October Feast

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Probably my favorite month of the year, right along with December. October. The real beginning of Fall; football; my birthday; Halloween and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” What’s not to like?

I have been involved and busied in so many things of late and have neglected my duties to this blog and all of the readers that I do not have. The outcry at my absence has been, well, not quite deafening.

So much to say and so much going on in the world and in our country. At least I think it is still our country…for now at least. Maybe not for long though. Not given all of that is going on. And I really don’t think many are watching or don’t seem to care or maybe too much of both. I’ll save that for my next posting though. For now I would like to start this month, my favorite month in all likelihood, out on a positive and happy note. As much as possible that is.

My kids grown ever closer to high school.   It is so hard to realize at times how quickly time has passed of course, a thing to which all parents would likely likewise attest. They are doing well and doing a lot. Academics- good; music- good to very good; sports- good; happiness- pretty good I think. They are teenagers though and are acting as most teens do- they don’t seem to have as much need for their parents as they used to and that makes us sad at times but is indeed a sign that they are growing up fairly normal I think.

My wife and I have our issues- some more pressing and serious than others of course- but we manage to stay together as so many seem to not. Our relationship is basically strong but needs much more attention than we have been able to give it. I sense that is changing, a bit here and there, in the right direction. I hope that I am right and I know I need to pay more attention and do more of the right things.

I love my wife and I love my kids. I love our family (this would have to include our Goldens as most would know and agree with such an inclusion) and we have a fairly fortunate situation given some of what we see around us. At times I wish that I had married younger (same person honey!) and had kids sooner (same kids kids!) as I find that I am too often easily exhausted these days. Maybe that is my age or maybe my diet or maybe just a lack of quality sleep. Not too unlike many out there I would guess. Hopefully fixable. Likely solvable.

Not much creativity here this morning. Just wanted to start the month out with an entry. Get back to some more regular writing. Get back to getting some of all of this off of my chest.

How are all of you doing? Is life good? Are you happy with things- at home, at work, in your community, in your state, in your country…in the world? I hope so. In a world seemingly too fast filling with new evil and old hatreds it would seem that a lot more goodness is needed in the balance. The problem with the bad versus the good is that the bad attacks and kills while the good too often just does nothing. Often when nothing is done then nothing is done.

So go out today and make some good okay? Stand for something that is true and good and right and maybe missing from your life or from your world. Fill the voids that evil seeks and evil fills. Before it is too late.

I fear for us my friends, but today I will not live within such fear. Today I will welcome my favorite month with an open heart and open mind and I will do my best to make someone else’s day worth shining on. It is the least that I can do on this first day of my favorite month. Maybe you can join me?

Until another day stay strong and fight evil. It is closer, and stronger, than you think.

America in Fading

Commentary Social No Comments

 

I stood in line at McDonalds last night. I wanted a simple wrap and iced tea.

It was one of those Macs attached to a gas station and that is usually a bad sign.

I counted at least seven employees including the very large and slovenly (sorry, but she was both) manager and quickly noticed the disorder, disarray, and rather disgusting filth behind the counter. Granted, space was tight, but the view was one I am much more accustomed to seeing at, well, a Burger King.

I also noted that this particular establishment did not have any foreign-looking or foreign-sounding employees as is the case often. They was all home-growed (except for maybe the younger girl on the grill).

My bill was a bit over five bucks and I handed over a twenty. I usually use plastic as it is quicker and easier for me. The girl who took my order also took the twenty and opened the cash drawer.   She said she needed singles and mentioned this to another employee who went toward the back (to get the singles I assumed). So I waited for what should only be a moment or two. Right?

Next I stepped aside so that the girl at the register could take the next order. As I watched I could not help but listen to the two “ladies” behind me.

“So he said ‘fuck it’” the one said in only slightly hushed tones. “So I called and couldn’t believe it. He said ‘f u’ and hung up.” And so the adult conversation proceeded along similar lines.

I took a quick glance and, sure enough, the attire matched the vernacular. Is it the same to pre-judge and assume how someone is going to talk based upon the way they look as it is to pre-judge how someone is going to look based upon the way they talk? In any event, the pre-judgments lined up fairly well in my biased, prejudiced, profiling mind.

Both were dressed for the cooler weather else I was sure I would have noted some classy tats as well.

Meanwhile it was getting on toward several minutes having ticked away and no one had returned with singles for the cash drawer. The girl at the register neither went to look for the lost courier nor managed to take the next order which was, of course, the lovely ladies in line behind me.

“Do you need singles?” asked the more neatly-attired one of the two ladies. “How many do you need?”

“That’s okay, I need more for my drawer” responded the friendly though clueless employee as she seemingly managed to guess that the lady was offering to trade singles for a larger bill. Y’know, just to get things moving along.

During this I noted how many people were waiting for their orders. I also noted as the large manager ambled out and seemed intent on locating some missing keys while all the world about her screamed chaos. Good manager, thinks I. Wonder what I could do in my sleep to improve this franchise.

Still no change. Still the ladies chatted but now more about the fact that no one was taking their order. Not sure if they f-bombed the order talk or not.

About then I got my iced tea! I expected my wrap to be out at any minute so left the tea on the counter. I had ordered the chicken grilled after all and I know that usually takes a little longer than crispying it up.

Now it is past five minutes (that’s 300 seconds) since I placed my complicated order. I looked at the clock and while I was sure when I entered the place that I would have ample time to make it back to the field and my son’s baseball game I was then beginning to get a bit concerned.

Finally the manager seems to rouse from her hibernation and goes to help retrieve the George Washingtons so badly needed at the only manned register (of the three there). Seven employees- two are cooking, one standing helplessly and hopelessly at her open-drawer register, one working the drive through, and one delivering overdue orders to the many people waiting around. This is good, thinks I.

Back ambles the manager with the bills! Hurray! thinks I. She takes care of the money-hungry cash drawer while finally (!) asking if the register girl had taken the next order. When the girl cheerfully responds in the negative and mumbles some excuse as to why not the manager, obviously a top-notch trainer of men and women alike, mumbles something in return. Mumbling before me; f-bombing back behind. Caught in the middle is I.

So now the society women behind me can finally place their (rather large) order. Hurray for them! And I finally have my change- after they re-figure it that is. So hurray as well for me!

I also now see the manager ambling back (did I mention that she really should have worked a bit more on tucking in her greasy shirt?) to the counter to check on orders.

During this the sweet-looking young drive-through girl comes over to make a shake. She grabs a can of whipped cream and fills up the cup nicely though I did note how there was less shake and more cream. Cost-cutting there Mr. Big Mac? Anyhow, she jams the can of whipper, upside down, back into the quite filthy plastic receptacle that it came from. Though she tries carefully the angle at which she is forced to tong and retrieve a cherry is a bad one and she manages to drop a couple into some receptacle on a lower shelf. Wonder what is in there, I wonders. Cherries no doubt, I responds.

Oh oh oh. Did I mention that while waiting for my change a woman had returned to the counter and asked for some ketchup for her to-go order? Well she did and register girl obliges generously and dumps maybe twenty packets into the opened bag. I’m thinking it might have been better for her to offer 3-4 packets, confirm that that was enough, and then handed them to the woman but I guess burying the defenseless fries, in the bag, in unopened ketchup packets was the training she received. I suppose it was a better approach then pumping a bunch of ketchup from a large bottle directly into the customer’s bag. Not my problem I realizes but, notes I, the stone-faced customer receives the Halloween-like dumpage of ketchup packets into her bag without comment and turns and leaves without a word and, quite possibly, without much of a pulse. Kinda reminds me of Charlie Brown getting a bunch of rocks with the only difference being the missing “thank you (for blindly dumping an avalanche of unopened ketchup packets into my bag, register girl).”

Correction. I cannot absolutely say that I know for sure that all of the packets were unopened.

Where was I? (Sorry, longer story than I remembered).

Oh yeah.

So I finally (!) see a wrap get passed to the front from the back and the manager takes it and places it on a tray. Yikes go I. Did I mention I had ordered it to go?

Oh, I forgot. As I was calmly surveying all of this action, or, rather, inaction, I took a welcomed sip of my iced tea through the straw. (By the way, why was there a straw in it already? I don’t want to think of the possibilities…) And guess what? It was sweet tea!

Did I mention I had ordered my now no longer welcomed iced tea to be UNsweetened?

So over comes my wrap and I have to tell the manager that my order was to-go. With a somewhat frustrated, but also resigned, look on her face she turns and goes to lose the tray and get a bag.

Somewhere in here I told the manager about the tea. She starts to look a bit unhappy as if maybe I am causing too many problems for her.

So she returns to the counter with the bag but just as she hands it to me someone must have said something because, without a word to me, and as my empty hand reached out, she turns and leaves the frickin’ counter! (That one is for you, classy ladies). She goes back to the “prep area” (?) and takes the wrap OUT of the bag, to look at it. She places it back in the bag and then walks it over to some waiting, starving customer and what seemed a minor apology. Or maybe she just burped.

“Check your drink!” I wanted to yell to the customer.

But of course I was better behaved than that because my mama taught me some manners that stuck.

Miss manager returns to the prep area and tells the kitchen folk that she needs another wrap and explains what kind she needs. Still no word to me.

Seems like it must be going on about half an hour by now, eh wot? Seemed that way to me too but we were probably just over ten minutes at this point. Be patient, advises I to myself.

Register girl is back to taking orders- from the person now AFTER the classy ladies.

At around this point Miss Manager ambles over with my new and improved iced tea! After she confirms that it is unsweetened and that it is for me (could she have forgotten me so soon? Guess I should learn to raise more of a fuss in such situations- y’know, to gets remembered). No need to worry that her greasy shirt or likely dirty hands would touch my new and improved straw because this time there was no straw! New, improved, wrapped, or unwrapped. None. I mumble something and then just reach over to my old and unwanted sweetened tea which was never removed from the counter and retrieve my old straw. I jam it into my new and improved iced tea as if I am stabbing something. Or someone.

I notice at this time that another customer, a pleasant-looking chap in his twenties, is standing back and looking on to the scene with a look that is hard to describe. Not smiling, but maybe thinking he should. The shorter and less-better-dressed of the classy ladies now engages me in conversation as I relate the series of events to her and, also, as I am not speaking softly, to the obvious interest of the pleasant-looking young man who is waiting to either deliver or receive his order. Though gruff and without a ton of oratorical class she does seem a bit sympathetic. That is until they bring out here and her friend’s food on a tray. Looks good. Smells good. And poof she is off.

“Enjoy your meal” I offer to the contrail. This time pleasant-man manages a wry smile.

Where are we at- maybe twelve or more minutes now? Game starts real, real soon folks!

Let’s see- got my change and got the real deal iced tea, with a straw. Now just need my food.

So then lo and beholden before I know what happens the wrap is finally done, handed over, bagged and given to me with nary a word- no apology, no excuse, no “have a happy life”, no “thank you sir, please do visit us again.” Nothin. They just move on to their next adventure with their next victim, er, customer.

I leave but not without one final contact. Outside of the fine establishment I note the better-dressed classy lassie on her cell phone, still issuing stinging invectives to whoever is fortunate to be on the other end of the wireless.

Oh, and I almost get run over by the Big Mac 18-wheeler as it barrels through the tiny parking lot and then, as I enjoy my tasty wrap, a good bit of it squishes out and lands on my pants. Oh yeah, it is time to get to the game with my attitude damaged but not destroyed. Same story for my jeans.

So there it is, a snapshot of America and what we have become or are continuing to become.

The service, the attentiveness, the self-respectful attire, the cultured language and communication skills, the civility, the general state of things that are as they are or are all too soon becoming.

It’s a fade route and then the final tally to lock down the final score.

Game over man. We lost.

Nine Twelve

Observations Political No Comments

 

This is and will always be the day that follows nine eleven. It has always been so.

How did you observe the day yesterday? Did you spend anytime remembering the events from that terrible day, now some thirteen years in the past? Did you say a special prayer for those who perished at the hand of pure evil or perhaps to those diminished and forever-saddened souls who remained behind, without a mom or dad or brother or sister or son or daughter or cousin or niece or nephew or aunt or uncle or grandparent or grandchild or fiancé or simply just a friend? Did you fly the flag? Did you think about the evil you believe may have left that terrible day, some thirteen days now in the past? Did you think, even for a brief moment, that maybe, like the poor innocents left behind, that perhaps evil remained as well? Did you think, even for a brief moment, about what your elected and compensated government is doing to recognize, confront, and destroy such evil? Or maybe, rather, you worried about all that is not being done?

I flew the flag. I said a prayer for the innocents taken and those left behind. I thought about the rising tide of pure evil that may be rising faster now than ever before. And, of course, I thought about all that I know this government is not doing to protect us, to protect this country.

Wasn’t that supposed to be one of the key functions of this government as expressed in the Constitution? Isn’t that their job?? Isn’t that one of the reasons why we give them so much of our money?? Am I a dreamer or just stupid?

Sometimes I dream about a real debate between John Kerry and Thomas Jefferson. Or maybe Hillary Clinton and John Adams- no, wait, make it Abigail. Or how about Obama and Washington? Maybe Susan Rice and John Jay? Harry Reid and Patrick Henry? Pelosi and James Monroe? Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Marshall?

Sorry, I digress.

But one more digression. I also sometimes dream about administering a pop quiz, popped on those listed above who are still living, that includes both a citizenship and a constitutional test as given to legally immigrated folks and also to junior high students across this great land.

Who would get the best grade? Or, put more in popular vernacular, who would suck least?

Back to topic.

Perhaps you did not even remember or note the passing of nine eleven because of all the coverage of the Ray Rice incident where he knocked out his fiancée as evidenced by the video captured on the elevator. A terrible incident and one that happens far too often to too many people, women, children, and, yes, even men.   It is impossible to escape the news coverage on this- it is 24/7 as they say.

And no matter your opinion or position that is maybe as it should be; I will not argue something so subjectively personal to each and every one of us.

In any event it is inescapable.

At least, in this case, no one was killed. Thank God.

But there were people, Americans, killed on nine eleven…two thousand and twelve.

You most likely know the name of Ray Rice’s fiancée yes? Do you even know any of the names of the four Americans killed two years ago, and one day, in Benghazi, Libya?

Allow me to help you with this.

Christopher Stevens.

Sean Smith.

Tyrone Woods.

Glen Doherty.

Where is, where was, all the hysterical coverage on that? Where was all of the investigating and celebrity commentary and main stream media outrage? Where has all the follow-up disappeared to after two years now? Why has absolutely no one, as in the case of one Roger Goodell, been called out on this? Why is no State Department official, up to and including Hillary Clinton, been held accountable if not responsible for the unnecessary and brutal deaths of four Americans on nine eleven two thousand and twelve?

Why has the president not been taken to task and pressed on this at all?

Where is all of the Ray Rice outrage?

Hell, where WAS any of the Ray Rice outrage?

Oh, I see. Completely different situations.

Really?

Not completely. The reason behind the outrage on one and the acceptance of the other is exactly the same.

It was the video.

The Know-Everythings

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There was a time when this country was downright mean and unwelcoming. Just ask any present-day activist or modern-day progressive liberal and they will tell you who, what, when and where. Maybe they will add how or why but there are no such guarantees.

Truth be told they will tell you all kinds of stories and some might even be partially true but in terms of accuracy the bullseye need have nothing to fear. Whatever the cause-de-jour may be or the most convenient target with which to emphasize some manner of associated point or opinion or position that is where you will find the majority of their mindshares. In mathematics you need at least two distinct points to define a line. Describe Point A and then just pick Point B and, voila, there you have it.

Let’s say it may be the so-called Native Americans. Or maybe it is the rise of slavery or the treatment of blacks after they were proclaimed emancipated, right up to this very day, in your very school, church, store, place of work, or even at your own doorstep. Perhaps it is the plight of the American Woman and all there endured since, during, and after- the unmarried or single mother being a specialized sub-category. Choice.  Could be the Jews but likely not- no one really likes them so no one complains much about their mistreatment except perhaps over that non-American problem in the mid-twentieth century. Might be the Muslims but likely not- they are revered and held in high regard and except in defense there is danger in referring to them lest their god be offended and you be destroyed. Maybe it is around sexual orientation or marital preference or lifestyle choice. How about the poor poor- they always need more more; and damn you if you even suggest they themselves help to provide any of that more. The urban situation; the suburban plantations; the rich left who somehow manage to stay poor and oppressed and slighted even when they remain as rich or more rich than the rich on the right…follow?; the kids, our kids, my kids, your kids, so mistreated and mishandled at home so that the state worker’s party school and czars must help correct and train properly; or maybe it is the unfortunate immigrants who did not come here illegally though they are listed as having no documents as required by law like the rest of us unfairly privileged folks who were unfairly born within the borders; the oppressed and misunderstood unions; card check; poor schools and poor teachers in direct proportion to how little actual schooling and teaching are done; healthcare for all; and maybe it’s just the cats and dogs and Mitt Romney, the bastard, who imprisoned and tortured his poor dog on the top of his vehicle; and, well, the list can be endless and is always being updated and revised per necessary convenience. They should create an app…easier to update.

Not on the list? White American males in general. Conservatives (not to be confused with Conservationists). Heterosexual couples, especially those who marry and stay married and give birth to decent kids. Folks who choose to live in lower-crime areas, especially the lily-white suburbs. People who demand the laws of these United States be upheld, including and especially when it comes to illegal immigration. Anyone who has made a decent fortune through their own labors. Actually, anyone who works, especially outside of a union cover. Successful schools, particularly the chartered ones. Lower taxes. International efforts to enhance security at home. Responsible spending by the government. Republicans. International terrorism. A pro-life position. Voter identification cards.

The Constitution.

Oh did I mention Christians or Christianity? Wonder which list that would be on.

And Catholics? Well, besides the fact that they continue to value the supposed pro-poor positions while ignoring the real pro-abortion-and-gay-relations-and-birth-control preachings of their Democratic party (please don’t ask because I have no idea why) they have had their time in Persecutory. Witness their being grouped in with blacks and Jews in the consideration of that Democratically chartered organization known as the KKK.

And then there were the Know-Nothings. They tried to have their say in regard to Catholics. Especially those here legally immigrated.

We could not today have the Know-Nothings. It would not be allowed.

But we do have the Know-Everythings. Just check out your federal government. You know, the one you perhaps helped to put in place by either voting for them or maybe not voting at all. Keep quiet and hear no evil and all will be well, yes?

Yes, all will be well indeed for these folks do indeed know everything. I had heard ad nauseam how brilliant was the man, the black man whose white side seems to have thankfully disappeared (until it is convenient to have it re-emerge), who today occupies, with his family, at our expense and with our so-voted permission, the White House. He and his cohorts and friends and staff and appointees and czars and most now associated with that government and, indeed, that party, are all considered to be smarter than we could ever possibly fathom or even imagine in all of our wildest peasantly plebeian dreams. We do not know but they sure as hell do.

They are the Know-Everythings.

They do know everything. And they do nothing.

Or do they?

Wise up America. Wise up and rise up and in the hypocritically non-racist reference associated with Teflon Uncle Joe- take your country back.

What They Knowed

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Al was a pretty smart dude. Him and Jimmy and Johnny thought about stuff, talked about stuff, debated and argued stuff, and then wound up writing all that stuff down. Maybe just for us. It was important to them. It was important to the ideas and beliefs that they held, sometimes only after changing their minds in favor of a better idea or opinion that further shaped those beliefs.

Men of principle; men of integrity; men and legends of time. Some might say genius and I would not argue that, not really having the credentials to do so. My genius resides in acknowledging theirs.

You might call them retro, you might call them old school, you might dismiss them for some reason totally uncoupled from their extreme knowledge of history (lessons learned), human behavior (keen observations), and their insightful approach (brilliance employed) to what could work in the realm of humankind and accomplish what had never been done before within that realm.

And once accomplished and once established then average folks like us might believe things could never be undone. Unless you know history, that is. Unless you know the typical directions of human behavior, that is. And unless you have the insight and the foresight to attempt to put in place something that might help to hold the inevitable and persistent wolf at bay.

But even all of that might not, in the final day of days, matter all that much. And they damn well knew it.

They knew it.

“On the other hand, it will be equally forgotten that the vigor of government is essential to the security of liberty; that, in the contemplation of a sound and well-informed judgment, their interests can never be separated; and that a dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people than under the forbidding appearance of zeal for the firmness and efficiency of government. History will teach us that the former has been found a much more certain road to the introduction of despotism than the latter, and that of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying and obsequious court to the people, commencing demagogues and ending tyrants.”

Al was a pretty smart dude. He could see around corners and on the other side of hills and he tried to help us to do the same, to warn us of what might be there, but perhaps we are just no longer able to understand or, worse, maybe we just don’t believe or even care enough to heed the warnings.

Al was a pretty smart dude. Sure he got some things wrong, and he advocated much too much at times for the side of the larger power, federally speaking, but he was still a giant among men.

And sometimes not very well-liked.   He was shot in New Jersey and died in New York.

Sometimes genius is hard to figure out but the products of its workings are, well, genius. We would be smart enough, indeed, to heed.

Whodat? …evil

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There are many groups of people in this world. There is a group that conjures up evil. And, to many people, including their own, fear.

This group deals in disregard for life. Any not like them are readily eradicated with no trace at all of moral consideration before or moral outrage after. This also very often applies to when they kill those even much more like them, maybe exactly like them. No regard, no care, no morality, no humanity. As close to pure evil as can be imagined.

There is no respect for property- all is there to be destroyed, looted and burned, at their own behest and whim. Anger unbridled.   Hate unopposed. Evil unabated.

Rape. Pillage. Plunder. Murder.

Within this group and also without there is no concern for a victim who may be of any color or religion but is usually associated with some specifics except in cases of internal opposition or rebut.

Within this group and also without there is no concern for a victim who can be of any age and either gender. All are expendable and none deserve special consideration. All are expendable.

In some cases this group claims a reason for their actions but often it is simply inexplicable and unable to be understood by most others- rich or poor, dark or light, religious or atheist, woman or man, adult or child, cleric or lay person, straight or gay, tall or short, thin or heavy, one-legged or two, capitalist or socialist or communist, hot or cold, up or down, left or right, today or tomorrow or any day that this very earth has passed or will pass away. Inexplicable and evil.

“There’ll be no one to save, with the whole world in a grave.”

Others try to say that this group simply needs an olive branch, some concessions, a dose of true understanding, a bit of TLC. Oh, and just throw some more money at them, at the situation, and all will be well. Throw daisies upon the invaders as they march onward, unabated. It won’t stop them but it might just make them hate you a little less.

There exists, or likely exists, or should likely exist, within this group a number of good persons who disagree with the actions and the leaders. But these persons are mythical because they do not speak up and sure as hell do not stand up. Maybe it is due to simple ridicule by their own, perhaps fear of bodily harm to themselves or their family or friends, perhaps fear of theft or destruction of their property…perhaps simply fear of emotionlessly administered death. When fear alone is all there is to counter evil I’ll let you guess which is likely to dominate.

Some of all of this death and destruction is random, sometimes killing one and often killing more.  Occasionally it is more narrowly directed.

And governments that can, well they do nothing to stop it. They too are scared.

These people hate and they act out their hatred with the most evil actions imaginable. If they do belong to a government, or should be governed and restrained by one, they are not. And if there are those among them who wish to speak out or stand up they do not. And if there are those among us who believe this should be stopped we do nothing to do so.

Nothing. Evil simply goes on.

This group? Is it just one?

And how close to you, to where you work and where you play and where you live, does it reside?

No matter how close it is today you can be assured that it will be even closer tomorrow. Unabated evil spreads…unabated. And it simply grows stronger with time.

So go ahead and continue to hide your head and appease and let others handle it. Go ahead and ignore it. Go ahead and hope for the best and simply do nothing. It can’t happen here, no not to me and mine.

Until, that is, it one day simply does.

A Mountain Man…his mother…and Lester of course

Lessons Observations Personal Reflections & Memories No Comments

 

It has been awhile since I last posted anything here. Too long I think.

It had been almost nine months since we last visited the hills and worn-down old mountains of northern Georgia but we did indeed visit again. We just recently returned. This time I did not have any time to write as I had done during our previous visit.

It seems that little changes in the mountains, in the hills. The people are still very friendly and life seems taken a bit more in stride with emphasis on things most of us may have forgotten long ago. The clock ticks yet things remain the same.

The river flows. And we flowed with it.

The day passed along and we passed along with it, with family and good times.

The mountain roads went up and down and left and right with sometimes stomach-shifting severity and always at risk of life and limb to those with too little respect.

The sun rose and it set and the breezes blew the morning fogs away and off the hillsides. All was still yet still somehow passed along.

You see, even when things seem to stay the same they do, for sure, change. You just need to be paying attention.

The hotel we stayed at was the same but is now owned by a different corporation. Same though different.

My relatives are the same but have aged and acquired new problems and ailments. Same and definitely different.

The trees were all still there but this time greener and taller. Mostly the same but still slightly different.

We drove the same vehicle but my kids were older and bigger and my wife and I were older and probably smaller, and definitely heavier. Not really the same at all but similar and part of life.

We shopped at the same mall which I am sure had new stores and some older ones changed or simply gone. Likely some of the people may even have been those there on our prior visit but who knows? It all seemed very much the same and familiar to me at least but probably different to others with more exposure.

It is probable also that the hills and mountains themselves were no longer as tall as they were with material washing off the top and depositing itself at the bottom in a double-whammy hit on height. But who would really be able to tell that at first or even any further glance? Not me.

Same but different.

This time we did not meet the mountain man but he was there. We drove buy his small, old house and back-shack several times and saw his truck but not the man himself. Probably out fishing again.

If we had stopped by we would not have seen his mother again. We learned that she had passed sometime in the past nine months. May she rest in peace and may the mountain man survive with all of his independence intact.

And, sadly also, we did not see Lester. We heard that he is now so old and feeble that while he still makes his way up the hill for some free treats he has to be retrieved at the end of the day by his owners. He cannot make the return journey back down any longer.

To the mountain man and his mother and also to Lester. Thanks for showing us a side of life not often considered and thanks for staying the same long enough for us to meet you all.

It is sad that these things have now changed but change they must. Even in the hills and mountains of northern Georgia.

John Adams Said…(Was Just Sayin…)

Political No Comments

 

I first noted a reference to this passage in the book “The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic” by Mark R. Levin. Interesting viewpoint from a bygone era when none of today’s REAL issues could have possibly been recognized, known, appreciated, or anticipated those many decades ago…especially from a bunch of Old White Guys. #OWG…OMG.

BTW, Mr. Nedham, is AKA Mr, Marchamont Nedham (Needham). Just sayin…

“Suppose a nation, rich and poor, high and low, ten millions in number, all assembled together; not more than one or two millions will have lands, houses, or any personal property; if we take into the account the women and children, or even if we leave them out of the question, a great majority of every nation is wholly destitute of property, except a small quantity of clothes, and a few trifles of other movables. Would Mr. Nedham be responsible that, if all were to be decided by a vote of the majority, the eight or nine millions who have no property, would not think of usurping over the rights of the one or two millions who have? Property is surely [9] a right of mankind as really as liberty. Perhaps, at first, prejudice, habit, shame or fear, principle or religion, would restrain the poor from attacking the rich, and the idle from usurping on the industrious; but the time would not be long before courage and enterprise would come, and pretexts be invented by degrees, to countenance the majority in dividing all the property among them, or at least, in sharing it equally with its present possessors. Debts would be abolished first; taxes laid heavy on the rich, and not at all on the others; and at last a downright equal division of every thing be demanded, and voted. What would be the consequence of this? The idle, the vicious, the intemperate, would rush into the utmost extravagance of debauchery, sell and spend all their share, and then demand a new division of those who purchased from them. The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If “Thou shalt not covet,” and “Thou shalt not steal,” were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society, before it can be civilized or made free.”

http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/2104#Adams_1431-06_19

 

Oh, and for those modernists internetsia among the sum lot of you below you will find a blurb taken from the entry on Machiavelli in the holy web bible. Interesting how old white guys like John Adams were so well-read and well-versed on schlubs like that old Italian dude. Since he didn’t have the intellectual linkage that Wikipedia brings forth to the masses in the smallest of bites it was left to Adams, and others like him, to devour the whole course, several actually, in order to finish the meal; think about it all, talk about it all to similarly minded old white guys, and then write more than a few tweets about what was concluded. But such treatment could never pass for the shroud of supreme knowledge available today to the masses but best wielded by the chosen. It is too deeply considered and takes far too long to digest such fare. Small bites by nimbly constricted minds is all that seems able to be swallowed. Pity, that.

“Whatever his intentions, which are still debated today, he has become associated with any proposal where “the end justifies the means“. For example Leo Strauss (1958, p. 297) wrote:

Machiavelli is the only political thinker whose name has come into common use for designating a kind of politics, which exists and will continue to exist independently of his influence, a politics guided exclusively by considerations of expediency, which uses all means, fair or foul, iron or poison, for achieving its ends—its end being the aggrandizement of one’s country or fatherland—but also using the fatherland in the service of the self-aggrandizement of the politician or statesman or one’s party.”

Hmm, sound familiar to anyone out there?

Try This…

Commentary Political Social No Comments

 

Ok ok ok ok. So you don’t really know much about politics, or how our government is supposed to work (versus how it is actually operating), or about any of the key issues (like our debt, taxes, immigration, foreign affairs, etc), or you just simply want to spend the time to deal with any of that crap…

Ever felt that way? Ever said that?

“Doesn’t matter who I vote for they’re all crooks.” Really? Is that just an easy or lazy response?

“Oh, I don’t pay much attention to any of that stuff. I don’t have time.” Do you have time to watch TV or surf the Net, or go shopping, or tend to your garden, or check endlessly check your phone, or walk your dog…?

“I’m not smart enough to understand any of that.” Maybe you should raise your opinion of yourself.

“Oh, my husband worries about all of that; I just worry about the kids.” Better think about your kid’s future because THAT is in serious jeopardy.

“I haven’t voted in years.” Then shame on you- it is one of the few civic duties that you have. Paying taxes is another. You do one but not the other right?

“They’re gonna do what they want anyhow.” Before too long you may be right but maybe there is still time to stop them. Lay down for a fight and you are guaranteed to lose.

Just stop and listen to yourself. This is your country and your community and your home and your school and your family. This is YOUR life. So how about diverting a few minutes a day to getting smarter and getting active?

You should first learn the Constitution- read it; it really doesn’t take that long. Read it with your family. Read it out loud and discuss it. Bask in its simple brilliance.

Next, read some real history. Find a good book that honestly covers the history of our country. It doesn’t have to be a huge or complicated book but should honestly cover our whole history.

Get some news feeds from honest sources. Get them from multiple sources as a way to “double check”.

Talk to people about what is going on, what you like and don’t like. Join a civic group or two if you can.

Learn more about the issues that really matter- to you, your children, to your community. Decide where your opinion falls and fight for what you think is right.

Look at your moral and cultural foundations and decide if you like the way things are going. Be real, be honest.

Ask yourself “am I happy with the way things are?” And also ask yourself “am I doing my best to make the most of the life that has been given to me or am I just getting along or even living off of someone else’s wallet.”

Get real. Stop being lazy and stop being stupid. Stop looking the other way and dismissing everything as not being your problem because the funny thing with problems is that the more you try to avoid them the more they have a tendency to find you. And bury you.

Don’t let that happen to you. Wise up and rise up and be counted…maybe for the first time ever in your life.

What Do You Call All This?

Commentary Political No Comments

 

It has been nine days since my last visit here- the longest I have yet been away. Lots going on but no excuses. I need to get back to my daily routine. It’s kind of like working out- good to do every day and it winds up making you feel better. Well, maybe.

So much going on in the world and a lot not good for us, for this country.

Did the Russians really shoot down or aid in shooting down the Malaysian jet liner bound for KL? Where is the outrage? Where is the U.S. response to Putin?

For how long will our southern borders remain basically open to all? When will we do anything about it? What problems can we expect down the road from all this?

When will the administration and its taxing Gestapo arm, the IRS, be called to account for what is obvious misuse of power? When will we wise up and neuter or eliminate these out-of-control bureaucracies such as the IRS, the EPA, HHS, DoED, and so many, many others? Why does that power grow unseen and, for sure, unchecked? Why do we allow this and why the hell do we pay for it? Stupidity.

When will Hillary Clinton be prosecuted, not just simply be held responsible, for the deaths of the four Americans in Benghazi? There is not much discussion about her role and responsibility but she is as guilty as if she had been there in person. Maybe she should have been there in person and shared the fear and fate of those sacrificial souls. Shameful. Wicked. Terrifying.

When will this country finally, finally wise up to Obamacare and repeal it and then really, really fix the health care system. So much could have been done, can be done, without such a boat anchor of a bill being passed and implemented. More free stuff, mo’money, and, in the end, no solution to the real problems. Our government at its finest.

When will our free press be free again? When will it return to real journalism, objective and non-political reporting as envisioned as necessary by men such as Thomas Jefferson? At least Pravda had no real option to change.

Will we ever stand up for, and with, our ally, Israel, and recognize the real, real threat that is radical Islam? How many of them are there out there? Is it really radical or just Islam? Do we not see that they see us as bigger devils than they see the Jews in Israel? Talk will not dissuade these people. There is ultimately only one solution- they must be completely defeated before they defeat us- why is that so hard to understand and why does our press not report on this either?

I wonder if our government will ever stop spending like spoiled, rich college students who have an open account with mommy and daddy. Those are the type of kids who just want more and, oh, by the way, hate their parents…but still need them for the money. Can you say the 99%ers? What if the 1%ers just go away you frickin’ idiots? You ain’t really all that smart is ya? Sooner or later it has to end, one way or another.

When will our tax system be revised to something more fair- as in those who don’t pay nothin’ now need to start payin’ somethin’ soon? Simplify it and make it more fair. Stop milkin’ the people that make our economy move, creating jobs and opportunities and actual wealth…not welfare. Welfare is what the government produces.

When will people get off there asses and get off the government teat? More and more people are being made dependent and don’t really seem to mind or realize that if you exist off what is given you will cease to do so when it gets taken away. Simple enough?

Free birth control and free reefer. Money from home so no job needed. No real responsibility. Sure sounds like a lot of college kids I used to know.

Stand up people and fight. Enough. Enough. Enough.