Daddy Diatribes

An Interesting Experiment

2009-07-17T15:26:00.001-05:00

There is an experiment whose outcome I'd love to know: whether, over the long-run, a horse offered a carrot at the end of a stick will perform better than a horse that is whipped. Intuition tells me the former is true in the long-run while the latter may be true for only brief spurts.
There is of course the metaphor here to society and economics. The metaphor I thought was one that was settled in experimentation. I thought it was proved that communism doesn't work because society's workers do not perform well when offered a whip, or at best a meager carrot. Output falls and other means for sustaining society must be found. Of course the fall of the Soviet empire isn't the only example, it is just the most recent.
So if history is replete with examples of undermotivated workers not performing well, why then is the Democrat majority of the United States bent on establishing a system that punishes the best performing workers in the country and returning to the rest mediocre benefits? There are only two possible answers. One, the hubris of the Democrat leaders is such that they feel they can be the ones to make it work. By the force of their personality they can change fundamental societal behavior and charm their way to success.
The other possibility is they are experimenting, as academicians are wont to do. The problem is that they are experimenting with livlihoods, not computer models. Every engineer is taught that any computer model must be checked for reasonableness and reality. After running a computer model a small scale test is performed and the model is altered based on reality. This continues until reality and the model converge and then the experiment can be placed into production. Democrat leadership seems perfectly willing to bypass, really ignore, small scale testing and jump straight into production.
The largest states that have tried some of the schemes being suggested have shown the model to be a failure.
Raising income taxes on the hardest working simply means the hardest working find somewhere else to work. Raising INCOME taxes at a national level will simply mean the richest will shift their money to a different stream. Rather than accept salary as income, they can shift it to capital gains via stock, or some other accounting trick. Society's richest have proven time and again willing to pay their "fair share", but not the entire share. Pretty soon the bill for "health care reform" will come due and it will fall to subsequent generations to pay for it.
Those that voted for change, you will be sorely disappointed in the change that is emminent. The promises that change would be free to the masses will prove to be hyperbole, if not outright lies. We cannot outrun history, and it would be better if we didn't repeat the worst parts of it.

Jack Sprat Could Eat No VAT

2009-05-27T11:22:00.001-05:00

We have entered into a new era, an era of change we can believe in. We can believe in higher deficits and higher spending. We can believe in higher government spending and more profligate handouts. We can also believe in higher taxes.
There are a number of tax schemes being discussed. Some purport to revamp our antiquated tax system, replacing it with something "better." Some schemes suggest "selling" carbon allowances. Some schemes are simple additions of money grubbing. All schemes will increase the cost of living.
Ignoring carbon "cap and trade," the most egregious tax scheme proposed is the Value Added Tax (VAT). Proponents like to tout that the rest of the developed world has a VAT and that we are the lone society without one. To me, this is like saying that Lemmings show marvelous group cohesion and we should emulate their group behavior.
What worries me is what should worry everyone who even pays a little attention to what happens in DC: politicians never leave money on the table. If we hear about a promise to "revamp" the tax system you can bet we won't see that. We will certainly see a new tax, probably multiple new taxes, but we won't see an abandonment of any tax system.
The current proposals promising free (see next posting) health care for all, "fairness" and all the other happy promises that are being made cannot be funded under the current revenue schemes. Talk of new schemes barely brings us to a small deficit when added to the current schemes.
Long before we allow our representatives in DC to make changes, I think we need to extract iron clad promises that things will get better. I don't want to see revenues increase only to watch spending increase too. I want not just a balanced budget, I want a debt reduction. I hope you will join me and let your representatives know that we need real change, not just believable change.

Getting Older

2009-01-16T12:32:00.003-05:00

This morning I helped Grace get dressed. As she was taking off her pajamas she ran out to get some Pull-Ups. I told her if she can't always put her waste in the potty, she was going to have to wear diapers. She reminded me of the last time she put it in the potty. The following conversation ensued:

Me: When are you always going to put your pee and poop in the potty.
Grace: Um, in about three minutes. When I'm older. I'm still not old enough.

Don't you long for the days when getting older was measured in minutes and hours and not in decades? (Happy birthday Holly.)

Apple Surprise

2009-01-01T22:28:00.006-05:00

This is a bit of a departure for my normal fare. Last year for Christmas treats I came up with a dish that involved removing apple flesh but keeping the skin for a vessel. Since I got so many "wows" on this one I thought I'd post a recipe (or mas much of a recipe as I ever make). Note, this dish contains nuts and gluten. If you want to do the dish without either, see comments following recipe.

Apple Surprise (may change if I can think of a better name)
Serves 10
Prep and cook time: ~1 hour

Ingredients
5 individually selected apples (I like to find some with some character in the peel, striations of white and red. Also, a firmer flesh variety is best.)
1 stick of no-salt butter (that's right, I said butter. If you substitute for something else, don't blame me if it isn't right.)
1/2 c chopped nuts (pecans work great. For a more subtle nutty flavor, use almonds.)
1 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (I say 1 tsp. The truth is I've never measured. I shake till it smells right. If you need more than 1 tsp, let me know and I'll adjust.)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c rolled oats
1 c raisins or dried cherries or dried cranberries (I haveonly tried the raisin but I am dying to try the rest)

Begin heating a large frying pan on medium heat. Take the apples and slice off a very thin amount from opposite ends. This is to make it so the casing isn't rolling all over the place later on. Next, using a melon baller carefully remove the apple's meat. Discard the core, but keep all the rest. Don't worry about the apple turning brown. The scooped out parts will become much more brown when mixed with the brown sugar. If you selected an apple variety that is particularly white, you can preserve the color by brushing a little lemon juice inside the apple. The scooped out apple should look like this.

When you have scooped out the first apple (both halves), put the stick of butter in the frying pan to brown. You want the water in the butter to completely cook out. While the butter is browning, core out another apple. Now you can add the nuts to the butter. It is important that you add the nuts at this point to allow them to release their oils and thus their flavor. Don't worry that the mixture foams. That will go away. Stir the nuts occasionally to make sure they aren't burning and to get them all in the butter. When the nuts reach the stage in the picture, you can add the cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. Press the brown sugar and stir around in the pan to make sure it absorbs all the butter. Now you can add the vanilla. This will begin the process of melting the brown sugar. Continue to core out apples while the sugar melts. Once you have all the apples cored, coarsely chop the balls and pieces.

Once the sugar has mostly melted, add in the apple pieces. Stir everything together to evenly coat the apple pieces with the sugar mixture. Now is also a good time to add the raisins/cherries. The apples will begin to release their juice. This is a good thing but I feel that it takes too long to reduce the liquid. About 3 minutes after adding the apples, add the rolled oats. (I like the contrast in texture the rolled oats brings to the party. If that isn't for you, drop the oats, but add some heavy cream to help thicken things up.)

Everything should be fairly thickened, the apples should be somewhat soft at this point and ready to place back into the apple bowls. Carefully scoop the mixture from the pan into the bowls. (Note to any one out there. This stuff is hot. It is sugar that is melted by heat. Use appropriate caution and don't go flinging this stuff around like it is ice cream.) Place the bowls onto a serving platter. You can garnish or leave alone. I recommend serving this while the filling is still warm. Garnish could include whipped cream with a mint leaf, vanilla ice cream, a candy cage, etc. You might even consider a pie crust top. Let you imagination run wild. So far, people have been quite impressed with the ungarnished variety.

A note on variations. There are gluten free oats on the market that can be substituted for normal rolled oats. If you don't have access to these or they are prohibitively expensive, simply leave out the oats and substitute heavy cream into the recipe. If someone has a nut allergy and you want to leave out the nuts, that is fine. They are there for flavor and texture.

Play around with it and let me know of any variations that work for you. Enjoy cooking!

For Whom The Bell Tolls

2008-10-29T07:54:00.002-05:00

The sermon by John Donne of so many years ago has been ringing in my head lately. The entire sermon can be found online and is a great read. But the part of that sermon that is most famous I'll copy here and explain:
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manner of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

In politics it is common to preach to the masses that something (taxes, abortion, war) is evil and addressing it will be painless to most. This timeless poem should serve as a reminder that no action can be taken that does not affect me, and each of you.

To demand a sacrifice money from the few is to demand a sacrifice of all. Ours is a great and generous country and were it possible to hand the poorest in the country a few hundred, or even a few thousand, dollars to remove them from their poverty it would have been done already. There is no shortage of charities in our country that are dedicated to helping those who need help. (Here is my favorite. Ask me if you'd like to know why.) So it is disingenuous to pretend that raising taxes on 5% of the population will solve the problem of poverty in our country. It is disingenuous to pretend that such a hike will not afflict the other 95% in loss of industriousness or other means. It is disingenuous to pretend that something can happen to anyone in society and not affect society as a whole.

We desperately need to help our brothers who can't help themselves. We need better education programs. We need better health programs. We need better understanding that equality for all doesn't mean all are equal. It means all have equal worth and need a chance to succeed. What we desperately don't need is a big brother government that believes that wealth redistribution will of itself solve all our great countries problems.

I'll close with a bit of cheesiness and borrow from Mr. Donne.
Each man's tax increase diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the tax increases,
It increases for thee.

What Is Your Price?

2008-10-21T09:00:00.002-05:00

I don't think any of us thinks we, or our sacred vote, are for sale. Any politician who suggested as much could kiss his career good-bye. And yet, that is precisely what we see happening in this year's presidential election.
One candidate is offering 44% of Americans money for their vote. He wraps it up in the form of tax cuts. But these Americans don't pay income taxes. They do pay payroll taxes, which funds Social Security, and this "tax cut" is to offset the payroll tax. And yes, you are right. If we take money out of government to offset Social Security taxes something is going to have to happen to the Social Security program.
This would all be paid for by raising taxes on only 5% of individuals. Never mind the Robbing Hood syndrome (covered in a previous post). That only addresses individual taxes. It is well known that liberals view capitalism and business as the great enemy. You can count on a few things, based on recent history. 1) Business will have their taxes increased. 2) Environmentalists will be given a free hand at reorganizing economic development. 3) Lawyers will be given a free hand in tort cases against business. 4) Business will find it advantageous to relocate to other countries where tax policy and environmental policy is not so onerous.
So for $500 dollars 44% of Americans can sell their vote to Obama. In return, they get job insecurity and a doubtful future for Social Security. 51% of Americans can sell their vote for a promise (from a politician) not to have their taxes raised.
So back to the title question: what is your vote worth to you?

I learned to fish

2008-10-05T08:39:00.004-05:00

My family is split, politically speaking. Some of us are right, and some aren't. I've been giving the differences a lot of thought lately and I believe I understand the fundamental differences between us.
Dad always taught us to treat others with respect, dignity and as we'd want to be treated. He never used words like oppression to explain his thoughts, but over time we understood them. Those manners stuck with us and in large part shaped our political views, and led to our political differences.
Those of us who are right believe in fairness, dignity and respect for everyone; rich and poor, young and old, every color in the rainbow. However, we reject the oppression of a biased social agenda that, to borrow the phrase, "hands out fishes" rather than "teaching to fish." We have all lived, to varying degrees, in poverty during our lifetimes. We are nearly all out of poverty, thanks in part to the social programs that taught us to fish, like student loans.
So when a political party comes along claiming it is fair to take more money from one group to give it to others in a "fish redistribution" program those of us who are right have a problem with that. We understand that the unspoken corollary to this scheme is that as the poor elevate their economic position in society, they will be punished. Their hard work and studying of fishing techniques will inevitably lead them to fish while someone else takes advantage of their hard work.
Having lived in poverty we all know the personal gratification that comes along with succeeding and pulling ourselves out. We wish to extend this same satisfaction to others and sincerely hope everyone can improve their status through hard work, initiative and education. We reject the oppressive schemes that seek to maintain a large portion of America in "its place" by encouraging less ambition and less effort.

The price of tea in China

2008-05-22T12:50:00.003-05:00

Texas tea, that is, black gold. I've been thinking a lot about it lately. For one, my retirement account is doing well because I've shifted a lot of weight over to commodities as the price of oil has skyrocketed. I've also been thinking about it a lot because there is a lot of groaning on behalf of "the common man" by politicians in Washington.

The groaning coming out of Washington has sounded to me like a lot of people want to have their cake and eat it too. In a nod to environmentalists, Bill Clinton closed the ANWR to oil drilling. (Oil was trading in the $20-30 at the time.) ANWR is still closed and no one in Washington wants to talk about opening it to drilling. Instead, the politicians want to complain about Middle Eastern countries limiting their production, oil companies reaping huge profits, and the common man paying more.

Let's take a look at the economics of it all and logic of it all for a moment. First, demand for oil has risen dramatically. I know most people don't take macro economics in college, so as a primer for those people, I'll point out that when demand increases and supply remains constant, prices increase with demand. The world's production capacity is already near capacity, and is also largely regulated by OPEC. Since existing production is at capacity and demand is increasing there are only two alternatives: increase potential production or deal with rising prices.

There is only one way America can influence increasing potential production, and that is to increase drilling in its own oil fields. America's current oil fields where production can increase are in the Gulf of Mexico and ANWR. Our politicians don't want to risk the environment by drilling in these places (I don't want to harm the environment either) so they won't open them up for drilling. Since they aren't willing to take responsibility for increasing potential supply, they should take responsibility for increasing prices.

And this is why I hate politicians in Washington. They will neither take responsibility for increasing supply nor increasing prices. It is all a happy little political game to them to point across the aisle and blame it on the other side. There is no price the common man can pay that is too high for a politician to reap a political reward. The pols will cry and pretend to "feel our pain" but will walk to their back rooms and plot how to gain from our misfortune.

I can't blame to oil companies. They would love to increase the production of gasoline so they could reap even greater profits. However, they can't build new refineries. It seems there are laws against building new refineries and new ones haven't been built in decades. So, once again, supply of gasoline remains constant, or even reduced because of needs to bring refineries offline for maintenance. Does this sound familiar to the oil story? It should.

The reason we are paying more for a gallon of gasoline is political. Our politicians won't allow drilling in America (something that would pay the American government in oil revenue, by the way), won't allow for increased production of gas and offers no alternatives. They raise obstacles at every turn to reducing what we pay for gas, and pretend to "feel our pain." I am not going to tell anyone how to vote this November, but if you are voting, be sure you know what you are voting for. Know what issues are most important to you and be willing to accept responsibility for your vote. Unlike politicians, you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Lost in Translation

2008-04-05T22:42:00.001-05:00

When I lived in Brazil I went to buy some eggs one time. I had been in country over a year and had been complemented on my ability to speak the language without an American accent. So I went to the poultry store and asked for a carton of eggs. The clerk had seen me walk in and looked at me as I asked. His response was something like "We have some chicken breast." I looked at him a second, and repeated my request. He looked around, fidgeted and said "We have some chicken breast." This happened a third time, with him backing away from the counter to produce said chicken breast. At this point, the cashier, who had apperently overheard the entire thing despite attending to her duties, informed the young man that I had asked for a carton of eggs and what was so hard to understand about that?
The young man had seen me, a white gingo looking guy, and assumed I would speak the local language poorly. He assumed he wouldn't be able to understand me and had convinced himself of as much before I even opened my mouth. I had done something similar one time. A van passed by playing loud music. My companion asked me what was said and I informed my companion I hadn't understood a single word. I wondered what language the music was in. He told me it was English. I listened again and indeed, it was an Elton John song, in English. I was expecting something else and was unprepared for a language I already spoke fluently.
I think we do that entirely too often. We decide before the event that we won't succeed, and then make it happen. I was reminded of this during the past week. I asked my father in law what he wanted from a fast food chain. He told me he wanted a burger with cheese. I asked if he'd like a combo, and he responded negatively. I asked Grace what she wanted, and expected "chicken" or "hamburger." Instead she answered with a word I'd never heard her utter. I asked her again and she repeated the same answer, playing with her toy like she expected me to understand her. When I asked my father in law what he had heard her say, he replied "combo?" By golly, that is exactly what she was saying. She wanted a combo. It was a really cute event. But serves to illustrate the point of setting expectations.
I hope we can all approach every situation with a positive mentality to understand, and the patience to make it happen.

What, not how

2008-03-24T22:03:00.002-05:00

As I made a late night trip to the store tonight, I listened to a show on CNBC. Mike Rowe, of Dirty Jobs fame, was a guest talking about what I surmised to be a book of his. The host read what sounded like titles to chapters, all of which sounded like platitudes. Some were quite funny, but one struck a chord and I thought I'd share it with all.
The title was "Think about what you are doing, not how." He recounted being a music student and flubbing a piece in a concert and hearing his teacher tell him to concentrate on what he was doing, not how. It struck me that is the secret to my methods for public speaking, although I'd never put it into words as eloquent as those. And though it is a simple thought, it is one that most do not seem able to grasp.
Most people seem to approach public speaking worried about how they are going to appear to others. So gripped are they by the fear they will be perceived foolish that they lose the ability to be natural, and thus cause their very fears to come true. Once naturalness is lost the person is forced to fit themselves into an imagined persona and they become the laughing stock they were so trying to avoid. Don't believe me? Try this experiment. Find a voice recorder and record yourself saying something. Then listen back. I'll bet you try to sound like a radio personality. You drop your vocal tone a couple octaves and put on your suave voice. And when you listen to it, you will recognize how ridiculous you sounded trying to sound cool and normal.
This brings to mind the old adage, pride goeth before the fall. It also brings to mind something I was told when I was learning a foreign language. I was told I was bound to make 10,000 mistakes before I could be considered fluent, so I might as well get started and get them out of the way as soon as possible. How does this tie in? Simple, when I ignored the spectre of making a mistake in front of someone else and concentrated on what I was doing I was free to learn. Then, I was free to speak.
Public speaking doesn't necessarily mean making a speech. It can be any activity that requires one to interact verbally with others. It can be telling a joke to friends, or calling out a play in the huddle. So remember to concentrate on what you are doing, there will be time after you are done to guage how you did. This is the best way to break free of the bonds that bind your tongue.

The Greatest Show Ever

2008-03-22T23:53:00.001-05:00

When I was a kid I remember watching the Harlem Globetrotters on ABC's Wide World of Sports. I thought they were the greatest basketball team to ever step foot on the hallowed hardwoods. Why, I wondered, didn't this team turn pro? Surely they would win every single NBA championship! Just look how they handily defeat the Washington Generals!
Many years have passed since ABC uttered that memorable phrase, "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." I have learned much about life, and sports, in that time. Sports continue to be a metaphor for life. Some sports are real, unaltered by greed and commercialism. Some "sports" aren't at all, WWE comes to mind. From this we can learn that there is real and imaginary in nearly everything we encounter.
We took the kids to see the Globetrotters this weekend. It was great entertainment. The Washington Generals continue to be the worst team in professional sports. (They are even worse than the Miami Heat!) Water is still thrown on the audience and there are laughs aplenty. There isn't any good basketball, but lots of outstanding dunks. As long as your expectations are set, there is a good time to be had.

Life as Shirley Temple

2008-03-22T23:33:00.001-05:00

There has, it seems, always been a societal fascination with curly, blond hair. I think it must have started with little Shirley Temple. That little girl captured everyone's attention during the Great Depression for being cute and adorable. I think that fascination carries over to this day.
I can think of no other reason for the attention Grace gets out in public. In South Texas I could have explained it in a cultural way. The culture there is predominantly hispanic and blond hair is an oddity. Consequently it draws much attention and in order to ward off the "evil eye" people who have admired something about someone else (hair) will touch it to keep the owner from getting "evil eye." Ok, I understand the sociological phenomena there.
I'd like to understand the phenomena here. Where we take Grace out in public we invariably gets comments from complete strangers about her hair. I really can't find an explanation in the local culture to explain this. What drives people to stop us in the mall, at the store, on the sidewalk and comment on how pretty her hair is? It can only be a nostalgia for the "good old days" of the Great Depression. Those movies of that adorable girl that made everyone forget about the quotidian worries. Those same feelings must be invoked when someone sees Grace's hair. As her parents, we know full well that, while our little angel, she has her less than angelic moments.
I wouldn't trade her for anything, and I want her to experience as much as possible. But I'd like for her to grow up and not dislike something about herself, like her hair.

When is enough enough?

2008-03-15T22:48:00.001-05:00

Most parents have already discovered that their kids have a way of helping them discover depths of patience and sacrifice they didn't realize they had. Heaven knows my parents discovered patience and sacrifice at the hands of myself, and siblings. I, as single me, always thought I'd impose my iron will on my kids and shape them as a sword smith shapes his pieces. Now it is I who is feels in the fire and getting pummeled.
Tonight is an example. I got it in my mind that I would make each of my kids a birthday cake for their birthday. I might use a molded pan, but I would do the decorating. My mom did that for us and I always thought it a nice touch. I got a great start with Grace's first birthday cake. I did a molded Winnie the Pooh. For her second birthday she got a molded Lightning McQueen. Today is Noah's birthday and I was going to use the Lightning cake pan to do his cake. Then we made a 3 hour round trip for a soccer game. Couple the trip with dinner and a game and most of the day was spent. This is reason enough to skip the nobility and succumb to a store bought cake, right?
Well, let's project a few years into the future. Noah is 4-5 and looking at his birthday pictures and notes his 1st cake is store bought, unlike his sisters. He looks at me and inquires, with big, round saucer-like eyes, why it is that he isn't special like his sister. I, being me, will have forgotten we made a day trip to Raleigh and won't have a good excuse. (By the way, that isn't really a good excuse to a 4-5 year old.) Let's face it, there won't be words in human tongue to reassure that little boy.
Back to the present. It is midnight. There lies asleep a boy who would rather eat paper than cake. But I can't look into his eyes in the future and try to explain away his feelings of inferiority that his sister got Daddy's special cakes while he got the supermarket special. The cake tonight might now look like a msterpiece in the morning, but it will be a Daddy special.

Nature vs. nurture

2008-02-25T23:29:00.003-05:00

I have been meaning to blog about this for a while, but every time I start I lose the thought track. I really enjoy sports. I don't know when it started. Maybe it started on an October day in 1970 simply as a matter of being born male. Maybe there are other reasons. (Yes, I dare to resurrect nature vs. nurture. Feel free to weigh in.) When we lived in San Diego I recall attending two sporting events. One was a football game. I think it was BYU vs. SDSU. The other was a Padres baseball game. While I don't recall who won either game I do recall having a great time. And maybe that is why I love sports, because sports equate with fun in my mind to way back.
I think I have managed to pass that along to my daughter. My in-laws have season tickets to the local ACC basketball team and have invited us on several occasions. The first time we took Grace (and she was old enough to experience it) she was a little scared and intimidated at first. But as the game developed she soaked in the atmosphere and a metamorphosis began. She went from scared and can't let go of dad to dancing on dad's lap during songs. Now, she is a fiend! She can't wait to see the next game. She wakes up most mornings and wants to see the deacon. She constantly sings the fight song or asks for it to be played on a computer. And at the game she is UNPLUGGED! She runs up and down the aisle when she can. She dances like a dervish to whatever music is playing. She can't recite most of the alphabet in order, but if you ask her what WF is, or if she sees it on a shirt, she will answer, "WF - Wake Forest Deacons!"
She might grow out of it one day. I hope not. I have too much fun with her at the games. I can act like she does (and to be honest I want to act like she does) and everyone thinks I'm doing it because of her. Maybe one day I'll be in the stands cheering her on (or being threatened to be ejected by an overly sensitive soccer ref) and I'll look back on these games and say she was nurtured into it. Maybe she got it from her old man. Either way, we are having a great time dancing and screaming at the games and I'm riding that wave like a champion surfer!
March is almost here...SURF'S UP!!!

"Oh, My (fore)Father"

2007-12-16T23:02:00.001-05:00

There is a standing joke among some of my friends that I am a white Mexican. This is attributed to my Spanish and ethnicity. What they don't realize is how closely Mexico figures into my family. My great-grandfather emigrated there around the turn of the century to escape religious persecution. There he lived until the political turmoil caused by Pancho Villa caused him to return to the States. Shortly after returning, my grandfather was born. Had he waited a little longer my grandfather would have been Mexican by birth, and thus I would have been part Mexican.
While he lived in Mexico my great-grandfather accomplished many things. He studied law and became a somewhat successful lawyer. He raised his family. He practiced his religion. He loved his church and gave himself fully to its service. It seems almost a trait of generations long past to devote oneself so fully to a religion.
Part of living in Mexico and serving his church included translating hymns from English to Spanish. I remember as a child, living along the border we would often sing songs in church in both English and Spanish, looking through the hymnbook to find his name printed above the hymns he had translated. It gave me immense pride to think someone in my family had so meaningfully contributed to the church. Those hymnbooks have since been replaced by ones that give only credit to the author and songwriter.
Today, while at church, I saw one of the old school hymnbooks. It took me back to my childhood as I rifled through the pages. I asked for, and received, that book so I can keep it and show it to my children when they are older. I want them to appreciate their heritage and know of the devotion their forefathers had. I want it as a reminder to me to strive harder.
As I flipped the pages I came upon one song he translated. It happens to be my favorite hymn, although not because he translated it. I don't know why it is my favorite. I have always loved the music and words. So I was happy that it was he who translated it.
I hope great-grandpa's brand of old school dedication can be passed from me to my children.

Light It Up!

2007-11-16T15:39:00.001-05:00

Have you ever stared into a fire, one made from real wood or charcoal and not natural gas, and been mesmerized by the dancing colors? I do it whenever I am around that kind of fire. It fascinates me to watch the embers change from bright yellow to varying shades of red to black or gray. And that all happens as you watch. The wind currents move and shift and cause the coloring to do likewise. I have often wondered what it would be like to be down at that level watching it all happen.
Yesterday I got that chance. I wasn't in an actual fire, but the countryside seemed like it on my drive to and from South Carolina yesterday. The trees are changing color from greens to yellows and oranges and reds. Some have already burned out and have no leaves left. But the wind was pretty strong yesterday and it seemed like the landscape was behaving like the fire previously mentioned. Each breeze caused the countryside to roll and ebb in color. The yellows seemed to give way to the reds and then back again. I can understand why people think of fall as their favorite time of year.

Please forgive the quality of the pictures. It was a little tough to drive and snap pictures at the same time with my cell phone.

Kicking and Screaming

2007-10-10T20:51:00.001-05:00

How do you spell 'emasculate'? Seems like a funny question in a written article, but I pose it for a very good reason. I propose we change the spelling of that word...not the meaning, just the spelling. I propose we change the spelling to: M-I-N-I-V-A-N.

The reasons I have are few, but powerful. First, there is nothing about the adjective 'mini' that appeals to men. There is no real good reason why, we just don't like that word. There aren't a lot of men driving around a Mini Cooper, and that is as close to cool as the word gets. We also don't like maxi. That was ruined by women.

VAN - what is it with that word that made car manufacturers think it would appeal to a man. Nothing. I think it was targeted at women. Thus, another reason for changing the spelling of emasculate. Men like acronyms for their vehicles, like SUV. We will drive an SUV because it sounds cool, and has both sport and utility in the acronym. It says "I'm going to have some manly fun and at the same time be useful." That is what we are all about. SUV carries some amount of freedom in the name.

I think car makers originally thought of Family Utility Carrier, but shelved that one for obvious PR reasons.We recognize the utility of the minivan. Many of us come around to coping with a minivan. But we never get over having one. That is why we look at a Porsche with such affection. We wonder what it would be like to take a curve and not worry about how top heavy we are and will the juice in the back spill if we go too fast. There is no back. The Porsche is all about speed and quickness. Now you see me - *zoom*.

We love our families, we really do. We don't know what we would do without them. There is no sacrifice that is too great for our families, but something gets put on the alter to be sacrificed.

And that is the position I find myself in today. We recognized a need for an emascualtion, I mean minivan. I have actually recognized it for quite some time now, I have just resisted, kicking and screaming. So today we divested ourselves of the SUV and bought a minivan. My feelings were succinctly encapsulated by my good friend when he said, "Welcome to that point that no man wants to gets to." (He has been to the same altar before me.) So here I am - minivanned.

Through new eyes

2007-08-18T20:20:00.001-05:00

I have taken a long break between posts, as my editor has reminded me numerous times. What can I say other than I lacked any kind of inspiration to write. Last week a muse inspired me to compose this one.

We went to the beach last week, my wife's family and us. It was the first time since Grace was born that we had been to the beach. We've taken other vacations with Grace, but the beach is one we had been a number of times before she was born. This time might have been the best so far!

The beach through the eyes of a toddler is a wonderful place. Grace had a look of amazement as the waves came in and washed around her feet. She couldn't get enough of the water. She loved running around and finding sea shells, looking at the birds fly through the air, sitting under an umbrella and watching her brother play in the waves. We took her to the pool and she loved jumping in.

We made a trip from Ocean Isle, NC to Myrtle Beach, SC. There my father-in-law and I took Grace to the aquarium. What an adventure. I wish I could paint a sufficient picture to capture the rapture that was in her eyes. Every tank held new and wonderous fishies. There were sharks that gracefully glided overhead so she could watch. There were saw fish that relished relaxing on the canopy of the tank we walked though. There were lots of pretty colors swimming silently, pausing for her to admire. She even got to "pet" a horseshoe crab and loved it. She ran from one tank to another. She dashed all over the pirate exhibit. When we were ready to walk out she walked through the gift shop with us, picking up each fish shaped toy before spotting another and moving to it. We announced we were leaving and she announced she was not yet ready. She made a valiant effort to spend more time there, but we prevailed.

At the end of it all we decided, my father-in-law and I, that if for no other reason this trip was worth the time and money just to watch her having a grand time with her new experiences. I hope that as we go about our daily activities, mundane though they may be, that we will stop from time to time and imagine the experiences as though it was our first, and most wonderful, time. That is what stopping to smell the roses means. So stop. Smell. Enjoy.

Truth vs. Reality

2007-08-18T20:03:00.001-05:00

I heard a great quote today. The great physicist Albert Einstein said "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." The mediocre engineer Aaron said "truth is truth, no matter when it was realized." So when is something a truth and when is it not? When is it a persistent illusion?

A truth is immutable. It never changes and can not be altered. Gravity attracts two masses. Death comes to all. Taxes come to some. Those that don't get taxed want to raise taxes on those that do.

Everything else is a persistent illusion. It is to this topic I wish to devote my meager intellectual juices. There are many people who have an agenda and wish to push their illusions off onto the rest of us. If they say it often enough, we should begin to believe them. They speak from a position of authority, or so they believe. Their authority comes not from their own merits or achievements, but from others who came before them. Others who worked hard to establish credibility and honesty. Most of the folks I am thinking of are reporters. They report the "news" on a daily basis. (By the way, news is something that is new. A new development. Anna Nicole Smith is dead, and has been for a while. Can we PLEASE not run any more stories about her, her children or her sordid life?!)

The news people from a few years ago strove to be fair and mostly honest. They saw themselves as the fourth estate; keeping a watchful eye on government so the rest of us could dedicate ourselves to worthy and noble pursuits. Somewhere along the way they realized their power and have nearly abandoned the fair and impartial mantra they used to have. Lately the news outlets have allowed themselves to become purveyors of propaganda. They mingle truth with the politics of man. Both sides are guilty of this. Even NPR (National Progressive Radio (yes, the P stands for public but who are they kidding?)) broadcasts with a slant on their news and stories.

The deterioration of trust and authority continues. Documentaries used to be something that reported a story, fairly and accurately, giving more attention than a news cast could do. I think of the documentary movies my Dad shared with me that showed how people, nice average people, could be turned into monsters. A study that showed that by having an authoritative figure take responsibility normal people could knowingly inflict intense pain and suffering on someone else. Or the study that was planned for a couple weeks and had to be stopped after 2-3 days because the students who participated altered so greatly. (That was a study where 1/2 the students were prisoners and 1/2 were guards. The guards became abusive while the prisoners began to withdraw within them selves.) Those were some great documentaries.

What do we have today? We have "An Inconvenient Truth." Why is it a truth? Because someone said so. Who? Well, the guy that invented the internet! Certainly we should believe him when it comes to climate. We have "Farenheit 9/11." And now, from the same person that brought you "Farenheit 9/11" we are about to be treated to "Sicko." The person who made this documentary took ten ill rescue workers from the Ground Zero rescue effort over to Cuba for treatment. (It is illegal for an American to travel to Cuba and do business, unless one is a journalist. To call Michael Moore a journalist is a stretch that even Detective Gadget couldn't pull off. By taking the workers over to Cuba, he not only broke several laws himself, he caused ten other sick people to break laws too. For money.) So he could make a movie and make some money. A movie that passes an illusion off as a truth.

Oh Perfectness!

2007-04-23T20:33:00.001-05:00

That title is in honor of my sister. She commented the other day that my wife's and my blog entries about our kids seem too sweet, too perfect. I know my kids aren't the only sweet ones out there. We have some friends with two boys who are just as cute as can be. It's always fun to hear about what Nate and Grant have been up to.

My kids can be a handful sometimes, but there are times they are the sweetest things ever. I was reminded of that earlier tonight. Grace went to bed before she could kiss me goodnight. She was awake in her room, talking to herself and occasionally making some kind of sound that resembled a brief cry. I went up to check on her and she was wide awake. I turned on some music and we danced for a bit, we rocked in the chair a bit and then she and her teddy-bear went to bed. She smiled at me as I walked out and, judging from the baby monitor, went to sleep about 10 minutes later. (My sister is probably looking for an insulin shot after that story.)

I'm sure I'll have some difficulties in the future. Grace is already letting the neighbor kid hug and kiss on her. I'm obviously going to have to keep an eye on her. But I'm going to ride this train as long as I can. A friend of mine back in Raleigh told me one time he had an understanding with his wife. He was going to spoil his daughter while she was young, because when she became a teenager he knew she was going to hate him. I'm not going to spoil Grace too much now and I'm not conceding the hatred just yet. But I want to enjoy the good times while they last.

This was Grace in an Easter outfit.

Noah sleeping, I wish I could figure out his patterns already.

Greetings from Sherwood Forest

2007-04-19T10:07:00.001-05:00

I was making my annual pilgrimage through Sherwood Forest recently. Everyone does it around this time of year. And until this year I thought everyone also got stopped by a band of merry men. Apparently the band has changed a little bit. First off, not every traveler was getting stopped and shaken down. I then contemplated that and figured probably 10% wouldn't get shaken down because Robin Hood would be looking out for the bottom earning 10.

I counted. It wasn't 10%, it was 40%. Robin Hood was letting 40% of the people get through scot(sp?) free! On the bell curve that seems a little lopsided. As I stood in line waiting my turn to get shaken down I found out from those emerging that another 20% hardly lost a thing. So we are at 60%, right? It turns out Robin Hood targets 40% to pay everything he wants.

Now here is where my blood starts to boil. Robin Hood is supposed to redistribute the ill gotten gains from the rich to the poor. My gains weren't ill gotten. My wife and I worked our tails off for what we got. We don't mind paying a tribute to Mr. Hood to help out the less privileged, but he seems to be mighty generous with our money. In fact, there was a pamphlet in the Sherwood Forest visitors center that, in extremely fine print, said he, Mr. Hood and his jolly band of junket traveling fat cats, plans to increase their shake down in 2010.

I know there are some reading this that find themselves in the aforementioned 60% to whom the band, and may I say that Little John looks a lot like Nancy Pelosi, don't harass. Count yourselves lucky! But recall the question from yore; "Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." Today you may not be paying, but you will soon, whether it is in tribute to Hood or by losing a job because the economy simply can't sustain itself on such a wildly unbalanced distribution.

I also want to send a note of caution to those who don't pay tribute to Mr. Hood. Don't complain when others don't pay tribute either. If someone makes it into the Forest, documented or not, and doesn't pay, that doesn't increase what you ain't payin. So unless you payin, you ain't complainin.

So I'm traveling lighter now. We're bloodied and missing a suitcase or two. We're headed back home to work and try to survive this year before Little John screws things up too bad. (sHe was just saying how misunderstood the French are and how nice they are. We should just try to understand them and surely they won't want to cross the channel and conquer us, rape the women and pillage the country. Lord, how naive do they get? She even donned a headscarf like the French wear and called it Macaroni.)

An Inconvenient Diatribe

2007-04-13T09:49:00.001-05:00

Please pardon me for jumping on the current events bandwagon for a few minutes. I am reaching my limit of militants and need to vent.
On the radio this morning I was listening to some feedback from an interview conducted earlier in the week. The show was CNBC's Squawk Box and the interview was with Laurie David, producer of an Inconvenient Truth, and Sheryl Crow, a crooner. The topic of the interview was global warming, because movie producers and crooners are experts on this subject. As the interviewer asked questions about differing points of view, differing from what the documentary documents, Laurie declared debate over and the science resolved! She went on to post on her blog that the interviewer is a militant.

Holy Schnikies! That just ruffles my feathers a bit. The gall of some movie producer to declare debate over because 2000 scientists in 150 countries agree with her. Come on, Dow Chemical employs more scientists than that! Debate over? Who is she to end debate? She is the wife of some guy that made a comedy sitcom about nothing (Seinfeld) and went on to make an inane HBO "comedy" about his own life. It's like the thinking in that left coast crew is this: "We made a movie. And not just a movie, but a documentary! A documentary is like a movie based on real events, but it stars people who don't know how to act. And that makes it all fact and we won an Oscar, so we are validated" Arrgh!

Here is a blast from the past taken from the truth vault. "All planets and stars revolve around the Earth." It was a truth. Debate was over because everyone who was an authority said that was the way things were. But there was a scientist who took a long hard look at the facts and determined that in fact the Earth revolved around the sun. Talk about inconvenient. Of course Galileo Galilei was persecuted and called a heretic because he disagreed. All of the scientists were against him. But now there is a new truth regarding the order of what revolves around what. (The newest thinking is the world revolves around Hollywood.) There are others from the vault. World is flat, I didn't inhale, etc.

The real inconvenient truth is that Laurie David, Sheryl Crow, Arianna Huffington et al are no different than VP Dick Cheney. Dick has Iraq, they have global warming. And both are/were misguided. Both push(ed) for action without thinking very hard about the consequences while decrying the perils of not doing something immediately. And both will lead, inexorably, to a decline in civilization.

So there it is. Militants be warned that just because you call something a truth doesn't necessarily make it one. You are all alike, left/right, progressive/conservative. And those of us moderate folks want to shoot you. hehe

Reflections on the sun

2007-04-06T22:17:00.001-05:00

I was watching a program about the sun today and learned some very fascinating facts. For those who haven't already changed the blog channel, I'll share some of those with you and why I think them noteworthy.

1) This isn't a fact but a quote by Galileo Galilei. He said "The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had
nothing else in the universe to do." I found this to be a very inspiring thought applicable to each of us. It illustrates a basic responsibility we each have to nurturing. By ascribing human qualities to the sun we can say that even while it maintains the balance of the solar system it still provides nurturing light and warmth to things like grapes so they can grow up and be all the can be. As adults we should be like the sun. We should accomplish our normal duties of providing for the family, being responsible citizens. We should also take the time to nurture children and others with our good example and mentoring.

2) The sun has a temperature of 6000 degrees Kelvin at its surface. The temperature increases as you get further away from the surface of the sun. Scientists don't know why this is the case, but it brings another chance for a metaphor. We should expend good amounts of energy to those nearest us. However, in order to increase our influence further from our intimate relationships, we need to burn a little hotter. By this I don't necessarily mean emotionally hotter. Instead, our influence should be warmer, more loving and understanding.

3) If you look at the sun with an unaided eye you see a nice bright sphere. It is warm and perfectly white at midday. However, if you look through an x-ray, infra-red or UV filter you see dark spots and light spots, explosions and magnetic fields. This holds true for people as well. If you observe someone from a far and only through the very narrow lens of your personal experience with them they will appear a certain way. When you get closer to them you learn of their "light spots and dark spots." This doesn't make them a better or worse person, it just means you know them better. This is a perfect argument to avoid judging people.

On that subject, my wife and I were discussing people and insecurities. I have told her that I am, in some respects, an insecure person. This has surprised her before and she asked what were my symptoms of insecurity. I showed her that the lens through which to observe my insecurities was over-compensation. I want to be accepted and so in socially intense situations tend to try to force others to like me by telling jokes and stories. Many would observe me to be an extrovert and a jerk. However, when the lens is applied, they would understand what is really happening and be able to adjust.

I'm from the Valley! Nature Valley?

2007-04-01T23:23:00.001-05:00

Those who know me know my wife is going through a transition time. We recently had our second child. Man, kids bring so many changes - late nights changing diapers, hours spend watching Barney or Dora, blowing endless bubbles for some amusement. But it has also brought other changes. I love my wife; I love our kids and I wouldn't change any of them for anything in the world. But some of the changes are taking some getting used to.

Recently I talked about wraps, so there is one thing. Then, there are the requirements for a stroller. I have been lectured on the need for appropriate foot apparel for infants and children (often costing what I pay for size 10 men's shoes). Lastly, there is breastfeeding.

Where do I start on that? I saw all of my siblings breastfed, so it came as no surprise that the equipment had a practical purpose. What did come as a surprise was the militancy some women have in favor or breastfeeding. Slowly my wife went from not wanting to be seen with a baby in a position that might remotely be considered in feeding position. That has now changed to where some modesty is required, but onlookers are ignored. I'm cool with that.

But now I hear talk about nurse-ins. Am I in the 60's? Did I marry Al Nelson with boobs (for those who don't know Al, count yourself lucky you don't now have a mental image to cope with, for those that do, seek counseling urgently!)? In what alternate universe did I awaken? Myspace has declared pictures of breastfeeding babies to be obscene, and has taken to removing them. (To wit, pictures of the equipment while not in action are ok.) So the "lactivists" out there want to stage a virtual nurse-in. They post pictures of themselves feeding their child, or someone else feeding, daring the Myspace people to remove their pictures. My response to both sides is the same..."huh?" Why are the pics of a nipple covered by a babies mouth obscene, and why are the women up in arms? Must be a chick thing.

If there is something I have learned it is if there is a virtual something, there is a real one too. And here in town someone got upset because a judge forbade her from nursing her child in the courtroom. So, you guessed it, a nurse-in was in the offing.

I think everyone should take a step back, take a deep breath and be nice to each other. Women feed children with their breasts. It happens. It was meant to happen. If it wasn't, women would be marsupials and could tuck a kid into a pouch. Let them cover and nurse happily. Can't we all just get along???

Wrap it up!

2007-03-29T22:03:00.001-05:00

Did he wear a wrap? You know, Brad Pitt wears a wrap. Maya Wrap, Hot sling, Hoochie Wrap. It seems that wraps are everywhere, and I'm not talking about food enveloped in a tortilla. I am talking about sheets you tie over your shoulder so you can hold a baby inside. They are all the rage these days among "happening" people.

Unfortunately, I am not a happening person. I have never been happening. These little papooses (or should we Latinize the Indian word and make it papoosi?) are ok. They seem fairly functional. I just can't bring myself to wear one. In the same vein, I have never been able to hug a tree, which is a prerequisite to wearing a wrap, I think.

I support my sweet wife as she tries to do what is best for the baby. If she feels that wearing a wrap and toting 'lil pup around on her hip, I'll help out as I can. Heck, I tolerate cloth diapers (although I don't change the stinky ones). I hear about innumerable studies on co-sleeping, breast feeding, attachment parenting, hemp clothing (I told her if I come home and discover that she is trying to grow her own supply of hemp, I'm walking away) and whatever else is out in the netosphere. But I don't care if Brad Pitt wears a wrap, I won't. I also won't walk around the house nude, which apparently was a problem for Brad.

And until my better half can figure them out, pray for us (but prayer is another blog). We will either master the darn things or set up a second hand hammock store.

P.S. Lest anyone think my wife is a walking ad for Nature Valley's product line, she assures me she isn't. She commits that major granola sin and throws away Al cans. (That's right, I used the periodic abbreviation for aluminum, I'm a geek and embrace my geekiness.) And though it is a small miracle, she doesn't own, and never has, a pair of Birkenstocks. She has probably owned every other brand and type of shoe, but not those. They are too ugly (my opinion, not necessarily shared by my shoe loving wife).

The little things

2007-03-23T00:50:00.001-05:00

Anyone that knows me knows my wife recently gave birth to our little boy. I have been contemplating what I should write about this event. My wife talked a little bit about it on her blog and I don't like to duplicate. Besides, I am the daddy and I have my own thoughts.

Thought number one: I'm getting too old for this. I love the kids. They are two of the three best things that have happened to me. I was never sure I wanted kids. I wouldn't trade mine in for anything. But I'm no spring rooster. And besides, I don't know if I can watch my wife suffer on deaths gate again. (Yes, that is a little dramatic, but when you consider all the difficulties she's gone through with these two bundles of joy, you know I'm not exaggerating that much.) I love her too much to think about losing her. So maybe that is one and two.

Thought number three: Kids will change you. As I mentioned, I wasn't sure I wanted any kids. They are noisy, messy, stinky and distracting. They are now why I love to get up in the morning. You can't beat the smile on a little ones face when she is waking up, looking around and sees you. Sony should make a game that includes making a little baby smile and laugh. There is really no greater feeling.

Thought number four: I am one lucky guy. I can't say I am the luckiest guy cause my friends and I have talked about our families before out on the golf course. I know they consider themselves pretty darn lucky too. Besides, luck is a subject for an upcoming posting. But I've got one daughter whose face lights up when she hasn't seen me for a while and I walk in. I have a son who will hopefully behave similarly. And I have a wife who is better than me. So I am lucky to have all that.

Thought five: I have a great set of role models in my parents and siblings. The older I get the more I realize how hard the 'rents had it. And I certainly didn't make it any easier on them. Still, they did a darn good job raising the eight of us. My hat is off to them and my thanks out to them for the wonderful examples they set.

I think that is it for now. I have some other thoughts I'll put you to sleep with in the near future, but for now I have family on my mind. I'll leave you with a picture of the new one. Be good to your families. They, more than anything, are worth getting right. (There is no first time, there is only one time, so work hard and get it right more often than not.)

Decisions, decisions

2007-02-16T22:35:00.000-05:00

The 2008 election cycle has begun already. I can't really think of a more depressing statement than that, but there it is. We have now almost two full years to judge people who are putting on a show and trying their best to be anyone but themselves. I think Hillary is a great example of that. When asked what her favorite movie is, she replied that her people would think about it and get back on that one.

So in the next nearly two years we need to consider and choose a candidate we think will represent our values while in office. This means we need to determine what our values are. The politicians will tell you there are many issues that distinguish them from eachother.

They look for people who aren't "single issue" voters. This is supposed to be some sort of insult, as if to say that having a favorite issue makes one "low brow" or ignorant. I for one am a single issue voter, and I'm not afraid to say what that issue is. It's the economy.

The economy weighs heavily on my mind, and I fear what the wrong person will do. At the turn of the century our economy was slowing down. In 2001 our economic center was attacked and our economy suffered because of it.

In 2003 tax cuts were enacted and they had the desired effect. Right now tax receipts significantly exceed expectations. We are at what economists consider full employment. The stock market continues to surge and reach new highs. The news outlets don't talk about that very much, but it is all true and can be checked.

So what I want is someone who won't screw it up. The Leffer curve works. When tax rates were lowered, tax receipts increased because we were too far to the right of the curve. So while I need to care for my family I want someone that isn't going to push us back to the right side of that curve. That will increase tax rates, lower tax receipts and increase unemployment. All things I'd like to avoid.

For those that espouse the domestic agenda of wealth redistribution (aka Robinhood syndrome of taking from the rich and giving to the poor) I offer the following observation. If unemployment is low, wages will necessarily rise and the poor will gain a greater amount of income. Wealth in our global economy doesn't need to be a zero sum effort. We can all win, with the right strategy.

The second item of concern to me relates to health care. But rather than demanding govenment regulations and price impositions, I'd rather see something done about tort law. Law suit abuse is one of the largest causes of rapidly escalating health care costs, and such abuses place America in as much danger as unions have as late. Unions had their place served America well back in the day. Today, I believe they are sucking American business dry. Lawyers are doing the same through lawsuits for hangnails misdiagnosed, etc. So tort reform is the second issue.

Sure, there are other issues; abortion, stem cell research, global warming. Those are all things I don't really care too much about. Yes, I have personal feelings, but the resolution of any or all of those items won't put a single scrap of food on my families table. If you can think of a solid reason I should move those items up on my list, please feel free to write me a note. Good luck, and may you choose something that doesn't screw things up for me and mine.

Moral Compass

2007-02-02T11:26:00.000-05:00

I won’t go into the convoluted train of thought that brought me to this subject. I will say the topic came to me in my most cherished thinking time of day. This is a time when I wash the cares of the world from me and ponder whatever comes to mind. If you don’t have such a time, I highly recommend finding one. It can provide clarity to cloudy thought and enlightenment on abstract topics.

What occurred to me today was the metaphor of the moral compass. Since everyone should know what a compass is I won’t delve into that definition. The comparison to something related to morals and values seems obvious. A moral compass points in the direction indicated by one’s value system.

This gets especially interesting when I extend the metaphor and contemplate battlefield tactics and the ways one can be led astray. A compass is really only useful when used in conjunction with a map. Without a map it is a pointer. It points somewhere undefined. (In mathematics undefined is depicted as ∞, what we call infinity outside of math. I think that is interesting.)

There are many maps one can use, depending on the value system. For the sake of brevity I will stick to a religious map, scripture. Scripture is word from God provided to man could find his way back to God. Following the scripture should lead one back to his maker. But a compass is needed to navigate the map, a moral compass.

The moral compass is that which points in the proper direction. It tells us right from wrong. Scripture is sometimes thought to do this, but it doesn’t. Scripture delineates right from wrong, but it is the moral compass that “whispers” in our minds when something we are contemplating is right or wrong. This moral compass is also known by other names, notably the Holy Ghost, light of God.

Now back to the interesting part about battlefield tactics. An enemy will try to confuse and disorient in order to gain an upper hand. For example, since maps are readily had, as are compasses, I might want to set up a base near a large iron deposit. This would cause the compass to begin to point in the wrong direction. Since I wouldn’t want my enemies compass to point right at me, I’d put my base in the opposite direction from that deposit. I would know how to navigate, but my enemy wouldn’t and I’d have some surprises waiting nearest that deposit. I would also make sure there was a well worn path leading towards the deposit. This lulls the enemy into thinking they are on the right path and causes them to discard their map. Without their map and with their compass conflicted, they are now lost and ripe for picking.

So it is with our own moral compass. If we discard our map and rely solely on our moral compass, it can become disorienting with outside influences. Things we want, influenced by people we know, can cause our moral compass to point in the wrong direction. We ignore that voice in our mind because the voice of our own desire, screams louder. “Take the candy, you want it and you should have it!” “It feels good, so it can’t be wrong!” And soon we are on a well worn path, ignoring our map and following a deviate compass. We are on a path that will surely lead to destruction. We are ripe for picking.

We can rescue ourselves from this predicament if we recognize the error and correct it. It may take some work to extricate ourselves. The path back could be much tougher than the one that led in.

Our return is only as good as the information we have available. For example, were I to want to navigate my way to the North Pole, I could grab a map and a compass and begin traveling. However, what would happen is I would end up miles from the North Pole, and wind up at the magnetic North Pole. Without knowing the difference between magnetic north and true north I would be totally lost.

Scripture is similar in this regard. The canon we accept as the Bible, for those Christians out there, was established in the 4^th century at the council of Nicea. This was a group of men deciding if the writings they had in front of them were holy or not. Simply following it would lead us to a place close, but not our actual destination. We need the help of prophets communicating with God to tell us the difference between “magnetic north and true north” on our map. We have that today, and with the help of the Book of Mormon we can find our way to our ultimate destination.

Those are the thoughts I pondered in my thinking time. It was maybe a 15 minute thought journey. I’ll let you know of others as they occur to me; as long as they aren’t work related (I sometimes ponder work things in my thinking time).

Hubris Americana

2007-01-21T22:20:00.000-05:00

Hubris isn’t anything that is singular to America. However, the American hubris is different in nature to that found almost anywhere else in the free world. The “American dream” isn’t really unique to America. It is more readily attainable in America, but is a dream shared by all.

Americans demand the right to be free from persecution, yet many feel justified in persecuting others. They put forth many arguments put forward in an attempt to justify this persecution. They are the same arguments that have been put forward since this great country began over 200 years ago to villify certain groups of people. These arguments have been used to oppress and repress peoples and relegate them to a position in our society where we can maintain our superiority. We need the labor these groups bring to fuel our economic growth, yet we hate them because we need them, and because they seem, in our categorical way of seeing foreigners, “so different.”

The current issue of “illegal” immigration is a perfect example of this. In our hubris, Americans have decided some transgressions are more egregious than others. Speeding through a residential neighborhood to get to the grocery store is OK. Leaving ones car in the fire lane while one runs in to grab a few groceries is OK. Crossing an arbitrary border in search of work is a vile transgression worthy of being hunted down, humiliated and deported. Never mind that the transgression is a violation of administrative law and not a felony nor a misdemeanor.

What is the fear of others that drives us to such passionate persecution? Were the Mormons or the Cherokee so evil it was necessary to run them from their homes and force them to march across the country so they could continue to live? Were the Irish all that bad, in the end? What about the Polish or any other eastern European nationality? In retrospect all these groups have brought good to our nation, despite coming in larger numbers than we wanted and none ever really threatened our national well being.

The truth be told, our segregation of peoples during times of immigration leads to more problems than if we just welcomed and accepted them. Gangs and organized crime often grow out of such segregation. Poverty and drug dependence among these groups are, in part, an outgrowth of this segregation. And yet we continue to segregate and discriminate in the name of national security and national “unity.”

In the end, we eventually come to accept these “strangers,” integrate their customs and culture into our own, and claim superiority over the rest of the world for our “melting pot” culture. We took pizza and made it an American staple. Sausages and sauerkraut are common at football game tailgate parties. Tacos and fajitas are now almost more commonly sought than hamburgers.

Many “solutions” have been proposed to rid ourselves of these new “strangers.” The most ridiculous and indicative of American hubris is a wall along our southern border. But those who call for this wall only want it on our souther border because illegal immigration surely has no provenance from a country whose citizens are mostly white and speak English.

A second solution isn’t really a solution at all, but maintenance of the status quo. This means we keep our ridiculous quotas on immigration in place and refuse to recognize the need for labor our economy has. A third solution has been proposed, one that radically changes the way of thinking – open the borders and allow a “free flow” of immigrants on a temporary basis and more orderly basis.

It is this last proposal that has the most chance of effecting any real change on “national security.” An open border policy shouldn’t be interpreted as allowing everyone to cross wherever they want. Instead checkpoints are established where a person can be checked. With computer databases and agreements with friendly countries we can verify a person isn’t a criminal before letting them in to contribute to our growing economy. Criminals and agents from unfriendly countries would be turned away. The only way for them to gain entry for whatever nefarious purpose would be through other, monitorable channels, such as are now used by all. By opening the borders through checkpoints, only criminals would try to cross anywhere other than the checkpoints.

The positive to this plan, other than the obvious benefit to our economy, is that it would reduce human trafficking. Though it would be an exaggeration to label all this trafficking as slave running, that does occur. Illegal human trafficking presents the lecherous with opportunities to abuse and mistreat those whom they are trafficking.

It is time to overcome our hubris and embrace our brothers to the south. We should accept their contributions to our economy, accept their taxes, and accept their food. We should reject the notion they present a danger to our security or our way of life.

Progress?

2007-01-03T21:33:00.000-05:00

Siince the beginning of time man has been surrounded by crap. The first big step came with the realization that leaves work better than rocks. That was followed by digging holes in the ground to cover what was left behind. This led to indoor plumbing. However, one has to be trained to use indoor plumbing, and until one is trainable, a diaper is needed.
Diapers used to be cloth, with pins that poked the poor, tired parent who wasn't paying attention or who was struggling to keep things in the general vicinity clean. Not only that, but what was one to do with the dirty diapers? Rnse the diaper in the toilet and heap it with others in a filthy wet pile. After a period of time, the pile of filth moved to the wash machine. Then came the single greatest invention in the history of parenhood - disposable diapers.
Some have determined disposable diapers are not healthy! There are nasty things in the diapers, they say. No S@#%! Disposable diapers are made from things that don't decompose quickly and cause bad things to happen.
The progress made in the last 50 years is in jeopardy because disposable diapers are...disposable. Use the old cotton ones, they say, it is safer and healthier. Has anyone really put some serious thought into that? Festering piles of wet, used diapers in my house are safer than piles of diapers buried in the ground? How do we know all those oil deposits aren't from dinosaur diaper piles? The oil pipes don't get clogged with dino bones. Maybe 15 million years from now our disposable diaper dumps will be the oil our progeny live off of.
Diseases used to kill people because they didn't have good hygene. They would s#$% where they ate, so to speak. Then came indoor plumbing and waste treatment and diseases reduced. Disposable diapers came along, and further reductions. Now we are told disposable diapers are bad. Really? We should replace the festering piles of filth in our homes because some crunchy nut thinks the absorbent material is bad, or the plastic shell has some kind of something that caused cancer in rats when the rats were injected with it.
I think we need a study commissioned by Congress, to establish the health benefits and detriments to disposable diapers. Maybe a bi-partisan commission could interview the folks from Nature Valley to fully understand their claims. After all, who better than the politicians who are experts in s#$%. (Al Gore probably invented s#$%!) The CDC could be contacted for their opinion. Then we could be informed with substantiated evidence on the best course of action.