The very latest, “As the nation prepares for its 250th Independence Day celebration, a decades-long California Fourth of July fireworks tradition that has raised millions for local children’s programs is going dark this year after the California Coastal Commission rejected a final effort to keep it alive, citing environmental concerns to protect the bay.”  Immensely unfortunate, but terribly unsurprising.. . .

The Sermon On The Mount – as preached by Jesus in Matthew 5-7 – is one of those passages of scripture, often cited, but rarely explored in depth.  It is quite long and contains parts everybody loves (the Beatitudes) and warnings no one wants to really hear because they are hard.  One of those less explored and harder to hear parts came to my mind this morning,. . .

The title quotes 1 Thessalonians 5:21, but it seems so apt after Thursday’s show.  That show featured interviews and clips of remarkable depth and insight.  Let’s examine.. . .

The addendum to yesterday’s post where I linked to an article about how low quality of life ratings for L.A. County have gotten has me on a slow burn for the last 24.  The excuse making is extraordinary and indicative of just how low the character of government there has grown.  But rather than rant about something I rant about almost continuously, I thought I would turn our attention to this morning’s Fox op-ed from the host’s former colleague, William Bennett.  It is deeply chilling.. . .

It is said that an addict has to “hit bottom” before they will actually change.  Hitting bottom is defined, “reaching the lowest possible point, state, or condition, often characterized by intense misery, failure, or despair.”  I am beginning to wonder if California has a bottom to hit.. . .

Sometime when I was in what was then known as “Junior High School” my mother clipped a one-panel cartoon out of the newspaper (remember those?) and posted it on the fridge.  There it sat well into my adulthood disappearing only sometime well after I had moved out-of-state altogether as a adult.  The cartoon depicted a stone wall with graffiti that read what titled this post.  My mom said it was there to remind her, but it became seared into my memory – so much so that here we are, 50 years later and it popped in my mind instantly when I came across what I want to discuss this morning.. . .

California suffers two great illnesses.  One, because it’s “Hollywood” they think image matters more than reality  Two, the Democrat majority have rendered elections seemingly uncompetitive for Republicans and taken monopolistic control.  That’s an ugly combination and it has come home to roost.  (Actually, the first one there came home to roost with the election of pretty boy Gavin Newsom who has proven utterly incapable of governing, but this post is about the combination.). . .

Going into the negotiations this past weekend everyone said the Islamists ostensibly in charge in Iran only had two negotiating levers – their pile of nuclear junk, unusable at the moment but dangerous to leave them with, and the Strait of Hormuz.  Everyone was wrong; they had a third – the general populace of Iran.  Further large scale military action no longer threatens the mullahs and their military and secret police, it threatens the people of Iran, making any such large scale military action highly problematic.  In essence the mullahs, et.al. are holding the people of Iran hostage.  Hostage taking is an act of