Cashless Society Closer than You Think!

In the eurozone plans are being laid to issue universal world wide web ID's to all users. The argument is that it will keep people from evading responsibility and will positively identify all of their internet actions. It is also hoped that it will lead to a cashless society where in there will be positive identification of business transactions, purchases, and payments. This is said to lead to much less fraud and will hold people responsible. It is also said that terrorist activities will also be able to be monitored and that, of course, will make the world safer.

This may have it's attributes and may sound reasonable, but it will be at the expense of personal freedoms. It will also mean that your every movement, purchase, and every web site you visit can be monitored. Big Brother will know your whereabouts at all times. Do you really want the government to know all of this?

Along with an internet ID there will also be a personal barcode. All the money you've hidden under the mattress will become worthless. I'm not sure how you will donate to the panhandlers of this world. Perhaps the government will issue each of them a scanner so they can take their electronic money to buy some real wine. Or, perhaps the panhandlers will just go away or resort to theft. Will it be those who refuse such a chip that will become the new panhandler?

What scares me the most is that they are actually talking about this and the technology is actually within reach to do this. With thousands of new laws being passed every year, it will be hard to tell whether you are a law breaker or not. Minor infringements may result only in a fine which some law will allow the government to just take it from your account. We do have to support the government, you know.

I don't mind being protected from terrorists. But who is going to protect me from the government? At what point do we lose our freedoms and become like Nazi Germany, or like the Russia of the 1960's? Back then people lived in fear of an enemy across the oceans. Will we be living in fear of our own government? Believe me, as long as you use your computer, carry your phone, or even drive your car.... there will be no place to hide.

Perhaps this is where we must all get our houses in order. How much of this will true Christians be spared? Some believe that God will evacuate the true believe from this earth before this all happens. Others believe that the Christian will endure it. But one thing is for sure, accept the mark and be lost forever. How fortunate are the Christians who have died in Christ before this time? We may soon find out?

Hood-winked

Our President has hood-winked a lot of people and I am proud to say that I am not one of them. This deal with his place of birth is alive and well. We should have known and we've all seen it coming. He wasn't forthright in presenting his birth certificate in the beginning. It was only a year ago that Hawaii came up with a forgery. And now we have a biography of Obama that he seemingly endorsed that claims Kenya as his place of birth. If this is true, he is an illegal President and should never have been allowed to run for office to begin with.

This goes right to the heart of the man. It says something about his integrity. If there was nothing to hide why wasn't he forthright in the beginning. Coverups take time to plot and execute. Believe a lie if you wish, but I'm not buying in. After all, his grandmother should know where he was born and she claims its Kenya.

Happy elections!

Too Much Technology

As I write this I am aware that many of you will disagree with me. But somewhere along the line we have passed the threshold of having enough computer technology to having too much. It is this very technology that gives us the ability to do many things today that we could not do a decade ago that will one day rob us of our freedoms. It already has. It will lead to a police state in which government will control you to a great degree. Part of that control is knowing where you are at all times. And another part is knowing all your business transactions.

All ready it is difficult to go to a place where no one can find you. If you carry a cell phone you can be located through a signal even if your cell phone is turned off. If you want to get away from it all.... better leave your cell phone home. While this technology may be good in tracking down criminals or finding someone who is lost in the woods, it also gives other powers the ability to know where you are at all times if they choose to do so.

It is now a practice by auto makers to install a chip in new cars that will enable the tracking of your car. In simple terms, you are being watched. You are no longer free to come and go as a private citizen.

Auto insurance companies are now asking clients to install chips in their vehicles that keeps track of your speed and miles that you drive. They offer lower insurance rates if you do this. However, drive over the speed limit and you may find yourself with no insurance at all.

We must always balance our securities against our freedoms. As for me, I would rather be free than secure. I don't like the government looking over my shoulder at all times. I don't believe that is what government was intended to do. The very government that is supposed to protect us and our freedoms is on the verge of robbing us of the very freedoms it is supposed to protect. That robbery will happen through technology.

Feed the Hungry

Sitting in a Mac Donald's today I looked out the window to see a young man walking from trash can to trash can looking for food. Bingo, he found some that someone else had discarded. I got to my feet and was headed out the door to offer him a sandwich. But before I got to the door another patron told me that he had already offered to buy him some food and the young man had turned him down. He was hungry but had too much pride to accept a helping hand. Perhaps he didn't trust us or was more comfortable with his life style than he was accepting help. But he was surviving. He didn't look ill or undernourished.

In Colorado they say not to feed the wild animals. The reason for this is that if you do they become dependent on humans and lose their instinct to hunt for themselves. In the wild they learn how to survive.

This may be equally important in the human species. Good hearts always want to help. There is a certain satisfaction to lifting up a brother. But at the same time we must be careful not to make the down and out more dependent than they are. This young man taught me a lesson today. Although I wanted to help him, he really didn't need or want my help. He had learned how to survive. Perhaps it's not the life that you or I would choose, but he seemed fine with it. He maintained his personal dignity by not accepting help.

Evolution Just Speeded Up

Ever since Junior High, that's middle school nowadays, evolution has been taught as fact by the educational system. I didn't buy it then, and I don't buy it now. God of the universe was here before the universe began and He is still here today. My blog is not about the seven day account of creation nor is it specifically about evolution. Darwinism is phony and unprovable but it is still taught as though it is fact.

However, according to the evolutionists the world and man evolved into what it is today over millions and possibly billions of years. But we now have a President who has redefined evolution. His stand on same sex marriage in a matter of four years has evolved from "I believe marriage is between a man and a woman" to "my position is still evolving" to a few days later, "I believe in same sex marriage." The quotes are not exact but the essence of the quotes is.

What this tells me is that we have a President who does not know how to tell the truth. The truth is.... he has always favored same sex marriage but has not felt free to state his position because America wasn't ready for it and that would somehow hinder his chances of being elected. But now America is ready.... so out it comes. The President has been deceptive but the American public is okay with that because that is what we have come to expect from Democrat leaders in our nation. If a Republican used the same tactics he'd be scorched by the news media. But instead, the news media is swooning over the Presidents "finished evolution."

Somehow this president claims to be a Christian. If he is one indeed, then he hasn't spent much time reading the Scriptures that Christianity is based upon. Over and over Scriptures define marriage as between a man and a woman and condemns homosexual activity. Many of you might not like me pointing this out, but then you must not like the Scriptures either.

Now don't go accusing me of being a hater of the homosexuals. Although I do not approve of that life style, and the Scriptures do not approve of the life style, I don't hate them. Neither does God hate them. I do feel they are misguided and disoriented, and so do the Scriptures. As far as them living together..... who cares? Concerning civil unions..... who cares?  Concerning marriage..... let's not pervert the true meaning of marriage.

I really don't care whether President Obama evolved in four years or not. I do care whether our President has integrity. So far he is lacking.

Not As Nice

California is nice...... but not as nice a Colorado. I did enjoy the cool breezes off the ocean, the tall redwoods, and the sights I saw. But even the Golden Gate Bridge doesn't compare to the majesty of the Colorado Rockies. Colorado has a beauty that cannot be overtaken by any other part of the USA. I admit that California has warmer winters, which at my age is very desirable. But even the Colorado winters in the Denver area are not bitter as in Minnesota, North Dakota, and the likes of those places.

I don't like all the stop lights in the Denver area traffic, but I like them less in California. It is nothing to sit four to five minutes at a stop light there before moving, and believe me, there are plenty of stop lights to wait for. I could easily live in California. It's a great place. But I already live in Colorado. We might be a long ways from everywhere. But with Denver International Airport being centrally located in the country we are closer to everywhere and anywhere else. So this is a good somewhere to live.

Home Again!

I'm running the wheels off that new Ford Escape that I like so much. Last fall it was a trip to Phoenix, then to Michigan and Wisconsin. This past week I drove it to Jan Jose, and next week I am off to Michigan again. But I am home now.

I arrived home to see the house still standing, the lawn was also standing. Even before I got fully unpacked I had to mow. Tomorrow the car gets washed and hopefully the windshield replaced. The windshield was the price of the trip to the Golden Gate Bridge. That's the first time a motor cycle ever whacked me with a rock. I feel sorry for all the bugs I squashed on the trip. That reminds me that I need to go out and poison the ants.

It was great to see Audrey's apartment in San Jose. At home we have a king bed, there she has a double.... so we got reacquainted. We also took turns sitting in the one comfortable chair. We also took turns at the counter where the stool is. We also took turns plugging in our  phones and ipads because someone dear to me forgot to bring his chargers. We also took turns at the coffee pot. She prefers decaf and I prefer coffee.

It was even greater spending time with Audrey. We don't very often get a whole week together because she flies out to San Jose almost every week for work. But we are thankful for the job and know that one day that life style will settle down. An interesting feature for Audrey is that she has now been in all but three states. I think I've been to only about 28 states.

Next week I head for Michigan which means that I need to go through Illinois. In Illinois the cops don't like Colorado people because a couple of years ago we legalized marijuana. I think our legislature and governor are retarded. But the upshot of this is that in Illinois they like to pull us over, take everything out of our cars because they are convinced that all Coloradans are now transporting marijuana. Frankly, I think they should spend more time arresting their own government officials.

Golden Gate Bridge

Did you know that the Golden Gate Bridge is actually red? It is 1.7 miles long for those of us who are metric illiterate. You can actually walk across it as Audrey and I did today, but that is a 3.4 mile walk because you have to actually walk back to your car. Or you can ride a bike over it if you promise not to run over the pedestrians.

It is actually and awesome sight and an engineering marvel. It is six car lanes in width, has a concrete road bed, and is held up by cables as broad as your wrist, other cables as broad as your head, and two steel towers.

In the middle of the bridge are signs that tell you there is hope, and that you don't have to jump off the bridge. Although I am wondering if most of the jumping was due to jumping out of the way of bicyclists who more or less pretend pedestrians don't exist. Having said that, I didn't witness a single mishap or a single person falling into the water. The walk across and back was an awesome experience especially since I got two new knees three months ago and they didn't hurt at all!

I'm not sure why I expected the Golden Gate Bridge to be gold. Also, I never saw any golden gates. I guess the golden gates are reserved for those who go to heaven. Or am I thinking of pearly gates?

Barkers

No, I didn't misspell bakers and I'm not talking about dogs. It's those people that stand at the kiosks in the malls that call out to you like you are at some county fair. I didn't want to see the bearded fat lady and I don't want to smell some new perfume. They always say "Hi!" "How are you?" "Do you like your phone service?" or something like that.

I am thinking of creating a new mall t-shirt that says, "Hi!" "I'm fine!" and "No, Thank You!" "I'm allergic to perfume" and "My phone works just fine!" I'm thinking of it being battery operated with flashing lights. I wonder if they will sell more phones or if I'll sell more t-shirts.

Sally Rand

Santana Row in San Jose makes the 16th Street Mall in Denver seem a little Plain Jane or Sally Rand.  There are two avenues of upscale shops about three blocks long and a huge mall across the main street. Everything is beautiful, well manicured, and spotlessly clean. Security guards stand on the corners and everyone here is really well behaved.

Flower pots and hedges are all through the place. Palm trees line the streets as well as other trees. Buildings are meticulously maintained. The parking garage is free and even that is spotless. This could be a model for other large outdoor shopping malls.

The older generation remembers Sally Rand. She's that gal that danced behind a plume of feathers and nothing else. I remember a car dealer who once asked me if I wanted a car that was loaded or a Sally Rand. I had no clue what he meant. He explained that a Sally Rand was stripped. I like my car with amenities. I also like my malls loaded.

Calitaxia

Well, here I am in beautiful Calitaxia. This is the capitol of USA taxation among other things. So far the Bay Area is the most cosmopolitan place I have ever been. Cool. I like that. It proves once again that the USA is still the land of opportunity. There must be a housing shortage here because huge apartment complexes are going up all over the place. If you live in Des Moines, IA one small apartment rental in San Jose will make two huge house payments in Des Moines.

Here they have a "take out tax." I'm not sure what that is but they definitely take it out.

Here the stop lights last longer. Believe me, it would pay to own a hybrid. You could take a short nap before the light changes to green. I think some of the drivers do. Either that or they are still changing their baby's diaper when the light turns green.

A GPS is also handy.... even when you know where you are going.

The HOV lane is on the right instead of the left. That must be for those who don't know whether they are coming or going.

The speed limit on the express way is 45 mph which means cars go 55 mph and motorcycles go 15 mph faster as they split lanes between cars. Speed limits don't apply to motorcycles as they can't be caught anyway.

In California taxes are high, speeds are high, rent is high, immigration is high and a $1 cone at Mc Donald's is a $1.50 here plus "take out tax" whatever that is.

Harv's Carwash

This blog really isn't about Harv's Car wash and it's not really about Harv either. It's actually about Harv's parents whom I know nothing about except they had to have named their cute little baby "Harvey."  I'm wondering what kind of parent would do a thing like that. I can imagine Harvey hating his name all through childhood. If he was an overweight kid (we used to call them fat or chubby) then he was probably nick named "Heavy Harvey." If I were him I would have changed my name to Harv, also.

Come to think of it. One of my childhood friend's name was Harvey. And, yes, he was chubby. He hated his name and so he changed it for the benefit of the rest of his friends. He decided to spell his name backwards which then became "Yevrah." His Last name was Ulm and so that became Mlu. "Yevrah Mlu! Yes sir, there is a respectable kid's name.

I thought that was a pretty good idea so I also decided to spell my name backwards, especially since my parents tormented me by calling me Rodney. So my name became Yendor. Yendor Deeps. Now that's cool. So we were Yendor and Yevrah. Nowadays it sounds a little Arabic or Jewish. But we never thought about that back then.

So back to Harv's Car Wash. Harv isn't so bad after all. But in modern times I just settle for "Rod."  I suppose my cousin "Bradley" calls himself "Brad."

But if my wife and I had had a boy I would have been much smarter about naming him. I just love the name "Boaz."

A Little Ironic

Well, folks, here I am in San Jose, CA. Not a whole lot of people look like me. I'm not expecting to see my twin (which I don't have). But I wasn't expecting to be a minority. In spite of the name "San Jose" which is spanish I also see very few Latinos. Most of the people here use a different kind of alphabet. It's largely Japanese, Chinese, or some other Asian dialect. That's okay, I like Asians.

Here is the irony. It's not the people who do look like me that smile as they pass by, or even say a friendly, "Hi!"  In fact, these people walk by me like I am invisible. They stare straight ahead, keep their nose in the air, and keep on going.

It is the Asians that smile, say "Hi!" or say some other unintelligible think that I assume is the equivalent of "Hi!" At least they are smiling when they say it and their eyes meet mine as they pass by. Have the caucasians become a race of snobs? Well, probably not but a lot of them act that way.

I think I'll leave Starbucks now and find somebody to ignore. I'm just wondering if that will make me feel superior.