Gift Idea

I received this email today:

Christmas Gift Ideas- No not a Christmas list or "gift" idea. But a new way to give to your children. In order to simplify things in your household this Christmas consider this idea.
For each child (or Adult) give four items to fit into each category of- NEED, WANT, WEAR, READ.
And then you can still do a Santa gift if you like, just for the Magic of Christmas:)

So give something the child Needs, Something they Want, something they Wear (PJ's as the Christmas Eve gift is a great idea) and something to Read.

It will make each gift much more special and you can perhaps be able to purchase more quality items instead of spreading out your budget over a dozen toys.

After all Christmas isn't about the presents anyway. This is a great way to control spending, and not end up with a bunch of plastic parts to lots of toys scattered all over the house after Christmas.
Trust me your Children will not miss those, and neither will you!

Pass this idea along!

My Thoughts:

This is truly a great Idea. That old worn out cliché, “It’s the thought that counts” is really a very intriguing piece of wisdom. Instead of going out and purchasing a bunch of low quality, cheap and otherwise useless bunch of “stuff”, actually think about the four things. Plan your purchases instead of going to the store and throwing the brightest colored box in cart and waving around the almighty credit card in some idiotic gesture of indulgence. Think, that’s the thought part, about what your loved ones really need, and really want. Your loved ones, and your wallet will thank you. I have seen my family spend exorbitant amounts of money on my kids for Christmas. They want to see the glimmer of glee in their eyes that they had as a child. The only problem is that everyone is so overloaded with ‘stuff’ these days that the thoughts are hollow, and the glee isn’t there. We have donated so much “stuff” to charities after Christmas, sometimes still in unopened boxes that it’s difficult to imagine what “thought” went into those gifts. In my observation, there are generally only two toys each year that my kids play with constantly after Christmas time is over. That’s it 2 toys per season. So say you have a budget of $100 per kid. You do have a budget, right? You can buy ten, ten dollar gifts, of which two will make the cut(maybe). Or you can get two $50 gifts that will most likely be cherished, especially if you put thought into it. One way, you waste $80, the latter, you get your money’s worth. Besides, those $10 gifts usually aren’t a high enough quality to last till next year, while some $50 gifts will last a lifetime. I.e. I still have my original Legend of Zelda cartridge from when I was a kid. I occasionally play it just to remember those “Good old” days. So THINK about the gifts you give and who you will give them to, and everyone will be much happier this Christmas, except maybe Wal-mart’s CEO.

Tough Guys

Boy you have got to love tough guys! Always showing off how tough they are, putting out cigarettes on their arms, starting fights and generally showing that they don’t give a damn about anything. Real tough, not afraid of anything! At least so they seem. I want to see just one of those tough guys willingly go through this scenario: First, a sound thrashing with a cat-o-nine tails. Now the cat-o-nine tails is truly cruel piece of arsenal. It is a whip, actually several whips attached to one handle. And on the whips are barbs and blades which, when some into contact with living flesh, literally tear chunks out and shred it like cheese. Serious pain. After that, carry a 200 pound cross up a large hill several miles away, while being beaten and jeered at the entire way. Once you get up the hill, have your hands and feet nailed to the cross you just carried up the hill, and then slowly and painfully suffocate while some one shoves a feces soaked sponge in your mouth. Any takers? Where are you tough guys now? Jesus was a REAL tough guy. He could have stopped the whole thing at any time and rained down fire on his tormentors. But he didn’t. He knew he had a job to do and he saw it through to the end. He didn’t hate his enemies or destroy them even though he could have easily done so. He prayed for them and forgave them instead.
So, how tough are you? Will you see your job trough to the end? Can you forgive your tormentors? Will you take up your cross? Want to be a REAL tough guy? It’s not easy being a real Christian, it in fact makes life tougher. But you get a real tough guy watching your back 24/7, keeping you from losing your way and helping you see your job through to the end. This life is not about us, it’s about Him.

It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
Psalms 18:32-34

Tip of the Day: How NOT to get shot!

Here are a few tips to keep in mind if you find yourself in a situation where you are likely to be shot. First, be respectful. If you are breaking the law, there are a lot more ways of justifying someone shooting your stupid disrespectful @$$. Second, if you do find yourself staring down the business end of a gun, it’s probably because you were disrespectful, stupid, or both. At this point in time it would be unwise to provoke the person with the gun, as they are obviously willing and able to shoot you. Perhaps, you should listen. Maybe let them know who you are and that most obviously made a mistake and apologize. Just like with any wild animal, do not approach said person with a gun and don’t make any sudden movements. This will certainly lead to you being shot. Always remember, being shot really, really hurts. Except for crazy people who shouldn’t have guns in the first place, no one wants to shoot another person, so don’t force some ones hand into pulling the trigger. It’s really hard for a stranger to assess the worth of your life, so it would be unwise to expect them to think it is worth more than the price of a bullet.

Here are a few more specific tips:

Don’t sleep with a gun owners daughter, wife, mom, husband or really anyone who they don’t want you sleeping with.

Road rage is considered attempted assault in most places and use of force laws can justify someone shooting you if you are an aggressor.

If you have a weapon in your hands, you should drop it right away if someone threatens to shoot you.

Alcohol and Firearms DO NOT MIX! Really, Really Bad Idea! Any other drugs, too.

If you point a gun at someone, be prepared to shoot them. If you aren’t, they might take your gun and shoot you with it!

Don’t let strangers know where you keep your guns, even friends. Although they might not rob you they may inadvertently tip off someone who will.

And last of all, remember your basic firearm safety rules,
and teach them to the people who live in your home, even your kids. Knowledge is Safety.

Cash is King...Or is it?

© PhotoXpress.com

Well here we go. Federal Government is increasing Debt to all time highs. The Fed is printing money faster than the ink can dry, all the while telling us the recovery is at hand. Things don’t seem to be getting better, but so far the dollar hasn’t inflated much in spite of the huge printing run. Why is that? Because we’re all hoarding the stuff! Think about it. If the fed is printing more money, but everyone is hoarding money, the relative volume of cash stays the same. It’s not until we the people go out and start trying to spend our hoarded up money that inflation will set in. And it will, and once it does our economy will see the BIG dip. And since the federal government is up to it’s eyeballs in debt, there will be little recourse on their part. In fact at the G20 Summit, the other nations of the world are seriously wanting to get rid of the American Dollar as the international currency of trade! If China stops buying all of our government bonds, the Debt of America, our currency value will drop like a lead brick. Imagine paying upwards of ten dollars a gallon for gasoline, or five for a loaf of bread? Our lives are so based on foreign trade that America no longer stands on it’s own anymore. So America will go Bankrupt. And our creditors will buy up our federal land, our military equipment, our gold and oil reserves, pretty much everything that makes America great will be gone. And your couple of thousand in cash? Gone so fast you blinked and missed it. Your wages won’t be adequate for feeding your family. Cash will be all but worthless and the necessities of life will be more valuable than bricks of gold. Food, clean water and shelter will be invaluable as people are driven from their no longer affordable homes. Shanty towns will form and everything will be pretty close to the great Depression, except this time we will have enemies with nuclear arsenals. They will laugh and laugh at our prideful stupidity as we allowed ourselves to implode.
What can you do? Here's an idea, buy one full months worth of non-perishable food. This is good advice regardless of what may come, because if anything bad happens, food shortages will be the first problem. “But I need the cash if I lose my job!” You reply. What do you think you’re going to be spending that cash on!? Buy food supplies now, it’s not paranoia, it’s common sense. If where you live floods, you can’t drive to the grocery store. Tornado could blow the store away. Any number of things could cause you to be unable to go grocery shopping. Be smart and take care of your family. Cash is only worth what you can buy with it.

Making a Difference

It is said that one person can't make a difference. That is bold faced lie intended to discourage us from realizing our true potential as human beings. You don't have to try and single-handedly save the entire world to make a difference, just one person is all it takes. No daring act of heroism is called for. Just do something for someone that you wouldn't normally do, to help make their life a little better. It's not hard at all. Here's the kicker though. When they ask you where this uncommon act of kindness is coming from(and they will), tell them. Say,"I'm saving the world!" Of course, you can expect the look like you just told them you like peanut butter on your french fries. So explain yourself, and if ever anyone asks how to repay your kindness, challenge them as I challenge you today: Each week make it a point to help one person out with a small act of kindness. It doesn't have to be money, it doesn't have to be time, it just has to fit in with something they need. Just once per week, that's all. You will find that it feels good to help people, and this will soon be second nature. You will find friends and gain respect. You will have opportunities to witness to people and spread your love. And like all those stupid chain Emails say: pass this on it REALLY WORKS! Except this one does really work. Good Luck and Good Living!

Jihad

Yesterday, a young illegal immigrant from Jordan, Sam Smadi, attempted to blow up one of Dallas’ finest works of modern architecture.
The Fountain Place(my Uncle helped build it) has absolutely no right angles at all, and was possibly one of the most difficult buildings to construct in modern times.
America, when are we going to get mad, I mean really MAD! Even post 9/11/01, we weren’t really mad. Really mad is, you kill 3,000 Americans, we kill 30,000 of your people. You blow up a building, we blow up a city. That’s MAD! This is Jihad, people! Do you not realize that these terrorists have declared WAR on you, me, our Children, all of our religions, our Freedom, our Honor, our entire way of life!? They want to destroy the very history of our entire existence! They are HERE in America! We are being invaded by our ENEMY! Where are you Congress, President Obama!? How can this guy and others just like him stroll across the border! There are enemy combatants on American Soil, and all you are going to do is arrest them, give them a trial, and a maximum sentence of Life Imprisonment! THIS IS A WAR! They have declared WAR on us! Our leaders continue to pander to dictators and terrorist supporters ON OUR OWN SOIL! RIGHT NOW! Why aren’t you Angry, America!? And how about you, “Religion of Peace” Muslims? I really want to believe you, really I WANT to accept that as the truth. However, I don’t see “Christian Extremists Blow Up Building” or “Hindu Fundamentalists Hijack Airplane” across the headlines of the daily news. So I want to know, is Islam the “Religion of Peace” only after you all have wiped every other point of view off the face of the Earth? Convince me otherwise. Convince me by getting these headlines in the paper, “Muslim tips off police to Extremist plot” or “Muslim Americans Kill Terrorist Extremist”. Don’t make it a one-time thing either. Police your own religion. The Mormons fought a similar battle with polygamists over the years. They have had to ostracize all polygamists from their churches and society, and rendered practicers into cults. Do the same with yours. And to you, Mr. Smadi, you want to blow up America, huh? Well you best pray to Allah right now that you do get life in prison for your crime. Because if a real American ever gets a hold of you, you will BEG us to kill you! And that is a promise! You terrorists are not frightening me, or the rest of America either. You only serve to bring our wrath upon you. Just you wait till the gloves come off, and then see where you stand. The US could turn the entire Middle East into a bead of glass in a day, and cover it in pig’s blood before week’s end, if we wanted to. Please, keep on trying to harm innocent people, I want to have a good laugh when we finally come off our moral high ground and really get to the business of ending your nonsense.
Seriously, what if the FBI had not intercepted this guy, what if a real bomb maker got him first, gave him a real bomb, and blew a beautiful piece if the Dallas skyline away? How would you feel then? Would you be really mad then? Would you tell your congressman and the federal government that we need less restrictions on our borders and that illegal immigrants need amnesty? Knowing Terrorists are here in our midst, do we really need to be policing the rest of the world, or should we be focusing inward right now? They are bringing the fight to us in spite of our efforts abroad, and there might as well be a welcome sign on our back door. Are you starting to get it now?

Constitutionalism Vs. UN

This week the UN is deliberating whether to reinstate the impeached president of Honduras. He was impeached for attempting to become a dictator, and now, We the US and the rest of the United Nations want to reinstate him!? I thought we were trying to get rid of dictators, not create them. Good luck Honduras, I pray for your sovereignty. To reinstate Zelaya would set a precedent that a nations constitution is irrelevant against the will of the Almighty UN. What will happen when We the People decide it's time to go back to our constitutional roots? Will the UN put troops on American soil to subdue us? God help those who defy the will of American citizens, we are the most tenacious and ferocious fighters on the planet, or at least we used to be. Maybe some of us could spend a little more time on the treadmill.

"Honor is the reward of Virtue"