Slingshot Records Blog

Recently our youngest daughter was struggling with allergies that were possibly morphing into a cold. Our concern was that her asthma would kick up again. So, we took her for another of her multiple Dr visits that week.

This time she was prescribed a steroid to aid her breathing. Home from the pharmacy is were the real frustration began. She stubbornly refused to take this new medicine. After 45 minutes of tear-soaked negotiations she looked up at us with wet cheeks and said:

“Look… I like coughing!”

Hard to argue with that. Thankfully, she finally gave in, took her medicine, and is doing fine.

I recently overheard a debate featuring former Saturday Night Live writer, Al Franken waxing smuggly about how the US Constitution says nothing about abortion. Al seemed to indicate since the word “Abortion” is NOT mentioned in the Constitution all abortion should be legal.

I’m thinking since the unalienable “right to LIFE” is already mentioned in the opening of the Declaration Of Independence it would be redundant to restate it in the Constitution. Besides that, the Constitution is a document of powers that We The People bestow on our government.
The Right to Life is given to all men from our Creator. (Notice the capital “C” in Creator… just like in the Declaration of Independence).

Anyway, when I think back on my grade school science… anything that is consuming nutrients, has active/mulitiplying/growing cells, and expels waste is ALIVE. We all know human life begins with a cell…A LIVE CELL, otherwise we’d never grow, breathe, etc. Even people who claim evolution say that life begins with a CELL! Still has to be a live one. People can “play” like they don’t know when life begins… if that’s the case shouldn’t we err on the side of caution and say “at the point of conception?” I guess those who agree with abortion don’t care about that.

“…certain inalienable rights, that among these are LIFE (hear that?!?! That is life, not what Al or NARAL, or Planned Parenthood deems is life. And it doesn’t say life outside the womb, when you are grown and have a say… it’s LIFE, period), LIBERTY and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.”

I don’t imagine that Al wants to do away with the Declaration Of Independence… nor should we do away with the unborn children that some deem “inconvenient.”

Hmmmm…. Thanks for the Bailout… NOT!

I have not been this disappointed in our elected officials… well, EVER. But, I shouldn’t be surprised… they want everyone to think that they can fix anything.

A rush through of this now $800 Billion bail out has made Paulson the most powerful man on earth. Which banks and businesses will be blessed by his whimsical $ wand?

There must have been 100 different ways to fix this mess, and all Washington could think to do was to throw OUR money at the problem? Get the hell out of my billfold. Shame on the shammers and con-men that arrogantly walk the halls of Congress. Gee… “W” (or should I call you “G-Money”?), have you lost all the will to fight these BOZO’S?

Is EVERYONE in Washington afraid to deal with the pain of taking a principled stand? I know there were a few in the House that held out… thank you.

Now back to the sarcasm - Thanks Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for forcing banks to make loans to anybody… thereby, ensuring that the once the economical growth slowed and the housing bubble burst there would be NO FOUNDATION to be a safety net. Do you just not care about anyone else? Oh… I forgot about the greed of loan institutions who have thrown all moral and ethical standards out the window… Hey - your life is but a vapor. Soon you’ll answer for that sin.

And “OH YES”, how we need more regulation… NOT! Notice how SARBANES/OXLEY, other accounting laws, and regulatory agencies TOTALLY missed this. WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.

FRICKIN’ JUST ENFORCE THE LAWS THAT ARE ON THE BOOKS AND GO AFTER THESE CROOKS.

Whatever… SHEER DISGUST IS ALL I FEEL ABOUT THIS “WONDERFUL” BAILOUT.

God, I gleefully turn this mess over to you. Please bring out the truth, may justice be served, and the hearts of the wicked be changed. In Christ I pray, Amen.

Let’s stop racism in it’s tracks once and all… for the whole planet… shall we?

Here’s the situation as I see it: One God, one Adam, one Eve… we’re all brothers and sisters. ‘Nuff said?

Not sure? OK… scripture says that “God formed Man out of dirt from the ground…” There are many colors of dirt around the world… therefore, many colors of man around the world.

I’m guessing one reason people come in many skin colors is that God wanted to enjoy some variety in his creation. Satan found a way to turn skin color (ethnicity, nationality, etc) into a point of contention among humans. We’re boneheads for falling for his scheme.

Anyway, remember: One God… One Creator of all… we are the “all”… made in His image… It would be best show some respect… to all.

Do you value all life? Somebody sent me an e-mail with this film clip. The note stated that this father’s love is like God’s love for us. I like that thought. Take 4.5 minutes and watch this (keep your tissues handy):

Fun With Guns, or Gun-play, or Serious Firepower? Wasn’t sure which title was best… Your suggestions are welcome. And, yes… I know GUNS are a serious subject… But, they’re necessary, and can be fun too (hunting, target practice… pest control…).

(Assume a backwoods, country accent when reading): Even win Ize a yung boy, Ize round firearms. Now, if weez gonna speke on the merits of gun ownership weez abalutootly must do some siph’rin to gets to the truth…. cause the truth shall set ye free!

Enjoy this except from Larry Elder’s July 10th 2008 artical “Why Do We Keep And Bear Arms?”:

The New York Times, in an editorial condemning the Supreme Court case, says: “Thirty-thousand Americans are killed by guns every year — on the job, walking to school, at the shopping mall. The Supreme Court on Thursday all but ensured that even more Americans will die senselessly.”

Really?

The 30,000 number includes 17,000 suicides. But a person intent on suicide finds a way — gun or no gun. In Japan, for example, more than twice as many people, per capita, kill themselves, yet that country bans handguns.

The hand-wringing New York Times editorial fails to ask the following questions: How many Americans use guns to defend themselves? Of that number, how many believe that but for their ability to use their guns in self-defense, they would be dead?

“When a robbery victim does not defend himself,” former assistant district attorney and firearms expert David Kopel writes, “the robber succeeds 88 percent of the time, and the victim is injured 25 percent of the time. When a victim resists with a gun, the robbery success rate falls to 30 percent, and the victim injury rate falls to 17 percent. No other response to a robbery — from drawing a knife to shouting for help to fleeing — produces such low rates of victim injury and robbery success.”

Saw part of Bruce Springsteen’s 60 minutes interview today. Never been a big fan of his music - not enough crunchy guitar. I’m sure he couldn’t care less. Apparently he and I are fairly divided regarding our political views, too. He views singers as “canaries in the coal mines” singing about injustices… well, I do like that approach OK enough. But, from what I understand he seems to view any measure taken in an attempt to protect America from her enemies as a great loss of civil liberties, or unjust, and just plain dangerous… for Americans.

My problem with his problem is that he offers no alternative defense. To me that’s kind of like going into a street brawl with your hands in your pockets.

“The Boss” seems to be masculine enough to defend himself, but his attitude seems SO passive. I would hate to be on a plane with him where terrorists are trying to take over… would he even sing about their brutal attempt to perpetrate another act of war? I never heard his 9/11 song so I have no idea if he lyrically spoke about the evil of that day or just the emotional shock that we all felt…

Anyway, I certainly wouldn’t want one of my daughters marrying him because I don’t see him protecting them - (in reality we are much younger than Bruce, so no worries there).

My question to that mentality is: “at what point do you take up arms… or do you just shrug off terrorist attacks as some other form of “man caused” disaster… just some new injustice that maybe our lawyers can deal with?”

I see where pop culture now considers it a desired virtue to speak your mind in an “unfiltered” manner. I flipped by the TV Channel today and heard people hailing a character from “Lost”, and the lead character on “House” (which I enjoy) because they voice their thoughts - unfiltered.

Not that this is all that new (nothing new under the sun). That is what we all used to dig about Redd Foxx, and Don Rickles on the Dean Martin roasts. And, I believe that’s the formula for Howard Stern’s multi-million dollar career.

When I “came back to the Lord” I found that holy scripture said things like: “Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” “A wise man weighs everything he says.” And, the warning from Christ that slowed my tongue WAAAAY down: “You will be held accountable for every word you utter.”

Funny (and sad) how the world celebrates the opposite of what God’s word teaches.

Reader beware: Read on an empty stomach… seriously.

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Atheism and Child Murder
By Dinesh D’Souza 5/12/08

Peter Singer is a calm, lucid and able debater, and our debate at Biola University in Los Angeles on April 25 was lively and hard-fought. Not for nothing is Singer considered a world-class philosopher and advocate. To watch the debate go to dineshdsouza.com and click on my AOL blog.

Singer praised me for not simply making assertions of faith or hurling Bible passages at him but rather for using reason and argument to make my case. And I complimented Singer for stepping, so to speak, into the lion’s den. (Biola actually stands for Bible Institute of Los Angeles.) Unlike the pusillanimous Richard Dawkins, who doesn’t dare to debate me even at his home campus of Oxford, Singer was brave to come to a Christian campus to dispute the resolution “God: Yes or No.” The audience of 3,000 was mostly though not exclusively Christian.

So perhaps atheism has found an able advocate. But unbelievers may want to think twice before lining up behind Singer, who argues in favor of infanticide, euthanasia and (this is not a joke) animal rights! One of Singer’s interesting proposals concerns what may be called “fourth trimester” abortions, i.e. the right to kill one’s offspring even after birth!

Here are some choice Singer quotations on the subject which I get from his books Rethinking Life and Death and Writings on an Ethical Life.

On how mothers should be permitted to kill their offspring until the age of 28 days: “My colleague Helga Kuhse and I suggest that a period of twenty-eight days after birth might be allowed before an infant is accepted as having the same right to life as others.”

On why abortion is less morally significant than killing a rat: “Rats are indisputably more aware of their surroundings, and more able to respond in purposeful and complex ways to things they like or dislike, than a fetus at ten or even thirty-two weeks gestation.”

On why pigs, chickens and fish have more rights to life than unborn humans: “The calf, the pig, and the much-derided chicken come out well ahead of the fetus at any stage of pregnancy, while if we make the comparison with a fetus of less than three months, a fish would show more signs of consciousness.”

On why infants aren’t normal human beings with rights to life and liberty: “Characteristics like rationality, autonomy and self-consciousness…make a difference. Infants lack these characteristics. Killing them, therefore, cannot be equated with killing normal human beings.”
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So I say again: Thy Kingdom come, Lord. And, end this madness.

20 plus years as a guitarist & I played my 1st bluegrass gig today. It was fun. We had 2 guitars, an upright bassist, and a banjo player. The bassist played fiddle on one song. We were at church so it was all old bluegrass hymns. I spent most of my time faking a mandolin sound by playing 2 and 3 note chords up high on the neck. I’ve fooled many a person with that in the past. Funny… I noticed that for the guitar and mandolin’s there’s a lot of accents on 2 & 4 while the bass carries 1 & 3. It’s funny because guitars do the same thing in reggae and ska… I wonder if bluegrass players would be at home playin’ da reggae, mon? And, would a ska guitarist be at home playing “Foggy Mountain break-down?”… Hey! That could be a cool hybrid band…. Dredlocks and Overalls!