March 2007 - Posts
Iran has taken 15 British sailors and marines hostage. Taking hostages is what they do best. Anyway, the British government and UN Security Council have, so far, been unable to successfully negotiate their release.
Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh reported what Newt Gingrich has suggested to guarantee their safe return [link]:
... Newt Gingrich had a good idea. He was on Hugh Hewitt's show out in California yesterday. He said, "Look, I'd do two things. First thing I'd do is I'd tell them under the radar -- behind the scenes, not publicly, I'd say -- 'You got 30 days. If you don't release them in 30 days, we're going to take out the lone refinery you have to make gasoline. You people want to live in the Seventh Century, we'll take care of it. You'll all be walking in another month.' Then after we do that, we'll put a naval blockade in there." This is what he thinks the Brits ought to be saying. "'We'll put a naval blockade out and we'll make sure that no gasoline gets into your country. We'll make sure that nobody can export anything to you, and after a month of this, you'll be walking, including your leadership.'
Newt Gingrich is just repeating what others have been saying for some time [link]. You see, despite Iran's rich oil fields, they are a net importer of oil. One strategic strike to their lone refinery would devastate their economy and potentially cause mass demonstrations in the streets.
Ah, I love the smell of napalm in the morning...
Free Prose FridayTM is on hold for the next two Fridays in order to concentrate on Easter. And, yes to all you fuddyduds, I realize that Easter isn't mentioned in the New Testament. I celebrate it not out of legalism but out of choice.
If I were king of the world just for a day, I would declare that Easter Sunday would immediately follow the first day of Passover. We would get away from this stupid first-Sunday-after-the-first-full-moon-after-the-vernal-equinox Roman tradition and celebrate it when it was meant to be celebrated. Next, I would declare that Easter Sunday would mark the New Year. (But I would retain my Gentile "right" to celebrate with seafood or pulled-pork barbeque. Mmm.)
Easter Sunday in 2007 is unique because it is one of the few times each century that Easter is celebrated immediately after the first day of Passover. This year, Passover begins at nightfall on Monday, April 2. So, in 2007, Jews and Christians are jointly observing a tradition that began in Egypt many thousands of years ago.
I hope you all share in my excitement about Easter and what it means. I would love to hear an Easter memory, story or anticipation from you guys. Please email it to me at joe@steeplemedia.com; and, with your permission, I will edit it for grammar and spelling and post it for others. If anything, it will be an encouragement to us and prepare us for That Day.
"Were you there when the stone was rolled away (Oooh sometimes it causes me to tremble)."
Mrs. Napalm is pregnant with our third child -- a daughter. We have two boys, ages 10 and 7. There have been two resources that have been priceless to aid us in the rearing of our two sons. These are not the sole resources, mind you; but I wish to highlight them for friends, family and acquaintances that have young boys or are expecting the arrival of a little one shortly.
The first resource is Dr. James C. Dobson's Bringing Up Boys. A close friend gave us the audio book which is contained on six CDs. It is a wonderful resource and I recommend it to anyone with sons or anyone who works with young boys. Dr. Dobson's book reaffirms what most men know and prepares young moms for a little adventure. It explains how boys are wired differently than girls. They play with toys differently and do crazy things. And the book gives an outline for shaping and civilizing their behavior.
The second resource is John Eldredge's book Wild at Heart. It isn't so much a resource as it is an inspiration. All men, fathers or not, can reap benefits from this book. I have even known women that have picked it up as a means to a better understanding of their husbands and sons.
Now if I could only find resources for daughters. Have any good ones? Share them in the comments or email me at joe@steeplemedia.com.
"Charge!" - Rough Rider Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan Hill.
My gift to you: A lifetime membership to the Joe Napalm Manly-Man Club and a gift that I ordered online that will be fashionably late.
Happy Birthday, BJ!
It's certainly interesting. And it makes for an interesting plot line for the Hunt. Maybe it's that Ripley's Believe It or Not is just over the hill in Gatlinburg or because of my studies of Mormonism that make me a little skeptical of stones. I
do have a sudden urge to drive to Gainesville, GA, and see these rocks.
For more information on Jamestown 400: Our National Treasure Hunt visit visionforum.com/jamestown400.
I post on this blog part time. Therefore, at any given time I have about five posts that I would really like to find time to sit down and type. I keep a notepad of post ideas and mark through them as they become stale or enough material has already been discussed on other Internet news sites and blogs that I couldn't add anything. Most of the time, I develop the post outline before sitting down to type and find that the biggest hurdle is trying to get the point across in as few words as possible. Who wants to read a book by some part-time amateur? But I start this post without any prior thought so it may ramble.
I love America. I mean I really love it. The playing of the national anthem gives me goose bumps. I'm proud to fly the flag. I root for America.
My love is not based on the people, the government or the powerful military. My love is for the ideals on which this nation was founded. Nowhere and at no time in history was a nation based on a government by the people and for the people. And nowhere other than America will you find a nation proclaim that humans have certain inalienable rights granted by our Creator. We don't derive our basic rights from a document or a government or a leader. We're born with them and America says it is true.
America has been richly blessed. There is no other country in history that can compare. Our gross domestic product is $11 trillion -- or roughly equal to the GDP of China and Japan combined [link]. Our private sector aid to developing countries far exceeds any other nation. In 2003, you, me and our neighbors gave $62.1 billion to foreign aid through charitable organizations or just individual remittance [link]. That is an unimaginable amount of money that rivals any other nation!
But it troubles me and breaks my heart to see America crumbling. I could give examples of the implosion, but I'm sure you all see it too. This breaking apart is due to one thing and only one thing. That one thing is the lack of fear of God. Period.
Many may have just rolled their eyes and tuned out once I mentioned "God". Others will point to the divorce rate, abortion rate, government corruption, education decline or some other social issue as reasons for the collapse. However, those are all thermometers and not root causes. The root cause is ... well, the problem put bluntly is that America is a whore. We have left our first Love and have prostituted ourselves to prosperity, happiness and the false religion of separation of church and state.
It isn't all doom and gloom. We have a Solution. But I'm afraid that Americans are too content to repent and turn back. The fall of America will bring about a Dark Age. Unfortunately, it seems that it may be in our lifetimes. And that breaks my heart because I really do root for America.
The Napalm Family watched an outstanding movie last night on DVD. If you haven't had a chance to see "Facing the Giants" [link], please do so. It is family-safe and wholesome. There is absolutely nothing even resembling inappropriate. And this comes from a man and wife who screen movies before our children watch them.
Now, I won't pretend to know how to write a movie review. But I will say that it is an uplifting and encouraging film that you will certainly recommend to others.
If you have seen the film, please share your thoughts in the comments.
Wow. If this Hunt inspires me to read Shakespeare, it will have succeeded at something that I have avoided for decades. I even visited his homeplace and
that didn't work.
And why didn't I know that newspaper accounts of the Jamestown voyage may have inspired Skakespeare? Your favorite search engine will find the answer for a worthy fool.
For more information on Jamestown 400: Our National Treasure Hunt visit visionforum.com/jamestown400.
Wesley and I tag-team as teachers of a Sunday school class. Many times the students take something away from the lesson that we meant only as an enhancement or as sidebar information and they forget the actual point of the lesson. For example, I once told our students that I figured Saul of the Old Testament was probably a high-fiving oaf.
At one time, I had a really thick-headed boss. He would make insanely stupid decisions and then would call us into the conference room to share. He would tell us of his stupid decision, offer an open hand in the air and say, "High five." His hand hung uncomfortably in the air near me as I looked around at the dumbfounded looks on my coworkers' faces. Sometimes I'd return the high five, but without enthusiasm. At other times I'd see it coming and look the other way.
That's the picture I have of King Saul. I can imagine Samuel approaching Saul like he did on more than one occasion and saying, "What have you done?" To which Saul would reply, "I killed the livestock, razed the city and kept the really hot-looking chicks. High five." His high five would hang in the air as Samuel looked on in disbelief at his stupidity.
When King Saul's name comes up in Sunday school, no one can remember anything about Saul other than ... "High five!"
This sort of thing happened again a couple of Sundays ago. I was teaching the lesson of Jesus' healing of the blind man. At one point, the Jewish leaders told the blind man that he was born into utter sin and they couldn't believe that he presumed to tell them anything. In other words, they said, "You're stupid. Get outta here."
As a sidebar, I told the students that name-calling is the root of a weak argument. Arguments or debates are won or lost on facts. I explained that logic briefly and went on with the lesson. Again, it was only a sidebar. But the very next week no one could remember the point of the lesson other than to tell us how they had won an argument at school or work when a fellow student or coworker resorted to name-calling.
Certainly these are really good life lessons. In light of Wesley's humorous post about carbon and the comments he received (and some I'm sure he didn't receive), maybe these are lessons that we should not relegate to sidebar, but highlight them.
Speaking of scientific consensus on global warming when there really isn't a consensus is one way the scientists or their representatives put up a virtual high-five while we all look at them in bewilderment. And present them with facts for a logical debate and you only run into a wall of name-calling.
For thousands of years man has tried to explain the world around him. The need to understand would create and then invoke the philosopher. Philosophies would be exhaled as easy as air. But most of these philosophies fall short. So I began to think, what is common in all the problems of the world. The answer: carbon!
What is the cause of global warming? Carbon emission. What is the fundamental ingredient of alcohol? Carbon. We exhale carbon dioxide, we avoid carbon monoxide, and our doctors say to cut back on carbonated drinks.
Remember the ozone crisis last decade? Well, carbon loves to destroy the ozone and make carbon dioxide.
Scientists debate the age of the earth. So how do we end this debate? They tell us by carbon dating.
Carbon has crept into our lives and is slowly taking over. Did you know that the standard unit for the mass of an atom is not based on hydrogen? One would think that since hydrogen holds that first place on our periodic table that it would be the standard. No. Do you know what the standard is? Correct! Carbon.
Men, you know that ring on your wife’s hand. You spent a fortune … on carbon.
So beware Al Gore’s energy solution: more hydro-carbons. Actually, beware Al Gore. He is mostly carbon.
-Wesley
1. Today, I sit atop the bracket leaderboard in both groups that I joined. My bracket in BJ's group looks like a solid win because of the point rules. But my bracket with a group of 50 from my previous employer has a very slim lead with plenty of potential to drop this weekend. In order to win that one, I need Florida to win against Butler and then lose against the Oregon / UNLV winner. Oh, and I need Ohio State to win.
2. Next year, I'll run a Joe Napalm NCAA bracket. We'll compete for ... carbon offsets or something.
3. "Don't Tread On Me" was replaced by "These Colors Don't Run" which has been replaced by "Stop Funding The War" which will be soon replaced by "Here Are The Keys To The Country".
4. Three Rednecks were working on a cell phone tower – Cooter, Pete and K.C. As they start their descent, Cooter slips, falls off the tower and is killed instantly. As the ambulance takes the body away, Pete says, "Well, durn, someone should go and tell his wife."
KC says, "OK, I'm pretty good at that sensitive stuff. I'll do it."
Two hours later, he comes back carrying a case of Budweiser. Pete asks, "Where did you get that beer, KC?"
"Cooter's wife gave it to me," KC replies.
"That's unbelievable, you told the lady her husband was dead and she gave you beer?"
"Well, not exactly", KC says. "When she answered the door, I said to her, 'You must be Cooter's widow.' She said, ‘You're mistaken. I'm not a widow.’... Then I said ‘I'll bet you a case of Budweiser you are.’”
5. Have an enjoyable weekend. It'll be near 80 degrees on Saturday here in East Tennessee. You can bet your bumpkiss that we'll be outdoors.
St. Catherine's Monastery lies at the base of the traditional Mt. Sinai where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments. The monastery was built by order of Emporer Justinian I between 527 and 568.1
Saint Catherine's has an incredible library that holds the world's second largest collection of Greek manuscripts including 8,000 books, 2,000 scrolls and 4,500 manuscripts.2 On display in the sacistry are folios of the 4th Century "Codex Sinaiticus", one of the oldest surviving Bibles.
Related links:
1 RenaissanceLibrary.com
2 Wikipedia.com
"I have a perfect horror of words that are not backed up by deeds." - Teddy
At IMAO.us: "Now He'll Just Be a Mean Tease If He Doesn't Run" [link]
Here's the direct link to the audio of Mr. Thompson's "red meat" remarks: [link].
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