Question of the Day: Jon Bennet

Now... most everyone's blogs I have been reading about have to do with questions on the theory of evolution vs. creationism and the like.

I however, will take a different stroll and ask another question.

Ready?... You sure now?

What is it about Jon Bennet's murder that gives her so much publicity?

Now don't get me wrong. I feel for the kid, I really do. It's a shame that such a life had to end so soon and so violently. She was after all only 6 years old.

My food for though is simply this: There are sooo many other children who end up falling victim to crimes whether it be rape or murder or both.

And yet, how many of them (the other cases) do we really hear about?

When the girl was murdered 10 years ago she was ALL over the press. It was A LONG time before she was no longer on the cover page and it was an ever longer period of time before she was no longer talked about in the papers.

Now... 10 years later... she's on the news EVERY DAY.

I understand that it's an interesting case for investigators... but what about the OTHER children?

I really am curious folks. Why is it that we only hear about this one????? In 1996, Colorado had 180 murders and yet the only one the public knows of is this little girl.

So... WHY?

InFormal Complaint...

I dislike the Kanawha County Record Clerks. I will say this because I plan on filing a complaint against the supervisor there.

Here's how the convo went.

Me- I would like a marriage license please.

Her- When did the marriage take place?

Me- No, I would like to get a new one, please.

Her- (Gives me a haughty look of incredulousness... totally dripping with sarcasm...) Well, where's the groom?

Me- No, I'm sorry but we don't want to get married HERE and by YOU, we want our pastor to do it.

Her- Do you currently reside in Kanawha County?

Me- No, but he and I have an out of state license.

Her- Well, you have to do it in the county you live in.

Me- I read the state laws online. It also said if I come from out of state I can get the license in any county I choose to.

Her- I don't care about what it says on the computer. State law said you have to go in the county you reside in.

Sooooo... I go to one of the other departments and ask them how long it takes to declare residency here in the state of West Virginia because in California it takes at least a year. Three gents tells me if you rent or buy you've just done so. Ok, well I've done neither as of yet.

I go back there... I try to ask someone else to help me... but this she-devil won't let ANYONE ELSE help me. I tell her I know the state laws. I can get a marriage license here. I don't have a place that is under my name. I can get a freakin' license. And she says... you brought your stuff to another county? Then you live there and not here. I don't care what the paper or computer says.

I wanted to strangle the bitter nasty woman. I call up the courthouse that I currently "reside" in and they tell me and I quote, "Yeah, those people at Kanawha are lazy bastards. They don't want to do ANYTHING. But we'll help you out if you simply come during our operating hours."

It's not that hard... sheesh... just gotta type up some words and print some paper out... et voila! There it is... that woman needs to learn a few things in life.

A Little Bit of Kindness Goes A LONG Way...

Ok... so I got bitten... actually no, attacked is the correct word, attacked, by a spider at work yesterday. I'm not scared of spiders... but this one was just annoying:

It was pleasant to all of a sudden feel my foot in pain and then see this teeny-weenie little spider crawling up my pant leg. Turns out that teeny-weenie little spider had had a field day with my left foot and enjoyed a feast. FIVE BITES all in all. I was SO mad... I wanted to go kamikazi on this bug and spray bug killer everywhere to make sure it was dead, even if that meant me being near the poison. My foot was itching like mad ALL day long and it had random spurts of twanging pain.

I get home last night and well... my left foot (apparently my right foot is not good enough for a spider feast... only the left) is slightly pink and swollen. Everyone attributes it to allergies (I never had any before) and my scratching (which I have a tendency to do a lot when I get bitten by a bug... I have little self-control on the matter). Ok... we had bought some insect repellent and itch cream (I know.... I should have stocked up on this before it all happened but oh well... hindsight is 20/20) and so I rub the cream on my foot like it's cool... and I go to sleep...

I wake up... and my foot is unfortunately a bit more puffy than it was yesterday... I end up walking with a limp... but thankfully... my supervisor let me where my flip flops instead of my pumps so I could be a bit more comfortable... and I work the day with a constant vigil in case another blasted spider wanted to try and get another round of 5 bites...

Now... towards the end of the work day... I start to realize that the swelling... no matter how much benadryl (sp?) I take... isn't really going down... so I'm starting to get worried... like I need another worry added to my plate at the moment...

And I start to have such pleasant thoughts as, "What if it was poisonous?", "Will they amputate the foot?", "At least I'd get one of those handicap stickers", "Medical bill is not going to be cheap for this sucker", "I have a cankle", and "If I see another spider in this joint it will die a horrible death."

And I go to choir practice right after work and everyone enjoys the view of my swollen left foot. They all tell me where the nearest clinic is and how I can get help if I need/want it for medical aid.

But this one gent (papa bear type figure... not literally... but figuratively)... whom I do adore... escorted me and Jon to the ambulance center. He apparently knows the people there and he said they'd give me free advice on what to do about my foot. They tell me to soak it in a salt made for this purpose and take more benadryl. If in two days the swelling hasn't gone down or it gets worse... I need to see a doctor. So what does he do... he tells everyone that he'll get it... he was on his way to the store anyway so he'll get some of that salt... He presents to me a plastic bag... with that salt in it... AND an antibiotic cream that he says is good and should ease my pain and cut down the swelling.

I take the bag... so surprised by it... I was honestly touched by his kindness that in the middle of the public I start crying. I hate crying... even more I hate admit I cried. I know to a lot of people it didn't seem like much... but to me, it was just a little bit of kindness that went a LONG way.

It was just a small nicety... that reminded me that there are a bunch of good people out there who do care about others... It was simple generousity and touching too, I just had to talk about it.

ATMs... We're ADVANCING!

On another note... when last I was in this little city in West Virginia last October/November... the closest ATM was 30 miles away...

Today, the closest ATM is now only 10 miles away... :) Civilization here IS advancing folks...

...it's just a shame that it's out-of-order... sigh...

Difference Between Christianity and Mormonism: Part 2

Before I start... thanks Matt... I got the idea of doing parts from you... I felt I should at least give you the credit since I was being a copy-cat...

Now... to answer some questions...

When I talk about the major difference between the two... I don't mean "he said, she said" arguments. I understand that the different denominations in Christianity have their petty, little and sometimes/most times pointless tiffs...

So people are wondering why on earth Mormonism should not be included under the Christian umbrella... and the differences between Christianity and Mormonism simply be included in as one of those "petty, little and sometimes/most times pointless tiffs"...

As I said before... I'll say it again... it's not the practices that are different but the religion. When I make my arguments it's not... he said... she said... it's the doctrines. I compare the Bible to the Book of Mormon.

In Mormonism, they say they agree with the Bible AND the Book of Mormon. But if you read the Book of Mormon... it actually contradicts the Bible.

A does not equal B. You can't believe in both when one contradicts the other.

In the Bible... Jesus Christ not only claims to be the Son of God... He also claims to BE God incarnate. In the Book of Mormon... it says that Jesus is the Son of God and the two are soley and completely separate. So, a Mormon cannot agree with the Bible and at the same time agree with the Book of Mormon.

It's not just Christ-like attributes but the beliefs of who and what Christ is. Anyone can have Christ-like attributes like love and kindness... without even believing in Christ...

The other Christian denominations may have their "tiffs" but they ALL agree on... as I said before... those core beliefs. That is just one example... and I tried to explain more... where they really are quite opposite.

Christianity is and I quote, "Christian monotheism is Trinitarian monotheism, which holds that God is One, but made of three distinct "persons": the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

Mormonism is not a monotheistic religion. It's polytheistic... there is more than 1 deity.

The Differences Between Mormonism and Christianity: Part 1

Now... I originally wanted to post about how my two adopted kittens are drug addicts... but the topic at hand is a more pressing issue...

First and foremost... a disclaimer... while I will be as objective as possible in my explaination... I still do not want my webpage to be simply a religious discussion... I enjoy the freedom to type whatever I feel like (mundane or not) ... and it gives me pleasure that it be about a variety of random things.

I was asked the question of why the church of the Latter-Day Saints should not be included under the Christian umbrella... first part I'll give the explanation about the material I was given using the points where the differences are key.

Now, I was given the "13 Articles of Faith" which Joseph Smith used to summarize his faith in Mormonism and asked why it shouldn't be under Christianty when the core beliefs seem so similar.

Ladies and Gents and the keyword here is "seems"...

1. The First Article: Joseph Smith said that they believed in three different God-heads. No mention of the trinity was ever included in that statement. One of the fundamental (yes, Matt, first time I used that word, eh?) Christian beliefs (or core beliefs) is that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, are three different entities and yet at the same time ONE.

*To those who don't understand the "trinity" it's like "three-in-one" objects that you buy one thing but it's really three... or H2O. Anyway... I digree...

Christians are monotheists, they believe in one deity, though three part. Latter-Day Saints do not, God the father, Son, and Holy Ghost are separate.

2. The Third Article: Christians believe that all one needs to be saved is to confess their sins and believe that Jesus, the Son of God, died for the sins of the world and rose again on the third day. Jesus did all the work 100% and all one has to do is believe. Salvation through "Faith".

Mormons feel that Jesus did die for the sins of the world, but a person must also do other things to achieve their salvation, example, they have to be baptized in the Mormon faith, and follow other Mormon doctrine. As was explained to me, by a Mormon friend, "It's like Jesus did 90% of the work, so all we need to do it about 10%." Salvation through "Works".

*Some people believe that Christians feel they need to be baptized to be saved too, that is not in accordance to their scripture, but some denominations adhere to it because they believe that one should do as Christ did, an example is the Catholic Church. But that's another post altogether.

Now... my time is unfortunately cut short... so I will continue to explain the differences at a latter date.

But before I do, here's a personal experience... A LDS had come by me while I was reading in the park and proceeded to ask me what I believed in. I told him I was a Christian, and he said, "Great, me too." Then after 10 minutes of conversing, he proceeded to tell me I was going to hell.

Ladies and Gents... even Mormons can see there's a difference.

Word of the Day... and Tip of the Century...

Roaming around a place I'm not familiar with is usually the best way for me to get acquainted with the city. Anywho... that's how I happened across a Christian bookstore and decided to venture in... seeing as how I haven't found one in this next of the woods since I've been here.

Anyway... my finding the bookstore... nor the bookstore itself is why I make this post. It's the 15 seconds of events that happened immediately as soon as I stepped out of the store.

Three rednecks happened to walk by me and the last one happened to take look at me. Then he took an immediate second look. (I'm used to the second looks by now. It seems that after a while people finally get used to an Asian around these parts. Because ladies and gents... I'm not just a minority in the city I currently reside in... I am "THE" minority. But I digress...)

He gave the typical, "Hey... how you doin'?" And the look-over from top to bottom and back up again.

Then there was about a three second pause where all I could think was "I just came out of a Christian bookstore and I get hit on... by a redneck... of all times," before I did the first thing that came to mind.

I gave him a big fat honest to goodness smile and put my hands together, loudly said (almost to the point of shouting) in a very Asian accent that I don't have, "KONITCHIWA!", with an emphasis on the last syllable. And then bowed slightly (still smiling of course).

He looked startled and didn't know what to do. I simply got in my car, rolled down the windows and started to laugh. One of the redneck's friends said to him, "Dude, you are a dumb@ss." And I went on my merry way.

So tip of the century... if a person randomly hits on you at the most random time of day or series of events... pretend you don't speak English. Seriously... all it takes is one word :)... I'm sooo not Japanese... heck I don't even know if I spelled it right on the screen... but I sure did say it with relish.

Word of the Day... heck Word of the Month... "Konitchiwa!"