What is a "tiehacker"?

"Tiehacker" is a term originating in the Ozark hills of southern Missouri. It referred to a class of people from WAY back in the hills that made a living cutting trees into ties for the railroad. I first heard the term from my wife shortly after we married. I had been working outside all day and was dirty and stinky. When I came inside, she told me I looked like a "tiehacker" and had to get cleaned up. She had learned the word from her father, and thought it just meant "a bum". Never having heard it before, I looked it up. Although I am not really a bum, I thought it was interesting, and I do have a life-long love affair going with the Ozark hills, so ... there you have it!
Showing posts with label Tara Ross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tara Ross. Show all posts

Saturday, January 23, 2021

Verse Of The Day; Ron's Roundup; This Day In History

Verse Of The Day,
from BibleGateway.com.

"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him." James 1:5 (NASB 1995)

So far, most conservative and/or Christian content has not been deplatformed. So, until that happens (may it never be!), check out these links. Presented randomly.

This is potentially useful. The Right Way to Stop a Nosebleed, by Brett & Kate McKay on The Art of Manliness website.

Anne Kennedy, one of my favorite bloggers, has a short article about reading devotional materials instead of the Bible. She doesn't disapprove of devotionals, she actually wrote one herself, but she is concerned about the number of people that consider devotional books the same as reading the Bible itself.

The next three links are from the January 23 edition of  the "Front Porch Republic" weekly newsletter. I HIGHLY recommend subscribing to it it!

“The New National American Elite.” Michael Lind traces the nationalization of elite culture in America:

From the American Revolution until the late 20th century, the American elite was divided among regional oligarchies. It is only in the last generation that these regional patriciates have been absorbed into a single, increasingly homogeneous national oligarchy, with the same accent, manners, values, and educational backgrounds from Boston to Austin and San Francisco to New York and Atlanta. This is a truly epochal development.

“Everything Is Broken.” Alana Newhouse offers a sweeping diagnosis of a decadent culture and its institutions:

Th[e] disconnect between culturally mandated politics and the actual demonstrated preferences of most Americans has created an enormous reserve of unmet needs—and a generational opportunity. Build new things! Create great art! Understand and accept that sensory information is the brain’s food, and that Silicon Valley is systematically starving us of it. Avoid going entirely tree-blind. Make a friend and don’t talk politics with them. Do things that generate love and attention from three people you actually know instead of hundreds you don’t. Abandon the blighted Ivy League, please, I beg of you. Start a publishing house that puts out books that anger, surprise and delight people and which make them want to read. Be brave enough to make film and TV that appeals to actual audiences and not 14 people on Twitter. Establish a newspaper, one people can see themselves in and hold in their hands. Go back to a house of worship—every week. Give up on our current institutions; they already gave up on us.

This one is a little disturbing. “Our Manorial Elite.” Alan Jacobs draws some disturbing parallels between today’s tech capitalists and medieval economic structures. He concludes, “Call them warlords or the manorial elite, our massive transnational tech companies will protect us only when they believe it is in their interest to do so; and they will never offer us any protection from their own ever-increasing, ever-more-intrusive power.”

I always enjoy, and learn from, Tara Ross's "This Day In History" articles. Today's is even more exceptional than usual: "This Day in History: The pacifist who signed the Declaration"


Saturday, January 16, 2021

National insurrection from within the Church. A couple of links. A little bit of humor.

I am not a huge fan of David French, editor of "The Dispatch" newsletter and columnist for "Time". I do subscribe to the newsletter, as there is usually a lot to be found there of solid conservative journalism, despite my mild distaste for some of Mr. French's rather wishy-washy views. But the other day, Mr. French published a column that I thought was pretty much spot on. Entitled "Only the Church Can Truly Defeat a Christian Insurrection", subtitled, "It’s time to combat the right’s enabling lies."

David points out the following:
... this attack occurred days after the so-called Jericho March, an event explicitly filled with Christian-nationalist rhetoric so unhinged that I warned on December 13 that it embodied “a form of fanaticism that can lead to deadly violence.”

Are you still not convinced that it’s fair to call this a Christian insurrection? I would bet that most of my readers would instantly label the exact same event Islamic terrorism if Islamic symbols filled the crowd, if Islamic music played in the loudspeakers, and if members of the crowd shouted “Allahu Akbar” as they charged the Capitol.
Just playing Whack-A-Mole against QAnon and Stop-The-Steal is not enough. The church needs to stop spreading, or at least enabling, the untruths that feed these events. A Bernie Sanders fanboy shoots up a Republican Congressmen baseball team, so that means that everyone on the left hates you and wants you dead? Seriously?

The Church in America is going to go down in flames if Joe Biden wins? The very gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church, yet you're worried about some temporary political set-back? Since when did the church EVER put its trust in one man or one party other than in Jesus Christ? Never mind, don't answer that. It's too depressing.

The election of Joe Biden will spell the end of America? Didn't we hear the same thing every four years since, well, probably 1996? Or maybe sooner. Yet, here we are. (It's true, the break-up of our nation is probably closer than it has been since 1860. But, if it does happen, the 2020 election will have been a symptom, a big crack in the block, not the cause.)

Bottom line, as I see it, although politics play an important role in the life of an engaged citizen of the United States, as a Christian, my PRIMARY concern is as a citizen of the Kingdom of God, as an ambassador of my Lord to this little patch of ground on this little planet. Nothing happens here beyond my Lord's purview and control, anyway.

We Christians need to focus on our true mission, to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them all that Jesus commands us.

       
Today's links

Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening

  • MORNING: "I will help thee, saith the Lord." - Isaiah 41:14
  • EVENING: "The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself." - Daniel 9:26


Today in History, presented by Tara Ross

This Day in History:
Carole Lombard’s tragic WWII War Bonds tour
Carole Lombard and her husband Clark Gable
On this day in 1942, American film actress Carole Lombard is tragically killed in a plane crash as she returns from a WWII War Bonds tour. Her trip had been part of Hollywood’s early response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. ... Jump straight to the full story, here.

by Esther O'Reilly on Jan. 14, 20121
A thoughtful, nuanced take on the events of January 6. Sympathetic, or perhaps empathetic might be the better word, towards even those caught up in the worst of the MAGA lunacy. Hopeful about the possibility of moving forward, she writes, "But I believe carrying this patriot dream forward in our hearts is the only way for us to survive—as Americans, as conservatives, and as Christians. To that end, God help us, and God bless America."



Folks, as always, it's been a real pleasure. I'm taking tomorrow off, and if health allows, will spend it with the saints.

Don't forget to take a moment to leave a comment and to subscribe. The more interaction like that, the more this little tiny blog will spread.

See ya Monday!

Ron