Samantha Pierce

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader blogs . I had the misfortune the other day to spot a "Republicans for Voldemort" bumper sticker right after I had mailed some Christmas presents. I was so disappointed. Not even harry Potter was free from being used to score political points. The bumper sticker was inspired by this 2003 comic strip . Not to be out down there is a rather large collection of "Democrats for Wormtail" gear available at Cafepress.com . I was thinking "Democrats for Cornelius Fudge" myself in retaliation but "Democrats for Wormtail" does the job well enough I suppose.

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader blogs . So much for striving to be above reproach. Televangelist refuses to turn over more financial documents Georgia televangelist Creflo Dollar is refusing to turn over any more financial documents to the Senate Finance Committee, even though they are overdue. Five of the six ministries have either turned over documents or asked Grassley for more time, which the senator readily agreed to give them. But Dollar and his World Changers Church have refused, and he's hired a lawyer. He said if Grassley wants more information he'll have to subpoena him to testify before the committee. The Iowa senator is surprised by Dollar's ultimatum. "If he sticks to his guns," Grassley said, "this will be the first nonprofit that I know of that hasn't cooperated with us over the last five or six years." Norman: Grassley runs into resistance from preachers The deadline arrived on Thursday for six televangelists to respond to Sen. C...

I got a bit busy yesterday bad forgot to do this. So here we go. Today I am thankful for/that: Sophia: Mommy can we open our presents yet? Me: Not yet dear. We have to wait to open presents the way that Mary and Joseph had to wait for Jesus to be born. [Thoughtful pause.] Sophia: Mommy, is Jesus here yet? Translating theology for a three year old. It tests your knowledge and you get to have some interesting conversations. Small voices raised in song. Even when they're off key and mangle half the words it's one of the sweetest things you'll ever hear (so long as you don't already have a headache). I found the smoldering blankets before anything burst into flame (long story). What are you thankful for?

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader blogs . I nearly blew a gasket recently when I saw buttons for sale at a local crafts fair that read, "Boycott Exxon Mobil. Buy Citgo." Yes, that Citgo . The state owned oil company of Venezuela, cash cow of the ever so charming Hugo Chavez. Apparently some people have yet to catch on that the want to be dictator for life is not a nice man. I'm sure that the same people who think that we should support Citgo (and Chavez) will have no problem with this : Sunday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rolled his country's clocks back by 30 minutes, in a move he says will give early-rising schoolchildren more daylight. The change is the latest in Chavez's efforts to revamp the country, which he has renamed the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Chavez also redesigned the flag; he is set to launch a new currency next year. This from a man who lost an election last week and said that he had reached too far in trying to set himself up as ...

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader blogs . Whatever they've been doing with it they are starting to get noticed by the government, Senator Probes Megachurches' Finances . I imagine some folk are mighty uncomfortable with the light that's about to hit their lives. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, expects responses this week from half a dozen of the country's largest churches to questions about their finances. Grassley has taken on megachurches, where millions of dollars are raised with little oversight. In letters that Grassley sent to the churches last month, he wonders whether the lavish lifestyles of the ministers violate the churches' tax-exempt status. Before anyone gets too giddy with claims of religious persecution remember that the Bible calls all members of the Body of Christ (aka Christians everywhere and everywhen for those who don't speak the Christianese too good), including the leaders of megachurches, ...

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader blogs Iowa's Christian Conservatives Seeking Candidate I'm not sure which is more irritating, media stories framing religious involvement in politics as religious leaders telling their followers who to vote for or the religious leaders, particularly Christian religious leaders, who think that is appropriate to tell their followers who they should vote for. The pastor interviewed was very careful to note that what he was talking about was what was important to him in deciding who to vote for and to note that those are likely to be things that are also important to other Christians. As much as the media spends time talking about how religious leaders, particularly Christian leaders, instruct their followers who to vote for I wonder how often that actually happens. The whole notion bespeaks the stereotype that religious people just follow along where they are lead. Any Christian religious leader is free to stand up and say which candidate they ...

Today I am thankful for/that: Our free new-to-us car. No more haggling to get the car if I want to go somewhere during the day. All of the kids seem to be at a stage where they like playing in the snow. I had fun following them around the front and back yards when they went out to play on our first snow day of the school year. Ethan and Sophia made snow angels, snow cakes, and snow castles (with a plant pot). Isaiah was content to wander all over the yard eating snow and climbing as high as he could on the snow covered play set in the backyard. A few times he decided to lounge in a snow bank. There was so much snow I might have lost him if he had ever stayed still for more than a few seconds. The snow slows Isaiah down when he decides to wander off. Fresh home made bread hot out of the oven, with lots and lots of butter. Modern home heating technology. What are you thankful for?

Today is our first snow day of the school year. It seems that winter won't be going on holiday this time around. Sophia seems to be handling the boys invasion of her day time space well. The boys aren't really that concerned about missing a day of school either. I only managed to get Isaiah out to play in the snow with me this morning. Ethan and Sophia wanted to stay in and watch the Disney Channel. There was a good 4 inches or so of snow on the front porch this morning and more than 6 inches everywhere else with more to come. I was up to my knees in snow in some places. I managed to clear the front steps and walkway and cut a path for the mail man before Isaiah decided he wanted to go back in. Isaiah has thus far sampled my rising bread dough (more than once), figured out how to muscle his way past the bungee cords I tied to the pantry doors to curtail his constant pilfering of our stores, spelled his name for me, I've lost count of the number of times I've fished him ...