listen and learn... suprise!

I realized today this incredible gift God has given me. No one really annoys me. You know those people who no one likes to be around. Some of them are well meaning, some just do not want to be happy. I don't mind listening to this type of person, and I have the ability to find the good in that person. I have been interacting a fair amound with someone like this at work in the last couple of weeks. He is not malicious in any way. I love his stories about his flying days. He is just one of those guys you woudn't see yourself interacting with outside of work, and he demands perfection in everything we do, which in a lot of ways is a very good thing in ourline of work. But I feel like he likes me, and he has been a bit easier on me because I listen to him and respect him. Not that I intend to get something out of listening to him, but at the same time I feel like I'm learning more from him because I'm open and don't shut myself off because I don't like him or don't agree with him. And for that I am thankful.

OH! And I just got a phone call from my long-lost-friend Brandon in CO. He is ENGAGED!! I'm so excited. The wedding is in Monument, Colorado in August, and I think I'm totally going to go. I'm so excited to get to see so many old friends!!

Gorrilla Challenge Triathlon

This last Saturday was the Second Annual Guadalupe Gorrilla Challenge Triathlon, put on but the Oak Hills Church singles group I've been attending since I moved here to San Antonio. This was my first ever triathlon, and let me tell you, I'm hooked. I'm already planning my next one and scouring ebay for a cheap used road bike. That's me struggling up that first hill, and friends kicking tail. My partner Joe and I won the coed group! Very exciting, and motivating I must say. More photos here.


The triathlon was not the only thing that went on that day on the banks of the Guadalup.... The whole church was invited for a picnic, games for the kids, a band played praise music, and there were baptisms in the river. It was quite the day. In all 147 people were bapized!! Heaven rejoiced. I was very suprised to see a very tall man helping with the baptisms in the river. If you look closely at my photos, you will see none other than David Robinson! He is an elder at the church (I had no idea). We went up to shake his hand and say hello. I think his shirt was as long as I am tall.




Thank you God for such a beautiful weekend and the blessings of health, brothers and sisters that are and have become good friends, and kayaks and mountain bikes!!

Another reason to hate Hanoi Jane

She has passed the torch. Jane Fonda has given up on protesting against the war because she has too much "baggage" and Cindy Sheehan does it better. I don't know how well Ms. Fonda did it in the first place, but I know Baghdad Cindy is not the best spokeswoman. Oh, wait, she hasn't even been to the Middle East. I wonder how they would welcome her. Maybe with the same reception as the human shields?

At least there are some who see the connection.

A letter to Cindy Sheehan. Via Iraq the Model.

Chistos anesti

He is risen!

The best way to describe my weekend is to say that it was full of the love, friendship and beauty that comes from Christ. I can think of no better way to spend Easter weekend. That said, it went by entirely too fast, and I am sad that it is already Friday afternoon. I could really use a three day weekend here soon.

I really do believe God's hand guided me to Oak Hills, Max Lucado's church here in San Antonio. The fellowship has been stellar each day I've gone, and this weekend was no different. So good, I went twice! My grandparents came down from Austin yesterday. My grandmother was so excited about seeing Max preach and listening to Sandi Patti sing, she was at a loss for words, and I don't know if that has happened before! Sandi Patti isn't quite my cup of tea, but she is an amazing, talented artist. However, to quote my friend Becky, I kind of felt like I was listening to a Disney soundtrack. Now, if it had been Mute Math or Cool Hand Luke, it would have been the concert of the year.

Anyhow, a big group of us went to church again this morning, which I love. Most everything is more fun with a crowd. And then they all came back to Ellen's house for Sunday brunch of fruit pancakes and omellets. It was a successful gathering enjoyed by all. I look forward to hosting more people over in the future.

Now its back to flying this week. I have the Gorilla Guadelupe Challenge to look forward to next Saturday!! I'm so excited. A whole day of being out in the sun and being competitive in a eco-triathalon. Now I'm off to do some mountain biking to get geared up!

---

Ok, this is just ridiculous. How do those libs think the world will perceive them when they feel "unsafe" because of a book recommendation. Sissies. From brain-terminal.

Operation Perish Hilton

I have been reading about this story a lot in the past few days and have been meaning to post it myself. The famous DC resturant, Fran O'Brian's, will not be having its lease renewed May 1st by the Hilton hotel where it is located. This might not be of national consequence, but for the fact that every Friday, Fran's hosts wounded military soldiers recovering and rehibilitating at near-by Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Fare is steak and bottomless drinks all night. The reasons for not renewing the lease are less then convincing. Milbloggers everywhere are up in arms, as am I. Come on Hilton, even non-Americans see how important this is. Kudos to Chris Dickson for starting the call-to-arms, and links from Michelle Malkin.

Story is also here in a letter from LtCol Buzz Patterson, Ret. , and here, here, update Hilton reaction,

The Washington Post has picked up the story also.

Protest Hilton (you know you hate Paris anyway, so it won't hurt that much).

I want to be a milblog too. Boys, can I join the club?

Good Friday

Its been a great week. Four flights, some sims, and I'm kickin tail on it all. This whole first assigment instructor thing is shaping up to be a pretty good gig. Now if I could just put off the whole teaching students thing for a while, I won't have to face risking my life on a daily basis too soon.

I ment to write about last weekend. I went up to visit the grandparents on Saturday, which was very nice and relaxing. But on Sunday, went to church by myself, made some new friends at Sunday school, then ended up sitting with some girls I met through other friends at church. They invited me to hang out that afternoon, and I went to a women's Bible study also. It was awesome to see God working through people I've never met to get me connected. I'm only going to be in San Antonio for a few months, but I know a lot will happen here.

A little political note for the day: Bloggers are now challenging the journalists of America. No longer do we have to rely on the main-stream media for all of our information. Not only do we have normal people commenting on our political system, but also including video blogs (known as vlogs) that allow us to see what our representatives are really saying, not what our liberal media wants us to hear. "I believe vlogging has the potential to kill off agenda-driven, gotcha journalism. Newsmakers can now go straight to the people with the facts, not run them through the filter of what Rush [Limbaugh] calls 'the drive-by media.'" From the Beltway Blogroll.

Now I'm off to buy a bicycle! It's ment for the triathalon next weekend, but I plan on using it a lot in the couple of months while I'm here, and seeking out new places to mountain bike back in the 39705, even though Mississippi doesn't really have mountains....

We few, we happy few...

Army had better than expected retention rates this last fiscal year. Can the media or Hollywood say they did so well? I'm proud of you, band of brothers....

Religion of peace or PC?

Its hard to believe or respect a value system will not accept cartoons but can drag a burning, mutilated person through the streets and cheer. (View the last at your own risk) Or murder their own countrymen.

good ol' print

One of my favorite things to do it sit down at Starbucks with a coffee and a newspaper. I think newspapers are great. My family has always recieved a newspaper. When I was a child, I preferred the sports section and the comics, I'm sure like all kids do. These days I'd rather have the Front page of the Wall Street Journal, and the first thing I read are the politics and editorial sections. Peggy Noonan is a excellent writer. I particularly enjoyed her thoughts on Hollywood and the current hot topic, immigration law.

Don't get me wrong, I couldn't live without internet and all of the news outlets, political commentary and unlimited flow of information that it provides. There is just something refreshing about relaxing with a newspaper. I'm sad that I live in a small town without a good newspaper. I did actually make it though. I would link to the story, but they are lame and only archive 2 weeks back. I don't really trust media these days, but that just isn't acceptable.

some music

Ok, so I haven't been posting a lot on music like I have been intending to, so here goes some. Connected with my aforementioned addiction to podcasts, I've been listening to two really good ones that both play good tunes. Relevant Magazine's podcast is available on iTunes, each episode is about an hour long, plays music but not the whole song for copyright reasons. They have some entertainment news also, along with interviews with musicians, authors and the like. Donald Miller got a two-part interview, which I thought was quite interesting. The other podcast I've been 'loading is one from Just Pete at the Bored-Again Christian. Just Pete plays full length tunes, mostly from unknown artists, but not your run-of-the-mill sappy Christian songs, not that those are bad, just not my style. I need some driving rythems and guitar riffs or good 'ol post-modern, post-contemporary, emo-like, crazy music. It keeps things interesting. Through him I discovered Jason Harwell. Just downloaded him from the iTunes. He is also on MySpace. Good stuff, but making me sleepy, since it is after midnight, I bid you farewell.

camo found offensive in CO

First they banned American flags. Now patriotic clothing is no longer allowed. And here's what they really want. I don't think so. Mexico doesn't allow any of this stuff. In Mexico, all foreigners, legal or illegal, do not have property rights, may be expelled for any reason without due process, cannot take part in the political process at all, and are denied equal employment rights. Imagine if that were the case in this country. If that doesn't make you mad, maybe this will, from the Jawa Report. Now they can even get away with murder.

I really like Peggy Noonan's commentary on the subject. Very wise. Read the whole thing. "Today's atmosphere of censorship and multiculturalism is paving the way for serious threats to our cultural identity and national security," says Michael Smerconish, (via MM) who has a great new book out called "Muzzled". I so agree.

And another interesting point from blonde sagacity. Sen. Teddy Kennedy, who along with John McCain is now proposing this new "immigration reform" *coughillegalcough*, was one of those involved with the 1965 Immigration Act. What did he have to say then you ask?

He assured Congress on the Senate floor that:
"Our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants annually."
-and-
"No immigrant visa will be issued to a person who is likely to become a public charge."

Also on Red State and Wizbang!

totally addicted...

So, yeah... I'm totally addicted to blogs, and podcasts now too. I guess there are worse things to be addicted to. My friend Lisa is addicted to books. That might be better, but I am learning from this endevor, to say the least. I'm reading like 20 different blogs daily, and I'm up to like 5 podcasts too. Atleast I'm not in school anymore that I have to study all the time. And I'm not up to the capacity of Michelle Malkin. I don't know how she does it. She's even been criticized for it. Let's critcize someone for being prolific and a hard worker instead of doing so ourselves. Some people do not use their time very wisely....

I started going to Max Lucado's church here in San Antonio. Its really awesome. It has a big singles group that is very active and I'm totally in line with their whole theology. It's been a blessing. I totally recommend it!

Interesting fact I got in an email from my pastor back in C-Town:
According to Barna Research, the percent of people in the United States who meet the organization's criteria for born-again Christians has jumped from 31 percent to 45 percent since 1983. From Barna.Org

Double standard at Yale

I've been reading a lot lately about Yale. It seems they welcome members of the Taliban, but not military recruiters. Consevative bloggers and news outlets alike have commented on it, multiple times.

Something is very wrong at our elite universities. Last week Larry Summers resigned as president of Harvard when it became clear he would lose a no-confidence vote held by politically correct faculty members furious at his efforts to allow ROTC on campus, his opposition to a drive to have Harvard divest itself of corporate investments in Israel, and his efforts to make professors work harder. Now Yale is giving a first-class education to an erstwhile high official in one of the most evil regimes of the latter half of the 20th century--the government that harbored the terrorists who attacked America on Sept. 11, 2001.

"In some ways," Mr. Rahmatullah told the New York Times. "I'm the luckiest person in the world. I could have ended up in Guantanamo Bay. Instead I ended up at Yale." One of the courses he has taken is called Terrorism-Past, Present and Future.

***
At a speech for the Atlantic Council, Mr. Rahmatullah was confronted by a woman in the audience who lifted the burkha she was wearing and chastised him for the Taliban's infamous treatment of women. "You have imprisoned the women--it's a horror, let me tell you," she cried. Mr. Rahmatullah responded with a sneer: "I'm really sorry to your husband. He might have a very difficult time with you."

***

Today, when he is asked if Afghanistan would be better off if the Taliban were still in charge, Mr. Rahmatullah, has a mixed answer: "Economically, no. In terms of security, yes. In terms of general happiness, no. In the long-term interests of the country? I don't think so. I think the radicals were taking over and doing crazy stuff. I regret when people think of the Taliban and then think of me--that feeling people have after they know I was affiliated with them is painful to me." Note that the government official who represented the Taliban abroad now claims to have been only "affiliated" with them.

Any Yale grads who are appalled at this can join the protest and Nail Yale

my hero

Condolezza Rice seems to have the world in awe. I totally admire her for what she's done in her life, who wouldn't? But the fact that we studied the same thing in college and she is a Russian speaker makes me feel more of a connection.

British thought from the News Telegraph

It seems those Brits think no one is immune to her charm. Usually staunch, proper English politicians giggle and act like school boys around her. Even those who totally disagree with her stand on issues still respect her to the utmost. I think I've become a Condista. Condi 2008!