Thank you for visiting my blog, an accumulation of over forty years of essays and poetry.   I hope you take the time to explore it using the menu above, and welcome comments here, or personal emails.  Thank you again.

Louis William Rose

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On Parliamentary Procedure

Liberty is the ability to do what I want, when I want, without interference, in order that some good may be accomplished. Politics is the interaction with others in an attempt to influence the outcome of events. A large part of political activity takes place in local deliberative meetings where public policy is decided.

Parliamentary procedures are the practical rules of democracy. By agreeing to abide by these rules we take the risk that the political outcome that we desire may not always come to pass. But because of our love of liberty, ours and the liberty of our fellows, we are willing to take that risk.

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Poem: Remembering you is easy

When I awoke I visualized your face,
your smile so vibrant, and your eyes so bright,
the way you looked when held in my embrace,
in tender dreams I had of you last night.

I often think of you throughout the day,
and wonder if, perchance, you think of me,
sweet recollections in your mind replay,
of when I pledged my love so faithfully.

Remembering you is easy for me when,
at eventide, before I take my rest,
I pray to God an as I say “Amen”
I ask that He would grace you with His best.

If I should live another forty years,
the brilliance of our love will never fade,
sweet thoughts of you that to my heart endears,
will gladden me and all my life pervade.

Still, I would know a joy beyond compare,
If each day of your life, with me, you’d share.

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A Little Rant about Weapons

 
The 2nd Amendment begins with an explanatory statement, and might as well have begun with the word “BECAUSE”. “A well-regulated (trained) militia (a military force that engages in rebel activities in opposition to a regular army) being necessary to the security of a free (as opposed to a totalitarian) state, “THEREFORE” The right of the people (me and you and especially the weaker among us) to keep and bear (military) arms (typically carried by infantry soldiers on the battlefield) SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.  Typically, the militia also serves as a very informal way for the local sheriff to organize, train, and get to know the armed individuals in his county while keeping a very informal, friendly eye on them.
 
So, our forefathers (and their equally freedom-loving wives) knew precisely what it meant when they read the 2nd Amendment…. So therefore, I absolutely oppose any further restrictions on the sale of military grade weapons. To begin with, it is impossible to restrict supply in a free society. For example, if our enemies wanted to import a briefcase nuclear bomb, all they would have to do was to hide it in a bale of marijuana, right?  It is easy enough to buy weapons at a local gun dealer, and of course they do require ID and a background check, and they do not sell to children. Nevertheless, anyone with basic machining skills can make firearms all day in the privacy of their own homes, or businesses, and would do so if it were not for the ready availability of such arms on the black market.
 
From WWII until today, 18-year-olds are eligible to join or be conscripted into the military.  I learned to shoot at age 16 in the basement of the local YMCA, and it helped me when I enlisted. A firearm is just another tool like a chainsaw or a car. All three can be used to kill.  Knives are very handy and have the additional benefit of being silent and easily concealed.  A sharp pencil will do if necessary, and I am sure you would not be very surprised at the number of household products that can be made to go boom!  How much restriction do you want?   Some villages overseas were reduced to a single knife chained to a stump in the center of the village for cooking purposes.
 
People have a responsibility to secure their weapons and keep them out of the hands of children. Schools have a responsibility to regulate entrance to their buildings, check students as they enter, and know how their students are feeling and doing at all times. Public venues have similar responsibilities and may allow or prohibit entry to those who are armed.  This has always been the case, but sadly it is not always done.  People who do not take their responsibilities seriously should be penalized, but not the rest of us. Our 2nd Amendment rights undergird and protect our 1st Amendment rights and all the others enumerated and not enumerated in the Constitution.

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Life, Love, People and God

My book: Life, Love, People and God is available on Amazon.com. Click here to order a copy

It is comprised of poetry and essays written over the past fifty years by myself, a lifelong student of parliamentary procedure and political process.

As a political philosopher, poet, singer, and writer, I have tried to be an outspoken supporter of the basic rights of man, especially freedom of speech, association, religion, individual rights to personal defense and property, and of republican, constitutional forms of government.

I have been writing poetry and lyrics since I was a very young man, to express my passions and my sorrow. Here they are for your consideration and I hope that you enjoy them, but more than this, that they may be of some use to you.

My poetry is divided into four categories:

These catagories can be easily accessed from the front menu, or you can search the categories on the right of most any page.

You may also find interesting two essays of mine on the subject of poetry:

My Definition of Poetry

What Role Does Poetry Play in Society?

Thank you so much for your interest in my work.

Posted in About God, About Life, About Love, About People, Christianity, Ethics, Freedom of Speech, Liberty, Literature, Philosophy of Religion, Poetry, Political Theory, Politics, Right to Bear Arms, Social Philosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Six Critical Five-Year Periods of Human Life

Buddha is reported to have said, “The trouble is, you think you have time.”

Of course, Buddha ran out of time, just as all of us will sooner or later.

To help overcome this, I have developed a chart which I call,

“THE SIX CRITICAL FIVE-YEAR PERIODS OF HUMAN LIFE”

 This is a look at the average life as I have experienced it, and perceive it to be for all men and women in all places at all times.  Of course, there are exceptions, many of them! Nevertheless, I think this chart worth a look especially for those just beginning their journey.   It makes the claim that you only have about thirty years to accomplish anything, so get to it!  In the past when I have worked with younger people, I hand out copies of the chart with an arrow pointing to where I am located on it in red.  I hand out red pencils so that they can mark an arrow pointing to where they are located.

We begin with Infancy which is applied to the years 0 – 20.  During this time, you know little or nothing and pretty much do what you are told.  (That is why they call it Infantry, right?)

The years 20 – 30 are normally when one is getting a real education or learning a trade which is why I call them the Neophyte years.  Years 30 – 40 are the Adept years during which we work at our professions, and years 40 – 50 the Master years.  If an individual is to make a lasting mark in this world, he or she will probably do it then.

From 20 – 35 we are typically in the process of marrying, child rearing, and career building.

From 35 – 50 we are typically in the process of child launch and creating our masterpiece.

That is, if we get to do any of these things at all in what is a very brief 30 year period.

From 50 – 70 we may properly be said to be in our dotage.   Psalm 90:10 tells us: The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.   

Retirement age in this country is at age 65 and both males and females on average live into their 80’s.   Still, I do not think that age 50 is too early to begin to consider the more important matters of life and death.  Most important is to realize how blindingly fast time passes at that age.

I hope that the chart and this explanation will be of some use to you.

A copy of the chart may be downloaded here

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Song: A New Lyric for “America the Beautiful”

O beautiful for stony heights,
From whence to see our land.
With Constitution, Bill of Rights
Kept safely close at hand.

America! America!
Has all your glory past?
Shall tyranny, not liberty,
Reign over us at last?

O beautiful for countrymen,
Who answer at the run.
See, every one of them has brought,
His Bible and his gun!

America! America!
Abandon not your cause.
Reject the rule of haughty fools,
Embrace a rule of laws.

Oh beautiful for conflicts found,
with streets filled up with blood.
Where every patriot stood his ground,
And did the best he could.

America! America!
Your country needs you now.
Defeat the foe, till all shall know,
That free men never bow.

O beautiful for children born,
To fill our thinning ranks.
Who gain a free and happy home,
and kneel to give God thanks.

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And there inspire a holy fire,
To keep your people free.

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On Rebellion

“I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”[1]

These are the words of Howard Beale in “Network”. The American movie classic is about an aging network broadcaster who rebels against the corporate oligarchy and subsequently is murdered at their hands.  Rebellion and the rebels that foment them are a recurrent theme in story and song.  Spartacus[2], Robin of Loxley, William Wallace, Zorro, Patrick Henry[3], John Brown, and Michael Collins are but a few characters, real and imagined, who considered their own liberty and that of their fellow compatriots more important than the authority of a tyrannical state.
Continue reading

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Poem: Remembering Copake at Iguaçu

When I was young I saw a waterfall

A single stream into a crystal pool
For twenty feet or more
There in the water childlike lovers play

The scent of pine is heavy in the air
Its pungent sweetness carried by the mist
While rushing water sprays
The peal of lover’s laughter in my ears

Iguaçu dominates my senses now
White rising vapors fill the eastern sky
That panoramic sight
Cannot obscure my view of Copake Falls

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On Global Socioeconomic Justice

When discussing contemporary theories of global socioeconomic justice we should begin with John Rawls, if only for the fact that the two other philosophers whose views I shall be examining, Martha Nussbaum and Thomas Pogge, refer to Rawls frequently in their own arguments.  Rawls concept of “Justice as Fairness” is found in the first chapter of his book, A Theory of Justice where Rawls say that it “corresponds to the state of nature in the traditional theory of the social contract.” [1]   In this hypothetical state behind Rawls’ “veil of ignorance” no one knows in advance what their social, political, or economic position in life will be, which serves as a strong motivation to agree that everyone should have equal opportunities, resources and rights.   In order for this to play out realistically in a society, in addition to everyone having equal access to opportunities, any inequalities that do exist should benefit the economically and socially disadvantaged.

In a later book, The Law of Peoples,[2] Rawls seems to take a more pragmatic view of the situation describing a society of “well ordered” peoples made up of “liberal” societies constructed as constitutional democracies and “decent” hierarchical states that allow for political input from their citizens while acknowledging basic human rights.  “Outlaw” societies are those which are totalitarian in nature or severely “burdened” by economic or cultural failings preventing them from operating in democratic manner.

Rather than apply the idea of equalities of opportunity and resources to a global scale, Rawls felt that nations should be considered to be equals in that they were all exhibiting the necessary resources by virtue of their statehood.   He did however believe that richer nations had a moral obligation to help outlaw and burdened societies rise to the level of decent societies.  Accordingly, resources could be given to these states until they had reached that level, when presumably they could continue to develop on their own.

Thomas Pogge rejects the idea that prosperous countries have only a positive duty to assist those economically disadvantaged.[3]  His position is that rich countries have failed in their negative duty to not cause harm to poorer nations, arguing that the present global organizations and agreements dealing with economic issues are biased against poorer nations preventing them from coming out of poverty. He takes issue with Rawls’ social contract theory which assumes that societies will have rational reasons for dealing with each other based on the assumption that such dealings will be mutually beneficial.  If this is the case Pogge argues, then such societies cannot rationally decide to deal with poor nations because there will be no benefit in their doing so.   I think that in this Pogge fails to see the opportunities for individuals in richer nations to extract raw materials and cheap labor from such transactions. Rawls suggests that impoverished nations have primarily themselves to blame because of the lack of effective forms of government and other economic and cultural institutions. Pogge arguing against this purely domestic poverty thesis (PDPT) saying that other factors must be considered.   For example, he makes the claim that world markets such as the World Trade Organization are structured to the disadvantage of poorer countries.  He also alleges that present day poverty is a result of a long history of bad acts perpetrated against poorer nations by richer ones.  His strongest arguments in my opinion center on his discussion of the “resource privilege” and the “borrowing privilege.”  Governments that take and maintain power by force have immediate access to state resources which they may sell, and to lines of international credit whereby they may finance their operations.  Though both processes they may bankrupt their countries and plunge them deeply into debt while maintaining their power.    It seems obvious that constitutional republics should refuse to do business with such governments and forbid corporations and individuals within their borders from doing so.  Unfortunately, this has not been the case and perhaps the representatives of those governments bear some responsibility for their dealings with rogue governments.  Pogge says that Rawls original position of individuals behind the veil of ignorance should be extended to states and used as a benchmark for their economic dealing with each other.

Martha Nussbaum has offered a more robust scenario than either Rawls or Pogge regarding the prerogatives that all humans should rightly enjoy in an article in The Political Philosophy of Cosmopolitianism.[4]  Nussbaum’s capabilities approach restates basic human rights as descriptions of what persons should be able to accomplish or the resources to which they should have access.   Contract theory presumes that all parties negotiate from a position of equality. Nussbaum departs from Rawls’ contractarian approach because she feels too many classes are excluded; unable to enter into quid pro quo agreements such as the disabled, the very old, and very young, etc.  Instead, Nussbaum feels that we all need to think about what “human beings require to live a richly human life” and work to achieve that based on the idea of human fellowship rather than mutually beneficial contract arrangements.  Rawls idea of contract between nations is based on the idea that all nations have worked out within their own domains a set of procedures and protocols for living together as a nation and therefore negotiate as equals.  Nussbaum disagrees pointing to the many nations that do not operate in a democratic manner, and where large parts of the population are disenfranchised.  In this she seems to be echoing Pogge’s discussion of the inequity of the resource and borrowing privilege.

 Both Pogge and Nussbaum commend Rawls’ position that liberal societies should help burdened societies form stable and equitable forms of government but both feel he does not go far enough.  Nussbaum’s primary criticism of both Pogge and Rawls is that the contractarian model cannot justify the philanthropic relief of the impoverished necessary to create a just world.   Rather her claim is that it “must be human fellowship, and human respect, in a more expansive sense.”    It would seem that this type of appeal would have to be made on an individual level, but Nussbaum stresses the unpredictability and difficulty of managing aid to the poor on an individual basis.  She is committed to the idea that nation-states and multinational corporations must decide and commit their resources to the relief of the global poor and the development of capabilities in order for the process to be successful.  She also speaks of a global structure comprising an economic system and public sphere but does not elaborate on how it should be organized or controlled.  Most problematic is her idea that the family should not be considered a private sphere, but that government should have a hand in its management.  It seems to me that families precede the formation of government, and are the primary actors in the overthrow of unjust government.  The family, the church, and the magistrate have been coequal institutions of society serving to act as a check and balance of each other.   In a small group I attended with Nussbaum she remarked that she did not believe that parents should be allowed to educate their children.[5]  I took issue with her then asking her, given her strong support of religious and political freedom, how parents would be able to inculcate their children with the political and religious philosophies they held most dear if they could not educate their children.  I do not recall her answer, but I note that education is one of the ten principles she advances for the establishment of a global structure, and that she stresses that “institutions and individuals have a responsibility to support education, as key to the empowerment of currently disadvantaged people.”

Individuals (and by extension their government) have a limited amount of time and resources which in turn must be applied to a hierarchy of responsibilities and needs.  I must take steps to preserve my life if at all possible, and in turn the government must take steps to ensure its preservation.   I must provide for the well-being of my wife and children.  The government must provide for the well-being of its officers and citizens. I have both a moral responsibility and social incentives to promote the well-being of my close relatives, friends, and neighbors. Nevertheless this is limited both by time and financial constraints as well as the obligations I have previously outlined.   I exchange the limited precious hours of my life for a paltry sum in order to meet my obligations.  I exchange my life for currency and my currency for goods and services.  He who steals from me steals my life.  He who attempts to rob me attempts to take my life by force and deserves nothing but the sword in return.  Taxation is a form of taking by force, and this is why government officials do well to be careful that such taking is just. Government, being a legal entity, has no moral obligations whatsoever but it does have legal obligations to its citizens, and political and national security concerns that must be addressed within the limits of its authority.    The Constitution of the United States makes no provision for government to in any way cede the powers and authority granted to it by the states to any other government or global organization.  Therefore, the pronouncements of any international body have no legitimate authority over the people of the United States and should treaties be signed to that effect, they can have no legitimate legal standing.   The Constitution of the United States makes no provision for our government to redistribute the income of the citizens of the several states, or designate it for charitable purposes. The fact that this has been done in the past does not make it any less illegal.  Therefore our government should do as little as possible to relieve the suffering of the poor in our own nation or any other nation, providing no foreign aid whatsoever except in those situations where the national security of the United States demands it.  Thomas Pogge says that “as affluent people and countries, we surely have positive moral duties to assist persons mired in life-threatening poverty.”  I will readily admit that this is true for us individually, but maintain that our government does not have such moral duties.  Regarding the negative duties to reduce severe harms that we allegedly have caused, The United State has given approximately seventy three billion dollars in foreign aid over the past decade alone.[6]   We have given hundreds of thousands of lives in the cost of freedom.  We have send thousands of missionaries and Peace Corps volunteers into the field to help those less fortunate than us.  With a word, an unpopular American president was able to generate over ten million dollars in text-mailed contributions to aid Haiti’s earthquake victims.   It was Senator Robert Goodloe Harper who said, “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute.”  I think that the citizens of this nation would be quick to echo, “Millions for charity, but not one cent for reparations.” Regarding the rest of the world, including those underdeveloped nations who have chosen to live in peace with us, our foreign policy should be the promotion of free trade and human rights, and the promulgation of a constitutional government as the ideal.

With the idea that the truth about such matters will prevail, global organizations should be clearing houses of scientific research, sharing and disseminating it to all nations and their citizens to bolster their technological and economic development, and to aid in decision making and legislation at the local level.  National or federal governments would do well to refrain from implementing regulations of any kind, allowing the state legislatures and court systems to sort out most matters themselves.  However as our government is tasked with the execution of foreign policy, I think it should be our policy not to deal financially with rogue governments, and agree with Thomas Pogge in this matter.

Wherever private American capital and entrepreneurship is welcome, it should go with the goal of making more profit for Americans, while at the same time providing an opportunity for the citizens of poorer nations to learn skills, raise their standard of living, and improve the quality of their culture and their lives.  This is in accordance with my earlier premise that personal and immediate well being must come first because of the obvious lack of time and resources.  As Lincoln said, we must teach men to fish. As we do so, I think it behooves us to sell them the pole, hook, line, and sinker as well.  The steady capitalization of any area results in an immediate benefit for the entrepreneur it is true, but yields a long term benefit for the communities who gain their own capital from earnings and thrift, and find an example which they may follow in order to enrich themselves and their children.  Should they wish to do, so labor unions may send missions to enlighten the working men and women in these countries about the benefits of collective bargaining.

Wherever missionaries and independently funded NGO’s are welcome, they should go in order to further their own private agendas of peace, development, and relief for the poor.  The National Association of Parliamentarians, of which I am a member is an example of such an organization.  NAP regularly sends volunteers to countries unaccustomed with the workings of democratic government to train citizens at the local level on the procedures used to set up legislatures, debate and decide issues, and how have free elections. Volunteerism should be lionized and contributions to these types of organizations encouraged, perhaps with the cooperation of the television, film, marketing and advertising industries. The private sector is the proper place for charity and relief of the poor, which should be privately funded and manned by unpaid volunteers.  But charity must never be made compulsory because at the point that it is made so, it ceases to be charity on the part of the giver and becomes robbery on the part of the recipient.


[1] Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of HarvardUniversity Press, 1971.

[2] Rawls, John. The Law of Peoples: With “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited”. Cambridge, Mass: HarvardUniversity Press, 2000.

[3] Pogge, Thomas Winfried Menko, and Keith Horton. Global Ethics: Seminal Essays. St. Paul, MN: Paragon House, 2008.

[4] Nussbaum, Martha “Beyond the social contract: capabilities and global justice.” in The Political Philosophy of Cosmopolitanism,ed Brock, Gillian, and Harry Brighouse. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2005.

[5] Colloquium attended by Martha Nussbaum, UNF faculty and graduate students of the Department of Philosophy and Ethics, University of North Florida.  February 21,2008

[6] http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/politics/

Originally published November 7, 2013 University of North Florida

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Liberty and Non Aggression

Liberty is expanded by the free exchange of information and freedom of association. Nevertheless Tyranny is easier. I observe this constantly as a parliamentarian. The right to bear arms protects the right of free speech, religion, association, and petition, all constantly under attack. But everywhere I go, I observe those who would subjugate others for their own purposes.
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So Many Religions – Why Christianity?

My dear friend, Dr. Levitt asks, “So only the Christian Religion is the one and only true religion? Only Christians know who is the one and only God? Jews? Mormons? Hindu’s? Buddhists? Muslims? Atheists? Everyone is all wrong but Christians? Isn’t it a bit expected that you live in a country that is 80% or so “Christian?” Do you really think you would take the same position if you were born Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, etc?”

First, let us set the boundaries. I maintain that I live in a metaphysical world, not an existential one. So unless you agree on that basic premise, all that follows is moot.

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Why I am Unfit to be an Elder or a Deacon in a Bible Believing Church And Some Other Thoughts on the Church and the Law

A version of the this article was originally published in THEOOSE an online Christian Magazine Sep 14, 2002 

        I have broken all of the Ten Commandments countless times with a deliberate will, in my heart and mind, and in fact with the exception of murder, which I have come pretty close to actually accomplishing a couple of times.  Amazingly, I was never arrested or tried for any crime, nor did I ever contract any incurable disease.  I am not likely to be a candidate for elected office, or even attached to an ongoing campaign, because I am not shy about sharing my past when it seems appropriate to me.  I try not to brag about my past mistakes, although there are several amusing anecdotes I might relate.  I do not make a point of recounting long lists of conquests, drugalogues, or high-speed car chases.  But I decided around the age of forty, that I would say what was on my mind, and to tell the truth about myself as far as I was able, and to tell what I thought was the truth about others, when I thought it might be of some good. Continue reading

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A Sadly Changed Country

Back in the 1970’s a man wrote a letter to the editor of the Palm Beach Post. I though that I should share it with you. Hear Hear!



Editor:

By the mercy of God my grandfather is dead.

He would not recognize today the country he loved.   He would never have believed that his country would be controlled by a small group of socialist judges.  Nor would he have believed that ten percent of the population[i] would be on welfare, and another ten percent on the public payroll.[ii]

You would never convince him that in the 1970’s our children would be used as pawns in quasi legal power struggle to socialize our nation. He would have been apoplectic at their being bused from one city to another at the whim of some judge against their wishes, with little thought to their safety.  If his children had been endangered in school riots and the school could not, or would not, insure their safety he would have kept them home.

If you had suggested to him that he could not legally defend his home and family with a gun he would have suggested to you that you should try to harm his family or take his gun.  Without this right there would be no United States today.

I can just imagine some government agent trying to take 35 or 40 percent of his income for taxes.[iii]  They would have needed a gun.  And any judge that told him he could not play or sing “Dixie” or any other song would have been tarred and feathered, then placed in a mental institution.

He would have been horrified to hear that children could no longer intone the Lord’s Prayer in school, or that some children would not participate in The Pledge of Allegiance.  In his day the prayer and pledge were so important that anyone not participating was shortly convinced that perhaps they would be happier in another country.

My grandfather would have told you that a man is entitled to only what he earns.  If he accepted more he was a parasite, that a crooked politician was a traitor, and that the Constitution only guaranteed the PURSUIT of happiness.[iv] If you didn’t catch it you weren’t running fast enough and you couldn’t expect your fellow man to carry you on his back.

By the mercy of God my grandfather did not live to see the wreckage that was once the United State of America, the land he loved with all his being.

A.A. CORLEY, West Palm Beach


[i] 21% as of 2015

[ii] 14.5% as of 1999

[iii] The Bureau of labor statistics estimated 24% of income is average amount paid in taxes for income, Social Security, and Medicare in 2017.  This did not include the sales tax that is paid every day, or property taxes, or vehicle taxes.

[iv] The Declaration, actually, but apples of gold in pictures of silver…

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Thoughts on the Militia for a New Republic

We constantly hear about the second half of the Second Amendment, an independent clause which guarantees us the absolute right, free from any legislative impingement, to keep and bear arms. All laws to the contrary in my opinion are unconstitutional, and may be reasonably viewed as null and void.

However the founders did have a reason for this as we read in the amendment itself. Continue reading

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Poem: I Killed a Fish Today

I killed a fish today.
This flounder, so alive.
Caught at the end of day.
Upon my butcher’s block,
He struggled to survive.

So beautiful, and proud.
My knife against his head,
Apologized aloud.
Then quickly as I could,
Made sure that he was dead

Filleted him to the bone,
As close as skill allowed.
Breaded and fried at home,
Enshrined upon a plate,
With hot sauce for a shroud.

Louis William Rose,
April 11,2020

 

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Here’s to the Guys that got Married Three Times

Here’s to the guys that got married three times
They should have known better but didn’t.
They paid a high price for all of their crimes,
Well meaning, forbidden, or hidden.

Here’s to the guys that got married three times
They all were such hopeless romantics.
Their honeymoons taken in tropical climes,
Were replete with the usual antics.

Here’s to the guys that got married three times,
They thought two and three would be better.
If what they know now they had known in their primes,
They’d have all kept their vows to the letter.

– Louis William Rose

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No Stanky Cheese for Christmas

No stanky cheese for Christmas
My good wife said to me.
No Camembert, no Limburger,
No pungent, agèd brie.

At this year’s Christmas table
Such “cheese” shall have no place
Among the meats and roots and greens
Its smell is a disgrace!

That cheese, sir, is offensive
A bane to appetite.
How dare you dare ingest it, sir?
That cheese, it just ain’t right!

So then, I double wrapped my cheese,
and hid it in the back,
Of the produce drawer inside the fridge
Beneath the bottom rack

I simply cannot bring myself
To throw away the thing!
Oh well, I guess I’ll have to wait
and bring it out this Spring.

 

Louis William Rose

 

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The Host of Heaven Views with Open Mouth

The host of heaven views with open mouth.
Shocked and appalled at every lurid scene.
Each good intention tragically gone south
Each careless word both frivolous or mean.
How desperate and how rapid was his fall!
But, then the Blood of Christ shall cover all.
How glorious that when my life shall end.
On Christ, and no one else shall I depend.
Louis William Rose,
August 2014
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Created Male & Female

ugly worthless man
Beautiful Priceless Woman
harbinger of death
Custodian of Life
builder of towers
Creator of Homes
master of men
Mother of Children
waging war
Harboring Hope
hating and remembering
Loving and Forgiving
comforted and Comforter
Protected and protector
clinging to each other
in the cruel world

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Sonnet: Things That Were to Be

Once I dreamt of things that were to be
But now can only dream of things that were
Sweet escapades designed to passion stir
From next to next I wandered wild and free

Once I gazed upon horizons vast
Where ere I looked saw opportunity
But now, I find it difficult to see
An option which has not already past

The universal fate of man is this
To ignorantly struggle in his prime
With needed knowledge gained too late in time
Eyes open he steps into the abyss

Recovery seeming not to be in sight,
Perhaps, it’s time to just turn out the light.

This sonnet, like a child took nine months to come to fruition
Louis William Rose

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Song: Once I’d Had Love

Once I’d had love,
I had to have it all the time,
The years when I was in my prime,
To do without it was a crime.
Life with-out love,
You know it isn’t worth a dime,
Or even just a cent, but cent don’t rhyme.

You gave me love,
But then you took your love away.
You promised you would always stay,
You didn’t though, but that’s okay.
All that sweet love,
Made me the man I am today.
Will you return to me? I cannot say.

Should love find you,
Be careful you do not offend.
She always conquers in the end,
You really want to be her friend.
If love chooses,
Your happiness will never end.
Or else your broken heart may never mend

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Poem: To Choose Between the Two

Thinking of the old days,

Before my life was through.

Thinking of the younger moments,

And I thought of you.

What is life and time that I

Should be there and here too?

Why don’t I have a natural right

To choose between the two?

 

Haven’t written in a while  I was awash in self-pity a few nights ago, daydreaming about my high school years and remembering my life-long friend Chas August.  So here is a short ballad dedicated to him as he lives his idyllic life in of all places, California…

 

 

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Poem: To Turn and Look at You

When I think about the way that it’s turned out
disappointments, failings, and missteps review,
If the worth of it I should begin to doubt
I’d need only but to turn and look at you

I still stand by everything I’ve ever said
and if asked if circumstances I foreknew
would I then have chosen different words instead
I’d need only but to turn and look at you

When they ask me to describe my fondest dream
the elusive aspirations I pursue
I care not how enigmatic it might seem
I’d need only but to turn and look at you

If all women in the world were mine alone
Siren, mermaid, queen, or teenage ingenue
none of them would I select to share my throne
I’d need only but to turn and look at you

I’d need only but to turn and look at you
for my heart beams bright when you come into view
should they ever ask me if my love was true
I’d need only but to turn and look at you

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Song: There’s no Calvin like John Calvin

(Sung to the tune of “There’s no Business like Show Business.”)
300px-john-calvin
The Elders, the Deacons, the Choir, the Church,
are generally known to be a stodgy bunch,
and yet,
The Elders, the Deacons, the Choir, the Church,
all smile and laugh when they go into lunch.

And if you wonder what should make it so,
Just ask them and they’ll tell you that they know,

There’s no Calvin like John Calvin, like no Calvin I know.
Everything about him is appealing,
Everything that doctrine will allow.
No where can you get that happy feeling,
when he’s revealing what we avow.

There’s no ‘vinists like Calvinists,
They smile because they know

Even though some Christians are a bit confused
When Jesus calls you, you can’t refuse
When they get to Heaven they’ll all change their views

Cause God’s running the show,
Yes! God’s running the show.

Our Book of Church Order, our hymnals, our schools,
are carefully designed so they ensure,
Our Book of Church Order, our hymnals, our schools,
are all kept theo-log-ic-al-ly pure.
If there’s some doubt about whether we do,
There’s only one thing left to say to you.

There’s no Calvin like John Calvin, like no Calvin I know
If your pondering deep religious questions.
Counting angels dancing on a pin.
He will answer all of your objections,
Upon reflection, you will give in.

There’s no ‘vinists like Calvinists,
Elect right from the start.

Even though the world may see us sore oppressed,
By schisms rendered, by lies distressed.
All in all it’s really hard to be depressed,

When Christ lives in your heart!
When Christ lives in your heart!

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Bushido: The Way of the Warrior

warrior1
The code of Bushido is the ethical code of conduct developed during Japan’s feudal period. This occurred at about the same time that the code of Chivalry was developed in Europe. The development of both systems was directly related to the structure and purposes of feudalism, a social, governmental system wherein certain noble families controlled most of the land, and maintained private armies of professional soldiers. In Japan, these soldiers were called Samurai. For almost five hundred years, various Japanese lords, called Daimyo, warred with each other for land and for political and economic power. They employed thousands of the Samurai warriors, who swore loyalty to them alone. To hone their professional skills, outrageous license was granted to the Samurai. A samurai could kill anyone who was not a Samurai for any reason whatsoever, or for no reason at all. It was reported that Samurai would cut off the heads of passing peasants merely to test the cutting edge of their swords! Soon, these excesses led to the threat of anarchy. To forestall this, some form of noblesse oblige had to be imposed on the Samurai. The code of Bushido was the result.
Continue reading

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Where Will I be in Fifteen Years?

Where will I be in fifteen years?
You sure ask complex questions.
I can’t exactly pin it down,
But here’s a few suggestions: Continue reading

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On Sexual Behavior

May we assume that every adult has the right to do what they want in the privacy of their own home, with whomever they wish, provided that all involved parties have attained their majority, are agreeable, are acting of their own free will, and are not likely to cause any serious damage or injury physical or psychological to themselves or another? I do not presume to pass judgment upon individuals such as these, because I do not feel I have the moral authority to do so. I do not believe that government has the right to pass judgment upon anyone acting within these boundaries, because I do not believe that government is competent to do so. Finally, it is my desire to ensure that I protect and preserve the above stated right for my own use, and for that of future generations. Continue reading

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Contract Law and the U.S. Constitution

From a popular tutorial on contract management, we may learn the following:

“A contract is…a formal written agreement between two individuals or organizations for the procurement of commodities and services.

Every contract consists of the following five elements:

  1. Mutual agreement – a meeting of the minds where both sides agree to an offer and an acceptance of that offer.
  2. Consideration – each party to a contract receives something of value that it wants, and, in turn, gives something of value in exchange for it.
  3. Capacity – both parties must be legally competent, at least 18 years of age and acting within the law. They not only need to be legally of age but they must have the mental capacity to contract. They must be authorized to commit their organization.
  4. Legal Purpose – for a contract to be enforceable by law, it must be concerned with a legal purpose or objective. A purpose or objective must be considered a lawful, rather than an unlawful, pursuit.
  5. Certainty of Terms – the terms of the contract must be sufficiently clear to permit the court to conclude that a contractual agreement was intended and to determine from the document what the terms of the agreement were. It must be written very clearly and specifically. In a court of law, a contract is construed against the preparer.”

We must insist that our United States Constitution be viewed in the same manner. It is nothing more and nothing less than a simple contract between the People and their government. Our mutual agreement is such that we promise to give our allegiance and support to the government and they agree to protect our rights and safety and conduct the government in accordance with the specifics of the contract, the Constitution. In consideration, the government receives delegated powers and authority from the people, and money in the form of taxes, and the people are supposed to receive a good measure of safety, security, liberty, and the ability to pursue happiness as they otherwise conceive it. Mature, sovereign, powerful, intelligent, honorable beings that have the capacity and the will to enter into and dissolve such contracts make them for the legal purpose of living in freedom and peace.

When considering the certainty of terms we do so to ensure that the provider, (in the case of our Constitution this means the government) is properly bound by the terms of the contract. When we say that the contract is construed against the preparer, we understand this to mean that the preparer has the responsibility to ensure that the terms are specific and well defined. When this is not the case, the benefit of the doubt goes to the other party involved, (in the case of our Constitution this means the People). The founders of our government and our Constitution added the tenth amendment, which is provided as a further protection against misinterpretation saying, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Finally, when one party to a contractual agreement fails to provide the goods and services promised, the other party has no obligation to fulfill their part of the agreement.

When one party to a contractual agreement fails to provide the goods and services promised, the other party has no obligation to fulfill their part of the agreement.

That is right. It is for this reason governments take punitive action against criminals, because they have failed to fulfill their duties as citizens.

It is for this reason that we originally separated ourselves from the government of King George, who had in onerous and numerous ways failed to meet his contractual responsibilities to his people by “taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments.”

As we consider and celebrate our United States Constitution this week, I exhort you by saying that when considering contracts it is not necessary to read between the lines, but to read the lines themselves and understand what they say. Our Constitution is not a living document, it is a legal document and should always held and enforced as such, and whatever is necessary to be done to uphold it must be done and sooner, much sooner, rather than later.

Louis William Rose

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Sonnet: Mike 1984 – 2016

Come tell me there is something I might say,
a string of magic words, some fated rhyme,
whereby I might turn back the hands of time,
and usher in a former favored day.

Bring something that will hold my thoughts at bay,
to close the door upon my fevered past.
Some potion to eradicate at last,
the tortured scenes that all my memories fray.

It did not seem too high a price to pay.
A little folding of the hands to sleep,
not knowing my descent would be too deep,
that I’d awake no more to my dismay.

My Lord, although I’ve gone so far astray,
I trust in You to all my fears allay.

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Poem: Twelve Hours

I go to bed
Turning around
There at the foot
I lay my head
On doggie’s paws
She cleans my face
To let me know
That I am loved

I turn again
My pillowed mind
Set free to roam
To dream of things
That yet will be,
Or might have been
Deciphering what
Awaits for me

The morning calls
Me to my feet
I say my prayers
Stumbling about
I dress and eat
Waiting outside
A foggy future
Bittersweet

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All Lives Matter, If You Don’t Think So, Maybe Yours Doesn’t Matter So Much

Life is cheap. That’s the truth. Hundreds of thousands die every day, some violently, some ignominiously, some of old age or sickness, some in infancy or the prime of life. All tragically. Today you are alive, and your life matters, at least to you. Yet, the Bible says in James 4:14, “you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” Yet, as short and tenuous as it is, life is still precious and beautiful.
lives Continue reading

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Poem: A Thousand Different Lights

To see you in a thousand different lights,
And watch the shadows play upon your face.
To revel in the myriad delights,
That sun and stars would delicately trace.

To sense your every mood and temperant,
Observe you comprehend and then respond,
with feelings pensive or ebullient,
That I might share with you a closer bond.

To touch you in a thousand different ways,
To make you laugh, or stir you with desire,
To gently chid you, or to sing your praise,
To comfort you, to cheer you, and inspire.

To understand you is my goal in life.
A husband needs to know about his wife.

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LGBT Rights and the First Amendment

In Jacksonville there once again is an initiative to support the amendment of Jacksonville’s existing Human Rights Ordinance to add protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals in the areas of housing, employment and public accommodation.

From Muhammad Ibn Abdullah to Joel Osteen the world seems awash with false prophets.  This is why it is so important to be able to say whatever we want, to believe whatever we want about God, or not to believe, to publish whatever we want to publish, to associate with those whom we wish, and to shun those with whom we do not.  All this, as well as the ability to petition the government, encompasses the entirety of the First Amendment. Yet these rights precede and supersede the authority of any government.

Romans 2:1 says “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.”  It seems to me that this is a pretty broad statement and as such must include what we regard as sexual sin, lust, adultery, fornication and homosexuality.

If we condemn others, we condemn ourselves, because we do the same things.

It should be obvious to the cognoscenti that this ordinance will be passed into law. In my opinion solutions for the presumed difficulties that it may present will be found and implemented.   If I was a baker I would gladly bake a cake for a same sex couple, and as a Realtor I will be happy to rent to them.  Every business and civil encounter will find me eager to provide and protect their rights as citizens with the same passion with which I will plead with them to repent, and share the Gospel of Jesus the Savior who died for their sins and mine, and rose victoriously from the dead.  This is our right and privilege and no ordinance will ever prevent that.  For we must obey God rather than men.

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Poem: What Do You Do?

What do you do when it costs too much and you can’t afford to pay?
Do you hunch your shoulders, and turn your head, and quietly walk away?
Do you think how different it would have turned out if you’d known what you know today?

What do you think when they’re serving up the artificial cream?
The margarine, and the diet drinks, and the textured soy protein?
Do you think that they might have meant something else when they spoke about haute cuisine?

What do you say when you get the word that they have to let you go?
Do you pack up your desk, and wish them well, and put on a gallant show?
Do you think what should matter is what you’re worth, instead of just who you know?

What do you do when you wake at night and the one you love is gone?
Do you tear your hair, and wring your hands, and pace until the dawn?
Do you think it was “better to have loved and lost” or to wish you had never been born?

What do you do when you realize its over and you’re through?
That your body is shot, and your hopes are gone, and you haven’t got a clue?
Do you think the Man with the hole in His hand has room in His house for you?

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Poem: The End of Moose and Squirrel

BorisnatashaMost days I sit in rocking chair on porch outside my dacha
I throw back vodka shots and reminisce with my Natasha
But while inside my alcoholic brain fond memories swirl
I still have dream to someday bring an end to moose and squirrel

Those two! I hear they’re doing well and living in Orlando
While I starve on the pension of a soviet commando
I give no heed while comrades their pathetic insults hurl
I have a plan! A plan that spells the end for moose and squirrel

Boris will prove once more he’s still a no-goodnik’s no-goodnik
I’ll lie and cheat and steal and show them this dog’s got a new trick
I’d sacrifice it all to gain that greatly valued pearl
That I might live to see at last the end of moose and squirrel

B. Badenov,
Pottsylvania, 2015

As transcribed by Louis William Rose

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Poem: Reaping

The constant dreams that fill my head,
Of horrid things I did or said,
Make me to turn upon my bed,
To search in vain for sleep instead.

I walk about throughout the day,
Mouthing the words that I must say,
To keep the rabid wolves at bay,
Distressed to think I’ve lost my way.

The time has all run out you see,
While there is yet eternity,
To reassure and comfort me,
My grand designs are not to be.

The City on the Hill I’d planned,
Was built, alas upon the sand,
To leave me with but one demand,
That death at last should take my hand.

 

Galatians 6:6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Matthew 7:26  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

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On Racism and Eclecticism

Race relations is a favorite subject of mine, because it is the only significant political debate that can be conclusively proven to be based on a fallacy. The fallacy is that there is such a thing as race in the first place. Imagine the thought of stratifying an entire civilization on the basis of appearance! Where is the queue for the fat, bald men? I need to get in line. The Romans enslaved the Greeks, the Egyptians enslaved the Jews, the English and then the Americans enslaved the Africans. The English, by the way enslaved scores of other peoples across the globe before their sun finally set. At every turn some guilt ridden half brain offered the lame excuse that it was “all right you know, because they’re not like us at all, they’re an entirely different race”. Race is the Big Lie, the biggest lie, the one that has provided an excuse for everything else. The truth is out now, most recently with the announcement of the Nobel Prize for genome research. The National Geographic Human Genographic Project conclusively proves that we all have sprung from a common ancestor. There is no such thing as race. What does exist are cultural factions, groups of people that share the same history, music, cuisine, rituals and yes, more often than not the same general appearance. These cultural factions, nations if you will, have often worked for their own advancement at the expense of the well being of other nations, and sometimes have enslaved them, or attempted to annihilate them. Many nations continue to do so. I believe that the media explosion can make a difference. Through the dissemination of information and entertainment across a worldwide multicultural network we may all come to know each other a little better, and realize that we are all humans living on a very small planet. While this may mean the end to the lie that is racism, it will probably not mean the end of serious armed conflict. There are plenty of other ideas that people are going to have to fight about over the next century.

The Greeks and the Romans appear to have made great strides in eliminating the animosity between them. It has only taken 1700 years. As for the Jews and the Arabs, well, at least the treaty with Egypt is still holding. In America, racism is a virulent cancer of ignorance within the body politic. I believe it will continue to flourish as long as we continue use the vocabulary of racism, and make our arguments or apologies within the framework of a racist worldview. For America, the dilemma is this. Many African-Americans may consciously or subconsciously be repelled by the idea of swearing allegiance and buying into a political and social system that in the past so brutally abused and excluded them.

I am unimpressed with the term “black man”. I am not a white man nor do I see the sense in describing myself as one. I am a Christian man, I am an educated man, I am a compassionate man, and I am a passionate man. To say that I am a white man or a black man is akin to saying that I am a sweat gland man or I am a pimpled man. If your allegiance is to those with skin whose color is the same as yours, we have no basis for reaching out to one another. The color of a man’s skin must be as incidental and unimportant as the color of his hair (or the lack of it). Men should not seek to be Black leaders or Hispanic leaders, or White leaders, but leaders of Men.

As a young boy growing up in the City of New York, I occupied a large portion of my time reading biographies of great men. Among others I read about George Washington Carver, Jackie Robinson, Paul Robeson, Adam Clayton Powell, and Roy Innis. I was encouraged to listen to a wide variety of music and have listened to, among others, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Bailey, Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole, Count Basie, Stevie Wonder, Fats Waller, Fats Domino, Chubby Checker, Jimi Hendrix, Duke Ellington, Mahalia Jackson, Ray Charles, and James Brown. I had my attention directed to great actors, athletes and politicians, among others, Sydney Poitier, Dick Gregory, James Earl Jones, Roy Innis, Bill Cosby, Red Fox, Quincy Jones, Adam Clayton Powell, Ralph Abernathy, Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe, John Shaft, Shirley Chisolm, Thurgood Marshall, Andrew Young, Clarence Thomas, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell. Many of these people changed the very core of my being, the way I think and react. Do I admire them because they are black? I admire them because they are great. So should we all.

Cultural diversity is a gift to be celebrated, but political assimilation must be recognized as a first principal. A democratic republic cannot exist if its members wave different flags and speak different languages. Racial prejudice must be replaced with political prejudice. Racists must become the ones that we are most prejudiced against. Their views must not be heard any longer. They must be legislated against, their rights curtailed, their activities made illegal, their assets seized, and their philosophies ridiculed from the podium, pulpit, and in the press. We, as a nation, must not be concerned with which skin color you pledge your allegiance to, but to which flag. Democracy has proved itself over and over, to be the highest form of government to which humans can subscribe. We must tolerate only those who will support and swear allegiance to it, or to its allies.

Individually, we must fight our own fight against racism, and that within our own minds. It is an old truth that “what we do not know, we fear, and that which we fear, we hate.” Americans should strive for eclecticism. While we celebrate our own culture and the traditions of our parents, we must learn to delight ourselves in the culture, the music, art, literature, the food, dress, and traditions of our fellow citizens. Let us all celebrate Kwanzaa as well as Saint Patrick’s Day. More importantly, let us celebrate the Fourth of July and Memorial Day as days that bring us together as one nation.

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The Civil Liberty that Protects all Others

It was certainly ironic and fitting that a legislator who voted against allowing guns in a certain place should be shot by a gun in exactly that place.  Yet that was the fate of Clementa Pinckney, state senator and pastor of the Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina.  No matter how good and Christian a man Pastor Pinckney may have been, his vote to prohibit the carrying of firearms in churches was a violation of his oath to protect and defend the Constitution.

Why do people so blithely agree to give up the one civil liberty that guarantees all the others? Without the right to be armed, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association, the right to privacy, the right to vote, are in jeopardy. Then slavery comes, and the worst abuses of power. Slavery in this country would have been impossible without ensuring that slaves remained unarmed. The first gun laws in this country were passed to prevent freed slaves from owning guns, right along with laws designed to prevent them from voting. North Korea would be impossible if the citizens there were armed.

I will not yield an inch to any government, to any populace in respect to these rights. It must be Liberty or Death, and every man and woman who loves liberty should rightly stand up and shout “Liberty or Death!”, proclaiming the terrible price that will be paid by those who attempt to restrict these rights. They are NOT negotiable, they are NOT to be the subject of legislation. They are NOT for sale at any price, and those who think they are must be stopped at any cost.

No one, no government, no majority has the right to disenfranchise humans of their natural rights.

The right to the defense of the integrity of one’s person by employing necessary force up to and including deadly force is a basic right of every human just as basic as their right to be free, to speak their mind, to practice their religion, to work, to own property, and all the other basic rights of man. This is why we fought a war to establish the republic.
Personally, I think there are still enough of us left who would be willing to fight again, if necessary.  Has it become necessary?

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Poem: Ham, Eggs, Grits and Cheese

hameggsHam, Eggs, Grits and Cheese

How many of a morning have I spent with these?
In quiet contemplation at my home,
Or in some crowded urban luncheonette alone
A cup of coffee with some milk to wash them down

Ham, Eggs, Grits and Cheese

A hearty company of flavors sure to please
Too often of them did I thus partake
At times forsaking ham for sausage, hash, or steak
With every season seemed I’d gained another pound

No longer easily up the stairs to sprightly bound
And harder still to tie my shoes each day I found
Gone are the days when I might carry on with ease
My love affair with Ham and Eggs and Grits and Cheese

 

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Poem: Ethics

platoaristotleI read a book of Ar … istotle,
When life for me was still brand new.
I thought I should achieve … perfection,
When all my studying was through.
Much older now, I still (ah!) engage in,
The acts I know I should eschew.
I know I’m really not … supposed to,
But every now and then I do.

Chorus
Woo Hoo, Yes I do,
Every now and then I do.
Boo Hoo, Sad but true,
Every now and then I do.

I had a little fen … der bender.
They sent a check for what was due.
Mistakenly, they sent … another.
I had my bankers put it through!
I never meant to keep (ah!) the money,
Or interest that should thus accrue.
I knew that I was not … supposed to,
But every now and then I do.

Chorus

A customer who comes … to visit,
Pays with a twenty he’s through.
But as you put it in … the strongbox,
You see he’s give not one but two!
You wonder should you tell (ah!) your partner,
She’ll ask to share the revenue.
You know you’re really not … supposed to,
But every now and then you do.

Chorus

You stop to buy a cup … of coffee,
You think you’ll have a doughnut, too.
You see a tall brunette … in high heels.
She takes a second look at you.
You know you’ve got a wife (ah!) and family,
You know you’d promised to be true.
You know you’re really not … supposed to,
But every now and then you do.

Chorus

I hope you’ve found illu … minating,
This casuistry for your review.
But if you are anti … cipating,
The answers then take this in lieu.
At times our pride can o (ah!) vertake us,
We speak as if we think we knew!
You know we’re really not … supposed to,
But every now and then we do.

Chorus

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Poem: At The End of the Short, Hard War

He awoke with a start and shaking himself
to ward off the morning cold,
he arose from his bed on the concrete shelf
to see what the day might hold.

After coaxing his fire to life, he checked
how much coffee was left in the can
that he’d found in the back of the trucks that wrecked
moments after the conflict began.

He considered the coffee more than he deserved
(though it wasn’t the best he had tasted)
as he pondered the things that had been preserved
after all of the rest had been wasted.

The brilliant white flash, the shock of the blast
and the subsequent fireball,
all the horrors he witnessed were more than surpassed
by the fact he’d outlived them all.

With his parka zipped up and a rifle in hand
he stepped cautiously from his abode.
All alone with his thoughts in a desolate land
through the massive destruction he strode.

For a very long time he had lingered bereft
of a partner who might meet his need.
And he wondered aloud was there anyone left
who’d be willing to harbor his seed?

That his future looked bleak with no hope of surcease
was a prospect he could not ignore,
yet took heart at the thought that at least he had peace
at the end of the short, hard, war.

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What Role Does Poetry Play in Society ?

“Such is our pride, our folly, or our fate, That few but such as cannot write, translate.”
Sir John Denham (1615–69), English poet. To Sir Richard Fanshaw upon his translation of Pastor Fido.“

Poetry is what is lost in translation.” Robert Frost (1874–1963), U.S. poet. Quoted in: Louis Untermeyer, Robert Frost: a Backward Look, ch. 1 (1964).

Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, in Biographia Literaria, ch. 22 (1817):

“In poetry, in which every line, every phrase, may pass the ordeal of deliberation and deliberate choice, it is possible, and barely possible, to attain that ultimatum which I have ventured to propose as the infallible test of a blameless style; namely: its untranslatableness in words of the same language without injury to the meaning.”

With a word the universe was created and man along with it, endowed with the ability to speak forth ideas and, by extension, more concrete realities into existence.  Rhetoric, “the art or study of using language effectively and persuasively”, and poetry, one of its refined manifestations,  is no less than an attempt to emulate the glory of God by manifesting truth and form where before there was nothing.  Priest, poet, and blacksmith, these three, stood before the king in ancient times.  Priests and blacksmiths are easily identifiable but how do we describe the poet?
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Poem: I Want to be Good to the Ladies

I want to be good to the ladies,
For the ladies have been good to me.
The gifts that they gave me were precious,
And most of the time they were free.

When I was a lad and much bolder,
The ladies were gentle and kind.
And now that I’m quite a bit older,
They smile and they say they don’t mind.

It’s true on occasion I’ve stumbled,
Having not been the man I should be.
I confess that some ladies have reasons,
To have doubts about my bonhomie.

Dear ladies, I beg your forgiveness.
My goal is to make it all right.
So, I thought I would call up and ask you
If you had any plans for tonight…

For the ladies on Saint Valentines Day 

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Poem: First Memory

Sitting in his chair watching the man with big pockets
he slaps the wooden tabletop, high, dry, and cool.
Brown shiny wood, very good for his hands to slap
so early in the morning on a new day.

A cup of cold milk is put before him.
But it’s all about the big pockets
All about his hands slapping the smooth wood
The cup tips and the milk spills across the table

Hands slapping his head, his chest, his back
Pulled from his chair and dropped to the floor
Then picked up and roughly stuffed back
Another cup of milk before him

He has to drink it now
Drink it now before anything else
Before big pockets, before shiny wood smooth
Before joy, before love, before all

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Sonnet: Government

What do you mean when you say government?
An entity once held in high esteem?
Realization of some patriot dream?
A rule of law some said was Heaven sent?

Its reputation badly tarnished now
with statesmen promulgating globally
their deconstructionist philosophy
by which they may each promise disavow.

Small wonder should a citizen repent
that he had pledged his own allegiance to
a flag bestrewn with stars, red, white, and blue
when it no longer means what it once meant.

Let all who everywhere love liberty,
Stand up and fight till all at last are free.

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Sonnet: The Sonnet Form

The Sonnet Form

Folks say the sonnet form is out of date.
I cannot say that I myself agree.
Though modern poets’ verse is often free
of form or even simple rhyme of late.

Yet here and there we find occasionally,
a Cummings or a Parker who would state
their sentiments of love or hope or hate
within the sonnet form most succinctly.

Don’t you agree that it’s a noble trait?
To so constrain yourself when desperately
you seek to share the pure philosophy
within your heart to which all men relate?

If all this talk of sonnets makes you weak.
I still believe it’s how most people speak.

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Poem: Rhonda Running Fast

eflections of her stormy past
aunt her loveliness
ur farmer’s daughter running fast
ow is come her test
ream sweet Rhonda, dream
nd carefully wish for what you really mean

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Poem: New York, 1964

Could I return from far away,
to snow forts where the young boys play.
Where school let out for half a day,
to hear what words the priest might say.

The fall felled leaves red, gold, and brown,
lay heaped in piles upon the ground.
In spring I’d hear the happy sound
of schoolgirls ring the Maypole round.

Might I return there once again,
where summer sun my strength would drain.
From all my labor I’d refrain,
until the streets filled up with rain.

Though I have traveled far of late,
I still remember New York State.

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Sonnet: The Life I Miss

It was so raucous, with them all around
at times I thought, like some pneumatic drill
alone inside my room, devoid of sound
the memories within are louder still

The constant conflict seemed too high a price
combined with expectations unfulfilled
my wounded pride too great a sacrifice
to salvage what our words had all but killed

So burdened down with charges unredressed
(I wonder now how I could be so blind)
That I would fail to see what I possessed
To cast it off and leave it all behind

Regret with bitter irony underscored
To think I miss the life I once abhorred

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Poem: Blind Dating

Sanguine anticipation,

a fantasy convivial, caught my imagination, awaiting her arrival.

What mysteries within her, would she elect to proffer?

What gems of wit and wonder, had I within my coffer?

How grand the hope that hovers, and leads us like a tether,

that strangers could be lovers, and share a life together.

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