Lions and Eagles

I've been volunteering at a school lately, as a reading mentor. I've been reading Charlotte's Web to this kid. Of course I read the book a few times when I was young, but it's always interesting what you can pick up on from a really good book when you are an adult sharing it with a child who is hearing it for the first time. For one thing, I am noticing how E. B. White takes the time to paint vivid pictures of farm life, the people, and the animals. Sights, sounds, smells. How the children play on the rope swing in the barn. The trash that Templeton likes finding down at the dump. Charlotte's actions and movements as she weaves her Web, legs and spinarettes working together, as she talks to herself. This is good storytelling. I have run into enough disappointing stories over the years that it's refreshing to get back to quality, and having a child to share it with makes it like new again. I can't wait for my girls to be old enough to share it. Another thin...

Another Facebook conversation on a different friend's post. This time, the topic was disaster relief bills being held up by Senator Cruz invoking parliamentary procedures. I had pointed out that it was not the disaster relief itself that Cruz is opposing, but rather the pork riders, amendments, and other additions that always seem to get added. The friend-of-my-friend arguing the other side went on to assert that the bill currently on the table for Flint, Michigan has "only a little bit" of pork attached to it, and expressed his anger at the Tea Party for "trying to break" everything in Washington. News flash: Washington is already broken. Washington has been broken. And the Tea Party movement didn't cause the problem. Since I am in the Quality Assurance business, I liken it to the little guy at the company who discovers serious underlying problems, reports them, and pushes to get them fixed. Only in this case, the higher ups already knew that it was bro...

Earlier this week I found myself in a Facebook discussion with a friend of a friend. This guy Jim sits on the far opposite side of the political and religious spectrum. I like to try to engage with people who don't see the world as I do, it can be very enlightening. In this conversation, I had just espoused my preference for Senator Ted Cruz as a presidential candidate, given my perception that his honesty is unwavering and he has a strong understanding of and allegiance to the Constitution. Jim replied with his own opinion that Senator Cruz would be "worse than Trump", and described him as a "Dominionist". I like to think that I am reasonably aware when it comes to political and theological "isms". In the political world, I know about conservatism, libertarianism, liberalism, progressivism, communism, socialism, and more. In the Christian theological arena, I have heard of dispensationalism, pre- and post-millenial tribulationism, gnosticism, Ariani...

Heard on the radio this morning that the latest scare is the possibility of people on terrorist watch lists being able to legally buy guns. I understand the worry, really I do. The people on those lists are supposed to be potentially really bad guys, and if there's any one we want to keep away from guns, it would be the really bad guys. But before we jump on board with this, please let me present a couple of reasons to think twice about using terrorist watch lists in this way. First, what are these watch lists exactly? My understanding is that they aren't lists of people who have already done something bad. They are lists of people who are suspected of being likely to try something really bad in the future. Like Tom Cruise in The Minority Report, our protectors in law enforcement want to catch the crime before it happens. But unlike Tom Cruise, we don't have a trio of bathing precious to give us indisputable evidence from the future. We don't know what will happen, or...

A responsible nation takes care for the integrity of its borders.  Just as a responsible homeowner takes care that windows and doors can be closed securely.  Not that doors have to be locked all the time if the neighborhood is safe. But just letting complete strangers come and go without knowing who they are or what they're doing is asking for trouble. Even if a cop or city worker comes to your door,  you check to make sure that they are wearing the right uniform and carrying the right credentials,  and you don't let them wander around without knowing where they are.  That's not racism or paranoia,  that's basic responsibility. This metaphor extends to the Syrian refugee situation. Someone comes to your door claiming to be afraid for their life. Might be a neighbor you know,  might be a stranger. Might be an abused spouse,  or depending on the neighborhood, someone running from a gang fight. You want to help, but will helping put your family in d...

We're deep in the Presidential primary season for next year. Some candidates have dropped out already, most are still standing. I believe there are currently sixty possible final face-offs between Democrat and Republican that we might see next year. I'd like to focus on just a few. I call them the "Not Again" race, two "This Should Be Good" races, and the "What The...?" race. Not Again I've been around nearly four decades now. I cannot remember a full four-year term when a person named Bush or Clinton was either President, or working directly for the President. From the first time I remember knowing anything about the country, George H. W. Bush was Vice President. Then, he was President. He was followed by Clinton. Who was followed by Bush. Who was followed by... some guy who hired another Clinton as Secretary of State. I am tired of Bush and Clinton. I don't particularly trust either one of them. I don't believe that either one ...

It's about that time of year when I look at the ballots in my area, and with the power of the internet, find out what's really going on with elections both local and national, and figure out for whom I want to vote. This time around, it happens that the only elections going on are -very- local, and the only seats I have to vote for are the Mayor of Tyrone and one seat on the Town Council. But local matters a lot. So, here goes.