New Beginnings – 2022 – Part 3

Three weeks and three new articles. I'm patting myself on the back! I hope I'm back on line again.

This is going to be a short article today. Winter has set in here in the area of West Virginia known as the Potomac Highlands. It's where I've been staying with a friend while I've been recovering from my bout with cancer. I'm very lucky to have terrific and very supportive friends in various places and, certainly, my friend Carolyn has gone way above the call to help me.

It's snowing quite hard here today and into about midday tomorrow. It's quite cold with the current temperature registering at 16 degrees and an estimated accumulation of snow between 9” to 12” and possibly as much as 18.” I grew up in northern New Jersey and we had some cold temperatures and significant snow accumulations there when I was a kid. And, then I lived in Syracuse, NY and I have to be honest, snow, lots and lots of snow was a way of life along with sub-0 temperatures. We had some serious winters when I lived in the Washington, DC area and for the ten years I lived in Annapolis, MD. About every five years or so, we would have a very serious winter in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia when I lived outside Winchester. But, while some of my friends look forward to winter and snow, I have experienced probably about 30 blizzards during my life and frankly, I'd much rather see the snow from a distance along with the cold temperatures. I'm perfectly content to watch snow in TV shows or in movies. I don't need to experience it in person any longer.

Part of my New Beginnings is to start researching and searching for a new region to base my operations from and I'd like it to be a location with a moderate or temperate climate. So, I've been looking at places around the U.S. during the last several years I was traveling, prior to being inconveniently stopped from my travels by my cancer challenge. But, I'll be looking again for the right place once I can get back on the road.

New Beginnings – 2022 – Part 2

This is my second article of 2022 and you'll notice it has the same title as the first article, except I extended it as Part 2. I've been thinking, researching and contemplating this entire past week about what I said last week. Something sparked in my mind and heart about my thoughts and feelings. But, to start things off, let me give you a long quote I discovered during my research.

When someone you love dies, you are given the gift of "second chances". Their eulogy is a reminder that the living can turn their lives around at any point. You’re not bound by the past; that is who you used to be. You’re reminded that your feelings are not who you are, but how you felt at that moment. Your bad choices defined you yesterday, but they are not who you are today. Your future doesn’t have to travel the same path with the same people. You can start over. You don’t have to apologize to people that won’t listen. You don’t have to justify your feelings or actions, during a difficult time in your life. You don’t have to put up with people that are insecure and want you to fail. All you have to do is walk forward with a positive outlook, and trust that God has a plan that is greater than the sorrow you left behind. The people of quality that were meant to be in your life won’t need you to explain the beauty of your heart. They already understand what being human is----a roller coaster ride of emotions during rainstorms and sunshine, sprinkled with moments when you can almost reach the stars.

― Shannon L. Alder

Substitute the first and second sentence with, When you die and are reborn, you are given the gift of new beginnings. Your eulogy is a reminder that the living (you in your rebirth), can turn your life around at any point. With those two changed sentences, this quote is exactly what I'm feeling as I leave the past behind after being stricken down by my cancer experience and the ensuing battle. I don't know if I can describe what happened the morning of August 18, 2019 as having experienced death and coming back. I know there is a short period of time that I have no recollection of. I don't know if it was seconds or minutes. I don't recall seeing my life pass before me. I don't recall seeing a long tunnel with a white light at the end. I just don't remember anything for that brief period of time. And, of course, I was completely disoriented when I regained consciousness or grasped life again, whichever the case may have been.

What I do know is that a lot of things changed. To be perfectly honest, if friends, family, business associates or new people see me today, the only thing they will likely notice is that I'm slimmer because I lost about 20% of my weight (and, unfortunately, muscle mass). Otherwise, externally, there is little about the changes I described in the previous article that one can see. The voice I've used to speak and to provide voice-overs for numerous clients is still the same. I still have the knowledge, creativity, any talent I may have been blessed with and the skills I've learned and honed through over 60 years of adolescent and adult experiences. For all practical intents and purposes, externally and experientially, I'm still me. But, as I described, there is a new persona residing inside this older and, now, somewhat modified body.

New Beginnings – 2022

I'm writing this on January 1, 2022. As you can see, if you look at my last blog article, this is my first new article in a year. The year 2021 was very similar to 2020. They were both years that weren't. I mean, for me, they weren't noteworthy. Many things happened during 2021, but from my perspective, they were mainly negative things. But, I really don't want to focus and dwell on the negative. A few years ago, after writing this blog for about ten years, I began facing writers block. My articles became fewer and far between. I picked up again for a short time in 2019 when I was stricken down with my battle with cancer and I wrote almost daily for a few months about my experiences.

Let me be clear, I'm 76 years old. I'll be 77 years old in a few months. I try to not dwell on my age, however, due to many things that have occurred over the past couple of years, most notably, my battle and, so far, my victory over a near fatal bout with a pretty rare form of cancer, I have begun to accept my aging reality. You may have heard older people express the aging process as experiencing all kinds of aches, pains, physical changes, lower levels of energy and stamina. But, at the same time, they say their minds are acting like they are still in their 30s or 40s. I can relate to that.

However, some of us are dealt a variety of challenges. Some of those challenges result with life ending. During the past couple of years I've lost at least 12 friends from various facets of my life. Some of these friends were considerably older than me. Some were around my age. Still others were younger than me. Meanwhile, some of us survive after being dealt strokes, heart attacks, hip, knee and other joint replacements. Others have to deal with issues like diabetes, MS, Lupis, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other chronic and autoimmune diseases. And, some, like me, must face the “Big C,” cancers of all kinds. I'm actually a two time cancer survivor, but I'm still going. In many cases, probably most cases, these medical issues are surprises. They blind-side us and, like it or not, we must deal with them.

Monday Musing - The Paradox of Climate Change and Other Stuff

Okay, friends – so, I'm freezing my backside off here in rural West Virginia. I'm sure most of you are experiencing unusually cold weather where you are, too.

Wait! It's winter – it's supposed to be colder. The days are shorter. The nights are longer and the sun is baking the other hemisphere if you're north of the equator. I learned all this in basic science classes in my early school years. You should have, too, if you were paying attention.

I keep reading posts on Facebook and in blogs about how cold it is and everyone is ready for spring and summer. But, winter just got here. I grew up in northern New Jersey during the late 40's through the mid 60's and then spent two years in flipping crazy cold, snow hell, Syracuse, New York when I attended graduate school. Believe me, I have a basic understanding of winter, extreme cold and some really crappy weather.

An aside, I was also accepted to the University of Florida in Gainesville. I'm still wondering why I really chose Syracuse and babes bundled in parkas when I could have hung out with all the bikini babes. Oh well, life is all about choices, good ones and bad ones. Back to the main stream of thought.

So, here's the paradox. What the hell is all the political claptrap controversy about global warming aka climate change? We are spending billions and billions of dollars to study something that science taught me back in junior and senior high school. Scientists agree the Earth's climate is changing. No shit, Sherlock! It's been doing that since the flipping “Big Bang.” The only difference between all the times it's happened over a few billion years is that humans have become “smart enough' (?) during their short existence on the planet (a really important question to ponder at another time) that we think we are the reason the planet is warming. (Another aside, if it's warming, why am I freezing my butt off?)

Weekend Wrap-up, Sunday, November 15, 2015

Wow! Life has sure happened since my last Weekend Wrap-up. The day after the last Wrap-up, Sunday, November 1^st, was the day I lost the first of three friends. Two days later on November 3^rd I lost the second and on Sunday, November 8^th, I lost the third. So, among other things, over the past two weeks I've lost three long time friends to death and attended two funerals. It's all part of life, but not my favorite part.

November 1^st was also the 7^th anniversary, to the day, of my Emancipation Day. November 1, 2008 was the first day I was happily houseless. It was the first time since I was born, about 63½ years earlier, that I didn't have a fixed residence (or place of business). My overhead reduced by about 80% overnight. I haven't regretted one moment of my life since that time.

Weekend Wrap-up – Saturday, October 24, 2015

A week of frustration and interesting social interaction is ending today. While what I consider a busy week may seem like a walk in the park to many people, it was a fairly busy week. And, contributing to the business at hand was some frustration. I don't enjoy being frustrated. But, alas, it is part of the living experience.

So, the busyness was mainly due to my continued efforts to sell off “stuff” from my storage units. Some items have sold and I've done okay. Some items just don't seem to be attracting any interest even though the items are useful and worth the low prices I'm placing on them. That's part of the frustration. I'm getting better at some of the difficult choices and decisions I have to make, one of them being whether I want to keep sitting on some of this stuff and PAYING to store it or just get rid of it at any cost and save the storage money.

Weekend Wrap-up – October 10, 2015

Geez! Another week has come and gone. We're well on our way into the fall. The leaves are changing colors in many parts of the country. The temperatures have finally started to moderate. It's now one of my two favorite seasons of the year – fall and spring.

My week was a little different this week. While I'm still busy listing things in my storage units for sale on eBay and Craig's List as well as packing and shipping or having picked up (or in the unusual case this week, I delivered an item), I have a lot of stuff to go through and make determinations on. Some of it needs to be retained (or I want to retain it for some illogical reason). But, lots of it needs to either be given away or committed to a dumpster or land fill. Yes! I'm practicing what I preach. As I've told you, this is a necessary project for downsizing, simplifying and living free(r – in my case). However, it's no easier for me than it is or will be for you.

I made a trip into my former hometown of Winchester, Virginia in the northern Shenandoah Valley on Thursday. I had to take care of some simple tasks including picking up my 2014 tax return to file (yes, I'm on an extension) and have a brief meeting with my CPA of 30 years (that's hard to believe).

Weekend Wrap-up – October 3, 2015

Happy rainy Saturday if you're anywhere in the east. To my friends and readers in the west and southwest, if I could pipe this rain out to you, I would. I know you need it worse than we do here in the east right now.

I trust your week was good and you had some bright spots in a week that left quite a number of people in grief. Of course, the grief I speak of is that which made the current sensationalism news headlines in Roseburg, Oregon. My heart goes out to all those families and friends who lost loved ones. One reality we have to keep in mind is that grief and such terrible events are not exclusive to those that make the national media. There are negative and even horrific things happening somewhere, both here in the U.S. and all around the world, everyday.

Photo-of-the-Week - Tiny Town - Tiny Post Office, Tinnie, New Mexico, December 2014

So, could this photo represent one of the reasons the U.S. Postal Service is losing money every year?

This is a tiny post office in the town of Tinnie, New Mexico, a tiny town in a group of tiny towns I passed through on my way to California. Personally, I don't see any problem a tiny post office like this one. I was once served by a tiny post office in Cross Junction, Virginia. However that tiny Virginia post office served a large part of the rural area of Frederick County, Virginia. . . READ MORE

Benefits or Entitlements

Benefits and entitlements, are they one and the same or are they different breeds of animals? There seems to be a trend for those in the bureaucracy of federal (and even state) government toward calling anything they pay out to citizens as entitlements. Now, I'm not sure. Is it because I'm becoming a crotchety old man (NOT)? Or, is it because those in the elected offices, their high ranking appointees and the massive legion of high level bureaucrats are using governmentspeak or doublespeak to get us to believe something that isn't true.

Would this be the first time the government has attempted (and often succeeded) in duping the "flock?" I think not. That is a huge topic for another time. However, as humans, we are basically pack animals. Although, it's probably more accurate to say we're like flock or herd animals. Watch cattle in the pasture sometime. When it's milking time they all line up one behind the other and follow the leader right into the milk barn. A new word becomes the "in" word to use in the pop culture - cool, dude, awesome, right on, righteous, bro, etc. All of a sudden, it slips into our vocabulary and pretty soon we're all using it. . . READ MORE

America, The Land of the Free

This is a slightly different post than you've come to expect from me. While I always want my writings to be informative, educational, inspiring and illuminating in some manner, I do my best not to be overly pedantic, close-minded or political.

So, I believe that what you're going to gain from this post will definitely be informative and educational. I hope it will be illuminating. But, I don't think it will be inspiring or at least not inspiring in the way I usually want to inspire readers and to be inspired myself.

I am also not being pedantic and I believe my mind is open (like the parachute, the mind only works when it's open). And, while the actual topic could be construed as political in nature, I am not espousing any position, supporting or denigrating any candidate or current elected government politician at any level of government.

The purpose of this post is simply to encourage you, the reader, to gain a better understanding of the forms of governance operating in our world and how they impact people and the, so-called, concept of "Freedom." I contend that politically, we are not a free society, or at least we are not a free society as the phrase is bandied about. I find it to be an oxymoron to call a society free when there are tens of thousands of laws, regulations, ordinances, rules, covenants and so on, that all the, so-called, "free people" must live under, obey, adhere to and comply with.

I dare say that the statement that we are the freest country in the world is a misstatement of reality. When you think back to some 4,000 or so years ago, the Jews basically had Ten Commandments or laws, if you will, that constituted the foundation of their governance. It would be my guess that there weren't even a small fraction of the laws that were part of the underlying causation of the French Revolution and, certainly, while there were injustices and unfairness, including taxation without representation, that precipitated the American Revolution to gain independence and, so-called, freedom from England and the monarchy, I doubt that the laws on the books were a pittance compared to modern day America.

The point being that we need to all have at least a reasonable basic knowledge and understanding of the various kinds of political, governing systems that rule the countries of our world. And even further, to understand how these systems each impacts us and our quest for personal freedom. This isn't a matter of Republican or Democratic or Libertarian or Socialistic or Communistic or Fascist or any other kinds of political parties. It's an understanding of the system that is the foundation for these parties and factional groups and organizations to exist and control societies, "free societies" or otherwise.

So, recently, a fellow in Texas (yes, the Great Republic of Texas), by the name of Jim Foreman posted the following YouTube link on a Yahoo group we both participate. I watched this 10-minute video and found it very elucidating. It's basically a primer or a recap of 10th grade Civics. Unfortunately, much of this, perhaps none of this is currently being taught. And, also, unfortunately, many of us as 10th graders weren't as focused on this as we were on rock and roll, girls/boys, popularity, souping up our cars and high-school sports back then. So, I present this for your information and education (reeducation) and hope you gain what I did. You may change some of your thinking and understanding of exactly where we stand in this concept of "freedom."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZPZOpFLHVE

The Profundity Of Living Free

I'm not sure if I'll ever really be known for making any profound statements or pronouncements. I often quote the profound (in my opinion), three word statement, "Life is difficult," made by the late M. Scott Peck in his landmark book, The Road Less Traveled. I quote it because it's true.

There is profoundness about living free. We live in a world that, while we continually hear talk about living in a "free country" or a "free society," it is, in reality, not truly free. I don't think I'd be challenged if I said that we, who live in the, so-called, "free country" of the United States of America, the good old U.S.A., probably have more laws, regulations, rules and covenants controlling virtually every facet of our lives than any other country in the world. I would venture, further, to say we could multiply our laws, regulations, rules and covenants by a couple magnitudes, at the very least in comparison to most other countries except, maybe, England.

Is This REALLY a Free Country?

Here is a reality. In the United States we have federal laws, state laws, county (or parish) laws, city, town or village laws and neighborhood or community covenants. And, to add more complication and confusion into this mass of controls, the laws, regulations, rules and covenants often (very often, actually) conflict between the various jurisdictions. So, you're breaking laws when you're complying with the laws?????

Here are three examples. First, while some states have legalized marijuana either on a medical basis or, even as a recreational drug (like alcohol is) it is still against federal law. So, the state says go ahead; grow it and smoke it and the federal DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), FBI and other federal agencies can still arrest someone for breaking a federal law.

Another example is that 13 states have approved and recognized legal marriages between same sex, transgender and bi-sexual couples and the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled these marriages are constitutional as allowed by the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. But, at the same time, cross the border and choose to live in a state that hasn't recognized such marriages and, viola, the marriage is null and void and there are no spousal rights.

A third example is assisted suicide laws. Currently, only four U.S. states and a few countries recognize legal "assisted suicide." Assisted suicide is not euthanasia  (or putting someone to "sleep" as we do with animals in pain). But, it is still illegal under federal laws and one is subject to arrest and being tried for murder or manslaughter or possibly conspiracy. 

These are only a few of the more controversial issues. I don't have time to list them all nor do I wish to bore you. You know what I'm talking about. And, some of these laws, regulations, rules and covenants control how long your grass may be or how brown it can become during dry seasons. You can be cited and fined. If you live in a community with a home owners' association you may only be allowed to paint your shutters, front door and garage door with a certain, prescribed palette of colors only available from a certain brand and store. If you choose to have a hobby, such as amateur radio, you may be under federal (FAA) laws, city or town ordinances and community covenants as to any antenna structures you want to erect to enjoy your hobby. It could take from months to years to gain all the permissions and permits and this is after you've already obtained a license from the FCC that permits you to operate your hobby radio station.

Please notice that I have not even entered the realm of religious doctrine and dogma, professional or occupational associations or unions, corporate or company rules or the "Court of Public Opinion.”

The Court of Public Opinion

I love the "Court of Public Opinion." I'm going to abbreviate it to CPO. These are non-written rules that control any number of things, don't require you to be charged with a crime or go to an actual court to be adjudicated and then be convicted of a variety of supposedly heinous things as determined by the committee of "They." One of the most interesting examples of the CPO is the recent character assassination of one, Ms. Paula Dean, a southern restaurateur, cookbook author, entrepreneur of a business that promotes a line of cooking utensils and accessories and a cable TV cooking show personality. Now, let me state for the record, I don't know Paula Dean. I've never been to a restaurant owned by her. I don't own any of her cookbooks. I don't use or own any of her branded utensils and, while I've seen her on a few talk shows and seen promos for her TV cooking shows, I don't recall ever watching one of them.

Thirty, forty and fifty years ago in the southern United States there was a very different culture and society. It was a society that segregated the black and white races. It was a mean, cruel, often lawless and brutally discriminatory society. It was the unfortunate remnant of an even earlier time when there were slaves in this country. Of course, our history books and TV shows and those who have a political and racial agenda don't want the public educated to the truth about this terrible time in our history. We all puff out our chests, put our hands over our hearts and proudly sing the national anthem as though we are the pinnacle of righteousness, fairness and piety. That is pure bullshit. We have been, throughout our history and even to the present, an immoral, unethical and brutally murderous country.

We gloat over being the ONLY super power left in the world with our massive 11 aircraft carrier groups, nuclear weapon arsenal, a stealth Air Force and advanced Army and Marines. What that means is that we have the power, if we choose to, to do what we did to the American Indians who were the indigenous inhabitants of this continent before we came and took their land, destroyed the forests, virtually annihilated the buffalo herds and massacred an unknown number of men, women and children through the white man's lust and greed for power. There may not be a lot of people in this country who know that there were some 3,000 owners of black slaves who were, themselves, free black men. The black race condemns the white race for slavery, yet slavery was practiced freely in their native land of Africa and the African chiefs actually sold many, if not most, of those who ended up as slaves in the new world, to the white traders. But, there were also white slaves in this country and when Asians, especially from China began making their way to the United States, many of them were treated as little more than slaves.

But, that's enough of the history lesson and back to the CPO and Paula Dean. I have not followed this story on a day-to-day basis. I find it another grandstanding effort by the mass media and by certain elements of our society, for whatever reason, to assassinate someone's character and destroy a life. Here are the facts as I see them. Paula Dean, once upon a time, used a word that was fairly common in the colloquial and slang of the day. I heard the word, I even heard my father use it and, though I don't use the word to describe anyone of any race today, I'm sure as a youngster growing up in a society that used the word, I probably used it from time to time, too.

No! I'm not from the south. I'm from 10 miles west of New York City. I went to a high school with about 4,000 students of which only three of them were black and we had very few other minorities since we were basically of white European ancestry. One of the black kids was in my class of about 800. Richie was just one of the guys. He was on our football team and he was well liked. I even had the great fortune to attend college with Richie, though we didn't see much of each other since we were in different majors and hung out in different circles. The point being that 50 years ago was then and this is now. I was also brought up in a world of male chauvinism, but I doubt that you'd find anyone who considers me a male chauvinist today. The world has evolved and so have we all, hopefully.

The Double Standard of the Court of Public Opinion

Now, to once again, show the double standards by which we live in this "free society" and, so-called, "free country," let's take the standard bearer of our country. Yes, I'm referring to the current President of the United States, Barack Obama. I'm not going to do any political grandstanding and I am not making any racial implications, though you may read that into this, so I don't give a damn if you're a Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, black or white, man or woman or anything else. I'm simply going to state some facts.

Citizen #1 of our country, duly elected by the people of this country to represent us to the world, and supposedly the most powerful man and the leader of the "free world," is an admitted user of illegal drugs. It's in his own books, written by him. He did that, not in the 50's and 60's, but in the late 70's and 80's. Yet, we have elected him to this position and put him in charge of the most powerful military the world has ever known and given him the keys to the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world, enough to destroy the entire planet. But, he's an admitted drug user - a long time ago. I'm assuming (and seriously hoping) that he no longer uses any of those drugs. What happened to the CPO in this case?

I'm not going to go any further into this other than to say that it's okay for him to have done something very illegal and not only be given a pass, but raised him to the highest position in this country, even the world. Yet, a little southern woman, who happens to be a successful white, entrepreneur and free enterprising individual used a word, which is not illegal (maybe not nice, not socially acceptable, hurtful), considerably before our president broke the laws of the land. Her public image isn't even a close second to Citizen #1. But, she is crucified, has had her character assassinated and her businesses seriously damaged, if not destroyed. Yet, she broke no laws. She has been tried and convicted in the "Court of Public Opinion."

"I Don't Care!" 

Yes! That's my profound statement! I don't care. In order to live free in this very oppressive society where fairness and justice are only platitudes and not really practiced equally, I can't care. I have to find whatever ways I can to distance myself from all the laws, regulations, rules and covenants that control and contradict one another. I have to find the way to live as freely as possible in a society that is at it's core a paradox and a sham of an ideal that doesn't truly exist.

Sure! There is no way I can truly escape the masses of laws, regulations, rules and covenants that are required to maintain some degree of civility. And, I know lots of people are going to tell me that this is a very different world than it was when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments. I don't have to go there. Heck! It's even a different and far more complex world than it was when I was growing up in the 40's, 50's and 60's. I've lived through all or part of the administrations of 13 presidents. I've seen massive changes in just the leadership styles over these 13 people. I have to comply with the laws of the land, as they exist, if I want to live here, however, only to the degree that they directly impact me and I can minimalize their impact.

Escaping the Rut

Most people in this country and most other developed, so-called, free societies and free countries (the U.S. is not the only one), have chosen to live complicated, costly and oppressive lifestyles. People, no matter what culture or society they are fortunate or unfortunate enough to be born into, begin the conditioning process from the very earliest age they become educable and trainable. The vast majority of all populations will fall in line in the rut and live lives of quiet desperation. They'll accept it because they've been conditioned to. But, I did say "most," not all.

The reality is, and thankfully so, that there is very small percentage that refuses to buy the "package." There are those who learn how to express themselves in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, some of those are antisocial and a topic for another discussion. But, others become inventors, artists, musicians, composers, entrepreneurs, adventurers and other forms of expression that don't fit into the pre-conditioned rut. These are the individuals who find ways to break the mold, the rut of quiet desperation. Some become financially very successful. Others become a variety of different kinds of role models, some better than others. Some become those we admire for their non-conformity and individualism.

They often live alternative lifestyles and forego the trappings of "proper" society. They may choose to live out of backpacks, in travel trailers, vans, motorhomes, on boats, in tree houses, in underground houses, on mountain tops in isolated rural parts of the country, in free form lofts in big cities and as well as many other alternative lifestyles. Some make large sums of money and expend it on their unique lifestyle. Others make large sums of money and find ways to put that money to work helping others realize their dreams. Still others don't place any importance on financial means and generate only what is required to provide them with their simple needs to live free and comfortable by their own definition. They don't care, either. Living free means you can't allow anything external that you have no control over to control or influence your life.

I feel sorry for Paula Dean and what the CPO is doing to her. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't think she deserved what happened to her. But, I can't do anything about it, so I can't allow it to distract me. I'm completely disillusioned by our U.S. government (and all the other levels of government in our country), but I can't do anything about them either. My vote is useless in the real scheme of things because I'm one of that tiny percentage of people who refuse to fall in line and walk down that rut. So, my vote will never have any weight because no one in any political or government office truly represents me or cares about me. They simply want whatever they can get from me to further their objectives.  Actually, they don't even represent the people in the ruts that elect them, but those people are indoctrinated and conditioned to believe they do. So, they'll keep electing people to office who only care about their own interests and not those of the conditioned masses.

I Can't Care!

I feel sorry for those in our military and their loved ones who are killed, maimed or come back as zombies having had their minds irreparably messed with by war. But, I can't do anything about that. Once upon a time, I was one of them, under the duress of the old "draft" conscription system. I was fortunate to leave the military better than I entered, but that took effort on my part. The military had other plans for me., I also can't I do anything about the Benghazi scandal, the IRS scandal, the Edward Snowdon/NSA scandal or any of the myriad other government scandals and boondoggles.

I don't care. I can't care. They are issues that I can have no impact on. That's one of the reasons I don't pass around the emails I receive on all these issues that I can't do anything about. Why should I waste my priceless time on something that I'll have no impact on? A life is too valuable to waste like that. Besides, I've already wasted too much of it thinking I could actually make a difference in things that were far beyond my control.

Now, this doesn't mean I don't care about everything. Actually, I do care. I care about my friends. I care about family. I care about helping other individuals who know there is something better for them outside the pre-conditioned rut they are stuck in. I care about reaching out and giving anyone an opportunity, a shot at an alternate lifestyle, one of living free. But, I've reached a time where whatever I choose to care about has to be something I feel I'll actually be able to see some kind of positive results and that supports my choice to live free.

So, how about you? I appreciate your time to read this blog. I'm hoping you're reading it because it gives you reason to take pause and think. Where are you on the rut spectrum? Are you in it plodding along, back to front with the rest of the masses? Are you climbing out? Are you on the edge looking in at the people still in the rut? You can't care about those who have chosen to just continue owning their pre-conditioning and indoctrination. You can't care about those who choose to just keep plodding along, not sure what real freedom and true happiness are really about. They have bought into the false dream and myth. They are happy with their government mandated and rationed soma, the drug that provides an induced feeling of happiness and bliss as described in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. But, you can care about that one hand that reaches out to you every now and then, hoping that someone will give them a hand out of the rut and their soma induced stupor.

Living free is, in itself, a profound statement about the nature of our lives and our world.   

Freedom Requires Courage . . .

Freedom Requires Courage! I find those three words about as compelling and impacting as the late M. Scott Peck's opening statement, "Life is difficult." in his best selling classic, The Road Less Traveled.

Indeed, true freedom does require courage. I picked up this thought from a fellow responding on one of the Yahoo groups I subscribe to about Vandwelling. One individual posted about his solution to acquiring a van type vehicle to travel and live in and others were weighing in with their thoughts on the subject.

Steve A., posted his contribution to the subject and it went like this, I quote him:

. . . I avoid debt like the plague. I count being debt-free as important as regular maintenance. A credit card for emergencies is wise, but don't trade your freedom to the banksters except as a last resort. Debt = slavery, and it will destroy your peace of mind. Rent is also a losing proposition, helping to pay someone else's mortgage. No property means no property taxes. Van dwelling is considered hostile by the authorities because they can't stand the thought of people not being chained to the economic "system" and not slaving to pay taxes. Freedom requires courage, which is why van dwellers are the most interesting and thinking people you will find.

I think it's important to clarify that van dwelling or full-time RVing people do not evade taxes. They simply choose to avoid paying any tax they feel they are not legally bound to pay. So far, there is no "law of the land" that I know of that demands, commands or in any other legally binding way requires anyone to own real estate or help anyone else finance the other party's real estate and pay that party's real estate taxes through the rent they would pay to occupy the other party's real estate. In other words as ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court, "The legal right of an individual to decrease the amount of what would otherwise be his taxes or altogether avoid them, by means which the law permits, cannot be doubted." So, avoiding paying any taxes you are not legally bound to pay is fully sanctioned. This is not to be confused with evading taxes that you are subject to by law or tax code.

Many people make decisions and choices in life that are, all too often, influenced by misinformation, lack of knowledge, intimidation and fear. The tax codes and all the levels of taxation one may be subject to including local city or town, county, state and federal are voluminous and intimidating. Many people take the "safe" route and pay everything they believe they must pay. They live their lives believing they must live within the lines or inside the box that seems to be the standard established, once again, by an unknown committee of people or authority we refer to as "They."

That's the reason Steve A's comments and most significantly, the three words, "Freedom requires courage," really were meaningful to me.

Condemning the 1%

It never ceases to amaze me when people bad mouth and condemn the "so-called" 1% or the "Rich" people for not paying their fair share of taxes. The problem is, in probably 98% to 99% of the cases, the 1% have indeed paid their fair share as prescribed by law. And, why shouldn't they? They have been blessed with the good fortune to be wealthy. They can afford to pay their taxes. The problem is that those who haven't been as financially blessed see things through a "them and us" filter and pass judgment using a double standard. But, the wealthy pay CPA's and tax specialists to go over their finances with a fine tooth comb and prepare their tax returns taking every legal tax deduction, exemption and credit allowed by the current tax code of the current time. Most very wealthy people contribute more money annually to qualified charitable causes than the average family earns in a year and sometimes as much as many average families earn in a year.

I have a personal friend who is very wealthy. No! He's not a billionaire, not even close, but his net worth is still far more than most people could imagine. His church wanted to buy a new concert grand piano for some of the fine concerts and musical events the church sponsored and hosted. The piano was going to cost $35,000.00. Now, that's a lot of money. He knew the congregation couldn't raise that kind of money within any reasonable time. So, he told the pastor to present a fund raising proposal to the congregation to raise the money. This gave the congregation a feeling of "ownership" in the project; they had "skin" in the piano. They set a time limit to raise the funds. When the deadline was reached, a brand new $35,000.00 piano graced the front of the sanctuary. In fact, the congregation had only raised $10,000.00 of the $35,000.00 required for the purchase. My friend funded the other $25,000.00. However, the congregation never knew that. They believed they had raised those funds. My friend stipulated with the pastor of the church that his contribution was to be kept in total confidence and go to the pastor's grave with him or the deal was off. In other words, my friend wanted to remain anonymous and allow the rest of the congregation to believe they had achieved this worthwhile goal. 

This goes on everyday in our country, hundreds or perhaps thousands of time a day. So, why should these wealthy people not be able to take advantage of the tax laws as written? But, there are factions in our society that want to create divisiveness. It could be in government, religious organizations, educational institutions, the corporate world and other places including within families. The fact is that nearly 50% of the people in this country don't pay any taxes at all. They have no skin in the game, but they condemn those who do pay taxes for not paying enough. In fact, many of those who don't pay any taxes not only don't have any skin in the game, but their share is being paid by those who do pay. And, further, these same people are actually receiving financial benefits (often referred to as entitlements) from the tax funds of those who are paying their fair share. I'm not passing judgment against anyone. It is truly unfortunate that anyone finds them self in a financial or medical situation to need such financial benefits. However, my point is that those who are not paying any taxes are actually using the same laws to not pay any taxes that allow the wealthy people to avoid paying some taxes. It's one of those double standard situations I mentioned.

Freedom Requires Courage . . .

It truly does require courage. First, you must be willing to become educated and stop being influenced by those who are misinformed. Some one much wiser than me once told me when I was a young man, "If you want to learn how to make $100,000.00 per year, you have to listen to and learn from people who are making $100,000.00 per year. Do not expect ten people who each make $10,000.00 per year to show you how to make $100,000.00." Now, that sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? Of course it does. That's because it is a simple truth and fact. And, most truths and facts can be broken down to the simplest and most common denominator. Don't get your tax information from hearsay and others who have never had to file taxes or who don't have to file taxes because their income is so small.

Second, freedom requires the courage to stop living in fear and being intimidated by the government (at all levels), in the case of taxes. Becoming educated in the tax knowledge that impacts your life is one way. "Knowledge is power!" Then you can't allow yourself to be intimidated by the people who you pay to work for you. Remember, every government employee, no matter at what government level and no matter what his or her job is, is paid from taxpayer money collected from the hard working, productive members of the private sector. Governments don't do anything that produces revenue. They get their money by collecting (or confiscating as they just did in Cypress) money from the private sector. The only place money is produced is in the private sector.

Every government at every level has a department of tax collection. The most feared agency in the U.S. is the Infernal Revenue Service at the federal level. I almost had to vomit while listening to some of the testimony, under oath, by the acting (forced to resign) head guy of the I.R.S. about this current scandal targeting specific kinds of organizations and individuals for political reasons. This is no different than the way dictatorships, communist and similar governments target their opponents and dissidents. If this man were a civilian in the private sector, he'd be facing a judge and a jury and probably facing a lot of years in prison for, among other things, perjury, obstructing justice and criminal negligence. Instead, he'll likely retire on a six-figure income with a bounty of additional benefits at taxpayer expense.

It requires courage to stand up for what's right and your personal freedom and my personal freedom are our right. It's not the amount of money we don't have that deprives us of our personal freedom. It's the amount of debt we get into that deprives us of that freedom. It's the misinformation, the lack of knowledge, the fear of the unknown that may befall us if we don't march in step with some authorities' drummer and buckling to intimidation of a variety of thugs in our society. It's not much different than "protection rackets" operated by organized crime lords. They just have different titles including I.R.S. agents, bill collectors, bankers, bosses, neighborhood bullies, police officers and you can add any other labels and titles you want to.

Yes, Steve A. is right, "Freedom requires courage . . ." People who choose to live free have to, at some point, take a stand in their own mind and heart. If you want to live free you have to define what that freedom looks like and how you define it. You have to determine the cost since you know that freedom is never free. You must stop being intolerant of others. Some of the others are the people who have become known as the "1%." Sure, there are some real greedy, exploitive, uncaring people in that group. But, remember, you may be partially or even completely living your current lifestyle because of the generosity 1% or the businesses they created that provide jobs. And, believe it or not, if it were to be your dream and goal to become a member of the 1% you could do it (a lot easier than winning a half billion dollar PowerBall lottery). So, you might actually become one of those that a lot of people loath and condemn. Are you really a bad person?

You'll have to prepare yourself by learning all you can about the choices you are making. That knowledge becomes the power to face the thugs, their intimidation and not fear the unknown because you're making it known. This may take you days, weeks, months or even years to fully achieve. You may not be ready or in a position to walk into your bosses office tomorrow and tell him or her to "take this job and shove it." That's probably not the best way to do it, anyway. Then you have to decide on a myriad of details. Where you'll live. How much space you'll need. Will it be a fixed location or on wheels? How much money will you require to live as you've outlined your living free lifestyle? Where will that money come from? What things will you pursue with your freedom? And there will be other things you'll have to determine. Then you can begin making the changes and moving toward your living free goal.

Freedom is both intoxicating and additive. I know very few people who ever want to go back to their former lifestyle once they have experienced living free. While I'm still becoming acquainted with a number of people who identify themselves as van dwellers, I have found them to be one of the most interesting groups of people I've encountered in my lifetime. They are all very individual. They are intelligent and resourceful men and women of all ages from young adults to Golden Agers, from a variety of backgrounds and careers and they all find interesting ways to support their lifestyles. And the thing they all have in common is that they love their freedom.

Be Courageous! Live Free! 

Photo-of-the-Week #107 - The Symbol of Freedom and Controversy, Washington, DC, May, 2006

It was seven years ago. It was dusk. I was in Washington, DC attending the Book Expo America trade show; the largest trade show for the book publishing industry in the U.S. The show was actually at the DC Convention Center. I shot this photo from the area surrounding the Capitol Building near Union Station and the U.S. Post Office building on Capitol Hill.

Photos of this building fill me with bittersweet thoughts and mixed emotions. On the one hand it is the symbol of "freedom," as defined by what most people describe as the greatest experiment in a functional republic and democracy the world have ever known throughout the thousands of years of civilization. On the other hand, it is also the seat of scandal, controversy and exploitation - all three in many forms. As an idealistic youth studying world history and American history and due to my lack of experience, limited knowledge of the world and naiveté, I believed in mother, apple pie, baseball and the American flag completely and without questioning. This building, the White House and the other great government buildings of Washington, DC represented what I understood as good, as true freedom and The American Way.

My views began to change a bit when I HAD to register with the Selective Service (Draft Board) at 18. My college and graduate school years opened my mind even more as I began to understand "critical thinking" and my view of our government began changing dramatically when I HAD to serve in the military at age 24. I chose to "voluntarily" enlist in the U.S. Air Force because I could serve my county in my chosen career in the recording industry in Washington, DC. I was right in the thick of it all. My view of Washington, DC and our great American experiment changed forever during and after this experience. Now, 40 years after that Air Force experience I have grown wiser, more realistic and pragmatic.

I'm still glad and thankful I was fortunate enough to be born in this country and I'm glad and proud I served my country. But, the flaws in our government and our system are so pronounced to me at this time that the future concerns me. No, not my future. I know what my future is and I don't have a lifetime ahead of me, only the natural culmination of a life lived. My concerns are for the future generations. Perhaps, sometimes it's just better to go along with the false notion that "what you don't know can't hurt you," and just go through life fat, dumb and happy. No! That's not right! I'm glad I didn't go down that road.  

Freedom Lost

That's the title of a weekly column by Bill O'Reilly. Let me clarify something right from the top. I've mentioned several times this blog is not political. It does not represent right, left, conservative, liberal, Republican or Democrat views. This blog represents ME and my attitudes. I fall in the middle of everything somewhere - sometimes I'm a bit more conservative and sometimes I'm a bit more liberal. I have no agenda or ulterior motives to have you, the reader to be like me, change who you are or do any grandstanding. You will, on occasion suffer through a rant I might get into over something that really torques me. But, that's my right and privilege as the owner of this blog and by what's left of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. If you don't like what I'm saying, you have the freedom of choice not to read it. I do my best to write honestly and from my brain, my heart and my gut. But you won't offend me if you choose to not read a post or disagree with me.

Bill O'Reilly

First, I am not an avid fan or follower of O'Reilly. I find him sometimes enlightening, sometimes rude, sometimes combative, sometimes informative, sometimes educational and sometimes just downright offensive. When I watch news on the cable channels, I typically surf between Fox, CNN, HLN, CNBC and MSNBC. Like most men, I'm attracted to very pretty women and, especially, intelligent and accomplished professional women. So, yes, I have a certain preference to Fox. But, that being said, HLN has some pretty foxy ladies, too. CNN is okay, MSNBC doesn't rank in the higher grades in this department, other than the intelligent part of the equation and CNBC - numbers, it's all about numbers. Being totally honest in my disclosure, I watch CNBC and MSNBC the least and probably share the rest of my limited news time somewhat equally between Fox, CNN and HLN.

The men of the news channels are okay. I have some preferences, but generally, I think most of them do a reasonably good job and aren't too offensive with their personal biases - with a few exceptions, of course. Bill O'Reilly seems to cover the gambit. He is, by his Irish Catholic background, typically a right leaner, though I've seen him chew up and spit out some obnoxious righties. I guess what I do like about him is that he takes on important issues and he's not intimidated by any of his guests - right, left or in the middle. He attempts to ask hard questions wanting REAL, straight answers - not the usual political, government speak puke that we are so accustomed to hearing out of the mouths of members of Congress - both parties - even the independents, the president, his cabinet and his press mouth piece and especially, the overpaid bureaucrats (protecting their asses and their retirement plans).

I often sit there when I happen to catch an episode of O'Reilly (I don't go out of my way to do such) screaming at the guest "ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!" I'm inclined to suggest that the left leaning, liberal politicians and pundits are so well versed in "spinning" everything that when an interview or sound bite is done, I've learned nothing and am frustrated by the waste of my valuable time and expensive "air" time these "clowns" have abused. The conservatives may be a little better, but if they are, it's not much.

O'Reilly seems to work hard at putting these people on the spot and hammering them to get Real and Straight answers. He's not always successful and you can see his frustration. In his weekly column, sent to me by a conservative friend from my college years, Bill scored some important points with me. I'm about personal freedom and living free (no kidding, huh?), so anytime a topic with the word freedom pops up I'm all over it. Today's title, "Freedom Lost," instantly drew me in. And that's why I'm writing about it today.

"Me and Bobby McGee"

Bill started out quoting a line from Kris Kristofferson's great song "Me and Bobby McGee." I'm hearing Janis Joplin singing it in my head as I write this, "freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." The words grate through my sensibilities and ring in my ears. Bill suggested that, perhaps, this thought is both sage and appropriate for 2013 America.

876 New Laws

Yep! You read that right. There are 876 new laws on the books that have to be obeyed or there are legal consequences. Oops! I forgot to mention, these 876 new laws were signed into law by Governor Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown of the great and most populous state of California. They all went into effect last week. Ha! I'll bet you thought I was going to say that President Obama signed them as national laws. Uh-uh! These are just those impacting the citizens of California.

Now, I don't know how they go about proposing and passing new laws in California, but since former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, a Californian, herself, told us how they do it in Washington, I'm sure California isn't too different. Remember former House Speaker Pelosi said, " We have to pass the bill so YOU can find out what is in it." I'm sure that since Congress is so busy passing laws that there is no way they can take the time to figure out what they are really about and what their impact will be. Actually, they are mostly adding earmarks and other laws inside of laws that no one really knows about, so who has time to worry about the actual law itself? With 875 new laws going into effect on January 1, 2013 in California, can they use any other system to mass produce less freedom?

What Are These Laws?

So, obviously, these new laws have to be vitally important to the state of well-being of the citizens of California. Bill O'Reilly included just four examples and I'm including them here so you can see how people's lives will be impacted.

In California you can no longer . . .

- Hunt a bear using trained dogs.  (O'Reilly comment - Untrained canines are okay, I guess. And how would the authorities be able to tell? Would the dog have to take a test in the forest?)

- Sit in an off road vehicle without being in a seat. (O'Reilly comment - You can't sit on the floor. Or on the roof. Do off road vehicles even have roofs? I don't know.)

- Use a boat in a "freshwater body" without paying a separate fee. (O'Reilly comment - That's to raise money to control the influx of "invasive mussels." I thought that was a 1950s monster movie.)

- Drive a party bus without a special license. (O'Reilly comment - Can't wait to see that test. Do you know the words to "Celebrate" by Kool and the Gang?)

Okay, I'm sure there may be a few of these laws that really impact the common well-being and welfare of the populous of the state of California. But, how many of them are like this? And we actually pay representatives and a governor and all the staff people and cost to operate the government to do this? Where did I miss the boat. It's time to get a law degree or a degree in political science so I can live well off the public dole, too.

Now, remember, these are just California laws added to who knows how many already existing laws. Now, add onto these all the new federal laws that we'll find out what's in them since they are now laws. We didn't actually have anything to say about, probably, the vast majority of these existing and the new laws, BUT - we are responsible and required to obey them or suffer the criminal or civil or both consequences. And, don't forget if you are foolish enough to leave your own state and cross into another state, you are now required, by law, to obey the laws of that state, too, whether you know them or not. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. And just in case, here it is in Latin, "Ignorantia juris non excusat." In the event this isn't clear, the link will take you to a great explanation.

Every New Law Means Less Freedom

So, what am I getting to?It's actually quite simple. This blog is about Living Free. This post is about how year in and year out our "supposed" representatives go out of their way to pass new laws, laws that many, if not most of them don't have a clue as to how it will impact their constituents - that's you and me. In other words, every new law, regardless of whether the law mandates something we must now do or must not now do takes away another piece of our personal freedom. Many, and possibly, most, of these new laws are about insignificant little things that impact only a very small group of people or some aspect of our society and benefit a special interest group of some kind. We already have, I dare say, hundreds of thousands of laws on the books - that we are each and everyone of us - responsible to know and accountable to obey - period! New law = less freedom. It's really simple.

I have done my best throughout my lifetime to live further and further off the radar because, quite frankly, I didn't want to have to learn and be accountable for hundreds of thousands of laws. It's like living in a community with a homeowners association, just another form of government. I don't want someone telling me what kind of front door I have to put in my house or what color paint it can only be and what brand of paint I have to use to get that specific color or if I can have a flag pole on my property and how tall it can only be or, if, as an amateur radio operator, I can erect a tower on my property to mount antennas on to enjoy my hobby. Get the picture?

So, "Freedom Lost," Bill O'Reilly's take on it. "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose" is Kris Kristofferson's way of expressing it. And Cicero asked and answered, "What then is freedom? The power to live as one wishes." And two of our great statesmen, President Lincoln and President Kennedy said, respectively, "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves." and "Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth." 

How free are you? How do you exercise your human right to personal freedom? What can you and we do to stop losing more freedom? Are you content to just continue living in a system that doesn't allow for more freedoms, but continually chips away at the remaining freedom we have? I dare say, the vast majority of the population of the U.S. is content with that and will continue down that road. Are we rapidly going in the direction we fought to break away from? I surely don't have the answers, only the questions. But, I know, for one, I will do my best to conform only to the absolute minimum degree possible to not lose all my freedom and end up in some kind of physical prison in the country (yes, the United States) with the highest rate of incarceration per 100,000 people, by a significant margin, over every other country in the world.

Just 876 more laws to obey Californians?  Just 876 more chips off the Freedom block. 

I Pledge Allegiance . . .

to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for ALL.

Penned in it's original form by Francis Bellamy in 1892, it wasn't formally adopted by Congress until 1942. I'm sure there are many people who don't know when it was originally written and when it was actually adopted by the federal government as the official pledge to our flag in the United States. Most of us who grew up through the Baby Boomer Generation and the succeeding generations have recited this pledge hundreds and, perhaps, more then a couple thousand times during our lifetimes.

I guess one of the most noteworthy things to me about the pledge is that it acknowledges that the U.S. is a Republic. This is where the difference lies in personal or natural freedom under a republic and limited, controlled, civil or dictated freedom under a true democracy. As I've stated continually, this blog is not about politics. A republic and a democracy are two very different things. And just to be sure, Democrats and Republicans don't necessarily have anything to do with the definition of a republic or a democracy. I point this out because if you love and desire personal or natural freedom and liberty, then you'll want this country and your individual states (if you're in the United States) to remain as, definitively, true to the U.S. Constitution and each state constitution. As outlined in the U.S. Constitution, each state must also be a republic to be one of the United States.

What turned me on to this topic this morning was one of the various news feeds I scan. This feed gave me a link to retiring Congressman Ron Paul's farewell address to the U.S. House of Representatives. I don't particularly enjoy listening to Dr. Paul. While I find him a very intelligent individual and defender of individual liberty, he, unfortunately, was not blessed with the gift of eloquence, at least, not off the cuff. But, then again, the current U.S. President is considered an effective orator when he has a prepared speech and a teleprompter, but, in my opinion, is lackluster in extemporaneous speaking.

I found the transcript of his address to be inspiring and distressing at the same time. It is pretty well known that Ron Paul is a Libertarian Republican, more Libertarian than Republican, I would venture to say. While I personally do not like titles and prefer not to be labeled, other than by self-defined labels like nomad, independent thinker and such, I've taken at least one Internet quiz (on numerous occasions over a period of time) to determine my political stance. I come out dead center as a Libertarian every time. Again, I choose not to label myself a Libertarian even though my leanings happen to shadow the generally accepted Libertarian philosophy. So, I am not pushing libertarianism here.

What I am suggesting, not recommending, just suggesting, is that if you have fifteen minutes or so that you'd like to invest in gaining some real insight into our country, our current crises (that's plural), where this country went wrong and the few possible ways it might be saved, you should click on this link to Ron Paul's Farewell Address and read it for yourself.  That is, of course, unless you believe the government should dictate more and more of our lives. That would be a democracy where the majority becomes the dictator through representatives and the minority loses their individual natural rights and liberties to the dictates of the majority. 

Unfortunately, it seems there are more and more people who believe the government can run their individual lives better than they can run their own lives. And, of course, there are a huge number of people who don't know the difference between a republic and a democracy and equate them as one and the same. They are not. In that case I strongly recommend a Google search for republic vs democracy where you can learn the very distinct differences.

All government at any level should be as small and exercise the least control over my life as possible. There should never be any intimidation of private citizens. It should only exist to serve me and the other "people" of the "We the People" that ratified the U.S. Constitution. I am and will always be a proponent of "Living Free," which means I support individual natural freedom, protection of individual inalienable rights, liberty and justice for all.

Democratic National Convention – Day 2

Day 2 was a bit disconcerting to me. I’m going to attempt to keep this a bit shorter because I could really get off on a rant if I don’t.

The first address I really paid attention to was Sandra Fluke. All I’ll say about her address is that it brought back memories of Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem and the peak of the Women’s Liberation Movement. Ms. Fluke appears to be a very angry young woman. Apparently she feels she has really been mistreated as a woman in our society.

But, I honestly don’t believe that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are Neanderthals who carry clubs and drag their women around by the hair. Women have come a long way since the 60’s revolution. Today, more women attend and graduate from college then men. Women have climbed the corporate ladder to the top of many huge Fortune 1000 corporations. More women are serving at all levels of government including the current and last Secretary of State. Women continue to play more and more major roles in the military including piloting sophisticated jet fighters. 

I just don’t see Mitt and Paul reversing 50 years of progress in a few months as she suggested they would and have women back in the kitchens barefoot and pregnant, again. Thankfully, we didn’t see the women delegates ripping their bras off and burning them on the convention floor. Frankly, that would not have been a particularly pretty sight. There were other comments she made about women’s health and reproductive rights that I won’t even begin to consider. I’m sure she appealed to a certain splinter group of women, but I surely hope that women in general aren't believing this extremist, radical view presented by a disgruntled woman. And if there are women out there reading my blog who want to dispute me on this, have at it.

And just to make my position clear, I’m happy with the progress women have made and I see nothing but continuing progress in the future. I probably have more women friends (the operative word being friends) who I appreciate for their independence, intelligence, ambition, motivation, competence and contributions to my life personally and professionally, than I do guy friends. I’ve had some fantastic women work with me in my businesses and I’ve worked with well run client organizations headed by women and managed mainly by women. I treated them with the respect they deserved and they returned that respect. So, I have to say that Ms. Fluke made a negative impression on me, but thankfully, not on my feelings and respect for women who’ve earned it (just as a man would have to earn it).

Now, the next speaker I listened to was Elizabeth Warren. Once again, she left me unimpressed. She also gave me the impression she really didn’t understand business, corporations or what the opponent, Mitt Romney said about corporations. As soon as she went into her tirade about “corporations are not people” she lost my attention. As a lifelong businessman, this was insulting. With her kind of rhetoric and condemnation of business and corporations, I’m surprised any business owners or corporate executives who are democratic supporters didn’t pull up stakes and abandon ship.

Sure, corporations are legal entities, not flesh and blood people, but they only exist because of the people who operate them. They don’t have a life of their own. If there is something bad about the way a corporation operates it’s not the corporation that caused it, it’s the people running the corporation. Which is exactly true about government. Government doesn’t exist and operate as a flesh and blood entity. It is the sum total of the people who make up government at every level from the smallest town or village to the federal government. Anything that’s good about government is because of the people. Anything that’s bad about government is because of the people. Someone needs to point out to Ms. Warren that he/she who is without blame should cast the first stone. There are no blameless people in government of any party affiliation, so think twice before throwing that stone.

Finally, Wild Bill Clinton got up and did his Clinton thing that only he can do so well. Here is a fact – Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan were and still are, in my opinion, the best political communicators I can recall during my lifetime with the exception of John F. Kennedy, who unfortunately never had a chance to prove himself fully. Some people want to include Obama in their category, but the jury is out on that for me. 

Clinton is a scintillating speaker. His down home Arkansas colloquialisms are colorful. His crooked pointing fingers draw your attention. Even though he ran way over his time last night and, apparently, usurped the vice-president’s time to accept his nomination and throw fireballs at Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, William Jefferson Clinton kept the troops rallied.

So, here’s my take on Mr. Bill. First, he has a problem respecting women. That's a negative mark for him. Second, he proved to be a liar in front of Congress and the world. Third, he was involved in various nefarious events during and before his presidency. Those are two more negative marks. And, finally, he had several opportunities to change the course of the future and history by taking action against and even taking into custody, one, Osama bin Laden. 

His failure in that last matter can directly be traced to the expenditure of way in excess of a trillion dollars of taxpayer funds and untold thousands of lives lost, both in the U.S. (911) and overseas – American lives and innocent Middle Eastern lives. And, that doesn't take into account the costs to the private sector in the loss of property and collapse of the airline, hospitality and other industries impacted by 911. 

Oh, I know, 20/20 hindsight and all that sort of thing. But, that’s what he was getting paid for when he wasn’t boinking interns, lying about it and going through impeachment proceedings. So, I’m afraid, although I enjoy listening to him speak, I don’t trust or respect him.

I have to admit, about 35 minutes into his speech I began drifting and had to work at staying awake to make sure I caught his attacks and defenses. The one thing I do give him credit for is that he recognized his communication equal, Ronald Reagan, when he quoted one of Reagan’s famous lines, “There you go again” from a campaign debate with Jimmy Carter.

So, those are my impressions of the second day of the Democratic National Convention. I won’t deny it; last night was a negative night for me. I’m not sure that my two best convention experiences so far were Ann Romney at the RNC and Michelle Obama at the DNC. Most of the rest of speakers from both sides of the competition haven’t convinced me that I should vote for either side. So, it appears that when the DNC is over, I won’t be any more prepared for election day then I was before the RNC commenced last week.

Day three is tonight. The big guns, Big Joe and the current Commander in Chief get their chance. Unfortunately, and I have to admit, I’m not a fan of Big Joe and I’m very fatigued by the president’s speeches. So, it’s going to be difficult for me to even attempt to be objective about either speech. Ho hum! I’ll be happy when the conventions are over. Two weeks of Amway rallies is a little hard to take.

And, as an aside and speaking of Amway rallies, I recorded several very large Amway rallies at the original Charlotte Coliseum back in the late 1970’s. It still stands and is now called the Bojangles Coliseum. It will remain operational because it’s on the Charlotte Historical Register even though it’s small in comparison to the Time Warner Coliseum and most other modern arenas around the country. I only mention that because I have some warm feelings about Charlotte when I recall those early recording assignments. 

Democratic National Convention – Day 1

It’s just as I expected. More power speakers. It seems like this year at this convention there are a couple themes. First, everyone rose up from the depths of poverty and despair, worked hard, nose to the grind stone, knowing that because my grandfather, grandmother, single mother, laborer father, whoever knew that one day I could be a Congressman, Congresswoman, mayor of the 7^th largest city in the country, First Lady and Barack who dumpster dove for his first furniture and drove a rusted out old car that you could see outside through the rust holes – could be the President of the United States. Can we one up the Republicans? We’re certainly going to try.

I have to wonder about all those poor people watching out there who grew up the same way and were told similar things by their parents (if any of them ever actually were). How come they didn’t make it to Congress or the Senate or the White House or even the state legislatures or the governor’s office or the mayor’s office? And, geez, what about those people who are just working away at average jobs and occupations that were fortunate enough to grow up on the other side of the tracks? How come they didn’t make it to the big time? What happened to equality? What happened to opportunity that was constantly bantered about? How do Hispanic twins from the poor part of San Antonio, whose grandmother was a maid, housekeeper and babysitter and whose single mother was a schoolteacher BOTH get to attend Stanford University and then Harvard Law School? There are kids all of this country who qualify to go to those fine institutions who come from families of modest, but significantly better means then the Castro kids, but not even one of those kids can take advantage of that educational opportunity and equally or otherwise – let alone a pair of handsome, Latino twins.

But, I’m being picky now. I just find all the rags to riches stories a little hard to stomach after a certain point. And, I’m not just picking on he Democrats. There was a lot of that at the Republican convention, too. So, what’s the point? We got the breaks, but you didn’t, but we wish you had?

Now, I have to wonder how many of the populace and even the delegates sitting in the arena realize that those heartfelt speeches have been written, rewritten, tested for effectiveness and delivered in such a way as to make them seem like they are extemporaneous and heartfelt? I wonder how many of the electorate actually understand that the Castro boys and Michelle Obama have gone through intense training by very expensive professional speaking trainers and coaches. Every pause, question mark, gesture, chuckle or laugh, scowl and so on is virtually orchestrated for impact. Indeed, the intention is to come off like you’ve speaking mano a mano, one on one as if the speaker is addressing you individually. Yep! Republicans, too.

So, here are my impressions of last night. The two main speakers I caught were Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, introduced by his twin brother, Joaquin Castro. Both look beautiful. Both are excellent speakers. How come the mayor was chosen to keynote the convention instead of the brother who is serving in the state legislature and running for Congress? What happened to equality? Oops! I digress. Julian’s speech was very good and he was very well prepared. And, as I suspected, he was essentially attacking the man (Romney) and not so much his political record.

There is a very significant ideological difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. The Republicans also talked about the American Dream, opportunity, equality and becoming successful, but their approach was that each person is responsible for themselves and needs to excel, overcome the challenges and do whatever it takes to make it to the top of the heap and claim his or her dreams. The Democrats seem to believe that people need the government to succeed. The government provides opportunities and pathways to success and if you follow the Pied Piper – in Castro’s case, Barack Obama, you’ll have the chance to better your life.

Sorry, I’m not ready to buy that, yet or ever for that matter. The very idea that every kid should have an opportunity for a great education that their parents want for them does not work for me. Heck! If Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Michael Dell had spent all their time in classrooms learning how to do things “the right way,” we would never have had a Microsoft, an Apple or a Dell Computers. None of them completed a college education. They saw opportunity and pounced on it. They made mistakes. They experienced failures. They had to learn by doing because no one had actually ever done what they were doing. Throw in a Mark Zuckerberg, another college drop out and the list goes on and on. There used to be an old saying that college graduates end up working for non-college graduates. I’m not sure how accurate that is currently, but at least in the four, very obvious, cases I just noted it’s certainly true.

So, let’s see, give all these kids college educations. Encumber the kids and their parents with tens of thousands or even more then a hundred thousand dollars of debt before they’ve even learned how to make their own breakfast, send them out in a world with an education in fields that have limited or no realistic career opportunities and what do we have. We have a generation of dependent people who will continue to live with and off their parents for who knows how long. And now, with the new healthcare law, they don’t even have to be responsible for their own health insurance as adults until after they turn 27 years old. Heck, by the time I was 27 years old I had completed a bachelors degree, a masters degree, most of four years of a military enlistment during a war time and was the president of an emerging media production company.

Again, I guess I digress. But, these are my reactions to what I was hearing last night. So, I was generally impressed with how pretty, educated, well spoken and coached the keynote speaker was. Unfortunately, he didn’t do anything to convince me that his (the Democratic ideology) road was the one I could buy into.

So, let’s move on to the First Lady’s speech. First, let me say this, the POTUS made a comment in the afternoon during a campaign appearance in Norfolk, Virginia about watching his wife’s speech at home (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue) with his daughters. He said he didn’t want them to see him cry during her speech. And he should feel that way. Michelle Obama, in my opinion is a better speaker then the POTUS, hands down. Whoever her speech trainer and coaches are did an excellent job with her.

She delivered it well. She used the teleprompters excellently – I doubt that anyone saw her using the prompter. She delivered it in a heartfelt, personal way, which, of course, was precisely her mission, as it was with Ann Romney.

Her introducer wasn’t some other slick politician, but a mom of five kids, four in the military and a fifth in high school, yet. That, of course, was part of the mission, relate to women, working women and especially moms. The introduction was short and sweet. I doubt that Michelle or any Democratic (or Republican, for that matter) politician or politician’s wife is all that “personal” with the vast majority of the constituency. For one thing, it’s hard for people to even get close to them since the POTUS and First Family are veiled in so much security. These folks are singled out for their political advantages.

I believe she met her objectives admirably, even getting in a few shots at the Romney-Ryan ticket. She wisely did not attack or even subtly dis Ann Romney or the Romney family. That would have been political suicide. For, those women and even those men who are supporters of Barack Obama, I believe she kept them in the fold. Certainly, everyone in the Arena last night were with her. As far as how much of the doubting and questioning, disillusioned women and men, especially those in the continually pounded number of 23 million unemployed and underemployed people in the country. I’m not sure she made a lot of in roads with them. There was, of course, no mention of the national debt, of the obvious areas of under performance, broken promises or failures.

Overall, the first night of the convention was pretty much what I expected. They talk around the issues. When commentators asked direct questions of any of the Democratic pundits they could corral, they were well versed in indirect answers, redirecting the topic or just plain didn’t answer the questions. While I don’t think I saw as much of this at the Republican convention, they are certainly adept at it as well. Hey, they’re all politicians; it’s what they do. I thought it was interesting that when Brian Ross of ABC News, one of the supposedly liberal media outlets, attempted to interview or ask any questions of the recognized deep pocket campaign funds contributors, they ran from him and even used police and uniformed security details to stop Ross, even threatening him with arrest. What is it that these powerful money sources don’t want the public to know about their support of the incumbent POTUS?

I’ll watch more of the circus tonight. So far, the Democratic Convention and their power speakers haven’t convinced me that the current POTUS has earned or deserves my one measly vote.