A "match of whits" we cannot win

    One of my all-time favorite movies is "The Princess Bride" (it was where my wife first let me know how she felt about me).  One of the most memorable scenes is the infamous "Match of Whits" scene (see above), where the masked man challenges a thief to a match of whits.  The masked man supposedly puts poison in one of the cups and challenges the thief to figure out which one.  They would then drink their glasses and the winner would be the one that is not dead.  Of course, those of us who've seen the movie know the masked man puts it in BOTH the glasses and he has "inoculated" himself from the poison by exposing himself to the poison in small amounts over a very long time.  It was a "lose-lose" situation for the thief and a "win-win" for the masked man.

    This is the same situation now for the GOP as they are being engaged in a "match of whits" with the democrats over the immigration bill.   We in the GOP are told that unless we pass this bill we will never get any votes from the Hispanic community every again.   We are told we need to reach out to them and pander to their demands of amnesty.   But in the heart of this bill is amnesty itself and no security on our southern border.  This bill will essentially add millions of new voters to the DNC and therefore the GOP will never win another major election again.

    The real answer is to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law rather than ignoring it.  We need to :

1. Secure our border (Mexico secures its southern border ... why don't we?) 
2. Penalize companies that TAKE jobs from Americans and give them to illegals
3. End the anchor-baby loop-hole (no other country allows children born in its borders to become automatic citizens.... why do we?)

    This is what needs to be done.  It's not racist... it's called CITIZENSHIP which I am entitled to and others can obtain ... IF they take the path that is provided to them.   Yes the GOP might still lose future elections, but at least then we have a fighting chance.  The other choice only gives amnesty to millions of people who don't care for our laws (they broke them to get here), our Constitution, our principles, our history or even our flag (how often I see them at rallies still flying the flag of Mexico).


     Call your Congressmen and URGE THEM TO NOT PASS THE IMMIGRATION BILL!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Okay, so its 90 degrees out and no where near Christmas, but given the current situation in DC these days and their tracking of phone records for ALL customers of Verizon,  I could not help but re-write the Christmas carol "Santa Claus is coming to town"

You better watch out

Better not pry
Better not spout
I'm telling you why
Washington is getting your calls

He's making a list
and checking it twice
He's gone find out who's ratting or not
Washington is getting your calls

He sees when you are snitching
He knows who you have called
He knows if you been bad or good
So be mute for goodness sake

You better watch out
Better not pry
Better not spout
I'm telling you why
Washington is getting your calls

With a few calls here and few calls there
a little check here and a little check there

Holder throws your a** in jail

The commies in the White House
will have a jubilee
Their going to build a Marxist-State
all around our great country

You better watch out
Better not pry
Better not spout
I'm telling you why
Washington is getting your calls

Free Will and Quantum Mechanics.

     I was thinking one day about "free will" and God's "predestination" of our lives (yes I know ... not something somebody normally thinks about... so sue me!)

     One problem people have with predestination is that idea that God had set up the universe in such a way that some are going to hell and some are going to heaven and that we have no choice in the matter.

     From a Newtonian Physics point of view they are correct.  For example.  If I take a ball a a known mass and put it on a spring of a known strength into a vacuum chamber (no air to interfere) I can with very great accuracy calculate where the ball will hit when I pull down on the spring and let it go.  I can do this because I know all the other "initial states of the system" (the ball,the spring, the strength of gravity).  You might say I have "predestined" the ball to land in a particular place and it has no other choice to land there.   

     So also many people see the whole of the universe and that God has set up the conditions for the universe to run a predefined course and where we "land" was completely God's doing.

      But then came a new kind of physics in the early 1900's called Quantum Mechanics.  This was largely due to anomalies found in experiments when it came to very small particles such as electrons.  Scientists started to see that these tiny particles exhibited properties of both mass and light.   They called this the "particle-wave duality".  This led to findings that these particles could not be described using Newtonian physics where we "know" the initial state and can determine the exact outcome, but instead we can only talk about possible states, possible outcomes and probabilities.  Einstein hated this concept at first exclaiming "God does not play dice!"  but after some time and convincing he did come to the realization that God does play dice.  In fact it is this very particle-wave duality which gives our universe the richness and variety of atoms it desperately needs for without it all the atoms in the universe would be nothing more than small round balls of electrons hugging the nucleus of the atom.  These atoms would merely roll around and provide no geometric structure that our DNA molecule needs, that diamonds need, that water molecules need etc..

Carbon Molecule

    Now how does all this fit with "Free Will" you ask.  To me, the addition of Quantum Mechanics (probability) says God does not "force" anyone to go to hell in the way the ball on the spring is "forced" to land at a certain point on the floor.   There is a chance it will and a chance it will not.  It is God's gift of "free will" to the universe and in a sense creates it and lets it go. (Of course some would I guess still say I am splitting hairs here and absolving God of what happens to his creation)

     Now of course God being outside of time and space can know where it's going to end up and by letting it happen (not hitting the "abort button") he has predestined us.  He  also of course does not just let the universe all go to hell.. instead he reaches in and alters its course by the sending of his Son Jesus Christ to redeem us all.

     Does this mean we can "choose God" ?   Not in the least.   To use another illustration let me use that of a magnet and an iron nail.   When the nail is left by itself, its iron atoms have disorganized magnetic poles inside of it, pointing all random directions.   There is no chance at all all that all of a sudden left to itself they will all decide to point in the same direction and become a magnet.  But when they come in the presence of a strong magnet, they suddenly rotate and align themselves with the magnetic flux lines.  The nail then becomes attracted to the magnet.

It is not the nail attracting the magnet but the other way around.   The nail can resist becoming a magnet (rust, dirt, etc) and not go to the magnet, but it cannot go to the magnet on its own power. So also it is when God calls us.  We can resist the call by our own sinful lives but we cannot by our own goodness come to him.   It is only by his grace and power that he "draws all men" to himself.

Gallup .. a lagging indicator

Looking at the above table of recent polls, do you see something amiss or troubling? 

I do and I think if you are an honest person you do as well.  Gallup is the only polling company that has yet to show the President is in trouble.   They seem to be dragging their feet to going negative.  Could it be that the Dept. of Justice still has a criminal case pending against the Gallup for possible "over billing" of the government? 

To me, Gallup has become a "lagging indicator" rather than a "leading indicator" of the countries concerns and views.   And like economic lagging indicators, they are completely WORTHLESS as they show what we already know rather than the storm that is headed our way.

Gallup, you are worthless and pathetic.