Discrimination Either Way      
     
   Little Sisters of the Poor are appealing the Obamacare mandate that requires them to provide contraceptive and abortifacient coverage in their employee health plans. 

   Meanwhile, a Colorado website designer has appealed a federal court's order upholding a ban on creative professionals talking about beliefs when explaining business decisions. What in the world? 

   Perhaps some day a court will rule that we can't mention Christ in our blogs. We might offend someone.

   Do anti-discrimination lawmakers and courts discriminate?

 New Adventure for Amateurs 
  
   For decades the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. has vigorously enforced amateur status for college athletes. 

   Meanwhile, universities, their employees such as coaches, and TV networks, sporting goods companies etc. cash in on the popularity of college sports, mainly football and basketball. Those two sports also finance the other 30 some sports on campus.  

   Many athletes get scholarships and other financial aid, while the above types profit from their ability to entertain us. 

   California passed a law that will allow amateurs to receive money for the use of their names, images and likeness. Fair enough. Other states are following suit, and the NCAA reluctantly is playing along.

   It's labeled a promise of "lucrative sponsorship deals for the biggest stars." 

   WHOA! 

   How would you like being a nameless hunk blocking hard for backfield mates who become stars and receive endorsements? And you - from a dysfunctional home without the means teammates might enjoy. Happy locker room! 

   Who will prevent cheaters from quietly promising financial deals to recruits? 

   We like the intent. We'll watch the implementation.

      Jimmy

Where the Money Is       
     
   Remember what the old bank robber said when asked why he robbed banks? "Because that's where the money is." 

   In a capitalistic system, money is produced by capitalists, inventors etc. Long ago, some or many U.S. companies enriched their investors and management while paying workers as little as possible. Hence, the rise of labor unions. 

   Today, companies accept their place in citizenship, support causes, and we suppose, fear the wrath of special interest groups. It's called "public relations."

   But it's never enough. Politicians and their base voters want more...always more. Hard earned success is viewed as thievery, greed and corruption. 

   Watch the candidates compete to see who will best play Robin Hood. A nation with $22 trillion in debt is considered immoral if it doesn't adopt programs projected to cost another $100 trillion or more. 

   Achievers must give more - to the government. It knows best. Well, that's what Lenin and Stalin thought. 

   Examples? Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and others adopted wealth taxes for re-distribution, only to find that penalties on success drove away badly needed capital and investments. They all rescinded their wealth taxes. 

   It's called "class warfare," but only the government wins. What's our wealthiest metro area? Washington D.C.   

   Republican media consultant Adam Goodman says, "Capitalism needs updated, and where broken, fixed. That includes doing the right things for the right reasons for workers, customers and the nation."

   All well and good. But goodbye prosperity, if that's not where the money is. What we think about the men and women in ivory towers is beside the point. We need them.  

          Jimmy

Holy Bacteria!    

   Could it be? Can dog-eat-dog humans learn something from microorganisms? 

   Scientists at the University of Copenhagen found that (socialist?) bacteria survive by sacrificing to benefit the entire community. What a concept! What a blow to pride! 

   In their published study, researchers studied bacteria from a small corn husk where they had to fight for space. Instead of the strongest pushing out the others, microorganisms created space for the weakest to grow stronger and bigger. 

   Hey, Mr. Darwin: How does this explain "survival of the fittest?" Hey, Herr Hitler...

   Not only did bacteria make way for the weakest among them, they united against external threats such as antibiotics. They also distributed their labor by dividing tasks and helping their neighbors. 

   Shazzam! How do we put these little guys in charge of human organizations? 

   Researchers also saw that bacteria seemed to bring out the best in each other. When they acted as a community, the microbes suddenly exhibited new attributes that had been dormant while they were separated.  

   Jonathan Wells, at Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, said intelligent design goes beyond Darwin's theory of competition and survival. 
 

WORLD online

   Pilgrims found that socialism doesn't work, because of self-centered human nature. Capitalism works much better, but never perfectly, because of self-centered human nature. 

   We will always be divided over this, when we could be united under the One who created. 

        Jimmy

Strike (Up) the Band      
    
   It must have been 1952. Hooligans were harassing my older cousin, a drummer in our high school band.

   Guess who, a pint-size, freshman trumpet player was safely near the top of the stands. Cuz talked his way out of trouble, and went on to Penn State where he marched for four years. We remember boys trying to overturn our bus - no cops anywhere. 

   In the 1930s, Michigan's band introduced Script Ohio as a friendly gesture in Columbus. Grateful OSU marchers later turned UM's idea into one of the nation's best known band maneuvers...to this day.   

   By the 1950s, UM stopped sending their band to Columbus...for its own safety.

   Earlier this fall, a Miami fan battered several musicians in Florida's band. And Iowa band members suffered "physical and sexual assault, verbal harassment and racial slurs" at Iowa State. One bandsman received broken ribs.

   Bands are easy targets for upset, sometimes inebriated fans. They can't get at the opposing team; the band is the next best thing. 

   Band members are at a disadvantage. Their uniforms make it impossible to blend in, and some carry bulky instruments. 

   Georgia's band once got dispersed outside a neutral stadium. It took two hours to reunite.

   Practicing is only part of game-day prep. Precautions include logistics, police presence, and tips for protection. Oklahoma's band director told his troops to remain in groups of at least three. Georgia's director tells members not to "return fire" when heckled. 

   A Clemson band-service fraternity enters alongside the visiting band. That seems to help.    

   Until fans stop treating wins and losses personally, this will continue.

        Jimmy



   

   

Why Be Transparent?   

   Do people see the real you? 

   We spent much of our early life avoiding just that. Like Gideon in the book of Judges, we thought of our self as the least (of everyone). 

   One benefit: There was no reason to succumb to pride. 

   If we're to become leaders, or just someone loved and trusted by others, we want to be real, not phony or pretentious. Open and transparent honesty before God and others wins the day...but be prudent. Take David:

   Search me, God, and know my heart; 

test me and know my anxious thoughts. 

See if there is any offensive way in me, 

and lead me in the way everlasting. 

(Psalm 139:23-24) 

   Giving God - first of all - open access to secrets leads to spiritual health and empowerment, says Doug Green, a California pastor. "Frequent, honest access cultivates love and confidence," he writes. "Transparency is the window allowing others to see who we are." 

   When they really know you - the good, the bad and the ugly - and still love you, it's authentic, he says. 

   The apostle Paul was vulnerable and honest. He let others see his pain and weakness - all the better for God's power to work through him.

~

   Views By the Sea has exceeded 19,000 page views in little more than five years. We're not proud, just thankful to you the readers. We know you're busy. Most of our blogs approach 300 words. We can't help it.  

   See you Monday with some music...without the volume.

       Jimmy

Having it Their Way        
    
   Almost a century ago, many Americans got their way. Prohibition ended, bootleg liquor disappeared, and drinking became normal, accompanied by relationship and health problems, and preventable deaths.

   Today we have the gradual legalization of marijuana and its own list of troubles. Canada now has safe, regulated sales, and still can't eliminate criminality. 

   In the first year of legalization, legal sales are estimated at $1 billion, while cheaper illegal sales may be upwards of $7 billion. But that's beside our point today.

   Two Devils in One?

   In 2017, a former paralegal, age 31, was legally drunk and had enough cannabis in her system to affect her brain, according to court testimony. 

   She was doing 120 mph on a Tampa expressway seconds before she rammed a sedan, killing two parents and their daughter, age 8. Her car shot across the median and struck two other vehicles. One of the drivers was seriously injured. 

   Then she came to a stop...oh, no...she regained control and drove away, stopping only when a tire fell off its wheel, two miles away. 

   She was so sorry...oh, no...in the hospital she hid vials of blood that had been drawn. 

   Drinkers and pot lovers say, that's one case. Don't punish the rest of us responsible drinkers and smokers. Yes, but there are tens of thousands of cases, and we all share the same highways. There's no going back.  

   There is a better, less expensive way to feel good: the joy of the Lord. 

   She got 50 years. Now she's sorry. 

      Jimmy


    

Our Values Evolving      
         
   Maybe political animosity is not the worst problem facing America. Maybe it's that 65 percent of Americans are Christians, down from 77 percent a decade ago.

   Maybe the two items are linked. 

   The percentage of atheist, agnostic and "nothing in particular" is 26 percent - one in four of us - up from 17 percent ten years ago. At this rate, in a decade, 52 percent will be Christians and 35 percent - nothing. 

   You know where power is headed, if it's not there already. About 64 percent of teenagers rarely or never talk about religion with their friends.

   Imaging facing the Lord Almighty on Judgment Day, and He asks, 
"What do you say for yourself?"  ...   "Oh, nothing in particular." 

We're Not on Fire, Yet 

   Consider the violent events occurring in Hong Kong, Haiti, Iraq, Ecuador, Syria, Santiago, Beirut and Barcelona. Those are ones we know of. 

Two Friends Did; One Knew Better  

   Joe Biden's son, Hunter, and friends Devon Archer and Chris Heinz (stepson of John Kerry), are businessmen. Archer and Heinz were roommates at Yale. 

   The three co-founded an investment fund in 2009. Biden and Archer later got on the board of Burisma, an energy company in Ukraine. Heinz advised against that. 

   When Biden and Archer ignored Heinz's warning, he ended his business relationship with them. That might tell us something.

       Jimmy