A Gun on the Hip does not a Patriot Make

   I am not made a patriot by carrying a gun, but by respecting it, both for the good it can do and the harm. That person who would use the gun to unjustly take another's life -- though that other person be stealing his watch -- is not a patriot. Gun rights include the protecting of life, but they do not include the taking of life, at least not without great cause.
  Life remains sacred even in a world of guns. It is the person who realizes that who is the patriot.

Popular Opinion For Marijuana is a Reason War on Drugs has Failed

   If a person does not think he is doing any wrong, he will not likely change. That truth, as much as anything, explains why the war on drugs has failed (supposing it has failed).
  Even cocaine addicts, too often, think they are quite okay using cocaine. But, it is marijuana users I speak of most. We cannot expect them to turn from a drug if they are convinced that drug does no harm.
   In church circles, we speak of confessing and acknowledging a sin as being one of the steps of repentance. Why should we not see that the same principle applies to overcoming drugs? No one is likely to quit if they do not see the harm being done. And, however do we expect them to see the harm when a good half or more of us say marijuana should be legalized?
 

A Society that will not Seek out Its Faults is Doomed to be Mired in Them

   There is a principle: That person that will not consider his faults is not likely to overcome them. Why should it be different with societies? That society that will not seek out its faults is doomed to be mired in them.
   What are our faults as a nation? Oh, don't even count them. They are too many. But, let's sample the pool and mention just three.
   Is abortion a fault? If it is, is it one we will seek out? For, much of our nation thinks it no fault at all.
   What of the national debt? We obviously do not see that as a fatal fault, or we wouldn't keep adding to it. Many say no harm will come. Charge away. America on the credit card with no limit.
   How about the way our stand-your-ground laws are written? It is great to have laws allowing people to protect themselves, but these laws need to be rewritten. It is not a good law that allows the person who pulled the trigger to determine in a court that it was justified. He has only to say he thought his life was in jeopardy. The killer becomes his own judge. If there are no witnesses to testify against him, his word rules. These stand-your-ground laws protect many an innocent soul, but they are worded so that murders, also, can find protection. A law that protects a murder is not a good thing. These laws are a fault in our society. And, as I said, a nation that will not seek out its faults is doomed to be mired in them.

Of All the Factors in Mass Shootings, This One Gets No Thought

  If we look for what might have averted the Fort Hood shooting, what might we see?

  "We'll learn lessons about what occurred here and minimize the chances of this ever happening again," Texas Gov. Rick Perry promised.

   I'm thinking one solution will be overlooked, never considered. When we think of all the possible contributing factors to mass shootings -- mental insanity, gun-free zones, too many guns, or whatever -- this one never gets so much as a whiff of attention.

   But, you tell me whether fewer people would shoot each other if they just figured out what love was all about. What if all the folks at the base were anxious to accommodate Ivan Lopez? What if when he came in asking for a request-for-leave form, he had not been told to come back later, but, rather, someone had jumped to find one for him? What if the attitude had been to help another person whenever possible, and -- assuming there was nothing wrong with Lopez taking leave -- everyone had been anxious to help him?
   No, this does not erase Lopez of any culpability for what he did. But, who knows but what a little show of love and assistance might have made a difference.

To Reform the Criminal, Give Him a Job

   If we are to reform the criminal, we must give him opportunity to succeed. Translation: He needs a job. Rather than a system in which the prisoner is released and goes out looking for a job, facing many employers who do not want to hire ex-convicts, we need a system that places him in a job.
   Of all the things we should want the ex-convict to have, a job may be the most important, or at least close to it. The reasons are many. We want them to develop a work ethic. We want them to be productive members of society. We want them to have self-worth. We want them to support their families. We want them to be able to pay off any fines we might impose on them. We want them to be able to pay their bills with legitimately-earned money instead of having to turn back to crime.
   The reformation of criminals will not likely be achieved if they are not gainfully employed. It is an essential element, one that is overlooked and left out of our present system.

Inject a Little Competition into Our Health-Care System

  If we look, we can see some reasons why health care is so expensive. We've reduced competition in many ways. We license extensively. We limit the insurance choices at the workplace. We require doctors to be part of our network before we can see them. We limit the number of medical schools allowed in each state. We have patent rights that go too far in limiting who can produce drugs and medical devices.
  What if we were to change these things? Wouldn't it make sense that the price of health care would drop? How much, I do not know, but I think we should try the simple remedies that are before our eyes and see how much difference it makes in reducing the cost of medicine. Inject more competition into our system. Bring it back. We've been eroding the free market's ability to work in our health-care system for decades. Then one day we woke up and said, "Hey, this is too expensive. What's wrong? How can we get health-care costs to go down, or is that even possible?"
   Of course it is possible. But, we need to do the things that are right before our eyes.

The Case of the Child Dragged in a Harness and the Marijuana Pipe

  I hear the story on KSL of two men dragging a 4-year-old child, tethering him to a tree, and then sitting down and lighting a glass pipe that appeared to contain pot.
  I think of the many times I've been told marijuana harms no one. I wonder if I am being wrong to wonder if the marijuana contributed to these two men's treatment of the child. Causation? No, some would say. After all, they lit up the pipe after they had dragged the child, not before. That isn't causation.
   But, of course the thought is, they could have been smoking the pot earlier, as well. No, I do not know so, but, I wonder.
   Some would say it is still wrong to blame marijuana. If the two men had been carrying a Bible, would I blame it on the Bible?
   The little 4-year old was in some kind of a harness with a leash attached to it. As they were crossing the street, the boy tripped, and rather than placing him back on his feet so he could walk, he was simply dragged the rest of the way across the street, over a curb, and through some wood chips to the tree, where one end of the leash was secured to the tree. That's not a normal way to treat a 4-year old. A person with good use of their faculties does not normally treat a young child that way. A person with impaired judgement? More likely.

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