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- November 10, 2019
- USMC Birthday 2019
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Prior to his passing in 1997 my old friend Dewitt was a stickler for the Marines and all things related to them.
He dutifully attended the Marine Corps League meetings and went out of his way to project a squared away appearance wearing a very smart uniform and indulging the group in every way possible.
Alas, it pretty much marked the end of our 'boon companionship' and I dare say I have spoken harshly about the league because of it's impact on my life ... but in retrospect it was all foolish and selfish and it was something loved dearly so how could I ever speak harshly of it or him or any of his choices.
One of the biggies in his life was the birthday ball which he began talking about very early and spent hour upon hour preparing for. It was his "night to howl" so to speak and all I could do was stand by and support him in his pursuit of the night.
The United States Marine Corps Birthday is celebrated yearly on the date that the Continental Marines were established, on the tenth of November.
The celebration includes a traditional ball and cake cutting ceremony. Yes, it was his day and he always went.
When my dear friend passed this earthly existence he was interred in his Marine Corps League uniform and I dare say he was a striking image laying there in that casket as I weeped but a few pews away.
So here's to his Marines, Semper Fi, Eldon. I miss you to this day.
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- November 9, 2019
- World Freedom Day
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Today is World Freedom Day ...
A day where we find our freedom under attack by the democratic party of the United States of America. Operating under their crooked leadership they are out to undermine The Republic in their never ending pursuit of stealing the country for their own enrichment at the expense of the tax payer.
This day is a United States federal observance declared by then President George W Bush (ironically the son of Mr New World Order himself, traitor George H W Bush) to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall. This roughly corresponded to the end of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe.
It started in 2001 and is celebrated on November 9.
We need to lose the brigand Obama and crooked Clinton loving traitor Bushes and the rest of the democrats of the United States who would undermine The Constitution as evidenced by their behaviors by any means necessary.
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- November 8, 2019
- Boundaries Revisited
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I try to keep the notion of personal boundaries — those which establish limits between some and others for the purpose of identifying a relatively reasonable level of coexistence in my short term memory for periodic review.
Now I have few boundaries in my personal sphere which would preclude another from approaching me for whatever manner of interaction is required ... and indeed, I often times feel that those who require such formality might as well go take a flying leap anyway.
However, there are also distinct differences in my interaction with those familiar to me and those I consider to be unacquainted and I dare say the difference is night and day to a steep degree.
I don't joke around with those I don't know. I don't allow those I don't know to enter my home. I surely don't take much in the way of crap from people I don't know either.
By the same token, I don't let unfamiliars joke too much with me. I don't enter the homes of others unknown to me, and I refrain from giving crap to them either unless they have provoked me — which does occasionally happen.
Your response either "good" or "band" to me does not typically trigger anything untoward. If I detect hostility I may get in your face so we can see just who is the badder ass in the mix. If someone is trying to be my friend I will usually be friendly up to a point but again ... it depends on how much I think I know and what else I may detect in any given interaction.
Millennials and their ilk might reconsider some haughty "OK, boomer" lest they draw back a nub or fall dead upon the ground, victim to an abrupt yet very accurate .357 head shot should I feel endangered and I certainly don't suffer fools who think they're grown when they aren't even close.
Likewise, I don't heckle others who just happen to display that stupidity indigenous to being born from our generation of parents who were of a burger flipper mentality and I try to forgive a lot of the leftist indoctrination which is the biggest part of a public school education anymore.
All in all I try to cohabitate and let you be you while I remain me. This being said I likewise am not opposed to depriving you of a few civil rights if you step over the line. My typical attitude is "grin and CONFRONT it".
I may not be big on decorum but you really need to step back jack should you find yourself in the danger zone.
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- November 7, 2019
- Remembering Dana Plato
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One of the many profound tragedies I have experienced during my lifetime is that sad story of Dana Plato.
Dana Michelle Plato
November 7, 1964 – May 8, 1999
Dana Michelle Plato aka Dana Michelle Strain was an American actress and model who I saw in various forays into teevee and film during my younger days in the 1970s through 1980s.
Starting out in commercials and a horror film called Return to Boggy Creek she was cast in a sitcom called Diff'rent Strokes as Kimberly Drummond which was on from 1978 (I was in the Navy) through 1986 (I was teaching college).
I must admit that I watched the heyday of her career to see other characters on the program, but I was keenly aware she was there and she too punctuated my entertainment on a regular basis during that time.
I'm sorry to say that after a good run on the television show she fell on difficult times and earnings plummeted. She experienced a steep downward spiral after the money was gone and died at the age of 34 from an overdose of prescription pills after suffering years of substance abuse and poverty.
I always was one to have pitty on the young girl who was arrested for shoplifting and that decline in her appearance secondary to those hard times she endured. Others on her same television program suffered as well and they too are deserving of our empathy.
There by the grace of God go I for I was ensnared in substance abuse for a long time until such time as I decided "enough was enough" and quit all recreactional drugs cold turkey.
I suppose she never had this moment because if it arises you are never the same again.
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- November 6, 2019
- Patrick Daniel Tillman
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Patrick Daniel Tillman
November 6, 1976 – April 22, 2004Now I have never been a football fan. No, I believe I have watched a total of one (1) football game in my life ...
And that was because I was visiting friends and would never dare to interfere with their planned entertainment.
However, I am well acquainted with the backstories of American heros. Pat Tillman's story is just such a tail of duty and valor and profound tragedy.
Pat Tillman was an American footballer in the National Football League (NFL) who enlisted in the United States Army in June 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks after departing a promising sports career.
He served in Iraq and Afghanistan and was killed by friendly fire.
He was posthumously promoted from specialist to corporal and was also awarded posthumous Silver Star and Purple Heart medals.
This is one of those times when a person's patriotism wasn't brought to a clear and conscise publicity in the name of protecting the military.
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- November 5, 2019
- Bank Transfer Day 2019
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Credit Unions. Some people love them others hate them. I've only had experience with three of them and it was quite enough for me.
My first credit union was the one at Richland Hospital back in the early 1970s. It was there I first heard the bane of my existence, CUNA Mutual.
That second experience with credit unions involved the Navy Federal Credit Union while I was on active duty. I never experienced a problem with them and they never held my "less than optimal" credit report against me.
The last (and final) experience with credit unions was at Columbia Teachers credit union while I was at the State Paper and later teaching at Midlands Tech. It started out "merely okay" but devolved to a micro managing mess of morons deciding what I would and would not do as a matter of their holier than thou whim.
So now, I'm with a "real" bank and have fared much better overall. They understand who I am, what I earn, and most importantly have a grasp of my credit worthiness as evidenced by the extensive lines they have opened for me on my behalf.
If I need something they try to effect it rather than allow some poor balding idiot to make a decision deterimental to my existence and I have never been declined anything from them.
Needless to say, I know where I need to be and it's not the stupid credit union run by those unsuitable to serve my needs.
Today is Bank Transfer Day — originally a day of consumer activism calling for citizens to "voluntary switch" from commercial banks to not-for-profit credit unions by November 5, 2011.
Be all of this as it may, I personally prefer not to switch to a "lesser entity" in the world of finance having seen businesses turn down credit union checks as grossly bad fiscal affairs.
If they only know the full suck as nature of business with a credit union. It's primarily for the uninitiated low earners of the world.
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- November 4, 2019
- Letting Go
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It was inevitable I suppose. Yet another hopeful encounter is relegated to the "never be, never was" file not to be disturbed further.
Friends are nice but it's simply a place to which I decline to be relegated.
The "friend zone" is merely a respite for those simple enough to accept it all and I'm far too old to ever go there again. Perhaps two score back in time feasibility may have rang true.
So those bachelor days remain and though I'm satisfied with them it's disappointing that I simply am not good enough yet again.
However, when you reach a certain age you learn to take hold of reality with a firmness and finality those younger simply cannot grasp in all their hopes and dreams for the future.
Here I am yet again. This time to stay.
Alone
I was a midnight rider on a cloud of smoke
I could make a woman hang on every single stroke
I was an iron man
I had a master plan
But I was alone
I could hear you breathing
With a sigh of the wind
I remember how your body started trembling
Oh, what's a night it's been
And for the state I'm in
I'm still alone
And all the wonders made for the Earth
And all the hearts in all creation
Somehow I always end up alone
Always end up alone
So I play, I'll wait
Cause you know that love takes time
We came so far
Just the beat of a lonely heart
And it's mine
I don't want to be alone
Well, since I got no message on your answer phone
And since you're busy every minute
I just stay at home
I make believe you care
I feel you everywhere
But I'm still alone
I'm on a wheel of fortune with a twist of fate
Cause I know it isn't heaven, is it love or hate
Am I the subject of the pain
Am I the stranger in the rain
I am alone
And if there glory there to behold
Maybe it's my imagination
Another story there to be told
So I play, I'll wait
And I pray it's not too late
We came so far
Just a beat of a lonely heart
And it's mine
I don't want to be alone
And all the wonders made for the Earth
And all the hearts in all creation
Another story there to be told
So I play, I'll wait
And I pray it's not too late
We came so far
Just a beat of a lonely heart
And it's mine
I don't want to be alone
Gone, but not out of sight
Im caught in the rain and there's no one home
Face the heat of the night
The one that you loves got a heart that's made of stone
Shine and search for the light
And sooner or later you'll be cruising on your ocean
And clean out of sight
I'm caught in the rain and there's no one home
Songwriters Barry Gibb, Maurice Ernest Gibb, Robin Hugh Gibb
Alone lyrics
© Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group, Spirit Music Group, Songtrust Ave, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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- November 3, 2019
- Bite as a Metaphor
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A metaphor is a figure of speech where a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. These represent or symbolize abstract concepts which are actually something else entirely.
When utilizing devices like figurative phraseology such as hyperbole, simile, irony, and other tools of the wordsmith it is important that the receiver of these attempts to toy are able to paraphrase them adequately in context lest misunderstandings ensue.
Those rhetorical effects may otherwise obscure the intent to indicate similarities between two ideas resulting in sometimes profoundly misconstrued interpretations.
Expect to be misunderstood.
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- November 2, 2019
- All Souls Day 2019
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All Souls Day is observed by some Christian denominations. Being a non denominational Christian I recognize the day personally; but decline to be a part of the separation imposed by these so-called "denominations" which are in effect simply traditions of men imparted upon the worship of the one true God.
The day is for remembering deceased relatives but those tenets vary among those aforementioned denominational sects.
I try to remember my passed relatives as well as I can. I try to remember them in my prayers and when I speak to God I ask Him to pass along my various thoughts ... like how I wish I had been a better son. Like how I have done many things I should not have. Like I miss those who have departed and feel as though I never said things which should have been said.
Regardless, we do the best we can and toward that end I recognize All Souls Day.
It is typically held after All Saints Day (which was yesterday, that day which follows All Hallows Eve, or Halloween).
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- November 1, 2019
- All Saints Day 2019
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All Saints Day aka Hallowmas, All Hallows Day, or the Feast of All Saints, or Solemnity of All Saints is a Christian festival celebrated in honour of all the saints, known and unknown.
It's roots are in denominational religion with minor variance in the celebratory dates.
As usual, I go with the one I choose as well which is the day after All Hallows Eve, or Halloween — which was yesterday.
The actual date is either of germanic or celtic derivation as I interpret the literature.
So those who have overcome the 'second death' and reside in Heaven as "the Elect" at this point in time ... to ultimately exist in the eternity have a bond with we who remain on Earth.
That spiritual bond manifests itself in All Saints Day.
So here's to Grandma and Grandma and daddy and John and Dewitt and Sambo and Dennis and Henry and those who now exist in the presence of God.
I remain here and await my turn if indeed I am worthy enough in the end.
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- November 1, 2019
- World Vegan Day 2019
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I am a carnivore ... a member of the People Eating Tasty Animals. Yes, a medium rare steak, a bottle of A-1 and thou are about all I need to make me happy anymore.
There is a contingent of humans upon the earth who beg to differ with my tastes in nourishment. These are the vegans who consume vegetable sustenance as a rule and today is their day ...
World Vegan Day a yearly celebration by vegans around the world each November first.
They tout those benefits to be had from a life of veganism for humans and as they cascade through various non-human animals as well as the environment.
This event is the brainchild of one Louise Wallis and was first marked in 1994 during her tenure as Chair of The Vegan Society in the United Kingdom commemorating the 50th anniversary of that organization's founding.
The terms "vegan" and "veganism" are specifically celebrated.
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- October 31, 2019
- Happy Halloween 2019
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- October 29, 2019
- Who cares if your Halloween costume is offensive
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I just saw a typical moronic CNN pussification puff piece on evaluating whether your Halloween costume might be offensive.
First of all, if your Halloween costume offends, congratulations for not falling for the ridiculous passe PC mess CNN still touts as relevant.
Among those Good Housekeeping says are "offensive" include:
1. Holocaust victim 2. Anything including blackface 3. Transphobic getups 4. Refugees 5. Body shaming and objectifying costumes 6. Culturally stereotypical costumes 7. Terrorist costumes 8. Recent deceased celebrities as Zombies 9. An eating disorder 10. Animal cruelty 11. OJ Simpson and Nicole Simpson 12. The mentally ill 13. Representations of sexual harassment 14. The homeless 15. Any element of national tragedy
Now then, let's see ...
With a holocaust victim the bad taste is obvious and I would think that the market for this type costume to be the purview of neo nazis, muslims, and other anti israeli or perhaps someone particularly angry with gypsies or homosexuals.
Blackface really doesn't offend me. These PC types may beg to differ but if you came to my door you'd still get a candy bar.
Transphobic costumes are not only funny, but shed light on the ridiculous nature of thinking your genes don't control your sex.
Refugees are becoming more and more subject to ridicule when you consider how these interlopers ended up getting removed from their original places of habitation.
Being a big fat blivet myself, body shaming doesn't faze me personally. Those sensitive types who get all depressive when they're called on their lack of maintenance might take note of the situation more than the person calling attention to it.
Cultural stereotypes may skirt the realm of bad taste but hey, if you can be offensive you may as well learn to tolerate offense yourself.
Terrorist costumes are relevant and proper on Halloween in the spirit of horror which is part of that being celebrated. What a bunch of wussies.
Recently departed celebrities would likely not mind being represented as zombie costumes ... you know, another fleeting 15 minutes of fame.
Eating disorders can have fun poked at them as well. There's nothing more thrilling as covering yourself with a sheet, painting your face red and spitting mayonnaise all over people as you proclaim you're a pimple.
Animal cruelty may be skirting the edge but we have so many exotic food animals in places like China that seeing a nice rare piece of dog on a plate might even be appetizing for some of the asians in the crowd.
OJ and Nicole are a bit rough for costume characters until you recognize the fact that Nicole's daddy got a Hertz dealership out of the deal.
A mentally ill costume is really one of those figments as there are so many crazies walking the streets anymore that all too many of us can just be ourselves.
The notion of representing some sexually harassing topic in a costume remains a bit vague on a night when all the little girls are being offered some candy anyway.
Representing the homeless likewise is quite bad taste but pulling it off so that people "know" what they're seeing is a feat all it's own.
Any element of national tragedy represented as a halloween costume runs the risk of being poorly received and so you take your chances. I personally prefer not to get my ass whupped on Halloween if you don't mind.
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- October 28, 2019
- Joaquin Phoenix Birthday
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The career of Joaquin Phoenix has spanned film and television.
Some of his performances have been really memorable for me personally. Some of his extracurricular antics have been borderline 'wierd' in my mind ...
But I have grown to attribute these to that schtick sometimes displayed in public as publicity stunts and to generate press.
In his earlier work he was billed as 'Leaf Phoenix.
This is in keeping with those names imparted to him and his siblings by his parents who struck me as rather unconventional to the point of being eccentric.
His late brother River Phoenix was a bright star on the rise who died tragically.
Two of my most favorite portrayals include the evil Commodus from the film Gladiator in 2000 as well as the soft spoken attentive uncle Merril Hess in Mel Gibson's Signs in 2002.
I have yet to see him play Joker which is said to be quite the "over the top" character as well.
Regardless, I look forward to more of his work and today is his birthday. Happy birthday to you !
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