And the truth....

Hi Everyone...
  I know... long time, no posting.  I've been a bit wrapped up in Spring!!  Oh, it was a very cold winter, and I'm loving this that we are having now... you know, when it isn't snowing.  Yep.. it snowed on Tuesday.  There's no escape!  But, the crocusses are blooming, the daffodils are blooming, and Spring just might be here, finally??

  Found this great post on http://ragingprogressive.tumblr.com/

Mississippi recently passed a law allowing businesses to deny LGBT people on religious grounds, but some business owners aren’t having it. Hundreds of businesses throughout the state are displaying these stickers in their windows to demonstrate their commitment to equality. It’s part of “If You’re Buying, We’re Selling,” a campaign by Equality Mississippi and 30 local businesses to combat harmful effects of the religious freedom bill. Yes, yes, yes. Mississippians, look for this when you shop. (via The Advocate)

I want things to be taken a step further.  I believe we need truth in advertising.  Truth in to whom the business caters.

 What I would like to see is for all businesses to have to place one of these stickers, either one, in their front window so everyone can see.  That way, the buying public can make informed decisions on where to spend our money.  If these so called "religious objections" are so real, then be proud of what an asshole you are.  Don't wait to surprise your buying public, put your money where your mouth is.  Maybe in some areas, people would actually prosper with this tag in the front window.  But, I would hope that the public wouldn't generally support any business operated by a bigot. 

hugs.

Who needs reality?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/08/1290595/-Another-Fox-News-pundit-pines-for-fake-TV-version-of-America#comments

Another Fox News pundit pines for fake TV version of America

byHunterFollow

Here's Fox News pundit Todd Starnes, waxing philosophic about simpler times.

I grew up in a time when father still knew best—when Mr. Cunningham was dispensing words of wisdom to Fonzie, when Andy took Opie fishing and when Cliff Huxtable declared that he brought his son into the world and he could take him out. It was a time when Hollywood reinforced the values of the traditional American family. Television shows like The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie and The Brady Bunch presented portraits of strong families where parents ruled the roost and children knew their place.

All of those characters are, of course, from the teevee and not from real life. We should point this out because Todd Starnes ain't gonna, and I have a cold right now and am feeling decidedly under the weather so I'm just going to pause here for you to insert your own observations as to all the bits of real-world American life and history Mr. Cunningham and Andy and the Brady Bunch conspicuously left out because, well, duh. Go ahead, go for it, I'll wait here.

Those are some good points, all of you. All right, let's cut to the chase.

Those days are long gone. Nowadays, children know best and dads are portrayed as dithering dolts. Instead of a mom and dad and two kids, the cul-de-sac includes families with two mommies or two daddies or a mommy who identifies as a daddy—and they’ve been saddled with gender-neutral offspring.

The modern family has been deconstructed. Women are wearing combat boots and according to The New York Times, men are wearing ladies’ shoes. No wonder everyone’s confused.

Starnes goes on to say that this conspicuous lack of Andy and Opie is conspiring to make good decent folks get divorces, because we ain't in the Leave it to Beaver version of the 1950s anymore and your wife can ask you for a divorce if you're caught in the backroom making out with a member of your campaign staff and you aren't allowed to beat her senseless until she changes her mind and begs you for forgiveness—I'm paraphrasing, of course, but I think I have the gist of the Starnes point—but I think we should leave it at the Todd Starnes Gendered Footwear Hypothesis. To sum up, the Waltons got cancelled, Marsha Marsha Marsha, the womenfolk wear boots nowadays and because of that the American institution of marriage is going right down the crapper.

That's some top-notch punditing right there. I can see why Fox pays this fellow the big bucks.

~~~

Okay, here's my point:

This is Jim Nabors, the actor who played Gomer Pyle on the Andy Griffith Show, the fine show Mr. Starnes refers to as the longed for reality of a model america.

And, this is Jim Nabors, that same actor, who in REALITY was gay.  Did you catch that Mr. Starnes?  He was GAY!  I believe this is his husband.

  This is the difference between MAKE BELIEVE and REALITY.  As luck would have it, working at Fox News means you don't need to bother with reality.

Oddly enough...

Oddly Enough:  They did reproduce the Ryan Budget.  Mostly by producing a lot of shit.

Remember when music made you stop and just listen?

Changes (Temporary)

  No... not that drastic.   I just have some changes to my work schedule for the week.  Due to some odd personnel problems, the boss asked me to take over supervision of second shift production.  Not a huge deal, I was a shift supervisor before I changed to do the shipping and receiving.  
  But, last night was my first night.  I really enjoyed getting back into production.  I forgot the huge amount of stuff a shift manager has to constantly juggle, constantly be aware of and found myself quickly running behind.  But, the regular people, except one--- there's always one asshole that is pissy, right? --- all seemed to do great.  What is normally a job filled with people problems, I had very few people problems.  It was fun.  I was asked by more than one of the workers if this change was permanent, I had to tell them no... just to the end of the week.  They were disappointed, I took it as a compliment.

It's weird for me, though.... my day is completely turned upside down.  Normally, my mornings are a rush to get through breakfast and getting the dog happy for a day without me, shower, and out the door for work, then back to do the chores and what-have-you's of life.  This week, my chores and such are done before work, more like a Saturday, and then, just as I'm about to actually get into something, gotta leave for work.  Not sure I could do this whole second shift thing.

hugs to all

Getting tired....

I'm so sick of this winter!  It's 26 degrees and snowing.  

What if it's real? (Content Warning!)

Hi Friends;

  Warning, this is a tear-jerker.  It will make you mad, make you think, and make you sad.... maybe.

Last week as I passed a man with a sign saying he needed money for food to feed his kids.  I had the dog in the truck, so I was limited on some things I could do, and we've recently had people panhandling - an area that almost never gets that.  He was at the bottom of the highway exit, I was driving past on the road the exit emptied into.  I continued on past this man with the struggle in my heart - is this for real?   Is this fake just begging for money that I worked all day for and can barely get by myself?  I actually came home, really bothered by this.  No matter what I did, I could be wrong.  About an hour later, I went back... he was gone.  I've been bothered by this, since.  I'm mostly bothered because I just don't know what my response should have been.

  In this world, we feel so often that we are being cheated, taken advantage of and manipulated.  It's hard to know when real need is staring a person in the face.  I would like to think that I would never pass by a hungry child, but did I do so earlier - just with a different face?

  This is hard on my heart.  I think next time, I will give.  It's better on my heart to feel that at least I did the right thing, even if that person with the sign did not.  My humanity is salvaged.  And, what if it's real!???

Looking beyond the navel...

Hello Friends;

  I just recently watched and read this:  http://recall-all-republicans.tumblr.com/post/79330159949/quickhits-foxs-varney-angry-that-states-arent Basically, it is another piece of Fox hating the poor.  Near that, I read a bit about the support of a firm stand against Russia/Putin for the invasion of another country.  Got me thinking...

  Some time ago, I remember seeing a little thing about voting for wars.  The basic tenant of the idea is that if a person votes for war, then they also commit to putting on boots, taking up a gun, going to war.  Now, not so sure how I agree or not about that.. but, the idea of personal integrity, of saying that one's vote for something is not simply a philosophical or mental expression but a whole person commitment?  That seems a good idea.
  Now, back to this article above.  Did you watch the vid?  Read the article?  I thought about a few things as I watched that, and one of those things... among a few ideas of how very dangerous a man is who must sit and watch his children go hungry, how difficult it is to feed a family on the wages from a 40 hour job, that republicans sure seem like a greedy little pack of shits... is a flash back to that idea about voting for war.  So, here's the big question:  What would the world look like if a community were to take responsibility for their neighbors to ensure that they had positive work, food, heat in the winter, ac in the summer?  What would this world look like if we were more concerned with giving our children the best education possible, that they were fed to grow, and that they were happy?   What would this world look like if we wanted to be sure that people were healthy?
  Would we be so concerned with the oil fields a half world away?  Would we spend billions upon billions killing people we don't know and watching those we do know languish in poverty?

There was once a Great Man who told people to " Love Thy Neighbor ".    Yet, far too often, we find a certain portion of our people, many of who purport to follow that first man, actually following the one who declared that the path to power and riches is to exploit thy neighbor..... I think his name was Hitler.

hugs.

Just a bit of love... and we have a Miracle!

Do you ever wonder why they keep screaming?

The Little Republican Sidestep:  Attack the something so loudly that no one sees anything else.  Mix it up just enough to avoid being obvious to the sheep.  Gay Marriage.  ObamaCare.  Rising Debt. Wonder... what's next???

A bit of my reality.

This is my Gracie.  I took this pic last year, just about Mother's Day.

And, this is a very real part of our day.

  I was really glad to see I'm not alone.

I have great respect for those who live out loud.

Love This Song!!

Link to their best of album:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLR2mV362ec

Well, shit. This makes me Kitty Buns. Not sure how I feel about that.

Do you suppose he would come dance in my livingroom???

Very cool.

I really don't understand why people do this stuff.

Radio Frauds Get Their Due For ‘Completely Fabricated’ Homophobic Birthday Party Mom

by DAVID BADASH on FEBRUARY 17, 2014

Two Long Island, NY radio hosts who posted to Facebook a note purportedly by a virulently homophobic mother refusing to allow her son to attend a young girl’s birthday party have gotten their due. The WKJY Morning Show team of Steve and Leeana have been suspended after the station was alerted that the entire story had been made up.

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/radio-frauds-get-their-due-for-completely-fabricated-homophobic-birthday-party-mom/news/2014/02/17/83308?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNewCivilRightsMovement+%28The+New+Civil+Rights+Movement%29#.UwJ2ufldVF8

Is that too much to ask?

Hi Friends;
  I am doing a bit of catch up today... comments, housework, and hold on tight --  a blog post!!  But, I wanted to send you all off to one of my favorite stops:  http://northdakotaman.tumblr.com/   I've sort of lurked about his blog for some time now, enjoying most of his postings.  Today I took the extra step of posting a comment.. so maybe not such a lurker now?? Anyway, stop by and see what you can find to fill your soul.

  In the process of doing some "housework" on the blog, I re-read that quote by John Lennon that I have highlighted on the sidebar, and it caught me again... then I thought about this little cartoon type thing:
  It's no secret I'm no fan of Faux news.  They report not news but conjecture and fear mongering.  They rant and rave about small things while ignoring real violations of what should be essential to a free America all in the effort of creating sheep - frightened people looking for a savior while being bent on making the rich richer, the poor irrelevent, and anything acceptable as long as it's for money.
  Now, relate back to the quote by Lennon:  fear makes us pull in and not experience life.
  I don't want to be afraid.  I don't want to be just a paycheck from starvation.  I don't want to be a hospital visit from losing everything.  I don't want to be concerned that my drinking water is contaminated, that my boss could fire me for being gay, or that my neighbor - a moron that can't even spell republican but he "are" one because they protect a man's right to protect himself (oddly enough, it's the rest of us that need protection from him!).  I don't want to live in fear!  I want to experience life, live knowing that it's the man in front of them that people see and not some prejudicial judgement.  I want to break down the walls I've felt necessary to build up and I want to feel love.  Is that too much to ask Faux news?

A few pics and vids

Hello Everyone;

  I thought I would take my camera today when I went to the neighbor's for the dogs to play.  We then took them for a short walk.  It's only about 15 degrees right now, so we didn't keep them out too long.
  Of course, my Gracie is the one in black and grey, and her best friend Cinnamon is, well, cinnamon colored.  We keep the leashes on them because it's easier to grab if a car comes by or something, and that thing you can just see attached to Gracie's leash is a glow light that I use when I walk her at night.

Gracie waiting for me to take a pic.  She's very patient with me....

Gracie getting impatient with my slow walking.

Well, this car isn't moving for a while....

The Old Man in the Mirror

Hello My Friends;

  I would like to start this post with a thank you to Pete Seeger.  I don't know that his influence on America and the world can be so easily felt now as it had in earlier years, but I shudder to contemplate a world that didn't have a Pete Seeger in it.

    With the winter being so cold, and ever more and more time spent outside doing driveways, I've allowed my beard to grow.  I keep it well trimmed, #2 on the trimmer, even just a bit of fuzz there keeps the face a bit warmer.  But, it's a hard thing to see the grey taking over more and more real estate.
  I'll be 45 this year, a good 15 years more than I expected out of life, and, the body often feels much older.  The knees and back don't like it when I ask them to work anymore - as if any of us have the choice.  And, then I come to the troubling realization that I am looking forward to old age so that I can stop working.
  I've struggled a bit this year.  I've mentioned before that I am staying level on my finances, not going in to debt but surely not climbing the financial ladder.  Realistically, all I want to do is be constructive and work at a job that pays my needs and gives me enough extra that I could afford to do those things called living rather than just work.  Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for the jobs I do have, I'd just like to not live with the threat of poverty.
  And, so perhaps as I listen to this old man who has been everywhere and done so very much sing at the end of his life to stay forever young, that I am just a bit more encouraged.  This world seems to be geared towards making old men of us, those lucky enough to make it so far.  The young man charges the windmills of injustice, prejudice, poverty and hopelessness.  The old man is caught in fear of bills and consequences of failure to meet those obligations.  And, lately, it seems that is all I can think about - but somewhere past those grey hairs perhaps yet resides a bit of the young man who worries not about caring for his elderly parents, his mortgage, his heat and his taxes that just seem to keep going up for no apparent reason.  Maybe.
  May you be forever young.   Thank you, Pete.
 

Life is Better...

  I believe there is great wisdom in this!

Hello all:

  Yesterday I finally felt that depression slip off my shoulders, like the lead apron they put on you at the dentist's office, and it was such a relief!

  I've had problems with depression my whole life.  Sometimes, it is a light depression that feels more like a weight on my shoulders, like this one, and then other times it is so much that I have a hard time seeing past the doldrums for hope of a better day to come.  Thankfully, I don't get those too often, and even more thankfully I am past this one.

  I've kept my depression hidden for years.  I always figured that it was just me being a wimp.  That's what I could imagine my father telling me; "quit being a wimp, boy!"  The funny thing is, I have a fair education, I know it's actually a chemical imbalance - our bodies are just big chemical factories, and the darn thing is hooked on its own product.  So, I guess I want to tell you out there, the proverbial you that may know someone or be someone that has a similar problem, that it's ok.  Deal with it as you need to deal with it, but know that it's OK.  It doesn't make you less a person, just like a person with a more obvious medical problem isn't less a person because, say, they have a bad leg or something.  

  My way of dealing with it today is to make cookies!  And, by the way, what a shitty world when a man has to bake his own cookies! :)

  But, back to who a person is.... A man isn't a great man because he has a big penis.  He isn't a great man because he has lots of money.  He isn't a great man because he drives a fast car or a luxury car.  A man is a man because he finds ways to fight past those things that block him in time.  A man is a man because he takes responsibility for his wrongs and tries to find ways to make them right, to learn from them, to care for people and animals and himself.  A man is a man  not because what others say of him, not because he wears a fine suit or has a great job that puts him up on a pedestal; a man is a man because he chooses to be.  

  So, believe it or not, the birds are singing, the sun is shining.... ok, not here, but somewhere, right?!... and I'm going to go out and clean some driveways and then make me some cookies.  Might even watch the ball game.  

 Hugs everyone!