A blog by request

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One of my regular readers (yes, pray for him), asked me to blog on this subject: Egyptian god Horus and the similarities to Jesus.

He provided these links:

Horus

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5.htm

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

http://www.egyptartsite.com/hormyth.html

He suggested I look into some additional information.

I start my commentary with these thoughts:

1) Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

2) Humans have a very well-defined ability to take a simple story and twist it into something has no bearing on the original story.

3) Corollary: Humans screw stuff up.

4) Ancient Hebrew is a language no one alive today completely understands. Our translations are educated guesswork and some words remain undefined. Further, translations are always inexact.

When a lesser evil just won't do.

So, are there similarities between Horus and Jesus? Of course there are. At least there are similarities in what we are able to understand through the ancient records we have of both.

For that matter, the Judeo-Christian religion has a WHOLE LOTTA similarities with other ancient religions from the same time period and earlier. My very close friend and atheist Merle can wax poetic on this subject for hours.

Many Christians will deny these similarities. They are welcome to be self-deluded. Me? I prefer reality no matter how uncomfortable it may be.

I think the similarities come because we are all human and we all start with the same basic reference point: A human outlook. I forget which S.F. writer said it, but he said if an alien race came to Earth and viewed all the major religions, the alien wouldn’t see enough difference in them to matter.

To get and understand that, you REALLY have to step outside a comfort zone and have a mind so wide open it has practically has no borders.

It’s also true. All religions of, by and for humans are based around one fundamental and inescapable fact. We are humans. It all starts there.

Of course there are gonna be similarities.

The question at the heart of this discussion is: Was Jesus real and was He really the son of the being who created the universe? Was Horus real and everything the ancient Egyptians said he was?

I remind you of this oxymoronic fact: You can’t prove a negative. A strict application of the scientific method states a fact is something which fits the available evidence. When new evidence comes along, that fact must be re-evaluated.

With that in mind, no one has absolute proof that God exists nor proof He does not.

It is all guesswork, albeit sometime educated guesswork and sometime hide-bound guesswork. You pick which group to assign the opposition to.

I have some great friends who are atheist. They cannot prove Jesus is not real. They cannot prove the God I believe in is not real. At the same time, I cannot offer them absolute empirical evidence that God and Jesus exist.

Neither can I prove Horus is a myth.

You can’t either.

I can only tell you what I believe and that it works for me. That too is true for all humans. Anyone who tells you they have absolute proof should be viewed with skepticism, preferably at a great distance. My Bible even supports this notion when it states: Faith is a belief in the unseen.

So, for my reader who requested this blog, yep, there sure are similarities between Jesus and Horus and a whole bunch of other historical figures to whom divine powers are ascribed. The religion I have shares tenets of faith with a whole lotta other religions extant and extinct. Does it bother me? Nope.

I have read the Koran, the Book of Mormon, the Apocrypha and would like to read works of other religions. None  of these other books I have read have harmed me. Rather, they have taught me and by learning, I grow as a human.

As for my beliefs, I’m secure in who I am and what I believe. Because I cannot prove them to anyone else’s satisfaction makes them no less valid for me. I can tell you how my beliefs have changed me, hopefully made me a better person, and invite you to journey with me.

Well, that one is shot to...

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Chances are very good you've never hear of the country I write of today. If you have, you probably know very little about it.

Fight the power!

I am now a revolutionary leader in this country. I am not kidding either. Yes. I am serious.

[sigh] There's goes my decade-long winning streak on keeping my New Year's Resolution.

For everyone I just lost: For more than 10 years now I have made the same New Year's Resolution: I resolve to not overthrow the government of any Third World Nation unless I get paid a lot of money.

Yep. Solid record.

Until now.

Yes, I am not kidding. I am a revolutionary leader on the other side of the globe, a fact which probably now has me bumped WAY up on the US list of terrorists and so forth.

I started this piece out telling you the country. Then I realized that might not be a good idea. The leader over there could find out about this and decide to do something about me. So, you'll just have to wonder. Of course, being vague might result in a whole bunch of dictators deciding I'm more trouble than I'm worth...

No idea what this says, but he's got a book!

How did this happen, especially since I have not left South Georgia since February of this year and have not left the South in more than 20 years? Glad you asked.

A gent who is one of the on-ground revolutionary leaders over there (and I shall not give you his name) somehow found out I am a writer who enjoys inflammatory politics and bashing established oligarchies. Said gent has enlisted me, with pay, to write diatribes about the present dictator and why he should step down, resign, quit and otherwise pack his bags.

The work has been picked up by media outlets all over the world. Fortunately, without my name attached. Whew.

So, I have written articles for this gent and the movement he's a part of. The pay ain't much, but then  I suspect he had to take up a collection to meet my meager fee.

And I am now involved in the overthrow of a Third World Country and the pay so far won't cover a a steak dinner for two. And so, come late December, I gotta come up with another New Year's Resolution ... unless the revolution DOES succeed and they handsomely reward me,

That ain't gonna happen. Anyone have an idea for a new resolution for me?

The irrational racist

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Was recently accused of being racist for my views on the current president. So, I asked about presidential views.

Here's a pretty close outline to what took place in that conversation. Pretty close, because I expand it to go beyond my short discussion to include the nation as a whole.

Some 92 percent of a certain group of the American populace express support for the current president.

Ask specifics:

Do you support the $15 trillion deficit, largely owed to China?

No.

Do you support the expansion of the wars?

No.

Do you support the targeting of unarmed civilians?

No.

Do you support his positions on same gender marriage?

No.

Do you support the failure to pass a federal budget?

No.

Do you support the increased divisiveness in Washington after he promised to build bridges of support? (Witness statements made while campaigning)

(Consternation and an attempt to say it's not his fault)

Reiterating the same question engenders the same reply. Relying on statements made in the first campaign that he would not engage in partisan bickering and infight, I assign a "No" to this question.

Do you support the federal health care mandate?

Split decision. Majority yes.

Do you support everything in the mandate?

Yes.

Even government paid abortions?

No.

Then how can you support everything in the mandate?
(Evasive answer.)

Do you support the Wall Street bailout which resulted in untold bonuses for Wall Street execs?

No.

Do you support his continuation of the War on Drugs?

Split, but a majority no. (Age factors into this)

Name a major executive or approved-legislative accomplishment, except for the federal health care mandate, which the current president has enacted or created.

Silence.

Why do you support the president?

He's doing a good job.

Where? 
Everywhere!

How can he be doing a good job everywhere if you object to the above items?

You're a racist.

Ah. I'm racist because I look at what a person does as opposed to their outward appearance.

And I don't mean lawyers

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When most people think of parasites, the words disgusting, revolting and similar descriptive phrases come to mind.

Tell these same people they are presently infested with parasites and you'll be met with incredulity, hostility or outright denial.

S'true tho. You, reading this, likely have somewhat under 1 million parasites inhabiting your body. Possibly more. I don't know that anyone has ever done a comprehensive study.

You have eyelashes? You have microscopic parasites living at the base of your eyelashes.

Your skin is pretty much a parasite paradise. One square inch of skin can support hundreds, possibly thousands of the buggers.

And, you can't get rid of 'em completely.

Lemme ask you, what is a parasite?

Before you answer that, think carefully. I'll give you my answer in a bit.

Any guesses?

Having now made you thoroughly uncomfortable in your own skin, I turn your attention to the parasites which are a bit larger, which we can see with the naked eye ... sometimes.

The largest parasitic creature I'm aware of is one few people have ever seen in person but many have seen in pictures. It's a good bit larger than an African elephant and reported to be the largest creature to ever live on earth.

I'ma let you wonder about that one for a bit as well.

Turn your attention to one of my favorite radio shows, RadioLab. This episode discusses parasites. One part of the show in particular discusses the hookworm.

In the segment one man claims a hookworm infestation in his gut cured his asthma and allergies. Really?

Check this out.

a major parasite vector.

And when you're done, cast a parasite-surrounded eyeball on this report. Yup. The study is underway.

Since we have already established that you are pretty much nothing more than a giant parasite factory, what would you think of the idea of having a few hookworms in your intestines if it could make you feel better?

If you said no, I bet you do not suffer from crippling allergies or immune system disorders that can kill you extremely painfully.

 Anyway, back to my question. What is a parasite?

Would you say a parasite is a living thing which must feed on other living things to survive? Does the food source HAVE to be alive?

Is a 2-month old fetus a parasite?

So I ask you again, what is a parasite? If a parasite is a living entity which feeds off other life, then the largest parasite I am aware of is the blue whale. It consumes living critters, plankton and small fish, to survive.

Every human I've ever met above the age of two is also a parasite by that definition Disagree? Every eaten raw vegetables? Fruit? Consumed seeds of any kind.

Unless you are capable of photosynthesis of thermalsynthesis, you are a parasite. Life is a circle after all.

Divided we beat each other up

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I am not long returned from the annual School Prayer breakfast. Among the speakers this year was a man who said the main problem is with the church. Jesus, as he said, wants the church to be unified, yet churches insist on being divided.

Need more fissures...

11 a.m. Sunday morning in America is the most segregated hour in the United States.

As this local preacher spoke, I restrained myself.

I wanted to jump up and point fingers across the room.

"YOU! YOU! YOU!" I wanted to yell. "YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN UNITY!"

I'm right too. Those very preachers at whom I wanted to hurl my accusation have told me - Told. Me. - they are not interested in unity. They are interested in segregation, separation, division and keeping people apart.

They are not going to admit that, in those words. Rather, their exact words are "I am not interested in hearing from (INSERT PERSON) unless he believes (INSERT TINY FRACTION OF THE BIBLE WHICH MINISTER BELIEVES IS THE SUM TOTAL OF THE BOOK)."

I don't want a slave. Nope nope nope.

The semantic comment is prezackly the same in the two quotes above.

And my blood pressure rises...

I have been told point blank and to my face that my interpretation of the Bible is not going to be allowed in many churches in Turner County. I reckon their Bible does not command us to love one another, accept each other and work together to build better individuals, families, communities and world. I reckon their Bible doesn't include the part about Jesus saying we're all sinners and His blood covers us all equally.

Then again, maybe their Bible does, but they reject those parts because it doesn't fit with what they wanna believe.

I reckon their Bible says they are better than I am. I'm good with that. I'm willing to let people like that be better than me. If being like them means I have to exclude certain people who just want to be included, then yeah, paint me purple-striped and kick me out of the community. I'll go hang out with the other people who've also been painted and kicked.

BTW, there's a lot more of them running around than people in churches today.

So I listened to the preacher tell us how the problem is the church is divided. Until the church unifies, things will only get worse.

Gotta say, I agree.

I note he was speaking about Christian unity. While the idea of a Muslim imam, a Sikh leader or a Buddhist also speaking crossed my mind, I quickly dismissed those. Stay on topic, I reminded myself.

I wanted to ask the preacher speaking to us: "So. Unity eh? Willing to let a Catholic Priest come conduct a service at your church."

I can only imagine his horrified expression.

"So, what about a lesbian Episcopal minister?" I wanted to ask.

Of course, had I asked THAT question, I'da been ushered right out of the school gym and invited to never return. Well, not really. No one would have the guts to act on what they were thinking.

They would only THINK it. Thinking it, Jesus says, is the same thing as doing it.

So, what are you thinking right now?

I reckon only perfect people - no. That's hyperbole. Better - I reckon only people with pre-approved sins are allowed in those churches.

And since my sins are not pre-approved, sanctioned and fit their model of a sinner saved by Grace, I'm on the outside looking away.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit I am in favor of separation, division and splits. People who want to bring harm to me and mine because of my belief structure, yep. They ought to be shipped to another planet without a space ship. People who'll let me conduct myself as I choose, I can get along with them.

Yassee, I do not say my choice is the ONLY choice. It's not. My choice works for me. I will gladly explain it to you if you ask, but I will not force it on you. You may believe as you wish as long as you are not going to force me to your belief system, or try to harm and kill me if I refuse.

Jesus wanted (wants) us all to get along. I'm willing to. Are you?

Looking for the moral high ground

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In Israel, when a single person launches an attack on the people of that nation, Israel responds by leveling that person's house if they can determine who did it. In some cases Israel has leveled entire neighborhoods in retaliation for attacks.

Urban renewal Israeli style.

Some folks are gonna say that is too extreme.

Before you get too high and mighty, I point out William T. Sherman did the exact same thing to  the South on his March to the Sea in the War of Northern Aggression.

The US has a history of doing this. But then, so does pretty much every other nation on the planet.

We're also doing the exact same thing in other countries right now.

In feudal Japan, honor was an ideal. Violating honor often meant death. I never understood why a person was allowed to commit suicide. My thought was, why didn't the person just run away?

A longtime bud and feudal Japan historian explained it to. Suicide allowed the person to take their own way out. Had the person run, the entire extended family would have been killed.

But, no lawyers!

I have seen videos from Saddam Hussein's Iraq in which people were pushed off two story buildings. I understand why.

They sacrificed themselves to save their family.

If there is a moral high ground in here anyway, it's the people who sacrificed themselves to save their family.

Is revenge moral high ground? That's a question I'm not qualified to answer. You gotta get well above my pay grade for that one.

Regardless, what does occupying the moral high ground really mean?

Perhaps a better question is: Is being on the moral high ground worth it?

Before you answer that, I remind you of one simple fact: Occupying the moral high ground may make you feel good for a while, but good feelings do not translate into groceries at the store.

When your children are looking to you to put shoes on their feet, food in their stomachs and keep the roof over their head, you have have the moral high ground.

Me? I'm gonna take care of my kids. If that makes people mad, I'll be glad to deal with them.

Left unsaid

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Somewhere I read or heard that when you dream of someone no longer around it means you have unfinished business with them. Be that as it may...

Last night I dreamed of Dad. It was not good.

It was not good because I knew he was dead and I had a question for him which I never got to ask when he was alive.  That hurt. A lot.

My question?

Why?


Why what? you may ask me.

Why everything I wanted to ask him. Why did he decide to become a farmer? Why did he turn down the job in 1966 with IBM? Pick a subject. Anything. I wanted (and still want in many cases) to know why he did what he did.

 I don't know the reasons behind some of the choices he made. Some of the choices he made I can guess at the reasons. Some I know 'cause he told me.

Over the years, I've come to understand many of the things he told me about his choices. Now, I am older than he was when he died. I am more experienced and certainly more widely educated than he was. This has given me insight.

You should know here that some of the reasons he gave me for his choices, I reject. Did when he told me. Over the years I've seen no reasons to change my mind.

But Dad was Dad and he had to make the best of the choices he was presented with. I do the same. Under the exact same circumstances, he and you might decide differently. You may decide the same. That's what makes life interesting; we all make different choices.

I note Dad's dying still hurts ...

There's more to say and maybe, some day, it will be said.

One more thing to say about Dad's death. Thanks to the internet I have found a group of people who surrounded me when Dad died. They took me the same day I got back to college and made sure I got very drunk. I needed it. They saw I needed it and they gave me the support I needed.

Them's friends.

Considering my earlier FB post today about being Christian, you may wonder why I say that. I say it because it is true, I was not a Christian at the time and if it happened to me today, I'd get drunk again. When you get finished ripping into me, I'll show you  the Biblical command which directs a person to get drunk under such circumstances.

Tolerating the intolerant

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No, this is not another Chick Fil A piece.

Betcha

It's a great deal more broad than that. It is a piece on why I'm right and you (not necessarily you, but that guy looking over your shoulder - oops, he's gone now) are wrong.

With a few exceptions I can manage to get along with everyone. Note. I did not say like, enjoy the company of or willingly associate with. I said get along.

The exceptions are those people who can't get along with me.

"WTH Baker! That's 3/4s of the planet!" you tell me.

Not really. More like 3./5ths but I digress.

To get along means to agree that the other can exist. May not like how they exist. But they can exist.

Example: Some Middle Eastern countries do not believe Israel has the right to exist. Ergo, those countries and Israel don't get along. Israel is quite willing for  those countries to

Example: Some people would kill me because of my religious beliefs. Ergo, we can't get along. If you are one of these people who'd like to kill me because of my religious beliefs, please stand up, smile and wait for the flash.

Public service = jail time. WTH?

Example: Child molesters. What part of I'm gonna shoot you to pieces with a snub nosed .22 with shorts is hard for you to understand?

But I'm willing to get along with anyone who'll extend the same courtesy. This includes but is not limited to: Idiots, morons, the actively stupid, racists, bigots, fools, lawyers, politicians, Muslims, Jews, liarberals, cantservatives, liberalterians of the Capital L and lowercase l stripe, damnocrats, reboobicans. Ah heck. Pick a category.

I can even get along with people who do little else but espouse hate speech. Betcha. Run your mouth all you wanna and I'm good with that.

The problem comes when you try to FORCE me to accept your thinking. Then, Houston! We gotta problem!

I can even accept the folks at Westboro Baptist Church. Yep. I can. I do not agree with what they say. When they start trying to force people into the same belief mode, that is not getting along. It's time to draw a line.

My kind of line.

I can get along with the people who say homosexuality is wrong. I can. I cannot get along with the people who try to make this illegal. Gimme dat line!

For that matter, if the conjugal relations are between  two consenting adults, it ain't none of your business or my business who they are or what they are doing. If you don't like it, don't look, watch, discuss, examine, participate or otherwise let stay in your mind for any length of time.

If your religion, belief structure, ass-hatted outlook REQUIRES you to have an opinion, then have it. If your whatever requires you to share that opinion, lemme hand you a microphone.

If your whatever requires you to force others into the same belief structure, please stand, smile and wait for the flash.


This is what separates me from the cantservatives and liarberals. Both sides want the other side shut down. Differences of opinion becomes a matter of trying to get said opinion into the law and forced on other people.

Reciprocity also gets thrown out the window again.

Because if you are going to be TOTALLY fair, when you try to shut down another person, then they have the right to try and shut you down.

Doesn't matter if you agree with them or not. Fair's fair. What's good for the idiot is good for the moron.

That's a concept neither side of Can't Get Along Crowd is willing to accept and embrace. Of course, that's also why they are the Can't Get Along Crowd.

So I'm right, you're wrong. I just want to get along.

Yer Friday Funny

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I've never had much use for tact.

You can say I come by it honestly. My grandfather was a man who did not know the definition of tact. He thought diplomacy meant you had to stand around in uncomfortable suits meeting very important people, like the Queen of England, while other people took pictures.

Aspect, according to Grandpa's unwritten Rules of Living, was what happened when you walked into the chicken coop and turned your back on the head bantam rooster.

Grandpa never beat around the bush unless he was quail hunting or had a fishing lure hung in tree.

If you needed to know something, Grandpa was of the considered opinion you needed to know it, you needed to know it right away and you needed to know it in very clear terms. I well remember him delivering a a few short sentences that could blast a 250 year old oak tree to toothpicks or turn an acorn into a 10-foot circumference oak tree in seconds.

At the same time if you didn't need to know, like as not he would not bother to say much of anything. He figured you could work your own way through it and if you needed his help, you'd ask.

When I was in high school, considering colleges, I was over at his house one day doing something. The door of my truck was open and there was a fifth of something visible.

"You don't need to think you're going to go off to college and stay drunk all the time," he said and that was ALL he said. Whatever reply I offered is lost to history, but definitely included something along the lines of "Yes, sir."

He was right too. I was sober when I ran out of money.

When I came home from college for some reason I was over to see Grandma and went to get a towel out of the closet. I spied a bottle in the back - Bourbon. No question it belonged to Grandpa, who had gone on his Permanent Fishing Trip by that time. I took it back to college with me and used it to get me past a brief period of financial embarrassment.

I can tell this story since Grandma has relocated to be with Grandpa now.

Dad told me to knock off early one day and run by Grandpa's house to see if he wanted to go fishing. It didn't take telling me twice.

I pulled up in the yard and walked in the house. Never bothered knocking. Grandpa couldn't hear it anyway.

I walked into the den. He was sitting in his recliner with an adult magazine, the kind sold with brown wrappers covering most of the cover.

"You wanna go fishing?" I said loudly enough for him to clearly hear me.

The magazine literally sailed over his head to land somewhere behind his chair.

Before he got done saying "Yep." he was out the front door. I did not believe my Grandpa could move that fast until that day.

GO CHICK FIL A

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S. Truett Cathy, in case you don't know, is the founder of the Chick Fil A fast food joint chain.

Now you should be connected. If case you're living under a rock, go google the news for Chick Fil A and come back to finish reading.

In the meantime

GO TRUETT GO! and GO CHICK FIL A GO!

I have not lost my mind. I have not changed my opinions regarding same-gender marriage and people attracted to members of the same sex.

It took a post from my longtime friend Pakrat, on FB, to remind me of something very important in this none-news item (which I am further putting in the public eye).

GO TRUETT GO! and GO CHICK FIL A GO!

Mr. Cathy has a taken a stand for his beliefs and principles and is weathering the storm for this.

All the better to step on you with.

Gotta say it again.  GO TRUETT GO! and GO CHICK FIL A GO!

That I do not agree with Mr. Cathy's statements, opinions and personal stance on this issue is entire irrelevant.

The simple fact is, Mr. Cathy is demonstrating a piece of anatomy which far too many people are lacking. Mr. Cathy is proving he is part of the Chordate phylum.

In other words, Mr. Cathy has a spine.

Spines are  lacking far too often in this world. To give the current president credit for having a spine, he personally orders drone attacks on suspected terrorists. He does not delegate this responsibility as his predecessor did. That takes a modicum of backbone. Unfortunately on far too many other matters, he and most of those in Washington have the approximate bone mass of a fleet of cannonball jellyfish.

Mr. Cathy, in espousing his belief on homosexuality, is embodying one of the major principles of this nation.

Their version of free speech.

The right to have and express an opinion.

More power to him!

Those who are angered at him and seek to shut down his free speech are, frankly, the kind of idiots who need to put up against the wall. They seek to silence a free flow of information. They see to usurp the bastion of a free world. They are the Thought Police of the Orwellian nightmares who would have us all forced into one mold, one pattern, one way of everything.

In short, they do not want freedom.

I do not agree with Mr. Cathy's opinion and position. I say so publicly. Those who would seek to shut Mr. Cathy's mouth also seek to close mine.

I will not accept that.

At the same time, Mr. Cathy's business may suffer. Those who disagree with him and his views may take their dining business elsewhere. To you who intend to do this, I say.

GO BABY GO! I'm right behind you all the way!

You see, I support Mr. Cathy's freedom to have and express his opinions. I support the freedom of other people to not do business with Mr. Cathy's chain if they do not support him.

Freedom.

True freedom means the right to choose, not have decisions forced on you.

Ah Yogi, where for art me?

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No matter what I say, no matter what I write, no matter how many disclaimers I include, someone is gonna get bent.

My 'stache is MUCH better.

The bent individual will accuse me of all kinds of things not limited to: personal attacks, racism, idiocy, stupidity, being a Reboobican, a Damnocrat, an anarchist, a fascist. I've even been compared to Hitler.

Well.

This week I took a phone call from a highly irate individual complaining vigorously and vociferously about the county in which I reside.

I tuned him out.

"Yep." Uh-huhn." "Aaight." and so for is all I said.

Still not real clear what he was ranting about, but I wanna think it's because he got a speeding ticket.

Anyway, one thing piled on another and jammed into another and so forth and so on.

So, I politely stated my opinion about my community, which I repeat here:

Image not included in original post.

I have something to say here.

I live in Turner County because I choose to. I love it here. I support the community as much as I can I support our local businesses as much as I can.

I do not like to shop outside Turner County unless I have no choice.

I believe in Turner County.

If you live in Turner County and do not believe in this community as I do, please do us both a favor and remove me from your friends list. Then, please do us all a favor and move out of Turner County.

That's it. To my mild surprise some people defended my position and others attacked it. The attacks did not surprise me, nor did the defense. It was the people doing it who mildly surprised me.

I smash you with my breasts of steel! (your argument is invalid)

To my greater surprise, my post was linked to another person's update on FB. This launched a whole 'nother round of discussions.

This is why I say there ain't no good time. No matter what is done, someone is going to take it personally. Doesn't matter if it is as impersonal as an asteroid smacking the earth. Someone is going to get bent. Most likely this person was already bent and just needed an excuse to complain.

Lots of people seize the opportunity to have me say things I never said, never believed and sometimes never even thought of.

I never said most of the things I said. Yogi Berra

Ah, Yogi, what a statesman you are. I could give you many more quotes from this baseball (I think) legend, but you can look them up yourself.

It just reinforces the fact that politicians don't have a lock on doublespeak and taking things outta context. It happens to me nearly daily.

I stand behind what I say unless and until someone genuinely corrects me. Then, I note the mistake, the correction and adjust my stance to reflect reality.

In the meantime, people are going to misinterpret, mistake and downright lie about me and what I say. So be it. I ain't gonna change, unless someone presents real information which shows I am wrong. Then I will change.

Until then, I ain't changing.

And your excuse is...

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Tuesday the Kiwanis club had a young man come and speak to us. This young man, like so many across the nation, has grand and sweeping visions. Unlike the great majority, he's taking steps to implement them.

If you can identify these people ... you're not gonna like what follows

But, exactly like the majority of people in this nation, he's pretty much clueless unless it concerns his very immediate sphere of concern. He specifically said he had no idea what Kiwanis was until he was invited to come speak. Then he did a bit of research.

This young man is a success, which he attributed to his parents and older siblings.

He's wrong in that.

This young man is a success because he set out to be a success. He invested in himself and plowed ahead despite obstacles in his path. While I have no doubts his parents and siblings were important, what remains is he decided.

Now, he's come back to the community he thought he'd never live in again and wants to make this a better place.

I salute him. I look forward to working with him, alongside him and, yes, challenging him when I think he's wrong.

I have no doubt many people in my community will also assail, berate, attack and vilify him. I tell you these people have no right to do so.

I have that right.

You may now say I am more full of manure than a constipated elephant.

So I ask you -



What are you doing today, beyond the requirements of your job and what's needed to make a living,  to make your community a better place?

If all you do is have a job, collect a paycheck and pay your bills, you don't have much room to complain when a person like the young man I mention gets off his butt, out of his house and puts forth volunteer efforts to make his community a better place to live.

A community is improved, made better and quality of life rises only when people step out of their comfort zone and get their hands dirty.

So what right do I have to say this? Me? I have literally shoveled horse manure from the streets in my town. What else?

Do your hands look like this outside of your yard?

My shoveling episode and everything else I do is irrelevant, beyond the fact I do them. Why I do these things is what is important. The young man I mention, if he follows up on his promises, myself and the other people who stand next to me with a shovel do it because we want a better community.

We're willing to put our money, our very real money which earn from our jobs and something far more valuable than money on the line to make this happen.

As my longtime friend Lee Ann Fisch says, "Time is what is important."

We give our time.

So, I tell you if you can identify the people in the opening picture of this column, chances are quite good that you don't do much of anything to help your community unless you are forced to do so.

The young man I mention is embarked on a harsh road. He's going to be excoriated by people who can ID the opening picture. I know. I get attacked frequently for my efforts to make my community a better place.

But hey, Jesus was spit on when He carried the cross. I reckon the young man and I are in good company then.


Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.
Eleanor Roosvelt

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
Albert Einstein

Just because I wonder

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Unless you live in a place, as I do, where parents name their children by dumping a box of Alphabits cereal on a flat surface, chances are fairly good the young'uns playing in your neighborhoods have names which are ordinary.

Aaaand another baby is named.

The Social Security Administration has released a list of the most popular baby names.

I am surprised to see what I considered to be somewhat older names coming back. Abigail being a good example. Growing up, I can't remember a single person my age with that name. Older people, yes.

If you look at the ranking change list, you'll see Hispanic and Moslem names scooting their way up the charts.

I'm just making an observation here. Infer what you will (and some of you will, I know).

That aside, I ask what's in a name. Many cultures but current and historic put a great deal of emphasis on a name. The name defined a person, his role, his status, his past and future. The name described a person. I am reminded here of Jabez from the Old Testament and Naomi who changed her name to Mara.

My kids are each named for their grandparents. Jesse never met his namesakes. Susan has only met one of her namesakes.

My name, so I am told, is a traditional family name and was given to male members of the Baker Clan, some of whom have moved away. Yet the tradition has continued with some of them as I've had chances over the years to hear from some of 'em.

How about your name? How'd you come to it? Does it have any meaning beyond a collection of letters and issued phonemes by which you are  called?

Just curious on a Tuesday afternoon with a thunderstorm overhead.

Whew

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I sit here with various dirt-packed automobile fluids on my hands and arms, having just worked on the Foad again (and lost my 7/16ths wrench to boot) happier than I have been in some time.

I fixed the truck (thanks Sam!) and got the beast done.

The magazine is at the press. I am now waiting to make sure everything is copacetic on their end. When I get the Thumbs Up, I may very well curl into a ball, roll under my desk and weep.

This 32-page magazine is the first I have ever put out. It is the first The Wiregrass has put out. The paper is 110 years old this year.

The staff here is simply awesome for putting up with me as I designed and laid this thing out with their magnificent help. I could not have done it without Linda & Robin. They, I think, could have done it without me.

I've been in newspapers more'n 25 years now. I'm not gonna say I'm the best in the business, but I can do what's needed.

But a magazine.

It's like riding a bicycle and a motorcycle. The same very basic skill set applies to both. If you've never ridden a motorcycle, but can ride a bike, the first time you get on a motorcycle...

That's what it was like with this magazine. I can only recall stress levels being this high around here two other times. The source of that stress is no longer here. Which is good. Because had that source remained here, someone would be moldering in a grave right now.

It's done. We're all happy here. Very happy. And very relieved.

The magazine will be out at the end of the month. Yes, we have ordered extra copies. If you get a print subscription, you'll get a copy. We're working on getting the magazine on the website as well.

Meantime, here's another preview.

Lenny? Lenny? Brother, I understand.

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By today's standards, the late Lenny Bruce's stand up comedy act was mild. Yet, he was repeatedly arrested for obscenity. At first, he took great delight in these arrests and was proud of it. As time moved on and his arrest record grew, he got increasingly weary of it.

Booking shot of Lenny Bruce

This week I have been, lightly in one instance, accused of being a troublemaker. I agree with that.

When you try and make people think you will be branded a malcontent, a troublemaker, a social anarchist and a whole buncha other pejoratives.

Hurt me baby make me write bad checks.

A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill.
Robert A. Heinlein

This week I was also attacked verbally. Not the first time and no question it won't be the last.

Here's the briefly edited (you can see my edits) attack. Profanities are direct from the original writer, not me

Be very afraid

Half way thru building the first awning..big ben baker n _____ ________ pop up for a visit. Saying it was a state and city law that I was breaking because I didn't ask their permission before I dressed my building up. No additions, no concrete footers, just adding 4 awnings. The historical committee has been in action for 8 years and they have never told anyone NO on any improvements, yet they want me to hold off on work for almost 5 days so they can all get together and tell me if my awnings will be historically correct? Lol. If the answer is always yes, then why do u have to ask? Simple... power trip , egotistical bullshit. Why isn't there any new business in this town? I wonder. Why do businesses never come here? Hmmm. Wish the power trip bastards that constantly harass me would get the hell on. I guarantee one thing, if I ever get enough damn approval from these s.o.b.'s and manage to get open, there is gonna be a list posted on my door that will tell just who will not be allowed in my business. No matter how much money they may wanna spend, or how much they might wanna snoop, or take pictures, they ain't gonna be allowed. So write ur stupid ass stories in the paper, try to tell people another version all u want. People know bullshit when they see it...and there are two clowns in this town that are dripping with it.

You can read the thread on my page if you wish and with some navigation skills, find the other threads on other people's pages.

Let me ask what you'd have done under the circumstances, based on the information above. Pick a side. Either side. Tell me.

I point out here I went to the person in question and repeatedly asked he comply with the law. Asked. I was well within my rights to get a law enforcement officer, have the above gent charged with various infractions and haul everyone to court.

I asked. Repeatedly. I never swore, despite being sworn at.

Now what would you do? Has your opinion changed?


In the midst of being sworn at and insulted, I called a meeting of the board this man needed to appear before. I explained when the meeting was and what he needed to do. Later that evening the meeting was moved up to the next day.


The man in question came to the meeting and spent most of his time apparently looking at his cell phone. He answered a couple of questions. He got the approval he needed, unanimously.

What would you do? How would you have reacted? Did I do right or was I wrong?


In the aftermath, I have again been insulted and verbally attacked. It's damned all hard to restrain myself and not respond in kind, but I'm doing it. I was in the right and continue to be in the right.


As I have repeatedly said, if you don't like the laws, work to change them. To this statement I add, if you defy those laws, expect to pay the costs associated with your rebellion.


But to verbally attack, cuss at and denigrate the people who are asking you to comply with the law, ASKING not demanding ... well, dammitall yes. I've been there. I offer no excuse. I can be stupid too.


In this matter at least, I had the high road and I stuck to it. Or did I? Again, what would you have done?

I see these people insulting me and I wonder, if I treated them the same way they have treated me, how would they react? Actually, I know. There ain't no bottom to that pit.


As for those who are attacking me, well, Christ was spit upon as He carried the cross to save mankind. I reckon I'm in good company. So if you are one who has attacked me, know this - I forgive you. If I was out of line in any way, I ask you to forgive me.


In the meantime, I shall bear whatever lashes are laid upon me. But, Lenny old man, it sure doesn't feel good.