Ghost Guns… Why are they legal?

Color me sheltered, I had no idea.  These are deadly weapons that anyone can buy online.  They are unregulated,  no serial numbers, untraceable, anyone – and I mean anyone with a credit card or PayPal account can buy one online.  I am betting an untraceable Visa/Mastercard gift cards would work just fine too.  Wow! This is so very WRONG.  Now here is something I would classify as sinful, the marketing of such merchandise.  What is the lowest level in Dante’s Inferno?

More information available at BradyUnited.org

The Flags Flying in Rural Areas

I just returned from a 3 day backpacking trip in north central Arkansas.  My brother and I were in the Ozark National Forest a little ways south of Jasper which is on the Buffalo National River.  It is a very rural area, a very scenic area, consisting mainly of national forests and cattle operations, sparsely populated would be an accurate description.

I have written before of how I felt my beloved American flag has been hijacked by the conservatives, especially the extreme right.  That has resulted in my having mixed emotions Continue reading “The Flags Flying in Rural Areas”

Jerusalema Dance Challenge

Danger Will Robinson Danger… I fell down the YouTube rabbit hole on this one. Just a word to the wise.

Okay, I am a Johnny-come-lately to this global phenomena, but here I am. This really put a smile on my face, and a gladness in my heart.  It became meditative after a while.  For me it was a reminder that we are all just one people… perhaps it is time we started acting that way.

If you have some time, put “jerusalema dance challenge”  into your YouTube search box.  While I  didn’t understand the language they were singing, the music is beautiful.  The original language is isiZulu, a language out of South Africa. As my dive into the rabbit hole deepened, I found versions in a couple of other languages.

Here is a link to the English translation of Jerusalema from isiZulu

What really interested me was the dance challenges from around the world.  I am including a video that compiled many of these dances.  However, if you do the YouTube search, the results will have you scrolling for pages… which I did.

Before you watch the mix of dance challenges from around the world here is a link to the official music video of the song: Master KG – Jerusalema [Feat. Nomcebo] (Official Music Video) As I re-watched this video it strikes me it has a subtle anti-drug message.

How South Africa’s ‘Jerusalema’ Became a Global Hit Without Ever Having to Be Translated

I apologize if you too get lost in this technological rabbit warren, I just really enjoyed it.

And so it goes.

INTJ Targeted by Big Brother

Big Brother aka Google fed me the following article in my news feed today:

INTJ Personality: 5 Traits, Strengths, Weaknesses & More

It is not surprising at one level as I tend to at least glance at articles related to science subjects, such as psychology.  I am chalking it up to coincidence that it was an exact hit on my particular Briggs-Meyers personality type.  I have to, otherwise the paranoia will be too much.

Years ago, when I was around 30, I took one of these tests in a more or less medical situation.  I came out INTJ then – only 2% Continue reading “INTJ Targeted by Big Brother”

Diminishing Trust

Like most Homo sapiens I hold contradictory views, opinions, modus operandi, etc.  One such area is how I regard and behave to others of my species.

In my personal life I have for several decades taken the position that I do not trust anyone until they prove to me they are trustworthy.  Perhaps this is an outcome of working for huge corporations and other large organizations.  There are always folks in these environments that are willing to do about anything to advance their careers.  A few times I have felt their footsteps on my back.  Add to the corporate office politics, the sundry disappointments in my personal relationships, and my base position is that you need to prove to me that I can trust you. And yes I am aware Continue reading “Diminishing Trust”

God, Guns & Trump: A Jeremiad

I was in Memphis, TN this weekend and saw this bumper sticker – God, Guns & Trump – on the back of a small, older pickup truck with Mississippi tags.  The sad reality is that I could have seen this sticker many places; they are just more common in that part of the country.  I live in St. Louis which is not what I would call a particularly liberal or progressive area, but it is an island of sanity in the red cesspool of MAGA Republicans of rural Missouri and southern Illinois.  I see many bumper stickers of a similar ilk around here too.

God, Guns & Trump…To me this encapsulated the sickness that is currently inflicting our country.

God:  While I understand people’s need for religion, I am not a big fan. My personal opinion Continue reading “God, Guns & Trump: A Jeremiad”

Flags Half Mast

When I was young it seemed to be an extraordinary event when the United States flag was flown at half mast.  It was especially so back then as it did not happen that often.  It is still a big deal to fly the flag at half mast, but it seems to be happening all the time now.  Often it seems to be for victims of yet another mass shooting incident which are  an absolute pandemic in this country.  After the recent FedEx shooting in Indianapolis, there were two more of ONLY 3 or so people, one in Wisconsin and one Texas, this past weekend.

I am going to suggest that it would be easier and saner to leave the flags at half mast all the time until we do something about the availability of guns in this country – especially assault style rifles – and gun laws in general. The fact that we have failed to act on gun legislation, that guns have become so prevalent in our society, that mass shootings are so common, that guns are especially problematic in inner cities (there is nearly a gun death a day in St. Louis), is reason enough to be flying the flag at half mast.  I am not so sure that we should not be flying it upside down as a signal of dire distress.

And so it goes.

Me siento avergonzado

Or in English, I feel embarrassed.

Since the events at our national capitol that the Military Joint Chiefs  are calling sedition and insurrection, I have talked to two gentlemen in Central America.  The young Mexican man living in Honduras was just incredulous.  He could not believe such a thing could happen here. For many people in that part of the world, the United States is their dream.

The gentleman I talk to in El Salvador is a little more seasoned.  He asked me if I felt like I was living in the middle of a Mad Max movie, referencing the Viking helmeted man.  I told him I felt a little like I was living in a república bananera, banana republicHe agreed that it did seem that way right now to a lot of people living in real banana republics.

The new face of America is a 33 year old, wanna-be actor living at home with his mother.  If you do an image search you will find this individual’s picture in a multitude of foreign news outlets.  How very distressing.

Supposedly Trump made a comment about the insurrectionist wishing they looked a little classier.  I immediately wondered, have you not been looking at your rally audiences for the last 5 or 6 years.  He is not that much different from many of the folks I have been seeing at them.

I’ve been saying for years that we have become a lowest common denominator society. I am beginning to feel we are trying to divide by zero.  As every programmer knows, if you do not handle this error it crashes the program.

What a sad, sad time for our country.

And so it goes.

Keep well.

Cynical Corporate Courage

I cannot begin to tell how glad I am that they are finally banning Trump from all these social media platforms.  However, the cynical part of me is not applauding these corporations.  They waited until it was obvious to even a blind, deaf and dumb Dungeons & Dragons wizard that  Trump was not going to be able to steal the election.  That is not my definition of courage.  It is not my definition of being socially responsible.  And so it goes…

Keep well.