Rights vs. Services

I read a great piece in the paper the other day, it was a re-print from The Weekly Standard by Noemie Ermey and it was entitled "A Fling with the Welfare State."
Now, while I could go on about this subject for hours, the point I want to make here is that she compared the ideal of a right and a good or service.  We as Americans have rights to worship, gather, own a gun, free speech, etc; but we don't have a right to health care, because it is a service.  The same could be said for the internet or cable, no one has a inalienable right to have satellite TV; it's a service and if you want it, you pay for it.
Wherein lies the problem, the liberal agenda is to give everyone the right to something that they should be paying for as a service, since it is a service.  It's like you want all the power but none of the responsibility.
I found the article very interesting, as it made me question a lot of values I have had/used most of my life and how some of those are in congruent in this situation.
Hmmm....

Shared Sacrifice

There was an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times, written by Warren Buffett, exclaiming the reality of a shared sacrifice for all of us.  I find it amazing and appalling that so many wealthy people take their position and life for granted, and would prefer to live selfish lives as opposed to thanking those whose sacrifices are made everyday to keep those same knuckleheads in high cotton.
Warren Buffett decries our self-serving Congress and it's sucking-up mentalities to the uber-rich; and therefore sacrificing the lives and well-being of millions of Americans for so few folks.  Not to mention the fact that the majority of people who serve in the US Armed Forces are from the middle and lower classes, and die every day so these same uber-rich folks can go on living their selfish lives, and dutifully unwilling to sacrifice anything.
It's a sad state we live in...

Records

When I think of records, besides those vinyl things we used to listen to (or still do), I think of feats of accomplishments.  For instance, Cal Ripken's consecutive games started, or the largest hamburger, or the most people to fit into a phone booth; but adding weather to that list is not a record, is brutality.

I speak of the fact that in 1980, the DFW area saw 42 days straight of 100+ temperatures outside (and 68 total days above 100), and we will surpass the 42 this weekend.  The local weather and radio stations, not to mention the papers continue to mention this as if it is a record to be proud of.  I am not!

There are people dying from this heat; farmers and ranchers throughout Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico are suffering billions of dollars in loss; we are suffering through an exceptional drought throughout these areas.  Austin, Texas is 16 inches under it's normal rainfall amount since last October; it's brutal out there, and currently there is no end in sight.

Yet my major worry about this, is all those people, companies, etc that continue to water the street, sidewalks, etc to save their grass, etc.  Instead they should be paying fines to the tune of billions of dollars, and maybe spending some time in solitary to think about how their actions affect so many other people.
God entrusted us to care for His kingdom, and boy, are we doing a lousy job managing those resources, especially water which doesn't grow on a tree.

Walking w/God II

I finished my audio book earlier this week, and it was good to hear John's voice again, but more importantly it helped me listen for God more often, and to slow down.
I drive George Bush Turnpike everyday, and just a smidge of I-35, and that whole crazy traffic situation even if you don't let it affect yo, it still does.  I have had a a few days where I take Frankford or Hebron across to work, and those are blissful journeys.  Slow down!
So, back to the book; I came away uplifted and earnest to listen to and for God in everything.
I was so pumped from listening to John, that I grabbed The Way of The Wild Heart also by John Eldredge and I also own it in audio book format, and starting listening yesterday.
Good stuff.