Payne Stewart and Walter Payton

Ten years ago this week, the sports world lost two icons (and two of my favorite athletes). Payne Stewart and Walter Payton died within seven days of each other. Stewart, in a terrible plane crash, and Payton of bile duct cancer. Both had their place in sports history. This isn't meant to be some trivial tribute but this is just a reminder. One man eventually rediscovered faith in God through Jesus Christ (Stewart) and it seemed like his game was back. One always had it but never spoke much of it (Payton). Both had people in their lives I believe were strong influences, be it indirectly or directly (Payton had Singletary and Stewart had Azinger).

Stewart died on October 25, 1999. Known for his plus-4 pants and an incredible golf swing. He was also the first to wear the NFL teams on the PGA (which Ben Curtis now does). He would wear the NFL team of the city of where he played and sometimes he may have worn that city's rival (I don't think he ever wore Packer colors in Chicago). What stands out about him. He was known for being generous. He gave his first place check Bay Hill Invitational away in memory of his father, who had died of cancer. He also represented a never give up attitude. He failed to get his PGA Tour card after graduating from college so what did he do? We played in Asia and while overseas, he met his wife, Tracey. Even during a tough drought from 1994 until 1998, he had a moment in his life where things changed.

His swing was as good as it got. I've built mine around his. When he played the Western Open, no matter who came that year, I was following Stewart (often playing with Paul Azinger and or Lee Janzen). It seemed as it he found a second wind. He was one of the first people I saw with the WWJD braclet on. He also share about what was important in life. I can recall the win at Pinehurst and the 12th hole, I said to my Dad that I think he's going to win (his second US Open). Six holes later, he did. Most remembered what was said after the win, "you're going to be a father" to Phil Mickelson (who first born child was born not long after). This was more dramatic than having to win his first US Open, an extra round playoff with Scott Simpson. Only four months later, he was gone. Hearing the story unfold was just numbing for me as a fan. I can't imagine how it was for his family and friends. Had he lived, he would have been eligible for the Champions Tour in 2007. Who knows what he would have done.

A funny side of him (if you want his musical efforts with Peter Jacobson and Mark Lye):




Walter Payton died on November 1, the following week. What can be said that hasn't already been said? For me, he's still the best back in my lifetime and that include everyone since. People recall the most rushing yards but people forget that he could actually BLOCK, which many backs today don't want to do. I can remember the 275 rushing yards game (against the Saints). He outworked people. There was a hill not far from where he lived and he sprinted up this hill (and the hill was pretty steep) multiple times. This is the hill, as shown by his son (it has actually leveled out a bit):


What people don't realize is that he was a JOKER. He knew how to play pranks on his guys. I think of a picture of him and Matt Suhey. Suhey was lined in front of Payton (he was a fullback) and Payton actually grabbed the back of Suhey's shorts as the play began. He played at Jackson State University, a small Historically Black College in Mississippi (where fellow Hall of Famer Jackie Slater came to play with him). He was known as "Sweetness" and I can attest to this first hand. Years ago, I worked at an outdoor concert hall named Poplar Creek. Working security, we would be responsible (at time) for escorting higher profile guest to their cars. This was two years after the Super Bowl. The Bears who came were all VERY nice to the people and Walter was no exception. He signed autographs, took some pictures, takled cars, and just take the time to show appreciation to those who saw him.


His journey ended in Canton. Payton was also the first to have his son give his induction speech.


Former teammates telling about Payton, the prankster:


A small but respectful tribute to two of my top sports figures. Thanks for the memories.

In this last week alone..........

To name a few things:
1. This years 100th bank failed (currently standing at 105).
2. "Pay Czar" authorizes a 90% reduction in compensation for certain banks executives (cutting salary 90% and making execs keep stock for 5 years. Currently, most execs sell a portion of their stocks in 2-3 years).
3. A health care bill carrying a price of $1 Trillion dollars (over the next decade) has been proposed and is waiting for a vote.
4. Swine Flu/H1N1 virus spreads yet not enough vaccines to go around.
5. Unemployment is over 10% nationally.

So one question is that why is it no one is taking all of this seriously? Why is it an acceptable concept that the US Government can control (not oversee) everything we do? I'm just saying.

God's first commandments (?)

Let me start by saying I have no formal training in the Bible or Biblical related subjects. I am not a Pastor or teacher and don't see myself as one any time soon. This is my opinion and mine alone (at least I believe it is). One part criticism and one part theory/opinion. I am not saying that this is what God says but I only do it based on two things. The context He speaks in and His nature (what He did in other contexts). The 10 Commandments are the blueprint for what modern (criminal and civil) laws are based off of. For the longest time, I thought that to be true but then something hit me. I’m not trying to denounce the 10 Commandments (because you can’t keep them anyway at least as they were intended). In fact, far from that at all. Over a period of days while reading Genesis, something came to me (strangely enough after reading Revelations). This is how I think God intended things to be. Fellowship with Him with no pain, death, sorrow- none of it. My thinking is based off of different teaching I’ve heard over time (along with those on God’s nature). I also base it off of reading the Bible as a piece of literature (yep all the English classes I took may have done some good). Don’t ask me to get into the Hebrew, Greek or so on because that is WELL outside my knowledge base.

This is only a thought. What you see below is what I think are the first commandments God gave to man. Personally, I think that these were the only commandments He ever wanted to give mankind. This is what God said to Adam and Eve (from Genesis 2 and 3). To me, it seems pretty straight forward. As I looked at the story further, it made more sense. The one little act caused God to cut off this incredible paradise He had created for his creation. He also had to send his only Son to the world to die the most barbaric death for that time. Why? No other way to save mankind as God saw it. Do you think these are doable? I hope I edited the “thous” to "you" to make this more readable. Who speaks King's English anyway. I don't. I'm an American. Anyway, here it goes.

1. “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful"
2. "and multiply"
3. "and replenish the earth.” I think the be fruitful and multiply parts are the act of creating human life and intimacy between the Adam and Eve (hint-hint). Replenish I think was seems to show things once the children is born and how they should carry forward.
4. “and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” In other words, Adam and Eve were supposed to oversee the earth. The entire creation was given to them by God. Look up the words subdue and dominion to get a better picture.
5. “God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.” Translation. I see this as authority that God made mankind superior to other living things. Adam and Eve were in God’s image. It follows number four. I think this could show partnership with God as well (though not being equal with him). Adam thought up a name, that’s what it was called. I actually heard a sermon on this years back so that's what comes to mind here.
6. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Again, pretty self-explanatory if you think about what the words imply (especially the last part if you think about it). I think the first part of this was directed for the children of Adam and Eve (again, just my opinion and is something I am unsure of). At this point, Adam and Eve were it. An early marriage blueprint.
7. “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou may freely eat.” Imagine going into a forest or orchard. Imagine that you can eat any fruit that you see. I have seen enough orchards and these are not small pieces of property. More provision.
8. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, do not eat of it: for in the day that thou eat thereof thou shalt surely die.” The first “do not/thou shall not” is given here. This was intended to be a warning once they ate the fruit, their lives will not be the same. They had a free will to eat of the tree but God gave them the right to decide for themselves. God wanted to give Adam and Eve free decisions to act within the boundaries He set for them. The serpent (Satan) tells the first lie in human history, hence becoming the "father of all lies" by doing this. The result was that Eve ate the fruit, gave some to Adam, which he ate as well. The rest was all down hill from there. The death was not physical but the spiritual, once perfect state they once knew. All glory given up for one piece of fruit.

If I tried to do this in the actual Hebrew, it will look something like this (note: I used Google translate to create this but you get the picture):
ואת אלוהים בירך אותם אלוהים ויאמר להם פרו ורבו

ו לחדש את כדור הארץ

ולהכניע אותו: ויש לך שליטה על הדגים של הים, ועל עוף של באוויר, מעל כל דבר חי שזז על פני האדמה.

אלוהים יצר כל חיית השדה, וכל עוף של האוויר; והביא אותם אל אדם כדי לראות מה הוא היה קורא להם: ואת בכלל אדם בשם כל יצור חי, זה היה שם ממנו.

לכן יהיה אדם לעזוב את אביו ואת אמו, ולא תחול לבקע אל אשתו: והם יהיו לבשר אחד.

של כל עץ של הגן אתה יכול לאכול חופשי. ואת יהוה אלוהים ציווה האיש לאמר, כל עץ של הגן אתה יכול לאכול חופשי.

אבל העץ של הידע של תעשה טוב ורע, אתה לא לאכול אותו: במשך היום כי אתה לאכול ממנו ונתתה בוודאי למות.

Or Greek (in part):
Και ο Θεός τους ευλόγησε, και ο Θεός είπε εις αυτούς, να είναι καρποφόρες και να πολλαπλασιάζεται
ανασύσταση και η γη
και να υποτάξει: και να έχει κυριαρχία πάνω από τα ψάρια της θάλασσας, και πάνω από τα όρνιθες του αέρα, και πάνω από κάθε ζωντανό πράγμα που κινείται επάνω στη γη.

I only did this to clear my head. As I said before, these are my thoughts and mine alone. It's just something that I found curious and considered pondering.

Duck- that luxurios meat

I just saw a blog piece on cooking duck. They did it a slightly different way as far as stuffing it (veal, beef, pork belly & seasonings). So I decided to place some video on cooking duck. I decided to make this a global flavor. Duck is not difficult to do but cooking takes time and patience. One thing you have to know is that when cooking duck, pierce the skin. Why? Duck is not fatty and when you pierce the skin, the fat cooks out of the duck and falls into the pan (the skin is thicker than chicken or turkey for example). If you don’t piece it, the fat stays inside and cooks. The result is a VERY greasy duck. A roasting rack would be suggested when using cooking duck.

Alton Brown. He will explain the differences between the duck species as well early on. I might forget it, but still a good reference point:




How to debone a duck:


Peking Duck (part 1 of 3). This will show the process that it takes to make this incredible dish. Parts 2 and 3 you can select after this video completes. If you want this for dinner, start early because it takes time for the marinade to soak in properly. Here’s an actual recipe (taken from about.com):
“Prep Time: 10 hours, 10 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes; Ingredients:
• One 5 to 6 pound duck
• 8 cups water
• 1 slice ginger
• 1 scallion, cut into halves
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sherry
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
• Scallions for garnish
Preparation:
Clean duck. Wipe dry and tie string around neck.
Hang duck in cool, windy place 4 hours.
Fill large wok with water. Bring to boil. Add ginger, scallion, honey, vinegar, and sherry. Bring to boil. Pour in dissolved cornstarch. Stir constantly. Place duck in large strainer above larger bowl. Scoop boiling mixture all over duck for about 10 minutes.
Hang duck again in cool, windy place for 6 hours until thoroughly dry.
Place duck breast side up on a greased rack in oven preheated to 350 degrees. Set a pan filled with 2 inches of water in bottom of oven.
(This is for drippings). Roast 30 minutes.
Turn duck and roast 30 minutes more. Turn breast side up again. Roast 10 minutes more.
Use sharp knife to cut off crispy skin. Serve meat and skin immediately on a prewarmed dish.
The duck is eaten hot with hoisin sauce rolled in Mandarin Crepes. Garnish with scallion flowerets. Serves 4 to 6.”

Reprinted with permission from Madame Wong's Long-life Chinese Cookbook




Gordon Ramsey provides some interesting techniques on cooking duck breast. His seasoning is pretty simple. He also reinforces the “never cut meat immediately after cooking” concept. If the meat does not settle (letting it sit in the pan for a few minutes), the juices run out and your meat will be bone dry. Sounds good, yes? If you do cut the meat right out of the oven, you might hear a "you messed up the dish you donkey" somewhere during this process:


Duck gumbo:


Duck soup. The herbs I would normally put inside the duck while cooking it. One word off warning for you. Throughout the video, you will hear duck while listening to this video. I think you can almost take some of the seasonings in the gumbo and use them here or visa versa:


The french classic duck confit.


Now, this video covers how to cook duck pieces individually. This cook is using olive oil because the meat has no skin:


Do you thing grilling a duck on the grill sounds good? It is because I’ve done it. I did not use honey but a normal marinade to cook it with. If you have some Chinese seasonings, that won’t hurt your cause either:


Wild duck pizza. I never tried this one:
+

Duck stew:


A more classic roasted duck. Again, you can amend the seasonings to your liking. Again, the chef mentions piercing the skin (in other words, poke holes in the meat but don’t cut the meat). No oils are needed because the duck gives off a lot of fat.

Eight Years in Afghanistan, the 'Graveyard of Empires'

Environmental Suckas

3 Terms You May Want to Learn (if you don't know them): Inflation, Hyperinflation, Deflation

Think about this. Every dollar you have is owned to someone by someone. How did we get to this point? Andrew Jackson shut down the Central Bank. There's an interesting quote towards the end. It's amazing that most of this came during the last 100 years. Amazing isn't it. We heard these terms especially more in these current times. Zero percentage interest rates seem good on paper but is it any good? So when you put your money in the bank, it doesn't stay there. I will do my best to use modern media to put these three terms into action. For me, gaining understanding of these 3 terms is a work in process.

Milton Freidman explains the Federal Reserve, where this all starts:


Inflation. Defined as.
a. An increase in the amount of currency in circulation, resulting in a relatively sharp and sudden fall in its value and rise in prices: it may be caused by an increase in the volume of paper money issued or of gold mined, or a relative increase in expenditures as when the supply of goods fails to meet the demand. - Websters
b. A persistent increase in the level of consumer prices or a persistent decline in the purchasing power of money, caused by an increase in available currency and credit beyond the proportion of available goods and services. -American Heratage
c. The overall general upward price movement of goods and services in an economy, usually as measured by the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index; opposite of deflation.-Investorwords.com
d. a general and progressive increase in prices; "in inflation everything gets more valuable except money" [syn: rising prices] [ant: deflation, disinflation]- Princeton University


Deflation, as defined by investwords.com:
A decline in general price levels, often caused by a reduction in the supply of money or credit. Deflation can also be brought about by direct contractions in spending, either in the form of a reduction in government spending, personal spending or investment spending. Deflation has often had the side effect of increasing unemployment in an economy, since the process often leads to a lower level of demand in the economy. opposite of inflation.
Other related terms listed below:
Disinflation - A drop in the inflation rate, i.e. a reduction in the rate at which prices rise.

Or wait until things get cheap, then cheaper, then cheaper. Prices fall, production and supply stalls.

Depression- A period during which business activity drops significantly. High unemployment rates and deflation often accompany a depression.

Reflation- The intentional reversal of deflation through a monetary action by a government.
This cartoon does a good job of explaining deflation:


This video is a bit more detailed, using late 20th century Japan as an example. Have we seen this picture before? What did they do that the US didn't?


Hyperinflation, defined as:
a. A very high rate of increase in the general price level. For accounting purposes, hyperinflation is defined in International Accounting Standard 29. The appropriate accounting treatment in the UK is explained in Financial Reporting Standard 24.- Encyclopedia.com
b. A period of rapid inflation that leaves a country's currency virtually worthless.- investorwords.com.
c. Bring a flatbed truck full of money to the store, leave with one sack full of groceries.- Me
This video explains the current situation.


Think Germany (early 1920's) and current day Zimbabwe:

Hyperinflation in modern day ($300 Zimbabwe= $1.00 USA. How's that for an exchange rate?). Modern day chaos:


Peter Schiff on the dollar and bonds (earlier this year). Less government and more private sector job creation.

April 15, 2009

I figured that I will let this video speak for itself. "I 've abandonded free market principles to save the free market system" quote is what got me. It's not taxes alone but what actually sits behind them. Now at the start of this video, Jon Hoenig explains how all of this put this in a language everyone. You may decide for yourselves. What's the principle behind Collectivism? You may not like that word when you hear it.

David Letterman

The last show of his I saw (from start to finish) was Warren Zevon's last TV appearance. He was the only guest to get the entire hour of the show and he died about a year later. Over the years, I don't see the same Letterman I saw years back. Over the last year or so especially, I've tuned him out. The guy I watched in college is LONG gone. Bud Melman might be turning over in his grave. Not only did he admit to cheating on his wife but basically made a joke of it on his show. Sounds desperate to me. I actually enjoyed the show many years back when there was not nearly the political slant (or bias) that is so present now.

From 1989:


From this year (beating a dead horse):




Terrible!!! No wonder I may switch between Nightline & the Tonight Show (depending on the subject).

10. Worldwide Pants and Staff Infection have more than one meaning.

9. Cheating on your spouse with staff members= no big deal.

8. Flaunting gifts for EVERY female employee should be the norml, especially for the 3 to 5 female "special" assistants he may have at any time.

7. Pay extortionists with a check backed by Monopoly money.

6. Knowing you actions would make Bill Clinton proud.

5. You can be in your 60's, make crude jokes about teenage girls, and know someone is stupid enough to pay you want watch you (Bristol had just turned 18 at the time of the joke. By the way. I guess he forgot the unwritten rule about leaving the kids out of the spotlight when it comes to politics).

4. He should having his own school for spin control (some of his guest may need it).

3. You can make jokes about the mistakes of other people, then do the same thing to yourself (makes for great practice).

2. Be glad Jay Leno is no longer competing against you and deep down know Regis is really "the Man" as hosts go.

1. He actually makes Keith Olbermann look somewhat normal (for his sake, he best hope that Steven A Smith doesn't follow him to the news side. If he does, Olbermann news career is done).
http://www.marklevinshow.com/Article.asp?id=1291114