Gotta problem with me?! Let's have coffee and we'll tawk.

Unfortunate that I even need to write this, but there is an anonymous right wing troll on my site who posts occasionally literate comments, so I feel a need to state that my policy, heretofore not posted, is that unless I know the commenter personally, as I usually do, or unless the person identifies themself instead of hiding behind a cowardly nickname, I won’t reply to their comments.

And I want this site vitriol-free, so if your post is respectful, I will generally enjoy engaging in any discussion you’d like to have. And that includes you, Mr. Oleck, whom I have complimented in the past for your courage in identifying yourself without hesitation.

But I don’t want to get into a lot of back and forth because I’ve found that there is rarely any point in trying to convince each other of something that we are so strongly in opposition to.

I don't even know why they make any other kind of cookies besides chocolate chip cookies.

If you want to know what I think of Oatmeal Raisin cookies, and I'm sure you woke up this morning wondering exactly that, watch this video, and substitute the words "eating oatmeal raisin cookies" for the words "drinking merlot" and you'll get the drift.

As someone wiser and funnier than me once said: "Oatmeal raisin cookies that look like chocolate chip cookies are the main reason I have trust issues."

OK, I'll just cut and paste it here, but the video link at the top is funnier:

Jack: If they want to drink Merlot, we're drinking Merlot.
Miles Raymond: No, if anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any fu**ing Merlot!

And now I feel a need to apologize to merlot, which is one of the few wines I actually occasionally like.

Does this make me anti-biotic? Or anti-antibiotic? And would that cancel itself out, or make me Pro-biotic?

I think I know why Cheryl doesn't seem to be getting better from her daily Lyme Disease IVs. Her doctor has her on both antibiotics and probiotics at the same time and they're apparently cancelling each other out.

Or maybe I'm just among the maddening whored

I’m a little uncomfortable with all the facebook posts opposing stores being open on Thanksgiving.   Each time I see one of the posts, I reflexively think “Yeah, absolutely!” But the more I think about it, the more I realize it’s not as simple as that.  I think those sentiments may have more behind them than we realize...and worse, I wonder if some of us aren’t being just a wee bit hypocritical.

I totally support the idea that Thanksgiving is for families. It’s my favorite holiday of the year. And ideally, all places of business would accommodate people who want the day off to be with their family as well as the employees who would like to work if it means they’ll get time-and-a-half or double-time.

I wonder if most of the reason we support department stores being closed on that day is it is more about seeing the crushing, madding (and maddening) hordes rampaging through various department stores at 5am to get the big bargains. I think it gives most of us the creeps and reminds us of all the things we hate most about the holidays – the materialism, the stress, the gimme gimme gimme culture.

But here are all the other thoughts that maybe people aren’t taking into account:

-         Many (most?) of the people I see on the news who make up that crushing horde are people getting seriously discounted deals on really nice gifts for their kids, that I sense would have no other way to afford such nice gifts – computers, video games, electronics of all sorts. No, none of them are crucial for day to day life (though arguably, it’s harder to be a functioning, participating member of society without a computer that works). But if there is only one way to afford the one big gift that my kid or loved one wants, I feel like I’m judging anyone who takes the one opportunity they get to buy that gift.

-         Are we wondering at some deep level if we’re missing out on some great deals?

-         I don’t know this for a fact, but I’ll bet there are some employees who don’t mind working 4 hours Thanksgiving morning and getting paid time-and-a-half or double-time and then get home by noon or early afternoon to enjoy the family meal. When I worked at a paper mill in college and then at a Wawa as my first job out of college, we all fought over who got to work on holidays so we could make extra money.

-         Maybe the most important thing to consider – if we travel that day and are running out of gas, will we stop at a gas station without guilt? If we suddenly realize we forgot the cream for our dessert coffee, will we go without rather than run to the Wawa, 7-11, or Acme?

But, arguing both sides here, when I hear about issues that affect the lowest paid and most taken advantage of employees, the conservative inside me thinks that there is also something to be said for reinforcing the idea that their job stinks and they should do something to improve their life. How many of those employees are actively looking for a better job? How many are taking night classes, or pursuing online degrees instead of watching The Voice or catching up on the latest exploits of the Reality Distraction Squirrel of the day?

On the other hand, would it really hurt those department stores to wait one more freakin’ day to open at 5am?

Love/Hate relationships

My Republican Christian homophobic friends defend their hate by arguing that they have nothing against “those people”, and in fact, they love them. Their favorite phrase is “I love the sinner, but I hate the sin.”

It suddenly struck me today that I feel the same way about my Republican friends. I love them, but hate their policies that, in my mind are responsible for virtually every ill facing this country right now.

That said, given human nature, for all the frustrations inherent with a two-party system and the fights over filibusters and holds and cloture and bills that only pass the House but not the Senate and vetoes of bills that have passed both, I still think we have a great system of government, if only because of the human nature that results in overreach and corruption that comes with absolute power, both of which inevitably occur anytime and every time one party has a huge advantage in government at any level.

So I guess when it comes to our government, I also love the sinners but hate their sins.

Turning a negative comment about a negative comment into a positive.

I’ve received two negative comments about my negative comments on the post from yesterday…and with good reason. So I deleted the negative tag at the end cuz I’m a sensitive guy…and also because, as I say, their criticism observation was entirely justified. I remember when my dad would make some self-deprecating remark as was his wont (what’s YOUR wont?!)  and it always upset me because I never thought his comment was justified. Ever. OK, usually. Maybe because I so admired him…adored him.

In this case, it goes back to the issue of what is blog-worthy. And of course, the answer is, WGAF – Who gives a…fart.  It’s like emails that you don’t need to get, or junk mail. If we don’t want it, we can use the trusty delete button. I won’t trash myself again. Thanks for the good feedback on my bad post, everyone.

Though Cheryl said that post was her favorite that she’d seen in a long time because it was so positive…except for the last part. So I’ll take that as a good thing! Thanks, Darlin’!

Kill me now or kill me later

When I was a teenager, the biggest focus in the USA’s foreign policy arena was the Cold War, and trying to reach “détente” with the Soviet Union, to reduce the numbers of ICBMs (which, as a 13-ish year old made me laugh every time I heard some adult very seriously use the expression…kind of along the lines of when someone says Uranus. And thank goodness I have a 14-year old son (for many reasons) so I can still laugh whenever someone refers to Uranus, so it isn’t weird that a 57 year old does. But I digress.) Now where was I…let’s see…your anus…I see BMs…oh, right, nuclear annihilation.  And around the same time, there were talks of secret meetings between Henry Kissinger and the Vietnamese to end the Vietnam War.

Today there was a news bulletin from the NY Times:

 

U.S. and China Reach Climate Deal After Secret Negotiations

China and the United States made common cause on Wednesday against the threat of climate change, staking out an ambitious joint plan to curb carbon emissions as a way to spur nations around the world to make their own cuts in greenhouse gases.

The landmark agreement, jointly announced in Beijing by President Obama and President Xi Jinping, includes new targets for carbon emissions reductions by the United States and a first-ever commitment by China to stop its emissions from growing by 2030.

Administration officials said the agreement, which was worked out secretly between the United States and China over nine months and included a letter from Mr. Obama to Mr. Xi proposing a joint approach, could galvanize efforts to negotiate a new global climate agreement by 2015.

Interesting how the focus of these top-level secret negotiations have changed and yet, remain the same, addressing threats that can end the world as we know it, whether by nuclear bombs or melting ice caps. Is it progress that one way we can kill off all of humanity in a matter of minutes and one will take decades? Maybe, but one can also be cured in a matter of months and one will take decades to turn-around.