A man of few words

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The sole reason this particular blog exists is because I am a reporter. I talk to people, write down what they say and then turn that into news articles.

So. I bring you this: "Player will cooperate with the news media, and will participate upon request in
reasonable activities to promote the Club and the League."

This is a phrase from the standard National Football League player's contract.

Didja read that? "Player will cooperate with the news media."

Marshawn Lynch, who apparently plays for one of the two teams in the StuporBowl, is now also famous for refusing to cooperate with the media.

He signed a contract saying he would talk to the media.

He gave his word.

Now, he's backing up on his word. He's broken his word.

Just so you know.

Yo, Christians! Forgive and forget what Jane Fonda did

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This one is aimed at those who claim to be Christians, those who want to be Christians and those, like me, who are trying to get to that point. If you are not in these categories, this blog does not apply to you.

To briefly ‘splain, I am not yet what I consider to be a Christian. I’d like to be. I am working toward that. YMMV

So, moving along. Jane Fonda has formally apologized for her actions during the Vietnam War. 

As expected, this is not going over well with a lot of people. Some ‘Nam vets are protesting. Others are also protesting. It’s gonna take a long time for the pain that war caused to go away, if it every does. Parts of our nation are still fighting one war that formally ended 150 years ago.

One vet said, “Forgive is one thing. Forget is another.”

The Christian Bible says otherwise. To forgive is to eliminate. If it has not been eliminated, there is no true forgiveness. To ‘splain:

Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Some translations use the word “sins” in place of debt and “who have sinned against us” in the place of debtors.

Jesus gave the Lord’s prayer as the template for Christians to pray. In it, He instructs Christians to seek forgiveness from God based on how the Christians forgive others.

Think on that for a moment. Do you want to be forgiven completely? Do you want it wiped out? Do you want it eliminated? “Yes,” say those who believe in what the Bible has to say.

So what does the Bible have to say about it?

Matthew 6:14-15 - For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Good enough. Forgive to be forgiven. Excellent.

So, how does God forgive? Hebrews 8:12 - For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. This is said several times in several ways in the Bible.

God forgets. If the One who created everything forgets, then what He forgot cannot exist any more except as fiction. If God forgets, it does not exist. If it does not exist, God can’t bring it up later. God can’t point to it and say “AHA! This is what you did.” It is gone.

It has to be gone. If the sin still exists, then God must acknowledge it. If God says the sin exists, He must deal with it. He deals with it by holding us accountable. “For the wages of sin is death.”

Do you want God to forgive and forget or just forgive and bring it up later?

God is clear: to forgive is to eliminate. If it has not been eliminated, there is no true forgiveness.

Under Jesus’ template prayer, we ask God to apply the same standards to us as we apply our fellow humans, “as we also have forgiven.”

To forgive is to eliminate. If it has not been eliminated, there is no true forgiveness.
Jesus said people have a choice, even where Jane Fonda is concerned. Forgive and forget and it can never be brought up again. Forgive and keep bringing it up again and again. That’s not true forgiveness. How would you react if God treated you that way?
Jane Fonda made a mistake, She apologized. If you are Christian, it’s time to forgive. If you can’t forgive, then God is not going to forgive you. If you can’t forgive Jane Fonda, how can God forgive you?

Dunno about you, but I have enough to worry about on my own. I don’t need to carry the burden of what someone else did.

Forgive. Forget. Move on. If you can't forget, then her mistake stills exists and you try to hold her accountable. How will you react if God treats you the same way? If you can’t forgive and forget, then how can Jesus’ sacrifice apply to you?

How do you want to be treated?

Nature's way

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One of the problems anti hunters have is cognitive dissonance. They see reality. They reject reality. They substitute their own version of how the world should turn and then demand the rest of the world fall into lock stop.

They say "It's natural. It's nature's way."

Nature is a bitch and I do not mean a female canid. Here's some more quite graphic proof. Did I mention graphic?

Need something even more disturbing? How about chimps dining al fresco on still-living lunch.

Animal rights activists are always anti-hunters. Many anti-hunters are ARA, but not always. Regardless, they think an animal ripped apart and eaten alive is more acceptable than an animal that dies in seconds from a shot.

How can they think this?

The excuse is - the animals don't know any better.

Science is rapidly proving animals DO know what they are doing and have far better cognitive functions than we suspect, especially among the higher order critters like primates and cetaceans. They know exactly what they are doing. Chimps are great examples of this. Consider orca attacks on baby whales in which the orcas eats the jowls and tongue, leaving the rest of the baby whale hanging in the water.

Cognitive dissonance states otherwise.

Nature's way is that carnivores, of which humans are one species of many, catch and eat other animals. Humans just happen to have tools, as do so many other animals, that makes the task easier and less taxing on the body.

If lions on the African plains could understand the workings of a .30-06 and use it, you can absolutely bet they'd be popping antelopes at a few hundred yards and walking up leisurely to have lunch.

That is absolutely nature's way.

Not just another free speech post

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When listings of the most stressful jobs in the world are made, the list is usually topped by active volcano inspector or involuntary suicide bomber.

Somewhere in the top 10, journalists find a spot. The job is so stressful that France (yeah well, it's still a valid point I'm making) requires journalists to have the most vacation time as required by law. The most.

Journalists also appear on top 10 lists for things like alcoholism and stress-related health problems.

It's a stressful job, in case I haven't made that clear.

So now comes this ... idiot. yes, I realize I'm breaking my own rules about insulting people, but if you ain't a journalist (old journalists never die, we just meet a last deadline), then you really don't know what you are talking about.

Sara Gilnes.

According to my admittedly brief research, she started her career in the newsroom, but didn't stay there long. She scooted into management pretty quickly.

And, as is typical of this kind of promotion, she completely ignored (forgot, dumped, whatever), what it's like in the newsroom.

Lemme make this clear. Journalists swear. I, an ordained minister in two denominations, swear.

I've heard people, every single one of 'em is NOT a journalist, say such language is the sign of a small vocabulary.

My reply? A string of epithets threaten to truncate the otherwise sesquipedalian stream of polysyllabic utterances I am normally capable of. My words could curdle milk, congeal blood after exsanguinating said target and remove from the supporting structure water-soluble-adhesive-backed panels of synthetic or natural materials imprinted via offset press with a variety of designs.

Yeah. Limited vocabulary. Every journalist I know is a walking thesaurus. And you thought the thesaurus went extinct millions of years ago. HAH!

Swearing, as science has proven (you can look it up), does make things better. Especially on deadline with things going wrong.

Word slingers swear. Get used to the idea.

We also drink. I beat the caffeine monster a few years ago, which makes my brethren-in-ink stare stupidly at me when I mention it. Yep. No coffee, Mr. Dew, energy drinks etc. Limited chocolate intake too. I regularly wish to resume my habit of mainlining chicory-enhanced Louisiana coffee, but has thus far forestalled the urge.

We also drink adult beverages. Yep, I imbibe occasionally. Feel free to judge me all you want to. I have yet to see a real newsroom where there was no "emergency snake bite medicine bottle" stashed somewhere. Sometimes ya gotta have a chemical relaxer periodically.

A lot of us smoke. An erstwhile college galfriend got me started. I did quit, but I admit when the deadline monster is slavering down my collar and the press shop is yelling, I could probably light and smoke one to the filter in a couple of seconds.

We've got other "bad habits" according to the people who decide which habits are good and which are bad. It's a pressure relief valve. A lot of the time, it works. Unfortunately, it's not perfect. Journalists also rank high on the list of suicides.

Why are we so stressed? Stress is another way of saying pressure and journalists are under extreme pressure all the time. Deadlines never end. People lie and we get blamed. Honest errors result in monster lawsuits. We're simultaneously vilified, excoriated and sainted. The list goes on.

So why do we do it? I can't explain. Not won't, cant. If you're not a journalist you cannot understand. It's like being a real mom or a real dad. If you are one you understand and you can't explain it. If you're not one, you can't understand.

Change - hopefully for the better

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At prison Sunday night, we talked about change. A new year is a time people traditionally look to for change.

Part of the sermon was how 2014 saw changes in me; I hope they are for the better. I changed because I wanted to.

The first actually began a few years ago when I reconnected with college buddies and connected with a few other folks. Years behind all of us and the wisdom life beats into us has modified us all to some degree. These people who are near and dear to me forced me to change; again 'cause I wanted to. The change they brought about became obvious to me over this past year.

Rather than just spit out whatever I thought and present it as A Law Of The Universe, they challenged me to back it up OR say it's just my opinion and applies to me. This has carried forward into more of my life and I like it, a lot. It's not permeated everything, but I want it to.

It may be good for me. It might not be good for you.

Change 2 was came through an NPR article (I think). Regardless, the article talked about dealing with and talking to people. The article said when engaging someone, do not ask what they will do. Rather, as HOW they will do it.

That simple change from WHAT to HOW resets their mind. Rather than back up into a defensive mode, people will generally shift gears and enter an education mode.

By asking "how" you are really asking for help. You ask for helping understanding their point of view.

They have to think.

Of course some people will object to thinking. Deal with them as you see fit.

Change 3 was as monumental to me as the above two. Tommy Clack is a Vietnam veteran missing his right shoulder and all of that arm and both legs above the knee. His left arm is intact. This'll get you started in learning about this truly amazing man.

He spoke this fall to the highs school students here. Mr. Clack, who nearly died in Vietnam, has been around the world, done more than I will ever accomplish, shook my hand after he was done speaking and said "What can I do to make it better?"

I hope my shock wasn't visible. This man asked me what he could do to make the speech better.

His simple remark changed me. I'm trying to look at everything I do now with an eye toward "What can I do to make it better?" With that in mind, lemme rephrase, "HOW can I make it better?"

So I ask you, my readers, how can it better and how can I contribute?