Cell Phones and Manliness

Dear Friends,

I write to you today to address some thoughts I have on cell phones and manliness.  This week i have witnessed time and time again friends of mine putting on cell phone clinics while in the presence of others.  About 80 to 90 % of their eye contact is with their cell phone, they are mastered by whatever has their attention in the world of technology.  It may be a girl or social networks  regardless there is something un-manly about the behavior.  This video below is a very accurate demonstration of how many men and women conduct their days putting their cell phones before their friends and people they may come into contact with in society.

Below is another accurate illustration.

This picture I just love and hope to have this pocket square soon.

Recently I was watching a movie from the 1950's and Humphrey Bogart one of the actors walks into the room commanding a presence that is felt among all the people in the room.  He does not own a cell phone and the people in the room do not either.  His greets people with a simple hello and the women in the room can fell that he is an authentic man who cultivates his life.  Where are the men like Bogart in today's world?  lets say they are almost extinct.  You wouldn't be able to recognize most men today because they lack discipline, self control and the warrior heart.  They have lost heart, instead of taking risks that may benefit others they would rather take no risks and live a belittled passive lifestyle with high dosages of tinder and txting. 

Below are just a few passages i wanted to share with you that relate to this topic:

 "My wife, Grace, was teaching at a women’s event, and so I took the kids to a restaurant. Sitting around us were many other families like us, with one exception. Every single father was either talking on the phone or responding to emails on his Blackberry throughout the meal, not connecting with his children in any way. Sadly, rather than visiting with their kids and having some fun, these daddies allowed their technological gods to rule over them" - Pastor Mark Driscoll

"Cell phones and iPods are items we carry in our hands. We bring them everywhere. They are used when driving, walking, riding a train, even when hanging around our friends. They cause more distraction than anything.Will there come a day when people don’t even need to process verbal language to sustain relationships? It’s vital that we reconnect ourselves with one another through human communication and take a break from screen-staring all day." - Sean Boswell

"Personally, I don’t long to be in the company of people who are constantly connected to someone else. And it’s not just talking to other people on cell phones. Smart phones allow people to be connected to the Internet for sports scores, news and weather updates — all at your fingertips no matter what your social situation" -Mark Glaser via: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2007/10/how-cell-phones-are-killing-face-to-face-interactions295/

Lastly, I would like to encourage all of you to take a personal inventory and look at your life.  Are there times where you can just leave the cell phone in the glove compartment or just turn it off.  This world although broken still has so much beauty in it.  I fear that we all are letting it pass by.  Some of the most beautiful things come out of ugly situations, don;t miss the beauty that emerges in your life.  
Some more reading on the subject:
Technology is Destroying the Quality of Human Interaction 

Emily Post Cell Phone Manners
Your Cell Phone Is Not Part of Your Body -- You Can Let It Go

God bless,

Brendan J. Micik

Faith Focus Finish

Technology Has Made Man Soft

A long time ago in a cellphone-less society lived real men.  

Men who were gangster.  

Men who played chess instead of words with friends.  

Men who used to call their women instead of text them.  

Men who would enjoy conversation and company.

Now it is hard to recognize a man by the way he is controlled by his cellular device.  I see it everyday, men responding to girlfriends text messages IMMEDIATELY regardless of what they were in the middle of doing.  Clowns driving and texting at the same time, putting themselves and many other people in danger.  

Men back in the day were gangster, tenacious, fierce, they were cowboys and had a warrior mentality.  They knew nothing about social networks; instagram, tumblr, mass txt, group txt, etc..  These cowboys put God and family 1st in their lives.  These men simply did not have the time for these weak, soft, delicate and facile games that these iphone drones play every day.  I heard an argument between two men the other day over a game that they had played through their iphones.  One of the clowns said that the fool he was playing cheated in words with friends.  I thought the scene was comical but sad at the same time. 

Men put on display their character in their day to day life.  I want to make it clear that I am not at all hating on the use of cellphones, and I simply comparing the qualities the men that were and the men that are. Cell phones are very useful, the give us the opportunity to reach others more effectively and efficiently.  I present the point that nothing, no matter how useful should dominate a mans world.  Balance in our every day life is HUGE.  

Tip of the day: If you think you spend a little to much time on your cellular device, today I would encourage you to put your phone in your room right before dinner.  Don't check it again until before bed, then you can address any panicking girlfriends who have to be in constant satellite all day!  Explain to them that you are simply doing this to improve the way you respond to life around you.  Friends, when we take a break from the people we talk to SO MUCH on our phones, we so much more satisfaction in the things that have been in front of us every day.  It also make the meetings with that cellphone person more abundant if you haven't been in constant satellite It is like having 1 chocolate chip cookie, you eat it and it taste great.  Try having 15 more chocolate chip cookies and tell me in the last one taste as good as the first!

God Bless!

      

The Truth

"The truth shall set you free" a phrase that has been used in many different situations.  Many of us have heard this cliche at some point in our lives.  It's words run deep, they have greater power and meaning than just simple morals.  The TRUTH (Jesus Christ) shall set you free.  In John 14, Thomas one of Jesus disciples asks, "How can we know the way?" referring to heaven.  Jesus answers, “I am the way and the TRUTH and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me".  Jesus Christ is the Truth and he has given every single person life by his work on the cross.  We were all in chains, Christ has set us free from those chains.  Anyone who believes in Christ and asks Him to come into their life will be saved and set free.  

John 8:32 says this: "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

There are many people who have not heard this Truth in their life yet.  They remain in bondage of their sin.  The power in the name of Jesus Christ will break every chain and deliver all from their hurt and pain.  If you have been set free in Jesus Christ then you have received his eternal light.  Please go and shine that light on darkness and tell others about the love of Christ.   

A New Generation of Violence

These days we can't help but notice the recent rising trend in mass acts of violence within the United States.  Ask our parents or someone from our parents' generation about this trend while growing up and they would say these acts were nonexistent or incident occurence was far and few between.  So why is this? is it the growing popularity of violence based video games? Are the gun control laws really to lax? is it as simple as population growth, more people = more violence? One blog discovered a very distinct pattern...

"Standard Gravure shooting - First known shooting with ties to Prozac. Joseph Wesbecker kills 12, injures 9.

Eric Harris age 17 (first on Zoloft then Luvox) and Dylan Klebold aged 18 (Columbine school shooting in Littleton, Colorado), killed 12 students and 1 teacher, and wounded 23 others, before killing themselves. Klebold’s medical records have never been made available to the public.

Jeff Weise, age 16, had been prescribed 60 mg/day of Prozac (three times the average starting dose for adults!) when he shot his grandfather, his grandfather’s girlfriend and many fellow students at Red Lake, Minnesota. He then shot himself. 10 dead, 12 wounded.
Cory Baadsgaard, age 16, Wahluke (Washington state) High School, was on Paxil (which caused him to have hallucinations) when he took a rifle to his high school and held 23 classmates hostage. He has no memory of the event.

Chris Fetters, age 13, killed his favorite aunt while taking Prozac.

Christopher Pittman, age 12, murdered both his grandparents while taking Zoloft.

Mathew Miller, age 13, hung himself in his bedroom closet after taking Zoloft for 6 days.

Kip Kinkel, age 15, (on Prozac and Ritalin) shot his parents while they slept then went to school and opened fire killing 2 classmates and injuring 22 shortly after beginning Prozac treatment.

Luke Woodham, age 16 (Prozac) killed his mother and then killed two students, wounding six others.

A boy in Pocatello, ID (Zoloft) in 1998 had a Zoloft-induced seizure that caused an armed stand off at his school.

Michael Carneal (Ritalin), age 14, opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded..

A young man in Huntsville, Alabama (Ritalin) went psychotic chopping up his parents with an ax and also killing one sibling and almost murdering another.

Andrew Golden, age 11, (Ritalin) and Mitchell Johnson, aged 14, (Ritalin) shot 15 people, killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others.

TJ Solomon, age 15, (Ritalin) high school student in Conyers, Georgia opened fire on and wounded six of his class mates.

Rod Mathews, age 14, (Ritalin) beat a classmate to death with a bat.

James Wilson, age 19, (various psychiatric drugs) from Breenwood, South Carolina, took a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers.

Elizabeth Bush, age 13, (Paxil) was responsible for a school shooting in Pennsylvania

Jason Hoffman (Effexor and Celexa) – school shooting in El Cajon, California

Jarred Viktor, age 15, (Paxil), after five days on Paxil he stabbed his grandmother 61 times.

Chris Shanahan, age 15 (Paxil) in Rigby, ID who out of the blue killed a woman.

Jeff Franklin (Prozac and Ritalin), Huntsville, AL, killed his parents as they came home from work using a sledge hammer, hatchet, butcher knife and mechanic’s file, then attacked his younger brothers and sister.

Neal Furrow (Prozac) in LA Jewish school shooting reported to have been court-ordered to be on Prozac along with several other medications.

Kevin Rider, age 14, was withdrawing from Prozac when he died from a gunshot wound to his head. Initially it was ruled a suicide, but two years later, the investigation into his death was opened as a possible homicide. The prime suspect, also age 14, had been taking Zoloft and other SSRI antidepressants.

Alex Kim, age 13, hung himself shortly after his Lexapro prescription had been doubled.

Diane Routhier was prescribed Welbutrin for gallstone problems. Six days later, after suffering many adverse effects of the drug, she shot herself.

Billy Willkomm, an accomplished wrestler and a University of Florida student, was prescribed Prozac at the age of 17. His family found him dead of suicide – hanging from a tall ladder at the family’s Gulf Shore Boulevard home in July 2002.

Kara Jaye Anne Fuller-Otter, age 12, was on Paxil when she hung herself from a hook in her closet. Kara’s parents said “…. the damn doctor wouldn’t take her off it and I asked him to when we went in on the second visit. I told him I thought she was having some sort of reaction to Paxil…”)

Gareth Christian, Vancouver, age 18, was on Paxil when he committed suicide in 2002,
(Gareth’s father could not accept his son’s death and killed himself.)

Julie Woodward, age 17, was on Zoloft when she hung herself in her family’s detached garage.

Matthew Miller was 13 when he saw a psychiatrist because he was having difficulty at school. The psychiatrist gave him samples of Zoloft. Seven days later his mother found him dead, hanging by a belt from a laundry hook in his closet.

Kurt Danysh, age 18, and on Prozac, killed his father with a shotgun. He is now behind prison bars, and writes letters, trying to warn the world that SSRI drugs can kill.

Woody ____, age 37, committed suicide while in his 5th week of taking Zoloft. Shortly before his death his physician suggested doubling the dose of the drug. He had seen his physician only for insomnia. He had never been depressed, nor did he have any history of any mental illness symptoms.

A boy from Houston, age 10, shot and killed his father after his Prozac dosage was increased.

Hammad Memon, age 15, shot and killed a fellow middle school student. He had been diagnosed with ADHD and depression and was taking Zoloft and “other drugs for the conditions.”

Matti Saari, a 22-year-old culinary student, shot and killed 9 students and a teacher, and wounded another student, before killing himself. Saari was taking an SSRI and a benzodiazapine.

Steven Kazmierczak, age 27, shot and killed five people and wounded 21 others before killing himself in a Northern Illinois University auditorium. According to his girlfriend, he had recently been taking Prozac, Xanax and Ambien. Toxicology results showed that he still had trace amounts of Xanax in his system.

Finnish gunman Pekka-Eric Auvinen, age 18, had been taking antidepressants before he killed eight people and wounded a dozen more at Jokela High School – then he committed suicide.

Asa Coon from Cleveland, age 14, shot and wounded four before taking his own life. Court records show Coon was on Trazodone.

Jon Romano, age 16, on medication for depression, fired a shotgun at a teacher in his
New York high school.

In the most recent mass shootings, the authorities have been reluctant to release information regarding the types of drugs each perpetrator was using at the time. 

What drugs was Jared Lee Loughner on, age 21, when he killed 6 people and injured 14 others in Tucson, Arizona.

What drugs was James Eagan Holmes on, age 24, when he killed 12 people and injured 59 others in Aurora, Colorado.

What drugs was Adam Peter Lanza on, age 20, Killed 26 and wounded 2 in Newtown, Connecticut.


- Originally quoted from Liberty and Such, http://libertyandsuch.com/anti-depressants-linked-to-mass-murders/

IPhone makes a man soft

There is something unmanly and soft about a man having his phone out all the time. Girlfriends constantly texting to get approval and validation, boyfriends continuing to respond with many instantaneous replies to confirm. Playing words with friends with someone miles away when you have your brothers, sisters and family members present in the room. I fear that one day a boy will be in the presence of a grandfather that cares more about his IPhone 10se**8 than his grandkid. My grandfather taught us how to do manly gangster things like; play checkers, garden, play cards, cook, and apply after shave(Clubman). When many of the IPhone drones become grandparents, they will be teaching their grand kids how to download and app or get the high score in temple run.

The most enjoyable times of day I have are without my phone (which is not a smart phone AKA. it only makes calls and sends txt messages) Now there are always circumstances, under which a Gentleman will notify the group that he has to be excused for a moment to respond to an important message, not disclosing anymore information. I have been in the presence of some fools/clowns who make a royal announcement when they receive a txt response from a female. It goes back to approval and acceptance. Many people lack that so they search for it all the wrong places.

Manly Tip of the Day: Next time you make plans to hang out with some friends, leave the phone in the car or at home. It will show the people you are going to hang out with where your focus lies. Also go pick up some clubman after shave!

God Bless!
#FaithFocusFinish

Words from the wise

"Physical strength is the most important thing in life. This is true whether we want it to be or not. As humanity has developed throughout history, physical strength has become less critical to our daily existence, but no less important to our lives. Our strength, more than any other thing we possess, still determines the quality and the quantity of our time here in these bodies. Whereas previously our physical strength determined how much food we ate and how warm and dry we stayed, it now merely determines how well we function in these new surroundings we have crafted for ourselves as our culture has accumulated. But we are still animals - our physical existence is, in the final analysis, the only one that actually matters. A weak man is not as happy as the same man would be if he were strong. This reality is offensive to some people who would like the intellectual or spiritual to take precedence. It is instructive to see what happens to these very people as their squat strength goes up.

As the nature of our culture has changed, our relationship with physical activity has changed along with it. We previously were physically strong as a function of our continued existence in a simple physical world. We were adapted to this existence well, since we had no other choice. Those whose strength was adequate to the task of staying alive continued doing so. This shaped our basic physiology, and that of all our vertebrate associates on the bushy little tree of life. It remains with us today. The relatively recent innovation known as the Division of Labor is not so remote that our genetic composition has had time to adapt again. Since most of us now have been freed from the necessity of personally obtaining our subsistence, physical activity is regarded as optional. Indeed it is, from the standpoint of immediate necessity, but the reality of millions of years of adaptation to a ruggedly physical existence will not just go away because desks were invented.

Like it or not, we remain the possessors of potentially strong muscle, bone, sinew, and nerve, and these hard-won commodities demand our attention. They were too long in the making to just be ignored, and we do so at our peril. They are the very components of our existence, the quality of which now depends on our conscious, directed effort at giving them the stimulus they need to stay in the condition that is normal to them. Exercise is that stimulus.

Over and above any considerations of performance for sports, exercise is the stimulus that returns our bodies to the conditions for which they were designed. Humans are not physically normal in the absence of hard physical effort. Exercise is not a thing we do to fix a problem -it is a thing we must do anyway, a thing without which there will always be problems. Exercise is the thing we must do to replicate the conditions under which our physiology was adapted, the conditions under which we are physically normal. In other words, exercise is substitute cave-man activity -- the thing we need to make our bodies, and in fact our minds, normal in the 21st century. And merely normal, for most worthwhile humans, is not good enough."

- Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength

3 Squares a Day

It has been common knowledge that consuming small or more frequent meals is often advocated for weight control and better body composition.  In a Japanese study, researchers looked at consuming 3 vs 6 meals a day and the effects on 24 hour fat oxidation along with sensations of hunger.  They found there was no difference in 24 hour energy expenditure, respiratory quotient, 24 hour fat oxidation etc.  They concluded increasing meal frequency from 3 to 6 meals per day has no significant effect on fat burning and may actually increase hunger and the desire to eat due to the habitual nature of constantly eating.

- The Journal of obesity, Effects of increased meal frequency on fat oxidation and perceived hunger.