Well...today's the day!

I had my birthday the other day, but MDB chose to celebrate it today. I have to admit...she's pretty good about keeping a secret and I have no idea what I have in store (very mysterious!!!), but I DO know that we're going in to Houston for this activity (whatever it is) and I can wear jeans (don't have to get dressed up....Hmmmmm.....)

I'll report back with details later, but for now....I have NO IDEA!!!!

I DO know one thing; I'm tired of the writer's strike already, but not for the reason you'd probably think. Shows are starting to cave and reach agreements with the writer's guild, and that's not necessarily a good thing as far as I'm concerned. Maybe, without a television telling us what and how to think, we could actually come up with an original idea of our own occasionally. We might even (perish the thought!!!) pick up a book! OH NO!!!!

More later! - Dan

I'm trying to be the bigger person....

...but my 13 year-old 21 year-old is about to drive me around the corner with her "gimme-gimme" ungrateful attitude!



Two nights ago(23rd), all four of my kids came over for a birthday dinner in their honor. Kim worked like a dog preparing a wonderful meal and a "from scratch" birthday cake that was simply marvelous (Kim's an AWESOME cook!). All of the kids seemed to enjoy it, but I could tell when "present" time rolled around, my youngest was upset that she only got a token gift for her birthday (recall that she used up her Christmas/Birthday goodwill on overages on her cell phone, which is paid for by ME lock, stock, and barrel) instead of the nice cash gift that I gave her sister. Her twin brother got the same treatment - I'm having to pay the deductible for his knee surgery, so I told him that Christmas/Birthday wasn't going to be any great shakes and he understood! Anyway, a couple of them asked me if was sending Christmas home with them two days before Christmas, and I told them no - if they wanted a Christmas present, they needed to come and see me on Christmas!



I said all that to say this - last evening, the thirteen year-old called me and asked if she could return the boxes she'd borrowed when Kim and I moved her back into her mother's house. I said, uh....sure, I suppose; timing's a little strange, but I guess you can return boxes right about now if you like. Anyway, I knew it was just a lame excuse to come and get their Christmas presents. So, after we put the boxes back into the garage, they came inside (my oldest, Lauren made the trip with her) and just sort of waited. For that matter, Lauren never did sit down! So, I said, "well, since y'all are here, why don't you open your Christmas presents!" So they did and then, within no more than another 2.5 minutes, they were gone!



We were remarking about the strangeness of the event when the phone rang. "Dad!" (it was Katelyn) "I just wanted to make sure that I didn't drop some cash or leave some in a crack or something - there was only $5 in this envelope, is that right?" (subtle child!) "Yes, Katelyn, there was only $5 in your envelope - your Christmas was my paying your $135 overage on your cell phone bill....remember?" (Katelyn) "Well...how much did Lauren get?" (Me) "Frankly, Katelyn, that's none of your business! What I give Lauren is between me and Lauren and it's nobody else's affair! I will tell you this - her birthday and Christmas together didn't add up to $145, which is what you were given altogether!" (Katelyn) "Oh....well I was just wondering; I wanted to make sure I didn't lose any if there was more." (Me) "No, that's all there was; you're safe! Merry Christmas! I love you!" (KK) "click"



Oh, I see how it is. I'm supposed to forget the $135 cell phone bill that I had to pay over and above the regular cell phone bill AND give you the same amount for Christmas that I give everyone else, is that it? Hmmmm.....Cameron's deductible is $187 so, according to that logic, I ought to just give everyone the same and no one would feel left out. Hmmmm....that's $748 just on the four with whom I share DNA; if I extended that package to the other two (we'll call it $150 for Christmas and $37 for birthday), that's an additional $300, for a grand total of $1048 just for the kids, not to mention parents, party expenses, hostess gifts, gifts for friends, etc. Uhhhhhh.....my name's not Gates! I can't afford that kind of expenditure for Christmas, which is why I told the little ingrate that her cell phone bill WAS her Christmas and birthday!



I think I'll pay the $75 fee and have her line disabled. I wonder how she'll feel about paying for it by herself! Merry Christmas! - Dan

Must be Christmas! The kids came to visit!

My Darling Bride, Kim, with my youngest daughter, Katelyn, and her daughter,

Lexie (our granddaughter [Duh!])

Me and Lexie (I must've just told her one of my jokes...she's giggling pretty good!)

My oldest son, Ryan, Lexie, Me (the fat guy in the striped green shirt), Katelyn, my
oldest daughter, Lauren, and Katelyn's twin brother, Cameron. MDB is behind the camera!

Maybe in the next day or two, I'll show you the rest of my family. Kim's son Chris is coming in on Monday, so you'll get a look at Kim with Chris and her daughter Casey.

Merry Christmas! - Dan

Salmon

I may have posted this particular sentiment before, but it bears repeating.

I never noticed satan or his minions until November of 1996, when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Almost from the start, I noticed "resistance" to my salvation; people being ugly to me unecessarily, people driving strangely, making obscene gestures without reason; strange and rude behavior from people who'd been at least civil before, that sort of thing.

I say that to say this; today, MDB came home from a trip to the store VERY frustrated and harried. When I asked what was the matter, she told me that a lady had cut her off on her way through the parking lot to get her eyebrows done and then given her "the high sign" when she honked to warn her of her presence (the lady obviously didn't see Kim - she almost hit her in the parking lot and then took the space Kim had been inching toward) and then, at Wally World, she was again inching along and a lady SCREAMED at her to slow down because she may splash her!

Look....I KNOW Kim; she's a very cautious driver under the best of circumstances and, after a rain in a parking lot, I can believe her when she says that turtles were passing her in the parking lot! So, for a lady to scream at her to slow down is just totally ludicrous!

I told her that she must be especially close to God right now, because I never noticed any resistance from satan or his minions until I became a salmon and started swimming opposite the "flow" of worldly desires or goals and it sounded to me as though people were treating her the way I was treated in those heady days after my salvation! Good news all around!

God bless you, lady who cut Kim off! I hope your eyebrows came out looking really great and I hope Jesus comes into your heart this Christmas and gives you His love to share with His other children! God bless you, lady who called Kim a "B----h" and screamed at her about driving faster than the speed of dust; I hope you got into Wally World totally dry and found everything you were looking for. May God grant you the grace of His love and melt your heart of stone so that you have a more positive outlook in the future.

But then, I pray that God will grant His peace to all of His children and give us His love to share with all. - Dan

Jason Whitlock should run for president!

I mean, seriously!

Jason Whitlock is perhaps the soundest thinker I've ever read. His latest column on Fox Sports.com has to do with "Teflon" Roger Clemens and the predicament he finds himself in with the steroid allegations of the Mitchell report. Frankly, his analysis is flawless, but I don't think I agree with the conclusion. For years, people have said of Pete Rose, "If only he'd have told the truth from the beginning! Americans are a forgiving people; his indiscretions would have been forgiven and he'd have been in the hall of fame by now!" Now, they're saying the same thing about Roger; just tell the truth! If you did steroids at the time that they say you did, they weren't even banned by baseball at that time! Just come clean and stress that there was no banned substance used, and all will be forgiven! Uhhh.....what?

One thing that troubled me in Whitlock's article was this line:

"Clemens is Mike Lupica's Mark McGwire mulligan, the pawn Lupica can use to detract attention from the fawning book he wrote about Big Mac's magical summer of '98 when no one — and I mean no one — had ever heard of steroids."

Uhhh....what? Never heard of steroids? Anyone remember Lyle Alzado? What about Brian Bosworth? Maybe the transition from football to baseball was outside the bounds of most people's thought processes, but steroids were a well-known commodity in the athletic community as far back as the early '70s. Alzado became the poster child for steroid abuse since he died at an early age from a brain tumor that he claimed had been caused by the drugs. Alzado admitted to using steroids since his college days. Since he was drafted in '71, that would indicate that steroids have been around for a very long time; much longer than the 8 years claimed by Whitlock!

In any case, what to do about Roger? How can we even feign shock when we've watched this guy for so long and watched as he changed from a skinny fireball throwing prodigy into a hulking split-finger throwing magician? I'm sorry, but people don't normally change their body style without help. One's head doesn't expand two sizes without aid of some kind! Oh, and people don't normally pitch into their forties without some form of assistance. Oh, there's guys like Hoyt Wilhelm, who pitched well into his forties, but he was a knuckleball pitcher. Those guys throw at the speed of dust, not the speed of sound! Should Roger just come out and admit that he did it and move on? Frankly, I have to disagree with Whitlock again, which is unusual. ABSOLUTELY Roger needs to come clean. He should admit that he did it, admit WHY he did it, apologize for misleading all of those Clemens-jersey-wearing kids out there who idolized him, promise to cooperate with MLB in every way possible, and lead the effort to permanently ban the substance from organized athletics forever. You know, everyone stands up and applauds when an alcoholic admits to his addiction and then proclaims his "clean" status for however many days its been. People love it when other people overcome the demons that haunt them and help others to do the same. How many "Livestrong" bracelets did Lance Armstrong sell? People will support someone who's turned things around and fights for good instead of evil.

Roger, here's your chance. Come clean. Admit that you did it, tell us why you did it, apologize to all of your fans for letting them down, and do what you can to clean baseball up. Baseball's done an awful lot for you. Maybe you should return the favor. - Dan

In three days...

...I'll turn 50. When I was much younger, I always thought of a 50 year-old guy as being mostly over-the-hill; physical ability almost gone, eyesight fading, mental lapses increasing, etc. My dad died at the tender age of 57, so I've always sort of lived my life with that thought in the back of my mind. What if I die at 57, too? What regrets would I have? What did I do that I'd like to take back, or what did I NOT do that I wish I had done?

In the regret category, I don't have any, really. I've lived a pretty full life thus far. I am married to the most wonderful woman that God ever put on the planet; I have a great job that is very fulfilling personally if not financially (but the money is a secondary consideration as far as I'm concerned anyway!); I have six great kids and one terrific little grandchild; I have my health, and I have the love of Jesus in my heart! How could anyone regret any of that?

In the "wish I'd done that" category, there's still a lot of things I'd like to accomplish. I'd like to be a published author one of these days. I've always wanted to learn how to fly an airplane. I've always wanted to learn how to scuba dive and then go as often as possible. I've always wanted to buy and restore a '51 or '52 (same body style) Ford F-1 pickup truck (flathead V-8, four on the floor). I've always wanted to buy a rifle and go deer hunting. I'd like to attend a concealed carry permit class and get licensed to do that. I'd like to buy a place in the country and then build a house on the place. I'd like to learn to play guitar. I'd like to have a large garden and grow all of the vegetables we consume. I'd like to coach a district champion one day (I've been assistant coach on a district championship team, but I haven't been the Head Coach in that situation). I'd like to get to a place where money isn't a concern and just buy anything and everything for all of the people in my life who are dear to me. One day....maybe.

I guess I'd better make 100. I've still got a lot of things to do! - Dan

B-U-S-Y ! ! ! ! !

Like a lot of folks, I'm very busy at this time of year. We're coming to the end of the first semester and it's time to get grades finalized for all of my students. We're smack-dab in the middle of basketball season and, even though we're not very good and hopes for the future look pretty bleak for this group, we've got to continue to try to get better and work on the mistakes that we're making (which are numerous!). Of course, Christmas is right around the corner and there's always the preparations for that; food, parties, church get-togethers, gifts, etc. On top of everything else, three of my four children were born on the 9th, which means we've got to have a remembrance of that special day AND, my own birthday is on the 24th, which means those who care about me typically feel that they have to do something to remember that day as well. In short, there's a lot of stuff going on and the pressure mounts continually right up through the end of the year!

Basketball report - Uhhh....how can I say this nicely? My team isn't very good! Last night, despite intense practice to correct mistakes made previously, we made all of the same mistakes again and lost ugly! I told them before the game that the team we were facing was going to be very athletic and extremely fast. I told them that, in order to win, we must get back quickly on defense, control our defensive glass, hit our free throws, and execute our half-court offense. Very shortly into the game, with the score 10-2 in their favor, I called time out. I informed them of the fact that, of the 10 points they had, 8 were from stick-backs on offensive rebounds which meant that we were NOT boxing out and controlling our defensive glass; one of the absolutes I gave them before the game ever got underway. I swear, sometimes I think they believe that I tell them things just to hear my voice bounce off the wall! The good news is that we've now faced most of the toughest teams we'll see and, if we actually fix the things that are broken, we may win a couple of games before we're done!

Meanwhile, I remain optimistic. I'm married to the most wonderful woman in the universe and nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can ruin the marvelous mood that she keeps me in! I feel as though I'm without air when we're not together and I feel like a king when we are! She's God's very special blessing to me and I praise Him with everything in me for giving me such a wonderful blessing at this time in my life!

Out! - Dan

I'm rather beside myself!

Hello again, boys and girls!

I'm in a giddy mood this morning. It's December 16 (Sunday), and I have much to be thankful for.

First off, I am a born-again believer in Jesus Christ and in His saving sacrifice for us all. My whole life and everything that I am revolves around this one simple fact. Frankly, if I had nothing else, my life would have meaning simply because of the great gift God has given me. Reason number one for being giddy!

Number two. On February 15 of this year, I met the love of my life. We spent three hours talking over coffee when we first met and have spent virtually every moment available together every since. We were married on June 7th ("gosh that was fast!") and are more in love now than we were yesterday! Our lives get better every day! We are a perfect match; we totally "get" each other! I know it's trite or whatever, but she absolutely completes me and she feels the same way about me! I used to watch movies or whatever where the actors portrayed people who were totally in love and had that empty feeling well up inside, wishing it was me and the way I felt. NOW, it IS me, and I DO feel that way about Kim! It's absolutely marvelous and a miracle of God and His timing for our lives! I cannot see anything but a very bright future for us and our love together and it makes me totally giddy!

Three. As if those weren't enough, my beloved Cleveland Browns are in the playoff hunt for the first time in a long time! They are actually playing pretty good football and, if things keep going as they have been, they'll make the playoffs this year as at least a wild card. Keep your fingers crossed - they still could win the AFC North if the black and gold of that evil empire to the east stumbles and we win out! What a marvelous occurrence THAT would be! One week at a time, though. Today's Buffalo, and they have a pretty good team that's coming together at just the right time from everything I'm reading. If we take care of business against Buffalo, we're pretty much a lock with only two games left! Woo-hoo! Giddy!!!

More giddiness later...got to get busy! - Dan

Well, we're three weeks into the season....

...and we have yet to win a game.

The way this is going, we may go 0 for season, and that's not a good thing!

The bright side - we never quit hustling and our fundamentals ARE getting better, just not where they need to be for us to win just yet. We did a much better job last night of getting back on defense, but we were not consistent in the effort and gave up way too many points in transition. We did a better job on the offensive end, but we couldn't sink free throws when we got to the line (cost us BADLY in both games!). We rebounded better, but the other team STILL got way too many second and third chances at their basket and we were not boxing out like we've practiced and were therefore not creating any space under the basket. These were the reasons we lost again and they're the same reasons we've lost every game so far and will continue to lose until we fix them.

Otherwise, it was a great night!

Oh, and then there was "the call." My youngest daughter is upset with me because, several months back, her car broke down and she called me and asked if I could hook up my trailer and come pick her car up. I told her that I really couldn't; it was late already and we were about 40 minutes away from the house at the time. To hook up the trailer and take it all the way across Houston would have taken another hour and a half and then the trip back would've added probably another two hours, putting me in bed at about 2 in the morning. Unfortunately, I had to go to work the next day and I just can't function if I get into bed so late, so I recommended that she call a wrecker. Towing is covered under her insurance policy, so I didn't think it was an unreasonable request. Not only that, but, one of these days, "CallDaddyForBail-Out.com" is going to be out of business and she's got to learn how to deal with life's little problems using her own wherewithal and resources, so I genuinely believed it would be a good experience for her to solve her problem on her own. My mistake. Now, I'm Satan and my intestines are seriously disliked if not loathed. Part two - on the cell bill last month (I pay for her cell phone - a fact that she conveniently forgets as much as possible) she went over on her minutes MONUMENTALLY! What is usually a bill of around $100 per month shyrocketed to over twice that, so I broke her off a call and told her that I expected her to pay for her overage just as we agreed when we set this deal up. Well, my "excuse bag" is overflowing! Apparently, she got into her mother for a lot of cash and had to pay HER back first - this despite the fact that our agreement preceeded that with her mother by over a year! So, after some considerable consternation, I told her that I would forgive her debt as a birthday/Christmas present but, if it ever happened again, her phone would be turned off. Somebody help me with these horns, will ya? Oh, and this pointed tail and pitchfork is getting a little cumbersome as well!

I don't think I'm being unreasonable, but then, I'm dealing with a 21 year-old who hasn't grown up and expects everything to be simply handed to her all the time. Uh...... I don't think it's coming from this direction, thank you very much!

Stay tuned for future travail! It can't get much better than this! - Dan

Science versus Christianity

We've had an interesting series going on the last couple of weeks at ACoC concerning Science and the Bible.

Our preacher and a member of our congregation who happens to be a PhD astrophysicist, teamed up to present the series.


As a teacher of Science AND a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, I followed the series with great interest. You see, I have been of the thought for years that Science and Christianity are NOT mutually exclusive entities. There are questions that science can answer, that is true; but there are many more that science can NEVER answer, and that is where faith comes in.

What questions can science not answer? The origin of life, for one. Scientists tell us that life simply sprang forth from the primordial soup once the right mixture of chemicals and proteins were synthesized. Really? If that's the case, we should be able to re-create it in the laboratory, right? I mean, we know what compounds must exist for even the simplest forms of life to spring forth; we should be able to pull them all together in whatever condition supposedly existed in that "primordial soup" and re-create the scenario, yes? Well, boys and girls, we can't do that because only God breathes life into the lifeless! We can put together all of the elements and compounds and expose it to heat, electricity, pressure, vacuum, or whatever conditions supposedly existed and still not make it live. Only God can breathe life into it and only God DID breathe life into it!

Another question - the origin of the universe - is supposedly answered by "The Big Bang." Well, where did the energy and matter that formed the Bang come from? It may in fact be true that billions of years ago, all of the known matter in the universe converged in a tiny single point in space and then exploded, but where did that energy and matter come from? The Bible says that God created everything that was created and that He upholds it by the power of His word. Scientists have recently discovered that the universe is not expanding at the same rate now as it did when first created. They say that "Dark matter," or "anti-matter" is the culprit. Could it be that God's word is the force that they cannot see? Could it be that God did in fact create all that is created and that "Bang" is what we call His creative might at work? I think it's as good an explanation as any and it is the one I believe.

So, if I place so much faith in the Biblical account of creation, how could it be that the universe was created biblically in 6 days when we know chronologically that it's 6 or so billion years old? Uhhhh....who's to say what a day is in God's timing? Maybe the whole universe is more "galaxy-sized" to Him and it revolves around Him much as our solar system revolves around the sun? We equate a "day" in terms of how long it takes for our earth to make one revolution on its axis. Perhaps God's "day" is the time it takes for the universe to revolve around Him one time, who knows? One thing's for sure; it's a question that cannot be answered scientifically because it cannot be recreated to test it. Science depends upon proof. You must be able to quantify and test in order to prove and we cannot quantify numbers so vast. We cannot find the absolute value of Pi for example, even though super computers have been working the equation for years. It's not quantifiable, and neither is God. It's truly a matter of faith!

Well, okay....some things are just a matter of faith, then. Suppose I choose to place my faith in Science and my suppositions are more or less based upon what we know to be true (allegedly). Isn't it just as viable to believe that life simply sprang forth from the primoridal soup as it is to say that God created it? Isn't it just as viable to say that the forces of gravity caused all of the known matter in the universe to converge 6 or so billion years ago and that the resultant explosion created the universe? Well, I suppose you could go that route, but if you choose to go that way, you still have some very basic questions that are left unanswered. Where did the matter and energy come from in the first place? It's a cop out to say that it was just there; that's the line that Christians use! If you're going to believe in Science, you have to take it to the end of the road and answer ALL of the questions that present themselves and until that happens, NONE of your suppositions hold water! It's rather like building a house. Unless your foundation is firm, it won't support the roof and walls and it will come down with a crash eventually. Building a scientific case is the same way. It must be built on a firm foundation or all of the conclusions that are based on that foundation will come crashing down when the foundation is found to be flawed. I say that all of the matter and energy in the universe was created by God and that, until He spoke it into existence, it wasn't there! "But Dan!" you say, "that flies in the face of all we know! The Laws of Conservation of Energy and of Matter state that neither can be created or destroyed but only changed! Are you saying that God doesn't obey the laws of His own creation?" Well.....YES!!! That's pretty much it and PRECISELY it! Every read the story of Jesus walking on water? That's not physically possible, yet there were eyewitness accounts of it happening! It's not possible to change water into wine, but we have numerous witnesses of that physical impossibility too, don't we? How many other times did Jesus produce scientifically impossible deeds? How often did God Himself do so? Matter obeys His Word because He is master if all that is seen and unseen. Our "laws" of physical behavior mean nothing to God because He does not exist in one dimension at one time only; He exists in all time and in all places simultaneously and He directs the "laws" that hold our universe together.

Is it ungodly to believe in science? I don't think so. God gave us minds and the knowledge of being so that we COULD discover Him. We are curious by nature. We want and NEED to answer these questions. God wants us to answer them with Him and to KNOW that no other answer satisfies the questions that we pose. I believe that science is a useful tool for answering some of the questions that present themselves to us, but I also believe that only God is the final answer and, when we come to that conclusion, we'll know all of the rest of it in His time! - Dan

Playing the race card

Race relations in America are in a quagmire and, until African-Americans leaders stop looking for racism in every and any situation that arises, it will stay that way.

Here in Houston, we have our racial advocates just like every other metropolitan area. Ours are a self-appointed "racism under every bush" Sharpton wanne-be named "Quannel X" and the United States Congresswoman from the 18th Congressional District, Sheila Jackson-Lee.

Quannel goes by X in the tradition of Malcolm X, who ostensibly started the trend by rejecting his "slave name" and adopting "X" as his surname as a tribute to his unknown ancestors. I actually understood Malcolm X and why he did what he did. He lived in turbulent times and the creation of a squeaky wheel was necessary and just in his day and time. His autobiography was a fascinating read and a book I'd highly recommend to anyone who seeks deeper understanding of race relations in America. I'd like to say that Quannel has similar reasons for his transformation, but I think his motives are more sinister and selfish than that. He never saw a camera that he doesn't like and he seldom fails to find that camera in any situtation where he can be seen as the savior of black causes here in Houston. Almost without exception, wherever you find Quannel, you'll find that other camera hound, Sheila Jackson Lee.

Lee is the Congresswoman from the 18th Congressional District here in Houston. Anybody got a Congressional district map out there? A look at the 18th will supress any question you may have about how it is Ms. Lee continually gets re-elected. Its more gerrymandered than the famous Tom Delay district - a ploy that was brought under constant scrutiny and harrasment by those opposed to Delay and one which is seldom mentioned when connected to Lee. Jackson Lee has done more, in my opinion, to keep her constituents shackled by the chains of "charity" than any slavemaster ever did. There is now no more independent effort going on in that district for the betterment of its citizens than there was during reconstruction; perhaps less. Yes, as long as Lee keeps them dependent on the largesse of government for their sustenance, they will keep her in office. In any case, Lee shows up just about any time Quannel does and the cry is always the same - "Racism!" Of course, it's the cry of the boy shouting "Wolf!" and its not to be listened to by any sane person within hearing.

What am I talking about? Here's a couple of examples. Not long ago, an HISD Elementary campus was having trouble with indoor air pollution, probably because of black mold. Many of the children and faculty were getting sick and had to leave the school. As fortune would have it, the population of the school is predominantly African-American, so Quannel and Sheila promptly jumped on the opportunity to grab a camera and declare that the school needed to be demolished and rebuilt so that the poor children of that school could attend in a healthy environment. Uhhh....what? Doesn't Clorox work as well in black schools as it does in hispanic or white schools? Don't certain environmental remediation companies make a good living cleaning up black mold? When did black mold become a race issue, anyway? Where was Sheila and Quannel when I had black mold in MY room last year? Yes, that's right, boys and girls, last year, every time it rained, I had a waterfall down the back wall of my very own classroom and the constant moisture led to a black mold problem which, by the way, was handled by removing the sheet rock and treating the underlying structure with bleach - problem solved! I guess the Sheila and Quannel show only perform when a black school is at risk. Hmmmm....who's the racist in THIS picture?

The other event occured recently as well. A homeowner, charged with watching his neighbor's house while away, called 911 and requested police assistance, stating emphatically that several African-american intruders were burglarizing the home and he was going to take his shotgun and solve the problem. The 911 dispatcher implored the man to NOT take matters into his own hands and wait for police, but he went next door, exercising his right to keep and bear arms and protect his charge from harm, and quickly dispatched the men who were invading his neighbor's home. In the aftermath, Sheila and Quannel incorporated announced that it was the most blatant form or racism they'd ever seen AND that these were basically good men who were gunned down in cold blood by a racist gun-toting mobster. Uhhh....what? Excuse me, but GOOD men don't go around breaking into other people's homes looking to steal their possessions! That's the sort of thing that BAD men do and, like a lot of guys before them, someone caught them in the act and they paid the ultimate price.

Now, was that something I would have done? I don't think so. I mean, who's to know until you fact that situation. But I DO know this; if they had awoken ME while breaking into MY house, they would surely have met the same end as the fellows in that sordid tale and no one, and I mean NO ONE, had better call me racist because of it.

Look - There are bad people of all races, just like there are good people of every race. Bad does not know color, nor does good. Was it a racist act to gun those guys down? Frankly, I think he'd have shot them if they had been white just the same. He was protecting the property he'd sworn to protect and THAT is the bottom line here - not the race of the perpetrators.

Here's the moral of this story. STOP looking for racism in every case! Racism, white against black AND black against white DOES EXIST, but it's no different than any other form of hate that rises from the human heart AND it's no less stupid! In the immortal words of Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

I have a headache!

I'd better get this gig as President; apparently, I'm not much good at coaching basketball....

...at least not to the current bunch of kids I've got!

We got worked again tonight. Both games were total blowouts and my guys looked, once again, like they'd never seen any of the stuff we've been working on - frankly, I'm embarrassed!

So, back to work tomorrow to see how many of the leaks we can plug in this dam before the whole valley is flooded!

I'm beginning to wonder if it's going to make any difference; our kids aren't very athletic, they don't follow instructions, they don't do what I ask them to do in timeouts, they are out of shape, they don't make their shots (even from point blank range!), they play lousy defense (especially in transition), and they all have halitosis (just kidding about that last one).

Well, we've got to play one of the weaker teams in the district sooner or later, don't we? Yes, I suppose so, but its not next week. Next week we play one of the perenial powers in our district and its probably going to be as ugly, if not moreso, than tonight.

Anybody got any aspirin? How about stock in Bayer? A Haldol drip? A sturdy length of rope? Perhaps some rusty razor blades?

See you next week (I hope!) - Dan

I'm running for President!

Hello again, blogfans!

Since me, my wife, and Casper are the only people who read here, I thought I'd take this opportunity to announce my candidacy for President of the United States.

It'll be a write-in campaign - I don't think I'll actually find my way onto any of the official ballots out there.

I EXPECT Casper to vote for me in every state - he finds a way to vote in Illinois every four years.

Here's my platform - stop whining and get to work! Stop looking to the government to solve all of your problems all the time. Constitutionally, the government is responsible for the national defense, promotion (NOT provision) of the general welfare, and assurance of our individual rights as citizens. I don't think it said anything in there about provision of services or rights for non-citizens, so I think we should issue a thumb-print identification card for every legal citizen and require it for any service of the government. No ID card; no services. THAT would stop all of this ridiculous drain on our resources by persons who have no business being here and enable us to redirect resources to those who really need them. Second, I'd send out a directive to every department head in the government and REQUIRE them to justify every nickel they spend. If they don't have a good reason for their current budget, it'd be cut. Oh, and I don't mean a "Washington-speak" cut, either. You know, a reduction in the amount of increase they get - a true reduction in total dollars. When government is run like a business (and I DO mean like a business - profit centers are taken care of; drains in revenue are reduced or elliminated), it will be more efficient and more able to provide services that are truly necessary. Oh, and people who work for the government will have to justify their existence just like people who work for private industry. Now, I KNOW that most of the people who work for the government are necessary and productive. However, I don't think it should require an act of Congress to fire someone in government as it does (practically) now and I don't think that a government job should be an automatic guarantee of lifetime employment like it is now.

So, when government is properly aligned with what people who are employed by the private-sector have to deal with, what comes next? Well, first off, there are some really stupid laws on the books that need to be revisited and I think I'm just the one to lead that agenda. Second, I think that some of the "untouchable" departments in government need a little outside scrutiny just like every other department (Defense; State; Justice; etc.). Finally, I think that Congressman and Senators ought to have mandatory term limits just like the President. When Congress was envisioned by the Founders, they never invisioned Congressman living there full time and turning their gig in Congress into a career; I think we should return to their version and can the modern rendition.

Vote Dan! He's the man with the plan!

Well...basketball season is upon us!

I've been working pretty hard for the last several weeks trying to get my basketball teams ready to play their first game, an event that occurred this past Wednesday. We played a team which is usually pretty similar to us; no size, but big numbers of kids who are generally pretty quick. We stayed pretty competitive in the B game, losing by only ten, but we got demolished in the A game. Sadly, it looked as if we'd never practiced at all; they kids basically just ran up and down, didn't set up their half-court offense, didn't run their press break, didn't run their defense the way we've taught it, etc. In short, it was ugly. Well, there's always next week.....