Returning to my reading through the life of Abraham, I find the end of days for Sarah, the mother of Isaac.
Abraham mourns, then sets about finding a place for a burial. The transaction seems awkward at first read, but I suspect that the back-and-forth mentions of gifts were part of the way that people negotiated in those times, under those circumstances.
At the end of the negotiation, Abraham buys the field for a princely sum, and lays his wife to rest in the cave.*
The narrative turns next to the wife of Isaac. Abraham calls a high-ranking member of his household staff, and sends him to seek a wife for Isaac, among Abraham's kin of the family of Nahor.
After swearing an oath before the Creator, the servant goes on his mission. Fearing failure, the servant prays to his master's God, and requests a sign. As he prays, Rebekah comes up. The servant asks her for water, and she responds with the sign he'd requested: she offers to water his camels also.
The servant, Rebekah, and her family have a discussion before the evening meal. After a recounting of the sign given by God, and much giving of gifts, Rebekah agrees to go marry Isaac.
After many days of journey, she sees Isaac out in a field, meditating at the end of the day. Rebekah alights to greet Isaac, and they begin married life together.
After the marriage of Isaac, the story spends a few sentences describing the rest of Abraham's life: another wife, a number of children from that wife (who are sent off to the East), and Abrahams' death and burial. The elder son, Ishmael, also has his descendents mentioned in a few sentences.
Ishmael and Isaac bury their father. The life of Abraham, a mighty prophet of God, is at an end.
This story touches again on the theme of Abraham's relationship with God, and how members of Abraham's household interact with God. Abraham makes a promise to his chief servant, and charges him to swears an and take up the task. (The servant is nameless in this narrative. He is apparently not Eliezer of Damascus, who had a similar rank in Abraham's household before Isaac's birth.)
The servant accept the charge, swears the oath, and sets off with camels and helpers. Later, the servant himself prays; and receives an answer.
The special relationship between Abraham and God the Creator, which is the subtext of most of the story, is also available to some of Abraham's servants and helpers.
Few of them receive great promises, but the ones who ask God for help receive a response.
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*Local tradition holds that the cave of Macphelah, burial place of Sarah (and later Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah) can still be identified today.
Shortly before the lifetime of Jesus, one of the Herods built a monument over the traditional location of that cave.
2015-06-12
Motorcycles and danger
Almost every time a motorcyclist gets in the news, a fatal accident has happened.
Most of the time, the news story about that accident contains details which indicate that the rider in question was not riding safely.
Most recently, a young man and a woman passenger rode out of a retail parking lot at high speed. A State Trooper, observing the speeding motorcycle, gave chase.
By the time the Trooper caught up with the motorcyclist, the motorcycle had crossed paths with a car. The resulting collision was fatal to both the rider and the passenger.
According to the newspaper article, the rider "failed to stop" at a particular side-street. However, from what I can make out, the nearest stop-light is one block east of the named location.
Perhaps the failure-to-stop was while attempting to execute a turn. Or perhaps the motorcyclist failed to stop at the stop-light one block away, and then struck the car. Or perhaps the accident actually occurred at the stop light, not at the named intersection.
It's a sad story. And a reminder to ride carefully.
Most of the time, the news story about that accident contains details which indicate that the rider in question was not riding safely.
Most recently, a young man and a woman passenger rode out of a retail parking lot at high speed. A State Trooper, observing the speeding motorcycle, gave chase.
By the time the Trooper caught up with the motorcyclist, the motorcycle had crossed paths with a car. The resulting collision was fatal to both the rider and the passenger.
According to the newspaper article, the rider "failed to stop" at a particular side-street. However, from what I can make out, the nearest stop-light is one block east of the named location.
Perhaps the failure-to-stop was while attempting to execute a turn. Or perhaps the motorcyclist failed to stop at the stop-light one block away, and then struck the car. Or perhaps the accident actually occurred at the stop light, not at the named intersection.
It's a sad story. And a reminder to ride carefully.
2015-06-10
Power to license and Power to punish
Speaking of New Jersey laws about firearms...
Apparently, a man who legally owned a firearm in New Jersey was carrying the gun in his car in a time and manner that didn't quite fit the narrow confines of the laws of that State.
Steffan Josey-Davis was not a threat to Police when they stopped him (for out-of-date registration), and he was not arrested after he informed them that he had a firearm in his glove-box. However, the firearm was confiscated.
Later, the Police arrested Josey-Davis when he came in to pick up the firearm. Not because he had been engaged in behavior that endangered others, but because he was carrying a firearm in a manner that he was not licensed to do.
Once again, the power to license is the power to punish. Especially if the licensure laws can place heavy penalties on any small infraction.
Would the penalty for driving with expired car-registry been as severe? Both are penalties involving lack of a valid license. And in the typical year, more Americans die in accidental events involving cars than die in homicide-by-gun. Which is more dangerous, the gun or the car?
In this case, the Governor of New Jersey saw fit to pardon Josey-Davis. Which keeps him from a felony record, and doesn't remove him from his desired path into work as a Policeman.
But it is kind of scary that when I cross State lines, I have to double-check the different rules for handling/carrying firearms in different States.
Apparently, a man who legally owned a firearm in New Jersey was carrying the gun in his car in a time and manner that didn't quite fit the narrow confines of the laws of that State.
Steffan Josey-Davis was not a threat to Police when they stopped him (for out-of-date registration), and he was not arrested after he informed them that he had a firearm in his glove-box. However, the firearm was confiscated.
Later, the Police arrested Josey-Davis when he came in to pick up the firearm. Not because he had been engaged in behavior that endangered others, but because he was carrying a firearm in a manner that he was not licensed to do.
Once again, the power to license is the power to punish. Especially if the licensure laws can place heavy penalties on any small infraction.
Would the penalty for driving with expired car-registry been as severe? Both are penalties involving lack of a valid license. And in the typical year, more Americans die in accidental events involving cars than die in homicide-by-gun. Which is more dangerous, the gun or the car?
In this case, the Governor of New Jersey saw fit to pardon Josey-Davis. Which keeps him from a felony record, and doesn't remove him from his desired path into work as a Policeman.
But it is kind of scary that when I cross State lines, I have to double-check the different rules for handling/carrying firearms in different States.
2015-06-08
The Power to License
...is the power to deny.
Whether the denial comes in the form of delay, in the form of high costs, or in the form of a big rubber stamp with the word DENIED carved into it.
A few days back, I posted about renewing my Concealed Pistol License. I'm somewhat happy that local and State laws make this process somewhat painless. As long as the Police can't find anything really bad on my record, I can have the permit.
Last Friday, I saw a story about a woman in New Jersey who was killed by an ex-lover.
She had applied for permission to carry a pistol for protection. Under the laws of New Jersey, such licenses are only issued to people who can show that they are threatened. But the license process (which depends partly on non-Local-Police agencies that process fingerprints) can take time.
And the Police didn't fear the repercussions of turning the 30-day wait into a 60-day wait, or a 90-day wait. But Carol Brown did fear those problems.
And she is now dead.
Which is why I'm wary of government-issued permits for that kind of thing. Especially if the permit-to-carry is only "for people who can show a valid threat to their lives", and has a process that can still result in long delays.
If a person can't ask for permission to carry a weapon until they can point to a specific threat against their lives, how will they have time to practice carrying and using the weapon safely?
If a person can't trust the System to provide that permission in a timely manner, how does that system support their right to self-defense?
Whether the denial comes in the form of delay, in the form of high costs, or in the form of a big rubber stamp with the word DENIED carved into it.
A few days back, I posted about renewing my Concealed Pistol License. I'm somewhat happy that local and State laws make this process somewhat painless. As long as the Police can't find anything really bad on my record, I can have the permit.
Last Friday, I saw a story about a woman in New Jersey who was killed by an ex-lover.
She had applied for permission to carry a pistol for protection. Under the laws of New Jersey, such licenses are only issued to people who can show that they are threatened. But the license process (which depends partly on non-Local-Police agencies that process fingerprints) can take time.
And the Police didn't fear the repercussions of turning the 30-day wait into a 60-day wait, or a 90-day wait. But Carol Brown did fear those problems.
And she is now dead.
Which is why I'm wary of government-issued permits for that kind of thing. Especially if the permit-to-carry is only "for people who can show a valid threat to their lives", and has a process that can still result in long delays.
If a person can't ask for permission to carry a weapon until they can point to a specific threat against their lives, how will they have time to practice carrying and using the weapon safely?
If a person can't trust the System to provide that permission in a timely manner, how does that system support their right to self-defense?
2015-06-07
Weekend Reading: interlude
As an interlude in the tale of Abraham and his family, I remember a different book.
In the middle of the Jewish Scriptures, in the section dedicated to poetry and wisdom, is the tale of a man named Job.
The setting of Job, and the people named there, doesn't belong in the narrative of Abraham and his descendants. However, they may be part of a different branch of Abraham's family tree.
Job has some similarities with Abraham: a wealthy man, a man who communes with God. He has at least one difference: a large family.
In the middle of the Jewish Scriptures, in the section dedicated to poetry and wisdom, is the tale of a man named Job.
The setting of Job, and the people named there, doesn't belong in the narrative of Abraham and his descendants. However, they may be part of a different branch of Abraham's family tree.
Job has some similarities with Abraham: a wealthy man, a man who communes with God. He has at least one difference: a large family.
2015-06-05
Licensing
As I noted previously, I have long held a Concealed Pistol License.
The new license arrived in the mail this week. Saving me from carrying without a license.
I was very happy to have the new license.
Even though I committed a paperwork-crime by carrying without a license, the danger to others was the same as when I carried with a license.
All of the danger resides in my attitude and behavior, not in the license (or lack thereof).
However, I carried the firearm with the knowledge that misbehavior while carrying a pistol could result in very heavy legal penalties. So my attitude and behavior were modified by the knowledge that my permit is a valuable thing.
Even though most of the value is in its ability to help convince Policeman and Prosecutors that the gun hidden under my shirt isn't an indicator of evil intent.
The new license arrived in the mail this week. Saving me from carrying without a license.
I was very happy to have the new license.
Even though I committed a paperwork-crime by carrying without a license, the danger to others was the same as when I carried with a license.
All of the danger resides in my attitude and behavior, not in the license (or lack thereof).
However, I carried the firearm with the knowledge that misbehavior while carrying a pistol could result in very heavy legal penalties. So my attitude and behavior were modified by the knowledge that my permit is a valuable thing.
Even though most of the value is in its ability to help convince Policeman and Prosecutors that the gun hidden under my shirt isn't an indicator of evil intent.
2015-06-04
Funny
With some pithy humor, Glenn Reynolds notes a new, extremely-small, data storage device.
Heck, I can remember wondering if MS-Word documents would still fit on a 3.5-inch disc. Which maxed out at 1.44 MB.
And I can remember doing a swap-this-disc-now install of MS Windows from a stack of 3.5-inch discs.
Heck, I can remember wondering if MS-Word documents would still fit on a 3.5-inch disc. Which maxed out at 1.44 MB.
And I can remember doing a swap-this-disc-now install of MS Windows from a stack of 3.5-inch discs.
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