Politics and Morals

I just heard a caller on Rush make a excellent point.

He said that the Democrats will always politicize a moral issue and moralize a political issue.

For example, yesterday Hillary spews some crap about how stopping illegal immigration violates commands in the Bible and some completely ignorant point about Jesus being an illegal immigrant.  So she moralizes an issue that the Bible is actually silent on but "Thou shalt not murder" is completely ignored when it comes to Abortion because it is "a woman's right to choose".

hjh

Today at the zoo

A Few Things I Have been Up To Lately

Right now we are back in GC for the weekend.  I am writing this at my Grandma's house which is where we stay when we come back.  I haven't said much for a while because I have been so busy, so I thought I would get on and talk about what has been going on lately.

School Is Cool
I am back in school now.  I have am starting a degree completion program at Southwestern College in Computer Programming.  The classes are once a week, from six to ten and each class is 6 weeks long.  My first real class "Java I" started last week I think it is going to be really good.  I am excited about it and looking forward to it.  It should take about 2 years to finish the degree.  It is too bad that I didn't discover something that I really enjoy doing that I can make a decent living on until about 3 years out of college.  But I guess that is life.  I am just thankful for this opportunity that I have now.  I feel like it is a second chance for me and my family.  The company that I am working for plus Pell grants will pay for all of it, so far, including books!!  The only downside is that it is on Tuesday nights so I won't be able to go to the small group that Jenny and I have been going to.

Another Million Dollar Idea
Of course I can't go more than 6 months with out trying another million dollar idea.  The good news about this one is that it is a very minimal investment and it will also enable a hobby of mine which is collecting websites/domains for all of Kent and my other brilliant ideas (i.e. our online Christian bookstore www.depthoflife.com and out Christian Singles website www.seekingtheone.com)  not to mention things like my "I don't know what to do with it" website www.nattyman.com, right now it has fivefoottwelve stuff on it and our family homepage which I haven't updated since I started this blog, www.odsgc.net/~fiveft12).  Anyway the idea is, as you may have guessed a website hosting company www.digitalihost.com, with basic domain packages starting as low as $2.99.  The standard domain hosting package that I recommend is $6.99 (shameless plug for the search engines ;-).  I don't have too high of hopes for it, just enough to support my own habit, which it looks like it will do.  I already have several customers  :-)  Due to conflicts of interest though I won't host any websites from Garden City, except through The Paraclete Group, and I also won't host any CPA firms or other Tax related businesses.

Getting Older
My ten year class reunion is rolling around and we have started to organize it.  So far I am mainly working with Betsy and Katrina on it.  We have Labor Day weekend chosen for the event and the Fiesta Courtyard reserved for that Saturday night.  Right now we are trying to contact everyone digitally through email and our website www.buffsof96.com (another domain to add to the list above).  Here you can find the latest news and there is a forum where people from the Garden City High School class of  1996 can post updates on their life and connect with each other.  It has been going pretty well.  At this moment we have 49 people registered and about as many posts.

The Never Ending Story
We are still trying to sale our house in GC which is why we are here for the weekend.  We have lowered the price, advertising in the newspaper and having open houses every Sunday.  There has a been a really good response since we started advertising.  Today we had about 10 different sets of people come by to look at it.  Three of which seemed moderately interested and one that says if she can get the financing she is going to buy it!!  But we have heard the same story before so I am trying to not get my hopes up.  Hopefully though the never ending story will soon come to an end.  Another website to add to the growing list above is www.bluehouseforsale.com where you can read about our House in Garden City Kansas that is for sale.

Matt this update is for you.  I hope it is everything you ever dreamed of and more.  Sorry no pictures for now though.

Pictures of the boys.

Here are some pictures from our day at the zoo on Sunday and the boys first snowman that we made yesterday at lunch. Sorry the boys weren't very cooperative with the snowman picture. If you look real close you
can see Jacob and Ethan hiding from the bears in the cave ;-)

<*** Okay the pictures are actually up now. Sorry it took me so long to fix it ***>

Jesus Hugeri loves you

I thought this story was pretty funny.  It is from the Citizen Link Newsletter that I get everyday.
http://www.family.org/cforum/

-hjh

------------------------------------------------------------

Dog-Park Brick Refused Due to That Person with a Similar
Name

The town of Gilbert, Ariz., refused to place an inscribed
brick in a local dog park because officials say it had a
religious message, Independent Newspapers reported.

Bob Hugeri was glad to hear of a dog park being built near
his home, so much so, that he decided to purchase an
inscribed brick for $20 that would be placed in the park
as part of a display.

And he decided to honor his Labrador retriever, Jack Jesus
(pronounced "hay-soos").

His inscription was simple: "Jesus loves you."

"I thought everything was fine with the message," Hugeri
said. "A few weeks later I get a call informing me that
the inscription on the brick is unacceptable."

Greg Svelund, the town's public information officer, sent
back the application and the $20. An accompanying letter
said the message was inappropriate for a public park.

Gilbert has no specific policy that bans religious
messages on an item such as a brick in a public square,
but the staff made the decision to reject it.

"There's been a lot of attention across the country on
religious messages being displayed," Svelund said. "When
the brick came in, we struggled with it. I called Mr.
Hugeri and asked if he would use the message, 'Jesus
Hugeri loves you' instead, but he wouldn't accept it."

The mayor of the town, Steve Berman, told Hugeri that it
was a matter of separation of church and state.

"What kind of person names his dog 'Jack Jesus'?" Berman
said. "Frankly, I'm not falling for this 'hay-soos'
baloney. I don't want a brick with the inscription 'Allah
Akbar' either. He just wants to put the inscription 'Jesus
loves you' on the brick.  This is a religious message."

Peter de Marneffe, a philosophy professor at Arizona State
University, said the issue is complicated.

"The guy who wants the brick is responsible for the
message," Marneffe said. "The town itself is not endorsing
it. On the other hand, the town doesn't want to risk
litigation and wants to avoid controversy."

Hugeri said he thinks it's a violation of his right to
free speech.

"What did you do over Christmas?" -"I went to Iraq!"

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/sfl-ciraq30dec30,0,4859169.story?coll=ny-leadworldnews-headlines

This kid is awesome!!  Here is the short summary, Teenager from Florida goes to Iraq by himself without telling his parents.  He is now on his way home safely.

I think he was going with journalistic intentions and to help a "neighbor" in need.

This is what he said in an email that is right on.

"There is a struggle in Iraq between good and evil,between those striving for freedom and liberty and those striving for death and destruction. You are aware of the heinous acts of the terrorists ... For their goals to be thwarted, decent individuals must answer justice's call for help ... So I will."

Not sure what he planned on doing and it was pretty stupid and risky but you have to give him credit for going through with it.  Someone with this much drive will go far in life.  What a great story he will have to tell when he gets back.

"What did you do over Christmas?"

"I went to my grandmas.  What did you do?"

"I went to Iraq!"

Why Didn't I Think of That?!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051229/ts_nm/homepage_dc

"...Alex Tew, a 21-year-old student from a small town in England, is cleverer than you. And he is proving it by earning a cool million dollars in four months on the Internet...

The idea: turn his home page into a billboard made up of a million dots, and sell them for a dollar a dot to anyone who wants to put up their logo. A 10 by 10 dot square, roughly the size of a letter of type, costs $100."

Here is the actual website http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/

Ok I have a new idea.  It is called BillionDollarHomepage.com  ;-)

Capitalist Pig

You are a Social Liberal (60% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (83% permissive) You are best described as a: Capitalist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Re: Jacob update

Just found out from Jenny that Jacob is going to get to come home today before noon!!  I guess he is maintaining his oxygen levels on his own.  Ethan and Rachel and I are about to head up to the hospital.

Thanks again for all of your prayers!

--
hjh

Jacob Pictures

	Jacob after his bath
	Jacob playing with some new toys
	Jacob with his breathing treatment

Re: Jacob update

Jacob is doing a little better.  After he took a bath this morning we went back to the room right away because they were worried about his oxygen level and when we hooked him back up his levels were even better than they had been before.  So they lowered the level he was getting from 1 liter down to 1/2 liter.  When his level continued to remain the same they went ahead and took him off of it.  Then he was able to get down and ride a tricycle for a while and he had lots of fun, but then when I checked his oxygen level it had dropped a little bit and then it kept getting worse until the nurse came back in and put him back on the oxygen at 1/2 liter and he is doing well with that.  They are going to try to ween him off a little bit slower this time.  The doctor thinks he will be able to come home tomorrow.  I hope he is right but we will see.

Here are some pictures of him.  Guess which one is right after his bath :-)  Another one is of him getting his breathing treatment.  He is really good about it and just sits there and opens up his mouth and closes his eyes until they are done.

His uncle Jeff came by to see/play with him this morning and my Mom and Rachel should be here around 5:00

Thanks for all of your love, support and prayers.
--
hjh

Jacob update

I just talked to Jenny on the phone and even after numerous breathing treatments lots of other medicine and they have a little oxygen mask blowing right on him they still haven't been able to get his Oxygen levels up.  They think he is going to have to stay for 2 days!!  He is at St. Francis Hostpital, which is a childrens hospital.

She also said how they tortured the poor boy last night by inserting an IV which took at least 3 tries and both hands and then they weren't able to draw blood in is arm so they had to prick his finger and squeze it out like that :-(  I am pretty sure he is going to hate hospitals and doctors now.

I am going up to the hospital in a few minutes.  We will try to let you all know of any developments.

--
hjh

Back to the emergency room.

Last night after we put the boys to bed we had just finished watching The Apprentice and were in the middle of Smallville, Jacob got up crying. He couldn't breath very well, was coughing uncontrollably and complaining of chest pain so we took him to the emergency room at around 11:30. Turns out is was some kind of bronchial asthma attack. He is fine but they haven't been able to get his oxygen level up to a good enough level to release him so finally they decided to keep him over night for observation. So I have came home with Ethan at about 3:30 am, he was falling apart as you can imagine after spending 4 hours in the emergency room.

He has had this problem twice before but never this serious.

Please pray that they will be able to get his oxygen levels up. After 3 breathing treatments and some steroids he was floating between 88% & 94%, which I don't think is really bad, but it just isn't good enough to release him. If it had stayed at 94 they would have let him go, but it kept going up and down.

Also pray that we will all some how be able to catch up this lost sleep. Ethan woke me up at 9:30 this morning after going to bed around 4:00.

2 emergency room visits in 2 months :-S (Last month Ethan stuck his finger in the paper shredder. So keep that in mind little fingers and paper shredders are not a good mix.)

The Apprentice

Markus cracks me up. LOL.

Every time he starts to say anything I am literally rolling around on the floor.  I have never seen someone string together so many words and not communicate any comprehensible idea.  (**Spoiler**) Even though I have thought from day one that Markus should be fired I must say that he has grown on me the way that the annoying kid at school... (now it is the next day since I wrote everything before this.  I was interrupted with a trip to the emergency room.  More on that later.) So Marcus had grown on me like how the annoying kid at school might grow on you b/c you feel sorry for him since everyone else hates him.  So I was kind of sad to see him go, he made the show interesting.

(**Still Spoiler**) It seemed to me that Clay was more detrimental to that specific task, but he had also done well on the task before where he was a good salesmen for the golf items.  So I can see that it was probably better for the team as a whole for Markus to go but the show will be a little less interesting with out him  :-(  and even though he was a worthless player he will be missed by me.