ADD and Video Games

Did you know that from 1999 to the present, the number of kids being treated for ADD has increased more than 100%! American's spend $30 billion on the diagnosis and treatment of ADD. What is causing the increase in attention deficit disorder? One possible cause of ADD in young Americans is the video game industry. I said possible. But, think about it!

Someone sits down to play a video game. The games completely stimulates the brain. After a while, the brain becomes accustomed to the activity that is has difficulty slowing down. When the game is over, the brain is unable to settle down to a relaxed state, thus causing emotional disturbances. Medical stimulation is required to keep the brain functioning without the video environment. The brain gets addicted!

The rest of the world is boring compared to a video game. Ever try and get a video gamer to sit down to play a board game? Nothing is as engaging like a video game. It is hard to do. I am not pinpointing the problem with this one activity, but it is something to be studied.

Remember the story

Luke 2:1-20...And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

A Christmas Gift

"And, it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus...," Luke 2:1.

We all know the story. When I was growing up, I heard the story at least twice during the season: once at the church service before Christmas and on Christmas Eve. Then, I never questioned the story and after many years, I find little reason to question it now. It was a miracle! You cannot question miracles. So, I learned to ignore all the critics who argue about the time of year being wrong, how a woman can't get pregnant without having sex, or even, Jesus was just a man.

"'Tis the Season," as we languish in line at the retail stores. It is the season to over stress ourselves because we can't find the toy that our spoiled brat wants. We stress over the fear that their gift they got thier officer manager is not as good enough compared to the person in the next cubical. Then, there is my favorite "you shouldn't have" when you forgot to get someone a present who just handed you one. This aren't examples of how we are to conduct ourselves at Christmas. This is how we have been programmed to be at Christmas. This stress is too great for some. Christmas sees the highest rate of suicide than any other season.

Our command is to be unafraid of the day and to be of full of joy (Luke2:10). How many people do you know who are more glad Christmas is over than for it to arrive? How many of us take a year or more to pay off the gifts we give because we put them on credit? How many toys do we see laying around after 5 minutes of play? Think about it. How much joy do you see during Christmas. We say it! Do we really feel it?

I know, questions. However, I feel they are really important questions. We must connect with the way Christmas should be remembered. We are going in the wrong direction. With this in mind, I made a vow last year, that I would not put one gift on credit. It is Christmas Eve and I have kept that vow. There is no gift precious enough or needed enough to pay more than it is worth in interest.

I cannot give a gift comparable to the one given me over 2,000 years ago in a small, desert village. I will share my gift with anyone who wishes it because I cannot give it away. It is a miracle given to all men, women and children. Christmas is about the greatest miracle Man has ever been given.

"Weather,' you gotta love it.

Every one talks about the weather. In most places around the country it's either cold and snowy or warm and dry (relatively speaking, of course). In West Tennessee it is not that way. You gotta love West Tennessee weather. I think we are going to change the spelling from 'weather' to 'whether' because we don't know 'whether' it is going to be hot or cold, rainy or icy.

Let me give you an example of our 'whether.' Monday last week, we have ice and the schools were closed. Friday, the mercury popped 70 in some places. Last night, the temperature dropped to 12 degrees. BURR! (For us!). Tonight and tomorrow morning, we are supposed to get a 'wintry mix.' Friday? We are expected to have thunderstorms. You gotta love it!!

On average, we have as many tornadoes during the winter months as we do in the Spring. But, this isn't something new. It's been that way for the last 20 years or so. In 1980, they had a tornado in a nearby town that changed the route of the...wait for it...Christmas parade! It blew the roof off the bank. It's freaky. But, we love it. Do you know how boring it would be here without such freaky weather?

Mastering the Season

I think I finally have it figured out. It has been a struggle for many families across the country trying to figure out how to plan the holiday visitation rounds. For the last 10 years, it has been a stressful time for my family when it comes to Christmas dinners and gift swaps. It has been really difficult since my parents are divorced and having in-laws.

When I was growing up, I knew where I was going every Christmas. When my parents got divorced it all went down hill. It got decidely worse when I got married. Two families went to four and then it went to six plus families to make visits to every year. Just when it got bad, my in-laws moved to another state. It was terrible. "Hold on! Cancel Christmas!"One year, I stayed at home and didn't go anywhere.

Finally, I think we have it all figured out. For now...



Merry Christmas! To those that do and condolences to those who don't! It'll pass soon!

Majel Barrett dies

On December 18, 2008, Magel Barrett Roddenberry passed away in Southern California. For those who don't know, she was the actress that played three pivotal parts in the Star Trek franchaise: Nurse Christine Chapel on the orginal Star Trek, Lwxana Troi in the Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, and the ships computer in almost every series. She worked to keep her late husband's, Gene Roddenberry, dramatic visions alive. Not only was she famous for her roles in Star Trek, Majel produced and appeared in the series, Earth: Final Conflict, which was another story written by Gene Roddenberry. Her final appearence will be in the upcoming Star Trek movie set to release in 2009.

Others of Star Trek fame have already left us for the final frontier, DeForrest Kelley (1999), James Doohan (2005). Gene Roddenberry passed away in 1991.

Best Buy Keychain Fraud, Part II

Oh, let me tell you what happened. I took the receipt and key chain and talked to the returns cashier. Now, get this. They did charge us for the key chain, but they deducted the amount, $1.29, from a DVD that we bought. So, the key chain was free, IN A ROUND ABOUT WAY!

I have almost had all I can stand of Best Buy.

Fire up the stove

There is a great chance of an ice storm brewing in the West Tennessee area. If you need kerosene, you better get it. There are times when it seems necessary to buy a generator for the house. I will have to look into this. We have central heat. If the power goes out, it will get very cold in the house. I better check on my kerosene stock too.

Another fish tale

Yes, it is a pain in the butt to keep fish. You have to do water changes. You have to clean the gravel. The filters get all nasty and need to be changed. There is a lot of work. Technology and science have changed the way we keep fish. We had fish when I was growing up. My mom would clean out the 10 gallon tank every time it got cloudy, which was once a week. There was no one around to tell us about the nitrogen cycle. There were no remedies. Today, it is much easier. You just have to resist the impulse to pour all the water out and start all over.

But, there are great benefits to keepign an aquarium. There is a peaceful feeling about fish and their environment. It is really amazing how by just sitting and watching them, you stress seems to fade away. The water coming out of the filter has a great calming effect. I would not be able to sleep without the tank in the living room humming away. Air stones work to ease tension as well. I imagine that each bubble is a care of the day, floating off to the surface and dissipating. There is even something natal about sticking a few fingers in to the warm water.

It is easy to lose yourself with aquariums. If you decide to get one, they are a great source of release. But, a warning...they are hard work to start up. The benefits, you will find, are greater than the effort.



( I was going to post a pick of one of my tanks, but they need cleaning. )

Christianity in the US

Much to the chagrin of our Christian naysayers, Christianity is alive and well in the United States. As much as atheists would like to admit, they are not moving very far forward in reducing religion in America. When I was shopping, the racks were full of shirts and hoodies with 'Jesus' and 'God' written on them. Even Books-a-Million had Christian tshirts for sale and selling them like hotcakes. Mainstream America is still very much Christian and it shows no signs of changing.

I'm not saying give up on your ideals atheists, but you need to come up with a new plan. Instead of openly and loudly challenging Christianity, you should try a more subtle way. You know, like the snake in the Garden of Eden. I'm sorry if that is too 'religous' for you, but it is hard to come up with metaphors that are common enough for every one to understand.

Fish are people too

Well, honestly, not exactly. I have found over the years that fish are more that just hidden creatures in the water. I have kept fish for almost 10 years and have found they are pretty much on par with pet lizards, birds, cats and, at times, dogs. Naturally, the biggest draw back is that you can't take the out on the town, except for bettas. More about betta later.

If the truth be known, fish have different personalities, modes and are quit trainable. You can train goldfish to move a ball from one end of an aquarium to another. Oscars can be trained to bat a ball around or swim through hoops. You can pratically spend as much time with your fish as you can a cat. then, there are other cirtters too. I have kept crayfish, crawdads to some of you, and they are a real hoot. Yep, there is more to fish other than just floating around.

But, I was horrorified when I learned that people in Japan eat live fish. No, I am not talking about college kids swallowing goldfish. I am talking about taking a fish, scaling it, gutting it and frying it ALIVE! If you are interested, search YouTube for 'eating live fish.' You may not want to watch, but there it is.

Oh, about the bettas. As some of you know, bettas are air breathing fish and usually live in vases and cups. They are quit comfortable in this as they don't do a lot of swimming around even in the wild. Any way, I travelled from Colorado to Tennessee with a betta setting in my car's cupholder. He just continued on like everything was normal.

Later, I tell of the health benefit associated with keeping fish.

Disban Unions

A hundred years or so, the factory worker was overworked and underpaid. A fantastic new thing called a union, helped the workers with better salary and benefits. It would be argued that unions helped shape the economy of the countty. Now, it's time for the unions to shape up and ship out. It was apparent when the unions agreed to cut worker salaries that unions have out lived their usefulness. Now, don't get me wrong, unions have done good for the nation and it's working class.

The United Auto Workers have killed the American auto industry. Our cars are overpriced and the quality of American cars, bluntly, suck. Now, the American Big Three are in trouble and the UAW is doing very little to help sustain their existence. When the Big Three asked for help from the government, the UAW refused to compromise on reducing worker salaries. You have to give to get UAW. Now, more or your union workers will be out of work because of layoffs. Wouldn't it be more logical to reduce salaries to help the economy AND your union workers? Oh, I'm sorry, does that get in the way of your greed?

Thanks to the US Senate, the Big Three will not be getting extra money to stay afloat. It's not the government that let you down, it is your union workes. The UAW needs to step out of the way to save the economy.

I got my new cell phone today. It took me about a week to decide what phone I was going to get. I settled on a LG Dare through Verizon (since I have had good luck for 7 years with VZW). I don't really want to say 'I settled' because it was a long, exhaustive research project to figure out what phone to get. I had a Motorola V9m. It was an excellant phone and it still is. I plan on keeping it for a back up. All of the phones, most of anyway, didn't seem to be much of an upgrade. My V9 maybe two years old, but some of the other phones are less than what I already have. The Dare is new, touch screen and part of the newer generation of phones. Every thing was just another cell phone, rehashed into something 'new.'

I would recommend a Dare for anyone looking for a new phone. The touch screen gets some getting used to, but it is a good phone.

What's My Line?

Recently, I have been watching a lot of old tv shows on YouTube. My favorite has been "What's My Line?" I began to miss a lot of the grand personalities that that have left us over the last 20 years. The actors and comedians truly made up the Golden Age of Hollywood. There is no single actor that I can think of who could mirror Cary Grant in style and grace. Where are the glamour girls such as Jayne Mansfield and Janet Leigh? Their like, I am afraid, shall not soon pass our way again.



Then, I started thinking about a 'modern' "What's My Line?" I started thinking about which movie stars would appear as a myster guest. Would Tom Cruise appear? What about Kate Blanchett? I am sure there are those that would like to appear. But, there are none equal to Jimmy Stewart! Where have they all gone?

Or, is it possible that "What's My Line?" was just that rare special television shows? It is considered one of the best television shows ever produced.

Just a thought! LOL!

The New Day

I just love the evenings. No matter what the day brought you can think better of it because tomorrow is a new day. What ever you screwed up today, you have a chance to screw up something else. Better yet, what you screwed up today will come back to haunt you tomorrow. That's okay, because you get the chance to start over again on another new day with the chance to screw up something totally different. Fear not! You can always get something right. Then, the next new day, you get the chance to do something good again. You can mix it up any way you like. Screw something up one day and get something right on the next new day.

The upshot is that no matter what has happened in your life, the next day is what you make of it. No matter how bad it is, tomorrow can be better. Don't let people get you caught up with what you have done, because you can make it right or even better the next day.

4 hours later

I had one of those days yesterday. No, the car didn't overheat nor was I late for work, but I did spend 4 hours in an emergency room bed. I started having chest pain, well for me chest pain. I had no idea what it was I had never had chest pain before. I tried to shrug it off. After an hour I had to go see a doctor. We chatted for about 15 minutes and an EKG later, after I played it down to anxiety,I left with a script for nitro. My instructions were to return to my doctor the next day for a stress test. If the pain got worse, go to the ER. From there I left and went to Wal-Mart to get the script filled. As I wandered around the store the pain got stronger. Ooppss, off to the ER.

That was the quickest trip to an ER bed I have had since I broke my leg. Heart monitor, O2 sensor, a hellatiously painful BP cuff and O2 were hooked and I thought, OMG! They took the blood for cardiac enzymes and my history. I laid there. Four hours later, they practically kicked me out the door. "You're not having a heart attack. Your blood work is fine. keep you appointment for tomorrow. Have a nice day."

Out the door I went. I have to admit that after the nitro patch they gave me my symptoms went away. But, as I walked down to the car, the pain started coming back. After I got home, I ate a bowl of cereal and after an hour, went to bed. I still had some discomfort in my chest.

Obviously, I made if through the night. I am soon off for my stress test. I would start to worry, but I'm afraid my chest will start hurting again with NONE cardiac symptoms. LOL!

UFO attacks the Pentagon

I am in a discussion on YouTube about the dynamics of aircraft collisions and the damages caused at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Why do unanswerable questions lead to the most outrageous conclusions? I have not been able to wrap my mind around this. One theory (a term I use loosely) suggests that a UFO destroyed the section of the Pentagon that is normally attributed to Flight 77. There is even a photo of the saucer near the site. Is is easier to believe an alien spacecraft or our own government did the damage on Sept 11th than an attack my terrorists?

If not a UFO, then it was an A3 plane used by the Navy. Another theory is that a cruise missile did the damage to the Pentagon. Either of these theories are possible. How probable are they when all the other evidence is examined? How about this one...the government was storing classified evidence recovered from the Roswell UFO crash and needed to be destroyed to get rid of the evidence before it had DOD had to comply with a court order?

I have one question for the conspiracy theorists that I have not really seen an answer for. Where are the people that boarded Flight 77? If a 757 did not crash into the Pentagon, where are the people who boarded the plane at Dulles airport? There were 59 people, excluding the 5 terrorists who board the plane. They have to be some where! The speculation must be that they are all hiding in the Federal Witness Protection Program or imprisoned some where. The former would allow for one of the passengers to break cover and contact family. This would allow information to be leaked out. The latter would preclude any information leaking to the public.

I have sit and thought about this whenever someone brings it up. Is it me? I think I am a pretty ordinary guy with slightly higher than average intelligence yet I cannot see the things that people are accusing the government for. I know the government isn't perfect and intentionally done things in to past, but to kill over 3,000 people just to justify a war.

IJDK

Government Tracking Cellphones

I usually don't copy and paste stuff, but I found that this was important.


FOIA docs show feds can lojack mobiles without telco help

By Julian Sanchez | Published: November 16, 2008 - 10:45PM CT

Courts in recent years have been raising the evidentiary bar law enforcement agents must meet in order to obtain historical cell phone records that reveal information about a target's location. But documents obtained by civil liberties groups under a Freedom of Information Act request suggest that "triggerfish" technology can be used to pinpoint cell phones without involving cell phone providers at all.
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Triggerfish, also known as cell-site simulators or digital analyzers, are nothing new: the technology was used in the 1990s to hunt down renowned hacker Kevin Mitnick. By posing as a cell tower, triggerfish trick nearby cell phones into transmitting their serial numbers, phone numbers, and other data to law enforcement. Most previous descriptions of the technology, however, suggested that because of range limitations, triggerfish were only useful for zeroing in on a phone's precise location once cooperative cell providers had given a general location.

This summer, however, the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the Justice Department, seeking documents related to the FBI's cell-phone tracking practices. Since August, they've received a stream of documents—the most recent batch on November 6—that were posted on the Internet last week. In a post on the progressive blog Daily Kos, ACLU spokesperson Rachel Myers drew attention to language in several of those documents implying that triggerfish have broader application than previously believed.

As one of the documents intended to provide guidance for DOJ employees explains, triggerfish can be deployed "without the user knowing about it, and without involving the cell phone provider." That may be significant because the legal rulings requiring law enforcement to meet a high "probable cause" standard before acquiring cell location records have, thus far, pertained to requests for information from providers, pursuant to statutes such as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) and the Stored Communications Act.

The Justice Department's electronic surveillance manual explicitly suggests that triggerfish may be used to avoid restrictions in statutes like CALEA that bar the use of pen register or trap-and-trace devices—which allow tracking of incoming and outgoing calls from a phone subject to much less stringent evidentiary standards—to gather location data. "By its very terms," according to the manual, "this prohibition applies only to information collected by a provider and not to information collected directly by law enforcement authorities.Thus, CALEA does not bar the use of pen/trap orders to authorize the use of cell phone tracking devices used to locate targeted cell phones."

Perhaps surprisingly, it's only with the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001 that the government has needed any kind of court order to use triggerfish. While previously, the statutory language governing pen register or trap-and-trace orders did not appear to cover location tracking technology. Under the updated definition, these explicitly include any "device or process which records or decodes dialing, routing, addressing, and signaling information."

Triple the output

In two days I have tripled the output of my blog when compared to last month! WOW! That is a new record for me. My wife says that I should post more often, but I have yet to figure out what I am suppose to talk about. We'll just have to move it a long and see what happens.

Best Buy Keychain Fraud

If you purchased anything at Best Buy recently and took home a free Guitar Hero key chain, check your receipt. November 29th, we went into our Jackson, TN Best Buy and bought a few items. While at the cash register, we were asked if we wanted a free Guitar Hero key chain. I commented that as much money Best Buy makes they could afford to give away a lot of free stuff. We took out stuff home, including our free key chain and found that we were charged $1.29 for the key chain.

Now, you can laugh if you want to. But, IF this was done intentionally, think about how many key chains they sold for free on Black Friday and the following weekend. A single store could have made a $1,000 or more just on key chains. Make that nationwide and you have $100,000s of extra income. This is fraud.

I called Best Buy's customer relations. Michelle informed me that the key chains were indeed intended to be free but wasn't sure where the mistake came from. It was suggested that I take the key chain back for a refund and that I must do it within 30 days (within the normal return policy period).

Check your receipts and see if you were a victim! Complain is you were.

Oprah Heresy

If you take a look around You Tube, there are some serious videos about Oprah Winfrey. I knew there was something weird about her but I could not put my finger on it. Now, I have found the confirmation about my feelings. Oprah is a New Age fanatic. Oh, I don't have issues with most New Age beliefs. Most New Agers are quiet folks who don't try to spread their message around to convert others. Oprah, on the other hand, it using her television presence to spread a new cult. The Cult of Oprah.

Here's a look...



In this clip, Oprah is pounced on by her audience. It's funny.

It's not about Christianity vs the World, but how a person with a 20 million person audience is trying to convert folks from one religion.

Remember, Don't Drink The Kool Aid.