Wild Colossus

Just like the brazen giant of Greek fame

With conquering limbs astride from sea to sea;

Here at our fear-washed , padlocked gates shall stand

A berserker with a torch, whose flame

Is a fire bolt of intolerance, and her name

Forsaker of exiles.  From her beacon hand

Glows world-wide rejection, her wild eyes command

The bridge spanned harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips.  "We reject your tired, disdain your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. 

Hinder these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, forbid them from me,

I douse my lamp beside the impermeable door!"

Governance by proclamation

Presidential Memorandum Regarding the Hiring Freeze 1/23/17

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order a freeze on the hiring of Federal civilian employees to be applied across the board in the executive branch. As part of this freeze, no vacant positions existing at noon on January 22, 2017, may be filled and no new positions may be created, except in limited circumstances. This order does not include or apply to military personnel.

This hiring freeze applies to all executive departments and agencies regardless of the sources of their operational and programmatic funding, excepting military personnel.

According to Executive order of 1/25/17,

Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the U.S.;

Sec. 7.  Additional Enforcement and Removal Officers.  The Secretary, through the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, shall, to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations, take all appropriate action to hire 10,000 additional immigration officers, who shall complete relevant training and be authorized to perform the law enforcement functions described in section 287 of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1357).

According to Executive order of 1/25/17

Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements

Sec. 8.  Additional Border Patrol Agents.  Subject to available appropriations, the Secretary, through the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, shall take all appropriate action to hire 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents, and all appropriate action to ensure that such agents enter on duty and are assigned to duty stations as soon as is practicable.

Based on the above the President of the United States has by memorandum on the 22nd of January 2017 directed all executive agencies, excepting the military to freeze hiring.  Subsequently, on the 25th of January 2017, the President of the United States by Executive Order has directed the Secretary of Homeland Security through the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Commissioner of  U.S. Customs and Border Protection to hire a total of 15,000 agents and officers, combined. 

Would such actions taken within  2 day period indicate to anyone other than myself that policy directives of the Office of the President are disjointed, or, there is a failure to recognize that governance by proclamation can result in such contradictions?  The agencies which have been directed to engage in additional hiring are agencies of the Executive branch.  According to the hiring freeze memorandum of 23 January 2017 the freeze is applicable across the board in the Executive branch.  Such conflict instructing managers always results in less or other than desired results. 

1. A presidential memorandum is a type of executive instrument typically issued by the President of the United States to manage and govern the actions, practices and policies of the various departments and agencies found under the executive branch of the United States government.
2. Executive Order, A presidential policy directive that implements or interprets a federal statute, a constitutional provision, or a treaty.

So, whaduyathink?

How many must die?

In 2015, according to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) there were 16,121 homicides in the United States.

 According to https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/series/counted-us-police-killings there were 1246 citizens killed by police in 2015.

42 LEO's, http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/29/461402091/number-of-police-officers-killed-by-gunfire-fell-14-percent-in-2015-study-says

6855 uniformed U.S. and civilians in military operations, 2001-2015 https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS22452.pdf.

17,502 civilian deaths in Iraq 2015 http://www.statista.com/statistics/269729/documented-civilian-deaths-in-iraq-war-since-2003/

6 in Dallas, 5 police officers and 1 civilian, 7 July 2016

28 U.S. executions, 5th in the world.  5th, that doesn't even qualify for a bronze medal.

Total: 41,800,  only 34,945 with the 14 years of military deaths excluded.

If the United States of America was other than a peaceful, Christian nation where would we be?  We kill each other.  We kill family members, strangers, foreign nationals, prisoners, soldiers, and civilians.  At least in this case our commitment to diversity cannot be questioned.

However, I have had it explained the VAST majority of these killings are justified.  I love all of the people who attempt to comfort me in my anguish and grief.  I even admire and respect many of them.  Unfortunately, rationalization masquerading as justification does not make it so.  A wolf in sheep's clothing is still a wolf.

http://www.globalfirepower.com/active-military-manpower.asp indicates the United States has the 2nd largest military force in the world based on active military personnel.  http://www.globalfirepower.com/countries-listing.asp rates the U.S. military to be the most powerful in the world.  In 2014 military spending accounted for 54% of the entire U.S. budget.  We are the 3rd most populous nation in the world.  Depending on your source of reference our economy ranks anywhere from 1st to 3rd in the world.  Our northern and southern borders are Canada and Mexico, respectively.  On our east we have the Atlantic Ocean and on the west the Pacific Ocean.  There is no credible land based threat to our security.  Yet we spend our treasure at a level that exceeds that of the next 11 most "defense" minded nations, http://www.globalfirepower.com/defense-spending-budget.asp.

This is not indicative of a peaceful nation.  Rather, it appears to be symptomatic of a country suffused by fear.  According to Carl Von Clausewitz, "to secure peace is to prepare for war", and, "war is merely an extension of diplomacy by other means".  Is this a philosophy that we as a nation have come to embrace?

In preparing for war you have not secured the peace.  You may delay aggression but if your definition of peace is merely the absence of conflict then I find this to be a hopeless situation.

The God of the Old Testament was certainly capable of violence to achieve His ends.  See Genesis 19:24-26, Exodus 15:3-7, Numbers 21:3, Joshua 6:20-21.  This is not meant to be a comprehensive list.

 However, once we proceed to the New Testament, the genesis of Christianity, there is a new paradigm.  Peruse Mathew 5:1-12.  I find verses 7 and 9 to be particularly germane if one is to make a claim to Christianity.  You also have Mark 12:30-31 as a reference for Christian living.  One may wish to read Luke 10:25-37 for a disclosure concerning who is a neighbor.

How many more?  How many more must die?

Go, Utah, Go! or, How killing an unarmed restrained human furthers the process of democracy

Way to go Utah!  Set an example for the rest of the United States.

For too long the "Industry" state has been either ignored or even dismissed out of hand and treated with disdain.  That shall no longer be the case.  Utah is demonstrating how industrious it can be in the pursuit of the democratic ideal where all can participate and reap the benefits.

In its decision to utilize the firing squad as a means of execution, should the approved drug/s/ for lethal injection not be available, Utah is bringing the opportunity to actively participate in capital punishment to the masses.

Lethal injection, hanging, electrocution, cyanide gas are all forms of capital punishment in which only one person is allowed to play the part of executioner.  It only takes 1 person to depress the plunger, flip the switch, or drop the trap door.  With the firing squad, multiple people are allowed to take part in the killing of one of their fellows.  For far too long, being allowed to practice the ultimate power of the state has been restricted to a privileged few. In many cases the position of state executioner does not even rotate.  Rather, just one person is allowed to engage in this activity for years.  This is certainly contrary to the ideals of the United States where all are encouraged to engage in the pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the exercise of their God given rights. Surely it is anathema in a country where, theoretically, anyone can achieve anything, we restrict the right of the average citizen to practice the tradition of capital punishment.  Allowing them only to engage vicariously as a member of the state. With the revitalization of the firing squad in Utah more citizens will be allowed to actively participate.  Surely this is a much more egalitarian method.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the process of execution b y firing squad, here's how it works.   For execution by this method, the inmate is typically bound to a chair with leather straps across his waist and head, in front of an oval-shaped canvas wall. The chair is surrounded by sandbags to absorb the inmate's blood. A black hood is pulled over the inmate's head. A doctor locates the inmate's heart with a stethoscope and pins a circular white cloth target over it. Standing in an enclosure 20 feet away, five shooters are armed with .30 caliber rifles loaded with single rounds. One of the shooters is given blank rounds. Each of the shooters aims his rifle through a slot in the canvas and fires at the inmate.  The prisoner dies as a result of blood loss caused by rupture of the heart or a large blood vessel, or tearing of the lungs. The person shot loses consciousness when shock causes a fall in the supply of blood to the brain. If the shooters miss the heart, by accident or intention, the prisoner bleeds to death slowly. The gunmen are chosen from a pool of volunteer officers, with priority given to those from the area where the crime happened.  There are always more volunteers than spots on the squad.  The shooters' identities are kept anonymous, and one of their rifles is loaded with a blank round so nobody knows which officer killed the inmate.

I will grant you there are some limitations to this method.  The shooters are chosen only from a pool of law enforcement officers.  Why should they have any more access to participation than any other citizen?  Furthermore, preference is given to individuals based on location.  If the condemned has committed a crime against the state then the entire state should have equal opportunity to participate in disposing of them.  Also, one weapon is loaded with a blank round.  This seems absurd.  The theory is this practice allows the trigger man a  reasonable doubt as to having actually killed the prisoner.  The shooters are volunteers,  These are people who want to see the prisoner die. In all the other forms of capital punishment there is no doubt who has executed the guilty party.  The executioner is allowed full responsibility and credit. Why should firing squad shooters be deprived of this?   And why only accept volunteers?  Have a lottery system that includes all the citizens of the state.  This offers everyone a chance practice the privileges of citizenship.  

Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, let it be known that Utah should not get all the credit for having a firing squad option.  Idaho also provides this choice.

It is a good thing to see the justice system apparently making itself more accessible to every citizen. Progress is being made.  By allowing citizens to participate in state sanctioned blood letting, in this case literally, perhaps people will become more engaged in the democratic process.  They may even be moved to exercise their ability to voice their opinion at the ballot box.  But, I don't want to get ahead of myself.  One step at a time.

In closing, You Go, Utah.  No doubt, America commends you.

Understand

That which you do not understand, you fear.
That which you fear, you hate.
That which you hate, you destroy.
Seek to understand rather than a means to destroy. 

One Love

One God,

One World,

One People,

One Love,

If I love you, I will not fear you.

If I do not fear you, I will not hate you.

If I do not hate you, I do not need to destroy you.

Eliminate destruction,

LOVE each other.

Timely questions, or, A question of Time

     This is the kind of stuff that keeps me awake.  Consider the prominent role time plays in our lives.  We speak of time almost continually without considering it as a concept.  Here are some examples.  We use these words in speech everyday; now, then, yesterday, tomorrow, future, historical.  We tell time, make time, have time on our hands, do time.  We categorize our lives with time.  We're early or late.  We take time out, are sent to time out.  Businesses attempt to avoid lost time.  We accrue sick time.  We desire more leisure time. We attempt to avoid hard times.  Things are timeless and events are timely.
     Time plays a major part in literature.  "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".  There are a plethora of titles which include references to time in books, movies and songs.  Prisoner of Time, The Time Garden, Trapped in Time, etc., are examples of books.  Songs include Time is on my side, Time after Time, Love me two times. Movies include The Time Machine, Time Bandits, The Land before Time, The Time Traveler's Wife. 
     We talk about the beginning of time, the end of time and the end times.  Why are we so consumed by time?  What exactly is time and what purpose does it serve?
      My own view is that time is that medium within which events occur.  However, then I wonder is it possible for events to occur outside of time?  Does time exist if there are no events?  Did time actually have a beginning?  Did it exist prior to the creation of the universe without regard to that creation being either divine in nature or a product of the "big bang".
Is time a product of creation or that which allows creation to take place?  Can there be time without space or must they exist together?
     If time actually exists of itself and is not just a construct of humanity why is the past fixed and the future malleable?  Or, is that supposition merely a reflection of my own bias?  Is time actually 1 dimensional and reside forever in the now?
     Is time infinite and eternal?  Or did to proceed from an identifiable point?  If so, will it continue without end or having had a start will it also have an end?
     Well, that's about all for now.  Let me know whaduyathink.