Hector’s wife is named Andromache. Doesn’t that mean “man-war”? Gotta be significant.

Sat in a restaurant last night for the first time in a long time. But it felt different than many times before. Sitting there chitchatting with wife and kids, It finally dawned on me: I wasn’t feeling stressed. For the first time in a much longer time, I didn’t feel bad about the money. I could afford to enjoy this. I don’t have to do that often. But it felt so relaxing. I can’t remember last time that happened.

God, in your mercy, make this last. Make it grow.

If you were told you were only permitted to get bread, or shoes, or any other product from one and only one company, would it alleviate your concerns if you were permitted to vote for a change in the President of the company every four years?

A local pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a San Diego County official, who then threatened them with escalating fines if they continued to hold Bible studies in their home, 10News reported.

Attorney Dean Broyles of The Western Center For Law & Policy was shocked with what happened to the pastor and his wife.

Broyles said, “The county asked, ‘Do you have a regular meeting in your home?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you say amen?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you pray?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you say praise the Lord?’ ‘Yes.'”

The county employee notified the couple that the small Bible study, with an average of 15 people attending, was in violation of County regulations, according to Broyles.

Broyles said a few days later the couple received a written warning that listed “unlawful use of land” and told them to “stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit” — a process that could cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Read the rest: Couple: County Trying To Stop Home Bible Studies – San Diego News Story – KGTV San Diego.

I guess someone could explain to this guy that “Bible study” is Evangelese for a regular get-together with snacks.  Would an Oprah book group run into this problem.

I’m tempted to point out that Christians need to be prepared to start bribing.  Though it might be better not to since, if we’re seen as a source of income, the situation would only become worse for every other Christian group.

Here’s my aid to young readers needing help with the cultural reference irony.

But I’m not going to blog about my frustration with local talk radio showing that we all think that every single horrible tragedy that ever happened could have been prevented with the right legislation and that such legislation must be immediately passed to save others from our fate.

I’m just reporting here that I am frustrated that we are a nation of sheep who demand intense and ever expansive shepherding.

At one time, it seemed taken for granted that it was preferable to die than suffer or do certain things. Even “Mutually Assured Destruction” was justified this way because “better dead than red.”

But now we are all in a new age. Anything that could possibly slow our ability to gain victory, or make our chances of protecting ourselves slightly less favorable, is treated as totally wrong, as if advancing our lives were simply the only possible consideration.

Chivalry led to all sorts of bad things (i.e. Dueling; acceptance of M.A.D. strategy against Communism). But there are parts of it I really miss.

Not from the GOP. From a “moderate” talk show host on Good Morning America. The Party, we were advised in response Steele’s (sp?) speech, should not be an ideological platform. It should be about only one thing: winning elections.

Well, for all the criticism of the Bush/Cheney machine, the bottom line is that everyone knows there is an ethical base in the Republican Party and the fascists on the other side are doing all they can to encourage Machiavelli to dominate over them.

This kind of murderous advice is what makes me unashamed to say I’m Republican.

The “will to power” is supposedly a basic evil drive in human affairs–one that often explains the expansion of the state over society.

But what happens when we see factions preferring defeat and loss of power to doing what is necessary to win? How do we explain John McCain or the present Republican Party?

It is not all about power. It is about praise. It is about belonging to an elite class and wanting the approval of fellow elites. Paul gave us the ultimate solution, but it needs to be tried.

“We cannot succeed in Afghanistan or anywhere else, but let’s talk specifically about Afghanistan, by killing Afghan civilians,” Admiral Mullen said, adding that “we can’t keep going through incidents like this and expect the strategy to work.”

At the same time, Admiral Mullen said, “we can’t tie our troops’ hands behind their backs.”

via Joint Chiefs Chairman Criticizes Afghan Air Strikes – NYTimes.com.

If we remove their hands from Afghanistan, then we won’t need to choose between hand-tying them or killing.