Forget Priorities... Blame Someone!

So recently the Affordable Healthcare Act went into effect and people can now go to HealthCare.gov (link) to create an account and find healthcare resources.  Well, it didn’t go so well.  The site has been plagued with problems, everything from not being able to sign in to incorrect pricing for insurance plans, and now it’s a daily headline about the company that created the site being substandard (link), or programmers complaining about unrealistic deadlines (link), or whether or not the president knew the site was faulty before it went live (link).

Wow, seriously?  A website that doesn’t work as advertised?  When has that ever happened?  Ummm, like every day! 

Back in 2000 I was part of a corporation that built and hosted websites, so I have a little background in this stuff.  I can tell you that building an ecommerce site can be a very delicate thing, especially with today’s programming technologies.  There are a lot of web browsers that have to be taken into consideration from Internet Explorer, FireFox, Chrome, and many others (link) which all have their own intricacies of handling code.  Programming a website the size of HealthCare.org is a really big project.  I looked at the source code for the site, and there are over 1,600 lines of visible code just to make the very first page render on your screen.

But let’s get down to brass tacks – why are we having congressional hearings about a website that doesn’t work correctly?  Really, why?!  We’re literally paying expensive congressional mouth pieces to root out the evil that caused this ginormous website to malfunction like it’s an anomaly or something.

Think about the technologies you have, has it always worked correctly?  Isn’t the fact that iOS 7.0.3 was released so soon after iOS 7 hit the streets enough evidence to prove that technologies sometimes don’t work correctly?  We’re not having congressional hearings about that, are we?  Why is it so important to find someone to blame with the HealthCare.org website?

Politics.

I’d love to see how much of our tax dollars are wasted every year on politics, I think it would be staggering.

But I’m not going start on the politics of this issue or I’ll be writing for the next week.  There are serious problems in this country that need the attention of our government.  Investigating a website issue seems like a huge waste of time when over 14 million children in this country have to rely on food banks for subsistence. (link)

Let’s get real about what our priorities should be, because I guarantee there will be another website malfunction tomorrow.

“God, please open our eyes to the priorities of your gospel: to feed the hungry, to house the homeless, and to serve the underserved.  Amen.”

Keep the Change

I have a wrist watch that’s been sitting in a basket on my kitchen counter needing repair for some time.  One of the pins that holds the band to the watch broke and I’ve been meaning to get it replaced for several months, it just hasn’t been a priority because let’s face it, most people don’t need a time piece on their wrist any longer since we have a very precise clock in our smartphones.

However, it’s a nice watch and I decided I would take some time over the weekend to find a repair shop and get the pin replaced, so after doing a search on watch repair I decided to visit the L. E. Estrada Watch and Jewelry Repair shop.  It’s a very small business in a very small strip center in an out-of-the-way part of town.

When I got there the door was locked with a hand written note on the door instructing me to knock.  I didn’t find this odd because most jewelry places keep their doors locked because the bad guys like to target places like this.

After a minute I heard the door unlock and little old man opened the door.  I went in and I could tell it was a family owned business and the gentleman who opened the door was Mr. Estrada himself.  There were two other people in the shop already so after locking the door again Mr. Estrada went back to his task of servicing his customers. 

The shop was very small with lots of interesting clocks on the walls that reminded me of my childhood and our cuckoo clock from which a bird would spring out every hour and loudly cuckoo the number of times that matched the hour it was announcing.

After a bit Mr. Estrada came to me and I showed him my watch.  In broken English he said he could fix it, and after a few minutes he returned with my watch fully repaired.  I asked how much and was told $1.50.  Of course I don’t carry cash, because it’s not 1998, so I pulled my card out only to be told “cash only.”

I told him to hang on to the watch and I’d go find an ATM, but instead he handed it to me and kindly said “you pay me later.”  I could tell from his smile that he was basically telling me that it was only a buck and a half so don’t worry about it and just take the watch.

I appreciate people who are gracious, and I could tell Mr. Estrada was the type to give people a break, even if it cost him money.  So I left and immediately pulled out my iPhone and asked Siri to find an ATM.  I’m a grace filled person too, and I was going to ensure Mr. Estrada was paid for his work. 

So I followed Siri’s directions to the nearest bank which turned out to be completely wrong.  She led me into a residential neighborhood and then as I sat at a stop sign surrounded by nothing but houses she announced that I had arrived at the bank.  “Siri you suck at directions!” I said to her and she replied “Now now, I’m only trying to help.”

Feeling a little ashamed that I just berated a non-existent person I did a manual search for an ATM and a mile later I was at my destination.  It took a few seconds to recall my pin number because it’d been a long time since I needed cash, and as I stepped through the menus to extract my money it came to a screen that said I would be charged $2.50 because we’re the bank and we can do whatever we want.  Sucka!

I stood for a few seconds looking at the screen and thinking that I was about to spend $2.50 to get $1.50 to give to someone who told me he didn’t need it.  What was I doing!?  But that answer was easy, I was doing the right thing even if it cost me. 

I got the money and bought something small so I could break up the $20 bill and returned to the shop.  The surprise when Mr. Estrada opened the door to find me holding two $1 bills was worth the effort.  I handed him the money and said “keep the change,” and he just stood there with a confused look on his face as I told him to have a great day and walked back to my car.

It’s the simple things that can mean the most to people, and although my watch repair probably ended up costing me almost $5 in gas, time and the ATM fee, it was really worth it to know that I made someone happy that day.

“God, thanks for putting Mr. Estrada in my path, and for the opportunity to test my grace.  But most of all thanks for instilling in me the desire to go the extra mile to do the best, right thing.”

Rewriting History

I’ve always been a student of history, and I love going places that have sites of historical value. It intrigued me to stand in Ford’s Theater just a few feet from where history changed course as Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. I was also blown away when visiting Italy as I stood in a Pompeii home excavated from the ashes of Mt. Vesuvius and realized that it was buried only 79 years after Christ was crucified, but the windows had glass in them. I didn’t know we had glass that far back. History is learning, and we can all benefit from this type of education.

The problem with history is that it’s subject to the whims of people who sometimes don’t want history remembered and so they bury it. In essence, they try to rewrite history by omitting pieces of it. This bothers me enough that I decided to write this piece about the history of Republicans and Democrats because I’ve seen things in the news lately about each party that isn’t accurate.

I don’t care for either party, they’re both corrupt and unhelpful in solving the real problems of this country, but it strikes me funny how the Democrats have rewritten their own history in order to push negative views away from them and onto Republicans. Mainly, they’re racism. It’s true, the Democratic party is a party of racism and has been since they organized.

I know you’re thinking that this can’t be true; we’ve all been taught that Republicans are racist southerners. Well, get out your history books kids, because the racist South was actually Democratic. It’s true, it was the Democrats who fought to keep slavery during the Civil War. The Republicans wanted to abolish it. In fact, back then the Republican party was known as the party for blacks, and Democrats vowed that they would rather vote for a “yellow dog” than let black loving Republicans into office.

The Republican Party was organized as the anti-slavery party back in 1854 and has always been the party of equality and freedom for African Americans. You never hear about that nowadays.

History is pretty interesting, isn’t it? The Democratic Party has been working for many years to turn their racist past onto the Republicans, and since they control most of the news media they have been able to virtually do that. But they can’t escape from history.

Look at the South during integration. Remember George Wallace? He was the governor of Alabama who swore that his state would not let blacks integrate into white schools, and he made such a racist fuss over it that the National Guard had to be called out to keep order. Well guess what, Wallace was a Democrat. It’s true, Wiki yourself to death it won’t change the facts.

You probably also didn’t know that it wasn’t President Johnson who pushed through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it was actually a Republican named Everett Dirksen. He was instrumental not only in this Act, but also civil rights legislation in 1957, ’60, ’65 and ’68. Dirksen wrote the language for the 1965 Voting Rights Act. It’s ironic that Presidents Kennedy and Johnson had to rely on a Republican to get the Civil Rights Act pushed through because they literally couldn’t rely on their southern Democratic Senators. They all wanted segregation.

Another example is David Duke, the infamous KKK guy who ran for office in Louisiana, and even for President. He was one of the most racist people known in the country at that time, and he was a Democrat. But even though Duke didn’t get elected, some racists did, like Senator Robert Byrd, a southern Democrat who was also a former recruiter for the KKK. I bet you didn’t know that the Klan was actually started in 1866 to be the terrorist arm of the Democrats to terrorize and lynch Republicans as well as blacks. Whaaat?! I know you’re thinking “Wow, this can’t be true, it’s the opposite of everything we hear today!” I agree, it’s hard to swallow, but the real history is there for anyone to look up, and it amazes me that the Republicans have all this history to tell people, but they don’t. I’m not sure if it’s because they’re stupid or if it’s because they don’t know their own history. Either way I don’t care, it’s their party; they can run it however they want.

You’re probably also wondering why African Americans tend to vote for Democrats if that party is so racist. It’s simple, the brutal tactics that Democrats used in the 50’s and 60’s to keep blacks from voting couldn’t continue, so they went a new way and now they use socialism in the form of government handouts. It’s a tactic of control, which even President Obama in his book “Dreams From My Father” describes what he and the Democrats do to poor blacks by using what he describes as “plantation politics.”

Anyway, this isn’t supposed to be a political commentary; it’s about history which I love to study. It’s about how history has been rewritten and obscured for political gain. The historical fact is that how the two main parties are being reported by the media is actually the opposite of what they really stand for; at least that’s what history shows, and I have a problem with people rewriting history.

Finding the Right Direction

In a recent interview President Obama came out of the metaphoric closet and said that he supports homosexual marriage.  That’s his prerogative as an American and this post isn’t about marriage, it’s about priorities and focus.

It’s amazing to me that homosexual marriage is such a big deal in this country.  Seriously, it’s a topic that gets talked about on the news almost every week, and it’s caused division in our society on a national scale.

So here’s my question: why is this minority group enjoying so much attention from the media?  Homosexuals only make up about 1.7% of the population¹.  So is it me, or is this miniscule number of people getting a disproportionate amount of attention?

I understand that homosexuals want to have their grievances heard and dealt with, I’m ok with that.  What I’m not ok with is that we have way more serious issues in this country that we should be focusing on.  Why is this topic talked about more than homelessness?  Why is it talked about more than poverty and starvation?  Why is it talked about more than abused children, illegal drugs, or any of the myriad other ills that pollute this country?

What does it say about us when the homeless population in Louisiana doubled in one year², but we didn’t hear about it?  Instead we were bickering about Jane wanting to marry Beth.

What does it say about us when the number of homeless families in Mississippi increased 260 percent in one year², but nothing is reported on TV?  Instead we’re spending millions of taxpayer dollars on litigation and legislator’s time discussing why John and Dave’s marriage in one state isn’t valid in another.

Why are we so busy servicing the complaints of this teeny tiny segment of our country when other segments are having problems just finding food and shelter?

The enemy wants our focus to stay away from the things that Christ wants us to focus on.  The Bible tells us "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18

It’s easy for the enemy to use the media to turn us the wrong direction.  They keep us focused on things of lesser value than what Christ wants us to work on.  Our priorities aren’t in the right place, and we’re not paying enough attention to the real problems in our world.

Who knows, someday it could be you or me that’s suddenly homeless.  Will it feed you knowing that instead of focusing on programs to help people in need, we concentrated on making sure George and Craig could get married?

“God, your Word tells us that this world will continue to spin out of control and into the hands of the enemy.  Help us keep our focus on you and ignore the enemy’s attempts to make our priorities unbalanced. Amen.”

¹ Lisa Leff, Huffington Post, 4/7/11, “Gay Population In U.S. Estimated At 4 Million, Gary Gates Says.”

² M. William Sermons & Peter Witte, January 2011, “State of Homelessness in America.” Homelessness Research Institute and National Alliance to End Homelessness

Hating Politics

Politics seem to permeate almost everything these days.  I remember when people just went about their daily business and were only assaulted by politics when an election year rolled around.  But now it seems to be politics every day and in almost everything around us.

The sad thing is that it affects us as humans.  I see people all the time shunning their fellow man simply because of opposing political ideology, or even the perception of opposing views.  A good example is John Cuzack.  John is a good guy, a Democrat and a concerned citizen.  A couple of weeks ago he tweeted that he read an interesting article by Tom Engelhardt about how the Office of the President has become “imperial” to the point that the president can order someone killed at any time. The article wasn’t a direct slam on the president; in fact it went into detail about how the office started to change after 9/11, and how the Bush administration made changes.  Obama simply inherited these new powers, but he’s also expanded them to give himself even more control. 

Cuzack wasn’t saying anything bad against the president; he was just saying the article was interesting and that perhaps the Office of the President has become almost king-like instead of an office of serving the people and there needs to be accountability.

Well, the response he got was mixed, but I was really surprised at the number of liberals who attacked John because they didn’t care what the article really said, they just saw something they deemed negative about Obama so they tweeted that they didn’t know Cuzack was a Republican and they wouldn’t follow him anymore, even though he had been on their top 10 follow list.

Huh?  So you love John Cuzack, watch his movies and follow him on Twitter, but he posts a link to an article saying that presidential powers are getting out of control, and you decide that he can’t possibly just be a concerned citizen, but that he must be a Republican… so now you hate him.

This is just an example of what goes on today.  We have become a nation of two camps: Democrats and Republicans, and people try to force you into one of these camps even if you’re like me and claim no political affiliation.  I see them on TV sizing up people by asking the hot-button questions, “are you for gay marriage,” and “do you believe in gun control.”  If you answer yes to these questions they put you in Camp Democrat; but a negative response will get you put into the Republican camp.  Once they have you in a camp they know whose side you’re on and whether or not they like you.  They don’t care who you really are inside, they base their entire opinion of you on the camp they’ve put you in.  You can be the nicest person on the planet, but once you’re put into a camp you’re labeled for prosecution by the other side.

A good example of this is the 2009 Academy Awards.  Every year they present a montage of Hollywood industry folks who have died the past year.  The amount of applause that occurs as each picture is displayed is a good indicator of the actor’s industry popularity.  Well that year Charlton Heston’s picture was shown, and the room was almost silent.  Now, this is a man who brought us iconic pictures like Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, and the Sci-Fi epic Planet of the Apes.  He won a ton of awards, including the Jean Hersholt Academy Award for his humanitarian work.  He was a consummate actor and good guy, but the room was almost silent.  Why?  Because Charlton had been put into the Republican camp and this wasn’t acceptable to mainstream Hollywood.  Instead of revering him for his amazing contributions to their craft and his humanitarian work, they shunned him over politics.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: the single greatest threat to the safety and prosperity of this country is Republicans and Democrats.  Well, there's the Tea Party too, but as far as I can tell the Tea Party is just a bunch of disgruntled Republicans.  I have certain views from both conservative and liberal camps that I agree with, but I refuse to be pushed into a camp. Politics and politicians are all the same in the end, so I choose to not participate in a party.

I vote for the person who most closely believes in the kind of America I want to live in. 

There’s no perfect candidate and it’s a forgone conclusion that the two main parties are too big and strong to not get elected, so unfortunately I have to choose one of their candidates or my vote is wasted, and I refuse to abstain from voting.  It would be irresponsible of me and all of you as citizens of this free country to ignore the election process.

We can’t help but get some of the political rancor on us.  It’s everywhere and I don’t think any of us will completely go unscathed.  Politics, liberal, conservative, racism, reverse racism, poor, rich, black, white, media, blogging... I'm just tired of all the hatred.

“God, sometimes it’s a bit depressing to watch as my fellow countrymen spend their time hating each other instead of using their skills to help one another.  I ask for patience to handle this, and wisdom as we prepare to vote later this year.  Thanks.”