Salt & Light Perspective

Apolitical or Pawn

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 18:07:17 -0600

‘Occupy Wall Street’ was said to be a nonpartisan, apolitical movement. As the movement approaches its’ first anniversary; do you believe it is a nonpartisan, nonpolitical movement?

Editor threatens on-line contributor for reporting abusive comments

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:04:10 -0600

By now we have all witnessed malicious comments on news articles and editorials by on-line readers. Most on-line communities have guidelines encouraging proper and civil conduct in posting comments along with a method to report improper comments to the on-line community moderator.

I seldom use this method because I have felt that by allowing inappropriate comments to remain on articles readers get a better insight towards the character of the agency publishing the content article. However, I have communicated concern with comments on several occasions to our local newspaper, the Casper Star Tribune. My most recent encounter was interesting to say the least.

The editorial board ran an editorial suggesting that Wyoming begin considering charter schools in an attempt to help improve graduation rate and overall academic improvement. I posted a comment supporting the idea and gave examples of how the local school district wastes money and is “top heavy”.

Moments after I commented another reader, screen name embarcadero, commented, personally attacking me and with completely off topic remarks. I reported the distasteful comment through the “report to moderator” process. I then posted another comment referring back to the editorial article in an attempt to keep any further discussion on topic. Again, moments after posting, embarcadero fired another round of similarly distasteful remarks towards me and others; also mentioning them by name. These people were not mentioned in the editorial or commenting on the article. This was especially troubling to me so I reported that comment to be removed also. My second request read as follows:

Report number two: Continued personal attacks – “Hate Group”. Also in violation of the following “Rules for Commenting”:

Be truthful. Don’t lie about anyone or anything. Value
Be nice. No racism, sexism or any other sort of -ism that degrades another person.
Stay focused, and ask questions. Keep on the story’s topic.

If embarcadero’s (Sean Patrick Larvie) slanderous comments are not removed immediately I will follow-up in person on Monday April 23rd. by 9:00 A.M.

Thanks you,
Marc

This happened in the late evening hours on Sunday so I knew that moderation would not be immediate. Consequently, with my second “report of abuse” I added that if the slanderous comments were not removed by 9:00 am Monday morning I would be following up in person.

The comments were removed as requested but later in the day I received an e-mail from the Editor, Darrell Ehrlick . It is posted here in its entirety:

Dear Mr. Smith,

William Zeiders, our online editor, forwarded a concern written by you regarding another online comment. When comments escalate or cause us concern, we review them.

Your comment is particularly concerning to me. One of the challenges anyone has is reading tone and intent into email. In this instance, I have opted to handle your comment internally, rather than follow another protocol that we could have employed. We have reviewed the comment you found offensive, like we do with all that are reported to us. However, in the future if you make similar reports that include a specific threat, then I will have to take the following action. You will be banned from online commenting on our site. Secondly, I will report it to law enforcement.

Again, I don’t believe this was your intent. However, I cannot intuit intention in email. If you have questions about our policies or have concerns, you can contact me. We must take all threats seriously, though. We have to believe you meant what you said. We will continue to take you at your word.

Thanks for your understanding,
-Darrell

Editor Ehrlick apparently felt that by me saying that I would follow-up if the comments were not removed was some kind of a personal threat.

It is amazing to me that the chief editor of a statewide newspaper doesn’t know what follow-up means and would take it as a threat that would warrant banning me from their on-line community and secondly report it to law enforcement before consulting his dictionary. After all, Mr. Ehrlick is working in the field of journalism. The response by this newspaper and their chief editor is unfounded, absolutely absurd and completely beyond reason.

I can assure you that the comments directed towards me and others by embarcadero and then the threat by editor Ehrlick were far more concerning than me letting the Casper Star Tribune know that I would follow-up to make sure that action was taken to remove the comments as their policy outlines.

The obvious over reaction by Mr. Ehrlick suggests a number of things, not the least of which is that they truly don’t want to be bothered by well meaning readers who assume that the Casper Star Tribune is actually serious about maintaining civility within their on-line community comments area. Of greater concern should be; what is the motive behind someone who believes that reporting abuse and following-up on the report is in any way a threat which would justify banning the person reporting abuse and then threatening to notify law enforcement? Something else is obviously at play here, bubbling under the surface. When someone in Mr. Ehrlick’s position can’t correctly identify a threat in a situation as simple as this, one must ask; what is the real issue? Could it be something as simple as insecurity or is it something larger, like a clash of worldviews and an editor with an agenda?

Check out embarcadero, who is Sean Patrick Larvie, and Darrell Ehrlick’s agenda should become a little more clear as you gain perspective. Any and all who disagree with either one of these gentleman are simply labeled as bigots. I have discovered that Mr Ehrlick believes these “bigots” must be banned from commenting and reported to law enforcement. Should the head editor of Wyoming’s only statewide newspaper be so prejudiced?

Equality...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:27:03 -0700

Did America’s founders & framers envision and codify the principle of equality of opportunity or equality of outcome?

Soros – Occupy to turn violent

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:35:06 -0700

Billionaire George Soros predicted protests by the Occupy Wall Street will turn violent, while warning the U.S. financial system may collapse.

In an interview with Newsweek writer John Arlidge, Soros reportedly said riots on the streets of American cities are inevitable.

“‘Yes, yes, yes,’ he says, almost gleefully,” when asked about the prospect of Occupy turning violent, writes Arlidge.

Soros claimed the riots will “be an excuse for cracking down and using strong-arm tactics to maintain law and order, which, carried to an extreme, could bring about a repressive political system, a society where individual liberty is much more constrained, which would be a break with the tradition of the United States.”

“At times like these, survival is the most important thing,” Soros continued.

Read the rest here. ?

Can I just ask, how old are you?

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:38:19 -0700

Certainly, Im an old, old man of 51.

I was recently asked by someone on facebook to define Marxism. I...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:19:26 -0700

I was recently asked by someone on facebook to define Marxism. I believe this sums it up rather well. Please take 9 minutes to view this short video. ?

Occupy the Schoolhouse

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:15:16 -0700

Some school officials and teachers are failing to teach their students even basic material. The injustice of it is shocking, and something, Colson says, we must not tolerate.

Attention Occupy Wall Street...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:18:55 -0700

Wade Rathke, co-founder of ACORN says Occupy ‘groping for a plan’ – breakup possible

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:47:45 -0700

Is there trouble with the vision of utopian paradise ‘Occupiers’ hope for?

“As an organizer, I would venture to predict that there is a hard debate coming between occupants committed to a program and plan going forward and occupants committed to the process and trusting that something will emerge. Logically one would think that this sort of thing simply works itself out, but after listening to a 45 minute debate of sorts as they struggled to decide where to meet again twixt and tween the Plaza and our Fair Grinds Common Space, I wondered if that was possible or the group would simply split into various Occupy this and that’s without being able to sustain the Occupy core.

One advantage of dialogues that is past argument, is that when they work as well as this one, it gets you thinking!”

Click here read more?

I'm sorry but I saw that you were following my blog, I'm not sure I know you....

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:12:06 -0700

We don’t know each other. I heard about Kivu Gap Year yesterday on Pilgrim radio. It sounds very interesting and possibly a program that might interest one of our children. I noticed the blogs and considering I blog on Tumbler also I had the option to follow them. Yours was one of two I decided to follow. I hope this doesn’t bother you. Please let me know if it does & I will un-follow you.

My blog here at Tumblr is in response to the radical liberal influence currently undermining American idealism & policy. My primary blog is www.slperspective.blogspot.com. Check it out if you are interested.

Thanks & God Bless,

Marc

get off tumblr i think blogspot is more your audience

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:31:47 -0700

Thanks but I believe I will remain here at tumblr tailoring the message to the audience as I have done on blogspot, Word Press, Ephesians 4 Forum & facebook. I do appreciate your input though.

God Bless,

Marc

Man supported by Occupy Boston convicted of terrorism

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:58:31 -0700

Back in October, Boston occupiers held a rally for a then accused terrorist by the name of Tarek Mehanna. Well this week, Mehanna was found guilty of conspiring to help Al Qaeda.

What’s the old saying about you know a person by the company they keep?

do you know me?

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:59:26 -0700

No, I heard about Kivu Gap Year today on Pilgrim radio. It sounds very interesting and possibly a program that might interest one of our children. I noticed the blogs and considering I blog on Tumbler also I had the option to follow them. Yours was one of two I decided to follow. I hope this doesn’t bother you. Please let me know if it does & I will un-follow you.

Thanks & God Bless,

Marc

UPDATE- Occupy Port FAIL

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:22:42 -0700

Posted By The P/Oed Patriot

In what has to be a great example of a Fail for the Occupy San Diego movement, about 50 people showed up to the Port entrance in order to walk around in a circle chanting in an attempt to shut it down.

4 People were arrested for sitting in the road.

Police said that the Occupiers were not much of a disturbance because there was very little traffic trying to go in and out of the Port.

By the way, the man in the video admits in the ‘description’ section on You Tube that the footage was actually taken today the 12th, not yesterday the 11th.

Here is the video:

On a whole other level of Fail, Occupy Oakland decided to form a ‘kick line’, instead of walking in a circle, in order to shut down the local Port. They followed the little song and dance with a ‘classy’ chant in which they call the Police, Pigs.

According to the San Francisco Appeal the Occupiers only caused “Sporadic Disruptions” and 2 people were arrested for blocking a drive way.

Here is the video:

!!!UPDATE!!!

Here is another great example of the failure of the Occupy the Ports protest as cars just drive right through the Occupy San Diego Protester’s ‘blockade’. Notice how several of the protesters actually hit the cars and trucks of those just trying to get to work.

Warning Foul Language!

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The coming rift between OWS and the Unions: Longshoremen reject port blockade

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:36:19 -0700

From PJ Media

Monday December 12 is Armageddon Day for the Occupy movement on the West Coast. Or at least it was supposed to be Armageddon Day until recent events have somewhat dampened prognostications. Well over a month ago, when the whole OWS thing was full of piss and vinegar, Occupy Oakland convinced all the other Occupations from San Diego up to Vancouver to stage a total blockade of all West Coast ports on December 12, bringing (it was hoped) the capitalist system to a sudden crashing halt.

While the plan is still afoot, the intervening weeks changed the political landscape so much that now I’m pretty sure many of the Occupiers wish they hadn’t made such grandiose pronouncements. On the day the plans were made for the overly ambitious port blockage, OWS felt (in its delusional little bubble, at least) that it was on the upswing, that America was joining them, that the revolution had arrived. Now? Not so much. My, what a few short weeks can wreak.

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Bomb-builder Bill Ayers loves OWS

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:31:01 -0700

From Bill Ayers website

Occupy is an expression of hope and an invitation to pay attention at this unique and expectant moment. It’s an opening, not a destination. People naming the obstacles to their full humanity, people in motion, people growing and changing and teaching and learning are people who can storm the heavens and accomplish the previously unthinkable.

And Occupy has already won, that is, the movement has changed the frame, redefined the discussion, and introduced a range of new ideas into the public square, for example: We are the 99%! Like every other movement in history, it was “impossible” the day before it burst onto the scene, and yet it seemed suddenly “inevitable” the day after.

The response of the powerful follows an age-old, exhausted and predictable script: ignore them, ridicule them, try to co-opt them, and beat the shit out of them—and all four responses are still in-play. The wonder of the movement is its ability to see these moves for what they are, and to hold tight to their independent vision, unique approach, and this precious thing. 99%!

For those who are not familiar, Bill Ayers participated in the bombings of New York City Police Department headquarters in 1970, the United States Capitol building in 1971, and the Pentagon in 1972. These acts place him in the realm of domestic terrorism.

Please correct me if I’m wrong but I seriously doubt that even 7% of the citizens in America would identify themselves with a movement in which Bill Ayers endorses and is a spokesman for.

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Echoes of ‘Occupy’

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:14:50 -0700

In his December 7^th speech to a supportive audience in Osawatomie Kansas President Obama said;

“rebuilding this economy based on fair play, a fair shot and a fair share will require all of us to see the stake we have in each other’s success.”

Does this mean that I get a share of his “success”? How much can I expect?

Of course this is his regular Socialist rhetoric that the ‘Occupiers’ have embraced. The question that remains is; what is fair? Please define that for us Mr. President.

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My Take: Jesus was a free marketer, not an Occupier

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:57:00 -0700

By Tony Perkins, Special to CNN

(CNN) – One of the last instructions Jesus gave his disciples was “Occupy till I come.”

As Jesus was about to enter Jerusalem for the last time, just before his crucifixion, he was keenly aware that his disciples greatly desired and even anticipated that the kingdom of God was going to be established immediately on the earth.

As a way to break the news that it wasn’t going to happen in the manner and with the timing they expected, Jesus pulled them aside and gave them instructions by way of a parable.

The primary purpose of the parable, which appears in the Gospel of Luke, was to make clear to his disciples that the kingdom of God would not be physically established on the earth for some time and that, until then, they were being entrusted with certain responsibilities.

Jesus, depicted as a ruler in the story, would have to leave for a while as he traveled to a faraway place to receive authority to reign over the kingdom. In his absence, the disciples – depicted as servants – were to “occupy” until he returned.

Here’s the direct quote from Luke: “He called his ten servants, and gave to them ten minas, one mina each (a mina today would be worth around $225), and he then told them to ‘Occupy till I come.’ ” (Luke 19:13, King James Version)

But just what does Jesus’ order to occupy mean? Does it mean take over and trash public property, as the Occupy movement has? Does it mean engage in antisocial behavior while denouncing a political and economic system that grants one the right and luxury to choose to be unproductive?

No, the Greek term behind the old English translation literally means “be occupied with business.” As with all parables, Jesus uses a common activity such as fishing or farming to provide a word picture with a deeper spiritual meaning.

From a spiritual perspective, the mina in this parable represents the opportunity of life; each of us is given the same opportunity to build our lives, and each of us shares the same responsibility to invest our lives for the purpose of bringing a return and leaving a legacy. Jesus gave equal responsibility and opportunity to each of his 10 servants.

The fact that Jesus chose the free market system as the basis for this parable should not be overlooked. When the nobleman returns, after being established as king – a stand-in for Jesus – he calls all his servants together to see what they had accomplished in his absence.

The first servant reports a nice profit: 10 minas. While the story lacks specifics on whether he invested the money in a herd of sheep or a hedge fund, we do know that he made his gain by engaging in business transactions of some sort. He used a free market system to bring a tenfold return on investment. No doubt such a return took a lot of diligent, dedicated effort.

The newly established king praises the servant and gives him a reward that’s an even greater return on his efforts, “because you have been faithful in very little I will give you authority over ten cities.”

Likewise the second servant in the story, who had turned his one mina into five, is praised and rewarded with greater responsibilities: He is given five cities.

The third servant in the story had apparently either slept through his economics course or was just indifferent to the work delegated to him.

He had essentially kept the capital entrusted to him under his mattress for safekeeping.

When called to give an account of what he had accomplished, the man immediately attempts to shift the focus off his failure with excuses of how unfair the boss was because he was always trying to get more than he deserved for his money.

The employee review is immediate and intense: “Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked servant.” The king’s disappointment and frustration are nearly palpable. “Why didn’t you at least put the money in the bank and draw interest?” the king inquires.

While such language might prompt an HR complaint today, its meaning was quite clear to the disciples. There are no excuses for doing nothing.

Parables generally have a twist near the end, a final jolt to drive the point home. This one is no exception. The ruler orders that the capital, or opportunity, given to the lazy servant be taken from him and given to the most productive servant. “To everyone who has, more shall be given,” the Bible reads, “but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.”

Jesus rejected collectivism and the mentality that has occupied America for the last few decades: that everyone gets a trophy – equal outcomes for inequitable performance. There are winners and yes, there are losers. And wins and losses are determined by the diligence and determination of the individual.

Some would argue that such an approach encourages abuses, the likes of which we have seen on Wall Street. While some egregious abuses have taken place, they are not inevitable or intrinsic to free enterprise.

The parable of the king and the servants endorses the principles of business and the free market when properly employed.

Remember, these servants were not working for themselves, but under the constraints of their lord and for his benefit. Likewise our free market system works when bridled by morality. Not arbitrary morality that changes with political parties, but transcendent moral principles.

Yes, we are to “occupy,” not by railing against a free market system that rewards diligence, even though it is occasionally abused. Rather we are to occupy by using that system ethically as a means to advance the interests of the one we serve.

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By now everyone has seen, or at least heard about, the “pepper...

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:04:57 -0700

By now everyone has seen, or at least heard about, the “pepper spray” incident at the Universityof California Daviscampus. Pictures are said to be worth a thousand words and indeed those pictures can be presented in a way to promote a specific agenda. This is nothing new – we deal with this many times everyday in advertising. So let’s get the rest of the story by watching video of the event. I’m sure you will have a different perspective after viewing; UC Davis Pepper Spray - What Really Happened.

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Have you ever actually done any unbiased research on abortion? Have you ever looked at sites such as WebMD, the Guttmacher Institute, the National Cancer Institute, or any other scientifically- or academically-based website? Pro-life websites are capable of being wrong, or of outright lying, you know. So why blindly trust them, and why refuse to actually fact-check what they say?

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:01:31 -0700

My friend if you believe The Guttmacher Institute is unbiased you are sorely mistaken. Indeed everyone has bias including you.

If you don’t believe my view is shaped through the use of a vast array of informational data after reading my last response then nothing will convince you. Indeed, I provided more data and reference material in that response, some of which comes from sources you claim to be reliable & acceptable, than you could have possible reviewed in the short time since I posted it.

You claim to be well informed which is what shapes your view yet you have presented nothing but questions, opinion & ad hominem attacks. Please support your view with the evidence you claim to embrace.

Thanks,Marc