27 October, 2004

Rights

I borrowed this from a comment by some guy on Vox Day's Blog
It says it so well, why try to do better.

ON RIGHTS:

1. Rights come from somewhere.
2. The Declaration of Independence claims our rights come from God.
3. Government recognizes out God-given rights.
5. Since rights don't come from government, government can't take them away.
6. Government can't also make up new rights to give you.
7. Any "right" you have that requires someone else to give up something for you to have, isn't a right, it is oppression.

24 October, 2004

A&M 29, Colorado 26 Overtime

Wow, this was a surprise. I thought this week would be a little easier, maybe that was our teams problem too. We played CU very close for the entire game. But two fumbles by Colorado made the difference in the game. One was in the fourth quarter that we took in to score 3 points. The other was in overtime that ended the game for the A&M win. This game would have been great to see, either in person or via TV; but, the networks decided two weeks ago that it wasn't worth televising. Don't you know they are kicking themselves now.

Reggie McNeal didn't look at all like a Heisman trophy candidate for the first 40 minutes, but he sure did for the last 20 and overtime. He threw the ball poorly for the first half and part of the 3rd quarter, but then he really stepped it up. CU scored and took a 3 point lead with 1:03 left in regulation. Reggie took us down the field and almost scored a TD on a run, but we didn't have enough time for another play so we kicked the field goal to take us to OT. In OT Reggie ran or passed for almost every yard. After a touchdown being called dead at the 1 we couldn't score the TD, but the defense came through with a fumble to end the game. Reggie now has 195 pass attempts without an inteception. That is an A&M and Big 12 record and an absolotely incredible statistic. Not only is Reggie good enough to win games, but he makes so few of the mistakes that can cost you a close game. The Heisman committee should certainly be looking at him. 22 rushes for 139 yards and23 of 38 passing for 243 yards and no INT. Of course, he didn't rush or pass for a TD, he must be slipping.

18 October, 2004

Freedom

Americans like to believe we live in a free country because we fought a revolution for freedom 228 years ago. We aren't really a free country but we should vote Freedom First.

1. A vote for the right to own guns is a vote for freedom. This country would never have been free without people owning guns and even now, a gun is your best defense of your own family.

2. A vote for lower taxes is a vote for freedom. The US collects far too much in taxes which are then spent on unconstitutional programs. Only 50% of the population pays income tax; but, 95% of the people pay too much in taxes. There is no such thing as a bad tax cut. Taxes should be lower, fairer, and more predictable.

3. A vote for less government control is a vote for freedom. The US government should be forced to live within the constitutional limits. But since most people have never read the constitution they don't even know what the limits are supposed to be. Government can not do anything well, so our constitution was created so the federal government only did the very few things no one else could do. They were given so little to do that they couldn't mess it up too bad.

These three things explain why I am not voting for George W. Let's grade him on these three 1. C He has not allowed any new horrendous gun laws, but he hasn't helped any either. He promised to sign a bill continuing the ban on Dangerous Looking Guns. 2. B+ His tax cuts were good and he fought hard for them, but they weren't really big enough he hasn't controlled spending at all. 3. F GW used 9/11 as an excuse to grow government while failing to do the things that would really help, like secure our borders.

Michael Peroutka of the Constitution Party is my choice for President. He won't even be on the ballot in Texas, but he is a certified write in candidate. But; to be taken seriously, the Constitution Party has to getting serious about getting their message our between elections. They are saying the right things, but are sort of weak on action.

Freedom is the right to make wrong decisions

A&M 36 Oklahoma State 20

Wow, I was incredibly impressed again. for 3 quarters we pounded OSU and then we were about even in the fourth quarter. We forced two fumbles while not giving up any turnovers. 5-1 amazing.

Reggie McNeal was all world Saturday. He was 19 of 25 passing for 288 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed 14 times for 98 yards and two touchdowns. After 6 games he still has not turned the ball over. He even had all the breaks go his way, he fumbled the football on a run and it bounced into the hands of our tight end. The very next play he throws a 60 yard Hail Mary which is tipped by one of our receivers and caught by a second receiver for a touchdown. Reggie was named the National Offensive Player of the Week. And halfway through the season, the Heisman talk is starting. If he keeps up this level of performance he deserves it.

We have Colorado and Baylor the next two weeks so we should be 7-1 then. Then we play Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and tu(texas university). So even if we lost the last three we would be 7-4 after 4-8 last year. Plus I think we have a good chance to win one or maybe two of those three big games. 9-2 is possible and you can even dream about 10-1 and a BCS spot. What a difference a year makes.

11 October, 2004

A&M 34 Iowa State 3

4-1 wow! I did not expect that we would be 4-1 at this point. I didn't see the Iowa State games as it was on pay per view, but it must have been good. We scored on our first two drives and kept rolling from there. Now; Iowa State is not a great football team; and we still have lots of room for improvement but this year has started very well.

We have still been getting too many penalties and too many stupid penalties. But I know the coaches will continue to work on that. We had some problems in kickoff coverage this week. But anytime you kickoff that many times at least you have some good film to find the weak areas.

Reggie McNeal is the real deal. After 5 games he has not thrown an interception. Before the Iowa State game there were only 3 teams in Division 1A that didn't have an interception and the other two were very small schools. That statistic by itself is amazing, but he reads defenses very well, makes good decisions, and is athlete enough to fill in any gaps he might have. Keep your eyes on Reggie.

06 October, 2004

Wake Up

Amazing that 228 years after we declared independence and fought a war for freedom we have drifted so far. The Founding Fathers would be embarrassed, probably not surprised because they understood human nature enough to know which way the country would naturally tend to drift.

Read this article by Joseph Farah or this one by Michelle Malkin, or how about this action by our elected representatives(apparently some crimes are more important than others, or some crimes are committed out of love and not hate)these are serious issues that neither of the big 2 presidential candidates have addressed. These are issues costing billions of dollars per year and possibly many lives, but the major media aren't reporting them either. In 2004, you can find more accurate and truthful reporting on the internet than on network TV news. Of course not everything you read on the internet is true, but it is probably more true that what you hear on TV and is certainly deeper discussion than 5 minutes dedicated to serious issues on Network TV.

There has been a lot of discussion lately about Dan Rather and the fake documents that CBS portrayed as real. But; most people don't know that Rather and CBS have been doing that for years without getting caught publicly. If you think Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw, and others don't have political views, or that their reports aren't biased by their views then you need to educate yourself. Those guys have views and opinions as strong as Rush Limbaugh. Their newscasts show their biases, but unlike Rush they say they are unbiased. How can anyone intelligent enough to do what Dan Rather has done for years not have an opinion, and if you have a strong opinion, it will come through in what you say and what you report. Jesus said "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. Matt 12:34 NASU. It is at true today as it was 2000 years ago. Everyone has an opinion, it is not wrong to have an opinion or to report with a biased. What is wrong is saying you are unbiased, but everyone else is biased.

Freedom includes the right to make wrong decisions.

05 October, 2004

The Law

People who don't know God personally tend to think that he made up the law to keep us from having fun. Actually, just the opposite is true. God gave us the law to protect us from things that we didn't even know could hurt us.

The Jews were given many laws when they were wandering in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. They were given dietary and sanitation laws hundreds of years before germs were discovered. The were told not to eat food that modern science has shown are more likely to have deadly germs in them. They were told to isolate people with communicable diseases so they wouldn't spread. They were told not to touch the dead to keep from spreading disease. They were told to bury human waste instead of leaving it in the street like everyone else. All of these laws were obviously to protect them, many of these laws are why the Jewish people are alive today and not destroyed when plagues ripped through Europe. Their laws protected them.

Why do we think that the other laws are to hurt us. God's laws against fornication(unmarried sex), theft, homosexuality, bestiality, adultery, murder, fraud, etc are all for our benefit. If we will do things his way our life will work out better and we will be happied. How many lives have been hurt by these sins, but yet we try to say murder, adultery, theft and fraud are wrong, but fornication and homosexuality are okay. We can argue all day about why God says they are wrong, but it comes down to he knows more than we do about the world; after all, he created it.

I wish people could understand God's heart. He wants to protect us and help us live the good life, but he won't force it upon us. He gives us a choice, but we have to live with the consequences of the choices. Sure he could have forced us to choose right, but then it wouldn't have really been a choice.

Freedom is the right to make wrong decisions. But the right ones always work out better.

03 October, 2004

A&M 42 Kansas State30

It was very close. With about 1:00 left to go it was 35 to 30 and K State was driving. We stopped them and then Reggie McNeal broke a 62 yard touchdown run. K State was the best football team, but they turned the ball over 4 times and we took advantage of it.

We are a decent football team playing very well. We don't have what it will take to beat some Big 12 teams, but if we keep up this level of play at least we won't have another year like last year. Plus success breed success. As our players get used to winning again it makes it easier to keep winning. If you had told me six months ago that we would start the season 3-1 and would have said no way. Good job Coach Fran, keep up the good work.

01 October, 2004

Cars and Freedom

I talked some last time about unintended consequences. Where the government attempts to solve a perceived problem and ends up creating several worse problems. That really relates with our cars.

You probably think you are free to buy a car with the features you want. WRONG!! You are free to buy any car on the market with the features closest to what you want. The difference is that your government has told the cars makers certain features that cannot be included and certain features that must be included. The car makers only make the cars they are allowed to, so your freedom(and maybe your life) is limited by the government.

CAFE is a federal law requiring all cars to meet certain gas mileage standards by certain dates, or pay fines added to the price of the car. To comply with this law the carmakers had to make smaller and lighter cars. The quit making large family cars and station wagons. The consumers didn't like smaller lighter cars so guess what, the consumers demanded and the automakers provided SUVs that are family size, but the CAFE standards don't apply to them. Of course they are more expensive and get worse mileage than the cars they replaced. But; that's not all, smaller lighter cars are also more dangerous. You are much more likely to be killed or seriously injured in an accident in a small car than a SUV. So either you can afford a SUV that is bigger and gets worse gas mileage than the car you would have bought, you buy a small car that get's great mileage but is more likely to kill you, or you can't afford either so you keep your old car that get's bad mileage and puts off more emissions but you can afford. Some freedom of choice.

What about safety, we can't compromise on safety can we? Well the federal masters imposed airbag rules that required a very powerful airbag to protect a large man with no seatbelt. Guess what, those federally mandated airbags were so powerful that they killed small adults or children. So the gov change the rules to allow lower powered airbags, but only after many people died and then sued the automakers for the airbags. So the cost of the lawsuits was added to the cost of the safety improvements and cars moved further out of financial reach. So again, more people drive older cars with no airbags because the new ones are too expensive.

I could go on all day, but you get the picture. Every requirement put on cars by government raises the price of the car, and many of the requirements don't even help the problem they are intended to solve. Often they create more numerous and more serious problems. Really each regulation is saying that consumers aren't smart enough to make their own decisions. So some beaureacrat will make the right decision for you. But sometimes their bad decisions can kill you.

Freedom includes the right to make wrong decisions.