Good for you Capt Kevin. Georgia has opened the doors to those 55/older (not me) and to those with âseriousâ medical issues (Iâm in that group). So for me itâs just a matter of time.
China has become a semi-capitalist totalitarian surveillance state. Their system punishes dissent with limited access to goods, services, housing, jobs etc. With the exploding alliance between Big Tech and the changing Democrat party we are just a few clicks away from following suit. Note:this is an opinion you are free to dissent, I won’t be much longer.
There are some significant differences.
One is that we have a conservative Supreme Court.
Second, Republicans could control the Congress after the midterms.
Third, there is nothing stopping like minded people from developing their own tech…
I think the significant difference is time. The trajectory is toward remediating ALL of those differences. We no longer have a value for diversity. The value is for conformity by coercion. Classical liberalism still has room for the diversity but theyâre a diminishing breed.
You need to lament then.
We have reached a point where both sides desire to erase the other…and if the rights attack on voting rights and immigration isn’t an attack on diversity, I don’t know what is.
There are no good guys in the current political drama…just people skilled at turning people against each other for their own gain.
And let us not forget that the positions regarding Big Tech between Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and others are virtually the same. All of the hate the tech companies with a passion. And clowns from both TEAM RED and TEAM BLUE want to do away with Section 230.
To be honest, I’m bored with it all.
There is no side to root for, no virtuous people to support.
To focus on it simply sucks the joy and goodness out of the marrow of your bones and leaves you angry, depressed, and bitter.
In the time left allowed to me, I have no time for the slow suicide of the soul that everyone wants to offer.
I’m not a fool…we have serious issues to address.
However, no one wants to address them rationally or for the common good.
Thus, I have no place at the table.
I still have my own table…full of good books, good food, good whiskey, and good cats sleeping where they can.
I have chairs full of people who need to be loved well and taught of Jesus.
There’s a hockey game tonight and I’ll be vaccinated soon.
Life …can be good.
Hope is faith projected into the future.
If my faith is centered properly today, my hope is then eternal…and all this temporal strife pales in it’s light.
We start the thread with good news that Captain Kevin got his vaccination (good on you!) and then immediately have to turn to the politics of right and left and manufactured outrage… Really?
It’s not just boring, it’s soul destroying.
If I am going to be outraged it should be about poverty, children at the border, the senseless gun violence in our cities, and maybe, just maybe, half a million deaths, many of which could have been prevented…
Here is some good stuff: listening to Gordon Lightfoot while working. I still have my job. Exercise is making me feel better. I have a good wife and two energetic dogs.
BD. Maybe I should define terms. What I mean by Right/Fascist is a Western authoritarian polity descended from the Roman Empire. It must have specific characteristics to qualify. But foremost, is total conformity, as symbolized by the bound rods.
The Right is described in the first link, the symbolism of the Roman Fasces. Rome was the first Fascist state.
2nd link. Notice the Fasces behind the Speakers platform, to the left, and hard to make out, is the Roman Eagle grasping the World in his talons. America was founded as a Neo-Classical. We will never look like China. Should our freedoms begin to slip we will look like Rome.
Mostly a mix of resistance (weights/machines) and some cardio. I go to a gym. Yes, I know…COVID. Been going to a gym fairly regularly for the last 3-4 years. A few years ago I topped out at 289lbs at 6 feet-1 inch height. Got down to 242lbs last year. Back up to 271 right now. Bummer. I get back pain when my weight is up, and my lower back goes into moderate to almost severe pain after 5-10 minutes of household chores. My current BMI (Body Mass Index) is too high, which means I may get a vaccine sooner than others my age.
Most of the last 3-4 years I have had a personal trainer, and that has helped me with motivation mainly. They pester me at times about my diet, which is the main reason I have bounced around weight-wise. My weight is fairly evenly distributed, but I do have a gut too, which makes crunches and other ab work kinda tough.
Getting into regular exercise is tough. It’s getting over the inertia and making it through the first 2-3 weeks. When I stop exercising, it’s tough to start up again. I have a bicycle too but Georgia is not flat and that makes it hard to keep biking. I lifted weights a lot in my past so I naturally have gravitate toward that. Exercise also helps me psychologically and emotionally.
Overall it’s in finding something you can do and like to do. I don’t have fibromyalgia so I don’t know how that factors into exercise. Does it make it more painful?
Big tech allowing free development of competition …
Reminds me of that movie Tucker
It should be becoming clear that the civil religion that exists in the Halls of power in the US only serves, like the Romantic Democracies, to keep themselves in power. They need the dialectic, two party system to manufacture consent.
I agree with BD. Not that it matters.
I also agree with Nathan. There is the illusion of dissent in the Chinese system. But if you speak up for Uighurs(sp?) or criticise the vaccine, preach the gospel, you can bet your neighbors and the govât are coming down hard.
Revelation describes the world as Babylon, and the system as Rome. So… you both are right
Iâm thankful the clocks move forward this weekend. The dark days of winter are hard on many of us in Seattle area. It was sunny and bright today and so many people were outside walking dogs and pushing strollers. The hope of Spring is powerful.
I am of the opinion that daylight savings time is a relic and should be eliminated completely. It makes abou as much sense nowadays as buggy whip manufacturers and elevator operators.
I’m with you Michael, life is too short to fret over what the kings of the earth ring down on us little folks.
I intend to enjoy what I can while I can. My wife, our little dogs, the hummingbirds at the feeder, our continued good health; too precious to worry about what the latest ‘conspiracy ‘ claim is.
Where we are spiritually and emotionally as a culture is unsustainable.
The rage has spilled over into everything, even in a semi rural area like mine.
I am not by nature an optimistic or hopeful person.
I am deeply cynical about almost everything and everybody.
I can actually trace the rapid decline of my health to a time when the cynicism overwhelmed me.
This morning I truly enjoyed a good cup of coffee and a before dawn conversation with one of my cats.
I found myself grateful that an old friend is still a friend indeed.
I’m looking forward to teaching tonight.
Life goes on and despite all my concerns…it’s good.
So whatâs that about. No facts changed about Cuomo. His nursing home fiasco was well known before the Emmy and the book/poster. His creeper male status was even promoted by little brother on national tv.
Michael and Muff…thanks for the re-reminder. I was going to post my complaint-du-jour, but eventually would go nowhere and no one would be encouraged. I think instead of being bothered on this nice southern weather weekend about the world being the world, Iâm gonna indulge in some of my favorite books and get outside and walk daâ Beagles with my wife.
“You think it’s such a sad thing when you see a fallen king
Then you find out they’re only princes to begin with
And everybody has to choose whether they will win or lose
Follow God or sing the blues, and who they’re gonna sin with.
What a mess the world is in, I wonder who began it.
Don’t ask me, I’m only visiting this planet. ”
Congratulations to everyone who has gotten their Vivid vaccine shot! My husband just had his second shot, and just as everyone warned us, he is feeling pretty crummy this time – chills and body aches. We have heard it lasts about 36 hours and then resolves. We will see. I desperately wish I could get my vacination, but I’m no longer teaching in the schools and I’m not yet 65.I feel like I’ve fallen between the cracks! I’m a grandmom twice over and I miss my grand kids! It’s so hard to watch the happy reunions on television knowing it isn’t yet my turn to be reunited with them.
So many insightful observations to ponder….
Wish i wasn’t too tired to think… đ
God keep and have a God enriching Sunday all
What a privilege to have the Holy Spirit to enlighten….
I have received both rounds of Pfizer as a teacher in Oregon–we were bumped ahead of all the worthy, risk-laden older folks so I did so with a bit of guilt & knowledge that I’d be facing classrooms full of students who might be bringing a virus with them–especially the significant # of those with virus-denying parents. No ill effects at all, a little sore arm after the second that lasted a day, but was less sore than my last tetanus shot. Still wearing my mask at school and wiping down everything like a crazy man, but we are open every day with high school students in the morning, junior high in the afternoons. Busier than the proverbial one-legged man…
MLD, for years you have been telling me to find a church. I had not been going because it would trigger my PTSD, panic attacks and anxiety. It made me sad that I could not go. it made me very emotional if i went….
I want to let you know I have found a church. They are humble, not perfectionist, know that all gifts, talent, and life is from God and God alone. They do outreach to the needy in the area, a food pantry, help other churches, get together with other area churches, the pastor is the most down to earth, humble man, who never takes credit for his messages. During the lock-down in our state, he and his wife called each attendee and did a 3 question Bible study every week and spent time with each one. They tell us all the time that they love us. He gives an alter call every Sunday. He loves to have babies and children in the services and does not consider them a distraction but a joy. It is a small church .
I love this little church in Leonidas! I felt at home the first time we went.
oh and the pastor and wife are our neighbors. We were renting for about 3 years on this side of the state and rented out our house on the other side where we used to live. We bought a house in the same little town we were renting in, just over a year ago, before the Pandemic. Buster got to work from home all last year, but lost his job in the last wave of layoffs.
I am always so happy to hear that a Christian brother or sister has found a “home” at a truly wonderful church somewhere. We hear so many stories about the not-so-great churches here in this site that break people’s hearts in the end. It is always so uplifting to hear about the good churches around us, but we have to be discerning.
It’s all yours today…
Got vaccine #1 today.
Good for you Capt Kevin. Georgia has opened the doors to those 55/older (not me) and to those with âseriousâ medical issues (Iâm in that group). So for me itâs just a matter of time.
China has become a semi-capitalist totalitarian surveillance state. Their system punishes dissent with limited access to goods, services, housing, jobs etc. With the exploding alliance between Big Tech and the changing Democrat party we are just a few clicks away from following suit. Note:this is an opinion you are free to dissent, I won’t be much longer.
BD,
There are some significant differences.
One is that we have a conservative Supreme Court.
Second, Republicans could control the Congress after the midterms.
Third, there is nothing stopping like minded people from developing their own tech…
Michael
I think the significant difference is time. The trajectory is toward remediating ALL of those differences. We no longer have a value for diversity. The value is for conformity by coercion. Classical liberalism still has room for the diversity but theyâre a diminishing breed.
BD,
Do you really believe the right is for diversity?
Michael
I don’t think the right presents any clear and present danger to diversity. When it does I will join the lament.
BD,
You need to lament then.
We have reached a point where both sides desire to erase the other…and if the rights attack on voting rights and immigration isn’t an attack on diversity, I don’t know what is.
There are no good guys in the current political drama…just people skilled at turning people against each other for their own gain.
BD and Michael,
And let us not forget that the positions regarding Big Tech between Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and others are virtually the same. All of the hate the tech companies with a passion. And clowns from both TEAM RED and TEAM BLUE want to do away with Section 230.
To be honest, I’m bored with it all.
There is no side to root for, no virtuous people to support.
To focus on it simply sucks the joy and goodness out of the marrow of your bones and leaves you angry, depressed, and bitter.
In the time left allowed to me, I have no time for the slow suicide of the soul that everyone wants to offer.
I’m not a fool…we have serious issues to address.
However, no one wants to address them rationally or for the common good.
Thus, I have no place at the table.
I still have my own table…full of good books, good food, good whiskey, and good cats sleeping where they can.
I have chairs full of people who need to be loved well and taught of Jesus.
There’s a hockey game tonight and I’ll be vaccinated soon.
Life …can be good.
Hope is faith projected into the future.
If my faith is centered properly today, my hope is then eternal…and all this temporal strife pales in it’s light.
We start the thread with good news that Captain Kevin got his vaccination (good on you!) and then immediately have to turn to the politics of right and left and manufactured outrage… Really?
It’s not just boring, it’s soul destroying.
If I am going to be outraged it should be about poverty, children at the border, the senseless gun violence in our cities, and maybe, just maybe, half a million deaths, many of which could have been prevented…
Thanks Michael and Duane.
Here is some good stuff: listening to Gordon Lightfoot while working. I still have my job. Exercise is making me feel better. I have a good wife and two energetic dogs.
BD. Maybe I should define terms. What I mean by Right/Fascist is a Western authoritarian polity descended from the Roman Empire. It must have specific characteristics to qualify. But foremost, is total conformity, as symbolized by the bound rods.
The Right is described in the first link, the symbolism of the Roman Fasces. Rome was the first Fascist state.
2nd link. Notice the Fasces behind the Speakers platform, to the left, and hard to make out, is the Roman Eagle grasping the World in his talons. America was founded as a Neo-Classical. We will never look like China. Should our freedoms begin to slip we will look like Rome.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/fasces
https://history.house.gov/Education/Fact-Sheets/Rostrum-Fact-Sheet2/
Dan from Georgia, thanks for reminding us to count our blessings.
What kind of exercise are you doing? Between my gut and fibromyalgia flaring up, thereâs not much Iâm comfortable doing lately.
“Open Blogging”
“Note: this is an opinion you are free to dissent.”
Thus this went well
Captain Kevin..
Mostly a mix of resistance (weights/machines) and some cardio. I go to a gym. Yes, I know…COVID. Been going to a gym fairly regularly for the last 3-4 years. A few years ago I topped out at 289lbs at 6 feet-1 inch height. Got down to 242lbs last year. Back up to 271 right now. Bummer. I get back pain when my weight is up, and my lower back goes into moderate to almost severe pain after 5-10 minutes of household chores. My current BMI (Body Mass Index) is too high, which means I may get a vaccine sooner than others my age.
Most of the last 3-4 years I have had a personal trainer, and that has helped me with motivation mainly. They pester me at times about my diet, which is the main reason I have bounced around weight-wise. My weight is fairly evenly distributed, but I do have a gut too, which makes crunches and other ab work kinda tough.
Getting into regular exercise is tough. It’s getting over the inertia and making it through the first 2-3 weeks. When I stop exercising, it’s tough to start up again. I have a bicycle too but Georgia is not flat and that makes it hard to keep biking. I lifted weights a lot in my past so I naturally have gravitate toward that. Exercise also helps me psychologically and emotionally.
Overall it’s in finding something you can do and like to do. I don’t have fibromyalgia so I don’t know how that factors into exercise. Does it make it more painful?
Big tech allowing free development of competition …
Reminds me of that movie Tucker
It should be becoming clear that the civil religion that exists in the Halls of power in the US only serves, like the Romantic Democracies, to keep themselves in power. They need the dialectic, two party system to manufacture consent.
I agree with BD. Not that it matters.
I also agree with Nathan. There is the illusion of dissent in the Chinese system. But if you speak up for Uighurs(sp?) or criticise the vaccine, preach the gospel, you can bet your neighbors and the govât are coming down hard.
Revelation describes the world as Babylon, and the system as Rome. So… you both are right
Got my first vaccination shot this afternoon.
No symptoms or anything.
Hope everyone who wants one can get started real soon!
When I think about what it took to get this to the public, well, I can’t believe it.
Thanks be to God!
Iâm thankful the clocks move forward this weekend. The dark days of winter are hard on many of us in Seattle area. It was sunny and bright today and so many people were outside walking dogs and pushing strollers. The hope of Spring is powerful.
There’s a bill right now in Congress to go to DST the year round.
I live in the upper Midwest and more daylight would be very welcome here!
I’m down the list so I’ll frustratingly wait for my injected 5G chip and hope my three year old 4G smart phone holds out until that time.
Vaccine distribution here in Cali isn’t going well.
Michael,
Half brothers movie – see it.
If Charles Bowden wrote a Dramedy.
Ruth,
I am of the opinion that daylight savings time is a relic and should be eliminated completely. It makes abou as much sense nowadays as buggy whip manufacturers and elevator operators.
Bob1,
Which did you get Moderna or Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson?
CM,
Pfizer
Cuomo is certainly an interesting study.
I’m with you Michael, life is too short to fret over what the kings of the earth ring down on us little folks.
I intend to enjoy what I can while I can. My wife, our little dogs, the hummingbirds at the feeder, our continued good health; too precious to worry about what the latest ‘conspiracy ‘ claim is.
Muff,
Where we are spiritually and emotionally as a culture is unsustainable.
The rage has spilled over into everything, even in a semi rural area like mine.
I am not by nature an optimistic or hopeful person.
I am deeply cynical about almost everything and everybody.
I can actually trace the rapid decline of my health to a time when the cynicism overwhelmed me.
This morning I truly enjoyed a good cup of coffee and a before dawn conversation with one of my cats.
I found myself grateful that an old friend is still a friend indeed.
I’m looking forward to teaching tonight.
Life goes on and despite all my concerns…it’s good.
BD,
He’s toast.
So whatâs that about. No facts changed about Cuomo. His nursing home fiasco was well known before the Emmy and the book/poster. His creeper male status was even promoted by little brother on national tv.
So whatâs the lesson of Cuomo?
He is us.
I haven’t followed the story that closely…he’s not my governor.
It seems the volume of evidence has finally crushed him.
How is he us?
Michael and Muff…thanks for the re-reminder. I was going to post my complaint-du-jour, but eventually would go nowhere and no one would be encouraged. I think instead of being bothered on this nice southern weather weekend about the world being the world, Iâm gonna indulge in some of my favorite books and get outside and walk daâ Beagles with my wife.
have a blessed and great weekend yâall!
“You think it’s such a sad thing when you see a fallen king
Then you find out they’re only princes to begin with
And everybody has to choose whether they will win or lose
Follow God or sing the blues, and who they’re gonna sin with.
What a mess the world is in, I wonder who began it.
Don’t ask me, I’m only visiting this planet. ”
Larry Norman
Dan,
You have chosen the better part…blessings on you and your clan this morning.
Us as in America â he reflects the whole
Paul Johnson used to write that sooner or later we all get leaders that we deserve.
BD,
Possibly true…though the one in question is soon to be gone.
âSo whatâs the lesson of Cuomoâ
1. A womanâs witness matters. Come forward sooner and save others from suffering similar indignities.
2. Donât harass women in the workplace.
3. No one is above the law and justice.
4. Repent. In Christ your sins are forgiven.
Congratulations to everyone who has gotten their Vivid vaccine shot! My husband just had his second shot, and just as everyone warned us, he is feeling pretty crummy this time – chills and body aches. We have heard it lasts about 36 hours and then resolves. We will see. I desperately wish I could get my vacination, but I’m no longer teaching in the schools and I’m not yet 65.I feel like I’ve fallen between the cracks! I’m a grandmom twice over and I miss my grand kids! It’s so hard to watch the happy reunions on television knowing it isn’t yet my turn to be reunited with them.
So many insightful observations to ponder….
Wish i wasn’t too tired to think… đ
God keep and have a God enriching Sunday all
What a privilege to have the Holy Spirit to enlighten….
I have received both rounds of Pfizer as a teacher in Oregon–we were bumped ahead of all the worthy, risk-laden older folks so I did so with a bit of guilt & knowledge that I’d be facing classrooms full of students who might be bringing a virus with them–especially the significant # of those with virus-denying parents. No ill effects at all, a little sore arm after the second that lasted a day, but was less sore than my last tetanus shot. Still wearing my mask at school and wiping down everything like a crazy man, but we are open every day with high school students in the morning, junior high in the afternoons. Busier than the proverbial one-legged man…
MLD, for years you have been telling me to find a church. I had not been going because it would trigger my PTSD, panic attacks and anxiety. It made me sad that I could not go. it made me very emotional if i went….
I want to let you know I have found a church. They are humble, not perfectionist, know that all gifts, talent, and life is from God and God alone. They do outreach to the needy in the area, a food pantry, help other churches, get together with other area churches, the pastor is the most down to earth, humble man, who never takes credit for his messages. During the lock-down in our state, he and his wife called each attendee and did a 3 question Bible study every week and spent time with each one. They tell us all the time that they love us. He gives an alter call every Sunday. He loves to have babies and children in the services and does not consider them a distraction but a joy. It is a small church .
I love this little church in Leonidas! I felt at home the first time we went.
oh and the pastor and wife are our neighbors. We were renting for about 3 years on this side of the state and rented out our house on the other side where we used to live. We bought a house in the same little town we were renting in, just over a year ago, before the Pandemic. Buster got to work from home all last year, but lost his job in the last wave of layoffs.
I am always so happy to hear that a Christian brother or sister has found a “home” at a truly wonderful church somewhere. We hear so many stories about the not-so-great churches here in this site that break people’s hearts in the end. It is always so uplifting to hear about the good churches around us, but we have to be discerning.