The Case of the Lasagna Frittata

When stubbornness and strong will meet head to head it is just like the cliche' of the immovable object meeting the unstoppable force. It is ugly. This ugliness brings us to the case of the Lasagna Frittata. The pic above is one of two frittatas I prepared the other night. Sauteed fresh spinach and garlic, whole wheat lasagna, 10 eggs, enough half n half to make Julia Child proud, halved grape tomatoes, basil, sharp cheddar; served with a fresh fruit bowl and a glass of Merlot, mmm mmm!

The unfortunate thing that is on this particular night, Momma was working late and the only peeps to enjoy this fritatta with me were a 4yr, 3yr and 21 month old. In Ben's defense, he devoured it quickly and wholly. I was very pleased with him. Isaac began his stubbornness at 6:20pm, as did Daniel. I insisted that they finish their plates as usual. But nothing seemed to work. At 7:00pm (forty minutes after dinner start) I threatened a swat for whom ever did not take a bite within a minute. At 7:01 pm I administered a swat to each of two boys. The pain was real, but at 7:05pm new fun of goofing up, rolling sippy cups and bouncing in booster seats continued. At 7:30pm (a whopping hour and 10 minutes after dinner start) I instituted Martial law, that is no speaking until the food is gone. At 7:33pm I administered another swat to one boy. The extra noise and crying had good effect. At 7:40 pm, Daniel finished his frittata. At 7:43pm Isaac finished his.

It may sound like the home team won this battle. But the home team is worn out. Why does it have to be so hard sometimes? This closes the case of the Lasagna Frittata.

Aflac Scam -- Watch Out!

Watch out for this scam. Police say that the gang usually is comprised of four members, one adult and three younger ones. While the three younger ones, all appearing sweet and innocent, divert their 'mark' with a show of friendliness , the fourth -- the eldest -- sneaks in from behind the person's back to expertly rifle through his or her pockets and purses or bags for any valuables being carried. The picture shows the gang in operation.

Book Review - The Last Disciple

The Last Disciple is authored by Hank Hanegraaff and Sigmund Brouwer. Hank Hanegraaff is host of "The Bible Answer Man" radio show which I listen to occasionally and enjoy. I found this book at our local public library while perusing for a good novel to read over the New Year's holiday.

The book is historical fiction set during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire (approx AD 60-70). The main character is a Roman commander named "Vitas" who has fallen in love with a Jewish slave whose freedom he purchased but has lost contact with her. Vitas has a unique situation in that he is in Nero's inner circle but also has respect from the Senate. Most of Nero's other cronies despise Vitas because of his virtue and truthfulness. We learn about half way through the book that Vitas' love "Sofia" is also a member of the "cult" who follows and believes in "The Christos."

This book reads like a Peretti novel in that there are about five different scenes going on, all bouncing back and forth constantly. This type of writing engages your interest but also can be hard a little hard to follow. There are numerous characters also involved in the plot but two quickly worth mentioning are a Jewish Rabbi named Ben and a former Gladiator champion named Maglorious who both sidekick with Vitas at various times as he chases his love and also tries to make sense of the madness which has become the Roman Empire. There is a symbol which you can see from the picture above which comes up occasionally as a secret code among the believers throughout the book. The last disciple of Jesus, John son of Zebedee has a few cameo appearances through out the book, the first at the beginning of the book when Vitas rescues John and some other Christians from a small house which Nero himself is persecuting. The final part of the book also deals with John, but I will say no more to that as I don't want to be too big of a spoiler.

This book is historical fiction, but we all know how influential this type of writing can be. Hanegraaff counters Tim Lahaye's "Left Behind" series and the dispensational premillennial view with this novel and it's Partial Preterist view. Partial Preterism takes a basic historical approach to the Biblical book of Revelation; Nero is The Beast, Rome is Babylon and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the onset of the church age are all part of the prophecy of Revelation. Full Preterism apparently is the minority view in Preterism as it holds that the onset of the church age is the return of Jesus, but Partial Preterists still believe in the physical bodily return of Jesus and several other prophecies yet to be fulfilled. A strength of this view is that in Hebrew Gematria some interpret that the number 666 means "Neron Caesar." Another strength is that the phrase "the time is near" is mentioned at the beginning and end of Revelation. A clear weakness is that many in church tradition have held that Revelation was written around 90 AD, after the fall of the Temple.

Overall, this book was a good read and I would recommend it. I consider Hanegraaff a very sound theologian. He has boldly diverged from much of Protestant eschatology of the last 100 years with this view of Revelation. As he mentions in the Afterward, his view of the end times he has coined "exegetical eschatology" or E2. This also is a bit of a bold name as there are varying views of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and I am sure every one believes they are using proper exegesis with their own interpretation. I was reminded the other day by my Dad of the preacher we had at Woodville Baptist Church when I was in high school late eighties/early nineties. Once, during a sermon on Revelation he said "I am so Pre-Trib that I refuse to eat Post Toasties for breakfast!!!!!" Classic!

"This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666." Revelation 13:18

Big Ten??

Earlier this week the governor of the great state of Missouri (Jay Nixon) said that the University of Missouri should "consider" joining the Big 10 if the opportunity came available. This came as a response to the Big 10's announcement that they plan to expand to a 12th school within the next 3-5 years. They already have 11 teams (look for the hidden 11 in the above logo), and the addition of a 12th would afford the conference the opportunity to divide into two divisions in football and have a lucrative championship game.

So what are the schools that might be considered? Of course, their first choice would always be Notre Dame. ND has the logistics (they are basically in the center of the big 10, real estate wise), the money and the academics. The problem here is ND has too much TV money from football and they would be silly to share it. So according to reports the top names floating around (football wise) would be Syracuse, West Virginia, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pitt and Missouri. Among other considerations, Syracuse basically is Big East basketball so this probably won't fly. West Virginia and Louisville have a few too many academic skeletons in the closet for the academia of the Big 10. So this leaves Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Missouri as the possible front runners.

In addition to our governor, Missouri AD Mike Alden sat down with the Columbia Daily Tribune to discuss this issue this week. Academics are about a wash. The Big 10 and Big 12 are in the top tier of big conferences with academics. The Big 10 is probably more known for their academics, but it is actually the Big 12 who has been leading all the BCS conferences with academic records and progress rates for their student athletes.

The Big 12 is slightly better in basketball at current, and without a doubt much better than the Big 10 in football (The Big 10 posted a 1-6 record in bowl games last year). But Football TV revenue is astronomically different among the Big 10 and Big 12. The SEC leads the pack as they should, considering they have the best football teams top to bottom in any conference. But the Big 10 splits TV revenue evenly among all it's schools, and has negotiated a much better TV contract. The Big 12 splits 50% of revenue among all the schools, the other 50% goes to which ever schools get the most national TV coverage. And the Big 12 TV contract is millions less per year than the Big 10.

Here's the the thing though, this deal smells a little for Mizzou. I already wrote a letter to Governor Nixon stating my concern about his promotion of this deal. His early remarks almost make Mizzou look desperate. Which why would we be?, we are in a better conference. The money issue is pretty easy to discern. Look at the concentrated population among the two conferences. The top three football schools in each conference (Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas) are all national brands, meaning they have a national fan base. For goodness sake, I have seen "Nebraska" stores in Los Angeles and Estes Park, Colorado. These are basically stores that cater to no one else except Nebraska football fans. This level of program is "national."

Outside of those six teams, the money thing completely makes sense. The rest of the teams have to rely heavily on a statewide and alumni fan base. This is just an example, but Northwestern and the Illini can pull off of the massive Chicago population base. Meanwhile, Stillwater OK (home of OK State) has a population of 47,000 and they even have to compete with the behemoth Oklahoma for statewide fan support. These are the extreme examples, but overall the Big 10 states are more densely populated than the Big 12 states. So, complaining about the TV money is really like crying over spilled milk. More people are going to watch the "tier 2" Big 10 teams than the "tier 2" Big 12 teams, even if the Big 12 is better.

So, in summary. Just say no to Big 10 and Missouri. The Big 10 if "soft" right now. The Big 12 is solid. And who would want to give away the yearly home court basketball fights with Kansas. This border war has been going on in one form or another since the civil war. A move of conferences would not necessarily take the rivalry away, but we would not have two games a year both in each others venues, it would probably be one game in Kansas City, similar to what we do with the Illini now in St. Louis.

Speaking of that, Mizzou vs The Fighting Illini tonight in St. Louis. Go Mizzou!

And Merry Christmas!

Isaac the Red Cheeked Kauffman

When my oldest son has a cold, he uses the same motion over and over to itch or wipe his nose: back of right sleeve, wide swipe moving straight across the plain east to west. What this repetition does is make one of his cheeks very red. We try to get him to use a tissue or handkerchief but he is not a big fan of that.

This red cheeked phenom has inspired me to write the following song. I hope you like it, it goes like this.

Isaac, the Red cheeked Kauffman

Had a very shiny cheek

And if you ever saw it

You would even say it glows

All of the other brothers

Used to laugh, but none would call him names

because they would not dare do that

to Isaac when they play his games

Then one frosty Winter morn

Papa came to say

Isaac with that cheek so bright

Won't you guide my Honda Fourwheeler tonight

Papa and Isaac rode out and cut a Christmas tree

and all the brothers shouted out with glee

Isaac the red cheeked Kauffman

He'll go down in historrryyyy!!!

Outside a little China town

This Christmas season I am observing, noticing and appreciating it seems more than ever before. So many little "God winks." I was jamming out to my Third Day Christmas CD this morning doing everything possible to procrastinate writing a final essay (somebody got a poop diap., throw it my way) and had to check the story behind the following song. It is written by a member of the band Christmas 2006 before he and his wife went to China to adopt a little girl the following year. Take a look.

"There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
Where the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
And make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

Christmas is a time to celebrate the Holy Child
And we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his lifeAnd prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart,
and I'll you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas"
-Brad Avery, Third Day

Hot Topics - Part II

The oven of Topics is smokin' hot and producing more and more baby! The weekend edition of USA Today that I am holding in my hands has on it's front page this article -
"For feds, more get 6-figure salaries" -- Average pay $30,000 over private sector

Federal employees are "enjoying an extraordinary boom time - in pay and hiring - during a recession that has cost 7.3 millions jobs to the private sector." Folks this is just fantastic! Here are a few more highlights of the article:
-When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees have salaries above $170K. -Here are a few numbers that show percentage increase of $150k salaries in the different departments from the start of recession Dec 2007 to current.
Commerce Dept: 395% increase, Dept of Education: 296% increase (isn't education a state issue?), Homeland Security: 233% increase, Housing and Urban Development: 227% increase, Justice Dept: 567% increase. The list goes on.

Folks, this is unsustainable. Let me rephrase this so there are no misunderstandings: We can not follow this path forever. The relentless growth of the Federal government, the national debt, their rules and regulations cannot continue. Change is coming or a break is coming. I'm not talking about the kind of "break" where you run down to Rexalls for an ice cream cone, this is the kind of "break" where things break. Let's hope for change. Thankfully, I am losing some of my cynicism about our government as I think there is hope out there. There are two US Senate races for 2010 that could help dictate some real change. One is Dr. Rand Paul (Ron Paul's son) running for senate in KY showing he has early leads, another is Peter Schiff (Paul's former campaign economic advisor) running for senate in Connecticut. Polls show he has an early lead over Chris Dodd! I am not sure why some Republicans are so against Paul and Paul-like thinkers (Mitch McConnell has said he will not let Ron Paul hijack the Republican party). Actually, I do think I know why, it is because the current Rep/Dem thing is just one party, one big two headed monster.

Another great thing happening through grass roots internet work is the co sponsorship of Paul's HR 1207 to audit the Federal Reserve. This bill is now out of the House Financial Committee (Barney Frank did everything possible to halt this, but when you have 317 co-sponsors that is tough thing to do. That's right 317 co-sponsors!). Our own U.S. rep Blaine Luetkemeyer signed on after a number of us contacted him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9nOIusbDwI
You may have seen this video before, but it shows clear evidence that Ron Paul's popularity was superior on the internet as compared to Obama, Clinton and McCain in 07-08, but yet the mass media does not give even a minuscule amount of coverage the others get.