God v. gods

Political correctness has overcome common sense in our American culture. Any individual can proclaim their “feelings are hurt” over a self perceived slight and society rolls over and lets the complainant force his feelings onto the social body. As a man I can’t tell a lady that she looks good without the risk of being accused of sexism, racism and hatred of women. If I protest I’m told that by protesting I am proving the charge since, obviously I should accept the accusation and punishment without protest because that’s what the accuser wants others to do.

The PC culture has become so insistent and intrusive that finally other minds are starting to question the wisdom of allowing small minds with an agenda to direct the progress of society. A Federal Court in New York, the bastion of PC, recently denied a suit by a group of atheists who claimed they were discriminated against by the existence of a small cross that is on display at the recently opened 9 /11 museum. The cross was dug out of the ruins of the buildings and is a small part of the steel fabric of the building that survived the collapse. The plaintiffs stated that they became “physically ill” and “emotionally offended” by the display. They asked for “immediate injunctive relief” and a permanent removal of the display. The judge in his dismissal of the suit stated that there is nothing in the Constitution or laws of the land that assure individual feelings can’t be hurt and that people can state their desires but should not object when others ignore those desires.

Atheists have made a religious culture out of their objection to any religious culture to the point where the military was requested to allow the Chaplains Corp to accept atheists as chaplains. The irony of that demand is not seen by the practitioners of atheism.

My particular belief system is reflected by the small denomination I belong to and I don’t particularly care what others think, while I might find issues with how others see their position in life and their role in the great wonder of life I also believe that they have a right to practice their belief in peace. I only ask that they allow others to do the same.

One supreme god or small gods that inhabit all things are something I’m comfortable with. After all, its your way of explaining your world and conversing with the powers that influence your behavior. So if you worship in a highly structured manner or converse with your deity privately it’s ok with me. Maybe in my lifetime we will return to a social spirit that says it’s alright to believe in things that others do not believe in.

The Right Decision

As a Mediator I have lots of contact with judges, lawyers and cops and I respect their opinions on many matters. In my experience they are usually straight up and hardworking in their job and believe that the justice system works more often than it fails. The past few days have seen lots of comments from my friends about the Supreme Court decision that forbids law enforcement from looking at your cell phone without a search warrant.  The Justices concluded that an invesigator can’t even look at your phone directory without a warrant.

The media, as usual found a number of people who wept bitter tears over the fact that investigators couldn’t search through an individuals private data without approval and that this meant “the end of law enforcement as we know it”.  When I first heard that argument my reaction was to call “bull shit” and wonder why the talking head on the TV couldn't  remember our Constitutional privacy rights that are central to our society. With those thoughts in mind I roamed the internet reading the thoughts of people who operate our justice system across the country.  I also listened carefully to the comments of the people I work with in the system and without exception all of them feel that the decision of the Court was right and proper.

My personal observation is that people who are engaged in protecting and maintaining society are usually more aware of the fragility of our social order and the importance of protecting the individual and collective rights of our Constitution. Those who would change our society to fit their own concepts of the social structure are in for a rude surprise if they think that the justice system agrees with them.

Principles...A Statement

My Father watched his friends die in WW I,

I watched my friends die in Korea and Vietnam,

The flag they all died for was the U.S. Flag,

My Grandparents on both sides of the family were immigrants and the first thing they did was to integrate into the American culture since they were now Americans living in America…not the Old Country. (Even before they took the oath of allegiance they knew they were Americans.)

In Texas, not long ago, a student raised a Mexican flag on a school flag pole, another student took it down. For that simple act of American patriotism he was expelled from school. When I read about that I had to wonder at the logic of those who punish a young adult for protecting the flag of his country while letting a fellow student get away with raising an alien flag over U.S. territory.

In California kids in a high school were sent home on Cinco de Mayo for wearing shirts with the American flag printed on them. At the same time Hispanic kids at the school were encouraged to wear Mexican flags and iconography as symbols of their heritage! Please explain to me why it is ok for others to celebrate their heritage but wrong for Americans to celebrate our heritage.

Enough is enough.

Let me make this perfectly clear!

THIS  IS MY COUNTRY!  And, because I make this statement DOES  NOT mean I’m, a raciest or against immigration!!!

Every one who wishes to join is welcome here in my country, Welcome, to join with us legally:

1. Get a sponsor! It’s the law!

2.  Get a place to lay your head!

3. Get a job! Isn’t that why you came?

4. Live By OUR Rules!

5. Pay YOUR Taxes!

6.  Learn the LANGUAGE like all previous immigrants have in the past!

We’ve gone so far the other way, listened to politicians who see immigration as a source of willing fools, and treat the citizens of this country as feckless idiots. Because they believe the foolish immigrants (mostly illegally present in our country) will also keep them in office. Americans are told that we must bend over backwards and not offend anyone, while those same politicians allow others to repeatedly offend the very people whose country they are living in.

The American Dream is dying at the hands of politicians who have turned their back on that Dream and think that the Constitution (and the laws that followed) are not for them…the privileged masters of our country.

I will not forget…with every election cycle I WILL affirm that I am an American.

Worthy of his salary

I couldn't write it any better myself. The link below leads to a story of an Air Force B-1 pilot assisting a commercial crew during a medical emergency.

http://www.afspc.af.mil/news1/story.asp?id=123412412

The Downside of Green

In February of this year, a 55-gallon drum of radioactive waste burst open at the nations only nuclear dump in New Mexico.

Investigation into the cause of the accident points to a pet store purchase that went bad.

"It was the wrong kitty litter," says James Conca, a geochemist in Richland, Wash who while not part of the investigation is an expert on nuclear west management. It turns out there's more to cat litter than you think. It can soak up urine, but it's just as good at absorbing radioactive material.

It actually works well both in the home litter box as well as the laboratory or industrial incident. The waste management industry has been using kitty litter for years to soak up liquid waste, dump it into a drum of sludge and it will stabilize volatile radioactive chemicals. The kitty litter acts by preventing the waste from reacting with the environment.

And this is what contractors at Los Alamos National Laboratory were doing as they packed Cold War-era waste for shipment to the dump. But at some point, they decided to make a switch, from clay litter to organic. That might sound nice, you're trying to be green, but the organic kitty litters are, as it says on the label, organic, Organic litter, is made of plant material, which can also be full of chemical compounds that can react with the nuclear waste. Investigators now believe the litter and waste caused the drum to slowly heat up sort of like a slow burn charcoal fire heats up.

Only one drum out of a shipment of about 500 drums overheated, but the threat has required authorities to seal all the remaining drums in larger, pressure proof containers. The road to living green can really be hard at times!

Remember

A Living Wage

I was listening to a news report on NPR regarding raising the minimum wage for fast food workers and other low paid occupations and some idiot being interviewed said "why should someone working for McDonalds in Denmark make $15 an hour and I can't here in the US".  I know that the ignorance of some people sometimes leaves me speechless but my first instinct was to say "because you don't live in Denmark you ". The comment did get me to thinking about "living wages" so I did some checking.

Most minimum wage people here in the US pay little or no income taxes after deductions and even if they did the lowest tax rate is 15%. However if a McDonalds employee in Denmark were to make $15 an hour their lowest tax rate is 45% so that $15 per hour turns into $8.25 take home. Also the social state in Denmark raises the cost of living: gasoline averages $8.55 a gallon, an average pair of Levis cost $145 and the average cost of a Big Mac meal in Denmark is $8.20 USD compared to about $5.75 here.

I guess ignorance is bliss, but if NPR had spent a few minutes checking facts (like I did) I doubt they would ever have broadcast the comments of that concerned "community organizer".