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