Cuffy was still stressed that we had not eliminated the fugitive mouse. She believed it to be just like a terrorist on the loose with the potential to spread disease (biological warfare). She asked me about the possibility of implementing an organized plan to put our entire home under surveillance. But, since Cuffy was a worrier, she asked, “Jazzy, do you think we need to get permission from a FICA court after every single incident of checking out strange scents on the floor.” I, your courageous Jazzy Cat, replied, “Cuffy, since the WH and DH household does not have the democat problem that is hindering the war on terror in our country, we can use whatever it takes to eliminate our mouse problem.”
Cuffy was worried as she said, “Jazzy, I overheard WH and DH discussing the fact that they have seen the mouse that got away the other night twice. They have concluded that we have fallen down on the job and are getting old, lazy or both. This is so embarrassing. What can we do?” Being the more confident cat in the house, I replied, “Cuffy, calm down. They are not exactly spring chickens or bundles of energy either, so they understand. Either we will get that mouse and be treated like heroes or we won’t and will be treated with sympathy. Looks like a win/win situation to me.”
A recent daily devotional in the Tabletalk devotional magazine posed the following question for science to answer: Why is there something rather than nothing? They go on to say, that to appeal to some form of dense matter that explodes into a big bang begs the question. To devise a theory of self-creation is illogical in that it violates the law of noncontridiction. Today’s Photo Meditation is on that subject. Photo Meditation # 18 Creation
Cuffy said, “Jazzy, what do you think of the religious pluralism that many humans seem to be embracing.” I replied, “Cuffy, one form of religious pluralism means to accept other religions’ beliefs as valid. This is kind of a relativistic PC tolerance (see Nov. 2 post) which is totally absurd. While all religions may contain some common ethical teachings, they have serious core differences in theology. Each claims to have the truth that is not shared by the others. Logic and reason would assert that it is possible that they are all wrong. This is a logically possibility. It is also possible for one of them to be correct, but it is not possible for two or more to be correct let alone all them. To slaughter logic and reason in the name of sensitivity, diversity, multi-culturalism, PC tolerance is to abandon rational thought.”
Cuffy came running up to Jazzy and said, “Jazzy, we should write a book about our lives as world class predators. We could tell how we stalk and kill water buffalo, elephants, and the like. Then we could explain how we have to fight off lions and tigers to keep our kill. It would be such a sensational book we could get on the Oprah Windbag show and become celebrities and make a gazillion dollars.” I, your humble and honest Jazzy Cat replied, “Cuffy, there is not a word of truth in that bull you just cited. As a matter of fact we haven’t even got that mouse intruder yet and here you are talking about lions and tigers.” Cuffy continued, “But Jazzy, if truth is relative as the post-modern culture wants to believe, what is the harm?” Jazzy called Cuffy over and said, “Cuffy, we are not going to participate in the extinction of logic and reason whether the post-modern culture agrees or not. I then slapped Cuffy upside the head with my paw. My meaning was clear….. Go catch the mouse and forget that fake book folly!”
After WH, DH, and Cuffy had all gone to bed last night, Jazzy Cat discovered an illegal alien in the form of a mouse in the bathroom. That would be an undocumented resident to those with liberalism disorder. Jazzy, called to Cuffy for backup with a sound that WH had never heard before and he immediately thought that she might possibly be in great pain. WH and Cuffy responded and after the lights were turned on, WH spotted the intruder. Due to this interference from WH in a feline law enforcement activity, the mouse got away. However, Jazzy and Cuffy were in predator mode for the rest of the night and the intruder would be wise to vacate and re-locate or face serious consequences. Since WH is not a PETA member, there will not be an endless number of resolutions demanding that the intruder leave before these serious consequences are carried out.
Jazzy continued, “Another huge problem with hate crime laws in America is that hate crimes and speech against groups and thinking that do not conform to the current political correct held views are not even considered hate crimes. In the shooting incident at the Dallas area Baptist Church there was no outcry about hate crime from political leaders or the media. Conservative speakers at universities get assaulted, have items thrown at them and get shouted off the stage and there is no mention of hate crimes or hateful behavior, but let a religious leader speak against same sex marriage and they are labeled as bigots and hate mongers by politicians and the media. The most graphic example of this double standard occurred at the University of Colorado where Professor Ward Churchill made the infamous hate filled anti-American statement about the victims of 9-11. The reaction from the left who sets the PC standards was to champion his freedom of speech and right to academic freedom. There were no calls for sensitivity training or for him to apologize. When the football coach at the same University of Colorado said the girl that tried out for the football team was not a good player, there were calls for him to take sensitivity training and to apologize. I, your humble Jazzy Cat, am quite suspicious of the objectivity that human’s use in what is called hate speech and what is called freedom of speech. Since speech comes from thought and reveals the reason a person takes action in hate crimes, it is obvious to Jazzycat that fairness and objectivity in making the motive of hate a crime is not very likely. The solution is simple…. Punish the actual crime against people and property and don’t get involved with motives. Most crimes leave discretion for judges in sentencing which is ample opportunity for motives to be considered.”
Jazzy continued, “There are several problems with making motives for a crime an additional crime. Since the motive of hate makes a specific crime worse because of the hate motive, then it would logically follow that hate without an accompanying crime would also be a crime. From this point it would be a small and obvious step to making hate speech a crime. The loss of freedom of speech would result because to speak in opposition to any cultural mores and group values could and would be labeled as hate speech. In the USA, there are accepted politically correct positions and values about some very controversial activities. If a person disagrees with these accepted positions, it is not unusual for that opposition to be labeled as motivated by hate. For example, to be against same sex marriage is to hate homosexuals and to label a religion as false by other religious faith traditions is considered intolerant and hateful in today’s culture. Even without hate speech laws, the point has already been reached where employment and job security depends on a person either adopting politically correct positions or remaining silent on certain issues. Fortunately cats do not have to endure the manipulation and brain washing that is characteristic of human behavior.”
Cuffy asked Jazzy, “Jazzy, what is a hate crime?” I, your humble and astute Jazzy Cat, replied, “Cuffy, there are many motives for crimes such as greed, jealousy, vandalism, fear, hate, etc. A hate crime is one in which the motive for a crime (hate) is also a crime. This means that thought is a crime in a hate crime. For example, when DH first brought Duffy to live with us, I slapped her upside the head with my paw. It was done out of hate for what I considered to be an intruder. However, when DH brought the catnip home and you got to it first, I came up and slapped you upside the head out of selfish greed. In both cases the crime was assault; however, the motive was different. I am speaking from a human standpoint, as fortunately we felines are not burdened with a bunch of laws to obey.”
In our contemporary culture there is a tremendous mainstream and entertainment media attempt to manipulate public opinion into what has become the PC position of allowing marriage of same sex couples. In spite of the Bible being crystal clear on the subject, the religious left has embraced this position and caused major controversy in several protestant denominations. Today’s photo meditation sheds light on the subject, and in spite of misinformation from the religious left, Jesus did comment directly on marriage. See Photo Meditation #37 Marriage
Cuffy asked Jazzy, “Jazzy, since we love each other, why can’t we get married like WH and DH.” Cuffy sometimes took a step backward in her development, so I explained to her that we couldn’t get married for two reasons. First, as magnificent as cats were, marriage was ordained by God for human beings and not felines. The second reason was that even if we were to be demoted to human beings, we were both female and marriage was also ordained by God to be between a man and a woman. Whether one believed in Darwinian theory or intelligent design, it was obvious that the act of mating required a male and a female and in human culture marriage has always been an institution based on mating. Tomorrow’s Bible lesson will be on marriage to further clarify this issue.
Cuffy reported to Jazzy that the local newspaper had an article about an author of a book on religion who said in his book that, ‘absolute truth claims were a sign of corruption in a religion’. Cuffy then asked Jazzy Cat, “What do you think about such a statement?.” I, your logical and level headed Jazzy Cat, said after some research, “Cuffy, since this author is the head of the Department of Religion at a major university and a Baptist minister, I find the statement odd in that the Bible is full of absolute truth claims including many by Jesus. It would logically follow that he does not believe absolute truth exists to make such a statement. If there is no absolute truth, then the truth claims he makes in his book must also be corrupt and unreliable. That makes his book worthless and the humans who believe this gobbley-gook and buy his book absolutely goofy.”
Cuffy approached Jazzy with an idea to make a gazillion dollars. She said, “Jazzy Cat, I think we could start a web site, call it ‘Democats Gone Wild’ and feature video of all the absurd things they say. For example, just this week New Orleans mayor Rant Nutty said that God had told him that New Orleans was going to be a chocolate city, former VP Ax Goon said that America had become a police state under Bush, and Senator Hardly Coherent of N.Y. said that the House of Representatives was being run like a plantation. What do you think?” Well, I your great and scholarly Jazzy Cat, replied, “Cuffy, while it is a great idea, the work involved in keeping up with their lunacy would be overwhelming and would cut into our valuable meditation time. The really scary thing about their rhetoric is that they are appealing to their base who accept their bull without any proof. This begs the question, what is the intellectual capacity of this base.”
After watching the news, Cuffy asked Jazzy Cat, “Jazzy, it has just been revealed that Senator Needmo Integrity (see Jan. 13 post) has been discovered to be a member of the ‘Hooters Club’ which bans women from membership. In light of the fact that Senator Integrity had just given Judge Alito all kinds of verbal abuse for an alumni club that he was in that was supposedly anti-women, what do you think?” I, your discerning Jazzy Cat, replied, “Cuffy, Senator Needmo Integrity has a long history when it comes to his treatment of women and also has questionable character traits. In this particular situation, he said he was not a member anymore, but continued to pay dues of $100.00 and then said he was going to get out as fast as he could. In other words he was paying dues to a club he was not a member of and since it had been exposed, he was going to get out of what he was not in as fast as he could. If it is loyalty you want do not look Needmo Integrity’s direction. The Senator has always loved his happy hour. What a guy.”
Jazzy continued, “Cuffy, another reason costs are so high is due to the fact that in most cases the patient (person receiving the service) does not actually pay for the service directly. His insurance, medicare, or some third party is actually paying the bill. Therefore, the person receiving the medical service being rendered has very little interest in the correctness of the charges on the bill, whether all the tests are really needed, and if there are any overcharges. Yet this person has the most knowledge of these factors. Seems to me, a mere Jazzy Cat, there needs to be a system in place that would give the patient an incentative to keep the bills as low as possible even if a third party does the actual paying. A medical savings account program has been proposed that would do that, but I am sure there would be other ways, some of which might even satisfy liberal thinking. Cuffy has just started snoring so I will continue later.”
Cuffy said, “Jazzy Cat, you have mentioned that socialized medicine is not the answer for improving health care in America. What can be done to improve our current system?” I, your gifted and humble Jazzy Cat, replied, “While I do not have all the answers, I have noticed some things that could make health care less expensive. Tort reform to bring down the cost that Doctors have to pay for malpractice insurance would be a good starting point. This cost has gone out the roof due to ambulance chasing lawyers like former trial lawyer and now Judge I.R. Sleaze. This malpractice insurance cost is passed right along to patients. Also, completely frivolous lawsuits with no merit could be effectively reduced if some kind of loser pays system were put into place. For example, if a person brings an extremely weak suit without merit to court and loses, then this person should have to pay a part of the legal fees of the defendant. Perhaps the judge or the jury could set the amount depending on the weakness of the case. This would force plaintiff lawyers to be more careful before filing weak cases. Some states may already have such reform as we cats can’t know everything. More tomorrow”
In today’s secular culture, no Bible teaching has been more distorted than the one on judging. Not only unbelievers, but many in the church today have redefined this teaching into meaning that anything goes and Christians should forgive all immoral behavior with absolutely no dissent or mention of sinful behavior. Intolerance has become the problem and the sin when Christians or anyone else espouses values, standards, moral behavior and the like. Thus the teaching on judging is distorted to the point of meaning that a blind eye should be turned to all kinds of indecent and perverted behavior less one be intolerant. What does the Bible really teach on this subject? Photo Meditation # 47 Judge Not gives an overview of this teaching.
This has been such a beautiful sunny winter day that Cuffy and I have just sort of kicked back and lounged around in our windows and watched the world go by. We saw birds, squirrels, and vehicles on the road. We even saw WH and DH go and come. It was a lot more enjoyable and entertaining than watching TV. It gave me plenty of time to meditate and get ideas for future blog posts. Today’s photo is of me enjoying my garden a few years ago.
Cuffy informed me that she had heard our ole friend Lefty Leaner formally of WLIE-TV had gotten a reporting job with ‘Agendaweek’, a national weekly news magazine. Cuffy said that Lefty’s first assignment was the Alito confirmation hearings. So I, your scholarly Jazzy Cat, watched some of the hearings to satisfy my world famous curiosity. It was nauseating to watch the democat senators attempt to impugn the character of this outstanding man. Perhaps the most disgusting display of this arrogance came from Senator Needmo Integrity (his feline name). His moral and ethical failings are well documented. Senator Imso Smart would have probably been as bad, but he loves listening to himself so much that his interrogation time was cut short. Then Senator Soonersmirk, Senator Dirtybin and the gentle sounding Senator Fineswine brought their venom and insults. I wonder what Edward R. Murrow would have thought of their McCarthyism tactics of guilt by association. These people do not want an honest judge that interprets and applies the law. They want a judge that will further their personal policy preferences and treat the Constitution as a living and breathing document which is liberal speak for stretching the meaning as much as necessary to implement these preferences. They will attempt to slander and personally destroy anyone who does not espouse their policy preferences. They have done it before successfully and unsuccessfully. Policy preferences should become law by legislation not judicial decree.
I continued my explanation to Cuffy by saying, “Cuffy, about twelve or so years ago this country almost passed a disastrous National Health Care plan for humans. This centralized plan would have severely limited the freedom and right to choose in such things as doctor selection, access to specialists, tests, procedures, etc. Centralized planning would have controlled the placement of Doctors, the number of specialists trained, the procedures and tests that would be allowed, the patient age and condition that treatment would be curtailed. In short there would have been a massive loss of freedom that patients now enjoy. Waiting periods for serious planned operations would probably have resulted as they have in other countries with socialized medicine. Cuffy, I shudder to think what would happen to small animal care if such a plan were implemented for vet care. You could forget that kidney test we had. The wait would have been terrible with even more crude dogs sniffing around our kennel. Capitalism and the free enterprise system will provide the best medical care system and vet system as it does with all other goods and services.” For the devilish details check here: http://www.fff.org/freedom/0194c.asp
I, your humble but special Jazzy Cat, cannot believe how much the bill was for the checkup that Cuffy and I received yesterday. We did get the special senior screening checkup a couple of years earlier than recommended because WH and DH love us and wanted to get a report on our kidney functions. Cuffy said to me, “Jazzy Cat, with those kind of vet costs, doesn’t this country need some kind of national vet care plan?” I replied, “Cuffy, the system we have now is expensive and is not perfect, but free market competition provides us with the ability to choose our own vet clinic and get excellent service, excellent access, plus the choice of obtaining any test or procedure we want such as the kidney test we had. We have five or six clinics within a few miles and one of these specializes in felines only. There is great freedom in our vet system to provide whatever care is deemed necessary by pet custodians and Doctors. Tomorrow, we will look at what vet care would look like if a national plan with centralized planning from Washington D.C. were implemented.”
My sister Cuffy and I, your humble Jazzy Cat, had our annual visit to the vet yesterday. This was such a traumatic experience for both of us, as we were exposed to the company of all kinds of strange dogs, some of which had the nerve to come sniffing at our port-a-pet kennel with disrespect. A few well-timed hisses took care of this insensitive breach of etiquette. Things only went down hill from there as we had our first senior screening exam. This required a blood sample and Cuffy is so fat that the Doctor had trouble finding a vein. It took him about ten minutes as he finally had to shave a little spot to find one. He shaved a spot on me as well, although I really don’t think it was necessary. At this point, the down hill plunge only got steeper as the Doctor weighed us and confirmed what was all too obvious. Absolute rock bottom came when the Doctor told WH and DH that we would have to go on a diet and be given strict portions instead of the 24/7 “all you can eat buffet” that we have learned to love. Life can indeed take some unexpected and unpleasant turns.
After watching the cable T.V. news, Cuffy asked Jazzy, “Jazzy, I heard this lady talking about how a woman should have a right to choose what to do with her body in deciding whether to have an abortion or not. This raised the following question in my mind. When we were unborn kittens in our mothers womb, were we part of her body or were we separate entities?” I, your humble and brilliant Jazzy Cat, was once again pleased with Cuffy’s question. She had rebounded from her worldly concern of improving her appearance via cosmetic surgery to giving thought to a very serious matter of life and death. I said, “Cuffy, we were separate entities with separate DNA’s and our litter brothers were even a different sex than our mother. Had we been aborted, we would have never been the tremendous blessing to WH and DH that we are today. The real right to choose that lady was referring to was the right to choose to kill an unborn infant. This truth is so repulsive that it is repackaged as a privacy health issue about a woman’s body.” For more see photo meditation #36 Abortion
Today’s Bible lesson will be on God’s sovereignty and control of his creation through providence. See Photo Meditations 11 Providenceand #53 Natural Disasters.
Cuffy was still mad at me, your humble Jazzy Cat, for rejecting her request for cosmetic surgery and liposuction; however, recent news events had stirred her feline curiosity to a fever pitch about theology. She asked, “Jazzy Cat, does God still use prophets to make predictions and explain his actions and intentions? Also, how do you explain it when someone in today’s world claims to know the motive of God in a specific illness?” I, your humble Jazzy Cat, was solemn as I consulted the Holy Bible for an answer to these questions. After a time, I responded, “Cuffy, I believe the Bible teaches that the era of prophets receiving revelation directly from God ended with the time of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1-2). As to your second question, I believe it follows from the first answer that anyone who claims to know the mind and motive of God in a specific illness is a false prophet.”
I, your humble Jazzy Cat, learned today that the ACLU (see Jan 3 post) has now decided to harass me on another front because I have several times referred to having nine lives. Since I home school Cuffy, they are alleging that I am going against evolutionary theory by claiming to have nine lives. They say belief in nine lives is a religious concept and must not be taught even in a home school environment. Since they appear to have won this battle in public schools, they are broadening their thrust and need a test case to see if they can successfully impose their secular world-view thinking directly into homes. They are alarmed by the increasing number of Americans that are home schooling their children and they want to engage them in the courts where they have unlimited resources and a record of intimidating those they sue.
After Cuffy finished her fancy feast brand fish and shrimp dinner this morning, she happened to notice the reflection in the mirror as she walked by. She was stunned and immediately ran to Jazzy and said, “Jazzy Cat, I have really put on the weight and I need a major makeover. I think some liposuction, and possibly cosmetic surgery or at the very least botox treatment is needed. What do you think?” I, your permanently composed Jazzy Cat, replied, “Cuffy, sometimes that cosmetic surgery and botox stuff goes wrong. Some of those Hollywood stars cannot even smile due to the botox injections and stretched skin. I believe it has been stretched so much on some of them that a cut on the chin would cause their skin to roll up like an old fashion window shade.” Cuffy responded, “Jazzy, I hate to bring this up, but I believe you could use a tummy tuck yourself. Maybe we could get a package deal.” After a long pause and a cold hard stare, I slapped Cuffy upside the head with my paw. My meaning was clear.......Request denied!
Chloe had this melancholy look on her face as she approached Jazzy and said, “Jazzy Cat, I have been meditating and thinking about how close D.H. and I have become since she lost her little dog, Duffy, a few months ago. I knew she was lonely and I tried to be sympathetic by cuddling up next to her. She responded by giving me more of that smoked turkey that I like and our relationship just grew dramatically. Well, I have been thinking about changing my name to Cuffy in honor of her beloved dog, Duffy. What do you think?” I, your sensitive and compassionate Jazzy Cat, told Chloe that I, the feline head of the household, approved. She would now be called Cuffy with my blessing.
Chloe approached Jazzy as she was meditating in the window and said, “Jazzy Cat, the ACLU has issued a complaint against us because yesterday we admitted slapping a mouse around until he died. They say we were engaging in torture.” I, your humble but brilliant jazzy cat, responded to the complaint and explained to the ACLU that mice were terrorists that were in our home illegally and were intent on causing destruction and conducting biological warfare with the ability to bring contagious diseases into our home. As we were gathering intelligence into their past activities and future plans, we slapped him a little hard and he died. I then proudly told them, that before he died, he revealed valuable information that should make our home safer. They were angry and said the mouse deserved better treatment and an activist lawyer similar to Ramsey Clark to represent their interest. I told them to go sniff some catnip and try to get a better grasp on reality and the dangers we face from terrorism. A Jazzycat recommended site: Stop the ACLU
Chloe approached the supremely knowledgeable Jazzy Cat with a question, “Jazzy, I have noticed that liberals and the ACLU are against profiling in all kinds of investigations and preventative law enforcement operations. What exactly is profiling?” I, your humble Jazzy knew that the best way to explain things to Chloe was by illustration and example so I said, “Chloe, do you remember the time we were playing with that mouse by slapping him around and then after he died we left him under the computer. Well, in spite of the fact that we had three dogs living with us at the time, WH and DH believed that we were the guilty parties. That is profiling and if they had wanted to prove it they would have started their investigation with us instead of the dogs. Now liberals and the ACLU would have wanted the dogs to have been equal suspects to us so as to be non-discriminatory and they would have started the investigation with the dogs.” Chloe had a look of disbelief when she said, “But, Jazzy that would have wasted a lot time and resources and any fool knows that a house with dogs, cats and a dead mouse has the modus operandi of felines written all over it.”Jazzycat link Stop the ACLU
Today’s Bible lesson is on sound doctrine. Photo Meditation number 29 Doctrine gives an overview of the importance of sound doctrine. The bottom line on doctrine is that Christian Doctrine should come from the Holy Bible and it should be systematically formulated from the entire Bible and not built on one verse. People’s dreams and imaginations are false when they contradict Biblical teaching.