Between Posts

Let's bail out the blue states and cities, but let's make it conditional.  I'm okay with one final round of Stimulus spending during the Covid-19 crisis, but only if the only item in the bill is bailout money for bankrupt states and cities, with the following conditions attached... "In return for federal funds to resolve the insolvency or budget shortcomings of a State or Municipality, the State or Municipality must cede political and operating control to the Executive Branch of the federal government. The President shall, without the advice and consent of either the House or the Senate, appoint a new Governor (State) or Mayor (Municipality). The appointee shall serve no fewer than two years and shall, with the consent of the Executive Branch, have final authority over all rules, regulations and legislation made or passed by the legislative bodies of the State or Municipality. The appointee will have line-item veto power over any spending bill or budget item. Further,

The Inalienable Right of Christians to Risk and Lay Down Their Lives for Others In recent days the airwaves and social media have been the epicenter of a raging debate around President Trump's recent pronouncement that churches should no longer be kept closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.  The current Argument The justification for declaring churches as "essential," for most Christians, is based on two primary arguments: first, that the Constitution protects both our freedom to worship and our right to assemble; second, that we are commanded to gather together in corporate worship. Of course, there is also the very legitimate argument that churches should be no more restricted than grocery stores, barber shops or other places that have looser restrictions than do houses of worship.  All these are legitimate arguments, and the proposed solutions coming from the churches are reasonable. It is just as easy for a church to re-open safely as it is for a business, and frankly,

Memorial Day triggers my annual genealogy binge.  I spent the past three days googling like mad, finding new bits and pieces of my family history, and expanding on my past findings.  I will spare you all the self-analysis as to why I go on this annual binge. That will perhaps someday be the subject of a novel or short-story, but it is not relevant to this post. In 2020 I discovered that the HS Yearbooks ("Annual") of the one-building, all-grades school that my father attended in Samnorwood, Texas are available online through the library of the Wheeler County Courthouse in Wellington, Texas. My dad attended high school until he "got smart" with his father and told him he was finished helping on the farm and was hell-bent on trying his luck picking fruit in California, upon which news my grandfather bought my dad the most expensive gift he had ever received, a brand-new suitcase, which my grandfather packed with all my dad's clothes then presented to my Dad along

The weather today is temperate, comfortable and inviting. A gentle breeze barely sways the branch of the bush in which a bluebird is resting. The bluebird knows nothing of Covid-19. He harbors no thoughts of disease or pandemics. The bluebird does not know that a great man of faith, Ravi Zacharias , passed on to his eternal reward today. The bluebird is aware of nothing more than his instincts allow.  I am happy for the bluebird that he is conscious of nothing that troubles us. I am blessed that God sent a bluebird today.