Game On! 

   Who is winning the executive-order race? While we await the Final Four basketball games and the start of Major League Baseball, here are the standings in another contest that may interest you.

   Franklin D. Roosevelt leads the pack with 310 EOs per year - 12 years in office. In second place is his older relative, Teddy Roosevelt, 270 per year.

   Far behind are Donald Trump, 55, and Barack Obama, 34 per year. 

   Watch out for a sleeper - Joe Biden has issued more than 50 executive orders in just over two months! Is he shooting for third place? He could take second place.   

   Of course, time and change erases a policy like the sun melts snow. Only the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) survives like a rock among Obama's 276 orders. FDR's internment of Japanese Americans (which Congress backed) is not to his credit. 

   Biden has struck down about half of Trump's EOs. These fickle days, any president could see his or her legacy vanish in the fog of time.   

   The Congressional branch of government has been dead for some years. To get reelected to Congress or the Senate, one just lets the president take the heat. 

   Democrats have relied on the judicial branch to confirm their wishes. President Trump tilted the courts somewhat to the right, so until Dems can recover, executive orders will have to do. 

   Know your country. Follow the executive orders, as well as the money. 

Statistics from WORLD magazine

          Jimmy

PS. Don't miss our upcoming thoughts on the land we all share, starting tomorrow. 

 

   

 You Shall Love 

Yesterday, commandments 1-5. Today, 6-10.

Comments by Mike Huckabee

   You shall not murder. 

   This commandment affirms the sacredness of human life. The goal of love is always to heal, not to hurt. 

   You shall not commit adultery. 

   Adultery defrauds the love of another and destroys the self-esteem of the one being defrauded. Promises and vows are sacred, and this commandment affirms the validity and authority of such promises. 

   You shall not steal.

   True love has the desire to give instead of take. 

   You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 

   Gossip and falsehoods defy the character of God, who is always honest. Even when we speak well of others, remember that real love is always honest. 

   You shall not covet. 

   Love delights in the possessions of others rather than desiring what others have. 

 Love and the Commandments    

   Most of us know the two commandments Jesus called "the greatest." 

   1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 2. Love your neighbor as yourself. 

   In his book, Rare, Medium and Done Well, former governor and pastor Mike Huckabee connects love with the ten laws in Exodus 20:1-17. Here are the first five commandments (NIV) and Mike's comments, slightly edited:

   You shall have no other gods before me. 

   God can create a relationship with us strong enough to dismiss the need for further searching. 

   You shall not make for yourself an idol...

   Creator God cannot be limited or confined to a tangible object or physical trinket. We need to be glad he can't. 

   You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.

   This principle affirms that God's name should not be used carelessly. We must not treat God's love with contempt.  

   Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

   True love sets apart special time for those who are loved. The principle behind a day of rest is to remember God, not to forget him. 

   Honor your father and your mother. 

   Real love respects authority. We learn to honor authority first in the home. If not, we likely will never learn it at all. 

Tomorrow: Commandments 6-10

 The Light We Have

Martin Luther, 1483-1546

German monk, professor, priest, author, composer, reformer

quoted as saying

What we don't know we should leave to God.

Let the future remain in darkness.

Let it stay secret and hidden.

In the meantime, we should do what we know we ought to do.

We should live by God's Word and the light he has given to us. 

 Saving the Planet?   

   If 0.002 percent of your lawn was in weeds, would you remove all the grass and replace it with something else, rocks for instance? 

   The U.S. still has 15 coal-fired power plants and no plans to build another. But the climate police are determined to save the planet by shutting down these and other sources of air pollution. It's gotta be green or it's gotta go. 

   Air circles the globe, so let's see who is polluting who. We don't know if the following numbers are accurate, but if they are...

European Union    468 coal plants    27 being built

Turkey                   56                    93

South Africa           79                    24

India                    589                  446  

Philippines              19                    60

South Korea            58                    26

Japan                     90                    45

China                 2,363                1,171

   That's 5,615 plants on line or being built. Our 15 plants are 0.002 percent of the world. Don't expect the world to follow our lead.  

   Knowing that the political left is determined to rule us all, we assume climate change rhetoric is more about control, about power - not coal power.

        Jimmy

 Can Fish Talk?   

   American submariners and sonar operators, listening for enemy ships during World War II, were baffled by what they heard. The USS Salmon surfaced to look for a ship whose "rumbling propellers" did not exist. 

   Sailors of the USS Tarpon heard "repetitive clanging," and on the USS Permit they heard "hammering on steel." In the Chesapeake Bay, a sailor compared the sound to "pneumatic drills tearing up a concrete sidewalk." 

   So much for Cousteau's "silent world."  

   After the war, the Navy began to investigate, choosing a scientist, Marie Poland Fish, who would found the field of marine bioacoustics. She reviewed reports of "beeping, clicking, creaking, harsh croaking, crackling, whistling, grunting, hammering, moaning, mewing," even the "dragging of heavy chains." There was even a 19th century sailor who heard "jingling bells, enormous harps" and the "siren songs" of Homer's story. 

   Sound waves travel through water five times faster than through air. Ms. Fish began collecting subjects for experiments. By 1954, using hydrophones, she had studied more than 180 species, eels (bubbling put-put), sea bream (guttural thumps), sculpin (humming generators), sea horses (snapping fingers), herring (knocks), hardtails (rasps), bass (grunts), and toadfish (fog horns). 

   Some species were multitalented. Chattiest was the sea robin (cackling and clucking like a barnyard fowl). 

   Scientists were able to identify anatomy in some cases. Finfish vocalize by grinding their jaws. The toadfish "vibrates muscles against their air bladders." A spawning group of croakers could raise the ocean's background volume to 114 decibels - rock concert level. 

   The Navy uses this knowledge to train sonar operators to distinguish between enemy vessels and false targets. Except for the growling sound of toadfish in breeding season, guarding their eggs, little is known about languages. 

   Today, sonar, industrial shipping and explosive surveys for oil and gas drown out the creatures. Man made noise has fatally disoriented whales and killed young fish. There are studies to understand how humans distort marine soundscapes. 

   As the pandemic interrupted life on land, the effect of reduced shipping allowed creatures over three quarters of the earth to be heard once again.

 Smithsonian

   

One Hungry UFO 

   No sooner had we drafted yesterday's blog about a hawk and its prey, that he was back in our grove eating again. 

   It was Wednesday, midafternoon. 

   Probably 10 or 12 feet from its morning kill, the hawk was impressive. When it bent down for a bite its reddish tail was exposed. 

   So, it was a red-tailed hawk. Or was it? My bird books weren't much help. Was it a different hawk? or a falcon? a vulture? kite? harrier? eagle? The osprey looked more like it, though ospreys don't have a red tail. We'll just consider it an unidentified flying object.  

   Standing in our pool cage with binoculars, I saw long tail feathers of the victim move as the UFO shook his meal. This was no ordinary songbird. 

   Soon, the predator spotted me. To check me out, with his 48-inch wingspan he flew onto the crook of the nearest tree.

   Then in a rush he flew above the trees and began circling the grove counter clockwise. His second round came lower. His third pass was lower still. And his fourth altitude was about 15 feet overhead.

   With the sun above him, he looked all black. I was content to stay inside the pool cage. 

   He flew off, leaving his meal half-eaten. Maybe I ruined his appetite. So cancel me. 

   If the carcass wasn't an owl, your guess is good as mine. The UFO may have caught it napping in the middle of the day.  

        Jimmy

  

    

 Backyard Battle    

   Yesterday as we sat down for breakfast, we saw a hawk (we think) in the small grove some 30-feet behind our house. It was standing over a smaller bird that seemed injured. Twice the little bird lifted a wing but failed to move.

   The hawk was about to enjoy its own breakfast. 

   Between bites, we saw the hawk waiting for its prey to die, then begin to rip into its meal. It paid no attention to a couple small birds diving over the action. 

   The hawk got a talon entangled in its breakfast and tried without success to shake it off.

   Along came three turkeys, also common around here. They are territorial, aggressively chasing away other feeding birds. 

   The turkeys trotted to within a couple feet of the hawk, nodding their heads as if to say, "good morning" rather than "get off our property!" Don't proud turkeys realize a hawk could have them for lunch, with leftovers? 

   Our predator hawk responded with a move we interpreted as, "get lost jerks," and the turkeys ambled off. 

   When our breakfast was over, the battleground was empty. Feathers and fluffy remains were spread about. 

   As the songbird was taken by surprise, so too we don't know if we have tomorrow (Proverbs 27:1). Humans, even God-fearing believers, are vulnerable to deceptions - not conquered - entering where we might be defenseless.  

   Spiritual predators assure their own demise, and evil doers eventually get entangled in their own sin. We have reason to think our "hawk" rules this neighborhood, as evil spirits also have "authority" over given areas.  

   Thanks to the Lord, we can withstand attacks, but only with honest hearts toward him. Our instincts may lead to troubles. But repentance, humility and clean hearts help to protect us from enemies in the heavenly realm.  

     Jimmy

 Day of Horrors   

   We had in mind a Week of Horrors - President Harris, politics, executive orders, return of the spirit of FDR - but, you might hide under the covers and never read Views again. 

   So, can you tolerate a day of horrors? 

   By a 50-49 vote (where is the missing Republican?) the U.S. Senate approved the nomination of California's attorney general, Xavier Becerra, to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

   Well, why not? He has no experience in healthcare. Check!

   As if this matters, Becerra prosecuted pro-life activists for their hidden-camera investigation into Planned Parenthood, sponsor of millions of baby killings. Check!

   And he sued the Little Sisters of the Poor, whose conscience forbids providing contraceptives to their employees, as required by Obamacare, the ACA. Check!

   And he has aggressively fought religious liberty and pro-life supporters. Check!

   Seems like a perfect addition to the puzzle being assembled by the ruling party.

Minimum Wagering 

   There are about 17 million workers making less than $15 per hour. We assume this includes people of various ages, goals, needs and stations on the road of life. The current minimum wage is $7.25/hour.  

   The minimum wage plan would elevate about 900 thousand above poverty. To help a fraction of one percent of Americans, it would raise the federal budget deficit to $54 billion by 2031. 

   The projected national debt - already without the plan - is $31.4 trillion by 2030. 

   Thirty three percent of small business owners polled said a $15 minimum wage would cause them to lay off some workers. If the Biden plan goes into effect, 1.4 million workers will lose their jobs, according to the Congressional Budget Office. 

Come in; stay out 

   We have a barbed-wire fence protecting the U.S. Congress. But our border with a foreign country (actually, the world) is open to the tired, poor, those yearning to be free, unaccompanied children, drug cartels, human traffickers, gang members, terrorists, rapists and competitors for even minimum wage jobs. If we're such a racist country, why are so many Hispanics desperate to live here?    

      Jimmy

 

 What if...

There were never any Native American team names? 

   Suppose, in professional baseball and football, no team was ever known as the Indians, Braves, Redskins or Chiefs. Would anyone complain? 

   In today's somewhat cushy society, there are people in esteemed universities with too much time on their hands. They don't exactly work for a living or produce anything - like most retirees - but they want to count, to be known, to feel good about themselves.

   So they find something to complain about, and "make a federal case out of it," as we kids used to say. Native Americans are insulted. Yes. That's it. They've got to shame team owners. 

   Indians, Braves, Chiefs ... and certainly Redskins have to go. Okay. A minority of native Americans do resent sports teams using such names, even though it is meant to be positive. Would the Cleveland Indians rather be known as the Cleveland Criminals?  

   Back to our question. What might happen if Pirates, Padres, Rangers, Mariners, Yankees, Astro(nauts), Brewers, Patriots, Cowboys, Packers, Vikings, Buccaneers, 49ers, Steelers and Texans -- all positives in big time sports -- while Indians, Braves etc. were left out of the fun? 

   Maybe folks living in ivory towers would scream about natives being ignored by fat cat owners, discriminating against original Americans while idolizing Yankees and Patriots.  

   Maybe not. Their real, progressive goal is to divide us, to "sift us like wheat." Right, devil? Efforts to divide everyone have been underway since we were in college in the 1950s.  

       Jimmy

 

 This is what the Lord says  

-  he who formed you in the womb, and who will help you. For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring. 

   I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. 

   There is no other Rock; I know not one. 

   I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. 

   Sing for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done this; shout aloud. 

   I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the  wise, and turns it into nonsense. 

-  who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, 'Let it be rebuilt,' and of the temple, 'Let its foundations be laid.' 

Selected verses from Isaiah, chapter 44

This prophecy about future Persian king Cyrus was fulfilled 150 years later

  

Courage Anyone? 

   The mention of "crying closets" in Thursday's blog - which we didn't write - got us thinking. We know of at least one major university dedicating space for wimpy students to pet cuddly dogs until they work up courage to get back in the real world. 

   We personally don't claim great courage or bravery. But, no one held our hand when we went alone at age 17 to enter a large university 200 miles from our quiet little town. Classes became routine, but it was never easy, nor graduation guaranteed.

   We had no teddy bear to hold during that overnight train ride from Pittsburgh to Ft. Knox, KY. Over the years, we moved to four different cities to begin jobs for which we had no particular background ... beyond our reputation for work ethic. One was a factory of 5,700 employees, where I was the lone "communicator" for management, among contrary union members. No crying closet there. 

Courage to the max

   In 1803 President Jefferson and just one other man worked in the empty White House. True. The president wanted to know what he received in Napoleon's sale of the "Northwest Territory." The emperor himself didn't know. French Canadians and Spanish also were curious. 

   His trusted assistant was Meriwether Lewis, a soldier among other talents. In late summer 1804, after much much preparation, Lewis and a number of explorers departed Pittsburgh. They canoed with supplies, rifles and parchment to record maps and discoveries. The Ohio River was low, requiring muscle and creativity.

   They paddled up the Mississippi toward St. Louis, where William Clark joined the team, and muscular soldiers replaced some of the crew, now 31 in all. They paddled up the Missouri. Food had to be hunted down, or fished. At times one or more would go off hunting and somehow reconnect up stream, maybe two days later.  

   Indians abounded along the Missouri - some friendly, if inclined to steal, and some hostile. Crossing the Rockies was more than a challenge. (There is no food source in the mountains.) As was finding a way to the Pacific. Jefferson later would be disappointed that there is no water route across the land. 

   Returning eastward over the Rockies was even more difficult, and wouldn't have succeeded if not for six Indian teenagers who knew the way, despite heavy snow. 

   This summary doesn't begin to describe the hardships, sickness, injuries, courage and daring of these 31 men on the Lewis and Clark expedition, 1804-1807. Suck it up, you pampered college kids!    

        Jimmy

    

                  

Guns and Beer 

   Patrick, sold into slavery in Ireland at age 16, escaped the island, and later received a vision from God. He returned at personal risk to introduce Christianity. All we heard on Fox & Friends yesterday was about celebrating St. Patrick's Day with beer, especially an Irish brand. Must be some financial connection somewhere. 

Now, some logic

   Passing along some items we received from a friend: 

   Eleven teens die on average each day due to texting while driving. Maybe it's time to raise the age of smart-phone ownership to 21. 

   If gun control laws actually worked, Chicago would be Mayberry, USA.

   The 2nd Amendment gives women more equality than the feminist movement. 

   Legal gun owners have 300 million guns and maybe a trillion rounds of ammo. If they were the problem, we would know it. 

   When JFK was killed, nobody blamed the rifle. 

   The NRA kills no one and receives no $ from the government. Planned Parenthood annually kills 350,000 babies and receives $500,000 tax dollars. 

   We have no problem with vigorous background checks for firearms. Let's do the same with immigration, voter ID and candidates running for office. 

   People wonder about another Civil War. One side has guns and ammo. The other side has crying closets, coloring books, and chooses which bathroom to use. Of course, in war, government will come to the aid of the whiners. 

Views doesn't affirm any of the above "facts"

Trey Nails It

   When a CNN reporter asked Trey Gowdy: "How can president Trump claim to represent all U.S. citizens, when he banned transgenders from joining the military? Isn't that discrimination?" ... here's how the former South Carolina congressman answered:

   "Nobody has a right to serve in the military. Nobody! What makes you people think the military is an equal opportunity employer? It is very far from it - and for good reasons.

   "The military uses prejudice consistently to deny citizens from joining, for being too old or too young, too fat or too skinny, too tall or too short. 

   "Citizens are denied for having flat feet, or for missing fingers. Poor eyesight will disqualify you, as well as bad teeth. Malnourished? Drug addiction? Bad back? Criminal history? Low IQ? Anxiety? Phobias? Hearing damage?

   With typical Trey Gowdy humor, "Need a special access ramp for your wheelchair? Can't run? Can't do the push ups? Not really a morning person? 

Military Purpose 

   "The military has one job: Winning war. Anything else is a distraction and a liability. Did someone just scream 'that isn't fair?' War is VERY unfair. There are no exceptions for being special or challenged or socially wonderful. 

   "YOU must change yourself to meet military standards. I say again: You don't change the military - you must change yourself. The military isn't about being fair. It is about taking advantage of others and about winning. 

   "The military needs to Win Wars and keep our country safe. PERIOD! If your personal issues are a liability that detract from readiness or lethality... "Thank you for applying and good luck in future endeavors." 

We wonder about the reliability of the U.S. Congress

when the Trey Gowdys see no purpose in reelection.

Gospel or Politics? Social Justice or Biblical Justice? 

                        An interview with a Hispanic pastor.

What is primary? 

   The gospel compels us to address issues with political implications. I am committed to preserving religious liberty and supporting Biblical justice, righteousness in the public square, not social justice. 

Socialism?

   We say no to socialism, which is antithetical to a Biblical worldview. 

Mexican immigrants?

   Mexicans are some of the hardest working individuals on the planet - 12-14-hour workdays. The Hispanic electorate will reinvigorate the conservative movement. The Latino community is the vaccine against socialism in America.

Education? 

   (Leftist) notions are absurd. They're part of a deconstructive modus operandi pushed by extremists with a Marxist worldview. It's antithetical to Scripture. We care more about political correctness than about STEM - science, technology, engineering, math. We're harming beautiful African American and Latino young men and women with a public educational system that is morally reprehensible. 

Affirmative Action?

   Government tells me, "You are a victim. You're second class. You can't make it ... without government." Uncle Sam will never be my Heavenly Father.

Prosperity gospel? 

   There is no gospel of prosperity. There is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the finished work on the cross. God wants me to live a life where I can prosper spiritually, mentally, relationally and become a blessing to people.

Win or lose?

   The moment you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, the victory of the cross trumps all the defeats in your past. It's equivalent to losing every other game and somehow ending up in the Super Bowl by the grace of God, and win. John 3:16; John 10:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17.

~~~

Samuel Rodriquez, president of the National Hispanic 

Christian Leadership Conference, with Marvin Olasky.

 

 

Evidence 

   Evidence is "the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid." 

   God loves truth and hates lies. Investigate thoroughly. See Deuteronomy 13:12-14, 17:3-4 and 19:15-18. 

   There is circumstantial evidence. Multiple witnesses. Witness evaluation. And discernment, the ability to judge well. Discernment comes from the Holy Spirit, so we read. 

Let's Put it to the Test

   During the campaign, Joe Biden said executive orders are the way of a dictator. We should have consensus. He called for unity. He said he will be president for all.

   Was he honest? What's the evidence? 

   He issued 42 executive orders in 11 days. There was no unity about them. He endorsed impeachment of his opponent, now a civilian, who received 74 million votes.

   He called for rejoining the Chinese-friendly World Health Organization and the suspect Paris Climate Agreement (to which China the polluter is not obligated). He abruptly stopped construction of the border wall and limited enforcement. Drug cartels must be celebrating. They're certainly making money.  

   He supported legislation to allow non-citizens be counted for legislative redistricting purposes, presumably adding more friendlies to Congress. 

   He supports using U.S. taxpayer money for abortions in other nations, not exactly a unifying cause. He is okay with biological men participating in women's sports and sharing locker rooms etc. You thought Democrats support women's rights? 

   He supports gender transition procedures, and requiring people of conscience to violate their consciences. There has been no talk of "freedom of conscience." 

   There is a $64,000 question: Is the aging president truly the source of a leftist agenda, or is a shadow presidency using him, and the devil using the shadow presidency?  

   The Lord says evil will be called good, and good called evil in the last days. 

   Every day is the day of salvation (getting it right), says the Bible. If these are the last days, the days are getting shorter, and we don't mean the hours of sunlight.

     Jimmy

  

Fill in the blank  

Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight;

I will put my ______ on him and he will bring ______ to the nations. 

A bruised ______ he will not break, and a smoldering ____ he will not snuff out.

In faithfulness he will bring forth ______;

He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes _____on earth. 

I the Lord have called you in ___________; I will take hold of your _____. 

I am the _____ ; that is my name.

I will not give my _____ to another, or my praise to idols. 

Sing to the Lord a new _____, his ______ from the ends of the earth. 

Isaiah, chapter 42  New International Version.

 It's OK, conclusion

You Are a Marxist if...  

It's OK that your press secretary says you are a "fan" of oil drilling, while permits during your administration are down 36 percent. 

It's OK to want the economy under control of government bureaucrats, whose states, counties and cities are bankrupt or deep in debt. 

It's OK for the same government that "managed" the U.S. Postal Service into a $16.5 billion/year deficit, to take charge of healthcare. 

It's OK not to find anything to cut from the budget, while funding $1.5 million for research into why lesbians are fat. 

It's OK to want to take guns from law abiding citizens, and advertise a public school as a Gun Free Zone, where everyone is defenseless. 

It's OK to blame guns for killing kids at Newtown, Connecticut, while selling guns to Mexican drug lords who murdered at least 300 people. 

It's OK to claim the cost of healthcare will be lower, while leaving malpractice-suit reform out of your reform. 

PS. Elsewhere in the 2014 book, Obamacare is described not as an answer to universal healthcare, but a scheme to "murder" the middle class and bankrupt America. We can't explain. Maybe you know the trick. 

        Jimmy

 

Friday  Continued

You Are a Marxist if...  

It's OK if you receive a Nobel Prize for economics, though you never created a job or produced one minute of world peace. 

It's OK that auto union workers receive $10 billion in pensions, while non-union workers are losing pensions. 

It's OK to condemn a GOP opponent for money stashed in the Cayman Islands, while your treasury secretary is doing the same. 

It's OK to confiscate money and redistribute it to those who didn't earn it.

It's not OK for "greedy" workers to want to keep what they earned. 

It's OK to add $7 trillion to national debt. But for President Bush to add half that amount was "an embarrassment, travesty, disgrace." 

It's OK to shame business owners, "You didn't build that," when they and other taxpayers paid all funds allowing government to build roads etc. 

It's OK to claim "commitment" to small business, while proposing more than 6,000 new rules, regulations and mandates. 

It's OK to promise the average family their healthcare costs will decrease by $2,500 per year, while your program raises it by $3,000 per year. 

It's OK to tell Americans they can keep their healthcare, while your own White House reports that 93 million will not keep it. Oops.

It's OK to tell Americans a "green economy" will create "millions of jobs," while Spain has been there, done that, destroying twice as many jobs as created. Spain's unemployment (in 2014) stood at 27 percent, youth at 58 percent. 

How many aren't being truthful when they take the oath of office?

Conclusion tomorrow

 

It's OK Continued

You Are a Marxist if... 

It's OK to cut veterans' pensions, and spend $300 million on Palestinian mortgages.

It's OK to listen in on phone calls without a warrant.

It's not OK to check criminal backgrounds of job applicants. 

It's OK for your IRS to harass conservatives. And allow illegals to claim dozens of nonexistent kids, receiving "tax refunds" into the billions. 

It's OK that the only thing congressmen, cabinet members and czars know about business comes from books by Karl Marx, available at Harvard and Columbia.

It's OK to call the debt crisis "a fiscal cliff" while adding $2.1 trillion in new debt.

It's OK to ask for a photo ID to access Obamacare benefits, but not to vote. 

It's OK to give a job, government contract or college admission based on skin color. That's social justice.

It's not OK to deny a job, government contract or college admission based on skin color. That's immoral and criminal. 

It's OK to meet with dictators, tyrants, communists, America haters and terrorist sympathizers.

It's not OK to meet with Republicans in Congress. 

It's OK that there is no money for air traffic controllers or detention facilities for illegals. But it's OK to spend $100 million for a presidential visit to Africa and pledge $7 billion for electric construction. 

It's OK for colleges and law schools to charge $60,000/year, and for professors to earn more than $200,000. 

It's not OK to charge a student $9 a month for her contraceptives. 

Continued tomorrow

Marxist President?   

   We were going to do this last week. Then we weren't. Okay. Let's do it. 

   Are you concerned we could have a communist president some day? Would you believe we already had one for eight years, and that he is again pulling the strings? 

   We read a book written in 2014 by a man who attended Columbia at the same time Barack Obama allegedly did, in political science. No students or professors from that period remember Obama. And his so-called record is sealed! 

   The author claimed Obama is a "hybrid socialist/Marxist/fascist," that he disguises his true self, that he "hates" the American way and did what he could to bankrupt us. And he has many collaborators.

   Don't take the author's word for it, or mine, but for a few days we will provide evidence that convinces you...or not. You may remember some of these.  

You (referring to Obama) are a Marxist if: 

It's OK to provide welfare and food stamps to excess. 

But it's not OK to feed wildlife.

It's OK to pass a 2,000-page healthcare bill without Congress reading it.

But, it's not OK to expose the New York Times' falsehoods. 

It's OK to allow millions of illegal immigrants cross the border.

But it's not OK for someone to crash a White House state dinner. 

It's OK to call food stamps and unemployment payments "economic stimulus."

It's OK to tout "economic recovery" when food stamps outpace job growth.

It's OK to give the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt free F-16s.

But it's not OK for law abiding citizens to oppose severe gun control.

 Continued tomorrow

Equity, the New Golden Rule  

   Good intentions? Perfectionists in an imperfect world? Freedom without boundaries? Unrestricted rights?           ...and vote for us! 

   Notice, they aren't equalizing the classes. As president, Barack Obama was heard to say, "Our girls will be okay." Oh. I see. Your girls and boys - and mine - may not be okay. Just a female president here ... a lesbian justice there. Qualifications optional. We feel good in the upper class. 

   Politicians will never produce equity as their born-wealthy, feeling guilty, socialist backers define it. 

   We are all made by God with different fingerprints, different gifts and different circumstances. God who gives also withholds ... for his divine reasons. 

   Some of us are born with defects. Others in deplorable living conditions; still others with silver spoons. Is there any government other than tyrannical that can equalize a society of more than 330 million diverse citizens plus immigrants? 

   When we are needy, we might seek our Maker. When we are proud and superior, we trust ourselves. Envy feeds the desire for communism, which equalizes only poverty and has killed a hundred million people. 

   God calls us to be the best of who we are, however he defines "best." When Jesus' disciples complained that a woman was using expensive perfume on him, instead of spending its value on the poor, Jesus said, "The poor will always be with you, but you will not always have me." We - not through the government - are supposed to help the poor and needy; never does God speak of equity on earth. 

   We have read of a strategy that works better than government mandates: Hard work, civility, being on time, going above the call of duty, living within our means, avoiding debt, marriage before children, and virtuous living. 

   Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. If we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 1 Timothy 6:6-8 

   Authorities dispensing taxpayer money - now borrowed money by the trillions - don't emphasize Life beyond human life. God first! The rest will take care of itself. 

      Jimmy

     

   

   

Let's All be Equal? 

   Imagine that global warming destroys civilization within a decade, as the alarmists insist. In March 2031, you and I meet up in the empty town square, realizing we are the last two people on earth. One of us had better be gifted in hunting and fishing. 

   The U.S. House in February passed an Equality Act for the second time. Well, in America, "all men are created equal," aren't we? That is equal opportunity, not equal outcome. Even this attempt at equality falls short, for the Act denies people of faith equal opportunity to live by sincerely held beliefs. 

   Equity is the new golden rule for those now in power and their constituents. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 addresses equality. Affirmative Action is meant to achieve equity. 

   Easier said than done. Working in human resources in the 1980s, every year we provided the government with our office's Affirmative Action Plan. We were obligated to employ X percent of black electrical engineers, based on the racial makeup of the greater Pittsburgh area. Trouble was, blacks almost never chose electrical engineering as a career. It paid well, but it wasn't cool, or whatever the young generation valued at that time.

   There are people who take equity to the extreme, agitating for reparations - taking money from those who never owned slaves and giving it to those who never were slaves. 

   We assume, for that to happen, within a year or two the wealth gap would be back where it is today. Economics is complicated, but lawyer politicians don't understand even the basics. As we saw last year, there were attempts even to dispossess homeowners for the benefit of those who contribute nothing, and probably could not have afforded the upkeep. 

                            Tomorrow: What do gifts have to do with it?

      Jimmy

Words to Live By  

   Did you read Sophia Lee's story on Friday? We found some verses she would identify with: 

   "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load."

   Paul. Galatians 6:2-5 

   "A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know you are my disciples if you love one another."  

   Jesus. John 13:34-35 

   "Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."  

    Matthew 22:37-40

 

 Vaccines in History 

China, about 1000 A.D.

   With smallpox raging, a monk blew a powder of ground, smallpox scabs into a patient's nose. The technique remained in use for centuries. 

Revolutionary War, 1777

   George Washington, who had smallpox as a young adult, ordered inoculations for some 40,000 men in the Continental Army. This involved cutting the skin and inserting diseased tissue from a smallpox patient. Washington wrote that should disease infect the army, "we should have more to dread from it, than from the Sword of the Enemy." 

Pasteur's Gamble, 1885  

   After a rabid dog bit a 9-year-old French boy, his mother took him to the Paris lab of Louis Pasteur, who was experimenting with a vaccine made from afflicted rabbits. He agreed to test it on a human. The boy recovered and grew up to work at Pasteur's research institute, founded in 1887. 

Elvis Shows Them, 1956

   Millions of American children were getting the new polio vaccine. But authorities were worried that teens and adults didn't want the shot. Elvis Pressley, 21, got jabbed for the cameras on the Ed Sullivan Show. By 1960, polio cases were one-tenth of the 1950 level. 

SMITHONIAN

       Jimmy

 Wisdom of Humility 

   Wow! I am so humble! In other words, I am so full of pride because I am so humble.   

   With me so far? 

   Truthfully, pride was never a problem, me being the youngest and smallest and shyest and simple-minded boy in my whole world. I couldn't be humble either, because I didn't even know the word. My only claim as a young man was to be fairly good at baseball, and later, softball. Couldn't get enough of it. 

   Journalist Sophia Lee, 33, was the smartest teenager, with leadership ability and choices of internships at big publications. Her "ego was as inflated as a hot air balloon."

   Then she began - "to struggle with anorexia, which exposed my insecurities and vanities and brought me to my knees. I realized I had nothing ... that I am more helpless and foolish than the person most contemptuous in my eyes." 

   Only at that point did she realize the measureless grace, love and mercy of God.  

   But, after recovering, she again began to measure herself by her own achievements. How impatient she was, selfish, conceited, judgmental and apt to compare. She prayed for wisdom, but found herself wanting wisdom for the wrong reasons - to be better than others.

   Like Paul, who wrote, "Not that I have already obtained..." she now understands "wisdom that comes from a humble spirit that longs to love and serve others, to do justice and love kindness." "There's a holy discontentment within me," she says, "a recognition that I need less of me and more of Christ." 

   She would tell her teenaged self: Be humble. "When you're feeling self-righteous, be humble," Lee writes. "Humility doesn't mean putting yourself down. It means striving to be like Christ who already lives in you." 

       Jimmy

Justice, or Just Ice? 

   We've left behind a president friendly to Judeo-Christian values. Our new leader, though a Catholic, seems more beholden to worldly, political merit. What now? 

   All authority comes from God, but Jesus told his followers to render under Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. Paul, the flawless Jewish leader who experienced a powerful light and heard the voice of the Lord, and became a flawless defender of the gospel, told Roman Christians to be subject to godless tyrants, "for the sake of conscience." Romans 13:5. 

   Paul told Thessalonians "to live quietly and to mind your own affairs ... so that you may walk properly before outsiders." I Thess. 4:11-12. 

   Christians should not be the aggressors: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Matt. 5:9. Jesus also taught, "all who take the sword will perish by the sword." 

   God has placed us during the Biden administration, as he placed Daniel in Babylon and Christians in Rome under Nero. Marvin Olasky, our source for this blog, says we keep calm and "drink the cup, even though it may be bitter." (As Jesus himself did.) 

   We can concentrate on preserving life and seeking peace without surrender, regardless who is president. Hardship might even help our cause. The number of abortions have fallen by almost half since 1990, even though Democrats had the White House more than half the time. 

   Remember, Olasky says, "justice without compassion is just ice. Compassion, suffering with those in need, is not an option." 

      Jimmy

 

A couple more items from Black History   

Up From the Projects

   That's the title of a book by the late Walter Williams. As he grew up in Philadelphia in 30s and 40s, his mom held him to high expectations in school.

   Though he didn't have a father around, he gained a positive attitude about work from Jewish businessmen. His independent personality led him to resist big-government ideologies - as an economist (UCLA), and as a professor at George Mason University. 

My Grandfather's Son 

   This 2007 book is by Clarence Thomas, appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991. The reviewer says "Thomas speaks up for both himself and his cherished values, including self-reliance and hard work." 

   He writes of his tough-minded grandfather who sacrificed to send him to private Catholic schools. Thomas rebelled in college, embracing the Black Power movement and temporarily rejecting his Catholic faith.

   Through personal trials and political pressure, he eventually found a home in Reagan's Republican Party. His grandfather encouraged him to "stand up for what you believe in." 

          Jimmy

PS. The government's emphasis on rewarding people who don't strive to learn, work and achieve isn't likely to produce more achievers like Williams and Thomas. 

 

Farewell Captain

    Part way into our 28-page story, which ended February 25, we came across a statement by historian and author Barbara Tuchman (1912-1989) - "The best way to make history interesting is to tell stories." 

   We took that as confirmation that our little effort was worthwhile. Jesus himself told stories (parables) to help uneducated - in Scripture - people better understand their God and his truth. 

   We're mostly sad but also glad the project is over. You may remember that I first wrote this story in 1992, sharing it only with my brother-in-law, who was not impressed. We saved most of the verses, and you can be thankful we scrapped the verbal battles between angels and demons.

   The fun for me was editing, adding, deleting, fixing and hopefully making the story as interesting and helpful as possible. I never stopped making changes right up to the last hour. With this online "book" I had to bridge each page to the prior, to remind you each day where we were. The trick was to imagine I was you, the reader, making sure you knew what I knew about a word or a name. 

   Thanks for reading. I love you all. Jesus loves you best. The Captain is over. But Jesus lives forever, and our belief and trust in him is more important than anything in life.   

         Jimmy

Gotta Hand It to the President    

   With his attack on Pearl Harbor, Tojo didn't weaken America. Neither Stalin nor Hitler could destroy America. 

   But, credit given where credit is due: Life long American politician, President Biden, is well on the way to accomplishing what tyrants failed to do. 

   Since our 2009-2017 rulers, picking up where they left off, and their agents in newsrooms like to use theater, we have a theatrical idea. 

   World War II in the Pacific officially ended when Gen. Douglas MacArthur accepted unconditional surrender in Tokyo Bay. That was a dramatic moment on the deck of the battleship Missouri - Mighty Mo as it is known. Three cheers for the USA! Total embarrassment for the proud Japanese. 

   Mighty Mo, our last battleship, is retired in Pearl Harbor near the sunken Arizona. What a statement it would make for American collaborators to surrender to China on the deck made famous on Sept. 2, 1945. 

   Its nearly 900-foot length provides room for all White House employees, all Democrat politicians, their media, Ivy League and big business friends. The Chinese won't have to travel all the way to Washington for the big show.    

   We just hope the president invites former President Obama, who deserves more credit than anyone for the movement to make America weak. 

   Remember how he was troubled by the distractions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and wanted to "pivot to Southeast Asia?" Now we understand. 

   Did he stay in Washington just to watch soaps with "the resistance" during the Trump years?   

        Jimmy