I have noticed that there is a tendancy within the Christian community to hang out and fellowship a lot with Christians. While this is important, I think that it can be overdone and lead to a mentality that shuns other people. And as a result we congregate in our churches “free” from the “negative” impacts of homosexuals, Mormons and even Democrats, to name a few.

But this shunning lifestyle is in contrast to the life Jesus lived. He was often found rebuking religious leaders and was in turn rebuked for hanging out with those who were rejected by society. As he once said, “You will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged” (link). So basically he was saying that God will judge us based on how we have judged others. This is a scary warning, especially to those of us with a sometimes self-righteous mentality. And for those of us who call ourselves Christians it should directly impact how we treat others. Do we live with a smile on our face or do we scowl at those we disagree with? Do we look for the good in people or do we constantly look for the bad in people?

If everyone around is just like me I’ve fallen victim to the bubble mentality.

“Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”

- Mother Teresa

This is a song I wrote over the past several months and just recorded tonight. It’s named after Copper Harbor Michigan, an area where my family vacations sometimes. The below picture is of Horseshoe Harbor on Lake Superior, which is near Copper Harbor. It’s probably one of my favorite places to visit and I’ll be going there this Summer. Can’t wait!

Discussing his new movie about President Bush, “W”, director Olvier Stone recently said that President Bush may turn out to be “the worst president in history” (link).

Oliver Stone

With an approval rating hovering at a low 28% and gas prices steadily rising, President Bush could indeed use some positive news these days. 

Amidst this bad news some good news did show up this past Sunday in an unlikely place: a Washington Post editorial. This editorial discussed some recent signs of improvement in Iraq. While the editorial said it’s still too early to celebrate, it also emphasized some ”rapidly improving conditions” and “positive trends” including “a dramatic drop in violence” (link). Also, a recent poll at Rasmussen Reports reported that 42% of American voters believe the United States and its allies are winning the war on terror compared to only 24% who believe that the terrorists are winning (link).

In my opinion, President Bush will not be remembered among our worst presidents, though his numbers are suffering right now. I believe his low numbers are partially due to the fact that he is president during an unpopular war. For example Harry Truman left office claiming the all time lowest approval rating for an American President - only 22%. His low approval rating was tied to the tragedies of the Korean War, though as more positive news came out of South Korea, history remembered him in a better light.

Harry Truman

Is President Bush “the worst President in history”?

Over the past year or two Xanga has added a ton of new features such as photo, video and audio hosting, pulse, Xanga tv, themes, messaging, etc. Many of these changes were embraced by the Xanga community while some were shunned. Eventually, Xanga even got rid of some of their newer features such as “nudges” and “boost” (anyone remember the newspaper?). Other features such as “networks” haven’t seemed to have taken off quite yet, at least from my perspective, and I’m guessing the same may happen to them. So this leaves some people wondering, why create new features if some of them are flops? Isn’t the constant addition of new features alienating those who appreciate Xanga’s simplicity?

But I think that introducing new features is a good idea. Why not keep the ones that work and ditch the ones that don’t? One corporation that seems to take this philosophy to the extreme is Taco Bell…

For example, a few days ago I went there for lunch and noticed they have a new “Get Your Grub On” value menu. A few weeks before that they were advertising their new gordita supreme and before that it was the  chicken quesadillas. The list goes on. Yet in a few years many of these new menu items will probably not even be available. In fact, I counted twenty-five discontinued menu items, including “the cheesarito” and “the bell beefer”. Apparently these items never really took off, so Taco Bell took them off the menu. Yet some of their additions stuck and are successes to this day, such as the 7 layer burrito, the chalupa, the tostada and the mexican pizza. 

In conclusion I think that introducing new features is usually a good idea. If the feature is a success Xanga can add it to its ever growing “menu”. If the feature isn’t a success we can let Xanga know and hopefully it will simply go the way of “the cheesarito” and ”the bell beefer”. Which reminds me, I’m hungry!

Here is POD’s anti-war song on Jay Leno last week…

A famous passage from Ecclesiastes 3:8 reads:

“[There is] a time to love and a time to hate,
       a time for war and a time for peace.”

This song raises some good questions on Memorial Day, which honors U.S. men and women who died while in military service to our country. I think we can all agree that these people should be honored and commemorated for sacrificing their lives for our benefit. But at the same time we mourn their loss and are perplexed at the horrors and tragedies that are found within war.

Is war ever a good decision? Is there “a time for war”?

I’m going to try and answer this featured question in a different way by using a couple poems I’ve written. First, one of my favorite things to do when I get stressed is go to a local nature preserve and just get lost with my camera and spend an hour or so walking around and meditating and praying. I find that it usually helps get my mind off my worries when I’m surrounded by clean air and beautiful scenery.

“Contemplation”

Breathe in, breathe out,

And take a look around.

The grass and trees,

Are shades of green,

The sky’s not falling now.

Breathe in, breath out,

And see the shades of blue,

In sky and sea,

And feel so free,

There’s nothing stopping you.

And of course when all else fails there’s caffeine.

“Caffeine Buzz”

Everything’s bright and shiny.
Feels like you’re smoking nicotene.
My blood flows faster with caffeine.

Once I have a can or two,
Of Pepsi, Coke or Mountain Dew,
Everything’s bright and shiny.

But if I don’t get my fix,
I’ll probably throw a fit.
My blood flows faster with caffeine.

Sometimes I’m cynical and lazy.
But once chemicals come save me,
Everything’s bright and shiny.

Here’s something difficult to stop;
A lifelong addiction to coffee and pop.
My blood flows faster with caffeine.

Suddenly feeling a sense of bliss.
I wish I could always feel like this.
Everything’s bright and shiny.
My blood flows faster with caffeine.

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

Who is somebody you would consider to be a good person?

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

Wow Xanga chosed me question! I was reading through some of the answers and I was surprised at how many people chose perezhilton.com as one of their top three sites. Am I the only person to never have heard of it?

For me Xanga would be an obvious choice as I log in here pretty much every day. The Starlite Cafe would be another for me because all of my poetry is up there. And lastly I’d probably have to say my e-mail account but my bank’s website would be a close fourth.  

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

This makes me want to go buy a pogo stick…

Did you own a pogo stick growing up?

April 15 is quickly approaching and with it comes the deadline to finish your taxes. And to celebrate I thought of an idea that can possibly earn us a deduction on next year’s taxes called the First Annual Charity Swap. Anyways, here’s how it works…

First Annual Charity Swap

The first person to leave me a comment with a link to their favorite charity will be the person I “swap charities” with. I will then donate $20 to that charity and leave them a comment with a link to my favorite charity to which they will also donate $20. The only conditions are that both charities have to be legitimate and must accept online credit card payments. It’s a win/win situation as those participating will become more generous and will discover and give to a great new charity that we normally wouldn’t give to. Plus it’s a quick and simple way to make our favorite charities $20 richer and even have a small tax deduction for next year.   

This will run on the honor system so e-mailing or posting receipts isn’t necessary unless you want a copy for your own records.

To find out more about different charities feel free to check out these websites…

http://www.give.org (Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance)

http://www.charitynavigator.org/