Bucket Lists

Do you have a bucket list?  You know, those things you want to do before you die.  I've never thought much about it as I've had so many wonderful experiences, been to so many great places, and been involved in a ton of fun stuff.  But I've found that as you start to see the sunset (hopefully way out in the distance) you have a tendency to think about how many experiences there are in the world that you haven't done and would love to do.  I guess it's just human nature.

With that in mind I had a real bucket list experience this week.  I went with 3 friends from Rotary to Missoula, Montana for three days of fly fishing from a guided drift boat.  We stayed in Missoula and every day a guide would pick us up (two to a boat) and we'd head out for a day of drifting down a river fishing for trout.  I had never been fly fishing before and there is a real knack to it.  But after a short while I had it down pretty well and the guides were terrific in giving pointers and finding trout.  It became apparent to me that fly fishing isn't all like all the other fishing I have done.  It's very dynamic and is more like hunting or stalking than my experience in fishing.

We had some great fun together, saw incredible scenery, and caught a fair number of hard fighting Rainbow, Brown, and Cutthroat Trout.  It was a total "catch and release" experience so none of them wound up in a frying pan and that was just fine.  We fished the Bitterroot, the Blackfoot, and Clark Fork rivers and they were spectacular.  It also reminded me just how beautiful, diverse and huge this country is.

So if you've got a bucket list, put fly fishing in Montana on it.  It's off my list but I'll be back!

Motivation Monday

Friday Funnies

Culture Warriors

Saw this quote the other day and it really resonated.  Wish I could remember where it came from but it has slipped from my memory.  Probably something like an article in the WSJ or something.  Anyway, I think it hits pretty close to the mark.  Most people are just going about their lives.  They are too busy trying to make a living, care for their families and enjoy a few moments of rest to give a shit about all the foolishness in the news.  Most pay attention and give issues a passing glance with either a nod or a shake of the head, but most aren't passionate one way or the other.

"But suburban Americans are not primarily culture warriors. In their communities, the screeds and screams of the Left do not reverberate. Suburban Americans tend to consider themselves socially conservative, but these issues do not make them passionate in one way or another. They may have not supported gay marriage, but they also did not really care when the Supreme Court imposed it. They may not support abortion rights, but they do not go vote to advance the pro-life cause. They may own guns and like to shoot, but they are not too worked up by politicians' seeking to make it harder for others to buy guns."

And then in church yesterday our Priest said something along the same lines.  When talking about social media and how we engage with each other, she said "when did it become so important for everyone to be right"?  Or words to that effect.  And she's right.  Social media exacerbates our attitudes and ideas and makes us want to take a stand.  At least I've seen that happen to a lot of people.  Take a little stroll around Twitter and you'll see what I mean.  That's why I sorta like my blog.  I can opine and pontificate and no one really cares.  Comment or not.  Agree or not.  I don't really care.  And I most likely won't get in an online argument with you.

So here's my advice when it comes to social media.  Chill out.  Be like a duck.  Water off your back.  Post photos of dogs and document the good times.  And if someone says something that is utterly stupid or naive in the extreme...wish them a good day!

Cool Pic

Motivation Monday

Cool Pic

Friday Funnies

First Round Draft Picks!

I don't know what game these two are playing, but I want them on my team!

Ouch!

There's No Twitter Like Wendy's Twitter!

Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin

I'm a bit of a modern history geek.  I am fascinated by the 19th and 20th centuries and how the miasma of nations, systems, and populations have meshed together (or sometimes not meshed together) to create our world today.  For a while the Civil War captured me like nothing else and I couldn't get enough of studying that cataclysmic event.  But other things have prompted questions, reading and contemplation.  One event that routinely captures my attention is World War II, the event that had the greatest impact on our civilization in the 20th century.

Recently a friend sent me a link to a panel discussion in which three world class historians discuss Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin in World War II.  They provide fascinating insight into the relationship between these three leaders, their thinking on strategy, and their ultimate impact.  Let me emphasize that this is only of interest to a certain segment of our society, but if you're into this stuff this video is well worth 75 minutes of your time.  So many in society don't have an appreciation of history nor an understanding.  There's not much I can do about that but perhaps this little video will spark an interest in a few to dig deeper.

Motivation Monday

Making a Difference

One of the things we've been focusing on since retirement is what we can do to make a difference.  What are the programs, jobs, or services we can engage in that offer obvious and verifiable results that impact people's lives?  We have the time, the money and the desire to get involved in programs that we feel good about.  Whether it's church related, a Rotary program, something for Veterans or any other program that touches our heart, if it makes a tangible difference then we're probably in.  

Several months ago the CEO of "Feeding San Diego" spoke at my Rotary Club and most of us were blown away by both the statistics of how much food goes to waste in the U.S. and how this program is impacting people in a very simple way...by providing them food, no questions asked.  Feeding San Diego has adopted a distributed model which makes huge sense.  They administer the program and have satellite feeding centers.  They work with local grocery stores and food warehouses to collect unused and out-of-date food and volunteers get it to the centers for distribution.  It is a huge no brainer.  I still remember what he said, "there are a lot of problems in the world that we can't do anything about, but we can do something about hunger".  

Coincidentally, right about that time a woman in our church announced that we were starting a Feeding San Diego distribution site.  We signed up right away and have found ourselves spending about 3 hours once a month helping set up and distribute food.  We have volunteers who go to Target, Costco and Sprouts on Sunday morning to pick up food that is out of date or they are donating.  There is a wide range of what we receive.  Our coordinator uses Sign-up Genius to get the word out and solicit volunteers so we get a lot of people and kids from the community to sign up to help.  We spend about an hour setting the food out on tables and sorting it.  By 2:00 pm when the doors open we usually have about 30-40 people lined up to partake.  They come in 2 at a time in an orderly fashion and we sometimes have to restrict how many of a particular item people can take (usually meat).  But other than that they can take what they want.  No questions asked.  We get all kinds of people.  Some who look like they really need the help and some who don't.  But all are appreciative.  One woman a week or so ago said to us, "thank you for preserving our dignity".  This is an impactful, important program that is making a difference in so many lives.  

But working with volunteers is difficult.  There seems to be a cycle that any project goes through with volunteers.  At least it appears to me that there is.  It usually starts out with a lot of enthusiasm and optimism.  Everyone wants to pitch in and participate.  But it's almost like a bell curve.  Most programs build over time until they reach a tipping point.  The project becomes routine.  Volunteers lose enthusiasm.  Leaders get burnt out.  As you come back the downside of the curve, things start to unravel and at some point it usually fades away.  I'm not saying all, but a lot of programs that rely on volunteers go through that cycle.  I'm a bit worried that Feeding San Diego at our church is approaching the backside of the curve.  The woman who started with such enthusiasm has to give up leadership in September and so far no one is stepping up to fill the void.  We are doing a lot of other things and just can't assume responsibility for another program.  We've talked to people about sharing leadership but so far no go. The thing is that it wouldn't be difficult or time consuming, but for some reason a lot of people (more than I would think) tend to really shun leadership.  

But some who are reading know us and know where we live and know where we go to church.  We need your help.  If you have a few hours a week and would like to share leadership (and we'll help you), please reach out.  Call the office, call or PM me, or talk to someone about stepping up.  You'll be glad you did...and I guarantee you'll be making a difference!

Little League World Series (LLWS)

The regionals are taking place this weekend.  This is the last cut before teams move on to the LLWS in Willamsport, PA.  It's tough, emotional, heartbreaking, joyous sports at it's finest.  The kids are giving their all and the parents (at least the ones the TV is showing) are cheering in a healthy and supportive manner.  The managers and coaches are uniformly smart, caring and compassionate.  There are a lot of stories that will tug at your heartstrings but at the end of the day the best team moves on.

So the best of the best will move on to Williamsport next week for what will be for most the indelible and incredible memory of their lives.  Most will take this with them throughout life.  These kids will work their butts off to win.  And at the end they will congratulate their opponents.  It is quite simply sports at its finest.

So for the next week, check your TV listings closely and if you find a game being televised (and it doesn't matter one bit where the teams are from) stop and watch it.  Turn off the news.  Turn off the stupid reality shows.  Turn off Love Island and The Bachelor.  Watch the LLWS.  For many it will bring back memories of summer afternoons on the ball field.  For many it will bring back the innocence of youth.  And it shows a level of sportsmanship that is rarely seen today.  Cherish it.  It doesn't happen that often.

8,000

So we hear over and over and over that the country is being overrun by racists.  That white people have a particular privilege that causes them to be racist.  There is simply nothing they can do about it.  We are told that racism only goes one way.  Whites generally exhibit racist behavior against blacks and other people of color and that's just the way it is.  

We also hear that our President is a white supremacist.  That he cozy's up to white supremacists and encourages this behavior.  And that is the spin no matter what the evidence is.  The other side repeats this mantra over and over and over again.  They obviously think that if they repeat it enough people will start to believe it.  And of course there are some who fall for it.  People I respect don't take the time or have the where-with-all to do their own research fall for it.  And to be honest, when those people accuse the President of being a racist, I feel like they are accusing me of being a racist.  And I'm not even a die-hard Trump supporter.  But I do respect the Presidency and do support many of the things he has done.  But anyone who knows me knows I'm not a racist.  So what am I to do?  Roll over and ignore it?  Fight back?  Move on?  I generally ignore it because there's no percentage in fighting this fight.  But it's sometimes difficult.  

So I heard an interesting statistic today that gave me pause.  Do you know how many KKK members there are in the U.S.?  8,000.  Yep.  8,000.  That's 8,000 out of 350 million.  But I get that there are plenty of people who are prejudiced and exhibit disgusting behavior towards people of other races besides the disgusting knuckle-draggers who wear the pointy-headed hoods.  So to be generous let's just say there are 20 times as many prejudiced assholes there are out there than are members of the KKK.  That's 160,000.  160,000 idiotic racists out of 350 million.  And that's just the whites who are prejudiced.  Let's just say that there could be (even though the media and celebrities tell us it's not true) an equal number of people of color who might be prejudiced against whites.  So that's 320,000 people out of 350 million who are on the fringes of society when it comes to dealing with their fellow Americans.  And let's just say I'm low.  Just for arguments sake lets bump it up to 500,000.  500,000 assholes out of 350 million.  That's a lot.  

But there are a lot more decent folks just trying to live their life, raise their kids, and make the country a better place.  Now I'm not advocating for some big brother program, but these people should be  identified and at least tracked.  We ought to be able to identify and shun those people.  We all should be looking for these knuckleheads and calling them out.  We all should educate our kids about the futility and shame that goes with racism.  We ought to stop the blame game.  We ought to recognize that there are as many racist assholes on both ends of the spectrum.  We ought to look for the best in people and not automatically believe that if someone has a different political belief then they must have nefarious, racist tendencies.  The statistics are actually sort of hopeful, unless you listen to and believe the media spin of how bad everything is.  So here's my recommendation.  Don't listen.

UPDATE:  I sometimes write something and wonder if there are a lot of others who think the same thing.  This post is one of those.  After all, any mention of race in this day and age is a powder keg.  It is conventional wisdom that venturing outside the lines of the PC view can doom one as an irredeemable bigot.  Of course, it's my blog so I'll say what I want.  There is that.  But I'm not a guy who wants to offend unnecessarily.  But sometimes things are so logical to me and it's a bit maddening that others can't or won't see what I see.  And then sometimes lo and behold along comes another view that is incredibly aligned with mine.  I just saw an article over on FB by Victor Davis Hanson that is so aligned with this post, but much, much better written that I have to share it.  VDH hits the nail on the head and you can read the article here.

For me, here's the pull quote:

"...more than 243 years after its independence, the current longest-lived democracy arguably is also the world’s most racially, ethnically, and religiously diverse nation and unmatched in its efforts to promote equality."  

Friday Funnies

I've seen Chris Rock do this skit.  He is enormously talented.  I laughed til I cried.  But it's all in good fun!

Beach Glass

We walk at the beach quite a bit.  Used to see a lot of this stuff.  It can be really beautiful.  Not so much anymore though.  And the pieces are tiny.  Not sure why.

Gun Control

I'm all for sensible rules on restrictions on guns.  But it's a slippery slope!

Not Your Normal Cliff Dive!

What is His Reward?

I hope that this guy is going to have a fun evening with these two beauties.  But I kinda doubt it!

What 

Cool Pic

Now this is a tight landing area.  Finesse!  Wonder what they did before helicopters?

No Rails

You'd think that whoever thought it was a good idea to let a bunch of people picnic in this place might have thought of putting up a few guard rails.  Can't believe this is in the U.S.  OSHA would be all over this!!

News vs Narrative

I've been looking for something other than the political climate to write about but the shootings over the weekend and the subsequent descent into bullshit political blaming is just too stupid to ignore.  But I'm going to try.  But first, I heard a quote today that really hit it home for me.

"The media is no longer reporting the news, it's reporting the narrative".  

Bingo.  They generally and almost universally hate President Trump so much that they have lost most objectivity.  I say most because I really want to be a little optimistic.  But it's difficult.  For over two years the narrative was Trump the Russian agent, Trump the puppet of Putin, Trump the Russian collaborator, Trump who has surrounded himself with spies, Trump who stole the election with Russian help.  But then...Mueller.  And there was nothing.  So it becomes obvious that they need to figure out a way to beat him in 2020 and they need a narrative.  So it becomes Trump the racist.  Trump the white supremacist.  Trump the Muslim and Mexican hater.  Etc, etc, etc.  That is the new narrative and we'll hear it until Nov, 2020.  There's no evidence of any of it except what people want to think.  And when he wins there will be something else.   As I've said a million times he wasn't my guy and he regularly pisses me off.  He's a New York street fighter who won't give and inch and can be an insufferable prick.  But to me he's more right than wrong and I really think he as the best interests of the country at heart.

I'm enough of a student of history that I know there have been other times in our history when we've seen similar actions by the press, but it's still pretty distressing.  I don't know what will make them snap out of it, but I hope it happens soon.  But for me I just can't watch it much anymore.  When I turn on the news on any channel I rarely last more than about 5 minutes if they are talking about national news.  It is nauseating.

Motivation Monday

Using Mass Shootings to Political Advantage

It's happened again.  Just as we heard about the horrendous shootings in El Paso (I wrote about it here) we woke to hear about another deranged individual who did the same thing in Dayton, OH.  20 dead in El Paso and at this writing 9 dead in Dayton.  Analytically, this second shooting is not particularly surprising.  Experts will tell you that there are a lot of deranged copycats out there who will take action after being triggered by another nut case.

Predictably, some of the Democratic Presidential contenders are attempting to use the shootings to their advantage.  And they're doing that by blaming President Trump.  There is a story over on Huff Post about "Mayor Pete" saying that "white nationalism is condoned at the highest level of government".  You can read it here.  When asked if he thinks President Trump is a white nationalist he says that Trump encourages it.  He goes on to list several initiatives that I can get behind to help with this issue but it's difficult to even get there after such outrageous accusations.  There is no evidence to support these inflammatory accusations beyond the assumptions of people who hate Trump.  Now I'm not a huge Trump supporter and in fact he aggravates me routinely, but it's pretty easy to go down the list of Trump's so called support of white nationalists and refute each one as nothing more than conjecture based on Trump hatred.  In this time when we should be coming together to seek real solutions, Mayor Pete's words obscure that need.

I guess he forgets the mass shootings when Obama was President.  Or for that matter the ones that have happened both here and overseas for decades.  I didn't hear that kind of rhetoric then.  But running for political office seems to do crazy things to people.  Unless and until we decide as a society through our elected leaders that we're going to take action and put laws and regulations in place to do everything we can to prevent these things, we'll continue to go through the 10 stages of any shooting (you can read them in my link at the beginning) and nothing will happen.  Coming together as a society doesn't mean playing the blame game by politicians, religious leaders, or ordinary citizens.   

To me it's very clear.  If there is any blame to leveled Congress should be square in any thinking person's eyes.  Congress makes laws and could enact some sensible initiatives that would help.  And as I've written previously, it's not all about guns.  It's about mental health and what we do about nut cases.  It's about social media.  It's about violent, disgusting video games and how to control them.  It's about the drug culture.  It's about family values.  It's about personal responsibility.  It's about education.  Now I know that not all those issues are easy to impact legislatively.  But some are.  And Congress does nothing.  While they focus for two years on Trump the Russian agent until that is debunked and now focus on their current narrative of Trump the racist, nothing substantive happens.  They are worse than irrelevant.  They are a big part of the problem.

Massacre

So it's happened again.  And it will happen again.  If you've turned on the TV or watched/heard any news source today you know about the massacre in El Paso, TX at a Walmart shopping mall.  20 dead.  More wounded.  Chaos in the community.  Now comes days, weeks and months of anguish, grief, memorials, untold tears, asking what now, and general frustration that these things keep happening.  I'm not keeping count but it seems be happening more frequently.  I just saw the gunman's "manifesto" over on Drudge and although I didn't read every word, the guy is clearly a nut case.  He is a white nationalist who primarily hates the influx of Hispanic immigrants into the country.  So he took an AK-47 and decided to go shoot up a mall filled with innocent people.  How someone like that's mind works I will profess is beyond me.

But it does spark some questions

1. How can a guy like this get a weapon that is clearly powerful enough to mow down 20 people in a shopping mall?  Is there nothing in his background to indicate that shouldn't happen?  It makes me want to demand universal background checks that are more intrusive than many of my gun owning friends would agree to.  But to me something clearly needs to be done about access.
2. This was Texas.  So there was no one in the crowd who was carrying a weapon?  That's hard to believe.  If you're going to carry a weapon, you'd better be ready to use it.
3. When someone is so out of kilter like this guy clearly is, is there no one who notices?  I guess we all just don't want to take the risk of doing something about someone who is nuts.  Well, we all better think about that.
4. I've already heard the political spinners blaming Trump.  Make no mistake, Trump is a streetfighting tough guy who can be insufferable.  He infuriates some people by his behavior and his actions.  But to equate the President to this kind of atrocity is bullshit.  In our politically charged environment, it's probably inevitable, but it's bullshit.
5. Beto came out to make a statement and choked up.  That's not the kind of behavior I want in a CINC.  If there was any doubt previously that he is unqualified, there isn't now.
6. I'm pretty sure Texas has capital punishment.  Good.
7. As always, this wasn't about the gun.  It was about the nutcase wielding the gun.
8. There is some solution to the hateful and hate filled crap that happens on Twitter and sometimes Facebook that supports these kinds of event..  I don't know what it is and the First Amendment would probably block it, but I'd be in favor of some sort of analytical capability to find and monitor these kinds of crazy nuts.

So as with all of these events, this too will ebb and flow.  For those close to it they will never be the same.  But for the general public, life will go on.  And with each shooting, I become more and more convinced that the 10 stages of any modern gun tragedy that I described after the Jewish Synagogue shooting here in San Diego is correct.  The only difference here is that because we're in a political seaspon, number 8 will move up in the pecking order.

1. Thoughts and prayers 
2. Standing in solidarity and vigils for peace
3. Rejecting evil and searching for answers
4. Flowers, candles and messages at the scene
5. Posting of Facebook memes
6. Calls for more gun control
7. Calls for more armed guards in houses of worship (or shopping malls)
8. Politicians seeking advantage and laying blame
9. Rejecting logical solutions
10. Moving on

Healthcare Alternatives

Peggy Noonan has a column out today that provides a bit of analysis on the Dems and their debates this week.  I say a bit because it was only one column and there is so much there!  Their depressing, doom and gloom, dystopian view of America was a bit shocking.  And their solutions are even more shocking.  Not sure if it's behind a pay wall but here's a link to the column.  

The whole column is pretty good (except the part about Williamson) but there are two pull quotes that describe the healthcare quagmire in a nutshell.  This whole issue is so complicated and filled with contradictions, that I really look for simple answers.  Here's a pretty simple explanation for "medicare for all" that I (like Peggy) think could work.

I never minded the phrase “Medicare for All” because I figured it meant this: “We would like Medicare or some other governmental entity to be available to all who need it, and will come up with ways to ease them in and give people in trouble a break. What everyone wants is the plastic card in the wallet that says you’ve got coverage, so the ambulance isn’t turned away and the kids are treated. We can work this out. We’re America.”

America would respond to that. A great nation must take care of its stressed, its incapable, its unlucky.

But the Dems seem to want all or nothing.  Here's what many of them tout.

But I don’t think that the American people understood, at least until the first debates, that Medicare for All means this: “All private insurance is abolished, we’re taking it away, you’re going to be forced into a program we’ll run, we’re going to squish this down on your head, the hospitals will have to conform with our directives whether they bankrupt it or not, and the health-insurance industry and its jobs will be extinguished.”

And on top of that we will all have to pretend the cost of this will come from savings due to reduced paperwork, or a tax on the wealthy.

It’s all so crazy. I heard no one in the debates say, “Guys, you are making a mistake to give the state all the power in this area. The government can rarely make things dramatically better in huge and complicated matters like this, but it is always capable of making it worse.”

"It's all so crazy"... Yes it is.  Add in the debacle at the border which is largely their fault, the climate change hysteria, the homeless crises, the atrocious conditions of cities run by Demorats, and so many other travesties,  their policies ahve proven to be a death spiral.  The other side isn't perfect, but it's a damn site better almost anything the Dems are proposing.

Friday Funnies

Grinding Axes

In the last few days it's been in the news that President Trump has ordered that Navy Achievement Medals (NAM)  handed out to the prosecutors of Chief Eddie Gallagher be rescinded.  This case got elevated to national level several months ago.  Of course there are two sides to every story, but it sure appeared that this guy was getting railroaded and the Navy lawyers were engaged in some underhanded practises.  In the end he was acquitted of murder but as expected there are follow on stories.  If you've not been keeping up, here's a story from the NY Times that provides a good overview.  Of course, you have to get past all the prejudicial language that is present anytime you read a NYT story that includes Trump.  But you get the gist.

If you're not conversant with the military awards system it's sometimes difficult to explain it to an outsider.  The reality is that they are pretty subjective and not always awarded according to merit.  But in the context of the military, they are important.  Napolean famously said that "a soldier will fight long and hard for a piece of colored ribbon".  The awarding of medals ebbs and flows with the status of the country's military.  In a time of war, they tend to be generously awarded.  In a time of peace, the military is more stingy with them.  And the different services have differing philosophies.  The Navy is notoriously stingy with handing them out and the Air Force is notoriously generous.  When I was in the Pentagon the contrast between Navy and Air Force officers with the similar experience and grade level were usually pretty dramatically different.

The NAM is handed out for pretty routine things and are an easy way to acknowledge a job done well.  There are all kinds of reasons for handing it out including end of tour and achieving a good grade on an external evaluation.  It's one of the lowest personal achievement medals as you can see in the chart.  But having said that, it still looks good on your record.  

So now the old salts and the lawyers and the expert pundits emerge with outrage.  They are beside themselves that the CINC would reach down to an individual case and rescind the medals.  But with Trump no one should be surprised at anything he does.  I think he sees these guys as losers who tried to cheat to win.  Simple as that.  And he doesn't believe in rewarding losers.  Should the CINC get involved in a single case so far below him that it's difficult to see?  Probably not but he'd already gotten involved when he set Gallagher free from the ridiculous confinement that the command had put him in.  So not only does he not want to reward losers, he is invested in it.  And we all know what an ego he has.  

But in looking at this case, it reminds me of the controversies a few years ago of naming an LCS ship after Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and an LPD ship after John Murtha.  There was outrage at Secretary Mabus and President Obama for going so far away from tradition.  I was one who lamented this egregious breach of tradition and wrote about it here.  But you know what?  I've come to understand that outrage about something you have no control over is useless.  The medals will get rescinded, the ships will get named, leaders will inject politics, and I can't change any of it.  So as a famous band once sang...Let It Be.  

Probably the best antidote is humor.  Saw an article on Duffel Blog this morning that deals with the medal dust up titled, "Thousands of officers with Bronze Stars terrified after Trump rescinds four bullshit awards".  You can read it here.  Hilarious.  And probably contains more than a grain of truth.