My Thankful Heart…

as i ponder on this thankful day

i wonder if all may come what may

to know the one true God is ever so

the one thing best…of this i know

tis turkey, sauce, potatoes mashed

gravy, pie and more is cached

within my gut expanded more than not

and i care?…not a second thought

no…family…children and my spouse

life and joy…our not so big house

some pets & cars…gas in the tank

these are those for which i thank

almighty God…His loving gift

to save me from the chasms rift

his Son and He in agreement do

rescue me and rescue you

through broken heart…amazing love

my life becomes…hand in a glove

where He does move and work His life

in and through our inbuilt strife

and beauty He does leave in me

not unlike a beauteous blooming tree

i'm grateful for these many things you see

for…He draws me daily through eternity

to dwell and live and laugh and shine

within the triune God divine

I rest and become one with Him

I laugh & sing with cherubim

for this you see is where I'm free

it is where I'm meant to be

embraced by Love in Father's care

what joy to live forever there

I have been telling people for years that taking aspirin does not seem to be a smart choice. I was saying it long before the big kick to take aspirin as a preventative measure. I continued to say it while "they" ("they" are US health officials) were telling people to do so because it would supposedly help stave off heart attacks. And…I still today continue to think it is simply a "bad" idea.

An article came across Reuters yesterday talking about how researchers at St. George's University of London, headed up by Dr. Kausik Ray, scoured through nine previous aspirin trials to take a fresh look at this issue for people without previous symptoms of heart issues.

Their conclusion? In short…the risk for internal bleeding is very great where the possible benefits are very slight. Dr. Ray simply says "I don't recommend aspirin."

My take? I think there is even another reason not to take aspirin. Quite simply it is horribly toxic. We used to do a simple demonstration at our seminars with aspirin. We would take a basic generic aspirin and put in into a tablespoon. Then we would heat it up with a light or something similar. Eventually the aspirin starts smoking horribly and ends up a black tarry substance.

My conclusion is simple. If aspirin is made up of tar, crude oil, or whatever, then your body actually has to deal with that somehow. Many medications have in the past been alleged to be synthesized from crude oil. I personally can't back that up but I do know that aspirin when heated will turn into a substance that is strikingly similar.

Whatever the substance is, I am confident your body cannot deal with it properly or at least without a great deal more effort and energy than is probably good for you.

I believe the tarry substance is broken down only partially and gets caught in the internal workings of the body. This may create issues in blocking key internal pipes or simply putting the body under undo stress dealing with a foreign substance.

We put our bodies under more stress than they can handle already simply because of the environment that surrounds us. Do we really need to add to that with the food and medications we take? With the water we drink? With the internal air that we breathe? All of these things are largely within our ability to control.

Whether you believe the toxicity issue or not concerning aspirin should no longer be at issue. It seems to be fairly certain that the small amount of good that may come from taking aspirin as a preventative heart measure is far outweighed by the risks of internal bleeding that can severely harm you or even possibly kill you.

I still stand that taking aspirin ever is not smart because of the toxicity issue…but there is added on to that the internal bleeding issue…which makes it doubly or triply bad for the small daily use that US health officials recommend.

Please…take a very serious look at this issue before taking any more aspirin…especially as a preventative for heart disease…and especially if you are currently a healthy individual without any current symptoms of heart disease.

Here is a link to the Reuters article if you are interested:

Report Warns: Don't Take Daily Aspirin For Heart

Thanks for reading,

I spend a fair amount of time reading about the current nature of the world's economy and it strikes me as almost humorous that it doesn't appear as if any of the "experts" really know what is happening or what is coming.

It is in these times that I am grateful to not be one of those "experts" on the economy. The fact is it is much easier for me to admit that the times and signs are very confusing and therefore I am able to say that I really don't know what is coming around the corner in terms of economic sustainability on a global basis.

As an example of the schizophrenic nature of the experts at the moment here are 2 articles that came to my attention today…both from the same source within the same email. I actually appreciate that fact more than anything else. This gives the feel that the organization isn't trying to pretend that they no anymore than anyone else but are willing to present many perspectives of the same ideas.

Here are the two links:

David Murrin: Western World Is 'Finished Financially'

and

Faber: Economic Crash Looms in China

One of these articles talks of the rising of China and the other talks of the crashing of China. Perhaps in the long run both are true or both are false…I don't think that matters actually. The fact is that we live in extremely volatile times and it doesn't appear than anyone really has a pulse on what is coming around the corner.

Are there things we can do even in uncertainty?

I would hope so but those things are not terribly clear. I believe you need to study diligently as much as possible and then make wise choices for you and your family. I certainly don't have it all figured out. However, if you talk to some folks you will find that Gold is the answer, or Silver, or investing in Brazil, India, Iraq, China, Chile or whatever the case may be.

I have family in India and friends in Brazil and I have been to China and I will tell you that they certainly don't have it all figured out either. In our economy that is so connected from a global perspective, I think the only people to arise from the chaos are those that make wise choices. Are we confined to our national economies today? Not so much. Can we as individuals rise from the economic uncertainty that looms large today? I believe we can.

It will look different for many people but there are a couple of things that seem more certain than others:

1. Healthcare in one form or another will always be at the heart of any economy. Preventative healthcare will probably arise as the preeminent actor in this play as at least a certain percentage of people will decide that they would rather start moving into the direction of taking more personal responsibility for their own health care and less reliance on organizations and governments to keep them "healthy." In the not so distant past preventative health care was a luxury but I believe it will soon be a necessity as "quality healthcare" will probably diminish more and more as time marches on.

2. Relationship marketing (in whatever form) is growing as people are moving in the same direction financially as they seem to be in the proactive healthcare. There is a certain percentage of people who want to have more control over their own futures and a sense that very few of us can do it on our own. It takes teams and partnerships and cooperative thinking in terms of helping one another achieve economic success. The era of personal gain on the backs of others is heading south. The current trend is serving each other for economic success. This is not a communal success but a community of individuals who all become successful. It is the combination of care and concern for one another along with the desire to be personally financially successful at the same time.

Anyhow…that is how I currently see it. These aren't the only two avenues for future financial success but they seem to be large players as the future seems to unfold.

I personally have many plans and foundations laid in these two areas along with some other areas that seem to be opening up. If you want to know more about my personal ideas just let me know.

Please let me know what you think about these things…thanks,

As always…hoping to serve,

The universe is…QUITE SIMPLY A COMBINATION OF MATTER AND ENERGY. More about that later…

It is certainly NOT GOD. But, when we treat it like God (purposely or not) it brings with it a whole host of unintended consequences.

As I said in the first part…if we confer upon the universe a personality then we are essentially giving it (notice the use of "it"…a term that denotes an object and not a person), in all practical respects, the position of God or at least a god.

God, in all cultures, whether using a "G" or a "g", has within it the concept of someone who has a will and a personality. The personality of God or a god does not have to imply any sense of goodness (as we often think) but there must be some sense of individuality or "personhood."

If the universe is understood as simply an inanimate object (matter and energy) that we actually can interact with just as I am interacting with my computer at this very moment, then I don't have a problem with that. I input energy into my computer and a similar energy is given back to me.

The problem is that we use language that "draws" us into an interaction with the universal forces of energy and so forth as if the universe actually has a personality of its own. So at an emotional level we may treat the universe as a god and miss out on some important aspects of what it means to be human…such as the search for meaning outside of ourselves within the scope of a greater personality or purpose than just us…ie—the search for God.

Therefore, I believe the language we use ends up dictating our own concepts about what it means to be human and what it means to be alive because those places within every human that long for answers and a connection with someone beyond themselves are satiated to a point of ceasing to look for those connections…believing instead, that those connections are already made in the unintended emotional and/or spiritual connection with the universe.

Back to the computer analogy…my computer is a very useful tool and as such has become essential in my day to day life. If I didn't know anything about computers, however, I perhaps would come across it some day (as perhaps a middle ages european might do if he/she happened to be transported to this time) and think that it was an inexplicable and marvelous thing. In my ignorance I may believe that it has "magical" powers and eventually (in my ignorance) probably treat it like a god.

In my journey in these past couple of years and seeing how people treat the universe I believe it is a similar thing as my computer analogy. Too many people treat the mysteries of the universe similar to my medieval man would treat a super high tech computer. We confer upon the universe (simply because we have discovered some incredibly interesting aspects about the universe and the nature of energy) the ability to "give" and "take," to "create" and other similar "powers" that would traditionally only be given to God or a god.

I also hear language like…"we are co-creators with the universe." These types of statements not only imply that the universe has a will and a personality but that we have a significant connection with this universe where we somehow partner in the divine nature of it and all that that entails. Many people perhaps are referring to some sort of evolutionary process when they speak of a "creating" universe. But the language itself is enough to cause us to internally "act" as if the universe has a personality and that we can connect with it in such a way as to become a part of this "divine" nature. Our hearts and minds adjust to these things and we cease to seek an entity beyond ourselves as our nature is designed to do. Rather, we begin to "believe" that the divine nature is essentially found within us. In essence, if I figured out how to "tap into the power" of the above mentioned computer I may just believe that I was a "co-creator" with it when in reality I would simply be inputting energy to get an output of energy. It may not be an even give and take…but it essentially is a similar phenomenon as interacting with the universe.

Much of the modern day free thinking world would agree with me in as much as we can interact with the universe that it simply is a matter of an energetic interaction. However, the tendency is also to start connecting uniquely human emotions to this interaction and then the actions that we take no longer follow the beliefs we say we have. It is a very small leap indeed to start believing that our interaction with an incredibly vast and misunderstood energetic force such as the universe would turn into a "spiritual" connection without even realizing it. We begin using language that creates a "spiritual" interaction with the universe that we have given a "personality" to (even if only with our language) and then we end up acting out our lives in sync with these ideas…far from the place where we started. The tendency is then to look inside ourselves (after all we are a part of that universal energy that abounds and surrounds us) for that divine essence that we are so desirous to connect with. For…if we can connect with the universe in such a way as to bring out the divinity within ourselves then we have satisfied that need to connect with the divine.

So, the desire to connect with the divine actually takes place in our practical lives whether or not it actually has any bit of truth to it or not. We connect and interact with the energy that surrounds us (and is much bigger than us) as if that energy has a personality by using language that gives it the ability to "willfully" interact back. As we practically live out the idea that we co-labor with the universe we get a sense of satisfaction as if our innate desire to connect with something beyond ourselves has actually occurred. It then is a very small step to satisfy the second strongest urge inside of us…that of becoming divine ourselves.

We use language that opens up doors to places where the human heart and soul cannot possibly sustain a sane connection with reality. It does not take much to see that the human capacity to connect with the divine is not within our own capacity to do so…if we would simply be able to open our eyes and minds just a bit. Instead, the draw of the possibility of being able to create our own destinies and "visualize" our own outcomes is very appealing. It is so appealing and strong that it causes us to be blind to the simple realities that are so evident to anyone not caught in that mistaken realm of fantasy. We are certainly not divine and it doesn't matter how much education or evolution one may go through human nature has never changed in thousands of years…and it is not going to do so in the coming "new age" either.

If you actually believe that you have the capacity of the divine and are living as if that were true, please take a deep look inside of yourself and then look at your life as it really is…not through the fantasy glasses you typically do. You will find that your tendency to put yourself first, even when it truly hurts others, is very strong indeed. You may believe that it is "love" that directs you but when that pressure really mounts then you will see the truth of what I am talking about. You will choose yourself and self-preservation will be your mantra and your typical mode of operation. Sure you can snap out of that because you may talk of "love" and such things but when things truly go wrong and the pressure builds…then your true nature will reveal itself to you. You can even put on a good show for long periods of time…but I know that neither the universe nor anything inside of you cannot and does not have the power to change who you are by nature.

This is also true of religious folks who believe they have the answers on their side. Most of the world of religion believe they have answers that others do not. However…they are many times not much further along in their true core understanding as to the nature of what it means to be human and connect with the divine than do those who connect with the universe.

More of this in part 3…

1. The US Dept. of the Treasury Bureau of Engraving and Printing states it has printed $239,648,000,000 in the fiscal year 2010.

They claim they printed about 974 million/day. This means that they took about 10 days off per month…which corresponds to normal holidays and weekends throughout the year.

They further claim that 95% of this money is replacement money…which would mean that there is only a 5% increase in the actual money supply.

This is a true increase in the money supply by 12 billion dollars (according to the treasury dept. numbers and info.).

2. Ben Bernanke admitted to creating 1.3 trillion dollars to purchase mortgage backed securities (not in exactly the same time frame but close enough for our purposes)

If the treasury printed just under 240 billion (with only a 12 billion dollar increase) but the feds created 1.3 trillion how do we account for the difference of $1,288,000,000,000?

So…if we can believe the government's numbers…nearly all of the 1.3 trillion dollars are not in circulation as bills but they are a part of the system. How does this work?

I am not an expert in these things but it may just work toward my favor as it appears as if the experts have very little idea of what is happening or what the answers to the problems in our economy actually are.

As far as I understand this infusion of money is an electronic infusion of dollars from the fed to the banks and lenders who owned toxic assets. What does this mean? I don't fully understand it all but it doesn't sound good and it doesn't feel right.

It is my understanding that this "money" is being held in reserves by the various institutions so that their books can look good in order to bolster an overall confidence in our economy. Could they lend this money? Yes they could because it truly can turn into "real" money as soon as it is leant.

So…has the 1.3 trillion dollars created inflation yet? Technically it probably hasn't…but is it available to do so? It is. However, there is also the possibility that the feds will try to keep that money from being leant out too quickly by offering incentives for not doing so.

Why would they do this? Simply the answer I believe would be to ease the money into the system so as not to create hyper-inflation.

Is this smart? Well…what do you think?

From my perspective I think it might be as good as the government can do short of a complete and wholesale change in policy. However, if we do any radical shifting of how we handle our money it would not be politically prudent and therefore will not happen.

One of the big flaws in the whole picture is that our government, (other governments around the world are doing similar things), is trying to manipulate the economy. They may have fine motivations…but will it work and how much tinkering is needed and how much is actually happening?

A big question that a bunch of smart people have is…has the fed been also infusing money into the stock market to artificially keep the appearance as something that is strong and working? It certainly appears that way…but it would be nothing more than more of the same.

I am not sure anyone actually knows how much tinkering and manipulation is actually taking place but I don't personally think we are going to be anywhere better in the end. In fact, I think the longer we tinker, the worse things will eventually get.

I think it is arrogant to think that we can truly manipulate economies based upon these policy shifts. It seems to me that in the end, as long as there are currencies that are traded, it will be individuals (even if those individuals control money from other countries) that will determine the economy based upon their own perceptions of safety and the ability to grow money rather than taking undo risk to lose it.

Is there less wealth in the world today than before? Of course not. There is a great deal more. Will these people who have the wealth continue to cycle their wealth into the US economy?

No matter what the US monetary policy is…will their manipulations be enough to keep the people with money content enough to continue to infuse their money into the economy? If individuals cease to invest…there will be nothing to save our economy as it barrels down the tracks without a driver. Our debt is too huge to sustain a lack of incoming money. How would you feel if the US Treasury bonds were being purchased by the same government (albeit two different entities) that provided them in the first place to continue to service a mounting debt? They are and you should be concerned.

If investors around the world are not buying our debt that certainly says something about the true problem I would think.

It seems to me this is akin to using an equity line of credit to pay off credit card debt or to use as an investment to create more wealth (using low interest money to create a high interest yield). In theory it makes a certain amount of sense if everything in the economy remains the same. However, it doesn't work if the very structure of what you expect to be in place crumbles.

If you were using your credit to create wealth in the housing market in 2005 and into 2006 and then retreated toward the end of 2006 it worked out really well for you. If you jumped into the game and started using your credit in 2007 and tried to create wealth in the housing market in 2007 and 2008 it likely didn't turn out well.

Our government seems to be behind the curve in being able to do something about the real problems. Just as getting an equity line of credit in 2008 would have felt good as you would have had an infusion of money for a time. But, if you lost your job and then had to live off of that credit without being able to find a new source of income time would then be your enemy as at some point that credit would run out.

Your mortgage company would not know that the problem had been going on for some time…they would only realize that you had a problem when you stopped paying your house payment. Right now we seem to be in that middle time…at least the way I see it. Things are obviously not great but they may turn bad rapidly when there is nothing else to artificially hold everything up. Just as your mortgage company and other credit lenders would stop giving you money to sustain your lifestyle when you have no visible and viable way to pay it back so it is with investors in our economy. Why would investors in the US economy treat it any differently if they indeed perceived that they will not eventually get a real return on their money? The answer is of course they wouldn't. They will treat the US economy as credit companies would treat someone who doesn't have any source of income.

At some point, the huge amounts of money being spent will come back to haunt us and we will have to actually print money to stay afloat as foreign investors decide to keep their own money or to invest elsewhere.

From my own perspective, the things that people don't understand is that the marketplace cannot be controlled for extended periods of time. As long as we are trading currency for goods the individual's perception of the safety of their own wealth will prevail. If the perception of safety is lost…the money will be taken out of the system and people will tend to keep their money safe (out of the system) so that it will not be lost in these uncertain times or redirected where it is perceived to be safe.

I personally don't believe this bodes well for the future. I just don't think that even the "smartest" people can manipulate the economy enough to pull us out of the crisis that we are in. This would mean pulling the proverbial wool over the eyes of the investors of the world and I don't think that can last for too long.

As I mentioned earlier…it seems to me that we will have to infuse real money into our own economy simply to service our enormous debt and if history is any indicator then we are in for massive inflation in the future.

Or…is there another way out? I don't know if there is or not but I do know this…unless we (the US) provide the world with things of real value that would cause others to go out of their way to purchase those things or invest in new businesses (which would create jobs…which would be really good for our overall economy) then it appears as if we don't have much of a chance to turn around.

So why can't we come up with things that can radically change the world? I think we can but there is no reason to produce those things in the United States as it is terribly expensive to do so. If we don't produce those things in this country then we don't create new jobs and then people don't spend money and others don't invest in our ability to produce and so on and so on.

If we don't produce in this country with our own people, we likely have no way out of the mess we are in…at least as an overall economy.

However…I do believe there are things that individuals can do to not only protect themselves but to still create wealth for themselves but that is for another discussion. As individuals we live in a world economy and if you can tap into that world economy there is still an enormous opportunity to create wealth.

Just my opinion…thanks for reading and please comment below.

Much of these theories revolved around the idea that the human brain has almost an unlimited capacity to connect with the universe and create almost any reality it wants.

Whether it be physical healing from diseases and other physical ailments, or bringing about riches, or bringing about world peace or environmental peace…all of this is possible as humans evolve into beings that rely less and less on traditional methods of interacting (basically hurting one another) and embrace a new sense of "oneness" and unity with one another.

This unity is a "spiritual" connection that will bring about a new era in the world unlike anything we have ever experienced. This "spiritual" connection not only brings people together but it also brings people into unity with basically everything that exists. As we become "one" with everything around us the cumulative power of this unity will create a "new age" where all people get along and it is all very comfy cozy and gives us all the warm fuzzies all of the time.

Doesn't that sound nice?

The sentence in italics is my conclusion to the "new age" movement. It is not expressly spelled out that way but then again…not much about the belief system really is.

About two and a half years ago I started spending much more time online. I started a blog, joined Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social media sites. I then started another blog and another and so on. I enjoy the blogosphere…what can I say? Although I hardly have time to tend to even this my primary blog at the moment.

Anyhow…I digress and I apologize. Through many of my connections online I noticed a recurring theme pop up concerning the power of the mind and the ability to "create" your own reality and other similar things. Love is thrown around more than just a little bit and the Universe now tastes and feels like it has an actual personality.

I see and hear quotes such as "the universe will challenge your resolve" when you are on the right track (to explain that challenges happen and bad things come our way etc.) and the fact that people often will throw around phrases like "the universe gives" and so on.

I don't think the language is accidental. As much as someone may not admit that they believe the universe has a personality, many people's lives are lived out as if it does.

Attributing a personality to anything changes it from something that is purely interactive on a physical level to something that is interactive on an emotional level or even possibly a spiritual level. In fact, many people call themselves "spiritual" who simply see themselves as connecting with the forces of the universe. I get that. What I have a harder time getting is when people get emotionally involved in the process.

Are there physical forces at work in the universe that are highly interactive? Indeed. What are they and do they have a "say" in who we are and/or who we become…and do they have a stake in who we are and/or become? These are questions that need answering…because they will in large part determine if we indeed confer a personality to the universe or not.

If we give the universe a personality then we are in essence naming the universe as god.

So why do I bring any of this up?

Obviously I see connections between the "new age" movement and the current trend of connecting with the universe. Books and movies such as "The Secret" which claim the "law of attraction" is at the heart of a successful human existence take the "new age" movement and simply put a new twist on it.

The "law of attraction" crowd simply believes that you attract those things in your life based upon your belief system and attitudes toward life, others and so on. This is a grand oversimplification but in its essence this statement is true. So…you "attract" to yourself those things that happen to you.

It is in its essence very similar to the "new age" thinkers. The reality that we create begins in the mind.

Do I have a problem with this way of thinking? It may sound like it the way I approach it but no I really don't have a huge disagreement with this way of thinking in general…but…

Yes there is a but and it is a huge but I must say.

Let me explain just a bit.

I need to start with how I view the universe because I believe it is a hugely important issue in being able to decipher not only the practical implications of life but the more important implications of life in relation to eternity and what that means.

The universe is…

I will explain in a later post…hang on and be patient.

There are probably as many answers to this question as there are religious constructs and possibly even people out there.

Is there a more important question in life? I don't think so. I simply want to open up a conversation about this.

I received a message from a young man who is wondering how to find meaning in a life where his belief in God has been largely left in the past.

I believe…truly there is no real meaning without understanding your own answer to this question. For unless you are honest with yourself about this one issue I don't think you can truly begin to engage in a process in which you are even able to open up your eyes to the deeper and truer and more glorious possibilities of your life.

I have found answers that have enabled me to truly connect with God in a meaningful way. I know I am not alone but I also know I am in the minority in this world.

Many people I talk with and share life together who know plenty of answers but are still wondering in the backs of their minds what it truly means to "know God."

Is He truly "knowable?" This is a question in many people's hearts…even those people who really believe in their heads that He is.

In experience though…it is very rare to find someone who has really found intimacy with God. That is why I just wanted to open up this discussion and ask the question…where is God?

Really…where do we find God?

If you want to take part in the conversation please leave a comment. I appreciate it and I know so many others along the way will as well.

I believe there is a very meaningful dialog that can occur and will help people tremendously if we simply engage in it.

Thanks so very much for participating in whatever manner you desire…Just please keep it clean as my beautiful children often visit my blog…thanks!

Yes…the excitement factor was high and the energy was really quite remarkable. Jesuit was poised and excited with a large and very loud cheering section. Jesuit is an all boys private school that draws quite a bit of attention in the sport of soccer. They have consistently been one of the highest ranked teams in the nation for a number of years.

Thus, they draw some very good players from all over the area. I've even heard of people moving from out of state but those are rumors and I can't substantiate them.

Granite Bay, on the other hand, is a public school on the outskirts of Sacramento. The area tends to be on the pricier side of life so most of the students tend to come from families with money enough to open doors that are simply not available to most children growing up.

In Sacramento, when you are talking about soccer, this means a great deal. Club Soccer (Youth Soccer) in Sacramento is big. In fact some say it is the largest per capita soccer area in the country. There are areas with better soccer as a rule but not for the size of the place.

For instance, Southern California has a number of powerhouse club teams that are highly competitive in the nation but they have 20 times the population of the Sacramento area. The San Francisco Bay area has a number of highly competitive clubs as well but they are a good 6-7 times the size of Sacramento.

The point is that Sacramento (for its size) is a soccer Mecca in the United States. It is no wonder that they consistently provide the High School Soccer Scene with a collection of some of the best teams in the nation.

Going to see Jesuit and Granite Bay play on a Friday evening therefore was an exciting event. However, in the back of my mind I wondered truly what the quality of soccer would be like.

If you read my post on the US national team after their loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup earlier this year, you would understand my doubt as to whether or not we were actually going to see a good soccer game or just a modified version of the game of kick ball with bigger, stronger and faster athletes.

The good news is I wasn't disappointed. What I expected to be true indeed was true…at least for Jesuit. The Jesuit players were big and strong and they kicked the heck out of the ball. However, I don't believe they ever strung even 4 passes together in a row. It was quite the disappointment for the number 1 ranked team in the nation.

But…on the other side Granite Bay played a superb style and game of soccer. In my opinion, they outplayed Jesuit in every facet of the game except set plays. The Jesuit boys were highly skilled and disciplined when it came to set plays and reckless and sloppy when it came to the actual game.

Granite Bay was beautiful in their game but because they were much smaller they had a more difficult time competing with Jesuit's set plays. The driving force behind Granite Bay's super fast paced passing game is a group of three brothers. We just refer to them as the Thompson brothers in these parts.

The Thompson brothers, Tyler, Tanner and Tommy are remarkable players. They are highly skilled and play a skilled passing game of soccer at a speed that turned Jesuit in circles.

Of course Granite Bay has a number of very skilled players who play at a very high pace but the Thompson brothers are the ones that standout in your mind.

In the end Jesuit won the game 3-2 on some very questionable calls from the center referee. I have a mind to go on a rant and explain (actually it would be complaining) all of the seemingly biased calls to aid Jesuit in their win but I am going to abstain.

Jesuit scored on a corner kick that was poorly defended but the score is to be applauded as it was a very good finish. Padraic McCullaugh scored on the set play from the corner on a nice half volley. They also scored on two Penalty Kicks. McCullaugh again scored for Jesuit from the PK mark as well as Steven Wright.

The PK calls were questionable in my opinion as well as a number of no calls going the other direction in the other Penalty box. But…I won't talk about those.

On the Granite Bay side, Will Harkin scored a header from a free kick (one place where Granite Bay found Jesuit scrambling with poor defending on a set play). The other was scored by a brilliant left footed shot from Tyler Thompson about 20-25 yards out on the right side of the field.

All in all, it is my opinion that Granite Bay completely outplayed Jesuit. I went into the game hoping to see good soccer all the way around. I had no team to root for as I have no real connections with either school.

However, as the game progressed, it quickly became apparent that Granite Bay was the much better team. Their play was like a beautiful dance on the field. They moved and passed the ball in a seemingly choreographed manner that was really nice to watch. Jesuit, in many ways, could not keep up with this type of game.

I ended up rooting for Granite Bay because I would much rather see good soccer from a losing team then big and strong kickball from a winning team.

The problem with US soccer is seen in this seemingly innocuous Friday night game  between two high schools.

I don't believe Jesuit earned the victory. I believe it was handed to them by referees that very much seemed to lean in the one direction. (I didn't even tell you about the Granite Bay goal that was called back). Anyhow…I am sad that Jesuit will go on to remain as the number 1 ranked team in the nation when they hardly even play good soccer.

The problem is Jesuit's style of play reflects what our society believes is good soccer. We will never get out of our Soccer inadequacies as a nation with this kind of attitude.

This past Friday night could have served as a pivot point. With good, fair and solid refereeing, Granite Bay wins the game and is rewarded for their brilliant style of play with a higher national ranking. Then people would start to see that playing good soccer actually does pay off in the end as it does in the rest of the world.

Our style of soccer (Jesuit's style) is an abysmal failure when played on the world's stage versus teams who play a much more fluid and possession style of game (Granite Bay's style of soccer).

One of my goals as a coach is to turn the tide of what we consider good soccer. It takes discipline and patience but I believe that in the end we just might be able to show people that the beautiful game, when played in a beautiful manner, is a far superior game then the US style of kick ball that was on display from the number 1 ranked team in the nation.

Will Jesuit continue to win? Absolutely they will. They play a faster and better game of kick ball then anyone else. Will they come across another team like Granite Bay this year that will actually play quality soccer? I don't know…but if they do I hope the referees stay out of the way and truly allow the better team to win the game.

However, I am truly blown away by one of the Network Marketing Companies that we work with. Their servers went down today (last day of the month) and it caused some annoyance for a number of people.

To make up for it Univera decided to give double bonus points tomorrow (September 1, 2011) and to count it towards August points. However…the really fascinating thing is that they are paying double the bonuses (money) for the month of August. So…anything done tomorrow pays quadruple.

I have never seen anything like this before. Have you? On top of this…I have the support of a team that has made it abundantly clear that they love my family so very much that they will do ANYTHING to see that they are taken care of for their entire lives. They have backed this up with their actions and I couldn't be more thrilled about it.

I have been in Network Marketing for over two decades and have never experienced anything like this before. I would love to see my friends (and would be friends) and family members have this kind of team working on their behalf. I have learned that as good as any company is…it is the team that is helping, supporting and working on your behalf that is the hidden treasure of success in Network Marketing.

The team that is behind me is beyond incredible…and I truly mean that.

All of this in a company that has proven to me that they are serious about my success and put their money on the line to prove it.

Quadruple the bonuses…it is UNREAL! That combined with a team that will do absolutely anything for my children's future…I AM TRULY BLOWN AWAY!

If you have perused through my blog you know that I don't just spout out things to try and sell people or try to manipulate anyone in any way.

So…if I say something like this it is truly because I am so impressed that I had to share it.

Thanks,

If you are not aware of who Brandi Chastain is she is best known for scoring the final penalty kick in the 1999 World Cup for the Women's US National Soccer Team to beat China in the Finals. You can read all about the excitement afterwards and the rest of her career by simply searching for her name on Google.

However, we were privileged to meet her and be able to learn about many of her more recent activities where she is working on helping to empower girls to be everything that they can be through her charity organization ReachuP.

We also talked about her career and her current thoughts on Soccer. She has some tremendous insights into the sport and it was great to listen as she shared nuggets of wisdom throughout our time with her. She is still amazingly passionate about the sport and her excitement really comes through in the interview.

I will share pieces of the interview here and there but in order to see the whole thing (not sure if it will be posted all at once or in parts) you will need to go to patrickmcintosh.com.

Also…visit her site brandisworld.com where you can find out all of the many things she is up to. She is active in many areas of the sport of soccer and beyond. In all of her many activities it seems it is truly her heart's desire to help give young ladies a helping hand of empowerment to help them follow their dreams as she was able to follow her own.

I hope you will visit her sight and consider joining her in her worthy endeavors and efforts. I also want to thank Brandi for her time that she chose to spend with us.

I was able to come away with an autographed jersey as well. My daughter has had a US National Team Jersey with Brandi's name and number on it for a number of years and today we were able to get Brandi's autograph on it. A big thanks for that as well.