Life On A B-I7

A Simple Game Of Catch

I’d like to play catch with someone. A baseball glove and a ball. What a joy that would be. Some of my best childhood memories are playing catch, mostly with friends. In the driveway, in a vacant lot, anywhere we could. I would ask my dad to play catch with me but that wasn’t his deal. If I didn’t hit him in the chest he would get annoyed with me. I’m not sure what part of “practice” he didn’t understand. That’s okay, I had friends to play with. The problem is, today I don’t know anyone with a desire to pull out the leather and toss a few.

That’s too bad. You’re never too old for a game of catch.

Quakers

A relatively unknown religion from most peoples perspective. I recently learned that adherents don’t really think of it as a religion. A good percentage don’t even believe in a god, or only loosely believe. There are Christian Quakers, Hindu Quakers, Buddhist Quakers, and many other “denominations.” A part of me wishes I had stumbled into their belief system when I was younger.

“We favor queries over strictures because of a concept known as ‘continuing revelation,’ or the idea that we cannot know all there is to know, and we will always later realize that we were wrong. The principle has helped me cultivate humility and compassion for myself after missteps. Because there can be no one best way…” -Gail Cornwall

The world could do with a lot more humility and compassion, that much is clear…

Tesla

Do you own a Tesla? If you do, you should think carefully about trading it in…

The best way for you to get rid of it would be to simply burn it, that’s what’s happening to Tesla stock. If you really love your vehicle and you don’t want to get rid of it, you can wait till the revolution comes. When it does, someone will burn it for you…

Blues Songs

I’m finding it easier to listen to blues songs. Partially because of the stress we are all under these days, it just seems to be a good fit. I know I’ve become more emotional, I sometimes cry when I listen to a good blues song. I told my doctor that and she said, “that just means you’re human.” I hope she’s right, but what does that mean for people that don’t listen to blues music?

Darkness Is Falling On America

When you read the title, I suppose your first thought was, “oh, he’s being melodramatic.” You’re wrong, I’m prescient. It would be good if I were wrong, but all signs indicate that I’m not.

Trump has signed an Executive Order stating that the Executive has broad authority over the management, “the integrity,” of federal elections. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Constitution grants Congress limited authority over the place, time and manner of federal elections and nothing more. There is no stated role for the Executive under the Constitution. Trump is weaving from whole cloth a new role for the executive, one never asserted before, one ensuring his chances for himself and his party to remain in office basically forever. Trump has told us he would seek a third term and he told us there “were ways.” Now we see exactly what he has in mind.

One thing is clear about the Supreme Court, they are afraid to call anything unconstitutional. We’ll see what Roberts does with this one when it reaches him.

A Toast To The Bride

My apologies to my daughter. You know how much I love you. This toast probably made your mother crazy too. I will always remember your wedding. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful experience.

As father of the bride,
Who adores his daughter,
Let me just say…

A few words about Scott.

Scott has a creative mind
And is very talented.
He’s also an accomplished
Skier and climber.

An accomplished skier…
For a guy that skies on broken bindings
And misshapen skis,
But don’t try and follow him down Mid-Cirque
Unless you know what you are doing.

I’ve hung out with Scott enough
To say without reservation
That he is a terrific guy.
I couldn’t ask for a better son-in-law.

Least I fail to mention…
You’re pretty cool too Kelsey,

And a wonderful daughter.

So to you both, let me say:

May your love guide you.
May your love sustain you,
May your love fulfill you
For all the days of your lives!

Reading Goal

My reading goal for 2025 is to read 3 books a month. A lot of people think I’m a big reader, I’m really not. Three books a month will be a challenge for me, akin to riding a bicycle across the country…

This is a good time to take on a goal that will demand a healthy time commitment. Reading is an excellent form of escape. Perhaps you are assuming I’m looking for escape from current events, I am. I’m going to stay engaged in current events, but this goal will provide some much needed relief from the noise going on around all of us.

It will also be fun and satisfying to meet this goal. I don’t think it will be easy. I don’t set goals for myself that are easy. I like a challenge. I think this will be challenging, fun, and healthy.

See you in April 2026.

Quacking Democrats

Democrats quacked up by running Joe Biden on the ticket in 2020. He (and the party) are directly responsible for the ascendancy of the Trump oligarchy. They failed to take Trump and his degenerate allies seriously.

Trump had a lot of help between 2016 and 2020. Putin and Orban along with others. It’s also very possible that Trump conned the American Heritage Foundation. I find it hard to believe the AHF wants to end Democracy. As self-serving as the AHF is, I suspect they failed to fully appreciate Trump’s ambitions. You have to hand it to the man, as stupid as he appears to most of us, he has a plan. That is his brilliance. He recognized that political power comes from the people most in need of political support, and he used them to get what he wanted. Which is simply, leader of the largest autocracy in the world. He has taken the first steps and so far is proceeding according to his plan.

Save America

We can no long afford to be “Republicans” or a “Democrats”. Those designations have lost all meaning.

We are now either for American Democracy or we are against American Democracy.

There is no other way to frame it.

I’m Sick

The United States of America under Trump is becoming Hungary.

Even the Index of Economic Freedom—which is published by the Heritage Foundation, the MAGA-affiliated think tank that produced Project 2025, puts Hungary at the bottom of the EU in its rankings of government integrity. There’s a bit of irony for you.

I’m sick about what is happening in the country. It feels to me like America is sliding unconsciously into Autocracy. I just want to wrap my arms around the country (I’m not including Canada and Greenland in that reference) and shake her.

Looking Ahead

Equivocate: Use equivocal language to deceive someone or avoid committing oneself.

It’s been made clear to me by someone close that I have a strong tendency to equivocate. I think what my editor (the someone close to me) is getting at is that I’m sending a message that I lack confidence in my writing and by extension in my overall perception of myself. (I assure you I have no intention to deceive.) I would like to express more confidence in my writing, I’m working on that. Whether or not I can grow my confidence in who I am is an open question. Suffice it to say I’m working on that. I think confidence in self is the most important. Perhaps growing confidence in my writing will strengthen the other type. That’s my hope.

The Plan

Trump is trying to change the world order and he’s using tariffs to do it. What does that mean? Take a look at one simple observation, he hasn’t placed any tariffs on Russia. What Trump is planning to do is form an alliance with Russia making the two nations a world dominating coalition. This would counterbalance the emerging economic threat that is China. More importantly, it would make Trump the biggest oligarch in the world after Putin. I’m guessing that most of the people in his administration, even those closest to him, like JD Vance, don’t even realize what his plan is. Certainly not Republicans in Congress. To Trump they are just tools.

Fortunately we still have Baseball, Jazz Music, and the Constitution. Although, the last one may not be with us much longer, it least in a way that serves anyone but the wealthy.

MAGA

M ORONS

A RE

G OVERNING

A MERICA

I wish that were the case. The reality is the rich have decided to take over America. They don’t plan to give it back.

How Do You Choose Where To Live?

Without question, it has to be either Portland, Maine, Asheville, North Carolina, or Bend, Oregon.

Why?

1. Portland, Maine
   18 breweries per 50,000 residents.
2. Asheville, North Carolina
   17 breweries per 50,000 residents.
3. Bend, Oregon
   16 breweries per 50,000 residents.

By contrast, Redmond, Oregon, has only 7 breweries per 50,000 residents. Truly a sad state of affairs. If you are home shopping in Central Oregon, the choice is simple, there is no choice really!

Owned

Every morning between 4am and 5am the website author interrupts my sleep. I’ve come to accept this as routine. When you think about it, to be awakened every morning at that time, especially when you are in need of rest, can be a bit tiring.

He is polite, I’ll give him that. In fact, I really can’t blame him. Over the years I have probably sent him a strong message that he is free to behave that way. You have probably guessed where I am going with this. The web site author (my cat) owns me.

I have taught him one thing, before he claws me to get my attention he will always bump me with his forehead first. It’s very charming. I have to take credit for this behavior because I started bumping him with my forehead some time ago. It took him awhile to figure it out, but he now knows this is a sign of affection, or at least a way to get my attention. He now freely returns the loving gesture… but only when he wants to be fed.

Democracy

There is so much I don’t know that I would like to know, I often find it overwhelming. Right now, I find myself wishing I were smart enough to step into our political fray and make people see that the direction we are taking our Democracy is not a positive one. Where we are going now will only set us back. I believe the human experience evolves toward greater and greater good. Having said that, I have to add that it does so in fits and starts.

I didn’t think I would see a step backwards in my lifetime, but I find myself looking at just that. In my defense (more to the point in my generations’s defense) the characters foisting this regression on us are mostly members of a younger generation. What has predisposed them to treat precious freedoms so lightly is beyond my comprehension. I acknowledge that it could be my fault. My generation’s fault. Perhaps we lived too easily and did not do a good enough job teaching respect for our democratic freedoms to those younger than ourselves. I like to think that Democracy could never die in America, but that is probably a naive way of looking at the world. We may be seeing the death of Democracy in America before our eyes.

The three richest men in America own more wealth than the bottom half of Americans, 170 million people, and when those three are overly engaged in the non-elected running of the country, it’s difficult to say we are living in a true Democracy.

Sleep Walking

A recent New York Times article stated “we are sleeping into autocracy.” It’s tough to come up with an argument against that observation. It seems that Trump is following the Orbán playbook, made more likely by Orbán’s three visits to Mar-a-Lago prior to the last election. I can imagine Orbán schooling him. It’s clear now to all but the most unaware, that Trump admires tyrants. Trump is working hard to own the courts, if he is successful in that, it could be his winning lottery ticket.

I typically don’t put a lot of stock in predictions, but I’m going to go ahead and lay this one out there. Clearly Trump sees himself as president for life. If every other strategy to remain in office fails, before the end of his term he is going to find an excuse to declare Marshall Law and he will have the legal mechanism (owning the courts) in place to support him.

A more likely strategy would be to circumvent the “only elected twice” clause in the Constitution. He’ll run again as Vice-President under Vance and then after the election Vance would resign allowing Trump to hold a third term. This option is already being put out there and we aren’t even out of the first 100 days of his second term.

Screen Time

I’ve been averaging 3-1/2 hours a week screen time on my iPhone. That sounds bad to me but I bet it is a relatively small number compared to a lot of people younger than I am. (I’m a Boomer.)

It is actually a very interesting statistic. I looked in Settings at my usage data and it is revealing. It tells me which applications I use and how much time is spent in them. This shows a pretty clear picture of what I’m doing with my phone. You could use this to help shape your interactions with your phone. I noticed, to my surprise, that today I have spent more minutes in the ChatGPT app than I have in Messages or Mail (it’s still early). I’m not sure how the “minutes usage” is being calculated. I would really like to better understand what is going on under the covers there. The best takeaway from today’s data is that I have spent twice as much time in the “Productivity & Finance” apps category, than I have in the “Social” apps category. Take that Gen Z and Gen Alpha!

Air Force One

In a recent interview on Air Force One, a reporter asked Trump:

“Why do you think young men are so overwhelmingly coming in your direction?”

This may be April 1st, but that quote is not a joke…

Material stolen from Jon Stewart. It was too good to pass up.

Website Author

Son of JWA

JWA

The New Order

J. D. Vance to President Volodymyr Zelensky:

“Have you said thank you once?”

Donald Trump to President Volodymyr Zelensky:

“You don’t have the cards right now.”

The United States of America has officially, and for the first time in its’ history, become a gangster state.

My Bitch

I’ve got this guy pretty well wrapped around my finger. I’ve developed some killer strategies to get what I want.

If I stand by my bowl with a pleading look, the simpleton get’s a packet of food and puts it in the bowl. If I sit by the back door with my head cocked, he opens it for me. (Why there is such a thing in the first place that I can’t open is beyond my comprehension…)

Often when he’s putting things away I’ll just lie down on them to see if he will go off and do something else, most of the time he does. Occasionally he will put his head right up to mine and bump me. I have no idea what he is doing. I was very concerned at first because I thought he was going to take a bite out of me. I’ve learned that this behavior is harmless, but inexplicable. In an odd sort of way, I enjoy it.

When everything is said and done, I’m lucky. I pretty much have the run of this place and I have to admit, even when I think he has no clue, he ends up doing just what I had in mind for him. I’m a lucky cat. It’s truly a pleasure to have such a dumb being at my disposal.

MAHA

Do fat Republicans get a pass?