Comparing Jim Rohn's Legacy to Tony Robbins This Early Morning

 Back in the late1990s, while working at the Gainesville, Florida USPS mail processing plant on SW 34th Street, I discovered that I could listen to Anthony Robbins' personal development tapes.  His big attraction at the time was how to achieve personal power.  Although I never fell for his live seminar gimmicks like the stunts where everyone walked over the hot coals, I did appreciate some of Robbins' pointers that resembled stoicism when it came to approaching some of life's sticking points, like "I always act until I succeed" or "the meaning of a communication is the response I get".  I memorized and adopted them because they made good sense to me.  Even in future projects Tony Robbins seemed to project a strong, positive aura about himself that I found very appealing.  He's still around, voice a bit scratchy and rough but with the same "can-do"personality.  A few days ago I discovered on YouTube the late personal development coach JIm Rohn's collection of podcasts.  Most of them are pretty direct and sometimes confrontational, demanding a response from the listener and indicating a "it's my way or the highway perspective from Rohn". Rohn, born in 1930, passed away from pulmonary fibrosis in 2009.  His business and professional life much resembled that of Am-Way's Bubba Pratt in that they escaped the common day-to-day workplace existence I followed at the post office to make their fortunes largely from sales and seminars.  Not that I'm complaining, since I'm grateful for the benefits and wages I received from there...including the opportunity for excellent health care and retirement accounts.  today I awoke a little before four, resisting the temptation to return to bed to continue A.C.-comforted sleep (something I'm considering returning to a little later this morning). 24 hours from now I'll be in a position to get ready to go with Melissa to Depot Park to participate in a new Parkrun 5K...it would be the second complete event I've done in 2026.  Today marks my late sister-in-law Krista's birthday...she would be turning 63 today.  Even in the middle of her medical ordeals, she was very positive and encouraging.  Well, Mr. Rohn has inspired me to keep tuned to his messages, which I think have a good amount of value to them.  I like stoic wisdom, and sometimes just getting out there and refusing to succumb to comfort is a healthful undertaking.  Now let's see if I can't make some more real progress today getting through that horrid Khan book. I did do some eight minutes of running in place already...

Partisan Excesses during Memorial Events

While Minnesota senator Paul Wellstone was in the final stage of his close reelection campaign in late October 2002, the plane carrying him and his family crashed in northern Minnesota, killing them all.  It was a shocking event, and a public memorial service was soon scheduled to honor the fallen senator.  Unfortunately, a few of those in attendance...and especially some of the speakers...got a little out of hand with their partisanship.  Mississippi Republican senator Trent Lott, a gentleman who attended the event, even received some boo's after he was introduced: how tacky can they get.  Apparently a bit more, since some of the speakers implored the audience to join in Wellstone's progressive politics and vote Democrat for his replacement...who turned out to be former senator and vice-president Walter Mondale.  There was a lot of negative spin on this event, greatly amplified by the FoxNews channel and conservative talk radio, and Republican candidate Norm Coleman went on to defeat Mondale in the general election.  I remember this because we recently experienced the death of "one of their own": conservative activist Charlie Kirk, assassinated by a sniper while in the middle of a Utah college rally.  The memorial for him was held in a football stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and it dwarfed the Wellstone tribute in terms of partisanship.  It was a "who's who" in politics regarding the right-wing notables attending and being recognized on TV.  Some of the speakers got carried away with their aggression and hostility against Democrats and liberals...it was "let's pick up Charlie's cause and run with it" on steroids.  A local Democratic school board member got in a little hot water recently for posting, on social media, her reaction, which was critical of how the event was conducted. There should always be plenty of room and toleration for opposing opinions, and hers had nothing within it that was inciteful...unlike the venomous words of assistant White House chief of staff Stephen Miller who sometimes sounds to me like a freaking Nazi Goebbels impersonator.  The MAGA regime in power has depicted their political opposition, the Democratic Party, as the Enemy and compared them to terrorists and extremists.  Trump has only been in office a little more than nine months and has thirty-nine more until he's done.  I do not look forward to what he and his supporters have in store for the rest of us during that remaining time.  I have restrained my criticisms of Charlie Kirk and feel grief for his death, although I had no contact with him and did not explore his opinions in any detail.  No one is perfect (including myself), although Kirk's partisan supporters seem to be trying to canonize him as Mr. Perfect "Saint Charlie", and we all have to agree or else...   

Cancel Culture from the Fascist Side about Kirk

The freaks hidden among the multitudes in our increasingly fascist America are the real menace in our society when it comes to assassinations, whether you're talking about JFK, Martin Luther King, Jr., RFK, the attempts against George Wallace, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, John Lennon, or the attempts against Trump in 2024...and the sniper shot against Charlie Kirk recently.  With all the guns floating around in clear view in our gun-crazy culture, an adept, murderous maniac can seize the opportunity and commit a horrendous act, pretty much from the vantage point of anonymity, if he or she has successfully been concealing from others any intentions of taking such action.  It does not require conspiracies from an extremist group, as some in the current fascist regime have angrily gone off about in public rage.  You or I might become famous, and if there is at least a little controversy accompanying that fame then chances are that somebody, somewhere will allow themselves to become offended and at least consider making us into a target.  It's interesting nowadays that the MAGA Trump boot-lickers are the ones practicing "politically correct" cancel culture on anyone they can get away with accusing of inappropriate comments about the murder or Kirk himself...reference recent outbursts by Stephen Miller, JD Vance and Pam Bondi.  This canceling of Jimmy Kimmel for suggesting (in my opinion, presumptuously and probably erroneously) that the shooter just might have been pro-Trump, is a spotlighted case in point.  Long ago I tired of watching these late-night "comedy" spectacles like Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers because of the political ugliness behind much (if not most of) their jokes, so not having Kimmel on doesn't change anything with me.  Besides, you can get your audience to laugh at the politicians you dislike, but try coaxing the same fans to actively and consistently participate in the voting process.  In EVERY available election, even those "boring" local and state contests.  Yeah, good luck with that...I think these smartass professional jokesters need to start ridiculing the electorate instead!  Then again, a lot of these half-ass, apathetic and emotion-driven voters seem to think that the meaning of democracy is going to protest rallies after their side has lost the election. Now THAT is a sick joke...   

About Charlie Kirk and His Tragic Assassination

Regarding the recent murder of conservative Christian activist Charlie Kirk, I have to preface any comments with the disclaimer that, before this horrible event, I hadn't heard or read anything from this individual, only that his name tended to circulate around on the more politically-charged posts on Facebook. In the last couple of days I checked his You Tube channel and he seemed like a composed, reasonable and likable young man who boldly and passionately expressed his viewpoints on a number of issues, some controversial, that I have mixed opinions about.  He avidly and consistently supported and campaigned for Trump over the years while the latter was equally consistent with his nasty and hateful rhetoric...this is the only direct criticism I'll make about Charlie.  Yet I personally know several people who are squarely in the camp of our current demagogic, autocratic "leader", but they're also very caring and generous...Charlie Kirk struck me as someone with that type of personal charm.  The individual that is being portrayed as the shooting suspect seems to have come from a multi-generational family of staunch Trump supporters (who apparently turned him in to the police).  Perhaps his political allegiance is to violent extremist militia groups, but at this juncture I don't see any leftist leanings as our evil president has directly insinuated without providing any evidence, trying to stir up division and anger while making the Democratic Party opposition into a scapegoat.  The suspect seems to have been well-trained with a sniper-level of firearm accuracy, since the act was committed at some 200-yard distance, and how his deft scampering off a high roof implied some special military-level training.  I remember how, in the late 1990s, popular late-night radio host Art Bell, well-known for his conservative political views, still ran afoul of some extremist right-wing militia group that harassed and threatened him.  Sometimes one's supposed "allies" can turn out to be the real enemy. My inclination toward Mr. Kirk is to honor his courageous life and defuse the propaganda that evil players like Trump are perpetrating upon the shocked population, who could use a real leader at this trying and sad time instead of this presidential fraud...a 34-count convicted felon...inflicted upon us last November by my fellow Americans... 

RIP, Bobby Sherman

Bobby Sherman was the young, brash-sounding singer I grew to avoid whenever he made one of his regular appearances on the mid-1960s rock and roll TV series Shindig!. No, I just didn't care for the dude although he most likely was doing his job well...forgive me, I was just 9-10 years old at the time and had no sense of musical sophistication.  That series didn't last long, and apparently neither did Sherman's fame...until his career was resurrected with him, as a teen idol, spawning a string of hit singles in the late sixties and early seventies.  His songs seemed to me a bit weak, but at least I didn't have to watch him perform them.  Then, in the spring of 1970 my entire perception of Bobby Sherman drastically changed for the better when I heard his new singles release Hey Mister Sun.  I was thirteen, and closing out my eighth grade year in junior high school, thoroughly depressed and beaten down by life.  But the radio...specifically Miami AM station WINZ on 940 khz...often played Sherman's minor hit, and it stuck with me, lifting my spirits in the midst of a difficult time.  After that I was on board with good ol' Bobby...the next year his song The Drum was another enjoyable, upbeat tune.  I'm mentioning him today because he just died of kidney cancer at the age of 81, and apparently after his musical career decided to devote his efforts in Los Angeles to promoting emergency medical care.  I think I'd like to check out some of those very old (sixty years ago) performances on Shindig! he did and see if...just maybe...my level of musical sophistication hasn't grown enough to at least appreciate his efforts way back then.  God bless you, Bobby Sherman...

Quote of the Week...from Alex Roe

Everyone deals with grief in their own way.                         ---Alex Roe

A couple of days ago, while in the midst of my own health issues, I was informed within the span of 24 hours that four dear, sweet people whom I personally knew had passed away. I would be saddened by any of these deaths, but four at one time?  And there are others in my life who are undergoing their own personal health crises right now...I'm not sure I'm liking this new trend, if trend is what it really is instead of an aberration. But as George Harrison titled his landmark 1970 album, all things must pass, and I knew a long time ago that all living beings will indeed pass from this world, including eventually all my loved ones and even myself. Still, knowing this doesn't make it hurt any less when it happens, especially at this level.  By the way, I picked the above quote by Alex Roe although I've yet to see any movie or show this young actor has been involved with...but he was right on target with his statement...

Quote of the Week...from Alex Trebek

I think what makes 'Jeopardy!' special is that, among all the quiz and game shows out there, ours tends to encourage learning.                                               ---Alex Trebek

Alex Trebek, the host of the wonderful Jeopardy! game show since it was brought back in 1984, sadly died last Sunday of pancreatic cancer, a condition that he had shared with his faithful viewing audience long before...still, his passing doesn't make it any easier.  I had watched the original Jeopardy! series (1964-75) while growing up through childhood and my teen years...Art Fleming was its very capable host.  On both runs, Jeopardy! was structured the same, with three contestants playing two rounds with different subject categories in each of them and a final, single answer round: "answer", because this quiz show phrases its questions in the form of answers, to which the correct response is a question... I always had a problem with that.  Say the "answer" on the screen is "Its capital is Caracas".  The correct response is "What is Venezuela?", but if I walked up to someone and asked the same question, that answer wouldn't help me at all.  Still, it has been fun trying to beat the ultra-smart and knowledgeable contestants to the correct answer.  And even if the category at hand is on a subject with which I am totally unfamiliar, the clues sometimes will steer me to get the "question" right.  I don't watch Jeopardy! every day because of my schedule, but if college football permits I can view it Saturday evenings at 7:30 on my local Channel 4 station.  It has been clear to me that Jeopardy! was a labor of love for Alex Trebek, and my sympathies and wishes are for his family and friends.  As for his above quote, the wide gamut of topics discussed on the show demonstrate...as well or better than any encyclopedia can...interesting areas that people can involve themselves in, including science, technology, music, literature, history, geography, language, mathematics...it goes on and on.  I hope that this show will always stay true to its high standards and never sink into appealing to vulgarity as do shows like Family Feud and Match Game...

Quote of the Week...from Bob Newhart

The only way to survive is to have a sense of humor.                        Bob Newhart

Bob Newhart, the great television comedian known for his two popular sit-coms The Bob Newhart Show (1972-78) and Newhart (1982-90), is definitely a survivor...he's 91 and still pluggin' along.  However, if you put his name into a search engine you're bound to come up with death reports...he supposedly just died either on September 21st or October 30th, depending on the website.  From what I can tell, this is a hoax and the soft-spoken humorist is still alive and well...which brings me to the above quote.  I suppose you really are a survivor if you outlive your own death notices!  My favorite Bob Newhart Show episode...and there were many I liked as I regularly watched it back in the 70s on Saturday evenings following Mary Tyler Moore...was the Thanksgiving episode from 1975 in which Emily leaves on a trip and Bob is left spending the holiday with others, including his highly neurotic patient Carlin, in his apartment as the turkey gets burnt in the oven and Bob orders Chinese while everyone ends up getting inebriated.  One element of his series that I loved was how a simple joke or turn of phrase from early on would come back later on and get amplified and humorously twisted...this particular episode was a great example, with knock-knock jokes taken to their funniest.  Let's all hope that Mr. Newhart got a good laugh at his "demise" and will continue enjoying his life to the fullest.  By the way, there's something on the internet called WikiObits that produces makeshift obituaries of famous people even if they're still alive.  They did one for Newhart and I tested it out by doing a search on Beyoncé...their false obit of her stated that she died possibly of a fireworks accident.  This all illustrates something I've hit upon before: if you Google something, it will respond by providing you what it "thinks" you want, not necessarily what is true...

On the Day of John Lewis' Passing, Georgia Governor and Mayors Need to Negotiate

On this day in which the great civil rights advocate and long-time Atlanta congressman John Lewis died after a seven-month struggle against pancreatic cancer, his home state of Georgia...where I was born...is in the thick of a legal and political struggle concerning how the COVID-19 pandemic is handled there.  The governor, Brian Kemp, has proclaimed a statewide mandate that opens businesses and encourages (but doesn't require) masks in public settings...the recent sharp resurgence in cases has caused several local mayors to enact public face covering mandates in violation of Kemp's rule.  And now he is suing the mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, to rescind that locality's law.  The Georgia governor has been thoroughly trashed in the media for this policy of his in the middle of a public health emergency, but I think he has a point that most media pundits have conveniently chosen to overlook.  You see, these cities that are mandating masks are also considering shutting down their businesses again, like what happened earlier this spring across the country.  Kemp is making it clear in his speeches that he is determined to keep Georgia's economy running and feels that the mayors choosing to defy his policy about masks will...if not checked...then proceed to once again close their city's businesses.  This is what totally frustrates me about this political wrangling: many people at-large automatically associate mask wearing with economic shutdown while in actual policy the former, if universally practiced, will enable businesses to flourish at close to maximal capacity.  Governor Kemp wants Georgians to wear masks but he does not want his state to go into an economic depression with mass-ordered shutdowns...it seems that there should be room for negotiation here: grant the mayors and counties the right to impose and enforce mask mandates while they agree that they will not close down businesses.  Georgia businesses staying open and everybody wearing masks isn't going to make a lot of people happy but it's the obvious solution to this standoff...

NFL Coaching Great Don Shula, 1930-2020

Don Shula, the Hall of Fame coach of the National Football League's Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins, died yesterday at the age of 90.  During the late 1960s my mother was a big Colts fan...I think mainly because she was an even bigger Johnny Unitas fan...and I found myself from 1967 through 1969 rooting for Baltimore along with her.  But my number one team, starting with the 1968 season when they were in their third year of existence as an expansion American Football League franchise, was the Miami Dolphins...the fact that I suffered along with them during a couple of their early losing seasons only intensified my pleasure when Baltimore's head coach Don Shula jumped ship to join the Dolphins in 1970.  Shula always tailored his coaching emphasis to his players' strengths...with the Colts it was the wide open passing attack of Unitas, while with Miami he used their excellent offensive line to develop a ball control running attack with stars like Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris while Bob Griese did an excellent job as a game managing quarterback, mixing up short passes and occasional bombs. It was interesting that under Shula during the 1968 regular season, Unitas was injured early on and backup QB Earl Morrall brought the team to an unprecedented (for them) 13-1 regular season and into their first Super Bowl, against the New York Jets.  Living at the time near Miami where the Super Bowl was being held, although the stadium was completely sold out the NFL still imposed a television blackout on the area, preventing me from watching the game. Since I was rooting for the Colts, it was probably just as well as the Jets, always Miami's divisional rival, pulled off one of the biggest upsets in football history.  As for Morrall, Shula later brought him over to Miami as Griese's backup, and like in '68, in early 1972 the starter got injured and Morrall stepped in, this time leading the team to its glorious undefeated regular season.  Griese returned to the helm against the Steelers in the playoffs and the team won its first of two straight Super Bowls...

Because Don Shula always presented a competitive team...in his 33 years as an NFL head coach his teams experienced only two losing seasons (winning a respectable six games in each of them)...this noble refusal to ever tank in order to get a high draft pick always placed the Dolphins at a disadvantage.  But although they wouldn't win another Super Bowl under Shula after their two wins in the early 70s, I was always very proud of this team as they usually put on very entertaining performances with many of the great games in NFL history involving them...sometimes they won these classics and sometimes not. My favorite memory was seeing them knock off the dominant, thoroughly arrogant Chicago Bears 38-24 in 1985, preventing them from going undefeated...to me that was almost as good as winning the Super Bowl!  Unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), in the early 1980s the Dolphins had a tenacious defense and questionable offense while after Dan Marino took over at quarterback the offense took off while the defense slid.  Oh, if only they had the defense that got them into the Super Bowl during the '82 season AND the offense that carried them there two years later!  All this took place under the leadership of a great coach, Don Shula...I'll miss him as will many of my fellow South Floridians from that era, whether we still live down there or not...

Quote of the Week...from Kobe Bryant

You always have to be on edge.  You always have to take every practice, every game, like it is your last.                                                                        ---Kobe Bryant

This past Sunday afternoon I had just gotten home after enjoying some coffee and a couple of doughnuts, flicking on the TV to see what was on...only to be devastated by the breaking news that NBA great Kobe Bryant had just died in a helicopter accident just outside Los Angeles.  The tragedy worsened as it later came out that eight other passengers had died in the crash...including Kobe's treasured thirteen-year old daughter Gianna.  My condolences to Kobe's family and those closest to him...

Kobe Bryant...like just about all of us when you get down to it...was a complicated person with many things about his character and past to praise and a few areas to criticize.  When he took on a goal, he was uncompromisingly competitive, meticulous and unwavering in both his preparations and his expectations of others working with him...this was publicly apparent during his playing years with the Los Angeles Lakers.  The above quote of Kobe's demonstrated his attitude of intense focus on whatever he was doing, but you don't have to be a sports star to emulate his high standards.  Kobe said you always have to be on edge...I'd qualify that a little to say "You always have to be on edge during your chosen battles" because I believe that sitting back, resting and reflecting are also important.  And in the end I think Kobe Bryant in his practical life adhered to that modification, too...he chose his battles and always pushed himself to his limits to succeed but I'm sure he also enjoyed some down time...the main thing is to impose high standards for oneself and then stick with them.  Now the question I think a lot of people have is which battles they need to choose for themselves...too many of us stumble through our daily existence in a confused, muddled state, not attuned to or even knowing where we want to go.  Most of us aren't going to be professional athletes anytime soon, but each of us has areas where we want to succeed: once that's established, then it's time to focus and get on edge...

Freckles, 2005-2019

Our precious mixed-breed rescue dog, Freckles, passed away today from organ failure at the age of 14...we're all in a state of grief over her departure, but also remember with great fondness the span of her long life and time with us.  This has to have been one of the sweetest dogs in history, and how fortunate for us that she entered our lives in the summer of 2005.  Here is a reprint from an article I wrote on this blog about her eleven years ago...

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Freckles, Cuddles, and Taffy

Two summers ago, we adopted Freckles (above), a mixed-breed puppy, for my daughter as a advance-birthday present that year. Gainesville has a non-profit organization called Puppy Hill Farms that takes in abandoned animals, cares for them, and puts them up for adoption. Freckles was already spayed when we got her from them. We weren't too sure how big she would grow, but she finally slowed her growth down to where she is about 55 pounds. Freckles is a very high-spirited, lively dog who loves to play with tennis balls or sticks, as well as having her belly rubbed. At the beginning, we took her to obedience classes, where she learned a few commands. Freckles apparently had some traumas before Puppy Hills Farms took her in, because she becomes petrified at the sight of any truck or the sound of any running machinery. Freckles has an older "sister" in Cuddles, another mixed-breed dog that we've had since 1997 (as my son's dog). While Freckles seems to have some greyhound and Aussie shepherd in her, Cuddles is more like a dachshund/basset hound combo and is stocky and close to the ground (but very fast when she wants to be). We adore our dogs. A year ago, Taffy, our miniature poodle, passed on after nineteen happy years with us. I love dogs, and I am not particular about breeds, either. If you live in a place that allows pets, I recommend adopting a mixed breed dog from one of the adoption agencies. Our lives have been enormously enriched by ours! Last month, our veterinarian picked Freckles as the pet of the month (entitling her to a free bath and nail-clipping)! Here are pictures of Cuddles (left) and a very young Taffy (with me, right):

Quote of the Week...from George H.W. Bush

We don't want an America that is closed to the world. What we want is a world that is open to America.                                                   ---George H.W. Bush

I'm not sure when and in what context our 41st president, who just died a week ago, made the above statement, but it is very relevant to what is going on today with the current administration and its "America First" mantra. Bush, for his part as president, was a big advocate for the United States being in networks of alliances and trade treaties...in the Persian Gulf War, he had as allies both Israel and Syria: now that's an accomplishment! Contrast that with Donald Trump's skepticism about standing alliances and trade treaties: he prefers to deal with other nations on a bilateral basis, understanding that in doing so the United States is almost always the stronger party and cannot be voted down by a bloc of others. His trade disputes with other countries, most particularly China, are not based on wanting to isolate or close us from them but rather to confront them with their policies which prevent or greatly restrict our goods being marketed and sold there.  He ultimately wants...and I agree with him on this...truly free trade between the countries of the world, not just on our side, and he has been using his speeches, Twitter, and tariffs as a means to pressure these other countries to reform their unfair trade practices.  Also, some of these nations steal American innovations without compensation...I guess in that way they're open to America!

As for our borders, I also tend to side with our current president for stronger border security.  As an American I can't just pack up and go to any other country I want without documentation or that country's implicit permission...the same should apply for others seeking entrance into my own country, from whatever source it may be...south of our border, England, Russia, China, or elsewhere.  I guess in all of this I want a level field between us and the rest of the world and not one in which it almost always seems to be the United States that must make concessions to others.  So with regard to our recently departed former president's quote, I would agree with both parts: I don't want America closed off from the world, and I want the world to be open to what we have to offer it.  But I don't want us in the process to be ripped off, either...

President George H.W. Bush, 1924-2018

George H.W. Bush...or simply George Bush as he was called before his son with the same first name became president...passed away last Friday at the age of 94 after a very full, interesting life.  Personally, I liked the guy and, as is the case with every president I've followed in my lifetime, I sometimes agreed with his stances and actions and sometimes disagreed with him.  Like many in that "Greatest Generation" of Americans who served with courage and sacrifice during World War II, Bush acquitted himself with valor as a Navy combat pilot in the Pacific theater against the Japanese Empire. His father, Prescott, was elected as a U.S. senator from Connecticut and his son aspired to follow him into politics...but suffered electoral defeat early on.  George Bush was noticed by President Nixon and appointed first as United Nations Ambassador and later as the CIA Director.  With these credentials and others behind him, he sought the Republican nomination for president in 1980 during the primary season against favored Ronald Reagan.  Early on he presented himself as a more reasonable, moderate candidate and characterized his opponent's embrace of supply-side theories as "voodoo economics".  I was living then in an apartment about a block from the University of Florida's Norman Hall and when his son Neil came there to give a campaign speech for his father, I was impressed...not by George but by Neil.  I was saddened when Neil's reputation suffered later in that decade because of the savings and loan scandals.  After Reagan got the GOP nomination, he picked Bush as his running mate, which after eight years in the position of vice-president put him as the favorite to represent his party in 1988.  Initially low in the public opinion polls, he eventually won the election over Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis in what I though was the dirtiest campaign I've witnessed up to that time...this I admit heavily prejudiced me against Bush as president, something that I never got over as I eagerly supported Clinton over him and rejoiced at his defeat for re-election in 1992.  Since he left office, though, I came to respect and admire George Bush more and more...I especially thought that his sky-diving in old age was extremely kick-ass! I'm sad he's gone now but I think he had a great run of a life...

As for George H.W. Bush's tenure as president from 1989 to 1993, there's good and bad stuff, the way I see it.  I was very disappointed that he vetoed the FMLA bill passed by Congress that would have given employees unpaid leave from their jobs due to more extended medical issues affecting themselves or their families...incoming president Bill Clinton quickly reversed that and signed the bill into law.  As far as foreign policy was concerned, he presided over the fall, first of the Communist Iron Curtain in Europe, the symbolic destruction of the Berlin Wall, and then the dissolution of the Soviet Union while presenting the United States as a unifying force seeking good relations with all parties.  Bush was also a war president, invading Panama in 1989 and liberating Kuwait from Iraqi occupation under Saddam Hussein during the Persian Gulf War in 1990-91...I appreciated his decision then to limit the conflict once the initial goal was accomplished, a course his son sadly chose to abandon two years after he assumed the presidency ten years later.  I also give him high marks for signing into law the Americans with Disabilities Act, something I wonder whether anyone representing his party would do in our political climate of today. With the United States Supreme Court, he nominated David Souter and Clarence Thomas, the former surprising many with his more liberal-than-expected orientation and the latter turning into a stalwart conservative judge with predictable rulings almost always in lockstep with the Republican Party's positions on issues.  The other son of his, Jeb, served credibly as Florida governor for two terms and I thought he would be an obvious choice for president in 2016 until Donald Trump's taunts and insults against this good, decent man resonated with the disturbing meanness of many Republican voters and his campaign quickly faded...

May George Herbert Walker Bush rest in peace and God's blessings and grace be upon his family during this time of mourning and beyond...

Intensely Tumultuous Political Times Looming

Before I continue, I want to take this time to salute a great American hero, John McCain, who just passed away yesterday from cancer.  He devoted his life to public service, first as an Naval combat pilot in Vietnam, shot down and held as a POW for many years there and suffering terrible privation and torture.  Later, he entered politics and served with distinction in the United States Senate.  He ran for president twice, both times demonstrating the maturity and respect toward his adversaries that the current White House occupant sorely lacks.  I'll miss him...

Regardless of your political philosophy or what you may think about our current president, you should agree with me that the rest of this year will be loaded with passionate and divisive rhetoric coming from all sides of the national political landscape.  In a few days, Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, will begin his confirmation hearing in the Senate...there is fierce opposition from the Democrats, who fear that his seating will tilt the court to positions that are anti-women, anti-worker, anti-regulation, and anti-environment while protecting the president from being held legally accountable for any alleged misdeeds.  So yes, you can expect a lot of emotion flying about in the news over Kavanaugh alone.  But Robert Mueller's independent investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with them by the Trump campaign seems to be entering a period of cascading "flipping" of people like former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, National Enquirer CEO David Pecker, and Trump's personal and business financial chief Allen Weisselberg, who may have detailed knowledge to share about the president's role in various dealings that are being examined.  Trump, his attorney Giuliani, and his cheerleaders in the media like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh are responding to it all by calling the investigation a witch hunt, the FBI and Department of Justice full of corruption, everything negative reported about him in the media being "fake news", and that Attorney General Sessions should be investigating Hillary Clinton and the Democrats, not Trump.  And so it all goes around, and this story about the two women being paid hush money to help Trump win the election, along with Michael Cohen alleging that his client directed him to break the law, is just ratcheting up the fervor.  You can hardly turn on CNN, Fox, or MSNBC and get coverage of the issues that Americans are concerned about...not that I'm complaining too much: after all, this is all news, too: still, other things are going on in the country and the world and it would be nice to hear a greater diversity of stories.  As for your reactions to all this, I just say believe what you want to believe...whether you're a follower of conventional journalism or Trumpworld's Orwellian alternative facts, I'm sure there's some media "pundit" out there willing and able to spoon-feed for you all the talking points you need to armor yourself with regardless of your perspective...

So what's going to go down with this Mueller investigation and will Trump fire Sessions after the 2018 midterm elections and then try to shut Mueller down?  By the end of 2018, we should have a clearer picture about what's in front of us...there are rumblings about a move to initiate impeachment should the Democrats take the House of Representatives, although the Senate would almost certainly never vote to convict and remove Trump (two thirds vote required there).  I've always said that the best scenario would be for Mueller to issue his final report and vindicate Trump of impeachable wrongdoing...this prolonged scandal business wasn't good for the country with Watergate and it isn't now, either.  Unfortunately, I sadly suspect that when everything does finally come out, our president is going to have some major problems on his hands.  No, I didn't vote for Trump and I think his character is repulsive, but he is my president and needs to tend to the nation's business...and, dang it, I agree with some of his policies.  As for Brett Kavanaugh, I like the guy and feel that in a less politically-charged time he would be more accepted.  Yes, he's a conservative: the conservative candidate won the presidential election and nominated him...my beef is that when we had a liberal president and a court vacancy, the Republican-controlled Senate refused to consider his nominee.  The Democrats in the Senate are still rightfully offended by that reprehensible action by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2016, but Kavanaugh shouldn't be treated the worse for it...

Quote of the Week...from Aretha Franklin

Sometimes, what you're looking for is already there.            ---Aretha Franklin

I was saddened yesterday morning to find out that Aretha Franklin passed away...many times she brightened up my often melancholy outlook with some incredible music.  More than that, though, was her wonderful, genuine personality...she said lots of good stuff over the past 50+ years.  The above quote I picked without exactly knowing the context in which she spoke it, but that's often the way with quotes.  I don't think, by her focus on the present, that she meant for people not to try and improve themselves or seek a better life for others...Aretha was always a big advocate for positive change.  The way I see it, a lot of us have problems with discontent and comparing ourselves unfavorably with others...maybe "they" have more wealth, perceived popularity, recognition, travels and adventures, and so on.  However, the only life we will ever experience is that which we have now...and sometimes it's a good idea to stop and reflect on what we have to be grateful for and not on what's all going down around us or who seems to be unfairly doing better than us.  It's good to believe in a better future and work for it, but it's equally good to savor the present and what we already have...advice that I too often forget to take for myself...

Quote of the Week...from Charles Krauthammer

To understand the workings of American politics, you have to understand this fundamental law: Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil.     
                                                                           Charles Krauthammer

Charles Krauthammer, who passed away just two weeks ago at the age of 68 from cancer, was one of America's foremost conservative commentators and writers, his career in this regard spanning four decades and seven U.S. presidents.  He originally had planned to be a physician and was attending Harvard Medical School when he had a life-changing accident while diving at a pool, permanently paralyzing him from the waist down.  That I had been completely unaware of his disability until just a year ago is a testament to those around him and Krauthammer himself, who above anything wanted his words to be considered for their own merit and not out of sympathy for his physical circumstances.  Since I don't watch Fox News Channel very much, I missed out on a lot of his input about the ongoing political scene.  I liked him, though, and am sad that he's gone...

As for Krauthammer's above quote, I kind of agree with it and I kind of don't.  It's true that from my perspective as a registered Democrat with a few conservative takes on various issues, I can look at those in opposition to my beliefs as being either stupid or evil...well evil is a bit strong, maybe insensitive, vindictive, or selfish might be better descriptions.  But I don't necessarily see this as distributed differently between conservatives and liberals.  The way I see it instead, if conservatives are in power and they're doing things liberals disapprove of, then some liberals will see them as evil...sure, especially nowadays with Trump running the show and all the different protest demonstrations that have been staged in the last couple of years.  And I think those protests, overwhelmingly for liberal causes, while making the participants feel like they're doing something positive to change things, really aren't changing anything...except maybe in their own minds...and I think that's foolish.  To really change things, liberals need to consistently and dutifully vote, vote, vote...and not just when some idol of theirs like Obama or Bernie is on the ballot...conservative voters understand this to a much greater degree and that's why they have been successful in off-year elections and in state-level races, securing legislative and gubernatorial control of most of the country's states...

Back when the Democrats had the power in the early years of the Obama administration, though, this seeing the other side as "stupid" or "evil" was reversed...let's face it, folks can get scared when their political opposition holds the reins of power and are more likely to ridicule them when their own side controls things.  More important, as I see it, is for people to begin to think for themselves and take each issue on its own merits instead of lining up in lock-step about everything with their party or professed political orientation.  But I'm a realist and know that the tendency is to treat it all like a game, one side winning and the other losing and we all want to be winners, right?...and how ridiculous people can get about loving or hating their leaders.  Let's face it: if the Democrats do make substantial gains this November's election, it will primarily be due to their success in generating negative passion among their voters against Trump, which I admit shouldn't be all that hard to do...

Quote of the Week...from Anthony Bourdain

If I'm an advocate for anything, it's to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else's shoes or at least eat their food, it's a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.
                                                                   ---Anthony Bourdain

I am deeply saddened to read this morning of the death...apparently from suicide...of renowned chef, traveler, and television star Anthony Bourdain.  CNN News, which features his long-running, award-winning show Parts Unknown and in which Bourdain would visit different exotic places across the world to get to know their people, culture, and cuisine, has been careful to present on the air the national suicide hotline number. I suppose that since this public figure was so widely followed, they feared some might emulate his example...I'll repeat it: 1-800-273-8255.  I'm not going to get into Mr. Bourdain's spiritual state, although once the details of his death have been fully ascertained, that may well have played some role in it.  We do know that he was very public in that travel and food reigned paramount on his priority list...I regarded him as a bit fearless in his ongoing quest to immerse himself in the cultures of others, sometimes in very dangerous circumstances in remote and even warring locales.  That's why, at this early time of knowing about his demise, I wonder...admittedly in abject ignorance...if he had decided to end it all, then why not instead go out performing something heroic for the benefit of others?  I liked Anthony Bourdain and thought that his show was the class act of television...but I have a different way from him of seeing the world and my place in it...

I disagree with the above quote of Anthony Bourdain in that I don't think it's necessary to constantly be on the move, hopping from one flight to the next, in order to understand others from their own perspective...to me that's more of a personal character or spiritual matter.  After all, in many of the places that Bourdain visited the people there were rooted in their homelands, often living out generations of lifetimes in small localities...yet they were complete in themselves, not wanting for lack of worldwide travel or incapable of gracious hospitality to strangers like Bourdain and his entourage.  I think a lot of folks, especially in this age of Facebook and Instagram where their friends can instantly post pictures of their exciting travel experiences, feel pressured to follow suit...lest they begin to feel that their own lives are humdrum and meaningless.  This to me is a false notion...but I have a different problem: I'm the diametric opposite of Anthony Bourdain when it comes to travel...

If you read or watched J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, you'll know that the protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is quite content staying in his home in the Shire, never wanting to venture out away from his community.  But the wizard Gandalf changes all that and spurs him on to go with the dwarfs to retake their Lonely Mountain from the evil dragon Smaug.  He manages to survive his adventure, returns home, and then true to his nature remains there until his 111th birthday at the start of another Tolkien work, Lord of the Rings.  I'm like Bilbo in my tendency to be a homebody, only unlike him I have had no Gandalf knocking on my door and stirring me to travel and adventure.  But I'm getting along in years, being 61 (the same age as Anthony Bourdain), and I can't wait for any old wizard to get me "moving"...so I'll have to purpose to do it myself.  Step one is to finally get off my butt and get a passport...

Quote of the Week...from Ursula K. Le Guin

There are no right answers to wrong questions.            ---Ursula K. Le Guin

Fantasy and science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin passed away this past Monday at the age of 88.  It seems like there have been more deaths lately than usual...it's most likely because they are of people like Sue Grafton, Ray Thomas...and now Le Guin...all of whom I have come to respect and admire for their imagination and skill at their chosen crafts.  I did read the first three books of Le Guin's Earthsea series back in September of '16 as well as enjoying the '70s television adaption of her novel The Lathe of Heaven...you can explore this blog's archives to read my reactions to Earthsea.  But now it's about the above quote of hers...

The simpler the quote, the more difficult it often is to pinpoint exactly what the individual meant when he or she presented it...and this is a pretty brief one.  I can only offer my own interpretation, which is that most people really aren't disciplined or trained enough to consistently ask questions that aren't either loaded with embedded assumptions and biases or are so vague and general that any answer is necessarily going to be meaningless.  An example of this was the poor journalism practiced when a reporter yelled at President Trump while he was before them, "Are you a racist?"  Whether or not you agree with the assumption embedded within the question...that Trump just might be a racist...posing that question to him in those circumstances was a statement in itself besides being too general, any answer from the president only of secondary importance...so he was right to ignore it.  So what constitutes a "right" question?  If you are trying to collect an informed answer from someone, your question needs to be specific and if there are any assumptions underlying it, you should be candid enough to preface your question with that acknowledgment...simply stating beforehand "Assuming that..." will do in most cases.  After all, by questioning and answering we're supposed to be engaging in communication...and people have their own different values and understandings about what certain words and expressions mean to them...

I have been watching the C-Span channels of late and am usually pleased with the informed way that senators or representatives question people at hearings.  Usually.  When the person being grilled is an official already in office and there is a set subject up for discussion, the quality of questioning is refreshing...and I walk away from the experience feeling that I have learned something.  However, when the hearing is for a nominee by the president, the questions tend to disintegrate into softballs by the president's own party members and loaded questions by the opposition...leading to very little being accomplished.  Would that folks learn to discern better the difference between good and bad questioning and hold those responsible for them more accountable.  Y'know, maybe I'll start to collect instances of poor questioning I hear on TV and regularly lay them out on this blog...no one political party or belief system holds a monopoly on them and journalists who should know better are often the worst offenders...

Texas Church Massacre Just Five Weeks After Las Vegas Massacre

A young Texas man, dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force and with a history of domestic battery, opened fire Sunday morning at a small town church that was holding its weekly services, killing 26 and injuring 20 more...before apparently taking his own life after a high-speed chase by two brave heroes.  The immediate verdict I'm hearing about the perpetrator of this massacre of the congregation at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs is that he was mentally ill, deranged as President Trump put it.  Oh, I didn't know Donald Trump was qualified in diagnosing mental illness...

When you consider somebody like the Las Vegas shooter or the Sutherland Springs creep, it's easy to take the mental illness route of explanation...after all, how could anyone in their right mind commit such terrible atrocities?  I'm afraid that this argument, however, has two counterproductive consequences.  One, it paints a picture of those suffering from mental illness as being more violent and a danger to society, when in fact they are much more likely to be the victims of others.  Two, it ignores the concept of evil as it infests the souls of people throughout their lives.  These two men, whose names are beneath mentioning, made a deal with that evil and deliberately killed and injured scores of innocent people.  They were not only evil, but also cowards...this last one dressed up in military costume and gunned down a baby, children, women, and old people.  I get where the mental illness arguments are coming from, but in the end when do you stop going down that road and start to hold people responsible for their own actions?