Do Something to Stop Trump

Posted on May 29, 2018 by admin

This just in: Cub reporter Jim H. challenged me yesterday in a comment. He wanted to know what I meant about “doing nothing” or “doing something” about Trump. I’m taking up the challenge today with a little brainstorming session. This list will come off the top of my head (much like my list on how to fix gun problems). The point I hope to make is not “see how much I just solved” but rather, “If I can come up with a list of ideas, imagine what we could do if everyone tried to come up with ideas.”

In other words, I have faith in large numbers.

But first, before I go on another “list of stuff”, I want to pause for a breath. There is good in the world and we should at least spend as much time appreciating that as we do being disappointed in the bad.

For example, in an underprivileged, minority community, there is an organization that mows the lawns of the local elderly…for free.

There is also a barber that takes $2 off of a haircut for a child that reads to him as his hair is being cut.

And now…here is an oldie but a goodie…

Now for my list on what to do to fix our political system…

Vote. Your vote counts. I recommend voting by mail. You will get the ballot in the mail and can mail it back postage-free.
Find your soapbox. Let people know what you think. This blog is my soapbox. It can be yours as well. Post comments. Don’t let my thoughts be the only thoughts. Repost those posts that strike home with you.
Write to your congressman. I send Diane Feinstein an email about once every 6 months. I try to be polite, patient and fact based. Contacting your congressman is as easy as googling their name, going to their website and hitting the “contact” button.
Attend rallies. If you are pro-NRA, go to one of their rallies. If you think the NRA is a terrorist organization, then go to the anti-NRA rallies (I’ll see you there.)
Turn your back on Fox News, Breitbart and the like. You won’t get rid of them because, hey…”haters gotta hate.” However, you don’t need to let them into your front door.
Look for ways to attack the root causes. For me, this means supporting (1) any measure that takes money out of politics, (2) any measure that takes your religious beliefs out of my life, (3) any measure that criminalizes racism and intolerance.
Pay attention. Is the Mueller investigation a witch hunt? If you think it is, then you’re not paying attention. Do you think Trump is bailing out Chinese companies out of the goodness of his heart? If you say “yes”, then you’re not paying attention.
Question yourself. If you saw a post that said, “Incredible tape shows Trump talking to Putin about overthrowing the U.S. Government”, don’t immediately assume it’s true and start reposting it.
Fact check the Haters on Facebook that continually post divisive memes. In the comment section of their post, clearly state the facts and your source. They hate that as much as they hate everything else.
Support local and state government. California is a shield between Trump and the people of the state. Trump wants to let cars pollute. California says, “Fine, but not in our state.”
Vote for women. I don’t know about you but I’ve about had enough of old, white and wealthy men running the show. Now, some men are good politicians but my motto is “If I’m in doubt, I vote the man out.”
Challenge racism on the spot. There are a lot of recent incidents where a racist is behaving badly in public and people confront him right then and there.
Pick your battles. If you try to fight every battle you will lose them all. Choose what is important to you and then, arm yourself with facts and associate with those that think similarly. I am pro-life (for a lot of reasons) however, I don’t care if you are anti-abortion. If you are, then good for you. I’m not going to fight that battle. I think guns cause gun deaths. If you don’t agree, then we are going to do battle (Not literally. Remember, arm yourself with facts.)
Boycott. If you are anti-NRA, then vote against those that support them and don’t buy products from companies that associate with them. In other words, vote with your wallet whenever you can.
Nothing to excess. This is always a good idea. For me, I struggle with this constantly. I can get very frustrated watching the daily “Trump Fucked Something Else Up” show. Sometimes, it’s best to just sit back and watch a video of a dubbed seal.

or….you can do nothing….that is always an option.

But for me, I choose to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

Don’t “resist” but “replace”

Posted on March 27, 2018 by admin

This just in: I read an article in the NY Times the other day about “replacing” instead of “resisting”. I strongly agree with this and have been practicing it for some time.

The idea is that, for example, if you are on a diet, don’t sit on the couch trying not to eat a donut. Instead, get up and eat a cucumber.

I was talking with a friend the other day that is withdrawing from heroin. When I asked how she was doing she said, “I’m just sitting around the house trying to not think about using.”

Bad idea.

What we resist…persists.

My advice to her was to roll three pair of socks into three balls. Then, turn on a YouTube channel and learn how to juggle.

My idea was based on “distraction” but from another perspective, it was actually about replacing a craving with an unrelated action. Same idea.

Basically, it comes down to “action”. There are things we can actually do that promote behavior we want. There are things we can do that replace behavior we want to leave behind. Action is stronger than words or thoughts. Yes, things begin as thoughts then migrate to words and finally into action. My recommendation is that we maintain this train of progress all the way through the “actions.”

A couple of weeks ago, I woke up in a hotel in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep. This rarely happens. If sleeping was an Olympic event…I’d be on the podium. However, on this one night, I couldn’t sleep. My mind went to the thought, “What am I doing with my life.”

I don’t typically ask myself this question. I have a gifted life with very little to complain about. Still, the question is valid. Just because I can afford my car payment doesn’t mean I’m accomplishing what I want to accomplish.

So, I got out of bed and made a list. This list contained things I wanted to do every day. It includes things that would benefit me physically, mentally, intellectually and spiritually. For example, one item is to contact a friend or family member. Another is to play my didgeridoo for 5 minutes. 15 minutes for reading. View a 30-minute educational video. Eat a salad. Go for a walk. Don’t eat desert. Meditate.

So far, I have 18 items on this list. I track my progress every day. On one day I did all of them. After 2 weeks, I found that I usually do about 12. Writing this blog post is one of those items.

This list helps me commit to action that puts me on a path that suits me. Interestingly, I find that I’m waking up every day looking forward to putting a check next to as many of these as I can.

Maybe this will work for you…maybe not.

What’s important is that I found something that works for me.

I’m replacing “nothing” with “action”.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

Resist

Posted on January 19, 2018 by admin

This just in: I don’t care about anyone’s opinion about things like abortion or gun control or food stamps.

I don’t care because I welcome the diversity of views. Tell me about what you believe and I’ll respond and we can discuss the issues and hopefully come to learn more about each other’s position. In the end, we may still disagree and I can accept that; thus, the harsh “I don’t care.” In other words, when we are done, let’s both move on.

Trump is a different beast.

I don’t care about a lot of stuff he does. I don’t care about the Porn Star thing. In fact, I expect that. I don’t care that he plays golf. I don’t care that he watches a lot of television and is obese.

However, there are things he does that fundamentally threaten the world and my place in it.

I grew up singing “American the Beautiful.” We were always on the right side of things. We took care of the poor. We stood against oppression. We formed alliances that were mutually beneficial. We created a huge military based on the idea that if we were too big to fight, there would be no fight.

We stood for human rights. We led the way in pursuit of science and innovation. Our economy was the biggest and getting bigger.

Our Constitution reigned supreme. First Amendment rights were our crown jewel.

We took care of each other and saw ourselves as the Good Shepherd guiding the world with a soft hand.

Now that is no longer the case.

We have passed into the dark side of the moon. A place where we shun logic. Human rights outside of our borders are unimportant. We won’t play with others, expecting them to bend to our will and then watch as they simply turn to others for leadership.

Internally, money is king. Money runs the government, making the idea of “American Democracy” a global joke.

We break up families for no real reason other than it appears to give the president a boner.

We are alienated from nearly every ally that we’ve had for the last 100 years. Even the UK hates us.

We justify things like lying, money laundering, fear mongering. Even worse, we embrace hate, racism and religious targeting.

Our Constitution is worthless in the face of a president that ignores it and a Congress that supports him.

Now you have my attention.

Now I care.

What Trump and the Republican Party are doing is affecting my view of myself.

I can do nothing short of resisting.

Thus…I blog…while wishing I had a bigger soapbox.

Still, I feel better having resisted.

Up, up and away…

Jim