Moores Law

Is the US Constitution and DOI based on Christian values? Yes, but not to the exclusion of all other influences including other religions. This is where Judge Moore and many Christians go wrong. They behave as if Christianity is exclusionary to all other ideas and beliefs.

If we all followed the Ten Commandments (here is the list), we would have to honor the Sabbath which begins at sundown on Friday and runs through Saturday night. It's the 3rd Commandment. Does Judge Moore takes Friday's off? (To be factual, the Church amended this Commandment to Sunday-didn't know they Church could amend the word of God.)

And don't use foul language that includes God's name.

It's not til the 5th Commandment that we get Thy Shall Not Kill. Are these in order of priority?

And lets get something straight, the finger of God did not write the ten commandments. It's myth. Its informative, educational, often times inspirational, but it's just a story and didn't really happen.

So Judge Moore believes the Rule of Law based on a mythological set of runs handed down from Moses and finger of God. So if you happen to be atheist, agnostic, Buddhist, Muslim, pagan, Early Roman, Greek, unsure, are you gong to get a fair trail in Moorse's Court?

What if you burned the bible and are brought up on destruction of property charges before Judge Moore?

The irony is, of course now, that Judge Moore is breaking the law by not removing the monument, begging the question, which set of rules does the judge really hold true to his heart.

Law and Religion

Have you been following the story of the Alabama Supreme Court Justice who will not remove a "monument to the Ten Commandments" from the rotunda of the his courthouse? Here is it from CNN.

He believes that the Ten Commandments are the "moral foundation of Law." Here's the quote:

"I have no intention of removing the monument of the Ten Commandments, the moral foundation of our law," he said. "To do so would, in effect, be a disestablishment of the justice system of this state.
"The question is not whether I will remove the monument," Moore added. "It is not a question of whether I will disobey or obey a court order. The real question is whether or not I will deny the God that created us."

This is what is so frightening about the GOP right wing and religious fanatics everywhere. They presume that everyone either is or should be a religious believer like they are. But that just isn't true and the courts agree (see the later half of the article).

In this neo conservative age marked by the beginning of the Bush Administration, I fear for the separation of church and state more than anything else and this judge to a great example. Ashcroft is another.

An Alabama Chief Supreme Court Justice saying that the foundation of law is the ten commandments is an offense to every Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, agnostic, and atheist in this country and the world.

How could he be so presumptuous!

And there in lies the problem with parts of the Christian religious establishment: the presumption that everyone should "believe".

From a political POV, I believe this is the greatest weakness of the GOP. Nobody likes a fanatic.

I don't personally believe in a Christian God or that Jesus was the son of God, therefore how could I possibly think Laws where based on the Ten Commandments, which to me are a part of an ancient mythology similar if not identical to the Gods of the Greeks and early Romans. If I said to you that laws are based on the teachings of Jupiter and Hercules, you would laugh. Well, I laugh at the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. The problem is, he is a powerful man and I have little power other than this small blog.

Are right wing Christians taking over key political positions in hopes of eventually breaking down the separation of church and state? I dunno (as my friend Mark would say), maybe you should ask President Bush, who the other day claimed that, "we all are sinners."

Bush Doll: Coming soon to a toy store near you

Do you suppose Karl Rove has stock in Blue Box Toys? Now that's a conspiracy theory you can chew on.

Here's the Story

Your Self Esteem Account

What is it about attitude that so is powerful? Not sure, but having a positive attitude really helps. If you can grab that good feeling, that positive attitude about life, it really can draw you forward and lift you up. I currently in that frame of mind and it feels good. I'm not always there, but I am today and maybe this week. But the key to attitude is how your feel about yourself. Are you happy with yourself today or not.

Of course, it's easy to have a positive attitude when you feel good. It's when your feel depressed or down on yourself, that changing your attitude gets tough. If you are feeling this way, might want to check your self esteem account. Probably low or posibly overdrawn.

One way to build the account back up is to start making small deposits in your self esteem bank account and avoid making withdraws.

It's a classic self help analogy but I like it because it makes an excellent point.

Everyday brings a series of choices, usually little choices, that effect how we feel about ourselves. It could be whether to have a donut or not, or choosing oatmeal over eggs. We know the right choice, and we know (all too well) the indulgent choice. The right choice is a deposit, the indulgent is a withdrawal. When you are feeling down it's time to make small deposits where ever you can. It's hard, but works wonders. When you are feeling good and in your groove, a small indulgence doesn't break the bank. Building up your self esteem account is the idea.

Good choices add to your self esteem/confidence bank account, poor choices don't. It's a trite analogy but insightful. Give it a try and see if your attitude doesn't improve.

The Recall-Now That's Entertainment

The recall used to be a GOP plot to unseat a Democratic governor with a Republican so Bush could carry CA (maybe) and as such was not very entertaining except to political conspiracy media types and editors on a slow news day.

But all that has changed. The recall is now big entertainment and the lead story in every major newspaper, news radio, and TV show. It's also starting to get fun; fun to watch, fun to read about, fun to see what will happen next, and on Oct 7th, fun to participate in.

The next big event in Recall the Governor Show is the Saturday filing deadline. Who is really going to run. We know today that Arnold and Ariana are running. Will Davis get his name on the ballot and who is Cruz Bustamonte anyway. Larry Flint, the El Cajon businessman, and several porn stars are also supposed to be running. When is Sweeps Week again?

So while I hated the idea of the recall (still convinced it was spawned from the Karl Rove bag of dirty tricks) and was bored as petitioners sought signatures from soccer moms in front of Target, I'm now enthralled because it has turned into something fun and entertaining, and fits nicely between Kobe, the start of football season, and the end of baseball. Iraq who?

The recall has become a spectacle, the Kobe trail, the OJ Simpson trail, reality TV at it's finest, filled with commentary and wit by famous people (and nobodies) and never-before heard of professors of political history from major So Cal universities. Wow, the Oscars where never this much fun.

To bad the governorship of the 4th largest economy is on the line, not to mention an 38 billion dollar deficit (don't give me that 8 billion BS; smoke and mirrors), a legislative body paralyzed by extremist on both sides, a state economy that has my college educated tech writer friend out of work for nearly a year, and a new bond rating that makes junk bonds look like US T-bills.

And the wildfires and blackouts haven't even started yet.

Arnold, are sure you want some of this?

Ten Things I Thought about the Recall on my Commute Today:

1. Love to see Ariana Huffington and Arnold in a debate. They are both from Austria or some place like that and have thick accents. Might need a few United Nations interpreters to understand what they are saying. They are an attractive couple though. Sorry Maria.

2. I saw Larry Flynt's campaign strategy dancing around the streets of LA. Not bad, not bad at all.

2.5 Larry Flynt is using campaign girls...

3. Thank God for the recall, now maybe we can get somebody interesting in the Governor's house. Davis has all the personality of an overcooked zucchini. My dad calls him the mortician. Stanford, Vietnam, plenty of experience-just doesn't happen to be a leader and has no personality. No fun at all.

4. Cruz who? Of course, the irony here is that Davis was the Lt Governor of California for a long time, which supports my theory that Vice Presidents and Lt. Governors don't do well in the first position.

4.5 Campaign girls...hmmm (watch out, swerving mini van on the I-15!)

5. Sweet revenge and divine justice. Daryl Issa, the man who funded the recall to the tune of 1.7 million (allegedly) and is running himself, has about as much chance of winning as I do, and my paper work isn't complete yet. (60 sigs are no problem, but that $3500 is a killer). I hated this guy for funding a kooky idea and confirming California as the nuttiest state out of 50, and now he will be buried by the GOP never to be see or heard from again. Ha! I celebrate like a Las Vegas floosy who rolled a bleary-eyed slot machine winner from Central Kansas-thanks for the good time -sucker.

6. The Democrats are in a big bind (Karl, you evil genius) because they know Davis is toast but they can't get another "major" to step in. Fienstien says no and why should she. More fun to be a Senator and 3000 miles away from the nuttiest state and to be in charge of the nuttiest state. Boxer isn't interested either. I guess that leaves Cruz. See my theory on second seaters (number 4).

7. BTW, why don't the democrats have an evil genius? Maybe they do. If a GOP wins in the recall (very likely), they inherit a state in real trouble (see above) and no real solutions for the foreseeable future. Come 2006, the CA budget deficit could be a 100 billion (remember GOP are not allowed to raise taxes-which is a good thing). That's when Feinstien runs (and wins because she is a proven leader) and selects her Senate successor. Let the GOP have California's problems for the next three years! We see how far they get. Ha ha, Karl, I believe that is check!

7.5 Campaign girls, can you imagine what his staff would look like? What kind of spice would Larry add to the California webpage?

8. I wanted Riodan to run but I'm not sure he is up to it. He's like 78 years old, but he's my kind of candidate; a moderate Republican, a compromiser, a consensus builder. No wonder the RW GOP hate him. He hasn't got a chance though because I'm convinced this is the era of The Extremist. It's the era when the loudest, most aggressive, most extremist whack job wins. Quieter voices have trouble emerging from the current hyper media circus.

9. Hurray for the Sacramento Bee, the feisty little paper that could, for covering all this. Love the Insider Web log and the opinions of Wientrub and the others. Keep up the good work. The LA Times has taken the regal tack on the recall and still has a terrible web interface (see the NY Times web edition for the best www.nytimes.com. The San Diego Union, well besides being flat out the worst paper in California, doesn't even have a reporter Sacramento, do they? And the Chronicle is difficult to find in the largess of sfgate.com. Signondsandiego.com is pretty good.

10. OK, it's Oct 7th, I'm in the booth, ready to participate, to do my civic duty... Lets see now, if I vote no on the recall and vote yes for Arnold...no wait, I vote yes on the recall but no for Issa, no wait....Arriana is interesting but I can't understand her accent, Larry, hmmm not sure bout that; nice to look at (not Larry, you idiot!) but can they close the budget gap. Hey, hey, some privacy please, I'm thinking about campaign girls, er a, I mean I'm voting here.

Fear-
It would help in life if we knew we were not alone in what we felt. Men especially face this dilemma, not out of macho, tough guy culture, but because we are not generally wired to express our feelings to other men, even to our friends. We tend to go it alone. "men lead lives of quiet desperation..." Oscar Wilde-maybe.

To that end, here is what I often times feel and hope to God others do to, or I'm going to be embarrassed.

I feel afraid to do stuff. I feel a fear in the pit of my stomach and will do almost anything to avoid doing. I'm not talking about going into a burning building here, I talking afraid to mow the lawn, or write that report, or wash the car. Weird, I know.

I liken it to being a little kid hiding in a closet afraid to come out. The feeling is increased when the pressure is on at work or at home. Another analogy is the soldier, caught in a fire fight, who can't raise his weapon to fire back, even though his buddies need his help. There is a great example of this Saving Private Ryan.

Does anybody else have these same feelings? I'd like to hear about them.

I've learned that feelings lead to behaviors. When we see ourselves behaving in ways that aren't productive, such as procrastinating, it's important to understand the feeling generating the behavior. Understanding this cycle of feeling/behavior helps you to make adjustments to the behavior. Understanding is indicated by articulation. Articulation means you can explain how you feel and resultant behavior.

Articulation is the key because it helps on several levels. First, to articulate a feeling/behavior is to admit/confess that you actually have the feelings. Many people simply ignore what they feel hoping it will go away.

Secondly, the simple act of articulation indicates a high level of understanding. Being able to explain the rules of baseball indicates a pretty good understanding of the game. Explaining how you feel is the same thing.

I call this my Articulation Theory.

So when I feel fear, its important to admit that my procrastination isn't because I'm artsy and a genius, it's because I'm afraid of something and procrastination in a decent coping method (behavior) of avoiding the feeling of fear. Why am I afraid?

My fear is part temperament. I was shy and timid as a kid, and a lot environment. My parents divorced when I was three, followed by custody battles, parental abandonment. I hardly knew my father (now we are good friends), and we constantly moved from place to place with my mother (lived in 16 different locations-and my mother wasn't in the Navy). Security issues are obviously big with me.

So as an decently functioning adult, I have a fear that things going completely to shit and that I won't know how to deal with it. The interesting thing here is not the feeling of fear (very common feeling), but the behavior it generates. Control freaks would control everything and squeeze tighter as the stress increased. You see this in micro-managing managers.

I'm the opposite. I'm a possum, I play dead and hope it (whatever that might be) will go away. I ignore, abdicate, distract, procrastinate, dissipate, lose focus, fail to proactivate, fail to lead, get stressed and become cranky in an effort to ignore the thing I'm facing.

Now there are things to be afraid of, like a big presentation in front of the boss, but mowing the lawn, come on.

Remember the little boy in the closet. There I am.

So I've articulated feelings and behaviors and I understand (know thy self and ye shall know the world), now what? I usually engage in the fear-as-challenge strategy. I'm afraid, I admit it, so bring it on, baby. And incidentally, once I take those first steps, get the mower started, the fear usually subsides.

Those are my thoughts on fear, what are yours....?

Ten Things Conservatives Really Want

Lets be honest, the conservative movement is taking over the country and they mean business. From President Bush raising 100 million on his way to 200 million for his next campaign to the right wing GOP highjacking the governorship of California, these people aim to take over the country-and are succeeding.

But what do they really want, you ask? They want the days before Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter reined things...they want the good old days.

And what are the good old days...?

1. Overturn Roe v. Wade and make all forms of abortion illegal, just like it used to be.

2. School prayer, dinner prayer, bedtime prayer, get up in the morning prayer.

3. The Ten Commandments posted at every supermarket, town hall, courtroom, and bowling alley.

4. The elimination of all welfare programs, no matter what the circumstance.

5. Lower taxes (I'm for this myself as long as the budget is balanced).

6. A requirement that everyone go to church on Sunday, and Wednesday night, and that everyone accept Jesus into their heart and have a gun rack in the pickup.

7. No gays in the military, or anywhere else for that matter and the reinstitution of sodomy laws in all 50 states, and certainly no gay marriage.

8. The union of church and state.

9. Excert American power anywhere in the world through a preemption policy without consent of the citizenry.

10. A return to the halocline days of the 1950s (or maybe the 1750s) when father knew best, no one was a fag or did drugs (although everyone smoked), mom stayed at home, dad worked 9-5, everyone trusted the government to do the right thing, and America was a great Christian nation.

All hyperbole and fun aside, this is not too far from the truth...remember that on election day.