Morning again. I feel pretty good. Overall, I'm pleased with yesterday's elections and determined to keep slugging away every way I can. I know it's a minuscule effort on my part, but every little bit helps. Not too happy about Christie's win, but he is one of the least toxic rethugs. Still toxic though.
I guess we have to have this dualism of good versus evil. We're still alpha-aspiring primates with ruthless elements seeking to to oppress the majority and keep them down while they ride high.
Gets tiring though. We should be so much better off as a nation and not in danger of becoming the failed wreckage of our founders dreams. By now, we should have become the most possperous and advanced nation that would dwarf the actual accomplishments we've had in spite of all the "conservative" push to tamp everything down.
We should already have a colony on the moon and be reaching for Mars. We could have conquered even more diseases than we have if the funding hadn't been wasted on destructive wars and perks for the rich and powerful. We should be traveling nationwide on bullet trains and hydrogen should be powering our everyday transportation.
So much more could have been accomplished if those preening alpha males hadn't wormed their way into control. It would be staggering! As always, the saddest words are "could have been."
But, here we are, and we can only push for a sane future.
I'm on board.
I hope you are too.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Sunday, November 3, 2013
ADVICE FROM A "HOARY HEAD"
(From Facebook.)
The week is off to a good start. I got a few things accomplished today but mostly took it easy.
Taking it easy is pretty much my motto anymore, even when I'm busy at something. I used to be so full of nervous energy that I literally found it hard to sit still for very long. I miss it, but there's no remedy.
Kids, use that hormone generated energy. You can't save it up, and if you don't utilize it, it will be gone forever. Now, I know what they really meant about the "juices" drying up. At the same time, try to be wise in how you use it. I'd still square dance up a storm if I could, work night and day when I needed to and reach for every goal I could reasonably reach for if I had it to do over.
I think of my grandchildren often and wonder what their dreams are, what they yearn to do in life, etc. I remember well my own dreams and aspirations, some of them based on delusion and false premises. I'd like to save them some of the disillusionment and disappointments I've gone through, and I hope my being honest about my own life will help them in that department. Don't discount the lessons this old hoary head passes on to you.
If I had been more aware of and listened to the great thinkers of the past, like Ingersoll, Mencken, Mark Twain, Thomas Paine, and a host of others, I could have saved myself a lot of false forks in the road. As an aside, I knew Thomas Paine was a great thinker and founding father, but I never read his book until I was past seventy and didn't really know he was an atheist. For some reason I'll let you speculate on, that fact about him isn't emphasized by very many people.
Read, dammit! Think -- don't assume or take some blowhards word for it! Wear out those search engines! Knowledge has never been this accessible before. I had none of those modern (and often free) tools at your ages -- not even in middle age!
Assume nothing to be true until you exhaustively investigate it and consider contrary opinions in their entirety. That's science. That's true reasoning. Anything else courts disaster, and I've suffered through a great deal of that. It's no fun and it's better to avoid it.
I had no idea I was going to say all this a few minutes ago. Just flows sometimes.
The week is off to a good start. I got a few things accomplished today but mostly took it easy.
Taking it easy is pretty much my motto anymore, even when I'm busy at something. I used to be so full of nervous energy that I literally found it hard to sit still for very long. I miss it, but there's no remedy.
Kids, use that hormone generated energy. You can't save it up, and if you don't utilize it, it will be gone forever. Now, I know what they really meant about the "juices" drying up. At the same time, try to be wise in how you use it. I'd still square dance up a storm if I could, work night and day when I needed to and reach for every goal I could reasonably reach for if I had it to do over.
I think of my grandchildren often and wonder what their dreams are, what they yearn to do in life, etc. I remember well my own dreams and aspirations, some of them based on delusion and false premises. I'd like to save them some of the disillusionment and disappointments I've gone through, and I hope my being honest about my own life will help them in that department. Don't discount the lessons this old hoary head passes on to you.
If I had been more aware of and listened to the great thinkers of the past, like Ingersoll, Mencken, Mark Twain, Thomas Paine, and a host of others, I could have saved myself a lot of false forks in the road. As an aside, I knew Thomas Paine was a great thinker and founding father, but I never read his book until I was past seventy and didn't really know he was an atheist. For some reason I'll let you speculate on, that fact about him isn't emphasized by very many people.
Read, dammit! Think -- don't assume or take some blowhards word for it! Wear out those search engines! Knowledge has never been this accessible before. I had none of those modern (and often free) tools at your ages -- not even in middle age!
Assume nothing to be true until you exhaustively investigate it and consider contrary opinions in their entirety. That's science. That's true reasoning. Anything else courts disaster, and I've suffered through a great deal of that. It's no fun and it's better to avoid it.
I had no idea I was going to say all this a few minutes ago. Just flows sometimes.
Friday, November 1, 2013
LET'S TRY THE GIRLS FOR A CHANGE
An interesting fact came out on Bill Maher's Real Time tonight. That point was that women have an easier time of cooperating and compromising than men do. I think the observation that testosterone is at the basis is likely true. We men tend to be very competitive and "alpha man" oriented. It was also pointed out that women outnumber men and could easily take over the whole country politically. I, like Nielle Degrasse Tyson, who was on the show, would frankly like to see that happen.
We've had millennia of male domination that orginated in the fertile crescent and Asia and spread pretty much worldwide from there. I believe the old saying that the proof of the pudding is in the tasting and eating. What I see in the world and have experienced all of my life leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth.
I'm not a macho dictator in my own home and really never wanted to be even when I was a slave to armstrongism. I respect women and regard them as equals. I deliberately went looking for someone on my intellectual level and knew I'd hit "pay dirt" when Phyllis came along. The retired baptist minister and fellow square dancer who officiated our wedding didn't like it one bit when we asked him to leave "obey" out of the ceremony. He just shook his head when he asked me one time how many heads there were in my home and I held up two fingers and said "two."
I'm not saying we should live in another unbalanced world where women ride roughshod over men, but history proves the opposite situation has produced a world where brute strength and macho posturing threatens to destroy us all. We should have progressed from that chimp rampaging thru the forest, banging on an oil drum to imtimidate his compatriots. Ted Cruz and his idiot minister father remind of that chimp who is, after all, their distant cousin, whether or not they like it or would admit it.
We've had millennia of male domination that orginated in the fertile crescent and Asia and spread pretty much worldwide from there. I believe the old saying that the proof of the pudding is in the tasting and eating. What I see in the world and have experienced all of my life leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth.
I'm not a macho dictator in my own home and really never wanted to be even when I was a slave to armstrongism. I respect women and regard them as equals. I deliberately went looking for someone on my intellectual level and knew I'd hit "pay dirt" when Phyllis came along. The retired baptist minister and fellow square dancer who officiated our wedding didn't like it one bit when we asked him to leave "obey" out of the ceremony. He just shook his head when he asked me one time how many heads there were in my home and I held up two fingers and said "two."
I'm not saying we should live in another unbalanced world where women ride roughshod over men, but history proves the opposite situation has produced a world where brute strength and macho posturing threatens to destroy us all. We should have progressed from that chimp rampaging thru the forest, banging on an oil drum to imtimidate his compatriots. Ted Cruz and his idiot minister father remind of that chimp who is, after all, their distant cousin, whether or not they like it or would admit it.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
FEELS GOOD TO PARTICIPATE
I just took what will be the last load to Habitat for Humanity for a while. I've been on a cleanup and pare down campaign for two weeks now. Today, I learned something about my contributions which made me very happy.
Years ago now, I put together a luggage carrier and a five gallon bucket to enable me to wheel my heavy tools around rather than suspending them from an aching arm. I had dreams of making it a money maker but that never panned out. But, I did manufacture several of them from luggage carriers I bought at sales.
Except for the one I carry in my van with my flooring tools and a delux unit I'm hanging onto, I donated them all to Habitat the last two days. Today I was told they are going to bundle those all up and send them off to their construction crew so their workmen will have an easier way to tote their tools around! That made me very happy as I've always wished I could join in with Jimmy Carter and help build a few houses.
In a way, I'm now doing so.
Years ago now, I put together a luggage carrier and a five gallon bucket to enable me to wheel my heavy tools around rather than suspending them from an aching arm. I had dreams of making it a money maker but that never panned out. But, I did manufacture several of them from luggage carriers I bought at sales.
Except for the one I carry in my van with my flooring tools and a delux unit I'm hanging onto, I donated them all to Habitat the last two days. Today I was told they are going to bundle those all up and send them off to their construction crew so their workmen will have an easier way to tote their tools around! That made me very happy as I've always wished I could join in with Jimmy Carter and help build a few houses.
In a way, I'm now doing so.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
COMPUTERS JOIN THE GENERATIONS
(From Facebook.)
My daughter, Jaime, keeps mentioning how much she enjoys hearing about my days. That's something I fully understand and appreciate. It also causes me to appreciate modern communications even more. I think Facebook and blogs are great!
I learned a lot from being around my own mother and father all those years on that Dakota ranch. I fall back on those experiences and the wisdom they imparted constantly. Sadly, I had little opportunity to continue the process after leaving home at age 21. I still profited from the times we were together but those were very limited. They'd still be limited where my own children and grandchildren's contact with me is concerned, without the miracle of modern technological communication.
Through the magic of computing, I've been able to put an autobiography out there for whoever wants to read it, and those thoughts that come to me, usually on a daily basis, can be magically put up here on my Facebook page and maybe on my blog. Miles separate us, but I can be right with them every day if it works out that way, and it usually does.
Li'l sweetie just brought me a fresh piece of whipped cream topped german chocolate cake we whipped up earlier. I'm signing off to pig out!
My daughter, Jaime, keeps mentioning how much she enjoys hearing about my days. That's something I fully understand and appreciate. It also causes me to appreciate modern communications even more. I think Facebook and blogs are great!
I learned a lot from being around my own mother and father all those years on that Dakota ranch. I fall back on those experiences and the wisdom they imparted constantly. Sadly, I had little opportunity to continue the process after leaving home at age 21. I still profited from the times we were together but those were very limited. They'd still be limited where my own children and grandchildren's contact with me is concerned, without the miracle of modern technological communication.
Through the magic of computing, I've been able to put an autobiography out there for whoever wants to read it, and those thoughts that come to me, usually on a daily basis, can be magically put up here on my Facebook page and maybe on my blog. Miles separate us, but I can be right with them every day if it works out that way, and it usually does.
Li'l sweetie just brought me a fresh piece of whipped cream topped german chocolate cake we whipped up earlier. I'm signing off to pig out!
Friday, October 18, 2013
JUST A DAY IN MY LIFE
(From Facebook.)
We're all set up with our medicare plus policy for next year. We had been with United Health Care through AARP but they're going crazy with new costs. A couple years ago, we saw an advertisement from an expert in Camp Verde who got us into AARP, which was the best at that time. However, that has all changed and he came by today and got us signed up with Phoenix Health Care for next year. Will save us a bundle. Coverage is just as good and we keep our primary doctor, a very important factor to us. Co-pay goes down to $5 from $10. Specialist stayed the same at $40. Plus, we were going to be charged nearly $30 a month just to have the plan. Not a cent with this one.
Shop is still coming along. I'm very pleased but amazed at how time consuming it all is. It's sort of like trying to staighten out the obamacare website. I feel for those IT geeks. They must be pulling their hair out.
Tomorrow, one of our favorite community sales is on, so we'll be out early to cover Pine Shadows from one end to the other. We usually find something there. I'm especially looking for scrap lumber to build doggie stairs for my step-daughter. New lumber is prohibitive. The last set came from tearing down an old cabinet we no longer needed. I built them as a gift to Phyllis' hair dresser so her dog could get up on the bed alone. I carpet them, and they're quite nice.
Time for bed. I've already pontificated enough on my shares. Good night, all.
We're all set up with our medicare plus policy for next year. We had been with United Health Care through AARP but they're going crazy with new costs. A couple years ago, we saw an advertisement from an expert in Camp Verde who got us into AARP, which was the best at that time. However, that has all changed and he came by today and got us signed up with Phoenix Health Care for next year. Will save us a bundle. Coverage is just as good and we keep our primary doctor, a very important factor to us. Co-pay goes down to $5 from $10. Specialist stayed the same at $40. Plus, we were going to be charged nearly $30 a month just to have the plan. Not a cent with this one.
Shop is still coming along. I'm very pleased but amazed at how time consuming it all is. It's sort of like trying to staighten out the obamacare website. I feel for those IT geeks. They must be pulling their hair out.
Tomorrow, one of our favorite community sales is on, so we'll be out early to cover Pine Shadows from one end to the other. We usually find something there. I'm especially looking for scrap lumber to build doggie stairs for my step-daughter. New lumber is prohibitive. The last set came from tearing down an old cabinet we no longer needed. I built them as a gift to Phyllis' hair dresser so her dog could get up on the bed alone. I carpet them, and they're quite nice.
Time for bed. I've already pontificated enough on my shares. Good night, all.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
THE AMERICAN TALIBAN
“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.”
~Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater was a true prophet, but he never aspired to any such position. He just thought clearly and honestly and expressed his thoughts the same way.
Religion is about to destroy the USA and threatens to destroy the whole world. Religion messed up my life for decades. It messes up the lives of billions of desperately confused people the world over, turning them from friends and neighbors into hateful enemies and monsters. It's been messing up my nation for decades now and even has its insidious hooks into the Supreme Court!
What's happening in Washington, D.C is the direct result of Americans being caught up in fanatical religion. The bible belt has no superiority over any taliban area of Afghanistan! The tea party is a christian-american taliban! Give them the opportunity, and some of them would be rabid enough to shoot a little girl in the head if she dared speak out against their insanities.
When a human being is convinced he or she is god's emissary, frightening things happen. Hate becomes love. Circular thinking becomes reason. Everything is reversed.
It's always been so. Find out what religion teaches and conclude the opposite and you will be right on most of the time. Gods don't create humans. Humans create gods -- untold thousands of them throughout history. Knowledge brings progress, the solving of problems. Religion teaches knowledge led to that fictitious fall and damnation. Religions try to keep true knowledge out of the schools so as to warp young minds into compliance with their lies!
~Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater was a true prophet, but he never aspired to any such position. He just thought clearly and honestly and expressed his thoughts the same way.
Religion is about to destroy the USA and threatens to destroy the whole world. Religion messed up my life for decades. It messes up the lives of billions of desperately confused people the world over, turning them from friends and neighbors into hateful enemies and monsters. It's been messing up my nation for decades now and even has its insidious hooks into the Supreme Court!
What's happening in Washington, D.C is the direct result of Americans being caught up in fanatical religion. The bible belt has no superiority over any taliban area of Afghanistan! The tea party is a christian-american taliban! Give them the opportunity, and some of them would be rabid enough to shoot a little girl in the head if she dared speak out against their insanities.
When a human being is convinced he or she is god's emissary, frightening things happen. Hate becomes love. Circular thinking becomes reason. Everything is reversed.
It's always been so. Find out what religion teaches and conclude the opposite and you will be right on most of the time. Gods don't create humans. Humans create gods -- untold thousands of them throughout history. Knowledge brings progress, the solving of problems. Religion teaches knowledge led to that fictitious fall and damnation. Religions try to keep true knowledge out of the schools so as to warp young minds into compliance with their lies!
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