Christmas 2015

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The Night Before Christmas

Tucson Weather Today

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I plan to spend the evening in bed, reading once again my tattered paperback edition of the novel Breakfast Of Champions, written by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Who could ask for anything more?

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The Holiday Season

HAPPY

FESTIVUS

Tucson Weather Today

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The image below was forwarded to me from Indiana today.

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Christmas Time In Tucson

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Photo

Saw this on Facebook.

Liked it...

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Obama, Etc.

Tucson Weather Today

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Obama spoke on TV last night from the Oval Office of the White House. I watched and I listened.

Don't know why.

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I wonder how many Christians living in the United States know (without Googling it) where on the planet the city of Mecca is located.

Mecca is a city in western Saudi Arabia, an oasis town in the Red Sea region of Hejaz, east of Jiddah, considered by Muslims to be the holiest city of Islam. It was the birthplace in ad 570 of the prophet Muhammad, and was the scene of his early teachings before his emigration to Medina in 622 (the Hegira).

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Why Facial Recognition Software Is

Ineffective In A Muslim Community

Recognize anyone?

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The Small Cabin

Tucson Weather Today

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Every day I read the offerings of The Writer's Almanac. I do not always care much for the day's poem, but when I do find one that touches me in some way, I mention it here in my blog. The poem displayed Sunday, December 6, 2015 by Margaret Atwood is titled The Small Cabin and seems to echo so many of my own recollections of persons, palaces, and things residing only in my personal past.

The Small Cabin

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Another Observation

Tucson Weather Today

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"People like to ask me if writing can be taught, and I say yes. I can teach you how to write a better sentence, how to write dialogue, maybe even how to construct a plot. But I can't teach you how to have something to say."
--Ann Patchett

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An Observation

Tucson Weather Today

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"A human being whose life is nurtured in an advantage which has accrued from the disadvantage of other human beings, and who prefers that this should remain as it is, is a human being by definition only, having much more in common with the bedbug, the tapeworm, the cancer, and the scavengers of the deep sea."
--James Agee

James Rufus Agee (ay'-jee)

Nov 27, 1909 - May 16, 1955) 

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Speaking Of Dreams...

Today is MJ's birthday. I sent her a greeting using Facebook... which I hardly ever do. She has the most beautiful smile.

Don't you agree?

You'd better.

Mary Jane (MJ)

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Could Be

Tucson Weather Today

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Did you ever get the feeling that you were living in a dream

(or a nightmare)

and nothing in your life is  as it seems?

Could be...

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This Is Who I Am

Avoiding Green Stuff

Tucson Weather Today

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Laugh Of The Day

The Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed a rule Thursday  that would require the more than 3,100 public housing agencies across the country to make their properties smoke-free.

While I applaud the idea of providing a healthier environment for those who must live in public housing, I recognize how ludicrous it is to propose a government ban on anything, be it liquor, drugs, or tobacco.

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I was recently asked (often) if I include kale in my diet. I said that I do not, and in fact I have never tasted the stuff. I was then told that I should make it a large part of my weekly intake of food.

Of course, this meant that I should immediately look up the subject on the Internet.

I found:

Kale is a member of the cruciferous vegetable family. Cruciferous vegetables include mustard greens, turnip greens, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli.

I am not fond of ay of the cruciferous foods listed above, and I an especially repelled by the horrid taste of Brussels sprouts, (no matter how they are cooked.) I also found these next two somewhat interesting paragraphs:

Kale is among a small number of foods that contain measurable amounts of oxalates, naturally occurring substances found in plants, animals, and human beings. When oxalates become too concentrated in body fluids, they can crystallize and cause health problems. For this reason, individuals with already existing and untreated kidney or gallbladder problems may want to avoid eating kale. Laboratory studies have shown that oxalates may also interfere with absorption of calcium from the body. 

According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in their 2014 report, Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce, conventionally grown kale are contaminated with concentrations of organophosphate insecticides, which are considered to be highly toxic to the nervous system.

Man-Oh-Man! Can't I find anything more interesting to write about than repulsive rabbit food?

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I caught a short interview with a fascinating woman on CNN, and I recognized her, from her intriguing comments, as being a person of superior intelligence.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born Dutch-American dual citizen activist, author, and politician. She is critical of female genital mutilation and Islam, and supportive of women's rights and atheism. Her latest book was released in 2015 and is called: Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now.

I intend to learn more about this most enthralling lady.

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This Is Who I Am

Election Day

Tucson Weather Today

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I VOTED

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PANTS ON FIRE

Tucson Weather Today

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Question:
Why do the American people vote for and elect LIARS?

Answer:
The American people are presented with two (2) politicians and they must select one (1) of the two (2) to be their next president -- and the (mature) American voter firmly believes that the definition of selected 'politician' is most effective 'liar.'

Nothing more needs to be discussed (by me) on the matter.

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Jeb Bush said that Donald Trump is appealing to people's angst and their anger.

"angst   angst   angst   angst   angst"

I wonder how many average Americans know the definition of angst.

angst
noun
a feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about the human condition or the state of the world in general.
informal: a feeling of persistent worry about something trivial.
synonyms: anxiety, fear, apprehension, worry, foreboding

From the Urban Dictionary:
Angst, often confused with anxiety, is a transcendent emotion in that it combines the unbearable anguish of life with the hopes of overcoming this seemingly impossible situation ... Angst denotes the constant struggle one has with the burdens of life that weighs on the dispossessed and not knowing when the salvation will appear.

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This Is Who I Am

Is Fantasy Fact or Fiction?

Tucson Weather Today

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When I was a sub-teen dreamer I was an avid peruser of comic books. Those colorful stimulators of imagination were just that, stimulators.

Later in life I turned to words as they seemed even more stimulating in their depth of detail. But now at an extremely advanced age I find myself falling back to the habits of my juvenile years. Once again I find that certain pictures are much more conducive than mere words to the effective stimulation of fantasies.

Such as the photo below which I like to label...

The Grateful Hitch Hiker

See what I mean?

If not, feel free to ignore all the above.

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WORD FOR TODAY

fantasy
noun
the faculty or activity of imagining things, especially things that are impossible or improbable.

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Did You Know . . .?

the Grand Canyon can hold around 900 trillion footballs.

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This Is Who I Am

HALLOWEEN 2015

Tucson Weather Today

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Halloween is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed believers.

It was not until mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th century that Halloween became a major holiday in America.

Democracy Doomed?

Tucson Weather Today

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There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
--John Adams

Trust No Man

With Power

Trust No Man--

Nor No Woman

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 "Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide."
--John Adams

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This Is Who I Am

The 2012 Benghazi Attack

Tucson Weather Today

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I just wasted a whole day watching a bunch of politicians participating in a hearing on the 2012 Benghazi attack. It turned out to be nothing more than a Republican vs. Democrat debate.

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In the United States, the majority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals, who are thus relieved from the necessity of forming opinions of their own.
--Alexis de Tocqueville

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This Is Who I Am

First 2015 Democrat Presidential Debate

Tucson Weather Today

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Last night I sat and suffered through a cacophony of ludicrous rhetoric. The entire program can be summed up as:

"Blah...    Blah...    Blah..."

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cacophony
noun
a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.

ludicrous
adjective
so foolish, unreasonable, or out of place as to be amusing; ridiculous.

rhetoric
noun
1. the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.
2. language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience, but often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content.

The viewers of last night's introduction to the Socialist Agenda would be well advised to read 1984.

Nineteen Eighty-Four, often published as 1984, is a dystopian novel by English author George Orwell published in 1949. The novel is set in Airstrip One (formerly known as Great Britain), a province of the superstate Oceania in a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance and public manipulation, dictated by a political system euphemistically named English Socialism (or Ingsoc in the government's invented language, Newspeak) under the control of a privileged Inner Party elite, that persecutes individualism and independent thinking as "thoughtcrime", also a Newspeak word.

Acceptance of socialism (or Bernie Sanders' Democratic Socialism) in the United States is a step closer to the reality of the hopeless horror depicted in 1984.

In November 2011, the United States government argued before the US Supreme Court that it wants to continue utilizing GPS tracking of individuals without first seeking a warrant. In response, Justice Stephen Breyer questioned what this means for a democratic society by referencing Nineteen Eighty-Four. Justice Breyer asked, "If you win this case, then there is nothing to prevent the police or the government from monitoring 24 hours a day the public movement of every citizen of the United States.

Except for POWER at the top -

which is never, NEVER shared.

Former students who read 1984 in school may want to reread the book after having experienced a few years of reality.

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This Is Who I Am

Problems

Tucson Weather Today

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Let's face it... many of the problems facing the United States continue to exist because the nation has a  president who doesn't know how to resolve them. He seems to think the country has 'issues' -- instead of 'problems.'

The southern border of the  U.S. is not secure.

"No Problem."

Radical Islamists are beheading innocent people.

"No Problem."

Iran is preparing to nuke us out of existence.

"No Problem."

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"We got a shit-load of problems."

disclaimer:
The author is not always correct.
(But he usually is.)

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busk
verb
1. play music or otherwise perform for voluntary donations in the street or in subways.
2. informal improvise.

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This Is Who I Am