I was born on 6 August 1956 in San Francisco, California to Janet and (the late) Richard Hovis.
I grew up in Santa Monica, California where I attended elementary, junior high school, and high school (graduating in 1974), in addition to involvement in sports and recreation (Little League +, the Boy’s Club ++). Further, it was in elementary school – St. Augustine’s By-the -Sea Parish School that I found, and made the choice to truly journey with God.
I attended Arizona State University from 1974 to 1977 – seeking to become an architect, however, I was not accepted, and, as such, I graduated with a Liberal Arts degree.
Upon graduation from Arizona State University, I attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and studied City and Regional Planning at the Master’s level. I successfully completed one (1) year in a two (2) year program – I did not complete the Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning – due to personal reasons.
I returned to Santa Monica where I started (October 1979) my career as graphic designer with Exxon Company, USA. I spent five years with Exxon Company, USA.
While working with Exxon Company, USA I was accepted into architectural school – Sci-Arc in Southern California, however, I did not attend preferring to stay with Exxon..
In 1982 I married Laura Flosi and in April 1983 we had our one and only child – Lauren Alain Hovis – a gift from God.
We moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1984 from Los Angeles, where I went to work as a graphic designer with Kitchell CEM (from 1985 -1987).
From 1987 – 1995 I was an independent contractor, and a registered representative in mortgage finance, financial management, graphic design, and drafting.
Further, I attended the University of Phoenix and successfully obtained a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in 1982.
I was also a member of the Scottsdale Jaycees, where I became very involved in community events and projects.
In 1994, I accepted a cartography position with the Defense Mapping Agency in Reston, Virginia. As such, I relocated from Phoenix to Reston.
In 1998, I was accepted and worked as a Visual Information Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2002, I worked as a Support Officer until my retirement (due to a need for shoulder surgery) in September 2018.
Away from my Federal Government service, I have been involved in various organizations and activities in Northern Virginia.
In November of 2011, I married Rebecca Ouellette in Santa Monica, California. I reside in San Tan Valley, AZ with my two hamster - Jess and Timothy, our fish, our lizard - RJ Lizard., and our cats - Pearl and Grey.
As to hobbies, I enjoy playing sports, attending sporting events, mentoring individuals from financial management to hamsters, building models, photography, travel, multimedia design, managing partner for RJ Hamster, and jazz – smooth jazz to a samba or a bossa nova.
Love and God Bless,
Peter – aka RJ Hamster Jo hi
The first half of this verse could be paraphrased as, “When people do not have a godly vision to work toward, they run wild.” This applies to everybody, of course, but it applies in spades to young people because they have not developed the internal restraints that the more mature have. Unrestraint surfaces more quickly in a child, especially if he does not have a set of rules to follow and a goal to work toward. His behavior is likely to be chaotic. It is the parents’ job to place restraints on a youth’s unruly nature and to guide him in the narrow way (Matthew 7:13-14) so that he grows into a happy, functioning adult in society—and, beyond that, into a well-loved and wise member of God’s Family, the ultimate goal.
Notice, however, the last half of this verse: “Happy is he who keeps the law.” Solomon shows us the most beneficial way to bring to pass true human happiness—true fun, real joy: by getting our children to understand and keep the law. The word happy really means “blessed.” As a result of keeping the law, we will be blessed. If children keep their parents’ law as well as God’s law, they will truly be happy.
However, most young people think that keeping the law—doing what is right—is “uncool,” “square,” “boring,” and “nerdy.” This is another of those devilish misconceptions. In this age, virtuous young people are paragons, heroes! God certainly does not consider those who do well to be weird or strange. On the contrary, they are “the apple of His eye” because they please Him.
Unfortunately, a young person in this world is constantly beset by negative peer pressure, and one who worries about what his thrill-seeking peers think of him probably will not do what God says. He is too worried about “being cool” and fitting into his clique. Peer pressure has always been difficult for the young people in God’s church to face. Five days a week, many of them are in public school where they have “friends” that they want to impress—and his cool friends are the ones that urge him to go to the game on Friday night. His most popular friends push him to go to the party at a friend’s house where the parents have gone away for the weekend. It always seems to be members of the in-crowd who drink and smoke.
Yet, God says, “You will be happy if you keep the law.” Parents must impress their children that this world’s notion of fun is misguided, at the very least. Young people need to be taught from an early age that the first thing they should want is to please God, and they can do this if they also please their parents (Exodus 20:12). In this way, they can learn a more godly idea of fun.
Jackson Chourio added to his burgeoning playoff legend, drilling a 2-out, 2-strike fastball from Mason Miller to give the Brewers their greatest postseason comeback in franchise history and a commanding 2-0 NLDS lead.
As the White Sox and Guardians battle in the American League Division Series, it’s fun to look back at the role these two franchises played in the creation of the American League in the first place.
Last offseason, the Rays set out to improve their outfield defense. The result is only the best outfield in Statcast history at turning batted balls into outs.
Tune to MLB Tonight for the latest highlights, interviews, expert analysis and more before and after today’s ALDS games presented by Booking.com, starting at 3 p.m. ET.
Thank you, New Brunswick! This weekend’s crowd brought so much energy, and it meant a lot to see so many of you at the merch table afterward. Every record, CD and hoodie that went home with you helps more than you know.
I get asked a lot how people can support what Keith and I do. Honestly, it’s showing up, waiting in that meet & greet line to say hi, and picking up something from the merch table. Most independent artists would tell you the same thing.
Saying hi after the show at Jazz Alley in Seattle this August
So here’s what I have for you this week:
Signed copies of Music In Me on double vinyl
Fall bundles with hoodies, hats, totes and CDs to pair with the record
Personal video messages, which I’ve never offered before. Keith and I will play a song of your choice, for you or as a gift. We’re only doing five.
Everything ships from Woodstock this week, and US shipping is free on orders over $100.
Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know, brought to you by David Adler. Today, we look at why one player lost his postseason challenging privileges, preview tonight’s ALDS games and take one more look at Jackson Chourio’s epic walk-off.
We’ve already seen an ABS challenge win a playoff game. This one was … not that.
It just wasn’t the time to risk losing a challenge. This is the postseason, and you want to have your challenges when you need them in a big moment. (Exhibit A: Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto flipping a called ball to a game-ending strikeout in the NL Wild Card Series.)
So Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts has taken away Pages’ challenging privileges until further notice — like how a basestealer caught one too many times might lose his green light.
As Roberts put it: “We’ve managed that one going forward.”
Pages, who has won just 42% of his challenge attempts this season (that is not very good), alreadytook one challenge hiatus this year. When the Dodgers went on a seven-game losing streak in August, Roberts addressed the team, Pages included, regarding ABS usage. Then Pages didn’t challenge a single time in the regular season after Aug. 12 — when he lost a challenge on an eerily similar pitch to the NLDS snafu.
We’re sensing a theme here … Nearly all of Pages’ failed challenges this season have been on pitches along the bottom edge of the strike zone.
Not everyone can have a Mookie Betts-type eye at the plate. Maybe a little challenge vacation will help Pages out in the long run.
TONIGHT’S ALDS MATCHUPS
The Rays and White Sox are looking to take commanding 2-0 leads in the American League Division Series. The Yankees and Guardians are looking to even things up — and lucky for them, they both have dominant aces going.
Pitching matchup: Anthony Kay (White Sox) vs. Gavin Williams (Guardians)
The White Sox beat Cleveland’s first ace, Parker Messick, in Game 1. Can they beat another one in Game 2? Williams is the American League strikeout king. He racked up 248 K’s in the regular season, including an MLB-best 11 games with double-digit strikeouts. Williams had 28 K’s in four starts against Chicago — but the Sox won three of those four games.
Starting lineups
White Sox
1. Sam Antonacci, LF
2. Kyle Teel, C
3. Miguel Vargas, 3B
4. Munetaka Murakami, 1B
5. Andrew Benintendi, DH
6. Tristan Peters, CF
7. Braden Montgomery, RF
8. Chase Meidroth, 2B
9. Colson Montgomery, SS
Guardians
1. Steven Kwan, CF
2. José Ramírez, 3B
3. Chase DeLauter, RF
4. Jo Adell, DH
5. Nathaniel Lowe, 1B
6. Angel Martínez, LF
7. Travis Bazzana, 2B
8. Patrick Bailey, C
9. Brayan Rocchio, SS
Key storyline: Can the White Sox go home undefeated?
The White Sox are 3-0 in the playoffs, they’ve outscored their opponents 16-6, and they’ve led at the end of 24 of the 27 innings they’ve played so far. And all of that has been on the road! This fan-favorite team hasn’t even gotten to play in front of its home crowd yet — and if the Sox go back to Chicago with a 2-0 lead in this series, Rate Field will be electric on Wednesday.
Pitching matchup: Cam Schlittler (Yankees) vs. Freddy Peralta (Rays)
Schlittler dominated all regular season. He dominated the Red Sox in the Wild Card Series. Can he dominate the Rays in the ALDS? The Yankees need a gem from their Cy Young favorite to get back into this series against their division rivals. Will Schlittler have a new wrinkle in store for the AL’s No. 1 seed like he did for his start against the Sox, when he threw a career-high number of curveballs?
Key storyline: Can the Rays keep shutting down a Judge-less lineup?
Drew Rasmussen nearly no-hit the Yankees in Game 1. Can their big Trade Deadline acquisition, Peralta, shut down the Bronx Bombers, too? Peralta will be pitching in front of a Tropicana Field crowd like the Rays haven’t seen in 16 years, and he’s been great for the Rays down the stretch. With Aaron Judge still out, Ben Rice & Co. will have to find a way to come up with the big swings like they did in the Wild Card round.
CHOURIO’S WALK-OFF, STEP BY STEP
Jackson Chourio’s walk-off against Mason Miller last night was just awesome (well, except if you’re the Padres). We can’t get enough of it. So let’s take one more look at Chourio’s instant-classic playoff moment from start to finish.
The battle
Chourio had to fight his heart out just to get the chance at one big swing. He was down to his last strike. He had to foul off a 104 mph fastball from the Padres closer — Miller’s fastest pitch of the game — and then somehow lay off an 89 mph slider just below the strike zone right afterwards.
After Chourio took that slider, Miller went back to his fastball. He dialed it up to 101 mph. But this time Chourio was ready. The heater that came in at 101 mph left Chourio’s bat at 110 mph — the second-hardest base hit off a pitch that fast in the postseason since Statcast started tracking in 2015.
Chourio, by the way, is no stranger to hammering playoff heat — last year, he belted a huge home run off a 101 mph fastball from Daniel Palencia in the NLDS against the Cubs. He and Alex Bregman are now the only players with multiple postseason hits off 101-plus mph fastballs in the pitch-tracking era, which goes back to 2008.
The sprint
Chourio’s rocket shot past a diving Jake Cronenworth was only half the battle. The Brewers still had to score the walk-off run. That was up to Sal Frelick, the runner on second base. And Frelick ran for his life.
Frelick reached a top sprint speed of 30.2 feet per second on his mad dash to the plate — anything 30 ft/sec or faster is elite MLB speed — and went from second to home in just 6.59 seconds. Frelick got home so fast that you might have forgotten Jackson Merrill fired a 99.1 mph strike from center field to the plate. That throw got away from Freddy Fermin, but even if it hadn’t, Frelick was already diving past the Padres catcher. (Maybe it was the tight turn around third, like manager Pat Murphy said afterwards.)
Think about everything the Brewers’ walk-off entailed: A 101 mph pitch … a 110 mph hit … a 99 mph throw … a 30 ft/sec sprint. That’s just speed, speed, speed and more speed. What a way to win a playoff game.
The Hank Aaron Award is given to the most outstanding offensive player in the American League and National League every season. Here are all of this year’s finalists:
American League
Pete Alonso – Baltimore Orioles
Yordan Alvarez – Houston Astros
Randy Arozarena – Seattle Mariners
Junior Caminero – Tampa Bay Rays
Willson Contreras – Boston Red Sox
Yandy Díaz – Tampa Bay Rays
Riley Greene – Detroit Tigers
Ben Rice – New York Yankees
Miguel Vargas – Chicago White Sox
Bobby Witt Jr. – Kansas City Royals
National League
CJ Abrams – Washington Nationals
Jake Bauers – Milwaukee Brewers
Pete Crow-Armstrong – Chicago Cubs
Elly De La Cruz – Cincinnati Reds
Shohei Ohtani – Los Angeles Dodgers
Matt Olson – Atlanta Braves
Kyle Schwarber – Philadelphia Phillies
Sal Stewart – Cincinnati Reds
Fernando Tatis Jr. – San Diego Padres
Jordan Walker – St. Louis Cardinals
Fans can vote from now through next Monday, Oct. 12 at 11:59 a.m. ET at MLB.com/Aaron.
Gosar Introduces LANDs Act to Restore Congressional Oversight
of Massive Federal Land Designations
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Paul Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-09) issued the following statement after introducing H.R. 10699, the Legislative Approval for National Designations Act, or LANDs Act, legislation to restore Congress’s role in major federal land-use decisions and rein in unilateral executive action under the Antiquities Act:
“For more than a century, the Antiquities Act has been abused to allow presidents to lock up enormous amounts of public land with the stroke of a pen. That is not how representative government is supposed to work.
The LANDs Act puts the people and their elected representatives back in the driver’s seat. If millions of acres are going to be withdrawn from multiple use, Congress should have a say, stated Congressman Gosar.
“We applaud Dr. Gosar’s introduction of the Legislative Approval for National Designations, or LANDs, Act. Though well-intentioned a century ago, the Antiquities Act now needs congressional oversight for designations affecting millions of acres, especially across the Western United States. As questions about the future of the federal budget and priorities arise, it is critical that Congress has tools to address the size of the federal estate,” added Americans for Prosperity.
“Congressman Gosar’s LANDs Act restores a basic principle of representative government: decisions that lock up vast areas of federal land should not be made without Congress and the people’s elected representatives having a voice,” said Margaret Byfield, Executive Director of American Stewards of Liberty. “By requiring congressional approval for major land withdrawals, focusing the Antiquities Act on actual objects of antiquity, protecting private property, and preserving state authority over water rights, this bill brings much-needed accountability to federal land policy.”
“Massive federal land designations move lands away from their traditional multiple-use management and toward single-use restrictions. Large-scale designations have lasting negative consequences for communities, access, economic opportunity, and the management of our natural resources. Those decisions deserve the scrutiny of Congress and the people’s elected officials. Too much acreage has been locked up by the swipe of a pen without meaningful input hurting recreational access and BlueRibbon Coalition’s members. The LANDS Act restores the rightful balance by ensuring that major national designations receive congressional consideration,” stated Simone Griffin, Policy Director, BlueRibbon Coalition.
“The Antiquities Act authorizes a president to reserve small parcels of land to help preserve landmarks, structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest. Unfortunately, some presidents have used this power to unilaterally take millions of acres of productive land out of use. This goes way beyond what the law was intended for and hurts local communities and the economy. The LANDs Act would help prevent future presidents from abusing the Antiquities Act, including through such extreme land grabs,” added Daren Bakst, Director of the Center for Energy and Environment and Senior Fellow, and Jacob Tomasulo, Policy Analyst, Competitive Enterprise Institute.
“The Antiquities Act has long needed attention due to the sweeping impacts a president can have on rural communities and families with a mere stroke of a pen. We applaud Congressman Gosar for taking up this issue,” noted Ty Bays, President, New Mexico Federal Lands Council.
“The Antiquities Act was intended to protect discrete historic landmarks and other significant objects, not to allow presidents to unilaterally lock up millions of acres of land. Pacific Legal Foundation applauds Congressman Gosar for introducing the LANDs Act. By requiring congressional approval for large land withdrawals, preventing sweeping marine monument designations, and restoring clear limits on what qualifies as an ‘object,’ this bill establishes commonsense guardrails that return the Antiquities Act to its original purpose while restoring Congress’s rightful role in major public lands decisions,” concluded Megan Jenkins, Strategic Research Director, Pacific Legal Foundation.
Original Cosponsors:
Reps. Begich, Boebert, Crane, Hageman, Kennedy (UT), and Stauber
Group Supporters:
Americans for Prosperity, American Stewards of Liberty, Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association, Association of National Grasslands, BlueRibbon Coalition, Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association, New Mexico Federal Lands Council, Pacific Legal Foundation, Public Lands Council (PLC)
Background:
The legislation requires congressional approval for federal land withdrawals exceeding 5,000 acres and places new limits on national monument designations. It would also cap new monuments at 640 acres without congressional approval, require private property owners’ consent when their property would be included within a monument, prohibit the reservation of water rights through a designation, and clarify what qualifies as an “object of antiquity.”
The LANDs Act builds on Interior Department Secretarial Order 3418 and seeks to ensure decisions involving livestock grazing, energy and mineral development, timber, recreation, wildlife, water and other public-land uses receive appropriate congressional scrutiny.
(16) But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. (17) And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; (18) Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. King James VersionChange email Bible version
The metaphor changes from cutting a road (verse 15) to shooting an arrow at a target. The word of truth, the gospel, is the target. If we shoot an arrow at a target, one of three things will happen: 1) the arrow will hit the bull’s-eye; 2) it will go slightly off, left or right, top or bottom, still hitting somewhere within the target area; or 3) it will miss the target completely.
Some Bibles translate verse 18 as “who have swerved” (Revised Standard Version), “wandered away” (New International Version), or “erred” (King James Version) from the truth. None of these translations is complete in capturing the metaphor. When an archer shoots an arrow, it goes straight, but not necessarily straight at the target! If we watch someone else shoot an arrow, where are our eyes pointing? Do they not follow the arrow to the target? That is the point. The arrow is the teaching that the teacher gives, and no matter how straight he gives it, if he is not aiming directly at the bull’s-eye and hitting it, his students’ eyes will not be on the right goal!
The weight of responsibility, then, is heavy on the minister. Not only is he to give plain and clear instruction, but he is also to give instruction that is right on target so his listeners do not get distracted by false doctrine. A minister can be perfectly sincere, but if he points his teaching toward the wrong goal, he will miss the target. Fortunately, our God is faithful and makes every effort to turn us toward the right goal.
These metaphors and illustrations show how important doctrine and the right gospel are. Doctrine forms belief, and belief determines action and character. Minimizing the future aspects of the gospel, for instance, alters our vision of where our lives are headed. The future aspects of the gospel cannot be demoted in priority to second or third place without seriously compromising our Christian lives since it removes the right goal and deflects people away from the Kingdom of God. When people are deflected from the right goal, the teaching of the gospel changes, and God’s creative process begins to wind down and may even stop entirely.
God is concerned about doctrine because it determines what a person is now and will become in the future. As he lives it, it becomes more ingrained in his life and will eventually become indelibly stamped on his character. Then God has a choice, either to give him immortality or consign him to the Lake of Fire. Regardless of how straight we pursue our objectives in life, if we are aimed at the wrong goal, we cannot produce the kind of life—the character—that God wants in His Kingdom. Correct doctrine is eternally vital!
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