So yesterday morning I attended a church by myself for the first time in years.

As part of my effort to get myself back into the Christian community and remain a lone-worlf no more, I attended Billy's church as we had discussed last week. I was very interested in what it would be like as it is a Lutheran congregation, which I haven't attended since I was probably thirteen with my father once (he was raised Lutheran; my mom and pop attend Church Of Christ, which is how I was raised). Needless to say when I was thirteen I wasn't paying much attention and we ultimately never went back; church wasn't really my dad's thing at the time.

I have driven by the Immanuel Lutheran Church building a few times; it's on my way home from Dallas and stands out as a quaint, little white church building. Right up the road from where I live, it's also conveniently located which is always a plus (though not a pre-requisite).

Sunday morning I got up at 8am which is earlier than usual for me on a weekend day and got ready to go. Hill had a dog adoption event that morning so her day was already scheduled, meaning I was on my own. Fortunately Billy was going to be there so I didn't feel too intimidated. At around 8:30 I got in my car and, just to be safe, punched up Immanuel Lutheran into my GPS. Oddly, I found that it was taking me up the freeway instead of straight down 775, but I tend to put more trust in my GPS than I probably should and started off.

By the time I got about twenty miles from the house south instead of north-east I realized that I was probably going the wrong way. I stopped and did a search on my iPhone and found that there are at least three Immanuel Luther Churches in San Antonio, and apparently the one I was going to was not in my GPS database. Now I was half-an-hour away and class was supposed to start in 15 minutes. I punched the address for the church building into my GPS and got the quickest route and hit the gas. I felt weird speeding on my way to church so I ended up going (mostly) the speed limit on my way there, and sure enough arrived about 15 minutes late. I guess even I can't break family tradition.

It turned out that there was no morning class that day and everyone was just hanging out and socializing. Billy teaches the young adult Bible class in the morning so he had some of his friends standing by for my arrival, and a very nice guy named Brian was waiting for me. He introduced himself and his wife (whose name escapes me, of course; that's going to take a while!) and some others (a gentleman who coaches I think for a local high school team named Dave, for one). We had a really nice talk about various things for about half-an-hour, and then the second service started to begin. Most of the people I'd been talking to went to the first service so I was kind of on my own in the actual service.

If there's one thing that going to church has taught me about myself it's that I'm very judgemental. I think that, in a way, a part of me has gone beyond looking for a place that is challenging and now I actually judge the message and how it's presented, which is a really bad attitude and sets me off on the wrong foot immediately. I found myself critiquing every little thing and looking for flaws and where I differed with what was being said, instead of just going with the flow for my first service with them.

I was off-put at first by the liturgy, which really there isn't anything wrong with. It's all very structured and organized, which while isn't necessarily what I want in a service I can sort-of see its appeal. In fact I think getting a little audience participation keeps people focused on what's going on.

So as we were going along I had to force myself to let go of my pre-conceived notions of how I thought it should be done and allow myself to experience the service the way they were presenting it. When I did that I was able to relax more and enjoy it. The only part that I found rubbed me the wrong way was when the pastor turned and said that, by the power vested in him or some such thing, he forgave of us of our sins. I am going to have to research that and see where they're getting that from; I don't remember anyone but Jesus (and maybe the Apostles) being given the power to forgive sins. Of course, I tend to believe that a lot of the power and authority that was granted to the Apostles are confused as being given to all Christians by today's church; I don't know about you but if I get bit by a snake I'm going to the doctor!

Some of the liturgy is done in a sing-song way that was very reminiscent of how Jewish services sing the Torah, which I thought was kind of cool. I wonder if most of them even realize where that tradition comes from?

He also said some things that struck me as being a bit Calvinistic, but Billy doesn't think that he means it in that way. Things like saying that his faith is a gift from the Holy Spirit make me wonder, though.

All-in-all I think I enjoyed myself; getting to mingle with other Christians and enjoy some light fellowship and service was neat. Right after I left I felt a little torn about whether this was the place for me or not, but upon reflection I think I need to attend a few more times, go to some Wednesday night and Sunday school classes and meet more people and see how that's going before I make my decision about whether to plants roots there. It would be unfair to do otherwise, really.

Discuss in the Forum

This damn mountain cedar is killing me. My allergies are dragging me down big time and I feel like absolute crap. Allergy meds aren't cutting it; I was thinking about going to the doctor tomorrow and seeing if I can get an allergy shot or something. This is just too much to deal with on my first week back at work after a two-week vacation.

Bleh.

Discuss in the Forum

Can we please get socialism going here as soon as possible?

Venezuela is clearly the paradise that the U.S. could be, and I want to live the exciting lifestyle of waiting for my two-minute afternoon shower and electricity rationing as soon as possible!

What is it that lefties see in these socialized and/or communist nations that they want to repeat in the United States? Oh yes, centralized government power and an elitism that they could revel in. Chavez isn't having his power rationed, I guarantee it.

Discuss in the Forum

Well, it's back to work tomorrow after a two week vacation. I am not really upset about going back, even though I know this week is going to be super stressful. I look forward to seeing my team tomorrow and getting Billy's debrief for the past two weeks. I always enjoy the animated recounting of his time in-charge when I am gone.

Speaking of Billy, I am going to talk to him about possibly attending his church as a guest next Sunday. My primary concern is that it's a Lutheran church, and researching their core values there are a lot of little things that they do that I am not necessarily in agreement with. Feels a little bit like trying to build my house on a foundation of sand. Though Billy is in the same boat there; he was raised and tends to hold the beliefs of a Baptist, and we had a great Bible study together for a few months and I found him to be a powerful Christian brother in the short time that we studied together, so I know that he would be a good support for me (and hopefully vice-versa).

I did a massive deep-cleaning of our cat room yesterday afternoon, and Hill and I are talking about putting together a weekly chore schedule for us to follow to help get this house into a better state. Well, actually Hill laughs at me when I talk about organizing a cleaning schedule because she doesn't think that way; she tends to be more "seat of the pants" whereas I work best when I have everything laid out into a neat tidy plan. I can only imagine what will happen when I present a spreadsheet to her. I just think that if everything is broken down and we know what we're supposed to be doing on a given day that the idea of cleaning will become less overwhelming and we'll be less likely to ignore the problem. I mean, it's really not THAT bad in here, at least considering how many animals we have, but that cat room highlighted to me that we've gotten too good at ignoring clutter and dirtiness over the years.

We're going to Costco today to get more rawhides for the dogs and to get lunch together, so I guess I should start getting ready. My allergies are punching me in the face this morning and I don't want to go anywhere, but we have stuff to do and this is the last day of vacation so I should enjoy it!

Discuss in the Forum

It's been a long time since I've posted anything here. It's kind of a shame because I used to find it pretty cathartic. Life, though, tends to dictate what you are and aren't going to be doing at any given moment, and writing posts on a blog that three people read dropped on the priority list about three-hundred places.

So what's changed that I decided to post something here again? Well, I guess the first thing is that I am smack-dab in the middle of a two week vacation. So it's 10am and I am still laying in bed with the laptop in its rightful place having just eaten a chocolate donut (the only kind I like aside from plain no-glaze) and a coffee brought to me by my adorable wife, still trying to figure out GRUB2 and wondering if my Pop tried to load Linux on his laptop yet. Wish we had done it while I was there to help!

I got back from Dallas on Thursday, where I spent the better part of a week just hanging with the family. I missed seeing my sister, brother-in-law, and brand-spanking-new nephew by just a couple of hours which was lame, but she and the kid will be back in March so it looks like another roadtrip is in my future. Driving I-35 through Texas has become old-hat as we do it at least four times a year. Nice being so close; if they decide to make the ironic move to Arizona it's going to tip my world out-of-balance. That move is ironic, by the way, because I basically moved to Texas from Arizona (with a three-year stopover in Iceland). God works in mysterious ways to be sure, and whatever He's got up His sleeve I know it's for the best, but it sure would be nice if someday we could all live within driving distance of each other.

Had a lot of fun in Dallas; we saw a couple movies (Avatar and Zombieland at the dollar theater). Avatar was really good but the 3D is not ready for me yet; my eyes felt like they were out of focus the whole movie. I would like to see it again in 2D; the effects were awesome and though the story was clichéd, as people say, it is so because it tugs at your emotions everytime.

Zombieland Hill and I had seen when it first came out (obviously, ZombiePete isn't missing a zombie movie) which even for the second viewing is hilarious and awesome. Woody Harrelson really stole the show in that one, and even though Pop said it was sick he had a big grin on his face the whole time. I knew my Mom would like it because, like me, she likes sick over-the-top movies (most of the time). Hey, she watched The Evil Dead with me, that makes her cool in my book.

Not much else to speak of; for the most part it was just enjoyable and relaxing. They did get me a book for Christmas about the differences between the New Testament church and the church of today, which I am finding interesting so far. I'm sort-of wondering if it isn't going to turn into a advocation for Communism (not political communism or Marxism, mind you, but the original sense of a community trading goods and services with each other). A lot of what it has said already flies in the face of a lot of what we as Americans have fought for and believed for years; but when you really think about it, can't the same be said for Christianity in general? The American culture has grown so apologetic and corrupt over the past sixty years; the tired yet stark comparison to the fall of Rome is even more apt today than I think it was even ten years ago. More and more people that I speak to agree with me that the United States has reached its peak, and is now on the inevitable decline. There's never been a better time to declare your citizenship in the Kingdom of God and cast aside your reliance on worldly governments and systems, because the worldly ones will die away. That is not to say that we should secede from the US or move to a remote island somewhere (though wouldn't that be nice...as long as they had broadband and coffee), but from a mindset perspective I get no satisfaction from our secular government any longer.

And it's not just because Obama is there either. Democrat or Republican or Independent, ultimately they may be using different rulebooks but they're all playing the same game, and it ends the same way.

Anyway, enough of that. I could go on all day and I should really get up and take a shower soon. Dang, I don't think I have any clean socks today. Should've done a load of laundry last night.

I am going to make an effort of keeping this site more up-to-date; I have an idea for another site that I may start in the near future with help of my old Bible study group which I need to start again. I also need to finally get serious and find a Church family to join and stop trying to be a lone wolf Christian; it doesn't work and I am living proof of that.

Until next time, kiddos, keep your thinking hats on.

ZP

Discuss in the Forums

I tend to be an early adopter of new technology, particularly when it's free. But when Google's browser Chromium first appeared, I was hesitant. I am a big fan of Firefox. It was the first web browser I tried after years of using Internet Exploder and I did it with trepidation. After all, there was no way that a free piece of software could ever compare to what years of investment and development power that went into IE.

Of course I was dead wrong. Firefox quickly became my defacto browser, offering features and add-ons that IE would only begin to emulate years later. To this day I don't think that IE has gotten tabbed browsing or bookmarks right. It's only been recently as we were forced to use IE exclusively for a short period of time that I really came to appreciate just what Firefox has gotten right. You can't imagine the shock of going back to an internet unprotected by Adblock Plus and NoScript after years of using them.

So the idea of moving to Chromium, which is still in a technology preview stage on Linux, made me cringe a little. It doesn't have the add-on base that Firefox has, and it definitely hasn't been around the block like Firefox either. On the other hand, it is DAMN FAST. If there's one thing that Firefox has going against it, its memory management can be pretty awful. If you leave it running for a long period of time, it can end up eating all your processor resources. Chromium doesn't have this issue, and it loads up websites in no time at all. I downloaded Chromium the first day it came out on Windows, and while it was definitely immature, I couldn't believe the difference in speed.

Last night, I decided to give it a whirl and see how it looked in Ubuntu. I added the repositories to Synaptic, ran a quick update, and then ran the install command. As usual, it was a seamless process that required zero input from me (after the initial prep work; since this isn't an official release, it's not in the package manager yet). Of course my internet connection decided to be a pain in the butt and it took about five minutes to download 18MB.

Now, supposedly with some quick fixes this version of Chromium was supposed to support Flash on Linux. I made the changes outlined but it didn't work. I tried doing them again and still nothing. I don't know if anyone else had that issue, but I never was able to get Flash working.

Other than that, though, the browser worked flawlessly. I have to admit, the speed difference is less noticeable on my up-and-down connection, but I could still feel the difference. The other difference I noticed right off the bat were the incessant ads all over every webpage I browsed. Quickly the missing add-ons from Firefox outweighed any perceived speed improvements.

Chromium is a fast browser, no doubt about it. But right now, in my opinion, that's all it has going for it. As a user, I find it less intuitive than Firefox is just general use. I don't like how it immediately opens a bunch of tabs and I couldn't quickly find a way to change that function. There also didn't seem to be a lot of options in general. Now, this is a tech preview so it's not ready for primetime yet, and I understand that. These are just my initial impressions.

In any case, it looks like I'll be sticking to Firefox for now. What can I say, in the end, I'm sentimental.

Discuss in the Forums

Man, I had an irritating day at work today.

I can't even really pinpoint what it was that got to me so badly. Part of it was our Monday morning engineering board that I run...or don't run...I'm not sure because another guy is the actual chair of this board but I run the meeting. Anyway, he is completely disengaged from the process, so he often makes decisions that don't really make sense or don't follow the spirit of the process.

It doesn't really matter anymore though because the entire process is being given to someone else to manage now that I've gotten it up-and-running. Neat!

Frankly, that doesn't bother me so much except that the guy they're giving it to is brand new here and I already get the "at my last job we did it this way" vibe from him so I can just feel the radical, pointless changes that confuse everyone coming. On the other hand, I am also seeing that he's a smart, reasonable guy, so hopefully he can overcome his urge to reinvent the wheel (that just got invented from scratch in March by yours truly) and ease into the whole thing.

Yeah, I think this is what's really bothering me. I've worked really hard to make this whole thing a success, and now I am seeing that I am going to have to let it go and it kind of frustrates me. Such is the nature of the beast, of course, and I am sure that over the years I'll develop lots of processes and systems that will end up someone else's. Hell, even the network that at one time had my signatures all over it has become something more than me. It's now the sum of the hard work that my entire team has put into it, and where once I knew all the IP addresses for all the different devices and had logged into every network device at least three or four times, now I find myself asking how things are setup because I'm not in it everyday. And while at one point I thought this would bother me, I find myself feeling a sense of pride because while I didn't necessarily run every command on each switch and router, I put together and trained the team that's doing it now.

So I guess I am going to have to start separating myself from the process now. I will always play a part in it, and I'm sure the new guy will still ask for my input from time-to-time, but it's not going to be mine anymore.

In less than a year it will have been ten years since I joined the military. The kid who enlisted in the Air Force in June of 2000 never imagined that when he was 28 he'd be getting melancholy over a change management process, that's for sure. What a horrible geek I've become. lol

Discuss in the Forums

Posted by SteelToedKodiak:

http://www.thecanadianpress.com/about_cp.aspx?id=104

Obama’s White House is Falling Down

By Daniel Greenfield Thursday, June 11, 2009


In the sixth month of his presidency, Obama has turned an economic downturn into an economic disaster, taking over and trashing entire companies, and driving the nation deep into deficit spending expected to pass 10 trillion dollars.

Abroad, Obama seems to have no other mode except to continue on with his endless campaign, confusing speechmaking with diplomacy. It is natural enough that Obama, who built his entire campaign on high profile public speeches reported on by an adoring press, understands how to do nothing else but that.
Ego driven photo op appearances and clueless treatment of foreign dignitaries

While the press is still chewing over Obama’s Cairo speech, this celebrity style coverage ignores the fact that Obama’s endless world tour is not actually accomplishing anything. Instead his combination of ego driven photo op appearances and clueless treatment of foreign dignitaries have alienated many of America’s traditional allies. Those who aren’t being quietly angry at Obama, like Brown, Merkel or Netanyahu, instead think of him as as absurdly lightweight, as Sarkozy, King Abdullah or Putin do.

While his officials carry out their dirty economic deeds, Obama responds to any and every crisis as if it were a Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland musical, with a cry of, “Let’s put on a show.� Thus far Obama has put on “shows� across America, Europe and the Middle East. And what the adoring media coverage neglects to cover, is that Obama’s shows have solved absolutely nothing. They have served only as high profile entertainment.

Neither alienating America’s traditional allies, through a combination of arrogant bullying and ignorance, nor appeasing America’s enemies, has yielded any actual results. Nor does it seem likely to. Islamic terrorism is not going anywhere, neither are the nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran. While Obama keeps smiling, the global situation keeps growing more grim.

At home, if Obama was elected as depression era entertainment, the charm of his smiles and his constant appearances on magazine covers appear to be wearing thin on the American public. Despite the shrill attacks on Rush Limbaugh or the Republican Enemy of the Weak-- the Democratic party of 2009, is polling a lot like the Republican party of 2008. The Democrats have suddenly become the incumbents, and the only accomplishment they can point to is lavish deficit spending, often on behalf of the very same corporations and causes they once postured against.

The European Union Parliament’s swing to the right cannot be credited to Obama, though doubtlessly some European voters seeing socialist economic crisis management on display in the world’s richest country decided they wanted none of it, but it is part of a general turning against federalism. And Obama’s entire program is dependent on heavily entrenching federalism at the expense of individual and state’s rights. Yet that is precisely his Achilles heel with independent voters who are polling against more taxes and expanded government. And no amount of speeches by Obama can wish away his 18 czars or the national debt he has foisted on generation after generation of the American people. That leaves Obama with a choice between socialism and the independent voter. And thus far he has chosen socialism.

Obama’s tactic of hijacking Bush Administration era policies on the economy and the War on Terror, and exploiting them as Trojan horses to promote his own agenda, have left him coping with a backlash from his own party, as well as general Republican opposition.

His Czars are meant to function as the bones in an executive infrastructure accountable to no one, but a lack of accountability isn’t just another word for tyranny, but for incompetence. A functional chain of command is accountable at multiple levels if it is to function effectively. Obama’s White House by contrast is in a state of over-organized chaos, the sort of organized disorganization that undisciplined egotistical leftists naturally create for themselves, complete with multiple overlapping levels of authority and no one in charge but the man at the top, who’s too busy doing other things to actually be in charge.

Dennis Blair as National Intelligence, who collaborated with the Muslim genocide of Christians in East Timor, trying to muscle out the CIA to create his own intelligence network, is typical of the kind of chaos being spawned by every chief in an expanding government bureaucracy working to make sure that all the Indians answer to him. Similarly the National Security Council wrestling with the State Department, highlighted by Samantha Power getting her own specially created NSC position to butt heads with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, illustrates the state of conflict and chaos in American foreign affairs. A state of chaos so pervasive that incompetence has now become commonplace, and no one can even be found to double check the spelling of a Russian word that is meant to be the theme of American’s diplomatic reconstruction with Russia, or to pick out a gift for the visiting British Prime Minister.

Meanwhile on the economy, Obama exploited the ongoing bailouts, transforming them from bailouts into takeovers meant to shift the balance of power in what had been a democracy and socially engineer not only corporations, but the lives of ordinary Americans. But the public’s patience with corporate bailouts is at an end, most Americans were never happy with them to begin with, and want them to end. The death of Chrysler at the hands of Fiat and the UAW might look like a victory in the union ranks, but it doesn’t play too well outside Detroit. And tacking on CAFE standards that will kill the pickup truck and the SUV will badly erode Obama in the swing states, if exploited properly in 2010 and 2012. Despite the constant media barrage, orchestrated out of the White House, the public is growing disenchanted with the performance of Obama and the Democrats.

With unemployment booming and the economy dropping, the jobs aren’t there and the spending is out of control. Republicans today are polling better on ethics and the economy, than the Democrats are. That shows a trend which is likely to register in the mid-term elections in 2010, in the same way that the EU parliamentary elections served as a shock to the system.

In the opposition, Republicans are free to embrace the rhetoric of change, to champion reform and push libertarian ideas about the size and scope of government. In turn all Obama has is his celebrity fueled media spectacle world tour. A charade now serving as a parallel to the depression era entertainment that functioned as escapism in a dour time. But before long, it may be Obama that the American public will want to escape from.

Obama has tried to play Lincoln, Reagan, JFK and FDR-- but in the end he can only play himself, a shallow, manipulative and egotistical amateur who is in over his head, and trying to drag the country down with him. Obama’s White House is falling down and while the flashbulbs are still glittering and the parties are going on in D.C. and around the world, Obama and the Democratic Congress may be headed for a recession of their own.

Posted by SteelToedKodiak:

Pg 22 of the HC Bill
MANDATES the Govt will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!
Pg 30 Sec 123
THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get
Pg 29 lines 4-16
YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!!
Pg 42
The Health Choices Commissioner will choose UR HC Benefits for you. You have no choice!
PG 50 Section 152
HC will be provided to ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise
Pg 58
Govt will have real-time access to individual's finances & a National ID Healthcard will be issued!
Pg 59 lines 21-24
Govt will have direct access to your banks accts for electronic funds transfer
PG 65 Sec 164
Is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in Unions & community orgs (ACORN).
Pg 72 Lines 8-14
Govt is creating an HC Exchange to bring private HC plans under Govt control.
PG 84 Sec 203
Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the Exchange
PG 85 Line 7
Specs for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt will ration your Healthcare!
PG 91 Lines 4-7
Govt mandates linguistic approp services. Example - Translation for illegal aliens
Pg 95 Lines 8-18
The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan
PG 85 Line 7
Specs of Benefit Levels 4 Plans. #AARP members - Your Healthcare WILL be rationed
PG 102 Lines 12-18
Medicaid Eligible Individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. No choice
PG 124 lines 24-25
No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt Monopoly
PG 127 Lines 1-16
Doctors/ #AMA - The Govt will tell YOU what you can make.
Pg 145 Line 15-17
An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into public opt plan. NO CHOICE
Pg 146 Lines 22-25
Employers MUST pay for HC for part time employees AND their families.
Pg 149 Lines 16-24
ANY Employer with payroll 400k & above who does not provide public opt. pays 8% tax on all payroll
PG 150 Lines 9-13
Business with payroll between 251k & 400k who doesn't provide public opt pays 2-6% tax on all payroll
Pg 167 Lines 18-23
ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income
Pg 170 Lines 1-3
Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay)
Pg 195
Officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access to ALL American's financial/personal records
PG 203 Line 14-15
"The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax" Yes, it says that
Pg 239 Line 14-24
Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor affected
Pg 241 Line 6-8
Doctors, doesn't matter what specialty you have, you’ll all be paid the same
PG 253 Line 10-18
Govt sets value of Doctor’s time, prof judg, etc. Literally value of humans.
PG 265 Sec 1131
Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries
PG 268 Sec 1141
Fed Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs
PG 272 SEC. 1145.
TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!
PG 280 Sec 1151
The Govt will penalize hospitals for what Govt deems preventable readmissions.
PG 298 Lines 9-11
Doctors, treat a patient during initial admission that results in a readmission - Govt will penalize you.
PG317 L 13-20
OMG!! PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells Doctors what/how much they can own.
PG 317-318 lines 21-25,1-3
PROHIBITION on expansion- Govt is mandating hospitals cannot expand
PG 321 2-13
Hospitals have option to apply for exception BUT community input required. Can you say ACORN?!!
PG 335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339
Govt mandates establishment of outcome based measures. HC the way they want. Rationing
PG 341 Lines 3-9
Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs, etc. Forcing peeps into Govt plan
PG 354 Sec 1177
Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs people! WTF. My sis has down's syndrome!!
Pg 379 Sec 1191
Govt creates more bureaucracy - Telehealth Advisory Committee. Can you say HC by phone?
PG 425 Lines 4-12
Govt mandates Advance Care Planning Consultant. Think Senior Citizens end of life
Pg 425 Lines 17-19
Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of atty. Mandatory!
PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3
Govt provides approved list of end of life resources, guiding you in death
PG 427 Lines 15-24
Govt mandates program for orders for end of life. The Govt has a say in how your life ends
Pg 429 Lines 1-9
An "adanced care planning consultant" will be used frequently as patient's health deteriorates
PG 429 Lines 10-12
"advanced care consultation" may include an ORDER for end of life plans. AN ORDER from GOV
Pg 429 Lines 13-25 -
The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.
PG 430 Lines 11-15
The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life
Pg 469
Community Based Home Medical Services=Non profit orgs. Hello, ACORN Medical Svcs here!!?
Page 472 Lines 14-17
PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORG. 1 monthly payment to a community-based org. Like ACORN?
PG 489 Sec 1308
The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which means they will insert Govt into your marriage
Pg 494-498
Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, rationing those

On Facebook, my sister posted a comment about the nature of humanity and how different political groups tend to view people as either basically good or basically bad. The conversation inherently became about the different approaches to social problems by the government, and I began writing a response and realized that it was never going to fit into the comments box, so I decided to post my thoughts here. Below are some but certainly not all the reasons I believe that the Federal government shouldn't be involved in dealing with social problems:

1) The cumbersome and bureaucratic nature of the Fed is not conducive to the fast-paced and constantly-shifting needs of the populace. Hurricane Katrina was a perfect example of this. The Fed was never designed to be a quick-reaction force; in fact our system of checks-and-balances was specifically designed to prevent that type of Federal government. The reality is that the only group in Washington designed for that type of situation is the military, which is not supposed to be operating and running operations in/for States. They're not quite there yet, but I have seen first-hand that we're not very far from that scenario.

2) The Fed's response to every problem is to throw money at it, which has proven time and again to be a losing philosophy. Remember "give me a fish, teach me to fish"? In point of fact, there's not much else it COULD do, because as originally designed its function was pretty purely legislative. Congress passes laws and creates budgets. So their only method for tackling social issues is to pass laws to combat them and budget to fund the programs these laws create. Does anyone look at Social Security as a successful program? But Congress is never going to fix it, because it's a huge source of income for the Fed and it rattles too many cages when anyone steps forward in an effort to do so. That leads me into my next point.

3) Unfortunately, we have a system where politics has become a career for many of the people in Washington, and instead of seeing themselves as civil servants they see themselves as elitist leaders who must guide the nation through every turn. So these people promise all sorts of money and benefits to voters in an attempt to buy another four years in Congress. The more they get for their constituents, the more dependent their constituents become, and the more sure they are to be elected to keep the benefits coming. It's a vicious cycle that has very evidently created a burgeoning welfare state that in just the past few months has grown into a disgustingly-bloated trillion-dollar investment in failure. And try ending a massive program that generates tons of revenue for the government. It virtually never happens, unless that program is tied to the military, which sadly is one of the few Constitutionally-defined responsibilities of the Fed to fund and maintain.

4) The Fed is not poised to help anyone at an individual level. Issues that are small in scale or affect different people differently cannot effectively be fixed by wide-sweeping legislation. The Fed usually hits issues from a 30,000-foot view, so if the problem isn't "one size fits all", there's really no chance that everyone is going to be helped. And honestly, what problems are generic enough that a massive Federal program is going to fix them?

5) As a big believer in the 10th Amendment and the limits that it was designed to create on the Fed, I firmly believe that all these social programs are unconstitutional. If States want to enact their own social and welfare programs, then that's for the States to decide. People have a lot more power and control over what their States do by design. The Fed was supposed to be a quorum of the States, which is why state legislatures used to elect Senators. Not to get off on a different tangent, though.

These are just some of the reasons I hold the opinion I do on this. If one were to begin invoking religion, I would challenge that Jesus never said "Give to Cesar what is Cesar's to make sure those tax dollars get into the welfare system". I firmly believe that the Bible strongly advocates individual responsibility and real, personal love for your neighbor. Not the impersonal, bureaucratic systems that the Fed creates to tackle these issues. I just can't accept that Jesus would be satisfied with us waiting for a broken system to get fixed in Washington to help the poor and needy.

Discuss in the Forums