Somehow, someway, I came across some news article about Kirk Cameron, the one-time TV star turned Evangelical. He's on some kind of tour to help people strengthen their marriage with various Biblical teachings on the subject. Coincidentally, this article reiterates a few things that have been discussed in the Bible study sessions I have been attending for the last few months.
Here's what Kirk had to say...
"Wives are to honor and respect and follow their husband's lead, not to tell their husband how he ought to be a better husband."
"Thinking that you are going to win an argument, you end up losing. It's a no-win situation. In order for you to win, your husband or wife has to lose. When they lose, you have not built up your marriage. You have really cut them down. When couples start arguing and fighting in front of the kids, dad cuts mom and mom cuts dad and the kids bleed. They see that and it damages them. When the kids get to marriage, they will follow patterns that they see..."
Kirk Cameron is not wrong here, even if his Biblical approach to the subject makes a lot of folks uncomfortable. Why would they feel so uncomfortable? Probably because they are cherry-picking verses out of context and trying to take the text literally, which just doesn't work with a religious text. I do understand why they would want to take things literally, since that is how we are taught to logically analyze things: take the evidence at face value and see if it stands up to scrutiny. However, the Bible is more like a work of literature using a lot of metaphor than some kind of instruction manual for how to live life. I won't try to explain further because, I'm honestly not sure how. It's probably not something that can be rationally explained, only felt. As an Aspie, I'm not really equipped to explain anything emotional.
To those who understand, no explanation is necessary. To those who do not understand, no explanation is likely to ever be possible.
Furthermore, what Kirk means with the 'honor and respect' thing is that a wife should be supportive of their husbands and make them feel significant. Women need security in their relationships and men need to feel like they (and what they do for their families) actually matters. That's also what St. Paul meant whenever he discussed the issue in the Epistles.
However, if you show the verses that he references here (Colossians 3:18-19) to some people, they will take it out of context and assume that women are supposed to be slaves to their husbands. That could not be further from the truth. Moses outlawed that practice in Exodus and put a death penalty on it too. That may be one of the few instances where I might actually approve of a death penalty.
"Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession." - Exodus 21:16
In fact, The Bible is about as Anti-Slavery as you can get. This should not be a surprise considering that it was written by a bunch of Jews who needed some serious Divine Intervention to escape bondage in Egypt. :P
The more I learn about what a real Christian Marriage is supposed to be, the more I find myself liking the idea. It keeps things nice and civil, not to mention happy. Despite popular (and grossly uninformed) opinion, it's actually quite egalitarian. People just get caught up on the wording in whatever version of the Bible they read and either become confused or get the wrong idea. Considering how hard it is to translate Ancient Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic and Syriac into modern English, this is no surprise. However, that is what clergymen and Bible studies are for...
Also ladies, one final thought: Constant henpecking and nagging is NOT going to help keep your relationship strong. DON'T do that shit. If there's anything that will make a man want to walk out the door, it's you constantly busting his balls. You'd think this would be obvious but, for so many, it's not.
- Lord Publius
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Sorry about the hiatus...
Sorry that I haven't been posting much as of late. Life has been keeping me busy. Also, what writing I have been doing has either been a Business Plan for a business I'd like to own/operate someday or a few different gaming articles for Fortis Core. I'll provide links to them all here...
Retro-Gaming On A Plug'N'Play Done Right
http://fortiscoregaming.com/article/view/2016/03/20/31/retro-gaming-on-a-plug-n-play-done-right
Can a new player come into the console business and succeed?
http://fortiscoregaming.com/article/view/2016/04/16/50/can-a-new-player-come-into-the-console-business-and-succeed
Review: SEGA Genesis Ultimate Portable Game Player Deluxe
http://fortiscoregaming.com/review/view/2016/04/21/56/review-sega-genesis-ultimate-portable-game-player-deluxe
I don't know when exactly but, there will be something posted here to this blog in the near future. Interesting things are happening with my efforts to affect a career change.
- Lord Publius
Retro-Gaming On A Plug'N'Play Done Right
http://fortiscoregaming.com/article/view/2016/03/20/31/retro-gaming-on-a-plug-n-play-done-right
Can a new player come into the console business and succeed?
http://fortiscoregaming.com/article/view/2016/04/16/50/can-a-new-player-come-into-the-console-business-and-succeed
Review: SEGA Genesis Ultimate Portable Game Player Deluxe
http://fortiscoregaming.com/review/view/2016/04/21/56/review-sega-genesis-ultimate-portable-game-player-deluxe
I don't know when exactly but, there will be something posted here to this blog in the near future. Interesting things are happening with my efforts to affect a career change.
- Lord Publius
Thursday, April 14, 2016
13 Random thoughts for 14 April 2016
1.) The only problem with Redheads is that there aren't enough of them... Well, at least the female ones. The male gingers are usually pretty damned ugly and have no soul. Poor bastards...
2.) Speaking of Redheads... I read an interview earlier today with my favorite Redhead, Leanna Decker. According to that interview, she can cook, she sleeps in the buff and said she wanted to work for NASA as a kid. Wanting to work for NASA as a kid (assuming she was being serious and not joking) means that she will make an EXCELLENT assistant in my future Mad Science Laboratory. Ladies and Gentlemen, I now have more reasons than ever to love this woman. I need to marry this girl right away and VERY enthusiastically give her at least a half-dozen beautiful ginger babies born with their own souls. I have spoken! ;)
3.) Speaking of the Mad Science Laboratory... Well, I managed to get most of the crap in my garage cleaned out and should be able to start setting up shop sometime soon. Until then, the low-cost projects I have in mind can be done in my house. One of them will be making a game emulation machine out of a small, computer-on-a-chip called a Raspberry Pi. The other will have to be done in my living room because, that's where the monster in question will live. The 'monster' in this instance is some of my mother's old vintage component stereo equipment being integrated with mine in the living room to create the ULTIMATE sound experience. Pics and a new post will be made about it sometime soon.
4.) I have been going to church with my mother a lot as of late. It has proven informative on a lot of things, especially St. Paul's mindset when he wrote many of his letters. All that being said, my general opinion on spiritual matters remains the same: Faith is fine. Organized religion is the WORST enabler of bad behavior in the history of Human civilization. Good thing this is a church that practices Biblical Christianity and seems to agree that Organized Religions are terrible.
5.) I was once debating over whether I wanted to get a PS4 or an XBOX One. Now, I'm not sure that I want either of them. After doing some research, I see that both systems require me to install the game from the disc, much like installing games on a PC. What the Hell?! One of the reasons why I like Consoles is because I *don't* have to bother with installing much of anything, let alone the whole game. What if I get more games than my console's HDD can store? PS4 can be upgraded with larger hard drives but, XB1 can't. I don't mind having to download software patches/updates and putting game saves on a hard drive but, the whole game? Only if it's classic or a small game from an indie developer that I downloaded from a service like Nintendo eShop, PSN, et al. Looks like I'll just stick to WiiU for the time being...
6.) Upon further review, I see that PS4 and XB1 have those requirements because the Blu-Ray drives run too slow to run the games off of the disc. Running them off the disc would result in very long load times. PlayStation would definitely want to avoid that since PS1 & PS2 were infamous for long load times. It might also be why, according to the rumor mill anyway, that Nintendo is (supposedly) going back to a cartridge format for their next console. I think it's more likely to be a form of solid-state media like a SD card or the HuCards (aka 'TurboChips') used on older consoles like the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16. SEGA Master System also had something similar but, most developers just used cartridges instead.
7.) I am starting to get annoyed with immature/perverted idiots on the internet constantly harrassing Cosplayers to do nude shoots, especially Jessica Nigri. If they don't want to show you their tits, then they don't have to, guy! There's more than enough Porn on the internet. Go find some and rub one out, already! By acting like the obviously immature little 12 year-old you are, you're giving that bitch Sarkeesian more ammo she can try to use against #Gamergate. Don't be that guy.
8.) Anyone who reads this blog regularly probably remembers that '17 reasons why I left the Army' post. In that post, I discussed how many soldiers were a bunch of rapist bastards and provided a link to a video made by an Army buddy who experienced a sexual assault. I just found out on February 9th that it happened to another female I knew in my battalion from Korea. I wonder how many other female co-workers of mine were assaulted or raped... Just when I thought I couldn't get MORE disgusted with the Army, I somehow find myself becoming even more disgusted.
9.) I'm finally making some headway with the VA and getting regular medical care. Still fighting with them about the disability rating, though... Can't say much else about it right now because there's genuinely nothing to report. Like any other agency of the Federal government, this is likely to be a LONG process.
10.) Right now, my immediate concern is finding regular work. The Insurance Adjusting stuff I have been doing since leaving the Army in 2014 is becoming less and less reliable/desirable. I am getting help with that from the VA and a few Veteran's Service organizations. Hopefully, there will be some positive results sometime really soon.
11.) Why is insurance adjusting so undesirable? Well, the way it's gone so far, I haven't been able to get any work except in various State Farm call centers. Those gigs are 60 hours a week and mean being away from home for months on end. The money is good but, much of it is either taken via taxes or spent supporting 2 households: my house in NOLA and whatever apartment I can find in the town where the call center is located. Finding an apartment is also time consuming and difficult, thanks to the long work schedule. That means that you're living out of hotels for at least the first month that you're away. The money you do make is often spent before it can even be enjoyed. Not hard to imagine why I'd want to switch careers, huh?
12.) I have told the companies that I work for that I would like to do catastrophe work. (i.e. going to disaster areas and examining damage to cars and property after hailstorms, hurricanes, et al.) I didn't get any of that work last year because, there just wasn't any available. 2016 might be different but, I am not taking that chance. As soon as I can get a regular job here in NOLA, I will never take any of these out-of-town gigs ever again.
13.) All that being said, I shared my idea for a Retro-game store with the VA career counselor that I see every week and she think I should go in that direction. So, I'm putting my list of informal ideas that I showed her into a formal business plan based on a template from the Small Business Administration. That's where most of the writing I said I was going to start doing again in a previous post has been as of late. It would be wonderful if I could get the SBA to give me a loan to start this business. I do have a better chance than most since I'm a Veteran but, I have to admit that I have no idea what I'm doing yet. There's a lot to learn...
- Publius
2.) Speaking of Redheads... I read an interview earlier today with my favorite Redhead, Leanna Decker. According to that interview, she can cook, she sleeps in the buff and said she wanted to work for NASA as a kid. Wanting to work for NASA as a kid (assuming she was being serious and not joking) means that she will make an EXCELLENT assistant in my future Mad Science Laboratory. Ladies and Gentlemen, I now have more reasons than ever to love this woman. I need to marry this girl right away and VERY enthusiastically give her at least a half-dozen beautiful ginger babies born with their own souls. I have spoken! ;)
3.) Speaking of the Mad Science Laboratory... Well, I managed to get most of the crap in my garage cleaned out and should be able to start setting up shop sometime soon. Until then, the low-cost projects I have in mind can be done in my house. One of them will be making a game emulation machine out of a small, computer-on-a-chip called a Raspberry Pi. The other will have to be done in my living room because, that's where the monster in question will live. The 'monster' in this instance is some of my mother's old vintage component stereo equipment being integrated with mine in the living room to create the ULTIMATE sound experience. Pics and a new post will be made about it sometime soon.
4.) I have been going to church with my mother a lot as of late. It has proven informative on a lot of things, especially St. Paul's mindset when he wrote many of his letters. All that being said, my general opinion on spiritual matters remains the same: Faith is fine. Organized religion is the WORST enabler of bad behavior in the history of Human civilization. Good thing this is a church that practices Biblical Christianity and seems to agree that Organized Religions are terrible.
5.) I was once debating over whether I wanted to get a PS4 or an XBOX One. Now, I'm not sure that I want either of them. After doing some research, I see that both systems require me to install the game from the disc, much like installing games on a PC. What the Hell?! One of the reasons why I like Consoles is because I *don't* have to bother with installing much of anything, let alone the whole game. What if I get more games than my console's HDD can store? PS4 can be upgraded with larger hard drives but, XB1 can't. I don't mind having to download software patches/updates and putting game saves on a hard drive but, the whole game? Only if it's classic or a small game from an indie developer that I downloaded from a service like Nintendo eShop, PSN, et al. Looks like I'll just stick to WiiU for the time being...
6.) Upon further review, I see that PS4 and XB1 have those requirements because the Blu-Ray drives run too slow to run the games off of the disc. Running them off the disc would result in very long load times. PlayStation would definitely want to avoid that since PS1 & PS2 were infamous for long load times. It might also be why, according to the rumor mill anyway, that Nintendo is (supposedly) going back to a cartridge format for their next console. I think it's more likely to be a form of solid-state media like a SD card or the HuCards (aka 'TurboChips') used on older consoles like the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16. SEGA Master System also had something similar but, most developers just used cartridges instead.
7.) I am starting to get annoyed with immature/perverted idiots on the internet constantly harrassing Cosplayers to do nude shoots, especially Jessica Nigri. If they don't want to show you their tits, then they don't have to, guy! There's more than enough Porn on the internet. Go find some and rub one out, already! By acting like the obviously immature little 12 year-old you are, you're giving that bitch Sarkeesian more ammo she can try to use against #Gamergate. Don't be that guy.
8.) Anyone who reads this blog regularly probably remembers that '17 reasons why I left the Army' post. In that post, I discussed how many soldiers were a bunch of rapist bastards and provided a link to a video made by an Army buddy who experienced a sexual assault. I just found out on February 9th that it happened to another female I knew in my battalion from Korea. I wonder how many other female co-workers of mine were assaulted or raped... Just when I thought I couldn't get MORE disgusted with the Army, I somehow find myself becoming even more disgusted.
9.) I'm finally making some headway with the VA and getting regular medical care. Still fighting with them about the disability rating, though... Can't say much else about it right now because there's genuinely nothing to report. Like any other agency of the Federal government, this is likely to be a LONG process.
10.) Right now, my immediate concern is finding regular work. The Insurance Adjusting stuff I have been doing since leaving the Army in 2014 is becoming less and less reliable/desirable. I am getting help with that from the VA and a few Veteran's Service organizations. Hopefully, there will be some positive results sometime really soon.
11.) Why is insurance adjusting so undesirable? Well, the way it's gone so far, I haven't been able to get any work except in various State Farm call centers. Those gigs are 60 hours a week and mean being away from home for months on end. The money is good but, much of it is either taken via taxes or spent supporting 2 households: my house in NOLA and whatever apartment I can find in the town where the call center is located. Finding an apartment is also time consuming and difficult, thanks to the long work schedule. That means that you're living out of hotels for at least the first month that you're away. The money you do make is often spent before it can even be enjoyed. Not hard to imagine why I'd want to switch careers, huh?
12.) I have told the companies that I work for that I would like to do catastrophe work. (i.e. going to disaster areas and examining damage to cars and property after hailstorms, hurricanes, et al.) I didn't get any of that work last year because, there just wasn't any available. 2016 might be different but, I am not taking that chance. As soon as I can get a regular job here in NOLA, I will never take any of these out-of-town gigs ever again.
13.) All that being said, I shared my idea for a Retro-game store with the VA career counselor that I see every week and she think I should go in that direction. So, I'm putting my list of informal ideas that I showed her into a formal business plan based on a template from the Small Business Administration. That's where most of the writing I said I was going to start doing again in a previous post has been as of late. It would be wonderful if I could get the SBA to give me a loan to start this business. I do have a better chance than most since I'm a Veteran but, I have to admit that I have no idea what I'm doing yet. There's a lot to learn...
- Publius
Saturday, April 9, 2016
A few thoughts about the new 'discriminatory' law in Mississippi...
3 things come to mind when I read about this new law in MS that allows MS citizens to discriminate against LGBT people based on religious belief...
1.) I want to see the text of this law before I make any comment on it or form an opinion. I don't trust the Media to tell me what's in it because I know they have an agenda to push.
2.) Tourism in MS being adversely affected? Really? How many Homosexual couples were planning to soon visit the Magnolia State for some reason? I have been to MS many times in my life. (I have extended family that lives there.) I can promise you that MS is definitely NOT the 'San Francisco of the South'. New Orleans would probably have that distinction. Maybe Miami...
3.) Don't want anyone discriminating against you for being gay? Don't tell them you are gay. There are at least 5 things you don't talk to people about and sexuality is one of them. The other 4 are family issues, politics, religion and your personal finances. If anyone ever asks you about these things without having a sincere need to know, tell them to mind their own business.
- Lord Publius
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Bake my cake or I'll get the government involved!
I know this topic is old news for some but, the Leftists have gone way too damned far. Passing laws that force a bakery owned by Christians to make a cake for a gay wedding is ridiculous. And this post will explain why.
Earlier tonight, I found myself reading a blog post on a site called 'Intellectual Take Out'. The post was about why it's wrong to force a business to take orders from a customer they don't want to work for. They used the example of a Jewish baker being forced to make a cake with a Swastika on it for a Neo-Nazi.
No one with any shred of Human decency would force the Jewish baker to make that cake. Yet, for some reason, it's okay to force a conservative Christian to make a cake for a homosexual couple's wedding reception. You wouldn't force the Jew to do something he found incredibly disgusting and offensive but, you would force the Christian? Seeing the hypocrisy here? Left-wingers obviously don't.
They immediately took the side of the gay couple and assumed that the Christian baker was being bigoted and intolerant. However, the Christian baker did make a recommendation to the couple about another baker who would do the job. A sensible person would decide to not bother the Christian baker and go to the baker who would take their order and make the cake. That's how a free market works. Someone will recognize the need in the marketplace and find a way to fill that need and make a profit for themselves. It's actually a beautiful thing... Also, I want to know what kind of cake the gay couple wanted to have. Was it a traditional wedding cake with 2 grooms on top instead of a groom and bride? Or, was it something homoerotic? If it was the latter of those two options, I can understand the Christian baker's polite refusal of the contract.
There were also a few lines towards the end of that post that caught my attention:
"Sacrificing principle for the sake of marginalized groups is short-sighted. If you accept the infringement of human rights as an acceptable political weapon, that weapon will eventually be turned on the very people you want to help."
If I own a business, ANY business, I also have the right NOT to take someone's business. I don't need a reason, either.
Let's use the bakery as an example. Let's say I'm a baker and some Neo-Nazi walks in, asking me to make a cake with a Swastika on top. Or, how about a Communist asking for one with a Hammer & Sickle. I'm going to refuse both of these prospective customers. That kind of cake being made by my business will drive away prospective customers that, like me, despise the evils of Fascism and Communism. I won't make a cake for a gay wedding with a picture of 2 guys pounding each other's ass, either. That is gross and offensive. It would repulse me and my other customers. Conservative Christians won't do business with someone that makes a cake for gay weddings. Jews won't do business with someone who made a cake for the local Neo-Nazi group's monthly meeting, either. Americans of virtually any stripe won't do business with someone percieved to be a fuckin' commie puke, either. And since Jews, Christians & real Americans are a MUCH larger market demographic, I choose to appeal to them instead.
Also, there is one other very important question in this case that needs to be asked: Where does it end?
Am I as a business owner allowed to turn away customers that are being disruptive? Will we tell a bar owner that he can't refuse alcohol to someone that's clearly drunk? How about a restaurateur not being allowed to ask loud and disruptive diners to leave the establishment? How about a car dealer that no longer wants to waste time on a prospective customer that has terrible credit and just can't afford to buy ANYTHING on the lot? Will you pass laws forcing them to take on clients that would be terrible for their business too?
The Leftists here are looking at things through a really skewed point of view, especially when they think of business owners. They act as if every one of them is a would-be Robber Baron. That is just not true. It wasn't even true for the people who were actually called Robber Barons.
In the world of business, PROFIT trumps all considerations that don't involve ethical conflicts. Something that would adversely affect my long-term integrity in the eyes of the public (like taking whatever job comes along just for a quick buck) would be an ethical conflict that adversely affects my profit. That's a no-go. Besides, the pursuit of money/profit tends to make businesses behave themselves, to a certain extent. I'm not going to tell a Muslim wearing a turban to get out of my business just because he's a Muslim. Even if I did hate Muslims, I would still serve him if he had enough green in his pocket. After all, pulling out a shotgun and saying 'Beat it, Sand-N****r!' would drive away all of my other customers too. Even if the incredibly deplorable racism didn't scare them away, the shotgun sure would! And since I know that kind of discrimination would adversely affect my business, I as a business owner would NOT act that way.
And for those who I know will ask, I do not have a problem with a cake that has a Muslim Crescent on the top. I won't make a cake with an ISIS flag on it like a Wal-Mart bakery in Slidell, Louisiana did but, a Crescent is not offensive or evil.
- Lord Publius
Earlier tonight, I found myself reading a blog post on a site called 'Intellectual Take Out'. The post was about why it's wrong to force a business to take orders from a customer they don't want to work for. They used the example of a Jewish baker being forced to make a cake with a Swastika on it for a Neo-Nazi.
No one with any shred of Human decency would force the Jewish baker to make that cake. Yet, for some reason, it's okay to force a conservative Christian to make a cake for a homosexual couple's wedding reception. You wouldn't force the Jew to do something he found incredibly disgusting and offensive but, you would force the Christian? Seeing the hypocrisy here? Left-wingers obviously don't.
They immediately took the side of the gay couple and assumed that the Christian baker was being bigoted and intolerant. However, the Christian baker did make a recommendation to the couple about another baker who would do the job. A sensible person would decide to not bother the Christian baker and go to the baker who would take their order and make the cake. That's how a free market works. Someone will recognize the need in the marketplace and find a way to fill that need and make a profit for themselves. It's actually a beautiful thing... Also, I want to know what kind of cake the gay couple wanted to have. Was it a traditional wedding cake with 2 grooms on top instead of a groom and bride? Or, was it something homoerotic? If it was the latter of those two options, I can understand the Christian baker's polite refusal of the contract.
There were also a few lines towards the end of that post that caught my attention:
"Sacrificing principle for the sake of marginalized groups is short-sighted. If you accept the infringement of human rights as an acceptable political weapon, that weapon will eventually be turned on the very people you want to help."
If I own a business, ANY business, I also have the right NOT to take someone's business. I don't need a reason, either.
Let's use the bakery as an example. Let's say I'm a baker and some Neo-Nazi walks in, asking me to make a cake with a Swastika on top. Or, how about a Communist asking for one with a Hammer & Sickle. I'm going to refuse both of these prospective customers. That kind of cake being made by my business will drive away prospective customers that, like me, despise the evils of Fascism and Communism. I won't make a cake for a gay wedding with a picture of 2 guys pounding each other's ass, either. That is gross and offensive. It would repulse me and my other customers. Conservative Christians won't do business with someone that makes a cake for gay weddings. Jews won't do business with someone who made a cake for the local Neo-Nazi group's monthly meeting, either. Americans of virtually any stripe won't do business with someone percieved to be a fuckin' commie puke, either. And since Jews, Christians & real Americans are a MUCH larger market demographic, I choose to appeal to them instead.
Also, there is one other very important question in this case that needs to be asked: Where does it end?
Am I as a business owner allowed to turn away customers that are being disruptive? Will we tell a bar owner that he can't refuse alcohol to someone that's clearly drunk? How about a restaurateur not being allowed to ask loud and disruptive diners to leave the establishment? How about a car dealer that no longer wants to waste time on a prospective customer that has terrible credit and just can't afford to buy ANYTHING on the lot? Will you pass laws forcing them to take on clients that would be terrible for their business too?
The Leftists here are looking at things through a really skewed point of view, especially when they think of business owners. They act as if every one of them is a would-be Robber Baron. That is just not true. It wasn't even true for the people who were actually called Robber Barons.
In the world of business, PROFIT trumps all considerations that don't involve ethical conflicts. Something that would adversely affect my long-term integrity in the eyes of the public (like taking whatever job comes along just for a quick buck) would be an ethical conflict that adversely affects my profit. That's a no-go. Besides, the pursuit of money/profit tends to make businesses behave themselves, to a certain extent. I'm not going to tell a Muslim wearing a turban to get out of my business just because he's a Muslim. Even if I did hate Muslims, I would still serve him if he had enough green in his pocket. After all, pulling out a shotgun and saying 'Beat it, Sand-N****r!' would drive away all of my other customers too. Even if the incredibly deplorable racism didn't scare them away, the shotgun sure would! And since I know that kind of discrimination would adversely affect my business, I as a business owner would NOT act that way.
And for those who I know will ask, I do not have a problem with a cake that has a Muslim Crescent on the top. I won't make a cake with an ISIS flag on it like a Wal-Mart bakery in Slidell, Louisiana did but, a Crescent is not offensive or evil.
- Lord Publius
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