Introduction
It is hard to believe that 2019 is wrapping up so fast, and also equally unbelievable that I have been doing these articles for ten years. We are on the verge of wrapping up the year, and also beginning a new ten-year run on these articles to see what and how they impact you, the reader. Let us now do the year-end perspective, as well as giving a glimpse into what I plan to do in the coming year as well.
On the Home Front
2019 has been one of those years that has been both good in many aspects but also extremely challenging in others. A lot of important events happened this year that need to be recapped, and they entail a lot of areas.
First, after many years of struggling with credit issues, I have finally resolved and settled many past bills that had been hanging over my head for at least the past 5 to 6 years. It is good to have that mess cleaned up, and it has opened other doors. With revamped credit and a relatively good financial outlook, things are taking shape that have been needed for some time. And, that has opened doors to other things as well, including a very important one that I will now talk about.
Earlier in the year, we got a letter from the park we live in that offered us a buying option for our place, and it was a nice one. We were offered downpayment credit based on what we have been paying into our place the past couple of years, and at the present time, we are still in the process of completing the paperwork. The implications of this are that we now have a place of our own, and are able to get some nice roots established. I will probably elaborate more on that in the coming year.
This has also been a year of medical challenges as well, especially for Barbara. In April and May, she had two consecutive procedures for cataract removal on her eyes, and she has now gotten completely improved eyesight save for a small complication with a "floater." My year medically has been fairly good as well - I only had one incident just the past weekend with esophagitis, which essentially means that I got irritation on my esophageal lining due to swallowing a piece of extremely hot potato on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. Although I spent an unpleasant 8 hours in the emergency room due to difficulty swallowing, everything checked out fine. However, as I write this I do have an appointment with my new doctor in regards to my blood pressure, which was somewhat high and caused the ER physician some concern - I was actually diagnosed with hypertension back in 2010, and at one time was on lisinopril, an ACE inhibitor derived from the venom of a Central American species of viper that helps regulate blood pressure. Lisinopril is a tricky medication though, as some people (particularly women) develop reactive side effects to it - Barbara was on it for a long time and developed a nasty, lingering cough. However, when I took it I was never adversely affected by it. Whether or not I will be given a prescription for that or for another type of blood pressure medication remains to be seen, but getting my elevated blood pressure under control is definitely important. And, that leads to the next major thing.
In November, I reached the half-century mark of my personal existence, as I turned 50. Reaching that milestone is still something hard for me to comprehend, as it only seems like yesterday that I was a 20-something college kid (in reality, it has been 23 years since I received my Bachelor's). Being 50 does have its advantages though, in particular, the AARP membership I now have, and that I guess is a perk that comes with age. There have also been a couple of more milestones I have reached this year, so we'll visit those now too.
In September, I officially received my 3rd Degree as a Knight of Columbus. The ceremony took place over near Mount Airy just this side of Baltimore, and it was a neat ceremony to be part of. Granted, I was way underdressed for it - Knights generally are somewhat formal in their ceremonies, and I was supposed to wear a shirt and tie but didn't, as I went straight from work to the ceremony itself. This means I stood out like a sore thumb, but thankfully my brother Knights didn't make an issue of it, and our Council Grand Knight Fred Nugent didn't even mention it. However, I am learning from it and next year for my 4th Degree I will have the suit ready for the ceremony, which more than likely will be in Baltimore. Being part of the Knights of Columbus for the past couple of years has been a good thing, and although there is some controversy about the new regalia, I am still glad to be part of this great organization.
The other major step I took was becoming a Maryland Notary Public just last month. For many years, I was a Florida Notary, and therefore am familiar with the responsibilities. My swearing-in was on November 15th at the courthouse here in Hagerstown, and I have a four-year commission. I don't recall it being that formal in Florida when I was commissioned there back in 2005, but I kind of appreciate a little more formality - it gives a bit more authority to the office.
The final thing on the "home front" is some new additions to our household. In July, we went to visit my sister-in-law Sue's place in Indiana, as Barbara's cousin was getting married in Milwaukee at around the same time. Barbara's sister Sue has a lot of challenges right now, as she took on a huge responsibility with a fixer-upper farmhouse, and she also has limited funds. But, while we were out there, she gave us something that has provided some joy to us, and also a little more responsibility. Back when I was a teenager, my mom worked for an old lady who had a pet zebra finch, and to be honest I really became enamored with that little bird. A zebra finch is a tiny bird with a sound reminiscent of a squeak toy, and they are actually adorable little birds. Returning from Indiana, we ended up bringing five of them back with us, and even as I write this now, they are sitting next to the desk chattering like a bunch of little monkeys. All five are males, and they are the cutest little stinkers honestly. We look forward to being blessed with many years of enjoyment from those little birds.
Calling and Vocation
As far as my church work this year, it has been very limited to teaching a group of sixth-graders at our parish, St. Joseph's in Hagerstown, on Sunday mornings during the school year. As my Master's is in Catechetics, I am putting my degree essentially to work by teaching the faith to kids, and this is now my third year doing so. The class that started in September is a somewhat smaller group this year, as I only have seven total, but they are a sharp and well-behaved group. My current class is also very diverse, as it includes a girl whose folks were from El Salvador, a Filipino, two Sri Lankans, a young lady whose father is Kenyan, and two regular American boys. I love diversity though, as I learn a lot about them as well, and that is one of the rewards of the calling. At this point, I am debating about continuing a fourth year, so we'll see what happens.
As for my own faith, I have found myself leaning more in a traditionalist direction, although I want to address some concerns. I have always been fairly conservative in my faith, and as a Catholic, it is no different honestly. I am not anti-Vatican II like some fellow Trads are, as I understand that there are good things that have come from the Council, but at the same time, I see issues with implementation. As I have mentioned, I am not technically part of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, as instead I am part of the Personal Ordinariate of St. Peter, a diocesan structure that is comprised of former Anglicans like myself who have retained what is called patrimony, meaning that those distinctly Anglican traits of our faith that don't conflict with Magisterial teaching are allowed and encouraged. As such, I am more traditionalist than many people at our current parish, which is a regular Roman Catholic congregation, and I have felt the conviction to do some things differently. For one, I have begun taking Communion on the tongue rather than in the hand, and I also say the parts of the traditional Mass that coincide with the Novus Ordo Mass the parish we attend uses. However, I am a little different than most Trads because simply I cannot fathom being anti-this or anti-that when there is no reason to be anti-whatever in those cases. For one thing, the abundant amount of anti-semitism I have noted among Trads hinges on a hatred of Jewish people, and that is not something I will tolerate or condone - I have pulled out of a number of Trad groups on social media over that one, as some of these individuals are even engaging in Holocaust denial conspiracies and even glorifying Hitler, whom they forgot was as much anti-Christian as he was anti-Jewish. I am also not totally on-board with even a lot of the anti-Protestant rhetoric that some Trads spew, as it is hateful as well. It is one thing to have a disagreement with Protestants and to even pray for their eventual reconciliation with the Church, but it is quite another to spout some of the hateful vitriol against Protestants I hear from some self-professed Trads. As for the Jews, it is also one thing to pray for their conversion and to even criticize some of their resistance to Christianity, but it is quite another thing to harbor a blanket hatred for them as a people. Trads need to get their stuff together, and until they do, there are just some of them I would prefer not to be associated with. Anyway, that has been my spiritual journey this year.
Other News
In recent years, I have made it a regular objective to check hometown obituaries, and I have an archive of obituaries of people I have known over the years, as well as family members who have passed on. This year, I lost an aunt who passed away earlier in November, and it is almost surreal as she was an aunt I had known most of my life. Angie McDaniel (1939-2019) was the middle half-sister of my maternal grandfather Dave Strahin. When my great-grandfather, Charles Judson Strahin, passed on sometime around the year 1932, a couple of years later my great-grandmother remarried to a man named Delbert "Mose" Turner, and with him, she had five children. The oldest, Ruth, passed away back in 1976 I believe - she had multiple sclerosis and was largely incapacitated. The next one to pass on was my uncle Robert "Bonzo" Turner, who was the second-youngest. He passed away in 1977 from a diabetic coma. The third to go in this line was my Uncle Delbert Jr. "Teak" Turner, who was the second-oldest of this family - he was found dead in his apartment in Parsons in 1995 or 1996. The youngest of the five, my uncle Joe Garland Turner Sr., died in 2005 from cancer. Aunt Angie was the last of my grandfather's five Turner siblings, and she had been in declining health for a number of years, as her weight kept plummeting so much that she barely weighed anything. Fortunately, in October I was able to see her one last time and to be honest, she looked bad - she was not the same lady I remembered from years ago, the aunt who bought me Goldfish crackers when I was a kid and also made so many delicious homemade items, including peanut butter cups, at Christmas. I have a lot of fond memories of her from when I was little, as she always treated me well despite the fact that over the years a sort of feud has existed between Mom and the rest of the family, so I haven't seen as much of her. Her passing still has me in some shock, as it is hard to believe she is gone. But, at least the memories are eternal, and she will live on there.
My Expectations for the Coming Year
As I have reached the 50 mark agewise and am now also looking at the end of the second decade of the 21st century, a lot of things cross my mind. What do I hope to accomplish this coming year? I am going to briefly set out some objectives now.
First, as for writing. My articles for next year are going to more or less continue in a sort of vein that I am currently in, that being in-depth theological discourses on SPT, reviewing more restaurants and also posting new recipes on "David's Culinary Page," and here I want to begin some more insights regarding past memories and such. Some of the issues I want to take on concerning SPT, in particular, include some analysis of Frank Peretti's two books, This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness, both of which I have read several times over the past 25 or so years. Those two books, published respectively in 1986 and 1988, are two of the most riveting and engaging pieces of Christian fictional writing to have been published in years, and well over 30 years after their initial publication, they are still avidly read. I personally try to read those at least every couple of years and am in the process of doing that now. I want to do an article about them analyzing both the strengths and weaknesses of the books, and I may do that in January if circumstance allows. Another area I want to tackle next year is regarding traditionalist Catholics, as an evaluation needs to be done as well as maybe some historical background on them. Dr. Taylor Marshall has done some work in that area, as has Fr. Dwight Longenecker and I will be using their material for some inspiration and to provide a framework to work from. I may also do a nice ten-year perspective on DMM as well regarding our ten years of writing, and that will probably happen in April or sometime as it is the mid-point of my anniversaries for all three blogs. Therefore, I encourage you to stay tuned.
Our home is also going to be getting some makeover and restructuring, as we do need a utility shed outside to house our lawnmower and also a lot of stuff we have piled up in the house now. Even after 3 years of living here, we still are getting situated, and Barbara and I want to accelerate that a bit this year. We need quite a bit in the house - a washer and dryer, some work inside the house, and also we need to upgrade our furniture somewhat. This is now more important with buying the place being a reality, as we need to now step up and take more responsibility for our home, as we'll more than likely be here for many years to come. Talking about this now does have its exhilaration for sure, as homeownership is definitely a big step for us.
The culinary page will also receive some new attention, as I want to begin to focus not only on restaurant reviews and recipes, but also some good articles about foraging for wild edibles and a few agricultural things - we now have raspberry plants outside, and those will be providing us with berries and other things for culinary experiments. Also, I have discovered a source of pawpaws, and will be attempting to grow those this year - I will be starting the seeds in the spring and will see how they turn out. I may venture as well into doing some hunting and fishing and would like to showcase more wild game in my recipes and other endeavors. And, we still have new recipes to try, and new restaurants to visit, and I want to begin doing more of the latter in my home state of West Virginia. This gives an idea of what we will be up to this year as far as culinary arts are concerned.
My music collection will also be focusing mainly on obtaining rare vinyl LP's of stuff I once had, and that includes both my vintage big band collection as well as my gospel music library. I also will be looking into a couple of monumental CD collections, one of Stravinsky's works and the other the 24-disc centennial collection of Duke Ellington's recordings. My music collection, however, has grown to about where it needs to be, so less emphasis will be directed to it than has been in the past.
Now that I have given some basic objectives for the coming year, let us now wrap up.
Conclusion
2019 has been a year of challenges - I have had good things happen, and also some really rough points. In summary, it was not the best year on record, but thankfully it was also far from being the worst also. As we enter 2020, I wish everyone reading this a blessed holiday season, and may 2020 be a great year for you as well as me. Thank you, and will see you next year!
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Monday, December 2, 2019
Some Random Thoughts
(original draft October 3, 2019)
It has been a while since I have posted a lot, as the demands of life warrant making sure the bills are paid, necessitating employment which takes up a lot of time. I haven't posted one of these "random thoughts" discourses in a while, so figured one was due, therefore here it is.
One of the first thoughts that comes to mind recently is the subject of politics. The clown show that is the cache of Democrats attempting to defeat President Trump next year is the source of both amusement and alarm. While much of what that group of fringe-radical nuts say is downright comical due to the outlandish nonsense that makes up much of their rhetoric (coming to mind of late is Julian Castro's push for abortion rights for transgender women - for those not keeping up with this, a transgender woman is a biological male who dresses up in women's clothes due to a psychological disorder called gender dysphoria - that means that such an individual cannot possibly get pregnant to begin with much less consider abortion). However, the scary aspect of this is that if one of these individuals actually did get elected to the highest office in the country, the consequences would be catastrophic regarding the damage they could do. The mere thought of people like Corey Booker, Beto O'Rourke (who has dropped out - God does still have mercy upon us!), or Bernie Sanders as President is not a pleasant reflection to be sure, and when a creepy pervert and plagiarist such as Joe Biden is considered a "moderate," it is cause for alarm. Honestly, for me, it makes me pine for the Reagan years back when I was a teenager - life was better then, and people seemed to be happier. While many of the Democrats thankfully don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning at this point - a comforting thought, by the way - the fact that they are saying what they are saying should be cause for concern regardless. However, it is in God's hands ultimately, so we can only just watch and see how it plays out.
Since my initial draft of this was written, two other political developments have happened worth mentioning. First, the House of Representatives in October passed the Armenian Genocide recognition resolution with overwhelming bipartisan support. I was actually pleasantly surprised that even otherwise reprehensible characters in the House (Pelosi, Schiff, Waters, and company) actually supported the measure - oh well; even a broken clock is right twice a day! A measure was introduced as well to the Senate, with bipartisan sponsorship by Ted Cruz (Republican) and Bob Menendez (Democrat) called SR 150, and for the most part the Senate looks like they would vote for it (surprisingly, even Steve Cohen, a notorious anti-Armenian bigot, supports it), but then a snag happened. Upon the visit of Turkish tyrant Recip Erdogan to Washington a couple of weeks ago, Senator Lindsay Graham developed a man-crush on the Turkish leader and unfortunately blocked a vote on it. He was followed by a Georgia Senator who did the same thing - also Republican. Lindsay Graham, who also is a closet liberal on some other issues, is a walking motivation to impose term limits on Congress - his betrayal of the Armenian-American community has gotten backlash too, and unfortunately it has infuriated some Armenians so much that they are accusing all Republicans (despite the fact that many of the most vocal supporters of recognition, such as Gus Bilirakis and Ted Cruz, are Republicans) and are pushing on social media now for Armenians to vote Democrat in the coming election. That development is unfortunate, and the reality is that we should never let a single issue define our voting choices. While many Democrats did vote for the resolution - and I am glad they did something right for once - many of these same people also still push for unlimited abortion on demand, the LGBT agenda, and other things that many Armenian-Americans - many of whom are very traditionally and socially conservative on these issues - would find disagreeable. Therefore, two things need to happen here - first, Lindsay Graham needs to either recant or resign, and secondly, some Armenians who are letting emotions get away with them need to understand that for American voters, Genocide recognition is not the only issue up for grabs in the coming electoral season - there are a lot of things. Look at the big picture, in other words. And, this leads to the second issue.
At the time I am writing this, approximately one week ago the fast-food chicken giant Chick-Fil-A noted in the past for being a Christian-influenced voice for traditional values, has seemingly dropped the ball. In updating their charitable foundation's giving, the fast-food giant dumped the Salvation Army as a beneficiary of its charitable work due to the fact that the Salvation Army is supposedly "anti-LGBT." Then, word came that Chick-Fil-A also had been giving contributions to both the Southern Poverty Law Center (an anti-Christian activist organization whose claim to fame is the notorious "hate map" they produce that targets conservative groups) as well as Planned Parenthood. Chick-Fil-A's back-peddling of its original vision is rightly seen as a betrayal of its core principles, as well as a slap in the face against those who have stood with them for many years. It essentially means that our family will not patronize Chick-Fil-A anymore, and this may be a boon to its competitors, notably Zaxby's and Bojangle's, both of which actually have better food anyway honestly. Corporate America can be so stupid sometimes, and this illustrates the fact well. It is probably only a matter of time before Chick-Fil-A will be opening its doors on Sundays too, as the almighty dollar has replaced God Almighty as a focal point of worship for the fast-food enterprise.
On a lighter note now, recently I decided to binge-watch some old Paul Henning classics notably Petticoat Junction and Green Acres. There is something endearing about shows like those, and in the future, I plan on actually exploring the so-called "rural purge" of network television that occurred in 1971, in which these and many other shows like them got the ax from networks such as CBS. The "rural purge," much like James Caesar Petrillo's recording ban in the early 1940s, had a momentous impact on things, and not in a good way. Both Petrillo and the CBS corporate hacks were out of touch with what the public wanted, and both enacted disastrous and stupid measures that contributed to the diminished quality of popular entertainment for decades after the fact. And, as entertainment goes, so goes the culture. There was a reason why so many Americans liked The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres, and that fact drives the emphasis of my next point.
Corporate executives and union bosses, I have learned, are actually very out-of-touch people when it comes to public sentiment. However, the tragic thing about that is the disproportionate amount of control and influence such individuals have over consumer markets. Recently, Barbara had a dream in which she was fired from a job for being too good at what she did, and in a sense what she saw n that dream was the very thing that characterized the "rural purge" of television that happened in 1971. Entertainment has a primary and necessary purpose for us - it provides a diversion from much of the pressures and crap we face in life on a daily basis. Entertainment and other forms of recreation are actually essential to our personal well-being, as leisure helps us to recharge our batteries if it is treated as it should be. Once in awhile, in other words, we just need a break. A show like Green Acres provided that, and people loved it. But, then the corporate hacks had to get in there and decided to implement their own "bright ideas" - for them, TV programs (many of which these individuals didn't watch or have no interest in) had to be "more relevant" and they also all of a sudden had to address social issues of the day. These "social issues" were inserted between the laugh tracks of the sitcoms in question, and the problem was a basic one - is this really what the public wanted?? Honestly, in my own opinion, it would say it wasn't at all. The truth is one cannot honestly unwind from the pressures of the day while watching a fictional character like Mike "the Meathead" Stivic (played by real-life obnoxious meathead Rob Reiner) spouting socialist BS to intentionally rile his fictional father-in-law Archie Bunker into a lather. It just does not fly. There are instances, to be fair, where this sort of comedy is good (I call to mind 1999's Office Space, for instance - many of us can really relate to both the fictional Peter Gibbons and Milton Waddams, and I have even used micro-managing executive Lumbergh's name as a verb when some jackass in my workplace annoys me - I call that activity "Lumberghing."), but for the most part, these celebrities and their puppet-masters who are the producers and network executives need to leave politics out of sitcoms, sports, and cartoons (and I would add movies, although in some instances there are good movies that tackle real issues, so that is a different playing-field). And, while they are at it, leave out the sex, and artificially produced "music," and other such crap out of radio too - it must be understood that there are more instruments out there than a guitar that some moron can learn three chords on to play some stupid lyrics, and also the old "doghouse" has a much better sound than the electric bass guitar, as the latter sounds more like someone with a bad case of the farts after eating a box of X-Lax anyway. In short, the only good thing a show like All in the Family contained were the lyrics to its theme, which you remember are these:
It has been a while since I have posted a lot, as the demands of life warrant making sure the bills are paid, necessitating employment which takes up a lot of time. I haven't posted one of these "random thoughts" discourses in a while, so figured one was due, therefore here it is.
One of the first thoughts that comes to mind recently is the subject of politics. The clown show that is the cache of Democrats attempting to defeat President Trump next year is the source of both amusement and alarm. While much of what that group of fringe-radical nuts say is downright comical due to the outlandish nonsense that makes up much of their rhetoric (coming to mind of late is Julian Castro's push for abortion rights for transgender women - for those not keeping up with this, a transgender woman is a biological male who dresses up in women's clothes due to a psychological disorder called gender dysphoria - that means that such an individual cannot possibly get pregnant to begin with much less consider abortion). However, the scary aspect of this is that if one of these individuals actually did get elected to the highest office in the country, the consequences would be catastrophic regarding the damage they could do. The mere thought of people like Corey Booker, Beto O'Rourke (who has dropped out - God does still have mercy upon us!), or Bernie Sanders as President is not a pleasant reflection to be sure, and when a creepy pervert and plagiarist such as Joe Biden is considered a "moderate," it is cause for alarm. Honestly, for me, it makes me pine for the Reagan years back when I was a teenager - life was better then, and people seemed to be happier. While many of the Democrats thankfully don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning at this point - a comforting thought, by the way - the fact that they are saying what they are saying should be cause for concern regardless. However, it is in God's hands ultimately, so we can only just watch and see how it plays out.
Since my initial draft of this was written, two other political developments have happened worth mentioning. First, the House of Representatives in October passed the Armenian Genocide recognition resolution with overwhelming bipartisan support. I was actually pleasantly surprised that even otherwise reprehensible characters in the House (Pelosi, Schiff, Waters, and company) actually supported the measure - oh well; even a broken clock is right twice a day! A measure was introduced as well to the Senate, with bipartisan sponsorship by Ted Cruz (Republican) and Bob Menendez (Democrat) called SR 150, and for the most part the Senate looks like they would vote for it (surprisingly, even Steve Cohen, a notorious anti-Armenian bigot, supports it), but then a snag happened. Upon the visit of Turkish tyrant Recip Erdogan to Washington a couple of weeks ago, Senator Lindsay Graham developed a man-crush on the Turkish leader and unfortunately blocked a vote on it. He was followed by a Georgia Senator who did the same thing - also Republican. Lindsay Graham, who also is a closet liberal on some other issues, is a walking motivation to impose term limits on Congress - his betrayal of the Armenian-American community has gotten backlash too, and unfortunately it has infuriated some Armenians so much that they are accusing all Republicans (despite the fact that many of the most vocal supporters of recognition, such as Gus Bilirakis and Ted Cruz, are Republicans) and are pushing on social media now for Armenians to vote Democrat in the coming election. That development is unfortunate, and the reality is that we should never let a single issue define our voting choices. While many Democrats did vote for the resolution - and I am glad they did something right for once - many of these same people also still push for unlimited abortion on demand, the LGBT agenda, and other things that many Armenian-Americans - many of whom are very traditionally and socially conservative on these issues - would find disagreeable. Therefore, two things need to happen here - first, Lindsay Graham needs to either recant or resign, and secondly, some Armenians who are letting emotions get away with them need to understand that for American voters, Genocide recognition is not the only issue up for grabs in the coming electoral season - there are a lot of things. Look at the big picture, in other words. And, this leads to the second issue.
At the time I am writing this, approximately one week ago the fast-food chicken giant Chick-Fil-A noted in the past for being a Christian-influenced voice for traditional values, has seemingly dropped the ball. In updating their charitable foundation's giving, the fast-food giant dumped the Salvation Army as a beneficiary of its charitable work due to the fact that the Salvation Army is supposedly "anti-LGBT." Then, word came that Chick-Fil-A also had been giving contributions to both the Southern Poverty Law Center (an anti-Christian activist organization whose claim to fame is the notorious "hate map" they produce that targets conservative groups) as well as Planned Parenthood. Chick-Fil-A's back-peddling of its original vision is rightly seen as a betrayal of its core principles, as well as a slap in the face against those who have stood with them for many years. It essentially means that our family will not patronize Chick-Fil-A anymore, and this may be a boon to its competitors, notably Zaxby's and Bojangle's, both of which actually have better food anyway honestly. Corporate America can be so stupid sometimes, and this illustrates the fact well. It is probably only a matter of time before Chick-Fil-A will be opening its doors on Sundays too, as the almighty dollar has replaced God Almighty as a focal point of worship for the fast-food enterprise.
On a lighter note now, recently I decided to binge-watch some old Paul Henning classics notably Petticoat Junction and Green Acres. There is something endearing about shows like those, and in the future, I plan on actually exploring the so-called "rural purge" of network television that occurred in 1971, in which these and many other shows like them got the ax from networks such as CBS. The "rural purge," much like James Caesar Petrillo's recording ban in the early 1940s, had a momentous impact on things, and not in a good way. Both Petrillo and the CBS corporate hacks were out of touch with what the public wanted, and both enacted disastrous and stupid measures that contributed to the diminished quality of popular entertainment for decades after the fact. And, as entertainment goes, so goes the culture. There was a reason why so many Americans liked The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres, and that fact drives the emphasis of my next point.
Corporate executives and union bosses, I have learned, are actually very out-of-touch people when it comes to public sentiment. However, the tragic thing about that is the disproportionate amount of control and influence such individuals have over consumer markets. Recently, Barbara had a dream in which she was fired from a job for being too good at what she did, and in a sense what she saw n that dream was the very thing that characterized the "rural purge" of television that happened in 1971. Entertainment has a primary and necessary purpose for us - it provides a diversion from much of the pressures and crap we face in life on a daily basis. Entertainment and other forms of recreation are actually essential to our personal well-being, as leisure helps us to recharge our batteries if it is treated as it should be. Once in awhile, in other words, we just need a break. A show like Green Acres provided that, and people loved it. But, then the corporate hacks had to get in there and decided to implement their own "bright ideas" - for them, TV programs (many of which these individuals didn't watch or have no interest in) had to be "more relevant" and they also all of a sudden had to address social issues of the day. These "social issues" were inserted between the laugh tracks of the sitcoms in question, and the problem was a basic one - is this really what the public wanted?? Honestly, in my own opinion, it would say it wasn't at all. The truth is one cannot honestly unwind from the pressures of the day while watching a fictional character like Mike "the Meathead" Stivic (played by real-life obnoxious meathead Rob Reiner) spouting socialist BS to intentionally rile his fictional father-in-law Archie Bunker into a lather. It just does not fly. There are instances, to be fair, where this sort of comedy is good (I call to mind 1999's Office Space, for instance - many of us can really relate to both the fictional Peter Gibbons and Milton Waddams, and I have even used micro-managing executive Lumbergh's name as a verb when some jackass in my workplace annoys me - I call that activity "Lumberghing."), but for the most part, these celebrities and their puppet-masters who are the producers and network executives need to leave politics out of sitcoms, sports, and cartoons (and I would add movies, although in some instances there are good movies that tackle real issues, so that is a different playing-field). And, while they are at it, leave out the sex, and artificially produced "music," and other such crap out of radio too - it must be understood that there are more instruments out there than a guitar that some moron can learn three chords on to play some stupid lyrics, and also the old "doghouse" has a much better sound than the electric bass guitar, as the latter sounds more like someone with a bad case of the farts after eating a box of X-Lax anyway. In short, the only good thing a show like All in the Family contained were the lyrics to its theme, which you remember are these:
Boy, the way Glenn Miller played,
Songs that made the Hit Parade
Guys like us we had it made,
Those were the days.
When the opening theme of a sitcom expresses a better sentiment than its plot, it speaks volumes. I'll save more of that thunder for a later discourse. But, to summarize, modern entertainment has been sliding down a slippery slope for decades. Oh, it has occasional glimmers of hope - Duck Dynasty and The Waltons come to mind - but honestly, most of what is on network TV is inferior crap these days, and I don't actually watch regular TV anymore. I am very thankful for services like Roku, where the stuff is still readily available on demand.
As to other developments I want to discuss, we now turn our attention to other major political news, which is mainly the attempts by the media to obliterate President Trump. Donald Trump is not our greatest President, and honestly, there are things I have an issue with him concerning certain things in particular related to foreign policy. He and his lapdog Lindsay Graham have already been discussed in regard to the Armenian Genocide resolution, and Trump has no clue as to what he is doing when it comes to empowering madmen like Erdogan to continue their crimes against humanity. For the most part, however, I have stayed pretty quiet in regard to President Trump, as I do have mixed perceptions of him. Essentially, I have taken the personal policy of supporting Trump where he does good and disagreeing with him when he doesn't, and this leads to a couple of things I should make clear to many. First, I am a traditional Catholic Monarchist in my political leanings, which means I, by and large, would be considered also a paleoconservative. Secondly, I am not a Republican, nor did I actually vote for Trump in the last election. Those facts established, here is what I need folks to understand - not every conservative does - nor should they - give blanket support to any politician, regardless whether or not they identify as Republican or not. Republican does not equate with conservative, and many Republicans currently holding office are far from being true conservatives. Being I hold that position, I am not registered Republican, nor did I vote for Trump in 2016, it must be understood first and foremost I am not a "Trump shill." I appreciate the good he has done, and that deserves credit where credit is due, but Trump is not a reincarnated savior for anyone. A second thing I need to clarify is this - I do not currently, and have not in a long time, watched Fox News, so I cannot be accused of being "indoctrinated" with "right-wing propaganda" from Fox News either. I have come to my own convictions by observing and drawing my own conclusions on the issues, and based on what I observe, that determines my support. I am not 100% aboard the Republican platform (or even the majority conservative one for that matter) on a number of things, but that means little to the individuals on the radical Left - those individuals feel that anyone who tends to be conservative - either socially or economically for that matter - must be so because somehow Fox News or even Trump himself must have indoctrinated them. That is actually insulting, as it presupposes that a conservative cannot think for themselves and thus must tow the "party line." The fact is, however, conservatives have a wide diversity of opinions on things, and not every intelligent conservative will agree 100% on everything. On social media, I have actually went after people for those stereotypes, but if they see the facts and own up to their own presumptions and apologize, I can easily let it go and life goes on. Still, however, people need to understand that not every conservative is a card-carrying Republican who voted for Trump without question and lets Fox News feed them opinions. Give us some credit - some of us just know how to be smart enough to think for ourselves, and at times when that happens one ends up with views that could tick off both fellow conservatives and Leftists. That then leads to this - not every conservative talking-point is universally correct or espoused by every self-identified conservative, and not every talking point is wrong either - some are and some aren't. It just means we need to return to the value of thinking critically in order to embrace what is right and discard what is wrong. That concludes my political soapbox in the discussion.
Moving on, I wanted to sort of recollect a couple of things now, although I will save most of that for my year-end retrospection in a couple of weeks. However, one thing comes up that does fit in, and that is the feeling that it's been so good to be back home after 27 years in exile in Florida. Granted, moving back here has had its challenges - many challenges actually! - but I have no regrets regarding the big decision to move back. The location we live in now is actually at the center of my greater domain, which stretches roughly from Clarksburg, WV in the west to Baltimore in the east, and from Pittsburgh in the north to Marlinton, WV, in the south. This essentially encompasses the area where most of my life, my legacy, and my heritage is found. It is familiar, comfortable, and well, just home. The thought of even moving anywhere else now is out of the question, as now we are actually getting ready to buy our current place and re-establish roots again. It is good for Mom as well, as she is in her twilight years and she'll at least die on home turf when her time comes as well. I just wanted to spend some time on that.
Moving onto other thoughts, I have a bit of faith perspective now. If you have seen Fiddler on the Roof, you will recall in the beginning scenes of the movie that a group of villagers was either getting out of Shabbat services at the local village synagogue, or they were having a town meeting. One villager then asks the rabbi if it is proper to pray for the Czar (the film is set during a time of pograms in Russia just prior to the 1917 Revolution, and although the Czar was not directly responsible for these atrocities, Jews were targeted by their Slav neighbors at times). The rabbi replies with this - "God bless and keep the Czar - far away from us!" I may expand on that for a future SPT article, but a couple of things did spurn this discussion. A couple of days ago (prior to writing this original draft), the notorious and openly socialist Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was hospitalized for what essentially was a heart attack. Bernie is 78 years old, so, to be honest, he's a bit old anyway for the activity he is doing. Further, due to his very anti-Christian rhetoric and associations, Bernie is rightly an enemy to those of us of Christian faith. There are many layers to this, but for sake of time the essential point is this - we can, in good faith and correct conviction, both pray for our enemies as well as praying for protection from them. Bernie's situation could be an answer to both types of prayers - he didn't die, which is good, but at the same time, or could have used this to restrain him from doing anything further to jeopardize his people. Even though for all practicality Bernie is more like Lenin than the Czar, I think the fictional rabbi in Fiddler says something that could equally apply in both situations. As mentioned, this is a potential SPT article for later, as it warrants more in-depth study.
So, there they are - some good random thoughts for the time being. I may have more later, so stay tuned. Otherwise, the best to all who chose to read these eccentric and eclectic ramblings.
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