Modern Justice

Warning: Serious stuff. Please move to the jokes if you’re not in the mood.

Did you know that I am also a Property Manager? It was a week of legal mumbo jumbo for me. One of my people wanted to install solar panels on his roof against the wishes of the other residents. Another one is trying to game the insurance system — because of a burst pipe, he wants to replace all his floor tiles and repaint his whole house. We towed a car for illegal parking, the tow truck driver messed up and cracked the tire reams that cost a thousand bucks. Now the tow truck company doesn’t want to tow for us anymore. We had to return 2 sets of internet equipment because the units would not connect as advertised. A relative needed to evict squatters in her property and those people aren’t leaving quietly. They want to get paid.

Moving on to the world stage: Of course you must be aware of the legal circus featuring the politicians and the judges in New York. How about the standoff at the Texas border? Or how about the illegal refugees who are demanding better treatment even though they are already treated better than American citizens? Then there’s the famous entrepreneur losing $55 billion in a Delaware court. In Europe, the clash between refugees and citizens is growing. In France, the farmers are spewing poop on the streets defying the push for climate change and insisting on better wages. Ay, caramba!

Unrest is created when rules are obscure and/or not followed. Add impatience and entitlement and you’ve got violence.

Here’s a song I wrote more than 10 years ago. Reminds me of Bob Dylan’s angry lyrics. The tune was inspired by “Ride Like the Wind” by Christopher Cross. Warning: It’s a bit gloom and doom. That’s why I never recorded it.

Modern Justice

Verse 1
Take a look at the laws in this world today.
Do they represent what is right or wrong?
Do you trust —
a judge who says he’s fair?
Does he care if it’s fair?

Verse 2
We complain we’re all victims entitled for more
The loudest voice usually wins the war
Can’t you hear —
the greed inside our core?
Yes, we’re rotten to the core

Chorus
There’s a radical change from the world before:
No more fear of the Lord
When you throw God’s word out the door,
a reckoning’s in store.
We’re headed for war!

Verse 3
What do you say about Christ? Is he the Son of God?
Do you debate his existence?
Do you care?
Is it important at all?
Is salvation important at all?

Verse 4
We don’t seek the truth anymore.
We conjure things as we go.
It isn’t God’s justice anymore —
we pick and choose and ignore.
What’s RIGHT depends on who wants it more.
So, what are you waiting for?

Repeat Chorus

CODA
There’s a lesson from the book of Judges —
when Israel had no King.
They say the people did their own kinds of justice —
well, today’s the same thing …
Anarchy is king!
When some are more equal than others —
what a contradictory statement!
When someone’s justice is better than others,
there ain’t no justice at all.
No. No justice at all.

Repeat Chorus then fade

No need to panic. I believe God allows turmoil to remind us that true justice and security rest only in Him. Indeed, our hope always rests on the Lord. TGIF people!

Raoul

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
— John 24:27

JOKE OF THE WEEK

Thanks to Maling of New Manila. Philippines

Parting Shots

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre, CA

Thanks to Maling of New Manila, Philippines

Thanks to Tom of Pasadena, CA

I found these:

My good friend (and jokester) Terry and I came up with this.

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Wrinkled Wisdom

Drake asked me to speak on Artificial Intelligence at the Rotary Club of West Covina last Wednesday. I spoke on a similar subject last month and I was hoping to use the same material but the rapid growth of the technology in just a month forced me to rewrite my presentation. As expected, there were a lot of questions and a lot of concerns about the future among the audience. What I didn’t expect was who my friend Drake (not his real name) really was.

I met Drake only once, several years ago, in a Rotary meeting where we discussed launching an entrepreneurial program. Sadly (as in many brainstorming sessions) the project never materialized. But I did gain a new friend in Drake. He has been a devoted subscriber of my blog ever since (I bet he’s reading this right now). He would send me calendars and encouragement through the years. And when he heard of my interest in AI, he asked me to speak to his chapter.

As we conversed, I admit it was strange putting a face to a friendship born from emails over the years. I didn’t know he championed so many NGOs and continues to be so energetic even now in his sunset years. He’s the quintessential billion-dollar-deal-maker who knows how to get things done. Like many quiet heroes, he made his money years ago and he volunteered (and still does) most of his services. His 5 kids and 12 grown grand kids are successful in their own right. What an amazing individual. I wish I had more time to learn from him.

A Treasury of Old Friends

You see them everywhere — the Silent Generation and the Boomers. Many walk with arched backs and canes or wheelchairs … way past their prime, dealing with numerous aches … yet carrying treasures of wisdom from decades of experience. It’s a real treat conversing with them. If I were smart, I should write their stories to fit a TV series that will never run out of material. Some of them have passed away but there are still a few who are still influencing my life:

• Every week I hear tales and practical lessons from a joyful widow whose heart is as big as Chicago where she learned to work hard through life’s ups and downs and is blessed with so many wonderful memories of her loving parents and husband. She provides support for grieving families who lost their loved ones —- no charge!
• My business partner (and professor of history) teaches me about Property Management, history and faith. Every once in a while I dip into his pool of facts to help me understand the craziness in our world.
• Another Rotarian shares his adventures growing up as a Mexican American who loves his heritage and ballroom jazz. His wife goes everywhere he goes. Hard to believe that they still organize mission trips to Rosarito — a poor Mexican village they adopted years ago.
• Another widow (with the spunk of a teenager) whom I met at an event at the local Historical society allowed me to help with a children’s book based on a story she made up for her kids when they were still toddlers. She still writes and helps me out with my grammar because she used to edit manuals for USC (University of Southern California).
• I am inspired even as my heart breaks for another couple who both have an incurable disease. For years they have pioneered and assisted people (primarily kids) with their visual problems through the simple use of colored overlays. I asked them to stop working and start enjoying life in their last days but, apparently, this is what they enjoy doing.
• A former pastor (and now a dear friend) loves Christian history and Biblical exegesis. He’s written volumes of scholarly books about Biblical inerrancy. We banter about his perspective on politics and faith. We get into a lot of heavy stuff.
• My long time buddy (back from my early days as a born-again Christian) from Tennessee is a fireman-turned-missionary. He has a joke about everything and an infectious laughter that brightens my day. He is a man of action. In the mid-80s he introduced me to a new program called Adobe Photoshop. This started my path towards the computer graphic arts industry. We’ve made several books together. He’s a cancer survivor who is still writing, designing and producing Bible study materials.
• The last (that I can think of now) are three older friends who live in different ends of America and opposite ends of the political spectrum but they all send me jokes and inspiration that keep me going during the week. Two have volunteered at the Rose Bowl event for decades. The other has encouraged me with my business by sending me documentaries of graphic designers and photographers. He is a proud Dad who shares his daughter’s photographic work for Time, Rolling Stone, GQ and other national magazines.

If you know me, you know that I interfere with other people’s lives — I help wherever I can even when help is afraid to ask. Many have thanked me and wondered why I do what I do. They don’t know that I’m just passing on what my older friends have shared with me. Paying forward — that’s what it’s all about.

Old people: Some people call them the Silent Generation but I call them the Unselfish Generation. They may not say much, they may not look like much … but boy, much can we learn from them. Take a bite of their wisdom before it’s too late.

TGIF people!

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
— Proverbs 1:7

JOKE OF THE WEEK

Thanks to Alex of San Juan, Philippines

Original art by Raoul Pascual.

Videos of the Week

Thanks to Chito of Quezon City, Philippines

Thanks to Raffy of Mandaluyong, Philippines

Parting Shots

Thanks to Dean of Vancouver, B.C.

Thanks to Garie of Paranaque, Philippines

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre. CA

Thanks to Jun of Reseda, Los Angeles, CA

Thanks to Maling of New Manila, Philippines

I found these

The Traveling Boy

My good friend (and jokester) Terry and I came up with these.

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I’m rushing this issue. Been away from my office for almost the entire week. Had to work remotely and so I put this whole issue in bits and pieces from different places. I’m watching that clock tick towards midnight as I type this intro. I hope I am coherent because I have no time to correct and just about to drop dead.

Bong Bong

WARNING: Silly, Serious, Sad

Thirty six years ago (February 22 1986) a dictator named President Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown by a peaceful revolution called People Power. He and his family were infamously duped into flying to Hawaii where he later died … rejected and embarrassed. It was reported that he had stashed away 10 Billion dollars (must be in the 100 billions today) in Swiss Accounts but years of lawyering did not return a cent back to the coffers of his beleagered country. I believe the Swiss banks have conveniently kept the loot all these years. (Makes me wonder who was the bigger swindler.) When his reign collapsed unruly mobs crashed into his palace and stole precious pens, paper weights, etc. made of gold. They stole everything except the golden toilets. Imelda’s (his wife) three thousand shoes were discovered. Such sickening oppulence when people were starving less than a mile’s radius away.

A year later, February 25 was declared People’s Power Day – (a national holiday to this day) and there were parades and reenactments. But this celebration died down as the attendance dropped. New paper currencies were printed with the face of Benigno Aquino (Marcos’ political nemesis) insulting the dictator’s family every time they used cash. Sadly, corruption in the Philippines was never uprooted. Even the cronies were never brought to justice. Even the “good politicians” were unable to clean up the mess.

The big news this week is Ferdinand Jr, aka. Bong Bong Marcos, did the unthinkable. He ran for president and won. And for his vice president, he has Sara Duterte, the daughter of the current “devil-may-care” president. It’s Dumb and Dumber for the leaders of the country. These uneducated, deceitful, party-going, scoundrels are going to follow both their Dads’ footsteps.

Bong Bong’s strategy was deceit and brainwashing. His family had the ill-gotten money and there was a new generation of poor voters with no memory of the Marcos tyranny. Thanks to the rebranding machinations of social media spearheaded by Cambridge Analytica — yes, the same company that pushed Donald Trump to power — and paid politicians and bureaucrats who legitimized his candidacy, Bong Bong won by a landslide to the horror of the educated elites.

There are many lessons to be learned. Take your pick. None of them are uplifting and inspiring:

• People have short memories
• It pays to buy your way to an election
• Crime actually pays
• Hire Cambridge Analytica if you want to win an election

TRAINWRECK WORLD

We’ve got the leader of the free world who’s got cognitive difficulties, a modern-day Hitler annihilating thousands of innocent Ukrainians, a heavy-handed yet volatile Chinese communist party experimenting with a zero tolerance for a deadly virus … a virus that has already stretched the rest of the world beyond their reserves. If there ever was a volatile time in the history of the human race, it is now.

Strangely, the lyrics of a popular song comes to mind: “Bye bye Miss American Pie … I saw a Satan laughing with delight, the day the music (sanity and common sense) died.” I know it’s out of context to the original meaning of the song but it seems to fit the visual image in my head.

When they took out the Ten Commandments (a symbol of rules to keep us in check and set necessary boundaries) from our schools what did they expect?

But, as always, there is hope. There is always hope. Scripture is full of prophecy of what it will look like in the end times — so this trainwreck is expected. We always knew about the coming Armageddon … we just didn’t think it would happen in our lifetime. Woe to the world. But for those who believe, there is the rapture and there is heaven where joy will be eternal. This intro is already too long and it’s midnight. So if you are interested in more detail, write me.

But this is just me.

TGIF people!

Raoul

Here are some political cartoons that say it all.

Joke of the Week

Parting Shots

Thanks to Maling of Manila, Philippines

This week, I thought I’d do something different with these memes. Hope you like them.

Thanks to our Sci Fi fan JD of Toronto

Thanks to John of Connecticut

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