Brody Croyle is the starting quarterback for the hometown team - the Kansas City Chiefs. The is an interview with his father John Croyle who began the “Big Oak Ranch—A Christian Home for Children Needing a Chance” in 1974 after passing up a promising professional football career. Since then, thousands of abused, neglected or abandoned children have found a home and Christlike love there.

From a Washingtom Post forum:

Some Christian leaders issued An Evangelical Manifesto last week to depoliticize the term 'evangelical.' "We evangelicals are defined theologically, and not politically, socially or culturally," they said. In your mind, what is the definition of an evangelical?

Here are some excerpted answers to the question:

But in general I welcome this as an open-hearted and generous statement. -NT Wright

These Evangelical leaders have come to rue the day they were discovered as a voting bloc by Republican strategists. They have been manipulated and “that way faith loses its independence.” -Susan Brooks

I wasn't aware of a demand for an "evangelical manifesto." -Cal Thomas

The Manifesto well defines the character of evangelicalism as a theological movement. Though it seeks always to bring Christian truth to bear in all of society, including politics, evangelicalism stands astride the mainstream of the church and apart from and independent of any worldly structure. -Chuck Colson

The most helpful, though not original, feature of the Manifesto is to show that the Evangelicals represented in it are more and other than scrubbed-up and toned-down ex-Fundamentalists. -Martin Marty

Group finds Starbucks logo
too hot to handle
By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune


Seems that one person's smut is another person's morning latte.



A Christian group based in San Diego found grounds for outrage over the new retro-style logo for Starbucks Coffee.

The Resistance says the new image "has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute," Mark Dice, founder of the group, said in a news release. "Need I say more? It's extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves Slutbucks."

The group, which claims more than 3,000 members nationwide and has found a place on the fringe advancing various conspiracy theories, is calling for a national boycott of the coffee-selling giant.

Read the rest of the article here.

On very rare occasions.. when I am a bit ornery.. my co-workers call me New York Bob. This week one of these "friends" gave me this pillow for my birthday and recited the instructions below as we ate some cake.

New York Bob Syndrome Reliever Pillow

The New York Bob Pillow has been found to be one of the fastest and safest new devices for relieving the stress of the chronic disease of New York Bob. In tests done with New York mice it has been found to quickly relieve their stress and once again have them behaving like good old Kansas Bob again.

1. Please read all safety instructions before attempting any use.

2. Ask all family and friends to stand back as pillow is removed from packaging.

3. Remove from reusable protective sack when frustrated, angry, upset, confused and disappointed or other symptoms of New York Bob are becoming visible to others.

4. Hold pillow firmly in both hands about chest high

5. Locate center of pillow

6. Using right or left arm punch pillow as hard as strength allows. Repeat as often as needed to relieve symptoms of New York Bob.

7. Alternate use instructions: Hold up to face and scream into pillow preferably with rag in mouth to prevent soiling pillow for future use.

8. As the characteristics of Kansas Bob return allow yourself the time to rest from treatment.

9. Limited warranty on pillow, we take no responsibility for unlawful use of pillow. We recommend a protection plan on all pillow devices.
(All use should preferably be done privately or in padded room)

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - John Hagee, an influential Texas televangelist who endorsed John McCain, apologized to Catholics Tuesday for his stinging criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and for having "emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholic and Protestant relations with the Jews."
...
In a letter to William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, Hagee wrote: "Out of a desire to advance a greater unity among Catholics and evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful."

Donohue, one of Hagee's sharpest critics, said he accepted the apology and planned to meet with Hagee Thursday in New York.

"I got what I wanted," Donohue said in an interview. "He's seen the light, as they like to say. So for me it's over."
...
"In my zeal to oppose anti-Semitism and bigotry in all its ugly forms, I have often emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholics and Protestant relations with the Jews," Hagee wrote. "In the process, I may have contributed to the mistaken impression that the anti-Jewish violence of the Crusades and the Inquisition defines the Catholic Church. It most certainly does not."

I applaud Hagee's apology. You can read the entite article here.

Justine Henin retired from tennis Wednesday, an abrupt ending to a short and successful career in which she won seven Grand Slam singles titles and leaves while ranked #1. She is the first woman to quit the sport while atop the WTA rankings.

The first duty of love is to listen. -Paul Tillich

You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time. -M. Scott Peck

Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery. -Dr Joyce Brothers

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God. -Diana Robinson

The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them. -Ralph Nichols

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. -Max Ehrman

No one is as deaf as the man who will not listen. -Jewish Proverb

Your mind knows only some things. Your inner voice, your instinct, knows everything. If you listen to what you know instinctively, it will always lead you down the right path. - Henry Winkler

The more faithfully you listen to the voices within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside. -Dag Hammarskjold

Hewlett-Packard will become the second-largest technology services company after IBM with a deal announced Tuesday to buy Electronic Data Systems (my one-time employer) for $13.9 billion. As the picture denotes, IBM can't be too happy about the news :)

According to this report wind turbines could generate power about 20 percent of the US electrical grid by 2030.

Now that is some hot air I can believe in :)

According to this AP article

"Cindy McCain says she will never make her tax returns public even if her husband wins the White House and she becomes the first lady."

Here is her rationale:

"You know, my husband and I have been married 28 years and we have filed separate tax returns for 28 years. This is a privacy issue. My husband is the candidate."

What do you think about this idea of privacy? I don't care for it. I think that if you want to be the First Lady of this country you need to stretch a bit and reveal your sources of income and not hide - it is a trustability issue.. for Cindy and her husband. Just my opinion.. what's yours?

5/11 Update: Gas today was $3.57 - cost $64 to fill-up bigfoot.

4/23: The price board of a Chevron gas station is shown in San Francisco on Monday. Rising gasoline prices tightened the squeeze on drivers jumping to an average $3.50 a gallon at stations across the country. It is $3.41 in KC.

How much is a gallon of gas in your neck of the woods?

Sadly, I voted with the 31% ... I wanted to vote with the 18% but I simply don't like the political connotations associated with Evangelicalism. How would you vote?

If you are interested in the background of the words on this picture please check out my post from 3 years ago. I was amazed when I found this picture that seemed to match it so well. If you can't read it please click on the picture to enlarge it.