Opus 2016-88: Critical Mass: The Death of Courtesy

Society has many bumps and potholes.  What happens when those potholes become sinkholes?  What happens when a small blip reaches Critical Mass.  Today I want to talk about courtesy or the lack of it.

My life was made difficult today by two ladies.

One was a little old lady who cut me off in the parking lot.  It was totally unnecessary.  The lot was mostly empty but she had to turn in front of me so she could get out of her car and beat me to the counter.  I didn’t honk or gesture.  I was calm and dignified.  Irritated, but dignified.

Then as I approached the door of the bakery I held the door for a lady.  She was one of those people who probably has diabetes because of weight and exercise issues.  She was having a hard time walking.  I felt her pain.  I was far enough ahead that I could have ignored her, but I held the door and waited for her.  She said, “Thank you”.  So far, so good.  What I do when people are courteous like that is wave them ahead.  Others have done the same to me.  It is mutual courtesy.

Not her.  She hurried to get in line ahead of me.  No big problem but an indication.  What was a problem was that she began a long litany of an order with many small details and questions.  I waited while the lady who cut me off and her friend completed ordering and moved on.  I placed my order and received my bread and coffee.  I went to my seat, filled my cup and tracked down some butter.  The lady I held the door for was still ordering.

Courtesy would have not moved to the head of the line.  Courtesy would have known that they would be holding up others who are waiting and let me go first.  Courtesy is a choice.  Fewer people are choosing it.  When the choice reaches critical mass it will be another sinkhole for our society.  People will be forced to get aggressive to survive. 

I may soon add myself to the growing crowd of people who have given up on courtesy.  I am not there, nor does my Bible allow that option, so I am stuck.  But I might start looking for loopholes.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-87: Locust Steaks

One of the plagues that has been a scourge of mankind is locusts.  There are stories of swarms of locusts that blot out the sun.  They eat everything that is green or has food value.  I have seen video of them carpeting the ground so you could not walk without squish.  It has been a problem.

Why not apply some thinking outside the box and apply modern technology to the problem.  Let’s make some lemonade, locust flavored or not.  Why don’t we develop ways to harvest these multiplied billions of pests and use the protein for food.  If we can do it with tofu and soybeans we should be able to do it with locust.  We make other common crops to taste like anything we want.  We could make steaks out of locusts and it would be real protein.

In the past we have poisoned them as pests.  In the future we could harvest them as hamburger.

Answers are all around us.  There are many things we don’t think about that are pointed out in the Bible.  Keep in mind that locusts are not only edible, they are kosher.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-86: New Terms: Phoney People

I hate telephones.  I didn’t hate them when I was a child or a teen.  I am not sure when the feeling started but it is strong today.

What is different?  When I was young we did not have telemarketers like we do today.  Phones were tied to a location by a chord and took time to dial.  You could get away from them.  Phone calls cost money based on how often, how long and how far so you thought twice before picking up the handset.  All of these facts made telephones less invasive.  It kept them useful tools instead of masters.

But there are other issues that turn me off.

I refuse to join the mindless masses that fixate on a piece of technology.  Next time you are in a restaurant look around.  You will see entire families on their cell phones or other device.  They are not talking or aware of their surroundings.  Watch people on the streets.  They are always checking their phones for the latest tweet, post or e-mail.  I guess we could call them phoney people. 

I reject being controlled by constant interruptions.

I refuse to give out personal information for the convenience of apps.

I am a dinosaur, I admit it.  Remember that if the scholars are right the dinosaurs ruled the earth for millions of years and would still be in charge if it were not for a giant meteor that took them out. 

I do have a phone.  I call it my wife’s “security blanket”.  It is cheaper than a divorce.  So far.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-85: Forgiveness, Not Fusion

I was listening to Alistair Begg preach.  I don’t remember the context but I made a note that he said, “Jesus did not come to deal with my loneliness, He came to deal with my sin.”  In that one statement Begg pointed out another big conflict between modern culture and Biblical culture. 

The Bible is not a history book.  It is not a book on self-esteem.  It is not a self-help book.  It is not designed to help us make friends and feel good.  It is a book that is presented to deal with God’s attempt to redeem mankind, one soul at a time.  It is a book to deal with the big issue, sin.  Every problem we face is rooted in sin.  It is a condition we are born into and the actions we take.  There is no solution to that in philosophy or science.  We may some day find the key to fusion power.  We may find a way to educate everyone.  We may find a way to pay the federal deficit.  None of that will make much difference because sin will cause us to misuse the solutions.

We face problems like nuclear proliferation.  The problem is not in the science, it is the values behind the science.  Carry that across into everything we are trying to do.  What is the point of having a doctorate in Chemistry is you don’t know it is wrong to poison people?  Why be the master of economics if you don’t accept that it is wrong to cheat people?

I’m sorry.  It may sound trite.  It may sound simple minded.  It may set your teeth on edge but what the world needs is not “love, sweet love” but Jesus.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-85: Celebrate, Observe, Acknowledge, Concede

Take you pick.  Which verb do you associate with?  Today is commonly called Easter Sunday.  Whether you like the word or not, it is the day that the non-Orthodox branch of Christianity set aside to remember and emphasize the resurrection of Jesus.  It is the most significant event in the history of salvation.

(1 Corinthians 15:14 KJV)  And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

Christians celebrate and observe this day.  Many don’t like the word “Easter” so might refer to it as Resurrection Sunday or some other term but they still celebrate and observe.  They acknowledge the history even if they question the etymology. 

My understanding is that even sceptics will concede that Jesus existed and the evidence seems to indicate that at least the people of His day believed He rose from the dead.

So take your pick.

He is risen!

He is risen indeed!

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-84: The Humor of Being a Stranger

I don’t know when it was posted on Hope and Change.  I enjoy the cartoons but I have also gotten into reading the blurbs below.  The one with this cartoon struck me as significant to me as a Christian.  Jarlsberg wrote,

“ And although the electorate is clamoring for "outsiders" in this political cycle, we feel like we're the real outsiders because we can't even identify with most Earthlings anymore.  And not just when it comes to politics, but also cultures, communication, and commonality of purpose. Not just in our own wounded United States, but throughout the world.”

This should describe Christians.  I know it is how I feel when I drive among crazy people or listen to the leadership at our school.  I seem to be surrounded by people with totally different ideas.  I would say ideas of right and wrong but they reject those labels.

Then he quotes the Bible

“Maybe we're just having a bad day. But we feel like strangers in a strange land and, ...

I know that most people think this was the creative writing of Robert Heilein but like many authors he was just borrowing a phrase from the Bible.

(Exodus 2:22 KJV)  And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.

We see the thought repeated in the New Testament.

(Hebrews 11:13 KJV)  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

I have not picked up that Hope and Change is written by someone who is serious about being a Christian.  I can still enjoy his humor and his insights.

We, as followers of Jesus, are aliens.  We are strangers.  We are out of place.  It has always been that way.  It will always be that way.  I don’t like it.  I don’t enjoy it.  I accept it.  I am afraid I don’t identify with Earthlings any more, but then I never did.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-83: Sammy Davis, Jr., a Famous Cuban

You are never too old to learn something new.  Again, the rest of the world has it wrong and my middle school has it right.  After all, we are educators, right?

The rest of the world believes that Sammy Davis, Jr. was born in Harlem.  At my middle school in a Black History Exhibit we saw him identified as Cuban.  I bet you never knew.  I doubt if he knew.  We probably had someone do some research that says he was kidnaped as an infant from Havana and dumped in Harlem.  Maybe we can find that on Wikipedia. 

I know that February is supposed to be Black History Month but somehow we could not it together so we are celebrating on March 25.  Welcome to modern edg-u-ma-ka-tion.

Remember, you heard it here first.  Watch out Breitbart. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-82: Thanks Thoughts: Camelot

I have lived in the fantasy age of history. 

Americans think that the world owes them a living and it is a living that is the envy of most of the people on earth.  When I was a child in th 50's I never had a key to the house.  It wasn’t that my parents didn’t trust me.  The house was never locked, at least the back door.  It was an idyllic age. 

This morning as I was pausing in my routine to thank God for all the blessing my mind turned to all the things that we take for granted.

Health care.  I never had health insurance until I was married.  You didn’t really need it.  Doctors and hospitals would work with you.  The county had a safety net.  We didn’t run to the emergency room every time we got a runny nose.  Today I know that even if I were in poverty I could get the care I need without a federal mandate from Obamacare.

Which makes me think of safe and adequate food.  My biggest brushes with hunger come when I get so involved with a computer game that I forget to eat.  I don’t worry about my water making me sick or my meat being tainted.  If you want to talk about all the “hungry” then why is it that the people begging on the street turn their nose up when I offer to share the food I have.  They want something better.  What a time to live when beggars can be choosers.

A/C is everywhere.  I have a house that an entire village could have lived in during feudal times.

I am not limited in my world by how far I can walk.  Cars are still available and relatively cheap.   Such freedom and variety that provides.

I could go on but that is enough amazement for today.  Forget the Kennedy White House.  We live in Camelot every day.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-81: Headlines: The President Shows His Moves

I have been too busy to follow this as a news story.  All I know is the cartoons I see and the mocking I hear.  Evidently the POTUS went south and did the tango.  It is a free country, but he wasn’t in this country.  He is entitled to dance the tango if he wants but he needs to come to grips with the understanding that he is representing the United States of America not doing cameo appearances to advertise MTV.

In a way I can understand.  I do the same type of thing at school.  I put on moves like the students.  I wiggle my head when I talk.  I walk like my pants are about to fall off.  I gesture and bob.  I look like a fool.  I know it.  I am not the next Fred Astaire or Michael Jackson.  That is the idea.  It is a part of humor.  It is self-deprecation for a laugh.  It helps me relate to the students who are too young to have a life.

The world is not watching.  If it was I would show some dignity.  I know when I look like a fool.

That makes me one up on the president.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-80: A Letter Gets Past My Defenses

This morning as I listened to Alistair Begg as he read a letter.  It was the kind of letter I hate to hear because it is designed to get at my heart strings and I guard them vigorously.  It was a letter written by a young women who had a terminal condition and the end was approaching.  As I listened I could sense the joy in the young woman’s life because her focus was on Jesus and the hope that was in her. 

The letter was written to her family and the part that got past my defenses was when she said she was always thankful for the family and friends that God had given her.  They had been such a blessing to her.  I was reminded of how blessed I am and how I take it for granted.

As I have described other times I go through a ritual every morning with my baguette and coffee.  They become my bread and cup for a personal Eucharist.   I recite to myself as I hold the piece of sourdough, “The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and after giving thanks He broke it...”   I have a list of things I work through.  I start with the fact that I made it through the rush hour renegades without damage or breakdown.  I am thankful for my family and lift each of them up.  I then work through concerns from internet friends to local needs. 

It is easy for a ritual to become a habit instead of an encounter.  We can get so in a rut, even with good things, that they become ritual in the empty sense instead of ritual saturated with meaning.

So this morning I am reminded, because of a young lady that has died and gone to be with the Lord , that I need to keep my attitude of thanks and trust alive and on the front burner.

It is a good start for the day.

 homo unius libri

Opus 2016-79: Discernment Watch: Hate Crimes and Free Speech

Currently the politically correct crowd is making a big deal of something that they call a hate crime.  If you murder someone that is a crime.  If you murder a person in a special protected class it becomes a hate crime which is somehow worse.  It seems to me that you generally don’t murder someone you love and dead is dead, so I miss the point.  Since I believe that first degree murder deserves the death penalty, I don’t see how you can punish the criminal any more. 

The problem with the idea of “hate” crimes is that it gets into judging a person’s thoughts instead of their actions.  This is the first step toward attempting to criminalize speech that you don’t agree with.  Geert Wilders, a Belgian politician is in court for “hate speech”.  He said something about not wanting Moroccans in his country.  For this he is facing charges.  The trial “pits freedom of speech against freedom from discrimination.”  It will be coming to a court near you.

The purpose of the First Amendment was to protect political speech.  The only kind of political speech that would need to protected would be speech you did not agree with.  Thus it would seem that the Constitution says we have to allow all speech whether it expressed hate or love. 

I was surprised to find that there seems to be some Biblical support for the concept of “hate crimes”?  Check out this verse and the context.

(Numbers 35:20 KJV)  But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die;

The context is how do you deal with homicide.  If you read through it you will find that the concept of different levels of guilt and punishment is laid out.  This verse refers to what we might call first degree murder.  It is deliberate and thought out.  You hate someone enough to plan their demise.  If you kill them in a fit of rage it is a different category.

So yes, the Bible could supply you with the category of “hate crime”, but it is just a matter of definitions.  If you hate someone and lose your temper it doesn’t count as a hate crime.  The emphasis is still on your action.  If you act with deliberation on you hatred, it is a Biblical hate crime. 

We need to stop pushing the thought control that the modern progressives want to institute. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-78: The Old Man in the Clouds

Atheists like to build straw men so that they can pull them down.  One of their caricatures involves God as an old man sitting on a cloud.  They claim Christians are simple minded and lacking in knowledge.  Part of the idea is that we are too experienced and sophisticated today to fall for those simplistic pictures.  In reality they are the ones who show ignorance. 

They refuse to accept that the ancient people knew literary types and recognized the difference between literal and figurative.  Take for instance this example,

(Psalms 36:7 KJV)  How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

The picture is a chicken gathering her chicks under her wings when there is a threat.  I think it is safe to say that the Israelites did not think God was a big chicken.  They knew poetry and history.  They knew metaphor and hyperbole.  They were not stupid, just lacking in technology.  Technology is not based on wisdom.  It is based on time.

If the atheists used the same standard in all of life and applied it to Shakespeare they would say he was a fool because he thought that Lady Macbeth had spots on her hand.  They would think that Aesop really believed that animals could talk. 

No, Christians who actually read their Bibles do not seriously believe that God is an old man sitting on a cloud.  They do not believe He has feathers, hands or a back.  All those are mentioned but the Bible also tells us that God is spirit.  We will be enriched by our literary devises that help us understand, and live by the timeless teaching of the Bible.

They can go with the latest fad.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-77: Latex Gloves Replacing Jackboots

If I am ever arrested I will be in good shape.  I am learning the drill.  Every time I fly I opt out of the high radiation scanner and go for the pat down.  It is an obvious violation of our Constitutional rights regarding due process and probable cause but no one seems to care.  I am getting used to it.  Somehow I don’t think the police will explain each step of the way to me though.

Things must be getting tighter.  This time he checked my hair, maybe looking for explosive lice.  He also had me sit down and checked the bottom of my feet.  Bunion bombs?

If I were single I would retire and either move closer to the children or drive where I wanted to go.  Since I am not retired I will continue to make the acquaintance of a growing list of TSA employees.  Instead of brown shirts and jack-boots they sport blue shirts and latex gloves. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-76: Headlines: Teacher of the Year

I heard it yesterday.  I heard it again today.  I am in the car a lot this week and listening to the radio.  Two days in a row there has been a big story about a teacher who has been arrested for improper behavior with his students.  I don’t know the technical charge.  I have not read the article to get at the details.  There could be much to discover.  It could be all hype or it could be another example of rampant immorality.

What got my attention first was that the teacher had been chosen as Teacher of the Year.  It is amazing how often this happens.  I have heard it before.  The teacher of the year is a pervert.  Obviously this does not apply to all but there are certain details that make it more common than you might expect.  We had a teacher at our school a few years ago.  He was praised for the way in which he got involved with students.  He and his wife had them over for dinner.  He would give them rides home.  He was held up as a paragon of pedagogy.  A few years later he transferred to high school.  A short time after that he was in jail for having a sexual liaison with one of his students. 

One of the problems is that to be teacher of the year you must be popular with administration and other teachers.  That means that a group of people that will be voting 85% for Hillary Clinton in November are deciding what makes a good teacher. 

A second problem is that the teacher must be popular with the students.  I have done informal surveys of students and the qualities that come out as desirable are a cross between an activities director on a cruise liner and a doting grandmother.  As a general rule when students tell me the substitute was horrible, I give them a double thumbs up.

Don’t expect me to ever get teacher of the year.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-75: Thoughts on Bug Squashing

Usually I can squash a bug and think nothing of it.  Today my mind took a detour. 

The little black spot was moving so even without my long range glasses on I could tell it wasn’t something I had dropped.  I changed glasses, got a napkin and grabbed the little critter before he could get away.  I then proceeded to flush him down the toilet.  I guess I didn’t actually squash, I flushed.

I personified and began to wonder what was going through his little excuse for a mind.  Remember that I teach middle school so I am familiar with how little minds work.  Was he panic stricken or did he feel like he was on a wild ride at Six Flags?  Do bugs feel pain or fatigue?  Had I just committed murder?  Was I helping a Buddhist on his way to Nirvana?  Was it really a bug from the NSA and I had broken a federal regulation?  Is this just my way of trying to forget that we could have a choice between Donald and Hillary in November?

I guess I will pour another cup of coffee and worry about it later.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-74: Life Isn’t Easy

I wish that life had more clear choices.  When I come to a T-intersection while driving I have a choice of right or left.  If nothing else works I can flip a coin.  If I find I made the wrong choice it is just a matter of 180 degrees.

It doesn’t seem to work that way in life.

Take the struggle involved in electing a new president.  The Republicans started off the season with a strong bench of good people.  I had a handful that I could have voted for then and a group that I was willing to look at.  Then Scott Walker dropped out.  It became obvious that some of the ones who would make great presidents could not get elected.  Finally we are down to one I like, one I could live with and one I can’t stand.  What happens if the final choice comes down to Trump or Hillary?  Life isn’t easy.

How about finding a church.  There are none that seem to be good enough.  I can find some good preaching but they all seem to have congregations that have drunk the koolaide of contemporary music.  Most that I visit have Ichabod written over the door.  I found a church I could live with.  I got involved.  The powers that be closed it down.  Life isn’t easy.

What about moral choices?  Some decisions are easy.  I don’t murder or rob banks.  But what about the call to legalize drugs.  The government is using the war on drugs as an excuse to take away our rights.  They can arrest, harass and seize property without due process.  They are getting out of hand.  Do I want to legalize drugs like marijuana?  No, but the time is coming when I might vote for it just to get the government out of my business.  Life isn’t easy.

Or what about simple things like food choices.  As you know, if it tastes good it is bad for you.  Is salt good or evil?  Can we eat eggs or not?  Are cows our brothers?  Life isn’t easy.

Maybe in life we need to settle for what we can find.  Maybe.  That doesn’t mean I won’t keep getting on my horse and looking for windmills to challenge.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-73: Election 2016: Lucy’s Football

I need to be careful.  I have been trying to avoid saying, “I would never vote for Trump”.  I am not sure if I have succeeded.  It is how I feel.  I still have hopes that Rubio will grow up, drop out and let the conservatives coalesce behind Cruz.  I still have hopes but not a lot of confidence in the American people.  These are the same people that elected FDR four times, Bill Clinton twice and Bark Obama twice.  They are the ones who keep sending their children to public schools.  They are the ones who think entitlements for them are good but entitlements for others are bad.  Of course they also elected Reagan twice and Jimmy Carter only once.

But what if I am faced with the choice of all the evil that a Hillary Clinton will bring and the totally unknown quality of a shoot-from-the-hip Trump?

My nose is getting sore from all the holding.  I keep saying “Never again”.  And I keep holding the football for Lucy.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-72: God Is My Macrophage

Years ago I taught science.  I learned a lot the first few years as I kept one step ahead of the students.  One of the specialized defenses of the human body that I came across was the macrophage.  It is a compound word meaning “big eater”.  A macrophage is a specialized white blood cell that is designed to have a voracious appetite and kills itself overeating the invaders attacking the body.  Of course it is more complex than that but for middle school students that is enough.

So my brain goes into tangent mode.  I start thinking about the stresses and conflicts that are eating away at my mental and spiritual health.  Sometimes I marvel that I am able to get through a day without someone dialing 911 to have me committed.  In spite of that I think I am stable and productive.  I still have a load of marbles, but they say you are the last one to know when your mind goes.

It occurred to me that the Holy Spirit is acting like a macrophage in my life.  He attacks the evil and sickness.  He consumes the spiritual cancers that want to rage through my attitudes.  He neutralizes the toxins that eat away at my joy.  In reviewing on Wikipedia the information on the macrophage I was interested to find that sometimes it causes inflamation and other times reduces it, depending on what the body needs.  So typical of how God works in or lives.  There are times when stress makes us stronger and times it drains.  Only God knows how to ration it out.

There are so many parallels between the spiritual and the physical you might get the idea that the same God designed both.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-71: Context of Hatred

Sometimes a little context gives a deeper understanding.  Take for instance a verse that we love to quote and sing,

(Psalms 139:23 KJV)  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

What I had not done in my memory is read the verse in context.  The repeated word before this verse:  hatred

The Psalmist is writing about how he hates those who hate God.  He confesses these feelings and then asks God to check his attitude.  Is his hatred sin?  There does not seem to be any indication that it is.

This is not an invitation to violence toward people we disagree with or our pagan culture.  It does point out that strong feelings against those who reject and mock God is a real possibility.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-70: Are You Hetrophobic?

How do you answer when someone asks you if you are “homophobic”?  If it has never happened then you don’t get out much.  It is like calling someone “racist”.  It is meaningless as used and has nothing to do with what is going on, but it changes the conversation and puts you on the defensive.  If you let it.

I choose to reject the manipulation.  So, when a student raises her hand in the middle of a conversation on the Electoral College and asks me, “Are you homophobic”, I have answers ready.

My favorite?  I ignore their question and ask “Are you hetrophobic?”  My theory is that if you can have an artificial term made up by the homosexual lobby you should also have an artificial term coined by the non-homosexual lobby.

Not wanting to learn anything new, she kept asking the question.  I kept repeating my response.  Eventually she gave up and we moved on.  It is amazing how people who don’t want to think try to derail you by asking the latest politically correct question.  I don’t like to play their game.  Instead I change it to my game.

Are you heterophobic?

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-69: New Terms: Negative Interest Rates

I thought this was the bank paying you to borrow.  That didn’t make sense at first.  Then I realized it was coming from the government, not the bank.  It didn’t need to make sense.  It didn’t need to be logical.  It didn’t need to be profitable.

What is it really?  It is a tax on savings.  The government dips into your savings and withdraws a percentage.  It is not a fee.  It does not go to the bank although I assume they will get a fee for the “service”.  It is another penalty dumped on those who have been trying to be responsible.  If you are paying attention to history this is another case of the Obama Administration following the playbook of FDR.  I had been wondering how they would do it.

During the depression FDR noticed that businesses with any money were not investing it.  They could make no plans because they didn’t know what crazy idea that the New Deal Democrats would come up with next.  So they put their money into cash and held it.  Since they wouldn’t spend and thus pay taxes the progressives simply passed a law taxing the money they were trying to keep for the future.  We have seen companies like Apple do the same thing today.  They have cash but since the government makes it so risky with all their regulations and taxes, they are just sitting on it.  So, like the socialist Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Barak Obama decides to steal from the piggy bank and rainy day fund.

In the Middle Ages I am told that banks charged a fee to hold people’s money.  That was to keep it safe.  It was the bank with a large secure area offering to share that security for a fee.  It was not a tax by the government.  It was like what we now consider a safe-deposit box, not a savings account.

So how does this play out?  People will pull their money out of banks and either hide it or send it out of the country.  That will make even less available for borrowing and cause even more problems than we have now.  The economy gets worse.  People panic and ask the government for protection from the evil banks and greedy rich people.  More liberty will be surrendered.

The cycle continues.  Have you also been hearing about doing away with $100 bills to fight crime?  It will also make it harder for you and me to hide any assets we have from the government.  If we go to a cashless economy then the government can even keep us from hiding our money under the mattress. 

The Progressives just keep pushing the socialism.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-68: Elections 2016: Cruz Spoken Here

I am thinking it would help if every blog and website would have a disclaimer identifying the candidates they are supporting.  I know that they all claim to be non-partisan, both on the left and the right, but it ain’t so.

I was looking for results of Super Tuesday.  I kept getting Trump 329, Cruz 231, Rubio 110.  It was presented as the results of Super Tuesday, but it wasn’t.  It was the result to date.  I wanted to know how Cruz did on that day.  I felt he was still in the race but had not done as well as I would have wished.  Then I was looking at a graph showing how the states had gone and noticed that the list started with Iowa.  The numbers were the same as the articles I was reading.  I realized that the media was portraying things to show Trump having a better day than he actually had.  Yes he won, but if you take out the votes before Tuesday the results for the day come out with Trump 237, Cruz 209, which is a lot closer and shows that Cruz is stronger than they want you to believe.  On Saturday Cruz got more delegates than Trump but it wasn’t in any of the leads I read.

Since I am interested in Cruz, I did not bother with the numbers for Rubio.  I imagine the same pattern could be seen.

One site that has at least one contributor who is an admitted Rubio supporter gave an analysis that said something about it you left out Texas and other tweeks, Rubio did better than Cruz. 

It would sure be helpful when I read people’s opinion if I knew where they were coming from.

Cruz spoken here.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-67: March Fools Day

We all know about April Fools’ Day, which is rapidly approaching.  Maybe we need to establish a March Fools’ Day for Super Tuesday.  The foolish are still voting for Trump.  I have to believe these are the same types of people that used to worship at the feet of Obama.  He was going to bring hope and change.  Trump is also using the word change.

Like Obama, the change that will come from Bernie, Hillary or Donald will not be the change people have in mind.  Each one will increase the size of government and suck the life out of the economy.  They, of course, will continue to live in luxury and comfort but the masses will be forced to stand in line for bread and fill out endless forms to be checked by government flunkies who could never survive in a world based on work and talent.

I saw the difference years ago when I took a train from the American style freedom of West Germany across socialist East Germany to Berlin.  I remember how, in the Communist part of Germany, the armed guards on each train platform made sure that no one got on or off the train that did not have government permission.  I remember the dogs and their handlers checking under each car for people trying to get away from socialism.  I remember the island of freedom in West Berlin full of color and life and the drab grey of East Berlin.

I remember but the fools of today don’t.

There is a reason to study history.  There is a reason why modern educators don’t want you to.

I dread a November Fools’ Day

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-66: Election 2016: Diversity Check

The Democrat party claims to be the champion of the underdog, the party of diversity.  This comes from the party of KKK royalty Robert Byrd, the party that started the KKK itself, Jim Crow, and segregation.  How is it looking in this campaign cycle?  Lets do a little comparison of the field of candidates that were running when the season opened.

Gender balance, D-1, R-1, a tie

Gender Identity, D-0, R-0, a tie, at least until the closets are opened. 

Age balance, D-2, R-1, + 1 for the Dems.  I am guessing that some people might not consider Trump as old.  +2 Dems if you don’t accept that.

Ethnic diversity, D-1, R-4, +3 for the Reps.  The Democrats started with three white people.  I have no big issues with that but some people do.  The Republicans started with three children of non-Anglo immigrants, two from Cuba and one from India, plus a black American. 

Class diversity, D-1, R->2.  I know that Ben Carson came up from poverty and knows what it is to achieve success the hard way, unlike Barak Obama who was born into prosperity and went to all the best, exclusive schools.  I don’t know the stories of the rest of the Republican field but I would guess that there are more who came up from being common Americans.

Geographic Diversity, D-1, R->.  The Democrats are all from northeast of D.C.  The Republicans are from everywhere but the far west.

How many other ways do you want to divide America?  My guess is that the Republicans have a wider representation than the Democrats.  But then why be confused by facts that the media doesn’t want you to think about?

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-65: Radio Rejection

I am experimenting with a new radio program in our area called the Armstrong and Getty Show.  I start off listening and when the commercials hit I will switch to my I-pod for an Alister Begg sermon.  I am finding that I switch back to the radio less each day.  I am reminded of why I don’t like live radio. 

First are the commercial breaks.  Recently I kept track.  At one point they went through 7-8 minutes of commercials, 5 minutes of telling me what was coming up and back to commercials again.  I realize that they are a business and they are out to make a profit.  I salute free enterprise and wish them piles of money.  The other side of free enterprise is that I am free to take my ears somewhere else if I don’t like the product.  So I go to the podcasts I have downloaded.

Second are the teasers.  They tell you about something they are going to talk about “next”.  They go to a commercial break and say, “when we come back”.  When they come back they don’t seem to get to it.  Eventually they deal with it and often it turns out to be nothing near what they said it would be.  I hate being manipulated.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-64: Tax Dollars at Work: They Only Want to Keep Us Safe

Yesterday I had three men visit my room.  Two of them had clipboards.  They must have felt important.   They were checking the room for safety hazzards.  I am sure they will find some.  After all they need jobs and they want to keep us safe.

Each man is being paid to walk around schools with clipboards.  They will then file a report of things that need to be changed.  Then they will come back to see if we have complied.

I have no problem with safety.  I have a problem with priorities and politically motivated jobs.  We don’t have a librarian any more.  We have not had new text books in history for ten years.  Our desks are falling apart one at a time.  The list could go on.  We don’t have money to deal with what we need but we have money to pay three men to walk around and look for boxes piled too high or electric extension cords that are too long. 

We also are one custodian short.  Guess who the third man was:  Our head custodian.  He had work to do but he was escorting these men around.  I guess their clipboards did not come equipped with GPS.

I can’t wait to find out what I have to move or change.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-63: The Game of Questions.

I have made up a sign.  On one side it says “No”.  On the other side it says, “BISS”.  I get tired of answering the same questions over and over.  They have a million questions that they know the answer to.  One student will start by asking if he can leave the room to get his book.  Then he wants to leave to talk to the counselor.  When that doesn’t work he wants to go to the nurse.  Then he wants to go to the office to call his mother.  After all that they will ask to go to the bathroom.  I sometimes wonder if he was honest, and asked to leave class to walk the halls and pound on doors, I might actually let him go.

Of course that leads them to the popular question of children in the back seat, “Why?”  Eventually they learn that BISS stands for “Because I said so”.  Since they keep asking I use the sign, one side “no” the other “BISS”.  That allows me to answer without acting like they had a serious question.

Another good answer when someone asks if they can go to the bathroom is, “Right after Peter.”  After a time they notice that Peter is still sitting there and ask when Peter is going.  I tell them, “He isn’t.” 

Do I need my book today?

What time is class over?

Where do you get your shoes?

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-62: In the Fullness of Time

I am finding myself using a boat load of timers.

It started with timing my 20 minute steel cut oats and 40 minute brown rice.  From there it has branched out as far as my imagination will take it.

I often need to do something in five minutes and figure I will remember.  An hour later I notice that the dryer is still running.  I keep telling myself I don’t need timers but my inner clock isn’t listening. 

And my lazy gene kicks in.  I know it doesn’t take much energy to push a button but lazy has no limitations.  I have separate timers preset at 5, 10 and 20 minutes.  If I ever find a need for 15 I will set one for that also.

It makes me wonder how anyone gets anything done in the third world.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-61: Headlines: Deception and Violence Sell

I am not a supporter of the KKK.  I am a supporter of the First Amendment which maintains the rights to speech, assembly and petition.  I am disappointed with the Drudge Report and the teaser I saw Sunday.  The teaser said, “Four stabbed in melee at Ku Klux Klan rally in CA...”  Based on that headline it would be natural to assume that those dirty, nasty, racist, violent Klan members were either attacking other people or stabbing each other.  Technically the title is accurate but it certainly leaves an impression.

Not so fast.  If you read the article you will find that a group protesting the Klan’s rally attacked the Klan members as soon as they got out of their car.  The “melee” was the Klan defending itself from the mob.  One of the injured was stabbed by a Klansman defending himself with a flag pole.  I wonder if that will bring the government to make us register our flag poles.

The article states,

“Several witnesses said that a peaceful counter-protest had been under way for about three hours when the Klansmen arrived in a black SUV.”

ow peaceful were they?  I guess they were fine until someone arrived that they did not like and then they became exactly what they were protesting against.

“Several counter-protesters were taken into custody after stomping a KKK member on the ground, Wyatt said.”

The article left out any description of the mob attacking the Klan members.  When that happens you have to assume that they were members of minorities protected by political correctness.

Being a violent racist is not acceptable even when you are attacking racists.

homo unius libri