Let Me Introduce Myself

Sunrise On A New Era of Change

Let me introduce myself. I’m a man of neither wealth nor fame.

I post articles with the hope that you will find them interesting and inclined to return again. I promise to write truthfully, to the best of my understanding and capabilities.

In the past I have been partisan. Nonetheless, in these chaotic times, the last thing you or I need is another partisan view. This requires that I form a new perspective that is more inclusive. I need to open my mind. I must to be less judgmental and listen to a wider range of views. Changing habits is hard but doable.

Also, it is important that I am clear about my intent. You can judge for yourself if I am being true to my promise. I believe that being honest about myself leads to a more honest and personal interaction between us. We don’t need more Baffle Gab.

I share ideas for us to think about. You decide what to do with them. I am not telling anyone what to do. Rather, I hope to pique your curiosity. And encourage exploration and discovery. I am not a leader. I think people need to lead themselves, taking responsibility for our own feelings, thoughts and actions.

We live in a diverse and chaotic world. Yet we are deeply interconnected. Knowing this provides a measure of understanding and stability. We can lead ourselves through the turmoil. We can learn to appreciate each others experiences, concerns and ideas. To do this, I share my thoughts and see where they lead.

Everyday provides new information that challenges what I think, my feelings about them, and my resulting actions. Everyday requires concentration, energy, and an open mind, which none of us have all the time. In essence, I don’t know where we are heading. But it is some place perilous. I share my posts are my to learn about us. What we can do to act in our best interests.

I am a student of life, sharing what I learn, so we can learn and act together.

Lastly, it is important for to know my background to understand the experiences that have shaped my life. I have worked as a gasoline station attendant and sales clerk. I also served as a laborer with brick and stone masons. Additionally, I was a driver for a van for a temporary staffing company.

Also, I have worked as a Psychiatric Aid and Councilor in hospitals and residential treatment programs. Then as a Technical Writer in various industries. And I am an Entrepreneur. I have worked as a Freelance Tech Writer. With my wife, I was Co-owner and Operator of a bicycle touring business in the south of France.

My educational journey has been as varied as my work. My formal education began after graduating high school in the summer of 1965. Then 45 years later, in 2010, I received my Bachelor’s Degree in The Practice and History of US Education. Sporadically I took classes at three state universities, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The programs I sampled were Journalism, Theater, Science, Engineering and Urban Teaching. Eventually I patched my classes together in to my degree.

I enjoy discovering and learning. I take pleasure in what I have done. Nonetheless, today I can’t find my diploma. I continue to move on. Learning, whether through my life experiences, curiosity, or formal education has been personally satisfying.

Question: what do I contribute that would encourage you to return and read more?

Curiosity

All of us are curious about things that interest us. For example, some people follow the development of their family members. Others study the Bible or other philosophies. Some have hobbies or follow sports. We can’t help ourselves because we are born curious.

As for me I am not just curious, I’m nosy. I’ve always been curious about my world. Any thing can, at some point, intrigue me and draw me in. I’m the dog that chases squirrels. What attracts me to a squirrel are the question(s) it raises. Who, What, How, and When? What and Over my life I’ve developed a wide-ranging awareness of our life experiences that shape our existences. This has been exciting.

Each of us live unique lives. We share similar events but not experiences. Our experiences are uniquely our own. We each live in our own internal universe of experiences, feelings and thoughts. Collectively we all live in the multiverse of Existence. When our universes touch each other it is through our personal experiences.

For Example, Death

How does a family react to the death of a family member? It depends on our relationships with the dead and everyone else. Each of us experiences grief in a singularly personal way. We will know that others are grieving and according to our experiences with them will interpret what they are feeling. But we really don’t know exactly.

My Skills Help Us Understand

I have a few particular skills that add value. I am a competent writer. I don’t want to waste your time. I work to engage with you by choosing my words carefully. I pick them for their meaning , accuracy, and conciseness.

Most importantly, I recognize patterns in the knowledge I’ve gathered. This ties ideas together in to some degree. But many folks limit themselves to chasing only rodents they consider to be important. This makes sense. It takes precious time and energy to gather data, ponder it’s meaning, and turn it into information. Again, we all do this to some degree. And, if we apply this knowing to doing it can turn into Wisdom. Unintentionally, this what I’ve done all my life.

If you have gotten to this point congratulations. It means we are forming a shared experience. Our personal universes are touching.

Let us find a shared world where we work together in peace and prosperity.

Another post will drop in about a week.

PLEASE NOTE
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It’s 2025, A New Year, What Now?

New Year’s Day, 2025, a fresh day, year and start.
Winter is necessary for Spring, the time of Renewal.

I have posted nothing since November, 2022. I’ll go into more detail at a later date. However, like many of you, I have experienced stress and anxiety, with a resulting loss of optimism and motivation. But it is a fresh year and a fresh start.

Over the past two years, I’ve had plenty of time to re-evaluate the topics and tone of my earlier posts. I need to be more authentic in the way I express my thoughts. To do this I intend to:

  • Ignore the news cycle and follow themes that are rewarding to me and, hopefully you. The 24×7 news cycle monetizes everything. The result is a narrow focus on what the media deems important, even when not. This generates shallow biased reporting and de-facto censorship to appease advertisers and powerful groups.
  • Concentrate on ideas that are constructive and thought provoking. They can be unfamiliar and challenging. Fresh-air for our traumatized, cobwebbed minds. New ideas for a new era. For instance, how can all of us be free while successfully meeting our collective responsibilities and solving our shared problems?
  • Focus on a more positive outlook. There is no need for name calling or stirring the pot. I will respectfully pose seldom discussed ideas. You can assume that these concepts will challenge long-held views and values.
  • Provide researched analysis and thoughtful commentary. Which I hope will pull all of us closer together rather than turn us against each other. There is much more that binds us than divides.
  • Offer an opportunity for personal growth for me and you. Perspective is the key.

We live at an amazing time when both mind numbing fear and heroic courage are choices we have to make. In Frank Herbert’s Dune book series, a powerful religious organization called the Bene Gesserit had the Litany Against Fear. It went like this:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

While we live in perilous times, there remains beauty and magic from which we can draw Inspiration and Motivation. We are not powerless.

So welcome to 2025. We have paid for our tickets, might as well take the ride.

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This content written and illustrated by Les Phillips is licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 Universal Public Domain Dedication license. Assisted by Perplexity AI (research) and Night Cafe Studio (illustration)

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Moonlight

Moonlight

Today is Election Day and I’m full of dread. I want to say that I’m optimistic and trust in the innate wisdom of the American People. I don’t.

There is a line from Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel Dune. It is one of the self-control teachings the hero learns from his mother. “Fear Is the Mind Killer.” This election is an unambiguous demonstration of that truth.

A couple of nights ago, I couldn’t sleep. Worries and aches and pains made it impossible to find a comfortable position. My head was like a Dodgem Cars rink. Ideas whirled about, spitting sparks and stinking of ozone.

I got up and went into my office, sat in the darkness, and mediated. The moon shown with the cold, crystalline light of the void. I studied its craters and mare, contemplating time and the immensity of existence. I felt the same awe that I had felt as a kid when I stared into the night sky. Sometimes, I would feel as if I were falling into the starry night.

I felt a sense of completeness. All my sparking-stinking concerns ran out of juice and ground to a halt. My fears were reduced to husks. Emptied of their energy, they could no longer grow and fester. My apprehensions withered, transformed into fossils that I could examine and demystify.

In the morning, reality, authentic and imagined, re-imposed itself. However, impressions of the moonlight reminded me of what I felt and understood.

Tonight, as I listen to the election returns, I will visualize the moonlight and calm. I will examine my curiosities and continue planning for a more humane future.

Regardless of the outcome of this election, nothing changes, unless we change it.

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Moonlight is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. Hand-held image taken with iPhone 8+, Processed using Topaz Studio and Photoshop

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11/08/2022

Our Last, Free, Election?

November 8th, 2022 is the most important election in United States history. What happens in 2024 depends on what occurs on 11/08.

Vote Democratic if you want transparency, accountability, action, and a voice in shaping a brighter future.

Vote Republican if you want blaming, excuses, criminal behavior, and pointless death to continue and get worse.

With the Democrats we have a prayer.

With the Republicans we are cursed.

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Image of Earth, NASA, Earth from Orbit: NOAA Debuts First Imagery from GOES-18 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

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Ukraine: Setting Things Straight

Ukraine Fights for Its Life
NATO totters towards Putin’s Plan B

Is Europe, with the acquiescence of Biden, about to cave before Russian aggression?

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches it’s 4th month of slaughter, some NATO members are talking about pushing Ukraine to give up a portion of its occupied land to provide Putin a face-saving out. The fear is that Putin will employ nuclear weapons and that he may spread his invasion into other vulnerable nations like Finland, the Baltic States, Georgia and Moldova. He can keep the area he’s captured, in return for peace. By sacrificing 20% of Ukraine perhaps everyone else will be safe. Chamberlain would be proud.

This is playing into Putin’s Plan B. If he can’t take his objectives by force, he can secure them through threats and brutal attacks against civilians. And, as we’ve had seen, Putin’s word is worth nothing. He can not be trusted. So why base the future on an agreement with a man you know you can’t trust and who has a history of bloody aggression.

History is replete with examples of how the US and Europe have failed to answer the cries for help by other people fighting for their freedom; Hungary – 1956, Czechoslovakia’s Prague Spring – 1968, the betrayal of the Kurds – 2019, and others. Is the US and NATO about to try to force Ukraine to surrender its territory because they (we) don’t have the stomach to do what is necessary?

Simple Truth Anything short of defeating the Russians in Ukraine and liberating the areas currently occupied, including Crimea, is a defeat for the West and only sets the stage for another conflict in a few years.

I think Henry Kissinger was one of the first to suggest Ukraine should conceded land for peace. A close look at Kissinger’s career should warn all of us. His Machiavellian Politik is worn out and belongs on the dump pile of history.

So, if I were speaking directly to Biden and NATO I would say, “You have a moral obligation to ensure Ukraine defeats Russia. Being willing to sacrifice Ukraine to shield ourselves is cowardice. What is needed is a rapid rearmament and resupply. Quit clutching your pearls and kick our bureaucratic system in the butt. Get the Ukrainians what they need, including long-range artillery and missiles.”

As for Putin, “NATO and the US have no intention of setting foot on Russian soil or demanding regime change. We are and will continue to provide all the weapons Ukraine needs to defend itself and recapture land occupied by Russian forces. “

“If Russia uses chemical and/or biological weapons, the US and NATO will launch counter strikes with powerful conventional weapons on Russian positions in Ukraine and in Russia along its border with Ukraine. NATO and the US will not use nuclear weapons unless Russia uses them first. In which case, we will respond in kind. Period. ”

Now is not the time to blink.

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Setting the Record Straight

I have come to the conclusion that Humanity is too stupid to live. Every day is chock-full of examples, both by individuals and groups, of short-sighted, self-serving, decisions that are clearly self-destructive. Gun control is one example.

Twenty-one bullets. Cost per round, less than $1.00.
21 lives = $21.
Life in the United States is cheap.

Good Guys With Guns?

It’s been weeks and I’m still struggling to write something about the massacre of innocents in Uvalde Texas. However my anger and frustration make it difficult. There are so many things I want to say but they would be redundant after better minds than mine have spoken out.

Facts and figures do not carry weight with about 20% of Americans. These “normal Americans” are victims of the steady flood of propaganda from Fox News, Trump, Republicans, Christian White Nationalists and Russian provocateurs. Their minds have been poisoned and they are now an undeniable threat to our freedoms and nation.

I’m tired of trying to cajole, convince, educate, “see their side”, etc in an effort to reason with a rabid minority and their cowardly politicians. In my opinion, any politician that obstructs comprehensive gun reform is an accomplice to murder for every gun death that now occurs. And the average “everyday day” Americans who support them are guilty of reckless endangerment and manslaughter. Actions have consequences.

As for all the slippery slope and 2nd Amendment arguments; that’s all fiction. Bottom-line, we need much tighter gun regulations that reflect the real anger these devices pose when in the hands of an American. We need tight controls because a large segment of Americans can’t be trusted with a gun. As for the Good Guys with guns, they’re good only until they go bad. The mere presence of a gun in a house increases the likelihood of injury and death by accident, domestic violence and suicide.

As for all those who identify themselves as Good Guys and then parade around armed at demonstrations and political activities, I’ve got news: The act of displaying a firearm is a threat and the belligerent attitude often shown towards others is a threat. Good Guys don’t go around threatening people. Bad Guys do. That is why we need tighter controls. You’re part of the problem.

Photo: M-1 carbine magazine with 30 cal. rounds. Circa WWII.

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