It's A Religious Opinion

It could be easy for me to give any excuse as to why I haven't posted anything new for awhile. For the last few months I simply haven't had the desire to give my opinion in written form, but in person, that is another thing. =)
For the last few years I have continued to define who I am and what my opinions are. Like anyone, I continue to evolve and expand in all areas of my life. However, there are still quite a few things that I wonder about and that I just can't find answers to. Personally it is hard for me to just "wait" to ask God about when I am in heaven. So I am asking for your help for your opinion. Let me know if I am on the right track or maybe if I am simply just thinking too deeply. Soooo.... Here we go...

WARNING - WARNING - DEEP THINKING AHEAD

I am going to start with proclaiming my faith in Jesus. For me this is not an arguable issue. No one will sway me into believing that there isn't a heaven or hell or a God or a Devil. So I am going to assume that we all agree that Jesus, God, heaven and hell all exist.
There is good and bad. There is God and the devil. Since Satan was cast out of heaven to the earth because he wanted to be God, wouldn't you assume that his urge to be Him still exists? Do you think his desire to be like God or be God would just simply go away? Do you think that Satan was or still is a bit ticked off that he was kicked out of heaven? God created man for His pleasure. He created us to worship Him. Satan knows this, don't you think? Do you think that Satan would be a little peeved at this? So I just had to ask myself, "If I was Satan, what would I do?" Yeah yeah.. sounds strange. But think about it. Do you think it is possible that Satan decided to try and mislead every human being as possible? How would he do this? Could it be by having humans create other religions? A lot of people have thought that "alternative" religions were created by man in attempt to search for God. Some have even gone so far as to say that "all" religions lead to God. Now I will be absolutely clear... I am not a universalist. But couldn't it be possible that these "alternative" religions were placed on the minds of people by Satan?

Because Satan was so absolutely ticked off at God, do you think that he would go to the ends of the earth coming up with ways to steal as many people away from God as possible?




Think about all of the religions of the world: Islam, Jehovah Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, Wikka, Budhism, and Hinduism. These are just to name of few. What is in common with all of these? They all believe that Jesus was a great philospher and human being. What is the fastest growing religion in the world? Islam. Why do you think this is? To me, I see Islam as the perfect alternative to Christianity. What better way for Satan to steal the hearts of so many? Islam is the perfect vehicle for Satan to lead so many to hell. Do you think that is mean? Why do you think there is so much hatred between the two religions if this weren't the case? I am not saying that every person who is a follower of these religions are bad people or are evil, but that doesn't mean that their religion is evil. These two things are completely different.

Most people go on with their life and don't think of the ways that Satan is intertwined with this earth and our society. There is a constant battle...a spiritual battle going on. Do you think that Satan's hands...or claws... are in the support of political correctness? Or how about Hollywood? Or how about our music industry? How about.... our churches on street corners? Hmmmm... Something to think about? Don't think that this is true? Because so many believe that the Bible is outdated, homosexuality and other sins are accepted in some churches. Still don't see it that way? Why do you think there is so much bickering between denominations within the church? What about the attack in our public schools? Why can't kids wear a shirt at school that says "Jesus Saves" but another kid can wear a shirt that has a cross on it that is crossed out and has the words written at the top, "Evil Religion"?

I realize that to some I could be coming across as a religious conspiracy theorist. No... if that was the case I would get rid of every secular CD that I own or every movie that has premarital sex or murder in it. The point is... why is it so hard for someone to believe that Satan is more involved in our every day life than what was previously believed? Why do you think the Bible tells us to put on the Full Armor of God if we weren't going to battle for our lives... literally... on a daily basis?

So the question is... what can we do about it? How do we reach out to those who disagree with Christianity? How do we walk the line of Christianity without turning away those who are on the fence?

My Realtor

I have a wonderful realtor. He is just a natural salesman! You should hear him when he gets going and reads what is on his mind! One day he stopped in one evening to try to sell me a house. This is what he said, "Justin, I want you to trust me. I have a house for you that I know that you will love. It is a nice big house with adequate living space that I think you will just love! It is just the size that you need... I just know it!" He then said, "On top of that Justin, I have built it myself... Well actually the construction hasn't started yet. I have my team of contractors that haven't successfully built anything recently. Once it passes the inspection phase I know that it will be MUCH better than other builders... my competition."

So you can probably see that I was pretty pumped! This guy has only been my realtor for 9 months and already he is saying he is looking out for me and wanting to build me a house even though he has little to no experience in that area... This guy must be looking out for me right?

Anyways... he continues talking to me saying, "Justin, no matter what you say, even if you disagree with me, you need to buy this house from me. I am determined to get you this house even though you and your family have told me that you don't want it. You tell me that you don't trust me, but I am asking you to trust me with this. Besides... you can't handle it yourself... You need me! Even though 80% of your family is completely satisfied with your current house I REALLY want you to consider moving into my house! There will be long hallways with really large rooms. You will have a basement where people off the street can come in and live with you. You will have a back yard where people can just come and hang out...at your expense!"

At this point I had to tell him that he was a liar! I called him out on this, but he just told me that I was wrong and that he wasn't a liar. My neighbors were overhearing this and they thought that I was rude for calling my realtor out like that! (I later learned that they were wanting to kick me out of the neighborhood because of this.)

After I said this, he said, "Justin, I know that there are a lot of specific details that need ironed out, but trust me on this... you will love it!"

In the past, he has given me blue prints of a house but then he threw those away. Then he had another set and then threw those away. So right now I know that he doesn't really have a plan for this house.. just ideas! He then told me, "Justin, on top of that, this house you won't add anything to your debt. The house costs $90,000 dollars. I know it isn't money that you have but I won't let you buy it unless you are able to pay for it. What I recommend you to do is stop paying your car loan and your credit card bills because we know that is going into the crapper anyways and use that money to pay for your $90,000 house! You see Justin, you will have a balanced budget! You are swapping your payments from your $90,000 in car loan and credit card debt and just paying on a $90,000 new house! See how easy that is?"

Well... the point of this story is that someone who thinks they know me, my family, and my neighbors, thinks that my family and the rest of my neighborhood needs a better home. He is hoping that the rest of the neighborhood will stop on the side of the highway and pick up the homeless person off the street and put them up in our basement and take care of them... at our own expense.

So far my realtor hasn't proven to me that he can do a sufficient job in handling his current affairs. He has already broken promises. When I tell him I disagree with his past decisions I am told that I don't understand good business and that I should either agree with his decisions and proposals or come up with a better solution. I recommend that I just want to stay in my current home for right now, as we plan for a different solution. I tell him that I don't want to be pressured into making a decision right now especially since it will be 4 years until my house is going to complete.

This is what I am afraid of... I am afraid of promises that can't be kept. There isn't a blueprint ready to be approved by the architects. All I am hearing is a promise after a promise.

I am afraid that my new house will be something else entirely than what he promises me because so far he has absolutely nothing to show me that he is true to his word. I am afraid that the house will turn out to be this:

If you haven't picked up on it yet, my realtor is Obama.

A Friend's Blog Giveaway

I know it is kinda short notice, because the entry for this blog giveaway actually ends today! One of my friends, Amy is giving away on her blog a heart rate monitor!!! If you are into working out like I am, you know that you can't work out without a heart rate monitor!! Check out her blog at: http://www.dustyandamy.com/
Remember it ends today!

First Pitch Breakdown

Are these people serious?

When I was younger, I used to be like so many other people and think that politics was boring. However, these last few months, I have often wondered if a lot of our politicians are comedians. Of course, when I think this, I wake up to reality and know that this could be the furthest thing from the truth. Today I just have to point out some of the the comical things that have occured these last few weeks. The one person who has grabbed my attention is Barbara Boxer. Watch these videos and see what I mean.


I can't believe that this woman treated a highly respected general like this. Anyone else find this appalling? This seriously makes my stomach hurt.

I found this next video on YouTube. I just wish that this would have been the way General Michael Walsh would have responded to Boxer.



Just the other day, Boxer was accused by an African-American Chamber CEO as using racism in her argument. Boxer was caught red handed!!




I LOVE THIS GUY!!! He put Boxer in her place!! When he is speaking at the end, you can hear Boxer talking in the background completely ignoring anything he is saying. The point is, Boxer assumed wrong when she thought that she could get away with using this person's race to get him to agree with her.

Lastly... My favorite quote recently just happened yesterday. Here is the quote:

“Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt? The answer is yes, that's what I’m telling you.”

Who said this? Our VP, Joe Biden! Does anyone else find this disturbing?

A Sign of.....Change?

I have been very quiet these last few months since Obama was elected. It is true that I have been extemely busy, but also I have just been sitting back and taking everything in. I am just watching and waiting to see what happens next.

Obama's overall approval rating is still in the 50 percent range, but it is gradually declining. It could possibly just be the normal shift in support after the first few months of having a new man in charge or it could be something else entirely. I am sick and tired of the conservatives being so darn quiet. I am a conservative first over any claim to an individual party. It is too late to say, "I told you so," because this man is already in office. It pains me to think that there were so many warning signs during the election process showing how much Obama really is a socialist, but it was quickly overlooked or dismissed.

When the "s" word (and yes, I mean socialist not the other "s" word) is used to describe Obama, many people laugh or are disgusted at the suggestion. The common explanation is that Obama is not a socialist but just doing whatever he can to fix the mess that Bush left us. Whenever a president can force a CEO out of his position, we have issues. Whenever a president can attempt to regulate pay of banking officials, we have issues. Whenever a news network like ABC goes to the White House to assist Obama in making a case for one of his positions, we have issues.
Universal Healthcare should be the last thing on our minds right now during this recession. Nancy Pelosi says that healthcare for all is the biggest priority for us. Early cost estimates of healthcare is in the $1 trillion area. Why is this the top priority?

We shouldn't be talking about things that will cause taxes to rise... we need cuts! We need cuts in spending and also in taxes. Oh yes, we saw interest rates go down to 4.625% for a 30 year mortgage in the Spring, but they are back up to 5.625%. Sure we saw gas prices drop to $1.40 in the Spring, but they are back up to $2.50 or higher depending on where you live. The honeymoon is over and sadly I want a divorce. I got into this "arranged marriage" despite my objection but I am stuck.

Early projections of interest rates for mortgages are estimated to be between 7 and 8% by the end of the year!! Because the government has decided to print money so quickly, there will be no other choice but to increase interest rates. That will once again hault any improvement that we have seen in the housing market these last few months.

Sadly..... it has only just begun.....

Swamped

I did it again... I haven't blogged in over a month! I didn't do this intentionally. I just haven't found any spare time to log on and blog. So this is what I have been up to. When I haven't been working (which I have been doing a lot of), I have been working out (once again, something I have been doing a lot of), and spending some really good quality time with Alyson. We just got back from a wonderful trip to Chicago where Alyson had major surgery done. If you haven't read about it yet, check out her Blog. The reason for working out so much is because I have found a new hobby that I absolutely love!! Triathlons! I never knew that I could actually enjoy something so much. I am almost on the verge of saying that I enjoy doing more than basketball. For those who didn't know me prior to six years ago and even prior to Alyson, I felt like that basketball was my life!

These last few years I have played in some basketball leagues but I have been thoroughly disappointed with the quality of the players. I would get sick of ball hogs or people who thought they could really play but were just all out awful! Triathlons are for the individual athlete. You can train with other people or by yourself but ultimately your results are solely up to you. I will admit that I am not the best... yet, but it is so much fun! If you don't know what a triathlon is, it is a multisport event. You swim, bike ride, and then run. There are so many different lengths of triathlons that you can choose from, for instance, you have the sprint, olympic, half ironman, and then ironman. The distances for each sport are longer as you move from a sprint to an ironman.

When doing a triathlon you want to make sure that it is a USAT mandated event. This just means that they are following the rules and safety measures set by the USAT. To race, you need to either buy a year membership or a temporary membership.

One thing about this sport is that it could be very expensive. You need a good bicycle, a good pair of running shoes, triathlon shorts (they are like bicycle shorts but with a thinner pad in the middle to make it easier to run), and so much more. You could get by with these basic things, but if you truly are planning on competing, you want to buy better quality of stuff.

Here is an example of an incredible triathlon bike. This bike is reasonably priced at $2400!! I would love to have this bike, but I am doing just fine with the nice Fuji bike I bought off of Craigslist. Because I am so tall I have a limited selection of the bikes that I can buy. Fuji, the brand below, makes bikes large enough for me. These bikes are designed for triathlons. You can tell when a bike is a tri bike when you look at the handlebars. They aren't you typical handlebars like you would see on a regular mountain bike or race bike.

Here is a picture of the kind of shoes that I want to buy for myself. They are made by Zoot Sports. When doing a triathlon, right after you are done swimming, you are running to the area where you transition to the bike part of the race. You want to minimize the time transitioning so you don't have time to dry off or anything. These shoes, which can be bought for $110 are running shoes that you can wear without socks and while wet. These shoes have little holes in the soles that allow for water to drain out and also have a zip string instead of shoe laces so you don't have to bother tying your shoes laces.

Of course you can't forget to race or train without a trusty heart monitor. You need one of these to be able to see how hard you can push yourself.

A bicycle helmet is required in races but that is a boring picture. =)
I have only done one triathlon, but everyone who has done one is absolutely correct when they say it is very addicting. I believe I have found the sport that I will be involved in for the rest of my life. Because training is such a mandatory thing for these races, it is easily to stay motivated to stay in shape and continue to train. I started training for my May triathlon back in November, right after Thanksgiving. When I first started, my waist size was back and forth between 42 and 44 inches and I weighed 280 pounds. Since then I have dropped about 40 pounds and now down to a 36 inch waist. It is true, what they say, that it is absolutely amazing what you can accomplish once you put your mind to it.

I finished at the middle of the pack in my first triathlon so I know that I only can improve.

All you can do is tri...

Pppprrrrroooo Life

I honestly thought I would never see the day.... based on how it seems that our country is becoming even more liberal!! In a recent Gallop Poll, the majority of Americans were found to be pro-life! I have never fully thought polls to be accurate unless it was a huge difference. A 9% difference is pretty substantial! When you factor in the margin of error, no matter how you look at it, it is safe to determine that the majority of Americans do feel this way.

Gallop stated that this is the first time there has been this shift since Gallop first started tracking this polling questiong in 1996. Just look at the huge shift since then!!

Here is a breakdown of the position people have on whether or not abortion should be legal in any any or certain or no circumstances.

There are many more graphs from this poll topic found on Gallop's website, if you are interested. They also broke it down along party lines.

I have always been pro-life, but ever since we lost Jonathan last year, I have been even more vocal about it. There are so many parents who would love to father or mother a child. To willingly abort a child merely because they don't want to deal with parenthood or think it will be a hastle is just outright selfish. So far I have not come across any one who has lost a child during their pregnancy who is pro-choice. What is amazing to me is if the majority of Americans are pro-life, why did the majority of Americans vote for our beloved president? (This is one of those questions I always ask myself along with the question on how this president has a 66% approval rating?)

This made my day! I just had to take a time out to blog about it!

Blah Blah Blah!!!

Today I read an interesting article at bloomberg.com. It was titled: Obama Says U.S. Long-Term Debt Load ‘Unsustainable’. Here is what Obama said, "We can’t keep on just borrowing from China. We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.” Whatever happened to Obama sending his Secretary of State, Clinton to China to convince China to buy even more of our debt?? He then proceeded to say that those who are holding US debt will get tired of "buying it," which will cause interest rates to rise on auto and home loans. Did this just occur to him??



I didn't realize that Obama was a comedian!!! This is EXACTLY what conservatives were saying on the hated evil cable news network, Fox News! Do you remember what the response was by those who supported Obama's spending? Conservatives were called blockers of progess. They were told to be quiet unless they had their own ideas. Conservatives had their own ideas, but were silenced because it wasn't supported by the dems.




The funny thing (something the article pointed out) is that Obama recommended to cut a whopping $17 billion from the current budget! But another thing that the article points out is that Obama has proposed over $80 billion in NEW spending... President Obama, it is just a little toooooo late to be saying this isn't it? Unless he is trying to get the media to report and to have fickle citizens to believe that it is time to raise taxes even more! It seems that Obama is positioning himself where he will basically be begged to increase taxes on the wealthy and everything else that can be taxed...

Every day I keep asking myself.... How does this guy have 66% approval ratings and people can't see that he is the cause of the risk that he is speaking of???

Healthcare Torture

Smokers, Drinkers, and Coca-Cola drinkers... What do they all have in common? They all could be our universal healthcare funders! Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea? What is my opinion? I think it is a bad idea! Not for the obvious reason that I completely disagree with universal healthcare, but because it doesn't make sense for these people to pay for it. Here is why... smokers and drinkers already pay a hefty penny in taxes. If smokers, drinkers and coke drinks are going to be the main source of funding, what do you think is going to happen to the taxes for these things? Go up! Do you think that this might cause people to quick smoking or drinking? There is a good chance they would if the taxes are absolutely too high. Obviously it really depends on how addicted people are to them as well! Here is what is really ironic... These things are considered by many as a main cause of cancer and many other health issues.

So here is a scenario for you to pick apart... Let's say I am a smoker and I have been for 10 years. I smoke 3 packs a day. After work I also go the the bar each night and have a quite a few Jack and Cokes, then I always go home and continue to drink a six pack of Miller Chills. I go to my yearly physical checkup, on the government's tab, and the doctor says, "You need to quit smoking right away because there are a couple of spots on your lungs." What am I going to do? Well, I am going to quit drinking and smoking and go to rehab, again on the government tab. What happens? The government just lost a funder of their beloved universal healthcare! Does this really make that much sense to you?

Happy Mother's Day Alyson!

Typically I like to write about politics or something else that gets my attention.... Today, Mother's Day, is special. I typically don't even blog about my personal life or daily happenings of my life... But today is a special day. I am sure that everyone who reads my blog follows my wife's blog as well, so you probably at least aware of our life events these last few months.

I admire Alyson so much. A man obviously experiences emotion and sadness, but for some reason God created man to handle things and think about things differently. You might have heard about the analogy that men think in boxes while women have spaghetti brains, meaning that men think about one thing at a time while women's thoughts are intertwined and think about multiple things at once. I know this because Alyson always has two things on her mind, our precious son Jonathan and having another baby. I admire my wife.... Every morning she wakes up and takes a step forward. She focuses on the future... our family.... our dreams... our future...

I want to be a father of a child on this earth more than anything..... except for one thing.... Alyson to be a mother. One conversation that I remember when we were dating was about our individual dreams to be parents. We talked about names and about how many children we wanted. Being a mother has been Alyson's dream ever since she was a little girl. When I fell in love with Alyson I promised her that I would provide for her.... that I would always be there for her... making her dreams come true. It kills me that in everything that we have been through I can't fix or I can't make even a little better... Sure I know that is the man... the husband in me saying that, but that is how I feel. I view myself as a problem solver and I don't like having a problem that I can't find an answer to. I hate not having an earthly remedy for what we are going through.

These last few months have been a struggle. I feel like we are going through a dark tunnel but there is no end in sight... Do you know what keeps me going, beside my trust or sometimes just hope in God that He knows what He is doing? Alyson! When I hold her hand or hug her... I am no longer afraid of the dark. I get the strength to move forward because I know that I have a responsibility to guide my wife through the end of this tunnel to where we can see sunshine.... So when I think that I need to be the one who gives strength to Alyson or give her encouragement.... it is actually she who gives it to me. She gives me the strength to....... give her the strength. Is this just what marriage is supposed to be like? Is this what love is supposed to be like? I think..... yes!

Our future has so far turned out a little differently then we had planned... I remember telling Alyson all of those years back that I wanted to have four children.... Little did I know that I would have four children, but Alyson still not having a chance to experience motherhood.

So on this special day.... this good day but yet a day full of sorrow... I will be there for my lovely wife just as she is there for me. We will seek God together... We ultimately get our strength from our loving Father! Thankfully we don't have to rely upon just each other or an earthly remedy. God is our remedy.

Alyson... I love you... I adore you... I am here for you... I will always be here for you....

Happy Mother's Day, my love.

Back in Action...... I think =)

Thank you for all of the responses and emails in regards to my last post. I am hoping that I am back in action, but I think I should probably become a little more regular in my postings before I can officially say that I am back from my nice little vacation from blogging. =)

So what has hit my nerve today for me to be once again blog? The answer is an article I read in the Washington Times. Here is the title: Homeland agency pulled back extremism dictionary. So here is a quick review. The Department of Homeland Security decided to put together a so-called dictionary of definitions of those who fit the extremists profile. Who made the list you might be asking?? Well, right-wing extremists! Granted, there are extremists who are right wing, but the specific definition that was used to define these extremists is: someone who is against abortion or for border enforcement. To be fair, the list did include left-wing extremists. Their definition was: is described as someone who opposes war or is dedicated to environmental and animal rights causes.

What did the report say about who fit the definition of anti-immigration? "They may have been known to advocate or engage in criminal activity and plot acts of violence and terrorism to advance their extremist goals. They are highly critical of the U.S. government's response to illegal immigration and oppose government programs that are designed to extend 'rights' to illegal aliens, such as issuing driver's licenses or national identification cards and providing in-state tuition, medical benefits, or public education." Bear with me for one moment.... look at the title of "anti-immigration" and then look at the definition.... Shouldn't it be called" anti-"illegal" immigration?" Okay... well maybe that just bothers me and no one else.

The next thing I want to point out is the sentence that says, "They may have been known to advocate or engage in criminal activity..." It doesn't say "they have" or "they are" or anything like that... they just simply say, "they may". They leave the definition wide open to include people like................... me. Seriously... take a look at the definition once more but take away the first sentence only. This definition defines me perfectly! So, according to the government, I am a right-wing extremist! Guess I won't ever be able to work on Obama's staff, huh? I better be careful because my blog is now being monitored because I am using the words "right-wing extremists."

Lastly, what really cracks me up is the statement by the Homeland Security spokeswoman who said, "This product is not, nor was it ever, in operational use." Yeah.... that is suppose to make me feel muuuuuccchhhh better. If something like this was never intended to be used, like the rest of the article indicates, then why develop these definitions in the first place? If that is the case why are these suits sitting around their 1,200 foot conference room table coming up with these ideas and issuing the order to have their analysts come up with these reports if they were never "intended" to be used?

That's all for today!

Signed:

Your faithful right-wing extremist blogger - bigguy-biggeropinions

p.s. to the homeland security officials now monitoring my blog.... I am only kidding about that last "extremists" comment... I think you should be concentrating more on the bigger fish that need frying! =)

Burned Out

So... Here I am once again behind on my blogging. I was just told today that I haven't blogged for a month! Honestly, I just haven't been in the mood to. I have been a little burned out recently with all of the world events. My excuse is once again that I am swamped with work. Anyone else feel this way? I would love to hear from you. I don't have a clue how many people read my blog when I was blogging more frequently, but I am assuming that in my absence, whatever that number was, has dropped off considerably. So those of you who read my blog, I would love to see what you are thinking or feeling.
What are your thoughts about choices made by our government? What do you think about Obama releasing "some" information about the workings of the CIA? What do you think about Obama forcing the CEO to step down from GM? What do you think of Obama refusing to let banks pay back TARP money? What are your thoughts about the Tea Parties? What do you think of the criticism of the people involved in these Tea Parties?
I am not going to make this a conversation unless you ask me for my opinion, so if you think that your opinion will be in opposition of mine, please post it! I would be dumb to never listen to other opinions. Isn't that how we get our opinions developed in the first place through education and learning from others? I am just attempting to grasp what other people are thinking out there. Are you frustrated? Or are you satisfied? Or perhaps you could careless and don't have your mind made up yet.

If you don't want to post your opinion, please feel free to email me at:
bigguybiggeropinions@gmail.com

Hopefully I will hear from you soon!

I promise... I will be posting again VERY soon!

Frustration

I know, I know.... I haven't blogged in a long time! What is my excuse you ask? Well, to be honest, I have been so frustrated by what I see in the news and by what our government is doing that I just haven't really wanted to blog. Do you know the feeling of knowing that you are right about something and just don't understand how anyone could believe something different than you? That is how I have been feeling for the last couple of months.

These are just a few questions I am trying to find answers to:
1. How can so many people blindly follow the leaders of our government?
2. How can so many people truly think that more spending is going to fix our problems?
3. How can so many people think that bigger government is the answer?
4. Why is everyone blaming the likes of AIG and so many other companies for the crisis we are in when this recession is hurting the global economy?
5. Why isn't anyone blaming credit card companies for charging compounding interest rates and on top of that have the capability to increase those rates at anytime? Talk about "predatory" lending by mortgage companies, where are the claims of predatory lending by credit card companies?

As you can tell I have a lot on my mind! Can anyone help me out with these questions? I am open to suggestions and answers! As most of you probably know, I work in the lending industry, so I follow all of the events about my industry very closely. I have constantly been hearing about how banks are not lending or that they have just started lending a little bit more. It is Obama's plan to buy "toxic" mortgage assets from banks to "allow banks to lend more!" Please hear it from me... banks are truly lending!! You just have to be current on your current mortgage, have low debt, have provable income, and have decent credit! Banks are swamped with doing loans for people that meet this criteria. So, when I hear that banks aren't lending or that Obama and the Treasury Department want to have banks lend a lot more, I can only come to one conclusion, that they want banks to once again do loans for people who are "risky" customers. So... the cycle begins again!! Once banks start taking risks again, and the customers stop paying their mortgage, no one is going to remember that the government encouraged banks to lend more, they are just going to remember that the banks did these "risky" loans in the first place! Make any sense to you? It is the exact same thing that happened that got us into this mess in the first place!

A Little Humor

When I watch the news, I get absolutely tired and worn out from hearing all of the negative news about the economy and job less and it goes on and on. It seems like there is a pretty good chance that things are going to get a lot worse before they get any better.
In the meantime all we can do is pray........and.....try to find humor wherever we can find it! Ever wonder what all of the big name companies are going to look like once this crisis is over?

Well... Here is a pretty good idea.

Keith Olbermann

There have been so many things that I wish that I had time to blog about. I watched Obama's speech the other night... Needless to say, I wasn't impressed at all. Did anyone else feel like that? Did it seem like the same ol' promises from his election? First let me say that I do think that Obama is a great speech giver, besides the fact that he can never take his eyes off his script...except when he says, "I get it."

Just after the speech I had an idea... President Obama stated that we will all need to make sacrifices to get through these hard times, himself included. That gave me the idea that Obama should volunteer to give up his salary until this recession is over. I would completely respect him if he did that. That, my friends, is leading by example. One of my friends suggested that Bush should give up his pension because this recession is all his fault. I seriously had to chuckle at that thought. I am tired of hearing that everything that has happened these last few years is all his fault! Nobody talks about Bush and the Republicans tried to regulate Fannie and Freddie and subprime lending. In the 90's and the beginning of this decade, the Republicans tried to tighten guidelines on "subprime" people. Do you know what happened? They were called racist!

Barney Frank and Chris Dodd are a couple of people we can point fingers at for not regulating the subprime market. I have often stated that I hate hearing about the banks being the only ones blamed for this crisis. Finally there is some fighting back! I saw a headline this morning from Politico, Bankers to Obama: Stop trashing us. Did banks take risks on investments? Sure they did. But most banks didn't originate a ton of subprime loans themselves. As this article suggested, the majority were done by brokers. For instance, Countrywide was the largest lender in the U.S. At the time I worked there, 1 in 4 homes had Countrywide mortgages! A whopping 25%!!! Get this... Less than 3% of their portfolio, that they originated themselves were subprime!

Okay... change of topic... the topic that is in my subject line, because I know that most of your eyes are glazing over now. After Obama's speech, Lousianna's governor, Jindal, gave the Republican response. On MSNBC, Keith Olbermann said something that really ticked me off. I don't know why MSNBC still has this guy working for them!

Just as he was waiting for Jindal to walk onto the podium, he whispered, "Oh God" under his breath...



What a worthless..............

Already Breaking Promises

Do you what sickens me the most about this big spending bill that was just passed today? No one really knows what is in it. Did you know that some congressman and senators didn't even have a chance to look through the bill before they signed it? No... I am serious!
Sure the news has reported a little bit of details here and there but how much do we actually know about what is in the bill? Nearly $900 billion dollars is being spent and on what?? Government building! You might being tired of hearing this and might even being wanting to click to another blog by now... But doesn't it concern you at all about what is being done?
First the Republicans were trying to allow the public to view the bill for 48 hours prior to it being voted on, but the Dems didn't allow it. Do you think that Obama read through the bill before he signed it?

Watch this video. You can watch the whole thing, but first fast forward to the good part starting at one minute.



So what has happened to Obama's stand against pork? What has happened to full disclosure? Today we have learned that since the negotiations of this bill started, Obama hasn't even had a chance to read through the bill himself before he signed it.

How many people have drank the kool-aid and actually think that this spending bill will actually work? If you think it will work, I respect your opinion, but would like to ask you one question... How do you know it will work? Because the news says so? Or is it because politicians say so? Since the majority of our representatives haven't read the bill and heck...even President Obama hasn't read it, how do they know it will work? Honestly, we really don't know what is completely in this bill, and unfortunately, we are going to be paying for it for a very...very...very long time!

Stimulus Hate

I am sure that we are all tired of hearing about the economy... I know that I sure am! I get sick up flipping on the television and hearing about all of the job losses. It just doesn't seem to stop! There are new job losses each day! Today Wal-mart and General Motors announced layoffs!

So what is the answer? I don't want to make you all feel depressed about the current situation, but seriously what is the answer? Is the answer really shoveling money towards the problem? Will approximately $900 billion work this time? Well...wait.... we haven't even used the full $850 billion that was approved this fall to be used to bailout the banks!

I am still standing by my previous statement that I don't want Obama to fail, but so far I am quite displeased with nearly everything that Obama has done. Don't believe me? Let's just look at the picture below just to show an example of Obama's earlier decisions.



Last night nearly 46 million Americans watched Obama's news conference. Did anyone else think that he was...I don't know...long winded? Did anyone else think that he was a little boring to listen to? Granted, he does read better than Bush does, but he doesn't do any better when he looks away from his script. Sure Bush couldn't pronounce certain words or misspoke but Obama can't get out his thoughts fast enough. The 55 minutes of last night's news conference was just completely boring.



The main thing that disturbed me last night were little jabs at Republicans, for instance, suggesting that Republicans are "playing typical political games" since they are hesitant about voting for this "spending" bill. Obama answered one reporter's question by saying, "I can't afford to see Congress play the usual political games. What we have to do right now is deliver for the American people. Why do we need to ram this bill down our throats? On top of that, politicians are saying today that we will most likely need even more money!

So... if there is such a need to "deliver" to the American people so quickly, like Obama suggested, then why are there so many things in the bill that won't actually take effect until 2010?

A recent poll shows that Obama's approval rating around 67% while Congress is sitting at 31% (remember, Democrats hold the majority in both the House and Senate). What has Obama done to deserve such high approval ratings in his short 3 weeks in office? Please... can anyone help me on this? Please... I am begging you, because I am stumped!

Defiance Movie Review

Yesterday afternoon, Alyson and I went with her parents to go see Defiance! Daniel Craig is amazing in this movie. When I saw this movie, I didn't realize it was based off of a true story. These four brothers ended up leading 1200 people through the wilderness escaping the Nazi's as they were continuously hunted.

I would recommend anyone to see this movie. There is a lot of violence, but completely appropriate. The story of these Jewish families refusing to be captured and die completely touched my heart!

Smart move on Daniel Craig's part to act in other types of movies besides just the Bond films! We see a completely different side of him and his acting.

Go see the movie and let me know what you think!

Praying for our President

It isn't very hard to realize that I am a big conservative...heck... I even put that in my bio below my picture. =) I watched the inauguration today and all I could think of was that I need to pray for this man. I ask that God gives this man guidance! I pray that he actually does help this country. Why would I want him to fail? If he fails, that means bad news for our country! So I refuse to be one of those people who wishes that he fails. I am not just saying this either to make sure that I come across as balanced and more moderate in my beliefs so that I don't offend anyone. I didn't vote for the man and unless he changes some of his main positions that I don't agree with him, I will even say that I don't plan on voting for him in 2012 either. Too early to say that you think? Or possibly you might think that I am naive? Not at all as long as I stick to my core Christian conservative beliefs! Sorry Obama... just because you had Rick Warren give a prayer today doesn't make think that you are trying to reach across to my side.

So... I hope that he doesn't fail but at the same time, in my opinion, conservative ideology is what's best for this country and its future. In actuality, today was a very historic day with Obama being the first African-American, President of the United States. Remember that just 50 years ago, some towns wouldn't allow an African-American to eat in their restaurants! Hats off to you Mr. President!

One last thought before I head off to bed... One thing really kind of... ticked me off today as I watched the inauguration... I don't remember the guys name, but it was the prayer that was given by this African-American pastor. Watch for yourself! You don't have to watch the whole thing, just fast forward to one minute and watch for about 30 seconds.



He says, "We ask you to help us get to the day when black does not get asked to get back, when brown stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead man, and when white will embrace what is right."

I understand that this can be taken as a joke., but I just want to make sure that I am not alone in this... If I am not mistaken, I believe the day is already here when black does not get asked to get back. Was he asking God for us to work for the day when illegal immigration is made legal? Was he really suggesting that whites don't embrace what is right? Sorry pastor... Obama couldn't have gotten elected just on the black vote. Maybe he couldn't find another word to go with white... He could have used, "when white get better sight" or "when white aren't uptight. Anyone else have problem with this or am I just alone?

Hope you all had a great day! The week is almost halfway over!!

Supporting Israel

I am getting tired of hearing and seeing all of the negative press about Israel and their war with Hamas! People have said that Israelis are barbarians and many other things....why? Because they are defending themselves? One thing that the news does not regularly report is that Israel has had 7500 missiles attack them over the course of the last five years! They have put up with it! Just imagine if Mexico decided to launch missiles at Texas because they believe that Texas is still rightfully owned by the Mexicans (there are Mexican extremists who actually believe this). The U.S. wouldn't just allow this to happen, they would immediately respond!

Israel is saying enough is enough! The reason why we haven't heard of a lot of casualities in Israel these last five years is because it is mandatory for all homes to be built with bomb shelters! Israel has a right to defend itself! Some people say that there needs to be peace made through diplomacy... How do you do that when this conflict has been going on since the Old Testament? These people hate each other more than you and I could possibly ever know!

Watch this video below... This video was taken on December 30th in Florida at a anti-Israel rally!




This young woman says, "Murderer, murderer.... Go back to the oven... You need a big oven...that's what you need."

This is in the United States! I wonder if this same woman praises Allah each time a son or a daughter has explosives strapped to their bodies and blow themselves up in a school or restaurant or mall, just like so many others have done in Israel? I am afraid that there will never be "true" peace in the Middle East until Christ returns.

I have big doubts that you will ever stop this level of hate by sitting across from one another over a cup of tea.....

Well..It's About Time

I have been so busy with work and everything that I haven't been able to log on to blog! This has been my schedule for the last few days:
7:20 - Wake up
8:00 - Start my day at work
11:30 - Take my lunch for 30 minutes
6:15 - Work out
7:30 -Eat Dinner
7:45 - Return to work
10:00 - Relax and watch some television
11:15 - Go to bed

I have REALLY wanted to blog, but after I work, I just don't feel like logging into the computer. I have made a commitment to not blog while I am at work. With all of that said, I feel it is time for me to FINALLY blog once again!!