ON THE BRINK

How foolish can we all be?

A father involved in a custody suit throws his 3-year old son off the top of a`50-story high rise, and then jumps off himself.  Four thugs stole a young man's car in a NJ mall, and killed him for no reason.  These`are not isolated cases.  THEY HAPPEN EVERY DAY, EVERYWHERE.

Politics has taken over our newspapers and radio and tv news stations.  You would think that everything will be just rosy if we get Obamacaare and NSA surveillance problems resolved.  Thems the only two problems we have.

But 'taint so.  We are living in stressed-out times that affect all of us.  We have more and are enjoying it less.  Racial hatreds seem at an all time high.  Gangs are more commonly to be seen on city streets.  Violence between people, between nations, is every day headlines. Nuclear war rhetoric is common.  Lying at the highest levels of government is prevalent.

We have lost our moral bearing, and our heads are in the sand.  I do not know if civilization itself is threatened, but it may be.

We need a renaissance. or we will all pay...some how, some way.

And we need it quickly.

THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE

There are a thousand glib sayings about time...about how time is the master of our lives, about how not to kill time or it will kill you, etc., etc.  But there is one that to me says it all. It was said by Israel Gevant, the greatest, in my mind, unknown philosopher:

      "The best time to do something you want to do is when you are alive."

In the misbegotten name of progress, we humans, we of the super-animal intelligence, have enslaved ourselves to Time.  We are a clock-driven species.  We waken by the clock, we sleep by the clock, we work and eat and play by the clock.  We have come to generally agree that now is not the right time to do this, you must wait for the right time, the best time, the only time.

When we bought into the Industrial Revolution for the benefits it promised, we paid for them with the currency they were not worth:  our time.   Don't want to work today?  But you must or you will lose your job...that is, your freedom to choose how to spend the time of your life.  And without the job, what have you?  Our ancient forebears were smart.  They had no jobs, other than to go out and do their hunting/gathering thing when they wanted to, with whom they wanted to, where they wanted to, for as long as they wanted to.  The common denominator:  wanted to.  How many people want to go to work?  I have often wondered why primitive tribes dance and chant a lot, and seem happy with so little.  Error.  They have a lot...of time to do what they want to do.

Unshackle your life from the bondage of time...and begin to enjoy the time of your life.

THE SHAME OF GETTYSBURG

RAPTURE: ARISTOTLE

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL

IN ALL THINGS OF NATURE, THERE IS SOMETHING OF THE MARVELOUS 

HIGH CRIME

So, the deputy consul general of the Indian delegation to the U.N was arrested the other day, strip-searched and held in a cell with drug addicts. She has claimed diplomatic immunity; the U.S. says immunity does not apply to non-diplomatic functions.  Her alleged crime: filing a visa form saying she was paying her Indian housekeeper in New York the minimum wage when, in fact, she was paying her less $3/hr.  India is irate about the way she was treated, and has revoked certain privileges accorded U.S. diplomats in India.  The U.S. says she was treated no differently than any other accused.  The potential sentence if she is found guilty: 15 years in prison.

1.  Get the U.N. out of the U.S. and the U.S. out of the U.N.  It is a useless organization and it subjects America to international laws we ought not be subject to.

2.  Diplomatic immunity is unconscionable.  Foreign diplomats have literally gotten away with murder under its irrational protection.  The only reason we accord it to foreign diplomats here is to get the same protection for our diplomats in foreign countries.  Stupidity to match stupidity.  If our diplomats would not otherwise be treated fairly and with justice, we shouldn't send them there.  And if a foreign national commits a crime here, he ought be prosecuted and punished as any American would be.

3.  We ought have no minimum wage.  It is a clear violation of freedom.  An adult ought be free to work for whatever wage he or she wishes...and is an unconstitutional intrusion of the government in the economy.

4.  Strip searches may be appropriate for those accused of crimes involving the use of force, but not for the nonviolent crime alleged here.

5.  Fifteen years for "underpaying" the minimum wage.  Must be a damn serious offense that threatens the very survival of our country!

The whole thing is a pile of horseradish...or something.

RESPECT 101

So, the high school senior walked up behind his teacher and hugged her for a moment. It appears from the video that another faculty member was in the room.  The teacher says he had done that before and she had warned him that he  would be punished if he did it again.  The student denies the prior incident.  The school suspended the student and postponed his graduation for a year.

A lurking error in the story.  If, in fact, there had been a`prior incident, the teacher should have reported it to the school, and the school should have set up a meeting with the student's parents.  The object being to teach the student respect for other people's lives, and the consequences of inappropriate behavior.  That ought be a part of the school's curriculum, ought it not?  Learning why each of us is entitled to peaceful co-existence is a critical prelude to civilization.  If the student then repeats the offense, punishment is warranted.  A one year suspension seems a bit excessive, but punishment is not calculable by a mathematical formula.

When two young men at a mall in New Jersey yesterday wantonly shot a young man in the head and killed him for no apparent reason, it is clear that they too had not learned respect for other people's lives.  The Pythagorean theorem alone doesn't teach it.

RAPTURE: ELIZE and AMIRA

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS IN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: THE HIMALAYAS

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS IN OUR SOUL

THE SIX QUESTIONS

Where was the guard at that Colorado High School?

Is there a guard today at that school?

Is there a guard at every school in the country?

Has the principal of that school been fired?

Are you going to send your child to an unguarded school?

Who made that shotgun available to the shooter?

A PALTRY 3 BILLION

Every .................  (second, minute, hour, day), the federal government spends $35,000 more than it takes in.

second

Sounds like a lot but its only 3 billion a day, what's the fuss about?

RAPTURE: HEART TRANSPLANT

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: ADLER & PERLMAN

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL

SOMETHINGPERSONAL

"Happy Birthday, honey
You've been so on my mind
You are`so special to me
You are one of a kind"


Are you as tired as I am of receiving...and sending... canned greeting cards with messages written by strangers on the inside...cards that, let's face it, have little personal meaning to the recipient, and are quickly discarded or thrown into a dusty old box never to be looked at again?  Americans buy 6,000,000,000 of those cards each year...making it hard to believe you are really one of a kind.


Well, now, SomethingPersonal, created and managed by my daughter, Kira, has done something about this.  They will interview friends and family of the person you wish the happy birthday, holiday, anniversary, congratulatory, greeting to be sent to, and include meaningful anecdotes and quotes (both serious and humorous) about that person in a beautiful 8.5" x 11" article that can be framed.  Photos may be included.

Now, a greeting that "hits home" and will be looked at again and again and treasured for years.

A STRESS RELIEVER

We are told that we humans are an unhappy lot, unhappier than those who came before us, that we live under great psychological stress, that so many of us need antidepressants to function when awake and sleeping pills to help us sleep.  I have my own view as to one mistake we make that may be a major contributor to this woeful state of affairs.

I am forever deluged with stories about how someone is upset by how a` friend or someone in their family acted.  "After all I have done for her, can you believe my sister did this and that...and it really ticks me off."  "Why in hell's name, does my son want to be a this when he could make a lot more money being a that?  He drives me crazy."  On and on, endlessly.

And therein is the error.  We tend to base our psychological state of health ON WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING rather than solely and completely ON WHAT WE DO.  Our quest for happiness is ensnared in  the unapproved behavior of others.  And because we cannot flip a switch and change what others choose to do, we feel victimized, cursed, and powerless to have things our way, the way "things ought to be."  .  Result?  S-T-R-E-S-S.

It is not within our province to decide how others behave.  There is no way things ought to be.  There is only the way things ARE.  We may like or not like what others do...but we have no right to demand anything.  We live our lives, and others live theirs.  

It is one of the glorious aspects of human life that we each have the free will to create our own individual identity.  And we pay heavily when we do not recognize`and honor that natural fact of life.

WHO ARE THE SAVAGES?

In my prior post, I referred you to two sites that spoke`about the Sentinelese, somewhere between 50 and 259 natives who live on North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal.  They are thought by many to be members of the oldest known living tribe on Earth, which has lived there for over 60,000 years.  And they seem to live now as they did then.

Except for a beach, the island, about the size of Manhattan in New York, is totally covered by jungle trees, making it invisible to the outside world...so that what we "know" about the Sentinelese is based, to some extent, on conjecture.  The Sentinelese  fend off  with spears, and kill anyone trying to come ashore ...and submerged reefs surrounding the island make it virtually impossible for large boats to reach the beach.  They seek no outside contact.  India, which has jurisdiction over the island, has imposed a law which prohibits any ship from coming within 3 miles of the island.  I applaud India for respecting their  "leave us alone" wishes.

The Sentinelese apparently have not discovered how to make fire, have not invented electricity.  In fact, they have not invented oars and propel their wooden rafts by pushing long poles against the ocean floor.  Thus they can go no further out than to where the depth of the ocean does not exceed the length of their poles.

In a couple of other sites on the Internet, the Sentinelese were referred to as "savages".

Sentinelese couples enjoy hugging and cuddling on the beach for long stretches of time at the same time...something we might do well to do.

They have survived for tens of thousands of years without, in all likelihood, monetary currency,  man-made medications, health-disability-unemployment insurance, food stamps, income taxes and a thousand other of our "necessities"...something we ought think about.

When the British somehow managed to kidnap a few of them years ago, they found that the immune systems of the Sentinelese have no defense against a host of modern diseases rampant in the "civilized" world, which suggests that those diseases are not present on the island...something we might wonder about.

Yes, perhaps the Sentinelese are less curious than we are, less imaginative/inventive than we are, less driven than we are, less knowledgeable than we are.  I would love to know what kind of family life they have, whether they believe in one or more Gods, what, if any, is their educational system, and do they have a government, and if so, of what type.

They do not kill their own (like the 160 million we killed in 20th century wars, or the 500,000 we murder each year, or the billion plus abortions we have performed in the past 30 years).

And they appear to be so much freer than we are.  They do not seem to find happiness so elusive.

So we might ask ourselves this question:  Who are the savages?

RAPTURE: THE FORBIDDEN ISLAND

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL http://www.neatorama.com/2013/07/08/The-Forbidden-Island/#!oSvZN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaPYwlXOTzQ

RAPTURE: SAVION GLOVER

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: NUREYEV

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL

I HEARD

I heard...

that a major nationwide retailer is going to start Black Friday next year the day after Memorial Day

that some "low information politicians" think our electoral system puts too much power in the hands of  "low information voters"

that an NBA star making $250,000 per game (that's over $5,000 per minute played, $125 per second, and more than what a typical fan will earn in 5 years) is looking for a raise, to be paid for by higher ticket prices

that a world-renowned cruise ship company will offer a 4-day cruise in 2014 that never leaves port...it is designed for those who get seasick on traditional cruises but who now feel "left behind"

that the government, in an environmental plan to save our trees, will be opening Coupoff stores, in which it will sell packages of discount coupons for all sorts of products sold at all sorts of stores...the government, after 3-years' study, has concluded that its new stores will substantially reduce the number of trees that need to be cut down to print those massive weekend newspapers (that are never read) which now contain so many coupons...even though the newspapers have said they will have a special section offering discount coupons to Coupoff stores

that a tech startup company has developed a NapAp...it is a pillow containing a transvibrational coagulator that gives you a choice of 3,000 dreams you are guaranteed to have if you rest your head on the pillow while sleeping (in a recent survey, sexual dreams were ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the type of dreams most appers opted for)

that the reason people rarely change their mind on an important issue, no matter the persuasive power of the arguments they hear, is that they do not have a mind to change

Good days are acomin'.

OF CHIMPS AND CHAMPS AND CHUMPS

Some years ago, a chimp was born that looked somewhat different than the other chimps...and because of that difference and the somewhat different way he acted, he was often excluded from the fun and frolicking activities of his peers.

To that  single historical circumstance, many senior students of human behavior attribute our pervasive and seemingly insatiable desire to belong.   Whether it be to a race, a religion, a family, a country, or a country club, we seem to need to be accepted, to be "one of the guys" if we are to remain mentally healthy.  Our self-confidence, it seems,  substantially relates to the frequency of our success in being "on the in", and is significantly diminished by the frequency of our being on the outside looking in. The implication is clear:  you, your life, alone does not measure up, does not mean much.

And to be successful, many freely pay the highest price:  their soul.  The group becomes king, personal thoughts become prisoners within the confines of one's mind, and individualism metamorphs into groupism.  "And God created man" becomes "And God created herds".

Throughout history, untold savagery and human degradation have been perpetrated by groups and their belongees, who still do not understand that there are, for good reason, four "I's" in "individualism" and none in "group".

And the chimps continue laughing.  Can you hear?

PLAYING GOD

I can understand why it is difficult for Democrats to be religious.

God gave man a unique brain capable of thinking, and He gave him free will, but Democrats don't think the apparatus God built in man was of a high quality. Which is why they think they, the few blessed with superior mental equipment, not only have the right but the sacred duty to tell the rest of us how to live our lives. I suppose, too, that the reason they don't go to God to fix the inferior equipment he made is that they think the warranty has expired.


Also, Dems don't like the uterus/conception/ pregnancy thing God conceived, and push ardently to give women the right to override His obvious plan that had women as the 9-month caretakers of God's new children and become their destroyers instead. And when they do put their hand on God's book and say "So help me God", they do not consider it an oath to tell the truth, but rather a simple request to the Almighty for assistance...like, "So, help me God, won't you, its so hard for me not to lie". The fact that they repeatedly succumb to lies and deception proves to them that God is impotent, or no longer cares. Which is why it is difficult, as I said earlier, for Democrats to be religious.

One further thing.  They support Obamacare, and Obamacare has a death panel to decide who is and is not eligible for medical care...and who must die because they are too old, too young, to sick.  Now if they don't see that that is too much playing God, they had better pray there is no God.

RAPTURE: MARY DID YOU KNOW

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: KOL NIDRE

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: MEDITATION

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: CHAVALA

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: ICE GLACIER

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

ANYTHING GOES

My wife told me yesterday that our computer was running slow, and as a long-time-ago seminary student, though now atheist, I blithely said "Maybe God wants us to slow down."  She responded by saying that the local library computer was also running slow, and I conjectured "Maybe He wants us all to slow down."

Years and years ago, the voice of God, real or imagined, played an important role in human affairs.  It set a minimum desired, ethical, humane standard for human behavior.  A very needed standard.

But God's voice seems much quieter to me now.  Almost silent.  A CNN article flashed on the Internet around the world yesterday, sought to relieve President Obama of any shame for his now-admitted Obamacare lies by professing that "all Presidents lie," "duplicity is part of ... greatness."

So, lying is great.  After all, Clinton's lies about what was going on in the Oval Office did help to to unshackle liars  from the unwarranted disgrace we previously assigned to those who defaulted on their vows.  A convicted rapist was recently sentenced to but 30 days in prison, and another to no time in prison, casting  what used to be a heinous crime into more favorable light.  Police more and more promote the "shoot first and ask questions later" social ideal.  Etcetera.

80 some years ago, Cole Porter wrote:

"In olden days a glimpse of stocking
Was looked on as something shocking,
But now, God knows,
Anything Goes.

Good authors too who once knew better words,
Now only use four letter words
Writing prose, Anything Goes.

The world has gone mad today
And good's bad today,
And black's white today,
And day's night today..."

Porter should see it now.

One lifesaver for me.  My daughter, Kira, has been spearheading an honesty experiment highlighting the value and virtue and beauty of honesty.  It is very much worth reading her posts on the subject.  I am talking to you, CNN.  Do you have it in you to give her equal time?

Just Google, "Kira Newman The Honesty Experiment."

Or would that not be a great thing to do?

RAPTURE: MARK TWAIN

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: JOHN CURRY

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL


<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VOctJETUIzE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

BE PRACTICAL

"Stick 'em up.  Give me all your money!"

"I'll give you half."

"OK, you are being practical."

"Stick 'em up.  Give me all your money!"

"But I already gave you half."

"Be practical."

"OK, I guess you're right.  Here's half of what I have left."

"Stick 'em up."


That is politics today.  Think there is something wrong going on?

Be practical.

RAPTURE: MAKING THE VIOLIN

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

BUTTONHEADS

We`are fascinated as a society with buttons.

We "button up" when it's cold, and we tell others to "button up" when we want them to shut up. We know we had better "button down" if we want to get that job done. We think our little child is "cute as a button" and he/she is "as bright as a button". And occasionally, we have been known to "hit the panic button".

But those are not the button uses I want to address today. I want to talk about the ones that equate our lives with elevators. You know. If you want to get in someone's favor, or get that job and get ahead, , you had better "push the right buttons". Can't get in my favor or to the right floor if you "push the wrong buttons", you know. That suggests that there is only one way to get to where we want to get to, that we are no more creative, no more thoughtful, no more daring, than the monotonized, routinized, predictable elevator that simply goes up and down all day, and occasionally stalls.

But that analogy is false. There are a thousand ways to get to where you want to get to. You can get to the 18th floor by hitting the button marked "18". Or, you can hit the "16" button and then walk up two flights. Might actually be healthier for you. Might also meet someone on the staircase you wouldn't have met otherwise, someone who could change your life. Or you can hit the "23" button and enjoy sliding down five bannisters. You get the idea.

Buildings traditionally did not wish to have a 13th floor. Bad luck, it was thought. So there was no "13" button in the elevator. But of course a building with more than 12 floors did have a 13th floor, it was just labelled "14". And that should have warned us that the whole button scenario was screwed up, and that sometimes the wrong buttons may be the right ones.

Now, I would like to  think that my life is something more than elevator.  So please don't try to push my buttons, or I'll zip(per) you up.

RAPTURE: DECLAN GALBRAITH

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: ROGERS & ASTAIRE

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: HOLY TEMPLE

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL

&lt;iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yRNRywY9G58" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/&gt;</div>

RAPTURE: SOLITUDE

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: INVICTUS

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY AROUND US EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL INVICTUS....WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

THE SHAME OF GETTYSBURG

Yesterday was the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. We remember that speech in noble terms, but we do not remember Gettysburg in the horrific terms it deserves. First, the Civil War was not fought principally on the issue of slavery. It was begun and fought on the issue of states' rights...Southern states not wishing to bear the brunt of a growing federal bureaucracy (sound familiar?)that favored the industrialized Northern states. The slavery issue may have been brought in to rally the North to stand firm against the eleven secessionist Southern states. Second, I have neither read nor heard any convincing argument why, in a nation founded on the principle of freedom, a state, by appropriate and lawful vote by its citizenry/elected representatives, were not free to secede from a Union it had voluntarily and freely chosen to join. To deny that right, in my view, is unconstitutional. That issue is being awoken again as a State or two has indicated a desire to secede from the United States, and portions of a State are voicing a desire to secede from a State. The military fatalities at Gettysburg, 51,000, were the greatest of any battle the U.S. has ever fought. Civil War military fatalities were 10 times greater than those in Vietnam, 50% greater than those in World War II, 15 times greater than those in Korea, and 100 times greater than those in Iraq/Afghanistan. The Civil War was a brutal war that saw Americans slaughtering Americans with whom they had, just a moment before, shared a dream. Lincoln hoped that a nation of, by and for the people would not perish from the Earth. Nor should 51,000 of its people have had to perish.

RAPTURE: TROPICAL FOREST

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY AROUND US EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: WAIKIKI BEACH

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY AROUND US EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: HELEN KELLER

Helen Keller: All doers are optimists

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Kira M. Newman

“The desire and will to work is optimism itself,” writes Helen Keller in Optimism: An Essay (1903). “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.”

In our world where the gray, 9-5 cubicle represents the antithesis of hope – the promise of dreary, monotonous, dull days to come – we seem to have lost the connection between optimism and work that Keller speaks of. So what was she talking about?

The desire and motivation to work, she says, are fueled by the fundamental belief that you can have an impact; that your efforts mean something and can change the world for the better. You can take fragments of ideas or materials and turn them into something orderly, meaningful.

“The optimist believes, attempts, achieves. He stands always in the sunlight,” she writes. “Some day the wonderful, the inexpressible, arrives and shines upon him, and he is there to welcome it. His soul meets his own and beats a glad march to every new discovery, every fresh victory over difficulties, every addition to human knowledge and happiness.”

Read more.   http://kiramnewman.com/2013/11/19/helen-keller-optimism/

RAPTURE: EVEREST

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL Mt. Everest in the Himalayas is the highest point on Earth(29,029'). It was first ascended by Tenzing Norqay and Edmund Hillary in 1953.

RAPTURE: DANZON2

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZPNS WITHIN OUR SOUL

EXPANDING THE COSMOS WITHIN 5 THE ALPS

I have a vision of my brain as a duplicate of the Universe, my inner cosmos rushing ever outward toward expanding horizons. I equate the expanding "universe" within my brain with an expanding vision of the beauties of life. I have seen an infant's rapture as his or her internal universe expands from moment to moment. From time to time, I will post something that fuels my expanding cosmos...and perhaps it will yours. **************************************************************************************************************

EXPANDING THE COSMOS WITHIN 3 PARIS

I have a vision of my brain as a duplicate of the Universe, my inner cosmos rushing ever outward toward  expanding horizons.  I equate the expanding "universe" within my brain with an expanding vision of the beauties of life.  I have seen an infant's rapture as his or her internal universe expands from moment to moment.

From time to time, I will post something that fuels my expanding cosmos...and perhaps it will yours.

 ***********************************************************************************

HEAVEN KNOWS, ANYTHING GOES

There are many reasons, I am sure, for the wave of violence we are witnessing in the country.  But one reason that I never hear mentioned, is the low level behavior of public officials.

The Toronto mayor's vulgarity, well publicized in this country, may not of itself qualify his removal from office.  But the major harm he caused may not come from what he did, but from what he didn't do.  He did not show a basic respect for other lives, a respect that is the cornerstone of civilization.   And the message his behavior sends to the impressionable is loud and clear:  "If he can act that way and be  successful, then so can I".

The same for the flood of lies we have heard from our President...a continuing blaring message emanating from Washington and resonating around the country:  "Anything, just about, goes if it'll get me what I want".  Many, armed with deadly weapons, drop the "just about".

In the scope of things, I don't know of anything greater a political leader can do than to lead the way to a more benevolent, honorable and dignified society.

RAPTURE: SHAKESPEARE

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN MY SOUL "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
 I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate

Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends posses'd

Desiring this man's art and that man's scope
With what I most enjoy contented least;

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising
Haply I think on thee, and then my state
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;

For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings,
That then I scorn to change my state with kings"

Shakespeare

EXPANDING THE COSMOS WITHIN 1 I LOVE YOU

I have a vision of my brain as a duplicate of the Universe, rushing ever outward toward  expanding horizons.  I equate the expanding "universe" within my brain with expanding awareness, knowledge and wisdom of life.   It is so beautiful to see. I have seen an infant's excitement...nay, rapture...as his or her internal universe expands from moment to moment.  I wonder whether boredom and apathy and negativity have their roots in internal "universes" that have ceased expanding. Each week, I will post something that fuels my expanding cosmos...and may fuel yours. ***************************************************************************** Saying "I love you" in...

Afrikaans - Ek het jou lief Arabic - Ana behibak (to male) Armenian - Yes kez sirumem Belarusian - Ya tabe kahayu Bulgarian - Obicham te Cambodian - Soro lahn nhee ah Cherokee - Tsi ge yu i Cheyenne - Ne mohotatse Chinese - Cantonese - Ngo oiy ney a   Mandarin - Wo ai ni Comanche - U kamakutu nu Creol - Mi aime jou Croatian - Volim te Czech - Miluji te Danish - Jeg Elsker Dig Dutch - Ik hou van jou Esperanto - Mi amas vin Estonian - Ma armastan sind Ethiopian - Afgreki' Filipino - Mahal kita Finnish - Mina rakastan sinua French - Je t'aime, Je t'adore Gaelic - Ta gra agam ort Georgian - Mikvarhar German - Ich liebe dich Greek - S'agapo Hawaiian - Aloha Au Ia`oe Hebrew - ani ohev otach"  Hindi - Hum Tumhe Pyar Karte hae Hungarian - Szeretlek Icelandic - Eg elska tig Indonesian - Saya cinta padamu Inuit - Negligevapse Irish - Taim i' ngra leat Italian - Ti amo Japanese - Aishiteru  Korean - Sarang Heyo  Latin - Te amo Latvian - Es tevi miilu Lebanese - Bahibak Lithuanian - Tave myliu Luxembourgeois - Ech hun dech gaer Macedonian - Te Sakam Malay - Saya cintakan mu / Aku cinta padamu Maltese - Inhobbok Moroccan - Ana moajaba bik Norwegian - Jeg elsker deg- Persian - Doo-set daaram Pig Latin - Iay ovlay ouyay Polish - Kocham Ciebie Portuguese - Eu te amo Romanian - Te iubesc Russian - Ya tebya liubliu Scot Gaelic - Tha gra\dh agam ort Serbian - Volim te Sign Language - ,\,,/ (represents position of fingers when signing 'I Love You') Sioux - Techihhila Slovak - Lu`bim ta Spanish - Te quiero / Te amo Swahili - Ninapenda wewe Swedish - Jag alskar dig Swiss-German - Ich lieb Di Surinam - Mi lobi joe Taiwanese - Wa ga ei li Tahitian - Ua Here Vau Ia Oe Thai -  Phom rak khun Tunisian - Ha eh bak Turkish - Seni Seviyorum Ukrainian - Ya tebe kahayu Urdu - mai aap say pyaar karta hoo Vietnamese -  Em ye^u anh Welsh - 'Rwy'n dy garu di    Yiddish - Ikh hob dikh Zulu - Mena tanda wena or Ngiyakuthanda    ***************************************

POSITIVELY POWERFUL

The human brain is unquestionably a most glorious and phenomenal instrument.  But it has a significant limitation:  it pretty much cannot do more than one thing at a time.  At least, do them well.

The reason I mention that is because I have heard a fair amount of talk lately about the internal battles many have trying to maintain a positive, rather than negative, perspective on life.  Some of the difficulty may stem from, of all things, the American dream of achievement and success.  Particularly in today's high speed pace of life.  Looking ahead, wanting what we do not as yet have, can propel us to set goals and take action to achieve them.  And that is a good thing.  But it can be difficult at times, because of our general inability to walk and chew gum at the same time, to simultaneously focus on both the future and the present at the same time.  To both plan the future and treasure the present.  To see wanting and having as bosom buddies.

But they are.  Having speaks of achievement, of capability, of self-esteem, of successful prior planning...and can serve as a positive propellant to wanting, future planning and future achievement.

But if having is to have those effects, it must be listened to.  And that takes time...not a lot of time, but a bit of time.  And remember the walking/chewing gum admonition.  So, when you are about to set out to do anything, allow yourself a moment or two to meditate your mind on where you are, the beauty and pleasure of some one thing you have in your life.   And always include the time to feel the moment on your list of things you want to have.   The most positive human being I have ever seen is a newborn infant lying in a crib sucking on a bottle.   
  
 Slowing down has its rewards. I think it is the most powerful progenitor of positivity.  It is for me.

BUBBLE BUBBLE HERE COMES TROUBLE

So here we go again.

The cauldron that is the Mid-East is bubbling with threats and warnings, ancient hatreds and prejudices, pent-up emotions, blurred facts and fiction, melting together heading toward a nuclear firestorm ready to explode.

At the center of the cauldron: Iran, now within months of nuclear weaponry...and Israel, which Iran has sworn to eradicate from the face of the Earth.
 
And who is to quiet the cauldron?  Why, who better?  Cold war enemy Russia...historically anti-Semitic Germany...equivocally unprincipled France...anti-freedom loving China...helpless England...and the inept in-the-process-of-being-transformed lying United States.

Oh what fools we mortals be
When first we practice to deceive

Happy Veterans Day veterans...better get your uniforms cleaned and ready to go.

SITTING AROUND

We sit on our buttocks for hours and hours each living day...when watching tv, when using our IPhones and computers, when eating a meal, when riding in a car or bus or train on the way to and from a job at which we sit at a desk, when viewing a live sporting event at some stadium or arena, when entertaining guests at home, when attending classes in school, when in a church praying, when testifying in court, when meditating, etc., etc., etc.  We do this despite the fact that those who sit 8 or more hours a day are 15% more likely to die  earlier than those who sit 4 or fewer hours per day.

There must be more to life than sitting wondering if there is more to life...don't you think?

ELECTING DICTATORS

I wrote in a prior post that the US was a dictatorship and some may wonder "but our president and members of Congress are elected by us".  True, they are...as have so many other renowned dictators in history.  Hitler was elected, Stalin was elected, Rhee was elected, Mao was elected, Mussolini was elected, Castro was elected.

How do dictators get elected?


    *  they don't tell you they're dictators (they call themselves socialists, statists, progressives, reformers)

    *  you have no election choice (they are the only ones running)

    *  your election choices are this dictator or that dictator (and your choice is voting for the "better" dictator

    *  they demand your vote under threat of your banishment or death (ever hear of Siberia, the gulags?)

    *  THEY BRIBE YOU (know anyone who did/does/will continue to do that as long as you let him?)

    *  they count on your passivity, intellectually and otherwise.

That's how.

ONLY YOU AND YOU AND YOU

President Obama and his team denounce the outcry over the mess that is Obamacare on the grounds the number of people that are covered by their own personal non-employer, non-government health policies and who may lose those policies and have to pay significantly higher premiums for policies with higher deductibles is "only 5%" of the population.

Do you know that 5% of the population is more than the total combined population of everyone living in:

PHILADELPHIA   
PHOENIX   
SAN ANTONIO   
DALLAS   
INDIANAPOLIS   
SAN FRANCISCO   
DETROIT   
MEMPHIS   
BOSTON   
SEATTLE   
DENVER   
NASHVILLE
BALTIMORE   
LOUISVILLE   
PORTLAND   
OKLAHOMA CITY   
MILWAUKEE   
SACRAMENTO   
KANSAS CITY   
SALT LAKE CITY

Oh, is that all it is?

Foolish me to think that 5% is a large enough number to warrant our concern...and that "only 5%" doesn't do them justice.

I guess it's just another Hillary moment:  "So what difference does it really make?"

WE DECIDE

A dictatorship is a dictatorship.

Germany under Hitler was a dictatorship, the Politburo under Stalin was a dictatorship. the US Government under Obama is a dictatorship.  The US Constitution was adopted as an anti-dictatorship document.  Obama and the Congress ignore it.

Ray, are you equating the US Government with concentration camps?

Well, let's see.  Obamacare sets up a panel to decide whether you are eligible for certain medications and medical procedures.  It has indicated that the elderly may be denied life-saving procedures because they are too expensive and "the elderly don't have long to live, anyway".  That is a death panel, a concentration camp mentality.  
 
The Obamacare panel has indicated that the newly-born suffering from life-threatening or disabling conditions may be denied available procedures because they are too expensive and "those newly born, even if they make it, will not live a quality life".  That is a death panel, a concentration camp mentality.

Millions of people of all ages have had their health insurance policies cancelled, or cannot afford the higher Obamacare premiums, or have had no choice but to buy policies with large deductibles.  They will not get the care they need and will die earlier.  That is a concentration camp mentality.

To whom else will that mentality be extended?

I don't now.  Do you?

The German death camps were evil not because millions (estimated at over 10 million) were killed there, but because one person was killed there.  And they were evil millions of times.

The answer to that question above is "Yes", because the philosophy underlying Obamacare and the concentration camps is the same."We decide if you live".

NEW GAME IN TOWN

Tuesday's election results seem to suggest the following:

1.  Records don't matter as much as they used to.  New Jersey has high unemployment, possibly the highest taxes in the country, is traditionally a Blue state, and Christie won easily.

2.  Those who are anti-Dems are splintered between the Repubs, Conservatives and Tea Partyers, making it an uphill fight for them absent a super-popular candidate.

3.  Political principles are not particularly important.  Bill de Blasio is an outright statist, opponent of individual rights/freedom, ran on a platform of increased taxes on the higher income earners and fewer police powers, likely to result in a substantially increased crime rate, and he won very big in the race for New York mayor.

4.  Money doesn't talk anymore in political campaigns.  It SCREAMS!  (Look at Virginia.)

What seems clear is that the  Dems and the Repubs have, from a very significant perspective, switched sides.  The Dems were always seen as the "liberal" party, easy going in terms of regulating, limiting, the people.  Their views on abortion, gay marriage, legalization of marijuana, etc., all supported the permissive society the Dems favored.  The Repubs were seen as the more controlling party, supporting traditional values and religious beliefs, social protocols, tougher punishments for crimes, etc.

Today, the Dems want a more dominating government that will control more and more aspects of our lives, restricting our liberties in the interest of doing away with the rewards of personal effort and success, and imposing a greater equality of life through massive entitlement and giveaway programs.  The Repubs, and in particular the Conservatives and Teapartyers, are the ones calling for smaller, less controlling government (which is society's middle name), and greater recognition and protection of Constitutional rights and freedoms.  To be sure, the ideological transformation is not complete, so that both parties hold contradictory and conflicting principles.

It's a new game.

JUDICIALINSANITY

You've heard it, haven't you...or more accurately, you haven't heard it, have you...that speed talk at the end of some commercial, words spoken at 100 miles an hour, intended to relieve the company behind the commercial of some liability with regard to the product or service it is selling.

In the one I heard today, I could barely discern a few words, something to the effect of  "the purchaser of this product shall have no claim based on anything said in this commercial."  How twisted.  What you can't really hear (the speed talk) has meaning, and what you can hear (the commercial) has no meaning.

Ifthatspeedtalkhasanyefficacyinacourtoflawthenthejudicialsystemisinshamblesandidiocyhaswon

Get that?

THE LADDER APPROACH TO GOAL SETTING

We pretty much all know that setting goals is helpful in getting what you want out of life...but how to set them is yet another subject our educators think needs not be taught to us.

Here are some things you might want to think of when setting your goals:

1.  If your goal is to obtain certain tangible things or possessions...e.g, a home, a car, a painting...remember that there is an endless, ever-growing number of them and it may be that attaining the ones you now seek may not bring you the satisfaction and pleasure you now think they will, but simply be replaced by new desires.

2.  If your goal has as a key element the attaining of the recognition and the admiration of others, remember that such a goal make you dependent on others...thus putting the goal outside your control.

3.  If your goal places you in competition with others, it is important to remember that not achieving it is more likely than achieving it, for all competitors.  Being overtaken in the final yards of the Olympic marathon is not a reason for tears.  Being the second fastest runner in the world is not a failure.

4.  We have been told that long-term goals are bigger and better than short term goals.  I am not certain of that.  It is difficult to know exactly what your desires will be in the distant future, and your presently-perceived goals, even if attained, may not satisfy those desires.  Further, it is difficult to maintain the pursuit of a goal when the achievement of it is distant in the future.
   
5.  Remember that all human activity has both a mental and a physical component to it.  So, in choosing what it is that will please you to achieve (the mental component), be sure that you are willing to do what needs to be done to achieve it (the physical component).

6.  I suggest a Ladder Approach in goal-setting.  The ultimate goal may be the top step of the ladder, but there are almost always interim goals and steps leading to it.  The football coach wants his team to win the game, to do which they need to score points, to do which they need first downs, to do which they need possession of the ball.  Those are the steps on the coach's ladder. 

You might want to be Miss America.  The steps on your ladder might be being named Miss Town of the Year, winning the State Beauty pageant, etc.  Those are shorter term goals that ought be the focus of your attention...that ought bring you satisfaction and pride and encouragement in your quest for your top goal.

Writing this post is a step on my ladder.

UNDERNEATH THE WOOL

The idea that obamacare is a humane act because it provides needed health insurance to the poor...the basis on which the dems are selling it...is mistaken and misleading.  If that was what the government was trying to accomplish, why was it necessary for it to take over the entire health insurance industry?  Did it need to take over the entire food industry to provide food stamps to the poor?  Or take over  all colleges and universities to provide federal school credits to those who can't afford higher education?       

Rather than a`10,000 page misnamed affordable care act, a simpler and easier, though equally unconstitutional solution, would have been to impose an annual HIT (Health Insurance Tax) of, say, $100, or so, on the non-poor and use that money to buy insurance for the poor.  Done, over!

So what then is the idea behind obamacare?  It is the dems' desire TO TAKE OVER our lives.  To transform America into a socialist/communist/fascist state.  Totally.  Fully.  Completely.  The "let's help the poor" pitch is nothing more than sheep's wool, warm and comforting as it may seem to many, being pulled over your eyes.

DON'T ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE BLINDED UNDER THE GUISE OF COMPASSION.

Why do I smell a government takeover of the farming industry coming round the corner?

WIN-WIN

We are two months away from that annual useless tradition...New Year;s resolutions.  The air will be filled with the sounds of "This year I mean it".  BS. If you really meant to do what your resolution says you will do, you would, in all likelihood, have already have done it.  Which is why 99.8% of all resolutions never get resolved.

So,your resolutions are just a benign, harmless, effort to convince your friends, most of whom are inebriated when you make them, that unlike them, you are in control of your life and that you can move up the ladder of your potential whenever you wish.  BS.  If that were true, they wouldn't be your friends.

I have one key tip to those who, despite my sage advice, will remain resolute in making resolutions.  Make this your first resolution:  "This year, I will not keep my other resolutions".  If you don't keep the others, then you will have kept this one...and if you don't  keep this one, then you will have kept all the others.  Win-Win.

Glad to be able to help you with that.

WHAT DOES "TO" MEAN?

One section of today's SAT exam requires test takers to identify any error in the underlined words of a sentence.  The following sentence is an example:

Obamacare has been advertised as a program to provide lower income people with their right to healthcare.

The correct answer is "right to"...that is, "right to" is wrong.
 
Here is what the Declaration of Independence says:
  
      "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Do you see anything in there about having a right to anything? No.  All the rights you have and will ever have are already yours...you were endowed with them by your Creator and they are unalienable, forever yours.   So any program that purports to give you your rights, is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Plus, your rights do not refer to tangible goods or services, as presently and commonly perceived.   The rights of  life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness mean you are sovereign over your own life, you are free to pursue the goods and services and other things that will make you happy, as you and you alone choose to pursue them.  A perceived right to something requires others to provide it to you, and that would be a rejection of their endowed unalienable rights.

Every welfare program, no matter how compassionate and noble sounding it may be, does not provide rights, but rejects rights...and is rooted in the same vulgar ideas underlying slavery.

IS THE PRICE RIGHT?

Owning a piece of the Earth and a home is the cornerstone of the American dream, but this major-for-most asset comes with these costs aside from the generally hefty mortgage:

*  boredom, stemming from looking at same views, shopping in same stores, driving on same roads, over and over again

*  inability to choose neighbors

 * exposure of level of personal financial worth (gauged by value of home)

*  pressure and cost of maintaining it

*  limited gifting opportunities

*  value dependent on others

*  nontransportability

*  vulnerable to misnamed acts of God (hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires)

*  subject to regulatory rules and taxation by governments (local.state, federal)

*  generates close-up, rather than panoramic, view of world and of one's life

No wonder they call its purchase "a closing".

PLEASE YOUR PALATE

PRESTIGE
POWER
POSSESSIONS
POPULARITY
POSITION
POSITIVITY
PROPERTY
PROFIT

PRIDE
PERFECTION
PRODUCTION

PARAMOUR
PARENTING
PERFUME
PRINCIPLE
PASSION

PATIENCE
PEACE

PERSEVERANCE
PIZZAZZ
PRACTICALITY
PRAISE
PROGRESS
PLEASURE

NAME SHAME?

Some people are upset over the use of the word "Redskins" by the Washington professional football team. Some think it racist and derogatory, some think it denigrates American Indians and conjures up the outworn and misguided image of them as savages. I disagree I think it is a tribute to them. First of all, it is a descriptively true word. It is not insulting anymore than New York Giants insults tall people. Here are some insulting names: the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox (stinkin' footwear), the San Antonio Spurs (something you kick horses with), the Minnesota Timberwolves and Chicago Blackhawks (killer animals), the Charlotte Hornets (stingin' wasps), and others. Many have come to realize that most Indians were good people who were wiling to live and trade with "the white man", that there were many intermarriages...and that if some today do not correctly understand the very interesting culture of the American Indian, it is due to the way America's history is erroneously taught in schools. Fans don't root against a team, they root for a team. Millions of fans root for the Redskins and if I were an American Indian I would see it as an inclusive name and a good thing. The way I would see the Juneau Jewboys.

AN OPEN LETTER TO A CLOSED MIND

OPEN LETTER TO GERALDO RIVERA

I heard you say on your radio show today that you hope obama succeeds in fixing the obamacare website because if he succeeds we all benefit  REALLY?  You think taking away my freedom to decide for myself whether I want to have health insurance, what coverage I want, from whom I wish to purchase it, is something that is good and you want obama to succeed in doing that?  The fact that the website isn't working is not what is bad about obamacare, it's what is good about it.

Whom else are you rooting to succeed?  UNDERWORLD HIT MEN? They also want to take away someone's freedom.

You said  "of course, people who have cancer should get treatment even if they can't afford it".  Well, in a free society. you are free to donate to a charity to help them, but you are not free to FORCE me to do so.  Do you know the relationship between freedom and force.  THEY ARE DEADLY ENEMIES.

(What else is on your should get treatment list.  If someone is dying from heart disease, tuberculosis, malaria, emphysema , blood clots?  And what about those who can't afford food, clothes, a place to sleep, education, transportation? Should they be treated with money?  Just wondering.)

Oh, yes, soon your freedom to give charity will also be taken away.  A new law being proposed would make it illegal to donate money to any charity for any reason.  The reasoning is that the government is better able to take care of needy people and that private charities undermine the authority of the government.  THE PENALTY FOR GIVING CHARITY WILL BE A FINE EQUAL TO TEN TIMES  THE AMOUNT GIVEN TO CHARITY FOR THE FIRST OFFENSE, AND JAIL TIME FOR EACH SUBSEQUENT OFFENSE EQUAL TO ONE YEAR FOR EACH $100 DONATED.  I am going to assume you hope the president is successful in getting obamacharitycare passed.

Oh, yes 2.  The president is concerned about some people not being able to have children and is trying to get a bill passed that would limit us to having two children.  Under the bill, if you now have more than two children, your excess children will be taken away from you and given to those less fortunates who are childless.  The government will choose which ones you will lose.  The president thinks that this redistribution of children will help transform America into a happier, more humane society.  I understand you have five children, so I assume you are rooting for Obama to succeed in getting obamakidcare going because if he succeeds, we all succeed...including the kids.

Great show today.

JUST ANOTHER COVER-UP

Traditionally, there was, from right to left, capitalism (private enterprise, individualism), socialism (primacy of society, some private enterprise), communism (government control of all aspects of life, no private industry), fascism (dictatorial statist)government, use of military force to accomplish aims).

The words commonly used to define Barack Obama are progressive, statist.  They are euphemisms for communist, which is what he is, as manifested by his desire to control all aspects of our lives (see IRS spying) and the economy (see obamacare), and redistribute the wealth of the country..  He goes even further...cuting our credit and military strength and converting us into a tird world power.   The use of euphemisms was necessary if he was to cover up his real intentions and succeed in conning a sufficient number of voters to twice gain election.

Time to call a communist a communist.

BYE BYE BIRDIE

I wrote in the prior post that the idea of America is gone.  I say here that the idea of New York City will be gone next week when Bill de Blasio becomes mayor.

NYC was the capitol of individual opportunity and achievement, a melting pot of cultures, and energetic competition and limitless success.  As Sinatra sang, "If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere". 

de Blasio thinks otherwise.  He doesn't like the idea that some have more than others, and so wants to redistribute the wealth in the city via higher and higher and higher taxes on those who earn above his definition of enough...a la that other collectivist/statist/marxist in office.  He thinks the police may be racially influenced in their fight against crime, and wants to shackle all of them rather than just those who are.  He thinks government's job is to provide those who could use a bit more with everything they could use a bit more of.  Actually, it's not the government that ever does the providing...it's you and you and you and me.

If you think these views are "just another brand of American politics", that they are just minor variations on a theme, you are wrong.  They are a major junking of  the American way of life into the political garbage can.  And we know what garbage cans smell like.


Goodbye New York...been nice to know ya.

BOILING POT OF POURRI

The idea of America is gone because most Americans, I believe, are not interested in ideas.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Those who support abortions generally do so on the grounds that a woman has dominion over her own body.  Just curious.  Do they also believe she has a right to take whatever drugs she wishes (legal or otherwise), that prostitution should be legal, that she ought be free to work for less than a minimum wage, that she must cover the intimate parts of her body when she is out in public, that she may marry as many of whatever gender and species she wishes, etc. etc. etc.?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wasn't the reason for the separation of church and state that religious beliefs are subjective not objective, and that your subjective beliefs are not necessarily truths that ought be the basis of a political system imposed on me...so that bringing God or the Bible into discussions of gay marriage or abortion, or putting them into the Pledge of Allegiance, is wrong?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How did uneducated primitives survive without government for hundreds of thousands of years?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why do we require physicians, attorneys, accountants, architects, taxi drivers, etc. to pass qualifying exams, but not politicians?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There can be no good solution to any political or social issue that denies my freedom for one second or at the cost to me of one penny.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why do we add an "s" to make a noun plural (kite, kites), but delete the final "s" to make a verb plural (he reads, they read)...and why do we use the plural "are" when speaking to a single individual (you are smart)?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In approximately how many different ways can a teacher line up the 20 children in her class:
       240
       2,400
       24,000
       240,000
       240,000,000
       240,000,000,000
       240,000,000,000,000
       240,000,000,000,000,000

Wrong.  2,400,000,000,000,000,000

In how many different ways can 330,000,000 Americans define freedom?

REFOCUSING OUR MORAL LENS

This guy out in Colorado was caught robbing a bank.  At his trial, he argued as follows:

     He said bank robbery was good for the country.  Robbers had to buy weapons and bullets and that helped our economy.  Because he had been successful in robbing banks in the past, it had induced the banks to hire more guards, and that lowered the unemployment rate, and resulted in more income taxes being paid to the State and to the federal government, helping both to reduce their fiscal deficits.  Further, some of the guards who were hired could not afford to pay health insurance premiums, but were now covered under the Bank-paid insurance program under Obamacare.  And finally he argued that most of the money in Banks is deposited there by rich people, so all he was really dong was transferring money from those who didn't need it to someone who did.  Him.

The Judge agreed with him and found him not guilty, saying that  bank robbery was indeed good for our country, that the robber's arguments were precisely the same as those that support all of our country's great welfare programs, that the robber was doing no more than redistributing the wealth of the country and ought be commended for being such a good American.

There is a lot we can all learn from this wonderful story, don't you think?

CHANGING THE CURRENT

Politics, so goes the warning, is a subject not to be discussed over the dinner table, lest inflamed passions lead to indigestion.  Many have strong and typically immutable opinions on the subject.   And very few have`ever been known to change their minds about their opinions.  Yet the subject of politics is little taught nor studied in school nor on most people's reading list.

I believe that one fact explains this bundle of paradoxes:  Most people believe there are no rights and wrongs when it comes to the subject of politics.  There are no absolute truths here, is the pervasive view.  It all seems to boil down to personal feelings, opinions.  With that head space, how much is there really to teach, or to read about?  And the fact that it is not on most public school curriculums, no doubt reinforces the pervasive view that politics is just a part of the game of life.

But, alas, life is not a game.  Nor is politics, which impacts virtually every aspect of our lives.  Whether you live in a socialist society or a capitalist one, for example, makes a crucial difference in the quality of your life.

So, I have chosen to try to convert the view of no rights and wrongs in politics.  If you agree with me that there are rights and wrongs, you need read no further.  If you believe there aren't any, here is Question 1:   Do you think cannibalism is wrong?

If you answer Yes, here is Question 2:  Why?

To be continued. 

I WISH I HAD

A common regret I hear people say as they get a bit older is "I wish I had........(done or not done this or that in my life)."

I am particularly interested in whether the action we now regret was typically taken because of a lack of knowledge about ourselves at the time, whether that lack of knowledge was the fault of our educational system, to what extent do we consciously or subconsciously blame ourselves for the error and, if we do,  its effect on our self-esteem, and what ought we do now to (a) cleanse ourselves of our regrets, and (b) avoid making new errors.

I have decided to do a survey to get an idea of what are the most common regrets people have, and I am inviting all readers age 40 and over to complete this one sentence:

     I WISH I HAD ............................. BECAUSE IT WOULD HAVE ..............................

Be as specific or not as you choose to be, and anonymous if you wish.  You may submit your response either by commenting to this post, or by emailing me at raynewman0025@gmail.com.

Thank you.

OUR POWER

A lot of talk these`days about political power, so I wondered exactly what power do the politicos, all the way up to the President, actually have.  And the answer was clear:  None, they have no power.

Power is the ability to force you to do something.  A`250 pond muscleman has power.  Obama doesn't.  All of the Demos and the Repubs combined do not.  They can pass all the laws they want, mandate whatever they want, but we don't have to comply, do we?  They personally cannot FORCE us, the people, to do it.  If 10 million or 20 million or 50 million of us choose not to do something, what can they do about it?  Nothing.  They can say they will seize our property if we don't do as they wish, but who exactly will show up at my home to seize it.  Not the President, not the Senate majority, not the Supreme Court justices.  They ain't coming.

Oh, right.  The police or the military will show up and physically throw me off my property.  They are the only two "political" groups that have the semblance of power...physical power...to accomplish anything.  And that is my point entirely...if the police and the military choose not to take action, the politicos are helpless.  Totally.  And even if the few million members of those two arms of the government do want to enforce government edicts, can they in fact be successful in doing so if tens of millions of us resist?

Point:  politicos have power only because we the public sanction that power, we go along with it.  It is we, not they, who have the ultimate power...and that is something we ought start thinking about pretty damn soon.

PS:  Isn't that the real reason so many politicos want to curtail our right to own guns?  And isn't that the real reason why the Founders of this country specifically enumerated that right in the Constitution?

We don't have to retake our country, as I so often hear these days.  We have to stop giving it away.

GIVE ME YOUR TIRED...

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free;
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless,
Tempest-tossed to me
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free;
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless,
Tempest-tossed to me
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!


(from the inscription on the Statue of Liberty)

What is horrific about Obamacare is not just that it is`a flagrant renunciation of that inscription, but that so many politicos favor it.  Obamacare is just another in a long list of desecrations piled on top of the rubble that was once freedom in America.   Here are just 10 of the thousands of ways we are not free:

1.  I was drafted against my will into the military.
2.  I have to pay a tax to the government for the privilege of being able to buy something in the local store, and for the privilege of earning an income, and for the privilege of owning real estate, and for the privilege of giving certain gifts during my lifetime, and for the privilege of bequeathing my assets when my life is over.
3.  I can be incarcerated for putting certain governmentally-forbidden substances into my body.
4.  I cannot practice medicine or law or open a casino or provide a hundred other services without prior government approval.
5.  I cannot work for any wage I want to work for if it is below the minimum wage the government thinks I should work for.
6.  I am restricted by the government as to whom I may marry.
7.  I must be educated by the government, or by someone approved by the government, until I am age 16.
8.  I must put money away for my retirement, and the retirement of my employees, whether I wish to or not.
9.  I cannot legally change my name unless the government approves of the new name.
10.I must contribute funds to provide others with whatever the government thinks they ought have.

 I am one of those yearning to be free.

TALK, TALK, TALK

A couple of weeks ago, it was all about Syria.  Should we or should we not attack.  "Have to," said the President, "Syria has gone over the line.  I said if they do that, and we do nothing, we will look like fools."  We did nothing.  All talk, talk, talk.

This week it's all about raising the debt limit or our government defaulting on its obligations on Treasury notes.  But there can be no default since the Constitution specifically provides that those obligations must be paid first out of government revenues, and there are more than enough revenues to do that.  Just more talk, talk, talk in the form of scare tactics. 

Unless, of curse, the President chooses`again to go his own merry way and ignore the Constitution.  But didn't he take an oath to uphold the Constitution?  Sure did...and you guessed it, just more talk, talk, talk.

That's what America has come down to.  Aren't you proud?

I think we ought put some teeth into that Presidential oath and make it something more than talk:

1.  All politicos ought be required to take a test so we can see what they know of the Constitution.  And if they don't get a perfect score on that test, they are not qualified and cannot hold any government office.  An oath to uphold something they are not knowledgeable about, is meaningless.

2.  If any politico votes or takes any action...once...contrary to the Constitution, out of office they go! We entrust politicos with our fortunes and our lives, and the oath of office they take is their warranty that they will abide by our ruling document. 

As the President said:  All talk and no action makes us look like fools.

Which we seem to be right now.

NO-GOTIATE

The big word floating around our country these days is "negotiate".    House Repubs want to negotiate with the Dems on provisions of Obamacare, on border issues, on raising the debt ceiling, etc.  The President says "I will not negotiate, it's my way or the highway".  Impasse!

The problem is: they are all wrong.  Negotiation is fine if we are trying to arrive at an agreeable price for you to buy my car.  There is no right price.  I have an opinion as to what that price should be, you have an opinion as to what that price should be, and we can negotiate toward a mutually agreeable price.  But there is nothing to negotiate when it comes to my life, my liberty.  You have zero claims on them, nor do I have any claims to negotiate on your life, your liberty.      

Obamacare mandates what I must do with regard to my personal insurance and is a clear violation of my liberty to spend my money for things I choose.  Open borders threaten my life since it allows terrorists and diseases to freely infect our society.  Raising the debt ceiling impairs my financial security and net worth.  There is nothing to negotiate on these issues.  The President is right there should be no negotiation, but dead wrong because the guiding principle in a free society is not "my way or the highway" but "the right way or the right way".  "My way or the highway" is the mantra of a dictator, which our President mistakenly thinks he is.

Negotiate for one second on your life or liberty, and the game is over.  YOU LOSE BOTH!

POLITICAL BIKERS

The only difference between those bikers who harassed and then beat up and stomped on that innocent motorist driving his family in New York City the other day, and the Obama Administration and its horde of mindless thugs, is that the political mavericks claim to be running you over legally and in your best interests.  The bikers don't think you're stupid enough to buy that bs.

NOT NOT NOT

New Jersey Governor Christie  signed a bill allowing New Jersey casinos to offer online gambling beginning next month.  No sooner had he done so, he wondered whether he should have since it might promote addiction to gambling (unlike the permitted addiction to smoking), might result in some people losing the  money they need to feed the family, etc.

Of course it will.  And some will develop Poker Pee, an irresistible and uncontrollable desire to pee every time they hear the words "all in" or "double" or "ace high".  As I feel like defecating, every time I hear some jackass politician telling me what I can and cannot do.

Christie, you better sit down or this will shock you:

   You are not my caretaker nor my custodian nor my curator nor my conservator nor my shepherd nor my nurse nor my nanny nor my guardian angel.  With a little bit of luck, you wouldn't be my governor either.

How many times must it be said?

   THE GOVERNMENT'S SOLE FUNCTION IS TO SEE THAT WE HAVE AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH WE ARE FREE TO PURSUE OUR INTERESTS (INCLUDING POKER) AND ENJOY OUR INALIENABLE RIGHT TO LIVE OUR LIVES AS WE INDIVIDUALLY CHOOSE.

(And he wants to be President?)