Modern Pharisee

Frame by Frame

2012-02-09T22:19:00.001-05:00

This is my livelihood, being bent (straight?), hopefully for the last time.

After being bounced hard somewhere in between 4 and 5 times, and in the process, dropping what I calculate to be over 40 feet, my truck's frame was bent. In several places.

I know that frames can be bent back, and if done properly, with no noticeable effect. Most of today's cars are not body on frame construction, but I have been around body shops since the time when virtually all of them were. Bad frame repair is bad frame repair. Irreparable frames need to be completely replaced.

This is round two for the "Blew By You." I was told that frames after being straightened sometimes "settle" into a not so straight final result. I'm not entirely sure I believe that. I tend to think they just weren't straightened. If the explanation is plausible though, this new "rebending/straightening" might do the trick.

If not I greatly fear it will just keep bending into not so straight versions of it's former mostly straight self. I figure the truck was totaled if that turns out to be true, and it is in my view, totaled right now.

There are other nagging issues. The CD player doesn't work right anymore. The dash and various parts associated with it are loose. There are paw prints everywhere in the interior from various grease monkeys that worked on it. The fuel tanks do not drain or refill during use, correctly. Diesel tractors have a fuel return system that is supposed to keep the tanks evenly filled, but now mine doesn't do that. The fuel gauge has gone psychotic. The fifth wheel plate was replaced with a version that has been recalled for safety reasons, so it had to be replaced. Again. Tonight.

I have looked back on the entire experience with insurances, down time, being a driver with broken ribs and having my truck on the shelf for almost 4 months, and I've concluded I wouldn't do it. I don't know anyone who would. Except it seems that I did. Apparently few people who live through this sort of thing at my company do make it all the way through the experience.

Keith, There is no Spoon! (there are no corporations)

2011-12-30T08:30:00.007-05:00

Keith Olbermann's program on "Current" is being promoted by his statement that any person is more important than any corporation. Well, duh. Except there are no corporations Keith. I am more than nothing. I feel so good being saved by the concept of zero. "Corporate," as it is used today (a pejorative) continues to amaze me.

In the light of the axiom: "He who controls the language, controls the argument," maybe not so much. While I was watching Mr. Olbermann, one of his commentators/body doubles tried to appropriate that axiom for the Political Left, claiming it was the Right that was so skillfully doing so in the political discourse. In the process the commentator (of course) did NOT note that the victory of the left in the arena of "wordsmithing" (something he accused Frank Luntz of doing) is made obvious his quoting Luntz. Luntz is credited with the "recognition" that "capitalism" is now a dirty word. Um, who is winning in the "wordsmithing" arena again?

Corporations are simply a prosthesis for a group of people, or a "waldo" by which the group accomplishes it's goals. The goals are pretty simple. In the capitalist sense, the corporation serves to make something someone else wants (a good or service) in such a way that it yields a profit so that the welfare of each of it's individual stockholders, is served.

So, "we have met the enemy (if indeed corporations are enemies) and he is us." The simplistic objectification (scapegoating) of a corporation for all things "corporate" then is a very convenient half truth. A corporation is in essence an object, so it's "objectification" is redundant. It's so easy to treat impersonally something that really isn't there, and is, impersonal. Remember, "they" is really "us." Look at who the corporation is comprised of, there is no spoon.

It's not the corporation, which is a tool. It's what we are using the tool to do? Are we using a corporation to get things done that contribute to our prosperity, or are we signing up for an interest group that is then manipulated by another group for political gain?

It is my contention that politics as an object is destruction itself. Pure politicians will print a trillion dollars, and waste 99% of it so they can put a million in their pocket. Capitalist Corporations are far more benign. Their concupiscence sleeps. So between the moral busybodies and the pure politicians they employ to accomplish their goals, I think I prefer Capitalist Corporations, and I'm proud of that. (Thanks again Jack, I like that quote.)

Ultimately though, there are no corporations, really. They are artificial persons. There is no corporation Keith.

BTW, Olbermann interviewed Jackson Browne as a source of Moral Authority (shut up and sing Jackson) and slagged Michelle Bachman by obtusely ignoring her point about marriage, which is that it's for men and women, not persons of the same sex.

Russian Anchor "Flips Off" Obama

2011-11-23T14:19:00.004-05:00

Yes, the rude gesture was meant for our President:

The excuse sounded plausible:

The Telegraph - "(S)ources close to it have tried to defuse the row by claiming that the newsreader had believed she was off camera at the time and merely providing a voice-over for a report. According to the same storyline, the rude gesture was intended for studio technicians who had been trying to put her off her stride."

I thought back to my experience in a situation like hers. Believe me, I've seen some wild "off camera" or heard some wild "off mike" things. Ms. Limanova though is "an award-winning senior newsreader." Well, if she is both "award winning" and "senior" in her capacity with the channel she works for, she knows what the red light on the camera means. And she looks. And she doesn't skip a beat.

I know what the red light means and I looked before I said or did anything. It's been decades since I sat in a chair like hers. (Yes, the Pharisee has been on television and read the news.)

Churches, Sects & Christianity

2011-11-10T10:00:00.007-05:00

I have had a discussion going on with two of the theological luminaries in the ranks of the like minded on Christian Marriage.

The idea of "Christian Marriage" is in fact made more interesting because there is no word for "marriage" in Hebrew, strictly speaking. There are descriptions of marriage, which is a relatively expensive linguistic way to go about naming something, particularly for a language as thrifty in the total sum of words it has, such as Hebrew. In spite of that, Hebrew has no word for marriage per se.

Some might dispute this claim. I have found for instance the closest words for marriage are "Yabam (יִבֵּם)" (which is a word for "Levirate Marriage") and "Ba'al (בַּעַל)" which is a scary word because it invokes images of idol worship. Suffice it to say in the latter case, it means to "Lord" another person, namely the husband "Lording" the wife which is consistent with how Sarah described her husband Abraham, a description and state lauded in his letters by the Apostle Peter.

I'll leave the names of my fellow disputants out, but give a sense of the debate and my reply.

I am inclined to sweep aside references to the church as just individual bodies though I certainly would agree they do exist as individual bodies. My reasoning would go to the word study of "Ekklēsia (ἐκκλησία)" and beyond it.

Reliance on the term "Ekklēsia (ἐκκλησία)" and saying it is only directed at individual congregations falls quickly apart. Ekklēsia is used several times in Ephesians 5 and also used in the Catholic denomination's favorite birthright verse in Matthew 16, by Christ. I would agree with my "monogamy only" brethren, that the use in Ephesians refers to the "Church Universal," or the perfected community of all believers (what a Calvinist would call the elect). This seems to be absolutely necessary in Matthew 16.

Leaning only on the word Ekklēsia also neglects the analogy of Revelation of the Bride. I try to eschew the use of the word "clearly," but in this case I think it applies. The "Bride (nymphē)" of Christ is clearly "the Church" as in "entire" or "all churches." In addition, this is a refined version of the Church, as we would believe there are wolves in the fold, thus there are some who might seem to be believers, but who are not. These persons do not benefit from membership in any local body, and are excluded at the time of the Judgement, consigned to hell.

One of my opponents (who is a friend by the way, a close one) claims that the usage of the term "Church," such as in "The Catholic Church," are improper. Such usages probably are. This is used as an argument that there can be no denominations but I continue to note that the early church is referred to by both those inside and out of it, as a "sect." A sect to me is a denomination.

I haven't been claiming that a denomination is strictly a "Church." I do confuse the terms at times. This is very similar to the marriage debate in which it is regularly assumed that all male/female husband/wife relationships are marriage.

They're not.

There is concubinage in which wives and husbands are referred to by the same Hebrew words as are used to describe two espoused in marriage. A denomination (and I have stated this clearly at other times) is a "sect" of Christianity, not a "church." When pressed on this point I don't think I have ever come down on the side of the argument that a denomination IS a "church."

Nevertheless it is interesting that Presbyterians practice "sect-wide" assembly. I also refer to the Catholic denomination as The Catholic Church because they call themselves that. I think I hear everyone do that actually. My wife will tell you I regularly refer to Catholics as "the Catholic denomination" at home. I defend sects as a proper response to denominations sliding into bad doctrine.

The two men in this discussion with me make a similar argument, both implying or saying someone looks at a "genuine church" and makes a judgement call about their genuine nature. This to me is subjective. The letter of Paul to Titus gives us the nuts and bolts of how a genuine church comes to be. While I might agree that a church might (sort of) "fall from grace," it nevertheless has to come to be in a certain fashion and be led in a certain way.

Titus 1:

"For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee."

This is clear method. God the father, "The LORD," is over all. Christ is his only Apostle. The Apostles of Christ (of whom Paul is one) are sent to us. Paul appoints Titus. Titus is directed to appoint as he was appointed. We have no other method or precedent.

It can be argued that the Roman Catholic Church for instance, is a church no longer, but in my estimation, it cannot be argued that it was not a church in the past. If no longer a church, it's appointments are of no effect. However, in the past they were.

Some church must survive as genuine for elders to be ordained in every city as Paul appointed Titus. That authority is only shown to exist in one appointed by someone having a direct pipeline to Christ through the appointment of the elder, successively back to an Apostle of Christ, who is an Apostle of the LORD.

Christ is also baptised into ministry by a Levite. That Levite is shown to be ultimately blessed in Abraham as Hebrews tells us. All of this shows the setting up of office, occupied by human beings, who have authority based on it being bestowed to them by someone in office.

It sounds great to say that the hallmarks of a genuine church are this or that, but there is no basis for listening to a particular person, other than personal choice, when it comes to evaluating that church. No one has shown me how someone can declare they possess the authority, to make that judgment. Unless of course, it is by the method I have shown above.

By George, I think he's got it: The GOVERNMENT can...

2011-10-31T14:57:00.003-04:00

Thanks Mom, for pointing this one out.

I'm not going to get tired of this song

2011-10-26T11:32:00.003-04:00

Internet links to this tune keep disappearing, but I've found one again. The band has reformed (after a brief detour into being "November Project") minus the featured vocalist for "Something More Than This," Mary Fahl.

Hey DC

2011-10-23T19:47:00.001-04:00

Whoever you are in the Washington DC area....

(Herndon VA?) .......that keeps looking at my blog, it's public, that's what it's there for, but don't you think you should, at this point, say hi?

To God be the GLORY, Great things he has done (I'm alive)

2011-10-22T12:58:00.002-04:00

It's pointed into the sunset.

This is or was "my" truck. It's always hard for me as an ex Finance/Lease manager to term anything that I leased as being "mine." I leased this truck from my "employer" and was called an "owner/operator" or "independent contractor." Both of these are misnomers. I owned nothing. I was not independent. All of my dispatches came from the same people who leased me the truck and as I said, leasing is not owning.

Tuesday at 7:30 AM CDT I was awakened by an unusual jolt and instantly began to receive a constant stream of verbal updates (with some mild obscenities interlaced) from my co driver. We'd left I-70 and were air-born. This is not a good thing in an 18 wheeler. The increasingly distressed nature of my co driver's updates as he rapidly ticked off our progress (sideways) down an embankment combined with the never before felt vibrations and jolts (extremely hard) didn't do much to improve the outlook. I was dead I thought. Now. In the dark, in a sleeper of a truck. Violently. Probably in very gruesome and painful fashion.

I re-upped with Christ on our status, claiming him as LORD and savior in what I thought were my last moments. I'm sure he hadn't forgotten that I'd done that before. I certainly hadn't forgotten, but nonetheless I acknowledged him and claimed him and braced for the end. There was another violent shock and the bunk came up and slammed my back hard, and I felt something give and announced to my co driver that my back was now broken. Shortly after that we came to a rest in the way you see above.

That's the picture side, the other shows a bit more damage.

Looking at it quickly, my truck might seem able to drive after a tow, but it is hopelessly broken in many ways. The steer axle is bent. The two drive axles are knocked out of place and skewed. Approaching the truck from the rear you can see the components of the drive line scattered across the Kansas cornfield. Once the trailer was detached from the truck and towed, you could see that the frame was bent below the fifth wheel plate. It is likely that it is bent in several other places.

As it turned out later, I was in error about my injuries. There was indeed a broken bone, and yes it was near my back, but it was a rib. I walked out of the ER in Oakley Kansas a few hours later, a hurtin' but upright unit.

Oakley is a great place to have a disaster. Someone called right away with extremely detailed location information as our truck left the roadway.

As soon as we stopped moving, I asked my co driver to assess the damage, he got out and did a walk around and saw what I described above. He wasn't gone long. By the time he announced to me the condition of the truck he was also accompanied by one of Oakley's finest. The officer in question had met him as he checked the truck (a process taking two or three minutes) and had asked my co driver if he had called 911. He said "No, you're here already."

The ambulance wasn't far behind. The EMT's were great. They got me on a back board and braced my neck. There was a discussion about "using the saw" to get me out to which I responded "please don't."

In the end they stomped merrily and efficiently around in the truck settling on removing the passenger seat and we went out that way. I think I will remember the eagerness of the responder wanting to use the saw to my dying day. I chuckle every time. Even if it is very painful.

Oakley was great. The Hospital, the Police, the EMT's, everyone.

I had a chance to survey the accident from several angles afterward. The truck left the highway and tilted at what had to be more than 45 degrees as it went down slope, yet it ended "shiny side up" which is a strong commentary on the grace of God and the skill of my co driver. Not a soul viewing the site could understand how the truck didn't roll.

I have mulled over several names for my truck for several reasons. I think I need to give it one for a ship that was lost, but all of whose passengers survived.

I'll probably end up back at a name I liked best but could never quite finalize. "The Millennium Cornbinder." She was the fastest hunka junk in the fleet. We were well below the speed limit though that day, not that we ever spent much time on the wrong side of the limit, wherever or whatever that limit might be.

I've also thought of the name "The Student Prince," which refers to a Leo Kottke song in which the instrument makes the player sound good. I've never thought I was that great a driver, but the ship I sailed in made me look like I was. In the end, the "Student Prince guitar" of the protagonist in the Leo Kottke song, is lost to someone sitting on it and it's never the same.

"Tilt Billings saw a guitar in a pawn shop window.
Not much to look at but he knew that he'd found
The old Student Prince that they made years ago
So easy to play!
What unbeatable sound!
Paid twenty bucks and grabbed his guitar
Still be a steal at ten times the dough
It was amazing how a mere beginner
Could play just a few notes and sound like a pro
He'd play his heart out when he was at parties
Guys would get jealous
(but girls were impressed)."
(Leo Kottke/Ron Nagle - Round Wound Sounds)

That kind fits as well.

As long as it's SERIAL polygyny, it's OK, isn't it?

2011-06-20T20:11:00.005-04:00

She's 16, he's 51. Why isn't he sharing a bunk with FLDS men in Prison?

Because he has the "decency" to abandon previous spouses, before tapping a blonde 16 year old, that's why. From E!

"Doug Hutchison, a character actor best known for roles in The Green Mile, Lost and The X-Files, married aspiring country singer Courtney Alexis Stodden on May 20 in Las Vegas.

He is 51. She is 16."

Well, he's a YOUNG looking 51, and she's a MATURE looking 16, so I guess it's OK. Maybe we oughta ask Bruce Jenner about his step daughter again. You know, she LOOKS older.

The lesson? Plow the field with all the young girls you want. Make sure you MARRY them first, or make sure someone else has and make sure it's one at a time and then YOUR genitalia won't offend or damage HER genitalia. You might want check with your lawyer, but if I understand it correctly, you can bop all the 16, 15, 14 and whatever age girls you want, two and three at a time, as long as they're like Mrs. Hutchinson in that they're married to SOMEONE already.

No, really, it's magic! A marriage license takes all the sting away from your thing (and every other thing) and makes it (them) friendly!

If not and you have RELIGIOUS reasons for thinking plowing with a 16 year old heifer is alright, and if you use RELIGIOUS language in "marrying" her, you're worse than a murderer (in terms of prison sentences meted out).

Case DC10-13278M Dismissed (UPDATED)

2011-05-19T10:41:00.003-04:00

For want of Prosecution.

The Dallas County Court System has lost patience with TxBluesMan / GregJackP / Gregory Jack Prickett. Should I now prosecute him for barratry?

The earlier version of this post directed you to the wrong "Google Doc" for the dismissal of the case. That is now fixed.

Look who needs a pair of Foster Grants

2011-05-19T10:28:00.001-04:00

Allegedly arrested for obstruction and contempt, apparently in more than one jurisdiction. Supposedly on the three year anniversary of the raid.

As a side note, I was in Fort Concho yesterday....

Why? Because I love B-17's

2011-05-09T14:04:00.000-04:00

My humble opinion is that there is no greater airplane design in history, aesthetically, than a radial piston engine monoplane.

H5 – WWII Bombers over Arizona Landscape from H5 Productions on Vimeo.

Advice to Obama: Pivot.

2011-05-08T13:11:00.001-04:00

I'm sitting in Laredo TX, doing my homework (sermon preparation!), and out of one ear, I'm listening to the Sunday Morning political talk shows, and I have some advice for our President.

Pivot.

What do I mean by that? Mr. President, you have at this moment the very best and warm feelings from all of the American public, on both sides of the aisle as you're going to have between now and 2012. What's shocking is that your numbers really aren't that great after avenging this nation for 9/11.

But you have a moment.

We like what you did.

I'm first going to credit the people on the ground in the US Military and Intelligence community that did the heavy lifting and skilled work of getting the nation's number one most wanted man. I do believe that President Obama WAS the man who DID decide to get him up close and personal. I won't discuss his decision making process, whether he hesitated or not, it worked out. One helicopter crashed, we got our guy, and we got out. Contrast that with the number one contender with President Obama for "worst President in History," Jimmy Carter. Remember "Desert One" which was 31 years ago?

Mr. President. I don't think you'll take my advice but I'll still offer it.

Pivot.

Become the opposite of what you were. We'll let you at this point. Every American sees you as in some way responsible for the good thing that just happened.

So Pivot.

Become a supply sider.

Say you've tried socialism and it doesn't work.

Say you need to do things that do work (like your recent terrorism victory).

Then do them.

Stop spending, sit down with Republican Leaders in the House. Ask them what they want, then do it.

Go to the American Public and re-sell yourself as a pragmatic man who simply wants the best for the country. We will let you do that. It will be good for us, it will be good for you.

You will be remembered as a Great President. You will not be remembered as the contender for the Jimmy Carter crown of complete ineptitude.

And we have a winner, Barack's Birth Certificate

2011-04-27T09:48:00.002-04:00

It looks genuine to me. What was fascinating as far as I was concerned?

His Dad was a perv. Look at the mother's age. Dad knocked her up when she was 17. That may be old news to some, but I find it fascinating.

How is Casting out, an "apostolic" Sending?

2011-04-24T12:12:00.001-04:00

As usual, it's right there in front of your nose.

Please notice right away, the use of the small "a" for "apostolic." There are two ways to use the "caps" in this case, much as CS Lewis often did. For the larger more important use of a term or word, Lewis, the philologist, would capitalize the first letter, often disobeying standard grammatical rules for capitalization. When using a term in a lesser sense, less powerful, as an included portion of the larger concept, "Jack" would then eschew the use of a capital letter to begin the word. The contrast was to denote superior and inferior.

I am an apostle. Notice I did not capitalize that term. I am an "apostle" of other men. I might dare to use the term "Apostle" with reference to myself, but I dare not. I'll wait for God to show me that I possess such authority. I don't think he ever will. When I perform my first miracle, I'll give it some thought. That hasn't happened yet. I think the oft referred to (by me) seat on a Mars Rocket to be a far more likely event.

John was an "Apostle." Matthew and Paul were "Apostles." I am by many generations removed, through the authority of lesser men and often unbelieving men, an "apostle" of Paul. In Greek the term could be described as "legal representative." Think of it as having his "limited power of attorney."

How is this possible? It's simple. Those outside the church, God judges. 1st Corinthians 5:13:

"Them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person."

I have been "put away," a phrasing oddly like the phrasing in English translations like that of divorce. The concepts seem related when reading the Greek, but an variety of different terms are used. Suffice it to say that one variation of a Greek term related to Apostle is to "set at liberty" or essentially divorce. There is a similar term in Hebrew.

So having been put away from the fellowship of a church, I am "set free." That is like a divorce. I no longer answer to men who have pushed me away from their rightful authority over me.

So who is over me? God is. Scripture says so. My authority, my freedom, is derived from the earthly line, since it was the earthly line that rejected me. I now though, answer to God.

So if they judged me righteously and set me out of the church, until I see the error of my ways, I can regard all hardships as punishments and judgments from God. But what if they church dealt unrighteously and unjustly with me? Would God then judge me as unrighteous in the matter?

I think not.

Thus I am a contradictory thing. I "minister" (without portfolio) or "apostle" without a flock. Until I get one. Then I am the head of a church. I am commanded to fellowship and I have been deprived of that. I have submitted to the correct authorities, they have freed me and said "go to God, he is your judge."

I say this because the long awaited second shoe is on the way towards the floor and shows no sign of being caught before it drops. At that time, I will have a flock of roughly ten persons.

Those of you who are Christian and believe in plural marriage as righteous, I urge you to contact me and see why it is you should be included in a similar church body, or this one. It matters little to me whether you join our church body, or another one that is adequate and which accepts you. Most of the Christians in the polygyny "movement" are in congregational churches or completely unchurched. In my humble view, one is no different from the other.

May God judge me completely as serving him in this matter, or as a rebel. May he do so quickly.

The way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin

2011-04-11T05:16:00.002-04:00

This phrase and close variations of it, made an impression me every time I read through the scriptures. I never, until just recently, went and cataloged exactly what those sins were.

The attempt to start a new Denomination at least requires persistence. That is if you wish to do it right. No Godly man I think would attempt to do it the wrong way. Sunday it struck me that the need for authority to appoint authority has been spoken to directly in scripture. Human authority appoints, in worship and in church leadership. The Sins of Jeroboam, the Son of Nebat, who made Israel to Sin:

"Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense." (1st Kings 12)

Most prominent is the sin of Idolatry. In the shadow of that spectacular sin (which by the way we always congratulate ourselves on NOT committing), we miss the others.

Jeroboam made those persons not designated to be in authority in worship (in those days, the priests) into authorities in a house of worship. The people worshiped idols (the wrong Gods), not in Jerusalem (the wrong place) and not led by the Levitical priesthood (the wrong people).

My wife and I have this discussion regularly, she is Catholic.

Me: "There are no priests."

My adored wife: "Yes there are, they are in the Bible."

Me: "There are no priests ANYMORE. Christ is our High Priest."

The discussion ends there but happens on a regular basis. I bring this up to emphasize something. I do NOT maintain that there is to be a priesthood. I bring this up to say that the priesthood in Ancient Israel performed functions now performed by the clergy in Reformed denominations. With the coming of the Christ, Jesus, there is no need for the Priesthood to persons such as myself.

The message is simple though. Only those who ought to be in authority roles in worship (the church, the local body when it is gathered) are to be in those roles. Initial church hierarchy is always appointed by an Apostle in the New Testament examples we are given. There is the whole business about being "sent" that we find in Romans 10:

"How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?"

The Greek for "sent" is the word for Apostle.

I am not an Apostle in the sense Paul was, or Peter. If I am an apostle, it is an apostle of other men. So would be any legitimate preacher in any church. He is an apostle of an apostle of an apostle going back to the time where we find an Apostle of Christ.

But what is among the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to Sin? Putting men in places they ought not be. Jeroboam was not authorized to appoint priests. He did it anyway.

"(W)hen king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him."

Yet we think nothing of setting ourselves up as preachers, when none have sent us.

Backing away from the FLDS

2011-03-29T15:59:00.003-04:00

You'll have to trust me that I almost wrote this post before recent developments with Warren and William E. Jessop. Friends can tell you that behind the scenes I've been saying Warren has gone "Gadhafi" on us and is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. What stopped me is literally not having the time to do it, until this very moment, after the story is out. Warren's own Religion is moving on him to get rid of him.

The Deseret News - " 'It is an attempt to preserve ... the church,' (William E.) Jessop, 41, said in an interview with The Associated Press."

And so there you have it. Either they're rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic or fighting in the proverbial burning building.

I'll bottom line it for you and say that you can't have a Prophet who isn't a Prophet. If you do, you have a False Prophet and the FLDS now admits they followed a false prophet. In an authority based religion led by rule of prophets, you simply can't do that. The Catholic Church went down that path years ago when fighting over primacy among the various "Seas" of the Christian Faith and ended up bestowing "Called by Christ" Apostolic office on their bishop. They made him Pope. Popes speak without error and they are merely men, as all FLDS/LDS "prophets" are. Over time their errors snowball and you end up with a mess. This is where the FLDS is now.

I have many friends in the FLDS that I love and respect. I even still admire Warren for trying to be true to his vision, which is sadly false. He's following his vision to it's logical conclusion and it's going to get him locked up for the rest of his life.

So here we go with the shoe to drop.

I was beginning a task years ago when I started this blog, to which I now return. You'll note that I had mentioned a forum. The forum was hosted by another friend, and no longer exists, so I'll have to explain. The forum was called "New Reformation," and that was the task I was starting. I diverted into the FLDS issue because it is closely related to the issue of Legal Polygyny.

With my expulsion from an Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Vermont, I have embarked on the journey of finding a tolerant denomination, or starting my own. Of the two unlikely prospects, the latter has the best chance. That was the purpose of the forum. That is what I return to doing.

Because of all these things, the internal fight amongst the FLDS and it's leadership, and my desire to devote what little time I now have to pursuing my original purpose, I am doing what I would not do all along because of my friendship with those in the FLDS faith.

Friends in the FLDS: It is known by some of you that I respect your right to practice your religion free and unfettered in this country. I share a roughly equivalent view of marriage with you. I don't have qualms like the rest of society has, with regard to polygyny and with regard to eligibility for marriage when it comes to age. Your fight in that respect, has been my fight. I have defended you without emphasizing what I disagree with. I wanted you to win, and still do.

Because I cannot take it seems, an active role in this fight any longer, I must tell you what I have politely refrained from telling you these three years.

Yours is a false religion, a false faith.

While you may not respond positively, I will call you out none the less, out of that false faith, into the light of Christianity. I fully realize that some of you in the FLDS may indeed be saved and be believers in Christ, but the tenets of the LDS or FLDS faith preclude you from embracing the religion of the Latter Day Saints and Christianity at the same time. One excludes the other.

Your God is not my LORD. My LORD is unbegun and eternal. His only begotten Son is Jesus Christ, of David, of Nazareth and also, Son of God who is the complete and only means of Salvation. Your God is a graduate of the "God Academy" as it were, and someday the men of your faith believe that they too can be like God. This is the lie Satan told Eve in the Garden. Come out of this faith. Embrace Christ as God and Son of God, the only God, the LORD, Alpha and Omega, for he says to you:

"I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."

Isaiah 45. If your respond, know that there is a place for you, a church, that will accept you, your families and all your wives and children.

Fukushima, Three Mile Island, We Almost Lost Detroit, Chernobyl and a Biblical Reference

2011-03-12T10:32:00.001-05:00

Under the heading of: "My problems are not so bad." My sister's are:

This isn't good. Remember this?

The downside of Nuclear Power. Is it simply too costly? It looks like 30 years later, after Three Mile Island (the most relevant nuclear accident to what is going on now in Japan), we're seeing a real life China Syndrome. Except on that side of the world, it might be called "The Detroit Syndrome."

That's another thing. Anyone ever read "We Almost Lost Detroit?"

I know I said TMI is a more relevant analog to this current situation than Chernobyl. But I am struck by the memory of what Chernobyl means in Ukrainian.

"Wormwood."

Put Frederik Pohl on your reading list.

And also remember too, that the wildlife around Chernobyl today is abundant and healthy. For the most part.

Did anyone mention that FIVE Japanese Nuclear Power plants are affected?

Things won't be good in Japan even if these problems are contained with relative ease. Where will they get the electricity?

Probably Coal. If we're lucky, that will be the real "China Syndrome."

I can relate

2011-03-08T21:10:00.002-05:00

The words of Job:

"If I speak, my pain is not lessened, And if I hold back, what has left me? But now He has exhausted me; You have laid waste all my company. You have shriveled me up, It has become a witness; And my leanness rises up against me, It testifies to my face. His anger has torn me and hunted me down, He has gnashed at me with His teeth; My adversary glares at me. They have gaped at me with their mouth, They have slapped me on the cheek with contempt; They have massed themselves against me. God hands me over to ruffians And tosses me into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, but He shattered me, And He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces; He has also set me up as His target. His arrows surround me. Without mercy He splits my kidneys open; He pours out my gall on the ground. He breaks through me with breach after breach; He runs at me like a warrior. I have sewed sackcloth over my skin And thrust my horn in the dust. My face is flushed from weeping, And deep darkness is on my eyelids, although there is no violence in my hands, And my prayer is pure. O earth, do not cover my blood, And let there be no resting place for my cry. Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, And my advocate is on high. My friends are my scoffers; My eye weeps to God. O that a man might plead with God As a man with his neighbor!"

Final Comments on the UNT Article?

2011-02-27T17:27:00.002-05:00

I should hope to shout, at least the UNT paper thought it was time to pull the plug.

Those of you who still follow this blog know you don't have to look far down the page to see the questions that Gregory J. Prickett (former "Peace Officer" and SGT. on the UNT Police force) won't dare answer. Again, if Greg is not "TxBluesMan" of Coram non Judice (blogger and wordpress) infamy, he would leap at the chance to answer the "yes or no" questions. I reposted them on the last page so the closure of the thread associated with the article shows them there. The efforts of the sycophantic dogs to cover them up with repeated nonsense posts thus fails.

It's a small point, and it's not. In the internet universe, people tend to read the last few comments. Those last few comments also tend to govern the resulting shallow opinion the reader takes away from the article. That is, if they read the comments.

This is a reality well known by the curious few multiple faced core posters at FLDS Texas who constantly traipse in and out of articles all over the internet, posting changes at Wikipedia.

They loudly proclaim not to understand the obvious. Equivocating always. Always burying whatever you said in your own voice with their supposed cacophony of voices which are doubtless much less in number than they appear to be.

They're always on the same page, always using the same arguments, always seeming to fail to see the same brutally obvious points, never making any concessions.

Except inadvertently.

K. Brister (who supposedly doesn't have a permanent job or phone but keeps up with insider details on this case) said:

"Whether or not Prickett is TxBluesman, you have slandered Prickett, and you filed a complaint against Prickett making allegations that are false and unfounded. What the hell difference does it make if he is TxBluesman or not?"

Because if he is TxBluesMan it follows directly that the bulk of my "allegations" are found to be true.

"You have falsely accused Prickett of extortion, stalking, stealing evidence, improperly using government equipment, and possessing child pornography. You have accused him of making comments on a website that he did not make. You have accused him of posting pictures that he did not post and naming your daughter which he did not do. You have attributed to him everything that happens on FLDS Texas website, including every comment that you don’t like."

As to extortion, well, that depends on if he posted what I said he posted, we'll get to that. Stalking, same deal.

Stealing evidence? I don't recall accusing him of that. I do think he had extraordinary access to information that someone else had to grant him. I think that's wrong.

Improperly using Government Equipment?

Brister.

That's the title of the article and that is what he was fired for: Blogging from work, which is in a broader sense, "improperly using Government Equipment."

Posting pictures of my daughter? He has a beef then with someone at FLDS Texas who used his "handle" at that site. Additionally the admin of that site said defiantly that they would not come down until the right people made the right requests through the right channels. I suppose Greg/Bluesman could make that request, couldn't he?

Child Pornography? Please talk to Bill Medvecky. I do not recall making such an accusation, though it's possible I may have referred to Bill making such an accusation.

"What you’re not grasping is that all of these things you’ve accused him of were not committed by TxBluesman either — they are false accusations, period. So it doesn’t matter whether Prickett is TxBluesman or not because the accusations are false and now you have tied them to Prickett. If you had kept your conspiratorial nose to yourself and just attacked the anonymous TxBluesman, there would be no cause of action for defamation even though your accusations are untrue. But since you have tied it to a real person, you’re in trouble."

Thanks for the admission that you know he's TxBluesMan. I'm quaking in my boots about the "Real Trouble" I am in.

"Quit demanding that Prickett answer your silly irrelevant questions. You’re not entitled. This is not your forum, this is not about you. His refusal to answer is not an indictment of anything and it is not indicative of any kind of admission and nothing can be inferred from his silence, no matter how you wish that were true. His refusal to engage with you simply shows that he is smarter than you and can control himself better than you."

I'm not sure I demanded, but if you want, I demand he answer them. It's a perfectly good word. You are demanding that I not demand. What "demands" do is make perfectly clear what someone's position or desire is. The demand is not thus granted. It's just very clear what someone wants. You want me to stop demanding, so you demanded that I stop.

Ok.

I hear you. Thanks for being clear.

I don't care if he can control himself or is smarter than I am.

"The answers to your questions don’t matter in any event, but you should have had the answers before you went and published your false accusations as fact and damaged a real person’s livelihood."

So sue me. Oh wait. He did.

His friend Natalie bounced her check on his court fees.

Smart man.

Controlled.

Yup.

How's that working out for him?

How come he knows Natalie?

CAJim posted 4 minutes later and said:

"Whether Prickett is or is not 'TexasBluesMan', 'BluesSonner' or 'PolygynyBuster' means little to me but,of course, I would know that before I brought a formal claim or repeated it on the internet with 'no proof' to back up my claim."

As has been often pointed out, you make accusations based on a preponderance of evidence. Talk to Ronald D. Hunter. Check my "accusations," they are qualified.

"I would think that an honest reporter and unbiased journalist would get his facts straight before he states them on the internet or reports on his own private actions as somehow newsworthy."

I am an honest reporter, but I am a blogger, which means I am a commenter, a satirist and a reporter. I'm my whole publication's staff. I wear all the hats. Trying to say I'm not being an honest reporter when I'm functioning as an opinion columnist or satirist is stupid.

"Did you have Rozita Swinton’s permission before you published her photos and later had to retract them?"

Didn't need to, she published them in the clear. I was unable to navigate Google's byzantine appeal system for getting them put back up and they're still out there, you just have to look around. Rozita is a player in this mess as well. She's a public figure and the rules are different.

"(S)uch high and might tones you struck in your complaint that your step-daughter was trepassed against, yet no apology or job loss when you published private photos from Rozita, who has never been charged with any 'hoax' calls here in Texas. Feeling just a tad hypocritical, Hugh?"

My daughter is not a public figure or player. You wanna try ME bucko and publish pictures of my relatives? I'd dare you to but I don't want you to. Just try it though and see how long you stay anonymous. That's called a "RHETORICAL REMARK."

Rozita not being charged only proves that Texas is corrupt.

You know, it might be fun to look into the "flock posting" habits of the pro Prickett commenters in that thread, as in, how close in terms of time do they post apart from one another? Or themselves as it were.

PS: TxBluesMan is feeling "Froggy" enough to post again.

Who wins the credibility contest: Sgt. Prickett or Hugh McBryde? There’s really no question.

2011-02-19T10:17:00.001-05:00

No, there isn't. I won.

A while ago, "FLDS Texas," a blog who has no reason to be rabidly supportive of Ex UNT Sgt. Gregory J. Prickett, crowed that there was no question as to who would win the credibility contest.

Now there is no question.

I won.

Greg can't even answer the questions that a man who was not TxBluesMan would be eager to answer.

I have comments I'm working on with regard to Allen Steed. It would appear that in pleading to this charge, the case against Warren is now even technically dead as well as practically speaking.

Greg speaks to me, in public (UPDATED)

2011-02-17T05:30:00.001-05:00

Just when you think you're out of it. (UPDATE, Greg acknowledged in a phone call today 02/19/11, that the comment at the UNT newspaper site was in fact his)

They pull you back in again. The former peace officer and UNT Sgt, Gregory Jack Prickett:

"Hugh,

Here are the facts about the Gus Elliott case.

In 2004, a 19-year old student was stopped for a traffic violation and was determined to have been drinking alcohol, including the use a field breath test which showed the presence of alcohol. Elliott admitted during his deposition that he had been drinking alcohol all night and had lied about it at the time of the arrest. When he failed the field sobriety tests, he refused to comply with instructions and then turned, taking a posture as if he were going to fight or to flee. Since he would not comply, it was necessary to restrain him, during which time Officer Linnell suffered a laceration over his right eye, for which he later received medical treatment. During the course of taking him into custody after this, Elliott suffered a chipped tooth and a lacerated chin. Elliott made a plea deal to avoid going to trial for DWI, and plead “no contest” to another charge, paid $871 in fines/costs and served 12 months “deferred adjudication” probation.

He then sued and asked for $250,000 in damages. The case went to trial in 2008. After the DPS Crime Lab broke down the video to 30-fps, you could clearly see Elliott begin to turn away from the other officer and myself before we ever moved. The jury came back with a verdict that we had not violated Elliott’s rights nor used excessive force.

Even more telling was that at the conclusion of the trial, but before it went to the jury, Elliott’s attorney dropped one of the claims that he had made against me, apparently realizing that he had not proven his case.

This is my first post on this thread, and although much of your information is incorrect, I don’t intend to go through a point by point rebuttal or debate over it."

My reply:

"We can clear things up a great deal if you answer the following, this of course assumes that you are Gregory Jack Prickett, the subject of the above article:

1.) How did you obtain the address PO Box 10485, Bozeman, MT?

The next several questions all are to be answered assuming a date of July 2010 or BEFORE.

2.) Were you associated in any way with the blogging identity 'TxBluesMan' who posted at all or one of the following blogs: 'Grits for Breakfast,' 'Modern Pharisee,' 'Coram non Judice (blogger version),' 'Coram non Judice (wordpress version),' any of the blogs of Brooke Adams of the Salt Lake Tribune, or the wordpress blog 'FLDS Texas?'

3.) Did you know who I was prior to (or during) July of 2010?

4.) Had you ever communicated with me (on or before July 31st of 2010)?

5.) Did you ever contribute to articles on the FLDS, and/or YFZ and/or Warren Jeffs at Wikipedia (this assumes that simply posting material written by others would be a 'contribution')?

Since you have now weighed in on the topic Greg, no other discussions are relevant unless you can and do answer the above questions, and in particular the last 4, with 'yes,' or 'no.'

I may have follow up questions."

Does he dare answer the last four with "yes" or "no?"

Tulsa Time

2011-02-13T21:45:00.002-05:00

Appologies to Danny Flowers.

Danny wrote Tulsa Time, which is most popular in our memories as a song either by Don Williams or Eric Clapton. Danny was born in Henderson North Carolina. I was born in North Carolina. I was just in Henderson a few weeks ago. But I digress. I intend to digress more than one time in this post.

This is going to be one of those catch-all/catch-up messages, intended to let you know what's going on in life with me, and more or less why I haven't been blogging. Trucking, (I am now a Over the Road trucker) has not lived up to it's promise as far as free time to write and blog goes. Probably an experienced trucker would have told me this had I asked. I asked (it appears), the wrong experienced trucker.

First of all, on my absence of comment on the FLDS and Warren. Warren signed the 120. I thought he was winning. Maybe all Warren is trying to do is stay out of the General Population in a Texas Prison as long as he can. Warren Jeffs has been made into the moral equivalent of a Jeffrey Dahmer. Warren, the media narrative goes, consumes the virgin flesh of young girls to satisfy his sick sexual appetites. Jeffrey ate people.

Jeffrey Dahmer was a trophy kill in prison. I sadly think Warren may be lined up for the same fate. I think Texas knows this. Given that Warren may not survive in prison, it may not matter how long he spends there. He won't be freed on appeal and the railroad style trial that Judge Walther would give him puts him in the crosshairs long enough to die. Perhaps this is Warren's thinking. Maybe his defense team knows something we don't that is a game changer. I don't think so.

The FLDS no longer talk to me and what is in the media is all I know. I've peaked behind the curtain on two ends. Rozita Swinton and "TxBluesMan." It doesn't seem to interest them. I'd be vitally interested in the FBI communications network that seemed to exist before Rozita was "discovered." So far the FLDS have only paid lip service to interest in that topic.

TxBluesMan had extraordinary access, sometimes posting court documents before the Judge seemed to see them or approve them. I seem to know who TxBluesMan is. That's interesting. The FLDS again give lip service to being interested in the topic. That's all though. Proving any conspiracy leading up to the invasion of YFZ may well let all the FLDS men go overnight. They don't seem to care. I don't know why. Maybe they have looked. Maybe I had good couple of leads that didn't pan out. I don't know.

On to what's happening with me.

I continue to pursue several paths that seem at least theoretically open to me.

In short, I propose a business/religion empire based on family and a spine of trucking.

How romantic.

I've "proposed" that anyone interested could contact me and the starting position of the business would be staffing one truck with two wives/drivers and me. That would mean you would get ten days off in a row, away from the cranky old Pharisee, and ten days with him. If I'm too much to take, maybe I wouldn't be in tiny doses.

Those of you who think the current Mrs. Pharisee doesn't know of this proposal are wrong.

A number of things would have to work out for the above to be the path.

The end result would be part ownership in a diversified business that had trucking as part of the enterprise. Driving the rest of your life is not part of the idea. Driving part of your life away, would be.

Follow the above link for more details.

Another path is the formation of a denomination, which continues to be my interest. This continues to progress. It is agonizingly slow. People are in addition, just too stubborn to admit that the best way to do things is simply to agree with me.

Odd, isn't it?

Then there is the sort of Methodist/Presbyterian circuit riding polygynist preacher. I need people to pony up for that one. It's quite simple. Support the effort monetarily and I will use my far ranging truck driving profession to show up on occasion, preach, take your money and deliver the sacraments, which for a reformed venue is pretty much baptism and communion.

The last is the least complex. I can make free time as a solo trucker. I do range about the country from one end to another. If I derived an income as a preacher the truck is just my wandering taxicab. It also would serve the denominational goal but from a slightly different angle.

I haven't mentioned the other path.

That's giving up, closing up shop, declaring bankruptcy, and shouting "Bah, Humbug" into some anonymous box canyon and retiring from public view. That would be after beating my head against the wall now for more than 20 years and coming to the conclusion, as I rapidly am beginning to seriously entertain, that no one at all, cares.

So what about Tulsa Time?

It appears that Tulsa does have it's own time standards. It is laid back. No one works in this industrial park on weekends, well one merchant does. Several of the commercial buildings are empty. They remind me mysteriously of the abandoned ABM site east of Conrad Montana. Melting snow drips. It's accumulated in places you would expect people to clear out. The ABM site was like that.

I hoofed it for about a mile round about my delivery site which won't take my cargo until tomorrow morning. There were no laundromats. There were no bars. There were no churches. There was a church TV station. There was a 24 hour a day pawn shop that redeemed gold and silver. It was busy.

Eventually I went back to the "receiver" of my freight and looked again for an outlet to plug into for my laptop. There were none. I continued to be nervous about the fact that there was what appeared to be an abandoned "tractor" (the term for the "truck" portion of an eighteen wheeler, it had expired plates and hadn't moved for a while and was backed up to the "dock"). The whole dock area showed only marginal signs of use. The snow was cleared away from the dock which was comforting, but I saw no signs of life at all. No security (it is Tulsa though) and no noises. Finally I did get an angle on the roof cooling unit and could hear it running. I felt better.

I have been sent to wrong locations before. It now appears this was not one of them. It's just sleepy. Tulsa time you know.

So I'm sitting on a loading dock of an adjoining business that does have plugs, and lighting, and listening to the snow melt dripping. It was 70 when I got here, it's in the 50's now. The snow is melting quickly but there was a lot of it to melt in Tulsa. It's still melting. Water is running everywhere.

This brings me to the digression (in part) of another reason I haven't been blogging.

There is the issue of no one giving a rat's hiney. It's hard to keep banging on the door when no one is home. It bruises your hands.

There is the issue of depression.

This is a depressing job when you're not moving or sleeping. I don't like hanging out in a truck. It is turning out to be very hard for me to compose a thought, and then follow through with putting it into print when the overwhelming thought is "oh, never mind," because when the truck stops moving, and you're not making the dough, and you're not sleeping, it's really really REALLY depressing.

I got into this business to be with a friend and to set about the activity of forming a new denomination.

I am now alone.

I never go home.

I miss my wife.

I'm not making enough money to justify doing this as a solo driver. I keep putting the pencil to it and can't make it work.

I do have one or two ways to make "soloing" work better that I've been trying. We'll see.

I try to be honest about who I am and what my faults are. I try to set things in front of you all so that you know me as well as you can know anyone you haven't met, or may have only met briefly.

There are drawbacks. It's the issue of "Pearls before Swine."

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

They do rend.

Most of what I encounter to my posts on both of my blogs now, is that rending.

Alone, I must tell you, it is extremely painful.

There are those that trample. They lie. They rend. They twist everything you say and yes, it hurts a great deal.

I don't mind saying so as I continue to try to be honest about who I am and what I am. Just saying the above will let me in for another round of jeering and ridicule. The only vague interest I have in that trampling and rending is what bizarre twist will my words be subjected to when I hear them read back to me, modified.

So I'm here in Tulsa. I may be here until Tuesday. Clock-wise, as a trucker, I have about four hours left to spend before Tuesday. I cannot go too many places in four hours. I certainly can't go on from that place to another. I may visit the local service center for my "tractor" and see if they can diagnose some odd things that are occurring with old blue. We'll see.

I think if I want to write, and to blog, I need to get out of the truck. It helps a lot.

Langtry, TX

2011-02-09T11:11:00.000-05:00

Home of Texas Style Justice.

Has anything changed? I passed through Langtry today, and thought of Judge Roy Bean, and didn't stop.

Tallulah Today, Clarksville and Fort Smith Saturday and Sunday

2011-02-04T23:58:00.000-05:00

I'm bunking in Tallulah Louisiana tonight and will be there most of Saturday Morning.

Saturday night, and all of Sunday I'll be in the Clarksville/Fort Smith area of Arkansas. Any like minded folks out there?