Ken's Reverendisms

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On the Photos page you will see the pictures I took at this years Fantasy Fest in Key West. I saw some beautiful women and got as many pictures as I could.

There was one very special woman that was more beautiful than all of the rest so I saved a picture of her for this page.

I saw this lady standing next to her husband and I just had to get her picture. She was the only person I specifically asked if I could take her picture. She is an older woman and she had a breast removed but was topless and wearing body paint. I could not believe the courage that she had on display.

After I took her picture I told her how my father was currently battling cancer and as she saw the tears well up in my eyes she offered me a hug and some words of encouragement. I was so moved I had to walk away to collect myself.

I have no idea who this lady is or anything about her

except that she is unbelievably brave. It isnot easy for a woman to show her breasts in public. There were thousands of women in Key West and most of them were fully clothed because of their fear of exposing themselves. I have put her on my list of life's heroes.

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I suppose this is true, however,beauty is still subjective and is determined by the open/narrow mindedness of the beholder.

Tim Tebow? I really don't get it. Why are college football fans sold on him? From now on when the greatest college football players of all time are being discussed his name will be brought up. Maybe he is the greatest, maybe he isn't.He just rubs me wrong.

I don't much care for the way he has to flaunt his christianity. In my opinion people that make a big deal out of their religion are trying to convince themselves andreally don't believe. His actions this past weekend prove it.

Mr. Tebow was ill but went ahead and played anyway, some people would say this proves how tough he is. I would say this proves how selfish and greedy he is. Florida wasplaying Kentucky and would have won even had Mr. Tebow not played. The coach left him in the game even after the Gators were handily winning the game and Mr. Tebow gothit hard and was injured.

If coach Meyer and Mr. Tebow been thinking about the team and what was best for the team it never would have happened. Mr. Tebow should not have been in the game but he was becuaseheis trying topad his stats so he can win another Hiesman Trophy and the Gators can win another national championship.

If something is good enough to be the best no one has to make it look better than it is. Leaving your best players in a football game so the team can gain more yards and score more touchdowns might get more voters to notice you but it is short sighted. It is good for this year but hurts you next year. There is a reason some teamsalways stay on top and it is because they tkae the first team out during blow outs and give the second and third teams playing time. When next year comes and personel changes the new guys have plenty of experience.

Mr. Tebow played when he was sick and stayed in the game after it was out of hand because he wanted personal recognition and his coach wants team recognition.If selfishness and greed are part of christianity is it really good enoughfor anyone to follow?

This past week there has been a lot of attention brought to the civility of Americans. Ms William's outburst on the tennis court and Mr. West's interuption of Ms Swift's acceptance speech and of course Representative Wilson's "You Lie" moment during Pres. Obama's speech.

Or the three of these I would give a pass to Ms Williams as she was on a field of competiton and let her emotions get the better of her. By her own admition she made a mistake and seems to be honestly remorseful.

It is unclear if what Mr. West did what he did as a planned publicity stunt or not. If it was a stunt, well It was still in bad taste and if it was not a stunt then it was just plane rude.Certainly this man is entitled to his opinion and he should be allowed to voice that opinion. However, the way he chose to voice his opinion was a bit boorish. There is a time and a place for everything and that moment was neither.

As for Rep. Wilson, I understand that politics are a nasty business but they do have rules of decorem that are to be strictly adhered to. Again there is a time and a place for everything and if Mr. Wilson would like to debate Pres. Obama on his policies I am sure Mr. Obama would be more than happy to oblige him. Mr. Wilson simply wanted to call attention to himself and he todid so in a boorish manner.

I admit I am not always as polite as I should be but I honestly try to give every person as much respect as I can at that moment in time.It does not matter if I am dealing with a homeless person or one of my wealthy customers I try toshow the best me I can give, and I actually try to improve upon that. We all have to interact with one another and I think our world would be a better place if we all tried to remember the Golden Rule. Let us all do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

As so many people have had tough times recently I have been in a bit of a funk. One thing that keeps me going is remembering what someone told me years ago and that is that all things will pass. As we go through good times we should remember that this too shall pass and as we go through the tough times we must remember that good times are on the other side of these problems.

I think that the good times are getting closer for me personally and for the country in general. The biggest problem in my life right now is the health of my father. His cancer treatments were making him very ill so the Doctors stopped the Chemo but conitued the full Radation regimen. I think they areoptimisticabout the coming surgery to remove all of the cancer.

I do not understand these people that think our current healthcare system is just fine and does not need overhauled. I am not saying that any political party knows how to fix it, they don't. Perhaps they can make it a little less broke.

The cost of my parent's healthcare is a signifcant percentage of their retirement income and a few years back when I had to have my gall bladder removed my bills forced me into bankruptcy. Our current system does nothing but benefit big healthcare companies at the expense of the American population. I don't know what the answers are as a matter of fact I probably don't even know what the questions are. I do know that we are the wealthiest nation the world has ever seen and for any member of our society to suffer because of the greed of others is simply unacceptable. If a chain is only as strong as its weekest link isn't also a society only as healthy as its sickest citizen?

The indivdual health of each Americanaffects us all. The healthier each indivdual is the healthier our society is, isn't it?

I have heard of cancer clusters before but I never thought I would be the cause of one.

My father is just finishingfour weeks of chemo and radiationand getting ready for surgery to remove the rest of his tumor and thishas been very trying for him and the rest of us in the family as well. Saturday I finished a job for a couple and she has lung cancer. She is already a breast cancer survivor. Tommorow I start a job for another couple and she might have cancer, again. In about two weeks I havetostart a job for anothercouple and he has cancer.

I cannot remember the last time I knew someone that was undergoing cancer treatments, now I know four. This is really becoming quite challenging for me emotionally. Obviously, I understand it is so much more difficult for them but it wears on me night and day.

I like to help people and I like to make people feel good. I just don't know what to do to help these people.The only thing I can do is let them know I care and I am wishing them the very best.

I am not an old man but I am old enough to have learned many lessons from life. Oneof those lessons is thata person that will not trust me is a person thatis not trustworthy.

Last week I finished a paint job for a family and they want a representative from the paintmanufacturer to look att he house to make sure I did a good job.We put over 200 man hours of work into that house and I haveabout $1300.00 of materials into the job.We busted ass for eight days to get that house looking good and he doesn't think we did a good enough job because he wasn't there to watch us.

I asked him every morning if he had any questions or concerns and every day he told me the house looked great. I get to the end of the job and all of the sudden he has a problem, I'm insulted.

This was a job that I sub-contracted from someone else andI guess there was a communication breakdown which caused the problem, so I guess I learned another lesson. I am finished sub-contracting work from another painter.

So last Friday I was on my way home from work and it was pouring down rain. I felt as though I was driving a little too fast so I slowed down to about 45 MPHbut it was not enough I hit a flooded out piece of road and started to hydroplane. The vehicle went off the road and into the wet grass, the saturated ground sucked me in and I lost control of the wheel and then my truck flipped over.

My first thought was, "this is gonna hurt". My second thought, as I hung there by my seatbelt,was, " how in the hell am I gonna get outta here".Someone knocked on my window to let me know that they called 911 and I told him I was OK and I never saw him again. I eventually figured out how to get out and as I emerged from my truck I saw the Sherriff's Deputy walk up to me.

I was able to find my wallet and cell phone and as I sat in the back of the police cruiser I called my Dad. I felt like such an ass putting this extra pressure on my Dad right now, he just doesn't need this.

After being picked up and being taken back to my parent's house my Dad gave me some dry clothes and I went into the bathroom to put them on and it hit me for the first time, I could have died and I broke down in tears.

I wonder if my life will change.

I took my son back home this past weekend so he can get ready to go off to college next week.

The last four years he comes down for a monthand works for me. It is a chance for him to make alittle money but more importantly it is a great opportunity for me to teach him to stay in school. I am a college drop-out and I work hard in the hot sun for little pay. I want my son to know what hard work is so he never wants to do it.

I really envy my son. As hesets out on his vision quest his passions and prejudices will shape a life for him that only he can know if it is right. Happiness is not something we get out of life, it is something we make from life.

My life is no where near where I though it would be when I was young but I truly believe that I am happier now than if I would have continued on with what I wanted back then.

No matter what my son chooses to do with his life hewill never disappoint me, I will love him whatever he becomes. I only hope he doesnot disappoint himself.

I went to a small little get together last night and I met some very nice people. Watching and listening to people is one of my favorite hobbies. Several things happened that made me think.

One of the first things I noticed was the racial make-up and dispersement of the people. I did not make a count but there was about equal numbers of black and white people present and as usual the party split with two groups. One group was predominantly white and the other black.

I had only met one person that was there so I cannot attest to the racial beliefs of the party goers but everyone seemed very polite and I sensed no racism of any sort. As a matter of fact everyone seemed to be very cordial to the people of opposite race.

I do believe that most people simply feel more comfortable around people like themselves. We all grew up learning certain behaviors that are common to our race and different from others. When we have a choice most of us will go with the people with similiar cultural concepts.

One thing I heard that I never thought of before, and now wonder why I did not was, "I do not judge people based on the color of their skin". How about simply not judging others?

This past week it came to my attention that getting de-baptized has become popular in America. Baptism is one of the sacraments that I do not fully understand. If an adult decides to join a religion and wants to get baptized well more power to them, however, when baptism is forced upon infants or immature children I do not see the purpose. What does one get from it? What does the child receiving the sacrament get but more importantly what do the adults get out of forcing their beliefs on someone that cannot make a conscious decision to join them.?

The Universal Church of Freedom, Acceptance and Love will definitely be setting up a sacrament of de-baptizing for those that felt as though they were originally baptized against their will. I remember my baptism. I was in grade school when my parents decided to become members of The Lutheran Church I was baptized soon after. I was to young to understand it and looking back I started questioning the christian religion even then. I remember being told that we needed to respond to the Pastor with certain phrases. The Pastor did tell us that if we did not believe something then we should not say it. I also remember not repeating everything that I was supposed to.

On the other end of this is the thought that perhaps we should have a sacrament for those that now want to consciously join our religion. Baptism is not right but perhaps a ceremony of anointing would be appropriate. Certainly I would love to hear any views that anyone might have. As always I can be contacted via e-mail rev.ken@universalchurchoflove.com

This is probably the most difficult topic I have ever discussed here. My father has recently been diagnosed with cancer. I have come to accept death as a condition of life and I understand that my father will die some day, hopefully not yet,so that is not the difficult part.

My father is one of the toughest men I have ever known and I have never seen anything beat him. I have seen what cancer has done to others and I am afraid of what it will do to him. I am afraid of what it will do to me. Am I man enough to do what needs to be done and help the other members of my family get through this?

There are many things that I need my father to tell me so that we as a family will be prepared for life without him but how can I ask him now? I do not want to be even the least bit negative in my thinking but our business and my mother's future depends upon me knowing these answers. I do not know the percentages or the doctors prognosis for survival so my hopes are of only the best outcome. I do not want to be the morbid son waiting for his father's death. Quite honestly I do not handle death very well so it would be best for me if I was the next member of my family to pass away, not that I have any plans for this.

My parents have given me so much and it has never been in doubt that I would be there for them but now that this time is coming can I step up and carry the load that my father has been carrying since his father died almost thirty years ago? My parents are two very special people amd they deserve nothing but the best, I cannot let them down.

Over the weekend I got to thinking about something that I have until now omitted., prostitution. Why isit illegal to sell something that is legal to give away? If two consenting adults chose to have sex after exchanging money it does not affect anyone but those two people.

People that are againstprostitution probably need to get laid. Our government should not be in the business of legislating morality. If you have been paying attention to the news and recent events it should be clearthat our lawmakers are not even moral by their own standards. The party of family values, the GOP, has been headlining the news with sex scandals on a regular basis. Not that the Dem's. are any better but atleast they don't claim to be better than the rest of us.

There is nothing less moral or more damaging to our countries morals if two people exchange money before having sex than if they don't. As amatter of fact a man always pays for sex. It might not be money, it might be dinner and a movie or it might be agreeing to do something around the house or it might be having to share emotions. Straight up paying money is often the cheapest route. Besides you are not actually paying for the sex, you are actually paying for her to leave when the sex is over.

Sex is sex it does not matter who does it our what agreements are made before doing it, it is sex. Sex is fun and sex is not damaging to anyone if it is done between two or more consenting adults. If more people did it less people would be so uptight about it.

I hope the everyone had a great 4th of July. I am not usually the type to make a big deal about holidays but July 4th is all about FREEDOM. Our founding fathers came together and and decided that they did not need to take it anymore.

Our founding fathers were a funny lot. They wrote that "all men were created equal" butmany of them owned slaves. They wrote that wewere all "endowed by our creator to have certain unalienable rights" but some of themdid not believe in a god and most of them were not religious.Our rights to "Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness" that they wrote about are constantly being taken away from us by the governemnt they set up.

Our founding fathers were great men of their day but they do not translate well to today. Back then these men were highly educated, sophisticated gentlemen. If they were alive today they would probably be in prison.I am not suggesting that thesegreat men of yesterday should be held to the standards of today but if they could not change those attitudes they would be in big trouble. I cannot imagine what George Washington would say about being told to wear a seatbelt to protect himself or Thomas Jefferson being told he couldsexually harrasss his employees.

We have some pretty good evidence that the founding fathers were pretty much drunk most of the time and probably smoked hemp as well. Being drunk and stoned might just explain some of their antics. Today they would do time for it, arrested by the government that they created.

Let all of us take a little time to remember that our government gets its authority from u, the people.We have the ability to stop them from making criminals out of us just because we want to exercise our rights, the rights they admit we have. If you are not registered to vote then you need to. Yourmight not think that your vote will count but if you are not registered then you do not even have a voice. Politicians only listen to voters and to sign a petition you must be registered. You haveoptions other than Democrat and Republican, personally I am an Independent and I vote. I e-mail myrepresentatives eventhough I am sure they do not actually read the e-mail, I send, I know someone does and if I write enough and I am eloquent enough my voice will be heard and my feelings will be passed up the chain, yours will also.

Ain't none of us getting out of this world alive. I'm not sure if you've heard but Michael Jackson died this past week. I never wish death upon anyone and would never rejoice at the death of another but I shall not lose a moments sleep ever this man's death. I do not know if he molested a child but I do know he did things that he should not have done. He did things that harmed children.

I do not now nor will I ever understand fans that act as though they just lost a family member when acelebrity dies. Iremember being shocked when Elvis died and saddened when John Wayne died and when Dale Earnhardt died I was stunned but come on. I never knew these people and I could not possibly be affected like when I have lost my own family members.

I wastoo young to know what was going on when my mother's father died but a few years later when my father's mother died I cried like a baby and I have not handled the subsaquentdeaths of other family members very good.I suspect when my parents pass on I will be devestated. How can the death of a person that I never knew be equated to this?

One person that I mourned deeply that was not a family memeber was one of my college professors, a great man named Dr. Richard B. Kenney. I played football in college so we were there before school started and in the first couple of days all of the freshman sort of made fun of Dr. Kenney. He was an old, fragileman that looked like a mad scientist. The upper classmen soon set us straight and made it known to us that this was a man to be honored. One day I passed Dr. Kenney on my way down to breakfast and I bid him good morning and called him by name. I was surprised when he wished me good morning and called me by my name, we had never been introduced. As I learned later this man memorized the names and photo's of every incoming freshman and that is how he knew my name. Later when it was determined that I could not continue going to Bethany College Dr. Kenney wrote me a letter and told me that Bethany would not be the same without me. This act touched my sole in a way that I never thought could happen and when I learned of Dr. Kenney's death I knew that this world would never be the same without him.

As I write this I have tears streaming down my face as I remeber a man that so few people knew but he impacted this world more than all of the celebrities put together ever will. We should not be devastated when a celebrity dies, however, we should all mourn the Dr. Kenney's of this world, it is our loss when they die.

Boy has it been HOT!

Temps. have gotten into the upper 90's with heat indeces in the low 100's here in Florida. Being as I am a painter I work outside in all kinds of weather and I just cannot understand how others act in uncomfortable weather conditions.

Yes it is hot and yes it is uncomfortable but some people act as though it is actually painful. A couple of weeks ago when I went to my son's graduation I was one of the few men dressed appropriately in a sport jacket and tie. Some people asked me if I was hot and I replied, "yes, are you"? I saw people dressed in shorts and t-shirts that were sweating just as much as I was and looked just as uncomfortable as I was so what exactly was their point?

In this record setting heat I have no air conditioner. I actually have one I just need to replace the circiut breaker. It is only a $15.00 part and should only take a couple minutes to change, I just don't care enough about it to do it. Yea, I sweat, but it doesn't hurt. Being uncomfortable is not necessarily painful. I think most Americans are really becoming pussies.

I don't like the cold weather but heat I get used to. My son and I have discussed this before and he claims the cold doesn't bother him. He lives in North Carolina and I don't think he has ever been all that cold. It can get cold enough to be painful. I grew up in Ohio and I have shoveled snow in bitter cold with wind chills well below zero. Sure you can put on more layers of clothing but you can only put on so many pairs of socks and only one pair of gloves and your face is usually unprotected. When the weather man says that bare skin can freeze in a matter of seconds it is cold enough to be painful.

I'm all about second chances.

I have been married three times and lived with a few more women. I have broken up and gotten back together with them only to break up again. My family and friends tell me that these women are destroying my life and I need to leave them but it is not them, it is me.

They do not destroy my life, I do. They do not ask me for a second chance, I beg them for one. I will admit that my selection of women is not all that good but I cannot ever seem to make a relationship work. I work too hard and flirt too much and I am too strong willed,my relationships suffer.

I have become happy with who I am eventhough I cannot seem to find a person that wants to share my life for very long. From time to time I do get lonely but I do not mind being alone.

This past week a small kitten showed up at my house. The first few days it cried and cried. I fed it but it still cried. It does not want to be picked up but it is getting to be more comfortable with me, I can pet it when I feed it. My new cat is starting to trust me and this gives me hope.

Some day I will get another chance. Somewhere there is a person that be will becomfortable with me and learn to trust me eventhough I am who I am.

Last week my niece graduated from high school and this week my son will as well. This has gotten me to remember my high school and college days. I can recall that i had so much potential to make something of my life and make a difference in the world.

I do not know if I will ever reach the potential I once had but I believe I am happy with my life. I doubt I will ever be a wealthy man but I no longer equate money to success. As far as making a difference, with the number of people that visit this site and read my thoughts, I must be touching someone. As I have said so many times I am not trying to make anyone believe the things I believe, I just want people to honestly think about what they believe.

For all of the young people graduating from high school and college around the country my best wishes go out to you all. I hope that no matter the path you chose or the amount of success you find that you will not forget to be happy with who you become.

May life find you all well.

This weekend an abortion doctor was murdered while he and his family were in church. He has been terrorized for years because he is one of few doctors in America that performs late term abortions. The radical right finally got rid of him.

Why do anti abortionists call themselves "pro life"? A person is not"pro life" when they are in favor of murder and killing as ways to solve problems. How can anyone claim that violence is the only way to stop violence? Only a person of very limited intelligence is unable to find another way of solving problems other than resorting to violence.

It is a dream of mine that no woman ever need to abort her fetus, but I understandthat some times it is needed and all women should be able to have that option. It is also a dream of mine that we never need to execute another prisoner, but I understand that society might need to do this.Yet another dream that I have is that we would never need to go to war, but I understand our nation needs to protect our citizens.

I am truly "pro life" i want all life to be protected at all times. I do understand that a society does need these options that are"anti life" but we need to do our best to limit the usage of these methods.

I went to Hulover Beach for Memorial Day and a little something happened that reminded me why I started this website. I was lying on the beach doing my crossword puzzle and minding my own business when all of a sudden some lady started yelling at me.

Haulover's clothing optional section is clearly marked so if she was surprised that I was naked it was her own fault. She did have some small children with her so I can understand that she would not want these children to be playing close to naked people but all she had to do was move down the beach and the problem would have been solved. She insisted upon being belligerent and making a scene and calling us sick and perverts.

I can handle being called a pervert by ignorant people but this kind of an attitude upsets me. Had she not said anything and just moved down the beach tthe children would have thought nothing of it. Her actions do nothing but teach them that they should be ashamed of their own bodies. I guess there are a lot of people that think we should be ashamed of our bodies but these people have issues that they need to deal with.

I am not as young as I once was and my once athletic figure is not as nice as it used to be but I am not ashamed of my body and neither should anyone else. Everyone should spend some time at a clothing optional beach, it is amazingly freeing.

Some drivers.

This past week I seemed to have gotten behind an awful lot of bad drivers. Maybe they were not so much bad drivers as inconsiderate people. Today too many drivers are under the immpression that they are the only ones that matter or the only ones on the road.

I will never understand why people drive in the left hand lane of the freeway when they will not even come within 10 mph of the speed limit. These people must not understand how dangerous it is, or they don't care. They just continue straight ahead like a moving pylon oblivious to the hazards they cause.

Cell phones are one thing that can cause some really bad driving and I don't know why. I have a cell phone and I talk on it while I drive but I make sure that the driving is the most important part of my life at that momment. If a person can drive and talk to passengers in the vehicle than we should be able to talk to someone on the phone.I cannot understand why anyone would ever try to text while driving and yet I see this quite often.

Then there was the lady I got behind the other day, I have no idea what she was doing. She had a bumper sticker that reminded people to not drink amd drive and she proceeded to drive off the side of the road and almost wrecked in front of me trying to get straightened out. She turned down the same street I was turning on and she continued driving like a fool so I blew my horn at her. She used one finger to wave at me and then I noticed she also had a license plate that had "In God We Trust" on it.

Let's talk about mom. If you love your mother do something nice for her. If you do not love your mother, I hope the two of you can resolve your differences.

I am not a big fan of doing something nice for someone just because it is a holiday. If the people in your life do not know that you love them based upon the things you do all year long, one or two days a year won't make a difference. I never make a big deal out of mothers day or birthdays or any other particular day, I try to show that I care every day.

I have known people that make a big deal out of showing how much they love their families on special occassions. I always wondered just who it was they were trying ot convince. I think they are trying to convince themselves. I am pretty damned sure the people close to me know that I love them but that won't stop me from doing those little things that prove it. I just wish I had more chances.

One thing that turned me against christianity years ago is the money that is involved.As a teenager I remembergoing to church with a friend and hearing the minister make a statement that each andevery member of the church should attendeach and every service. This particular church liked to pass the collection plate 2 or 3 times each service. Was this minister more interested in his parishoners salvation or the amount of money collected in that plate?

A few years later I was living in Alabama and I would go to church occasionally with my girlfriend and her mother. One dayI overheard a discussion about how the minister wanted my girlfriends mother to contribute more money to the church. This old widow lady lived on a very small social security income and I got more than just a little upset.

I told her that she has given enough to the church through the years and now it is her turn to receive. She made a comment about god providing and I brought up the fact that Ken provided her groceries the week before. I was not amused when she claimed that god provided me. Within a few weeks I moved back to Ohio.

Recently I was at my parents house and I noticed an envelope on the counter. It had the name of my parents church on it and it had a place to fill in an amount and a place for their name. WHY? If people want to give to a church that is fine but I believe it should be doneanonymously.

What right does a church have to shame and intimidate people into donating money? People will give what they can afford and what they feel is appropriate and anyone that needs to use strong arm tactics to force people to give more are no better than an extortionist.

A few years back I was supposed to paint a house for a couple but about one week from the date they called me and told me that due to family problems they would have to cancel. About six monthsthey were ready to have me come back. I was informed that the family emergency was that Mrs. Smith (her real name)had breast cancer and had to undergo cancer treatments.

When I first met the Smiths Mrs.Smith was an attractive woman with a very friendly personallity. I was almost affraid of how I would be greated when I next knocked on their door. Mrs. Smith actually answered the door wearing a scarf on her head. This caused me to worry until she began to talk. I soon realized that though this vibrant lady was going through a battle for her life she lost her hair but not her friendly personallity.

From time to time as I face troubles in my own life I call on my memories of the Smiths and how they dealt with problems far worse than anything I might have been going through. Mrs. Smith will always be a sourceof inspiration for me. She is a true HERO.

Last week I discovered another HERO. I was searching online for some information on a radio personality that I listen to and as Iread about this person I learned some things about another person on the same radio program.

I have never metthis other person but on air she is a very bubbly person. Her on air persona is that of an "airhead" but from exchanging e-mails with her I came to find out sheis much smarter than she acts on air. I never would have expected to find out what Iread about her.

This constantly happy person had been in a car accidentthat left her in a wheel chair.I have been listening to this radio show for about four years and I have never heard anyone say anything that eluded to her being wheel chair bound. As a matter of fact the other members of the show often discuss how she is always happy and upbeat.

Some people in this world get dealt badcards and decide to fold their hand, some people play the hand they are dealt and winthe game. I have found a new source of inspirationand another reason to keep playing the game of life.

Last week I heard sports storyabout NBA great Isiah Thomas taking a job at a Florida University and donating his salary back to the school. Mr. Thomas is a very wealthy man and he is still being paid by the New York Knicks so it is not a monetary sacrifice butwith the amount of work requiredto be a college coach it is a lot of work to do for free.

I heard Mr. Thomas make a statement that this is something he feels he needs to do because when he was young he took advantage of youthprogramsthat required charitable donations from others. This is his way of giving back.

Mr. Thomas has gotten a lot of bad press the last couple of years but thislittle bit of good sure helps make up for a whole lot of bad. It makes me wonder why more wealthy people cannot give more than just money as a form of charity. Mr. Thomas has a chance to touch lives and make a difference and he is asking nothing in return.

Often times I have found myself in situations where I stop to help someone. Often times it is a broken down car. I am not a mechanic but I can help people with flat tires, dead batteries and simple things. Most of the time when I am done helping out the person offers me payment and I always say thesame thing, "One day awhile back someone gave me a favor and today I am giving that favor to you. The only thing Iask in return is that some day you give this favor to someone else that needs it."

Wouldn't the World be a better place if people stopped thinking money is the most important thing? Wouldn't it be nice if people just helped out because it was the right thing to do and not because there was something in it for them? I don't do nice things for people fopr money and I don't do nice things because I am trying to buy my way into Heaven. I do nice things for people when I can, if I can because it is the right thing to do. Do you?

Let's talk about greed.

Greed is much like pornography in that it is hard to define but we all know it when we see it. Of course we all have different visions, don't we?

It seems to me our greed is destroying us, The cause of the world's financial meltdown is none other than greed. Greed of Wall Street, Greed of Banks, Greed of Speculators, Greed from our Politiciansand the list goes on. What allowed this to happen was the Greed of us all. We wanted to have more than we had. People at the helm once told the rest of us no, you cannot afford this but lately due to their own greed they started showing us how we could get it eventhough we cold not afford it.

The collapse of the housing market was in a large part due to the Greed of Realators and Home Builders. For generations the industry stayed clear of Speculators because they knoew it would cause long term problems eventhough they would make short term profits. Our Banking system has collapsed due toour elected officials taking money from banks toremove regulation from the finacial industry. Once they knew no one was watching they created investments that almost no one understood and they took advantage of us all.Speculators drove the price of oil to record levels and Big OIl made unbelievable profits while the rest of the world was going broke.Driving the prices was our banks. Thelarge banks were the largest owners of oil in America and then when the banks went broke what happened to the price of oil? It finally went back down. Greed allowed Bernie Madoff swindle millions of people out of billions of dollars. There is no way possible one man did this.This scam was so large there had to be many, many people involved. The reason it went on so long was just pure Greed. If investors had not been so driven by their desire to make money with no effort they would have asked questions and they would have seen the red flags.

Desire to make money and have nice things is notGreed. I have no problem with people of wealth, I wish them the best of luck. I have a problem with the dishonesty of people making money based upon GREED. Taking advantage of situations and people to achieve results that benefit a few while harming the masses is just wrong. How can we combat it? What can be done to stop it? It can only be stopped by each individual. If we are not Greedy then we would not fall for the scams and consand we would not look the other way when we know that something is just to good to be true.

I am not destined to be a man of great wealth, unless I win a lottery. Several years ago I gave up my desire to rich. I came to the conclusion that a person can work hard all of their life and make a large sum of money, but we will all die and none of us can take it with us. If a person puts all of their money in a bank, the family will divide the money and think about the dead person as they spend the money. If a person spend all of their money buying nice things, the family will divide these things and think of the dead person on occasion as they use these things. I want to spend my money building memmories with my family and friends. When I die I know that as my friendsreflect upon their own lives I will be their in the events and good times. I hope that they think of me often and remember me fondly.

The other day a friend of mine sent me an offending e-mail. I am not going to repost it here, I do not want to facilitate that type of thinking. Suffice it to say that it was racism disguised as being against racism. The claims that were made were that the African-American community is racist because of their arganizations that are for the betterment of their race. The e-mail was about whites being called racist anytime we try to do something for whites only.

I can remember when I was young and I felt as though the NAACP and BET were actually racist. I wasn't quite as smart or understanding back then. Today I can understand why these institutions are not only acceptable but needed. Whites can complain all they want but Black people had other things throughout history that whites didn't have and we didn't complain about them.

There were things like slavery, segeregation, seperate but equal, lynching and on and on. How many white people would like to experience these from the black person'sperspective?

I met a black man awhile back and he put things into perspective for me. He told me that when he was young he was hurt when someone called him a nigger. He was poor and lacked selfworth so that name had the ability to do him harm. As he grew older and became more affluent he came to understand thatwhen someone called him a nigger it was the other person thatwas poor and had no self worth and thatname could no longer harm him unlesshe allowed it to.

Calling white people names like "cracker" or "gringo" or whatever else people might call us does not harm us. We typically are aflluentenough that it just does notharm us. The word RACIST is the one word that shakes most white people.White people that know they are racist but are ashamed of it are offended when someone calss them a racist.

I guess my point is simple. Words only harm people when they allow them to and people only allow them to bother them when they think the other person might be right.

This morning I was involved in one of my favorite daily rituals when something very disturbing happened.

I like to read a newspaper and eat a small breakfast before I go to workevery morning, today was no different, at first. I was sitting there in my truck in a parking lot andI noticed a homeless woman walking towards me. Often times I roll my window up and ignore them because so often I hear how we should not give money to the homeless as it enables their addicted lifetstyle.

They say that a person's eyes are a window to their soul and looking into this woman's eyes I saw atroubled soul in need of help. Her face and appearance are now permanantly etched in my brain, I could not ignore her.I reached into my pocket and took out some bills. I quickly counted it and it was $4.00, about the same as my breakfast cost me.

She took my money and thanked me and as she walked away I told her that I wished her well. I immediately thought that I should call out to her to come back so that I could give her more money,to my shame,I did not. My eyes began to tear up a bit as I took the last bite of my biscuit, and I began to choke on it. It was the toughest bite of food I ever ate. It took me several minutes to be able to swallow it as my tears became stronger.

As she disappeared from my sight I thought how maybeshewas a drug addict or an alcoholic and the $4.00 could have gone to her next high, I don't know. I hope that she would use it for food or something to help her make it through her day. What she received was four dollars, what I gave was hope.

Later in the day I began to compare my encounter with this homeless lady to this country's financial problems. Our problems are dire and the recently passed stimulus package might be used for good programs or it might be used to help feed our legislator's addiction to pork spending. Our country received billions of dollars in funding butwhat our government gave us was hope.

Did you know the word gulible is not in the dictionary?

If I got you with this then you might need to become a little less gullible. Unfortunately American gullibility is becoming a huge problem. There are far too many people that are just accepting the things they hear and refuse to think about what they are being told. Maybe it is not being gullible, perhaps it is being lazy.

People that believe everything that another person says without question are killing this country. One might like Rush Limbaugh or they might agree with our President but no one should believe everything they tell us. We need to bring back the art of thinking.

So many of us believe we are thinking about the things going on in our country today but the fact is we are not. Even the people that listen to both sides of an arguement are not thinking about what they hear they simply decide which side they agree with. Whatever side you agree with it makes no difference to me but when you accept their talking points becausewhat they are saying makes you feel good, that bothers me.

We all need to remember that both sides of an arguement are going to base their opinions on facts but they will put those facts under the best possible light to make them appear to be more than what they are. Bill O'Reilly spins his "facts" more than most and he gets people to buy it because he calls his show the no spin zone.

When trying to find answers listen to both sides and remember that they are making the things they say sound better than what they are and they might be omitting things that would discredit them. Compare the things that they are saying today with what they have told us in the past and remember it all when listening to them in the future. Most people will contradict themselves in time. Take all of this information and take your time toTHINK about it, both sides. When you derive toan opinion that is your own and not simply the regurgitation of what someone else saysthen you have done your job.

Please, do not stop there. As more facts come to light do not be afraid to adjust your opinion to make it stronger and make us all better.

Well another Bike week is in the books. I don;t ride a motorcycle or participate in bike week but I like to ride around in my truck and just watch. I have always been a people watcher and bikers are fun people to watch.

Saturday I was riding around and got caught up in traffic going across the bridge to the beach. About half way across I saw a police officer that had a couple of bikers pulled over in the emegency lane and he was giving them a ticket. about ten minutes later this officer road past me and weaved through traffic and pulled up next to a female rider and pulled her over.

I just cannot help but wonder what these people did. There is no way they were speeding or doing stunts, traffic was jammed up for over a mile.The Daytona Beach police have been harassing the bikers for several years now trying to get rid of them.They ticket for loud pipes and girls flashing and the new one Florida passed a law that the license plate must be in a horizontal position instead of vertically. I have no idea what these three bikers did to get this officer to ticket them but it had to have been rediculous.

Daytona Beach is dying as a vacation destination and the local government and law enforcement continues to harass tourists as a way to make sure they kill this town. They have run the spring breakers out and they have prettymuch shut down Black College Reunion andthe numbers for bike week continue to decline every year. The only reason forgovernment's actions is intollerance. Daytona Beach is a party destination and some fun is just harmless and should be ignored.

Obviously certain crimesand laws need to be enforced butthere is no reason to come toFlorida on vacation and leave on probation just for having fun.

Some people really get me.

Global warming has been an issue the last couple of years and it just amazes mesome of the opinions that people have.

With the cold winter this year many are claiming that global warming cannot possibly exist becauseit is cold in the winter time. Well let us examine cold and snowy winters. First off even though it has been colder than normal in many places who is to say that it might not beeven colder than it is if global warming were not taking place. Let's also take a look at the possibility that global warming is letting up just a little on account of the factt hat in the previous year we seriously reduced our usage of fossile fuels. Our oilconsumption and electrical usage has fallen off this past year so I would assume that our greenhouse gasses were also reduced significantly.

Of course the foolishness does not end with theglobal warming deniarsthere are people out there that claim that because cows contribute to global warming we should all become Vegans. Well this could only come from people that are incapable of thinking through their opinions to completion. If we stop eating animals two things will happen. One we will have a lot of animals to care for that we have no use for. Two we will have to grow morefruits, vegetables and grains to feed the masses. Growing all of our food will cause a need for more farmland that will most likely come from cutting down our forests. This in turn will add toglobal warming and kill wild animals that live in those forests.

My take on global warming is simple. Eventhough this year is a little colder global warming exists. It does not matter who or what is at fault we need to make sure humansdo what we can to limit our negativeaffect onthis planet.

Humans cannot destroy this planet we can ,however, make it uninhabitable for us.

Warning: The following words just might make some people mad. This is not my intention. My intention is to make people think. My hope is thatthis might make a difference.

It seems strange to me that so many people think they are the only ones that have it tough. Well move over because the rest of us have it toughjust like you.

We all have our own personal lot in life and that brings with it a set of challenges to be overcome.

Some people want to blame the fact that their race hinders them or theirgender limits them. Others might want to say that their religious beliefs or their sexual orientation is what prevents them from being accepted by mainstream America.

The fact is it is none of these things eventhough it is all of these things that prevent some people from being all that they can be. America is so into labelling others that it has instilled a sense of differentism within us all. Unfortunately differntism becomes hatism in some and that affects us all.

I am a middle aged, middle class, white male and I am sure many people think that I cannot understand their trials and tribulations of life because they think I do not have my own. I do. I am a painter and believe me I have been pulled over by the police and searched for no apperent reason other than what I appeared to be. I have been in places where I was the minority and my safety was threatened simply because of the color of my skin. I have been an outcast in my family because of the woman I loved. I can go on but I would rather not bore others with the details of my life.

The fact is that problems are not unique to any one group. Problems might arise because of who we are and the things we do but everyone else has their own set of problems based upon their life and their choices. I do not know how to change this and I don't even know if we should. We can make it better.

The way we make it better is by changing the way each and everyone of us looks at the other people in the world. Stop thinking we are special and deserve better treatment than others. Remember that as we cry in our soup because of the injustices heaved upon us our brothers and sisters around the world are also shedding tears. When each of us asks for relief of our problems try to think of others and ask that they receive relief of theirs.

This weekend I had a couple of things happen that help me understand how America has gotten into the current mess we are in.

We can blame government and we can blame big business but the simple fact is it is the attitude of Americans. Somehow Americans have a belief that we have the right to do and say anything to anyone any time we want. Somehow we decided that it doesn't matter if it hurts someones feelings, if it isany of our business or even if it is the truth.

I got one call from a lady that wanted me to paint the interior of a house for her. When I asked when I could come see it she wanted me to give her a price over the phone without seeing the house. When I tried to explain to her why I neede to see it she respnoded by telling me that it was just three bedrooms and a living room and she would buy the paint. I asked her if I needed to do any wall repair, how high the walls were and if it would be repianted the same color. She claimed that there was no wall repair, the walls were only eight feet high and the color would be the same. When I got there I found walls that she also wanted the dining room, kitchen and two bathrooms done. The walls needed repair, there were vaulted ceilings going to twelve feet high and the color was a drastic color change requiring two coats.

I will honor the price I gave this lady eventhough I was conned into the price. Two things will come from this: one I will never do another job for this lady and two I will never give a price without seeing the job again.

On top of this lady's dishonesty I also got a phone call from a competitor of mine and he was complainong that I was ruining his business. As it turns out we both bid on the same job and his problem was that my price was so low that he could not charge as much as he wanted to. He called me a whore, told me I need to learn how to run my business and I neede to save money.

My price was a little low because right now I need business but his price was way to high and yetthe people had him do the work. So why was he complaining? He claims he has enough money in the bank that he would rather take two years off than to reduce his prices. Well if this is true and he has so much why would he begrudge me for asking for so little? I do what I have to do to stay in business and I am not the only one that is in survival mode. I am happy that this other painter has been so succesful and saved so much money but just who in the hell does he think he is telling me how to run my business and my personal life? Just what gives him the right to call me a whore?

What has America become when people feel they have the right to pass judgement on others and tell them how to live their lives or just flat out lie tosomeone to basically steal from them? Maybe America will get backto being a strong countrywhen Americans get back to being better people.

Stimulus, what stimulus?

There has been a lot of talk lately about stimulating the economy and a lot of discusion as to how to do this. It seems to me that most of the people talking about it don't even know what it is let alone how to do it.

Economy stimulation is simply putting money into play and hoping that it keeps moving. There are many ways of doing this but not every way works in every situation and just because something worked once does not mean it will work now. The GOP (The Grand Old Party or Republicans) are under the impression that tax breaks are the only way to get the economy going. Well being as unemployment is so high it hardly seems prudent to give tax breaks to people with no jobs. Being as most American businesses are not showing a profit right now it seems senseless to give them tax breaks when they are paying no taxes. Giving tax credits to companies to grow a business or expand a business does no good if they have no demand for their product.

Our economy is similiar to the world's food chain in that the food chain starts with the smallest of animals, Plankton. Our economy starts with the "little guy". If we put jobs and money into the hands of the people at the bottom of our economic food chain the money and good fortune will flow up and help everyone on it's way to the wealthiest.

I am not a fan of any political party and it seems as the two are getting together to give us nothing. One party wants to move slow and the other party wants to move fast. As it turns out they are doing this half fast (half assed). That is what I am afraid America is going to end up with is a half assed stimulus bill that has little chance of helping.

Happy Freedom Day!

Feb. 1 is National Freedom Day. How many Americans knew that? President Truman signed the bill makingFeb. 1 Freedom Day back in 1948. It is based upon President Lincoln freeing the slaves on Feb. 1.

Here at The Universal Churchof Freedom, Acceptance and Love this is our holiestday. Nothing in this country is more important than freedom and nothing should be celebrated more than having freedom.

It is such a shame that so many of our politicians want to take our freedoms from us. It is a sham that so many of our fellow citizens want to enjoy the freedoms that they hold deer while stopping others from enjoying our deeply held freedoms.

If it is our governments desire totake our freedoms so asto give us security, we surely will end up losing them both. If it is another persons mission to stop people from enjoying freedoms simply becuase they are contrary to their own morals, who will defend their rights when someone comes to stop them?

People are just people and we are all the same in our differences. We all have basic needs and desires, we simply take different paths to there fullfilment. Stop the hypocrisy and start accepting. Accept that all people are Free.