Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Health Care
Growing up on the edge of the Amazon rain forest forms the back ground for a lot of my ideas and thoughts. Having a father and uncle who taught us to be upright and self reliant helped too. We were our own first responders, capable of taking care of any thing common such as a cold, a cut or a fever and even some of the more “exotic” situations such as amoeba, giardia, subcutaneous fly grubs, sand fleas, hookworm and hepatitis A – to name but a few of the things we came across. When a health issue would come we’d use common sense and do what we could to take care of it. Medicine was readily available over the counter at that time. For common problems we had no need of a doctor to tell us “You’ve got amoebas again, take flagyl every day for a week and you’ll get over it.” After you or a family member have had amoebas a few times you know the symptoms and the treatment. Why spend money on a doctor and a lab when they’ll just confirm the obvious? Of course if you’re in a place where the lab technician can’t ID an amoeba to save their soul and the doctor won’t trust your knowledge and the pharmacy won’t sell without a prescription – you’re in a bind. That happened to my mom one time. Soon after we hit the U.S. she came down with classic amoeba symptoms. I’ve no idea how much they spent on doctor and lab – but the lab never could come up with a diagnosis and the doctor wouldn’t prescribe based on another person’s (especially a non-medical professional) experience. So she suffered until she got back home to Brazil, walked into a pharmacy, bought the medicine and was well in a matter of days. We took personal responsibility for our health and actions and sought medical attention when something beyond our capabilities came up.
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Thoughts On Tax Day 2010
“This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” (Romans 13:6-7)
This is a day in which millions of Americans will be sending in their tax forms. There will also be a lot of groaning, muttering and complaining. There will also be a lot of preaching on how it’s our “Loyal duty” to pay the taxes. Few people I know would claim that we should pay NO tax. MANY people I know believe we are over taxed – and for wasteful purposes. Read the rest of this entry »
The “absolute” for an age with no absolutes
Just got this from a friend’s Facebook status. Fracis Schaeffer had a way with words and some great insight into the human condition.
“In passing, we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute” – Francis Schaeffer
The Healthcare Bill – Some Thoughts
Well, the Congress critters did it – at least some of them did. They maneuvered and connived and double dealt and underhandedly passed the so called “Obamacare” “Health Reform Bill”. If it is such a good idea – why was there so much opposition to the bill by common folks? And if it’s such a good idea, why do they not obligate Congress and the President to sign on to it – rather than providing their own first class service that is not available to the “great unwashed masses”? Read the rest of this entry »
Further Thoughts On Freedom
The Apostle Paul wrote, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Those words ring true not only for religious freedom (the object of the comment above) but also for freedom in general. God made man a free being. He designed us for freedom and gave us the ability to think and reason and choose. This is not an easy life to live – but it is the one for which He designed us. In fact, the very freedom and the ability to choose present problems to many people who can not understand that if we have no choice but to do good that our obedience is empty and hollow, mechanical in nature rather than stemming from a heart that is desirous of pleasing one’s Creator.
The other evening we were discussing the problem of sin and evil with a new Christian. Read the rest of this entry »
The Cycle of Democracy
I’ve read this before, but it arrived in my e-mail inbox yesterday and I got that round tuit to read it again today.
The Cycle of Democracy follows this sequence:
- From bondage to spiritual faith;
- From spiritual faith to great courage;
- From courage to liberty (rule of law);
- From liberty to abundance;
- From abundance to complacency;
- From complacency to apathy;
- From apathy to dependence;
- From dependence back into bondage (rule of men).
(Attributed to Frasier Tytler)
It reminds me of the story of the little boy who asked his mother, “Mommy, is it true that God made Adam from the dust of the earth?” Read the rest of this entry »
On Christians and the vote
In this, an election year, it would do us all well as a nation to give thought to the quotes below. We should seriously give consideration to the path which we have recently fallen into and whether such a path is for the greater good over time. Huge amounts of debt acquired in order to fund an ever growing governmental body which overshadows our entire nation, choking the freedom which we once knew. Is it really best for the government to oversee our entire life, from cradle to grave? Is it really best for us to exchange our Creator’s benevolent and wise oversight for the intrusion into our private lives by fallible and corrupt men and women? Give careful consideration to the quotes below. What path shall we follow?
John Adams
We electors have an important constitutional power placed in our hands: we have a check upon two branches of the legislature, as each branch has upon the other two; the power I mean of electing at stated periods, one branch, which branch has the power of electing another. It becomes necessary to every subject then, to be in some degree a statesman: and to examine and judge for himself of the tendencies of political principles and measures.
[John Adams, The Papers of John Adams, Robert J. Taylor, ed. (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1977), Vol. 1, p. 81, from "'U' to the Boston Gazette" written on August 29, 1763.]
The Volcanic – or – Building A Gun From Scratch
I’ve been a member and a moderator of Paco Kelly’s leverguns.com forum since it was started several years ago. It’s a great place to hang out when time allows and is populated by some of the finest folks on the internet.
Recently a fellow started posting there. He goes by the name Charlie and builds guns for a hobby. Now, a lot of folks do that anymore. They’ll order up a bunch of parts from Brownells or Midway or one of a number of other places and put them together. Some of the guns so produced are fairly easy to do. Put everything in the right place and PRESTO! You’ve got a functional firearm. Others are more demanding, requiring some filing or stoning of parts to get them to fit and function properly. But all these have one thing in common – they rely on mass produced factory parts. Not that I’m trying to take anything away from the folks who build a gun this way, not at all. I’m in the process of building up a Kentucky rifle from a poorly built kit that was given to me a couple years back. It takes time and effort to get it right. Read the rest of this entry »
When Guns Are Outlawed – part two
A while back I did a quick blurb called “When Guns Are Outlawed“. Well, since then I also read about a new knife for sale in the UK that is “stab proof”. Haven’t seen any pics yet, but I suspect it will have something like a large flat thing welded or forged on the tip. As shown by the pics in the article above, such measures will never defeat anyone who wants a weapon capable of stabbing someone. Read the rest of this entry »
People
People. We are weird creatures. Given the ability to choose, too often we choose unwisely. Most seem to prefer to be told what to think rather than to reason through issues themselves. Over the years I’ve participated in various internet forums and e-mail lists, acting as moderator on a few. In that time it has been my privilege to observe humans interacting with each other. I was reminded today about something my friend Jim Taylor said years ago. “The internet is a great place to talk and a poor place to communicate.“ That pretty much sums it up right there.
And it is interesting to hear folks talk on the ‘net. Over the years it has been my pleasure to visit various internet friends in person. And getting to talk with someone over a cup of coffee or a meal is a great way to get to know them a bit better. Sometimes one forms an opinion about folks because of the way they “talk” on the internet. But once you get to know them personally you see a different face entirely. And then there’s the voice. Am I the only one who forms an “image” of what someone’s voice must sound like by reading what they write? The first time I talked with various people was an experience – because they didn’t sound like I’d thought they would. And what about SEEING them? That reminds me of my dad and a story he told about someone he used to talk with on the phone all the time. He built up an image of the person based on their name and their voice. But when he met that person in person he was in for a surprise. From physical stature to race – everything was different. Read the rest of this entry »
