Eliminate Paid Patriotism

Sports leagues collect MILLIONS of dollars each year from the US Military to have color guards, flyovers, giant flags, surprise homecomings and other sentimental events. Yes you read that right. The NFL (and other leagues) makes our military PAY DEARLY for the privilege of coming to the game, which gives the teams a sort of faux patriotism, and they do so with your tax dollars.

“You Found Me” (from “Unbroken: Path To Redemption” soundtrack)

Because The Children Are Worth It

Violence may be on the decline in America. School shootings may be less than they were in the 90’s. Students may be safer from physical harm in schools than they were a generation ago while being in more danger from moral harm. All of this may be true. But nonetheless, a major recurring story in our nation points to the opposite. This is not because our nation is more violent, but it is because the violence is being reported disproportionally.

It is evil to hope for a crisis. It is evil to use a hoped-for crisis to your own political or economic gain. It is often those opposed to liberty who create such crises. And it is the media who directs the attention of the public by deciding what to cover and what to overlook, thus magnifying the situation exponentially.

The group American’s For Class released an 8-step plan to make our schools safer. I strongly suggest you read it for yourself. Here are the 8 points, with the details removed to keep this post brief.

1. Secure the perimeter 
2. Control the flow 
3. Protect the interior 
4. Develop the School Safety Volunteer Network 
5. Increase parental communication 
6. Appoint a District School Safety Specialist
7. Increase Mental Health Services 
8. Establish a School Safety Hotline

I believe these are all excellent steps to begin with. This list should be non-controversial. We know that it isn’t, but it should be. This isn’t a topic that will be solved by merely avoiding controversy, though. So let me add a few ideas written like the rough draft of a bill.

1. Since 97% of all mass shootings occur in gun free zones, we need to abolish gun free zones. Gun free zones in public or taxpayer funded areas are inherently unconstitutional. Gun Free Zones only serve to disarm law abiding citizens. Criminals and murderers might refer to them as Helpless Victim Zones. Private property is exempt from this provision.
2. Any public or taxpayer funded property that insists on remaining a gun free zone (schools, federal buildings, post offices, etc) assumes the responsibility and liability for any injury, damage, death, or other negative result due to a violent act upon those visiting said property. No legally licensed carrier of weapons shall be barred from exercising their constitutional right without consequence. Private property is not included in this provision.

Specific to Schools that are Assisted with Government Funds of any kind

1. With the legal penalties for law abiding gun owners to exercise their constitutional rights removed, teachers and staff at our public schools will no longer be barred from defending themselves and their students with the best means at their disposal. All law abiding citizens with legal access to a school shall be allowed to enter the school grounds without disarming.
2. For the safety and security of every person in the school building, the teachers and staff members who choose to bring their own gun into the school must conceal their weapon and must keep this weapon on their person or in a secured location at all times. Speaking openly with students about their decision to carry a weapon results in a less secure environment for everybody, especially the teacher, and will result in corrective action up to and including a loss of employment, regardless of tenure.
3. Any staff member who reveals other weapon carriers to third parties will be subject to corrective action up to and including a loss of employment, regardless of tenure. If this action is repeated, that teacher will be charged with a felony. The safety of students is paramount. An active shooter should never know who is prepared to end their threat. A staff member should never set another staff member to be the first target of an active shooter.
4. Staff members who decide to carry may join a program that will provide firearms and accessories at a reduced rate and training at no charge. This training includes, but is not limited to, situational awareness, conflict deescalation, marksmanship, first responder medical training, psychological assistance, and shoot/no shoot scenarios.
5. Staff members who have joined this program, should be compensated for their willingness to stand up for the safety of everyone around them, with bonuses for staff members who are able to produce their firearm at times that are random, but places that are private.  There should be no negativity toward any staff member who chooses not to participate in this.

I share all of this because our children are valuable. I share this because there are people who do not value the lives of others or even of themselves. Any action taken to restrict others will only affect those who are already more law abiding than off duty law enforcement officers. The people more likely to perform violent acts will only see more Helpless Victim Zones.

It’s time to live in accordance with the worldview we espouse. It’s time to accept our own national worldview as a reality. It’s time to defend the second most vulnerable people in our country from danger, and it’s clear that posted signs just aren’t doing the job. It has been demanded of us that we do something, If we are to do something, then we need to do something consistent with the ideals of liberty and of personal responsibility and of the reality that bad people are only stopped when good people are empowered.

Nehemiah 4:8-9 English Standard Version (ESV)
And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

You salute the rank

Regardless of your political stance, I think our culture would be wise to take a deep breath and remember something our grandparents understood. You respect people because they are people. You honor those placed over you because you honor the one who placed them over you.

That is true whether you believe that a plurality of districts placed a leader in power or whether you believe the Bible when it says that all leaders are placed in their positions by God. Nobody is exempt from this requirement.

In the USA, you do have the freedom to object to the actions of the leaders. The leaders are not the gods of our country. To find out what idols have been set up over you, you merely need to ask which person or group are you not allowed to disagree with. There is the real tyrant. But I digress.

I didn’t vote for our current president. I haven’t voted for a winning president in many years. But I honor the office of the president, and by extension of that, I honor our president. Because I honor the One who placed him in his office. To do any different would be hypocritical.

Finally to answer an objection before it is asked, Christians are not required to obey unlawful demands by government leaders. When I say unlawful, I refer to demands that are unconstitutional, against lesser (but still valid) laws, or opposed to the law of God. We honor earthly leaders because we honor God. You cannot honor God by breaking His commandments. Therefore, I would not celebrate the sin of others. I believe Romans 1:32 has some negative things to say about Christians offering approval to sinful behavior.

1 Peter 2:16-17
Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

 

“Dare You To Move” from the album “The Beautiful Letdown”

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

The Myth of Marinade

I’ve known about this for a while, but nobody seems to listen. I used to argue this point more, but now I mostly just chuckle to myself and let it go. By looking at the title of this post, you know where I’m going. Marinade is a silly way to waste time before you cook your meats. And how do I know this? Because science.

According to the propaganda arm of cooking known as the USDA, the meats that you would marinate, mostly chicken and steaks, is comprised of mostly water. In fact, 2/3 of the weight of your meat is water. Now look at the ingredients of your favorite marinade. I’m guessing the first ingredient is some kind of oil.

What happens when oil combines with water? Not a whole lot, right? This is why the marinade will flavor the outside of your meat, but it can’t penetrate without being directly injected. And even that injection can only travel along with the fibers of the meat.

America’s Test Kitchen is kind of like a Consumer Reports organization that specializes in cooking. This brief video will agree that marinades will not penetrate meats but will be useful when adding flavor to tofu. But then you run into another problem. That problem is that you are now eating tofu.

I think the next golden calf for me to grind up will be beer can chicken. Have a nice day!

Star Wars: The series that never should have continued

Having finally seen Star Wars, The Last Jedi, I have a few thoughts about the entire franchise.

1. I’m grateful that I only paid the RedBox fee. Had I paid movie theater prices for that movie, I would have walked out and demanded a full refund.
2. I saw enough entertainment in Rogue One to like it as a B-Side Star Wars movie. I wasn’t a fan of the discontinuity of the technology and had a flashback to SpaceBalls while watching it, but as a one off, I was OK with it.
3. I thought The Force Awakens was formulaic, and served only the purpose of passing the baton with a copy/paste of the major Episode IV themes. I maintained an optimistic thumbs up, but wasn’t completely sold on the movie.
4. The Prequels aren’t as bad as many will say. I watched them all eagerly because it had been so long since there was anything Star Wars, but ultimately they consist of great moments surrounded by mediocre cinema.
5. New Hope and Empire Strikes Back are classics that have stood the test of time. Han shot first.
6. Return of the Jedi is really good. I would say great, but the ewoks were pretty stupid and watching them win in combat against Imperial Stormtroopers left a sour taste in my mouth. I imagine they were the idea of Kenner toys.

Star Wars is a great trilogy, followed by poor movies. Which actually brings it down to the cultural level of Rocky, which is also a great movie trilogy, followed by movies that may not be up to par, but at least they are better than all Star Wars movies after Return of the Jedi.

If I even bother to see Solo, it will be via RedBox.

There was a gun scare in my community this week and I’m angry

Yesterday an alert was sounded that a white man wearing black clothes with a backpack and holding a rifle was seen in the vicinity of a Waukee school. This caused the schools to be put on lockdown, an outdoor elementary track and field event to be moved from the High School track to the elementary facilities, uneasiness among the faculty and students, and more. News reporters converged on the town. Everybody had a sense of dread, waiting for the next bit of news.

And as the information trickled in, I began to become angry. Why aren’t they giving us more information? Why isn’t this all over the news outlets? Why haven’t they hardened the schools against attack yet? The day continued on, more or less a normal day, and our daughter got out of school and spent some time with her grandparents.

When we picked her up, I asked her about the event and she didn’t seem too upset about it. But she said that she heard through the grapevine that this gunman had been seen in close proximity to the school by students. When asked why that hadn’t been reported she didn’t know, and honestly I didn’t expect her to know. But then I asked if they got any pictures of this guy, who was walking near the school, but not firing his gun or taking any offensive posture toward anyone. She said no. They stood at the window and watched him for a few minutes, but not a single one of these children thought to pull out their smartphones and take so much as one picture.

That’s odd. These kids are addicted to their phones. And they take photos and videos of everything. Maybe not in a fight or flight situation, but if they are staring out the window at a bunny in the grass, they’re getting photos of it. Probably with Instragram filters. And a whole group of them didn’t think to reach into their pockets to take any pictures. The only rational conclusion of this is that the gunman was Bigfoot.

My spidey sense started tingling.

Fast forward to today, when I first saw this story about a local mother who is also angry. I echo the sentiments of Sara Coen. The fear, the vulnerability, the unknowing, those were very frustrating. The confusion was disorienting and the reports after the fact, while clarifying the situation somewhat, have also sparked some emotion. Anger.

Seriously, the terrorists have won. Does that sound like hyperbole? It did to me until I looked up “terrorism” in the Google. Terrorism is the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.

This gunman, assuming there ever was one, did not use violence or intimidation according to this news report. There was only one report made, and from the released information it was a report of a man spotted near Stivers Ford with a rifle. No information has been forthcoming about what kind of rifle, not that it matters, or whether the rifle was secured in a case, which matters only on a societal base in Waukee, Iowa. Oh, we do know that the man had fair skin, which doesn’t matter, and we do know that he was wearing dark clothes and had a backpack. None of this is illegal in any way. Had he been on school grounds as described, the possession of any weapon would be a felony. But he wasn’t on school grounds. In fact, he wasn’t near any school grounds. 

The closest landmark to the scary man that Google Maps recognizes is Stivers Ford, a great place to buy a Ford vehicle. The closest public school to Stivers Ford is Prairieview school, a transitional school for 8th and 9th grade children, which semi-shares the High School parking lot. Using Google Maps, I routed a drive from Stivers Ford to Prairieview school and found that driving the 2.3 miles under normal conditions would take 5 minutes. But the man was said to be on foot. I need to adjust my calculations here. So make that 34 minutes walking 1.7 miles.

I’m all for safety in our schools. I have some reasonable ideas on how to improve that safety. Perhaps I’ll share them someday. But let’s think about this rationally. A single man with a gun was reported miles away from any school. Nothing this man was reported to be doing was threatening or illegal in any way. And events in the school were transferred to other locations because of this. The learning environment was disrupted. The parents were placed into a state of fear.

And for what? Maybe this guy was returning home after visiting the local gun club. Local what? The New Pioneer Gun Club is located inside the city limits of Waukee. And they’re easy to find when you’re in town. Just listen and head toward the sound of shotgun shells. I’m not saying this guy had been at the gun club. I am saying that the caller who sounded the alarm didn’t know if he had been there or not. They allegedly saw a gun in the community and reacted the only way they knew how.

So the terrorists are winning. But the terrorists, by definition, are not who we may think they are. Terrorism is the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.

There was no violence here. Put that word out of your mind. There is intimidation. It was made against civilians. It was made in the pursuit of political aims. Until Google changes the definition of “terrorism” I can’t say much else about it. Was the Waukee Police Department right to follow up on a report? Yes. Was it appropriate for the schools to be locked down over an unverified report of law abiding activity? No. Were the students placed in fear over this? Yes. Was the fear directed at an inert object, possessing no inherent faculties of good or evil? Yes.

So who is the real terrorist here? I’ll let you come to your own conclusion. It’s not like anyone in this country is listening to any facts that don’t already agree with their presuppositions anyway.

TIL that Prince recorded the album version of Purple Rain in a Minneapolis nightclub

Where were you four years ago?

I was making last minute preparations for the following day. A great day!

To Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the murder of Martin Luther King

Switchfoot and the Art of the Bridge

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a love for the band Switchfoot. Their music, the interaction they have with the fans, the words that Jon Foreman writes, the whole enchilada. I became a fan when the album “The Beautiful Letdown” was in stores, so that would make it about 2003 or so, and since then I have purchased every album they put out, as well as any solo project that Jon has produced. I have seen them in concert several times and love every moment that I’m there.

Their song lyrics are honest and they hit home with the realities of life. It is no stretch for me to say that “Hello Hurricane” was an album that helped ground me during the most difficult time of my entire life. I could see the trouble on the horizon. It was headed my way and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Landfall hit and it was horrific. And after the storm had passed, there was clean up to do, but clean up is something only done by people who had survived the catastrophe more or less intact. And I had survived.

And in my clean up effort, the album “Vice Verses” had some key songs that helped me communicate where I was at. Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually.

Many of the songs the band sings come to a head. Everything leads up to a bridge, and in that bridge, Jon sings something profound. The entire song has prepared you for it, and the bridge is the application of what they are trying to convey to you. Read without context, the lyrics of the bridge may not make as much sense, and if that is the case my best advice is to listen to the entire song a few times. Everything sung before and after the bridge makes sense in light of the bridge.

Home, For Now – A Break

Recently, Switchfoot has announced a well-deserved hiatus from touring. They’ve been busy for 20 years, and I don’t blame them one bit for taking a break. If they never produce another record, their career as a band will not lack for anything. If they do return, which I do expect eventually, I have no doubt that the new music will be awesome.

I am adding a new category to my blog. That category is “Switchfoot Bridges” for lack of a more interesting name. I’ll try and remember to name the posts with the song name and include the album name as well. So if you see a post entitled “Needle in a Haystack Life” or “The War Inside” please don’t get all concerned for me. I’m just remembering the discovery of songs that spoke to me as few others have.

“Your wounds are where the light shines through.”

Buh-Bye YouTube Red. Facebook is on notice.

I’ve been a YouTube Red subscriber for years now. Ad-free videos, YouTube original content (which were pretty lame, to be honest), YouTube Music, and so on. It cost a little something each month, but in exchange, I had a wealth of information and entertainment in front of me. I could learn about sports, a diverse range of political ideas, woodworking tips, sermons, product reviews, marksmanship concepts, apologetics, concerts, cooking and more. YouTube has been established as the dominant medium of informational video on the Internet. My $9.99 a month was given in exchange for a world of uninterrupted content.

But that world is just not worth it any longer. YouTube has been constricting certain viewpoints that don’t march in lockstep with the social engineers of Google. This goes for thoughtful channels such as PragerU, who is actually suing YouTube for censorship beyond the contractual agreement they had entered into. This goes for other channels I have enjoyed like Apologia, which is actively spreading the gospel and opposing societal problems such abortion and the distortion of biblical marriage, have received strikes against them for thinking and speaking in ways that are not in complete agreement with Google. To be clear, I am not looking for a service that checks all of my boxes. I am looking for a service that isn’t actively unchecking them.

Not that long ago, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and others were actively protesting the end of Net Neutrality. They had claimed that this Neutrality ending would result in unfair data speeds and in people being censored by those evil ISP’s. But now YouTube is demonetizing their content creators, removing their videos without recourse, and shutting down channels that they disagree with, regardless of the number of fans of those channels. They are the ones censoring their own partners. And I have heard from people who I follow on both Twitter and Facebook who say that the companies are refusing to allow them to advertise on their networks because they disagree with their stance in one way or another.

I don’t know what else to call this, but hypocrisy.

So what am I to do? I have all these DIY honey-do projects lined up and YouTube has been my main source of inspiration to learn the concepts. And I have learned other skills by watching people do them. Should I call a government bureaucrat and demand that they step in?

Only if I want to be a hypocrite myself.

You see, I want to be consistent. I don’t want the government to force someone to bake a cake in celebration of an event that they disagree with. I don’t want the government to force someone to affirm a behavior that repulses them. I don’t believe that a Hilal deli should be forced to serve pork products either. And I don’t believe government should be asked to force YouTube to accept any video outside their existing contracts.  If I were to ask government to get involved in determining what First Amendment rights YouTube has, I would be ceding too much power to a government comprised of extremely polarized viewpoints.

I won’t ask any member of government to advocate for the channels I enjoy. What I will do is voice my displeasure at the constriction of free speech by cancelling the membership that had once benefited my experience with YouTube. This doesn’t mean I can’t watch YouTube videos. It does mean that I would rather deal with interruptions, advertisements, loss of services, and other annoyances than offer up my monthly tribute to the virtual monopoly of video on the Internet.

Trying out wine for the first time

Dayna has expressed an interest in trying out wine. Since I have VERY limited knowledge of wine, we discussed it and decided to try some red wines. I love shopping at Trader Joe’s, their Kenya coffee is the bomb, and they also have a decent (I think) wine assortment. Most notably, they have Three Buck Chuck. So if we don’t like a wine, we’re not out too much money.

I did some investigative research, which means I Googled it, and the top wines in that category I purchased were Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. $6 for two bottles. We’d have a few evenings of wine tasting, probably with chocolate or cheese or something like that. We would feel sophisticated and romantic. We’d find out what the big deal is!

Except for one thing. We were trying out Three Buck Chuck. And either we just aren’t the target market for wines or we were getting what we paid for. I poured two glasses tonight and handed one to Dayna. Her face was something to behold! I took a sip and asked her how she would describe the flavor. Tart? Bitter? Be honest with me.

“I think it tastes like liquid garbage!”

All this to say that we may need some suggestions from others. Preferably for a wine that won’t end up down the kitchen drain.

NFL Playoff Predictions: Wild Card Round

Welcome to the Wild Card Round of the NFL Playoffs, the one week where the home stadium is a true advantage, with the home teams historically winning 75% of the time. With that in mind, here are my predictions.

Titans at Chiefs
I live in Iowa, where you only see the Titans on television if they are playing the Vikings or Packers. Or if they are playing on a Monday or Thursday night. And that’s assuming that I don’t have something more important to do, which is likely because the Titans haven’t impressed me since…

Look for the Chiefs to take this game by at least a touchdown. Arrowhead Stadium will be rocking and Alex Smith with complete a pass that travels more than 10 yards in the air. Yeah, I said it!

Bills at Jaguars
If you didn’t catch what I said earlier, I live in Iowa. We don’t care about either of these two teams, nor do we know a whole lot about them. Except for a few things. The Bills required the help of Andy Dalton of the Cincinnatti Bengals to get into the playoffs in the first place, which doesn’t speak well for their chances to win a playoff game. If Andy Dalton is your Playoffs good luck charm, you’re going to have a bad day.

The Jaguars will win this game convincingly with their top rated defense and middle of the road offense. Total points scored in this game will be kept under 40.

Falcons at Rams
Iowa boy here. Since the Rams left for California, we stopped caring about them. No, it was earlier than that. Since the Rams had Jeff Fisher as their coach we stopped caring about him. But Jeff Fisher is no longer the coach of the Rams and that is why the Rams are hosting a playoff game. Jared Goff is playing well, which you would expect with one of the best running backs in the NFL supporting him. Todd Gurley should win the MVP of the league. And the Rams should win this game.

The Falcons are eager to get the stink of last year’s Super Bowl off of them, but now that Matt Ryan has returned to what he is, an average NFL QB, they will lose a close game. Here me now, believe me later. Matt Ryan will never be in the Super Bowl again.

Panthers at Saints
“To be the man, you have to beat the man.” is a favorite quote by Ric Flair. Ric is a fan of the Panthers, which is nice and all, but the Panthers have been so erratic this year. They could beat the Saints by 20 or they could lose by 20. It’s just a matter of which team decides to show up. The last two times they played the Saints they lost. And I predict that trend will continue with another loss.

Oh, I’m from Iowa. And I really don’t care about any of these teams. The Chiefs have some local support around here, but this is really a Viking state. Mix in a little Packers and Bears and there you have it. Add to this the fact that the NFL is in a 10% slump of viewership, this would be a great weekend to spend time working on that honeydo list. Earn some brownie points for next week when the Vikings, Eagles, Patriots and Steelers enter the mix.

Oh, and #FireRogerGoodell