JUST SOME POSTS

We all know people that are intelligent, but cannot find their way out of a building. I have heard many, many people say of someone "they have no common sense". Intelligence is sometimes defined as the ability to acquire knowledge.  Knowledge  is really about facts and ideas that we acquire through study, research, investigation, observation, or experience.  Wisdom  is the ability to discern and judge which aspects of that knowledge  are true, right, lasting, and applicable to your life and how to implement it. Here are a few words of what I hope is knowledge tempered by wisdom: 1) Not everyone shares your beliefs or opinions. 2) There are over 7 billion people on this planet. That means there are probably well over a      million  beliefs and/or opinions on almost everything. 3) Your beliefs and opinions do not make you right nor them wrong. 4) Others beliefs and opinions do not make them right nor you wrong. 5) Although there are absolutes in both "right"

I actually wrote this as a post for Christmas Eve/Christmas, then forgot to actually POST it! So, it was wait until next year or post it now.  Most of us have heard of the "famous" reindeer - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen; and of course Rudolf TRR. But, have you ever thought about the other reindeer? I happen to have obtained some information on another one - Marvin. Marvin was another reindeer along the same designs as Rudolf - a bit of an outcast. However, he had no redeeming physical quality like a red shiny nose. He also was not liked by the other reindeer, you know - no reindeer games, etc., etc. He spent most of his young reindeer life trying to win the admiration, friendship, and/or affection of the other reindeer with almost reckless abandon. But, to no avail. Reindeer can be quite clique-ish and quite judgmental. Once shunned it is almost impossible to reintegrate into reindeer society without the Big Man's endorsement. Marvi

Well, against the wishes of the authorities and my handlers, I ventured out into the world today to do some shopping. As is usual for me, I had an epiphany whilst walking through the grocery store - in the Toilet Tissue section to be precise. (for those of you that are unclear on epiphany and see the reference to toilet tissue - no, no, no. Epiphanies are mental. They can be messy, but all on the inside) We as a people, or most of us, well - some of us; are working towards a better tomorrow - Better schools, lifestyles, equality, lower prices, bigger portions, better tasting fish, WORLD PEACE! We don't have a prayer. We cannot figure out toilet tissue (or as I will call it going forward - TP) When did buying TP become a MATH PROBLEM?!? You look at a package and it says: 6 rolls = 8 (hmm, ok) Then, next to that is one that says 6 rolls = 12! (my, my) Now they look approximately the same, granted the 6 = 12 may look a tiny bit larger, but...! The only definite difference is the pri

I have wanted to write something about the election, our candidates, and our “choices” in the upcoming election for a while. I waited as I watched, read, listened, and tried to get a handle on what I actually want to write. With that introduction, here I go. Every election since the1990s has been presented by one or both parties as “the most important election of our lifetimes. We are again faced with “THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF OUR LIFETIMES”! Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. The bottom line is, we have survived all the other votes and will survive this one as well. The real danger here, as I see it, is the lack of empathy, understanding, and acceptance of those with thoughts other than your own. I have seen more name calling and hatred in this election cycle that I think I have seen in at least any other two cycles. There has always been rancor and name-calling, but most were in understanding that it was an election, and life must go on afterwards. Now seems more of a “scorched-

I want to try something here. I need EVERYONE'S help! (at least everyone that can put together a civil and coherent sentence) I feel that we as a people no longer truly have any discussions about politics and the politicians we elect. Instead, we have "flame wars" and memes and rants, and sound bite, etc. As I have posted here before, we also have a tendency to listen, seek out, and accept those things that support what we believe. It you are a Democrat voter/supporter, Republicans and Republican ideas are evil. The same if you are a Republican concerning your thoughts on Democrats. What I find odd and interesting at the same time is that no matter which "side" someone is on most people are not happy with the way things are or even the way things are going! So, maybe support for what we are or have been supporting should be changed? Here is where you come in: I want any and all of you to go to the area below this post to "comments". Then, WITHOUT

Just something that popped into my head yesterday afternoon after I heard from my daughter that she had to have her dog Cocoa put to sleep. She was a definitely part of the family. I was already feeling a bit melancholy anyway and this came out: The certainty of the passing of all the places, creatures, and people we now know and have known is a certainty. This fact, however, neither lessens the weight of the burden nor the depth of the wound.                                                                                     "THE" 4/30/16 Nothing more to add really. Just thought I would post this. 

I realized I had not done this in a while. I have picked up a lot of new readers (judging from the numbers of viewers and the emails) and wanted to "do my duty" to educate and inform. I am going to keep this basic. I have many posts on this site that go into detail on each of these. I could (and have) done an entire post on each. Here are the basics you need to remember: 1) There is NO GOVERNMENT MONEY!  I have many posts within that go over this in detail. Just remember, when a politician uses terms like "federal funds", "matching funds", "state funds", or mentions spending; you should substitute "my tax dollars". 2) CORPORATIONS DO NOT PAY TAXES - PEOPLE DO! Again, explanations are in prior posts. Just realize that stockholders or more likely the customers of the corporation pay all the taxes. A corporation just passes them along. Watch for politicians or leader-types when they tell you that a company or corporation is paying

I am going to do a political blog here. If you are close-minded, or already have your mind made up to vote a specific person or party - you may want to move on. I had thought about sitting out this election season as for comments, but I have been moved to do this due to the unprecedented candidates and events surrounding this cycle. (there are many other posts about elections and candidates throughout this blog - just go to election years) I am older than many and have been voting in national elections since I was 18. Now, if you are younger than me that may not seem like much of a declaration. But, if you are my age you were of the first group of 18 year old citizens that were given the vote. Yes, the voting age was 21 prior to 1971. So, the national elections of 1972 was the first time that 18 year old voters were authorized in the U.S. I voted in that election and every Presidential election since. Why do I tell you this? Not to tout my age - heaven forbid! Just to show that I hav

One of the real issues we have to realize and account for as humans is that no matter how empathetic, sympathetic, understanding, outstanding, sharing, caring, or loving we are we can only evaluate someone else's circumstances and actions from one perspective; our own. Now, there are people that are much better at this than others. Ultimately however, the filter of our own biases, prejudices, and experiences limit mere mortals on how much of someone else's issues we can relate to. (see the previous post on Cognitive Bias for a similar thought from a slightly different perspective) We never know exactly what someone we meet or see is going through or has gone through. Even if you know them intimately, unless you have lived with them and experienced their life as yours (which is almost impossible), you would have no idea. I do not want to come off as "holier than thou", but I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Now, those that know me - especially from ea

As a student of psychology and people in general one thing that has always fascinated me is how different people interpret the same data/input. I have been doing a lot of reading and studying on the subject and found out the name for this phenomenon cognitive bias. We all have biases that "filter" what how we interpret and use information. Even those of us that consider ourselves "open-minded" are victims to this effect. If we are not careful we can allow ourselves to become quite "close-minded" without meaning to! Here is a graphic showing 20 cognitive biases that we can all fall prey to: These are all interesting in one degree or another, but the ones I want to concentrate on are numbers five, seven, & eight. How many of you have had your child pushed down or hit repeatedly by "such a good boy/girl"? (according to their parent - "they are just high-spirited") Maybe your dog was bitten or snapped at by another overly aggress