Love Loyalty and Redemption

I think most would agree that hate and love are two of the most powerful emotions we humans possess.  Some might think fear should be included but I don’t really think so.  Fear I believe is more of an instinct.  A survival instinct from the eons. When faced with a perceived threat we’ll naturally revert to a defensive mood.  Hate and love require some reflection, evaluation and observation of behavior of an individual or groups of them.  When you see someone briefly you are not likely to either hate or love them.  You might lust after them but I think everyone would agree that is not love.  Hate can sometimes be a good thing and love can warp into destructive or evil actions.

As so often the case the Bible has a great story that illustrate much of the above.  King David was flying high.  He had everything anyone could want.  He succumbed to lust, then love and demonstrated the danger of envy.  Envy I think is wanting something that someone else has whereas jealousy is basically fretting over someone taking something away from you.  I think  Samuel Johnson would have gone along with those definitions.  David saw his next door neighbor Bathsheba taking her bath in the garden.  She was beautiful and he was struck with that.  He arranged to meet with her and flirted, hinting at a fling, she rejected his advances.  Told the King she was a married lady.  Her husband was Uriah who at the time was off fighting a war on behalf of David.  David couldn’t let go of his infatuation and plotted to somehow get Uriah out of the picture.  He had Uriah recalled from the battlefield.  Uriah did return and slept outside the King’s quarters.  When David interviewed him  it was learned that Uriah had not gone to his wife on his returne as would have been expected and acceptable.   But he had a noble and loyal heart and stayed near the King until called.  David was hoping to find something despicable or dishonorable about Uriah but he could find no fault in him.

David sent him back to the battle.  But he called in his “general” and instructed him to make sure that Uriah was placed in the front lines in the place of greatest danger.  It was done as the King wished and in due course Uriah was slain in battle as David intended.  Bathsheba was now his but at a cost that tormented him.  You would hope he would be tormented.  That was truly a dastardly act.  Like Falstaff he had sold his soul for an immediate desire.  Love is a good thing, a wonderful thing and it can inspire the most remarkable examples of sacrifice for the benefit of others.  But you can’t allow love to become envy or betray decency.

David ruled long and well in spite of his sins with Bathsheba and indeed his seed produced Jesus who exemplified the ultimate of love by giving himself for everyone.

I encourage you to read the story yourself.  The good, bad and ugly of hate we’ll leave for another day.

You remember your tenth birthday?  The twentieth?  The fortieth?  I can’t either.

Full moon coming so keep a close eye on the herd so stragglers don’t wander off.

God bless,

olcranky

Wonders And Amazements

We have so many wonders around us every day that we don’t notice and it is amazing the current events and historical occurrences that are ignored by our media.  It must be that old adage at work about hiding in plain sight as the best way to remain unnoticed.

Speaking of adages, the next time you are trying to learn the origin of one, start with the Bible.  There is a very good chance you’ll find it there.   Remember Hamlet  “our fate is not in the stars but within ourselves”?   Well, the Bard was paraphrasing Job.  There when facing the common lament that God caused some misfortune Job responded “why persecute Him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?”  How many times have you said something like “you are the apple of my eye”?   Well, take a gander at Psalms 17:8.   There really isn’t much new under the Sun.  Even that comes from Ecclesiastes.

We worry about global warming and all manner of natural disasters but are ignorant or choose not to face facts that the laws of physics and astronomical facts harbor  enormous changes in relatively short order.  The global warming debate is primarily forecasting conditions roughly a century from now.  A long time compared to a human life but a blink in the grand scheme.  You want to worry about something then try to understand the implications of precession.   That is a term that describes the wobble of the earth as it rotates on its  axis.  You know that the earth tilts at a 23 degree angle that gives us our seasons.  And as it does it also wobbles just like a top slowing down.   For several centuries and for a few more we have had our North Star found using the far end of the pot of the Big Dipper and taking an imaginary line four times that length to find it.  It has been very reliable for a long time.  But, but, but as the earth moves on its wobble the North Star is moving and a few short centuries down the road it will not be the “north” star any longer.  The complete precession takes 23,000 years but not that long to move quiet some distance.  What does that portend for our climate down the road?  No one knows for sure, but perhaps another ice age.   Neanderthals and Cro-magnons made it and hopefully homo sapiens will also.

These modern punters have such big averages per punt.   Not all that impressed with them.  Those punters back when had it much rougher to get a forty yard average for punts.  They changes the rule a few decades ago to make it easier.  The rule used to be that the kicking team could not down the ball inside the opponents ten yard line.  The punter had to be much more accurate to kick it out-of-bounds to achieve those really good numbers.  It was a penalty if the ball was touched or d0wned by the kicking team inside the ten and the receiving team got the ball out on the 20 yard line.  Not like now where the kick team can have guys run down quickly and down the ball near the goal line.  That change immediately pumped up the numbers for the modern kickers.  So when you see the averages from some old punter back in the ’40’s, ’50’s or ’60’s remember the rule he had to work under.

We notice that Apple  and Google and others are using new encryption methods to protect users’ privacy from government surveillance.    A great idea.  The Feds already have too much access to our everyday lives as it is.  I recognize the occasional need to track down a missing child or elderly person or similar emergency.   Fine, let those and other extraordinary circumstances be exceptions.  Require the Feds to go to a judge and lay out those facts and then get access, otherwise leave us alone.

I don’t recall any big feasts for Thanksgiving when I was small after the War.   We had very modest circumstances.  But we had as roof over our head and food on the table.  I guess we had a turkey or maybe a big chicken.  I do know we had pies and cakes.  Mostly even then I knew I had a remarkable Dad and Mom and I never doubted that Dad would take care of us.  I do remember when I was about 5 and we lived in a rented house with an ice box.  Yes, a real ice box where Dad brought home a block of ice every few days to put in the special drawer and my job was to empty out the drip pan every day.  Those were modest days but abundantly lived.   May each of you be so blessed.

“Barbarism is like the jungle; it never admits its defeat; it waits patiently for centuries to recover the territory it has lost”  Will Durant, American historian.  http://www.olcranky.wordpress.com

 

 

 

2 Cents Worth On Life Its Ownself

Commodity prices are zooming but we’ve managed to keep these costs in line with the means of the average Joe.   The contents in the package are even the same size as a year ago.

I can only think of one thing that ever came out of a committee and took several years to accomplish.  Somehow those folks several centuries ago knew how to apply wisdom, learning and artistry to a singular project over a number of years.  Amazing but that was the method used to produce the King James version of the Bible.  It is still the epitome of the poetic and descriptive use of the English language.  You may find some of the words arcane but the power and beauty of them cannot be gainsaid.

How hard is it to get a toast correct?  Apparently it is beyond the capacity of the guy in the WH.  At least Bush One had the excuse of illness when he threw up in the Japanese premier’s lap.   I am sure that returned bust of Churchill was smiling at the wannabe cool guy.   Anyone knows when it is best to at least just shut up, or at least most do.

We have enormous abilities and capacities in the US.  We can do great things when motivated.  During WWII we built over 275,000 planes of all types–fighters, bombers, search planes (PBY’s) and cargo planes.  It is hard to imagine the losses.  More than 43,000 went down.  Slightly more than half in combat.  The rest crashed in training or routine missions.  More than 14,000 were lost in the continental US.  The training was hard and as fast as they could absorb.   The usual safety rules we have today were out the window.  We lost 121,000 men in those planes to death, injure or capture.   When you read the headlines of current casualties remember that we lost on average 220 men Per Day during the War.  That doesn’t diminish the loss of today one iota but it reveals the scope of the loss and suffering as a nation we had to endure at that time. 

Who will emerge as our new Best Friend in the Middle East?  The WH apparently plans on spending enough to buy several of them.  Some one once talked about with friends like that who needs enemies.  

For your own use and edification you should go to eia.gov and look over the projections from that branch of the Energy Dept. for our sources of energy for the next 25 years.  This is the administration’s own think tank group on the subject.  You will see that the needle for solar hardly moves at all for that time period.  Wind about doubles but its starting point is almost nothing so the percentage of total energy use is still barely perceptible. Biomass grows but that assumes the Feds keep subsidizing it for the entire period of time.   In total all the renewables are projected to increase only from 11 to 14 percent of total energy use.   Those ugly old carbon sources will still be the overwhelming factor in our need for energy for another generation even assuming the all out and expensive renewable plans of the hard left.   Consider that when you make your investments.  Facts are stubborn things.  

With that said it will be wonderful it some day we can actually figure out a realistic way to harness the power of the Sun.  After all it will last much longer than we will.  Maybe someday they will figure out how to fulfill Tesla’s dream of providing electric power with the power lines.  He worked hard to develop a system to send the electric power through the atmosphere the way we do the microwaves for our cellphones.  He couldn’t make it happen but maybe our kids will down the road.

The mony and investment pundits talk about the Federal Reserve reducing its balance sheet and tightening the economy to fight inflation by selling off some of its 2.9 trillion is assets.  You will see that statement made often in the financial journals and papers.  I have a question–how does selling assets reduce the balance sheet?  After all when they sell a Treasury bond they will get cash for the bond.  The balance sheet remains the same.  They merely substituted one asset for another.  Do they get cash and then burn it in the back yard?  Really, how does that work? 

I love the adage–“if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it”.  But when we apply that to Medicare it doesn’t hold up.  Sadly the Dems don’t seem to get that.  It IS broken and not only that but going broke on an exponential scale.  It has to be fixed but lo anyone brave enough to broach the topic publicly.  It won’t remain that way forever though.  The bill always comes due sooner or later.  Remember those that stick their heads in the sand usually end up getting kicked in the rear.   Simply taxing the “rich” won’t do it, not even close.  From the Medicare’s on estimates the cost will exceed all the worth of everyone, including every millionaire we have.   We got nine kittens and a basket that will only hold seven. 

You and I have actually paid the salaries of pointy-headed bureaucrats at the EPA to conclude and propose regulations that will treat milk spills as toxic waste.  We’d laugh except it is true.   Here is another little cut in the Federal budget–fire everyone there who even touched such a report without writing their strongest objection to the absurdity of the idea. 

We are in danger of having our politics ruled by the mob and the dependent since only half the people pay income tax.  Yes, they pay FICA but that will only be enough to pay for what they take out later, maybe.  They have no stake in the finances of the nation.  That is a terrible situation.  Again, we call for the prerequisite to voting that you have to pay something–anything– in Federal income taxes the year prior to election year.   It is wrong  and dangerous for the takers to dictate to the makers.  www.olcranky.wordpress.comlco

“Victimhood” is as old as mankind

Sadly our society promotes the idea that we are all victims of one type or the other.  The armed robber isn’t really a bad guy he just grew up in a bad neighborhood and wasn’t motivated to complete his schooling.  The person at the other end of his gun isn’t the real victim it is that poor robber we should recognize deserves our sympathy.   All those folks in homes they couldn’t afford are victims of those greedy people in the mortgage business who foisted those loans on them.  It wasn’t their fault they took out those loans; they were victimized by Wall Street barons.  You would think they were Shanghaied into those loan offices and forced to sign up on the dotted line.  I dare you to peruse the news on any day without finding an example of this mentality.  Even those poor water rats in San Francisco are the victims of greedy developers and uncaring people.  Naturally the politicians are eager to promote and nurture this attitude because it gives them a “base” to pander to.  For every victim there is a Federal remedy.  Hey, what do you think the bailout for the Big Three is all about.  There is very little discussion about what management and the unions did wrong over the decades to destroy a real American icon of industry.  Now they are victims of a bad economy or this or that.  It isn’t their own greed that got them were they are we are lead to believe. 

Rather than taking responsibility for our own actions it appears we have that victim response wired into our dna from the git go.  You are reminded of the earliest known story of Man on this earth.  It illustrates how easy it is to not step up and say “yes, I did it, it was wrong, but I can do better and pledge to try”.  Far too often we want to say it wasn’t my fault and what are you going to do for me about this.  In the garden of Eden Adam was given the most wonderful gift imaginable by God.  He got a companion.  Some one with whom to share the joys and sorrows of life.  Of all life’s benefits there is non greater than that.  God had planted the tree of knowledge in the garden.  He warned Adam that he could have everything in the garden but he should not partake of the fruit of that one tree.  He was warned and knew the consequences would be bad if he violated the rule.  There was only that one rule.  It wasn’t complicated.   The serpent came and tempted Eve.  He lured her.  He told her the fruit was good for her and would make her wise.  Isn’t it so often true that what we know to be wrong comes packaged so invitingly?  How often do we ignore the warnings to succumb to the action we feel in our very bones will come to a bad end?  She ate the fruit and then she in turn became the temptress and lured Adam to eat the fruit also.  They were no longer the innocent babes as they had been and donned the fig leaves.  Ones year olds are so innocent.  They play together regardless of sex and revel in the pleasure of shared experiences without guile. 

When later God next came to vist, Adam and Eve went and hid from Him.  They knew they had violated the rule.   God found them.  Like all our wrongs do inevitably emerge no matter how hard we try to hide them.  Here the story turns to the heart of man and that additional temptation to avoid responsibility.  Adam is about to compound his wrongdoing.  When God asked Adam if he had eaten the fruit Adam pointed the finger of blame elsewhere you recall.  He didn’t step up and admit his wrong.  He said it was the woman that tempted me.  Implying that nothing would have ever happened if he hadn’t been victimized by her.   In turn God asked Eve and she put the blame on the serpent, not herself.  They were the first victims in society if you believe their version of events rather than the first ones to fall short and refuse to  accept the blame and responsibility for their actions.   Now it is the Government, not the serpent who wants to tempt us.

We do have examples of people who have not dodged their responsibilities and duties.   The list in history is replete.  We need to choose which we want to be –the victims in everything or the achievers and more honest folk of this earth.  Those who have resisted the lure of victimhood are a shinning examples from the pages of history.  You can make your own list of heroes.    The true titans of our past were not the ones who accepted the role of victim ever.  They got on their hind legs and walked the extra mile  and so often in the doing they dragged us along with them.   Thank goodness for that.   Solomon, Alexander the Great, Caesar, Churchill, Martin Luther, and so many more have shown us the way.  We need leaders now who feel for true victims of the accidents and evils of life but not those who promote the idea that everything is not your fault and the role of Government is to find every victim and right every perceived, as opposed to real, wrong.   Too many in Government today in fact thrive on finding victims where common sense and morality would reject the notion.  Victims vote contrary to Adam and Eve.

I still can’t get my head around the idea of the speed of light being a constant.  You know that if you are riding a motorbike inside a moving train your total speed will be the speed of the train plus the speed of the bike as you move forward down the aisles.  The same is not true for the speed of light.  It moves at the same speed regardless of any external factor.  I guess that is why it is considered a constant in physics.  Still hard to comprehend for the great unwashed though.

Bible Stories for Politics and just folks

Surely you agree that there is a difference between us and politicians.   We ordinary folks are all the politicians can talk about during a campaign but do they really relate to us and our hopes, dreams and wants.  The one who can do the best job of making us think that they do is the one who usually wins the election.  We have had many close elections over the years because it was hard to figure who best represented the hopes of the folks on Main Street.   To read the media you would think that the only close election we have ever had was 2000.  Close elections go back much farther than that.  Remember Jefferson and Aaron Burr?  That election went to the House for resolution and it took many votes there to break the deadlock.   In 1960 the election of Kennedy was extremely close.  The Illinois vote put him over the top.  There was very credible evidence that the vote in Cooke County Illinois (Chicago) was rigged and fraudulent.  Nixon was advised by many to file a court challenge to the election.   After a few days Nixon declined to sue and said that the nation could not afford months of uncertainty about who was President.  It was probably his high water mark in displaying personal integrity and truly putting the country first rather than his personal ambition.   That is a small incident in our history that is almost totally forgotten.  You can check the facts for yourself.  In 1992 you might recall that Clinton won with a plurality, not a majority of the vote–the Perot factor.

King David had a son called Absolom.  David loved him greatly.  Absolom was not loyal to his father.  In fact he lead a rebellion against his own father and plotted his death and wanted to be King himself.  The treachery of Absolom broke David’s heart.  But the rebellion was real and threatened Israel and David’s own life.  David dropped hints to his trusted lieutentants that his son should  be killed.  Some of David’s loyal followers took him at his word and they did indeed slay Absolom and came to inform David that his enemy was dead.  The reaction of David was not one of joy.  He lamented in one of the famous quotes from the Bible, “Oh, Absolom, oh Absolom, my son”.  He was tormented with grief at the death of his son even though he was a traitor.   His grief was so strong that he secluded himself from everyone.   A leader does not have that luxury though.  You can’t just abandon your post when things are terrible.  Indeed, that is when a leader is needed the most.   Samuel the prophet came to King David and told him the people needed to see him, to know he was alright and still in charge.  The King mustarded the courage to go out to the gate so all could see him and know he was well.  The people rejoiced.   Leadership can be so powerful but it is a burden that requires sacrifice.  That mantle should only be assumed by those brave enough to endure the heartaches that go with it.   Our troubled times in the US often came when the leader could not  deal with the onus of setting the example by sacrifice.   There is a lesson in that story for every leader and parent and the siblings of those errant children.  Who would you be in that story?  McCain or Obama, who has the courage to lead regardless of the price?

When David fought Goliath it was mostly his courage that prevailed not physical abilities.  You will recall that Saul tried to get David to wear his armor but David declined after trying it on.  It was too bulky, too heavy, too ornate; it was not him.  David decided it was best to be himself in his battle with Goliath.  He won through the hubris of Goliath and his own courage and skill.   He was himself, not an “image” that someone else created.  Like the old Woody Allen comment,  success is 90% just showing up.  That was true here.  No one else would even show up to do battle with Goliath except David.   He tried.  By trying he won.   If you won’t even go to the batter’s box you will never hit the ball for sure.   In this election we have a gimpy old man against a vibrate young fellow.   Saul you could equate to the old Republican standards.  Will McCain be the David?  Time will tell.   At least he has done the first part and shown up.  

Lastly, you are reminded of Jesus when he chased the money lenders from the Temple.  They supposedly were there to help folks with their worship by providing money to buy scarifices for the temple but the real purpose was just to make money.  How many of the politicians today are there just to make the money, or more aptly to retain the power?  Earmarks?.   Are they the modern day equivalent of the moneylender business?  You answer that one as you please.

The peach trees are beginning to show a hint of brown on the leaves.   The next full moon will be the harvest moon and the pumpkins will be arrayed at all the stores.  My grandsons asked me what I was going to dress as for Halloween.   I admit I was stumped with that one.   They are already planning their outfits.  Be a good man, it is very hard sometimes, very.   Your reward though comes when you can lay your head down with a clean conscience at night.

2 cents worth on politics, industry events

With a big bow to Blackie Sherrod who had a weekly column with something like that title, I offer the following and remember they are worth just what you paid for them.

I get so irritated when I hear someone say “judge not, lest ye be judged” during a discussion or debate because without exception they are using the quote out of context and to justify their own behavoir, opinion or position.   It is so often heard when someone has been caught in wrong doing.  You heard Clinton’s defenders use it all the time when he was found out.   Firstly, they are only quoting the first part of the verse and that makes it entirely misleading.   The full quote is “judge not lest ye be judged, for by that measure shall ye be measured”.  The guilty like to conveniently forget that part.  The verse isn’t at all about not judging, it is about hypocrisy.   The Bible is an entire book about judging.  Christ himself said repeatedly that Judgment Day is at hand and he preached on that subject often.  So the next time you hear that verse misused please remember this little lecture and correct the verse abuser.   Hypocrisy was the sin above all others that most distressed Jesus.  Remember the comments about the Pharisees? and how he treated the money lenders at the Temple?   It was their hyporcrisy that he despised.

Without question the most inspirational event of my lifetime was the the Appollo landing on the moon.  The whole world was watching and cheering.   I felt such pride in mankind and being an American.   To think they did all that with nothing more sophisticated than slide rules.  Yeah, there were some computers but they were pretty primitive then and the real engineering was done the old fashioned way and they were good, very good.  It was the achievement of a generation.

Do you sometimes wonder if we should finally get around to sending a bill to the Europeans for saving their bacon during both wars?   Of course Germany was supposed to pay for WWI but you know how well that went.  Not only did we never send a bill, we even sent more money when it was really needed after the war with the Marshall Plan to rebuild all of Western Europe.   While Europe spent very little on its military during all those years of the Cold War we ponied up.  We got lots of grief from the French in particular and they even pulled out of NATO.   We won the Cold War under Reagan and they also were the beneficiaries of that victory.  Anyone remember any of them even saying thank you?  The economic boom of Europe didn’t take off until the Cold War was history thanks to good old Uncle Sam.  They are sometimes so quick to critize but sure do like the results of our military taking the lead.   I am not even talking about Iraq or any of the recent events but rather from 1950 to 2000.  It was American tanks and missiles that kept Europe free.  And at the expense of the American taxpayer.

Without doubt the biggest technological advance of this century will be turning sea water into potable water.   Forget oil, water is the most precious of our resources and our demands are growing exponentially.  Only, 3% of all the water in the world is fresh and 2/3rds of that is locked up in the ice sheets.   We will literally be able to make the deserts bloom when that day comes.   Oil will fade at some point as our primary energy source.    I have complete confidence in modern science to finally get another basic source for our energy.  It will take a while.   But the water supply will be more critical much sooner.   It is the fount of life, literally.

Robots–the day will come when that will be the next “dot.com” boom.   Just as the TV industry grew like a mushroom overnight so will robotics one day.  The nation that does the engineering and assembly will be the one with millions of new jobs and revenue streams.   I am not talking sci-fi Asimov type robots but the real deal that will do so much at your home and your office and even your car.   I predict the day will  come when everyone will want their own personal robot, just like all the kids have those Ipod thingies now.

The Battle of Britain was at it peak about now 68 years ago.  If you had been living in London or southern England you would have seen the sky filled with aircraft every day and most nights.   It was a close run thing and the Germans changed their strategy which ended up costing them dearly.   They were winning when they attacked the British air bases but the pace was too slow for Hitler and they switched to more bombing of industrial and urban areas  That set them up for the Hurricaines and Spitfires of the British.  After the worst was over Churchill made was of his many famours quotes, “never have so many owed so much to so few”