Why I rant and rail (#2244)

I do advocate for so many progressive and just policies on this blog here but that is because I know that the better our world is the better chance we the people will have to find happiness in it. That is why I will not accept the doom and gloom of the republican party. I don't live in the negative or in the idea that we need to be herded like cattle because we can't fend for ourselves. I know for a fact that if given the opportunity to learn and be part of our society in a real and fair way, most all of us would welcome that paradigm. We don't have that right now. Instead we have a system that favors privilege and advantage, not based upon merit but instead based upon nepotism and wealth. It seems that old mores die hard when it comes to fear and greed. Instead of being an enlightened being and earning the respect of their peers, the privileged and advantaged demand respect and if not given then the back of their hand is their "gift" to us. Such a cheap and thieving hollowness as a reward they are willing to embrace. Not a proud and honorable decision of earned respect but an ego driven craving to demand it without deserving it. So onward I go with some subject every day to bring to light my disgust with being associated, through species, with these weaklings with power. They will defeat people like me with their shrewd and clever twisting of facts but nonetheless I will remain resolutely steadfast in my shame for them and myself since we are all of the same ability to reason, analyze and conclude. That they choose to keep an artificial and false sense of dignity in place of humility I must live with it but never will I accept it. So rant and rail I will because the honorable ideals and principles I live by are my constant companion and I protect my companions even to my death.

Maximizing profit instead of making people whole (#2243)

Today's, what seems like an endless amount of days of ranting, is about how insurance companies treat their clients and those who are harmed by their clients. Since most insurance is mandatory many are left without a recourse when insurance companies all seem to come up with the same types of policy procedures as it relates to charges and benefits. I am not saying outright that insurance companies collude but the differences between them is small enough to at least reasonably conclude there is some general outline of agreement they all seem to follow. What I have noticed, in my limited view, is that regardless of reality, insurance companies seem to default to the worst of what they think we are capable of doing. My own experience shows that no matter which insurance company I rate as to yearly cost, they all seem to have the same increases despite no claims or violations. Curious to say the least. Now as to paying benefits, insurance companies would rather pay huge amounts to law firms and medical experts that specialize in overly minimizing any and all harms perpetrated by the their members' policy holders, than to actually make those who are harmed whole again, at least in a fair and just way. The way they operate is simple enough to understand, they want the most amount coming in and the least amount going out. Capitalism in operation as it's cold methodical self when profit is placed above the intent of a well meaning law and the protection of the human condition. It is obvious enough to me as well that our governmental insurance oversight is not an effective sovereign over the methods and mission goals of mandatory insurance providers. This is just another example of capitalism and it's out of control lust for profit that is destroying the good will in our democracy. I just barely touched on this subject as a deficit to our enlightened philosophy of democratic principles but the depth of the problems that exist within our insurance industry are too numerous to continue to ignore.

Every one of us was meant for more than just surviving (#2242)

Unfortunately there are too many capitalists who see human life as a commodity. It is unfortunate since capitalists don't have to see maximizing profits at the expense of people. They could still have profit but also improve society and help enable those who are stuck in impoverished and under developed paradigms. But no, the majority of the current crop of capitalists have not much care for society on whole. Their major concern is maximizing profits without regard to the consequences of their actions. It is all around us from poverty wages to destruction of our environment. This shortsighted vision of greedy accumulation is an  economic illness we can least let continue. Our society has always done well for all when all are part of it in opportunistic ways. There has to be a sense of honor and respect for our way of life for it to remain healthy and vibrant. We do not know from where or from whom the next great breakthrough in our knowledge will come from and if we are not fostering the foundation from which anyone can succeed, we are only subtracting from our best chance in order to satisfy our illogical greed. I believe that the right amount of capitalism will help our society advance and progress but not an unfettered capitalism. An unfettered capitalism will funnel most all resource into the hands of a few who will be reluctant to part with it. Leaving the many scrambling for what is left. We were meant for more than just struggling to survive. Our ancestors have already fought that battle and won, giving us a democracy that hoped to achieve one day an equality unparalleled in all of our human history. We are at that crossroads but in order to move forward we must stop the ever widening capitalistic imbalance and restore more toward our societal ideals of ethical justice, fairness and opportunity. Otherwise the very trunk of our democracy will be in jeopardy of being pulled out by the root.

The negative force of power (#2241)

That sinking feeling of knowing that things have changed for the worse because power has over ruled our better natures. It reduces honorable conviction and purposeful action to a nullifying reality. How many times must we be beat down before we realize that we are losing ground? The worse part is that we were already in a bad situation and were just trying to make it better. So ending up in a worse position really wipes any smile I had left right off of my face. The closest analogy is that we are those frogs who started out in a cold pot of water and ever since the temperature of the water keeps going up and it won't be long before the water is boiling and we won't even have noticed that we were letting ourselves be cooked. How can this be you may ask, I don't see where we are being forced into a worse reality? It is because you don't see the comprehensive picture. You see what is around you and you are unable to fathom that other human beings would intentionally harm us as a strategic vision. Ask yourself this question, if others were trying to make my life better, why don't I see that all around me? If things are still the same for you or even worse, cannot you make the connection that those who are leading are not leading us to a better reality? Is it a brutish and harsh world you want for yourself and your children? Is it easier to not pay attention so that you are not put upon to stand up for what is right and good? What is it that allows us to accept and defend policies that harm us instead of help us. We are all in this together but as of now my shame for being a human being is deep and humiliating. We have better within us as a default but we choose for whatever reason to allow those others who care not for us to lead us. The positive force of power is within all of us and it is past time for us to combine our strengths for a better world.

Life is about your honor (#2240)

If you don't already know this, when you get to the end of your life it won't be what you were able to buy or how much money you have that will be in your thoughts, it will be your family and friends and how you lived. I just simplify it and call it honor. Were you a good person who stood up for the things in life that help people live better lives? Did you make a difference with your life that had a positive effect on more than just yourself? Did you fight for justice and respect as honored principles for all or just yourself? Were you greater than your baser instincts? These questions will flash into your mind as you take an accounting of who you were and how you lived near the end of your time in this existence. I am a proud man in my own knowing of me, not proud as boastful, but as relentlessly determined to do what's right when the doing of what's right is upon me. Standing and fighting for tolerance and equality is the great struggle of our time, and being there involved in that struggle will leave your life in a better position when the accounting time comes. There are too many who have no idea why they are alive except that they think they are to do for themselves without much regard to what that does to others. They see life as a game of accumulation and false prestige. Title nor wealth makes no person more than another person, yet too many will lie, cheat and steal to defy that fact. A rather disgraceful purpose when seen in the light of day. I know that what I have done in my life has the value of honor to it. I have not always been an honorable man as I too had to hoe a long road of confusion and chaos before I awoke to the realization that I can control the best of who I am when the need is there, not just when it is convenient for me. Pretentious consumerism is false and fake when matched up against the will to struggle and fight for what is best about all of us not just about myself.

Failing to call out harm when it comes from a sacred institution (#2239)

This one paradigm is wholly troubling to me. I have spent a lifetime having to live in a world that prefers to see the best about a sacred institution despite many abysmal performances. I could live with that given that many of these performances are few and far between but nonetheless need addressing. The church on whole provides for a sanctuary for guilt and remorse to be alleviated through confession and contrition. If one can find it within themselves to let go of their guilt and shame then they have that opportunity through the church. But letting go of what is the lesser of our actions or thoughts is not the end of it. There is always change that must occur for the individual to find meaningful purpose to continue. That is the function of the church in my estimation. Not the more glamorous aspects of wealth and privilege that the church has allowed itself to become. I see too many so called leaders of the church living in extravagance and above the law. From the ministries that accumulate wealth as if it were a business to the church offering refuse and protection to it's own child molesters. I often think of the examples in the Bible of Jesus and how he threw the money changers out of the Temple for their greed and how Jesus said that what you do for the least of these you do for me, paraphrased, as it applies to all actions by those who would follow him. I have never been convinced that a "holy" man should put his own immoral desires before his obedience to humility and care. Or his own greed for wealth as greater than the need of the truly desperate. Yet in our society many religions have become a business and the end goal is not a salvation based upon love but a salvation based upon tithes and intolerance. I have a peace about me that incorporates what is best about our species and that is how I choose to live notwithstanding some "holy" man or "sacred" institution that has strayed from the example of Jesus.

Our fear is greater than our courage (#2238)

It has become obvious to me that not enough of us are brave enough to overcome our own fear. We are not the honorable beings we generally accept that we are. How can I say this? Easy enough in how I see what we the majority opinion in this country are doing. Not only here but in the world at large. The politics of fear seems to be what motivates us to policies and politicians as guidelines and leaders. The best of who we are is a further distance from the truth than what I had hoped to see from us. Maybe the simple truth is that we are scared to be alive and are willing to serve a master than to be a beacon of enlightenment. The unique possibility of humanity with all our individual gifts is being thwarted, not by a force, but by our own unwillingness to stand and defend it. It takes courage to have harmony and opportunity yet not enough of us are aware of this or not enough of us are willing to break from fear. Nothing in life is guaranteed yet too many of us act as if our honorable principles aren't worth fighting for. Too many would bow to an existence that didn't make a wave in the Universe, against our very natures, too many would rather exist only to exist. A rather feeble and weak existence in order to avoid being proud to fight for what is right. A sad commentary on how our species is evolving. Too many would rather put their faith in superstition than to face the reality that their existence is a challenge to their integrity. A subservient acquiescence to those who would rule as an imperfect and illusory god rather than to stand up to their fear and forge their own personal identity based upon individual strength and bold character. This posting is a reflection on how far we have to go just to be at the beginning of our own courage as a foundation.

The nasty brutish Republicans (#2237)

Never in my lifetime have I seen this current crop of Republican party politicians and their wealthy donors condone such horrible human behavior. Outright plotting to intercede in delicate foreign affairs like a bull in a China shop. What is worst is that those in the Republican party who have not lost touch with reality altogether are not shaming and shouting down their clueless colleagues. From the insanity of Republicans advocating on behalf of the ex KGB officer now president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, who is in the process of annexing Ukraine, a western leaning country back into it's fold, to asking a foreign leader to speak to Congress without authorizing it with our president. Republicans are showing that they care little for the future of America as a governing body if that governing body isn't of their own construct instead of the will of the people. There are words like treason that come to mind when thinking about what they are doing and although it would be hard to legally justify a charge against Republicans, the spirit of what they are doing leaves no question at all to their guilt of such a crime. Republicans are openly working to foment war as a first resort while blasting negotiations as unimportant. It would be one thing if Republican leaders were on the battlefield leading from the front in their insatiable quest for war but it isn't so. They see themselves as indispensable and the rest of us non Republicans as the perfect blend of cannon fodder. Thankfully, there is a real chance that Israel's election today will bring about new leadership that bends toward justice and not harm. Also in Russia it appears that cooler heads are prevailing and the hawks there pushing to cause more chaos in Ukraine are being reined in. Now what to do here in America? the 2016 elections cannot come soon enough and those Republicans who are up for election need to be kicked out on their asses!

The conservative propaganda machine (#2236)

Ever since our conservative courts have upheld the notion that lies can be protected speech, conservative Republicans have been taking advantage of it to the extreme. Now conservatives for their part answer back that it is the rest of the media that is lying and that they are the ones telling truths. Looking at this from an objective viewpoint it is strange that conservatives claim they are the ones who are truth telling when considering the facts of things, they are the ones most often exposed as the liars. Regardless, of the conservative assertion that everyone else is lying, just researching and fact checking their claims will be plenty enough to show that they are again lying. Most Americans do not fact check as they have their political party viewpoints and just go with whoever is reporting their policies. Convenient but sloppy. The agenda of a news outlet should be to portray the facts of a situation and allow it's viewers to form a critical thought of their own. Yet with the high gain partisanship yields, news outlets are utilized for feeding party line tropes instead of allowing for it's viewers to conclude what is right or wrong about what is happening. I entitled this piece the conservative propaganda machine because for the most part liberal news reporting has had to spend too much of it's time just rebutting the lies that the conservative propaganda machine is spewing. Too many of our news outlets are owned by conservatives and their agenda is to promote their policies as beneficial to all, when in actuality they are only beneficial to the wealthy. They use hatred, division and misinformation as their framework for subjectively interpreting the news so that they can keep their less informed supporters in line and away from objective fact checking. Allowing the ability to lie as a protected speech is killing our democracy and our ability to move forward with a smarter and more understanding citizenry.

Research and development (#2235)

Our nation has been positively modernized in many ways by creative imaginings that have been turned into innovative inventions. This is what we can do when we work as a nation to discover. Our curious ability to search and explore has given rise to new ways of thinking and doing. It is natural for us to move from the days of only fire to days we have now of electricity and gas/oil power. Our next leap will involve moving from fossil fuels toward renewable energies that safeguard our environment. We are learning that the burning of fossil fuels in the long run is a detriment to not only our life breathing health but also to our planets ability to release greenhouse gases. Simple science teaches us that matter moves from one form to another and thus with burning fossil fuels, as a byproduct, we are allowing for the build up of life threatening molecules to entrap heat and air pollution in our stratosphere. We need to have a robust national research and development program to help guide us through the many new challenges our society is facing, not only by our own doing but to help abate what other countries are doing as well. At this point in time America has a great opportunity to thrust itself into the world leadership of smart energy efficient production. But regardless if we do or not, other countries are stepping up and leading in our absence. The die is cast on climate change and now the only question will be, will we accept it? Unfortunately, there are many powerful greedy forces that are determined to keep us trapped in old technology despite all evidence to the contrary. Eventually our democracy will have to sustain science over any and all desperate attempts to thwart it but as we fight this unnecessary fight we are not moving forward as efficiently as we should be.

Find the time to vote! (#2234)

Paying all your attention on the little things in life will cause you to miss the big picture. Your life is being changed while you are living it because you are not paying attention to your voting responsibilities. If you do anything at all outside your little world make sure it is to vote. There are destructive forces out there who want you to dismiss your place in our democracy. They have tons of money to spend on making you think that nothing you do will matter. They want to nullify one thing in this existence from you, your participation in your own democracy. So do not let them take from you your national voice. We all have a national voice when it comes to voting. It is our right to have and exercise so those who are trying to confuse and take from you your right to vote deserve your anger and your determination to stop them. We have bad actors in our politics and they are there because not enough of us took the time to vote when the voting time came. We are slowly allowing them to take control of our democracy so that they can then pass laws that change equality and fairness. I know most all of us are for equality and fairness so that this is happening is troubling. It is happening and if you were or are paying attention you would absolutely know it. This isn't just me acting all conspiratorial or paranoid, this is real. From the reduction in voting rights, to outrageous gerrymandering to restrictions on which American citizens can vote, the Republican party is in an all out mode to increase it's chances to stay in power not by the will of all the people but by the will of only their people. You younger generation, this is an alarm call to you. You will be the most harmed by the continued loss of our democracy so it is critical that you force yourselves to participate in what your future will be.

Compassion and curiosity is who we are (#2233)

We human probes have a distinct identity. Sure, we are information gatherers but more so we are an intelligent species with identifiable characteristics. I call us probes because we have senses we use to understand the existence we inhabit. The smells, sights, sounds, tastes and touch of things are the senses we use every moment we exist. We take in what data we receive and store it with previously gathered information in our unique memories. Yes, our memories are our storage units. not only do we store information, and much more than ordinary probes, we reason, analyze and conclude about not only specific information we gather but on a more complex level we reason, analyze and conclude on a comprehensive level. We are the ultimate in probes as yet known. Our capability is unmatched in the known Universe. So it is important to understand what our motivations are in a world where everyone is constantly trying to figure out their own particular purpose. I have spent a lifetime trying to understand what makes us tick. It always, and I mean always boils down to us having very distinct and powerful natures; curiosity for all that is around us and compassion for the struggle everything has to endure to survive in this otherwise harsh reality. I am at a loss for words to describe the gift that each human is. I am not able to express how magnificent a species we are without defining who we are. We are a biological data processor with the capacity to form wisdom based upon how we are able to logically and emotionally think. Not only are we able to logically calculate but we have also a unique unquantifiable instinct toward intuition. In other words we are able to project imagination with possibilities beyond facts. With our species, it all starts with us caring and wondering, simply put.

Speech and truth (#2232)

What good is protecting free speech if the free speech being protected is false or a lie? I don't see an upside in that scenario. An important goal of any society should be to have a flourishing communication process by which all can have information that is valid and factual. In having other information that is intentionally invalid and non-factual only muddles the progress of the society on whole and gives an unfair advantage to those who create and manipulate the misinformation. The fact that intentional misinformation, or otherwise known as propaganda at best, blatant lies at worst, is protected for the most part as free speech shows that our judiciary and legislative branches have not done their jobs nearly enough in distinguishing out what is protected speech and what isn't. Free speech is our foundation, however not without tests to show whether the free speech is truth or lies. We have the means for developing tests by giving examples as evidence and then fine tuning those examples into general principles. A several part test is the best way to filter out whether a truth or a lie is being offered and for our judiciary and legislative branches to have done little to nothing to offer these tests is the general failing of both branches. They must be held accountable for their lack of effort to secure for our society a method for separating out what is protected speech and what isn't and making unprotected speech a libelous offence with real penalties and punishment. We as a society must have the ability to communicate with each other as maximally as possible through truth and facts. In order for our citizenry to grow into being the most and the best they can be they must have reliable and truthful information from which to apply their own critical thinking. Shame on the Supreme court and shame on Congress!

I am stronger than a broken heart (#2231)

I have learned that time does heal all wounds of the heart. But time needs it's space to happen. The fact of a broken heart is not an easy experience yet it may well be part of what we go through in order to find out how or with whom we spend our lives. I am of the mindset that there is only one I want to build a life with and until I find her I am still hopeful that we will find our way to each other. So going through relationships along the way is hard to avoid. When I had found what I thought was my life time partner and was surprised to learn that she wasn't, I did leave myself vulnerable to a broken heart. I suffered the loss of that relationship as surely as if I had been kicked in my guts. But time took me from that hellish feeling and although I am now more cautious about who I fall in love with I am determined to continue to search. I am stronger than my broken heart. I can admit that I made a mistake in whatever area that allowed me to experience such a devastating reality. I am human and given that I know I can be wrong about a thing regardless of how right I felt about it, gives me the foundation to try again. Hopefully with better results but no guarantees. I am not sure why this is the topic of my posting today but it somehow was heavy upon me. My emotional life is the core of who I am. I am a logical soul but logic has little heart to it and I have lots of heart so my emotional life is critical to how I see and live my life. So forward I go despite any setback. The beautiful part about life is actually being alive and appreciating all of it's magnificence. What the future holds is still a mystery to me but I await it with an expectation of hopefulness and openness to finally find something that is just pure enough for a woman who feels the same with me.

This isn't the dark ages although too many Republicans would have us go back (#2230)

What kind of hatred is it that embraces such a harsh and brutish existence in the face of enlightenment? How despicable a person must you be that the sentience of others is of little or no value in your mind? I know we carry things from early years of learning forward into our own perceptions of life but to carry forward a desire to destroy modernity and replace it with suffering is unfathomable to me. Being devoid of a conscious must be the beginning of how this current cancer on our civilization has evolved. Not since the Civil War has anything in the history of our United States has such an attack on the very foundation of our democracy been such a threat. The safeguards we put in place to keep our society from being infiltrated by anti-democratic forces have been sorely compromised. There are those who have been elected and appointed, and hold limited power in our government that have but one overarching agenda, which is to begin the dismantling of democracy and replace it with a plutocracy/theocracy. Selling off and dismantling democratic institutions that were created for all citizens in the public sphere that are now being sold off or destroyed by the private market. An intentional shifting of protected public programs to the private market for the sole purpose of justifying their elimination through some nefarious manipulation of a market forces scheme. The hatred it takes to harm millions upon millions of American citizens is hellish and yet it is infecting too many. The fever of hatred must be broken if our society is to survive in it's democratic form. With democracy we have liberty but without democracy we will not have liberty but instead a cruel subjugation to those whose fealty will be demanded.

Progress will continue despite entrenched unwillingness (#2229)

Like when Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of "The arc of the moral Universe is long but it bends toward justice", so does progress proceed. Despite any and all attempts to throttle or fetter it's momentum, progress has inertia and the inertia of it is unstoppable. Even though progress has no matter to it's direct existence, it is nonetheless an idea that has no boundary. We humans are amazing and incredible in our genesis. We are by nature constantly evolving through thought and act. So for us to move forward into new paradigms is as natural as the growing and maturing of the flora and fauna around us. Nothing about our abilities or our inquisitive natures denies this premise. So for our species and our societies not to reflect progress is absurd. Yet there are those who wish to stifle and prohibit our advancement through time and space out of some allegiance to an otherworldly concept. My held belief is that if there is some otherworldly existence I will confront it after I am done with this one. This one doesn't allow for me a portal into any other existence while I am here so what logic and physics exist here is what my foundation is based upon. As to my morality, I prefer to practice being a good and respectful person until my goodness or my respect has been dishonored. It works well for me in that I don't condemn before I know the facts of things. Instead I respect as a given until I know the facts of things. Either way, progress is part of the final result. Progress is what I live for as I am a believer in the idea that the world should be a better place after I am gone than what it was before I got here. It is a purposeful ambition full of challenges and hope with progress as the effect on all things I encounter as my wish to leave after I am no more.

Our better angels or our worst demons, you decide! (#2228)

I listened to President Obama's speech yesterday as all through it I was reminded of what it is we get to choose to be. We do get to choose who we are as an example and if it is within what we think about ourselves then it reflects our values. He spoke about commitment and how that commitment shapes the destiny of our lives and the generations that come after us like we were shaped by the commitment of those before us. He spoke about our right to vote and how it is being systematically winnowed through laws passed and still now being considered. What he also spoke about is that even if those laws were reversed and voting was still as easy as it could possibly be, our voting record in the past shows that half of us don't bother to vote regardless. Any wonder why it is so easy for those who are now working hard to restrict voting aren't paying a political price for it? We as the American society need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves what is more important to us. Are we fine with being led around by others without bothering to understand what that entails? Are we just well enough within our own lives and uncaring about what any future for those who follow us will look like? Do we unconditionally trust those who divide and segregate us because we are too afraid to admit why we have no strength to fight for justice and fairness? Are we so bound to the idea that we are not worthy of anything great because we have been pounded down upon our whole lives and can't imagine that society owes us anything good? What is it that keeps us from claiming our right and duty to our inalienable rights and the pursuit of each our happiness'? I don't live in a fantasy world, I live in the real world where if we choose we can change the course of the worst that is happening into something much better. I choose the better angels of our lives and refuse to acknowledge the stench of the cynicism coming from the worst of our demons.

Denial as a strategy against the truth or facts (#2227)

This is the most childish of behaviors. I remember when I was a very young boy I would just say that I didn't believe anything that was against what I wanted. It wasn't based on common sense or logic but instead on me wanting to get my way. That was me being obnoxious and illogical. I have learned over the years that regardless of what I want the truth and facts of things will always win out no matter how long it takes. But the lesson within the lesson here is that there are some folks who have decided that time is to there benefit in this equation. If they deny long enough they hope to get the benefit of getting their way despite the lack of common sense or logic in their position. It is a strategy to forestall the truth or facts in order to benefit themselves in some way. So in the bigger picture, they deny the logic and common sense of a situation in order to benefit themselves through a nefariously logical strategy. I would laugh if it wasn't so harmful to the rest of us so that they could benefit. Everything has a cost/benefit analysis to it. So by them using logic to undermine logic and common sense is even more of an assault on not only us but on enlightenment. They make a mockery of how we honestly communicate with each other. It is despicable and vile but it seems that overall we allow it to happen. I have been embarrassed by it for the length of my thinking life yet my, and many others, calling it out doesn't seem to stop it's perpetual usage. Many of us have even narrowed it down to a conservative Republican party that has the bulk of it's policies rooted in the absurd notion that giving the few most of the resources will somehow make us a better society. So in essence Republicans brutally claim that taking from the many to give to the few is going to make the many better off. They will not be challenged on their assertion regardless of how illogical or devoid of common sense their idea is. By ignoring facts and truths they have been able to come this far into controlling our democratic process and if allowed will soon make the idea of truth and facts seem like a fairy tale.

Learning who you are (#2226)

Learning who we are is a lesson everyone needs to master. First we start with the fact that we are all human beings. A species that has qualities like no other species ever known. Second, we all have dreams and ambitions we hope for our lives. Third we all gather knowledge with whatever senses we are gifted with. It is our way of accumulating knowledge over our lifetimes. So just from this small list of obvious similarities we can conclude that we all have value and are worthy of respect as an individual. Now comes the trickier stuff, like our minds and how we reason, analyze and conclude. There are many factors involved in how our process mechanisms function but with the understanding of logic and common sense our thought processes can be formed to a cohesive structure. This being said leads me to my point today, that we are the masters of what we think and what we do regardless of what choices we have. I can look at anything and see the worst to the best of it, that is my choice! What is the most satisfying for me is not what card hand life has dealt me but how I play each card when it is my turn to make a play. My mind is at ease with who I am because I like who I am. The person inside me that is still the eager young hopeful who all those years ago realized how lucky I was to be alive in a society that wasn't just about harm but had all the possibilities of doing more good than not. The person inside me is a happy person and no matter what the world throws in my path I am not going to change who that person is, on the contrary I will just continue to live as I am until I am alive no more. Once you know who you are then everything else in life is an adventure to be lived on the terms that you decide. I am on the back end of my life but every day is still a fresh new beginning and I so look forward to each and every one of them.

A better life not a harder one! (#2225)

It seems these day that those of the Republican party that are in office support punishing policies instead of helpful ones. The whole point of having a government is to support it's citizenry, not harm it! Those that have chosen to be brutish in their cruel leadership are not worthy of being leaders in our country. I say that as an ideal since it seems that our citizenry is too confused to know this since they either don't show up to vote or are intentionally too uncaring to understand basic governing principles in a free society. We need a society that is reflected in the Democrat party. One where both the owners and workers get a fair shake at process. Both will prosper when the government sets policies that honor labor as much as they honor entrepreneurship. I am not saying that profit from the venture is split evenly, but what I am saying is that the workers need to be able to have living wages that give them the opportunity to improve their lives. Both can be winners in our capitalistic society as long as we set the protocols that factor in labor as an essential valued commodity. By being more inclusive to all who participate in commerce we are strengthening our society and it's values in a more harmonic and exemplary way. We Americans often pride ourselves in being the best of what humanity can be but lately our proof has been less than convincing. It is because we have those Republicans in power that do not respect each individual as being of equal character or worth when it comes to their survival of the fittest political philosophy. I am an American who sees the future through our Democrat party's vision of logically enlightened inclusiveness, fairness and with a duty to protect our most vulnerable, an intelligent loving family if you will. I will never surrender this position but instead will ardently advocate for it all the days of my life.

An assault on intelligence (#2224)

We are still living in an age where the strategy of barbarism is a priority and any attempt to move forward into an enlightened method for resolving conflict is downplayed. I am absolutely appalled at the length that some are going in dismissing reason for the crude tool of crushing force. We have made our problems over time due to callous and greedy policies. All cultures on Earth are in varying degrees to blame for not being in harmony with peace. Yet some still think that brute force and indiscriminate harm is the best available answer. The trouble with that way of concluding is that it doesn't get at the genesis of the initial problem. There is too much greed happening in our world protected by forces that feed off of that greed. As some live in the sunlight of way too much, there too many do not even know where their next meal is coming from. The imbalance in our societies is the problem and no amount of destruction will ever be the answer. Causing harm on those who protest being harmed is curiously illogical. It's illogical to solve a problem by first denying there is a problem and then by trying to ignore and harm those who are being most disadvantaged by the problem. There are solutions to every man made problem but if we don't have the structure or the will to process toward those solutions then what we get is a constant state of strife and irrational thinking. The one mighty tool we have as humans is our ability to reason, not for selfishness, but for good. But until we move to only apply our reasoning to good then we will never find the peace we all deserve. If instead of waiting to die in order to go to some heaven, we actually tried to live our lives like we are already there, we would be taking the first step onto a path that will be filled with nothing but peace.

Why I don't rely on religion for my inner goodness (#2223)

I have too many acquaintances who think that without some form of religion in their lives that they would be horrible people. They feel a need to be grounded in something outside of who they are. I know this feeling as I was the same way for many years. I used to think that without some God in my life I would do and act on my ancient animal instincts and live as a cruel and barbaric being. It is strange to me now to think that my life was going to be either good or bad and I needed to choose which one was going to be my future. By choosing a God and relying on the principles of religion would I save myself from myself. That mindset back then was how I imagined life to be. What I didn't know well enough is that good and bad are controlled by how I think, not by some ancient or mystical approach to life. I am good or bad by my own reckoning. I don't need a moral sovereign to lead me to being a better person, I just need to do what is best about we humans, that is being curious and caring. I am my own sovereign and how I dictate to myself is how I think and react in life. Am I a benevolent sovereign to me? Or am I a hard taskmaster to me? What comes out in the course of my life is often a mixture of everything. Both good and bad. I am human and although I am an enlightened being with a thirst for knowledge and a desire to care against all harms, I still make mistakes based upon the residue of greedy selfishness I battle against within myself. Again, I am not perfect, but I strive to reach that ideal and although I fail enough, I also succeed at times. Why I don't rely on a God is my strength because it makes me accountable for me and not a God to be used as a crutch. I know the difference between right and wrong. As such, I have it within me to do what is right and good in my life simply by recognizing that I want to be good and applying that to everything, everything I do.

Truth telling, a way of life (#2222)

Life is just so much easier when the truth is your guide. For the first part of my life I thought that I had to hide what I didn't want others to see so lying became a knee jerk reaction for me. What I later found out is that what I wanted to hide from others was nothing new to them and so hiding my humanness was absurd. What I also learned was that my failures were actually struggles I had yet to overcome and that at least working toward success in these areas was actually a strength. Being honest became my knee jerk reaction and since then I have had a simple but happy life. The earlier lies had me constantly on guard to not let the illusions I created get muddled. I spent too much time remembering what wasn't true instead of what actually was true. Obviously lying was not a productive strategy in the big picture for me, but truth telling is. I don't need to rehearse what I am going to say now it just flows from me like a natural fresh water spring. I am not bogged down with details about non truths and instead am learning and incorporating truths into my knowledge base. Which serves me well in that my overall comprehension is far more panoramic. I can remember truths and facts in the proper way without having to discard non truths in order to make sense of what I know. The wisdom I gain through telling the truth is that I am now far more readily able to accept the truth of things in my own life even when I am resistant. Facts and logic are hard to dismiss when truth telling is a prioritized principle. I cannot delude myself from hard facts that make me uncomfortable or that highlight my inadequacies. I can live with both the good and bad about me now because it is the truth and if I want less bad and/or more good, I know what I need to work on. Truth telling is the best path for my life and surely for yours as well.

Enculturation to critical thinking (#2221)

Here has been my life in a nutshell. When I was young I mostly followed along with what everyone else was doing although I still found myself being somewhat a rebel in minor ways. But in the major things in life I accepted what was the norm without too much question. I even felt that being consciously cruel was okay since so many others around me were practicing the same ideal. However, inside me I was a skeptic of how I was acting and upon further research and awareness, I found that what I was accepting as normal was actually not normal but elementarily crude. I realized that I had accepted what was in front of me as fact or correct without questioning other possibilities. That was me in the formative years of my life, a first act if you will. I have since become a critical thinker, more comprehensive and objective in my thinking and actions. How? I allowed myself to question the basics in my life. I reduced myself down to being two things, caring and curious. From there I have entered into the second act of my life. Where nothing is a given outside of who I am. I realized that we are all human and no one knows all things. We all may choose to investigate what it is about life that is real and not imaginary or initial inculcation. I learned to think and act for myself on every issue that confronts me. Now my caring isn't just one sided, I can be harsh and uncaring when a unbearable limit has been reached. No one should ever lose sight that not everyone is here in this existence to be a model human being. So being a person who is cautious about his curiosity and caring seems to be the right blend of living. I may not leap into my present with a gusto but I do move forward with my eyes wide open. If I have had this dilemma of having lived in two acts of my life then surely others are struggling the same. I learned with the first act of my life and because of me striving to be a critical thinker, I am now living and repairing the consequences of that first act. Thank goodness and luck that I didn't destroy myself or others during that first act.

The rotten cancer conservative Republicans are infecting our democracy with (#2220)

From diminishing voting rights to diminishing rights for women and folks of color, Republicans are hell bent on establishing the wealthy in our country as the only group that deserves unlimited rights. From the corruptible decisions by conservatives on the supreme court that legalize that corporations are people to money is speech, to the restrictions on our human rights to protest and have representatives that reflect our constituencies, Republicans are destroying what equality and fairness mean within our constitution. There is an illness in our politics that has been allowed to grow and fester and now we are seeing the manifestation of it. Republicans have infiltrated an irrational surreal reality upon us to replace our pragmatic one. Most all of us expect logic and common sense to be the starting point for our leaders yet we are lucky if Republicans can even climb up to that starting point in their advocacy for policies. Nothing about the Republican party is a shining example of seriousness to our current problems. Their utter lack of gravitas is the normal for them. The worm will turn soon enough as we must endure another term before elections again with them. If this is how they are going to govern, which I have been yelling about for decades, then hopefully enough citizens who are still allowed to vote will send them packing. We need honest and real leaders who not only care about our society but also about the majority of the citizens within it. What will happen over this 2 year term will expose the cancer our society is experiencing and with some rational thinking I hope we will cut it out at it's source and move our nation forward without it.

Neoliberalism, look behind what Republicans call it, to what harm it actually does (#2219)

In yesterday's post I showed that Republican "right to work" legislation is really just a name to fool folks into thinking the legislation actually is a good thing. It is not, it is a name designed to disguise the fact that the wealthy want the workers to make less than they are now. The same concept of taking a name that sounds like it is for the betterment of us all has been a trick Republicans having been using for decades. In the 1970's Republicans started a reform movement called Neoliberalism, A term stolen from it's original intent back in the 1930's, because it sounds like it is a more updated take on regular liberalism, but in fact it is something completely different under the Republican middle class destroying intent. Neoliberalism is right along the lines of "right to work", otherwise truthfully known as cheap labor, It is a massive deregulation and market forces purity test that benefits the owners and not the workers nor the general public. So hearing the term, right to work or Neoliberalism one would think that these are good policies for workers but on the contrary, they are policies and concepts that further diminish worker rights and public safety. This is why we always need to look beyond the catch phrase title of a policy or philosophy being offered to see what the policy or the philosophy is actually intended to do. There is no safe harbor in a name or title as a reassurance or belief that can be taken just by it's name as I have shown these last two days. My rule of thumb for the last many decades has been to be skeptical of everything Republicans offer by way of policy since I know their agenda is to help the wealthy few either keep their wealth or to increase their wealth at the expense of the vast majority of us working folks. Democrats have been far more helpful as the party that either protects the workers or increases our opportunities for a better life but regardless, I check them all for more than the name they attach to the legislation they are trying to turn into law.

Republicans named their cheap labor legislation, "right to work", in order to fool people (#2218)

This is something that the media is falling for head over heals. They report about disruptions to "right to work" legislation, which makes those disrupting look like anti work advocates, which is the wrong impression. Those protesters are protesting the legislation for what's in it, not what it is named. The media is helping the legislation by calling it what it isn't. It is legislation that is forcing out unions as representatives of the workers so that owners of large businesses and corporations can pay lower wages. It is legislation securing lower wages for workers. If people were aware that the legislation will make workers struggle even more in our current oppressive income inequality society, they would be getting the right impression of the legislation. A good rule of thumb is to always be skeptical of any legislation Republicans are pushing that affects workers pay and benefits. Republicans are the cheap labor party and everything they ever introduce as legislation will not divert from making us all into cheap labor workers. They believe that if we are all left with little to gain and no governmental social programs to help the vulnerable that we are getting what we deserve. Republicans think that most who are not wealthy are inferior human beings and unworthy of their time and resources. Their mindset is a survival of the fittest one from our long ago past. As long as they can get cheap labor for their benefactors then having us all work for cheap labor increases an already much too wide income inequality dynamic. Greed and power are their goals not raising the living standard of our citizenry. This country belongs to all of us not just the wealthy and their boot licking sycophants. Working folks voting for Republicans and their agenda is like working hard all day and then expecting nothing for your labor. It is mostly accomplished through tricks like naming cheap labor legislation right to work.

To be civilized is to progress not regress (#2217)

You have to decide whether or not you want to be civilized. You cannot do anything else until you decide what you want. Do you want to live like a barbarian or do you want to live like an enlightened person? It is fundamental to every decision you make and every act you generate. it seems that too many want elements of both but that is where contradiction and chaos live. Logic dictates that being of two minds on the same issue is irrational. This is how the ridiculousness of cognitive dissonance flourishes. I prefer to be civilized myself. For one thing it is rational and not given to brute force. If I had wanted to live by barbarianism I would have foregone this blog and instead been out taking what I wanted without any care to my actions or the consequences others were left to deal with. I would not accept the law of the land as my guide for living, rather I would be skirting the law enough to get what I wanted without getting caught. The ancient form of barbarism wont fly today so a more subtle form of it is required to exist in a society that would be ripe for my picking. That is what many are doing now, subtly inculcating barbarisms into their illusory civilized lives. Again, a form of cognitive dissonance rampant in our society. This speaks to the overall dysfunction our society is experiencing and the lack of will to remedy these ills as policy. Progress has been tainted as a weakness and an ailment to be avoided. There are too many with much to much power trying desperately to take us back to the days when life was hard. They care not that they never experience the hard they are thrusting everyone else towards. But it doesn't matter to them because our pain and suffering only benefits them more. Be what you want but at least give yourself the dignity to know what you are before you do what you do.

Too many are only small picture people (#2216)

How we are supposed to live is to take care of our small picture lives while not losing focus on the bigger picture. Our small picture lives are our daily dealings and how we input ourselves into society. Our bigger picture lives involve how we help to improve our society and our futures. The problem we have now is that too many folks are only vested in securing their own lives without caring enough about our society as a whole. A lot of it has to do with not having the education and experience to grasp a wider and more panoramic perspective. In other words, a lot of us don't know what is going on around us because we haven't had enough exposure to many different cultures and ways of doing things outside our own experiences, beliefs and acceptances. We don't have a comprehensive understanding of how our society has evolved over the centuries nor do we care enough to learn. It seems that living in the moment and taking advantage of every opportunity is more important than what the consequences of our actions are permitting. I know the world at large is a daunting thought but we humans have always been the ones who discarded sedentary ways in favor of being bold explorers. The thirst we have for knowledge is currently being quelled by economic factors that have most of us down to scrambling for our next meal instead of our next great discovery. This is why I rail so hard against the current forces that have us locked in a battle against each other for the few resources the many of us have to share. Too few have too much and none of the rest of us have much of a chance to redeem our better selves during our lifetimes. We must recognize that most of us are living in a small box and we need to break out of the box in order to see the greater world around us.

Why won't Republicans vote to extend equal rights to women? (#2215)

From the equal rights act that is still not ratified to the unfairness in pay women experience compared to men for doing the same work, I cannot understand why Republicans refuse to offer solutions to these obviously denigrating problems women face. You would think that since every man has a mother to thank for his very existence that it would be inherent within him to do everything to make a mothers life here in America at least equal to his. Since it is only Democrats who are working to make women equal it begs the question as to why Republican men and women don't offer their ideas toward a solution for women. It appears that in the vacuum provided by Republicans in not offering a solutions it is for me and others to question Republican motives. I have not heard any response from them that would lead me to believe they are working toward equal rights for women. So I must assume that they are not working toward equal rights for women. If not then, why? I can further assume that they think that equal rights for women is not needed given the laws we have on the books now except that those laws do not provide equal rights for women with men. So that is not it. If they still think that women are are legally equal with men then they are illogical. To be illogical in the face of facts denotes a further ulterior motive since rational people must accept facts as truth. So to continue it seems that Republican men and women see another purpose to keep women in a lower legal standing than men. There must be some benefit to the Republicans that keeping women as lesser legal souls gives them. Surely women are more democratic in their politics and women are also pioneers in a just and fair society. Could it be that Republicans are afraid that giving women equal rights will destroy the political power that Republicans crave above being good stewards of our democracy?

Doubt is not the same as fear (#2214)

Having a doubt about something or being hesitant to act on something is not actual fear, it is a caution to act that needs more information in order to have a considered opinion. Fear is the inability to act when knowing full well that an act is required on your part. The "frozen effect" or an unwillingness to stand up for oneself or others, that is fear. I often have doubts about what will come and how things will end up but I don't let my doubts stop me from acting. I may want to hide my head in the sand and let the events of the day just have their way with me but I won't do it out of a respect for my own individual right to choose how I live. If being the master of my own destiny makes me feel uncomfortable or not connected to a safe harbor then so be it. Reality dictates the events that confront my life not me dictating to reality what events will confront my life. The whirligig of circumstance is at it's own pleasure whether driven by coincidence or manipulation. However it ends up at my door I cannot let the factors of it displace me from acting according to my own sense of right and wrong. I cannot allow anything to bully or persuade me against my own judgment, regardless of the consequence. Nothing in life will protect me from unfairness or harm unless I am willing to stand up to it in all areas of my life. Being afraid or scared through fear is how many would like you and I to react to their conniving. But as much as fear is their greatest weapon we allow them to use, I will not do so myself. I will stand firm against their threatening efforts to "herd" us one way or another. Although I may have doubts about what to do that is right in all cases I am sure that me being more informed before I act is the proper thing to do. Never shall I give in to the temptation to run from a fight out of a convenience. Fear is not to be allowed to succeed when the hesitation of doubt can be overcome with a greater understanding.

People are not commodities (#2213)

This whole economic monster we have created is being morphed into a Leviathan that chews up and spits out a majority of humanity to serve the wishes of a too few cabal of individuals and groups. The fact is that capital entrepreneurialism has taken over the leadership of society even displacing democracy as the number one sanctified paradigm. It seems that making money is more important that living in a just and free society. The only way this could be happening is if we citizens lack the will to fight against the forces of greed and have lost our courage to put down those who would take our pursuit of happiness and make it their own. Now some may say that they have enough to be happy but what is left after the wealthy few have taken the most is barely sufficient for some and only table scraps for most. Why would we allow this to happen to ourselves where we are competing against ourselves for leftovers when the few wealthy are feasting on the best of what we have become? The master/servant paradigm is becoming our new/old reality. How is it that we could regress in just a few generations from liberating the world through a hard fought blood and guts determination from fascists, to being such weak souls who are scared of our own shadows? The will to preserve the mighty victories over subjugation won by our forefathers/mothers is now just insignificant in our more important lives. What could be more important in our lives that would allow us to be taken over by the forces of greed? Hopefully it is just not being aware, but even that speaks to the insignificance we are willing to give our history and respect for what those in the past have given us. If it has more to do with us being disinterested then we have a bigger problem. Either way we are about to lose our democracy and in it's place we are allowing ourselves to become commodities in a market where the wealthy few decide what our happiness will be.

Solitary man (#2212)

Yes, this is me and apparently that is the way I like it. Everything has been up to me to do in my life and there are no excuses for me to rationally make as to why I am not in a lasting relationship. I know that when I was very young and saw all the failed relationships around me I made a pact with myself to not enter into any marriage without being absolutely in love and have love returned to me in the same way. It seems that I am still holding myself to that pact as over the years I have been in intimate relationships but none seemed to carry that simple test to fruition for me. It isn't that I had hoped they would fail, contrarily, I had given some of them more benefit when doubt was obvious. But in the end none could measure up to my hope for that pure love desire. Solitary man is now who I am and although whenever there is time left in one's life it is always possible for things to change my own perception is that I have become so set in my ways it would be near impossible for some woman to find her true love in me. Which for me tells me that the younger in life we can find what I like to see as our own soul mate the better chance we have of the lasting relationship of our desires. Although this conclusion is not what I had hoped for as an outcome when I was just that young boy who gave his thoughts to this, I am also content that I had the chance to set my course on a path that didn't fall short of it. I never wanted to be like all those I saw early in my life who married for reasons other than true love. Most all failed and the few that didn't still demand a lot angst instead of a lot of happiness. Some have found what they were looking for after some failure and for that I still find hope for myself regardless of the odds being stacked against me. However my life in the end turns out I have done what is right and if being a solitary man is my reality than so be it.

Quit being cowards and demand what is right and good! (#2211)

Too much fear here in America. It is everywhere in every state and county. The Republican party has spent billions of dollars to persuade folks that they should be afraid instead of being courageous. Well I am here to say be courageous and demand what is right and good for our society. All of us citizens deserve the right to vote, deserve the right to have a job, deserve the right to health care and deserve the right to an objective education. We are all family here whether the Republican party wants to admit it or not. I am sick and tired of Republicans splitting us apart with their policies of segregation and denial of rights. What they are doing to women is especially heinous. They treat women more as property than as our equal mothers and sisters. What gives them the right to tell us that some of us are better than others of us? It is an arrogance of wealth and power that they protect and nothing out of logic or common sense will persuade them to change their way of thinking. So they continue to propagandize us with divisiveness and fear. It is up to us to reject it and to advocate back at them that we are all deserving of opportunity, not just some of us. We all are invested in making our country prosperous and efficient while providing for our basic human needs. We are a country poised to advance creative technology and innovation to all sectors of our society in order to modernize and mobilize our greatest strengths, our compassion and our curiosity. Never before in the history of humankind have we been so ready to throw off the shackles of intolerance, superstition and indifference. But one final human attribute is required before we can move forward into our destiny. We must find the courage within all of us to stand firm for enlightenment and to call out fear for what it is and then triumph over it.

Conservatives don't care, they are waiting for the rapture (#2210)

When we talk about the horrible atrocities and looming climate disaster we are creating conservatives just shrug it off like it is natural for them to take place. You see they are waiting for the end times decried about in the Bible. So the more catastrophes and wars the better as they see it. It means they are one step closer to being transported up to Heaven. Most conservatives are highly religious in a few areas of their lives. They do not follow the Bible strictly but conveniently. So when the idea of doing nothing in order to solve our world problems faces them they choose to do nothing and even exacerbate situations to help them along in there destructive path. So much simpler that way because of some promise in some ancient book they hold dear. Going to Heaven before death is such a grand idea to them since they have no courage to live out their lives as exemplary humans. So don't be surprised when Republicans act contrary to science, logic and common sense and say that the climate is supposed to be the way it is and we shouldn't interfere with nature. Although their argument is badly flawed to being absolutely wrong, it does enough to keep them from having to face reality instead of their fantasy. When poverty, hunger and lack of work are rampant Republicans are more secure in the knowledge that the rapture is close. They are trying too hard to make an illusory prophesy come true, instead of being good sovereign stewards of our planet and solving many of the problems we humans continue to create. The puzzlement as to their thoughts and acts are less a mystery now and given that the rest of us have a duty to shut them out of our reality based progressive lives so that we can go about solving problems despite their intransigence, we need to do just that.

Society crumbles when education is devalued (#2209)

Instead of focusing on our ability to create critical thinkers in our education systems, conservatives have decided that critical thinking is not for everyone. they instead have chosen to teach religion as guide to our children's future and belittled science, math, art and history as irrelevant. What these
Republican conservatives hope to accomplish is a robotic mundane society that is dependent upon an elite class of wealthy to instruct them as to how to live. A  mostly two caste society where there are the demigods and the underlings. I suppose it is in the best interests of the wealthy to stake a claim on how society is run if for only the selfish reason of securely maintaining their grip on wealth and power. As that may work well for them it is not in the best interest of the rest of us who must cater to their desires devoid of our own sacrifice. We currently have a society that gives us democratic options for building our society based upon the majority/minority interest, however, we are not long for that as the very small minority made up of the wealthiest are about to usurp our democracy in order to facilitate a plutocracy. Now you may think I am being conspiratorial here but no, I am only following the evidence. Free speech is now money and corporations are now people. Our voting rights are being whittled away through dissembling the voting rights act to onerous voter identification laws. Gerrymandering has given the Republican party an absolute iron grip on the House of Representatives thus assuring that the wealthy continue to have control over how our government spends it's resources. As more and more of our public resources are privatized there is less and less we the people have control over. Where we miserably fail is in our education paradigm, which is being attacked from the wealthy onto the teachers and the curriculum. I am not long for this world as my days are in sunset but it won't be too much longer before our democracy is a thing of the past just like I will be.

We must have a truth in news national law (#2208)

I am beside myself trying to understand how we let this awful situation occur. Instead of punishing those who propagandize our news with misinformation and lies we allow it to happen. As if the effect of misinformation and lies will be of no consequence. It is absolutely insane to think that with our busy lives we would be able to filter these things correctly when there is no official effective legal filter to begin with. It is anti-modern to deny truth in advertising and truth in news reporting to our huge populace when private enterprise controls our media. A double edged sword in effect is always hanging over us with the agenda of the private sector differing from the concerns of our overall community and no buffer from untruths. We have gone too far in allowing free speech to contain the speech to lie as well as capital being given the definition of speech. What we have is a perfect opportunity for false news to inundate our public airwaves in the hopes of keeping us from any cohesive response to stop it. The wealthy who own the networks that broadcast in all mediums their ulterior motives through dissembling have effectively cornered the market on how we think about the subjects of the day. We are now being led by their ability to manipulate the news to serve their purposefully dishonest intent. Instead of us learning how the news of the day integrates into our own lives we are being told how it integrates into our own lives. Big difference! If we cannot reclaim our rights to truth in news and stop and reverse the effects of money as speech, we will soon find that we have given over our rights to establish our own conclusions based upon the truth and become more and more just servants of those who demand more and more from us.

The truth may be hard but lies are worse (#2207)

Once we each accept the fact that life is hard and no amount of sugar coating that is going to change it the sooner we can accept the truth and adjust our perspectives accordingly. It may seem like it is best sometimes to tell a lie in order to avoid a great harm but in the end the lie ends up being the greater harm. Maybe not in the same way but in that the truth is not exposed for what it is and it changes how we think and act without it. The first part of what I am saying here is that life is hard. It is hard and so are the realities we end up with. But not acknowledging that is the first step away from our real existence. We start out living in the truth if we are ever going to make something of our abilities. We rely on comprehensive facts and truths to be able to begin to understand the how and why we exist in the first place. Surely we can rely on myth, superstition and belief systems if we prefer but none of these is fact that is provable. I need proof beyond faith in something because I am a reasoned human being who like all the rest of us have the curiosity to want to know that which I don't know. I cannot just accept things as facts without verifying them to some degree of authenticity. If I were I would be gullible to any convenient lessening of the hard, life really is. I will not live in a world that provides more illusion than actual substance. I was born into this reality and in this reality I will base my understanding. I don't need someone to lie to me to make me feel better or to save me from some dismal reality. I just need the truth so that I can make conclusions based upon reason and analysis. I wish we were all so convicted in our principles to just accept what is and to make the best of it based upon what we know to be factually true.

The journey to being a good person keeps me going (#2206)

I know I am heading in the right direction but not so sure about where I will end up. Regardless though, for me it is in the how I live my life and not so much what I have achieved. Being a good person is simple enough if we dedicate ourselves to doing so. Most people think they are good people and right they are in a lot of ways but to be a good person in most all ways, one must really focus on what one is doing all the time. You can't just say that most of the time you are a good person while some of the time not being one and still consider yourself to be a good person. It doesn't work out in an equation that just involves quantity, it also involves quality. Like those who are suffering from oppressive political actions by an oppressive political party yet continue to vote for the political oppressors. That is absurd and less than good, even if everything else you do is good and welcoming. For one thing it is contrary to goodness for you to vote for ones who have harm as their intention. Secondly it is for all the others who also must suffer for your decision to put or keep those in political power who fail at being good. This really is simple folks, it doesn't take a highly evolved education to understand. When some folks continue to harm it is not to be allowed. Simple enough. Being good is when you feel good about yourself and good about others in equal amounts. You know you have hit upon a balance that is fair and equitable. This has been the path I have been traveling, not just to be a good person but to be a good person to as many as possible while remaining good to me. it is a journey that will take all of my life to complete but it will be fulfilling and rewarding because in the final analysis, being good is a state of mind and if that isn't the state of mind that everyone wants to attain then it sucks to be them.

I have faith in honor, respect and humility (#2205)

When asked what I believe I respond with I have faith in our better natures. I have the results of the better nature of humanity in my own life. There are bright and clear memories in my life, no matter how long in the past they occurred, that are sacred and molded me into the man I am today. Some of these memories were crafted by persons of little distinction but nonetheless as powerful as any person could be as an example. I truly am a defender of the human species in all our forms against the vile that would demean and subject us because as a species I have seen our magnificence and humility in numerous ways which have touched my very soul to the core. The breach in the wall of my inner defenses is eternal now. I have no more time for the caution and fear of cynicism. I know what we all have inside us, the makings of a superb human being. Yet we are all so chaotic about how we find it within us to be such a person. The problem occurs when we fail to trust what is best about us. We think that being the great person we are inside leaves us vulnerable to those who would take advantage of our majesty. So instead we hide behind familiar walls of protection so as not to leave ourselves vulnerable. I get that and for too long my own pride kept me from being honest and open about my need to live as an honorable man. I now know that such silliness on my part was just fear, and having defeated my fear to be a real human being is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I have clarity of purpose now and a stubborn willingness to express my principled conviction in the face of indifference and incorrectness. These are the things I place my faith in, humanity and it's better nature. I am so proud of us as human beings and could be even more proud if we would just set aside what is not best about us and concentrate on what is.

The hard choices in life (#2204)

A friend has reminded me of how I am torn between how we survive. We often must kill those who are trying to kill us and live with it. I hate killing, it is barbaric and mostly fueled by hate, yet the choice whether to let someone or something take our lives at their discretion will not be tolerated by me. I will live with the guilt of deciding to kill if that is the final choice I have. neither will I wait for the intent to kill me to come to me. I will seek it out if left with no hope for another possibility. A very hard choice but we live in a hard world as we are so often reminded. I wish it were not so but it is not up to only me. For any chance of peace to be our normal we must get past those who want to only war. Most warring is horrible and should never be entered into unless it is for the defense our right to exist. There are those out there who only have one mission, to kill us as a society. They are extremists who wish to take personal liberty and freedom and destroy it. I will not let go of the dream of our forefathers/mothers who gave their lives defending their right to self-determination. never! Even if it offends my conscience. Peace will only be gained through strength of not only power but of conviction. At no time shall those soul less ones ever have dominion over me. I will kill to protect against the ravages of the barbarians wherever they show there existence. Whether here in my front yard or halfway around the world, they will feel no safe harbor from my wrath if they choose to kill to subject us. I am of one mind about this and for years have evolved to this point. The sickness in our world is fueled by hatred, prejudice and greedy small minded people. These are ills that need to be wiped out but until they are they continue to foster extremism and the twisted souls who try to carry it out.

At the age where getting to the point is crucial (#2203)

Nothing in my life nowadays is worth wasting time on. When I was younger and dumber than I am now I was of the mindset that time was infinite. As I look in the mirror and reflect on where the hell did time go, I know that nothing is infinite especially time for me. So all that I do nowadays is succinct and to the point. The idea of subtlety is not a priority especially when it involves the truth. I don't consider hurting or not hurting someone's feelings at the expense of the truth to be much of a factor. Surely in moments of crisis and such subtlety is necessary but for the run of the mill daily adventures we humans find ourselves in there is no time like right now. Such it is in my public life and my personal life. The hard truth is the better tonic than a "don't hurt their feelings" lie. Also, in the personal arena it is better to get to the point with relationships than to "beat around the bush" with childish behavior. I am hardening up as I get older and that is a good thing. Now I am not a rock but I have little tolerance for the worst of our natures. We control what we can be and to make excuses or accept outdated paradigms as our guides is intolerable to me. That is my choice. So let reality exist as it is without us being afraid to own it. Life really is too short and not living our lives with a sturdy determined desire to experience it then what is the point? I have not forsaken my care for ourselves and all things but I have no time to waste on disingenuous emotions, thoughts or acts. I want to call everything in my life what it is without the apprehension that I will offend or lose out because I said it like it is. I accept that others will not want to hear what goes against their grain such as it is but I can't be swayed by those who refuse to be logically objective, they only slow me down and cause me to waste time, which is expressed by this posting as NOT to be allowed.

Conform or break the mold (#2202)

There seems to be no short supply of those of us who are willing to conform to whatever process has been laid out in front of us. We feel a duty to conform to what others have decided is best without us knowing the wherewithal of the decision making processes behind it. A sort of blind trust given to those who are more powerful and louder than we are. I get that because life is more complicated than ever and some things need to be left to the system we have in place to help guide our thoughts and actions. But when is it necessary to question the system for it's decisions if ever? I simply apply a protocol to anything that seems irregular to me, does it do no harm? Usually that one little question reveals a massive amount of information for me to base a decision. Second, if the do no harm is not enough to objectively allow me to see my unsettled feeling about whatever is troubling me then I ask does it do the greatest good. Those are my general questions I ask when a policy or a political vision has me scratching my head over it's utility. There is also a specific question I ask when it comes to me or someone personal to me. Must I defy a preferred law in order to save myself or someone close to me knowing that overall the law is better than not having it. Do I nullify what I can see is right generally in order to solve something that is specific? Yes is the answer for me. I will intervene and break the law if it means that a moral dilemma is solved positively. I of course will not deny my wrongdoing, and I will make myself available for any punishment that breaking the law calls for. Yet in my soul I will have done what is right even though I am considered a law breaker. It is the way of our society to maintain a duty to it regardless of any consequence I must face and that is how it should be until we can make better more flexible laws.

Society should never reward bad behavior (#2201)

In a truly remarkable blight on the process of our democracy there are currently 31 states with laws on the books that allow for a rapist to sue for custody or visitation. Think about that for a moment, a woman is violated in her private life and the outcome of that violation gives the violator a say in that woman's life going forward. In what logical thought about fairness or justice does this make sense? When the violator is given rights to intervene in the life of the violated? Apparently in over 60% of our 50 states it is allowed. Now I am having a really hard time here trying to convince myself that we are a civilized society. When we cannot protect the rights of the violated and pass laws that protect the violators. The abomination of this reality has no bounds. This is a perfect example of how far we still need to go to becoming a truly egalitarian society. Our women are subject to laws that are a major disadvantage to them. Nowhere in a democratic society should this be so. Men and women are equal members and any law that puts them at a disadvantage should be abolished. That men who commit crimes of a nefarious and sickening nature are allowed privileges from that outlaw behavior is also an abomination. How is it that these laws that give rapists parental rights continue to exist? Because it is men who have had the reins of power that let it be so. Men who are not worthy of being called honorable protecting men who by their actions are despicable. Our nation needs to wipe clean this slate of laws in the many various states that protect parental rights for rapists, and instead give no rapist ever the claim to being a parent to any child born of their illegal and immoral act.

http://aattp.org/sick-31-states-allow-rapists-to-sue-their-victims-for-custody-or-visitation-rights/

Human life is not property (#2200)

That I even have to say this is unfathomable in this modern time yet it needs to be said because too many sick minded souls are in positions of power within our society. There seems to be a a stale remnant of folks who believe that the survival of the fittest theory is one to be followed, as long as it is in their favor. A greedy sick minded lot that has taken what our society provided for them and turned it against those that would have the same opportunities. Like freedom of one's own body for the purpose of self determination. These unhealthy ones have allowed their egos to rule their lives and as such they see others as products or services just waiting to be used at their discretion. Instead of honoring human life and respecting individual choice within the framework of our civilized society, they want a chaotic wild west society where the rich and powerful control all things, including human life. So instead of advancing principles of modernity within our society, these folks have chosen to abandon core democratic ideals and push for more authoritarian ones. It is as if the ego these folks allow to exist would rather separate the many of us and use us like cattle, to be harvested when profitable and desirous. The sickness they are under is too strong for them to see the error of their thinking so they fight and claw to keep their decaying fever continuing. I used to think that we Americans had a special quality of righteousness and goodness about us that would never allow such a mentality of debasement to exist but I see that an elevated honor to protect the innocent and punish those who create and expand harm is not one of our valued qualities. In fact, it seems that we are less honorable in this area than I would ever have imagined.

Being (#2199)

This is such a difficult paradigm for me to explain about who I am and why I am. I know the who I am for the most part but the why I am is still just a mystery. The who is what is best about me and how I reflect that out to everyone to see. The why is what I have decided to make of myself as a purpose based upon what I know about me. Surely the why is open to different observations with many suggestions available. So instead of wrangling with all the possibilities I am comfortable enough in just examining my traits and applying them as best they are utilized. So the why of me is what I have decided makes the most sense given my biological advantages. Again, I am a biological data processor, with memory and the ability to rationalize, analyze and conclude. My senses give me information for me to turn into knowledge. I, like all of us, am a supreme sensory subject with amazing logical comprehension. Not only that but I am alive and dependent upon my own ability to keep me so. What is even beyond that is my curious nature to explore and discover. So I don't need to be programmed I just think and imagine and then develop an idea. Given what I know and applying it to what could be gives me the ability to find new means of utility. I am not just some plant or animal incapable of survival without direct help. I am a member of the species human being. which is the mightiest species in terms of capabilities ever to have been known to exist. All of that to give us an overview of who we are in relation to any possible reason for why we exist. If we have such capabilities then it suggests very adamantly that we are to use our special natural skills to their greatest efficiency. We also have an emotional component that I call compassion, or more readily, care. With a robotic like ability to discover through the abilities of our curiosity we are also given many levels of love into which we define the soul within of each of us. Being, more than my simple post can describe in one sitting.

When my consciousness is over (#2198)

When my life is over so will my consciousness of it be. I won't be here in my host. My body will be reformed into it's separate particles freed to become attached with any other atoms and molecules out in existence. What I do know is that the time I spent being Carl Clark will be over. Yet I still want to live like it will be a record on the history of humanity. Whether that happens or not is not for me to decide. You see what I want is not the ultimate adjudicator of reality. So how do I reconcile this with my current thoughts and behavior? Easy, I actually believe that my destiny is in how I take what I am and make it into my reality. What I mean here is that I am living who I am. I don't need the idea of a holy book or a list of ideals to live by. I need what is best about what is inside me, in my case the goodness within me, to be exposed as my working premise. I am not naturally a hard and cruel being, on the contrary I am a caring and curious one. That is my essence. So the consciousness I have of this is my purpose. So while I have life here in this existence I am under a duty to myself to utilize what is best about me and to live it. Regardless of whether it all turns into nothingness at the end of my time. I don't need a forced rationalization of some fairy tale about life after death or some hoped for fantasy to allow me to be who I am. I accept that my time is limited and when my time is up I will be no more. Such is the way of this existence and nothing I wish for will change that. What I do instead is celebrate the time I have here by doing everything in my power to be the best of who I am. Yes, I have a complex about being perfect but only in the sense that every moment I live as the best me the better I do to achieve the purpose of my life, no matter how mortally short that time is and no matter that I will not know of it after I am dust. 

I accept who I am with a smile (#2197)

No one is more critical of me than I am on myself. I actually spend too much time critiquing my thoughts and actions against hindsight. A flaw I need to address. Yet it is instinctive of me to see how I measure up against my own sense of right and wrong. But what I have addressed over time is the fact that I am me and no amount of me wanting to be more like someone else is ever going to happen. My life is complex and adjusting and following through on what I think should be done is busy enough work for me. I am not despaired or despondent that my life is what it is, in fact I am reasonably happy that I have such a good mental health approach to my passions and my hopes. When measured against others I am not the greatest nor the worst. I am somewhere in between those two extremes. My life is mine and for that I have a great sense of obligation to it. I do not look to others to see what they have or what they are doing, instead I look inside myself to see what I have and what I am doing. I have all I need to decipher what is going on around me. I have an open mind and an initial respect for all things and beings. I treat others as I would have them treat me. I do no harm to anyone, including myself, as a goal. Sometimes I fail to treat others like I want to be treated and sometimes I harm others but not as an intentional thought or act. I do the best I can with what I have and I keep learning more and more to help me understand our most creative and innovative selves. My life is open for others to see and there is little I won't discuss in hopes of positively impacting the lives of those who are in contact with me. I like myself and who I have become. Really, what more could I ask for? :)

The courage to overcome fear (#2196)

Most all fear is from the idea of death. We know that death will find all of us no matter who we are so being afraid of dying is foolish. Why be afraid of something we will all experience. So any other fears seem rather secondary. Living in this world will cause some minor fears to develop but nothing like the fear of death. So overcoming our fear of death seems to be our greatest obstacle to living. Funny how that works, we spend too much time worrying about dying, which will happen regardless, and not enough time actually living while we have the time. Living in fear is an awful way to live. I prefer to live in possibility. Which means that I allow my curious nature to explore what I don't know even when danger is part of the mix. No amount of living will ever be safe and secure from all harms. So just let nature and our own abilities guide us in whatever progress we pursue, while taking care to use our wisdom and common sense. Fear should have nothing to do with how we rationalize our understandings. Now some may say what are you talking about Carl? What fear is keeping me from living my life? I refer to the fear of the unknown and how we create scenarios to alleviate that fear through institutional beliefs and hoped for faiths. If I believe that a God has my back, I am not dealing with my fear, I am creating an illusion that my fear can continue to exist from because a God is my buffer. A temporary fix for a lack of my own courage to deal with reality because it is so scary. Now I am not saying that having faith in a God is wrong. But what I am saying is that a faith in a God in order to alleviate my fear is wrong. My fear stems from my own inabilities. I must conquer my own fears about life before I subscribe to living it with conviction. We all have our battle with inner fear to fight and the sooner we get on with it the more rational and courageous our lives will be.

Logic is the future (#2195)

Logic is the ability to take what we know and make sense of it. It is the process by which we find common ground based upon known factors. This is what distinguishes us from all other life forms. We can reason, analyze and conclude based upon truths and givens. Is logic perfect? No, but when we find fallacies we are able to correct them and then keep moving forward. Logic is our floor from which to begin. Metaphorically, if we find we have risen above our floor with a theory and cannot defend our position, then we are able to go back to the beginning where we first began our theory and restart with another one. Logic gives us the firm foundation of beginning. It is in the knowing that we have a floor from which we won't fall below is what logic does for us as long as we accept logic as our reality. Now many have chosen not to follow logic and have instead chosen to follow some belief system based upon faith. The problem arises when faith is not the answer to what our current problems require. If I have the faith that not breathing will still keep me alive, I will soon learn that not breathing will end me regardless of the faith I put into it. We need logic to help us understand this. We know that oxygen is required by our lungs to feed our blood and therefore maintain our ability to stay alive. This is a logical understanding. So keeping oxygen coming into our lungs is necessary for us to be alive. As simple and childlike as this example is it does illustrate just how important it is for us to base our understandings on logic and not just on faith. With logic we are able to create and innovate because logic is a process by which all new information is questioned and integrated into our growing knowledge base. We all can partake of it since logic is not a restrictive utility. There is no denying that logic is the paradigm by which every human may agree on a subject given logic's ability to explain itself based upon facts.

When you can't see the forest for the trees. (#2194)

The old saying is true in my observation of so many people that I need to respond to it. The word comprehensive is a very powerful word. By knowing the meaning of it we get to change our perspective about things that we encounter. Comprehensive is a term used to describe an overview, or the whole version of a situation or problem. I paraphrased here in order to make the definition more easily understood. When we see a situation or problem in it's entirety we are better able to assess it's virtue or lack thereof. When we don''t apply comprehensiveness to these scenarios we are only catching a snapshot of the situation or problem and our opinion about a conclusion is less viable since we know less about the entire problem. Then there are those who have an agenda to tear down something good by only pointing out it's inevitable minor discrepancies or they try to build up a fallacious policy by only pointing out it's few virtues and ignoring it's many harmful and unjust effects. Regardless, when a less than full understanding, or an ulterior motive is being used to determine a fact, we are all harmed by the incompleteness or nefariousness of the act. Comprehensiveness teaches us that there is no simple, black or white fix for most problems. Most problems require complex solutions and even then the solutions are not even near perfect. Yet we continue to get those who want something more than an honest debate controlling the narrative of what could be the best paradigm for our futures. They move the narrative away from a full understanding and replace it with what is either convenient for their purpose or a continuance of their tunnel vision like view. Unfortunately, we all suffer by their inability to put a comprehensive understanding to test before they engage in forcing illogical opinions based upon less than all the information.

The anxiety of loss (#2193)

This is an unavoidable subject. Even the expectation of loss is devastating. By loss I mean of a life that matters to us personally. Now I want it to be clear that even loss of life to those lives I have never met leave an indelible mournful imprint on my soul. But for now the loss of someone or some soul that is precious to us has a lingering gut punch feel to it. But even before the loss occurs we go through some form of anxiety as to the dangers out there that could easily deprive us of our desired companionship, A sort of protective mindset becomes our natural conclusion for a solution but in this real world of ours there is no way we can protect from any life the imminent destiny of death. So instead of worrying about loss that has not happened yet, we can judiciously allow for fate to have it's way while celebrating the life that would move on from our existence. Fear is the penultimate guardian of our anxiety yet fear is not the only arbiter available. Joy that we actually have the opportunity to be alive and knowing full well that it is not of our doing that we exist, should be enough to assuage fear from guiding an initial anxiety into a worrisome lifestyle, and instead allow the anxiety to pass with the knowledge that the precious time we have is best left to living with happiness. My life in particular has been an enormous gift to me from something outside my understanding. The mysteries of this existence will not be answered by me in my lifetime but the knowledge that I don't need to worry about it is sufficient. I have had some great souls exist with me for a time and now they are not here anymore. I accept that and accept the loss of it as well. Yet to live in anxiety over the loss of someone now still with me is not honoring them now nor is it healthy for me.