Friday, April 27, 2018

That Time I Rhymed About Peacocks

Shut up.

He struts his stuff with gait like few
Azul and green complete his hue

Shows majesty and gifted-Grace
Can be no other in his place

Solomon's Glory? But mere sham
Against lush raiment from I Am

"Look here!" he says to all with eyes
His subjects gain a glad surprise

Vice she who wears black, tan and brown
And seems to live in his background

None look upon her marked bland
Nor seek to mimic mundane bans

But she still wears a smile inside
If asked, her secret she'll confide

Holds no will to plumage flaunt
For she holds what he really wants

"Hey Baby! Look at THIS!"

Copyright © 2010 by Luo American, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Sunday, April 22, 2018

Weapon of War (UPDATE)


This was originally posted in 2010 at my old blog. I share the old link often, but I think this story needs a presence here.

In 2008, I had a dream.

Before I explain what type of dream it was, I should mention that my dreams are very vivid—almost like being awake; like short visits to worlds yet unexplored.  Sometimes, I can remember them immediately upon waking, but they will usually be forgotten if I fail to write them down.  (As an aside, I think that the ability to remember one’s dreams goes hand-in-hand with having a well-developed imagination -- something essential to a novelist.)

My subconscious will even, on occasion, incorporate sounds from the waking world and build a dream around it if the sound isn't loud and piercing enough to disrupt my sleep.  Such was the case when Dan Gillerman's melodious, accented baritone memorably penetrated my dreams as it wafted from my television.  In that dream, the voice seemed to be emanating from the throat of the man I loved and who seemed to pontificate about a war with Gaza.

However, for the dream mentioned at the beginning of this essay, there was never any need to write the details, and, whenever I reconsider it, it always looms large and has capital letters: The Dream.

At first, The Dream was a nightmare -- the only nightmare ever in my nearly fifty [sic] years.  I couldn’t see anything at first; I could only feel -- and the feeling in question was pure terror.  I’ve never come close to being that afraid when awake and I hope that I never do.

There was something -- a living thing -- in the room with me. Evil itself is the only way to describe this entity.  The room was my own bedroom, except that it had no windows and no doors.

I lay on the floor, paralyzed and curled up in a ball like a potato bug.  My eyes -- my dream-eyes -- were slammed shut for fear of seeing the thing.  It seemed to menace my back with fire, incinerating the skin.  In the manner which dreams unfold, I could “see” chunks of flesh fall from my back. I saw my spinal column. Then my flesh would reintegrate and the process would start again.

I wanted to uncurl and turn to face the being, but fear stopped me.  I could feel my chest heaving; it seemed as though the mere sight of It would stop my heart forever.

Then I cried out to God and He answered, reminding me that He had not given me the spirit of fear; that the particular emotion had a different source.  This reassurance seemed to slow my breath and un-paralyze my body.  I stood up and opened my eyes but I still wasn’t quite able to face the Creature.

“Stretch out your arms,” God said.  I did so and opened my right hand.  In it was a handgun, then a sword (they seemed interchangeable) and, as is so in myth and in fantasy, my weapon had a given name.

Its name was “the Word of God.”

So, with weapon in hand, I “screwed my courage to the sticking-place” and turned to face my enemy, steeling myself to view its ugly face.

It was gone.

*****
Weeks later, I was sitting in church and very much awake.

My pastor--learned in the languages of the Bible: Hebrew, Aramaic and Koine Greek—was expounding on the two Greek terms for "word of God."  One is a term with which most English-speakers are familiar—logos.  The other, however, is one I had heard before but had no idea what it meant until my pastor began to expound upon it: rhema[i]

The difference?  People far more theologically learned than I are still discussing it but the difference seems to be in scope.  A rhema is more of a short aphorism, rather than a long sermon or the Word in its entirety, and it is intended to counter the Adversary quickly when he’s trying to induce doubt and/or fear.  For example, Jesus the Christ used a quick succession of rhema on Satan when the latter tried to induce doubt about God the Father.

In short, when you hear preachers talk about “a word from God,” most of the time they are talking about a rhema.

“What does this have to do with your dream,” I hear you ask.  My mouth literally dropped open when my pastor mentioned the other definition of rhema….

The Sword of the Spirit[ii].

Whenever I feel anxious about anything, I think of this dream.


[i] James Strong, The Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2001),1641

[ii] Strong's,1626

UPDATE: I've made this the beginning of a series on the supernatural.

NEXT:

Shift in Focus

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Saturday, April 21, 2018

Prison Break




In the world of Chaos
Camouflaged poison
And diaphanous oaths

Are the Dinner of death
Purchased with 30 pieces
Of not-silver

Simmered in fear
One seasoning: bitterness

Carnal men lust for evil women
As both avenge their tears
On each other
And move on

"People come and they go
"It's just the way that it goes"
Says Chaos's Prince
Channeled by a singer

The walls are high
In the Prison made of nothing
Where the Warden wields
An Air-Powered baton

But...

In the unbroken circle
Hopes are fulfilled
Beauty equals Truth
And Forgiveness is the gift
Received by the Giver

"I am the Way, the Truth
"And the Life"

Carved in the Cornerstone
Of the lone refuge

The meat is sweet
The Water Lives
And the Comfort is endless

Love is the specialty of the house

So...

Battered and fried
By Chaos
The prisoner returns to the Circle
Where the Door stands
Unguarded

And where the King of the Unseen bids her to stay

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Monday, April 9, 2018

Lap of Luxury

Green living. Not unless I have to.
I'm still receiving donations and will be up-to-date with my landlord tomorrow.

Here's one of the things I don't talk about often because it gives people an idea of my level of penury. I still struggle with pride, which is, of course, why I talk about the sin of pride so much; I know it well.

When I get donations in excess of being able to pay my bills, I'm able to do one thing that greatly increases my quality of life. And that one thing is ...

Go to the laundromat.

I moved into this apartment building in 2015 and it's the first time in a long time that I haven't had in-building access to a washer and a dryer.

Air Force dormitories always have washing facilities -- at least when I was in. And, when I had my house, I had an awesome stacked washer-dryer. The washer motor sounded like Serenity running from the Alliance po-po. Even when I lived in homeless housing, there were washers and dryers, though they were not free.

It's amazing the things we take for granted.

To save money, I have been handwashing almost all of my clothes and have developed a system of washing a few at a time. But sometimes I let that system lag because handwashing clothes is a huge pain for a First World girl.

My life could be worse in many ways, which is what I constantly remind myself when I need to do something that I hate.

So, because I have a few extra dollars, I'm going to the laundromat today. It's smaller and cleaner than most. The attendant always greets me happily, though I get by there only every couple of months. And there's wi-fi.

You've allowed me to skip the handwashing clothing system for a bit.

I just thought you should know.

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Hearing the Same Voice


This looks very familiar.
[T]he greatest lies are not one-off incidents. They are not the occasional white lie to the wife who asks, “Does this dress make me look fat?” They are not the lies wherein people of conscience say the equivalent of, “No! No Jews are here.” They are not even the lies of the con artist who still knows he is conning people. Most people who tell those sort of lies still know they are lying. 
No, the biggest lie, and the one currently afflicting our society, is the total loss of discernment between what is truth and what is a lie. It is the belief there is no truth possible. It is the belief we can make up our own truth as we see fit.

Almost a year ago, I said this:
We Christians are familiar—some only passingly familiar--with Jesus’ assertion that the Devil is the Father of Lies. That is, he is the progenitor of everything that is false. Let’s stipulate that and go further: he is the architect of Lies. God is building His kingdom, and so the Adversary is building his. 
This adversary does deal in simple falsehoods, but those aren’t his most lethal weapons. He is an imitator of his enemy, God, and therefore, his deceptions are high, wide, deep, broad, complex—and, long-term. 
These types of deceptions are four-dimensional at the very least; they are his weapons of mass destruction.
When we think of lies, we tend to think of them as linear one-dimensional, straight-out falsehoods: 2+2=57, for example—a thing so outrageously false as to be laughable. Another uncomplicated falsehood: if I tell you that I weigh 120 pounds and I know that I weigh more than that, or less (ha ha), that is a simple lie and easily disproved--in my case anyway.
I am definitely not implying that Fay Voshell – the author of this excellent piece featuring one Josef Stalin -- copied my idea for one simply reason.

The idea does not belong to either of us. It is revealed wisdom.

That Kingdoms of lies have been and are being built is plain to anyone with “eyes to see” and “ears to hear, as Jesus the Christ put it. His implication: those who posses the physical and spiritual senses to be able to see past the edifices of lies and to discern the truth.

And it's not a secret ... unless one wants it to be.

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Sunday, April 8, 2018

California Creeping (UPDATED)

CA state Senator Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) introduced CA State Senate Bill 1424. Picture cite.

UPDATE: Received $505 today so far as of 345PM PT. Thank you.

ORIGINAL:

It's more like California galloping.

A bill sits in the California senate:
This bill would require any person who operates a social media, as defined, Internet Web site with a physical presence in California to develop a strategic plan to verify news stories shared on its Web site. The bill would require the plan to include, among other things, a plan to mitigate the spread of false information through news stories, the utilization of fact-checkers to verify news stories, providing outreach to social media users, and placing a warning on a news story containing false information.
As regular readers know, Los Angeles is my home town and I've live here continuously since exiting active duty USAF in 1994. This blog, along with its original incarnation has existed since 2003.

I've had some rough personal and financial times here -- both deaths and loss of material possessions -- but I've persevered through them with God's help and yours. I've tried to get a regular job -- over-qualification seems to still be a thing -- but still dream of sustaining a living by doing what I do here and at Da Tech Guy Blog.

This bill, however, is sure to pass. Combined with the suspected shadow-ban on my Twitter and Facebook accounts, such a regulation would serve to segregate my voice and the many other outnumbered Californians who do not subscribe to the Leftism that this state's government seeks to impose on its citizenry. Effectively, it would be a silencing.

I have to consider leaving and most certainly will continue to pray about it. If I decide to go, I will start another itemized fundraiser.

In the meantime, I still have a very immediate need to pay my rent and electric bill-- still slightly behind. I've received several donations and they have allowed me to reduce to the debt and, thereby, stay housed and warm. I need one or a few donations amounting to at least $500.

Keep me in your prayers -- that I make the right decisions and that I stay out of the path of the Eight Ball. Thanks.

(Thanks to Charles Glasser at Instapundit)

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: An Incomplete Plan.

When you hit the Tip Jar, it helps pays for: A Roof Over My Head, Food, Gasoline, Car Insurance, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.



Saturday, April 7, 2018

Crazy Supporters of Politicians are Crazy

My landlord will be here tomorrow for the rest of the rent. Can you help?

*****

Correlation or causation? Both, maybe.

Bernie Sanders supporters are violent.

First there was James Hodgkinson, the guy who tried to take out a portion of the GOP Congress.

Then there was Rene Boucher, the guy who attacked and seriously injured US Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). In fairness, I'd say that Boucher was probably a Bernie supporter.

And, just recently, there was the lesbian couple who piled themselves and their six adopted children into an SUV and intentionally drove over a California cliff overlooking the ocean, killing all passengers. From Stacy McCain:
There were no brake marks on that highway overlooking the Pacific shore, police say. Jennifer Hart drove toward that cliff at top speed. Why? Because for the fourth time, the Harts were being investigated for child abuse, and so their “family that champions for things that matter” had to die together, plunging 100 feet headlong into the abyss.
The bodies of three of the children are missing; probably washed out to sea.

The Hart family at a 2016 Bernie Sanders rally
Just for grins, I searched "violent Bernie Sanders supporters" and found this -- from Bernie Sanders supporter Sally Kohn at TIME magazine. It's from May 2016, one month before Hillary Clinton completed the process of stealing the Democrat presidential nomination from Sanders.
This past weekend, Sanders supporters at the Democratic state convention in Nevada became unruly and threatened the state party chair when she ruled 64 of Sanders’ delegates ineligible, ignored motions made by Sanders supporters and refused to accept any petitions that would change the rules. While some Sanders supporters on social media have denied that the bad behavior took place, several highly credible media outlets have corroborated reports of Sanders supporters rushing the convention stage, cursing at the leadership and throwing chairs. (After these reports, NPR and Talking Points Memo reported that no chairs were thrown.) The state Democratic chairwoman Roberta Lange has also reportedly received death threats: “threatening my family, threatening my life, threatening my grandchild.”

This is unacceptable behavior. Sanders has condemned it, but not forcefully enough for my taste.
Of course, Kohn points out that some Donald Trump supporters are violent -- and she's correct. There was that old white guy who sucker-punched a black protester at a Trump candidacy rally. Then he suggested ...

Then there was the death of Heather Heyer.

And not to let Hillary Clinton's supporters off the hook, there are a number of violent Clintonistas. Nikolas Cruz, for one. It's not known who Omar Mateen, perpetrator of the Orlando Pulse terror attack, voted for, but he was indeed a Democrat. His father certainly was a Clinton supporter, however.

I conclude one thing: human beings are crazy. But everyone thinks that the other guy's worshipers ... er ... supporters are worse. Well, the outcomes may be worse on one side or the other, but the disease is the same: faulty perspective.

If you're not looking at things from eternity's perspective, you are blind. Politics and politicians are some of the tactics which the Enemy of us all uses to produce false vision -- a vision of salvation.

I'm guilty of this blindness -- this craziness -- also. But God is leading me away from it.

All I feel led to do here anymore is to help others to see.

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When you hit the Tip Jar, it helps pays for: A Roof Over My Head, Food, Gasoline, Car Insurance, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.



Friday, April 6, 2018

Free Facebook Ice Cream Sometimes Tastes Funny


Since everyone is complaining about Facebook, I might as well, too.

A couple of months back, I commented on an interesting post, composed by an old online friend, in which he outlined the fallen nature of the presidents of the USA. One of my comments to the post was a simple correction to the circled info.


I quoted that part and added that, of course, it was LBJ who allegedly uttered the that crude prophecy and not FDR.

My friend's post remains uncorrected. However, some rocket scientist reported my comment, but did not report my friend’s words! As a result, my comment was deleted and my account was suspended for 24 hours.

You read correctly. Facebook suspended a black woman’s account for quoting a status in which the n-word was used, but did not do anything to the author of the status -- a black man, by the way. Not that I wanted them to; I would, however, like the rules of the platform to make sense. Yeah, wishful thinking.

That said, whoever didn’t suspect that FB was eyeballing all the data submitted to the platform is incredibly naïve.

I still appreciate a free service that keeps me in contact with my family and old friends – and allows me to publicize my work.

And to fund-raise.

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: You Say You Want Independent Journalism.

When you hit the Tip Jar, it helps pays for: A Roof Over My Head, Food, Gasoline, Car Insurance, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.






Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Gazans and Central Americans Trying to Jericho the Two Satans?

$330. Halfway there.

*****

The other day, I pointed to the similarities between the Israel-Gaza border clash and the approaching mass of Central Americans marching through Mexico headed toward its border with the USA.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott deployed the Texas National Guard to the border days ago*  and, now, President Trump says he’s ready to take more action. (I'm not even bothering to check to see what my own governor -- Jerry Brown -- is doing.)
Previously, Trump used the caravan as an example of why his border wall needs to be built and also as an excuse [sic] to attack Democrats for their part in watering down border-security measures included in the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill. He's also attacked the Mexican government for ignoring the situation, ominously threatening to remember their negligence as NAFTA negotiations continue.
Today, he took his threats one step further by not only threatening to kill NAFTA - Mexico's "cash cow" - but also to cut off foreign aid to "Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen" before closing with: "Congress must act now!"
In the Israel-Gaza situation:
Tens of thousands of Palestinians began a six-week-long protest last Friday in tent encampments set up along the fenced border of the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip. They are pressing for a right of return for refugees to the villages and towns where their families lived before 1948 in what is now Israel. 
Sixteen Palestinians died after being shot by Israeli troops on the first day of the protest, Palestinian medical officials said. The 17th Palestinian killed, 25-year-old Ahmed Omar Arafa, was standing about 50 metres (165 feet) from the fence when he was shot, his father, Omar Arafa, told Reuters. 
“He was standing next to me; he posed no danger to them but they killed him,” he said. An Israeli military spokeswoman had no initial information on the latest reported fatality.  
The deaths occurred in the course of one of the largest Palestinian demonstrations along the 65-km (40-mile) border in years. Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman defended Israel’s response. 
“I warn (Gaza protesters) against continuing the provocation. We have set clear game rules and we do not intend to change them. Every person who comes close to the fence is endangering their lives,” he said on a visit to the border. 
“This was a well-organised provocation by Hamas’s armed wing in an attempt to harm our sovereignty, to disrupt daily life and to disturb Israelis on their Seder (traditional Passover meal) night. We are doing what we must do.” (…) 
The [IDF] said its troops used live fire only against people trying to sabotage the fence or rolling burning tyres and throwing rocks. Palestinian organisers said they had called for a peaceful protest and Hamas denied that its fighters had fired on Israeli forces, using the crowds as cover, though it said five of the dead were members of its armed wing.
As an unashamed conspiracy theorist, I think that there is little chance of coincidence that two large groups are intentionally and simultaneously approaching the borders of the two most powerful and most hated countries in the world demanding to be let in. Some entity/entities made this happen and the only reasons that Gazan group is much larger than the Central American group is that the latter has much farther to travel than the former and the latter needed the permission of the Mexicans for their trek. And, yes, it is not outside the realm of possibility that Mexico created this situation with hidden help.

So, now Israel is being condemned for the deaths at its Gazan border and the same thing will happen to the USA when the group meets the US military at the US-Mexico border.

All of this was planned by the same people, I say. Because it isn’t as if we who are paying attention don’t know that hidden-actors have been doing every thing they can for decades – centuries – to bring about a borderless world. These two situations are mere drops to wear down the rock of nation-state sovereignty. But there have been others drops.

And there will be more.

*When discussing state National Guards, it is necessary to remember that the commander-in-chief of each state’s NG is that states’ governor unless a NG entity has been called to Active Duty, where the c-in-c becomes the president of the USA. Any president is required to submit formally request to a governor to call up a NG entity to Active Duty. No governor has declined such a request.

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Monday, April 2, 2018

Riddled

Now that I'm done complaining -- for the day -- I'm wondering what The "Church" of Scientology, the Nation of Islam, and Women's March have in common. I mean, it's got to be something other that love of money and power, right?

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Still Trying to Create My Job


$250, so far. Landlord not here, yet.

And I'm still not jealous. ::: nose growing :::
Man, what a grift. I remind you at the outset that, contrary to popular belief, it’s not true that [former acting FBI director Andrew] McCabe lost his pension when Jeff Sessions fired him on the eve of his retirement. What he lost was the right to qualify for that pension early, at age 50. He’ll need to wait now until he’s 57 to begin receiving money. Or, to put this in private-sector lingo, instead of being able to retire comfortably 15 years before a private-sector worker might, he’ll only be able to do so eight years before. (...)
But Trump hates him and that’s good enough reason for liberals to shower with him cash. His initial GoFundMe target for his “legal defense” was $250,000; three days later he’s at $540,000 and counting. This is a guy, remember, who was fired for cause on the recommendation of the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility after being flagged for “lack of candor” by the DOJ’s Inspector General. He’s shutting his fundraising page down tonight, possibly because even he’s grossed out watching lefties push bundles of money at an upper-class family from suburban Virginia just because Trump dislikes them.
(People may recall that I'm retired military; because I retired from the Reserves, I get my pension when I turn 60. Three years from now.)

I've always been blessed with a small group of loyal and reliable donors for this blog; some can barely afford it. And I know that I'll be able to meet my latest financial hardship.

One of my fantasies is to win the Lotto -- which I rarely play -- and go hand out money to toiling online scribes.

Then, this morning, I noticed that National Review featured a piece authored by Bethany Mandel which outlined the alliance between the Nation of Islam and the "Church"of Scientology, something which I pointed to in 2012 and then again one month ago.

I could get almost no one to pay attention to this six years ago or even last month when the additional alliance between the NOI and the Women's March was being discussed far and wide! That is incredibly frustrating.

So, here's what I would like to do: go out physically and find some more stories that no one else has.

Frequently, I point to "coincidences" that few others see and/or understand -- that's my quirky little brain at work and it's a gift from God ... sometimes. And God bless Glenn Reynolds for pointing his vast readership to my writing.

But I need the rest of you, too, assuming you find my work of value. As I keep saying, I'm not trying to get rich; only trying to do what God put me here to do -- analyze and tell about it -- and enjoy the blessings of living in the First World while doing it. Is that too much to ask? I hope not.

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Crooked Love.

When you hit the Tip Jar, it helps pays for: A Roof Over My Head, Food, Gasoline, Car Insurance, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.