What I believe

I find it important to list these things, more for me than for you. My beliefs are founded on research, supported by history, validated by current events, fueled by passion and presented with emotion. I do care what you think, although I have learned that you are equally inspired to find your own path in this world.

First, I believe in an ultimate Maker, who is in charge of everything, and who expects me to act "right" of my own volition.

Built on that, I believe that I can choose to do wrong, but that by violating physical, mental, and spiritual principles, I will end up damaging myself and others as a consequence.

Next I believe that mankind is basically flawed. I happen to believe it is because of original sin, but whatever the cause, people are just "not right". We are capable of the highest good, and the most despicable evil, and I believe that under the right conditions, any of us are capable of either.

Built on that, I believe there is a resolution for that flaw, and that is our continued journey toward reunion with our Maker. Any time we turn away, we are unhappy, and our level of defiance and self assurance in ourselves doesn't matter. When we turn away, we are unhappy.

I believe that people should freely choose to help each other, but should not be compelled to do so by outside forces.

Built on that I believe that each of us has a responsibility to care for ourselves, and not to expect others to do for us what we can do for ourselves.

Built on that, I believe the world is a place of opportunity, but not of guaranteed results, and that any effort to make everyone equal is doomed not only to failure, but to inflicting more harm than good on target and surrounding populations.

I believe that man (generic) is arrogant in the extreme to think that he can materially affect planet earth in any long-term sense. All we do is play in the dirt. What we use comes from the earth. What we make goes back to the earth. Man cannot break this cycle.

I believe that man must be governed by laws, not by other men - when we forget this, we end up with chaos, dictatorships, and worse. I believe we are forgetting this now.

I believe that money cannot buy happiness, but that it does make shopping for happiness a lot more fun.

I believe government should live within its means - just like families. Enough is enough.

I believe strength (and its use) guarantees peace - history is justification.

On the lighter side, I believe in energy, convenience, comfort, and fun.

I believe in nice cars - anyone should be able to drive whatever he wants and delight in it.

I believe in Heating and A/C - stay warm in winter and cool in summer - do not sacrifice.

I believe in lights. Incandescent bulbs are prettier, can be dimmed, and are cheap. Use them.

I believe in land ownership, not oversight. If I want to fill my bog, I should be able to.

I believe in food. Good food makes me happy, and I want my fat, salt, sugar, meat, and caffeine.

I believe in well-behaved children. If I need to cause a little pain to generate good behavior, OK.

I believe that everyone deserves more chances. We all make mistakes, and plenty of them. If we admit we are wrong, and try to start over, our past should not be held against us.

Built on that, I believe in forgiveness. And it is simple. If we want to be forgiven we should forgive.

Built on that, I believe in St. Francis' prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

That about sums it up!

Dr. Malveaux

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is onto something. Normally, I am not a big follower of hers, but she has spoken up for a bailout for students (http://www.juliannemalveaux.com/bailout-for-our-students.html).

The concept is something like this: carmakers and banks are getting bailouts to keep from going under - why not students? Home-buyers are getting payouts and renegotiated lower interest rates - why not extend the same to students? I agree with the good Doctor that we students need 1% loans, more time to repay our loans, and higher Pell Grants. Go, Dr. Malveaux, GO!!!

Oh, one more thing. I think it's really, really, really MEAN that Dr. Malveaux recently said this about Barack Obama:

"I hope his wife feeds him lots of eggs and butter and he dies early like many black men do, of heart disease. "

What - you don't believe that an educated black woman in the public eye would say that about a prominent African American in today's society?

Well, I lied......a little bit. Dr. Malveax actually did offer those same intentions, but for a different prominent African-American, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/12/28/hate_speech_of_the_left/)

Hmmm. Maybe, seeing how mean-spirited Dr. Malveaux can really be, I should look for college funding assistance elsewhere...

The great viral fight

I have a virus. If there is any war to fight, this one should be the biggest. After 4 days and several tactical defeats, my immune system seems to be gaining the strategic advantage. Ahhhhh.

I remember an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, where the family members each got sick, and it was hilarious. You know - how we love to laugh at the suffering of others. That kind of hilarious. They thought they had been poisoned and were going to die. Well, sometimes that's how it feels. Being so cold you know you can never get warm again, and shivering so hard you feel like you might have a heart attack. Being sick to your stomach and hungry at the same time - what's up with that?

And the worst part, for you older sickies like me, we don't eat for 3 days and think "well at least I lost some weight!" WRONG. I step on the scale this morning and I haven't lost an ounce. My wife says - "you probably drank a lot of water". Nope, I didn't despite all the warnings: "Drink lots of water" "You better drink a lot of water" "Just keep drinking water". I didn't. I dind't eat. I didn't drink much. Still, no weight loss. Oh well. Maybe this virus stopped my metabolism too. I'm getting over it and think it will be gone within 1 or 2 more days. I can't wait.

A Wrinkle (or two) in Time

Y'know what is a pain in the tuckus? Trying to get a good photo - it gets harder and harder to find the right angle and lighting as the years go by. One try displays the tummy in all its glory, another the triple chin, a third the mottled skin and red eyes, a fourth the stunning loss of hair. Fat face, gray hair (what's left of it), skinny arms, and wrinkles.

It's all vanity anyway, and I know that the best thing to do is forget it. People like photos for remembering people, times, places, and events. Not for what I looked like at the time. Still and all, I find myself critiquing every photo and saying to myself "next time tilt your head this way, smile differently, suck in the gut, etc, etc. Do I ever remember those things? No.

Photo albums, in books or digital format do one thing unbelievably well. They remind us that we are mortal, that we are all subject to same physical laws of wearing out (all except Cher and Goldie, of course), and that we will take our place in history along side the billions that have gone before us. It is only a matter of time.

I try to grin and bear it. Most of the time I am successful. Every now and again I think about visiting the hair loss clinic, checking out skin rejuvenation methods more extreme than lotions, teeth whitening, face lifts, getting a body trainer, and, of course various "male enhancement methods". Ah well - it is to laugh. I don't think I will ever actually do any of those. If I can live with seeing lots of scalp, a paunch, multiple chins, and that "old person" posture, then others can live with it too. In the intimacy dept., well, we just have to work harder, don't we? Lower lights can help as well for the self-conscious, I've found.

Hey - aging sucks. But consider our only alternative. Suddenly it doesn't seem so bad. So I walk a little slower, eat a little better, spend more time in the mirror becoming presentable, and exercise more. It's not a cure for aging, but it is a way of taking action against a common enemy, so to speak. That in itself makes me feel better.

So I have joined the legion that says things like:
"I earned my gray hair"
"Wrinkles add character"
"I enjoy my food"
"Now I look more distinguished"
"I don't care what others think"

and so on.

Works for me!

Oh, and if you aren't "there" yet, you young skallywags, you...well, just wait. You'll get there. It's guaranteed.

Unless you're Cher. You will look perfect until you are 110. Then you will get hit by an errant ping-pong ball at a party, and you will shatter into a thousand pieces...

Abolish Income Tax Withholding

Hi Folks,

Not any more to it than that. I think we should do away with income tax withholding. Why? It is tyranny, plain and simple. In our representative government, we supposedly have agreed to the repressive and oppressive sums we fork over to the Federal Conglomerate each payday. Perhaps we DID agree. Perhaps we didn't. It is hard to know when we are beset with so many different taxes and fees, that are automatically withheld before we ever see the paycheck remainder we are allowed to keep.

So my solution is simple. And I think it will tell us in a heartbeat whether we really agree to the confiscatory tax levels currently imposed on us. We repeal income tax withholding, and simply write a check or three each payday. That's it. No changes to tax rules or levels. No cuts, increases, stimulii, or credits. Simply look at your pay stub, record the gross amount, and then write two or three checks: one to the federal government for the income, social security, and medicare taxes, and one to each state that claims a portion of your income. Drop them in the mail and forget about it until next payday.

My prediction is that if we did this, within the space of one year our tax burden would be drastically reduced as our state and federal representatives were faced with public lynchings over the gross theft that is our current system.

Picture this: A family wage-earner earns $4,800 every 2 weeks - pretty well paid, right?
After all reductions, the net check is for $3500. Whoa, he or she would say, except that he or she has grown used to not looking at the stub, and accepting the net as the "way of things."

Now say that individual deposits $4,800 to his or her bank account.

S/he rubs hands together thinking about the nice new flat-screen to be purchased. Oops, but first, write a check to the federal government for $1,000 for income, FICA, and medicare taxes. Now we have $3,800. Now write a check to the state for $300, and we are down to $3,500.

Still cool, right? Then we take out for the mortgage, the car(s), the groceries, clothes, utilities, and credit card payments. Suddenly there are only a few hundred left for entertainment and unexpected expenses. Wouldn't that extra $1,300 have been useful? Heck - give the governments $800 and wouldn't the extra $500 have been useful? Heck, give the governments $1,000, and wouldn't the extra $300 have been useful?

Yes amigos, a few months of this, and there would be a sea of pitchforks outside of city hall and outside of the Capitol Building, protesting government greed.

We are asleep, and we are hearing [N]Obama tell us he is about to dramatically increase taxes in businesses and individuals. We won't know when enough is enough, because we aren't watching.

Remove the stealthy income withholding, and we will wake up, I predict, and shortly thereafter, our "representatives" will wake up as we discover we don't NEED to spend money on all ths pork, and that we demand better accounting and demonstrated results for the money we DO spend.

Study cow flatulence? It is to laugh. Fund Viagra for senior citizens? Abortions for Latin Americans? "Tax cuts" for those that do not even work? Nope, nope, and nope. Pay farmers not to grow things? Huh-unh. Subsidize losing mass transit systems such as AMTRAK? Negatory.

I predict we will also start watching how our individual representatives spend money on themselves with perks, trips, and undebated salary increases. I bet we start demanding they account for every dollar they want spend via some public forum, such as a town-hall discussion.

I bet the economy would heal up in a heartbeat.

I bet....ah, well. It is only fantasy. How could this land of sheeple ever stand up to the tyranny of withholding? It's too scary. It's too much work. Let somebody else do it.

Jimmy

Just watch the movie

Somebody recommended this to me once - an old friend no longer here, who said: "when times are bad, just step outside of yourself and watch everything as if it were a movie".

It didn't make much sense, but over time, I found occasion to try the tactic, and the more I used it the more sense it made.

See, I get paralyzed when I get into situations that overwhelm me, such as when I make a big mistake, or when someone is screaming at me, or when I have performance anxiety for speeches and presentations. I get really scared at financial worries and family sickness, and I become furious at negative behavior in others that makes no sense.

So the first time that I had to get through a really uncomfortable situation at work, where my manager didn't have the cojones to let someone go, and made me do it, I simply had the conversation and watched myself do it as if I was standing next to me - does that make sense?
Well, it worked. I handled the defensiveness and anger from the person being fired, I observed my anxiety, and noted that it didn't affect my functioning, and I felt oddly calm once it was all over, with no "gee, I wish I had said that or not said that" reactions.

Over time I have gotten very good at this, and it has sustained me through some very difficult times, indeed. Deaths, fights, accidents, accusations, public performances, and school. (Oh, God, school - I have to do another blog entry about that).

Recently I read Spencer Johnson's "Who moved my cheese", and to my delight, I came across a page where the main character in a difficult situation, asked himself: "What would I do if I wasn't afraid?"

Exactly, I thought. When I switch to movie-watching mode, I am not afraid. It's like going to a horror movie because we want the thrill but also to be safe at the same time.

So now I apply that question as well: "What would I do in this situation, if I wasn't afraid?". Then I go to movie watching because it helps me to remain unafraid. Then I get my own answer to the question.

This practice has helped me at work, at home, at school, and just pretty much everywhere.

Some may call it a crutch. I believe in crutches. I think we all need as much help as we can get to muddle our way through life. The nice thing about crutches is that they do not inhibit the joys of success. I have found that even in celebrations, movie watching mode can help me appreciate the magnitude of blessings, achievements, shared joys, and friendship.

My friend who turned me on to this way of thinking and acting has since passed away, and I don't think I had "got it" before then - so Buddy, if you can hear this "Thank you".

Life around me has turned a bit tough recently, and that in turn has gotten me using this technique a bit more than usual. It still works like a charm, and thus, merits entry in this blog!

Lights!

Camera!

Action!

My favorite candies

I can't think about the insanity of politics today. So instead, I choose to focus on all the favorite sweets in my life.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet
and I want a LOT of it...

Mike & Ike - My all-time favorite snacker. Like jelly beans, but "jellier". Sweeter. Sour-er. Better shape. Convenient box.

MilkDuds - No other choice for watching a movie, and the ONLY candy worth paying $3.50 a single-serving box for. Chewy. Chocolate & caramel. What's not to like, except that they run out too soon?

Orange Slices - Mmmm. Large, fruity (if you get a good brand), chewy, granulated sugar on the outside, smooth and chewy on the inside. Shaped appropriately. Runner-up: multi-flavor fruit slices.

Sweet Tarts - Woefully misnamed. These little buggers are the bomb! A light dusting of sweetness on first sample, followed by a fruity explosion of tongue-curling sourness that keeps you coming back again and again! Small ones are best, because those gigantic Sweet Tarts get too messy to eat after a few nibbles.

Lik-em-ade - Basically powder-version of Sweet Tarts. This brand was in a paper pouch. Another version - Pixie Sticks - was packaged in thin paper straws. Both allow you to dump quantities of powdered Sweet Tarts directly on your toungue for a sweet/sour sensation. Beware - these are also messy.

Reisen - To die for. Chocolate nougats that start hard and gradually become chewy, and the chocolate keeps getting more intense. Buy a bag for yourself, and you will eat enough at one sitting to make you feel sick.

Candy Corn - I would have traded all the candy in my Halloween collection for Candy Corn, and often tried. What are they - just sugar? I don't know. Corn syrup, 3 colors, and you have to eat them one color at a time. First the white tip, then the orange middle, then the chocolate bottom.

Snickers - An angel visited the designer of this exquisit treat, and inspired the candy bar that will never be beat. Rumor has it that this candy bar may have been alien technology recovered from the Roswell UFO crash site...

Bit-O-Honey - Well, it will pull your fillings out, but it must be experienced. Peanut butter, honey, toffee. Another hard candy that turns chewy and juicy in your mouth, and keeps you reaching for more.

Hershey Kisses - Just good, solid, milk chocolate. Who could ask for anything more?

I may add to this list as I consider all the candy I enjoy. Feel free to add your favorites too.