1934 MERCY OR JUDGMENT?
Let’s talk a little.
First- I found it interesting
that the last few days the stock market took a hit.
In the beginning of the year I
thought the Dow should/would be somewhere in the 12,000 range by the end of the
year.
I heard some financial guys talk
about it maybe going to 17,000- others had lower estimates.
But none had my estimate.
Why did I have a bearish view?
Because all [most] of the data
showed that we were in a global slowdown.
The Asian markets/economy was
doing worse than expected.
Many were counting on China to
pull the rest of the world out- instead the rest of the world [the E.U. crisis-
U.S.] pulled them down.
Now- the jobs numbers were not
good- and the last few days the data showed this.
This is [should not be] a
surprise.
But to many it was.
Why?
Because many financial folk- good
people- simply did not want to believe the bad report.
Even though the ‘bad’ report- the
stats I just gave- were more than likely going to pull the market down- yet
many felt if they just keep talking up the market- things will do better.
Sorry- a positive confession does
not work when the stats are bad.
So- as we near the end of the
year- it looks like we might make it into the 12,000’s once again.
Okay- I also wanted to mention a
few more things about my Jersey trip.
I want to give a prime example of
what ‘too much government’ looks like.
Now- I love my old state- the
Garden state [you ask- why garden? Because as a kid I remember the paintings of
gardens on some old truck road down the block!]
While I was staying at my mom’s
house- my mom and sister have multiple health problems- my dear mom is getting
up in years- and to be honest- they have a hard time simply dealing with day to
day chores.
But- I was shocked at the fact
that one of the major chores of their week was having to move their cars- by
‘law’ 2 times a week.
Yes- that Old Street Sweeper just
keeps on coming!
The city [for those who don’t live in N.J.]
has a street sweeper that comes by on Mondays and Wednesdays- between 1 and 3
p.m. - and basically pushes the dirt around.
I have lived my entire adult life
with no street sweeper- and the streets look the same- the rain does the job
for free.
But- in my old town- with all the
political connections- you would never be able to get rid of the dept.
So- my mom plans her week around having
to move 2 cars [hers and my sisters] 2 times a week.
Problem?
Everybody else is also moving
their cars- at the same time- to the opposite side of the street.
So- every so often- my mom drives
a couple of blocks to find a spot.
She also has to jump start my
sisters car- twice a week- to move it.
Sometimes if you can’t find a spot-
you simply drive around from 1-3.
To be honest- this is what you
call ‘a police state- or city’.
I told my dear mom- if this were
in Texas [or any other Democracy] you would have some guy [gal] run for mayor
on a platform of ‘the first thing I will do is abolish the street sweeper- I
will then rebate all these fine citizens of this town all the wasted money on
the thing’.
And the guy would win.
But- the politicos have connections-
the unions support guys who keep them in their jobs- and the fine citizens of North
Bergen will continue to move their cars- twice a week- so the guys can keep
their 70,000 dollar a year jobs.
One last note from the journey.
On the way back to Texas I
listened to news/talk radio.
One of the big stories I caught while
driving thru Dallas was the case of a 22 year old single mom who glued her daughter’s
hands to the wall.
Yes- a very sad case indeed.
The reason it lit up the talk
shows was the night I was driving in- the judge sentenced her to 99 years in
prison.
The show I was hearing played the
audio in the courtroom- many were in shock.
The talk show guy was siding with
the judge- you had various people call in with their opinions.
This sentence was harsher than
that given to people who have actually have killed their kids [Deena Shlosser
being one].
When you make child abuse- which
is a very bad crime- a higher punishment then actually murdering the child-
then what do you think the results might be?
Sure- some say ‘well- that way
people will know not to do it’.
But you might also have some
unstable moms who have already abused their kids- who might now think ‘gee- if
they ever tell- I will be punished with a harsher sentence then if I killed
them’.
That’s something we don’t want
either- see?
I cut out the news article of the
girl- Elizabeth- and she will forever be on my prayer wall- with hundreds of
other cases that I have collected over the years.
As I heard the sentencing judge- of
course he had his reasons- the prosecutor was only asking for 45 years- yet the
defendant chose a non jury trial- and in Texas the judges are elected.
Your main election benefit of
being ‘tough on crime’.
And that was that.
We had a local judge run over a highway
worker a few years ago.
He was a very famous ‘tough on
crime’ judge- he and his wife were big Democrats- involved in all the politics
of the area- many connections.
When I read the story- the judge
was driving 70-75 on a turn that was posted at 20-25 MPH.
I have gone to many car wrecks
over the years- as a firefighter- and when we had people doing stuff like this-
you got arrested- and had some type of price to pay.
But- as the story went on- the
local paper explained that the 20 MPH sign was just a ‘suggested’ speed- that
the turn is still part of the highway- so 75 MPH was the actual speed.
Huh?
Also- even though he flipped the
guy off the bridge/overpass- and nearly killed him- yet- somehow the judge did
no wrong.
When all was said and done- he got
the equivalence a parking ticket.
[ I also read an article in the
paper about this time- it was a ‘warning’ to drivers- the story interviewed
some local officials- and they explained that if your driving 55- in a 55- you
could be cited for reckless driving- because if its raining- then the cop makes
the call. It went on to say if you slow down to much in the rain- that too is
reckless. And- of course- if you’re going to fast- well we can’t have that. So
the article stated that if your going under the speed limit- doing the speed
limit- or driving over the speed limit- watch out! That’s of course if you’re
not connected in some way].
Sad.
I’m sure when the case worked its
way thru ‘the system’ that at each turn the people who knew him felt justified
‘after all- this is so and so- he has a family for heaven’s sake!’.
And they empathized with him
because they knew him.
Yet- when meeting out judgments
on others- they seem to be able to see only justice- without mercy.
I will pray for Elizabeth- to be honest-
the rest of my life.
Maybe I will write her as time
goes by.
But the bible says ‘mercy
rejoices against judgment’ I choose mercy.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
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