Opus 2021-190:  Bible Reading:  Phone Book Techniques

Did you ever read the phone book?  I am serious.  I doubt if anyone reading this is young enough to not remember the old, thick, all inclusive phone books we used to get on a regular basis.

Late twentieth century phone books were a gold mine of information.  They had phone numbers , of course, and sometimes they were listed so you could actually find what you wanted, like the phone numbers of your city council all in one place.  They had maps.  In some there were coupons.  To be honest I didn’t spend a lot of time in the white pages but I did look through the yellow.  

Just because a phone number was wrong, did that mean there was no right phone number or that phones don’t really exist?  Did it mean that the person listed was just fooling about having a phone or that someone made a typo?  Common sense supplies the answers.  

If you were looking for a specific number did you start at the beginning and turn page after page until you found the one you wanted or did you use your knowledge of the alphabet to find specifically what you wanted.  I hope you learned your ABC’s.  If not you might be convinced the phone book was useless, inaccurate and out of date.

The same applies to your Bible.  After being a Christian for over 50 years I am finally able to start reading at the beginning and go to the end.  I would not recommend it to everyone and it isn’t how I study or look for answers.  Most Bibles have helps.  The one most often overlooked is the Table of Contents.  Yes, your Bible has one.  No, it wasn’t in the original manuscript.  I still use it once in awhile to find some of the minor prophets.  Most have a concordance.  Keep in mind that the one in the back of the book is very limited.  My complete concordance is at least four times the volume of my Bible and in much smaller print.  A reference Bible will have a lot of other helps too.  

A word about the concordance.  If you are not familiar with this helpful tool you might have missed a lot.  A concordance is a reference tool that lists every time a word is used, gives you a short section of the words around it and the place where you can find that in the Bible.  Keep in mind that a concordance is keyed to the translation so a KJV concordance would have limited use for the NIV or NASB.  The ones I use also give me crutches to find out the Greek or Hebrew word that is in the original.  This tool helps when you want to dig a little deeper.

A word about the helps in your Bible.  Keep in mind that they are not part of the inspired text.  They are the opinions of the editors and range from incredibly helpful to sectarian propaganda.  Even the paragraphs at the beginning of a study Bible giving you the background information such as dates and authorship can border on heresy is the editor is a liberal.  The helps are like the condiment section of the grocery store, basics mixed with the dangerous.  Read those parts with care.

But do read.  It may have your number.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-189: Headlines: First the Cows, Now the Trees

One step in my morning involves scanning the headlines and click bait on several sites that act as news aggregators.  One of the simplest is Citizen Free Press.  They don’t distract you with pictures and videos.  They simple have a list of link titles.

Usually I just get an overview.  If something obviously important shows up I might click on it but often find out it is just a catchy title.  Recently though I found it impossible to ignore a link.  

“‘Tree Farts’ are the next environmental catastrophe…”

I ask you, “How can you resist that one?”  I clicked and did some reading.  Actually, “reading” may not be the best word.  I scanned or skimmed.  I got the gist of the story.  One reason that I did not read in detail was that I soon realized that the author was on board with man made global warming.  Still it was an interesting concept.

It seems that swamps along the coast with a lot of dead trees have wood that is decomposing.  You don’t need to be a scientist to figure that one out.  In the process they give off gas.  One paragraph caught my fancy.

“A team of ecologists went sniffing for tree farts in ghost forests, which form when saltwater from rising sea levels poisons a woodland, leaving behind a marsh full of standing dead trees. These phantom ecosystems are expected to expand with climate change, but it’s unclear exactly how they contribute to the world’s carbon budget.”

First, the picture of ecologists sniffing tree farts is a great comment on the state of science today.  Then you get the standard lines about rising oceans and climate change.

I don’t know that I recommend you read it but it might lighten your day when you think that government money for research is well spent.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-188: The Return of the King

We tried the American Revolution and it worked for over 200 years.  We are at the end of that experiment.  Is it now time to try the French or Russian Revolution on for size?

We are probably headed for one of those, but I don’t think we will like the results.  The French and Russians certainly didn’t.  The American Revolution differed from the others in the basic foundation that the God of the Bible was someone to listen to.  I would not claim that all of the Founders were devout, Bible believing Christians.  We can’t even claim that for church members today.  What they had was an acceptance of the basic principles and values expressed in the Bible.  Thus they may have committed adultery but would have admitted that it was wrong.  That common foundation is what made it possible for them to sign on to a statement like, “all men are created equal” without thinking that meant only males or that it claimed everyone was equal.  They knew better.  They also believed there was such a thing as right and another set of actions which were wrong.  Neither one changed.

The French and Russian revolutions rejected the idea of God.  Their ideas about right and wrong were the same that our Proregressive* betters claim today.  They were flexible and applied with the personal touch.  That is why they can yell “Racist” and at the same time push segregation based on race.  They have always been around but now we have reached a point where the majority of Americans are listening to the Progressive* substitutes instead of God.

Are there enough people who believe in unchanging truth?  Will society be able to hold together?  Civilizations don’t fall apart because they are conquered from without.  Sure, the barbarians arrive with their muscles, sword and now AK-47's.  But the reason they triumph is because the lack of what my father used to call “intestinal fortitude”.  I thought he made it up but it turns out that the internet has heard of it.  Pick you culture.  It may have been invaded but unless the moral backbone of the culture was rotten, the invaders were repulsed.  

The alternative is one that we are not used to.  It takes the form of monarchy.  That monarchy may be the old fashioned type or it may be a new version where the king is called “Premier” or “President for Life”.  But as they say about a rose, a dictator by any other name, be it oh so sweet, is still a dictator.  Numerous Founding Fathers stated that our republic could only survive if the people were religious and moral.  We have largely abandoned both.

Time for the next chapter?

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-187: Vive la France vs Allahu Akbar

French patience may be running out.  The news last week published the letter written by a group of French military leaders.  I believe all, or most, were retired.  A similar letter came out from American generals and admirals.  The point was that these people were not willing to let their country be destroyed by those who hate it.

This reminds me of an article I read long ago.  It was focused on France and how the people of France were willing to be very tolerant.  They also have a limit.  Because that early tolerance is interpreted as weakness and carte blanche to commit mayhem without consequence, the Muslim immigrants are of the opinion that there will never be any genuine lines drawn.  The article speculated about how the anger builds up, swells and eventually explodes.  The concern was that France would eventually take drastic steps to bring sanity back and in the stepping would set sanity aside.  The prediction was a blood bath.

I don’t remember if the article had a solution other than violence.  All I remember is the prediction that the kid gloves would eventually come off if the Muslims kept acting like spoiled children.  We may be seeing that happen.  I have my doubts.  Ever since the defeat of Napoleon the French have a history of talking big but having little iron to back it up.  One of the jokes I have heard is that in World War II France had the distinction of being the only country in the world to surrender to itself.  Of course the Muslim world has been the same way for centuries.  

Come back in twenty years and we will find out how it works out.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-186: Ode to Old: Whole Memory Holes

One of the ways I know my memory is going is that I forget my memory is going.  Have you ever had someone ask you a question and when you answer it they get that look on their face and say, “I knew that.”  Yes, they did but they didn’t remember it.  We have a restaurant we like.  It is great if we can find it.  Often we turn in to the wrong driveway and as soon as we do remember that you can’t get there from here.

It gets irritating.  I keep putting my I-pad down without checking to see if it is stable and it goes clunk on the floor.  I should know better.  I do know better.  I still do it.  I forget to put my medicine back in the drawer so I will know I took it.  Later I will see it sitting where I put it in preparation for my daily dose and ask myself, “Did I, or didn’t I?”  I know some people that keep backing into the same pole.  

At least my mind is still healthy enough to know I forgot.  At least I think it is.  Someday it won’t occur to me to wonder.  And, yes, I know I have written about this before.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-185: Guilty As Charging

One of the most consistent qualities of the Proregressives* is their need to project.  If you are my age and are having memory problems or if you did not pay attention in your pop-psychology classes, projection is the habit of taking your secret thoughts and biases and laying them on others.  One of the best examples was Hillary calling out the “Vast right wing conspiracy” which did not exist on the right but was a daily experience for the left.

So I would like to point out that the constant chorus of “racism” and “white supremacy” is actually the kind of attitude that exists in the elites of the left.  This came to mind as I was reading an article from The American Thinker about how the white liberals in charge of major power-blocks are working to ban fossil fuels in Africa.  CEO’s of banks and government agencies are demanding that the only new power sources allowed in Africa be green energy.  Green energy is something that only rich people can afford since it is so expensive.  

One paragraph sets the stage for the need,

“One fifth of the world's population lives in Africa, but the continent accounts for less than  one twenty-fifth of global electricity use.  Around 600 million in Africa have no electricity.”

No electricity means that Africa will remain at the bottom of the barrel.  It can be as mild as not being able to use an electric can opener to death by starvation.

Then the wonderful people who are causing this.

“The biggest setback to Africa's fossil ambitions came from the major banking institutions and other big funding entities, which have decided to stop funding for fossil fuel projects internationally.”

My guess is that these are mainly run by white men.  Any women or minorities are most likely tokens.  If you read the article you will find that one country is working hard to supply the energy needed:  China.

So we see another case of projection.  The left yells “racist” and then does everything it can to keep Africa a third world poverty site.  

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

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-184: Headlines: The Boob Tube Really Is

I followed an interesting link from Instapundit that took me to a site called Medical-X-press.  The article had to do with a study that showed people who watched a lot of TV were made dumber in the process.

In the study group the ones that watched the most TV had something like a 7% reduction in grey matter.  Their theory was that the sedentary nature of TV watching had something to do with it.  My questions was if it was lack of movement then reading should show the same results.  At the end they suggested that reading was mentally active while watching TV was passive.  They never did address digital devices that are so prevalent today.

So if someone warned you that watching too much TV would make you stupid, we now have some backup.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-183: The Hokey-Pokey Translation

If you will excuse the irreverence, reading the Bible is a lot like doing the Hokey-Pokey.  If you won’t excuse it you have my understanding and sympathy.  There are a lot of parallels between the two.

There are times when you go through every gyration of the Hokey-Pokey.  It is useful in teaching children music, body parts, right and left and hand-eye coordination.  It also is useful in burning energy.  In the same way you need to be familiar with the entire Bible.  As you mature you will find that the Hokey-Pokey has given you some basics and you only need to review certain parts with regularity.  The same with the Bible.  You will also find that even adults can get into the entire Hokey-Pokey experience at times.

If you are doing a study of children’s songs then you get the general idea of how it goes from the first verse.  After that you only need to learn the order of hands and feet and spend a few moments on the last verse, which varies depending on the part of the country you come from.  If you are around me you will need to learn adaptations that I have added to make it a deeper experience.  In the Bible there are parts you really only need to read once.  I refer to such things as the genealogies and the census data.  If you are a scholar doing a deep dive into the mystical meaning of numbers then you go right ahead and read through how many men of fighting age were in each tribe.  For most of us the first tribe gives us the idea.  You also find that the descriptions of how many goats are sacrificed and how much flower is poured out gets repeated more than is necessary to get the point.

Even the Hokey-Pokey comes in different translations.  Deal with it.  I am sure you have had the experience of singing a song with people who have changed a few words or don’t follow the melody the way you learned it.  When I was checking the Hokey-Pokey’s spelling on Google it brought up a video, which I chose not to watch.  I did notice that the words on the screen said, “Share it all about.”  I learned to shake, not share.  This can be minor, replacing an archaic word with one we still use or a direct attempt to modify the meaning.  We see the same thing happening with hymns that are centuries old.

It might do you good to sing and dance the Hokey-Pokey every morning.  It might just be what you need to get your juices flowing.  It might be a disaster.  Reading your Bible every day can also be a bit empty if you spend too much time on the repetitive parts.  It is also a meaningless gesture if your mind is not turned on and your heart open.  There might be days when you want to put your left foot in first.  You might feel like putting it out first.  You might limit your shaking.  Feel free to personalize your Bible reading too.  It might not be a win/win for you but it will definitely be a no lose/no lose.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-182: On the Street: Out of the Mouths of Barbers

In discussing the China Virus Vaccine (CVV) I often bring up the Thalidomide babies.  They are a real life example of the possible results of not carefully testing the side effects of new drugs.  These vaccines being pushed by the media and political fools are text book cases of that tragic error.   I was discussing it with my lady barber and she observed that we may find the same kind of results in a few months when the first CCV babies begin to be born.  

I don’t know what date you would begin with but chose one and count forward nine months.  If you take the November Banana election as a date then July would be the earliest we can expect full term babies.  Of course if we follow the past experience with the CDC and MSM it will be covered up with false reports and statistical lies.  We might also see a massive spike in miscarriages and abortions during the next few months.

What will the side effects be?  I pray that you and yours never find out from personal experience.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-181: Levels of Litmus

I am developing a new litmus test.  It involves the vaccines being used to experiment on the public.  I browse certain blogs and news aggregators.  There are really too many to get them all and they tend to duplicate anyway.  On blogs I look for people who write their own comments rather than just the ones who post long quotes of other people’s work.  My order of reading changes over time as I get to know the authors.  

Contrary to what the polite crowd likes to tell you, there are places where a litmus test comes in.  I have found that when someone is in favor of abortion on demand, you are getting a package deal.  Rarely do you find someone who thinks abortions are just a jolly way to practice birth control and also voted for Trump.  They also tend to be okay with most of the agenda of the left.  Recently I had someone describe people in their church who claimed to be devout Christians yet they considered themselves liberal.  I don’t doubt they are liberal.  I doubt they are Christian.  Fortunately for them I am not the one who will make that judgement.  

Another litmus test is becoming clear to me and it deals with how people view the vaccines for the China virus.  People are making choices and their choices give me a clue about how they think and what they believe about the world.  Here are some levels of litmus.

Level 1, If you have had the vaccine I question your wisdom.  I may still read what you have to say but you obviously listen to your children, wife and friends more than you consider the facts that are in front of you.

Level 2, If you think the vaccine is safe I question your intelligence.  Just the simple fact that none of these miracle drugs have had the kinds of test that bring out the kinks should be enough to make you hold them at arms length.  It also doesn’t take much reading to realize how much we are being lied to by the government and media.  There is enough data coming through to cause you to wait a little bit, after all, the mortality rate for the virus is not worth worrying about.  That is true even if the numbers they are telling us are true, which they are not.

Level 3, If you encourage people to have the vaccine I question your motives.  Why would want people to be influenced when there is so much doubt?

Level 4, If you push the vaccine I question your integrity.  By this time I have probably deleted your bookmark.  I figure is someone can be so wrong on one issue then they will be wrong on just about all the rest.

So when I read what you write I keep my mind open, not just to new ideas or opinions but to the level of brainwashing you are involved in.  At level one I might keep reading but as the levels follow I read less.  At some point I will assume you have gone to the dark side and ignore what you have to say.  It is along the lines of the meme that says something to the effect, “I don’t watch CNN for the same reason I don’t drink from the toilet.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-180: Headlines: IDF Plays Gotcha

If you want a bit of gratifying reading check out the report in the New York Post that implies that the Israeli Defense Force was less than transparent with the media.  Can you imagine that?  It appears that they sent out several tweets and the one in English seemed to say that Israeli troops were on the ground in Gaza.  It turns out that there were no ground troops who had crossed.  As they saying goes, “My bad!”

“So what?” you say.  When the international media picked up on the tweet and started broadcasting it to the world the Terrorists said to themselves, “Let’s get a little surprise ready for them.”  With the generous, and I am sure unintentional, warning given by the media the Hamas militants filled the tunnels through the area and waited to come up behind the Israeli troops.  They were all excited because they would be able to have a bloodbath of Jewish blood.

What happened?  At first, nothing.  When no Jewish soldiers showed up the Hamas gunners got bored and came out into the street saying, “What’s up?”  Of course they said it in Arabic, but you get the point.  At that time the Israeli jets arrived to show them what was up.  It was a bloodbath but not with Jewish blood.  The Palestinians cried, “No fair!”  The media also cried, “No fair!”

What settled well in my soul was when the Israeli military apologized to the media for not being clear.  They would try to do better next time.  The media seemed to feel that this would lower Israel’s prestige in the international media.  They would no longer be considered a reliable source.  I am sure that will break the IDF’s collective hearts.

The media, in their usual attempts to destroy Israel, were had.  It was a beautiful job of using the snakes against themselves.  I might point out that it seems the confusion only appeared in the English tweet.  That tells you something about our media.  Some things brighten your day.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-179: Lockdown Trips

First a disclaimer is in order.  I am not an animal person.  I can tolerate them.  I don’t hate them.  I don’t do anything cruel or unusual to them, unless you consider a cat chasing a laser cruel and unusual.  In my defense I found it works on a one year old grandchild also.  They have their place and for me that would preferably be in the barn yard or at least someone else’s house, that is the cat, not the grandchild.  

I am currently tasked with the liter box.  My wife has had several surgeries and is not able to care for the animal she is committed to.  Seriously, I don’t remember anything in the wedding vows about scooping cat skat out of the box, but there you are.  Maybe “for better or for worse” covers it.  Who was to know that a cat needed her water bowl emptied and refilled every day?

The reason this comes up is I have noticed that our cat has crossed a line in social development.  It used to be that when I or anyone new came into the room she would leave.  If you walked close she would react like you had a habit of beating her with a stick.  It was fine with me but seemed a little strange.  I had never done anything to generate this response.

No longer.  Now she just lays there, in the middle of the hallway, and dares you to even think about bothering her.  She walks in front of you like she is the leader of the pack and then will stop suddenly when you are not looking.  I swear she walks out in front of me with a deliberate goal of tripping me.

In my journey to old age I have had my share of falling down stairs and running into furniture.  I am trying to wean myself from walking through the house in the dark.  So far I have survived with a few bruises and sore joints.  If I ever have serious damage it will be because the cat stepped between my feet when I was carrying something heavy.

If I am lucky the breaks will allow me to continue posting or at least reading.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-178: Sins of Omission

I have been seeing the acronym VAERS a lot lately.  The first was on a Zoom conversation where it was thrown around as if I should know what it was.  It stands for “Vaccine Adverse Event Report System”.  This is a system set up by the federal government and managed by the CDC and FDA.  VAERS requires health care workers and vaccine manufacturers to file reports of negative effects of vaccines.  Others can do so voluntarily.  According to the VAERS website, it was established in 1990.  It is not designed as a final word but an early warning system to indicate what might be happening and need more investigation.

The system shows an enormous spike in reports since the vaccines for the China virus came out.  The American Thinker had an article on why these reports are being ignored by the media.  Most of us know the answer because we have been learning to deal with our media for years:  It does not fit the Proregressive* agenda of total government control.  The article explains that there has been a dramatic increase in reports about bad effects of vaccines in 2020.  The article then points out that it is being ignored by not only the media but the CDC and FDA.  There is an interesting bit of coincidence in the report.  Read this sentence:

“The CDC has collected VAERS data for 31 years, and while anyone can make a VAERS report, the database is intended to compile data from health care workers, who in turn are required by law to file reports for a long list of vaccines — COVID vaccines not included.”

Now I want to point out a post I made last month about how the CDC had rewritten the protocol involving the reporting of cause of death but they only made the new method apply to Covid-19.  This new method caused the number of reported deaths blamed on the virus to explode.  The change only applied to Covid-19 and increased the fear factor.  Now when it comes to the vaccine they rewrite the process in order to decrease the fear factor over the vaccine.

My evil mind can come up with all kinds of reasons why a government agency filled with control freaks would make us fear the virus and not fear the vaccine.  I will let you do your own speculating.

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

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-177: Headlines: Survival of the Fishes

The arrogance and foolishness of science continue to march on.  As I was scrolling through Free North Carolina I came across a post on the discovery of a fish thought to be extinct.  Don’t get excited.  It is not current events because the initial discovery took place in 1938.  I had heard about it before but I didn’t realize the knowledge went back that far.  According to science the fish had been extinct for hundreds of millions of years, until it wasn’t.  

That’s okay.  Anyone is entitled to make a mistake.  Then they decided to double down as Lords of the Universe.  The article says,

“...marine scientists are calling for reinforcement of conservation measures to protect the fish that dates back 420 million years.”

Of course they are and I assume it will require more government.  Now I ask you, if this fish has managed to survive off the radar for 420 million years, what do scientists think they can do to add to that record?  It is like trying to find a way to preserve cock roaches from going extinct.

I guess scientists are like any other political animal.  They need to be needed.  It is safer for all of us if they focus on the coelacanth instead of putting their energy into global warming, over population and economically feasible renewable energy.  Let them continue to play behind the curtain while life in Oz goes on.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-176: Immortal Quotes: Jellyfish and Inner Tubes

A new site I have been visiting is called Mad Dogs Lair.  He throws out some interesting ideas, many of which are copied from other sources and he links those sources.  That is well and good but when I come across a quote I like, I want to know where it comes from.  I can get it but it requires several clicks and I am a lazy clicker.

In a recent post he referenced H.L. Mencken.  That is a name I have heard and I have read quotes from him before.  I clicked on the link.  That took me to a second site called American Digest which had the longer quote but still not a solid reference.  So I clicked on its link.

Finally I got to a primary source.  It was complete and well documented.  What was the line that got me going?  After describing why candidates of value have little chance Mencken threw in this,

“This leaves the field to the intellectual jellyfish and inner tubes.”

What a great line to describe our current Washington cabal.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-175: Remake of the Invisible Man

You may wonder why I am not a better writer.  There are many reasons starting with because I am not a better writer.  But I am sure there is more to it.  That is too simple.

Recently I have been reading about the Social Media Titans (SML) doing everything they can to protect us from hurtful opinions and facts.  We all know that the President of the United States was blocked on Twitter for “mean tweets”.  We read about an occasional “reporter” who will actually say something honest, whether on purpose or accidental doesn’t matter, and find they will even have a hard time getting a job flipping burgers.  I see sites I have visited for years suddenly not available.  I read about one prolific writer who knew how much he had published who could not get Google to bring up his material.  

So consider being mediocre as a defensive strategy.  If I get too good, millions will flock to my blog.  Everything I write will go viral.  I will then be banned.  It seems to be the way it works.  I am expecting one of the SMT to buy Fox so they can cancel Tucker Carlson.  He is becoming a real thorn in the flesh.  It won’t matter how popular he is and how much ad revenue he generates.  Contrary opinion is not allowed.  It goes along the same lines as Hollywood that keeps putting millions into movies no one wants to watch.  It is the pattern of socialism applied to entertainment.

You will know I have improved if I suddenly disappear.  Like going senile, I may be the last to know.  The author mentioned above did not find out his material was being spiked until someone else asked him if he was still writing.  I am paraphrasing.  He wasn’t told he was banned, the SMT just adjusted the algorithm so he became invisible.  Think of it as being that teenager who is in love with an angel and her eyes track past him as if he is not there.

It is not much of a motivation to improve.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-174: Tired Democracy

I was looking through my notes from a book by G. K. Chesterton called The Everlasting Man.  I came across this paragraph that seems to apply to where we are today.

“If there is one fact we really can prove, from the history that we really do know, it is that despotism can be a development, often a late development and very often indeed the end of societies that have been highly democratic. A despotism may almost be defined as a tired democracy. As fatigue falls on a community, the citizens are less inclined for that eternal vigilance which has truly been called the price of liberty; and they prefer to arm only one single sentinel to watch the city while they sleep.”  

Chesterton wrote this a few years after World War I.  I don’t know if that was on his mind.  Ignore the point that neither Great Britain or the United States were or are democracies.  That is not what he is discussing.  The description does describe the public ethos today.  We have been asleep at the wheel for a long time.  What we see happening in Washington is not something that developed overnight.  Woodrow Wilson used the first world war as an excuse for a lot of Progressive policies.  FDR used the depression and World War II to implement sweeping power grabs for the socialist with a long view.  His administration was riddled with communists and Soviet agents.  If it had not been for people like Whitaker Chambers and Richard Nixon they would have not been driven back underground.  LBJ used the civil rights movement to advance massing expansions of welfare and government control.  They are now emerging again.  This time they have used a flu virus to panic the masses into subservience.  

My hope and prayer is that there will be enough righteous people left in America for God to work a miracle.  It could be one leader.  It could be a mass revival.  It could be almost anything but if the Democrats do away with the filibuster or the Republicans are again betrayed by RINOs we are in for some despotic times at least.

Chesterton, G. K. The Everlasting Man.  New York:  Image Books, 1955, pp. 57-8.
Project Gutenberg Australia, Kindle Reference 718-721.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-173: Should-a-Beens: Trump at FBI

Dream with me a little.  When I started this fantasy I was planning on Trump charging through the next four years as president.  What would he do after that?  Even if he had a great four years I didn’t think he would be finished cleaning up the swamp, but he couldn’t run for president again.  My suggestion was that the next administration appoint him to head the FBI or CIA.  He could then proceed to do the things that political appointees have never been able to do.  

I don’t know if Trump will be willing to run again in 2024.  If he does I assume I will support him.  But what if he decides that enough is enough?  I think the same plan could be applied no matter who is the next Republican president.  We have a lot of great possibilities if Trump doesn’t go for it.  I can just see him sitting behind a desk, calling in the political appointees one by one and saying, “You’re fired.”

Wherever he starts he can work his way down the list of agencies and cabinet posts that could do with a bit of clean up.  Some might only need the pus drained so they can heal.  Others need to be totally eliminated, such as the Department of Education.  If the swamp went nuts over him as president just imagine what this would do to their diapers.

Then the mantra could be Make America Greater Again.  Maybe he should start a line of Trump diapers in politician sizes.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-172: Vive la Equality

I am continuing a call for diversity, today in the various professional sports organizations.  This would go from water boys to owners.

This could be a lot of fun.  One element of glee would be the decision of which five minorities would compose the starting line up.  This might require a few rule changes.  We might need to expand the starting lineup in the NBA to about 72 spots so that every gender can have a champion.  How about we have a line of hoops at each end of the court, set at differing heights for different players.  You could only score at your hoop.  Or maybe you could score at any hoop.  I don’t want to cut anyone out here.

We also might consider the people concerned about fat shaming and the vertically challenged.  Perhaps each team also needs at least one starter in a wheel chair except I don’t see people with real limitations demanding unrealistic concession.    

We would also need a socialist approach to salaries.  We are all in this together, right?  No one is really more important than anyone else, right.  Everyone gets paid the same.  In fact we might take it even one step farther.  Everyone who attends a professional sporting event will be required to fill out a form and include a recent pay stub and tax return.  Then we would take the average of everyone in the building and adjust their income accordingly.

It is all about equality.  Who could be against equality.  I told you this could be fun.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-171: Moody

There was a time when I could have been accused of letting my patriotism interfere with my righteousness.  I have always claimed my number one priority was being a Christian but, to be honest, being an American was really close.  Some of that is because I believe that the basic American values are rooted in the Bible.  Some of it is because I was raised here.  It was not because I was ignorant of the rest of the world.  

Not so much any more.  My confidence in what it means to be an American is a bit shaky right now.  It isn’t gone.  I still feel we are the best thing going but we are losing a lot of our luster as the Proregressives* keep pushing the boundaries of despotism.  Our universities are becoming a very expensive joke.  Woke professors and administrators teaching the racist nonsense of Critical Race Theory, segregated graduation ceremonies, outright censorship, requiring proof of vaccination against something that is not much more than a strong flue and bucket loads of arrogance are the rule now, not the exception.  The college I attended and the seminary I graduated from are an embarrassment to Christianity, not to mention the U.S.A.  

We have a president who should be in a nursing home instead of acting like he is running a country.  I would be ashamed if I cared what third world countries thought of us.  His controllers obviously stole and election through outright fraud and deceit.  It is obvious but the courts refuse to deal with the assault on our republic.  Writers that I used to respect act like it was just another election.  It wasn’t.  It was an honest election in the same way that the Antifa/BLM riots were mostly peaceful.  And dollar store merchandise is always top quality.  

I hope that the day will come when I can say I am proud to be an American again.  Much of it will depend on how we as a people deal with it.  Much will depend on whether God brings revival to our churches and renewal to our homes.  I have hope, not that America can pull it off but that God will see enough salt to make us worth saving.

It has been nice living with you under the Constitution.

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

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-170: Immortal Quotes: What?

Every once in a while I come across some bit of writing in which I understand each word the the total effect makes me scratch my head.  One that has stuck with me from my high school days was a short poem written by a guy named Andy Weinberger.  

“A pterodactyl lingers in a cosmos of nucleonic spheroids.”

I am not a big poetry reader, as you can tell since this is one that stuck with me, but I like it.  I don’t know what happened to Andy but here he lingers in my cosmos.

Recently I came across another by a writer named Sarah Hoyt:

“They are in a way right while being so wrong they’re not even wrong.”

Something about that seems so right.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-169: Headlines: Unwilling Liver Donors

The title of the article says it all, “Mid-trimester fetal livers are a rich source of CD34+/++ cells for transplantation”.  That is, it says it all if you are paying attention, can do simple math and know anything about pre-birth development.

It sounds so impressive to label something a “mid-trimester fetal liver”.  Now stop and think about it.  Most people know that pregnancy lasts approximately nine months.  One of the new terms in our culture is “trimester”.  It means that you break something up into three segments instead of two.  Semester is half a school year.  Trimester is a third.  

Enter conception.  The target is nine months down the road so the braniacs in our midst find it convenient to divide by 3.  The first trimester is months 1, 2 and 3.  The second is 4, 5 and 6.  The third is 7, 8 and 9.  Now I ask you, what is the number of the mid-trimester month?  Did you guess 8?  You get the prize, a wake up call.  

These ghouls are casually talking about the liver of a developing child who was aborted at 8 months.  If a baby is born at eight months to parents who have a conscience it will most likely survive.  If you take the liver out of any living mammal, they die.  

If you were not paying attention in the sanitized news media, Planned Parenthood was exposed as selling the body parts of aborted babies.  Planned Parenthood is supported by your local Democrat party.  We live in a sick world and sometimes the doctors are the sickest.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-168: What Did You Call Me?

Have you noticed how some labels are diluted because so many people race to claim them.  Others are anathema.  One term I hear that has lost its meaning is “evangelical”.  At one point in our history it meant someone who was serious about their Christian faith and wanted to share it, evangelize, thus evangelical.  That cannot be counted on any more.  Now it is often a term to attract the unwary who were raised thinking it was a good thing.  It is like “gluten free” on a package of hard candy.  It doesn’t mean what you think it does.  For that matter the label of Christian has gone the same way.

Sometimes the point in history also makes a difference.  There was a time when people wanted to be called “liberals.”  We have been forced to modify that to “classic liberal” because today they would be labeled “right wing”.  Liberals used to believe in the rule of law and free market economics.  No more, so today people avoid the term “liberal”.  They know it is poison to the Americans who still think.  They have gone back to “Progressive” which they stopped using a hundred years ago because people began to understand what it meant.

Then there are words that have a specific meaning, which is ignored.  Fundamentalist is one.  Science is another.  Racist has joined the club.  Democracy is often praised when the Founders made sure that we did not have a democracy.  Bipartisan is anything but.  Education has become brainwashing and anti-excellence.  

And don’t forget the words that are being redefined by the deconstructionalists.  Tolerance now means “conforming to leftist paradigms.”  Respect now means “treat me like gold even if I am trash.”  Love has come to me “do it my way to prove you care.”  

I like labels.  I make them up all the time.  Two girls in my youth group as a teenager will always be Smirk and Snort to me.  The group of men I meet with on Zoom I think of as The Baby Zoomers.  Labels are helpful.  They can also be deceptive.  Labels should be aids in discernment not blocks to understanding.  That requires us to think.

I know, “Don’t go there.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-167: Odd Odds

For 70+ years I have been living around the common cold.  It is caused by a virus that is the same family as the new (novel) China virus.  The common wisdom has always been that we have nothing that will cure a viral attack.  All you can do it make it easier for you body to develop its defenses.  Now I am supposed to believe that in 6 months we have developed three cures for a virus.  Have we gained that much in science during the age of global warming settled science and boys-can-become-girls settled science?  Or is it just the gullibility that has changed?

Pardon me while I try to suspend my disbelief.... Nope.  Didn’t work.

I don’t think anything has changed in science.  It is still as politically motivated as all of the nonsense in the Green New Deal.  There is a reason why the development of new medicines takes so long and demands rigorous testing over extended periods of time.  Think Thalidomide.  If you have no knowledge check out this article as Helix.  There is also a reason why some treatments should be given the fast track.  Think HIV with almost 100% mortality rate as opposed to the China virus with survival rates almost that high.  There is a reason why some medications with a long track record and known side effects are approved for the discerning and careful prescription of doctors.  Think Hydroxychloroquine.  It was handed out like candy in Vietnam for prevention of malaria.  

Am I planning on taking one of the shots?  No.  I am planning on not taking them.  I have more confidence in my immune system to deal with a virus which the vast number of people shake off than I do with two “vaccines” that are really genetic modification with no track record and one actual vaccine with no real testing period.  So far my immune system is batting 1000.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-166: Beware the Slave Mentality

Why is free enterprise so great?  Free enterprise encourages private individuals to take risks because they can see the potential rewards.  In so doing they generate enough wealth that the corrupt officials can get rich and there is still enough for the rest of us who did the work.  It only works with a free people.

Many people are slaves or have a slave mentality.  I know that in certain situations I turn on what I call my “fieldhand mode”.  That means that I follow directions to the letter.  I try not to think.  I offer no suggestions.  I show no initiative.  You don’t need to be a literal slave to operate that way.  I think it is modus operandi for a significant number of government employees.  They are clerks at the DMV or in some office that is handling your mail.  They can be judges and members of the city counsel.  They are like the bearing on the wheel of a work truck that freezes up and keeps the whole machine from moving forward.

People on the dole are like this.  Maybe not all of them.  I have known people who did everything they could to get off government assistance and a strange thing happens:  They get off government assistance.  We are currently seeing that it is hard for employers to get people to come back to work.  The basic reason is that their unemployment benefits have not run out so why should they work?  This is the insidious power of welfare.  It sucks the initiative out of people.  It makes it almost impossible to stand up and be responsible.  Snowflakes living in the basement have this syndrom.  It is amazing what happens when they are thrown out and either work or go hungry.  As usual, Proverbs has a comment on this phenomenon.  

(Pro 16:26 NAS77) A worker's appetite works for him, For his hunger urges him on.

The basic attitude is human.  It says, “What’s in it for me?”  As a teacher I received the same salary and pay increases whether I worked hard or kicked back.  One reason that private schools do better than public schools is they are held accountable for the results.  The general economy is that way.  If you get a check for not working, why work?  If you get the same check as the guy on the next machine who does half the work you do, why work so hard?  

This is why slave cultures and socialism do not produce enough wealth to raise the masses out of the sloth of poverty.  This is why we need to put people into authority who understand human nature and basic economics.  This is why people with initiative tend to vote Republican after they get their first paycheck and see all that is taken out by the government.  This is why redistribution of wealth and reparations will make no difference in the long run.

Liberty and responsibility work.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-165: I Perform a Miracle

Last Sunday morning I noticed that my phone was down to 20%.  Time to recharge.  I pushed my charger in but did not hear the little beep that tells me I have connected.  I did the usual trouble shooting:  Tried another cable, plugged them in to other devices, looked to see if there was a bug in the aperture.  I could see nothing and nothing seemed to work.

So I did a search and found a podcast that dealt with the problem.  They gave me a few ideas but that didn’t work either.  Finally I turned on a flashlight and compared the two devices I had.  One worked the other didn’t.  I could see a definite difference, something was at the bottom of the one that didn’t work.  I needed to dig it out, but what to use.  The podcast advised against metal.  That makes sense.  They said a toothpick would break.  It did.  They suggested a toothbrush.  It didn’t help.  What to use?  Finally I realized that my flossers had a plastic point and that did the trick.  I dug out a small piece of the case that had broken off and fit in the hole perfectly.

Success.  I fixed my phone.  

Understand that I am very good at theory but useless in application.  I can explain to you how a gasoline engine works but don’t expect me to fix it.  For you this would be an everyday event.  For me it was a major adventure.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-164: On the Street: Salt Is Back

Even Texas has been brainwashed.  We have always been able to go out to eat but somehow wearing a mask when you came in the door became unnecessary when you sat down.  Viruses are very picky about when and where they infect.  An additional irritation was the lack of condiments on the table.  We finally developed a habit of ordering salt, pepper and ketchup when we ordered our meals.  Sometimes they would bring the salt in an open dish which I guess is safer than a shaker on the table.  Then we learned that the servers were often very protective of our health because they would bring us two of those little packets.  So we started saying, “about ten of those little packets.”

Last week we were mystified when the server did not bring us any salt.  I was about to remind her when I had an inspiration.  I looked at the back of the table and, lo and behold, there were two shakers there.  One had white granules and the other black.  

The Salt is back.

I have noticed it other places.  The salt shakers are back.  Maybe this will lead people to leave their masks at home.  Maybe not, but the salt shakers are back.

Progress.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-163: Snowflake Removal

Do snowflakes really live in mommy’s basement?  I vaguely remembered reading about parents who went to court to force their son to move out.  I finally found it again at BBC News.  I guess it is a real thing.

I would suggest that you could get rid of them without going to court.  Start by cutting off the subsidies.  I imagine that in these cases the parents are often still feeding the kid.  Cut off the meals.  Refuse to wash their clothes.  Have an electrician cut off their electricity.  Use a little creativity.

If nothing else works, change the locks when they are out of the house.

I might also suggest that the federal government do the same for deadbeat Democrat controlled cities.  How long could they keep going without rent subsidies, food stamps, free health care and a subsidized transportation system.  Watch them grow up or die.

Hard problems demand hard answers.  I suspect that the problems in the cities are caused by the same mentality that causes the problems in the basement.  I doubt if the spoiled brats downstairs developed this overnight.  They were the ones who never picked up their sox.  They were the ones throwing tantrums in the aisle at the grocery store.  At school they dropped their trash on the ground instead of using the can five feet away.

If the Marxists in control of government succeed in destroying the country, the problem will take care of itself.  The socialists will just move a couple of families in to share the basement with him.  He will yearn for the good old days.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-162: Epoch Times: Star Wars Hope

In my search for a reliable print newspaper I finally succumbed to the advertising of the Epoch Times.  I am now on a one year subscription.  I will refer to articles featured in the print edition and try to link them online for anyone interested.  Some posts will deal with the news shared and others will deal with my odyssey of deciding if the Epoch Times is a reliable source of news.

Star Wars was a cultural event, or at least the first three films were.  The first three told a rousing story of adventure set in a new world of special effects.  I really enjoyed the original three but I am not sure if I have seen any of the others all the way through.  Even today my son and I refer to what we call the “Star Wars Effect”.  This came from some of the battle scenes where the good guys in their X-wing fighters would do World War I Sopwith Camel style rolls in a vacuum.  If you know anything about physics you know that ain’t gonna happen.  We didn’t care.  It was a fun visual.  Who cared what the laws of the universe said.

I also read a lot of the books about the characters.  I noticed that eventually someone with some knowledge of physics got hold of them and they came up with some kind of explanation of how the roll was achieved.  Eventually fiction catches up with life.  Many of the books I would not bother finishing.  I find the concept of The Force an insult to my intelligence for a couple of reasons and if the story had too many forced Deus ex machina moments it meant the author needed to take a writing class.  If the force was just a background theme to set the venue, okay.  All I ask it quit trying to turn Star Wars into a cheap fantasy novel.

A second factor drained the joy of the story.  I figured it out in the first movie and saw it growing as we went along.  The Force is simply another face for Eastern religion.  You have the Ying and Yang of the good side and the dark side of the force.  Both are impersonal, as in Buddhism.  When Obi Wan appears to Luke he explains how he will be fading into Nirvana so his time is limited.  He didn’t use those terms, but that was what it was about.  

The Epoch Times explains this.  I don’t know if I have seen it anywhere else.  In an article called “The Wisdom of a Jedi Master” it gives some insight that proves my insight correct.

“The influence Eastern traditions like Buddhism and Taoism had on George Lucas can best be seen in Yoda’s attempts to teach Luke Skywalker. Lucas believed there was profound wisdom in Eastern teachings, and sought to share this wisdom with his Western audience. Looking back, I have a deeper appreciation for the words Yoda has to impart.”

So the author found Star Wars inspirational.

He elaborates more later.

“‘Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering,’ Yoda tells a young Anakin Skywalker in “The Phantom Menace.” In Buddhist thought, things such as fear, anger, lust, jealousy, wealth, and fame are attachments. Attachments are said to be the root of all suffering, and thus, must be given up. As Yoda warns, attachments are fraught with peril and lead to the dark side.”

Christianity agrees that life has its misery but for the Christian life is meant to be good.  The problem is sin and only the grace of God can deal with it.  In Buddhism life is miserable and you are to disassociate yourself from it.  In Christianity we are involved but the real source of strength is God Himself.  In Buddhism it is a matter of self-help.  

The author is obviously very much on the side of the life view encouraged by the Buddhist philosophy taught by Star Wars.  At the end he says this,

“The strength of the Jedi comes from selflessness, letting go, and becoming one with all that’s around them. This requires self-examination, for that’s how growth and learning occur. Like the Jedi, we should make the most of each day, striving always to improve, in our quest to be our best selves.”

Sounds good but he overlooks one thing:  At the beginning of Star Wars there are no more functional Jedi.  In other words, it only works for one or two out of the trillions of people in the Empire and Republic.

Not much of a message of hope.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-161: Skip the Big Smile

As I was walking toward the front of the house I passed the front door and saw two packages on the floor with the tell-tail smile on the ends.  I almost screamed in frustration.

I am working hard to not patronize businesses that are out to destroy America while they wallow in the benefits it provides.  Everyone’s favorite mail order spot is on my list, or off my list, depending on how you think.  I have not ordered anything from them for months.  I needed a vacuum and by a little research I found one locally.  The price was close enough that I didn’t even check to see if it was lower.  I have found that I can get pop-corn from some producers at a good price.  I am looking into alternatives to the coffee I had as a staple.  I can’t even get it from the company that cans it, at any price.  I will make the sacrifice.  There will be another coffee out there.  I wanted an inexpensive battery tester.  The temptation was to order it from the Big Smile.  A little checking shows I can get one locally at a good price.

I will accept that for some items and in some locations using the Big Smile might be the only option you have.  I also submit that such emergencies are not as overwhelming as most people claim.  We can wake these people up but only if we are willing to get off our derrieres and exercise a bit of delayed gratification.

You can do it but it needs to happen before they require the vaccination card linked to your credit card in order to do business.

Trust me, it is in their dreams.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-160: On the Street: Bullet Points

My son invited me to go to a gun show in San Antonio on Saturday.  In spite of the media watchdogs telling us to watch out for flash floods and not go anywhere unless fleeing for our lives, we drove down.  The parking lot was jammed and full of puddles but we made our way to the entrance.  Inside was crowded with courteous people.  The aisles were full of “excuse me’s” and “pardon me’s”.  Gun people tend to be polite.  

In spite of the atmosphere of liberty there were still about 20% of the people wearing masks.  I saw no shaming going on either way.  You were free to do as you chose.  The expressions of “live free or die,” “Molon labe,” and Texit were everywhere as well as Trump paraphernalia.  

And of course there were guns, plenty of guns.  I keep hearing about how the store shelves are stripped.  My son said that is because all these guys had bought them but that doesn’t work too well when you consider all the paperwork.  For you “gun show loophole” mouth-foamers, there were plenty of tables for filling out all the background check information.  And there was more ammo than last time we went.  Prices were still very high but the supply was there.  I didn’t see any prices I was willing to pay but for those who were desperate, there was lots available.  All I bought was some coffee and a handful of chocolate chip cookies.  

When we left we drove a few blocks to a Vietnamese place for some Pho.  They had a sign up saying we had to wear masks but we ignored the sign and they ignored the lack of masks.  I guess they knew there were other restaurants in town.  

Even the people of Texas are well trained in submission.  On Wednesday I stopped at a dollar store that had no sign requiring masks.  I watched and it looked to me like I was the only one without one.  So if you live in lock-down don’t feel like you are the only ones that have drunk the kool aid.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-159: Diversity for the Bored

I have a request for United Airlines.  I make it not knowing the actual facts of the case.  Maybe they have already done what I am suggesting.  I propose we test their commitment to diversity.  I I ask that they mandate their board of directors, or whatever they call the rich fat-cats who run the company, also reflect the diversity that they think is so important.  This should be done without following the principle of court packing.  They need to keep the numbers the same.  It is no fair to just add a bunch of names who can be outvoted by the white males on the board.  You start by getting rid of half, for starters.  No, you can’t move them over to other lucrative jobs in the corporation.  Let them learn to code.

You then fill up the vacancies with a diverse population.  It would be good if they were qualified but in reality the only qualification is the color of their skin or their gender identification.  The line forms to the left.

Perhaps we could also have diversity requirements in their stock holders.  Stock sales would have a form detailing what minority faction you claim to identify with.  If you belong to a financially challenged group then it would be necessary, in the spirit of fairness, to leverage the price of stock so that white males would pay ten times the going rate so that the poor could get shares for pennies on the dollar.  You say that would destroy the stock market and the entire system of capitalism?  Congratulations.  You get the brass ring.  That is the objective.

Under socialism you will still have your fat cats.  They are like roaches, they always survive.  What will disappear are the large majorities in the middle that the free market makes possible.  Instead, everyone who is not in the elite will be moved down to bread lines and riding the bus.  At least that seems to be the way it has always happened.  But they may be right and this time it will be work.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-158: New Terms: Uncle Tim

If you have been paying attention you have seen that the Proregressive* haters have gone on a racist rampage against Senator Tim Scott who presented the response to Biden’s speech.  They decided to mock him by calling him “Uncle Tim”.  I hesitate to point it out but this is an allusion to the tradition of racist of calling conservative blacks “Uncle Tom”.  A further point is that this hails back to the novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.  I might also point out that it was one of the items that led up to the Civil War.

The Marxists in government, business, entertainment and media are continuing their attacks on America with the cancel culture.  The latest target is Senator Scott.  I am hoping that they have mis-calculated on this one.  I watched Ted Cruz do an interview with him on the podcast Verdict.  I was impressed.  I don’t think he will be easily intimidate.  To the contrary, I think he will begin to wear this as a badge of shame.

I can see a whole line of badges and bumper stickers saying, Just Call Me Uncle Tim.  Or Tim Spoken Here.  Maybe a clothing line.  Insults often are embraced by the insulted because those attacked often live on a higher plain than the smug.  Maybe it can be more along Tiny Tim from The Christmas Carol than the one who tiptoed through the tulips.  He was instrumental in changing the heart of scrooge, but keep in mind that the hearts of the modern Progregressives* are much harder than that of Scrooge.

Feel free to call me an Uncle Tim any time.

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

homo unius libri