Musings of a Twisted Mind

Barbie Banned in West Virginia

2009-03-04T10:02:00.003-05:00

Barbie dolls maybe banned in West Virginia because they make girls think they need to be beautiful.

What's next? No movies allowed because all of the actresses are beautiful? Or Catalogs with women models showing off the items they want others to buy? Or...

Pirates pick up option on Russell

2009-02-21T16:22:00.003-05:00

The Pittsburgh Pirates picked up manager John Russell's contract option for 2010 despite going 67-95 in his first season.

General manager Neal Huntington called the decision easy, although the club has been in spring training only a week.

"J.R. met or exceeded expectations in his first year as the Pirates manager," Huntington said Saturday. "His club worked hard to play the game properly and battled from the first out until the last. His leadership, knowledge, attention to detail, ability to see the big picture and passion for things being done the right way made him the ideal choice as our manager a year ago."

Good thing the Pirates goal was to win in 2008

Could the Pirates be this year's Devil Rays?

2009-02-19T08:08:00.002-05:00

I cannot believe anyone could honestly believe this but this is what the big free agent signing the Pirates did thinks of the Pirates after playing with the Devil Rays last here

"I see a lot of comparisons," Hinske, the Pirates' top-billed offseason acquisition, said yesterday on the second full-squad day and fifth overall. "A lot of talent. And not a lot of winning.

"Tampa had lost for what, 10 straight years? They had talent. They had to learn to win. Luckily, we got on a roll. It's contagious."

Okay, he's got the "not a lot of winning" down but the talent... Where?

Pluck forums

2009-02-13T21:16:00.002-05:00

I have collected comics since I was 4 years old (1977 for those that don't know). As such I will check comic book sites. One of them is newsarama which for years was run on the the good messageboard software vbulletin. Well newsarama was bought by a company and last summer they switched to Pluck forums. The result is less traffic, less users, and those that remained are angry, complaining ect... I stopped going there until recently and saw that people were still angry about it. As looking at this forum will tell you

So I got to thinking, is it just comic book fans that are this mad? So I decided to check LiveScience.com and lo and behold, more Pluck hatred and still more.

They don't have forums on their other Pluck linked sites. Wonder why?

So how does Pluck survive? Confideniality agreements for one. Promising upgrades that are always pushed back is another.

In my opinion the best forum software is the free phpbb and another free one that looks good is smf. But if you really want to pay, it should be vbulletin. Pluck should be paying its customers to use it.

Sounds like Dekker's Sinner

2009-02-11T12:43:00.001-05:00

With this fear by the Christian broadcasters, it feels like the contents of Ted Dekker's novel, Sinner is coming to pass

Banks balk

2009-02-11T12:12:00.003-05:00

Certainly is nice to see that executives would balk at low interest money because their pay is going to be capped at $500,000 when most Americans make less then $50,000. It also is nice to see them not caring how this will effect the economy and how they won't use the money the way it was intended to get the economy going again.

The Sale of Children's Books to be Banned

2009-01-08T12:31:00.002-05:00

Got this in an email from a friend. This is beyond absurd.

---

Oh, how I wish this were a joke! But it is a grim and looming, almost Orwellian, reality.

Effective February 10th, in the United States, the sale of all children's books (books intended for children ages 12 and under) is to be PROHIBITED. Every single book printed prior to the ruling is affected, whether new or used. New books in production are required to include a "lead-free" certification and will be the only books that are legal to offer for sale.

What does this mean to the homeschooling family?

Well, for one, curriculum fairs across the country will be cancelled as book vendors scramble to figure out how to comply with the new ruling. Complete book inventories will have to be destroyed -- the ruling even prohibits giving away the books! Local thrift stores will be hard hit -- most will likely have to close their doors -- yes, even Goodwill and Salvation Army.

Clothing, toys and books -- even CDs and DVDs are included in the ruling. Thrift stores will no longer be able to accept or process anything (including clothing) that would be intended for a child.

No more library sales. Libraries will not be permitted to give away or sell book donations. It is unsure yet, however, how the libraries' shelves themselves will be impacted (the ruling doesn't explicitly mention "loaning" books, just selling or giving them away). The key word, however, is "distribution" -- libraries may well be required to destroy books from their shelves.

(The ruling that originally passed was about toys, but the EPA has since made a statement that clothing, books and media are included in "children's toys".)

Just how serious is this new law?

Amazon.com has already notified all vendors of their need to comply. No book can be sold at the Amazon site that was printed prior to compliance. And the "compliance" must be coordinated at the manu- facturing stage. At the time of this article there is no clause to be able to grandfather-in older books or even rare out-of-print books. It can cost between $500 and $1500 to test a book for lead.

I happen to own a children's bookstore specializing in living books from the 1950s and '60s. My punishment for selling a book after February 10th? Up to $100,000 and 5 years in jail. And yes, it is a felony charge. For selling a SINGLE book.

(Although I don't think the S.W.A.T. team scenario would become a reality overnight, at the same time I would be leery of blatantly violating Federal law.)

So what can you do to help save your local used bookstore that sells children’s books? Or that homeschool curriculum business? Or your EBay business selling children's items?

ACT NOW before the quickly approaching deadlines:

1) Email or call the CPSIA - the office of the CPSC ombudsman at 888-531-9070. http://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/newleg.aspx

Comments on Component Parts Testing accepted through January 30, 2009. Or email: Sec102ComponentPartsTesting@cpsc.gov

2) Contact your local representatives. For their contact informa-tion, just enter your zip code. http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/dbq/officials/

3) Make your voice heard by voting on this issue! The top 3 in each category will be presented to President-elect Obama. http://change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

4) Sign the petition.

http://ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/index.html

5) Spread the word! Forward this article. Send an email. Write about this on your blog. Tell others about this issue and encourage them to do the same.

---

For the complete story, read the following links:

http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html

Consumer Product Safety Commission Summaries on Legislation Index page for Children's Products Containing Lead; Lead Paint Rule and other rulings

http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/legislation.html#summaries

Office of the General Counsel FAQ on retroactive inventory require- ments -- The use of forward effective dates appears to force current inventories to adhere to the ruling on February 10th, 2009

http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/summaries/101brief.html

Specific FAQ on their interpretation of books and other media to be

included in the testing of lead based products

http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/101faq.html

Effective Date: Lead content limit of 600 ppm becomes effective 180

days after enactment. An advisory opinion regarding the application

of the new lead limit to inventory existing at the effective date

can be found on our web site at

http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/advisory/317.pdf

Getting the Lead out: There is no lead in children's books

http://news.bookweb.org/news/5695.html

There is no lead in Children's books: From a Pedtrician

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/childhealth/3955/is-there-lead-in-baby-books

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Do you have comments to share? Please do!

Send your emails to: mailto:heather@familyclassroom.net

Militant's rockets kill Two Palestinian girls

2008-12-26T14:50:00.003-05:00

A crude rocket fired by Palestinian militants fell short of its target in Israel on Friday, striking a house in the northern Gaza Strip and killing two schoolgirls.
The attack came as Israel sent mixed signals over its plans to respond to continuing Palestinian rocket fire. Israeli defense officials say politicians have approved a large-scale incursion into the territory once rainy conditions clear. But at the same time, Israel appeared receptive to international pressure against an invasion, opening the Gaza border Friday to allow in deliveries of humanitarian aid.

None of Gaza's militant factions claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on the house in Beit Lahiya. Gaza Health Ministry official Dr. Moiaya Hassanain said the two victims, ages 5 and 12, were cousins. Three other children were wounded, he said.

The girls were the first Palestinian civilians inadvertently killed by militants since their truce with Israel began collapsing six weeks ago. Family members and medics said they were killed by rocket fire.

You know this has to be Israel's fault somehow. Maybe they forced the militants to fire short. After all everything that goes wrong in the Middle East has to be blamed on Israel somehow.

50% not popular

2008-12-11T23:44:00.002-05:00

Teachers are complaining about the ridiculous rule that no student can earn less then 50% on a test or assignment. They say its grade inflation. And it most certainly is. It is ridiculous that this was even considered to be a good idea.

Urgent Prayer Request For YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Missionaries In India

2008-10-23T10:46:00.001-05:00

This is a request for prayer for YWAM missionaries and their churches
in Orissa, India. The request came from her friend, Mable Hurst, an
associate of HCJB Global. Please read and make this a matter of urgent
prayer.

Dear beloved sponsors and friends of Good News India.
We have never seen anything like t his. We knew that Orissa was the
most resistant and hostile State in India as far as the Gospel is
concerned. And we brushed off the continuous threats and harassment we
faced as we went about His work. But none of our staff imagined that
they would see this kind of carnage.... And it seems to be totally
under the radar of the Western Media. Let me explain.... A militant
Hindu priest and 4 of his attendants, who were zealously going around
the villages of Orissa and 'reconverting' people back to Hinduism,
were gu nned down by unknown assailants in Central Orissa last
weekend. Immediately the Christians were blamed. The cry rose
up...'Kill the Christians!' And the horror began.... In the past 4
days, we have first hand witness to hundreds of churches being blown
up or burned and many, many dozens of Christian tribals have been
slaughtered. For no other reason than they bear the name of Christ.
Night and day I have been in t ouch with our Good News India Directors
spread across 14 Dream Centers in Orissa... they are right in the
middle of all this chaos. In Tihidi, just after the police came to
offer protection, a group of 70 blood-thirsty militants came to kill
our staff and destroy the home. They were not allowed to get in, but
they did a lot of damage to our Dream Center by throwing rocks and
bricks and smashing our gate, etc. They have promised to come back and
'finish the job.' Our kids and staff are locked inside and have stayed
that way with doors and windows shut for the past 3 days. It has been
a time of desperately calling on the Lord in prayer.

More police have come to offer protection. In Kalahandi, the police
and some loca l sympathizers got to our dream center and gave our
staff and kids about 3 minutes notice to vacate. No one had time to
even grab a change of clothes or any personal belongings. As they
fled, the blood thirsty m ob came to kill everyone in the building. We
would have had a mass funeral there, but for His grace. In Phulbani,
the mob came looking for Christian homes and missions. The local Hindu
people, our neighbors turned them away by saying that there were no
Christians in this area. So they left. We had favor. The same thing
happened in Balasore.

All our dream centers are under lock down with the kids and staff
huddled inside and police outside. The fanatics are circling outside
waiting for a chance to kill. Others were not so fortunate. In a
nearby Catholic orphanage, the mob allowed the kids to leave and
locked up a Priest and a computer teacher in house and burned them to
death. Many believers have been killed and hacked into pieces and left
on the road.... even women and children. At another orphanage run by
another organization, when this began, the Director and his wife
jumped on their motorbike and simply fled, leaving al l the children
and staff behind. Every one of our GNI directors that I have spoken to
said: 'We stay with our kids.... we live together or die together, but
we will never abandon what God has called us to do.' More than 5000
Christian families have had their homes burned or destroyed. They have
fled into the jungles and are living in great fea r waiting for the
authorities to bring about peace. But so far, no peace is foreseen.

This will continue for another 10 days.... supposedly the 14 day
mourning period for the slain Hindu priest. Many more Christians will
die and their houses destroyed. Many more churches will be smashed
down. The Federal government is trying to restore order and perhaps
things will calm down.

We ask for your prayers. Only the Hand of God can calm this storm.
None of us know the meaning of persecution. But now our kids and staff
know what that means. So many of our kids coming from Hindu
backgrounds are confused and totally bewildered at what is happening
around them. So many of their guardians have fled into the jungles and
are unable to come and get them during these trying times.

Through all this, I am more determined than ever to continue with our
goal: the transformation of a community by transforming its children.
Orissa will be saved... that is our heart's cry. If we can take these
thousands of throw-away children and help them to become disciples of
Jesus, they will transform an entire region. It is a long term goal,
but it is strategic thinking in terms of the Great Commission.

What can you do? First, please uphold all this in fervent prayer.
Second, pass this email on to as many friends as you can. We must get
the word out and increase our prayer base for this is spiritual
warfare at its most basic meaning. We are literally fighting the devil
in order to live f or His Kingdom. The next 10 days are crucial. We pray for peace and calm to pervade across Orissa.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please pass it on and
help us to get as many people to partner with us on this cutting edge
effort to fulfill His mandate: Go and make disciples of all nations.
Prayer works!

Blessings, Chip & Sandy Wanner Col 2:2 MBI
Team Facilitators to YWAM frontlines

--
Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout to them, beckon them to enter the gates of the nobles. Isaiah 13:2

Now these are some forums

2008-06-11T22:40:00.002-05:00

Go checkout http://www.christianforums.com. That is a thriving messageboard community there.

They don't make them like this anymore

2008-06-10T15:12:00.003-05:00

Which kind of video game do you think is better? The kind that you buy, play for two weeks, and defeat it and never play it again. Or the video game that you bought 25 years ago and still have the same fun that you had when you first got it? I think that 25 years and counting is a better value for your money and for fun.

My all time favorite video game is Advanced Dungeons and Dragons for the Intellivision. I just got done playing it. I played four games of it this morning. 3 wins and 1 loss.

You start with three lives and that's all you have for the entire game. You move toward the big mountain where the dragons have stolen the crown jewels. You need to recover them. BUt in order to get there, you must enter other mountains that have different creatures in them. And tools that you will need to get past natural barriers like rivers and forests.

Obviously the graphics aren't the greatest in the world but graphics aren't everything. I much prefer that a game actually be fun than look nice. Unfortunately the games today are more interested in looking good and not in being fun. Instead of 15 minutes a game, it take weeks to finish and then you never want to play it again.

You can get this game on the intellivisionlives.com website in their Intellivision lives cd-rom. Only its not called Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Instead its called its in development name: Adventure.

How did the lower classes fare in Ancient Rome?

2008-06-10T11:21:00.001-05:00

While walking today...

2008-06-06T14:57:00.002-05:00

I walk down at Brady's Run with my cousin and today we came across a snake. My cousin took a picture with her cell phone and emailed it to me. This is the first snake I've seen around here in years. I used to see them all the time and was beginning to think they had all disappeared for good. But nope. He left soon after the picture was taken.

Pirates 1st draft under Huntington

2008-06-05T21:03:00.002-05:00

Ok. Back aways I said the draft would tell us how serious the new management is. They passed with flying colors on that score. Now the test is actually signing the pick. If they don't, then I'm going to be quite annoyed with them. If they do sign them, I might end my boycott of going to the stadium that's been enforced since 1993 when they let Barry Bonds walk away without offering him a contract because they were afraid he would sign it.

Islam taught in Texas School

2008-06-03T10:54:00.002-05:00

I wonder what the ACLU would have to say if the assembly was saying that "Jesus is God", "Jesus is the only way to Eternal Life", "God is Trinitarian", ect...

Something tells me there would be shouts of bloody murder.

Marriage protection initiative qualifies for CA ballot

2008-06-03T10:44:00.000-05:00

Penguins win

2008-06-02T23:48:00.002-05:00

Penguins win in triple overtime. But the point of the post is to wonder if the fans will still continue to hate Malkin after that wonderful pass he gave to whomever won the game with that shot.

And just so those that know I don't like hockey aren't going huh he watched. Only the last period and a half of overtime. I was waiting for Leno. :P But I'm probably to tired to watch him now since they'll most likely have news and then Leno.

100,000 Bible to U.S. Troops in 100 days

2008-06-02T22:11:00.000-05:00

Stealing Michigan Delegates

2008-06-01T08:57:00.004-05:00

Yet they don't see the same thing occuring when someone that wasn't voted for gets nearly half the delegates. He wasn't on the ballot because he took his name off the ballot on his free will and now gets the delegates anyway. Must be nice having special rules just for you when you run for office.

DragonLance book: Dragons of the Hourglass Mage might be published

2008-05-31T22:41:00.003-05:00

Mage

I guess I can call off my boycott of every thing Hasbro now. Since Raistlin is my favorite fantasy character and they had the nerve to announce this book back in 2006 and then pull this cancellation garbage.

I used to roleplay a character I created that was based on Raistlin. Originally the roleplaying was at Crossgen Comics's messageboard. But they went out of business so it moved to Comic Book Review but CBR never became popular and the site renamed to quarrels and quills.

My character had a twin brother, Qwaring, who was good with gadgets and was controlled by a genius. He still roleplays at Q&Q and is drawing a comic based on the roleplaying we did.

Our character names were based on the user names we used to sign up with. Mine originally was glcjr because I used my initials. But when Crossgen changed their messageboard and we all had to re-register, I changed my name.

It was fun but time consuming and I don't have a lot of spare time anymore so it had to end.

Former Pirates Jose Guillen rips into current team after 10 straight losses

2008-05-29T09:36:00.001-05:00

“Too many babies here,” Guillen said—eliminating a few choice words that would make George Carlin blush. “They don’t know how to play the game and win the game right, the way it’s supposed to be played. And that’s the problem here. Now I know why this organization’s been losing for a while. Now I know.”But one has to wonder if a .246 batter really has any right to judge his teammates.

Former Bush Press Secretary attacks Administration

2008-05-28T10:34:00.002-05:00

And who enabled him to do this? Why the spin doctor otherwise known as the press secretary.

Democrat Lawyers say can't fully restore Michigan and Florida delegates

2008-05-28T09:18:00.002-05:00

Because you know a state daring to decide when to hold their primary is wrong. The party is all that matters and its law is the law of the land. And when it says you can't do something, the country bows down and kisses the feet of the party.

Pictures from Mars

2008-05-27T23:49:00.002-05:00

Here is the first photo of the latest landing on Mars. They think this is the most likely spot to find life.

I don't know but I kinda prefer this Mars...

It doesn't look like something taken from Death Valley.