AFRICA HOT - HODGEPODGE!

     The temperature in New Hampshire has been in the high 80's and low 90'w with tropical levels of humidity. In short, it has been miserably uncomfortable for all, with the singular exception of my beloved SWMBO who doesn't even break a sweat in this weather.

     Our friend and fellow blogger, Joyce from "From This Side of the Pond" has come up with some more thought provoking and fun questions. Don't just sit there, play along and answer the questions yourself.

1. What's something people might ask you for help with?

   
     I am willing to help out in almost any way that I can. People may ask me my opinion on a question of law because of my law enforcement background. People ask me to help with rides to medical appointments or to church. I also am well versed in the contents of the Bible so I am asked to help out and preach a sermon or teach an adult Bible class from time to time.

2. What's something you might ask someone else for help with?

     I do ask for help and/or guidance with repairs around the house. I am not the most gifted when it comes to the building trades. I also might ask for financial counsel because I don't have the greatest business acumen either.

3.  Did your family take summer vacations when you were a child? If so, where did you go? If you're a parent, did/do you plan summer vacations with your own family? Did/do they resemble those you took as a child?

     We didn't take vacations per se when I was a kid. My dad had a brother who lived in Quebec, Canada, so we'd all cram into the car and drive up to Canada to visit him for a couple of days. 
     When my kids were little, we'd take day trips. One year we spent a few days at a resort in the White Mountains. Another year we spent a couple of days in Quebec City, Canada. Most of the time we would take day trips to the beach, to a lake, or someplace else as our work schedules and finances permitted.

4.   Pool-lake-ocean...which one is most appealing to you on a hot summer day?

     I'd  love to spend a week or two in a cabin on a reasonably remote lake. That appeals to me alot. A close second would be to spend a few days by the ocean.
     Anyplace is acceptable as long as SWMBO is with me. Nirvana would be having SWMBO, our kids and our grandkids in the same place at the same time for a week.

5.  Have you ever justified using the expression, 'you gotta be cruel to be kind'?  Was it really necessary or were you rationalizing?

     I don't know that I have. There are times as a parent when you have to be "brutally" honest and that sometimes causes pain to your loved ones. You don't like to do...but you do it, but only if it is in their best interests.
     As a devout Christian it is sometimes difficult to tell the unvarnished truth about someone's possible eternal destiny if they choose to reject the grace and salvation that God freely offers. We are called to make disciples of all people teaching them everything Jesus taught while He was on earth. One of the the things that He taught was about Hell. Not a very happy or positive topic, but a necessary one if we are to fulfill the "Great Commission!"

6.  The Journal of Psychology recently mentioned the results of a survey identifying the ten most hated foods as-liver, lima beans, mayonnaise, mushrooms, eggs, okra, beets, brussel sprouts, tuna, and gelatin.  Of those foods, how many do you actually hate? Anything you'd add to the list? 

     I hate liver! I don't like okra. The rest of the list are perfectly palatable, as far as I'm concerned. One food I'd add to the list is "Indian Pudding." That stuff is poison!
     

7. What's your favorite book or movie set in a beach or lake town?

     I like the "Jesse Stone" movies based on books by Robert Parker which is set in a seacoast town called Paradise, Massachusetts. There's a number of movies where Tom Select plays the title character which are well worth watching.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

     The Obama Administration recently announced that they were going to postpone enforcement of the "Employer Mandate" of the Affordable Care Act which President Obama signed into law a couple of years ago. The law calls for enforcement of the mandate to go into effect on January 1, 2014. He wants to put if off for a year, until January 1, 2015.
      I have a couple of problems with the President's decision. First, the President does NOT have the authority to unilaterally change a law that was duly passed by the Congress and that he signed thereby enacting it into law. Congress may certainly amend the law and the President may sign the amendment enacting it into law. However, the President cannot legally change the law by himself.
     Second, the president took an oath to "...to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States. To preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States"
     Article II, Section 3, of the U.S. Constitution specifically requires the President to "...take care that the laws are faithfully executed." 
     The Constitution is clear that the president "MUST" take care to execute the laws that are enacted. A cynical person may conclude that the President is trying to put off the pain that is "Obama Care" until after the mid-term elections in 2014.
      Whatever the reason, what the President is doing is clearly wrong! What the President is doing is clearly illegal! What the President is doing is clearly unconstitutional! The law was duly passed by both houses of the Congress and he duly signed it, enacting it into law.
      Thomas Jefferson would call what the President is doing "TYRANNY!" I fail to see where Mr. Jefferson is wrong!