Sponsor kids!

Everyone must sponsor a kid. One of the best ways to give to the needy or to invest in the future is to give to kids. They're innocent yet suffering; just born into unfortunate circumstances. By giving them education, nutrition, and healthcare, you are making a huge difference for the rest of their life. You will also keep them out of worse situations. For example, kids are sometimes sold into slavery by a family that cannot afford to feed them, believing the kid would receive better care. Sponsorship can eliminate this!

What's a good way to give? Compassion International. It is highly rated by independent organizations such BBB Wise Giving Alliance which concluded that "Compassion International Inc. (CI) meets the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability" and Charity Navigator which gave Compassion its highest rating of 4 stars.

It costs just $1 a day ($32 a month), and it goes so far. I've visited 2 sponsorship sites, and the difference in these kids lives is amazing. Here's an article about one of my visits and a highlight of my life.

Me in the news. http://www.llu.edu/news/today/nov2003/sm.html

Such a sweet experience.

And for y'all that believe in the Bible, may I remind you our responsibility to widows and orphans.

How to save the world by making people furious...

How can we...

lower our national debt?
fight global warming?
lessen our dependence on foreign oil?
decrease the amount of traffic?
trim our nation's waistlines?
help people make friends with strangers?
create thriving downtowns in our cities?
slow urban sprawl?

Raise gas prices!

By increasing gas taxes, we could raise money to either eliminate vehicle registration fees, pay off our debts, etc. People would drive less, which would decrease oil consumption and emissions. People would walk/bike more, bettering their health. People would carpool and use public transportation more, helping our individualistic nation become more communal. Cities would become even more popular with housing that is next to work/dining/shopping/entertainment/etc. European cities have such charm, not only because they are so old, but because people actually work, live, eat, and relax there. Fewer people would be rushing into newly developed suburbs in order to have their personal 1/2 acre of grass they have to water to keep alive.

It bugs me so much when people complain about the gas prices, when they are very low compared to the rest of the world. Even though I have 2 high performance cars that run on high octane gas, when the prices go up, I am secretly happy inside. I don't have much of a commute now, but I'm sure I'd feel the same if I did.

Now I know this isn't going to happen. Too many people are nearsighted and don't see the benefits of higher gas prices or gas taxes. No officials have the balls to commit political suicide and implement these taxes now. But I just had to write this, and hope people start thinking and talking it up.

I know this is something that has to happen gradually, or else we would destroy certain industries.

Please leave comments.

I love...

My family, my friends, snowboarding in powder, experiencing other cultures, my car and other rally cars, my truck and other sport trucks, ecosystems and trying to create them at home particularily in aquariums, lots of music (emotional, international, beat driven, chill...), Jesus, Young Life, going down with a mountain bike (not necessarily going up), Whistler, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, other places bordering or in the Pacific Ocean that I have yet to go to, Chipotle, Panera, kids with disabilities, kids in Africa, speeding, anesthesiology, fighter jets, foreign foods (especially tacos, sushi, pho, Ethiopian, Middle Eastern, Indian...), stout such as Guiness, hot sake, "extreme" sports, guitar, pianists, cooks, abstract landscape paintings, summers in the Northwest, surfing, discovering new music, coffee, chocolate, peppercorn steak, Dr Pepper, having a garage, my children that I sponsor, missionaries, praying with patients, my photo album screen saver, my churches (Mars Hill, Sandals, Apex), sunny and a dry 75 degrees with a slight breeze, Forest Gump, cutting edge technology, thunderstorms, Cajun food, loud trance, rock concerts, Quiksilver clothes, wood, big trees, water, Candy with a capital C...

Top 10 Movies

I was thinking about this after watching King Kong. Making a top 10 list of movies is difficult, especially for me, who doesn't own any movies and or watch movies more than once. I also have a terrible time thinking of movies off the top of my head. So here's a go, and maybe my readers can help me out...

1. Forrest Gump
2. The Matrix
3. Fight Club
4. Batman Begins
5. Schindler's List
6. Momento
7. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
8. Return of the Jedi
9. King Kong (maybe because I just watched it)
10. Gladiator

And I have to add some honorable mentions...

11. Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail
12. Airplane
13. Superman
14. Return of the King
15. Raiders of the Lost Ark
16. Vanilla Sky
17. Winged Migration
18. Independence Day
19. Amadeus
20. Shawshank Redemption

I tend to have a theme of psychological "life is not what is seems" type movies.