THE END IS NEAR!

As I write this, the clock moves onward and soon the end will come. The end of the second, the minute, the hour, the day. the week, the YEAR A.D. 2011. Wait a minute -- it already happened, a few hours to the east.

Bummer.

So 2012 is upon us. A Presidential election year, and according to the ancient Mayan calendar the world will end next December, after the American people choose a new President. Coincidence? All events are related somehow, tied together by that mysterious elementary particle of the universe, the elusive foo boson.

I ran for Congress in 2000, a triad of leap years ago, as a Republican primary candidate in the 14th District. Then I tried it again in 2010, same party, in the 13th District. Now its the 16th District, and once more it is Leap Year, but my cheering section has disassembled itself, the deadline for filing in the primary is long past, and beside all that, I have no wish to be abused by the Republican party again.

Oh, my ideals have not changed. My positions have become clearer. The results of policies I decried have become even more deadly to the welfare of my country. I fear, however, that America has a secret death wish.

The primary season opened with multiple challengers jockeying for anointment by the press and pundits as the challenger to the man seen as the destroyer of all that is good about America. They are wrong, though, the people of America have themselves presided over the destruction of their nation.

As one who is under oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and defend it against all enemies, foreign and domestic, I find myself turning to the policies, written so long ago, which undergird that document; to the Bible, which ordains that all should be treated equally, that fraud and all that contributes to fraud is detestable, and that life is precious and must be protected and enhanced with all the power at our disposal. If we simply would do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God, His blessings will fall upon us like the springtime rain.

I look for one who would uphold those things, but such a person faces numerous enemies who would serve their own interests rather than the good of the Republic. I have had enough of the posturing of those who worship Democracy and hate the ordinances of God. Good riddance to the Year 2011.

THE END IS NEAR!

On Hornets and Hackers...

It was when I was a newly feathered teenager that we one day discovered in the pine trees on our extra side lot a big hornet nest. Being exceptionally bright cookies, my brothers and I decided that it would be bad medicine to disturb that paper metropolis from up close. Being exceptionally mischievous malingerers, we also craved the excitement of demolition. Besides, everyone knows hornets are evil; harassing them would be a good deed. The solution -- we stood back about 50 feet away and shot into the nest with our BB guns.

Did you know that hornets can detect the direction and angle of fire of projectiles at significant distances from their source? We learned something new that day; a victim will only be a victim until he discovers a way to turn the tables on his tormentor.

On Christmas Eve the Internet terrorist organization known as "Anonymous" reportedly broke into the database of Stratfor Global Intelligence, a company that does news analysis for a world-wide client base. The terrorists stole subscriber usernames and passwords, gained access to their credit card accounts, and ran up charges by donating money to charitable organizations.

Reading the comments generated on a number of websites and blogs, it is obvious that there are large numbers of people who are morally degenerate enough to think that Robin Hood tactics are a means of doing good. That should have been obvious from the support that the Occupy Movement has had, even from people who otherwise have a reputation as good citizens. The fact that even political leaders seem to feel that evil deeds will solve the Nation's problems ought to serve as warning that we are headed for catastrophic anarchy, and the eventual loss of cherished freedoms.

I have a number of friends, many now retired, who have worked in the IT field since the 1960's (some even longer) who contemptuously call such troublemakers "script kiddies". They spent a good part of their careers working to foil people who either as a game, or as part of organized espionage, attempted to circumvent security features and access data which was not intended for public exposure. They are well aware that most security breeches are caused by laxity on the part of an IT department which has not considered itself a target for one reason or another. They are also quite confident that as such exploits grow in number, there will be retaliatory measures taken.

"Anonymous", "Occupy Whatever", and other such self-absorbed dreamers need to understand that their mischief to this point has been directed at groups and organizations which have not attempted retaliation. The clients of Stratfor, however, are a mixed bag of corporate and governmental entities, and includes private contractors for security concerns. One of the reasons for attacking that site was that Stratfor was somehow considered "evil", merely on the basis of who they accepted as clientele. One of the reasons for shooting BBs at the hornets' nest was that they could possibly sting people.

In all the wide world there probably are well trained and genuinely evil people who patronize think tanks like Stratfor. That should give the terrorists pause. Just as they are able to use their technological skill to break in, steal information, and use it to create havoc, their victims are also technologically capable, and will eventually be able to track down their tormentors.

At that point, the Internet terrorists had better hope that their victims are much less evil than they originally believed. Back in the bad old days, if you attacked a robber baron and stole his money or embarrassed him, he might not only come after you to kill you, but he might also strike at those near and dear to you. It is said that "Anonymous" tried to shake down a Mexican drug gang, and was warned that the consequences would be dire. They should not sleep too comfortably in the misapprehension that their victims on Wall Street and in other high places around the world are less serious about revenge than the drug lords who have no compunction about hanging their tormentors on wires from bridges, or removing body parts to send a message. Hornets do not like to have their nests disturbed.

Sigh. Time Flies.

It is amazing the difference 10 years can make. I wonder what it will be like 10 years from now...

Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 (the Western version) has come and is slipping past as I write this. I enjoy the Christmas story, and am thankful that God was willing to bless me -- and all other people -- with the gift of Himself as our Savior, and that He would choose to do so in precisely the manner in which He did it. For years now, however, the Christmas season has made me somewhat uneasy. It has been a bit of a fretful time; a time that produces a sort of melancholy in me, even to the point of depression.

Within the Christmas story is the account of the journey of the wise men from the east, who carried gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus. Around this story has grown up the custom of gift-giving, which for most of the world, is the total meaning of Christmas. This custom of exchanging gifts at the celebration of the nativity is nowhere commanded in the Scriptures. Throughout most of Western history it seems to have been a relatively low-key activity, and does not appear in early Church history as a significant factor. It is even suspected by some groups of believers to be an assimilation of a pagan activity.

Then there are always those each year who cry out against the "commercialization" of Christmas, and there are those for whom the "commercialization" of Christmas is the difference between having food on the table and going hungry. Additionally, the bizarre shenanigans of shoppers willing to camp out for "Black Friday" sales, or to fight one another or riot over some particular piece of merchandise, always causes saner citizens to doubt whether Christmas gift-giving is worth the demeaning of the memorial.

To counter that, and because the gift-giving by the wise men has never seemed to be sufficient reason for some people to participate, the rationale has been trotted forth that the giving of gifts is appropriate because it mirrors the very activity of The Eternal in giving Himself. I am persuaded that giving gifts under such reasoning more truly memorializes Christmas, but I fear that in actual practice, it is usually quite banal and trivializes what was done.

We glibly sing the carols and fail to consider the depth of the words; "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. " Within that message is an announcement of more than just the birth of a child. It is the flat statement that a pressing need was met, and that disaster had been averted.

Christmas is actually the acknowledgment of that dreaded idea of Original Sin and the Just Wrath of God. Those who celebrate Christmas admit by doing so, whether willingly or unwillingly, that they have sinned, come short of the Glory of God, and are worthy of spending all of Eternity with that enemy of God, the Devil himself. Had Jesus not been given to us, and had He not subsequently paid the ransom for us on the cross, our future would have been one of eternal torment.

Christmas. The Savior is born. Peace is extended to mankind as a gift from God. It is no mystery that non-Christians should want to take Christ out of Christmas, since His presence, even as a babe in a manger, is a reminder of the presence of sin in our lives, and the price we could not ourselves pay to redeem the glory lost by Adam.

Thus the quandary. The gift that was given by God was a gift that was essential for meeting a need. We do not celebrate Christmas because God in some moment of merriment decided to visit His creation with His presence. We celebrate Christmas because He gave the gift of Eternal Life, the escape from Hell -- "peace, good will toward men."

I suppose what has always bothered me about the Christmas season is that great triviality with which it is treated, and the accompanying triviality in the gift-giving which is supposed to commemorate the Gift of God. For this year, the celebration of the Day is about at an end. It has come and gone. I have participated in the triviality, but will I do better in the future?

Would it not be more appropriate for me to consider my great need that was met, and look about for needs that others have that could be met by me? Rather than a box of candy, or a toy, or even the consideration of a gift for someone else who might be equally well off, would not the true sense of what God did for me be better expressed if, as a gift, I gave something that would meet the needs of a person who was totally unable to reciprocate?

Does Christmas come just once a year for me? He went from the manger to the cross, and the gift took him a lifetime to give. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."