God’s Government

While I was making my sandwhich, someone knocked at the door. I answered it while restraining Barley and holding a butter knife covered with cream cheese and mustard. A man and lady about my age, dressed nicely asked if i would read a passage from Matthew 24.
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come
Then the man asked if I had thought about what God’s Government should be doing regarding this passage. Whose government?!? Doing? I was confused, Barley wanted desparately to lick them, and there was now dog hair stuck to the mustard on my knife.

The wanted to read me some more, but I was making lunch. I thanked them for sharing and said goodbye. I wish they had mentioned who God’s Government was. I wonder how they interperate the lines before the one they read:
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Let it Burn, Part II

A long while ago I told Alan I’d write about “Letting it burn.” That was back when things could burn. Now things are so wet we’de be better off figuring out cold fusion for warmth. (hyperbole) I finished it up on the train this weekend. I was going through the ports of Tacoma and listening to the girl on her cell phone behind me, so I may have been a bit idealistic.

Anyway, its a long and poorly written piece. Click on the Comments link if you want to read it.
Continue reading Let it Burn, Part II

UN calls for end to Cuban Embargo

The UN voted overwhelmingly for the US to end its embargo against Cuba. A 173 to 3 vote signalled that the rest of the world thinks we need to end the embargo. Its about time. Maybe now that Mr. Helms is leaving office, we’ll finally get our heads out of our asses.

Maybe we’re just embarressed by Cuba. Look at the CIA World Fact Book:

Item Cuba United States
infant mortality 7.27 deaths/1,000 live births 6.69 deaths/1,000 live births
literacy 95.7% 97%
life expectancy 76.6 years 77.4 years
Govt. Type Communist state Federal Republic
GDP $25.5 billion $10.082 trillion
per capita GDP $2,300 $36,300

We’ve made friends with Russia and China. Why do we treat Cuba so poorly?

Too much to say

Bush was here (Oregon) last week. Said something about kindling, fires, and jobs. Must have made sense to someone, because there was cheering on the radio. I had trouble understanding him. Technically, I don’t think his poor public speaking skills count as doublespeak.

The whole basis of the trip, and the logic behind forest fires annoyed me. I planned on writing a great discertation on why fires should just burn, and people who choose to live outside the confines of a municipality shouldn’t expect to be saved from natural disaster, and on and on, but I figured I’d just be boring people. So I stopped myself. For now.

Why I hate 5¢ deposits….

Some people don’t like storing the cans, some people hate how sticky it gets, some people don’t like the smell (I do), but no one seems to enjoy the 5¢ deposit on bottles & cans in Oregon.

I hate the deposits because I shouldn’t be paying for the management of someone else’s containers. Coca-Cola exists because they can cheaply distribute their goods to people in bottles and cans. If you want me to drink your product, make an effort to get your cans back. I don’t want to pay for it. I don’t want to store un-crushed cans (machines can’t read the bar code of crushed cans.)

I think besides the revenue that the deposit generates, it creates an off-the-record sort of welfare. I guess it encourages people to pick up cans & bottles, but leaves no reason to pick up the other stuff. Gov. Kitzhaber even wanted to add a 3¢ tax on top of the bottle tax for state park & stream restoration a couple years ago. Can you imagine paying 8¢ on top of each beverage you purchase? Coke & beer really aren’t necessary to my life, but I really like them, so I guess I’ll keep paying the deposit, storing the cans, and walking them back to Fred Meyer, feeding them to a machine, then waiting for a clerk to come the unrecognized bottles.