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Politically Confused

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I’ve looked for the proper clinical term. At first I thought it was schizophrenia, then simply split personality. I even looked up confused personality. None of these seem to truly fit. Nonetheless, the dems seem to have one political goal at one time; and another goal at another time.

People start having riots, tearing down statues and destroying buildings and they call it “mostly peaceful” demonstrations. People are invited into the Capitol building by capitol police and never hurt anyone, and the dems call it insurrection. Old Joe does all he can do to bypass The Constitution to forgive all the student loans and he is hailed as a hero. On the other hand, at every effort for the Republicans to control the outbreak of crimes and suddenly Old Joe complains in the name of defending constitutional rights.

It has become obvious that their two faced political endeavors have but one motive, power. In their goal to gain that power, they are bound and determined to destroy all that is in their way. They don’t walk over the Constitution in that effort but run over it. They destroy the flag that the great men of WWII fought for. They confuse the meaning of words and they make sure that anyone that points this out are destroyed, just as Hitler did, just as Lenin did, just as Stalin did. Make no mistake, they have the same goals as they did.

They complain that Trump is trying to become “king,” while all the time trying to set up their dictatorship.

The real hiccup for the dems these days is Old Joe. He has been discovered and now he is no longer an asset. He is the object in the way. He has become the barrier, their hindrance. By the dems, he is no longer the human that was was helping, but has become the inanimate hurdle they must clear before they can continue their march to domination.

And so it is, one minute they will do what the claim is right and the next minute condemn someone else for the same thing. To be sure, all the time they try to condemn Trump for that which he has not done, they do the very thing they claim Trump did. Of course, if Trump had done it, it would be horribly wrong, while all the time the dems do it, and it’s right and proper.

And so it is, one day, they have the one personality, and the next day, they have the other personality. They are not truly dual personality as people who have such an illness is involuntary. The multi-personalities of dems have are planned and intentional. If the dems truly have any mental disorder, it is caused by the desire for power. They truly have goals of ruling the world, just as is prophesied in the Bible. One world government, one world ruler. It has been the devils goal for thousands of years.

The Tragedy

Posted in Christian values, Crime, Gun Safety, Immigration, Important things, Lawyers and Representation, News media, Our Legal Systems, Uncategorized by

There will be many that will disagree with me. Then again, as I have said before. I try to be honest in my posts in the way I think and feel. I do believe, frequently, I do have proper and or logical reasons for what I write.

There has been a recent news story about a 13 year-old shot by police in Utica. To be sure, I cannot claim I know everything about the situation other than it was a tragedy and that should never have happened. Yet, it happens all the time. As I said in one of my first posts, sometimes decisions are made that cannot be undone. I did so by saying that life does not have “undo” functions. There are no backspace keys. I used the case of an old woman shooting her own son thinking that he was a burglar. Certainly that woman would have done anything to reverse the last ten minutes. But, sometimes, it is just impossible to change the past.

Sometimes, while driving, I take a wrong turn. It can have consequences, but generally, I think little of it. On the other hand, I have made mistakes, big ones that I will never be able to change. It does happen. I am sure most others have too.

Going back to the shooting and what I know and what I suspect. I would think right now, the officer that shot that boy would do just about anything if he could hit that backspace key. When he left for work that day, I am pretty sure he did not say to himself, You know, I think I will just shoot a 13 year-old-boy today. It was not part of his plan. It was likely the farthest thing from his mind.

In one of my books, a detective told a woman that his greatest fear was to look down the barrel of gun being held by some 14-year-old. The book is fiction. However, I am sure many policemen do live in that fear for real.

As near as I can tell, he saw the pellet gun and thought it was real. So I ask, one and all. If you were a policeman and some thirteen-year-old was pointing a gun at you, would you shoot him or would you let him shoot you and others.

As I said, it was and is tragic. It should have never happened. As with most tragedies, there were likely many things that led to the time the officer pulled the trigger. Now, I am going to guess at some of it. They said he was an alien. I would suspect he and his parents were here illegally.

Does that make it alright to shoot him. Of course not. However it is part of what led to what happened. He ran from the policeman. Why? Maybe because he was illegal and didn’t want to be caught. No one will really know the reason he ran.

The instant the policeman confronted him, he should have told the officer he had a pellet gun and then followed the instructions. Regardless, run or not, he should have never pulled the gun out. He had to know the policeman would have thought it was real.

Running was a mistake. Pulling the gun was a mistake. Then again, 13-year-olds do make mistakes. I certainly did. It just so happens, the mistakes he made became fatal.

And now, the shooting will have repercussions. It will change the life of the officer who shot him. It will likely change the city and the police department. I guess it can be said that there are and will have repercussions throughout the country.

There will be those who will say the officer should not have shot. There will be those who will rush to the officer’s defense. I suspect that few will consider that which led up to the tragedy.

In the end, as bad as it is, we the public will have to face it. It was a horrible accident. However, it was an accident. It was one that did result in a death, which I hate and I’m sure most others dislike it too.

Now, let’s get realistic. As the official observer of Memphis, I notice that there are shootings about everyday in the city. It seems there is an average of a murder a day and most go unsolved. There are just so many they don’t have the manpower.

Where is the concern for those lives. And I might mention, many of those people killed are not running from the police. Sometimes we are talking of children lying in their bed at the time the bullet hits them. Where is the concern for them? Where is the outrage? Why are we releasing people guilty of crimes involving guns without bond?

Sorry. I don’t understand the outrage of a policeman doing his job and the lack of outrage at real murders and murderers.

Also, let’s take another look at the media. Why do they like to make the officer the villain before the investigation is started, while making the criminal just an unfortunate man down on his luck. To me, that in itself is a tragedy.

It Does Sound Logical

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The latest decision by The Supreme Court does sound logical. However, it just might make it nearly, if not completely impossible to find a good man to run for president. It makes it possible for any district attorney to make charges on the president for political reasons, even if the president has not done anything wrong.

It makes me wonder, just who would be willing run for president knowing that a NY, NY prosecutor will try to put him in prison, in effect, for running for president. To be sure, we need to make sure that all presidents are protected in some way from flagrant prosecution. I’m not completely sure how that can be done, but it needs to be. If it were up to me, if a prosecution is proved flagrant, the prosecutor should be punished in some serious way.

Otherwise, any president will be in danger of being tied up in legal knots while not guilty of anything. Worse, it is that it is the party more willing to use the law as a political weapon to benefit politically. I would hope that republicans would not use the law as a weapon, but then, a decade ago, I didn’t think the democrats would either. This seems to be more of a conviction of the democrat party than of the president, at least for me.

One Year

Posted in Electectric vehicles, Electric Automobiles, EVs, Uncategorized by

Just got an E-mail from the dealer. My Nissan EV is no longer new. It is a year old. Since I bought it, I refilled the window washer fluid once. Other than recharging it, that is it. On the other hand, had I not bought it, I would have had to put 6,000 dollars maintenance into my Chevy. (steering, gaskets, tail light and likely, a few more things.

To be sure, I did not save anything by paying 40 thousand for the new car, neither did it cost me the full 40 grand. No oil changes. As near as I can tell, it is a wash between gas and charging, maybe a tad more for for electricity.

Of course, being retired, I do only put 5 to 10 miles a day on it.

As far as I’m concerned, the only real concern is taking the long ride. I don’t have much confidence in finding a place to charge the for the long run. If I am going over 80 miles from the house, I’ll use the Chevy.

I think, ultimately, the EV just may find its niche, especially for folks like me that don’t drive much. I also suspect that smaller cars might be better for some. There is plenty of room for 7 in my car and I’ve never had more than 3 in it. The vast majority of time, it was just the wife and me. Sometimes, just me. Personally, I do like the size but others might not.

The Grizzly Question

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I noticed that the Memphis Grizzlies managed to get a 7′ 4″ player yesterday. My guess is that he will contribute to their winning. At his height he would not have to jump much to drop the ball through the hoop. I truly hope it will help. I also hope it will increase interest and attendance. As near as I can tell, Memphis needs all the help they can get.

However, it does beg the question, when will those with the power decide to put in a few parking lots? The idea with putting the stadium downtown was to draw folks down there to see the games. My best guess is, most who attend will go, attend and return home. It sort of defeats the purpose of putting the stadium down there. Will it actually draw any business outside of the game itself? For that matter, how much will the lack of parking hinder the actual attendance.

You won’t find me fighting the traffic to get there, fighting to find someplace to park, paying a bundle to park, walking a block or two to the stadium and then sort of repeating the whole process in reverse when the game is over. For what purpose would I go to a shop or restaurant before or after the game?

I’m not trying to tell Memphis how to run their city. However, I am the official Memphis observer and it is simply an observation that demands the question, who is it that is making these ridiculous decisions. Does anyone, anywhere realize that the importance of being able to accommodate the auto if they have any hope of doing business with their owners. You know, it the old days, the shops had parking spaces in front of the shops. It would seem we have gotten away from that idea.

As an aside, why in the world are any cities building any sports arenas for players taking home millions of dollars. Many of the individual players make enough to buy enough land to build a stadium on. Yet, Memphis gives the land to them. If the NBA can afford to pay their players that much, they can afford to pay for the arenas. If they did pay for their own arenas, businessmen would make the decisions as to where build and they would very likely be built where the fans would have easier access.

But then, that would just make too much common sense. Better the tax payers pay for the stadium most of whom will never attend.

Well, maybe they will at least increase the TV audience if they start winning games regular. Maybe those in Arkansas and Mississippi will start taking note if they should actually be in the running for a championship. I don’t know. The NBA lost this fan when they decided to play ball with China. As far as I am concerned they ought to just move the stadiums over there. For me, they serve no purpose here, or in downtown Memphis.

My Apologies for a Memory Lapse

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Sometimes I remember things for absolute fact that just aren’t so. On more than one occasion, I have had to apologize to my wife for such things. Well, such was the case with the song, “Put Another Nickle in” When I wrote the post yesterday on music, I was thinking thinking that it was two separate songs, which might have confused a few out there. “Music, music, music,” is a line in the one song, not a separate song.

I realized it yesterday after noon as the tune kept going through my mind. I would have corrected it earlier but I was fighting a little fever and sore throat. I didn’t do much of anything but sleep. The illness still lingers, but just slightly. I would like to blame my error in memory on it, but I was feeling fine at the time of the post. I guess I’m just going to have to own this one.

Incidentally, it does say something about the song when it has a tendency to continue to go through my mind 70 years later. It does make me wonder, how much of the current music will be remembered for one decade, let alone seven.

Music, Music, Music

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I can remember the old song by the above title as well as “Put Another Nickle In.” My guess is that few will remember listening to those songs by Teresa Brewer shortly after their release as I did. On the other hand, my wife and I were walking into a McDonald’s three or four years ago and kid in the back was singing Rocking Robin, and doing pretty good. (originally released 1958) I yelled back to him, “Hay! You’re not old enough to know that song!

He had a hard laugh and said his mother played it a lot.

In answer to the question asked, I enjoy a lot of music prior to 1970 and a little post 1970. As far as I’m concerned, if after 1980, it doesn’t exist. I like everything done in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas (around 1900) I have listened to the music over and over. The lyric are humorous and the tunes are catchy. There aren’t may who can keep up with “Modern Major General” from the Pirates of Penzance.

I have often said, my favorite song is Whispering Hope sung by Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae (1949). When I feel bad, I have been known to play it repeatedly for 19 or 20 times. I don’t know. Maybe more. It sort of took a personal turn as I walked guard duty in Vietnam in the morning as the rain beat down me in December of 1969. Then of course, as the song says, the sun came up. The world seemed so much better as I remembered the words.

Stafford and MacRae recorded I guess a dozen or so Christian songs about the same time and they are all really good. I remembered listening to them when I was 4 and 5. The rest, I don’t remember all that much, but I always keep Whispering Hope handy.

I am a big fan of the show tunes of the 40’s, 50’s and a few of the 60’s. I have copies of many of them. If I were to lose them, I would replace them. This is especially true of Fiddler on the Roof. I have no idea how many times I’ve watched it or listened to the songs. It’s just one of those things that touched my mind and also touched my heart. It is also one of the main reasons that I have become so pro-Israel. I do not understand how a person can see the show and pay close attention to it without also being in favor of the Israeli people.

It is something of a oddity, I guess, that I also like most the ABBA songs. I also enjoy listening to the instrumentals whenever I hear them. None the less, my favorite of these is Chiquitita. Strangely, I have not met many who don’t like the song. Or, maybe it’s not so strange.

When I was seven, I remember listening to a song, “Donkey Serenade,” in which the character in the movie is singing to mules drawing a stage. Okay. That one sounds strange I admit it. But it’s no less strange than the beautiful song from “Paint Your Wagons,) I Talk to the Trees. By the way, those are also the first words in the lyrics. However, to be truthful, I’d love to be able to sing well enough to do both songs justice.

Speaking of strange songs, consider the song, “Does Eat Oats (and little lambs eat ivy)

I guess the way to sum it up. I like what I like and I don’t like what I don’t like. If you disagree with it, it is entirely up to you. It is also a shame you will never get to listen to that man serenading the mules.

Speaking of mules, how many out there have heard “On the Trail,” by Ferde Grafe. It was so good it was used for advertising way back when.

Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite genre of music?
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Gratitude

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This is one of my favorite subjects. I have already written on it twice and I would write on it far more if I didn’t think people would get tired of reading about it.

Maybe I should start with what started me down this track. It is a Bible story I read many times before it really hit home what it was about. Jesus healed ten lepers but only one returned to him and thanked him. Jesus asked something like, Were there not ten? Where are the other nine? I would guess that Jesus was likely well pleased with the one and disappointed with the nine.

If you look, really look at the story, you will realize that Jesus had three messages here. First, be grateful when someone does something for you. Don’t take it for granted. It is a good lesson regardless what your religious beliefs might be, even for the atheist.

Secondly, a word of appreciation goes a long way. Don’t you think that it made Jesus feel good just to hear those two words of gratitude. Every day, God does things for us. Every day, we take it for granted. That includes me, though I really do try to say thank you for it all. It is simply impossible to be fully aware, let alone to say thank you for it all. Instead, most of us are as the Hebrews as they complained about only having manna to eat. I really hate to admit it, but I would have likely been one of the chief complainers if I were there. Even today, I know I am poor example. God provides things and I complain.

Finally, we should be thankful for what others do for us, even if we are paying for it. It is so easy to neglect being thankful to those we pay for work. You should see the surprised expression on the faces of people I say thank you to in, say in restaurants. Sometimes, it outright confuses them. It’s okay. I like to see that kind of confusion. It makes me feel better to see that I have improved their moment in time for that day.

Sometimes, I really confuse them. I tell them that they have my permission to have a good afternoon. I know they enjoy it. I can see it in their faces. Oddly, some find it funny. The fact is, I really mean it. Okay, it does not lie within my power. However, if I did have the power, I would do as I can to improve their time as they put in a hard day’s work.

And, if there are any atheist reading this, you need to pay particular attention to this. For when we say something to improve the lives of others we will also improve life for ourselves. If you don’t believe me, just try it. I submit that it is impossible to have a bad attitude while you thank someone for what they do for you.

And you know what, It doesn’t cost a thing.

Daily writing prompt
How do you express your gratitude?
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The Two Things They All Have In Common

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During my 76 years, I have seen my share of alcoholics. They all very in many ways. Some get angry or even violent when drunk. Some get happy. On the other hand, some just simply sit there and let the world go by. A few know better than to try to drive . Others, well you might need to hide their keys. A few have a reasonable memory of what happened while inebriated. Others, when they sober up will say they must have had a good time. Their wallet’s empty. It does make a person wonder what the started with.

None the less, all alcoholics do have a few things that are absolutely common. They want others to drink. It helps their guilty conscience. When they start on one of their binges, they are usually specific about what kind of alcohol they drink. Once partially under, they just might drink antifreeze if you put it in front of them.

Invariably, while their mental abilities are reduced, they will say that they are fully able to function as well as when sober. In some cases, this distortion will be maintained even when they can’t stand.

Frequently, people under the influence will try to do things they would never try sober. Ironically, they are less likely to be successful while impaired.

To be sure, I really wished I hadn’t seen any of it. To be sure, those around the alcoholic generally suffer more than the alcoholic. In some cases, those that suffer the most don’t even know the one under the influence.

However, what ever the common facts of the alcoholics, two things are always, and I mean always common. They all took their first drink and they never know when they will take their last one. Then too, most of them have one more thing in common. Most wish or will wish they never took the first drink. However, as they say, that is just one of those things that can’t be undone.

Then too, this is all shared by most of those with chemical dependencies. It is only logical. Alcoholism is a chemical dependency. The only big difference is that alcohol is legal. Well, there is one other difference. It causes more problems than all the other drugs combined.