Warning: This blog is under the influence of the Holy Spirit. (That's actually a blessing of course. I'm just trying to be fair to the skeptics.)



Monday, September 9, 2013

The Great 2013 Mt. Diablo Fire and the Non-Evacuation Evacuation


It was just before 2 PM on Sunday.  I just set a rock in place for a little landscaping I was doing when I turned and saw the smoke. I looked bad. Undoubtedly, a fire had begun somewhere north of my home in the vicinity of Marsh Creek Rd. and Morgan Territory Rd., which was about 1.5 miles away.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Messages From After Earth

To Be Or Not To Be? (That is REALLY the question)
This morning on the way to work, I heard 97.3 KLLC radio personality Hooman Khalili talking about the new movie, After Earth. I recently saw a promo of the movie and being a Sci-Fi/Action movie sort of guy, it really looked interesting. Of course, being a Will Smith fan only made the movie more appealing to see.
For those who may not be familiar with the movie, it’s set 1000 years from when mankind was forced to abandon Earth after a series of unknown cataclysms. The population is moved to a nearby extrasolar world know as Nova Prime. The movie centers around a crash landing back on Earth.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Decisions, Decisions

All creatures, big and small, make decisions. Albeit, not by the intellect; that’s a human characteristic. Interestingly, that unique human capacity can also cause us to fail in even making a decision, let alone make a bad one. The lion will eat its young if starving. We can too. But faced with a similar dilemma most would choose to serve the young first. It’s in our truer human nature to do the latter.  
Often, we are faced with indecision about the many things in our lives. From large to small, from the critical to the trivial. We look at our needs and the needs of others (hopefully) as we seek that “correct” decision, that fulcrum we need to move ourselves along in a positive direction toward our future.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Troll Takes On B.A.R.T.

We just came out of the Caldecott when traffic sputtered to a standstill. As we crept along, I am dialing 511 to find out what this is all about. Me and my boss, who I car pool into the city with, feel if we know what the problem is, we're more in control. The idea of not knowing why there is a delay is unbearable, unacceptable.  
As we passed the on ramp near Telegraph Ave. one man was trying to back up his Mini Cooper against the flow of cars behind him. Then, he was out of his Mini and waving his arms in a “GO BACK” gesture, yelling at drivers behind him.  The drivers behind him are yelling at him to get back in his car and MOVE IT! He seemed terrified of getting back on the freeway.
I wondered for a moment what he knew about this delay that we did not. Was there a spill of radioactive material just ahead?  An alien invasion?
Well, we found out soon enough. It was no alien. But some troll did manage to get on top of a BART train and was having the time of his life in a police standoff.
I managed to get one crude image from my IPhone before we moved on.
Links below for the rest of the story.
ABC

UPDATE 5-17-13
Looks like this guy was mentally ill. See link below.

SFGate

Friday, May 3, 2013

Planting and Picking My Brain

Seems these days I have neglected the blog-o-sphere and other stories - projects. If only there was more time. Writing is something I’m having trouble with lately. I have neglected the tools of writing, the keyboard, the books, the notes…and the imagination.
I have neglected the word. It has wasted within me from lack of care and watering. The word lay rotting amid the waste of my mind, not growing in meaning, but buried and atomizing. Selecting the right ones for sentences is pointless…they are falling apart.
My brain – petrified.
I do manage a little reading before bed. Right now I’m into the Gunslinger chronicles of Stephen King and the poetry of D.H. Lawrence. Weird eh?

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Getting Realistic About Pessimism

The other day I ran across this quote by Mark Twain that tickled my comfort bone:

“At fifty a man can be an ass without being an optimist but not an optimist without being as ass.”

 
 
 
 
This got me thinking about my naturally optimistic core where I walk out some very pessimistic considerations in action and deed.   
Is the light at the end of the tunnel an oncoming train? I often think it is. That is, until I’m confident I can see daylight and not hear the distinctive hum of a diesel electric motor or hear the high pitch of steel wheels grinding on track. I need proof in the darkness of uncertainty.

Monday, March 4, 2013

The Last Pope

“If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers that Peter Piper picked?”























When I wrote about the Mayan apocalypse back in December, I didn’t think it would be so soon that we would be fretting over another. I figured it would be at least summer time.  By then, I thought, it would be warmer, there would be a drought (like every year,) and the global warming doomsday scenarios would parch us with their prognostications.

But, there’s still time for that.

Yet another end of days scenario is beginning to play out. Even though barely three months have passed since the Mayan wheel fell off, we are again, roiling, biting and chewing our lips eager to see if it comes true.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Internet Anonymity: Who Is The Real Foe Lurking Out There?

I personally don’t care for people who make internet posts anonymously or hide behind an avatar. At the very least, it undermines their credibility. Whatever you say or believe, you should be able to stand up for it - As You Are; yelling it from the shadows is cowardly, wormy, spineless.
Many folks who use this tactic are internet trolls whose primary reason for being anonymous is to maliciously disrupt conversations using personal attacks or to take the conversation off topic. It’s more than annoying; it’s destructive, cowardly, childish and often cruel.
This despicable behavior, in my opinion, is the product of a society where perpetual adolescence is held in high esteem.
Nevertheless, it’s repugnant to make it illegal.

Friday, February 8, 2013

SF Examiner "Coit" Title Needs Examination





Am I the only one who finds this headline crass? Probably. And, that is a problem.
















The story has nothing to do with the well know and highly flawed birth control method. It’s a story about a delay in getting a food vendor licensed at the well known San Francisco landmark, Coit Tower.





But, I get it. Oh yes, the Coit Tower has a phallic shape. But, so does the handle of my toilet plunger.  









Without putting much thinking into it, I can think of several other titles that would not be as shameful and just as cutesy. How about:

“Coit Cuisine Crashes”
“Coit Tower Starving?”
“Coit Chowless”
“Chowless Coit,”
“Chow Cut at Coit”

The title, while eye catching, is unnecessary.

Cheap headlines like this only seem to cheapen the story, our minds, and our bodies. Garbage in, garbage out. Perhaps the Examiner is impregnated with the seductive embrace of convention whereby we all go around coarsening our culture at every turn.  

We don’t’ have to be infected by the same coarseness.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Columbia 7 Remembered

10 years ago today, the space shuttle Columbia STS-107 broke apart on re-entry. All 7 astronauts were killed.
In memory of 7 very brave souls, the Columbia 7. God Bless:










Rick D. Husband – Mission Commander
William C. McCool – Pilot
Kalpana Chawla - Mission Specialist
Laurel B. Clark - Mission Specialist
Ilan Ramon - Payload Specialist
Michael P. Anderson - Payload Commander
David M. Brown - Mission Specialist

"The same creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home."

 President George W. Bush Feb. 1, 2003

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Sandy Hook Parent Says Guns Are Not The Problem

















Mark Mattioli, father of six year old James who was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School surprises a few at a hearing on gun violence.

Getting Ourselves Off The Hook Q&A

In this piece, I will attempt to address questions, concerns, and statements made by individuals who voiced objection to the Sandy Hook essays and/or other remarks I have made regarding 2nd amendment rights and the debate over the ban on “so called” assault weapons.
I have elected not to mention names out of respect for their privacy, even though I do not hide my identity.
I some instances I was forced to extract a question from comment(s), a somewhat subjective process. However, I tried to use the exact language used by the poster whenever possible.  As more questions come in, I will add them to this post.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Remove Lansdowne From Office

This neo-Marxist Police Chief is no surprise.  He should be removed from office for violating his oath.
I know his type well. Schooled in the late 60’s, made his way up the ranks kowtowing to liberal agenda for his own self serving interests. He’s no cops cop I can tell you that.


He claims that all weapons will be removed from individual ownership in one generation.













 

Flight of the Challenger: The Challenger 7 Remembered


This is one of those, “Do you remember what you were doing when this happened” moments. I was off this day. I got up, took a shower, and was putting my shoes on at the end of the bed when I turned on the TV. I had errands to run this day. Glued to the TV all day, I never accomplished any of them.





Do you remember what you were doing when you first learned?

Sunday, January 27, 2013

I'm In!


I have been and always will be in "the game."















Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. of Milwaukee, WI. 

"In the battle of life, it is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt

We Are The Obama Nation


The teachings of Thomas Aquinas tell us that all men are created equal with regard to their God given right to be free. That is, we have the right to live freely; free to seek what is good for us. We are even free to turn away from God.
However, he also notes that men are NOT equal with regard to their God given talents. Those talents vary from person to person; they are what make us individuals. Our talents are what we use to pursue what is good in our own unique way (hopefully in alignment with God’s will.) If we are tracking with God’s notion of the good, then this means serving others too in way that is concomitant with our talents.

Our nation’s founders knew this.  Our current President, Barack Hussein Obama does not.  Actually, I think he does. He just wants to turn his back on it for his own vision.
In his article, Obama’s Declaration of Collectivism, Larry Kudlow makes this distinction clear. We are not intended to be equal in terms of results, only in opportunity.

Obama’s notion of America is the absolute opposite of what our founders had in mind. I would also argue he runs in a direction that is counter to our nature as created by God.
I fear that we, as a nation, have made that Tytlerian turn from the Republic once known as the United States of America to the "Collective States of America." It will be a place where we will add our uniqueness to the collective.

And where eventually, resistance will be futile.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Our Rights, Our Government

In his blog post, David McElroy, echoes clearly what I stated in my posts Getting Ourselves Off the Hook. Our God given rights are not conferred on us by the government. They are intrinsic with our being. Any attempt to limit or take them is a threat to our dignity as human beings.
A must read.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Good Grief Charlie Brown! Busted for Stalking?



The man who did the voice for Charlie Brown has been arrested for stalking. What’s next?





If we imagine Peanuts as real people, let me see if I can predict what might become of a few members of the Peanuts gang:

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Serving The Law that Serves Us Best

When I think back on my career as a police officer, it was not uncommon to say or think, “I served the law.” While I knew there were reasons for the law, the phrase, “I serve the law,” never seemed problematic. I always knew I served the people and didn’t get too hung up on the phraseology.
Even outside the vocation of policing, we often think in those terms. We serve our boss, we serve our company, we serve our stockholders, we serve our nation, etc.
Heck, we even service our cars.
We say these things without too much thought; we sort of understand and believe its all good. I wonder, however, how often we consider what’s behind that service.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Getting Ourselves Off the Hook Pt 5

The Right Firearms and the Right to Self Defense

Go to the Introduction

Part 5 -Ignorance from Firearms

For those who know little about firearms, self-defense, and use of force dynamics, it’s easy to see the assault rifle as excessive; but, they are far from it. The term “assault rifle” itself is a misnomer in any case.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Getting Ourselves Off the Hook Pt 4

The Right Firearms and the Right to Self Defense

Go to the Introduction

Part 4 -The Problem with Governments
We must be honest. Governments do go bad. In fact, our nation was born from this sad fact. We shouldn’t delude ourselves into thinking this can’t happen in the U.S.
The founders of our Republic were sending a message to future generations when they penned our nation’s founding documents.
This message is the clearest. I fear it has been clearly forgotten. For clarity’s sake, I will be clear here:
The history of man is MORE a story of governments gone bad than those that have not.

Getting Ourselves Off the Hook Pt 3

The Right Firearms and the Right to Self Defense

Go to the Introduction
Part 3 - The Militia. An Antiquated Term?

For the average American, it’s generally inconceivable to consider ourselves vulnerable to foreign invasion or attack. We think our military can never be defeated.
Think again. Historically speaking, no nation has ever been able to make that claim ex post facto. Although, many have certainly believed that pre facto. We are fools if we think we are an exception in this sense.
If our military was ever defeated, who will be left protect us from the horror and genocide that may follow?

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Getting Ourselves Off the Hook Pt. 2

The Right Firearms and the Right to Self Defense

Go to the Introduction

Part 2 -The Common Good and the Dignity of the Human Being

Governments are created to serve the common good of man.
But, the common good must be held in balance with the dignity of the human being, which is its foundation.  The common good should never crush that. When it does, the human being is deprived of its truer nature.  The common good, which seeks the best for all men, is no longer attainable because the fundamental aspects of humanity are undermined.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Getting Ourselves Off the Hook

The Right Firearms and the Right to Self Defense.
Introduction
Perhaps too much time has passed since the horror of Newtown was seared into our memories. Anyone could see what would come of this. Rather than recognize this as a terrible and unexplainable tragedy, those in power, those with dark agendas, would seize this as an opportunity for Americans to vote away their freedom for a greater level of perceived security.
This is occurring now- “Let’s take another look at that troublesome 2nd amendment.”