But They Are Such Nice Boys

I am talking about the illegal immigrant "children" that make up the gang MS-13.

Coming to - oops, I mean present in - a community near you. Read it here, courtesy of Maverick News Media.

Definition Warp

Word: materialism

Definition: (from dictionary.com) Preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.

Warp: I've heard this term used as defense against a host expecting a guest in their house to respect their property and possessions.

Example: Friends of ours were hosting a family for dinner. After repeated attempts to get the guest's children to be careful - the guests would not do it, you see - the kids finally damaged something. When the host called out the guests for not keeping a close eye on their kids - setting boundaries, respecting what wasn't theirs, etc. - one of the guests told the host that she was materialistic.

How's that? The issue was shifted from one of parental responsibility and discipline to one of materialism.

Let's turn this around...a co-worker of mine who is married, but childless, refuses to let her nieces and nephews have a drink anywhere but the kitchen table or dining room table. She catches grief about it from her family - she cares about her furniture and carpets more than the kids, blah, blah, blah. Funny thing is, it's the only house where the kids know the rules and gladly oblige. And she's the favorite aunt.

New Post on P&T

Yes, it took us a while, but we've finally started our next post at Patriots & Tyrants.

I would tell you about it, but then that would possibly stop you from reading it for yourself. :-)

What the heck, why not give you a teaser: It is about a federal government organization. You did not elect its leaders; they were appointed.

Here it is.

Entitlement Mentality

Marie and I were discussing some family-based current events. The kids were completely disinterested in our conversation, but I thought it was important to bring the Artist into it.

She regularly hears the following exclamation from me:

I

HATE

LAZY!!!

(with the dreaded three exclamation points)

I do. I really do. Laziness, to me, is when someone chooses not to do something they are capable of doing, or chooses not to attempt to do something. Rather, they will be content with doing nothing, even if it is a detriment to them to do nothing. Or worse, they will wait until someone else does it for them.

Marie and I stopped our conversation, and I turned to the Artist, asking, "Have you heard of the term 'entitlement mentality'?" She gave that weird, deer in headlights look, and said, "I don't think so". We introduced the concept to her, explaining the concept in terms of money.

Dad: Let's say I gave you money every day. You didn't do anything to deserve it, but I continued to give it to you.

Artist: Okay.

Dad: Then one day, I didn't give it to you. If you are like most people, you would say, "Hey! Where is my money?" You would be expecting it, even though you didn't earn it.

Artist: Oh

Dad: Is that good?

Artist: No

Dad: Well, that is very common. There are people who are either too lazy to do something for themselves, or they find someone who is willing to do it for them. They come to expect the kindness ("charity", "love", pick your word) to continue. And when it doesn't, look out! They will get angry, upset, let you know that you don't care about them anymore, you're not fulfilling your 'responsibility' and all that stuff.

From there, Marie, the Artist and I discussed how this happens in families, in public, and even in churches. People become very comfortable having someone else do something for them, never attempting to do it for themselves yet getting angry with others when those others stop doing for them.

It's bad, spiritually speaking, because people become lazy and envious of others that have more. It's bad, socially speaking, because people harbor inappropriate expectations of their community, their church, and their government (ick - the worst of all!), and spend more time determining what they can get away with instead of how they need to grow.

We were pretty blunt with the Artist. How do you discuss these topics with your children?

Blinkers, please!

To: The driving population
From: Me
Subject: Using your blinkers
--------------------------------------------------------------

As you get in your car, place your key into the ignition, and turn the key, don't look up so quickly next time. Instead, look at your steering wheel and your dashboard. You may find something you've never seen before. On the dashboard, you will notice left-pointing and right-pointing arrows. Surprisingly, they do not exist to point you to the front seat doors.

Extending from the left side of your steering column, somewhere between the 9:00-10:00 positions, you will find what looks like a handle.

As odd as it sounds, this handle and those arrows work together. You push the handle down, and the left arrow lights up - and off - and on - and off - until the handle returns to the regular position. You pull the handle up, and the right arrow lights up, just like the left arrow did when you pushed down the handle.

In what may be the biggest surprise to you, this handle and these lights were not part of your car's option package. Seriously, I'm not kidding. They weren't put there for your kids to gaze at when your spouse is stuck in the store, buying milk.

The lights are called blinkers. I think you can figure out why.

The neat things about blinkers is they are not accessories. They are not put there for your enjoyment. They are there to save your life, or at least stop someone else from getting into an accident with you.

That's right, they were assembled into your car to help you. When you oppose another car at an intersection, and both of you start traveling through that intersection, people assume you are going straight if you don't have on your blinker. If you are turning left and don't have on your blinker, let's just say that they have a good argument on their hands if you try to say they hit you unprovoked. Actually, it was your fault for not signaling. You didn't communicate your intentions.

Pedestrians appreciate the use of blinkers, too. It helps them understand that you are really not trying to plow them over, but have a specific intent in mind.

Use your blinkers. They communicate your intentions, and show your respect for the other drivers on the road. Mostly, they will protect you from you.

Thank you.

Making Scott Proud

Found this article on what to do in the case of a nuclear or terrorist attack.

Scott is our resident survivalist. No, I did not say "wacko", I said "survivalist". Big difference

End Times

Prognostications, made by prognosticators

These guys always get it wrong
They set dates, miss dates, revise dates

They say they had to tinker with their research, their translation, their computations.
It's never that they really don't know and can't tell.

They reassess and start again,
As though they are perfect and we just don't understand.



Oh, I'm not talking about evangelists. I'm talking about climate change prophets.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

And by the way, why wouldn't the environmentalists be for reformed Christianity, American style? Specifically relative to the rapture? After all, if the rapture is real, a la Left Behind style, millions upon millions of human beings would be removed from the earth, leaving only the truly intelligent (i.e. the unsaved) who would know best how to raise children and reduce CO2. And they wouldn't have those pesky Christians to deal with. :-)

They would also have a better human/animal/vegetation ratio. After all, they think the optimal planet population would only be a couple million people, don't they?

Arabs Arguing

You'll never see this in America, although everyone should see it. Watch the video at this link.

Those Cwazy NASA Scientists

1998 wasn't all that hot. Just ask the NASA scientists. (Courtesy of Michelle Malkin.)

Efficiency, shmishency

At work today, I had the sheer delight and pleasure of working with one of the must curt, disrespectful managers within the company. This individual knows there is only one way to do things: her way.

I explained to her a way that I collaborate with one of my highest profile users, a manager in the Finance department. The gal I was talking to didn't like the method. To be precise, she said, "that's so darn inefficient".

She's right. The method is inefficient. But it's highly effective and garners much-needed good will for me and my department.

You tell me...what's the difference between efficiency and effectiveness? And when do you focus on one over the other?

I guess you can call this a test.

Virtual Pastors

Wow! And I thought this was just fantasy. (Snicker)

I first saw the story at Locusts & Honey.