The Chicks Win Big At Grammy's

The Dixie Chicks had a big night tonight at the Grammy's - winning four awards including Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Record of the Year. The Chicks have been criticized by fellow country artists Toby Keith and Reba McIntyre and some country radio stations - especially in the South - have refused to play their music ever since lead singer Natalie Maines criticized President Bush at a concert in London. First of all, according to polls, 70% of our country disaproves of the job Bush has done, so I never really understood why Maines' comments drew so much attention.

Second, what a slap in the face to the radio stations who have refused to play The Chicks' music. All year they have been refusing to play what is now conisdered the best song and best album of the year! All to show respect to someone who is going to go down as maybe the worst president in the history of our country!

The Big Mac

The Star Tribune has an interesting article on controversial Brooklyn Park mega church preacher Mac Hammond. The article pretty much sums up why I think mega churches are helping to ruin our society. Many of these mega churches are really businesses, not churches. And many of them spew irresponsible anti-islam, anti-gay, anti-abortion political messages on a daily basis, without getting their tax-exempt status removed.

The article highlights how Hammond recently warned his large congregation of the hundreds of thousands of Islamo-Fascists that could some day set off nuclear bombs in America and that a former employee of the church was shunned and called a baby-killer for wearing a John Kerry button.

Hammond's antics pretty much support my theory that mega churches are for the weak minded. They work for people who want to be told how to think, how to act, how to live and how to vote. And they work for people who want everyone in the world to think, act, live and vote the same. What a sad, simple life these people must live.

You want consistency? You got consistency

When Kevin McHale decided to replace Timberwolves Head Coach Dwayne Casey with Randy Wittman, he said he expected the team to play with more consistency. Well McHale has got his wish. The Timberwolves are now a consistently worse team than they were two weeks ago. After going 20-20 under Casey this season, the Wolves are now 2-6 under Wittman after a humiliating 28 points loss to Houston. The Wolves showed lackluster effort and Wittman was forced to bench Mike James - the point guard who McHale threw ridiculous amounts of money to in the off season - and Ricky Davis - the swingman who McHale brought here from Boston in the Wally Sczerbiak trade.

This franchise is a disaster. They have a roster full of overpaid players - some of whom have serious personality defects along with average on the court talent. They have a history of making poor decisions in the draft and an unbalanced roster that is guard heavy. Is trading Garnett the answer? I would be sad to see him leave Minnesota, but there is no evidence that exists that says the Wolves will ever be able to make a deep playoff run while he is still in his prime.

Focus On The Family Frauds

Evangelical pastor Ted Haggard - who resigned as senior pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs after admitting he had sexual relations with another man - has proclaimed himself "completely heterosexual" after three weeks of "intensive counseling".

THREE WEEKS?!?! It was that simple huh? They just counseled all the gay-ness out of him? O.k. two questions. Who do these people think they are? And how the heck do they get hundreds of thousands of people to attend their churches and follow their advice? I imagine these are the same people who watch the 700 Club and actually believe that Pat Robertson and God "talk" on a daily basis. If I was an evangelical and heard these things from my suppossed "leaders" I would consider them to have a serious credibility issue. But that's just me and I'm just an old fashioned Lutheran so I guess it's not my problem.

While I'm on the subject, I've decided that James Dobson may be the scariest man alive today, given the number of people that hear his message on a daily basis. This is a man who believes that men have the divine right to be the leaders of their family and that women have the divine obligation to submit to their authority. He disaproves of women with children under the age of 18 to work for income outside the home. He also advocates spanking. (Just what we need in today's society - a little more violence)

Now that my wife and I are expecting our first child I'm waiting for the day when someone offers us one of Dobson's books so that I can kindly tell them that Dobson isn't welcome in our home.