Stability For Our Time

One thing that the DNC and GOP seem to agree on is that the Tea Party folks represent hardcore conservatives who hang out somewhere to the right of Limbaugh. As usual when both sides agree, they get it wrong.

I've been to a couple of Tea Party events and talked with the people there.

Sure there are hard core conservatives there, but there's also a lot of libertarians, and not a few moderate Democrats. I've seen a lot more G.O.O.O.H stickers and badges at these events than GOP, and an awful lot of sensible cars with Obama stickers on them.

People are pissed at the government and politicians in general, and a lot of them are in the mood to toss the whole lot of 'em and start over. Stalwart party apparatchiks on both sides of the aisle don't want to admit this, but the possibility of a true third party coalescing around the dissatisfied Tea Partiers is getting stronger all the time.

If we see a lot of upsets in the upcoming elections, with lots of new faces in the House and the Senate, regardless of whether there is an R or D after their name, the stage could be set for a very interesting 2012 campaign. Just consider that 16 men from both parties took the Senate hostage and forced through a compromise energy bill that neither the Republicans nor Democrats liked. Now consider what could happen in an evenly divided House and Senate if instead of an as hoc coalition forming in one chamber, 30-40 Reps and 15-20 Senators all formally committed to a new third party. If there were enough to prevent either Dems or Reps from holding a majority, well, all of the sudden, a vote for a third party candidate wouldn't be wasted, would it?

It could happen. There are a lot of blue dog Democrats feeling a lot of heat over Obama's administration, and with Scott Brown's example to follow, a conversion to a new party that taps into voter anger might be a pretty sound strategeric move.

It's going to be fun to watch for the next couple of years.

If you found the Tebow commercial objectionable then you are not Pro-Choice, you are Pro-Abortion. Period.

You may have noticed the lack of new posts over the last several days. My mother in law just had her colon removed and we've been spending most of the last five or six days in the hospital with her as she recovers. The doctor was able to reattche her lower intestine which in the long-term is a good thing because she doesn't need a colostomy bag, In the short-term, however, it's making her recovery a bit more challenging, and that plus her medically induced dementia requires that Lissa or I be there 24/7.

Even with us there to keep on the nurses and other caregivers, Shirley has been left to sit in her own wastes for extended periods of time, resulting in skin issues that require even more attention.

Despite these challenges, she is recovering nicely and has progressed to solid foods. In the next day or two, she'll be moved from the hospital to a convalescence center (sounds so much nicer than nursing home) for a couple of weeks.

Posting will continue to be light for the next few days as we spend most of our efforts on taking care of Shirley. Please keep her in your prayers.

Remember when President Obama said he cut taxes for the middle class last year? Lefty demagogues ran about proclaiming that The One had just given out the largest middle class tax cut in history. Of course, he did it differently. Instead of giving everybody a rebate, a la Bush, he changed the withholding rules so you would get an extra $12 or so in your pay check.

And there was much rejoicing.

But if you were paying attention, you noticed something very interesting; while he changed the withholding schedule, he didn't change the tax rates. What this means to you and me is that while we had less money deducted from our paychecks, we still had the same tax liability at the end of the year. What that means is that the refund you would have gotten this year paid for that $12 a paycheck through last year.

Not as much rejoicing.

Even better, there will be millions of people who actually owe money to the IRS this year instead of getting their usual refund.

Remember who to thank come November.

Did you know that it is possible to make a credit card payment too early?

Neither did I, but let me tell you about a bank called HSBC.

If you haven't heard of them, HSBC is a very large bank that not only issues their own credit cards to consumers, but supplies credit services to a number of retail stores like Best Buy and Helzberg Diamonds among others. If you have a store credit card in your wallet, take it out and take a look; you'll probably find the HSBC logo somewhere on the back in very fine print.

HSBC has a very interesting payment policy, one that I'm sure is very lucrative for them, but one that costs their customers a lot of money.

The HSBC billing cycle runs completely independently of your payment date. For example, if your payment date is on the 17th, and you pay on the 20th, you are a day late and you'll pay a $39.00 late fee. Now, say you decide to make a double payment to cancel out the late fee and protect yourself from additional interest. You pay on the 20th, after your due date, you make two payments, so you're good for next month, right?

Nope.

HSBC doesn't close out their billing cycle until the end of the month, so even though you paid enough to cover the late payment plus the current payment, it all gets credited to the late payment.

You still owe them for the next payment. And they'll be happy to tell you about it...after you miss the next payment and they can charge you another $39.00.

Their billing system penalizes you for paying too early. In my book, that's a rip off.

So lessons learned:
1. Don't get a credit card from HSBC.
2. If you already have one, pay the thing off and never get another one.
3. Avoid businesses who use HSBC to issue their credit cards and tell those businesses why.
4. If you have an account, make sure your payments go in after the billing cycle ends but before your due date. If your due date falls on the first of the month, God help you because the HSBC customer support surely won't.

This evening, the Pigeon Forge police conducted a sting to try and see if they could con bartenders into serving underage undercover officers.

Meanwhile, the man who shot Michael Mundy in the head is still on the loose.

Nice to see the local PD has their priorities straight.

One year, I decided to plant a garden. I laid out the garden, broke the ground, pulled up the roots and rocks, tilled the earth, added fertilizers and compost. I laid out the rows, built a fence to keep out the varmints. I built trellises, and tomato cages and bean poles. I planted tomatoes, and beans, and squash, and cucumbers. I planted corn, and peppers, and asparagus. I planted spinach and lettuce and cabbage. And I planted grapevines, blackberry brambles, strawberry patches, and some blueberry bushes. I planted enough that my family could eat fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden all year long.

As the year passed, I spent hours in the garden, weeding, waterin, and fertilizing, and when harvest time came, my garden was bountiful. There was plenty of food for my family, and because God had blessed my little garden, I gave 1 part in 10 of everything that came out of my garden to feed the poor and the homeless. The winter was long and times grew hard. When spring came, I planted again; this time because my family would need the food. Again, I spent hours in the garden, doing the work needed to bring a bountiful harvest. And again, my garden was bountiful, and I preserved enough food for my family to make it through the winter, and gave 1 part in 10 of everything to the poor and the hungry.

After the harvest, the government man came to my door.

“We heard you have a bountiful garden, and that you were able to preserve enough food for your family to make it through the winter.”

“Yes, that is true. God has rewarded my work.”

“Don’t you know that many of your neighbors are living in hunger, and won’t have enough to get through the winter? It’s not fair for you to have plenty when they have so little.”

“I’ve seen the hunger and the poverty of people in this community, and I have reached out to them. I gave 1 part in 10 of everything that came from my garden to help feed them.”

“But you still have more than they do, and that isn’t fair. There are still hungry people, while you are well fed. You have a social responsibility to share your wealth with those who don’t have your good fortune. We’ve determined that you owe 3 1/3 parts in 10 of everything that came from your garden.”

“Owe? How can I owe? Were you there to help me when I broke the ground, or pulled the stumps? Did you help plant the crops, or water and weed them through the hot summer? Were you there to help with the harvest, or the canning? If you didn’t share in the work, how can you be owed the fruits of that work? I give according to the dictates of God, not because I ‘owe’ anything to anybody.”

“Sir, that’s a bad attitude. Yes, you labored in your garden, but the poor and hungry would have liked to have a garden to work in, but they don’t have your good fortune. You profit by being a part of the village, so you owe it to the village to pay back some of that profit.”

“Very well, I will give you 2 1/3 parts in 10 of everything I have produced in my garden, since I’ve already given 1 part in 10 to the poor. If I give you more than that, my own family will go hungry.”

“We appreciate what you have given to the poor, but that does not reduce what you owe. 30% is the levy. But because we are generous, and want to encourage people like you to give, we will allow you to deduct the 1 part in 10 you already gave, and only apply the tax to what you have left, which means you only owe us 3 parts in 10.”

The government man took his 3 parts in 10 of the bounty of my garden, and used it to feed the poor, except for what he took to compensate him for his efforts in feeding the poor. My family and I got hungry as the winter seemed to linger even longer that year, but we made it through to spring. I planted a larger garden, because times were still hard, and I saw the hungry people in my town, and I knew the government man would be back. I worked longer hours in the larger garden to make sure I had a bountiful harvest.

Once again, God blessed my garden with a bountiful harvest, and once again, I gave 1 part in 10 to the poor and hungry, and set aside 3 parts in 10 for the government man, saving 6 parts in 10 for my family.

When the government man came, I showed him the 3 parts in 10 that were my tax.

He said, “We’ve noticed that your garden is larger and you are producing even more food. Why should you prosper when others go hungry?”

“My garden is larger not because I’m prospering, but because I increased the size of my garden enough to feed my family through the winter after giving my 1 in 10 to the poor and my 3 in 10 to you.”

“That may be true but it doesn’t matter. Your garden is bigger and producing more food; that means you can easily afford to give more. Your tax this year is 5 parts in 10 of everything your garden has produced.”

“Sir, that isn’t fair. Yes, I raised more, but because you get 3 parts in 10, you are already getting more as well. Don’t raise the parts as well! I can’t do that! My family went hungry last winter because we gave so much. If I give even more, we might starve!”

“Spare me your greed, sir! I look around and I see bushels of fresh produce and shelves filled with cans of preserved fruits and vegetables. You live at ease in the lap of luxury while your neighbors live in hunger and poverty. You are a greedy man, selfish and hateful, like all wealthy men. You have a social responsibility to meet the needs of the hungry people in this community, and it is my job to see that you do so. Give us the 5 in 10 parts, or we will take everything you have!”

The government man took his 5 in 10, and left us with what was left, and distributed our produce throughout the town to the hungry and poor, except of course for the part he kept as payment for his services. The winter was even longer and colder that year. My family was desperately hungry, and that winter is not one we care to remember.

When spring came, I was too weak to do the planting myself. I went down to where the poor and hungry stayed to hire some help for my fields. I offered to share a part of the crop with them at harvest time if they would work with me, and while several locals turned down the offer, saying they could eat from my garden without working for it, three young visitors from another village agreed to work with me.

With them helping, I was able to clear a larger amount of land for a larger garden. I gave each of my helpers their own plot to work for themselves, and together we all worked the main garden
We worked hard throughout the summer, and once again, God blessed us with a bountiful harvest. I set aside 1 part in 10 for God’s gift to the poor, 6 parts in 10 for the tax on the increased produce, and 3 parts in 10 to feed my family. The men who helped me got all of the food they raised in their plots, less 3 parts in 10 for their tax, and went home to feed their families for the winter, promising to return the next spring.

When the government man came, he was angry.

“How dare you take advantage of those poor men like you have? They are visitors to our land, and you forced them to work like servants. You have a social responsibility to meat their needs, not to exploit them! You are wealthy and greedy beyond all imagination! Look at all you have! When will it be enough for you? You will pay the tax on what the men raised on the plots you gave them out of your crop, refunding the 3 in 10 that you withheld from them, and then you will pay a penalty for abusing them as you did. That, on top of the 6 in 10 you already owe amounts to 8 parts in 10 of everything you produced in your garden.”

“Sir, if you take that much, my family will starve!”

“We can’t be held responsible for every undercapitalized farmer out there. Maybe you’ll learn a valuable lesson from this.”

The government man walked away with 8 parts in 10 from everything my garden had produced. That winter was the worst one yet. The weather wasn’t bad, but we nearly starved to death. We ate everything that the government man had left us, and it wasn’t enough. I tried to get some food for my family from the government man, but he turned me away, along with many others, saying we were too wealthy to need government food. He said we didn’t look hungry enough.

Spring came, and I went to the young men who worked with me the year before, but they told me that they were ‘organized’ now, and that I would have to give them 1 part in 10 each of the total harvest, plus all that they raised on their plots, plus I would have to pay their harvest tax.

It was too much. There was no way I could pay them and still have enough to pay my taxes, and feed my family. I would have to figure out another way. I told the young men I had no need for their labor this year, and went home.

A week later, the government man came, along with an angry mob. In the mob were the three young men, as well as many of the poor and hungry people of the town.
The government man asked me, ”Is it true what these three young men have told me? Did you fire them for no reason at all?”

“No sir, that isn’t true. I’m not hiring them because I can’t afford them this year.”

“You can’t afford? How greedy are you? You have one of the largest gardens in the county! Stop thinking about yourself and think about others for a change. What about what these young men need? Don’t they have the right to hold a job, and to provide for their families? You have a social responsibility to make sure that they are able to do productive labor!”

“Sir, I would be happy to give them a job if I had one to give, but I don’t. Their demands are too high for me to be able to afford them. I might be able to hire one at their new rates, but certainly not three.”

At this, the young men began to shout about solidarity, and how if all couldn’t work, none would. The crowd rallied around them and began to yell slogans and to call me names and threaten my family.

While the government man stood and smiled at the crowd in encouragement, I thought about the last few years. My garden had started as a way to feed my family, and now I was feeding almost half the village and racking up a back breaking debt all while my family was slowly starving. It simply wasn’t worth the effort anymore. I decided not to put in a garden, and to find another way to support my family.

When I announced my intention to abandon my garden, the crowd went silent as death. Worried looks filled their faces as they began to wonder how they would survive the coming winter. They turned to the government man who turned to me, shaking in fury.

“How dare you, sir! You have prospered for years in this village through exploiting the labor of visitors, and through exploiting the land you live on. And now, when we ask for just a little social responsibility, you decide to take your wealth and go home, leaving us destitute? No sir! That’s not fair, and we won’t allow it. If you won’t raise a garden on your land, we’ll take your land from you. In fact, the land belongs to all of us, as do the fruits of that land. Your greed and selfishness is what has caused so many of your neighbors to live in hunger. I don’t know why we tolerated you and your selfishness for so long. We don’t need you and your kind here. We look out for each other. Take your greed and your family, and leave this place immediately!”

The crowd roared their approval as I gathered my wife and children, and began the long walk to the next village to start all over again. As we gathered the few belongings the crowd would allow us to take, I heard them shouting and clapping in happiness, that soon they would be able to have all the food they wanted, now that they were landowners and I was no longer there to oppress them. I guided my family through the crowd and reached the edge of the village. My former neighbors cheered at my departure, but they fell silent when I turned and addressed them.

“Folks, I’m leaving, and you have all the lands that my garden used to sit on, and you are welcome to it and all that it will produce. I only have one question for you; which one of you will be the first one to pull the plow?”

I turned and walked away, and as we left the village, I heard the first fights breaking out.

Health Care reform has failed again, and for the same reason it failed when Hillary Clinton tried it. In both cases the reform was sold as "getting coverage to people who need it," but in a classic bait and switch scam, the plan the Democrats came up with affected the coverage of virtually everyone in the country, excepting themselves of course. In both cases, voters saw the scam and rejected it. Had Democrats stayed focused on addressing the actual need rather than trying to engage in social engineering and wealth redistribution, they could have easily crafted a plan that would pass with bipartisan support.

When the push for health care reform started up during the Obama campaign, we heard over and over about the (insert your favorite number here) of people who couldn't get health care under the current system. Obama promised that he would work to make sure that they were covered.

While I disagree with the idea that access to health care is a basic human right, (Nobody has a right to the fruits of another's labor. Period. This idea is so basic that it lies at the root of capitalism and communism.) it should be a privilege of living in a society as wealthy as we are. So how is it that such an obviously easy goal gets so screwed up each time it is tried? Hillary botched it so badly in 1993 that the issue was effectively tabled for 16 years and led directly to the Democrats losing control of the House for the first time in decades. We haven't seen all of the fallout from the Obama attempt, but seeing a Republican Senator from Massachusetts indicates that it will be massive.

What do they do wrong?

First, they lie to make the problem appear bigger than it is, which costs them credibility. Then they propagandize endlessly that we have a duty to help those less fortunate (We do.) and that passing health care reform will not only meet their need and our duty, it will save us money in the long run.

What's not to like?

So they get everybody on board to help out those who need it because none of us like to think about sick kids that can't get a little medicine. Then thepoliticians go into their little back rooms and begin to craft a plan that will address the identified need.

But something goes wrong in the process. The mission begins to creep. Instead of dealing with providing affordable basic care to those without, the target gets bigger. Now they want to deal with how insurance companies handle pre-existing conditions. And then they add portability to the package. And mental health benefits. And expanded prenatal care, to include abortions. And forcing more companies to provide more coverage at lower prices. And telling doctors what they can and can't charge, and what they can and can't treat. And taxing medical supply companies. And taxing existing plans for being "too good." And forcing people who opt out of coverage to pay a fine or go to jail.

All of the sudden, we're not talking about covering a few million people, but a complete federal takeover of our health care system, with the usual expense and efficiency the government brings to all of it's operations. Can you imagine hospitals run with TSA efficiency?

So then the Democrats do two things very quickly. They exempt themselves from the requirements they are about to foist on the people they "serve" and then they start a second propaganda campaign, calling everyone with the temerity to oppose reform cruel heartless monsters who want American children to die as they unveil a 1000 page monstrosity that will cost billions and affect the coverage of virtually everybody. The problem with that is that most of the American people are satisfied with their health care. Why would they want to change it?

And don't make the mistake of thinking that it's selfishness on their part, because it isn't. It's a natural reaction to the deceptive tactics used by the reformers. They promised better coverage for those without coverage and wind up recreating the entire health care delivery system along lines most Americans reject. Opponents of reform don't even have to work very hard to stop it. Consider that the proponents of health care reform had decisive advantages in the House and Senate, and a President who made the issue a priority, and opponents were still able to stop it.

This is the lesson that Democrats should carry away from Massachusetts. The people there voted for Mitt Romney, who built a state run health care coverage plan. While it is by no means perfect, it has effectively covered every state resident. The people who are living with a government manages health care system voted overwhelmingly for a man who clear and repeatedly said that he would oppose a national version of the plan, not because he didn't support the idea of unversal coverage, but because the package produced by the Obama administration was so awful, even when compared to the Massachusetts plan. The voters didn't say that the idea was bad, just the execution.

So instead of walking away for another decade or so, why not take another stab at reform, this time getting it right? The key to success is to maintain focus on the core issue; getting those who want coverage but can't afford it access to good quality care. Forget everything else, all the bells and whistles, and power grabs and pork and just concentrate on meeting the need.

Forget politics and get the people covered. After that's done, then start looking at ways to address other pieces of the puzzle, one at a time.

• Bullets aren't the only projectiles launched from the AR. Springs will fly out of place with great velocity if you aren't careful. Sometimes even if you are careful.


• Having an experienced friend help with the assembly is no guarantee that nothing will go wrong, but it does mean that you will have somebody to share the laughter.


• Some pieces will go in either way. Some won't. The ones that won't are the ones you will try to put in the wrong way.


• Three hands are better than two. Four hands are too many, except when playing bridge.


• When going to your friends house to assemble your rifle, make sure you go to the right house. Showing up on a random stranger's front porch with a scary black gun will get you talked about, even if it isn't fully assembled.


• Iron sights are all you need for an effective rifle, but electric sights are way cool. And expensive.


• The wife who is happy to let you build your rifle for $XXXX will be somewhat less happy to allow you to purchase electric sights for $XXX, unless there are a significant number of pairs of shoes involved.


• Assembling a lower for yourself helps you to understand exactly how the rifle functions. You pull the trigger and the gun goes bang. The bang pushes the bullet out of the barrel into the bad guy, and pushed the thing that holds the bullet back so a new bullet is loaded. Repeat as needed.
  
• Was that last tip too technical?


• You need to know the difference between a magazine and a clip. A magazine is the thing you read in the bathroom. A clip is what holds your money in your pocket. You can see where the confusion arises.


• You can't sight in an AR while standing on your back porch in the dark while it's raining. Don't let that stop you from trying.


• Some neighbors will hear you trying to sight in your rifle in the dark and rain and call the police. My neighbors come over to shoot with me.


• Cows are more afraid of a barking dog than a booming gun, which explains their position on the food chain.


• While there are several guides on the internet to building an AR-15, mine is the best. Of course, I haven't written it yet, but it's still true.

I want to thank SayUncle for walking me through the assembly process, and by "walking me through" I mean doing most of it while explaining what he was doing, and for letting me shoot his silenced .22 Walther. I've never heard the sound of bullets hitting the dirt before.

I'll have pictures up later.

Next purchase will be a sling.

• So far, most Democrats don't get it. Brown ran a campaign centered on stopping the current health care reform package moving through congress and easily defeated Democrat Coakley despite receiving almost no early support from the GOP, the RNC, or even the State party. Over 30% of the people that voted for him cited the Health care issue as the primary cause, and over 50% of the folks in Massachusetts oppose the current plan, yet listening to the White House, it's business as usual. According to Axelrod, only the tactics will change. The expense of this approach will be prohibitive come November.


• So far, most Republicans don't get it. Brown ran on a Republican ticket, and his main campaign planks were conservative, but if you listened to his speeches, particularly his acceptance speech, you'll hear a consistent note throughout. He's independent. Last night, he sent a very clear message to Republicans. First, he said his win was a vidtory for independent voters. Then he said very clearly that he was owned by no person or party.


• When Democrat strategists said that the seat in Massachusetts was Ted Kennedy's seat, they were right. Their mistake was in assuming that "Kennedy's seat" was synonymous with "Democrat's seat."


• Assuming that Scott Brown will vote in lockstep with the Republican leadership in the Senate will be just as devastating to the Republicans as assuming Ted Kennedy's seat was safe was to the Democrats. He is a pragmatist who will work for a practical solution.


• I'll be very surprised if Brown gives the Republican response to the State of the Union address.


• Brown appears to have the same effect on liberals as does Sarah Palin and for much the same reason. He's immune to their normal tactics of slander, innuendo, and hyperbolic oratory. I thought Olbermann was going to stroke out.

For the last few years, I've been suffering from a serious medical condition that was causing the shortening of my arms. It wasn't too bad, but I noticed it most when trying to read fine print, which was getting harder and harder. I told Lissa about it . She just snorted and told me I was getting old and needed bifocals.

I told her there was nothing wrong with my eyes, that it was all in my arms and I tried to prove it to her by putting my arms around her.

"See," I said," my arms don't reach all the way around you anymore."

For some reason, that didn't go over very well. I guess some people just can't handle being wrong. She started muttering something about pointing out which of my appendages were really shrinking, and while I certainly have no idea what she was talking about, I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and went to sleep on the couch.

Early the next morning I decided to prove my point in a different way. I went down to the laundry room to grab a couple of my long sleeved shirts to show her that the sleeves were too short. What I discovered when I put them on was truly shocking. Not only had my arms shrunk, but my shirts had been shrinking as well, and at exactly the same rate as my arms!

What were the odds?

I considered sharing this new observation with her, but then the truth hit me. That lovely woman was deliberately shrinking my shirts so I wouldn't feel bad about it!

Like the old Geritol Commercial used to say, "My wife! I think I'll keep her."

Now that I understood why she was so upset I went and woke her up to tell her everything I'd discovered and how happy I was that she had gone to so much trouble to keep me from suffering the consequences of my affliction.

I'm sure you're surprise is as great as mine was when she proceeded to scream at me using words that I didn't know she knew, words I hadn't heard since I was in the Navy. The various acts she invited me to perform on myself were not only immoral, but illegal in several states, and, at least in one case, physically impossible without extensive surgery and years of training.

I think it would have gone better if I'd brought her coffee first. I mentioned something about her being grumpy before breakfast, and the next thing I remember was waking up in the emergency room. I only needed 35 stitches and while I was there, the doctor told me that there was no such thing as a disease that caused the arms to get shorter, and that probably needed bifocals.

I looked over at my loving wife and asked her why she had gone to all the trouble of shrinking my shirts if she had that all I needed were some new glasses..

She just stared at me, then asked the doctor if he was sure the anesthesia had completely worn off. He said that it had, and for some reason he had a sad look on his face. Lissa started making very strange noises in the back of her throat like steam escaping from a pressure cooker and eventually left the room muttering about there being too many witnesses or something like that. That's when the doctor told me that he'd like to keep me in the hospital overnight, "just to be safe," he said. I asked if there was anything seriously wrong with me and he said "Only if you go home tonight."

Anyway, the next morning, Lissa picked me up and we went to the eye doctor and sure enough, he said I needed bifocals. I was afraid I'd have to wear those old man looking glasses, or the librarian spectacles, but there's this thing called progressive bifocals and it's really cool. Basically, they grind different areas of the lens a little bit differently which gives each portion of the lens a different amount of correction. The part right in front of your eye is built for distance and the part right below your eye is built for closeup. One of the consequences of the variable grinding is that in order to keep the glass smooth and line free, the area right above your eye and to either side is a little bit weaker than it should be, which reduces your peripheral vision by a bit.

When I tried them on, I really liked them. My eye doctor had prescribed my contacts in monocular vision for the last year, and while it worked ok, it was a little bit annoying because nothing was ever in clear focus. BUt with my new glasses, all I have to do is look through the right part of the lens, and everything can be sharply focused and crystal clear.

Lissa asked me if the glasses helped me see better, and I said, "They certainly do! I can see every little line around your eyes!"

Fortunately, they were having a special two for the price of one sale.

This is a question that I struggled with for a long time. I did a lot of reading and praying about it. How does a handgun carry permit jibe with "Love your enemies?"

It always seemed to me that loving my enemy was one thing; allowing him to hurt my wife or kids was another, but I wanted a Bible based answer, not just my own selfish interest.

Fortunately, I'm not the first one to ask this question, and I found a great answer at Biblical Self Defense

You should go read the whole entry, because he does an excellent job of backing up every point he makes with Scripture and he takes the time to provide the context of his quotes. In essence, his search shows that there is a Biblical duty to defend the weak and innocent from the strong, and that killing in the defense of others is not murder. On the other hand, killing to defend property might be. Going even deeper, he notes that even a justifiable killing can affect your standing in the eyes of God. You won't be punished for doing what you had to do, but there are avenues and ministries which are closed to the defender/warrior.

There's also a price to pay. We're all familiar with Matt 26:52 which tells us that all who take up the sword will die by the sword. This warning is echoed in Revelation, but there's some translation difficulties.

Rev 13:10 is translated like this in the King James Version:

He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

But like this in the ESV:

If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

There's quite a difference between the two. The context is the rise of the first beast, who will be given power over all the nations and tribes, and will make war on the saints and defeat them. The ESV version, which is more literal, suggests that if the saints are destined for capture or death, then they will be captured or killed and must therefore endure with patience and faith. The KJV version suggests that the saints shouldn't even fight, but depend on the power of God to reverse their defeat.

In either case, we have to remember that death is not a bad thing if you are saved. Heaven still waits.

So killing another man, even in self defense or defense of another, is a very serious thing according to the Bible (of course, I knew that already) but it is not automatically the wrong thing to do. There are times and circumstances where it is both necessary and right to do so.

Like I said, go read it for yourself.

All the parts have arrived. Now all I have to do is assemble them, with assistance from my friend SayUncle.

Here are the parts I wound up with:

SI Defense stripped lower receiver

DPMS Lower Receiver Parts Kit

BCM M4 Milspec Stock kit

MI rear BUIS

1X9 Chromed flatop 16" barreled upper

I wanted to build a no-frills rifle for my first project and then shoot it for awhile to figure out what extras to buy. I foresee an Aimpoint in my near future and a weapon light. Other than that, I don't know. Assembly will be Thursday, so unless I run into problems, I should be shooting this weekend.

Thanks to everyone for the comments and the help.

That's the big question on everybody's mind right now, isn't it? That earthquake in Haiti has really stirred things up, particularly after Pat Robertson spoke his piece, a topic I already covered in some detail here.

We know that there had to be some good people on the island, right? Despite what Robertson said about deals with the devil and so on, not everybody on Haiti could be bad, so then why were the good punished along with the wicked?

These questions point to an underlying assumption in the big question, that there were good people on Haiti. If we look closer, we can see that there are several big assumptions tied up into this question, and we need to examine them so that we can understand exactly what we are asking. If you don't think the underlying assumptions contained in a question are important, just think about the old saw about asking a man if he had stopped beating his wife. Whether he answers yes or no is irrelevant because of the underlying assumption, that he had beat his wife in the past. So before we can start to answer the question, first, we have to understand it. Let's break down the parts and see where we stand.

1. "Why does God allow...to happen" indicates a belief that all things are under God's control.
2. "Bad things" indicates a belief that our perception of bad and good are accurate and applicable on a global scale as well as an individual scale.
3. "To good people" indicates a belief that there are good people, or at the very least, people who don't deserve whatever calamity we happen to be talking about.

As I've written about before, I believe the Bible is divinely inspired, and despite the fact that every copy in existence is flawed in some way, I believe that it is easily accurate enough for us to use as a reference on the nature of God. So let's see what the Bible has to say on this.
First, let's look at assumption 1, that everything that happens is in accordanc with God's plan. Let's look at three cases.

1. God has planned everything and it is all under His complete control, a doctrine called predestination.


2. God has a general plan that will be carried out, but the details are left vague to allow us to exercise free will.


3. God set the universe in motion and is sitting back, watching the show to see how it turns out.

_{(Technically, there is a fourth option, that there is no God, but I don't have enough faith to be an atheist, so I'm not going to bother. Go read Dawkins or Hitchens of that's your cup of tea.)}

Pr 16:4

The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble

.
Acts 4:28

to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

Rom 8:29

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Eph 1:3-5

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

Job 31:4

Does not he see my ways and number all my steps?

Jer 1:5

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Matt 10:29-31

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

There's more, but I think you get the point. God didn't just give the universe a shove to get it going, nor does he plan somethings and leave others to chance; he has planned and knows every detail, down to the number of hairs on your head. This idea has some interesting implications for free will and personal responsibility, but we'll deal with those at another time.

Assumption 2, that what we define as bad actually corresponds to bad is the next topic.
Pr 16:4

The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble

.
Ex 1:12

But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.

Job 5:17

“Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.

Ps 119:67

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.

Zec 13:9

And I will put this third into the fire,
and refine them as one refines silver,
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call upon my name,
and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’;
and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”

Heb 12:11

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Matt 5:10

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Deu 8:5

Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.

Again, there is more, but you get the point. Biblically speaking, it is clear that in many instances, what we see immediately as painful and bad can turn out, in accordance with God's plan, to be of benefit to us. Given the limitations of our perceptions and intelligence, there is no way for us to know at any given moment whether the trials we are facing are there to chasten or reprove us, or to strengthen us in our faith. All we can say is that all things work towards the glory of God, and to benefit those who follow Him. Assumption number 2 is false, and that gives us part of our answer.

Now for Assumption 3, that there are good people.

This is the real sticking point because I don't know anybody, myself included, who likes to think of themselves as a bad person, but once again, let's see what the Bible has to say on that.
Rom 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Gen 6:5

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

1 Kings 8:46

“If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—"

Psalm 14:3

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good, not even one.

Psalm 130:3

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

Ecc 7:20

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Isaiah 53:6

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;

Isaiah 64:6

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

1 John 1:8

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

So once again, from a Biblical standpoint, our assumption is false. We aren't good people. In the eyes of God, we are all unclean and unworthy of His protection. But because He loves us, He has given us a Savior, Jesus Christ, who paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross.

So, knowing what we now know, let's reformulate our question to eliminate the false assumptions.

Why would a loving God allow bad things to happen?

We already know at least part of the answer from the verses in our study of Assumption 2. God allows us to undergo trials in order to strengthen us, or chasten us. Like the shepherd's rod, he uses trials to tell us when we're going astray. He also uses them to strengthen our faith and temper our hearts, and to bring us closer to Him. As recorded in Matthew, God uses trials and persecutions to bless us, and Jesus told us to rejoice in our persecutions:
Matt 5:11-12

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Another part of the answer comes from our study of Assumption 3. Bad things happen because we deserve them. Read Matthew Chapter 20. In this parable, Jesus is telling us that He isn't giving us what we deserve, but through the grace of God, more than we deserve. We don't earn our good fortune; it is a gift from God. If we were given just what what we deserved, we would be in pitiful shape.

There is one final part of the answer, one nobody likes to talk about, but it is real. Troubles are a punishment for disobedience.
Dan 9:11

All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.

We like to think of God as a loving God, but that is only part of His nature. He is also a just God, and justice requires consequences for actions. As a just God, He must condemn us all for our sins, but as a loving God, He sent His Son to pay the price for us, so we wouldn't have to. We do have a responsibility to meat in this deal. Jesus ransomed us from damnation, but in order to get the benefit of that redemption, we must accept Him as our Savior and our Lord. Simple belief is not enough. As the Scripture says, even the demons believe. We must also obey become His servants, and His friends. Being the friend of God isn't a bad price to pay to escape condemnation, but as creatures of flesh, we have a hard time paying it.

So God helps us. Those who He has called for His own will be chastened and reproved when they go astray. Trust me on this one; I've been on the receiving end of many chastenings, and I'm certain I have more in store. On the other hand, I've been through trials that have made me stronger , and again, I'm sure there will be more. The important thing is that I keep clear that all things work for the good of those who walk with God, and that God won't test me without giving me what I need to pass the test.

Heck, he gave me a Book with all of the answers in it; all I have to do is find them.

Part 1 is here.

In verse 4, the promise in verse 3 is confirmed and given detail.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

As a kid, I always read this part to mean if I am in the valley of the shadow of death, implying that it wasn't a permanent condition. As I look at this verse today, from the perspective of a middle aged man, I realize that we are always in the shadow of death, both physically and spiritually. Our bodies can die at any time. We are subject to disease, accidents, random events, the evil machinations of other people, and any number of things that could lead to our deaths. As some have it, we begin to die the instant we are born. Physically, that isn't far from the truth. Spiritually, however, that isn't accurate.

Spiritually speaking, we are born dead, and remain so unless we are reborn in the spirit through the Grace of God. Ezekiel 37 gives an excellent description of this:

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. l And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and l cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

One of the very neat things about this passage is that it is an Old Testament reference to both the resurrection, and to Salvation through faith, not works. Too few Christians recognize how much the New Testament teachings rely on an Old Testament foundation.

So, Psalm 23 tells us we are always in the shadow of death, which means that God is always with us, and we have no need to fear evil.

Now the next bit of verse 4 is interesting because we are told how we know God is with us:

"Your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

Remember, I started this because I was asked about the difference between a rod and a staff? Well, we're finally going to find the answer.

Rod comes from the Hebrew word shebet, which is a stick used for beating or striking. Staff comes from the Hebrew word mish'enah which is a stick used for support. A shepherd would use both tools, the shebet for fighting off predators or managing the flock, and the mish'enah to support himself, or to guide the flock. The two sticks were of different sizes and performed two different functions. When we look at those functions in context of the rest of the psalm, what we see is an extension of the authority of the shepherd over his flock. The shebet is used to protect the flock from attackers, but also to correct or control the flock, while the mish'enah was used more to support and guide the flock. So what David is saying in this psalm is that whether God is using the shebet to correct us, or the mish'enah to guide us, we should be comforted, because in that correction or guidance is our proof that He is with us. It is when God stops correcting us that we should be fearful;.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

The final two verses paint a picture of the consequences of our obedience to God. If we accept him as our shepherd, we will be blessed even if surrounded by enemies. God will take care of us, and work everything that happens to us for the good. Many times, we interpret this to mean that only good things will happen to us as long as we follow God, but this is an overly simplistic view, and one that will discourage many from remaining faithful through hard times. Too many pastors, trying to build their congregations following the Purpose Driven model, fall into the trap of preaching prosperity as a result of faithfulness, and this is not what the Bible says. The reward for faithfulness is not physical prosperity, but the salvation of our souls and the promise that we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's far more important than any amount of earthly wealth or comfort. God will protect us, but sometimes that protection will be in the form of the grace and strength to handle adversity with conviction and faith. John, the apostle Jesus loved, was exiled and eventually executed, as were all of the apostles, and Paul. None of them were rich or prosperous, despite living in faith and subservience to God.

But they all were wealthy in the only way that really matters; they dwell in the house of the Lord forever.