Finding Peace

There is a saying often attributed to Patrick Henry, but it was first penned by Evelyn Beatrice Hall.

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Hall, who wrote under the pseudonym of Stephen G. Tallentyre, wrote The Friends of Voltaire, an 18th-century biography of French Enlightenment writer and philosopher Voltaire, in 1906. Her book used these words to describe the principle of free speech.

The truth is you have the right to voice your opinions whether I like it or not. You have the right to express yourself in your own space and in your own way. I may not agree with what you say or even think you are wrong. But do you have the right to say it? Absolutely. This is still America, and the First Amendment still applies.

Too many people, unfortunately, have forgotten that principle.

Mature and intelligent adults can disagree. They can even have a respectful discussion based on facts and exchange ideas.

However, someone coming into your space to belittle, insult, and make demands on what you can or cannot say is not a mature adult. And I have sadly encountered a few of them lately.

In the last week, I have had to unfriend or even block several people from my social media sites, not because they disagree, but because they feel the need to attack, mock, and degrade to do it.

Most of us are secure in our beliefs. We stop reading if we encounter an article or post with which we vehemently disagree. We scroll right past it without commenting. It does not change what we think. It does not require a full-blown assault because we are confident in our own principles and values, even if they differ from the author's.

Some people, however, encounter the differing opinions of others as if they are storming the beaches of Normandy.

They tell you you are prohibited from saying this or that because it offends them. They may demand that you change what you have written. They may belittle, name-call, or use obscenities. They put immature little laughing emojis on all the comments. And they throw out "whataboutisms" and their own set of "facts"--many that have been disproven--like grenades at an entrenched enemy.

You need to understand the type of person who does this. They are not trying to convince YOU that you are wrong. They are trying to convince themselves that they are right. 

Sure, some people may simply lash out from pure anger. Others, however, do it out of insecurity. Deep down, they question their own beliefs. They are unsure of the values they adopted or the person for whom they voted. To elevate their self-esteem, they need to bring yours down.

If you must publicly belittle others or tell them what they can or cannot say to make yourself feel superior, you have far more significant issues than political differences.

I have a feeling I am not the only one who dismissed others from their digital world, either temporarily or permanently. And I am here to tell you, don't feel bad about it. It can be challenging to walk away--especially if that person was close to you at one time--but you deserve to feel safe in your own space.

No one has the right to tell you what you can say or how you can think. You would not allow them to do this in your own home. Do not allow them to do it on your social media sites.

People who cannot respect what you say in your own space are toxic. Even if they are family. Give yourself permission to eliminate toxins. Surround yourself with those who treat you respectfully, even if your politics differ. Kindness and political differences are mutually exclusive only if you allow them to be.

That said, if you attack and insult others on their sites, you are the toxin they have every right to eliminate. If you are using your own spaces to belittle others, that, again, is your choice. But please remember that nothing in the First Amendment protects you from the consequences of your own words and what they may do to your relationships. Is it worth having friends or family lose respect for you or walk away altogether over a meme? If you claim to be a Christian, does Jesus really want you to spread the faith by being cruel or narrow-minded?

Be the grown-up. Be secure and mature enough to scroll past what you don't like. Be confident enough in who you are to not insult others to make yourself feel better. Please be respectful, but demand the same for yourself. 

We all deserve safe spaces. Especially now, with the coming holiday season, we all deserve to find some peace. 

There's Someone You Should Meet

 I do genealogy research as a hobby. I would like you to meet my great-great-uncle, Antonio Sorichilli.

Antonio served in the Italian army during WWII. As you may know, Italy was initially part of the Axis Powers aligned with Adolph Hitler and the Nazis. After the capture and execution of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, Italy fought with the Allies.

When Italy signed an armistice with the Allies in September 1943, the Wehrmacht--the united forces of the German army, navy, and air force--took approximately 600,000 Italian soldiers as prisoners. They had been given a choice: join the Wehrmacht and fight against their own families and countrymen or be sent to the work camps. These men had refused to fight. My Uncle Antonio was one of them.

According to a family who still lived in Europe during WWII, Antonio was sent to a concentration camp. Italian POWs were mainly sent to one of three camps: Flossenburg or Mittelbau-Dora in Germany and Gross-Rosen in Poland. I have yet to discover which one of these he was in.

My Great-Great Uncle Antonio never came home. He died in a concentration camp at the hands of Hitler and his Nazi thugs.

No one in their right mind would admire or praise a horrendous human being like Hitler. Yet, according to retired marine general John Kelly, who served as Donald Trump's White House chief of staff from 2017 to 2109, Trump said more than once that "Hitler did some good things, too." 

Trump also told Kelly that he needed some "German generals." When Kelly asked if he meant the generals of Otto von Bismark, the chancellor of the German Reich responsible for Germany's unification in 1871, or Hitler's generals, Trump responded, "Yeah, yeah, Hitler's generals."

If you are about to tell me that these statements have been "disproven," spare me. We all know Trump admires dictators. He makes excuses for the horrific acts of Vladimir Putin and cares little if Ukraine is overrun. He fawns over and exchanges love letters with Kim Jong Un. He had a playdate at Mara Lago with Hungarian dictator Viktor Orban. He admires these men because he wants to be like them. Wielding unlimited power and demanding those under him bow to his every whim.

And if it comes down to a choice between believing General Kelly--a four-star general who fought in the Vietnam War and led the U.S. Military Southern Command--and a man who couldn't serve his country due to "bone spurs" and lies as often as he breathes--I will choose General Kelly every weekday and twice on a Sunday.

Hitler did not do "good things." Besides the death of my uncle, he sent six million Jews to their deaths in concentration camps. He is responsible for the slaughter of approximately 70 to 85 million people--about three percent of the world's population at the time--during WWII, which he began by invading Poland in 1939.

Let me make this quite clear. I will never support a man who adores and wants to emulate dictators. Ever. I will never vote for anyone who defends him, emulates him, or seeks his endorsement.

If your inclination at this point is to jump in and chastise me for not defending "life" by supporting Democrats, save it. You are defending a man who brags about sexually assaulting women and cheats on his wives with Playboy bunnies and porn stars. Who told his own nephew when he asked for medical assistance for his disabled son that he should just put him in an institution and let him die, then refused to give him a dime. Who lies about everything from Mexico paying for a wall to having a healthcare plan to "I won the 2020 election." Who mocks disabled people. Who refers to women as pigs and dogs who are "bleeding from somewhere." Who caused a rise in hate crimes toward Asian Americans with his juvenile references to COVID-19 as "kung flu." Who believes that "really great people" willingly participate in rallies on the side of swastika-waving neo-Nazis and torch-carrying white supremacists who chant, "The Jews will not replace us."

Want to defend and support this man? That is your choice. But believe me when I tell you there is no moral on high ground on which you can stand and criticize anyone else.

Why does Trump admire Hitler's generals? Because he wants to surround himself with minions who simply obey his every wish. During his last administration, he accidentally put in people with a bit of integrity who put the country and the Constitution over political parties and the whims of a madman.  

From Mike Pence, who refused to violate his Constitutional duty to certify the election, to Bill Barr, who told Trump point blank that there was no evidence of election fraud to investigate and that he did indeed lose the presidential election to Joe Biden, guardrails were put in place. Trump won't make that mistake again.

Let's meet some of Hitler's right-hand men, shall we?

-Adolph Eichmann - the primary architect of the "Final Solution" and the Holocaust. Eichmann came up with the "efficient" method of slaughtering Jews by sending them into gas chambers and disposing of their remains in massive furnaces. Jews were not the only ones who met this fate. The Nazi camps executed prisoners of war, disabled individuals, Roma and Sinti populations, homosexuals, and Jehovah's Witnesses. They even threw in a few priests and nuns for good measure.

-Heinrich Himmler - second in power to Hitler, Himmler was in charge of implementing the Holocaust and oversaw the network of Nazi concentration camps across Europe.

-Hermann Goering - head of the German air force, the Luftwaffe. Goering was responsible for the Blitz on London, an effort to break the spirit of the people of Great Britain. An estimated 40,000 to 43,000 British civilians were killed in the Blitzkrieg.

Theodor Eicke - head of the SS division Totenkopf, Eicke was a significant figure in the development of the Nazi Concentration Camps. The Totenkopf he oversaw was responsible for many of the war crimes committed by the Nazis, including the slaughter of French Arab and African troops who had surrendered to them in France and the murder of Black French Army soldiers they had captured for the crime of simply being Black.

These are the types of people Trump believes should be his advisors. These are who he admires. So if I don't stand with someone who praises the horrific Nazi dictator and his cast of butchers who were responsible for the death of one of my relatives in one of their abhorrent work camps, I am sure you will understand.

Hitler did do one thing for the benefit of all mankind. He committed suicide and rid the world of Adolph Hitler.

 

The Truth About (Eating) Cats and Dogs

It's Halloween, an appropriate time for a horror story. This one's horror is that lies are being passed around as truth.

For weeks, Donald Trump has been railing about Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating dogs and cats, a claim that is based on a Facebook post.  And we all know what a bastion of truth and accuracy social media is. These claims have been amplified in statements by his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.

This all started with an actual case in Canton, OH--nearly three hours east of Springfield. A woman named Alexis Ferrell was accused of killing and eating a cat in front of several other people.

Here is the problem. According to WPXI news in Ohio, Ferrell is not a Haitian immigrant. She was born in Ohio and graduated from high school in Canton.  

(Reference: https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/woman-accused-killing-eating-cat-ohio-is-not-an-immigrant-was-born-canton/CNKQDHSCUVF75HKKPODXURQSXQ/)

The city has seen a rise in Haitian immigrants, but they are not there illegally. According to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R), about 15,000 Haitian immigrants have relocated to Springfield under a Temporary Protected Status program due to instability in their country.

The city faces challenges, no doubt. Public hospitals, which by law must treat everyone (citizen or non-citizen) regardless of their ability to pay, have been stressed by the influx. The governor is sending additional state troopers into the area not because of an increase in crime but because many of these immigrants are unfamiliar with traffic laws. Tragically, a Haitian immigrant was involved in a traffic accident with a school bus, which led to the death of a young boy. But more about that later.

DeWine, whose family operates a charity in Haiti in honor of their daughter who was killed in a car accident, has called the Haitian immigrants hard-working, family-oriented people who escaped the gang violence in their country to work toward a better life. 

(Reference: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ohio-is-sending-troopers-and-2-5-million-to-city-where-many-haitian-migrants-have-relocated)

So, naturally, we now have the starting point to spread false rumors that are ripe with racist undertones. 

According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch, Springfield City Manager Brian Heck has released a statement saying there is absolutely no evidence that Haitian immigrants have kidnapped or harmed pets. Nor is there any indication they are participating in illegal activities, including "squatting or littering."

In addition to eating people's pets, Trump then insisted Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating ducks out of parks in Springfield. This accusation is based on a viral photo showing a Black man (no evidence exists that he is even Haitian) carrying a dead goose.

First, according to the newspaper, this photo was taken in Columbus, OH, not Springfield. Second, the individual who took the picture in July and wishes to remain anonymous told the reporter that he "regrets taking the photo and did not expect it to be used by right-wing accounts to weaponize against Haitian immigrants.

(Reference: https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2024/09/17/springfield-ohio-truth-latest-since-trumps-haitian-pet-eating-claims-fact-check/75260318007/)

Combine that with the regret of the woman whose now-deleted Facebook post sparked the entire incident. Ericka Lee heard through the local grapevine that a neighbor's cat had disappeared, so she naturally posted the rumor that a Haitian immigrant might have taken the animal.

After the post began circulating, Lee checked in with the neighbor to determine whether the claims were true. Turns out they were not. 

The alleged missing cat did not belong to her neighbor's daughter, as Lee had claimed. It supposedly belonged to a friend of a friend of the neighbor's daughter.

The "eaten" cat is actually named Miss Sassy. After Miss Sassy disappeared in August, her owner, Anna Kilgore, did indeed file a police report insinuating that her Haitian neighbors had something to do with her cat's disappearance.

A few days after filing the report, Kilgore discovered Miss Sassy hanging out in the basement of her house. A picture of Miss Sassy has even appeared in several newspapers, showing her where she was found, alive and well, in a camping chair.

Kilgore told the Wall Street Journal that she has apologized to her Haitian neighbors not only for filing the false report but for the role she played in perpetuating the hateful lies now circulating in right-wing circles.

But the ball of hate was already rolling long before Kilgore's apology. Once Lee's Facebook post found its way into the hands of J.D. Vance and the right-wing media. It took on a life of its' own, much to the horror of Lee. "I was not raised with hate," Lee told the New York Times. "My whole family is biracial. I never wanted to cause problems for anyone."

The false nature of the claims is either lost on Trump and Vance, or they simply don't care as they continue spreading the lies. As a result, an entire community is now in right-wing crosshairs.

(Reference: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/us/springfield-haitians-pets-facebook-rumor.html)

Worst of all, Vance knew the rumors were false before spreading them. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, a member of Vance's staff called Springfield City Manager Heck on September 9 to ask if the rumors of Haitian immigrants eating pets were true.

“He asked point-blank, ‘Are the rumors true of pets being taken and eaten?’” Heck told the Journal. “I told him no. There was no verifiable evidence or reports to show this was true. I told them these claims were baseless.”

(References:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/20/politics/springfield-ohio-vance-campaign-wsj-report/index.html

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/springfield-ohio-pet-eating-claims-haitian-migrants-04598d48)

None of this matters to Trump or Vance. As recently as last week, they have continued perpetuating the rumors that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating family pets. Vance's staff even waved a copy of the now-denounced police report around as "proof" even though the woman who filed it has admitted it was based on false information.

 Vance even doubled down on those lies after being called out on them while also chastising the media for reporting on his lies. 

"The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes," Vance told CNN's Dana Bash in an interview on September 15th. "If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I am going to do."

Bash then asked Vance to clarify what he meant about "creating stories. "Dana, it comes from first-hand accounts of my constituents. I say that 'creating a story,' meaning that we're getting the American media focus on it." 

Vance continued to perpetuate the lie by saying that "people who shouldn't be in the country" were eating pets.

 Even though there are no credible reports or evidence that this is happening. Even though pets disappear every day for various reasons that have nothing to do with people eating them. He also continues to ignore the fact that the Haitian immigrants he is accusing of eating pets are actually here legally.

Vance has lost sight of the fact that he is putting his own constituents in danger. Numerous bomb threats have been called in on Springfield buildings, including 33 bomb threats on schools. All the threats have been determined to be hoaxes, some even coming from bots that originated internationally. However, buildings must be evacuated and searched each time a threat is received.

And each time Trump or Vance repeat these lies, the threats against Springfield ramp up again.

Highway patrol officers sweep each Springfield school building for bombs every morning before students are allowed inside. All as a result of rumors that Trump and Vance clearly know are lies but don't care.

It is worth the collateral damage to paint an entire community in a false and negative light to score political points. And if a few people get hurt in the process--whether they are innocent school children or a group of black legal immigrants--it matters very little. It is the price they are willing to pay to gain an advantage through misinformation.

We should all be disturbed by this, but those who care little about facts and prefer to cast whatever their political biases deem "truthful" are clearly on board with spreading misinformation.

The parents of the young boy killed in the bus accident have every reason to be angry at the Haitian community in the Springfield area. But they are not.

Although Trump did not mention Aiden Clark--the child killed in the accident--during the debate, Vance has used the child's death as a talking point on several occasions alongside the false claims of Haitians eating pets and spreading tuberculosis and HIV around Springfield. He claimed that the boy was "murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here." 

Speaking in front of the Springfield City Commission on September 10--the same day Trump accused Haitian immigrants of stealing and eating people's pets--Nathan Clark, Aiden's father, blasted the far right for using his son's death for political gain. 

"You know, I wish that my son, Aiden Clark, was killed by a 60-year-old white man," Clark told the Commission. "I bet you never thought anyone would ever say something so blunt. But if that guy killed my 11-year-old son, the incessant group of hate-spewing people would leave us alone."

"Using Aiden as a political tool is, to say the least, reprehensible for any political purpose," he continued. "And speaking of morally bankrupt...politicians like (Ohio Republican Senate Candidate) Bernie Marino, (Texas U.S. House Representative) Chip Roy, JD Vance, and Donald Trump then spoke in my son's name and used his death for political gain. This needs to stop now."

Clark went on:

"My son...was not murdered. He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti. This tragedy is felt all over this community, this state, and even the nation. But don't spin this towards hate."

"There is nothing moral and Christian about lying and deliberately putting people in danger. There is nothing moral and Christian about spewing hate towards anyone, even if their beliefs are different from yours. There is nothing moral or Christian about discrimination and hate-mongering. Jesus died on the cross to prove that."

(Reference: https://fox2now.com/news/national/his-son-died-in-a-crash-with-a-haitian-immigrant-he-says-politicians-are-using-it-for-political-gain/  )

No, it is not moral or Christian to deliberately lie and put people in danger. But it resonates with those who don't distinguish fact from fiction. And that translates to political gain that makes lying well worth it.

Suppose they are willing to lie about something as ridiculous as a group of legal immigrants eating pets while knowingly putting an entire community--including school children--in danger. What else are they willing to lie about for political gain? 

Well, hurricane relief, for one thing. Trump and Company are spreading false rumors that there is no hurricane relief money because it was all spent on "housing illegal immigrants" and that FEMA is seizing property and homes. They also claim that there are no representatives of FEMA in North Carolina and Georgia and that all of the cleanup work is being done by independent groups. All lies. 

Threats against FEMA workers have sometimes caused the agency to pull its people out of various regions. Explain to me how this helps the people who have lost everything?

These lies have been debunked by the governors of both states and many Congressional representatives, Democrats and Republicans. But again, the lies are worth the collateral damage.

The fact is that many who will be voting next week do not care about these lies. Anything that fits in with their political ideology and biases is deemed truth, no matter how bizarre and unlikely or who it hurts.

Some horrors, sadly, are all too real.

What's Left Behind

 In August of 2010, we went as a family to a local animal shelter. We came home with an 8-week-old brown puppy we named Chloe.

On June 16, 2023, just four days after her 13^th birthday, we went with her to the
vet one last time to say our goodbyes.

She was a 10-pound ball of energy that grew into a 74-pound sweet yet often stubborn dog. There were times when she could be an absolute love bug. Other times, she would look at you like she would flip you off if she actually had the digits to do it.

She was more than a dog to us. She was our protector. Our travel companion. Our constant shadow. Our floor cleaner. The greeter when we walked in the door. And a friend who knew exactly when you needed a cuddle, an encouraging lick, or a ball dropped at your feet.

Her fur may have turned grey, but for 12 years she was a ball of energy that could still run with the puppy next door. Then in August of 2022, we found a tumor in her mouth that the vet diagnosed as melanoma.

This is a fast-moving cancer, she advised us. She probably only had weeks or months left.

But being the dog she was, she defied the odds.

The tumor was removed, and follow-up visits showed no sign of it returning. Her blood work was excellent. We thought we had dodged a bullet. Perhaps she was in total remission or the diagnosis was wrong.

Yet little signs started creeping in that her age was catching up with her. She moved a bit slower, had some difficulty getting up, and went on some medication for joint pain. Her hearing greatly diminished. And she lost some interest in the toys she so loved.

In late April of this year, we found another tumor in the exact same spot. The vet removed it and was confident she got all of it. But on a follow-up visit only three weeks later, the tumor was already growing back.

Then the bleeding started. Just spotting at first, and we thought it was from the tumor site as it was still healing. One night, however, she had a bad nosebleed. Another followed a few days later. She now had a tumor in her nasal cavity.

A Chinese herb recommended by the vet helped slow the bleeding. For about three weeks, she had relatively minor episodes. But on the night of June 15^th, she had a major bleed that lasted at least 30 minutes.

She was panicking and kept shaking her head to clear her nose, which kept the bleeding from clotting. All four of us were covered with blood trying to get her to calm down enough to slow the bleeding. We finally did after about five towels and copious amounts of blood on the floor, walls, and ourselves.

We also found out that night the emergency vet clinic in our area had closed. The closest one was 40 minutes away.

What happens next time if we truly cannot stop the bleeding? She may not survive a 40-minute drive to a clinic. That night, we decided we cannot put her or ourselves through this anymore. In the morning, I called the vet and made an appointment to bring her in that afternoon.

That morning, we all rearranged our schedules to spend her last day spoiling her. We gave her more treats than we could count. She had one last doggie sundae. We took her on a final walk through the neighborhood she loved and protected. We gave her all the pats, hugs, and love a great doggy deserves.

At 3:00 PM, we all walked into the vet's office with her one last time.

She was never fond of the veterinarian and was shaking at first. But we surrounded her, petted her, and talked to her until she calmed down. We gave her Hershey Kisses from a jar the vet tech gave us labeled “goodbye kisses.”

When the time came for her to go, we told her what a good doggy she was, how much we love and will miss her, and how we would never forget her. She went peacefully, taking a part of each of our hearts with her.

A few days have passed since that sad Friday. Her ashes have been returned to us and will be buried in our backyard when her memorial marker arrives. Her dog bed, food dish, and toys have been put away since it was too painful to look at them.

Leftover dog food and treats have been distributed to neighbors with dogs who express their sadness at her passing. Although I suspect they will not miss her barking at them.

Her leftover medication has been packed up and will be given to a local no-kill shelter. And the emptiness left behind without her presence is sometimes more than I can bear. My first walk without her was unbelievably hard, especially when a neighbor asked where she was. I barely held it together as I told her Chloe has passed.

Still, I know she is not really gone. When we lose a pet, they take a piece of our hearts with them. But the memory of the love they left behind fills that void in our hearts. And that love will never leave us for as long as we live.

Thank you, Chloe, for keeping our yard safe from squirrels, birds, moles, chipmunks, and anything else you could chase and sometimes catch. Thank you for protecting us from anyone who approached our fence, even if it was neighbors you saw hundreds of times.

Thank you for never leaving food on the floor long enough for us to enact the five-second rule. Thank you for the exercise, the enthusiastic greetings when we came home, and all those moments you somehow knew we just needed you close by. Thank you for the wonderful memories of the time spent with the world’s best dog.

Most of all, thank you for the love, the devotion, and for being our beloved doggy.

Rest in peace, sweet girl. We will love you always.

I Can’t Tell You What “Woke” Is. But I Can Tell You What It Has Done

 Apparently, it is an insult now if you call someone “woke.” But I don’t quite understand why.

Especially since I don’t even understand the definition of “woke.” Is it someone who believes in treating others as equals despite our differences? Or is it just some general label you give someone because you don’t like their views?

This is especially important because if you ask people the definition of woke—including those who complain about it—they usually can’t define it either.

I think most people consider it something akin to making people comfortable and not trying to insult anyone. But others apparently see it as something demeaning that keeps them from expressing themselves.

This is puzzling because you certainly are allowed to express yourself. It’s usually the consequences of expressing yourself that cause the problems. But I digress.

Like most people, I cannot give you a definition of “woke.” But I can tell you what “woke” has done:

•          It passed the Nineteenth Amendment, giving women the right to vote and a voice in America.

•          After 146 people—mainly young women—died horrific deaths in a factory fire and after thousands of workers were maimed, disabled, and killed in workplace accidents, it established unions and occupational safety standards to protect American workers.

•      After decades of Jim Crow laws, it eliminated the lynching, segregation, and discrimination of African Americans through the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

•      It eliminated unfair voting practices in the south by White officials who gave “tests” and administered grandfather clauses to potential Black voters with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

•      It makes discriminatory practices against LGBTQ individuals—such as kicking them out of their homes and dismissing them from jobs—illegal. It also legalizes gay marriage, which is supported by over 60 percent of the people in this country. 

•      It passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, guaranteeing equal treatment and access to public buildings to Americans with mental or physical impairments.

•       It established the Clean Air Act in 1970 and the Clean Water Act in 1972, both passed by a Democratic Congress and signed into law by Republican President Richard Nixon.

•      It gave women reproductive rights. A right supported by over two-thirds of Americans.

•       It gave rise to the #MeToo movement, which gives women a voice against predatory sexual practices and has finally encouraged law enforcement to take sexual assault cases seriously.

•       It has given us Medicare and Social Security to help Americans deal with aging. It has given us disability to aid those who are injured or sick. It has given us a myriad of social programs to aid those struggling with poverty.

 In every one of these cases, there were those who opposed these movements or the legislation that resulted. Why? Because for some people, when someone of a different race, sex, sexual orientation, social class, or even a different political persuasion gains rights, they believe they are somehow losing theirs.

People who are angry over some perceived “loss of rights” or dissatisfied with their lives will always see someone else’s gain as a personal affront to them. And they need a scapegoat.  Someone they can target for their perceived loss of status. They need a convenient target upon which to take out their anger.

So now, apparently, that anger extends to people who support those who were or are marginalized. So we call them "woke" in an effort to insult them. When all most of us are trying to do is make sense of an ever-changing world.

I had an argument with someone once who said the entire #MeToo movement was void because a few women claimed that men whistling at them constituted sexual harassment. This person claimed that this makes the entire movement “ridiculous” and we should just disregard it.

First of all, some women do see this as a form of sexual harassment regardless of how it is meant. That does not mean that everyone who supports the movement will agree.

Secondly, I cannot find a single case where a man was actually arrested or prosecuted for this. Nor can I find anywhere in the United States of America where whistling at women would be considered a crime.

And finally, the #MeToo movement has resulted in a dramatic decrease in sexual harassment in the workplace. It has also meant that police departments now take reports of sexual assault seriously. There is now a movement nationwide to process a huge backlog of rape kits in dozens of cities around this country.

But, sure. We should declare an entire movement that has occurred to the benefit of ALL women null and void because a few don’t like men whistling at them.

What you need to remember is that in every movement—regardless of whether it is on the right or the left—you are going to have those on the extreme edges who take things too far. But to use that as a litmus test of an entire movement is extreme in itself, not to mention ridiculous.

Speaking of taking things too far and embracing the ridiculous, let’s look at the reaction of some on the far right to the recent collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank. Fox News devoted copious amounts of time on Monday to claim that the bank’s instability and collapse were due largely to the fact that they tried to be too “woke.”

Really? So it had nothing to do with the banking deregulations that occurred in 2018 (because we clearly learned nothing from 2008)? And that bank’s heavy reliance on investments in high-tech startups? Or the fact that Silicon Valley Bank had extensive holdings in bonds, which lost value when interest rates started to climb?

To listen to the words of “wisdom” from the likes of Fox News or Florida Governor Ron DeSantis—who never misses an opportunity to take an uninformed cheap shot—you would think that bank was run by Greenpeace, the cast of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and a drag queen named LaChicqua.

But Fox is in damage control right now for a number of reasons, and recent court document releases have shown us how seriously we should take anything that comes out of the mouths of Rupert Murdoch and Company. Including their definitions of “woke.”

Even if you believe that woke has gone too far, take heart. History has continually shown us that when society leans too far to the extreme, balance eventually returns. What comes to pass is a middle ground that won’t make anyone on the extreme edges happy but is something by which the majority of us can abide.

What NEVER comes to pass, however, is a return to the old status quo where you can marginalize, demean, criminalize, and deny basic rights to those who look or behave differently from you because you need someone to blame.

So if you seek a return to a narrow-minded, ignorant mindset and believe the rest of us will blindly follow, you have bigger problems than “woke.”

Enough With the Thoughts and Prayers

Gun violence has hit a little close to home this week.

My daughter's alma mater, Michigan State University, was the latest victim in a string of casualties. Shannon is no longer at the campus but still has friends there. On Monday night, she was texting with someone who had barricaded themselves in one of the buildings while a person who had no business having a gun roamed through several buildings, shooting and killing at random.

Yes, the typical outrage is being bantered about. People are angry that this has happened yet again. Others, however, counter and claim that this is not a "gun" problem. It is a "societal" problem or a "mental health problem," and the guns are as blameless as their victims and are not REALLY killing people. Or the actual problem is that more people are not running around with guns to shoot back at the people with guns.

Sure sounds like a gun problem to me.         

But that outrage will play out as it always does. With nothing. Simply because a portion of our politicians is beholden to a constitutional amendment ratified in December of 1791. 

A time when the young United States of America had no standing armies and relied on volunteers. 

A time when a nation that now boasts nearly 332 million had a population of  3,929,214.

A time when the $12 cost of purchasing a gun--about $390 in today's money--limited the financial ability of many people to purchase one. That equaled about five weeks' worth of wages in Colonial times. No one who did not absolutely need a gun spent five weeks' worth of their wages on one.

A time when muskets and flintlock pistols held one round at a time and could fire off a maximum of three to four rounds per minute, while today's semi-automatic weapons can fire as many as 45 rounds in that same time period.

The founding fathers may have envisioned a country that would grow exponentially. I think it is safe to say they did not envision anything like the carnage that modern guns can inflict.

But none of that matters. As some see it, we are all simply collateral damage in the right to own guns. And as the collateral damage adds up, they simply double down. To the point where even common sense measures are seen as a "radical left" tactic to ban all guns.

Well, I am not a member of the "radical left." I am a moderate. I reject extremism on both sides of the political spectrum. I also have guns in my home. And I have had it.

I do not want to hear your excuses. I do not want to hear only "thoughts and prayers." As someone who DOES support the right of citizens to own firearms, I want common sense.

I want red flag laws passed that allow families to work with law enforcement to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill or those suffering from psychological issues, whether long-term or temporary.

I want the gun show loopholes closed.

I want expanded background checks and mandatory seven-day waiting periods for ALL gun purchases.

I want all illegal firearms and all guns confiscated during the commission of crimes to be destroyed, not sold at auctions or deliberately put back into circulation so that law enforcement can "trace" them back to criminals. We all know how well Operation Fast & Furious worked out.

Lastly, I realize that the practice of private citizens owning semi-automatic weapons is a hot-button issue. Everyone has an opinion, and that is fine. To me, however, no private citizen needs to own a weapon whose only purpose is to kill as many people in as short a time as possible. I want the sale of semi-automatic weapons discontinued to the general public.

And let's talk about people with guns shooting at bad guys. Back in 2015, a suspect was fleeing a Home Depot here in Michigan after leaving the store with unpaid merchandise. The man was caught on surveillance video. Employees were aware and were following the suspect to get his plate numbers. Police had been called.

However, a woman with a licensed pistol took it upon herself to stop the thief. She began randomly firing at the suspect's vehicle in a parking lot full of people. 

The thief got away but was later arrested. The woman was also charged and given 18 months probation for reckless use, handling, or discharge of a firearm. 

It turns out that just because you have a permit to carry a gun doesn't mean you can whip it out and start firing it in public. It also means that even if someone is a "good" guy with a firearm, it doesn't make them responsible. Or smart for that matter. 

I don't understand the logic of arming a whole bunch of people who just randomly start firing a gun in a situation where they may not even understand the circumstances or consider the "collateral damage" that may be all around them. Or don't care simply because they want to be labeled a "hero." Leave the hero work to those who are required to be specially trained and put in specified numbers of hours on a gun range to be certified to use that gun.

You don't have to agree with me. That is certainly your right. 

But I am guessing there are a lot more people out there like me who are sick to death with the "thoughts and prayers" of those who want to point fingers and pour the blame on the "other side," but have no desire to do a damn thing to stop it. Because doing something about it would require them to grow a spine and stand up to the gun lobby.

It would also take away many of their talking points and their ability to put all of the blame on someone else. After all, when you do nothing but run your mouth, the risk is minimal.

Prayer, in my opinion, is certainly a good start. But James 2:14-17 reads:

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

What does that mean for those who go around continually offering thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families, to those traumatized by the death and violence they have witnessed, but do nothing more? When you are not offering the solutions, not giving the most vulnerable members of society the protection they need, is that not "faith without works?"

Thoughts and prayers alone have never stopped a bullet. But for those who have only thoughts and prayers to offer, they go a long way toward keeping them flying.

Changes in Seasons

 I usually look forward to autumn. I love the colors, the cool crisp air, and the sights and smells of this amazing season.

But not this year. Because I know I will likely be losing my beloved companion of 12 years. My dog, Chloe.

She was recently diagnosed with an aggressive and rapidly-spreading form of melanoma. Although her blood work is excellent, X-rays reveal the cancer may already be in her lungs. The vet cannot say for sure, but she very likely only has months to live.

Her time all depends on how long it takes the cancer to spread. It could only be a matter of weeks. Or she can hold on for six months or longer. No one knows.

I try to concentrate on giving her the best doggie life I can and focus on the time we have left. She still loves her food and treats. We continue to take our morning walks, although she is moving slower now. And our walks also take more time because I no longer hurry her. I give her the chance to stop, sniff, and enjoy this world while she still has time.

But the uncertainty is always lurking in the background. I find myself dreading the time when she will not be here for a walk on the Lake Michigan shore or a short hike near the woods by our cabin instead of taking in the moment.

So, like all difficulties in life, I have placed this in God’s hands. I know he will guide both her and us in His wisdom. I am certain He will give her the gift of the time she needs while giving us the capacity to enjoy these moments with her along with the wisdom to know when it is time to let her go.

For now, we will keep taking walks as the morning air grows cooler each day. I will buy her a loofah dog—which she generally tears apart within a few days—just because I know the pleasure it will give her. I am going to buy the fancy frosted dog cookies at the pet store that I normally only buy for her birthday, just because I can. And I will keep reminding myself to live in each and every moment with my friend.

Because all seasons bring changes.