Opus 2018-111: Ode to Old: Stockinged Up

I realized the other day that I will probably never buy another pair of sox.  The main reason is I have been the beneficiary of my son’s evolving taste in haberdashery.  He keeps changing the kind of sox he wears.  As a result I end up with bags of perfectly good stuff.  Currently I have a profusion in white and black.  I have a small selection in natural colors.  Most are cotton, some are wool and a few are artificial materials.  For white cotton I literally have a box in the garage, a large sack on the floor of my closet and a large basket on the shelf. 

Also at my age I don’t think I will need to do any stocking up unless the fashion goes back to high water pants and pastel sox for men.  Even then I don’t think I would buy any.

Getting old has some advantages.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-110: Headlines: Who Likes Trump and Emma?

Recent events make me begin to wonder about President Trump.  I am referring to the positive comments uttered by Kanye West.  I know that the enemy of my enemy can be my ally.  What do you do when someone on the left endorses your man?  To quote Ronald Reagan, “Trust but verify.”

There are many issues in the world that I am either not bright enough to understand, don’t have time to research or am too lazy to study.  In those situations what I do is take the word of people I trust.  Kanye West is a name I know.  How could I teach middle school and not have heard of him.  To this day I cannot remember how to pronounce his first name.  Should I be concerned about his pronouncements?  I find them of interest but he is not high on my list of wise men. 

A case in point:  As I did a little research I find that he has just praised Emma Gonzalez of bald headed Parkland fame.  I was trying to verify what my memory told me, he is married to Kim Kardashian.  These are not marks of becoming a trusted source.

Was his comment about Trump just a publicity tweet?  Was it a case of the broken clock being right twice a day?  Was it sincere?  Will it last?

I am not going to buy a bust of Kayne to put in my guru room.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-109: Japan: Great Service, No Tipping

It was surprising how hard it was for me to get used to the idea of not tipping.  In Japan, tipping is not done.  I am not sure why but you don’t do it in most places. 

The problem is that the service is usually so good you want to leave a little something.  While in Japan the kids took us to a number of different types of restaurants.  The staff was attentive and polite.  Even though there were language difficulties they worked at it.  On our way home we had a stopover in Tokyo.  We decided to try one of the local places in the airport.  While I was waiting I dropped a straw and immediately there was this guy who was there to pick it up and get me another one.  Then when he saw me looking for my wife he told me where she was.  Then when I started to take our drinks over to her he insisted on taking them for me.  Later he brought us napkins and finger wipes.  All of this in a public airport where you don’t tip. 

I could get used to it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-108: Japan: In a Time Machine

It is tomorrow in Japan.  It is really strange living a day ahead of the world I come from.  I see it in the posts I make.  I see it in the blogs I read.  It isn’t just the hour shift.  When I look at the date and time app I see that today hasn’t even arrived yet back home.  It requires planning to know when to make phone calls.  I have found that calling someone in the afternoon and finding them sound asleep is not good for relationships.

Japan also has some aspects of America in the past.  There is an honesty here that we used to have in the States.  I have been watching a bike that some kid left on the curb.  Three weeks later it is still there.  No one has stolen it.  When you go to the airports you find that the baggage carts are free. 

Some aspects of Japan are like America’s future.  Socialism is part of life.  Regulations are omnipresent.  That causes the price of everything to be very high and wages to be very low.  It is part of the reason that Japanese homes are smaller and cars are tiny.  They are not hungry but they also are limited in expectations.  It is like Boston in the People’s Republik of Massachusetts, it is a great place to visit but I would not want to live here.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-107: Small Victories

I didn’t eat any peanuts yesterday.  Okay, neither did you but were you sitting at a table with an endless supply included in the cost of your meal?  We were at a steak place that has barrels of peanuts in every corner and buckets of peanuts on every table.  It is awesome.  I love peanuts.  I did not eat any.

I kept telling myself they were the spawn of Satan there to temp me into gluttony.  I would have been partly right.  They were tempting and I have good, logical reasons to scarf.  If they are included in the price of the meal it would be good stewardship to eat as many of them as I can and then take my steak home, right?  I keep telling myself that but my scale at home reminds me that I would be taking home more than the steak.

As a diabetic I have to watch what I eat and keep my weight down.  Many of you have been there.  You can lose the weight.  We have all done it many times.  The issue is that it keeps coming back.  One of the culprits is free peanuts.  Ounce by ounce, pound by pound the scales keep reporting the facts.

Peanuts are good.  They are not evil.  However I believe gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins and moderation is one of the seven ignored virtues.  I am not good at moderation.  I could have had a few peanuts and been okay.  I know my limits or at least I did this trip.  I refrained.

I had a six ounce sirloin at 250 calories and double broccoli at about 100.  I ignored the peanuts and declined the rolls dripping in butter.  It was enough.  This time.

But those peanuts looked good.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-106: Plead Guilty

I am sure you have heard about the lawsuit the Democrats are filing against everyone else.  They are accusing Trump and a long list of co-conspirators with conspiring to win, sorry, rig, the 2016 election.  I would suggest that the Trump administration work out a plea bargain where they admit their guilt and offer them a dollar in compensation.

You see, the purpose of a political party, advertising, research, rallies, voter registration and get out the vote efforts is to rig the election so you win.  The general idea in traditional forms of democracy is that the one who is more successful in getting more votes wins the election.  That does not play well with California and the rest of the Democrats.  If you have ever played Monopoly with someone who demands to be the banker and cheats, you know the scenario.  When you cheat, if you lose then it must be because the other person cheated more than you.

So yes, the election of 2016 was rigged.  Until the Democrats succeed in turning the country into a one party paradise like California and Venezuela those of us who love liberty will continue to rig elections, by getting more votes.

Guilty as charged.  So sue me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-105: One Man’s Suppression Is Another Man’s Genocide

You always need to ask yourself the bias or slant of a source.  One of the books I read this year involved the history of the Arabs.  It was written by a British professor with an Arabic name.  He was born in Lebanon to a Christian family.  I worked with a teacher who had a similar background and, although I enjoyed the spirited discussions we had, he was a total left winger who embraced most of the anti-American and anti-Israel memes of our day.  I would guess Hourani would be similar, a great human being as long as you didn’t cross certain lines.

I say that leading up to his book, A History of the Arab Peoples, and what it had to say about the Armenian Holocaust.  In a word, nothing.  He did mention something that hinted that there might have been a few problems, but genocide or holocaust, no.  Here is how he dealt with the event commemorated today,

“This was shown in the 1890's, when nationalist parties in another Christian community, the Armenians, began to work actively for independence the Ottomans were able to suppress the movement with great loss of life, and without effective European action,...”  p. 280

From his point of view it was just another example of how Muslims have responded to Christians through the ages.  1890 is a bit early.  I would guess that the serious attempts to kill Christians were put off until the world was distracted by World War I.

As with the Jewish Holocaust, never forget.

Hourani, Albert.  A History of the Arab Peoples.  Cambridge:  The Belknap
        Press of Harvard University Press, 1991.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-104: Headlines: Yeti ‘nother Corporate Suicide

Yeti corporation has reportedly decided to not sell their products to the NRA.  Is this Fake News or real?  This is either another example of liberals in zombie mode or an incredibly clever marketing technique.

It could be that the Yeti corporation has decided they have made enough money and it is time to self destruct.  If you were to line up the members of different SJW organizations who had used their own money to buy a Yeti you could probably fit them in the transgender bathroom at the next Superbowl while the NRA members who had bought one would fill the stadium.  I know my children have been thinking about investing in a Yeti for me at some future gift giving moment.  I don’t think that is going to happen now.

Is it a marketing technique?  What spurs this thought are the numerous links to sites reporting NRA members blowing up their Yeti coolers.  My first thought was that if this turns out to be a false rumor then they will need to buy another Yeti cooler.  So this could be Yeti being clever and trying to sell more products.  This is reinforced by another headline link that claims the report is inaccurate. 

So far I have not fallen for the click bait.  We will see how it works out.

Just when you think stupid has figured out which shoe goes on the left foot something like this hits the net. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-103: Natural Diversity

As the sun began to rise I found myself contemplating the beauty of creation in all of its variety and change.  How many shades of green are there?  How many changes does the sky have hidden in the pre-dawn darkness?  How many different types of wildflowers are there within a mile of my house?

What we see can convey only a vague sense of the reality of the perfection of come.  Was it Plato that talked about the ideal which we can never really know except for shadows on the back of the cave of life?  It was one of those Greeks.  Someday we will be able to be overcome by the reality of purity.  What does pure red look like?  What is pure strawberry?  What will be served at the Wedding feast of the Lamb?

Enjoyment of purity will be a small segment of what we will experience in eternity.  Most of what we will experience will be the cacophony of combinations.  Actually that is the wrong word because cacophony assume dissonance.  We will experience total consonance.  Is there a pure coffee flavor?  I doubt it because every coffee is a unique blend of different nuances.  Each is complete in itself.  It is a diversity that we ignore here. 

We will glory in diversity but it will be a diversity in balance.  A diversity that does not involve belittling one savor over another.  A diversity that is based on contribution to the whole and not parochialism.  We hear a lot about diversity but it is base on conforming to one groups preferences rather than recognizing the spectrum of strengths.

Cultural diversity is a necessity but its beauty will be found in its blend, not its equality.  It will not be achieved by the kind of seminars that the liberals are pushing.  It will only be achieved when we all embrace the value we have as children of a complex and infinite God who created us in His image.

Maybe not in this life but definitely in the next. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-102: Headlines: Starbucks, the Next Step

I am sure that everyone who has electricity in their home has heard about the nonsense going on at Starbucks.  The only thing more ridiculous than having their staff of liberals take diversity training is to require customers to go through indoctrination before they can buy coffee.  It could be like a concealed carry permit for having a gun but it would apply to your ability to buy coffee.  You may have also seen the “free coupon” being circulated for a free cup of coffee.  The coupon is fake; the nonsense very real.

I came across the coupon on the Gun Free Zone site.  It was not the first time I had seen it but the post included a comment that got me thinking.

“What I do know is that if Starbucks tired any harder to acquiesce to the Progressive mob, Starbucks better install showers in their bathrooms and just allow anybody who is a member of a Progressive victim group to live in Starbucks, rent free.”

There is a real opportunity here.  What will be the response if at closing time a group of black customers refuse to leave?  They feel it is racist to not let them spend the night.  Is Starbucks going to call the police and have them removed or will the race card once again trump the law and common sense?  I will wait with interest.  If you have ever seen how long it takes for a landlord to have freeloaders who have stopped paying their rent evicted you will know that this could be entertaining to watch.  I have also heard of people camping out in empty houses and the owners not being able to get the out.

So keep your doors locked and although I would not recommend you buy coffee at Starbucks you might cruise by after closing hours and see if the nonsense has taken the next logical step.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-101: Japan: Stupid Questions, Part 5 of ?

As I shared earlier, our first grandchild has arrived and we were able to be in Japan for the event.  I got a picture from my daughter this morning of the new family leaving the hospital after a doctor visit.  It is a good way to start off the morning.

Which brings me to The Ultimate Stupid Question which was asked the day after she was born, “Do you want to hold her?”  I had waited decades for this moment.  The real question was, “Are you willing to let me hold her?”

Awesome moments are worth flying around the world for.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-100: Headlines: The Strange Case of Natalie Portman

Now I know who Natalie Portman is.  Don’t ask me tomorrow, I might have forgotten.  She evidently had a part in one of the Star Wars movies.

The Washington Free Beacon tells us that she was due to receive an award from something called the Genesis Prize Foundation.  This seems to be a mini-Nobel Prize group located in Israel.  The prize was to “for her work upholding the advancement of women’s rights and philanthropy.” 

Evidently she refused to travel to Israel because she felt the country was being mean to Hamas.  That would seem to put her in the mainstream of the left.  What makes it seem a bit odd is that she was born in Israel and claims to be a big supporter of the country.  I find myself in a state of cognitive dissonance.  How can you be a supporter of Israel and get offended when they protect themselves from terrorists?

Only in the mind of a liberal snowflake, but are there any other kind?

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-099: The Cycle Continues

As I was listening to my hymn collection I noticed that I did not recognize the selection.  That is not unusual.  I have several sets of CD’s that contain the works of 16th and 17th century hymn writers and sung by some big name choir.  What struck me was the awareness that I was experiencing the same phenomenon I observed at church when the contemporary version of worship was going on.  The music was rather uninspired and unoriginal.  I could not really tell one hymn from the next.  It wasn’t a problem of skill or content.  It was repetitious.

We make fun of 7/11 music.  It is a phenomenon of the ages.  There have always been places for repetition.  If done properly it reinforces truth and aids memory.  If done poorly it does the opposite.  For me much of what is called contemporary music does the latter.  I need to learn not to get too hysterical about it.

We are at the end of a centuries long selection process where the dull and empty hymns that were churned out have been left in the dust of history.  That is good and natural.  We are the beneficiaries of that process.  Take Charles Wesley for instance.  The number I kept coming up with for just him was over 6,000 hymns.  I don’t know about you but I don’t care how much of a genius someone is, 6,000 hymns is going to stretch creativity.  Somewhere in there are going to be a few misses.  Actually what you have are a few hits with a lot of 20th Century Worship Team material left over.

We are now in the beginning of a process of sorting through the offerings of a new generation.  It is probably normal that much of it is boring and repetitive.  It will take time for the cream to rise to the top.  I keep telling myself that through gritted teeth.

It just seems like the “worship teams” have an aversion to cream and a love of skim milk.

I will endure.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-098: Japan: National Anthem, part 4 of ?

We are visiting family stationed at a military base in Japan.  My last extended exposure to a military base was during the Vietnam war.  It is much more pleasant being a civilian than a draftee. 

Yesterday we went out the door, got in the car, backed out and started down the street.  Suddenly we stopped in the middle of the road.  It was 5:00 P.M.  At five o’clock they play the national anthems of Japan and the United States.   What that means is that everything stops, even cars on the road.  If you are walking you are supposed to face the music and either salute or put your hand over your heart.  Even the children on the playground stop moving.  That was our clue that the music had started.  When they moved again we knew it was over.

I wonder how we would respond if that were tried here?

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-097: Japan: Island Driving, Part 3 of ?

In Japan they drive on the wrong side of the road.  To them we drive on the wrong side but obviously that cannot be true.  I think all island nations drive on the left.

At first you don’t think it is any big deal.  You just drive on a different side of the road, right?  No.  Think of all the things you do naturally.  When you turn right you follow the curb.  Do that in Japan and you are soon in a head-on collusion.  You find yourself in a constant panic because you think people are driving toward you in your lane.  The turn indicator is on the opposite side of the steering wheel.  After a week I was still glad I didn’t need to drive here.  I am still trying to get in the right hand seat even though I am not driving.

And it isn’t just the driving.  It makes walking dangerous.  You must learn to look right instead of left as you cross a street.  Think about your natural habits.  When you step off a curb the first direction you look is left.  That will get you killed in Japan.

Just a little thing with big consequences.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-096: It’s Everywhere

There are times when I despair for the future of my country and I understand how the Progressives (Democrats, socialists, communists, leftists, Rinos, elites) are gaining momentum in constricting our liberties and destroying the American way of life. 

What can you do to maintain the republic if people refuse to pay attention.  Maybe I expect too much.  Let me give you an example.  I was having a conversation with a neighbor and I mentioned Maxine Waters.  I got a blank look.  How do you explain to someone who Maxine Waters is?  Do I know only because I am from California?  Is she some kind of obscure minor politician?  I could only wish.

When you talk with someone who is successful, articulate and a seemingly active member of the community and they don’t know the name of one of the vocal fools of the left, how can you expect to make any progress on the great issues of the day?  How can a blank slate make wise decisions?  Recently I read an article about the ignorance of millennials regarding the Jewish Holocaust.  I am not sure where I read it but the Kansas City Star has an article about it.

When I taught middle school I got used to my eighth graders being totally ignorant.  I find it harder to deal with in regard to educated adults.  I guess if your major interaction is with social media filtered by people like Zuckerberg, it is to be expected.

If you know who Maxine Waters is, count yourself among the minority.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-095: Japan: Jet Lag, Part 2 of ?

For the second time in a month we are experiencing what is called “jet lag”.  I thought I knew what it was all about.  We have done a bit of flying.  We used to go to Hawaii on a regular basis and when we were on the left coast and our kids on the east, we flew across country a lot.  There is a fatigue that hits you when the clock changes a few hours.

It is nothing like flying half way around the world. 

The flight from Los Angels to Tokyo took about twelve hours.  The flight back only took nine because of the tail winds.  Add to that the flight from Texas to LA and the flight from Tokyo north.  Add to that the wait time in different airports.  It adds up to a long day.

It didn’t really hit me until I could finally relax and stop worrying about the next connection.  For several days I was waking up at 3:00 A.M. and not able to get back to sleep.  It took over a week to adjust to sleeping when the sun was down.  Now that I am home I am going through the same ritual.  If I keep moving I do all right.  If I sit down I make no promises.

After four nights at home I am still waking up frequently at night.  This morning I gave up and got up to turn on the coffee at 4:30.  Then I will be sleepy all day.  It will go away in time.

You need to ask yourself if it is worth it.  Going to Japan to see the Cherry Blossom Festival, maybe not.  Going to see your first grandchild, definitely.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-094: Headlines: Trump Hits a Home Run for Justice

I almost had a shouting spell when I saw the headline on the Powerline post.  Trump has pardoned Scooter Libby.  It is about time.  Two presidents too late, but at last justice is done.

The Powerline post has some spin to it.  Though generally conservative the site is not a fan of Donald Trump, so they of course had to downplay his motives and second guess his goals.

“As if to drive home his point, Trump made no serious attempt to address Libby’s case. He said, in essence, that he doesn’t know Libby, but heard he got a raw deal. Normally, this isn’t the stuff of pardons.”

So once again Trump does what is right but the established sources don’t want to give him credit.

I checked quickly my list of news outlets and only found, Washington Free Beacon, which gave this any notice.  Maybe it is too early in the news cycle.  Actually, I don’t think the media wants the public to know that Trump has once again stood up for the little guy.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-093: Japan: The Ultimate First, Part 1 of ?

We have just returned from a three week trip to Japan.  The reason for our trip was not to dispose of all that extra income we have accumulated over the years, although at times it seemed to be working that way.  We were invited to share the birth of our first grandchild.  Some firsts only come once.  So we went.

I guess you could call this an official announcement.  Some of you are grandparents many times over.  You smile indulgently and want to pat me on the head.  I have met people who were grandfathered in at 44 years of age.  I am afraid I had to wait a bit longer than that.  I had almost given up as some of you have done.  I did my part although I fell short of the 2.1 children needed for replacement.  I could never figure how to get the .1.  I take comfort in the fact that I have brothers who have gone above and beyond. 

It is a grand experience holding the next generation.  It is also encouraging to know that your children want you around to share the moment.  How many children are there who don’t want anything to do with their parents?  I hope it says something about us as parents as much as it says about our children.  To be honest, it was more about a girl needing her mother for support rather than having dad around, but I got to tag along. 

It was also a chance to get to know our son-in-law better.  We are still pleased with the man God brought our daughter.  She had to wait long enough.  We thought it was because she was too picky but it seems that God had to get the boy ready and that took some time.

I am going to be sharing some observations about Japan.  I jotted down things I noticed as they came to me.  I will be writing some as if I were still in Japan and others as reflections. 

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-092: The War on God, part 5 of 5, Second Doesn’t Get the Gold

The conflict between God and government comes down to an attitude we see in the Olympics.  You have athletes from all around the world competing.  They are the best from each country.  At the end of the day only one can get the Gold.  Have you noticed that people are polite about Silver being great but in their minds they still know it isn’t the gold.

Or I could talk about a guy I know who was engaged to be married.  He gave her the ring and everything.  Then it fell through and she gave him back the ring.  Not to be a wastrel, the next time he asked a girl to marry him he tried to give her the same ring.  I am told she was not real happy about it.

We see this conflict being played out in the Bible.  Jesus is willing to admit that the government has a place.

(Luke 20:25 KJV)  And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.

But the priority is also clear.  Peter and John were arrested and told to stop talking about Jesus. 

(Acts 4:18-9 KJV)  And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.  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.

And then they went back to preaching.

The conflict goes on.  The government pays lip service to a Constitution that guarantees freedoms of religion, speech, press and assembly.  Then they try to shut up the Christians.  How will it end?  Compare the results of the American Revolution and the French Revolution.  One embraced God, the other outlawed Him.  One led to a growing republic, the other to the Reign of Terror. 

If the government gets its way you can expect to see the same thing again.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-091: The War on God, part 4 of 5, Robin Hood Strikes Again

One of the basic moral positions laid out in the Bible is respect for the property of others.

(Exodus 20:15 KJV)  Thou shalt not steal.

Although all cultures that I know of condemn stealing there are different definitions.  Stealing involves taking something that is not yours without the permission of the owner.  Coercion is a form of stealing, thus when the Mafia Dons would collect money so that a store owner would not have rocks thrown through his window, it was stealing

If you are going to have government you need to be able to pay for it.  Human cultures seem to develop some kind of government.  Once it gets beyond the oldest guy in the village being the chief and settling minor disputes you get into paying for things.  Society needs roads.  We seem to need some kind of court system.  Modern society in its concentration of people needs sewer systems and clean water.  This can be paid for by each person being billed for what they use or, you can have taxes.

How so?  Didn’t Jesus Himself say,

(Matthew 22:21 KJV)  They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

Yes, He did.  So the question then becomes, “What is Caesar’s?”

Taxes transition from legitimate collection to stealing.  Somewhere rulers discovered that you could get more money with a tax system than a billing system.  Not only do you claim the money to do the necessary jobs of government but you also need to collect to pay the salaries of the tax collector and all his assistants.  Then you have the projects that government officials in their wisdom know are vital but noone will willingly pay for.  You hide that in the taxation.

Soon you move to Robin Hood collections.  I don’t know if you ever read any of the original Robin Hood books but the real Robin Hood did not rob from the rich to give to the poor.  He robbed from anyone who had money and kept it for himself.  In that sense our taxation is a Robin Hood system.  You find that some people don’t, or won’t, pay their “fair share”.  You raise the rate on everyone else to compensate.  The responsible keep thinking it is their “fair share” and the ones benefitting are not going to tell them any different.

The government does not want anyone pointing out that much of what disguises itself as legitimate taxes is really stealing by special interest groups.  Because of that the government is not a big fan of God.  He had a flat rate called the tithe.

To be  continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-090: The War on God, part 3 of 5, The Family Is a Threat

The government wants to take the place of the family.  Remember the famous words of Hillary Clinton, “it takes a village”.  While there is some truth in community working together her point was that a man and woman cannot do it on their own.  The disguised thrust is that parents should not be allowed to do it on their own.  Certain philosophies of government, specifically communism and socialism, realize that the family is the enemy of the government being in total control.  If you have a predicate of loyalty to your immediate family then the government is forced into the back seat.  That is why we are in the midst of the political left reworking our educational system and gradually taking over the role of parents.  Drive by a local school as the sun comes up.  You will see children already being dropped off.  Drive by again as the sun goes down.  If you don’t see any kids still waiting to be picked up it is because they have gone down the street to another government run program.

The government feeds them breakfast and lunch.  The government has a nurse to check their hearing, eyesight and backbone.  The government wants to teach them about sex and sexuality.  The current flood of anti-bullying lessons is teaching children that they need the government to keep them safe.

School programs also gather information about the adults of the children.  When they take standardized tests and talk to school psychologists and counselors, who knows what they are telling government employees about your home. 

The Ten Commandments tell us,

(Exodus 20:12 KJV)  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

There are also places where we are told to allow the government to punish evil and even Jesus paid taxes, but the children are the responsibility of the parents. 

The Progressive Left does not like that.  God is competition.  He must go.

To be  continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-089: The War on God, part 2 of 5, Who Is the Boss

If God represents competition then the Ten Commandments are His basic rules.  That is why they are such a threat to governments.  As we said earlier, government hates competition.  It turns out that God also hates competition.  Take a look at the first commandment.

(Exodus 20:3 KJV)  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

If you are a devout Jew or a believing Christian then God must be the Prime Mover in you life.  He does not leave you any other choice. 

The battle of the boss begins in our personal lives.  Many individuals reject Jesus as Lord because that means they need to take second place in their own little universe.  People will be attracted to the saccharine version of Jesus that is based on half truths.  That Jesus is gentle and mild.  He is the one who would never expect them to take a stand or ignore their feelings because a silly book like the Bible tells them they are wrong.

The battle of the boss continues into our culture.  Even people who will not let Jesus rule their lives will embrace the liberty that a moral life delivers.  They don’t want child molesters teaching school.  They don’t want the government to raise their children.  This kind of thinking is a threat to the domination of the government.  People who stand up for the values that God laid down must be slapped down.  We have fools claiming that the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights come from the government not God.  While God does not change and is not fickle or capricious, the government is known for going back on its word.

Rights are from God, not the government.  This is a basic principle laid down in the Declaration of Independence.

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness-That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men,...”

Our rights come from God and the government is there to protect those rights.  It is not there to give us rights or decide who gets them. 

Obviously this God thing has to be gotten rid of for the government to have the power it craves.

To be  continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-088: The War on God, part 1 of 5

Have you ever wondered why the progressive left has so much trouble with any reference to God.  They are working to remove the Ten Commandments from any visible space in the country.  They have removed baccalaureate from graduation and prayer from schools.  They want to get rid of the “In God We Trust” on our money.  They have issues.

They thrive on double standards.  When Ted Tebow kneels to pray it is a national scandal.  When one who will not be named kneels to spit on America we are supposed to salute his bravery and hail him as a hero.  In school you have people in your face if you say a good word about God or a bad word about sodomy.  Recently we had a Senate committee asking a judicial candidate about her religious beliefs.  That was okay.  Don’t even try to ask someone if they are a Muslim.  These people have issues.

Why?

Because God represents competition and of course governments resent competition.  I think that power in primitive cultures radiated from the biggest muscles.  Kings and nobility came from the warrior class.  Eventually the religious leaders began to compete and sometimes win in the power game.  I assumed they figured gods had bigger muscles.  This reached its pinnacle in the conflict between kings and the pope in medieval Europe.  You see the Roman Catholic church claiming to have the final say in temporal as well as spiritual realms.  Henry VIII of England was a leader in the Reformation.  We tend to forget that because we get focused on his many wives and their sudden deaths.  He split England off from the Roman church over his rejection of the pope trying to tell him how to run his country.  To his dying day he considered himself a devout Catholic yet he was the one that started Britain down the road to being protestant.  His defiance of the Pope encouraged others to believe they could think for themselves and the influence of Calvin and Luther began to be felt. 

After the Protestant Reformation the influence of Calvinism began to move people toward rights that were given by God and the King was supposed to be the leader in exercising them.  The Divine Right of Kings did not mean the king could do whatever he wanted.  It meant he could do whatever God wanted him to do.  That would not do today because God needs to be removed from the equation.

So God must go, He is competition.

To be  continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-087: Type A Conspiracy

I am getting tired of reading books written by people who are Type A personalities.  Such authors are aggressive, ambitious and generally very sure of themselves.  They tend to not stop to think of other people.  They also tend to write a lot of books telling people who are not Type A how to get the job done.  I remember all the books my wife tried to get me to read about being the perfect husband.  The anecdotes that were given usually showed a young man who was very self centered and insensitive.  The one that sticks in my mind was a guy who went out to play basketball with the guys on their first wedding anniversary and left his wife sitting alone at home with a romantic candlelight dinner prepared.  Really?

Maybe we need some kind of Government Personality Label like the nutrition labels on my soup.  It would be good to know if an author is Type A, a liberal, schizophrenic or married with children.  I would like to know what I am taking into my mind as much as I need to know what I take into my body.  I already have filters like this when it comes to sources of news.  If it is from the New York Times, the L.A. Times or the Washington Post I prepare my baloney filters and keep purging them as I read.  Usually I just don’t bother to read.  It is a little harder to discern if it is a book about marriage, gardening or raising children.

I don’t expect it to happen.  The kind of people that would need to write the regulations are all Type A and would put it at the bottom of their list.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-086: No News Is Sometimes No News

On my computer I group links to web-sites based on their content.  For instance I have one for media sources and under that I have it divided into “check daily” and “opinion”.  I have another for “Fun Sites”.  I am seriously considering moving Fox News from my “daily” to my “fun site” folder.  Not only is the editorial position drifting left but the stories getting reported are becoming more and more like stuff you see at the checkout line.

For instance one link is to an article about Twitter users and a dad campaigning because her daughter got fired for having colored hair.  This is what Fox calls news?  Then there is the one about a woman taking in a 26 year old cat.

Maybe Fox won’t even fit in the “Fun Site” folder.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-085: Headlines: Warner for President?

Mark Warner announces for the presidency.  Okay, that isn’t what he said but it is what he meant.  His actual statement had to do with coming out of the closet as being against the Second Amendment.  He has claimed to be in favor of gun rights in the past and still says he supports the Second Amendment, but according to the article in the Washington Free Beacon he only had a “C” rating from the NRA.  That is pretty wishy-washy.  It isn’t enough to get support in the Republican party and too much to be supported by the Democrat base.  He has chosen the Democrats as his position of choice.

Warner gives some conservatives warm vibes because in the past he has talked like a conservative.  Pay attention.  It is all an act.  While it is true that Democrats are part of the problem and Republicans don’t seem to be the solution, he is definitely part of the problem.

2018.  2020.  Keep in mind who he is.  He is another trying to ride the fence by saying he is a supporter of the Second Amendment while doing what he can to make it meaningless. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-084: Headlines: A Window of Sanity in the Blue

I was shocked at the headline in the Free Beacon.  It seems that the legislatures in two of the most liberal states in the Union, Massachusetts and Connecticut, have put aside bills they were working on that would have allowed doctors to help people kill themselves.  That is almost impossible to believe.

In case you are not paying attention there is an ongoing attempt to not only make suicide legal and acceptable but to force doctors to prescribe medications to speed the process.  It is usually packaged as a way to help terminally ill people who are living in agony to bow out gracefully.  Underneath there are a lot of selfish motives from insurance companies trying to cut costs to children wanting to cash in on their inheritance. 

It was interesting that the opponents to the bill used the race card to bring down a bill that is usually favored by the race baiting left.  One spokesman said the bill

“...would have become a cheap medical procedure that would have steered the vulnerable toward suicide and favored the white, wealthy, and well insured....  The poor, people of color, and people with disabilities would have received the all too familiar denial of care letters from insurance companies and from Medicaid, refusing to cover expensive care but offering to pay for suicide pills.”

The article says there are six states that have already made it legal for doctors to kill patients.  According to Wikipedia there are seven:  Oregon, Montana, Washington, Vermont, Hawaii, California, Colorado, but I remember seeing a headline that Hawaii was just starting to vote on the issue.  If you read the Wikipedia article be advised that the article is written by someone who is in favor of helping people commit suicide so the terminology and evidence is presented with that in mind. 

As a believer I am not overly worried.  As we say in Christian circles, and double it when Easter is fresh on our minds, “It isn’t the end of the world.”  I guess a Buddhist could say the same thing.  It is another step in the campaign to dehumanize us and make us just smart monkeys who have no real value.  It is the kind of thinking behind euthanasia and the abortion industry.  It is the kind of thinking that drove the genocidal maniacs of the twentieth century like Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot.  It believes that human beings are just smart animals.  It denies that we are created in the image of God. 

Happy Post Easter.  Christians are still celebrating the resurrection.  Evil is still trying to make the world into a mirror of Venezuela.  Today we have one small victory for the good guys.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-083: The Sting

I think there was a movie of that title.  I didn’t see it, and that is par for my course, but I know it had to do with a couple of con men setting up someone for a fall.  It was based on deceit and quick thinking.  Today we celebrate what is called Easter.  It is the day that Christians in the West celebrate the joke that Jesus played on death.  Paul points out the joke on death.

(1 Corinthians 15:55 KJV)  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

But this is not based on deceit.  God was very open about the role that Jesus would play.  One of the prophecies that we find in the OT is what Paul is quoting.

(Hosea 13:14 KJV)  I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

Some people don’t like the name Easter.  They claim it has a pagan derivation.  Fair enough.  As long as they only reject the name but still celebrate the resurrection I will sit in the same pew with them.  As Christians we not only believe that Jesus died for our sins but conquered death so it has no fear for us.

Now if He would only do something about taxes.

homo unius libri