"Pissing With the Wind"

I am having a hard time getting this week’s blog post written.  I would call it writer’s block, but I don’t honestly think that a blogger is qualified to be referred to as a “writer”.  I only started blogging this year and find it akin to pissing with the wind.  Pissing against the wind creates blow-back.  In my experience, there is no blow-back from blogging.  There are no comments on the blog, intelligent or otherwise.  I do my best to make the subjects relevant, controversial and humorous, in order to not have you doze off while reading them.  I expect comments and thoughtful criticism.  Nothing!  Oh well, friends, relatives, loved ones will give the occasional “you are doing a good job, atta boy Buz”, but a comment on content or an opposing position is not taken.

Pissing in and of itself relieves pressure and that is a good thing.  So, I suspect I will continue with the blog, but I also suspect it produces no more than a good game of computer solitaire.   My daughter actively participates in Facebook.  Her entries to her Facebook program are short and informative or beautiful photos or art work.  She does receive responses to her entries and some come in the form of a complete sentence, but very few.  The responses normally have no more content to them than “Wow” or “Yeah”.  Her communication group is composed of artists, directors, actors in a large metropolitan area.  We have easy, fast high tech communication today, but I question if it is making us better communicators.  The cell phone carries us out in space, away from the vehicle we are operating, away from the family member we are with, or to a position of extreme rudeness to the friend we are sharing a meal with.  John, I know that you are presently patting yourself on the back for saying in your comment, “Congratulations!  You are now officially a curmudgeon.”  But ask yourself if there isn’t  just a little truth in what is said here?  Was the curmudgeon of yore a lunatic howling at the moon or a bellwether of the present and the future?

To be fair to you blog readers out there, Google at blogspot.com, the master of my blog site, has you reach the area for your comments by clicking on “No Comments”.  These words, to me, mean: don’t make a comment or no comments accepted.  The word “No” needs to be omitted.  It is counter intuitive.  When you try to contact Google to ask them to change this design, you find that they would really like to see you imaginary people communicate with each other, but they do not communicate with you.  Google talks to you, but never with you.

So, what is the purpose of this blog post?  Why are we here?  Would the World be a better place without political parties?   What is your awareness?  Does God exist?  Why do folks stand in the sand and shoot at each other?  Are we but lemmings with a cell phone in our hand?  Are Honey Nuts really as healthy as the package side would indicate?

Comments are welcome, Old Buz

"You Tomorrow"

A couple of posts ago, in this blog, a kindly reader named John, commented, “You are now officially a curmudgeon!  Congratulations!”  If you take a look at Webster’s New World Dictionary, the definition of curmudgeon is: a surly, ill-mannered, bad-tempered person; cantankerous fellow.  Most other sources add the word elderly.   Now if the definition were simply, a cantankerous, elderly fellow, it would be pretty close.  Surly, ill-mannered and bad tempered really don’t apply.  (But, if a pessimist living in his seventh decade is all that is required, congratulations were in order.)  The comment was made after the post titled, “HR 20….” And, HR 20 is in fact a stupid piece of legislation, co-sponsored by most of the Democrats in The House.  You need only to read it and see who co-sponsored it, in order to see that my criticisms of it are valid.  It would have been nice if the Democrats who co-signed the bill had read it first.  They simply cannot be dumb enough to think that HR 20 is a good piece of legislation for campaign reform.  It is a major increase in campaign spending.  You see, “they simply cannot be dumb enough” is a compliment and would certainly not be said by a curmudgeon.

 

In a logic class, while at Loyola University, I learned that appealing to one’s prejudices rather than to reason, as by attacking one’s opponent rather than debating the issue, is the fallacy of ad hominem.  Ad hominem is constantly seen on our TV editorials (cable news programs), talk radio and in far right and far left emails.  A good example, that is way overused, is comparing anyone to Hitler.  I don’t know that John read enough of my blog posts to know my age before his comment, so for all he knew, I may have been simply a pessimist (realist).  John, please read H.R. 20 and see if you can find any error in my analysis.  I would love to hear it.

You may ask why, “You Tomorrow” as a title?  It’s a warning.   My life trajectory has been: good student, to non-believer, to activist, to lobbyist, to realist, to pessimist, to John’s curmudgeon.  I would guess that the simple majority tend to see an elderly male pessimist as a curmudgeon.  I kind of like the title, see it as a badge of courage and awareness, but if you don’t, and are a middle aged pessimist, you had best mend your ways.  You women reading this don’t need to worry; because the term is normally applied to males.

Comments are welcome, Old Buz