WORK AT HOME SCAMS -- TODAY'S TERM

Go to Home Income System, and fill out the basic form to get instant activation.  They are still giving over a 75% Discount.
Go to XXX, fill out the basic form and we will provide the training and materials you need.  Take advantage of our 35% Discount.
Go to YYY, fill out the basic form and give us the name of three of your friends who are in need of work and will teach you how to get them up and running.
Need to make your body better?  Want to turn yourself from a 98 pound wimp to a 160 pound Adonis?  We can get you there in 90 days.  Fill out the basic form, follow the directions and we'll do the rest.  
z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z/z
If these words seem familiar to many of you, it is because you read them on the back covers of magazines that you found either in your own home or at the homes of your friends.  This is one of those human situations that proves the saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."  There is always someone trying to get into your pocket.  More than that, there is always someone whose able to make you feel good about having let him into your pocket.  One of the funnier characterizations of this is the comedy scene where it is shown that the Indians had allowed the snake oil salesman into the camp.  The scene shows how the Indians outwit the salesman through the interpreter.  You know, when the salesman says three words in English and the interpreter carries on for three minutes.  The silly end is that the salesman buys the ploy and loses everything to the Native Americans.  The present situation resembles the humorous scene just described.  
Believe it or not, the old scheme of promising large income to anyone who wants to apply the secret way of doing business at home is alive and very well.  The ad goes on and on for column after column, page after page on the Internet.  At the end all you have to do is to send the insignificant sum of $15.00 to acquire the secret and access to someone who can help clarify it for you.  Come on!  I am not 300 years old, but I have caught in to this one.  I confess that that I fell for it once.  I forget what it was all about, but I do remember sending $5.00 for the secret.  That will tell you how long ago it was.  But going forth...I received a large, well decorated envelope [9 x 12, brown], and fully stuffed with a Santa Claus middle.  I ran into the house with visions of $ dancing in my head.  What a blow to my ego!  All it contained was a wad of newspaper pages with pictures of smiling "successful" people saying how many $ they made every week.  Then, there were about five pages stapled together telling the recipient how to get others to get the secret instructions.  All of this carefully worded so that the real bottom line slowly crept up on you.  The same holds true for the Internet "snake oil" purveyors of today.  I know this because I spend a lot of time on the Internet looking for telecommuting work.  Boy, what a snake pit!
Finally, here is the punch line.  This is the site you've been looking for.  43,000 job openings in Moreno Valley.  Talk about Stercus Taurorum.  There are only 500,000 people in Moreno Valley.  I have to tell you that Moreno Valley is doing very well with jobs.  All kinds.  The greatest number is in the medical field.  Kaiser is expanding and there is a Medical Care Park being constructed in one of the many wide open spaces of the city.  Patently, there are not 43,000 openings.  There are however a lot of area training "schools" ready, willing and able to take government money in the form of a student loan from you, to prepare you for those jobs.  So, the wheel keeps turning, and the more it goes around the more it comes back around. Beware, it could make for excellent conversation fodder for your wacky Uncle Shatterdipicous on Thanksgiving.

GOOD & EVIL ---

At least one of you knows which is which

The other night we were in a situation where the topic up for discussion was prayer.  Along the way, toward the end of the session, the problem of evil in the world came up.  The all pervasive presence of evil in the world was the provocative attitude of the moment.  Yes, the Devil is the one who runs the world and we don't have much chance of winning, or at least that is what it seems like.  I don't have to tell you that I have had a thought or two about this over the years.  You don't have to tell me that you too have had a thought or two about the same topic.  Because it is such a common thought and a common topic I decided that I would make it a little interesting and a little lighter than what it can turn out to be when it happens over the Thanksgiving table when Uncle Shatterdipicous [Nasty Greek] brings it up.  So, here we go.
One of the problems we have with Good and Evil is that we sometimes have a hard time telling them apart.  That's why I got the bright idea to put up the Kanji symbols for the two.  Now, except for my Japanese friends, I doubt that any of you know which is which.  Which is the point.  There is Good that we know is Good and there is Evil that we know is Evil.  We sit here thinking that if it were always that easy, life would be smoother.  Ha!  Think again.  Most of you adults know that sometimes the sweetness of the evil is mighty inviting.  C'mon, admit it.  I'm going to leave that one alone.  After all, I don't want to get too graphic.  I still have to have a good enough conscience to be able to sleep tonight.
Now, what about when Good and Evil look exactly the same?  It happens all the time.  We know a lot of goods and evils that serve two purposes.  What about certain insects that are harmful to us but also help to keep our world in balance?  [All except for mosquitoes]  How about the plant that you love to have in your house, except when you have a child who may be tempted to put some of it in his mouth and die?  How about fire?  How about the Sun?  How about our fellow humans?  How about that essential being, water?  Now, water is an interesting one.  Water can be its own enemy.  Did you ever think of that?  Every time you go for a swim, just remember that you are using the nature of water against the water itself.  If only we could do that for all the evils that we encounter.  Wouldn't it be nice?
Finally, I got riled the other night because the topic was naming our times as so evil that there could never have been any time worse.  The devil is getting the upper hand.  Now listen, I'm an old man.  I know that there is a lot of evil in the world.  I also know that it's not a newcomer.  If you want to see some evil, read your history book.  If you've thrown your history book away, read the Bible.  You'll see that they had short-changers, slave drivers, murderers, rapists, whores, rustlers, religious sex under the altar, for money, of course,  the selling of war prisoners to the allies to use in wars away from home, gambling, drinking, gerrymandering and watering the tavern wine.  I could go on, but I won't, it only continues.  It gets more common because the population grows, but nothing changes, except that as humans get smarter they find slicker ways to get it done.
There were some champions of the Good in the room too.  It is also true that we human beings have come a long way on the good side.  We still live the commandments to take care of one another.  We have better medicine, better transportation, better communications, better education, better understanding of language, better engineering, better food to balance our diet.  What about Doctors without Borders; Amnesty International;  Habitat for Humanity;  National Association of Free Clinics;  Salvation Army;  St. Vincent de Paul;  Non-Profit hospitals and schools;  Non-Profit special housing cooperatives;  non-profit rehabilitation centers, Monasteries...I could go on and on,  but I will finish by reminding all the pessimists in the room of the helping reaction that occurs in times of natural calamities.  
The existence of Good and Evil side by side in the world, starts with the ability that we humans have of choosing ourselves over everything else.  It's easy to say, but the complications that this simple reality causes are enormous.  So outlandishly enormous that even Uncle Shatterdipicous can't bring them back to size...certainly not at Thanksgiving Dinner.


OK, you win.  The "Good" is on your left.  The "Evil" is the other one, on your right.

THE BAT AND THE MUSIC

I had quite an experience the other day.  There is something about me that may or may not come as a surprise.  I am an amateur (lover) of classical music.  Now that I have said that and you're looking at the picture, there are some of you who know what is coming next...almost.
I was driving along with the radio tuned to the classical music station.  The introduction to the next piece was Die Fledermaus.  My face broke into a smile because I like this piece.  I did not expect the emotional response that followed.  As the music worked its way onto the car, I became overcome by the  meaning of the rhythm and my insides were moving along with the music.  This doesn't happen to me very often.  At least not as often as I observe it happening to other people I know.  I see people tapping their feet, swaying their bodies, rolling their eyes and just floating over the reality of the world.  I see them on the dance floor and wonder what they are feeling.  I guess I got a little lesson about that the other day.  As I was driving along I was moving my body to the rhythm of a bat in flight as depicted by the music.  What a feeling.  In fact I came home and came right to my laptop and turned to "YouTube.com."  Wow, that was quite an experience too.  What happened to me there really made my day.  I am still sore from the reaction that the YouTube.com presentation caused.  So, as you can tell from the picture at the head of this piece, I went from the sublime to the ridiculous.  (The root word there is Latin for "to laugh.)  So, not "stupid" but laughable.  If you click here, you'll get the point.  You'll perhaps even go back for more.
So have fun.  Know that I am a guy who loves classical music, especially in the venue you're going to find at the end of this link.
Enjoy this Fledermaus by Van Gogh

EVERYONE KNOWS YOU WON -- BUT YOU LOST

60+ years ago (1947) I and my brother listend to the Joe Louis / Jersey Joe Walcott boxing match description over the radio.  We had to beg EFR Dion's permission to allow us to listen to the radio in our bedroom beyond the 9:00 PM curfew for the "great" occasion.  It was the "fight of the century", just as they all are.  That's another "thought" that will have to wait.
We listened.  It was clear to everyone that Walcott had won.  The judges proclaimed Louis the winner.  My brother and I were puzzled.  When we brought the topic to the wise man of the household all we got was "If Walcott was to win he had to knock Louis out.  That's what it takes to beat the champion."
The other night, I watched the first championship fight I had taken time to watch in many decades.  It pitted Manny Pacquiao against Juan Manuel Marquez.  Many people think that Marquez beat Pacquiao.  But Pacquiao was the champion going in and of course, he left the ring still the champion.  Marquez failed to knock him out.  In fact, Marquez failed to take the fight to Pacquiao.  He fought not to lose.  Pacquiao also fought not to lose.  So what took place was  a contest of counter punching.  The outcome, of course, was then decided in favor of the reigning champion.  It has ever been such in boxing.  Now that I am somewhat older, I think I have the intellectual answer to the situation.
In boxing, there are only two people contesting.  In the case of the champion being challenged by a non-champion, the preferential option of higher capability is on the side of the champion.  After all, the champion has already proven his competence.  The challenger has shown high proficiency, but not to the level achieved by the champion.  It is therefore incumbent upon the challenger to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is better than the champion, not only on this given occasion, but on any other occasion that might present itself.  It does not prove anything if the challenger performs at a level that shows simply that he is good enough not to lose to the champion.  Let's stay "real" here.   A duel that is a "draw" only proves that the adversaries are both poor shots.  In that case, the upper hand does not change sides, does it?  So, in boxing.  A margin of victory by one or two points, even under the careful electronic supervision of the latest and most keely developped technology does not a victor make.  It only proves that the challenger avoided a defeat at the hands of a person who has proven himself to be more profficient up to this point.  So, mister challenger, you lose.
Such is the logic and the culture of boxing.  It is not left up to the spectators to decide.  It is not up to the warriors to decide.  It is a sport and it is therefore up to the arbiters to make the ultimate decision.  The warriors know the logic, the culture and the rules.  The warrior, such as the one who dared challenge Manny Pacquiao on this night, who dares to fight so as not to lose rather than to fight to win decisively is doomed to lose.  That is exactly what happened on November 12, 2011 to Juan Manuel Marquez.   It took me some  60+ years to understand, but I am glad that I now can be comfortable with the logic and the culture -- but not the sport as such.  But that is another story.

SADIE HAWKINS DAY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadie_Hawkins_Day

There are some of you who don't know Sadie Hawkins.  It was the 4th of November and I was at the morning Mass.  November is a special month in Catholic life.  It is the month during which we remember to pray for our Dearly Departed.  Don't ask me how the human mind works.  Don't even ask me how my mind works.  Don't even ask me why I presume to be human.  So, therefore, do not ask me why I remembered, during these solemn moments, that November 13 is Sadie Hawkins Day.  I saved this until today out of respect to Al Capp, Lil' Abner and, of course, Sadie herself. 
The other day I asked our elder son, Marc if he knew Sadie Hawkins.  He said that he did because there are Sadie Hawkins dances around all the time, even now.  I asked him if he knew who Sadie Hawkins really was,and to that he had to say "no."  If you click on the caption of the picture,you will be sent to the very interesting and very correct report on Wikipedia.
You will notice that the art of this cartoon depicts people in a way that accentuates a culture with stereotypical characterizations unacceptable to our contemporary way of thinking.  In the era when this cartoon hit its zenith, rare was the individual who would have considered this class of humor denigrating or harmful.  Today,of course, this cartoon would fall under the heading of unacceptable profiling and would never be allowed to prosper.  I am presenting it to you because of the "spin-off" reality of Sadie Hawkins, whom very few of us really know any more.  There is a cultural lesson to be learned here.  Therefore, learn it first, and then laugh away, because it is funny, contemporary mores be damned.  By the way, that's a thought of mine for today too.

SO YOU'RE THE WITNESS, EH?

So you think you know who and what you are looking at.  Really?  This is a good one because it comes from a real photo.  Where is he looking?  It ain't for nothin' that I got him off to the left.  Most of these visual and mental "hotfeet" are line drawings or some of the 3d challenges that are around this days.  You've seen them, I'm sure.  I'm good at those.  It only takes me a matter of seconds before I "see" the background figure.  In case you are wondering about this, let me dig one out for you.
These are all copyrighted, so here's the address for you
It has been said many times that the weakest evidence that can be presented at trial is the "eyewitness" testimony.  We  have all watched the television program that points this out graphically, if not perfectly correctly.  Interestingly enough, as we get older,we have to agree that it is true.  "Seein' is believin'" ain't always on da money.  Strange, isn't it?  But true.  One of my favorite Bible stories is the saga of Susanna.  I will let you enjoy yourselves by inviting you to sit on the couch sometime today and read it as a story that has a moral to it  as well as a neat ending.  [Daniel, chapter 13]  If you  can't find it, email me and I'll tell you why.  Or, you can click here for the answer to your problem.

I guess I have to visit my own life,or at least one of my favorite episodes for a good example of what I saw and what you saw.  I was driving home one night from a long night's work at a freight yard where I was a security guard.  It was about 12:30 AM and I was on the main thoroughfare approaching an intersection.  I was cruising at about 35 MPH.  I KNOW that I had a green light.  I was driving a small Korean Elantra and before I knew it, I was kissing the front-end of a HUGE YUKON.  No one ever proved what happened. I saw Green and the Yukon saw Green.  So who was right?   Well,I think that it was the Yukon because the Elantra went to heaven that night.  So, I guess that seein' ain't believin', at least not all the time, and certainly not outside of Missouri!

For those of  you who might be wondering why Soshana was bathing in her garden and not in the house, let me just say that she did it because that was where the well was.  When I was in the missions of the Philippines, I too had to bathe where the water was.  Not all the time.  Sometimes though, when I was OUT THERE in the boonies, I was not fortunate enough to have a garden in which to bathe. I used the hand pump that was handy on the corner of two paths.  I was careful to be modest, but when you are a white guy and you are in the public eye with all that white skin out in the open, you're bound to draw a crowd.  It's kinda like, "Look at him, he's glowing in the dark even if the moon isn't even out tonight!"  So, don't blame Susanna.  The  two old guys had it coming, and they got it.  Chalk one up for the bright young kid.  Where is he when we need him so badly?

RE-CYCLING: NEW THOUGHT OR OLD THOUGHT?

 

http://www.ehow.com/how_7720435_build-civil-war-candle-lantern.html

I started this "thought" with the idea that I was going to write about the stay-at-home Civil War women who saved all their urine because the war effort needed the nitrogen from it to make gunpowder.  Then I found this story about how to build Civil War candles because the Rebel Soldiers [Notice the Capital Letters?] couldn't afford night vision goggles like the Union Boys could.  So, I guess, some women did the urine thing and some did the wax thing.  I never did find a blog that discussed how they decided who was going to do what.  One way or the other, this just goes to prove that recycling is not a new idea.  The reason is slightly different, but the idea is the same.

http://michaelgreenwell.wordpress.com/2007/06/03/recycling/

Recycling is also ride-sharing, or,as we call it today, "Car-Pooling."  Same thing, even though Hitler is no longer around with the oven threat.  The link below the picture will lead you to a blog where you will see a couple more interesting pictures of World War 2 posters inviting the populace to save and to re-use.   You have read about the Victory Garden and the preserving of food that was very common during the War.  Those of us of a "certain age" grew up with the attitude that nothing should ever be wasted.  We were taught that every thing has an "after life."  Even food.  The garbage disposal unit of the past was a snouted porcine character called a pig, who lived in a sty and who was fed the edibles that were considered to be unfit for human consumption.  There is even a World War 2 poster that urges the saving of fats because they served for the manufacture of gunpowder.  Let me see if I can find it again.  There it is.  See, I might be old, but I don't have to make this stuff up.  

                                                         There is a lot of talk these days about saving money and 

 cutting costs.  Well, we cut costs during World War 2.  We re-used stuff.   We even reused food.  If not for ourselves, for the beings who would be our food tomorrow.  Now-a-days, we grow food for the animals that we process into fuel for our gas hogs...a different kind of animal indeed.  

I hate to call this next item a "thought", but I think it does come  close to being one.  Let's start with the famous word, "JOBS" and don't mean HIM, I mean WORK.  I've been thinking lately [hmmm, that makes this a "thought" I think].  If we saved more stuff and changed it into something else that someone could use or buy, that would be a gainful exercise, right?  It would save money and it would provide a job to the people who would work at changing it into something else useful.  Right?   So, now, is this a new thought or an old one?   Right now,considering the age of the guy whose putting it into writing, it has to qualify as an old thought.  Especially since I have lifted it out of the World War 2 play book.             

That's it for today.  Let's all go to work by throwing ourselves into making old things new, not throwing them away and wasting money on the next new thing that we don't really need.

MISSISSIPPI PERSONHOOD AT CONCEPTION

MOST CONCEPTIONS DO NOT SURVIVE MORE THAN 8 WEEKS

I would have voted "no" on this.  Yes, I am Catholic.  That does not mean that I confuse "life" with "personhood," to use the Mississippi term.  I have no pretension of being able to get very scientific about this, and I'm sure that you don't either.  So, all I want to do is to use some common sense here and strive to expose my thoughts on the matter.  I also want make it clear that these are not yesterday's thoughts, not even last year's thoughts.  I have entertained these for a long time.  All the way back into when I was in my early 30's and not anywhere near ever thinking that I would engender children.  Ya know, back during the Paul Revere days!
A} We all know that complete human fertilization takes about 2 to 5 days.  It is a process of maturation, of ripening, so to speak.  The Sperm and the Ovum feed one another into blossoming, so to speak.  When that blossoming happens, then there are no longer two separate realities, but one.  I believe, with most other people, both scientific and lay, that life has now begun. We are also all of one accord that it cannot result in anything but human life.
B} We also all believe that individuation has now begun to take place and is in fact on a one-way track where there is no "U-Turn."  The life that is now growing stronger at every moment will never be duplicated.  That doesn't mean that the life will survive the journey.  That doesn't even mean that the person carrying the life is even conscious of the process that has begun.  It doesn't even mean that at a given point the process may end without the host knowing that it had ever even taken pace.  The chart shows that only about 30% of conceptions make it to the 8 week stage.
C} By the time that the 8 week stage has been reached, there is no doubt that a fairly well developed individual has come to be.  By this time a certain bond has even begun to develop between the host (mother) and the life in the womb.  It won't be long after that, given the survival of the new life, that the mother will begin to notice patterns of behavior of the growing being.  In the case of women who have had multiple pregnancies, the distinct behavior patterns of different lives are vividly discernible 
D} It is about this time that I think that we can start talking about "personhood."  It is at about this time when caressing and fondling and warm emotions start to be exchanged between the mother and the life in the womb.  At a certain point the spirit of the mother, and even of the father, especially in an intimate, warm and loving matrimonial relationship, begins to influence the growing being in the womb.  [I don't want you to believe that I am forgetting the negative side of this.]  Of this, I am convinced.  Religiously, it is somewhere along the developmental path that I have laid down here that God intervenes and the being is no longer a simple animal life individual, but a truly complete human individual, fully defined creature of God.  Somewhere along this path, the "personalization" of the growing individual comes into existence.  So much so that it causes the embryo to act, maybe I should even say, behave, in its own particular way.   Now, the progress that everyone experiences and the outcome that we all hope for will result in a true human person outside the protection of the mother's body.
The impetus for my setting down my thoughts, as you all must realize is the ballot measure in Mississippi about "human personhood" occurring at conception.  This, in my opinion, is pure, non-distilled stercus taurorum.  "Life" is not the same as "Personhood."  They are two entertwined realities that are not identical, neither in being nor in the order of existence.  They are not even identical in any true religious sense.  To make them identical and to put them together is forcing reality into a universe that doesn't exist.  
Now, let me just say something that will perhaps shock you, or offend you, but I'm going to venture there anyway.  There was a time when I did not believe in animal psychology.  Really.  I was nearly 40 years old before I was able to accept the reality of animals having a psychology.  I don't know why it took me so long.  Maybe it was because I was so proud of being a human that I couldn't see God giving something as "precious" as a psychology to animals.  Then, from there, I was forced to admit that some of these animals even have individual behavior patterns (personalities?  Hmmm!).
I consider this an important moment in my life.  The lesson I learned was precisely that life and personhood and individuality are not perfectly identical and do not all happen at the same moment in the existence of any animal, human or otherwise.
So now you have my thought(s) for the day.  I apologize for the lack of humor this time around. But, I figure that you'll get over it. Before I leave, I have to leave you with two final pieces of me:  (1) Don't make the mistake of making religious conviction the only valid vision of reality that exists. See God in everything all the while realizing that everything is not God. (2) Don't start all your discussions about human existence with the word "abortion."  Believe it or not, there is more to our lives as human beings than "abortion."
Now that I have really heated you up, I know that you don't have to be reminded not to cry at MY funeral.

EDUCATION BY INTERVIEW

I had a powerful insight about how some people come to their wisdom.  I do not have the desire to describe nor to define "wisdom" here.  I just want to point out how some people come to a point of having a great volume of information and a very powerful ability of making it create wonderful intellectual and even emotional conclusions.
I do not know why, but I was impressed by the command of facts that the biographer of Steve Jobs had of his subject and of the environment that had shaped the life of the subject.  I was also moved by the breadth of knowledge shown by the autobiographer.  He was not just wise about Steve Jobs but he showed a wisdom uncommon for the majority of people who appear on television.  I couldn't help but think that much of his wisdom had been infused into him by the dedication that he had applied to any number of biographies that he had produced.  It is of course logical that anyone who would undertake the task of writing biographies would come to know many things about life.  After all, learning what others think about the way they have lived their life cannot help but fill the interviewer with a wealth of information about such a mysterious subject.  But deeper than information [data] is the wisdom that it generates, both in the subject of the interview and in the attentive interviewer.  I am happy that I paid more attention to learning about the biographer than I did trying to learn anything more than what I already knew about Steve Jobs.  I must say that in my opinion, the biographer is an admirable human being.  Much more so than Steve Jobs.  All I ever knew and thought about Steve Jobs is contained on the cover of his biography.  The title, "Steve Jobs."
Allow me to give you a little suggestion from the bundle of thoughts that I am trying to keep in logical order here.  if you want to know something about a person of interest to you, go to Google, click on "Images" and search for the biography or the autobiography of the person.  Note the title.  In my opinion, if the title is eponymous, just as the title "Steve Jobs" is, don't bother reading it.   You've already got everything you want to know.  If it has an intriguing descriptive title, that's the one you want to pick up.  It is my contention that if the person being interviewed by the writer in view of producing a biography cannot encapsulate his/her life in five words or less, the biography is not worth reading [nor writing, for that matter].  [That goes for autobiographies too.]
It is therefore my contention that there is a lot to be learned through interviewing people for biographies.  It can make a wise person of the one who pays attention to the craft.  I'll bet it can even make a wise person of the one who prepares the production of an autobiography with diligence and pure honesty.
Oh, by the way, in case you haven't noticed yet, I have the right to hold my opinion about how to entitle life stories.  My whole life is encapsulated in the participial phrase, "No Crying at my Funeral."  Go ahead, Google it under "Images."  You'll enjoy yourself.  Then, you won't have to read the book.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT -- NOPE

This is my response to my California state assembly man who is in favor of keeping the death penalty in California.  He sent me [his office sent me] an email telling me to support his position in favor if the death penalty.  This is his email followed by my response to him.

Dear Mr. Dion:

SB 490 seeks to amend and revoke the death penalty law by replacing it with permanent imprisonment.  This bill would have a retroactive effect, undermining the integrity of the original court’s/jury’s sentence.  The bill would resentence death row inmates’ sentences automatically, which is of dubious constitutionality.  In addition, the agreement that innocent persons are currently on California’s death is without statistical backing.  According to the Department of Justice, “no reversal of a capital case in California has been based on actual innocence.” 

For the above reason I am opposed to SB 490.�  Currently SB 490 is being held in the Appropriations Committee. While we may disagree on this issue, I look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Again, I appreciate your concern.  Should you be interested in keeping up on developments in the State Capitol and around the 64^th District, I invite you to visit my website at www.assembly.ca.gov/64 where you may sign up to receive my monthly newsletter.

It is an honor to serve you in the California State Assembly.

Sincerely,

BRIAN NESTANDE

Assemblyman, 64^th District

---    My response:

Paul Dion	2:14 PM (1 minute ago)
to Assemblymember.

Mr. Nestand:

My opposition to the death penalty goes beyond and deeper than the killing of innocent, erroneously convicted prisoners.  It goes to the culture of vengeance and retribution by law that it instills in the population.  Murder outside the law is not corrected by vengeful murder by law, from within the law carried out by the state.  

That is my position and I'm not changing it for anybody.

Some time back I wrote an article about this very question.  Click here to refresh your memory.

LOST $200.00 IN CHURCH -- ON SUNDAY

Some people know that church is the best place to find money.  The nice part about hitting the jackpot in church is that you don't have to feed the One Armed Bandit.  All you have to do it to sit next to a woman who leaves the pew for communion, or some other reason and leaves her purse unattended.  It works like a charm.  Especially if you are a man and you go with your female companion.  Wife or...?  She can open a purse and never catch the attention of the random witness.  This type of sinful behavior is one thing that the traditionalists cannot say that the "Novus Ordo" has changed.  ["Novus Ordo" is code for the Catholic Church's practices since late in the 1960's after the famous Vatican Council.]  Purse rifling was practiced even in the old days, even before pews were invented.  I know.  I was in Rome for four years, remember?  I was in plenty of churches that have no pews.  Pocket picking, purse snatching and other forms of underworld entertainment were commonplace.  Before then, when I was younger, in the 1940's, purse rifling when women went to communion was limited pretty much to the two or three early Masses (services) because people had to fast from midnight onward in order to receive Communion.  It still happened at the later Masses, but usually only in the rear of the church where a quick out was easier.  No one can tell me that it did not happen in those days because my grandfather worked for the pastor of our church for about 45 years, so he knew a thing or two about this.  He used to tell us the stories.  If it happened to someone we knew or to a member of the family, which it did once, it was a story that became a traditional tale before very long.
This thought came to mind today because a lady in our church left her purse unattended in the pew and lost the $200 that is advertised in the title.  Now, don't get fancy with me and ask why she was carrying $200 around...and don't ask me why she thought it was OK to leave it unguarded.  She did tell the Voice from the Kitchen to whom she was later speaking, in tears of course, that she thought it was safe because it was in church.  Yep!  The couple sitting next to her in the pew went to communion all right.  They ate her lunch, and then some.  So,no matter who you are, leave your money home.  If you bring your purse with you to church, never leave it in the pew.
All you guys out there, aren't you glad that you don't carry a purse?
P.S.  This is the second incident of which I am perfectly and factually sure that has happened in our church in the last 6 months.  Neither one of these robberies took place in a full house, or anything near to a full house.  

INTERNET SCAM -- PART TROIS -- NEVER ENDING

I have received email from a few of you asking me to describe some of the hints that I had regarding the "job offer" I was pursuing.  These hints that this was perhaps not on the up and up are described somewhat here below.  Some of them are very clear to someone of my experience.  They are in regard to this particular genre of scam.  It doesn't mean that I am an expert and that I can smell all sorts of scams no matter what.  So take this for what it is worth.
It all started when I put my resume on Craigslist. Big mistake.
I got an email that said that there was an opening for a telecommuting Administrative Assistant type job.  My resume did indicate that I am looking primarily for telecommuting work.
I now regret that.
I found the email address intriguing, but not suspicious.  But different.  jaho@avalonkay.com  The proper name for this address is Kevin Cain.
The hint I got from the name is that it is very Anglo-Saxon but the English of the messages is poor.  Poor grammar, poor idiom.  That did shiver my timbers to a degree.
He told me that I had to get on Yahoo messenger to facilitate communications between me and the company.  I hate Yahoo, but I did it.  
I was then put into contact with a person by the name of Elizabeth Pineda.  Needless to say, "her" English is not that great either.
She was going to "interview me."  First questions were about name, address, sex, age and why they should hire me.
After about five minutes I was told that I was hired.  I was going to be paid $25 per hour
after about three days of training.  I was to be paid $15.00 per hour for the training.  I was not going to be an independent contractor, but a true employee with full benefits after 30 days of employment.  
I answered everything, despite the obvious red flags.  The money was also unrealistically high.
Then Elizabeth gave me tasks to complete in preparation for the training.  They were fairly to the point and I didn't mind doing them.  In fact, the last one I did, I liked so much, I published it in the first post of this series.  I was going along with this, but not liking the fact that this was unpaid work.
Every time I did something, I was rewarded by high praise.  I was then told that the following day I was to be online at 8:00AM and that I would be given some instructions about a check that was going to arrive and was supposed to be applied to supplies and equipment necessary for the job.  I said that I would be ready.  I wondered why I had not been asked for my social security number.  If I was an employee, and yes,I had been told that I was hired and I was preparing for training, according to my business sense, I should not be receiving money, even just expense account money, without having provided such an important piece of information.
The next morning, I got the information of what time the check would arrive by FEDEX.  It came.  It was for $2,865.00.  That was far too much for equipment and supplies.  I had to go honor a previous commitment, but before I did I asked what the details of the expenses should be.  I was told to shut up and listen.  Go cash the check and I would find out after what to do.  I then began to be harassed and told to use the ATM rather than go to the bank.  I refused.  I knew then that I had to go to the bank.
I then knew what I had to do.  I went, honored my previous commitment.  Went to the bank.   The story is in the first two posts about this experience.  At least this time, I won.
The aftermath is still playing out, but it is all anti-climax.  You now know the story and the hints that served to lead me to the right course of action.

SWEET REBEL -- IT'S IN THE EYES

Yep.  I had two situations that I am inviting you to re-member with me.  Of course, I'm telling you about them because I won.
1. I was growing up, just like most children do and I was running up against some parental behavior that I did not like.  Not one bit.  I was being put aside from the adults and not being treated fairly.  I hated it.  We were a large family.  Both sides of the tree had numerous branches and some rather colorful leaves, of course.  As it turned out, my father was the eldest of his family and my mother was the youngest of hers.  My father, EFR Dion, was a fairly successful individual.  I never knew him in a position less than general foreman of some rather significant manufacturing concerns.  So, needless to say, we had a lot of family gatherings in our house.  [Yes, we had a single family house, not an apartment.  A rarity.]  Anyway, I was growing up and during these gatherings the children were accommodated at a small, set aside table for their meals.  The food was the same, of course.  The company though was not.  Not only that.  I was beginning to be insulted that I should be set aside as not being good enough to sit at the main table.  I had some conversations about it with my parents and they tried to reason with me.  Adult as I thought I was, I knew that I was right and they had no idea what they were doing.  (I think I was about 10.) One time, therefore, I think it was Thanksgiving, I just simply flat-out decided that I wasn't going to obey.  I said "No."  No fuss.  No muss. Clean "No."  EFR Dion took me aside and said, "Go to bed.  I'll see you tomorrow."  So I went to bed.  Tomorrow came and at breakfast he asked me if I was hungry.  I said that I was not.  He said that he thought that that was strange since I had not eaten the night before.  I said that I didn't need to eat at a small, set aside table.  He said that he would think about it.  MJT Dion, mother and wife of the aforementioned EFR Dion, as far as I can remember, had nothing to say.  The upshot of it all?  I was told that if there was room at the main table, I would have a seat.  If not, I had the choice of eating with my cousins at the small table or going to bed.  I don't know how many times I had to make the choice.  I do know that it did not take long that I had a seat.  In the main, it was a "coming of age" experience that went well for the whole family.
2. Weddings, ah weddings.  They are no place for children.  I was at one when I was something like about 10 or 12 years old.  We had been let out of church and we were now at the restaurant/dance hall.  It was about 10:30 AM.  We children were kept in a small room away from the gathering area of the adults.  It was now mostly tables set for the meal.  It got to be past noon and the adults had begun eating.  It got to be 1:00 PM and the adults were still at table.  We children were being conveniently ignored.  I conveniently left.  I walked the mile to get home.  My younger siblings were there with the baby sitter.  She was surprised to see me alone.  I told her that I wanted to eat.  She quickly made me a minced ham sandwich and poured me a glass of milk.  At about 2:00 PM, I was missed.  My father came home rather than to call the police.  He found me sleeping in my bed.  He awakened me and began to dress me down really well.  I sat there and listened.  Finally, he decided to ask me why I had pulled such a stupid stunt.  
"Why don't you ask stupid old lady Morneau why she didn't feed us?"
"What?"
I repeated it.  He left.  
I never knew what happened.  I do know that I was about 21 years old before I attended another wedding.  It was at  the same location as the previous incident.  The ownership had changed.  It didn't matter.  I had volunteered to be the bar tender.  Now that time, I had some fun...deep into the night.
It was worth the wait.

REMEMBERING ≠ NOSTALGIC REMINISCING

REMEMBERING  ≠  NOSTALGIC REMINISCING 

REMEMBERING  =  STAYING JOINED TO THE COMMUNITY 

For the last couple of weeks, I have been reflecting on the true meaning of remembering.  Then, the other day I was struck by the fine weather and so I opened fully all four windows of the auto I was driving and just enjoyed myself driving around like I used to when I was  17.  It was then that I got to thinking about a lot of related things.  Things like when I first drove around in a new “hardtop convertible”  I am sure that there are some of you who remember  the introduction of these cars.  I think it had to be in the ‘50’s somewhere.  Late 50’s maybe.  I’ll Google it and get the right date for you.  [Late 50’s is good enough for what I mean.]  I am quite sure that it was about the time when the “unibody” concept of building cars was being introduced to the industry.  Anyway, that’s one of the things that ran through my mind.  One of the others was the way that we have shut ourselves into the interior of our vehicles, not allowing ourselves to “communicate" with the environment.  We don’t feel the vibrancy of the rushing air; we have no feel for the ambient noise caused by traffic; we can’t even cuss one another out any more;  no more trash talk to the bum from the other side of town who snagged the cute blonde cheer-leader before you got to her; and what ever happened to “slide-over-baby” bench seats? 

The interesting thing about all this is that I was not just running these things through my mind, I was actually living them as the air ran into and through my “open-air” ride.  I wasn’t just reminiscing, I was uniting myself with the reality that I and others had lived before today.  I was re-membering.  I was back in community with the realities, mechanical, environmental, social, emotional and communitarian.  Yes, I was in a specific community again.  Not just yearning for myself, but sharing the spirituality of the experiences in a mystical way with the other humans who had lived the same truths and who are presently still aware of them at some level. 

I am not very fond of playing word tricks with myself and with other people, but lately the “member” part  of “remembering” is making sense to me.  It is bringing me into an understanding of the human community of which we are all members.  It is also bringing me into a deeper understanding of the community not only of the living but of the unity that continues between us, the living and those who have died and “gone on” before us.  The nature of this remembering is familiar to Catholics who designate the month of November as the month of the “Dearly Departed.”  In the Catholic world, the soul is eternal and it is perfectly singular, never to be repeated in its individuality.  This is what is meant by the word “ineffable.”   Therefore, a part of Catholic life is the continuation of a spiritual connection between all members of the human community.   That is why Catholics continue to intercede for and in fact, in some instances, ask for intercessory prayers from the individuals who have died but who remain members of the “Communion of Saints,” the community of all souls. 

Catholics get this conviction from the Israelites and the Hebrews who had, and still have, a powerful belief in the “member” part of remember.  The Passover celebration is all remembering. The prayers are full of remembering.  The Psalms are pregnant with remembering.  The Gospels are constantly reminding us of the forebears of Jesus.  We are never allowed to forget that this is the son of David.  We are not even allowed to forget the Passover.  Every time we celebrate the Eucharist we are told, “Do this in memory of me.” 

None of this is very far from our everyday lives.  No matter whom we are.  No matter what our roots are.  No matter what our spiritual convictions are.  Without a deep appreciation for remembering, we are incomplete.  What normal human being goes through life without remembering birthdays, wedding days, death anniversaries of mother, father, siblings, graduation anniversaries, major surgeries???  The list goes on.  Remembering is our connection with human beings.  It is the glue of our unity as a race.  It is also the fundamentally solid and deepest reason why not a single one of you should even dare to cry at my funeral.

COUNTERFEIT CASHIER'S CHECK, JUST FOR YOU

THE BANK WAS HAPPY TO GIVE ME A COPY!

There is perhaps not one of you who has ever seen a counterfeit cashier's check.  My first experience was on November 2, 2011.  The one I'm talking about is pictured above.  Every time I have ever terminated a transaction involving final payment, I always demanded that the payment be made by cashier's check.  I never in my business life thought that a cashier's check could be challenged.  In fact, I remember one time when I went to the bank where I am still a "loyal" customer with a cashier's check and heard the teller say that there would be a 24 hour hold before the funds would be released.  My jaw stiffened and my eyes iced over and I, through furiously controlled clenched teeth demanded to know why.  She just smiled and said, "Well, sir, that's the policy.  This check is for $1,200.00.  We put these on hold."  That was it.  If you don't like it, there's a bank half a block down the street, go there.  So, I took it.  
Those of you who read these rambling thoughts of mine, read yesterday what had happened to me as I was applying for online, work-at-home, gainful employment.  The upshot of it was that the "company" sent me a $2,865.00 dollar check to buy equipment and supplies.  Why?  Officially, I don't know because they never had the chance to tell me.  I asked.  I was told, "Bring the check to the bank.  Tell me that it is there.  Email me the receipt and then we will start your training."  I was never told what the supplies were, what receipts I had to produce for the expenses.  NOTHING.  Soooo, I took the check to the bank, filled out the deposit slip, signed the check and went to the teller's window.  When I got there, I said; "Before you do anything else, please investigate the validity of this check."  She looked at the check, looked at me, asked, "Where did you get it?"  I said, "From a company on the Internet."  She nodded, turned to her computer and started pecking away.  After five minutes she turned to me, asked me to have a seat and that I would be told what the final decision about the check is after a few minutes.  
Well, after 15 minutes I was told by the customer service manager, "This is counterfeit."  I was not surprised, just very happy that I had been right in my actions.  She asked me to get her all the evidence I could.  I said I would do that.  So I did.  I asked for a copy of the counterfeit and she willingly gave it to me.  I sugared the pot a little bit by telling her that I am an active blogger.  She liked that.  So, that is what you see at the head of this article.
I have to make one more observation.  In the last ten days or so, I have come face to face with so much evil that it is difficult for me to understand.  I have been able to observe exceedingly complex structures of businesses that are constructed simply to perpetrate fraud on society.  They are high tech destruction machines.  They are convoluted and shadowy, buttressed by well developed stories and protected by carefully calibrated responses to whatever challenge may be hurled at them.  The amount of intellectual, emotional and physical energy that is required to build and maintain these structures is astounding.  It's all the more disheartening that these complex endeavors have but one goal, to deceive honest people and induce them to part with their hard-earned money in favor of fraudulent and underhanded disciples of Lucifer.  It is one time in my life that I thank God that I have a strong willed aversion to come-ons.  I am not impervious, but I maintain my carapace carefully and keep it up in front of me every day.  Sad to say, you all should do the same.  
P.S.  If you did not yet do it, go back to the cover-letter email and open the PowerPoint show.  It is one minute and forty-five seconds long.  It is not something that someone sent me.  It is a show that I authored for the good of all my friends based on my personal experience.  You will not have to click on anything.  Open it, sit back and learn.  Send it to everyone you know.

CON - ON - $ - I BEAT THE ARTIST !

FAKE $ 

You're not going to believe this.  I'm going to tell you anyway.  I applied for a telecommuting job over Craigslist.org and I seemed to have been blessed by a bona fide job.  It is still only the first day and I am carrying a smidgen of doubt, but Belle and I are praying that all will go well.  I have been hired as an employee, not a contractor.  I was given some tasks to accomplish and I did them.  Here is the third one that I was told to do.  I share it with you because I find it interesting.  The ideas (Thoughts) that flowed are all yours to enjoy.  Starting tomorrow, I guess, I will have a three day training period.  Yes, I have been told that I will be paid for it.  So, here are the results of the task.
Task C

State Advantages and Disadvantages of Online work from home with examples.

Introduction

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Online work from home are a reality that many people would like to live but that few are able to realize.  I am not going to be able to make statements that will be universally true for everyone, but I will try to make my statement as valid for me, personally, as well as valid for other people.

I do not want to seem pessimistic, but I will start by talking about the disadvantages.  The reason is, that psychologically, people, in this case, you, will remember the last things that are said longer than the first things.  Since I want you to remember the better things longer, I will save them for last.

Disadvantages

I can think of some disadvantages of working at home.  One of them is the fact that the refrigerator and the cookie jar are ever close at hand.  This is not good for a person who has to have some exercise in life.  So, to exercise, the home worker goes to the refrigerator and snacks, and snacks, and snacks.  Soon, the boyish or girlish figure is gone and clothing no longer fits.

The second one is the lack of regular exercise during working hours.  There is no large office space to visit or to oversee.  A person like I am gets so involved with the work to be accomplished that exercise is hardly ever taken.  Not good.  
The third disadvantage is the fact that for many hours of work the spouse of the home worker is home.  Now, we all know that the spouse has things that have to be done.  The dishes, the floors, the vacuuming, the windows, and the yard.  Now those things are what are called disadvantages.
The fourth disadvantage is that some people get sloppy in their personal hygiene.  They get out of bed, visit mother nature, brush their hair with their hand, run to the kitchen to start the coffee and go right to the computer to see what happened overnight.  It is not good to fail to take care of yourself.
The fifth, and last disadvantage that I want to name is the fact that it is psychologically proven that people who work in a group produce more efficiently than those who work alone.  There is less temptation to be distracted when you work in a group and there is also more drive to let yourself be influenced by friendly competition to do more.   None of that is present at home.

Advantages

Now the good stuff.  One, you do not have to wear a shirt and tie.  In fact, if you do not want to, you don't even need a shirt.  

Then there is the second advantage of being able to eat all you want, when you want.   The third advantage is convenience.  People can work at home and take care of an older parent or a sick spouse or child while still being able to accomplish the tasks that must be accomplished for the employer.  The fourth advantage is the fact that age, especially a large accumulation of it is more comfortably accommodated at home.  It is possible to walk more slowly, to hold on to the furniture and the walls, have a more comfortable chair, etc.  This is important for many home workers, not to mention the need to use the xceramic fixtures more often.  The fifth advantage is the comfort that the home worker has of having all the important resources close at hand.   You know, the ones with all your own marginal notes in them.  If I want to spend thirty minutes on Google to find an answer, I can do that.  If I run into an unfamiliar web-site, I can spend some time learning about it and make up the time before I go to bed.


The biggest disadvantage is that you never know if the company hiring you is honest and legal or not.  I have perused the Internet and I have to admit that I am somewhat worried about this situation.  I have small hints that are making me hedge my bet before I celebrate.  I have to write this to prove to myself the reality of my feelings during this process.  I spent a lot of time proving to these people that I know what I am doing.  I hope that it has not been for nothing.  I will be online with them tomorrow again.  I'll see what is going on then.

Conclusion

There comes a time in life when the advantages of online work at home outweigh the disadvantages.  Whether they really do, in fact, outweigh the disadvantages is not important to the person who wants to do it this way.  The plain and simple reason why I want to do this is because I now have the freedom to apply for a job anywhere in the world.  That, for me, is the real reason why I turned to this way of working.  It suits me.  I love the world and I love all the people in it.  I love being freed from the prejudice of my "previous experience."  I can work for anybody, no matter where.  I can make my acquired knowledge my biggest asset for anybody, anywhere.  That is why I want to do this.

REALITY


Here's the conclusion.  I had been told that I would receive a check to help me buy some equipment and supplies that I would need to do a good job.  This morning, promptly before 10:00 AM the check came by FEDEX, overnight mail, if you please.  It was for $2,865.00, made out to me.  I was online, so I asked for a list of the things I was expected to buy with such a pile of $.  I got a run-around answer, the gist of which was, just cash the check and I will tell you once you get back to your computer.   Hmmm!?!  OK.  So I went to bank and told the teller this: "Please investigate this check before you even think of processing it."  She asked where it came from.  I told her.  She processed it on her system.  Shook her head.  Brought it to the security manager.  She invited me to sit down while the security manager looked into it.  In fifteen minutes I was told that the piece of paper that had been sent to me was a counterfeit check.  The story is too long for this venue, but the lesson is there.  Be careful.  If I have time, I will write the whole thing.  For now, enjoy this and thank God that I listened to the pile of small hints that I observed along the way.  I hope and pray that I find time and energy to share it with  the world.
I am glad that the only harm I feel is that of working to do such a nice piece of writing for sleazy boneheads who never read it.  They had me do it to keep me on the line long enough to receive their printed toilet paper.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE EATING?

3 core angiosperms

Alpha taxonomy is the discipline concerned with finding, describing and naming species of living or fossil organisms.   Now let me tell you that I have some question about the amount or the depth of discipline that it takes to apply some of these words to the names of stuff that we go around eating.   Look at the list up there just over your eyebrows and you'll see what I mean.  Can you imagine what an angiosperm is?  Is that one with Angina?  Does it have a hard time breathing?  Doesn't that combination make you shake your head wondering where the pictures that you are imagining in your quivering coconut come from?   If any of you have ever seen one of these wonderful fruit on the  tree, you'll appreciate the magnoliopsida nomenclature.  They do have the stem sticking out of strange places.    What else can you expect from an angiosperm, for goodness sake?  Not only a plain, old angiosperm, but a Punic one at that!  You want to tell me what the Phoenicians are doing in this whole thing?  Not only that, but a Grainy Phoenician at that.  Do you suppose that this is what Goliath looked like?  Or maybe it was his favorite fruit.  No wonder they call this thing a sort of primrose.  Imagine the path it walks on being an angiosperm.  A three core one at that!  Whatever that means.  I haven't ever eaten one of these things that had one core, never mind three.  Where do these people get these names?   They call this discipline?  

But hey, I got another one for you.  The other day when she was in San Diego, in the Asian market not too far from our dwelling, the Voice from the Kitchen picked up a box of her favorite tea.  Along the way, she tucked another kind of tea into her cart and came home happy that she has scored a new delicacy,in a sweetly pink, cherry-blossomed box for a reasonable price.   As she always does, she reads the ingredient labels of these things.  But not always as she takes them off the shelf.  Like in this instance.  She waited until she got home.  Then, I, on the other side of the wall hear this low wail, leading into a half weep/laugh kind of tone and she says, "What is this kind of tea any way?  Look at that, is it true that there's semen in here?"  I burst out laughing.  Right away, my Latin kicks in.  She doesn't have any Latin to kick in, nor out, for that matter.  So, of course,  I say, "Of course, a lot of teas have it in them.  Let me look to see what kind of semen is in there."  Digression alert:  Had our sons been around they would have imitated the two silly comedians and said, "Shurr, ya put cher seemen in ther..."  They weren't there, so I just very politely pointed out to my modest mate that the word is Latin for "seed" and that if she would have read it a little faster she would have seen that is said, "semen cassiae."  Can you hear the sigh of relief from where you are?  I still can.  I was waiting for her to say something about never knowing what to expect from the Chinese, but it was not forthcoming.  She's too reserved for that kind of stuff.  

Therefore, boys and girls, fair warning to everyone, be careful what you take home from your garden and from the Asian store.