Women

     These views and statements are strictly my own.   I can't cite any academic studies or authorities to back up my observations.  I've been thinking about women and cops.  Police forces are generally predominately male.  A great many of them are veterans who were taught to kill people without guilt.  A pacifist soldier is not of much use for war in which we were usually engaged until Obama came along and injected some government sanity.  Everybody wonders why so many cops kill black people.  As a pastor once said "our chickens have come home to roost."  And so they have.
     It's my opinion that veterans should never work in the field.  In fact, we should have a police corps  completely composed of non-veteran women.  A woman is capable of doing whatever a man can do as far as dealing with people and keeping the peace.  I personally witnessed a lady cop put a would be assaulter on the ground in handcuffs before he realized his mistake.  All women cops should be continually trained in martial arts.  And their gun is a great equalizer against most other weapons.
      Male police should be relegated to inside station work only, booking prisoners and such.  All work as jailers should be continually monitored by several video cameras covering all areas including rest rooms.  Being in jail negates your right to privacy to insure your protection from jailers or other inmates.  As I said at the outset, just my opinions.
     

Obnoxia

 


     There are some people who by their very nature are obnoxious to most other people.  Among them, I name what I call doorstep evangelists. The opening line is often "have you heard the good news about Jesus?"  I dare say that unless the person is a clone of Helen Keller, they have heard about Jesus.  Too many people have heard, claim to follow Him and don't have the slightest intention of carrying out any of His suggestions. Especially about the poor and money. They feel like all they have to do is be saved and that's enough.  Never admit to not having been saved.  They take that as a sign they need to do it immediately because my soul will be lost were I to drop dead in such a state.  The best defense is to claim Catholicism as your faith.  They give up and leave fast.  For some reason they are afraid Catholics may be struck by lightening bolts from God and they might be hit by accident.
     Right behind the religion freaks are ex-smokers.  At least their rancor is directed toward anyone who emits the faintest odor of a tobacco product.  Their criticism is "I quit why don't or won't you?" conveniently forgetting the numerous times they tried and failed.  They are hypocrites by telling people to just quit like they did.  It is never so easy as they claim.  I smoked for many years and every time the price went up, I tried and failed.  Finally I developed an incurable respiratory disease that would kill me quickly unless I stopped smoking.  When the price was my life. Cigarettes lost.  And even then it wasn't easy.  So I never criticize someone for a smoking habit.    

                       




























































































































































status.  Never admit to not having been saved.  They take that as a sign they need to do itimmediately because my soul will be lost were I to drop dead in such a state.  The best response is to claim Catholicism as your faith.  They give up and leave fast.  For some reason they are afraid Castholoc

Chronic

      Chronic is both a noun and an adjective.  The noun is a variety of kick-ass marijuana .  The adjective refers to a condition that is both persistent and progressive like the copd  I cope with.  I've been told I should write about it. My question is why?  First, I don't write documentaries. My interests and thoughts are all focused outward, seldom inward.  A quick look at Google show me that most people have no such reticence.  I notice people writing personal blogs about anything regarding their health and bodies.  They write about anything from cancer to the heartbreak of psoriasis.  From their dandruff to their hemorrhoids to their athletes foot, nothing is off-limits.
     I think concentrating on some infirmity makes it worse.  We are blessed where I live with an ersatz Donald Trump who continually blows his own horn.  The more we pay attention the worse he gets. When we  ignore him he goes away.  A chronic condition won't go away,  but it's  effect is often mitigated.
                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Reason

    Around holidays at the year's end, people run around saying "Jesus is the reason for the season."  Around January when Congress reconvenes, President Lyndon Johnson always cajoled them with "come, let us reason together."  In these modern times it's "now is the season for the reason."
     It's time for the leaders and possible future leaders of this country to use common sense and reason rather than divisive methodology to devise future plans and paths for the country.  This latter course can only lead to stalemate and inertia. Moving backward instead of forward to a brighter vision.  Teachers often the example of water glass filled to the halfway mark.  Depending on a viewers perception and attitude, the glass is either half empty or half full.  A democrat will probably say half full and filling while a republican will say half empty and draining.  Their conflicting views  will be on display this weekend  when party debates are held. Check back Monday  

Clown Car

     The republican clown Volkswagen is parked in South Carolina tonight.  Don't know yet how many players we will see tonight and how many might have fallen off on the way over.
     Turns out only Rand Paul figured out that keeping up with this bunch of losers and used his demotion to the Santorum forum to save face, stay home and quit wasting billionaire's money  Without realizing it, Rand just proved himself more intelligent than the rest of the field.  The rest stayed to make fools of themselves for the next hour or two.  It started at 8:00 PM.  How long it will run I don't know because I realized I was wasting time I could use to watch my lawn grass grow or watch the traffic light change colors so often on the street corner.  Both more edifying than watching a convention of Pinocchio's competing to prove they can grow the longest nose at the  party.
     If you were able to stomach all the misinformation, errors and outright bald faced lies to make it to the closing bell, you have earned my heartfelt admiration.   

Coming of Age

      I've been reading about coming of age rituals in the world.  I notice in third world countries, such rituals nearly always involve pain and mutilation of body parts with a lot of blood and scarification.  Circumcision is common but uncommonly performed on adolescent boys instead of infants.  Very painful.  Especially so if performed with a ceremonial dull knife.  I never understood the biblical god's obsession with penises and foreskins.  Did he feel like it was a mistake to construct them together.  If it takes losing mine to prove my manhood, I'll have to pass.  I'll just have to live with Arnold's judgement of being a girly-man.
      When a male Jewish boy turns 13 he is eligible for Bar Mitzva in which he is formally inducted into manhood after which he can read from the Torah at synagogue services or become one of the participants in any ritual or service requiring a certain number of men.  Probably the most painful thing about it is learning to read and speak Hebrew.  The best thing is at the reception when relatives bring gifts like savings bonds and envelopes stuffed with money in the higher denominations,
     In rural Texas where I grew up there is one sure signal that boyhood is over and the fact of his majority is reached and recognized by his father.  Whenever there was an event involving a number of females, the men would go in a circle behind the barn or some other secluded spot.  Someone invariably produced a bottle of whiskey and someone else a bottle of seven-up for a chaser.  I was in college before learning you could mix the whiskey and chaser together and get a smoother drink. The two libations would pass around the circle.  After my dad drank, he handed them to me instead of reaching  over me to pass the bottles on.  It was a silent signal to me and all the others I was now a man.  I will never forget the taste that burned my throat so bad, tears leaked from both my eyes and I was so grateful for the chaser and so grateful that I didn't throw up.  That was coming of age in small town Texas.     

Repeat 7/3/2015

     With the new surge in the polls today by Sanders over Clinton.  I feel this post in July is especially apropos.  I re-give you:


      Poor Hillary

The poor woman just can't win.  Evidently she was born under the wrong sign or date or something.  She had the democratic nomination all wrapped up in 2008.  Until Obama came from nowhere and snatched it away,  Last week, she had the democrat nomination in the bag until Bernie Sanders popped up with the answers America seemed to want most.  A lot more than her proposals.  He is honest; his years long record on votes in the senate is spotless with his support of the people over big money.  Not even Fox News has been able to dream up anything impugning his integrity.  Sooner or later Republicans and conservatives will make up some corruption and make fools of themselves.  He will shoot them down as he's done for over twenty years.  

    Sorry, Mrs. Clinton.  It's just not your time.  Fate seems to have decided otherwise.

i

Union State

     Tomorrow night, Obama will make his last State of the Union address to Congress and the Nation.  I pulled up and re-read his first such annual speech in 2009,  In it, he talked about the steps he was taking to dissect and correct the Bush/Cheney/Bevis/Butthead debacle and mess he inherited.  He cited the success of the auto industry bailout and the job creation of the stimulus program.  He never mentioned the opposition from Republicans that were determined to ensure that everything he did would fail.  In spite of their best efforts, Obama managed to achieve one glaring success after another.  A testament to his strength, intelligence, perseverance and ability to get things done.
     In the intervening seven years, he did what practically every president since Franklin Roosevelt has tried and failed,  he revolutionized national healthcare.  That ranks in importance with Social Security and Medicare.  Obama's place in history is secure as one of our best and greatest leaders.
     I believe he is too much of a man to mention tomorrow night the achievements he could have attained if the republicans and conservatives had worked for America with him instead of against him and this country.  They think of themselves as patriots; I think of them as idiots and shout "Raca" to them. 





    

Billions

     At Christmas I received a scratch off card for the lottery.  I won two dollars which I had until today.  When the Powerball lottery went over an estimated billion dollars, I decided it might be propitious to take a chance and blow my two dollars on a ticket.  Since the computer picks win over 75% of the time, I trusted it to my fate. 
     1.3 billion dollars will probably get you an invitation to the president's  White House or one to have dinner with Donald Trump.  I'll have to advise Don I have a standing appointment to get my hair washed whenever he has dinner.  Sorry about that.
     I have to clarify now how they are going to pay me.  Do I have to go somewhere to pick it up or will they bring it to me here?  We need to get that straightened out now instead of waiting until the drawing of my numbers.

Steel Balls

     It's often said of a strong man that he has balls of steel.  Luckily our president has balls of Chromium.  On a Mohs scale, this is the hardest metal, far stronger than steel ranking just below diamond for hardness.  With all the crap he has to deal with, he needs just that.  From the republican castrati whose  scrotums must be stuffed with cotton wool and belly button lint.  They scream and shriek like school girls whenever Obama does what they are afraid to do.  They issue all sorts of threats and dire predictions; none of which actually happen.  As Shakespeare once wrote, it's "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."  Exactly what the United States Congress has become.  So sad.  

Human Life

     How much is one life worth?  Can we even evaluate it in monetary terms?  First we have to define what a human life is.  We have to disregard gender, ethnicity, age definition i.e. from the first breath exiting a vagina to the last breath at the end and including the sum of one's contribution to society at large.
     Our president Obama feels the value is beyond the price of passing more restrictions on the sale and possession of firearms.  Since our republican legislature refuses to do it, Barak is forced to do it himself.  He did so yesterday leading to threats of impeachment and all sorts of dire punishment.  None of this will actually happen.  Republicans are the modern castrati singing in high pitched voices of indignation and impotence against a president with balls of brass.
     We can't stop all violent actions but if we can save even one soul or one grieving family, all of this will be worth it.   

Blogging

     Many people start up a blog with all good intention.  But they don't realize that unless one loves to write, a blog is hard to keep up.  Usually a blog is based on a single or two ideas.  When they start with only that, they run out of gas very fast.  They could save themselves some time posting to Facebook or Twitter.  I think the blog landscape is littered with permanently abandoned and inactive fragments of interesting quotes if expanded and explained.  Approaching the numbers of discarded beer can pull tabs in beaches used for spring break weekends.   A big waste of brainpower.
     Once you expound your original premise; what's next.  I try to be aware of changes and perceptions of my surrounding environment during the day.  Pay attention to input from other people, TV and radio broadcasts and external events.  By noon, I have today's blog subject. 
      I have been remiss in learning all about Google blogging.  Some ideas I have might already be standard practice.  For example, abandoned blogs should just disappear.  I am always admonished in regard to my libido "use it or lose it." This reference to genitalia should also apply to blogs.  If there are no posts for six months.  Zap it out of existence, but keep a list of abandoned topics.  Reference to this list would spark one through a dry spell, a dearth of ideas.  Just my opinion.


     

No Home

       There's much written about homeless people.   At any given time, there are approximately  three million people without a home in this country.  These live on the streets, under bridges and overpasses or sheltered in tents, makeshift shacks or lean-to's.  Many caring individuals sincerely want to help but too many see them as potential converts to their particular brand of Christianity or Cult.  Bread in one hand and a bible or beads in the other.  Take one and you are obligated to take the other.
         Homeless shelters are too often a joke.  Don't go near one without your possessions firmly secured to your body.  Theft is rampant not only among the population but the staff is not averse to picking up some loose pretty bauble.  Even sleeping on one's shoes is not enough.  They need to have laces tied together and looped over the neck so attempting to remove them can't be done stealthily.
      This subject is too long and involves so many facets it can't really be done justice in a short blog essay.  At the behest of a dear old friend, I have created a new blog at  *(forthi567.blogspot.com )* to address this issue fully on a daily basis.  I will start with my own experiences and move on to a current person's daily life.  I haven't read up on this method so what I write is original thoughts , ideas and current situations.  I have made it public so if you want to check it out you can.



 

Marriage

          All civil contracts are not marriages but all marriages are civil contracts.  Over the years, strange customs have evolved concerning marriage rituals and forms.  In early America, usually lacking a judge, minister or registrar, jumping the broom was accepted as a legal marriage.  This involved the bride and groom grasping opposite ends of a broom and jumping over it to be legally married.  In early New England, they practiced shift law.  If the bride was naked or clad only in transparent under wear, the new groom couldn't be held responsible for her debts or if a widow, her dead husbands debts; kind of a rudimentary consumer protection law.  In present day Texas, if someone introduces another person as their mate and if the other person does not object,  they have formed a common law marriage and henceforth can file joint tax returns and enjoy any benefits accruing to marriage partners.
     Strangely enough, marriages arranged by parents or marriage brokers make for lasting bonds. Those marriages based on capricious love end in divorce 50% of the time and 60% when they try it again with a different partner.   On the other hand, arranged marriage success reaches well over 90%.
     I have been married 4 times with my present contract lasting for over 30 years.  I think that the worst scenario and bar to success is sleeping in the same bed together.  People snore, snort and make all manner of disgusting sounds and strange habits while in bed asleep or half awake.  All kind of destroy the mystique around one's partner.  Separate bedrooms are the way to go.  Both are happy and guilt free and will more willingly make the trek across the hall a little more often.  And enjoy it more.

Ghosts

     I think what people believe are ghosts or supernatural sightings are actually tricks of our own mind to explain anything that has no discernible cause.  In my own experience, I once heard a front door open and footsteps sounded going past where I had been sleeping.  Nothing was there and I was alone in the house.  Did I hear a ghost, a disembodied spirit, or some other unknown sound that my brain interpreted as a known sound; a door opening and footsteps?  I will never know.
     I don't think that when we die, we go wandering around in what seems like us in a dream and somehow are able to re-enter the natural world to contact anyone or influence some natural event.  I do believe we are transformed into some entity that can exist in another dimension while it waits to move on or be reborn into the present natural world.
     I certainly don't believe I will stand like a prisoner in the dock and be called to account for anything that might have displeased a heavenly judge.  If virtues don't outweigh transgression, I will be sentenced to everlasting punishment.  It's kind of satisfying to imagine evil people getting what they deserve.  Unfortunately, that's not going to happen according to what I believe.  It's why we make laws and try to punish prople while we can get our hands on them.  We, deep down, think the heavenly powers might screw up so we get them while we can.
     In short, ghosts and spirits are figments of our imagination, no matter how real and solid they appear to be or how much proof is proffered in defense of their existence.

Farmland

     Farmland?  We're running out of it.  When my forebears came to Texas in the late 1800's there was a plethora of arable land for the taking.  All they had to do was drive 4 stakes into the ground and anything inside that perimeter up to 640 acres became his farm.  Each of these early settlers paced off a square mile and claimed it.  What started out as free land now is worth in excess of a million dollars.  To farm this land, all one needed was a plow and an ox or mule to pull it.  Now, it takes nearly a half million in equipment to raise a decent crop of anything.  A majority of these family farms no longer exist having been absorbed into agri-businesses farming extraordinary acreages. Super farms as it were.  As the population of the world increases, food production must keep pace or too many people will die of malnutrition and starvation. Wars will be fought to gain more  land to grow turnips and cabbage.
     This quest for more land has decimated the massive rain forests of the Amazon River.  You would think it's just a bunch of trees that were cut down.  Unfortunately, that bunch of trees supplies over 20% of the world's oxygen supply. 

Cold ?

     First of all, there is no such thing as cold; there is only the absence of heat.  Heat is a thing, cold is not.  Heat is a measure of the activity of molecules in any substance.  This activity may be measured in different scales, all tied to water changes.  Most common in the US is the Fahrenheit scale.  Water turns to ice at 32 degrees and turns to steam at 212 degrees.  I learned this in science class,
      In real life, I learned that men and women run on different scales.  Women get cold when men are comfortable.  Men get hot when women are comfortable.  I suppose transsexuals are either always cold or always hot.  I don't know any of them so I really don't know.  I might know one because I don't think they walk around announcing their proclivity to the world.  Unlike gay people who seem to insert their gayness in any reference to themselves.  I never know if they want a medal or a kick in the rear so I just buy a ticket to the gay pride parade.
     Normally people judge the climate with analogies like "hot as hell" or "cold as hell" depending on the temperatures.  How hot that is "you could fry an egg on the sidewakl" or "colder than the nipple on a witch's tit, whatever either means.  I have never understood why weather people announce the temperature and then say "feels like ?"   I always think it feels like what it is.  They should say "the wind chill factor is ?"  Do they think we're too stupid to do simple math?  Probably.  As Kurt Vonnegut  observed "Welcome to the Monkey House."





    











lass.   

New Year

     It's January 1st, the first day of 2016.  As is customary, time for new year's resolutions.  Twenty million people will resolve to quit smoking and at the end of the first week, 16 will have kept their resolve.  Another twenty million choose to lose twenty pounds.  Probably the odds will be better and 75 will actually do it.  And so on down the list.  I will cut back on visits to fast food outlets and eat healthier victuals.  I will bathe or shower every day.  I will put the toilet seat down so females don't inadvertently sit down on cold, hard porcelain.  All on the list will probably last anywhere from 2 to 5 days.
     For myself, I will only make resolutions I know can be kept for  the whole year.  For example, I will not pick fights with trees, motorcycles or thunderstorms.  I will not jump on stage at rock concerts.  I will not bang a tin cup on cell bars and demand release.  I will not streak naked across fields at football games.  I will not pee on my next door neighbor's sidewalk or lawn.  I will not wash stranger's feet.  All these are negative things.  On the positive side of the ledge, I will vote for Bernie  Sanders for president. I will continue to love my wife of 32 years.  I will sleep some every night.  I will be grateful for this extra day of life. 
     At the end of this year barely begun, I will have no regrets and feel anticipation for 2017 and a new chance to make resolutions.