345,000 AT 16 CENTS EA. = DEATH?

TIME MAGAZINE posted this statistic in it's "numbers" section of this weeks magazine on the feb. 5, 2007 edition:

345,000= number of people worldwide who died of measles in 2005, down 60% from 1999, beating a goal set by the United Nations.

16 cents= cost of measles vaccine which is often unaffordable in the 3rd World without underwriting from charities and foreign governments.

DO THE MATH.... this amounts to less that $55,200. THIS MAKES ME WANT TO SCREAM!

How do I reconcile this statistic with this text in 1 John?



The fact that someone could die for lack of 16 cents is asinine on numerous levels... Regardless of whether foreign governments are to blame or not... surely there are believers with material posessions within reach of all of these people. Where in the world can I send 16 dollars to save 100 people's lives?

Read more...

HOUR 6

This episode of 24 was kinda non-climatic. All I have is a bunch of questions. But only one seems to matter.

What will become of TOM and how will KAREN HAYES get her job back? Maybe that's 2 questions.

Oh... and I'm a little bummed that next week's pre-view scenes already showed me how Jack gets uncaught and that he's already back to torturing his brother. That was a bummer. I'm also bored with the president's sister's boss' plot. I could be totally fine if they left this out of the show all together.

Read more...

PUKE REPORT

Per my previous post... it looks as though Tyler escaped. However, I heaved from 7pm to midnight on Saturday. I survived teaching on Sunday. Then I slept all day Sunday afternoon. Now I feel like I worked out my puke muscles something intense. I can't laugh without it hurting. It's been like that for a day and a half now.

3 cheers for no puking.

Read more...

ONLY IN CALFORNIA

Just went to a friend's house in El Cajon to talk with her family and chat about her serving in our High School Ministry. On my way there I saw this lot:



Which someone evidently thought was worth spending a lot of time and money to make for this view of the trailer park below and the valley/mountains beyond:



GO FIGURE. I love the mountains... it's just a long way off and if I had this lot, I'd have to plan for a huge "ball fund" for all the ones that we be lost by my kids into the abyss below. I wonder what this view is really worth$$ ?

Read more...

87 THOUSAND

That's how many drink combinations this article from TIME says starbucks has. They also want to give you any one of those in 3 minutes or less cuz any longer, and you'll bolt. 2 thoughts:

1. Good luck with that. They say they miss the goal 60% of the time.
2. 3 cheers for American's patience. We suck at that. Most of the world knows that. Some of the world capitalizes on that.
   

Read more...

CRUISE COUNTDOWN

Well, Shannon and I are going on a cruise in the end of February and into March. It's been 2 years in the making and is with some old friends from Nor Cal. We're going on the Grand Princess on the "Western Caribbean Cruise". It's 25 days away.




Here's our itinerary:

• DAY 0: Fly to Galveston and hang out in the city for a day.
  
• DAY 1: Board and leave from Galviston in the evening.
• DAY 2: At sea.
• DAY 3: Port at Costa Maya, Mexico.
  
• DAY 4: Port at Roatan, Honduras.
• DAY 5: Port at Belize.
• DAY 6: Port at Cozumel, Mexico.
• DAY 7: At sea.
• DAY 8: Disembark the ship back in Galviston, fly back to SD.
  

Here's our plans so far:

• One day at sea, shannon and I are having breakfast on the deck and getting a couples massage. This will be my first ever massage. I hope it's by a big strong hungarian chick who beats on me until all my bad karma comes out of my muscles and releases into my body so I can pee it out later.
  
• One night we're going to splurge and eat at some 17 course.. yep 17 courses... of Italian food. It comes highly recommended to taste it all, and finish none of it. Ok... but I'm having some wine.
  
• We are set to eat dinner every night at the 8:30pm slot. We have 2 dress up nights where I have to wear a black suit.
  
• We're going snorkeling in Cozumel... we board a small boat and go snorkeling in some reef and then they drop us off at a private beach for a while. All 8 of us are going together with the other people who sign up for this "excursion". Should be fun. I bought a water-proof case for my digital camera so I can take some cool pics underwater. Oh won't that be fun.
• While we're in Costa Maya we're thinking of going on a 4x4 drive to a beach excursion thingy.
  

ADVICE I'VE BEEN TOLD SO FAR:

• Keep your receipts. Check them against your final bill. Sometimes stuff gets charged to the wrong room.
• Bring your own bottled water on board from port stops cuz it's cheaper and cuz you can.
• Ask the concierge on board for advice, they're a wealth of port information.
• Room service is free- enjoy it.
  
• If you buy a glass of wine, buy the bottle and have them cork it for you. They'll hold onto it and bring it to you anywhere on the ship. It's cheaper this way too.
  

ANY OTHER ADVICE FROM YOU CRUISE VETERANS? Comment away...

Read more...