Connecticut --> Guns [what else?]

I do not care if you decide all guns should be banned [although I certainly disagree]; but, if you reach that decision I want it to be based on truth and logic rather than conundrum, alarum and emotion.
 
 Here we go, still, in my relentless but probably unsuccessful campaign hopefully to educate or to help you educate others about the myths and illogicalities of gun control. I have waited a couple of days and here are a few things lumped together.  Yes, this is another of my typically long posts. Feel free to scan, to ignore, or to pursue the links it includes.

Yes, for many, if not most, of you I am preaching to the choir. Hopefully this information expands your available discussion skillset. If it is not old news for you, hopefully this information shall assist you in confirming your opinion.


An assault weapons ban was in place in Connecticut and did precisely nothing to stop Lanza from mowing down kindergarteners. Connecticut has heavy gun registration laws. Sandy Hook Elementary was a gun-free zone, just as virtually every major mass shooting location in recent memory has been. The real solutions here lie in better protection for schoolchildren, either from armed guards or trained administrators, not in more pie-in-the-sky legislation. Lanza broke at least five laws before he even began shooting. None of them stopped him.

A great op ed: “The same Department of Justice that allowed the illegal transfer of 2500 semi-automatic AK-47 assault rifles to ruthless Mexican cartels, which resulted in the murders of hundreds in Mexico (including children) and two U.S. federal agents, is going to be dictating and enforcing the prohibition of sane law abiding U.S. citizen's owning semi-automatic rifles. Fantastic."
Full piece


Media myths about assault weapons and semi-automatic firearms. Just like the TV ad where the girl says "They can't put it on the Internet if it isn't true. Here he comes now. He's a French model ... ", discussion is rampant with misinformation and myth.

“semiautomatic” mostly means “not automatic.” The use of the phrase semi-automatic when talking about guns is like using the phrase “gasoline cars.”

Even the M-16s the U.S. military buys today do not have the automatic option. AR-15s that are legal to buy do not have the three-shot burst that the military’s current M-16s have, the CIVILIAN AR-15 is incapable of automatic or burst fire. They don’t have the automatic-fire option that most people associate with the MILITARY M-16.

In the NY Times:
    semiautomatic weapons, including the AR-15, are increasingly being used in the killings of police officers, whose vests often provide little protection against such firearms.
                         Semi-automatic AR-15 style rifle, as in the Times article  

     Bushmaster MOE M-4                                                       





REAL M-4

 Yes, Virginia, this IS an assault weapon with all the available bells switches and whistles. It is designed for killing attacking enemy soldiers accurately at ranges up to 800 yards and can be changed in the field for different calibers of bullets, types of ordnance, grenades, sights, lights =  to your little old heart's content. It can fire 30 rounds as fast as you can blink your eye - that is what fully automatic means. It can hold a 100-shell magazine and even be fed by a belt of bullets, like the classic machine gun.

You do NOT go buy this at the corner WalMart, the pawn shop, or Mike's Gun Shoppe.

Assault pencil - collapsible stock, pistol grip, front                                                                 grip, tactical light, tactical sight

The No. 2 assault pencil fits Nancy Pelosi's definition of assault rifle as her words are currently written.

"AR-15s are not the only weapons used by rampaging shooters. Semiautomatic handguns are also frequently employed. In Newtown, in addition to the Bushmaster M-4 carbine, two handguns were found at the scene, a 10-millimeter Glock and a 9-millimeter Sig Sauer, although the rifle is what Mr. Lanza used, pumping up to 11 bullets into each victim’s body" [objective journalism, not sensationalism, right?]

Does this mean a higher proportion of police killings are done with semiauto weapons as opposed to single-action rifles and revolvers? What is it about being semiautomatic – again, a descriptor of the loading mechanism – that makes a gun more able to overcome the protection of a bullet-proof vest?

The referenced article uses the term “assault weapon” to describe the AR-15. But there’s no real definition of the term.

All guns can be used to assault someone – even a muzzle-loading black-powder rifle.
Congressional attempts to define this term were laughably ad hoc.
A rifle could cease being an assault weapon if you sawed off the flash suppressor.
It could become an assault weapon if you added a bayonet.
A 49-ounce handgun could be legal under this law, while an identical version that was one ounce heavier could be outlawed.

The law didn’t target guns used for murder. It targeted guns that look too military-like:

The Pentagon defines the term “assault rifle,” and David Kopel quotes that definition in an article in the Journal of Contemporary Law. He writes:
As the United States Defense Department’s Defense Intelligence Agency bookSmall Arms Identification and Operation Guide explains, “assault rifles” are “short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachine gun and rifle cartridges.”[21] In other words, assault rifles are battlefield rifles which can fire automatically.[22]
Weapons capable of fully automatic fire, including assault rifles, have been regulated heavily in the United States since the National Firearms Act of 1934.[23] Taking possession of such weapons requires paying a $200 federal transfer tax and submitting to an FBI background check, including ten-print fingerprints.[24]

I will editorially add that the Class 3 license to buy and sell automatic weapons and even the "simple" application for the transfer tax take months to complete and require checks and balances at many levels of government.

(b) DEFINITION OF SEMIAUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPON- Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

`(30) The term `semiautomatic assault weapon’ means–

`(A) any of the firearms, or copies or duplicates of the firearms in any caliber, known as–

`(i) Norinco, Mitchell, and Poly Technologies Avtomat Kalashnikovs (all models);
`(ii) Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil;

 `(iii) Beretta Ar70 (SC-70);

`(iv) Colt AR-15;
`(v) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, and FNC;

`(vi) SWD M-10, M-11, M-11/9, and M-12;
`(vii) Steyr AUG;

`(viii) INTRATEC TEC-9, TEC-DC9 and TEC-22; and

`(ix) revolving cylinder shotguns, such as (or similar to) the Street Sweeper and Striker 12;

`(B) a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least 2 of–

`(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
`(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;
`(iii) a bayonet mount;
`(iv) a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor; and
`(v) a grenade launcher;

`(C) a semiautomatic pistol that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least 2 of–

`(i) an ammunition magazine that attaches to the pistol outside of the pistol grip;
`(ii) a threaded barrel capable of accepting a barrel extender, flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer;
`(iii) a shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel and that permits the shooter to hold the firearm with the nontrigger hand without being burned;
`(iv) a manufactured weight of 50 ounces or more when the pistol is unloaded; and
`(v) a semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm; and

`(D) a semiautomatic shotgun that has at least 2 of–

`(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
`(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;
`(iii) a fixed magazine capacity in excess of 5 rounds; and
`(iv) an ability to accept a detachable magazine.’.

Is it too much to ask that every person wanting to possess a firearm be subject to a battery of tests -- everything from intelligence and emotional quotient exams to a psychological evaluation and background check?
After all, for years we have said that guns do not kill people, people kill people. People who are incapable of driving are not allowed to drive. People who are incapable of performing brain surgery are not allowed to practice as a neurosurgeon. People who are incapable of properly handling firearms should not be allowed to handle them.

And, here is, unfortunately, an attempt to turn the whole issue into one of racism and sexism: link

Finally, a link discussing some obvious myths: Flash Suppressors Do Not Kill People,

These should keep you busy and thinking at least for a while.

Rape

Yes, I know this is a strange and different topic. But, the whole thing with sex today is way, way different than when I was a teenager, you know? And I saw what I thought to be an EXCELLENT article written by a woman but in a guy point of view:
http://christaramblesandwrites.blogspot.com/2012/12/on-being-dudeand-what-to-do-about-rape.html

I was at Red Rocks once for a concert in the early 1980's. I was old enough that I should have been willing to take a responsible male role - hey, I had a teenage daughter myself by then. If you have ever been at Red Rocks, you know there is quite an overhang for the seats - great place to put your backpack or dry clothes in a rain storm.

Well, as the night passed on and the bongs passed on this girl about 2 rows behind me got incredibly wasted. Some guy was hitting on her hard, and she had no idea what planet she was on, so as he dragged her under the seats and began to, ahem, disrobe her I thought gee, her friends are surely gonna come to her rescue.

All that happened was another girl reached down and took the car keys out of her pocket, then three girls left together leaving this young lady 'way beyond stoned in the "loving" clutches of three guys. When I look back at this, I know I should have at least said something, or found a baseball bat to use to discuss chivalry with these ignards, or whatever. But did I? No, I practiced what my dad, in his Chicago commuting days, called "the subway stare".

I should be ashamed to bring up this memory. Hey, I am ashamed to bring up this memory. It isn't the first stupid thing I did or didn't do, it wasn't the last stupid thing I ever did, and I probably still do stupid things on a regular basis. But, as a father, as a disciple of Jesus, heck, as a man of character and integrity I should have done something. Even if that was back in the days before AIDS and even before herpes or genital warts became widespread and rampant sex was a foregone conclusion in many a circle. It is like Christa says in the above-linked blog: if someone consents when they are sober and awake, and are later stoned or asleep, there is a BIG difference. What they choose to do willingly should not become what you do with the young lady unwitting.

So read this blog. It puts in words for guys as a guy might say them all of those thoughts that have haunted me for the 30 years that I keep remembering what I failed to do. Remember, We are the people. In our republic, the collective is responsible for protecting the individual, even if, perhaps particularly when, the individual is a "different" person. None of us is as strong as all of us, each of us can always use help. Just like Abe said in Bill and Ted's adventure: Be excellent in all things and one to another.

You who are on the road must have a code that you can live by,
and so become yourself because the past is just a goodbye.
Teach your children well: their father's hell will slowly go by and feed them on your dreams;
Tthe one they pick's the one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry.
So, just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
        -- Graham Nash

The NRA?

No, NOT the National Rifle Association. Yes, I am a member of the National Rifle Association - that goes along with being a Southerner raised Baptist by a Marine veteran, as I have discussed many times. Today's NRA is the National Recovery Administration, established by the National Industrial Recovery Act. In case you have forgotten, or never had the opportunity due to lack of time in most curricula to cover the 20th century in history classes (always got lost in the Civil War, maybe got as far as the start of World War I), here is the Wikipedia link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Recovery_Administration
{and, while you are at wikipedia, consider contributing for their support. What is for you a pittance through Paypal is their lifeblood}.

I was reminded of the NRA when I was on eBay looking at Shirley Temple dolls to see if any were actually selling (Peg wants to sell some of hers to make Christmas money, and I told her it probably was not worthwhile*). One of the dolls had a dress with an NRA tag, and the seller said they had no idea what that stood for:




The NRA was the fundamental basis of President FD Roosevelt's "New Deal". If you don't know about New Deal, you really DO need to go back and read a little history if not study it. Just as today, the nation was in need of economic and social recovery due to the depths of what was, then, The Great Depression. My folks talked about the Depression, and it was pretty ugly. They both made it through okay because my Grandfather Riddle was a country doctor and my Grandfather Moore was a very good farmer. Neither was in debt, neither was invested in stocks that crashed, neither one panicked. The neighbors all chipped in to help each other when and as they could - Mom used to talk about how their school had soup at lunch every day and everyone had to take their cup of soup and eat it, even if they brought their own lunch from home. For some kids that was their only meal, of course - kind of like free and reduced today, which has been carried on to the penultimate panacea of food stamps. :-\   My grandfather and uncle were directed by the NRA/government to grow potatoes. I suspect they may have been a bit subsidized, but I never really have known for sure. I know that things were bad enough that Grandpa paid for three refrigerated boxcars to carry his potatoes to Chicago, and then once they arrived there were no buyers and he had to pay for a day labor crew to unload the cars and throw the potatoes away.

That could have made a lot of potato soup, you know?

Anyway, back to the NRA. In principle it was great. Kind of like arbeit macht frei - sounds great, but what happens in the real world. Government control of unions and companies ... well, you can predict where that headed then, just as you can guess where it is heading now. In 1935 the Supreme Court found that the NIRA was unconstitutional in that it failed to maintain the separation of powers. The all powerful party in control managed to push through many of its provisos in the National Labor Relations Act, though (the legislation that "allows" auto makers to pay a cadre of replacement workers to be on site in case they are needed due to absence - $65 an hour to sit in the cafeteria and do nothing. Really. They are required to do nothing while waiting the full shift to see if they are needed. Anecdotally I heard that once they actually called for one of them to go to the line and could not find one skilled in the tasking they needed ... ).

Those who cannot remember the past (or never knew it) are destined to repeat it. As Leon Uris said of the Ireland-North Ireland conflict  in Trinity, there is no tomorrow, no today, just yesterday repeating itself over and over. One of the things my dad successfully taught me was that if something ain't broke, don't fix it; but, if something is broke, fix it and fix it right, once and for all.

We are broke as a country. We need to fix it right, once and for all. Pulling a play from the 80-yr-old playbook that didn't work and was illegal is hardly the way to fix it right.

They always say if you pick on some idea have a better suggestion. My suggestion is always free enterprise. The shortcoming is that it takes equally well informed producer and consumer groups, so our consumers have some waking up and some learning to do. Either that, or we are headed for idiocracy! Fiscal cliff? Bring it on. We will have to bite bullets eventually, and we had just as well do it now. Punt the NRA and its latter-day equivalent and go for full rebirth of the nation.

jim

* - Shirley Temple, Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Kids, collector plates of all types, doll series from Franklin and Danbury Mints, music boxes, medals, teacups; Precious Moments and Memories of Yesterday -- all are cute to beautiful and sold famously when they came out. We have more than our share around here. The thing is, anyone who was interested bought more than their share when these items first came out. The price was fixed by the distributor at a level that impressed the buyer as being a bit above junk, which may or may not have been true, but was still low enough for pa to buy ma one or two on birthday/anniversary/

Christmas/Valentine's Day. And he did. So everyone has relatively a similar stack in their basement or storage area, akin to ours. They have what they want, and more, and they are in no position to buy anything else due to the present economy AND due to the fact that they do not need or want any more Shirley Temple, Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Kids, collector plates...

Breakfast

"When the toast is burned and all the milk is turned
And Cap'n Crunch is wavin' farewell,
When the big one finds you may this song remind you
They don't serve breakfast in Hell..."

Yes, it is early in the morning, now that you ask, and thoughts of food are making their way through my brain. w00t! shirt today was Continental Breakfast:

That is actually a pretty healthy continental breakfast, I'd say. But what ran through my mind was:
PANCAKES.

I like blueberry pancakes, except if I watch "The Cry of the Owl" the night before. I didn't watch it last night, so I might throw blueberries in mine this morning. We have company, so I naturally thought of pancakes because it's a good dish to cover more than one person at a time.

Then I got started thinking: it has been my observation over the years that most people make pancakes harder than they need to be!! Aunt Jemima and Bisquick sell lots of boxes full of flour and chemicals every year to people who do not realize how simple the batter is and fail to recognize that most of their problem is not having the right thing to cook them on or to use the right heat.

A big skillet, preferable non-stick, will work for one or two at a time. Real pancake men/women use a griddle, either an electric one or a stovetop one, depending on how good they are with their stovetop. If you have a nice cast iron griddle and a gas stovetop that you use all the time, I am probably not telling you anything you do not already know. Otherwise, stick to an electric griddle. If you don't have one, buy your parents a new one for Christmas and take their old one - the old one will likely be a better, heavier griddle.

Temperature. In days of yore, the griddle was the right temperature when a drop of water would blithely dance around the surface like a woodland sprite, or some semblance thereof. I like to say 375-380 degrees F. Electric griddles like to tell you 425, because you get it that hot, throw the batter on and it cools down to around 380 while it cooks. I always stick mine a hair over 375 and have always been happy.

If your griddle is nonstick, wipe it off and go for it. There actually is enough oil/butter in your pancake mix to keep them from sticking once they are ready to turn or take up. They will stick if it is too early. Warning to tuck away for later.

But, that brings us to the batter. Easy as pie. Actually, easier than pie, or cake for that matter. Get a good sized pitcher, thrown in some milk - 3/4 to 1 cup or so, 2 tbl of cooking oil, and an egg and mix that around until it is consistent. Throw in a cup of flour, a teaspoon of baking powder, a tablespoon of sugar and a dash of salt, mix that all together and you're done. Glob out as much as you want on the griddle, and let it sit there past when little bubbles form and break, then flip them for a bit. The second side cooks a lot faster. Then you're done.

Variations - use some powdered buttermilk/water instead of milk. In that case, throw in a half teaspoon of baking soda. You don't need the baking powder, but I leave it in anyway. Add chocolate chips. Add blueberries. In either case, sprinkle the additives on after you put the batter on the griddle. Use melted butter or margarine instead of oil. Throw in a 1/2 tsp of vanilla.

Always use good syrup, too, with or without butter/margarine. Makes all the difference in the world.

Enjoy!

Is there Hope after Change?

My (?)th cousin Norma sent me the following in the email last night. It was an email from her sister, who I suppose is also my cousin but with whom I have no special contact. We share a common great-grandfather and great-grandmother; our grandmothers were sisters

Hello everyone,

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln was a candidate in 2012? How about the 'thought' that a shirt with the name of this great President and the mention of the Constitution is considered campaigning?  I was told that I either had to turn my shirt inside out or keep it completely covered with my book at all times! I think Abe must be turning in his grave!!! Only in New Mexico!!!

I am sure that, unlike many of the Scopes denied anecdotal emails we find today, this is actually true. As Marty Luther said, "this is most certainly true"?

One of my favorite pastimes is to quote: "whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness". Most people, probably 75%, tell me that is too radical an idea for them to support.

Trying to convince someone that "No freeman is to be taken or imprisoned or disseised of his free tenement or of his liberties or free customs, or outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined, nor will we go against such a man or send against him save by lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land. To no-one will we sell or deny of delay right or justice" is downright impossible, let alone "In the first place we grant to God and confirm by this our present charter for ourselves and our heirs in perpetuity that the English Church is to be free and to have all its rights fully and its liberties entirely."

I am not mad about the election results; I'm not feeling like a spoiled kid who had his candy taken away; I'm sincerely afraid. Truly a government big enough to give you anything you want is strong enough to take away everything you have.

My brother Mike was a career Air Force officer and, while he was in, finished a bachelor's in history, a master's in public administration and, after retiring, his law degree.  He won the Elks "What Freedom Means to Me" essay contest when there was one, and in Wyoming where freedom is and was appreciably different.

In our lifetime the country we know has slowly disappeared, taken bit by bit until it has been completely stolen by the forces we sought to defend ourselves from for years. Nikita Khrushchev was right - they will bury us. Dire Straits had it right - Money for Nothing (and your chicks for free - I always thought that was a strange line from a gay Mark Knopfler until I realized they were laughing at someone else's conversation).

I went to bed early while there was still question. I haven't yet looked at all of the election results. It may be time for us to change our name and move down with our cousins in the southwest. More likely it is a good time for Constitutionists to move to New Mexico or Arizona and open carry their firearms.

{Footnote - I actually saw a man open carrying his automatic in the grocery store the other day. I coveted the piece - a really nice stainless over black Kimber. Strapped in the holster but locked and cocked, undoubtedly one in the chamber - I like to remember this: Warning shot? Slide racking? The last sound the perp should hear is you clicking off your safety!}

I pray that my fears are unjustified and wrong. But, if 1/10 of what I see happening actually happens, the world is changing forever.

The Message (MSG)

26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

I once wrote about being 8:28'ed to death.  http://jimpondering.blogspot.com/2012/06/decisions-and-contentment-or-828ed-to.html,
as a matter of fact. So, here I am again, writing about it again, prompted by Dr. Stanley, http://www.intouch.org/Content/27938/LP110626.pdf, again.  This actually all started because I thought it would be something good to pass on to my friend Stephanie; she never needs to be 8:28'ed, she has had more trials in her life than you can shake a stick at (where did that phrase ever come from, any way? Oh, never mind for now). I've talked with her about it ad infinitum ad nauseum. still ...


Digging past the 90%+ of most theological/practical/homilistic interpretations you get around to the concept of being prepared to do something really important. Where we all typically fail AND where we most need to help each other is to figure out how, where, why to apply what God has prepared in each of us.

So, when life stinks (we say stinks instead of sucks because it is a more socially acceptable word choice, eh?) we can search for the way to deodorize it; it's usually right there in front of us, too.

Look at Chuck's notes. They pretty much say it all. Again.

Fun and Games with the Emergency Room

So, last Friday (a week ago today) I sat around from around 11 am on toying with the idea of calling 911. I was having what I guess is best identified as shortness of breath. I could breathe fairly deeply and rapidly, but still did not feel like I was getting enough to breathe. If that isn't "shortness of breath", then call it what you want; but, that's what I had. Also, it felt like someone had a wide belt around me just at the end of my breastbone and was gently pulling backward. This was not the classic elephant on the chest syndrome, just a minor discomfort. Finally, I had an ache, quite akin to and later attributed by my doctor as being due to a pulled muscle, from under my left ear down the carotid/jugular region to the clavicle, across the clavicle to the ac joint (achromioclavicular, if you wish) and down the front and middle of the bicep to my elbow. Not a shooting, yes mildly warm and somewhat characterizable as burning, mostly an aching. Periodically from 11 on I felt a bit woozy, and I don't think my brain was clicking on all cylinders through there.

So, when Peg called at 5:30 to see if she needed to stop at the store I told her no, but I'm about to call 911 unless you think you want to take me.

On the way out to Methodist West, she asked why I had not called 911 or her earlier. Here my sarcastic, skeptical, cynical (true?) nature came out. Quote: "Every time I go with symptoms like this, they put me in the little room, give me an IV, give me nitroglycerin, do some tests, tell me they don't know what's going on and send me home. I thought I'd skip the middle man this time and stay home."

Then, too, in 2001 I went in, they even did an angiogram, told me they couldn't find anything wrong. They did not, in retrospect, do an ultrasound of my gall bladder, like the one they did only 2 weeks later in Orlando where I ended up in the hospital for 8 days and never saw Disneyworld. So, skepticism and cynicism? Yeah, maybe¿

So we got out to Methodist West, they did an EKG, blood tests including cardiac enzymes, hung an IV, had me chew baby aspirin (still as  yucky as they were when I was a kid), and put a nitroglycerin under my tongue. Then they asked if the nitro helped, and I was foolish enough to respond "maybe", so they wrote in my chart that nitroglycerin had made a big difference in relieving pain. Since, at the time, I had not been in pain and had noticed little if any effect, I find that a remarkable comment. The cardiac enzymes said none of the muscles had been beaten up yet. But, there was this thing called a d-dimer. I always thought that would be somebody who saved 10-cent coins made at the Denver mint. Lo and behold, we significantly increased the sum total of man's knowledge with a quick trip to Wikipedia:

• "D-dimer is a fibrin degradation product (or FDP), a small protein fragment present in the blood after a blood clot is degraded by fibrinolysis. It is so named because it contains two crosslinked D fragments of the fibrinogen protein. D-dimer concentration may be determined by a blood test to help diagnose thrombosis. Since its introduction in the 1990s, it has become an important test performed in patients suspected of thrombotic disorders. While a negative result practically rules out thrombosis, a positive result can indicate thrombosis but does not rule out other potential causes."

 So, I had a positive d-dimer, and they did a spiral cat scan to check for a pulmonary embolism or thrombosis, aka a blood clot in the lungs, like Captain Phil on "Deadliest Catch".

Nope. Couldn't see anything.

But, they decided I should be their guest for the evening, ran me upstairs, wired me up and then did another round of blood tests at midnight, just after I was asleep (of course). I fooled them in the morning though - I was already awake when they came in to poke me at 6.

My doctor was actually the duty doc for Iowa Clinic, so she came in, and we agreed that after they finished negative enzymes I should go home, since cardio don't work weekends unless it's like an emergency bypass or whatever, and get set for a stress and an echo outpatient. But, then slightly after noon I turned white as a sheet, apparently, and my telemetry showed junctional rhythm phasing in and out of sinus bradycardia (look em up if you want to) and a low pulse rate and blood pressure. Great. What-e'ver. The nurse didn't want to send me home; Dr. Taylor told her send me home anyway. I came home.

So this time it was more than 4 hours, the hospital food was pretty much OK but nothing to write home about, and I knew very little if anything more about my health after than I did before.

They said cardio would call on Monday. I'm still waiting. I have felt poopy about half the time this week. Who knows what's going on? We'll see next time.

Guns

This should be a simple post; but, it won't be. I am trying to make a simple statement; but, it can't be. However I put this, someone will take offense or exception or opposition; but, here I go anyway.

For historical background: I learned to shoot when I was 6 with my Daisy Red Ryder BB gun. But, you "Christmas Story" fans, before I could shoot it at all, I had to be able to show my father, WWII veteran of the US Marine Corps, all the parts that were visible and explain their function. If you could have field stripped a Red Ryder I would have had to do so, and put it back together blindfolded, I am sure. I only shot at a target set up in the garage on a backstop built according to Daisy and NRA design standards. [I remember going to the lumber yard, since we had those back then, with mom. She had the plans and the materials list. The two guys at the yard were either bored or took pity on a woman, both highly likely in Oklahoma in the 50's, fired up their 12" radial arm and cut to specification every piece of wood required in the backstop, for free of course, and loaded 'em into the back of the car.] My brother and I each had a Daisy BB air rifle, my Red Ryder and his pump. The only thing we saw was NRA official targets up through Pro-Marksman, Marksman, Marksman First-Class bar, Sharpshooter, all 9 (yes, nine) Sharpshooter bars, and the Expert Rifleman, 15-ft air rifle class.

Although I never made it, my brother, nearly blind as a bat with no depth perception and astigmatism that would cause an elephant to turn his head, made Distinguished Rifleman. That required what seemed like a half a zillion perfect targets to achieve. Nothing at all for Mike.

We got a .22 single shot next. We only shot it at the outdoor range set up on one of the Standard properties near Oklahoma City, a recreation area for employees only. Again at targets.

At the age of 11 or so, we could take the BB guns to our grandfather's farm and hunt pigeons and sparrows. Had we nailed a mockingbird, our grandmother would have skinned us alive. We also got to go squirrel and quail hunting with our grandfather. This is a Winchester Model  74 semi-automatic rifle in .22 short. It was my grandfather's, it was manufactured in 1939, and it is an example of fine American craftsmanship. My grandfather, quite literally, could have driven nails with this at 100 yards with open sights. When my cousin, Bill, brought it out one day and gave it to me saying that Grandpa and Grandma had specifically told him to give it to me, I cried. [It is, by the way, on the shop wall with the spinning rod my dad bought me when I was 6 and my dad's spinning rod and his favorite bass plug].

"Daddy Bill" hunted quail, rabbits and squirrels for the most part - occasionally maybe a dove or two and, at the time, a blackbird (4 and twenty in a pie, you know?) - for food. If you were an annoying wild dog or cat or a wolf (yep, still had them in OK in the 50's) or coyote, you didn't want to get within 200 yards of the house. Not only Grandpa, but my grandmother was known more than once to lay that Winchester across the window sill and pop anything that had been chasing her mockingbirds. She didn't miss, either.

Now, the point of this post: under the definitions as proposed by good old Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Byrd, this is an assault rifle. It is magazine fed and hold 20 shells at a time, so it is capable of firing 20 rounds in far less than a minute. Probably more like 10 seconds - as fast as you can pull the trigger. I saw today in the Facebook posts from the National Association for Gun Rights that a 92-yr-old WWII veteran had used a .22 to protect himself from 3 intruders. They came in through the basement, he heard them, called 911, and sat waiting with his .22 pointed at the basement door. The last thing the first intruder heard after kicking in the basement door was the report from the slug that hit "center mass", as we say, and nicked some blood vessel quite near the heart. His two buddies dragged him out, took off in their car, and were found, a couple of blocks away, shaking in their seats with their then-dead companion in the back seat.

I guess that makes it an assault rifle, too. It can kill people. I have a daughter who is quite against guns, and, as she points out, guns are made for one purpose and this is to kill. Some folks will argue about shooting targets, but hey, what is the purpose of becoming a marksman? So you can kill trees? I think not. Animals, including people - that's what guns are used to shoot.

If my wife, children or grandchildren (or me, I suppose) were being threatened bodily harm by someone, I would not hesitate to use a gun if I had one to protect them. My dad also taught that if you always fight to win or you don't bother to get in the fight. I suppose those are also separate debates.

My son claims he had met Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold before (obviously before) Columbine, lived in Littleton at the time. I went to Virginia Tech and had classess in Norris Hall, home of my major in environmental sciences and engineering. We have a good friend who lives 6 blocks away from the theater in Aurora. It's a small world. That doen't mean we are any more or any less safe. It just points out that evil wanders all around and when you least expect it you're elected.

My brother was an attorney. He had two Glock 10mm semi-automatic pistols, an M-1 Garand rifle, a Saiga semi-automatic shotgun, and heaven only knows what else. None of these were designed for hunting game, and he would admit it. They were to defend himself and his family AND (here it comes) for the real reason that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be abridged:

when a government becomes destructive of the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it

and Mike was always quick to point out that the driving factor of the 2nd amendment is to ensure that "we the people" can protect ourselves from the government. It took me a while to understand this. Now I completely agree with him. And, in that event, the people need military weapons. [Somewhat arguably, I believe that the founding fathers never even gave a second thought to hunting weapons. It would have been assumed that everyone needed their hunting rifle and shotgun. I believe they specifically addressed the right, and the necessity, of the citizenry to have access to arms to protect themselves from oppression. Period.]

I could go into a long rambling (like this isn't already?) discussion of "when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns", the un-worth of gun-free zones, why banning guns is a poor idea, etc. etc. But I shan't. I am just going to say that I see a LOT on the line through this election. If you don't know or care about the UN gun treaty, I won't bore you for now - google it and see what it is and how people other than "we the people" can subject us to laws we didn't ask for.

Well, anyway, that is it for now. Very simply - we all have the right and, if you were my brother, the obligation to keep and bear arms for military purposes and for self defense. I shall speak more of this later, I just wanted to dump some of this out there today. Thanks for reading, if you do.

Jim

Pro-death vs. Anti-choice Politics, or Parenting?

In my Town Hall email today, I learned about a baby who should have been aborted, according to her obstetrician, and when the parents said no, he refused to continue to treat the mother and daughter-to-be.
http://pearljoybrown.wordpress.com/

http://townhall.com/columnists/marybethhicks/2012/09/05/given_a_fighting_chance_little_pearl_thrives/page/full/

This really is not anything new in the world, it is just a reminder, and a reminder coincident with a Presidential election during which these things have been made political when they are anything BUT politics.

They were not political to my nephew and his wife when their daughter was born at 21 weeks. Now, Mark has a big hand, admittedly, but still it's a hand - and Grace was still smaller than his hand. Historically, and legally, there have been parents and hospitals who would have tucked her in one of those clear hospital baby holder thingies in the corner with no attention, instead of the incubator and constant attention she got, and waited for her to turn from a live baby to a dead blob of tissue (sorry if you read this Mark - it's about the concept, certainly not about our miracle).

They were not political to my classmate Stephanie when her daughter was born at full term, bounced around healthy as could be, and suddenly became the "case in point" that introduced too many of us to Group B Streptococcus. I don't like strep throats anyway; but, this is a strep spine and brain. As Stephanie and Travis watched helplessly but lovingly, Baby Thumper, aka Samantha, went from absolutely "normal" (a meaningful yet worthless concept) to having her brain completely and literally devoured by bacteria. This is not just having a sore throat - this is watching MRI's progressively showing more and more void space in her head until the brain was 80% gone and Sammy no longer had the electrical activity to stay living. Stephanie is a Director of Christian Education and Travis is a Pastor, so their trip has been heavily faith affected. You can find Stephanie's blog, the pictures as previously linked, and a Caring Bridge detailed story if you write to Stephanie for the link.

These are two wanted children with different outcomes. Pearl Joy Brown now enters the same arena. What can you do for her? What would you do for her? How would you treat her or have treated her if she were yours? Why? How do you feel?

Oh, by the way - I don't know who is Republican and who is Democrat here. All I know is who are parents.

Protect and Defend Your Right to the Establishment of a Religion, and the Free Exercise Thereof – Part III

Protect and Defend Your Right to the Establishment of a Religion, and the Free Exercise Thereof – Part III

I was listening to an Andy Stanley sermon on iTunes this afternoon when the doorbell rang. It was Chris Hagenow, my state representative, doing the door-to-door thing for this fall’s election. Now, I don’t know if Chris is Republicrat or Democan, and I don’t care. He emails his constitutents, I email him, he always writes back, takes what I talk about and explains how he is carrying the views of his constituents into the snakepit Iowa House of Representatives. At least it isn’t the Iowa State Senate where he has to put up with dingbat Gronstal on a regular basis.

But, I digress. Yes, I am going to vote for him again and would recommend you do so too if you have the opportunity. But, as we were talking, he mentioned that he hadn’t seen a new blog from me for a while. Just knowing that anyone else reads these things inspired me to go ahead and get back on the keyboard. And, knowing it was Chris kind of puffed me up and pepped me up.

This is the third in a series. It is longer than a typical blog, because this is a really detailed topic that I feel very strongly about. Very simply, it is time for all citizens, let alone all Christians, all Disciples of our Lord, to fight for the right to establish their religion and to exercise thereof freely.

Let’s get clear on this. Please, understand completely from the outset how strongly I feel here. This is what Doug Giles had to say that kicked my mind in to “prolific writing” status:

The Church needs the biblical rebel spirit of our founders injected back into the evangelical mix instead of this squishy, pusillanimous, ignoble and compliant crapola that’s currently cranking through our indolent pulpits and pews. God help the Church to lose its cowardly, effeminate bent in these critical days. Amen. – Doug Giles

I always said that, when the revolution comes and they are lining up people who they try and find to be guilty of Christianity, they would grab me, stab me and slab me without a trial, that there would no need to find evidence, that my true colors are clear. You shall know we are Christians by our love, and there are a lot more reasons that you should know I am a Christian.

As a Disciple of our Lord, you might ask, what is it that I fundamentally believe. Lots of things are variable and optional among those I know to be Disciples and those who profess to be Christians, but the salient points of import to me are:

1.       The Great Commission – found in Matthew 28:16-20

It is our job, directly commanded to Disciples by the Lord, to go into the world and preach the gospel to everybody. Not just the ones who want to hear it, not just where we want to go, not just where they want us to go. It’s like Stansfield in The Professional screaming”I MEAN EVERYBODY!!!”

2.       One Way – found in John 3

Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

3.       One End – found in Revelation 21:

Conquerors inherit all this. I’ll be God to them, they’ll be sons and daughters to me. But for the rest—the feckless and faithless —for them it’s Lake Fire and Brimstone. Second death!"

Conveniently, Doug Giles then brought up 4 points that he proposed as talking points. Then he did not do a lot of talking. Silly boy. That leaves room for me to talk, right?

Point, the First

Some dainty saints of today think rebellion against tyrants is disobedience to God, when the converse is actually true.

One of the greatest learnings of a Disciple is discernment; that pretty much either follows or leads to willingness to buck the flow, another key ingredient in life according to the Voice of Truth.

The “unknown epistle writer” tells us in the letter to the Hebrews in the 5^th and 6^th chapters:

By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong. So come on, let’s leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ.

Practice in telling right from wrong. Easily said, difficult initially to discern. God makes it pretty clear to me in His Word that right is right and wrong is wrong; but, the world of today, post modern as it is, has phased to a state of relative truth. Relative analysis is dangerous, because what we end up with what I think is right may be wrong for you, what I think is wrong may be right for you, and we both are right and wrong at the same time.

Sol Davidson, who was pretty much regarded as the smartest man around then and could have given Hawking , Freud, Kant, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates and Einstein a run for their money, in the 29^th chapter of his book of witticisms says:

  1 For people who hate discipline and only get more stubborn, There’ll come a day when life tumbles in and they break, but by then it’ll be too late to help them. 2 When good people run things, everyone is glad, but when the ruler is bad, everyone groans. 3 If you love wisdom, you’ll delight your parents, but you’ll destroy their trust if you run with whores. 4 A leader of good judgment gives stability; an exploiting leader leaves a trail of waste. 5 A flattering neighbor is up to no good; he’s probably planning to take advantage of you. 6 Evil people fall into their own traps; good people run the other way, glad to escape. 7 The good-hearted understand what it’s like to be poor; the hardhearted haven’t the faintest idea. 8 A gang of cynics can upset a whole city; a group of sages can calm everyone down. 9 A sage trying to work things out with a fool gets only scorn and sarcasm for his trouble. 10 Murderers hate honest people; moral folks encourage them. 11 A fool lets it all hang out; a sage quietly mulls it over. 12 When a leader listens to malicious gossip, all the workers get infected with evil. 13 The poor and their abusers have at least something in common: they can both see—their sight, GOD’s gift! 14 Leadership gains authority and respect when the voiceless poor are treated fairly. 15 Wise discipline imparts wisdom; spoiled adolescents embarrass their parents. 16 When degenerates take charge, crime runs wild, but the righteous will eventually observe their collapse. 17 Discipline your children; you’ll be glad you did—they’ll turn out delightful to live with.

My first thought to discuss that popped immediately out of this is: “When good people run things, everyone is glad, but when the ruler is bad, everyone groans.” True then, true now, shall be true forever.  And, another line worth noting especially is “A sage trying to work things out with a fool gets only scorn and sarcasm for his trouble.” And, finally, “Discipline your children; you’ll be glad you did—they’ll turn out delightful to live with.”

The same principles are equally or moreso true with respect to tyrants and kings.

Next time:

Point, the Second

A lot of evangelicals would rather live as government slaves than live and die as free men.

Protect and Defend Your Right to the Establishment of a Religion, and the Free Exercise Thereof – Part II

This is the second in a series. It is still longer than a typical blog, because this is a really detailed topic that I feel very strongly about. Very simply, it is time for all citizens, let alone all Christians, to fight for the right to establish their religion and to exercise thereof freely. I mean, obviously this was in the founding fathers’s mind in the forefront – after the Constitution this was the first amendment in the Bill of Rights, right? Today, though, we wimpy wussy foot around talking about our religion. Happy holidays? Baloney – and what holidays are those? Christmas, for me, so Merry Christmas. Easter? Actually, I celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection; Easter is a pagan holiday honoring Oestre the goddess of fertility and birth, which is why all the eggs and chickens and rabbits hopping around. Discrimination?

Wait a minute? Where did discrimination come from, you ask? It’s right SDM, smack dab in the middle, of the whole brouhaha. If I am, in accordance with your definition, non-accepting or intolerantof your particular beliefs, then, by nature of public misbeliefs of today, I must be discriminating against you. This is obviously and particularly the case if I have proclaimed myself a “Christian” and somehow you infer that I think you are not Christian.

OK, let’s get clear on this. Please, understand completely from the outset. How strongly do I feel here? This is what Doug Giles had to say that kicked my mind in to “prolific writing” status:

The Church needs the biblical rebel spirit of our founders injected back into the evangelical mix instead of this squishy, pusillanimous, ignoble and compliant crapola that’s currently cranking through our indolent pulpits and pews. God help the Church to lose its cowardly, effeminate bent in these critical days. Amen. – Doug Giles

I always said that, when the revolution comes and they are lining up people who they try and find to be guilty of Christianity, they would grab me, stab me and slab me without a trial, that there would no need to find evidence, that my true colors are clear. You shall know we are Christians by our love, and there are a lot more reasons that you should know I am a Christian.

As an aside, it’s actually neither an appropriate nor exact demarcation to call me a Christian. Oh, yeah, as far as the general public, the media, the family, my folks, my friends and my church community associates are concerned Christian is a convenient tag. But: did you realize the word Christian only occurs 4 times in the New Testament (my version) and all 4 times it is a derogatory and disrespectful appelation used by non-Christians.  We, that is to say the group with whom I would have associated and with which I now identify, preferred to be and are more appropriately called followers of The Way, or Disciples (not really a proper noun, but I decided to use it as such to show specificity rather than just generality).  Since there was a reasonable prolific cult in the late 70’s early 80’s period, around the time of the Blessed Father and Mother Divine and The Church of Jesus Christ of What’s Happenin’ Now, whose name was “The Way International,” I have chosen to eschew saying that I am a follower of The Way, simply because I don’t want to be associated with that quote. So, if you ask me for my definitive answer as to what I am and how I believe, I am a Disciple; and, I suppose more fully and most correctly, I am a Disciple of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We were discriminated against in the First Century. Nero fiddled, threw us to lions, burned us – you know, all those things you see in the movies that must have, of course, actually happened. OK, most of that stuff did happen and pretty much that way. Watch the Discovery Channel, National Geographic and The History Channel, if you can miss Ice Road Truckin’ Swamp Pawn Auctioneers, and see some of the real documentaries about early life of the Disciples (Christians).

Just today (today, for now, being July 12, 2012) I made a comment, my second cousin made a comment and my oldest daughter made a comment on Facebook. Had to do with sin, defining sin, going to Hell, who will go to Hell, if there is a Hell, how do you raise kids, how do you go all in at Texas Hold’em – you know, the general kind of humdrum discussion. We are talking here a very fundamental Baptistally bent person, a devout lifetime Catholic, and a sockdologizing old bald fat coot with a heart of gold and an ankle of mush who has tripped through Southern Baptist, American Baptist, Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. I guess I could also mention dalliances into Eric Berne and Claude Steiner with the somebody’s ok somebody’s not ok analyze my transaction school, Henri Nouwen, Paul Tillich, Dietrich Bonhoffer, Charles Stanley, Andy Stanley, Jamie Bakker, Jack (aka C.S. Lewis), Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein. My apologies to the others I have forgotten. In my bottom line, you might ask, what is it that I fundamentally believe as the Disciple of the Lord I profess to be. Lots of things are variable and optional among those I know to be Disciples and those who profess to be Christians, but the salient points of import to me are:

1.       The Great Commission – found in Matthew 28:16-20

Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally. Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

2.       One Way – found in John 3, along with the 3:16 on the sign of the rainbow afro bespectaled guy at every football and basketball game:  folks, if was all just that “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life,” things would be so simple. I have to read verses before and after to get the context:

5 Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind hovering over the water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom.

6  When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.

7  "So don’t be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above’—out of this world, so to speak.

8  You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it’s headed next. That’s the way it is with everyone ‘born from above’ by the wind of God, the Spirit of God."

9  Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?"

10  Jesus said, "You’re a respected teacher of Israel and you don’t know these basics?

11  Listen carefully. I’m speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions.

12  If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God?

13  "No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man.

14  In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—

15  and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.

16  "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.

17  God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.

18  Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

3.       One End – Revelation 21:

6Then he said, "It’s happened. I’m A to Z. I’m the Beginning, I’m the Conclusion. From Water-of-Life Well I give freely to the thirsty.

7  Conquerors inherit all this. I’ll be God to them, they’ll be sons and daughters to me.

8  But for the rest—the feckless and faithless, degenerates and murderers, sex peddlers and sorcerers, idolaters and all liars—for them it’s Lake Fire and Brimstone. Second death!"

Terse recap and leaving everyone hanging now until I pick up part 3, and strictly because this is already longer than a 1-day read should be:

It is our job, directly commanded to Disciples by the Lord, to go into the world and preach the gospel to everybody. Not just the ones who want to hear it, not just where we want to go, not just where they want us to go. It’s like Stansfield in The Professional screaming”I MEAN EVERYBODY!!!”

That gospel we preach is what we live: there is only one Way to get out. Unless a person submits to this original creation it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. Anyone who trusts in Him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. Totally binary, yes no, 0-1, zero sum game, no push, no edge to the house or the player, straight up.

The end result is binary, too. Yes no. In out. Zero sum. Paradise as the sons and daughters of God orthe Lake Fire and Brimstone, second death. Not maybe. Not for a while. No purgatory thing. The word is forever, kinda like kids saying what-ev’-er today. Always. Eternity. Really long; even longer than that.

Think about that overnight. I may be up again as soon as tomorrow.