A little pet peeve…

It really bothers me when people say, “I could care less”. It happens all the time and I don’t understand how they could be confused. If you “could care less” then that means you do care at some level and clearly care more than a person that doesn’t care at all about the given topic. I’m not sure why people get so mixed up about this common phrase but it makes me wonder.

It is possible that it comes down to insecurity. I would contend that when a person utters this phrase, it is often done so out of emotional frustration. Perhaps they are angry, sad, or just perturbed. In such an emotional state, one doesn’t want to concede weakness, but will attempt to represent strength. Perhaps they mistakenly say, “I could” instead of “I couldn’t” because we like to think in terms of what we “can” do instead of what we “can’t” or “couldn’t” do.

Then again, it is entirely possible that folks that say, “I could care less” simply have never stopped to consider the meaning of the words coming out their mouth. I suppose we shouldn’t let it bother us. But I can’t say that I couldn’t care less…because I do care.

TWO.

Many of my reader (no...not a typo...I just know how many people still read this blog) are familiar with the ONE campaign. Funded primarily by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with Bono as the key spokesperson, this non-profit primarily works to raise awareness and provide aid to developing countries.

Bottom line...they are trying to make a positive difference in the world.

But the question is why are the doing so little. Ya see, its the name. ONE is really the least they could possibly do. I mean we already have billions of people who are doing ZERO. Thats what got us into this mess. So, effective today I will be starting the TWO campaign. Basically it will be identical to the ONE campaign, except we plan on doing twice as much. I know what you may be thinking...why not more? Well, right now its only me and I want to set achievable goals. I’m waiting to hear back from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and have an e-mail into Bono.

Some may want to get involved right away. Unfortunately we don’t have rubber bracelets made yet. So, in the mean time, you could just get two ONE campaign bracelets and where them on the same arm.

So, keep checking in to learn more about this exciting global campaign. We anticipate that there will be double the excitement that the ONE campaign generated.

Phil Osepher

TWO Campaign Founder and Interim Spokesperson

I was driving on the interstate the other day and I saw something I’ve never seen before. We were going about 75 mph and were passed by an older gentleman riding a motorcycle. Now, that clearly isn’t uncommon, but as he passed, I noticed the motorcycle had a handicap license plate. I just find it a little ironic that an individual with a physical or medical impairment that necessitates a handicap designation on their license plate can get one for a motorcycle, and that the individual in question would choose to ride on the interstate, at excessive speeds, without a helmet.

That’s all.

I just wanted the 3 people that still check this blog to know that I have a new e-mail address. It is: leeyowell@gmail.com

And who knows…a new e-mail address just might be the inspiration I need to write another blog post. …but seriously.

Perspective

I suppose we all have “bad” days, but I had what I might characterize as an “interesting” day this past week. I say interesting, because I really can’t call it a bad day. Now, I’m a realist and recognize that the sun is not always shining, the birds can’t always be heard singing, and that we don’t always have a spring in our step. But as I was driving home, I realized that even my most challenging or difficult day, when viewed from a global and/or historical perspective seems like a pretty “great” day.

After all, I’m fortunate enough to be able to go home to a loving wife, four healthy children, a roof over my head, and more than enough food in the kitchen. I contemplated listing a more detailed analysis of the blessings in my life, but realized that it could go on and on and that makes for a boring blog post. But that’s just the point…too many things to mention. That makes me a blessed person. The more I thought about it, the particular on goings of that day seemed less significant.

Now, I’m not suggesting that we ignore or pretend that those negative moments in our lives don’t exist. I was just reminded that I need to recognize the priority I give these situations.

That night as I was lying in bed, I couldn’t help but recall the advice of a prominent American philosopher, Bing Crosby, and “I fell asleep, counting my blessings”.

So I was talking with a friend the other day and he was sharing his thoughts on the Victoria’s secret fashion show that was going to be aired that night on TV. His concern centered on the show’s tendency to focus on "unrealistic girls that mess up minds and concepts of men and women". The idea being that girls watching will think this is what they should look like, this is what is sexy, and that it glorifies the “glitz and glamour”, while guys will think this is what women should look like, this is beautiful, and skews our thinking to an extreme that is completely unrealistic.

I flippantly made a comment that it is for this same reason that we shouldn’t watch professional athletes and the like on TV. When women watch Michael Phelps on TV it is possible and perhaps even probable that it could insight lust on a certain percentage of those watching. Guys who watch professional athletes play football, baseball, basketball may have a messed up concept of what is masculine as they watch “unrealistic” guys performing and competing at a level that glorifies the “fame and fortune” of the industry.

I said this in a joking manner, but as I thought about it a bit more, I realized that there is some truth in that. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending the V.S. fashion show. I’m just suggesting that it is a bit odd that this one hour show would receive a significant amount of condemnation and criticism for something that is unabashedly promoted on our TV sets and pretty much every other form of media, 24 hours a day. I mean consider the popular shows on TV today, Grey’s Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, LOST, and even “reality” shows like Survivor…do they not all showcase unrealistic representations of what we are told is beautiful, sexy, or attractive? So, again…I’m not saying everyone needs to watch the Victoria Secret Fashion Show online…I’m just saying that those reasons we often list as to why we shouldn’t watch the VS show, that same list could often be applied to the shows we do watch, the magazines we read, and the music we listen to.

But in the spirit of full disclosure, I do watch LOST, my wife likes Dancing with the Stars, we’ve never seen Grey’s, and we did watch the VS Fashion show last night. We both like the outfit that had all of the butterflies, but oddly didn’t care for the actual outfit the girl was wearing with it. We also thought the 5 million dollar bra wasn’t that impressive.

Anyway…that’s my thought for today.

Rush Limbaugh, William Ayers, and Jesus...

I was in the car the other day and was listening to talk radio for a bit. Now I must confess that I find talk radio to be interesting and listening in the car seems to help the time pass. I heard the tail end of the Rush Limbaugh Show and then it transitioned to the Sean Hannity Show. Now, I recognize that some folks listen to these programs and consider them to be “news” programs on the radio. The truth is that they are really just entertainment programs, driven by ratings and paid for by advertising dollars. As it stands, they seem to be doing pretty well. Rush is one of the highest paid entertainers on the radio, who recently signed a contract for $400 million dollars. Not bad for a guy with only a high school diploma. Interestingly enough, I recently learned that Sean Hannity and Karl Rove, both prominent political personalities are also college dropouts. All of us that went to college must be a bunch of suckers…but I digress.

So, I was listening to the radio. The topic of course was politics and specifically the presidential election. As one who listens to these programs from time to time, it has been interesting to watch the metamorphosis of the discussion from primaries to general election. Both Rush and Hannity were extremely critical and outright against McCain in the primaries, but since his nomination both have supported him and focused their attack on the democratic nominee. The topic of the afternoon was on the associations that the democratic nominee has had in his past. In particular one individual was mentioned, William Ayers, a professor of education and senior university scholar at the University of Chicago. In the 60’s Ayers was involved in a radical anti-war group who bombed the pentagon in 1972. (I’d be interested to find out how one goes from an anti-war radical who is participating in such atrocities to becoming a distinguished professor at one of our nation’s most prestigious universities…I mean it’s got to be a fascinating story)…anyway….

The point was being made that Obama has been in Mr. Ayers home, has served on charity boards with him, and has associations with other persons of questionable behavior or reputation, thus calling into question his character as a presidential candidate. This got me to thinking…do our associations with others and persons we choose to spend time with define who we are? Also, when we consider this from a biblical world view does this change anything? Who did Jesus associate with? Whose homes did he visit? Who are we called to associate with as the Body of Christ?

It’s just something I was thinking about. And that’s my post for today.