Opus 2020-325: I’m Out of Here

I will begin the New Year by getting up early, climbing behind the wheel of a 26 foot U-Haul and starting toward Texas.  I keep saying I am getting too old for this but the truth is I will never be any younger.  

It is a big, beautiful country filled with the entire range of humanity.  If you are one of those who believe in things like overpopulation and shortage of water I would almost invite you to come with me but I might get so angry in our discussions that I would drive off the road.  My second recommendation would be for you to get out of your box, take a long drive and open you eyes.

I would suggest that you do it before the Progressives* take charge of the government and begin curtailing movement.  Meanwhile, go to bed early.  Get some sleep.  Get ready for the New Year.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, crony capitalists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc.  Another word for swamp dwellers)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-324: Old and Young: Lending a Hand

I was our following my granddaughter around the yard.  The house is new to her and she has not explored it fully yet.  We added to her mapping.  There were porches on front and back that needed to be visited, repeatedly.  She developed a pattern.  She would boldly take the first step and then look around for my hand.  Awwwww, how cute.  It is.

It also reminded me that I am getting to the place in life where I am going to be looking for a hand or at least a handrail.  I wondered how much longer I would be able to give her the help she needs.  How much longer would I be more stable that she is?  I am hoping I hold on until her younger brother gets past the give-me-a-hand stage.  I have already caught my son reaching out a hand to make sure I am stable.

Life has been good and continues to bless.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-323: Should-a-Beens: The D.C. Model

One of the threats that the Democrats are making involves turning the District of Columbia into a state.  They assume this will give them two more Democrat senators.  Maybe they are onto something that has some value.

What would happen if we gave every major city in the country this opportunity.  Pick a number, say 700,000, and give any city over that number the option of statehood.  The 700,000 comes from the approximate population of D.C.  The cities might go for it.  The rest of the country might like it too.

In the Senate you would have an increased number of members.  This would not increase the Democrats voice because it would mean losing all of their senators from the rest of the state.  The House would remain the same because the population isn’t going to change with the new boundaries.  

This would also make it possible for the Republicans to try their creativity in finding ways to cheat on elections.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-322: Headlines: Trump Signs, Swamp Giggles

As you have no doubt heard, Trump signed the colossal pork bill that was running under the cover of Covid Relief.  He had been taking the proper stand of refusing to sign it because of the billions of dollars ladled out to foreign countries for things like gender studies and millions to American institutions like the Kennedy Center.  The amount for Americans came out to $600 per person at best count.  

Check my math here.  If you take the $2.3 Trillion (with a T) and divide by the American population of 3.2 million you get an interesting number:  $7,187.50.  That is the amount each American would have received if this was divided up among the population.  Keep in mind that a family of four would have receive $28, 750.  The first time I did it I made the mistake of using billions instead of trillions and came up with $7.19.  What a difference a comma makes.

As many memes ask:  Are you mad yet?

Keep in mind that this was backed by both Republicans and Democrats.  This is the result of being bipartisan.  Notice that the president signed it instead of forcing them to override a veto.  I am disgusted with the two parties and disappointed with President Trump.  As good a job as he has done, I still don’t think he understands the swamp.

I can only hope that the United States declares bankruptcy while the checks are still in the mail.

You can never say it too soon or too loud:  Vote the suckers out.  At this point that refers to all of them.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-321: The Next Step

I don’t know if you read The American Thinker.  The articles have quite a spectrum.  In the light of our current struggle over the Democrat’s clever theft of the election there is real concern that they not succeed in stealing the country also.  Those of us who believe in America and have been reading more than the Marshmallow Republican sites still have a flicker of hope.  One way I find out someone’s true leanings is in their acceptance of the “it is time to move on” meme.

For a minute move your thinking on to what we do next.  Even if Trump pulls this out there will still exist the overwhelming corruption in the election process and the depressing awareness that no one in the Federal government is willing to do anything about it.  Remember that Hillary is still free after all the blatant crimes she has committed.  I still remember James Comey committing perjury on national TV and no one even blinked an eye.  Antifa and BLM riot, assault and burn because they know that bought off District Attorneys and Judges will let them go with no bail.

Andrew Longman has a powerful suggestion in his article, “Can a Homeless Beggar Save the Republic?”  His suggestion is that we seek investigation and prosecution at the state and county level.  He points out that the people who committed criminal acts were not only violating Federal law but also local law.  If the Feds won’t do their job then the local DA needs to step up to the plate.

I think it is worth a read.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-320: Never Too Late for the Incarnation

Another Christmas Day has come and gone.  We spent this one in Virginia with my children and grandchildren.  It was a glorious time of year because we were all together.  It was a sad time when we looked out our window and realized how many people are living in fear.  We had a tree, Christmas music, Christmas cookies, the joy of watching a toddler and a crawler open presents and an awareness that Christmas marks the day of the Incarnation when God became man.  We know what Christmas is all about.

For those who have missed it and suddenly wake up, it is not too late to celebrate Christmas.  Technically the four weeks before Christmas are called Advent.  Then you have the 12 days of Christmas ending on Epiphany which is January 6 next year.  So you see, you are still in the Christmas season.  Orthodox churches celebrate the birth of Christ on Epiphany, so you have company.

So if no one said it to you, “Merry Christmas.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-319: CS vs BS: Reliable Sources

Common Sense verses Bovine Scatology

Whom do you trust?  Face it.  There is so much information out there that you can never absorb it all.  If you could read it you still would not know what to believe.  There comes a time when you need to accept certain things as true that you have not researched personally.  No one can canvas enough people to know what numbers are right.

How do you decide whom to believe.  This is where common sense again comes in.  Consider your sources and ask yourself, “Who is most likely to be telling the truth and who is lying?”  You can never read minds but you can grasp philosophies.  When a liberal Democrat tells me something and a conservative Republican tells me the opposite, if I had no other source of information I would put my money on the Republican every time.  Why?  That seems a bit narrow minded.  Not really.  

The generic Democrat has a liberal philosophy and a liberal attitude about truth.  To the garden variety liberal, truth is what advances the cause.  That means it is perfectly acceptable to deceive in order to win.  The generic Republican comes from a philosophy that is based on Christian values.  Those values say it is wrong to lie.  Period.  Christians believe that liars go to hell.  It isn’t just a matter of the Ten Commandments telling us we are to never bear false witness.  It is a promise of how God responds to false witness.

(Rev 21:8 KJV) But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

So I ask you, is it better to trust someone who believes that truth is relative and the end justifies the means or someone who believes they will spend an eternity in the fires of hell if they lie?  It seems that is a bit of a rhetorical question to me.  

I admit there are Republicans who reject Christian moral standards but they are part of a movement that tells them the truth is essential.  Although in theory I will accept the statement that there are some Democrats out there that are Christian, I find it hard to believe that someone can be a part of a political movement that approves killing unborn children in abortion, embrace homosexual marriage and refuse to acknowledge God in their conventions or platform, can really worship the God of the Bible.

It seems like common sense to me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-318: Not on Your Life

Much of the current virus fear is driven by ignorance.  The ignorance is avoidable but it requires a bit of thinking and public school graduates are not known for their thinking skills.  They are also weak in math and logic.  This makes them easy marks for the frauds of the news and government.

People are afraid because they are ignorant of history.  They think that the current virus is a big killer.  They can only think this if they were asleep in history when they talked about all of the plagues down through history.  If you look at the Black Death of the 14th century you get estimates of the death rate running from 30% to 60%.  The reason the range in the estimates is so large is that at the peak of the plague so many people were dying that no one could keep records.  It was the most they could do to dispose of the bodies.  Entire villages died.  Compare that with the current panic over less than 1% of the population dying.  

What increases the fear is the way in which information is made available.  I was looking at a CDC site that gave some statistics.  It listed the death rate in the United States at 867.8 deaths per 100,000 population.  Then it said the total of deaths was 2,839, 205.  Something about that just didn’t look right so I did a little multiplying and dividing and realized that they had left a zero off.  The deaths were really per 1,000,000 population.  If you are a budding reporter or researcher and know how to use a calculator but have no concept of what the answer should be you can scare the wits out of people.  When I see things like that it makes me wonder what other details they have wrong.

I am aware that the number of deaths is up.  When you read that you need to factor in the blatant lies that are involved.  Keep in mind that the CDC admitted that at least 30% of the deaths reported were not really Covid related.  If they admit 30% then you know it is much higher.  Are people dying?  Yes.  Is water wet?  Same answer.  It doesn’t mean that I worry about water, unless it is rising or leaking through my roof.  

So put on your big boy pants and get on with life.  There are lots of things out to get you:  Drunk drivers, ice on bridges, weak sidewalls on your tires, jealous husbands, the IRS, the common cold, your ladder, your bathtub.  I think you can add to the list.  None of those, except maybe the jealous husband, keep us from going about our daily business.  Could I die and be labeled a Covid statistic this week?  Sure.  Does that change a thing I am saying?  Not on your life, or not on my death.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-317: Ode to Old: I Had It Just a Minute Ago

Memory is not always a matter of age.  For some reason certain concepts, facts and processes have never set down in my brain.

I can never remember the difference between perennial and annual flowers.  I have to look it up every time.  Why could they not have been called single year and multiple year?  It would have made my life easier.

I can never remember how to do percentages.  I always have to sit down and work through the process.  Once I get it I can go to town but if I wait too long before I need to calculate again I have to start the process over.

Certain streets I always mix up.  I grew up in a town that has generally straight streets in a grid pattern.  Many of them I have been traveling over all my life but I still can’t tell you which is which from memory.

Which is higher, the flush or the straight?  When you play cards do you go clockwise or counterclockwise?  For that matter, which way is clockwise?  

I guess I could go on forever this way.  I expect to add new things I can’t remember.  I won’t worry until I don’t remember that I don’t remember.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-316: Monday Pulpit: A Word about Those Strange Christians

I don’t know if you are close to anyone who is a committed Christian.  I don’t mean the ones who pay lip service or have a superficial belief.  I am talking about the ones who really believe what the Bible says.  I consider myself one of them.  That may just be arrogance talking but it is my conviction.  We all have our ups and downs but there is a root of cheerfulness within us.  That gives us a reason to hope.  It drives out the fears that are so crippling.  Our culture is awash in fear, fear of something called Covid-19, fear of Trump, fear of Biden, fear of a socialist takeover, fear of an economic collapse.  You get the idea.  

In the face of that there is something the trumps it all.  It is our hope.  It is summed up well in the first verse of a song called "The Solid Rock."
 
    My hope is built on nothing less
    Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
    I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
    But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

    Refrain:
        On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
        All other ground is sinking sand.
        All other ground is sinking sand.

Picture being in a swamp and knowing that there is quicksand on every side.  You have heard the plops and swishes that mean you are surrounded by critters.  You know there is a safe way through because others have gone before you.  When that “other” is Jesus, you have hope.

It is a beautiful day in spite of all the fear mongers around us.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-315: CS vs BS: They Are Not the Same

The CS stands for Common Sense.  The BS stands for everything you hear in the media, politics and the classroom.  That may seem a bit extreme but experience has shown it to be a reliable concept.

The only real problem with common sense is that it is often confused with personal bias or ignorance.  Both of these have antidotes.

First is the problem of ignorance.  I realize that the days of turning on the evening news and getting a feel for what is happening is gone.  It may have never been here but now it is gone to the nth degree.  You now need to put some effort into being informed.  That rules out a lot of people.  It is easier to believe CNN and not be forced to think.  Once you get past that you need to seek out information and then run it through your BS meter to come up with what is happening.  I have often had pseudo intellectuals tell me they would take two newspapers, one from the right and the other from the left, and read both to get a balanced view of the news.  It has been at least 40 years since you could have done that in any city in America.  I doubt if anyone really did it anyway.  Now you need to read from numerous web sites, assume that everyone has a bias and try to put it together from that.

Common sense is available but you need to be aware of your personal bias.  This limitation can also be countered.  You start by having a sense of reality that is grounded in reality.  That sounds like double talk but it isn’t.  The old, traditional America grew out of the British culture that was grounded in a view of the world based on a scientific method which was possible only with a Judeo-Christian belief system.  If you are going to come to legitimate conclusions you need to start with a group of facts that cannot be disputed.  For me that starts with a daily reading of what we call “Wisdom Literature” found in the Biblical books of Psalms and Proverbs.  You get a solid foundation of right and wrong.  Once you have that you are ready to look at the rest of the day.

Let’s take a silly example:  Who makes the best potato salad?  Based on my knowledge, people really do taste things differently.  I came to this conclusion early when I met people who actually liked liver.  To me that is impossible.  I can hardly smell it without gagging.  Because of this I recognize that it is impossible to proclaim any potato salad universally the best.  It all depends on what you like.  I prefer potato salad with mustard.  Anything else is number 2 at best.  With that in mind I can discuss which is best and be content with the results.

The same is true of coffee.  My wife is always asking me if the coffee at a place is good or bad.  I reminder her that I can tell really bad coffee from really good coffee but everything in between is a bit hard to rate.  I do not have a discerning palate.  That is a blessing because I can enjoy a lot of brews that coffee snobs turn their noses up at.  I know it and make allowance.

We have a lot of things going on that require a lot of sense to live with from global warming to the China virus.  Hopefully I will expand on that.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-314: Think about It

Think about what it would be like if the news media actually told the truth, other than me having a heart attack.  Actually the inhabitants of CNN Country might find it hard to sleep at night if they actually saw what was going on in the peaceful protests.

Think about how superior our children would be if they were not brainwashed by Progressive* teachers and fed a watered down curriculum full of distortions and outright lies.  What would it be like if they knew what 1984 was about and the purpose of the Constitution.  

Think about how our economy would be booming if politicians did not spend so much time loading legislation with pork barrel items and wasting the money they extort from taxpayers.  Think of all the things you could do with the tax money that is given away.  Think about a dollar object actually costing a dollar.

Think about what our government would look like if the cheating wasn’t so rampant.  Imagine people being elected on purpose and working to accomplish what they promised.

Think about what our streets would be like if the Progressives* didn’t keep ignoring the law and letting criminals out of jail.  

Now stop thinking and start doing.  None of us want to get violent.  We want law and order to prevail.  The one avenue we can pursue is Adam Smith’s invisible hand.  If the news media won’t tell the truth because it is true, maybe they will if they face unemployment because no one is buying their product.  How would twitter and Facebook survive if all the conservatives would stop using their services.  Make it so they can’t afford to be smug socialists any more.

If we will stop complaining and start acting then they would have to think about it.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-313: On the Street: Contrasts

We are on the road again.  We traveled from Texas, through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina to Virginia.  Later we will spend time in Maryland.  It was like a trip from Frontier Land to Tomorrow Land to Fantasy Land.  I have not been to Disneyland or bought a Disney product for at least 20 years so I am going on old memories.  In any case there are tremendous differences.  On arriving in Virginia it feels like we are back in California.  After sensing the freedom in the deep South this is a land of oppression, but I have written on that before.

One of the things that struck us was a side trip we took looking to feed my wife’s Sonic dependancy.  There is something about Sonic iced tea that makes the sun shine brighter and puts more hope in the future.  The detour covered about 15 miles through residential Anderson, South Carolina.  What we noticed was that businesses were open and very busy.  We did not see evidence of the lives of common people being destroyed by lockdown.  I am sure there were some having a hard time but there was no shortage of places to dine in or limits on places to shop.  

Why did this stand out?  We keep hearing about the tragedy that is going on in places like New York City.  The mayor, Bill De Blasio, has again shut down all the restaurants in the city.  Establishments that have been around for 50 or more years are closing up for good.  I have friends in California who could give similar testimony to this phenomenon.  It is real.  It is destructive.  It is also Democrat.  

Just like the violence that is turning cities into bombed out war zones, the boarding up of once prosperous businesses is more frequent in cities that continue to elect Democrat mayors and city councils.  I would say all but I don’t know it is true.  With state mandates in Texas I am sure that some have gone under but not on the scale of NYC.  

While I feel sorry for these people, I can’t label them as total victims.  To know that I would need to know how their political activity.  Did they vote for Biden?  Did they vote for the current city leaders?  Did they make any contributions to their campaigns?  If the answer to any of these questions is, “Yes,” then I am afraid my sympathy is a bit shallow.

As I believe Barak Obama said, “Elections matter.”  Something to remember in a time of economic problems.  Try to help those in need but make sure they didn’t dig their own hole.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-312: Path to Restoration: Part 3 of 3, Regeneration

In the context of history the fate of the United States is not the fulcrum of existence.  America is not God’s chosen nation.  He has blessed us.  He has used us.  He is probably willing to continue that way, but not unless we change.  I am not worried about the outcome of elections as much as the removal of the hand of God.

So here is where many will stop reading, if they got this far.  This is where I get down to the only answer that will work.  It involves acknowledgment, repentance, confession and regeneration.

First, each of us must acknowledge that we are broken.  The problem is not a political party.  The problem is that we have turned our back on God.  This is not a new problem.  Isaiah wrote thousands of years ago,

(Isa 53:6 KJV) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

The second part is what I am referring to.  We have set ourselves up as our own personal gods with phrases like “self-fulfillment” and phrases plastered on school walls like, “You can be anything you dream.”  We will never find a cure for what ails society unless we deal with the self-centered nature of people.  You are welcome to try.  I assure you it won’t work.  We must admit to ourselves and to God that we are sinners.

The order of these things can vary but somewhere you must be willing to change.  That is what repentance is.  Repenting means wanting to change direction.  You can call on God all you want but if you expect things to go on as-business-as usual then get ready to blame God for failing you.

Confession means admitting that you are the problem.  I know you didn’t start the Jewish Holocaust.  I know you didn’t knock that little old lady in front of the bus.  But you did put yourself first in many cases.  You did lie.  You did steal.  Admit it and move on.

When you accept that you are a sinner in need of a cure that means you know you need a savior.  That is where Jesus comes in.  God’s sense of justice and righteousness demands that sin be punished.  Jesus died on a cross to pay the price for your sin.  If you believe that and that He rose from the dead as proof that you can have eternal life then you need to trust Him and ask Him to change your heart.  It is called regeneration.

The church has failed.  It has gotten away from its mission of preaching salvation and helping those who respond to become more like Jesus.  They have been content to be politically correct and nice.  They are part of the problem.  That is because people attending church need regeneration as much as your garden variety pagan.  

So there it is.  Reform is possible.  It has happened before.  Read about the Wesley Revival in England.  Do a little research on the Great Awakening.  It can happen again.  Will it?

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-311: Path to Restoration: Part 2 of 3, Revival

Laws are important.  They are not important because they work by themselves.  They are important because they show us the guidelines we need to follow.  The problem that our social engineers and well-meaning liberals don’t see is that the issue is the heart of man not the number of laws.  I remember working construction and seeing men who would tie back the guard on their circular saw.  I guess they figure they are too good to get careless.  Ask the ER room how that works out.  The guard is there to keep people from doing stupid things.  Of course we are very clever when it comes to being stupid.

We need to reform our society.  The question is, “How?”  The answer has to do with changing the inner man.  You can call it psychological, sociological, educational or whatever you want.  I prefer to call it theological so I will use the terms I am most familiar with.  I would use “spiritual” instead of theological but that is another one of the words that has been coopted by the Progressives* and the New Agers.  We need something different than more laws.  

We start with laws.  Even in the Bible we see that laws are important in spite of the fact Christians like to say we are under grace, not law.  The book of Romans has a long discussion of this issue but let me quote one verse that explains.

(Rom 7:7 KJV) What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

A child doesn’t know what is right or wrong but they can understand, “No.”  They don’t know that the electrical outlet can kill them.  They don’t know that running into the street can cause incredible pain and suffering.  They don’t know that the pills are not candy.  Toddlers don’t understand why showing the kitty you love her by picking her up by the head is rejected by the kitty.  You lay down the law.  Eventually they come to a place where they understand the issues.

We need to come to that place.  We have forgotten a lot.  We used to accept that sex outside marriage was wrong.  We used to understand that there were only two genders.  We used to pay lip service, shall we say, to the idea that lying was wrong.  Theft, whether by individuals or the government, was wrong.  We need to be reminded of something called sin.  We need to wake up to the reality of our sinful natures.  We need to have it explained to us that the only thing that will cure our natures is an act of God.  We need to be informed that God is willing to do that through Jesus.

The only hope we have is a genuine spiritual revival.  In the popular term being thrown around on video, we need a national “come to Jesus” moment.  This is not just something I come up with because I come from a Bible-believing Christian background.  It is a concept that was expressed by many of the Founding Fathers.  If you want to read some of their quotes you can take a look at an article at Mount Liberty College called “Without Virtue There Can Be No Liberty.”

Our government is in need of reform but reform will not really change anything unless the people running the government are changed.  A good government will not reform the country unless the people electing that government are changed.  The change is an inner one.  It can only happen if some outside force changes the way these people think and thus how they act.  The same need is present in those who are not in power.  As much as the phrase is used in jest, it really is a need to “come to Jesus”.  

The problem with the swamp is not the water but sin.  

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc.  Another word for swamp dwellers)

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-310: Path to Restoration: Part 1 of 3, Reform

Lets look forward assuming that Trump wins.  Does that take care of the problem of corruption?  Does the swamp suddenly go away?  Do Rinos change their spots?  Okay, so it is leopards that do that.  If you say “Yes” then all I can say is a Southern, “Well, bless your heart.”  Lets take another leap of faith and assume that we get a bunch of laws passed that are carefully targeted to deal with election crimes.  We put people in jail and start impeaching people who betray their country for personal power.  We pull out the plumb and say, “What a good boy am I.”

It won’t make any difference.  People who want to defy the law are endlessly creative.  If you don’t know that, consider all of the clever work-arounds that the gun owners of California have come up with to thwart the dreams of the gun grabbers.  I have not kept up on all of them but one of the adaptations I remember was that the Progressives* in government mandated that magazines require a tool to be removed.  The object was to make it hard to reload.  Fans of the AR-15 said, “Okay.  See this bullet?  It becomes a tool which depresses the recessed button that you thought would stop us.”  Legal?  Yes.  Simple?  Yes.  So the Progressives* go back to the drawing board.

So what is the next regulation?  How long will it take to find a work-around?

The same will be true in passing a bunch of laws to curb election fraud.  We already have laws on the books that makes most of what happened illegal.  The results came in several forms:  Crickets, judges changing the rules by fiat, officials ignoring the rules, DA’s and governors ignoring the law.  In other words, the law did nothing because the people we put in place to enforce the law use selective application to advance their wants and desires.  Keep in mind that the gun grabbers want to pass more laws to outlaw guns to stop the violence.  I might point out that the violence is already against the law.

Can we find a way out?  Yes, but it will be painful and many of you won’t like it.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc.  Another word for swamp dwellers)

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-309: What Time Is It?

Is it time to get hysterical?  We come to this place on a regular basis.  Remember the fear when Clinton won or when Obama became president?  I do.  I also remember the panic on the left when George II was elected.  We heard the same stories about Clinton and Bush refusing to leave office.  Once again we are deeply worried about the survival of our Republic.

It is time to get hysterical?  We keep hearing about how there has always been cheating in elections.  Sure.  We all know that.  We also know that there has always been violence on the streets.  The problem is that it now seems that the forces of Marxism have managed to get past the tipping point.  We saw this when pro-Trump citizens demonstrated in his support this weekend and where attacked by well organized armies in black.  And the police, for all intents and purposes, did nothing.  They now don’t care how violent they get or how blatant their criminal activity is in election fraud.

Is it time to get hysterical?  We have always had leftists judges who would ignore the Constitution to press the Progressive* agenda.  I am not sure that we have ever had supposedly conservative judges ignoring the Constitution the way they have been recently.  The law can be used to advance justice and maintain liberty.  It can also be manipulated to allow those with no scruples to destroy the republic.  The left has no problem with threatening physical violence against judges.  Being human, they are concerned about the safety of their children.  Socialist thugs have always known this and been quite willing to brutalize to win.

Is it time to get hysterical?  Newspapers have never been fair.  That is a fact.  What has changed is that the news only comes from one side now.  Mix that with the willingness of reporters and editors to blatantly lie to advance the Progressive* agenda and you get bullet points like this from the Daily Mail,

“The 'Stop the Steal' rally was protesting with claims of voter fraud, despite courts across the country throwing out the numerous suits filed by the Trump campaign when no evidence of their allegations was found”

It takes a certain quality to print something like that.  Is it being brain-dead?  Is it being evil?  It certainly doesn’t have anything to do with informing people about what is really happening.

Is it time to get hysterical?  No.  It is time to get serious.  We need to come to an understanding that even if Trump wins and in sworn in on January 20, the battle will not be over.  The God hating, America hating, liberty hating members of what is often called the Deep State will not give up nor go away.  Either way it is time to get serious about reclaiming our Republic.  It needs to start on the local level.  It needs to start with school boards, city councils, sheriffs and municipal judges.  

Vote the suckers out.  We might not be able to stop the steal on the federal level but we should be able to make sure local elections are honest and start working up the food chain.

It is time.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc.  Another word for swamp dwellers)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-308: Resurrection of the Sit-In

What do we do in response to the fascist lockdowns?  The whole purpose of the lockdowns is to isolate us and keep us from working together against tyranny.  If they can get us one at a time, we can be picked off.  When they come to take our guns they will not call for an appointment.  They will come when our neighbors are at work or asleep in their beds.  They will deal with us and then move on to another isolated target.  The IRS will come after us one at a time.  The police will confiscate our property by accusing us of drug dealing.  The health department will take our certificates that say we are clean.  When there is only one of us and there are ten “To protect and serve” cadets we know how it will go.

I would suggest that we have daily defiance rallies.  We need to locate a selected location and just flood in by the thousands.  We need to stand there until the police show up and then go our way.  If necessary we can jack it up to actually block traffic.  We could use the tactics of the left and have city hall sit-ins.  We could do it at city counsel meetings.  We could do it on the sidewalk in front of the homes of selected elected officials.  We could do it so people could stop by on their way home from work.  Maybe they are already happening but we won’t hear about it on the news.

We need to get their attention.  They are not listening.  Too many dictators in training are able to ignore us.  Perhaps we could find a way to show them we care without going to the Second Amendment solution.  In much of the country there were Trump Trains and parades of boats.  We could try it in regard to our Representatives in congress and state legislatures.  They looked like a lot of fun.

Bring your MAGA hats.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-307: Election 2020: The 17%

One of the popular themes on the internet is that if the media had been honest and covered certain stories then a large number of people would have voted for Trump instead of Biden.  This is a lot of crying over spilt milk that is totally bogus.

First, the information was out there for anyone who was willing to look and wanted to know.  I am always amazed at the number of people who say they never heard something.  I realize I am conservative-heavy on my internet reading but surely these masses of sheep could check on something besides the liberal drivel, at least once in awhile.  Instead of sneering at people who try to inform them they could spend a few moments checking it out and then engage their brain.

Second, and this is the biggest one, it would not have mattered if they had switched their votes.  It is already clear that Trump won a massive victory if you only counted the legitimate votes.  Any one who denies that also believes that Obama stopped the oceans from rising and that our power grid can work on wind power.  I believe it is a fact.  It would not have made any difference if the 17% who claim they would have voted different had actually done so.  All it would mean is that the Progressive* crime machine hiding behind the Democrat party would have had to print a few more ballots.

It is obvious that they stuffed the ballot boxes and had the computer set to give false results.  It is also obvious that the Judges and elected officials don’t care what the vote was.  All they want is a chance to throw the election to the America hating party.  Whether they do it from fanatical ideology, bribes or threats against their children, it doesn’t matter.  They have done all they can to steal the country and destroy our election process.

I have still not abandoned hope.  That does not change any of what happened.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc.  Another word for swamp dwellers)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-306: I Miss Life

On our last road trip I was wondering if the country will ever overcome the scares that the phoney virus propaganda has caused.  The service in hotels makes you wonder why you ever left home.  Every amenity in the place was closed down.  The pool was closed.  The business center was closed.  Breakfast was a paper bag with a muffin instead of a eggs and waffles.  

And the fear.  Sure, a lot of people are shaking their heads and putting on a mask, but it is amazing how many people have been reduced to wide eyed phobia.  They look at you and back away.  You can’t tell if anyone is smiling or snarling.  You see them when you drive down the road in the middle of no where and they are alone in their car with a mask and gloves.

This kind of mind set is easy to generate and hard to negate.  It doesn’t matter if all the numbers in the world tell you this is a farce.  I assume you have heard about the study published by John Hopkins that pointed out that there was no increase in deaths because of the China Virus.  It seems that the other categories have gone down as Covid-19 has gone up.  The big one was heart disease.  It seems the deaths from heart disease has taken a nose dive this year in almost a mirror image of the rise of the deaths from the fear virus.  Of course the Progressives* are scrambling to rewrite the narrative and say it was just a bunch of right wing bloggers making stuff up.  

I know that I am already shopping less.  I will avoid traveling if I can.  Not because I am worried about the hundreds of viruses and bacteria that fill every square inch of earth.  No, it will because I am tired of watching others be afraid and being forced to wear a mask for their paranoia.

Is the Covid-19 virus deadly?  It can be.  So can falling off a ladder, slipping in your bath tub, being hit by a drunk driver, catching a normal cold when you are 90 and so many other every day events.  It is called risk.  It is called life.  

Get out and live.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc.  Another word for swamp dwellers)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-305: Entropy by Committee

People are calling for special counselors/prosecutors or whatever they are called.  I am not excited about the idea.  Although I am sure there have been more, the special counselors that come to mind for me are Ken Starr and Robert Mueller.  Neither one produced any results that justified the expense and time.  

I am guessing that there have been others that were more productive but because they were not politically expedient to the CNN media, they have not been publicized.  I think special prosecutors are just another way of forming a committee.  If you don’t know what that means it is about the way an executive or administrator will have someone bring up an idea he doesn’t like so he “forms a committee” knowing that it will result in a lot of talk and no action.

People are excited that Barr made Durham a special prosecutor.  Keep in mind that Comey lied under oath, on public TV, in front of millions of Americans.  That is an open and shut case.  There are others.  You don’t need a special prosecutor, you need a Attorney General who wants to put criminals in jail.

You don’t need special prosecutors for things that are obvious.  Gather some facts, issue a warrant, indict and prosecute.  

Sound simple to me but because it might put some special people in jail, it won’t happen.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-304: Headlines: Escape from New York

You may have been reading about how major businesses are fleeing New York.  I think they are just trying to be like Rush Limbaugh.  The latest I am hearing about is Goldman Sachs and their target is Florida.

I think this is a really bad idea.

All the conservative types see is the destruction of the tax base in NYC and the movement of lots of jobs and taxes to red states.  That sounds really good but coming with all that money is a blue mentality.  Large number of blue voters will now be forced to move to red states in order to preserve their exclusive life styles.  They have been living so high on the hog that they are totally oblivious to the way their politics ruins life for everyone else.  Moving to Texas or Florida will not make them suddenly sensitive to the fact that socialism brings poverty and suffering to the general population.  They will not become aware of simple things like cause and effect.  It will not negate their lack of economic understanding.  They will continue to be paid well and live in gated compounds.

Not only will they finalize the death of NYC, California, Seattle and others but they will begin the destruction of their target states.  We have gotten along fine without them up until now.  Our states are thriving.  I am concerned that will change.

Moving bad apples from a rotten barrel to a healthy barrel does not go well for the good apples.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-303: Headlines: The Nays of Texas

The AJ of Texas, Ken Paxton, has filed a suit in the election against four states.  He is accusing them of violating the Constitution by changing the rules of the election without the approval of the legislatures.  Someone, I think it was Rush, said that this case did not need to prove fraud just whether the changes were constitutional.  This is a creative example of what can be done if people who have studied the law will step up and act.

Pray for Paxton.  Remember that there is always a price to pay for resisting the goons of the Progressive Deep State.  Strangely enough, the FBI is investigating him for some kind of issue regarding missuse of political power.  Really?  Comey, Brennen and the rest get a pass and they go after the Attorney General of Texas.  Can any one say “coincidence”?  I think the Deep State knew he was going to make this move and tried to preempt his action.  I remember hearing calls for him to resign.

Deep state manipulation?  Does he have spies in his staff?  Is the swamp this pervasive?  They may simply want to get rid of him because he was supported by the Tea Party.  Their tentacles reach into every corner.  It makes me willing to support him if and when he decides to try for governor.

Will his case be heard?  The Progressive* voices, open and closet, keep saying it won’t work.  The rest of us can be encouraged that the battle is not over yet.  It also makes me think that if the swamp prevails, it may generate enough awareness that there will be hope for the future.  

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc.  Another word for swamp dwellers)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-302: Headlines: FBI to the Rescue

I have seen a news article about the FBI raid involving computer fraud in the Arizona election.  I tend to read the headlines and move on but one mentioned that they had seized some hardware.  The idea of the article was that law enforcement was on the march.  I link one from something called the PT Network.  I link them because they are not famous.  

The FBI is doing something.  Cheers and clapping can be heard in the gallery.  

Not so fast.

Remember the Weiner laptop with all the evidence about corruption in the Clinton world?  Remember the DNC hard drive?  Remember Hunter Biden’s laptop?  The last was in FBI possession for a year with nothing but crickets.

The thought crossed my mind that the purpose of the FBI raid was to grab the evidence and make sure that it was “lost”  or forgotten in the process.  Call me a cynic.  Call me a realist.  Too often they seem to be the same thing.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-301: Should-a-Beens: Prognostication

What lies in the future?  Obviously that is a dumb question if you expect an accurate answer, but it is a consideration we need to keep making.

I think that the goals of President Trump will be the same, win or lose.  I think he will continue to work to drain the swamp.  His methods and priorities will be different depending on the outcome of the election but he has set himself to make America great again and I don’t see him quitting.  There is a very real sense in which he has the tiger by the tail and can’t let go, even if he wants to.  He has been learning a lot in the last four years about the enemies of the Republic and their lack of moral limitations.  He has seen the abuse of the legal system in the persecution of Michael Flynn.  He has watched as the swamp has used every agency of the United States government to bring him down when he was supposed to be the head of those agencies.  I think he is a different person than he was four years ago.

The people who have attacked him, his family and his country need to begin living in fear.  He has a lot going for him.  

    His own commitment to winning
    His deep love for the United States of America
    80 million voters who were given hope again
    The Constitution of the United States
    In my opinion, God Almighty

I read an article that got my mind going this way.  I went looking for it and could not find it again so I can’t give them credit,  but it started with the premise that Donald Trump will not be retiring to a quiet life in the countryside.  It suggested that if he loses, he would announce for 2024 but not really run.  Being a candidate opens up a lot of options for him in the coming years and would put him in the place to continue transforming the Republican party into something besides Rinos and swamp critters.  

Of course it would be better to let him continue the work he has started and become a supporter after he is term limited out.  I am still hoping for that option.  If I don’t get it, then we will have to go with plan B.

The option of surrender is not acceptable.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-300: Monday Pulpit: The God Thing

 Opus 2020-300:  Monday Pulpit:  The God Thing

It has been a long time since I have listened to Alistair Begg on my way to work.  I did write a lot of ideas down from listening to him.  One of them is appropriate for the times we are living in.

    “Providence is a soft pillow to put your head on in the evening.”

My wife like to call it “a God Thing”.  That is cute but does not have the gravitas of “Providence”.  Do I plan and save?  Yes.  Do I lock my doors at night?  Of course.  Do I check the seals on food I buy at the grocery store?  Always.  I don’t play games with God.  He expects me to practice due diligence.  He does not play games with me.  I trust Him to be in charge and watch out for both the microbes and the meteorites.  I am concerned about the election we just went through.  I know that a Biden administration will do much to destroy the righteous in this country.  But I don’t fixate on it.  

Sleep well if you trust Him.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-299: Who Changed the Name?

When did we change the name?  Suddenly Pearl Harbor Day is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.  I tend to be suspicious of any change that suddenly appears without any discussion I am aware of.  Remember when Easter vacation became Spring Break?  Me neither, but it happened.  Merry Christmas has become Happy Holidays.  BC and AD became BCE and CE.  Socialism became a success.  There is usually a motive behind the change even if it is just to get people unsettled.  

Pearl Harbor is one of those days that fit in with the meme “Never forget.”  The phrase was originally a reference to the Holocaust.  People who know anything about history know we are talking about the genocide against the Jews perpetrated by the Nazis.  The list grows as we become aware.  Without going far back in history you can look at the Armenian Holocaust, Pol Pot, the starvation of millions of Ukranian peasants by the Soviets, and 911.  The list has a lot of variations depending on your awareness and personal involvement, but the list is real.  

Why is it important that we never forget?  The purpose is not to wreak vengeance.  The purpose is to avoid the same tragedy again.  What international events led up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor?  Can they be avoided?  How can we do better?  Or take the deliberate lies about socialism.  It is clear to anyone who is not brainwashed or totally ignorant that socialism has been one of the greatest killers in history.  Soviet socialism (Communists for the uniformed) makes National Socialism (Nazis for the uninformed) look like a bunch of minor leaguers when it comes to killing.  Mao’s People’s Republic (Chinese communist for the uniformed)  made the Soviet Union look like they were not even trying.  
 
It is obvious that most people don’t want to remember.  It requires them to make choices and take stands that are not popular.  Take the Armenian Holocaust.  It was the massacre of men, women and children by the Turks.  Numbers vary depending on your political position but I am going with a million and a half people.  It was an international hate crime by Muslims against Christians.  It is not popular to point that out.  All kinds of excuses are invented.  Obviously people making excuses have ignored the pictures of Armenian women crucified and dead bodies lying in rows.  What makes this terrifying is that the religious massacre is still going on.  I don’t imagine CNN or any of the Progressive news sources has covered it but the Muslims are at it again.  Armenians are being slaughtered.  We would rather forget and ignore.

Remembering is often inconvenient and sometimes just painful.  It is important to remember that an extra piece of cake can make you fat.  It is even more important to remember that socialism will make you either a slave or a corpse.  

Open your eyes so you know what you should never forget.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-298: How about a New New Normal

America is on the verge of losing it all.  People are putting their children back in day care and sending them back to school.  

The virus scare and government overreach has given us a chance to stop and take a deep breath.  It has allowed some to reconnect with their children and get a glimpse of the brainwashing that is going on in the public schools.  Many parents have been filled with horror when the schools tried to teach on line and gave them access to the lessons.  Families have been forced to reexamine their spending and priorities and ask themselves if the dining out and the extra shiny new car were worth what it was costing them emotionally.

One of the lines I have been hearing all my life is that you can’t live on one salary.  The actual statement should be “We can’t live at the elevated level we have become accustomed to on one salary.”  Although my wife has generated some income from various sources she has never sought out a regular job since our first born arrived on the scene.  We have driven old cars, worn out our thrift store clothes and eaten out with coupons.  With a bit of thrift and some help getting started on our first home we have done very well.  We had a lot of vacations in Hawaii but when we went we took an ice chest full of frozen food.  It is amazing what you can do when you try.

So.  Take a deep breath.  Ask yourself what you want for your family.  If happiness requires a Hummer and a Lexus in your driveway then go for it.  If you would prefer children that are a bit more balanced then consider making a go of it.

Each of us has to make our own decisions.  I keep hearing about people who send their children away to college and they come back belligerent Marxists.  I have this feeling, nothing I can prove, that the problem started long before they filled out the applications.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-297: All Hail, Lord Gavin

I am wondering if we should celebrate the return of States’ Rights.

I am referring to the police states being established in California, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, et cetera.  The governors of those states are basically defying the will of the people of the United States as well as the citizens of their states.  The difference is that the people of California elected Gavin Newsom and gave him a one party state to run, so they deserve everything they get from him.  The same is true of Oregon, Washington, and all the other states with strong Antifa loyalties.  In the true spirit of federalism, Donald Trump refused to play their game and send in the Marines.  He let them stew in their own juices.  That is one reason it was so important to steal this election, the Democrats want to bail out their minions.

States rights advocates that each state has a degree of autonomy.  If they want to have high taxes and corrupt politicians then that is their right.  At one point it was even legal for them to have slaves if they wanted.  The Democrats wanted.  Even after the Civil War they did everything they could to keep black Americans on the plantation.  They have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.  They are working hard to move Latinos and whites onto the plantation as well.  

Now we have Governor Cuomo telling the Supreme Court to go pound sand when they stand up for religious liberty.  On one side I agree with him.  If the people of New York want to see their freedom eroded and support their own personal dictator, then maybe they should have that right.  If the Jews and Catholics, who probably voted in block for the man, are told to get on the plantation, they have a remedy that they can put in place without crying to the supreme court.

On the other hand, where are we going to be if every state starts defying the Supreme Court?  Maybe that is something worth considering.  Maybe if no one listens to them they will decide to resign and we can get in people who have read the Constitution.

The more I see the overreach of the Federal Government, the more I move toward being sympathetic toward the South in the Civil War.  Slavery could have been dealt with.  Some people think it was on its way out already.  I heard one speaker, who was black, say that slavery really never ended until the invention of machines that could pick cotton.  We need less from Nanny and more from the adults in the room.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-296: The Dictator Is Unknown

As I read a novel that touched on the foundation of the National Socialists and the rise of Adolph Hitler to power, it was clear that Biden himself is not the danger.

In the Weimar Republic Hitler was at first a minor, ambitious politician.  Paul von Hindenburg was the president.  The big break came when he appointed Hitler Chancellor and which gave him the potential to take power.  The similarity to today is that Hindenburg at this point in history was a doddering old man.  Sound familiar?

The leftist media has been calling Trump Hitler since the beginning.  As I have observed along with many others, if Trump was half the dictator he is accused of being the talking heads would have been lined up and shot years ago.  George W. Bush went through the same treatment.  The closer parallel is that there is someone waiting in the wings to take over from the doddering old Biden.  Harris?  Hillary?  The one who is really behind Biden’s nomination?  I hope we never find out.

Keep in mind that the office of dictator goes back to the Roman Republic.  Dictators were given power by the people.  They did not usurp it or pull a coup.  In a sense they are elected.  Originally they were only to serve for one year.  I don’t think America is ready for that.  At least I can say that the 80 million who voted for Trump are not ready.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-295: Cheaters Seem to Prosper

Are we going to need to accept cheating as the new normal?

One of the unavoidable elements of democratic forms of government is power brokers finding ways to cheat in the election.  To be fair that is not just reserved for democracy.  I am sure that the other forms have it also.  I don’t think it is being pessimistic to assert that we will never be able to have totally honest elections.  I guess even that needs definitions.

Progressives* would probably say we can have honest elections but they do not mean what a well balanced, moral person means.  For them an election is honest if they win.  It is as simple as that.  Bribery, coercion, false results, ballot box stuffing, voting often, none of these are dishonest if they do them.  Keep in mind that in the mind of the left right and wrong are simply a way of measuring victory.

People who embrace the Christian way of thinking, even if they would not call themselves Christian, tend to believe that 2 + 2 = 4, period.  It doesn’t matter if you need 3 or 5 to make your computer model work.  One answer is right and any other is wrong.  Part of this philosophy is that man has a tendency to do the selfish thing.  In theology this is called original sin, the carnal nature or depravity.  The Founding Fathers knew this.  That is why we have checks and balances.  That is why we are a republic, not a democracy.

Cheating is universal.  What is unique about culture in the West is that its Judeo-Christian roots say that cheating is wrong.  So how do we deal with people in control rejecting that value?  What do you do when the government officials, courts and law enforcement all feel like you are a chump for thinking your voice and vote matter?  

If Biden wins this we may be forced to find out.  We may be forced to force.  It is a dangerous road to go down.  Lets keep hoping we can work this out by the rule of law and reason.  It is a sure thing that they will ignore both.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-294: New Terms: BBI

I think it is time to redo some names and titles.  We need to give honor where honor is due.  Think of all the streets in the country that have been named after MLK and Caesar Chavez.  Make a list of all the schools that have had name changes because the Cancel Culture does not like them.  The list grows every day.  Maybe we should get on board with this.

Instead of Federal Express we can have the Banana Express.  Savings and Loans would become Banana instead of Federal.  We could refer kidnaping cases to the BBI.

This election has put the Chiquita seal on our Republic.  What could not be stolen was bought.  What could not be bought was coerced.  It was like watching a Marx brothers comedy being played out in real life.

I still have hopes that President Trumps team will win.  If he does then he will need to get serious about firing people, indicting people and unmasking all the traitors who have been getting away with murder, literally and figuratively.  

Meanwhile, America leads the way even in rigged elections.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-293: Justice and Justices

What is going on in the minds and souls of the five Supreme Court Justices who have not sold out to the dark side?  We tend to look at result but we can’t see into the struggles.  Every case they hear has consequences for someone.  There are also the unintended consequences down the road.  Others are obviously important for millions.  

It is hard for me to believe that the nine people on the Court are not aware of what has been going on.  They must be able to see that the very foundations of the Republic are under attack.  They must know it will effect the entire world if the Progressives are allowed to steal an election so blatantly.  It would be scary to think that my decisions would have so much weight.

Three of the Justices have long been members of the America hating elite.  They were appointed with that understanding.  Roberts was either a sleeper, a convert or coerced.  We have four members that are poison to our liberty, not to mention or lives and pursuit of happiness.  What is frightening is that they represent a sizable minority in our country, Romney’s 47%.

I assume that in the next few days the Supreme Court will get involved in the election fraud that has been going on.  They will either accept the cases and save the country or surrender our future to the Venezuela dream.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-292: Should-a-Beens: Is the Pope a Catholic?

Most of us can remember when this question was a reminder that someone had asked a stupid question.  There were some things that we considered as certain as death and taxes.  Now the question of the Catholicism of the Pope is open to question.

I am not a Catholic so my opinion is unimportant, but over the last few years I have made inquiry of people who were devout in the faith.  They are having the same doubts.  He seems to feel that Muslims are brothers in Christ and that godless socialism is the way to go.  There are times when he seems to be as good a Catholic as Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.  On reflection, I think he is.

The church of Jesus Christ needs revival.  The leadership in Protestant denominations have long been siding with the devil.  There has always been an element in the Catholic church that was rotten and now it seems that the rot has Peter Principled the oldest denomination.

Now we can be even more inclusive when we pray for revival.  My opinion is that the current disintegration of the United States is taking place because the pulpits of American have abandoned their calling to preach against sin.  Politics can take us nowhere if the hearts of the people are not right with God.  It is always right to recall the words that are often quoted and always ignored,

(2Ch 7:14 KJV) If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Never quote this without that phrase, “turn from their wicked ways”.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-291: Headlines: The Palms of David

I didn’t bother listening to the video but I understand that devout Catholic Joe Biden called the book of Psalms the book of Palms.  That probably makes him as good a Catholic as the Pope.  He has been mocked for this.

If you plug in your memory module you may remember when Donald Trump called II Corinthians, “Two Corinthians” and was mocked for that.  The difference is that there are a lot of well educated people in the world who say it that way.  This is true specifically in Scotland.

Mocking Donald Trump often shows your ignorance.  Joe Biden is mocked for his real ignorance.  If you voted for Joe you might want to think about that.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-290: The Elderly Wasteland

I am still away from home.  When I travel I end up listening to the radio and watching TV more than is normal for me.  As a general rule it is as bad as I remember.

Commercials tend to ignite the flames of scepticism in me.  I hate being deceived but I resent even more being thought stupid.  I am seeing a lot of commercials dealing with Medicare.  That is because we are in the period when people can change their coverage without penalty.  The gross exaggerations fly fast and thick.  People forget that nothing is free.

I also am mystified at the people I see.  The ad executives seem to go back through old news reels looking for big names and checking to see if they are still alive.  The one that got my attention the other day was Joe Namath.

I don’t know if anyone under 40 knows who Joe Namath is or was.  I asked my son and he had no clue.  For those who never followed sports he was a quarterback in college and professional football.  He was good enough to make it into the Hall of Fame.  I have no idea if he deserved it or not.  What most people will remember about Broadway Joe was his loose life style.  Today it would be tame but back then he was a wild and crazy dude.  

Now he is selling Medicare insurance.  I wish him luck but his endorsement means nothing to me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-289: Election 2020: Going for the Jugular

We need to keep reminding ourselves that this is not just another election.  The Progressives* are not out just to win in 2020.  At the core of their movement there is a commitment to destroy the America that has brought liberty, opportunity and security to millions.  They really do want a socialist state with every one of us peasants walking in lock step.

We have seen the mask mandate.  We are still in it and if Biden prevails he is promising to make it a federal mandate.

They are going after our traditions.  How many governors and mayors have now declared that we should not celebrate Thanksgiving?  Do you really think that Christmas and Easter will be allowed to go on?

They have gone a long way toward shutting down our churches.  

They have made the democratic processes of our republic into a joke.

They are driving law abiding citizens to have nothing but contempt for the legal process.  Deep state, bought and paid for, DA’s and judges have been letting violent criminals walk free with little or no bail.  That is when they can be bothered to arrest them in the first place.  At the same time they are threatening you if you dare to have too many people in your house for any kind of family activity.

They, the Progressives, are going for the gold.  They have been working and planning for decades.  They have taken over education, the media and the churches.  We, the people, have been asleep at the wheel.  It is time to wake up and start being vocal before they mandate that out of existence.  For many of us that may mean starting to attend church business meetings and speaking up.  I hope you had some great conversations at your Thanksgiving celebration.  I hope you had a Thanksgiving celebration.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-288: On a More Positive Note

In spite of my last post I am filled with gratitude.  I don’t wait until the last Thursday in November to be thankful.  It is part of my morning routine every day.  I have mentioned it in the past.  Providence trumps politics.  I believe that.

One of the realities of thanks is that it is not dependent on today’s situation.  It is based on an eternal view of life.  It is rooted in a fear of the Lord that accepts that His ways are mysterious.  It is based on faith, not only for salvation but for the daily walk.

Down through history there have been times of persecution and suffering.  It is in those times that people are reminded that their destiny does not depend on the favor of the king but the grace of the King.  The censors may remove Thanksgiving from the Calendar but they can never remove it from the hearts of believers.

Happy Thanksgiving.  Rejoice.  Be glad.  Be thankful.  Read the Book and find out who wins.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-287: Thanksgiving Coup

We have a major coup going on.  I don’t refer to the one against that president.  That is old news going back four years.  I refer to the coup against Thanksgiving.

This attempt to get rid of Thanksgiving did not start with edicts by governors across the nation.  That is just the latest stage.  It began back before Halloween.  You may not have noticed but the stores generally jumped over Thanksgiving and started with the Christmas offerings before October 31.  There were a few napkins and such but Thanksgiving was pretty much ignored.

The reason is that Thanksgiving is hard to have without an innocent at dinner wondering who or what we are supposed to be thanking.  That is an embarrassing question in a culture that rejects creation and embraces evolutionary chance.  It is kind of silly to be thankful when there is no one to thank.  For the tree hugger crowd I guess they can thank Gaia and I remember stories where an Indian who shot a deer would thank the deer for giving its life but that is not quite what we are talking about.

Rejecting Thanksgiving means rejecting the traditional picture of Pilgrims who came to the new world to worship as they chose.  It ignores repeated calls by presidents for a nation to be thankful to, drum roll please, God.  It is necessary for a group of secularists who want to make man the measure of all things and who assume they are the best men to measure.  It reminds us that the government, in all its wisdom, is better at shielding us from a virus than Almighty God.

So for Thanksgiving you are to be like Little Jack Horner and when you eat your pie by yourself you are to remind yourself of what a good boy you are.  

One reason the Progressives* are willing to move on to Christmas is that they have been neutering it for years.  They have been banning nativity scenes, Christmas plays and genuine carols for years.  They have that well in hand.

So for those of you who know whom you are thanking this year I encourage you to rejoice in the day and celebrate Thanksgiving to God.  Next year it may be removed from the calendars.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc)
 

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-286: Memory Aid

I am beginning to take names and make a list.  I am not Santa Claus.  I am an old man with a failing memory and, like most conservatives, willing to be understanding and forgiving.  While I must maintain a certain Christian attitude, I do not need to continue to be like Charlie Brown kicking the football.

We have all been told over and over that there is no difference between the Republican and Democrat parties.  In one sense that is ridiculous.  There are numerous issues that they differ on:  Abortion, taxes, Israel, China, the Second Amendment, God (really), whether America is good or bad, identity politics, and the definition of the family.  If I wanted to search I could find many more.  There is a difference.

At the same time there is a core of similarities.  Just as a beagle and a lab are totally different animals, you would have to admit that both are dogs.  We had a beagle and got rid of it as soon as possible.  Our lab became a part of the family.  The same is true of the two parties.  There are core ideas that make them the same.  There are groups that control both that would sell their soul for power and their mother for reelection.  A large group of Republicans are genuine RINO’s.  They are government-first clones that somehow ran on lies and have continued to serve on lies.

My list is generally going to be for my use.  It won’t focus on politicians but they will be included.  My main concern is the sources I have been using to get my news.  I am seeing a disturbing trend of people who claim to be genuine conservatives abandoning the president in the typical Republican way.  They still seem to think that if they are nice to the Democrats they will be left alone.  What will really happen is they will become disseminators of pollution.  They will try to ride on past laurels as they sneak poison into the minds of faithful readers.  We saw it happen with the Drudge Report.  I stopped going to the site during the first Trump campaign when it became obvious Drudge had gone to the dark side.  One that people are noticing now is Fox news.  I stopped paying attention to their opinions at least a year ago.  The degeneration is spreading.

So I will begin to note who is saying things like “there is no evidence of a stolen election” or calling on Trump to concede.  I am just one voice but I refuse to turn my mind off when we have had a chance to make America great again and the pontiffs jump ship.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-285: If We Can Keep It

Most are familiar with the response of Benjamin Franklin when asked what kind of government we have.  He did not say “A Democracy.”  He said, “A Republic,” and added “if you can keep it.”  We are on the verge, if not already over the edge of not keeping it.

Might I suggest that we need to come to a new understanding of the rule of law.  You have all heard the saying, stated many ways, that sometimes goes as “You don’t fight with the army you want, you fight with the army you have.”  I think it is time to start fighting with the laws we have.  By that I don’t mean the laws on the books but the laws actually being followed.  

My circle used to play a card game called Rook.  It is a real game with a commercially manufactured deck of cards.  The thing is we never played the game that was in the rule book.  I don’t know who made the changes but we called it Nazarene Rook.  Before you started the game you also had to agree on certain details.  Was the Rook high, low or worth 10 ½?  Did the cards in the kitty go with the most hands or the final hand?  We got to the point where we would call our brand “Point Loma Rules.”  As long as we agreed on the way we played we had a good time.

We need to do that with the law of the land.  The rules we play by need to be defined by what is actually allowed by law enforcement and the courts.  That means that elections are no longer based on a fair counting but on whom can be most creative in cheating.  It means that instead of expecting people to honor their duty we need to have teams of goons to threaten them and their children.  It also means that we are free to form gangs to attack people on the other side just because they need a reminder we are serious.

Those seem to be the rules.  

Can we keep our republic under that understanding of the rule of law?  Probably not but the way things are going we will soon substitute “banana” for “federal” as the adjective.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-284: On the Street: Sour Dough

We are currently in the Williamsburg area of Virginia.  My wife believes all the flyers we get for restaurants so we went out to an amazing place for breakfast.  She asked me how I liked my choice and I asked, “A fried egg is a fried egg.  It is really good because I don’t usually have a chance to have fried eggs, but it is still a fried egg.”  She disagreed but that is to be expected.  

As usual I had to make decisions.  I asked if the grits were good and got a puzzled look.  After a few questions we worked that out.  Then I asked for sour dough.  The waitress then asked me what kind of toast I wanted.  I was confused until it dawned on me I was in a state that had voted for Biden.  The confusion was clarified when I found out the waitress had never heard of sour dough bread.  I went with wheat and told her she needed to get out of Virginia.  She agreed.

We were not in some backwoods, isolated diner.  We were in the middle of a bustling tourist and retirement area.  The waitress had never heard of sour dough bread.  I should have expected it because the lady who seated us was totally on board with the governor mandating masks.  It seems that she has been led to believe that Virginia is one of the safest places in the country because of the lock downs.  When I started talking about facts she shared that she was not interested in how many deaths there were it was the number of cases that was important.

CNN strikes again.

This is part of the reason why I don’t urge people to vote anymore.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-283: On the Street: Virginia Is Not for Lovers Any More

Virginia is obviously run by Democrats.  They are doing everything they can to milk the tourist trade.  One of the great surprises for us was the sales tax for breakfast.  In addition to the state tax of 7% there was an additional 4% for eating out.  

I can testify to the 11% because we just paid it.  The internet is a bit confused.  Google tells me that the tax at most locations is 5.3%.  Then why does it also say it is 7%?  Then they add that groceries for home use pays a “reduced” rate of 2.5%.  Amazing.  Even California does not tax the food you take home to feed your children.

It turns out that we were lucky we did not eat in Hampton.  According to Google, and you know how reliable that is, Hampton adds 7.5% to the bill making a whopping 14.5% tax on your meal.  You have to be seriously bored to eat out in Virginia.  

Virginia is not for lovers anymore unless you mean lovers of taxes.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-282: Overlooked Consequences

We read a lot about the disasters that are waiting to happen if Biden wins this election.  We know that the criminals who tried to drag President Trump down will walk away laughing.  We know the ingrained criminals that are manipulating our elections will be emboldened.  Most of what I am reading is serious but most of it focuses on the United States.

I think we need to think about what it will mean to the world also.

The Middle East will return to blood and bombs if Biden is sworn in.  I have heard concern about Iran but little about the extraordinary progress Trump has achieved in bringing Israel together with Muslim countries.  The last count I had was four new countries recognizing Israel.  Biden will do anything he can to turn the clock back.  This will be disaster for the world.

NATO has been forced to grow up and ante up.  Trump has forced them to start moving toward paying their own way.  Poland feels supported.  Ukraine has been getting the aid it needs.  Russia has been restrained.  Assume that will all go belly up if Biden and his minders come to power.

The Chinese will bring about war and bloodshed or simply take over in Southeast Asia with no one standing up to them.  Taiwan is in their sights.  Hong Kong’s protestors will be destroyed.  Korea may become a battle zone again.  I can see dangerous things happening in the world of Japan.  Move a little south and west and we could have open war between India and China.  From what we can see the Bidens will become even richer as they sell Asia to the Chicoms.

As much as I am worried about the future of my grandchildren, this is not just about us.  Trump fights to make America great again but he also works to make the world a better place to live.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-281: CNN, Fox and Pigs

Did you ever think that you would see Constitutionalist conservatives celebrating the success of CNN, the original Fake News Network?  

Evidently the latest report puts CNN ahead of Fox in the ratings.  Since America lovers have been turning away from Fox for months now this is a vindication.  The Wallace/Trump and the Arizona call for Biden seemed to wake a lot of people up to what has been going on for a long time.  Fox is drifting to the left, or rather they were drifting.  It seems now they are in a mad rush.

People have stopped watching Fox.  Whether the CNN numbers are an increase or the change is strictly a decline in Fox I don’t care enough to look into.  If they left Fox to tune into CNN then it obviously is not a move based on principle and discernment, but it will cut into the income at Fox.  The Murdock son running the network may be so committed to destroying the country that he doesn’t care.  He may have a secret stash coming from the Deep State.  He also may be a capitalist at heart and try to correct the suicide of the fox.  It will take a long time to rebuild confidence.

Meanwhile conservatives cheer for CNN.

Maybe next we will see pigs fly.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-280: On the Street: Virginia Secedes

I respectfully submit that Virginia is no longer a part of the South.  I will concede that we are spending our time in the Williamsburg area which might not be representative but I can see how this area is a Democrat dream come true.  We passed one fellow who was out taking a brisk walk in a nature area.  He was dutifully wearing his mask to keep us all safe.  Or maybe he was worried about catching something from the trees for grass.  Either way the Democrat governor had instilled enough fear into him that he felt a need to comply.  We went to a Trader Joe’s because we were familiar with their products and the grocery stores around us all have names involving the earth or environment.  We were told we could not approach the cashier until all our items were rung up and totaled.  That is a new one on us.  It seems that the virus cannot be transmitted when money is changing hands but is dangerous when groceries are being moved.  Maybe the key is to carry a dollar bill stuck up our nose.

Taxes are unreal but I will write about that somewhere else.

Driving around here is like living in one of those European style developments where the businesses are on the ground floor and apartments are above them.  It is all very well kept up and expensive.  Signs for the businesses are small and blend in with the decor.  If you don’t know your coffee bar is there you drive right by it.  Everything is zoned up the wazoo.  And I would imagine that there is a special wazoo tax.

Gas is significantly higher than any other state we have been in.  

They need to turn in their Southerner Card.  They have become an extension of the damn Yankees.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-279: On the Street: Trigger Warning

The cancel culture needs to wake up.  The breakfast place we went to had seditious place mats.  In the upper right hand corner was a list of all the Presidents who had been born in Virginia.  I had no trouble with that but a Progressive* might.  I can’t remember all the names but I know the first three at least had been slave owners.  We can’t have this kind of patriotism.  

I would advise them to get new place mats before BLM and Antifa find out.  They might arrive some morning to find a pile of ashes instead of a successful breakfast restaurant.  It would not matter to them that the entire staff seemed to be black, which I assume means that the restaurant might be owned by black Americans.

I can always claim that I had been there before they became a blip in the history of arson.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-278: Levels of Liberty

America has just about every type of topography you could ask for and some you wouldn’t.  The people are different too.  It is interesting to see how they respond to the government overreach for the China virus.  My observations only cover a part of the South but I would imagine the principles can be applied everywhere.  Everywhere we go there are signs up demanding compliance with face masks.  Some places you see most people covered.  Other places they just ignore the signs and get on with life.  I am surprised to see that the people of Alabama are more willing to ignore the government mandate than the assumed rebels of Texas.  Americans are trying to get on with their lives.  The government goons are trying to bring us to heal.  The timid sheep are so full of fear that they actually believe there is a plague and the State is going to keep them safe.

It ain’t gonna happen.  The government does not want you safe, it wants you compliant.  If you go online away from the MSM sources you have come across the Fauci expectation:  We need to do what we are told.  I don’t know about you but that probably stopped in my teen age years and definitely got ignored after I turned 21.  Even getting drafted, going to Vietnam and spending one year, seven months and four days in the military didn’t drive the resistance to being controlled out of my system.  

If you are living in an area where the jack boots are stomping mandatory masking into your life you need to realize that it is not that way everywhere.  There are states where the people are still practicing their freedom and living their lives.  There are states like Texas where the response is mixed and the political leaders are going to have a serious wake up call in two years if they don’t back down.  Of course we have the Democrat swamps like California, New York and Virginia.  If you live there I would suggest that you start with local elections like city councils, sheriff, school boards, municipal judges and library boards and start working to clean house.  

The longer we wait the harder it will be to preserve “the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”.  In case you don’t recognize that it is from the Preamble to the Constitution.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-277: On the Street: America Is Latin for Diverse

I am on the road.  It is interesting to see America in the midst of the health panic and political crisis.  It is still America but I wonder if it will be for long.

A road trip is a good way to remember how and why I love this place so much.  America is big and it is full of variety.  It took us a day to drive half way across Texas and a little ways into Louisiana.  The next day we were in three states.  The next day we hit four.  Texas is a big place with a lot of variety.  While just in Texas we went from the semi-arid areas around San Antonio and to the swamps in the east.  

America is huge and people who get out of town realize that.  One of the things I noticed about the students I taught was that they never left the metropolitan area of Southern California except for a quick run to Las Vegas or a trip home to Mexico.  The Progressives* take advantage of this limited living to sell things like overpopulation and deforestation.  People who live in the densely populated areas of the country think we are crowded.  Even the ones who have driven over the vast empty spaces on the way to Vegas seem to have been on Facebook the entire way and didn’t notice the lack of people.

Relax folks.  We will not run out of room and we will not run out of trees.  The funny thing about trees is that they keep growing back.

What a wonderful country, or at least it used to be.  That could all change if Biden manages to steal this election.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-276: Be Careful What You Wish For

The Supreme Nine are back up to strength.  As of now that seems to be something to rejoice about.  Barrett is as close as humanly possible to what we want in a Supreme Court Justice.

But we need to gird our loins for what is to come.

The fear, of course, is that she will join the drift to the left.  How many times have we thought we had a true believer in the Constitution only to have them move left.  It could happen again.  That is why I only put a limited amount of confidence in government agencies.  With the election results the concern is real.  Sin in real.  Sin is seductive.  In Star Wars terminology, the dark side has a lot of attraction.

The caution is that we don’t get into the “die heretic” mode.  Conservatives have a tendency to be so focused on their primary goals that they throw anyone under the bus if they are not in total agreement.  If you are old enough to vote you have at least begun to understand that no one will agree with you totally.  I have already heard people expressing concern that she will be too “rigid”.  If it comes to following the law and having a strict interpretation of the Constitution, then I can live with rigid.  

What we often mean by “rigid” is that the person will not have the nuances that we have.  We tend to be people of principle except in those few areas that concern us.  Thus everyone will agree that Social Security is in trouble but they don’t want any solutions that will cost them money.  Everyone is willing to cut the budget as long as their line items are not eliminated.  On the left we have all those people willing to raise taxes on the rich because they don’t realize that the Progressives* define the “rich” in third world terms.  If you have air conditioning and flush toilets, you are rich.

So get ready to be disappointed.  I hope we are disappointed because she is rigid.  We need a little bit of backbone in our view of the law.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-275: Crickets

I am not a big reader of Max Lucado.  I have now read two of his books and in another ten years I might be ready for another.  In my latest, In the Grip of Grace he writes an analogy using a cricket.  He was picturing how a cricket that he had seen in the church sanctuary would view the world.  At one point he wrote,

“Perhaps the best question is, who does a cricket worship?  Does he acknowledge that there was a hand behind the building....Does he assume that since he has never seen the builder there was no builder?” p. 26, emphasis in original

He then goes on to make an application to human beings and the large group that deny God.  He calls them hedonists.  I never thought of the word in that way, but there it is.

The way these people deny God is not by saying no gods exist.  The problem is they cannot envision God.  When I say they can’t envision God, I don’t mean they can’t imagine a god.  They are good at that, but man-imagined gods tend to be limited by our vision.  As a general rule pagan gods are just people on steroids.  What they can’t comprehend is the God of the Bible.

I say this after reading a lot of science fiction/fantasy where people try all their ideas about gods.  Most of the results are little more than entities with strange powers and weird ideas about right and wrong.  They can be injured and even die.  Usually, if you read carefully, you find that they are the kind of being that the author would become if they had the ability to morph.  All of their fantasies get played out.

We saw this in ancient Greek and Roman mythology.  The gods were just spoiled children in adult bodies with some kind of super power.  They bickered and got involved sexually with anything that caught their eye.  They lied and cheated.  They were a lot like politicians today.

The God of the Bible is almost beyond our comprehension.  What do I mean, “He is beyond our comprehension”?  We cannot understand infinity, let alone holiness.  We cannot understand the kind of love that is driven toward the incarnation and the cross.  I have not been able to find the quote so I will paraphrase and make no accusations of the writer but a Christian who was a scientist said that the thing that drew him to the God of the Bible was the way in which understanding Him required a grasp of multi-dimensional space and even that wasn’t enough.  He said that in his dipping into other religions he found no ideas that were big enough to come from beyond the human mind but the Bible was different.

I worship a God that is so far beyond me that He has no problem balancing the creation of the universe with being aware of my every thought.  He is God, not a human construct.

Lucado, Max.  In the Grip of Grace.  Dallas:  Word Publishing, 1996.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-274: Coyote Clicks

I am still puzzled that anyone who knows which way to turn the steering wheel for a left turn would vote for Joe Biden.  I would wonder the same way for a devout Catholic who votes for the party of abortion or a hunter who backs a Democrat.  A recent bit of humor did give me a clue, one that I have been rejecting.

I am coming to believe that they are just stupid.  What convinced me?  Coyotes.

I hope you have been getting smiles out of the memes produced to reflect the broadcasted ignorance of the left at the comment by President Trump about coyotes bringing children across the border.  They actually believed he was referring to four footed canines.  I know it is hard to believe, but there it is.

When someone says something that causes cognitive dissonance in my mind I will spend a little bit of time doing research.  So I decided to see what they would see if they Googled “coyote”.  It seems that Google is just as confused as the average liberal.  I got an entire page of references, all about the animal.  I told myself that can’t be it and kept looking.  Finally, down at the bottom, over on the right I saw a tag for Coyote, person.  I clicked and there it was.

“Colloquially, a coyote (this usage originating from Mexican Spanish) is a person paid by migrants to illegally guide or assist them (migrant smuggling) across the U.S — Mexico border.”

I guess there are a lot of people who never take that second click.

It has been good for a lot of laughs but it explains why they don’t understand things like “shall not be infringed”.

homo unius libri