Martin_Kaine's Blog

Here is the magic solution to the sewer dept problem as sold to us for $75,000 per month from people who had to be hired because they are smarter than anyone we have running things now. The colossal ignorance of this plan only emphasizes the stupidity of the people who were forced to hire them, having failed to come up with anything better themselves.

Let’s examine each of the four and think it through to its conclusion. 

Use the one cent sales tax excess? What did the 1% sales tax increase do? On paper it generated more revenue. In practice it made the choice to buy groceries in Shelby County a little easier. That is what I do. I work in Pelham to avoid Jefferson County taxes. It is easy to stop for groceries on my way back to The Peoples Republic of Birmingham and dodge those taxes as well. I suspect I am not the only one doing that. 

It also made it harder on businesses. They had to charge more for the same goods you can get in Shelby for less. Why spend a dollar in Birmingham when you can get the same thing in Shelby for ninety eight cents? 

Who does it hurt the most? The people who live and work here for which it makes no sense to drive to Shelby. What about the poor in Birmingham who can’t afford the higher rent in Shelby County? They have no choice but to endure this tax and do as the tax man tells them.

 Sales tax is useless if no one is buying anything. 

In the long run, revenue will actually decrease.  

What will a yearly rate increase of 2.85% do? On paper it will generate more revenue. In practice it will make it more expensive to live and do business here.

 They will have to charge more for the same goods you can get in Shelby for less. Why spend a dollar in Birmingham when you can get the same thing in Shelby for ninety six cents? People and businesses will move away, sort of like they are doing now.

In the long run, revenue will actually decrease.

 What will our having an oversight board do? It will waste more of the taxpayer’s money on over paid bureaucrats that serve no actual purpose other than to eat, drink, play golf, and eventually have a heart attack and die on the toilet.

Those guys are going to do that anyway, there is no need for us to pay them for it.

 In the long run, revenue will decrease.

 Is anyone noticing a pattern here?

 What will taking $10 million from the general fund do? Is this some magic money pile that the high priests of policy stupidity purchased from a traveling dwarf long ago in the olden days of yore?

 No, that is your money. Who do you think will have to replace it? How do you think our local leaders will go about extorting that money from us?

 Higher taxes, that’s how.

 This will make it harder on businesses. They have to charge more for the same goods and services you can get in Shelby for less. Why spend a dollar in Birmingham when you can get the same thing in Shelby for ninety cents? People and businesses will move away, sort of like they are doing now.

 In the long run, revenue will actually decrease.

 These proposed solutions when compounded will only serve to expedite the destruction of a city already in jeopardy.

 Even though I feel I should be paid for this, in the interest of the greater good I am going to give you a plan that makes sense. I am going to do it for free because that is the kind of groovy dude I am.

 First, reduce sales tax by 2%. On paper that will reduce revenue, the opposite of what we need right now. In practice it will make the decision to shop in Birmingham and Jefferson a little bit easier. Why spend a dollar somewhere else if you can get it here for 99 cents? It will help businesses, consumers, and especially the poor, whose shopping options were already limited.

 In the long run, revenue will increase.

 Second, decrease the sewer rate by 1.5% per year for at least the next five years. On paper that will decrease revenue. In practice it makes Birmingham a more attractive place to live, work, and do business. It would also demonstrate a commitment from our leaders to solve problems with real solutions that lead to growth rather than stagnation.

 In the long run revenue will increase.

Third, do not create an oversight board or any other new inefficient bureaucracy to waste our money. Our leaders need to handle this themselves and use that otherwise wasted money to help solve this problem.

 Fourth, cut all unnecessary spending. I don’t expect the criminals to tighten security on themselves but I would suggest a state, possibly even a federal audit of the Jefferson County and Birmingham City books.

 I also think there should be a public website where we the voters can monitor every cent of our money they spend. All financial dealings of the county and city should be made easily accessible for public inspection. They work for us, remember?

 Offer tax breaks and cheap real estate to potential businesses.

Offer tax breaks to first time home buyers in the Birmingham area.

 Lower our property taxes.

 Offer tax breaks to landlords who offer discounts on rent.

 More people equals more business equals more money equals more revenue.

 The basic common sense rule to government is this;

 You tax what you want less of and you subsidize what you want more of.

 If you tax businesses and consumers, you end up with less businesses and consumers. If you subsidize poverty and unprofitable ventures you get more poverty and unprofitable ventures. You don’t have to be an oil change technician to understand these things. Take a look around. The truth will jump right out and kick you in the face if you just half way pay attention.

Bring common sense back to the magic city and the magic will follow it back home.

Dr. Weiss had just finished a particularly exhausting week when he left the hospital Friday night. He decided to stop off at Ole McNello's Pub for a few beers. He walked in and pulled up a stool. He ordered a beer and turned to watch the band.  

The bartender handed him his beer and said "That will be 15 dollars sir" to which Weiss replied "But that guy only paid 2 dollars". The bartender said "Yes but he is unemployed at the moment and you are a doctor. You can afford it. I am also going to have to ask you to pick up the tab for Mr. Snipps at the end of the bar. He is a landscaper and makes a lot less money than you do."  

Dr. Weiss exclaimed "This is ridiculous!!!! I will not pay that guys tab!" to which the bartender replied "You have to. It is the law in this state that those who make the largest salaries must help pay for things that people who make the least want. That 157 dollar bar tab would put a serious strain on Mr. Snipp's budget, but to you it is pocket change. I'm sure you understand." 

The following Monday Dr. Weiss quit his job and went into landscaping. A week later Mrs. Funerello, a patient of Dr. Weiss, passed away because her new doctor made a mistake with her medication. Everyone at the funeral was outraged that the hospital had hired such an incompetent doctor. Apparently he was far less qualified than Dr. Weiss and took the job for much less money.

The funeral was not all bad though. Everyone was very impressed by the immaculate condition of her lawn. LOL

Throughout all of recorded history the devil has taken a lot of heat. The devil has many names depending on who you ask. Almost every religion has a devil or some physical manifestation of evil or representative of Hell. We blame these demons and mignons of Hell for the evils in our world. We say they possess us and force us to commit crimes. They whisper in our ear and tell us it’s ok to snort that line of coke or go ahead and call an escort service if you are traveling out of town. No one ever has to know.  

Is this blame fairly placed or are we just passing the buck to an easy target? Let’s take another look at the original sin as believed by both Jews and Christians and let’s do so honestly and objectively.  

 Genesis 2: 15-17

15. And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

 16. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

 Ok, so why did God not want us to have the knowledge of good and evil? Did he feel it was too much responsibility for us? Did he like the idea of having a bunch of ignorant talking monkeys running around the garden naked? Why would God wish to deny us the knowledge of what is right and why leave us in the dark about what is evil? How were we to avoid what we did not know existed?

Genesis 3: 1-4 

1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2. And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 

3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4. And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die:  

 Satan is often called the prince of liars, but who lied here? She did not die. Adam did not die.  The lived out their lives and died at a ripe old age. Satan didn’t deceive anyone. He told her she would not die. She didn’t.

 Genesis 3: 5 

5. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Is that not the same thing God said the fruit was? Satan told Eve exactly what the fruit was and what it would do. It did exactly what he said it would.

Genesis 3: 6-7 

6.  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

7.  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

And the eyes of them both were opened just like the serpent said they would be. Where is the deception? Who put that tree in the garden to begin with? Have we not always been people who choose freedom over oppression? Who was it then that offered us knowledge and who was it that threatened to kill us if we took from a tree that he had put among us without giving us the knowledge required to avoid it?

God made an attempt to suppress our mental development. Satan freed us. This is a very logical conclusion, supported by the Bible itself. So why do we demonize the devil?

We all have our opinions on immigration. The immigration debate, for the most part, is focused on our southern border. I fear we are ignoring the evil that is slowly creeping in from our northern border.

I call this evil, Canada!! [ insert evil instrumental theme music here]

Canadians suck because they think they are superior to everyone else. They think they have evolved to the point of being above violence.The truth is they don't have to have a military or worry about war because they are so close to us that we would never allow anyone to invade canada.

So what are they doing with all those billions of dollars that they don't have to spend on military like we do? One would think that they would have acheived societal perfection but one would be dead wrong.

What they have acheived is a completely disfunctional welfare state where the government decides what they can and can't hear, say, or think, and at the same time convinced them all that they are the most fair minded, free thinkers in the world.

Did you know that until recently Fox News was banned in Canada? The liberals that run the place felt threatened by opposing views so they banned it and convinced the people that it was a tool of the right wing conspirators used to brain wash the American people. They convinced the Canadians that it was for there own good that they be protected from right wing propaganda.

Apparently the Canadian government feels that the Canadian people are not capable of thinking for themselves.

This is what bothers me the most about the so called "liberal intellectual elite". They want the people to be dependant on them. They want to decide how the people think and live. They believe that the common folk simply are not smart enough to live without them making choices on their behalf.

The truth is that no group of people is more out of touch with real life than the lib elite. They have no idea what middle class or poor class life is like and most of all they have no idea that the people they falsely claim to want to help don't really care to have their choices made for them and would be just as content if the liberal elite were to all drop dead.

Canada has become a country of liberal elite wannabees. They are the most arrogant, condescending, snooty, useless, wastes of oxygen that I have ever encountered. They are a socialist state, well on their way to communism.

Take a look at the image below.

Note that the blue are liberal democrat states, light blue are leaning left, red are the good guys, and orange is on the fence.

These are poll results for the 2006 senate race.

Notice the solid blue stripe across the top of America. What do those states all have in common?

1. They are all leaning left.

2. They all border Canada.

By the process of osmosis, the gayness of Canada is seeping into the northern part of the USA. This is a terrifying but completely natural phenomenon.

Suckassity tends to move from areas of a high concentration to areas of a low concentration. The only way to stop it is to install a barrier that stupidity can't penetrate.

We also have to hunt down and deport all the moose people and half breed moose babies that might be living in those states.

Moose people are hard to indentify because they look a lot like us.

Here are some things to look for to help you identify the moose people.

1. They cringe when passing a church. They hate christians because moose people are godless and have no soul. If you throw holy water on them it will turn into Molson beer.

2. They are rebelious, but in a very retarded way. If they are making a purchase on an item that is 20% off, they will not accept it because they feel they deserve 30% off. They will refuse to accept the discount and pay full price to prove their point.

3. They all suffer from a serious inferiority complex. One reason is that they live in a country that doesn't matter. They have no sense of national pride and they don't acknowledge the existence of anything greater than themselves.

4. They have floppy heads especially around the jaw area. I know that doesn't make sense but you will know what I mean when you see one.

Hopefully we will invade Canada someday and send them all to France with the rest of the pansies. They won't be any less miserable but they will fit right in and we will be much better off.

Wednesday afternoon on my way home from work I attempted to pass another vehicle. I was in the right lane and that lane was ending. He was in the left lane I needed to merge. The guy actually cut me off by taking up both lanes forcing me to brake rather quickly.

I gave him the finger with both fingers and pumped them up and down for emphasis while screaming out the window directions for what I felt he should do to himself. I probably shouldn't have done that. It was not mature behavior on my part, but I was tired and that jerk didn't have to cut me off like that.

Well, I am behind him going down the road and for some reason he stomps his brakes a couple of times, as if he wanted me to hit him. I didn't hit him. We came to a red light and stopped and this guy puts his truck into park and gets out. He comes toward my car yelling and cussing.

I could not see his right arm or his right side  so I reached into my console and took out my gun and held it up. I told him "Keep comin M-Fer". I know that wasn't very mature either but like I said, I didn't know if or what he had with him. I couldn't see his right side. Besides that, this guy is clearly an a-hole and I'm a little bit angry at this point.

I never had any intention of killing this guy, but I was definately going to shoot him in the leg had he kept coming. Luckily, he showed me his hands and got back in his truck and drove on. He called the police and they ended up pulling me over a few miles further down the road.

I'd like to give some respect to the Bessemer Police Dept. Even though I think they sent way more officers than was needed just for little ole me, I think they handled the situation very professionally. They secured and unloaded my weapon, asked me what happened, looked at my license and permit, gave my gun back, and left.

They were polite. They didn't try to man handle me or intimidate me. It's good to know we have good police officers around here and I got to meet a LOT of them Wednesday evening. lol So, here's to you Bessemer PD!! Well done.

The point I'm getting at is, no matter how angry someone makes you in traffic, please do not ever get out of your vehicle and approach another vehicle on foot, especially if you are yelling or looking for a fight. You have no way of knowing what they have in the car with them. They have no way of knowing what you have with you.  It isn't worth getting shot.

That guy may never know how close he came to walking with a permanent limp. Please don't be stupid. Some things are worth fighting for, but getting cursed at in traffic is not one of those things.

If I am hunting on my land,

I need a license in my hand.

If I am fishing in my lake,

I buy permission from the state.

If I should chose a lovely spouse,

I have to pay the court house.

The second amendment lets me carry a gun.

“Not without a license son”.

All roads lead to being robbed.

Go to work, they tax your job.

More you make, more they take,

Work every minute you’re awake.

Save enough to buy some land?

Greedy bastards tax the sand.

Then when you finally get ahead,

They tax you just for being dead.

This culture comes to all infect us,

Leaders fail and don’t respect us,

Will someone stand and represent us?

Yes. We will represent ourselves.

We will represent ourselves.

Taxation without representation,

Is not a stranger to this nation.

We have walked this path before,

Took a stand, fought a war,

Did things that weren’t done before.

Watched the eagle rise and soar.

Do we not bleed red anymore?

I think we do.

I believe in you.

I’m not above a violent fight,

I’m tired of having to buy my rights.

God gave us rights, we did not choose them.

Why should we pay the state to use them?

I will not let the state enslave me.

I won’t pay them for what God gave me.

Will you guys take a stand and save me?

I’ll do it for you, swim or sink.

Probably sooner than we think,

Will we end up a corpse to stink?

Some things are worth an out right war.

Some things are still worth dieing for.

Satan won’t appease or take a pause,

Unless it further helps his cause.

Trick you into guilt free sin,

Negotiate with evil, evil wins.

Let all good people hold their ground,

No matter what they send around,

Will not their ass our work boots pound? 

Yep.

We always wait till the very last minute,

But Americans find a way to win it.

What you are about to read, or I hope you read it, is a list of goals the Communist party put together to make it easier to gain control of The United States. It is referred to as "The Communist Agenda".


Communist Goals (1963) Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35 January 10, 1963

1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policy-making positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use "united force" to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.

So, how many of those goals have been met?

I want to know who it is that teaches cashiers in training to hand the customer the bills and receipt, then pile the change on top of it all leaving the customer to find himself in this weird balance and sort multitask/agility exercise.

How many times have you dropped your change? How embarrassing is it to be standing there in the way separating your bills and putting them in your wallet and putting the receipt in the sack and putting the change in your pocket or purse? Who the hell came up with this procedure?

 If someone asked me to think up the stupidest way to hand a person three ones, a five, a receipt, and sixty eight cents I honestly don't think I could come up with anything more retarded than our current cashier to customer change and receipt transfer system.

Listen, any cashiers or managers that train cashiers, hand the customer the change first, they will drop it in their pocket/purse, and you then put the receipt in the top and most easily accessible sack in the buggy. Now hand the customer the bills and they can put them in their wallet/purse and walk away, keeping the line flowing and avoiding any embarrassing clumsiness. 

 Why is this so difficult? Who screwed this up? They should be beaten with a partially frozen carp.

"It's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,"  -Barack Obama-

You know what he just said? This is a preemptive critique of Pennsylvania democrats that are planning to vote for Hilary Clinton. He basically said " I won't be surprised if I lose in Pennsylvania, because the bitter bible thumping racist NRA members won't vote for me."

Not only is this yet another window into who he really is, it is just one more slap in the face to people who are getting really tired of being called a racist. This "vote for me or you are a racist" tactic is not only racist in and of itself, but I find it insulting.

He speaks of hope and change and presents himself as the source of that hope, and that we need that hope because America is such a terrible place. Well I say SCREW YOU SENATOR!!

Even in troubled times this is a great and generous nation and it is filled with people who are hopeful and optimistic. We are the most powerful nation that has ever existed and became so in an unbelievably short period of time, not because a bunch of bitter racists found the time to throw this country together, but because a group of people who shared a belief, who through the guidance of God and of what they knew to be just and true wrote the Declaration of Independance and The U.S. Constitution.

Then the people who believed these basic principles set out and they built this great nation. We are still building it and we are not bitter. We do not cling to religion because we are bitter, but because we love God and each other. We don't cling to guns because we are angry, but because it is our right to defend ourselves, our families, and our property.

When is enough going to be enough of this guy?

His 20 year "spiritual leader" preaches hatred for whites from the pulpit of all places? His wife has never been proud of her country before her husband's campaign? She says some of us need to give up some of our pie so others can have more?

Why can't we just make more pie?

Rev. Wright married Barrack and his wife. He baptized their children.

It has been my experience that if it quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, walks like a duck, acts like a duck, and hangs around with lots of other ducks, it is most likely a duck.

The mirror of this situation would be a white candidate whose 20 year pastor was a leader in the KKK. That candidate's career would be over the second that news went public.

Obama is still winning the democratic primary? Really?

The exposure of this blatent double standard is only going to foster resentment among a lot of white people who are tired of being told that they are racists.

If Mrs. Clinton screws Sen. Obama out of the democratic nomination at the convention many African American's are going to feel that the rich white man has stuck it to 'em again.

Either way it is really sad. I believe that most of us, black and white, have made great improvments in race relations and getting past the past.

I fear that Sen. Obama and pals may have just set us backward 15-20 years worth of progress in the pursuit of racial and cultural harmony.

I believe he should not only concede the presidential election, but should resign from the senate as well.

In the interest of environmental preservation, I have decided to put some thought into better ways to protect endangered species. The solution, as is the solution for so many problems, is capitalism.

Ask yourself why cows, pigs, sheep, goats, dogs, cats, and other domesticated livestock and pets never become endangered. The answer is supply and demand. There is a huge demand for beef, pork and lamb. People love to have cats and dogs for pets so there is also a huge demand for them as well.

Whenever there is a demand for something, someone will always go into business to meet that demand and profit from it. As long as people love steak, there will always be cattle farmers.

There are two problems with endangered species. One is that there is low demand for them. Two is that the only people protecting them are whiney liberal hippie stoners that complain about everything but don’t actually do anything.

There is nothing wrong with smoking a little weed, hanging out with your friends, and having happy thoughts about nature and how we should all be at one with the universe and sing, dance, and make love together, but happy thoughts won’t save the whales.

So, I say we create a demand for all endangered species. If the demand goes up, private industry will step in and begin raising, farming, and breeding these animals to meet that demand and we will never have to worry about any animal becoming extinct or endangered ever again.

Friends, it’s time to eat the pandas. It’s time to make and buy panda coats, panda pot roast, spotted owl hats, whale steak, big horn sheep rack candle holders, red wolf scrotum change purses, baboon bacon, Mongolian beaver bisque, chimp chip party mix, hooded crane casserole, and sautéed dugong.

Do this, and watch how fast private industry jumps on the opportunity. They will have genetic scientists finding better and more efficient ways to breed these animals. They will do marketing research to open a global market. They will have vets loading freezers with embryos and will build farms to raise these animals by the thousands. No species will ever go endangered again, but we have to stop depending on hippies to save them.

We all know you can’t depend on a hippie to change his socks, much less change the world, so it is up to us, the people of the world who have a working brain, to solve these problems with a tried and true solution.

Capitalism.

My friends, it’s time to eat the pandas.       

I often read, especially on international message boards, that Americans are too religious, patriotic and that our constitution is out dated. I don't believe that, if anything we need more of those things instead of less.

Right and wrong has never changed. Peoples perception of right and wrong is changing constantly. The way people justify doing wrong and grow to accept things because the majority seems willing to except them doesn't change what is right and what is wrong.

It is called a shifting moral baseline. It can happen to an individual or an empire. The fall of Rome is a perfect example of a nation falling because of a shifting moral baseline.

The process of a shifting moral baseline is very slow. People don't go from being scared to say a curse word to having blood orgies in a week or two.

I'll give you an example that happens every day in America. I have actually witnessed this example of a personal shifting moral baseline.

At 17 years old Sara is still a virgin. She goes to church with her parents twice a week. She has never been drunk or high. On her senior trip all her friends are drinking, they are drunk, and appear to be having a very good time.

She figures it won't hurt if she has a few drinks. After all it is her senior trip. She may not see some of these guys after graduation. She has a few drinks, she gets buzzed, and she has a great time. It was the most fun she has ever had. She was a little tired the next morning, but after breakfast she felt fine.

Drinking had not hurt her or anyone else that night. Everyone had a great time and no one got hurt.

A few nights later they were having another party. They were passing a joint around and trying to get her to hit it. She was relunctant at 1st, but after a few drinks she loosened up and took a hit. She felt great. Again, she and everyone else had a great time and nothing bad happened.

This went on for a year or so after the trip was over and they came home. She went to a party ever now and then, had a few drinks, smoked a little weed, and it was cool. She was fine. No one got hurt.

She even met a guy at a party and they started dating. One night they got intimate in one of the spare rooms at the party house. She didn't want to have sex. She was still a virgin and a little scared. She didn't want to make her boyfriend mad. He had been very patient with her and was really horny. He didn't understand why she wouldn't give it up. He told her it made him feel like she didn't love him or want him.

She definately didn't want him to think that, so she masturbated him. What's so bad about that? It will ease his pain and she is still pure, right?

After a while masturbation wasn't enough so she gave him oral sex. Hell, what is so bad about giving oral sex? She has already let him see her naked and let him perform oral sex on her. She has been masturbating him. She knows he is clean so why not?

It isn't long before she has sex with him. What is so bad about that? She has done everything else? What is so bad about sex? Besides, all of her friends had done it 2 or 3 years earlier.

A few months later she catches her boyfriend cheating on her. She is very upset and one night at a party she meets another guy. She is very high, very drunk, and he has some cocaine. She tries it. She loves it. She sleeps with him.

Fast foward two years.

She is a dancer at a strip club. She sells her body to nasty old drunks twice her age and performs favors to the club owner for cocaine.

If you had told her at 17 that in 4 years she would be a stripper, a prostitute, and a cocaine addict, she would have slapped you, but it happened and it happens every day. The names, faces, and minute details may change, but the story is always the same.

This is the story of Sara's shifting moral baseline. It can happen to an individual or a society. It's happening right now, to both, all over the world.

Right and wrong never changed. Sara changed. The only thing the Devil ever changes, is you. Once you start down that road, every step gets a little easier.

The only good thing about a shifting moral baseline is that as long as you are still alive, you can shift it back.

Twice a day, Monday thru Friday, I drive by your church. It is one of the largest churches I have ever seen. There are college campuses that are not nearly so impressive. I became curious.

I wanted to know more about a congregation of people so generous that they could raise enough money to build such a church. I went to your website. I saw pictures of services. I saw pictures of your church. I saw the beautiful interior of your church. I saw people rejoicing. I saw a choir of smiling people singing. It is all very impressive, to say the least.

There are however some things I have not been able to find, which brings me to the point of my inquiry.

Where is the Hunter Street Baptist Children’s Hospital?

Where is the Hunter Street Baptist Homeless Shelter?

Where is the Hunter Street Baptist Battered Women’s Home?

Where is the Hunter Street Baptist Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation Center?

Where is the Hunter Street Baptist Thrift Store and Donation Center?

Where is the Hunter Street Baptist Halfway House?

Matthew 25: 34-46

34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

As a man I am not qualified to judge you, but I would ask you to judge yourselves. Look at yourselves through the eyes of a poor young carpenter and ask yourselves “Is this what Jesus would have us do?”

Do you pray to God or a massive golden calf on a hill, not made of gold, but of brick and glass? When you think of church do you picture a building or people?

You celebrate yourselves in a mansion on a hill overlooking a community that has never needed you so much. You are not asked for help because both believers and unbelievers see you as hypocrites, interested only in your community status. God depends on the church to bring people to him, but you drive them away. Your vulgar display of obscene wealth makes the common man ashamed to cast a shadow on your golden door for fear of not being accepted.

It isn’t them that should be ashamed.

~Martin Kaine~