SUNDAY, MAY 7, 2023 

MUSIC / 1980'S / MICHAEL JACKSON

There's a reason why they called him the KING OF POP.   

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2023 

CURRENT EVENTS / SOCIETY / RUNINATION

The following is a reprint of an opinion piece that recently appeared in the Epoch Times:

The Ruination of Great American Cities

by Jeffrey A. Tucker

The Epoch Times

There was something deeply demoralizing about the recent Mayoral election in Chicago, once among America’s greatest cities. The good news is that the catastrophic reign of a deeply corrupt and crazed mayor, who piled egregiously racist policies on top of one of the worst COVID responses in the country, came to an end. The bad news is that a guy who is arguably worse took her place.

As Allysia Finley put it in the Wall Street Journal, “Brandon Johnson’s victory in last week’s Chicago mayoral race is a reminder that no matter how bad things get, they can always get worse.”

The city itself is facing bankruptcy but that economic reality is changing nothing about city policies. Crime is out of control. Poverty and despair are on the rise. And the residents who can leave are fleeing. Businesses are closing up shop and 175,000 people have left the city in the last two years, leaving the place at the mercy of people who only vote for more handouts and union controls.

The people who leave feel a sense of guilt, but the decision is entirely rational. One person’s vote makes no difference and no one has the obligation to stick around and become a sacrificial victim of pillaging politicians and dangerous criminals.

It’s all deeply tragic. The first time I went to Chicago many years ago, I was just thrilled to discover a city which seemed to combine the best of New York City but without the chaos, confusion, and muck. But sadly, those days have come to an end.

At some point in the last three years, many people just decided the situation was hopeless and left for greener pastures. Sadly, this put the city into a deep spiral of political disaster to the point that hopes for change and renewal seem to have been permanently dashed. Maybe it will come back to life at some point but maybe not in any of our lifetimes.

Incredibly, however, this same spiral of exodus plus the entrenchment of crime and corruption seems to be affecting other great cities too. People living in New York City today are grateful for an end to the utter madness and desolation of the lockdown years and the city is certainly revived today as compared to what it was in 2020 and 2021. However, by any standard, the experience of the city is massively deprecated compared with what it was only a few years ago.

For my part, I avoid the city as much as possible, simply because I cannot bear the Gotham-like feel of the place, with the inescapable stench of trash, sewage, and weed, plus the ever-present threat of crime. To be sure, there are some beautiful neighborhoods but getting there requires that you interact with the rest of the city through its main transportation portals.

And the bureaucracy of the state in general is absolutely overwhelming. If you own a business with an employee in New York State, you know this. Navigating the endless bureaucracies just to get a basic payroll in place is maddening beyond belief. One agency doesn’t talk to another and has no idea what they are doing. Compliance alone is too complicated even for online payroll platforms like Gusto. I know of companies that refuse even to hire anyone who lives there just to avoid this mess.

There are two other cities on the deathwatch list: San Francisco and Seattle. You know of the deep tragedy of San Francisco if you have visited lately. The place is an appalling mess and deeply dangerous too. Murder has nearly become normalized as something that just happens. Robert Lee, founder of CashApp and one of the most brilliant young entrepreneurs in the country, was brutally stabbed in broad daylight last week. The appalling event came to be shrugged off by major media as something that just happens, when reported at all.

I wasn’t entirely aware of the turn Seattle had taken until I visited last month, and found the same thing, with residents fleeing as fast as they could if they had the resources to do so. This trend leaves the cities in the hands of hoodlums public and private and dooms the place to go a long time without reform.

This is a reversal of the past when big cities would go through cycles of bust and boom once city fathers saw the errors of their ways. That is no longer a dynamic that seems plausible now. In other words, this time could be permanent.

The city as an institution is one of the great achievements in the history of modern civilization. They first began to emerge in the late Middle Ages with the end of feudal estates and the rise of the money-based exchange economy that allowed people to move and travel without grave danger. The city drew people out of their tribal hovels and created new centers of prosperity and the exchange of ideas. It was here and in spots all over the world that germinated the creative ideas that led to revolutions in art, literature, science, medicine, and industry.

Cities also created the basis for growing amounts of tolerance, peace, and human rights, as diverse people from all lands and languages came together to their mutual advantage. The experience led to a greater appreciation for the universality of the human experience and incentivized the entrenchment of a new ethos of togetherness. Arguably, it was the city that ended the religious wars, for example, and eventually slavery too.

The American cities were newer than those in the Old World but especially prosperous in ways that no one could even imagine. American freedoms in the second half of the 19th century led to the miracles of San Francisco, Atlanta, New Orleans, Chicago, and Hartford. But once the technology of steel and its commercial viability arrived by the turn of the 20th century, New York City overtook them all and eventually gave us wonders of the world like the Empire State Building. Meanwhile, Los Angeles, Dallas, St. Louis, Miami, and others rose up to greatness too.

The 21st century fall of so many American cities poses dangers not just to the city but also to the host state, simply because of the direct election of senators. The original Constitution assured that cities could not dominate state politics because the Senate representation was not subject to direct election. The 17th Amendment of 1913 changed that. Now the fate of the city has a profound effect on the whole state and then the whole nation. It was not supposed to be this way but the disastrous decision to change the Constitution assured that it would be so.

There is another factor to consider. People like Anthony Fauci and the plutocrats at the World Economic Forum somehow turned against cities in the last decade, deciding that they really did nothing but promote material excess, disease, and waste. They were suddenly put on the chopping block in the name of “radical changes that may take decades to achieve: rebuilding the infrastructures of human existence, from cities to homes to workplaces.”

In other words, this destruction could all be deliberate. The powers-that-be have decided that we don’t need them anymore with remote work made possible by digital technology. Who needs physical spaces and crowds when we can all spread out as far away from each other as possible? Such people are more easily controlled by our digital masters. This might account for why there is so little talk much less panic about the destruction of these one-time treasures of American life.

Again, under the scenario, lockdown was not an aberration or an egregious but temporary policy error born of panic but rather a test of a new template of social organization.

This really does seem like a turning point. Only a few weeks ago I took the elevator to the top of the Empire State Building and observed the marvel of the city, knowing full well that what looked beautiful from that height was much more grim on the ground. It did feel in some way that I was looking at the past and not the future.

If someone has a realistic idea for how this trajectory can be turned around, I would love to hear it. For now, the situation does seem dire and with no way out.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

WEB LINK:  https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-ruination-of-great-american-cities_5183911.html

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2023

NATURE / BEARS 

Timothy "The Grizzly Man" Treadwell was tragically eaten alive in front of his girlfriend by a grizzly bear after an attack that killed him. His girlfriend was later attacked by the same grizzly bear and also eaten alive shortly after. This is another tragic story of animals gone wrong.

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2023 

CHRISTIANITY / SPIRITUAL WARFARE / EXORCISMS

One of the most fascinating aspects of Christianity is spiritual warfare.   And no one has been doing spiritual warfare longer than the Catholic Church, and no one knows the ministry better than Fr. Chad Ripperger.  

Chris Stefanick has has FIVE PART series where he talks all about exorcisms with Fr. Ripperger.   This is an INCREDIBLE interview, and really shows you the theology involved in deliverance.   

Of course Fr. Ripperger is a hard-core, traditionalist Catholic, and for good reason: they have an excellent track record when it comes to dealing with demonic possession, and the "old ways" seem to work the best.   

This is MUST SEE TV regardless of background or interests.   Here are all five episodes in order:

FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2023 

RECIPES / MEXICAN / TACOS

The absolute king of Mexican food here in America is Rick Bayless, who has been studying Mexican cuisine his entire life.  

In this video, Rick tackles what many people think are the king of tacos: the birria.   

Birria has been having a moment for some time now, especially birria tacos with melted cheese, the ones called quesabirria. I have nothing against them, though I think they’ve started to eclipse the essentially perfect taco de birria, slightly obscuring that perfection with cheese. Those words, I know, are fighting words for some of you. So don’t get me wrong: I love melted cheese—I do! It’s just that sometimes birria wants to do a one man show—juicy-tender goat or lamb braised with red chile, browned a little, wrapped in a tortilla that’s rubbed with chile-infused fat and allowed to crisp a little on the griddle. The taco gets a splash of the braising juices, some onions and cilantro, maybe a little spicy arbol salsa. One bite of a perfectly made taco de birria and you’ve reached taco nirvana.

FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2023 

CHRISTIANITY / BIBLE / ACTS 

You can learn a lot about the early church, just from reading the little sermons given by the apostles in the books of Acts.   

I'm currently working on a project where I'm extracting out the sermons given by the apostles.  The purpose of this exercise is very simple: to get at the essentials of what the early church believed from the very first days of the church.   

By looking at just the apostle's sermons, we can get a sense of their theology in regards to who they thought Jesus was, and why he was essential for salvation.   

The first extract is one of the most famous: Peter addressing the crowd at Pentecost, right after the infilling of the Holy Spirit:

But Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them: “You men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, know this and listen carefully to what I say.  In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.  But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel:

‘And in the last days it will be,’ God says,

‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people,

and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,

and your young men will see visions,

and your old men will dream dreams.

Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

And I will perform wonders in the sky above

and miraculous signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

The sun will be changed to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.

And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know—  this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles.  But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death because it was not possible for him to be held in its power. For David says about him,

‘I saw the Lord always in front of me,

for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced;

my body also will live in hope,

because you will not leave my soul in Hades,

nor permit your Holy One to experience decay.

You have made known to me the paths of life;

you will make me full of joy with your presence.’

“Brothers, I can speak confidently to you about our forefather David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  So then, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne,  David by foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his body experience decay.  This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it.  So then, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out what you both see and hear.  For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says,

‘The Lord said to my lord,

“Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies

a footstool for your feet.”’

Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.”

Now when they heard this, they were acutely distressed and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What should we do, brothers?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”  With many other words he testified and exhorted them saying, “Save yourselves from this perverse generation!”So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added.

Acts 2:14-41 - New English Translation

https://netbible.org/bible/Acts+2

Commentary:

It's interesting to note that in the first ever recorded sermon on the death and resurrection of Jesus, Peter leaves out a phrase that you hear all the time in modern day Christianity: that Jesus died for our sins.  

Peter certainly tells us that Jesus did, in fact die; that he did, in fact, resurrect from the dead; and that belief in him will lead to your salvation, and that belief in Jesus does allow for your sins to be forgiven.  But he never says explicitly that Jesus died for your sins.  One might argue, and argue correctly, that the theology of atonement is present implicitly in this mini sermon, but it's strange it's not stated more bluntly.   

One thing for sure, belief in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus all seem to be equally important for a person's salvation, at least that's what Peter seems to be hinting at.   

But the punch line of this sermon isn't the atoning death of Jesus, but the resurrection life of Jesus and the pouring out of the promised Holy Spirit.   The part about Jesus dying was a necessary consequence of God needing to show us that Jesus is far more powerful than death, and the big idea you need to understand from this sermon is that by believing in Jesus, not only will your sins be forgiven, but you too can look forward towards resurrection yourself.   

My entire life as a Christian has been the constant reminder of the theology of the atonement: Jesus dying for my sins.   It does not matter what church or denomination I went to, they all harp on that point, and the one who goes the furthest in reminding of you of it constantly is the Catholic Church.  

But when you read the four gospels and the book of Acts, there's hardly a word spoken about it!  Rather, the emphasis is always on the resurrection of Christ from the dead, not the atoning sacrifice.   That bit of theology comes later on, and mostly from the pen of Paul, but even he is far more interested in the resurrection than the atonement.   

One could almost say, using only the four gospels and the book of Acts, that it wasn't the crucifixion and death of Jesus that saves us from our sins, but his resurrection from death.   If you think about it logically and critically, it makes a lot of sense to think of it that way. 

"Jesus resurrected from death for our sins"

- Pseudo Boethius 

Saturday, April 29, 2023 

CHRISTIANITY / TESTIMONY

[ NOTE: For some odd reason, this video was published twice to my blog due to "technical difficulties".   I should probably delete one or the other, but I decided to leave them both up.  It is a really good testimony, and very eye opening. ]

Can someone who identifies as gay leave that lifestyle?  Actually, it happens all the time, but we rarely hear about it, due to the Gay Mafia.   

Homosexuality is a spiritual curse, not biological or psychological in origin, even though it's often talked about in those terms.   As it is with all things, even Christians who know better can be overcome with this issue, for various reasons.  

In this video, Jonathan Duncan, who grew up in a strong Christian family, talks about his experiences dealing with homosexuality as a Christian.  Eventually, he was able to leave the LGBT life behind, but it was a struggle.  

So yes, you can leave that lifestyle, but it's extremely difficult.   God's help is very much necessary to overcome it. 

Obviously, homosexuality is just one of a spectrum of personality disorders that effect people of all kinds, but for some odd reason, many homosexuals would rather just take the easy road of staying within the lifestyle, rather than doing the work required to leave.   

My hat is off to Jonathan, who eventually decided to deal with his demons head-on, rather than just accepting the status quo.

MONDAY, MAY 1, 2023 

TRAINS / PASSENGER TRAINS / AMTRAK / BURLINGTON NORTHERN

The early 1970's were a strange time for passenger trains, as the few that were left in operation were all nationalized into an entity known as Amtrak.   

This particular train, which I assume is on old Northern Pacific rails in Jefferson Canyon, Montana is why I find the early days of Amtrak so fascinating: their trains featured cars from multiple railroads.   

On this particular Amtrak train you can see paint schemes from the following railroads:

• Amtrak (silver cars with red, white & blue trim)
• Burlington Northern (green & white)
• Northern Pacific (two-tone green)
• Union Pacific (yellow)
• Possibly a Burlington or Santa Fe dining car (all silver)
• Possibly a Great Northern dome car (blue and white)

Found this photo at The Center for Railroad Photography and Art website.

Link: https://railphoto-art.org/collections/bjorklund/burlington-northern/#!jig[1]/FL/25391668702

Lots of good stuff!

- Pseudo Boethius 

SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2023 

BOOKS / RECIPES / GENERAL COOKBOOK

For someone who owns nearly 100 cookbooks and who has been cooking for decades, why a buy a cookbook that teaches you how to cook?   It makes no sense.

Well, the simple reason is that all cooking comes down to learning proper techniques right from Day One.  So I got this book to help me reinforce the basics of cooking.   

One thing this book leaves out is proper knife techniques.  The French and Chinese are very big on proper use of knife, but for some odd reason most American instructional cooking courses have little to say about it.  To fill that hole, I've found the best place to learn how to use and maintain a knife is YouTube.   

I've paged through the book, and I think it will be an excellent resource for cooks of any skill level.  There is always something new to learn. 

- Pseudo Boethius

Saturday, April 29, 2023 

CHRISTIANITY / TESTIMONY

Can someone who identifies as gay leave that lifestyle?  It actually happens all the time, but we rarely hear about it thanks to the "Gay Mafia."   

Homosexuality is a spiritual curse, not biological or psychological in origin, even though it's often talked about in those terms.   As it is with all things on this earth, even Christians who know better can be overcome with this issue, for various reasons.  

In this video, Jonathan Duncan, who grew up in a strong Christian family, talks about his experiences dealing with homosexuality as a Christian.  Eventually, he was able to leave the LGBT life behind, but it was a struggle.  

So yes, you can leave that lifestyle, but it's extremely difficult.  God's help is very necessary to overcome it. 

Obviously, homosexuality is just one of a spectrum of personality disorders that effect people of all kinds, but for some odd reason, many homosexuals would rather just take the easy road of staying within the lifestyle, rather than doing the hard work required to leave.   But this isn't all that surprising, as dealing with your issues and overcoming them is always harder than just trying to learn to live with them.