Either the football gods exist, or I am psychic. Or both. Either way, I am going to gloat about correctly predicting a Green Bay turnover against the Bears Monday night. Don't believe me? Well check this out: http://twitter.com/ChiGuy1991/status/25751460844. This was about five minutes before Tim Jennings recovered a James Jones fumble forced by Brian Urlacher.
What was the offering? I put a football under a Bears hat and placed it on my pillow. And the incense? I momentarily lit a lighter. And just like that, I pleased the football gods enough to have them grant my wish.
Fun fact: That hat is the same hat in the picture above and where the name of this blog is derived. There's something special about that hat.
Until next time, Orange Hat Guy
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Brother Jed
Have you heard the good news? Brother Jed has. But who is Brother Jed? Brother Jed is a Methodist preacher who visits college campuses nationwide and tries to convince college students to repent and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior. He returned to Indiana University Bloomington, something he has done almost every year for over a decade, this week and I took the opportunity to listen to what he had to say.
Here are some highlights:
But at the same time, he refers to gay people as "homos," mocks their sexual orientation as nothing more than a fascination with sex organs, rejects the possibility that he may be wrong and rejects the idea that God and Allah are the same (he does not believe Islam is a continuation of the Judeo-Chrisitian faith).
Does Brother Jed have the right to say these things? Yes, of course he does, and I will defend his right to say them. But his message is wrong. And just because his message is wrong does not mean people should act the way they do towards him. While some remained civil, others shouted profanities, got all up in the face of his 19 year old daughter with profanities and middle fingers and stole his chair.
Regardless of your opinions and views, there is no reason to act this way. Respect your fellow man. I believe Brother Jed is homophobic and intolerant, but rather than treat him rudely, I treated him with courtesy and respect. You do not make yourself look better than him by treating him in a disrespectful manner. Counter his intolerance with your own tolerance.
I'd like to finish with the words of John Lennon:
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
Until next time, Orange Hat Guy
Here are some highlights:
- Humans are not animals, and thus evolution does not concern them.
- God can perform miracles such as restoring a woman's virginity by physically restoring the hymen. (Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlb6XHewNfg)
- Using marijuana for medicinal purposes is ok, but using it and other drugs for recreational benefits constitutes a sin.
- Likewise, drinking in moderation is ok. But going out and getting drunk is an abuse of alcohol and therefore a sin.
- Is a self-anointed expert on human sexuality. Explains why anal sex is a sin. (Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqR5fv43yis)
- Would disown his daughter is she admitted she was a lesbian.
- Adam discovered that Eve didn't have a banana-like thing in between her legs.
- Carries a staff with a crucifix attached to the top. The staff itself represents Moses and the Old Testament and the crucifix represents Jesus and the New Testament.
- Some parts of the Bible obviously cannot be taken literally and cannot be applied to society today. But other parts you can.
- Never answered the repeated question of which version of the Bible he uses.
- Presumed nearly all college students drink, use recreational drugs, have sex and dishonor their parents by wasting their payed-for education on partying.
But at the same time, he refers to gay people as "homos," mocks their sexual orientation as nothing more than a fascination with sex organs, rejects the possibility that he may be wrong and rejects the idea that God and Allah are the same (he does not believe Islam is a continuation of the Judeo-Chrisitian faith).
Does Brother Jed have the right to say these things? Yes, of course he does, and I will defend his right to say them. But his message is wrong. And just because his message is wrong does not mean people should act the way they do towards him. While some remained civil, others shouted profanities, got all up in the face of his 19 year old daughter with profanities and middle fingers and stole his chair.
Regardless of your opinions and views, there is no reason to act this way. Respect your fellow man. I believe Brother Jed is homophobic and intolerant, but rather than treat him rudely, I treated him with courtesy and respect. You do not make yourself look better than him by treating him in a disrespectful manner. Counter his intolerance with your own tolerance.
I'd like to finish with the words of John Lennon:
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
Until next time, Orange Hat Guy
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Bud Selig Is An Idiot (Again)
If you are a big baseball fan like I am, you probably have a deep-seeded hatred for Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball. While the laundry list of problems for Selig is quite long, I want to focus on a recent episode involving Cubs player Tyler Colvin.
On Sunday, Colvin was hit in the chest by the remnants of a broken bat as he was heading home from third. A large, sharp piece of the bat hit him squarely in the chest, and was inches away from puncturing either his heart or his neck. Remarkably, Colvin got away relatively unscathed and was able to score before being removed from the game.
Colvin was then taken to the hospital and treated to prevent him from suffering a collapsed lung. He will now miss the final few weeks of the season but should otherwise be fine. But just because he got lucky does not mean there is not a serious issue that needs to be addressed.
Maple bats, such as the one that broke and speared Colvin, are known for shattering in large pieces. It is remarkable that there have not been more dangerous injuries related to the use of maple bats. When the bats break, there are usually a few large, sharp and pointed pieces that go flying in a bevy of directions: at baserunners, fielders, players in the dugouts, and into the stands.
This problem needs to be addressed before someone gets seriously injured. But judging from the reaction by Bud Selig, it looks like a major accident is what it is going to take to get much-needed changes. Selig commented on the Colvin incident, "It scared me. But we've been very vigorous in attacking the problem and will continue to be."
Here is the problem though: Selig did not address how the problem will be solved. He pointed to statistics showing that the number of broken maple bats have gone down over the last 2 years. And yet Colvin still got impaled one. Though there may be fewer broken bats, there is still a significant risk of injury.
A few years ago a minor league first base coach got struck by a foul ball and died. The next season Major League Baseball mandated that all base coaches wear helmets to protect themselves. This is a similar situation. If Colvin had gotten seriously injured (or worse), I am sure we would see swift action taken by Bud Selig to eliminate maple bats.
Unfortunately, Bud Selig is a terrible commissioner. He is not going to do anything about maple bats until it is too late. And that is typical Bud Selig: do nothing to stop a problem until it has gotten to a point where it is out of control and then step in. He took the same approach to eliminating steroids and nearly did irreparable harm to the game.
I hope he does the right thing, but I doubt he will. I am eagerly awaiting the day Bud Selig is no longer the commissioner of Major League Baseball.
Until next time, Orange Hat Guy
On Sunday, Colvin was hit in the chest by the remnants of a broken bat as he was heading home from third. A large, sharp piece of the bat hit him squarely in the chest, and was inches away from puncturing either his heart or his neck. Remarkably, Colvin got away relatively unscathed and was able to score before being removed from the game.
Colvin was then taken to the hospital and treated to prevent him from suffering a collapsed lung. He will now miss the final few weeks of the season but should otherwise be fine. But just because he got lucky does not mean there is not a serious issue that needs to be addressed.
Maple bats, such as the one that broke and speared Colvin, are known for shattering in large pieces. It is remarkable that there have not been more dangerous injuries related to the use of maple bats. When the bats break, there are usually a few large, sharp and pointed pieces that go flying in a bevy of directions: at baserunners, fielders, players in the dugouts, and into the stands.
This problem needs to be addressed before someone gets seriously injured. But judging from the reaction by Bud Selig, it looks like a major accident is what it is going to take to get much-needed changes. Selig commented on the Colvin incident, "It scared me. But we've been very vigorous in attacking the problem and will continue to be."
Here is the problem though: Selig did not address how the problem will be solved. He pointed to statistics showing that the number of broken maple bats have gone down over the last 2 years. And yet Colvin still got impaled one. Though there may be fewer broken bats, there is still a significant risk of injury.
A few years ago a minor league first base coach got struck by a foul ball and died. The next season Major League Baseball mandated that all base coaches wear helmets to protect themselves. This is a similar situation. If Colvin had gotten seriously injured (or worse), I am sure we would see swift action taken by Bud Selig to eliminate maple bats.
Unfortunately, Bud Selig is a terrible commissioner. He is not going to do anything about maple bats until it is too late. And that is typical Bud Selig: do nothing to stop a problem until it has gotten to a point where it is out of control and then step in. He took the same approach to eliminating steroids and nearly did irreparable harm to the game.
I hope he does the right thing, but I doubt he will. I am eagerly awaiting the day Bud Selig is no longer the commissioner of Major League Baseball.
Until next time, Orange Hat Guy
Monday, September 20, 2010
The Media's Problem With Christine O'Donnell
Unless you have been living under a rock, you are probably aware of all the media coverage devoted to something Christine O'Donnell said on Politically Incorrect about 10 years ago. Specifically, she talked about dabbling into witchcraft and going on a date with a witch. Sounds kind of weird, but nothing more than that, right?
Wrong. There has been a media uproar over the comments. Bill Maher, who hosted Politically Incorrect, mentioned that he has more clips of Christine O'Donnell from her appearance on the show. He plans on releasing them one a time, week by week. The specific clip in question has made the rounds on television and online.
But so what? I am sure Democrats are up in arms about this, claiming how this is evidence that Christine O'Donnell is an unsuitable Senate candidate. Or that she could not possibly be qualified to be a senator because of decisions she made in the past. But think about it. How exactly does that make her unqualified?
Let us take a closer look. She was interested in witchcraft. There should not be anything wrong with that. This is not a fringe religion. It is a misunderstood religion (I am certainly no expert) practiced by a minority of people. The 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, taken by the City University of New York, identified 134,000 people who identified as Wiccans.
We should not ostracize O'Donnell based on her interest in witchcraft. I think because Wicca is outside the Judeo-Christian realm, it becomes an easy target to mock and ridicule. People tend to have misconceptions about what they do not understand. Before criticizing O'Donnell, people should be educated in what they are commenting on.
Her previous religious practices should not even matter. A person's religion does not make them unqualified for holding public office. It is when you bring your religious views into how you legislate that problems arise. However, those are separate issues and is not relevant here. Her prior interest in witchcraft should not matter when it comes to her candidacy.
Next up: she went on a date with a witch. So what? O'Donnell said she was in high school when this occurred, meaning this happened over 20 years ago. We cannot equate her decision-making then with her decision-making now. People can change drastically over time, and O'Donnell is no exception. Her interest in witchcraft waned after she started college and she became an Evangelical Christian.
This should not be the major issue concerning Christine O'Donnell. She has said several over things I believe merit actual media scrutiny. However, I will not get into those. Hopefully the media can reverse course and pay attention to what really matters, because this does not.
Until next time, Orange Hat Guy
Wrong. There has been a media uproar over the comments. Bill Maher, who hosted Politically Incorrect, mentioned that he has more clips of Christine O'Donnell from her appearance on the show. He plans on releasing them one a time, week by week. The specific clip in question has made the rounds on television and online.
But so what? I am sure Democrats are up in arms about this, claiming how this is evidence that Christine O'Donnell is an unsuitable Senate candidate. Or that she could not possibly be qualified to be a senator because of decisions she made in the past. But think about it. How exactly does that make her unqualified?
Let us take a closer look. She was interested in witchcraft. There should not be anything wrong with that. This is not a fringe religion. It is a misunderstood religion (I am certainly no expert) practiced by a minority of people. The 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, taken by the City University of New York, identified 134,000 people who identified as Wiccans.
We should not ostracize O'Donnell based on her interest in witchcraft. I think because Wicca is outside the Judeo-Christian realm, it becomes an easy target to mock and ridicule. People tend to have misconceptions about what they do not understand. Before criticizing O'Donnell, people should be educated in what they are commenting on.
Her previous religious practices should not even matter. A person's religion does not make them unqualified for holding public office. It is when you bring your religious views into how you legislate that problems arise. However, those are separate issues and is not relevant here. Her prior interest in witchcraft should not matter when it comes to her candidacy.
Next up: she went on a date with a witch. So what? O'Donnell said she was in high school when this occurred, meaning this happened over 20 years ago. We cannot equate her decision-making then with her decision-making now. People can change drastically over time, and O'Donnell is no exception. Her interest in witchcraft waned after she started college and she became an Evangelical Christian.
This should not be the major issue concerning Christine O'Donnell. She has said several over things I believe merit actual media scrutiny. However, I will not get into those. Hopefully the media can reverse course and pay attention to what really matters, because this does not.
Until next time, Orange Hat Guy
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