Opus 2014-294: The Science of Bachelorhood

I am slowly reading through an old P.J. O’Rourke book called, The Bachelor Home Companion.

I am reading slowly because there is only so much of P.J.’s immature fixation on sex, drugs and booze I can take in one setting.  I am reading because in between the adolescent sleaze there are gems of O’Rourke humor.

The book is an approach to how a bachelor keeps house.  Basically they don’t.  You let the trash pile up until you can’t move around then you move to a new apartment.  Some is standard stereotypes of men so dumb that they put the whole box of detergent in the washing machine and have suds all over the floor.  Others make me laugh. 

“Use the right equipment to clean brushes, rollers, paint trays, etc.  I use the garbage can.” page 104

It is a kind of cruel laugh because I remember my days as a bachelor.

In visiting a bachelor recently I came across something I don’t think he mentioned. 

Bachelors are free to do what they want to do as long as the noise and smell don’t attract the police.  So they try things like using the living room as a place to separate their clothes and leave them in piles because what is the point in folding up underware when you are going to need it soon. 

This bachelor had an interesting spin on food gone bad.  I noticed an unopened block of mild cheddar cheese that had mold growing inside the wrapper.  He noticed me noticing and explained that it was an experiment.  At my puzzled look he said he was waiting to see if the mild cheddar would eventually turn into sharp cheddar.  For a civilized person this is weird.  For a bachelor this is science.

He needs to find a wife to civilize him.

O’Rourke, P.J.  The Bachelor Home Companion.  New York:  The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1997.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-293: Discernment Watch: Drought Does Not Mean Lack of Water, Part 2 of 2

Water shortage has always been a concern in Southern California (SC).  Leaders of the past planned ahead and found solutions.

In this generation, the contracts for control of water ran out and since the people who had been losing their water now wanted that water, the spigot began to dry up.  The Owens valley was developing, they wanted to grow crops.  Arizona was growing, they wanted to build cities and farms.  The next generation of leaders showed vision by building a new aqueduct that runs from Northern California, through the Central Valley, over the mountains and into L.A.  That source is now being limited by the environmentalists.  Water is allowed to flow to the sea instead of diverting it to the unwashed masses of SC.

So we are facing the crisis again.  In the past the leaders of vision have risen to the challenge and brought in more water.  Development continued.  The socialist hacks of today only talk about cutting back and conservation.  That is the different in response between free enterprise and socialism.  The difference is not the problem; the difference is the leadership, or lack of it.

It is not a shortage of water but a shortage of leadership.

Would visionary leadership be able to find water?  Sure.  The problem is that such leadership does not exist in California.  The Progressives insist that progress is bad and that we need to limit growth.  Their answer is for us common people to take cold showers and do it only once a week.  We need to have rock gardens instead of lawns.  We need to stop washing our cars.  We need waterless urinals. 

Actually we need leaders and water.  We won’t ever get one without the other.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-292: Discernment Watch: Drought Does Not Mean Lack of Water, Part 1 of 2

California is having a water shortage.  Surprise?  No.  It is a surprise only to people who have never been here or live here and have a public school education.  These are people who don’t read much, don’t get out much and when they do get out they read their text messages instead of looking out the window.

You see, Southern California (SC) is a desert.  It may not look like it now but in areas that have been left undeveloped you find the ground covered with a sparse collection of desert type plants.  There are areas that have natural water and such, but by in large it is, and in historic times always has been, a desert. 

Deserts are known for their lack of water.  Let’s see now, desert, desert plants, little rain, lots of sun....  To me that adds up to water shortage.

Why is this becoming a problem now?  We are facing a water shortage today because California used to have visionary leaders and now we have socialist hacks.  There was a novel written years ago about the Water Wars that brought water to Southern California.  I could not find it in the time I have and I don’t remember the title but the idea of water shortage in SC is referenced on Wikipedia.  Here is a selection from the first paragraph:

 “As Los Angeles grew in the late 1800s, it started to outgrow its water supply. Fred Eaton, mayor of Los Angeles, realized that water could flow from Owens Valley to Los Angeles via an aqueduct. The aqueduct construction was overseen by William Mulholland and was finished in 1913.”

Notice that this is not a new problem.  People recognized the issue 100 years ago and did something about it.  The solution by the leaders of vision was to find water and bring it to the area they wanted to grow and develop.  They used a lot of methods, some legitimate, others questionable to buy water rights from people who lived far away and had excess water.  The sellers did not have a vision for the future and ended up being sorry they made the bargain.  Los Angeles bought these water rights, built the infrastructure and the result was the miracle of Southern California.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-291: Pumice Proclamation #1

(This proclamation is to be declared throughout the land at the close of the Thanksgiving feast.  Since different families celebrate at different times, you are given permission to apply it on an individual basis.  It is not acceptable to apply it at your house just because you neighbors eat earlier than you.)

Whereas, the Thanksgiving meal has been completed, and

Whereas, the pressure of pent up Advent Alleluias is rising to dangerous levels, and

Whereas, you are going to do it anyway,

I, Pumice, do hereby proclaim that the Time of Christmas Music has begun.

You may now, in all propriety begin playing your Christmas music.

Such dispensation shall last until the last stroke of Midnight on December 25.

Be warned that extending this privilege beyond that moment can be toxic.

Merry Christmas

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-290: Be a Thankful Pharisee

Maybe today is a good day to be a Pharisee.

I am thinking of an observation Jesus made in the Temple when He saw a Pharisee and a publican (tax gatherer) at the altar.  We are used to Jesus’ condemnation on the Pharisee for the attitude he showed in the words,

(Luke 18:11 KJV)  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

The tax collector had a different attitude,

(Luke 18:13 KJV)  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

Jesus condemned the Pharisee and exalted the tax collector.

Again I say, this might be a good day to model the Pharisee.  You see, he got one thing right:  He was being thankful. 

The problem with the Pharisee was that he was being thankful with an Attitude.  If we can put aside the smugness and arrogance it might give us an insight.

What are you thankful for today?  Look around you at others and get a clue.  The Pharisee was simply satisfied that he was such a fine fellow and gave himself the door prize.  If he had looked at the blessings in his life as gifts from God and a reason to give to others I think maybe Jesus would have had a different response to his thankfulness.

Can you be thankful for what he gave thanks for?  Have you been able to avoid cheating anyone?  Have you been fair?  Have you been faithful to your wife?  Have you been that way even though you live in a culture that praises such behavior?  Then maybe you have something to be thankful for. 

Can you say, “Lord I thank you that I am not like other men.”  I would hope so.  I would not want you to be violent, selfish and narcissistic. 

The key is in the target of your thanks.  The Pharisee, though he should have known better, was thanking God that he was such a fine fellow.  We should be recognizing our blessings as gifts from God and thanking Him for being such a Fine Fellow.  I have my bills up to date and food on the shelf.  Is that because I am such a financial wizard or am I grateful to God for providing the job and divine dollar stretchers needed to be in that category?  You can look at any area of life from health to auto repair.  How much is because you are better than the other guy and how much is because there have been a multitude of unseen miracles to make it happen?

I am thankful that I am not as other men, not because I am such a hard worker and clever duck but because God’s hand of blessing has been on me.  I am thankful. 

Another important key is in response to our thanks.  What are we going to do about it?  It is interesting that the season that emphasizes giving comes right after the season that emphasizes thanks.

So rejoice and be a sanctified Pharisee.  Thank God for all that is good in your day and then look for a way to begin sharing the blessing.

Happy Thanksgiving, and after dinner is over, Merry Christmas.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-289: Tax Dollars at Work: “Get Dirty....”

When I first saw the big print I thought is was an advertisement for a new TV series on female mud wrestling or something.  Then I read the smaller print...

“...for the Drought”

It is a good thing I did not Google it.  I shudder to think of all the porn sights that would come up.

This is the response of the Progressives of Kalifornia (aka Democrats, liberals, socialists, elites, Rinos, extreme environmentalists) to the California routine called “drought.”  They want us to stop washing our cars.  That in itself is no big deal but when they keep extending this to other areas of life it will eventually get to areas that effect sanitation and public health.

Instead of looking for solutions they look for drama.

This suggestions points out how out of contact these Progressives are with the common people.  They obviously have never been responsible for washing a car.  They probably have their servants, who are illegal aliens usually, take care of mundane tasks like that.  Those of us who work for a living know that the best way to make it rain is to wash your car.  By not washing our cars we are insuring the continuation of the drought. 

Or maybe they do know that and don’t really want the drought to end.  After all, a crisis gives them more excuses to take our liberties.  For out own good, of course.

For me this campaign of “Get Dirty” is a good excuse to do what I do anyway:  not wash my car.  I joined the campaign years ago.  Not only do I save water, I save money and time too.  It makes my car the last one to be stolen.  It makes it convenient for friends to leave messages by writing on my windows.

It is another great idea of the left.  Paid for with your tax dollars.  Meanwhile the school across from me has installed new grass, a new sprinkler system and timers.  If you get up early enough you can see them doing what we are told not to do:  watering their lawn. 

More of my tax dollars at work.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-288: Cornerstone Considerations: CUSA, The Highest Authority

On my other blog I made some comments on Proverbs in regard to the government.

(Proverbs 25:5 KJV)  Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.

Since that is a devotional blog I don’t want to get into political philosophy and personal opinion as much as I do here.  So I want to dig a little deeper into the struggle of Christians living in an anti-God culture and being led by politicians who mock the standards of God.

I also quoted Paul.

(Romans 13:1 KJV)  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

How are we as Christians to be faithful to the call of God to be righteous and support leaders who reject righteousness? 

As Americans we are in a unique position.  You see, we do not have a king.  We have a president.  We have an elected official who takes an oath of office that reminds us what the “higher powers” that Paul talks about really are.  Here it is as a direct quote from the Constitution, Article II, Section 1:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States."

I submit that the highest power that we obey in the United States of America is the Constitution.  It is not the president, congress or the Supreme Court.

We see this in the oath I took when I was drafted into the army years ago.

I”, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).”

This oath, with slight variations, is also taken by all officers.  Notice it gives supremacy to the Constitution and limits obedience to orders that are legal. 

Is this sophistry?  You be the judge. 

I also have the words of Peter before the Sanhedrin:

(Acts 4:19 KJV)  But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.

Of course there is a difference between political opinion and speaking the truth of God.  We sometimes forget that, but we as Christians need to remember that we have a higher allegiance.  One of the struggles we have in a country and a religion that believes in liberty and individual responsibility is that we have to engage our minds and make hard choices.

Welcome to liberty.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-287: New Terms: Thanksgiving Week

I have just begun a week off school for Thanksgiving.  This is the first year we have had the entire week off and I am looking forward to it.  They take the days and add them at the end of the year, but it is worth it.  This year I am determined to make it a Thanksgiving Week instead of just a Thanksgiving day.

I am going to thank people for what they do.  I started this morning at breakfast.  I told the young man behind the counter that I would not see him until after Thanksgiving but let him know that he and the crew were part of what I would be thankful for.  They make my mornings more pleasant and productive.

As I came in the door I saw two of the regulars on their way to their work in the private sector.  I wished them a Happy Thanksgiving and thanked them for paying taxes. 

Get a week focus instead of a day focus.  Later we will work on a daily focus.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-286: A Rave on Revolution

Change is hard and requires work.  That is why we avoid it.

Sometimes it is forced on us.  A common source of aggravation is technology.  Constant updates and new releases can run the gamete from mildly irritating to “I want to go back to the stone age” responses.  However, I must admit that one of the benefits of getting a new computer or I-pod is it forces you to redo your organization.

When I get a new lap top it often comes with a new operating system.  New operating systems are designed to eliminate some of your old software, forcing you to buy new.  Even if my old word processor will work, I still need to invest my mind in remembering how I tweaked it to get it to do what I want instead of what is the current trend.  My favorite Bible study software has not worked for the last two upgrades of Windows.

Irritating but healthy.  It forces me to try new things and at least get into different ruts.

Perhaps the same thing would help education or the federal government.  We will never fix the pubic education system with first aid.  It requires radical amputations and transplants.  Take that up to the college level.  Most of our publicly funded universities are teaching ideas that are ideologically opposed to the people paying the taxes.  Changing the location of the student union will not fix it.  We need to shut them down and let something new develop.

The federal government needs to take entire departments and make them go away.  Really, why do we need a Department of Education?  Reagan promised to get rid of it.  Others have spoken out against it.  It continues to thrive and use its billions to dumb down education across the country.

How about we sunset everything the government does and require its reestablishment to be voted up or down every ten years? 

I know.  I know.  It will never happen, but a man can hope.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-285: On the Street: Beauty Is No Longer Skin Deep

Whatever happened to the beautiful people?

I noticed it years ago on airplanes.  When I first started flying it was only women serving.  Men need not apply on most airlines and would have been considered strange if they did.  In addition, every stewardess seemed to be a fashion model.  They were young, attractive and easy on the eye.  They fit well in the aisles.  They also had wonderful attitudes. 

No more.  Now they are normal people.  You can’t tell them from the passengers except they get to stand up when the seat belt sign is on.  They often are forced to go down the aisle sideways like many of us that have size issues.  They are definitely not young and attractive. 

Recently I have been noticing it on TV.  I remind you that I do not watch TV on my own.  I have not turned on a TV for personal consumption in years.  I do see things in passing and occasionally am forced to sit and watch or expect a divorce.  What I see does not bring me back.  Leaving aside the insulting content, corse humor and insipid plot lines, what happened to the beautiful people?  I have a vision, recently delivered, of two fat, sloppy men in a seedy bar, drinking beer out of bottles and talking about something.  I think they were two of the stars.  On another pass through the room I saw what appeared to be four women kneeling around a coffee table doing a parody of praying to Jesus.  There was not an attractive women in the bunch and they all could have posed for “before” pictures in a Slim Fast commercial.

It seems that attractive people have gone the way of the nuclear family on TV.  I don’t need super models or perfect families.  Although I have lost weight, I am still considered overweight on the official scales.  No, I would settle for mildly attractive people and families that I would want to be a part of.  By lowering the bar we are creating lower expectations.  Lower expectations drive us to lower the bar again.  If it were confined to TV I could live with it, but it is spilling over into the rest of culture.

I can run, but I can’t hide.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-284: Headlines: The Problem with Moderate Muslims

My I-Pod is on the fritz so I have been forced to listen to live radio.  I heard a soundbite on the hourly news that got my Baloney Sensor to buzzing.  It was in response to a recent beheading by the Muslims in ISIS.  An American Muslim was quoted as being outraged by this event.  If I remember correctly he said, “The Holy Koran says that the killing of one innocent person is the killing of all humanity.”  That is close enough for this discussion.

I don’t remember reading that in the Koran.  That doesn’t mean it isn’t there but if it was it was drowned out by the repeated calls to kill unbelievers.  You need to also be aware that the Koran gives the faithful permission to lie to unbelievers until Islam is in control.  Then you kill them.

Let’s assume that the Koran does contain these words, in that order, conveying that meaning.  Now what you need to understand is how the Koran would define “innocent.”  You need to understand that by definition, if you are not a faithful Muslim you are not innocent.  You are guilty of being an infidel and an unbeliever.  So keep in mind that the statement does not apply to you.  In addition, keep in mind that if you belong to a different branch of Islam you are also not innocent.  That is why it is so easy for Sunni Muslims to kill Shia Muslims.  The Shia return the favor. 

Get a Koran.  Read it.  All of it, not just selected passages.  It could change your life.  If could also wake you up and save your life.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-283: Don’t Ask Me, I Just Work Here

Our society is running in Fieldhand Mode.

I came across this term by putting together the times I work with control freaks and a video I watched that involved slaves hoeing cotton.  There are a lot of parallels.

It doesn’t take long for a slave condemned to a life of mindless labor to realize that he will not be rewarded for hard work and perseverance.  In fact, it is just the opposite.  The slave who worked hard, fast and well was just given more work by the overseer.  Once the achiever had demonstrated what was possible, the other slaves were then driven to keep up with the new pace.  This created a backlash from the other slaves.  You see a similar occurrence with new workers in a union shop.  It takes a bit of “counseling” to get their production down to the level of the veterans.

After a long period of this type of stupefying tedium, the mind settles into a vacuum.  The hands and body go through the motion but the brain exists in another world of day-dream and fantasy.  Originality and creativity go out the window with hope.  The cultural damage is that hard work is associated with slavery and the lower classes and those who can afford it try to find a way to avoid sweat, unless it is in sports or recreation.

Overseers run our society.  We have an oppressive, over-regulated government that seeks to suck as much life blood out of every subject as possible.  Taxes are raised to the point where people refuse to invest.  Regulation strangles attempts to be innovate and creative.  The boss man sits under his office tree with his regulation whip in his hand and dares you to try to rise above mediocre.  I have heard it said that even the most law abiding, conscientious citizen breaks enough laws every day to be put in jail.  Even the IRS doesn’t know what the tax code says.  All it takes is getting an appointed government administrator mad at you and you are toast.

Thus we keep our heads down and do as little work as possible.  We find ways to do things under that table.  We don’t share our methods.  A day without tripping a rule is a day to celebrate.

I am most familiar with education.  The Overseers in their tofu towers (ivory comes from endangered species) has the whip that can get us fired or worse.  They put out bulletins and standards.  When I was directed to mine on the internet I had to go through three or four levels of links and when I got there found mine started about 450 pages into the document.  And it was small print.  Most of it is gibberish or jargon.  We are too busy to read it, let alone put it into practice.  We worry about being confronted but the Aristocrats of Administration are afraid to push too hard.  There might be rebellion in the ranks.

Or a child commenting on the naked king.

Will the Elites regulate the internet?  Will they get us out of our cars?  Will they destroy marriage?  They are well on their way.  Most of us are field hands.

When the rebellion comes I pray that it will have limited violence.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-282: Cornerstone Considerations: CUSA, Invasion

We are being invaded and the Federal government is looking the other way.

I commented on this part of the Constitution before in regard to the last phrase dealing with domestic violence.  Another issue this deals with is invasion.  To lay some groundwork I thought I would look up the meaning of invade.  Here is what my computer dictionary offers.

“1 enter (a country) as or with an army so as to subjugate or occupy it. 2 enter in large numbers, especially intrusively. 3 (of a parasite or disease) attack and spread into (an organism or bodily part). 4 encroach on: his privacy was being invaded.”

Notice that it says “as or with an army”.  It does not actually require armed soldiers to invade according to this definition.  Under this definition we are being invaded.  Our borders are leaking like it was planned to be that way.  In addition to the majority that are probably just looking for a better life you have significant numbers of criminals coming to extend their destruction of society to our culture.  We have too many terrorists walking in with violence in their hearts.  We have social agitators coming to claim the Southwest back for La Raza.  We have unscreened children, loaded with disease being distributed around the country.

It is an invasion and the Federal Government has a responsibility.  Again, we read in Article 4, Section 4 of the Constitution: 

“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence.” (emphasis added, and needed)

We have just finished an election cycle.  There were many issues that people were concerned about.  One of them is a rational defense of our sovereignty as a nation.  We need immigration.  We need the energy and ideas of those seeking to join the American way. but what we have now is not working.  The system for legal immigration is broken.  It is too hard for legitimate immigrants to do the paperwork.  The defense against illegal immigration has been destroyed. 

We need immigration.  We do not need invasion.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-281: Elections Results?

Maybe I should look to see how the elections came out in my state.  Nah....this is California.

It occurred to me that I never did check to see who won in our election.  I could have at least checked on the propositions and judges.  I think that one reason I have not done so is I don’t need water thrown on an day that was positive overall. 

“As California goes, so goes the nation.”  I hope not, for your benefit.

Save a space for me when we are forced to flee.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-280: To Party or To Remember?

So much for a three day weekend.

Remember the phase we went through when all holidays were being moved to Monday or Friday so we could have three day weekends?  Maybe you don’t remember it being any other way.  Veterans Day has been moved back to its original date and away from the weekend.  I am good with that.

There is an historical reason for the date.  World War I was officially ended on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  It was to honor the end of the war, not to give union workers a longer weekend.  By moving it back to the original date it gives people a chance to be grateful for those who have served.

I was in Vietnam.  I was not a warrior.  I did not experience the worst.  My only regret is that after we won the war in spite of the news media’s claim to the opposite, a Democrat congress cut off funds and hung the people of South Vietnam out to dry.  We are now in the closing moments of doing the same to Iraq.  I hurt for the families who lost loved ones fighting the good fight, only to have politicians give away the store.

Remember the day as honoring those who risked their lives to protect our freedom.  Some lost the gamble.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-279: The New Marie

Someone mentioned Marie Antoinette recently.  She is the archtype of aristocratic arrogance, or she used to be.  The story, possibly apocryphal, is that when the common people of Paris were rioting because they had no food she asked what the problem seemed to be.  When her servants told her the people had no bread, she is reported to have replied, “Then let them eat cake.”

Arrogant.  Out of touch.  Naive.  Pick your adjective.  Notice that I hinted that she might have lost her position in history.  It is possible that our current president has replaced her.  He now has such parodies of his work day that he is called “Golfer in Chief” and “First Golfer.”  Nero fiddled while Rome burned.  Obama putts what the United States crumbles.  My wife just informed me that he planned to be in China on Veterans day, has again put on local costume and is bowing to foreign leaders again.

The election is over.  It is time to get serious.  It is time to respond to the voters.

I am not so naive to think that people have fallen in love with the Republican party.  I do believe that they are tired of what the Democrats have produced.  Republicans need to wake up.  They were elected because they stand in contrast to what the liberals have pushed.  They were elected because they are more conservative.

We have voted the suckers out.  Now produce the policies that will free up the economy and let people work.  Give them back control over their health choices.  Stop the invasion of armed and diseased foreigners.  Stop trying to regulate everything and adding the internet to the list of federal trophies. 

The people who voted don’t want cake or promises of cake.  They are hoping for change.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-278: On the Street: Trash Culture

We live in a trash culture.

It was about 6:30 A.M.  I was driving to work, taking streets because the freeways were slower.  I turned a corner after waiting for a green arrow that was totally useless most of the day.  As I turned I saw a young man casually throw a cup on the ground as he was walking.  It looked like a coffee cup.  He was obviously heading for work or school so we are not talking about a homeless person.  To him the area around him was a trash can.

We live in a trash culture.

Have you ever driven through an underpass and seen old couches and appliances piled up?  People got a new one and needed to get rid of the old one.  All they have to do in the urban area I live is call the people who pick up trash and they will schedule a pick up.  Instead they haul the lump to an area where no one will see them and dump it off.  Sometimes they are so lazy that they just leave it in front of a neighbor.

We live in a culture of trash.

It starts in our schools.  It isn’t universal but there are certain groups of children that are already trash dispensers.  It is not accident or ignorance.  I have had periods where I have policed the room, made sure things were tidy and lost my focus.  Several students will take the paper they have torn up and stored in their books and dump it on the floor on their way out as another will distract me with a question. 

If you go through the quad after lunch you will see trash spread out over the entire area.  A large offering is spread within easy reach of a trash can.  That can be picked up by their servants.  What can’t be picked up is the gum they throw on the walkways.  It stains and marks the concrete so it looks like a case of severe measles.

We live in a trash culture.

Some of the syndrome is individual.  More is cultural.  When I would drive across Los Angeles from my home to the hospital where my wife was having her surgery, you could tell when you went from one cultural area to another.  One had trash everywhere, grass growing out of every crack and black spots on every section of concrete.  A few blocks away everything was neat and clean.

All cultures are not the same.  They are not equal.  We need to decide what kind of culture we want to live in and begin exerting pressure to make it happen.

The trash stops in my cultural area.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-277: Grid Lock-out

We are living off grid.

It wasn’t planned that way, at least not by us.  The guys in the power company trucks say we were warned by mail.  The electricity went off around 9:00 A.M. and will not come back on until 5:00.  This is one of those low level events that are good preparation for a real disaster.

It makes me think of another reason for being prepared:  Monopoly created crisis.  Here it is the power company.  Tomorrow it might be the water company.  The government could strike at any time. 

It is interesting to me that they are doing this in a residential neighborhood on a weekend.  It would seem more considerate to do residential on week days and business on weekends.  I guess monopolies don’t need to worry about their public image.

What is really irritating is that this takes out my internet and I left my smart phone with its hot spot at work.

I know, I know:  First World Problems.

I guess in this crisis I might go shopping.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-276: A Pre-Thanksgiving Moment

There are times I treasure the rush hour traffic and crazy drivers.

This morning I found myself with my anger rising and was reminded of a passage of scripture that I spend time considering on most work days.

(1 Corinthians 11:23-4 KJV)  For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

As you can see this is part of the tradition of communion that is celebrated by most Christians around the world.  I read over and meditate on this each morning as I get ready to eat my bread and drink my coffee.  I have a mini-communion moment, if you will.

What hit me as I was driving was that Jesus paused before He even broke the bread and had a moment of thankfulness.  He did this knowing that Judas was sitting at the table preparing to sell Him.  He was thankful knowing that Peter would deny knowing him in a few hours.  He gave thanks knowing that the cross was coming.

With that in mind, can I really get upset by people driving like bats out of Hell?  I began to be thankful for the time I had to prepare for my day.

That brings to mind another scripture that explains why this can happen.

(Psalms 119:11 KJV)  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

If it ain’t stored, it can’t be recalled.

Spend some time reading the word and some day reap the benefits.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-275: The Little Red Hen and the Apostle Paul

Harry Reid had an interesting response to the sweeping losses by the Democrat party on Tuesday.  He said that this was an indication that the country wanted us to work together.

Now, let’s see.  When the Liberals (Progressives, leftists, elites, Democrats, socialists, Rinos, etc) win it is a mandate by the people to push their agenda.  When they lose it is an indication that we are supposed to cooperate.  Hmmmm...

Sounds like the “half loaf” theory of politics that is so common with the left.  In this theory we are told it is only fair that we compromise and divide our loaf of bread with them.  In the spirit of compromise and because of Biblical mandates to share, we give them half of our loaf.  They immediately move the line of scrimmage and now focus their attention on our half of the loaf.  They say that we need to learn to share and demand half.  We resist.  They get the news media talking heads to begin a smear campaign accusing us of every evil thing in the book and some that are not.  They finally wear us down and they get half of our half.  It is now time to move the goal posts.  They look at our bread and call for fairness and an end to partisanship.  They demand half of our loaf. 

Do you see where this is going?

When are we going to learn to adopt the Little Red Hen as a role model?  When it came time to eat the bread she quoted the apostle Paul,

(2 Thessalonians 3:10 KJV)  For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

I say that if we can find a place where the Little Red Hen and the Apostle Paul agree it behooves us to pay attention. 

If you are still not convinced, remember the words of our Golfer in Chief at an early meeting designed to give the impression of being bipartisan, “We won.”

Beware the Ides of Bipartisanship.  I urge the Republicans in congress to act like winners and not whiners.  The country did not vote for cooperation, they voted for Change and a chance to Hope.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-274: Change Looks Me in the Eyes

Spring forward, fall back. 

I think life would be better if we would stop this ritual.  I think we would be better off with the slow adjustments that come from the natural rhythm than we are with this jarring change.

My biggest gripe is sun in my eyes.  Every year I go through the danger of driving into the sun.  It makes it very hard to see.  I adjust.  Then, just about the time I have gotten past the bad time we change the clocks and I have to go through it again.

Maybe this is just me being selfish but I doubt if I am the only person who has to go to work in the morning.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-273: Duty Calls

I am voting today because I am a responsible citizen, not because I think it will make any difference.

You see, I live in the People’s Republik of Kalifornia.  We have Governor “Moonbeam” Brown as our leader.  I do not have one elected official representing me that I voted for.  None.  Even the opposition is questionable.  The man we have running against Governor Moonbeam refused to respond to the questions that the NRA sent him to learn his position on the second amendment.  He is also a Rino on other issues.  He might have a chance but that still would not give me anyone I can trust in government.  In addition, we have a host of initiatives to vote on that will increase the deficit and lower the quality of life.  I expect to lose on those too.

I am still going to vote.  It is a duty.  It is a responsibility.  It gives me the right to complain.

I can’t wait until I can retire and leave this state.  Where do I go when my country drinks the Kalifornia Kool-Aide?

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-272: Discernment Watch: Greed vs Benevolence

One of the big mind-manipulators of the left is that they “care.”  I wish they didn’t.

I don’t trust people who want to help me for my own good because they care about me.  I prefer simple self interest and shun philanthropy.  Why is greed better than benevolence?  Because you can understand greed and know what is at stake.  You know the rules of the game and you are free to play your cards to your own advantage.  That way both can benefit.  The elites wants to do what is best for you, even if you don’t want it.  In most cases, you lose.

It is about control and power, not helping.

Solomon gave us an insight into this. 

(Proverbs 12:10 KJV)  A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Who are the wicked?  People who don’t believe there is objective right and wrong.  People who reject the God of the Bible and bow at the god within them.  People who think they are wiser than the values that have been around for years.  The people who know what is best for you.  They come in all political stripes. 

Beware of the person who claims to want to help you at no benefit to themselves.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-271: The Evil of Tuck

The liberals must be getting anxious in the People’s Republik of Kalifornia.  The teachers’ union put a hit piece in my box about the Superintendent of Instruction.  This is not the first and may not be the last.  I value these pieces of information because they give me a clear indication of how I should vote.  If the California Teachers’ Association and the National Education Association tell me to vote for someone I vote for the other guy.  Simple.  Almost foolproof.

What has Marshall Tuck done that makes him evil in the eyes of the teacher’s unions?  He has taken money from people who have money.  Nasty person.  Everyone knows politicians are only allowed to take money from the teachers’ unions.

On the front they are listed by label.  He has taken money from an oil tycoon, real estate developers, an Enron trader, the Wal-Mart heirs, hedge fund investors and venture capitalists.  Now tell me, if you wanted a group of people that wanted a stronger, more prosperous California with lots of well educated graduates to take the jobs they are providing and make them money, could you think of a better group than an oil tycoon, real estate developers, an Enron trader, the Wal-Mart heirs, hedge fund investors and venture capitalists?

On the back it gives names and amounts and refers to evils such as “secret super-PAC” and “for-profit charter” schools.  These people are also guilty of “corporate education reform.”  It is interesting that at no place on the hit piece are people identified who put it out. 

Sounds like my kind of man.  Thank you CTA and NEA.

November 4 is coming.  Vote the suckers out.

homo unius libri