tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73025122761260390372024-02-19T17:42:27.556-08:00Waite For ItMy Thoughts.. Becoming Words..Transforming Into TextCallMeDBlockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04551938888613199701noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302512276126039037.post-42799578947369229862017-03-15T17:13:00.001-07:002017-03-15T17:16:21.972-07:00Mark Slessinger: the Hero We’ve Been Looking For<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx_2sB3psp6MFszJPQLEnlVCVr1pzFBlB8P-94kYtuNo4c-_8mXFwaHbxweXU7xK6OvKnz6fRQcM-oOmgwFEwzhSZk2LlL-h91ZT8bverhi8W3AMyPIUxBqi6cXn1KgsalQGQ_gqlyHHQ/s1600/636249507946056621-USATSI-9935435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx_2sB3psp6MFszJPQLEnlVCVr1pzFBlB8P-94kYtuNo4c-_8mXFwaHbxweXU7xK6OvKnz6fRQcM-oOmgwFEwzhSZk2LlL-h91ZT8bverhi8W3AMyPIUxBqi6cXn1KgsalQGQ_gqlyHHQ/s640/636249507946056621-USATSI-9935435.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Picture
this: You’re the head coach of a college basketball team that hadn’t won more
than 11 games in the previous 4 years and haven’t sniffed the NCAA Tournament in
21. Now, you’ve led this team to a regular season title, a conference
tournament title, a 20-win season for the first time in 20 years, and most
importantly the big dance. You’re winning where winning hasn’t been </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">a thing</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> in a long while.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Tuesday
night, Mark Slessinger – a real guy living out the scenario laid out above – is
coaching his ass off for New Orleans against Mount St. Mary’s in the NCAA
Tournament (no matter your feelings, the First Four technically counts). Your
guys are out there fighting and competing. Then with 6:36 left in the 2nd half
of a 3-pt game, two of your players get in an argument on their way to the
bench during a media timeout, some shoving ensues, but then it goes too far.
Your starting forward Travin Thibodeaux puts his hands on the throat of his teammate,
Christavious Gill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXgwop_PUbU">Thibodeaux chokes Gill</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Whether
it’s pick-up games or organized hoops, there’s going to be arguments and even
scuffles. A line is crossed once you grab another man’s throat and coach
Slessinger recognized that. He made sure his team recognized it too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">New
Orleans came out of the break with Thibodeaux on the bench. Up to that point,
he’d played 12 minutes in the 2nd half. Thibodeaux had scored 10 points on 5-5
shooting and assisted on another basket. There was a 3:36 stretch where
Thibodeaux scored or assisted 8 straight points – scoring 6 himself. He was dominant
that half – 1 of the 2 or 3 best players on the court.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Whenever
the horn sounded, I’d say to myself: “I hope Thibodeaux isn’t checking in”. In
my mind, you don’t get back on the court after choking someone, let alone a
teammate, over some on-court disagreement. Thibodeaux didn’t step back on the
floor until the final buzzer sounded and New Orleans season came to an end. They
lost by a single point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
won’t claim to have watched <i>ANY</i> New
Orleans basketball until watching every second of Tuesday’s game. One thing I can
tell you is Thibodeaux was a difference-maker before the choke and they’re advancing
if he plays the final six-and-a-half.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Mark
Slessinger sent a message to a program he was rebuilding. Mark Slessinger did
not fold to the pressure of winning in a world where winning is the only
measuring stick. Slessinger stood for something, no matter the result. Whether amateur
or professional sports, you rarely see those in charge hold their ground if success
is being sacrificed. We get all the clichés: “we don’t stand for that” or “that’s
not what our team is about” or “we don’t tolerate that type of behavior”. In
the end, it’s all just lip service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Too
often in sports, athletes are given a pass without showing any remorse for
their actions because of their abilities. Feigning resolve is just as bad as
having none at all. Benching a guy until the next stoppage for choking his
teammate over a disagreement is just as bad as not benching him at all. Don’t
just state your message. Send your message and hold true to it.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">While
this offense skews to the less egregious end of the spectrum, I respect the
hell out of Coach Slessinger for his decision and I hope others see there’s a
message to be learned: be a leader, not a pawn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
CallMeDBlockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04551938888613199701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302512276126039037.post-22755216994578747482013-03-28T13:37:00.002-07:002013-03-28T13:54:08.435-07:00Fight For Equality & The End of Ignorance<div style="text-align: left;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILRIppdpIE1rqU3-ViedB67Hg-g4jhQVI6FDkZjSTiAOI9VOy6Lr6qSNVjNrAeiCfuV4_DeUTwSbASW7-4NpFAOrCbffSmj4689gVmBM1iS_BUT0ZN2DANAzFw18GQ6ol9b6RPdhwnHpZ/s1600/161705247.jpg.CROP.rectangle3-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILRIppdpIE1rqU3-ViedB67Hg-g4jhQVI6FDkZjSTiAOI9VOy6Lr6qSNVjNrAeiCfuV4_DeUTwSbASW7-4NpFAOrCbffSmj4689gVmBM1iS_BUT0ZN2DANAzFw18GQ6ol9b6RPdhwnHpZ/s1600/161705247.jpg.CROP.rectangle3-large.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f1c232;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;">On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard
cases on Same-Sex Marriage. One topic I am extremely passionate about is
gay rights. I have a younger brother who came out to me when he was a
freshman in high school. I'm not sure that anything has changed my life
more than the moment he looked me in the eyes and told me he was gay - not to
make light of the situation but I had always had a feeling he was a little
different. </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">From that point on, it made my
job of being a big brother something I took a lot of pride in and I may have
even went over the top a little bit at times. I fought with my parents, I
told my friends that if they had problems with my brother being gay that they'd
be immediately cut out of my life, I picked fights with strangers at bars or in
public if they looked at him the wrong way or if I heard someone making
comments about him. I became very, very protective and some may even say
over protective. I know where my over-compensation came from though.
Our childhood. Growing up I wasn't the BEST big brother one could
ask for. I played sports. He played house. As a straight, young,
clueless adolescent, those were grounds for teasing and sometimes worse. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">But back to the last 2 days, HUGE
days for gay rights. Hearing cases on Prop 8 - a California law banning
same-sex marriage - and D.O.M.A. - the Defense of Marriage Act, which was
enacted by the federal government in 1996. Now, California Proposition 8
aka Prop 8 is easy to understand - same-sex marriages are not allowed in
California. The Defense of Marriage Act on the other hand may not be
understood quite as easily. It is NOT a law that bans same-sex marriages,
which should be obvious because same-sex couples can be married in some states.
The Defense of Marriage Act does disallow those same-sex couples who are
married their federal benefits, a few being: insurance benefits for
government employees, Social Security survivors' benefits, immigration, and the
filing of joint tax returns.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Now, over the last few days there
have been pictures, campaigns, statuses, etc. flying around our socials
networks showing support for equality.
I’m also sure there have been much of the same for the opposition, but
those don’t come in on my news feed *smirk*.
I will guarantee you that on a few occasions they’ve sparked a debates
amongst friends, family, or even strangers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">The aforementioned brought me to
do some digging, which brought me to write out a lengthy response to a Facebook
post, which brought me to creating this blog, which brought me to write this
post, which brought me to posting this post. LET ME BE CLEAR, absolutely none
of this is meant to be vengeful towards the person who shared the ‘article’
with me if said person happens to read this – no hard feelings whatsoever and I
completely understand what you’re saying.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">The following is the ‘article’,
written by Mark Gungor, that was shared with me:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f1c232;"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;">“Being asked on my
thoughts on gay marriage. Uuuugh, here goes...</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Is homosexuality wrong from a Biblical world
view? I believe the answer is "Yes". "But what if they love each
other?" Still wrong, just as two people who commit adultery are wrong,
even if they truly love each other. Or a pair of fornicators are wrong doing
the "wild thing" in the back of the car while howling at the moon -
again, even if they are intensely professing their love for each other as they
howl. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">NOTE: Human love does not transcend God's
righteousness - ever.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Should we "impose" our values on
others who do not agree?? Of course not, but I don't believe that is what is
happening here with gay marriage. This issue is brought up time and again for a
vote from the people. People vote their values - its just that simple. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">When a person votes for a democrat, they are not
"imposing" their values on anyone. They are simply reflecting their
values. I don't know of any Christian people who have imprisoned gays, beaten
gays, or hated gays in any way. And if gays are granted the right to marry
tomorrow it will not affect my faith in any way, shape or form. Nor will I be
depressed and think the end of the world has come. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">But if they ask me tomorrow to vote on the
matter, I would vote "no" because that would reflect my values. If
they asked me to vote on adultery or formication, I would also vote in the
negative. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">If the Supremes say that voting our view on this
matter is somehow unconstitutional - so be it. But if they don't, don't claim
that people hate gays - people just vote their values. (By the way, this is not
just a conservative Christian viewpoint. Most religious Muslims and Jews in the
world would vote the same way. One of the few things we actually all agree
on...) </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">I did not vote for Barak. It doesn't mean I hate
him or that I tried to "impose" Romney on anybody. Voting has always
been about people reflecting their values in a democracy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[For those opposed: It is always amazing how
hateful some "tolerant" people can be. If you disagree, please
endeavor to keep your hate-filled rants and name-calling replies to a minimum.]</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Peace.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">:-)”</span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Ok. Immediate reaction: this man is very strong
in his faith. Follow-up reaction: he has
so eloquently worded his reasoning’s that I come away not being as frustrated
with him as I would with, say, the god-fearing redneck who just yells about
hating homosexuals. The biggest issue I
come away with from this ‘article’ is that he compares gay marriage to adultery
and unwed “fornicators” *stone-face* - I feel as though the problems with that
argument and its issues are self-explanatory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Onto
the rebuttal that it sparked within me...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">There
are a lot of directions I could go with. This one in particular assumes that people
believe and follow the bible and its teachings. Taking the teachings from the bible word for
word and following it blindly is something I’ll consider ignorant. The world is completely different today than
it was back then. People are not being
stoned, whipped, and murdered for stealing or looking lustily upon thy
neighbor’s wife. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Here
are some passages I particularly enjoy (from the Kings James Version): <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">(God speaking to Moses) -
Leviticus 19:19: “Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle
gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed:
neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Translation: follow my
statutes. Don’t let different kinds of cattle graze together. Don’t plant
different kinds of seeds in the same field. Don’t wear clothes made of 2
different materials<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">(God speaking to Moses) -
Leviticus 19:27: Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt
thou mar the corners of thy beard.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Translation: don’t cut your
hair or your beards<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">(God speaking to Moses) -
Leviticus 20:9: For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be
surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall
be upon him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Translation: curse your
parents and you must die (maybe its just me but I’m pretty sure EVERY person
in history has cursed their parents at least once)<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">As
a nation, we don’t follow our constitution word for word either. As our nation
has changed we've used our intellect and intelligence to interpret what may or
may not been the intentions of our forefathers to decide what is or isn’t
constitutional. Shouldn’t those same
ideals apply to that of the bible? If
you just use the passages I mentioned as examples, Maybe those same ideals have
been used but just ignored in the case of homosexuals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">On
to my next point. Marriage. What’s the point? Its something that people do who really,
really love each other, that’s what its always been for… right? Wrong.
Marriage was created and meant for procreation, plain and simple. If that’s the argument those who oppose
same-sex marriage want to use, it has its holes too. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Back
in bible days, if a man layeth with another man as he layeth with a woman he
was to be killed. Lets take that next
level. Man wasn’t to be laying with
anyone unless he was married to said person, right? So, him being married means he’s supposed to
procreate, right? Procreation could only
happen with a man and a woman back in those days, ok makes sense why the bible
says that then.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">NOW,
Flash forward to 2013. Science has
allowed us to procreate even if our partner/lover/husband/wife happens to be
the same gender as me. It is called
surrogacy and, technically, it allows same-sex couples to procreate.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #f1c232;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3-Pfw7Q_964dEOyRe0UjL73rK7EsGEsCJVZAIORaR8ZZPo6njEyQpt6c7OXr_UnZr8pDVI7L5HWuT4vfsYTGgZ-GBQY6wVUCALIjL2006eoOXOK01OtE0WLFUkso95DPZR0niyz_Tzmx4/s1600/578334_10102322200992528_115709824_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3-Pfw7Q_964dEOyRe0UjL73rK7EsGEsCJVZAIORaR8ZZPo6njEyQpt6c7OXr_UnZr8pDVI7L5HWuT4vfsYTGgZ-GBQY6wVUCALIjL2006eoOXOK01OtE0WLFUkso95DPZR0niyz_Tzmx4/s320/578334_10102322200992528_115709824_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#RedsInRed #EndIgnorance</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 13px;">I'm A Republican and I Support Gay Rights</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #f1c232;">Unfortunately,
that’s all I’ve got for now. I hope you
find this to be a good read and recommend it to others. This is my first blog post and I thoroughly
enjoyed writing it. This blog with
consist of a wide range of topics that will vary depending on the time of
year. There will be times that it will
be inundated with posts about sports but it will not be limited to just that. I have strong opinions and beliefs that will
be voiced in this blog. My intention is
not to offend but simply to voice.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->CallMeDBlockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04551938888613199701noreply@blogger.com0Culver City, CA, USA34.0211224 -118.3964664999999733.9684699 -118.47714749999997 34.073774900000004 -118.31578549999998