Permission To Speak Freely?

As I go about my life, I find that my values and beliefs are under attack by the popular opinion, generated by the popular media. The values to which I refer have been constant for the known history of the world, that is the recorded history of the world. I realize that these values have not been held up by the majority of societies on the earth and the major powers of the world throughout history have not been known to uphold the concept of absolute truth (right vs. wrong).

Take, for example, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego illustrates how a culture and the behest of the ruler (government) required all the people to worship as the ruler dictated (I use the word dictate to mean the lack of choice or liberty). This worship was enforced or the life of the rebellious one was taken (remember the hot furnace?). The young men in this instance stood up for what they believed was true (which turned out to be true after all), and were ultimately protected by their God. There is a formula for faith in this. If the young men had believe in bowing to the worship of the King, would their lives had been saved as well? Maybe, or they possibly would have suffered the fate of others in the Kings court, when he tired of them. The point: Faith has to be based in the complete true, the whole truth, not partial truth, or falsities. You can have faith in something that is wrong, or it would be false faith. Back to Nebuchadnezzar...so he has to put the young men in the oven, because you can't disobey the King, at least when the King is in charge! In the oven a miraculous thing happened, the young men didn't burn. The King was informed by his officials that young men were not harmed. The King then confesses that they were servants of the Most High God, something he probably already knew, but would not admit.

It is the same today. There are absolute truths that have been with us since day-one, like gravity, right & wrong, but the supposed Kings tell us that wrong is right, and what is right is wrong...it is all about control and bondage. That is what we are facing in the world today. Seek for truth, but of course this is....just an observation.

Tout Your Own Flavor of Hypocrisy

Have you ever wondered why people that are against the death penalty for criminals are pro-abortion for the innocent? And of course the converse of that? What about the people that want the government to meddle in the content of fast food, but want freedom to use marijuana? Lately there has been the large outcry against drilling for oil and the oil industry's contribution to "Global Warming", but when the technology for a carbon dioxide scrubber is proposed, the protagonists cry foul, saying that it takes emphasis away from the cause of the problem....kind of like abortion takes away focus on the problem of sexual activity outside of a marriage relationship....oh, I get it? My favorite flavor of hypocrisy is the Hollywood elite. They parade themselves in the media like a bunch of peacocks, then cry foul, when the are constantly followed by stalkers and paparazzi. Granted, I wouldn't want that kind of attention, but I'm not a publicity hound. Those that are....publicity hounds, that is....shouldn't be surprised, when the media pursues them relentlessly to catch them in some kind of revealing situation, in order to sell their media product. No suprise, I guess. People that live in glass houses, etc.

We, as human beings, are far from perfect and can only attempt at perfection in this life. What is perfection? How can one be consistently true? I think that we have to discharge any thought of the end justifying the means (see previous commentary). When we are following truth, we are adhering to a consistent value, a true value; there is no backtracking, no hypocrisy. When we depart from the truth, then our end falls short and we are left without promise. Hypocrisy is then, its own reward, no more, no less. Everyone else suffers the diminishment as well. For now this is Just an Observation, without guile, without hypocrisy....

Why Haven't I Ever Received a "J.D. Powers & Associates" Award?

Have you ever wondered who gives out the J.D. Powers & Associates awards? I thought that it was some non-profit, or humanitarian organization that honor good corporate citizens for their company's products. Or at least, a Consumer Reports type organization that surveys all products for their redeeming qualities.

Their awards program amounts to a certification program conducted in behalf of their clients, with the information gathered independently.....but who pays for all this? The client! Does this means that if they get a negative survey, it will be released to the public for their scrutiny?.....H-No! Do they work the survey until they get a positive result? You be the judge, but for me, this is just an observation......

Religion & Government - Part II

As I mentioned in Religion & Government - Part I, secular government has been trying to supplant religion for a long time, especially in the modern era. This was brought to the forefront in the recent decision by the California Supreme Court to allow "Same-sex Marriages". First-of-all, Same-sex marriage would be an oxymoron, because marriage by definition, is between a man and a woman (opposite sex). In a recent interview, Ronald George, California Supreme Court Chief Justice, reflected on a visit to the southern U.S. where he saw evidence of discrimination . Many same-sex marriage activists have tried to equate their "struggle" with that of the civil rights struggles of the late 1950's to the early 1960's. There were many "churches" that were involved in this activism, just as there are many "churches" involved in the Same-sex marriage activism. I think that this means their efforts should be discounted as unconstitutional, because there is not a separation between CHURCH and STATE!

Much has been made in the modern era of the constitutional requirement against the establishment of religion, meaning a separation of Church & State. There is no guarantee in the Constitution, just a zealous interpretation of the Bill of Rights (the first 10 ammendments to the Constitution) by a minority of judges & lawyers. The truth is that the government has endlessly tried to attach and co-opt each and every tenet of religion for its own gain and power. Take, another example: Education. Schools were long the domain of the churches and a proving ground for religion to extend the experience of faith & learning in a more fertile atmosphere than the regular one-day-a-week meeting. In a more agrarian society, the youth were tied to the family's needs of providing food and nourishment for the family. This meant that the farm work came first over education. Even the school schedule that we have today begins after the traditional harvest time and extends to the spring to take advantage of the fallow time in the fields. In our current "urban-society" the focus is more on the youth to become educated than to work; an emphasis on knowledge over experience.

Another example of government intrusion into religion is in the field of charity. Religion has always been the prime mover in the need to help those less fortunate. Government, of late has seen the power that comes with being the one that doles out the goodies to the poor & needy of the earth and has found that it can also use charity to buy loyalty, votes, and even favors through charitable acts. Government has made itself the sole arbiter of what is, or isn't charitable giving. There is something pure about one person giving of themselves to another as a demonstration of love. The government is loveless and its form of charity breeds entitlements and expectations.

Back to the main point....Is it the government's right to dole out the power of undermining something that is a religious sacrament, ordained of God, because a minority of special interests have enabled it? Is it implied that the government is able to go beyond its prescribed boundaries of influence, just because there is nobody to apparently stop them? And simply because a minority of interested persons asked them to? Is a minority of judges able to refute the vote of the electorate, simply because they are zealous to the cause? It is time for a leader to stand up to the tyranny of the special interests and their conspiratorial influences. It is time to demand that politicians hold the public trust sacred, and not scorn it. I hope that most people can see through the flattery of public sycophants and follow the eternal truths....but of course, this is Just an Observation.

Alternative Fuels, or Alternative Distribution of Wealth?

Another disadvantage of the high price of oil is that when there is a concentration of wealth, there is a disproportionate amount of power. When the Standard Oil Company was broken up at the turn of the century, it marked the beginning of the breakup of monopolies by Pres. Roosevelt. The concentration of resources controlled by one group also represented a concentration of power. Today, this is most visible in the form of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). This group acts as a cartel to control the production of oil throughout the world. In this fashion it controls a source of energy for those that do not produce oil, or have sufficient production for their country's needs. Again, through the concentration of wealth, this body, benevolent or not, has attained a measure of power. The DeBeers cartel is another example of how a group can keep the price of a product artificially high by controlling the production of that product.

As alternative fuels are developed, those that harness or produce those resources begin to amass their own measure of power. It is possible that these alternative fuels producers could supercede the oil producers, if they are able to concentrate their power. Unfortunately, the oil producers already have the means to distribute fuels to the public and could hardly be supplanted for their ability to deliver the alternative products as well.

The socialistic response would be to tax the large concentration of power and redistribute that resource (read wealth) to those that are less endowed. Interestingly enough, many of the labor unions in the United States, have as part of their by-laws specific language stating that their purpose is to redistribute wealth to the poor and the downtrodden. I have never known a labor union to reach out to those that can't pay union dues....but I digress.

History has proven, time-and-again, that empires do not last forever. They come and they go, and as one disappears, another rises. The AT&Ts of the world have produced AT&T Wireless, and the Standard Oils (SOHIO) have produced ChevronTexacoUSA, Inc., etc. We may someday be running our vehicles on coconuts, and the fuels power would be amassed in more tropical climes as opposed to the desert moguls of today....Power and the amassing of wealth, seem to go hand-in-hand. Or maybe this transigence of power is only a fleeting thing. Maybe there is a greater, altruistic, egalitarian source of power. It will all depend on whom you put your trust. As for me and my house...this is Just an Observation.

What is All the Hub-bub on Fuel Prices?

As gasoline prices approach $4.00 per gallon, it is interesting to see all the globalists bark about how the profiteers are gouging the public. First, crude oil prices have risen, not just because of fuel usage, but it is used in many other products, such as nylons, plastics, coatings, vinyls, etc. Reflect on how much a part of our lives oil hase become. There are many growing and emerging economies that have increased the demand for oil, as well as fuel for power generation. How much of our digital age is powered by electricity, and how much of that electricity is generated by petroleum products, or by-products...but back to gasoline. In the state of California we have local area "Air Quality Management" districts who are charged with keeping our air quality at livable levels. They have recently legislated stricter controls that will require refineries to spend more money to upgrade their manufacturing processes and....guess how they are going to pay for it....Out of their "excessive" profits?....Silly, they are going to raise prices! Most likely that will also require the special California fuel formula that is not made by out-of-state companies, so the supply will be limited even further. California experienced this a few years ago, and gasoline prices spiked.

There are there reasons for the current high prices (See How Stuff Works) , but three of the current compelling explanations are as follows:

(1) OPEC has not expanded capacity much since 1979.
(2) Non-OPEC is nearing it's long-term production peak (we're running out).
(3) China is booming (India, too).

The China reason is evident especially since they have contracted with Cuba to drill off-shore of that island-nation (90 miles from Key West, FL). Plan to see more offshore platforms from Miami.

Now it is time to discuss the most sacred of all american cows....the environment (brought forward by the NIMBYs), and I think that the comparison is pretty dead-on. We have so much in the way of resources that are available to this nation, but are held off at an arms distance, because of a questionable, somewhat religious observation (environmentalism). Offshore drilling (California & the Gulf of Mexico), new refineries, drilling at ANWR (Alaska) and at other places has not been allowed in the U.S.A. for over 40-years. It is time to start looking at our long-range strategic vulnerability. If for any reason, we are cut off from the oil that we import from terrorist-rich areas, the country would be in a panic. The Iraq debate would seem like an afternoon tea in comparison.

An additional item that doesn't get discussed is the taxes that the governments (State, Local, & Federal) impose on gasoline. It would be sufficient if it was limited to cents/gallon, but some are in percentages, so that when the price of gasoline goes up, so does the tax collected. Has anyone called for a repeal of the Government-gouging? California gasoline has up to $.75 per gallon in various taxes. This is also a "regressive" tax (liberalese for "the rich aren't getting enough wealth re-distributed"), because the less income you have, the more you are adversely affected. I don't think that the oil companies are making THAT much profit.

Yes, this is a complex issue, but it is made more complex because of all the different self-interests, we have lost the big-picture. I would think that all the self-flogging that we see from the left about how we should be paying $5.00/gallon, is pure nonsense. The common sense approach tells us that we should look after our own needs first, try to preserve our economy, our people, all the meanwhile trying to work out a long-term solution to keep the looneys from having a strategic control of the world market. Which brings us back to the beginning.....is it really a global strategy to complain about profiteering from higher international oil prices, when it is a free global market that is causing the profits to rise? Doesn't government controls fly in the face of global unity, the way tariffs prevent free trade. It seems to me to be a bit of a dichotemy....but this is Just An Observation.

Aristotlean Social Science

Everyone knows the first thing that we learned in science class...Aristotle, the Greek Scientist , taught that the earth was the center of the universe. Subsequent generations proved Aristotle to not quite have it right. What was his problem? Did he not follow the scientific method? or maybe because he did follow the scientific method, he arrived at this conclusion. I believe that he and many of the intelligentsia of his time suffered from the problem of "presentism". Presentism is basically a type of pride, pride being the downfall of all societies and civilizations, that creeps into the society when people become basically, full-of-themselves. Presentism is more insidious; it is the tendency to judge history through present-day morality. It is the prism through which the past is seen as barbarian.

For instance, slavery is an abominable practice and anyone that would entertain the idea of using slaves would suffer the wrath of political correctness. But, not too long ago in the world's history, slavery was accepted by some. I would never condone it, or even allow it to be promoted, but can we really judge prior generations as evil, for their practice of slavery? Similarly, during WWII because of the Japanese aggression, many thought that Americans of Japanese descent should be separated out from the general population. Thus, many were taken from their homes and businesses and put into internment camps, supposedly for their own safety. Many of these people went willingly and some even went out of their way to prove their loyalty to America. Present-day historians have condemned this act and even sought monetary compensation to the descendants of the victims. Do we really understand what it was like? Maybe, but saying that what was done was immoral, is not fully understanding what all the contributing factors were, that led to the internment solution. The juxtaposition of present-day morality to morality at the time of WWII will never be equal and never be fair. Fast-forward to 9/11/2001, the day that extremists attacked New York City. Many innocent lives were lost and there was much clamor and much hysteria about who the enemy might be. Cooler heads prevailed, but from the killing fields of the Taliban and other hotbeds of fundamentalism, many enemy combatants were collected and sent to a modern-day internment camp. This time many were quick to avoid the mistakes of the past, to a fault, as they were, either for political or possibly moral reasons, easily given to forsake things like profiling, listening stations, interrogation, and heaven-forbid, psych-ops, to obtain information from the declared enemy.

Well, you get the point. I wonder sometimes about how future generations will judge our time and the social mileposts that we establish. Will they try to understand our weaknesses? Will they judge us for our hedonistic "sexual revolution", or the drug culture that has led to a society of contrand and illegitimacy. Primarily, I hope that they don't make the same mistakes but seek to live to a higher law from a higher source....but as always this is....just an observation.