The beat goes on (#1521)

Long before I got here and long after I am gone there will be people who will know that what we are as humans is the most important thing in deciding how we live. In this blog I claim that our natural state of being is curious and caring with a survival component. Everything after that is learned behavior, whether good or bad. I push hard every day to forward my claim in hopes that when we do come to our senses in our society, we will realize that equality and fairness etcetera are the foundation for how we live, not the competition we provide for and against each other. We are not the lions and the Christians in the arena, fighting to survive. We are all in this existence together and none of us should be allowed to triumph over another as a policy. Yet here we are still in the dark ages of our evolution and here I am again and again having to write about how we suffer ourselves instead of helping each other. There is no magic here, just humanity trying to survive under rules we create. Yes, we created this mess and now, since not sooner, is the time to rectify how we spend our precious time here in our existence. That we just shrug our collective shoulders and claim that we are not enough to make things right is not acceptable. We all need to start from some point and then move forward into that reality with the clear and visionary purpose of making existence what it should be instead of allowing it to remain a dysfunctional morass of suffering. Sadly, we are not all on board with changing our present paradigm of favor and privilege because we lack the will and the courage to do so. I am not proud of being a part of this generation that has given up it's will to change for the better. Yet hope continues.

Following through (#1520)

The older I get the more important it is for me to follow through on what I say and do. I cannot give an impression that I will be or do one thing and then not do it. It takes away from my sincerity and my word and action as my bond. If there is one thing in this world I have it is my bond to others that I will do what I have said I will do. I say all of this because for me it is not easy to keep my promises. When I give my promises I often feel different when the time comes to deliver on my promises. Not because the dynamic that induced my initial promise has changed but because I am frail at times when it comes to putting myself out for others when I could just as easily be selfish and only think of what is best for me. I have that struggle within me since it is an inculcated response I had been trained to deliver by the forces of selfishness that overwhelmingly dominate our culture and society on whole. I have had to especially retrain myself to disregard my doubting hesitancy toward backing my own words when it is necessary. I have had to remember that giving of myself is the true gift in life that makes me feel the most alive. When I remember that, I do myself a great service and I also advance the honorable notion that those whom I give my word to are worthy of my time and space. I suppose it is a frailty in all of us that keeps us from honoring our words with action when the opportunity to not do so is alluring, however the guilt for failing is too much to bear when compared to the satisfaction of accomplishment. There are even times when I feel like a really good thing that is coming my way through the keeping of my word is not deserved by myself and then I set some little plan in motion to sabotage it. But when those times do occur, I remember that I am worthy of things that come my way and allowing for that to occur is the good and right thing to do.

Ahead of our time (#1519)

Do you ever wonder why others cannot see what is happening around us when it is crystal clear to some of us? That question used to stymie and dumbfound me to no end. But over time I have come to realize that some of us can see a vision of the future where equality and justice are as ordinary as breathing and we bring that vision to our everyday senses. So what I try to do as much as possible in today's world is to not get too excited, frustrated or discouraged when what is obvious to me as a solution is not even given the light of day in rectifying discussions by those who we elect to lead our society. It seems that having a vision for our futures is a luxury many do not find necessary. Perhaps it is like the "Allegory of the Cave" written about by Plato so many millennium ago. We care only about what is right in front of us instead of contemplating why, that which is right in front of us. None of us needs to be fed our whole lives like a babe needing the care of others. We can assume our own destinies based upon our own understandings. We don't need others who don't know telling us what we don't know. A maturity of mind must evolve within us all where we are the navigators of our existence. We are not just pieces in a puzzle whose shape has already been cut. What we all are looks more like a wild card in a deck of possibilities. What I have done is carve out a vision for the future that represents that. So anything that has unfairness to it must be exposed. Anything that has inequality to it must be exposed. Anything that segregates us from each other must be exposed. The formula for my vision is simple but it does require courage. Fear will creep into all of our lives but the courage to step in it, on it, around it and through it is ours for the taking.   

Curiosity killed myth (#1518)

Wanting to know will always be who we are as humans. It is our destiny to know that which we don't know. As beings with a rational mind, we can do nothing less than discover for it is the nature of our senses to receive information and then analyze and conclude. We are data processors in human form. Despite all the emotion that comes with us being human the fact that we are curious in our nature is indisputable. Therefore, any attempt to blunt or negate our curiosity is a fool's errand. Not that we aren't fools mind you. History has shown we are just as stubborn about keeping our fears at arm's length even if it means we must suspend our curiosity for something that brings us comfort. That we have fear associated with our curiosity is unfortunate but certainly true, however fear is only an opportunity waiting to be conquered. What we often fail to realize is that living life to the fullest within our senses is the most rewarding aspect of being alive. Thus conquering fear is at that heightened level when we dare to allow our curious natures to lead and not our fears. It is incredible the opportunity we have as humans to establish our own destinies with only problems to solve and not impossibilities to endure as dead ends. We as humans achieve new concepts from the previously unknown simply because we are not restricted by our desire and will to do so. We are the masters of our destinies and not allowing ourselves the boldness and courage to do so is reflective of our own personal choice, not of whether it is possible. 

Equality and inclusion (#1517)

The ground rules of life. This is how we expand our civilization toward a better tomorrow. Unfortunately we have tried the opposite many times over in our history and the result has always, and I mean always been pain and suffering as an outcome. I used to think that I was a terrible person for doing things wrong over and over until I got it right but what I have learned is that all of us are the same in this regard. Despite knowing how to do a thing right we continue to do the thing wrong in hopes of it coming out right. Mostly it is a learned response we pass down to our generations. The hope is a pay off, through a short cut, that somehow instantaneously we can rectify wrongs into rights. Or it could be that some just don't want equality and inclusion for all of us and work their collective lives to maintain institutions that discriminate unjustly. Wherever we individually fall on the scale of intentions, we are still left with an uneven approach to solving something that should honor life for all instead of just for some. Our natures are all the same but how they manifest themselves is diverse. Putting restrictions on how we are allowed to express our humanity is always suspicious when the restrictions are placed where no harm is done. We get to choose how we live our personal lives as part of the human natural right we have to exist in this current form of civilized existence. If we wish to abandon the hope of enlightened civilization and go backward to the days of master and servant then have the courage to speak that paradigm, don't try to sneak in parts of repression to inhibit the function of progress in our attempted perfection of equality and inclusion.

Don't burn any bridges (#1516)

We all must move on but we don't need to burn the bridges behind us that lead back to our past. What we need to do is leave a lane open for old relationships to evolve into better relationships. Now the careful part here is that we should not leave open into our past a safety valve for us to escape back into old bad relationships or behaviors, but instead as way to allow for changes that are truly recognizable and sincere. I had always been of the mindset that there are billions of people on this planet and if the ones I knew were going to be a bad influence on me then it would be best to forget them and move on to new relationships. But what I have learned is that it is not the person who is a bad influence on me it is what I allow to happen when I am with them. I needed to change more than I expected them to change. Life is a funny old thing because the older we get the more we realize that our own best thoughts are not always the best for us. We must all find someone with some wisdom that we can go to in order to discuss our thoughts and find out if they are rationally reliable. One can go through life without having some wise person to share our thoughts with but the effects of trial and error mean that we are not moving through life as effectively and smartly as we could be. And the consequences of that trial and error can easily cause irreparable damage. An easy rule of thumb is to give everyone the benefit of the doubt but make sure that you personally are in a better place when the doubt is of a negative alluring nature.

The importance of critical thinking (#1515)

We won't always have someone wiser around to help us solve our difficult situations. Eventually others will look to us as the wise ones that they will need help from. In the meantime, we will need to be able to think for ourselves and unravel the complexities that challenge us. The only way to become successful at arriving at an acceptable conclusion is for us to think for ourselves in logical and common sense terms. I have hammered this notion of the importance of logic in our lives but even more than logic, it takes the will to trust your own instinct of fairness, equity, justice etcetera. Living with honorable principles and thinking with logic is the path forward for us to becoming the wise ones able to help those who seek the same. Our species of humans has from the beginning of our civilizations have passed down as a heredity our knowledge and our evolution from that knowledge. Such it is with wisdom, the formula is there for us to obtain, but it takes a suspension of myth and the superstitions they embody for us to become rational and objective. From this base of being objectively rational, we can then grow in wisdom as our experiences and knowledge informs us. We are not ever going to be all-knowing, however we can know and pass along much more than the chaos and confusion we presently seem to be enveloped in. Life is about the experience of it and all that relates to that experiencing is what informs us. When we apply the willingness to reach out beyond ourselves with logic and courage, we will be better served in our own lives and in the lives of whose who wish to learn and follow from our experiences and understandings.

Drawing a blank (#1514)

There are lots of things to write about and I have a few things on my mind but nothing that reaches out and grabs me as particularly focused. I feel like a mush of things. I suppose that in itself is worthy of being discussed and maybe it is just because I am tired and forcing myself to write during this time period. But I will press on with the hope that by the time that I finish here something of some value will emerge. Often when I draw a blank I just pause for awhile and meditate on anything or nothing. Most every time it does the trick and something that matters to me comes rushing to the forefront of my mind. However I am still not getting anything yet and so on I type about being nowhere. lol. I just talked to my mother a bit ago about her and dad being awakened last night with what they thought was a gas smell, having called PG&E and finding out it was a skunk release instead, they had settled back in and went back to sleep. But not before having to dress and wait outside until the PG&E serviceman confirmed for them what the smell was. Always better safe than sorry and in this case they both did the right thing. Regardless of how a false alarm may make one feel foolish the alternative is always much worse. Well nothing is coming to me yet so it seems that being safe than sorry is the theme for the day and for that I am grateful. This is a short post today but after doing this for over four years now a short post once in awhile is not so bad. Have a great day everyone :)

Romancing the illusion (#1513)

There have been too many times where I have thought about going back to a time in my head where all was good and fun. I catch myself before I daydream too much in this way because I know in my soul that not all was good and fun. The attraction to go back to a time in my youth where all things seemed possible is strong, but what appeared to be such a wonderful time was only my imagination creating something more than what reality was. It is not only an occasional wakeful daydream but in my dreams at night I also fantasize about the past with a masked view of things. The power these daydreams and sleeping dreams have over me is enough for me to stay on guard against their power to persuade me to change back into who I have moved on from. It is interesting that I have to fight against the temptations that my own self creates, as well as what others wish me to do as well. I am well fortified against these allures and can write about them here with the knowledge that they are nothing new and nothing as well will change the negative outcome if I give into them. I am speaking about my own addictions to escaping reality and to throwing off my principles of honor. I am the better person today for having moved on from my past trials and errors and for that I am grateful. What I do know when temptation comes around is to stop long enough out of the "dreams" and then consider the consequences of what would things be like if I gave into them. I know what they are since I have given into them in the past and like all illusions, they disappeared and left me with the cold hard reality of my failings once again. 

Magnanimity (#1512)

Finding that place within ourselves that is cool with just being and not having to prove ourselves every time an opportunity to prove ourselves comes along. I am happy being me and if others need me to prove it then too bad for them. I get a bigger kick out of life enjoying it more than I do trying to pretend within it. I don't need for people to think I am smart, wise, or a good man. I just need to be one when the time is right for me to act. Otherwise, here I am just being. lol. I bring up magnanimity because I don't hear the word enough in our daily dealings. To be magnanimous is to give of oneself in a noble manner. A sort of sharing when the sharing really counts. It would do us all some good to give of ourselves from time to time just to remind us of who we are deep down inside. An effort at giving is the reward not any due or acclaim. A self-justification if you will. I don't need anyone else's approval or tributes to evaluate who I am. I need my own approval of who I am and that is sufficient. No one knows me better than myself and if I just give myself some honest introspection, I can fully accept my failings and my accomplishments. Life is too complex for us to allow ourselves to be judged by others when they should be focused on their own journey. Surely it is important to discuss life issues with others but not as a way to justify our own existence, that is upon us to recognize. Being magnanimous in our lives is a sign that we are doing well to those who most need our help. Those are the ones we should be looking to with an eye as to how we are being human. All others are just for strategy and strategy is not what we need when we are just simply trying to be a magnanimous human.

Basic necessities should be free (#1511)

That we can't figure out how to structure our society so that no one goes hungry, or goes without shelter and without clothing is ridiculous. This is the responsibility of government and that is one of the jobs government must do. I am sick and tired of hearing about the need for individualism, especially in a world that discriminates and treats most of it's humans unfairly. The absolute greed and selfishness we allow ourselves to wallow in is the greatest shame we endure each day. The lack of common sense in our policies only speaks to the power that would segregate us from each other as a rule. The idea that some of us are better than others is insane and reflects our most base compromises with being lesser entities. How any of us can look ourselves in the mirror and say that we are a shining example of how one tries to be the best human they can be must be almost impossible given the direction our society is going. I am utterly and forever ashamed of us humans and I am no great example. Yet here I am telling you that most of us are worse than me! When we allowed the cynicism of selfishness to become our ordinary instead of our vanquished we sold the best part of what a human can be. And in that selling, we have forgotten just how good life can be when we are the better of our natures instead of the dismissal of them. Life will always be about choosing. Which choice we make is directly reflective of how we see the world and our futures. Make your choice based upon what should be and not what you have resigned yourself to accept.

A life without fear (#1510)

I get glimpses of a life without fear more and more these days, probably because I am getting older and the point of being afraid becomes less necessary. I say that because all of us want to live out our lives fully without needlessly putting ourselves into mortal danger while we are just starting out our lives. That kind of fear is normal and rational because for one our survival instinct is at it's highest sensitivity when we are still more innocent to the world then when we get older; and secondly being that our curious natures have not had enough time to absorb what our existence is in a real sense, we need more time when we are young to be able to understand more of it. It is a shame that we are not a conditioned society that seeks to calm fears about our futures instead of heightening them. We make each other compete in order to satisfy some justification for our existence and we also create scenarios where deadly force is the end product. It is our primitive past that we are having are hard time evolving from that is our current dilemma but I have hope that in no more than a few more generations we will overcome our need to make ourselves struggle as the rule instead of the exception. It is beginning to happen with new laws aimed at inclusion, equality and fairness but it is just a beginning and still much more work needs to be done. Our children and their children need not have to suffer like those of us and our ancestors had to because they and we didn't know we had the power to change the paradigms of society that give birth to fear and it's manifestations.

The power of illusion (#1509)

I can't even begin to speak on this subject without shaking my head and remembering my own problems recognizing reality from my own biases. As myself as a case study, I have come to know that my own inability to distinguish between illusion and reality stems from a lack of knowledge. The problem with me was that I didn't know that I didn't know. In other words my happy or unhappy knowledge base was incomplete. it really all does boil down to how we see our society and what we want our society to become. If we are well satisfied with the current status quo of competition and privilege deciding who gets to go onward to college and higher degrees, while maintaining a large worker force in order to keep wages low; or do we want all our citizens to learn and know the latest thinking, function and theory of life as a choice and then let the worker force become what it can due to incentive, not default, then we need to decide. The future keeps coming up to meet us and if we are going to challenge the old ways of society, we must demand that our elected officials guide us there. Many of our elected officials are too timid as leaders since we don't normally elect those who are natural leaders, instead we elect who we are given as choices by mostly ulterior powers whose motives are not on the simple vision of all inclusiveness. For all of us to conquer the inequality and injustice in society we need to become more informed and the only way to do that is to demand education as a right not a privilege. We can shape our own society even if it means giving up some of the few comforts we are given to placate us as we demand our vision forward. Are we lesser human and more lap dog?

The God complex (#1508)

We are not Gods, any of us. We are not some being sent to Earth to live life as some experiment similar to what Christ was reported to have done. We are not the exception to everyone else through some dispensation that we have decided we deserve. We are just regular humans who like all the rest of we humans are just trying to make our way through this weird unexplainable existence. So everyone, get off the idea that ego has planted within us. We are not Gods! As life continues on for many of us this initial idea that we are some superior entity begins to wane when we are exposed to our own failings and those failings our society heaps upon us. It is not that we were sent to Earth before birth as a preordained spirit to correct or rectify or even to just be lavished upon with awesomeness for our still hidden talents. lol. We are just humans, borne into a sphere of existence and then in some amount of time when are no more. That is the reality of all of our lives. There are noble things we can do as just humans that can be admired, respected and even lauded to the present and future generations but those things are as just humans, nothing more. I am of this view and as well of this type of character. I want to do the best I can for today and for tomorrow to help create a better Earthly experience for all those who are borne. It is a human legacy that can be achieved, without me thinking I am something more than I really am. Creating a better environment for us and those who are yet here requires help from most or all of us as well. So we must start with the fact that we are not more than just humans trying to be as humane to ourselves as we can.

Respect, not privileges and deserves (#1507)

The era of one man enslaving another to do his bidding is the worst of our limited history and needs to be relegated to the past in all it's unequal forms. A new era where we are all given the same opportunities to have fulfilling lives is upon us but we must seize it lest it fade from us. The old paradigms of people being used as property has it's defenders but only because they have some advantage, or shall I say, privilege or deserve, in it's continuance. As an individual who takes no back seat to anyone else, I will in my way defend the rights of all individuals to have equality of opportunity even if it means standing in defiance of those who work against equality of opportunity. Within my human nature is the best of what we humans can be and so it is with all the rest of us, the difference here is that I choose to implement mine as an honorable feature in action while many of others choose to hide theirs behind their own fears. Privileges and deserves are a manifestation of some due to one or more simply because they deem it so from their own understandings. An ego based assumption about one's own personal worth being greater than another's. The days of rank and class in a civil society bent toward enlightened thinking is counter intuitive. Those who wish positions of power and authority in a society need to be humbled by the idea to serve their fellow citizens, not empowered to see oneself as greater than another. We are at our transformational period between the old paradigm and a new one and how long we take to move ourselves forward will be indicative as to whether we can do it at all. For the longer it takes the harder it gets, so the push to move forward is at hand and in all our interests, including our future generations.

Four sides to every coin (#1506)

There is the good and bad of one side and the good and bad of the other. How you see it depends on where you are in your life. The older I have gotten the less I accept the status quo. I want more out of life and the way things move compared to that is like a glacier, so slow. Not only slow but change for the better is like impossible to achieve when so many want things to stay the same. Sometimes I wonder if I am really a human like everyone else. lol. I am so ambitious about our present and future and seeing all the possibilities is just crazy for me when so many are not interested in seeing the same. I am not a boat rocker by nature but if the boat needs to be rocked I am a doer. That is one thing I know absolutely positively about myself, I will not quit on what is progress. I love the fact that so many things are being discovered by so many of us. The innovation and technology that is being advanced is incredible. This is the fuel within my soul, a driving force that wills me forward, that being my curiosity. I have another force within me that drives me and that is my survival instinct. If I am going to survive, which is my number one motivation, then it should be on the foundation of what makes me who I am. I am curious and I care about our and all the species that exist. It is who I am and no amount of denial or lack of honesty will ever change that, ever! So looking at both views of each side gives me the perspective to follow the path that aligns with my nature. Simple but necessary as I exist. I wish I were as intelligent as say an Albert Einstein, but that is not the case but that he existed and left us a path to follow is more important for all of us. We must keep our perspective but not let anything usurp the genius of our own lives.

The theft greed allows (#1505)

I suppose it is all about how one looks at the world if at all. Just because in the past things were done a certain way does not mean that that way needs to continue or was justified in the first place. We are a new generation with vast amounts of knowledge and comprehension as opposed to the generations before us. We do not have to accept the ways of the past if they violate principles of honor, decency, fairness, justice or equality etc... That we do continue to allow paradigms to exist that violate honorable principles is reflective of how weak and or uncaring we are. If most every scenario is evaluated for it's lack of honor, you would find that greed is it's foundation. That is the problem we have in motivating ourselves toward an enlightened transformation in our societies. What we don't fully understand is that the greed that inhibits participatory equality in our lives is actually theft. We call it success on some level but the renaming of hoarding more or most of the ability to barter from 100's of millions by just a few thousand is nothing less. I am all for rewarding those who exemplify the best attributes of what humanity can and should conceive, however not to the point of undermining the actual basis for the success. As the simple dysfunctional egos who rule the policies of the day in our economies frequently say, that unfettered capitalism is a just process for those who would be king, what they do not take into account is that humans are not a commodity, we are rightly existent in this world as natural free spirits who, despite the ignorance displayed by those who think we are, are due the respect of all not to have our pursuit of happiness stolen from us.

What is "being in love"? (#1504)

I know this one pretty well as in my life I have felt it twice with great emotion. Now being infatuated can be very emotional as well but being in love is a whole different higher level. There is an inescapable sense to it. The old saying about gut feeling is never more true when it comes to being in love. My guts were twisted in knots at just the thought of seeing either of these two women. Now you may be saying to yourself how can you have been in love twice? I suppose that is simply answered by stating that the first "in love" didn't stick and in the process of moving on I changed somewhat and went through a metamorphosis. I have never lost that being in love with the first woman but it is buried deep where I know it will never be rekindled. As to the second woman, that didn't work for me either so like the first, it is buried deep within me also. Being in love is truly a remarkable phenomenon. Everything around me was heightened with a wonderful expectation. A fullness filled me that cannot be duplicated. Such I think is a natural consequence of two who find within each other that which they cherish and hold dear. In my blog here I am of a one track mind about how curiosity and compassion are the two natural instincts we humans have within us and nothing will change on that front with me, however, within the grouping of compassion, exists the greatest of emotional expressions, that being love. No reason for being has defined our species more than how we feel about those who are most special to us. Being in love is the ultimate goal for any of us who have seen this world with enough clarity to know that the quality of how we feel will always be greater than any philosophy defined for our existence. 

Trust a moral code (#1503)

I am not saying which code of morality anyone should trust, only that we should understand our own principled outlook and develop our own code. Certainly, I take morality from many different sources and inculcate them into my own. I don't just accept what others find as infallible, I use what is right within my own soul to adapt to the ever changing evolution of our human species. That is not to say that I compromise on foundational principles, it is just that life is not a set piece that can be defined by only certain parameters. We are simply an evolving species who over time change and adapt to technology and our environment with ever increasing complexities. What was considered unthinkable in the past is now so common that we rarely even think of it's impossibility. That type of renewal and change is also evident in how we adjust our moral outlook. In the past a work ethic was considered the value of what it is to be human, whereas now, it isn't just a work ethic, it is also capital accumulation that has risen above that threshold. I am not saying that is a good thing, which personally I do not, but it is what we have evolved toward. Our principles have also changed in that we seem to care less about the process of capital accumulation and more about the result. This is a transformation of how we used to evaluate our principles to a lessening of the standards involved. Again, I am disappointed in this outcome, but again my disappointment notwithstanding is irrelevant. That is why we need to find our own moral code and then defend that code as it applies to ourselves and do not allow ourselves the cynicism others seem to be able to justify while weakening their own moral code.

There must be more (#1502)

Like the seed that sprouts and busts through the dirt to find the sun. Or the hatchling who has broken through it's shell to find the world around it. For we humans there is the Earth we live on and the sky that surrounds us. We know much more now about our Earth and we need to know more about what the sky holds for us. Not only is it a curious endeavor for us but it is also a survival mechanism. What we don't know can very well be our doom so instead of being like an Ostrich when in fear and sticking our heads in the ground, we need to face and explore how to overcome our fear and conquer our unknowing. We must continue to evolve to the challenges that face us with the strength that it is within us to be courageous. I always find my courage through my curiosity. I have an instinct to know and that is unquenchable. In knowing, I am forced to explore and to examine that which I had not previously understood. The absolute frustration I will have for the rest of my life is that the rest of we humans are not as passionate about our natural instinct to loose our curiosity about not only the rest of what we don't know here on Earth but for everything else the sky offers. Surely we are still lacking the engineering and scientific know how to move about in our Universe with ease and alacrity, but that we are not all trying to do so is abominable. What so cavalierly could be of a greater importance? Are we to be satisfied living in the dark ages of our imaginings? There must be more is not only an instinctual statement that is in constant motion within all of us but it is our force of will through destiny to survive and not following our need to know what we don't know puts our species at greater risk to the chaotic whirligig of forces we have yet to understand.

Process, not figureheads (#1501)

I heard someone talking about speculations on the next presidential cycle and their frustration that we are talking about 2016 and the possible candidates and not about what needs to be done now. I am so in tune with that sentiment. We are a nation that is full of problems that have not been adequately addressed for decades and already there are many who wish to continue to ignore those problems in lieu of the next "shiny object". The failure of our leaders and those who report on what "news" consists of is epic. Millions are trapped in an endless cycle of poverty, millions are homeless, millions have no access to many medical needs. Yet more than should be of our leaders and those who report on them are not focusing on the human tragedy of our country, instead they are focused on their triumphs and comforts. This process that we have now is not working as it should and those who can affect real change are too comfortable within the existing dysfunction. Fear has always been the determining factor in how leaders decide to lead. If they are afraid of what they may lose, they will choose to be safe and lead from behind their fear. I cannot for the life of me see how such cowardice continues to be rewarded through re-election. I suppose it is because not enough of us citizens are courageous enough to call them out and demand that they do the all the people's bidding. So it goes that our elected leaders are a reflection of who we are and who we are right now is not anything much to be proud of. The sooner our generation passes on to the next may be the only hope for our children to have less burdens and more opportunities. Shame on us!

Who knew? (#1500)

The little blog that could. 1500th post this morning and I am shocked that I have been able to continue. Happily shocked that is and in line with how I have been consistent over the last many years, unlike the earlier part of my life. Overall, I have missed on posting during this stretch of over 4 years, on three days, however the following day I posted two posts for that day to make up for the missed post the day before. Being sick had been the largest factor. Despite the few setbacks, I have been mostly pleased with how each post has been able to reflect the thinking I was going through each of those days. Like writing in a journal or a diary, this effort of mine helps me to know that a record of my thoughts on various issues is established, while I also allow for comments on my posts to anyone who wishes to add their thoughts on my opinions. Somehow I found through this a calming of the inner turmoil within me to be able to give my "voice" to things that matter to me. I guess for a truer understanding of why I do this I can openly say that it is a form of therapy that gives me a comfort from the chaos surrounding me in our society, and world at large. It is my bit so to say as a contribution to learning and understanding. I am by no means an expert on anything, yet I am keen on how living as a human being is much more important than living as a reflection of what one selfishly thinks is a human being. I make a firm stand on who I think all of us are through our natural traits and as well I give a verbal thrashing to those of us who fall far short of that with consequences that negatively effect us. When harm is done through ignorance or willful deception, no escape will be allowed for those who continue when confronted with their illogical thoughts and actions and the harm that causes.

Square pegs into round holes (#1499)

They just don't fit. So why are so many people trying to make things do or be into what they cannot or are not? I hope it is from lack of education, because if it isn't that would mean it is intentional and has a damaging illogical outcome. It truly is disturbing to watch so many people take positions of current policy without being able to explain why they take those very same positions. Further, when given information or if the information is readily available and they still cannot or will not follow the process of logic to the proper conclusion, then I can assume with more accuracy than normal that they are truly "stuck" on some ideological premise that they will not "unstick" themselves from. I remember in my youth I tried to "act" all smart and whatnot because I didn't do the work necessary to actually be all smart and whatnot. I was quickly shown the ridiculousness of my lazy approach to confusing myself with being an intellectual person and from then on I have actually put in the time to learn as if I needed to in order to survive. My brain and it's thinking is my greatest form of communication and if I am going to communicate with others I had best put out my best thoughts and defend them when my thoughts are right. And when my thoughts are wrong it is just as important to acknowledge that and inform myself of where I got my analysis wrong. I take some pride in being able to be wise enough to know that I am not always right, nor am I always wrong but I do try to explain myself through my learning process. I guess it does come back to those who rely on others to think out their own assumptions because either their lives are too busy for such high falootin non essential understandings or they are biased in ways that will not allow them to question preconceived notions they utilize as facts. Either way, we all suffer at the hands of fools when we don't think for ourselves with truths through logical analysis.

A happy outlook (#1498)

There are enough things in life to keep me from being happy and adding myself to that pile is ridiculous. So for a good part of my life I did just that, be ridiculous. At the time what I thought was exercising my own individuality, has come to be known by me as just a stubborn trait I refused to acknowledge. No harm no foul, since I am still here in the present and my health is not demonstrably ruined. So now I realize that keeping myself in a happy state is my choice, not dependent upon factors outside my control for the most part. I do care about the serious issues of our time but in my own personal life I refuse to accept the many disappointments and frustrations that surround all of us as determiners of my outlook. I can see what is right in the world and be happy as well as fight against what is wrong in the world and be happy as well. The point I am getting at here is that how I feel about my life is about me choosing an outlook. The kind of thing represented by the glass half full/empty saying. I choose the glass half full and wanting it to be more than half. I know the difference between reality and hope so I don't get disappointed too much as my perspective on things of this world is that everything is in motion and therefore subject to change. Einstein was right, everything is about energy and if my energy is added to all the other good energy out there then eventually our combined energies will emerge a new direction for us to choose to follow and explore. That is the thing about choices, you can decide if a choice is right or wrong and then decide what to do next. If the choice is right then follow along, if the choice is wrong then you get to choose what to do next. We are all matter filled with energy and the direction of our efforts is important.

Hope is where we learn who we are (#1497)

Hope is like feeling the warmth of the sun on our faces after a long cold night. It is the best of what could be before what is happens. For me hope is my intent. I always seem to find a way to establish a hope for something before I start out after it. When the hope has a foundation within the good, which is universally acceptable in it's honest desire, then there is nothing that cannot be accomplished. The beginning or the seed of thought for me enters my brain through a hope for it's evolution. What I mean to say is that from mostly nothing comes a sense of something that could be positive, either to me or to we, where it germinates to an idea or a concept worthy of pursuing. Falling in love is a bit different than other more idealistic societal hopes, but is no less, and in my case, more desirable than anything else. I do apologize for being a bit selfish now in my older age but having a great love in my life is near and dear to my heart. Although now unlikely at my current age, I still do hold a part of me out for it's possibility. But to all other hoped for desires in life, especially for helping out all of us born into this world with less than equality than others, I put most all my energy into foreseeing and/or doing the types of actions that lessen that blight. My energy is aimed at learning and passing along information to others who are like-minded in "hope" of building upon the principled hopes and desires of those who came before me as a testimony of their unselfish exemplified lives. There are those who would selfishly take from the ones who need the most and there are those who would give selflessly in opportunity and real life help. Which side of your self are you leaning toward?

Our common purpose in this existence (#1496)

It has taken me most of my lifetime to realize this but in essence our common purpose is to advance our human species. Through society and shared knowledge we are most able to do that. Sure we are to enjoy the occasional excitements of fun and thrill, however, our goal and singular purpose has to be on our creating innovative and just ways as our heritage. We cannot just be the takers here, reaping the benefits of those who fought and strove to attain for us, we must also be the givers and add to the benefits for the future generations of our species. There is an equilibrium in sharing in prosperity as long as we are adding it back in for the next person down the line. There has to be an intellectual capture we must all recognize and being a part of the unbroken chain of humans that forwards our advancing continuum into the great unknown with as much information and understanding as possible is our only path to maintaining human life. Throw out whatever we conceive as the future and only focus on what we can do today to make today and tomorrow better. The irony here is that many will say they see a future of this and that and I say if you can conceive of such a complex imagining, how is it you cannot take the same process and apply it to what is happening right now? If we are so sure of our beliefs and recognition's that we order our lives with such precision, why is it not the case that doubt is impossible? Because all things are clouded in doubt, so no one way of seeing the future is absolute, however one thing is certain to all degrees, we must continue to advance our society of humans if we wish them in the future to have a future. 

Doing good feels good (#1495)

I am one who likes to feel good and in the natural way of things doing good brings about good feelings. Now in many there are unnatural ways of feeling about things. The people who do bad and feel good about it have somehow lost what it is to be natural. When I do bad things I not only feel bad but it hurts my soul in some way that makes me never want to do a bad thing again. Only when I forget how bad feels do I ever venture back into it without stopping myself, so I know it is important for me to always remember. Still though, the people who do bad things and still feel good about it are the ones who I am having a harder time "figuring out". Needless to say that some form of psychopathy is involved. In my heart of hearts I am convinced that we all start out innocent, with maybe a very small percentage as an exception, so the condition of feeling good about doing bad things is more likely an environmental and/or culturally learned inhumane behavior. I don't pretend to know all about why people feel good about doing bad things but I do know that it is not a natural experience for most all of us. We are a compassionate and curious lot and those two instincts are ingrained into our DNA in so many ways. It is only we who are able to change our natural behaviors by choice. Why we would do so is also not a forte of mine but obviously it involves a choice to do so. My life is on the downside of it's living and for certain I am focused on the quality of life experiences and anything else is just a waste of too little precious time we all need to cherish with feeling good by doing good.

Research is an extension of our curiosity (#1494)

Wanting to know things has been a dominating feature of our species as testified by our earliest recorded history. Even the ability to write and read writing is a testimony in itself that we were able to create a language to understand each other. Creating an alphabet in order to build words from our thoughts is borne from our curiosity to know things. That research in today's world is an extension of our continuing curiosity is unchallenged by any logical proof. So onward with our journey to discover new and exciting realities. That we would be considering the idea of slowing and stopping research of today's and tomorrow's challenges is to me unthinkable. Our society has become an interlinked community of humans who have placed our future destiny into the hands of all of us through our ideals of governance and economy. To that end we need to place ourselves into a position of learning how to best manage our path forward. We can only do that by staying ahead of our current time and place through our imaginings and our imaginings need to be tested for utility. Research does that and it also is a logical process extension of our need to know. I bring this up since there are those in power in our society who wish to destroy our community of peoples in favor of a survival of the fittest reality. Apparently they think a thinning of the herd approach to humanity is more in line with nature than accepting our reality as it is and expanding it's opportunities. Killing off research is just one of their goals. We must counter with blocking their brutish and dastardly ulterior motives with an open defense of standing up to them and thwarting their attempts to kill off the very nature of curiosity we are ingrained with.

Prove it! (#1493)

I am just up to my ears sick of hearing leaders make claims that are ridiculous and yet give no scientific or otherwise proof of their claim. Our whole existence has been built upon rational logical concepts yet many in our societies are ignorant of the process that has allowed this growth. Knowledge is a gift we can all take if we choose to assimilate it within the confines of proof. Believing something to be true because you have heard it over and over again still does not offer evidence as proof. Logic is the simplest way to come to a determination if a given set of facts are true. the process is simple and easy to understand. Those who refuse to give proof of their claims are more than likely as dishonest as can be. If a thing has the proof of it's claim, why on Earth would we not provide it? Our lives have become so complex that we instead abrogate our trust to individuals or groups who sound reasonable yet they do not prove the truth of our and their claims. The ones who do provide the truth of a thing and then summarize the claim are the ones who I likely follow when my understanding of a subject is limited. I do not rush off and proclaim their rational impeccable, however I do give them the benefit of the doubt as to whether their claim is possible. All I need is the combined proof in the form of logic, common sense and intuition to be able to accept the real possibility that a claim is true. There are many out there in our society who are in leadership positions who are less inclined to accept proof of a claim and more inclined to believe myth, lore and superstition and other non-scientific methods. I can only hope that the rational minds of our citizenry will finally realize that logic has to be the foundation of our understandings and quit giving in to the "shucksters" of our era.

Columbus sailed the ocean blue (#1492)

Funny little take on the year 1492. But since this is today's blog post number I can't seem to shake the thought out of my head. What did it take to get Columbus to sail the ocean blue? He sat at the dock and watched the sails of the shipping vessels drop down below the horizon so he interpreted that as the world not being flat but instead that the world was round. That was a curious form of scientific logic. He went against the convention of the time, that if you sailed to the end of the flat Earth you would simply fall off, and decided that the world could be circumnavigated. That had to display courage on his part to boldly investigate his curiosity. That courage he used to motivate his actions is what is the best of what we humans can do. It is the basis of our wisdom when we can take a thought that has sense to it and prove it in the face of all those who would argue against it. Columbus did more than discover the West Indies and through that America, he also showed us how to chase our dreams when our dreams make sense. Courage and logic go hand in hand. We are not just another species of the animal kingdom, we are the current caretakers of the animal kingdom. What we do and who we are is the cutting edge of what an animal is! I take this very seriously since we have a duty to all of existence to not only be the best of who we are but to build upon that even more. There is no going back on our destiny. We have been given a charge to lead the beings we yet know with the fidelity toward all life that we demand for ourselves. As well we are expected to display the kind of intelligence necessary to burgeon new horizons of our own through the continuation of logical conclusions. 

Nattering Nabobs of negativity (#1491)

William Safire wrote this term for a speech by former Vice-President Spiro Agnew. It literally refers to this: "...chattering by persons of great wealth or prominence that is marked by features of hostility, withdrawal, or pessimism that hinder or oppose constructive treatment or development."-Beth, Old Musings. I use this term today to highlight what has become of many in the mainstream media who have taken to punditry instead of reporting. If something that is being offered as news does not make sense then don't make it more chaotic just report the nonsense with the truth that it doesn't make sense to you. Too many in the media are trying to be smarter than is humanly possible on too many subjects. Especially now that we have a political party (Republicans) who are all about misinformation and misdirection. The powers behind the Republican party now have abdicated logic for control by any means possible, for example the constant attack with legislation to restrict voting rights. It really is true that if your policies do not have majority support, then either change your policies or try to cheat. It seems that the latter is the Republican choice at this time. Call them on it when it is obvious and quit giving them the benefit of the doubt by not calling them on it. Our media has got to come to terms with being professional. I know many in the genre are paid by the very same who do control the levers of power within the Republican party but for the sake of truth, stand by your principles and let the facts speak for themselves, not the planned talking points. Find the will to be respected as a fact not as an illusion.