't be vile! Look, I have two daughters, virgins; let me bring them out; you can take your pleasure with them, but don't touch these men—they're my guests."

They said, "Get lost! You drop in from nowhere and now you're going to tell us how to run our lives. We'll treat you worse than them!" And they charged past Lot to break down the door.

But the two men reached out and pulled Lot inside the house, locking the door. Then they struck blind the men who were trying to break down the door, both leaders and followers, leaving them groping in the dark.

O-K,I am all for hospitality...but,if I had daughters,I don't care how special my guests were,this would not happen in my household.

It gets even more dysfunctional.After Sodom and Gomorrah goes boom,and Lot's wife turns into salt...this bizarre story takes place...

(Lot) lived in a cave with his daughters.

One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is getting old and there's not a man left in the country by whom we can get pregnant. Let's get our father drunk with wine and lie with him. We'll get children through our father—it's our only chance to keep our family alive."

They got their father drunk with wine that very night. The older daughter went and lay with him. He was oblivious, knowing nothing of what she did. The next morning the older said to the younger, "Last night I slept with my father. Tonight, it's your turn. We'll get him drunk again and then you sleep with him. We'll both get a child through our father and keep our family alive." So that night they got their father drunk again and the younger went in and slept with him. Again he was oblivious, knowing nothing of what she did.

Both daughters became pregnant by their father, Lot. The older daughter had a son and named him Moab, the ancestor of the present-day Moabites. The younger daughter had a son and named him Ben-Ammi, the ancestor of the present-day Ammonites.

Ooowww...it doesn't get much grosser than that!And Bible literalist have a problem with homosexuality?This is the Bible,people.It just goes to show you that taking this stuff totally literally-even if this story is totally true-that you have to look for the deeper symbolic meaning.That being:faith in God will help you.

Ugh!Excuse me.I have to go clean my eyeballs.

Sarai,The First Cougar

Genesis 12

One of the best new terms of 2007 is the new meaning of the word 'cougar'.Cougar means a sexy sophisticated middle aged woman who seeks the pleasure of younger males.Before Abraham was called Abraham he was called Abram.Before Abraham's wife was renamed Sarah by an angel of God,she was called,Sarai.

Sarai must have been one sexy cougar.Here's her story.

Now,through the linage of Noah came Abram.When Abram was 75 years old,God told him that He would make Abram a great nation.He also showed Abram the land that Abram would inherit.Abram was married to Sarai.Sarai was 65 years old.This is Sarai's story:

Then a famine came to the land. Abram went down to Egypt to live; it was a hard famine. As he drew near to Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, "Look. We both know that you're a beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you they're going to say, 'Aha! That's his wife!' and kill me. But they'll let you live. Do me a favor: tell them you're my sister. Because of you, they'll welcome me and let me live."

When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians took one look and saw that his wife was stunningly beautiful. Pharaoh's princes raved over her to Pharaoh. She was taken to live with Pharaoh.

Because of her, Abram got along very well: he accumulated sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, men and women servants, and camels. But God hit Pharaoh hard because of Abram's wife Sarai; everybody in the palace got seriously sick.

Pharaoh called for Abram, "What's this that you've done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she's your wife? Why did you say, 'She's my sister' so that I'd take her as my wife? Here's your wife back—take her and get out!"

Pharaoh ordered his men to get Abram out of the country. They sent him and his wife and everything he owned on their way.

I must note,that the trouble with the book of Genesis' multiple sources comes into play here.This same basic story is repeated later on in Genesis 20.Though it happens 24 years later.By this time God has changed Abram's name to Abraham and Sarai's to Sarah.

The name change was based on the promise that God would deliver a child to the nearly 100 year old Abraham and the 89 year old Sarah.When the angel of the Lord told them Sarah would be of child,they both laughed.How could they have a child in their advanced old age.

Yet...Between the angel telling them they would have a child and Sarah actually conceiving we have this story from Genesis 20:

Abraham traveled from there south to the Negev and settled down between Kadesh and Shur. While he was camping in Gerar, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She's my sister."

So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her. But God came to Abimelech in a dream that night and told him, "You're as good as dead—that woman you took, she's a married woman."

Now Abimelech had not yet slept with her, hadn't so much as touched her. He said, "Master, would you kill an innocent man? Didn't he tell me, 'She's my sister'? And didn't she herself say, 'He's my brother'? I had no idea I was doing anything wrong when I did this."

God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know your intentions were pure, that's why I kept you from sinning against me; I was the one who kept you from going to bed with her. So now give the man's wife back to him. He's a prophet and will pray for you—pray for your life. If you don't give her back, know that it's certain death both for you and everyone in your family."

Abimelech was up first thing in the morning. He called all his house servants together and told them the whole story. They were shocked. Then Abimelech called in Abraham and said, "What have you done to us? What have I ever done to you that you would bring on me and my kingdom this huge offense? What you've done to me ought never to have been done."

Abimelech went on to Abraham, "Whatever were you thinking of when you did this thing?"

Abraham said, "I just assumed that there was no fear of God in this place and that they'd kill me to get my wife. Besides, the truth is that she is my half sister; she's my father's daughter but not my mother's. When God sent me out as a wanderer from my father's home, I told her, 'Do me a favor; wherever we go, tell people that I'm your brother.'"


Sarah,though ancient,must still have been a babe.After all-didn't folks live to be 800 back then...but if they lived so old why would both Abraham and Sarah laugh about conceiving in their old age?This is the problem in taking the Bible so literally.The multiple,parallel sources used when the story was put together do not always gel.The parable behind the story ,still,has great,great value:showing that through both Abraham and Sarah's faith much was given them.That's priceless.

As for the ancient Sarah....Grrrr,I agree with Abimelech...What a babe :-)