Hi

The news these past few days has been all about our economy.  We have been bombarded with all sorts of claims, predictions of doom and blame.  Every body in Washington is pointing the finger at each other and all over TV we hear, "It's his fault."  For once wouldn't it be nice for some politicain to come and offer a sensible solution?  Is that asking too much?

Now I am going to point a finger at the culprit, the elected officials.  Ultimately we the American people share the blame for electing these characters.

The main point is what is the direction Washington is taking the nation. Liberals want a socialistic country and conservative want a capitalistic society.  The problem is that the vast majority of Americans want neither, but rather some sort of working government in which the freedom of the individual governs.  Too bad we don't have that. Neither the White House nor the Congress will admit that the political agenda of both major parties is control over the American public.  I for one do not like this mess we are in.  I think it will take a non- politician to fix it. Let us hope that some one emerges to lead the nation.

Pray for our future and for our service people who defend our country.
GOD BLESS

Hi

In my writings I have tried to limit myself to writing about subjects involving our current pop culture. In an ironic twist two news items came up which merit discussion.  I am referring to the retirement of Pope Benedict and the story concerning the alleged prostitution ring involving Senator Menendez.

What is the connection? There is a cloud over the papacy of Benedict involving the coverup of pedophilia and the child prostitution ring involving Menendez.  This leads me to question how the actions of two public figures can take place in modern society.  Before any one accuses me of being naive I recognize that we have had vice and sin since the Garden of Eden.  Even with this it still amazes me that this can happen.

The real problem is how to avoid this problem in the future.  Screening is not a viable option so we can rule that out. The problem can exist because the parties who are responsible for the enforcement of the policies did not do their job very well.

In the case of the church the local Bishops appear to have turned a deaf ear to the cases of misconduct and merely reassigned the errant priests to a different parish. These Bishops should have addressed the problem head on.  Therapy, isolation of the wrong doers and even excommunication. The result is that the Catholic Church got a black eye that will take years to pass away.  The final fault is on the Pope according to many. Let us pray that an apparent honest, moral and pius person is not judged by this incident.

Now as to Menendez, he is the typical politician.  Self serving, egotistical and condescending.  This one is on the electorate here in the United States.  We had an inkling with the Rangle mess but the main stream media swept that away. Remember his tax omission of income from off shore rentals, what was he renting?  Why wasn't this disclosed?  One of the biggest problems we have is the bias of the media. Unless and until we correct this we will always have the problems with our culture. We have to correct this at the ballot box.

Please pray for our beave people in harms way.

GOD BLESS

Hi


In my attempt to write about the culture of today I find many changes have occurred during my lifetime. Some are good and some not so good.  Below is my take on one which is currently in the news.

The debate about gun control is one in which every one has an opinion. Starting with President Obama down to the local politician, all have voiced an opinion as to what should be done about guns. My take is that any legislation (if one is passed ) should be both enforceable and effective. By using the two words, enforceable and effective, one can see the difficulty in passing good legislation.

I hear the argument that who needs an assault rifle. I also hear the other side that guns do not kill. I come down on the side of no gun control.  We see government bodies which have the strictest gun laws and these laws have little or no effect on crime. If legislation is to be effective it must be both enforceable and it must meet the test of accomplishing the goal intended.  The majority of cases where the control has been legislated shows that they do not work.  How do you enforce such legislation, "Confiscate all firearms?" The Second Amendment to our Constitution does have meaning and comes into play.  These laws do not stop or deter the criminal from getting weapons, they only lessen the freedom and liberty of the honest citizen. 

Politicians just want these laws so that they can o back to their voters and proclaim how they acted to curb violence. If we pick statesmen, not politicians, these people would be more interested in the welfare of the electorate, not their own personal reelection. Modern culture has lowered the standard for office holders so until we make intelligent choices at the ballot box we have live with what we elect.


Remember to pray for our service people.
GOD BLESS

Hi

Just writing to let you know why I have been absent for a while. I did have some medical problems but they are under control. If you missed me I will try to blog on a regular basis, and, as usual my blogs will be about the direction of our country and my opinion as to what should be done.

Thank you for your understanding.

Pray for our protectors.

Hi

I am adding to the discussion of the effect of pop culture and gun possession.  Much is being written and I must add my two cents.

Both sides have some valid points. i.e. " Why does anyone need an assault rifle?",  or "Why restrict gun ownership of law abiding citizens for a few criminals."  Etc.

Gun ownership is a right protected by the Second Amendment to our Constitution.  This has been adjudicated by our courts where the right is protected.  So any "gun control" must be very carefully drafted so as not to infringe on this right.  Those who advocate control would define what can and what cannot be owner by the citizenry. This is a real part of the problem.  It would be naive to believe that control would stop at this point. We have seen example after example of this in action, like taxes, government regulations and other money grabbing schemes.  I think that the idea behind government gun safety is just summarized by one word -"CONTROL".  The real irony is that the government should control those who break laws, namely criminals and those who have mental problems and commit these mass murders. I do not favor censorship but a society that lets children play violent video games, see explicit or violent movies should examine the mental makeup of itself before going after guns. These violent or misguided people would just find another way to commit their criminal acts. Let's get to the problem, force congress to address the real issue.  Only then will we have the protection we need.

Please pray for our service people and first responders.  Thank you
GOD BLESS

Introduction

Hello everyone

Some of you may know me from my previous blogs, hello.  For those of you meetng me for the first time, welcome.

Just some things about me.  I am an Old white guy, in my eighties.  I am of European descent and am happily married for many years.  I have military experience having served a tour in Korea.  My previous posts were about politics but there are too many people sounding off about that so I will try to just write about the so called "pop Culture" of the United States. It follows that politics will creep into pop culture but I will try to minimize that feature. One of my pet causes is to remember those who serve, first responders as well as military, in our prayers.

Until my next post keep going one day at a time, and remember to keep those brave people protecting us in your prayers.  GOD BLESS

Quiz answer

In a prior post I posed a question but did not supply the answer. To refresh your memory the question is: Can a team get six hits in an inning and not score a run?

The answer is yes, and here is how it can be done.
First batter gets a single but tries to stretch it into a double, he is thrown out at second. One hit, one out and no base runner.
Second batter gets a single. While the next batter is hitting the second one tries to steal a base but is thrown out. Two hits, two outs and no one on base,
Third batter gets a single. Three hits, two outs and a man on first.
Fourth batter gets a single, the lead runner stops at second. Four hits, two outs and runners at first and second.
Fifth batter gets an infield hit, both runner advance one base and stay put. Five hits, two outs and the bases are loaded.
Sixth batter hits the ball in fair territory and before the man on third can cross home plate, the ball strikes a runner in fair territory, the runner cannot be touching a base.

Result: The runner who is struck by the batter ball is out, since the man on third did not cross home plate before the third out the run cannot count. The official scorer credits the batter with a hit. Six hits, three outs and no runs.

As an extra, if that happened they better keep the manager away from the Kool-Aid.