ALL GENDER - INCLUDING NEUTER?

MALE, FEMALE, WHEELCHAIR? Hmmm!

More and more, signs of this format are staring me in the face when I decide to test the ceramic fixture offered to the cross-legged dancing public for expulsion relief. This is a fine arrangement when I happen to be in a lightly frequented establishment where there is but a 15% probability that the facilities will be blocked by a slow moving line of "dancers."
I think that the hub-bub about the separation of rest rooms is nonsense.  65 or so years ago I took a trip to Canada with EFR Dion.  We went fairly far north to a place by the name of  Midland.  It is a small city that is situated some 20+ miles south of Georgian Bay, an arm of Hudson's Bay.  This was FAR from our home in Western Massachusetts so we had to make several "pit stops" along the way.  At the first one we looked in vain for a "Men's Room."  So, after a few moments we decided that the "Toilet" was the "Rest Room."  We were glad to discover that it worked very well...just like back in the USA's "Men's Room."  In the week that we were in Canada we were unable to find one of these "Toilets" that was defective.  We even greeted some women coming out from behind the door.  Yeah, 65 years ago.  Think about it.

So, boys and girls, my suggestion to you is this:  Hold your urge until it gets to be so intense that you will be able to use the public toilet with nothing else on your mind but relief.  

$16,000,000 vs $32,000 SON OF A BITCH vs MOTHERHOOD AND APPLE PIE

I have been boycotting professional sports for many years now for reasons that touch on the (im)morality of the relationship that the athletes and the owners and the media and the public have with one another.  To state that the athletes are disparaging our great country is pure, fresh fertilizer straight from the source.  The salary of the successful career military professional will never attain 8 digits but his healthy life expectancy will outdistance that of the millionnaire athlete whose conditioning regimen and violent livelihood will cut his life expectancy by decades in comparison. Both will have to overcome huge statistical odds to gain the promotions and professional status that they attain.  Both will be compensated according to their state in life.  Both know what to expect and neither one will be jealous of the other because both will be at home with the status that they have achieved.  Given that incontrovertible fact, each will have reasons to exercise the freedom of expression that is guaranteed to each and everyone of the citizens of the United States of America.  To imply that the $16,000,000 guy should be happier than the $32,000 one is to be blind to the human fact that gold alone is not the source of happiness.  (Don't forget to add about 45% more to the $32K for non-cash benefits, present time and post active duty.  Don't worry, all that will not equal $16 Mil)
.
To see a similar, but slightly different way of expressing myself on this topic, you can click here if you are so inclined.

Furthermore, I am shaking my head at the accusation that those who demonstrate disagreement with the expectations of others when they exercise  the freedoms that we all have because of the sacrifices of those who have created this country thanks to courageous revolutionary demonstrations are disrespecting the flag and the country itself.

The son of a bitch who leveled that accusation at the players is spitting on the graves of those who broke the yoke of the Kingdom that never dreamed of granting such freedom to its subjects.  That same Kingdom now imitates the life that the Son of a bitch in the West Wing is supposed to be protecting, not accusing.  

Oh, by the way, what is he, the self declared billionnaire, complaining about?  Shouldn't he be the first to shut up and be happy with his mountain of gold?  All he ever does is complain.  If America is not so great, as he himself proclaims (MAGA ???) why isn't it OK to demonstrate dissatisfaction, like he does all the time?  

This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

FIRE THE SONS OF BITCHES - PRESIDENT TRUMP

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._national_anthem_protests

Village Idiot son of a bitch Trump is nothing but a pile of human detritus, wannabe dictator of the national territory between Canada and Mexico.  I have lived during the presidency of the following:

Tommy Smith & John Carlos
Mexico City Olynpics, 1968

1. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1945
2. Harry S. Truman, 1945-1953
3. Dwight David Eisenhower, 1953-1961
4. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1961-1963
5. Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1963-1969
6. Richard Milhous Nixon, 1969-1974
7. Gerald Rudolph Ford, 1974-1977
8. James Earl Carter, Jr., 1977-1981
9. Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1981-1989
10. George Herbert Walker Bush, 1989-1993
11. William Jefferson Clinton, 1993-2001
12. George Walker Bush, 2001-2009
13. Barack Hussein Obama, 2009-
14. and, of course, Village Idiot Trump

During this time there have been many public demonstrations against racist, white supremacist violent and cruel behavior against African American people.  Never, NEVER has any one of these men, some of whom had rather colorful vocabularies, as the stories have it, never, in 80+ years has any one of them ever called a segment of the populace of the USA "Son of Bitch."

There are those who would think that if anyone could have said something similar, it could have been LBJ, the sitting president at the time.  The two athletes in the picture above did what they did on the international stage of the Olympic Games in Maxico City(1968), and LBJ dealth with it in a professional, diplomatic way.  

There is a long history of National Anthem protests.  The latest one is far from the first and I predict, far from the last.  The Village Idiot president of the United States these days says that these people do not have the right to protest because they make a lot of money.  Therefore, the white supremicist president is saying, they should be quietly comfortable in their corner of the plantation and enjoy the privilege of their riches.  Their human freedom is limited to the boundaries of their bank account.  Thanks, Village Idiot.  Is that how you define your freedom, racist son of a bitch?  

This meme of yours makes you the lowest breed son of a bitch of the land.

You are wrapping yourself in the flag while you never dare to challenge Putin, you never accuse the killer who drove a vehicle into the crowd in Charlottesville, Virginia and you continuosly and viciously attack the media.  So, don't wrap yourself in the flag that signifies freedom of speech, even to the point where you can use foul and insulting language against African Americans.  You are so steeped in your idiocy that you don't realize (or you have actually intended) that speech of that degree of insult coming from you, the president of the country, can actually be an illegal threat against the safety and security of the person(s) to whom it is directed.

You, the Village Idiot POTUS, son of a bitch,  make us ashamed to be citizens here.  Thanks to your warped mind and idiotic behavior your place in the USA history Hall of Shame is guaranteed.  

WALLS, WALLS AND MORE WALLS DO NOT EQUAL JOBS.

Unmistakable sign of weakness

Border walls are the greatest proof of weakness that governments display in the name of national security, job protection and of course, racial "purity."

Weakness?  You bet.

1. Weak border control at the gates.  

2. Weak visa enforcement re. students, tourists, sales reps, politicians, etc.

3. Weak tracking of holders of temporary stay visas.

4. Weak enforcement of labor laws.

5. Fear of loss of campaign contributions from those who hire low wage undocumented migrants

These are but a few elements of our national weakness concerning the entry and stay of migrants.  In order to escape our national responsibility to govern and enforce the migratory movements of  people in our land, there are some who insist on delegating these responsibilties to brick and mortar.  History has shown us that brick and mortar and even other more or less sophisticated erections do not do anything more than to make those who built them happy for a short period of time.  After a while they all become nothing more than tourist attractions and historical footnotes.  The proof of this is spread out over our planet, from sea to shining sea and from fruited to non-fruited plain.

My position to the government of the United States is:  Save money.  Get in your car and go find those who are thumbing their noses at the existing immigration and related labor laws and you will solve what you seem to believe is a problem.  Believe me, building a wall is not going to stop the US employers from hiring non documented persons...in fact, those employers will smuggle people in through the existing gates - mark my words.

HISTORICAL FACTS -- ¿REALLY? -- WOW! THANKS

This is one of those days when I receive my favorite class of emails.  The kind that someone "forwards" with a forceful directive on the subject line to "read this carefully"- or - "Your History Lesson for Today" - like the one I am talking about as we proceed.

This one is an apotheosis of Robert E. Lee.  It closes with the finger-wagging warning that I, and anyone else I might forward this drivel to, should not change history.  Aahhh, OK. 

We therefore proceed to the deep study of the historical facts that according to above referenced email, will support the idolatry due to Master General in charge of the Confederate Forces.

1. He worked with Grant during the Mexican / American War - USA

2. That earned him a decoration as a war hero - USA

3. His wife broke the law by teaching slaves to read and write

4. He believed that slavery was a great evil

5. He worked with Andrew Jackson in the Reconstruction - USA

6. He became popular with northern states and some barracks at West Point are named after him

7. He was a great man who served his country his entire life in one form or another - ?

8. No decorated war hero should be treated as such - ?

9. This is not Iraq and this is not a statue of Sadam(sic)

10. He was very torn about the prospect of the South leaving the Union -?

11. George Washington had a great influence on his life

12. He believed that states rights trumped the federal government

13. The government demanded that he pay his taxes in person - USA

14. When he did not pay his taxes in the proper form, the government took his land and turned into a cemetery for burying Union soldiers - Now Arlington National Cemetery

Poor Robert!  Looks like he had a pretty good thing going until he decided to commit treason. He had some good things going for him.  He had a rather good upper middle class life, what with having a solid education, arable land, working slaves and solid political connections.  The decision that he made to fight for the independence of the states over the decisions of the federal government was a bad one. The decision to fight to the death for the continuation of slavery was a bad one.  The decision to go counter to the intelligence that had been delivered to him did not deter him from attacking at Gettysburg was a bad one. 

So, General Robert E Lee agreed to meet with the respected General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomatox. Lee surrenders.  Grant accepts.  They go their separate ways...but it doesn't end there.

What the email doesn't say is that Lee was never prosecuted for treason.  Why doesn't anyone ever bring that up?  It is true.  He was never brought to justice for all the killing and the misery that he visited upon the country that he tried to vanquish.  Something happened between that April day in 1865 and the rest of Lee's life.  It is my strong suggestion that what happened between that day and the rest of Lee's life is the greatest monument that could exist because it tells the story of how the United States treats the victims of the wars that it wins.  It happened despite the fact that Lee had tax problems.  It happened because his friend, General Grant and Frederick Douglas (Yes, it's true), who lost the debates to be the presidential candidate,  convinced Abraham Lincoln not to pursue charges.  

The bottom line is that history does not have to be changed.  It is beautiful as it is.  I won't change it.  Before you warn me not to change it, be sure that you have the bottom line facts that matter, not just the feel-good fluffy ones, but the hard ones, straight.  Like the one that an escaped slave was instrumental in saving your hero's ass from prosecution.

You are surely one person who will not be tempted to cry at my funeral.  

100% PLAGIARIZED FROM A REAL FRIEND, EXCEPT FOR THE PICTURE

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE (PART 2) (You need 15 minutes of quiet time for this one)

Listen first to this presentation, then click here to read the original post here then see the comments below.  I have been having a polite and respectful discussion about the building of walls around countries. This discussion was started as a comment sent to me by a brother in the faith. 

Comment 1.
Anthony here. Been a while.
Hope you and family are having a fruitful Lent. Interesting comments on your post. I suspect we are on different political ends but I wanted to make sure. My Lenten work is to not have quick opinions about others without at least 10 exchanges of ideas. People are complex and ideas are complicated. I need to give people more time to express themselves and vice versa.
1) Do you see the problem that Trump is trying to decrease with a wall? 
That is the most important question before anything else can proceed in a potential discussion.
 I realize you are probably very busy and may or may not have time to start a discussion but I was interested in seeing the viewpoints on a fellow Catholic who may have different political views.

God bless you and your work.
Sincerely, Anthony.

Response 1.
Anthony:
Glad to hear from you.  This email was a good way to open Lent.  Now I know that most of those on my list are still alive, and that's a good thing.  It beats sending an email asking for a "Test response."  I hope that you and your family are well.
The answer to your question, "Do I know the problem that he wants to solve?" is yes, because he has said it.
My opinion is that walls only exacerbate human problems, but they are great solutions in the control of water flows.

I will not forget you during Lent.
Paul

Comment 2.
The reason I wanted to make sure we see the same problem is because only then can we discuss the urgency and severity of the solution proposed.
 Do you see the illegal immigration problem as I present it below? Here is information garnished from several websites and edited by me.
The main problem with illegal migrants is lost jobs, depreciated wages, stolen taxpayer resources, and increased numbers of crimes and domestic terrorism. Each of these problems harms Americans in many ways.
Illegal migrants force taxpayers to pay for their education, their healthcare needs, increased infrastructure to handle their presence in our land, and increased costs in our courts and prisons.
Illegal migrants fill our emergency rooms, classrooms, and courthouses and demanding that we speak their language and provide free interpreters for them.
Illegal migrants use food stamps and welfare to benefit their families ahead of US citizens.
Some illegal migrants steal American identities and engage in document fraud.
Illegal migrants come from lawless third world countries where the gangs rule, not laws or Constitutions or elected officials. Many of them retain that "rape and pillage" mentality once they enter the US, and to make the problem worse, our own government shows illegal immigrants that they can violate our laws and get away with it! That is why many illegals also drive drunk, burglarize homes and cars, molest children, join violent gangs, deal drugs, etc. They know that the US Government will turn a blind eye or only slap them on the wrist if they are caught, or if they become wanted for a serious crime, they can simply escape justice forever by returning to their home nation.
Terrorists are among the illegal migrants coming into America from the Mexican border.
A few illegal migrants are members of gangs like MS-13 and the Mexican Mafia.
The 9/11 hijackers were violating their student visas and here illegally.
Illegal migrants are voting in US elections stealing votes from Americans.
 All of these actions dilute and weaken the American culture that makes America what it is. That is why I refer to such people as illegal migrants and not illegal immigrants --- we cannot even say they want to be part of America. They don't want to assimilate and learn how to abide by laws and learn English. Immigrants are invested and respectful of the new nation they move to. Migrants are not.
 Protecting America from illegal migration is not about hating immigrants. It is about loving the people already in America by keeping them save. It is about being fair and just to those already here.
 The Catholic Church and its excessive focus on social justice is misguided I believe. Jesus was not an illegal migrant. I am positive that Mother Mary and St. Joseph respected the laws and customs of Egypt when they legally migrated there for protection from Herod.

If we see the problem as above, we can work on what the solution is. We can discuss Trump's zero-sum game tactics in the future.
Sincerely,
Anthony
PS: Cognitive dissonance is an intrapsychic phenomenon --- it occurs when a person has beliefs that conflict with each other and lead to actions that are not consistent with one of those beliefs and thus result in discomfort. Your use of the term is out of place. I doubt Trump has any discomfort doing what he is doing. Our view of what he is doing may not agree with what we belief but that is not cognitive dissonance more than it is just disagreement.

Response 2...Based on Krauthammer YouTube presentation as well as your comment
Interesting position.  I am against walls because they are a radicalizing catalyst for those who live on both sides.  In the end, wars, or better accords make them come down or the gates swing open never to close again.  The gates then become social gathering locales and positive energy is rekindled on both sides, but only after a long time of discomfiting internal and external strife.
Your example of the Holy Family taking refuge in Egypt is pertinent here because Egypt had no wall, and still does not.
On the theological and spiritual side we have the salvation story through the centuries that is a long exhortation toward openness and care...naturally tempered with a dose of discrimination and war.
Krauthammer skirts the issue.  The wall is a material barrier that is doomed to crumble.  The real wall is in the will of the governed and the governing.
The governing have no will to follow the laws that they pass.  They failed to enforce Simpson-Mazzoli and they ignore over-stayers of visas. (I'm sure that any family with immigrants in the house knows how this works.) I enforced Simpson-Mazzoli from my office as Human Resources Director.  My intransigence before the law made hundreds of people unhappy.
The governed are unhappy about the influx and blame many social ills on the migration activity..  The truth is that the movement over the border has made room for the "legals" to get the higher paying, less strenuous employment while the interlopers take the work that the "legals" really don't want to do anyway.
A look at history through some of the early pages of Scripture reveals that when things would get rough in the Euphrates/Tigris/Canaan area, the migrants went to Egypt. There they found themselves where the Egyptians did not want to be...the Nile Delta region.  Father Abraham was likely a part of this migration.  (Google "Hyksos.")
As you know, even that turned bad after a while, just like everything else human.

I have no quarrel with border control. I have the quarrel with the lack of will to exercise it in a human and humane way.  That excludes walls.  I have a quarrel with the governing "class" who accepts millions of legalized bribe dollars (campaign contributions) in exchange for turning away from the existing law and then placing the blame on the "illegals" who did not break the law in absolute fashion...they took/take advantage of the venality of the system.

I suppose that it is unnecessary for me to mention that Jordan, Italy, Germany and Sweden to mention but a few seem to be refuges whose resources are strained but who are comforting those who need it most.

I close my opinion by noting that I am aware that in any wave of refuge seekers there is a percentage of "snakes and rats."  So, I ask, what else is new?  We have that approximate same percentage of humans born in every country that fall into those categories.  The only difference is that we have to wait for them to grow into them.

Anthony, I thank you for staying on this topic.  I willingly admit that I am a "Catholic globalist."  It is out of religious conviction resting on a fairly long life of multiple international experiences.  The latest one is two-fold: Annual visits to the Holy Land (with all that entails) and a sincere friendship with the Muslim community in the Riverside area of California, including the Imam of the local mosque.  Finally, the visits to the Holy Land show that there is a weakening, slight but tangible, of the discipline imposed with regards to crossings through the Wall.  I am confident that this wall too, will crumble someday.  All I can say is, "Why waste the time, especially in God's country?"
Followed by, "Find a higher resolve to straighten out our USA situation without a brick and concrete barrier..
God bless you.  You made me fight my gouty fingers into doing this without my voice recognition tool.
Peace and joy to you.
Paul

NEW TOY -- TOY?

21st century marvel

Hey there.  Here it is a new phase in the life of "365 Thoughts."  We have come upon a situation where I have to type what I write with my tongue.  Thank God for this 21st century invention.  I have been quiet because my typing hands are not what they used to be.  So now I have to change the way I say things from my writing personality to a an electronic invention typing personality. That is according to the typing that I can do with my tongue through the magic speech recognition invention.  I will try to stay in touch or to get back in touch with you all as we go forward towards the twenty second century.  You are all invited to join me in this new phase of my life and yours as it relates to mine.

The rest of the family are doing quite well thank you.  Isabel and I live in San Diego just as we have for the last 40 plus years.  We will visit Western Massachusetts for a couple of days just to visit dear hearts and gentle people who still walk the ground where I was born.  Our two sons Mark and  Jo-El will accompany us.

They have given me a list of just what it is that they want to see.  These things we're all normal to me as I was growing up before they became what they have now become,  museums for the younger people of today to visit and to roll their eyes in amazement over the way things looked so many years ago.  Here is their list:  the Springfield Armory, the Basketball Hall of Fame, the Museum of the Titanic, the Museum of Old Ironsides, and the Airfield Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.  Good luck!
I will take pictures, so stay tuned. You might have a small trip through Memory Lane.  Happy Nostalgia.

Mothers Day, 2017

1946 - I REMEMBER

Today, driving home from a morning "mission" my mind got to wandering.  I was listening to the radio of course, and of a sudden, I remembered a time in my life when automobiles didn't have standard equipment radios.  The buyer of the vehicle had to buy the radio.  They were not inexpensive.  A new car was maybe an $800.00 dollar purchase and the radio at the time was around $75.00.  A real luxury.  

Along with that, I moved on to one of the great experiences of my childhood life.  I was coming home from a fishing expedition with my three uncles, brothers to my father.  We had been fishing in the morning and now were heading back home toward the end of the afternoon. On the way the radio was playing so that we could hear the play-by-play description of the seventh game of the World Series.  It was a very special series that year because the Boston Red Sox were engaged in the World Series.  We lived in the western part of Massachusetts. My uncles were all Red Sox fans.  My father and I were Braves fans.  

As I was basking in the memory of the game, I enjoyed remembering that in those days there were 16 major league teams.  I enjoyed remembering the distribution of their locations.
Boston - 2; New York - 3; Philadelphia - 2; Chicago - 2; St. Louis - 2; Washington, DC, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Detroit, one each.

Anyway, the score is now tied at 3 apiece.  Second half of the 8th and St. Louis gets a man on first. His name is engraved on the brains of every baseball fan in the state of Massachusetts, one, Enos Slaughter.  It all happened so quickly.  Slaughter breaks for second and  the hitter swings and drills one into left center field.  The regular centerfielder, Dom DiMaggio had to be replaced by Leon Culberson because of a pulled hamstring.  Now Slaughter is already around second and steaming ahead at break-neck speed with absolutely no intention of stopping at third.  Culberson gets lackadaisical and sloppy while Slaughter has pulled out all the stops.  The throw from the substitute centerfielder is late and short and Slaughter scores from first, spit, sweat and a cloud of dust at home plate.  My uncles are stunned, shouting semi-swears (I'm only 9 years old) and stating that what happened to Dom was the curse that made this happen.  Well, as everyone in the galaxy knows, the Red Sox did not recover and that is why the picture at the top of this article is of the Cardinals. 

Surely there is someone in the audience who has a memory of this event. It should also be mentioned that back then each team played 154 games and the Word Series were finished by the third or fourth week of September.

As for me, I have come a long way since then.  Now I don't even know who the participants in the World Series are from year to year.  The Braves are no longer in Boston and Bickford, Spahn and Sain are gone.  So has my interest.  But the memories are great.  

No, I did not have to check this out at Wikipedia.

I GOT A J.D., NOW WHAT?

I find myself around the parish church a lot.  I get to do a lot of important things around campus.  I check the postings that deface the walls and take them down when the dates that they announce are many weeks past.  When the dates are still in the future and the material is not all wrinkled and torn I leave it up.  Many times during my quasi aimless wandering I am acosted by people of various sizes, ages and colors.  Most of the time they are lost and want to know how to get to an office that may or may not be occupied for the moment.  This is the easy stuff because I have been vagranting around the same campus for well nigh 12 or 13 years now.  Sometimes I get asked something interesting. Like a short while ago I was met by a quiet, soft spoken lad who, after the initial greeting formalities announced that he had just passed the bar...first try, too. I was impressed and then quickly unimpressed.  Soft spoken lad says to me, he says, "What do I do now?  I have a JD and I want to know where I can find work where my JD will give me an advantage."  Whooooaa!  Similar to a question that I had 45 years ago.  So, I am ready.  Here's what I say to my new found quasi child.

This is a question that drives me to my innermost, deepest conviction about education. I am convinced that human life is a complex of experiences, all of which make up the “university” of hard knocks. So, every day we live and breathe is a day at school. My father drilled that into me from the day of my birth, and maybe even before.

I, personally, have come to the conclusion that we don't have JD, MBA, Ph.D, etc. we live the initials we place after our name.  

EFR Dion had to leave school in his sophomore year because of the death of his father. My father was the eldest of 8 children and this was 1914, before social services were a common way of life. He grew up in a machine shop environment. His leadership skills put him in lower management at 22. Before he was 30, he was the superintendent of a 50 person machine shop. At 38, he passed the state of Massachusetts professional tool engineer certification exam on his first and only sitting. All along the way, he told me to knit all of my life experiences together so that everything that I did would be inter-related to make me more and more knowledgeable about many things.

I have a master’s degree in Theology. That means that I was in school a long time. I worked my way through a private boarding school for 6 years. I worked for the Church, so a lot of my education was payment for my “in-house” work. Along the way I married, fathered children, lost jobs, quit jobs, was in debt, out of debt, totaled a couple of cars, sold vacuum cleaners, painted, drove airport shuttle vans, security guard, teach Catholic doctrine, Bible studies, organize and host religious pilgrimages and make a little bit of change as a translator. Through it all, I was a missionary pastor, a canon law counselor, a personnel recruiter and a personnel director. How much of what I learned in school did I apply? All of it. However, not all at once, of course. We never apply what we have learned, in school or along the road of life, all at once. No matter how much life learning we knit together, we only use what is sufficient for the moment. Furthermore, while we are using, we are learning from the feedback that the job gives us.

Therefore, everything that you have learned, from the crib to now is going to be useful for you on your first job, assuming that you are talking about your first job. If not, realize that you already know a lot. The first day on the job is going be your first day at new learning experiences as well as a new day of practicing some of what you have learned, not just in school but also in life.

So, don't carry your JD around like a badge or a passport. Live it.  Do what you want to do.  No matter what you do, you will be better at it because you are a JD.

We entered the church.  I said a short prayer for him, blessed him and he left.  I suppose that the next time we see one another he'll be on St. Peter's Public Defender staff.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

These sure are interesting times.  At least I think so.  I keep wishing that I could entertain myself with the antics of the DC Village Idiot.  It turns out that the more time goes by, the more mental garbage that flows into the Village Square.  The more I try to accommodate the language with the goal that I am told is desired, the more mushy my brain becomes.

I am told on a daily basis that the goal is the safety of the people and the security of the nation.  Oh, and by the way I also hear "Jobs, jobs, jobs."  The larger issue of safety and security is really where the fun is.

"Illegals" from Mexico are bad people sent here to make life miserable for us.
Answer:  Build a wall.
Me:  Huh?  Will you wall off the beach side too? You know, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.  Are you including the eastern shore?  There are some interesting possibilities there.  I'll bet the Mexicans are already plotting those routes as I sit here doing this.

Drugs from Mexico are flowing across the border.  
Answer:  Build a wall.
Me?  Huh?  What about the drugs that are smuggled in through the border gates open to legal crossers, pedestrian and automotive.  Many people who cross through the border gates legally are USA citizens, traffickers bringing tons of drugs in every single day because the USA market has a ravenous appetite for them.

How much wall do we need?  
Me?  I wonder what we are going to do about walling off 7,558 miles of possible entry points, excluding the Alaska / Canada border of 1,538 miles more.  We also have a very decided habit of shooting ourselves in the foot by not forcing overstaying visa holders to get out and go back where they came from.  There are nearly 300,000 Illegal Filipinos here right now.

History of walls.
1. Jericho - Historical oddity - remembered in song.
2. China - Histrical oddity - Tourist attraction
3. Jerusalem - Historical oddity -  Tourist attraction
4. Constantinople - Historical oddity - Tourist attraction
5. Berlin - Tourist attraction
6. Athens - Tourist attraction
7. Carcassonne - Tourist attraction
8. West Bank - Tagger's playground
9. Belfast - Curiosity item
10. Masada - Tourist attraction
Me?  I'm laughing already because I think it will be a tourist attraction from the first shovel full

Tension, Apprehension and Dissension are alive and well.
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester 1953
Department of State budget is in line for shrinkage of 37%.
Me?  Huh?  Safety?  Security?  Deals?  This does not make a wall anything but a tourist attraction.  We stay safe by interacting with the world, not by shutting it out.  Shaking my head in sheer disgust over this one.

Our country is retrogressing into being nothing but an object of humorous inanity.  Yes, our democratic constitutional republic is inching toward the edge of the tyrannical cliff.

One way or the other, now you have a reason not to cry at my funeral.

A TOAST TO "ALTERNATIVE FACTS"

Leonardo da Vinci

Not too long ago, I heard and saw a shameless political shill lie through her teeth on TV.  When the interlocutor pointed out her lie, she said, "Don't get so upset over nothing.  It's an alternative fact."

Upon hearing that, I was immediately reminded of one of my favorite poems.  It is entitled "My Madonna" and came from the pen of the prolific poet, Robert Service.  Through this genteel poem I present you an illustration of an alternative fact.

MY MADONNA

I haled me a woman from the street, 

Shameless, but, oh so fair!

I bade her sit in the model's seat

And I painted her sitting there.

I hid all trace of her heart unclean;

I painted a babe at her breast;

I painted her as she might have been

If the Worst had been the Best.

She laughed at my picture and went away.

Then came, with a knowing nod,

A Connoisseur, and I heard him say:

"'Tis Mary, the Mother of God."

So I painted a halo around her hair,

And I sold her and took my fee,

And she hangs in the church of Saint Hillaire,

Where you and all may see.

As far as I know this poem dates from late in the 19th century.I have been enjoying it for some two decades now.  This is the first time I share it.  Like I said, I couldn't resist after being subjected to the "alternative facts" intellectual dissonance.

I hope you enjoy it.

                                            

THIS IS AMERICA,SPEAK ENGLISH TO THEM

There is a secret behind these beautiful plants

It has been a hobby of long standing that we have many orchids on our property in San Diego.  For several years now they have been a wonderful sight to see every year around the time of the Easter holiday.  In fact, there have been years when they have been so beautiful that they were chosen to grace the altar for the Easter liturgies.  Sadly, the past couple of years have not been quite so festive because the plants did not flourish to the accustomed degree of bounteous florescence. Something had to be done.  The Voice from the Kitchen was working out of town and so she trained her sister in the fine art of tending the orchids.  The first full year of the Cymbidium 💓 Presentacion (Chona for short!) is about to enter the home stretch for the blooming of the orchids.  It is evident to the practiced eye that this is going to be a gooood year.
This evening we got to talking about the visible signs of the future success of the Cymbidium ranch.
Chona was proudly exposing her devotion and constant attention to the robust looking plants.  She is so happy that the beauty that is developing is not just the result of technically correct farming.  Oh, no! Not on this ranch.  There is a powerful spirit of love both spiritual and physical where kissing, petting and cooing are integral elements of the process.  Achon actually shared the cooing and whispering and near signing with which she communicates with the orchids under her loving care.  At one point of her light hearted description of her relationship with the lovely plants she switched to speaking English. English?  We burst into laughter without saying a word.  She knew why we were laughing.  She joined us in the uncontrolled laughter.  When we calmed down a little bit, she explained that Carlos, her spouse, told her that she would have better success of she were to make love to the plants in English.  He explained that she should communicate in the language of the land.
So she was demonstrating to us how she acted with the orchids.
Sit tight.  When these plants come into full effulgence, I will show you the fruits of the love affair between Presentacion and the orchids of 6912 Quinn Court, San Diego, CA 92111.

HOW YA DOIN'?

Just the other day
I was in the mood to make some of my friends happy that they are not the only ones who forget things and spend a lot of time searching for something that they had in their hands just 5 minutes before.  I get several responses telling me that the humor that I intended did in fact make them smile.  Sadly I received a couple of comments that came from the sadder side of life.  The sadness of chronic and intense senility, though not spelled out in the message was present in the "spirit."  I felt it.  I still do.  Who knows, I may even be in denial...If so, I pray that I and those around me be always blessed with the humor of the disjointedness of the things I do.

That's the mental part.  Wait until you see the physical part.  That's quite a sight too.  Numb hands that can no longer tie shoe laces, pick up coins from the floor, turn the pages of a book, (thank God for e-books) make a fist and/or even spread out all the way.  Wanna talk knees?  Naw, there's only one good one anyway.  Eyes are OK, thanks to the fact that they are 50% real and 50% plastic. Teeth come in at about 40/35/25 -- real/plastic/gone.

The hair that I have is thin, but I still have enough hair on my head to cover it all so that I have about as much face to wash as I do hair to comb.  My eyebrows have been trying for years to hijack more and more space than I want to give them.  I'm winning that one, thanks to my scissors.

My ears don't hardly work any more.  So, I won't waste your time if you don't by trying to talk to me.

You can tell that I am a ramblin' wreck.  But that's only on the outside.  I don't have enough time to talk about the parts you can't see, touch or hear.  I also don't have a polite enough vocabulary to talk about those other things.

So, overall, if we get to meet within the next few months, the topics of conversation are already pretty well defined.  

C ya!

DO YOU HAVE A PAST?

 Of course you do.  I do too.  We all do.  We all have a past and we also all have a past...(wink, wink).

These days we're being exposed to a lot of facts that provide the definition of what we expect from the present and the future of the people who are being considered for employment in the new government of the United States.  Sadly, I think, there seems to be so much stock placed in the distant past of the candidates and so little hope in their ability to rise to the challenge of what the future calls them to be.
I have highlighted a simple, innocent graphic at the beginning, but my reflections about the present reality in our country call me to deeper considerations.  We are at a level of discernment that is far deeper than the physical development from caterpillar to butterfly.  We are in an environment where the guiding axiom is "The past is prologue."  History is history; actions call forth similar actions and thus habits are formed and life does not change.  No room is made for introspective self reconciliation which calls forth that conversion from mechanical repetition born of habit to considered, prudential behavior born of the comfort that conscientious dedication to the common good brings about.  This comes from intense listening to the voice of the Spirit.

Belle, the saint behind the Voice from the Kitchen an I are preparing to lead 40 people to Bethlehem and other holy places in ten short days from now.  We will be exposed to many different ideas and behaviors during the 11 days of prayerful experiences that such an adventure calls forth.  We will present the possibility of this conversion to those entrusted to us by God in the Land that He chose for His people.  It is our sincere prayer that not just our 40 people will find the ways of God more appealing to them, but that the key movers of the turnover in our United States government will allow themselves to be changed by them as well.  
We pray that all will heed this simple saying, 
"Those who do not reconcile themselves with their past are condemned to repeating it, to their detriment and to that of those whom they think they are serving."

WHODUNNIT? CAT OR HAWK?

I have been wondering whether to put these thoughts on my blog entitled No Crying at My Funeral or just restart my 365 Thoughts with pure white feathers all over the front of the house. 
I got up, showered and looked out the window to check on the weather.  What I saw on the ground was a bunch of white shards of something.  I know that I didn't have a white light globe anywhere, so I wondered what all those white pieces could be.  Once I had covered my wrinkled self to shield the world from the obscenity of my prune-like ugliness, I went out for a  closer look.  What I saw was a fairly rare display of the leavings of what had to be a clash of interest between the recipient of gentle nibbling kisses from the sweet lady who forgot to close the gate on the cage and a raving, hungry cat, or some other craven carnivore.  Actually, some of the parts were still in pretty good shape.  The wings were still practically intact.  So much so that some other crippled bird could use them.  Except maybe, a hummingbird.  The tail was nowhere in sight.  Breast and down feathers were decorating the gleaming dewy area with their still pristine white sheen.  The tail feathers were bent and damaged and strewn around in an repugnant display of the effects of effective violence.  Imagine, all the poor cockatoo was able to muster was a sad, "Kiss my ass" defense.  Is it significant that the head is nowhere to be found?

I know that some of you are awaiting a moral to this story.  There is one, of course.  In fact, there might even be several.  Some may come from the Bible, some may come from another source.  Some may be moving for me and some for you.  If you're young, (most of you are) you may not be moved at all.  If you're old, maybe you're not moved, just reassured that the warning to "be prepared" is not just for the Boy Scouts.  Wherever you fall on the scale of this true story and the moral of it, remember: Lock the cage; Lock your house; Lock your car.

OXYMORON ? or just MORON ?

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Drink your drink and I'll food my food

Mid-life crisis therapy.  Must 65 or older

Illiterate?  Write for help

     Dear Al Gebra:

                We don't know where your X has gone,

                 neither do we know Y.

Philosopher at a cafe:

                 A cup of coffee please, with no cream.

Waitress:

                 We are out of cream.  How about with no milk?

Leslie Stahl to Donald Trump:  "Are you going to get a special prosecutor to go against Hillary?"
Donald replied, "Well, I don't want to hurt them."

There are some things in life that make the space between your ears clang in vicious dissonance.  Like swearing to high heaven that our veterans are precious and should be provided with the best of care.
In the next breath comes the declaration that those who got caught don't deserve respect.
Hmmm, what about those who have survived captivity?  Maybe they should just be left to rot?

Or maybe, they are the best...like ruined cream (Yogurt?) is really good!
Where would we be without soured wine (Vinegar?)

Think about it a little bit.  Don't be a MORON - Have fun, be an OXYMORON!

DONALD TRUMP IS NOT A BUSINESS MAN

                                                                           

Bill Gates and family - Business man
& philanthropist

I know that it has been a long time since I have published what could pass for a thought.  I think I finally have found one that I can describe well enough to have it make sense. I will try to keep it to my usual 500 word target size,

Bill Gates and Paul Allen left college early because they had ideas that they wanted to sell to the world before anyone else.  Their ideas were of the sort that would change the world.  The change would not be simply material but intellectual, moral and economical all at once.  What they had to offer to the world was something that heretofore had been unknown.  In order to manage the introduction of their ideas in the best possible way, they thought it best to leave school and start to share their discovery to the world.

Their first stop was IBM.  IBM worked with them as did NCR, XEROX and maybe others.  Together, they began to change the way the world lives.  These are businessmen.  These are humans who understand that the generation of wealth comes from the management of human collaboration for the mutual good of their enterprises as well as the world at large.  

Donald Trump, landowner

Donald Trump is a landowner.  He rents parts of his property to those who want to use it.  He doesn't create wealth for anyone, singular or enterprise.  He has nothing to offer to the world with the collaborative creation of wealth as the goal.  He is the owner and he rents his property to those who want it or need it.                                                         Donald Trump doesn't negotiate collaborative agreements.  Donald Trump makes deals that create wealth for him and leave the renter with the task of creating Donald's wealth.  In Donald Trump's universe there are but two classes of living humans:  winners and losers.  There is no grey area.  His success comes from what he takes from you and he sees to it that you get nothing but the bare minimum from him in return.  That's the world he lives in.  In that universe the only way to make a good deal with Donald Trump sitting across the table from you is to walk away while you still have your money in your pocket.

Given this situation, it is clearly impossible to expect that the parallel universes of Trump and the rest of humanity will ever intersect.  All the "FactChecks" in one universe will not bring about change in the other.  In fact, we have seen that our universe as represented by the federal court system doesn't intersect with the "zero-sum universe" of Donald Trump. The truths of Trump's universe do not overlap with the universal truths in the parallel universe of the rest of us.

Trust me on this one.  The only tool we have is in the voting booth.  Save all your receipts so that if there is a Trumpist Revolt you will be able to prove that you only voted once, in your universe, anyway.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

I have to say that it makes me shake my head in stupified wonderment when an expatriate turncoat spills venom on the country that he thinks will elect him to guide it.
Especially when he spews his vomit on the primordial place in the Americas where it is possible to see the entire world pass before your eyes, if you open them and drink the reality of it in with a slow, savoring passionate act.

When we were growing up in a small college town in Western Massachusetts, my father, born in Zenon Park, Sakatchewan, Canada made it a point to take us to New York City twice a year.  Once in the Summer to see the Boston Braves play the Brooklyn Dodgers and once in the Winter, before Christmas to visit Rockefeller Center.  Each time we would visit different corners of the great city and each time we would be instructed that "if you want to see the world, you can see it in New York City." I dare say, Ted, that if you want to see the world, maybe you should just leave and go see it on site, close up and personal, but not here.  Most of all, Ted, if you're going to insult us, stop trying to convince us to let you lead us.  Where would you take us?  Surely not to Calgary, you've already disowned that, and the whole darn country too.  Nice going, Ted.  Now you want us to buy your snake oil?  

I have a true story for all of you.  It is a story about New York Values.
I think it is either 1948 or '49.  We were being treated to a visit to New York by our church pastor, Father Arthur Brodeur MS and some of his choice volunteers.  We were going there to see the Boston Red Sox play the "Damn Yankees" at Yankee Stadium.  This was before we were old enough to be able to say "damn" with impunity.  Anyway, we're in New York and my brother and I are a little bit looser than the rest because we've been there.  So, everyone is having a good time.  Eating at the automat was the big thrill of the pre-game tour.  So it gets to be close to the time to go to the stadium, so we get led to the subway station and warned to stay close to one another.  Which we do.  We're on the platform. We hear the train.  There it is.  The word comes from the leader, that's the train.  It stops, my brother and I are first in line.  The door opens and he dives in before me, being smaller and slicker, and the voice from the rear rings out, "No, not this one, the next one!"  I am able to put it in reverse, but the press of those wanting to board was too great for the little boy to buck and the door closed with him inside and everyone else in the group on the platform.
So, all we can do is to wait for the next train.  I was worried, but I told the priest not to worry 
because if the train went to the stadium, my brother could find his way because we were used to baseball stadiums.
Let's go feel some of those New York Values.
New Yorker to little boy: "Where are you going?"
Little boy: "To Yankee Stadium."
New Yorker: "Ok, that's good because I'm going there too.  I'll show you where to go."
Little boy: "Oh, thank you."
New Yorker:  "Where are you from?"
Little boy: "South Hadley Falls, Massachusetts."
New Yorker: "That's pretty far."

The train stops, the man guides the Little Boy to the ticket taker.  He explains the situation.  The ticket taker looks up the group reservations.  Tells the New Yorker and the Little Boy where the group seats are.  The Little Boy with the help of the New Yorker goes to the seats reserved for the church group.  After some twenty minutes, the group arrives, the ticket taker assures us that the Little Boy is fine.  We check in, go to our seats where we find my little brother patiently awaiting.

Take that, Ted!  Now go get lost in Machu Pichu and see how the vaues are there.  
You've already shown the word what you think of Cuba and Canada and now you insult the country that you're trying to schmooze into making you its leader.  You're quite a piece of work, Ted.

SOME REALLY STRANGE QUESTIONS OF MINE

Some questions that I have collected along the road of life.

Is my guardian angel a boy or a girl?
I was late reporting to work on my first day and they fired me.  Can I sue them?
How can I tell if my friend is lying to me?
Why do cats eat mice?
Will there be a time when no more original music tunes will be possible?
I hear the light switch and see the light at the same time.  Why did you tell me that light travels faster than sound?
I stepped on a banana peel this morning and I didn't slip and fall.  Why do people in the funnies always fall when they step on a banana peel?
How can birds stay warm and fly when the air is freezing?
What's the best question I can ask to show that I am smart?
Is there a question that can be asked that is impossible to answer?
Why do some people laugh at my jokes and some do not?
If money isn't everything, what is?
Cousin Tony told me that left-handed people are smarter than right-handers.  Is that true?
I asked my father, "Why should I care what other people think of me?"
          His answer: "To live with people, you have to be people."
Are snakes evil?
How can you be sure that you've won an argument?
Is going to sleep like dying?
If curiosity killed the cat, why do you encourage me to learn by being curious?
What takes more time: Flying from Los Angeles to New York at 500 MPH at 10,000 feet or flying from Los Angeles to New York at 500 MPH at 35,000 feet?  (Assuming the same line of flight)
Why do I crave food even if I am not really hungry?

These are some that I took from the top of my head.  You got some?  Get them off your chest before the New Year so that you can start the Leap Year with a clean slate!

Peace and tranquility to you all.