What does God say about friends?

In my last video blog, I talked about love and that God wants us to love all people no matter who they are or what their lifestyle is.  I also talked about why it is so important for us to love everyone.  Yesterday, I completed a new video blog about friendship and what God says about friends.  Does God want us to be friends with everyone?  The answer may shock you.  In this video I will show you what God says about the friends we should have as I drive up I-75 in Ohio on my way to Canada.  You can watch this video blog on my youtube page at:  http://tinyurl.com/jjos11149   Love, The Oklahoma Tomcat

The Importance of loving your neighbor.

OKAG

This is the cached copy of http://www.oda.state.ok.us/forms/ogc/grg.pdf.

Flu Shots Put Children in the Hospital

Flu Shots Put Children in the Hospital S. L. Baker, NaturalNews.com July 14, 2009 (NaturalNews) At the 105th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society recently held in San Diego, researchers presented a study showing that the flu vaccine â€" widely touted as a "must have" for children with chronic illnesses â€" isn't effective in preventing influenza-related hospitalizations in children, especially ones with asthma. But here's the most damning evidence that flu shots aren't the safe, helpful vaccine the Centers for Disease Control ( CDC) and other government agencies claim: the researchers also found that children who get the flu vaccine are more at risk for hospitalization than their peers who do not get the vaccine. Scientist Avni Joshi, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told the meeting, "The concerns that vaccination may be associated withasthma exacerbations have been disproved with multiple studies in the past, but the vaccine's effectiveness has not been well-established. This study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the TIV (trivalent inactivated flu vaccine in children overall, as well as the children with asthma, to prevent influenza-related hospitalization." The children were harmed by influenza vaccines To see if the vaccine actually reduced the number of hospitalizations for all children, especially those with asthma, over eight consecutive flu seasons, Dr. Joshi and his research team conducted a cohort study of 263 children. All the youngsters had been evaluated at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota between the ages of six months to 18 years and each had had laboratory-confirmed flu between 1996 to 2006. The scientists documented which of the children had been vaccinated against the flu, and those that had not received the flu jab. The kids' asthma status was also noted along with records of and who did and did not require hospitalization. Then the investigators checked the records for each child research subject to see who had been vaccinated before experiencing a flu-related episode that lead to a hospitalization during that illness. The results showed that youngsters who had received the flu vaccine had three times the risk of hospitalization, as compared to children who had not received the vaccine. For kids with asthma, there was even a higher risk of hospitalization in subjects who received the flu shot. No other measured factors, which included insurance coverage or severity of asthma, was found to impact the risk of hospitalization. So does this raise a red flag against vaccinating children, especially those who are asthmatic, against the flu? Incredibly, despite the findings of his own study, Dr. Joshi refused to find fault with the flu shot. "While these findings do raise questions about the efficacy of the vaccine, they do not in fact implicate it as a cause of hospitalizations," Dr. Joshi said in a statement to the media. "More studies are needed to assess not only the immunogenicity, but also the efficacy of different influenza vaccines in asthmatic subjects." The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) continue to recommend annual influenza vaccination for all children aged six months to 18 years. Moreover, the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (3rd revision) pushes annual flu vaccination of asthmatic children older than six months. However, as reported last fall in Natural News (http://www.naturalnews.com/024624.HTML) there's little evidence flu shots work for youngsters. . A large study reported in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews of 260,000 children between 23 month and six discovered that the flu vaccine is no more effective that a placebo. http://www.naturalnews.com/026612_asthma_the_flu_flu_shots.html

Love those who hate you

"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you."   Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. How is everyone doing? I pray that everyone finds this blog in good health and spirits. I have been hearing a lot of people criticizing the administration for the decision to hold a Muslim burial ceremony for Osama Bin Laden. I have even heard many conservative talk radio hosts criticizing this.  I am about to show everyone that even though I am a conservative, I don't always believe as the majority of conservatives believe. I challenge all things.   First of all, how the dead is treated after death is for the living. Not the dead. I know for a fact that after Osama's spirit left his body, what we did to his body was his last concern. His spirit had many other things it was concerned with. So, what would be the purpose of disrespecting his body be?  To show the Muslims how much we hate them?  Is that what Jesus taught us to do?  The second thing is that we are called to show love to ALL people.  Even those that hate us and want to kill us.  It is through this love that people see God and know that we are His children.  Anyone can hate and seek revenge for their enemies.  All you need to do that is human nature. But it takes much more then human nature to show love to someone that hates you. Much much more then human nature. It takes the Holy Spirit and God's love. When people see you act with this much love it makes then stop and think. They know that there is something special about you. No, not everyone will turn around and start loving you. In fact, you will be attacked even more and you will have even more enemies. But, yours isn't to end evil but to turn the hearts of those that can see God's love.   The United States is supposed to be a country that operates on Christian values.  It is sad enough that we have to fight as a nation, but as long as we are in human flesh, there will always be people who wants to hurt innocent people and these people must be stopped.  But in the process of stopping these people through war, we can still hold Christian values by not seeking revenge for our own satisfaction. Instead, we can show love, respect and forgiveness. What the Navy Seals did wasn't at all in the flesh. Human nature would have wanted to disrespect Osama's body laying just inches in front of them as what our enemies would have done to us. But the Seals didn't fall to the temptation of their flesh. They went with what the Holy Spirit said and showed love. This is what Jesus taught us to do. This is why I say that even though the United States makes mistakes, we are still the good guys. I am proud to be an American.  Take care and God Bless.   Love, The Oklahoma Tomcat   You can find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/oktomcat You can follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/oktomcat You can read all my blogs at http://theoklahomatomcat.blogspot.com/

Online scammers jump on bin Laden news

From KRMG   By BARBARA ORTUTAY The Associated Press NEW YORK — Online thieves and Spammers are using the killing of Osama bin Laden to send out malicious software and spam to unwitting Internet users. In what's become common practice among the Internet's less savory citizens, these scammers are sending out emails and spreading Facebook posts that purport to be videos or photos of the dead bin Laden. They are not. But by clicking the links, users can download computer viruses that steal personal information or otherwise infect their computers. Computer security firm Symantec says one spam email contains a link to bogus photos and videos purporting to be from CNN Mexico. Instead, it directs people to a scam site designed to look like the real thing but created to steal passwords. Some Facebook users also fell victim to fake bin Laden links that then spread the links to their friends' pages on the site. The FBI warned Internet users of the scams Tuesday. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama said he has decided not to release photos of the dead bin Laden because they could incite violence and create national security risks for the U.S. That didn't stop Internet scammers from spreading fake, doctored photos to lure people into giving away their personal information or downloading the troublesome programs known as "malware." Symantec senior manager David Cowings said Spammers are "pretty opportunistic," using everything from scare tactics to celebrity gossip to pandering to mere raw curiosity to send out their messages. Some of these Internet ruses pre-date the nearly decade-long hunt that culminated in bin Laden's death. "They'll frequently spoof well-known news organizations to make (the) email more legitimate," just as they did in the case of CNN. Avoiding scams is best done by practicing "good Internet hygiene," Cowings said. That means avoiding questionable sites by reading their URL, or address, from left to right. Sometimes the first few letters of a site will look legitimate but subsequent ones will raise red flags. Also be suspicious of sites prompting you to install video-viewing software or antivirus protection. Sometimes bad links will be packaged with a prompt to download something, saying your software is not up to date, Cowings said. It's safer to go directly to the website that offers the software. Common sense is another good tool. Is your staid college professor writing "LOL, check it out!!!" on a Facebook link? If it's not characteristic for a person to write that way, chances are they didn't type it. Having up-to-date security software is also crucial. This can protect your computer from viruses even if clicking on a bad link that attempts to download malware.

Our trip to New York

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. How is everyone doing? I pray that everyone finds this blog in good health and spirits. Everything is going good here. I am now in Dallas, TX waiting to get another truck. I returned to work May 5th.   Our trip to New York went very smooth for the most part. The drive up there was a little rough because of all the storms and it took longer then I planned. The trip also cost a little more then expected because of the hotels we had to stay in on the way up there. But the good news is that my pay checks did turn out good and we did allow for the extra time it took to get to New York and back.   My father looked pretty good while we were visiting him in New York.  He seemed to be his same old self. I thank everyone for your prayers. I heard that he wasn't doing very good at all. The doctors have increased his medications which is why he was doing so good. Our visit was very good. It has been a long time since I saw my family in New York and everyone loved Paula and my children. Paula also loved my family and said she sees where I get my crazy attitude from. Having my wife and family get along and have fun is wonderful.  My father did get to take Paula out on the motorcycle. She loved the ride. My father took her to all the places that I grew up in.  Paula loved Sullivan County, NY. I am hoping that we are able to get up there in the fall but I will have to see. I am due for a vacation this summer.   We left New York on May 2nd and headed to Dallas, Texas were I had to check back in for work. We didn't hit any major storms on the way to Texas but we did see a lot of flooding and areas that was hit by tornadoes.  As I watch the news, I see many of the flooded areas are getting worse. Please keep the people who are affected by the floods in your prayers. I got to Dallas on the 5th and they didn't have a truck for me yet. So, I have been driving brand new trucks from Denton, Texas to the Werner Terminal in Dallas, Texas. I am glad that they were having me do this because the pay for transporting the trucks is better then just sitting and waiting on a truck and it keeps me busy.  I will be transporting more trucks this Monday. I do hope that they will have me a truck Monday evening though. I am eager to get back on the road.  I hope that the truck I get will be in good shape and runs good.   After dropping me off on the 5th, Paula and the kids headed up to Oklahoma. They visited a very good friend in Davis, Oklahoma and then they will head back home on Monday.   Well, That is all I have for now. I will either write another blog later this week or I will do a video blog. I am unable to do a video blog while in Dallas cause my Internet connection isn't good. Take care and God Bless.   Love, The Oklahoma Tomcat   Read more of my blogs at http://theoklahomatomcat.blogspot.com/ Check me out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/oktomcat Follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/oktomcat