Another segment of my quotation collection

I have said before, I decided to collect quotations because it didn't cost anything monetarily to do so.  This segment shows that I have watched a lot of financial news, international news, and sports.  Some is humorous, some profound, some ironic, some ridiculous.  I do not claim to agree with all the sentiments expressed, but I found them all, in some way, entertaining.

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Q: Why is the San Francisco Giants' ballpark the coldest in the major leagues?

A: There's a Giant fan in every seat.

Q: What did the one flag say to the other?

A: Nothing—it just waved.

Natural beauty is nature's way of showing the that the other person doesn't have too many intestinal parasites.

--Ben Bernanke

We are all fans of humans.

--Jayson Stark, 7/30/2013

Don't forget the Rachael Maddow motto: When in doubt, chicken out.

--Rachael Maddow, 2/12/2014

I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.

--Isaac Newton

All alliteration always annoying.

--John Anderson, ESPN

Wolves do not fret over the opinions of sheep.

--basketball coach Greg Marshall (a misquote of a classical phrase)

It's the Westminster Dog Show for the NFL.

--Mike Golic (describing the NFL combine and pro days)

It's what you say, it's how you say it, it's how much you say it, it's how loud you say it.

--Frank Sesno, former news reporter, now George Washington U. Media prof on reporting vs. Over-reporting a story, in the context of the MH370 disappearance

It's God's job to judge, the Spirit's job to convict, and our jjob to love. And we dare not mix those up.

--Billy Graham

When actions don't match the words—that's Journalism 101.

--Sal Paolantonio

Ideas matter...Passion matters.

--Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO.

Cereal Christians: flakes, fruits, and nuts.

I love debating. I either prove how smart I am, or I learn something.

--attributed to Max Kellerman (somehow, I think someone said it before)

Going out to hear live music brings everyone back to life.

--Jeff Kashiwa, jazz musician

When there is an illusion of purity, the situation is ripe for corruption, as the illusion of purity inhibits investigation.... The illusion not only hides corruption, but makes it possible.

--from an episode of “Freakonomics” on corruption in Sumo wrestling (which is inextricably tied to Shinto)

The word “gospel” in the Bible is, literally, “good news”. In the Roman Empire at that time, it meant “there is a new emperor”, and, corrolarily, “there will be justice”. The good news of Jesus is, therefore, bad news to the gods of money, power, sex, and war.

Frank Viola, http://ptmin.podbean.com/2014/01/27/the-gospel-of-the-kingdom/ about 85 minutes into the speech

According to CNBC, reported on 3/14/2014:

The average car loan in Q4 of 2013 was over $27,000. 19% of the loans were 72-84 months in term. The average trade period on cars is 3 1/2 years. At that point, many cars will still be under water (amount owed is greater than their value). Therefore, there will be a car reposession crisis somewhere in 2017 to 2019.

...I'm still trying to figure out how to articulate my thoughts well.

--author Rachael Held Evans

Where there are the most doctors, there are the most sick people, but that does not prove that doctors are unproductive.

--Larry Summers

After seeing the FedEx commercial, I've got a new title too: Drive to the FedEx Drop Off Center Person. Also, like the “my own boss” in the commercial, I can't give myself a raise, either.

From CNBC:

Q: This state is a) home to the world's largest catcus plantation, b) home to the world's largest shrimp (in a museum), and c) the last state to register a Tesla. Who is it?

A: Mississippi

I always tell believers that if they are not getting on each others' nerves and offending one another, then they are not yet close enough to one another! Love and forgiveness will need to be applied constantly. It will get very bloody at times, but if you go to the cross and let your own desires and agendas die, then his life will begin to be displayed. . . So what does it look like? At times it will look like an awful mess! At other times, it will look an awful lot like Jesus Christ Himself! But I will tell you that there is nothing else on this planet that even comes close to beholding Christ through the members of his Body!

--Lindy Combs, partially quoting Milt Rodriguez

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On ESPN OTL's N-word special

I just finished watching ESPN Outside the Lines' special program on the N-word. For myself, being 60, I found myself agreeing with the persons of over 40 on the program who expressed the feeling that, due to its insulting nature to those who have been racially black in the United States for the whole of its history, it is never appropriate to be used. In the program, some off camera figure interviewed a number of students at Teaneck (NJ) High School, two of whom were black, one Asian, and one Jewish-surnamed maybe white, maybe mixed race, who expressed significantly less restrictive views, except for one, on the word's use, or attempted to differentiate between its historical racially insulting use and its use in their pop culture.

There is one thought I have about this subject which is so a part of the subculture of followers of Jesus of approximately my age, and almost assuredly an idea foreign to the persons connected with the production of that program, given ESPN/ABC/Disney's secularist bias, that I figure I'd write a few paragraphs.

Within the subculture of believers in Jesus here in North America when I was in my late teens and twentys, that is, the decade of the 1970's, there was a development of certain talented persons using the styles of the popular music of the day to express their faith in Jesus, which was rejected as inappropriate by a significant amount of older leaders in the traditional churches. That was refered to as Jesus Rock, or Jesus Music. Over time, as those leaders retired or passed on and replaced by leaders who were out of that age group, that style of music was accepted within the traditional churches, and the relationship became less adversarial. On the opposite side, there is a degree that the music became more status quo.

The two subjects come together in connection with one song of the early 1970's, Larry Norman's “Right Here in America”. Sitting here forty years later, one can say that, in a sense, what is now called contemporary Christian music comes out of the work of Norman, much like smooth jazz comes out of Chuck Mangoine's “Feels So Good”, or bluegress, at least as a recorded medium, from Ralph Stanley. Norman's work never got much airplay, even as contemporary Christian radio began being a format in the late 1970's, in part due to his tendency to be unpredictable, much like in commercial rock, the refusal to play Tiri Humpherdahl, in that case because he littered his music with the famous seven words that became the George Carlin monologue that eventually spawned a Supreme Court ruling (I actually never heard Humpherdahl's music, but have been told this secondhand).

Many years later, when one of the Christian record companies had other artists do a tribute album, “Right Here in America” was not one of the songs chosen. That would be, in part, due to its being so set as a reflection of what was doing on both in the traditional church, the Jesus Movement, society, and politics. Nonetheless, there was some lines near the end of the song, “I have been in your churches/ And sat in your pews/ And heard sermons about/ How much money you'd need for the year./ And I've heard you make references/ To Mexicans, Chinamen, N-------s, and Jews,/ And I gather you wish that we'd all disappear.” Now, Norman was none of those ethnicities, and was speaking in the voice of the folk singer, or prophet, of God Himself, relating to the “least of these”. He assuredly used the phrase as a shock mechinism, to make us fellow believers aware of the difference between the religious status quo and truly following Jesus.

Yes, that tends to follow the line of reasoning in most of the blogs I write. Somehow, I feel that that may be the one and only time I have heard a Caucasian person use that epithet in a redeeming manner. I've thought, over the years, if I was a singer-musician, which I am so much not, and I was to drag up some of the most powerful songs of years gone by, and I somehow chose that one, would I use that word, or do something distracting that would communicate the same intent, such as stop playing, pause, and say “African-American” in a voice different from how I was singing, and then continue. Since that's not my lot in life, its irrelevant. What isn't irrelevant is how the Holy Spirit moves powerfully for a period of time through something, and then, like the wind, blows where He wills.

On the ESPN program, near the end, one of their commentators, Jamele Hill, made the comment that, as a reporter, she felt uncomfortable, assumably from a from a freedom of speech stance, saying that any word should never be used, but that there were words that are taken differently if someone with the group uses among each other, and taken differently if someone outside the group uses them. She gave examples of blacks, women, and gays. For we believers in Jesus, it is clear that, at least in the media, unbelievers cannot bring themselves to refer to someone saying the Sinner's Prayer, except in a mocking manner. That is understandable, because that touches a sensitive area in a person's being. There may be some other specific points of communication that I'm just not thinking of at this moment.. That's one of the great things about blogs. If one occurs to me, I can add onto this stream of thought later.

Some more thoughts on leadership

Over the past couple of months, I have written few blogs because the medications I was taking was off balance, and I was constantly feeling even too tired to write. As I wrote about a week ago, that has been resolved. Yesterday, I actually felt like reading. As I have indicated before, one of the subjects I concentrate on is leadership.

I got my first does of it when I turned on the tv in the morning. I usually catch sports on ESPN’s Mike & Mike Show, where the lead story was of a baseball manager publicly criticizing one of his veteran players before discussing the subject with him in private. The conversation was centered on the idea of: Was this a stupid thing to do that will mess up the team, or is it a “crazy like a fox” move that will draw the team together, even if it draws the team together against the head guy? There is no answer to that question today, the part of the world that cares will see the answer in the team’s results over the next six months.

During the day, I was running some errands for my son on a schedule that left large amounts of down time. About a week ago, I purchased the book Master Leaders by George Barna. While in this blog I have quoted Barna heavily on his work on the subject of simple church, the main thing he is known for is research on the place of Christians and their faith in our society, and how it changes. For this book, he has interviewed 30 persons we could consider leaders, be it in business, politics, military, and church. He (and others) have communicated that we are affected in our emotions and spirits more strongly via story versus a series of facts, which is reflected in how telling the story of Jesus is moving, reading a cathechism in outline form is about as far from moving as something can get. Therefore, with the quoted persons’ permission, he has taken what he got out of these interviews, and woven them into a story of a leadership conference, in which all these persons are backstage at the conference in a discussion. This isn’t a review, as I only made it to page 30 yesterday. I will say that the quote from Mike Huckabee on page 19 is worth reading the book for.

Since mentioning Huckabee brings up the issue of faith and politics, I caught offhand the study Rick Santorum has been quoting which says that if one graduates from high school, works, and gets married before having kids, the chances of being in poverty are 2%. I looked it up this morning, and can see that there are some minor distortions in that statement by itself, which is normal whenever one boils down a serious work to one sentence, but I was interested in that, before I became unable to work, I walked that 2% borderline with a bachelor’s degree. It appears to me that the reference to that study just might shed more heat than light onto modern society’s social problems, not the least of which is where the poverty line is, given that different groups define it so differently, and inflation/deflation makes it an ever moving target.

To all that, a though crossed my head late last evening. One was a quote from John C. Maxwell, a writer on leadership, trained as a pastor, favorite of megachurch pastors, albeit his writings are as much aimed at the business community, which is: If you think you are a leader, and no one is following, you’re just taking a walk. This implies that, to a degree, numbers are important (and numbers of people are what define megachurches). On the other hand, if Jesus defined church in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them”, the whole paradigm of the most important leaders being persons who are listened to by the most persons is stood on its head. I learned before I even realized it that a huge amount of persons “follow” a person they do not like or agree with because of collecting a paycheck. Hang around military types and one can see the paradox of super-patriotism with constant groveling about the “hurry up and wait” process in the military that is an anathema in the business community which is extremely conscious of getting its value out of the employee time they are paying for. Most of us who are everyday believers in Jesus feel, to a degree, hurt and betrayed by those “leaders” who have used God’s funds in scandal (particularly when the use is officially legal), or have personally promoted what is spectacular and exciting over what is solid, if unexciting, basic wisdom in following Jesus.

Random thoughts for this day

            A few random thoughts:

            Yesterday, the news story about the exotic animal person who let lions and tigers loose in Zanesville, OH and then committed suicide touched my family, slightly.  My wife and I used to go to the exotic animal auction in Delphos, OH, and when the picture of the man showed up, my wife recognized the face. As soon as I saw the name of a town in OH, I thought, we’ve almost assuredly been at the same place at the same time.  I, though, have to agree with the majority of persons, that some animals, like tigers and lions, just don’t belong on farms.  It also reminds me of a situation about a decade ago, where I was driving on I-95 near Daytona Beach, and a VW passed us, and it crossed my mind that the person in the VW looked like someone I saw on America’s Most Wanted.  Strangely, I watched AMW the next Saturday, and they announced that the person I was thinking of was captured in Daytona Beach.  Sometimes things don’t click in our heads until later.

            I just had ESPN’s First Take on, where Rob Parker of ESPN New York and Skip Bayless were speaking about something outrageous said by Bryant Gumble, comparing NBA commissioner David Stern to a plantation owner’s mentality.  There’s something outrageous in even obliquely comparing NBA millionaire players to the horror of the U.S. slavery experience.  Nonetheless, Parker and Bayless discussing racial problems and history (and they have done this a number of times when sports has been only a background to the topic) is so much more practical than what our society has been feed from politicians and professors, that the latter two groups suffer in comparison.

            I worked on attempting to get the five minute commentaries onto CD yesterday.  I am amazed on how my near-legacy computer gives me little trouble with this blog, and makes me tear my hair out with virtually every other function.  In my mind, if I cannot afford to get these commentaries onto radio, maybe I can produce CDs for appropriate handouts; at 50 cents a blank CD, maybe I can afford that. 

Top High School Football QBs as reality show

            I have indicated in the past that I am, to a degree, a sports fan.  Over the years, that aspect of my life has changed.  Growing up in Michigan, I felt that it was somewhat natural to be a fan of the Detroit professional teams.  By the time I was a teen, it was clear that I was more a fan of baseball and football, given that, since I grew up near Grand Rapids, a good three hour trip from Detroit, and the Tigers and Lions marketed themselves to the whole state, and the Pistons and Red Wings did not at that time, probably because the Wings could fill their stadium without it, and the Pistons just were inept at marketing at the time.

            Becoming a believer in Jesus in 1968, I realized that football was my best sport, although still quite average.  I also realized that the professional level was extremely violent and the way people were treated was far from ideal.  That is still a problem to me, but, and this is no excuse, a sport with 16, and if it goes to 18 it will be no different, games can be easily followed by an adult busy with working, whereas the 162 in baseball, 80 plus in basketball and hockey are impossible to follow all of unless a kid or retired. In 1985-6, the Pistons were the top team in basketball, but played the game with a type of thuggery that just didn’t feel right to most people, and the blunt truth is that the team had a bunch of moral zeros playing; the day they won the championship, 5 of the 12 players had paternity suits filed against them somewhere.

            The rise of cable TV has effected sports.  My job just reminded me about 976 phone numbers; in case you didn’t realize it, they still exist.  The one time I used one was to hear a Detroit sports report.  Today, with cable TV, I can find out more than I could possibly wish to know, including a European sports channel which includes sports I’ve never seen, and professional teams of which I have no clue what city they play in. 

            A few years ago, ESPN, here in the U.S., started covering the top 150 high school players in football and basketball, are what colleges they committed to play for.  Now, this part, to a degree, I get.  Even if the colleges lose some money on sports, the schools being consistently mentioned on TV feeds the egos of college presidents, boards of directors, alumni (most of which, unlike myself, make above average incomes), and faculty members, and then make it easier to attract better faculty members and the research faculty have an easier time of getting grant money out of the federal government.  The trade-off of having a few college “students” who have no business being in college makes a strange kind of sense when it ties into power politics.

            All this is to lead into something new that I saw ESPN do yesterday.  Somewhere, there has been a summer camp for the best few (this year, 24) soon to be high school quarterbacks in the country.  This year, ESPN’s Trent Dilfer, who about 20 years ago was the first player chosen in their draft, and had a OK, not great career, but did get to be the winning QB in a Super Bowl, was a part of this camp’s staff, and ESPN filmed the camp, coaches discussions, etc., and made the camp into a reality program.  Now, its not even that these 24 are going to get better scholarship offers, because it appeared that most have already committed to a large university (gee, I didn’t send out a college application until early my senior year, and I remember how angry my dad got trying to figure out all the information the scholarship application demanded—but it was worse then than now).

            It’s just weird.  That a few high school kids, albeit talented, get put onto a national pedestal, because it helps a large corporation make money (ESPN is owned by ABC, which is, in turn, owned by Disney), while another portion of our educational system and society is all messed up, as documented by that same ESPN a day later by showing their documentary on the social problems that spawned the attitudes about University of Miami (FL) football in the mid-1980’s to late 1990’s and what that said about racial divisons in the U.S.