I am raising a beef with this entity that is government supported and does nothing in most cases but cause havoc where none should exist. I am referring to the ACLU. I have a new name for this group. A= Americans (debatable but I’ll give them that) C= Causing
L= Litigation U= Unnecessarily.
I’m sorry but this group takes civil liberties so far that it distorts all sense of proportion, perspective or common sense. It is one thing to promote civil rights and champion anyone who’s civil rights have been violated but they are taking any case where 1 or 2 people are offended because a prayer of thanksgiving is said before a dinner? I’m sorry but this “non-profit” organization has become too powerful and intrusive and needs to step back and look at what’s really important.
The lawsuits they have entered into in the past are way over the top which end up costing taxpayers millions of dollars in litigation, and these so-called reforms are almost always for 1 or 2 “offended” people. They are more concerned about the medical and mental health treatment of felons and convicts then they seem to be about the victims of their various crimes. They definitely fall under the liberal and self-proclaimed progressive factions of our country and because of that I think they should be self-funded and not get tax payer support.
I guess as long as they have that government nipple to bleed that all the ACLU lawyers will stay right in line to engage in all the frivolous and ridiculous litigation they can get their claws on regardless of the issues or outcome. I wish I had that kind of job security.
So as you can see by this brief entry they got my dander up once again. They have no concern about the repercussions or eventual outcomes of their litigation merely to keep lining their pockets at our expense. Perhaps some day they will do something that actual is beneficial to the majority and not just take care of the 1 or 2 “offended” people!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Prayer...What Exactly Is It?
This is a topic that seems to scare many people and I’m not certain why. In my way of thinking there are three types of people in this world, the people that pray, aren’t ashamed to talk about it and do it regularly. That’s type one. Type two would be the people that give prayer lip service, who say they will pray for you or for this or for that and leave it alone and never really actually pray, although I suppose the lip service is a form of prayer. Then there’s type three. They don’t talk about prayer, don’t pray and unless they are faced with an incredible personal crisis and have nowhere else to turn. (To whom I’m not certain)
I am type one. I’m not ashamed to tell anyone I pray for many things and do it regularly. I am, in fact, comforted to be able to pray. I don’t pray for a million dollars, although if you’re listening wouldn’t refuse it, but I do pray for most all areas of my life and for all my friends and family on a colossal list of different issues. I don’t do this with any expectations of always getting what I want because what I want and what God wants could be quite a different matter. I do it because I consider the action a way of expressing myself no matter what the consequences. Where in this life can you do that?
So what’s the big deal here you may ask? There is a reader or two I know of that have already either stopped reading or are rolling their eyes as they read. (Which is hard to do I’ll grant you) If you consider yourself a follower of most any faith I think it’s critical that you are comfortable actually talking to your higher power of choice. I am Christian so I talk with Christ, God the father and any Saint that might be listening in. Do they hear me? In my opinion, absolutely they do. Will they act on my prayers? In my opinion, in their own way and according to God’s will. Might that coincide with my will? It might……it very well might not.
Prayer is a difficult concept to actually nail down. Even Webster doesn’t have a clear definition. I think it is different things to different people. It is dismaying to see the act of prayer being snubbed out by so many government entities as they need it more than ever and by the way while I’m thinking about it, there is definitive statement in the constitution regarding separation of church and state. Look it up! Our nation’s roots are really steeped in Christianity and that is simply fact.
So whether or not you humbly ask for guidance or for strength or wisdom you are praying. Isn’t that scary? Many of you who don’t consider yourselves religious are really praying all the time! So if you are a religious objector or non-believer know that I will be praying for your redemption. How does that grab you?!
I am type one. I’m not ashamed to tell anyone I pray for many things and do it regularly. I am, in fact, comforted to be able to pray. I don’t pray for a million dollars, although if you’re listening wouldn’t refuse it, but I do pray for most all areas of my life and for all my friends and family on a colossal list of different issues. I don’t do this with any expectations of always getting what I want because what I want and what God wants could be quite a different matter. I do it because I consider the action a way of expressing myself no matter what the consequences. Where in this life can you do that?
So what’s the big deal here you may ask? There is a reader or two I know of that have already either stopped reading or are rolling their eyes as they read. (Which is hard to do I’ll grant you) If you consider yourself a follower of most any faith I think it’s critical that you are comfortable actually talking to your higher power of choice. I am Christian so I talk with Christ, God the father and any Saint that might be listening in. Do they hear me? In my opinion, absolutely they do. Will they act on my prayers? In my opinion, in their own way and according to God’s will. Might that coincide with my will? It might……it very well might not.
Prayer is a difficult concept to actually nail down. Even Webster doesn’t have a clear definition. I think it is different things to different people. It is dismaying to see the act of prayer being snubbed out by so many government entities as they need it more than ever and by the way while I’m thinking about it, there is definitive statement in the constitution regarding separation of church and state. Look it up! Our nation’s roots are really steeped in Christianity and that is simply fact.
So whether or not you humbly ask for guidance or for strength or wisdom you are praying. Isn’t that scary? Many of you who don’t consider yourselves religious are really praying all the time! So if you are a religious objector or non-believer know that I will be praying for your redemption. How does that grab you?!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Dog Days
We are now in the “dog days” of summer. I got curious, as I tend to get, to find out the origins of this phrase as it is used quite regularly by many people. So here it is:
The term "Dog Days" was used by the Greeks as well as the ancient Romans (who called these days caniculares dies (days of the dogs)) after Sirius (the "Dog Star", in Latin Canicula), the brightest star in the heavens besides the Sun. The dog days of summer are also called canicular days.
The Dog Days originally were the days when Sirius, the Dog Star, rose just before or at the same time as sunrise (heliacal rising), which is no longer true, owing to precession of the equinoxes. The ancients [who?] sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius, believing that the star was the cause of the hot, sultry weather.
Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies" according to Brady’s Clavis Calendarium.
So there you have it; those zany Greeks. It had a far more impressive origin than I even had imagined. Here in North Carolina we are smack dab in the middle of the canicular days. It was over 100 degrees yesterday and made the century mark today as well. For those of us who work outside from time to time you didn’t need to tell us it was hot. I probably have a more difficult time as I am in and out of it numerous times in a day.
That’s enough self-pity for everyone to endure. This was simply a little investigation into that term “dog days” and I thought you might find it interesting and if you didn’t boy did you just throw away a few minutes of your time. Happy dog days to you all!
The term "Dog Days" was used by the Greeks as well as the ancient Romans (who called these days caniculares dies (days of the dogs)) after Sirius (the "Dog Star", in Latin Canicula), the brightest star in the heavens besides the Sun. The dog days of summer are also called canicular days.
The Dog Days originally were the days when Sirius, the Dog Star, rose just before or at the same time as sunrise (heliacal rising), which is no longer true, owing to precession of the equinoxes. The ancients [who?] sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius, believing that the star was the cause of the hot, sultry weather.
Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies" according to Brady’s Clavis Calendarium.
So there you have it; those zany Greeks. It had a far more impressive origin than I even had imagined. Here in North Carolina we are smack dab in the middle of the canicular days. It was over 100 degrees yesterday and made the century mark today as well. For those of us who work outside from time to time you didn’t need to tell us it was hot. I probably have a more difficult time as I am in and out of it numerous times in a day.
That’s enough self-pity for everyone to endure. This was simply a little investigation into that term “dog days” and I thought you might find it interesting and if you didn’t boy did you just throw away a few minutes of your time. Happy dog days to you all!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Death By Natural Causes?
I'm not sure why I get preoccupied with the strangest concepts at times and this next one is no exception. It is to make a short story long: death.
When you begin to get a little older you start actually reading the obituaries more often. It's possibly a law similar to the law about moving to Florida as soon as the steering wheel on your car gets below eye level. That being said as time has moved on as it painfully wants to do, I've noticed one thing about obituaries that has been an outflow of our health care. We are the beneficiaries, especially in this country of medical advances galore. The drugs continue to multiply to treat a growing list of syndromes and diseases. While this is impressive in of itself, the fortunate or unfortunate fact is, depending upon your perspective, people are living longer. Many diseases that not many years ago were a death sentence are now not only survivable but curable!
I know what your starting to think. What in the world is his point and when will he get to it? I'm glad you asked. Here it is ; I challenge you to read the obituaries and find someone who actually has passed away due to natural causes. Our medical community in all it's triumphs has succeeded to make almost any death un-natural. Not long ago I read where a 94 year old man died from a heart attack. Would not this be considered death by natural causes? I sincerely hope I live to be 94 but I think I'll make a provision in my living will that if I have a heart attack at 94 years old I want it to be called death by natural causes!
I might be splitting hairs as I tend to like to do, in fact I can split a hair three ways sometimes, but in my way of thinking, unless it's a homicide or a car accident or a child , that in most cases death is a natural occurrence and should be considered as such. As a side note, the Christian part of me knows that death is not only a natural event but a necessary event in moving to our next state of everlasting life.
Death is a taboo topic most of the time but this spin is really in how it's described. All of us want to live as long as it is possible while still enjoying a decent quality of life but let's face the ultimate fact is that our bodies will shut down. We will move on to our next life where our bodies will be no longer needed. Where doctors won't be needed or medicine or coroners or any of the rest of it. So our deaths on this planet will, in most cases, not just be of natural causes but they should be hailed as finally reaching our most natural state of existence....eternal life!!
When you begin to get a little older you start actually reading the obituaries more often. It's possibly a law similar to the law about moving to Florida as soon as the steering wheel on your car gets below eye level. That being said as time has moved on as it painfully wants to do, I've noticed one thing about obituaries that has been an outflow of our health care. We are the beneficiaries, especially in this country of medical advances galore. The drugs continue to multiply to treat a growing list of syndromes and diseases. While this is impressive in of itself, the fortunate or unfortunate fact is, depending upon your perspective, people are living longer. Many diseases that not many years ago were a death sentence are now not only survivable but curable!
I know what your starting to think. What in the world is his point and when will he get to it? I'm glad you asked. Here it is ; I challenge you to read the obituaries and find someone who actually has passed away due to natural causes. Our medical community in all it's triumphs has succeeded to make almost any death un-natural. Not long ago I read where a 94 year old man died from a heart attack. Would not this be considered death by natural causes? I sincerely hope I live to be 94 but I think I'll make a provision in my living will that if I have a heart attack at 94 years old I want it to be called death by natural causes!
I might be splitting hairs as I tend to like to do, in fact I can split a hair three ways sometimes, but in my way of thinking, unless it's a homicide or a car accident or a child , that in most cases death is a natural occurrence and should be considered as such. As a side note, the Christian part of me knows that death is not only a natural event but a necessary event in moving to our next state of everlasting life.
Death is a taboo topic most of the time but this spin is really in how it's described. All of us want to live as long as it is possible while still enjoying a decent quality of life but let's face the ultimate fact is that our bodies will shut down. We will move on to our next life where our bodies will be no longer needed. Where doctors won't be needed or medicine or coroners or any of the rest of it. So our deaths on this planet will, in most cases, not just be of natural causes but they should be hailed as finally reaching our most natural state of existence....eternal life!!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Regrets
Ralph W. Sockman once said “Let us not bankrupt our todays by paying interest on the regrets of yesterday and by borrowing in advance the troubles of tomorrow.” Life is really too short to hold onto regrets and yet we do. I suppose some of us regret a love lost. Perhaps others the choices we’ve made on a myriad of issues. I don’t have many regrets but I have a few and perhaps they might surprise you.
I think there may be more than a few people out there that regret their career paths chosen. This is not to say that I am not happy doing what I do but as time has moved forward and I have grown in areas I really did not know existed within me I do have a regret. This regret may surprise some of you but it is from the heart so I will share it with you all, none the less. I regret not advancing my spiritual life in such a way that I might affect those that need spiritual guidance. I think that I would have made a pretty effective Priest. I was unaware of this only a few years ago but a sort of epiphany has struck me that if I had studied and pursued that life I could have done a good job. I think I’m a pretty good listener and I think I can, at times, guide people to make right decisions based on truth. I am by no means perfect as no man since Christ has been but I do think I have an ability to lead that would have served me well in ministry. So perhaps that’s a bit of a shock to some of you but to all who really know me well I think it makes sense.
I have another regret that is somewhat private and personal but I feel a need to express it. I want to state emphatically that I am deeply in love with Linda and if there is anything in this world I will never regret it was meeting and later marrying this wonderful woman. My regret really goes back to my previous wife and it is something I can do nothing about or change but it is something that stays with me. I would expect that only a very small minority of people have ever had their spouse die at a young age and be in the same house when it happened but not in the same room. My previous wife, Karen, passed away over 10 years ago now after suffering a year long bout with a serious illness. Here’s the regret: I never got to tell her I loved her or goodbye when she passed. She was in a room right next to me and I discovered her passing which happened quite quickly. So there’s a rather personal regret that I cannot change.
I regret not being able to provide a more financially stable and healthy environment. We are happy and we live comfortably but we are by no means wealthy in a materialistic sense and I regret not doing more. Then again there are many people I know that have many times the money in the bank and are either bankrupt in a relationship or bankrupt spiritually so I what I should be doing is counting my blessings.
I guess this was another self-therapy lesson for me. Regrets really are a waste of good energy. Instead of looking at something that perhaps you’ve missed out on you should instead look at all you have to be thankful for. Glass half full type of mentality which I generally possess. So as Alexander Graham Bell once said, “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” Here’s to looking at the open doors more often.
I think there may be more than a few people out there that regret their career paths chosen. This is not to say that I am not happy doing what I do but as time has moved forward and I have grown in areas I really did not know existed within me I do have a regret. This regret may surprise some of you but it is from the heart so I will share it with you all, none the less. I regret not advancing my spiritual life in such a way that I might affect those that need spiritual guidance. I think that I would have made a pretty effective Priest. I was unaware of this only a few years ago but a sort of epiphany has struck me that if I had studied and pursued that life I could have done a good job. I think I’m a pretty good listener and I think I can, at times, guide people to make right decisions based on truth. I am by no means perfect as no man since Christ has been but I do think I have an ability to lead that would have served me well in ministry. So perhaps that’s a bit of a shock to some of you but to all who really know me well I think it makes sense.
I have another regret that is somewhat private and personal but I feel a need to express it. I want to state emphatically that I am deeply in love with Linda and if there is anything in this world I will never regret it was meeting and later marrying this wonderful woman. My regret really goes back to my previous wife and it is something I can do nothing about or change but it is something that stays with me. I would expect that only a very small minority of people have ever had their spouse die at a young age and be in the same house when it happened but not in the same room. My previous wife, Karen, passed away over 10 years ago now after suffering a year long bout with a serious illness. Here’s the regret: I never got to tell her I loved her or goodbye when she passed. She was in a room right next to me and I discovered her passing which happened quite quickly. So there’s a rather personal regret that I cannot change.
I regret not being able to provide a more financially stable and healthy environment. We are happy and we live comfortably but we are by no means wealthy in a materialistic sense and I regret not doing more. Then again there are many people I know that have many times the money in the bank and are either bankrupt in a relationship or bankrupt spiritually so I what I should be doing is counting my blessings.
I guess this was another self-therapy lesson for me. Regrets really are a waste of good energy. Instead of looking at something that perhaps you’ve missed out on you should instead look at all you have to be thankful for. Glass half full type of mentality which I generally possess. So as Alexander Graham Bell once said, “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” Here’s to looking at the open doors more often.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Ahh summer!!
My lovely wife and I visited our farmer's market this past Saturday and it was in full vigor with all the most delicious and freshest of fruits and vegetables. I love this time of year. I don't care what kind of a hothouse or what foreign country that tries to imitate fresh summer vegetables it can't be done the way God takes care of it.
I challenge you to taste a better tomato than a freshly picked summer tomato and watermelon is absolutely incredible this time of year. I, like many of you, have tried numerous times during the off-seasons to find fresh produce that can replicate what summer produces. There is a taste that is captured during the spring/summer growing season that can not be reproduced artificially. I wonder why that is?
Here's a little observation dealing with our farmer's market. We have a very large, very impressive farmer's market here in Raleigh. We visited it at about 8:30 AM on a Saturday and the place was packed with people and it was getting more packed by the minute. Generally speaking, the people of this area are extremely friendly. That is until there becomes a sort of competition for fresh fruits and vegetables. At that point, it would appear all bets are off! You will see a kind and considerate woman plow over an elderly person for the perfect melon and no apologies will be forthcoming even after CPR is successfully administered. The farmer's market is no place for the weak of mind or body it would appear. The parking lot is also fraught with dangerous drivers and pedestrians just chomping at the bit to take someone out rather than let them get the juiciest peaches.
So there is a price to be paid when it comes to obtaining fresh produce in our city. When you visit, be offensive minded and have your best game face on because only the fittest get the really freshest product. So not only will you be sufficiently satisfied with your sweet tomato sandwich experience but also in knowing you took out a few other competitors to be able to enjoy it.
I challenge you to taste a better tomato than a freshly picked summer tomato and watermelon is absolutely incredible this time of year. I, like many of you, have tried numerous times during the off-seasons to find fresh produce that can replicate what summer produces. There is a taste that is captured during the spring/summer growing season that can not be reproduced artificially. I wonder why that is?
Here's a little observation dealing with our farmer's market. We have a very large, very impressive farmer's market here in Raleigh. We visited it at about 8:30 AM on a Saturday and the place was packed with people and it was getting more packed by the minute. Generally speaking, the people of this area are extremely friendly. That is until there becomes a sort of competition for fresh fruits and vegetables. At that point, it would appear all bets are off! You will see a kind and considerate woman plow over an elderly person for the perfect melon and no apologies will be forthcoming even after CPR is successfully administered. The farmer's market is no place for the weak of mind or body it would appear. The parking lot is also fraught with dangerous drivers and pedestrians just chomping at the bit to take someone out rather than let them get the juiciest peaches.
So there is a price to be paid when it comes to obtaining fresh produce in our city. When you visit, be offensive minded and have your best game face on because only the fittest get the really freshest product. So not only will you be sufficiently satisfied with your sweet tomato sandwich experience but also in knowing you took out a few other competitors to be able to enjoy it.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The Morning Paper
I am about to embark on new and uncharted territories. I have been getting some sort of morning paper almost my entire adult life. It has been such a part of my morning routine that I'm not certain how I will deal with this but the simple fact is in about a week I am terminating my morning paper delivery. I can't speak for other parts of the country but our paper has slowly declined in content, substance and value. They have had layoffs due to the economic slump which may be a contributing factor but also the surge in Internet use is making the paper old news and increasingly irrelevant.
What will I miss about the paper? Mostly the routine as I am definitely an individual that takes comfort in a set routine. Should one little thing disrupt my routine my day can quickly become unhinged. It is both a blessing and a curse at the same time. I wish I could be more flexible in that regard. I will miss Pickles. I know, I can still get Pickles online but it's that sense of excitement about just how funny it will be and how much it will mirror my own life. (It's often almost unsettling how close he and I are) I will miss listening to my wife sigh as she reads various stories that give rise to the notion that common sense is slowly being sucked out of every area of our society. I will miss the sports section that I peruse every morning and other than checking out where my Yankees are and what the Canes are doing, I'm not sure why. I will miss hearing how my friend Ed is doing taking the commercial real estate world by storm as every week he seems to be featured some way or another! I will miss an occasional flash of literary brilliance although the occasions seem to have been directly affected by the layoffs that have taken place. Mostly I'll miss the routine.
I think that the degradation of print media has been taking place almost in direct correlation to the rise of the Internet. In one way, the newspaper has always almost been a symbol of forward thinking and community awareness and although these things can be drawn from the electronic media it just doesn't seem the same to me. Then again, I still think cell phones are the scourge of the Earth so I have a ways to go in acceptance of new technologies.
So there you have it. I am getting ready to sail into uncharted territories. I am shedding the increasingly antiquated habit of reading my morning paper. I guess I will have a few extra minutes to do something else now. I better think of something that will fall exactly into that time slot as to not disrupt my routine. That would be a true tragedy.
What will I miss about the paper? Mostly the routine as I am definitely an individual that takes comfort in a set routine. Should one little thing disrupt my routine my day can quickly become unhinged. It is both a blessing and a curse at the same time. I wish I could be more flexible in that regard. I will miss Pickles. I know, I can still get Pickles online but it's that sense of excitement about just how funny it will be and how much it will mirror my own life. (It's often almost unsettling how close he and I are) I will miss listening to my wife sigh as she reads various stories that give rise to the notion that common sense is slowly being sucked out of every area of our society. I will miss the sports section that I peruse every morning and other than checking out where my Yankees are and what the Canes are doing, I'm not sure why. I will miss hearing how my friend Ed is doing taking the commercial real estate world by storm as every week he seems to be featured some way or another! I will miss an occasional flash of literary brilliance although the occasions seem to have been directly affected by the layoffs that have taken place. Mostly I'll miss the routine.
I think that the degradation of print media has been taking place almost in direct correlation to the rise of the Internet. In one way, the newspaper has always almost been a symbol of forward thinking and community awareness and although these things can be drawn from the electronic media it just doesn't seem the same to me. Then again, I still think cell phones are the scourge of the Earth so I have a ways to go in acceptance of new technologies.
So there you have it. I am getting ready to sail into uncharted territories. I am shedding the increasingly antiquated habit of reading my morning paper. I guess I will have a few extra minutes to do something else now. I better think of something that will fall exactly into that time slot as to not disrupt my routine. That would be a true tragedy.
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