(#5628) Another long driving trip finished

      I just finished driving back to California so I can take care of some unfinished business. I will be here for a bit or as long as it takes to accomplish what I hope to achieve. But the trip itself is what I want to talk about this late morning. I drive as a transfer driver for UHaul moving trucks and trailers around where they are needed but this type of driving is much different. In our Uhaul experience we are basically in and out of the trucks within an hour so getting around is quick and requires far less time behind the wheel. This trip back to Sacramento is much different. There is only the gas fill up and rest stop breaks to break up the monotony of the trip which in this case is about 800 miles.
     I have made this trip tens of times in my lifetime and most always I drive straight through because that is how I did things of this nature. I am older now and the way I did things when I was much younger and more adept is not my forte anymore. Yet I persevered and accomplished the trip in not the usual 12-14 hours but this time in about 18 hours. I even fell asleep at a rest stop for about an hour. Much needed sleep by the way and when I awoke I was refreshed enough to finish my drive to get here to my nephews and type this post. I had hoped to spend the day with him and his family but it seems they have caught a cold so I best continue on home to Sacramento.
     I don't know how many more of these trips I have left in me but everytime lately I keep saying to myself this will be the last. lol. Fate has a way of dealing me opportunities to extend my opposition and if so will do it again. I am not the type to stop halfway and stay in a hotel for the night. I am the type to drive, like I do at work until my task is completed. Some old dogs cannot learn a new trick such is the case with me. I am here now, tired and somewhat in a weakened state but I do feel good and over the last hour I have left to get to Sacramento I will do it easily and with an air of come what may. :)

(#5627) The hard in life is worth the effort

      It doesn't matter what you need to do to keep yourself moving forward. Just do what needs to be done. Each day presents new opportunities to make life better and how we do that is consistent with how we think. I do not let myself get complacent and wallow in any kind of mire if that is how I am feeling. I change the dynamic in some way that gives me solutions to problems I am experiencing. The boundaries I am surrounded by are sometimes constricting but boundaries at times may be pushed out further to give more room for growth. I have solutions to find and incorporate so such a time is happening for me.
     In my current case the options are all doable because there is much good to be thankful for. The gauge I use is my happiness. If I am happy all is good if I am less than happy then something needs to change in order for me be content. The nuances in life can catch me by surprise and then decisions made earlier become a new starting point for me to reconfigure. I am no perfect being so when my life takes turns I am able to swerve with it by keeping my mind open to adapting as needed to my bigger picture outlook. What changes is my short term concepts that must now adjust in order for me to keep my overall hope alive.
     I recognize that the status quo needs more than what is currently at my fingertips so doing more than before is what is required. I haven't changed who I am but I must change how I am being. I know what must be done much like most of us I understand that getting up out of the current comfortable enough spot is what must be done so that a more comfortable spot can be created. We are interesting creatures we human beings. Nothing in life can stop us when we decide to do what we need to do, yet it seems that our motivations are less convincing when we don't do the hard that needs to be done to get to the easier. For me it is hard today and for the foreseeable future but then I see the better for all the hard that is about to come and that motivates me.

(#5626) There are a lot of good people out there

      Keeping the good people in your life is always the best option as well as adding more good people to your life. I am always looking to add people to my life who see the better in us than the worst. I, like everyone I know see the worst out there but those are not as many as the good people I see. I give every human being a chance to show who they are and start from there. I am often surprised at how great some people are beyond the good I initially saw from them. Some just have a knack for going above and beyond the normal and are more relentless in the care for those whose lives they can positively affect.
     I do my part but like with age it isn't as fastidious nor ever expanding as I have done in the past but I keep trying despite my slower approach to new people. The species we are part of is unlike any other ever shown in the history of our world. We are all unique and capable of amazing things we just need to be given the opportunity to display an inkling of that talent. I have a philosophy that is exactly like this: The denial of curiosity and compassion leads to other lesser admirable traits. So when we don't give people the chance to show who they are through care and wonder they often become less so and are not at their best. All I do is respect everyone when I meet them and show them a smile that lets them know that I am more like a friend than an enemy.
     Just that little bit of encouragement is enough to get them to show who they are to me and that is where we both start. I have a duty as well to them to show them the best of who I am and then live up to that every moment afterward. None of us is more important nor less important than another so being true to our desire to live life to the fullest demands that we treat each other as we would ourselves be treated. It isn't that hard or difficult to do. We all have to start by giving something of ourselves as an offering and then waiting to see a similar offering back. We don't need a payback of sorts just an acknowledgement that a kindness has been shown. We need each other to be honest with each other and that is how this surrounding yourself with good people in your life process works.

(#5625) Staying on top of things

      Every day is something different but the key is to stay on top of the things that need our attentions. What those are in your life are necessarily different than mine but the priority of them is the same, regardless of their form or function. We each have to distinguish the hierarchy we need to order our lives and those around our lives as best to be lived. It isn't up to us to make the world a better place but it is up to us to at least try. Having the purpose of being an evolving improving human being is foundational and must always be adhered to with diligence.
     Some of us have lots of time on our hands so we think that procrastination is worthy sometimes. Yet we often find that letting things slip in order for us to ease from our known responsibilities causes worse case scenarios to flourish. I have been through that before and as a rule will not allow myself comfort when the uncomfortable needs attending. It is better to feel an accomplishment in our harder tasks than to shirk them for nothing more than a sense of false entitlement. I hear in my own mind the false premise that going beyond what is naturally expected of me by others is a fools errand yet because no one is harder on me about things than myself, only a fool does nothing when something can be done.
     Which is why even I and my own, at times, frail mind cannot be trusted when value in the bigger picture is far superior to my own sense of why a deserve should be fulfilled. I just know better that to do what I should do in the logic of life is always going to be proper regardless of my own personal struggle to enable the best of me. My purpose is as simple as this. I need to be a person who leaves whatever I am about in a better place than when I first arrived. My mark in life is advancement, not decline. Although I am only here in existence for a short time I want that time to be measured with wisdom not distraction.

(#5624) We must help Ukraine stop Russia at Ukraine's doorstep

      The first stage of the invasion of Ukraine has been kept within that country and even though the paper tiger Russian army had all the initial advantages they still failed to fulfill their goal of overthrowing a democratically elected government in Ukraine. Instead the Ukrainians never fainted from their ominous task of keeping Russia from routing them. This stalemate in Ukraine has been going on for the last few years and as of now with no end in sight. Yet Russia continues to lose men and equipment at an alarming rate. So what does Russia do? They are enlisting foreign fighters to help them combat against the Ukrainian army.
     With NATO, the EU, and other western nations along with America all in on protecting the sovereignty of Ukraine, it is time that troops from other countries be given the green light to come into Ukraine and fight as entities of their own. This battleground in Ukraine to stop the Russian advancement to destroy democracy is not going away and is either going to be confronted with force or will be mowed down as a failure of strength by the west. The bottom line here is whether democracy can protect itself from tyranny. The last world war was fought to prove that but it seems every 50 or more years the lesson gets forgotten.
     This latest attempt of tyranny to destabilize the world through men of no good intent is our task to prevent. The timeline of human history will reflect our ability to overcome the worst of what a human being can do to another. Keeping the resolve to heal our world at the doorstep of Ukraine will not only help Ukrainians overcome the grave threats that are ongoing to it in this moment but will also keep the rest of the world safe from having to have their own worlds torn apart by a despot with no soul. The counter to putin and his small cabal of complicit culprits is to fight them hard and fast with relentless strength. Enough so that when they falter from our response there is nothing left of them to begin again!

(#5623) Two days until the downfall of trump hits the national spotlight

     On Thursday, June 26th, the presidential debate between President Biden and convicted felon trump will take place in Atlanta. I really don't expect the deranged trump to go through with it but as for this moment it seems he will. I of course will not watch anything he is televised in but I will hear all about it from pundits and my political friends on Facebook. Needless to say it should be a catastrophe for trump since he is in mental decline. He will of course rail against Biden and democrats for supporting Ukraine, a democratic nation protecting itself from a tyrant's dictatorial overthrow but in trump's mind it is Ukraine's fault for not treating putin like the demigod he trump sees himself.
     As well trump will try to take credit for things Joe Biden passed under his watch but trump doesn't care about facts just the utility of lying when it strikes him. Also trump will boast of striking down Roe v. Wade as if he is some savior of women who now have less control over their own bodies. He will siren call to evangelicals that he is their savior and only he can restore religion above our constitution as he and they see it. Not a democracy anymore like our founders fought and died to implement. But a theocracy with white nationalism at its core. Where white people who are biased to their race will follow him and his piping straight off a cliff if need be.
     What trump won't do is talk about how he will address poverty or racism/sexism unless it is to continue those paradigms that only serve the wealthy in their attempt to own and control all means of commerce. Unlike Joe Biden who will trumpet his programs of job growth and lessening inflation coming off the disastrous electoral college appointment presidency of the loser trump by nearly 3 million votes overall. The Covid mismanagement by trump has been righted by President Biden and we are now back to being a healthier and reviving economic world giant here in America. The contrast between these two individuals is as stark as night and day with Joe Biden representing the bright days of our future and trump representing the dark nights of our past!

(#5622) A lesson that I was reminded of through my brother John

      Let me begin with how I perceived myself alone in my immediate family when it came to political views. For the most part the familiar family of my youth trended away from democrats by the allure of republicans who planted seeds of impossibility into their minds. They believed like republicans expounded that we were all destined to be millionaires much like the twisted religious doctrine of "name it and claim it" Instead of being satisfied in one's life with curiosity and care they were diverted to the exhausting concept of "keeping up with the Joneses". Lost in the ever enveloping ideas of materialism, they lost sight of their curiosity and care.
     The further they entered the absurd siren calls of republicanism the further they estranged from me. Which left me few relatives left that were in close bond with me since childhood. Enter my brother John, a bit of a black sheep in my family who was very difficult to gauge given his less than social existence in my middle life. As fortune would have it however, John found his way back into my life as he was looking to move and I had a house that needed a housemate. I was welcome to the idea of John moving in with me and reacquainting myself with him after decades of living in different orbits of life. To my pleasant surprise John quickly showed that not only was he a staunch democrat but he was a defender to all who would ask him.
     So as I learned of John's too similar political views to mine I found him very capable of explaining to me why he would never leave the democratic party. He was grounded in the fact of democratic policies that helped the underdog when the overdogs usually got all the advantages. He was particularly keen on helping the poor while at the same time railing against the rich for having too much and always wanting more. He understood that our societies were limited in resources and that when the extreme wealthy controlled too much, we the vast majority suffered because the extreme wealthy by the nature of their wealth lost touch with not only their humanity but the logic into the plights we all struggle to overcome. I miss my brother John but I will not soon miss his passion for helping all of us succeed in life.

(#5621) Ukrainians are a special people

      I see the videos of these young Ukrainian soldiers and their expertise in battle. It is quite a feat these young people exhibit in rising to the moment when their nation is under direct military attack. I would hope our youngsters in the United States would perform as admirably in the face of grave consequences. But the Ukrainians are doing it and it is amazing to see their tenacity and courage in the face of the ultimate sacrifice one can make for their country. It is really humbling when considered. These young people understand the idea of democracy and the freedom it freely gives to all who honor it.
     What has been lost here in the United states through dishonorable service from some of our highest elected representatives has tainted our perspective on what is truly magnificent about past American history and left us with chaos and confusion as to how to handle the freedoms we already enjoy and are now in jeopardy of losing. My focus is thus on the incredible people of Ukraine and their bulldog of a leader who is as relentless in his mission to bring peace and democracy to Ukraine as anyone I have ever seen. We are fortunate as well in the United States to have a leader in Joe Biden who stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine albeit with some trepidation.
     But the American trepidation is based on real factors and with putin being less than sane I will not be as critical as I could be in that regard. But I do want Ukraine to have all the advantages a democracy loving country should have when attacked by a tyrant who only wants to extinguish democracy so that he can rule ever greater territories not his. For me this is the moment in time when the good guys of the world need to say to themselves that no bad guy is going to have victory when we know we can stop him. Much like a stitch in time will save the whole from unraveling such is the case here. Get tough on the bully and lower him down to the ground with a powerful force until he cries out I quit!

(#5620) I can sense the desperation of Russia and so can Ukraine

      The noises coming from Russia are not ones that instill confidence for their people. Instead it is desperation that is being influenced, not confidence. When putin is talking about defensive measures instead of offensive ones you know the invasion he started is flailing. More than half a million of his countrymen have perished in Ukraine and many more are to follow over the next months. Not that this invasion is going to last months since other losses may trigger some movement within Russian society that could shake up the status quo. I know I mention this from time to time but it is still human nature to feel that a line will be crossed where no more means no more.
     We are not there yet it seems but the losses in personnel cannot continue at the rate of a 1000 and more a day without Russia being upended by the sheer loss of Russian life. The military equipment loss is another key factor because having armaments to attack Ukraine is necessary but now depleted so significantly that using much more of what is left may end up completely leaving Russia with a skeletal mechanized option. Russia is quickly heading toward the point of no return so if they don't find a way to overcome Ukraine, which is very unlikely, they will be facing their worst case scenario, defeat! Or they may decide that an unimaginable option is their only hope.
     I do not think they have that option as the west is primed for a response that will make Russia uninhabitable for generations if they even think of pushing some button to force a response. Russia overplayed their hand and now must face the reality of it. They will lose in Ukraine and have to withdraw from occupied territories they had hoped to annex. Ukraine on the other hand will take back its lands from Russia and then fortify their 1000 or so mile border with Russia. The demise of the brutal Russian ambition is a good thing for peace in the world and will also give Eastern Europe and Asia a chance to find their own identities without Russia and tyrant putin trying to force them into something they are not.

(#5619) Weight loss

      I started the year being overweight at about 275 pounds, I know it was from a lot of good food during the holidays and a lack of commitment to eating more healthily. I had one guilty pleasure with that being tasty food. The problem I had was similar to the one when I drank alcohol, too much and not enough moderation. Well nearly 18 years ago I solved the alcohol problem once and for all but the same process cannot work with food. So I earlier this year devised a plan to at least get down from the 275 mark into the 250 range. I reduced my intake of sugar and percentage amounts of other foods. It worked and by late March I had reached my goal of just under 250 pounds. My clothes started to hang off me a bit and that was a good sign.
     Keeping it off was now my goal and I did so for the next few months until I became aware of a diet plan to get me to a place I hadn't seen since I was a much younger man. My goal became 220 pounds. I am now at 221 pounds and by this time tomorrow should be at my goal. It is a diet of restrictions but doable for the healthy eating habits I would like to maintain. I will stay with the diet with a few minor additions for a little while longer because I would like to drop down to 218 or even 215 pounds. I do believe that at that weight I can then start to tone my body back to a more manageable 220. I am a survivor and realizing that reducing weight is crucial to a longer life I am ready for the challenge.
     I won't have to give up all the guilty pleasures that some foods elicit, but the moderation of them will be the key. I am ready to do this now and like in the past when I have changed my life for the better, this will be no different. I am doing this for me without hesitation because the alternative does not appeal to me. As logic would have it it is also nice to feel less bound by the laws of gravity. I have other issues of health I am working on that are having some effect on me but like the weight loss the health issues will be resolved and I expect to be much more active and have greater ease of movement. It is all good and here I am feeling good about it.

(#5618) Our fleeting moments in time

      I have had the privilege of being reminded that our moments together are special and should be countenanced so. They are not guaranteed nor due. We create them as possible and try to hold onto them as best we can but nothing is ours to secure for as long as we would like. It is unfortunate that wisdom and knowledge are not easily attainable when we are young so as to teach us early on the significance of each other as we pass through life. Once any of us is gone there is no retrieval or do over for their return. We are left with memories which are but a shadow of the soul no more.
     I spend a lot of my time trying to understand my environment and for me that is the itch I scratch for my survival. Yet my own life is devoid of many who are no longer and who I wish were still here with me on this journey. My mind is my safe harbor as it gives me purpose and resolve to a higher order of things that could and should already be however my heart is as attached to me as well and delivers its verdict as time passes by when memories and images of those no more fill my soul with longing of their being. I survive and move on but it is with a less than vigorous approach comparatively to my youth when all was still fresh and those around me were my fortress.
     I am older now and understand the cycle of life and how it does no respecting of whom it will pull from what we have within us away. We are a strong amazing species full of adaptability yet we are also frail in our emotions when our hearts can easily be broken and scarred. We carry on though because it is the nature of ourselves. But all of us carry with us the what could be if not for the disorder of loss and grief. I appreciate the moments in time I have now even though hindsight tells me I should have done the same back when it really would have mattered so much more for me. Regardless, we all need to see how important it is to care for the moments that matter with an eye toward them at some time being no more.

(#5617) It seems my life is to take a detour for a bit

      Funny thing about life, the best laid intentions are not always fulfilled with the hope they began with. I have a bit more work to do in Sacramento of a personal nature that involves adjusting my property. I will need to be there for the split of it into two lots and refurbishing the existing one to meet the needs of the new accommodation. What this will allow me to do is realize some capital while maintaining my existing lot with the house on it to preserve its utility for those who are enjoying it. Having a bit of a capital gain while maintaining my steady income from the house gives me an opportunity to come back to Seattle and have a few coins available for a new enterprise I hope to start.
     My future is here in Seattle area but my past has to be rectified for my future to take hold. Along with a health issue that the hot Sacramento weather may help, it was also necessary for my fiance and I to extend our engagement for the time being instead of marrying next month like we hoped. All things considered taking the time to handle what needs to be done now and not moving too fast toward our goal of being married is the best course and we both agree that having things in the proper order is what is most advantageous to us having a future beyond the call of the past.
     There are no deserves or privileges owed to any of us so my idea of having what I want when I want it is not in play. I have learned over a lifetime that because one may desire does not mean that one may have. Learning to live in an existence where two make the decisions in life is new to me but not foreign either. I will straighten out my past to help me in my present while dealing with an everyday more understood health problem. This post may be a bit rambling but it is coming from straight inside me and I like to type that way whenever these moments occur. This present detour is only that, a detour. I look forward to the time when my life really does begin in short order where I want to be with the happiness I hope to continue.

(#5616) Figuring out my health

      The one thing I know for certain is that health issues are not cut and dry as to simple answers. At least not until enough information has been accumulated in order to rule many things out and narrow the possible solutions into a more complex formula that will eventually reveal a most probable cause. Then it is the application of a surmised solution that will finally determine if the issue is finally resolved. Such is where I find myself at the present moment. My symptoms are revealing in that they do point in a specific direction but other factors make the cause a bit more complex in determining. I will get there though because science works when it has enough information.
     In the meantime I am dealing with my issues as best I can while trying not to exacerbate them. I have a life to live and some things cannot go unattended. Not all of us are able to sideline ourselves out of our responsibilities in order to maximize our ability to minimally add to our health concern conditions. So being wise and judicious about my present state is the highest priority fitted within my need to be and take care of what is a must in my life. Older age brings about lots of questions about a lot of issues that over a lifetime have developed. Parsing those out into their proper category is the phase I am in and until we can narrow my cause down I will be in this not sure stage for the time being.
     Being in good health is the first step toward living an active and productive life so for now my activities are restricted. After finding that my good health needs some help to recover it is my responsibility to correctly adhere to whatever is necessary to not only find the cause of my current malady but to address the demands of the sensible cure. I am certain that something is coming that will explain my symptoms with a logical cure and for that I am grateful for having health care professionals at my side who are cautious and progressive in their attention to my health. I will know what to do soon enough then a post like this will be written in the near future with a simplified conclusion attached to the end of it.

(#5615) Ukrainians are gaining the upper hand

      Ever since the EU and US aid packages were approved and starting supplying Ukraine these past few months the tide of the Russian invasion has changed from Russia attacking relentlessly to now Ukraine counter punching the demoralized Russian military. The change was subtle but significant. As Russia would send wave after wave of ground troops to their death in order to gain very small strips of land. Ukraine on the other hand was preserving their troops and are using technology to not only thwart the Russian troop waves but to beat them back with strategic elimination of command centers and supply chain necessities.
     Now that Ukraine has enough weaponry to withstand the offenses of slow witted Russian commanders they are as well able to counter attack when the Russians are most vulnerable. Kind of like rope a dope by Muhammad Ali. Let your opponent wear himself out and then strike with a fury to batter them into submission. This is working wonderfully for Ukraine as Russia cannot stop themselves from only using ancient war tactics that are easily defensible against. Ukraine is the smarter adversary here for Russia and that is why this war started by Russia will be ended by Ukraine.
     The only end of this invasion by Russia is defeat or surrender by Russia. There is no plan B for Russia either they beat Ukraine or they lose. Russia has shown that after 27 plus months of fighting they are not up to beating Ukraine. They are now in a position of being badly outfitted with defensive military equipment that the other Russian neighbors, who have been under the Russian thumb, may choose to challenge. Either way Russia is losing its strength while also trying to remain tough. Eventually the facts of losing will hit Russia between the eyes and Ukraine will be standing over them ready to hit them again should they not relent!

(#5614) How different our lives could have been

      As a youngster I was one who was full of questions. The more I learned the more questions I had. In the early days my questions would be answered with logical answers but as my questions became more nuanced the answers were not there. I became somewhat of a bother to my family as they learned themselves that they didn't know how to answer my questions and instead I was told to stop asking questions all the time. They were not in a position to help me with answers so their solution was for me to focus on other things instead of the things I wanted answers of. I think about those times now and realize that my life would have been so much more enlightened had I the knowledge base around me to feed my mind.
     Let me be clear here, I do not hold anyone accountable for my being so inquisitive. I was just that way and unlike a lot of my family around me there were few who were in a position through education that could guide me. It was I who broke the mold in my nuclear family being a high school graduate and then college graduate. A lot of times we are locked into our socio economic statuses because we haven't found a way to grow beyond what has been traditionally our roles. My parents did what they could on educating us to the best of their abilities much like their parents did the same with them. At some point one of us needed to break the mold and move ourselves beyond what was expected and what had been the normal.
     I did that with a lot of help in my early days by spending a lot of time in the library. Where I could access a lot of answers to my questions through the Dewey Decimal System. We now have Wikipedia and Google type information formats that can get us started toward more complex reasonings and facts. Had I had such formats for all the why's I asked that didn't get answered I can only imagine how much more full my life would have been. It seems to me that my nature was a bit stunted in the early to late childhood days and it was because I couldn't find human resources around me to help me find the answers I justifiably needed. Even back then it seemed like lots of people played "hide the ball" when asked about specific things that they were less than eager to share. I hope those days are gone for the next generations as our species can ill afford not to feed the minds of the young with answers to all their questions of why.

(#5613) The Internet, the great equalizer to partisan traditional "news" sources

      In 2021, Joe biden signed his 1 trillion infrastructure bill into law. Included in that infrastructure law are funds for the following, improvements for roads and bridges, prioritizing disadvantaged areas provided over 5,000 low and zero emission American made transit buses to 600 communities, modernizing 450 ports and waterways, modernizing 300 airport terminals, 4,100 projects to thwart effects of climate change and cyber threats, 1,400 drinking water and wastewater improvements, replace 1,700 miles of toxic lead pipes, protection from wildfires by removing hazardous waste material from over 15 million acres, improving drought resilience through 500 projects.
     In over 200 jurisdictions, large and small, improving resilience and reliability for their electrical grid, over 23 million folks can now access free or low cost Internet because 12,000 miles of Internet was added across 370 counties, particularly giving 289 tribal governments connectivity to 65,000 tribal households, enacted new rules to expose Internet junk fees requiring transparency for 300 million Internet customers, plugged 8 thousand orphan gas wells, provided necessary funding for 95 previously underfunded superfund sites in order to clean contamination, funding for 180 programs to address clean energy, climate and other concerns to low income communities.
     This is the link to the information I summarized, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/05/13/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-kicks-off-infrastructure-week-by-highlighting-historic-results-spurred-by-president-bidens-investing-in-america-agenda/. If you have any doubt as to the democratic party concerning our vision for the future this blog post will help you to understand that we are the people's party in all 50 states and 6 territories. We democrats want all of us to pursue our dreams with equity, equality, and opportunity. Please vote for all democrats on your ballot and don't be swayed by the corporate media and their interests of greed and power much like their republican owners. Do your own objective research now that President Biden has made the Internet much more available than before.

(#5612) Taxes serve a purpose

      The problem republicans have is by telling people they want to cut their taxes is they don't go into the details as to what will happen to them with the taxes cut. All kinds of programs are eliminated and the wealthy get to keep acquiring more of the resources that the rest of us cannot then acquire. We have social programs to benefit all of society, in order to offset the wealthy who are in constant demand of taking more of the limited resources we have. There is only so much wealth out there and if the few wealthy have the bulk of it it makes it difficult for the rest of us to pursue our happiness let alone just survive.
     Which is why we democrats are always in favor of spreading the wealth around so that more people can have better things in their lives. When we all have a shot at our happiness then we are a happier society. When we don't and the wealthy keep getting richer the unhappiness increases and creates all sorts of angst and problems for our society. No one small group of people should have unlimited ways of taking most of our resources without being restricted at some point. I don't know what that point is but there has to be a ceiling where the wealthy cannot add to their totals any longer. There are 8 billion, give or take, people on our planet so the ones who have already made their more than fair share need to be stopped from keeping others from an opportunity to do the same.
     It is only logical that once having acquired enough wealth to spend each day without a financial worry in a lifestyle befitting a king, no further acquiring should be allowed through law. We are a finite economy with a massive amount of humanity. Not all will be talented enough and as well merit riches beyond safety and security but there are those who will and they need their shot at their dreams. People like me who are happy with a stable and safe life need far less but at least a shot to improve our situations along the way. Taxes on the wealthy as well as on those of us who meet the criteria are well worth the collecting and leave republicans with little to nothing else left to tempt the populace with.

(#5611) Happiness and stress, my two companions

      I am sure most of us are in this special grouping. We have much to be thankful for while also constantly under some form of stress in our lives. There is no escaping either if we are living life with a passion for the things that matter to us. More often that not the stress is the greater experience but not always. The happiness is there even if sometimes it is just under the surface. Usually the happiness is seen when we smile without having to be provoked to smile. In know I carry myself with a light heart toward my day and even when work is fully my task I am still enjoying the day and all that it brings.
     The stress on the other hand is the pressure I put on myself to accomplish my ambitions and goals. Planning and executing those desires is often filled with juggling some things to better accommodate others. We all have a process for how we create our imaginings so the stress level is often higher or lower depending upon our resources and ability to multitask. I seem to be able to rationalize my stress levels to less than high but it is not always true. Some activities demand more stress from me given time constraints and the sensitivity of the outcome. As I am getting older there is another factor that comes into play that being my health.
     I am physically less the man I started out being so my process for dealing with stress is an evolving condition. I wish my stress would reflect the happiness within me that needs no evolving but such is not the circumstance. Pulling back on my hopes and dreams at times is prudent when my health is showing signs of disturbance. I recognize my frailty and endeavor to address it appropriately. Regardless of a changing dynamic within me, my life is good and how I approach the happiness and stress within it again suggests my willingness to consistently accept reality at its face value no matter the form. I am no immortal soul, so taking good care that I am progressing further into happiness and less into stress is becoming my necessarily acceptable solution.

(#5610) I am only one human being

      All of my life I have felt that if it was up to me to change the world into a better place I was up to the task. Never in my dreams did I think I would be fighting against my own neighbors and fellow countrymen to protect the democracy that our past generations fought so hard and long to give us. As this election season comes into being over the next 5 months or so it seems from polling, not realistic in my mind, yet still being forwarded that there is a doubt as to who will win the presidency and control of our Congress.
     The republican party has been riding the coattails of a disgraced former electoral college appointed president who is all in on letting democracy slip from our grasp. He wants to be like putin his friend over in Russia and control the United States in the same manner that putin controls his population, through force and fear. Me sitting here, I can see how ludicrous it is to even think that we proud Americans who parents fought and died to bring fascism to its knees during World War II would even consider supporting republicans who are of the same mindset. Yet when I see the news and hear the talk from too many I come across they are convinced that those of us fighting to preserve democracy are on the wrong side of things.
     I know there is an information disconnect here but I don't know how to change that and if it continues those who are not defending democracy are becoming bolder in their attempt to destroy it. For me I am only one man who is willing to put everything on the line to protect our democracy and hopefully will not stand alone with those few others who are out here with me. It is time for all of us to take a stand about our democracy and if we want to keep it now is the time to make that decision. Do not sit back quietly thinking others will do the work you want to avoid because it may be unpopular with some. Just remember, you are the only one you need to impress in life, no one other!

(#5609) Treason to Democracy must be identified from without and within

      I saw an interesting article this morning. It was out of Moldova, a country neighboring Ukraine that is also, like Ukraine, attempting to join the European Union as a member state. They, the Moldovans, equally find themselves being infiltrated by Russians through propaganda and governmental authorities creating ties with nefarious Russian officials to influence and spy on Russia's behalf. As Moldova, and the rest of the civilized world, has discovered little used current treason laws are not specific enough to counter today's modern applications of treasonous activities.
     Which is why Moldova has just implemented new treason laws that bring wartime treason activity to peacetime as well as strengthening and growing treason laws that are tougher in sentencing. Moldova is trying to protect its democracy from without by supporting Ukraine to stop the fascist putin and his Russian army from overrunning Ukraine and itself while also working to protect its democracy from within by making it harder for Russian collaborators to subvert the Moldovan government. Protecting its democracy is moldova's main concern and those who would attempt to undermine it are now closer to being identified, charged and sentenced with a greater degree of accuracy and toughness.
     What Moldova is doing should at be least a blueprint for the rest of the world's democracies including our own here in the United States. As we in the US design our defenses against the enemies from without we are lagging in the area of protecting our democracy from the enemies from within. I don't have to name those who are putin followers here in the US, they have already named themselves. Now our task is to strengthen our laws to not only identify those who are working to undermine our democracy with current impunity but to upgrade existing wartime laws to include peacetime activity. We do this by legislating more modern laws that reflect the nefarious ways some utilize treason to undermine our democracy.

(#5608) The battle for democracy or fascism

      Is it me or does it seem that too many voting age persons don't understand the difference between these two forms of governing? In fascism we have a nation governed by a tyrant where race and nationalism is the higher concept for attaining. You know where like only white people who are not "stained" with blood from other "inferior" races are allowed. Protecting their pure race formula is the priority above all. We saw this last century with Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito who formed the axis to try to take over the world and make their vision of pure race a foundation. As the extermination of various races death camps exposed at the defeat of nazism.
     This in contrast to what democracy provides. In democracy we the people decide what is our future and how that future evolves. We are not limited by race nor do we harm any outside the laws that we all prescribe for ourselves. There is no leader who is a tyrant only an elected one that we the people vote in or vote out. We make our own rules to satisfy inclusion and all ideals and principles of equality and fairness. In a democracy we are free to pursue our happiness as long as it does no harm to others. The rights of all human beings to be an individual within our democratic society is freely given and protected as a right within our legal and ethical structures.
     So my question is how can these two forms of government be competitively considered in a modern world where information about knowledge can be received in real time on the Internet? I suspect that fascism is not being expressed as it truly is as a form of condescension that denigrates human beings based upon diversity. Whereas democracy is not being promoted as it is with diversity and acceptance at its core. It really does boil down to a love/hate component. Either you see everyone as a free human being or you don't. If you are in the fascist camp then you do not see everyone as equal. If you are in the democracy camp you do see everyone as equal. You decide which camp you are in and don't lie to yourself or others about your decision!

(#5607) Temptation is always there so keep to your path

     I know this subject very well. I am old enough to have been tempted away from what I know is right and what I know to be better. It was because I didn't have a strong enough commitment to myself and what I hold dear. The greatest thing I ever did for myself was to decide to live as me and not what others wanted, or some greater thing I thought I could be. I am me and that is good. So now when any temptation comes about I have a filter to run it through that is clear and easily understood. Temptation to do many things or even to not do things are always around me but having a system within myself to define the temptation in real time is exactly what I needed.
     Of course I am always striving to improve what I am but that doesn't require me to change who I am to effect that improvement. The change always conforms to who I am. I am always becoming a better person since that is what I want but I don't do that to put who I am in jeopardy. I have a foundation of good built at the base of me and all that I become is settled atop that foundation. If I get a sense that something is enticing me away from where I am settled then I pause to exam the temptation and dispose of it properly so that the next time something similar comes around I am aware before it even tries to become a temptation.
     My inner strength is my guard at the door to who I am and at no time shall I let my guard off with a pass. Life is like that. When you least expect some life changing moment it will appear and make my life unsettled as to my values. I have seen enough of life to know that temptation is the one area where most all of us have our downfalls so being ready for when temptations will occur is the best defense in keeping to who I am when I am at times most vulnerable. Who I am is the key to me and for others to learn whom they are. Once found, we all will find that we are here to be ourselves and not anyone else.

(#5606) Start your life today if you are still lost and confused

      There comes a point in everyone's life where we say to ourselves this has to stop and something else has to start. I refer to that time before as my learning time. I tried various things to see who I was in this big confusing world only to find that none of those things were helpful in making me feel alive and confident. So I got to that point where I just stopped all my attempts to be someone I didn't know how to be and started to become the person I always was. I thought about who I was and what that me person liked. I thought about how I felt about life around me and how that should look when it was good.
     After a bit of thinking I decided that first off I was a good person who didn't want to hurt or cause chaos to myself or anyone else. That was important to me to know if I was going to be a happy helpful person or a person who didn't care about anyone else as much as myself. Once I established that I was going to be a hero type instead of a villain type I knew the rest would fall into place. I would work to learn more while building a foundation beneath me that was solid and worthy of defending. From that new rejuvenating starting point I considered myself tethered and safe from the winds of change and temptations of the past and present.
     My life began anew when I put the learning stage of my life behind me and started putting the comprehending of that learning stage into living choices that are positive and happy. I know now that I had to go through many things as for me in order to get to this place now, where I am so much more me than enytime ever in my life. Taking all those remembered thoughts of happiness from my first early time through all the other times of my life and filtering them to build my current vision of my life. Who I am is not a question as well what happens next will never be a doubt because I am living my dream.

(#5605) Why many of the homeless won't leave the streets

      There are programs everywhere to help those who are on the streets living without homes to find themselves again and get started back into our society of being responsible for ourselves and building a life. Unfortunately it isn't enough for too many who still choose to live in jeopardy on our streets. They see the help offered from governmental services as a double edged sword. Sure, they get relocated to some form of housing with food and job offers but the deal is they cannot carry their bad habits of alcohol and drugs along with them. So too many just say forget about it and keep living on the streets so that they can continue to drug and alcohol at their leisure.
     That is the addiction problem inherent within our homeless community. Sure there are some who want to live off the grid without being addicted to drugs and alcohol but those are not many and they seem to be self sufficient enough to manage their homelessness with some comfort. Yet even they need to have some connection with health services and those services are available. Living in a democracy allows us each to decide the pursuit of our own happiness so forcing folks from the streets into programs of care is not democratic. What we each have to decide is the quality of our lives and contrast that with our options. Many in the homeless community have made that comparison and have yet to decide to change their current homeless situations.
     I have great respect for the many jurisdictions that have been proactive in generating policies and programs that address homelessness and their efforts are not to be denigrated by the choices of the homeless to ignore them. The homeless have options right now to change their lifestyles toward a more healthy and safe environment. What they do with that is on them yet we who are trying to help them change cannot quit on them. They are not in a mental state to objectively see the desperation of their own plight enough as opposed to what good could come from accepting help and leaving their addictions behind. How we build that bridge to overcome their rights as free human beings and helping them see their choices clearly beyond depressive acceptances is our current burden.

(#5604) Live life, don't be afraid of it

      I know that being inside our heads is a comfortable place but it is also a place where we have much doubt about what is going on in the world. Nothing new there. We all have the same doubts about our existence. But what I have found is that life is short and doubts aside, life is still fun and happy if we can just be ourselves. I don't get hung up on the rituals of making it through each day I just live and do the next right thing. It is amazing just how simple life is when we just stop trying to complicate it. One foot in front of the other. One movement toward a desire or need or want and whatever our path ends up being it will be okay.
     My only motto in all of this is to do no harm. Can life get any less complicated? When I am doing no harm it means I am doing the next right thing. As well the inverse to that is that for the most part no harm comes back to me and others seem to be doing the next right thing. I am 68 years old now and for the life of me cannot tell you how quickly I got to this age. There are lots of things I wished I had done but didn't think I would be running out of time to accomplish yet here I am in my declining years now less able to physically do those things now I could have easily done when I was a younger man.
     Instead of seeing some drudgery of moving from day to day with our responsibilities the correct approach is to appreciate that we have another day to be who we are, which for most all of us is an amazing person with the best intentions. Every moment in our lives is precious and how we spend those moments is the benchmark of our ability to keep who we are in line with how we live. I get up early to prepare for my day. In that day I am armed with my smile and a good greeting to those who cross my path. I have no time for anything other than the bright side of things and it is amazing as well how I can put situations that occur into a light of amusement. Life is good no matter the obligations or responsibilities. We just need to be the master of ourselves and let the world know our inner brilliance.

(#5603) Busy day at the doctor's office yesterday

      Everyone should know how long one has to wait in order to get a doctor's appointment. Well the one I had made several weeks ago came about yesterday. Of course I have been right smack dab in the middle of a head cold and wasn't sure I could make the appointment. Knowing I needed every edge I could get I rested up most of the early day yesterday sleeping as much as I could so that I could at least try to go with the least amount of runny nose, sore throat and general fatigue symptoms as possible. It seemed to work because after my shower just before leaving in the later afternoon hour I felt somewhat refreshed and hoped it would last through the appointment.
     I informed the doctor's office that I had a head cold and they told me to come in but to wear a mask. I figured on that anyway so off I went. I got to the facility and was seen nearly immediately. The doctor was great and very detailed in looking at my history and overall symptoms besides my head cold. I have another concerning issue which the doctor addressed with a possible solution and that is in progress now. But the care and attention to my whole self was welcomed. After the doctor visit I was requested to take four tests and they went smoothly and quickly at the same facility.
     I was out of the facility in less than a few hours and the experience was most welcomed by me. So much so do I feel better about all of it that my head cold is now waning and into the mopping up stage. I will be able to work today with a mask on and other precautions but I have the energy this morning and feel ready to enjoy my day instead of endure it. Yesterday was my first day with my new doctor and the processes entailed in that and I am well satisfied with the endeavor. I am fortunate that I am not under some barrage like a hostile nation trying to eliminate me like in Ukraine so I do appreciate my good fortune and still hope to see the Ukrainian people enjoy the same health care for illness that I have.

(#5602) I feel better today but still a bit weakened

      It has been ages since I had caught some bug that got me off my feet. Long before Covid and then with all the current inoculations up to date I had remained well. Until this last weekend. There had been a bug going around at work and I thought I had avoided it but it seems I didn't. I somehow became susceptible and hopefully have gotten through the worst of it this morning. What is a bit of happenstance is that I also have a doctor's appointment for this afternoon. My plan is to keep the appointment unless they tell me otherwise.
     I do not like having to adjust my schedule around some bug that is filtering it's way through our society but I must now reconsider Covid protocols like masking up, keeping distances, hand sanitizer, etc... Being out in the workforce is somewhat still new to me since I started back to work last year. As well there has been much action on my part relocating to another part of the country and all the details that needed attending. In other words I have been experiencing a new level of tiredness that I was struggling to alleviate. No rest for the weary comes to mind and in my case with my short term past activities combined with my age I see that I set myself up for being invaded by some bug as I was vulnerable.
     I do try to keep myself to myself for the most part but sometimes it is impossible to achieve. As to this current head cold I have at the moment, I seem to be able to function with some clarity despite the weakened feeling I am having. My head seems to be coming around as well the sinuses and sore throat abating, No one likes to get sick and I am sure that none of us plans for it. It is just part of being in a multifaceted society that we need and want to interact with each other. As for me I am going to take what I can for today and hope that by tomorrow morning I will be able to get back into my daily schedule with some relief.

(#5601) Not a routine day today

      Over the last few days I seem to have contracted some minor throat irritation that has me feeling weak and tired. I figure a common cold as it is just like the ones I used to get throughout my life. Same symptoms nothing extraordinary. So I have been less than normal lately but I have gotten things done that are important but not overtly intrusive into anyone else's life. Keeping myself masked up and out of range when others are nearby. Unfortunately I have to get things done as I have my priorities to accomplish that are absolutely necessary. Well absolutely necessary in my mind anyway. lol.
     Much like writing this blog post I feel the demand from myself even though in the big picture of life this daily posting I do is as insignificant as I am in the whole scheme of existence. Yet I am propelled by my own inner sense of duty to sit here at my computer and realize some topic worthy of letting out into the ether. I would rather be laying in my bed sleeping as a way to rest my body and help it fight off the whatever it is that is making me feel sickly. But like most of us humans, I continue to operate when I shouldn't, because of logic and common sense.
     It is the duty to things that I have that drives me beyond the sensical and makes my life less than comfortable. In other words I do this to myself. Which is fine as I am like many before me who sought to remain loyal to a worthy cause instead of just relaxing and doing what is best for my own personal self. As I get closer to the end of this post for today I am starting to feel a little invigoration for having gotten this much down on a day where my mind is full of little nothings. I suppose this talking about how sick and mentally unprepared I am for this moment is worthy in that when we all are down and wanting to just step away from what we normally do there is a compromise out there where the need of the duty is fulfilled and now I get to go lay down as well. :)

(#5600) Turning the hard in life into good

      We human beings are an amazing species with characteristics that defy logic yet we are not settled as a species into a reality where easy is the dominant paradigm. Our lives throughout our history have been lived with a lot of hard involved. To exist and evolve into who we are today has required much of us that was difficult by nature and knowledge. Yet even with all the hard that confronts us we still find a way through it. Whether through sheer determination or support we struggle successfully to find our way beyond whatever the current hard is today to then find another hard come at us in other forms.
     The hard in life is how we came into being and so far has been how we have had to live to survive. There are those who cannot endure the trials that hard befalls upon us and that is tragic in that some have more hard hit them than others. We can regulate how the hard takes form in many instances but regardless hard will come and we as our unique species must continue to overcome it. When one or many of us defeats the hard in ways that is truly remarkable it gives hope to others who are fighting similarly hard situations. Our species becomes even more durable to the difficulties life puts in our paths. This existence in its form is one of sustainability but also devastation. We as a species have found the calculus to survive and thrive within it.
     By taking the victories over the hard in our lives and making it easier for others not to have those obstacles of hard in theirs we do our species a favor. We remove the old obstacles of hard to allow for new ones to appear. This is how we evolve as a species. By being challenged from one seemingly impossible scenario to a solution which then shows us a different impossible scenario to overcome. Our species' march through time and space like a boss is because the history of our species has taught us that nothing in existence to date has been able to thwart our manifest destiny to eventually end the hard in life and make life easier for all.

(#5599) The stench of republicanism is overwhelming!

      To even believe anything coming from republican politicians is a far stretch. I have very little heard of their members criticizing their leading contender for the presidency nor his claims of everyone else is on a "witch hunt" against him. As if they are unable to call the facts and truths what they are. That being the case then believing them on anything is untrustworthy. This is the stench of which I refer. When a piece of the body has decayed and started to rot is way late in the process of having it removed. Same as on the body politic, yet they don't in the case of their rapist, criminally convicted republican front runner for our presidency against democrat Joe Biden.
     Instead they focus on the idea that a former president should have immunity from any and all crimes against our laws and constitution. Tell me if you will why would we as a democracy would want to give one person the right to trample and destroy the rule of law and undermine our constitution? All the rest of us are bound by the oath of the constitution by default because we choose to live in our US society. So why would we give a person of low moral and ethical character a special disposition against doing harm he surely has and will continue to commit? There is no logical nor common sense reason for giving him anything except his "deserves" as a citizen of the US. Due process and a fair judgement.
     That speaks to the illogical and debased republican frontrunner but what of the 90% of republican politicians who still support and defend him? What is their reasoning for protecting a person who has been guilty of rape and now criminal charges of law breaking? What is their logic or common sense reasoning for supporting him with impunity and wanting to give him the job as the leader of our democracy when his goal is to destroy that very same democracy? There can be no other answer that can be defended as true other than one of a nefarious nature. They are also like minded with trump and want a society where the rich and powerful can live above the rules and silence those from our democracy that don't agree with them.