We see so much discrimination against women in religions around the world . We read about the strict enforcement of the Islamic dress code and the burqa the dress code police enforce in Muslim countries, but we also find all of the major religions of the world putting women in a status below men. This includes major Christian religions. On the other hand, in the Book of Judges we read about Jewish hero’s which includes aN extraordinary woman, Deborah. Here…
The new laws against drunk driving in Arizona are very severe which is one reason we’ve decided to stay home New Year’s Eve. This state has one of the most severe laws in the nation regarding driving while drinking. In June the state passed a new law that requires ignition-interlock devices for first time offenders, increased fines and a minimum of 45 days in jail for DUI convictions where the blood alcohol is .20 or higher. (See chart to calculate…
In December of 1914, Reginald Hobbs, a 24 year old British soldier, wrote a five page mud spattered letter in pencil to his wife on a frosty moon lit night. It was December 24th 1914 and on this Christmas eve he was in a waterlogged trench on the Western Front in the region of Ypres, Belgium. Fifty yards away was the German trench. In his famous letter he told her that the guns had fallen silent along the Western front…
MERRY CHRISTMAS Yes, I did mean "Christmas" and not happy "Holidays" or whatever is being substituted as the current politically correct neutral word in place of Christmas. That’s my gripe for today. I understand constitutional prohibitions against state imposed religions. I agree that a manager scene located on government property could be seen as inappropriate by some. But, I don’t understand all the tip toeing around by people like the Port of Seattle and other government agencies with their wringing…
The role of fate in our lives is a mystery.There is an old fable about fate that involves the story of a merchant in ancient Baghdad who sent his servant to the market to buy supplies. When the servant returned he was hysterical: "Master, Master! As I walked through the market I saw Death. He peered at me in such a way I knew he had come for me here. Lend me a fast horse so I may flee to…
The Sex Lives of Cannibals, a book by J. Maarten Troost, is not what the title would suggest. In fact, the book has nothing about sex or cannibals, but rather is a description of how a young man and his girl friend left the fast city life of the East Coast and moved to the remote South Pacific Tarawa Atoll. Those of us who lived through World War II will recall that the Tarawa Atoll is a series of small…
We have all been reading about the CIA destroying the video tapes of their interrogation of two al-Qaida suspects in order to keep them from being seen and to conceal their probable torture methods. This happened after a federal judge had ordered that such information be preserved and following evasive responses from the Bush administration about it’s knowledge and role in the matter. The videotapes were made in 2002 and showed the CIA’s interrogations of the two prisoners. The CIA…
Readers of this blog know that I have never been a fan of Senator Joe Lieberman because I have always seen him as a fraud. (3/29/07) He represented himself as a Democrat only to get elected, but has consistently voted, as well as supported, the Republican agenda. Joe never saw a tort reform bill he didn’t like and was a consistent friend of George Bush as well as the Republican agenda. The only thing Democratic about the Senator is the…
When I was in high school,a half a century ago, I enjoyed the literature class taught by Mrs. Farnam. I memorized poetry for her and one poem, in particular, from that class has stuck with me: Eldorado by Edgar Allan Poe. Gaily benight, a gallant knight, in sunshine and in shadow, had journed long, singing a song, in search of Eldorado. But he grew old – this knight so bold – and o’er his heart a shadow fell, as he…
In reading my Bible this morning I read the following passage: "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. (Isaiah 10:1) It made me think about the gutless legislators who support unjust laws which they know are improper because they want to be re-elected or because they have accepted financial support…
