The Greed Depression

So how did we get here, in what's probably the worst recession since the Great Depression? As easy as it is to pin it on the politicians, that doesn't tell the whole story. Blame Clinton. Blame Bush. Blame Obama. Blame Congress. But even more than that, blame GREED. There are the Madoffs out there, the cheats, those who got rich through illegal schemes. And then there are the ones who were just inside the realm of legality. And the CEOs. The bastard CEOs. But underneath it all, there are the common Americans trying to live outside their means and those who gave them loans that had a high probability of default- something fourth grade math could have told you. So I blame everyone. The GREED of everyone.
The salary, benefits, and bonuses for CEOs has long been out of hand. But you can almost justify it when a company is doing well. But when a company declines under your watch, especially when it is losing absurd amounts of money, there is no way to justify multi-million dollar salaries, bonuses, retention payments, golden parachutes, whatever the heck you want to call them. You're in charge of a failing company. People are losing money and jobs because of you. And you should get millions more to buy yourself a new yacht and give your pet spa treatment? No. And AIG is in a league of its own here, getting tens of billions of dollars of bailout money from the government on several occasions and then trying to give over a hundred million dollars in bonuses? After posting the worst quarterly loss ever by any company in history? Seriously? As soon as your company had to be bailed out, any contracts you had with the company- now funded by the taxpayers- became null and void. And why would you want to retain these idiots anyway? A retarded monkey could have done a better job running the company. Probably would have lost less money. Where are the incentive-based contracts anyway? This isn't professional sports. Do you think another company is going to sign the person if the contract isn't laden with an obscene amount of guaranteed money? And would your company then fail because of this? Get real. Upper Executives of big companies (especially the ones losing money now) aren't worth anywhere close to what they're paid. Neither are movie/TV/sports stars, but at least many of them fill seats and make money for the business.
The common taxpayers aren't blameless either. People took out loans, built credit card debt, and bought houses that they knew they probably would never be able to pay back. But they didn't care. Yes, there are those who really thought they would be able to pay it back but then lost their jobs and more when the economy went under. And there are also those who are complete morons and really believed that they could pay back loans that simple math would tell you otherwise. It makes about as much sense as Scientology. But some people are just morons. And the banks and other loaners know this. They gave out bad loans, often tricking people in believing that they could pay them back without a problem. The idea of living within your means went out the window.
Of course, Congress sending Obama bills that spend copious amounts of money does not set a good example for anyone. You shouldn't spend money that you don't have, especially when it's trillions of dollars that you don't have. I'm not saying the government shouldn't do anything, because that's just as bad, but this crushes all of the records of debt set during the Bush administration. It's not even close. And Obama simply signs off, reading through the bills less thorough than a drunk Helen Keller would. Earmarks that we don't need, things we actually need to do, things we may or may not need to do... Whatever. It's all the same. Just spend more money. Add more zeroes to the national debt. We need 4-8 more years of that... Let's see some of that change, Mr. President. You promised to cut the national debt in half. You promised you would go through the spending line by line. I'm sure John McCain is willing to help out since you're busy with other important things too.
It's not all bad I suppose. Gun sales are up. Alcohol sales are up. That's a winning combination. I hope contraceptive sales are up too. We should limit the number of new people we bring into this mess right now.

THE CURSE OF A-ROD

It wasn't long ago that The Curse of the Bambino was common discussion during the baseball season, and especially in October. The Red Sox hadn't won the World Series since they traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees. Before trading Ruth, the Sox had won five World Series, the last of which was in 1918. The Yankees hadn't even been to a World Series. Ruth came to the Yanks in 1920, had his team in the fall classic by 1921, and the first World Series banner was raised in 1923 in the House that Ruth Built. Twenty-Six World Series victories later, and 39 World Series appearances, and the Sox still hadn't won it all since 1918.

The 2003 ALCS was arguably one of the greatest post-season series in the history of the game. It was loaded with drama- intensity, fights, tight ballgames, and a Game 7. The Yankees trailed the Sox late, but came back to tie it. In the Bottom of the Eleventh, 3B Aaron Boone came in as a pinch-hitter and smacked an unbelievable walk-off home run to win it for the Yankees. Sorry Joe Carter, but this is my favorite walk-off home run of all-time. The light-hitting Aaron Boone was an instant legend. Could he be the next Scott Brosius?

The Yankees went on to lose the 2003 World Series to the Florida Marlins, but hopes were high for the 2004 and their beloved third-baseman. For the Red Sox and their fans, it was more of the same. They were used to this. For the last 85 years, it had been the same. The hated Yankees winning, disappointment, losing the World Series even when victory seemed almost certain... The mantra was always “next year,” but “next year” never came.

Then something happened. Aaron Boone got hurt. The Yankees panicked. How do you replace a legend at third base, even if his only claim to fame was that one clutch home run? Well, the Yankees had money. Lots of it. So, naturally, they decided to go out and get the best and highest-paid player in the game and have him play third base. Enter Alex Rodriguez.

The Yankees traded perennial 40/40 threat and rising star Alfonso Soriano to the Texas Rangers in exchange for the overpaid A-Rod. They purchased the best player in baseball, exiling the next Yankee Great to Texas. This is the origin of the Curse of A-Rod. A-Rod had a decent, though unspectacular, 2004 season. Everything was going as planned, and the Yanks found themselves up 3-0 in the ALCS against the Red Sox once again. The inevitable ending was another win for the Yankees and more disappointment for the Sox. It had been that way for 86 years now. Little did anyone know that the Curse of the Bambino had finally been broken by the Curse of A-Rod. And this new curse manifested itself in the greatest playoff collapse in baseball history. The stunned Yankees lost the series four games to three. Game 7 wasn't even close. I called my pastor and asked him if hell had frozen over. Well, I would have, but my pastor was a Red Sox fan. I didn't want to talk to any Red Sox fans for the rest of October. I knew what was coming next. The curse would broken. Of course the Red Sox would win the World Series now. And they did. Two years later they did again. The Yankees haven't been to the World Series since 2003, and they haven't won it since 2000.

It's not because of A-Rod's poor postseason numbers that this has happened to the Yankees. It's because of the Curse of A-Rod. And they had a chance to atone for their sins when A-Rod opted out of his contract then came crawling back, asking to remain a Yankee. But the Yankees just paid him more money instead. Then, in 2008, they missed the postseason for the first time since 1993 (there was no postseason in 1994). A-Rod's questionable morality in his personal life continued, and there was clearly some sort of rift between him and Derek Jeter, though Jeter knows better than to ever admit that. Then the news ultimately came out the A-Rod had used steroids. And now he has a hip injury too. And this is going into a 2009 season in which the Yankees sent an ungodly amount of money on free agents C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixiera.

How will the curse of A-Rod be broken? Will it ever be broken as long as he remains on the team? I, for one, will not accept A-Rod as a Yankee until the Yankees win the World Series with him as an active part of the team. Even if he hits .120 in the Series, all would then be forgiven. But unless that happens, A-Rod will never be a Yankee. Even if he hits 900 home runs.

SEVEN MYTHS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY

* CHRISTIANS DON'T BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION. Some do and some don't. Evolution really isn't important to my faith in Jesus though. Unfortunately, some Christians make it important by taking an unrelenting stance on this debate, more often on the side that I disagree with. There are those who say you must choose either evolution or Christianity. For those Christians, I sincerely apologize. They are wrong, and most of them have probably never studied evolution in much depth. They simply take too many things in the Bible completely literally, arriving at the conclusion that evolution could not have taken place. But evolution can coexist with Christianity and God as Creator. I'm a Christian, and I believe in the Bible and science. Certainly, I believe that God created and had a hand in evolution, specifically when the first humans appeared. Really though, whether or not evolution happened is not important to my faith. Problems arise when people dead-set against evolution believe that it is important to their faith.

* CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THE WORLD IS ONLY ABOUT 10,000 YEARS OLD. Again, some do. But that's mostly because of ignorance. The seven days that God took to create everything (well, six days and then rest) probably were not seven 24-hour days. God could have created everything in less than a second if he wanted to. He is not bound by space or time. But seven 24-hour days, followed by only several thousand years up until now make little sense scientifically.

* CHRISTIANS HATE HOMOSEXUALS. Sadly, some who call themselves Christians do hate homosexuals (or, in extreme cases, publicly blame 9/11 on them), but this is not what the Bible calls for. The Bible calls Christians to LOVE. We shouldn't call homosexuals names or treat them like outcasts, lesser human beings, or lepers. The Bible does make it clear that homosexuality is a sin. But, for those who have read the Bible, it's clear that Jesus was loving, rather than hateful. He dined and talked with tax collectors, prostitutes, and other sinners. He showed them a better way, by his words and his deeds. And Christians should follow the example of Christ.

* TELEVANGELISTS SPEAK FOR MOST CHRISTIANS. No. I'm skeptical of most televangelists. Those who say that Katrina or 9/11 was God's punishment on whatever group of people, those who predict exactly when the world will end, those who ask for money and say they can heal you, and even those who say that the Christian life is easy. Televangelists do not speak for me. That's for sure.

* CHRISTIANS HATE A LOT OF PEOPLE REALLY. Again, I apologize for so-called Christians you've run across who are full of hate. Remember the fruits of the spirit. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control. That's what you should see from Christians. Against such, there is no law.

* CHRISTIANITY IS NO DIFFERENT THAN OTHER RELIGIONS. Come on, this “they're all the same” mentality makes even less sense than saying that your great grandfather had a pet dinosaur (had to put him to sleep when he ate great grandma). ALL RELIGIONS ARE NOT THE SAME! Many of them have shared values and beliefs, but what do you think half the wars in the world are about? They're not all the same! We are not all one faith! Christianity, of course, came from Judaism. Christians and Jews do worship the same God. The main difference there is that Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah, foretold to the Jews. Christians and Jews share Judeo-Christian values and beliefs, among other things. But, Islam, for example, is quite different than Judaism and Christianity. Much of what is said in the Qur'an directly opposes the Bible. The God of the Bible chooses the Jews as his people (and later, Christians). The God of the Qur'an very clearly does not. There are plenty of other differences. Oh, another thing that makes Christianity stand out is that the founders of all other faiths are DEAD. Muhammad is DEAD. They're all DEAD. Jesus conquered death. He lives.

* CHRISTIANITY MAY BE RIGHT FOR YOU, BUT IT'S WRONG FOR ME. It's either right or wrong. If you're not sure, do some research. Look into it. Read the Bible. Read books about religion. You may come to the conclusion that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, as the Bible says. By believing on Him, accepting Christ and asking Him to take away your sins, which Jesus died on the cross for, we are able to inherit eternal life, rather than eternal separation from God.