So much for the basics

It’s a good thing that I’m ignorant or some of the news of the day would bother me. Take for instance that the courts in California have sided with the homosexual side on the gay marriage issue. It is, at least in their opinion, unconstitutional to withhold the union of anyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender, from marriage.

I was reading in the Volokh Conspiracy where it is all related to the failed ERA movement.

“Yet it now looks like the "hysterical" "emotional scare tactic" "canards" may well have been quite reasonable predictions: It looks like courts are indeed treating opposite-sex-only marriage rules as involving sex classifications, and as thus being presumptively unconstitutional. Had the ERA been enacted at the federal level, it would have further raised the bar against sex classifications, and thus made decisions like the California and Massachusetts one more likely.”

I bring this up, not because I wanted to blog about same sex marriage, although that would also be a valid topic. No, I bring this up in light of other topics that are in the spotlight. The first is the Atlanta court house fiasco which all started, as some have suggested, because a female officer was overpowered by a much stronger male prisoner; the end result, several people are dead. I have over simplified to make a point; there is a difference between men and women. Da, you don’t say!...

I suppose I should ask the question, “Could that same suspect have over powered a male officer and taken away his weapon?” The answer; it would have made no difference; the suspect would have overpowered almost anyone in a one on one tussle. There were other issues; the most clear to me, ( link in title bar), was that all suspects should be handcuffed during court appearances and there should be at least two officers holding that suspect in some way during the escorting process.

Any of you remember the scene in the old black and white movie with Andy Griffith, No Time for Sergeants where he has to pass the eye exam so that he will get classified? His Sergeant’s career is on the line and it appears to be in the can when Andy can only see an officer, not a female or a male, just an officer. He stands, squinting his eyes with that dumb country boy look on his face, “No, I only see an officer.”

I think that we could make a lot more progress in the court system if we do away with clothing. This sounds like a joke, at least I hope it does. Think of all the issues that will have to be taken without argument. We the People will be able to see the difference between the sexes, not to mention the extras; size, shape, quality and all the other subjective categories. Instead of ERA there would be more stuttering, “Errr, ah…”, followed by, “I seem to have been distracted, Your Honor. Could you have that last question repeated?” “Do you see a male or a female officer?”

The next issue came up during the week, I should have placed a book marker on the article; except at the time I didn’t give much thought to the article. Should the armed forces put women up on the front lines, in harm’s way? I guess I might have some of those “progressive” attitudes. I don’t see much difference in who should or should not be placed in harm’s way. I worked along side women in the police department who proved that they could handle the job. This is not to say that all women could, only that most of the ones I worked with had the ability to overcome the odds; notice that I did not say that they were stronger, only that they were able to overcome the odds.

Now, to bring up those differences that I saw between men and women that would tend to shoot down what I just said, yes, there were times when I worked with women who put on the uniform and tried to be police officers while it was painfully clear that they were not cut out for it. This is no different than a lot of men who had the same issue, that being they just were not cut out for the job.

I had a female rookie partner with me during a pursuit of a stolen vehicle. I was driving and kept up with the lone bad guy right up to the point where he abandoned the vehicle and I took off after him on foot. The chase took me through an apartment complex and only lasted a little while until I was able to capture and cuff him. I was pretty well winded and was careful to gain my breath before getting back on my portable police radio to let my dispatcher know that I had things under control.

During the chase I had lost sight of my female partner. Losing sight of a police partner is not uncommon since it is often more practical to split up in the hope that one police officer might; by going a different route, have a better chance of catching the suspect. When in such a chase there isn’t much time for choices; being in a foot race to catch a suspect, while also being aware that the suspect may or may not be armed and things like that.

It turned out that my rookie female partner decided that it was too dangerous to go running through a dark apartment complex after an auto thief. She became petrified, locked herself inside the patrol car and called for help. That explained all the other police cars and the police helicopter that I had not expected. Other than feeling like a fool, I’m not even sure why I felt that way, I was angry at having been riding around with someone who could not meet with the ridged requirements of the job. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was a female, it had to do with the timing of her decision to drop out of the situation. I had to explain to my immediate supervisor, who had raced to our location after hearing the call for help from the frightened female officer, why I had left her alone. My explanation must have been sufficient because I did not have to explain it a second time and the female officer voluntarily left the employment of the police department.

This could just as easily been a male officer who found that the dangers of police work are sometimes overwhelming. So, what’s my point? Not all of our soldiers serving in the armed forces are up to the challenge of being placed on the front lines, male or female; however, those who are able to do the job should not be denied that chance based on gender. This is not to say that just because they are capable of shouldering the same responsibilities that they should share the same barracks or the same shower. How’s that for returning to being a prude? Takes all the fun out of the term, “Stand at Attention”. I guess the point of this particular blog might be that if you get enough lawyers and judges into the mix almost anything can be ruined, to include sex.

I started out by saying that it's a good thing that I'm a bit ignorant. I would have saluted the officer in the movie, after having taken in the view to determine how high on the scale of 1 -10 she might have scored; but I would have saluted the rank attained.

Contempt for the Rule of Law

Senator Edward Kennedy canceled his annual meeting with Sinn Fein set for St. Patrick’s Day. "In a statement, Kennedy spokeswoman Melissa Wagoner cited "the IRA's ongoing criminal activity and contempt for the rule of law" as the reason for Kennedy's decision."

I like the fact that in that one statement from the Kennedy camp, there are two facts brought out; the first being that they believe the IRA is involved in criminal activity and the second being that Kennedy has contempt for the rule of law. Maybe I am reading something into their statement, a Freudian slip or a simple Pavlovian response. In any case, it is true, Edward Kennedy has contempt for the rule of law.

According to sources close to Dan Rather, Senator Kennedy was not quoted as he lifted a glass, “I’ll drink to that!”. He then was not heard offering the local bar maid a ride home over a short span of murky water. He was ladled into his car, reportedly.

Disasters Waiting to Happen

I will start with a tip of the hat to Kyzylkum for his blog, “Politically Correct Equals Four Dead People”. I was going to make a simple comment to his article and I ended up with way too much comment, hence this blog.

I have first hand experience with escorting felony prisoners into open court. In my years of service with the Houston Police Department, I had occasion to take many felony prisoners before a judge so that they could have their Miranda warning read to them. To start with, these prisoners were off loaded from a police van in front of the court house onto the sidewalk. This was not a secure area in any way. We would take the jail issued handcuffs off and replace them with our own handcuffs there on the sidewalk. We then would take them up to the court room via elevators, thank goodness that the elevators were reserved for transporting prisoners only during that part of the job.

Upon arriving in front of the courtroom we were required to remove the handcuffs and then walk into open court, sit on a bench reserved for officers/prisoners and then approach the judge when the time was convenient for the judge. It did not matter that some of these prisoners had exhibited violent tendencies, that they had to be restrained by several officers at the time of arrest or during the booking procedure, their mental capacity was never taken into consideration; the only thing that was of concern was that these “fellow citizens” were to be viewed as “not guilty until proven guilty”.

On more than one occasion I had to have other officers help “restore” order to a courtroom because my “fellow citizen who was not guilty until proven guilty” decided that the odds were in his favor due to the reduced security. Chairs being thrown, those heavy oak ones, large tables being overturned and general chaos for several moments until enough officers could take the suspect to the ground and place handcuffs and leg irons on the flailing arms and legs. We would then have to write up the incident, an incident not of our own making, to justify our use of force and the possible damage that we had caused to any chance of a fair trial for that particular suspect. It was all our fault that the suspect decided to attempt escape, destroy a courtroom in a tantrum or attack innocent citizens who were in attendance. This was because the blind justice system refused to accept that violent people sometimes take advantage of weak policy.

This had nothing to do with the Bush administration, having occurred back in the mid 1970’s to early 1980’s when I was assigned to work downtown. It had nothing to do with budget restraints because County prisoners being brought in for their Miranda warnings were off loaded in the basement of the courthouse, inside a partitioned area that was off limits to the general public; only City prisoners were off loaded on a public sidewalk, some kind of political nonsense between the City and the County placed everyone at risk. It compares easily with the fiasco that happened in Atlanta, truly preventable with just a smidge of common sense.

Don’t be Deceived

I have been taught by some of the best, Jim Rohn. Zig Ziglar and Skip Ross dropping a couple of names, to take good notes. If you attend a seminar, take good notes. If you hear a good sermon, take good notes. Your memory will only serve you for a little while and then there will be some parts that you will forget, so take good notes. I often refer to notes that I have taken and surprise myself with the wisdom that has been saved therein; information that would have otherwise been forgotten. I keep a good portion of these notes paper clipped inside the cover of my scriptures, an odd place some of you might think.

I read Kyzylkum’s blog, “Don’t be Fooled by Hillary the Chameleon” which stands as a reminder not to be Deceived. Having a copy of the book, “Rewriting History”, by Dick Morris, has given me a clear view of how carefully and methodically Hillary Clinton has gone about the creation of her “public character”; which would more accurately be her “lack of character”. You will no doubt come to the same conclusion; the deception that has been contrived, Hillary Clinton hopes will permit her to continue as a Senator and then propel her into the presidency in 2008. I don’t think I have said anything that would cause an earthquake so far.

I want to shift into a different gear, elevate your cognizance of “Deception” to a different plain and by so doing keep the promise I made to myself of honoring the Sabbath and keep my blogging efforts within certain boundaries on Sunday. I heard some good talks while attending my Sunday meetings this morning. They all centered on the same topic, a General Conference talk given by Dallin H. Oaks, “Be Not Deceived”. (link via title bar) As I listened to the various points of interest my mind drifted momentarily; thinking of the members of my blogger group, the HCBA and others who might happen to read the blogs that I publish.

These folks, for the most part, are intelligent people who pay close attention to all manner of social events of the day. They comment on the sticking points, things like integrity, honesty, character and core values; mostly in the political nature since that seems to be important in the blogger community. Many of these bloggers come right out and state that they have little or no use for religion or that they are atheists, agnostics or something less than “born again”, ( I can’t believe I put that in there. )

To these intelligent and curious folks I ask, “Have you been Deceived?”. Investigate the question as you would any political blog, any media event such as you would find on CNN, Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC or the Wall Street Journal. Have you been deceived into a false sense of self; relying on your intellectual strength without taking heed to the possibility that you have neglected the spiritual aspects of your being? Who is it that has the power to deceive so many good and righteous people? No guessing, this is a legitimate question I ask. Keep in mind the reason I ask is to cause you to ponder the nature of your human state. There is a link to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on the sidebar of my blogsite. I want you to click on it, use the search function that you will find there, then search out the topic, “There is no Devil” under conference talks. You are sharp folks, you can be even sharper with a little effort. Remember, take good notes.

…and the home of the brave.

The first president of the United States of America…I’m thinking…I know, Magic Johnson, then Shaquille O'Neal, followed by Barry Bonds… or was it Di Maggio? Maybe a little basic American History being taught in History Class would help too. Some ACLU lawyer is writing up a salvo because some poor illegal alien might get his feelings hurt if he/she is forced to sing the national anthem, followed by the pledge of allegiance and then a quiet moment of prayer. Hold on just a moment while I set the Way Back machine for 1955 so this will be legal and acceptable, or is it acceptable and then legal?

The National Anthem

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,A
s it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Note to editor, get that blue editor’s pencil to work on the highlighted words or we will be stuck in court by the ACLU for "separation of church and state". We can't have our youth singing praises that might offend the rest of the world.

Business Licenses - Jump for Joy

I have to give a tip of the hat to Unrepentant Individual’s blog on licensing. His article reminded me of a letter I sent to the Texas Private Security Board when Locksmiths became a licensed income generator for the State of Texas. I will include the letter that covers my reasons for jumping for joy each time I hear of yet another business that gets sucked in.

You have to believe that I am on the top of their list of favorite locksmiths after you read the letter I sent to them, the Houston Chronicle and to the ALOA.

Texas Private Security Board
An Open Letter as to How it Does and Does Not Work for or with Locksmiths
By: T. F. Stern ALOA # 8045

August 4, 2004

To One and All,


I will start off with the stated mission of the Agency which is the “protection of the public through fair and impartial regulation of the Private Investigations and Private Security Industry”. It goes further and states its job as Agency in the State of Texas for “ensuring citizens and consumers of investigations and security services, that these industries provide reliable services, employ qualified and trustworthy personnel, and are free from misrepresentation and fraud”. With a mission statement as broad as all that; who could complain that they don’t have everyone’s interests at heart? The last line in the Agencies mission statement is, “It is not the goal of the License Section to speed up or slow down the processing of applications, but to ensure the qualifications of all applicants prior to issue”.

Again I will quote directly from the Agencies cover page as it explains why it will be impossible, improbable at best, to accomplish any of the mission goals. “There is (are) an average of approximately 140,000 registered individuals in approximately 3,500 licensed companies in Texas and across the United States”. I have to wonder why the Texas Agency would include “across the United States” when all they are to work on live in Texas. “In addition to other areas of responsibility, the License Section receives about 8,000 individual applications and about 200 company applications per quarter. We renew approximately 3,500 individual and 875 company applications per quarter”. It then is quick to point out that “We are a staff of (6)”, to indicate that their work load is significantly higher than reasonable. Their work staff is in fact (5) because Larry Washington, one of their primary case workers, quit. A more accurate work level would be (4) when factoring in vacations and sick days. Then if you consider that one of those is the supervisor it brings the number of actual case workers down to (3).

I spoke with Ruby Griffin, another of the primary case workers, about how the Texas Private Security Board was handling the Licensing of Locksmiths. “I am not prepared to answer questions about Locksmiths. You will have to ask my supervisor, Mr. Cliff Grumbles”. I appreciated her honesty at not having the ability to answer my question and at the same time have subtracted yet another case worker who is qualified to investigate Locksmiths who are interested in complying with Section 1702.110 of the Texas Occupations Code, which was signed into law last year by the State Legislature and signed by Governor Perry, and goes into full effect on September 1, 2004. I had attempted to contact each of the two remaining case workers, Meredith McCall and Kevin Hernandez. Kevin was on vacation and Meredith was unavailable and I was instructed to leave a voice mail message. I did also contact Cliff Grumbles; more accurately, I left a voice mail message for him to call me.

Mr. Grumbles could not answer my specific questions when he did call back on June 30, 2004. He suggested that I write a letter giving very specific information about what I do as a mobile automotive locksmith and send it to him so that his legal staff could give me an accurate and definitive answer; translated into English, “I don’t know.”

I wrote out my letter and faxed it to Mr. Grumbles within the hour and also printed out the same letter on my company letterhead, placed it in a stamped envelope and sent it off with the afternoon mail. I have not heard back from Mr. Grumbles or his legal staff as of August 4, 2004. I have left voice mail on his answering machine and faxed him another copy of the original letter.

Here are some of my conclusions regarding the Texas Private Security Board. I would first indicate that they have no clue as to how or why locksmiths are applying for a license with their agency. They are not prepared to answer the simplest of questions and are unable to delineate between a car lock, a house lock or a corporate facility. How or why should I expect them to be qualified to issue a license that controls how I make a living? The fact that there are at best 5 working case workers, to include their supervisor, what could these folks possibly do as far as any investigative work on those applying? About the only time these case workers have is to open the multitude of envelopes that arrive daily, see if the money in that envelope adds up to the allocated fees, check off that name and deposit the money into the bank account for the State of Texas and go onto the next envelope.

The Texas Private Security Board; forgive me if I equate that to mean “The Alarm Service and Security Industry", has 5 people who are saddled with the responsibility to investigate all 8,000 individual application, the 875 company applications and on top of that they are to investigate any abuses by the entire group. If I calculate that properly, not being an accountant, that is approximately 9,000 applications per quarter, divided by the 5 case workers (to assume that the supervisor does any of the application case work ), or 3,000 applications per month; roughly 20 working days in a month. Each case worker would have 600 applications per month to thoroughly investigate and do background checks, fingerprint file checks with the State and the FBI, investigate history checks to verify truthfulness of each claimed training or business history and then count the money. This looks pretty much like any of the other State Agencies that fails to match up to its intended and stated purpose. If I did the math correctly each case worker is doing about 30 of these thorough and complete investigations each and every day. Did I mention that I want Santa Clause to bring me a Radio Racer Sled for when it snows here on Christmas Day?

If the State of Texas wants to know if I have claimed to be a locksmith it is a simple matter of checking with the folks at the State Sales Tax Agency to see if I reported any income. If the State of Texas wants to know if I have been arrested they can run the same check that the Department of Public Safety might run if I were stopped on the street for a traffic violation. If they want to know more they had better have just cause or they are trampling on my God given rights. The fact that I am in business to make money as a traveling auto mechanic who specializes in making keys is hardly “just cause” for investigating my abilities or my intentions. I have been a bonded locksmith and a member of the Associated Locksmiths of America (ALOA) since 1978; also easily confirmed. My fingerprints are on file with the ALOA. My fingerprints are on file with the Houston Police Department as I am also a retired City of Houston Police Officer. My fingerprints are on file with the United States Government as I also served in the United States Army Reserves. The point being that one more set of fingerprints is not going to improve the safety for the citizens of the State of Texas; they will however add to my cost of doing business.

Here are some of the three “important” requirements that a locksmith must have on his/her resume prior to obtaining one of the license criteria:
1. three years of investigative experience or a bachelors degree in criminal justice for investigations company license.
2. two consecutive years of legally acceptable experience in the guard company business; and
3. successful completion of a two-hundred-question examination testing ability of the manager applicant to operated the guard company under the provisions of the statute regulating them.
I seem to recall reading about all three of these important aspects of LOCKSMITH work in the last issue of Keynotes or was it Locksmith Ledger?

It was more than a little “cloudy” when the Texas Department of Public Safety, Private Security Bureau form listed the necessary Company License Fees. From what I could determine; remembering that nobody at the Texas Private Security Board could figure out a reason for my even calling them, my company is subject to several fees. The first would be for a Class B Fee which costs $ 300.00 to start with. There are no qualifications listed for the title of Locksmith; only that it is listed under the category of Class B License Fees. This does not include an additional $ 50.00 to list myself as the owner, officer or shareholder of my “one horse” operation. It also asks that I pay for 2 “classifiable” fingerprint cards on Board issued FBI fingerprint cards at an additional cost of $ 25.00 for each. I must also complete a “verification of experience” form to qualify as a manager and a Level One Certificate form. This is all quite clearly printed on Form 027, just below where it states, “ ALL FEES MUST BE PAID BY CASHIER’S CHECK OR MONEY ORDER and ALL FEES SUBMITTED TO THE BOARD ARE NON-REFUNABLE NOR TRANSFERABLE”. These two lines bother my sense of right and wrong. I have been doing business with the State of Texas for more than a few years. I send them my State Sales Tax report along with a check, a check that is drawn from the business checking account at my bank. If there is an error, either in my favor or in the State’s favor, the amount of that error is quickly determined and I either write a check for that difference or I am refunded the overpayment. To insist that I go down to the local Stop and Go or similar institution to obtain a form of payment that is “guaranteed not to bounce” is demeaning at best and insulting at least.

I suppose that it is important that I go buy a German Shepherd, or a Labrador Retriever so that I can go about the business of making keys for cars now. Maybe the dog can carry my tool box and verify ownership of the tires based on traces of urine on the tires. I really have no idea since I lack the necessary training in my chosen field of endeavor. The important thing is now the State of Texas will have a chance to grab at least $ 400.00 out of my bank account just for the privilege of doing what I have for the past 25 years.
Then next year I will be permitted to continue, that is as long as I cough up my renewal fees, vault over this fence, balance myself on that wire and jump through a hoop while smiling and thanking the great State of Texas for their efforts to save the citizens from dishonest and fraudulent security individuals.

Rep. Linda Harper-Brown “Skirts” the Law

“Under Texas law, running a red light is a Class C misdemeanor that can be regulated only by the state, even though local governments are in charge of enforcement. In 2003, the House overwhelmingly voted not to allow cities to use cameras to issue criminal citations to red-light violators.

Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, inserted an amendment in the 2003 transportation bill giving cities authority to regulate transportation civilly or criminally.”, from a Kristen Mack article written February 16, 2005 posted in the Houston Chronicle. Now all the big city mayors around Texas want a piece of the Civil Action to raise money for already strapped budgets. Thank you Rep. Linda Harper-Brown for “selling us all down the river.”

This is Texas politics at the level most of have come to expect; under the table and out of view. It’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. What part of “overwhelmingly voted not to allow cities to use cameras” did Rep. Linda Harper-Brown not understand? I suppose that “Rep.” in front of her name could stand for “reprehensible”, “reprobate” or any number of things other than “representative”; that distinction should be made.

Kristen Mack wrote another article, “Red-light camera ban hits bump”( link via title bar), explaining that the Texas Senate has stalled a measure that would repair the damage done by Rep. Linda Harper-Brown’s sneaky amendment passage. “Tradition in the Senate allows as few as 11 of the 31 members to keep bills from the floor, and senators are under pressure from powerful camera proponents — including the city of Houston and businesses that covet the city contract to provide the cameras.” Does this surprise anyone?

So, who will win the race for the “Red Light Camera Cash Cow”? I put my money on the “Cash Cow” because; with Texas elected officials, as with most other states elected officials, greed eventually takes the place of reason. Greed will win out over the long haul and I expect that the “Save the Children” line will be used as a trump card by one of them when it gets down to it.

Blogger Down

That sounds like something that would have come across my police radio, “Blogger down, any unit in the area clear to respond?” Actually, I wanted to post a blog all morning and the damn thing won’t respond. “Not no way, not no how!”, as they say in the Wizard of OZ.

When I was a kid playing baseball there would be a “momentary window of opportunity”; the sun would be at the perfect angle, the pitcher would be one that I could hit, there were runners on base ready for a chance to advance and I would be in the on deck circle waiting for my chance to break the game wide open. Unfortunately, there were already 2 outs and the guy at the plate hit a feeble pop up to the pitcher and the inning ended; all my potential for being the hero just out of reach. The next inning as I stepped into the batter’s box I noticed that the other team had brought in a real flame thrower and I stuck out; where’s the justice?

I am waiting for Blogger Home page to get back on line, my hot little blog ready to win a Pulitzer or is there such a thing for Bloggers? Maybe I will win the Bullshiter Award, that’s it, a new award ceremony just for Bloggers; everyone wearing brown shoes and geeky sun glasses. I wait in the wings; a “self proclaimed member of the press” identification card stuck in the silk band of my Stetson felt hat; they announce the winner. http://www.dadshats.com/stetfir1.html ( note that the tool for hiding URL's is not working either)

“I accept this award on behalf of all the little people”, gratuitously genuflecting as they read aloud my now famous blog, “Lost Chapter in the life of Walter Mitty (link via title bar) or How I won the Bullshitter Blogging Award.”

Is there a perfect age to have a baby?

That was the title on MSN’s web site today. How dumb can they be; you should have them when they are newborn, after that they get to big.

And they wonder why we don't take them seriously...

Is anyone else out there a fan of the late Henny Youngman?

Land of Opportunity

Listening to the talk shows yesterday; one of the recurring themes was the minimum wage issue. I’m sorry; but that is some kind of smoke and mirrors game that has been played for way too long. There is a huge segment of our society that just doesn’t get what America is all about; this “land of opportunity”.

I have a motivational tape that is inside my head now, I played it so many times when I was starting up my own business that it became a part of me. I can’t say for sure who it was that made the tape; it was either Skip Ross or Jim Rohn, either of them were excellent teachers of what I call basic American business philosophy. There was a self reflective section where the speaker was trying to figure out why his life was so good while other’s around him had missed it some how. He was in the Tenderloin District, a place where the “less fortunate” seemed to end up. Was it some class in school that they had missed, perhaps a lecture that he had attended that they had not, all the while wondering aloud the fact that he had learned how to operate within the system to create a nice life for himself and there before him were the ones who had lost hope.

I think it may start in the homes of our children. At some point these kids see that their parents are not making any forward progress and maybe they accept that as the norm. They are taught, by example, to get minimum wage jobs. They are not given the important information; that it is a starting point for young people to gain experience in the market place, not a long term goal arrangement. It remains a problem when the leaders of our country insist that minimum wage is an issue rather than pointing out that “lack of spirit to succeed” is really the issue.

I have so many good motivational tapes that they tend to blur in my mind as to who said what. On one, I think it was Jim Rohn, he has a story about a man who has run low on food to feed his family. He knocks on his neighbor’s door and asks him for some bread.
Upon being rejected he goes home and thinks about the needs of his family. He returns to his neighbor; this time he begs for some bread to feed his starving family, and is again rejected. After a while he jokingly says if he gets turned away again, “Watch your bread!”, implying that he would break in and steal your bread if his poor starving family had reached that level. He then asks, “What would you do to survive”? Then, after you have thought about it for a moment, he takes it to the next level, “What would you do to succeed”?

So I ask, “What would you do to succeed”? This is not being taught, at least not to those who need it the most. Instead they are being fed the lie that “this is what you are worth, give or take a dollar.” How come new members of our society, those from foreign countries can make it to America, enter the work force and within a short period of time become business owners and live “the dream”? Is it because they can visualize all the steps necessary to accomplish the dream; hard work, extra hours, extra education, risking capital, not spending every dollar for entertainment so that capital can be put aside and all the other factors involved in individual growth?

I heard some guy getting off work the other day. He said he needed to pick up a couple of six packs on the way home where he was going to sit in front of his television and watch the game. To him, this was the American dream; unfortunately, this was the lesson he was teaching his children too. So when someone tells me that his minimum wage is too low, I agree and smile a simple smile of remorse that say, “You have the worlds greatest country and yet you settle for minimum wage, you idiot”. I then hand them my wife’s business card and tell them to call so she can show them how to improve their worth in the market place. Only a very few, less than 2% call, and even fewer actually take the second step, that of working to rise above minimum wage. Some have the patent, “Does this involve sales?”, built in exit strategy line.

I then tell them that it has to do with nuclear physics or some other line of BS, as if “Sales, oh my goodness, not that!”, is the same as “playing the piano at the local cat house”. What the hell difference would it make as long as it got you out of minimum wage and on your way to becoming more a part of the “Dream”? I have actually taken the card away from some of these idiots and told them, “Never mind, you wouldn’t work out anyway.” The look of “loser” is stamped across their forehead, deeply engraved letters that just won’t go away no matter how high the minimum wage ever reaches.

Having Fun Yet?

Most of my locksmith jobs come from car dealerships, or from their referrals. This afternoon I got a call from one of my Ford service line friends. It was a heat case job where the customer had her vehicle towed to Ford because she’d had her keys stolen. For one reason or another, the key code that Ford had on file did not work and the vehicle was blocking one of the service lanes.

I got the call to fit the key, cut a pair of PATS keys and program the system so that they could get the car out of the way. I looked at the driver side door lock which had been worked on based on the poorly fitting weather seal around the lock. I asked if one key worked all the locks; door, ignition and trunk. The customer shook her head to indicate, “yes”. I figured out the cuts for the door; the first six cuts on the key. I then began the “progression” to eliminate the last two cuts which would then turn the ignition and trunk locks; nothing worked and so I re-read the door and started over. I did this twice before asking once more, “Are you sure that the same key fit the door and the rest of the locks?”

“I bought the car used and never used the key in that lock; only the little clicker button thing.” Well at least I had a pretty good idea that the locks had been changed and so I decided to “force” the ignition to the on position with a specialty tool, remove it and replace it with a new one. The force tool distorted the original shape of the ignition switch and made removal much more difficult. I ended up having to pry it out very carefully, not wishing to destroy the information within so that I would have the trunk key information that I still needed.

It took the best part of an hour to get it all done, cut two programmable keys, program the PATS system and explain to the customer that she indeed had a 2 key vehicle; not that it was supposed to be that way, just that it was that way. “Oh, my brother did that when it got wrecked. I should have told you that. You should see the way he wired up the electric windows; what a mess.” At least I have enough self control not to shoot customers, even the really stupid ones. My real customer, the car dealership, was just glad to get her car out of the service drive lane and a little relieved that I really did know how to make keys, even under pressure.

A Little Wild is Good

I’m going to write a blog about gun ownership and how that helps keep the government a little more honest. I will try to remember that as this works its way around the corner. This is after reading Unrepentant Individual’s blog about Carnival of Cordite #4.

Baseball is one of my true loves and so it should be of no surprise to anyone that I trim my beard back this time of year; a neatly trimmed goatee instead of my full fur winter job. I still don’t think the Astros will invite me to any of their facilities; all the same it never hurts to be ready. My chiropractor said that I might be able to play in a church softball game, one or two if I behave myself.

I tried being a pitcher when I was in high school ball. It was a close call, that or an infield position. I was just wild enough to get the coaches attention. He said he wished I had a better fastball and a better curve; but since I was a bit wild it would keep the batters off balance wondering which pitch was going to bounce off a rib cage, an elbow or some other tender spot.

The same is true for citizens when it comes to gun ownership. I’m not talking about shooting at the target for a good grouping and then pulling one just to show you still have room to improve. No, I’m talking about having a good mix of personalities out there who own guns.

I have nothing against gun owners who intend to go hunting for sport or target practice only; don’t confuse them with gun owners who keep a loaded pistol handy to take out a bad guy. That bad guy could be some kid all junked out on drugs looking for something in my house to take to the pawn shop or it could be some jerk from a Federal agency that just started up after Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi took control of the government. When I bought some ammo at the local K-Mart once a long time back the clerk asked what I planned to use it for. “People”. I kept my answer short and smiled back at the young man as he made sure I signed the Federal form.

I wanted to puke when presidential candidate John Kerry put out his down home country boy accent to play up to the sportsmen hunter gun owners. I actually think that the hunter mentality gun owner is more dangerous to gun owner rights because there is some kind of mantra that proceeds out of their mouths, “We are not a threat to you civilized folks. We only shoot deer, ducks and targets”, rather than my own mantra, “Stay the hell out of my way and I may let you live”. The government could easily make a case for the removal of all guns from the sports guy; just make sure he has a fresh piece of meat in his freezer and he has no need for the gun. On the other hand, the government had better have a damn good reason to knock on my door, try to take away something that belongs to me, intimidate me or my family in any way because they have no idea how I might react. I am a retired cop with a long history of insubordination. It is wise to be a little wild, unable to figure out and hold the government at arms length. They have no idea what handguns I have on me, in my truck, what other weapons I may have; only the one I qualified with to obtain my permit to carry here in the great state of Texas. I don’t consider myself a threat to anyone who minds their own business; all others, watch your butt. One last comment; I have learned how to compensate for these no line trifocal glasses. Instead of shooting for the belly button like I was taught in the academy, I now shoot for the center of the chest and my grouping is not too bad for an old retired cop.

Our Thurbie Tree

This is a link the story I wrote to honor Mover Mike's dog Amber, who died this past weekend.

Bioethicist Expert on Right to Die Gives Thumbs Down to Terri

“These cases don't belong in the public arena,” says the Rev. John Paris, a bioethicist at Boston College and an expert on right-to-die issues. ( This sentence from an article was written in regard to the Terri Shiavo issue February 28, 2005)

In the Christian Science Monitor article by Gregory M. Lamb, “Right to stay alive: Who decides?”, two alarming character flaws of our emerging society came into focus. The first, that such a field as bioethicist has been created and the second, even more alarming is that there are such things as so called “Experts” on the right to die.

I can remember being more than a little alarmed when I saw a billboard along side a major freeway advertising “Who’s the Father”, an agency that did the blood work/DNA work in cases of undecided parental responsibility. Had our society become so casual as to need such a thing, much less such a need as to make it a viable industry? No, I did not fall off the turnip truck this morning, if that’s on your mind.

Bioethicist, now that’s a made up modern word to cover something that was never needed, nor should be needed by any civilized society. The NAZI regime had no need for one because they intended to violate all concepts of morality in their testing/torture of “lesser qualified human forms”. Saddam Hessian’s secret police were no different, nor were Joseph Stalin’s or any of the notable monsters of this world. They had no need to have someone with a title to remind them that some things just are not acceptable, they were going to do them anyway, why have to be reminded?

So, a bioethicist, is a civilized society’s way of saying, “We plan to leave the accepted paths of decency, but only in short forays, most likely of little consequence to our overall society”. What was it my old friend and supervisor advised me to say, oh yes, “Pure Male Bovine Excrement!” I had gotten a written reprimand for having voiced the more popular phrase, quite correctly, only in front of the wrong folks.

On to the second issue, that of having a so called Expert in right to die issues. Talk about placing yourselves above the masses. The outright audacity, gall or nerve; call it what you will, to extend such a title upon any human seeks to elevate that person to the same level as our Creator; who alone has that privilege. I got all this from just one sentence in the article. The rest of the article went on and on attempting to justify the “expert” observations with inaccurate or incomplete information intended to justify their position.

I am also a big fan of talk radio, especially the Rush Limbaugh Show. I can just imagine hearing Rush explaining how, “The Rev-a-rind John Paris, heavy emphasis on the Rev-a-rind as he likes to repeat sometimes, and bio-eth-i-cist announced today….”, yes, that would be how Rush would introduce this one. I’m sorry; but the Christian Science Monitor does not represent anything Christian when it sides with violating inalienable God given rights, such as the right to life. (sound of a piece of paper straightened in front of the EIB microphone for effect )

Maybe a name change is in store for you guys, say, The Monitor, without the Christian part so as not to confuse anyone. Try selling shoes, or providing meals to the poor; but leave any hint of religion out of your message, you left God’s will a long time ago, that assumes you ever had it to begin with.

Oscars Now and Then

I have to be an old timer from the way I continue to compare the newer movie “picks” with some of the older ones. I avoided the whole Oscar ceremony gig and opted to watch some real movies. I did take in one of the best films ever made on TCM, “Bridge On the River Kwai”. Now that was an Oscar quality movie in almost every regard. I think it may actually improve with age, knowing the importance of that scene where they take Colonel Nicholson, Alec Guinness, out of the “cooker box” in the middle of the night to have a “meet and confer” with Col. Saito, Sessue Hayakawa. Starved as he was he declined the portion of meat, thirsty he also declined the offered drink; knowing that the other fellow had run out of options. Followed closely by the scene where the English officers were now running things, the Japanese Commandant acting as a mere puppet, “The order has already been given.”. There was so much power created for the viewer and today’s blockbusters can only offer special effects, great special effects to cover the lack of depth. Then the following of the detonator wire after the river went down, “Madness!”. That was an Oscar movie worth the film it was made on.

I have the movie in my Laser Disc collection, for you young folks these were the forerunners of the current DVD format, large silver discs, the size of the old 33rpm records, with improved quality both in picture and certainly in audio output compared to VHS. Laser Discs fall somewhere between antediluvian and Jurassic on the techno scale of today. I’m just now getting over the Flu, a really nasty last 6 days, so that may be good medicine. This movie is gut wrenching, just what I need to get rid of what ever might be left of the Flu. “Be happy in your work!”

State Assisted Suicide

I was going to leave this alone until Monday; but it just wouldn’t go away. Being that it is Sunday, I work at balancing the various aspects of my own humanity so that my spiritual being has some pure input. The Terri Shaivo court case has some very spiritual aspects to it. I read a comment on one of my blogs that caused me pause. Have we not instilled a sense of humanity into the next generation?

“The person that put herself in this situation in the first place was trying to kill herself. She was intentionally not eating and only drinking liquids to keep her alive if even that. This resulted in her brain damage that put her in a vegetative state. All the courts did was a favor to her. She was a vegetable after she did this to herself.”, quoting from the comment section of my blog.

When I was a patrol officer, many times over my career I was dispatched to a “disturbance in progress”. Upon arrival it would turn out to be an attempted suicide in progress. When enough officers had arrived to put the advantage on our side we would out maneuver the dangers, take away the weapon of choice and then control the individual. At great risk to our own selves we would often tackle these people to take away the weapon. It would have been so much safer to just “pop a cap” and call for a clean up crew to haul off the completed “suicide” victim. Why did we not do that? Maybe its because we believe that even the most deranged people deserve a chance at a better life. We “arrested” them from doing damage to themselves and/or others, took them to the local emergency room for treatment which would automatically place them under psychiatric observation and care. It was societies hope that these individuals would eventually come to grips with the issues and come out leading a productive life.

Were there times when I thought to myself, “What the heck am I wasting my time over this piece of garbage?” Possibly, but I can’t recall any off hand. On occasion we would joke about some of the “successful” suicides; call it thick skinned police humor. Someday I will post the story about the Killer Dr Pepper Machine; just not today.

There used to be a wacko close to downtown who would stand on the side of a major thoroughfare, wait for the right moment and then jump into the middle of the street in an attempt to get hit by a car. I got the call to check it out and the idiot tried to get hit by my patrol car. I wonder how many folks went home with their heart stuck in their throats all the way home; thanking God that they hadn’t run over another human being. I took this wretch to the hospital and filled out the necessary forms. I don’t know what ever became of that person. Hopefully time healed the wounds.

On another attempted suicide I happened to be working in the capacity as Field Training Instructor. I had my rookie with me when we investigated the call. The “suspect” had been transported to a local hospital prior to our arrival. The room where this fellow lived had several “ear marks” that lent credibility to the suicide angle. On the floor were several framed photographs of family members, all in a semi-circle where he had been going over his life prior to taking his own. He had put on his going to church Sunday suit, made his bed and left a short note. What had saved his life that day was a momentary flinch when he pulled the trigger. The bullet had glanced the top of his forehead and bounced off his skull rather than penetrating it.

We followed up with a visit to the hospital where he had been treated for an “accidental gun shot wound”. The ER doctor could see that there would be much more paper work involved had he called it an attempted suicide. I did talk to the doctor, who considered it “risky” to his own career. “I made him promise not to do himself in for at least 6 months”. The story would have ended there, at least I would never have found out about “the rest of the story”, as Paul Harvey says on his radio show.

Six months and a day later this poor soul did finish the job. It happened on evening shift and two units were called to a disturbance, “man holding a shotgun”. One of the units happened to be the rookie I had been training, the same one who had a prior knowledge of this fellow. Upon arrival the suspect recognized the young officer, funny what some people remember. He made it a point to clear the doctor of any chance of getting in trouble, “Its been six months now.” He then blew himself up, getting pieces of human debris all over the young officer’s uniform. This officer waited around the station until I came on for my shift to tell me about it. He had regained his composure by then, all the same he took it to heart about how “just maybe” we had let him down by not having him committed. He was right, no doubt about it. We had permitted a chance to be lazy to sway our judgment. Do I beat myself up over missed opportunities to have done a better job; to a certain extent, yes. Memories and conscious awareness are what make us who we are. The fact that this comes to mind at this point in time makes it relevant to the Terri Shaivo case.

Whether or not Terri attempted to starve herself to death became a mute point the moment she came into the care of those who know better. Whether she was committed as a psychiatric ward of the State or simply a patient in a facility able to care for her needs; the fact remains that our society does not assist in suicide. I would hope that this is still important to us as a people.

Can you just see the SOP manual for the Police Department a few years from now if Judge Green’s ruling stands up; “Upon arrival determine if the citizen desires to commit suicide. Discharge your firearm in such a manner as to mortally wound “suspect” without causing damage to surrounding property or injury to others” Oh yes, this will be lovely.

BOA is a link to the past

Bonnie in BOA competition is
a link to additional chapters of
Pecaw's Gift

We Cannot Brook the Thought

“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.”, from the Declaration of Independence.

Judge George Greer has taken it upon himself to deprive a citizen, Terri Schiavo, of a God Given Unalienable Right, the right to life. This alone should be enough to have him removed from the bench. The criminal courts have been granted the power to sentence in capital crimes; no such power exists in civil matters. Government is not the author of Life, God our Creator has that awesome responsibility, and therefore government has no authority in such matters except in criminal matters. Judge Greer might want to read the Constitution for guidance, except it appears he hasn’t followed it in a long time.

“Article IV, Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.” I would consider starving a defenseless woman to death a form of domestic violence.

Bill of Rights Amendment V, “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” This was aimed at criminals, not defenseless bedridden invalids. I don’t remember seeing any papers come back from the grand jury accusing Terri Schiavo of any capital crime.

Bill of Rights Amendment IX “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” Maybe I’m wrong; but snuffing out a life, doesn’t that fall under “deny or disparage”?

Bill of Rights Amendment XIV Section 1. “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Maybe this above all else is the most important violation of Terri Schiavo’s rights as a citizen. Due process, my aunt Tillie’s extraordinarily large butt!

I say let’s put Judge Green in a room and starve him until his brain becomes more receptive to the rights of citizens. Okay, now some hot shot lawyer needs to work on this. I’m just going over what’s on paper, very old; but important papers.

In closing, a few words from the past may help to put us back on the path:

“We cannot brook the thought of it (the Constitution) being torn into shreds, or destroyed, or trampled under foot and ignored by men. We cannot tolerate the sentiment, at one time expressed, by a man high in authority in the nation. He said: "The constitution be damned; the popular sentiment of the people is the constitution!" That is the sentiment of anarchism, and has spread to a certain extent, and is spreading over "the land of liberty and the home of the brave." Joseph F. Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from a talk given in 1939.

Foot in Mouth Disease

I get this one genetically, my father suffered from it too. I was too young to remember of my own; however, the story has been told enough times over the years that I have no doubt to its accuracy.

My folks were out shopping for Christmas cards and had found one they both liked. Upon asking the price, the young black lady behind the counter checked and reported the information back. Without thinking, dad reacted to the exorbitant price, “Holy Makel Der Andy!”, the old Amos and Andy radio show line. I’m sure he meant nothing by it, other than that the price was way too much; all the same my mother kicked him in the leg and ushered him out of the store.

Did I mention this is a three part story? Jump ahead to the near present. My wife and I were at the local Sonic drive in for burgers. We weren’t all that hungry and decided to skip the fries. The young lady on the PA system asked a second time, “Are you sure you don’t want fries with your burgers?” The line from the Bogart movie, Treasure of the Sierra Madres, came to me. “We don’t need no stinking fries!”, spoken with a guttural Tex-mex accent.

I was at my chiropractor for an adjustment; having nothing to do with the bruise on my leg, and telling what I thought was a funny story, “We don’t need no stinking fries!”. My chiropractor was in stitches and had to regain her composer. I thought it was funny, but not all that funny. It turns out that when she had announced to her young daughter that she was pregnant with a little baby brother, her daughter shot back, “We don’t need no stinking boys!” What would we do without great lines to get us into trouble.

Intelligent Design or Coincidence?

I hear all the pseudo intellectuals patting themselves on the back for having come up with “theories” about how things came to be, the universe, the solar system and even how man came out of the muck as an “evolved” critter. Now, I am no scientist; but I have some contact with the “long hair” crowd via my readings. I have a folder full of interesting articles that tend to support the idea of Intelligent Design, which is a watered down term for what it really is, all of God’s Creations. These folks can’t even say His name. Today I will pull one out of the hat, just to wet your appetites. Tip of the hat to Rossputin for bringing this subject up.

The Planets Testify of the Creator
by John P. Pratt

The Book of Abraham claim about planetary "set times" leads to startling evidence for design by a Creator. Planetary periods, and even some intervals between conjunctions, are multiples of two sacred time units. In last month's article[1] we summarized the Lord's revelation on astronomy as recorded in the Book of Abraham as Abraham's Three Truths:
1. One revolution of Kolob is one day unto the Lord, being 1,000 earth years.
2. There are set times for the earth, moon and sun which were designed to reckon time.
3. The planets form a progression of increasing set times, designed to reckon time, beginning with the earth and moon and ending with Kolob.

The first two truths were discussed in detail, where it was pointed out that the precise "set time" for the moon of 29.53059 days and of the sun of 365.2425 days form the basis of the (corrected) Hebrew Calendar, and both of those numbers need to be just that precise for the calendar to work perfectly for the 7,000 years of the earth's temporal existence. This article proceeds to discuss Abraham's Third Truth, proposing just what the "set times" of the other planets in the solar system are, and demonstrates that they form a series of very precise intervals like perfectly interlocking gears in a great celestial timepiece, just as the Lord revealed to Abraham. The astonishing result is that the periods of the planets and even of their conjunctions are almost exactly whole number multiples of two sacred time intervals. That is strong evidence that the entire solar system was designed by a Creator. Planetary Set Times Let us begin by relating the set times of all of the major planets to the set time of the earth (the day) as described in Abraham's Third Truth and also to the year, which Abraham's First Truth tells us is tied to the revolutions of Kolob. Thus, if we measure the set times of other planets in terms of the earth's day and year, then they will also be tied to the reckoning of the Lord's time on Kolob. This is a very important point which has not occurred to modern astronomers. Anciently, unenlightened men thought that the earth was the center of the universe. Now scientists have discovered that we are far from the center of our galaxy, so it would never occur to modern astronomers to consider the possibility that our solar system was designed with the earth's mean solar day as a fundamental unit of time. But Abraham was shown that even though the center of the order of stars to which we belong is very distant from us (Abr. 3:3), yet the earth's day and year were set up according to celestial measures and hence might well serve as fundamental units for the solar system.

Synodic or Sidereal?

There are two principal orbital periods for each of the planets which are candidates to be called the "set time" for that planet. The first is the "sidereal" period, which is the one usually listed in astronomy books as the orbital period. The sidereal period is relative to the stars, meaning the average interval between successive orbital passings of the planet near the same star. The other period is called the "synodic" period. It is the period as seen from the earth relative to the sun rather than to a star. For example, it is the interval between successive risings of the planet with the sun. Astronomers tend to ignore the synodic period because it is earth-based. It just hasn't appeared to be of fundamental importance as does the sidereal period, which is the same as the period of the planet orbiting the sun, independent of the earth. These two periods can be very different. For example, consider the planet Venus. It orbits the sun 13 times while the earth orbits the sun 8 times, that is, in 8 years. Thus, it's sidereal period is 8/13 of a year, or about 225 days. But suppose we ask, "How many times will Venus appear to rise with the sun in those 8 years?" The answer is that as we orbit the sun 8 times, Venus must pass us 5 times in order for it to finish its 13 orbits. Thus, it will appear on earth that Venus passes the sun 5 times in 8 years and its synodic period is 8/5 of a year, or about 584 days. In case you don't understanding that reasoning, the main point is that the sidereal period of 225 days is very different from its synodic period of 584 days. Which planetary period makes the most sense to be what the Lord called the "set time" for each planet? There are reasons for choosing either, so we need to consider this point. The planets can be divided into two groups: the inner and the outer planets. The planets Mercury and Venus are nearer to the sun than is the earth and hence are called "inner" planets. Because they must always stay near the sun, they can only be seen shortly after sunset or before sunrise. Hence, they are both called evening and morning "stars." (Note that throughout the Book of Abraham and also in this paper, the words "star" and "planet" are used almost interchangeably). Venus often can be seen in the twilight before stars are even visible. Thus, for the inner planets, as for the moon, the synodic period relative to the sun seems to be the more important, and will be used for their set times. On the other hand, it can be argued that the more important period for the outer planets is the sidereal period because they are usually only visible at night when the stars are visible.

The way the "star clock" works is that the principal stars in each of the twelve zodiac constellations are like the twelve numbers on the face of a clock, and the planets are like "hands" on the clock face which move around the clock at different rates to tell time. Thus, the more important period for those planets is that relative to the stars, so it seems more likely that the "set time" of the outer planets is their sidereal period. Before considering each of the planets in order, we need to say a word about the celestial yardsticks used to design the solar system intervals. As stated above, the earth's average solar day is taken to be the basic unit. The 7-day week seems to be the principal yardstick of Abraham's Second Truth, concerning the sun-earth-moon system for two reasons. First, both the lunar month and the solar year come out nearly even in weeks, and second, the Enoch and Hebrew calendars are both based on the week. But other intervals appear to be those used when the Lord "laid the foundations of the earth" and of the heavens (Job 38:4). The Vientena, Trecena and Novena Abraham's Third law, which concerns the rest of the solar system, seems to use other units of time measure than the week. The basic unit is still the earth's day, but there are three other yardsticks apparently used for the orbital periods of the planets. Two of them we have encountered in my earlier articles: the 13-day trecena and the 20-day vientena of the Native American calendar.[2] Now it is time to introduce another needed piece of their calendrical system. The 13-day count was said to refer to the thirteen "Lords of the Day" but there was also a lesser known 9-day count for the nine "Lords of the Night" called the novena.[3] Each day in the novena is assigned a number from 1 to 9 in repeating succession, similar to how the week can be thought of as an continuous repetition of days numbered from 1 to 7. These 9 "lords" may have originally referred to the Moon, Mercury,Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, even as our seven-day week is associated with the first seven in that series.[4] Pluto, the other so-called planet, is one of several small bodies in the solar system which is not a "major planet" and does not appear to be part of the Lord's timepiece. But even though Neptune is not visible to the unaided eye, it is definitely one of the hands on the great celestial clock.

The Merc

All three of the intervals of the vientena, trecena and novena are apparently fundamental to the design of the solar system. Moveover, there are three larger intervals formed by taking pairs of these three fundamental day counts, two of which are clearly important in solar system design. The trecena and vientena have their first days coincide every 13 x 20 = 260 days, forming the sacred round, which has been discussed at length in my articles relating to holy days. In this article we will see that several solar system periods come out even when measured in sacred rounds. Another important unit is formed when the novena and trecena counts both begin on the same day. To my knowledge, that 9 x 13 = 117-day period has not yet been recognized, so I will call it the "merc" for reasons which will become clear in the next section. It appears be even more important that the Sacred Round in solar system measurements. The third period of 9 x 20 = 180 days is doubled to form the 360-day "prophetic year" of the Mayan long-count,[5] which does currently not appear to me to be part of solar system design. Work in Progress. It is important to note that this entire subject is one of current research and discovery. I have delayed some two decades to publish parts of what is in this article, awaiting further confirmations. The work on Mercury and Venus is now becoming mature, but I have barely scratched the surface for the outer planets. One note that occurs to me as I write this article is that the 9-day count may be more important for the sidereal (night) periods and the 13-day count may be more important for the synodic (day) periods. In fact, I am not even sure of when the first day of a novena occurs, so I tentatively adopt the same one used by the Mayans.[6]

Now let us look at each of the planets in order to see how their set times form a set of interlocking intervals, designed according to these yardsticks of the merc and the sacred round. One Planet Above Another Let us now proceed to consider each of the proposed planetary set times, in order of increasing length, "one planet above another," as the Lord told Abraham (Abr. 3:9). Mercury After the moon, the next shortest planetary period in our solar system is that of the planet Mercury. The average synodic period of Mercury over historical times is nearly 116 earth days (115.87754 days[7]), which is here proposed to be the "set time" of Mercury. It is because this period nearly equals the above described period of 117-days that I dubbed it the "merc." We will see that in many ways, the merc is the fundamental unit of time for the solar system. Because I have already discussed the role of Mercury in some details in my articles, just one example should make it clear that the Lord is using the merc as a unit of measure. The date proposed in my articles for the birth of Christ is Wed 5 Apr 1 BC pm* (after sunset), and for his resurrection is Sun 3 Apr AD 33 am* (before sunrise).[8] That interval between what are arguably the two most important dates in the history of mankind is 12,051 days. In my earlier papers, I have discussed how that interval is equal to exactly 104 cycles of the planet Mercury (104 x 115.8775 = 12,051.26). On the Mercury calendar, both the Savior's birth and Resurrection occurred on the holy day "1 Creation," which is the first day of the Mercury cycle.[9] What has this got to do with the merc? That interval happens also to be exactly equal to 103 mercs (103 x 117 = 12,051). First, this is offered as an indication that the Lord is using the merc as an interval of time measurement. Moreover, it also demonstrates how an interval which is only approximate (such as one Mercury cycle differing by more than a day from a merc) can be made to fit precisely to the very day by dropping or adding an entire cycle when needed (103 mercs = 104 cycles).

Venus

5 Venus cycles equals 8 years. The average synodic period of Venus is its evening and morning star cycle of nearly 584 days (583.92166 days). Five mercs is equal to 5 x 117 = 585 days, so, like Mercury, its cycle only differs from an exact number of mercs by slightly more than a day. Is that a significant coincidence? After all, we noted in last month's article that sometimes the ratio of planetary periods occur in whole numbers, caused by the gravitational effects of one planet on another.[10] But that is not the case here. These are the synodic periods as viewed from the earth, not the periods of revolution around the sun. Those sun-centered periods are not in any simple ratio.[11] Thus, as stated in the last article, the system was designed to be viewed from the earth, and the simple ratios don't appear in the sun-centered numbers. Thus, as we see that the set time of each planet can be measured in whole numbers of mercs or sacred rounds, it is important to remember that modern astronomers assume that these periods are essentially random, so the response of the atheist must be that it is just by chance that these values come out so close to exact numbers. Eight Years.Venus, besides having nearly exactly five times the synodic period of Mercury, is also closely tied to the length of the year on earth. The relationship is very simple: there are almost exactly five Venus cycles every eight years. To show the accuracy, note that 8 x 365 days exactly equals 5 x 584 days. The period of eight years also realigns the moon. Thus, if a child is baptized on her eighth birthday on our Gregorian calendar, she will be "reborn" near her birthday on both the Hebrew Calendar, and also the Venus calendar. This relationship is shown in the illustration by gears with 25 teeth for the earth, and 40 for Venus. Forty Years. An excellent realignment interval of all three set times of Mercury, Venus, and the year occurs after forty years. Forty years of 365 days = 25 Venus cycles of 584 days and also completes 126 Mercury cycles. As noted in my previous articles, some of the periods of forty years mentioned in the scriptures apparently occurred when these cycles aligned with the holy days on the Hebrew Calendar.[12] The Venus Calendar. It might be constructive here to note how the cycles of Venus form a miniature of all history, because this again shows the design to the solar system. The period of Venus is about 583 11/12 days, so after 12 cycles, it comes out approximately even: 12 Venus cycles equals nearly exactly 7,007 days. Using the 13-day trecena as the unit of time for the Venus calendar, one can count 11 cycles of exactly five mercs (585 days) each followed by one cycle of 572 days, for a total of 7,007 days. That way, every cycle begins at the start of a trecena.

A Miniature of History.

It turns out that 7,007 days is exactly seven periods of 1,001 days, each of which is in turn divisible by 7 (1,001 = 7 x 143). Evidence for design is suggested when the intervals divide exactly into units which the Lord seems to prefer. For example, we have been told the temporal existence of the earth will be 7,000 years, or 7 days of the Lord (D&C 77:6). We also know that the Lord divides periods into 12 parts, such as 12 hours in a day (John 11:9) or 12 months in a year. We know that all of history is also divided into 12 "hours" and that we are living in the eleventh hour (Mat. 20:6-9, D.C. 33:3).[13] Thus, the earth's temporal history of 7,000 years is divided into 12 periods, just as are the cycles of Venus. This is the kind of order which argues most strongly that the solar system was created to be a precise timepiece.

The atheist can continue to claim that all such alignments are chance coincidences, but such a posture becomes extremely unlikely, and much harder to believe than simply accepting that it was designed.

Mars

The sidereal period of Mars is 687 days (686.99576 days) and the synodic period is 780 days (779.93651 days). As stated above, the set time for the inner planets seems clearly to be the synodic period, and for the outer planets to be the sidereal period. But Mars is somewhat of a transitional planet, and there are arguments that the set time of Mars could be either. For the purposes of this article, and to show the design of the solar system and planetary progression, let us use the synodic period as the set time of Mars, but this is only a tentative proposal at this point. The synodic period of Mars is nearly exactly three sacred rounds of 260 days (3 x 260 = 780), which fact argues strongly for the set time of Mars to be the synodic period. An even the slight discrepancy eventually comes out to be exact. That is, the set time is 779 59/63 days, so after 7 x 9 years, the orbital period comes out to be exact in days. The synodic period of Mars is in a 4:3 ratio with Venus. When the 585-day approximation to Venus' synodic period is used, then it is exact: 3 x 780 = 4 x 585 = 2,340 days. This also is exactly the period on the Mayan calendar when the cycles of the vientena, trecena and novena all realign: 20 x 13 x 9 = 2,340 days. These coincidences add greatly to the arguments for the design of the solar system, as well as supporting the Mayan belief that the solar system was created according to the calendar and not the other way around. Jupiter The sidereal period of the planet Jupiter is nearly 12 years (11.86 years = 4,332.8486 days). Similarly, the earth's year is about 12 lunar months. The ancient sky was divided into twelve zodiac constellations, which are like the 12 numbers in fixed positions on the face of clock. The planets move clockwise in the circle of these constellations and can be thought of as hands of a clock. Even as the sun spends about one month in each zodiac constellation, so also does Jupiter spend about one year in each. The set time of Jupiter is within four days of being exactly 37 mercs (37 x 117 = 4,329 days). Again, that is surprisingly close to an exact number of mercs for such a large orbit. But the orbital period also comes out even more exactly in sacred rounds: 50 x 260 = 13,000 days, which is three orbits of Jupiter of 4,333.33 days each. So the orbit can be thought of as measure both in mercs and sacred rounds.

The merc is an ideal unit for tracking Jupiter. Jupiter's period is a little less than 12 years, so Jupiter spends a little less than a year in each zodiac constellation. Three mercs = 3 x 117 = 351 days, which is also a little less than a year. Thus one could create a calendar on which Jupiter moves to the next constellation in intervals of three mercs. After one full cycle of Jupiter around the twelve constellations of the zodiac, it would have taken 12 x 3 = 36 mercs. At that time one more merc could be inserted for a total of 37 mercs which corrects it to within four days. So the merc is especially well suited to track Jupiter's orbit. Saturn Planetary periods are designed like precise interlocking gears. Mercury has 9 teeth, Venus 45, Mars 60, Jupiter 333 and Saturn 828. Each tooth represents 13 days. The sidereal period of Saturn is about 29.5 years (10,764.44 days). As already mentioned in other articles, the Lord has explicitly stated that he sometimes counts one day to a year.[14] The moon's cycle of phases takes approximately 29.5 days, and the orbital period of Saturn is about 29.5 years. Thus, Saturn is counting in years as the moon is counting in days, in the same way that the Lord says he reckons. Taken by itself, it appears to be a chance coincidence, because there is no obvious reason that the moon should be calendrically related to Saturn. The argument against this merely being chance is that there is a long series of such coincidences that form a pattern. The orbital period of Saturn is almost exactly 92 mercs (92 x 117 = 10,764). I shall not attempt to calculate the odds against all these periods being measured so well in mercs, but by this time it appears to be out of the question that it is caused by blind chance.

Uranus

The planet Uranus is not usually considered to be one of the visible planets, but it can in fact be seen by a trained observer with the unaided eye in a dark sky. It currently has an orbital period of 84.0139 years (30685.4 days). Because 84 = 12 x 7, this means that Uranus spends 7 years in each of the twelve zodiac constellations. That is exactly how the Lord told Israel to count years: by sevens (Lev. 25:1-4). The orbital period is so close to being exactly 84 years that it serves to count weeks of years all through history with no corrections needed. The sidereal period of Uranus is within 6 days of 118 sacred rounds (118 x 260 = 30,680). So again, this long period is within a few days of being an exact number of sacred rounds. But there is something special about this particular number of sacred rounds. Years in Sacred Rounds. One can ask, "What number of years most nearly equals an exact number of sacred rounds?" The answer is that 42 years very nearly equals 59 sacred rounds (42 x 365.2425 = 15,340.185 days and 59 x 260 = 15,340 days). Twice that is 84 years, so if one approximates the orbit period of Uranus to be exactly 118 sacred rounds, then one automatically is counting by exactly 84-year periods. Thus we see that even the year comes out even in sacred rounds, and that happens when it exactly matches the orbit of another planet. By this time it is hopefully clear to the reader that both the sacred round and the merc we used in designing the solar system.

Neptune

When I began this research it was not obvious to me whether the planet Neptune should be included as a hand on the celestial clock, because it is not visible to the unaided eye. But as the work progressed, it became clear it is to be included. For example, the sidereal period of Neptune is 164.8 years, or 60,189.4 days. That again follows the pattern because 60,190 days equals exactly 231.5 sacred rounds. Thus, Neptune follows the same pattern as the other planets, in that ALL of the set times are nearly whole number multiples of only two sacred units of measure, the sacred round and the merc. The results, with the amazingly small errors are summarized in Table 1. Planet Period (days) Approximate Period Error Mercury 115.87754 117 = 1 merc .01 merc Venus 583.92166 585 = 5 mercs .01 merc Mars 779.93651 780 = 3 sacred rounds .0002 sr Jupiter 4,332.8486 4,329 = 37 mercs .03 merc Saturn 10,764.44 10,764 = 92 mercs .004 merc Uranus 30,685.4 30,680 = 118 sacred rounds .02 sr Neptune 60,189 60,190 = 231.5 sacred rounds .008 sr Table 1. Planetary "Set Times." All are nearly whole number multiples of either the sacred round of 260 days, or the merc or 117 days.

Conjunctions

Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, I was reviewing this article and attempted to drop Neptune from the presentation, claiming that more research was necessary. The reason was that I could see no obvious use for it such as the other planets have. That is, Jupiter moves through one constellation per year, Saturn counts years as the moon counts days, and Uranus marks sabbatical years. But as I tried to delete that section, suddenly my head was flooded with ideas, one of which I cannot refrain from including. There is an entire field which I have ignored up until this point, and that is the importance of conjunctions. A conjunction means that two objects are near each other in the sky, such as when a planet passes another planet or a star. In the case of considering planets to be hands on a clock, it means that two of the hands are aligned, pointing in the same direction. On our usual clock, the most important time that occurs is at noon and midnight, because both hands are also pointing at a number. But at the ten other places on the clock where the two hands align, they are not pointing to an exact number, but in between. Thus, I had felt that the times of aligning hands was less important than when they align with a number. I have been postponing any research on conjunctions, but that has just been changed because of Neptune. Uranus-Neptune One can calculate that conjunctions of Uranus and Neptune will occur on the average every 171.393 years (62,599.5 days) [15] Three reasons suggest that these conjunctions might have been designed for time reckoning. First, there was a conjunction between them right at Regulus, the "12 o'clock star,"[16] just before the "Beginning of Mortality" of the earth.[17] If that doesn't sound like the two big clock hands at midnight I don't know what does. Secondly, such a conjunction at that place is very rare indeed. That is because Neptune has an orbit requiring 164.8 years to get back to that place, in which time Uranus will have nearly completed two orbits (168 years). Thus they will meet only a little further away (after 171.4 years), so the place of the conjunction will still be in the constellation of Leo. It takes 4,285 years for the conjunctions to cycle through the entire zodiac to return to Regulus. Thus, these two hands together form a great long-term time marker. And third, the period between conjunctions again comes out even in mercs (535 x 117 = 62,595). Thus, one can reckon by these conjunctions to the very day by counting 535 mercs, and that will have sufficient accuracy for 7,000 years not to need correction.

If the reader is not impressed that the interval comes out nearly even in mercs, then I suggest an exercise for the atheist student: Design a clock where not only the periods for each hand are whole numbers but also the interval of the hands aligning. This discovery opens up the field of conjunctions between other planets, and I cannot now refrain from at least a preliminary investigation. After all, if this conjunction interval really was designed, then conjunctions between some other planets should follow the same pattern and also come out even in celestial time units. Jupiter-Saturn Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions have long been considered important time markers. The period between such conjunctions is about 19.85 years (7,251.81 days).[18] Checking to see if this period comes out even in celestial units yields the amazing result that it again does so in mercs: 62 x 117 = 7,254. To me, this makes it clear that the system was designed with conjunctions of the planets in mind. Mars-Jupiter Now I have to check Mars-Jupiter conjunctions and sure enough, we have another winner. They occur every 816.45 days,[19] and 819 days is equal to 7 mercs (7 x 117 = 819). The period of 819 days was already known to me as the period when the 7-day week realigns with the novena and trecena (819 = 7 x 9 x 13), but it had never occurred to me that this period might equal the interval between Mars-Jupiter conjunctions. Table 2 summarizes these results. Planets Interval Mercs (117 days) Error Mars-Jupiter 816.45 819 = 7 mercs .02 mercs Jupiter-Saturn 7,251.81 7,254 = 62 mercs .02 mercs Uranus-Neptune 62,599.5 62,595 = 535 mercs .04 mercs Table 2. Intervals between conjunctions of planets are also measured in mercs.

Conclusion

Abraham's Third Truth states that the set times of the planets form a succession of increasing periods which were designed to reckon time. The results of this article show that the periods of the planets all are nearly whole numbers of either of two different celestial measures: the sacred round of 260 days or the "merc," defined herein to be 117 days. Both of those units are derived from the Native American calendar. Moreover, it was also discovered that at least three pairs of planets have conjunction intervals of whole numbers of mercs. Until now it has been assumed by astronomers that these periods have been essentially random numbers. To have so many of them be multiples of the merc and sacred round strongly indicates that the solar system was designed to reckon time. Moreover, the Native American tradition is vindicated that the solar system was designed to fit their calendar rather than vice versa. Future astronomers may come to view the Book of Abraham as unlocking the key to the design of the solar system.

Notes
1. Pratt, John P., "Abraham's Three Truths of Astronomy," Meridian Magazine (9 March 2004). 2. Pratt, John P., "Venus Resurrects This Easter Sunday," Meridian Magazine (27 Feb 2001) and "A Native American Easter," Meridian Magazine (28 Mar 2001).
3. The "Lords of the Night" are listed by Anthony Aveni, Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico (Austin, Texas: U. of Texas Press, 1980), p. 157, 162. The names vientena, trecena, and novena are taken from Munro Edmonson, The Book of the Year (Salt Lake City: U. of Utah Press, 1988), p. 5.
4. The order of the days of the week derives from taking those seven planets, with each of those "lords" as reigning for one hour of 24, beginning with Saturn, going from the last to the first. Each day is named for the lord reigning during the first hour. This yields the order Saturn (Saturday), Sun (Sunday), Moon (Monday), Mars (Tuesday), Mercury (Wednesday), Jupiter (Thursday), and Venus (Friday).
5. The Mayan long count groups eighteen 20-day vientenas together to form the 360-day prophetic year. It has not been mentioned much in my articles because I have not yet determined whether it is part of the Lord's sacred calendars at all. It may have just been a Mayan invention. The Sacred Round, which groups twenty 13-day trecenas together, is at least a thousand years older than the Mayans, and is clearly a sacred calendar of God. The merc most likely is a group of thirteen 9-day novenas, and is clearly part of the same system as the Sacred Round.
6. One assumes that the Mayan long count prophetic year of 360-days begins on day 1 of the novena because 9 divides evenly into 360. The gylphs associated with each day are numbered from that point, being called G1 through G9 (for "Glyph 1"). On my calendrical conversions pages (for example, http://www.johnpratt.com/items/calendar/calcalc/datelist.html), I use the notation "1 Light 1" where the first "1" refers to the day of the trecena, "Light" is the day of the vientena, and the final "1" is the day of the novena.
7. The planetary orbital periods from Mercury to Saturn are taken from Stahlman, W.D. & Gingerich, Owen, Solar and Planetary Longitudes for Years -2500 to +2000, (Madison, U. of Wisconsin, 1963). They are average values over that historical period and hence differ from current values. The value for Saturn differs much more from the modern value than the others and is suspect, but it does not appear to be a misprint. The values for Uranus and Neptune are the current values, taken from C.W. Allen, Astrophysical Quantities (London: Athlone Press, 1976), p. 140.
8. Pratt, John P., "The Restoration of Priesthood Keys on Easter 1836, Part I:
Dating the First Easter," The Ensign (June, 1985), pp. 59-68 proposes the Resurrection date, and "Passover: Was it Symbolic of His Coming?" The Ensign (Jan, 1994) pp. 38-45, proposed the birth date.
9. Pratt, John P., "A Native American Easter," Meridian Magazine (28 Mar 2001), Table 2.
10. An excellent example is the first three large moons of Jupiter, which have sidereal periods of 1.76914 days (Io), 3.55118 days (Europa), and 7.15455 days (Ganymede). The ratio of the first two periods is 2.007, and of the last two is 2.015. (Allen, p. 146).
11. The sidereal period of Mercury is 87.969 days and of Venus is 224.701 days, which have a ratio of 2.554.
12. The 40-year realignment cycle is discussed in Pratt, John P., "Exodus Date Testifies of Christ," Meridian Magazine (7 Oct 2003), section 3.3.
13. Note that we are not currently in the last hour, because there are twelve hours in a day.
14. The day-year pattern is discussed in Pratt, John P., "Enoch Calendar: Another Witness of the Restoration," Meridian Magazine (5 Aug 2002), section 1.
15. The calculation is easy: Simply calculate the rate of one planet moving around the clock relative to the other, which gives the rate of the faster hand crossing the slower. In this case the rate is (1 rev)/(Conj. Period) = (1 rev)/(30,685.4 days) - (1 rev)/(60189.4 days). Exercise for the student: Do you see why the hands on a clock only align in 11 places rather than 12?
16. The four principal stars are Regulus = 12 o'clock, Antares = 3 o'clock, Fomalhaut = 6 o'clock, and Aldebaran = 9 o'clock. See Pratt, John P., "The Lion and Unicorn Testify of Christ, Part II: The Four Royal Stars," Meridian Magazine (5 Dec 2001). 17. Pratt, John P., "Venus and the Beginning of Mortality," Meridian Magazine (9 July 2003). 18. 1/P = 1/4332.8486 - 1/10764.44 19. 1/P = 1/686.99576 - 1/4332.8486