Category Archives: Thursday posts

Status report: A snapshot of my life right now

Get on your feet, Justice, Thursday posts, , , , , , ,

On Tuesday 12/02, my therapist asked for a thumbnail summary of my overall situation.

I said, “I have goals, I’m taking concrete steps toward those goals, and I have a ton of hope.”

I know no way to account for this but the exact scenario I set forth in “Chaos overwhelms the poor:” I pay attention only to the concrete here-and-how, and to what I myself can do.  (Related:  Here – Now – Can.)  From the farthest reach of my right fingertip to my right, to the farthest reach of my left fingertip to my left: within that range lies all my responsibility, everything that I can control.  Here, the world appears orderly.  Here, I can order and manage my affairs.  Here I have power.  I can act effectively.  I can easily find hope.

A ton of hope.
Continue reading Status report: A snapshot of my life right now →

Cosmology

Bible, Thursday posts, , , ,

I originally wrote this as an introductory passage for “What the New Testament means to me.”   I wound up leaving it out as I didn’t think Ezekah would care for a whole lot of abstraction.

As I view the world right now, I see three elements:  (1) What Is, including the material (seen) world, the spiritual (unseen) world, and all possibilities of events that can possibly occur.  I may as well call this “God.”  (2)  A single set of principles that govern existence and all events that can occur.  What we call the laws of physics are an example of these principles.  I may as well call this “God’s will.”

(3) Human activity.  It may be that there are no commandments, and no such thing as sin.  Rather, God’s will is inviolable; and it is how we interact with What Is, inevitably in accordance with those principles, that brings weal or woe.  If we act this way, we can have a world of harmony, beauty and joy.  If we act that way, we’ll have a world of poverty, violence and bloodshed.

So far, there is neither need nor room for teachings of John and Paul that deviate from Jesus’ teachings in the Synoptics: no need nor room for a Son of God, perfect sacrifice, “belief in” Jesus, or heaven or hell — aside from the heaven or hell we create for ourselves in this life, here and now.

“What the New Testament means to me” points to ways to create, in effect, heaven on earth.  The opposite path is described in “A living hell.”

Originally posted 2014-12-17.

D.C. leasing winter space in motels for homeless families

Homelessness, Job search/Job prospects, Local news, National media, National news, Thursday posts, World News, , , , , , ,

Bookmarks:
D.C. leasing winter space in motels for homeless families • G.O.P.-led House panel exonerates CIA on Benghazi • Exceptional horoscopes update 2014-12-15 • Limits of TV realism • Deer Encounters Her Doggy Friend and Dances With Joy • Pope Francis: Doggie Heaven Is Real • More about Stuart Chase • George F. Will is upset about Eric Garner
Continue reading D.C. leasing winter space in motels for homeless families →

Guides to Straight Thinking

OUR BEST POSTS, The William Tell Show, Thursday posts,

Guides to Straight Thinking, by Stuart Chase

Life is difficult.

At this writing, I notice that perhaps a dozen times a day I encounter some fact or situation that I disapprove of, and more than disapprove of; I respond to it as if it ought not to have occurred, as if it ought not be possible in the real world.

In such situations, rather than deal with the facts as they are, human beings are inclined to make up excuses as to why the thing ought not be so, and then have one’s attention cling to the excuses rather than the facts.

At this point, one is no longer thinking straight.

This accounts for a tremendous amount of the confusion and drama we see in discussions of social issues and politics: “we” cling to “our” excuses, “they” cling to “their” excuses, and nobody is dealing with the facts

— with what is —

— with life.

In Guides to Straight Thinking, Stuart Chase examines thirteen of the most common patterns of excuses, or “fallacies.”   Clearing away these self-deceptions will make it easier to solve problems not just in politics, but also on the job, in the ‘hood, and in the home.

This book is square on with the goals of The William Tell Show.  I highly recommend it; which is why I’ve made it available here.

Guides to Straight Thinking, by Stuart Chase

Originally posted 2014-12-13.

My white friends are upset about Eric Garner

Homelessness, Justice, National news, Thursday posts, , , , , , , , , ,

Garner grand jury case reaction unifies left and right
Krauthammer: Decision not to indict NYPD officer ‘totally incomprehensible’

Garner was middle-aged, as we are.  He had not just robbed a cigar store, rough-handling the clerk; he was selling “loose ones,” as we all do.  We all buy and sell them all the time.  There’s some risk to it, as in Baltimore this activity in public can get you a $150 ticket (and you must appear for trial).

Death, however, isn’t normally in the scenario.
Continue reading My white friends are upset about Eric Garner →

“How municipalities in St. Louis County, Mo., profit from poverty”

Homelessness, Justice, National media, National news, Poverty, Squalor, Thursday posts, , , , , , ,

“[T]he uprising in Ferguson was an inevitable reaction to the institutional racism coursing through the area for decades.” — Jack Kirkland

I’m homeless.  At this writing, I’ve been homeless for exactly 3½ years.

When you meet a homeless man for the first time, you won’t notice his skin color.  Not first.  You’ll notice the condition he’s in.  You’ll notice his clothes, his grooming, his conduct.  Skin color is so far down the list, it might as well be left off completely.

Some disagree. They seem to think race is the only factor in poverty.

Continue reading “How municipalities in St. Louis County, Mo., profit from poverty” →