Newton told us that every action has an equal, opposite reaction. If we do something, it has some sort of consequence hitting right back at us.
Take crime, for instance. Yes, it's possible to beat the living tar out of your neighbor. The consequence is jail, loss of freedom, loss of certain rights as citizens, etc.
The criminal element doesn't seem to care, much. I'm not sure if there's no actual conceptualization of the consequences, or if the consequences have been weighed carefully, and the risk is less than the reward.
That scares me. If life is so bad that going to jail is preferable to staying out of it, there's such misery in the world that I can't even wrap my mind around it. I just can't imagine life being so rotten that jail seems ok.
At the same time, I cannot imagine thinking that knocking over a convenience store is something that I can get away with. For starters, every major tv network has some sort of show that features stupid criminals getting caught on videotape. They have to get that footage somewhere, morons. There's also no loyalty in the criminal element. They'll sell each other out to keep from getting sent to jail, or on the promise of money. So the odds of getting caught are pretty high.
So why do it? Greed's the short answer, I suppose. It just doesn't seem enough to justify the risk of getting caught. Never mind the morality involved here. I'm presupposing that morals are a foregone conclusion with most of the criminal element. The risk/reward equation is all I'm focusing on here.
I can't afford a Mercedes, so I don't drive one. I can't afford a 5000 square foot home, so I don't live in one. I can't afford Armani suits, so I don't wear them. I couldn't afford spring break trips to Mexico, so I didn't go. I can't afford new cd's, so I don't buy them. In other words, I do without. My life is perfectly ok without those things. It really is. I wouldn't have said so at one point or another in my life, but it's true. Even in the midst of the worst possible stuff envy, it never seemed worth stealing over. Breaking into a house to steal something sure isn't worth it. Every household I know about has enough gun wielders in it to make that idea seem pretty dumb. Does that thought never cross the mind of a burglar? Has he decided that it's worth the risk, despite the risk of lead poisoning?
I can understand being so desperate to feed my child that I'd steal. But I also can't imagine a friend or family member not taking my child in to feed him, if things ever got that bad. Or the church, or distant relatives, or somebody. There's always an alternative, it seems.
I can't figure this one out at all. And I grow more puzzled every time I deal with people like this, which is daily.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Forgiveness
This is a subject that I struggle with, and honestly don't do very well with. It's hard to make peace with someone who has wronged you. And yet, it's the right thing to do.
Taking any sort of philosophical reasoning for it out of the equation, forgiveness seems to promote self-healing. I've gone a long time winding myself up over slights, real or imagined. The funny thing is, it's hurting nobody but me.
Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately, depending on your point of view), I have not developed psychic powers that enable me to fry people with my mind. It's a good thing, because my negative thoughts would have probably reduced our population down quite a bit. So all these bad thoughts I have towards someone who's made me mad do nothing at all but give me ulcers. If it's not hurting them, and it's not helping me, why do it? When I think back on a couple of particular wrongs I've felt were inflicted on me, my blood pressure boils. My hands get shaky, my breathing gets quick. I can feel my stomach roil. And to what end? The people I'm mad at could care less. I'm not doing anything to help the situation. I'm just taking years off my life. I can't afford to do that anymore.
Best just to let it go. Doing that is a bit much, however. Realizing the futility of the anger is a good first step. It makes it a bit easier, though not much.
I've also learned to let my self-recrimination go a bit, as well. It's hard to move on in your life dwelling on mistakes made in the past. Better still just to move along. Learn from the mistake, but don't bog down thinking about it.
The Bible mentions not letting the sun go down on your anger, and that's some good, practical advice. I'm amazed at how much one's spiritual, physical, and mental health seem to walk hand in hand.
In the meanwhile, my neighbors and their all-night barking dog haven't been telepathically reduced to a smoking pile of ashes. This is a good thing for all concerned.
Taking any sort of philosophical reasoning for it out of the equation, forgiveness seems to promote self-healing. I've gone a long time winding myself up over slights, real or imagined. The funny thing is, it's hurting nobody but me.
Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately, depending on your point of view), I have not developed psychic powers that enable me to fry people with my mind. It's a good thing, because my negative thoughts would have probably reduced our population down quite a bit. So all these bad thoughts I have towards someone who's made me mad do nothing at all but give me ulcers. If it's not hurting them, and it's not helping me, why do it? When I think back on a couple of particular wrongs I've felt were inflicted on me, my blood pressure boils. My hands get shaky, my breathing gets quick. I can feel my stomach roil. And to what end? The people I'm mad at could care less. I'm not doing anything to help the situation. I'm just taking years off my life. I can't afford to do that anymore.
Best just to let it go. Doing that is a bit much, however. Realizing the futility of the anger is a good first step. It makes it a bit easier, though not much.
I've also learned to let my self-recrimination go a bit, as well. It's hard to move on in your life dwelling on mistakes made in the past. Better still just to move along. Learn from the mistake, but don't bog down thinking about it.
The Bible mentions not letting the sun go down on your anger, and that's some good, practical advice. I'm amazed at how much one's spiritual, physical, and mental health seem to walk hand in hand.
In the meanwhile, my neighbors and their all-night barking dog haven't been telepathically reduced to a smoking pile of ashes. This is a good thing for all concerned.
Friday, April 27, 2007
WTF???
From JUDICIAL WATCH, which is a great website:
"Border Patrol Agent Charged With Murder
Caving in to pressure from the Mexican government and relying on testimony of fellow illegal border crossers, prosecutors in one Arizona county have criminally charged a United States Border Patrol agent for shooting an aggressive illegal immigrant in the act of violating federal law.
Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett has actually been charged with first-degree murder for the January shooting of the illegal alien who was part of a group apprehended about a 150 yards north of the Mexico-Arizona border between Bisbee and Douglas. Corbett said the Mexican man, Francisco Javier Dominguez, became aggressive and attacked him with rocks after being detained.
Dominguez had illegally crossed into the U.S. with three others—his two brothers and a sister-in-law—who have become the prosecution’s main witnesses. Based on their testimony, Cochise County prosecutors say the shooting was not legally justified because Dominguez did not represent a threat when he was shot.
When the incident happened in mid January, the Mexican government immediately sent the United States a diplomatic note stating its “firm condemnation” and demanded a full investigation. Relatives in Mexico took the streets and demanded the agent involved be punished and brought to justice.
The head of the Arizona Chapter of the National Border Patrol Council says this case is part of a nationwide pattern of politically motivated prosecutions against Border Patrol agents. The theory doesn’t sound terribly far-fetched considering that, earlier this year, two Border Patrol agents went to prison for shooting an admitted Mexican drug smuggler caught bringing in 743 pounds of marijuana near El Paso Texas.
Federal prosecutors actually went into Mexico and offered the drug dealer—who was only shot in the buttocks--immunity to testify against the veteran agents who were subsequently convicted on charges of causing serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm and violating the drug smuggler’s civil rights."
We've lost the will to be a country, if we persecute those who defend us. I think they need to be shooting more of them, personally. It's interesting that Cochise County is where Tombstone is located. That county apparently loves to prosecute those who try to uphold the law, given what happened to the Earps and Doc Holliday after the OK Corral...
"Border Patrol Agent Charged With Murder
Caving in to pressure from the Mexican government and relying on testimony of fellow illegal border crossers, prosecutors in one Arizona county have criminally charged a United States Border Patrol agent for shooting an aggressive illegal immigrant in the act of violating federal law.
Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett has actually been charged with first-degree murder for the January shooting of the illegal alien who was part of a group apprehended about a 150 yards north of the Mexico-Arizona border between Bisbee and Douglas. Corbett said the Mexican man, Francisco Javier Dominguez, became aggressive and attacked him with rocks after being detained.
Dominguez had illegally crossed into the U.S. with three others—his two brothers and a sister-in-law—who have become the prosecution’s main witnesses. Based on their testimony, Cochise County prosecutors say the shooting was not legally justified because Dominguez did not represent a threat when he was shot.
When the incident happened in mid January, the Mexican government immediately sent the United States a diplomatic note stating its “firm condemnation” and demanded a full investigation. Relatives in Mexico took the streets and demanded the agent involved be punished and brought to justice.
The head of the Arizona Chapter of the National Border Patrol Council says this case is part of a nationwide pattern of politically motivated prosecutions against Border Patrol agents. The theory doesn’t sound terribly far-fetched considering that, earlier this year, two Border Patrol agents went to prison for shooting an admitted Mexican drug smuggler caught bringing in 743 pounds of marijuana near El Paso Texas.
Federal prosecutors actually went into Mexico and offered the drug dealer—who was only shot in the buttocks--immunity to testify against the veteran agents who were subsequently convicted on charges of causing serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm and violating the drug smuggler’s civil rights."
We've lost the will to be a country, if we persecute those who defend us. I think they need to be shooting more of them, personally. It's interesting that Cochise County is where Tombstone is located. That county apparently loves to prosecute those who try to uphold the law, given what happened to the Earps and Doc Holliday after the OK Corral...
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Comfortably Numb
While the rest of the world is applauding the new trends in downloadable music, I have to say that I have some trepidations about the whole thing. It has less to do with the technology and sound quality as it has to do with the imminent demise of the rock album.
Bear with me on this. The trend now is for people to pay for whatever song they want, and simply download it. They pay only for the song they want. This is all well and good for the consumer in one sense. They only have to pay for the song they want. This was the theory behind 45 rpm singles, way back when. It carried over into cassettes, and later into single cd's.
What's going to happen is that artists will focus more on singles, as opposed to albums. Let's face it: "Another Brick in the Wall Part II" is a catchy tune. However, the genius of the song comes in when you get its context with the rest of THE WALL. The song stands alone, but it's part of a much bigger whole. Same thing with "Eyes of a Stranger" off OPERATION MINDCRIME. Great song, but it's simply the capstone of a cool concept album.
I don't know if today's short-attention spanned obliviots will download a song, then buy the whole album. I think they're more likely just to download a catchy tune, and ignore the rest of the album. They'll remain comfortably numb to the cool stuff that lurks on the rest of the album. If you didn't buy the Van Halen album FAIR WARNING, you didn't catch "Hear About It Later," one of the band's better songs. You'll never hear that one on the radio. You'll also never hear "Bravado" off Rush's ROLL THE BONES. You won't hear "Holy Mother," off Eric Clapton's AUGUST. "Why Worry", off Dire Straits' BROTHERS IN ARMS is one of the best songs ever. I doubt anybody today would buy the whole album. They'd simply download "Money For Nothing", and go on with their lives, never hearing a gem like "Your Latest Trick." That's a loss.
You won't see albums like this in the future, I fear. The artists will pump out catchy singles to sell via the internet, and the albums as a whole might well suffer as a result. Cohesive, unifying songwriting for albums might well die off. I don't think it will vanish altogether. I just don't think an artist will sit down to write concept albums anymore as theri main focus.
That's a darn shame. Imagine life without Styx's "Kilroy Was Here." I shudder to think about it.
"Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto."
Bear with me on this. The trend now is for people to pay for whatever song they want, and simply download it. They pay only for the song they want. This is all well and good for the consumer in one sense. They only have to pay for the song they want. This was the theory behind 45 rpm singles, way back when. It carried over into cassettes, and later into single cd's.
What's going to happen is that artists will focus more on singles, as opposed to albums. Let's face it: "Another Brick in the Wall Part II" is a catchy tune. However, the genius of the song comes in when you get its context with the rest of THE WALL. The song stands alone, but it's part of a much bigger whole. Same thing with "Eyes of a Stranger" off OPERATION MINDCRIME. Great song, but it's simply the capstone of a cool concept album.
I don't know if today's short-attention spanned obliviots will download a song, then buy the whole album. I think they're more likely just to download a catchy tune, and ignore the rest of the album. They'll remain comfortably numb to the cool stuff that lurks on the rest of the album. If you didn't buy the Van Halen album FAIR WARNING, you didn't catch "Hear About It Later," one of the band's better songs. You'll never hear that one on the radio. You'll also never hear "Bravado" off Rush's ROLL THE BONES. You won't hear "Holy Mother," off Eric Clapton's AUGUST. "Why Worry", off Dire Straits' BROTHERS IN ARMS is one of the best songs ever. I doubt anybody today would buy the whole album. They'd simply download "Money For Nothing", and go on with their lives, never hearing a gem like "Your Latest Trick." That's a loss.
You won't see albums like this in the future, I fear. The artists will pump out catchy singles to sell via the internet, and the albums as a whole might well suffer as a result. Cohesive, unifying songwriting for albums might well die off. I don't think it will vanish altogether. I just don't think an artist will sit down to write concept albums anymore as theri main focus.
That's a darn shame. Imagine life without Styx's "Kilroy Was Here." I shudder to think about it.
"Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto."
Thursday, April 19, 2007
St. Anger
I'm still not sure that I actually picked the right career. I'm a prosecutor now, and it's absolutely true that I enjoy this job more than anything else in the practice of law. I can safely say that I will never go back to private practice again.
However, I still have to deal with liars and the bigger liars that represent them.
Attorneys are, as a breed; scumbags. There are individuals that are ok. But as a whole, this is a reprehensible profession, filled with reprehensible people who think they have to win at all costs. Even if that means telling a flat-out lie to get an acquittal for a client, or screwing over somebody to win.
I don't like this. I don't operate that way, and I get really resentful when it happens to me. Even though I shouldn't. I know what this breed is like, and I make the mistake time after time of letting down my guard. I constantly get fooled into believing they are not all like that. And I'm proven wrong more often than not.
Here's where the hard part of being a follower of Christ comes in. I have to let this sort of thing go, or it will tear me up forever more. It's not in the least bothering the person that did it.
This is where the limits of human flesh come into play. I can't do it. I've got to turn it over to God. And it's hard to turn loose of this anger and resentment. But I have to. I've got to turn the other cheek. And the only way to do that is pass it off to somebody whose kindness, mercy, wisdom, and power far exceed mine. Personally, I'd like to drag this lawyer over carpet tacks and dip him in rubbing alcohol.
So it's in the Almighty's hands at this point. Mine would strangle.
Tomorrow's another day, though. One of my favorite literary characters has two red arrows tattooed on each deltoid, pointing forward. His point in doing that was to remind himself to keep pressing forward, and never look back. That's what has to happen here, as well.
However, I still have to deal with liars and the bigger liars that represent them.
Attorneys are, as a breed; scumbags. There are individuals that are ok. But as a whole, this is a reprehensible profession, filled with reprehensible people who think they have to win at all costs. Even if that means telling a flat-out lie to get an acquittal for a client, or screwing over somebody to win.
I don't like this. I don't operate that way, and I get really resentful when it happens to me. Even though I shouldn't. I know what this breed is like, and I make the mistake time after time of letting down my guard. I constantly get fooled into believing they are not all like that. And I'm proven wrong more often than not.
Here's where the hard part of being a follower of Christ comes in. I have to let this sort of thing go, or it will tear me up forever more. It's not in the least bothering the person that did it.
This is where the limits of human flesh come into play. I can't do it. I've got to turn it over to God. And it's hard to turn loose of this anger and resentment. But I have to. I've got to turn the other cheek. And the only way to do that is pass it off to somebody whose kindness, mercy, wisdom, and power far exceed mine. Personally, I'd like to drag this lawyer over carpet tacks and dip him in rubbing alcohol.
So it's in the Almighty's hands at this point. Mine would strangle.
Tomorrow's another day, though. One of my favorite literary characters has two red arrows tattooed on each deltoid, pointing forward. His point in doing that was to remind himself to keep pressing forward, and never look back. That's what has to happen here, as well.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
No Further Proof Necessary
The horrible tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech underscored a point that I've been making: evil exists. The term "insanity" doesn't even begin to cover the depth of this horror. We have to turn to a much more powerful word to sum this up: evil.
You've only to look at this psycho's rambling manifesto to see pure evil shining from his eyes. It is a glimpse into hell itself. It frightens me to no end.
I cannot fathom what would possess a person to execute 30+ people. I don't think any sane person can.
Listening to his ramblings, it is obvious that he was convinced that he was some sort of hero for doing this. I've noticed that evil has a way of justifying itself. I'm sure this demon never thought he was evil. Indeed, in his twisted mind, this was the act of a noble warrior. What he was fighting, I have no idea. It almost lends some credibility to the assertion that some insanity is demonic possession. Looking into his eyes as the video rolled, I can believe in demons.
What he has managed to do is terrify a nation, and provide additional fodder to the anti-Second Amendment crowd. He linked himself to Jesus, and that's going to also provide ammunition to the anti-deists.
I submit a point: I don't think this soul ever knew Christ, other than a passing acquaintance with a few stories. Neither here nor there; however.
My prayers go out to the families, students, and friends of Virginia Tech. And I pray the rest of the country makes it through as well.
You've only to look at this psycho's rambling manifesto to see pure evil shining from his eyes. It is a glimpse into hell itself. It frightens me to no end.
I cannot fathom what would possess a person to execute 30+ people. I don't think any sane person can.
Listening to his ramblings, it is obvious that he was convinced that he was some sort of hero for doing this. I've noticed that evil has a way of justifying itself. I'm sure this demon never thought he was evil. Indeed, in his twisted mind, this was the act of a noble warrior. What he was fighting, I have no idea. It almost lends some credibility to the assertion that some insanity is demonic possession. Looking into his eyes as the video rolled, I can believe in demons.
What he has managed to do is terrify a nation, and provide additional fodder to the anti-Second Amendment crowd. He linked himself to Jesus, and that's going to also provide ammunition to the anti-deists.
I submit a point: I don't think this soul ever knew Christ, other than a passing acquaintance with a few stories. Neither here nor there; however.
My prayers go out to the families, students, and friends of Virginia Tech. And I pray the rest of the country makes it through as well.
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