Thursday, October 30. 2014Some culture...For those not familiar of my Bible study method, it involves a Bible, notebook, pen, and categories list. The list is one I made; things I'm interested in. I read the list to have the categories fresh in my mind; then start reading a part of the Bible. If I see something in the text that matches something in the categories, I make a note in the notebook. When I'm looking for things, I find more; as opposed to merely reading without the categories. They are whatever you're interested in; for example: Calvinism, end of O.T. law, miracles, etc. Recent notes for Genesis 31:52 are: 9 Political, 35 Forms of Government. These two categories are seldom used, probably because I'm more interested in others. The second one includes family as a form of government. The context is Jacob leaving Laban; this was long ago. I wrote: In that time and place, what other government was there? Even if there was a government over the area; this monument stood as a reminder of a declaration between these two men. Maybe I could call it a culturally authorized arrangement. Is this why the current populace of the U.S. doesn't value its own constitution? Its a arrangement from a previous culture. A different culture indeed. Notice the nurse that disregards her quarantine. Either she's privy to information the rest of us aren't; or she just says "the hell with everyone else." Speaking of Ebola, I was thinking about the way states are taking protection into their own hands. I thought that when I get time, I should make a cartoon of an angry President Obama gritting his teeth and wanting to retaliate against those states, the same way he forbade states to protect the southern border. Then on the radio, at about 4:38 pm Monday October 27th, 2014, on WUOT, I hear that over the weekend, the president was pressuring states regarding these protective measures. This is surreal man. The nurse isn't concerned with what happens to us, the president is, but his intent looks hostile. This is surreal man! There are a number of things to ponder here. Maybe a stretch, but I'm reminded of the days prior to our Civil War; a group of states resisting the will of the federal government. Then there's the Army setting up quarantine for its troops. Maybe a coup is a "million miles away", but could this be remembered as the day the military started acting on its own? What's more important to me is that I shouldn't any longer have to explain to people I know why I want to leave the country. There's no way of repaying the national debt, economic troubles are inevitable. When the collapse or civil war comes, a replacement government will be needed. But it's like the line from the movie, "who you gonna call"? Who will fill all the positions required? The nurse is a typical sample of Homo Americanus. Traits include re-electing a destructive president. Symptoms also include not being shocked that one of the largest states now has a law allowing transgendered school children to choose which bathroom they identify with. A majority of Americans are not capable of governing or selecting a government. If by some unbelievable stretch you actually put in a conservative government, at least half of the population will vote for self destruction as soon as possible. What will you do with these people? You're stuck. You're toast; I'm hoping to leave. Speaking of culture, I was sure I had previously written about an incident between our clan, and a neighboring clan over chonder in the other valley. I can't find it in a search, and, in order to relate what happened a few days ago, I need to tell it. Pardon the length of this post. At least a year ago, I was informed that a group of men from their family had beaten a lone member of our clan, my brother in law. People were quite upset about it. I guess charges weren't filed, but I was expected to go confront these guys. It's my thought that if a woman is left to do a man's job too many times, she'll start acting like a man. I have a keen appreciation of things feminine, and I'm not looking forward to any gender role modifications. "Tell them they had better stop doing this." Says I:Um, look, there are only two possibilities here; either I'm in essence begging, or there's a fight. And in my estimation, if they're not Christian, that's the appropriate response to a threat, to immediately challenge the enforcement of the order. Those are the only two possibilities. I don't mind doing your bidding, but I want you to at least acknowledge that this is most likely a fight. It was a matter of serious prayer. Being that we try to keep government involvement to a minimum, and so do they, it was reasonable that we confront them, but I just couldn't see a third option. I had an afternoon off from work so I needed to deal with this; but had to wait till those guys got home. I thought about going out in the hay field and doing some martial arts stretches; which I hadn't done in 20 years. I never was a star student in the Dojo anyway; more like the cigarette smoking doof. That or I could go up to the ridge and split firewood for the widow lady. I went up the ridge, had a grand time splittin' and talkin'. She told me some history, and gave me a jar of home made Chow-Chow when I left. Never had it before, hit wuz right delicious. Then it came to me, praise God, there IS a third option. I remembered Proverbs 15; where it says that the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. I would go with a Bible in my hand, and point out that they shouldn't think they're getting away with this thing. That's what I did. It didn't mean I felt completely safe; I was headed toward a group of rough guys, and remember, up there in the woods, there's no eyewitnesses. I don't sing to myself often, and maybe the world's better off for it, but that day, I was a-singin'. Martin Luther's "A mighty Fortress" to be exact. I finally found these guys, they came out of the house as a group, and didn't look happy. I walked to them, large print Bible in hand. Conversation was tense at first, but a few of these guys are old friends, so things got more kindly as time went on. They related the incident from their perspective. I found it believable, because one admitted to throwing the first punch. He said he kept being pushed back, and realizing the inevitable, swung. They told how this was just the latest in a series of conflicts caused by my relative's 'condition'. I'll spare the details, but I'm well aware of the man's 'habits'. That, and I've been the 'black sheep' in our clan before; I prefer to do my own investigating before I take sides. Finally, I convinced them that I believed their account, and we were chatting like old friends would under other circumstances. We almost made a horse trade (literally) but I figured I didn't want to show up with news of an equine purchase. Not from them anyway. My report wasn't received at first, but later on, everyone was given solid evidence to validate it. So fast forward to the other day, there was another incident, no details here, other than it wasn't a repeat of the previous incident. I asked them if they reported it; they had. We conversed awhile, their intent was to inform our family about the situation unfolding. I guess that since I went before with a Bible instead of a fist, I'm now the liaison of sorts. Back to culture, the Hill People's like that, they sought a peaceful resolve. Be careful how the media portrays Hill People, it's usually incorrect. Be careful how they portray anybody, for that matter. Monday, October 27. 2014Name change...
This blog was started to inform my neighbors here in the "Bible Belt" about some of my theology, Bible interpretations, and philosophy; and how those beliefs manifested into everyday matters. The scope of content has broadened, and what was once important isn't as much of a priority. Besides, my family has never liked the name. As for me, it was perfect at times, fun for a guy that has seen some bizarre things.
Friday, October 24. 2014The third time worksI'm reading the preface to Justification of the Good; part of it for the third time. I went a little father than before, and now he's really making a point. He talks about pleasure, suicide, pessimism, all leading up to the idea that life has a meaning outside each individual. PLEASE read it yourself rather than relying on my relating it. Here's a quote that sums up what I've read so far: "The meaning of life obviously cannot coincide with the
I've started a new work related blog, the idea being to attract readers interested in what I encounter in my travels around this area; and, to maybe have a mailing list to alert people to new posts. So far, all that's there are work projects, but it's off to a good start. HERE'S the link. On one of my jobs, I had an interesting encounter today. I'm working very close to the place where the "Vol Navy" docks. There must be other boats-yachts-SHIPS joining the group, because Auburn fans have a definite presence there. One guy told me that he's expecting the arrival of a 130 foot yacht from Florida. The boats are anything but common, one of the closest is a big $3-400,000 houseboat. Pristine condition. A more friendly and humble group you couldn't find. The owner of the boat next to the houseboat talked with me about my work. I'm having limited success getting whitei-ish rain streaks removed from one side of a red metal caboose. I've been experimenting with different products, apparently more under the observation of the boaters than I realized. The boat owner said they didn't have much to do tomorrow; as the big game was Saturday, and offered to help clean this caboose for a few hours. I immediately laughed. Not because I considered him incompetent; but because we're obviously polarized in terms of economic status. The idea of me going down to his dock, knocking on his door, and asking him to help with my scrubbing project seemed very strange. Tuesday, October 21. 2014A day in the life of weirdA few days actually; Sunday afternoon and Tuesday. I finally got the ingredients I needed to make 1 quart of automotive paint for the roof and hood of my truck. It's a lot more expensive than house paint, and I didn't have the money. I was holding out for metallic, the last time I painted that section, I used an Ivory color. I figured metallic would bring me up into the later part of the 20th century, at least paint wise. I had a pint of a really bright brass colored metallic; but that's not enough, and the bright color would distract from the gold leaf letters on the doors. I had this theory that gold metallic is really silver metallic with translucent gold pigments in the binder part of the paint. If you've ever stirred a can of gold metallic that has settled, you'll pull up a bunch of silver particles on your stir stick. I found some slightly blue grey metallic. I countered the blue with a little orange, then added safety yellow. The blue and orange make a brown, which is an acceptable way to turn the yellow to gold. There were two different kinds of paint, a little anyway, by the time I was done it was a strange chemical brew. I applied it rather heavy, and the finish is nice. It dried right, is glossy, and thick. I was aiming for a lighter gold, a replacement for the ivory; but one that wasn't intense in the yellow department. I got that, and more. It's almost like that flip-flop paint that was popular a few years back. It drastically changes color. When the sun is directly on it, it's almost ivory. But get in the shade, it's tan like Autumn leaves. This morning I looked on it from above, and it was a definite green tinge. the law of unintended car color. I took the masking paper off, and drove it onto the lawn to try and get a picture before sunset. I looked at the sky, and there was a weird bright spot to the right of the sun, almost like a second sun. I got a few pictures, they do a pretty good job of showing the weird thing. In the picture, the sun is behind the tree. The bright spot is probably the edge of a cloud bending light in an unusual way. There is probably a scientific explanation, but that doesn't make it less noteworthy. At least not to me; I'm 54, and don't remember seeing this before. In the second picture, I've blocked the sun with my hand. Notice the radiating lines of the contrails. I've taken other pictures of weird stuff in the sky over the last few years, I've just been negligent in posting them. This morning I went to see friends about painting their barn roof. I took my daughter along to visit their daughter. As we got to the end of the road, the old familiar road sign took on a whole new meaning. (Mr. Maxwell House?) The black dual headed arrow on yellow background; man, what a graphic expression of binary. I shared my discovery with my daughter, and took the opportunity to explain the tertium quid fallacy. Also, what R.C. Sproul calls "The Impossible Tertium Quid". That's where somebody wants a third option that does not exist. I used the example of Lot in the Bible; he could stay and die, or go and live. He hemmed and hawwed, wanting a third option where there wasn't one. Later in the day, I'm driving to that same intersection, and remember that I want a picture of the sign. I'm reaching over to the passenger seat, getting my camera out of the bag, so it can be all ready. This kind of efficiency, well, it's in the Mission Impossible zone. Not that there's so much traffic out at this country intersection to demand quick action; it's just that a guy has to be familiar with that stuff. You never know man. I'm a bit old for the Navy Seals, but hey man, gotta stay in practice. Women readers, don't try to understand, it's a guy thing. Several car lengths from the intersection, I pull to the right, so the truck behind me can go around. I didn't realize it, but behind him is...Mr. Sheriff. He pulls alongside my truck and asks if everything was OK. Not being a good time for "Well, er, um...you see officer..." I went animated while explaining this morning's conversation with my daughter. Not too jovial, but enough to convey that this was just a fun thing...I ended with a raised voice:" LOOK BUDDY, YOU HAVE TWO CHOICES HERE, THIS OR THAT, NO OTHER CHOICE SEE??" He laughed, and the last thing he said was "You be surprised how many people DO GO STRAIGHT over the edge." That was on my way to hopefully sell and paint some window lettering for a car dealership. When I got there, what the guy was actually asking for was wall lettering along with the windows. I spent awhile measuring and making a scale pencil sketch. He liked it, but needed approval from his manager at the lot down the street. The manager arrives, and I'm thinking that at least it will be yay or nay, binary, you know. But no-o-o-o, this guy too needs approval from a superior. Tertium Quid go away? Maybe they'll call tomorrow. It's Tuesday afternoon, and I'm still doing sales. When I said in the previous post that things are great, I meant the inquiries. Had one come in over the weekend, replied to it Monday morning; still no reply. Probably gone. Had one Monday afternoon, pretty cool logo on pine boards job; that's in Limbo, waiting spouse approval. Half my readers probably think I should just lower my bids, but trust me, there's a threshold. The time and gas I would spend going back and forth to these jobs would leave me with ten bucks an hour, if that. I can do that closer to home. Really, with all the sales time, and other non billable chores, I charge forty per, just to hopefully make eighteen. That's when there's work at all. I'm not whining, just letting people know what to expect when they go out on their own. See also the picture of the green crane. I was asked about lettering a nickname on the boom of it. The shop worker handling the project was joking around and thought it would be cool looking with a CCP with hammer and sickle painted on it. Maybe Soviet stuff is having a style trend right now. He wondered what the supervisor would think, the supervisor is conservative, so maybe that was the direction of the joke. I kindly asked him if he realized that the USSR ended about 1990, that the country is now the Russian Federation? I said Russian letters would still look cool on it. I WASN'T ABOUT TO let on that I could write out the name in Russian/Cyrillic on the spot. Or that I was listening to Russian language tapes on the way over. He might revert back to the USSR mentality, call me a communist; at which point I would have to bring out more questions: What city is the largest in Europe? Moscow. Which city has more millionaires and billionaires? Moscow. How soon does he think they want to revert to the state owning the means of production? You gotta be ready for these situations; it's a guy thing I guess.
Monday, October 20. 2014Books, decisions, and moreOn Thursday Oct 9th, Russia "The As The Speaking Not Moreover, when outside. no seen never perfect evil. A ______________________________________________
Now
Continue reading "Books, decisions, and more" Tuesday, October 14. 2014Random_10_14_2014Haggai 1:6 says: Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages [to put it] into a bag with holes.4 I've been told of foods grown by modern agricultural practices that are lacking nutrients. Whether it's true of not, I can't say at this time, but it reminds me of this verse. __________________________________________ Voyeurism lite? I see women revealing more of themselves than I think they should; areas I consider for private viewing by her husband only. It makes me wonder if they would also reveal private activities? _______________________________ Lately I've had a continually reoccurring thing; it's an awareness, it's not mild, and hasn't faded much. I started thinking about teaching English in a foreign country, and have noticed how slang my own speech and thoughts are. Things like -gonna- instead of going to, -ardy- instead of already. _____________________________ Some business/ website tips and improvements I'm making: At my level, I recommend Wordpress over Drupal; it's easier to use, especially considering upgrades. Way, way easier there. I started using Drupal because like other sign people, I was looking for a new place to use my graphics and sales abilities. Some have started making websites for people. I've yet to do that, but thought I would learn a difficult CMS so that I would have more design options later. The promotions for it say things like: Build a site in less than an hour! After tinkering with it for a long time on my own site two years maybe, I read a reply on a forum that put it all in perspective. A poster was angry at the difficulties he was having. A techy woman replied with something to this effect: Look we're al volunteers here, you have to learn more and ditch the attitude. Drupal was made by programers for programers, all the plugins available are just conveniences for repetitive tasks. Well OK then, I "get it" now. Just to clarify, I wasn't the angry guy. Not that time anyway. Yeah so, moving right along, I'm now kind of embarrassed of that website, but I'm working on improvements. I guess the worst part are the blocks on the left with all the utilitarian plain text links. I read somewhere that text links are better for SEO than image links, so I figured the look was acceptable. Ive also been trying to get an email address at that site, so that it's Jim@donahuesignarts.com. There's a glitch right now. At this time, I use a private email address, and other sloppy practices. Not only do I want that address, I need to get it on my cards, stop handing out cards with various email addresses and phone numbers handwritten on them. Another new thing is starting a blog for my work. I might get together a mailing list; so I can send out notices of new postings. In my travels around this area, I get to see a few things that others don't. Vistas from tall buildings, a rickety ancient homemade ladder occupying the same space that a freight elevator does, old signs in basements, and more. I'll show my more interesting work, along with new methods and results. That blog can be seen at: Noticed At that blog is a post about the green stepside that I showed before. I'm working on a yellow fleetside right now; it might end up being the best I've done. And that's without the experimental method I want to try in the blue ribbon at the bottom. as they say, "I'll keep you posted". Nice thing about the internet, people have to track you down in order to physically kick you in the shin for lame jokes. Tuesday, October 7. 2014She walked outA couple of weeks ago, a guy calls me So I'm back to financial crisis; at The man on the other end is a family When we arrived, an emergency crew By the time they waited to transfer At the hospital, her condition was Some details: I was given a ride from Before I was under the sink, I told After this eventful day, I'm laying Yeah, so anyway, I'm telling my wife That was on a Saturday, Monday Then the phone starts ringing with a Friday, October 3. 2014
Synthesis achieved, the myth of non ... Posted by admin
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Comments (0) Trackbacks (0) Synthesis achieved, the myth of non conflictJesus said "What shall it profit a man to gain the whole I'm wondering, what shall it profit a man to defend his country What I'm contemplating now are two threats: The first is when the people of the RF, in their successful resistance to threats from the West, start There is talk of a fifth column in the RF, I suppose every country has one. The second threat I'm contemplating is from what might be called the sixth column. People who are very loyal to the Kremlin, specifically President Putin. These people have keen and brilliant political analysis of current events; but the analysis always blames central bankers, ideologies, arms manufacturers, and so on. This could influence others to see these things as cause, and not the effect that they are. The idea that our decisions can save us, we don't need God; is the beginning of self destruction. To get an idea of what that looks like, cast your gaze upon the U.S. We once honored God. He restrained our problems, and gave us victories. That ended in the early 1960's. Now we have a ruined economy, a national debt that cannot be repaid, continual natural disasters, children killing each other, a huge prison system, school children (lots of them) on prescription drugs to modify behavior, a high percentage of children in fatherless homes, and the list goes on. God removed His restraint. ![]()
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