Confession

K=Kim, P=Priest

K: I'm not perfect.

P: You can say that again.

K: But I try.

P: I'm so glad my brain surgeon didn't tell me about his shortcomings.

K: Isn't the duckbill platypus known for not being perfect?

P: Yes, but unlike the duckbill, you have a brain bigger than a peanut.

K: I'd be a little better if it wasn't for clutching.

P: What's that about?

K: Well, whenever I'm trying to meet a challenge I remember the family dog growling at me when I was a little kid.

P: No kidding?

K: The dog was as big as an elephant... or so I remember, and I'd start to do something and the dog would run over and growl right into my ear. It was horrendous.

P: What did you do then?

K: I'd run and hide under my bed.

P: That sounds wise.

K: Then the dog would jump on the bed.

P: You needed a trap door, didn't you?

K: Yes! Every time I'd start to get out the dog would growl again. I spent half my life under that bed.

P: And the other half?

K: Trying to do things right.

P: You know, your dog is dead, so now you have no excuses.

K: But the growl is still there.

20,000 hits!

Thanks for your support!

Please respond!

Last week I mentioned a few moral dilemmas. One was the bystander who could save five lives by throwing one man onto some tracks.

I remember that.

Did the man object?

He didn't have time. The trolley hit him, and stopped.

So are we now done with moral dilemmas.

Yes. I started to realize that the heart is more important than the action.

That's dumb.

Probably. I keep thinking about eating a dumb piece of celery. It is one thing to eat it with disregard. And another to eat it with thanks. So eating it is not the point. Thanking it is.

So is that why you woke me up?

No. I wanted to say something else.

Is that why you wait just long enough before talking that I fall asleep again?

Look. If I dribble, you complain. And if I take time to think, you complain. Maybe we ought to call it quits?

Oh, I'm up now. What do you want to say?

Well, I'll sometimes meet someone and they'll say that they've been reading my blog for years and that they've enjoyed it... but they've never commented.

Well, what's wrong with that?

It kind of makes a lonely world. It is like not telling the celery that you appreciate her gift to you.

Celery is dead. What does it matter?

It does. But I'm now talking about people responding. I'm telling you how I'd like to get on my knees and tell them... "I'd love to hear what you are thinking. I don't know what is going on in your head." And if they are one of the responders... that I appreciate that beyond anything... and if, in the end, they really want to be silent, I appreciate that too. Even if they just put "like" or "dislike" in FB... that is helpful.

Ok, is that it for today.

Yea. (pause) Oh... today I hope to pass 20,000 hits on this blog.

Is that it?

(pause)... Yes.

Vote Against Prop. 19 (Legalization of Pot)

You have got to be kidding. How can you be against Prop. 19?

It takes a bad situation and makes it worse.

But what about all the people in prison for smoking a joint?

I agree that is a waste of resources. But why do we think that creating any law to solve a problem is better than no law?

Won't Prop. 19 earn California needed revenue?

I doubt it. They will have to hire countless people to regulate pot. And now the courts will be filled with people who don't follow the law. And jails will continue to be filled.

Maybe. But why can't we just pass the law and then next year pass a better one.

Amending laws never have the same effect. Look at the income tax regulations. Every time they get amended we spend more time doing taxes rather than doing business.

So what's wrong with the proposition, anyway?

First, it makes it illegal to sell to anyone under twenty-one. Now we'll have new criminals who sold to someone under twenty-one. That is going to be a fertile market. And I can sell to the kids at an increased market-up to compensate me for my greater risk... or I can buy illegal drugs (less safe?) and put the youngsters at risk.

Oh, I see that. But do you want kids getting high?

Not really. But they are getting high now. What is the difference?

So, what else?

Well, Prop. 19 makes the state government much bigger... and more expensive to run. Under the guise of "freedom," when government gets bigger it really takes away our freedoms.

How come?

Well, for starters, the more we work to pay taxes, the less discretionary income we have.

But this is a good cause.

I'm not sure. You know that the worst chemicals in tobacco are not the nicotine, but rather the toxins from the burning of leaves. The same toxins occur in pot.

Yea... but what about alcohol... that isn't good for us either.

That's another post.

So what do you propose?

Simply to take pot off the list of illegal drugs...

You have got to be kidding.

No. We already have plenty of laws that could be used when one person is endangering another (or their property)... or even when someone is selling something harmful. We need less laws, not more.

Oh...

Buddha killed the Pirates?

The Buddha killed a band of pirates. What is that about?

No, it was in one of his previous lives, as told in the Jakata stories.

That's against the vows, isn't it?

Maybe. The Buddha-to-be knew that the pirates were going to sink the ship and kill all the passengers.

So the Buddha killed the pirates to save the passengers?

Apparently not. He was worried about the karmic consequences for the pirates if they were to go through with their plan.

But what about his own karmic consequences for taking a life?

He was willing to forego those to protect the pirates.

So he killed the pirates to save them?

I guess so. Hope he never wants to save me.

Do you have any evil plans?

Not any more.

Moral Dilemmas 101

So help me out here.

What's wrong now?

You told me about the trolley car, out of control, ready to run over five people.

Yes, that happens every day.

And so the driver, if she could, switches the tracks and the train now runs over only one person.

Right. The driver made a wise choice. Sacrificing one life to save five.

The more difficult dilemma is for the bystander. Does he throw a person onto the tracks to stop the trolley, given if he doesn't, five people will die?

Or maybe he feels that not doing anything is ok?

That's really the issue for me. Is it ok to do nothing?

I don't know. I remember when the man was beat up on the subway tracks in NYC and people just stood around. Imagine if we had laws against inactivity.

Yea... you don't jump in the pool to save the kid... then you could go to jail.

Or you don't learn CPR.

Or... you buy an expensive house rather than a cheap house, thereby diverting money from starving children.

Or... you don't take out a big life insurance policy before throwing yourself infront of the trolley, thereby eliminating a giant good deed to those in need. Is that acceptable and compassionate behavior?

Stay tuned to the next episode of Moral Dilemmas 101

You're too close

You're too close

For me, or for you?

That's just what I mean. Why can't you just say, "yes" and then move away?

Would the reason make any difference?

Of course. Not really.

Let's get back to this "you're just too close."

Fine. When someone says that, it is time to move away.

I know my limitations. I know that I have a tendency to clutch and then slip.

That is your problem.

Yes, and since we are together, it is your problem too.

Now you are really projecting. I'm quite comfortable with our distance.

Eeks... Now I'm really getting worried.

Me tooooooooooooo......

Later, in Segway heaven.

Sure glad we were able to come together.

Yea, I don't want some rookie riding me.

I didn't mean that.

?

Lots of territory to explore here.

Lots of time, though.

Most of my friends are here.

Did they get too close too?

Much later, in God's chambers.

What is that thing you are standing on, my son?

It is a Segway, Mr. God. It is used on Earth to get people from point a to point b.

I gave them legs.

Yes, but through many years of misuse and abuse, they don't work that well.

So you are dependent on a couple of wheels driven by lithium-ion batteries?

Yes.

So why don't you move?

Can't find a place to plug it in.

Sorry about that. So sorry. Maybe now you can learn to walk.

Dedicated to Jimi Heselden, Segway CEO, who road over a cliff 9/26/10.