The dark side of MWN, and the M50 begins

Sometimes my search for Martin World News takes you to stupid yet funny places... sometimes it makes you mad.  One such story I have been sitting on for a while, about a suburb of St Louis that isn't named Ferguson.  No, this one is called Pagedale, and Pagedale has come up with a "clever" way of raising its revenues- fine the crap out of its citizens.

“The city never spoke to us directly, so we never really knew what we were being fined for,” (Resident Valerie ) Whitner told Fox News. She added, “The monthly $100 fine just became a natural bill. … This has been one thing after another, and we still don’t know exactly what we paid for.”  

These encounters became so frequent that when asked by a local reporter about her case, she was able to furnish a bag of 33 citations.


Among the things the citizenry of Pagedale are getting fined for:

According to one report by Watchdog.org, Pagedale now considers it illegal for residents to have basketball hoops in their driveways, dog houses on their front lawn, uncut grass, overgrown gardens and fallen tree limbs. That’s not all – city inspectors even judge interior design decisions. Another plaintiff said she was cited for mismatched curtains and not having blinds in every window, according to Watchdog.org. 


Another lady was upset when an inspector stood at her back door, watching her through her bedroom window.  He was there, he said, to fine her over repairs needed on her back screen door.

According to (Joshua, attorney for Institute for Justice) House, nearly 18 percent of Pagedale’s budget is income from municipal court revenue – property and miscellaneous fines – just second to the city’s sales tax.

The city of Pagedale is being represented by local attorneys, who have filed a motion to dismiss.

“I have no comment,” Pagedale Mayor Mary Louise Carter said when reached by Fox News.


No word on the rumor that Carter is the illegitimate child of former sheriff Buford T Justice...

Taught the sumbitch everything she knows...

I wouldn't have a comment either, if I was running a US city like a glorified speed trap.  I'm beginning to see why the Rams wanna move.

Reminds me of the story I read this weekend about a small city in Brazil.  The one guy running for mayor was disqualified due to a law that disallows candidates that are currently under investigation for corruption.  So his girlfriend stepped in, won the election, and basically put him in charge.  In the meantime they looted city and federal coffers to the tune of around $4 million, and she was stupid enough to continuously brag about it on Instagram.  Eventually the feds caught on when the schools in the town HAD TO STOP SERVING LUNCH TO STUDENTS, and parents complained.  The girl went on the lam, running the town by keeping in touch with city council through her phone's WhatsApp.  Accounts were seized (too late, as it turns), properties seized, and eventually she turned herself in- 39 days later.

The sad thing, this isn't too surprising for Brazil.  I have another story where thieves have stolen at least two ENTIRE newspaper stands- by hooking them up to a crane and loading on a truck.  Won't you be proud to watch such a nation host the Olympic games coming up?

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So today, among other things, is day one of the Martin 50 of 2015 reveal.  I decided to mix things up the next four days as we cover #s 11-40.  My rules were:  same group hits don't hit the same day; the six non-charting (they didn't make any M10 list) songs (with of course the one mathematical exception) also get split up; and I come up with a basic (if stretched to the breaking point) theme for each day.  And today, you get what basically became the thematic "mutt list" (AKA if you can find it, you name it).  And I'll give them from the bottom to the top on the M50 main list.

Perching at #48 was a song that really got me excited at first- because it was the first single from the new lp from ELO.  Alone In The Universe, as we found out later, was basically a Jeff Lynne solo lp (of course, Zoom was just him and Richard Tandy, but still a better overall album).  And yet, I put that song- the lowest of the three songs from that lp, When I Was A Boy, at #48. (Martin 10 peak #5)

This list has two of the songs from the very first M10 way back in late August.  The first we hit was from a supergroup from Canada (mainly) called Saint Asonia, made up of members of Finger Eleven, Three Days Grace, and Staind, three groups that had totalled on the alt chart 18 combined top tens and 7 top dogs.  And, as usual with me it wasn't the single that grabbed me, but the slower power ballad Leaving Minnesota, which I put in at #46. (#6)

That other original M10er came to me when fellow blogger Mich (I'm an old man, sue me if memory doesn't serve) pointed out that a very bizarre act called 16 Horsepower did a neat cover of CCR's Bad Moon Rising.  It was good, but the one that grabbed me with its vivid descriptions of Jesus and the unsaved was called Black Soul Choir.  It was actually fading on the musicscape of my mind by the time I started the M10, and given the total effect of it, takes it to the #42 spot. (#7)

Family Of The Year I discovered with their 2015 self-titled release, and since they are one of three acts to put three in the 50, they get spread out pretty evenly.  The lower charting of their three songs, called Carry Me, pulls up at #39. (#6)

The first of the non-charters comes up next.  Just before I started the M10, I was looking for "new old stuff" for my main playlist, and on an old Ozark Mountain Daredevils lp I found this gem:




You Know Like I Know spent like five weeks pounding at the door... and I just never found the spot to let them in.  It was from the 1977 lp Men From Earth, charted at #74 on Billboard, and lands here at #38. (NC)

You remember the story of the Preatures from their couple of weeks in the M10.  Their hit Is This How You Feel, which caught my attention despite my objections, closes 2015 at #34. (#9)

Jana Kramer at last check was at #8 on the country charts and #61 and climbing with her tear jerker I Got The Boy, which coasts into the year's #28 slot. (#7)

Avril Lavigne, which my boy KC introed me to, lands her recent #2 hit, I'm With You, at #22 on the M50.  Too bad I never put a still of her up to qualify for the beauty contest just past.  Well, better late... (#2)

Of course, Chris, you realize she STILL doesn't qualify as this is NOT a Time Machine post..."
"Aw, crap!"

Cage The Elephant was another one of those new (to me) bands I didn't go to give them such a big hit on the M10.  But once Cigarette Daydreams hit the chart, it gained a life of it's own, and the middle break swept it to #2 as a peak and #17 for the year.

Finally for today's list, Another song I stumbled on just about by accident.  When I was looking up biodata for WILSN's Walking For days (which we'll hit later), I noticed she had released an earlier single with the cool title of Unmeet You.  So I played it.  And played it.  Until it became part of 2015's legendary Titanic Three, who dominated the top three spots for 3 weeks from the end of October to the middle of November.  And it claims the #12 spot for the year. (#2)

Sunday message-Look what YOU did

This is another one of those stories that comes from a lot of angles, but will eventually come to a single focus.  Bear with me.

Friday night/Saturday morning, I had an unusual dream.  I know that I had a radio going, and part of it was narrated by a preacher.  But the dream, and its lesson, I believe, were a confirmation from God on something I was told by Him the night before.

The dream was one like many others I have- I am someplace, I want to go to another place, but every step changes the "playing field", making it harder.  Eventually, doing what seemed impossible to me, and scared the daylights out of me, I was at the point where a guide had taken my hand and was going to pull me up to safety...

...when something was said, relating to my sinful self, and I went sliding back down to pretty much where I started.  But now, though I knew the way thanks to my Guide, I was back down there again with someone just like me- drawn by the same sin I had been.  (This is going to be VERY allegorical.)  But then someone gave us these suits- I guess costumes would be a better word.  They looked to me like big fluffy dog suits, but as I watched my fellow put his on, I realized it was actually a lamb suit.  I realized that the path I had to go had been made hard because I was doing it on my own; that it only took a word, the merest hint, to send me crashing down again.  I realized that the lamb suit was a symbol of obedience- and obedience that at first made me feel like I was nothing but a dog (sorry, Scrappy), when in fact I was a sheep, to be led and protected by a Good Shepherd.

And as I realized that, I slipped the sheep-suit on- and the door to where I was going, such an arduous, fearful climb but a moment before, was now GROUND LEVEL.  We looked at each other in amazement and relief, and walked forward.  And at that very moment, I woke up, paused to ponder- because I will forget a dream if I don't replay it a couple of times- and when I finished, the next voice I heard was Tony Evans saying that God "already did the work," that through obedience " we walk IN the work", and that with God in charge, we can set aside our worries because "Even when we're snoozin', He's still working."

End of part one.  Part two is one of those, "You know God's leading up to something when" deals.  All this week, it seems every preacher I listen to has been talking about the book of Nehemiah.  Now that book is the story of a Jewish expat in Persia just after the Jews were allowed to return from their exile in Babylon.  Nehemiah, the king Xerxes' cupbearer, was contacted by some visitors from the returning Jews who told him they were in a miserable state.  They were in a ruined city, and nobody had the will or resources to make it right.  He did.... but it wasn't overnight.  He prayed over the situation and planned for FOUR MONTHS before even going to the king with his requests and plan.  But from that point, though every plot twist in the book was thrown at them, the work was done with God's blessing.  Moral of that story, a lot of time and prayer was taken before things even got started, but once they did, it was a blessing to all.

End of Part Two.  Part Three started with a news article I stumbled onto Friday night:

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — Sunday was absolutely a day of celebration at Heal The Land Outreach Ministries – just days after the pastor of the church managed to defuse a situation involving a gunman at the church...

Around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Pastor Larry Wright, who is also a Fayetteville city councilman, was in the middle of sharing his New Year’s Eve sermon with about 60 people in the church.  He soon noticed a man enter the sanctuary, holding a rifle in the air. Wright says he immediately left the podium and confronted the stranger.

“He said, ‘I came here with some terrible things on my mind, I was going to do some bad things,’” Wright told WNCN.  Wright says you could feel the panic in the air.  Church members started screaming, others were running straight for the door. “I was very scared I had my granddaughter with me and I just automatically grabbed her and braced her head so if any bullets would fly, I’d get the bullets and not my granddaughter,” said Janice Johnson, a church member.

Wright says the man calmly shared he’d been previously hurt by the church, recently released from prison and was also a veteran.

He then asked for prayers.

Wright took the gun away and called for other men to come and embrace the suspect.

“When I told the congregation, ‘It’s OK, he wants prayer,’ and I began to pray for him. And the power of God hit and he fell to his knees and began to cry and weep and he had his face on the ground,” Wright said.

After praying, the man sat down and listened to the rest of Wright’s sermon. Wright says the man then apologized to the congregation and professed his faith in Christ.

“God stepped in and he moved on that young man’s heart and instead of him shooting and killing a whole lot of people, God touched his heart,” Pastor Wright said.

After the service, the man was led away by police.

Police say the man involved in this incident has not been charged. He’s now receiving treatment at a local facility.



And as I finished, I felt God saying, "Here Is where I have applied Project IS's prayers."  And a warm- actually hot- feeling swept over me.

I was humbled.


When I started Project IS, the intention was to turn one poor lost soul each day over to the Lord, that at the brink of his fall into extremist brainwashing, he would be rescued by God.  And God, in His time, heard OUR prayers- mine and all of you that have been praying with me.  And whether or not He has willed to save others we may never know, but I know now that we helped in saving THIS ONE MAN, and that congregation.


(Let it sink in a moment.  WE helped in this.)

We have been obedient, respecting Jesus' call to gather even in two or threes.  We have prayed, and prayed with a plan.  And the result might not been EXACTLY what we intended- indeed, we don't know it hasn't- but it was a good result, a blessed result, And at the very least, that ONE soul, trembling on the brink, God saved.

Good job, everyone!  You are AWESOME!  And you serve an AWESOME GOD!

Thus, from now on, the "IS" in Project IS is gonna stand for something more.  When Nehemiah was getting that wall built, their enemies were ready to pounce on them, to stop it in mid-birth.  But they got scared off when they saw armed men, men who had worked all day, standing in the breaches that remained.  From now on, the "IS" will stand for "I STAND."  Because God has shown that there are people trembling on the brink in a LOT of places, over a LOT of abysses.  And God has a much grander plan for our prayers, beyond our limited ability to conceive.



Neh 9:5  Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 

Whaddya mean, they're not in the directions?

So here's the weekend catch-up.


First, (our biggest customer) comes stumbling out of the New Year like a drunk trying to tie his shoes while walking.  As a result, we were told already on Monday the week past would be a 4-day affair.  Which became even shorter for me.  The last roll of black fabric I had, which was the only color I had left to cut, was a real pinnacle of professionalism from Wujiang The Dragon fabric company.  When you are dealing with fabric being pulled down a conveyor belt while being cut, you can well imagine that a well-rolled, straight edged roll of fabric is required.  What I got:

And, believe it or not, that was after I had disposed of the worst 25 yds- most of which to the trash bin.  Frankly, I don't care if they are giving it to us free, as a business you should have more pride and professionalism in your product than to let THAT get out your dock doors, just sayin'.  But, I persevered, and when at 1:30 Thursday (an hour before I get off) I found out the only roll left (until maybe Monday) had white streaks all through it, the big boss said, "Have a nice weekend", and I was none to slow to take the better part of valor.

But the story goes on.  See, I had not told Laurie I wasn't working Friday, and had the grand plan of waiting until her alarm goes off and she asks if I'm getting up, and answering, "Piss off, I quit."  Getting home an hour early made that a little hard to swallow.  But there WAS hope- I had meds to pick up, and my new glasses were done.

New glasses, same ugly mug

And if you recall the long story getting sighted and fitted for them was, you might suppose it could slow things down a bit to pick them up.  Not to disappoint, of course there was a glitch- somehow, the big boss had NEVER gotten that safety form e-mailed to the right place in the 14 days since he was going to "right away".  However, this time the person who knows what to do WAS there; and I was only delayed long enough for the girl that called me that they were ready to tell me that I had the same name as Coldplay (which I knew), and she had his songs going through her head the rest of the day  For all this, though, I still hit Walgreens by 2:10 and figured I better call Laurie and confess to my dastardly plan.  Fortunately, Laurie, who gets her needed extra sleep in between lunch and my coming home most days, was groggy and asked me why I was getting off AT NOON.  Confused, I said, "I may be devious, but even I wouldn't waste two hours without letting you know."  A few more confused statements later, she tumbled onto the fact it was after 2 and not after 12.

I prolly still could have gotten away with it.


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Yesterday I had a sad satisfaction.  After battling liberal posters who bashed me for not wanting Syrian refugees, calling me an Islamophobe and saying that "No refugee has ever committed a terrorist act" over and over in meme and comment, I found two news stories that might have even given THEM pause.  One involved a group of several North African "Immigrants" who went on a rape and abuse mission New Years Eve in Cologne, Germany.  Several were arrested (after the fact due to a poor showing by the Cologne PD, whose chief resigned), at least one of which had in his pocket a paper translating into German phrases like "Let me see your tits" and "I will kill you".  Might not quite qualify as refugees, but they highlight that these people come from a culture where women are completely disrespected (and yet I'M part of the "war on women"), and many Arab expat women took to social media to berate these idiots with things like, "Every time our people make progress, some group of idiots tear it down."

The other was on the island nation of Nauru, where actual refugees (from Iraq) were involved.  It seems one ref sexually assaulted the SIX-YEAR-OLD daughter of another, until the father interrupted him, along with his face.  Now, I am not now nor have I ever suggested that all refugees are going to be like this. BUT, when you get the offscouring of another culture foisted on you like this, you will get some scum like this; and my whole point is, that all those who told me I was an Islamophobe for not allowing unrestricted access to ALL refugees, ALL the time, can...

There is a reason to vette these people, and it ain't a religious basis.  If you guys want all of them to come here, then send them to that great sanctuary city, San Francisco.  They can get all jiggy with them.


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Finally, Laurie and I bottled the beer from the Mr. Beer keg last night.  It was quite fun, considering I kept hiding the caps on Laurie (by accident) and showed an inability to know which way shut the tapper off a couple of times (actually about once every third bottle).  At any rate, I poured the now-beer-smelling mixture (a vast improvement from when it went in the keg two weeks ago) into the bottles, Laurie added the two teaspoons of sugar for fermentation, and away they went back to their temporary home in Scrappy's unused cage.

This morning, as I put the keg away, I had a shocking thought:  There were carbonation pills in the kit!  WE NEVER PUT THEM IN!  How did I miss that?  I grabbed the directions, re-read them three times- they never mentioned the carbonation pills!  WTH!?!?  So I picked up the pack of carb pills- which, after scanning the instructions again, weren't even supposed to be IN this pack- and it said, "use IN PLACE OF priming sugar".  So we had the sugar in there, we're okay.  Whew!  Hopefully that's the only thing not made clear because we didn't bother to watch the instructional DVD as well as read the directions.


Beer, anyone?

Time Machine week 55

ANNNNNND we're back, and we return to a neighborhood we just recently visited, due to the vaguarities of trusting in timestream randomness- 1971, the 8th of January specifically.  Not a lot happening around here- the requisite plane crash, this one the training flight of an FB111-4 fighter on a training flight from Carswell AFB near Ft Worth, Texas.  It took 3 weeks to find the capsule of the plane, and I'm not surprised- it supposedly crashed "3 miles NNE of Mandeville"- a town so obscure that in a half-hour of searching, I came only as close as "a 150 mile radius of Ft Worth" to finding it.  In other news, 29 misnamed Pilot Whales beached themselves on San Clemente Island, in an attempt to speak to President Nixon.  And Elvis was a day away from getting an "one of the country's outstanding young men" award from the US JayCees.  Young at 33.  In fact, today WAS his 33rd birthday, which he celebrated by buying a police radio for his car.

One-Adam-Twelve, I need a location on Mandeville...what do you mean, Mandeville where?

And welcome to the year's first TM, featuring the 5th annual Beauty Contest!  Also this time, our six degrees starts off with Jesse James (yes, THAT Jesse James- well, sorta), Bloodrock takes another number one vote, and a brand NEW feature (which may or may not stick, at least for the next Martin Era-cycle).  So clear the runway, the FB111A's...er, the beauties- are on the way!

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But first, our panel.  This week we have KIKI Honolulu, KGB San Diego, WABC New York, KINK (heh, there's a set of call letters) Portland, OR, KQV Pittsburgh, WKY Oklahoma City, WHNX Saginaw MI, KTLK Denver, KLIV San Jose, WLOF Orlando, CKLG Vancouver BC, and WMID Atlantic City.  They rolled out 24 different tunes, including the #1 in Saginaw, the Magic Lanterns- a band that Shady introed me to- and a song I have yet to listen to called One Night Stand, which was at 115 on the national chart.  Annnnd... remember last time we were in 1971, Dallas had Bloodrock's DOA at the top?  Well, now it's Oklahoma City with the creepy Halloween classic at the top of their chart.  Which means the panel's top 4 divides up the other ten #1s- and the top two claimed 9 of those ten!  The panel picks:

At #4, with zero #1s and but 10 points, Stephen Stills with Love The One You're With, the national #21 (explaining the lack of #1 votes).

At #3, with the #1 of Atlantic City and 19  points, the national #3, The Fifth Dimension- starring finalist in the Beauty Contest Marilyn McCoo- and One Less Bell To Answer.

Runner up this week, collecting the top votes of Honolulu, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, and New York along with 34 points and the national runner-up spot as well, Dawn and Knock Three Times.

And in the top spot, the national #1 as well... stay tuned.

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Okay, so let's kick the battle off with the semi-finalists.  The list please, and no tears, if you would...

Anita Darien
Melanie Safka
Sheryl Crow
France Gall
Petula Clark
Angel Deradoorian
Joan Baez
...annnd Lulu.

And if we have that sharp a list of not-qualifiers, wait until you see the finalists!

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Our first video is the first of two M10 debuts for the week.  Those of you aficionados of the American Pie movies remember the theme song, Laid, by the singer James.  Back in the day, that tune hit #3 alternative and #61 on the hot 100.  What I heard was a remake from a band with a name I just couldn't resist- The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.  In fact, Alvvays got their start opening for TPOBPAH (Good grief, that's as long as the full name!) Their version of the song, off their 2015 lp Hell, comes in at #10 this week:




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And this week, the Bottom's Up gets laid... laid off, that is, for a while.

Thank God!  My chiropractor bills are absurd!

 In it's place, we'll be highlighting the target week's top ten from...

...yep, Jolly Old England!  The top ten across the pond this week included...


10- Andy Williams with Home Lovin' Man, which made top ten AC here.

9- Glen Campbell's cover of It's Only Make Believe, which was top ten here last November.

8- Gilbert O'Sullivan's first charting single (which only got to #114 here), Nothing Rhymed.

7- An American act that did bupkiss in their homeland but great in the UK, Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon sat here with Blame It One The Pony Express.

6 and 5- These are a pair of chart toppers from October 1970 in the US of A- 6 was Neil Diamond's Cracklin' Rosie, and 5 was the Jackson Five and I'll Be There.

4- T-Rex, who hit the big time here with Bang A Gong, but pretty much crapped out thereafter, was big in the UK, and their song Ride A White Swan (#95 here) is in this slot.

3- A former Shuffle Ten (remember that?) hit, McGuinness Flint's When I'm Dead And Gone (a #57 peak here).

2- That guy who looks like me (but not as much as Dent May), Dave Edmunds, is in the runner up slot with I Hear You Knocking, which got to #4 here.

1- The top tune was a novelty hit by actor Clive Dunn in the voice of his character (also the name of the record), Granddad.  Only charted there, and it was his sole hit.

And there you have it!  Hopefully you'll all enjoy this new feature, and shower me with compliments in the comment section!

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A little sub feature I'm thinking about is, who was the lowest charting hit on the panel charts that week.  The lowest one that charted I've already mentioned- The Magic Lanterns' One Night Stand at 115.  HOWever, there is a complication, as Saginaw had in their top five a song that was never released- but everyone knew from TV- the Partridge Family's I Can Feel Your Heartbeat, which gave them 2 songs in the panel bunch; I Think I Love You had 2 votes this week  and was 7th nationally.

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Jesse James kicks things off here on six degrees.  Or actually, Rob Lowe as Jesse James in the 1994 movie Frank And Jessie.  That movie had Randy Travis as Cole Younger (see, music related).  Cole was played (sung) by Charlie Daniels on the 1980 lp The Legend Of Jesse James.  It had Johnny Cash as Frank James and Levon Helm, former lead singer of The Band, as Jesse.  Former because he had a problem with main writer Robbie Robertson's acquisition of credit on a lot of the group's more collaborative efforts.  But their fight isn't our point;  we want to note that Robbie was among the many musicians that played on the hit duet Mockingbird by Carly Simon and James Taylor.  Also on that record on keyboards was the famous Dr John, and Dr John was a co-writer on most of King Floyd's first lp- and King Floyd's later single, Groove Me, was #10 nationally but got no panel votes.

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All right, let's bring out the final six!

Jewel...

Marilyn McCoo...

Yvonne Elliman...

Victoria Legrand of Beach House...

Natalie Imbruglia...

...and Molly Rankin of Alvvays!

Place your bets, and we'll see if you can match Scrappy's pick!


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So you have heard #10 on the M10 already, so let's get on with the next nine...


Number nine, a few of you have listened to from the comment link from last week, and the rest of you may have gotten a piece of this from its playing on a Ford Focus commercial... here's Sonny Cleveland:





8- The Equatics hold their #8 position from last week with Merry Go Round.

7- And this one is hard for me, Alvvays slips to #7 with Archie Marry Me.  The second time dropping a song about made me cry since I started the M10.

6- And dropping from the top spot, The Decemberists add "longest drop from the top" to their records with The Wrong Year falling all the way to #6.

5- Ducktails move up 4- one of 2 tunes to manage that feat- to #5 with Headbanging In The Mirror.

4- Little Green Cars drive their hit Harper Lee up a spot to #4.

3- Dent May roller coasters up a notch to #3 with Born Too Late.

2- Veteran Boz Scaggs cruises up 4 to #2 with Small Town Talk.

And now... the number ones!

Panel Says... George Harrison's My Sweet Lord, with 5 #1s and 46 points!!!!!!!

M10 says.... Victoria Legrand and Beach House with Beyond Love- moving up a notch to become the third number one for the duo!!!!!!!!!!

And now...

The contestants (well, their names) are lined up... Scrappy waits for my word... GO!

He moves with the speed of light (check out his tail if you don't believe me)...

And the winner is...

NATALIE IMBRUGLIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And with that excellent choice by Scrappy, that's a wrap!  Tune in all next week, as I go through SOME chunk of the Martin top 50 of 2015 each day- until you get the top songs of the year on next week's TM- and here's a teaser- the TOP song was NEVER on the M10!  (?)  Tune in all week to find out!

Blanket statements

So today the pastor I usually listen to on the way home was doing a repeat, so I switched to Rush.  And the discussion was on Obama's latest Executive Orders on gun control.  (I was gonna say his "proclamation to the serfs", but that would be counter to what I'm going for here).  No idiot me, I knew there was more to the story than just what Scott Pelley said- which, I must add, I had ZERO problem with.  But as I listened a lady tried to tell Rush that the things concerning mental health and guns was something that her state, Illinois, had had the instructions for years- and NOT from Obamacare as Rush said.  She told him he shouldn't make such blanket statements, which is what got me thinking.

This post is not about gun control or Obamacare or executive orders, but blanket statements.  I got thinking to myself, the NRA is a lot like the Pro-Choice crowd.  IF all you see is the media interpretation, the NRA demands that ALL guns be legal from ALL sources without that nasty little background check.  And conversely, The feminists leading the pro-choice charge would seem to be women who, at first look, makes a man say, "I don't think SHE has anything to worry about", and seem to demand that any pregnancy SHOULD be ended at any time for any reason.

In between lies a lot of truth, but IF the media is correct, no one really cares.  Take for example, the "Occupy Oregon" thing taking place at that nature preserve.  Here we have a group of people- and yes, if you wanna take the shot, NRA members- thinking that they are making that brave last stand for their rights.

Here's what I think:  You are idiots even by your own standards- ESPECIALLY by your own standards.  You bring a bunch of non-local ringers into a local issue, which, by the way, the men involved would just as soon became a non-issue.  You come with guns, and Obama sits back and smiles.  The moment the dumbest among you takes a pot-shot at a sheriff, the President has all the reason in the world to enact even more draconian measures than the ones he issued this week- which is EXACTLY why he's keeping his hands off right now.  And you lose the battle for everyone that you THOUGHT you were fighting for everyone- when all you're really doing is protesting something that happened to someone who is happy just to serve their time.  There's only one cat winning this fight, and it ain't you.

And it ain't any of us.  Now you become poster children for "ban the NRA", paint all who do value states' rights as buffoons, and all because you only see your favorite extreme.  And anytime the extremist becomes the story, we all lose.  Ask the Muslims who just wanna live in peace about that one.  Or ask those who want to make a Christian stand against gay marriage about Westboro Baptist.


I am twitter following our good friend Al Penwasser, and through him I got followed by someone who follows a girl by the name of Brittany Pounders.  A lot of what she says is pretty intelligent, but her weakness is this very thing.  Witness a conversation between the two of us a long while back:

HER: Why in the world would anyone describe themselves as a "moderate." It just tells public you're too much of a pansy to take a side. #tcot

ME: That is not true.  I feel I am a moderate in that there can be a middle ground if we want it.

HER: Yep. Land of road kill.

Because I don't check off each and every box, I am "roadkill".  Or an Islamophobe, a homophobe, or a soldier in the war against women.  Because the media teaches us, there is no middle ground.  You agree, or you are an idiot.

This is why Roland Hansen and I get into it so much.  And this is why Shady and I don't.  Roland is quite willing to post things in such a way as to make sure to get a reaction.  And often, to one on the other side of those opinions, it isn't a good reaction.  Shady and I set differing political viewpoints aside and concentrate on the IMPORTANT things in life.  And it only takes a few minutes in the woods to realise, politics doesn't make the cut.

So see, you should elect me and Shady kings of the world, and let us straighten things out the right way.  And if we fail, well at least we didn't come armed.

_________________________________


I do want to bring up two little items.  One, I have decided how to do the Time Machine the next two weeks.  This week, the Beauty Contest will take center stage.  Next week, starting Monday, I'll post ten of the Martin Fifty each day, climaxing (ooh, he said climaxing) in the top ten within NEXT week's Time Machine.  The other thing, don't forget Project IS.  If you all have been helping me pray for that one person every day whose soul hovers on the brink, we have, God willing, saved 30 people from a fate worse than death, as well as potentially saving thousands of other lives.  When we pray together, Jesus promises to be in our midst, praying with us.  I trust Him that we are saving these lives, and I hope you all join me in this.  Thanks!

Sunday message- diabetes and the devil

When you are fighting type 2 diabetes, as the Doc says I am, there are three weapons in your arsenal- meds, diet, and exercise.  In a lot of ways, a Christian is fighting a similar battle with the same three weapons.

For example, say you are a Christian who doesn't walk the walk real well- you don't stay in the Word, you don't share the fruits, you don't separate yourself from your sinful past.  That is like a T2D who doesn't do any of the three things they need to.  What happens?  Yes, the number on the glucose meter goes up.  But there's more to it.

You begin to feel the results of your sin around the edges.  The fingers and toes start to tingle, then lose feeling.  Other health problems start to show up.  Soon enough, your ability to feel, move about, even see, is compromised.  Doesn't make you less OF a person, makes you a less ABLE person.  And the do-nothing Christian shows the same symptoms.  "I don't feel like giving to the collection/charity drive/ my time."  "I just can't make it to Church/ to hear a sermon/ to my knees to pray every morning."  "I don't see the point..."


See the point?

So, you have to take meds every day- for the Christian, that is reading your Bible.  Staying in the word is that critical, and I truly need one of these things for my Bible reading like I have for my pills:

But those pills, left on their own, get overloaded. To really get the glucose meter to give you happy numbers, you need to exercise.  Scrappy and I have doubled our walks most of our holiday time off (but I gotta take it easy on him- he's an "old bumpy guy", and while his brains say he can walk forever, his gimpy limpyness after the fact say not so fast.) and I have been using the new exercycle fairly regularly (if only for 15-minute bursts).  To the Christian, that is the "walking the walk" part- praying, counselling, minding the way of obedience.  The fruits of the spirit in use.

But guess what?  Even with the extra exercise, I've gained a bit of weight during this time off.  Mainly because, as my co-workers can tell you, my "lunch" when I'm working is a pack of pop tarts.  At home, I go from very-light lunch- good size dinner-snack before bed to good size lunch-good size dinner- snack, plus other snacks liberally spread in.  In addition, I veer off the things I should eat into things I should avoid in ever-increasing quantities.  To the Christian, we each have certain things we should involve ourselves in only in moderation, and others we should avoid altogether.  Things that lead us to other, worse things.

So the program for T2D is meds, exercise, and diet.  For Type 2 Devil-beat-us, the cure is Bible time, fruit-time, and staying out of, as we used to pray in Catholic school, "the near-occasion of sin."  And since my case of the latter gives me more problems than the former, perhaps I got the T2D- and you have whatever problem you have- for a reason.  Take the problem and learn from it, and while you may not succeed with your aging, failing body, you might in something far more important.

New Years Eve memories

Well, we won't remember the football playoff games (our teams lost) at the beginning of the evening, and we'll try to forget the ending (which included a B&E at KC's apartment to retrieve a spare key).  Not to mention we'll forget the "24/7, even on holidays" locksmiths who greet you on NYE with "Oh, we're only doing commercial tonight" when they bother to answer.  (No, wait; them we WILL remember when we need their help in daylight hours.)  But we will remember the fun, things that got caught in picture, in memory, or in FB post, such as:

Chris, at 6:12 PM:

Laurie has left for work- let the bacchanalia begin! (7 likes, 2 comments)

Chris, 7:22 PM:


Make Kc Martin take us to eat steak... (5 likes- and he did, but first place had cars parked next door, second choice had an 1 1/2 hour wait at 8 PM, so we settled for a great meal at Buffalo Wild Wings.)


Jessica, 11:36 PM:

Kc Martin says Happy Fourth of July! (which he did, but a LOT of alcohol had hit by then...  we must, in journalistic integrity, mention that the first round of shots saw me attempt to toast 1916...)


And at three minutes of midnight, Jessica (at my instigation, posted the infamous "trenchcoatguy" picture...

(I told her, "This guy's gonna flash us all at midnight;  put it on FB!"  For the record, he did not flash us all.)


Before we started out, I was able to get my camera to function for a series of pictures meant to capture KC and Jessica's wrestling match, punctuated by Scrappy's attempt to hump the aggressor:

Scrappy was uninterested in being libeled...

...mainly because he had gotten 1/2 a cap of rum and was "feelin' mean"...

Just before things really wound up

So BWWs turned into the local bar, where...

First of all, I saw something that made me wish I'd brought my camera.  To see what I saw, go here and thank Yuri Freewind, who had the same eye for humor I did...

And then...

Jessica introduced... and addicted... to duck farts.

"Look, my tits have turned into cups of booze!" (Actual quote)

And the highlight of the night was my five minute dominance of pool.  First game, I made a shot that- inexplicably to the laws of physics- put my last three balls in at one shot, after which I immediately sunk the eight ball to win game 1; followed by KC scratching on the break to hand me game two.

And that, with one further FB post of a newly concocted insult phrase devised by my son (which I WON'T be printing, family show, y'all), covers the things that can be remembered in pictures (with thanks to Jessica for the bar pics).  As for the rest, well, ya kinda had to be there.  Hope yours was just as good... and ending-free!