LEAVE IT TO PEEVER

Give me a break

-Bumper sticker of the week: Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately, it kills all its pupils.

-Quote of the week: “Eternity has nothing to do with the hereafter...This is it....If you don’t get it here, you won’t get it anywhere. The experience of eternity right here and now is the function of life. Heaven is not the place to have the experience; here’s the place to have the experience.” Joseph Campbell

-The older generation being left behind: Hello young adults. Hello first-time voters. Hello generation X. Hello aging hipsters. Good-bye Republican, right-wing evangelicals. It’s all over but the shouting. Or rather, the moaning going on in coffee shops across the nation. I heard some at HyVee the other morning. How terrible it was that Obama won. Not a matter of his character, his education, his popularity among the electorate. It was all a matter of color. How horrible it is. How disgusting it is. Well, they got a little lecture. Mind you, I hate to talk down to elders. I was not taught to do that. I was taught to be respectful, even in light of what might to me seem like nonsense. But I broke that vow this morning. I told them they were pathetic for judging a man by his color. That it was old school. That their grand-kids should be spared that kind of embarrassment. That the world had passed them by. I asked them how proud they were of the last eight years? I asked them how killing people in the name of peace, or torturing POW’s, or making the rich richer and the poor poorer, how were those things going to make us a better people? If it is wisdom that supposedly comes with old age, I didn’t see much of it this morning,

Wednesday, Nov. 5.

-Church and Hate: I see the Catholic churches are blending a little pro-life with their Roman Catholic doctrine. I’ve heard accounts of at least one priest telling the congregation that if they don’t vote pro-life, they should not step forward for communion. I would certainly hope that this is not true. I saw a pro-life sign among white crosses out at Immaculate Heart, so I’m guessing this may be one of, hopefully, if so, the only, Catholic church where this nonsense might be coming from. To say you are pro-life is extremely misleading. I assume a priest would also say capital punishment is wrong; that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are wrong; that all our corn crops should be turned into food crops to help eliminate famine and hunger in the world; that the church will immediately build a mission to house the homeless, and provide health-care for those who can’t afford it; that the church will adopt any child whose mother they talk out of having an abortion, through their guilt-ridden mis-guidance, pay all the medical bills, and raise that child to age 18. If any priest meets these conditions, I’ll help them put up those pro-life signs. Until said time, they are anti-abortion, anti-choice signs. All a priest is doing is spreading hateful nonsense and making women feel guilty for a horrible decision they may have to make. It’s not unlike men to do this. Hiding behind a collar does not make it legitimate or moral or give it any level of religiosity. It only makes it crueler.

-Speaking of jobs: We’re losing them faster than we’re gaining them. Unemployment in the country is listed at 6.5%, which in reality means it is at about 15%, or better. Ronald Reagan fixed this when he was in office. He ordered the unemployment counters to only count those people who are actively seeking a job through the unemployment office. This leaves out anyone who has used up their unemployment and are no longer reporting. This results in a number that is basically useless. Here in Knox County, we are officially stated to be at 6.8%. In reality, we are closer to 20%, if not higher. It all goes to show you, the boys in charge never really want us to know just how badly they are really doing. Otherwise, we might get upset.