Poverty crosses few toll bridges. 

If you would lock the poor out, charge them a fee. 

When the poor need money to buy freedom, 

your freedom serves only the rich.

We Attack the Immigrant in His Weakness

  It is said that the best way to conquer, is to attack an enemy at his weakest point. Exploit the weakness. By charging them a fee to apply for asylum, are not we doing that? Poverty is their greatest weakness, and we seek to exploit it by charging them a fee for asylum.

When you set up cash registers at the border, to price the immigrants out of coming, you make their poverty the reason they cannot come. 

One way to limit the poor of other nations from coming to America is to price them out of the market. 

Ching-Ching, Ching-Ching, for Everyone Who Comes

  Shall we will install cash registers at the border and make profit of the poor? Ching-ching, ching ching, for everyone who comes.
  Of course, our intent is not to make a profit, but to make a stop. We intend to have fewer applicants by charging them a fee. Now, the poorer you are, they less likely you are able to pay the fee.
  We speak of filtering out the terrorists and the gangsters. How does this filter out any but the poor?

When you seek 

to limit freedom by charging a fee for it,

 you sell it down the river.

When mercy and justice are sold like commodities in a store, freedom has been taken off the shelf. 

When entry to a country is sold like items in a store, freedom has been taken off the shelf. 

Is liberty a commodity to be bought and sold?

When liberty becomes a commodity, 

the price increases.

When freedom is taxed, 

its value is lost.

For the Poor, the Price of Freedom Just Increased

The price of freedom just got greater -- at least for those coming from other countries, seeking freedom in America. President Trump announced there will be fees for applying for asylum.
I wonder, must we force the poor to cross a toll bridge? Must we exact of them a tax?

The right to freedom

 doesn't comes with a tax.

When you start taxing freedom, 

you start losing it.

When there are differences, 

distance is kept.

Distance is kept with those of differences. 

Strangers are seldom given diner invites. 

We sup only with our own.

This proverb could have two applications:

1. In regards to wisdom, we only eat with those who think like us.

2. In regards to immigration, those who are most unlike us are usually not invited. We are more likely not to invite Muslims than we are Christians.  

Though wisdom is a feast, 

some will not come to its table. 

The circle of wisdom's friends may not be the same as the circle of your own friends. If so, your friends will seek to exclude wisdom from their circle.

Wisdom's friends may not be not the same as your own, and your friends may refuse to sup with wisdom. Set two tables and let your friends eat at the table of fools. 

Wisdom is only the student; 

It is foolishness that teaches the course.

When freedom becomes selfish, 

it draws its borders shut.

With the night, comes the dream

"I have a dream," Martin Luther King Jr. said. And he spoke from the backdrop of a dark moment in history.

It is the nature and disposition of almost all men, that as soon as they get an evil opinion of someone, that they will keep it forever.

When good will's gone,

it's gone for good. 

When good will leaves,

 it never comes back.

Truth's imposters often wear rags of hate.

The gun tries to solve the world's problems 

with the threat of death.

Faith is a sight 

to only those who see it. 

Before it can pour from a cup,

 water must be drawn from a well.

You draw water from a well 

before you pour it out.

Before water can be poured from a pitcher

 it must be drawn from a well.

Hatred seeks not to make a friend, 

but to make an enemy out of a friend.

Hatred seeks not to smooth over trouble,

 but to louden the crash of its waves. 

The sentry of justice opens its doors.

If the house is full and there's no room for the poor, that house was made for the rich.

Truth's only danger is that you may not be prepared to hear it. 

Pride protects itself with borders,

while humility sleeps in the streets.

That which falls from our grasp 

was often held too tight.

Mercy is a cause that favors the offender.

Mercy plays favorites; It picks the oppressed and downtrodden.

The heat of the moment 

is the best time for cooking. 

Heroes don't keep count on their victories. 

Heroes function largely on love.

Heroes don't tally up their wins.

Heroes don't count their victories.

The lessons of truth 

come from lips that whisper.

Hatred searches not for truth,

 but for fault.
--

Only in doing your own thinking 

do you arrive at your own destination.

 If too many friends help you seek the road ahead, 

it's sure to be the beaten path.

Wisdom's strangers are those who say they don't want to talk about it.

You cannot put a stop on a font of wisdom.

Trials are blessings 

when the outcomes are kind.

If you cannot walk away from your failures,

you will never step up to success.
-

Endurance allows for seeking an out,

but allows that it might not come.

With the footing, comes the step;

Unsure feet never climb

Pride is seldom a secret. 

It announces itself with its ways.

Pride that demands attention becomes a fault.

When pride can keep its secret, it can be a pride that's good.

But, pride that demands attention becomes a fault.

When pride seeks but for simple respect, it doesn't drift to fault.

But, when it lusts for adoration, it is fully in wrongful winds.

Pride seeking adoration is abomination, 

but pride seeking respect is not.

Pride can be good when it is more concerned with what was accomplished than with making everyone aware of what was accomplished.

Pride waves its banner.

Foul pride is not in the sharing of accomplishments,

but in the insistence they make you great.

When every picture is a self portrait, 

you're in the gallery of pride. 

When pride lusts for adulation, it runs to its fault. 

Pride seeking adoration is abomination, but pride seeking respect is not.

Good pride sees only the accomplishment.

But, bad pride sees the person who did it as being better than others. 

Pride that betters is a virtue.

Pride that lifts you to be better is good,

but puts others down is not.

Pride that picks you up is good,

but pride that picks at others is not.

That mirror that says, I did well, casts only righteous judgment,

but that mirror that hastens to add, I am therefore better than others, does not..

That pride which judges others is a fault. 

Pride in accomplishment can be virtue,

but pride that puts down others is an abomination.

Truth has its sorrow 

only in those who will not listen.

The vendors of hate display 

the wares of accusation.

Sanity is given to soothing 

as insanity is to attack.

The company of fools packs a house 

while wisdom is often lonesome.

The future can be brighter than the past 

only if it comes in a different light.

A passenger chooses his luggage. 

If you abandon your ways,

 you'll abandon your luggage. 

Harm of others requires deceit of self

A crime often depends on our ability to be self-deceived. If we can convince ourselves the harm we do to others is justified, we can do them great harm.

If you can convince yourself you're right, 

you can do a lot of wrong. 

Few people do wrong 

who don't think they do right. 

They believe a lie of their making.

If we would be free from the crime, 

we must be free from thinking it right.

If you let the mistakes of your past 
color your future, 

your painting will be the same.

If you let the errors of your past color your future,

 the picture will be the same.

We hold up the poor for their riches.

This may make it sound like we take from them. I do not mean it that way. I mean, we accost them. We attack them. The hold up their stage as it travels, and we demand that they benefit us financially, or we will not give their stage safe passage.

A diamond's value is in its clarity.

Truth must be made clear if it is to be of any great worth.

Gold scatters not where rust is found

Things of value are spread only when they are kept active. 

The cup of plenty is seldom shared.

Constant fault-finding reveals its master.

Those who wear diapers often make a stink.

'

Has this already been said, too?

Sails move the ship forward 

only when the wind does blow.

I would not be surprised if this has already been said. 

Discussion of truth can only lead to it.

Another generality.

Panic finds its reason in the shadows, 

while courage reasons there are no ghosts. 

Panic fears the shadows,

while courage has no ghosts.

Courage has no master, 

but fear bows to many.

When you poke the snake, the snake strikes back

You may have located him, but now you have to deal with him. The moral of this story is, Don't poke around if you aren't willing to contend with the snakes you may find. 

Those who are afraid of the truth 

run from discussion.

If you fear you are wrong

 you hide from the truth.

Fear hides behind its walls,
but truth walks out in the open.

Fear hides from open discussion. 

Deceit grows 

only when the weeding 

is left undone.

All statements grow in the same field, and the gardener of truth must come and remove the lies.

Truth fights with no more than a shield.

If you hear the hiss

 you know the snake.

You find the snakes 

where you find their venom.

A snake is known by its venom.

Evil has its fangs. 

Where you see venom,

 know the wicked have been.

The night knows no friends.

In our darkest hours

 we have no friends.

Accusation is a treasure 

to the man who deceives.

Truth leads with love 

while deceit casts a spear.

Deceit grows in the fields of accusation.

Deceit is alive in a world of shadows. 

Fear swings at the shadow.

The man of courage swings not at a ghost.

Courage is the man

 who swings not at the ghost.

Fear has its ghosts,

while courage faces only foes

 that are real.

Deceit comes from hatred 

while truth searches for friends.

Truth begs for friendship 

while deceit has hatred on its lips.

Truth asks for reason 

while deceit calls you a name.

They seek not the truth 

who avoid its discussion.

Fear chases away discussion.

Courage is putting things on the table,

not running from the table.

The man who governs himself

is never governed by fear.

Fear brings only defeat.

As with many of these, this is a generality.

Those in the kingdom of fear 

make for loyal subjects.

Panic gains entry 

only when fear throws 

open the door.

Courage lifts you to victory 

while fear sinks you to defeat.

Courage suffers no defeats

This is a generality, admittedly.

Fear leaves you frozen and panic in disarray. 

They disable the warrior before he begins to fight.

You become ripe for the slaughter 

when your blood runs with fear.

Panic has no victim 

that fear didn't bring.

Fear is the food 

that feeds the panic.

Without fear 

there is no panic.

Fear throws in the towel 

and panic crams it down your throat.

Fear arises 

only where panic sets.

Fear rules 

only where panic sets.

Fear is your enemy 

more than the things you fear.

Defeat captures 

only those who fear.

This is a generality.

The subjects of defeat 

are often ruled by fear.

Fear is the largest component of defeat.

That which you fear

is that which defeats you.
-

Defeats would be fewer 

if fear would be less.
-

Out Jewel and Out Duel the Waterfall in Singapore

  Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore, home to the world's tallest indoor waterfall. It is gaining acclaim as word of its beauty spreads.
   I suggest we could out-do them. I suggest we could create an indoor waterfall much grander. Let's take the waterfall and place a giant mirror beneath it. Let the water roll down the face of a mirror. And, let that mirror be a mechanically-alterable mirror, full of moving parts. Build it so the mirror can bend. It can be a concave. It can be a tube. Form it as you will. The more alterable and bendable the glass surface, the more variety you will be able to offer to your tourists.
   And lights -- add lights, both lights within the mirrors and spotlights to shine down on the waters below. You can turn them on, or you can turn them off. They come in colors. You can make your waterfall blue, or you can make it a kaleidoscope of colors.
   Put a little lake below the lake and do all the same. Have lights and mirrors in the waters, and let other lights shine down from above.
   If Jewel Changi Airport is drawing worldwide attention for its new waterfall, a waterfall and little lake such as I speak of would surely be a charm.
 

It's not about their poverty, it's about our riches.

We seek of the poor their riches.

We hold up the poor for their riches.

We would require of the poor their riches?

  We suggest they will ruin our economy. We speak of their taking our jobs, and pulling down our scale of pay. We lash at them for working here, then sending the money back home across the border. We grow angry if they take our welfare or go to our hospitals while unable to pay for their visits.
   When we draw up polices, on which of them we will allow, we favor those who will be educated. And, we make allowance for those who will work our fields so we can grow rich.
    Ir is a money game to us. Don't doubt it. It is about us and our economy. Figuratively speaking, we hold up the poor for their riches.

The City of the Garden Creates the Airport of the World

  Airports have, of course, long brought us to our destinations. But, I don't know that they've ever been the destinations, in and of themselves.
  Until now.
  Enter Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore,  opening just weeks ago. News of it sweeps the world, even as we speak.
  Well, perhaps there are other airports which are destinations in and of themselves, and word of them just hasn't reached my ears. Still, what Singapore is doing is an example to the world, and it will likely be emulated and copied and duplicated, as soon other cities will create their own tourist sites right within their  airports.
  Good ideas are like fire, they spread.
  So, make your airport so it does not just help you reach your destination, but it is the destination. Make your airport so grand that it, itself, becomes the tourist attraction.
   Such is Jewel Changi Airport. The world's tallest indoor waterfall. A sports store to attract ultra-performance athletes and sporting enthusiasts, where they come to test and experience innovative equipment before they purchase it. A glass-bottomed walking bridge. Mirror mazes. A 130-room hotel and 280 shops, restaurants and bars. An events plaza capable of holding 1,000 people at a time. Two hundred species of plants.
  Jewel Changi Airport -- where the airport becomes the city, and where the future of airports becomes the present.
   I read how Singapore is the fifth most visited city in the world, and wonder if, with this, it will climb even higher. 
 

Anger becomes a poor substitute for justice. 

Never finding peace

is never searching for it.

The ignorance of a fool 

comes in his unwillingness to listen.

The stone is more valuable

 than the metal that cuts it.

Treasures aren't found 

where all feet have walked. 

When the student betters the teacher,

 the lesson has been well taught. 

Peace amid turmoil comes in not being its cause.

Hatred's home has no room 

for those who come in peace.
--

Trials have comfort

 only when they are laid to rest. 

You can awake to a warning

 or slumber forever.

The arms of heaven are always open,

 but few run to their embrace.

Heaven is home only to those who will have it. 

Those who flee 

the welcome of heaven 

never pass through its doors.

As we stand at our borders,

our arms are not open

 to those who come in peace.

The borders of a nation are set to stop those who would bring weapons against it

You set protections on your borders to stop those who would bring guns and canons against it. If an enemy comes without a weapon, he is not a enemy to fear.

So, think on the immigrant. Think on the popular sentiment that a nation without borders is not a nation at all. Think on what borders are for, and who they were meant to stop.

The simple immigrant or the foreign power? 

 The immigrant comes not with mortars and rifles. He carries not a weapon at all. If his is an assault, if his is an invasion, it is far from the assaults and invasions borders normally defend against.

The immigrant comes in peace. A foe without a weapon is hardly a fear. We should wonder why we even see him a foe. We should give second thought to the notion these are our enemies.

If you set your war against immigrants, you fight against shadows. You take the poor and the starving and homeless and oppressed, and you suddenly see in them an invading army.

If you see the poor as your enemy, you are as one who runs from the shadows. Your borders? You make them a hedge against ghosts.

Truth spends itself on justice

while deceit searches for harm.

You mop up anger only after its melted. 

Words unspoken often shout. 

Silence can preach an eloquent sermon.

I think this must have been said before, but pause not long enough to look.

Mercy's borders are the arms of love, and it circles them around the needy.

Mercy raises not walls 

against the oppressed. 

Mercy locks not out the poor.

No entry sometimes means no mercy.

Just fury isn't spent on the innocent and harmless. 

Just fury has a bridle and it reins itself in. 

Just anger can have its fury,

but it knows when it oversteps those bounds.

When in the house of friends, 

truth doesn't need to knock.

Truth wants for entry only when it isn't welcome.

The arms of love welcome strangers. 

If you see the poor as your enemy, you are as one who runs from the shadows. Your borders? You make them a hedge against ghosts?

You don't spill blood by shooting at ghosts. 

The Fewer the Immigrants, the Fewer the Problems?

   We would fear the terrorist and the gangster. We would see them as hiding amid the greater host of immigrants. We would fear the flood of people, coming to overburden our hospitals and welfare and schools. We would fear them of taking our jobs. We would fear their changing our values and our language and our culture.

  We would fear them for changing our color. 

  Are our fears the fears of reality? Are they worthy our posting a sign saying,"Fewer immigrants are fewer problems. Please stay out unless coming with a pocketful of change." 

A nation that fights against ghosts 

will never put a bullet in them. 

A nation that fights its wars against ghosts will never put a bullet in them.

In the pilgrim, we see the soldier. 

A foe without a weapon is hardly a fear. 

Hatred's home gives shelter to no one. 

Hatred finds comfort in the rejection of others.

Anger for justice is never pure.

The voices we listen to

 are the masters who rule us. 

The deepness of sorrow comes not from the gravity of the offense, but from the urgency of repenting of it.

Those regrets should be welcome 

that bring us to change. 

No regrets are only for those 

who have done nothing wrong. 

A rock on a ledge 

always falls over.

The spoon-fed are never ready to chew.

 You can give them the truth, but they will never mull it over. 

A voice of warning serves those who sleep, 

but if they roll over, their sleep becomes even a greater sleep.

Pennies make dimes.

The danger in the wind lies in when it stops.

The wind changes not directions without first becoming still. And, when it resumes, it can come with greater fury.

Ill-formed words scatter to the wind more than they blow with any force.

(quote)

Words formed in a storm only do harm.

The voice of warning often awakens only the lightest of sleepers.

Those dead to the world can be so numerous that they fill the world.

The voice of warning comes in a whisper

as often as it does in a shout.

Dawn comes without regard to sleep.

Treasures found in sleep that's lost 

sparkle in the morning's light. 

You can lay down your head,

but if it is still busy, you will never sleep.

Another day is a stranger to no one,

 yet it always brings new company.

Deceit claims privilege with its own.

Those who lie tend to believe their own lies.

I mention to a friend that I think this has been said before, and he says it comes from a quote that says, "The first person you've got to fool is yourself." I like that wording better than I do my own.

A pencil breaks before it writes in stone.

Messages will never be remembered 

if they are made to be erased. 

A paint brush never carves in stone. 

Deceit 

may think it has won when it colors the truth,

 but with time, its paint will wash away.

A level playing field grants deceit no victory.

Truth wins hearts

 only when the hearts are 

true. 

Justice has its anger. 

Purity plays no favorites.

Truth grows weary when it has no friends. 

A fool enjoys his ignorance. 

Fear and anger 

are emotions of lost bearings.

Love always becomes the giant in the room.

Foolishness sees wisdom 

in the rumors it hears. 

Silence wins the quarrel.

The loudest quarrels are fought with silence.

The end of a fool is in his beginning. 

It starts with the path he goes down.

Night remains when the eyes are shut.

To Know the Character of a Nation, Study its Prisons

  If you would know the character of a nation, study its prisons. The moral values it has will be reflected by what it tosses people in jail for.
  And -- perhaps more importantly -- what it doesn't toss them in prison for. A nation that doesn't punish domestic assault -- that allows a man to beat his wife -- would not be good. A nation that allows people to kill home intruders who stumble drunken into those homes would not be good.
  Someone would suggest throwing someone in jail for marijuana  doesn't reflect well. I would disagree, but have heard of sentences much too stiff, and wonder if that reflects how unforgiving and spiteful we can be.
   Judgmental. Hateful.
   If the nation sends a disproportionate number of blacks to the jail cells, that does, indeed, reflect some racism. If is it true we do, yes, that does not at all reflect well on us.
 

The ears of a fool hear nothing but rumors.

Rumors are the wisdom of a fool.

  A fool runs to rumor 

like 

a wise man runs to wisdom.

  The fill of its jails 
reflects 
the character of a nation

   The character of America might be evident in how we go about filling our jails.
   Meaning, we are the most incarcerated nation on earth. One in four of all the earth's prisoners are locked away inside our jails.
   No, I do not know. But, I certainly wonder if we aren't just a little more picky than the rest of the world. Some places, you beat your wife, and that's no big deal. Yes, some places, you smoke a joint, and no one cares.
   Let this not go unnoticed: The more rules you have, the more prisoners. No rules at all would mean no prisoners.
   You only get in trouble when you have a lot of rules. People break then, and you send them to jail. And, before you know it, all your rules results in your waking up one day with someone shouting in your face: "Freedom!? What do you mean by that? You toss more people in jail than any nation, any nation on earth! You are the most oppressive nation of all!"
   I said our ranking as the most incarcerating nation on earth reflects our character, didn't I? Well, let me get to the bottom of what I'm digging at:
  We are judgmental.
   Judgmental -- like few nations are. That is what our jails should tell us: Judgmental.
   Divide that word however you will. Say we have higher expectations. That works. That would suggest we have more values than other nations. Say pride is reflected in our imprisonments. Say we think we are better than others, so we sent a lot of people to jail we shouldn't because we are more about judgment than mercy
   I guess that works, too.
   No, I don't know the breakdown on who we are sending to jail. How much of the pie do drug offenders make up? How big is the piece marked, "Gun and weapon offenders"? Do we include immigrants awaiting immigration trials?
   Those things also reflect on us. Who you toss in prison speaks of who you judge to be criminal. If you toss people in prison you shouldn't, that might reflect some of that pride we were talking about.
   Think on this: If we toss more people in jail for mass shootings -- just supposing that is true -- what does it say about us, that there should be more people involving themselves in mass shootings than any place on earth?
   If you are producing more people who fall in the category of mass killers, yes, it might reflect a trait that it running through much of your society.

A fool finds his wisdom in the rumors he hears. 

Humility sometimes shouts its own faults 

when, instead, it should be whispering its strengths.

A pack of wolves shares its meat.

Pride always brings its company:

 Hatred, judgment, and punishment of others.

Fear puts down the gauntlet 

and courage takes it up.

Judgement comes from ignorance

 more often than from reason.

Hatred finds its reason before the reason exists.

The person who hates, loves what he's doing. 

Hate takes envy of itself. The person who hates, loves what he's doing. He relishes in the hatred of the other person and gets excited about it. 

The Love Party came along in 2021

It was a new concept in parties. When the Love Party came along in 2021, there was nothing like it. I mean, can you imagine a party whose platform was based on what we would do if love were the determining factor?

Ah, yes, the Love Party. Now, that's not something out the '60s were talking about. Remember, I said 2021.

Sometimes, it would take hate as the factor, and determine if hate was a driving power in what we were doing. Then, this party would take its stand on the opposite side on that issue.

Immigration, abortion, climate control, gun control -- some issues were a little easier to assign than others.

(Index: Stories)

If love were the politician, what would it do?

How would it stand on the issues, and how would it vote? If each issue were decided by which side love stood on, what would happen? It would be an interesting exercise to take each public issue and access which side love is on.

Rip hatred out of the heart 

and you have a healthy heart.

To heal a nation you must remove it from hate

You don't elect a congressperson, and send them off to Congress. You don't pass a law. No, peace does not to come from the halls of Washington, but from the hearts of man.

I do not wish to infer that Washington cannot have its influence. It influences us. Mightily.

But, ultimately, it is the hearts of the people that determine whether hatred abounds. And, if hatred abounds, the healing is off. If you would heal a nation, you must turn it from its hate: Hatred of those of different skin color, those of different political affiliation, etc.

The hearts of the people 

determine the fate of the nation.

Pride seeks the humility of others. 
-

Pride makes entry when judgment opens the door. The beginning of pride comes with the judgment of others. 

From the bent, comes the weary.

A ship at sea doesn't take on new passengers.

From the tried, come the true.

Pride punishes others for not being like it.

A Home is a Haven When Storms are Kept Out

To open the windows is to let in the wind
And if the breezes blow gentle, you do
But you shutter them tight when storms blow hard
For a storm in your house you do rue

Then you look through the windows with awe in your eye
At the winds and the darkened sky
You look at the fury, but you keep it outside
For you fear when the storms come nigh

A house is a haven only when storms are kept out
A home shelter when windows are tight
It provides place to watch the storms pass
While keeping safely away from their might 

Alternate last couple of lines:
It provides place to watch for storms and to watch them pass
While safety away from their might

Or: A house is a haven only when storms are kept out
And a home shelter when windows are tight
A home provides place to watch the storms pass
While keeping safely away from their might

Fear and panic are lifelong friends. 

Money makes the mirror look pretty.

Money makes a pretty face for the mirror.

Those of riches often dress better and look better than those who are poor. 

A dream's shadow comes with the morning sun. 

Treasures settle in the sand 

only where the waves have washed them.

When the turbulence of our life passes, we might find it has deposited us treasures. 

You don't search for the treasure 
in the midst of the waves.

Rather, you wait for the treasure to be deposited on the sands of the beach.

Fear knows only desperation. 

Fear knows only despair. 

Fear calls for a retreat where hope surges forward.

Pride walks through the door when we start to condemn others. 

Pride gains entry when judgment opens the door. It walks through the door when we start condemning others.  

To be critical of others 

is to place ourselves morally in critical condition.

From an empty heart comes a full assault.

Change comes from challenge.

A ship takes sail only in deep waters. 

Hope runs ahead of reason,

and fear sprints to its conclusion.

The man of pride is quick to judge. 

The offer of tolerance comes not from the proud.

Forgiveness comes from the righteous,

while the wicked hold on to their judgments.

Pride looks for fault, 

while humility looks the other way. 

Pride judges, while humility looks not for fault. 

The heart of pride finds the faults of others. 

In making enemies, we make our faults. 
-

When you roll the dice you often tumble. 

If you cannot see the rust from the gold

you will never see the truth.

Visitors to our table 

are fed food to our own taste.

There are more lessons in defeat than in victory.
-

Birds fly not in sullen skies, 

but wait for the storm to pass. 

The shelves of plenty 

usually lock their doors to the poor.

Words wasted on a fool 
return to the fool who gave them.

Money is purchased only with sweat.

Pride has its home in the hatred of others.

Wisdom finds no comfort in the presence of fools.

Pleasure's only friends are those who flatter.

Nearness takes pleasure in friends,

but enemies we keep far away.

Friendship lies in forgiving others,

while we pursue the flaws in enemies.

In our pride, we punish others.

We Expect More, and When We don't get it, We Toss Them in Jail

   We lament finding out we have more people incarcerated than any place on earth. One in four prisoners on earth, it is said, have their confinement in the prisons of America.

   In our embarrassment, we rush to open the gates and let the prisoners out. Drug addicts and others we quickly set free.

   I mentioned yesterday that guns might be a factor in why we have so many prisoners. Is this a coincidence: (A.) We have more guns per capita than any nation on earth. (B.) We have more incarcerations that any nation on earth. These two facts travel in tandem. We should at least wonder if there isn't a relationship between them.. 

   But, surely, there might be factors other than our abundance of guns that have brought us to being the most incarcerating nation on earth. High expectation might be one. If you expect more of your citizens than other countries do of theirs, you might punish your people more. That means you send more people to prison. A parent that doesn't train a child never sends him to the corner to sit. So, our sending so many people to prison might, in part, reflect that we are more into correcting the faults of our people.
   And, it also reflects a highness of expectation.

   In some countries, beating your wife is of no concern. Women are property, and beating them is a property right. How much this attitude exists in some countries, and whether it is diminishing, I do not know. I only know that there can be places where women have all the citizenship rights of cattle.

   If you don't punish the crime, you don't fill your jails. Those countries that see no wrong in domestic violence do not incarcerate the offenders. The wrongs being committed in those countries are much greater than in America. But, they are not reflected in the imprisonments.

   But, to those who would throw wide open the doors of our prisons and let the prisoners out, I will concede that another factor in overloading our jails might be our intolerance of each other. This includes intolerance of the drug user. Our intolerance of them is reflected in such things as efforts to exclude them from welfare. Sometimes, we have no tolerance for the drug user, and are quick to punish them. 

   To some extent, and in some circles of our American society, we have no patience with sin. This can be good, and it can be bad. It is good to recognize domestic violence is wrong, and should be punished. But, as wrong as the crime is, the offenders remain humans. We should love them, still. Mercy should have its balance with justice. Our courts and laws should be such that we know when to jail them and we know when to free them.

   I think of the Me Too Movement: Such a rush to judgment. Such a condemnation of others. There is good in the movement, and there is bad.

   Such things as the Me Too Movement reflect what we are, what we have become, as a society. We are judgmental. We can be intolerant of some sins. You can say it reflects a moral nation. But, it also reflects one of pride.

   The point I mean to make in this post, is that perhaps a leading reason for our prisons being full and flowing over is that we are such a judgmental nation. As I said, this can be good, and it can be bad. Our challenge is to figure it out, and learn when justice should have its rule, and when mercy should be allowed to step in and free those who have done wrong,  

Mice don't like the brooms that sweep them. The Utah Jazz must show they are not as harmless as church mice if they are to avoid being swept by the Houston Rockets.

Crime is not in the weapon,

 but in the heart that chooses to use it

With this post, I give a nod to those who suggest, Guns don't kill, people do. Yes, it is the heart of a person that brings them to commit crime. Hate brings the person to commit the crime.

This said, the weapon is an influence. The blame may belong with the person, but the gun remains an influence.

Crime requires its weapon

No, not every crime requires a weapon. Fraud and simple theft do not. But, take murder: it almost always comes with use of a weapon. Rape is often accompanied by the use of a gun or a knife. Bank robbery comes with a gun.

So, if we can see so many of the serious crimes require weapons, why can we not also see there is advantage to the absence of weapons? Indeed: To say that America is the most incarcerated nation in the world might be to suggest we have more robberies and such than many nations do. The people in those other nations might be no better than ours, but they do not rob the banks as often. Now, this makes sense: If they don't have the weapons, they can't rob their banks as easily.

Where the gun is, crime will rise? It's a thought. And, it may be a fact.

Crimes are common where the gun is abundant

It is often noted that America incarcerates more of its citizens than any nation on earth. This is an embarrassment to us, and we rush to let out drug offenders and others.

But, only one in five are incarcerated for drug offenses. Even if we free all of them, we remain the most incarcerated nation on earth.

Has it gone unnoticed on us that we also have more weapons per capita than any nation on earth? We have more people in prison and we have more people possessing the tools with which crimes are often committed. Could their be a connection?

Yes, I am aware that violent crime is said to be down. I am also aware that most crimes are not reported to police and most crimes are not solved. Your statistics can be skewed by the absence of ability to apprehend the criminal.

I know this: If the tools of crime abound, it makes sense that the crimes will abound. We should at least wonder if there is a connection between us being the most incarcerated nation on earth and being the nation with the most tools used for the commission of crimes.

I only say it appears to be a factor: One reason we have so many in jail is that we have so many weapons used for crimes. Yes, there might be greater reasons for our high incarceration rate, but I cannot but wonder if this is one.

A lot of people are incarcerated because we have a lot of criminals. Can we be open to this possibility?

I think of countries were wives are beaten, and there is no law against it. In America, there are laws against domestic violence. I judge these laws to be just. They may lead to a higher incarceration rate than found in nations that do not so value the right of the women not to be abused.

Abuse of a child can get you tossed in jail. In America. More so than in other nations.

So, our higher standards lead to our higher incarceration rates. This surely is a factor. Maybe the largest -- I do not know.

But, the gun is a factor, as well. It would be interesting to study Britain, where the gun is not allowed, and compare offenses involving weapons there with offenses involving weapons here. Which country tosses more in jail for such crimes?

Surely, America.

I searched to find what percentage of incarcerations in America are for violent crimes. Surely, that is a statistic that is common. Still, I did not find it. Is it 8 percent? I may have seen in an index the suggestion it is just 8 percent. But, when I called up the story, I could not find the reference to 8 percent.

But, I did find this, at ucr.fbi.gov: "Violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes are defined by the UCR Program as those offenses that involve force or threat of force." The two sentences quoted seem at variance with each other, to me. Are we saying murder, manslaughter, rape and robbery are the only things we consider violent crimes? Or are we saying anything force or threat of force is a violent crime? Much of domestic violence would be left out of the first definition, it would seem.

What percentage of our crimes are for weapons charges? Should we sent these people to jail? Or, as we have with drug violators, should we set more of these people free? Even if we do, I hold to the question: Does one of the reasons we have so many criminals lie in the fact we have more people committing crimes with weapons?

Crimes are often committed with weapons. If you increase the number of weapons in a land, does the number of crimes occasionally go up?

You cannot Legislate the Gun out of Existence

You cannot legislate the gun out of existence. I do not say a ban would not benefit. Nor do I say it would -- at least for this moment I don't. For I do not know. But, this thought follows me: If you have a heart of hate, it will seek out the tools of hate. It is said, you cannot legislate righteousness, and I do not know.

I think of the scriptures, and of how they make rules against hate. These are "laws," if you will.  So, we need not too quickly assume that laws calling for righteousness are wrong. Still, the enforcement of these "laws" should not be so strong as to disable the ability to disobey them.

And, as long as people remain allowed to hate, they will. And, as long as they hate, they will seek out the tools of hate. The gun cannot be banished by government decree. At least, not alone, it can't.

For the gun to be gone, the heart must be changed.

With an increase in weapons 

comes an increase in war

I think of the prophecy in the Doctrine and Covenants, and of how war was to be poured out upon all nations, beginning in South Carolina with the Civil War, but to be followed by more wars and with world wars and with wars or fears of war in most every nation.

And, I look at that same time line and notice the inventions in weapons increased at the same time war increased. The canon came not so long before our revolutionary war, which was one of the devastating wars of history. When was the invention of the torpedo, and with what war did it coincide?

The guns and the missiles and the fighting jets seem only to have spawned more war

Friends become teachers

We listen more closely to them than we ever did a teacher in school.

In a friend you find a parent

We heed their teachings, and follow their examples, and do as they tell us to do.

Attitudes are born of friends

Our friends are our parents, in one sense. For the believes and attitudes we possess are born from the things that they teach us.  

We are a reflection of our friends.

If you walk with the weary, 

you will grow weary like them

It is said, the company you keep determines the person you are. 

If we shoulder with those who are negative, that negativity will rub off on us. 

Freedom is not in the absence of law, but in the absence of being able to oppose it. 

War requires its weapons.

If there were no weapons of war, 

war might cease to exist.

Never was a war fought without a weapon

Go back in the annuals of time. Was there ever a war fought with only the hands? A war where they strangled each other with their hands, and bloodied each other with their fists? Was ever there such a war? From all that we know, there wasn't. 

War requires its weapons. 

The weapons of war 

make not for peace between nations.

That from which you are made, makes you what you are

If you are a nation made of guns, you will be a nation given to the violence that guns bring.

A gun in the hand and hate in the heart

 are partners in crime.

You don't put a gun in a hand, 

and expect the hand not to use it. 

Peace will only be found 

only when guns are not to be found.

If peace is to be found, it must be found in weapons not being found.

Weapons bring not peace.

If you would pour weapons upon your land, you cannot expect for peace. 

If violence is ended, 

it will not be with the 

force of a gun.

A creature does not go beyond its creation

A dog doesn't fly and a bird doesn't have four feet. The creature stays within its creation.

Even so, the gun will do that for which it was created to do, and little more. If it was created to bring death, it will bring death. It was not created to bring an absence of war, but to bring the war to its side. Even so, those with the most guns and those with the most powerful guns, find the war is theirs.

Guns do not end war between nations, they only bring it to them. The gun was not created to end all violence, and it never will.

(Unfinished poems)

If you would pour blood upon the land, 

you must pour from a pitcher that provides it. 

And, such is the gun.

Blood upon the land comes 

from the source that provides it. 

You can't get blood from a stone. 
But from a gun, you will get nothing else. 

The stone is not the source for blood, but the gun is. 

You can't get blood from a stone, but from a gun you will get nothing else

You can't draw water from a stone. Nor, can you draw blood. If you want blood, you must draw it from that which was created to provide it. It is the gun, not the stone, which was created from which to draw blood.

The weapons of violence 

can bring only the fruits of violence

Would we be surprised that we have so much violence? We have more guns per capita than other nation. More guns are packed into our land than anywhere else on earth.

A gun yields only one result. It yields violence. Nothing else. If you have the weapons of violence, of course you are going to have violence. Guns everywhere = violence everywhere.  It is said that, What you reap is what you sow. If you sow the gun, you will reap the harvest of the gun. And, the harvest of the gun is the hail of bullets.

When hatred runs deep, it gorges the just.

If we would consider how feelings towards those coming from Central America, would we see a hatred? And, if we would consider them, would we not realize they are largely just poor people seeking better lives. 

Flowers bloom only where the rain falls.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone has already said this. Seems like I've heard something like it somewhere.

A noble heart knows only the truth.

Does the work of darkness mean evil doesn't sleep? 

Truth knows no secrets.

At least they are few. There may be times for secrets, but, as a rule, the whole truth should be told. 

If you would side with the truth,

you would grant it all told.

It is hard for us to judge whether there are things in the full of the Mueller report that truly should be kept from public view. Without knowing what they are, it is hard to judge. As a rule, though, I suggest it is best to reveal the whole truth. 

Only a mouse scurries 

when the broom comes out. 

Those who run from investigations often have reason to run. 

Truth is revealed in the hiding of secrets.

If you are hiding something, it often shows that you have something to hide. 

That which hides in the dark is sure to hide truth. 

I wish the whole of the Mueller report would have been released. I am not fully ready to judge Julian Assange for good, but wonder if the things he revealed should have been revealed. 

I somewhat wonder but what if you are hiding something, it means you have something to hide. 

From the dirt that covers comes the strength to grow.

There are those who would dig up dirt on us, so to speak, and cover us with that dirt. Like those taking lemons and making lemonade, we can grow from the experience of having dirt tossed on us. 

You dress for the storm but not for the night.

If you know there are troubles,you can get ready, but dangers that are hidden are hard to prepare for. 

The last chapter tells the story.

Lies have their secrets

 but truth shouts the whole tale. 

History makes notes that the present won't read.

Time knows not its own tale.

The lessons of history are seldom remembered.

Riches judge poverty by the crime in its midst. 

A rich nation often rejects the poor of others.

When the rich judge the poor pride is reflected.

The higher the timber the greater the fall.

The proudest timber is the first to fall.

From the rains of the storm comes the moisture to grow.

Falling timber comes only after its reached its height.

Note added 4-18-19: This might not be well-worded. I was trying to say, You fall the timber only after it's reached its height. That, too, though, is not clear. The timber's harvest comes only after it has reached its height? No, that leaves out the point that it it falls. It isn't the harvest I want to emphasize but the fall.

Waters below lose their threat 

when you learn to swim.

Trials forge the man if they do not break him. 

The storm moves the ship 

faster than a gentle breeze.

The sands of time move with the wind that blows.

If you would move forward in life, you must be blown by the winds of adversity.

Wisdom is water to those who drink from its cup.

It is free and in abundance and refreshing. 

The proudest timber is the most ripe to fall.

Willows in the wind always bend.

It bends but never breaks. If you would take a willow down, you must yank it by its roots. 

A tree breaks where only a willow bends.

We take New Neighbors and Tell Them They have no Right to Move in

  If we were to walk down the street to where a new neighbor moved in, and tell him he had no right to be there, what a strange thing this would be. If we told him he didn't belong, and to go back to where he came from, wouldn't that be odd?
   I just ask us to reflect on what we are doing. This is not an analogy. It is exactly what we are doing. A person moves in at the end of our street, and we take offense and become hostile. We suggest they were suppose to get our permission before coming.
   This is odd of us. It is strange that we should act this way.
   Again, this is not an analogy. It is the living truth of how we treat them. And, the only way we can justify it is by turning it in to something it is not. We can suggest it is like them moving into our own homes, and taking up residence in our very own homes without invitation.
   Excuse me, but, that is not what is happening.
   No, they are but coming to the house down the street without our invite. That's all. They are moving in next door, and we, the welcoming neighbor, are taking offense.
   Truth doesn't take a twisting and survive as truth that's straight. When you bend the truth, that isn't fair.