Archive for July 6, 2023

Decoding the Declaration of Independence

Posted: July 6, 2023 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
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It has been argued by many progressives that the Declaration of Independence has absolutely no legal value.  That is true.  All legal power and authority for the government of the United States flows from the Constitution.  However, The Declaration of Independence very eloquently conveys the moral and philosophical foundation at the very core of the founding of the United States. 

Thomas Jefferson did not write a truly original document when he wrote the Declaration.  He chose to base that document mainly on the writings of John Locke.  That was because Locke based his most influential works, Two Treatises of Government, primarily on Natural Law.

As you can see from the opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, Natural Law is the very foundation of the most famous breakup letter ever written.

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

This next quote states quite clearly that Natural Rights are the very foundation of the Declaration of Independence.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

This next quote is the most important for two reasons.  First, because Jefferson states that for governments to be legitimate, they must derive their powers solely from the consent from the governed.   Second, that the people have the right to tear down a government that is harmful to the natural rights of the people.

that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

This last quote warns us that we must have very valid reasons before we throw off the yoke of an oppressive government.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states.

Reality under the Fedora: Bud Light Still Popular, WhiteHouse Crack Over/Under, Expect More of the Same, Like We Trusted You, Deferring to Experience

Posted: July 6, 2023 by datechguy in Uncategorized

Let’s use some simple logic here:

Even if Bud Light’s Sales have dropped by 25% over last year, to the delight of many conservatives like me, the fact that they are still the #2 beer in the country means that a shitload of people are still buying, and presumably drinking it.

Yeah companies are noticing this and thinking twice but you can still make a pretty good profit being the #2 beer in the USA.

Let’s face it, Hunter Biden not withstanding is there anybody out there who would be the least bit surprised to find people in the Biden White House who are not named “Hunter” using cocaine?

I think the only type of person who would find that unbelievable are the type who would find the idea of Bill Clinton romping on Jeffrey Epstein’s private Island unbelievable.

I’d be interested in the betting odds of who the user is.

There was a lot of buzz about the supreme Court opinions from Justice Thomas who took apart Justice Jackson so called reasoning and Justice Gorsuch going after Justice Sotomayor’s reasoning in opinions.

I have a feeling that we’re going to be seeing a lot more of this because I think the conservative justices either know or have a pretty solid idea who leaked the Dobbs opinion but don’t have enough proof to go to court with it.

Given that this has led to assassination attempts and danger to people families I suspect the gloves are off so don’t be surprised if you see a lot more of this kind of thing.

There is a bit of a buzz about some business’ etc now saying that Trump supporters and/or conservatives are not welcome. Glenn Reynolds laughs at the idea that leftists doing this is something new.

What I find funny is the idea that conservatives would willingly go to such a place that advertises their liberalism on their sleeve. Remember a Christian is required to see all others as a child of God and are further required to love their enemies while those who have rejected this for liberalism and Marxism and the ever expanding alphabet labels do not have this requirement.

Why would you presume such folks would not play with your food if they see a cross or a crucifix around your neck or a t-shirt on your back particularly if they are not working for a national chain that would be terrified about both liability and being bud lighted?

When I see the rainbow flag I eat elsewhere.

As you know I had a big objection to Marcus Smart being traded by the Celtics but that being said I’m not an ex basketball player or a hall of famer so while my gut says that this was a very bad idea I have to concede that Bob Cousy opinion on Mr. Smart might be a tad more informed than I when he said that Smart should ask himself why he was always open at the end of the game.

I’m afraid I’m going to have to defer to experience here.

Psalms 1-10 as I understand them

Posted: July 6, 2023 by Zilla in catholic, Uncategorized
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It is still Wonderment Wednesday somewhere!

Hi everyone! Over at my place I have audio readings of Psalms 1-10 if you like to listen, but here I don’t want to hog Peter’s bandwidth so for you all, I went down a rabbit hole to find a website with the Bible translation that I happen to use – the New American Bible. Below I am putting each Psalm with the website’s commentary and a direct link to the site over there. After I have finished this, I will share my thoughts on what these first ten psalms mean to me. Thank you for reading, listening, and/or praying! XOXO

Psalm 1

1 Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, Nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers.

2 Rather, the law of the LORD is their joy; God’s law they study day and night.

3 They are like a tree planted near streams of water, that yields its fruit in season; Its leaves never wither; whatever they do prospers.

4 But not the wicked! They are like chaff driven by the wind.

5 Therefore the wicked will not survive judgment, nor will sinners in the assembly of the just.

6 The LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.

Psalm 1 is a psalm of wisdom that describes the blessings that come to those who choose to follow the law of God. The psalm talks about how the righteous are blessed and how the wicked will perish.

Psalm 2

1 Why do the nations protest and the peoples grumble in vain?

2 Kings on earth rise up and princes plot together against the LORD and his anointed:

3 “Let us break their shackles and cast off their chains!”

4 The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord derides them,

5 Then speaks to them in anger, terrifies them in wrath:

6 “I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”

7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD, who said to me, “You are my son; today I am your father.

8 Only ask it of me, and I will make your inheritance the nations, your possession the ends of the earth.

9 With an iron rod you shall shepherd them, like a clay pot you will shatter them.”

10 And now, kings, give heed; take warning, rulers on earth.

11 Serve the LORD with fear; with trembling bow down in homage, Lest God be angry and you perish from the way in a sudden blaze of anger. Happy are all who take refuge in God!

Psalm 2 is a messianic psalm that talks about the reign of the Messiah about all nations and the rejection of the rulers of the earth to Him.

Psalm 3

1 A psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.

2 How many are my foes, LORD! How many rise against me!

3 How many say of me, “God will not save that one.” Selah

4 But you, LORD, are a shield around me; my glory, you keep my head high.

5 Whenever I cried out to the LORD, I was answered from the holy mountain. Selah

6 Whenever I lay down and slept, the LORD preserved me to rise again.

7 I do not fear, then, thousands of people arrayed against me on every side.

8 Arise, LORD! Save me, my God! You will shatter the jaws of all my foes; you will break the teeth of the wicked.

9 Safety comes from the LORD! Your blessing for your people! Selah

Psalm 3 is a prayer of King David amid a situation of danger and anguish. He calls for God for help and salvation, trusting in his protection and deliverance. The topics covered in this Psalm include trust in God in the midst of adversities, certainty of salvation and divine protection.

Psalm 4

1 For the leader; with stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

2 Answer when I call, my saving God. In my troubles, you cleared a way; show me favor; hear my prayer.

3 How long will you people mock my honor, love what is worthless, chase after lies? Selah

4 Know that the LORD works wonders for the faithful; the LORD hears when I call out.

5 Tremble and do not sin; upon your beds ponder in silence.

6 Offer fitting sacrifice and trust in the LORD.

7 Many say, “May we see better times! LORD, show us the light of your face!” Selah

8 But you have given my heart more joy than they have when grain and wine abound.

9 In peace I shall both lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me secure.

Psalm 4 is a night prayer that expresses confidence in God in the midst of anguish and injustice

Psalm 5

1 For the leader; with wind instruments. A psalm of David.

2 Hear my words, O LORD; listen to my sighing.

3 Hear my cry for help, my king, my God! To you I pray, O LORD;

4 at dawn you will hear my cry; at dawn I will plead before you and wait.

5 You are not a god who delights in evil; no wicked person finds refuge with you;

6 the arrogant cannot stand before you. You hate all who do evil;

7 you destroy all who speak falsely. Murderers and deceivers the LORD abhors.

8 But I can enter your house because of your great love. I can worship in your holy temple because of my reverence for you, LORD.

9 Guide me in your justice because of my foes; make straight your way before me.

10 For there is no sincerity in their mouths; their hearts are corrupt. Their throats are open graves; on their tongues are subtle lies.

11 Declare them guilty, God; make them fall by their own devices. Drive them out for their many sins; they have rebelled against you.

12 Then all who take refuge in you will be glad and forever shout for joy. Protect them that you may be the joy of those who love your name.

13 For you, LORD, bless the just; you surround them with favor like a shield.

Psalm 5 is a prayer of David in search of divine protection and guidance before his enemies. He calls for God’s righteousness and trusts his faithfulness.

Psalm 6

1 For the leader; with stringed instruments, “upon the eighth.” A psalm of David.

2 Do not reprove me in your anger, LORD, nor punish me in your wrath.

3 Have pity on me, LORD, for I am weak; heal me, LORD, for my bones are trembling.

4 In utter terror is my soul– and you, LORD, how long…?

5 Turn, LORD, save my life; in your mercy rescue me.

6 For who among the dead remembers you? Who praises you in Sheol?

7 I am wearied with sighing; all night long tears drench my bed; my couch is soaked with weeping.

8 My eyes are dimmed with sorrow, worn out because of all my foes.

9 Away from me, all who do evil! The LORD has heard my weeping.

10 The LORD has heard my prayer; the LORD takes up my plea.

11 My foes will be terrified and disgraced; all will fall back in sudden shame.

Psalm 6 is a lament prayer in which the psalmist calls for mercy and divine healing in the midst of a disease or crisis

Psalm 7

1 A plaintive song of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, the Benjaminite.

2 LORD my God, in you I take refuge; rescue me; save me from all who pursue me,

3 Lest they maul me like lions, tear me to pieces with none to save.

4 LORD my God, if I am at fault in this, if there is guilt on my hands,

5 If I have repaid my friend with evil– I spared even those who hated me without cause–

6 Then let my enemy pursue and overtake me, trample my life to the ground, and leave me dishonored in the dust.Selah

7 Rise up, LORD, in your anger; rise against the fury of my foes. Wake to judge as you have decreed.

8 Have the assembly of the peoples gather about you; sit on your throne high above them,

9 O LORD, judge of the nations. Grant me justice, LORD, for I am blameless, free of any guilt.

10 Bring the malice of the wicked to an end; uphold the innocent, O God of justice, who tries hearts and minds.

11 A shield before me is God who saves the honest heart.

12 God is a just judge, who rebukes in anger every day.

13 If sinners do not repent, God sharpens his sword, strings and readies the bow,

14 Prepares his deadly shafts, makes arrows blazing thunderbolts.

15 Sinners conceive iniquity; pregnant with mischief, they give birth to failure.

16 They open a hole and dig it deep, but fall into the pit they have dug.

17 Their mischief comes back upon themselves; their violence falls on their own heads.

18 I praise the justice of the LORD; I celebrate the name of the LORD Most High.

Psalm 7 is a prayer of David, in which he cries to God to free him from his enemies. He expresses his confidence in God’s righteousness and asks him to judge his cause.

Psalm 8

1 For the leader; “upon the gittith.” A psalm of David.

2 O LORD, our Lord, how awesome is your name through all the earth! You have set your majesty above the heavens!

3 Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have drawn a defense against your foes, to silence enemy and avenger.

4 When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place–

5 What are humans that you are mindful of them, mere mortals that you care for them?

6 Yet you have made them little less than a god, crowned them with glory and honor.

7 You have given them rule over the works of your hands, put all things at their feet:

8 All sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field,

9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatever swims the paths of the seas.

10 O LORD, our Lord, how awesome is your name through all the earth!

Psalm 8 is a song of praise to God for His greatness and for granting man the position of dominating upon creation.

Psalm 9

1 For the leader; according to Muth Labben. A psalm of David.

2 I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous deeds.

3 I will delight and rejoice in you; I will sing hymns to your name, Most High.

4 For my enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you.

5 You upheld my right and my cause, seated on your throne, judging justly.

6 You rebuked the nations, you destroyed the wicked; their name you blotted out for all time

7 The enemies have been ruined forever; you destroyed their cities; their memory has perished.

8 The LORD rules forever, has set up a throne for judgment.

9 It is God who governs the world with justice, who judges the peoples with fairness.

10 The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, stronghold in times of trouble.

11 Those who honor your name trust in you; you never forsake those who seek you, LORD.

12 Sing hymns to the LORD enthroned on Zion; proclaim God’s deeds among the nations!

13 For the avenger of bloodshed remembers, does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

14 Have mercy on me, LORD; see how my foes afflict me! You alone can raise me from the gates of death.

15 Then I will declare all your praises, sing joyously of your salvation in the gates of daughter Zion.

16 The nations fall into the pit they dig; in the snare they hide, their own foot is caught.

17 The LORD is revealed in this divine rule: by the deeds they do the wicked are trapped. Higgaion. Selah

18 To Sheol the wicked will depart, all the nations that forget God.

19 The needy will never be forgotten, nor will the hope of the afflicted ever fade.

20 Arise, LORD, let no mortal prevail; let the nations be judged in your presence.

21 Strike them with terror, LORD; show the nations they are mere mortals. Selah

Psalm 9 is a psalm of thanksgiving in which the psalmist expresses his gratitude to God for his protection and salvation in difficult times. He also calls for justice against his enemies.

Psalm 10

1 Why, LORD, do you stand at a distance and pay no heed to these troubled times?

2 Arrogant scoundrels pursue the poor; they trap them by their cunning schemes.

3 The wicked even boast of their greed; these robbers curse and scorn the LORD.

4 In their insolence the wicked boast: “God doesn’t care, doesn’t even exist.”

5 Yet their affairs always succeed; they ignore your judgment on high; they sneer at all who oppose them.

6 They say in their hearts, “We will never fall; never will we see misfortune.”

7 Their mouths are full of oaths, violence, and lies; discord and evil are under their tongues.

8 They wait in ambush near towns; their eyes watch for the helpless. to murder the innocent in secret.

9 They lurk in ambush like lions in a thicket, hide there to trap the poor, snare them and close the net.

10 The helpless are crushed, laid low; they fall into the power of the wicked,

11 Who say in their hearts, “God pays no attention, shows no concern, never bothers to look.”

12 Rise up, LORD God! Raise your arm! Do not forget the poor!

13 Why should the wicked scorn God, say in their hearts, “God doesn’t care”?

14 But you do see; you do observe this misery and sorrow; you take the matter in hand. To you the helpless can entrust their cause; you are the defender of orphans.

15 Break the arms of the wicked and depraved; make them account for their crimes; let none of them survive.

16 The LORD is king forever; the nations have vanished from God’s land.

17 You listen, LORD, to the needs of the poor; you encourage them and hear their prayers.

18 You win justice for the orphaned and oppressed; no one on earth will cause terror again.

Psalm 10 is a lament that expresses the perplexity of the psalmist in the face of God’s apparent injustice to allow the wicked to prosper and oppress the poor and needy. The psalm begins with the question, “Why do you keep you away? And why do you hide in the time of tribulation?” (v. 1).

https://www.bibliacatolica.com.br/the-new-american-bible/psalms/1/amp/

My hot take is that King David is relatable because he was having hard times and getting frustrated, but he never forgot that God is Awesome all of the time. These first ten psalms contain powerful big prayers. Amen. King David complains at God but continues to do for himself until God can get to him…

It is not difficult to identify with King David when he laments and to feel encouraged at his bold and eloquent words about what God can, will, or had done to the bad guys!

For me, these first ten psalms remind us that God loves us and that he deserves respect. God NEVER fails but He wants us to trust Him. God has feelings too.

People who love the Lord and follow His laws don’t have a whole lot to worry about.

The moment I accepted the above as truth, my whole life changed completely for the better. God is amazing.

Amen