The Global Economy
Tom Spencer, OPERS Executive Director states: "China is growing so fast that they are consuming more and more oil. The oil supplies are shrinking and we ar now paying about $3 per gallon for gas. China's economy grew at a stunning 9.9% in 2005. American jobs are being outsourced to India. India's economy rose an impressive 7.6% in 2005. Competition from foreign companies that pay lower wages is largely responsible for the closing of the Dayton Tire plant in Oklahoma City. There will be more to come. At the same time, foreign companies like Honda and Toyota are building plants in the United States and providing jobs for Americans."

Also, a China company is going to open offices in Oklahoma City and manufacture the MG line of sports cars in the area.

There is no doubt we are now in a global economy and we need to get smarter in how we do our business. We need to raise the minimum wage for American workers to live according to American standards, but they must retrain for the new industries that will come in, and be prepared for the companies that have to pay the higher wages to close some U.S. plants as they outsource to foreign labor. We may have to actually come up with federally-subsidized health care for every American and control the medical costs charged by physician and hospitals. As with every avenue of government assistance, control comes along with it.

Lightning, Friend or Foe?

Lightning is a significant part of the fast-developing storms that frequent the high plains. Yesterday, seven workers loading a UPS airplane were injured when lightning struck the ground near them. Two men were hospitalized because of the injuries. There have been numerous golfers struck by lightning while playing on courses as storms approached. There have been the destructive results of homes burned, forest fires ignited, humans killed or injured, yet we wonder if such outbursts of electrical energy might someday be harnessed for good.

In 1964, my chemistry lab partner and I spent some time discussing the possibilities of being able to harness lightning by charging a tremendously large array of batteries and later discharging those batteries into a power grid to produce electrical power. My lab partner went on to OSU and graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering and I graduated in Chemical Engineering. I am now more interested in producing electrical energy from fuel cells, which is a chemical process. Neither of us has ever pursued our speculations further.

A Real Sleeping Princess?
I just became aware of another disorder of the brain that causes hypersomolance. It is called Kleine-Levin Syndrome. I have always speculated that many of our fairy tales were not just imagination, but explanations of real observations. For instance, the fiery dragons of the medieval period might be remembrances from the past of something like leviathan mentioned in Job in the Bible. Now we find some teenagers of both genders who may be affected by needing to sleep over 20 hours per day for months or even years. Is it genetic or resulting from some contact with a virus? That is the subject of much research. Maybe Rip Van Winkle isn't just a figment of someone's imagination.

Wanda's Grandson, Kasey Hayes tops the bulls!
Kasey Hayes, Liberal, KS, rode 3 of the 4 bulls that he tried and finished FIRST in the entire PBR event in Tulsa, OK, this past weekend. This was his debut in the Built Ford Tough series of the Professional Bull Riding Association. Congratulations, Kasey on the win and on the 90-point ride in the Third Round. He won a total of $36,198.00 in the event with all the round money and bonus money. Now he is qualified for the PBR Finals in Las Vegas later this year.

Kasey also rides in the Challenger and Enterprise events of the PBR tour so he may be riding in your area. His grandmother, Wanda, is proud of him but is always praying for his safety. She won't like the fact that in the short-go, Kasey's bull stepped on his calf muscle.

OKC Sooner Sonics?
Now that Oklahoma City businessmen have purchased the Seattle Super Sonics, there is speculation that by 2008, they will move the team to Oklahoma City to replace the New Orleans Hornets, who will move back to New Orleans. I suggest changing the team name to "Sooner Sonics" and promote the Sooner state. So many people around the country in metropoli think that the Okies are kind of backward. We really just enjoy poking fun at ourselves with the cow chip throwing and the American Indian elaborate dances, and our references to the Dust Bowl of the 30's. In fact, Oklahoma is very progressive. Oil and gas exploration have made the state coffers abundant. Even with plant closings in Oklahoma City, several new ventures have been proposed, one involves a company from China resurrecting the old MG sports car line.

The Geek Syndrome
Reading the earlier post first, you will see a reference to Asperger's Syndrome, also known as the "Geek Syndrome," because it is appearing in greater numbers in the Silicon Valley. The offspring of people with highly technical minds are being diagnosed with this syndrome. It has been called a mild from of autism; perhaps, we should not be so quick to try to get rid of these genetic anomalies. Notice what the discoverer of the syndrome states:

One of the first people to intuit the significance of this was Asperger himself - weaving his continuum like a protective blanket over the young patients in his clinic as the Nazis shipped so-called mental defectives to the camps. "It seems that for success in science and art," he wrote, "a dash of autism is essential."

HFEA May Be Worse Than FEMA
While reading the July 20, 2006 copy of the Oklahoma "Baptist Messenger," I became aware of a scary practice being licensed in Great Britain by HFEA (Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority). Read some of the articles for yourself, and see what advances are being purported in IVF (in vitro fertilization) about screening embryos for genetic disorders. It is already being allowed for Down's syndrome, cystic fibrosis, and soon autism. The process involves making many embryos from the parent's reproductive cells and then screening genetically and discarding those that are "unfit" to live.

So far, only gender screening has been done to decrease the likelihood of passing on genes tending toward certain diseases predominantly in one gender or another. For instance, males are four times more likely to have autism than females.

C. Ben Mitchell, associate professor of bioethics at Trinity Evanelical Divinity School in suburban Chicago says, "If genetic diagnosis for autism had been available 30 to 50 years ago, Silicon Valley might be empty," adding it is believed many of "those who work in the computer software industry have a mild form of autism known as Asperger's syndrome. Does anyone think Bill Gates should have been eliminated as an embryo?"

The Pandora's box of pro-choice was opened over 40 years ago and now the results are spilling out into other areas of choice. The question now is, "Who is making the choices?" Give me FEMA instead of HFEA!

ebay Sale

Since ebay.com is offering two days listings at a lower price, I have added several items to my selling queue. If you are interested you can CLICK Items by This Seller. It takes some time to take digital pictures of items for sale and then to list them with all the details, but it is fun to watch what interest there might be for your items.

I also market healthcare supplements of vitamins and minerals through my web site, http://www.cumminspremiumproducts.com which lists the various companies that I endorse.

Thank You, Mr. President!
Defying the public opinion polls and the representatives of those people in Congress for your veto of the Embyonic Stem Cell Bill. There are other excellent options, such as a recent findings in ADULT STEM CELL research at the University of Louisville (adult stem cells mimicking embryonic stem cells). Why not put those federal taxpayer dollars to work on research using adult stem cells and umbilicial cord stem cells because they have the same potential as embryonic stem cells without the cessation of another's life.

No one wants people to be deprived of research into ways to help patients with debilitating diseases, but the media and Hollywood stars seem to be hung up on just the embryonic cells. They do not want to embrace the concept that life begins at conception.

Now Germany is encouraging the European Union to withhold funding for embryonic stem cell research. It sems they still remember the atrocities of the Nazis wanting to build a superior race.

Greatgrandkids
We got to see two of Wanda's greatgrandchildren back in March. They are James and Ryan Shuey, sons of Jared Shuey, son of Randy Shuey, son of Don & Wanda Shuey. By marrying into this family, I became a greatgrandfather within a couple of years of becoming a biological grandfather: Ray begat Lance, who begat Ellie and Micah (pardon the KJV similarities).

Christian Area of Lebanon Being Bombed
Wake up, American Christians, to the worldwide media concept of Christianity. Reporters today said that the Christian area of Beirut was being bombed; you know, that's the area with the night clubs and bars, they said. Is that the example we want the world to know about Christianity? Is it sad that in a predominantly Muslim nation, Christians stand out for being immoral?

Michael J. Fox's logic is Shaky...
As a Hollywood star who has Parkinson's Disease, Michael made some statements on Good Morning America which have shaky logic. He said that we should take the 100 million cells that are going to be destroyed anyway and help 1 million already living people with diseases. He was refering to the potential veto of the embryonic stem cell research bill. He tried to make it sound like these are just 100 million individual stem cells waiting to be used for research, when in actuality they are cells attached in bundles that we call embryonic humans (the start of a normal human being with a lifetime ahead). They have been started by couples who wanted to have children and fertility clinics helped them begin embryos to later be implanted in the womb. Why should we take the potential lives of humans to help those with diseased bodies? Why do we not have those same diseased people offering to give up their normal organs to those who need them, and sacrifice their lives for someone else? At least, they have a choice... and pro-choice people should want to protect the rights of the unborn. For all we know those same people will in time begin to view diseased people as expendable as well and euthanize them and harvest their organs.

When one group of people begin to devalue the lives of others, they are doing the same thing that we have done in history to those we think are expendable. We enslave them, torture them, or kill them in the name of bettering society.

Furthermore, there is a lot of research using adult stem cells from donors who choose to give them. Maybe the adult stem cells are not as easy to manipulate into what the geneticists want them to be. When will those same geneticists also want to manipulate the uses for the embryonic stem cells. We are walking up a slippery slope. Maybe Adolf's dream of a superior race will be done more subtly.

Updates on the Latest News
Dr. Nicholas Bartha died after one week of being burned over 70% of his body in the suicidal explosion in New York. I wonder if the suffering he endured was worth trying to keep his estranged wife from benefiting from their divorce?

Humans are more influenced by commercials of talking geckos selling insurance, talking cows selling soy milk, a talking dog trying to sell Bush baked beans, and talking animals in films, cartoons, and TV programs, than are influenced by other humans talking about the same things. What does this say about our level of discernment in society?

25,000 Americans are stranded in Lebanon during the war between Lebanon and Israel. Most of them are students at the American University of Lebanon. This may be more of a learning experience than they anticipated when they chose to get an education in a foreign setting.

Arkansas Lt. Gov. Win Paul Rockefeller died at age 57, leaving an estate of 1.2 billion dollars, but also a lot of good memories of his charity. Read more about him in the LA Times article.
Long life on this earth is not guaranteed regardless of your station in life. His life was cut short by the disease myeloma, which was not successfully treated with two bone marrow transplants.
(Pray for my sister-in-law, Shirley Shuck, who is battling the same disease.)

Should President Veto Embryonic Stem Cell Research?
Unequivocally, yes! Read about the issues at Lifeway Resources and tell me morally how we can kill another potential human being to just possibly help an adult human? Do we allow the removal of organs from living humans to transplant into other defective humans? Are we so callous that we want to have embryos used as a human parts house?

At the end of the Lifeway article, there is mention of the Snowflake organization which allows people to adopt the frozen embryos of other couples and have them implanted in the womb of a woman who couldn't have children another way. What do you think this creates in 9 months? See the picture of Seth Flowers, who was born to Troy and Kristy Flowers of Beaver, OK. Would you have rather had his embryonic stem cells used for research?

Newscasters want to leave the impression that because the U.S. House and Senate may pass bills to fund embryonic stell cell research and that 61% of Americans think it is morally acceptable, killing embryos to harvest their stem cells becomes moral. Don't we have any authoritative writings to allow us to discern morality? Of course, we do, and they are inspired by the Creator of all human life in The Bible.

A leading scientist, Dr. Francis Collins, Head of the Human Genome project and genetic physicist stated in an article for "Christianity Today":

"It is a classic example of a collision between two very important principles. One is the sanctity of human life and the other is our strong mandate as human beings to alleviate suffering and to treat terrible diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's, and spinal-cord injury. The very promising embryonic stem-cell research might potentially provide remarkable cures for those disorders. We don't know that, but it might. And at the same time, many people feel, I think justifiably, this type of research is taking liberties with the notion of the sanctity of human life, by manipulating cells derived from a human embryo."

Childhood Memory
I just saw a commercial last night that reminded me of life when my son was a child. In the commercial, the son is bouncing the basketball on the floor of the house and the dad tells him that his mother does not like the basketball to be bounced on the floor. The son immediately starts bouncing the basketball off the wall. With some children you have to be specific in your rules.
My son used the house as a sports field. I remember he would put on roller skates, get a golf club, and a golf ball and use the hallway to play a game we would later call "gockey." After he went to college, we had to repaint the doors and walls of all the sports fields. He never sat still to watch an entire game of any sport; he had to be doing something with a ball.
It all came back to me as I saw him play a part in the video of the July 9th worship service at Messiah Baptist Church in Wichita. He looked like Clark Kent in his costume for the skit. I thought, "He always did like doing something different from the norm."
By the way, the rendition of "Let Freedom Ring" in the July 2nd DVD was very inspirational. Good job, fellas!
We enjoy watching the choir and praise team as they lead the church in worship, but the real kicker in the July 2nd DVD was when the electric bass player got so into the moment that he did a 360 toward the end of "These Are the Days of Elijah." Of course, who could miss part of the alto section of the choir not only clapping, but swaying together while they sang the song.

Barbaro is recovering...
Horse racing fans have really taken a shine to Barbaro, the winner of the Kentucky Derby, who broke his leg in the Preakness. He has had surgery and a cast on the broken leg, but this is putting pressure on his other leg and it has an infection that could be fatal. I find it interesting that we inbreed our horses to become thoroughbred racers, but it also brings with it the fragile condition of the legs. Then when the horse has a break, we get really emotionally involved, almost personalizing the horse. Oh how I wish we would take the injury of humans as seriously. We count dead bodies in wartime, in disasters, and in accidents, sometimes without taking stock of the eternal soul of the individuals involved. My initial reaction to our killing of Zarqawi was "good", but then it hit me that he will never have a chance to escape hell for eternity. I wish we had a more effective way to evangelize the Muslim people, before they are killed in the various wars in the Middle East.

Middle East Hot Spots

I haven't been trained in end-time prophecies, but there seems to me to be more activity in the Middle East and that it is escalating. With war in Afghanistan and Iraq, with nuclear tensions in Iran and North Korea, with Israel fighting against Hamas and Hezbollah, now in Lebanon backed by Syria and Iran, it seems that the world stage is becoming increasingly volatile. Is this a precursor to a final global war pitting alliances of countries against others? If I were an unbeliever in Jesus, I think I would be at least considering a global war might be dangerous to my existence, but that if it were also the last war, the end of life on earth might be closer than we used to think.

Also, the increase of natural disasters of powerful hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, and global warming would lead me to believe that the Earth is not as stable as it once was. These climatic disasters might also indicate a climactic close to life as we know it .

Jeff Strite says....
"He brushed his teeth twice a day and the doctor examined him twice a year. He wore galoshes when it rained, slept with the windows open, stuck to a diet with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and got at least 8 hours of sleep every night. He never smoked, drank, or lost his temper. He exercised every day. He was all set to live to be 100.

"The funeral will be Wednesday. He was only 53. He is survived by 18 specialists, 4 health institutions, 6 gymnasiums, and numerous manufacturers of health foods and drugs."

"He followed all the rules. He imposed upon himself a strict regimen. He did everything he was told to do to have a long life...and yet he still died. All the specialists, all the health institutions, all the gymnasiums, all the manufacturers of health food and drugs... and all the rules and regulations that he abided by...still couldn't help him attain his goal. He still died."

Does that sound like the false teachers within the Colossian Church? They wanted new believers to follow their set of regulations to be acceptable to God. However, what Jesus taught was that a new heart and a new relationship with Him would be enough. The outward actions would follow naturally from a new heart within.

Near-Suicide Must Be Painful
The doctor in New York who apparently tried to commit suicide and destroy his 5 million dollar property didn't die in the natural gas blast which leveled his 4-story row house in New York City. It must be more than painful to have destroyed your possessions so your estranged wife couldn't benefit from them only to find that you didn't die and now you have no way to pay for medical treatments. Not only is trying to commit suicide "playing God" with your own life, sometimes it becomes a near-miss and exacerbates the situation.

Jesus came to help people who have come to the end of their rope in life. He wants to also bring change but in a positive way. Suicide is never the answer to overwhelming problems. King Saul took his own life for what; Judas took his own life for what; considering that others who made mistakes took a different route: Peter recovered from betrayal by repenting and following Christ, Paul became one of the very Christians that he had been killing before He met Christ in a new relationship.

The sidebar has some of the Scriptures that are a part of the whole process of becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. Contact me for the rest of the story.

Sooner Boomer
Along with other dignitaries like President George W. Bush, and Sylvester Stallone who are turning 60 this week, Ray (from the Sooner state) will also celebrate being a 60-yr-old senior citizen this year. G.W. and Sly became two of the latest Baby Boomers to turn Senior Citizens.

Generosity
Wanda uses her exceptional cooking skills to give to others. Here she holds a sugar-free chocolate pie ready for the Beaver Senior Citizens dinner.

She also made sugar-free banana pudding for Beverly Moore, who is having back problems, and also one for Fay Day, our 96-yr-old bedridden friend. Tomorrow she makes cupcakes for Vacation Bible School.

Co-Ed Softball
On the Fourth of July, the community of Forgan, OK, gathered to celebrate the holiday with a meal, children's games, fireworks, and the adult co-ed softball game. Players from 14-83 years old played on three teams (30+ participants). William Ray was second oldest and played 8 innings as catcher for his team. He went 2 for 4 at bat with a single and a double, and caught 3 foul balls and tagged out one runner at home plate.
The after-effects have been painful.

The Uncertainty of Life...
North Korea tests taep'o-dong 2 long range ICBM which could hit parts of the U.S.; Osama Bin Laden is still threatening attacks; extreme weather disasters continue; asteroid misses Earth this time; Iran may eventually have nuclear weapon capability; avian flu pandemics are possible...but

The Certainty of Eternal Life...
is found in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing for sure that if any attack or disaster were to affect you personally, and knowing that you would spend eternity in heaven brings a peace to the soul in these troubling times. War isn't solving the hatred problem; medicines cannot stop pandemics; preparedness cannot stop disasters; but spiritual preparation can bring hope. See sidebar for answers.

News Commentary

...Asteroid Apollo 2004 XP14 crossed Earth's orbit yesterday about 430,000 km away or about as close as the moon. It is one of a class of Apollo asteroids which cross our orbit at regular intervals. Not one is predicted to even come close to impacting Earth during the rest of the 21st century. (Whew, I was worried there for a minute! I love how the news media proclaims it in headlines as a near-miss, or coming within a hair's breadth of Earth at least in astronomical terms. The amusing thing about cataclysmic near-misses is that the same scientists hold to beliefs about uniformitarian principles in their philosophy of evolution.)

...A man who has been in an almost vegetative state for 19 years has begun to awaken; talking in slurred speech, but aware of his surroundings. It seems that the scientific explanation is that his brain has been healing on its own and producing new axons and neuro paths for brain activity. (Hmmm...could it be that man was created with a brain that could heal itself? Now who would be intelligent enough to create such a thing? Darwin's natural selection philosophy would argue that someone with that extensive amount of brain damage would probably just die in the natural order of things. Now, the medical doctors who had previously given up on the patient state that they want to study his brain to see if they can help with the use of chemical drugs, therapies, etc. Sure, jump on the bandwagon when the Creator has already done most of the work.)

...The Battle of Gettysburg ended on July 3, 1863, but the there is another battle going on in modern times that is pitting neighbor against neighbor, family members against each other, and threatens to divide an entire city. It's the issue of whether a casino should be allowed to be built just 2 miles from the Gettysburg battlefield. Proponents feel that adult tourists to Gettysburg don't have enough entertainment in the evening after they have toured the historical memorials and the sobering events of the Civil War. (Sure, attract tourists with something of substance so that they can have their money taken away by a master which enslaves its own customers: gambling. Its still a war over taking advantage of other people.)

What if Lincoln had used PowerPoint?
This post has been added to show that I am not always so serious. Because today it has been 143 years since the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, I offer the Gettysburg Address in PowerPoint.

Strong Foundations
A strong country can only be built upon strong foundations. Leading up to the declaration of America's independence from Great Britain were many meetings and resolutions. In one such resolution, Peyton Randolph stated,

• "In every case of opposition by a people to their rulers, or of one state to another, duty to Almighty God, the creator of all, requires that a true and impartial judgment be formed of the measures leading to such opposition, and of the causes by which it has been provoked or can in any degree be justified, that, neither affection on one hand, nor resentment on the other, being permitted to give a wrong bias to reason, it may be enabled to take a dispassionate view of all circumstances, and to settle the public conduct on the solid foundations of wisdom and justice.*

Obviously, our foundations were built by men of faith in the Almighty God. They were "creationists" who believed that even the resolutions to become independent of Britain must be carefully and prayerfully considered with wisdom and a sense of justice from our Creator.

Attempts to remove Almighty God or references to Him from our government are just jackhammers of judicial opinion undermining the very foundation of America. The cracks in the walls of government and the crumbling of the entire structure will eventually follow.

(*Excerpt from paper IN CONGRESS IN PHILADELPHIA, October 21, 1774)