The world is in decay. I decided to write this blabbering because my thoughts are frequent and seem to revolve around our cultural and political controversies and the increasing incidence of HATE showing up all over the world. Also, I am witnessing a civilization clash that transcends any other since the time of the pharaohs. Even the period following the Roman Empire did not have the same intensity as this profound standoff. I submit that this clash of cultures – identified as being between Judea-Christian and Arabic civilizations – might very well have the capacity to initiate the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and an end to the world we have known.

Now, let me get through the POLITICS before going on to my more critically important thoughts.

I don’t see how the divide between Republicans and Democrats can go much deeper and not end up in fisticuffs. Elected officials in Washington are in a battle between each political party organization and even between members of their own respective parties. The wars are evolving into a stalemate of unequaled proportions. Never in my lifetime have I witnessed such divisiveness in Washington or even in my own city government. With the growing backlash against secularist movements such as removing all references to God in our cultural lexicon, the fight is only going to escalate. I even recon that people who abhor terrorism will revert to doing terrorist acts themselves – much like members of PETA and other environmental organizations operating on the fringe have done before and continue to do in some parts of the country. It’s like if people don’t get their own way they resort to hating their opponents – not just disagreeing. And, this hate can and does escalate into physical violence and property destruction. Witness the arsonists who preach environmentalism and burn down property to make their hideous points. I realize that these crazies are beyond the pale but what I am talking about may escalate sooner rather than later. Of course, I have expressed my thoughts about this subject of polarization many times before. You’re probably getting tired of it. So am I. But, the subject is very compelling because it may shape the future of our country – the one my own children and grand children will inherit. Polarization is already shaping the world, not just America – more about that later.

It seems to me that there are now two distinct and separate groups that make up the Democrats and the very same type of division is happening to the Republicans. Each party has now evolved and migrated into its own extreme and moderate camps. The so-called far-right of the Republican Party is a lot different than the Party I knew it to be from the 1950’s through the 1980’s. It has become polarized and even more corrupt than in previous history. I don’t mind politicians uttering comments about their religious faith in public but I do mind the government interfering in a woman’s right to choose – if for no other reason than it is not the government’s business what a women does with her own reproductive organs. Mankind should be left the free-agency to make his or her own mistakes with regard to abortion or even cloning. I do not believe however, that the government should pay for any assistance in these matters – either for the poor or anyone else. That is not the role of government either, in my opinion. This single issue it seems to me is what defines the current American cultural debate and is one factor that has led to the polarization of our nation. Another factor has been the issue of black bigotry and the civil rights struggles that began in earnest during the 1960’s. I don’t think that any other single issues predispose these with perhaps the exceptions of the death penalty and the right to die by one’s own hands. And, each of these matters is basically a philosophical and religious argument – hence the profound nature of the discourse. Remember the word RELIGIOUS because that is what is also going on with respect to clashing civilizations.

The anger between politicians has grown exponentially in just the last year. The polarization between political parties has grown – almost immeasurably. The HATE is even infiltrating the members of the same political parties as their caucuses become polarized among themselves. The media now refers to the left and right branches of both political parties. Democrats Kennedy and Lieberman are at odds over the direction the party should take – one moderate and the other socialistic. The same can be said of Republicans McCain and Lott – one centrist and one religious zealot. I wonder if the GREAT DIVIDE is only going to widen and further alienate politicians, nations and certainly individuals.

Here follows another divisive cultural phenomenon that just adds to the overflowing bucket of HATE.

I have always disliked the hyphenating of names and descriptions. Things like African-American, Irish-American, Asian-American, Mexican-American and other similar distinctions make me sick to my stomach. Such “handles” only further divide what we all should be grateful for – to be American citizens – replete with all of our liberties and freedoms. But no – we’re not content with that. Now we want to divide ourselves into neat little sub-categories that make about as much sense as eating fried dirt. I suppose that there will emerge a Moderate Republican and Centrist Democratic parties and their newest counterparts – the Psychotic Democratic and the Pontificating Republican parties. Instead of TWO political parties slugging it out – we will be forced to endure FOUR political parties slugging it out. That delirium sounds nightmarish to me.

Since about the 1992 presidential election, these general modest versus progressive discussions have escalated into an unbelievable divide that has begun to split our society into a religious versus progressive secularist movement. In the 1850’s people referred to it as the God Fearing against the Heathens. Since the majority of Americans profess to be Christians (82%) and the socialist-progressives only represent about 8% of our cultural makeup, the guys on the lower end of this spectrum must necessarily resort to all sorts of bad behavior in order to get things going their way. And, they do. The ACLU and both print and broadcast media have been a big help to these people. I firmly believe that academia is at the root of this movement. The problem with academia, as I have pointed out before, is that the individuals who call themselves intellectuals have little or no common sense when it comes to most social matters. Einstein was brilliant but also extremely socially naive. Former president Jimmy Carter was a nuclear scientist but he will go down in history as the most naive and inept president of all time. I personally have found that most intellectuals are naive when it comes to geopolitics and especially religion. Intellectuals are full of themselves and I’ve never really known an intellectually elitist person that wasn’t self consumed with their own brilliance. This unfortunate character flaw may cause otherwise brilliant people to make utterly unsound decisions when it comes to personal and social matters. If I was a betting man I would say that it is in our genes. Perhaps the genes that gift a person’s ability to memorize academic facts also predispose their brains to fail at recognizing social consequences, formulating common sense arguments and accepting of a religious faith.

Now, don’t laugh at that last statement – in their genes. Don’t be so quick to discount my thesis. Here’s the basis for it. It all stems from the word HATE and the degree to which too many people now prescribe. It’s not enough to disagree with someone these days – one must HATE their opponents in order to WIN the discourse. And, I’m not kidding. I recently stared transfixed at my television screen when I witnessed one senator (T. Kennedy – Mass) almost turn bright red from anger as he spat forth his opposition to a Supreme Court nominee. I though for a moment that he might actually die from a heart attack right there – live on CSPAN. It was a disgrace. I believe that if he had access to a machine gun he might have used it to make some hideous personal statement. He was as ANGRY as anyone I have ever seen in my lifetime. In my opinion that level of anger is fueled by HATE for no other emotion can generate such an outburst – except a person’s religious emotions. Now, I believe that our emotional makeup is all connected to our genetic predisposition to such things. Psychosis is only a matter of degree. Well, to make a long story short, I believe that the emotional rationalization of HATE is being manifest at much greater levels than ever before on a world wide scale. Demonetization – HATE exposed, is rampant these days. Muslims worldwide went on burning rampages when the Danish press published a cartoon showing the face of their prophet Mohammad. This spontaneous outburst all over the world seems to show me that the world is standing on the precipice of a global confrontation in the earth’s largest religious battle ever in the history of all mankind. Historical religious wars never reached the capacity of today’s war machines and when the mix is stirred with HATE (which it is) there is no telling where things will end up. Unfortunately, it is happening and escalating at an alarming rate – in terms of years, not decades or centuries. In fact, I can make a case that HATE is growing (metastasizing) in terms of months and not even years.

One-upmanship is rampant and very corrosive when it comes to entire groups of people. It’s bad enough when I see individuals always vying for the biggest and best prize but when I see entire cultures doing it, I get very frightened. You can substitute almost anything you want into the word PRIZE. It seems that when entire cultures do it, wars and bad things usually follow. For example, GANGS are increasing their strengths in our culture – indeed the world’s cultures. The Russian gangs are among the worlds most ruthless and they have many members who reside in America. The so-called Mexican MS-13 Gang is getting about as ruthless as the Russians and local cells exist in cities all across our nation. Gangs rule all prisons – not wardens. I used to think that the Hell’s Angels were a bad-spirited group of outlaws. Heck, they are choir boys when it comes to the Russians, Vietnamese, and Mexican and Chinese gangs. And, these gangs are growing in numbers far faster than our local law enforcement can keep up with corralling them. I imagine that someday soon anarchy may actually be the norm and I will be haunted in my grave for my grandchildren’s sake. I wonder where law-abiding citizens will come down on these gangs when law enforcement can no longer protect them. Will the citizenry become more vicious than the current gangs who break the law?

Now, let me consider world events in this blabbering.

Today in the spring of 2006, the conflict in the Middle East is ongoing and our troops are still fighting the terrorist insurgency and former Bath’ists in Iraq. And, no one knows how this adventure will end. Islamist extremists are among the ANGRIEST and most HATE filled people I have ever heard about. And, it’s no wonder. The people who practice the Muslim faith have been hoodwinked and ruled over by a group of false and evil clerics who only want to remain in power. These few unrighteous clerics rule over a huge population of ignorant (purposely kept that way) and poor people who have no clue what freedom is all about. They basically eek out a meager existence and mostly live in squalor and mediocrity. They have little reason to be happy and their misery is escalating with every jealous day they exist. The Shiites in Iran are in simpatico with the Shiites in Iraq and that is the majority population of both nations. Once again, even the Muslims (Kurdish and Shiites factions) fight with one another because of their own polarizations and differences. It would be like the First and Second Baptists in America going to war with each other and is no different then the fight between the Catholics in Britain and the Protestants in Ireland. Yet another prime example of growing differences among a cultural group. Maybe soon everybody will be so busy fighting among themselves that there won’t be any chance of wars among nations. Yeah, sure! If the Shiites in Iran and Iraq ever merge into a single nation state the world may witness a huge cultural clash that could bring about destruction upon the earth like none other ever caused by man. The hate-filled Islamic nations now have access to the power of the atom and those kinds of bombs can cause a whole heap of damage.

The current Iranian government is being chided by the west for its plunge into nuclear weapons material manufacturing and it just might be necessary for more bombs to be dropped in the middle-east zone. Who knows how this will unite suicide bombers. I once thought it very dicey that Iran might lob a small tactical nuclear weapon into Iraq’s so-called Green Zone and kill 20,000 American troops stationed there. They would vaporize in a nanosecond. If George Bush is President he would probably pulverize Iran for such an egregious act of barbarism. That might cause a war between Arabs (Muslims) and the Western Nations that would make World War II seem like a picnic. India and Pakistan both have nuclear bombs and the missiles to send them almost anywhere in the region.  They are predominantly Islamic Muslims. Israel and Jordan are always in their cross-hairs. I guess what I am saying is that with all of these possibilities sitting at the precipice, why in God’s name are so many politicians fighting over so many mundane things right here at home? Why isn’t our war with radical Islam consuming their every thought and action? I suspect if politicians had behaved the way they do today when World War II was being fought – it is likely that the world would be speaking Hitler’s German even today. I hope that I am making my point quite clearly. These are indeed thought-provoking times. Only God Almighty and history knows what the outcome will be.

My footnote to this is sort of weird but it further exemplifies a DIVIDE that causes me concern. This is the divide between scientists and theologians. While I am convinced that this fits into my academia arguments made earlier, there are those who state that since mankind evolved over eons from a gooey slime mold in some primordial mud puddle, there is no such thing as Intelligent Design – in other words our God. Here is why the scientific argument is absurd. In the first instance, what man can possibly understand God’s plan? I submit not one – ever. Who cares if evolution is absolutely undeniable? That has nothing to do with ignoring Intelligent Design. Evolution is simply one of God’s designs and while we may seek to understand the implications of it, we shouldn’t be so arrogant as to think we will ever understand exactly why God chose this method to create LIFE. I find evolutionary science to be fascinating but I never once would deny that God’s hands are all over it. In fact, as I have learned over the years, our existence is most certainly the result of a God All Mighty that created ALL matter and ALL science and ALL unknowns. The cosmos and all of its very microscopic matter could never have spontaneously popped into existence. It is far too complex to even suppose that for a microsecond. The arrogance and hubris of our so-called brainiacs (scientists) who deny God only demonstrate to me how ignorant they really are. I agree that that may make me sound like a moron but I can only state what I believe. Finally, I remember meeting Dr. Carl Sagan, the famous Cornell University astronomer in person one time and I was not that impressed with him because of his idiotic statements that seemed to deny a Supreme Being. He also stated firmly that he believed that a BILLION planets populated the cosmos and all were inhabited by creatures much smarter than humans. That pretty much states his position on Christianity (as I have written before). Unfortunately, this otherwise brilliant scientist and communicator ended up like so many of his colleagues in his denial that there was an Intelligent Design to our existence. Now, he is dead. I wonder what shock became drawn upon his soul to discover otherwise.

I leave a simple admonition to my heirs. Don’t ever think you are so smart that you can deny God. That is just entirely too stupid and your genetic predisposition should not allow it.

I once wrote a blabbering about my nifty MUTERIZER – an electronic device that could be used to MUTE the sound of all commercials on both radios and televisions. It is a simple idea in concept but broadcasters have done a lot of tinkering to make it difficult and expensive to accomplish the feat. Even if I could develop such a device I mused that it would be next to impossible to get anyone to market it, let alone advertise it for sale. It has the same impact as discovering a way to turn plain water into unlimited energy – thus ruining the oil and gas industry in the blink of the eye.

So, for a long time I have wondered what would happen – to the entire human race – if I could develop a small, hand-held, battery operated, fool-proof lie detector.

Deception is a uniquely human trait. While some animals are adept at using deception to lure other animals into their traps, humans use language to deceive each other. Of course, humans use all sorts of techniques to deceive each other but it is language and perhaps chemistry that will be at the center of my new device.

I envision a device that can analyze speech and determine if a person is lying – 100% of the time. The voice-stress analyzers that are already available can sometimes determine if a person is being deceptive but they are less than 30% effective and getting false-positives can ruin a personal relationship. After all, calling someone a liar is a pretty good way to ruin a relationship if not get a bloody nose for the action. Even polygraphs are not fool-proof so the results of an examination are not even allowed in courts. The device I envision might also analyze specific proteins that might get expelled out of a person’s mouth as they are talking. So, it would have two or even more tests to determine without a doubt that a person were being deceptive but it would still be small enough to be completely portable. Obviously anyone who would NOT allow their self to be confronted by this device could be deemed to be a liar from the very start. Their conversations would be rendered MOOT so whatever they might have to speak would never be heard by any reasonable person.

Now, just think what would happen to us if such a device were perfected and made available for $9.95 to everyone who wanted one. How would interpersonal relationships ever get started? How many friendships would be dissolved? How many governments would be destroyed? What would happen to our legal system, no longer in need of a prosecutor and jury and even judge? I am reminded of the movie Liar, Liar in which the main character was prevented from telling even a subtle lie. His life became a nightmare. I wonder if any human could live a life without embellishing the truth on occasion. Somehow, like all things, God must have figured this out before He even created us. I suspect that my detector will be impossible to build for this reason alone – although I think it is more advisable to try than sending men to Mars. Looking for life on other planets seems to be a dumb-ass waste of money to me. Other than giving some academics a means to play (or deny) God I can see no benefit to looking for little green creatures on Cereous Nauseous. To me this unadvised adventure is a huge waste of resources but that is another rambling in my fuzzy brain.

I guess that almost any person can envision what might happen to the human race if my device became a common appliance. I’m certain that life, as we now know it, would come to a screeching halt. Even parent-child relationships would change, abruptly. The ability to develop friendships would also probably come to an end. However, it may be possible for certain people to congregate under a banner of absolute truth. Perhaps the analyzer could be fine-tuned to discern between the types of deception and we could accept some as normal behavior. But, I doubt it. Some people lie to protect their own shortcomings and not as a way to gain an advantage over another. Some people lie to achieve power and wealth. Some people lie to hide their inner devils. People tell untruths for a myriad of reasons and “thinkers” since the dawn of man have been trying to understand all of the whys, wherefores and whatnot’s in order to understand the human mind. Perhaps it is a biological flaw but I rather suspect that it is a weakness that causes people to be dishonest. Flip Wilson always said, “The devil made him do it” and that may, in fact, be the real truth. I suppose that people lie for a gazillion reasons and there are probably more lies inside than the truth at all levels.

A gadget like I want to build is probably not in the cards – at least until science can learn how to analyze absolutely every possible combination of protein in the human body. The actual chemistry of humanity might just be the holy-grail of science and religion as an all-in-one answer to a God-Particle. But, I’m not so sure that mankind will ever be given the opportunity to discover such a device. Astrophysicists seek the God-Particle in the structure of sub-atomic particles. Theologians seek the God-Particle in the philosophy of the mind. Environmentalists and naturalists seek the God-Particle among the lower plants and animals scurrying about on and under the earth. Maybe the God-Particle is found in absolute truth – wherever it is discovered.

For some reason I just don’t see the “truth” as an important human trait anymore. I’ll bet that every advertisement is steeped in untruths. I’ll be that no political leader can speak the absolute truth anymore. Most of us harbor inner thoughts that we probably wouldn’t want the rest of the world to know. What makes this so strange is that most people have the same thoughts as we do. We try to hide them – either because we fear what others might think of us or because we think our thoughts are so unusual when in fact they are probably commonplace among cultures.

Even though my little detector is probably not possible (at least for awhile) perhaps you can think about yourself and how untruths impact your own life. People tell you lies and you lie back to them. Most of us have an inner voice that tells us to beware untruths but we can simply NOT be absolutely truthful – no matter how hard we may try. We all know an outright lie when we hear it but many of us can not discern subtle untruths. Often we act on what we hear and sometimes the deceit causes us to go awry ourselves. Most of us withhold the truth rather than tell a fat one. While that may not be the same as a outright deception it can often lead to misunderstanding. Even the act of embellishing the truth can be deceptive. Maybe it makes a story more interesting to say that the fish we caught was 30 inches and 20 pounds but if it was only a 10 inch, 4-pounder our veracity comes in doubt. And, that can cause us grief as well. Our friends will begin to wonder what else we lie about.

I’ve been watching the way my kids and friends react when I say that we are in a war between righteousnessand unrighteousness. I’m pretty sure that they react as if I am making some sort of religious statement – using almost Biblicalwords. It occurred to me that I have used those two words throughout many of my blabberings and I wanted to set things straight, regarding them, once and for all. I once did the same thing for my favorite word Goober.

When I use these words I am describing a very simple concept – rightand wrong. But, since right and wrong seem to me to be words that have completely lost their original meaning, I refer to this human condition using older (almost Renaissance) words to describe the same thing. As you know, I believe that lawyers have hijacked right and wrong and turned them into countless degrees of right and wrong. One thing for sure, they do not use my word choices to write their laws and so I feel more comfortable saying that we (all mankind) are in a war being waged between righteousnessand unrighteousness.

Well, you might be saying to yourself, “So what’s new!” Since mankind has always been locked in a battle between doing the right thing or the wrong thing you’re telling me that this struggle is not new. I can partly agree with you but here is where I believe the struggle can be annotated in contemporary times. Right now (August 2004) Americans (all 300-million of us) are witnessing an escalation of evil metastasize all around the world and even here at home. Radical Islamic fanatics are hurling their hatred directly at us (mostly Christian’s) as well as at their own cultural brethren in order to overtake the world in some cleric-run theocracy. These killers believe that they are acting on Allah’s behalf because that is what they have been taught all their miserable lives. Their fervor is all too real. I believe that the goons who lead these poor souls (Mullahs, Ayatollahs, Bin Laden and his ilk) are guilty of following Satin’s every wish. These so-called clerics have waged a war on civilization as we know it here in America and Western Europe knows it over there. Theocratic dictatorships like those that exist in Iran as well as other dictatorships like those in Syria, Libya, Sudan, Palestine, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to mention a few will always fail. The dynamics of such cultures can not sustain itself for very many generations. On the other hand, even democracies have changing dynamics and are just as susceptible to failure. I believe that our American Democracy is in peril.

The evil unrighteousness of Mullahs and Ayatollahs are not the only examples of right and wrong that I can think of. I’ve written extensively about the evil and corrupt government agencies in our entire nation, the failures of our legal system and even the corrupt corporate greed that seems to thrive and exist to this very day. In my short lifetime I have seen the curtain of unrighteousness descend upon America like a smothering blanket of doom. Today, it appears to me as if it may destroy America – at least the America I have known for over 60-years. And, that scares me because I love my grandchildren so very, very much. I worry about what they are inheriting and I shudder to think that I may have been responsible for leaving my country in such a mess. I can only hope and pray that I haven’t been the cause of adding yet another level of unrighteousness to the fabric of our society. Terrorism, however, is certainly not the only form of unrighteousness expressing itself these days.

As a brief overview of my conclusions let me itemize (another of my lists) where I believe a visible negative change in human behavior can be currently witnessed.

1. While more and more people attend church services these days (all denominations), our culture is becoming increasingly debase – in its acceptance of evil – not just vulgarity. We have countless examples ranging from the multiple legal definitions of murder to simple, childish video games. Our legal system has pretty much eliminated common sense from our lexicon. Contemporary morality is very suspect. As I have said, “Thou shalt not murder”doesn’t mean 20 different definitions of murder – to wit, first, second, third degree, premeditated, justified homicide, 1^st and 2^nd degree manslaughter, etc., etc.” Legal arguments have somehow usurped common sense. Unfortunately, legal arguments often have flawed reasoning in the full-glare of sunlight and the same flawed reasoning has permeated the halls of congress. It’s as if the legal language of MUMBO-JUMBO has fed upon itself to the detriment of common sense arguments and reasoning. In my opinion, the accumulative weight of our nation’s laws is causing our cultural floor to fail – not unlike other great civilizations of history.

2. Perhaps our churches are failing us as well. Remember the Catholic Priest scandals of homosexual abuse. I’ve often said, “How can so many people who call themselves Christians belong to so many different families with so many differing ideologies based on a single, glorious event – the birth and crucifixion of our Messiah?” Unfortunately, too many unrighteous men have gotten in the way between a man’s individual soul and God Almighty. For this reason I am reluctant to subscribe to any particular religion based on Christ. I can study religious literature quite well all by myself.

3. Teenagers have become mass murderers. I never heard of such things because they never happened before. Oh, of course, teenagers have murdered before – probably since man has existed – but there have never been cases where teenagers went to their schools and killed as many of their classmates as they could – all at random. In Florida – in the last week – four teenagers were arrested for killing six of their acquaintances using aluminum baseball bats to bludgeon their victims to death. A bullet for these murderers was not an option because they wanted to hurt their victims as much as they could. Torture is what these teen aged killers wanted to accomplish and they certainly did. Personal sensitivities are hardening and there are probably several direct causes – not the least of which can be found lurking in our nation’s entertainment industry. A lone gunman shot and killed his classmates at a Virginia college. Another gunman shot, killed and wounded several people attending a morning political rally in Arizona. A father shot and killed his whole family before taking his own life. Mass killings just seem to be escalating.

4. Mothers kill their own children. Fathers kill their own children. Fathers kill their pregnant wives. The incidence of these crimes has increased according to statistical analysis. I wonder why?

5. In Israel, Palestinian suicide bombers mass murder innocent people by the scores. In Iraq, suicide bombers are blowing up our troops as well as innocent civilians. In Saudi Arabia, suicide bombers are blowing up mosques and office buildings trying to kill as many innocents as they can. In the Sudan, suicide bombers blow up embassies and night clubs. In Yemen, suicide bombers blew up an American warship. In America, 19 suicidal murderers flew 3-hijacked airplanes into buildings and 1-hijacked plane into a field in Pennsylvania killing over 3,000 innocent people. Suicidal Islamic fanatics blow themselves up for untenable causes – all over the world. The incidence of these crimes has increased according to statistical analysis. It has been said that as many as 50% of all Islamic people HATE western civilization and concur with what terrorists are doing. That means that 500-million people HATE me and they don’t even know me. The remaining 500-million fear their unrighteous clerics.

6. All levels of our government, from the local precincts and school boards to the nation’s capitol, are corrupt beyond anyone’s ability to comprehend. Money is misappropriated (stolen) at all levels of government. Politicians write tax laws that are so complex that no single person can interpret them. They also write laws that protect their individual political powers as well as lessen their large contributor’s tax burdens. Political compromise is nothing more than a shakedown of one or the other in the political argument. Everything about politics is all about power. And, everything about politics is bought and paid for. Our entire governmental authority is operated by and overseen by unrighteous people by the thousands. It is even said that righteous employees are soon drummed out of a job by their unrighteous contemporaries.

7. It seems that vial, personal-attacks and character assassination, political pandering, outright lying and even sabotage prop up the election cycles that currently ply their way through our democracy. Decency is always overlooked and those seeking political office toss righteousness right out the door. This goes on within your local precincts all the way to the presidency of the country. What makes me sick is that almost all of us (citizens) know this and yet we won’t do a darn thing to stop it. We keep electing the best liars. It is all so absurd. Remember Watergate and/or Monika Lewinski? The urge to attain and maintain power is what I believe drives a politician 95% of the time. And, the old axiom “absolute power corrupts absolutely” could not be more truthful. In my opinion, people who do everything they can do to gain “power” (over this or that) are a failed human being. One who seeks “power” is often consumed with achieving their goals. They can easily overlook unrighteousness and they become very stingy with the truth.

8. Individual responsibility seems to be a lost human character. We blame everyone else for our failures. We sue anyone who even remotely harms us. Young people are picking all of this up and it wouldn’t surprise me if someday personal responsibility is usurped by the federal government. By this I mean, you’ll be incarcerated (or worse) if you don’t tow the line. Americans are slowly being stripped of their free-agency in all sorts of ways. Usually, laws are what take away a person’s free agency – the ability to do what one pleases. It begins in little ways until the day comes that people are totally enslaved. That is the human condition. There will always be those who believe that their way is the only way and if you do not agree they will gain power over you and force you to behave the way they say and the ONLY WAY they say.  I just believe that we all need to accept personal responsibility and the fewer things our government does the better. As I previously said, the Republicans want to tell me how to live my life and the Democrats want to tax me to pay for it. Who knows how much longer this can last? I hope to God my grandchildren will take control over this sociological meltdown looming just ahead.

9. Part of this battle between good and evil is the fight for secularism to become the norm in America. Secularism is trying to replace the Judeo-Christian philosophy upon which America was founded and has arisen. I’m sure you have read my treatments of the Gore-Bush presidential election of 2000. I have blabbered on and on about the 50/50 tie between our cultural political philosophies. One-half of us vote as Democrats and one-half of us vote as Republicans. For me, this statistical fact is astonishing – almost magic – almost inconceivable. How in the world did 130-million voting people, spread out over all the land, manage to cast an equal “anything”in terms of those huge numbers – let alone our presidential selection preferences? In my opinion, unless this equality of concept changes, America will atrophy. In my opinion, anarchists are attempting to take control of our political and cultural agenda. They reason that anyone should be allowed to do anything they please anytime they wish to do it – as long as it doesn’t physically harm another person. This means tossing out many long held beliefs about many things and it is starting with removing our God from the national dialog. The current sociological renderings of our courts have ripped God from our traditional cultural base philosophies. I assure you that immorality is sure to follow closely behind and I don’t want to see our country enter such a horrible period in its history – indeed even its own demise.

10. I sort of think that this cultural tie thing is blinding us to a lot of other insidious goings-on. While we keep our political eye on the next divisive thing, we forget that the secularists are forging onward in their desire to alter America forever. We are fighting over non-issues in the grand scheme of things. Saying a prayer in school isn’t the issue. The issue is instead why we ever got to this point in the first place. In our zeal to be “fair” to everyone, no one will achieve fairness. It’s crazy to think that we can give up all of our decency and remain a great power and global influence. The basic argument of secularists is essentially flawed in the light of pure reason – sunshine is the best disinfectant. Civil disorder will become the name of the game when all restraints to civility are gone. If anyone believes that mankind will act righteously when the “chains of civility” are removed – he or she is misguided at best and downright wicked at the worst. Our nation’s original laws were written to afford citizens the right to privacy and to live in a society that is based on a set of universal laws of fairness and decency. Our nation was never meant to be a culture free from the restraints of civility, order and decency. In my humble opinion, secularism is of, by and for the devil and we should all cast a wary eye at anyone or anything pushing or supporting that agenda. And, that certainly includes those who vote to remove Christian icons from public places. The separation of state and religion is NOT what their agenda is all about and if you believe that it is then you are sorely misguided in your thoughts and I urge you to reconsider after additional thought and contemplation.

11. I believe that the morals that have always held this country in check are inexorably falling into further depravity, like leaves in a chilly fall breeze. I also believe that the incidence (growth) of unrighteousness is growing in a quantum way. It is breeding on itself and probably has the capability to engulf the entire globe – rapidly. If you – the person reading this right this second – don’t understand this unholy relationship between unrighteousness and the devil, I truly believe that you are somehow doomed. Greed, which was so blatantly exposed in the corporate scandals of the first few years at the turn of the 21^st century, is certainly alive and well in the boardrooms across our land. I’m pretty sure that the greed for power exists in our military and congress as well. Greed always leads to unrighteous behavior. Sometimes it is exposed and sometimes it festers just below the threshold of visibility. It is dangerous if left unexposed.

12. I also believe that the judicial branch of government has gone astray. Unrighteous judges are trying to “create” law from the bench to support their own, personal ideologies. The framers of the Constitution said that only Congress shall make laws. They did this for a reason. Legislators are elected, judges are usually appointed for a lifetime. There is no way to remove a judge, short of impeachment. Judges who try to make law are unrighteous people. In many ways this concerns me as much as the terrorists do. Run-away judges, unless removed by popular outcries, can wreak havoc on our representative form of government. In fact, left alone it can totally destroy it.

13. I’ve witnessed young people admire filthy-mouthed individuals and denounce true heroes. Current lyrics to some contemporary music are nasty and debase. The words demonize women and empower filth mongers. It seems to me that personal sensitivities have turned completely upside down. I’m not a fuddy-duddy and few things really make me mad. But, the filth being exported into our children’s ears (and minds) is horrible and I am convinced that it will have a lasting and profound change on our culture.  It doesn’t take a learned person to understand the difference between right and wrong. Fortunately, the majority of people are not psychopaths without conscience. However, many are. Making a personal decision to do something that you know just isn’t right usually makes folks uneasy and somewhat regretful. But, it can get easier and easier to do and end up where a good person takes the wrong path and will suffer greatly for their poor decision. It is not as easy to detect evil when it comes camouflaged in high-priced rhetoric and so we are easily deceived by evil doers. I feel so sorry for people who end up following some man or woman who spits out their own brand of religious or political garbage and suck in the weak minded who will not make the effort to learn the truth for themselves. Too many good people are fooled by scoundrels. And, the only reason that it is possible is that these weak people wouldn’t go out and make the effort to learn things for themselves. It is my belief that most people who are not practicing Christianity (like the Islamists, Buddhists, Hindus and others) are duped all their lives by clerics who are of, by and for the devil. I can also say the same thing about any religious person that will not seek the truth through quiet prayer but who seeks their answers from some preacher or cleric to explain the spiritual things to them.

14. I am concerned about poor parenting in America. As I have gotten older I have contemplated the things that I have done during my life that were worthwhile and not so worthwhile. By far, my most important accomplishment is that I fathered, nurtured and taught both a daughter and a son. I’m not talking about my lineages here. I am only referring to the fact that I was responsible for two lives and that for the most part I have done my best to raise them and prepare them for assuming their own lives as adults. There is no doubt that in this task I stumbled many times over the years. However, today they are adults that I am proud to know and love. Hopefully the things I taught them will help them properly nurture my grandchildren. Unfortunately, in these times, I see the results of people who brought children into this world only to desert them to live a life unfulfilled and unproductive. Serious crimes (mass murder) have increased while petty crime has been reduced. Unrighteous, child-bearing adults leave a scar on our culture that will always be visible. As I see it, one of the most important tasks in a person’s life is to bring forth children and prepare them thereafter to lead peaceful and worthwhile lives. This is a pretty profound lifelong task in my opinion. It continues to transcend generation after generation.

I’m certain that yet another of my lists could go on and on but these are the things that came to mind. Make no mistake about it – we are embattled in a real war. It doesn’t have fixed military zones. The war is being waged everywhere – even in our own neighborhoods and perhaps even in our own homes. The battlegrounds in Iraq and Afghanistan are but two places where the heat of the battle is being waged. But, it is also being waged in your city, state and national governments – in every agency and department thereof. When a hazy, blur camouflages truth and individuals begin the path to unrighteousness, it will likely flourish and grow unto itself like a cancer. Unless the righteous people of earth grab hold of the arguments I am making, I would guess that things can only get worse. At some point in time a tightly coiled spring will unravel and maybe our culture will explode. What a shame if that happens because it is all so unnecessary. I urge you to keep a close eye peeled on your elected officials while you can. The freedom to do so may one day be taken away from you. Watch to see if your representatives are wise and righteous. Maintain a keen awareness of national laws – those that are written and for whom they are written and targeted.

So, whether you agree with my choice of words or not, right and wrong are the issue. This is not debatable nor can it be rendered into unending levels of degree. A righteous person may not always be the smartest person you’ve ever met but they will always be closer to the truth than one who is unrighteous. Think about that.

If you are reading this and can name the first American to walk in space then we probably have some things in common. Perhaps it is only our age that gives us commonality. But, it also probably has a lot to do with our interests. I asked Betty the same question and while she could remember the names of some of the earliest astronauts, she missed the correct name of our first space walker. I then asked her to name the lead actor who played in the movie Wizard of Ozand she could name almost all of them. I only knew 2 of the actor’s names so her interests lay somewhere else than mine. In fact, I did not read the book and I’ve never even watched the entire movie during my lifetime and it is ostensibly a classic. It was an utterly stupid story to me as a child, teenager, adult and old geezer. As I have often written, reading fantasy (someone else’s fantasy) is a huge waste of valuable time. Getting drawn into a novel is very, very rare for me. I admit to reading a couple of Michael Creighton’s novels as well as Verne, Wells and George Orwell’s. I vividly remember being almost forced to read the Hardy Boy’s Adventure’s that were far inferior to my own vivid imagination as a boy. It really requires intense believability to attract my interest. The same goes for movies, in my opinion. Gooey, man-eating blobs and little bug-eyed aliens from the planet Cereous Nauseous do not amuse me. In fact, the last amusement I got from a fictional film was when I was in the 7^th grade and watched Lash Larue take on a pack of horse thieves. Ever since then I have only read non-fiction books, journals and articles. I even cringed when I was taking English Literature and was forced to read Hamlet, Othelloand other Shakespearian works. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales was pure torture. When I read and studied Plato’s Republic, I was enthralled and lapped-up every word. Although I really wasn’t a scholar, I was enamored with his philosophy and treatment of his society. These types of writings seem to express my interests and disinterests pretty well. Before I forget, it was Ed White who first took a space walk for America and he came close to dying because he couldn’t get back into the small capsule after swelling his space suit in the vacuum of space.

Voracious readers of novels have often argued with me that I am missing out on a great deal of enjoyment. I disagree. I can make the same case for people who only read fiction. The only dose of non-fiction they get is from the morning newspaper. Even voracious readers of specific historical eras, like Civil War buffs and World War I and II experts often tell me I am missing out on some great stuff. I disagree. I can speak knowledgeably about World War II and the Korean War, only because I have watched a million reels of original war films and from living through some of the experiences – Victory Gardens and scrap recycling as examples. I studied the American Civil War in both grade school and college so I have a smidgen of knowledge about it as well. I’m just not turned-on by the minutia of it all. I don’t care about famous civil war generals anymore than I care about famous Korean War generals. My interest lies in the big picture of why society fought the war in the first place and what cultural changes transpired following the end of the wars. Just like the early space missions from Mercury to Gemini to Apollo, I grew up during these periods of space activity. I read and watched everything I could about the entire space pursuit. Of course, I am also a voracious reader of space technical journals and articles and love to watch NASA TV on my cable television hookup. So, it isn’t unusual to find me reading. It is quite unusual to catch me reading fiction.

I fully understand that many people do not have very vivid imaginations. They cannot amuse themselves in thought alone. They require an outside influence to cause their imaginations to begin churning. It takes another’s words to influence (prime) their imaginations. Well, for folks like me, it doesn’t require any imaginative influence whatsoever for us to be totally consumed with our own thoughts. I can easily, within minutes, create a complete fictional novel in my own mind, complete withc olor visions of specific scenes and the faces of my characters – practically storyboards. It is not only vividly interesting to me, it will also be a story filled with scientifically explained features and glitter – part fiction and part nonfiction. Each has a beginning, middle and end. If given the talent of a fictional writer I believe that I could have written many hundreds of pretty interesting novels in my lifetime. If you are like me, you know what I am talking about. If you are not like me, then you’re probably calling me a liar about now. Before you criticize me for not reading novels, I think you would do better to look at yourself and discern the reason that you read them at all. Then ask yourself, what do I really contribute? I really get miffed at the so-called intellectually elite who froth over popular novels and hold little book clubs to discuss the author’s meanings ad nausea. What the heck does that nonsense contribute? Of course it contributes absolutely nothing. What these people need to do is go write their own stories or invent something on their own. Because they are so intellectual, they can’t. I’ve known many people like this. I consider them as dumb as a rock. All that they have to relate to is a myriad of another author’s descriptions of life. They have no visions of their (absolute) own. Sorry for being so uppity. I do understand, however, that reading – even novels – can be rewarding as well as a learning experience of the fullness of life. Even if it is a vision by another, people can interpret it as they wish and often gain a greater understanding of many things. I’m just not among those people, I’m sorry to say. I’m a moron.

I realize that the preceding paragraphs are pretty simplistically stated. But, I wanted to keep it simple so that I wouldn’t get lost in the descriptions and analogy. I am not demeaning those who read novels anymore than I am enhancing my own position. I’ve always said that it takes all kinds of people to make up our world. I’m just one, little bitty type, of which I’m sure you are grateful. What has me blabbering is the fact that I recently came into contact with a self-classified, intellectually elite person who chastised me for not reading novels. I held back my fury for courtesy sake but I wanted to unload on him and this writing tirade was instead a great outlet for my pent up rage (hee hee). Like I said, if you’re anything like me you will fully understand my position. If however, you read a lot of novels, you will never understand me and you’re probably thinking that I really must think a lot of myself. Well guess what, you’re right on. Get over it. Something tells me that we will never build robots that sit around all day reading novels and running down their batteries. If we are going to use robots, they will necessarily need to be useful. Reading drivel isn’t useful, is it? Well maybe. Since some people are so devoid of an imagination, reading is a way to begin to understand things. Reading cheap romance novels may teach someone how to behave in a relationship. However, any relationship based on a cheap romance novel is doomed from the start, in my opinion. Reading about space-goobers from Cereous Nauseous will teach someone how to interact with nothing. Reading a mystery novel may scare the pants off of someone who can’t personally conceive of a crazed-killer, chain sawing into pieces and then consuming the body parts of some unsuspecting and innocent victim. That sort of thing, and even weirder stuff is child’s play for me. I don’t need to read someone else’s stupid plot when I can make my own up in nanoseconds. From what I know about his novels, Stephen King hasn’t got a thing on my own imagination – fortunately or unfortunately.

I read to learn most of the time. If I need to know something, I look it up and learn what I want to know. If I can’t locate literature I may experiment – much like I have done with electronic circuits all of my life. In order to understand binary digital logic circuits, I bread boarded up many hundreds of specialized circuits like flip-flops, comparators, adders, etc. I did the same things with tube circuits back in the fifties and sixties. (K5FNW- My Ham Radio Hobby) I needed to know how to build a building and so I read books on architecture and then designed and drew the plans for my own buildings. I oversaw the construction to make sure things were done the way I understood they should be done. If I found contractors making mistakes or cutting corners I did what any good architect would do and have them fix it right away. My entire life has been led (and directed) by common sense. I guess that’s why I have such a gripe with lawyers and the phenomenon of political correctness. Both, to me, are the antithesis of common sense. The negatives are numerous when you do things like I do them. You’ll likely never get past the moron category. You’ll certainly never be an expert at anything. Before going on I owed you that.

As you know, one thing that has me concerned at this time is the cultural-morality change (decline in my opinion) in America. There is a fast-rising movement, born and nurtured at Berkley, California (and elsewhere) of total FREEspeech and freedom to do anything that doesn’t harm others – take drugs for example. In total abandonment of common sense, new-age intellectuals are in favor of allowing anyone to say anything at anytime in anyplace. This of course, can lead to anarchy – a complete lack of order. People who are unable to really think for themselves (young children and morons for example) will lap up this free-drivel stuff to the max until it catches up with them as adults. Personal behavior will no longer be a standard on which to judge someone. In addition, this same cultural change pretty much allows for freedom of individual movement, individual choice without regard to anyone else’s position. They would allow someone to smoke marijuana in a public place and blow the smoke into your four-year old daughters face. They would allow a person to appear naked in a public place. They would allow homosexuals to kiss in front of your ten-year old son. They will also allow men to rape children as in NAMBLA and supported by the ACLU. These freedoms will come at a great price if humanity allows such flagrant, in-your-face things to continue. I personally hope that attitudes change and that this foray into total, civil abandonment will not be allowed to continue in America – or anywhere else for that matter. If other countries want to cultivate cultural sewers I recommend that we cut off all cultural ties. This is an illness that has crossed paths with many, many previous civilizations. We should all look to history and deem never to repeat the common failures. America’s founding fathers explicitly wanted God to be a major part of our emerging culture. They knew that morality keeps people in check. They knew it provides for order and discipline. A lack of it results in tyranny.

I wrote earlier about my overall lack of a competitive nature. Of course, anyone reading about my shortcomings may not recognize my conclusive points. I was attempting to say that I have a feeling that COMPETITION, in its purest expression, has probably led to an increase in our cultural unrighteousness. Since I believe that only certain people are born with or achieve a competitive personality, it is this number of people who will continue to make unrighteous decisions. Another certain percentage of people (not particularly competitive) will absorb their unrighteous behavior from those I call competitors simply by watching them. See if you agree with me. People who are extremely competitive (in all facets of life) will do whatever is necessary to win. They will rationalize their unrighteous decisions until the day they die. Some competitors attend church regularly as if to wash off the stench they otherwise feel. Still others will donate 10% of their wealth as tithing in order to buy someone else to wash off the stench. The urge to create wealth causes all sorts of problems. Unless you inherited wealth, you probably work to earn wealth. The only people who seem to succeed in this venture are folks with considerable competitive spirits – drive. It is quite easy for the rest of us to believe that such a person is endowed with great wisdom or drive or competitive spirit. We look up to these paragons of civic wealth – especially if they are very generous in their support of honorable charitable endeavors – and we wish to emulate them.

Perhaps the generation of great wealth of early 20^thcentury tycoons like Vanderbilt, Ford, Edison, Mellon and Carnegie (who were all extremely competitive – win-at-all-costs men) finally evolved into modern-day corporate greed as their grandchildren and great grandchildren matured into latter day CEOs. Their need to succeed turned the hearts and minds of these family members into individual slices of manure. As I wrote earlier, unrighteousness, in all levels of our democracy, is growing like a run-away cancerous tumor. Our government leaders, at all levels of authority, have succumbed to an indefensible urge to do wrong. In so doing, they have stolen the entire land and perhaps the peoples’ free agency as well. In my humble opinion, I believe that the Constitution of the United States is merely hanging by a thread. The original meanings of our forefathers has been so convoluted by amendments and faulty Supreme Court decisions, that I’m not so sure it still has much meaning at all. The Bill of Rights has sure taken a hit during my lifetime. Unless a majority of Americans open their eyes (right now – today) and take an interest in what political groups do, I’m convinced that our culture is in for a big shock and maybe even a total meltdown. Organizations like the ACLU cannot be left alone to decide what the majority of us want by forcing us to accept the wishes of a very few. In my opinion, the ACLU is fighting on the wrong side of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. The ACLU, of course, camouflages their true intents in the rhetoric of freedom. In fact, their goals seem to be the abolition of a democratic society. It seems that they go unchallenged in courts all across our country – mostly because no one wants to pony-up for the defense costs and also because of our total abandonment to accept political correctness.  It is my sincere hope that the ACLU is doomed at some time in the near future. Their activities have begun to sicken me.

These times are no different than those of our fathers and grandfathers. It was competition that drove them to succeed and even get a decent meal. Today, wealth is fairly commonplace in America. Not riches, but quite enough for most of us to lead comfortable lives. We’ve taken our eye off the important things – those controlling things – like our government agencies, banks, CEOs and insurance companies. We sit back and let these things just roll on and on, unchecked for the most part. Well, just think about this, the CEOs of failed Enron and WorldCom, are of the same cut as our politicians. They all were educated in the same (intellectually elite) schools and followed very similar career paths. That alone should give you some pause. From what I know about these giant corporate failures is that the CEOs thought that they were acting in accord to laws spit out by our legislatures. When they got caught, all of a sudden there wasn’t a single politician that told us they were responsible for the whole, sordid affair. They quietly changed the laws (back) to keep the rest of us from catching on. Poor Ken Lay just got caught in the middle of a huge shell game. He will probably go into politics when he gets out of whatever jail he gets put in (if ever). They all have the same competitive tendencies – and they will do anything (ANYTHING) to win. Of course it is all-disgusting, but this is the fact, as I know it to be. I would love to hear any arguments to the contrary of mine.

Athletes, who by definition are competitors, do all sorts of things to gain an advantage and edge on their opponents. Until recent times (1960 or so) I never heard about steroids and other muscle-building drugs but such stuff is commonplace today. True athletes have always trained and trained to the point of personal exhaustion. I’ve even heard that this (limit training) is akin to taking mind-altering drugs as endorphins flood their brain and produce a feeling of euphoria. I guess that like everything else, there is a reasonable limit as to what people should do in order to achieve their own measure of success. Tanya Harding was so consumed to succeed that she had her competitor’s knees whacked with a billy club shortly before their ice skating competition. Ken Lay didn’t need to steal and if he did his company was a fraud in the first place. It was sustained by plain old greed.

While it makes a nifty business model, I never believed that energy (of any kind) should be treated like any other commodity such as wheat, rice and beef. Energy sources are a necessity for all citizens. (Of course, food is too.) Holding citizens hostage to energy is like charging a tax for sunlight. Enron was a business that bought and re-sold electricity and gas that wasn’t yet created or pumped out of the ground. Enron never generated a microwatt of energy or a BTU of gas – they just brokered it. Besides, these “commodities” and other essential services are a requirement for civilized life to continue aren’t they? Take them away and you hold a nation hostage to the whims of a few unrighteous business competitors. The entire state of California found this to be true and fired their Governor Gray Davis for demonstrating his lack of effort to eradicate greed. Because of the enormous decline in moral values, protecting our country’s infrastructure is more important than ever. Leaving all of our lives in the hands of unrighteous competitors (or terrorists) scares the heck out of me. And, they surround us at all levels of our society. Most of the time we are so bitterly fighting and arguing with one another, we don’t recognize the cancer surrounding us. Our ideologically divided culture spends all its time harping on our differences and the current two-party political system is probably more to blame than anything else. As differences get ever wider and more polarized, humans just don’t seem to have the capacity to compromise anymore. If everyone takes a position that it his or her way or the highways, things will only deteriorate. I’ve been watching this for about the past decade and things certainly have gotten worse. This might be our culture-killer.

I’ve been fairly aware of the development of the two-party system since about 1952 – when I first studied civics (Eisenhower election) and asked my Dad what his political affiliation was. I watched the 1960 presidential election cycle with great interest – Kennedy and Nixon – and voted for the first time. I voted for Nixon so what does that tell you about my brains or lack thereof? And, I had the brains to vote for him two more times. While Nixon turned out to be quite a scoundrel, I nevertheless agreed mostly with his public socio-political and defense positions. Since he turned out to be a terrific liar, I still don’t know what his political positions really were. And, I’m not about to go make a scholarly study either. I just believe that we all need to accept personal responsibility and the fewer things our government does the better. As I previously said, the Republicans want to tell me how to live my life and the Democrats want to tax me to pay for it. Who knows how much longer this can last? I hope to God my grandchildren will take control over this sociological meltdown.

Unless we (the people) take back the fundamentals of democracy, amending our culture on the principal of majority rule, I foresee a complete breakdown of our country and our civilization. The separation between popular belief systems will clash in a most uncertain way. It is already clashing in the courts and I’ll bet you that much more of it is yet to come. Even if tort reform happens, there will still be a huge slew of civil litigants embroiled over clashing ideologies – not singular legal issues. Think ACLU here. The 1% of our culture who calls themselves atheists gets the ACLU to fight their battles and blackmail jurists into creating federal law from the bench. The last time I looked, only the legislature can create laws – not the judicial branch of government. Justice can only interpret laws, not make them. That’s written in the Constitution. But, when laws are made from the bench by judges, the people have no way to vote for these lawmakers who are mostly appointed officials. Nowadays, legislators are playing a huge (not just oversight and consent) part in the selection of federal judges. Congress has hijacked the presidential nomination processes for federal judges. I just don’t know why all of us are not screaming our bloody heads off. Our most delicate laws, as prescribed 200 years ago by some very learned people, are slowly being usurped by political unrighteousness. We cannot endure this onslaught of modern, 21^st century legalese. Our most cherished federal laws were good enough for this country for almost two centuries and in the last several decades we all of a sudden discover that our laws are flawed and require re-writing. Hog wash. You better start asking yourself why. This is serious stuff with profound implications for America’s (and your personal) future.

A couple of examples of screwed-up ideologies are (a) Presidents can no longer appoint federal judges of their choice and (b) the word “God” must be removed from all references to/by/for the state. In the first example, Congress just filibusters all Presidential appointees and won’t let an up or down vote to take place and in the second example the ACLU and extremely liberal judges set the tenor of political correctness to which our society must obey. Both of these examples are absurd and yet they are taking place right before our eyes. Neither is democratic. Neither can be sustained. And, neither is righteous. Both of these examples are caused by an illegal interpretation of our Constitution. I’m convinced of this. The Congress is only to give advice (not consent) to a President regarding his or her judicial appointees. They are not supposed to completely block nominations although they can either vote for or against the nominee. As Presidents change, judges die or retire, other judges are appointed. This is a Constitutional provision afforded to our Presidents who have to be re-elected for 2-terms or go their own citizen’s way. Today, that “right”is being taken away from the citizens as well as Presidents. I’ve already addressed the unrighteous ACLU and politicians have weak backbones.

I am afraid that there are fanatical politicians as well as terrorists. Both are fanatical to a point of madness. Unfortunately, regular citizens like me are governed by this madness. If politicians are turning over total control to our judges, then only God can save America – for we surely won’t be able to. The most simple concepts of democracy are that the majority rules. Politicians do not rule in a democracy. Kings do not rule a democracy. And, most certainly judges do not rule a democracy. The fall of the great Roman Empire has been laid at the feet of crooked politicians (and judges) and the fate of America may be exactly the same. As long as the citizens remain ambivalent as to who their leaders are, the citizens will get what they deserve – the most heinous of human behavior all wrapped up in a tidy, public offering. If citizens do not bear the burden of understanding who and what politicians are and what they do, they will be subject to being led by madness down an untenable path. All men are unrighteous. Unless we regain control over the modern-day politicians, we will succumb to the same fate as other great civilizations. The fact is most Americans do not have a clue what goes on in the political arena. They have no clue how unrighteous their own elected officials can be. And, they do not have a clue what politicians do and how laws are made to control their own affairs. Idiots, who can legally vote, fall prey to every mind-melding trick that can be thought up by those seeking to win (and remain in) elective office. I HATE to use the phrase “brain washing” or the word propaganda, but that’s exactly what it is. And, it is my opinion that too many voters do not honestly know what they are voting for when they back a politician with their single vote.

Oh yeah, some people speak as if they do know what goes on in the political arena. The problem is, they still do not know unless they have been employed as a politician. Secret deals are a dime-a-dozen in state and federal legislatures. In fact, the whole business of politics is to deceive constituents and generate huge sums of money for the lawmakers themselves. Why else would a multimillionaire, earning ten million dollars a year, run for city mayor who only earns 1/100th that amount? The sneakier a politician is, the higher their colleagues regard them. The whole business of modern politics makes me nauseous. In fact I am puking and hurling large chunks right now. And, remember this – 90% of all politicians have been trained as lawyers. Guess where judges come from? It is a sickening mess is what it is. I really don’t think America (as I’ve known it) will endure another 50 years. If this writing endures that long perhaps someone can laugh at my far too pessimistic conclusions.

Long ago, I wrote about the teeny-weeny eyeballs (tiny television cameras) of the 90’s peeping on every move we make and I opined that things could change once WE can spy on those spying on us. Well, now we can – sort of. (Who’s Peeking On Me) These days, some web sites provide information regarding how politicians vote on legislation. I believe that all data comes from government documents as well as whistle blowers – which are kept honest by the website’s users. Like EBay, people who contribute to these websites are rated as excellent, good, poor and downright liar. This will be the ultimate filter of anecdotal contributions. People who spin the truth and lie will soon be chided into the ozone by the user’s feedback. It’s quite interesting how the web creators are commingling data from government publications and data from people who have knowledge of things unpublished. A simple example might be a waiter who serves some Senator and overhears the politician cursing non-stop. While this is a silly example, it nevertheless offers me a way to describe this site. Anyone can review these web sites and really learn what is going on. But, one must look at many sources in order to find out the truth because far too many of these political web sites offer nothing but half-truths and some even post outright lies – following their own deeply held ideologies. If I read or hear something on the news I will routinely read up to twenty different postings on the same subject. I can usually come to the right conclusion but it is a task that requires time and patience.

Most of the data I looked at is very revealing. You can see who contributes to whom, how much was contributed and also find out what part of our industrial base supports each political candidate. For example, the Lawyers of America is among the top 10% of all contributors and they donate mega-amounts of cash to almost everyone running for political office. But, you can quickly find out which politicians that specific contributors support the most. The Insurance Industry is also a huge political contributor. So are the National Rifle Association and Oil, Gas and Electrical firms and associations – in other words, BIG business. Associations have the most money to donate because they are made up of hundreds of smaller like businesses – like the American Bologna Makers Union or The National Association of Yardmen. As you click on points of interest, you dig deeper into the more obvious conspiracies and lies. I dare say that every single current politician has something to hide. This unique website exposes their deepest fears of getting caught at even small, insignificant misdeeds. Voting records are easily perused. Making comparisons of a politician’s voting records to their contributors is a single click of the mouse. Congress is being exposed behind clear glass walls for the first time since its inception. I don’t have a clue how this will impact the way politicians work or how our society emerges in the 21^stcentury. I’ve witnessed a huge change in the way politics unfolds today as to the way it worked even 20 years ago. Most politics was practiced in complete secrecy until the 1970’s. While secrecy is still the mainstay of a politicians plying of the trade, much of it gets released into the public domain earlier than before. Remember Nixon’s Watergate and/or Clinton’s Monika Lewensky? Unless congress finds a way to stifle this website (shut it down) it will only grow and grow. Since it is an experiment for earning a masters degree and controlled by the intellectual elite, it will have some failures but the data will soon enough get punched into this massive database and it is doubtful that congress can shut it down without causing a serious public debate. I loved looking up my Senators and Congress-persons. I found it very revealing and extremely interesting. I also took a peek at the current crop of 10 Democratic presidential contenders (09/21/03) and their largest supporters to date. Wow! (Now down to Kerry and Bush.)

If one or more of my grandchildren grow up to be members of the Legal Bar, I hope to God that they never lose their souls to unrighteousness. But, if law is still being practiced the way it is today, I am afraid that it is a given that they will. Lawyers are trained to lie and not get caught. A lawyer must be able to see several versions of the truth and develop hypothetical(s) to explain each version. Criminal defense lawyers must be able to confuse the truth and in my opinion it is a race with prosecutors who can confuse it the most. It is both the jury and the presiding judge that is the recipient of this mass confusion, supposition and deceit. What scares me the most is that the body of law in American jurisprudence makes all of it absolutely acceptable and legal. It’s as if the word lawyer and liar are synonymous. And, as I have repeated over and over, most of our elected politicians are trained lawyers. Judges of consequence are 100% lawyers. Isn’t it interesting that lawyers are giving huge sums of money to other lawyers to become our congressional lawmakers? It is a circle of doom for the common citizens. And, without equivocation I can say that it will spell the end of our beautiful American civilization; at least the one that I grew up in and cherish. And, it is all because of personal unrighteousness (not only lawyers) run amok.  

I used to admire great intellectuals – people who seemed to think and speak of interesting and even profound things – especially those who were really smart. Somewhere along the way my admiration became tempered. I came to realize that most intellectuals only understand their own specific discipline – although these folks really do know their stuff. What they don’t have is a broad knowledge base, yet many think they do. Biologists know about biology. They do not necessarily know anything about physics or philosophy. Historians even specialize in narrow paths of study – like a Civil Warbuff or the escapades of Napoleon. Baby doctors don’t usually perform brain surgery. This intellectual specialization doesn’t allow most academic people a chance to study other things, unrelated to their field. This may be why medical doctors usually make lousy businessmen. I suppose that for doctors, studying business is akin to wasting valuable time. I mention all of this because all people are like that in general – we all are. People migrate to things of interest and usually don’t take the time to understand a lot of other unrelated stuff. I suppose that people who read newspapers get a whiff of sociology but they never take the time to really understand the cultural implications. I often hear people refer to the government as if it is a living entity. People say to me, “They are concealing the fact that UFOs exist.” I often say, “What person or people are concealing it?” I usually end up looking at a face with the word DUH expressed on it. “What do you mean by the word person?”they retort. I have to remind them that the government is a collection of worker bees (real people) like me. If I knew that aliens existed there isn’t an army big enough to keep me from blabbing it to the world. This same nonsense has been going on since about 1947 when a flying disc from Cereous Nauseous allegedly crashed at Roswell, New Mexico. Referring to the United States government as a living, breathing individual is stupid and downright wrong. While it may make the argument easier to comprehend, there is no way anyone can lay blame on an “individual” that doesn’t exist. Wrongdoing in government is caused by personal indiscretions and unrighteousness. Unfortunately this behavior gets worse and worse as more and more people act like unrighteous scumbags. Without question there are cliques within the bowels of the government all vying for attention and money. But, government secrets are leaked all the time and others are gotten by hook and crook. If aliens were among us (and known to “any”government official), it wouldn’t be a secret for longer than 15-minutes. The same goes for mysterious conspiracies. Now, when smart guys start saying that they have proof that aliens exist, those people lose me like a cheap watch. And, I’ve heard and read where brilliant people (physicists, medical doctors and astronomers) say they do believe in aliens. This gives you some idea how I judge people. Intellectualism indeed.

It has been my observation that typical Americans are easily fooled – as in deceived. Just take a look at the television advertising and ask yourself what moron would respond to each of the ads. These media people (ad-execs) know just how to play to their demographics and punch the right buttons. If the ad is aimed at young people (and most are these days) the ad is really dumbed down in order to grasp a 14-year olds’ attention. To reach the baby-boomers, now in their mid to late 50’s, ads use popular music of the 50’s and 60’s – the adolescent period of this huge group of people breeding a sense of tribalism towards a certain product. I despise almost all types of advertising. I really HATE 99% of it. If you read my earlier ramblings (Muterize Me) you know that I mute the sound every time an ad comes on the television. Since I don’t ever listen to the radio, I don’t have to keep lowering the volume or channel surfing when ads are played. I can honestly say that I have never, ever been prompted to buy anything or do anything from hearing, reading or responding to an advertisement. Musical jingles have no effect on me. In fact, I’ve never really heard a great jingle – either musically or lyrically. I’ll bet you that the underlying schema of every single advertisement is sex – either scantly clad, seductive people appearing in the ads or refer to what people may consider a sexy car, dishwasher or all other products – even soap for goodness sake. For the life of me, I don’t understand how a car or soap can be sexual. It’s absurd. Now, after considering the American advertisement, please remember that most Americans are not like me – they do, in fact, respond to advertising. If this were not the case there would be no advertising. But, I have to ask myself this question, “How can someone who thinks a car or a bar of soap is sexy ever be prepared to vote with any significant understanding of anything worthwhile?”I submit that the way most people think really doesn’t allow them much more than a cursory understanding of things political or legal. I’m certain that my parents were well informed before they ever cast their votes on anything. I overheard them talking many times over the years of my youth. They took their “vote” very, very seriously.

Perhaps the Internet will change what has been going on for most of my lifetime. Maybe the Internet can halt the failure of our educational system or at least compensate for its failures. Perhaps the Internet and other technological achievements will help create a clean and righteous world civilization. Or maybe I am dead wrong and the majority of our voting citizens do fully understand all things political and I am just being a sanctimonious old paranoid geezer. All I can say is look around for yourself. See what you see and be certain that you understand what you see. If I am wrong you should be able to tell for yourself. If you are a person who is ill informed, I urge you to be more proactive and begin a process to become more informed. A wise person once said, “Knowledge is a powerful tool.” You can probably go through life being a dumb bunny but you’ll be much happier being a wise old owl. Knowledge also can be a great comfort. Not as great as your faith in God Almighty – for this is the greatest human resource of all. But if you follow the careers of your elected officials and fully understand how they are acting on “your behalf” then you can decide if they are doing a good job or failing you altogether. And, don’t ever think that your single vote doesn’t make a difference. Indeed, it does. Just think about all of the friends and acquaintances you can chat with and help educate. Perhaps your single vote will impress five others and those five infect (inform) five more. One doesn’t have to act like a nut to get the attention of others. One only has to be correct and sincere. If your decisions are truly righteous then you simply can’t fail. You won’t succumb to hype (advertising, etc) and your pathwill be straight and narrow guided by the full strength of your being.

I just re-read a rambling that I wrote back in 2004 – Where I Believe America Is Headed – and decided to update my thoughts following the recent debates about our government’s financial situation and the raising of America’s debt ceiling.

Some commentators and reporters are raising issues about how our government is in the middle of a Coup de Tat, driven by financial powers and the possibility that the entire world is on the same path towards a single world government. I can’t disagree because many, many nations all seem to be in the same boat. Let’s just start with Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Portugal and add the Middle East and North African nations geographically positioned around the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea and Persian Gulf. In addition, Mexico and most nations of South America, except possibly Brazil, are having similar troubling issues. I suppose that I could enumerate more nation-state failures but I never believed (until recently) that America would be among the failures I would be talking about. It is my observation that fully 90% of ALL MUNICIPAL, STATE AND FEDERAL EMPLOYEES (AND THIS INCLUDES POLITICIANS) are woefully inadequate when it comes to demonstrating intelligence. Reactionary governance has reached new levels of stupidity. In fact, many people believe that our government (all levels) has finally reached a point that indicates our future is no longer predictable. That is pretty scary.

With a $16.5-trillion national debt greater than our entire Gross National Product (GNP), I just do not see any way that we can sustain ourselves for even another year or two. It is mind boggling that our elected politicians have overlooked this emerging crisis for so long. I mused that it began in earnest about 1960. They all really must be morons – or worse – evil, self-centered narcissists. If our politicians have deliberately moved us along this course – toward a One World Government – then it is my belief that the lies and deceit have been orchestrated by others – ruling from who-knows-where. But, whoever is in charge of this dark symphony must be extremely wealthy. There are as many conspiracy theories as there are dollars in the debt. Some go all the way back to Franklin D. Roosevelt and the British Monarchy. Some say it began with Lyndon Johnson and most recently led by George H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush and now Obama. Some insist that most of our long-term national politicians are, and have been, fully aware of this movement and have gone along in order to survive. Others have said that we would have had many assassinations had they not played the game. I don’t have a clue how deep the knowledge of these things goes. I doubt that even presidential candidates know the ins and outs of things until they are actually elected and even then it may be a case of a NEED TO KNOW secret. All I know is that we have now arrived at a time in our history that is not sustainable. I’m more convinced of this than ever. Unless the powers in charge have a way to silent the opposition I believe that the discourse will evolve into a physical confrontation that might just bring our nation into another Civil War with real fighting – not unlike what is happening in Egypt, Libya and Syria. Even Great Britain is having riots and who knows how long it will take to get this under control. The “Entitlement” mentality is causing havoc in the U.K. and America. Fully 50% of all Americans pay zero taxes and feel entitled to receive food, housing and medical care – all provided by the other half who do pay taxes. If half of us who get free stuff have the power to cast a vote we will perpetuate the entitlements by voting for the people who will see to it that we keep getting our stuff. This is not difficult to understand. If this block vote continues, there is absolutely no hope for us and I fear that if anyone decides to take away the “free-stuff” riots will break out nationally.

All of us know that it takes a lot of money for most officials to get elected. That money isn’t just printed. It is deposited in campaign coffers by those who have a lot of money to spend and a lot to gain from someone’s election. I’ve always called them THE HAVES. I am decidedly in the class of HAVE NOTS although I have led a comfortable life until this point. I think that is about to change and I’m an old geezer and I probably will not be able to endure it. Our culture has seemed to undergo a real moral shift during the last decade and now we are all quick to bump chests when we disagree. This clash of civilization is getting worse every day. I have often mentioned the equally divided nation we are. Fifty percent of us want a benevolent government that attends to our every need and the other half wants a smaller government that will stay out of our lives. A larger government scares me. If for no other reason than such an entity is overseen by narcissists who care about nothing except themselves. Their financiers, Wall Street “fat cats” are built from the same mold. Money truly is the “root of all evil” and we are stupid if we do not recognize and understand this old axiom. In order to gain support from our population, government insiders have given away the store – or a small part of it – and that entraps people into a lifestyle that requires them to continue the facade. The so-called Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s and touted as his major accomplishment, Lyndon Johnson may have been the original progenitor of this movement towards a global cabal. Of course, conspiracy theorists often tout their belief that John Kennedy was assassinated just so Johnson could initiate this movement from within the White House. I don’t know. But, it does have a ring of truth to it. What better way to initiate something so huge as the clash of races. And, the clash goes on until this very day.

I believe that America’s public educational system is a total failure and I also believe that it was planned. A governing body will have a far more difficult time ruling educated people than it will a bunch of dumb-asses. I recently heard a young black man, ostensibly with three-years of college under his belt, address a judge in a court of law. Not only was his grammar absolutely horrible, his ability to grasp simple concepts was completely impossible. I don’t care who you are, if you saw this exchange between him and a judge, you would not believe that he even graduated fifth-grade. I am not over stating this at all. Now, I realize that this is but one example of educational failure but it seems that I can witness more and more of the same everyday. Of course there are many well educated kids emerging from schools all around the planet but in my opinion there are far too many failures. I’m often shocked at how little some people know when confronted by Jay Leno as he does his JAYWALKING segment. I fully realize that he only selects to air those interviews that are shockingly disturbing or funny but the fact remains that too many of my fellow citizens are just not able to grasp the complexities of our times. It really does bother me that they are allowed to vote. Sorry! If this statement bothers you, then go read something else. You are most likely part of the problem as I see it.

I’ve already written about the issue of the POWER brokers being undermined by the development of the Internet as a way to dislodge secret combinations. The rise of the Tea Party political movement just might be something that wasn’t anticipated by the brainiacs at the top of the food chain. The King of England sure didn’t anticipate that dumping a bunch of tea into Boston Harbor would end up in a war that took away his power to tax the colonies. His miscalculation might be revisited in my time. I really hope so. From my perspective this movement is right on track to dislodge the global cabal – starting with America. For the time being, our Constitution is still the ruling document for our country. But, with judicial and political maneuvering it may be only a matter of time where it will be nothing more than a dusty, aging old piece of paper resting under a piece of glass.

It seems to me that if there really is a conspiracy to take over the world, it is moving along at a much faster pace than it ever has. Since Barack Obama was elected, he has doled out One-Trillion dollars of “our” money to “stimulate” our economy and the result has been a rise in unemployment – now between 9% and 14% depending on who you ask. Nothing has been stimulated except the pockets of large political contributors and a rise in crime. And, the stink goes on. Financial institutions were primed during the Bush (#43) administration to offer loans to people who could never afford to pay them back. Today, the banks have been paid back by taxpayers and now the same banks are asking Obama to disallow anyone to sue the banks for now and ever more. Of course, Obama and his minions will see to it that they are protected. The investor who was hurt by the banks idiocy (or was it planned?) will have no recourse to recover their investments. I’ll bet that your 401(k) is going to take a hit because of this deal. How deep does this conspiracy go? Powerful fund managers just walk away with more money than they can spend in a lifetime and the average investor goes to hell in a handbag. My mantra has always been, “follow the money.” The unholy relationship between lawyers and politicians feeds corruption at all levels throughout our culture. Because of these conspiracies the nation’s press is manipulated to their favor and to the detriment of our own knowledge. Little guys like me don’t have any way of digging into the conspiracies that emerge at all levels of local, state and federal wrong-doing. The revelations about Richard Nixon’s back-room dealings might have been the last of the great investigative stories of our past. It is probable that the pay-offs and outright threats to large publishers has caused our mainstream press to decay into nothing more than a propaganda tool. Anyone who wants to dig into it can discover hundreds of illegal things that were done in Texas politics from as far back as the first day LBJ ran for political office. The corruption led to the outright murder of dozens of people who would not “play ball” with Johnson. Some even suggest that John Kennedy was killed because he crossed Johnson and his powerful friends (lawyers, politicians and bankers). If you have some time just watch and listen to this fascinating video interview.

About 1995 I witnessed people making huge sums of money investing in the stock market. I just didn’t understand how a company’s stock was worth so much more than the company had in assets. The so-called DOT-COM folks were racking up billions of dollars and all they owned was a $1000.00 Dell Computer. This just never made sense to me. Because of that I never invested a dime and of course I never earned one either. But, at least I didn’t lose the ones I kept under my mattress. The fund managers – from their offices in State Capitals to the little guys off of Wall Street invested the money they got from Mom and Pop and when it evaporated millions of folks lost everything. The investment BUG hit untold thousands of people wanting to get rich quick. Bernie Madeoff and Ken Lay got filthy rich playing the Ponzi Schemes they developed. Enron was a local company and I just didn’t understand how a company could sell electricity that they didn’t generate. Of course, they couldn’t and so the scheme fell apart. I had zero empathy for the investors who lost everything. I guess I am happy that making money has never been on my list of things that consumes me.

Well, there are many other things that look to me like time might be running out for our country and maybe the world as I have known it. Of course I don’t have any way to change a damn thing. I can only witness what is going on and pontificate in my little blabberings. Perhaps a few people will read them and agree or disagree with my conclusions. It really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps if my bloviating rings a bell in someone’s mind they will take the time to read what else I have to say. Among all of this crap I’m sure I may have said a few more provocative things. Remember, I’m just a little guy who tries his best to observe and write about what I see happening around me. If I am correct then I’ll find others who agree with me. If I am a moron then few others will ever know it because it won’t be worth reading in the first place. I’m not trying to lock horns with anyone. My only purpose is to jot down the things that get my attention and this entire government debt issue has sure done that. By witnessing the ins and outs of political maneuvering over this single issue it has really begun to light-up my noggin. Having retired I seem to have more time to devote to learning about such things. I’m no longer chasing life and so I can read and witness much more of the things that seem to count.

Finally, if the majority of us do not stop this socialistic movement in our government, we are doomed. There just isn’t any possibility that our divided nation will ever be able to live sideby side with one half working and the other half taking. It just won’t work after 200-years of a Republic and Capitalistic way of life. Besides that, I think that there are more people who believe as I do than not. If we have the majority and do not let lies manipulate us differently, I believe that we can stop this madness in its tracks.

When I was a young man of twenty-one and struggling to support my wife and baby daughter I got a job with the local police department and became a cop. Training was pretty simple and I rode with a Captain while on patrol in order to learn the law and what to do to stay alive. I was trained in the use of my service revolver and shot many hundreds of targets at the training range. I also learned how to use a 12-gauge pump shotgun and an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. But, for the most part I just rode around and talked 8-hours a day with Captain Austin who told me about the laws I was to enforce and how I needed to go about doing it. Things like writing tickets, search and seizure policies, and investigating crime scenes, making arrests and the various things a typical patrolman had to do during their regular shifts. I spent about one month going through this training period until finally Captain Austin told me that I was ready to solo – go on patrol all by myself. The Chief called me into his office and simply said, “Don’t get killed out there.”

 From then on, I patrolled by myself – usually during the evening shift and often on the graveyard shift as well. As a rookie I was assigned to those shifts because the senior guys got the daytime shifts. But, since I was also a full-time college student that was what I wanted. I could go to class during the day, get a little sleep and study time and then hit the streets.

 I really got my taste of the “Law” when I attended court for any cases that I made such as traffic citations and a few arrests for drunks and vagrancy issues. I never got any real serious cases although I was responsible for several felony theft and burglary arrests and had to testify during the trials. I was always on my toes while on the witness stand because I quickly learned that defense lawyers were clever in the way the posed their questions. The prosecutors or city attorney were also very clever. I knew that I couldn’tdeviate from the absolute truth and so very often I would make one or the other councilors angry with me for trying to be so precise. I was careful not to elaborate or embellish my answers to their questions. Captain Austin was very thorough in his training discussions about how I should behave in court and I took his advice to heart.

 It wasn’t long before I began to realize that lawyers were quite adept at disguising the absolute truth behind a canvass of different possibilities. The word “scenario” used to nauseate me because I heard it so often. I also discovered that lawyers for both sides in a case make deals like there is no tomorrow. Defense lawyers and prosecutors would tell jokes during a recess and often drank beer together in clubs at night. I wondered how in the world the person charged with a crime would ever get a fair hearing among all of this side-show behavior. I even felt sorry for some of the same people I arrested for a crime. Even though I knew they were guilty because I saw them commit the crime, I was often aghast that they didn’t have a clue what was being done to represent them fairly. If their lawyer cut a deal and got them a 2-year sentence instead of a 5-year stint in jail, their lawyer told them it was the best deal they could get, “So be happy and pay my fee.” Deal making is the name of the lawyer game. It doesn’t have a damn thing to do with the laws on the books. In fact, it is circumventing the meaning and intent of the laws in my opinion. I don’t give a crap about crowded court dockets.

In my opinion, laws are made for lawyers – not the public citizen. Lawsuits that can earn lawyers billions of dollars are built upon laws that have been written by lawyers. Politicians, for the most part, are trained in the law and they are the ones who put laws on the books in the first place. They learn how to lie without getting caught in their first year at law school. They are taught from hour-one how to skirt the absolute legal phrasing of a law as written. In fact, the way some laws are worded seem illegal to me. How can we allow liars to write our laws? How can we allow judges to enforce our laws? If they are all liars are we not at their mercy – entirely?

Many of my ramblings have dealt with this subject. In fact, my welcome page laments my distrust of the law. The American legal system is crumbling under its own weight. These “legal scholars” have tried to construct laws that deal with absolutely every single human aberration. Humans are infinitely complex creatures. Think about it. There are hundreds of laws that deal with the subject of lying alone. There are laws that decide how serious a lie is and this is broken down into an enormous list of possibilities of how and why. How about murder? There are so many degrees of MURDER that they range from justified to horrendous. Killing another human being may have happened for different reasons but MURDER is still MURDER. Lawyers will have us believe that charging someone with HOMICIDE can be justified, unintentional, manslaughter (in several degrees), first-degree, second-degree, third-degree and so many other degrees that the entire issue seems useless to me. The word MURDER should only refer to the willful taking of another person’s life unless our own life is at risk. I suppose that that would be FIRST-DEGREE murder in the legal lexicon. Any other killing should NOT use the word MURDER in describing it. Only a lawyer can make sense of this type of syntax. I submit that stealing a woman’s purse with nothing more than $2.00 in her wallet and a few pictures of her grandchildren is just as evil as stealing $1-Billion in a stock swindle scheme. STEALING is still STEALING. I just can not understand why the amount of the theft is a part of the legal equation. Lawyers are also responsible for writing our insane tax laws. This 70,000 page document is so rife with unintelligent reasoning that we would all do much better completely scrapping it in favor of some simple taxing scheme. But, I don’t think we will ever scrap it because the politicians responsible for writing these laws have a power that is difficult, if not impossible, to relinquish.

It has always been said that if a law is written someone is always willing to “test” it or “thwart” it before the ink has even dried. That alone should testify to the idiocy of even trying to draft laws for every conceivable crime. Trying to achieve JUSTICE by establishing a law and then trying to understand the human who defies it is a futile exercise in my opinion. And, for anyone to say that this is the best system of justice that has ever been developed I simply can not agree. I’ve made this argument to several lawyers before and they have been unable to convince me that I am wrong. And, they knew why they couldn’t convince me. Their arguments to the contrary just don’t get past the common sense of it all. Just start with the premise that lawyers write the laws and then they are the only ones who can interpret them. How does a non-lawyer stand a chance? In this kind of system a simple man can never survive a legal charge lodged against them. That is unless he decides to roll-over and play dead. One can not play by the rules because the rules are always changing. In fact, they can change right in the middle of a trial because any judge can decide how to interpret the law at any given time. Even the insane attention given to the recent Anthony trial in Florida goes against common sense. Remember the O.J. debacle? Can it be that some people just no longer trust authority? The hippies of the 1960’s were the first anti-establishment culture that I remember but even the Beatniks of the late forties and early fifties were just about as convinced. When did the LAW really become perverted? As I mentioned in my PRETENDING blabbering I believe that it began to grow during the great industrial period of the early twentieth century. I also believe that more people my age are very suspect of the authority that rules our country. Every one from the policeman on the beat to the judge on the bench is suspect of not having the moral authority or the common sense to take charge. We also have little respect left for our politicians who bicker over every problem and solve none. It doesn’t take a degree in sociology to know that this cancer can not be controlled – especially anytime soon.

When I was taught in school that my VOTE counted I always believed that to be true. But take for example a recent ruling by a FEDERAL JUDGE in Houston that an outcome of a VOTE by the people of Houston is illegal. That’s right. The people of Houston recently voted in a referendum to remove the RED LIGHT CAMERAS that were installed by a vote of the City Council. The citizens decided that they were NOT what they wanted and so they voted to have them removed. When the City Council agreed by a contract to have them installed in the first place they signed on the dotted line to leave them up and operational for a period of time set by the camera contractor – who gets a piece of the action for every fine levied against the drivers cited. If they are not left operational for this period of time the City must pay for them anyway. That means millions of tax dollars will have to be paid to the contractor if the vote by the citizens is held to be legal. So, the city locates an almighty judge (a trained lawyer) to rule that the citizens do not have the right to overrule the contract signed by the city. So, screw the citizens. I wonder what other votes can be considered illegal. Was Al Gore really the winner of his presidential election with George Bush? Or, did the Supreme Court tell the public that their vote just didn’t count. See how it goes. What use is your vote? How does it matter in the grand scheme of things? If the power of a single judge can overrule the vote of millions of people, where does the practice end and where did it begin?

I suppose that if these things do not concern you then go read my blabbering about PRETENDING that I recently posted. I guess that you are among those who just don’t give a damn. If you do not care that the police now have the power to force their way into your home without a warrant, keep pretending. If you don’t care that the police can frisk your private parts anytime they wish, keep pretending. If you don’t care that a judge can take away the family farm that has been in your family since 1880 and pay you half of what it is worth, keep pretending. If you believe that the President can launch bombs on any foreign country without getting Congressional approval, keep pretending. If you are willing to allow government officials to take away your every liberty in order to protect you from a few hundred terrorists, then keep pretending. If you are willing to accept that your President has no valid Birth Certificate or Social Security Card and no one can come forth that has ever known him in his youth, keep pretending. If you are willing to remove all vestiges of God Almighty from every official government record, keep pretending. If you are willing to allow a BLACK-OPS POLICE FORCE to emerge in America and man their FUSION CENTERS, keep pretending. If you are willing to work for the government store for the rest of your life, keep pretending. If you are willing to work and support a growing number of people who will NOT work, then keep pretending. If you actually believe any advertisement you see, hear or read then you are a pretender. Do you know that pharmaceuticalcompanies actually invent diseases to match a drug that they are about to release. Those “Ask your doctor” ads are as phony as a three-dollar bill. The so-called bacterium in a popular television commercial that mentions “Bifidus Regularis” is as phony as a three-dollar bill and drives me nuts. We are lied to thousands of times every day.  I wonder if we are being desensitized to discern the truth any more. Perhaps we are all being forced to pretend. We are surrounded by PHONY.

There is ample evidence that all of this is actually happening and there is a very strong force out there to make you believe that it is all in our imagination or that everything being done is happening for our own good. If you disregard this evidence and keep pretending then welcome to slavery. If you are willing to accept that our economic system is NOT crumbling and that average people are being systematically enslaved, then keep on pretending that none of this is true. If you actually understand the staggering statistics that our entire nation (all 300+ million of us) are exactly and equally divided over these type of issues, then keep pretending that it isn’t so.

I’m sorry to say that I believe America is doomed and it seems almost unbelievable that our legal system might be the culprit that has brought us to our collective knees. All of my life I was taught and expected to follow the law. For that reason I avoided doing anything illegal. But, what I really did was try to follow the 10 rules I learned in Sunday School. In fact I won’t be surprised that even the name of our country might actually change in the near future. The culture certainly has. Of course anyone with inquisitiveness can discern that the politics and economics have and I just don’t see how it can be reversed or even partially returned to the society that I knew as a child and young adult. God help me if I have ever been a part of this change.

This is probably the most contrary rambling I have ever written but I am getting much older and have such little to lose that I can only feel good about expressing my own opinion. I have little trust for anyone anymore. I certainly do not trust any politician – regardless of their political bent. First of all I believe that all of them are expert liars. Second, I am convinced that none of them have any love for this country and particularly me and my family members. All politicians will do whatever they must in order to get elected. The old movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was a brilliant adaptation of what is common in the Halls of Congress today. I just wonder what all of us have done to allow it to continue for so many years – unchecked and unabated. Has it been apathy? Perhaps we have all been PRETENDING for so long that we no longer recognize the truth before us. I wonder what our regular policemen will do when they become replaced by the BLACK-OPS COPS. I wonder if they will know what hit them when they are relieved of their badges and weapons. How many will try to get a job with their replacements? How many will rebel?

Maybe the 2012’ers are on target for a real world meltdown after all. Things are sure getting unruly around the world. The Mediterranean countries are currently in turmoil and it is spreading west. I can’t find a single European nation that does not have huge troubles with their cultures. America is on the same (or almost same) TRACK. The elite who have governed for over a century seem to have made some serious errors in judging mankind’s reaction to their cultural meddling. Since they are few in number in comparison, only their cunning subversion can possibly stop the madness and I believe that their intelligence has failed them. I see a real, true-blue revolution coming in many diverse places at once. I don’t advocate for it but with my limited intelligence I don’t see how it can be avoided. I’m old now so I doubt that I will ever be on the front lines of this impending crisis. All I can do is sit back and watch it unfold. Also, I don’t have a clue how it will all turn out. I do however believe with all my heart that I’ll live long enough to find out if my predictions will come true so it won’t be long. Between you and me I might be praying for death before it’s all over. Let’s see how the LAW will deal with its own death.

Here is a little television show you might find interesting.

Trailer: http://www.injusticethefilm.com/

Original: April 2010

For a long time I have been trying to understand if my generation has contributed more to the deterioration of America than any other that has preceded it. Of course that question assumes that America is indeed in a state of decline. Whether or not you think so has a lot to do with your knowledge of American history and how you believe you stand in today’s culture. Personally, I think that our country is rapidly failing at many levels – political and economic as well as moral. I realize that I could carry this discussion to lengths that would even bore me to death. But, I won’t for the same reason that I would bore you to death. I will just cover the very basics of where my thoughts take me.

For the most part I have been thinking that the serious decline really began about 1960 and has continued unabated until the present. I’ve even heard other folks say the same thing. But, I had a little change of mind a few days ago when I began to think about things a little differently. See if you and I can agree on a different approach to understanding this issue.

In the late 19^th century and into the beginning of the 20^th, our nation experienced a huge spike in industrialization and a few people accumulated unheard of wealth in a short period of time. Inventions came at a rapid pace – railroads, steel smelting, oil production, shipping, automobiles, aircraft, radio sciences, medicine and the list goes on and on. Anyone who has studied the GREAT INDUSTRIALIZATION PERIOD of American history can probably rattle off an almost endless list of such discoveries. Along with this shock to our culture came great wealth held in the hands of a very few people – Rockefeller, Carnegie, Mellon, Edison, Westinghouse, Ford, DuPont and others come to mind. Well, these people needed a way to “trade” their products using money and so the banks were expanded and the Stock Market was invented to sell shares in their holdings.

During this time – probably due to travel and communications – the global economy began to emerge. People around the world wanted to get in on the great wealth that was accumulating around this “new” age. Investors were now able to promote their businesses on a more global reach and their wealth just grew and grew. So did the size of the country. Of course, expanded government meant that a need existed to support its growth. So, these “rich” people tired of spending their own money to support the growth of the government and so they “invented” the INCOME TAX as a way to fund government. It was their belief that all citizens should support this expanding government and the growth continues to this very day – unabated. The power of a ruler or government to tax its citizens has been going on since King TUT built his crypt and probably long before that. Some rulers invented gods and forced their people to give offerings to them in order to stave off this or that affliction. I guess the concept of religion was born of this practice. It also continues to this very day. The difficulty I have with religion – in general – is that it is a form of PRETENDING. It’s as if actors rule the hierarchy of a church and they still insist that their parishioners “tithe” in order to ward off this or that calamity and gain favor with a Deity. As I see it most religions are adept at theater. The better the “play” the more people they can attract and the greater the tithing grows. It is a lot like a country. It’s no wonder that countries want immigration – legal or otherwise. The greater the population the greater the government can grow. There really is not one whit of difference. I find that religion is an intensely personal endeavor and does not require a single pretending moment built around any brick building or theatrical moment. The wisdom associated with, and the acknowledgement of, a Deity comes to each of us as we seek to understand our soul. I submit that those who never truly seek this wisdom will never find it.

But, I digress – as espoused by so many comedians.

Well, I’ve started to answer my questions about what generations were our greatest and our worst and I’m not so sure it can be boiled down to just a single 25-year period – the normal generational time period used to define a group – sociologically. There is no doubt that the generation that fought the Revolution and the one that fought Civil War and First and Second World Wars had among their population great brave and some very wise individuals. I’m still in awe of the kids who fought the 2^ndWorld War and how incredibly brave most of them were. My own parents were of this generation. But, I’m not so sure that I can truly admire the Presidents who oversaw all of these great conflicts. With the hindsight of history perhaps many of them were just lucky. And, just maybe they were as corrupt as those who they fought – using other peoples treasure and lives. I have always had great difficulty pretending or understanding people who do pretend. I have zero interest in actors who pretend to be something dreamed up by others. While they probably refer to their craft as INTERPRETING – to somehow give it legitimacy – when they dress up in costume and emote the words of some playwright they are, in fact, pretending. If I live to be 250-years old I will never  understand how actors or performers of any kind gain any legitimacy whatsoever. Court jesters entertained kings and queens but can you really think of any reason that they should be worshipped as anything but jesters? Great courtroom lawyers often do a lot of pretending. They dream up scenerios to explain their theories and then go into great detail trying to explain their theories to jurists. As I see it, authors of fiction are among the same ilk. Are their fantasies really worth$29.95? Are they THAT interesting? If they are to you, should you not question why they are? It is my thesis that PRETENDING at any level reduces a person’s ability to access RISK and understand the TRUTH. This ability to assess risk is probably left to each of us in our genetic lineage because it is the most aggressive way to avoid death. I’m sure that this is deeply ingrained into our genetic makeup otherwise lions and alligators might rule the earth. But many of us “pretend” that everything is going along swimmingly when really it is bordering on total collapse. Now, let me see if I can weave this last thought into my original questions about the worst generation.

Wealthy people probably learned how to amass their great bank accounts by knowing how to avoid risk. I doubt that they do much pretending. Everything to them is a serious as a heart attack. On the other hand, those of us who barely make it from payday to payday are probably the greatest of pretenders. We avoid reality at all costs. We watch hideous television programs with little or no meaning except escapism. We read countless fictional novels to escape. Some probably refer to this as entertainment. Who cares? It is still pretending and avoiding the vagaries of life. Pretending is the antithesis of reality. Those who don’t use seat belts probably pretend that they will not be in an accident. Perhaps they are just being obstinate at obeying the latest laws but they are either wishing or pretending that they won’t be injured or fined. These people are avoiding the risks by pretending that they are not real. Safety specialists have a tough job convincing some people to stop pretending that the worst will not happen to so many.

I suppose that our culture has been on a downward track since its inception (07041776). Perhaps members of every generation have participated in the decline of America. But, if I were to guess at the worst – I would probably conclude that it was those who became adults at the very turn of the 20^thcentury. These folks came of age in a time of huge expansion and inventiveness. They lived like there was no tomorrow and made decisions based on fantasy. Also, they saddled our country with unrighteous laws that are still on the books. When their world came crashing down during the great depression, all they could do was cry. During the five years before this event there was all sorts of crazy dancing and liquor drinking. Too many folks avoided the reality of economics. Party-hearty was what overtook the realities of life. Their pretending left them with nothing more than extinguished theater stage lights. As if on cue, politicians came along and decided to keep pretending to get themselves out of the holes they had dug. Franklin Roosevelt – a lot like Carter and Obama – believed that it was up to government to save the country from ultimate destruction by a redistribution of wealth. I think that this is pretending at the most serious level. Similar thoughts engulfed the minds of rulers all around the world. Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini and Toto were on the same track. They were all PRETENDERS, believing that they each had written the GREATEST NOVEL of all time and that through their great genius they could achieve the greatest revolutions and establish the best cultures in all of mankind’s existence. That delusion has gone on since Grog and Grogette. Of course, it continues today. I wonder if achieving wealth and prosperity leads to an increase in avoiding reality through pretending. While this may be a little off-course, I once wrote about the idea that if mankind can develop a 100% fool-proof way of detecting LIES that it may be the triggering factor in human extinction. Of course a lie is one of the ultimate forms of pretense.

It seems to be an insane psychological flaw that causes us to pretend. We cover up and avoid reality whenever we can. I often ask the question, “could this be a flaw in man’s genetic makeup that will ultimately end in his total destruction?” The few people I have shared this with do not entirely agree with me so perhaps I am the one who is pretending. Perhaps I am the one with the greatest genetic flaw. But, no matter whom you are or where you live – trying to escape the downfall of cultures on a global scale in these times is nothing but pretence to avoid the obvious. As I see it, this degradation far exceeds those of any other time – even the so-called world war periods. Yes, even the horrible American Civil War period. There may be a lot of reasons this is so – not the least of which is a global connection made possible through technology. I have been blessed to be raised by some pretty decent parents and raised in a middle-class society. For almost 70-years I have enjoyed the benefits of comfort and safety. I have much to be thankful for as you can tell if you slog through my other ramblings. So, it may be difficult for me to really access the situation I am trying to convey. And there is always the chance that I am dead wrong. However, I think I may be on the track of something that requires more attention by each of us. Are you a pretender? Are your thoughts built around fantasy? Do you avoid facing the realities of life? Perhaps it is the general decay of our cultural morality – an “ology” that is often balanced on a razor’s edge that is leading us to a great cultural failure. Perhaps it is the theater of religion that is now in its final act and we still don’t know if it is a tragedy or a comedy.

Perhaps I could have used the following question to explain this entire blabbering. Could it be that when people gain wealth and comfort they are more willing to pretend or when they are desperately on the opposite end, struggling to survive, they must pretend in order to cope?

I guess we each need to decide if pretending is good for us. I’ve reached the conclusion that it is a sad human trait. While it may offer us temporary comfort it might be disguised annihilation.

All throughout my life I have noticed something that actually seems palpable and it refers to the concept of HUMILITY. I wonder if you ever noticed the same thing. Here is what I am talking about.

Throughout my high school and college careers I very often noticed that when I THOUGHT that I did well on a test, I didn’t. And, when I thought I blew it and failed miserably, I didn’t. In other words, following the completion of a test (for which I thought I was fully prepared to ace), I would go out to Padre Island and party-hearty over the weekend feeling pretty pumped-up over the test that I just knew I had gotten an “A” on. I thought to myself that I was WAYKEWEL and did what it took to succeed. Then, on Monday I would discover that I barely got a “C+” and immediately thereafter I would feel as lousy as I did good only 2 days before. Yikes! So, it finally dawned on me that my cockiness (over the years) would always cost me a good grade – regardless of the events or course of study. Somehow, I involuntarily let my confidence override reality. I often get inebriated in myself. What might happen is that this over confidence somehow hinders my concentration, and my mental instincts and memory begin to fail me – or so it seems. Yet, I am never consciously aware of it. About the end of my sophomore year in college, I began to mistrust my academic abilities and so I found myself studying more and more – often retyping my classroom notes more than once. This little exercise gave me a better chance of remembering stuff. You see, I never learned to type so the snails-pace of converting my hen-scratch-notes into meaningful, type written beauty gave my feebleness a chance to make sense of it all and I was much more likely to remember what it was that I needed to remember. The result was more “Bs” and fewer “Cs”. I forced myself to think that I FAILED a test in the hope that I actually PASSED it. For some reason this insanity kept me grounded and a little more tenacious in my studies.

As I was beginning my first career (personnel management) and working for Corn Products (CPC, International) in Corpus, I was often given tasks that were related to personnel. DUH? I made up 24-hour Employee Work Listsbased on an employee’s union status and their years of service – for a total of about 1500 employees – every week. I often assisted in union negotiations, interviewed and prescreened applicants and managed the Safety Program for the Milo refinery. The plant was located on 112 acres adjoining the ship channel and we refined baking sugar and baking starch from raw Milo grain. There were multiple (10 or 12) huge, multi-story buildings and silos that made up the plant. We even generated our own electricity. But, the job that I enjoyed the most was composing and publishing a monthly plant news paper named Sugar ‘n Starch. This was a four to six page newsletter on gloss paper stock with full color printing. If I remember correctly, it cost $14,000.00 per month to print and mail the little plant newspaper so it wasn’t a slouch of an operation – although it came in last in order of importance of my job priorities. Also, all of the Plant Managers (8 BIG bosses of 8 refineries in America) all took great pride in their individual plant’s paper and actually discussed each other’s paper’s articles at some of their business meetings. Our own Plant Manager told me this was so. That was the first time I found out that the chore of printing the plant paper was mine – as long as I could hold the position and not embarrass him. Anyway, the reason for this story is that when I really felt good about an edition, I never got any calls from the boss. I always took that as a good sign. At least, he wasn’t disgusted with the current issue and didn’t call to chew me out. On the other hand, when I wasn’t terribly excited about a particular issue and felt that I hadn’t done very well (my best), he would always end up calling me and praising this or that in the issue – “good job…way to go…” and there again came the same experience I used to have with test taking. It’s like my mental images are totally opposite to what transpires. It’s crazy!

I wrote a blabbering - being happy about fixing my little ham radio. That was a case where I was convinced (before I started) that I would probably end up ruining my radio for all time but I had no choice but to try to repair it. It was worthless as it was, and no one else (even the manufacturer) could fix it so I didn’t have too much to lose. The result was that not only didn’t I ruin it – I actually fixed it. Once again, my personal confidence is directly opposite to the results I seem to achieve. The closest thing I can use to describe what this phenomenon seems to be, is what I think the word HUMILITY must mean to our brains. Somehow, the over confident and arrogant will be the failures and the meek and humble will succeed. I wonder if there are actually brain chemicals that could be involved in this phenomenon? Is there some way of measuring a skew of knowledge somewhere between INCORRECT to CORRECT depending on the confidence level? Is an over confident brain more likely to skew towards the INCORRECT then to the CORRECT? Does the psychology of HUMBLENESS play a part in skewing our brains towards the CORRECT? I can think of two very compelling examples of modern men – HITLER and CHARLES LINDBERGH – one arrogant man who failed miserably and one humble man who achieved a heart-felt global applause – and in both cases – doesn’t my little theory seem to hold true? It makes me wonder how this physiology really works – all the way down to the molecular and sub-atomic level. As usual I’m trying to delve into things for which I have no right (and no brains) to pursue. But, I can’t help myself. I’ve often mentioned how the concept of FAITH might impact our psychology and physiology and I think that the concept of HUMBLENESS is sort of the same thing. There is no way that we can eliminate THEOLOGY when discussing these matters as it seems that virtually all religious cultures have ways to describe these two conceptual ideas.

But, it doesn’t seem right to rely entirely on the metaphysical. We should try to observe and describe these processes in terms of molecular and chemical catalytic action rather then concepts strictly of the soul and metaphysical occurrences. Is it possible that when we feel humbled that somehow our noggins are flooded with certain proteins that make our brains react differently? And, when we are cocksure of ourselves, do our brains react in the opposite direction? Is our intelligence impaired when we are over confident? I suppose that one can argue that confidence is a very good thing. It gives a person hope that they can accomplish something difficult or achieve a certain lofty goal. Perhaps, it is. Perhaps a specific level of chemical confidence is a good thing but if you go over your own personal limit, you begin to fail. Perhaps there is a balancing act going on at all times and it is easy to OD(overdose) on your own juices. For some reason, whenever I learn something unusual (really figure some weird thing out) I am delighted and briefly smug that I know something that few others know. Then, in the same thought, I am humbled to think that I didn’t discover it or even conceive of it before and that what I learned didn’t matter one whit. Someone always precedes me and most of what I know is useless. It is possible that I have never had an original thought in my life even though I feel like I have had gazillions of original thoughts. But, since I am so typical there should be gazillions of people who have thoughts about the same things. Surely I can’t be alone in such profoundly weird thoughts, can I?

It has always been a fact that – the truly brilliant people I have ever met were the most self-effacing and humble people I ever met. It’s as if their HUMBLE hormones are always flowing full-tilt-boogie. I’ve watched and listened to astronauts being interviewed. Most of them despise the intrusion and none of them ever blow their own horns. These obviously brilliant people all seem to exude humbleness. And, I don’t think the two observations are unrelated. I’ve noticed this all throughout my life. The people who have impressed me the most and those that I admire so much all have one thing in common – their humility. I’m sure you feel the same way. There may even be ways that this humbleness could be measured. Everything from psychological experiments to possible biological experiments might be used to measure the HUMILITY FACTOR of each individual and correlate the findings to those related to intelligence. In my own case, as I try to humble myself before a task or a learning experience, I find that it helps me prepare for the challenges that lie ahead. In the past decade or so, I was confronted with having to learn several computer software languages – actually five, in all. Each time, I was tormented with trepidation and lack of confidence. Yet, every time I succeeded in learning how to write programs in the different computer languages. Even so, if I were challenged to learn language number six, I would feel exactly the same – an incompetent bumbling idiot that’ll never succeed. Part of what helps me keep my humility-hat on is that I have been fortunate enough to work with people who were infinitely more qualified than me. I was so low on the brainiac food chain that I just couldn’t be anything other than humble. Guys like Dan and Laemming had more to do with my learning how to write software than any other people on earth – including me. If it had not been for these guys, I still wouldn’t know how to turn on my computer – let alone write code that runs them. While I did some of the preliminary work learning about computers and code, it was friends like these who encouraged me to do more and then even more after that. The only real walking I have ever done has been on the shoulders and across the backs of many others. No – that is not original.

I believe that the science of microbiology is on the brink of extraordinary discoveries. If you have labored through my ramblings then you know how I feel about brain chemistry and the human DNA project(s). Scientists now have the ability to peer at atoms and display them on a television (monitor) screen. Since molecules and proteins are made of atoms, and molecules are the ‘stuff-of-life’it seems to reason that man will finally be able to see how his mechanisms work – at a completely and insanely small level of electro-chemical presence never before known to exist or at least never before observed. Scientists will soon be able to predict human maladies even before conception and within the womb. In fact, they do this right now with amniocentesis exams. Therefore, it shouldn’t come as any surprise when they announce that the HUMILITY FACTOR has been discovered, analyzed, created in a test tube and implanted into 4,000 pygmies as an experiment in producing a teeny species of geniuses.

I sure don’t want to leave the impression that I think people need to go around being self-deprecating to the absurd. That would be just about as nauseating if not entirely schizophrenic. A person can certainly have confidence and still be filled with humility. But, like everything else in life, there is a compromise that takes place and people can ebb on the righteous or unrighteous side. I suppose that the best advice I could give another person is to remind them to do everything possible to behave like an humble person – one who understands full-well that their own bodily waste stinks just as much as that from anyone else. People who think they know-it-all are usually the most unreliable people I have known. Somehow, these types of folks fail in their logic and I can never seem to grasp and understand their reasoning. People who are ‘pumped-up’ with themselves rub me the wrong way. I suppose that is why actors and entertainers havenever meant much to me and I wouldn’t give you a plug-nickel to listen to anything they had to say about anything unscripted. I often get miffed when I hear so-called famous performers adding their 2-cents worth to very profound social and political issue. Very few performers are akin to Ronald Reagan when it comes to politics and things political. He, on the other hand, always seemed to remain humble or at least he acted like a humble man. People like Jane Fonda (a braggadocio of the first magnitude) certainly have a right to be vocal but her views on socio-political issues are not necessarily mine nor or they necessarily righteous. Why must I endure her ranting and raving about this or that. Where did she get her political science degrees? And, what makes people so sure that famous people have anything worthwhile or even useful to say? Of course they have an unabridged right to say anything they please. But, should our public airways be used to promote their issues or, anyone else’s? Do Rap ‘artists’ really supplant the poets?  I’ve mentioned it before but the life story of Audie Murphy and his exploits during his WWII military career seem to embody the essence of HUMILITY and a failing knowledge of self-worth. Yet, he became the most decorated soldier of the entire world war because of his bravery and leadership ability. His squad members always loved him and they always told the Brass to put Murphy in for citations. Yet, Audie was just a shy 18-year old boy with unheard-of bravery and humility.

Take my word for it – if YOU maintain a comfortable HUMILITY level, you will be much more likely to succeed in life. You may not get rich or famous but you will gain so much more out of your life’s experience. People will be more likely to ‘like’ you. Most people you meet will truly admire you. On the other hand, if you always ‘blow your own horn’ and try to maximize your importance, you will be much more likely to fail at life – especially in making any real friends. Also, if there really is indeed a physiological HUMILITY FACTOR, your incessant bragging will cause your brain to err on the side of errors and not intelligence. What will that get you? Take a look around you and watch the people you know that have a braggadocio personality. I’ll bet that they are the brunt of office jokes and a lot of YADDA, YADDA remarks. Perhaps these people have severe insecurity complexes and only brag to overcome their low self-esteem. But, whatever it is they would do better to go off in the opposite direction. Receiving esteem from one’s friends and colleagues is about the most uplifting event that one can experience. By remaining humble, one will almost always be regarded as smart and kind. What could be better than that? From time-to-time I have allowed my backside to overload my mouth and I’ve gotten into trouble. I always try to take away from these moments a clearer understanding of the HUMILITY FACTOR and how being a smart-ass got me into trouble. I’ve tried to learn something useful from these moments.

Anyway, since I am not a humble person by nature I find that I really have to work at it. I admit that I am happier when I am somewhat in awe over something – that is, when something or someone really impresses the heck out of me. I like to feel like a child and wonder about things. My eyes always seem to open wider. This keeps me humble – to an extent. While I haven’t the foggiest idea how quantum physics works (and never will) and I am humbled by the science and mathematics that I will never understand. There are a lot of things that make me feel humble. Almost every invention of the twentieth century has impressed me. I always have to think in my mind that there are sure a lot of smart people out there. They do incredible things – like stopping light in it’s 186,000 mile-per-second tracks; removing tumors from people and keeping them alive, Army paratroopers who jump out of perfectly good airplanes and into harm’s way and a gazillion other folks who do and have done the most impressive things. I fully realize just how unimportant I am in the grand scheme of things. In fact, I’ve never done anything scientific in my life that even resembles KEWEL. If that doesn’t humble me, nothing I can (or can’t) think of ever will.

I always watch old WWII documentaries and real combat footage shot during the war and my mouth is usually wide open in amazement. As I gaze into the faces of all of the young soldiers and citizens who lived (and died) through these times I am humbled to think that THEY actually lived through these horrors and for my entire life I have lived in absolute comfort in comparison. I’ve always wondered why God chose to bless me so much. There is just no way that I could have earned it. I keep watching for the other foot to fall. But, no kidding, the grim look on the faces of refugees is always mind numbing to me. I can hardly believe that these poor people had to carry their entire world’s belongings on their shoulders and walk 500 miles to a tent-city that more resembled squalor than their new home. This was going on in France, Italy, Greece, Russia, Belgium, Germany, China, Africa and who-knows-where-else. It is pitiful that in these modern times (1800-2000 AD) that political power and wealth isn’t more evenly distributed across the globe. I’m not suggesting anything like socialism or communism. But, for over 2000 years mankind has generally operated on large civic and cultural scales and still has completely failed in it’s combined responsibility to build a more equal-earth paradigm. I suppose that there will always be power-hungry militarists who will take control of their citizenry and lead them into all sorts of battles – economic, ideological and even hand-to-hand combat. Yet, they still do little to strengthen or empower their citizens because, that of course, requires the dictator to relinquish some of his or her power – which isn’t about to happen, is it? Men and women seek power. What’s new? But, in my experience, these people do not really succeed (except in the congressional halls of Washington, D.C.). That is, they don’t last too long. Either they go broke and die or get rich and die or get shot by a lunatic who is bent on suicide. One way or the other, they will all die and not a single one of them can take anything with them. The bereaved ancestors all fight one another for the spoils and some court decides to sell it all and divvy up the money. Some die by the sword and some by the ravages of time but not a single one of them ever takes their wealth and power with them. I can’t think of any modern person that was as ruthless, arrogant and ignorant as Adolph Hitler. This guy even surpassed Napoleon in the NASTY department. Hitler’s lack of humbleness must have been the bed-stone of his insanity. It is very difficult for me to understand how his so-called henchmen ever decided to follow Hitler’s lead in Germany’s undoing. While his right-hand men all seemed pretty stupid, guys like Rommel, Von Braun and Doenitz weren’t dummies and yet, they too, were drawn into Hitler’s lair. Hitler’s close bands of roughnecks all wanted power themselves and so if they had ever been humble in their lives – from then on out they would no longer allow themselves this emotion. Guess who lost? The old cliché, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” couldn’t be more correct.

The human-cloning arguments are just beginning to sprout forth. This science is brand new. In 50 years it may be an accepted and well-understood science and lots of folks will begin to clone themselves just to harvest the organs of their progeny in order to stay alive for 300 years. I am really concerned about this potential practice. Even if cloning were simple enough to do in our own bathrooms, I would never, ever want to be cloned. I haven’t got perfect genes, brains or looks. In fact, bald men would probably be the last to be cloned – regardless of their brainpower or (as in my case) the lack of it. If there is indeed a molecular chemical element (as I postulate) to the concept of HUMILITY, it would probably cease to exist. I can’t conceive of a HUMBLE person wanting to be cloned. It is contrary to their way of thinking. Therefore, the appropriate chemicals would not end up in the genetic material of the clones. HUMILITY would become obsolete. What a nightmare that seems to conjure. Can you imagine a world filled with people like Archie Bunker or worse yet, Hitler and Stalin? Talk about a horrible set of conditions – everyone wanting to ‘RULE’ the other and everyone is willing to do anything to achieve their goals. And, I mean ANYTHING!

So there you go – I really wonder if there is not a simple molecular physiology going on when people HUMBLE themselves. If so, then it must go on within the brain chemistry – in which case – it certainly could be a factor that hinders or helps our thinking processes. At the very least, it would alter the chemistry and there is no telling what that might mean. I really do believe that HUMILITY can play a significant role in our achievements. I just can’t prove it.

Original: September, 2000

I guess – if you have slogged through my blabberings – that you might believe that my sense of humor is almost non-existent. You probably think I am an old fuddy-duddy who doesn’t know how to laugh. If you are lucky, maybe you pick up on my humor that is often disguised. I admit that I’m not smart enough to be considered a satirist or one who has one of those academically inspired funny bones. I fully admit that I laugh out loud at a couple of old television shows like the Andy Griffith Show (with the character Barney Fife) and The Beverly Hillbillies. There are very learned people who would call me a moron for admitting that. No self-respecting academician would ever sink so low as to find the character of Jethero Bodine immensely funny and entertaining. That fact alone should tell you that I am far from being smart. Be that as it may, I really do think that I can be funny – without telling jokes and which is an art form that I never learned to do very well. For the most part of my life, I believe that my friends always thought that I had a fun and pleasant personality. No one really took me seriously during my childhood because I didn’t take most things seriously. I know for a fact that I smiled and laughed as much as anyone I associated with.

 When I started college my personality began to make its first change. I quickly learned that seriousness has its place and probably should take precedence over jocularity. Most of my college professors were as serious as a heart attack. Their disciplines meant everything to them and so they got their points across in class. Very few of my teachers had what you could call a funny bone. My daughter Suzanne came along when I was only 21-years old and I knew that I had to get a job to pay for my family’s room and board. I sought a job with the Police Department and they hired me initially as a dispatcher and later as a patrolman. Talk about serious! There was never anything funny about the world of the cop. So, little by little my natural sense of humor was sort of squelched simply because of my circumstances. Now, as I get to be an old geezer, I wonder if I might have lost my sense of humor. I know that it once existed and presented my character very well for the most part. Slowly over time, I really do wonder if my funny bone has gone numb. In general I am most often contemplating very serious and profound things and I suppose that humor isn’t really well suited to interact with those thoughts. Sometimes it does and I can laugh just as hard as the next guy. But, growing old isn’t much fun. My teeth are falling out of my head. My legs are weak. My body is failing with diabetes and my overall aches and pains are more frequent. It’s harder to walk and I couldn’t climb a fence if I was on fire and a lake was on the other side.

 Much of my youthful personality revolved around music. I used to whistle constantly. I used to sing very often. But, both of these pleasures were yanked away from me when I had a run-in with Bell’s palsy – a sort of paralysis of one side of the face. I thought I had suffered a stroke in 1991 when I woke up with a paralyzed left side of my face. It was a weird feeling. I was very relieved when the doctor told me it would go away in a few weeks. The paralysis eventually went away but it left me without my whistling and singing abilities and that result is not too good. Music always seemed to be one of the good parts of my abilities and a big part of my personality. I had a natural musical ability which came to me free of charge. While the musical knowledge is still with me in my noggin, I couldn’t sing or whistle again like I used to if it would save my life. I was able to teach myself to play the guitar and piano well enough to please me. But, part of my playing the instruments was as an accompaniment to my singing. When I could no longer sing, I lost interest in playing the piano and guitar and any skills I once possessed are now rusty and useless. There goes another part of my funny bone.

 I used to wonder why old people spent so much time talking about their illnesses and poor health. Well now I know why. It’s because when you get old much of your worrying is all about your failing bodies and just yakking about it with someone who understands is sort of a healing process of its own. Young people just go blank when an old geezer starts talking about their latest heath related battle. I can’t blame them. I did as well. Many times I was glassy-eyed and stared blankly into space as my Mother related her latest issues. The sad thing is, that wasn’t so long ago and here I am – already stepping on a banana peel with one foot and putting the other into a casket. But, I can’t complain. I was blessed with good health for about 58-years – except for a couple of short kavots like a heart attack at 38 and the Palsy at 49. The only bones I have broken are my left collar bone, 3 or 4 left ribs and my right ankle. And, I was already an adult before I ever broke a bone. Considering how active I was as a kid, that is uncommonly unusual. Other than the normal illnesses and cavities, I have been very well blessed and I am eternally thankful. But, now I am on the downhill leg of an uphill battle. In other words, I am slowly losing the battle with aging. I keep remembering that every old geezer that has gone before me has gone through the same, exact experiences that I am now learning about. I am definitely not alone in the human species in these regards. One of the neat things that we all retain to some extent is the ability to laugh out loud. No matter how old or sick I may become, I hope that I can still bellow out a guffaw now and then. Hopefully I won’t decline into a pain-riddled, suffering wreck and never laugh again. That would be torturous and awful. But, there really isn’t much I can do to change what will become of me. None of us knows when we will die and none of us knows what medical issues we will have to face.

 I guess this is where I need to say, “there goes another part of my funny bone.”

Original: 8-24-2000

I got bombarded today. Every news channel in America was slogging over the details of a television show on CBS that is named Survivor. It seems as if the show is over because one man was the last to survive and he won a million bucks. Being the waykewel old man that I am, I have never seen, nor wanted to see, the show. I have no interest in watching people behave like trained squirrels – unless they’re naked.

 I am really taken aback at the popularity of these so-called, “Reality“ TV shows. This means that a generation of people must have inherited or switched-ON a VOYEUR GENE. These must be the people who are watching the TV show (and that seems to be the majority of people who watch TV at all – ratings received about 54% of the total viewing audience as opposed to 74% for the final Seinfeld Show – another show I never watched) and who respond to the advertiser’s $600,000.00 per 30 second ad fee. If you want to do the math go look at my rambling “I hate TV commercials” and you will see that this 3 hour show generated (60 x 1,200,000) dollars for CBS. That is a hunk of pocket change for their shareholders. And, I applaud CBS for their success and their ability to determine the demographics of their audience and come up with a winning show. But, I am not so quick to applaud the fact that our country is being so open about their voyeuristic behavior. People apparently assembled at bars and restaurants to watch the final episode. It was a happening - sort of like a huge, televised sports event. The last time that happened was probably way back in 1969 when Armstrong first sat foot on the moon’s surface.

 There is talk that Court TV will soon begin airing video taped confessions of real, live criminals – the ones taken by cops after or during an arrest. As I have alluded to in other ramblings, we may soon (very soon) see people being put to death by the state – real-life SNUFF films – in Prime Time. The profits that could be earned by airing the actual death chamber sentence – L-I-V-E – would be enormous. CBS could probably get $3 million per 30-second spot for something sensational like that. But soon, alas, even “THAT” would become trite and overdone – like Space Shuttle launches. People just don’t watch them anymore – (which bugs me because I don’t get solid news coverage about them and I like watching space stuff. I always go to NASA Select TV on the web for complete takeoff to touchdown coverage.) Perhaps the very fabric of television is undergoing a major change – like mitosis (Don’t you remember INTERPHASE, PROPHASE, METAPHASE, ANAPHASE and TELOPHASE from high-school biology?) the 5 steps to cell division when chromosomes divide.) I suppose that TV will migrate into two camps – one will always be VCHIP controlled for kids under 12 and the other will be ALL adult fare where anything goes.

 The FREEDOMS that we share may soon cross a line of dignity and common sense. Free Speachers (ACLU) will always argue that the PUBLIC has a right to witness the JUSTICE being dispensed in ALL of our courts. Further, they argue that ALL facets of the investigation should become PUBLIC record and therefore they too, are subject to mass dissemination. I begin to wonder where our-right-to-know invades the rights-of-the-individual. If I were ever to commit a crime and was facing a trial, I wouldn’t want anyone to know about it that didn’t need to know about it – probably because of embarrassment – but also, I wouldn’t want a potential juror to have heard about my case through sound-bites and other darning commentary on some Reality TV show. Usually such confessions are considered much too prejudicial to be heard by juries and judges don’t allow them to be played in court trials. Now, long before a person is chosen to sit on my jury, they have already watched Court TV and seen my confession – given under great duress during a police interrogation. I wonder how this will impact my ultimate fate. It is discomforting to me that most of us want to watch the yucky stuff in our society. We want it given to us in NEWS stories, Pay-Per-View broadcasts and now, Reality TV. If you think about it, why do our local TV stations broadcast pictures of horrible car wrecks? We don’t know the person(s) involved in the crash so why is it a newsworthy event? To see the GORE…way DUH! I must admit that I watch the FOX TV program COPS. Since I used to be a cop I like to see how the young guys do their jobs. Personally, I think that cops are a brave bunch of folks, especially in today’s brutal world where the bad guys don’t hesitate shooting.

 There once was a town near Mount Vesuvius and it was a place for vacationing tourists and it was a city of brothels, baths and fine restaurants and inns. Everywhere, on the walls of buildings and walls of streets and fabulous courtyards were all sorts of pornographic pictures graphically depicting all sorts of sexual acts in which people could indulge themselves while vacationing in this beautiful, coastal city. These artists didn’t leave anything to our imagination, as all of these pictures were anatomically correct. Today, almost anyone would recognize them as pornography. Then, one day, the nearby volcano erupted and buried the place in 45 feet of ash and dirt within 2 or 3 days time. People got frozen in time as they tried to cover their faces from the ash raining down upon them – fell to the ground and were forever mummified in casts of stone with their hands still covering their faces. The buried city of Pompeii wasn’t discovered until 2100 years later when some guys were digging a new sewer line and found the roofs of the long covered buildings of this once popular tourist town. Maybe we have a lesson to learn from its discovery. Maybe not. Maybe mankind hasn’t changed at all in his existence. Perhaps Grog, Grogette and I truly are soul brother and sister. His lusts are the same as my lusts – no different. Maybe the only thing that stifles my interest in public orgies and a drug induced stupor is a fear of breaking a law and getting thrown into sex prison. Maybe I rely on my upbringing (or lack thereof) to help guide me in the pastures of pleasure – electing to keep such things private and within acceptable limits placed on me by a generation of living.

 Who knows, maybe we are embarking on a new fangled Pompeii where we publicly display all sorts of sexual acts, murders, sentencing, voting booths, death sentences, vomiting, dumping and peeing – all of it on a television channel devoted to Reality TV – all of it in enhanced digital format. One can almost smell the gore. (I promise that my use of the word GORE is not being used as a psychological dump on Al Gore who is currently running for president.)

 Unfortunately, most of this “nasty” can already be found on the World Wide Web – which if it was not for pornography would NOT be the entity that it has grown to become. I’ll bet that 99.999% of every Internet user has, at one time or the other, searched on a dirty word and ended up on a porno website. Its human nature and porno sites hotlink the nastiest words to their web sites. If you try to search the web for all web sites that have a slang, four-letter word beginning with “F” and ending in “K” then you will soon discover that there are probably gazillions of such web sites. You could NOT browse all of them in a lifetime of web surfing. If you find that you can’t leave these sites and you hunger for more “nasty” web sites, then you might have a sexual addiction and you probably need counseling – that is if you think it is a problem. But, if it is only an occasional interest, then you’re probably quite normal. But, because it is what seems to drive the Internet, if porno was totally removed from the web tomorrow, the web servers across the entire world would reel from the loss of subscribers. I can hardly believe that companies are starting to dismiss employees who get caught browsing porno sites on the web. They better watch it – they may end up with ZERO employees.

 It can’t/won’t be long before Reality TV invades direct satellite broadcasts (DBS) and “Debbie Does Dallas” and “Deep Throat” will seem like children’s bedtime stories. It won’t be nearly disgusting enough to satisfy the TV watcher’s lust. Maybe the WWF will have the second Pay-Per-View death for folks to watch. One poor guy already fell 250 feet from the ceiling of a packed arena and promptly became wrestling ring pizza – down for the count – forever. Maybe they will name the show Puke TV or Gag A Maggot Hour. Maybe Donny and Marie will host the UTAH state prison death sentences. Geraldo would probably do it on a bet. Typical direction, “Come-on, get a close-up on that last gasp…get those eyes rolling back and don’t forget to get his last bowel movement as he messes up his sheet. Hey, audio technician, get that microphone closer down there so we can hear the death gurgles.”

 I heard an interesting statistic today. When some bureaucracy interviewed 1000 youngsters from the ages of 13 to 20, 99% of them said that a family member introduced them to drugs and only 1% of them got started by a drug pusher. Now, that should sure tell us something about the “family units” that exist in our culture. Parents, brothers and sisters are sharing drug sources these days. I suppose this means that 18 year olds are turning their younger siblings onto drugs. Maybe it’s the other way around. Most new drug addicts said that their parents got them started. Now, isn’t that encouraging? The 60′s free-living hippies made their babies and in order to be cool (kewel) they try to bond with their teenage kids over a joint. They don’t realize that the kids will probably need to increase their drug use in order to feel ever more stoned. So, they go out and start cocaine, heroin, paint sniffing or whatever they can get their hands on. What happened to the time when an older brother watched out for his younger brother? He sure didn’t shove a firkin needle into his arm and he would likely try to kill anyone who tried. I hope that dysfunctional families remain in the minority. However, until some significant changes are made in they way we raise our children, I’m afraid that we can expect even more discombobulating. My position on this can be found in my rambling Mother’s Moola.

 Is it really an all-for-one and one-for-all (one being ourselves) culture we have evolved into? Do we really NOT care about our children and neighbors and sully into an attitude of “let them take care of themselves?” Has crime (and the reporting of it) been a part of our hardening-of-attitudes about horribly debase things – like eating worms and rats? I suspect that (even that) nauseating image is enjoyed by a whole bunch of folks who watch Reality TV. Well, it sure won’t be long before that disgusting act will need to be replaced by even more yucky things; like the addicts seeking even more powerful drugs. In order to survive, the next Survivor show (planned to air following the next Super Bowl) will necessarily have to be grosser than the last show. Since it is going to be filmed in Australia, I bet we will see them disembowel a Kangaroo and eat the raw meat. Of course, 10 miles down the road is a McDonalds and Jack in the Box and a 5-star hotel and restaurant. That’s where the zookeepers live and play while the trained squirrels eat bugs and raw Roo meat.

 How in the world do so many people get caught-up in this kind of display? What is it that compels people to watch someone eat a worm or pee or die? It’s probably the same thing that compels people to look at goldfish tanks and little trained squirrels water-ski behind a remote controlled speedboat. It is different. One must wonder, however, where DIFFERENT will end.