don sees the world

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:15:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:35:00 +0000

Evidentiary Dissonance

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:21:00 +0000

One of the (many) problems that I have with bumper stickers is that they so often espouse viewpoints or encourage behaviors that would appear to directly run contrary displayed behaviors of the drivers of those vehicles. Like the “Imagine World Piece” bumper sticker bearing vehicle that cuts you off, the driver of which then flips you the bird. Or the Hummer I see occasionally that proudly (ironically?) displays the “Go Green” bumper sticker.

A new example of this evidentiary dissonance was displayed on the rear of an SUV this weekend. On my way home from an outing this weekend I was behind a vehicle that bore three bumper stickers: “Occupy Somewhere Else!” “Proud Member Of The 99%” and “I’m not jealous of the 1%: A Christian Receives His Reward In Heaven!”

Okay, a bit strange, but at least one consistent theme that would seem to imply that the driver has bought into the biblical proscription against wealth and is willing to wait until after they are dead to get their due. That’s cool!

I don’t personally buy into the theory that all good things come to those who wait. And the idea that the meek shall inherit the earth is, according to most scholarly works on the bible that I have read, probably there because some middle-age revisionist thought it would be a good way to prop-up the ruling class by equating passive adherence to the desires of the crown with salvation.

The implication, however, is that the driver is patient enough to wait until after they have died for their reward. But perhaps I have misinterpreted.

Just as the light was changing to allow us to cross the intersection, an ambulance came roaring through the intersection, lights and sirens blaring, on the cross-street. Out light that had just turned green, went red as the ambulance passed. The SUV lurched forward and then, apparently, thought better of it.

Interestingly, this – presumably patient – person who was willing to wait for the afterlife to get their due was unable to wait for the green to cross the street. He waited for about half the traffic to clear before whipping right onto the cross street, went down a block and pulled a U-Turn.

It was deliciously ironic that the light turned green for me as he was approaching the gore strip before the intersection. He had just turned on his blinker and entered the turning lane as I cleared the intersection. He re-entered the road I was on two cars behind me – three car-lengths behind where he started. This was one place when his supposed patience would have had demonstrable benefit. Too bad he didn’t have the short-term conviction he seemed to be advertising for the long-term.

Wherever you are today I hope that you will behave in accordance with your beliefs.

Don Bergquist – February 13, 2012 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:12:00 +0000

Abraham Lincoln's Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:11:00 +0000

Satisfied Staying Single Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:10:00 +0000

Happy birthday to my friend Tina

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:09:00 +0000

Extraterrestrial Visitor's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:08:00 +0000

Boy Scouts Of America Founded - February 08, 1910

Disingenuous

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:21:00 +0000

dis·in·gen·u·ous [dis-in-jen-yoo-uhs]

adjective

lacking in candor, or sincerity; falsely or hypocritically ingenuous; insincere

Has anyone else noticed that the rhetoric that is being bandied about by the candidates does not truly parse the way that it would seem to at first blush? It is, in my opinion, in their “gaffs” that their true agenda seems to be most clearly illuminated!

Mitt Romney says that he does not care about the very poor [because they have a safety net and that if it needs fixing he will fix it]. Personally, based on nothing more than observing the laws that they pass and the actions that they take, believe this statement. I truly believe that the Republicans, as a whole, don’t care about the very poor. There is no gain in their doing so. The poor do not, after all, give campaign contributions.

But more telling, I think, is the reaction to this statement. None of his opponents have come out and outright disagreed, they have said things that could be taken as disagreement, they have objected to his saying it, but they haven’t disagreed!

Mr. Santorum said not that what he said was wrong. He made some weak comment that if it was true it was a description of a party he wouldn’t want to be in. Mr. Gingrich responded that he thought that the people who relied on the safety net would prefer a trampoline to help them reach the upper 1%.

One of the many problems with the rhetoric is that not everyone can be in the top 1%; it is mathematically impossible. By its very definition, there must be 99% of any population that fall below the top 1%. More importantly, the field all talk about their electability and how the goal is to be elected – to make sure that the current president loses his reelection bid.

The problem is that the Republicans have been in power for the last two years and any action they think would make things better, seems to have been put on hold! It’s all politics! Not that I am saying that I agree with the other party!

Never!

Being somewhat Jeffersonian in my views, I think that the political parties are the bane of democracy! Their goal (as is so clearly reflected in the rhetoric) is to get elected. They want to get in power and stay in power.

They depend on people NOT being involved in the affairs of the day. They depend on the populace being compliant and uninformed. How ironic! The electoral system that we have (with the electoral college actually electing the president and the populace electing electors who are supposed to represent their interests in the election) was specifically designed to protect the country from an uneducated populace and it now more-or-less depends upon one. How sad and ironic.

But as with Marley’s Ghost, we wear the chains we ourselves forged. By being uninformed, disinterested, and pliant, we invited the party system we have. We asked for politicians who lie to us and try to play on our ignorance and apathy. The only cure for the situation would b for us to actively take an interest again. Not in the sophistry or the jingoism. Not in the party system, but in the affairs of public. Become informed! Take an active role in where your town, county, state, and country are headed.

You are a part of the problem unless you are working for a solution.

Wherever you are today I hope that you will take interest in current affairs.

Don Bergquist – February 06, 2012 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

“Render Unto Caesar”

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:21:00 +0000

This weekend on the Talking Heads programs, Newt Gingrich has decried the “War On The Catholic Church” that the Obama administration is supposed waging. I have to say that I had almost completely failed to notice this horrible threat to the American way of life!

The reason that I had missed it was that it was largely covered as what it was in the media; the administration has demanded that religious organizations, when they begin to compete in non-religious activities, compete on a par with the other entities already in that space. There should be no problem with this, as Jesus told the Pharisees when they try to trap him into heresy or sedition by asking whether a devout Jew should pay taxes.

The gospels report that he answered "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." It would appear that even Christ believed in the separation of Church and State. In the times of the story’s setting, taxes were paid with coins bearing the image of Caesar. It was (according to Matthew and Mark) the hopes of the Pharisees to trap Christ. If he agreed to the payment of taxes, he was heretical – as the coins, it could be argued, bore graven images proscribed in the Torah. If he answered that they could not as it was proscribed by the law of God, he was trapped into sedition as he was espousing civil disobedience and incitement of tax evasion.

The “War” that the former speaker is talking about is a ruling that catholic hospitals must offer contraceptive drugs to their employees in the choices offered for health coverage. The religious right has couched this as an infringement of the separation of Church and State. But the problem is that this is not a religious issue at all!

If the church wants to believe that it is immoral to cover contraception, they are welcome to do so. The church may disallow the coverage all they want as long as they are talking about the church.

-BUT-

If the church should choose to spread into some other venture they must be bound by the rules covering that area of interest. You cannot extrapolate legislation covering commercial activity as in any way inhibiting religious freedom. If the church should happen to get into the car business, we should still be able to compel them to put certain safety devices that are required by law into their cars. If they decided to go into the airline industry, we could still compel them to take certain safety procedures. Companies doing business in certain industries are subject to the laws governing that industry. The alternative for the Catholic Church to offering health care to its workers that includes reproductive coverage is not to get into those industries in which it is required.

Why is it that this is important at all? It is sophistry to say that it is because there is biblical proscription against birth control. For one thing, there is no such proscription. There are proscriptions against lots of sexual practices and implied proscriptions against other. Forget, for the moment that most of these can be ascribed to the conditions that existed in the middle east in the pre-Christian world and you are left to wonder why this one topic seems to be so important to the religious right.

There is a clear biblical proscription against lending money for interest. (Exodus 22: 24-25, "If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him.") This must have been important to the biblical authors; it appears more than twenty times throughout the bible. And still, you do not see the religious right trying to put all the banks and credit companies out of business! It is because reproduction is inherently and inexplicably involved with sex that the prudish right takes an interest. It appears to be only because it offends the prudish sensibilities of their personal beliefs that they are opposed to it. I find it interesting that those so prone to trampling on other people’s personal rights scream so loudly when they think that theirs are being infringed.

Wherever you are today I hope you will show as much tolerance of others as you want them to show you!

Don Bergquist – February 05, 2012 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

What A Difference A Day Makes!

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:21:00 +0000

The plows have pushed the snow off the parking lot onto the yard near my home. The berms they created are tall enough to be lifting the branches over the end of the parking area. Meanwhile, on my deck and patio, the snow is piled-up about twenty-one inches deep.

By yesterday morning, we had a lot of snow. But that is nothing to what is out there this morning!

The lead on every newscast locally has been the snow. Apparently, this is the largest February snowstorm in over 100 years for Denver. I can believe it. I do not remember looking out my window at all yesterday and not seeing the snow coming down.

Luckily, I have plenty of spec writing to do and there was no need for me to get into town. My commute yesterday was from the bedroom to the kitchen to make coffee, and then back up to the office.

There was a bit of a traffic jam on the landing of the stairs as Saga insisted on stopping to stare out the window at all the white out the window – and what a pile-up there was on the deck! But that’s okay! I used my GPS (Great Pet, Saga) to negotiate a route back into the house out of the snow and then cloistered myself for a day of writing.

What a difference snowing all day makes! The snow continued to pile-up, burying my 12” and 16” rulers and dumping a total (to-date) of 21.5” of snow onto my deck.

Today I have nothing on my schedule but my weigh-in. But as everyone I running late schedules, I will probably put that off until about ten. Other than that, it is a day for laundry and cleaning. I am going out as little as possible today. After the things I have to do, I think I will curl-up on the couch with a book and a cuppa. It seems like that kind of day!

Wherever you are today I hope you are warm and cozy and have a good book to read!

Don Bergquist – February 04, 2012 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:04:00 +0000

Happy birthday to my friend Sean

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:04:00 +0000

Happy birthday to my friend Robert

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:21:00 +0000

‘Marshmallow World’ my [censored] ! It’s a cold and dangerous world in the winter.

Sure, it is lovely once the snow stops falling, and it is nice being able to look out the window while the snow is falling, but with the traffic problems and the hassle of getting the dog to go out and walk when it is snowing, it is a bit of a hassle.

The snow started falling last night around the time I was heading to bed. It was still falling at a pretty good clip this morning when Saga and I went for our morning walk. Well, more of a drag, really. She REALLY didn’t want to go out this morning!

Who can blame her? It was cold, it was still snowing, and there was nearly a foot of snow on the ground. By the time the snow abated, it was piled more than 18” deep on my deck (the first ruler I tried measuring it with is in there somewhere. It got buried as the snow continued to fall).

It is supposed to move out some time today and by tomorrow it should be pretty nice.

Wherever you are today I hope that you are safe, warm, and cozy.

Don Bergquist – February 03, 2012 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:03:00 +0000

The Day The Music Died

by Don McLean

A long, long time ago… I can still remember how

How the music used to make me smile.

And I knew if I had my chance,

That I could make those people dance,

And maybe they’d be happy for a while.

But February made me shiver,

With every paper I’d deliver,

Bad news on the doorstep…

I couldn’t take one more step.

I can’t remember if I cried

When I read about his widowed bride

But something touched me deep inside,

The day the music died.

So, bye, bye miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And good ol’ boys were drinking whisky and rye

Singing this will be the day that I die

This will be the day that I die

Did you write the book of love

And do you have faith in God above

If the Bible tells you so

Do you believe in rock n roll

Can music save your mortal soul

Then you can teach me to dance real slow

Well I know that you’re in love with him

‘Cause I saw you dancing in the gym

You both kicked off your shoes

Then I dig those rhythm and blues

I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck

With a pink carnation and a pickup truck

but I knew that I was out of luck

The day the music died

I started singin’…

Bye, bye miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And good ol’ boys were drinking whisky and rye

Singing this will be the day that I die

This will be the day that I die

Now for 10 years we’ve been on our own

And moss grows fat on a rolling stone

But that’s not how it used to be

When the jester sang for the king and queen

In a coat he borrowed from James Dean

In a voice that came from you and me

And while the King was looking down

The jester stole his thorny crown

The courtroom was adjourned

No verdict was returned

While Lennon read the book of Marx

The quartet kept practice in the park

And we sang dirges in the dark

The day the music died

Helter Skelter in a summer swelter

The birds flew off with the fallout shelter

Eight miles high and falling fast

It landed foul on the grass

The players tried for a forward pass

With the jester on the sidelines in a cast

Now the halftime air was sweet perfume

While sergeants played a marching tune

We all got up to dance

But we never got the chance

‘Cause the players tried to take the field,

The marching band refused to yield.

Do you recall what was revealed,

The day the music died?

We started singing...

Bye, bye miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And good ol’ boys were drinking whisky and rye

Singing this will be the day that I die

This will be the day that I die

There we were all in one place

A generation lost in space

With no time left to start again

So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick

Jack Flash sat on a candle stick

‘Cause fire is the devil’s only friend.

As I watched him on the stage

My hands were clenched in fists of rage

No angel born in hell

Could break that Satan’s spell

And as flames climbed high into the night

To light the sacrificial rite

I saw Satan laughing with delight

The day the music died.

I met a girl who sang the blues

And I asked her for some happy news

But she just smiled and turned away

I went down to the sacred store

Where I’d heard the music years before

But the man there said the music wouldn’t play

And in the streets the children screamed

The lovers cried and the poets dreamed

But not a word was spoken

The church bells all were broken

And the three men I admire most

The Father Son and Holy Ghost

They caught the last train for the coast

The day the music died

They were singin’...

Bye, bye miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And good ol’ boys were drinking whisky and rye

Singing this will be the day that I die

This will be the day that I die

So...

Bye, bye miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And good ol’ boys were drinking whisky and rye

Singing this will be the day that I die

This will be the day that I die

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:03:00 +0000

Happy birthday to my friend Eric

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:02:00 +0000

Groundhog's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:01:00 +0000

National Freedom Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:31:00 +0000

National Gorilla Suit Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:30:00 +0000

Inane Answering Machine Message Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 08:29:00 +0000

Silicon Valley Puzzle Fest Ends Today

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:28:00 +0000

Data Privacy Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:27:00 +0000

Thomas Crapper Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:26:00 +0000

Australia Day

In Memorial

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:25:00 +0000

In Loving Memory of my Mother, Jeanne R. Bergquist 1935-1980