The Night of the Long Knives

 

Well I did manage to watch most of the Mc Laughlin group tonight.  The Christmas party started early but was beset with delays including the food- - and getting through the entire thing proved a major act of endurance, even though though I was holding seven raffle tickets, none of them won.   But let's talk a little more about John Boehner's lashing out against all of these right wing fringe PAC's.  Pat Buchanon said that John Boehner should have been "magnanamus in victory.  This would not have satisfied the right wing, and all of them from Mike Le Vin to Sean Hannity to Rush Limbaugh called him all sorts of unfortunate names.  It's unfortunate for these tea baggers because if there is one thing the voters hate it's a sore loser, and now for perhaps the first time in three years, the tea baggers are publicly exposed and shamed as losers.  So of course if they were some right wing military junta by now they'd be ordering the state executions of Boehner and Paul Ryan as traitors to the state.  Just like Kim Jung Un ordered the execution of his mentor and Uncle earlier in the week.  This shows not any kind of strength but political weakness and paranoia.  Combined with his forays into the Pacific as of late- - the whole world is watching Kim Jung Un with the greatest of suspicion about now.  As to the Budget Compromise bill- - clearly it does what John Boehner states it will.  It will cut the deficet, which used to be the avowed goal of these tea baggers, though nothing really shows for it in hard numbers.  The four pannelists on the program were Mort Zuckerman, Eleanor Clift (the only pannelist who dares not miss a single week on the show) and a new Black lady, plus Pat Buchannon, who increasingly often now is the Goat on the show, espousing political positions far out of synch with the others.  Of course in the Senate people like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio will vote against this budget, but there is a five to zip concencus of the Mc Laughlin group that the Budget as written will pass anyhow, perhaps as early as tomorrow.  All the Democrats need to do is to pick off five of the republican Senators, and this Budget will sail through and be signed by the President so fast it will make your head spin.  No longer will the right wing be able to say that this congress "hasn't passed a budget in three years" or whatever.

In computer news, Windows Nine will be called "Threshhold" and they will be bringing back the Start Menu because there were too many howels of protest from Microsoft traditionalists out there.  Leo states he's "not quite sure about how he feels about Microsoft taking a step backward".  I as of right now am still using Windows XP but Microsoft will stop update support as of the end of March of next year.  This will leave me technically open to virus attacks.  However I'm not sure how many virus writers are still gunning for XP users at this point.  I wanted to mention this topic to Judy but there never seemed a good time to bring it up.  Increasingly the movie industry is abandoning the traditional 24 frames per second in favor of 48.  I suppose they could compromise at 36 frames per second- - knowing how expensive 70 mm film is these days, which I guess they aren't using anyhow any more.  There was talk about screens with 4096 pixel dimensions, which seems to me to be beyond ultra sharp.  Leo continues to regard 3 D as just a distracting guimick which more often than not "takes him out of the movie plotline".

They said that this California high speed railway will cost multiplied Billions of dollars.  And the thing isn't even off the ground yet, and I don't believe so much as a square yard of land has acquired under emininent domain, which Judy regards as some kind of commie plot anyhow to "Channel us all into transportation corridors".   In other techy news- - Keith says they are coming out with a cell phone that "pulls electricity out of the air and never needs charging.  You just aim it at an electric outlet or transformer".   I don't know about that but it would seem logical that they find some way of recharging these phones without going through expensive batteries like hotcakes.  It would seem to me that light charging cells will become standard pretty soon to avoid this batterey nuicence.  On MSNBC they remind us that one gallon of gasoline is "energy entensive" and one gallon of gas would generate enough electricity to power a cell phone for three thousand days, or nine years of steady use.  Or so Exxon or whoever would have us to believe.

We have all these new terms including that Leo Le Port one for "computer work around", which you often have to resort to in 'Sketch" because there are things you wish the program allowed but doesn't make it easy for you.  Some techy coined a term back in 1962 that I've completely forgotten that sounds vaguely German.  But then we have all the terms with "man" in it, such as "man crush", "man boobs" and 'man cave", which if you'd used forty years ago people would have thought you were gay.  Now we have the term "Mantry" for a man's pantry.  And here is another term introduced by a very unpopular Texas jouvenile court judge called "Affluenza".  I suggest a good cure or "vaccination" for "Affluenza" is to spend several days in a drunk tank or a TB ward with people coughing their brains out- - or perhaps the worst part of a psycho ward. or maybe some "preventative time' in Juvenile Hall as a "vaccination" against coming down with "Affluenza".  This sixteen year old in the tradition of Michael Skakel just offed four people sitting in a parked car by crashing into them- - probably at a hundred and ten miles an hour or something- - killing all four occupants.  Congress for sure needs to receive the vaccination for "Affluenza" because there is an epidemic of that in Washington DC.  And uh- - - some things or "lessons" in life- - are best learned not as professorial abstractions taught in Sunday School- - but must be learned.  You must be exposed to them.  (Selah)

A lot of what I do as far as reconstructing early Church history is just deductive logic of the sort a good card player might use, or a good Wheel of Fortune player would use.  Now for some "mysteries" they telegraph the answer to showing you a rustling curtain or a certain person in the room, or a particular object the camera lingers on.  In "Wheel" good players use their logical deductive skills.  There are really just a few simple things to look out for.  First of all you know the Game show uses only common phrases that are if anything cliches in the English language.  Keep in mind the category.  Count the letters in each word and note where the long and short words fall.  There are give aways like T-- is most likely "The", and you can call a free H.  Like you know you can get a G when the -----N- is the next to the last letter in something like a verb.  And they already let you know the six most called letters to begin with.  Most likely when you see -N- it's an "And" unless A's have been called.  Look for other tricky stuff like -N- most likely is the word ONE, and -C- is more likely ICE.  Don't let vowels in strange places throw you.  Keep in mind if a letter is called that ALL occurrances of the letter in that word are on the board.  Don't have a phrase in mind and CALL a letter you "think" the phrase needs if so much as ONE letter like that is already showing.  You of course are given help with dashes and "&" symbols and apostrophes.  So you can take this logic with you and apply it to Church History in the early days where there are a lot of gaps in the recorded history.  Look for trends in which "books" are included and when, and references and quotations of these books in other known contemporary sources of the Era.   Look for strange details which are there seemingly for no reason.  Try and find the reason and some historic connection.  In the case of a guy like Pilate the Judean Governor - - if history says that Pilate never offered any prisoner a "get out of jail free" card- - - and all four mention this event - - ask yourself why it's so important to the author to bring up a Prisoner who appears in the narritive suddenly and just as suddenly disappears without another word about him in the New Testament.  There is some kind of a "message" here.  Some would say "There is NO evidence at all that Pilate ever issued vox populai pardons such as this where - - whether a prisoner lives or dies was left up to the whim of the crowd.  After all this isn't the Colosseum- - which by the way wasn't built till over ten years after Nero departed the scene.  Let me flesh out the image for you.  My point is that IF - - such a strange event IS reported by ALL FOUR gospels- - the report alludes to SOMETHING - - some reality that the writer wants to desguise.  Some cult figure with the support of the people - - - verses - - Someone Else - - - whom these same people hated as much as they loved their champion and leader.  Just Think.  Did Jesus tell ANYONE - - other than Governor Pilate (in private) that "My Kingdom is not of this world".  No he did not.  Check the gospels.  Also here is something.  Chuck Smith makes much out of soldiers "putting a paper bag over his head and then asking 'Who hit you" pointing out how "cruel" this was "because you wouldn't see the punch coming and couldn't defend yourself".  I want Chuckie poo to just sit there and contemplate the folly of that statement for one minute.  And Picture this.  It wouldn't look good for someone a "secular historian" to include in his journal - - "There was once a man who claimed to be the Messiah but the people en mass rose up against him and even his closest disciples ran away and denied ever knowing him, such was the ill repute of this man's ministry.  When you see things in a text such as "Jesus while dying on the cross was surrounded by friends and loved ones who had been with him from the first" ask yourself- - what about the OT prophecy in Zachariah that "All of you will run away" to fulfill the scripture "strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered".  For such a "humble man" as "acquainted with grief" as Jesus was said to be- - how come there are virtually NO references to Jesus ever being "humbled" in his day to day life.  Few if any people "had it in for him" or ever gave him a hard time.  Indeed he was eminently popular everywhere he went.  Maybe there was the odd pissant pharicee now and then.  But if Jesus had all these friends- - where were they on Good Friday?   And "Where did the angry mob of avowed enemies come from- - and vanish just as quickly?  As I noted first in April of 1991 there is not one Gospel reference to Jesus "ever taking orders from anyone".  But he sure knew how to give them to others.  If Jesus healed and cured of demons as many people as it's claimed he did- - where did all of those people go.  It's just another case of the "fast Exit from history".  Josephus says "Jesus had many Jews and Greeks as followers".  Name me five "Greeks"?  I'm not saying he didn't have them but how come we aren't told about them.  And if Jesus' brother James was reigning head hauncho in the Jerusalem Church for thirty years- - why is James invariably spoken of as only a shadow of another man named Jesus?  And if Jesus was THAT important- - why doesn't Josephus tell us more about him rather than just quote the Apostles Creed to us?

Examining the "Slippery Slope"

 

We've all heard the expression.  Is it a valid one.  In a lot of cases I'd say "Yes, it is".  For instance to get generic for a moment - - I have never been to the top of Half Dome rock in Yousemite.  But I imagine if I were there would be a broad, flat area where it was safe to walk about.  But as you ventured further out as the ground took on a definite slant, there would be a point at which venturing further was unsafe.  I imagine the park rangers have installed baracades or something to let you know where that point is.  Making the rounds a few years ago there were those fourteen points of fascism where it seems that, one by one, our government was adopting those danger signals and constitutional violations that indicated we were on the wrong path.  Unfortunately the Obama administration seems just about as big as an offender as was the Bush administration.  But note that here a "line has already been crossed".  You issue a Presidential pardon of an ex president.  You call it Mercy.  Your critics call it "crossing a line" and "setting a dangerous precedent that will only come back to haunt you later on".   Because you see, to truely have mercy, you about have to be God, and Jerald Ford wasn't God.  When you pardon someone for offences they have comitted or "may have comitted" right there you are, as it were, "writing checks that you don't have money in the bank to cover when payment comes due".   Martin Luther King had it as a major theme not many know about- - of Black people reminding the rest of us that "This check has come due".   Malcolm X after the Assassination of President Kennedy uttered those immortal words of, "The chickens of violence in our culture have come home to roost".   Today we celebrate a sad one year anniversary in our nation's history, that of the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings in which 26 people lost their lives.  Yesterday there was another such shooting in a school in Centenial, Colorado.  Parenthetically, Colorado seems a regular magnet for these types of killings lately- - perhaps because voters made it clear they want nothing done to interfere with their gun rights.  So you have Littleton, just eight miles away in one direction, and Aurora Colorado fifteen miles away in another direction where that fatal theater shooting occurred at the Batman Premier in July of 201.2.  And yet those who claim to be in the know say "Liberalized gun laws have nothing to do with the rise in this sort of mass mad man shooting".  And yet we are told there "have been at least nineteen shootings since Sandy Hook".   Three of these school shootings were in Georgia, and five of these shootings have taken place in Florida, famous for it's "stand your ground" laws.  And yet though reasonable men clearly pick up on the connection here- - the politicians do not agree, and they tell us so.  Some have said that 20114 will be the year that the average American will "actually feel the economic recovery" that has languished these past five years in some sort of incubation phase.  Some people believe that constitutional protections can be thrown out the window.  Some believe that safety alarms on industrial equipment can be disabeled, "and no one will be any the wiser" untill something like the British Petrolium blow out occurs.  This is just another slippery slope, but it didn't occur by accident.  A line was deliberately crossed or "transgressed" if you want me to get Old Testament on you.  States like Michigan and Wisconsin may have statutory constitutional protections against raiding Pension Funds of government employees.  But if a judge says it's OK, then you do it.  And if they "get tired of counting the votes" in Florida in the 2000 Presidential election,  we'll just get five men in black robes- - by Court fiat, (and that isn't a car) to declare that George Bush was the winner.  This act was so unprecedented in our nation's history that the Court then specifically stated "This ruling cannot be used as a precedent for future decisions".  So now we're doing things like "tap - tap - - I had my fingers crossed".   So "going off the record" is in style now- - as evidenced by President Bush's accounting techniques that would get ANY such employee fired in the Private Sector faster than you can say "Jack Robinson".  The trouble is- at some point "the check comes due - - and there's no money in the bank".   I think this would be an appropriate place to look to God, if you happen to believe in a personal God who will judge "the living and the dead" at the Great White Throne.  I thing we all have to be aware of a certain ammount of cosmic, or karmic accountability.  The very idea of responsability or "accountability" in Politicians these days seems as out of date as inviting people over for an old fashioned taffy pull.

I would like now to address some of the "Christian stuff" for lack of a better term, I've been writing about lately.  In the case of "Sins of the flesh" some out there say "Write rather not sins of the flesh- - but Indulgences of the Flash, which is more to the point".  Perhaps.  Indulgence indeed does not have the same conotation of "wrongness" as the word "Sins" does.  I wrote that little paragraph more in terms of a general description rather than propose some sort of Moral Code deliniating where all the "safety barriers" should be erected.  Some may look at our "Karmic funnel" we speak of by way of graphic illustration and would exclaim "Well here is an obvious case of the slippery slope".  But here it can't be helped.  But even Rush Limbaugh will say "There is danger in everyday living.  Stuff happens- - and you can't control all of it".  But there is also the notion of a 'critical mass" where you set things in motion and after a while they form a self perpetuating change reaction - - where things can't be stopped.  I'm aware that there is a point where this is true about the Federal Deficet, and I do not suggest that we "tempt fate" to see how close to that line we can get without going over the edge.  However I would remind you if you wish to go back to the Greek - - like a good "Fundamentalist" truely would- - then you know that the words of sin and "sinner" are part of an Olympics or sporting contest.  It's like out of bounds in tennis or baseball.  People know where all of the lines are and when you are either inside or outside of them.  So it is with "Sinners".   However not so for Chuck Smith.  But Chuck Smith- - like so many Calvary Christians- - is a closet Marcionite.   Besides believing that it is inherently impossible to render SEX itself as a non sinful act, because the very idea of sex and reproduction to a Marcionite itself is Sin Incarnate.  Chuck will say "Do not think in terms of boundaries or what is "safe' or "OK" but rather you should continually be obsessed every waking minute- - with the idea of "being in that perfect spot where God would have you Be".  This of course makes the gigantic assumption that I know where the Hell to find God's council to even get in touch with Him and find out what he thinks.  But chuck sill say rather than the Greek concept of a certain circle- - or boundary line where things are "OK' or out of bounds- - rather to fixate on this abstract "point" in your mind.  Not even a point on a chalk board but smaller than that- - - infinetessible in size.   What Chuck is describing without knowing it is classic Pythagarian Gnosticism- - - or that "One " or "The Point" - - that etherial locus or "Source of it All"  (Selah)

We haven't heard much about the Affordable Care Act lately, and I guess that is just as well.  Because apparently the site is still not working to the satisfaction of anyone.  This is what the wife of this Republican Pennsylvanian Senator said on the Response on KNX 1070 this morning said.  But even if the site accepted your application you still might be getting coverage.  You'll only find that out when you  put in your first claim sometime next year when the thing takes effect.  We are still hearing endless stories about people either having to lose their doctor, or their low rates- - or get slapped with a high deductable or what have you.  I have said time and again this is one Headache I would have prevented in advance by not signing the Affordable Care Act in 2010.  I think of that Christian Hymn "Oh what needless pain we bear".  Just think of all the pain and hassle the President could have avoided- - and devoted and channeled that energy that was squandered on Health Care- - into other areas of his political life - - that really mattered.

In terms of Arguments from Silence- - there is a place for them.  We have spoken of two obvious areas where an Argument from Silence makes sense.  One is Proof of a Personal God- - and the other is whether Space Aliens exist and have visited planet earth and made contact with human beings.  It's hard to disprove something for which there is no evidence to begin with.  Let your silence do the talking for you, just as the Court lets its Silence do the talking for it last June when Proposition 8 in California was up for discussion.  But let's look at Josephus and this whole idea of the text saying Jesus was Crucified under Pontious Pilate.  The trouble is- - if you look at the WHOLE contraversial text then most reasonable men will say "Josephus did not say this- - saying Christ was more supernatural than an ordenary man, and such".   The trouble is- - - this passage was never referenced AT ALL, which is to say that NONE OF THIS PASSAGE was referenced at all - - untill the time of Eusebeus- - which is to say the early Fourth Century  or over three hundred years after said Passage was claimed to be written - - - at which time not only this WHOLE passage was referenced- - but some other strange stuff not even his contemporaries could swallow.   In addition to this "external evidence" of bogusness- - we have the Internal Evidence- - of lack of logical flow in the text and a change in style of word choices employed by Josephus.  You may ask me, "Marcus, why are you going to the mat on this issue of who was Governor when Jesus died?"   I think all four Gospells - - could be made to read a whole lot differently if you changed one thing- - the howling Mob on Good Friday screaming for the Crucifixion of Jesus- - seemingly overwhelming one of the most powerful men on earth, into submission to their demands.  This crowd Comes from seemingly out of nowhere- - and seems to vanish just as quickly - - but without it- - the whole outcome of the Story would be very different.  We have expounded on this- - several weeks ago- but I don't know the exact posting.

Making It Up As You Go Along

There is more commentary by Moe Kelly about FOX news and their marked political bias.   Moe Kelly points out that the minute a news commentator makes you aware of their personal views, it ceases to be news reporting and has ventured into something else.  Yet virtually all the time FOX reporters take pains to remind you where each of them comes down on a particular issue.  Apparently they have dress codes for women reporters to highlight their sexuality.  They’re in the business of pandering to the audience and not informing them.   We have Magen Kelly and this assertion of here that Santa Clause and Jesus are both of historical validity and that both Santa Clause and Jesus were White, meaning blonde haired and blue eyed.   Megan Kelly doesn’t see what’s wrong with “Blacks feeling uncomfortable” - - “about an obvious historical legacy” or whatever she calls it.   A white Santa Clause would never come to “the hood”.  I think we all know what the image of Santa Clause is all about.   These people forget that Santa Clause goes all over the world, supposedly, and not just to White European countries.  And even the term “White” isn’t a race or “ethnicity” to begin with, but it’s really a state of mind- - and not a healthy one.   The book of Revelation does indeed describe Jesus with a skin of “burnished bronze” and with “hair like wool” and I don’t think they’re implying he’s wearing a wig.    But now we hear that Othello was a Black Shakespherian character played by Whites.  Judas, of course was played by a Black man in Jesus Christ Superstar.  Personally I think that’s cool.  After all it’s time one of Jesus’ disciples got a little “Soul”.  And Cleopatra was an Egyptian woman planed by a white, just as white actors in westerns routinely played the parts of Indians.

Then we come to Donald Trump and the birthers.  Donald Trump was asked why he doesn’t regard Ted Cruise as unqualified to run for President and Trumps response is “Well, I’ve heard that Cruz was born in Canada but I don’t know about that.  Trump says, “I don’t regard that as a proven fact” when clearly it IS a “proven fact”.  It’s like Dr Levy or Judy when confronted with the economic accomplishments of Bill Clinton and Franklin Roosevelt respectively say “Well, I don’t know about that”.    So Trump doesn’t believe Cruz’s Canadian birth is a “proven fact” but he also will say “since it’s not a proven fact that Obama was born in America” and he believes all birth certificates are hoaxes, for this reason then- - Obama should be singled out for scrutiny whereas John Mc Cain’s birth certificate has not been publicly presented and yet Trump would not question John Mc Cain’s fitness to become President.  But these people have nothing else- - and I could go down a whole extensive list of unrealized fears about President Obama, starting with that legendary three AM phone call- -and how a Barock Obama would respond.

But of course FOX news keeps obsessing on all of the stories mobody cares about any more.  For instance there is talk about “Fast and Furious”, a gun running operation during the Bush administration involving the Mexican government.  The goal apparently was to “create a gun crisis that would spike demand for gun regulation”.  Believe you me we don’t have to “create” any gun crisis; we already have it!  Then there is the ever present Bengazi crisis, which has pretty much finally - - died a natural death.   Then we have this bit about President Obama not saying the words “Under God” in the pledge of allegence, and this has been thoroughly documented to be false.  And now we have the coverage of Nelson Mandella’s funeral.  But of course the last thing the news media will do is remind us of the actual significance of the day.  Rather they fixate on President Obama shaking hands with Raul Castro, when Nixon embracing Mao Tse Tung’s regeme in early 1972 was a far more radical departure from tradition.  But it wasn’t shiek for the Republicans to criticize Nixon back then.  Of course now it is shiek for them to attack Nixon because the EPA and other agencies were formed during his administration, and there was even talk about Health Care and a negative income tax. 

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS   Few of us writers have anything truely that original to say.  Not even Einstein's theory of relativity was entirely unique to him.  The famous formula he uses for additions of volocities- - - came straight from someone who was trying to VALIDATE the ether theory, which Einstein himself rejected.  A lot of what Einstein had to say on the subject comes straight from Isaac Newton.   In terms of my own writings and my famous "star-burst" symbol,   this idea or concept is not my own invention.  I got it from watching television.  This is the idea that before there was Time as we knew it, anything that exploded "out" in the course of the Big Bang- - had NO PRIOR PERAMATERS to guide it- - in terms of either time or space but primarily Time.  Therefore - - like coinage during a time of anarchy - - none of it was of a fixed value, as such, in our minds.  We are in the TIME we are simply because it's where WE ARE at the moment.  The concept then of parrellel universes - - is a derivative of this basic concept of original chaos.   Now we come to Jesus.  Moe Kelly would tell us to a historical certitude that Jesus existed and died under Pontious Pilate.   But not so fact.  Irenius, a Church Father revered by most all denominations- - states that Jesus was crucified and sentenced to death under Emperor Claudius "sometime when Jesus was in his forties".   What is the significance you ask?  We just said that Irenius' theological credentials cannot be questioned.   If this is true- - what are we to make of someone like Josephus saying Jesus died in 30 AD under Governor Pilate?   Since Irenius lived eighty years after Josephus, surely he would have gone back and looked at historical documents to validate his facts.  The pressure from his piers alone would be enough to force a correction in this misstatement of fact.  (Selah)   That is - - UNLESS - - the statement hadn't been written yet.  Now we come to Justin Martyr- - who comes in-between the two at 150 AD.  What does HE say???    Strangely little to support the "historicity" of an event Moe Kelly so charishes.   I speak to Moe not out of condescension but as one thoughtful, intelligent human being to another and to invoke the Bible, "Come now, let us reason together".   So in a 26 page document I downloaded from Justin addressing the Greeks about Christ and the supremecy of Christianity- - - in those 26 pages how many times is the word "Pilate" employed.  NONE.  The cord crucified and sentenced are in fact used not at all.  Twice the word "Died" is used.  Once as part of the word "Studied".  The other one is most interesting.  Justin accuses the Greek culture as being a bogus one that does not go back nearly as far as people were saying.  Justin is actually accusing writers of forging documents and putting other people's names to them.   You know what they say about people who live in glass houses.   So there are no uses of the words "died" or "crucified" or "sentenced" or the word "Pilate".  We have said previously that words such as "tomb" and "stone" are not there.   We are told Justin's writings are key as an early witness of the validity of Christ's existance.  Just as "valid" as anybody living a hundred years after the fact can be.   This will come as a shock to Moe because he's heard all his life- and so have I- - and it's in the Apostle's Creed we used to recite every week, that Jesus "Suffered under Pontious Pilate, was crucified, dead, and burried".   Taint necessarily so.  People are sometimes so bent on what IS in a certain document because they were "looking for it" they fail to "notice" all of the things that are NOT there.  (Selah)   To get metaphysical for a moment once more- - we think SPACE is this "metering out of measurement" and is somehow fixed and inviolate.  We know what stationary is- - - and we "know" that two things cannot occupy the same place.  But with things like "event horizons" and a Newtonian sense of relevity Reality- - just don't commit yourself too soon on this belief.

On a personal level as you know I was looking forward to NOT being broke the rest of the month like I was last month because I wouldn’t have haircut expenses this month.  Well think again.  Mary Jane called us into the office to get a trim because they want us to look presentable for tomorrow night’s party,  and I don’t mean in Seattle.   First I excused myself to go out and get a cup of really hot coffee from Dora in the courtyard and then I returned.   I complained to them my lamp doesn’t work- - or barely so.  It seems less significant to these people that your lamp won’t turn on- - but if you have a few hairs out of place at the gathering with friends and loved ones, this is a major crisis.

Yesterday afternoon, I think for the first time, I went on line to revolve the lifeline thing hanging over my head from the phone company.  So far as I know it’s the first time I have ever conducted any official “on line business” apart from any snail mail or land line phone interaction.  Everything went snoothely.   Most all commercial agencies have secure incrypted web sites- where your information isn’t in peril of being hacked.

Congress Passes No Growth No Revenue Budget

 I was going to do this piece from scratch but since the internet did a lot of it for me I'll give you this now and post more a little later.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House is on track to approve a two-year bipartisan budget framework Thursday that will eliminate the threat of a government shutdown during that time and modestly reduce the deficit over the next decade.  The deal, crafted by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., sets top-line federal spending figures and partially alleviates unpopular spending cuts known as the sequester.  The legislation is expected to pass with both GOP and Democratic support, although neither side is enthusiastic about the scope of the deal. "We fought it to a draw," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. She said the deal would allow Congress to move on and debate other issues beyond the fiscal disagreements that have defined the previous three years.
"Let's get to it. Let's get her off the table. Let's move on to addressing specific issues," she said.
House Republicans were lining up behind Ryan, despite ongoing opposition from outside conservative groups and GOP senators. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, denounced the efforts to derail the deal, accusing groups such as Heritage Action, FreedomWorks and the Club for Growth of "misleading their followers."  "Frankly, I just think that they've lost all credibility," Boehner told reporters.
His comments ratcheted up an ongoing rhetorical fight between the groups and congressional Republicans. FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe responded: "When it comes to 'credibility,' actions speak louder than words. And right now, it looks like the Speaker is leading the charge for spending increases and recruiting Democrat votes in the House to help get it done."   A vote on the package is expected next week in the Senate, but Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., cautioned Thursday that Democrats will need at least five Republicans to support the package to ensure they can overcome a filibuster threat. So far, GOP senators who have publicly stated their position are opposed, including Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, and the top Republican on the Budget Committee, Jeff Sessions of Alabama.  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has not said how he intends to vote.

Today is Thursday December 12th.  I am gratified to see at least technically we actually have a budget.  But Randy Rhodes reminds us that it is a now growth no revenue budget.  No corporate tax loopholes are closed in this budget despite even Mitt Romney saying in the debates that he would be open to that if the President would agree to a corporate reduction rate to 20%.  The President did agree to a reduction to 25% so they would seem close.  Unfortunately the tea party has shown time and time again their knack of yanking the rug out from under someone when they try and made a deal with them.  Parehthetically, I have noted this on a personal basis.  We have other statistics for you.  Unlike that ill informed caller on Randy's show (assuming the guy was not an out and out tea party shill caller and a paid liar to begin with) this President has not passed "bill after bill in useless spending throwing money at problems".  This President hasn't been able to get squat done in three years.  And to correct the caller, this President has not been in office six years.  In fact- - it is not yet even five years.  This President has grown spending at a slower rate than any President since Eisenhower.  In fact the 2010 and 2013 budgets are down a percent and a half.  Also for the caller's education - - President Obama had little to do with either the ammount of the deficet of the 2009 budget.  By contrast Ronald Reagan raised the government spending on an anual level in his first term by over 8% and in his second term by over 5%.  This is what "Market Watch" in FORBES magazine states.  President W Bush raised the spending on an anualized basis in his first term by 7.3% in his first term and by 8.1% in his second.  One thing they did was increase the payroll deductions of Federal Employees to help play for increased defense spending.  They workers will never see that money again.

  It is said businesses used to make twelve percent in good times- - half of which would be for things such as investment and R & D.  Now they have cut the investment part to three even at a time when overall profits are way up for corporationsRush Limbaugh had a caller named Kevin on his show who stated that his business made $180,000 last year but that he was "so broke he wondered if he could stay in business in New York".   He claims the government took 48% of that income and left him with 80,000.  I hope his math isn't that bad all of the time.  He claims that he cant "afford to keep the employees he has but previously he had hoped to be able to hire more".  He knows, of course, that employee salaries are a deductable expense in any business.  He also knows that any room in his house or office or whatever- - the rent paid on that building is deductable.  He also knows that since he's not a Corporation, he pays no where near the 35% it's claimed corporations pay.  He's way, way below the high $400,000 tax rate.  I think before Kevin does anything else he needs to hire himself an accountant.  I'm still not sure what his business produces.  Kevin also stated that his medical insurance expences will go through the roof.  He's paying four thousand a year now- - and intends to pay nothing the following year except for the $95.00 penalty.  On my planet that means he's making a net savings of cash of $3,905 every year.  But as Kevin sees it- - President Obama will be responsible for his going broke- - IF in fact he actually does go broke.  Rush Limbaugh went on to state that "Washington DC is a useless city because it doesn't manufacture anything"?  Just what does Rush 'manufacture' except for lies, of course.  Rush then said "Washington takes in money that formerly belonged to someone else.  So he took it out of their pockets?"  Well, has Rush Limbaugh ever posessed money that at some point "belonged to someone else?"

There are of course seven cardinal sins or vices to go along with the seven virtues.  Four of these are the same as the classic ones.  The ones we share in common are Anger, Lust, Averice, and Sloth.  The three I dropped are Pride, Jealousy, and Gluttony, which is really another sin of the flesh.  Sins of the flesh come in many colors and are anything involving the comfort of the flesh.  This would include things like sex, over-eating, drugs, sex toys, frivelous things like expensive perfumes and bath salts, or visits to a masseur or hypochondria,  or thrill seekers just to give men equal time such as extreme sports where you are driven by near obsessive forces, or have to have the thrill of that monster car engine   Three are three vices that are on my list- that aren't one of the "deadly seven" - and I have had this list since April of 2010 and you see them there, too.  Squandering of resources I regard as a transgression against God and nature.  Another for me is Cowardess - - which exists in epidemic perportions these days among politicians.  The final one is Treachery and Betrayal- - - of which the Church didn't make that big a deal of, perhaps because they were guilty of it.

People on the orthodox right might say "The trouble with you is that you try and cherry pick Jesus' words and not accept ever last jot and tiddle."   So I would respond, "Isn't it better to accept SOME if not MOST of what the Master says, rather than NONE of it?"  Don't expect these people to say Yes to that.  But they just might respond "Are you saying we accept NONE of Jesus' teaching?"   So I would say "When did Jesus say that taxes on the rich or anybody- - should be slashed?  When did Jesus preach against gay marriage?  When did Jesus preach against abortion? When did Jesus say women (or Blacks) "lacked the mental capacity" to run a business? When did Jesus say it was a good idea for religions to get into commercial commerce?  When did Jesus command us to "honor the sabbath"?  Name one "government regulation for business" Jesus came out against.  When did Jesus ever pardon one guilty of homicide?  When did Jesus say "law suits are a nuisance and should be curtailed severely?"  When did Jesus ever encourage the idea of war against your own government?"  When did Jesus ever tell lies about leaders with whom he disagreed and then say "It's OK if it's for politics"?  When did Jesus preach against the existance of juvenile gangs?  When did Jesus advise you to turn in your best friend because he was an illegal alien?  When did Jesus EVER refuse "medical care?"  When did Jesus ever mandate that government employees begin each day with an official prayer? When did Jesus teach that corporations were people and had the right to free speech?  When did Jesus ever reccomend that businesses fire employees to increase their profit margins?  When did Jesus say that any religion that doesn't subscribe to the Niciene Creed is a cult?   

Pope Francis Named Man of the Year

Pope Francis was named Man of the Year by Time.  We all expected it and that it would not be Miley Syrus for her twerking.   Johnny Wendell calls her a gifted entertainer but basically she’s just a media freak.  Moe Kelly was in the studio with Johnny.  The other rumor I heard was that the man picked by the military junta that took over in Egypt was man of the year, and that wasn’t the case.  Pope Francis of course is the new villain of the tea party.  Glen Beck, strangely, will call Nelson Mandella a patriot, of which we need more in this country, and yet Pope Francis is second cousin go the Antichrist or something.  I think it’s dawning on the tea party what a threat Pope Francis is to their politics and the potential votes they will get next year.  I may throw in more philosophical stuff when I make a post out of this.  But there is one quote of Johnny Wendell that I got wrong because it’s a typo.   I intended to say that the American people when it comes to the Syria thing are turned off to the whole idea of war now.  But unfortunately I substituted the word “out” for the word “off” changing the whole meaning.  You know about all of the controversial stances the Pope has taken on social issues this year, even going as far as to say that being an atheist even isn’t such a bad thing.

I have discussed my seven cardinal moral virtues.  I do not have sexual purity at marriage as one of them.  For women being a Virgin just increases her material worth to her father, or to some mother trying to pimp her out to raise money.  For a man all they can say that "marriage is a spiritual union that last forever because marriage is a heavenly institution".  Unfortunately Jesus plainly teaches "In the kingdom of God you will not be married".  That should end the argument.  Remember?  The contract goes, "Till death do we part".   Compassion most certainly is a virtue.  But here again the Calvary Chapel freaks are ignorant.  Because they teach that the "highest form of love" is not mankind for mankind, but rather the love of a man of an object.  A woman may say she wishes to be valued like the Hope diamond, but in truth this is the last thing she wants.  Howard Hugues and others had their "stable of women" whom he would "acquire" and then use or not use at his discration.  They were posessions.  They were things.   Gene Scott has spoken many times of this "highest form of love" and you see it in his value system where he charishes objects and uses people.  The Pope rightly has spoken of the evils of the love or rather the lust for more and more money.   There are two of my cardinal virtues I'd like to change just a bit.  I'd like to change "Honesty" to "Integrety" and I'd like to change "perseverence" to "Dilligence".  The motive is the same in both cases.  In both cases the dimension of Responsability is added.  One can be persevering to the point of obsession.  One can be "honest" to the point of being tactless and self serving.   More importantly almost - - is the idea of "Integrety of your own Soul".  Your own Mind can be corrupted with falsehoods, and if it is- - said falsehoods and notions will taint every other decision you make.  The conotation here also is to "produce a product you can be proud of.   You should view the product's integrety as an extension of your own. There is another trait some would have me change.  They'd have me change "Prudence" to Wisdom.  But I won't do that.  Because prudence- - is what you CHOOSE to do with the knowledge you have.  People may acquire Wisdom as a byproduct.  But I don't think they should be condemned is they lack the "resources" shall we say, for instant Wisdom right now.  Wisdom will come in its own time- - if one behaves prudently.  On- - and by the way I don't like that word "Tollerence" either.  It's always sounded morally presumptuous - - either as the one required to BE tollerant, or else the unlucky recipient of the "tollerence" of other groups.   If I think I am just being "tollerated" by say, a Christian group, I've got enough personal pride, just to leave.  Johnny is right.  The word co exist is a better word here.   "You stay out of my face and I'll stay out of yours".  In terms of the virtue of Faithfulness - - the bottom line on this one just might be "Knowing which side your toast is buttered on".  There are times when I believe Loyalty is something that is owed.  It's not something you can "take or leave" depending on what mental rationalizations you care to engage in today.  It's mixed with gratitude and appreciation and a desire "not to let the loved ones we care about Down".    In terms of Justice, we have tagged it 'the pursuit of Justice".  Here we raise the axiom of being true to your moral calling and your higher ideals.  One can if one wishes, say that one is "Obeying the commandments of God" if one wishes.  One's desire should always be to see the spread of fairness and equity and to fight against abuse and oppression and corruption, whereever they crop up.   In terms of Courage - - - I thought of changing this one to "Moral Fortitude" but Courage about says it all, and you know "deep down in places you don't talk about, where the sun doesn't shine" as Jack Nichelson says, whether you posses this trait or not.

Once upon a time there was a legalist congregation pastored by Neil of KFI, who believes that "Actually, man can forgive a sin, but God is so perfect that he cannot in good conscience forgive ANY sin just like that.  Well these parishenors were "rewarded" for their peculiar faith in that each was punished according to the sins they had committed in their life.  It's no surprise that many sexually frustrated menopausal ladies, were guilty of listening to gossip and passing it on.  So they all entered heaven deaf.  But never to fear because Fredrick Price was there "signing" for them.  Unfortunately Freddy Boy was signing gibberish.  When asked by deaf people who had been healed why he did this, Fred said "Look - - it's a gift- - I can turn it on and off at will.  Isn't that wonderful!"   They all looked at him like he'd just fallen out of the paddy wagon.

I want to praise both Johnny Wendell and Moe Kelly for the way they handled the racial profiling situation today.  Apparently there is some Echo Park Latino gang they want to issue special injunctions against, targeting individual members.  This doesn’t seem out of place to me, but the measure had legal challenges.   But they used the Highway 95 analogy, which I would never know, since I have never lived or even visited the East Coast.   (I’ve never been east of the Appelations)  Anyhow they say that one seventh of the dope that passes along that corridor is from Black motorists, whereas one seventh of ALL motorists along that rout or Black.  So in targeting the one seventh who are Black, they are only harming themselves missing out on the 75% that are White.  Or one could look it as going to the supermarket such as a Ralphs with the specific intent to buy Ralphs milk.  You didn’t buy the milk because you sampled it and liked the taste.  And you made the decision to buy it even before you saw the posted price, and it’s not like you were swayed by the design of the carton.  But when you go to an Albertsons you aren’t “profiling” Ralphs milk in this matter.  Whatever you buy at Albertsons is because you looked at the product and made price comparisons and such.  That’s the difference.  When you have it in your mind that you are “going after” any group such as Latinos or Arabs based on basically no hard evidence but it’s “just the way you do things in that department” then we have a problem.   Clearly if a Black woman calls the police who is really in distress, response times will be longer than say – Beverly Hills.   As to the notion of "Black people lacking the mental capacity for higher management positions" I think we're all smart enough to see through this one.  The same thing was said of women - - and gays, for that matter.  It's been proven wrong by some simple disciplined socialogical research and isolating of the proper variables.  If you don't know what that means maybe YOU "Lack a certain reasoning capacity yourself!"

We had a chef’s salad for lunch with corn chowder and a banana for desert.  For the most part I slept through Randy Rhode’s commentary.   She doesn’t seem to take that many callers these days.  This was true both at noon and at two.  Teresa on the soap opera is attempting to blackmail Jack Junior into both doing drugs with her and paying for her supply himself.  She’s nuts.  I think he’s smart enough to know now to have nothing more to do with her and if she calls him to hang up.  Meanwhile Samantha and Elvis continued their strange conversation- - and I guess are proof positive that a relationship needs more than good sex to survive, because it’s all they have.  I just don't think personally I could sexually warm up to a woman who fanticizes about comitting revenge murders while she's climaxing.  She's really worse than a slut.  She's like a slut in that she seems to be a complete slave to her sexual impulses.  But she's as hypocritical as a blue blood lady singing in a Baptist Church choir.