And the winner is….

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A very nice lady, Barbara McQuade, a professor from The University of Michigan Law School, turned a phrase in an interview about her new book: “Attacks from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America”. The phrase is “Tribe Over Truth”.

I’ve heard of “Truth over Tribe”, google it for it’s religious elements.

The Tribe over Truth phrase sums up modern American discourse: we believe what our tribe, our party, says over the realities, the truths confronting us. I do see it in some of the Democratic Party conversations, like when there is no real, honest rendering of Joe Biden’s age and condition. But those instances of Tribe Over Truth (TOT) are unique to political conversations and consistent to the story-telling aspects of all political debate, including hyperbole, obfuscation, misdirection, and omission. Perfectly acceptable, right?

But TOT on the right/far-right has gone beyond reason. In personal conversations with Trump supporters, there is often a “shut down” evident in the face of my conversational partners when discussing the cult-like power of–and the adoration for–Donald J Trump. Please note it is not Trump’s fault. As I opined in an earlier essay, he is doing a masterful job as a political candidate.

But his supporters are not equipped to consider “alternate facts” which are contrary to the Trump Tribe narrative. Again, not policy issues, just plain facts. Most Trump supporters, for example, still think he won the popular vote in the two elections Trump lost, one by 3 million votes and the second by 7 million votes. It is an astounding, baffling conversation to hear arguments and statements completely the opposite of those accepted facts. See how the MyPillow guy and the rest still cling to them. And some others: Obama was not an American citizen. Joe Biden is a puppet, Nancy Pelosi is head of a pedophile ring in DC.

To non-Trump supporters it makes rational discussion impossible, and even causes some on the Left/Far left to adopt the same ploy: just ignore truth and repeat lies. And political discourse is sent swirling down the shitter.

Tribe over Truth hasn’t just become an assault on facts, but a true method of “support group” activity. Almost as puzzling as watching truth get sidelined is how tightly the Trump Tribe circles the wagons and has each other’s backs. Attack a Trumper and watch what happens.

It is a truly remarkable societal/political phenomenon. One thing comes to mind: is there any way we could harness the TOT energy to actually solve problems? Imagine Donald Trump telling the tribe to love everyone, black, gay, democrat, immigrant…do you think the Tribe would turn on him?

Composting: The Body Disposal Alternative

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An enlightened and well-read reader from the Seattle, Washington area (Yes, they can read out there) has answered the question and about an alternative to burial and cremation for the disposal of our earthly remains: put the body in your compost bin with your food scraps, lawn clippings, and garden debris. But remember one part green to one part brown for layering.

First of all, do you have a compost bin? Explaining composting as a method of corpse disposal is going to be hard for those who don’t compost. For those who do, imagine a big compost “bin” the size of a average warehouse. Put the body in there, and with proper ventilation, and tending you’ll have compost material in 8 to 12 weeks. As composters know, there are many variables which speed up or slow down the process. For reference: a body buried–without a coffin–will take 5 years to “skeletonize”, but takes up to a decade to fully decompose. That’s ten years underground without a coffin.

For those who don’t compost: google it. Not enough room here to explain.

Body composting has been happening for many years, already. There are, now, several companies offering to help with climate controlled warehouses to speed things up and guarantee results

I’ve lost myself in this research so here are some fun facts to end this column for today:

  1. The body will compost into about one cubic yard of material to be used in any garden, legally, if you do all your paperwork.
  2. Teeth and bones DO NOT compost and they must be screened out of the material or ground up and added back in to the material. Unless you want them for something else. Necklace?
  3. The Catholic Church is against composting, calling it “dehumanizing”. Hm. Kettle/pot thing comes to mind. Wonder what Catholic cavemen did with their dead…

Composting food waste, garden clippings, and organic waste is great for the environment. Your garbage turns into gardening material, not a methane-producing lump buried underground. And its energy efficient. No gas fired furnace for cremation, or diesel grave digging machines. (Does any cemetery still dig graves by hand?) Also, maybe in the future there will be DIY Body Composting areas? Or kits available at Lowes?

I’m all for composting my (currently) producing methane lump, when my methane producing is halted and it’s time to sail off to heaven, or someplace similar.

Take my organs and put the rest in the bin.

Death? Again?

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To paraphrase a famously observationalist comic: What’s the deal with death?

We all know what the deal is: it happens and nothing we can do about it. But what about the business of death? The times after the event?

I once applied for a job with a cemetery/funeral home. During training, their primary instruction was to stay near the family and up-sell. They gave me a sheet not only with the prices but comments to make to the family. The one stuck in my brain: “Doesn’t your (loved one of any status) deserve this bigger headstone?”

My most agonizing issue is the disposal of the body. Anybody reading this claustrophobic? If, so, do you cringe, mightily, at the thought of being sealed in a coffin, lowered into the ground, and covered with dirt? If you’re not claustrophobic let me explain: burial is the worst case scenario for any of us afraid of small spaces we can’t get out of. (sic, for ending with the preposition. See what death does?)

So, cremation? Sounds like the best of a bad choices game, especially if the burning pain ends. But imagine if you feel that pain for eternity? That’s a really, really bad choice.

So that is the “deal with death”. What will it be like, after you know what? Speculation is all we can do until someone comes back and posts a trip advisor or rating on yelp. Personally, I hope the energy that is our lives, the electric energy which (maybe) contains the soul, is freed from the bony, fleshy mass the soul has been trapped in, and the soul flies up to the sky, free, free, free at last. (More on where it might go, later.) Then, whoever has the money can pay whatever they want to do whatever they want to that bony, fleshy mass of a carcass. It’s no longer my concern. (Yes, I am an organ donor, so…)

But…but…if only there was a way to know… Right now, all I know for sure is no burial, and no fire. Find a better, less painful way. Just in case. Ideas, anyone?

PS Might be record use of ellipses, at least honorable mention for the the last three (now six) lines. Wonder if they will be part of the decision on where my soul goes…anyone using the ellipsis too much goes to…? And thank you for not counting parenthetical expressions.

Why Now?

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Mysticism: a belief or experience involving a direct connection with the divine or ultimate reality, and can also refer to an altered state of consciousness.

No one really understands the brain. We’re close, but not close enough to mapping the 86 billion neurons making up an average brain. Add to the complexity, each neuron can have hundreds of thousands of synapses, or connections to other neurons. 86 billion times 100,000 equals…

So when someone says they have a mystical experience, what does it mean? Is it in fact a connection with the “ultimate reality” (safe way to include all deities), or is it a misfire, a malfunction of something in the synapses and neurons?

As a young man, I experienced episodes of “dazed happenings” lasting from 30-60 seconds. They were times when my mind went wandering and I let go, resulting in feelings of connection and “great peace” with the world. They faded with maturation but were never forgotten. I labeled them “Grace Periods.”

With the onset of The Calamities in 2023, and after months of drug treatments and radiation, the Grace Periods tried to make a comeback. Maybe. In the months following treatment, the “mind wandering” would start, but the first few times it continued down a darker path and felt like approaching death, so I fought the wandering and found my way back to “normal”. Subsequent UNC research revealed a name and possible cause: Orthostatic Imbalance from too much potassium. Limiting potassium and quick, body position changes ended the “Dark” wanderings

But as you can probably tell by my last post, the wandering has returned. And if the wandering is unchecked, the result is trees talk to me and there is beauty everywhere. God’s beauty, or the “Ultimate Reality’s” beauty. Its a funny thing (strange funny) to feel. “Things” disappear. Things like worry, anxiety, pain, the unfathomable, bottomless questions about “being”. All gone. Nothing but contentment. Not happiness, just a feeling everything will not just be okay, but it will be what it is meant to be. The wandering is still not understood. But, all is well.

As a senior citizen, my first understanding of why these things happen is the close relationship to death. Or closer, relationship of age. A few months back I wrote about a midnight revelation (See: “Whoa…really?” from May 10, 2024.) which may be related to the Grace Periods.

A rational, scientific mind could interpret what I’ve described as the misfiring of complicated bionic equipment and connections in an aging brain.

A mystical person, however, would revel in the evidence of a Grand Design from the Ultimate Reality, who has something fantastic in mind for one of His/Her/Its creations.

Maybe someday we’ll know but right now, both explanations sound right to me. Contentment is a wonderful thing, even if it’s not understood.

Nature? Nurture? Let’s call the whole thing off…

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A farm up bringing in the 1950s and 60s set the foundation for a certain life: frugal, efficient, and ornamentally-deprived

Add to the mix a pubescent mind reading the complete works of JD Salinger, and a love of 1950’s folk music and what do you get?

A young human being who has a serious issue with modern materialism/consumerism.

I was sun bathing on a picnic table behind a building in my home city this morning, and the huge tree next to me said: “Talk to me.” Are plants sentient? The tree was 80 feet tall, or more, and had a canopy designed so perfectly, the blue sky was brilliantly painted in the spaces between the thick, green leaves. And the sun came in to the picnic table at an angle, so as to tan, but still allow my gaze free access to the sky.

It was perfect. It was heaven. And it was free. No charge. No deposit. No waste. No plastic packaging.

I answered the tree. I asked if it was lonely, even though its majestic canopy seemed to be holding hands with the neighboring trees. It didn’t answer but had anyone else in history talked to this tree? It had to be very old. Was it senile? I touched its bark but still no more words. Maybe trees aren’t sentient, after all.

But are humans? My recent move from the south to the north highlighted how fast–and insidious–consumerism is: a lot of “things” left my life through donation, garage sale, gifting, or (sadly) garbage. All that came north was what I needed. It fit in my small car. Where had all those departed things come from? And why did a “human being who has a serious issue with modern materialism/consumerism” have all this excess stuff?

The idyllic morning in my tree support group sent me back to college days, when as Freshman we were challenged to “challenge everything”, every modern assumption, every modern truth, every modern “ism”.

There is no hope for the world if a man who hates consumerism ends up a absent minded consumer, is there? Was it my nature that overcame my nurture? Or was it something else?

Back at my apartment, I looked for my worn copy of Vance Packards 1957 book: “The Hidden Persuaders”, a book about how advertisers can manipulate consumers, but it was gone. I’ll just have to buy another.

Can Someone Explain?

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While never enamored of any political candidate since 1960, when I was 8 and thought the world of JFK, I am deeply enamored of common sense. It should be noted common sense and politics are mortal enemies, so my position makes a little bit of sloppy sense: if you have common sense, you hate-and would like to ignore–all politicians.

But there has been such a glaring lack of common sense in politics over the last 30 years, it needs to be addressed and called what it is: Stupidity.

The Republican Party has for many years, at least since Newt Gingrich, trumpeted (yes, intentional pun) itself as the Party of the People, the Party that represents all the best of America, all the really good people. You listen to the Red supporters and believe they are the only, true-blue party of America: every non-republican is evil and horrible.

So. How does that True Party fare in Presidential Elections?

Since 1988, the Republicans, the True Party of America, has won the popular vote of the United State of America, once. In all other 7 elections,The Party of America was outvoted. George HW Bush lost, Robert Dole lost, John McCain lost, Mitt Romney lost, Donald Trump lost (twice), and George W, Bush won the only one time for the Republican Party in his reelection in 2004. He lost the popular vote to Al Gore in 2000. Even worse when Trump and Bush were elected by Electoral College Mischief, they were a MINORITY GOVERNMENT making decisions for the majority who did NOT vote for Trump or Bush. (Please do NOT say Mitch McConnell’s (sic) name.

Hm.

When Donald J Trump was running against Hillary Clinton in 2016 he was very astute in calling out the fraud that was “going” to be part of the election, He knew he’d never win the popular vote and he lost by over 3 million votes. But he got the Right Votes, and became President, where he and his blond assistant claimed, repeatedly, the Trump win was a “mandate for change” voted for by The American People. WTF?? Republicans have consistently run with the idea they are in the majority and are the only true people who can run America. In some states, the Repubs have used their recent victories to change laws, elections, and voting districts to ensure their statewide power. (See NC, a state split nearly 50-50 Dem to Repub, the Red guys have maneuvered their party into a Do-Whatever-We-Want super-majority in the law-making institutions supposed to represent the people of the state.) Trump, to his credit did what any self-respecting politician would do: lie about Fraud, and try to subvert the legally elected change in government.

And then? Republicans preach and blather about fraud and conspiracies, anything to keep the eyes of the electorate off issues, and get DJT reelected. Can he finally win the popular vote on his third try? Better question: is he all the Republicans have to offer in the last 8 years? They and Trump lost the 2020 election by 7 million votes. Common sense?

The point is this: Politically, America is split nearly evenly between Dems and Repubs. (Us Independents have no say, anymore, but our numbers are growing.) Even when the Dems won the popular vote all those times, it was never a blow out. So do we need more politicians being hyper-partisan, especially Republican politicians who have no common sense justification for such hubris?

Both sides, of course, are to blame but one thing is obvious: when the Republicans get Power they work it like a dog with a bone to make sure they don’t lose it. Does that help the American People?

The nice thing about our government structure, if it survives, is the checks and balances of three branches. Let’s make sure common sense prevails, or The United States might not.

And I said MIGHT not. Not WILL not.

Do you do this?

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Turn off the sound on sporting events? Forget me sounding like an old grumpy, man, modern sports announcers suck. Sideline reporters? Unless they have boobs…waste of time. The really stupid thing, now, is interviewing coaches and players while the game is happening. All my old high school coaches would shit a brick.

Use different credit cards for different purchases? As a low consumer of all things, I spent years trying to efficiently use a 3% card for gas, 4% card for dining, 5% for specific hotels, and with Walmart, Target, and Amazon (and others), 5% if you purchase a certain way. Nuts. Now, I have one 3% card dedicated to gas purchases and one 2% card for “all other purchases” and I am a “less tense purchaser” Plus Amazon and Walmart cards, of course. Note to CFP types out there who might argue about using credit cards: I pay all balances off with no annual fees, and enjoy monthly statement credits from the cards.

Use self-check-out for financial gain? My credit union offers me a high interest rate on my checking/debit card account if a certain number of purchases (“Swipes”) are made, keeping in mind the more purchases/swipes you make the smaller the balance earning interest. Plus, (see above), the more swipes you make on the checking/debit card, the less swipes you make on the Credit Cards at 2, 3, and 5% with interest gained on each swipe. It’s important then, to maximize debit card swipes to get the higher interest rate, yet keep the checking balance high for the biggest bang, and use the credit card swipes to get high interest back. Thus, self-check-out. In one shopping trip for bread, buffalo chicken, bananas, and fudge-covered Grahams, I can make one debit swipe for the total bill with the aisle lady or 4 individual swipes for the same total dollar amount if I do it myself.

Get tired easily?

Have the point of your writing wander off and leave you with a full page of…something?

Nap in the afternoon?

J#$%# F*&@ING CH#$%^

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I waited patiently after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump on July 13, 2024. Maybe we could get a week off from all the babble and bullshit of our modern politics. Even just a day of peace…

It is surprising. I was a counter-culture, anti-materialistic rebel in the late 60s and 70s and heard a lot of bad words for nothing more than the length of my hair. “Patriotic” Americans were the worst of all. Without talking to me it was “take your hippie shit out of here and leave the country of you don’t like it.” Once, the words were from the back end of shotgun, and if you want to end a conversation real quick, or get rid of annoying hippies, a 12 gauge was a good bet to get the job done in 1970.

Sadly, America still sounds like that but the AR-15 is the gun of choice, these days. An arms dealer/politician from somewhere in the Midwest is already sounding the alarm about AR-15s being taken away from citizens…if Biden is re-elected. Midwest guy wants you to buy yours now, and if you already have one, buy another. It is beyond ironic after Trump gets shot by an Ar-15, a Republican politician wastes no time in defending the weapon, and up-selling it.

So in 50 years we’ve made no progress. Why? Politicians have become Followers, that’s why. Donald, JD, and other Republicans know what their base wants to hear, and the Republicans give it to them. They’ve been that way for the many years after The Army-McCarthy Hearings. (Google it, young people.) The Grand Old Party has kept its ear to the ground for over 70 years and they learned how to shape political conversation. Most recently, the GOP (and Trump) tried to deligitimize Obama with false claims and lies, and conspiracies. None of which were true and have ever been substantiated, but the GOP base thinks otherwise.

Now, to make matters worse, the Democratic Party is trying to imitate the Republicans. Its a relativelt new concept since in the past The Blue Party did all their dirty work behind the scenes. (Young people google LBJ and enjoy.) Most of your successful Democratic politicians were sweet faced in the public forums and ruthless in the back rooms. But now that type of discourse and dirty tricks is out in the open for both parties.

Which leads me my favorite saying for the last 70 years: Why, why, why would any American become a cult member of any political figure? ANY POLITICAL FIGURE! Since about JFK, our presidential elections have been a choice between good and not so good, bad and not so bad, or really bad and okay. Do you see “Excellent” or “Very good” in any of those choices? (Both Carter and H.W. Bush were good, decent, honest men, and look what happened when they tried to get re-elected.)

Everyone, remember: each and every politician goes to great lengths to get you to like them, to vote for them. I can personally guarantee, without knowing any of you, that you’re making a choice for President based on the power of one (or maybe two) issues. One Concept. One Political view. And you’re doing this in a time when a multitude of complex and complicated issues facing us are not even on the front page. Donald’s lying is. Or Biden’s approaching senility.

If we want to elect good (or better) politicians, we have to expect more from them, not award the prize to the least objectionable candidate. If you see what I’m saying, bless you. We, as country, need to get better as people, as informed people before “The Followers” will ever do what is right and best for America.

From the 60’s but possibly pertinent: never trust anyone over 30. Sadly our presidential candidates are well passed that age, and even past their “Sell By” dates. Think about it and make us all better.

Still…

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It’s becoming depressing, meeting lots of people who know more than I do about anything and everything. Being exposed to education should show us (at least it did me) there is more out there in this world. In Fact, the more we learn, the more OBVIOUS it should be there is more to learn. Note I am using the lowercase “education”, not the upper case Education, meant to refer to “institutions of higher learning”.

A warning: the word “intellectual” is about to be used. Again, it will be the small “i” intellectual, not the currently denigrated capital “I” Intellectual uneducated people are so fond of making fun of, these days.

All of us have an intellect. (Look it up if you don’t believe me.) It’s a God-given trait, like red hair or a big nose. But how many of us think about our “intellect” and how to use it? We wash and brush our red hair to keep it clean and shiny. We blow (and pick) our nose to keep the airway clear of snot and debris. But what do we do about our intellect? Do we take it for walks? To the gym? Feed it the correct food?

After a very tumultuous 1960’s I was sure the world was going to be a better place because so much of the population was exposed to, and becoming involved in, the issues of the day. Learning about those issues, through education, would save us. Hitchhiking around the country in the early 70’s I found people who were excited, enraged, ecstatic, angry, threatening, and yet all were talking, arguing, listening, and asking questions. I thought the nation’s intellect was expanding and an educated populace would save the world. Really. And, no, I was not a regular drug user. Huh. Not that I remember.

But we lost our way, Disco. Damn disco. And cocaine. And ABBA. And heavy metal rock, shares some blame, too. Sadly, lots of things combined to tragically lower the national intellect and we elected an actor as our president. Reagan did an okay job, but somewhere during that decade we lost the need to know more, to learn more, to understand. It was noticeable when George H.W.Bush did the right thing in his first term (raising taxes), and the people voted him out of office. Bet a lot of politicians learned a lesson from that: do NOT do the right thing if you want to get elected.

But back to the point: there is a clear lack of intellectual curiosity in America these days. At both the personal and national level. Personally, when we meet someone wearing a Trump hat or Biden pin we assume we know all about the person wearing either. So we don’t bother to ask questions or take the time to find out how wrong or how right we might be. Even worse, if they are not wearing either, we don’t care to find out why. I meet people and want to know who they are, what they do, where did they start life. And people are happy to tell me, but they never ask back. There is no intellectual curiosity about others. None. We see ourselves, and that’s all we need to know about the world.

I’ll stop wasting your time and summarize: be curious and ask questions. Of everyone. At least some of the answers you get might be right. And you will probably NOT be the best judge about the truth until you educate yourself, but you’ll have more data to feed your intellect. Its hungry.

Problems, if anyone cares

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My new favorite spot is The Turning Stone Resort and Casino, ten miles down the road. It has a beautiful fitness center with a pool on the third floor of the resort’s Tower Hotel. Since moving back to New York, I swim three times a week and then stumble down to the casino floor to sacrifice $5 each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. For “fun”.

The Problem is I’m not losing. It’s hard to lose big on penny slot machines at 50 cents a play, but for years in the past, when an infrequent out-of-state visitor, as soon as the $5 was gone, my casino day was done. But now, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the inscrutable Asian/Japanese slot machine closest to my walk to my car, who’s directions I can’t read, with the big, comfortable seat, has decided to do something different. It has paid about $15 a day, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, after two or three 50 cent bets. And I cash out. Am I being set-up? On candid Camera? Being Punk’d? Should I stay longer? Play more? Bet more?

There’s an elevator in my beautiful apartment building where I live in my beautiful apartment on the second floor. My Problem is every time I take the elevator, either up or down, some one always tries to get on before they see I am trying to get off. Like the elevator is their personal conveyance. I’ve ridden elevators all over the world and never saw this type of behavior anywhere else. At least I don’t remember. And why hasn’t this happened with the beautiful, too-young-for-me blond from the third floor?

I park my car away from other cars-if possible-when visiting hospitals, etc. Three times in the short 3 months I’ve been back in NY, someone else has parked so close to my driver side door my entry was impossible. Again, I’ve parked all over the world and never seen it as bad as here, in upstate NY. (I have pictures.) So, my Problem is not really how to get into my car, but how much damage to inflict on the stupid vehicle next to me. Last time, last week, I emptied a water bottle in the front seat through a cracked open window. Banging into the new plastic doors of some of these new cars doesn’t do anything, these days. Hm. Bet the seat dried before the stupid driver got back.

One last Problem, promise: Buffalo Chicken Pizza. $4 for a one large slice, or $28 for an 18 inch pizza with 6 large slices? The Real Problem? There is nothing like hot, fresh pizza of any flavor. But an 18 inch would take a few days to eat, leaving the last few slices to be cold, reheated, refrigerated pizza. But it’s there, ready, anytime. Not ordering, driving…um…this might take some time.