I kissed a Girl and remember when...

It's been such an overwhelming response from my last post, I have decided to address some of the comments left by our readers. I meant in no way to offend but merely to state a concern as a parent to see the state of our moral building blocks or the lack of it. I am a parent of an almost 5 year old impressionable boy and in less than two months he will be in school to begin his academic life. I have strong concerns about what he will be exposed to in compared to how we or even our parents were brought up. The moral atmosphere here is clouded by disintegration of an absolute truth. There is basically no standards and no limitations. We are only a bargain away from the truth and creative reasoning have reached an ultimate high. We are living in a time of orchestrated Chaos. Accused murderers such as OJ Simpson or accused rapist Kobe Bryant were simply handed a slap on the wrist as punishment. This year's number four NFL pick Darren McFadden chosen by the Raiders already fathered 4 kids from different women. Evander Hollyfield who was once the best fighter in the world had one of his house foreclosed and got in financial trouble because of fathering too many children. It is estimated that Evander Hollyfield made $150 million in his lifetime and yet he could not keep up with his house payment. It is an upside-down world. We have wealthy pet owners who leave their dogs at a 5 star kennel where ice-cream is served and massages are part of the routine services compared to the countless people who are living under a bridge. We don't trust anybody and sometimes we don't even trust ourselves. Remember the days where we could leave our front doors open and kids will be running in and out carefree without concerns? Remember where strangers will knock on your door after finding a valuable left on your front porch? Remember when you ride your bikes to school and your parents were worry-free for your safety? Remember when gang violence were simply news you read about in large Newspapers or Movies? Remember when there were no school shootings? Nowadays, we long for the remember when....
Recent studies found few Americans give the country's moral climate high marks, and the latest survey revealed that they feel it's only getting worse. According to a Gallup Poll released a month ago, 81 percent of Americans say the state of moral values in the country as a whole is getting worse while only 11 percent believe it's getting better.

Currently, only 15 percent of Americans overall consider moral values to be "excellent" or "good;" 41 percent say the moral climate is "only fair;" and 44 percent consider the moral state to be "poor." Republicans, compared to Democrats and independents, feel more strongly that there's a moral decline in America. In 2006, 36 percent of both Republicans and Democrats said the overall state of moral values is poor. But over the last two years, Republicans have grown to feel significantly more negative with 51 percent calling the country's current moral state poor compared to 40 percent of Democrats.

Although the report by Gallup pointed to issues of gay "marriage," pop-star misbehavior and sex scandals as possible reasons for why Republicans have become so critical of the moral state in recent years, it did not confirm whether any of those issues contributed to Republicans' views.

"Whatever the cause, this may signal that Republicans will be particularly anxious to elect a new president this November who will help to uphold or restore the values they now find lacking in the country," the report stated. Nonetheless, a majority of Americans, across party lines, aren't optimistic about the future of their country's moral climate.
Among Republicans, the percentage of those saying the state of moral values in the country is getting worse rose from 64 percent in 2003 to 87 percent in 2008. Among independents and Democrats, a similar pattern is seen but both these groups show a bit less pessimism than the Republicans.

The Gallup Poll also found that Americans with lower income are significantly more pessimistic about the moral state in the country compared to upper-income Americans. Results from the poll show that 51 percent of Americans with a household income of less than $30,000 consider the moral state "poor" while only 35 percent of those with an income of $75,000 and more say so. Since 2002 a majority of Americans have consistently said the moral climate is less than good and getting worse, according to the report.

Results from the recent Gallup Poll are based on telephone interviews with 1,017 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted May 8-11, 2008. You can find this study at
Gallup Poll

Katy Perry - Anything for a buck

The talk of the current pop music industry is Katy Perry, a girl who grew up listening to Christian music and even produced a Christian album earlier in her career. Her latest hit "I kissed a Girl" is currently the number one hit song on the prestigious pop music Billboard top 100. She is often being compared to Pink or Alanis Morissette. Both were controversial breakthrough talents in this younger and younger female music world. It took her song 9 weeks to shoot to the top.

This is an alarming trend as the song itself promotes unhealthy relationship between same sex genders especially for easily impressionable young females. Imagine this song becoming the talk of school playgrounds, neighborhood backyards or even at dinner tables. Little girls experimenting among themselves to see whether if the song is true or not. What would you say as a parent if your daughter brings up the content of this song? Is it ok to kiss another girl? Is it normal? Is it natural? Or your daughter telling you... Mom I want to kiss Jennifer or Ann and why not because it should feel good right!!! ??

Furthermore this hit single is basically about a girl at a party who got a little drunk and kissed a girl, and she liked it. We could take two approaches to this song. We could merely point out that the Bible says homosexuality is wrong and getting drunk is wrong, quote some Bible passages, and pack the song away into a convenient little "not Christian" box. Alternatively, we could take some time and look at this song a little more deeply and find what truth is resonating enough with people to make this song a blockbuster.

Upon examining this trend further, it is disturbing to think further. Our kids are growing up in the most content rich media age of all time and they have enough to be confused about already. As if adding oil to the fire, this song could lead to another disturbing trend rising to eclipse any hope to regain our parental stature. The next question is obviously about truth itself and exactly what is it or even who or what determines something is truth or not. What can we tell our kids? What really stands the test of time? What does not change?

This up and coming artist Katy Perry or formerly in her Christian days as Katy Hudson needs to be on your monitor. My son is only a month away from being 5 years old and soon, he will be in school. Once in school, his friends or classmates will be talking about the most popular trends or listening to the most popular musics. He would want to play the most fun computer games or have the latest electronic gadgets. They would be begging for Ipods, MP3 players, cool gadget cell-phones, latest in gadgetry, Wii's, computer games and etc. Song and game downloads are so prevalent and affordable nowadays, who is going to help patrol or parent them especially in an environment where both parents have to work or in single parent households?

Some parents are still blinded, some parents are ignorant because they themselves don't know what is right or wrong, Some parents simply don't care and some are busy acquiring the worldly things in order to pass it down their worldly children. I don't have a secular answer to any of these trends.

Do you?....

iCorps

NY IT Consulting obviously operates in and for NY area. As stated, their mission is to deliver "solid, business-driven IT solutions and services and superior customer service to the SMB market in Boston and New York." If you own a small business in New York and Boston area, it is probably worth your time browsing around the services they offer. It highly promotes the idea of out-sourcing your IT department instead of operating one within your business. NY IT Consulting stresses the customization of their services to provide the best match between your business and your infrastructure. Their trademarked slogan, "technology to fit your business" says it all. They also feature on their website some of their clients' case studies as testimonies for their good services. From the appeal of the website, it seems to measure up to its claims. They even provide 24/7 customer service line for their clients which is always a plus in this world that never rests. The only thing that gets to me about this website is that their emphasis on "outsourcing" reminds me of outsourced customer service representatives of some mega mobile phone companies who cannot even speak English right or disguised their names as "Steve" or "Jenny." I am sure you won't get that kind of service with Icorps.

E-Health Help

There are thousands of health insurance websites nowadays out there claiming to get you the most affordable insurance, but Health Insurance does it with a twist. This website is a simple but informational website which is actually a lead-on to three other websites: eHealthinsurance, InsureMe, and Insurance.com. Though nothing flashy, this website could answer a lot of your questions before looking for an affordable insurance. Its "glossary" page uses layman's terms to define many of the terminologies the insiders would use. Terms such as coinsurance, copayment, and deductible have been quite confusing to me at times but the website does a great job differentiating them. One of the best part of the site is the flow charts dissecting the procedure of claim process, which I had no idea what steps were involved until reading it. The site also provides a lot of helpful external links aiding insurance seekers to do their research. Their "Health Insurance News" features topics that are hotly debated nowadays. The latest one talks about the health policy differences between Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. It is no rocket science to tell which candidate Health Insurance favors. Come read it for yourself!

Magic Number 5

I love thunderstorms, and the later they come in the evening the better! I have spent the past twenty something years in a hot dessert area where 100 degree days is a good part of the year and these hot days can be better used to fry eggs on our pavements. Any sign of a thunderstorm is a welcome sprinkle of life not to mention a water bill saving at the end of the month. Water is expensive in hot areas and sometimes worth more than the $4/gallon gas. But when I was a little boy, I remember being MORE afraid of the THUNDER than the LIGHTENING!!! What's up with that?! I guess it's because it comes suddenly without a moment's notice. Anyone else used to be afraid of the Big, Bad, Boom??!!! Or the one eye sharp teeth monster in the closet?? The giant creature with tentacles underneath our beds, headless and legless ghost hovering down the midnight hallway while you try to get a cup of milk, weird noises calling your name from the pond in the backyard, and gross creatures coming out of the TV. How's that for some childhood memories?

My real childhood fear was water, and I wouldn't even go near it. It included swimming pools, lakes, and the beach. It makes my childhood life a lot harder considering my house was right next to the beach. You can say, I lived in fear growing up so close to a big mass of water. After school the neighborhood kids or my classmates would spend time on the beach swimming and sometimes just hanging out. They would clown around, collect sea shells, fish for groupers, watch the sunsets or simply enjoy the fresh ocean air. Burnt fish or sometimes marshmallows was a common smell everyday when the sun head south. Pollution was not a real problem back then as there were hardly any factories in our small town and so the water was considered to be crystal clean. Due to the lack of human interference with the environment, I even heard some of my friends were able to swim with the dolphins given the cleanliness of the water.

I was only 5 years old and my mom told me a real life story of her own about one of her childhood neighborhood friends. She was her neighbor and classmate. They spent a lot time everday together whether it was walking to school, playing together during recess, walking home after school or even copying each other's homework at night. They were like sisters and inseparable. They traded shirts to wear and call each other's mom, Mama! Every year, during the month of May, as a tradition they would celebrate the dragon boat festival. That year was no different. Several of the neighborhood familes got together and headed out to the beach for a fun filled time of good memories.

A short 10 minutes walk later, they arrived at the beach. The beach was already filled with people fighting for good spots. The boats and all the grills were all out in force. At the backdrop, you could hear the ocean waves followed by crackling thundering fireworks. The dragon boats are all out on the vast ocean ready for their traditional race across the horizon. The real festivities started as nightfall approaches. Family members would gather together and as the sun set, there would even be a countdown to usher the moon to rise signaling the real festivities to start. At the very moment the sun set completly into the horizon, the glowing dim sky was suddenly painted by colorful fireworks. The sky would be so filled with fireworks that you wouldn't even tell the difference between the stars or fireworks. On this beautiful night, my mom's childhood friend never came back after a swim in the ocean. She drown tragically and without reasons. Her body was never recovered and some said her leg might have got caught by a boat's motor and as the boat started so did her body begin to disintegrate by the motor blades. It was a complete shock to have this happen on such a festive day. The little beach was even close down for a whole month hoping the rescuers to recover at least her body. They never did.

My little 5 year old mind was biologically set or program after this story. I didn't set foot close to any bodies of water until I became an adult. As for my little son, he's got another set of fears. He started out with water, height, gross things like his own poop in his bathwater and fireworks. He used to freak out if he had an accident of the big one while taking a bath in the bathtub. He would cry and scream hysterically. It's funny for us adults to witness but for him, his heart was beating so hard that it seem ready to jump out of his body at any time. Another similar experience we had was when we took him out to see fireworks during his second July 4th. He didn't seem to mind at first but once those booming sound started making its way in to his ear drums, he began to react as if a bomb is about to go off. He would struggle for his life and beg us to take him away. Earlier in the year while still in Asia, we celebrated the new year and grandpa didn't know this fear of his little grandson. He thought it will be great to take his cute little adorable grandson out to see the fireworks.
The little grandson didn't know any better and followed along. Right when the fireworks exploded in to the sky, so did our little guy. Grandpa didn't know what to do and had no choice but to take him home immediately. Later on, I had a little conversation with him and asked him why is he afraid of fireworks. Other kids simply embrace the colorful sparklings across the litted sky. He didn't really give me a reason besides the obvious of it being loud. The month of June approaches, out of no where, he came to tell me that daddy,
"once I turn 5, I will not be scared of fireworks". I told him, that's great! but why 5 years old? He said 5 years old means I am grown up and I won't be afraid anymore. O..also daddy, don't forget my birthday is in August and it's after July 4th. He is a sneaky little guy and would do anything to avoid seeing fireworks.

Just like anything, my fear of water had a reason and that reason was my mother's childhood story. For my son, the fear of firework was a puzzling one until we discovered a drawing that he made a while back. The drawing was a village of people running away from things that was falling from the sky. It looked like a village being bomb and people were running for their lives. Somehow he may caught some images in this rich media world and transcended it to fear. Well, I guess we have to wait to see whether if his fear will go away once he turns 5 or 18 like I did.

Alliance-Enviro

Being bombarded by environmental news daily, at first I thought Aliance-Enviro is just another blog about "going green." Well, once I click on their website, I found out that it is exactly what our house needs! Professional services for air duct cleaning, mold removal, pest control etc. The site provides extensive customer testimonies that offer very positive feedbacks of Alliance Environmental Group's services. It features a "Free Report" zone where property owners or managers may request comprehensive information on different enviornmental subject matters. The most interesting service that they offer is cleaning up trama scene. I didn't know that there are professionals for such services!! In the days of CSI, who knows, someone around your neighborhood might need it. The biggest assurance Alliance Environmental Group's services are the photos that they post on the site. They have photos of their recent big projects including removing asbestos contaminated drywall and joint compounds from a four-star hotel in Anaheim near Disneyland, and elimnating molds from 19 country club homes, and cleaning up after a lime spill in the City of Burbank. Photos speak more than a thousand words indeed. The only drawback of Asbestos Advice and Removal is they only offer services in CA thus far.