Opus 2021-260: Them or Us

One of the tactics of division is to separate the rank and file from the leadership.  People who have issues with the Roman Catholic church point out that the Pope, Cardinals and Archbishops tend to line up as socialists while the communicants tend to be for liberty and opportunity.  The Bishops seem to be divided.  We see it when people try to defend Islam.  The claim is that the vast majority of Muslims are peace loving people.  The problem is the radical fringe and many of the “spiritual leaders”.  It is a common tactic.  Sometimes it is true.  Sometimes it is just to muddy the waters.

We see it being used in regard to the fiasco of Afghanistan.  We have Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and General Milley going major woke while the world burns around them.  We have the commander of the forces in Kabul refusing to allow a busload of women to enter the base.  (Based on Twitter accounts, Washington Post and screen shots.)  We have mid level officers being forced to resign because they know nonsense when they see it.  At the same time most of us know that the average soldier would be willing to ride to the rescue.

Are Americans responsible for electing Joe Biden and his team?  I keep hearing criticism about how we elected him.  I don’t believe it.  I still believe that Trump was the legal winner even if the Democrats had all their fraud well organized.  Take a look at the mandate nonsense on the virus.  Most of the government push is coming from leaders that are unelected and untouchable.  In business it is a mysterious group of board members and people with initials for titles.

So who is responsible?  Who represents the Catholic church?  Who are the real Muslims?  Who is in charge of America?  If we roll with the popular idea that it is the Pope, Imams and the President then we are off the hook.  There is nothing we can do.  If we realize that the people at the top could do nothing if they were worried about those at the bottom then we need to demand changes.

Stand up when the arrow points at you.  Don’t be silent.  We need a nation of people broadcasting that the king has no clothes.  Our future depends on it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-259: Home Schooling Myths

I keep reading about the growth of home schooling.  I am not impressed.  It isn’t that easy.

When I say it isn’t that easy I don’t mean the teaching part.  There are curriculums everywhere if you don’t know what to cover.  If you knew how little time is actually spent on instruction and how many subjects are just avoided because the teacher doesn’t know anything you would blow a gasket.  I would imagine that Laura Ingalls was not a math wizard or scientist.  She certainly didn’t have any college when she started teaching.  Her students could put to shame a lot of college graduates today.

Consider people who largely taught themselves.  The most famous would be Abraham Lincoln.  One that is getting better known today is Frederick Douglass.  When I served in an inner city church during college I was surprised to find that the kids who could read had learned at home, not at school.  If you are into the really wild side read about how Tarzan learned to read.  You might also want to admit that most of what you know that is important you dug out yourself.

No, the problem is time.  It cuts into gym time, coffee klatches and to be honest would require one of the parents to not work a paying job outside the home.  While it is doable, we did it, it is not something that most people are willing to do.  The big lie is that you can’t survive on one salary.  Yes, you can.  Millions do.  What you can’t do is drive new cars, shop the malls and eat at the good restaurants on one salary.

Home schooling isn’t for everyone.  It is no guarantee.  It is the best way to go but it will always be the road less traveled.  When you consider that the schools are pushing CRT, the Homosexual agenda, transgenderism, anti-Americanism and are constantly lower the standards it is hard to believe you could do any worse.  When you add up all the time spent on those subjects and wasted on crowd control you might seriously consider starting the journey.

Bon voyage.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-258: The Pause that Refreshes

We had a lightening strike very close to our house.  Not only did it take out the power in the neighborhood, it blew out things inside the house.  We have a new light fixture in the living room with two expensive, fancy light bulbs.  One of them blew out.  As far as I can tell, none of our remaining old style bulbs lost it.  When we tried to fire up the internet we found that the strike had fried the back-up power/surge protection and gotten through to mess up all of our internet providing devices.  

That was as close as I want to get to a lightening strike.

I am hoping that I can still post through the hot spot on my phone that my son set up for me but until our personal infrastructure is replaced we are essentially without internet.  That is a two edged sword.  I am still adjusting to all the sources of information I had but can’t connect with.  I keep picking up my I-Pad and realizing I can’t check the headlines.  Every time I open my computer it tries to reach the internet because one of the upgrades from Microsoft installed an attempt to get me to use Bing.  

The other edge of the sword is that I cannot reach the internet.  I am forced to read what I have on hand.  I have more time to read and study.  I think I may have even slept better.

Being sent into exile from the world wide web is a shock but I think it is a good thing.  As the health food nuts like to say, it cleanses the toxins from our soul.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-257: Still Searching for the Lost Ark?

I always enjoyed the Indiana Jones movies.  I started with Raiders of the Lost Ark.  It was a lot of fun but recently as I was reading through I Samuel in the Bible I realized that he could have taken a short cut.

Check out I Samuel 5.  The Israelites had gone superstitious.  They were losing battles and felt like if they could take the Ark out with them they would win.  It didn’t work out that way.  The Philistines captured the Ark and took it with them as war booty.  That didn’t work out too well either.  Every pagan city that took the Ark suffered.  The local god got knocked over and when it were set back up lost head and hands.  The local residents were infested with tumors.  

So my suggestion for Indiana Jones would have been if he wanted to find the lost ark then all he needed to do is look at the most miserable place in the world.  It will probably be in some basement.  If you find it make sure you don’t open it.  Remember what happened in the movie.  I hear God has much better special effects that Hollywood.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-256: White Fang the Expert

Remember Soupy Sales?  One of his side kicks was White Fang.  White Fang was some mysterious, off camera animal, sometimes referred to as a dog, that was always telling Soupy what was what.  All you ever saw was a paw and part of an arm.  He was a modern day expert, made so by the fact that you could never understand a thing he said.

We are being run by experts.  That is not a compliment.  Experts, by necessity, are limited in their area of expertise.  Remember when you had someone you called the Family Doctor.  They were everywhere.  They had their own offices and I hear they even made house calls.  They would get to know you and treat whatever ailed you.  Then we went to the GP, or general practitioner.  That is where I came into the picture.  They often had their own office.  Now we go to see our Primary Care Physician.  He is usually working in a clinic or a suite disguised to not look like a clinic.  When we first came to Texas we had a new doctor every year because they kept moving on.  They would refer us to the experts.  

If I am bored I will see my Primary Care Physician once a year.  I see a cardiologist, my eye doctor, and a podiatrist.  I see my Dermatologist at least twice.  I also have an orthopedic team and a guy who looks at my colon.  Since my diabetes is under control I don’t have an endocrinologist.  They are all experts.  No one looks at the complete picture except the PCP and that is to pass me on to someone else.

Pascal had some thoughts on this situation.

“Since we cannot be universal and know all that is to be known of everything, we ought to know a little about everything. For it is far better to know something about everything than to know all about one thing. This universality is the best.”  Kindle location 421-22

I don’t mind having a guy who specializes in brakes work on my brakes but I really want someone who has a feel for the whole picture to tell me the problem is the brakes.

We have experts advising us on all the hot issues of the day from Kabul to CO2.  The problem is that they don’t know much outside their field.  An even bigger problem is that they got their position because of affirmative action and a college degree that was awarded the same way.  I now how it works.  I was credentialed to teach science in high school and had not had a science class since my freshman year of college, but I test well.

Beware of experts.  It is possible that the common sense of your grandmother is of more use than Dr. Fauci when it comes to getting well.  In fact, I can almost guarantee it.

Pascal, Blaise.  Pensees.  Project Gutenberg.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-255: Headlines: FDA Approves the Kool Aid

By now I am sure you have heard that the FDA has given full approval to one of the chemical compounds mistakenly labeled a vaccine.  How this will play out will have life changing effects.  What those will be run the gamete from a Thalidomide redo to the panacea of all medicines.  Once again we see how the government officials live in a special world.

Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said,

“While millions of people have already safely received COVID-19 vaccines, we recognize that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instill additional confidence to get vaccinated....”

No, it will actually reduce their confidence in the FDA.  People who have been resisting the vaccine have not been resisting because the FDA has withheld approval.  It has been a convenient talking point but most people who are refusing are doing so because they can read and think.  The government story just does not add up.  Why take an unproven, side effect loaded, genetic manipulating “medicine” to battle a bad flu?

Will the FDA approval get some people to step forward and offer their arm?  Probably.  I read one headline that a package of Ramen noodles were being used as a bribe somewhere.  I am sure some desperate person will step forward.

It is an embarrassing time to be an American.  It is a dangerous time to be an American.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-254: La La Land

It came up with the Zoomers when one said that Trump lacked integrity.  My question was, “Compared to whom?”  We forget that when we voted for Donald Trump he was not running against Jesus.  He wasn’t even running against George Washington.  He was running against people who were undeniably evil.  

Proregressives* make it a habit to run down America, past, present and future.  We tend to step into their trap.  We forget when Proregressives bad-mouth America they are comparing it to a non-existent perfect country, not to the competition.  Utopia does not exist and has never existed.  Cuba has.  Venezuela has.  The Soviet Union has.  China does.  Force people to compare our history with the history of a real country, not something in their imaginations.

And try to get them to describe what they plan on doing to support themselves in this socialist paradise they want to create.  Who will haul away the garage, grow the organic vegetables, replace the batteries in their e-car?  Who will produce the detergent to wash their clothes and the machines to do the work?  It certainly won’t be their professors or the leaders of BLM.  It won’t be the elites that are working to destroy our republic.

Encourage them to look at the real world.  Did their high school CRT teacher come to get the toilet working last time it backed up?  In our society someone gets paid good money to do that and if you have a job you can pay them.  What are they going to do when mommy’s job is downgraded or done away with and she is forced to turn the basement over to another family?  Who will fix their breakfast then?

America isn’t Utopia.  It is better.  It is real.  Don’t throw it away for the promise of a safe investment with a return of 40%.

*(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 2021-253: The State of the Book

Are people reading less now?  Some say yes; others, no.  I am sure there is evidence both ways depending on your desired outcome.

The Zoomers I meet with twice a week all seem to have no time to read.  But I notice they always have time to watch.  And it seems they spend a lot of time on the internet.  They are always asking, “Did you watch Tucker last night?”  Maybe they also take too many naps.

I don’t have time to watch, I am too busy reading, and taking naps.  I will click on a video connection but I find that I get bored quickly.  There are people I respect when I read their comments in short form but when I try to watch their stuff I find that I don’t have time for the introductory yuk-it-up stuff as they work toward why I am watching.  I assume they have a time slot to fill and didn’t have enough material to start quickly.

Since most people can read much quicker than the talking head can talk and readers can skim ahead to the actual information, who gets more information, readers or watchers?  Obviously from the way I ask the question I put my money on the readers.  When you read you have a lot of control, like listening to a cassette tape.  You can rewind, stop and fast forward.  In reading terms that means you can go back and check what you think you remember, take a break to ponder and skim when the material becomes fellow back-patting time.

Recently my wife called me in to watch something that had her excited.  It seems that a bunch of military leaders in Cuba had all died in the same week.  It was six or seven.  The talking head on the screen seemed to think this was a sign that forces were in action.  My wife was almost bouncing on the bed.  She got upset that I did not see how significant this was.  I reviewed the facts.  Six guys died.  The ages reported started at 79 and went up from there.  No cause of death was given.  End of facts.  This is not a campaign by the forces of Free Cuba.  This is what we call old age.

I urge you to keep reading and to think about what you read.  You may not have noticed but the libraries are still open.  In between the liberal trash there are some things worth reading.  And don’t forget the old stuff that was written by dead white males.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-252: Monday Pulpit: An Attitude

The pastor started off talking about the penalty paid on the cross and my mind went, “Shiny!”  

Off on a tangent I went.  I spent a moment on how life is ruined by sin and the death of Jesus on the cross paid the price to remove the rubble.

What we have as Christians is more.  It is not just the penalty being paid by the blood shed on the cross but the hope offered by the resurrection of the dead.  Most people look at physical death as the end, a closed door.  Christians look at it as a gate that admits believers to an eternity of all the good words you can think of.  It is only the beginning.

That makes a difference in how we view all this hysteria about a virus.  We start knowing that God designed our immune system.  We know that sin has messed up the world so sometimes the system does not function as designed.  In that case we know it is time to be promoted to eternity.

Take the difference between being sent to the principals office and getting a gold star on your class work, multiply it by an infinite number and you are still short of the promise of hope.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-251: Going Buggy

Worried about germs?

According to an article at Study Finds you are crawling with them.

“A staggering 100 trillion microorganisms live in the human gut – both good and bad.”

The focus of the article is to get you to eat more yogurt.  That is my boiling down.  They talk about probiotics and Alzheimer’s, two buzz words that attract attention.  You can read it yourself if it pushes your button but I think the basic idea is that if you eat right you have a better chance of not losing your mind as you age.  Of course results may vary.

But for those of you that are concerned about wearing a mask and all the other neurotic impulses that are being shoved into our panic centers, get a perspective.  That is trillion with a “T”.  You are crawling with bugs.

The article also brings up the topic of “fecal transplants”.  That is slid in under the radar.  I have heard about this before in regard to weigh loss but never as a preventative for dementia.  Scientific research is full of little surprises.  I guess there is big money in the fear of aging.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-250: What, Me Worry?

The Proregressives* all want Justice Breyer to resign while they control both the Senate and the White House.  It seems he is in no hurry and I think he has good reason not to worry about it.

At this point he has had plenty of time to observe how the Trump appointees are making decisions.  The direction is clear.  They may not be as liberal as he is but he knows the liberal majority is in no danger.  So why should he exit while Biden is on the throne?  He can hang on with no risk to his part in destroying the republic.

He plans on pulling a Ginsberg.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-249: What a Pain

Pain is something we have all experienced.  I have experienced great pain.  It seemed to be a kidney stone attack although they could never find a stone.  I think it was toxin based.  I will never know the cause but the pain was real.  It went on for days and I remember that it hurt to breathe so I would hold my breath as long as I could and hope I died before I needed to inhale again.

That being said, I am not plagued by great pain like so many are that I know.  I have one person who is getting no relief from the medical doctors.  I am about ready to recommend he consult some alternative practitioners such as acupuncturists or herbal medicines.  I don’t have a lot of confidence in them but that is balanced by the realization my trust in the medical profession has taken a real nose-dive during the China Virus panic.  If the guilty parties for all the ruined lives are ever prosecuted I expect to see a lot of MD’s in the dock, right after the politicians and media types.

One of the untallied death tolls will be the people who would not go to see a doctor because they were afraid of being locked up.  They saw how their grandparents were isolated in nursing homes and not allowed visitors.  I have talked to people who had family going down hill in the hospital and could not have visitors.  Most of this was nonsense.  The problem we have is finding someone we can trust.  The concept of a family doctor seems to be out of a fairy tale.  We used to have a GP we went to.  Now the only resource most of us have is a clinic that is one step above the urgent care and that step is mainly a different sign.  

When we first moved to Texas we went to one of those clinics.  Every time we went in there was a new doctor.  Then they got rid of the staff who had been very competent.  We are now at another clinic.  I am not hurrying to go back because it could be a totally different doctor and he might want to give me a “wellness check” again.  Medicare is really big on wellness checks.  I find it amusing that my spell check doesn’t recognize “wellness”.  Even my computer knows there is something fishy.

It may be that voodoo medicine and grandma’s cures will make a comeback.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-248: New Terms: Vaccine

Yes, I know you think you know what the term means.  However, we are in the age of deconstructionalsim.  You may not know it because it is not broadcast.  I have mentioned it several times but let me give a quick refresher.  Deconstrutionalism is an actual school of philosophy or social science which says that the words mean what you want them to mean.  Words have no inherent meaning but change with the viewer.  A phrase that illustrates this that we can all understand is, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.”  Take that and apply it to a word like “vaccine.”

When I write about the jab they want us to get I am avoiding calling it a vaccine because it isn’t a vaccine and it isn’t even approved as of this writing.  It is a total experiment in human biology.  

Historically a vaccine is a medical treatment that is developed by introducing a pathogen into a living creature, allowing it to produce antibodies as it fights the toxin and then use those antibodies to produce a serum called a vaccine.  A vaccine generally gives you a mild form of the disease so that your body can produce its own defenses.  The first significant vaccination I am aware of was to fight small pox.  The vaccination was created by using the coxpox virus.

There are always side effects to medicine.  A vaccine can cause death in some people.  The question asked is “Do the benefits to the population as a whole warrent taking the risk in the few.”  If you are one of the few, it sucks to be you, but the rest of us thank you.  Legitimate medical science carefully weighs the benefits with the dangers.  That has not been done with the current wave of falsely named “vaccines.”

The current list of “cures” for the China virus are not vaccines.  They are instead made by manipulating the genetic material in your body.  In an age before Health Hysteria this would have been considered unethical.  Now it is the panacea.

So the manipulators keep calling them vaccines.  That means the word now has a new meaning.  As the warning label to things like bleach and ammonia might say, “Use with care.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-247: The Coming Lack of Medical Care

Daily we hear about some new company or government agency that is requiring people to have the experimental vaccine.  If they don’t then either do not come to work or expect to do business.  At this point it hasn’t touched me because I am retired and in Texas.  I expect the other shoe to drop any day.

I expect that next time I go to see one of my doctors I will be required to have had the jab.  They may be satisfied with a verbal confirmation or they may require proof.  Either way I will not be taken care of.  I don’t plan on deception and I don’t plan on being punctured.  What do we do then?  How do we survive without medical care?  My guess is the same way we would have survived if there were no doctors available.  

I think all of us, even the ones who are losing our respect for the medical profession, have put doctors up on a pedestal.  I know I have.  They are highly trained.  They are experts in their fields.  They are dedicated to the healing arts.  That may have been true at some time but I know it isn’t true today.  Keep in mind that they have been trained at schools that are constantly lowering the entrance requirements in order to meet some politically correct quota.  They blithely process data from the CDC that makes no sense and set policy based on propaganda rather than science.  

Let me give a word of encouragement on your daily medical needs.  I believe we have given doctors credit that they do not deserve.  Imagine a scenario.  You have come down with something.  After a few days you go see a doctor and after doing the basics they prescribe an antibiotic.  The prescription is based on a hail Mary guess based on what they have read about “there’s a lot of that going around.”  The antibiotic is probably a broad spectrum germ killer that will take out almost anything from toe fungus to head lice.  You are told to take it the entire week.  After a few days you start feeling better and eventually go back to work.  How would this have been different if you had no health insurance and simply ate Lipton noodle soup, drank lots of water and got a lot of sleep?  My guess is the pattern would have been just the same except for the time wasted at the doctor and pharmacy.  I make that guess because that is the way I was raised, without insurance.  

I will accept if you have a ruptured appendix or a heart attack they are still needed.  At my age it is possible that I will come down with some elderly condition that knocks me off at 80 instead of 81, but I think the chances are in my corner.

Add to that a healthy dose of Providence and guardian angels and just get on with life.  Now when they take my library card away that will be different so I am already planning work-arounds.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-246: Reminders: #5, No They Don’t Have Good Intentions

There are certain topics I have written about.  They are worth repeating.  I need to revisit them to refresh my memory and enhance my thinking.  Others need to be reminded.  There is a constant bombardment of ideas that clutter our minds.

The news media lies to us on a regular basis.  The Government spies on us, ignores the rioting by anarchists, arrests people invited into the capital building and keeps them in solitary confinement for what is a misdemeanor at worst, the monopolies in social media censor anything that might be construed as pro-American and the beat goes on.  I am getting used to this insanity.  What I am not getting used to is the people of good will who say stupid things like, “They mean well.”

I am sorry, that is not an option.  When people at the CDC deliberately change the way deaths are reported and inflate the statistics repeatedly to back a leftist agenda, it is not just trying to help us.  I have said it before, I am saying it again.  You have three choices.  They are one of three things, or maybe all three.  Time to revisit the three choices about the left:  Ignorant, Evil, or Stupid.

I think it is clear they are not ignorant.  They see the data.  They know the facts.  They need to know what is true to lie so consistently.  

They may be stupid.  In our current climate of affirmative action and cancel culture it is possible to get a degree from what used to be prestigious universities and not be sure which foot the shoe goes on.  As a former teacher I can testify to the lack of intelligence in many of the college graduates.  When I got into teaching you were required to pass an examination called the CBEST.  It consisted of writing an essay, doing math problems with only a few as advanced as algebra and answer questions about something you just read.  Any 10th grade student should be able to pass it.  I think most of my 8th graders could have done so.  Twenty percent of the college graduates who took the test failed.  So yes, it could be that they are stupid, after all people still watch CNN.

I personally think it is the third choice.  They are evil.  They have sold their souls to the devil.  I know they don’t think of it that way but how do you explain things like the journalist who went to the Soviet Union while Stalin was starving the Ukrainians and came back praising the system?  How do you explain the publishing industry that gave him awards for his awesome journalism?  How do you explain thousands of people totally violating their oaths, the law and the trust of their fellow Americans to steal an election for Joe Biden and another group who claim there is no evidence of fraud?  How do you explain judges who say it is acceptable for young children to surgically and chemically alter their bodies when they aren’t old enough to buy a beer?  It isn’t ignorance.  It isn’t stupid.  It is evil.

So get over it.  They are not nice people who have different ideas.  They are evil people making evil choices.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-245: If at First You Don’t Succeed...

On August 6 I kept reading about the bombing of Hiroshima.  I didn’t read the articles because there are two general approaches.  The first is the revisionist approach that ignores all of the facts and weeps bitter tears about how mean the United States was to commit this war crime.  If you are ignorant, stupid or evil that all makes sense.  The second is that it ended the war quickly and saved hundreds of thousands of American lives and since the Japanese as a nation were committed to suicidal resistance, it also ended up saving millions of Japanese lives.  That is a net savings, not gross.

I thought it might be interesting to bring in a bit of the thinking expressed at the time.  I offer you Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain.  He was in on the research leading up to the development of the bomb.  He was involved with the decision to drop it.  This comment was published in 1953 and reflects an insiders view of what was going on.

“At any rate, there never was a moment’s discussion as to whether the atomic bomb should be used or not.  To avert a vast, indefinite butchery, to bring the war to an end, to give peace to the world, to lay healing hands upon its tortured peoples by a manifestation of overwhelming power at the cost of a few explosions, seemed, after all our toils and perils, a miracle of deliverance.” p. 639

Two issues are clear here.  This weapon was viewed as a release from the butchery that started in 1939 and consumed at least 20 million lives.  Also no one had any serious doubts about using it.  You may not like history.  You may not like reality.  Picture what the world would be like today if they had refused to drop the bomb.  The butchery in China and Korea would have continued.  Millions more would have died.  The Soviet Union would have made a land grab in Asia.  Two cities in the country that initiated the Bataan Death March is a small price to pay.  And keep in mind that the slaughter of the first bomb was not enough to bring surrender.  The allies had to do it again.

Churchill, Winston S.  Triumph and Tragedy.  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Company, 1953.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-244: I Have Questions

The Bible is full of things that are hard to explain.  Among the Great Mysteries of the Bible:  The Incarnation, the Trinity, creation ex nihilo and the entire idea of an infinite God.  There are questions that are hard to answer such as, “Where did Adam’s sons find wives?” and “How much did the baby Jesus know?”  

Then there are the dubious choices of Biblical heroes.  To me one of the great mysteries is Sampson.  Sampson was set aside to be a judge in Israel before he was born.  That is one of the Biblical teachings that should make you question abortion.  His mother had a rigorous diet and he had to follow it himself.  For all of his flaws he seemed to keep his Nazarite vows.  

His character left a lot to be desired.  He seemed to be totally ignorant of sexual morality.  He had problems with telling the truth and was guilty of killing flocks of Philistines.  He was a mess.  I would not want him in charge of anything.  Yet in all this he was one of the judges and God honored him.

We see the same problem with King David.  List his crimes and you come up with adultery and murder.  He was also a poor example of fatherhood.  And yet God said he was a man after God’s own heart.

Go figure.

One advantage God has is being able to read our hearts and minds.  

(Pro 24:12 KJV)  If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?

He knows the difference between an honest mistake, a moment of weakness and rebellion.  We can fool others.  We can fool ourselves.  We cannot fool God.

Sampson had and inner quality that God honored.  David had a heart that was more committed than his actions of the day.  We can also know that God knows our hearts.  That can be good or bad but we always have the option of repentance and change.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-243: Rush Moments

I did not listen to Rush very often.  Usually it was when we were driving and my wife was in the car.  I must say I enjoyed what he had to say.  One of my fond memories was his sense of humor such as the statement, “Talent on loan from God.”  

One day I was listening and heard a blurb that talked about how he was the number one radio talk show host in history.  I got a good laugh out of that one too.  I don’t doubt that it was true.  The humor was in having a sense of history.  This was interesting since we have only had radio for a small slice of history.  It isn’t like it goes back to 4,000 B.C.  Now if he would have said he was the number one public speaker or entertainer that would have been a bit of hubris.  It might have been true but it would still be a bit of arrogance.

He was a man who new how to walk the line, make fun of himself and help us all enjoy life a little more.  May we each learn to shuffle in his shoes.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-242: A Caring Government

Black Americans are avoiding the vaccine.  One of the reasons is the group memory of the experiments the federal government conducted on poor blacks in the south.  It started in 1932 and went until 1972 at Tuskegee Institute.  The United States Public Health Service (USPHS) recruited 600 black men for a study involving syphilis.  399 already were infected and the rest could be considered a control group.  At the beginning there might have been some legitimate, ethical scientific research being done but by 1943 penicillin had become a widely used and effective treatment.  In what everyone agrees was an unethical move the USPHS continued the study, but continue it they did.  The History Channel site relates the story.

In total disregard for the health of the men who had volunteered, well after penicillin was available,

“PHS researchers convinced local physicians in Macon County not to treat the participants, and instead research was done at the Tuskegee Institute.”

To further their research they deliberately kept help away from the men.

It was years before what we would today call a whistle blower stepped forward.

“In the mid-1960s, a PHS venereal disease investigator in San Francisco named Peter Buxton found out about the Tuskegee study and expressed his concerns to his superiors that it was unethical. In response, PHS officials formed a committee to review the study but ultimately opted to continue it—with the goal of tracking the participants until all had died, autopsies were performed and the project data could be analyzed.”

You wonder why people don’t trust the government?  They have a history.  I used to laugh at the idea.  Our government wouldn’t do anything like that, right?  No more do I laugh.  I watch the NIH and CDC continuing the same type of research.  They are once again using experimental drugs and guess what else, there are effective treatments available but your doctor is told not to use them.  

Those of you who believe the government has the answers to today’s problems are not paying attention.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-241: Political Palette

Since it is hard to define a conservative and no one wants to admit they are a liberal we seem to have begun to talk about blue states and red states.  There are a lot of differences.  It might be better to talk about cities and country since even a state like California would be red if it were not for the big cities.  Texas is red in spite of its big cities.  So let the colors be the marker.

If I had to pick out a difference between a red and a blue it would come down to control.  One wants to be left alone, the other wants to get everyone up to their level of superiority.  This must be done by force if the reds don’t comply willingly.

Reds generally want to be left alone.  That is much of their definition of liberty.  The specific areas that they are concerned about are summarized in the Bill of Rights.  They are quite content to live their lives without anyone making up a bunch of rules about everything they think of.  They tend to accept that their situation is a result of their actions, or at least wish the blues would leave them alone so it could be that way.

Blues, on the other hand, need to be in control.  I would call them busybodies who know what is best for everyone.  They tend to think that their values and opinions are best for the lest privileged.  They can’t understand why the reds don’t see what is so obvious.  What is even more insidious is there desire to control the way reds think.  That is where we get such nonsense as hate crimes.  If a person is murdered it would seem to me hate could be involved.  It doesn’t make the person any more dead to label it a hate crime.  Not only do they want reds to act like blue but to think like blues too.

You have all heard the line, “Just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.”  Believe it.  They are out to get you.  They are like a bossy little sister and the stereotype Jewish mother combined.  It may be that the only solution is separation.  Let them try to straighten each other out.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-240: Reading Material

Constitution Day is coming September 17.  If you are a slow reader you might want to start reading now.  I always get irritated when people quote the Constitution and what they say is not in the document.  I can somewhat forgive them when they are quoting the Declaration of Independence but not if it is the RNC.

So dig it out and get moving.  Look for surprises, things you never noticed before.  Read it before the Proregressive* tech companies ban it and develop software to search and destroy on your computer.

*(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 2021-239: Headlines: Equality Strikes Again

Years ago under Bill Clinton action was taken allowing women to serve in combat roles.  At the time there were critics who said this would open the door to drafting women.  Of course the left called them hysterical but now we see that it is becoming a reality.  

According to the Daily Wire one of the actions by the Senate Armed Services Committee included this change.  That comes as no shock to me.  What should have shocked me, but didn’t really, was that most Republicans on the Committee went along with it.  The two Senators who are lifted out as vocally voting “no” on the change were Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Josh Hawley of Missouri.  Those two names should tell you what the right position for Republicans was.

If you are curious the article gives a list of the Republicans who voted each way.  Of course you can assume that all Democrats voted “yes”.  

It is embarrassing to still be a Republican.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-238: Headlines: Even Senators Can Be Brainwashed

The psychological conditioning that has gone on with this China Virus hysteria is omnipresent.  People repeat the party line without even being aware of it.  This came to mind when I fell for click bait on Citizen Free Press.  It seems that Lindsey Graham has tested positive for the virus and is experiencing flu like symptoms.  We are hearing more of this every day.  

I did not go any further than the first click but what ol’ Lindsey had to say was the same thing that our painter said,

“I am very glad I was vaccinated because without vaccination I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now.”

I respectfully submit that this is nonsense.  If this were not a G rated blog I would cry BS.  The party line is that you have milder symptoms if you are vaccinated.  Of course the party line as I remember it was that the vaccine would protect you from the virus.  Could it be that the virus actually made the symptoms worse?  Remember that the vast majority of people who are carrying the virus, I think it is 85 percent, don’t have any symptoms.  Could it be that he was hanging around some pre-schoolers and got infected by their runny noses?  The odds of that are higher than catching the virus.

Be aware of how we have been brainwashed.  This is a flu virus that is really not statistically worse than any flu virus.  It isn’t even on the same planet with historic plagues.  And keep in mind that you are safe from the flu as long as the China Virus is around.

I cry foul.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-237: ZZ Minus One

I have seen on multiple sites that Dusty Hill has passed away.  Who is Dusty Hill you say?  That is what I would have said except the headline comes with a video clip of a group called ZZ TOP.  Who is ZZ TOP you say?  I am encouraged by the fact that you don’t know.  If you do know you might want to go back and take a class in music appreciation.  ZZ TOP is a group of guys that look like they worked for the Duck Commander except I think they were on the charts before anyone heard of Duck Dynasty.  I don’t know how you label their attempts at music but that is more my lack of interest than the lack of a title.

If you try to watch one of the video clips you will see what I mean.  They have the same long face hair that the Robinson clan sports.  I assume they were successful.  My lack of appreciation does not mean that the general population who can’t carry a tune did not like their music.  For their fans the death was a loss.  Since all humans have worth in the eyes of God, it was a loss for everyone.

It is too bad that Duck Dynasty didn’t hire them to open their program.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-236: The Golden Zucchini

Remember the statement about a billion dollars here, a billion dollars there and pretty soon you start to talk about real money.  Think about that in regard to all the “stimulus” and “infrastructure” money being proposed and printed by congress.

Maybe we need to go back to understanding that a million dollar budget is real money to most Americans.  People passing budgets seem to have forgotten what it takes to earn a dollar.  I am not just talking about congress here.  We have city councils and school boards who seem to think that there is a magic plant somewhere that grows golden zucchinis.  Forget the goose.  No goose could lay enough golden eggs to make a difference.  Even if that were true it would not solve the problem because if gold were that common but there was no increase in productivity to justify the extra money, inflation would be just as rampant.  Congress has as little understanding of what it costs to pay our bills as we do of how much money a trillion dollars represents.

Congress needs to learn to think in terms of how long it takes to pay off their spending even if you have a job paying $100,000 a year.  

If they won’t think in those terms then we need to find ways to vote differently.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-235: Update from the Free World

I zoom twice a week with a group of old geezers like myself.  In fact I think I am one of the youngsters in the group.  I call us the Baby Zoomers.  They don’t like my label but I think it is cute.  Most of them are living in the Newsome Hegemony of Los Angeles County.  They are back to masks.  At least that is what the news tells us.

If you are paying attention to the headlines that I am seeing the cause of tyranny is in full swing.  Various businesses and governments are demanding vaccines and some kind of a badge to show that you are vaccinated.  I liked the suggestion by some wag, or sage, that the badge be a yellow Star of David.  

When we read things like that we need to remember that the news agencies like to lie to us and keep us divided.  Let me tell you what my Sunday was like.  I went to church where we sang real music, “I Sing the Mighty Power of God,” “Crown Him with Many Crowns,” “Open My Eyes That I May See” and “All for Jesus.”  You might remember those dusty but still powerful songs.  And no one was wearing a mask.  You could actually see people smile and sing without choking.  It was a great morning.  From there my wife and I met our son at Lin’s International Buffet.  Some of the employees were wearing masks but most of the paying customers were acting like free Americans.  The buffet was wide open.  There were no gloves required and you could dish up your own food.

Then I went home and took a nap.

So if you get the idea that the world is locked down, don’t believe it.  Keep in mind that the news media, social media, deep state and all the other synonyms want you to be afraid, very afraid.  They want you to think that everyone is afraid and calling to be locked down again.  Not so much out here in free America.  If you live in California it is possible but keep in mind that they are the land of fruit, nuts and flakes.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-234: Planning a Party

Maybe we should do to the Republican party what we need to do to education.  Optimistically, it needs to be taken apart and reassembled.  More realistically it needs to be dissolved.

This would cause a vacuum for a new political party.  If it had the right platform, I would join.  

We keep hearing about how a third party would just throw it all to the Democrats.  Not necessarily.  Not if it is done right.  The Whigs took out the Federalists.  The Republicans replaced the Whigs.  The Know Nothings were working on the Democrats until they lost it over slavery.  Keep in mind that most of the voices saying it can’t be done are Democrats or Rinos who have reasons they don’t want it to happen.

The Republicans in the 1800's started with local elections.  They then worked their way up.  A new party would need to find out if it had staying power by winning city counsels, county boards and state office.  If there are not enough people committed to change that they can’t elect a new school board, they are never going to elect a president.  The eventual step would be Congress and the Senate.  Only then could you compete on a national level.  When you are at the local level you would still support Republican candidates until you were strong enough to field your own candidates.

Assume there are enough of the True Believers Party (TBP) to gain a majority on a city council in Rural County.  For County Sheriff you might back the Republican.  You would not waste your powder just to light up your ego.  When enough of your neighboring cities come on board you might elect a member of the state assembly but not run anyone for the Senate.  When in session you would caucus with the Republicans.  

It will not happen over night.  It will never happen unless there is enough interest.  The earliest date I can find related to the Republican party is 1854.  The first convention to nominate a president was 1856.  According to the site U.S. History, by 1855 this new party had a majority in the House of Representatives.  That was not enough to win the presidency with John C. Freemont.  Even the victory of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 was a squeaker.  If the Democrats had not run two candidates we might never have put Lincoln in the history books, the Civil War might not have happened and slavery might still be around.  

The future is going to be interesting and is still clouded in mystery.  Will we become the largest Banana Republic in history?  Will we end up with Gestapo guards on every street corner?  Will many of us end up in work gangs and concentration camps?  Will we see revival?  Are our greatest days ahead?

Stay tuned.  And if a new party is proposed, give it serious consideration.

homo unius libri