Repudiating the Holy Leaf


OK, I'm just tired of it.
The Libertarian Party is about more than marry-joo-wanna.
At the moment, I'm not sure WHAT more, but I am sure there must be SOMETHING.

I wore my "write-in Loretta Nall" t-shirt on a delivery, and then stopped off at my favorite tortilla factory, where they also serve authentic tortilla-based meals. The owner and his wife are becoming friends of mine, and so his reaction meant a lot.

"Oh, no....you're a pot smoker?"

Sigh.

I do not indulge in the sacramental smoke, no, and I am becoming weary of being forced into cannabis conversations whenever my libertarian leanings are revealed. Yes, I believe the current "War on _______" (insert favorite bellicosity) mentality is unconstitutional and wrong.
Poverty goes on strong. The Drug Trade is still robust. The jails are full of recreational tokers, just as Thomas Jefferson and Co. intended. It is an immense waste of manpower and resources.
There. That is established.

There must be a platform. Oh, wait...HERE IT IS!

I knew that there was more to it than that.

Sad that the Man on the Street doesn't know about it!

...Then there are those church marquees.
You know, the signboards used to teach the heathen who refuse to enter the Hallowed Doorway.

There is a popular Clever Thing making the rounds of our area.

"Forbidden Fruit
Creates
Many Jams"

Was Confucius ever so profound?

It is sad that God's Word is not meaningful enough to be proclaimed on the signs.
Perish forbid that we should waste content from the Sanctuary on the hoi polloi in the highways and hedges. What really boils my bottom is that Time is spent digging these nuggets up.

You can make your own, too! The Church Sign Generator is ready to serve your needs.

We have a busy weekend, so my blogging may be sparse. Keep checking.

HELLO, EAST TENNESSEE!

Have a faboo weekend.

It's been a busy week, so now I'm sitting here, waiting for a plumber. We are having a tankless water heater installed, preparatory to delivery of a new washer & dryer. That's the way the money goes.

Had my teeth cleaned today, so my dentition has that exquisite ache that outlines each tooth. I am not such a weenie that I need nitrous for a cleaning, but BOY, that Cavitron thingie really sends me 'round the bend. It's like thousands of ants scraping their mandibles on thousands of tiny blackboards. In your head. It is essentially an ultrasonic jackhammer.

The weatherman that lives in my forehead lets me know a front is moving through. Another pain.

--------------------------------------------

I have had my first real troll this week. People with personal axes to grind need not apply.
I am very curious, though, when the sea-change happened in the workplace. pre-Sixties, it seems, the rule of work etiquette was: Work talk at work, personal palaver on your own time.
You could mumph about "that darn Anderson account" all you wanted, but home and family stuff was kept there at home, beyond the most perfunctory "How's the Missus, and the kids? Is Johnny over the mumps?". Much has been said about the "hypocrisy" of having a "work-face" and a "home-face", but it seems to me that there was less trouble back when there was clearer delineation of one's roles in life. Fewer illicit office dalliances, besides less time-wasting jabber all around. Muzak may have it's detractors, but the endless lite-rock radio stations pumped into the office with sex, sex, romance, love affair, "if lovin' you is wrong" as the message du jour is a distraction. I don't see how ANY work gets done.

----------------------------------------

This Aardvark is not a prude. I just have a case of the wistfuls for when work was work, and not an endless Oprah/Dr.Phil/Maury fest.

The Aardvark is, however, in pain, and thus grumpy.

"Castle of Cagliostro" DVD review, as promised.


I finally got the time to actually sit and watch the new release of Hiyao Miyazaki's movie directorial debut. Miyazaki-san was a series director in the original "Green jacket" series "Lupin III" - or"Rupan sansei", but cut his teeth on the glass-beaded screen with "Cagliostro", which he both wrote and directed.

Arsene Lupin III is a third-generation master thief; perhaps THE master thief. Aided by crack-shot Jigen, Goemon, the samurai, as well as by sexiful Fujiko (when she is not double-dealing) Lupin (the Wolf) schmoozes and robs his way amongst the glitterati of the world, with Inspector Kouichi Zenigata hot on his trail.

Lupin and Jigen rob the National Casino, only to find that their loot is in fact counterfeit. Almost perfect "goat money", virtually undetectable- though Lupin has reason to recognise it.
This leads him to the tiny country of Cagliostro, where his search for a world-economy-ruining plot, and the source of the bogus bills, introduces him to a runaway bride, whom he rescues from well-armed and lethal louts in a physics-shattering car chase.

I shan't do any spoilers. Suffice to say that the movie is a MAJOR bit of fun, and well worth the meagre price. As one who is NEVER impressed by "DVD extras" (hey, I buy it for the movie!), I find that this little jewel has an amazing goodie, the complete animatic, set to the complete soundtrack of the film. Wikipaedia says "An animatic typically consists of pictures of the storyboard synchronized with the soundtrack." On this DVD, you can see Miyazaki-san's storyboard sketches brought to life. It is delightfully good.

Buy "Castle of Cagliostro". Buy several. Christmas is coming!

On the Tinfoil Hat front...

I have heard nothing about this from The Usual Suspects, but
what if the nuke set off by Kim Jong Oink was not merely a test of a bomb,
but was the test of a trigger?

The quakes in Japan and Hawaii may be the end of the experiment.

Discuss.
Or at least talk to yourself.

So THAT'S why his name is Johnny Knoxville.

The redoubtable host of Jackass has an odd name. Why not Richard Peoria, or Paul Schenectady?
Now, I have never been impressed by his acting acumen, and the Cultural Excellence for which he stands hasn't won points for him. either. This Aardvark has, however sussed out the why of his nomen.

We went to Kajonk-a-Con this weekend. We did the official con shirt, and set up in the dealers room...which was part of a single larger room. The convention was held at the Knoxville Convention Center, the warmed-over site of the 1982 World's Fair. You never heard of that?

I.....am.....shocked.

Knoxville in years past has been termed "The Scruffy Little City". So the The Scruffy Little City had a Scruffy Little World's Fair. I lived in the Gatlinburg area at the time, and remember the fuss. Rather than calling it "Fair" I called it the "World's Barely-Adequate".

Since that time, the city has angsted over what to do with the property. The Fair's theme tower, the Sunsphere, which juts proudly 266 feet skyward on the Scruffy Little Skyline, and was so ably destroyed by Bart Simpson and Crew in That Simpson's Episode, has been tenantless for years.

The Fair site is now run as the Knoxville Convention Center.
It is run by thugs.

Kajonk-a-Con is the dream of Damian Zannini, a likeable and rail-thin student with a love for anime and gaming. No mere geek, he; Damian engineered the con with little help from anyone else. He has a business partner, but the vision and impetus were Zannini-san's.

The Poxville CONvention Center's staff began to load additional charges at the last minute, including charges for electricity, insurance, and "security" (which security allowed the theft of some vendors' merchandise: one was hit for $800 worth of goodies. One rent-a-cop "got cold", and actually "borrowed" two shirts from another vendor's covered table after hours to use as a blanket. He DID return the then-used merchandise to the dealer the following morning). In a final "we really don't want you here" move, the Officials claimed that the convention's checks "had not cleared" and that they would require the full amount in a cashiers check "in 40 minutes" or there would be no convention. While the CONvention Center staff were technically correct- the checks had not cleared- they neglected to add that they had not cleared because they had not posted at the bank, BECAUSE THEY HAD NOT DEPOSITED THEM. I saw the actual checks.
There were three: only one had even been endorsed. They were going to axe Kajonk-a-Con by fiat alone, and one vendor had come from California!

Word to the wise: under NO circumstances do business with the Knoxville CONvention Center.

The good news is, the Kajonk business partner -a VERY nice guy, does business with several good lawyers and judges in the area. I don't think that the Poxville CONvention Center has heard the last of Kajonk-a-Con. But I AM certain that they have squeezed the last shekel from those guys.

The convention was FUN, they had GREAT gaming prizes, like cases of Bawls, as well as game computer cases, power supplies, and such. They are not pikers. Do these guys a favor. Go to their site, and buy a con shirt from them. They went $5000 over budget because of the predations of the lice that run the CONvention facility. You'll get a comfy shirt, and a warm feeling that you helped some really nice guys with a dream.

Go to Kajonk-a-Con next year, too. It will be held in Knoxville, but at a Marriott or Ramada-type convention hotel.

...unless they wind up OWNING the Knoxville Convention Center when it's all over.


So, now I understand why his name is Johnny KNOXVILLE.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The Mad Little Piggy has gone BOOM!

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea said Monday it had performed its first-ever nuclear weapons test, setting off an underground blast in defiance of international warnings and intense diplomatic activity aimed at heading off such a move....the test was conducted at 10:36 a.m. (9:36 p.m. EDT Sunday) in Hwaderi near Kilju city on the northeast coast, citing defense officials.

North Korean scientists ``successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions,'' the KCNA report said, adding this was ``a stirring time when all the people of the country are making a great leap forward in the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation.''

A great prosperous powerful socialist nation. One where 3000 people starve a month, and many of the rest subsist upon tree bark.

Kimmy has his nukes. It might be good to consider a blockade.

North Korea needs money, but has nukes.

The jihadist adherents of the Religion of Peace and Love have money but want nukes.

You got your chocolate in my peanut butter.

He has every right to produce a nuke in his country, but now he has broken treaty, and detonated the thing. He has lots of subs to transport them, so Kim Jong Il needs to be kept from exporting nukes. I'm just thinkin' out loud here.

Cue Dame Vera Lynn: "We'llllll meet agaiiiiinnnnnn....."

We have met the Enemy, and he is US.

I miss Pogo.
Walt Kelly was the liberal Al Capp .

Here endeth the nostalgia.

The Dread Dormomoo and I sleep with George Noory. No REALLY...we SLEEP. With the radio on.
He is the host of Coast-to-Coast AM, the venue which warped Art Bell above the Galactic Plane.
I have grown used to Noory. and have realised his apparent credulity is merely his allowing the New Age freaksters and their ilk a forum. I repent of having said thet he is so open-minded that his brain fell out. Noory is a smart cookie, and a radio animal. Last night he had "open phones", which generally causes me to bleed from the ears. The D.D. heard a caller fulminate over "if North Korea has a Nook-yoo-lur Bomb, then why don't we just "go in and stop them"?

Just go in and stop them. Simple as pi.

The Dread Dormomoo then noted that if we do not recognise the sovereignty of nations, and believe the the Yoo-Ess-of-AY should be the Planetary Defense Force (Robots...WHERE are our GIANT ROBOTS??!?), then we are therefore THE de facto One World Government. The US is the Beast, the New World Order, enter current conspiracy moniker here_______.

Mr. Just Go IN does not recognise sovereignty, OR authority, beyond of course the putative authority of the schoolyard Bully to shake down smaller folk for their lunch money and Pop Tarts. Might, sadly, does NOT make right. To get all symmetrical on your keisters, only Right makes might. De Tocqueville apparently did not say this, but the truth holds nonetheless, that "America is great because America is good." Sadly being the Schoolyard Bully is not "being good".

Bottom line...North Korea is a sovereign nation. Not a NICE one, and Kim Jong Il is a loathsome little piggy who deserved his treatment in "Team America". But it IS its own nation. Until it actually launches at us, we have NO business "going in and stopping them"

(OTOH, if they launch, then everything above the 38th Parallel probably should become flat and highly reflective.)

As the US continues its behavioural slide into the Abyss, our True authority shall wane, and all we shall have left to us is sabre-rattling and fiddling with the Button. The world does not hear us anymore. Our leaders seek further to strip us of national sovereignty and border integrity.

Soon the United States will be nothing more than a roadside stand on the road from Points South, a stopover for Central American touristas on their way to The Land of Maple Syrup, Hockey, and Government Subsidised Film-making.

Don't forget to try the Cactus Candy. It's really good.

I am surprised that there have been no outraged cries at my choice to leave the Republican Party, and throw in my lot with the Libertarians. Either no-one cares, or it is such a screamingly obvious point that all of my Faithful Reader thinks "Well, DUH...". Ten years ago, my choice would have been the Constitution Party, but even as a conservative Christian, I find them to be too fringe for my tastes; too apt to insist upon Things Not Found In The Constitution, in the name of The Faith. Give me Strict Constructionist, Small Government any day. Christians ostensibly follow The Bible as their Rule of Faith and Practise, therefore they of all people should understand the need of our Republic to follow ITS founding document.

Ergo, by my way of thinking, EVERY Christian Soul in America should be a Libertarian.

-------------------------------------------------

The Voxoscenti were dealing with the subject of forgiveness yesterday. Here was a brief thought of mine, followed by one which explains an apparent discontinuity between MY "faith and practise".

Here is the rule of thumb (re: forgiveness), Biblically speaking:

A) If I sin, I need to repent.
B) If I am "In the light, having fellowship with my Father, and my brethren" (THERE is the barometer for spiritual health) The blood of the Anointed Jesus cleanses me of all unrighteousness.
I still must repent (do a 180) and go and sin no more. If I am weak and fall again, goto B.
C) If someone sins against me, I must forgive. (Forgive us our trespasses AS WE FORGIVE those who tresspass against us.) This is not giving the evil a pass, because "I will repay, saith the Lord". My forgiving releases the debt to me. The malefactor must go to God if he wants God's forgiveness.

Thank you Vox, for holding forth on this. It finally crystallised the whole thing for me, Biblically speaking.
****************
How do you justify not embracing the person you forgave if you have wiped the slate clean by forgiving him?--VD

Because I do not have God's ability to perfectly expunge the deed. "As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
My memory still carries the pain ("forgive and forget" is NOT a Biblical rubric), and I do not wish to relive the pain. Does that mean that I will NEVER embrace the one whom I forgive. No, but I must be healed of the hurt as well to wish to.
****************
A-HA!

I have sussed out the problem.
Forgiveness is NOT "a feeling".
The Greek word used for "forgiveness" is an ACCOUNTING term, signifying the cancellation of a debt.

Accounting, people. Not a huggy discipline.

If my loan shark (this is an example) chooses to forgive my $10,000 debt, he does not necessarily wish to hug me as well. The FORGIVENESS, if you will, shows his heart. A hug may be a precursor to the Kiss of Death, or other such backstabbery. Paul and Jude both warned of false brethren in the church who would do us harm.
My point again...it is my cancelling the debt (forgiveness) which is the important thing. Any warm fuzzies are optional, and may be subject to further personal growth on my part.

*****************
More as I'm able...

Well, the Aardvark makes it official:
This Aardvark backs Loretta Nall, Libertarian,
in her write-in candidacy for Governor of the great state of Alabama.

No more "pragmatism".
No more "Lesser of two evils".
No evils at all.

The Aardvark is rebelling, voting his conscience, and boy, it feels good.
Loretta is none-too-shy about speaking her mind, and like Diogenes, this Aardvark
searches the streets for one with no equivocation, no hedging, no fuh-fuhs.

Hi, Loretta.