Goodbye, Henderson

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It suddenly struck me this morning during my run that today might be the last time I jog the six mile course I do thrice weekly. Next week, I move into a new place about 18 miles from where I am now, and I will set up a course or two around that domicile instead. I don't really know many of the people I see well, but they have come to accept, acknowledge, and even anticipate my presence. The two older men i saw this morning made jokes as usual, and the people who walk their dogs waved. Since I don't know them well, I will simply vanish.

Every three years or so, whether by my own choice or by virtue of the choices of others, I move. Sometimes, like this time, I move a matter of miles, far enough that it constitutes a real move, but not far enough that it completely divides my life by zero. Maybe it's that I'm restless. Maybe it's something else. What I do know is that I will get a whole new set of scenery, which has its benefits.

You find out who your real friends are when you move. For the past month or so, people have impressed upon me that they want to help me pack up or unload or whatever. Yesterday afternoon, the only people who helped me were my parents, who helped load at least 75% of my total early goods onto my dad's trailer, most of which is books. I know some people have work or school schedules that will conflict with when I will actually make the trips, but most people just asked when the party is. I didn't really intend to have one originally to be honest. Then, even though I'm only 18 miles away, we'll see who visits me and who still speaks to me. I have already gone far out of my way in expense, time, and energy to organize and execute activities here. It will be interesting to see who treats me as if I moved to Calcutta...

I leave Henderson much the way I was when I arrived here about three years ago. People came into my life and largely left as quickly as they came. People who said they appreciated me now ignore me or 'unfriended' me. Many people feel sad for me, but I still have what I had when I arrived, and given the upheaval of the last few years in America, that's actually quite an accomplishment.

I had high hopes for Henderson. All I can say and will say here is that I am glad I got a different job here than as a high school science or math teacher. In flexibility there is freedom. Henderson is what it is.

During the last five years, I have spent a lot of time enjoying the scenery. From sagebrush to starscapes, ruins to roadhouses, and mines to mountains, there was a lot of good to see here. I feel sorry for those who live in Henderson who rarely venture from its borders or see no value in anything outside it. I grew up when I moved away, and then again when I moved out.

Unless and until you can establish your own independence, you cannot truly change your stars. As long as you stay where you are, the same signs will govern the nights of your existence and guide you in the same paths. As a one-time dear friend of mine said, it is better to take the road less traveled than one that has been worn down by years of constant trudging, especially if the well-traveled one leads to a destination contrary to what you intended. Goodbye, Henderson. It's been real, and it's been fun, but sometimes it wasn't real fun. Adieu.

Wal-Mart Families

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Last night, I stopped off at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things I needed. I don't usually go to Wal-Mart in the evening, because it's awash with everyone else who is off work, but the sooner I file paperwork with the eye insurance provider the sooner I can get reimbursed for my exam and lenses.

As luck would have it, I was stuck in lines with gobs of other people. Most of them had carts chock full of items to sustain their families, and some people were clearly in violation of the '20 items or less' line. The woman immediately ahead of me in line was there with her four small children. They were a distraction, holding onto items clearly meant for them as if they held the Crown Jewels in their clutches. The eldest daughter kept trying to strike up a conversation with the cashier, who seemed clearly frazzled from what I can only imagine was a rough day.

When time came to pay, the woman swiped her driver's license in the machine. Of course, the payment refused to accept that, and so she had to dig through her purse while maintaining order with her kids in search of a debit card. She turned to me and apologized as she processed the transaction and then said, "It seemed like a good idea at the time to bring them with me."

I think she was as surprised by my response as I was. "It is a good idea," I told her. "If I had kids, I would take them with me too."

The woman behind me, who was there with two of her own children then said, "Aww...that's so sweet!"

Not everyone at Wal-Mart comes in their best clothes or from the best of neighborhoods. Not everyone at Wal-Mart is as concerned with the people behind them in line as they are with their own children or person. This woman was an exception to the stereotype of unwashed, unkempt and uncouth people that many assume frequent Wal-Mart. She was with her family, and that means that for them, Wal-Mart might as well have been Disneyland, because they were with their mother.

Her children may little note nor long forget that particular trip, but they will remember their mother took time with them. When I was their age, I remember I would come home from school, call out for my own mother, and then, satisfied that she was there, I would get to my school work or play. I knew my mother was there, and that made all the difference for me.

I hope that I will continue to meet people like this woman as I shop at Wal-Mart. Forget the price reductions, the one-stop shopping, and the like. You live better when you live and spend time with loved ones, and so I will do my part to make Wal-Mart family friendly when I stand with them in line.

Back to Haunt You

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People who know me know that I am no fan of Halloween. However, as we ponder ghosts and haunting and skeletons, I think of skeletons in the closet that may come back to haunt you.

When I started this blog over two years ago, I was very brave. I decided to go put up whatever I thought in the moment about whatever I felt. Although I was careful to leave some things elsewhere, I wonder what among the words I have written may come back to haunt me. I have not read back through old posts, but I will archive them and print them and reread them at my leisure as I work on other things I write, but I will leave them there. Besides, Google has probably permanently archived them anyway since Blogspot is a subsidiary thereof.

I imagine everyone has said or done something which they would be glad to take back. However, most folks seem convinced that their record is expunged by 'virtue' in their continued existence. Their own memory acquits their past whilst sitting in judgment of everything and everyone else while they hold you to old opinions. It is extremely convenient to be always able to live in your own present while you can simultaneously hold everyone else accountable for their past, to expect others to forgive you while you refuse to do in kind.

Everyone makes mistakes. I am not saying that we pretend their slate is clean, because some of them intend to take advantage of you, but we let them really start over. The tenant of Forgiveness and Repentance speaks of a ‘new man’; not that we treat them as the same people who do only right things but that we treat them as completely new people.

A few years ago, I knew a woman who made promises to me. In the end, I discovered that I was unable to count on her word. Last November, she contacted me and asked if we could be friends. I told her that would depend on her, since she was the one who had decided to despise my friendship, that I would believe it as she proved it. She then appealed to my good graces to borrow $2000 from me, presuming that our prior relationship could be manipulated in her time of trouble. When I explained my financial status and refused the loan, she left, and I have only heard from her once since then. She did not prove she was different, and I would have been unwise to allow the relationship to progress from where it was when she left.

If I have done anything to hurt you, I am sorry. Such was never my intent or disposition, and if you let me know, as far as lies in my power I promise to make it right. The one part of repentance that people conveniently omit is “Restitution”, in which they set things right. Without that, your repentance cannot be genuine or permanent, and you have not become a new person.

We are fortunate that sometimes we can edit things in our lives. With the dawn of the internet, that’s no longer as easy. People used to have long enough memories; now we have archives that eliminate the need for a good memory. Hence, it is easier to acquit yourself and open up old wounds when necessary to afflict and torment others.

I said what I meant, and I meant what I said. I wish I were a better man. I honestly do try. In the end, I suspect that Marc Antony’s funeral oration will prove as prophetic for my poor soul as it was for Ceasar’s, that “the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones”. I hope that I am better now than I was when I started this blog- smarter, wiser, more patient, a better example of faith, hope and charity. Let the readers decide. I will continue to do and say what I feel is right no matter what others may say. After all, the experts are often surprised.

Voter Fraud in NV

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There are already reports of voter fraud in Nevada. Voter fraud is essential to Democrat victory. There is a long-standing joke that Democrats can count on dead people and illegal aliens to cast their ballots for Democrats, and other stories report that Democrats are bribing votes with free food at polling places and gift cards. The Secretary of State mediates all disputes of voter fraud, and Ross Miller is poised to shut down any investigation of irregularities at the polling place.

For the last several election cycles, the Democrats have been clandestinely and quietly working to ensconce Democrats in the office of Secretary of State in battleground key voting areas. They have been largely successful. The Secretary of State project speaks of ‘making sure every vote counts’, but it’s really about making sure that every vote for a Democrat gets counted. You see this in totalitarian regimes where a dictator somehow garners 97% of the vote even though we all know his people and people around the world think he’s awful and should be ousted. With Harry Reid on the ballot this election cycle, it is even more interesting to watch because his son Rory is the County Commissioner and responsible for making sure voting is secure and because the Secretary of State is a Democrat too. Rest assured that I will make a hullabaloo if my voter machine has Harry preselected.

The Secretary of State project is not necessarily interested in you. It seems to be connected with a slieu of left-leaning organizations and legislation (as seen on its website) like Rock the Vote, the DISCLOSE Act, and the defeat of Republican incumbents and protection of Democrat ones. They are particularly proud of ousting the Republican Secretary of State in Montana in 2008. Apparently a ‘fair secretary of state’ means a Secretary of State who is a Democrat.

I am familiar with the machines and the election process. I also know that the paper copy is not actually used for verification purposes or a recount, and so it may be impossible to know just how many elections have been fraudulent or may yet be. Without actual programming, the machines are, as Lomax claims in the Examiner article linked above, set up so you can verify selections and change them if they are wrong, and if God forbid the machine just won’t do what you like, contact the team leader and vote manually. It can be done. I know. However, they could program it to count a vote for Reid no matter for whom you vote and still report to the screen what you think you selected.

We have become highly reliant on technology, even in a time when the military reports cyberattacks as the greatest threat. Since so much ‘foreign’ money comes into Nevada, both from overseas as well as other states, it is theoretically possible that someone is manipulating the system to their advantage. Hence, it is even more important that you nominate, support, and select men and women of virtue. Virtuous people are not perfect, but they are the most likely to do what is right instead of what is right for them and them alone.

In this election cycle, we have heard a lot about the problems and the people who protract them. What we would like to hear is solutions. As a Biochemist, I have spent over ten years coming up with solutions, and the solution to all of our problems is not government, it is virtue- in politics, in economics, in your own family, and with your neighbors. Seek out good and wise and, above all, virtuous men to be the guardians of civilization, for only those who can govern themselves can rightly govern this people.

It’s not the vote that counts; it’s who counts the votes. –Josef Stalin

**I have been a registered Democrat since 2000**

Urgent and Important

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Monday, I walked into work 45 minutes early, and there was already a frantic instructor in my laboratory going through the fridge looking for something. I had another emergency with which to deal, and so I started that before I got to work on her requests. As the day wore on, I began to think about emergencies and crisis because everything is 'on demand' unless it involves what I demand. You expect me to be available for you without having to return the favor.

I know that different things matter to different people. Much human conflict comes from different perspective on what is urgent and important. There are things that are urgent that are not important and things that are important that are not urgent. Some things are both urgent and important, and some are neither. Much of that depends on your perspective. With changing times and changing values, these words mean different things. I will address what they mean to me.

Many things are urgent. Those are things that require an answer right now. Sometimes, my answer is “come back later”. When my phone rings, I don’t jump up to answer it immediately. Sometimes I am busy. I figure that however urgent it may be, if it’s really important you will leave me a message, but many people do not. When the trash man is down the street or the phone rings, or someone needs me to come readjust the digital microscope right now, those things are relevant to the moment, and if I don’t do them, they don’t really matter.

Some things are important. Those are the things we probably should be doing, like cleaning the bathroom, reading to our children, or voting next Tuesday. Important things really matter, and what you classify as important reflects your beliefs, values, and norms. People make time for the things that are important to them.

Some things seem either urgent and important but are not really either one. The score of your high school football game, most hunger pains, most fads, etc., fall into this category. Your team will be made of completely different people playing teams made of completely different people next year. If you don’t eat, assuming you have eaten that day, many cravings pass. Maybe the style will cycle around to what you already own next year, and you can save the money on a new wardrobe that’s only good for the season. That happened to me in high school, much to my surprise.

Other things are urgent and important. Those actually depend heavily on your perception. For me, the election is both urgent and important, because I have a week in which to vote, and I won’t get to again for at least two more years. If a family member were sick or dying, that would be urgent and important, or if my own health were threatened. Were I to suddenly lose my job, finding a new one would be urgent and important so I can pay my bills, although the bills are not important in and of themselves, urgent though they may be. Most of the things that are urgent and important involve the people in our lives who matter to us, in particular our families, friends, and other loved ones.

Someone said that “poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine”. Although the situation you create may be urgent to anyone and important to you, usually if I was left out of the planning and execution, but especially if I stand to gain nothing from helping out, it is quite frankly unimportant to me. Normally, I try to be a nice guy anyway, where it is wise to be, but don’t let other people’s welfare come at the expense of your own. You cannot give to others if you are destitute yourself. This is especially true when their idea of charity goes in only one direction- to benefit them.

Things from your past that didn’t make it to your future were not really important. Let that be your guide. Right now, I have urgent, albeit unimportant business to which I choose to attend. Adieu.

America Needs a Manufacturing Economy

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Like many advanced societies, America has moved from manufacturing into service largely as the basis for its economic output. The reasons for this are myriad and range from government involvement to cultural pressures, all of which have conspired to send us along the road predicted by the following video. Put the partisanship aside, and consider the bottom line about who works for whom:



Nations look to expand as they advance. The much lauded civilizations that ‘lived in harmony with nature’ were nothing more than societies that expected less of the earth. They were easily satiated. As nations grow more prosperous and powerful, their citizenry demands more and more of their leaders who, in order to finance such ventures, demand more and more of the earth. Technology has created a need for new resources or new ways in which to use the ones a nation possesses, but if a nation lacks certain raw materials, it must procure them either by purchase or by force. Many imperialistic nations built empires in order to obtain (or steal) resources they could not get any other way. Some of them came upon resources that were underutilized and not necessarily exploited or stolen (such as corn, tobacco, or timber) that helped them advance in ways they could not in the absence of those resources.

Governments benefit directly and indirectly from economic activity. When governments want to expand, their expansion is limited by economic output, which can be either taxed or directly confiscated, as is the case in most markets. When governments tax companies, companies try to cut costs. Eventually, they find another government under which the tax scheme is less arduous, or at least under which regulations such as wages, benefits, safety, etc., are low enough that it offsets the tax burden. In America however, as recently as yesterday, they continue the attack on industry via emissions regulations and fuel economy standards. Nevada’s minimum wage is $1 more than the national, and so companies can afford to hire fewer people, even if some entrepreneur offers them $1000 bonus to hire someone (that’s nothing more than a stunt so he can look like he cares). Plus, if Obama allows a certain extension of tax rates as presently constituted to expire, taxes will go up and more jobs will go overseas.

Society further compounds this problem in two ways.

Emotional valuation
Ask whomever you like, and odds are that they will support some government programs that are countereffective and counterintuitive. Governments pass laws for clean air and water that don’t clean either air or water. They just reduce how much pollution goes into them. People like to be safe at work, to have health care, to earn good wages, to send their children to well-funded schools, and to protect shelter dogs, whales, and the spotted wombat, whatever that is. However, the cost-benefit of these has never been shown to be small enough to justify placing government in charge thereof. Politicians refrain from opposing these programs because if they do, they are slandered or libeled as people who hate kids and want to pollute and are greedy. Knee-jerk reactions abound, and almost all legislative activity at least in my lifetime represents a knee-jerk reaction against something that was transient or at least deserved a more measured response.

Relationship evaluations
Women are trained by our prosperous culture to choose ‘prosperous’ men. Since manufacturing jobs are neither glamorous nor ‘sexy’ due to the sweaty and grimy nature thereof and since women are taught to look for status (like in Pride and Prejudice) or apparent wealth, women pick doctors and lawyers over steelmen and carpenters because the former can wine and dine them and marriage to the others is seen as a social faux pas. Like in the video, we abandoned what made us great. In order to make a great nation, people in the nation must make things, and instead of propping up those who make things, we, either culturally or through our elected representatives, slap down people who make steel and cars and tools and furniture because they are greedy corporations. Then we send out our daughters after men in tall hats and gold watch fobs who talk about the plight of the worker but have never come home stinking to high heaven at the end of the day.

To make America great, America must make things. In order to incentivize Americans to make things, we must convince people that there is value in the vocations of men that provide things that we value. As long as we value nails and hairdos and fake tans and six pack abs instead of someone who can grow food in the garden, build furniture for the den, or jury rig the carbon dioxide removal module miles above the earth, America will remain a service-based economy. As long as government punishes people who make things (even if it means they make money), people will prefer to become doctors, lawyers, and the like because they won’t want to be emotionally attached to companies that are out to rape the earth, enslave the people, and destroy all forms of life as we know it to make ‘stuff’.

Capitalism, like every other economic system, is only as good as the people who practice it. Honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently and upheld both around the board of directors as well as in the halls of government. Things will improve for us as we improve ourselves. The alternatives are well-illustrated in history, and although the day may come when America’s strength fails and her people are consumed on their lusts, that need not be today. Manufacturing makes men, and it makes men great.

I Live a Good Life

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I have been aware of late that my life is pretty good. I'm not boasting that I live The Good Life, because I don't swim in champagne or take lavish vacations to Spain. However, with the proper perspective, I live a pretty good life.

My needs are small. I have a narrow bandwidth of interests and activities, as I spend most of my days at work and a significant portion of my free time working out outside, and so my costs for entertainment are pretty fixed. When I move, I will probably buy the exact same things for meals every week and just rotate what I eat at what time. I don't have to worry about satiating the culinary appetites of anyone but myself and my dog, and since we're neither terribly picky, we'll probably eat simply and with a great deal of predictability. I also like to wear things out, if you've seen my car or my clothes, because I'm not out to impress other people. For years I have been told that it's what's on the inside that counts, and I know I'm awesome.

I have freedom. My job is a great job. If I want to, I can leave at 5PM and leave my work there (as long as what needs to be done got done). I have weekends and holidays off, and although I would like to be other than single, because I am I am free to spend time doing and in the company of whatever and whomever respectively I choose. Sure, I have responsibilities that render me less 'spontaneous' than others, but I also have free time and free funds with which to take a camping trip out of state for a week or go to the fair if I like or take in a show on the Strip periodically(they're pricey). I am no longer in school and at work like many of them, and being single I worry little about appeasing someone else. Dr. Seuss taught me to be myself, and if other people want to be accepted as they are, they shall have to return the favor.

Company staves off loneliness. I will confess that living in the Vegas valley has been better than other places. For the past five years, I have regularly taken short day trips or road trips to see the state, photograph historical sights, and get away from work. Before I moved here, people told me they wanted to come, but when it came down to it, very few ever came along. Now, I regularly have company, even if they're not the people with whom I would like to hang out, and so I get to share my adventures with other people.

So, some months I save, and some months I 'invest' my savings in experience. I say that I live a good life because I am not trapped in a mine in Chile or living homeless on the streets of town. I say that I live a good life because at the end of the month there is money left over, not just after what I must pay but also after some things I choose to pay. I say that I live a good life because I am blessed Intellectually, Spiritually, Financially, Vocationally, Educationally, Personally, and Physically, because I like my life, what I do, and where I find myself at present. I could focus on being single, but that won't help. Besides, a close friend pointed out the following:

If I am down, I am just being ungrateful. If I think of all the blessings I have been given, I realize there is every reason to be happy.

There is every reason to be happy. I live a good life. Sure, maybe I'm not as rich as I like or blessed with children like I would like, but I am in a good place. That is why I say this.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not into the champagne/caviar lifestyle anyway. I realize that I am blessed, and this perspective gives me peace.

Las Vegas' MacBeth

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Against societal conventions, I went by myself to see the Las Vegas Shakespeare Company's version of MacBeth last night. Since it was their last show and I had erst caught wind of the event last weekend while chatting via text with an acquaintance, and hoping to have done something about which to write this weekend, I determined to go. It was an interesting and fine evening.

My first surprise came when I was greeted by someone I knew. A professor with whom I work was there with the entire family and a few neighbors, since they all live within a block of the venue. Otherwise, I saw narry a soul I recognized.

The play was actually largely well put on and executed. From effects to acting to technology, despite being distant from the stage, I was able to hear and see almost everything as if I were far closer. Most of the actors brilliantly portrayed their roles, with the only lamentable portion being the overly melodramatic and high volume voice of the woman who played Lady MacBeth. The witches were amazing, most of the other Scottish noblemen well rendered and articulate, even down to son of MacDuff whose tongue was as sharp as the dagger by which he met his untimely end.

I wonder about the choice of the play. Given the location and the type of audience they might have expected, I wonder what made the Las Vegas Shakespeare Company choose this darkest and most violent tale of the Bard. Despite the number of phrases so well known from this particular play, there are much more familiar and engaging plays with which they could have delighted us and thereby perhaps forestalled the departure of about one third of the audience before the end of Act I. Perhaps a comedy or family play or one with more action but less death might have proven better fair.

Overall, for the price of scot-free, it was a great evening. Shuttle service was superb, and light clouds kept off the chill of the evening otherwise possible this late in October. I give the play four out of five stars and look forward to next year when perhaps it might be possible that I go with a date. Time will tell.

Great Internet Fasting Experiment

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I have decided to go on an internet fast when I move. Many people I know think I'm crazy and out of touch. Some have tried this before, and none who have attempted it to my knowledge have succeeded. We are tied to the URL world.

I know a guy who has managed to stay away from the URL world almost completely. He has a cell phone and an email address, but he rarely ever checks either one, and you have to basically run into him in order to get him to talk to you.

We will see how long I last. I have to use a computer at work, but do we really HAVE to do things online? When you go online, you have to worry about viruses and identity thieves and spyware and spam and hackers and keyloggers, etc. Is that an expense in time and in treasure with which I can afford to dispense? I think so.

For those of you who worry about me, I think I'll be fine. I can go on long walks, play tennis more, write books, read books, and work on a garden in the back yard. I've long wanted to get involved in Boy Scouts, and there are always hikes for myself, festivals, plays, and chores with which my time may otherwise be occupied since I will be the only responsible party and beneficiary of any household chores.

Naturally, I will continue to keep this blog during the week and post updates to Facebook, etc., but if you want to get ahold of me, it will be best to call me, like we did in the 'old days' or come around for a visit. Bring a chair. I've only got one.

Parenthood: Isn't it About Time

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When I was young, it was common for many of my friends that their parents sat them down in front of the Television as a means to keep them busy while their parents did other things besides parenting. Yesterday, I caught wind of a story advising against using your smartphone to babysit your kids. Those are pretty pricey, and I have seen parents use them with small children who can manipulate the phones with ease and on one occassion nearly purchased an application. TV and gadgets in general do us and our families a great disservice.

Since I am not a parent and not their parents, young people will confess to me periodically that the thing they want most from their parents is affirmation and confirmation. Their parents spend very little time on them or with them, trading time for stuff which they then give to their children. Many of my young friends feel or have actually literally heard that they were mistakes, that their parents would prefer life without them. How sad a prospect that sounds to me.

When parents pursue other interests, other, and sometimes nefarious, influences step in to fill the void. As I have taught over the years, many of my students have come to me first instead of to their parents for confessions, counsel, and collaboration. Where I realized this and could, I turned them to their parents. They are fortunate in my person to have found someone of courage and character. Others are not so lucky.

Television is one of the worst alternatives to parenting. Some argue that there are educational programs and the like that redeem the value of television's otherwise endless parade of asinine banalities and moral depravaties. Honestly, what fraction of your television homage is devoted to those kinds of pursuits? What do the persons on the television teach your children? Hollywood constantly argues that it 'reflects the morals and values of society'. If that were the case, as I have previously argued, nobody would watch them. We go to the movies and watch shows because they are uniquely different from our daily lives. If they were like our lives, we wouldn't be interested in watching them.

I became aware today of a nefarious partnership to propagandize the youth through supposedly innocuous channels. Using your tax dollars, the government bureaucracy is teaching youth via cartoons things with which I at best tangentially agree, and not in any way that conforms with my values, beliefs, and norms because they have a different end in mind than I. The Environmental Protection Agency and Public Broadcast Service, in association with National Public Radio and the Democrat Socialists of America (however clandestinely) have created a series of cartoons in the manner of Captain Planet to teach your kids that Juice Boxes are evil and Unicorn-topped colored pencils bring happiness. These same people send your kids home with messages to save the planet, save the snails, etc., which, although perhaps good, clash in premise if not also in precept with your values and ideas.

Teach your own children. I consider it a pleasure, honor, and ease to be a teacher. However, by the time I get them, the groundwork has often been laid by strangers of ill repute, whom you invited into your home unbeknownst to your better judgment because you turned on the TV.

You have your children for such a short period. Parenthood is about time. Spend the time with them so that they can make good use of their time too.

Pop Culture = Clout?

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People seem to really care about what happens to people associated with Pop Culture. They round out the most searched items in search engines and festoon the headlines and serve as consultants and guests on shows of all kinds. When they arrive, we roll out the red carpet and drool and swoon at the prospect of getting their signature scrawled on a scrap of paper. Who says they have clout? They are entertainers, and like other professionals they are subject matter experts, if anywhere, only in their field of employ.

You turn to experts in the field for expert opinion. You do not ask a dentist to disable a bomb or a janitor to perform a fundescopic examination. You do not ask a homeless man for investment advice or an illiterate one for help with a college essay. You do not ask an atheist to explain Christianity or a pedophile to defend abstinence education. You do not trust people who lie for a living or love people who show a history of betrayal. Why do we listen to and fawn over 'celebrities'?

People, however, have chosen unwisely since before recorded time. Back in February, a female friend of mine went to the cinema with me to see a movie. Although we both found it very sappy and contrived, at the end she told me how much she loved the actor. I replied, "How could you possibly be in love with Channing Tatum, Zac Efron, and the like? They get paid to lie for a living, to pretend to be someone they are not." In March, the news media made a big hullabaloo about political comments made by Tom Hanks. I told a friend who asked me what I thought about Hanks' comments "why do we care what Tom Hanks thinks about politics? He's an actor. He gets paid to pretend, so let's stop pretending he's more important than he really is."

These people, the socialites in pop culture, are famous for the wrong reasons. I only know who the Kardashians are because they're pretty (according to some), and I only know who Justin Bieber and the Jonas Brothers are because they make headlines on Yahoo. I do not usually watch TV. Two nights per week, I teach, and one night per week I am in a class; there's nothing good on TV Friday night anyway. I have never heard most of these people sing. I listen to mix cassette tapes or the radio in my car, which is turned to Oldies stations or news. The beautiful people are famous because they are rich, because they are cute, or because they are famous or related to famous people. Some of them may be talented, but most of us only know them for their screen personae, which may or may not resemble them in any way whatsoever.

Originally, there were some in this current crop I admired. That is the exception rather than the rule. Colbie Callait's father is in the music business. Lindsey Lohan was made a star by Disney. The 'hot' women have impossible physiques, which they maintain because they are paid to be beautiful. If I had a personal trainer, nutritionist, and four hours per day during which to work out and millions of dollars in incentives, I might look like those people too. Gone, however, are the men like James Arness, Ronald Reagan, Andy Rooney, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Don Knotts, Charles Schultz, and Jimmy Stewart, who all signed up to serve in wartime. We are at war now, and NONE of these socialites has anything good to say about the war or the troops engaged therein.

People are remembered for what they do. Even if you have not read any of their works, people know who Goethe, Plato, More, Chaucer, Cicero, Aurelius, the Apostle Paul, Pythagorus, and Luther are because of what they left behind them. Instead of works like these men, members of the pop culture leave 'historical documents' that are nothing more than lies and outbursts behind. How many pop stars sell songs about loved ones who broke their heart that we buy? How many pop stars portray immorality for which depictions we pay? Truly, as Marc Antony said at Caesar's funeral pyre, 'the evil that men do lives after them [while] the good is oft interred with their bones'.

I am glad you are good actors because sometimes I need an escape. When it comes to your actual value, easy come, easy go. I'll leave something behind worth remembering. Be you. Do what you do. That is a life worth living, and the only kind worthy of veneration.

"We pretended...we lied." --Jason Nesbit in 'Galaxy Quest'
"Bush lied; people died." --Democrat campaign slogan

Stimulus Saves One Town

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They had to go to Kokomo, IN, a city of about 46000 people to find a city that stimulus 'saved'? The entire state of Nevada, on average, has higher unemployment than this city, and Harry Reid walks around talking about 'all the jobs he saved'. Even if that's true, I took a 25% pay cut this year, which, although better than a 100% pay cut, isn't something about which to write home.

Reporters use stories like this in hopes that we will extrapolate it elsewhere and ascribe credit to individuals who had nothing wherewithal to do with it whatsoever. Overall, employment is down everywhere, and we can't all move to Kokomo and expect to thrive economically, because 14% of the population is still unemployed, which is Great Depression era unemployment rate.

What's more, they spent money revitalizing the town. The government spent money on buildings. Then they bring in an Irish pub. Oh, that's what we need in a recession. An Irish pub, a sweet shop, and a specialty education store. How will the downtown look in a year? I don't shop at any of those types of locales. I think this is temporary, like pop culture, and while it's good to hear today, I wonder if it will work out long term for these people.

I am happy for the people of this town. It was not worth $700 billion to save one town, especially one with a population the size of the student body at the university where I work.

Why We Don't Need Dept of Ed

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In school, I hated it when other classmates would run amock. Often, we would all be punished as a group with our heads down for the outlandish antiques of the few or the one. It wasted time, and I wasn't there to look like I was taking a nap; i was there to learn. I am what I am even though I attended the public school system. Sure, let my high school and alma mater take credit for me if they like, but that does not make it true. They provided me a place and an opportunity to succeed, and my parents and I did the rest (yes, I do give credit to my parents for their help and 'motivational counseling').

Like many government agencies, the Department of Education is a misnomer. Nobody gets educated by the department of education. If a student fails, the DoEd takes no responsibility. They penalize the institution by withholding grant money, which exacerbates the problem for other students who now have fewer resources. All the department of education actually does is shuffle money around.

Until Jimmy Carter took office, we somehow managed to educate children in this nation just fine. Before the Carter Catastrophe, America produced many of the most inventive and bright young minds on the globe. Since then, we have lost momentum and standing, particularly in science and math, and so I would argue that the DoEd is a dud, that it hurts education more than it helps.

The Dept of Education tells me what I can and cannot do. They tell me how much money I can and cannot use. They tell me which students must pass and fail (quotas). They don't participate directly in the education of the students and could, quite frankly, give a flying flapjack about whether instruction is good or instructors are competant. It is more interested in propping up union jobs for the NEA than in providing quality instruction for you and your children.

Turtlehead Peak

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Yesterday morning, accompanied by some macho friends, I went back up Turtlehead Peak at Red Rock NCA. Although some girls expressed interest in coming, since they did not, I went to this trail, which is among the more strenuous of hikes in the park. It's also among the least heavily traveled and most poorly marked, for reasons I will discuss later.

I was surprised by many things. Very few people were there when we got there, and we saw our first hikers on the trail when we were at the summit. The macho guys who came along were all worn out and fell asleep on the way home, primarily because they're not used to this type of hiking or hikes of this particular challenge. Turtlehead isn't a long trek per se, but the trail is deceptive at first as it follows a slight incline in the dry riverbed for the first mile or so before ascending up the saddle of the mountain over 2100 feet in the last 1.5 miles of the trail. At least we were in the shade for all but the last half mile. There is a geocache at the top where you can sign the book, and the views are spectacular (see my photos below) as long as smog is low since you can see almost all the way across the valley in which Las Vegas sits.

On the way down, we encountered other hikers. Many of them were on difficult sections of the trail. The limestone rock is ragged and unforgiving. To keep to the shade, many people were blazing their own trails or following lesser utilized ones. Like last time, many people simply gave up. Of course, they didn't start on the trail until about 9AM, which is pretty late for summer in the desert...

Some military and fire units use Turtlehead as part of their training. They carry gear up to the summit on a timed course as a way to measure their mettle and fitness. It makes a fine litmus test for hikers and a good refresher before you go anywhere else since it's shorter and relatively void of wildlife.

Reid is Clearly Debatable

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Reid finally faced Angle. I will confess I did not watch, because it was not going to make me vote for Reid come hell or high water, but he proved himself completely inept to the task of debate. Before they went into the debate, local news agencies were talking about how Reid isn't practiced at debate because he does it so infrequently. Good thing they lowered the bar.

Angle didn't mop the floor with Reid, but she did win. If after 30 years in politics, Reid cannot mop the floor with his opponent, he loses. He has EVERY advantage in staff, in funding, and in experience. What is his excuse?

Many of Reid's comments infuriated me. Although Angle often comes across as stupid or uninformed, Reid is a blatant liar. There is no Social Security Trust Fund, Senator Reid. SHOW ME THE MONEY!

Instead of answering tough issues, Reid sidestepped them. He was asked a series of simple questions to which, in lieu of answers, he gave a series of lengthy editorials masquerading as answers that might sound like answers but missed the point. Reid makes a big deal of his extensive experience as a private lawyer (I can't tell that he ever was in private practice from public records), and so he should know very well that nicely effective obfuscation technique. Senator, Yes or No will do. Permission to treat the Senator as hostile?

Furthermore, Reid likes to take credit for things he did not do or for things that are not true. He made a big deal about the Citicenter project which he 'saved' but which is headed for bankruptcy now anyway, AGAIN. He makes a big deal about solar jobs, even though the power plant, down near Searchlight, laid off 80% of the workers a few weeks ago now that the panels are installed and online. He makes a big deal about saving medicaire when Obamacare has cut Medicaire $700 billion, which he calls an extension and a reform that maintains the program. He claims he has created jobs while Nevada leads the nation in unemployment. He claims he has helped stop foreclosures, but we're still the highest in foreclosure in the nation. He is a virus, a plague, and much as I am disenchanted with Angle, the best way to send Reid a message and stop him is to vote him out.

Some of his ads attack Angle for hypocrisy. Angle has been 'retired' for several years. Yes, her husband is on a Civil Service pension, but they have already abandoned the 'massages for inmates' and 'scientology policy' attacks because they are not true. Reid is a millionare many times over, and he says he 'invested his money wisely that he earned in private practice'. Reid claims she won't force insurance companies to provide coverage. She's right; why do I need to be covered for a mammogram? Senator Reid wants to force people to do what he wants. He is off his rocker.

Harry Reid does what he does to buy votes. He uses other people's money to buy your vote. He does not give his money away, put on a toga and go to India to help the poor. Harry wants power. He never does anything out of the goodness of his heart. He is interested in profit, and profit for him and his own family only. America is great, not because of Harry, but because of YOU. Thank God that Americans are not like him.

Insider Look at Legislation

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Within the past week, I have spoken to two former interns, one from Senator Harry Reid's office (D-NV) and one from Senator John Ensign's office (R-NV). They have both told me that if you really want to affect legislation there are some other incongruities to the process to consider. Since legislators don't write the bills or interface directly with the general populace, it helps to know how bills actually move on Capitol Hill so that, when necessary, you can help Kill the Bill.

Committees
Bills must pass committee before they go to a floor vote. So, if your representative is not on the committee that will see the bill, sending him gobs and gobs of messages is not going to be very effective. Especially in the House, where they can dispense with all debate and amendments, a person exigent to the committee can only vote a bill up or down.

If you don't live in the area served by that committee member, get involved with an organization or movement that does. You can support them in their efforts and thereby indirectly influence the legislation.

What effectors work
When you contact a member of Congress, your contact boils down to a simple tally mark on a ledger as for or against a motion. Keep it simple, short, and respectful because the polished and well-reasoned letter gets the same attention as someone who keeps it simple because they have gobs of paperwork and phone records through which to sort daily.

The polls and petitions that cycle around the internet or go out from websites are basically ineffective because they are treated as robotic imput. From this technique comes the term 'astroturfing' because it looks like grass roots but is disingenuine and automated. If you want to affect them, write or call them directly and be brief. If that's not enough for you, get involved with a PAC or a Lobby and support them fiduciarily or with your time and talents.

Whom and how to influence
The elected officials basically just cast their vote and take the credit. High level staffers distill data and rewrite reports to simplify things. As such, they put most of the slant on a candidate's politics. If you want to influence someone, get face time with a staffer. If you want to get state time with a staffer, get together 50 people who share your opinion and hire a lobbyist. They are the people who get the most face time with staffers, and so it counts as a personal contact when the representative makes his choice. See, lobbyists can work FOR you too.

When all else fails...
Vote the incumbent out.

Some people in Washington could give a flying flapjack what you think. If they continue to win, they start to think, not just that you tolerate them, but that you endorse their wayward or destructive ideas. If you have a better idea, get in the race. You might actually win. In 1998, Reid defeated Ensign for the Senate by 425 votes. Many elections in NV come down to a few hundred votes.

Crisis Mode Chaos

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I realized this past month that part of my problem with patience is that I am a planner. I like to know what is happening and when so I can plan ahead. So, when crisis erupts, although I handle it as best I can, it often discombobulates me and leaves things done out of order or out of the best quality of which I am capable.

This week in lab, the students are doing an enzyme assay. For many of them, it will be the first time they have worked with enzymes and this equipment and their lab partners in true cooperations, and some of them haven't even covered enzymes in lecture yet. In our desire to accomodate students, we have labs that range from 7:30AM to 10:00PM, which leaves a broad time span for which to keep materials properly supplied, some of which have short shelf lives and must be remade every day.

Before I left for home last night, I prepared all the materials. Before I got to work, things were already going wrong.

From almost the moment I got on the road, I was behind schedule. Slow drivers, accidents, and other things conspired to retard my arrival at work. One professor was practically panicked because he arrived early to familiarize himself but found it basically a waste without being able to come conference with me. The projector bulb went out. Last night's lab had left things in absolute disarray. Reagents were cross-contaminated or completely exhausted with narry a note or backward glance. To resupply some things, I had to leave a temporary mess, just as my coworker arrived. These new problems threw off my otherwise brilliant plan to prepare this morning, and so I ended up making eight trips into the classroom with lightbulbs, reagents, and pieces of equipment to get the students on track. By the time I had been at work for an hour, I was already behind schedule.

Things have stabilized for now, but they did not go off smoothly. These changes threw off my other plans, which have now inconvenienced coworkers who waited until last minute to do things and must now take a back seat to the immediate problems. They are probably not very happy with me since circumstances demanded that I create temporary disarray in their plans to accomodate for the more pressing demands of a class already in session.

Crisis mode creates conflict. Everyone's nervous, everyone's upset, and everyone's inconvenienced. Yet, few people plan ahead.

Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part. Fortunately for everyone else, I actually care about the students, even though I have never met these particular students before today, and so I acted quickly to forstall other problems as they arose. Hopefully the professor will write a laudatory email to counterbalance the derrogatory ones which populate most people's personnel files.

Where Are the Men?

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I recently defended a friend from the U.K. against unfounded allegations against her character. Although at the time I did not know what the facts were, the basic premise of my defense was that it was inappropriate to assume something about her without any actual evidence and without giving her the chance to speak on her own behalf. We should all by now be familiar with the Duke LaCrosse case which teaches us two lessons: just because someone says it doesn't make it true and that the media rarely contacts you to find out your side of the story prior to publication.

When she wrote me to thank me for defending her in her absentia, my friend told me that it gave her hope to know there are still well-mannored men on the planet. The sad truth is that we are not as many as we ought to be. There is not much incentive to be chivalrous, to treat people the right way. What men obtain too easily, they esteem too lightly, and many of them get whatever goal they aim relatively easy from women and then abandon all pretense at a better way of life.

I think all males arrive at this juncture. By the time I was 26, I reached my own Time to Choose, and although I had been mistreated by some women, I knew that I had to live with myself and chose to remain as I was rather than change. None of my friends followed my example. They watched other men do contrary to what I chose and get what they aimed for, while I continued to struggle and watch people who were far lesser men pass me by. They decided there was no point to being better, and so they chose to live like others and enjoy what others enjoy.

Honestly, there are a lot of pretenders. Most chivalric behavior by men I have observed seems aimed as a ruse to lull women in with a false sense of security. Once they rope in their quarry, the pretenders abandon the act and revert to true form, setting up those of us who are honestly chivalric for subsequent suspiciously surreptitious scrutiny by women once wronged. Even if every knight who ever was pretended his chivalry as a ruse, I will abide by the principles they espoused.

CS Lewis wrote that if you want to know the true measure of a man, watch how he treats those who can do absolutely nothing for him. The truly chivalric man gets the door for the woman he loves and then holds it for others who follow in her wake, age, gender, etc., regardless. He even holds the door and holds his ground for the woman who afterwards berates him, not because she needs him to do it but because it's the right thing to do.

It is extremely rare that you will find men who actually think as I do over the age of 30. By that time, most men decide there's no advantage to doing what is right, especially when you cannot tell from casual observation that they are different. We do not have an entourage of fawning females follow us around; mostly they call me at random to ask my help or advice or for just a kind word and then vanish into obscurity again. As long as women accept men who abuse and misuse them, men will never rise above that base behavior. As long as men accept women whose priorities lie outside family and faith, women will obsess about things of little eternal significance. There are no men because they don't have to be men to get from women the things they seek, and until men seek women for the right reasons, they will never find the right women.

October Surprise for Reid

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I am not really surprised by Harry Reid. Elsewhere, it is reported that Sharron Angle doesn't want to debate. A few weeks ago we had a televised Q&A where Reid's part was pretaped, because he was too busy to come back to NV to debate her. Now they are adjourned, and he is still too busy. Last week, Reid said he has not been campaigning because he’s been running the country. What? Surprise! Obama is almost certainly surprised...

If you like almost 15% unemployment, vote for Harry Reid.
If you like the worst housing market in the country, vote for Harry Reid.
If you like paying more and more for your electricity, vote for Harry Reid.
If you don’t worry about your pension, vote for Harry Reid.
If you want a lot of food stamps, vote for Harry Reid.
If you want endless unemployment compensation, vote for Harry Reid.
If you want your children broke before birth, vote for Harry Reid.

There are a lot of reasons to vote for Harry Reid if you hate your country, you hate your state, and you hate your children.

This message has been approved by Doug.

Age of Chivalry? Hardly

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Since I enjoyed the Renaissance Fair last year, I determined to go again this year. However, I realized that I enjoyed it primarily as a matter of contrast to my circumstances at the time. Now that I am back to myself, I was mostly annoyed by what I saw and found that I enjoyed it less. Perhaps it's just a function of age, but it seems to me that most of the people at the Fair were there to pretend and escape reality more than out of true enjoyment for the venues or the time to which they allegedly pay homage.

I was somewhat annoyed by the preponderance of vendors relative to entertainers. Within ten minutes, I was accosted by a small boy who offered to teach me to spin a sword on my finger for $10.

I've also decided there's too much emphasis on cleavage and not enough on chivalry. Since I have been to the Joust in the U.K., albeit many years ago, I think naming it the "Age of Chivalry" and then filling the venue with scantily-clad wenches kind of aims at defeating the odds of chivalric behavior. The only thing that made any real attempt at chivalry was the joust, which was performed by elderly gentlemen near to retirement and seasoned with age. Most of the attendees took the opportunity to reveal skin, even when they should have kept covered.

When I finally left after five hours in the dust, din, and drunkenness, I felt and smelt as if I had spent the time in an Irish pub. No offense if you're Irish or a Pub. It was like many Americanized festivals more of an excuse to drink and indulge in the lusts of the flesh than to really enjoy history.

306 Democrats

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Coming Soon to an Election Booth near you!

The Lamest Excuse of the Century!



Yes, I made this image.

Survival of the Fittest

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Destroy an eagle's egg, and you go to jail. Destroy a human embryo, and that is considered and celebrated as your right. Discuss.

What a great exam question that would make. If you want to answer, please do before you read the rest of this post.

There are a few great reasons that it's ok to kill a human in the minds of many individuals. Humans are not yet considered an endangered species. Humans are also considered to be the servants of the earth by some.

Who decides that a species is in danger? Truth be told, moral men are an endangered species, and so in truth, I should be recipient of police protection, financial subsidies, etc., to protect me from extinction. As things are looking, I will not reproduce, and yet the government does nothing to vouchsafe the existence of moral men. If anything, they reward the promiscuous man, who receives welfare, food stamps, and education subsidies as an example because his family has grown in step with his libido.

If we are the fittest species, then why do we not let other species die? Humans are the only species on the planet that places the survival of members of other species above its own survival. We will stop all activity to save some snails. We sacrifice our wills for the sake of species that view us as inconvenient pests or scary predators. I am kind to animals and plants, but the rabbits and chuckar still run away from me during my morning runs. Diplomacy towards the animal kingdom has not made it's members trust me, and then there are the Dobermans that would as soon rip my calves off as massage them.

Submit your papers. I am interested in your reasoning and conclusions. Class dismissed.

More Obama Cartoons

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Here's something else the Obama administration wants you to wolf down:



I made this image.

Craigslist Has Rules?

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On the Las Vegas Craigslist page, we routinely get back and forth from people angry that they were flagged and from the people who purportedly know the rules. Recently, Craigslist was taken to court for its ‘adult services’ advertisements, and in this town, it is a great source of headache for law enforcement since it allows people who deal in human trafficking to display their wares. If you blatantly violate them with something stupid, of course it will get flagged, but by whom? Who enforces the rules? Does Craigslist even have any?

Rules only matter when they are enforced. The problem with Craigslist is that the employees do very little of the actual enforcement. So, it is left to people like me who notice that certain dealerships post the same car every day or even multiple times per day or who notice that certain furniture items are reposted every day to flag them. Quite frankly, I have better things to do than that.

Consequently, Craigslist is patrolled by people who have nothing better to do with their time than troll the website in search of violations. I guess a certain number consider it their calling and mission in life to enforce the rules against me if they can. This is sort of like handing me a revolver and allowing me to shoot anyone I happen to see who is breaking the law. Pretty soon, I’d be in the Sheriff’s office: “Sheriff, I’m going to need more bullets…a LOT more bullets”.

My understanding of the rules differs from yours. Contrary to some of the deputies on the website, it is permissible to post pets to the free section with a rehoming fee. What seems like a crime to you may not be or may be an honest mistake. “Flag them anyway!” the deputies cry.

Some sections go without any kind of patrol at all. That’s kind of like only patrolling certain parts of Las Angeles and letting whatever happens happen in vast swaths of the city.

Rules indeed. They only have rules so that people can break them. At least, that’s what it feels like to me.