The Preferably Uneducated

I spoke with Scottie yesterday. He wants me to do a ‘daily thought’ thing. Well, I don’t really have time for daily thoughts (lol) but here goes.

I recently watched a Pierce Morgan episode where he confronted Neil DeGrasse Tyson for having the temerity to disagree with “the greatest mind” of the generation, his hero Elon Musk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_aT9jbxrHY

Mr. Tyson commented that the idea of going to Mars is not practical. Not that he didn’t support it, but that something that costly, that reaching, that highly technological and requiring new technology, would not be good business – and if it isn’t an issue of religion or war, the idea was unlikely to be fulfilled. Pierce went on to ignore most of what Mr. Tyson said in order to Rah!Rah! Musk.

What was worse, in my mind, is that he couldn’t seem to find his way out of his prepared argument in order to really listen to Mr. Tyson. The result was that he spouted the very arguments that Tyson had already refuted without bothering to address those refuted points.

Shortly after that I watched a clip of ABC News speaking on an unidentified object in the sky. It was Venus, you know – the planet? Identified centuries ago, it’s orbit mapped and described and is available at the stroke of a few keys or on a handy free phone ap that shows the stars and planets in the night sky. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bv8f7KHnz5Q

So What? Right? Well, my point is not that I’m so smart, because I am surely not. It’s not that I have this issue well in hand, because I surely don’t.

It is quite simply that we are bound to spiral and fail in any endeavor not for, as Pierce Morgan believes, the doubting of Elon’s great dream, but because the dream is nothing without the facts! We find our entertainment in make believe and our news in hypocrisy and innuendo. Don’t get me wrong, I never really liked school and I prefer my entertainment to be fantastic and unreal, but I want my news to be real and factual, and that is near impossible in our current dissemination of what is called “news”. We spend millions on debating the validity of transgender in NCAA sports when come to find out there are less than 10 in the 510,000 athletes. We have chosen to excuse our political leaders for their crimes yet seek to lock up children because “they should have known better”. We have allowed our children to be poorly educated and malnourished while the super wealthy demand tax breaks. We have chosen to believe the lies and made him president, and the first things he has chosen to do are the eradication of of the departments of Education, Energy, Environment and the National Academy of Science.

The use of fear and fabrication is not new to politics, to news pundits, to religious leaders, and of course, the downplaying of anything enlightening and thought encouraging is the true mark of a great propagandist and conman. I mean, “who are you going to believe: Me or your lying eyes?”

Clip the strings.

Hugs. -Randy

Is there a War on Christmas?

This is really an old topic, isn’t it….or should I say, isn’t it?? Should I give inflection to the question or to the statement? Frankly, I think the real war on Christmas is how we have forgotten Christmas.

I remember when I was young and we would go to the 11:30 pm Christmas Eve Service at our church. I didn’t want to go. I was tired, I’d eaten a huge meal at Grandma’s, and I wanted to play with my new toys.

But, Mom said it was our obligation to go. I don’t think she used those words. It was likely more like ‘Get your butt in the car and smile, dammit’, but you get my point. We were going whether we wanted to or not.

One of my favorite parts of the service – I had to be there, may as well enjoy what I could of it – was the point where we would all have our little candle and sing Silent Night. In the intervening years I’ve studied scripture and religion and psychology and sociology and I know many of the forces that impact the psyche in such an event, but I will die believing nothing so magical as being part of that majestic song together. Voices rising in approximations of the right keys, resounding off the walls and my heart and my mind as the flickering lights of our candles lent the moment collective peace. I so long to return to that moment of quiet tranquility amidst the press of folks setting down their varied tribulations.

Leaving the church at the end of the service was always a bit of a quiet catharsis. My mind felt a bit too wide, my heart a bit too full, and I just felt like it was a whole new world through those opening church doors.

So, when I hear people talk about ” the magic of Christmas ” this is what I think upon. I know I am supposed to contemplate the humble arrival of our promised savior. I feel guilty when I realize that I don’t. Maybe I’m too presuming, maybe I make too light of the impossible to imagine. Maybe I’m a bad Christian. I mean, that is what Christmas is supposed to be all about, isn’t it? The Triumphant Arrival of Christ in Bethlehem!! But, it’s not quite that for me. What I think on is the deafening absence of my worries, my failures, my unmet needs all in that quiet reverberation of out of tune mid-westerners singing Silent Night.

AS YOU walk among the streets and shops and hear Happy Holidays, know that not everyone comes together in the name of Christ. Not everyone knows Him, not everyone wants to know Him. Some come for love, some for loneliness, some for simple expediency and sales in the shops. What some need most is to hear a genuine heart-felt greeting from someone who cares, even if only in passing. I think that is Christmas.

Hugs.

Are Hard Times Coming?

I think we have all seen the videos about “Prepping”, and if you are like me they seem a bit paranoid, but I remember hearing from some who lived in Texas during that ice storm that knocked out power and had people freezing in their livingrooms. Now, as a Michigan kid, you have to understand that I find that incredible to consider that someone in Texas would be so cold as to have to deal with frozen pipes. And that perhaps underscores the biggest thing: we each are different; different lives, different climates, different environments, and what seems obvious for one is completely irrelevant for another. So, when you consider being prepared, there are no hard fast rules.

In short, I would recommend highly that you look into ways to have necessities, like air temp requirements, energy, entertainment, food and water. My considerations for this include a small room in my house that I can insulate with extra blankets, solar lights from the garden, a solar charger for my phone and pad, and simple easily managed food and water. I’m going to try to keep my car gas tank full, have a couple of gallons on hand extra in a gas can, and most importantly I’m doing my best to not be afraid but to be able to meet my needs if things get difficult.

I know there are readers that dealt with the really abusive and difficult times of being gay – like it’s all unicorns and rainbows now (sorry, that was too easy). This is something that I really don’t have the knowledge to speak on, don’t really have the experience, but definitely have concerns. Will we be hounded? I don’t think so, but I can’t help but to be concerned that those who want us rounded up and euthanized all seem to have cabinet positions under this particular reich. So, if I am prepping for needing to cover a couple meals during hard times, what about preparing for my safety when the gay police (and why did I suddenly get a vision out of the Village People?) come knocking on my door? Do I have a safe place to go to? Do I have a safe place to find socialization? As Scottie can tell you, this is a worry for me because I have a tendency to withdraw when I am stressed. I will be relying on social media, friends, and I don’t know what?

Are you making preparations? What are your concerns?

Hugs All;

Randy

Cry me a river

This morning I woke up to read that President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, for any crimes, etc., he committed. And the republican right lost their shit.

You, who sought to humiliate and hound the only living son of a sitting president, are offended? You who put naked pictures of the his son up in open congress are aghast at his temerity? You who have excused attempted extortions, sexual assaults, tax evasions, theft from children’s charity, stated intentions of pardoning the people who assaulted the Capital, stated intentions of pardoning himself!, theft of State secrets… do I need to go on?… by your cult leader – you now beat your chest because the sitting president finally had enough? Wow. Yeah, cry me a damn river.

I feel it stacking up on me…

As I’ve mentioned before, Scottie encouraged me to share my – ok, we will use “unique” – perspective and experiences in my daily work life.

I will admit, this has been a bit of a week.

We have a bit of a partnership at the shop between myself and a very wonderful lady who has been there for 43 years. I can’t keep up with her. She has an ability to organize and handle problems that I do not… but they quite literally built the business around her. Would you believe this bitch went on vacation! I know, how rude is that~! So now I am flying around trying to do half of what she made look so easy and not drop the ball on the things I do daily promising myself to get a full roll of duct tape to strap her down if she ever hints at taking time off again. She has been gone for 8 days of work so far, only another 5 work days to go. Wish me luck.

We’ve had our first snow of the season. And, we’ve had excuses coming from one of our workers that “he can’t make it to work because it’s cold and snowing and he walks”. That didn’t pass when I was a kid in school, but I have to “understand”?

Now, I have a turkey – yes this story gets more ridiculous – I am now waiting on this idiot to come to work to receive his Thanksgiving Turkey, and I really couldn’t give a shit. Is that wrong of me? Why am I going out of my way for someone too lazy to come to work?

I’ve also mentioned in the past that I haven’t always responded the best to anger. It was really my wonderful and wacky dog that helped me with that. I needed that responsibility to help me think twice, that love to come home to, that absolute joy of life. I can’t tell you how much I miss her.

But also, If I am to be honest with myself, I’m still really disappointed by the vote. I’m still angry and afraid. I so wanted better things for our country, for our world.

I wanted to live in a world where people love who they want to love, express themselves genuinely, not indebt themselves in the healthcare gulags, not be forced to consider paying for electricity or eating.

I wanted to live in a world where education and intelligence are valued, where love is shared, where hope is prized. Will we ever get there?

I just hope for each of our sakes that we don’t get so wrapped up in the frustrations of life that we forget to live. I need to remember that there are still beautiful things in this world. I need to continue to look forward with expectation of better things.

I need to choose hope.

-Randy

How did this go wrong?

This post is a downer. Sorry.

This past week’s fall out has left me very depressed, very angry. I’m feeling those younger violent angry feelings returning, those hopeless ruminations of indifference. We keep telling our young people that things get better, we keep telling ourselves that things get better. Is it a lie? Is it just a papering over of rotten cores and hollow promises?

Many years ago, many years ago…. I spoke with a young man who was giving up. Giving in. Done. I tried to tell him there was more, that there was something to hold on to, that there was hope. He cried on my shoulder, told me that he didn’t believe me but thanked me for trying. I heard later he died, in darkness and fear. He died alone. He never found that worth hope. Never found that worth holding on to.

I think of him now today and my head hurts. My heart hurts. I fear what could come. When so many strides have been taken, when so much ground has been fought over and won by blood and tears and lives lost to hate and bigotry, to think what can be lost by one fucking svengali churns my stomach.

I am ashamed, America. You knew better.

Words Have Power

Good Evening, Everyone. Today I’d like to talk about the words we use, not even knowing the damage we do, with one specific question: Do you think you are a good person?

I’m willing to bet, to put real money on the line and bet that nearly everyone believes themselves to be a good person. I’m also willing to bet that many of the people who will answer that question with a “no” are really good people, but also really hurting people. They are the ones that have been told they are no good, that they are a monster, that they would be better off having never been born. And that hurts, more than a simple “I’m sorry” would ever be able to cover.

In these days of politics and fear, we lash out in anger and frustration. We use words to win, to wound, to prove we are right in the vain presumption that our being “right” even matters.

We flay our loved ones so very self-righteously; we flay innocent lives and cast salt to let it burn. Do we even know who we are hurting? Do we even care?

There is an old saying that goes something similar to ‘when you march to war, be sure you know where to point your weapons’.

And, maybe that’s the problem. We Americans have become so used to war, to fighting, to being strong, to having an enemy, that we’ve come to NEED an enemy. We’ve come to only know who we are and what we love by having someone to hate.

Life is hard. Choose love.

Hugs

Randy

I want one

Sunday Morning

Good Morning, Everyone.

I’d like to begin with a bit of personal history this morning. I was raised in the ELCA Lutheran Church. There are a few different “Synods”, sects/divisions/understandings – if you will, of the Lutheran Church. I then went to a United Methodist church, where I received further education, eventually going on to earn a B.A. in a weird triple major of psychology, sociology and business – (I was originally really interested in how religion, business and “work” interacts within people themselves and society in general).

So, while I am full of questions and doubts, that is the structure of my very understanding of the world. What I’d like to shallowly talk about today is “religion”.

What we are seeing in much of the political realm is not religions of faith, they are religions of control.

I say this knowing this is going to be offensive to many people. But there are times when the truth hurts, and I remember reading somewhere how the truth shall set us free.

Religion seems rife with the blind – those who will not see, will not hear, because they are desperate.

I feel for those taken in by people who have found a pulpit the fastest way to power and wealth. Folks searching for answers and hope will grasp at anything that seems to be a good solution.

I believe this is the prophecy of the age. Graham was right, and he knows it to this day.

Belief in God is a very humbling thing. It is the knowledge that you will never be “all that”. What’s worse is that when you think you are, you realize you have become an arrogant ass comparing your perfection on the flaws of others and completely ignoring that guy in the mirror.

Despite getting my degree from a Christian College and growing up in the church, I no longer go to church. I sometimes wonder if God isn’t welcome there all too often. Instead I find God in all that I see, in the trees and stars in the sky. I don’t know that there is a God, but I want to believe there is, and so I do. Be it Humanist or Christian, what really becomes important in my book is that we love our neighbor and ourselves, and give a big thanks to however all this beauty that surrounds us came to be.

Love you all. May your walk be long and fruitful.

Hugs.

Randy