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Showing posts from November, 2018

Comparison

I thought it might be interesting to compare the resume of Robert Mueller to that of Donald Trump. Care to take a peak? (I tried to keep it objective.) Robert Swan Mueller III Donald John Trump Sr. DOB August 7, 1944 June 14, 1946 Place of Birth New York City New York City Place Raised Philadelphia New York City High School St. Paul's, New Hampshire New York Military Academy High School Sport Captain of the Soccer Team Soccer Political Affiliation Republican Party Republican Party College Princeton Fordham Wharton University of Pennsylvania Degree Bachelor's in Politics Bachelor's in Economics Graduate School New York University Degree Master's in International Relations Military Marine Corp. Deferred Military Awards Bronze Star (with valor) Purple Heart Medal Navy Commendation Medal (2) (with

Long December

It's weird but I feel like November has been December for three weeks. I don't know why but my body keeps telling me that it's December and it has been. In fact, Thanksgiving feels like it happened weeks ago rather than just one week ago. Maybe it's the fact that I have little kids and they are getting ready for Christmas and are filled with excitement over the prospect of Santa Claus and presents. Or maybe it's because Thanksgiving came a little earlier than usual this year. Whatever it is, it's a weird feeling. The last time something like this happened to me was in October of 2014. After the month ended, I felt like it was still October until well into February of the following year. It truly makes no sense considering time is an invented human concept. Most of our ancient ancestors and nearly all of our animal friends don't give a hoot about time down to the second. Months aren't even real, it's just a thing we do. It feels like it's be

Frustration

I know I'm not the only person feeling frustrated. I know that I'm not the minority when I fight against injustice and wrongness. I know that I have allies and because I know that, I keep on going and try to stay positive. So what causes most of my frustration? This guy: Ever since Donald Trump stumbled onto the scene, he's been a problem. He has one motivator, money. He also happens to be a racist and a misogynist. He also happens to be a serial liar and a serial cheater. Donald Trump is still living in the days when it was totally acceptable to: Use racial epithets in public Smack his secretary on the ass for a job well done Whistle at females under his employ Routinely telling females in his employ that they are "beautiful" Deny renting to minorities Assume all minorities are criminals Assume that a person has to look a certain way to be of a certain heritage Promote white men to the highest levels of authority Build a thicker glass ceil

Links in a Chain

In June of 2015 Donald Trump announced he was running for President of the United States. It wasn't the first time he ran but it was the first time he had some serious backing by some of Americas most serious enemies. Starting here rather than before he was a potential candidate for President seems more prudent than going backwards into his awful mob-like business ways. Prudent only for the sake of blog length and time. If I were to venture back 30 plus years rather than 3, I'd have a lengthy novel. So I write this knowing that the horror that is Donald Trump started a very long time ago and the links on the chain go so deep underneath the surface that it is simply too hard to bring them all up. We begin in June 2015. Chain link 1: His announcement speech painted a picture of an America in trouble. It was as colorful as any dystopian novel and ripe with lies and hate. This is the beginning of the chain. This is the start of the Trump devout. They clung to his words, his

Flu

I woke up this morning with the muscles in my legs and back feeling like I ran a marathon. (I don't run). I sat up, coughed a deep horrible cough, and remembered that I have the flu. I never really understood what the flu was. I never get a flu shot, that changes now. Each morning since Wednesday of last week I woke up with a fever. The fever only went away when I took Tylenol. If I fell asleep and missed the dose the fever came back. I started to feel like I would never, ever, get better. I was scared. People die from the flu and what if I was doing it all wrong? I was taking Tamiflu, Tylenol, Mucinex, Albuterol and drinking a 28 ounce Gatorade every two hours. I was sleeping. I sat in the shower a few times. I slept some more. Then Sunday morning the cough was all that remained. I rested yesterday and that brings me to now. From the CDC: Flu can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death . Flu is different from a cold. Flu usually comes on suddenly. P

"Life is pain"

"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." - Man in Black Have you ever had those days where you feel like the only lesson is the lesson above? That life is pain? I feel that way today. I'm sitting at my desk feeling self-conscious, feeling every ounce of depression I possess flowing through me. I feel alone, awkward, sad, uncertain...I feel pain. I feel loss. A close family member died rather suddenly. His fight was one he knew he wouldn't win. Cancer very rarely allows its opponent to succeed. The world lost another great man and here we are, those that loved him, in pain. Life is all about letting go, I know that. I know that this is a temporary existence but how can we reconcile that fact knowing that our time could be up any second? I don't want to live my life waiting. I want to live my life living. If there is a heaven and I get there, I want to make sure I did everything in my power to have the be

Acting Guilty

When someone is guilty and they know it they often go on the offensive. Meaning, they will blame others for exactly what they are guilty of. This is also called deflection. We have seen this with Donald Trump so many times, not just in the last three years but, over the last thirty that he has been in the public eye. His bankruptcies, his draft dodging, his mistresses, etc. He has floated through life shielded first by his father and next by his own lawyers. He has lied, done wrong, lied about and done wrong again. Never has it caught up to him, not once. Fast-forward to now: The 1st Amendment, Freedom of the Press became secondary to a domestic terrorist yesterday when Donald Trump told Jim Acosta that he was the "enemy of the people." Donald Trump, the President of the United States, defended the pipe bomber and attacked Jim Acosta, a man doing his job. An intern was flagged to aggressively take Jim Acosta's microphone and then, true to authoritarian form,

Craving

Ever since I saw this quote I've been thinking about it. Craving as defined by Merriam-Webster: "A powerful desire for something." So I stopped. Thought. Realized, Buddha is right. When I'm on the train in the morning, I want to get to work. When I'm at my desk, I want to get to the train. When I'm on the train in the evening, I want to get home. ...and repeat. If I stop wanting, what happens? I actually find myself in the moment.  Yesterday, after I voted, I was heading toward the door not realizing there were signs everywhere telling me where the exit was. I didn't even realize there was another door until a policeman pointed to it and an old lady yelled at me that I was going the wrong way. I was embarrassed and felt like everyone was looking at me. Then, I thought of Buddha. If I'm living in the moment, who cares? Yeah, I messed up, things happened, but who cares? So, I put my shoulders back, held my head up high, and

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

As many of you may know I am a huge fan of Audible.com. I listen to books during my commute and because of Audible I have exposed myself to books that I would have had a hard time sitting down and reading, not only because of the lack of time I have, but because of the nature of the content. I tend to like fiction over non-fiction. My latest listen is a book called Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind . It's fascinating. A few chapters back the author spoke on gender differences and various theories about why patriarchal societies throughout history far outweigh matriarchal societies. Biologists and anthropologists can't seem to come to any type of logical conclusion for this. The author floated one out that I'm going to editorialize on. He said that women are "more cooperative" than men and have seemed to not really care about conquering new lands or being motivated by wanting power. Men, on the other hand, wanted power, they wanted to fight, they wanted