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JAMES WATKINS: AUTHOR, SPEAKER, THREAT TO SOCIETY




March 24, 2008: Webzine
heavy topics with a light touch

JAMES WATKINS' MUG SHOT


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PREGNANT MAN PHOTO

LATEST RANTS, REACTIONS


. . . the 'pregnant man' and more
This week's heavy topics with a light touch:

• 4,000

American Idol features "Jesus and Gravity"

• Author with stolen kidneys opens Rolex store in Liberia

• Is pregnant 'man' really a man?

• "It Is Well with My Soul" . . . the rest of the story

• Last issue's heavy topics with a light touch

• Liberal Republican, conservative Democrat or . . .

• "Mistake," lie or hallucination?

• ON STRIKE!

• Top 25 Christian sites . . . and five that should be

• Top ten most popular sites at jameswatkins.com

• What was Olympic committee smoking?!

• Write thinking from California conference




Friday, April 4, 2008
american idol features 'Jesus and gravity'

Hi, I'm Jim and I'm a closet country music fan. I've been amazed at the overt Christian messages in some country music: Carrie Underwood's "Jesus, Take the Wheel," Brooks and Dunn's "Believe," and now Dolly Parton's "Jesus and Gravity" that was featured on this week's American Idol. I still click the mute button on all the videos about adultery and drinking, but some of the lyrics are truly amazing:

I'm to the point where it don't add up
I can't say I've come this far with my guitar on pure dumb luck
That's not to say i know it all
'Cause everytime I get too high up on my horse I fall
'Cause I've got . . .

[chorus] Somethin' lifting me up
Somethin' to give me wings and
Somethin' to keep my feet on the ground
I've got all I need,
Jesus and gravity

But I'm as bad as anyone
Taking all these blessings in my life for granted one by one
When I start to thinkin' it's all me
Well somethin' comes along and knocks me
right back on my knees
and I've got . . .

From Backwoods Barbie by Dolly Parton

• Listen to "Jesus and Gravity"



Later Friday, April 4, 2008
is pregnant 'man' really a man?

Unless you've been in a coma for the past two weeks, you know that Thomas Beatie, 34, has been making the rounds of all the talk shows as the "world first pregnant man."

As I understand it, Beatie was born a female (and has all the original equipment) who had been taking the male hormone testosterone to develop male characteristics. Beatie stopped taking the hormone two years ago and was then artificially inseminated.

So is the world's first pregnant "man" actually a man? Is the transgendered woman, who still has all her female reproductive organs, biologically a man or a woman? (Legally, Beatie has been recognized as a man and is married to a woman.)

I'm not a conspiracy nut, but I can't help but wonder if this is all part of a plan to desensitize the public to male and female differences. Is it being used to blur the distinctions between men and women and "normalize" non-traditional marriages? Am I a conspiracy nut?

Here are some thoughts . . .
• Are men and women really different?
• Is there a "gay agenda" conspiracy?



Wednesday, April 2, 2008
ON STRIKE!

My brain is on strike. Yesterday, right in the middle of a huge deadline, it walked off the job!

It's main complaint is no time off. If I worked in a widget factory, I'd clock in at 7 am and be done for the day at 3 pm. Then someone would come in to put the widgets on the line the other two shifts and on weekends.

Unfortunately, I've been working 12-hour days and weekends, so yesterday, around 3 pm, it said, "That's it! I can't write another sentence. I'm going on strike!" We've been in discussions all night, but as of this morning, negotiations have broken down.

So, for now, this will be my last posting until the issue is resolved. Thanks for your prayers for a speedy resolution!

Breaking news: Friday, April 4, 2008

An agreement has been reached following Tuesday's walkout of my brain. I've offered my brain a game of FreeCell for every hour of work on a large writing project that has consumed my life the past week. So I didn't have to hire a "scab" brain or completely shut down operations and will continue negotiating a new contract. Thanks for your concern and prayers!



Tuesday, April 1, 2008
author with stolen kidneys opens rolex store in liberia

Breaking news at jameswatkins.com this first day of April:

Authorities suspect the Satanist president of Proctor and Gamble of revenge in the theft of an investigative humor columnist's kidneys. James Watkins was found in a tub of ice at the Holiday Inn Express after the feloneous removal of both kidneys.
• Click here

The Dredge Report also confirms that during the back-alley surgery, the author and speakers' DNA was secretly replaced with that of an extraterrestrial.
• Click here for exclusive photo

Watkins had also made headlines by being accused of cross-dressing while in high school, spending numerous nights in a girl's dorm over a six-year period, being confined to the "closed" section of a mental hospital, spending time in and out of prison from 1989 to 2005, sleeping with the senior pastor while serving as an associate minister at her church, and hosting an adult Web site.
• Click here for story
• Click here for adult site

The disgraced author and speaker has reportedly fled to Liberia and opened an online store selling genuine replica Rolex watches. Watkins' escape and start-up cash was provided by a wealthy Nigerian widow of the country's former treasurer.
• Click here

And, incidentally, Happy April Fools Day!



Saturday, March 29, 2008
liberal republican, conservative democrat or . . .

I've never been sure who I am politically. Am I a conservative Democrat, a liberal Republican, or an schizophrenic Independent? Apparently I'm a "progressive evangelical"—at least according to Jim Wallis who has organized a "
Justice Revival" April 16-18 in Columbus, Ohio. Thirty of that city's largest evangelical churches are sponsoring the event.

Wallis explains, "A whole generation of young evangelicals believes that Jesus would probably care more about the 30,000 children who died again today—as they did yesterday and they will tomorrow—from preventable disease than he would about passing a gay-marriage amendment in Ohio."

I'm definitely an evangelical theologically in that I believe that Jesus is God's Son and that the Bible is His Word. And, politically, . . .
• I oppose abortion
• I oppose same-sex marriage

But at the same time, I . . .
• I support civil unions
• I oppose capital punishment
• I support HIV/AIDS programs
• I support global relief programs
• I've been opposed to the Iraq War from the beginning
• I oppose prayer in public schools
• I support gun control
• I oppose the idea that God votes Republican—or Democratic

So, I'm either a progressive evanglical—or a complete political schizophrenic who can't decide who to vote for this November!



Friday, March 28, 2008
'it is well with my soul' . . . the rest of the story

You've probably heard the famous story of Haratio Spafford writing "It Is Well with My Soul" following the death of his four daughters. The story goes that as he sailed across the area were their ship went down and they drowned, he wrote the popular hymn.

Well, some of that may be true, but there's much more to the story before and after the song!

• Click here for the rest of the story



Wednesday, March 26, 2008
'mistake,' lie or hallucination?

Here's how the AP is reporting Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's explanation of her story that she came under sniper fire while on a trip to Bosnia—when the video tape proves otherwise:


Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she made a mistake in claiming that she came under hostile fire in Bosnia 12 years ago, as rival Barack Obama's campaign continued to challenge her credibility.

In a recent speech and interviews, the New York senator described a harrowing scene in Tuzla, Bosnia, in which she and her daughter, Chelsea, had to run for cover as soon as they landed for a visit in But video footage of the day showed a peaceful reception in which a young girl greeted the first lady on the tarmac.

Clinton told reporters in Pennsylvania on Tuesday that she erred in describing the scene, which she now realizes after talking with aides and others.

"So I made a mistake," she said. "That happens. It proves I'm human, which you know, for some people, is a revelation."

Hmmm? In my thinking, a "mistake" is claiming you visited Bosnia ten years ago, when it was really 12. That's "human" and definitely a mistake.

But when you report something that is totally untrue, you're either a) deliberately telling a lie or b) you really believe it happened—but were hallucinating at the time. Neither is a good option for a potential president.

Just recently, two authors made the mistake of fabricating their memoirs, and their books were immediately pulled from the shelves. The mayor of Detroit and his alleged mistress made the mistake of lying to a grand jury, and are now facing up to 15 years in jail. And several years ago, another Clinton made the mistake of lying to government investigators and was impeached.

Unless Hillary Clinton comes clean and doesn't simply brush it off as being human, her credibility and campaign will be shattered into A Million Little Pieces.

A Million Little Pieces: Frey-ed credibility
• The Hill is alive with 'The Sound of Monica' (1999)

Monday, March 31, 2008: The International Herald Tribune is reporting that Hillary Clinton was confronted in January when Elizabeth Sullivan of The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote that the story couldn't be true because by the time of the first lady's visit in March 1996, "the war was over." Clinton defended her story to Meredith Vieira on the "Today" show at the time. She continued to use the fabricated story in her stump speech until last week when CBS ran actual tape of the peaceful welcoming ceremony.



Monday, March 24, 2008
4,000

CLICK FOR COMMENTARY

Photo from HonorTheFallen.com



Later Monday, March 24, 2008
write thinking from california conference

I’m finally caught up with everything I didn’t get done while at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference (and having Faith and Paul's families here for Easter—what fun!). So here are some of the trends that were discussed at the professional writers’ track:

• The small Christian book stores are being put out of business by both Christian and non-Christians buying their books at Wal-Mart and on amazon.com. The good news coming out of this is that for years, these extremely conservative book store owners were the “gate-keepers” and “censors” determining what publishers did and didn’t publisher. Now, 70 percent of Christian books are sold through large chains and online allowing publishers more freedom to deal with controversial topics.

• Publishers are also being put out of business or being bought up by secular companies. E-books, print-on-demand technology, self-publishing, and blogs are making an end run around publishers. The middleman between author and reader is disappearing.

• When asked why memoirs are hot in American Booksellers Association, but not Christian Booksellers Association, agent Steve Laube observed that ABA memoirs inspire because of human strength and determination to overcome. In CBA—through God—everyone's an over-comer. An incredible story is not unique in CBA." (Great answer!)

Also, some great advice from the "pro panel." Pro indeed! Patsy Clairmont, Robin Jones Gunn, Angela Hunt, Jerry Jenkins and Debbie Macomber. (I had never heard of Debbie, but she's a Christian who writes and has sold over 100 million books in the general book market. Wow!)

• It took me twenty years to become an “over-night success.” Debbie Macomber

• Grow into it. Don't become an over-night success. Patsy Clairmont

• Don't write what you know; write what you love. Robin Jones Gunn

Also, here are some writers' links that may be helpful:

• Writers' resources
• ACW Press' self-publishing resources [I rep them]



Still later Monday, March 24, 2008
top 25 christian sites . . . and five that should be

Several "top" Christian web site lists exist, but most list only their members, so do not accurately reflect true site rankings. Here are the top accurate, authentic, verifiable 25 Christian sites as reported by
Ranking.com as of March 20, 2008.
• Click here



Much later Monday, March 24, 2008
what was olympic committee smoking?!

Why would any sane person select an Olympic venue that a) has one of the worst human rights records in the world, b) is one of the worst countries for pirating software and media, c) is one of the worst in persecuting people of faith and d) has flooded markets with dangerous products (toothpaste tainted with anti-freeze, toys with lead paint and pet food with toxins)? What was the Olympic committe smoking?!

I'm not in favor of punishing world athletes by totally boycotting the games, but a) refusing to participate in opening and closing ceremonies, b) wearing black armbands to make a statement of protest or c) sending Rush Limbaugh over as color commentator all sound like good ideas to me.
• China's treatment of people of faith [off site]
• Humor: Office Olympic events



Monday, February 18, 2008
last issue's topics

• Christian ire over Iranian Christ? Nope!

• "Cure for the wintertime blues"

The Dredge Report: news and skews

• Interest in suicide and death on rise

• Gay rights and Frey writes—deja vu all over again!

• Go west young writer

• Have a meaningful Good Friday and Easter

• Iraq War: five years later

• Larry Norman: only visiting this planet 1947-2008

• Longer boat for tunnel of love?

• "Naughty donkeys" give elephants election advantage

Pagan Christianity argues Church "unbiblical"

• What does God smell like?



Tuesday, April 1, 2008
march's top ten sites

March (February)

 1. Home page / blog (1)

 2. Top 25 Christian Web sites (—)

 3. It's Sunday, but Jesus is coming (—)

 4. Women in ministry issues (4)

 5. "I just want to die" (3)

 6. Top ten reasons I'm not divorcing my wife (2)

 7. Dealing with death and grief (10)

 8. The hidden habit: masturbation (5)

 9. Is it a life or a choice? (7)

10. One nation under the Supreme Being of your choice (6)




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