If you are the type of Catholic who only comes to Mass on Easter
or the holidays, maybe you should change your once a year visit to Good Friday.
Ironically it is the only day we do not celebrate Mass, yet if you come on that
day it may inspire you to come to Mass more often. (just a planning ahead
moment for you)
And yes Happy Easter to all no matter when or if you come to
church or Mass or any celebration. You are still loved.
Praying for peace
However for the time being we are a government subordinate
to petty differences not lead by two parties, but by two sides. Each side
determined to win.
The DHS funding situation is just the big slap in the face
to the American people that our two parties cannot govern anymore because they
cannot put the people and needs of this country first, only their side. They
have fully judged the other side as the problem, yet won’t admit they are the
other half of the problem.
We, as humans, will judge everything in our daily lives. I won’t
go down the there is only one who should judge discussion instead focusing on
why being judgmental as humans is a recipe for failure.
Both sides are one hundred percent sure they are right and in
doing so throw insults and judgmental comments at the other side only inflaming
the inability to work together to solve problems. Any rational group of people even
with differing priorities could find solutions to funding DHS. We are not
rational anymore.
If anyone lives in a closed mind, they will live in a prison
of their own making. You cannot see solutions, you only see walls. And that is
where we are right now. Our two parties
along with their media and echo chamber “bases” have built a wall between them.
The irony is most democrats and republicans in the real world are not part of
the wall. Most Americans just want to
get about with their lives and want our government to fix problems. They are
stuck in the rut of having chosen a side they blindly follow the “leaders”
because they do not perceive an alternative. They can sit in their living rooms
or at the dining table and talk about how the other side fails parroting
talking points that give them no answer. Yet in reality they know a failure is
happening with our government.
These Americans not part of the wall are left to the side suffering
the inability of the two parties to represent them. Americans want answers yet
they have been conditioned to answers that do not exist, only something that
has devolved into ugly rhetoric, insults, finger pointing and are left
wondering what can be done better. Yet no better comes along because they are
stuck trying to budget shrinking real spending paychecks and higher costs.
Many in our country probably could do a better job with what
is in front of us if given the chance, but the cards are stacked against them.
The system favors the duopoly because the duopoly spent decades making the
system. The system is destroying this country, not the people, not even the
individuals that are in the system. They are just caught not being able to give
an inch because their echo chamber would castrate them politically. And cannot
have that because even though they might have an answer to help the people,
their power is more important.
Yes it is hard not to judge people as a person, so I try,
but I fail, so I hope my arguments fall into your ear as a judgment of the
system not any one individual because all the individuals to varying degrees
are part of this system that is failing us.
DHS funding is much easier to resolve if both parties work
to listen to the people than listen to themselves. That won’t happen at the
moment and so we get headlines that tell us how frustrated Washington DC is
because they cannot fix the problem. The DHS funding problem is just an example
of how far out of touch DC is with America.
It goes back to the old Pogo cartoon, the problem is us. Too
bad there are no metaphorical mirrors in DC right now.
I have said this before and I will say it again because I
still believe in who we are, what are our stated values, what we can do as a
people and what we have accomplished in our slow walk through history to get
better as a people. Somehow we just need to punch through the hate, the closed
mindedness, the my side is the right side and get back to who we are as a
people, not a side.
And that is a big switch for her.
And being the better half she is already concerned about if
we put boots on the ground, how many of these soldiers are parents. And if so
what about their children?
This war is so wrong on so many fronts that her concern is genuinely
needed to be considered. Why should children lose their parents to satisfy the
desperate needs of a failing presidency?
There is a very peaceful, practical, legal yet difficult
path to change the course of our country and if anyone is interested I will be
glad to spell it out. We need change immediately or this desperate man is going
to take this whole ship down with him.
One key factor is partisanship needs to be thrown out before
him so we can bring about productive change. The hate and finger pointing are
part of the problem so that needs to go. We don’t have to agree on everything,
but we do have to agree on three or four important pieces of legislation to get
us to the midterms once change is made.
Campaign reform with limits to be
given and a temporary pause on PACS and Super PACS etc being able to campaign at
all. Then true long term campaign reform.
Start talks to end the war without
compromising American interests which will be one hell of a tight rope to walk.
End the partial shutdown which may
or may not include ICE for the moment.
Pass a budget that basically holds
the fort on spending until we get to the midterms and the people can elect
representatives that truly represent them.
The process is in the Constitution and Amendments and it
begins with we the people.
Why are we still using fossil fuels for just about
everything? Why?
Outside of some very specific reasons like lubricants for
heavy machinery there is no reason.
Renewable energy shouldn’t be a problem. Too many people
fall for the myth that we need fossil fuels.
First of all Oil and it’s byproducts are poison to the human
body. It is flat out poison. No matter how you mask it, it will kill you. Yes
kill you.
Oil creates geopolitical nightmares. Yes we have one now,
but this isn’t the only one or will be the last one if we keep relying on oil.
A few people make billions the rest of the world gets hurt economically
every time there is a geopolitical nightmare that causes the price of oil to
skyrocket.
Nowadays it is getting more and more expensive to drill for
oil and that is why companies don’t create new oil wells until the price of oil
reaches a certain point and they feel comfortable it will stay that high. Only
the producers benefit, the rest of us suffer pocketbook nightmares just to get
to work.
Why do people continue to believe this myth we need fossil
fuels? There is no real answer. The oil companies will put out their
propaganda, yet if you dig deep enough it flies in the face of common sense.
Nothing is perfect, but renewable energy is much better than
fossil fuels.
Also plastics are not doing the human body and the environment
any favors. We could go back to glass containers. Sure it would take some
investment and we would need to recycle glass, yet it can be done. Remember
when we paid five cents for the bottle and got it back when we returned the
bottle. Updating this policy will work. And if someone says that takes effort,
laugh at them. That small effort will save us a fortune in health care costs
for all the poison destroying our bodies from the byproducts of oil. And yes we
are paying a price for this madness.
Cardboard or wooden boxes, again something that can be
recycled with effort. We are only fooling ourselves that we need plastics. And
even if people are inconsiderate and just leave this trash around, eventually
it biodegrades unlike plastic.
There are many alternatives to oil. We just need to make the
investment in time, money and energy to get us there. There is absolutely no
reason to continue to destroy this planet so a few people who already have billions
can make billions more.
Another advantage would be the development of new energies
will create new wealth to help close the wealth divide or at least create new
millionaires etc.
No matter what the oil industry says, there is no benefit to
continuing this madness. Sure it won’t happen overnight so the people employed
by the oil industry won’t lose employment right away. The transition takes time
so the employment picture will not be radically affected if young people head
to the new energy development instead of looking for oil field jobs.
And again getting off oil will reduce the number or unnecessary
wars such as the one we are in right now.
The only person who truly benefits from the human race being on fossil
fuels is the evil one. Everything else is interchangeable, saves lives,
produces new industries and jobs, gives us a cleaner environment and allows humanity
to grow not self destruct.
First it is sad how weak is our Senate. The are like abused
wives, afraid to speak up because they don’t want to be hit again. When in
reality they are grown adults with very definite responsibilities. Why are they
so afraid to do their job? Sure the Iranian regime are monsters to their own
people and a danger to the world, but how are we better if our own government
cannot do their job. There are three branches of government and each has to
follow the law to make sure our government works. When certain members are so
scared of their shadow they cannot even require some basic information from one
branch, why are they in office?
Yes we can cheer the demise of an autocratic government or
cheer regime change if it happens, but this should not come at the cost of who
we are as a people and for our government.
I don’t want to talk about Mike Johnson in the House,
because he is every bit the abused wife going along to get along. Does he not
hear himself?
Real adults can upset the apple cart when needed and Trump’s
applecart needs some upsetting or how are we to tell other countries that we
support their efforts to do what is right. When our soldiers are put in harm’s
way, it should not be done on a whim or at the behest of another government.
The President should and must come to the people and let us know what is going
on, so the Senate has every right and responsibility to put a hold or limit
what is done until the people have the full and CORRECT story. I am tired of
the lies and sycophants. Wake up America or is it we just cannot afford coffee
anymore?
Okay some of you may have paid attention to know I started a
very specific second blog where I only update to a second Substack blog. Well I
ran into a roadblock today, not a large one and definitely can crawl over it,
but it was frustrating.
I had a hunch the Dallas Public Library is not Catholic
friendly and it was somewhat reinforced today. There are suggested readings in
the front of the copy of City of God I am reading and I went to check some of
those books out. I searched for 4 based on titles etc. The library had none of
them, not in any branch. The wonderful guy at the counter offered to try an
inter library transfer from Dallas Theological Seminar. They only had one ebook.
When he first said Dallas Theological Seminar I was impressed since they are
more an evangelical institution, yet no real luck there either.
Maybe I should go enroll in a class at University of Dallas
just to use their library for this journey. Yet I do not think I want to go
that crazy. This is supposed to be a relaxed journey where I hopefully walk through
the City of God learning as I go. I do not think I am ready to create new discoveries
in the City of God.
There are hundreds of thousands of Catholics in Dallas
proper, yet the library doesn’t seem to think we are that important. If they
want to call me out, they can reach out.
I am tired of people saying they believe in God when the
whole world relishes what the evil one wants from us more than what God is
wanting to give us. Anyway I will continue my journey on that blog and if you
read this on the other platforms come on over and check it out. I am in way
over my head, lol.
Mr. Adam Silver is making every effort before the end of
humanity and the rise of AI taking over to give us humans some type of value for
our sports dollars by trying to figure out how to make the long NBA season
competitive for everyone’s enjoyment. Unfortunately the reality is some teams
each year will not be good and getting the first round pick is the goal.
And I apologize if someone else has thought of this idea. I
do not read too much NBA press or even Mark Cuban’s madness and I am a
Mavericks fan. The reason I bring up Mr. Cuban is because to me this sounds
like something he would cook up. Anyway if this in some shape form or fashion
has been proffered before, then take this as I second that motion.
First step is the season will need to be shortened to 76 or
78 games.
Second step is the teams with the two worst records, go into
a drawing or coin flip for the first spot in the draft. The team that loses
gets the sixth spot. Teams 3-10 are now playing a tournament for spots 2-5.
Third step is there is a quarterfinal tournament for the
last 8 teams. The winner gets the second spot, the team that loses the third.
The two teams that lost the semi final type games go into a drawing for picks 3
and 4. The teams that lose the original quarterfinal type games are in a drawing
for spots 7-10.
And these tournament games are not played on a neutral court.
The teams with the best records get home court advantage and the highest
ranking team or the ten spot gets to play the team with the third worst record
ie 10 versus 3 9 versus 4 and so on to begin. This means it would be hove a
team close to the play in tournament or playoffs depending if the play in
tournament is kept to try and win some games at the end to give themselves home
court advantage throughout the tournament. This may take some scheduling work
since arenas are usually scheduled for quite some time in advance, yet arenas
make do with teams making the playoffs so I think this can be done.
10 v 3
winner
7 v 6
Winner
= second spot in draft
9v4
winner
8 v 5
And this is just a proposal so any
adjustments are open to discussion.
Why not? First by shortening the
season a few games it allows for this tournament to take place over about five days
where the current season would end. Playoff teams get a week of rest to heal
and prepare. It doesn’t add more games to the regular season and this draft
pick tournament that players are not already use to playing.
Now TV revenue probably won’t be
high because fans won’t be too excited about these games since they are closer
to a novelty than the playoffs. What it gives us is the players having a stake
in the future of the team. It might mean some coaches won’t play players going
into free agency too much unless they felt like they were going to resign them.
All this creates some competitiveness for the last few games of the season as teams
should play for better positioning in this secondary tournament. The last two teams have an interesting conundrum
since they are in a drawing for 1st and 6th. Do they play
for the 50/50 chance of first? Or do they think they can do better in a
tournament to get 2nd through 5th?
Again we need viable entertainment
these last few years before the rise of AI.
Cheers
