We have brothers and sisters in Christ whose names we’ll never know, whom we’ll never meet. But thanks to modern communications, at least we can see and hear them.
Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross–sung by the Voice of Eden, brought to us from India.
Dogs Who Surf the Wild Stairs
Dogs have many different ways of getting up and down the stairs. Belly-surfing is quite popular. (Have any of you tried it? Looks like fun.) So is going up sideways, backwards, or hopping one step at a time. As for going down, well, that’s a little harder. Falling is always an option. I wonder if any of these dogs have ever seen a Slinky go down a flight of stairs.
How to Stymie Robo-Calls
I’ve just learned something!
We’re getting bombarded with robo-calls today, the same stupid calls we get all the time, every day (“This is an apology call…”, “This is your final notice…”, etc.). It’s pure annoyance for annoyance’s sake: you’re not going to buy their product.
The phone rings again. I answer it. Only instead of saying “Hello,” I say, “This had better be good.” Response: nothing. Silence.
It rings again. This time I say, “Who’s this?” Silence.
A third time. “What’s this, then?” And for the third time, silence.
And then it dawns on me! If you say “Hello,” you engage the robot to go into its spiel. If you don’t say “Hello,” it doesn’t engage.
This way you get the added benefit of a real caller hearing you and responding to your other-than-hello.
That’s how I’m going to answer the phone from now on.
LA Residents Defy Mayor’s Fireworks Ban
The Ban Everything movement suffered a setback this Fourth of July weekend–a heartening sign that we’re not yet quite enslaved.
The mayor/philosopher-king banned all fireworks, public and private. But oh, baby, look at the video!
Los Angeles County Residents Ignore “No Fireworks” Order, Celebrate With Massive Display
Thousands and thousands of Los Angeles residents lit up the night sky with their own fireworks and roman candles, prompting at least a thousand police complaints. The mayor had threatened draconian fines to anyone disobeying his commands–and the people said “So what!” instead of “Yes, master.”
All right, private fireworks is not exactly a noble cause–you could blow your fingers off: I used to know someone who had done just that–but resistance to these tinpot tyrants has to start somewhere. They don’t mind at all if we riot and burn down stores and throw rocks at the police; but they’d be bummed out big-time if we started swarming back to our churches.
Our government officials used to be known as public servants. Somehow they became the public’s masters. That error needs to be corrected.
By Request, ‘Faith of Our Fathers’
Phoebe requested Faith of Our Fathers–the real one, with “in spite of dungeon, fire and sword.” I think of the souls waiting below the altar in Revelation 5: 9-11. God will avenge His saints.
This plainsong version is presented by Brother Alphonsus.
Our Deteriorating National Character
America is great, said Alexis DeTocqueville in the early 19th century, because America is good. If she ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.
Bull’s eye for him.
Our esteemed colleague “Unknowable” has raised this issue lately in several comments. Just getting rid of the Democrat Party and slapping down the fake nooze media, he says, will not treat the root cause of our problems–an across-the-boards deterioration of our national character. This includes our penchant for “near-worship of celebrities.”
I think it’s important to recognize that our nation’s character has been debased on purpose by persons who are easily identifiable: the Democrat Party, the nooze and “entertainment” media (sort of a tautology), and teachers’ unions and other wicked “educators.” If we could somehow break them up and strip them of their power, they wouldn’t be able to carry on their mission to corrupt the country.
Things are done now that would have been utterly unthinkable when I was a boy. So why are they thinkable, and doable, now? Because certain people worked very hard, for a long time, to make them so. They never took “No” for an answer. No matter how many times they were defeated, they kept coming back–like the freakin’ Mummy. If one tactic didn’t work, they tried another. That’s how they finally got “gay marriage” intruded into our culture, through the Supreme Court. More specifically, through Justice Anthony Kennedy. They only had to swing one guy, and they got what they wanted. All other tactics had failed them. Even California voters turned it down. But they found the one judge who would give them what they wanted.
Yes, our national character needs re-Christianizing. We were a good country because we were a Christian country. D. James Kennedy once said that the most unserved mission field in the world was the churches in America. I’m afraid he was right.
Well, no one can say God didn’t give us enough work to keep us busy.
Supreme Court Protects Electoral College
For once they got it right.
Wow! You could’ve knocked me over with a feather. The Supreme Court has voted unanimously that rogue electors who flip their votes to some candidate other than the one their state voted for… can be punished and replaced (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/06/supreme-court-faithless-electors-349728).
You may remember that after the 2016 election there was a big ballyhoo over concerted attempts to get Republican electors not to vote for Donald Trump–and some Democrat electors not to vote for Hillary Clinton. Those efforts didn’t amount to much, in the end, but they did raise the specter of electoral chaos. I mean, once you can bribe or intimidate electors into changing their votes, the whole electoral process is compromised.
Even the libs on the court didn’t want that. Heck, even Chief Justice Roberts didn’t want it.
Democrats are always trying to get rid of the electoral college, which protects the rest of the country from being dictated to by New York and California. They’ve come up with scheme after scheme for abolishing it. Flipping electors is only one of several gambits that they’ve tried. Soon we’ll be seeing new ones.
As much as I cringe from doing it, I must salute the otherwise Far Left justices for whom this was very much a bridge too far. They made the right call and our country owes them thanks.
‘Ex-Celebrity Tries to Buy 2 Senate Votes’
A real charmer, eh?
Remember this? Former famous person Rosie O’Donnell publicly offered two senators rather handsome bribes to vote against a tax cut.
In fact, it’s a crime to buy the votes of members of Congress. True, it’s done ALL the time–but at least the other crooks have the good taste to launder the money first. They don’t treat it like it’s going to Walmart for potato chips.
So this, er, person, had $2 million each to give two GOP senators if they’d vote against the tax cut. She must’ve really wanted you to pay taxes.
It is too bad left-wing celebrities don’t have any natural enemies. Where are the cane toads when you really need them?
By Request, ‘May the Peoples Praise You’
This is another worship song by Keith and Kristyn Getty, requested by Susan–May the Peoples Praise You.
I’ve been recycling a lot of my favorite hymns lately, so readers’ hymn requests are much appreciated: they bring in hymns I haven’t heard before. So if you have a hymn request, the ol’ hymn shop’s always open.
Kitten, Otter, and Playtime
Actually, I think that maybe every waking moment is playtime for these two. Otters are well-known for their playfulness, but I don’t know how you acquire one for a pet.
Currently the otter has a slight advantage over the kitten. That’ll change. But I don’t think their friendship will.