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The World at War

3/18/2022

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On February 24, 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine.  This is all over the media.  I pray for the innocents in all wars.  Conveniently, the president of Russia waited until after the peaceful celebration of sport in China at the Olympic Games.  Sadly, he did not wait until the Paralympic Games were even started.  The injured of his war in Ukraine will yield more qualified for the Paralympics in the future. 
For this post, I will spare you my theories on this war and past wars.  Suffice it to say, the innocent suffer, the rich get richer, and no one ultimately wins.  Truly, what does conquering land and buildings yield?  When we die, we cannot take earthly riches with us.  It is a waste of time and human life.
On another note, NATO and supporting countries are condemning the actions of Russia and 'helping' Ukraine by sending weapons, medical supplies, and food.  Some are offering homes for those escaping the war.  They are not sending their own warriors.  The world 'stands with Ukraine' in photos, memes, flag-waving, but we are not there fighting with them.  Not really.  Don't kid yourselves. 
Food and medicine are important.  Weapons are important. 
I see people on social media scoffing when someone offers prayers and thoughts during a tragedy in our own country (e.g. a school shooting), as if prayers and thoughts do nothing.  Yet, here we are with an entire country being besieged and we are offering prayers and thoughts.
Ironic, isn't it. 
It's not acceptable in our own country, but it's perfectly fine when it's for someone in another country.
Why don't we put our money where our mouths are? 
Why?
I applaud the rescue workers of Samaritan's Purse and other such organizations who go in, regardless of location, to render aid to those in need, be it from natural disaster or war. 
I applaud anyone who renders assistance and aid.
I grew up in the era of Vietnam, the war no one wanted, everyone protested, and the government dragged out, leaving the country of Vietnam in worse shape than when we arrived.  My big brother was there.  My future husband was there.  Many friends and other family were there.  I was a toddler.  I remember seeing the protests on the television (and shocked when color television replaced the black & white pictures in our home). 
My dad fought in WWII and was wounded in action.  He finished his time in the military by guarding German Prisoners of War (POWs).  One of those soldiers knew some English and spoke with my dad, expressing that the war hadn't been between them, just their governments; that they were both soldiers doing their jobs as ordered. 
Indeed, Germany had tried to take over the planet, led by an intelligent madman.  But the soldiers, were real people, like you and me.  They had families and they didn't play in politics.  They did their best to support their families and their countries.  Sadly, many didn't know the full extent of the atrocities forced on the Jewish population in Europe until after the fact.  By the time some knew during the war, the machine was in place, and those who were not Jewish feared rocking the boat and their families' lives if they spoke out.
When I studied in Europe decades ago, I invited my parents to join me.  My dad declined since he'd been there.  I tried to assure him, it would be beautiful, no longer war-torn.  He still declined and I respect his decision.  I wish he could have seen the places he'd been, where shelling was daily, and he dug into foxholes.  I wish he could have seen beauty and peaces in the places where he'd seen too many innocents die. 
But, it was not something he could face.  And that is the point. 
None of us want to face the ugly, we do not want to revisit horror.  Even worse, we don't want to learn from the past.  We don't want to learn from someone like my dad, who lived through it.  We don't want to hear from the survivors of concentration camps.  We don't want to think of our own prison camps for those from the wars.  We don't want to admit that there are no real rules in war, that it is survival of the fittest, just like in the animal kingdom for all eternity.  True, countries and nations right treaties and rules of engagement on paper.  But when you're in the war itself and on the battlefields (in the streets, in the forests, in the dessert, on the ocean), you, as a human, will do what you must to survive.  That is true for any soldier. 
Until you risk your life for your fellow soldiers.  That is when heroes are born.  They forget themselves in that moment, not having planned since childhood who they may save.  They simply do.  They jump on grenades.  They run in front of tanks.  They shove a buddy into a foxhole.  They stay with the ship to make sure others escape.  They take the bullet.  They take multiple bullets and keep fighting, living on adrenaline only as the blood spurts from holes torn in their limbs. 
We call them heroes.  They, if they survive, simply reply that they were doing their jobs.
War is ugly.  It is never pretty.  Never.  It may be glorified in song or by some award-winning journalist, but the truth is that war is ugly, forever and always.
Politicians may wax poetic and tell us how their hearts break for the families of the fallen, but until they lose someone in battle or someone to long-term battle illness (e.g. Agent Orange from Vietnam is still killing 50+ years later, slowly and insidiously), until they lose someone they love more than life itself, they truly cannot hurt for the wars they wage.
Presidents in the USA typically call families of fallen.  Those calls must be bone-chilling for the person in the presidential office.  There are no words they can say to a mother or father that will ever compensate for the loss of the son or daughter who died in battle the President ordered.  Nothing will bring back their children. 
Have you ever noticed that when a person takes the oath of office of President of the United States the demeanor is determined, focused, and proud?  Have you noticed by the time the President leaves office, their hair is much gray-er, their shoulders are less straight, their gaze is more somber?  A true leader wears the weight of the country on their shoulders and has learned much from carrying the responsibility of sending someone else's children to war and possible death. 
Not all countries' leaders seem to age like the presidents of the USA.  I would like to think that is because our country was founded on the belief of individual freedoms, freedoms worth fighting for, and not just being a sovereign country.  I do not know the answer.
Look at the current President of Russia.  He is not showing his age thus far.  Why is that?  I will leave that answer up to you, dear reader, and to him.
All I can do from my current keyboard is share thoughts and pray for the innocents of all wars.  I ask you to do the same and try to do better.  All nations need to pray for the innocent and to guide/elect leaders who will do better for humankind and our planet. 
Pray.  Lead.  Educate.  Encourage.  Render aid.  Pray.

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30 days

12/1/2020

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How did we get here?  It's the first of December 2020.  How in the heck did we get here?  Where has this year gone?
It started out okay, I think.  January 1, 2020 seems like a lifetime ago, doesn't it? 
We had a death in our family in January so things focused on that the early part of the year for us. 
Then, out of the blue, there was a global pandemic.  True, we'd heard bits about it going on in other countries, like it having started in China -- and there was a fuss when President Trump was closing borders from Asian countries during the impeachment, but the media didn't talk about that.  Next thing you know, the media was blaming Mr Trump!  Go figure.
Guess what, folks?  It's a virus that spreads rapidly, a new virus, in the same family as the common cold.  Go figure.  There is no 'cure.'  By the way, we STILL don't have a cure for the common cold, so get a grip. 
To be sure, if you get a bad case of COVID-19, it can be life-threatening.  BUT, there are thousands more who don't suffer from a severe case of it and go on with their lives. 
Have you checked the numbers of deaths from the flu/influenza every year, it can be pretty deadly too if you get complications.  Sure, they have a vaccine for the flu, but I've never taken the flu shot, and never will per the advice of a medical doctor regarding my many allergic reactions in the past.  In fact, I avoid vaccines like the plague, because in my case, the side effects could be deadly.  Better for me to risk battling the disease than risk death trying to prevent it.
But, I digress.
I live in a state, a commonwealth to be exact, that has a governor who's edicts regarding the pandemic vary day to day and week to week.  The edicts conflict with one another and the ability to keep our livelihoods in business and our families afloat.  We have a secretary of health whose degree is not in medicine and infectious diseases, but rather in mental health.  This secretary and governor seem to think their words are akin to those of God Himself.  (For the record, they aren't.)  I worry about my fellow residents in this beautiful state, but I am only one to try and change things.  I do my best to support our congressmen and women, our senators and let them know I support their efforts to keep our great state treading water.  Are you in touch with your representatives?  You should be!
I live in the greatest country on earth.  (It must be great or so many wouldn't still try to sneak into it illegally.)  And yet, there are those crowds who want to change our country to be something less than it is, to someplace wherein competition dies, the ability to dream and excel is stifled, the ability to protect one's home and family is denied.  I worry about my country and her citizens (the legal citizens, not the illegal squatters who sneak in).  Now before you say I'm heartless or not a Christian, let me assure you, I can love all of God's children.  I can donate to agencies to help the homeless.  I can care for those who've suffered from oppression and violence who seek a better way of life.  BUT, I will not support those who arrive here illegally looking for another handout from our government. 
That's not the way this works, folks.  There are those who are even legal citizens who want the free handouts and look for every opportunity to suck them up.  Shucks, I've even been told by some that I should look into disability because of my Fibromyalgia diagnosis.  I will not do so until the time comes when I can no longer function.  Sure, sometimes I have a bad day or series of days, but I'll still get to work and get the job done at some point.  I like my job, my colleagues, and to be active.  I like knowing I was productive, that I have created something of value and earned an honest wage for it.  I am blessed with an employer who is a Christian and is extremely understanding of my health and my personal commitments to help others.  (I remain involved with area veterans, local agricultural organizations, and a few other things.) 
I'll be darned if I'm going to contribute to the drain of the USA's bank account.  Not if I can help it!  Just because you may be entitled to something doesn't mean you need to take advantage of it.
I watched the most recent presidential election with interest.  I watched people bicker and call names.  I watched candidates in many political races berate their opponents, yet never providing their own concrete solutions.  Where's the resume of the candidates?  I don't need someone telling me what's wrong with someone else.  I can see those flaws on my own, thank you.  Tell me what you can do for my state, my country, my local government, my people!  Too many candidates fail on that score alone. 
Our election system should function well, but truly, when you have more votes counted than registered voters, or votes by dead people, that should sound the alarm.  I am very concerned by whom the Associated Press has declared the president and vice-president elects.  The AP is not part of the electoral system; they really have no say whatsoever.  It comes down to the legitimate counting of legally cast ballots, certified, and the electoral college.  For four (4) years I've watch the Democratic Party berate and cry over the 2016 presidential results, looking for someone to 'blame.'  Now this year, I'm watching the Republican Party berate and cry over the supposed results announced by the press, not the electoral college.  Full circle. 
I will continue to stay in touch with my representatives at federal, state, and local levels and discuss my concerns and ideas for our great land.  I'm not going to stop communicating because I do (or do not) like the outcome of any political races.  I am going to call for careful checks and balances when I believe there are flaws in the system. 
In the 2020 races, I think it was a great folly to have mail-in ballots for just anyone.  In previous years, for the military and citizens abroad, for those who travel for a living, for those with medically incapacitating issues, I believe the absentee ballot was a great idea.  For the entire populous, I view it as a disaster, and I don't care who won.  The entire process was not well-thought out by whoever implemented it.  I, personally, know several people who received mail-in ballots when never requested, threw them out because it seemed bogus, then had to cast provisional ballots as a result.  I know some who received multiple ballots; How do you get more than one?  I even checked the online systems to make sure my dead family members weren't listed as having cast votes.  (Thankfully, none of my deceased relatives were listed!  Score one for that!)
I hear people wishing for 2021 because 'it has to be better than 2020.'  Don't hold your breath, folks.  I wished a year away once after watching several people I loved die.  The next year was worse!  Yes, worse.  Don't wish your life away.  Live today.  Let's march through this weird year together, supporting our weird neighbors, enlightening our adversaries to the best of our abilities, taking care of ourselves (why do we need to start washing our hands this year, who really wasn't doing that before the pandemic, seriously?), looking out for fellow humans, guiding people to do things legally with respect for our laws and constitution, giving of ourselves to charities that help homeless, veterans, disabled, and so many more groups.  That should be our job as individual humans, not the job of the government!  We should help our neighbors so that they never feel they have to ask the government for a single dime!  When did common kindness go out of style?
When did excelling in a job, a foot race, a spelling bee, a political debate (an actual debate, look up the definition), a volunteer organization go out of style?  If you excel, and are taught to strive for your individual fullest potential, then you are better equipped to help others.  When we are taught to be mediocre, then there is no incentive to help others because there is no point to helping. 
Our great country needs friendly competition, healthy goals to achieve more than we did the day before, the spirit of doing good for ourselves and others in due course.  If we don't do well for ourselves, then how can we be expected to do anything for anyone else?  
As I sit here on Eastern Standard Time looking out my window at pitch black at almost 5:30pm, I realize the utter beauty of the current winter storm is hated, ignored, and discounted by many.  The truth of it is though, it's been an absolutely gorgeous day, perfect for postcards and calendars.  Many complain about the treacherous roads and plows that don't arrive to suit our individual schedules.  Guess what, folks?  It's a climate that has snowstorms every winter!  We get snow.  The government agencies declare Daylight Savings and Daylight Standard Time.  The time change has served its time, but gosh, they can't mandate when it snows!  Indeed, I drove in today's weather, on some very bad roads, slid a little sideways once, but I know it's part of life if you live in this climate.  I could choose to move somewhere it doesn't snow, but that is my choice.  If I choose to live here, than I accept that snow comes with the territory. 
So, too, does my choice to live in the USA.  I know we have a great tricameral form of government in our republic.  (We are a republic, not a democracy in case you slept through that in your history class.)  We have to option to move somewhere else.  Our executive branches must respect the laws made by the legislative branches and both must respect the governing of our laws by the judiciary branch, whether at the federal, state, or local levels.  More and more frequently, those in the judicial system seem to forget that they are not lawmakers and our legislators forget that they are not judges.  And, our executives also seem to miss the memo that they do not legislate, but are there to execute the laws of the land.  (I blame all political parties for this, not just the two largest parties.) 
Our country has great potential:  to grow even greater or to create our own demise.  The choice is ours. 
As 2020 winds down and many of us celebrate various religious holidays, let us not wish away this year, let us strive to be better humans, to pay attention to the details so that we can hold all branches of government accountable, to support our leaders, and even to pray for them.  Pray for our country, her citizens, the residents of planet earth, and our planet since it is, in the end, just a speck in the universe, a dot and a minuscule dot at that.  God knows every single one of us, but we don't and that's ok.  The choice is ours to be tenders of our government, tenders of our fellow humans and animals, tenders of our planet, tenders of ourselves. 
The choice is ours.  Every.  Single.  Day.  Choose wisely.  2021 is on the horizon, don't rush it.  Get your act together, today, tomorrow, and every day to come.  Excel.  Do your best.  Be the best you can be, not the best your neighbor is, but the best you can be.  Then help your neighbor if you can. 
The choice is yours.  The choice is ours. 
Thirty (30) days left to make a change, make a difference, excel, set your goals, build up yourself, and build up your neighbor.  30 days.  A lot can happen in 30 days.  Someone may die.  It could be me.  It could be you.  If it is you, will someone say you lived to your potential?  If I die, will someone say I was too stubborn for my own good?  Will we swallow our pride and do better?  Are you with me?   Are you getting it? 
We choose to live in this great country.  We can minister to the needs of our fractured government, support our leaders, and work our derrieres off to make our system good again, while making our own lives better in the process.  We choose to live here.  We choose every day not to leave.
Since we've made that choice already, let's do better.  The choice is ours.
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This, That, and The Other Thing

6/27/2020

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Picture
I talk.  A lot.  Just ask my husband, my siblings, my good friends and family.  They will attest that I am way more than verbose.  It's true.  I talk a lot and I know it.  I love words.  I love wordplay.  I love how the daydreams, facts, and otherwise useless crap rolls off one's tongue.  Sometimes just for fun, sometimes with purpose, and sometimes, sometimes I'm not quite sure.
Now there are the rare few folks who think I'm quiet.  Sometimes I am.  At least until I get to know you. 
There is so much to say in this world, by each of us.  There is also much for us to hear, to listen to, if we just would.  But we don't.  We don't stop.  We don't pause.  We don't listen. 
We all keep talking and talking and shouting and yelling and espousing and insisting and telling and....you get the picture (I hope).
Look at our society in the United States today, heck, look at the global society of mankind.  What a mess we've all made.  Everyone portends to know better than everyone within shouting distance.  Add in social media and we can tell the world how very right we are on every single topic available for discussion.  Perish the fool who argues with us, debates us, and could prove us wrong.  We are supreme in our own little minds, all humans are much smaller minded that we will ever admit.  Just look at the social media platform Facebook:  countless times in the past month alone I have witnessed epithets declaring that if you do not conform to the poster's ideals and beliefs, you will be (gasp) UNFRIENDED, perhaps even BLOCKED.  wow.  just wow.  
What happened to 'plays well with others'?  Remember that line on our old-fashioned report cards from school days years ago?  None of us are playing well with others.  None of us.  And this needs to stop.
Get a grip, folks.  We've had a global pandemic that at first sounded like the virus was part of the common cold family, but turned out to be 'slippery' (that means it mutates frequently so that it can find new ways to spread its contagion).  The death rate with COVID-19 is low, but if one contracts it in its most severe form, the death is slow and miserable.  There are those who insist it is a hoax.  There are those who are ready to panic because we all may catch this bug and die.  Neither one of those is a good scenario.  There are now those who scoff at any medically related advice like wearing masks, stating that masks do no good, requiring masks is an infringement of constitutional rights, that masks do more harm than good to the wearer.  There are those who are sure that once the United States 2020 Presidential election has come and gone, the virus will no longer be a threat (see hoax above). 
Indeed 2020 is an odd year to say the least.  Some declare that we are nearing the Rapture as prophesied in the Holy Bible, based on these plagues to mankind.  Some places on the planet are dealing locusts or other bugs.  Wild fires suddenly appear.  Last year (2019) Australia suffered terribly with wild fires.  Oh wait, 2020 is supposed to be the odd year if you listen to most folks right now.  Riots and associated looting have sprung up globally following the alleged murder of a man named George Floyd in Minneapolis.  Yes, I said alleged.  I know what the video shows and what my belief is (that George Floyd died of wrongful death during an arrest), BUT, I know that in this country part of our constitutional rights/legal system declares that we each have the right to a fair trial, meaning that those who report on any deaths are to use the term 'alleged' if foul play is suspected and that the accused criminal has the right to be heard in a court of law - and that the prosecution has the burden to prove guilt, not the other way around (that the accused must prove innocence).  I know what the video shows and I feel strongly that the police in Minneapolis used excessive force, BUT there is more to the story.
Mr Floyd had a checkered past (as do many of us in different ways), but he was not on trial for his misbehavior in his past when the incident that took his life occurred.  He was being pursued a suspect of an immediate crime at the time.  So many things could have happened differently that day.  He could have not passed a suspected counterfeit monetary note.  He could have not run when it was clear he was being pursued.  The police could have cuffed him when they took him down, shackling him in the police vehicle.  The policeman in question could have eased up on the pressure on Mr Floyd's neck area.  So many things could have happened differently.  But they did not.  We cannot change what happened that day as much as many of us would love to see a different, less violent ending.  We have to accept that that ugly day happened. 
Mr Floyd died and many people chose to make his death into that of a martyr.  Grief is a personal event, sometimes spilling to our neighbors, our communities, and, in the case of Mr Floyd, to our country, to our planet.  Protests over his death began.  Protests over improper tactics used by bad policemen.  Not all policemen are bad, but protests against all policemen arose.  And then, the rioting.  Violent riots.  And looting.  None of which will bring Mr Floyd back for anyone who knew him personally.  Businesses destroyed.  Vehicles destroyed.  Homes and lives destroyed.  Far more than just Mr Floyd's life and the life of that police officer's family has been destroyed and it doesn't appear to be slowing down. 
Now, there are people raising the issues again of Black Lives Matter (which, as a white person, I'm not offended that Black lives matter, but so do the lives of all people of all colors and shades, from albino white to the darkest dark tone, to olive hues, and crimson skin).  Historical monuments are being defaced and destroyed.  As if tearing down symbols of the history of all of us (history that is bad and good, good and bad) will bring Mr Floyd back.  Erasing history and symbols of historic moments will not restore Mr Floyd's life any more than it will bring back my late dad who passed away over 22 years ago.  Death doesn't work that way.  When you're dead, you're dead.  At least physically.  But I'm not here to write about the afterlife at the moment; that's an entirely separate blog entry for another day.
Our society is sending mixed signals to itself and from one individual to another.  If one takes note of society in general, people tend not to like mixed signals from a date, a romantic partner, significant other, spouse, employer, employee, friend, and so on.  Yet here we are.  As a country, a people, a nation of varying shades of skin sending mixed signals all over the globe.  Many of our states remain shut down due to the pandemic, so much so that funerals remain private with guests not permitted to attend.  Yet, Mr Floyd had several funeral/memorial services, very publicly attended.  We are supposed to social distance, not visit loved ones in long-term care facilities / hospitals, funerals, but no one is stopping multiple public funeral services of a man who was under pursuit and died at the hands of the police who halted his escape.  No one is stopping the rioters and looters.  Sections of cities are being overtaken by various groups espousing Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and other pet causes.  White supremacists are being blamed.  White people are being blamed.  If you aren't one of them, then you're to blame. 
All of a sudden we're all to blame for what happened 100+ years ago.  Acts of slavery that were perpetrated by some of our ancestors, not all, are not being placed on the shoulders of people who would not harm a fly on the windowsill, let alone another human being. 
Yes, slavery was and is horrible.  That human beings can treat their fellow men and women with such ugly disregard is nauseating at best, and that is pushing it.  Slavery didn't just happen in the United States after we formed our own country.  It was happening here and in other countries around the globe.  Each society may have used different terminology, methods, and races, but slavery itself has been around basically as long as humans have.  We like having others do for us, rather than us doing for them.  We like to feel superior. 
It doesn't matter whether your from Asia, Africa, Europe, America, or anywhere in between, we all like to feel important.  Sadly, horribly for some, the method by which we feel important often comes at the expense of other humans. 
Remember when your report card showed if you 'played well with others'?  Well, apparently a lot more people in recent years did not play well with others, or they were taught that it just doesn't matter.  And I'm not talking about people of any specific skin tone who are protesting or rioting.   I'm talking about all of us.  Apparently, in learning to express our individuality (as encouraged in many self-help books), our individuality and rights must supersede the individuality and rights of everyone around us.   That's not how it was intended, I believe, but it has surely morphed and here we are. 
Shouting.  Yelling.  Demanding.  Insisting.  Looting.  Destroying. Unfriending.
We all need to spend time in some timeouts, or with our nose in the corner until we can be nice.  Or, sitting on chairs facing each other til we calm down and can speak nicely to each other again. 
I've seen dear friends berating and unfriending each other because they disagree over the wisdom and safety of face masks during a pandemic.  Heck some even call names, basically saying another is chicken if they wear one, or stupid if they don't.  We have received immense amounts of medical data, smothered in public opinion over the past few months, to the point, can any fact-checker actually find the facts?  I dare say if I provide you a study on the efficacy of a mask, I will immediately find another equally valid study fully substantiating the danger of wearing a mask.  Add to this, those who surmise it is all a government plot, a Democratic Party plot, a deep-state plot, a plot by some unknown evil entity to take away all our civil liberties, and you have one fine mess.  There are those who blame the United States President Donald Trump.  There are those who blame all the Democratic Party state governors and mayors.  There are those who blame a huge mistake in a laboratory in Wuhan, China.  There are those who blame a bat in a meat market in Wuhan, China.  There are those declare it's racist to call it the Wuhan Virus even though that's from where it originated. 
I fear that pretty soon, we won't be 'permitted' to call the sky the sky, the ocean the ocean, the earth the earth.   Hopefully, I can still call myself: I, me, my, mine, myself, and all other appropriate grammar references to the first person.  Oh guess what?  I can do that.  AND you can still be you, you, yours, yourself, and so on.  Because, guess what?  Those are genuine parts of the English language as we have been taught for decades in our schools!  Sadly, there are those at universities today who seemed to have completely missed the memo when it comes to gender usage in the parts of speech.  They should study a few foreign languages; they would soon learn that the common declensions are 1st person "I" with "we" for the plural,  2nd person "you", third person "he, she, it" with "they" for the plural.  Once a person learns a fair amount of good grammar, the other spoken disasters we're reading and listening to, via social media and many biased news agencies, can be diagrammed into complete sentences, run-ons, incomplete thoughts, split infinitives, incorrect subject-verb usage, poor singular vs plural pronoun examples.  From there, it is easier to spot the flaws in logic, the misleading stories, the facts vs the fantasy. 
How I wish that all school students, prior to matriculation, were required to pass courses in argumentation & debate, along with the philosophy of logic.  I was blessed to fit them into my university studies as side course, not required of my major.  There are 10 main fallacies to be found in flawed logic, ranging from the infamous red herring to the circular argument.  (Go ahead, this is your chance to learn something new:  Google search for fallacies and then keep reading, several articles, not just one.)  Our media today has sadly traveled beyond solid journalistic reporting and fallen into frequent use of fallacies to build up platforms for pet projects of the various writers and their 'bosses/employers.'  Our schools of higher education, especially those based on the liberal arts, actively promote the fallacy of political correctness, teaching that there are only certain words that are acceptable.  This begins the slide into censorship, thought control, population manipulation.  It was delightful when institutions promoted free thought and decision making, when they taught that we could assess situations on our own and make qualified decisions based on our prior experiences and education.  More and more frequently our young people are being taught that self worth means, e.g., that everyone must get a trophy, that everyone must come out on top, that there are no losers (who wants to be a loser), that if we do lose the fault belongs to anyone but ourselves. 
And so, we have a global pandemic that started in another country than mine, but at this point, it makes no difference.  The virus is here.  No amount of masks or vaccines or treatments will kill it off.  Polio still exists, no one killed it off.  The powers-that-be just have it under control.  Same with the COVID-19 corona Wuhan virus, what ever you call it.  It exists.  We cannot pretend that it doesn't.  People have died from it, some have shown barely any symptoms. 
We have experienced an unnecessary death of an alleged criminal by horribly inappropriate actions of a police officer.  We cannot change that and pretend it didn't happen.  Mr Floyd died. 
The truth in the midst of all this chaos is simple:  we are all human, imperfect and finite.  We will all die, our physical bodies will have life terminate at some unscheduled moment, but there is no stopping death.  It happens.
How we respond to the facts of death and life and existing with one another is something over which we have dominion.  We make the choices to fall into those who are called sheep or those who are free-thinkers.  If you look at many social media debates today, most of them are two-sided and both sides consider themselves to be the free-thinkers and their opposition to be the sheep.  It's practically laughable.  Each group is falling politely into the places the chess-masters would have them stand. 
Division in this country isn't caused by the President.  Division isn't caused by a dead man.  Division isn't caused by the actual act of rioting.  Division is caused by each one of us, every single day.  We make the choice to share good or bad.  We make the choice to threaten or de-escalate.  We make the choice to tell tall tales or the truth.  We make the choice to spread rumors or lift up our neighbors.  We make choices that do harm or good to ourselves and our fellow humans.  How we make those choices is up to us.
Yelling at your best friends over the good or bad of face masks creates a division.  Educate, but do not belittle. 
My late mum, and my late dad, always said you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.  But, at the end of the day, you may have to swat the darn fly anyway. 
Before you swat, try the honey.  You may actually like some of the flies you catch.  You might find those you thought were flies next door, or in the big city, or in another country, are actually gorgeous butterflies.  Get to know them. 
You and I cannot change our death or the death of Mr Floyd, or the deaths of the elderly in long-term care homes from any virus.  BUT, we can enforce that our laws, designed to be fair for the victim and the accused are followed and enforced.  We can expect that our country's foundation in the Constitution and Bill of Rights will be upheld for the betterment of all citizens (illegal arrivals is a topic for another day) and visitors.  We can tell our representatives in government that we will accept no less than upholding the laws of the land.  We can protect one another's property and life, but we do not need to be in argument with everyone to do so.  We can be the respect all humans' rights, learn to 'play well with others', and not to further the sorry display of discord we've been witnessing over the past few months.
We each have a power to excel and be superior in that we can teach, lead, set examples, without harming the dignity of our friends and perfect strangers.  We owe it ourselves and to each other.  Let our country be the example of its name:  The UNITED States of America, not the divided states.  Physical life is finite.  Let's not waste it in temporary arguments and brain-washing.  Let us value the lives of every human and work together to find resolution, peace, and wellness. 
--The two memes included with this blog were found on social media; I take no credit for their creation whatsoever and I intend no profit from their use, simple to emphasize my verbiage.

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Rain. Rain.  Go Away.  Or not.

6/10/2019

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It's raining.  Again.  As if we're in the middle of Noah's flood.  It's cooler too, not feeling the heat here and it's almost mid-June.  Two beautiful days on the weekend, some time on the bike and now Monday with rain.  If you didn't finish your lawn mowing this weekend, it's time to seriously consider adding pontoons to your mower.  I am.
I live in the country.  I grew up on a farm.  Rain is essential for crop nourishment, for human existence, for life. 
Too much water causes flooding which can wash away crops, water-log ones flesh, drown the atmosphere with humidity. 
Songs from many genres glorify and bemoan rain.  From the country singer Ronnie Milsap's "Smoky Mountain Rain" to pop artist Madonna's "Rain" to rock group Creedence Clearwater Revival's (CCR's) "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" to the Christian hymn "There Shall be Showers of Blessing" rain is clearly an important topic to humankind!  There are so many songs referring to 'rain' that I'm not even attempting to track and count them all -- but believe that every musical class has at least one if not many!
In the winter in my neck of the woods, people complain about the snow, ice, and cold.  In the summer, they complain about heat and humidity.  Oh, and in the spring, summer, and fall, they complain about: rain.  They complain if it rains on a parade, a picnic, a weekend off, when leaving work, if it floods.  They complain if it doesn't rain and their lawns start to turn brown, if they have to water their gardens themselves, if it's too hot and rain might cool off the atmosphere.  There seems to be no happy medium.
Are these neighbors, these acquaintances, these strangers happy with Anything?  Sometimes I wonder. 
Our society has grown into a complaining, whiny, offended, blubbery mass of homo sapiens.  Note, I'm selecting an ethnicity, a religious group, a political party, a sexual preference, a gender breakdown, or anything else; I'm calling it as I see it.  Humankind wants to gripe.  Rain is a good excuse to gripe.  I'd wager a bet (at least a nickel because I'm cheap) that Someone is actually Offended by rain.  Why not?  We're all offended by something, and seemingly more and more, at least in my country of origin.....and I'm seeing trends of it globally.  Again, I'm an equal opportunity griper here:  If you're human, self-identify as human, or even have human DNA, I'm including you in the bucket - which, by the way, should be collecting rainwater but is illegal in some states and localities.  Wait til they figure out how to tax you on the rainfall at your residence, be it apartment or ranch!  Shhhh.....don't give Big Brother ideas, right?
Well, it's raining.  Like it or not, it's raining.  Here, it's raining.  Somewhere else on this planet of ours, someone is dying of thirst, someone is drowning in floodwaters.  And we'll all complain, cry, stomp our feet, and even ask that whoever's doing the rain dance to please cease and desist.
Could we complain about things we can change, please?  You know, try complaining about not having better land management and superfluous land management that causes arid land.  Then (here's a novel idea), try fixing our modern era screw-ups wherein we diverted too much water away from certain plots of land, wherein we built cities in and below flood plains.  Let's work as a team, humankind, and fix things. 
I'm not a fan of the climate change talk, especially when you consider how many different 'experts' have predicted the end of the world due to climate change with deadlines that have come and gone several times over.  Now, don't get your panties in a bunch!  I believe in science every bit as much as I believe in God, heaven, and hell.  I believe one compliments the other -- really not hard to marry them if you are a person of faith.  I do believe, science is like medicine -- the practice thereof.  Considering that none of us lived during Adam and Eve's era to witness dinosaurs as part of the animals that God created AND considering that God is infinite, who's to say how long one biblical day at creation took in man's puny view of space and time?  It all works together if you let it. 
I believe the earth 'breathes' if you will.  It has experienced ice age(s), flood(s), extinctions of global proportions.  Our home planet will experience those phenomena again in it's life cycle until it dies.  The earth evolves as does our sun.  Our sun is a star (scientific facts in case you missed grade-school science classes) and our sun, as said star, will eventually burn out.  Long before that happens (and No, I'm not predicting a date), it will create more heat and all the planets in our solar system will change in temperature.  There will be no changing that, folks.  The earth will heat up, water evaporate, and life as we know it will expire under the extreme conditions.  Fixing a hole in ozone won't stop it.  Not using plastics won't stop it.  Going organic or using all chemical preservatives won't stop it.  Producing oil or using solar power won't stop it.  Nothing in humankind's knowledge base will stop the sun from it's life cycle as a star that will burnout/flame-out one day.  It happens to other stars all the time -- our scientists who focus on the stars, the galaxies, the universe have witnessed other stars do the very same thing through their telescopes. 
Our sun will die and so will planet earth, just like humans do.  Some of us go quietly, some of us go out in a blaze of glory, but the physical result is the same -- the body, the living organism dies.  The difference is that we are human, and if we believe in God, then we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have souls and souls do not die.  Various religions have differing views on how a human can reach heaven, nirvana, a place of peace and I'm not going down that road in this entry.  I know where my faith is (in case you missed it, I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior and that when I die He will take my soul to heaven with God and those who have gone before me in faith) so I'm not in a panic over dying today or in 50 years.  I will die when it is my time and not a minute before, by some means wherein my life-sustaining organs stop functioning for the physical body.
So, I bet you're wondering how did a little essay on rain morph to a discussion on the death of stars and humans?
It's simple enough, so I'll try to explain it.  We're all going to die, humans, the stars, planets, none of us are immortal. Why then do we complain about the rain we have today, the snow we'll have in winter, the very things that go in a normal cycle of rotation?  Why?  They are beyond our control -- and human kind needs not to control everything in its domain. 
Why do humans find the need to complain about most everything?  Why?  We're all in this together on this planet, why don't we rejoice in our existence and marvel at all that is around us, wonderfully created (by God if you believe, by happenstance if you don't).  We've got a pretty good gig going on here, folks:  roommates, planet-mates, the ability to reproduce, gorgeous colors of humanity, beautiful shades of animals and plants, earth that provides us gravity and a place on which to stand, water with which to nourish and travel.  We are so very blessed as humans, creatures sailing along in our galaxy and what do we do?  We complain.  About rain.  Seriously, people?
We complain about our neighbors, how we govern ourselves, what we eat, the weather, where we live, where others live, our jobs, our lack of jobs, our leaders, our followers, our friends (yes, even our friends), our clothes, our religions.  In short, we complain about everything.  Where does it end?  When do we stop? 
Now I'm no tree-hugger, but I grew up on a farm and love all that nature has to offer.  I enjoy activities in our metro areas, but long for that grass under my feet rather than cement sidewalks.  I always say I'm too conservative for my liberal friends and too liberal for my conservative friends.  Through all that, I love humanity.  When you look at yourself in the mirror, do you ever think about the fascinating DNA that causes you to be who you are, how you function, and how you form thoughts?  Your neighbors have DNA too and it came from somewhere!  Somehow, we're all humans and distantly related.  So are animals and plants; DNA is a fascinating conglomeration of blueprints for living things. 
Humans need to function as  a team, putting our DNA to good use rather than just wasting it on complaints about things like rain.  I firmly believe that if (not when) humans figure out how to work as team members for the betterment of all, then hopefully, maybe, just maybe, we'll savor the things we cannot change like rain, life, death, neighbors, and then..............in that good mood, if we want humanity and our living creatures not to die off, we'll find solutions, reaching for the stars that are younger with in habitable planets.  We must look to each other, having faith in the good, not deterred by storms (rain or sunspots) if we want to prevent ourselves from killing off everything on this planet prematurely. 
If we say we are tolerant, then we Must Be Tolerant.  That doesn't mean we get to pick and choose what we tolerate.  It's all or nothing.  If you can't tolerate your neighbor because his/her skin color, political viewpoint, or sexual orientation differs from yours, then you can't claim be a tolerant person.  It just doesn't work that way.  If you don't comprehend that, then you need to spend some time reading your Merriam-Webster dictionary from high school. 
If we know we cannot tolerate certain behaviors, views, then we need to work with our fellow humans to find an ethical compromise wherein we respect that we are each unique, but knowing that we do not have to become homogeneous.  (I thank God every day that we are not cloned and identical!)  Variety is the spice of life!  If we all thought alike, performed the same job, etc. we'd either be running around naked with no food, but great houses, or we'd be eating well but with no houses....I hope you get the idea.  We need to value our differences and learn to utilize them for the good of all. 
No, I'm NOT promoting any political, socio-economic system in this entry today.  I'm not a fan of some of those 'equal systems' because too many times some still end up more equal than others and more people end up starving than they do under a system with competition.  I believe with healthy competition, hard work, human ingenuity, we, as the human collective, can still have a system wherein we feel productive both for ourselves and enjoy helping others without force. 
Forcing someone to love us has never worked, why would forcing a political viewpoint work any better?  It wouldn't.  We need to reach across the aisle in our governments, reach out from our charitable organizations, across the fence to our neighbors, and work together.  We won't save the sun, we won't save the planet, BUT, we will enjoy our lives much better than it seems we do now.  Instead of pointing fingers, finding fault, and complaining about everything under the sun (including the rain), it's time that we put our heads and hearts together, lending umbrellas, raincoats, sump pumps, and opening doors. 
Sure, it's still raining today, probably going to rain all night.  I have a choice:  complain about everything and everyone (and the weather) OR make the best of my indoor time, find projects that only can be accomplished when it's raining, and maybe, just maybe dance in the rain.  Who's ready to dance with me? 


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In the News...

4/25/2015

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Spring Greetings, Readers! 
Believe it or not, I have emerged from my seeming hibernated state.  Winter was long and harsh in my neck of the woods, some having called it 'a good old-fashioned winter.'  I love snow; however, even I grew weary of the continuing frigid temperatures and ongoing icing problems. 
I digress. 
Spring is here and with it a wee bit of snow on the daffodils.  Warming temperatures and sunshine are putting smiles back on the people I see in stores, at work, in passing, and on myself!  Hopefully you are cheering up and ready to move forward with 2015.
In the news.  So many things have been happening.  This list is the short list:
  • Presidential candidates for 2016 are emerging. 
  • ISIS/ISIL is continuing to behead, slaughter, rape, and perform other horrific acts on Christians and anyone who doesn't behave and believe as its members do.
  • California is running out of water.
  • A much beloved world-class Olympic Champion has 'come out' by announcing he is transitioning into the woman he has always felt he was inside.
  • Allegedly, one Democratic Presidential candidate has been involved in some inappropriate behavior and is being called to testify regarding missing emails, and much more.
  • The USA finally has a new Attorney General. 
  • A volcano erupted in Chile, many many evacuated.
  • An earthquake occurred today in Nepal and the death toll continues to rise.
  • Britain and the world await news of a new royal baby.  (I'm sure Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge are the most anxious to have the little one arrive.)
  • Soldiers are dying everyday.  Veterans are dying everyday.  Veterans are committing suicide at an alarming rate.
  • Volunteer organizations of all types need volunteers.
What is YOUR news?  Do you make fun of stories and people in the news?  Do you scoff at political candidates, yet do not become politically active yourself?  Do you volunteer in any way?  What do you do to make your own newsworthy stories, even if shared with just family and friends?
Get out there and do something, American citizens!!  Volunteer, speak out, and VOTE!!




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