Opus 2012-169, Discernment Watch: Should They Register to Vote?

In the June elections I was offered a sticker to wear when I left the polling place.  It said, “I voted.”  I graciously took it and when I got to the car I put it where no one would see it.  My attitude has gone through a radical change on things like this. 

I am not sure that I want everyone voting.

Don’t get me wrong.  I believe that voting is one of our rights as Americans.  It should be available to all citizens.  The change is that I don’t have a Pollyanna view of voting any more.   I want to win, even if I still want to win with honor.

So I don’t wear my sticker.  Why?  Because I am a teacher and the vast majority of teachers are sheep that march to the tune of the Democratic machine.  They don’t do much reading and are not capable of doing a lot of thinking.  They may not even be aware that we are having an election.  This is the group that believe Al Gore when he announces that the debate on global warming is over.  This is the group that, when I referred to “Big Brother” at a faculty meeting, thought I was talking about a sibling.  Do I really want to remind them to cancel my vote?  Not on your life.

I also don’t encourage most people to register to vote.  My thinking is that if I need to remind them to do this they are not aware enough of the issues to vote intelligently.  Yes, I assume that my way is the intelligent way.  Deal with it.

If I could figure our a genuinely fair way to come up with standards I would be in favor of requirements to register for the vote.  It would seem to me that the ability to read or at least understand the issues a little would be good.  The reason I would not want to go there is that it would be too easy for the Control Freaks of the Elites to manipulate it to get what they wanted.

I see absolutely no problem with requiring ID to vote.  Anyone who is against that is in favor of controlling elections by fraud and deception.  If I must show ID to use my credit card, visit my doctor or board an airplane, what is the problem with the big issues of life like voting?

Remember.  November is coming.  Do you really want your neighbor to remember that elections matter?

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-168, On the Street: Haircuts

One of the joys of DEFCON is people watching.  If you want to see the extremes of style, this is the place.  You have the entire spectrum.  One guy actually wore a suit and tie.  Weird.  Of course to balance him you had the guy with a suit coat, tie, fedora and dress shirt, bottomed off with a nice matching skirt, knee sox and loafers.  I knew it was a guy because of the beard.

One of the popular hair styles is what we used to call a Mohawk.  I don’t know what they call it, but you know what I mean.  Some are little ridges.  Some are purple spikes.  Some are stiff.  Some are limp.  My son said he even saw a version for bald guys that split and went around the sides.  Cool.

What is sad is when you use the wrong barber.  I was following one guy who mus have had a dyslexic barber.  On top it was centered but as it descended it drifted off to one side.  The impact was diluted by the distraction.  I wonder if he knew.  I wasn’t about to tell him.  You can never be sure about the stability of people who cut their hair this way.

Feel free to cut your hair as you please.  I won’t laugh at you, I will laugh with you, unless your barber was drinking at the same bar you were at.

I tell the kids at school that real men can wear pink.  I am not sure what that has to do with haircuts but it is something to think about.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-167, Growing Pains

It has been a good summer.  I spent most of it in condos filled with stairs and at my kids’ houses which have the same malady.  The blessing was that this year I did not fall down any stairs.  It is a painful experience and dangerous at any age.  At my age it takes a long time for the pain to go away.

Have you noticed that people usually don’t stumble going up stairs?  It strikes when going down and usually when you are in a hurry and not thinking.  That has been my pattern anyway.  If I stumble going up I seem to have little trouble catching myself.  I have learned to be careful on the way down.

Isn’t that the way it is in our daily lives.  There is some quote about the wise man learning from the experience of others but most of us have to learn from our own mistakes.  It is easy to ignore mistakes when they don’t cost us anything.

That is why it is destructive to hand out charity the way the government does it. When you have the kind of safety nets that everyone wants they never learn from their mistakes.  You can ignore your spendthrift ways if someone else is paying the bills.  That is one reason why the children of the wealthy often end up losing what the parents have accumulated.

Be grateful for your pain.  Take advantage of your embarrassing moments.  Learn from your failures.  Gain from your losses.

Or get wise.  I have not had too much luck with that.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-166, Firsts: Easy Corn on the Cob

Summer is usually a time of learning new things.  The dignified reason is that I have more time to read and think.  The more realistic cause is that I spend more time with my children and am forced to grow or be left behind.

Some lessons are amazing in their simplicity.  One of the things we all learned this summer was a quick, easy way to fix and enjoy corn on the cob.  Maybe you have know it all your life and have kept the secret.  It was new to us.  My son found this one on You Tube.  It works.  You can go to You Tube and search for Microwave Corn on the Cob.  You come up with many hits.  Some are much longer than others.  I am not sure which one he watched, take your pick.  Here is one that seems to take even less time.  The only preparations are to buy the corn, have a microwave and pay your electric bill.

It goes like this.  When my son and I were fixing dinner we decided to have some corn on the cob.  We decided to have one ear apiece.  That worked since I only had two left.  I took the corn out of the refrigerator and, without removing the shucks, put them on a plate in the microwave.  I set the timer for eight minutes, punched the button and went about other preparations for dinner.  You time it at four minutes per ear.  For those who need calculators it works this way.  2 x 4 = 8.

When the beeper sounds you remove the ears.  Get a sharp knife and cut off the end that was attached to the corn stalk.  You will need to practice this part to find the right place to cut.  You will lose a few kernels of corn off the end but the convenience is worth it.  I feel for the place where the corn swells out to its fullest and cut there.  You then pick up the corn and start squeezing from the end with the silk sticking out.  If you cut in the right place the ear will slide out with no silks attached and you are ready to enjoy.  Watch the video.  See it done.  Try it.

It is awesome.  It works.

Enjoy.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-165, Sabbath Observations: Roots of the Weekend, Part 5, Keeping the Blessing

Do you enjoy having a day off?  Do you use it to cruise the mall?  Then you are contributing to losing the day of rest that God has prescribed.  Most kids starting out must take jobs at minimum wage and those jobs are often tied to a requirement to work weekends.  It forces young people to choose between working or going to church.  Is this the direction we want things to go?

I don’t think we need a return to the “blue laws” of the past.  This is not something that we need the government to get involved in.  All we would need to do to protect young believers from being pulled out of church on Sunday is to stop shopping on Sunday.  How many restaurants do their biggest business on Sunday because the church crowd wants to go out to eat?  If Christians would extend hospitality and eat at home then many of these restaurants would close up on Sunday because they could not make any money. 

This is not a new problem.  Saint Augustine preached about a similar issue back in the fourth century.  The issue was the negative contribution of the theaters to the culture.  Many felt like the theaters were destroying the moral fiber of society.  Does that sound familiar?  Listen to what Augustine had to say:

“Ah! indeed, if Christians went not to the theaters, there would be so few people there that they would go away for very shame.”

What is he saying?  If the people complaining would change their behavior they could change the culture.  He was talking to his congregation.  He is talking to us today.

So enjoy your weekend.  Thank God for it.  Live in such a way that you do not contribute to the destruction of the blessing He has given us.

Augustine.  “The Recovery of Sight by the Blind.”  The World’s Great Sermons, Volume 01
   /Basil to Calvin.  Gutenberg Project, Kindle Highlight Loc. 650-51.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-164, Sabbath Observations: Roots of the Weekend, Part 4, Don’t Thank the Teamsters

Our idea of a weekend and day off comes from the Sabbath.  It was not something instituted by organized labor and the progressive movement.  All they did was take the idea God gave and try to get credit for it.

Enjoy your weekend.  It is a gift from God. 

But beware of losing the blessing.  You may not have noticed but more and more businesses are staying open on Sunday.  When I was a kid you could not go shopping on Sunday.  I remember when Sears started staying open a half-day on Sunday.  It was a scandal to some and an opportunity to others.  Now most major stores are open on Sunday.  Most major food chains stay open on Sunday.  Some people think it is a civil right to be able to shop on Sunday.

One major fast food chain keeps locked up on Sunday:  Chick Fil A.  The owners make no bones about it.  They are Christians and they want their employees to be able to worship if they chose.  All of their stores are closed on Sunday.  They have run into legal problems over it.

If you are a business owner you need to think about this.  You may feel that you need to be open on Sunday.  Maybe, maybe not.  That is not for me to judge.  Do you really think that people need to be able to buy new shoes on Sunday?  Is ice cream seven days a week a proof of election?  Even more important, what about your health?  Are you making it a challenge for God to keep you healthy.  And what about your employees?

If you are an employee you need to think about this.  This is harder to deal with but not impossible.  Early in our marriage my wife needed to work.  She could not find anything in the area of her training so she worked as a waitress at a seven day restaurant.  People told her that she could not be a waitress and not work on Sundays.  She did work as a waitress and she did not work on Sundays.  She was not a brain-dead legalist about it.  One Sunday her manager called because he needed some extra help.  She told them to check around and if they really had an “ox in the ditch” she would come in.  He never called back. 

(James 4:2 KJV)  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

To be continued

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-163, On the Road: DEFCON

I will be attending a computer hacker conference for the next few days.  No, I am not a geek but I have one in the family.  It is an annual event with much to be learned from the non-technical sessions.

Anyone with common sense disables their WiFi during this event.  Those of us with low computer skills and high savvy, check it regularly to make sure it is not on.  If the geek in my life sets me up, I may try it but the most likely scenario is to schedule posts ahead and catch up when I get away from DEFCON.  That is my plan.  Wish me luck.

homo unius libri