Taboo Plaza
"The rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy as he pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice" (7).

There's a taste for death in America and I don't think it's a bad sign.  
The taste for death means something is there.  There is something about slowing down that appeals to me and I'll bet to a lot of other people out there today. 
I arrived at this conclusion by trying to quit smoking.  I was successful for one day over the weekend.  As soon as the work week started up again, I went back to my pack a day habit. 
For the day I didn't smoke I could feel the difference.  I had energy.  I always have energy when I stop smoking, which really doesn't make sense because cigarettes are a stimulant.  However, whenever I quit I can't sleep as late as I normally do (is 6:30 AM late?)  I wake up an hour earlier with no alarm clock.  I generally have so much energy that I'm looking for something to do, when normally I'm all too willing to park my butt on the sofa and watch TV.
I smoke with no real reason to support it.  I don't like the taste.  I'm not crazy about how it makes me feel.  I don't even have a solid rationalization established.  It costs a lot of money and quite personally I'd rather blow that cash on a couple of expensive comic books every month.
Yet I smoke.
There's something in the death of it all.  I know it is coming.  Whether I smoke or not, death is coming.  However, with the cigarettes my death will more than likely be the result of a stroke.  I can feel it everytime my blood pressure rises to the point that I have a throbbing headache.  The death is there.  Always there.
And yet I smoke.
I'm not the only one.  I'm only left to assume that we all crave death to a certain extent.  Whether it is from cigarettes or from alcohol.  If sniffing airplane glue is your death of choice, a Big Mac a day, it is all the same.  We're staring death in the eyes and if we hurry the process along a little bit; who's to say we really are scared?
Deep down underneath it all, I think we crave the death for a bit of rest and relaxation. 
Unless of course those evangels are correct and we're destined for the pit of fire. 
Then they better pray the Calvinists aren't correct.

"These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished" (4).


Getting to Know Your Government
Last week's batch of Senators averaged 12 years in public office as U.S. Senators. This week's batch of Senators average 4.25 years as U.S. Senators.
 
Jack Reed (Democrat, Rhode Island)
Religion: Roman Catholic
1971: United States Military Academy, West Point, B.S.
1973: Kennedy School of Government Harvard University, M.P.P.
1982: Harvard Law School, J.D.
   1976 to 1979: U.S. Army
1985 to 1990: Rhode Island State Senate
1991 to 1997: U.S. House of Representatives
1997 to present: U.S. Senate

Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, Rhode Island)
Religion: Episcopalian
1978: Graduated from Yale University
1982: University of Virginia, J.D.
1999 to 2003: Rhode Island State Attorney General
2007 to present: U.S. Senate

Lindsey Graham (Republican, South Carolina)
Religion: Southern Baptist
1977: University of South Carolina, B.A.
1981: University of South Carolina, J.D.
   1982 to 1988: United States Air Force
1992 to 1994: South Carolina State House of Representatives
   1995 to present: United States Air Force Reserves   
1995 to 2003: U.S. House of Representatives
2003 to present: U.S. Senate

Jim DeMint (Republican, South Carolina)
Religion: Presbyterian
1973: University of Tennessee, B.S.
1981: Clemson University, M.B.A.
1999 to 2005: U.S. House of Representatives
2005 to present: U.S. Senator

You kinda looka like a Nazi?

An interesting quote in William Sheridan Allen's book The Nazi Seizure of Power reads,
"The factors conducive to the rise of a radical mass party of the right were in Northeim: economic misery which seemed to grow progressively worse, a traditional division along class lines which became exacerbated by political intolerance, intense nationalism and fervid militarism, an ineffectual but belligerent Left, and a splintered, indignant, insecure Right."

This statement refers to the rise of the Nazi political party in Northeim, Germany.  Northeim Germans were content living in a socialist democratic community out in the boonies away from centralized authority doing their own thing. 
The Nazi's brought centralization. 
It's a very political move to work for the Nazis.  Kind of suave and it suckers you in.  You don't start off working for a Nazi.  You get into the system because you want into the system.  You seek it out when you start working for a Nazi.  It doesn't just happen.  They put out the bait and then enough people find benefit working for Nazis.  Eventually a threshold is reached where it is systematically more beneficial to work for a Nazi than it is to resist. 
It's either take the job or hit the streets, Bub. 
The polemic lines today don't really mean much beyond surface.  Is the Right the right because they have moral souls?  Schwarzenegger seems like too easy a shot to take at the Moral Majority.  Democrats also balance more budgets.  Now fiscally-conservative and morally-balanced are out the window and what does that leave you in the United States of America?
We've got economic misery growing.  Check.
Political intolerance.  Check.
Intense nationalism and fervid militarism.  Check.
An ineffectual but belligerent Left.  Check.
Splintered, indignant and insecure Right.  Check.
The one thing that may save America is that our traditional class lines would start a race riot.  It is, quite possibly, the one saving grace of our country today.  A return to traditional class lines in America would have the black man in chains; Mexicans and Indians dead; and the white rich guys posturing and preening for their European counterparts.
That is a recipe for race war if someone were to enact those types of policies in America today.  Somebody'd be getting a gun.
Nixon to Reagan, daddy Bush to baby Bush; they just can't get over the goose-stepping, ritual sacrifice hump.  Americans won't lock their heels for a leader, unless the national policy is to watch TV and drink beer.
America's overall lack of a traditional, unified race to despise places us in an equilibrium of virtual peace.  I think America's going to be okay.  I think we're going to make it.
This guy further illustrates- eloquently- why America is great.

I Sure Do Hate It for You
      
Lindsay Lohan is out of control and quite frankly who cares? 
The answer to that question is not as simple as it looks.  Apparently her friends and family care quite a bit.  There is bank to be made in a trashed Lindsay, dancing in her bra and skirt.  It seems mom and "friends" have figured out how to capitalize on Lindsay Lohan's drunken stupors.
What's a little cocaine between friends?
In all seriousness, the cocaine and drinking is not the problem.  Drinking and driving AND getting caught so many times is a problem.  Daddy Lohan just being released from prison for drinking and driving is a problem.  Daddy Lohan having to reach out to his daughter through her attorneys is a problem. 
Daddy Lohan knows best apparently, because he's found God.  Daddy Lohan is quoted as saying,
“By no means do I ever think that Lindsay would intentionally cause any harm to herself or injure herself in any way.” 
However, he has apparently been speaking to Lindsay's attorneys and not her.  I've heard that attorneys are really empathetic so I can totally understand how daddy understands his daughter's mental state by speaking through her attorney.  And then there is mom.  Is mom making some cash off of Lindsay?  Does Mommy Lohan have her children's best interest at heart?
Who knows, but Lindsay needs to find someway to get some privacy in her life.  It sounds like a mess and she may have a past made to order for drinking into oblivion.  At the rate she is travelling, Lindsay will be shaving her head like Britney Spears by the end of the year then possibly suffering a drug overdose before the age of 31 like Tony Thompson.
It's a little sad that nobody can escape the dysfunctionality of having a family.  It's even sadder when a lot of money can't keep dysfunctionality hidden away like a dirty secret.
Whether she stops getting jacked up or not is irrelevant.  Lindsay Lohan should get rip roaring piss drunk as often as she wants.  If she wants to maintain a career though, she may want to sober up long enough to figure out the quiet spots and who she can trust.

Tip of the week

Money should seldom be the reason you stay in a position that doesn't advance your life.  The feelings of others eventually must melt away when deciding when to separate yourself from a point of stagnation.  Do not allow yourself to stagnate.  Experience is the key and when you've done everything you can where you're at, it is time to move on to another position.

9. Birthday Shout Outs (6/3- 6/9)
   And the beat goes on...