Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving, we have a lot to be thankful despite the troubled times we are in.

• We have not seen an attack on soil since 2001.
• People have lost investments and jobs, but we have not seen the collapse of our monetary.
• The majority of us are able to put food on our tables to feed our families.
• We live in a great country that give us many freedoms that other wish they had (or are envious of).

Just look around the world at the conditions that a lot of other people live in. We are a blessed nation.

Personally, I have a lot to be thankful.

• I have my health. My family is healthy as well. (My father was battling prostate cancer last year.)
• I have set of friends that are dependable, open and honest, and willing to listen to me.
• I have a great church that I am involved with.
• I have a good job.

I thank God for the many blessing that He has given to me. What are you thankful for?

Charity vs. Socialism

"I'd rather give it to charity..."

Wayne Huizenga on paying taxes

Webster definition of Charity:

1: benevolent goodwill toward or love of humanity

2 a: generosity and helpfulness especially toward the needy or suffering ; also : aid given to those in need b: an institution engaged in relief of the poor c: public provision for the relief of the needy

Wayne Huizenga recently came out saying that he was selling his holdings now because he does not want to pay higher taxes. Instead he would rather give the money to charities of his choice.

This is in response to the expectation of higher taxes with the new administration. They are talking about more government entitlements to people. It is a re-distribution of wealth based on the government's terms. This is an approach that I obviously do not agree with.

Christians should step up to help widows, the poor, and the sick. This is model that Jesus put forward and He lived it. We should take our abundance and share it with those in need. This is way our country worked before the Great Depression when the government entered the charity business.

Personally, I became a Christian when I was in high school. There was a man in our church who worked hard to expand his business in order to give more. He would buy turkeys (by the truck-load) at Thanksgiving and Christmas for our church to distribute. He did not want any recognition. (I am not sure he knows that I knew about what he did.)

This is what we need to do. We need to give what we can, when can, to help others around us (without seeking glory or recognition). This is how we will change our communities and our nation. During this Thanksgiving season I would encourage you to give to your church or some local charity that is making a difference in your community.

Dolphins Miss An Opportunity

The Dolphins missed an opportunity today to move in sole possession of second place in their division. They would have been one game behind the Jets in the AFC East. Instead, they are in third place and probably further behind in the wildcard chase.

I was disappointed with the 48-28 loss. They team did not look like they were ready play. They did not handle the pressure of the big game very well.

Surprisingly it was not the problems that we saw in recent games.

• They were unable to get consistent pressure on NE QB Cassel. He wound up passing for 415 yards. With the time he had, he was able to wait for his receivers to get open.
• MIA QB Pennington was not as sharp as we have seen. He had some bad throws and a bad pick.
• The Dolphins kick returners did not help very much in field position. Fortunately the kick coverage did a better job.
• The running game (and the wildcat formation) was ineffective.

The Dolphins have a favorable schedule with games against St. Louis, Buffalo, San Francisco, Kansas City, and the New York Jets. We should win three of the five games but that probably will not be good enough to make the playoffs.

On the positive side, you have to like the direction the team has taken this season. We already have more wins and the foundation for a solid team in the future.

Dilbert in Real Life...

My co-workers wonder at times if Scott Adams get inspiration for his Dilbert comic strip from our office. Our boss even agrees that it is uncanny some of the strips that match real life. (She is not the pointy haired boss either!)

Some of the crazy stuff we see every day includes:

• A manager who does not know how to print documents from the accounting system we use so they ask others to do it for them. (And this was after someone showed them how to...)
• The same manager is a delegator pushing everything they can to their co-workers (but still taking the credit for it when it goes well).
• A chain smoking grand-mother who pushes eating organic in the break room. That is a bit ironic.
• An administrative assistant practically running a small business out of her office.
• Drama queens in the mail sniping at each other each day.
• A manager who claimed ignorance on a decision during a meeting because she was not paying attention.
• End users submitting project requests without requirements (and expecting an estimated of when it will be delivered).

Other people are probably in similar scenarios at their office. Most of us that work in corporate world have a pointed haired boss, Wally, Dogbert, Asok, and Dilbert. What funny things have you seen?

Consequences of Sin

This weekend I had two stark reminders of how sin can bring people down.

First, I heard about a pastor in the county who was caught in an extra-marital affair. (He is someone who I have known personally for 10+ years and I know his family too.) He had recently been installed as the senior pastor of a church that was going through difficulties because of mis-management from the previous pastor.

He started the affair while working at his previous position at another local ministry. (The leader of that ministry is livid over what he did.) As a result we see two families in turmoil and two ministries having their names disgraced in the community.

Second, I was cleaning up some trash in my swale. One of the things that I picked up (very carefully) was a syringe. I live in a pretty good neighborhood - it is not the type of place that you would expect to find something like this. It is also not the first one that I have found in my yard. We see people around our city that are obviously addicted to drugs and it is not a pretty sight. It is a sad situation that they are in.

Both of these things are reminders that sin (vices, addictions, or whatever term you want to apply to them) can bring good people down. It does not matter if your name is Billy Graham or Billy Madison.

"Sin for a season" will ultimately bring someone down despite how strong we think we are. Paul wrote in Galatians, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps with he sows."

Marlins Appear to be Purging Again...

The baseball season has been over for a few weeks and free agency starts next week. The Marlins are already on the move trading away several key plays from the last couple of seasons - Scott Olsen, Josh Willingham, Mike Jacobs, and Kevin Gregg.

Sun Sentinel columnist Mike Berardino makes an argument in today's paper that the Marlins are following the Tampa Bay Rays' formula for success - better defense and speed. I agree that those are important factors. The Marlins do need to imporve their defense.

I understand the Jacobs trade (and agree with it). You get a possible closer of the future. You also have Gabby Sanchez on the verge of being ready to take over (a potent bat with defense that Jacobs never had). Letting Gregg go also makes sense after his meltdown last season.

But Olsen and Willingham trade does not make much sense. You trade a solid (not spectacular) left-hander and a dependable bat (who could play the corners on the infield besides LF) for a 2B who has not hit in the majors and a couple minor leaguers. (2B Bonifacio might be the hand writing on the wall for the end of the Uggla era too...)

I think we should be following the Cleveland Indians model of the 90s - sign younger, talented players to long term (below market) deals before they become arbitration eligible or free agents. We signed Hanley Ramirez long term, but players like Dan Uggla are going into arbitration and the Marlins will not be able to keep them long term.

Instead we have a team that resembles the Pittsburgh Pirates. They get a good player and trade him for minor leaguers or let them depart in free agency to get extra draft picks. They are always sub-mediocre as a result.

This is team with limited revenues when you compare them to the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, or Cubs. They cannot buy any player they want, but they do need to spend more to keep a competitive team and attract fans. I have probably been to 400+ games through years and I am not interested in somebody who is not competitive.

Economy Still A Mess

So far it has been a another brutal week on Wall Street if you own stocks. The market continues to head south on speculation of the economy slowing even more.

Treasury Secretary Paulson announced today they the federal government will not buy bad mortgages from banks. I applaud the move for the federal government to stay out of taking a stake in the problems, but the timing and change of course were disheartening to the market.

We see consumer confidence (and spending) continue to decline. Companies continue to announce decline sales and profits. Some are folding or laying off employees. Other governments are injecting stimulus packages to bolster their stagnant economies.

The question many are asking is "are we at the bottom?" It is a legitimate question to be asking. I have been wondering since August if we have reached the bottom. Personally I hope we have.

I was talking with my grandparent about the current environment this week. They lived through the Great Depression. Fortunately they were in Missouri living on farms. (Think John Grisham's novel A Painted House which they say some of the characters sound too much like their relatives.) They knew they were poor but they also knew they were fortunate to have food on the table every day.

They think times are tough today but not like during the Great Depression. They are hopeful that we are going through the worst and better things are coming. They have seen a lot through their years and I think they are right.

Dolphins Win Again Barely...

The Dolphins won their 5th game of the season on Sunday. Far more than most of us expected at this point when the season began. (I was expecting 5 or 6 wins for the whole season.)

The Dolphins did not play their best, but they did enough (and at the right times) to win the game in end. They played a team in Seattle Seahawks that were beat up and missing some of their key components.

They had to hang on in end when Seattle mounted two late drives one of which resulted in a touchdown and failed two point conversion with less three minutes to go. Then another at the end of the game where they gave it up on down at mid field.

There were some good things that we saw including:

• The Dolphins were able to run the ball and get yards when they needed it (including two fourth and one plays)
• Ted Ginn made a couple nice catches including a touchdown grab in double coverage
• Ricky Williams showed flashes of his younger days with a 100+ yard rushing performance
• The "Wildcat" formation was effective in keeping Seattle's defense off balanced

But unfortunately there were some bad aspects to the game as well:

• Pennington made a couple bad reads including one pick-six (interception returned for a touchdown)
• Special teams coverage gave up some big returns
• The offensive lineman allowed Seattle to get more pressure on Pennington
• The defense failed to come up with any turnovers

In the end they won the game - that is the important part. They have also won three games in a row. When was the last time the Dolphins did that?

Some people are starting to talk about the prospect of making the playoffs. That might be a bit premature at this point. The Dolphins are now going through the softer part of their schedule with games against Oakland and St. Louis over the next three weeks. If they can win 3 of the next four, then maybe we can legitimately talk about that.

The New White House Starts to Form

My original thought for my next blog was going to about moving on from the election. I took down my yard sign and removed the bumper from my car because the election is over (not because my preferred candidate lost).

However, after reading the Sun Sentinel this morning, I realized that we are probably seeing the first true signs of what the new White House will look like.

President-Elect Obama has named Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff. At face value he seems to just be part of the Democratic machine working in the Clinton administration and later being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

However, if you read his history there are some things that should raise questions. During 2000-2001 he was a director for Freddie Mac earning $262,705. This during the time when the plague of accounting and political contribution scandals started at Freddie Mac.

The Sun-Sentinel / AP Wire story failed to mention this in his "resume". They also failed to say that he used his political connections during the time he was an investment banker to broker several large mergers and earn millions.

Other interesting things about Emanuel include:

• He mailed a rotting fish to a former co-worker after they parted ways.
• He earned the nickname "Rahm-bo" for his tough take no prisoners attitude. President Clinton leaned on him to get things because of this.
• Rolling Stone reported that Emanuel was so angry at the president's enemies that he stood up at a celebratory dinner with colleagues from the campaign, grabbed a steak knife and began rattling off a list of betrayers, shouting "Dead! . . . Dead! . . . Dead!" and plunging the knife into the table after every name. "When he was done, the table looked like a lunar landscape," one campaign veteran recalls.
• He supposedly told British Prime Minister Tony Blair not to "f### it up" before a public appearance with Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal according to the London Guardian.

If the "Average Joe" did things like this at work, he would be fired. But they helped Emanuel become White House chief of staff instead.

President-Elect Obama has gone back on a promise in less than 2 days after winning the election. During he acceptance speech he said "Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long."(Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks On Election Night, Chicago, IL, 11/4/08) But his first political appointment goes squarely against that statement.

The bottom line is we are seeing the hyper-partisan side of the Democratic party take over Washington. People need to wake up to the fact that this is not "change" they thought they were getting. It is the re-cycling and re-packaging of the Democratic left.

Election Day

Today is election day across the country. (Except for Fort Lauderdale mayor and commission elections which are coming February. Who knows why they are held then...)

We have the right (and responsibility) to vote on who will lead our government at the federal, state, and local levels. This is something that millions of other people around envy because they do not have say in their government.

One of my co-workers in another state was questioning whether he was going to vote because his preferred presidential candidate was way behind in the polls. I reminded him that there are other local candidates and amendments that he needs to vote on. In the end, he decided to vote today

People should not gripe and complain about our government if they do not vote. If you want change (whatever type that might be) you need to vote. I will be going this morning to cast my vote and to be heard.

Keep this great republic moving forward and vote!

Is the weekend over?

This weekend is finally over. It was not one of my better ones. The highlights / lowlights included things like:

• Friday night I enter my neighborhood to see police cars with lights flashing and sirens blaring. (Halloween hoodlums I guess...) That winds down around 10:30 but there is still a bit noise in the neighborhood so I cannot get to sleep.
• Saturday I play golf with one of my buddies and shoot my worst round of the year. It seemed like every other shot went awry. I put two in the water on one hole and lost 6 balls total for the day. (I was able to putt well...)
• I get home to see that my alma mater looses their homecoming game by a last minute field goal...
• Sunday morning I should get an extra hour of sleep with the time change - but instead of waking up at my normal 7:30am I wake up at 6am. Not sure why but I would have loved the extra hour of sleep.
• I decide that I will go for a bike ride. About 8 miles from my house I get a pinch flat. (I did have a spare tube and was able to get home.)
• My fantasy football team lost this week to one of my arch rivals. The difference was a defensive lineman returning an interception for a touchdown.

Granted my weekend could have been worst. I did not loose my job. My girl friend did not dump me. (that happened a few months ago...) No family members passed away. I did not get hit by a car (or bus). My health is in order.

At the end of this weekend, I should count my blessings instead. It could have been a lot worse.