I’m about to change careers. I’m about to be a full grandparent(*). My youngest child is mere months from becoming a licensed driver with his own transportation. 2012 [...]]]> What a great excuse to start! I have just been given permission to announce that my firstborn son and his wonderful wife are expecting their own first child.

I’m about to change careers. I’m about to be a full grandparent(*). My youngest child is mere months from becoming a licensed driver with his own transportation. 2012 has proven to present a lot of new beginnings for me. And not just me! The country is in crisis and ripe for some radical changes. Exciting and scary things are ahead.

(*)I love my “step-”grandchildren. I will always love them, no matter what, forever. I have made them that very promise. But I didn’t raise their mother, and it’s simply a different family dynamic.

And with all of these changes—global to personal—I’ve been neglecting my writing. I’ve tried to think “things” through pretty clearly, but I fumble over my points when speaking. That tells me I’m not as clear in my mind as I’d like to be. Writing fixes that.

So here’s another announcement, with further details to follow. I’m going to start writing, at least for a while. The dynamic topic list is on WorkFlowy, which is simply one of the coolest tools I’ve ever run across.

More later. I’m happily busy tonight.

I’ve got a series of rants, meanderings, musings, and just plain old wastes of time to [...]]]> I’m just a little drowsy today.  It’s a beautiful one, too.  Sunny, warm, a light breeze.  All I need is a hammock and a margarita.  I don’t, of course, have to time for that, but hey, it’s a nice thought.

I’ve got a series of rants, meanderings, musings, and just plain old wastes of time to write here in the next few weeks.  I imagine one or two people won’t like them.  Then again, I imagine chimps wearing village people costumes a lot, so what do I know?

Have a good day folks.

I watched something this week that I [...]]]> And by this I mean the people out there have taken some serious leaps.  Tomorrow is Leap day, not today.  I, however, may or may not be available to post then, so I’m doing it now.  If you’re picky about that kind of detail, go get a life.  ;)

I watched something this week that I never thought I’d see:  a candidate for president come out against education.  That was pretty dumbfounding.  Of course, it’s the same imbecile who can’t tell the difference between “speaking in the public square” and separation of church and state.  I’m not catholic.  Sex is not evil, even if you’re not specifically trying to create a child.  And dude, if you are going to stand there and tell me that if your wife were raped that she should have the child and that you would  pay for it’s birth and raising it, I’m going to have to ask you to prove it.  Because I don’t believe it.  Better yet, since you don’t like bleaaahhhh people (according to him, it’s what he said…not “black”, but “bleaaaahhhh” in another gaffe earlier this season), I’d say if your wife or daughter were raped by a man of color, you’d be in a clinic in seconds demanding a Plan B pill, Catholic or not.  Sooooo…since you’re incapable of backing up that nonsense you spew, how about you close the pie-hole, and actually listen to what the papacy says these days (note: he doesn’t.  it’s RICKs religion, and he doesn’t even get it).

He hates education, contraception, equal rights for women, Muslims, and from what I can tell, good economics.  I can see why he hates education though: without it, a great many people will not see through his idiocy.  Which now brings me to this weeks point:  Christians voting.  I consider myself a Christian, but I’ve seen time after time after time, “Christian” voting turns in to a veritable fleecing of Gods flock.  If a candidate says what the evangelicals want to hear, and promises to turn back Roe V Wade, they will believe and forgive everything else.  yet as long as I’ve been alive, none have figured out that no amount of stacking the Supreme court bench with conservative leaning judges will “fix” that.  Duped again and again, and yet like a dog that can’t resist chasing it’s favorite red ball, they go and chase that conservative god vote (yes, small G, since it’s my opinion that these candidates are not serving the big G in the least).  Don’t side with Israel 100% on everything?  you hate God.  Don’t think that Jesus would have handled things the way your church is telling you he would?  You hate God.  Get a grip, folks.  Jesus wasn’t a ham-fisted, suit wearing, two-faced liar, but these candidates are.  They’ve taken the lords name in vain so often that they probably get to take an express elevator to Hell at the end of their life.  And by that, I don’t mean when the used “GD”, but when they invoked his blessings, knowing that they were duping you.

And so it’s leap year.  They should all go take a leap.  One of faith that might end in some sincerity, a little less pandering, and perhaps one where the principles they espouse aren’t “screw you little people, we’re here for the corporate money”.

End of screed.  ;0  My blog, my viewpoint.  The views expressed here are mine, but not necessarily mine alone.

“In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.”
- Autobiography of Mark Twain

To do this, you’ll need a weight bench, large, sturdy box, or [...]]]> Oh yes it can.  One of the best exercises for the office-jockey who wants a tight butt, stronger legs and even some core tightening, is the box jump.  I’ve read about this for a while, and so decided to try it on for size.

To do this, you’ll need a weight bench, large, sturdy box, or a tree stump.  Something that is about 12-18 inches high, sturdy and immobile.  It’s simple: you stand in front of it, and you jump on to it.  Form is important, so read how to jump, please

Bend your knees, lean forward just a little, arms at your sides, slightly back.  Jump up explosively, throwing your arms up all the way as you jump, landing on both feet.  Step down, or jump down for more impact.

Sounds to easy, doesn’t it?  Do 3 sets of 10, 3 times a week.  After your first set of ten, you’ll feel a little winded.  After your third, if you’re doing it right, you’ll be breathing hard.

And the next day, your muscles in your hips, butt, legs and a few other spots will tell you if you got anything out of it.

And the public in general seems aware of this, if only vaguely.  Liberals and conservatives decry the media, whom they almost universally refer to [...]]]> Words can be used as weapons, tool, intoxicants, obfuscates, and a variety of other things.  We use them to hurt people, enable them, inform them, seduce them, amuse them, and confuse them.

And the public in general seems aware of this, if only vaguely.  Liberals and conservatives decry the media, whom they almost universally refer to as “MSM”, or “Main Stream Media”, although as far as i can tell, this is used mostly as a shot at the news outlets.  MSNBC and Fox do show news, but they both also use a lot of commentators, many of whom don’t seem to care about any facts at all.

Awareness, however, seems to be only a part of the battle.  I have a lot of really smart friends who pick and choose their facts nearly as often as those that they mock.  From what I can gather, in the  modern age that we live in, shopping for facts that suit us is as necessary for our self-esteem as what brand of cereal or car.

I’m a big fan of watching and reading multiple sources, seeing how the reporting matches up, which facts can be corroborated on a reported event, and drawing my conclusions that way.  I don’t need a fat, drug abusing loudmouth or a mannequin with good hair and bad manners telling me what I should think about an event, I just want what facts are available.  I may watch someone for their amusement value, but I’m sure not watching so that I may gain an opinion.

Indeed, all sources that consider themselves non mainstream like to bash the news media.  Report it the way they want it, or you are part of the media elite.  Never mind if you got the information reported clearly and accurately, did you convince me of a view point?  If not, you are indisputably a schill.  Or not.

“Get your facts first, and then you can distort ‘em as much as you please.”  ~Mark Twain