I'm Still Waiting For...

I'm still waiting for...

... the return of reality to our society. 

Where alternate universes no longer exist alongside facts.

... the Los Angeles Lakers to become contenders again.

... Ted Cruz to start a campaign against a fictional character - Donald Duck, to try and go one up on Ron DeSantis's rabid attacks against Mickey Mouse.

... Marijuana to be made America's National Plant and have it taken off that stupid Schedule One classification (the highest threat to users) the government has cursed it with.

... NASA to prioritize looking for another planet mankind can escape to before we finish destroying this one. A return to the Moon is beyond stupid.

... Hunter Biden to produce proof that Lindsey Graham and Matt Gaetz have been secretly running a pedophile ring for years.

... Kayleigh McEnany (former Press Secretary for Trump) to tell the truth.

... a renaissance of reason to overcome the political damage, misinformation and outright lies that threaten our entire education system.

... a good reason for treason. Let me know if you can think of one.

... Dennis the Menace to grow up and join the Trumplican Party.

... Godzilla to have a rematch against King Kong whose been claiming their last fight on film was fake.

... Mitch McConnell to retire to the rafters of an old barn somewhere in Kentucky to be with his owl family.

... Trump to finally be held accountable (indicted) for his numerous crimes and convicted in all of them.

As it stands, it's not easy being patient, is it?

Just When You Thought You've Heard Everything: Throwing Bikes into Waterways is a Worldwide Trend

Today we're going to look at the strange trend (on at least three continents) of people tossing their bikes into waterways.

Why? Good question, but no one has the definitive answer. I won't leave you hanging, however. There are different theories why perfectly functional bikes are being tossed into waterways.

Before going any further you could try Googling the phenomena to get additional background into this worldwide trend... or you can settle for a condensed version here by me. 

You can also go on YouTube and listen to people tell you about the satisfaction of watching your bike slip below the surface of the water. Bike tossing videos are hot.

Let's go back to why...

One theory is it's a mass example of vandalism. I wouldn't bet on that one. At best, vandals probably make a limited contribution to the trend.

The fact is bike programs are proliferating across the world. These bike share programs are sponsored by banks or some sort of corporate sponsor with their logos on the mudguards.

Because they're not an individual's bike the share riders have no problem tossing a bike sponsored by a company into the water. It must really be satisfying.

In China people say the reasons they throw bikes into the water are because they violate their privacy. Say what? Apparently, the shared bike programs keep track of their riders with apps on their mobile phone.

Sending the bikes to watery graves is an expression of regaining their freedom. In the 19th century, the bicycle was viewed as an emancipatory machine, a vehicle of liberation that gave them a new kind of mobility.

In Amsterdam, 15,000 bikes are pulled from canals each year. The city is considered one of the world's leading bicycle cities and its numerous canals are the ideal environment for dunking or drowning bicycles. Authorities say it's not unusual for drunks to heave their bikes into the water. 

Beyond that, no one knows why so many bikes are thrown into the waterways. It's so bad that the city has what they call "bicycle fisherman" dredging bicycles out of the canals.

Bike rental businesses in Rome, Italy are simply going out of business because too many of their bicycles were being thrown into the Tiber.

I researched the United States to see if we are going along with this worldwide trend and was unable to find any examples. However, I did find that throwing electric motor bikes into waterways was a thing back in 2019-2020.

As it stands, just when you thought you heard everything, something new always pops up.

Who Else is Sick of Hearing Rumors of War?

Republican lawmakers are spreading rumors of war if our former president is indicted... for any of his crimes.

American military strategists research rumors of war around the world, weighing in if they think the United States needs to get involved as a matter of national security.

In our politics war is a central theme 

War against Women

War on Democracy

War of Words

Another Civil War

War for the soul of America

War against liberals and conservatives

The War against the Deep State

and so forth...

It sure would be nice if everyone could just sit back, take a deep cleansing breath, and leave the word war out of their vocabulary, especially when it comes to heated political arguments.

I'm going to go Biblical on you for a moment and pass on a passage from Matthew 24:3

Jesus's disciples asked him "Tell us... what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?"

Jesus responded, "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars" (Matthew 24-6) ... See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet."

My interpretation is, don't worry about what will happen in the future. Live for today because you can't change anything.

So, when we hear these dire rumors and threats of future wars, we need to put them into prospective. Political rhetoric has always been harsh and threatening. While it can lead to a civil war, it doesn't mean we'll have another one.

I realize there are no guarantees in life, but it doesn't mean we should live in fear. Life is too short for that.

As it stands, the good news is we have freedom of choice when it comes to choosing between negative and positive input in our lives.

What Was Your Most Embarrassing Moment?

Let's all just get real and admit we've had humiliating and embarrassing moments in our lives where we wished we were invisible.

I read an article about the parents of one ten-year-old girl who must have wished they were invisible at a Red Lobster Restuarant. Their daughter decided she felt bad for all the lobsters in the tank, took a chair and smashed the tank to free them. Mission accomplished. 

The parents were told not to ever come back again. I'm surprised they weren't sued. 

Can you imagine how embarrassed they must have been tiptoeing around live lobsters on the way out of that restaurant?

Moving on...

One of my favorite embarrassing stories involves my darling wife of 48 years, Shirley. She and two of her friends were driving back to northern California (Eureka) from San Francisco a decade ago when they all needed to stop for a potty break.

They found a shopping center right off the 5 Freeway and went into a store to use their facilities. On the way back to the car, after leisurely stopping and checking items out they were in the parking lot when one of the ladies started laughing...

"You have a toilet paper tail Shirley," she shrieked with laughter while pointing at her bum. My thoroughly humiliated wife will never get to forget that incident because of those two friends... and me!

All right. It's my turn.

Once upon a time I was a sleepwalker (six years old) and it often put me in awkward circumstances. But none were more embarrassing than the night I peed on my birthday cake!

Allow me to explain. My parents and Aunt and Uncle were sitting around the kitchen table and drinking beer long after I went to bed. 

At one point I walked past them and went straight for the refrigerator. Before anyone could react, I opened it, dropped my shorts and sprayed the contents within - which included the remnants of my birthday cake.

My father guided me back (I was still asleep) to my bedroom. From that day on it became family lore. The good news is I'm no longer embarrassed.

The fact is I've had lots of embarrassing moments during my seven decades. I'm strangely proud of them and chalk them up to lessons in life. 

Memories...

--- the time I was at a college journalism awards banquet and took a fork full of baked potato with Horseradish on it (spoiler - I hate Horseradish) and was in the process of spewing it up on the table when my name was called out for writing the best Sports story of the year. Needless to say, all eyes were on me.

--- my first date with Shirley when I took her to a fancy restaurant in Hollywood and was trying to act suave and worldly and almost led her into a janitor's closet instead of the dining room!

--- in high school I went on a surfing double date with a girl in one of my classes along with my sister and her boyfriend (who had a station wagon). I'm not going to bore you with how the date came about. Instead, I'll cut right to the chase...

I was not a surfer. Nor had I ever tried to surf. My sister's boyfriend was a surfer (who lucky for me had an extra surfboard) and said he could teach me how. The bottom line is I wanted to impress my bikini clad date.

As usual, my 16-year-old hubris didn't allow for me to consider that I might look like an ass out in those breakers. 

In record time I wiped out. Again. And again, until the last time when my nose collided under pressure with the tip of the board. Blood spurted out instantly. As I looked out toward the beach, I saw my sister and the girl I wanted to impress laughing they're asses off!

Did I mention it was first and last time she went on a date with me?

Listen.

Try remembering your most embarrassing moments and you may be surprised at your attitude toward them now. The very least that will happen is you'll smile.

As it stands, I believe that we all need to be humiliated at times just to stay real.

Searching for Laughter in a Grim World

It's harder than ever to laugh about something during these grim times of social unrest and increasing climate disasters. That's a given.

The Search for Laughter

Reader's Digest features a monthly section titled, "Laughter is the best medicine." Start your search for humor there.

Experts say that laughter is a great form of stress relief... and that's no joke. It's not going to cure all ailments, but recent research shows the positive things laughter does offer.

A good laugh has great short-term effects. When you start to laugh, it doesn't just lighten your load mentally, it actually induces physical changes in your body. 

Here's a few examples: (Source - Mayo Clinic)

* It stimulates many organs. Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released from your brain.

* It activates and relives your stress response. A good hearty laugh fires up and then cools down your stress response, it can increase and then decrease your heart rate and blood pressure. The payoff leaves you feeling relaxed.

* It soothes tension. Laughter can also stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation, both of which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.

Are you afraid you lost your sense of humor or never really had an easy time laughing? Don't worry about it!

Humor can be learned

You can keep humor on your horizon by watching funny TV shows, movies, and reading books and magazines devoted to humor. There're many other ways like going to humorous web sites to get a good chuckle.

I've found that sharing my humorous situations with others quickly strips away my tensions. When you laugh at yourself people are likely to laugh with you. 

A great example would be comedic legend Rodney Dangerfield. I dare you to listen to one of his routines and not laugh so hard you get short of breath!

Okay. It's time to turn the corners of your mouth up into a smile... and then laugh! Even if it feels forced. How do you feel afterwards? Are your muscles less tense? Do you feel more relaxed or even buoyant?

As it stands, it's a wonder that our brains have a built-in stress relief system.

Since When Did We Find Ourselves Having to Defend Reality?

I want to blame Kellyanne Conway for coming up with the alternate reality bullshit that the Republican Party currently embraces.

It's probably not fair because others have used denial of reality as a platform to power. Remember the McCarthy years when he had every American looking for Russian spies under kitchen tables?

Denial of reality, not just in politics, extends to climate deniers who won't admit mankind has turned our environment into a cesspool despite the mounds of evidence proving it. Fact is we've polluted the land and the air we breathe for well over a century. That's reality.

Millions of Americans believe whatever Trump tells them because they're not interested in reality and facts. The cocoon they live in media wise is a protective shield against reality.

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"Don't let someone else's reality become your reality." -Les Brown

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One of my favorite quotes about reality comes from John Lennon, "Reality leaves a lot to the imagination."

I read an article a while back that claims our subconscious minds have no sense of humor, they don't joke and cannot tell the difference between reality and an imagined thought or image.

The part about the inability to tell the difference between reality and imagined thoughts and images, particularly reminds me of Trump's minions. It's scary because it's all of our reality today with a president actively trying to overthrow the government.

Lies are an insult to reality but are used by extremist lawmakers every day in their ultimate quest for power. Evidence is denied in the fact-free world of Trumpist Republicans.

The net result is sane people will still be able to tell the sky is blue and the grass is green regardless of how much ruckus the anti-reality idiots make in our society.  

As it stands, it's a sad fact that we must defend reality and the country.

Confessions of a Basketball Junkie: Escape to Hoop Land

I was introduced to basketball in elementary school during recesses where just shooting the ball was a challenge. There were no rules. Everyone was out for themselves, and it was literally a free-for-all.

Then one year, I think it was my sixth, the school started having free throw contests and handing out 1st through 3rd ribbons which instantly became a status symbol at our school.

When I made 9 out of 10 free throws and won 1st Place, I knew that I'd be playing in the NBA someday. Flash forward... I didn't and never even came close. But I digress.

I didn't play basketball for my high school team. However, I played countless pickup games with friends at available outside basketball courts. My best friend Larry and I played a lot of 2 on 2 pickup games with total strangers.

Once, after dropping LSD (this is a true story), we played a pickup game in an inside basketball court open to the public in La Mirada, California. Our opponents (which we discovered part way into the competition) were off duty cops. They came out like two honey badgers clawing at the ball with a scary intensity which was magnified by tripping on LSD.

Afterwards we agreed that we won at least one game out of the half dozen we played. I think the reason the cops didn't bust us (have you ever seen anyone high on LSD? It's OBVIOUS) is that we provided them with good competition... and laughs. They sure smiled a lot.

Just before I got out of the Army in 1971, I played with the 5th Army 101st MPs, at Ft. MacArthur, California. 

The only other organized team I played with was in 1972 with a city league team (when I worked at Ford Motor Company) in Cleveland, Ohio. At six-feet, two-inches, I was the shortest guy on the team and the only white boy. I think they considered me a good luck mascot.

Fast forward through the decades as my body slowed down from countless pickup games, injuries, and other age related (can you say arthritis?) causes.

I was 67-years old (I'm going on 72) when I took my last shot (a ten-foot jumper) in my last pickup game at the Medford, Oregon YMCA.

What gets me through after being unable to actually play the game I love is I've been a LA Lakers fan for over 60 years. They still take me to a good place in Hoop Land... stirring old memories with the sheer exhilaration and appreciation for the game.

Welcome to America: Living in a Schizophrenic Society

You've probably noticed.

Nothing is clear cut today. 

Reality has been warped by people living in alternate universes where the earth is flat and Jewish space lasers are a thing.

The barriers that once existed between truth and lies has been torn down by extremists seeking to turn our republic into a totalitarian state. (See the Big Lie)

Some Americans are as happy as clams because they're wealthy and are part of the exclusive ruling cast.

Being human (some might argue that description) these elite millionaires and billionaires are always looking to amass more power. Politics has been a lucrative path for them to pursue and poison.

This special rich segment of our society is schizophrenic in their actions. They flip from Philanthropy to Piracy without blinking an eye while attending church.

The commoners (the majority of Americans) are divided into descending financial classes of moderate incomes to the lowest levels of poverty. Politics has also paralyzed common voters along ideological lines like never before.

When I see people living on fixed and lower incomes donate their much-needed money to political con men from Trump to telephone scams it sickens me. 

It's a form of schizophrenic behavior that really needs more studies done (along with recommendations on how to correct it).

There is no American Dream in 2022. The idea that this country is a safe melting pot for people from around the world, has been thoroughly trashed and disproved throughout our history. 

Immigration has been a cauldron of suspicion and hate since we opened our borders after becoming a nation.

Right and wrong have become abstract concepts instead of a firm reality. We are living in a schizophrenic society that proclaims to be the epiphany of democracy. 

As it stands, it doesn't feel that way.

Cannabis Capitalism and the Black Market are Draining Oregon's Water Supplies During Drought

Photo - Oregon resident Jim Belushi talks about the new season of his Cannabis "Reality" show.

As a resident of Oregon, I've watched with dismay as big cannabis companies and groups grow record amounts of marijuana that are contributing to the decline of water in Southern Oregon... which for the record is designated as a drought zone.  

The last couple of years major cannabis corporations have descended upon Oregon like locusts. 

Many "Oregonians" who were legally producing pot couldn't keep up with the massive, organized competition from the Big Marijuana companies who were undercutting them on prices.

Not only has this legal organized marijuana mafia driven jobs away from local Oregonians but they've also re-energized an organized Black Market causing major problems for our environment.

To be clear.

We have this massive water usage by corporate pot farms and recently inspired illegal farmers (most with Mexican cartel connections). 

Illegal grows have returned with a vengeance after a brief two-year hiatus and they're using water (and contaminating it with chemicals) from rivers and streams in state and national forests. It's water desperately needed in this parched land with more wildfires annually.

It's become a no-win situation. I suppose someone could argue the price for cannabis has gone down lately, with pounds going for hundreds of dollars instead of thousands of dollars.

Someone could also argue that with our new climate reality and increasing need for water with rivers, lakes and dams drying up at historic rates the state is in for some real shit in the near future if something doesn't change.

The problem is I think it's too late to turn back the green market's ambitions for Oregon. The companies are too well funded, and we have a dwindling supply of water.

Another thing that makes me mad is watching my favorite plant play a major part in the unfolding drama of fires, a drought, and capitalism gone crazy.

As it stands, this tired old hippie remembers the glory days of Humboldt communes that grew their own cannabis and the emergence of a legendary strain called - Granddaddy Perp.

'The Handmaid's Tale' Was Based on this Active Secret Christain Sect That Amy Coney Barrett Belongs To

Hula had a hit on their hands when they first released "The Handmaid's Tale" on April 26, 2017. 

The fifth season is set to premier on September 14th.

There's a back story to the Emmy Award winning series by Canadian author Margaret Atwood that's not commonly connected to the hit. It should be.

The plot features a dystopian future following a Second American Civil War where a theonomic, totalitarian society subjects fertile women, called "Handmaids," to child-bearing slavery. 

Does this plot sound far-fetched to you? It isn't and I'll tell you why.

Trump supporters and lawmakers are currently involved in taking away a women's right to her own body. When the right-wing leaning Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade women across America were disenfranchised. 

When Amy Coney Barrett was elevated to the Supreme Court, she brought along her membership in a secretive faith group that believes women's obedience and subservience to men is a key teaching.

The People of Praise was founded 50 years ago by Kevin Ranaghan and its central theme "headship" and the "roles of men and women" continues today. Former members of People of Praise, many of whom are critical of the group's dominance over member's lives, have described the group as calling for complete obedience of women to their husbands. 

Back to Barrett.

During her confirmation Barrett outright lied about challenging Roe v Wade as a precedent, suggesting she'd leave it alone. No surprise. She didn't.

That's because she's part of an overall attempt to reshape our country into a totalitarian state solely ruled by men. Yes, she is a traitor to women and a liar. She's never addressed how the reversal of Roe might affect a woman's life.

Barrett is a sounding-board echoing the People of Praise culture in which she was raised and chosen to remain part of, which emphasizes the importance of childbirth, pregnancy and the abandonment of autonomy and privacy it supposedly entails, as a core part of what it means to be a woman.

An interesting footnote to all of this is the group is not rooted in Catholic tradition (as some have speculated), but rather Kevin Ranaghan's involvement in the 1970s National Men's Shepards Conference, which was co-sponsored by Protestant leaders who believed that men were ordained by God to lead.

One thing is very clear, there's a war against women in America and they need to fight back by voting in the midterms.

He was Reviled for Resisting the Draft: They Stripped Him of His Title, But Not His Legacy

This is a story of one man standing up for his beliefs during a time of terrible strife when the nation was being torn asunder because of the Vietnam conflict.

He was born Cassius Clay on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. Later, he changed his name to Muhammad Ali in accordance with his newly adopted religion - Islam.

He was also arguably the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. When he chose to be a conscientious objector against the Vietnam draft, public sentiment - already high - turned against him and he was arguably the most hated man in America and received many death threats.

At the trial on June 20, 1967, the jury found Ali guilty after only 21 minutes of deliberation of the criminal offense of violating the Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. 

After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971. On June 28, 1972, the Supreme Court in Clay v United States overturned Ali's conviction by a unanimous 8-0 decision.

The rest is history. Ali is recognized as "The Greatest" professional boxer of all time. He's also known for his work as an activist for equal rights for African Americans.

A lot of people aren't aware that Ali suffered from dyslexia all of his life and had trouble learning. He once quipped, "I'm the Greatest! Not the Smartest!"

A lot of people asked me what I thought about Ali dodging the draft after I returned from Vietnam and Cambodia (1970). I'm sure they expected me to respond like a war hawk, but I chose the way of the dove saying I agreed with Ali's stance. It was his right as an American.

It's never easy to stand up for one's beliefs, especially when you suffer negative consequences for your decision. But it's worth it.

Ali was so revered that his hometown Louisville renamed their airport The Louisville Mohammad Ali International Airport.

Not bad for a man who was once called the "most hated man" in America.

As it stands, when Ali died on June 2, 2016, the world mourned his loss.