Bag of Randomness

  • It was highly entertaining and quite fascinating checking out tweets right after last nights Green Bay vs Seattle game because of the horrible officiating on the last play of the game, but the most surprising came from Troy Aikman, and perhaps the strongest, from Peter King:

  • Actually, Green Bay Packer TJ Lang was probably the most outspoken on Twitter (vulgarity warning)
  • I can’t imagine what it must have been like to actually have placed money on last night’s game.
  • Both the Romney and Obama campaigns will end up using last night’s game today somehow, just bet on it, Wisconsin is a swing state afterall.
  • BoyGeeding is a little over seven months old, and yesterday I think I may have received the last bill relating to his birth.
  • Tidbits from the presidential debate book I’m reading:
    • The Bush-Clinton-Perot debate was the first presidential debate that had an “open format”.  That is, questions only came from the audience, not journalists, and it had no major time restraints like we see today, in which there are two-minute answers and a one-minute response.  Since then, no candidate wants to risk the open format, until President Ford, who was so behind in the polls wanted to shake things up and invite Carter to a debate.  We need more of these.
    • The only debates in which the candidates were seated involved the vice-presidential debates with Dick Cheney.
    • After Kennedy-Nixon, there were no presidential debates for 16 years.
  • I ride a bike often, but I avoid the road and ride on trails.  I do it for the safety of myself and the safety and consideration of drivers.  Many will disagree, but I think roads should be left for motorized vehicles, which, unlike a bike, you pay for a license, insurance, registration, and taxes.  Yes, cyclists pay taxes, but homeowners with no children still pay taxes for public education, it’s just one of those things.  Roads are built not for bikes to be traveled on, but for motorized vehicles.  Not to mention, it’s frustrating being stuck at a red light behind a cyclist who takes takes forever to accelerate when the light turns green – they complain about sharing the road, when in this case they are hogging and clogging it up.
  • I have a Western Digital network hard drive and the LED light is no longer working.  For the heck of it, I contacted Western Digital and they called to apologize, and will be sending me a new one in the mail, stating my old one was covered under warranty until sometime in 2014.  I think I bought that network drive about a year ago.  So in short, it’s good to register certain products and sometimes it’s worth contacting technical support.
  • Global Bacon Shortage ‘Unavoidable’ Next Year, Says U.K.’s National Pig Association
  • I had no idea “The Jestsons” only lasted one season.
  • The Best Burgers in Dallas – Good to see Motor and Maple made the list.
  • The reason why George DeJohn changed his last name to DiGianni.
  • Did Blowing into Nintendo Cartridges Really Help? 
Posted in Personal | 6 Comments

In a First, Debates Give Presidential Candidates the Topics Ahead Of Time

Wednesday afternoon, the Commission on Presidential Debates quietly posted a press release announcing the topics for the first presidential debate in Denver on October 3. What the commission didn’t say is that this may be the first time in history presidential candidates have been given the topics of a debate ahead of time.

“We had been thinking about this for awhile,” says CPD executive director Janet Brown. “CPD’s intention is to have the candidates come prepared for a more in-depth conversation.”

But some say the release of topics sets a bad precedent.

Though specific questions were not given, debate moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS NewsHour announced the topics of the questions on the commission Web site, saying that three questions will be on the economy, one on health care, one on the role of government and one on governing.

Full USNews.com Article

Posted in Political | 1 Comment

More than 1,000 pastors plan to challenge IRS by endorsing presidential candidate

More than 1,000 pastors plan to openly defy the IRS by telling their congregation on October 7 to vote for a particular presidential candidate, according to Fox News.

The annual event, dubbed “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” has been organized by the conservative Christian group Alliance Defending Freedom. The pastors participating in the event plan to preach about the election, endorse a candidate, and send video of their sermon to the IRS.

“The purpose is to make sure that the pastor — and not the IRS — decides what is said from the pulpit,” Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group, told FoxNews.com. “It is a head-on constitutional challenge.”

The Johnson amendment in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code prohibits tax-exempt charities and churches from intervening in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate. The IRS has been reluctant to revoke churches’ tax-exempt status for violating the more than 50-year-old IRS rule, but the agency has issued written warnings to dozens of churches.

For some reason, this part seemed to stand out:

“The IRS will send out notices from time to time and say you crossed the line,” Jim Garlow, a senior pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, told FoxNews.com. “But when it’s time to go to court, they close the case.”

Full Article

Posted in Political, Spiritual | 3 Comments