Societal Decay – Page 9

California’s Ideological Version of the Zombie Apocalypse

Given: The following logical propositions are true:

• Actions have consequences.

• Ideas have consequences.

• Elections have consequences.

Therefore, as we approach the anointing of Gavin Newsom as the next governor of California, I promise that you will see the attacks upon thought and personal beliefs accelerate in ways never seen before in the history of our nation.

Two harbingers of this have already been seen in the legislature—and be warned—they are just the beginning.

California Senate Bill 1146 (2016)

This threatens religious institutions ability to require that students attend daily or weekly chapel services, keep bathrooms and dormitories distinct according to sex, require students to complete theology classes, teach religious ideas in regular coursework, hold corporate prayer at events such as graduation, and so on. In other words, it threatens every practice that makes religious institutions distinct from secular institutions.

“The bill effectively eliminates the religious exemption under current law that allows Christian colleges and universities to operate in accordance with their beliefs, including the freedom to hire only Christian faculty and staff. If passed without amendments, the new law would also very likely disqualify students attending California Christian colleges and universities from eligibility for Cal Grants, a key state-level student aid program.”

California Bill Would Ultimately Erase Religious Schools

Religious leaders and colleges in California claimed victory this week after deflecting a proposed California bill that would have jeopardized state funding for students at religious schools that did not conform to state policy on gay rights.

At stake were hundreds of thousands of dollars in state tuition subsidies for tens of thousands of low-income students attending private religious schools. These subsidies come in the form of Cal Grants that provide substantial subsidies for poor students at private and public colleges.

The bill would have required any school whose students receive Cal Grants to comply with state nondiscrimination law and provide housing for same-sex married couples on an equal basis with heterosexual couples and to provide bathroom access to transgender students based on their chosen gender identity.

As amended, the bill would now be limited to two types of disclosure. First, colleges would have to publicize if they have requested a religious Title IX exemption from the federal government. Second, they would have to report to the state if a student is expelled for morality code violations.

This disclosure-only shift was hailed as a victory by religious schools and their advocates, but the victory may be a fleeting one.

Kristen Soares, president of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, which opposed the bill in its earlier form, said she expects the bill’s author to be back next year.

“This gives us more time to work on this issue,” Soares said. But, she says, she is under no illusion that this compromise is anything more than a pause .

California legislature balks at pulling grants from religious schools over LGBT issues

Assembly Bill 2943 (2018)

A new bill passed by the California Assembly on Thursday would classify the selling or advertising of gay conversation therapy as a fraudulent business practice.

Assemblyman Evan Low (D) said the practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation is ineffective…

California bill would classify gay conversion therapy as a fraudulent practice

A supporter of the concept of the bill, Conor Friedersdorf, wrote in the Los Angeles times, “…to settle what the law really is saying will require a decade of court battles .”

Conversion therapy for gays is awful, but so is California’s bill to ban it

Both the above pieces of legislation (and others I could cite) would be passed under Newsom. Governor Brown may or may not sign the one on Conversion Therapy. The thing you must remember is that all such legislation is just the next step to something else not the end in itself.

Folks, if you are a traditional, orthodox Christian whether you call yourself Roman Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, the State of California has placed you in their crosshairs for the purposes of extinction. You will conform or be persecuted. Sticking to your beliefs and teaching them to your children will have a cost.

The logical next step after private colleges are denied access to the Cal Grant program will be this: if you graduate from an institution that is not eligible for Cal Grants then you will be denied employment in any level of government. This may happen via the backdoor and the State may word the denial in terms of accreditation of institutions or some other weasel words. Perhaps they will require an affirmation of your support for homosexuality or abortion or whatever social issues they wish to attach. It will effectively be a Test Oath to swear allegiance to the power and wisdom of the State.

Truthfully, I’m surprised that current State employees don’t have to do this in some form already. I guess the assumption is that we really believe all the B.S. that they tell us or it just never occurred to them that many of us dissent from the wisdom of the rainbow people in government.

For example, State employees are subjected to sexual harassment training on an annual basis. Employees are required to sign-in at the training but currently no document is required with a signature saying that we agree, support, or affirm all the stuff the legislature says we need to do or believe. If you tune-out about 90 seconds of the one hour presentation then you likely just skipped the token rainbow pug for the year. I foresee the day coming when sitting in the room will not be enough, we will have to sign a pledge to tow the Party Line.

Most folks don’t understand that those elected to the Legislature are not bound by their consciences or oath to support and defend the Constitution; instead, their attitude is if you don’t like what we do then take the issue to court. Otherwise, shut-up and hold on.

The tyranny of the majority is here and they’re coming for you. The ideological version of the zombie apocalypse has begun and it’s an inside job.

Future History Today

Two thousand years from now, some poor child in a history class is going to be presented the following three headlines from today and then asked to explain what caused to downfall of the United States of America.

1 NFL considers proposed 15-yard penalty for kneeling, report say

2 Parents can kick their 30-year-old son out of their home, court rules

3 Publix wouldn’t write Summa Cum Laude on graduation cake due to profanity, SC family says

Folks what more can you really say?

Let’s look at each of these just a bit more.

NFL considers proposed 15-yard penalty for kneeling
The National Football League did this to themselves by allowing politics into the game. The San Francisco Forty-Niners and then the NFL Commissioner allowed this to happen much to my amazement. I watched zero NFL games last season and will watch none until this practice is outlawed. A penalty is not enough. It is a half measure from a group of spineless owners that have been given billions of taxpayer’s money for the sole purpose of playing a stupid game. The owners should have their government protected monopolies removed and be forced to seek only private funding in the future.

Update 05-23-2018

On Wednesday, the league announced new guidelines that require players who are on the field during the anthem to stand, but allows individuals who decide to skip the “Star-Spangled Banner” to remain in the locker room.
Liberal media outraged after ‘racist’ NFL adopts ‘un-American’ policy to combat national anthem protests

Parents can kick their 30-year-old son out of their home.
As I have written about before, “The compassion of the wicked is cruelty.”

The man in this story is selfish and by all accounts has failed to honor his parents. The Commandment doesn’t say honor your mother and father only when you agree with them or when they deserve it, it is not qualified by such weasel words.

A verse in Proverbs comes to mind but it doesn’t really mean what you think it does.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6

Accordingly, Prov. 22:6 is not so much a promise, as it is a solemn warning. Parents, if you train up your child “according to his way”—in other words, if you quit the hard work of loving discipline and just give in and let your child have his own way—you will reinforce his sinful proclivities to such a degree that, apart from supernatural intervention, “even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Proverbs 22:6: Train Up A Child His Way or God’s Way

Dr. Crenshaw is a smart guy and the article that I quoted above is well worth the time to read it.

Publix wouldn’t write Summa Cum Laude on graduation cake due to profanity
For those of you on the Left Coast, Publix is a grocery store chain which apparently has a bakery with employees that were given average publix-school educations. Since Latin is no longer taught, I’m not that surprised. Most folks now-a-days only think in terms of bodily fluids and how to satisfy their base urges. The thought of these words being associated with academic excellence is clearly beyond their comprehension. Clearly Publix employees only use that word in another context when messaging their friends on social media.

So, student of the future, what did you conclude about the state of our Republic and its demise?

We had a saying in our era that “Hindsight is 20/20”. But sadly, the people living during this time never comprehended the peril that we were in. The Good Book warns us that “As in the days of Noah…”

Universal Trouble in American Churches

Folks we have a problem of biblical proportions in our midst and most people haven’t noticed.

Let me give you a few examples. All are true because I know the people personally. My complaint is that these examples are not the exception but the rule (or breaking thereof).

#1
At about age 12, a young girl goes to a church camp and makes a profession of faith. She raises her hand, walks the aisle, prays the sinner’s prayer, and the whole deal. She later gets baptized again—because her new church doesn’t recognize her infant baptism. She begins attending the church on a regular basis—Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. Towards the end of high school, she becomes sexually active and is four months pregnant when she graduates. She marries the young man who has no history of church attendance.

After the baby is born, she and her husband move from where they are to a major city so her husband can pursue better career options. A few years later, another child comes along. When the second child is very young, she finds it too difficult to manage both children on Sunday mornings and quits going to church.

#2
Boy and girl grow up in the church. After college, they marry and have two children. The family regularly attends church. The children grow up thru the ranks, nursery, children’s church, profession of faith, baptism, youth groups, etc. Then they go off to college. By the end of college, neither child goes to church or has any part in the church.

#3
Five siblings are adopted by a young Christian couple. The family has no electronic devices for entertainment. They watch no live television; only VHS or DVD recordings that are screened by their parents. They are homeschooled and only associate with other homeschool families. The family is wary of sending their children to college. They strongly believe in courtship and oppose dating. My point is this is a very different paradigm than either of the churches described in examples 1 & 2.

When oldest child is 19 or 20, he renounces God and is excommunicated from the church. At the same time, he enlists in the Marine Corp and burns every bridge in his life on the way out of town.

#4
Child is born into family with three sisters. His dad is a minister. He is raised in the church. When he is about seven, dad has a stroke and nearly dies. Dad takes about two years to be able to walk and talk. Others in the denomination, remove all pastoral duties from dad. When dad tries to resume his duties, the new minister that was tending his church won’t let him. As a result, the family can’t even attend services at their own church. After a period of time, dad is transferred to a church in another state. Dad struggles with fledgling mission church for many years. Finally, it folds and he takes a church in yet another state. About two years into his duties at the new church, dad dies of a heart attack. Two years later, the son—barely into his 20’s—is living with his girlfriend, campaigning for Bernie Sanders, and advocating for abortion on demand.

I could go on listing many more that have fallen. Irrespective of denomination or upbringing or socioeconomic circumstances, the Church in America is hemorrhaging members, especially its youth. No surprise in a statistical way but it is in the sense that no orthodox Christian group has a solution.
Is the church model broken? Is the message lost? Why has Christianity fallen out of favor?

Never has the Bible been so available to the masses. The Gideon’s International, Wycliffe Bible Translators, and of course the Internet have made the Bible available to virtually every tribe, tongue, and nation in the world. Within the next few years, everyone in the world will have the Bible available in both print and digital formats.

In parts of Asia and Africa, Christianity is flourishing like never before but Secularism in the West has opened the floodgates to Islam and Atheism.

In the past, it has been tempting for some within the church in America to dismiss the declining numbers as the exodus of those that are really not believers—I have heard some people making this exact claim—but my experience and those of others prove this is a false claim. No, what is occurring is actually worse than that.

Whether you believer in a profession of faith (age of accountability and all that stuff) or a covenantal view (with paedo-baptism and paedo-communion) or something in between, the youth in our churches are not making the faith of their fathers their own.

As I ponder this subject, the words of Keith Green are rattling around in my head. Below are excerpts of a two part article that he wrote many years ago called What’s Wrong With the Gospel? I beg you to read these articles and be mad; not at Mr. Green but with a righteous indignation.

h Green—October 21, 1953 – July 28, 1982

Unless people are truly convicted of sin, if they do not fully see that they are totally condemned by the requirements of God’s Law, then it is virtually impossible to show them the need for a savior. Why, what would they need to be saved from? Fun?

Another stranger-than-truth doctrine is that blessed refuge of backsliders called “the carnal Christian.” In this example of pretzel-logic, we are led to believe that any “believer” who isn’t really “walking with the Lord” at the present time, and is indulging in the things of the world and the lusts of the flesh, can still be considered a “Christian,” but not a Christian of the 1st class, no, a Christian of the 2nd class… a “carnal Christian.” Here we have a case of the “believer” who doesn’t believe. Oh, he still “believes” that God is God, and that there is a heaven and hell, and so on (but don’t forget, the devil believes all these things too!-James 2:19). He knows all the right things to say to convince granny, the pastor, and his Christian friends that he’s still hanging in there. He even sort of believes it himself. Seems he’s got everybody fooled – everybody that is, except God! The Bible is clear that “If we say we’ have fellowship with Him, and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ” (I John 1:6)

One of the most well-known phrases of modern evangelism is “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life!” But the sober, biblical truth that needs to be presented to the sinner’s mind is “You have made yourself an enemy of God, and in your present state of rebellion there is absolutely no hope for you.” In fact, God’s “plan” for the sinner at this point in his life is to separate him from His presence forever, in hell. However unpopular or unlovely that may sound, it is the only truth and reality about anyone who is an enemy of God through sin.

If people come to Jesus mainly to get a blessing, or only to get forgiveness, they will ultimately be disappointed. But if they come to give Him their lives in honor and worship, then they will truly have forgiveness and joy – more than they could ever imagine! (I Cor. 2:9)

But there is a great danger when man (or even God) designs a tool to be used for God’s glory, and then as time passes, people’s attention starts to be fixed on the tool itself, rather than on the glory of God (which it was originally designed to promote).

The greatest reason I believe that God can be grieved with the current use of such tools as the “altar call” and “sinner’s prayer” is because they can take away the conviction of the Holy Spirit prematurely, before the Spirit has time to work repentance leading to salvation. With an emotional splash that usually doesn’t last more than a few weeks, we believe we’re leading people into the Kingdom, when really we’re leading many to hell – by interfering with what the Spirit of God is trying to do in a person’s life. Do you hear? Do you understand that this constitutes “spiritual abortion”? Can’t you see the eternal consequences of jumping the gun, trying to bring to birth a baby that isn’t ready?

It pains me to see the beautiful truths of Scripture being plastered about like beer advertisements. Many think it is wise to “get the word out” in this way but, believe that we are really just inoculating the world with bits and pieces of truth – giving them their “gospel shots.” (And we’re making it hard for them to “catch” the real thing!)

In my studies of the life of Jesus, it has amazed me that He never had “a follow-up program.” It was usually His habit to let people “follow Him up.” He never had to go door to door, looking for that fellow who He healed last week, wanting to share another parable or two. He always seemed to have the attitude of, “If they want life, then they’ll have to come and follow Me.”

Can’t you see what fools we are? We preach a man-made, plastic gospel. We get people to come forward to “the altar” by bringing psychological pressures that have nothing to do with God. We “lead them” in a prayer that they are not yet convinced they need to say. And then to top it all off, we give them “counseling,” telling them it is a sin to doubt that they’re really saved!

Beloved family, the world around us is going to hell. Not because of communism, not because of television, not because of drugs, or sex, or alcohol, or the devil himself. It is because of the Church! We are to blame! We alone have the commission, the power, and the truth of God at our constant disposal to deliver sinner after sinner from eternal death. And even though some are willing to go… into the streets, the prisons, foreign lands, or even next door, they are taking a watered-down, distorted version of God’s message which He has not promised to anoint. That is why we are failing. And unless we admit that we are failing, then I’m afraid there is no hope for us or the world around us. We have the choice between causing eternal tragedy for our whole generation, or bringing our beloved God a whole family full of “good and faithful servants.”

What’s Wrong With the Gospel?

What’s Wrong With the Gospel?: Part I

What’s Wrong With the Gospel?: Part II

Mark Twain is credited with saying, “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics” but that young people are fleeing the organized church cannot be disputed. Here are a few sources to explore but please be aware as you read that some numbers are teens raised in the church and others are all teens.

At an unusual series of leadership meetings in 44 cities this fall, more than 6,000 pastors are hearing dire forecasts from some of the biggest names in the conservative evangelical movement.

Their alarm has been stoked by a highly suspect claim that if current trends continue, only 4 percent of teenagers will be “Bible-believing Christians” as adults. That would be a sharp decline compared with 35 percent of the current generation of baby boomers, and before that, 65 percent of the World War II generation.

While some critics say the statistics are greatly exaggerated (one evangelical magazine for youth ministers dubbed it “the 4 percent panic attack”), there is widespread consensus among evangelical leaders that they risk losing their teenagers.

Evangelicals Fear the Loss of Their Teenagers

These are the most recent and most cited studies that I could find:

88%: The Southern Baptist Convention’s Family Life Council study in 2002 (unfortunately, I can’t find the actual study and methodology)
URL SBC Annual Meeting

70%: LifeWay Research study in 2007 (LifeWay also found only 35% eventually return)

66%: Assembly of God study (again, I can’t find the actual study, only references here and there)
URL AOG

61%: “Barna study in 2006—“Most Twentysomethings Put Christianity on the Shelf…”

Source
How Many Youth are Leaving the Church?

On the other end of the spectrum, here is an article about children that stay in church.

Link: 3 Common Traits of Youth Who Don’t Leave the Church

I feel strongly about this issue but I am happy to give credit to others that have come before me in taking the time to write about it. My prayer is that I will do better with my teenage son.

Ready Player One: Review of the Review

On my recent trip to Ogden, Utah, I treated the family to a trip to the movies to see Ready Player One. We enjoyed the movie but I was curious about how much it deviated from the book because experience has taught me that movie makers take extreme liberties with their depictions of books and other source material.

The basic plot of the movie is that the future is a miserable, dystopian place to live so people spend as much time as they can in a virtual world. You can be anyone or anything in this world. People navigate thru the world as avatars. You can be a Star Wars Storm Trooper, a World of Warcraft character, Iron Man, or anything else. The only stipulation is if you die in the virtual world then you lose all your stuff that you have accumulated and must begin again. The inventor of this virtual world created a treasure quest that if completed would allow the winner to own the virtual world. Think-winner of contest owns Internet and all its content-and you get an idea of the prize.

I often read articles on a website affiliated with the SyFy Channel (formerly SciFi Channel)—even though we are cable cutters and I haven’t watched their programming in many years. This website has changed names several times over the years most recently changing from Blastr.com to SyFy.com. It is owned by NBCUniversal Media, LLC whose parent company is Comcast. So when I read content on this website I know two things, first that the person writing an article is getting paid for their contributions and secondly that they represent the company for which they work—at least to some extent.

I found only one review of the movie on their website. I thought I would be getting a perspective from someone who would critique the movie either in comparison to the book upon which it was based or at least in terms of how well Steven Spielberg did in making the movie.

If someone wanted to be critical of the movie—irrespective of the storyline in the book—they could complain on three points:
• The movie is a typical hero journey movie, average or misfit young person discovers an ability or aptitude as he begins a quest, gets discouraged along the way and overcomes adversity to succeed
• Corporations (and governments) are always the bad guys
• Hero falls in love with girl that doesn’t like him at the beginning but their relationship helps him to prevail

I began reading the review and it was clear that it went off the rails very early and into an alternate reality.

You’ll see He-Man running into battle alongside Catwoman, and Harley Quinn hanging out in a dance club in The Oasis, the virtual world where gamers intermingle. But these aren’t the characters you know and love. Within the movie, these are the chosen avatars of anonymous gamers around the world. Their cameos tell us nothing new about He-Man or Harley, as they are in no way bound to behave as they would in canon.

Why does the reviewer expect avatars to behave as they would “in canon” meaning in comic book character. Which canon is this reviewer talking about? The one where Superman marries Louis Lane or the one where he marries Lana Lang? I found a website listing 18 different women that had a love interest in Superman and this is just one comic book character out of thousands. Thanks to J.J. Abrams, what is canon in Star Wars or Star Trek anymore? It is ludicrous that the reviewer expect that avatars must only behave as they do “in character”.

Reluctantly, the reviewer later concedes:

But its use in Ready Player One doesn’t tell us much about The Oasis, except that someone somewhere likes He-Man.

Yeah, this is why it’s an avatar.

Lest you think this dense person admits that an avatar is an avatar, the author then starts a rant about the Iron Giant. Why, because the Iron Giant shoots a bad guy and that is out of character for him to behave like that. Seriously.

A big element of promoting Ready Player One has been showing its inclusion of the Iron Giant, the beloved robot at the heart of the adored 1999 animated feature. In his own movie, the Iron Giant’s defining moment is when he declares, “I am not a gun.”… He is a hero who refused to be a weapon but still saved the day.

In Ready Player One, the Iron Giant is an avatar of top-notch gamer Aech. Despite the fact that the titular character’s entire arc in The Iron Giant was about how he chose not to be the weapon, Ready Player One only uses him as a giant gun in its climactic battle. Some are already venting their frustrations on Twitter about this misuse of the definitely anti-gun character. But this isn’t even the only assault on Iron Giant fans that this movie has in store. Because when Ready Player One does decide to be true to this character, it’s to kill him.

Ok, so despite admitting that the Iron Giant is an avatar and not the character from the children’s movie, the author of this review has a tantrum about the giant shooting his gun—in self-defense I might add. All I know at this point is how much this person hates the Second Amendment but never worry because she is just getting warmed-up.

Hubris is defined as: excessive pride or self-confidence.
synonyms: arrogance · conceit · conceitedness · haughtiness · pride · vanity · self-importance · self-conceit · pomposity · superciliousness · feeling of superiority · hauteur · uppitiness · big-headedness

Now we get to the real core of the reviewer’s complaints against the movie; she hates it because the movie doesn’t bend over shamelessly to validate her lifestyle. Since when does the rest of the world have an obligation to so?

A more caustic element of Ready Player One is the way it uses allusions as a litmus test of cool. In one scene, Parzival readies for a virtual date with Art3mis, and decides he’ll wear a suit from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. On one level, it’s supposed to show her he’s cool enough to know this cult classic. But, he tells his confidante Aech, it’s also meant to see if Art3mis will get it. What’s implied here: is she a real fan, or some Fake Geek Girl? Of course, Art3mis—the manic pixel dream girl that she is—recognizes it and thinks he’s super cool, because Ready Player One is nothing if not a fantasy for straight-fanboys who dream of hot gamer chicks who’ll get all their references to obscure (or not that obscure) sci-fi. But that’s not the end of this tedious testing thread.

The story of Ready Player One’s hero Wade Watts suggests there is one right way to fan. Notably, the one who figures out this one true path is a straight, white, cisgender fanboy —which suggests that to be a “Real Fan,” you must like things on the terms of dominant (and often exclusionary) fanboy culture. Spielberg could have opened up things if the characters of color or women took a stronger role in the film. But despite the heroics of the other members of the High Five, they are ultimately sidelined as sidekicks to Wade. Alternately, Spielberg could have explored new pathways into the familiar characters he folds in by using familiar avatars to explore elements of fanfiction, a sphere of fandom that’s often more female and LGBTQA+ friendly.

Ready Player One feels like Spielberg dumped out a collective toy box, but wasn’t interested in playing with its incredible contents. It’s a wasted opportunity, and worse yet a lazy exploitation of geek culture that promotes its more toxic elements of sexism, self-righteousness, and fan-versus-fan hostility. What could have been an inclusive celebration is instead determined to divide us.

For those that haven’t seen the movie, it features kids and adults of a variety of races and genders but because the author can find nothing blatantly homosexual promoting in the film, her conclusion is that it is a dud and “wasted opportunity”.

Sorry babe but neither Steven Spielberg nor any of the rest of us need to conform to your views or values. The world at large does not exist to validate your life choices, this is hubris.

Folks if this article had appeared on the Huffington Post or some other website I would just ignore it but since it is on a site paid for by one of the biggest media companies in the world I think it deserves a rebuke.

Ready Player One is a fun romp and great entertainment for the whole family.

Oh, the ridiculous review quoted above can be found here:
Link: How Ready Player One fails geek culture

Stormy, Romance, and Trump

On Sunday, CBS’s 60 Minutes is scheduled to air a segment on Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels.
In it, Trump will be berated for paying women for sex and giving gifts.

Also circulating is this story:

Stormy Daniels’ attorney hinted on Thursday that he may have hard evidence that the adult-film actress had an affair with President Trump…

Link: Stormy Daniels’ lawyer posts photo of mystery disc in a safe

“Hard evidence” in the porn industry? Last I heard, they only cared about one thing being hard but I’ve never heard it described as evidence before.

Stormy is getting all the attention now but waiting in the on deck circle is Karen McDougal. McDougal is a former Playboy model that reportedly had a relationship with Trump in 2006.
Link: Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal says Trump tried to pay her after making love

Folks, for the sake of this post, I will stipulate that Trump did pay women for consensual sexual relations and that there are more women that are less willing to come forward and discuss it.

Who cares? Trump has been married at least twice and constantly surrounds himself with beautiful women. Doesn’t our culture teach us that rich guys do that? Hollywood does it in their movies and in real life. They tell us that is a sign of success. How many movies have you seen where the rich guy—usually a bad guy at that—has a swimming pool full of scantily clad women at his beck and call. We expect James Bond to have at least two women in every movie and in the next flick two more and that is just the way he rolls. They are working on the 27th Bond flick so that is at least 54 women this character has bedded with a slam, bam, thank you ma’am.

Rush Limbaugh, the man who claims that you can trust him in a Motel 6 with your wife and daughter was busted with 29 Viagra pills upon returning from a sex tour in the Dominican Republic.
Link: Rush Limbaugh’s Dominican Stag Party

Folks, rich and powerful men have been behaving like this since we were booted from The Garden.

In my freshman year of college, I remember Denise Macintosh telling me that the only thing more powerful than sex and drugs was Jesus. If you don’t know God, you will fill Pascal’s God shaped vacuum with other things to try to fill the void, folks that have the means often resort to sex and drugs.

So why is this attack on Trump taking place?

First, the Liberals are trying to make a moral equivalence between Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.

However, the two are not comparable. Trump and Clinton are both unfaithful to their marriage vows but the similarity end there. Clinton is a serial rapist. He often takes who he wants by force. Clinton also preyed on young women. He appears to have trouble reigning-in his appetites.

Second, the Establishment is trying to drive a wedge between Trump and his conservative base.

Much of Trump’s base has been unmoved by the controversies surrounding his administration. This frustrates the hell out of the Liberals and media types. They keep probing for the issue to separate supporters from Trump so they can bury him. Short of impeachment, they would love to make him a one term anomaly so they can get back to business as usual.

Why Trump Attacks Don’t Phase Supporters
Folks, sorry but I’m not buying this attack on Trump. I know he’s no saint (and he doesn’t claim that he is). I do pray for the man and hope that he will find a saving faith in Christ. Flawed as he is, Trump is the last hope for the Republic.

Look at the demographics and trends when he took office, if Trump fails to turn the direction of the country, there will never be another Republican in the White House; ever. The Democrat Party will do for the other 49 states what they are doing here in California. Obama pushed the country to the brink of oblivion and now is the tipping point that will determine if the Republic has a chance of survival. The issues at stake are bigger than any man but as Providence would have it, the burden has fallen on a blue collar guy that has a New York attitude. Mr. Trump, I’m not alone in wishing you Godspeed in your administration.

Who Led the Walkout on March 14th, the Students or the Teachers?

Faithful followers, your humble correspondent intercepted a communique from the Elk Grove Teachers Association by facsimile at the beginning of this month regarding a student led walkout protest in regard to the recent shooting in Florida. As a note to the CRA readers and the occasional Park offspring that read this blog, we do not condone any part of the shooting in Florida, this is merely to point out that fault lies with parents, teachers, and the students during these subsequent walkouts nationwide.

First of all, to the teachers and parents of this country, you are both directly responsible for this radical walkout, let me explain. When William and I were young lads many moons ago, if us students planned a protest or demonstration we would be instantly shot down, by said teachers and parents. The words, “sit down, shut up”, or “life isn’t fair” were uttered constantly. If we didn’t obey, a subsequent trip to see the principal and a phone call to your parents and likely a suspension was warranted. Yes, these were the days that a parent (or educator) could spank you so hard you couldn’t sit down for a day or two.

Oh, the good ole days…

Fast forward twenty some odd years and we get to the current political climate. Now you have a generation of 40 to 55 year-old parents whom after having their feelings and voice suppressed want their children/students to do their bidding for them. My reasoning, someone explain to me why a local K- 8 grade school had a massive walkout here? When I was in Kindergarten through 8th grade school I was more worried about whether we would be playing football or basketball during recess and hoping I wouldn’t get cooties from girls, hence I find it very hard to believe these same students today could decide to walk off campus in a protest! I didn’t know who the president was and definitely didn’t know much about gun violence. But wait; what about social media? No K-8th grade student is that plugged in; sorry to say, these protests were all led by their parents and teachers; sorry.

Let’s face it, sadly we live in a world that has become very politicized, and filled with breaking news, not correct but being the first to break it. This political climate started during the end of the Bush II administration and has progressively gotten worse since the election of CRA enemy Donald J Trump.

Let me take a couple of steps back and try to make sense of this for you. It used to be that a teacher’s job was to teach, and this job didn’t pay well, but the benefits and having summers off coupled with the love of children and joy of teaching outweighed the salary part. Currently, teachers believe they should be paid north of 100k to start, and get the same great benefits, coupled with no accountability at all. Actually, this is not far off, some school districts start at 75k, have great perks, and most importantly grant tenure after just 2 years of teaching! Yes folks, they get a “you can never be fired pass” after just 2 short years!
(Editor’s Note: while technically two years, the administration approves and submits the tenure paperwork when the new teacher is about 18 months into their teaching gig.)

It used to be if you wore a Reagan/Bush/Clinton shirt you were sent home or told to turn it inside out. Now you can wear a “F**k Donald Trump” or “Kill a Cop” shirt and if you’re a teacher, you’ll be eligible for sainthood and if you’re a student you are accounted as “a forward thinker.” The problem is people who have no business teaching are now in the classroom because they view teaching similar to being a doctor or a lawyer, it’s a money making career. Go to a local school, look at most of the teaching talent, I wouldn’t hire most to work the till at your local Burger King let alone teach my child! Don’t believe me? Go complain to the principal or the school board about this, you would be labeled as a racist or a homophobe or a bigot. Speaking of school board, WTF has happened to that group, it used to be they fought over should we teach sex-ed to 7 graders or eighth graders, now it’s should we give condoms out to students in 4th or 5th grade? Or we need to pass a school bond to make gender neutral bathrooms, or to create a safe space or best summed up at a local charter school out here a “Peace Pole.” Well I guess a peace pole is better than a stripper pole, seeing the number of teachers arrested for having a sexual relationship with students so far this year already…but I digress.

Politics has no place in our schools or class rooms, however all that has changed as well. These classrooms have become a propaganda machine for left leaning groups looking for lambs to lead to the slaughter later in life. I don’t want you to believe me; just ask one a question to see for yourself. Ask who the President is, you will likely get a very serious response of “He isn’t my president” “He was helped by Russia” “He is a racist”. The answers run the gamut. Then ask about Barak Obama, the answers will be completely different; they have been fed propaganda by their teachers in order to create a permanent voting class for dependent liberals.

So now I will tie this all into the protest, point by point as taken from this intercepted communique from Elk Grove Education Association.
Click here for EGEA Memo

1. Do NOT advocate certain political positions or encourage students to participate in a non-authorized student demonstration.

Well this is fresh, so they can pander all they want on any other day, but don’t you dare state or advocate a political position during the protest? Heck why not play the Anthem of our Country, you have probably already conditioned your sheeple to take a knee during that! Additionally, non-authorized? What the actual heck, if you’re under 18 and something wasn’t authorized as stated above, sit down, shut up, and learn.

2. You should not be perceived to be participating in the activity. Instead, your role during such activities should be supervisory.

Again, what the heck! You should participate, you should supervise? Please explain the difference to me between don’t participate but supervise? So, I can walk off as a teacher but hide behind the excuse that I need to supervise little Mike on his way off campus? What about the other students? Is Mike 18? Why is he allowed to leave without parent consent and being present with said child? Hell, supervise; 7/9ths of teachers can’t supervise properly during yard duty let alone a protest!

3. Follow instructions and plans of your site administrator. Some sites may be planning activities during this event.

Site administrator? What are we talking about here a website? As far as activities being planned, there is an activity planned that day it’s called a faux Donald Trump Protest, these kids don’t know anything about the circumstances of the shooting they just hate Donald Trump, because their teachers and parents told them too. Additionally, was there a permit pulled for this protest because they took place on public property, or was it exempt because Donald Trump?

4. Do NOT prevent a student from leaving your class who wants to leave. Follow your site procedures about reporting this behavior. Do NOT question or draw attention to a student’s participation or choice not to participate.

If a student wants to leave, especially one under 18, fine they can do so if accompanied by a parent (except when going to the local abortionist and then it’s illegal to tell the parents). As far as reporting the behavior goes, give little Mike an A for the day as far as properly following protocols.

So yeah, that’s pretty rich; but it’s right there in black and white. The teachers who tell our students complete untruths regarding Donald Trump, now want to be seen as neutral? That’s preposterous. The real sad thing about all this kerfuffle is most students and even adults have no real idea what happened during and leading up to that shooting. As far as where that lunatic got the gun, or what his motive was, who cares? The SOB is gone from this earth. Maybe we should discuss cyber bullying? The internet is a place where people can be anonymous and bully or troll anyone they please. Maybe we should discuss banning bump stocks and conversion kits, but should we also ask why it is that during an Antifa or Occupy Wall Street rally law enforcement usually recovers a cache of weapons including; rocket launchers, grenades, tommy guns, etc.? Those are far more capable of ending human life than a legally purchased AR-15. Maybe we should discuss arming a few personnel on campus, not open carry but concealed carry. How come these protests didn’t happen during the Obama presidency? Why has the older generation been allowed to ruin America’s future generations for the sake of having their children/students be social justice warriors?

Issues That Are Never Solved

There is an old saying, “he who frames the issue wins the debate”. But what is supposed to happen is that after the debate, (eventually) the issue is solved or voted upon and then we move on. However, sometimes that doesn’t happen. Did you ever wonder why?

Before I proceed on this topic, please understand that I am the messenger. I wish to have readers look at my examples not in terms of agreeing with one side over another but as a political analysis.

I wish to begin with two topics that seem to have no solutions: abortion and immigration.

Abortion
Abortion opponents say that they wish to have government support life and will stop at nothing short of the human life amendment.

A Human Life Amendment can be both a unifying strategy for individuals and organizations and a powerful political tool to discern the true pro-life convictions of our elected officials.
The ultimate goal of the pro-life movement

Abortion supporters want unlimited abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy—this is the status quo under Roe v Wade. Plus, they want you to pay for them with taxpayer dollars. Many see abortion—or the absence of child bearing—as the only way to have real equality with men.

As you can see, there is no room for common ground, compromise, or any other of the usual political maneuvering using such a binary equation.

Immigration
Some folks want to allow everyone that can get inside the borders of the United States to come and then once here, they wish to unilaterally confer upon them all rights and privileges of citizenship without them even asking for it. No assimilation is required. This includes voting, employment and education. Think California once Gavin Newsom is sworn in as governor.

Other folks say they want to deport everyone here illegally. For them, Trump’s wall is just a symbol of the protectionism necessary to insure United States sovereignty. They wish to keep illegals from accessing any of the programs or opportunities available to our citizens. Only those who followed the established path to Green Cards and citizenship are welcomed.

As you can see, there is no room for common ground, compromise, or any other of the usual political maneuvering using such a binary equation.

Yes, there is a segment of squishy people in the middle of both these issues but the people driving the issue tend to be on one side or the other.

My question is why can’t a political solution be found for either issue? My answer is simple. Neither side wants it solved. They would rather have the issue to get votes in the next election than fix anything.

Remember Obamacare and the Republicans? Republicans wanted the issue for campaigning but really had no plan to “repeal and replace” even though they campaigned on that promise for eight years. When they got the chance with majorities in the House and Senate plus a supportive and friendly President, they could pass no legislation because there was no plan.

In the same way, abortion is not about killing or not killing babies, its about votes. Democrats view being pro-abortion as a winning issue for them and most Republicans view being pro-life as being to their benefit. Again, this is just posturing.

I have been told by Liberal Republicans that they wish the pro-lifers would go away because social conservatives have ruined the Party. My response is “simple, get the taxpayer money out of the issue. If you do, abortion will no longer be a political issue.” Think about it, both sides have built their respective fortresses on the issue of “to fund or not to fund”. Yes, there are moral issues involved but without taxpayer money, it is a mute topic at election time for the vast majority of folks.

Immigration is a more complex issue but given a choice of fixing a defective and broken system or having the issue at election time, politicians of all stripes would rather have the issue than fix it.

Conclusion
This ladies and gentlemen is the real gridlock in Washington. Both teams are happier playing “prevent defense” than winning. To strike a decisive blow for your side is to risk galvanizing the opposition. Think of it as trying to steal the other guy’s honey without being stung by their bees in the process. Get as much as you can and still make a clean getaway. This is what passes for modern statecraft.

Or to use a different analogy, we have entrusted our economic harem to the eunuchs in Washington hoping that they won’t screw us too badly.

Society Hits a New Low with the TIDE POD CHALLENGE!

Loyal readers your humble correspondent has finally found a piece of legislation with which he agrees and it’s coming from New York nonetheless. Yes, a bill moving through the legislature there will force Tide’s manufacturer, Proctor and Gamble, to redesign their Tide Pod product.

Proctor and Gamble—Satan’s Chemical Company

If you’re a Tea Party or CRA member (are there any left?), live in your parent’s basement, or just have bad hygiene then you might not know or care that Tide started making laundry pods about 5 years ago to simplify the laundry process. Rather than measuring a cup of liquid or powdered detergent you could simply throw a pod into the wash and Voila, your clothes were magically clean and nice smelling.

All was well, until it was discovered that children were trying to eat the pods since they looked similar to candy and smelled good as well. Tide has responded by coming out with child proof bags, etc. but they’re not working because…well, parents are dumb. Once they reap the consequences of a biological act of momentary gratification, these parents are not interested in watching over their offspring. Instead, they allow their young ones to fend for themselves and some eat these toxic little pods. Said offspring are then rushed to the ER seeking medical attention.

So yeah, go ahead CRA members; tell me how I am in favor of big government (or anti-business) because I want Tide to change the color and scent of their pods, so they are not as inviting to children. If the pods tested like broccoli or cauliflower, think of all the lives that would be saved. Just remember that there are some parents out there who are irresponsible enough to leave these poison packets around within reach of their children and in such cases, government can make a difference.

If you are under 10 and eat a Tide Pod, I feel bad because you were brought into this world by horrible parents. Such parents should even be prosecuted for child endangerment. (I know CRA folks; I’m a big government guy.) Face it, some people in this world, (it’s a very large and growing number) have no business having children at all, let alone at an early age.

However tragic pods may be for young children, the news about them does not stop once they are old enough to know better. Let me turn my fire on to a new, disturbing, and flat out ridiculous new trend among the youth in our country, the Tide Pod Challenge. In this “challenge” you eat/ingest a Tide Pod, then film the aftermath. Apparently, these videos are very viral on YouTube and other sites like Facebook. Essentially you film yourself-foaming at the mouth, choking up blood, or even better…dying!

Why do I say even better dying? Remember the old axiom of journalism, if it bleeds, it leads. In a world where popularity is measured in hits, clicks, and views such videos are a measure of your success. Too bad you won’t be around to see how it turns out.

In closing I will say this, I don’t understand this Tide Pod challenge thing, I likely never will. It’s very sad but I believe legislation is required to get the company to change their packaging for the sake of protecting young children from their parents. It’s even sadder I’m considering visiting my local Costco and buying these in bulk to sell on the streets late at night because this sounds like a legal means by which to make extra money. What happened to the good old-fashioned trying to eat 10 saltine crackers in 5 minutes challenge or hold ice cubes in your hand for 5 minutes challenge? Now the challenges are deadly or worse case could leave you with debilitating side effects for the rest of your life.

Reminder, Tide takes grass stains out of clothes, it is highly toxic, and warns about it being ingested. Doesn’t sound too appetizing to me.

Til next time,

PS. 1 Tide pod for $2 or 3 for $5

San Francisco DA Gives Middle Finger to Law Abiding Americans

Welcome back loyal readers, sorry for the long hiatus but I was convinced of a CRA led Coup-de-tat to take over the Presidency of this country so I had to batten down the hatches and look for shelter. Well, IM BACK! And suffice to say my rage is now firmly directed at the DA of San Francisco County, one George Gascon, who will now be referred to as George Gascan. Gascan the DA that “prosecuted” and I’m using that term very loosely; Jose Zarate, the illegal 5 times deported, 7 time convicted felon, and still on probation in Texas at the time of murdering Kate Steinle. Gascan lost the case on all serious charges, thankfully CRA hated, President Donald J Trump is having his justice department charge him federally. It is of the opinion of William and X that Gascan never wanted to try, charge or convict Zarate, thus a half assed trial occurred, with Zarate being only found guilty of 1 lesser charge. This blog post is not to focus on Zarate. It will focus on the policies recently enacted by the chief law enforcement officer in San Francisco County, George Gascan.

Gascan, for those of you in the CRA, or related by blood or incest to Aaron Park, has extreme amounts of voter given power. For example, run a red light or get caught speeding, a police officer gives you a ticket, and you will pay a hefty fine in court. Gascan on the other hand, has latitude to overrule police officers, and sheriff deputies. Kill someone in cold blood, instead of murder 1, you could get manslaughter charges, charges can be enhanced or dropped all together. I am of the belief power of law enforcement should be given to 1 elected partisan, and Gascan’s next move will prove my point.

On Tuesday, while the unwashed masses were watching President Trump give his brilliant State of the Union speech, Gascan issued an edict saying all prior marijuana convictions will be set aside if they are misdemeanors, and reclassified if they are felonies. Setting a conviction aside means removing it and sealing it from their record. Reclassifying a felony as a misdemeanor is far more troubling in my eyes. With my background in Human Resources I can tell you, if you had a misdemeanor in your background, you check letters of recommendation and you could hire the person in some circumstances, a felony was the electric third rail and was never even considered. This changes everything, because there is no way to tell if the misdemeanor was a reclassified felony, and for what the felony was for. Example, felony narcotic trafficking, could be reclassified as misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance. See how Gascan is making a serious crime look very petty? Word to the wise, a felony conviction almost always carries significant jail time, now these crimes are being labeled as not serious.

I would not have as big of a concern if Gascan implemented this retroactively to when the initiative qualified for the ballot (recently passed in November) but he is going back all the way to 1975! Circa the time the war on drugs was being fought. This is why I have a strong dislike for executive type orders, it takes one do-gooder like Gascan to wipe records clean and create a new liberal voter universe. Orders like these should be voted on by the people, not enacted by an elected partisan hack looking for higher office down the road. Think about it, if you’re Gascan, you are instantly a hero to the anti-police, pro-drug, pro-crime liberal base of the party. Looks great on your resume if you desire to be Governor, or Mayor, or Supervisor in the near future.

However the future of your state/city will look bleak. The downside about San Francisco is what was a flourishing nice tourist mecca, has turned into a crime and filth ridden skid mark on the underpants of society. Seriously, would you go visit San Francisco? Does it even matter if during the day or at night? San Francisco is great if you are into crime, drugs, prostitution, the smell of human waste and urine, and apparently now anarchy is allowed. Remember it’s a sanctuary city now.

Now thanks to George Gascan in addition to prop 47 letting criminals out of jail early and de-criminalizing certain crimes, now we are retroactively removing convictions from people’s criminal records.

Til next time,

PS if you’re a member of the CRA you shouldn’t like Gascan, but I heard he might be against smart meters so I guess there is that.

Editor’s Note: When applying for employment with the State of California (STD Form 678), all questions related to criminal convictions have been purged from the job application form.
Question 10 used to read: “Have you ever been convicted by any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence? ”
Question 11 used to read: “Have you ever been convicted by any court of a felony? ”

Also in the last few weeks, any information on salary history has been forbidden on the form. It has been replaced with the words, “No Longer Required”.

Firefighter Runs Aground for Comments About The Crystal Ship

A Placerville business put a rainbow flag above their store. A person that saw it prominently displayed over the fourth of July weekend was offended—as we supposedly can be under the first Amendment—and posted his feeling on Facebook—also something that we supposedly have the right to do.

The owner of the post has the power to delete the comment and probably block the person—depending on their settings—but instead she goes ballistic and it ends up being a news story.

Per shop owner, Jessica Martin, “He said to, ‘Take down that gay ass flag and it should be replaced with an American flag or a confederate flag.’”

Political action evokes political speech, happens every day in real life.

The store owner’s reaction is puzzling to me.

“We are talking about discrimination, racism, we are talking about so many horrible atrocities of man in this country,” said Jessica Martin who owns The Crystal Ship.

Let’s pull this grammatically rocky quote apart.

Discrimination
• Why is discrimination bad? We all do it every day hundreds of times.
• Do I have a donut or cereal for breakfast?
• Should I eat salad or pizza for dinner?
• Should I park on the street or in the lot?
• Should I buy a green shirt or the blue one?
These are the types of discrimination we use in everyday decisions.

• Likewise, should I shop at the store with the rainbow flag or the one without?

In America, we used to call such reasoning “freedom of choice.”

Racism
Even Martin Luther King’s daughter says that homosexual claims of equivalence with race are BS. Since Dr. King has an acknowledged track record endorsed by Liberals, who am I to argue?

I don’t know about Jessica, but I sure can’t tell who someone sleeps with just by looking at them. Is thinking you can discriminatory?

Horrible Atrocities
• Like maybe voting for Donald Trump?
• Going to church?
• Believing that marriage should be between one man and one woman?
• Believing the Bible is true?
• Believing that homosexual behavior is sinful?
• Believing that Jessica and people like her are under God’s judgment for rejecting the clear teaching of His Word?

Man
• Isn’t it discriminatory to point-out that the author of the Facebook quote is a man?
• Why does gender matter?

Volunteer Firefighter
• Who cares what this guy does for a living or that he is a volunteer firefighter?
• Was he claiming to represent the department? (NO)
• If Jessica’s store caught on fire would the guy show-up to extinguish the fire? Yes, so who cares?

So one thin skinned Liberal gets offended by one guy making a post of Facebook, and the local television station thinks its news?

I get offended on Facebook all the time but I usually don’t let people know how I feel (I have this blog for that).

Oh, the local fire district made the guy retract his comments and apologize to Miss Jessica.

What happened to, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

Link: Volunteer Firefighter’s Post About Gay Flag Sparks Outrage In Amador County