Thoughts Before The Alarm Sounds

I hate to say this, but there are times when I am ashamed to be an American. Fortunately the feeling doesn’t last very long because I can fall back on the 80/20 rule. Let me explain. The 80/20 rule says that 20% of the members of a group cause most of the problems for the other 80%. I wish we could amend the rule to 90/10 or even 95/5, but it seems to be going the other direction. Two events appeared in the news recently that illustrate what I am talking about. One involved a Hispanic lady who had the temerity to speak Spanish in a Los Angeles restaurant! You read that correctly, a Los Angeles restaurant. The City of Angels. In a state in which the non-Hispanic whites amount to less than half of the population according to the census bureau. Another customer took issue with the Hispanic lady, berating her, and even inferring that speaking Spanish was tantamount to an open invitation for the Nazis to take over the country. Huh? Nazis? Give me a break! But you can see for ...

As Americans, it seems as if we always need something, usually sexual, to get all worked up over. Last month it was the young lady who testified about the need to have contraceptives covered by medical insurance. It seems to me that if “ceptives” such as Viagra and Cialis are covered, it is only fair to cover their “contras.” It's fairly obvious that the healthcare law is written by men – women's needs are excluded. But this month the concern is about same-sex marriage. Now I know that the Bible says that says that homosexuality is an abomination, but it also says the same thing about eating shellfish. So I would be more impressed by the Biblical argument if those who are fighting so adamantly against same-sex marriage were to campaign just as vigorously against the crab and lobster industry. What about the argument that same-sex marriage will destroy conventional marriage? I doubt that I would love my wife any less if the couple next door to me turned out to be mar...