These Guys (and Gals) Don't Scare Me

I certainly am not going to let this, admittedly propaganda, poster scare me.


Once again the Michigan Citizens' Militia is in the news. It seems they are growing again and that has some on the left worried. Should they be? That depends on their true intentions. The members of these groups were very critical of Bush for failing to secure the border and his failure to secure our national sovereignty. If they criticized a semi-conservative Bush for it will they let an out and out leftist get away with it?



If the Constitution and the entire Bill of Rights, not just the parts the left agrees with, are respected then they have nothing to fear. I know several men who belong to the local unit and the things that they are most concerned about America ceding its sovereignty to an international organization, Jihadists, and a Federal Government going amok. I don't know with any degree of certainty that the current administration is planning to put people in concentration camps or re-education centers, but there are people associated with him who have expressed a desire to do some things that have me concerned. I am not alone and even that (sarc on) extreme right wing(sarc off) network MTV has carried a few warnings, though I'm not sure who the enemy they fear actually is.



I will say this about the men I know who belong to this outfit. They are good friends, good co-workers, and good neighbors who have a live and let-live attitude and generally mind their own business. You can safely turn your back on them and not fear what they will do. And they definitely are not racists, unless you define a racist as anyone who questions strict leftist orthodoxy, or unless you consider militant Islam a race. Actually they seem more concerned about international organizations and our failure to take the home Jihadists seriously than they are about Obama; they are not fond of him but consider him to be a puppet and are more concerned about his puppet-master.

Now the militia does contain a number of groups and some of them are a little strange, such as one that a few years ago was trying to take elected officials to court for failing to uphold the State Constitution (they considered the Federal Constitution dead) and were trying to put liens on the officials houses to force them into court. This appears to have been a small group and it does not seem to be around anymore.

How One Talks and Writes

This post is because of a comment I read at another blog.

When I was graduating from High School we had our Senior Giftatory where we were given gag gifts by a committee of classmates that reflected our personalities. One guy who always fell asleep in class was given a box of NoDoze. Another deluded young lady who openly believed she was high society was shocked to receive a bottle of HiKlas soft drink. A kid who missed a lot classes was given a map that showed where the school was. I was one of about three who got a dictionary of words of three or fewer syllables.

It was a bad habit that I had. My mother would constantly rebuke me for using "big words" and friends would sometimes ask me to "Say it in normal words."

A couple of things started me thinking. One was in Mad Magazine's regular feature of The Lighter Side . . . by Dave Berg, which many of us may remember as some of the most true to life comic strips ever. This one showed an obvious repairman working on a TV set in a home and the customer was asking "Can you fix it?" and the repairman said "You had the primary source of power uncoupled from the main load. I simply re coupled it and it should work fine." or words to that effect. The customer is thrilled and the repairman is thinking "He would refuse to pay me if I told him that I just plugged it in." His response contained no advanced vocabulary but it fits the same pattern.

The other was a base newspaper when I was in the Navy where they were asking the opinions of several random sailors and Waves about a topic of interest. One was by a Wave Lieutenant who gave several sentences of polysyllabic terminology (big words) and catch phrases as her answer, as opposed to the enlisted personnel who gave simple concise answers. I had to reread her answer a couple of times before I realized that her answer could be summed up as "There is so much involved that I can't giver an answer that will please everyone and I'm not so sure I know the answer." She felt that she had to sound highly intelligent while saying "I don't know."

What struck me in both of these examples was that the speech was not to communicate to a listener/reader but to befuddle them. The repairman didn't want the customer to know how simple the repair job really was. The Officer couldn't simply acknowledge that she either hadn't thought about the question, had conflicting thoughts on it, or simply didn't know; her need to be seen as one with all the answers did not allow for it, so she had to hide her ignorance or unthinkingness behind an empty but high-sounding answer.

In college I took a course called Homiletics, which is the science and art of sermon preparation and delivery. I was one of several of whom our professor said needed to simplify their language. It was his friendly rebuke that got me to really try to stop using high language. He quoted some scripture to us in regard to what he called a bad habit.

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (I Corinthian 2: 1 & 2)

One who speaks in a tongue edifies (i.e. builds up) himself but the one who prophesies (i.e. preaches) edifies the church. I Corinthians 14:4 which is technically about speaking in tongues, but as our good professor pointed out, the same principle still applies. " What good is it to preach if no one understands you? " "You are not in the pulpit to show off your vocabulary but to deliver a message to anyone who is willing to listen and you are responsible to make it understandable." "You're not lawyers trying to confuse a jury but messengers delivering a message to all."

I'm not sure but I think it was Isaac Asimov (a man I loathe to quote) who said that a true sign of genius is to make complex concepts easy to understand. He was wrong on so many things but he got that one right.

Of course there is always technical language and that is fine, but a good doctor will discuss a case in technical terms with another doctor and use ordinary language with the patient.

Equally important is not talking down to or patronizing those with "less education". They may not quote the classics or know the big words, but their "simple wisdom" is often more profound than some of the most learned books in history. Respect their innate intelligence and speak respectfully to them in a manner that they will understand. If you must use a technical term then take the time to explain it to those who don't understand.

I used to know a young man who was taking a course in Philosophy at Michigan State and he gave me one of his papers to proofread. His grammar and spelling were impeccable but I couldn't follow his logic at all. I told him that the paper, in spite of its high language and multiple catch-phrases, made no sense at all and he responded "I know! Professor ______ likes that because he is skeptical of all answers." I could only groan.

Yesterday I was reading another blog when I came to comment that was an incredible pile of words that I spent several minutes untangling before I realized that the commenter was simply telling the poster how stupid and unenlightened he was without giving any concrete evidence whatsoever. Why couldn't he have simply said "You're wrong and here's why." Instead the commenter barraged the blogger with several paragraphs that said absolutely nothing but sounded intelligent.

I still use big words from time to time, but hopefully I speak clearly to those who are listening.

To The Honorable Senator

Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said that "if the public option plan is in there, as a matter of conscience, I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote because I believe the debt can break America and send us into a recession that's worse than the one we're fighting our way out of today."

Senator Lieberman

Thank you for having the courage to stand up to your former party mates and speak out against the monstrosity that they are trying to force down our throats. I don't always agree with you but you are a rare man, a man of principle and one of the few of those in Washington. I wish more conservative Republicans had your backbone.

I hope you have the courage to continue to stand against those who hate what America is and are trying to remold us into an America they can love, a sickly, dying banana republic. Please, for America's sake, continue to stand in the breach.

and don't ever insult your good name by attaching a (D) to it again. They don't deserve you.

And by the way, thank you also for having the courage to tell the truth about the terrorist activities of a certain Jihadist at Fort Hood.

In The Hands of a Good Person

One woman with a gun stopped the massacre. The fact that she was a police officer was secondary. Would Columbine been different if there had been a couple of armed teachers there? Would Virginia Tech had gone a little differently if there had been a few armed people near the shooter? Most likely. People would have died but not as many.

A gun is in and of itself a morally neutral thing whose actions reflect the morality and sanity of the person holding it. It the hands of an evil or crazy person it becomes an item of destruction and murder. In the hands a heroic person it can stop an evil or crazy person from harming others.

It is a great equalizer. It is as effective in the hands of a 100 pound woman as it is in the hands of a 200 pound body builder.

One of the few true things that Chairman Mao said is that all political power comes out of the barrel of a gun. For the people to have the power the guns must be in the hands of the people. An armed population is a free population.

Legal or not, criminals will always have guns. No law will disarm those who intend to break the law. Disarm the honest citizen and he will be the prey of both kinds of criminals, outlaws and autocratic lawmakers.

And those who want to leave the law-abiding citizens as helpless victims are not giving up.

OK

Got my computer hooked to the net again, but am having trouble with my E-mail and Facebook. I guess you gotta solve your problems one at a time.

Here is an interesting political cartoon blog. Give it a peek.

UPDATE: Got my E-mail accounts and Facebook going again. Now I just got one more thing to figure out and I am back to normal.

What's Happening With Me

I, for the first time in days, am able to access the net through a library computer.

Events of the last few days.

Last Sunday my computer gave me its first clue that something was going wrong when it started to reset itself regularly (ie it would act as if someone had hit the reset button that computers used to have.) It would suddenly turn off and start up again. I figured it was a power-supply problem and the computer was rather old (about 4 - 4 1/2 years) so I started arranging to get another one.

I believe that it was Monday that I posted that I was experiencing problems and that it may be a while without a posting. That afternoon I had purchased a laptop that is fine, but I was not set up to get it on the net. Tuesday I completely lost my old computer just as I was transferring files to a disc. It's power supply was dead, dead . . . dead.

Wednesday and Thursday I was up in Bay City visiting my parents, who don't have net access.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday I work a lot of hours and my hours did not allow me to use the library.

I want to keep my old IPS (along with its benefits) so I have declined to go wireless at this time, until my provider starts offering it. I am having trouble connecting my new system to the net so I will be paying for a service call in a day or two. Until then it's Library Computer time. I did purchase a used computer tower and had my old drive installed as a slave drive on it, so I am able to rescue old files, and, for now, I intend to use it rather than the laptop as my main internet connection, but right now it doesn't seem to want to connect.

Sorry Again

I have only intermittent internet access at the moment. Yes it is computer problems.

Why I Groan Sometimes

You can't have non-partisan elections because blacks need to know who the Democrats are so they can vote for them.

No Kidding.

The city of Kinston N.C. voted to do away with party affiliations in local elections, but the Federal Government decided that they can't do that.

I can think of several things wrong with this.

1) The Constitution does not recognize political parties and they are a pragmatic rather than legal structure that is outside the Constitution. I can't say that they are unconstitutional, but rather they are NON-constitutional. So what gives the government the need or right to enforce their existence?

2) Why does the Justice Department equate one party with one race? This is blatant racism and blatant partisanship.

3) As long as people are not denied the right to vote, what does it matter if a local jurisdiction wants to recognize parties or not?

4) And of course we need to look at the previous decisions by the unelected bureaucrat that made this decision. Sad to think that such people have any authority whatsoever.

I Vote Present.

I'm still here. I am just a bit distracted plus a big case of writers' block.

Is it "Writers' Block" when it's on the net?

You know there is really a lot of things going on, but, as far as the news goes, I feel like I'm in mode of just watching and waiting. A lot of things has piqued my interest but nothing that has me ready to stand up and either shout or scream.

Class Room Pressure

Z at her blog talks about a student flipping out in class and physically assaulting another, whose life was saved only by quick thinking by fellow students. Some would suggest that classroom pressure caused this. Possibly it is part of the problem but not the whole problem.

Even in mental collapse one needs to remain responsible.

I did see a student go crazy once.

I was in the Navy at the Nuclear Power School in Orlando. Nuclear Power School was not easy, but it was harder for some than others. (I was far from top of the class but I did well enough to earn a meritorious release from Friday field day - - that's cleaning the classroom - - almost every week.) In another classroom a student suddenly threw everything down and ran screaming out of the room and building. A half-hearted (and futile) attempt was made to find him. I did not hear about it until the events that took place that night were happening.

I was sound asleep after midnight when I awoke to the sound of someone screaming outside. I went to the window and looked outside. There was a man about my age (I was 19 at the time) walking down the sidewalk in his skivvies (undershorts) screaming that he could feel fingers going through his brain and they were going to take it and attach it to a reactor. Then he started picking up rocks and throwing them through windows. Another student went outside and approached him and got a knocked to the ground with a bloody lip for his trouble.

The Barracks Officer of the Deck (A Chief Petty Officer) could be seen making a phone call and then approach the man. This Chief was experienced enough to handle it differently than the sailor who was decked. He let the man lunge at him but would step aside and let him pass him, and usually stumble to the ground. This kept him busy until several Shore Patrol units showed up and subdued him.

He had obviously flipped out but he was still held responsible. He was medically discharged after he had paid for the windows he had broken.

I agree that temporary or long-term insanity should always be considered, but a person must still be held responsible. If sanity is an issue in a crime than ease up a little on the punishment, but don't let the person completely off the hook.

UPDATE 11:28 PM Z is need of prayers as she just lost her husband.