Hope is Enough…REALLY!!!!
I woke up at 5am this morning after a rather rough day yesterday. As I was reflecting on what is really going on in this world and in my own life and those around me I thought I need some GOOD news. I want to read about, see, experience people going out of their way to do RIGHT and GOOD. I want to see people NOT think of themselves but instead ask how can I take personal responsibility and make someone else’s life better.
I was frustrated at how much “digging” around I had to do to find “Good”. I know it is out there and all around us just nobody seems to “Promote” it. (Including me) In the coming weeks I am going to change that and I am asking you to join me. Stay tuned for details. In the meantime please take a few minutes and read about what I am talking about.
Now, go out and make a difference for someone else today. I BELIEVE in YOU!!!
By Rick Reilly
ESPN The Magazine
They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through. Did you hear that? The other team’s fans? They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, “Go Tornadoes!” Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions. It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on-by name.”I never in my life thought I’d hear people cheering for us to hit their kids,” recalls Gainesville ’s QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. “I wouldn’t expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!”And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he’d just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach. But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five-handcuffs ready in their back pockets-and marched them to the team bus. That’s because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas . Every game it plays is on the road. This all started when Faith’s head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery-many of whose families had disowned them-wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets. So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans-for one night only-cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. “Here’s the message I want you to send:” Hogan wrote. “You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth.”Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan’s office and asked, “Coach, why are we doing this?”And Hogan said, “Imagine if you didn’t have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you.”Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders!”I thought maybe they were confused,” said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). “They started yelling ‘DEE-fense!’ when their team had the ball. I said, ‘What? Why they cheerin’ for us?’”It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. “We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games,” says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. “You can see it in their eyes. They’re lookin’ at us like we’re criminals. But these people, they were yellin’ for us! By our names!”Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game’s last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string corner back at defensive end. Still. After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that’s when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. “We had no idea what the kid was going to say,” remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: “Lord, I don’t know how this happened, so I don’t know how to say thank You, but I never would’ve known there was so many people in the world that cared about us.”And it was a good thing everybody’s heads were bowed because they might’ve seen Hogan wiping away tears. As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home-a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player. The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, “You’ll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know.”And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they’d never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.
Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it’s nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.
HOPE.
Advocate Aaron Speaking in D.C.
Big Brother that watches over our Hospital Bills
“I saw the literature on your website and watched the video. You are in essence a big brother that watches over our hospital bills to make sure we are not taken advantage of from the hospital. From the first review of our bills, you will reduce it anywhere from 30-50%, and if it can’t be reduced from there to a lower rate, that’s okay, because you will still set us up with a payment plan with the hospital. That’s great! Our hospital told us that we have to pay this huge amount upfront and they refused to set up a payment plan with us on that. If we don’t pay upfront, they will send a hospital administrator up to my wife’s room to collect the money in full. If I don’t pay in full right there, they will add another $1000-1500 on that bill!! You guys will be our Godsend and hope in this situation.”
The Word Is Out.
This is NOT a joke and I am REALLY MAD.
I am about to throw up. What is this country coming to and why on God’s Green Earth would we PROTECT PEDOPHILES. This is an outrage, this is sick, and frankly this makes me want to REALLY hurt someone BAD.
The U.S. Senate is set to give legally protected status to pedophiles and 30 other sexual orientations. The Senate refused to define what is meant by sexual orientation in S. 909, the “Hate Crimes” bill. This means that the 30 different sexual orientations will be federally protected classes.
The House has already passed this bill, and the Senate will vote as early as Wednesday. Pres. Obama has said he would sign the bill.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE
Call your two senators today and demand that he or she vote against S.909. Please forward this to all your family and friends. The Senate refused to define the term “sexual orientation,” which means that all sexual orientations are protected. (See loophole below)
To see the orientations that will be protected by the Hate Crimes bill (S. 909) See BELOW. (I am REALLY MAD)
The Hate Crime law, S.909 (and HR1913), will make 30 sexual orientations federally-protected. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has published 30 such sexual orientations that, because of Congress’s refusal to define “sexual orientation,” will be protected under this legislation. These 30 orientations are listed in the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), which is used by physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and psychiatrists throughout the U.S. It is considered the dictionary of mental disorders. Those 30 sexual orientations include behaviors that are felonies or misdemeanors in most states. See, this is the PROBLEM with our FREAKIN lawmakers. It’s the stupid loopholes that allow PEDOPHILES to be PROTECTED. (Did I mention I am MAD)
Among those sexual orientations being protected by S.909 (and HR1913) are these:
Apotemnophilia – sexual arousal associated with the stump(s) of an Amputee
Asphyxophilia – sexual gratification derived from activities that involve oxygen deprivation through hanging, strangulation, or other means
Autogynephilia – the sexual arousal of a man by his own perception of himself as a woman or dressed as a woman
Bisexual – the capacity to feel erotic attraction toward, or to engage in sexual interaction with, both males and females
Coprophilia – sexual arousal associated with feces
Exhibitionism – the act of exposing one’s genitals to an unwilling observer to obtain sexual gratification
Fetishism/Sexual Fetishism – obtaining sexual excitement primarily or exclusively from an inanimate object or a particular part of the body
Frotteurism – approaching an unknown woman from the rear and pressing or rubbing the penis against her buttocks
Heterosexuality – the universal norm of sexuality with those of the opposite sex
Homosexual/Gay/Lesbian – people who form sexual relationships primarily or exclusively with members of their own gender
Gender Identity Disorder – a strong and persistent cross-gender identification, which is the desire to be, or the insistence that one is, or the other sex, “along with” persistent discomfort about one’s assigned sex or a sense of the inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex
Gerontosexuality – distinct preference for sexual relationships primarily or exclusively with an elderly partner
Incest – sex with a sibling or parent
Kleptophilia – obtaining sexual excitement from stealing
Klismaphilia – erotic pleasure derived from enemas
Necrophilia – sexual arousal and/or activity with a corpse
Partialism – A fetish in which a person is sexually attracted to a specific body part exclusive of the person
Pedophilia – Sexual activity with a prepubescent child (generally age 13 years or younger). The individual with pedophilia must be age 16 years or older and at least 5 years older than the child. For individuals in late adolescence with pedophilia, no precise age difference is specified, and clinical judgment must be used; both the sexual maturity of the child and the age difference must be taken into account; the adult may be sexually attracted to opposite sex, same sex, or prefer either
Prostitution – the act or practice of offering sexual stimulation or intercourse for money
Sexual Masochism – obtaining sexual gratification by being subjected to pain or humiliation
Sexual Sadism – the intentional infliction of pain or humiliation on another person in order to achieve sexual excitement
Telephone Scatalogia – sexual arousal associated with making or receiving obscene phone calls
Toucherism – characterized by a strong desire to touch the breast or genitals of an unknown woman without her consent; often occurs in conjunction with other paraphilia
Transgenderism – an umbrella term referring to and/or covering transvestitism, drag queen/king, and transsexualism
Transsexual – a person whose gender identity is different from his or her anatomical gender
Transvestite – a person who is sexually stimulated or gratified by wearing the clothes of the other gender
Transvestic Fetishism – intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving cross-dressing
Urophilia – sexual arousal associated with urine
Voyeurism – obtaining sexual arousal by observing people without their consent when they are undressed or engaged in sexual activity
Zoophilia/Bestiality – engaging in sexual activity with animals
To protect a “sexual orientation” under S.909 (and HR1913) – while leaving that term undefined — is to protect this whole range of bizarre sexual behaviors. It is to normalize by federal law what are still considered to be mental disorders (paraphilias) by the American Psychiatric Association.
Fighting mad,
Aaron Bouren
