Magnolia Trees

It is tragic when a tree species is ravaged by disease.  In past years we have had American Chestnut Blight, Amerilla Root Rot, Anthranose and Leaf Spot Disease, Annosus Root Rot, Aspen Canker, Bacterial Wetwood (also called slim flux), Beech Bark Disease, the list goes on and on.  We have your Dutch Elm Disease, Dwarf Mistloe, Sooty Mold, Sudden Oak Death, Verticillium Wilt and White Pine Blister Rust.

There is no justice in the world!  Not one of these terrible plagues will kill the Magnolia that trashes my front yard with its continual tree droppings.

Hermits

Hermits have a singular allure in our nation.  Individuals who divorce themselves from society to live alone, attempting to become completely separate from the world that surrounds them.  On the one hand our nation owes a great debt to past generations of hermits who through this separation discovered much of the land we now call the United States, or wrote about life at Walden Pond.  On the other, hermits are feared for their anti-social behavior that when threatened can manifest itself in violence, as evidenced by Mr. Krasinski.

As our planet fills with humans, and the density of people per square kilometer increases, where will the next generation of hermits go?  How much will society increase pressures for all individuals to conform?  Will they band together as they did in the 1960’s?

Closing the Door

There are days when it is best just to close the door quietly behind you and walk into the night.

Taking Exception

Is it just liberals who take offense every time someone challenges what they have to say or is it everyone now?  I miss the ability to go back and forth in a discussion without everyone weighing in about how mean someone is just because they don’t agree with something that is said.

Oh well I guess I will have to learn to keep my thoughts to myself and just go read a book.  It’s probably better for me anyway.

It is So Much Easier This Way.

There are times I would love to take people aside and ask them, what is your problem?  I’ve gone through life with a simple detachment and have an unfortunate quality where I believe its okay to be different from others and it’s okay for others to be critical of me, I can either accept or reject that criticism based on how much I value the person rendering it.  I’ve not had a lot of experience of people coming to my defense, not do I have an expectation that should happen.

Obviously that approach doesn’t really work well in today’s world.  If anyone is critical of anything it becomes the responsibility of the mob to attack and beat the offender down as a dangerous, vile, contemptible, inexcusable, irrational, example of a sociopath who does not know that in todays online society we can only praise each other, unless of course you are a liberal commentator and then it's okay to call people names and wish for their expiration.  I note here liberal commentator but the same holds true of conservative commentator.  It is just that the liberal spin machine is always complaining about, or pushing companies to boycott, conservatives it’s hard to tell if it about something they’ve said, or just the fact they are alive.

So, as we move from a democracy to mob rule, I guess I need to know what the rules are so I can avoid the fate of that guy who was beat down and stripped and robbed in Baltimore while the mob laughed.  Funny thing, color is never mentioned in this report, why isn't that always the case?

Reflections on this Easter

I am amazed how many people believe if you have faith in a God you can’t see, or prove to be, then you have a closed mind ruled by superstition.  These same people profess to be open to new ideas, and believe themselves to be progressive in their views on how mankind can flourish, if only they weren’t held back by the superstitious believers.

Who really has a closed mind here?  The ones who profess their faith, or the ones critical of those who don’t believe as they do?

I acknowledge there are those who use religion as a shield to justify their human failings like ambition, greed, jealousy or hate.  This is true whether you are Christian, Jew or Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist, Spiritualist or Scientologist, Pagan or Druid, Agnostic or Atheist.  When you seek to force your values, or lack of, on others you violate one of the basic tenants of a free society, the right of self-determination.  When you demean the views of others the question can only be, to what end?

I wonder, would we be a better world without our beliefs?  After much consideration I don’t think so.  They set the framework for hope, and a future beyond the problems we face each day.  When our country was established it was by men and woman escaping the persecution of their beliefs by a religion that controlled the state.  How strange now, a little over two hundred years later, that religious belief is being attacked by the state as it seeks greater control of our lives. 

Really, You Really Said That?

There are so many times I would like to reach out to a public figure, who talking extemporaneously will say things you really have to wonder about.  Sometimes I can only shake my head, other times I have to laugh, occasionally I am sympathetic, but often I think they get exactly what they deserve.

For example, when Mr. Limbaugh opened his mouth to criticize Ms. Fluke he probably got the response he deserved, with the exception of the attempt by the left to rob him of his livelihood by threatening his advertisers.

On April 2^nd the President said, “Ultimately, I'm confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress.”  Really, someone with a law degree from Harvard would really think the Supreme Court has never-ever taken the unprecedented, or the extraordinary step of overturning a law passed by congress, especially one that was passed on a strictly partisan basis? Maybe Harvard should release those college transcripts, if for no other reason than to show he may have missed the class on Marbury vs. Madison.

I could talk about the Vice President, but I don’t have either the time or the space so lets move on to some others.

How about Mr. Olbermann – canned from MSNBC and now Current TV, by the way is that really a network?  In his statements immediately afterwards and on subsequent interviews it sure appears he has said maybe one or two things that have led others to find less worth in his comments then he believes.

In talking with Soledad O’Brien in a CNN interview, Mitt Romney said, “I’m in this race because I care about Americans. I’m not concerned about the very poor — we have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich — they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90 to 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.”  Really, in this campaign where the Democrats will paint you as a rich, uncaring, sheltered white man, you would really use the words “I’m not concerned” and “poor” in a sound bite?  This is only slightly better then Custer saying, “I think we have them on the run boys!”