All Is Now Forgiven With The Irsay Family From A Childhood Baltimore Colts Fan

As a child I grew up in the suburbs of Baltimore. I remember well the excitement in 1958 when the “Greatest Game Ever Played,” was unfolded before us all in Baltimore. This is when the underdog, “The Baltimore Colts,” beat the much favored “New York Giants,” for the nationally televised championship football game.

So many future Hall Of Fame players like Frank Gifford, Rosey Brown, Sam Huff, Don Maynard, Andy Robustelli, and Emlen Tunnell played on this Giants team. On the other hand Baltimore had only been in the league for 6 seasons as an expansion team. Coached by Weeb Ewbanks who had future Hall Of Fame players like the GREAT Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry, Alan “The Horse” Ameche, Lenny Moore, Gino Marchetti, and Don Joyce. Football historians have given the credit to Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry for inventing the “2 minute drill.”

Yes in 1953 the Baltimore Colts, (who use to be the Dallas Texans and were moved to Baltimore), were now here in 1958 playing for the National Football League Championship. The Colts name came about because of the tradition of Baltimore’s rich history with racing, and breeding of horses. The obvious example of this history being the second leg of the triple crown, “The Preakness Stakes.”

The game was played on December 28, 1958 at Yankee Stadium in New York. The 1958 game was the 26th annual NFL championship game. To add to this drama, this was the first nationally televised Championship Football game and the game played out better than if someone had written a suspenseful script. The Colts beat the Giants 23-17 in overtime, earning their first ever championship. The game would later be known as “The Greatest Game Ever Played!” Then as if to prove that they were not just a fluke, there was a rematch between the two teams in 1959 and the Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants again by a score of 31 to 16.

The Colts went on to play and win many Championships and later Super Bowls establishing many memories to the young “Engineer of Knowledge.” As a child playing quarterback in little league football teams in the area…I did not know any better than my heroes who played for the Colts….that they did not walk on water.

I remember all too well my father, a physical education major school teacher, surprised me one Sunday in 1967 and took me to Memorial Stadium to see the Baltimore Colts play the Minnesota Vikings. We sat on the 50 yard line, 6 rows back from the field, and I watched Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry work their magic. The tickets cost $7.00 each and I can say that this day was one of the best days of my life!

Well I can only say that it is hard to describe the feeling when Bob Irsay, with Mayflower moving vans, snuck away in the dead of that cold, snowy night; and stole my Baltimore Colts along with my fondest childhood memories, to Indianapolis. Little did anyone know on that December 18, 1983, the Colts would play their final game in Baltimore. Almost after the season ending win at Memorial Stadium; Colts owner Robert Irsay began talking to other cities about moving the club. On February 13th he toured the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis and the rest is history.

To this day football fans in Baltimore still burn in effigy the image of Bob Irsay. Even though we are now Baltimore Raven’s football fans, “named after the Edgar Allen Poe poem, “The Raven,” still will not forgive and move on past their distain and hatred of anyone with the Irsay family name.

By now you must be asking, “Engineer, where are you going with this story and isn’t your title, “All Is Now Forgiven?” My answer to you is “YES.” I can say today that on a personal level, I can forgive the son Jim Irsay for his father’s sins of stealing my Baltimore Colts and childhood memories because Jim, as the owner of the Colts and with the foresight of what is best for the NFL; VOTED AGAINST RUSH LIMBAUGH FROM OWNING THE ST. LOUIS RAMS!!!!!

I want to say to Jim Irsay that he has single handily with his vote restored my faith in professional football and enabled me to release my resentment and inwardly held anger after these so many years. In closing I want to say “THANK YOU” and may nothing but good things happen for you in the future.

White House Openly Confronts Fox News’s Lies!

There have always been factions that publish or make public oppositional political viewpoints with their own slant to a sitting President in the past, but Fox News has gone to the extreme of just propagating blatant lies.
Harry S. Truman banned reporters he disliked from his presidential yacht. Franklin Roosevelt placed his journalistic critics out of earshot at the back of the room during presidential press conferences.
No such subtleties in Barack Obama's White House. The White House is taking a full out frontal assault exposing the Fox News Channel calling quite bluntly, “their broadcasting of lies.” Of course the White House does not expect an apology from the network’s owner and driving conservative force, Rupert Murdoch.
As a response to the Fox News’s propensity to fabricate facts and inaccurate broadcasting topics for the sole purpose of showing the President in a bad light, the Obama White House gave all major networks interviews except Fox News for their Sunday talk shows. Chris Wallace of Fox News response was to simply call the White House "the biggest bunch of crybabies." (Oooooh, what a scathing editorial from this intellectual group. Is this the best that Fox News has? Name calling?)
One of the White House's main targets to date is Glenn Beck, the conservative Fox News commentator whose rants of provocative commentaries that are more often full of inaccurate and misstatements than not.
This past Wednesday, September 30, 2009, Glenn “Blowhard” Beck went on a negative rant about President Obama going to Copenhagen to try to get the Summer Olympics for Chicago. The White House’s counter attack pointed out Beck's lack of research of the subject and misinformation by referencing the financial losses Vancouver sustained hosting the Olympics. What any well read person knows is that Vancouver won't host the Olympics until 2010, and the clueless Beck should have said the Calgary Olympics.
Beck has also gone on another negative rant to say that President Obama’s confidante, Valerie Jarrett, had participated in a controversial August phone call that attempted to recruit artists to create works that promoted President Barack Obama's policies. The White House noted that Jarrett did not participate in any such call. Just another fabricated incorrect lie for the sole attempt to make the President look bad.
Now of course Beck has stated that the White House political director, Patrick Gaspard, had ties to ACORN but the Pulitzer Prize winning Web site, PolitiFact quickly debunked these claims by publishing the facts, and once again, Glenn “Blowhard” Beck, had just made up more lies to base his arguments against the President. PolitiFact has posted and debunked many false claims with regards to the White House that Glenn “Blowhard” Beck continues to repeat along with others on the Fox News Network.
As I see it, the White House has no other option but to meet these falsehoods head-on at every turn or the lies will have a tendency to take on a life of their own to be quoted by the conservative lemmings who want nothing more than to believe them to be true. The President said in his speech to Congress that he would call out those that misrepresented his record and that includes ideological news outlets like Fox News and its various commentators. "In this day and age," Dan Pfeiffer, the White House deputy communications director, added, "every falsehood must be met head-on no matter how absurd the charge or discredited the source."
Now in conclusion, I do want to caution this administrations calling every inaccurate comment a “lie” because it could end up like the old fable, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” but do not be afraid to call it what it is and do not back down from its meaning. When there's a willfully dishonest statement made by these fabricating conservative bias personalities, attack and expose the “LIES” when there is not any question in the context that it is being referred to, and do not be afraid to call it a “LIE” as an accurate use of the word.

Where Have All the Christians Gone?

In a recent study of Americans’ religious beliefs shows the number of people who claim no religious affiliation has doubled since 1990, a reduction of fifteen percent, and is the highest point in history.
Those whom identify themselves as Christians are taking plummeting losses in America, while the number of non-believers is on the increase. Non-believers now represent the third-highest group of Americans, after Catholics and Baptists.

Protestants now represent half of all Americans, down almost 20 percent in the last twenty years. If this trend keeps up, in the near future America will become a minority Protestant nation for the first time since the pilgrims.

The demographics of those rejecting organized religion are the under 30 young people. Nearly a quarter of Americans in their 20’s professing no organized religion.

I should state at this time that these non-believers are not particularly atheist. Instead, these individuals have a belief in God but no interest in organized religion, or they believe in a personal God but not in a formal faith tradition.
Organized religions that have been catering to the fanatical right wing aspect believers have been a recipe for failure. It has only turned off and exposed the hypocritical views of this group and turned off the freer thinking younger Americans. Many of the “20 something’s” in Americans who could be interested in God, but they don’t think existing institutions are helping them draw closer to God. The constant drone of the religious right wing political preaching just does not hold up to the truths they can see for themselves.

It is also a fact that Americans’ interest in religion has not always been stable. It dipped following the Revolution and again following Civil War. In both cases it rebounded because religious institutions adapted and found new ways of relating to everyday Americans.

Today, the rise of disaffection is so powerful that different denominations will need to band together for financial reason and transform into shared religious message that will enable a movement beyond the fading divisions of the past traditions. If organized religion does not adapt then America will just become like Europe, where religion is fast becoming an afterthought.

Bravo Senator Gram

I am writing this piece from the prospective of my moderate Republican views. I want to pass on a job well done for Senator Gram with regards to his most recent comments of the fanatic right wing.

Senator Gram’s straightforward and brave account of how far the right wing lunatic fringe the Republican Party is tending to. Senator Gram told a conference hosted by Atlantic magazine the Glenn Beck is aligned with that strange group I like to call “very rich white men whining” and said about Beck, “Only in America can you make that much money whining. He (Beck) is aligned with cynicism but we became a great nation not because we are a nation of cynics but a nation of believers.”

Senator Gram also called those who claim President Obama was not born in America “crazy” and told them to knock this crap off and get on to more significant problems.” He went on to say, “I’m here to tell you those who think the president was not born in Hawaii are crazy.”

Good for Senator Graham. He also stated he was very worried about the passions that cable news cannels were whipping up in recent weeks.

For those who have read my postings before, I have stated and essentially predicted the current poisonous atmosphere could lead to an assassination attempt on President Obama. Graham stated, “If you get rewarded for being a jerk, you are going to just keep doing it.” Graham pointed out a recent article in Newsmax magazine, a far right wing rag, which said a military coup against President Obama could happen as an example of the media madness.

It is a good thing that there are Republicans like myself and Senator Graham who are not afraid to criticize their own political party. We can only hope that such truth and decency will permeate many more politicians at this dangerous time. America badly needs it!

Is Opposition to President Obama Racially Motivated?

Earlier in the week, former President Jimmy Carter said the angry outbursts at town hall meetings and in Congress about health care reforms are racially motivated. When Jimmy Cater made the statement that “I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man," well he was not off the mark. I have seen too many right wing political cartoons showing our current President within racial stereotypes. One example being the President portrayed as a monkey eating watermelon at a state dinner. Yea, Ha Ha real funny assholes.



Although President Obama said on Friday the angry criticism about his health care agenda is not driven by racism, but is instead motivated by an intense concern about the proper role of government. Where this is true as an aspect on health care, you cannot deny that for many on the extreme right also have the racial interjection aspect too.

President Obama has long suggested that he would like to move beyond race and he is right to say so but the pertinent question is whether the country will let him.

The president said the things that are being said about him are similar to what was said about President Franklin Delano Roosevelt - that he is a "communist" and a "socialist, etc."

I think that President Obama is right to calm down or deny the racial aspect of his Presidency because it would be a great political move by the Republican’s to get every issue bogged down by diverting the arguments into a constant debate on whether it is racially motivated or not. By diverting any debate or argument to this aspect, they split and divide the population on a diverted argument causing a derailment on any progress of programs that the President is trying to move forward.

So those of us who are supporting the President and his programs, let us all not fall into the opposition’s trap of making everything related to the President racially motivated. Bottom line it is not about race but about getting his programs passed.

The Quality of Religious Based Schools

One of the arguments of giving students “School Vouchers” so they will be able to attend a school of their (or really their parents) choice has given inaccurate reasons for doing so. The argument is that the public schools are not teaching our children properly.

In truth, it is a means for the ultra religious to have this tax money funneled into their “Faith Based” schools. They base their argument and spread the inaccurate information that these types of schools are producing better students. Well this is not an accurate statement at all simply because that it is based on a generalized statement.

I will give some examples below where the “Faith Based” schools have failed the students.

There is a “Baptist Faith Based” school located in Seaford, DE. Many parents send their children to school there; it goes from pre-K to 12, because they don’t want their children to attend a school where they will be exposed to those whom they find undesirable. There are no black children in this school not because of they openly refuse to allow them to attend, but more by cost inhibitive means or when the few black children do sign up and attend, they are shunned plus ostracized and soon leave. Some of the teachers don’t even have college degrees much less have degrees in the subjects they are teaching. The students are not passing the Advanced Math’s or the Science subjects, but so long as the students can repeat memorized Bible verses they are passed onto the next grade.

Unfortunately, these students end up so sheltered that when they graduate the Baptist faith based high school, they have not learned to cope and function in society of the real world. After graduating, many of the girls just work at part time jobs like greeting card shops hoping to find someone to marry so they can stay home, have children, and not have to face the stress of the real world. Those who go onto college mostly attend more “Faith Based” schools like Gerry Farwell’s “Liberty” college which perpetuates and postpones their short comings of assimilating into real society. It has also come to light in recent “Nationalized Testing,” the majority of these students are not passing which is jeopardizing the State of Delaware recognizing their diplomas and even the possibility of this schools accreditation to be revoked.

Another example I like to pass on is the story told to me by a member of the book discussion group that I attend at the local Seaford Library. This person has her Doctorate in Philosophy and is a professor at Salisbury University. This person also tutors English writing skills at other colleges to help students who are having trouble. This one particular story she passed on was a student who went through fundamentalist religious schools her whole life. This student then went to a fundamentalist college for two years before transferring into Wilmington University located in Georgetown, DE. The student was failing miserably in “Critical Writing” where you are supposed to develop your own thoughts on a subject given and argue your points through “logical argumentation.” This student would start off with a poor opening statement and then just start writing non-coherently quoting biblical passages that were not even tangible to the subject being discussed.

The professor said that this student had no concept of developing an original thought for herself. It was so pathetic that it was to the point that even the concept was totally alien to her. Even with the extra tutoring help, this student failed the required English class and was dropped from being able to attend the University because she could not reach the academic level required by the school. The failing was not only with this English class, but with some of her other class too.

To bring this article to a conclusion, I want to make everyone’s attention to Patrick Henry College. Patrick Henry College is a private, independent Protestant college that focuses on teaching classical liberal arts and government, located in Purcellville, Virginia. Patrick Henry is the first college in the United States founded specifically for Christian home-schooled students, and is known for its conservative evangelical Christian focus. As of April 17, 2007, the college was nationally accredited by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, an accrediting organization recognized by the Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The school was founded with the help of the Home School Legal Defense Association, and now serves as the headquarters for the organization, with which it is still closely connected.

The college has gained much publicity because of its ties with the Republican Party and at the time with the Bush administration. The school has been criticized for the religious interpretations of science that all students and faculty must agree to and continually uphold.

The main purpose of this college is to give degrees to students for the sole purpose to obtain Federal Government jobs and to embed their views throughout all government agencies. Students who have been taught not to think for themselves, follow blindly the fanatical religious viewpoints that they have been brainwashed with their whole lives unquestioning its validity, are to become the majority and decision makers for all government agencies in the future. It does not matter if they can perform math calculations or have learned science facts, so long as they can quote Biblical scriptures and believe religious myths, they can lead the country.

The Key Of David…Bible Prophecy

For several weeks now I have seen, with much half tuning out indifference, an ad on TV for a religious program called, “The Key Of David…Bible Prophecy.” The ad goes to a shot of the pastor, Gerald Flurry, as he goes on to say, “The bible says in Jeremiah that they will have the ability to destroy many nations.” With just this little snippet of his program, I guess the listener is supposed to insert the country of their choice that has the current event news item of the day. Iran, Iraq, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, etc, would do depending on who did what on any particular week.

The ad closes with, “Each week, Gerald Flurry discusses world events in light of Bible prophecy on “The Key Of David” television program. “The Key Of David” covers today’s most important events with a unique perspective of telling you what is happening to our society and our world, but also, more importantly, it tells you why. Tune in every Sunday morning at 7:00 AM to make clear what is going on in the world today through the light of Bible Prophecy.”

Well after many weeks of seeing this ad, I really took particular note this morning that this con man, Gerald Flurry, is using the Bible as a Crystal Ball that he can look into; find a sentence that supports what he is trying to convince everyone that the Bible predicted and prophesied on any particular week. I guess that it does not matter if the sentence is taken out of context of the complete paragraph’s central thought…if it is in the Bible and Gerald reads it…then the Bible predicted the events and warned true believers of the current situations to be aware of plus what is going to happen.

One could suspect that it is all based on Armageddon fear mongering because it plays so well with the type of people that gravitate and fall prey to the “Gerald Flurry” types of this world. Make note that these followers are more than willing victims of the “Gerald Flurry” con men types because they find excitement in the “Dooms Day” aspect. I would guess that it is the same adrenalin rush one gets from gambling that has become an addiction.

Now with a little bit of Googling, I found out that this all knowing and foreseeing “Church of God” pastor, on September 18, 1993, was arrested in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, and taken to jail after being found intoxicated and passed out behind the wheel of his automobile with an open container of intoxication liquor. When the officer asked for Gerald Flurry’s driver’s license, Gerald said that he did not have one but took out a $20 bill instead and tried to hand it to the officer. The officer repeatedly told Gerald Flurry to put away the money and proceeded to administer three field sobriety tests. Of course Gerald Flurry failed all three exceeding the legal maximum. At the trial Gerald Flurry pleaded “nolo contendre” to the charges and an unidentified person paid the many fines per each count on Gerald Flurry’s behalf.

Now I must say that even I can foresee and predict that if you drive drunk with the intoxication level so high that you pass out behind the wheel of the car….You are going to get arrested. No big mystery talent here is there?

In closing, my comments are if he is so good at predicting the future, why didn’t he see and avoid this drunk driving arrest? Oh yea by the way, be sure to send a large donation check so that this important TV program can stay on the air and tell true believers how to prepare for the future through Gerald Flurry’s interpretation prophecies.