August 22, 2017

Phil Beaver works to establish opinion when the-objective-truth has not been discovered. He seeks to refine his opinion by listening when people share experiences and observations. The comment box below invites readers to write.

Note 1:  I often dash words in phrases in order to express and preserve an idea. For example, frank-objectivity represents the idea of candidly expressing the-objective-truth despite possible error. In other words, a person expresses his “belief,” knowing he or she could be in error. People may collaboratively approach the-objective-truth.
 
 Note 2: It is important to note "civic" refers to citizens who collaborate for the people more than for the city.
 
A personal paraphrase of the preamble by & for Phil Beaver:  Willing people in our state routinely, voluntarily collaborate for comprehensive safety and security: continuity (for self, children, grandchildren & beyond), integrity (both fidelity and wholeness),  justice (freedom-from oppression), defense (prevent or constrain harm), prosperity (acquire the liberty-to pursue choices), privacy (responsibly discover & pursue personal goals), lawfulness (obey the law and reform injustices); and to preserve and cultivate the rule of law for the USA’s service to the people in their states.
 
Composing their own paraphrase, citizens may consider the actual preamble and perceive whether they are willing or dissident toward the preamble.  

Our Views (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/our_views/article_b8850ee2-829c-11e7-98ae-6721fbf05666.html)

I think one of The Advocate's responsibilities to readers and the other citizens is to maintain the record of unresolved misdeeds.

 

What happened to the $60 million federal grant I understand started RDA? Does that debacle foretell more loss and misery from the RDA? Did the current administration inherit the practices that raised questions in the past?

 

Are RDA practices mimicked at COA and in other non-profits?

 

I keep a journal. I can look up past events that my lame brain will not recall. Why don't writers for the press perceive that I am a journalist without their vast resources?

 

In general, it seems to me journalism is a shocking failure.

Today’s thought, G.E. Dean (Proverbs 31:10, CJB)

“Who can find a capable wife? Her value is far beyond that of pearls.”

Dean says “Thank God for Godly women.”

Solomon and Dean, in my opinion have no authority to judge women. Their very idea speaks of arrogance against the origins of life.

Letters

Adversaries (Barnes) (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_6c841b12-8393-11e7-86b8-8356e3c4e7e7.html)

I’m among those who don’t think the USA was specified for two-party factions --- in other words, competition for 50% plus one vote. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_No._10 for a discussion starter.

The preamble, a civic contract, divides the people: Those who are willing to trust and commit to the agreement stated there in versus dissidents. The willing collaborate for comprehensive safety and security despite the dissidents.

I think 2/3 of citizens are willing but, they are kept from civic communications by theism and political parties. Thereby, the 1/3 dissidents have been prevailing but are on the run. Reformation could be accelerated by the willing looking past religion (a private pursuit) and political party to focus on civic morality. In civic morality, elections are won on 2/3 vote.

Referring again to the Federalist 10, the dangerous minority collective is trying to defeat the republican form of government: The rule of law. In 2017, the democratic collective is attempting to overthrow the rule of law.

Imposing Jesus (Bell) (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_1817627a-839b-11e7-80b3-ff38d39d78df.html)

Beware: Often The Advocate publishes a letter so that the writer may encounter personal hypocrisy.

Citing Jesus to express personal opinion begs woe according to Exodus 20:7.

Does challenging someone to understand Jesus “demolish mental and physical walls” or otherwise promote civic morality? No.

  

Columns. (The fiction/non-fiction comments gallery for readers)

  

Trump was correct (Michael Barone) townhall.com/columnists/michaelbarone/2017/08/18/what-identity-politics-hath-wrought-n2369987

The mayor of Charlottesville should have to face charges for the deaths that occurred there.

“As Stolberg noted, the police not only failed to separate the two groups but maneuvered them into direct and predictably violent confrontation. Antifa believe that hateful words are violence and that they're entitled to be violent in response, as they have been on campuses from Berkeley to Middlebury -- a view profoundly at odds with the rule of law.”

  

The Church (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/courts/article_36b30190-844e-11e7-8deb-13a7db139041.html)

To Elaine O. Coyle: A priest who will not distinguish a girl's plea for help from the girl's confession seems dehumanized. To claim that he could not help her is dehumanizing.

Consider a thought from Sartre: "[Each human] is condemned to be free [and] is responsible for everything he does.”

According to the judge, a jury will decide if the young woman’s witness that the girl was asking for help will stand. It would be shocking if the opinion that the priest was bound to not help her prevails.

Even if there is some technical flaw in the young woman’s witness, Judge Caldwell has demonstrated that in some courts, on some issues, the-objective-truth prevails. I’d say priests should be forewarned by Sartre’s thought. The Church, at least the USA Church, has opportunity to revise its canon law so as to conform to civic morality (people collaborating for living more than for an ideology).

(Thank you, Wernel Mack for pointing me to the Sartre quote.)

 

BREC and BRAF more empire builders? (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_229ba428-8688-11e7-acf9-0b0972410d49.html)

I appreciate architect Brown’s information.

It turns out I cannot attend Thursday’s meeting, but was drafting a statement for it, which I share below.

Fellow citizens, in my five decades in Baton Rouge, I have witnessed the transformation of civic hope into a wasteland of conflict for dominant opinion. Back then, I frequented any place I liked in the city: now, I avoid places where I feel suspected. I accept the freedom I am condemned to and love to shop at Tony’s seafood. Willing people have the opportunity to reverse five decades’ regression in civic morality.

In my early days, there was a spirit of building goodness. BRAF seemed like a civic organization more than philanthropic capitalism. My admiration for BREC grew as my wife and I started a family, paid our taxes, and used the parks. I contributed to United Way throughout my career.

But civics have transformed to conflict for dominant opinion. Where there is public taxation there is the threat of empire building. Willing people must be wary of BREC, EBRP libraries, and the school board, for example. The capital interests of BRAF became suspect: Private asset building is in conflict with civic collaboration.

The factional conflicts within the city and parish have become audacious if not arrogant. Philanthropy emerges as a way to circumvent the will of a civic people --- a way to funnel tax proceeds unto personal projects and pockets. Maybe it was always that way, but it now seems out of control. We see it in COA, BRAVE, and RDA for example (where’s the $60 million initial stake?). Too many civil associations express no civic morality. I see the zoo-move proposal as part of this audacious arrogance against willing people.

In the 1970s and 1980s, my family benefited from BREC. We voted for the taxes we paid at every invitation. Always wary of empire building, we reassured ourselves that BREC was growing with both Baton Rouge population and its quality of life. Today, Perkins Road Park is the vehicle for my health maintenance as stretching, strength, endurance, and sociability. Skaters and trick-bikers recognize me as a regular fan, and that relaxation often ends my ninety-minute attention to personal wellness.

Back then, the children went on field trips to the zoo, and my teacher-wife escorted trips. But I never went. There were no attractions like the Audubon Zoo’s annual Swamp Fest, which my wife and I attended many years, both days. Could the Friends of BR Zoo have done more? Could Earth Day at the zoo become an annual event? Perhaps one Live After Five during each spring and fall sessions?

The animals at the zoo fared well in the recent 1,000 year flood. I do not support risking their welfare in an unproven place. And it makes no sense to include them in demands for emergency flood protection.

Whereas the Audubon Zoo is famous, the Baton Rouge Zoo would benefit from signs as tourists cross borders into Louisiana and approaching Baton Rouge from nearby cities.

LSU offered a good plan for refurbishing, and a positive attitude by BREC and Friends of the Zoo could turn gloom into promise.

For the sake of willing people I urge the board to vote “No” on plans to move the zoo.

  

Phil Beaver does not “know” the-indisputable-facts. He trusts and is committed to the-objective-truth of which most is undiscovered and some is understood. He is agent for A Civic People of the United States, a Louisiana, education non-profit corporation. See online at promotethepreamble.blogspot.com.