Skip to content

Category: Current Events

Prayer in Government

London Free Press – Editorials – Prayer issue mustn’t be left to politicians

The first is that, whether the Lord’s Prayer is retained or not, our elected representatives should be reminded — every morning — there is a larger power than themselves. Politicians forget this fact too often. When they do, they become tempted to believe they are the be-all and end-all, answerable to no one.

By Dan Brown

I know a Dan Brown, this seems like his kind of thinking. Perhaps a better idea would be a pledge affirmed by each upon taking office that they will uphold the will of the people; which is of course what they are supposed to be doing. If it was God’s will that they were supposed to be following, shouldn’t they busy themselves putting the evil amongst us to death for the wearing of blended cloth (etc.)

I know, I know. The evil leftist atheist devil!!! How dare he question the dominance of our paradigm!?!? True, Canada has more fully embraced “The Jesus” than has the USA. I think that has staved a great deal of the Overt Crazy that The USA has running around it lands with crosses on it. However, a more broad opening oath or affirmation may serve to embrace Canada’s more secular reigns (lest the scary Sharia creep show up in commons, no?). It may serve my learned friends of the cloth to remember the more eloquent quote of their favorite philosopher:

Matthew 22:15-22 (King James Version)

15Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.

16And
they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying,
Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in
truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the
person of men.

17Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?

18But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?

19Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.

20And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

21They
say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto
Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are
God’s.

22When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.

So, what was soul-brother number one tell his followers? I like to think that Jesus was telling us that the affairs of state are just those, affairs of Men and not of God and should be treated as such. One should not worship at any alter save that of “his Father.”

This segues easily into my “Prayer is for thanks … and nothing else” discussion, but I’ll save that for another blog post.

Have Fun!

More to come?

Petrol rationed to stop hoarding as supplies dwindle on the forecourts – Home News, UK – The Independent

Britain’s motorists faced rationing at petrol stations yesterday, as major suppliers tried to stop them hoarding fuel. Concern over supplies as the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland closed down led to fuel queues on forecourts across Scotland, the north of England and parts of Wales.

More news about rationing? This time with gasoline? Is there an actual pattern emerging? Anyone else seeing this?

The Road is Loooong

The Road is Loooong, originally uploaded by NiteMayr.

with Maaaaneeee a Wiiiindiing tuuurrnnnn….

Oh yeah, travel travel travel.

It’s not that wrong of a trip to my ‘rents. In fact I’ve already developed the mental “shortcuts” that gloss over repeated long drives that make it seem to take “no time at all”. Frequent long-haulers will know all about this, so will heavy drinkers (it’s time travel, right?)

You drive from point a to point b and back again and the aggregate mental stress of the trip is Zero, right? You don’t accrue it in your head, it’s not wasted (because you never actually spent that time, you just found yourself at the end of the trip at your destination, like you were already there).

I live to punctuate with with short bouts of photography and enthusiastic sing-along with my IPOD (through the scar stereo if there is any question in your mind about it).

This particular drive was surprisingly police free, which is a welcome change from the constant police-a-palooza that the trip usually is. I don’t really speed (I maintain a fairly constant pace, but I don’t speed) but I’m always unnerved by the cops either way. I’ve been passed at times when I have been above the limit (on hills and so on, or when the speed has drifted up to 90) and am always perplexed by it. Where are people going that they need to go so fast? They’ll get there in the end. If you are always late, why not leave earlier?

I dunno, I like the long drive in the spring, summer and fall [even winter when the weather is okay] you get to just “be” then you get somewhere with no effort at all. It’s like being rewarded for watching TV or something.

How about you? How do you feel about long drives? How do you pass the time?

"Blade" is Going to Jail

BREAKING: Wesley Snipes Gets Three Years in Prison! – Cinematical

This just in: Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison and fined up to $5 million for evading federal income taxes. Snipes was given the maximum penalty under the law.

Hmmm…. I’m no expert on sentencing guidelines, but something seems excessive on this. However, a few dips around the net assures me that Mr. Snipes is not being victimized, but wow this sucks for him. Anyway, if he was sneaky and his money was hidden in some Vichy off shore, we’d have never heard of this.

Now. Where is the next Blade movie gonna come from? I need my Cheesy (but awesome) vampire action fix!

Rising Food Prices in the News

R.O.I. – WSJ.com

And some prices are rising even more quickly. The latest data show cereal prices rising by more than 8% a year. Both flour and rice are up more than 13%. Milk, cheese, bananas and even peanut butter: They’re all up by more than 10%. Eggs have rocketed up 30% in a year. Ground beef prices are up 4.8% and chicken by 5.4%.

What may be simple news hype is looking more and more like a pattern. I don’t see to much of a pattern of self-referential stories (the same sources over and over) and things are looking like the first warning signs of impending trouble. Folks, if you don’t have a well stocked pantry, today is the day you should start thinking about it; or at least getting all your dry durables in order before price problems.

Being unemployed; I can’t plan that far out; I can only blog about it.

How long are you “food secure” what I mean is, should there be a crisis, how long can you last on the food you have in your house?

More food Shortage News

asahi.com : Where’s the butter? Shortage of milk spreads stocks thin – ENGLISH

At an elementary school in Osaka Prefecture, the children’s favorite butter-flavored buns used to be served once a week. The tasty rolls were dropped from the lunch menu in February.

Salad oil has also replaced butter in curries and stews.

The changes were not made for nutritional reasons; it was simply because butter was in short supply.

Domestically produced butter is scarce at retail stores because of a shortage of raw milk and higher prices of butter imports.

A shortage of butter for commercial use began to hit cake shops and restaurants last fall. The problem has now spread to homes.

Worse, butter makers are planning to raise retail prices in April, when raw milk prices are set to increase. The move will likely keep butter off more mealtime tables.

More news about shortages surrounding Asian people, what is going on?

The Anti-Midas touch

Low ratings for Bush visit on ‘No Deal’

The NBC game show matched its lowest Monday rating ever despite the much-publicized visit by the commander-in-chief. The two-hour “Deal” was seen by 10 million viewers and earned a 2.7 rating among adults 18-49 and a 7 share, down 27% from its prior season average.

Wow, too bad. I guess Glorified Guessing Games Grandiose Great-Apes and Great ratings don’t go together.

I am at a loss as to how that damn show stays on the air, then I remember that America voted for George Bush twice and all the pieces fall into place and I just laugh and laugh.

It’s better than just whining about it, right?

More Food Shortage news?

Bloomberg.com: Exclusive

The World Food Program cut off rice deliveries to 1,344 Cambodian schools last month after prices doubled and suppliers defaulted on contracts. Schools will run out of food by May 1, depriving about 450,000 children of meals, the WFP estimates.

After the article yesterday from the Sun:

Many parts of America,
long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a
once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing. Major retailers in New
York, in areas of New England,
and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and
cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal
reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.

This is troubling news….

Smokers and Jokers

Whirlpool suspends 39 workers, says they lied about smoking – Yahoo! News

A Whirlpool Corp. factory in Evansville, Ind., has suspended 39 workers who signed insurance paperwork claiming they don’t use tobacco and then were seen smoking or chewing tobacco on company property. Now, some could be fired for lying, company spokeswoman Debby Castrale said.

Whenever something like this happens I wonder where it’ll all end. I actually applaud the company for their intestinal fortitude, I’d bet that the magic number for regulations on matters like this is 40 though. As in, if 40 people are let go there needs to be prior notice. Interesting, no?

Now I could go on an on about how heavy smokers make for a poor work environment (mostly due to the smell) but alot of people have bad BO or use heavy perfumes. This looks like (on it’s face) a sneaky way to dismiss employees who could well be a drain on the company health plan. That being said, I’m seriously obese and could be looked upon in the same way.

The important question here is where these people given some form of warning or is this a surprise enforcement move?

Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute, which
advocates for employee privacy, sees no problem with employers trying
to curb smoking. But he worries that the trend of cracking down on
employees’ unhealthy behavior is extending beyond tobacco use.

“We shouldn’t have to give employers complete control over our
private life so they can save a few dollars on medical care,” he said.

This I agree upon, I have been compelled to sign agreements that affected my private life in the past and have declined to do so, as I could not be effective in my job at the time if I was forced to comply with the spirit and letter of these agreements. So I commiserate with the persons affected, up until they lie on their health insurance forms. In the States, you pay for health care, someone lying on those forms and hurting the premiums of their coworkers is not the way things should be.

This is one of those wedge issues where Universal Health Care removes the impetus on the company to enforce health mandates. Don’t you think?

Excitement and Loss

So I didn’t get the job with the brewery. Not because of any personal failing (save accepting it weeks ago) but because it was no longer available. The good news is that I am heading out to Manitoulin Island next week in order to meet with their IT Manager and visit the site. The exciting part here is that Jen gets to come along and we’re spending two nights out there!

We’ll see how that goes. I took some pictures this weekend, some nudes, some family. The family pictures aren’t so good. I’m hoping to take better pictures this weekend of the confirmation of my newphew.