Paradise Lost - Book II - Various Evil Character Traits Described

Monrovians - Unite!  After reading Book II of Paradise Lost, I begin to understand why this poem is so popular.

Book II opens with Satan and others of his ilk arguing whether or not to make another assault on Heaven.  The setting is before the Creation of Man and the universe.

In imagining the dialogue between the various evil spirits, Milton gives us insight into the human condition.

One character, a king by the name of Moloch, wanted to be equal in strength to God.  If he could not be God's equal, Moluch preferred not to exist at all.  Moluch argues for open and all out war.  He cares not for subterfuge or contrivances.  Why, literally, rot in hell when each moment could instead by spent in an all-out frontal assault on Heaven?  If God is invincible, then Moluch argues that Satan and the others must so upset Him that they will all be destroyed - and thus end their otherwise eternal suffering.  If they have nothing more to lose, then what do they have to fear, asks Moluch?  Even if they cannot actually overcome God, they can instead constantly alarm Him - and thus gain, at least, some measure of revenge.  They can take pleasure, it seems, in the struggle.  Doesn't this remind you of different groups of people who get a perverse pleasure in throwing a monkey wrench into anything and everything?  If I can't have it, no one can!  If I'm not happy, no one will be happy!

On the other side rose up a evil character named Belial, a dignified and graceful looking creature, who unfortunately was "all false and hollow."

. . . 'though his tongue
Dropped manna, and could make the worse appear
the better reason, to perplex and dash
maturest counsels: for his thoughts were low;
To vice industrious, but to nobler deeds
Timorous and slothful: yet he pleased the ear, . . .

Are we not reminded in these times of this type of character - One whose words drop like manna, and who perplexes and destroys even the maturest contemplation, yet whose thoughts are low and who works hard for evil, but for good deeds is lazy and timid?  Certain lawyers, law professors, politicians anyone?

Belial points out that Moluch bases his courage on his utter despair, seeking only revenge.  Belial contends that Heaven is unassailable, and cannot be taken by surprise.  Belial notes that Moluch seeks to end all suffering by being destroyed.   Belial argues that this would be a sad cure, for they would lose all sense and motion, all intellectual being.  Besides, it is unknown whether God can destroy, and even if God could, He would surely not completely reverse His creation.

Will he, so wise, let loose at once his ire,
Belike through imptenceor unaware,
To give his enemies their wish, and end
Them in his anger whom his anger saves
To  punish endless?

Belial recognizes that God is All-Knowing, All-Powerful.  Belial argues that should God choose to punish them further, surely their fate could be worse.

War, therefore, open or concealed, alike
My voice dissuades; for what can force or guile
With him, or who deceives his mind, whose eye
Views all things at one view?  He from Heaven's height
All these our motions vain sees and derides,
Not more almighty to resist our might
Than wise to frustrate all our plots and wiles.

Belial argues that their fate is well deserved, and they should justly suffer the sentence of their conqueror.  God may forgive them, or they may grow more accustomed to hell, and at any event they still have hope if they do not offend God anew.  In other words, Belial counseled, because God cannot be deceived or tricked, and cannot be overcome . . . doing nothing - accepting their fate, which was well deserved.


Mammon then spoke in favor of staying where they were and creating as much evil as possible, but not a direct War on Heaven.  If one is at war, there is always a chance, argues Mammon.  Mammon states that he would not want to be forgiven by God, since if he was then allowed into heaven he would spend eternity worshiping the One that Mammon hates.  Better to live free and accountable to no one, argues Mammon.  The devils will essentially have their own glory in creating adversity and harming others.  Essentially, Mammon counsels them to take pride in doing evil.  We can always Imitate light, even if we are not of the light.  Essentially, Mammon argues for the terrorist strike, the occasional atrocity, but not all-out War.  Sound familiar?

Next spoke Beezlebub, the second highest in Hell next to Satan.  Beezlebub states they should instead learn more about Man, who is rumored to be created soon, and corrupt Man, in the hope that God will abolish His own creation, once it has been intermixed with Hell.  Beezlebub points out that the corruption of God's favored creation (man) would cause great pain to God.  At this, the entirety of Hell supports the plan.

Satan then announces that he alone will carry out the plan, search out this new creation, Man, and corrupt Man.  Satan's search for earth, and Man, is then described.

Milton sheds light, in Book II, on the motivations of various types of people who suffer the character flaws Milton places in various inhabitants of Hell.  Like most poetry, its a bit of work to figure out the meaning, and somewhat slow reading, but well worth the effort.  I find it sometimes helps to just read the work quickly, and first get the overall gist of a passage, before going back to decipher it word for word.

blog - obfuscated.org

Monrovians - Unite!  Another great Monrovia blog - since 2005 - Obfuscated.org

This blog cannot, and refuses to be, categorized in a few words.  You'll just have to check it out yourself.

Celebration for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception - December 8, 2009

Monrovians - Unite!  Know your local Churches and Spiritual traditions.

Monday, December 7, 2009, at Immaculate Conception Church, as many as 3,000 Monrovians will gather at 740 S. Shamrock Avenue, between 5:30 pm and 6:00 p.m. for a Celebration for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Son of God.  The Feast Day is actually December 8th, so the celebration will take place on its Eve.

Also celebrated will be the first anniversary of the Perpetual Adoration Chapel.

There will be a procession through the streets of Monrovia with the Blessed Sacrament, and the Church welcomes all Immaculate Conception families and friends to join the celebration.  Also present will be the Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that is currently on pilgrimage.

There will be adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the Church from 5:30 to 6:00 p.m., at which time the procession through the streets of Monrovia will begin.  After the procession, a Vigil Mass for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary will take place, and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe will be on display until approximately 10 pm.

At right is some of the stained glass in the Church that depicts the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

The celebration of the beginning of Advent, and also the beginning of the Church Year.  Advent is the season leading up to Christmas, at which Catholics celebrate Christ's coming into the world.  Catholics and Greek Orthodox believe that since God wanted a perfect vessel for His Son, Jesus, that by God's grace Mary was sinless when Christ was born.  Catholics believe that, to honor Jesus, Mary was born without Original Sin - i.e., Immaculate.  This celebration begins the new year, which is organized by, and celebrates, various aspects of  the Birth, Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus.

Paradise Lost - 1665

Monrovians - Unite!  Know your history and culture.

Milton's Paradise Lost is one of the greatest poems in the English language, first published in 1667.

The poem concerns the Christian story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways of God to men" and elucidate the conflict between God's eternal foresight and free will  The link above has been edited with more up-to-date language, and so is easier to read than the original.

He summarizes Satan's situation as follows:

So stretched out huge in length the Arch-fiend lay,
Chained on the burning lake; nor ever thence
Had risen, or heaved his head, but that the will
And high permission of all-ruling Heaven
Left him at large to his own dark designs,
That with reiterated crimes he might
Heap on himself damnation, while he sought
Evil to others, and enraged might see
How all his malice served but to bring forth
Infinite goodness, grace, and mercy, shewn
On Man by him seduced, but on himself
Treble confusion, wrath, and vengeance poured.

 He also wrote, for example:

The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.

 While not for everyone, the poem is divided into twelve books.  The first book summarizes the whole poem, while the remainder goes into more detail.  One can therefore obtain the gist of the poem and the poetry by reading the first book.

Satan is the first major character introduced in the poem. Satan is consigned to Hell after a failed rebellion to wrestle control of Heaven from God. Satan's desire to rebel against his creator stems from his unwillingness to accept the fact he is a created being, and that he is not self-sufficient.  This is a result of his extreme Pride. One of the ways he tries to justify his rebellion against God is by claiming that he and the angels are self-created, declaring the angels "self-begot, self-raised", thereby eliminating God’s authority over them as their creator.

Satan is narcissistic, self-pitying, and persuasive although his logic is almost always flawed, disingenuous, misguiding, or all three. Satan's persuasive powers are first evident when he makes arguments to his angel-followers as to why they should try to overthrow God. He argues that they ought to have equal rights to God and that Heaven is an unfair monarchy, stating,

Who can in reason then, or right, assume
Monarchy over such as live by right
His equals, if in power and splendor less,
In freedom equal? or can introduce
Law and edict on us, who without law
Err not? much less for this to be our Lord,
And look for adoration, to the abuse
Of those imperial titles, which assert
Our being ordained to govern, not to serve.

 The poem thus grapples with the tension between freedom and obedience to our Creator - the tension between unfettered license and the constraints that a free people voluntarily place upon themselves.  A subject we still grapple with today.

Captain John Smith - What did He Find in America?

Monrovians - Unite!  Know your History and Traditions.

The traditions and values of the Native Americans whom the European settlers first came into contact with are sometimes glorified by modern writers.  While there is no doubt that the pre-European civilizations on the North American continent had many long traditions, the suggestion is often implied (and sometimes stated outright) that all civilizations are of equal value.  Before accepting this premise, consider the human sacrifice practiced by the Native Americans in Virginia, as described by Captain John Smith.  Are you willing to agree that a culture that practices an annual sacrifice of children is equal in value to all others?

Captain John Smith wrote a Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles in 1624, covering the period from 1584 through 1624.  A digital version with updated spelling that makes for easier reading and searching has been created by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as part of its digital library Documenting the American South.  The scanned version of the book can be found on Google Books, here.
     In the Second Book, Smith describes the land and the people within 60 miles of Jamestown.

     Of their religion, he writes:

There is yet in Virginia no place discovered to be so Savage, in which they have not a Religion, Deer, and Bow, and Arrows. All things that are able to do them hurt beyond their prevention, they adore with their kind of divine worship; as the fire, water, lightning, thunder, our Ordnance, pieces, horses, etc. But their chief God they worship is the Devil. Him they call Okee, and serve him more of fear than love.

 Their Temples.

        In every Territory of a Werowance is a Temple and a Priest, two or three or more. Their principal Temple or place of superstition is at Vttamussack, at Pamavnkee, near unto which is a house, Temple, or place of Powhatans.
        Upon the top of certain red sandy hills in the woods, there are three great houses filled with images of their Kings, and Devils, and Tombs of their Predecessors. Those houses are near sixty foot in length built arbour-wise, after their building. This place they count so holy as that but the Priests and Kings dare come into them; nor the Salvages dare not go up the river in boats by it, but they solemnly cast some piece of copper, white beads, or Pocones into the river, for fear their Okee should be offended and revenged of them.

Thus, Fear was the first their Gods begot;

Till fear began, their Gods were not.

Sacrifices to the water.

        They have also certain Altar stones they call Parocorances, but these stand from their Temples, some by their houses, others in the woods and wildernesses, where they have had any extraordinary accident, or encounter. And as you travel, at those stones they will tell you the cause why they were there erected, which from age to age they instruct their children, as their best records of antiquities. Upon these they offer blood, Deer suet, and Tobacco. This they do when they return from the Wars, from hunting, and upon many other occasions. They have also another superstition that they use in storms, when the waters are rough in the Rivers and Sea coasts. Their Conjurers run to the water sides, or passing in their boats, after many hellish outcries and invocations, they cast Tobacco, Copper, Pocones, or such trash into the water, to pacify that God whom they think to be very angry in those storms. Before their dinners and suppers the better sort will take the first bit, and cast it in the fire, which is all the grace they are known to use.

 Their solemn Sacrifices of children, which they call Black-boyes.

        In some part of the Country they have yearly a sacrifice of children.  Such a one was at Quiyoughcohanock some ten miles from James Town, and thus performed.
     Fifteen of the properest young boys, between ten and fifteen years of age they painted white. Having brought them forth, the people spent the fore noon in dancing and singing about them with Rattles. In the afternoon they put those children to the root of a tree. By them all the men stood in a guard, every one having a Bastinado in his hand, made of reeds bound together. This made a lane between them all along, through which there were appointed five young men to fetch these children: so every one of the five went through the guard to fetch a child each after other by turns, the guard fiercely beating them with their Bastinadoes, and they patiently enduring and receiving all defending the children with their naked bodies from the unmerciful blows, that pay them soundly, though the children escape.
     All this while the women weep and cry out very passionately, providing mats, skins, moss, and dry wood, as things fitting their children's funerals. After the children were thus passed the guard, the guard tore down the trees, branches and boughs, with such violence that they rent the body, and made wreaths for their heads, or bedecked their hair with the leaves.
     What else was done with the children, was not seen, but they were all cast on a heap, in a valley as dead, where they made a great feast for all the company.
     The Werowance being demanded the meaning of this sacrifice, answered that the children were not all dead, but that the Okee or Devil did suck the blood from their left breast, who chanced to be his by lot, till they were dead, but the rest were kept in the wilderness by the young men till nine months were expired, during which time they must not converse with any, and of these were made their Priests and Conjurers. This sacrifice they held to be so necessary, that if they should omit it, their Okee or Devil, and all their other Quiyoughcosughes, which are their other Gods, would let them have no Deer, Turkeys, Corn, nor fish, and yet besides, he would make a great slaughter amongst them.

The more things change

Monrovians - Unite!

Proverbs:  29:4:

By just government a king gives his country stability,
but by forced contributions he reduces it to ruin.

Before The First Thanksgiving

Monrovians - Unite!  Know your History and Traditions.  Before the First Thanksgiving there was Captain John Smith.

Before the first Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth in 1620, the Virginia Company of London sent out an expedition in 1606 of three ships, with 104 men, and settled in Jamestown.  During the early years, the majority of the settlers died of starvation, various diseases, or hostile action by Indians.

The colony was kept from collapse by the ruthless and dynamic leadership of John Smith.  The story of the first two years was told by Captain John Smith in writings to a friend of his in England, in 1608, called "The True Relation," which can be downloaded from American Journeys, here.

John Smith's life was filled with adventure.  The introduction to "The True Relation" summarizes it as follows::

He was the son of George and Alice Smith, tenants of Peregrine Bertie, Lord Willoughby, and was baptized at Willoughby, January 9, 1580. At fifteen years of age he was apprenticed to a merchant, but the love of excitement was strong in him, and the next nine years were passed on the continent of Europe in constant travel and adventure. He served in the French, Dutch, and Transylvanian armies, and encountered many dangers. He was robbed and beaten by outlaws, was thrown into the sea for a heretic, and was a slave to a Turkish pasha. He had many hairbreadth escapes, but the most notable incident of his early career was his three combats before the city of Regau with the three Turkish champions, whose heads he cut off one after another. As a reward he received from Sigismund Bathori, a prince of Transylvania, a coat of arms with three Turks' heads in a shield.

Smith returned to England in 1604, and immediately became interested in the movement to establish a colony in Virginia. His reputation had preceded him, and he was picked out as one of the council to direct affairs in Virginia. He remained in this service till October, 1609, having been from September 20, 1608, to September 20, 1609, president of the colony.

His wonderful talent for hairbreadth escapes did not desert him. He was charged on the way over with conspiracy and kept under arrest till three weeks after the settlers landed at Jamestown.

In December, 1607, he was captured by the Indians and was saved from death by Pocahontas.

He returned to Jamestown only to run into a new danger. He was arrested by the council and condemned to death and escaped hanging by the timely return of Captain Christopher Newport, who interfered and saved his life.

Captain Smith left the colony at the end of his presidency, and for several years he was in the employment of the Plymouth Company, giving the name to New England and making a valuable chart of the country.

From 1615 to his death in 1631 he lived quietly in England, where he was known as a prolific writer. In 1612 he published his Map of Virginia, in 1624 The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England and the Summer Isles, and in 1630 The True Travels.

The absence of any reference in the True Relation to his rescue by Pocahontas has led some to doubt the truth of his assertions; but it appears that Smith omitted any particular mention of several other prominent incidents since his departure from London, affecting him personally. He has nothing to say of his arrest in the West Indies for mutiny, or the sentence of death imposed at Jamestown after his return from captivity. The timely arrival of Newport was in fact even more surprising than the kindly intervention of Pocahontas. Nor does he say in the True Relation anything of the fine of £200 imposed at Jamestown upon Wingfield for Smith's arrest in the West Indies.

It is not to be forgotten that the editor of the True Relation expressly states that the published account does not include the entire manuscript as it came from Smith. Smith was often inaccurate in his estimates as to time and place and often very prejudiced in his judgments of others, but that is far from saying that he could mistake plain objects of sense or deliberately concoct a story having no foundation. The narrative, in its essential features, is strongly supported by other contemporaneous documents, though for the reasons stated not much weight is to be attached to his opinions of the motives of Wingfield and the rest.

The True Relation was reprinted in 1866 at Boston, in a small edition, with an introduction and notes by Dr. Charles Deane.

The Pilgrims, who gave thanks to God and on whom we have based our Thanksgiving tradition when the Holiday was established by George Washington, came from England  for religious reasons, in 1620.  In 1629, other Pilgrims obtained the Massachusetts Bay Colony Charter.

Captain John Smith helped establish the Jamestown colony.  It is important to remember that he, like all historical figures but One, had serious flaws, and yet still contributed mightily to our history.

World's First Analog Blogger - Monrovia, Liberia

Monrovians - Unite!  The world’s first analog blogger.  Sometimes we can learn a lot from others.

Alfred Sirleaf provides Liberians with their news via chalkboard, according to a blog posting by

Tom Henheffer on Thursday, November 19, 2009 4:20pm, shown below:

Every day at 7 a.m., you can find Alfred Sirleaf working inside a small shack on a busy street corner in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. He reads the papers, consults with his small staff of reporters, and checks text messages from tipsters around the country. Then he picks up a piece of chalk, goes outside, and writes the day’s news headlines in large, clear letters on a blackboard facing the street. He may be the world’s only analog blogger.

Sirleaf’s been running his blackboard newspaper, called “The Daily Talk,” since 2000. Back then, the media was heavily censored under Charles Taylor’s repressive regime. “We had a system in Liberia where a few people reigned and made decisions for the masses,” Sirleaf says. “That’s what inspired me to figure out how to communicate with the people.” The government wasn’t happy with him. The blackboard was destroyed—twice—and Sirleaf was thrown in jail and eventually forced into exile. When a media-friendly government replaced Taylor in 2003, Sirleaf returned to rebuild his news empire.


Sirleaf says people need to stay informed for democracy to survive in the formerly war-torn nation, where outside news rarely penetrates and few people have access to newspapers or the Internet. Despite attracting thousands of Liberians every day and being one of the most influential news sources in Monrovia, he says a single board simply isn’t enough. So he’s trying to grow his business: he’s searching for funding that would allow him to build a network of blackboard newspapers across the country, each manned by a reporter/chalk-handler. “If the citizenry is educated they will be able to positively contribute to society. The best thing is to have everyone educated, and once they are informed, they aren’t going to do things out of ignorance.”

What are we doing to keep ourselves educated and informed?  A lot more than you might imagine!

How to Avoid a Shortgage of Toilet Paper

Monrovians - Unite! 

You may have heard earlier this year that Cuba has a shortage of toilet paper.  I don't know the precise reason why this occurred, but it got me to thinking, and I hope it gets you thinking too.  I imagine it went something like this:

Fidel Castro grew up in a capitalist society and witnessed that the wealthy seemed to have unlimited rolls of very soft TP.

While the poor often had to stretch their limited rolls of what seemed like sandpaper, or even cactus.

.

Fidel Castro decided it would be Progressive to have government take over TP (along with everything else).  Why should the rich have more and better TP than the poor!  The State declared that every citizen has a right to adequate TP.

and no one has the right to waste it.

The capitalists had argued that each person used the amount of TP he or she wanted to - some people put a higher priority on softness, others on quantity, others on using as little as possible so that they could devote their scare resources (money) to some other area entirely that they personally deemed to be more worthwhile, enjoyable, or necessary.

After Castro took over the government and murdered or imprisoned all who opposed him, he was very busy for several decades trying to run all of Cuba -- this was a big job even for Castro, for even someone as brilliant as Castro finds it challenging to determine what is best in every area of life for every single person on the island of Cuba.

For years, there was a variety of TP in Cuba, and people chose whichever type they wanted, and used as much or as little as they personally preferred.

But when some stupid capitalist manufacturer developed an automated method to produce a slightly softer TP at 80% of the cost of most TP, it created a crisis of capitalism.  Surprisingly, there were not yet any government regulations preventing the automation of TP manufacture, or restricting how soft it could be made.

The people of Cuba loved the value of the new TP, and they bought lots and lots of it.  The inventor of the process, having met the needs of millions of Cubans, was going to get very, very rich.

But some of the people were very, very unhappy about this.  You see, the makers of the sand-paper and other less desireable TP would be driven out of business, since they were no longer 10% cheaper than soft TP.

As for the others, their union contract would not allow them to adopt any manufacturing process that required fewer union workers.  Soon, many TP businesses shut their doors.  Unemployment, failed businesses, the unfairness of capitalism had somehow returned.

This could not be allowed to stand.The first thing Castro did was to put the owner of the automated process in jail.  The next thing he did was slap a heavy tax on automated TP.

To save the country from heartless TP manufacturers, the government set up a competing company, to provide a GOVERNMENT OPTION for TP.  This new company employed the union members whose jobs were threatened, and since it was owned by the government, it paid no taxes.  What we need here, said Castro, is MORE COMPETITION.  All the government-run mews media announced that the goal was not to move to a SINGLE WIPER system, but to ensure competition. It sold TP at 50% less cost than the New TP

When the business owners complained, Castro said that this proved they cared more about filthy profits than the needs of the Cuban people.  Castro was sure that he and his brilliant team could handle a simple thing like TP much better than those stupid, greedy, morally bankrupt business owners who were always trying to cut costs and increase profits, and the mis-informed consumers who couldn't be trusted to make smart decisions.  Castro also decreed that the GOVERNMENT OPTION TP would be made by Service Employee International union members only.

Some bright person in the Cuban government was then appointed the TP Czar, and commissioned a study which discovered that the average family in Cuba uses two rolls a week.  Not wanting to be discriminatory, and thinking that if anyone used more than the average it must be their own fault and would probably lead to Global Warming, the TP Czar then ordered the Government Option factory to produce exactly two rolls for every family, which were promptly distributed.

At the beginning of the year, as he was bringing a truck load of rolls for Fidel Castro's private use (the leaders are ALWAYS exempt from the rules they impose on everyone else), the TP Czar proudly reported that policies and procedures had been put in place so that every Cuban would receive a fair share of TP.

Within weeks, however, the Cuban government was shocked, shocked to learn that more than half of the Cuban households now reported a shortage of TP.  Some families were obviously using more than their allotted share of TP, contributing to Global Warming and the growing TP shortage.

Having decree that the principles of Progressivism required that every person should have an equal right to TP, it would not be politically correct to begin giving out more TP to some families (other than the leader's family, of course).

The entire population was ordered, in an emergency decree, to conserve TP.  Henceforth, each family would be given three rolls every two weeks, with one roll held in reserve by the all-knowing government to meet emergencies.  In addition, over 2,000 pages of regulations were written for all the exceptions, caveats, and political patronage. Rules on the proper placement of TP in the bathroom were promulgated, though they were a bit confusing.  Much of the TP was lost creating the maze of TP regulations.

If, AND ONLY IF, a person could establish that the entire family had done everything possible to conserve its TP, could the family receive an additional roll to meet the emergency.  People began sending in pictures to prove they had done everything they could think of to conserve.

Naturally, the Czar made sure that those who worked for the Czar, and their families, received all the TP they wanted, for it would be unseemly to have the Offices of the TP Czar denigrated by a certain foul odor that seemed to be infecting every other government office.

Now even MORE Cubans complained of a shortage, and some subversive elements began quietly protesting. "GOVERNMENT RATIONING STINKS!" some said.  Others put their objections in writing.
But if they complained too loudly they risked having their ration cut off entirely, or delayed, which amounted to the same thing - no TP.

The following year, the Czar announced WE HAVE FELT YOUR PAIN, don't worry, YOUR GOVERNMENT WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM CREATED BY THOSE NASTY CAPITALISTS. THE PROBLEM IS NOT ENOUGH REGULATIONS.  The Czar mandated that the size of each roll would be doubled, and a total of FOUR rolls would be produced for every family, and that additional regulations would be written to allocate the rolls, and new taxes and rules put in place to force people to use less TP.

TP Day was invented, and a catchy new advertising slogan invented to attack those whose habits led to the waste

 Children were taught songs to encourage them to use only two rolls per family per week.

To pay for all the additional TP, the people who monitored and enforce the TP rules, the advertising, and the song writers, the government imposed a new tax on TP of 50%.  The cost of buying two rolls would now cost what it previously had cost to buy three.  GOVERNMENT SERVICES AREN'T FREE, and don't forget the whole problem was caused by a LACK OF GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS, decreed the czar.

To finance the fourth roll, the government borrowed the money, confident that the little ones learning the songs in the schools would be happy to do their patriotic duty and pay for the TP when they became adults.
No longer would each child be free to use whatever amount of TP they thought best.

Children were taught to monitor each other's technique, use, and disposal of TP, to consider before eating how this might affect their TP use, and so on.

Those children who simply refused to follow the rules, would have to be dealt with.  Examples would have to be made of them.

And so it was that at first certain families were deprived entirely of their TP, then some arrested for stealing TP and jailed, and others fired from their government jobs because they or their spouse seemingly refused to obey the government's directive which, after all, was for the good of everyone.

Many years later, when for some strange reason the economy had fallen apart, the union convinced Castro to to inform the people that it was their patriotic duty to use MORE TP to create jobs, some of which was made from recycled papers from the United States, but that's an SEIU for another day.

Chamber of Commerce

Monrovians - Unite!  Know and support local businesses.

MONROVIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

You can stop in and say hello – Monday – Thursday 8:00am to 4:30pm, Friday 8:00am to 1:00pm.

620 S. Myrtle Avenue
Monrovia, CA 91016
Telephone 626 358-1159
Fax 626 357-6036
Website: http://www.monroviacc.com

Email: chamber@monroviacc.com

The Monrovia Chamber of Commerce is a volunteer based non-profit corporation comprised of the businesses in this community.  The Chamber of Commerce harnesses the tremendous potential of the private enterprise system and enables its membership to accomplish collectively what no one could do individually.

Founded in 1897 and incorporated in 1939, the Chamber continues to grow to meet the challenges of today’s business climate.

CHAMBER MISSION

The objective of the Monrovia Chamber of Commerce is to promote and meet the needs of business and to make Monrovia the best possible community in which to live, work and do business.

 SHOULD YOU BE A CHAMBER MEMBER?

Membership in the Chamber provides advantages designed to meet business needs in areas such as business promotion, business assistance, networking, advertising, education, and legislative representation.

The Chamber members who serve on the Board of Directors, on the committees and as Ambassadors are business leaders who volunteer their valuable time working for you because they believe in the effectiveness of the Monrovia Chamber of Commerce.  The Chamber maintains an office with a full-time staff to provide services to the membership, visitors and the community.

SOME CHAMBER MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

Free link from chamber website to your business

Referral Networking Service

Networking opportunities/contacts

“Monrovia Insider” newsletter for information, advertising, articles.

IF THE CHAMBER DIDN'T, WHO WOULD?

Speak up for business with government leaders regarding proposed and existing laws and regulations that have an impact on business?

Respond to requests for Demographics, questions about our businesses & community, either in person, by mail or by phone?

Coordinate the talents of the local business community by tracking basic issues?

Stand ready to pursue any matter which can make our area a better place to live and work?

All information current as of 9/4/2018

The Rainbows End - Thrift Store

Monrovians - Unite!

The Rainbow's End
1329 East Huntngton Drive
Duarte, CA 91010
Phone: 626.301.1333


Rainbow’s End is a great place to find new and used clothing and household items at bargain prices – and at the same time support its programs. Donations of new and gently used items are always appreciated and are accepted Tuesday through Saturday during store hours. Donations cannot be accepted on Sunday and Monday because of limited staffing those days. Large items and furniture donations can be made by appointment only.
 

California Republican Assembly - as in Grand Old Party

Monrovians - Unite! Know your local politics and politicians.

California Republican Assembly
P.O. Box 877
Monrovia, CA  91017


President:  Ken Mettler 661-549-6715
Membership Scty:  Peggy Mew 626-357-7308

via,c CA 91017fornia

Foothill Unity Center

Monrovians - Unite! The Foothill Unity Center needs volunteers.

415 West Chestnut Avenue

Monrovia, CA 91016

626-358-3486

The Foothill Unity Center also runs the Rainbow's End Thrift Store, at 1329 Huntington Drive, Duarte, CA 91010, 626-301-1333, and also has an office in Pasadena.

The purpose of the Foothill Unity Center is to give immediate assistance to those in need from our community. The people there distribute food and clothing to hundreds of local families each month. They offer referrals for shelter, medical, education, counseling, and job assistance.

Together with other community organizations the Foothill Unity Center assists people in their efforts to become self-sufficient once more.

Foothill Unity Center was founded in 1980 by Josephine Anderson. It was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1991.

Its support and funding comes from local citizens, service clubs, churches, businesses, and grants.

As a Community Action Agency, the Center is required to have a tripartite board, with one-third of directors elected officials or their representatives, one-third Center clients and one-third local community/business members.  Being a Community Action Agency means that the Center is a partner with the Community Action Partnership.  Community Action Partnership is a national, 501(c)3 nonprofit membership organization that provides technical assistance, training, and other resources to Community Action Agencies, nonprofit and public groups funded by the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), a federal program that allocates funding to states to connect Americans to greater opportunity.

The Board of Directors as of September 4, 2018 is as follows:

Officers:

Mary Ann Lutz, President
Former Mayor, City of Monrovia

Rev. Terry Keenan, Treasurer
Pastor, Santa Anita Church

Gary Kovacic, Vice President
Former Mayor of City of Arcadia

Linda Taubenreuther, Secretary

Greg Vanni, Vice President
Thon Beck, Vanni, Callahan and Powell

Others:

Reyna Diaz, Member at Large
Board, Duarte Unified School District

Christine Gonzales-Bennett
Client Representative

Rev. Ulises Gutierrez, Member at Large
LifeChurch UPC

Brian Barreto, Member at Large
California American Water Co.

Lois Gaston, Member at Large
Former Mayor, City of Duarte

Karen Herrera, Member at Large
Deputy City Manager, City of Duarte

Donald P. Schweitzer, Member at Large
Law Offices of Donald P. Schweitzer

Brian Vosberg, Member at Large
Vosberg & Associates

Kay Kinsler, Member at Large
Board Member, Arcadia Unified School District

Alice Wang
Business/Community Representative

Pamela K. Velazquez, District Manager-West Heights Division
Wells Fargo Eastern Gateway Division

Eric Bell, Business/Community Representative

Susannah Howard, Board Member

Phlunte Riddle, Board Member  - Elected Official Rep.
Senior Field Representative for State Assembly Member Chris Holden

Katherine Thorossian, Board Member - Client Representative

Superintendent of the Monrovia Unified School District

KGEM - Community Media of the Foothills

Monrovians - Unite!  Know your local media.

Formerly KGEM

847 E. Olive Avenue
Monrovia, CA 91017
(626) 357-4974
kgemtv@gmail.com


Studio Hours:
Monday-Thursday 11:00 am to 7:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am to 5:00 pm

3M

Monrovians - Unite! Know your local businesses and employers.

3M Industrial and Transportation Business
1601 S. Shamrock Ave., (626) 358-0136

3M Unitech Health Care Business
2724 S. Peck Rd., Monrovia, CA 91016-5097
(626) 574-4000

History of 3M Unitek Monrovia

3M Unitek was founded in 1948 with the introduction of the first stainless steel bracket, manufactured by a hand full of orthodontics from a garage in Pasadena. Unitek was named after the “Universal Bracket Technique.” The company has been acquired twice: by Bristol-Meyers in 1978 and by 3M in 1987.

When 3M acquired Unitek Orthodontics in 1987, it was a leader in the orthodontic supplies market. Since that time, 3M Unitek has functioned as a wholly owned subsidiary marketing directly to orthodontists. 3M Unitek has advanced the state-of-the-art in a variety of segments including ceramic esthetic brackets, shape-memory alloy-based arch wires and a unique, patented adhesive which is pre-applied to the base of the brackets. Milestones of product development for 3M Unitek:

•1950 – Seamless Bands
•1967 – AlastiK™ Ligatures
•1977 – Nitinol Wire
•1981 – Dyna-Lock™ Brackets
•1983 – Traction Release™ Headgear
•1985 – Uni-Twin™ Brackets
•1987 – Transcend™ Brackets
•1988 – Transbond™ Adhesive
•1991 – APC™ Adhesive System
•1995 – Victory Series™ Brackets
•1996 – Clarity™ Ceramic Brackets
•1997 – MBT™ Appliance System
•1999 – Transbond™ MIP Primer
•2000 – Transbond™ Plus Adhesive
•2001 – APC™ II Adhesive System
•2002 – Victory Series™ Low Profile Brackets
•2003 – Ortholux™ LED Curing Light
•2004 – APC™ PLUS Adhesive Coated Appliance System
•2004 – SmartClip™ Self-Ligating Appliance System
•2007 – Clarity™ SL Appliance System
•2007 – 3M acquired Abzil and LingualCare

Additional information is always welcome, in the way of comments.

Loopnet, Inc. - a leading information services website for commercial RE

Monrovians - Unite! Know your local businesses and employers.

LoopNet, Inc. (888-567-7442) 181 W. Huntington Drive, Monrovia, CA, is a leading information services web site for the commercial real estate industry, delivering a comprehensive suite of products and services to meet the national and local needs of commercial real estate firms, organizations and professionals. We operate the largest commercial real estate listing service online, with more than $495 billion of property listed for sale and 6.1 billion square feet of space for lease. With more than 3 million registered members, LoopNet attracts the largest community of commercial real estate professionals. LoopNet’s market-leading LoopLink products powers the web sites with LoopNet’s listing service at www.LoopNet.com.

LoopNet also owns and operates BizBuySell, Inc., the largest and most heavily trafficked online exchange for businesses for sale in North America, with more business listings, users and search activity than any other web site. BizBuySell features over 44,000 businesses for sale listings that are searched by more than 720,000 monthly visitors, and has the largest database of sale comparables for recently sold businesses.

LoopNet customers include virtually all of the top commercial real estate organizations in the U.S., including AMB Property Corporation, CB Richard Ellis, Century 21 Commercial, Coldwell Banker Commercial, Colliers International, The CORE Network, Cushman & Wakefield, Grubb & Ellis, Lincoln Property Company, Marcus & Millichap, NAI, Prudential CRES, RE/MAX, RREEF, Sperry Van Ness, The Staubach Company and Trammell Crow Company.

LoopNet has two California offices: the San Francisco China Basin area across from AT&T Park and in Monrovia.

Additional information via comments is always welcome.

Immaculate Conception Church and school

Monrovians - Unite!

Immaculate Conception parish has a very good website.

740 South Shamrock Avenue 

Monrovia, CA 91016

(626) 358-1166

 

     The home page message from the priests and staff at Immaculate Conception reads

     "We hope that you will enjoy your visit to the Immaculate Conception web pages. If you are a member of our parish community, we hope that you will take an active part in parish life, and include yourself in the activities and devotions that best serve your spiritual needs. 

     Our elementary school provides a quality education to children from kindergarten through the eighth grade, and is an ideal way to ensure that your children can grow spiritually and academically during their developmental years. Additionally, Immaculate Conception has an extensive religious education program for those students not enrolled in the parish school.

       There are numerous active ministries at Immaculate Conception Parish. Perhaps one of them is calling you to service.

     May the loving Father, merciful Savior, and Spirit of truth, strength, courage and faith be with you always."

Americantowns.com

Monrovians - Unite!

Americantowns.com is a great aggregator of information and blogs.

GemCityImages blog

Monrovians - Unite!

This blog, GemCityImages, has plenty of outstanding pictures of Monrovia, along with a lot of useful links. Check it out if you love good photography.

Monrovians - Unite!

Monrovia has been my home for many years.

We have many strengths, and our neighbors are freedom loving, family-oriented, and God-fearing people.

Together, we can preserve our freedom, our family life, and the many blessings bestowed upon us by our Creator. None of us are perfect, and none can exist as an island. We need each other for encouragement, support, leadership, and inspiration. We can encourage, support, lead, and inspire each other.

Together, we can shine disinfecting sunlight on every corner of our city, weave unbreakable bonds of love and loyalty, and share the wonders of our community with one another.