"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." ~~Thomas Jefferson

"Who will protect us from those who protect us?"

Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. ~ Thomas Jefferson

"None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free." ~~Goethe

10 April 2020

It is finished...


Good Friday.  The end.  The path to a new beginning.

I've said it before.  The Easter season has great significance to me regardless of calendar dates.

Our youngest son was born on Good Friday of 1983.

My wife, my children's mother, Our Judy, died suddenly on Wednesday of Holy Week 2017.

Great joy and great sadness. 

So many thoughts go through my mind at Easter, on this day, Good Friday... 

Jesus did not go easy.  He suffered greatly.  For us.  For you and for me.  The promise of eternal life.  Faith and grace.  So simple.

And I ask myself on Good Friday...  Could you carry that cross?  All the way?  Could you carry that burden, the burden of the world's sin?  And hang?  Hang until the end?  We all know the story.

Could you give your only son to die that way?  To suffer at the hands of humans, to save humanity?  Could you?  God had the advantage, of course.  He knew.  But Jesus?  What went through his mind as he suffered and finally died?

It is finished.

Anyway.

Give it some thought.

Peace.

09 April 2020

Maundy Thursday...

Maundy Thursday.  The day of The Last Supper.  It's complicated.  Love.  Service to others.  Betrayal.

Holy Week.  Crucifixion,  Death.  Resurrection.  Salvation.

It's a big deal..

Faith and Grace.


We are living in trying times.  Be smart.  Be safe.  Be prepared.

Peace.

03 April 2020

Well, Duh...

For Autocrats, and Others, Coronavirus Is a Chance to Grab Even More Power

Leaders around the world have passed emergency decrees and legislation expanding their reach during the pandemic. Will they ever relinquish them?


 

Credit...Martin Bernetti/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Read it all here...  

Yes, I know that The Times is a bastion of Liberalism.  What makes this story even more surprising (cough cough) is that it is from The Times.

Peace.

02 April 2020

Would they...?

Would governments intentionally release something like this Wuhan Virus on the population?  I don't think so.  But then...  Mao, Lenin, Hitler, Pol Pot, US Government and syphilis, history...

Maybe.  But I still don't think so.

Would governments take advantage of a situation?  Well, "Never let a serious crisis go to waste..."

I have a lot to say because I've been thinking a lot.  But I'm not motivated so I won't say much.  :)

Like it or not, Covid-19, Corona virus, Whatever you want to call it, Wuhan Virus...  It's a big deal.  And we aren't taking it seriously enough.  And that isn't Trump's fault... 

After all of this is over and we assume our new normal, remember that the Chinese hid this from the world for several weeks.  They are now trying to deflect and play the blame game.  This was mostly preventable, had the Chinese shared the fact that there was a potential humanity ending pandemic alive and growing in their country.  They need to be held accountable for that.   They should not be rewarded for their bad behavior.  Everything started there.  All of the actions and reactions, good and bad, popular and unpopular, effective and not, started there...    

Remember, if you can't eat it, drink it, wear it, smoke it, or shoot it, it won't have much value when times get really hard.

And I'll be curious to see how quickly economies rebuild after this is over.  Landlords, mortgage companies, utility companies, all of those folks who are going to be good humans (and corporations) throughout this crisis will be at the front of the line to collect their due when this is over.   And remember that the "stimulus" is paid with borrowed money.  And it won't be taxed and won't have to be paid back. (...in all probability.  Mixed signals from DC).  And there are now over 6 million unemployed.  There will be another "stimulus".  There has to be.  And remember who the lenders are when the bill comes due (The American people), and who the collectors are.  Remember where the government gets its power and authority.  Well, it assumes that power and authority from our Constitution.  And when it assumes more power and authority than the Constitution allows, they are taking it from the people.  And as long as the people will allow it, they will take more.  And more.  Until they have it all.

"Never let a serious crisis go to waste."

And remember also that the folks doing the hoarding will be the target of the folks who have not, when those folks get hungry.

And if you think 7.62 X 39 is better than 5.56...  I hope you have huge stockpiles of that 7.62.  If you haven't already stocked up, you are probably SOL for awhile.  If things ever get real you will have a better chance of finding 5.56 on a battlefield in this country than you will of finding 7.62 x 39.

This Wuhan Virus is changing our world forever.  We will never be able to go back.

I'm sure I'm overreacting, that my mind is running away from me...  ;)  LOL.

Easter is coming soon.  There is hope.  :)

Peace