June 9, 2026

 Strict Liability

I want to see if the increase for Bass’ numbers moved in correlation to Raman. What was the total increase in votes counted and how did they break down? We know Raman moved forward but what % of the votes were for her, what % for Pratt, and what % for Bass?

Someone should check the addresses of the votes counted after Tuesday. You could before but that would only hurt Bass.

I just found this set of “facts”:

“Some ballot drops containing tens of thousands of votes allegedly returned zero for Pratt – a virtual impossibility. Moreover, every single L.A. City Council district showed thousands more voters for mayor than governor – meaning that tens of thousands of people voted for mayor but left their vote for governor blank.” AMAC Fraud or Not, L.A. Is in Trouble

 Shane Harris June 9, 2026

So, there you go! They say there is no fraud in the CA system. One year, there were more votes in a district than there were registered voters.

I have been an advocate for many years that Sanctuary cities, (and now states), stop receiving federal funding for anything, including natural disasters. They choose the path of the criminal, so you reap the result. As my favorite Walker show demonstrated, ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.

If you can’t see the refs are for San Antonio, then you are blind. Wemby threw Brunson to the ground and no foul was called, even though it was a flagrant 1 foul. There have been 2 fouls that could have been flagrant on San Antonio and neither were called. Then you get a phantom one on Town and one on Brunson when the shooter came down on his foot, even though Brunson had turned his back on the shooter. The announcers tried to say Brunson did not give him room to land but Brunson had already turned around and the shooter stuck his foot out in order to land on the back of Brunson’s shoe.

I don’t remember who it was, but there is or was a star player who always threw his feet out so he would bet fouled. He was famous for that and it worked consistently. The San Antonio player must have watched him get away with it for years, practiced and was rewarded. But it should not be a flagrant as there was no intention.

Maybe you have heard of strict liability in lawsuits and criminal law. Statutory Rape is strict liability as an example. Basically, that is what the announcer tried to tell us, the defender has to give the shooter room to land and Brunson did not do so. I would quibble with the replay and say Brunson has just as much right to the ground when he turned as the shooter did when landing on the back of Brunson’s foot.

I see an application for strict liability in regards to spending eternity with the Lord or with the man in red with the pitchfork. John 14:6 says: “Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” NASB You are either in or out, depending on your ticket being punched or not. Strict Liability determining your eternity.

The signs say the day is getting closer. Turning your back and hoping strict liability saves you by the Lord’s sandal hitting your leg as He arrives in the clouds will not make it as that is a strict liability ticket to the dark place for eternity. Well, maybe it won’t be dark because you will be shoveling all that coal into the furnace to keep the temperature above 110 degrees.

It’s your choice how strict liability affects your eternity. I wonder if it is really up or down when the verdict id given?

June 10, 2026

Unreplaceable

I have not counted the number of times I have had actual tears wet my eyes when I realize Josh is not at home to greet me when I arrive. There was more than once I had to wipe my eyes with my shirt while I was driving. As I sit here typing, I have a huge lump in my throat and one of my eyes is having trouble making sure the words are spelled correctly as I type. It has not been a month yet but it is getting close.
If you were standing here in front of me, would I be able to acknowledge how I feel? I might try and act like the tough guy I portray in everyday life. The John Wayne swagger, the Rock’s bluster, and Walker’s confidence that nothing is too hard for me to overcome. But inside, one big mess of blubbery feelings all jumbled up, each one trying to be the master, all with the baseline feeling of missing Josh.
I am going to start taking a new route to get to the street. Josh and I went out the gate on a regular basis, at least once a day for many years. The ground is not sacred, but the memory pulls and forces almost what would be a cry of anguish, loud and interupting the tranquil air covering the walkway. I am sure more than one home owner would exit their home to see who was being tortured, maimed or killed close to where they lived. They would probably have the speed dial working on their cell phone as they opened the door!
As the words hit the paper, it is harder for me to believe I am writing this about myself rather than writing a novel about a make believe person. Yet, it is me who is being described on this page. A man without his bundle of pick me up when I arrive home, who jumps up and down, makes the circle around the living room and kitchen, and patiently wats for me to put the leash on so he can see what new smells await him on whatever route hs chooses for that trip to make a deposit of his gold in the special place waiting to be discovered.
The Word tells us we are not to have idols or anything that is put on a pedestal and worshiped instead of the Lord. During this past few weeks, I will admit I have questioned God why Josh’s time came before mine. Only once ot twice, but I still asked the question.
I remember how it was when I gave my life to the Lord back in the early 70’s. It was a different jumble of feelings but they were just as strong as the ones I experience when thinking about Josh overtake me. The ones for the Lord come about because I, along with everyone else, put Him on the Cross because of our sins. And yes, it is plural! I still experience those feelings, more than 50 years later, especially when I know I gave in to that still small deceptive lying voice of temptation. While I certainly would be unable to equate the feelings for Josh with the feelings from the Cross, I can equate the depth of the feelings.
I met a lady at the VA walking her dog while she was waiting for her friend to get whatever aid he required as I was going to catch the bus home. We were talking about our dogs and how important they are to us. She asked me if I was going to replace Josh and I said I didn’t think so as it might not be fair to the dog because of my age. The answer I should have given was that he was not replaceable!
That should be my answer to any suggestion of putting anything or anyone on the Lord’s pedestal, He is not replaceable! It may not sound above like I seek the Lord’s guidance in everything I do, or that He is number 1 in my life, but He is. While the grief over Josh certainly does not consume me daily, the seeking of God’s will in my life does, and believe it or not, it even occurs more than once a day.
What comsumes you more than once a day?

June 11, 2026

Rambling, Rumbling, Reviewing & Rewriting

Old habits are hard to break. Bet you have never heard that one before. Made it up when I arrived at the computer table and discovered I didn’t turn off the computer again. I am trying to power down the computer each night after I hit the last key for the day. I did it one night, forgot it the next, did it one more time, and have now forgotten to power down for at least 4 nights.
I believe everyone should have a place where they are the boss, can make the rules, can change the rules if they want or need to, and rule supreme in their fiefdom. Obviously the observant ones reading this are asking or even saying to themselves that they got me now. They want to ask me how I get to overrule God’s rules and He does have some if you have looked in the Word at any point in your life.
One of the rules I have in my royal palace is I get to make, change, break, my rules, but God’s rules stay intact. I think of it as the way free will and pre-destination work together. God says in Jeremiah that he knew us when we were molded in the womb and were chosen and yet He says, “whosoever” comes to Christ will be saved and there is only one way to the kingdom of heaven.
If you have come back after running from the room while screaming, “This man writes in circles”, I will inform you that how this works together is one of the mysteries of God. I have used the illustration of how train tracks are separate when we look down but merge together when you look down, or up the tracks. Why do we almost always automatically say “down” when describing or illustrating a point? I digress but I do wonder if it is a sign you are a pessimist if you never say “up” when putting your sentence together.
There is no hard and fast rule for how I make the decision which key I will strike first as the Grist for the day begins, Quite often, the first key is not the one I thought about as I went about my day and advanced towards the keyboard, like a roaring lion, coming to claim his victim that the lioness had killed for him to feast on. I should attack all my chores, events, work, honey do’s, etc., in such a manner.
Today I was thinking about many things I could pontificate upon before I make the trip up the stairs to my lair, [roaring lions have a lair, not a palace]. I knew I could start but would have to stop at some point if the schedule for the day went as planned. Jose was coming by and if he was on time, it would definitely interrupt my clacking away on the electric typewriter.
Ben Settle walks daily and tapes his thoughts. Makes big bucks, sells some of his books for over a thousand dollars, and was one of the top copywriters until he changed direction for the lifestyle he leads today. I tried that method years ago of taping my thoughts. I tried writing down my thoughts for future writings of daily Drist and when I go back and look at those notes, I wonder what I was thinking at that time!
I have mantras I tell Ali over and over, e.g., “you do not make a rule for the many because of the few”. I don’t know if it a mantra or not, but I try to keep encouraging her to know who you are. The only way to find that out in some cases is for you to try certain ways of doing things. There is another way to discover who you, i.e., you look over your past and see how you do certain things, That can be benificial in more ways than one, as you may discover there is something you regularly do, or consistently reacted in a certain way, and you want to change.
I know I have given this example to someone, someplace, but here it is again. When I was in boot camp, we were on the cattle truck, with rain pouring down while on the way to the range to fire our 45 pistols, (is it a pistol?), so we could qualify and “graduate” boot camp. I remember his name, it was Sanchez, who told me to stop complaining, all I did was complain, what was wrong with me, I was making everyone miserable. I am not sure who got the last word when we got back to the barracks and carried on the conversation before entering the barracks to wash the dirt and blood off from out day’s adventure, but I decided I didn’t need to complain about everything from that day forward.
I will admit, I did not know I was a complainer. Who knows if I picked it up when that paper hit my mailbox inviting me to join Uncle Sam’s Army or I was doing it for many years. My thanks to Sanchez for changing my life was a little painful for both of us as I thanked him before we entered the barracks. There are many valid uses for inspecting your motives, your likes, your dislikes, just as there are many invalid uses, e.g., coming up with blame for others for choices you make. Hopefully we use the right reasons to inspect our past and then make the right choices as we decipher the results.
Much later in life, I found Epesians 5:20 gave me the admonition and confirmation I was corrcct in my choice to be the opposite of the complainer I was in that cattle truck:
“ Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.? NASB
Since I also know who I am, I do more speaking with others in voice and writing than using the singing method. I only had to lead the singing once at the Mission and never had to lead again in all the years I was there.
It is not easy to “always” give thanks. That is why I included the context for the verse above, which gives us some rules and ways to “always” give thanks. By the way, those are some of the unchangeable rules in my fiefdom. I am looking up so I can see the tracks meet in the heavens. What are the rules in your fiefdom and are you looking up or down?

June 12, 2026

The Starting Point

It happened again. I had the opening for the Grist today, yesterday, while putting the dishes away. It was a great one. But it is gone now. Where were my paper and pen, my recording device, my memory bank? So one more time, I am going to rely on the Lord to bring something to mind that tickles my fancy and Rock and Roll.
How many of you have heard of 5-year-old Prince McCree? His murder in 2023 is so hard to read about that if you want to allow his killers to live, I think you have empathy for the wrong person. And believe it or not, there were 2 people torturing Prince, eventually killing him and carrying him in a garbage bag to a dumpster about a mile from where they killed him.
One of those people, Erik Mendoza, was 15 years old at the time of the murder. The other person was David Pietura, who pled guilty in 2024 to murder, and is serving a life sentence. The article said he was 29 years old and it is not clear if he was 29 now, 29 when he pled guilty, or 29 at the time of the murder. I would guess he was 29 now, but whatever is the final determination, David Pietura should have known better and stopped Erik when the event first began unfolding.
Erik is now 18 and was just found guilty at trial, sentenced to life and is eligible to be released in 50 years. Erik and David were living with Prince and his family. Prince’s dad is in the picture, but I do not know if he was living with Prince and his mother or not but the article did not say Prince’s parents were separated. The article was more descriptive of the trial, the verdict, the sentencing, and the reactions.
I would question how a person at 15 could be so mixed up they could even imagine doing the deeds described, let alone actually acting out those deeds. There must have been a starting point, what was it? When we moved to Florida, we moved into a new housing subdivision that had a small canal running through what would have been the North end of the subdivision, which led into a much larger waterway, leading to what used to be called the Gulf of Mexico.
I remember walking along one side of the canal, while my sister was walking on the other side of the canal. I was carrying a fishing net because I was trying to pluck a fish from the canal. One of those Man-of-War jelly fishes was floating along and I scooped it up and flung it at my sister. I have thought about that action more than once over the years and certainly am not proud of that action and is definitely one of the do-overs I would like to do-over and not act on that thought. I sent Bonnie home screaming. I watched a “Wagon Train” show last night and a person said they still hear the screams of their family being butchured by the Indians. I don’t hear her screams, but I still feel the guilt from throwing a Man-of-War at Bonnie.
I would imagine that could have been either a starting place or a step up the ladder on a path of enjoying harming others for me. What Man-of-War did Erik throw on someone? I know I must have made up some story about how I “accidently” got that full net of jelly fish across the canal and have no recollection of the results of my story, just the occasional feelings of guilt.
My sister and I were never really close. I did not dislike her so I have no idea what possessed me to try and harm her. I don’t think I particularly enjoyed harming her but I am pretty sure I did not feel a lot of guilt at that time. I did not pursue with any gusto the harming of others, even though I had my share of disagreements with others, resulting in clothes getting dirty from rolling around on the ground or even the requirement of new clothes to be purchased so I was presentable. I would argue that could have been a starting point in my life if I went down the path which Erik and David followed.
Now, David, being 29, may have been the real instigator, who knows? Someone that old being involved in this catastrophe is really hard to justify, explain, or even accept. How far back do we have to go for his starting point?
Without continuing with the diatribe above, the thoughts that started the Grist for this day, was the question about whether Erik or David could make it into heaven. [Are questions thoughts?] What if they gave their life to the Lord, asked for forgiveness, and stopped taking the Lord’s name in vain? Would I see them walking around on the golden streets, singing hymns to God?
Now I don’t know if this part is a what came first, the chicken or egg discussion, but I also wondered if an evangelist shared the Good News with them and they reacted positively, should Erik get out earlier than the required 50 years and should David get out of prison before his life ends? Jumbled up in all these questions, are the ones about could Hitler be in heaven; John Wayne supposedly gave his life to the Lord on his deathbed, is he there; I even went so far to ask if they are forgiven, what should be the real punishment or should they even be punished; and round and round the merry-go-round goes.
Today’s Grist has the makings for a book but I’ll bet someone already wrote all the answers down. There goes my best seller and millions in royalties.
Back in the day, when I started the daily musings during the expanded flu season, I would give whatever I was sharing that day a name at the beginning of the expedition into the unknown. I also gave a little saying at the beginning as an eye opener. I tried following that pattern when I began the Grist, [it did not have a name in the original writings], but it was really uncomfortable. I now found I was trying to write towards the title while the thoughts went down a rabbit hole that had a different name outside the hole I entered.
The advantage to naming the Grist at the end is I can change midstream and take a stream going a different direction than the diretion I started. The disadvantage is someone reading might have to call a first responder to help with the whiplash from the sudden stopping and starting. Plus, the big advantage is I can stop at whatever point I want because I don’t have to make sure the title fits.
So, that is why I named this the Grist For the Day and often give the title either close to when the last paragraph is being written or even after the last paragraph was on the page. You can only guess when the naming happens! You may or may not follow the diatribe, you may or may not agree with everything you read, you may or may not understand the joke or like the humor, you may or may not think the name goes with what is on the page, or you may not like how it ends for the day. BUT, you should always come up with a question, an opinion, a critique, your own thought for the day, an answer, or something??????

 June 15, 2026

The Holy Day

Does Sunday start the week or does Monday start the week? Back in the dinasour days, Saturday and Sunday were the normal days off. And most stores were closed in Sunday. Today, some stores are open 24 hours a day, and only a few, maybe even only one business, are closed in Sunday. In the late 60’s, I worked at Hollywood Ranch Market on the night stocking crew from 12 to 8am and we were open 24 hours. There were 3 of us, we unloaded the boxes from a truck onto a conveyer belt leading upstairs, two wheeled the stacks of boxes we unloaded from the conveyer belt to our assigned areas, and brought the product back downstairs to stock during the 12 to 8 time frame,
The 3 of us were all workers and we eventually were able to get the store stocked on almost every workday with a minimum numer of hours, so the result was we were working less than the required 8 hours each night. The manager knew what we were doing and didn’t care, so long as the store was stocked, the shelves were faced, and the store was clean when we left at 8am. There were some mornings we did not manage to get done by 8, but we stayed until it was done, without putting in for overtime.  After all, we did have some ethics.
One of the reasons we would get behind at times was because we had to work the cash registers from 2am to 6am. Bobby had the area around the registers, which included the paper goods, and are big boxes but easy to stock. We would rotate the coming in by 2 and the other 2 could come in as late as 4, depending on what they had to stock for that night. It was a great system because I was going to Don Martin Radio and Broadcasting School near Hollywood and Vine at 7 to 10pm each weeknight.
Anyhow, Saturday and Sunday were most normal peoples days off and nighttime mostly only had bars and restraurants open after it got dark. People worked 8 to 5, Monday through Friday. Obviously that was not true for everyone but it was for the majority.
When I was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, we would buy liquor at the PX for our trips to South Carolina on the weekend. I looked it up and you still are unable to buy loquor from a liquor store on Sunday in South Carolina. You can get a drink with your meal if they have the license, but no package sales.
When I was trying to see about when the values changed for stores opening on Sunday, it was difficult to get the answer. Everyone referenced the 1994 law in Britain but without beginning a deep dive, I wasn’t going to get my answer by the questions I asked. I didn’t do the Chat or AI thing as using the new shiny object syndrome, which is as deep in me as TDS is in Newsome and Pelosi, hasn’t grabbed my attention concerning Chat and AI.
I have vague memories of Sunday being a day when you were unable to just go do anything you wanted or visit a mall with all kinds of stores open for business. I know the arguement might be that it was inconvient but you just made sure your plans for the week included that trip to the hardware store on a day other than Sunday. I remember working at Piggly Wiggly in the late 1950’s as a boxboy, [I think it was 66 hours a week for $23.00}, but do not remember what the hours were.
A guick Google search on when grocrey stores started being open on Sunday shows: “By the 1950s, the grocery industry was still largely Sunday-closed. According to the Food Marketing Institute, in 1950 only about 5% of stores were open on Sundays, while three-fourths stayed open just one night a week FMI | The Food Industry Association.” I would imagine very few of you young whippersnappers would have gotten the answer to that question right.
Obviously, there were certain jobs and industries that started working on Sundays long before that. I believe doctors have been on 24 hour call, 24/7, forever. The medicine man, witch-doctor and regular doctor probably had a sign outside the entrance to their office in the cave that said open 24 hours.
The Fire Department was volunteer from the caveman days until 1853, when Cinncinati began the first full time paid Fire Department. Providence, Rhode Island, soon followed in 1854, and Albany, New York, joined the ranks of full-time fire departments in 1867. I did not keep searching to find out when the police became a fully paid outfit because everyone knows the Sheriff of Nottingham was after Robin Hood at least more than a century ago.  I guess I could have looked up when deputies began regular work but everyone knows Earp had his brothers and Doc Holiday at the OK Corral and the Duke used Stumpy with his bugle to watch the jail. 

When I was reading the article that got the Grist going for today, I noticed there was a society which wanted to keep Sunday special and was working hard to be successful. Obviously, I hoped the main component would be a religious one. Almost all of the articles included some mention about the “Blue Laws”, which forbade violating God’s admonition concerning using Sunday as a day of rest. And each article used some form of a phrase which described the changing values and habits of Americans.
In the recesses of my mind, tucked away deep inside, the germ of a note started bliinking with words that said there was a verse somewhere in Scripture that made mention of God being the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. I think this truth, maybe in different forms, might even be found in more than place! I know one place it is found for sure: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Heb. 13:8 NASB
God says in Genesis that creation happened in six days and He rested on the seventh day. The resting was not because He was tired, like we are after working for six straight days. But it was a day that in Genesis 2:3, God sanctified because of the work He had done, not because He was tired from the work He had done.
The second book, Exodus, has the admonition about keeping the Sabbath day holy:  “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Ex. 20:8 NASB Prior to that verse, in chapter 16, Moses is giving instructions from God about how they are to get extra of their daily rations of bread, [2 Omers on Saturday], as they would not find any   bread on Sunday. They had to do exactly what we had to do when I was young, prepare for the Sabbath beforehand because no one was to work on the Sabbath.
The one statement, using different words but having the same meaning, referenced above, that stuck out like a sore thumb in the articles concerned how the values and society changed. Sunday is no longer a Holy day!
I will venture that very few of you reading this are even aware of how Sunday has slipped from being a Holy day to errand day, football and beer day, finish those chores you didn’t have time or want to do during the week day, party day, and the list of days goes on for pages and pages.
I will admit I have a hard time actually remembering what it was like when I was a kid and Sunday was a special day. And I would wager that anyone born in the 70’s was already experiencing the completion of Sunday being special for church and then the real day begins. And if church was not a part of your Sunday morning, it was time to get the dirt bikes out and have a great day.
There is a website for that “Keep Sunday Special” idea. The program actually started in 1985. I would say most of the data and info is in the UK. While clicking around the website, I did not notice a particularly religious basis. I had more Scripture and references to God in the Grist today than there was on the entire website. It was more to do with being open or not on Sunday.
Maybe, no, not maybe, if the religious references were paramount and the basis for keeping Sunday “Holy” were present, the backlash would be greater but the benefits would be even greater, especially since God is the same since the beginning when He was with the Word and was the Word.

June 16, 2026

Wearing the Black Robe

Raise your hand if you know who 88 year old Harvey Marcelin is. Of course, I did not know who he was before I read an article about him. Actually the article was about the parole system and used Harvey as an example.
I could use one of my mantras, “you don’t make a rule for the many because of the few”, in my response to the headline, which was something about the Parole system being broken. If I were to desire a new rule based on Harvey’s story alone, my mantra would stop me. I would have to pick up my typewriter and go home.
So, Mr. Marclin, was just convicted of murder. Happens daily across the Untied States in Courtrooms found in every state. You probably haven’t thought about it, but I will bet there is at least one murder conviction every day, somewhere in the United States. If there is not a daily conviction, there must at least be a murder trial going on somewhere, someplace, every day, in at least one of the 50 States.
Now Mr. Marclin is not a new comer to the judicial system or the prison system or the Parole system. You see, he was convicted of murder, sentenced to prison, paroled, convicted of murder, sentenced to prison, paroled, all before the conviction mentioned above. The 3 strikes rule REALLY allplies here.
The judge finally said, no more parole, we are not going to see you back here a fourth time because as the song goes for the seventh inning stretch, 3 strikes you’re out at the old Courthouse. At least that seemed to be what he said as I read the article.
But the point about the headline being misleading is apropos here. It is not only the parole system that is out of whack, it is the system that has been filled with Soros prosecutors, judges and jurors that is out of whack. I guess we should not give the entire credit to Soros, as Marx and Lenin probably deserve some ot the credit, And we can’t forget who is the prince of this world, he gets a few checks by his name also.
If we are honest, we have to go back to the discussion in the Garden, which was the first instance of the system getting messed up and misinformation was presented as truth. I can almost see Pelosi and her nephew egging on an upright satan spewing forth his manipulation of the words of God, while the ladies of the View are getting ready to grill J.D. Vance on how bad they think the present Administration’s policies are. Poor Eve had no idea what she was up against as she gazed at that apple, [was it an apple?].
Conservatives think things are bad today and they are. We have RINO’S and CINO’S, [Conservatives in name only], mouthing the words of the ungodly as Gospel. I stopped watching football for a few years when they allowed players to violate the rules by kneeling for the National Anthem. Now it looks like I may have to boycott the MLB as they are not allowing players to put verses on their hats in place of the pride month celebration of sin decorations.
God destroyed an entire city because He could not find 10 righteous prople in the city. And He was starting with 4, actually 3 as Lot’s wife wound up being a salt lick for thirsty camels. Who is going to be the one who intercedes for the US and what will the number of required righteous people be in order to save us?
I don’t think the system or Courtroom Mr. Marclin has found himself in, is equal to or the same as the system and the Courtroom we will all find ourselves in that day when we have to stand before God and answer the question concerning what we did with His Son while we strolled back and forth in our garden. I do not think the courtroom where God is wearing the black robe has a messed up system In fact, the accusation of misinformation being present is not even uttered. Accusations from the accusor will be present, but the Defense Attorney will either plead you guilty or say the sin is covered by His blood.
Mr. Marclin is 88 years old and may not make it to 89 or could live to pass the century mark in age. The judge in the courtroom here on earth doesn’t think he will qualify as one of the righteous ones if God was to begin His search to save the US. I hope we are not dependent on finding any of the required number in the front office of the MLB. The plea bargain the defense attorney works out will not and can not exonerate you in the earthly courtroom.
I had my turns in the earthly courtroom, just as Mr. Marclin had his, None of mine were for murder but I am just as great a sinner as Mr. Marclin and so are you when we have the Word setting the system, which is the incorruptible one. While you may not have had the priviledge of standing before the judge in the earthly courtroom, all of us are going to get an opportunity to stand before the bench with God looking down at us while the accuser states the case against us. I think it is funny he knows the Scriptures well enough to make the accusations. For some, it may take days to read all the charges. I know who my Defense Attorney is when God puts on the black robe. Who is your Defense Attorney when God is wearing the black robe?

June 17, 2026

By Their Fruits

Guy Benson wrote an article about Graham Plattner and whether he has really changed his stripes. One sentence stood out: “ If one is willing to shamelessly lie about one’s Nazi tattoo, even when fully cornered, has one truly turned a moral or ethical corner? Before that statement, Benson does acknowledge that it is impossible to know what is in a man’s heart or mind, which is why we are not able to determine if someone is saved or not.
BUT, and you had to know there was one coming, we are able to take stock of what kind of fruit is growing from the tree. It is not original with me, but we must be fruit inspectors, not heart inspectors.
I am not talking about how fruit is used to describe that awful California Senator, Scott Weiner. He blasts the San Franciso Giants who put Bible verses on their caps as defacing the cap, while forgetting that his rainbow is defacing the uniform and calling attention to his debauchery even louder. This it truly a despicable man who wants you to know what he does with other men and is proud of what he does in the streets, highways and byways, along with the actions in his home.
If you believe I am being unkind to Mr. Weiner in my description of him, he has called the verses of the Bible that speak to his perversions as homophobic verses. So God is a homophobe according to Mr. Weiner. If you were looking for evidence that God allows free will choices, you would have to look no farther than Mr. Weiner. You can check out the bills he has introduced to practice your fruit inspecting.
Back to Mr. Plattner and his continued claim that everyone is lying about what he knew and when he knew it. There are texts, (his), from years ago acknowledging his knew the meaning of the tattoo, his previous girlfriend has texts date stamped months before he claims he discovered the meaning, and there is more, yet Mr. Plattner stands firm on when he found out.
In he defense, he claims his previous girlfriend did not send the texts to him, so that doesn’t prove he knew. Of course, how did she know he knew when she sent the texts saying he knew?
I would not expect the changed direction in Mr. Plattner’s life to be any where near the experience one has when they realize they are a sinner and ask for the payment on the Cross to cover that sin. Anyone who has undergone that transformation experienced their own trip on the Damscus Road as did Paul. It was their own experience, and I daresay it may not have been as dramatic as Isaiah in Is. 6:4-7:
And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.” But there was a time of repentance, however it occured.

None of that has happened to Plattner. As I write to challenge the thought processes of today, it comes to me that Plattner is not saying he is a changed man in all his way, only the ones where he made bad decisions as he became the man he is today. So, the changes in his life concern only certain things, which I am not clear exactly which things he is acknowledging because he also denies he was harmful to women, just a little crude and ackward towards them.
This guy is the exact representation of the Snake Oil Salesman from the Wild Wild West days who could cure all your ails with his bottle of snake oil for just $1.00. He is a real life chamaeleon, adapting his story to fit the accusation, all the while denying any real sinful actions. He may be the son of the man with the pitchfork and long red tail.
There are so many children of that master of disinformation walking around in charge today, if we get the fruit inspection business up and running, we may equal Musk’s wealth, or at least equal the size of Bezos’ net worth.

June 18, 2026

Jesus Wept

I will admit it to the millions reading this but I doubt I could admit it to you if you were standing in front of me. I have cried more in this past few weeks than I have in my entire life. In fact, I do not remember the last time or even the first time I cried. And it is with real wet tears. It happened twice within the past 8 to 10 hours.
I realized I did not know how to cry. I know there is not a right or wrong way to cry. But at first, I knew there was something I needed to get out but all that happened was a tightening of the chest, a lump in the throat, and a couple of sobs, that really were not more than a stifled hic-up.
Ali can cry! There is no doubt what she is doing when the waterworks get turned on. I am pretty sure I will never reach her level of crying. I tried to comfort her when she was younger but that was nothing but a big failure on my part. Then I tried to understand her and that did not get me anywhere. I finally learned I needed to let her do her thing in her own way and life would be much easier to live.
I remember getting a little what I would have to say was sentimental while at the Vet with Joshua, I know there was a desire to let loose with the waterworks but the stoic Roy kept it all in, with glassy eyes but no wetness.
Looking back, I see God had to teach me to cry. But why would a 81 year old man cry over the loss of an animal more than over the loss of a parent, grandparent, or daughter? It came to me early this morning that there was a bond that had attached itself between Joshua an I. It might have been there long before I started carrying Joshua up and down the stairs, at least twice a day and often more than 3 times a day, but I know the daily trips cemented that bond. It was obvious Joshua trusted me as he did not shy away when I went to pick him up and he did not squirm or try to move around during the trips up and down.
As I struggled this morning, that was when I processed the information about there being something about carrying Joshua up and down the stairs that increased the closeness and the dependency equation we shared. The request to go outside was understood without the requirement of a loud noise from Joshua. I probably did not always move as fast as he wanted, but nevertheless, down the stairs we went with exiting the front door being the goal.
I thought of David and how he acted when his first child with Bathsheba died. Then when I looked up the passage in II Samuel 12, I found out that what I was going to use as an example of how I felt, I was a little backwards in how I am handling this. David fasted while his child was sick and partied after he died. I have not been to a party and do not have one scheduled on the calendar.
I knew David put on some sackcloth and fasted somewhere in Scripture over a death and thought he cried somewhere so I kept looking. In II Samuel 3, David mourns the death of Abner in sackcloth and by fasting, but no weeping. I guess I should try looking for the place where David cries if that is where I want to head in my learning curve about crying.
I have now moved way off base from where I started with the Grist for today. But to be fair, I have identified one of the reasons I am struggling with the loss of Joshua. I look back and remember I was acknowledging Joshua was experiencing what I thought had elements which caused a positive result of Dementia being present from my expert diagnosis, I would ask myself the question, how far would I go in caring for someone who needed to be watched over because of Dementia?
My dad, whom I had only seen in person once in my life, called me when he was around 80 and said he was coming over to see me and go fishing like we had done when I was younger, which obviously had never happened, and stay with me. I received a communication from my step-brother, whom I had only seen once in person, which was at the same time as when I saw my dad, and said they were sending him over to stay with me. I told him that my dad could come over, we could go fishing, but he was not staying with me until the end. I have to admit, I questioned my response as time passed. Was that how the Lord would have responded?
So, the question I was asking about Joshua had some history behind the ask. My response had an element of already knowing what I was up against when dealing with Joshua and had no idea where the path with my dad would lead. I did think I would be ok taking care of Joshua, but it was a no go with my dad. I don’t remember exactly how I got in touch with the daughter of my dad’s brother, but I wound up helping her with her divorce. During that period, she told me my dad’s kids from his second wife had used all his money, he was broke, and that is why they were sending him to me. Did I dodge a bullet?
So, going back to Joshua, his last days, and my crying, I have to admit Joshua was becoming super thin. It seemed like I could feel his ribs when I carried him. But he was active and seemed to be without pain up to the day of departure. And that was when I was unable to shed a tear, even though I wanted desperately to use up a box of Kleenex. I realized I did not know how to cry and even if I did, it was not going to happen in front of anyone! I could not speak on the way home and it seems like there were no waterworks for more than a couple of days.
When the wet eyes finally started, it seems like it started with one tear falling alone down the side of my face and slowly but surely, some of its relatives started joining him over the next few days. Now, it was not a river, but it was at least a small stream.
I had been looking for David’s ability to shed a tear in Scripture as I knew it was in there someplace. But it came to me while I was getting a bottle of water, [you don’t think I sit her until I am done do you?], that the trouble I was having was because I was looking at the wrong person who shed a tear. People think John 11:35 is the shortest verse in the Bible and it is in English. But there is a shorter verse in the Greek. Anyway, it states that Jesus “wept”. There are quite a few verses which speak about weeping but this one is probably the most famous. It should have come to me before I put the first word on the page instead of after looking at verses in I & II Samuel and I and II Kings.
I guess if it is ok for Jesus to weep when He felt sorrow, it is ok for me when I experience sorrow. Jesus seemed to weep in public, I am not sure about me being able to weep in public. I wonder if that is lesson 2 if I am done with lesson 1? I guess we will find out if I either have the uncontrollable urge to force tears down my face while out in public or I might have to admit to you in person what I did.

June 19, 2026

The Ticket

I get more than one email each day that has waiting inside of it, a daily devotional, a thought for the day, a Biblical admonition, a famous quote, a verse for the day, a daily Bible study, etc., and often wind up deleting them. I am not a slow reader but am certainly not a speed reader, which would be a requirement in order to keep up with all of the emails. And of course, the Peterson mantra about surface only arrows that bounce off the armor will never change anything internal comes into play.
If you only read the Bible to say you read it, you wasted your time. The Word is there to heal us, to cause changes in direction when we get off the narrow path, even if we have to go back to the beginning and start all over again as the wounds from the accuser’s arrows are healed. I think it takes a lot for us to adjust our armor to recognize and allow God’s Word to pierce the thick skin while stopping the accuser’s arrows.
So, as I skimmed the emails this morning, one title stood out like a beacon shining from the lighthouse, guiding me towards the message inside. The title was: “Defeating Our Sins”, and I couldn’t click on the email fast enough, while asking the Lord to allow this to be more than a surface arrow only.
I read the verse which was the basis for the message and did not see how that was going to help me defeat any sin. The verse was Micah 7:19:
“He will again have compassion on us;
He will tread our iniquities under foot.
Yes, You will cast all their sins
Into the depths of the sea.”
Maybe you see how we will defeat out sins but I was a little disappointed. But, I decided the request had been made to the Lord to let this arrow penetrate if it was for me and began reading the first sentence. It wasn’t long before I realized I had taken the title and determined what the message was going to be just from the title, the ticket I purchased was for a train leaving at a different time, for a different destination, and my expectations were causing me to require the messenger to give me a message he was not prepared to give.
I went back to the beginning of the message and started over, exchanged my ticket for the train leaving the station, wiped the slate clean so I was starting with a new whiteboard and an open mind to view what God had for me from this message.
I had read enough before being thrown off the train to see there was a lot of meat waiting to be chewed, swallowed, and digested, that I couldn’t wait to get on the new train and see where the final station would let me depart, which I should have known because the title told me.
I wonder how many times God has tried to penetrate my defenses as I sat in the pew receiving the ear banging on a Sunday morning? I know there have been times I knew the answer to the question posed to the congregation and said it under my breath loud enough for those around me to hear the disgusting display of superiority. It is not always that way, but it has occurred more than once.

Because of the confinement of the train I am on while sitting in the church pew, I am unable to go back to the station and exchange my ticket for the right train. I am unable to slink out of the seat and slither to the exit, so I sit there and begin contemplating my naval, waiting for an opportunity to spread more superiority as if I wrote the message out for the preacher that was being given that morning. Never  mind how annoying my leadership of that aisle must have been for the others seated close to me. Might as well double down.  I am not a mind reader but I do know what some looks mean.
Today, I rode the new train, I have now had my coffee, tried to put some words on a page that made some sense, said a quick prayer, read a Bible verse, became excited about what God has in store for me today because He has defeated my sins, I am a new creature, the old has passed away and the new has begun, and I still have more than one hour left in the day to find a way of bringing honor and glory to the Name of Jesus.
I was just handed a new ticket by the conductor, which was free and is available for whomsoever to find a seat, and a new train is leaving the station! All aboard!

June 22, 2026

Try To Keep Up

The day after Father’s Day for 2026. If the alphabet community gets a whole month, why don’t fathers get more than one day? Or veterans? Or mothers? Maybe the ABCers are trying to catch up on all the days we have celebrated Father’s Day so the days we celebrate their twisted idea of who they are, are equal. But that can’t be the reason as it was in 1972 that Father’s Day became a national holiday. They already have had more days than we have.
Who gets the adoration as the father in the Buttigieg family? Both of them? They probably both try to claim motherhood status in May. Their double dipping knows no bounds.
I had moved my car inside the compound as Monday is street sweeping day and I thought about all this as I walked to the car. Then, as I was driving towards the gate on my way to run/walk/crawl a few miles, I wondered if I should go North and around to the light at Lower Azusa and Peck or go left and turn on Lower Azusa to go East to the light? Before I got to the gate, I was asking God why the Dinar was not at $1.00 or any figure above it that He thought it should be. Then I said becasue He hadn’t told someone to put it at $1.00. Then I thought that maybe He had told someone and they had disobeyed Him. Then I thought about how the consequences of how that person’s disobedience was causing a negative result in many people’s lives, mine included.
So, going back to the trip through the gate and the decision I had to make, I was asking the Lord which way to go. You may think that is stupid, but the only way to learn what the Holy Spirit has to say to you is to keep working on it so you recognize His voice when He gives you directions. After all, the Word does says to be filled with the Spirit, to not grieve the Spirit, to walk in the Spirit. How can you do any of that if you are unable to know His voice when He is speaking to you?
I know it is a pretty mundane thing to see whether I should go one way or another to reach the same place. But Balaam went the wrong way to reach the same place and wound up being berated by an ass, or donkey. I haven’t seen any donkeys on the corner of Lower Azusa and Elrovia, but I did come within inches of getting hit when I tried to cut cross the street and did not see the car barreling down on me. I had not asked the Lord which way to go that morning. The Lord told me that is why I should seek His direction and not rely on my own reading of the tea leaves because His way is always the right way and mine has a few potholes, causing the tires to become unbalanced. Have you ever had to drive a car any distance with a flat tire?
The Word also says that if you can be trusted in the small things, you will be given big things to do. I don’t know that I want big things to do but I certainly want to iincrease the Kingdom of God as much as I can here on earth. Don’t you? The Kingdom of God here on earth that I am speaking about is walking in the peace that passes all understanding, living in rarified air that fills your being with song and praise to the Lord for what He is doing in your life. I am not afrraid to take up my sword and shield in fighting for the cause, but I do not want the fight to consume me, so I become like those inflicted with TDS who are unable to smell the roses because of the affliction comsuming them.
As I felt the turn to the right was the way I should go, I thought about how I would wind up in the woodshed if I was disobedient to the Word. Then, it increased to thinking about how it affects others, just as whoever is not raising the value of the Dinar is affecting me. The Word says the sins of the fathers fall on the sons and daughters. I believe the principle is what is important, that one person’s disobedience causes those connected in some manner to reap the results of the disobedience.
Jack comes up with some great tag lines in his commercials, e.g., “I say, keep the change” Some say, “Follow Your Heart and You Will Be Happy”. I say, “Follow the Lord and You Will Be Happy”. I know, some of you are saying to not give up my day job, others want to remind me the rain falls on the unjust and the just. Nevertheless, the % of time you are happy with my saying will far outweigh the time you are happy with the saying of some.
That hamster upstairs in the noggin is working overtime. Look at all the thoughts with their tentacles going everywhere and I am barely out of the gate. He better slow down and take a nap so I can catch up.

June 23, 2026

The Potato Peeler

Here is a pop quiz. What do a plastic surgeon with links to Al Qaeda, an oyster fisherman with a Nazi tattoo, a former bandmate of a child sex offender, and a Lutheran minister who took part in a satanic wedding have in common? And the answer is: they’re all Democrat candidates for Congress in this November’s midterm elections.
How many scored 100%? I knew about 3 of them and had to read to find out about the bandmate. It is interesting that the article also included someone running in New Jersey, not included in the quiz above, who was the translator for the Blind Sheikh. Sheikh is the one who orchestrated the attack on the World Trade Center. Even though he was the translator at the time, he claimed he had no knowledge what the Sheikh was up to and even testified at the trial about what an upstanding man the Sheikh was. There was one more radical running in PA not included in the quiz.
Dorothy asked me to peel the potatoes the other day for dinner, which I did. I am pretty good at peeling potatoes as I became an expert many years ago when I was temporarily employed by the government for 2 years. We got out of boot camp and went straight into what was then called, AIT, “Advanced Individual Training”, which was 9 more weeks of hooping and hollering. Some of the Basic Training Graduates went to Fort Sam Houston or Fort Sill, etc., for medical at Houston and tank training at Sill. I stayed at Fort Polk and went through the first “Tiger Land” training.
In the middle of the 9 weeks, 2 of the weeks included Christmas and New Years. We were told we could go on leave for 2 weeks or stay and pull guard duty and KP. I didn’t have the money to fly home and back so I went to New Orleans with a buddy. After a couple of days, it was not working out so I went back to the post, where I studied peeling potatoes and marching around in my polished and shiny boots. I didn’t keep my certificate as potato peeler extra ordinaire but if I still had it, it would be framed and hanging on the wall,
So peeling potatoes for Dorothy could have been done in no time but I became distracted by how some of the potatoes had huge black spots in them. I started to dig them out and they became larger the further I went into the potato.
On the outside, they looked ok. Some were a little softer than others but none were mushy and ready to be thrown away. That was the first observation, they looked ok but had some rot in them, kind of like all of us/ I could talk about the people in the quiz above and how normal they may look and yet they have some deep character flaws inside.
But we are all like that to some extent, i.e., we have a few black spots in us. The actors in the movies have make up on to make them look scary and I know there are some who look a little hideous normally, but overall, it is hard to tell who are the good guys and who are the bad guys just by looking at the outside.
I think of all those people above who are running on Marxist ideas. The principle is always the same for the Christian. We are to love the person but hate the sin. And for those of you who want to stand up for them, their ideas are against the Word, against the Holy Spirit, and against common sense. The last one is thrown in only because it is also true, just as the other two are. But the sin is they have become god, not God, but god with a little “g”, even though they believe if has a capital “g” when describing them.
The potato peeler can take out a small black spot in the potato, but the peeler is unable to get the black spot when it spreads out inside the potato and reaches all the way across the potato and from the top to the bottom. I had to throw away a few of those potatoes when peeling the spuds for dinner.
I don’t claim to know the hearts of those listed above, but I do know what they are saying and advocating is against the Word of God, just as the SPLC is not in line with the Word of God. We can disband the SPLC but we are unable to throw away the people above. We can mount a movement against their speil, we can get out the votes against them, we can expose them for who they are, we can bring light to the darkness.
A Pessimist would say the darkness has taken over the world. You do not have to be a Pessimist to acknowledge the Prince of This World is known to be an evil spirit. The Word tells you that. But the Word does tell us that if God is for us, who can come against us and defeat us, He has overcome the world, God is in control, He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. WWE thinks it is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow but I am able to disprove that rather easily, not so with disproving that about God.
I think of the great prophet, Elijah, who thought he was alone, and God told him he had thousands who not bent the knee to Baal. I have bent at the waist at times because of giving in to temptation, but I have not let the knee touch the ground. God straightened me up just as He did Elijah and showed me the way back on the straight and narrow path. How about you. I pray the potato peeler can get the black spot out and we do not have to wash the dirt stains off your knee pads?

June 24, 2026

Simple, Not Complex

Some people accuse me of being a complex person. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am in reality, a simple person. I am a meat & potatoes, cheese enchilada, salsa loving guy. I have a moral compass that points towards the Lord. I try to listen more than I share, I try to help others more than I seek help for myself, rules are for thee and me, and I am the chief procrastinator of the Procrastinator’s Club. Where can you find anything complex in there?
I have great discernment, yet use it sparingly to my advantage in an argument by attacking a person, personally. I would be struck by lightening if I claimed it never happened during a debate because I have been involved in some heated debates. It is hard to stay calm when the heat reaches 135 degrees and voices are raised.
I am not claiming a 100% victory in debating, but I am on the winning side more than the losing side. Part of the reason for the high percentage is I am not easy to debate if emotion and talking points are banned as fact. I used one basis in arguing long before I heard Dennis Prager put it into words, i.e., look at the results of where your position, argument, principle, talking point, etc., leads. Obviously this causes whiplash to the opposite side’s argument if they are honest in their answer. I know it does because I had to rush to the emergency room when I was forced to review the results of my side at different times. I bruised my knees from kicking and was hoarse from screaming before the whiplash but wound up in the emergency room, just the same.
Another arrow in my quiver, is common sense. Have you ever noticed how common sense decides many discussions? It is very easy to show how 2 + 2 does not equal 5 when you lay down 2 pencils and add 2 more pencils to the original 2 pencils.
I will admit my common sense argument has not always been the winner for the day. But it is because my common sense was right but the people I applied it to in the discussion were not using any common sense.
I remember telling my father-in-law during the early 70’s, that Nixon would not be involved in any kind of a break in because he was to smart for that, he was the President and wouldn’t throw it away for a simple trip into some office in the Watergate Complex when they were closed as he had too much to lose. The benefit would not be worth the risk and besides, what were they going to gain. Art, my father-in-law, knew Nixon was guilty and we had cordial discussions over the next few weeks as we watched the news together and tried to convince the other one what the evidence was going to show us. It took me years to get the egg off my face from that common sense point of view. But I admitted I was wrong, he was right, and the world continued to rotate on its axis.
I had a hard time letting God be God in my life. As I look back, He never seemed to let my idea of Him bother Him, He just kept on doing what He had been doing since the beginning when the Word was with God and the Word was God.
I believe God is simple and not complex. He laid out 10 Commandments for the people to follow. Jesus boiled it down to 2 Commandments. I might even get it down to one Commandment, “Have no other Gods”. How complex is that?
I don’t think we should act like the people did toward the end of book of Judges, Judges 17:6: “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.:, and Judges 21:25: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” NASB The only difference in the 2 verses is one says, “every man”, and the other says, “everyone”. Both are against the directions given in the Word.
I am not advocating for a king, But following our personal feelings and how we feel is not the answer either. We make God complicated, hard to understand and complex, when we try to say He has a rule for everything, e.g., the age old debate about lipstick and dancing. We do need rules and there are rules for us in the Word. But we don’t need to make things more complicated and complex than they need to be. God’s rules really are pretty simple, as I stated above.
That is why I am simple and not complex. I follow God’s example.