Opus 2012-211, Headlines: Shooters and Shootees

Recently I had the news on briefly as I was driving to work.  Alistair Begg had finished his sermon and I was almost to my first stop so I had switched briefly to the radio.  The talk was on a “breaking story” about a shooting in New York City.  My initial reaction was, “How is this possible?  New York is a gun free zone.  It is illegal to have a gun.”  The anti-second amendment spin is always a part of what is going on in reporting the news.  The news reader did not mention the fact that people have been arrested in New York when their plane was re-routed through the airport and they had been, legally, transporting a firearm in their checked luggage.  Legal, that is, in every airport except New York.  They did not plan on landing in New York.  It did not matter.  The news reader did not tell you that the average citizen cannot legally own a handgun in the city. 

Another interesting spin was that when they reported the casualties they included the shooter as if he were just another victim.  This raises the numbers for people who don’t think about what they are hearing.

When I was leaving home I had the radio on for a few minutes and the dynamic duo hosts were commenting on recent shootings in Chicago.  You may have seen that headline also.  Gun Banning Chicago is on track to overtake Gun Banning Washington, D.C. as the murder capital of the country.  I don’t think any of the cities in Right to Carry Florida are high on the list.  Of course they did not mention that but they did comment that most of the killing seem to take place in just a few neighborhoods.  That wasn’t on the news section either.

Two reports on the news.  Two cases where banning guns is counter-productive.  But when it comes to limiting our liberty we know that facts and reality are sent to the closet. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-210, Headlines: The Scramble to Buy Votes

It continues.  According to an article I was reading both parties are trying to buy the votes of Iowa by passing out more of your money.  They bought the votes a few years ago with subsidies for ethanol production, now they want to subsidize windmills.  Both will produce energy but they consume more resources than they put out.  They are endless holes of deficit spending, buying votes at your expense.

When will this stop?  It is possible that someday solar and wind power may actually be viable sources of power.  If the government keeps trying to direct development it will take a lot longer than if they will get out of the way and let supply and demand do its thing.  The kind of innovation that will produce durable storage batteries, efficient solar panels and workable wind generators will not come because a congressional committee came up with some specs that are designed to keep another set of votes bought.  It will happen because some entrepreneur risked his money and beat his brain to come up with something that people will actually pay for.

Let’s get back to freedom instead of bribery.

November is coming.  Vote the (blood) suckers out.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-209, School Starts, The Babysitter Is In

For me and teachers on my district the grind has started.  The day we report for duty may be the worse day of the entire year.  Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t the kids.  We don’t see them until the third day.  The first day belongs to administration.  We start out with a district wide rally at one of the High Schools.  To let you begin to get the tone we were informed about this through snail mail, e-mails from multiple sources, and automated phone messages.  The first sentence uses the words “invited” and “please.”  The second sentence uses the word, “mandatory.”  One e-mail explained what “mandatory” means by telling us attendance is required.

We were informed that we would be starting sharply at 8:15.  They actually started at 8:23, thus setting an example that the students will follow the rest of the year.  We started with the drum corps from one of the high schools.  I am not a fan of drums but I can enjoy a bit of rhythm.  The crowd of teachers went wild.  People were standing up and gyrating in their seats.  They cheered and clapped.  To be honest, our middle school drum corps is just as good, if not better.  In fact, the “song” (what do you call what a drum corps plays?) was the same one that our kids play when they perform at an assembly.

Then we had the presenting of the colors.  It went well.  The ROTC students kept in step and had the flags in the right order.  We said the pledge of allegiance.  The national anthem was announced and the student performer was introduced.  Unfortunately no one had bothered to find out if she was with us.  After looking at each other for a few moments they announced she was a no-show.

Then we had the comments by the powerful.  Our school board president said some nice things about life in general.  I am sure she is in favor of puppies and solar power also.  The problem I had was when she started talking about the problems on the district and she said, “The problems have to do with money and nothing else.”  That is a direct quote.  I wrote it down.  Let’s see now, teen pregnancies, illiteracy, violence.  All of these are just because your tax rates are not high enough.  She then went on to shill for an initiative on the ballot.  I think that is illegal, but who can question a school board president.

Then we had some comments by our superintendent of schools.  This is the one who makes about $245,000.00 before benefits.  He also seemed in favor of puppies and solar power.  He was being pleasant and even humorous, then he got serious.  He commented on how the media was attacking education and all we heard was how bad public schools were.  Then he gave his snappy comeback, and I quote, “All the evidence we see tells us the opposite is true.”  Then he went on to say, “Public education is much healthier than people think it is.”  That would not be hard but I don’t think that was his point.

So now we go off to get started on the year.  We know that our problem is just money and that we are doing an awesome job.  If I may paraphrase a comedian I have heard quoted, “Who are you going to believe, them or your own lying eyes?”

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-208, Tax Dollars at Work: Real Homes for Real Trash

A few months ago I was driving through the library parking lot and noticed that they were taking away a few parking places for some kind of construction.  Since the state was in a severe budget crunch I was hoping that this would be something we desperately needed.

I will let you be the judge.

They were building a home for trash.  I use the word “home” on purpose.  This was not an enclosure or a bin, this was nice.  I am not sure I wouldn’t be able to live in it.  They started with decorative concrete block walls.  Not just cheap cinder block, these were the high grade, split concrete to simulate stone.  They added some nice steel doors to keep out the violent and psychopathic no doubt.  To top it off is a roof with Spanish tile.  Nice.

Times can’t be as bad as it seems.  Our local government has money to build houses for our trash. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-207, The Best Protection Against Heresy

Once again I was listening to Alistair Begg’s preaching.  School is starting and it will once again be a part of my morning routine.  He was commenting on why people should bring and use their Bibles.  I liked what he said because I have said the same thing many times.  Strange how that works, isn’t it?

He said the congregation needs to know and study their Bible so that they will know if he is preaching truth.  The congregation should be prepared to call the preacher to account for heresy or drifting off the plantation.  This is a sad reality.  So often if you look at the “liberal” churches it is not the people in the pew but the ones behind the pulpit that are pushing the churches toward hell fire.  It is important to know the word yourself.

This would also apply in our civil lives.  Know the Declaration of Independence.  Know the Constitution.  The elected and the appointed think they are the anointed.  They feel they are above our founding documents.  Hold their feet to the fire.

We believe that the Bible is eternal truth and is the measuring stick of all truth.  It is strange that we also believe that the Constitution holds truth and is not to be “interpreted” to mean what it does not say.  The two seem to go together because both require a belief in truth and acknowledge that there is good and bad.

We are on the side of good.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-206, Green Pieces: Levels of Environmentalists, Level 4, Gorites

Now we come to the people who believe that they should never let a crisis go to waste.  These are the ones who are from the government and are here to help you.  They know what is best for you even if you don’t want it.  For want of a better name lets call them the The Gorites.  These are the elites who want to tell you how to live, even if they do not want to live that way.

These are the environmentalist whacks.  They preach concern for the environment but are only really concerned about gaining power and taking away your liberty.  They tend to be rich and are able to buy carbon credits.  Do you really think that Al Gore or George Soros turn down their thermostats in the winter or up in the summer?  Really?  I bet you believe that the oceans has stopped rising since Obama was elected. 

One of the key doctrines of the Elite class is that rules are for other people.  You may not be aware of it but congress usually exempts themselves from the laws they pass limiting your freedom.

These are the people who have taken away your cheap, clean lightbulbs.  They have given you toilets that don’t flush well and showers that dribble.  They have changed the formula in the detergent that you use in your dishwasher.  They want to put smart meters on you home so they can control the amount of energy you use.  They stop the construction of nuclear power plants and tax you to subsidize wind turbines.  In the People’s Republik of Kalifornia they refuse to allow new refineries to be built.  How much do I need to add before your anesthesia wears off and you begin to feel the pain, to realize what life used to be like?

Pick you label.  Know where people stand.  Remind people of the danger of too much government.  In the central valley they used to have signs that said, “Food grows where water flows.”  We need one engraved on each voting booth that says, “Control grows where Federal money flows.”

November is coming.  Don’t vote for subsidies.  Vote for liberty.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-205, Green Pieces: Levels of Environmentalists, Level 3, The Naturals

I wanted to use the label “The Unwashed Naive” to go along with “The Unwashed Masses,” but I decided that would not be kind.  There are some people who are really into back-to-nature.  Often they don’t believe in deodorants or frequent bathing.  They aren’t dirty, just natural.  Part of their mantra is nature and living as close to nature as possible. 

These people are not violent or nasty.  Often they live as far away from the rest of us as possible.  They practice what they preach but don’t feel like they have the right to cram it down everyone’s throats.

I call them naive because the life they want to live is impossible without killing off the vast majority of humanity and would be violent and short for them if they did not have the resources of the society they reject. 

Take for instance organic food.  I laugh because it is hard to imagine inorganic vegetables.  Understand that this is a technical term, not a simple adjective.  It means food that has been raised and harvested without chemicals or artificial aids.  This is not a real problem in our culture if you have the money to pay for the special treatment, or shall we say, lack of special treatment.  There are some areas in which they have genuine insights and concerns because we don’t know what will happen in the long run as a result of chemicals and genetically modified hybrids.

As long as they are a small part of the population we can thrive with their input.  The problem would be if everyone had to live that way.  Unfortunately it is fertilizers and pesticides that make it possible to raise the large amounts of food that the population needs.  If everyone had to go back to the old days we would all need to move back to the farm and spend most of our day with a hoe in our hands.  The alternative would be to starve to death.

I was reading a blog of a family that had gone off grid.  That means that they are not dependent on society for anything.  They have no water bill because they have a well.  If they have electricity they generate it themselves.  They grow their own food, and so forth.  The interesting part was when they said they did not have cable but watched videos on the DVD in their lap top.  Last time I checked, lap tops were a product of our industrial culture.  In a sense they were still on the grid or the residual wealth of the grid.

It sounds wonderful.  It sounds romantic.  It sounds impossible.  We can’t all go back to nature.

To be continued...

homo unius libri