To think that anyone takes this guy seriously!
Archive for October, 2006
PITTSBURGH — Allegheny County Council will vote on six amendments to the county’s new anti-smoking ordinance at its meeting Tuesday evening.
When the ban was passed last month, it included all businesses — including taverns, bars and clubs — and allowed exemptions only for tobacco retailers, like cigar shops, or events staffed by volunteers.But County Executive Dan Onorato pushed for more exemptions after council learned that a state law could exempt casinos from the ban.
The Allegheny County Bar Association met on Monday to oppose the amendments. The group said the law’s stated purpose is improving the health of workers — and that other business considerations should take a back seat to that goal.
But council is considering modifying the ban for some smaller taverns, and in other circumstances.
I remember a time in our not to distant past where we tried to ban the drinking of adult beverages which only ended in the illegal consumption of adult beverages. I have to pinch myself sometimes when I read stories like this because it really makes me wonder if there is any intelligent life down here anymore. I mean come on if smoking is bad then ban the manufacturing of the substance or make it illegal to purchase said bad item but if it is legal to purchase cigarettes then it has to be legal to smoke them.
Let them smoke if they want to and if I do not want to be surrounded by smokers when I go out for a nice dinner then I will not frequent places where smoking is allowed or where I have to dine with chain smokers who do not have the courtesy to think about other peoples feelings and rights as they fill the air with their putrid smelling cancer sticks. I think the marketplace will be able to handle this issue just fine without the help of more stupid laws which only apply to some people and not others. So I think this item belongs on the LOON ALERT list
Since the passage of the Arizona Immigration Bill debate has once again turned toward immigration reform. The last time this issue was front page news I wrote a blog article about it and I guess it is time to dust it off and bring it back to the front page. So my two cents worth on the Immigration reform debate.
A Parable of Uninvited Guests
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! proverbs 6:6
One ant is fine,two ants are okay as well but when they show up by the thousands then well it is no longer fine. Ants have their purpose in life and I am sure that God has great plans for the tiny ant, but as for me and my house I prefer to live an ant free existence. I have nothing against these fine little black creatures crawling around the earth in large numbers burrowing into the ground heck, I even had an ant farm when I was a kid. I loved looking at the intricate underground pathways these critters would burrow into the sand but never did I contemplate for one minute allowing those critters out of that glass menagerie and into my room to build their home there. Outside is a great place for ants to play and roam around and furrow for food but my house is not an ant farm and these critters are not welcomed indoors.
That being said I need to recount a story of a friend of mine who had moved into a new apartment out in the country. Country living can be relaxing at times but it also brings with it new challenges and obstacles to overcome. On one particular occasion he recounted to me the story of finding ants running across his living room floor. He would try to kill one after the other but there would always be another one to kill later. If it were me I would have been crazy with the thought of these little beings running all over the place and crawling along my bed while I tried to sleep and doing God only knows what those things do when no one is looking. Anyway after a few days of this ant parade night after night he decided to introduce these ants to MR RAID. Mr Raid, as advertised, rooted out these pesky critters and littered the living room floor with not one, not two but several hundred perhaps even a thousand ant corpses lying there in the morning sun awaiting removal by Mr HOOVER. Those tiny terrorists were rooted out and destroyed and life returned to normal for my friend.
This silly little story points to a larger lesson one can learn if we take time to contemplate such things. Our society at large is made up of many people groups and cultures. Some make good neighbors while others, like the ants, can cause themselves to quickly become unwelcome. If we respect and honor our neighbors, and do not invade their homes uninvited then we can all pretty much live in peace, one with the other. It is at those times when we make ourselves an uninvited guest in someone else’s house that we risk a visit from the exterminator. We are then no longer a peaceful neighbor but a pesky intruder. We have gone where we are not welcomed.
Now in the defense of our little ant buddies they do not have the intellect to know that their place is outside and not inside but those of us of the human persuasion sure do know the limits of respectful behavior. If we choose to cross that line of respectful living then we deserve and should expect a not welcomed sign. Any society that permits being overrun by tiny terrors will end up being over run by a multitude of terrors. Their peaceful existence will end and be replaced by chaos. Just like those little ant terrorists invaded my friends happy home and made his living quarters far less inhabitable so does allowing terrorists to continue to work inside a country. Perhaps it is time to call for MR RAID and end the overrun of these tiny terrorists.
In “The Cultural Acid Test for Pastors: Part One” Doug Giles exponds upon the churches need to get back to being Salt and Light in the world.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16 ESV)
Thoughts and views as seen from the resident raptor. Reflecting on life and the world as I see it.
