Reflections of Me

Ah.  Hi.  I just stumbled in after my latest round of perusing news headlines and articles on the internet.  While I still can, before the FCC Internet police take away my ability to do so. It's been a typical jumble of news, conflicting news, opinion, and fabrications shared in social media about the news, conflicting news, and opinion.  As my perusal of news expands, my attention span gets shorter. So, let's see, what have I been exposed to today?  Via Google News pages: Trump on North Korean missile launch : 'we will take care of it'.  Hmm, sounds to me like the North Koreans already did. Trump Wins Opening Round in Legal Battle over Consumer Watchdog Agency :  Well, any headline that begins with 'Trump Wins...' is a article best avoided.  Just means American citizens took another kick to the privates. Washington Post Says It Foiled Apparent Sting By James O'Keefe's Activist Group :  Ok, someone tried to plant fake news in a plac...

Ah, another Thanksgiving under my belt, along with amazing food.  Many, many thanks to Mike and Terina, Ken and Charlie, Doris, Lew, Susan, my son Steve, and everyone who provided the warmth, the laughter, and great conversation to go along with the great meal that I am still full from.  It was the first Thanksgiving in many a year that I didn't have to work, or make arrangements to take off unpaid, and for that, also, I am very grateful.  I have to confess, it was a rather strange feeling, realizing that I could relax and enjoy a Holiday with friends and family without the pressures of work weighing on me. Understand, I don't feel any lighter; I guarantee you, I chowed down. It was a marvelous break from the daily bombardment of bad news, non-news made to look bad, and good news made to look bad.  I have so many things to be thankful for, I could never list them all.  Well, I could, but, I'd like to finish this within this decade.  However, back to rea...

Ahhh, yes; the good old days.  A phrase we hear so often in our lifetimes, but the meaning of which is often hard to define.  It has carried over into social media in a big way, which I reckon shows that the good old days are still around.  At least, the phrase is. What, though, does it mean?  When we are young children, we hear it from our elders.  Usually Grandparents first, then, parents.  During my youth, we usually responded ( at least in thought, if not verbally ) 'well, times change.'.  We don't consider, for instance, what Grandma means when she says it, and what Mom means when she does.  Then, we get older, and one day we wake up thinking, damn, I miss the good old days. Recently, a new wave of nostalgia has opened up ( among older folks, but surprisingly, among younger ones too ) via the internet, and social media.  It has gotten me started thinking: yes, I sometimes miss the good old days, but, then I think: why?  What abo...

We've again been bombarded with multiple news events over this past week, from Capitol Hill to Texas churches.  Gets damn hard to sort them all out.  I leave the heavy lifting to those more professional and capable than I, and simply do my best to keep up as best I can with my limited intelligence. From a news aspect, I have tried to follow the recent GOP tax reform bills as they ping-pong themselves between the houses of Congress.  House has this one, Senate has that one--but, wait.  Oddly, they seem to be the same one, only worded differently.  As with anything, it's the wording that contains the details.  Or, should.  Careful wording will also hide a lot of details.  This so called tax reform bill is, first, far from reform.  It revises many tax laws, certainly.  It's authors made the claim ( a while back, not so much now ) that is simplifies our tax codes.  Well, from what I have followed, it actually does the opposite for the...

Ahh, I am back, and of  course am going to ramble ( and perhaps pontificate ) upon seemingly random thoughts.  I think it will mostly cover two of my favorite topics, news, and words; naturally, I can never be sure where it will end up.  It's a broad field; I will try to keep it narrow as I can.  With my mind, narrow can be said to be a given.  A warning here: this could be rather long. News, of course, is just communication.  Communication is accomplished in words, be they spoken, written, or even delivered in semaphore or dots and dashes or sign language, etc.  Today, social media, and our old friend of short acquaintance the internet, is perhaps the most used delivery system.  It has given rise to many new words, and rehashed and tried to redefine the meanings of old ones.  News itself, put simply, is exposure to ideas and occurrences of which we were not previously aware.  News can take any form, from truth to half truth to theory ...

Well, now; I am back on here, yes, I see me, and my original stuff is still here.  I rather like this format, do not remember why I stopped coming here.  I think it was because I forgot it existed.  I keep telling myself, one day I will learn how to write.  SO I keep practicing.  And that is what this is--practice. I haven't changed much since I was here last ( let's see, that seems to have been 2015 ).  I still love ABBA, and The Ventures, and lots of different music.  My guilty secret musical like is Lady Gaga, once I discovered there was a fantastic voice behind all the hoopla and glitz.  For playing, in the few minutes I can anymore, I still prefer Fender instruments and equipment.  I have played others, among them Rickenbacker and Gibson, but always come back to Fender.  It's a preference, and a psychological thing: I just think I sound better using Fender.  I don't, but, since I only play for myself now, I don't care. If y...

A Few Thoughts First, a caveat: everything I blog about is my opinion.  I try to base my opinion on available facts.  That is, facts available to me at the time.  Quite often in my life, especially in recent years, my opinions change as facts come to light that I was previously unaware of. In this post, I thought I'd pass on something I've been considering a lot lately, and that is, violence.  I think many of us feel that we currently live in one of the most violent periods in American history.  We see statistics, thrown at us right and left, which seem to bear that out.  But, I don't believe we need statistics.  For one thing, statistics are compiled using ever-changing formula, and beyond a certain historical period, are nearly impossible to compare. So, I am going to go out on a limb, here, and say this: my lifetime has covered the 1950's to the present, and I don't believe we are any more violent in America now than we have ever been. ...