Church and State

Lately it seems that the concept of separation of church and state works great at keeping the church out of the state's business, but it does a lousy job of keeping the state out of the church's business.  In a climate of an all powerful state, where the state is intent on imposing its will on all aspects of our lives, diminishing the importance of religion in a person's life is job one. Oh, they won't say that. They're too smart to tell people what they are really up to. Just go ahead and formulate extreme policies, then back off a bit to make it look like you are willing to "accommodate" the people, and there you are: one step closer to state run religion, and one step back from personal freedom. How benevolent of you.

Anyhow, today there is a very good article related to this that I would like to recommend for your reading.

Many have argued that the left is fighting for freedom from religion.  No, there will always be religion.  Fundamental change was promised; change from God given rights to state granted rights are being delivered.  When the state eliminates God, the state becomes god.  And the state is a jealous god, especially when it takes guidance from a bookdedicated to Lucifer.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/02/our_father_who_art_in_washington.html#ixzz1mqpOQjTe

Grammy Awards

I hope you had a chance to watch the Grammy Awards Sunday night. I thought overall it was one of the better Grammy shows produced over the past several years. There seemed to be an underlying theme throughout the show: let's celebrate the voice, the instrument, and the song. That was the cry of the FooFighter's Dave Grohl in his acceptance speech. Too often musicians rely on electronic tricks to cover their imperfections, or their dancing ability or looks to cover up that they really cannot sing. It is refreshing when you have musicians and singers who rely purely on their voice and their talent, stripping away all the hype and lighting.

Highlights for me were Bruno Mars, Adele, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, the Beach Boys' medley, and the Civil Wars. Falling a bit flat I thought were Katy Perry, the Glen Campbell tribute, and the first Paul McCartney song. Everything else was entertaining, but nothing memorable. In absolute stark contrast to what was otherwise a quality lineup was Nikki Minaj. An absolute waste of 5 minutes (glad I dvr'd the show). Her presentation really was an unwelcome contrast to talent. Give me anytime one minute of Civil Wars with just two voices and a guitar over that Minaj mess. Five minutes of the Civil Wars would have been awesome.

Naples Florida Pier at Sunset

I was recently down in Florida and revisited the Naples Pier for some sunset photos. The first night gave me some great cloud formations, adding some welcomed drama to the sunset. The next night I went back with a tripod, wanting to take some long time exposures. The clouds were pretty non-existent that night, so the sky was not as great. Shooting longer time exposures softens the water, giving it almost a painted look. I'm happy with both images, although they are quite different. This is the kind of image that works well with all kinds of digital filters and effects, each one giving the image a very different look. These two images were mostly just enhanced and corrected in Adobe Lightroom, with mostly just some changes done to the exposure and white balance, with some added dodging and burning. Click on image to enlarge.