tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50321558839131712182024-02-19T06:51:13.024-05:00Todays ThoughtsA blog to showcase my opinions and thoughts. Various forms from Artist Profiles to Random Thoughts, as well as long, newspaper style opinion pieces. And everything in between.Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.comBlogger669125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-77992142475135550502023-12-04T11:03:00.003-05:002023-12-04T11:05:30.466-05:00The thirst.<span style="font-size: large;">Bang The Drum Slowly is a movie I've always been fond of. Its one of those movies, when I see a clip, I will click on it, and try to watch more. It just is so well written, acted and filmed. The cast is off the charts. Basically, its a movie about two unlikely friends, one an urban, city type, a high end baseball pitcher on the best team in the league, and the other, his friend, a backwoods hick who is a catcher, but barely able to make a major league roster. Because the catcher is sick and his friend takes him to the Mayo clinic, he finds out that his friend is terminally ill and will die in a year or two. He attempts to conceal this from their team, so he can continue to play until he gets too sick to carry on. Its a movie that is set in the backdrop of a baseball team and the inside stories and personalities that go on within that, but there are very few baseball playing scenes, and its not about the game. Its about people. What can be and should be kept private, and who has a right to know those things. </span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rV_X9UJWQNU" width="320" youtube-src-id="rV_X9UJWQNU"></iframe></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Back in the day, Jim Bouton wrote a book about what really went on behind the scenes when he was a member of the New York Yankees in the 1960s. There were many big stars in that era, none bigger than Mickey Mantle. Most if not all of the reporters of that era knew exactly what Mantle and others did when the lights went down at the stadium and the game was over. Excessive drinking and sex parties, alcoholism, popping pills, strip clubs. All sorts of deviant behaviors. They reported none of that, and nobody really needed to know. Mantle showed up and played at all times. According to many, it never affected his on the field performance. The point is not that it went on, or that players are still humans/people, and that they do the deviant, and sometimes good things, that humans do. The point is that it has little to nothing to do with the game on the field, or ice, or court, and that I dont need to know about it. If I was a fan. If I was management, I did need to know about it and probably did. Whether or not that mattered probably was more related to the ability to produce than to ethical behavior and practices.</span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/awnaO5NLSCQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="awnaO5NLSCQ"></iframe></div></div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">In 1973, I was 8 years old. I had not read Bouton's book, or anything like it. I just watched the games. All the games. It was my life.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">As long as I could remember, I was a massive Montreal Expos fan and I lived for the games. I knew nothing about the players' lives other than what they did on the field. Nor did I want to. Or could I have. Nothing was ever reported like what Jim Bouton wrote in his book. I'm sure it went on, and there are now stories out there about those players.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">One day, my Aunt took me to a department store because two Montreal Expo players were there and were signing autographs and a baseball if you brought one. It was in the morning, after a night game the previous night. One of the players who I won't name but was a marginal starting pitcher at that stage and another player I dont remember but who was of similar insignificance were sitting at a table. I suppose I remember the pitcher specifically for one reason. He was borderline drunk and reeked of alcohol. You could smell it at least two aisles away. I never forgot that. His eyes were glazed and he was hungover as well. He was unshaven and looked like a bum off the street. In today's world, that would be all over social media and he probably would be released or put on waivers. That was a very different time and nothing like that happened.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Nevertheless, I remained a big fan and did not hold it against him or want more info on the other players. To me, they were just players. Players doing their jobs and that job was to play a game, get paid for it, and provide joy in my life. Which they did.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Isn't that all that should matter? Maybe it should, but today, it does not. More fans are interested in the soap opera than the game. It gives them a chance to gossip and speculate like teenage girls. And what is the result of that sort of thing?</span><br /><br /><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/corey-perry-chicago-unacceptable-conduct-1.7042523"><span style="font-size: medium;">https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/corey-perry-chicago-unacceptable-conduct-1.7042523</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">On Wednesday at my weekly floor hockey game, the rumor was breaking that Corey Perry had slept with Conor Bedard's mother after a function for the team. This had evolved over a week and the snowball effect of social media and rumor spreading had gotten wildly out of control. I hadn't even heard that rumor, as I go out of my way to avoid anything like that. I am basically only interested in the on ice product. The game. Enjoying the game. All the rest is meaningless to me, and frankly, none of my business. I am, for sure, a lone wolf in that respect.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">All I knew for sure is that whatever Perry did, it was bad enough that his team and the league had to deal with it. Which they did eventually. What that was is not nor will it ever be my business. In fact, It's none of my business. If I was a fan of that team, I would know he was not playing for my team anymore. That's it. It's a private business and personal matter that didn't happen on the ice or alter a game.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Ryan O'reilly seemed like the perfect fit for the Toronto Maple Leafs. A player--a type of player--they really needed. Strong and responsible defensively, a very good faceoff man, can both kill penalties and fill a role on the powerplay. And most important, he will score goals when you need them, when they are hard to get. It's not a stretch to say that they probably dont win the first round playoff series last year without him. Down in game 3, he scored a big goal to tie the game with less than a minute left in the game. That turned the series for them. That was just one of many moments in that series where his skill set paid off. He was a previous MVP when St. Louis won the Stanley Cup and they needed that type of player to get them over the hump.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">On top of that, he was a local boy coming back home. He seemed very eager to be part of the hockey crazy experience that is Canadian hockey, and more specifically, Toronto Maple Leaf hockey. This is a craze that includes reporting on anything and everything. Part of that is who plays with who in practice, where the players go on a daily basis, and little things about those players that nobody really needs to know.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Like this.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://torontosun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/taking-subway-to-work-has-become-habit-for-nylander">https://torontosun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/taking-subway-to-work-has-become-habit-for-nylander</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">If an insignificant low level player is traded, there has to be a full analysis on how that impacts the entire organization. All of this and more feeds the frenzy. There are countless daily talk shows devoted to just what goes on with this team. Some of them are 3 hours long and the fans can't get enough of them.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">When it was time for O'Reilly to get a new contract, by all accounts, the Maple Leafs were willing to pay him what he wanted and for the term he wanted. Yet, it was clear right away that he was going to move on. So, what was the problem?</span><br /><br /><a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/news/ryan-oreilly-reveals-spotlight-as-influential-factor-in-maple-leafs-departure">https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/news/ryan-oreilly-reveals-spotlight-as-influential-factor-in-maple-leafs-departure</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>From the article above:</b></span><br /><br /><i><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="font-size: large;">When speaking to the media on July 1, Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving dismissed the notion that the veteran forward left because of the culture in the room and instead said that playing in the spotlight of Toronto "isn't for everybody."</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">O'Reilly was ..... asked .... if the 'spotlight' was a reason he decided to move on from the Maple Leafs.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"It wasn't the ultimate decision there. I think so many things come into play, but yeah I think that is a factor as well," O'Reilly replied. "It is different. It is something I did enjoy for the time there but I just felt it was better to be somewhere else."</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"There are so many great things that do come with that though. I think that team is amazing and with the pieces they added this year, they're going to be right there contending for it. It is an amazing place. But like anywhere there are two sides to it."</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"It was incredible. I couldn't have gone to a better place. The way the organization is, the Yankees of the NHL, it was an amazing time," O'Reilly said. It was such an amazing experience, being from Ontario and playing for all my friends' favourite teams, it was amazing.</span></span></b></i><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Despite what O'reilly says, he knows, and everyone knows, it's a problem to play in Toronto if you value your privacy. He previously played in St. Louis and Buffalo. Both decent hockey towns, but I doubt he would be recognized everywhere he goes. There is no privacy for a professional hockey player in the Toronto market. Some like that. Very few probably do. In Nashville, where he signed, I'm sure he is virtually invisible outside of the rink. He signed there, with a team he would have to know that has no shot to win the Stanley Cup, and very little chance to even make the playoffs, because it wasn't in a crazy market like Toronto, which has a team with legit aspirations to go all the way. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">In this day and age, it isn't just a big market thing. Love of the game for the games sake doesn't seem to be anywhere near enough for most fans. They want more, more, more. There is a thirst out there that goes much further and deeper than just watching and enjoying games. A lot of that has to do with how social media has changed life in every aspect. Sports are no different. There is a sense of entitlement to information and access. A thirst for it that must be quenched. Teams feel an actual obligation to adhere to that. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Players dont just do interviews anymore. They now call those things 'availability', on off days, pre game on game days, and after the game in rooms that are there just for the purpose of trotting out the players and coaches for long question sessions. The thirst is out there and demands that. They even do them on the ice before games as they warm up. Sometimes coaches are miked up and managers in baseball talk to hosts during the game. Those that resist that can get hefty fines for not participating. For not feeding the frenzy and the thirst for it.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">This extends to other sports. At this point, you can't just play. You have no choice. You are expected to do it as part of the job.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/naomi-osaka-fined-15k-tennis-officials-after-refusing-press-sake-n1269122">https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/naomi-osaka-fined-15k-tennis-officials-after-refusing-press-sake-n1269122</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Sportsnet's Elliote Friedman delved into this topic during the recent situation with Corey Perry. According to Friedman, Perry, and all NHL players, and for that matter GM's, coaches and reporters are public figures and all the attention and lack of privacy comes with being a public figure.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/32-thoughts-so-many-questions-not-enough-answers-around-corey-perry/"><span style="font-size: medium;">https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/32-thoughts-so-many-questions-not-enough-answers-around-corey-perry/</span></a><br /><br /><b><br /><span style="font-size: large;">From the article above:</span></b><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"when you become a public figure, you will face open criticism. It can be very legitimate. Maybe your performance is bad or you get something wrong or they reasonably disagree with your opinion.....people are going to say things to you online that a) they wouldn’t have the guts to say to your face and b) that you can’t believe someone would say or think about you......It’s not right, and it shouldn’t happen. But it does, you can’t escape it.....In this case, whether people think it's funny or they want to believe it, it goes absolutely wild. And, one of the worst things about where we’ve gone is the “pile-on,” where more people jump in — and do what they can to pile-drive the target even more into the ground....Anyway, where I’m going with all of this is it's one thing if you’re a public figure. You shouldn’t have to deal with anything anywhere near this extreme, but there’s a knowledge that, unfortunately, it’s baked into the pie. Where I thought there was a real failure is it affected a private person." </span></i>-Elliote Friedman</b></span><br /><br /><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/nhl-corey-perry-chicago-apology-1.7045391">https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/nhl-corey-perry-chicago-apology-1.7045391</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The question is not that Corey Perry did something wrong. He has now admitted that he did, and good for him for doing that. The question is not whether the Chicago Blackhawks and the NHL as an entity had to deal with it. They did. It was a contract violation and a workplace incident. The question is whether this has anything to do with the game and do fans have the right or expectation to know about it. Does it affect the on ice performance and product?</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Players like Ryan O'reilly decide they would rather take their game somewhere where the thirst is not there on that level. Sure, they are public figures when they put on that jersey, and they accept that. But, they also value their and their families privacy to the point they will do what they have to to protect that.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">In my opinion, Elliot Friedman is wrong. There was no shortage of answers here. There is an abundance of meaningless and pointless questions. The only questions that should matter are when is the game tonight, who is playing and will it be a fun and competitive game? Will I be entertained? Other than that, the rest is just hype and noise.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I love the movie Bang The Drum Slowly. It's a great drama about the backstory of what goes on in sports. I love it because it's a drama. It's not based on a real story, but about life in general. The following clip illustrates that.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KLPkiFsCfMA" width="320" youtube-src-id="KLPkiFsCfMA"></iframe></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Unfortunately, that is the world we live in now, where reality and real life are blurred by the make believe and dramatic world. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">But I understand that the movie isn't about the game. It's make believe. If it was a real team, I would only be interested in the games they played. This backstory stuff would be none of my business. I enjoy it because it is art, not because it is sport. It is art with the subject of sports as the main theme. Its very much Ball Four the movie they never made. With made up characters and make believe plot points. As Law and Order states, inspired by real stories. But not actually a true real story.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The real story here is about the thirst. I have a thirst for the game. For the sport. Many have a thirst for the gossip, so they can somehow feel they are participating in it all. That that is their right. Its not. Not in my book. I will never lose my thirst for the game. It would be nice if others who are misguided, in my opinion of course, refocused more on that thirst for the game and less for the drama behind it. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I have a thirst for a good drama like Bang The Drum Slowly. As long as its understood its drama, not real sport. Real sports is about the game, not the background drama. <br /></span><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-32403681606653313602023-01-23T21:18:00.548-05:002023-01-31T11:32:37.944-05:00If I'm Bo HorvatAnd so, while I started this blog on Sunday morning, before Bruce Boudreau was officially fired, it will be finished and published now that he is actually gone. It's interesting to see what has happened since he was officially gassed, who stepped up and what they have said. It adds to many points I already had made on paper, and re enforces the gist of what I was getting at.And still stand by.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sHju0M5sAFfeHxEPQ3Frys4s5d_Wehd9SII9I6n-SgIdA3B_LNy2YBoKlf11zgyZyoGEss6EYs8oPwy39yiDuhCTNQi2YCqdNHWuZlrBjwRFqNdaLnhoawtCSZSMWgwHZPrrH0128kRB1SdLAx5vep2j-OYnHdff1fzRaZvG8_coYl2zgIFcrr47/s1600/Screenshot%202023-01-30%2011.07.55%20AM.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1" data-original-width="3" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sHju0M5sAFfeHxEPQ3Frys4s5d_Wehd9SII9I6n-SgIdA3B_LNy2YBoKlf11zgyZyoGEss6EYs8oPwy39yiDuhCTNQi2YCqdNHWuZlrBjwRFqNdaLnhoawtCSZSMWgwHZPrrH0128kRB1SdLAx5vep2j-OYnHdff1fzRaZvG8_coYl2zgIFcrr47/s1600/Screenshot%202023-01-30%2011.07.55%20AM.png"/></a></div>
I will summarize quickly where I am at on all of it. Bruce Boudreau is a great person who has lots of class and compassion and is a good read of people. As a hockey coach, he has been relatively successfull, and okay enough, but lacking enough that eventually, once he gets a team to a certain point, you have to, or feel you have to, replace him. That isn't the issue here. The issue is how he was relieved of his duties, the message that sends, and how it just isn't right. None of that has changed in my mind.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sHju0M5sAFfeHxEPQ3Frys4s5d_Wehd9SII9I6n-SgIdA3B_LNy2YBoKlf11zgyZyoGEss6EYs8oPwy39yiDuhCTNQi2YCqdNHWuZlrBjwRFqNdaLnhoawtCSZSMWgwHZPrrH0128kRB1SdLAx5vep2j-OYnHdff1fzRaZvG8_coYl2zgIFcrr47/s1600/Screenshot%202023-01-30%2011.07.55%20AM.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1" data-original-width="3" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sHju0M5sAFfeHxEPQ3Frys4s5d_Wehd9SII9I6n-SgIdA3B_LNy2YBoKlf11zgyZyoGEss6EYs8oPwy39yiDuhCTNQi2YCqdNHWuZlrBjwRFqNdaLnhoawtCSZSMWgwHZPrrH0128kRB1SdLAx5vep2j-OYnHdff1fzRaZvG8_coYl2zgIFcrr47/s1600/Screenshot%202023-01-30%2011.07.55%20AM.png"/></a></div>
This just came across today, Monday. The day after he was fired. It's a good microcosm of what I thought and just wrote above today....and down below before today.
<a href="https://thehockeynews.com/news/a-personal-letter-to-bruce-boudreau">https://thehockeynews.com/news/a-personal-letter-to-bruce-boudreau</a>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sHju0M5sAFfeHxEPQ3Frys4s5d_Wehd9SII9I6n-SgIdA3B_LNy2YBoKlf11zgyZyoGEss6EYs8oPwy39yiDuhCTNQi2YCqdNHWuZlrBjwRFqNdaLnhoawtCSZSMWgwHZPrrH0128kRB1SdLAx5vep2j-OYnHdff1fzRaZvG8_coYl2zgIFcrr47/s1600/Screenshot%202023-01-30%2011.07.55%20AM.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1" data-original-width="3" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sHju0M5sAFfeHxEPQ3Frys4s5d_Wehd9SII9I6n-SgIdA3B_LNy2YBoKlf11zgyZyoGEss6EYs8oPwy39yiDuhCTNQi2YCqdNHWuZlrBjwRFqNdaLnhoawtCSZSMWgwHZPrrH0128kRB1SdLAx5vep2j-OYnHdff1fzRaZvG8_coYl2zgIFcrr47/s1600/Screenshot%202023-01-30%2011.07.55%20AM.png"/></a></div>
From the link above.
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<b>The time has mercifully come. The long, drawn-out, unnecessary process has come to an end.....When people speak of you, they’ll mention your love for the game, your infectious positivity and your ability to connect with everyone. After the past few months, there is no doubt that everyone will remember what I knew from the moment I met you: your compassion, care and class make you one of a kind.... Bruce Boudreau's teams play entertaining, offensive hockey,...There was never a moment where I felt you didn’t have my back. In the toughest of moments, you were willing to go to bat for me, a new staff member with almost no experience. That says more about you than any forecheck or DZ coverage ever could. I took many lessons from you and the staff, but the most important one was this: No matter how tough it may be, you must stand up for what is right.<i></i></b>
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Right off the bat, I'm going to state my thoughts on Boudreau as a coach. I think the players love him and try hard for him, and in certain aspects he can get some performance from them. Offensively for sure. Which isn't a surprise. Bruce Boudreau was a scoring machine as a player in junior, in the minor leagues, and he held his own well in the times when he played in the NHL. He wasn't a great passer, shooter, tough, anything special. He was just one of those guys who knew how to help his team score goals. That is a good trait. The basis of a hockey team is who scores more goals than the other team. Helping your team score goals is a big asset.
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In spite of that, even though he produced well when he was called up, he would get sent back down just about every year to the minors. Why is that? I would suspect that he didn't or couldn't play much defense, and being smaller, he wasn't tough enough to power his way into stopping a player. As a coach, I see that in his teams. I have watched the Canucks play more than a few games since Boudreau took over the team, and a few in the season just before he took over. They were a brutal defensive team then, and they are even worse now. The argument that a hot and talented goaltender like Thatcher Demko camouflaged many nights of really bad defense is very valid. New goalie Spencer Martin has done the same. If you watch any game of theirs, they are horrific defensively, and especially the actual defenseman. A big part of that is the defense core Boudreau inherited. But, he has done nothing to improve that. At the end of the day, that is the reasoning that the brass wanted him out. It was bad, and in a best case scenario, it hasn't gotten any better. In a possible scenario, it's getting much worse.The general manager and President Jim Rutherford obviously felt and feels that even though they have to vastly improve their defensemen depth and talent, they are currently much better than they are playing and performing. That is why he wanted a change.
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Jim Rutherford didn't want to extend Boudreau's contract last summer. That was a clear sign he didn't want him as the coach. Rutherford has mentioned more than once this season, in public, how the team has no structure and no plan to deal with what other teams throw at them. That is what coaches do. They read situations, prepare their team, and react with a plan. Do I agree with Rutherford? Yes I do. I mentioned my reasons above.
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Which is why Boudreau should have been terminated <b>before<i></i></b> this season started, or allowed to stay around the entire year. Rutherford knew long ago what he had in Boudreau, and he didn't want it. That was his major error, along with the way he treated him since he made the first mistake of keeping him around when he didn't want him.
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The issue is not that they should have removed him. It's when they should have done it, and how they ended up doing it. As a coach, he had to go. As a human and a person, there was a right way, and a wrong way to do it. Rutherord clearly chose the wrong way.
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Let me say this up front. It took me only a few seconds to remember anything even close to this ever happening before. Coaches get criticized,
second guessed, fired, and maligned all the time. It sort of comes with the territory. But only once in the 50 plus years I have been following sports that I can remember has a coach being tortured, abused, and disrespected in this way. And from that person, you expected it. Even for him, it was hard to fathom, but not entirely. Otherwise, you would not expect any kind of professional sports team to act the way Harold Ballard did then, and Jim Rutherford did this year. It's just beyond comprehension.
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Unless you didnt care what people thought about you. Harold Ballard didn't. Jim Rutherford should. I will delve into that at the end of the blog.
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Tonight there will be a documentary on CBC, directed, narrated, produced and conceived by Jason Priestley. Yes, that Jason Priestley. 90210 Jason Priestley. I'm sure many Americans dont know this, and probably many Canadians. Jason Priestley is Canadian, and has always had interests that reflect that. As such, and his
age, 54, which is very close to mine, he would have experienced the Harold Ballard era in real time and remember it well. Even today, it's just a soap
opera you wouldnt believe unless you saw it for your own eyes.
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<a href="about:invalid#zSoyz"></a>
The Fifth Estate did a piece on Ballard in 1980. You can watch that if you want to see what it was really like. Keep in mind, this was before the Sittler
incident I delve into below.
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There were two main incidents. I will start with the second one.
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<b>The worst 4 years of my life. I wouldnt want anyone to experience that. It was a waste of time.<i></i></b>
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_dsYp5hBOU
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Darryl Sittler didn't say that. Frank Mahovlich did. About Punch Imlach. And he did that just a couple of years ago, which was almost 60 years later. People and players dont forget treatment like Mahovlich received. Over the years, many players on many different teams eventually refused to play for Punch Imlach. Mike Walton and Jim Schoenfeld were two of the many who couldn't take Imlach's berating and bullying behavior. Eventually, Imlach, who had glory years with the Maple Leafs in the 1960s, and then a lot of success early with the expansion 1970s Buffalo Sabres, was out of work and hired again by Harold Ballard in the late 1970s. This preceded the incident I will describe below but it was after the second one I will mention first.
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Darryl Sittler was the longtime star and Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The day he signed his first contract with the Leafs, in 1970, Harold
Ballard was sitting at the table right next to him. Ballard was on a weekend pass from jail. He was in jail because he was a convicted fraud. You can see that clip within the Fifth Estate piece.
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Fast forward about 8 years later. Sittler was pretty much money in the bank. He would score 40 or more goals a year, get 100 points or more every year, he had class, he was a team guy, and he caused no waves. He showed up and played hard, just about every night, fought when he had to, and made many of his linemates better over the years. But one thing he wasn't was a chump. He didn't accept that if you played for Harold Ballards Maple Leafs, you had to get paid less than the going market rate and that you had to take any mental punishment or disrespect that came your way. If you didn't accept that, and many before him like Frank Mahovlich, Dave Keon, Paul Henderson and other stars didn't, you were either berated, insulted, traded, or worse, not traded and put in purgatory. Sittler became Captain in 1975 after Keon left the Leafs due to a dispute over money and treatment by Ballard. Keon is still bitter to this day about that. Very bitter. He never forgot it. Many consider Keon the greatest Leaf ever, and that is saying something based on the history of the Maple Leafs.
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None of that bullying worked with Sittler. When Sittler found out that others in the league of his caliber were making significantly more money than he was, he wanted a raise. Ballard was well known to not be interested in paying for what he had. Since Sittler had a no trade contract, he could not be moved out. So, Ballard did the next best thing. He hired a hard ass, over the hill, old school general manager who had thrived way back in the NHL when the teams had total control over all the players and could get away with anything. Punch Imlach was that man. As soon as he came in, Sittler was basically a dead man skating on thin ice. What they did, Ballard and Imlach, was get Sittler to the point he was mentally depressed. Very much the same situation that happened to Mahovlich 20 years earlier.
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Imlach could do very little about Sittler. Directly anyway. He was the team leader and held heavy influence over the entire group of players. In addition, he had an ironclad no trade clause which Imlach could not do anything about. This was not 1967 when he could trade a Frank Mahovlich, or bench a Mike Walton, and or others.
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Since Imlach could do nothing basically about Sittler, directly, in that he had to play him and he couldn't trade him, he did the next best thing. He tormented him.
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First, Imlach went and traded Sittler's linemates. Lanny McDonald and then Tiger Williams. In fairness to Imlach, he actually made pretty good trades
and got back very good players in both deals. But neither of those deals gets made if not for the purpose to show Sittler who is boss. Imlach traded
Lanny McDonald because he was Sittler's best friend to show him who was the boss. He got good players back in those trades, but he destroyed the team the Leafs had built for years to do it. They didnt recover for decades.
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Eventually, it got so bad that Sittler had to be traded. By that point, the The Leafs had backed themselves into a corner, and got basically nothing for a
top shelf All Star still close to the prime of his career. Shortly before that happened, Imlach was gone, and the team was a mess for many years to come. I'm sure much of that will be shown tonight on Priestley's documentary.
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The pattern of disrespect was well established by that point. And that's because of what happened just before Imlach arrived back on the scene in July of 1979.
Let's be blunt and frank here. I dont know exactly how Ballard will be portrayed tonight, but I have seen clips and sound bites, and since I know
a lying, con man, two bit criminal loser type when I see one, I expect that Ballard will be shown for what he was. Not that he wasn't crafty and savvy at times in business....he was.....but he had no class and no morals, and treated others as such. In today's world, the league wouldnt stand for anything like him and he would be removed or told to sell the team.
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My next example/story of what he did will flesh that out very vividly. And of course, it relates to what happened this weekend/month in Vancouver. How
will the league respond to what just happened in Vancouver?
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The first thing you learn about Roger Nielson is that he was the direct opposite of Harold Ballard. Player after player described Nielson this way.
He cared for the people around him. As such, he was a lamb to the slaughter of Ballard. I will return to that theme later with the current day
situation.
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Here is another thing many might not know. <b>Roger Nielson is in the Hockey Hall of Fame, for being a coach.<i></i></b> He also received the Order of Canada, the highest honor for lifetime achievement. Frank Mahovlich also received the Order of Canada. Nielson is said to have changed the game entirely with his
use of video technology. Today we take it for granted. Back then, nobody did it and very few even knew how to use it. Certainly not a Punch Imlach
or his type. Punch Imlach, although he won many Stanley Cups, never received the order of Canada. Nor would he. He was a tyrant and a bully.
Here is how Nielson is described by former players and others.
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<b>I'm a firm believer that a team has to be prepared to the best of their ability in order to have a chance at winning. And Roger did that. -Darryl Sittler<i></i></b>
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<b>He was a down to earth human being. He understood, as a player, that you are a person. Not just a hockey player, you're a person -Darryl Sittler<i></i></b>
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Nielson had been a junior hockey coach for about 10 years, with very good success, when he moved up to professional hockey as the head coach of the
Toronto Maple Leafs after one year coaching their minor hockey league affiliate in Dallas. In 1977, despite a mediocre team, Nielson got them to the semi finals by beating the New York Islanders, who were one of the favorites that year for the Stanley Cup, and then losing to the Montreal Canadians in the next round. The Canadians were in the midst of a 4 year run as Stanley Cup champions, and are generally regarded as the greatest team ever assembled. Some could argue that, but nobody would argue that they were one of those teams on a short list of all time great teams. The Islanders went on to win 4 straight Stanley Cups right after Montreal did it and they would also be mentioned as one of the great all time teams. Nielson got them to beat one of those and compete with the other in only his first season as a head coach in the NHL. And what did he get for that achievement?
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<a href="https://torontosun.com/sports/hockey/a-look-back-at-the-roger-neilson-paper-bag-game-and-pal-hals-theatre-of-the-absurd"></a>
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In his second, and final season coaching the Leafs, they were doing okay, but not great, and he was maligned and berated by the owner. As I said off
the top, that happens in the game. What does not happen, except in this one instance, and the one that initiated this blog idea, is what happened next.
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In his 2nd season coaching the Leafs, he was fired. Then within 3 days, unfired. But he wasn't just unfired. Ballard wanted Nielson to come out at game time, with a paper bag over his head, then take it off as he entered the bench. Ballard described it as a sort of marketing promotion technique. In reality, Ballard had backed himself into a corner. What he did was fire Nielson, but didn't tell him. Never to his face. Then, he told a reporter, and still didn't actually inform Nielson. Until late the next day. In the meantime, he offered the job to 3 or 4 others, all who turned him down. By then, Ballard had a game coming up on Saturday night, and that morning, had no actual coach to coach the team. Not only did he rescind the firing on Nielson, he insisted that Nielson come out and wear the paper bag. Nielson was going to do it as well, until some people warned him how foolish and demeaning that would be. Otherwise, it would have happened like that.
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The Sittler incident came a year or two after that. I'm sure it was on Sittler's mind when he figured out how he was going to play his side of the equation against Ballard and Imlach. Instead of wearing a bag over his head, when Ballard hired Imlach, who then traded players off the team to spite Sittler, he responded by ripping the Captains C off his jersey.
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Sittler, unfortunately for Ballard, was not Nielson. He gave better than he got. He had a no trade contract and it was guaranteed. He forced Ballard to have him traded to where he wanted to go and when he wanted to have it happen. Imlach dismantled and ruined the team, then he was fired. The Leafs then traded Sittler, and the Leafs had nothing to show for it. They also lost a coach who only two years later took the Canucks to the finals. Neilson was that coach.
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Until this winter, I had not seen another situation like the one above play out in professional sport. It just simply does not happen that way. For good reason. It sends a message to the rest of the world about the way you operate your franchise. Your business.
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Darryl Sittler put it best. *It was a circus. Simple as that.* That was the Maple Leafs under Harold Ballards ownership tenure.
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Bruce Boudreau played on those Maple Leafs teams of the late 70s, including for Roger Nielson. He understands gaining players respect with how you
prepare them and how you treat them. Luke Schenn put it best.
<a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/one-of-the-hardest-days-ive-ever-had-in-hockey-canucks-bid-emotional-farewell-to-boudreau/"></a>
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<b>*Defenceman Luke Schenn said that Boudreau, in his 14 months coaching the team, would periodically put player numbers on the whiteboard — an
invitation to speak to the coach in his office. It was mostly to ask them about their families and their lives, to check in on his players and make
sure they were OK.“It was just real, you know what I mean?” Schenn said. Earlier, he told reporters: “I think at the end of the day coaching. .
. it's not as complicated as people may think.
Coaching to me is relationships and that's one thing that stood out to me is he's a people person. Being around a long time, he has a great deal of respect not only with guys in this dressing room, but guys who have played prior on teams that he's coached. Lots of lots of people reach out to guys in this dressing room from around the league and they all want to know about Bruce. And they wouldn't do that if he wasn't a good person. So I think that's the biggest takeaway for me.”*<i></i></b>
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Boudreau was never really a solid NHL player during his playing days. He was a top shelf All Star in the minors. A guy who could score lots of goals and get lots of assists, but in the NHL, he would come up, score some, but then get sent back down. This happened almost every year for many years. When he finally retired as a player, Boudreau went into coaching. If not for his coaching career, he would be long forgotten. I'm sure many fans today who arent old enough dont even remember him as a player. As a coach though, he is well known and has had a lot of success. At the very least, he deserves some respect for that.
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Here are some general facts about Boudreaus coaching career. He is one of the winningest coaches percentage wise in the history of the league. He was fired several times, as most coaches are, and hired almost immediately right after by another team. In fact, when Washington fired him, he was hired 2 days later by Anaheim. That's the fastest that has ever happened. As well, Boudreau is well known for taking a team that has not been doing well, immediately improving them, and then getting them to the highest level, but never getting over the hump. At which point, they fall apart and he is terminated.
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That is the situation he faced in Vancouver. He was hired after Vancouver had completely underperformed for a few years, but had a lot of young, high potential talent to work with. They had a terrible record when he took over, and then a fantastic record the rest of the season, but just fell short of making the playoffs. That was because of the start they had before Boudreau took over, which wasn't his fault. That is how he ended the first year coaching the Canucks.
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Sounds familiar.
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In the meantime, Vancouver's owner Frances Aqualini has been well known over the past few years as an owner who interferes with operations to the
point it hurts the team and organization. Much like Ballard did. Aqualini hired Jim Rutherford after he hired Boudreau, and that was after both the
coach and General manager had been fired with no plan in place to replace them. In that respect, Rutherford signed on without the knowledge that the
current coach, Boudreau, also had an option for the next season. Rutherford was basically stuck with a coach he didn't want. It's what he did about
that that created the situation that played out.
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Rutherford knew he didn't want Boudreau as his coach. He accepted the job with the understanding he could replace him before this season. Since that
wasn't the case, he should have insisted the owner pay the coach off and then Rutherford would be free to put in his own coach. That is the right way to go about it. The mature, professional, and classy way. The way you treat people and employees. That is not anything close to what has happened.
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The Canucks started this season off terrible, and have never really shown much of a recovery. They needed a coaching change. Most everyone agrees on that. But
there is a way to do that, and it's not the way Rutherford has done it. You could say the same about Roger Nielson back in 1979, and it wasn't the right
way to do it then either. Nobody does it that way.
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To me, Jim Rutherford acted as gutless and classless as Harold Ballard was then. If you want to fire the coach, bring him in, tell him the reasons, fire him, and then report it to the media in a press conference. You dont go on talk shows and downgrade the coach, twice at least, and then admit to trying to find his replacement, all but admitting he is fired but not fired yet, and let him and the team suffer for weeks in the meantime. In my view, he put the bag over Boudreau's head Saturday night, except it wasn't a comical stunt like Ballard pulled. It was much like when terrorists take hostages and send a video to the families or media with bags over the heads of the hostage just as they are about to execute them. It's a punk ass thing to do. Rutherford has been around a long time, both as a player and general manager. He knows better. Why in this case he chose to take this route just has everyone baffled, including myself.
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In addition to all of that, the Canucks have a player, Bo Horvat, who is having a career year. And his contract is up at the end of this season. He is due a big raise, one that Rutherford admits is reasonable, but not one the Canucks can afford to give Horvat. Horvat is no run of the mill player. Like Sittler, he has been with the team for years, is loyal, has played very well for them, and is now reaching his prime. He is well respected and liked by the community and his teammates. And for all that, he watches as Rutherford treats the coach the way he has treated him.
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If Im Bo Horvat, if I even had a thought about finding a way to make the money situation work in Vancouver, I dont even care about that anymore. I just want out. Just like Sittler did. And like that situation, if Rutherford and that ideology is still there, who is going to come in and replace Horvat? What player who
has options is going to want to play in that environment? Just like the Leafs of the 1980s, the Canucks are in for a long stretch of bad teams when good players won't come or stay with them. They have set the tone. A very bad tone.
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I would think it's going to have to result in a change of ownership, and removal of all levels of management, starting over like the Leafs did. And
that took about 40 years to really take hold. All because of what they just did to Bruce Boudreau.
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If I'm Bo Horvat, get me out of that circus atmosphere ASAP, and no amount of money they can offer matters at this point. No amount of money is worth
it for that kind of treatment. And if they will treat the coach that way, they will do it to anyone.
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On Sunday, when Rutherford announced Rick Tocchet as the new coach, as everyone already knew he would, he apologized for how it went down with Boudreau and the things he wished he had done differently. Good for him. Empty hollow words though. Way too late. He had weeks to right the wrong he had put in place. He didnt when it mattered. It doesnt matter now. Rutherford, and the Canucks, have shown their cards. Just like Ballard and Imlach did way back when. The only difference is.....Ballard was proud and happy to be that way, and would never apologize because he didnt care. Imlach always thought he was right, right to the end, and he would never apologize for being who he was. They can both get credit for at least being that and sticking to it.
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The result in both cases is and will be the same. Years of bad teams and losing to come, and gradually, Rutherford and others who are responsible for what has been put in place will fade away, and maybe in a few years, the Canucks move forward and rebuild. But for sure, Bo Horvat wont be around, and likely, most of the players on the current team wont either. They have seen enough of the circus.Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-71932791903268876802022-03-30T01:29:00.090-04:002022-03-30T01:37:36.482-04:00Being a man. The man you want to be.This is a blog about the Will Smith slap on Chris Rock. The dynamics that go into a thing like that, when on the surface, it appears to be something simple like an insult comic insulting a man's wife, likely unintentionally, and that man having issues that go back decades where he snapped and felt like he had to react. Which he did, and to some extent, now regrets.
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But that is not where I will start this. I will start with a story that gives me perspective on where this all comes from.
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I remember it like it was yesterday. But actually, it was more than 40 years ago. I was about 14, and somehow, my mother told a story about how my grandmother had gotten my uncle angry, and being that he had a very bad temper, which is a family trait his kids and I also inherited, he took my grandmother and put her on top of the fridge. After my mother left the room for some reason, I said something like, that was cool, I might try that someday.
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To which my father replied, and I am paraphrasing as I don't remember the exact words.....I wouldnt do that if I were you. If you know what's good for you.
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While I don't remember his exact words, I do remember that steely glare he gave me. The one that suggested if I did ever do any such thing, it would be the last thing I do on this earth. He didn't need to say that. I understood it from his look.
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It was a good life lesson I learned that day. My father taught me lots of lessons like that over the time I knew him. As far as I know, my father never hit anyone, man or woman, in his entire life. He didn't have to. He was scary enough when you provoked him that just that look was enough. Anybody who ever saw it knew better than to mess with him, and I saw a few people that did see that look and how scared they were when it was presented. His rage was not something you would want to bring to the surface. And he gave the impression that if it did ever come to violence, he would be relentless and there would be no mercy.
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The most important thing I learned from him was how to treat people, and women in particular. My father had lots of issues that made him tough to live with at times, and there were many long periods where he caused the family and my mother in particular, lots of pain. Not on purpose. He just had issues and those were the effects. He never hit or abused my mother in any way. He had personality issues that caused her pain when they caused him to do crazy things. For many years, which caused her pain.
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That pain I saw in my mother for many years. As strong as my father was, my mother was equally weak. When you see your mother decimated like that, you learn to protect her, as I did. While my father may have caused much of that pain, he also taught me to stand up for a woman, to do what you have to to look after them when that is the thing to do. It's your duty, your obligation. And anybody that hurts them, they are also hurting you in the process, and you must respond to make it understood that is not acceptable and there are grave consequences.
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In my world, the one created by my parents, by my father...when I was growing up, you always defend and stand up for women, specifically your mother, your sister, your wife and your daughter. I don't have a daughter. I have, in my life, stood up for all the other three many times when it was required.
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I will start my trek into the Academy Award fiasco on Sunday night with this. I don't watch the Oscars, or Grammys, or any awards show. I have no use for them. They are simply entertainment spectacles based on glitz and glamour. But I do understand that back in the day, they had some level of class and real showmanship. Many times it was hosted by serious actors, many up for an award that night. Other times, by accomplished comedians like Bob Hope, who hosted it 19 times, and Jack Benny who hosted it twice.
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Around the late 80s, there began a trend where comedians who were very good at stand up comedy, night club stand up, where things are a bit more racy and edgy, were engaged to host it. When you engage that type, you know what you are looking for. I have no problem with night club comedy. I actually enjoy it. When it's in the right venue. The Academy Awards is not that type of venue in my opinion. You are asking for the type of incident you got on Sunday night when you engage a Chris Rock type to host. That is what he does. He picks on and insults as part of his act. And that plays in the clubs and on his specials. When Chris Rock first hosted the Oscars in 2005, they were looking for something edgier. Of course, that gets ratings, which is really what the Oscars are about. If not, they could just give out the awards and have no show, no spectacle, no red carpet.
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Many stand up comedians will tell you that it's their job, and getting work over time requires them, to test boundaries. But there is a line. and you dont cross it. Being mean, disrespectful, insulting a man's wife. That is a line you don't cross. Making fun of someone who has died is another. Anyone can be insulting, and funny about it if they want to and have some talent. Not everyone can be funny and stay respectful. In my view, intentional or not, Chris Rock steps way over that line all the time. That makes him popular, but not classy. Not classy enough to host an awards show. If class is what you are aiming for.
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The Academy Awards is not a Comedy Central or HBO roast. If you are on one of those roasts, as the main person being roasted, or on the panel of other roasters or guests, you expect to be targeted and to some extent, all is fair game. If you are at the Academy Awards, you are there to attend as you are a member of the Academy and likely up for an award, as Will Smith was. That doesnt give the host or any other presenter the license to insult you or your wife or anybody else for that matter. The premise for what the Academy Awards has become is half the problem here and where the problem started. Chris Rock was just doing his thing. That thing doesnt belong in that venue.
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As for Will Smith. What he did when his wife was insulted, and he realized that she was hurt by Chris Rock's joke, his words, was wrong. Not because he shouldn't have confronted Rock later, off camera in private, but because on that stage, was not the place for it, nor was hitting him and being violent before he at least asked Rock what he meant by that and if he understood the hurt he was causing his wife. Will Smith is not a dumb guy. So why did he do that?
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Let's go back to something Will Smith's mother said today about the whole thing.
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<a href="https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/will-smiths-mom-reacts-after-oscars-win-chris-rock-slap/"></a>
<i>“That’s the first time I’ve ever seen him go off. First time in his lifetime,” she told local Philadelphia news outlet WPVI after the Sunday, March 27, awards show, calling her 53-year-old son “a very even people person” in his daily life. “I’ve never seen him do that.”</i>
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What did Will Smith have to say about it today?
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<i>“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”</i>
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The important part of both of their statements is very subtle. It's not at all like him. Not the man he wants to be.
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But there has to be some context here. That is where my story at the top of this blog comes in.
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<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/28/will-smith-abusive-childhood-chris-rock-oscars"></a>
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<i>Smith struggled to hold back tears during his emotional acceptance speech, during which he spoke about protecting his family at all costs.
Something he would know about from his childhood.
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In his autobiography, published in November 2021, the actor describes at length the appalling domestic violence he and his three siblings witnessed his father, William, inflict on his mother, Caroline.
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“When I was nine years old, I watched my father punch my mother in the side of the head so hard that she collapsed,” he wrote. “I saw her spit blood. That moment in that bedroom, probably more than any other moment in my life, has defined who I am.”
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Smith wrote that it wasn’t only the violence that traumatised him, but his own inaction in the face of it.
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“Within everything that I have done since then — the awards and accolades, the spotlights and attention, the characters and the laughs — there has been a subtle string of apologies to my mother for my inaction that day. For failing her in the moment. For failing to stand up to my father. For being a coward.
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“What you have come to understand as ‘Will Smith’, the alien-annihilating MC, the bigger-than-life movie star, is largely a construction – a carefully crafted and honed character designed to protect myself. To hide myself from the world. To hide the coward.”
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Smith’s parents separated when he was a teenager and divorced in 2000. The actor maintained a close relationship with his father but says his hatred resurfaced when his father had cancer and was using a wheelchair. When Smith was caring for him, he said he considered killing his father.
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“As a child, I’d always told myself that I would one day avenge my mother,” he wrote. “I paused at the top of the stairs. I could shove him down and easily get away with it. Thank God we’re judged by our actions and not our trauma-driven, inner outbursts.</i>
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When you see your mother beaten like that, in pain, and you know you did nothing to stop it, even if you realistically could not have anyway, in your own mind, you remember that, and you make a vow not to be that way. You also commit to making sure that you defend and protect your mother going forward, and to that extent, your wife and daughters if and when you have them. Of course, that look of hurt and pain in your mothers eyes never leaves you, although you don't think about it on a daily basis. But when you see it, in your wife's eyes, you can and will flashback and lose your mind. The kind of man Will Smith wants to be, in my opinion, is one that stands up to violence against women. And also the kind that avenges it if there is hurt involved with someone like his wife. Which is exactly what he saw when he initially laughed at Chris Rock's joke, but then looked over at his wife Jada and not only wasnt she laughing, she was hurt. He would know that, because he is married to her and would know that. He would also recognize it when he has seen it before with his mother. As I had when I was younger.
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It can make you lose your mind and get very angry in a big hurry.
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Now, knowing that he did nothing to stop it more than 40 years ago, the man he is now is in no way going to make that mistake again.
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So, he made a different mistake.
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In life, it's important to pick your battles. You don't fight every fight, over every little thing. But in addition to that, when you do pick a battle, you pick the right time and place to battle. You don't just go off right away. Unless you lose your mind for some reason, which clearly Will Smith did.
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We have all been there at some point in our lives, when we lost our mind and reacted in a way we wish we hadn't.
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As a man, Will Smith had to stand up for Jada. That is simply what he had to do. But how and when he did it was not the way to do it.
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Some have said that what Chris Rock said wasn't that bad. As insults go, by insult comics, it was mild. It was. As an insult. If that is the only way you view it. If you view it as a hurtful comment, uncalled for, it was obviously very hurtful. And that is something Will Smith could have asked Chris Rock about. From Rock's reaction, I gather he didn't even know how hurtful it was. I would presume when Rock gets around to making his public statement, that is what he will say. He didn't know he was actually hurting Jada, and he is sorry it happened.
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All of that could have been taken care of in private, and everyone would have had a chance to resolve all this. Will Smith will have fulfilled his duty as the man he wants to be by defending his woman, without using violence, and Chris Rock would have gotten the message that he needs to be more careful with his words as well as expressing that he didn't mean to hurt Jada.
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In this case, both sides are to blame for what happened. One was careless, the other was reckless. Both were acting in real time, Rock with his ad lib joke, Smith with his angry tirade in front of the entire world.
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The Academy is to blame because they are putting a night club style comic in a position where that isn't the place for him to do his act either. And for what? For ratings. Simple as that.
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I just think Will Smith snapped. He saw the look on Jada's face, and somehow he had a flashback to what his mother went through, while he was right there, doing nothing about it in his eyes, and he snapped and just went off on Chris Rock, who he saw as an attacker, like his father was.
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It happens. All the time, to people. They snap when things like that bring them back to a moment in their past when they wished they had done something entirely different than they did.
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Unfortunately for Smith, he did that in front of the entire world. It's done, and it's over. He has apologized to pretty much everyone now, including Chris Rock. Rock will do the same shortly.
Hopefully everyone learned their lesson here, and since it happened in front of the entire world, some, not everyone for sure, but some, might also learn about how to treat people, when to stand up for what, and when is the right place and time to do that.
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Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-4839275038598077112022-02-15T10:32:00.144-05:002023-01-31T11:35:20.243-05:00Absolute freedom does not exist. And it never did. Or will.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe class="BLOG_video_class" allowfullscreen="" youtube-src-id="z2HKbygLjJs" width="400" height="322" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z2HKbygLjJs"></iframe></div>
<i><b>Jenny...can you say in one sentence or less why America is the greatest country in the world? <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Sharon....Diversity and opportunity.
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Lewis....Freedom and freedom. So let's keep it that way.
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Will.....It's not the greatest country in the world professor. That's my answer....With a straight face, you are going to tell students that America is so Star Spangled awesome that we are the only ones in the world that have freedom? 207 sovereign states in the world. Like 180 of them have freedom....there's absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we are the greatest country in the world....So when you ask what makes America the greatest country in the world, I dont know what the fuck you are talking about. It sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons...we sacrificed. We cared about our neighbours, we put our money where our mouths were...acted like men, we aspired to intelligence, it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election. We didn't scare so easy. We were able to do all these things because we were informed..... First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore</b></i>
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People want to believe what makes them feel better, and more secure. They want to hear it from people who they believe think like them and probably have their best interests at heart. Even, when in most cases, they don't. They want to believe that not only is their country great, it is the greatest in the world. Even if it's just one of many great countries in the world. In the history of time, no country has ever been the greatest. If they tried to lay claim to that and prove it, as the Romans, Greeks, British, Americans and now Chinese did or are doing, they will find out there are many and will fall, as all large dynasties do. There are many great countries in the world. America was at one point, may still be, but has declined sharply in the last 3 or 4 decades. There are also many others. There are also places, like Russia and China, that are not great. Not for the citizens anyway. Not for the people who want to believe that and are told it's true. In relative terms, America is a great place to live. So is Canada, where I am from. So are Australia, Britain, France and many other countries. They are relatively free and prosperous. None of them is greater than the other. Some are bigger, some are richer, some have slightly more or less freedom and rights for some than others. But in total, they are basically the same place in a different geography. One large country, like China or the United States, is no match for the sum of the rest of the great countries in the world. At some point, China is going to find that out. France, Britain and Germany all failed to understand that and fell by the wayside
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This is not where I thought I would start this blog. But as I thought about it, I needed to go back to the root cause of the problem we face in Canada as I write and finish this blog on Sunday. I started it more than 10 days ago, but it just never seemed right. I was missing something. Something that compels somewhat nice and normal Canadians to commit serious illegal offences as they follow extreme radical troublemakers into the abyss. Why would these people do such a thing? Don't they see they have been sold a bag of lies based on foolish, radical, incorrect thoughts that have no basis in fact?
Clearly, they do not. Later in this blog, I will go over why I think they have been convinced to do just that. In any event, it is clear they are buying into the foolish cult behavior we see all the time. And like most cult members, they are far past the point where we can counter the brainwashing without taking radical action to break it.
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Biggest doesn't mean greatest. Richest does not mean greatest. As such, America was never the greatest country in the world. Nor has any country ever been the greatest. It is, or was, a very good country to live and grow up in. So was Canada. That isn't the case anymore, but up until recently, both were still pretty damn good. Those days are now gone. The inmates are almost to the point that they run the asylum. That is not to say that it isn't far better than places like China, Russia and many Latin and African countries, to name a few. Relative to those places, where you have no freedom or rights at all, it's still far better. That is not to say it will stay that way or that it won't get far worse, or is already close to that. Just that, right now, we still have it relatively good.
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Peng Shuai is an International professional tennis player and has been for more than two decades. As such, she has been all over the globe and would obviously understand what freedom looks like, both in China and outside its borders. As a Chinese citizen though, she would have to be blind to not understand that within China, and probably even when she is not in China, she has no real freedom of any kind. Certainly not free speech.
For whatever reason, she didn't stick to the rules. The unwritten rules that a citizen of China would know. On November 2nd of last year, Peng posted on a Chinese Social media website that a member of the Chinese State, who she was in some sort of relationship with but had broken it off by then, forced her to have sex. Esentially she is accusing him of rape. Or was. And with that statement, she disappeared for two weeks. Vanished without a trace would be more accurate. When she was seen again, she began to backtrack and deny her own freely given allegations. I'm sure two weeks in isolation and serious threats to herself and her family had a lot to do with that. Now she has resurfaced, at the Beijing Olympics, and given an interview to the French press.
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<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/feb/09/journalist-who-interviewed-peng-shuai-casts-doubt-over-her-freedom"></a>
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<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/feb/09/journalist-who-interviewed-peng-shuai-casts-doubt-over-her-freedom"></a>
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Shortly after her post, and her disappearance, and then resurfacing two weeks later she denied the allegations she made in that post. Saying now it's all a misunderstanding. As in now I understand I should keep my mouth shut if I want to be able to live my life.
Here is what she understands after she was given a lesson of freedom in China. Say anything against the State, and there will be dire consequences. You have no freedom of speech and no real legal rights when you are within the borders of China. She got that message and now is towing the party line.
You can read all the details of the whole situation in the article above. Here is the most important part. Peng is not even free to give an interview period without the State official monitoring her. That is how restrictive her freedom and rights are.
Why is that important in a blog about Freedom and rights, about a Trucker convoy in Canada? It shows the contrast and level of freedom we actually have on this side of the world. While the freedom is not absolute, as I will get to, it certainly is monumentally more significant than what any Chinese citizen has. If the Trucker convoy had pulled a stunt like they are doing in Ottawa, Alberta and now Windsor ---in China, there would already be bloodshed and many deaths. Certainly, most of them would be locked up and disappear.
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We are here fighting for the freedom of all Canadians. And that's what this is about. It's about people taking the power back.
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We are here fighting for our rights. To lift all mandates. I want to be able to do what I want.
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And there you have it. This is not about a protest. It's about a fight. A fight for power. The power to do what you want when you want to, even though you have no legal rights or entitlements to any freedom to do that.
It's very clear who these people are. They are selfish. They are defiant. They are law breaking criminals and they are rebellious objectors. Which is fine. That is how they should be treated. They aren't Peng Shuai stating something illegal and immoral that has been done to her. They are a group of fringe crybabies who want to have their way at everyone else's expense. People who dont care one iota about their neighbours. It's all about what is best for them. They have no sense of society or country. They are the weak link in the great country.
In China, you have no freedom and no rights. Freedom of speech, freedom of travel, the right to a fair trial. Any rights for that matter.
In fact, if there was true freedom of speech in China, the doctors that discovered the very early days of Covid19 and wanted to inform the citizens of China and the world about it, would have and we likely would not be in the mess the world is in the last two years.
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There is a cost to having freedom. It's not about what you want, but what is best for all of us. That is the give and take that gets you the freedom you take for granted.
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There has been a lot of talk lately about freedom and human rights on this side of the ocean. Especially from the Trucker convoy, which is really more of an occupation---an illegal one, than a protest. In addition, there has been major outside interference, almost exclusively from Americans, both at the government level, namely Trump, DeSantis and Cruz and the right wing media in the States. Like them or hate them, when these types speak, the lower level types listen to them without checking any of the facts or thinking through what they said. They donate money, organize in groups to help the protests and create havoc.
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Then you have the Fox talking heads like Hannity, Carlson and Ingram who have followers who worship their every word and move and come to believe what those people tell them. They tell them they have the right to protest, resist, occupy and otherwise have the freedom and right to go where they want, and that is their right. When some of those people did that a year ago on January 6th, it didn't work out so well for them and the country. Many of them will do jail time for following that very bad advice. Let's not forget that Trump lives a large portion of his time in his private Club in Florida, which I could not just walk up to the gate and enter. I have no freedom or right to do that. And that is as it should be. But when it comes to giving advice, he tells them to storm the Capitol, and recently supported the truckers occupying Ottawa and taking the city hostage. Which currently, as I write this, they are still doing 3 weeks later. They are nothing but terrorists and their demands have not been met, so they continue to take hostages and make threats.
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So let's look at Donald Trump. You will recall he ran in 2016, with his biggest platform being that he was going to build a giant, long wall on the Southern border to keep the illegals out. Mostly Mexicans and other Latin Americans. I guess freedom to cross the border only goes one way. Americans, and now many Canadians don't seem to grasp that concept. You have a border, which I am 100 percent in favor of, then people on both sides don't get to cross it freely without conditions and restrictions. But that is not what the rank and file citizen wants to hear, so Trump, once again, panders to them and says whatever he has to to win them over and get them to donate to his cause.
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I have crossed the border hundreds of times in my life. There has not been one time when we didn't have to stop, answer questions, justify our trip, and if that wasn't what they wanted to hear, pulled over or pulled in for more questioning. I've never been refused, but there have been two or three times when it was close to that. I think most of us like it that way. It at least makes an attempt to keep our own country safe, and keep it as great as we think it is. That is why they call it a border. It means something to let someone cross into your territory.
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Remember Ted Cruz. Lyin Ted as Trump liked to call him in the election. Well, at least Trump got one thing right. This is the same Ted Cruz who was telling the people of his own state to stay put and freeze while he and his family went to Cancun. Freedom only seems to work for Cruz when it benefits him. Nothing new from him though. Whenever he doesn't get what he wants in the Senate, he delays to try and prevent it.
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Taking guidance from the Trumps and Cruzs of the world only leads to the types of things we are seeing now. They are both selfish, foolish, manipulative deviants who care only about themselves. Freedom for them, not for the rest of us.
Ron DeSantis is a simple man. He is the Governor of Florida, but he views that state as its own country and thus, within its borders, he makes all the rules and laws, even though the Country doesn't actually work that way. He is a one man version of the trucker convoy.
Let's have a look at the freedom and human rights that in reality you don't actually have.
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So, what about freedom and human rights? You think you have them. You have been told you have them. You think you are entitled to them. But that has never been the actual reality and still is not. You have relative freedom, Not absolute freedom. And there are costs and conditions attached to what you get, and what you have to give up to get them. Sorry, but that is the truth. Even if you don't like it. Protesting, occupying, and throwing immature toddler tantrums is not ever going to change any of that.
When you were young, say about 6 or maybe 8 years old, you were told there was a tooth fairy. You put your tooth under the pillow, and then a day or so later, there is money under that pillow. You believe that until you are smart or mature enough to know better. Eventually you get it. It's just a story to get you to relax and cooperate.
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Freedom works like that. You behave well in society. Are somewhat respectful of others and their relative freedom. You receive a certain amount of freedom in return, but it's not absolute and you learn that when you try to go places, cross borders, enter private property, etc.
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Freedom. You've got to give for what you take
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That is something George Michael learned when he entered the music business. You get certain things for your talent, for your performance, for your music. Things like fame, money, perks and status. You also give up certain things, like the freedom to do whatever you want and be who you are. Like being an openly gay man in a straight world. Or to control what is done with your music.Things like being a drug user when that is somewhat frowned on when you have the good boy WHAM image he put out there to get his career launched. When your personal freedom and your public freedom clash, there are problems. It's a balancing act. No way is it absolute. A give and take. To get. You don't get freedom and money without a cost to you.
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<a href="https://www.newmarkettoday.ca/local-news/were-pro-freedom-march-against-vaccine-mandates-held-in-newmarket-6-photos-5032726"></a>
<b>"Our message here today is really to stand for our rights to bodily autonomy. We’re here to stand against the vaccine mandates, against the vaccine passports. We’re here to make it clear that we’re not anti-vaxx, we’re not anti-mask or anything like that. We are pro-choice, we’re pro-freedom, we’re pro-science," he said.
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He said he thinks vaccine passports and mandatory vaccination are not in line with our Charter of Rights and Freedoms and don't represent Canada.<i></i></b>
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The key part of the above statement in the article is the choice part. Who and how much do you get to choose where you go, what you get to do, and who gets to tell you where that line in the sand is?
The fact is and still remains that you are not mandated to get the vaccine. I haven't. Nobody is making me and if they did, then, and only then, would I stand with these protesters. I agree they have that right. I don't agree it has been taken away. Where I disagree is that you can go anywhere you want under all conditions.
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When Mexicans and other illegals try to cross the border illegally in Texas, California and other border states, are they not human? Do they have a right to freedom too? What is freedom anyway and what are rights that you think you have, are entitled to, or not entitled to in reality?
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Let's imagine a scenario. The common held belief by most Americans, and some others in some countries like Canada and Europe for starters. That belief is that you are entitled to have firearms, guns and that is your constitutional right, and in many ways, that is absolute, depending on how extreme you take it, and believe that. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Now, what about where you can take those firearms. Is a restaurant okay? Across a border? Into my house, my property? To a school? Where does that end and where does that start and begin to stop? <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
About 6 or 7 years ago I was traveling and it was Christmas Eve. I was in Memphis, and pretty much the downtown core was a ghost town. There were one or two restaurants open and we wanted lunch. So, we went into the one that we thought would serve the type of food we both wanted. There was a little bit of shock when we saw the sign outside the restaurant stating that you were not allowed to bring firearms into the restaurant. There was another one on every table in the place, and signs all over to that effect. Should you be free to carry firearms into the restaurant? What about my freedom of mind that someone inside the restaurant isn't going to get into an argument and pull a gun....and start shooting. Whose freedom trumps the other in that case? <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Absolute freedom is a fallacy and human rights are something humans say because they are mostly ignorant and will repeat whatever they hear from those they listen to, like Trump and Hannity. You have no basic human rights. You have legal rights that your society and others decide you have. If you lived in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and into the mid 1940s--- and you were Jewish, you had no legal, moral or human rights of any kind. You were deemed expendable, inferior and thus, you had to be rounded up and exterminated. Period. Full stop. The end. Hitler attempted to do that and almost succeeded. He killed in excess of 6 million Jews before he was stopped. He convinced the German people, who were very down at the time as they got slaughtered in the first world war, that he was the answer to their problems and most of the issue was the Jews that resided in Germany and other neighboring countries like Poland. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
In the end, the Jews did survive, because overall world opinion was not on the Germans side. The majority ruled and won. It could have easily not been that way. Majority opinion 3 or 4 centuries ago was that whites were entitled to have slaves, mostly black slaves, and when that opinion was challenged, a Civil War broke out. Who knows what would have happened if the Confederates had won that war. Maybe the society we came to know in Modern North America wouldnt exist. In the end, slavery was abolished, and that is now the majority opinion in most if not all the world. On one of my other trips, I visited Gettysburg, the site of a bloody battle that killed many thousands. That is what it took to settle that war. At this point, these protests, which are more occupations and insurrections, are the beginning of the next Civil War. Barely civil at this point, and leaning towards bloody confrontations like we saw on January 6th and have seen in Canada periodically over the last 30 years. We saw the beginning of that on Sunday, as there are now active counter protests in every area where these rogue freedom Truckers have encamped themselves. It won't be long before they are fighting with each other, and unlike police who are trained to deal with these situations, this will be all out war on the streets. We saw that a couple of years ago in Wisconsin when people died in riots among protestors and counter protesters. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
In the wild, animals set boundaries. Determine territory. Mark that territory and defend it, many times to the death, if necessary. It is the bedrock of the world we exist in. We aren't wild animals, but as animals derived from them we operate under the same principles. People and animals are inherently territorial. That isn't about rights, it's about territory and nature. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
My territory begins with my front door. If you cross that, you will have to deal with me and I will determine what you can and cannot do. We may disagree, fight about it, and if you defeat me, in whatever way you do and whatever that means, it is now your property. Some would argue the American Indian lost that battle four or five centuries ago and thus, lost the rights they believe they are entitled to. Morally maybe they are, legally we could debate that, from a nature point of view, they lost the territory and have no claim to it. Unless they want to take it back under force, in a battle, a contest which likely fights to the death. Some might even argue that in places like Canada, Oka in particular, that has happened several times, and surely there are cases in the United States as well. Currently, the Native Indians dont have the means, the army, the numbers or the technology to win that battle. In terms of human rights, entitlement, they have zero. Whatever they are given, it's only in terms of trying to keep them happy enough to not fight for what we call...their freedom. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
From a country's perspective, their front door is their border. That is where you engage their personal property and territory. They make the rules. As a society, a collective of all citizens who elect representatives to make laws and enforce them. Is that system broken? Probably, but it's the best we have for now and that is how it works. Most are okay with that. A fringe minority are not. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
What about your own personal property? Do you have absolute freedom and the right to do whatever you want? No, certainly you do not. There are many places in my city, country and this world where I cannot do many things that I can do in my own house. Smoking cigarettes is one of those. Walking around naked is another. I could list hundreds of examples of the freedom I have on my own enclosed property that I do not have in public outside that boundary or territory. But, there are lots of things I can't do even on my own property. Commit murder is one. Making meth is another. Running a prostitution ring. Disposing or possessing harmful chemicals. There is no absolute freedom in any society. Only relative freedom. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
What about shared territory, like a country? Who and what decides who has what freedoms within that? And who has the freedom or right to cross into my territory and under what rules and circumstances, obligations? That is the real question in the current situation we find ourselves all over Canada and specifically Ottawa and now Windsor. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-mandates-ottawa-truckers-protest-56a43734eb9568992360844f372c38b6"></a>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
That brings us to the current situation. The freedom to cross borders unvaccinated. The freedom to enter a restaurant, a school, a place of work, travel on an airplane or train. In a shared society where some believe there should be no borders, while many others believe that there always has to be some restrictions on some level. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
While you are pretty much free to enter any public building, you can't do it carte blanche. If you want to carry a firearm, or have a criminal record, or have been flagged for whatever reason, you cannot. If your local area has a Community Centre, as long as you meet the basic conditions, you can enter. If, down the street, there is a Private Country club, they decide who can come in. Hence the term private property. Again, there is no absolute freedom. We have come to accept that as just the way it is. Some don't and will never accept that.
Not everyone wants to wear a mask, or agrees to, or thinks others should tell them where and when and if they should have to. But, while they are basically free to do as they please on their own private property, they are not free to go maskless anywhere else where the state, or a bunch of people who control some kind of private property, don't agree with that. From a personal perspective, I decide who comes into my house, and what is required of them, in terms of masks, vaccination and generally how I view them in terms of morals and behaviors. Nobody really has a problem with that, until we view the entire country, the entire land and territory it is comprised of, as one big Private Country Club, where the members--the citizens, get to decide which of those citizens, and outsiders, get to come in, and what is required of them. As such, they have no implied freedom or human right to do anything. Many in our society dont see it that way, and that is where the trouble, the arguments,the protests begin. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
And that is what has led to the situation in Canada with the Freedom convoy.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Here is the reality of the freedom convoy. The truckers, even unvaccinated ones, are already free to truck goods across the border and come back. They just have to quarantine a certain amount of days when they return and then test negative. That is both an American and Canadian rule on both sides of the border. There is freedom, with conditions, as there always are. In China, there is no freedom. It is absolute. While the majority rules on this side of the world, in China, a small minority rules the entire country and there are no free elections to change that. At least for now. Eventually the Chinese people as a whole will rise up and change that. And then they too will have to find the proper balance of freedom and the relative sacrifices you have to make to keep them. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
The freedom to protest, when you don't like, don't agree with the rules. Yes. Absolutely. The freedom to take hostages, occupy space they don't have rights to occupy, threaten, etc. No. That isn't freedom. That is trespassing and that is terrorism. And that is exactly what is happening here. Who decides what is protest, what is terrorism? <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Well, in our society, since we are not savage wild animals, at least most of the time, we agree on this side of the world that the majority rules. That majority is expressed in terms of elected representatives, and every member of society gets one equal vote. Whether you own a Country club, or work in a low paying job, or even are unemployed, or of any race or color, everyone gets one vote. Majority rules. At least that is how it is supposed to work. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
What happens when that is not good enough for those, like the freedom truckers convoy, and many other fringe groups? What do they do, and what should the majority do about that? That is the issue. Who has the rights here, and how much freedom is there really?
The fact is that everyone has some level of freedom in our society, and yet, nobody has absolute freedom. And most like it that way. Basically, it's a battle, or balance, between your own personal freedom, and the personal freedoms of others in our society or as a collective. When that balance is out of whack, or perceived to be out of whack, we find out what the majority decide. As for the fringe minorities, they either accept that, fight to the death to get it changed, initiate a movement within peaceful and civilian means to change the system and gain the majority, as the Americans did with the Indians, the Germans did with the Nazis, and then act. Or, they decide there is no way to get what they want, and they simply move somewhere else in the world they believe suits their beliefs, rights and morals. Assuming that territory is interested in having them. Which is not at all certain. In medieval times, that meant moving to other areas to take them by force. Some might argue the Russians are currently doing that with Ukraine, the Chinese with Taiwan and Hong Kong, and countless other examples over time and currently. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
So, what to do about the Freedom Convoy Truckers? First lets examine what they actually are, and what the ones who stayed on and are not peaceful protesters, but terrorists who will likely fight to the brink of death if they dont get their way.
How do I know they will fight to the brink of death? Well, I'm not speculating here. They have said they are not leaving until they get what they want, so, they intend to be violent resistors when the time comes to send in the Army and force them to go home. They have made their point with the protest, have gained support where they could, but as they well know, that is not enough to gain them the freedom they want but don't actually have any rights to. So, they will fight like a young horse trying to take away the band of mares from the top stallion until one of them dies. That is what it will have to come to. The fight for control of the territory and the entitlements, the right to make the rules and enforce them. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Every point I have just made is contained in the words and actions of both sides in this article.
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<a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/truck-convoy-protests-road-closures-continue-thursday-as-frustration-grows"></a>
A big part of the problem is who is being listened to here, the clout and influence they have, and the lack of actual fact checking done. Mainly because these people have extreme biases. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Everyone has a bias. Trump and Cruz do. I do. You do. Factions do. That is not the issue here. It is when biases are being portrayed as facts, mainly due to ignorance, with people on both sides of the experience ledger, from Megyn Kelly, who should and does know better than to take the word of wild extremists and makes no effort to bring conflicting opinion onto her show, to Joe Rogan, who is just a D list actor who figured out if he acts like Rush Limbaugh, and becomes very divisive and controversial, he can become rich, which he has.
Both present bias as facts, when they clearly are not. Megyn Kelly recently had Ezra Levant on her program. It is clear she did not check on his history, only that his bias conforms and agrees with her opinion. I like Megyn Kelly in some ways. She is pleasant enough, smart and attempts to use facts to make her points. Only she picks and chooses which facts she presents. That doesn't make her unique, but it undermines everything she says. You never know what is actually true, and it's clear she doesnt do her own homework, but has a staff that does the work, and if they get it wrong, she doesn't bother to check herself. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Joe Rogan is a garden variety low life idiot. There is no other nice way to say it, and I won't attempt to. He panders and caters to that exact element. He is their champion and poster child. He constantly brings on radical, incorrect guests who spew lies and foolish batshit crazy ideas. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Both Kelly and Rogan are entitled to do all that. This isn't China. Freedom of speech. I have no desire to censure them. They don't get to decide what happens at our borders. They can express their views freely and it makes no difference.
The problem becomes that those that do listen to them, mostly far right wing types in Kellys case, and uneducated morons in Rogans case, get to vote and make laws by electing those like De Santis, Trump and Cruz who can make laws. That is the connection that poses a problem.
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Levant"></a>
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Ezra Levant, while a very fringe media type, does the exact same thing. He just makes up lies, cherry picking his points to create his bias. In Canada, he is so fringe, that only the Freedom Truckers and their kind listen to him, and he is basically ignored because he is insignificant. Go to his Wikipedia page I have provided above. He is a pathological liar, a twice convicted one, an extreme radical, and generally offensive and abrasive. Kelly and Rogan are not insignificant. They both have big followings. Levant runs his own fringe news outlet, called Rebel Media. The name says it all. It's all about rebellion. He started that because he either got fired from every other venture, or the ones he was in failed because even his own like minded partners couldn't stomach him any longer. Kelly having Ezra Levant on her show and stating explicitly that...he is the only member of the Canadian Media reporting this situation fairly and accurately. That says a lot about where she is coming from on this. First off, most of what Levant says are complete lies, the rest are fabrications and exaggerations. Kelly even starts to repeat them because she thinks she has fact checked some of them, when clearly she has not. She is a disgrace at this point. Having Levant on her show was her all time low point. My guess is that she has no clue about his history and what he really stands for. Even she would have trouble accepting him if she did even 10 minutes homework on the internet searching his obvious history.
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Megyn Kelly. Joe Rogan. Tomato. Tomato. She doesn't fact check, she accepts lies as facts and then cherry picks one incident to back that up. Again. She has the freedom to do that. As does Rogan. As do I. But, that doesn't make her right. It makes her incompetent. Or appear to be. And certainly biased, which I think she actually admits to if you listen to her show enough.
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<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-ottawa-canada-87496fa7a60183c5ab4f253f76dbb7ba"></a>
Here are some of the facts. The real facts of this Trucker Convoy Protest.
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These aren't peaceful, civil protests.
<b>Some urinated and parked on the National War Memorial. One danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A number carried signs and flags with swastikas.
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In the aftermath of Canada’s biggest pandemic protest to date, the demonstrators have found little sympathy in a country where more than 80% are vaccinated. Many people were outraged by some of the crude behavior.<i></i></b>
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You can count me among the number that are outraged. I'd like to see them taken away by brute force. They are dangerous criminals, many of whom have firearms in their trucks, and should be treated that way. I will not have a shred of remorse if it comes to shooting them dead, if that is what it takes, and it seems it will. They are asking for it. Sadly, like most bullies, they are also cowards and they are using their children as shields as they keep them in their trucks. That is how crazy stupid and radical these people are. They might get their own kids killed here. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Two of the things Kelly mentioned in her interview with Levant showed her actual ignorance and flip attitude about all this. First, the 24/7 horn blowing in unison of the truckers in Ottawa. Until they were forced to stop. Kelly said the residents should just toughen up and take it, and it's not that bad. I'd like to see her deal with that 24/7 and then what she has to say about it. Secondly, that there was only one isolated racist incident, and most of the people were not that way. That simply is not true. While not a majority of the protesters are radical racists, it's not a tiny minority either, and many have a long history as white supremiscists. That is the fact of the matter here. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
To put it bluntly, there are many people who are outraged by the behavior. It's almost all Canadians who are tired of the whining here, the selfishness, the place this comes from in the country. They have no support except from the tiny minority of fringe malcontents who believe they have an entitlement to freedoms and rights which they actually dont. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Do I like having to wear a mask to get groceries? No, I don't. Do I do it? Yes. Firstly, because that is what the majority wants and agrees to. The grocery store is not my house. Not my property. I don't get to make the rules there. Secondly, I believe it protects all equally over time. My rights are not above the rights of the collective society I live in. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Am I personally vaccinated? No. I have my own personal reasons. I'm not anti Vax, I just don't want it for myself and because I have taken this stance, I understand I will have to live with a lot more restrictions than others in my community, my country and the world at large. One of those is that I can't cross the border. I can't get on a plane. I can't go to restaurants, movie theaters, and other venues. I accept that as the give I give to get the freedom I have overall. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Do I think that there should be strict border rules and restrictions? You bet I do. And I don't think they go far enough. But to the extent that I, as a law abiding citizen, have to follow these rules, everyone should have to follow them. No exceptions. Because, it protects the freedom to live healthy for myself, others around me, and all collectively. If that impinges on the supposed freedom of a few who believe they should be allowed to do anything they want because that is how they see it. Well, too bad. Go live in some other country and see if that plays. It wont. In China, they might even barricade your house or apartment building and not even let you out for months. They did that already. They will do it again. In other countries, there are similar situations. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
<b>Organizers, including one who has espoused white supremacist views, had raised millions for the cross-country “freedom truck convoy” against vaccine mandates. It attracted support from former U.S. President Donald Trump and Tesla billionaire Elon Musk.<i></i></b>
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In my opinion, when you attract the support of the Trumps and Musks of the world, you know which side you are on. And it isn't the freedom loving, open minded friendly types. When Musk didn't get his way in California, he just moved his entire operation to Texas. That is his solution. Also his right. But, it's not how most of us live. I'm sure both Trump and Musk live in places where they can surround their property and have people who would be sent out to take care of 24/7 horn blowing. That is how they solve things. They look after themselves but they say different things to the masses.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
<b>During the demonstration, the statue of Terry Fox, a national hero who lost a leg to bone cancer as a youngster and set off in 1980 on a fundraising trek across Canada, was draped with an upside-down Canadian flag and a sign that read “Mandate freedom.”
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“My kids were shocked. Like all Canadian young people, they have grown up with Terry Fox as a hero,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said. “This is not the Canada we want to be. And I really proudly believe, and I know, this is not what Canada is.”<i></i></b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
It can't be more simple than that. This isn't the Canada we know, and not who we want to be. It is the America we don't want to be. With guns carried in restaurants, racist bad actors taking the Capitol building by brute force and killing some, threatening to hang the Vice President among other things. While mostly peaceful and non violent to this point, if these rogue activists push the limits of where they are today, they are going to find out even peaceful Canadians have their limits and authorize the government to do what they have to......even if that means killing these tyrants on the spot...to make it stop. They had their time to protest, they arent winning the war of words, and now they are just militant terrorists. There is only one way to take care of these types. Take away their freedom to live....if they are insistent on taking away our freedom to live safely. That sounds harsh, but it's how it is playing out. They have had more than two week's worth of rope, and we are now at the end of that rope. We have become the Canada we dont like, and it's time to restore that to where it used to be.
If not, this is what happens next, and then it gets very bloody and violent. Unfortunately.
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<b>Meanwhile, police on Tuesday moved to end a protest convoy of trucks and other vehicles that had been blocking a major U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alberta, since Saturday. It turned violent after some protesters breached police barriers to join the demonstration, authorities said.
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“I’ve received reports in the last hour of people aligned with the protesters assaulting RCMP officers, including one instance trying to ram members of the RCMP, later leading to a collision with a civilian vehicle,” Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. “This kind of conduct is totally unacceptable. Without hesitation, I condemn those actions and I call for calm.”<i></i></b>
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Kenney called for calm. Most Canadians are calling for action. Enforce the laws we have. Our weak Prime Minister seems to just refuse to do that. His duty. It is shameful. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
This has gone too far. You dont have the freedom to protest to the point of terrorism. That is the line that has clearly been crossed early on. It's time to push back that line. And if that means some of these rogues have to die, so be it. They don't want to be civil, they will be treated as hostile. Which they clearly are. I won't shed a tear for them, and I won't miss them. They don't belong in the Canada I know and grew up in. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
Megyn Kelly is the prettier, classier, calmer, smarter version. Joe Rogan is the brasher, wilder, younger, dumber, classless version. But they both basically have the same conservative, right of center point of view. Which is fine. They are entitled to that. And if they happen to put out their statements as facts which are actually factually incorrect, then the point is not to cancel them, but to rebut them. Cancelling them solves nothing. It's a vacuum. Cancel them, there are 5 right behind them to take their place. And the people who listen will only become more defiant and compliant to their ideologies if you take their rattle and pacifier away. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
The bottom line is this. We have certain rights and freedoms in this country. To get those, we give up other rights and freedoms so that the majority is considered in addition to the individual. That is how democracies worked. And how they stop working when the balance is not there. It is not currently there when terrorists can blockade entire cities and threaten to hang Vice Presidents and overthrough legally elected governments. People can say virtually anything they want, on this side of the world. They don't get to go wherever they want, and act however they choose without consequences. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="10" data-original-width="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheTBvbmqPxdyp07rMyyhar53Jhoh59ytfDvDJNCIUchdvmsR3AtLiX4AJLGMhZ1nVZhTsGpHWBfpQ02mcHoyMYFH91W2itIun1ZSrcw6WOJl36adds6zO_QvrLkEjWqp3jfEoc5UiY26stVc9UM9PxP8ZPUqAnmyxmbzMvmtxCDVuT7gp458Wuivkv"/></a></div>
You take certain freedoms for granted. You have to give back a certain amount to get what you have. If you don't like how that works, there is the door. Hit the road Jack. Cross the border and don't ever come back. We won't miss you. Good riddance.
Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-48906699467810616852021-01-24T19:10:00.004-05:002021-01-24T19:13:27.365-05:00The value in things comes from the hard part.<p><span style="font-size: large;">Last summer in spite of doing all the work I’ve done to get to a certain point betting on horses, the value I expected to be there still wasn’t there. And that was concerning. It should be there. If you are good at something, the value you look for should be there. It wasn’t. I couldn’t figure out why. Until one day.....</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Thus, this blog. How I figured out why I couldn’t find what was lying at my feet in plain sight all these years.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Obviously, I have given away the gist of the answer in the title, but so be it. The most important part is not the answer, but the process and the reason. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">In late summer, because of the pandemic, I had a couple of days where the usual race tracks I was playing weren’t running, and I didn’t feel like doing anything other than watching and betting. Old school. Old style. To me, that means the way I started way back when 37 years ago. Just watch, no prep, no data, no replays, just see what I like, and bet on it. No matter the type or class of horse or race. Just make bets on who I thought was the winner. At the end of the day, the bets I won that day were on races I always have avoided. I thought that was odd, but it happens. Being studious though, and curious, I started to think about why I didn’t really play those types of races. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">When I figured out the why, it was a straight path right back to when I had begun. In this case, it was younger horses, who were not maidens, also mostly trotters, and in T breds, turf horses, large fields with all sorts of competing variables, form and intangibles. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Why had I never wanted to play those races? Because they are hard. Very hard, and most people who don’t really bet to make a profit will tell you to avoid those types of races, or, that they play them but always end up losing those bets. And that is simply because those races are hard to decipher, and it requires consistent and copious amounts of hard work on a daily basis. But what you will find, if you do the data, or just casually pay attention, is that those are the races where the value plays lie. If you can get them. Most cannot. So, they avoid them and tell others new to the game to do just the same. Which is what happened to me way back when. I was told to avoid those races, or expect to lose. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">It also requires a plan to play the way most others don’t or won’t. Because they aren’t willing to, and others tell them to do it their way, the wrong way. Since they are the perceived....experts, we listen to them. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So, we play all the other races.The easier ones. With clear favorites, consistent form, shorter fields, less variables or moving parts, and while we win our share of bets, we lose money overall. No matter how good we are at actually handicapping. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">As I went forward, I just looked at the data, of which I have a ridiculous amount stored and collected over the years that can be used to figure out lots of things. Like......which races consistently produce a price horse, a horse you can get, and a favorite who is likely overbet and won</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>’</span><span>t win his or her share of races favorites should win. In other words, if favorites win 35 percent of all races, what are races where they only win 15 or 20 percent, on a very consistent basis, and when that happens, what kinds of value horses win that race?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">When you look at it that way, the hard part gets a lot easier. It’s still hard, there is still a lot of work involved, but at least the hard work pays off. You just have to be consistent about it and be committed to having a plan and sticking with it. That is easy to do if you know it will pay off. It is hard, near impossible to do, if you get consistent results that tell you it won’t. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">A very famous speech by Denzel Washington that circulates over the internet speaks directly about this type of thing. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0FB9i7P9Zs4" width="320" youtube-src-id="0FB9i7P9Zs4"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Without commitment, you’ll never start, but more importantly, without consistency, you’ll never finish. It’s not easy. If it was easy, there would be no........so.....keep working, keep striving, fall down 7 times, get up 8. <b>Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship.</b> </i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">All of that is very simple if you think about it. If it is easy, then the people that don’t work hard, work smart, take the hardships of finding a path and way that is difficult, will succede anyway. When that happens, what edge or advantage do you have? None. But when it’s hard, they fail, will continue to fail, and you will excel. If you are commited to that, and are consistent every day about working towards taking the hard path to the promised land. They will never get there. They will never win those bets. Those races. Most of that is because they have been told not to try. It’s too hard. Don’t bother. Take the easy road. It’s easier. You will like it better. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">In the clip I posted, Will Smith talks about why people do take the easy road, and how that sends them spiralling into the abyss that never allows them to go the other way.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i>We tend to base our self esteem on what other people think. And that’s not really self esteem, <b>Self esteem is supposed to be about how we feel about ourselves. How dangerous it is to allow other people to determine how you are going to feel about you.</b> It’s kind of like looking into a broken mirror.... and then change your face to try and look good in this defiled, busted broken mirror. <b>It’s just other peoples opinion is a really shitty way to determine how we feel about ourselves.</b> </i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">If you listen to others, who have opinions, but generally take the easy road, and make it seem like that is the right road, it’s the broken mirror syndrome in full blown mode. You will avoid the hard road, and never get to the point where you need to be. They will have convinced you their road is the right road, when you know it isn’t. You become helpless, and hopeless. You have conformed to a broken, loser model of any part of life you attach to it. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">For me, I know how to spot it, and only have to do that to know I have to find the hard road they won’t take. Common words out of their mouth are....<b><i>I took the two logical ones.</i></b> Or....<b><i>I dont trust the favorites, but I don’t feel like looking beyond them,</i></b> so I took the next logical one and didnt bother to look at the host of hard to like ones to find one that actually presents value. Or, <b><i>you can’t leave that one out, so I used him anyway</i></b>, at the expense of the value horse I could have found and replaced him with. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Why do they do all that? Because it’s easy to do that. It requires no work, and it sounds logical. Horses arent logical, and in many cases, life isnt either. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">In terms of Will Smith’s point, I will add a quote from Dr Tom, in the pilot episode of Being Erica.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5cZGxIYO7pc" width="320" youtube-src-id="5cZGxIYO7pc"></iframe></div><p><br /></p>The quote comes from a scene at about the 41 minute mark. <br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Sure, other peoples opinions matter. They just dont matter as much as your own.</i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Yes, learn from others. Listen to what they have to say. I’m sure they have some wisdom. But, remember, almost all of them are taking the easy road, and that is not the road you want to be on if you want to get to your end destination. Very few get to that point, and almost none of them took the easy way there. What they did was pass others on the way who got off at Easy Street and camped there for eternity. Happily. Which is absolutely their choice, if it’s a conscious choice. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">For others, like me, I want it to be hard. I don’t always like it when I’m smack in the middle of the hard way or times, but I know pushing through that is what will get me to the promised land, the top of the mountain, whatever metaphoric term or saying you want to use. Of course, that takes a lot of personal self esteem. Because just about everyone you know will tell you that you are doing it wrong, and you will fail. They are afraid of hard. Hard work. Hard times. Etc. And that’s good, because that is when you know you are on the right road, even if it’s a very hard and bumpy road. You have to believe that, completely, to stick with it. As Denzel says, be committed and be consistent. It’s not easy. That is actually very hard. The hardest part. Sticking with it when it gets really hard. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Later in the clip. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>The more opinions there are of me, the less I look at them. Because I just can’t live my life based on what other people think of me. </i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">-Denzel.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So, the answer was simple. I wasn’t finding value because while I worked hard, I was taking the easy road. No matter how hard you work, which is important, you have to be on the right road. The hard road presents challenges and challenges you to not take the easy exit off that road when things get tough. When they do get tough, that is when you know you are on the right road. The road to value. Which you will arrive at if you are consistent and stick with it. As long as that takes. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">For me, that is upwards of 37 years now. But I have stuck with it and continue to do so. Because I always knew if I stuck to the hard road, I would end up at the value I seek and know is out there. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">That is what did and continues to drive me.</span></p>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-10030424532233530842021-01-11T23:33:00.004-05:002021-01-12T00:35:29.330-05:00When cobras look like garden snakes<p>I want you to imagine a world, a formerly relatively civil world where bad things dont happen to good people, very rarely anyway, and are almost never done to them by good people. People who seem good anyway, and arent known to be violent, murdering, deviant types. The kind you may not like, but dont scare you and you can trust to be civil on some level. Law and Order rules. </p><p>That is the hallmark of how we live and why we are glad we dont live in Third World or Communist countries where that isnt actually the case and we can have confidence that it wont happen to us where we live.</p><p>Lets say you are a Canadian, say, like me. Lets say you make a trip or two a year to visit your relatives in the States, as I did for about 20 years. Lets say you did that, and never had any concerns. Even as a crazy kid in Newtown shot up a school, which in fact happened in real time as I travelled on one of those days to my relatives and I heard the entire thing play out on the radio for 5 hours as I drove. </p><p>Even as a bunch of lunatic extremist terrorists bombed twin towers, tried to take out the Pentagon and the White House, and you had to pick up your wife from the subway that day because she worked for Bank Of America, and they were possibly a target of these crazed radicals. None of that fazed you. Why is it that none of that fazed you?</p><p>Because, you look at situations like that and think that could happen anywhere, in your country, your town, your grocery store, and its done by crazies, or radicals, and there is nothing you can do about that sort of thing. Anyway, its so rare, you cant let it effect your daily life. The things you need to do, the places you need to go to live your life. So, you accept the risk that they will happen, not likely to you, and thats okay. if you are a schoolteacher in Newtown, or a stock broker in the twin towers, or on a plane that they hijack, so be it. Thats life.</p><p>The recent bombing in Nashville is a perfect example of that. A crazy man with some mental problems and a crazy idea blew up a city street. Three years ago, a crazy young man drove down the main street in this town, drove on the sidewalk and mowed down 10 or 12 people because he had some crazy idea it would make him famous and important. None of that would ever stop me from doing anything. Shit like that happens, and it always will. I accept that risk.</p><p>Now lets say that world has changed. I dont travel to places like China, Africa, Eastern Europe, South America, North Korea or any place where I dont trust the government to be stable and reasonable. Maybe I am naive to think that my own government or other Western governments have always been stable, and that is a debate for another time. I will say that I have travelled to and from the United States for my entire life, hundreds of times, and I never felt unsafe or at risk. Ive been in Harlem, the projects in Chicago, the most violent part of Miami, and East LA when I got off the highway at the wrong exit. I still had the idea that I could identify who to be careful with, and that there was some police presence and protection around. Same with Canada. There are areas in my own town I wont go, or if I do, my guard is way up, but still, I am aware of being in those areas and I trust no one I shouldnt while I am there. Those situations are very, very rare.</p><p>What if the United States became a place like that? The entire United States. In my view, it did become that way as soon as Donald Trump was elected President in 2016. I said then, and many thought I was overeacting and foolish to think that there was no safe place in that entire country as long as he was in charge, said what he was prone to say, and there was a large enough portion of the citizens who would do whatever he said. Even ones who were otherwise never prone to doing things like that. Say, like storming the Capitol and killing police officers, with the intent of killing senators, even hanging them. Or walking down a Wisconsin town with semi automatic weapons threatening to shoot peaceful protesters. </p><p>Now lets say I am in New York, which is where I crossed when I went to the States, and that day, there is a dispute over tariffs. Someone like Donald Trump, or one of his lunatic minions like Peter Navarro say something like Canadians are stealing jobs from Americans by selling their lumber or steel or milk too low. Which both of them said. And on that day, I am travelling. I stop for gas. I get some food. I have to make some other stop. My license plate clearly indicates I am Canadian, and now I am a target. Only, I dont know I am a target, and I dont know who is targetting me, or what they will look like. They dont look like bad guys, on the surface anyway. How do you have confidence travelling in a place like that? Is that a risk you want to take? I didnt and I dont. Which is why I havent since he has been president. I crossed once. And from the border to my destination, I made no stops. I got enough gas to get me there on the Canadian side, and I went nowhere while I was there. Even then, I was uneasy being in an area where crazies are being provoked by the King Crazy of all time.</p><p>How do you live, exist, move around and navigate a world or society when there is no telling who is the enemy and who is the civil citizen? You dont. You get the fuck out of dodge and then you stay away from it if possible. </p><p>I dont like snakes. Hate them. With a passion. I once saw a garden snake in my backyard in Montreal and I just about freaked out. It was actually harmless, my neighbor picked it up, it did nothing, and he put it back in the field. However, from that day forward, I was always touchy about moving freely in my backyard. I got over that, but still, it had been planted in my mind that there could be a colony of snakes anywhere in my backyard. </p><p>Now, I get that garden snakes are harmless. I do. I really do get that. Years later I was in Northern Michigan for a camping vacation, and we visited an old copper mine, outside of which was an old pit crawling with snakes. Garden snakes. I felt uneasy, but I wasnt scared. I know garden snakes dont pose any real threat to me. </p><p>Cobras, however, do. They are poisonous, deadly snakes that can kill you. They arent garden snakes. They are serious, deadly killers. Again though, it is highly unlikely I will ever encounter a Cobra anywhere that I live or travel. </p><p>Now, what if Cobras were able to transform themselves into chameleons, where they look like garden snakes, act like them on a daily basis, but as night falls, they start acting like Cobras again. They still look like garden snakes, so you let your guard down, and if they are provoked to strike, that garden snake who is actually a Cobra will do what it is born to do. Kill and strike violently. And you wont see it coming until its way too late. </p><p>Donald Trumps America has turned into exactly what he is. A dangerous snake who sells you the idea that his way is the only way. And when he doesnt get his way, and his followers believe he should get his way, then they will act like dangerous snakes, when in reality, they were just loudmouth, garden snakes before who lost their way and would slither back out to the field. That is the America he created the day he was elected. We saw the end result of that, what I said all along was possible back then. Angry mobs of crazies, egged and urged on by a maniacal pathological leader to become deadly snakes. They can and will be in any town, any area, anywhere on the land we used to call the land of the free. It isnt free anymore. To roam freely and safely in the knowledge that what you see is what is there. </p><p>When cobras look like garden snakes, the world isnt a safe or reliable place. I wish Joe Biden the best, but I highly doubt that these snakes will now be happy to go back to being harmless garden snakes. They have had a taste of the cobra life, and in fact, are even angrier now that their leader has been captured and beheaded. I dont know what it will take to reverse that, but I will have to see a sign that life has returned to normal. From where I sit, it looks like borderline Civil War, where there is no telling who is what. At least back in the day of Civil War, it was North against South, and everyone knew who was on what side. </p><p>These are much different times. </p><p>When I was younger, I was foolish and misguided to be afraid of a garden snake. As I grew up, I was smart enough to be right about knowing when to avoid areas where cobras are allowed to roam free in disguise and not kept in cages where they belong. But how can you cage them when they dont look like cobras? You cant. </p><p>As the old saying goes, closing the barn door after the horses are out and running free is useless, much like closing the cage door when the cobras have been free and roaming for 4 years. That is the reality we saw play out last week in Washington. And we will continue to see play out all over a country who didnt hunt and kill them while they were allowed to gather and become stronger. Because the ring leader in charge of making that happen was actually the King Snake protecting them. Making sure they were there to be his army when he needed to mobilize them. You can kill the leader, but that doesnt take out the army that idolize him. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mlvo4ioB5P0" width="320" youtube-src-id="mlvo4ioB5P0"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-15453068355295165632021-01-10T01:29:00.000-05:002021-01-10T01:29:21.719-05:00Making peace with loss.<p> <span style="font-size: medium;">Theres no one way to do grief. Youre not linear. Your grief is as unique as your fingerprint. The stages follow us. We dont follow them.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">-David Kessler</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">https://grief.com/the-five-stages-of-grief/</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xqz9eyakGqY" width="320" youtube-src-id="Xqz9eyakGqY"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This song happened to be playing in my You Tube mix tonight. No surprise, as I have always loved it, love Franki Valli, his voice and the way he sings a song, and just the vibe and raw emotion of that particular song. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Nevertheless, I think it was a sign that it played exactly when it did, as I was thinking of writing this blog tonight and one line from the song grabbed me in terms of what I eventually want to say, which will come towards the end of the blog. I will highlight the line, but included the entire passage as it has to be read in context of all of it.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Till we flew into, the me and you</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">that went our seperate ways</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">my eyes adored you</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">though I never laid a hand on you</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">my eyes adored you</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">like a million miles away from me</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">you couldnt see how I adored you</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">so close</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">so close and yet so far</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">funny I seem to find</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">that no matter how the years unwind</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">still I reminisce</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">about the girl I miss</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">and the love I left behind</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This week, a relative of mine lost his mother. I am not particularly close to him, nor was I to her, although I knew them both well and his mother was the salt of the earth type. The type not one person ever had a bad thing to say about. A real giving type. It will be a tough loss for him to deal with, as I know what its like to have to bury your parents, or anyone close like that you have known for your entire life. For as long as I have known him, and them, they have always been about family more than anything. A family gathering was a very big deal, even a small one, and now, part of that gathering will not be there. Today is my mothers birthday, so I am very aware of what it is like to reminisce about that sort of thing. My mother and I shared one very special bond. We had a birthday 4 days apart and when it was celebrated, it was always celebrated together. That is the first and last thing I always think about on my birthday and then hers. That part is now gone. The loss of that part of life.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It also got me to thinking about grief and loss, and the stages of those. I am familiar with the 5 stages, but to me,that is more about grief than loss, although grief is always some part of loss, even more a stage of that. But, I am more focused on how to deal with loss, and put it behind you. Once the grieving is over, the loss is still there. Its always been an issue for me. How to move on from loss.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ive carried the grief of a loss that I could never get past for more than 35 years, but a recent loss has taught me that until you make true peace with all that came before the loss and then immediately what happened right after the loss, you cant attain peace. Much like in the Frankie Valli song, you just have to remember there was a time when you adored them, and for whatever reason, and generally there are many, way too many to figure out which of them was the actual reason, it just didnt work out. Its peaceful to just accept that. Peaceful to a degree you cant imagine until you do that. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, that isnt the same as losing your mother, or some other close relative, but its similar in terms of how you come to true peace. If it mattered to you, and they mattered to you, it means as much or almost as much as your parents, or a child if you lose a child. They talk about that in the video at the start of the blog if you watch that.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I think, at this point in my life, I am at the peace stage of loss. Ive made peace with the losses Ive sustained, and have let them go. To me, that is the real final stage. Letting go of the loss. There is a great amount of peace in doing that, at least for me. Its like you let go of a burden that weighs you down. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If you watched the video above of David Kessler and the Estefan family, then you see the dynamics of how it all plays out. Differently in most of us, in various stages. But Kessler adds a 6th stage, and to me, that is peace. To him, its meaning.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">He calls it meaning. I call it peace. Its basically the same thing or concept. The meaning, the reason it happened, the reason it died, the reason it didnt work, whatever the reason to the meaning, finding that for yourself helps you accept the loss, and in so doing, for me anyway, I get peace in knowing the loss had a purpose or meaning, and to just move forward from that point. Obviously, that is easier said than done, and there will be lapses and moments, but when you get to that stage, you get very peaceful about the entire thing.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If you didnt watch the video above to the entire end, Gloria Estefan and her daughter Emily created a new song based on all that, and I have posted below to conclude the blog. Its very, very moving.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1amoefi1pFg" width="320" youtube-src-id="1amoefi1pFg"></iframe></span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ive had a lot of trouble sleeping or falling asleep the last few weeks, and that is mostly because I carry this grief and loss than I hadnt made proper peace with. That seems to have been lifted now. Again, as I wrote in a blog last month, I write to help myself, and doing that does help. If it helps others, that is great too, and part of the reason I post these types of things. But even if no one ever reads this, it helped at least one person. Me. </span></p><p><br /></p>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-77344561870477273112021-01-09T01:41:00.002-05:002021-01-09T20:45:46.196-05:00The path of faith<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> Finding a path. Finding a way. Having faith that you will and that it will come. When every day is tough, and every day it seems you are on that path, but you derail. That is the tough part. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But the path will come. The way will appear. That is just how it is. Just how it goes. You just have to keep trying, keep aware, keep believing it will happen. It will work itself out. The path will appear, again, only this time its a clearer and better path. You derail because you are not supposed to stay on that path. It was the wrong path, even though it seemed to be the right path. I accept that now. You have to derail, as many times as it takes, until you get on the final, ultimate path to take you where you need to be. That is how I see it now.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">There was a time when I didnt. I just believed it would never happen. That is a tough way to live, and you can be very anxious in your quietiest, darkest, most personal inner moments. It can eat you up. It does eat you up. Until you surrender to the reality that you just have to have faith and keep trying, and that it will happen. In that way, the anxiety is gone. The down times of failure and loss dont get you down anymore. You view it as part of the path to the success, to the knowledge, to the better times and to the end result or goal. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Why write a blog like this, on a night like this when I had no intention to do so and have 4 or 5 other blogs I really want to write and also finish? I guess because it just came out of me.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Today was another tough day. So close. Seemingly so much on the right path, but then its clear you arent. Not yet anyway. But then, another road appears that you see will lead you back on the right path. That is how it goes and how it went for me today. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZYr-o_LhSiQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="ZYr-o_LhSiQ"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><p><span><br /></span></p>Possibly because I stumbled onto an interview with Mickey Rourke, who hit about as far into rock bottom as you can go, and somehow, he survived and rose again. He says many times, you just keep working hard and do your thing, and it will find a way. When there looks like there is no way. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">He doesnt say it, but I do. Its about faith. In yourself. In others, in the cosmos. Whatever way you choose to describe it. You just have to believe in blind faith that it will work out for you, and for you and others if that is where you are at. I think that way these days, and there was a time when I didnt. This song always comes to mind when I do think that way.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t1sYjDc8i4I" width="320" youtube-src-id="t1sYjDc8i4I"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span>Its been a long road, getting from there to here. Its been a long time, but my time is finally here.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">As I continue to travel down that road, I can feel my time is finally here. There will be more derailments, more false paths, More detours onto other roads that lead back to the right path and I feel that the long road has grown shorter and have the faith to keep trying. But the anxiety is virtually gone, as I see it more clearly now. Trust the path. Have faith that it will lead you where you need to be. Eventually. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That is the path of faith.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-74256163854745828722020-12-28T02:18:00.002-05:002020-12-28T02:18:54.227-05:00Ideas that limit you<p> I have always loved the song <b><i>A Song For You</i></b>. By, The Carpenters. Or at least I always thought it was by The Carpenters. Up until a couple of years ago, I’d never heard any other version of the song, and thought it was an original of theirs. Then I heard the version by Simply Red, which was just as good as the Carpenters version, and even in some ways it was better. Mostly because of the instrumentation, not the singing. Although the lead singer of Simply Red is a fabulous singer. It’s different for sure. I think mainly because he made a video that captured the essense of the song, which of course, back in the day of The Carpenters didn’t exist. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5IUbBb362uY" width="320" youtube-src-id="5IUbBb362uY"></iframe></div><p>I watched the videos of the song by The Carpenters and Simply Red enough times that, You Tube being You Tube in the algorythmic way it is, it started suggesting to me all the different versions of the song that are out there. I will come back to that later in the blog. In any event, up to about a couple of weeks ago, I never clicked on any of them. I still thought it was a Carpenters song covered by Simply Red. I was happy and content with that view and I believed it as fact.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_PMgmgDq2Fo" width="320" youtube-src-id="_PMgmgDq2Fo"></iframe></div><p>Another song I have loved since the first time I heard it and for 40 years now is the Lee Ritenour song <b><i>Is It You</i></b>. It was a fairly big hit back in the day, but you rarely hear it anymore. However, it’s just a song that is always in my head and it comes to the surface when I hear other things every now and then. That was the case a few months ago. I have been listening to a lot of jazz online lately while I work, and Lee Ritenour is actually a jazz legend, with that one pop song I know his only real venture into that realm. So, I googled it, and I found this version, which is one of the best live versions I know. A much jazzier version than the pop song version. Both great though. Up until a year ago, I viewed Lee Ritenour as a one hit wonder type of pop star. In actuality, as I said, he is a jazz legend who happened to have one crossover hit.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wGYFKJX1rZg" width="320" youtube-src-id="wGYFKJX1rZg"></iframe></div><br /><p>Fantastic version, as I said, but what grabbed me more than anything was the female black singer performing the lead vocals. I had no idea who she was or is, but I had to find out. Which I did. Her name is Kenya Hathaway, and if that name sounds familiar, it’s because she is the daughter of Donny Hathaway. More about him later. Reading up on her and learning what she has done other than that song led me to read up on Donny Hathaway and his life. A tragic life as it turns out. More about that later as well. Other than his extensive solo work and being a prolific producer before that, he did a few other things. One I will mention in the other part of this blog. Most know of him today for his duets with Roberta Flack.</p><p>One of my favorite artists growing up was Roberta Flack, and the songs she sang as duets with Donny Hathaway. It turns out they went to University together and he was the one that got her the record deal that led to them recording the duets they did together, although she was very popular on her own when she first came out. I believe she won the Grammy for song of the year two years in a row, which no artist has done before or since. Not that any of that matters to me. I just love her songs and the way she sings them. Here are 3 of those.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ySlLq9t2qgc" width="320" youtube-src-id="ySlLq9t2qgc"></iframe></div><p>And the two duets with Hathaway. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZcHPNUN-U8E" width="320" youtube-src-id="ZcHPNUN-U8E"></iframe></div><p>Then shortly before Hathaway died. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_jhYENBxRVo" width="320" youtube-src-id="_jhYENBxRVo"></iframe></div><br /><p>As I read up about Donny Hathaway, one thing I learned that I didn’t know is that he sung the theme song from the 70’s sitcom Maude. I love that theme, one of the best ever in my opinion. I watched Maude here and there growing up, but since I was only 7 when it started and was into sports a lot more than anything else during the time period, I rarely watched it more than once a year until I was about 13, when it was in its last year. </p><p>I also loved the show Good Times, and the theme from that show as well. Good Times was a spinoff from Maude, and Maude was a spinoff from All In The Family. All In The Family and Good Times I watched every week for the entire runs of both shows, mostly because we watched them as a family on the main TV, which was the only color TV in the house growing up. </p><p>Things I knew about All InThe Family and Good Times. All In The Family was set in New York City, while Good Times was set in the Chicago, in the projects. Maude was Edith’s cousin from Chicago, and Maude’s maid was Florida, who was the reason they spun off into Good Times. Of course, that is not accurate as I now know. Only as of a couple of days ago in fact. </p><p>I googled the Maude theme when I learned it was sung by Donny Hathaway, and while i listened to it, I was trying to see if I could tell it was him singing it. I couldn’t. He was very versatile and talented, and he sang many different things and styles where he adapted to the piece. While I was listening to that song on You Tube, the next video up was a suggestion to watch an episode of Maude. It was late and I was tired. I didn’t feel like doing any more work that day, so I clicked on the episode. It was one from the last season, where Maude and Walter are breaking up, and on the verge of making that permanent. I think I saw it back in the day, but didn’t remember the specific episode. I will post it below. It’s a very good episode, the writing is fantastic, Bea Arthur is her usual fabulous self, as she was a tremendous comedic actress with off the chart timing. As I watched it, I noticed something in the plot that threw me though.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8-0rwRsf5HI" width="320" youtube-src-id="8-0rwRsf5HI"></iframe></div><br /><p>The reason they are splitting is that Walter wants a stay at home wife, and Maude is running for State senator, which meant she would end up in Albany most of the time if she won. That is where my mind started to ask questions. Maude and Walter lived in Chicago, so why would she run for state senator in New York. They lived in a town called Tuckahoe, a town I never knew of other than it was where the show Maude took place. It could have been made up as far as I know. There was a reason that I made that incorrect connection. </p><p>Because I watched Good Times and it was clear at all times that show was set in the Chicago projects, and Maude was just visiting Edith to look after the family because they were sick when she appeared on the two episodes of All In The Family before they decided to spin that show off, I presumed she was from Chicago and just visiting. If you watch the opening credits for both shows, it appears that Maude could be set in Chicago, because while Chicago and New York are very different types of towns, they share a lot of similarities. I have been to both several times, and had been to both in the early 70’s. It would be an easy mistake to make if you didn’t watch Maude steadily or regularly back then. </p><p>So, after the episode, I read up on how the whole thing took place. Maude was set in Suburban New York, and while Florida the maid worked at her house, when they spun Good Times off of Maude, they changed the setting to Chicago and changed the characters a bit from how they were presented on Maude. TV does that when it suits the project they have. Good Times was already an idea that was being worked on before they decided to make Florida the main character, which as it turns out, didn’t play out that way as Jimmie Walker ended up the main character. Clearly though, it was about a black family in the Chicago projects. I missed the Maude part simply because I didn’t watch that show very much, was young, and presumed by the time that I did 5 years later that if Florida the maid from Good Times worked for Maude, Maude must live in Chicago. Not getting the whole story and drawing conclusions from other facts led me to get it wrong. </p><p>And so, I return back to Donny Hathaway, through Kenya Hathaway, and by way of a Carpenters song that wasnt a Carpenters song really. It was a Leon Russell song that many other artists covered.</p><p>Kenya Hathaway, if you watched the Lee Ritenour clip I posted above, has a very joyous way of presenting and singing. She has a big, unique smile and she expresses joy and happiness that way. Her father also has that smile if you look at the album cover clip from The Closer I Get To You video I posted above. But, overall, he wasn’t a happy person. You can read up on him to see his story, but it’s a tragic story of someone with deep mental illness that plagued him his entire life. Because of that, and his talent, he was very suited to sing the song A Song For You, which is a very introspective, reflective and melancholy song if you sing it the way Hathaway does. Now my favorite version of that song. Leon Russell wrote a great song, but I didnt like his performing of it at all. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HeHiio1sTTI" width="320" youtube-src-id="HeHiio1sTTI"></iframe></div><p>To really sing that song, you have to completely understand deep pain. Donny Hathaway was a very troubled guy, and he knew a lot about pain. Karen Carpenter obviously had deep issues within her that drove her to the destructive behavior which ended up taking her life. Both of them died around 33 or 34, not even yet in the prime of their lives. Others sing the song, sing it well, but they dont convey the pain the way those two did, in their own very different ways and singing styles. As Don McLean said in my previous blog, to express pain you have to feel pain, and suffer. No doubt how much both of those two singers suffered and felt pain in their short lives. Because she was fairly good at expressing pain, I just presumed it was a song the Carpenters wrote or originated. My memory is that their version came out after Hathaway’s, but I would have been way too young to know that then. </p><p>This is already a long blog. What is my point here<span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">?</span></p><p>Once you get an idea in your head that something is a certain way, and you start to believe it as fact, even though it isn’t or might not be, it’s very tough to get past that. Possibly, at one moment later on, you realize you had it wrong, or maybe you have a new perspective on it and it changes your view. But until that time, it limits your view of things and life.</p><p>My recent success and enlightenment when it comes to betting on and playing horse racing is directly related to changing my view of many things within that, what is happening and how I am viewing and approaching it. The reason it took me almost 40 years to reach my full potential doing that is simply I had wrong ideas based on experiences which created facts in my head which weren’t facts at all, and my view of what was actually happening was simply wrong. It limited my ability to achieve. All I can say for certain is that over all these years I have been playing the wrong races, the wrong way and with the wrong mindset. All of that because of ideas I developed very early on when i started and have been the foundation of every interaction I’ve had since, up until about 3 months ago when I changed my focus and opened my eyes to what was in front of me.</p><p>Ideas are great. But they can limit you if you don’t get the whole story then base everything you do on those potentially false ideas. It’s a trap we all fall into, but a dangerous trap if you aren’t lucky enough to stumble onto a Maude episode, or different versions of songs that show you another way to see them. </p><p>The show All In The Family is, at it’s core, a show about a man with a very narrow and limited view of life and how things are, which is turned on its head when he is forced to live with his hippie, radical, combative son in law, and then has black neighbours who move in and as it turns out, that family is much more successful than his. None of that ever changes his mind about how life is, but it probably would most if they were confronted with situations like that. Or with a character like cousin Maude, or the many other situations when Archie was presented with different ideas and types than fit the mold in his head that he had cemented much earlier in life when he didn’t know better. By that time, he should have, but never did. The ideas simply limited him to believe what he believed before he should know better.</p><p>This is basically where the whole chain of All In The Family, Maude, Good Times and The Jeffersons started. On this type of confrontation between those who have ideas who limit them and those who clash against them but get nowhere. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6HQuwtE5RAQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="6HQuwtE5RAQ"></iframe></div><br /><p>And it took off when Maude hit the scene. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jtXxvtUJ1ms" width="320" youtube-src-id="jtXxvtUJ1ms"></iframe></div><div><br /></div>Even stubborn and contentious types like Maude and Micheal realized you cannot make a dent in someone or help them grow if they have false ideas that limit them and have no desire to grow and change when they are presented with the chance to do so. Both Maude and Micheal tried at first, but eventually, they just gave up trying to change his mind, which was never going to be changed. He had decided the world as he viewed it was an open and shut case.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KwwD0MwQo5w" width="320" youtube-src-id="KwwD0MwQo5w"></iframe></div><br /><p>Archie liked to say case closed, and that was his view of the world. His limited view of the world. No matter how foolish that sounded.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-lDb0Dn8OXE" width="320" youtube-src-id="-lDb0Dn8OXE"></iframe></div><br /><p>It is just plain foolish to ignore situations and events that clearly show you that you have it wrong because you want to hang onto ideas that you have come to see as facts. But then, as we know, that is what many of us do. We limit ourselves because we want the world to be as we always thought it was. Not how it actually is. Some change and adapt. Others will just go right on to the point Archie Bunker did. Which is looking like a fool. </p><p>The choice is always up to the person themselves. Limit yourself, or adapt and see the world as it is. Even if that goes against what you have believed all your life. </p></div>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-57528549267158593162020-12-24T20:31:00.002-05:002020-12-27T01:52:17.354-05:00Why I started writing blogs again.<p><i><b>Weathered faces lined in pain</b></i></p><p><i><b>Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand</b></i></p><p><i><b>Now, I understand, what you tried to say to me</b></i></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eTGcyuEU6Wo" width="320" youtube-src-id="eTGcyuEU6Wo"></iframe></div><p><br /></p><span style="font-size: medium;">In writing the above song and why he decided to do it, and what he was aiming to do.</span><p></p><p><b><i>I wrote a song to.....try to grab hold of what I perceived as his essense, as a human being. As an artist, art is his essense. Thats him. It is him. Thats me. I dont make music. I am music. He is his art. So much of his life is about feeling, Sensation. Pain. Pain is a very important part of art. You know, people are on drugs today...they dont feel anything. They cant be artists. You have got to suffer. You got to suffer and you have to separate yourself from the rest of people too. You cant be a social guy, you know. Going around, being one of the regular guys. Cause you are not regular. In a sense we are missionaries. We go out into the world, with our music and our ideas. Artists are missionaries in a sense. They are on a mission to change the world a little bit. </i></b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Why did I start writing blogs again?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The reason I decided to write this particular blog, at this time and place, is that this is a question I ask myself. I sort of knew the answer, but I remembered watching a clip a couple of months ago and the words that Don McLean used to describe why you do it, and why you simply dont have a choice but to do it. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Why did I start writing blogs again? I ask myself that question. For sure, the way I do it, it is very time consuming, hard work and the reality is that I dont really have many readers at all, although I do get a few reads. Even if I got none though, which might eventually be the case, I feel its something I need to do. It gives me something I need for my own well being and sanity. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Definitely, its not about the money, or the glory, or gratification I can get from others. Nobody will ever pay me for my blog content. Even if there was such a person or entity, I dont want that. I have money and I can earn money in other ways. I want to be free to write what I want, with no higher power editor telling me I cannot say this or that. There is no glory in writing blogs or anything else, at least for me, other than the personal satisfaction I get from just doing it. Don McLeans words I think explains why I have to write my ideas, thoughts and feelings. Its not really a choice I have either way. I feel like its sort of a sanity saver, even though the topic of that song, Vincent, Van Gogh, wasnt saved by it but eventually it wore him down and he took his own life. In many ways, I feel like a missionary. I am on a mission to express my ideas, suffer in the process, and hopefully save myself and others in the process. Or, to a much lesser and likely degree, help myself and some others.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Since I've been off social media for a couple of years, and my friend base has dwindled, I dont really have anybody left now to banter the topics that circle through my active brain much anymore. So, I needed an outlet. Blogging is one way I can do that. Certainly, as time passed, I realized social media was not the place for me, and McLean expressed it well. I am not really a social guy. I am more solitary than anything else, although I do enjoy people, more one on one than in a crowd setting. The easiest way to get more reads, and reach more people would be to go back to social media, because above all, that is where the numbers are. But, I cant do that. Wont do that, so again, I write for myself, and anybody else who happens to stumble upon my writing. Every now and then I get messages from people I dont know at all about something they read in my blog. You just never know who you will reach while you are on your artistic mission. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So, why not just write them, leave them, and not put them out there</span><span style="font-size: large;">?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If I dont end up publishing them, I know for a fact I will not finish most of the ones I have started, and in many cases, the ones I do, I wont do them right, to the level I want and need to. Because of that, I wont grow as a person. Thats because when I write them, I am writing for myself, to myself, and I read them back when they are done like someone else wrote them and they are speaking to me. Anyone who writes with real intention and sincerity understands exactly what I just conveyed. So, if 2 people, 20 people, 200 people or 2 million people read it, it makes no difference to me. I read it, and that is all that matters. What matters most anyway. But they have to be finished and they have to be done a certain way to make it worth it to me to continue on a consistent basis. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I have a voice. I have a perspective that many do not. Its a natural given gift. I've been told that by several people over the course of my life. I guess at this point I feel I am compelled to share my thoughts based on the gift I was given. As well, as mentioned above, it also helps me sort things out for myself and my own life. Both of those concepts drive me to keep writing, mostly to nobody but myself, which I am fine with. Its great if it helps others, or makes them think about how they can help themselves, but even if it does none of that, its worthy because it helps me as a release and also to use my creative gifts to help myself. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">One of the things Ive gravitated towards in the last few weeks is working on being healthy. Healthier. That means setting time aside, every day, or most days, to do healthy things. Not just physical health, but mental, financial, spiritual and creative healthiness, all of which is important to me. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The reality of that way of thinking and living is that I make a commitment to take time away from the other things I do, which are very time consuming, and put that time towards the healthier things I also need to do. That is definitely a shift for me, as mostly, I do all the things I feel I need to do to complete specific tasks, and then whatever time is left over I use for the other things. And if that meant not getting to those things, say like not going for walks for 6 or 8 weeks because I was too busy, or not eating right, or not writing blogs or stories for almost 2 years, that is what I did and I was okay with it. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In doing that, I have been on an unhealthy path for a long time, and now it is time to get back on track. Writing the blogs is a very important piece of that puzzle. Writing songs and stories is another and that will come next. It wont be like starting from scratch, because much like the blogs, I have hundreds of songs and stories started which deserve my attention to work on and finish. Many are 80 percent done, but that last 20 percent must be done or they are simply worthless, though almost finished. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That is why I started to write again. All of the reasons in this blog. Creating is me. I am a creator, and I cant not create without hurting my essence. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Perhaps, whomever is reading this at whatever point you do read it, you will get back to doing the things that feed the essence inside you that possibly you have been neglecting. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Just something to thing about. I did, and now, I write. And I am a much happier and contented person because of that. I am feeing my essence, and it was very hungry at the point I began to do that again. </span></p>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-61147318128033498432020-12-22T17:56:00.002-05:002020-12-22T23:37:24.361-05:00Moving forward with life.<p> <span style="font-size: medium;">Today I was in a conversation about helping people and what some people do, while others dont. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">For me, I am very much about helping family and being helped by family. And I suppose, your very closest friends. I believe in that, and my family and close friends always know if they need me, or need some money from me, I will be there for them. Not everyone is like that. My sister and I are somewhat similar in that regard, but we have slight differences.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If you have read my blogs before, or just know me and/or my story, you will know my early years, especially with my father and the things he did which hurt the family, and of course himself in the short and long run, were troubling in many ways. We moved a few times because we had to to get away from his troubles, and partly to make new starts, and there was always that idea that at any point, he could get in and start trouble again. Which he did, almost up until he died. It was just who he was. I accepted that many years before and never held it against him. Nor did I forget what he did and what he was capable of. My sister, she held a grudge, or more accurately, as she grew up and had her own family, she wanted nothing to do with him and basically pretended he didnt exist. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That was easy enough, as for about 10 years, he was gone. Basically didnt exist to us. If he was alive or dead, we didnt know and nobody made the effort to find out. Until one day he contacted me, about 1995 or so. On some levels, we patched things up, or made peace with the water that was now under the bridge. However, I told him flat out that if he brought any trouble my way, to my family, he was going to be shut out, on the spot, and for good this time. Mostly, while he continued his shady ways, he kept me out of it and it was his business. When he did get in trouble, and reached out for help, I would not help or be any part of it. He was okay with that and we were fine. In the last year or two of his life, we actually were going out to dinner and I would see him every now and then. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Then my mother got gravely sick, and it was apparent she was going to die within a year or so. My father had a whole host of his own physical problems at that stage, and the biggest two were a heart condition which required a very strict regimen of pills to keep him viable, and a failing kidney which required extreme dialysis twice a week for hours at the same hospital that my mother ended up in when her illness was so bad she needed to be in the hospital 24/7. He began visiting her, and suddenly he was back in the family picture. As always, he treated my mother very well, in his own way. Within a few months, her time had come and she died. He was there every day at the Shiva, which is what Jewish people hold for 7 days or more after a person dies. That was held at my sisters house, and she was not entirely happy that he was there. But she tolerated it. After that was done, she basically ignored him again. She just couldnt get over the trauma he had caused all of us as childen. I understand that. Some cant. I always could, because I never personalized the things he had done as something he was trying to do to us. It was just him being him. It never reflected on me as it wasnt me doing it. My friends and I used to talk about that a lot growing up, and I always said it was his life, not mine, and I did my thing. Not that it didnt effect me. Having the police show up at your house many times, or having your father be good friends with mobsters will effect your everyday life. I just rolled with it though. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A couple of months after my mother died, my father had a fatal stroke, which happened according to the doctors because a clot from his heart travelled to his brain because he didnt take his pills. Which was true. He didnt. That was him. Stubborn. That was me, is me, was me, is still sometimes me, so I get how he can be that way. He died within a few days, although in reality he was dead by the time he got to the hospital. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In the meantime, my mothers estate had been settled, my sister and I both received a healthy sum as an inheritance. My mother planned everything, and all her assets were well handled, her funeral paid for, her will in good order. My parents were, at their core, both very good people, but just like my sister and I, they were different in ways like that. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">My father did none of that. In spite of making millions over his life, he had basically nothing when he died. Not even any plans or money to have him buried. It became up to my sister and I to pay for the proper burial. I was in favor of paying for it. My sister was not. Dead set against it in fact and was not going to. I insisted that it had to be done, was the right thing to do, and if need be, take the entire cost out of my share of the inheritance. She handled the entire thing from arranging it to paying for it. She had to arrange it as it was a Jewish religion thing and according to her had to be done a certain way, which I accepted. My father was very religious, my sister is as well, and I am not in the least. But I respect those who are. We did it their way and I kept my distance in that way. I did my part, which was make sure it happened properly and he was buried with dignity. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So, we paid. She changed her mind and paid her half share, which was fair. I guess in the end, she knew what was the right thing to do. Although she didnt want to do it. She couldnt put the past behind her when it came to my father. She just couldnt get over the pain he caused us, and her in particuar. I could. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Why could I<span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-style: italic;">?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I think I learned a long time ago that when it comes to the past, if you want to move forward with life, you have to let it go. Start fresh and see if you can make that work. That doesnt mean you forget the past, just that you dont live the present and future based on past mistakes or hardships. You learn from them, you remember them, but people make mistakes and you cant hold that against them going forward. If you are to go forward. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">With people you dont really know, or care about, then of course, you arent invested in them and you can easily let them go. Some places you have worked, you just never see those people again, nor do you want to. Casual friends or neighbors, they dont get 2nd chances if you think they have wronged you. But when it comes to close friends, family, anybody that means something to you, I think the best thing to do is deal with it, put your past with them behind you and go forward honorably and hope that it can work. If you hold any part of the past against them, no matter how well it is going now, it cant work. My father actually did that with his father, and when he died, we went to the funeral but was a shade disrespectful and held a grudge that continued a wedge with that side of the family. That was never repaired, and thus, after growing up spending a lot of time with that side of the family, other than that funeral, I never saw or spoke to any of them ever again. Nor did my father. At the end, he seemed to grow out of that attitude as well, but they were all long gone by then. It was too late and the future had become the past. It was gone. I have learned to be less stubborn as I grow older. He really never could conquer that foe. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I am reminded of this whole thing in the passage from the ending scene of the series The Wonder Years I posted in a blog a couple of weeks ago. I will post the clip and the words here again. In no way am I saying that my relationship with my deviant at times father was in any way as normal as was the case with Kevin and Jack Arnold, but the concept is the same. To go forward, you must not live with the past mistakes like roadblocks to the future relationship. If you do, the relationship is basically already over. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I can say I am happy we sorted out all the things and at least had a good relationship for the last couple of years. That was probably the only good thing I can relate from watching my mother die a slow and painful death, then watch my father turned into a vegetable within a few hours. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">At least bygones had become bygones and it became viable and ended on a more positive note on the personal level.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The only way to have a future is let go of the past that gets in the way. If you cant do that, and that is every persons choice, and some cant, there is no possibility of a future. You have to move forward with life. You cant move forward with life while looking backward at the same time. Try running forward some time and look backward while you do it. If you dont get hit by a car, you will still at some point trip and fall down. That is not going forward. Not for long anyway. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9M1aKaVice4" width="320" youtube-src-id="9M1aKaVice4"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p><span face="Verdana, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(185, 185, 185, 0.1); color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The next day, Winnie and I came home; back to where we'd started. It was the fourth of July in that little suburban town. Somehow, though, things were different. <b><i>Our past was here, but our future was somewhere else; and we both knew, sooner or later, we had to go.</i></b> It was the last July I ever spent in that town. The next year, after graduation, I was on my way. So was Paul. He went to Harvard, of course. He graduated with honors and became a lawyer; he's still allergic to everything.</span></span></p><p><span face="Verdana, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfae7; color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>As for my father, well, we patched things up. Hey, we were family -- for better or worse, one for all, and all for one.</i></b> Karen's son was born that September. I got to say, I think he looks like me; poor kid. Mom? She did well -- business woman, board chairman, grandmother, cooker of mashed potatoes. The Wayner stayed on in furniture. Wood seemed to suit him; in fact, he took over the factory two years later when dad passed away. Winnie left the next summer to study art history in Paris. Still, we never forgot our promise. We wrote to each other once a week for the next eight years. I was there to meet her when she came home; with my wife and our first son, who was eight months old. <b><i>Like I said, things never turn out exactly the way you'd planned.</i></b> Growing up happens in a heartbeat; one day you're in diapers, the next day you're gone. <b><i>But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul.</i></b> I remember a town like a lot of other towns, a house like a lot of other houses, a yard like a lot of other yards, on a street like a lot of other streets... And the thing is, <b><i>after all these years, I still look back with Wonder.</i></b></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-73585626440399365142020-12-14T02:46:00.001-05:002020-12-14T02:46:13.567-05:00The temptation to do the wrong thing is strong.<p> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CycLt023ks</p><p>Yeaterday, I helped my friend Eric move. Well, not exactly Eric. This time I helped him help his son move into his first place on his own. Eric and I have been through a lot of moves together. It seems when he moves, I help. When I move, he helps. Its just been our thing since we both graduated University. My first place, my second place, my third place, my fourth place. Etc. His first place, his first house, out of that house, the new house, then his final new house with his new wife. We joked yesterday at the end that hopefully this is the last time until we are too old to do it ourselves anymore.</p><p>When we arrived yesterday, it was a very easy and simple move this time. Most have not been that way, they have been bulky, awkward and hard at times. This time, just a few easy items at his house, then over to his ex wifes house, pick up a few more items, mostly boxes and a stove, and then move them all into the new condo his son has purchased. </p><p>The memories really began at his ex wifes house, which also used to be Eric's house before they broke up. That was also one of the moves I helped with, helping him move his stuff out when they broke up. That was, to be blunt, a very uncomfortable day. They were still very much mad at each other and his ex wife was extremely mad and difficult that day, something she apologized to me about in private later on that day. I do get that when you are in that state of mind, in that volotile situation, its hard to be nice, easy going and civil. Over time, it seems they have learned to get along and yesterday went pretty good as a result of that. You can still see how they dont generally get along as they are very different types and that poses problems. I like them both a lot and get along well with both. When they get in that mode, i just step back and let them blow off the steam until its done. Yesterday was no exception. </p><p>When we arrived, I hadnt seen Margaret since the day I moved Eric out of their house, which must be more than 15 years now. She was still the same, and so am I, so we picked up right where we left off. I have fond memories of Margaret right back to the early days. Eric and Margaret met in University and so that is also when I met her. Later on, when they were married, and I was still single, there were times when we would all go out with Margaret and some of her friends or sisters. She has 3 other sisters who are all very much clones of her. It was always fun times.</p><p>The day I remember most was my mothers 50th birthday party. My mother loved Tom Jones. I mean loved him. We always listened to his songs growing up, and since I wanted to do something significant for my mother on that birthday, I bought tickets to a Tom Jones live show in our town. When I told Margaret that I was dong that, she said she and her sister Beth wanted to come too. So all four of us went to the show, which was great. My mother enjoyed it as well, and it was fun for her to go out with younger women like Margaret and her sister. Afterwards we went out to a late night rib joint and they danced all night until we went home. </p><p>The first thing Margaret said to me yesterday was how she remembered me helping move her into her apartment in Guelph when she did her studies there after University. Eric and I helped her that day, and while Eric and Margaret werent married or living together at that stage, it wasnt far off. She asked me if I remembered helping them that day. I said I did, and mostly I remembered how hot it was that day and how we didnt get to use the elevator, so we had to carry everything up from the road three flights of stairs on a very hot summer day. What I didnt say is that I remembered more that other day when I moved Eric out of the house. I'm sure they both would like to forget that day, so I didnt even mention it.</p><p>As usual, the plan was for me to drive the truck and help here and there. As usual, it didnt play out that way. Why is that? Simply, because I am so organized and good at arranging things so they go well, it always ends up that I do that part. This time was no different. I told myself before hand not to do that this time, but as usual, the temptation is for me to just fix it and make it work. Eric struggles with that, as he isnt anywhere near as organized as I am nor can he figure out how to put together things as fast as I can. He has many other skills I do not, and that is just how it is with people. One of my weaknesses is not being able to resist temptation, even when I know ahead of time to do that, tell myself to do that, and intend to do that. At one point yesterday, when I could see we were running out of time and I needed to take charge, I basically told them what to do and then unloaded the entire truck so that we could get the move done in time, which we barely did. The fixer in me comes out in times like that. The temptation in me to just make it work is too strong. </p><p>Later last night, when it was time to play the races, I played some races I know now I should avoid. Careful trial and error has showed me where to play and where to avoid, even if I think I know better. But, since I have that hard to resist the temptation thing hanging over my back, I did try a few that were okay plays but not good enough that I should just sit out. So, it ended up as you would expect, as I expect, and it was a good lesson that I needed hammered home one last time. I didnt beat myself up over it like I once would, just took the night as a lesson and woke up today with new resolve to resist the temptation to solve and fix every puzzle because I am good at solving puzzles. Good at solving puzzles doesnt mean you can solve every puzzle, nor should you. When you are a fixer though, you will have to resist the temptation to do just that. I wouldnt call it an addiction, but it has similarities. Like a drug or alcohol or gambling addict, if you are an addict, you are never cured. You just find coping mechanisms and ways to try and avoid the pitfalls of falling back into trouble because of how you are. Its just like that.</p><p>Ive been very busy the last couple of years, with all the things I like to do. The racing, the betting, the landscaping, the gardening, countless other things. Somehow I missed that Lari White had passed away in 2018. That is a sad thing. I usually dont let celebrity deaths effect me on any level. After all, I dont really know these people or have any stake in their lives. I enjoy their art, I appreciate their talent, but other than that, i leave it there.</p><p>With her, its different. There is just something about her that always interested me, and that goes back to when I first encountered her work in the early 90s. She just has a way with songs and how she presents them. And many of them are very thought provoking, although the lyrics are somewhat simple and short. Two of those songs have resurfaced in my life lately, and they lead me into the topic on my mind today. I actually started this blog with Lari White in mind and then added the part with the move with Eric yesterday as it seemed to complete my thought better than it had without it. That is how it goes sometimes. Events complete ideas. </p><p>The thing that struck me most was what Lari White's friends said about her in tribute to her in the video below. Its the song she is known most for, the song I loved best from her, and a song that endures. It also introduced me to some new artists I'd never heard of, and so I looked them up. It also had Dan Dugmore in it, who I remembered from the 70s concert videos I sometimes watch from Linda Rondstadt. If you wish you can listen to the song and the comments from them. </p><p>The thing that got my attention is how they all pointed out what a great person she was, and how she helped newcomers to town out. Also, how kind and welcoming she was, and how she had great ideas about how to present and craft a song, even being forceful if she had to to get her point across. No matter what though, the common theme was everyone just loved her. She had that vibe. That is what I picked up from watching her sing and perform. </p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TT24SKfeSo</p><p>If you watched the video above, you can see how much it meant to pay tribute to her with this song. They really felt it and felt her loss. In short, they loved her. </p><p>What does it mean to truly love someone?</p><p>Love and expressing it have never been my thing. I understood that early about myself. I'm smart, creative, a great friend, reliable, sensible and I try to do the right thing and be as moral as possible. But love just didnt seem to be a priority to me. Meeting certain people in my life as I've aged has changed that and made me think about the whole love thing topic. Certainly watching my mother die had some impetus on that. When someone who created you is there and then is not there and you can see that whole process play out in a not so pleasant way, it makes you think about these types of things. I hadnt put that sort of connection together until lately. </p><p>My mother was very much about love, and a very sensitive person. There are certainly elements of that within me that she transmitted in creating me. I like to think in some ways she is still with me and guiding me on that front.</p><p>For me, true love means putting that person and their interests completely above your own.</p><p>Even if that means you really want and need them, miss them, but know that the hurt that would end up creating for them is more important than the hurt you feel by doing what you have to do in the name of love and respect. In my case, not being a fixer to make myself happy. That is very tempting though. </p><p>I can be selfish at times, just like anybody else, but ive always put others well being ahead of my own. Or I try to. As Lari White says in the song near the end, I mean to be good.</p><p>And I always will.</p><p>That is how I show love.</p><p>When you know that someone will be happier without you, even when they didnt believe that or know that yet, you have to let go when the temptaion is to hold on. Im a fixer. I love to make things work. Ive had to learn to not try to fix things that shouldnt be fixed. Some things need to break and stay broken and you move on from it because fixing it isnt the right thing to do. Thats a tough life lesson to learn when you are a master fixer and that has seemingly served you well over time. Maybe it hasnt served me well, I just think it has because i looked at it from a certain personal perspective. Perhaps I would have been better off not being a fixer. I dont know. Today is a new day. Tomorrow is the future, and that is all you can work with. So, I am careful not fix things now when I sense that isnt the best option, even though its some kind of viable and tempting option. </p><p>Fixing a move when it needed to be fixed to get it done is a good use of my skill in that space in time. That is probably why I will always not resist the temptation to do that. Trying to solve races I shouldnt, or trying to fix relationships that I should just not fix is the temptation I should avoid.</p><p>In the song above, the key point I always take, although I love the entire lyric, is this</p><p><b><i>I've been good at holding on, now I'm learning to let go</i></b></p><p>Part of being a fixer, and the temptation to do that, is keeping things from breaking and staying broken. Or holding on to the parts that arent broken when the vast majority is broken and should stay broken. Not in every case, but in some cases. Just as many horse races I can solve, but some I cannot and should not. Understanding the distinction of all that and the time and place variable is very important to someone like me, being somewhat a temptation addict, for lack of a better term. Maybe a fixer addict is a more accurate term. I'm not really sure, but I think my idea is clearer in adding my story about helping move Eric yesterday. When to do it, when to not do it.</p><p>Lari White's other great song, in my eyes, the one that sold me on her back in the day, was this song.</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTUtUQ7li8M</p><p><b><i>Lead me not, into temptation, I already know, the road all too well.</i></b></p><p>At the end of the day, what I've had to learn, probably the hard way, is that I'm doing alright letting go and not trying to fix everything that comes across my path. The temptation to be a fixer because I am good at it and others ask for it didn't do me any good in many instances or those people in some instances. In some it did, and there is still a place for it in certain circumstances. But not because it satisfies some need or temptation within myself. That is selfish and not a good reason to do it, although extremely tempting. Being the good person that Lari White's friends describe her as means you think of others first and not yourself first. That is what I view as the greatest way to show love. Sacrifice and unselfishness.</p><p>At the end of the day, I've learned to let go of the need to fix things because it gives me something that I really don't need. I will be alright if I don't, and so will most others. In cases where it is needed, then I will still do it. Not because of temptation or placation, but because its the right thing to do.</p><p>Most times though, giving into the temptation, is the wrong thing to do. That is the nature of being tempted. Its a test to discover within your flaws and try to conquer them, make yourself a better and happier person, while still doing the things you do well for yourself and others.</p><p><b><i>Oh, the best of intentions. Lord I mean to be good. And stick to the path I should go. But seems the harder I try, The further I stray, Till I'm lost down that same dead end road.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Now I know. </i></b></p><p><b><i>Lead me not, into temptation. I can find it, all by myself. </i></b></p><p>Lari White's death at a young age while still very vibrant was a sad day I missed back then, but I took notice because she spoke to me through her songs and still does when I ponder the ideas and emotions of those songs. She wont be forgotten, as she is unforgetable. </p><p>The temptation to do the wrong thing is strong. Will always be strong. But now I know I will be alright not giving into the temptation. I don't need to be led to it, it comes to me and its on me to do what is the right thing to do at that point in time.</p><p>There is a vast difference between helping people who need and ask for help, and fixing things that don't need to be fixed. Another life lesson learned. </p>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-60100498475635105402020-12-13T02:49:00.001-05:002021-01-23T12:16:57.422-05:00Some Things You Just Know. Or I do Anyway<p>Life can be funny for me. I will explain.</p><p>There is so much I dont know. Dont understand. Never have and possibly never will. As I grow older, I accept that. That was always hard for me. I try to figure out and understand everything, sometimes, many times, to my overall beneift. Some times, a lot of times, to my detriment. In many ways, I have given up on that strategy or way of doing things. I try to figure out what I can, and I leave alone what I just know I cant or wont understand.</p><p>In doing that, I leave more time for the things I can understand. The things I can learn. The things I might figure out to make my life, and possibly the lives of others better. I view it as personal progress.</p><p>I still do have that natural internal instinct to trust myself to do what I think is right. That has served me well almost all my life, with a few regrettable exceptions. We all make mistakes, and I accept that too. So, I dont beat myself up over those types of things anymore, not like I used to. I focus on the positive aspect of having natural good instincts and follow them as best I can.</p><p>One of those instincts is some things I just know. I know that if I do the right thing, trust that I am doing the right thing, it will somehow resolve itself and work out for the better.</p><p>For that reason, I just know that when something isnt finished, didnt finish properly, and should be resolved and possibly patched up on some level, that I will just wait until that moment happens and then trust that it will do just that. Ive only ever had one time it didnt, and in hindsight, that was because I listened to others and didnt follow my natural internal instinct, or my inner voice. Once I did that, there was really no way it could ever be resolved, and to this day is not, and almost certainly never will be. I learned a valuable lesson from that experience. Stick to what works for you, and if listening to your own voice works for you, then stick with that.</p><p>Tonight after the races and my data work, I did what I normally do. I listened to music on You Tube, and as always, it led me to some songs that get in my head. Then an interview and what the writer said about the song they wrote. </p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTzbff0dvFA&t=1085s</p><p>Here is what Gordon Lightfoot said about If You Could Read My Mind.</p><p>"Basically, the marriage wasnt over yet, but it was 2 or 3 years off, and I realized that when I wrote that song."</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5tr_L31StI</p><p>In the song, he goes over many thoughts and feelings, but the key one for me is this.</p><p><b><i>I dont know where we went wrong</i></b></p><p><b><i>But the feelings gone and I just cant get it back.</i></b></p><p>The truth is, at least as I see it, is that nobody can ever read anyones mind. Truly. That is why, in the song, he says <b><i>if</i></b> you could read my mind. You cant. Nobody can. We can just infer, ponder, guess and speculate as to why people do the things they do based on what we think they are thinking.</p><p><b><i>If I could read your mind love, what a tale your thoughts could tell.</i></b></p><p>Again, the truth is, I cant read your mind, and you cant read mine. That is universal and a truth I believe. Also a good thing in my view. But of course a bad thing in that there will be loads of miscommunication and interpretation because of the uncertainty that causes.</p><p>So, again, what do I know?</p><p>I know somehow, things will get talked out. When the time is right to do that. To finish it if that is the destiny it is on, or to turn it back around if that is the destiny and path it should take. Trying to read anothers mind on why they are doing what they are doing is a fools game and not something I try to do anymore. I just wait for the time when it can be talked through. That requires patience, and that is something I have a lot of. And trust, which is also something I have enough of to make the waiting tolerable. </p><p>Tom Petty said the waiting is the hardest part. Sure, it is. No doubt. But things that are hard are always the most valuable to have when you get them. </p><p>Is the feeling gone? Can you get it back? I dont know the answer to those questions. I know that you can try though. Not every situation is as the one Lightfoot describes in the song where he knew 2 or 3 years ahead of time his marriage was over and there was nothing that could be done about that. I dont believe in absolutes like that anymore, although I once did and was very unforgiving in terms of believing you could save relationships like that. </p><p>Part of that is figuring out where we or you or I go wrong in some situation or relationship and then figuring out what to do about that. Trying to read minds to figure that out is pointless and solves nothing. Its a great song with deep meaning, but it also points out, in my view, that reading minds solves nothing. Talking might solve it, or resolve it. It also might not solve it or resolve it. One thing for sure. Drawing conclusions based on something you think you understand by reading someone elses mind or between the lines solves nothing. That is something I do know. </p><p>I will end with one of my favorite passages, which is a long one from the ending scene of the Wonder Years. In a roundabout way, it summarizes what I'm talking about in this blog. </p><p><span face="Verdana, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(185, 185, 185, 0.1); color: #333333;"><i><b>The next day, Winnie and I came home; back to where we'd started. It was the fourth of July in that little suburban town. Somehow, though, things were different. Our past was here, but our future was somewhere else; and we both knew, sooner or later, we had to go</b></i></span></p><p><span face="Verdana, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfae7; color: #333333;"><b><i>As for my father, well, we patched things up. Hey, we were family -- for better or worse, one for all, and all for one.</i></b></span></p><p><span face="Verdana, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfae7; color: #333333;"><b><i>Like I said, things never turn out exactly the way you'd planned. Growing up happens in a heartbeat</i></b></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #333333;">The most important part of that is the way they end the scene, and in fact, the entire series. After all the trouble between Kevin and Winnie, they work it out and find a way to go forward. The last scene ends with Kevin and his father sitting at the table, after all the hardships they had been through in that last seasons episodes, and just finding a common ground to go forward, which ultimately was to respect their differences and just talk it out. Two years later as they relate, the father dies and if they had not patched things up, that is how it would have been left. Which would be a shame. Because that is no way to finish something that meant something like that. <br /></span><span face="Verdana, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #333333;">That is what I just know. </span></span></div><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M1aKaVice4&t=21s</p><p><br /></p>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-47455212717517531782018-12-14T10:28:00.007-05:002020-12-15T01:01:21.574-05:00Make Canadians angry. Its not a good thing.<div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">When people or countries or groups show their true colors, its time to act on that. Its likely the time to figure that out and act on it was long before that, but in any case, when its finally clear what you are dealing with and the mistake you have made, you take action.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Its been clear to many of us that getting in business with the Chinese, and even more, allowing them to take control of entire areas of our cities, and further, acquire a massive amount of market share in businesses was a massive mistake. A mistake driven by greed and selfish interests of those at the top who will continue to profit from what the Chinese do best....which is make stuff very cheap, use devious measures to gain market share, steal trade secrets, and then leverage the crap out of all that to put entire companies out of business.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">That is exactly how Huawei did it. There are many others. None of that matters now. What matters is that our leader, our Prime Minister, stops with the diplomatic BS, and comes right out in public and gives it to the Chinese straight. Don't fucking mess with us. You are making</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">a massive mistake. That is the one thing Donald Trump does do well. He does threats well. Unfortunately, he ignores facts. So, here are the facts the Chinese need to hear, and then, be mindful of.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">China has a massive trade surplus with Canada. For every 18 billion we export to them every year, they export 54 billion to us. That can stop on a dime if we want it to. We have no trade deal or agreement with them. Why can that stop? Because we don't need them.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Huawei 's stock has lost half its value in one week. That is while they are still doing business and making a good profit. If they insist on keeping on with this game of chicken and pissing match, they will lose it. They will go to zero, be wiped out. That is the ultimate power Canada and the Western world has here. We can put these</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">companies out of business by simply shunning them and making them worthless. That isn't probably preferable, but it can and will happen if they push us to that point. That point is approaching based on the Chinese actions this week. Money talks, bullshit walks.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">That is because we have all we need here. We have some of the best schools in the world, and in fact many Chinese send their kids here to be educated because of that. That can stop too if they are hell bent on acting like bulls in a China shop. We have all the oil we will ever need. We have more fresh water, power and natural resources than anybody else, per capita. We have a highly educated and skilled population, and we have the infrastructure to back all that up. Simply, other than cheap goods, we don't need the Chinese. Its nice to save 40 cents on toothpaste at Walmart, but we can do without that.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Canadians don't like to be threatened and bossed around. We have a rep around the world for being nice, being polite, for doing the right thing. But, a little known fact is that Canadians are very tough and if you get on their bad side, we will cut you like a bitch in a heartbeat. If your response to us honoring an extradition agreement with another country when someone breaks the law, lies about it, and continues to do that, is to pick up innocent Canadians in your country, you will pay a sever price for that.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The Chinese, as a country, not the average citizen, are bullies. They are communist, restrictive, dictators.That is fact. They control the media and they have absolute power over any company that derives or operates there, no matter where they actually do business in the world. We don't need that kind of thing here. Neither does any other country, and if China thinks they will get trade deals with other Western Countries if this is how they act, they are delusional.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The Chinese have made a huge miscalculation here. Whether they get that or not, I don't know. But its time for our Prime Minister to lay all that out for them so they get it.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Release the two Canadians, immediately, or you will be the one to face very serious consequences.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">You are fucking with us. We are not fucking with you. If you don't believe that, keep detaining more innocent people. You will find out what its like to make Canadians angry. Its not a good thing.</span></div>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-45800574853093518312018-11-29T15:01:00.020-05:002020-12-15T01:06:52.488-05:00Andrea Howarth: Delusional, hothead moron. Enough is enough<div class="gmail-" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="gmail-" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">"Most Ontarians know, that the NDP hasn't formed government in Ontario in some time. But we're looking forward to doing so."</span></b></div><div class="gmail-_1mf gmail-_1mj" style="direction: ltr;">
</div><div class="gmail-_1mf gmail-_1mj" style="direction: ltr;"><b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Andrea Howarth</span></b></div><div class="gmail-_1mf gmail-_1mj" style="direction: ltr;"><div class="gmail-"><div class="gmail-_1mf gmail-_1mj" style="direction: ltr;">
<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This delusional, hothead moron gives you evidence of why that is never going to happen. Pigs will fly before they get power with her in charge, and probably anybody in charge that thinks you can just force GM to keep the plant open. </span></b></div></div><div class="gmail-"><div class="gmail-_1mf gmail-_1mj" style="direction: ltr;">
<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Its dead. Deal with it. </span></b></div></div><div class="gmail-"><div class="gmail-_1mf gmail-_1mj" style="direction: ltr;">
<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The fact is, Howarth was handed the election when Wynne was a lame duck, and Ford was the easiest goof to take apart. But, he won a large majority, because, Howarth is not anybody's leader.</span></b></div></div><div class="gmail-"><div class="gmail-_1mf gmail-_1mj" style="direction: ltr;">
<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'm not a big fan of Doug Ford, but at least he doesn't lie down when someone like Howarth wont let up and starts to make it personal. He went right after her and gave her the facts. She had every chance to stop this from happening when she supported the Liberals for about 5 years, but she never did. Nobody in their right mind would sleep well at night with her as their leader. She thinks, like all NDP's, that spending your way out of the problem is the answer, and that workers are entitled to high paying jobs even if that means the taxpayers have to pay out of their own pocket to support that. </span></b></div></div><div class="gmail-"><div class="gmail-_1mf gmail-_1mj" style="direction: ltr;">
<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">We all lose jobs and our livelihoods at points in our lives. We deal with it. We find a way. We use the things that government already does for us....EI, job retraining, student loans and grants, lots of things. In this case, 3000 to 5000 people are going to lose their jobs, but with one years warning and pay, and then another year of EI and other benefits. I wish I had that kind of net when it happened to me. I didn't see anyone standing up in Parliament and crying tears for me. Because they didn't. </span></b></div></div><div class="gmail-"><div class="gmail-_1mf gmail-_1mj" style="direction: ltr;">
<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think 2 years is plenty enough time to find a way to get back on your feet. And if the NDP thinks the plant is viable, and profitable, and the union does as well, then buy it, get a car maker like Tesla to make cars there, and then operate it.</span></b></div></div><div class="gmail-"><div class="gmail-_1mf gmail-_1mj" style="direction: ltr;">
<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'm not making excuses for GM, they have their issues and are as greedy as fuck, just like every corporate company that has to answer to shareholders and customers first, then workers and nations last. </span></b></div></div><div class="gmail-"><div class="gmail-_1mf gmail-_1mj" style="direction: ltr;">
<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">But, as a third party here, I expect these displaced workers to do what the rest of the 13 million Ontarians would have to do. Find another job and get new skills, or move where the jobs are. Take less money, alter your lifestyle. The time for handouts and special considerations are over. At least with Doug Ford, he seems to get that. Nobody, this time, is bailing out GM or the workers. Those days are over, thankfully. As is Howarth's career. When she loses the next election, she will just crawl away, with, of course, a huge government pension package for life. No need for anyone to stand up in Parliament for her when she is jobless.</span></b></div>
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Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-82543996436954415172018-11-26T16:05:00.001-05:002018-11-26T16:05:40.359-05:00Is speed important? Well, not so fast. <div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>We are a society enthralled with speed. How fast can you do it? How fast can you run? How fast is that really fast car?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Here is a champion racehorse, Dr Fager, setting a world record for speed. He was blistering fast at the highest level of competition there is. Nobody ever disputed that. But, he also liked to chase rabbits to his detriment. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Speed is important. Don't get me wrong. If there is a rabbit at the end of the field, and two predators are chasing it, both with an equal starting point, generally, the one who runs faster to it gets to kill and eat the rabbit. If the prey is faster than the predator, then they get away, sometimes. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>If only life was that simple though. What about if the faster predator has a bad ankle, and he gets there first this time, but next time, he cant run as fast because he has an injury or soreness issues? </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Dr Fager's biggest rival, Damascus, a great horse with a lot of speed in his own right, found a way to beat Dr Fager twice. But he paid a price for that, and his last lifetime race, he finished dead last and never raced again. It was a lot of stress to try and run with a horse like Dr Fager, the entire race.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What if the slower predator takes a different route, and that gets him there faster? Damuscus beat Dr Fager twice, because he laid back, and had a stablemate, what they call a rabbit, run out early and force Dr Fager to chase him...into submission. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What if there is now a lake in the middle of the route to the rabbit, and the faster predator cant swim? Sometimes, a pack of horses get in the way of the faster horse and he has no way to use his speed until its too late and the rabbit has been killed by his competitor. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What if the faster predator just isn't that hungry, so he decides during the chase that he cant be bothered working for it, and just eases up, or gives up? Hedovar, Damascus's stablemate, could run very fast for a short distance. He wasn't trying to get the rabbit at the wire, he was the rabbit and his desire and ability were not to win, but to lead. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>And finally, what if there is a battle along the way, and the slower predator decides to eat, or kill, or deter the faster predator and speed isn't that important when you have no competition? When Damascus had to run on his own merit against Dr Fager, he wilted and Dr Fager ate him alive, with Damuscus even losing 2nd place to a much inferior opponent. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>From Wikipedia.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><i>Dr. Fager made 22 starts, winning 18 times with two second-place finishes and one show. The only time he was out of the money was as a result of a disqualification in the Jersey Derby, in which he finished first. Only three horses ever finished in front of Dr. Fager: Champion juvenile male Successor, Horse of the Year Damascus, and Horse of the Year Buckpasser. His headstrong nature was considered his only weakness as a racehorse. </i></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>In horse racing, speed is important. When I first began going to the horse races, I was all about speed. I would circle the horses with the faster times, the fastest last quarter, and expect they had an edge. In reality, they didn't win more than their share when only this variable was in play. It didn't take me long to figure out that speed was one factor, among many.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What I have found to be most important with regard to speed, and this goes for life as well as horse racing, is what happens when a horse is asked to run the fastest he can run, and is then asked to repeat it. Other factors then come into play. Regression/progression. Lameness/wear and tear. Desire to persevere under adverse conditions. Breeding and genealogy. Tactics of the other participants and the connections of the horse. Fitness. Durability. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Putting more than a minor emphasis on speed is a recipe for failure. Sure, its important, and generally a slower horse cannot beat a faster horse if the faster horse is capable on that day of running to the top speed. In the same way a mid size American car cannot out drag a Ferrari. Unless the Ferrari gets a flat tire, or has a drunk driver, or runs out of gas. Or takes a wrong turn and doesn't finish the race. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #222222;">For me, I use speed solely as a factor to judge what will happen next, </span><i><span style="color: red;">not as what the horse can do, but they are likely to do the next time</span></i><span style="color: #222222;"> based on how others who have similar traits and actions have performed under similar circumstances. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Dr Fager was blistering fast, and there wasn't a horse that could run with him for more than a mile if it was just about his speed. But he also had a grave weakness, and that was that he would run as fast as he can at the start and not let up if he was challenged. He insisted on leading. For him, it was more important to lead than to finish first, or get the rabbit. So, knowing that, another trainer ran a rabbit against him, a horse named Hedovar that had no intention of winning, but could soften him up for his stablemate Damascus, who couldn't beat Dr Fager straight up, but could if he had a tag team partner who would take one for the team. That is exactly how it played out twice. Speed wasn't enough. Tactics and attitude mattered more in this case.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>I have included Dr Fager's world record performance in 1968 at the start of the blog, and also the 1967 Woodward above, where a rabbit wore him down and that ones stablemate got a tarnished win. But as a bettor, a win is a win and its not for us to debate the fair or unfair tactics the participants deploy. We are there to figure out what predator kills the rabbit. We only get money to eat if WE do that. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>You can take this analogy and apply it to any facet of life.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>That talented employee who just doesn't try hard or care usually will not outperform others who at least put in effort and want to succeed.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>That friend that is all gangbusters in the first month of the friendship, but runs out of gas and isn't reliable when you need them a year or 5 from now.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>That cant miss jock in your school who starts to get fat, eat poorly and not take care of his injuries properly and is an out of shape 40 year old who cant even play anymore. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>They say speed kills. Sometimes it gets there first and makes the kill. Other times, it kills itself. Those that bet on horses and think that speed is the top factor will only kill themselves. Because the fact is, its not a winning variable from a betting perspective. Bet on the complete horse, not just the fastest one. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>If you watch the above video, the 1991 Haskell Invitational handicap, you will note most of the experts thinking that the heavy favorite, Hansel, was just about impossible to beat, because he was too fast for them, and one of the talking heads even went as far as to show how much better Hansel's Beyer Numbers were than the rest. That number is just a pure representation of speed, and considers no other factors. Those that watched Hansel could see he had a lameness issue on his right front, and in the race after this, he actually blew out his right ankle completely and never raced again. The smart jockey would pin him to the rail and make him put pressure on his right front, and that is exactly what happened in this race. Speed wasn't enough to win this race for the speediest horse.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Be careful using Beyer Numbers, or any other speed determining figure. While they are useful and accurate, they are just a speed figure. Not a performance figure or prediction of what speed the horse will produce the next time. When they might not be as capable or tactical.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Now, if you can figure out a performance figure, and then come up with one that you feel is accurate to represent how the horse will perform in the next start, then you have a winning variable. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Understanding flaws is a big part of that. Every horse, every person, has a flaw. Dr Fager's was his stubborn will to lead and control. This from his owner, trainer and breeder, the legendary John Nerud.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><i>"He was very easy to train, a very willing and smart horse," said Nerud. "He also was very sensitive. He didn't want you to raise your voice to him, and he didn't want anyone whipping him. If something didn't suit Dr. Fager, he would let you know immediately." </i></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What didn't suit him was being challenged, even when fighting that battle meant he was probably going to lose the war to someone else.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>That is my current task, and one I had accomplished playing the standardbreds, but I gave up playing those because the betting factors were not acceptable anymore. In the T breds, if you can figure out accurately the future performance, or current form, then you have a winning formula. That takes time. Not speed, to figure that out. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Its more important to get it right than it is to do it fast. Getting it wrong, faster than the next guy, gets you nothing. There is an old saying in horse racing. They don't pay the horse that leads at the half anything. They pay the winner who crosses the line first. How he does that isn't as important as that he does it. </b></span></div>
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Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-31178254585689455952018-11-17T16:15:00.001-05:002018-11-17T16:17:31.953-05:00No time left for me and harness racing. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: normal;">No time left for you</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span style="color: #222222; white-space: normal;">On my way to better things</span><br style="color: #222222; white-space: normal;" /><span style="color: #222222; white-space: normal;">(No time left for you) I found myself some wings</span><br style="color: #222222; white-space: normal;" /><span style="color: #222222; white-space: normal;">(No time left for you) Distant roads are callin' me</span><br style="color: #222222; white-space: normal;" /><span style="color: #222222; white-space: normal;">(No time left for you)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One thing you learn about life as you age, and hopefully have gained some wisdom along the way, is that there is only so much time in your day, your week, your overall life, to do the things you want to, that please you and that further your goals and aspirations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We all have to sleep. To eat. To work. There are family considerations, possibly for kids or grandkids. And then there is the time left over for fun, for hobbies, for interests that bring added value pleasure to your life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Harness racing was that for me, going on 35 years now. I started as a fan who knew zip. I learned a bit, then got good at it, but then had to put my time into University, and after that, earning a living. Racing was still there, but it was secondary. I started to make good money, so I progressed to owner. That was fun for a while, then it really was not, so I exited that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I decided to give that part another go about 3 or 4 years later, and that was fun again. Then I decided I would try training, which I always wanted to try and knew I would be good at, which I was. Until it was apparent that the cheaters were not beatable and I would risk my families finances if I continued to fight with them. So, I stopped that. Cold in fact one day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I went back to work, built my finances back up, and then edged back into betting. I have always enjoyed that aspect most, the challenge of solving puzzles, and getting paid for it. I still do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But along the way this time, I have realized that when it comes to harness racing, its a futile attempt to achieve. I'm good at it, but no matter what I do, I don't get paid enough for my effort, not as much as I should get paid. There is no fun in being ripped off, or given less than you deserve. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lately, I've edged towards T breds. This is where the problem comes to a head. There just isn't enough time to play both, on the level I like to do it. As well, to try and do that, you have to sacrifice family time and time with your friends. They just make it so difficult that its not worth it. I had planned to try Pompano this winter, as it seemed a good fit in all respects, but they have completely shown me that there is no product out there for the player, when it comes to harness racing. It impossible to watch and bet, period. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, its come time to choose. To choose to completely walk away from harness racing, cold turkey. Will I be back? I doubt it, but I never say no in absolute terms to things like this. Maybe it somehow finds me again. But as of now, I have lost interest and the challenge isn't worth the effort anymore. Its time to stop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today, I move exclusively to T breds, and if they go the route harness racing has, which I see signs of, then it will be only sports betting, which I am going to dabble in for now to see how it goes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This should be a wake up call for racing. If a guy like me, a died in the wool harness racing junkie can just walk away, it wont be long until its not viable on hardly any level. I hung in 35 years, which is 66 percent of my current entire life. But, they have made it so intolerable, that I have to divorce it from my existence. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I just don't have the time for it anymore and can't justify it on any variable that could change my mind. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">No time left for me. Time is up.</span></div>
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Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-2728708045069668892018-11-06T09:54:00.000-05:002018-11-06T09:54:30.975-05:00The new dope. <div class="gmail-" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last night I went to the grocery store. The experience I had is not the first time I've had it. Far from it. It was just more obvious than ever last night, because it was the majority of the experience, not just a part of it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As I entered the store, I was delayed at the door. Why? Because a guy was checking his phone, and he stopped right in front of me to do it, like I wasn't even there. To him, I wasn't. He was very locked onto the phone, so anything around him didn't exist. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As I made my way down the first aisle, which is always the vegetable and fruits aisle in grocery stores here, it was difficult to move. So many people were walking around like zombies on The Walking Dead, gazing into the gadget that it was bumper cars, literally. That continued in every aisle of the store I went down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My old strategy of shopping for groceries used to be to go down every aisle, one by one, so I get what I need. I value my time, and I don't want to have to go back for one item I missed because I didn't do that. But, my new strategy is to look at each aisle when I approach it, and if I see too many phone gazers, I skip that aisle and come back to it later. I don't make lists. I never have. I rely on my very good memory to achieve the goal of getting all I need. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last night, I had to avoid many aisles, and I didn't go back to one of them, by chance. As it turns out, I missed one item I wanted to get. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the phone addicted gazers, they have lost any value of time. They value some external validation interaction thing that has been created by the Steve Jobs and Zuck's of the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Its now at the point of epidemic. On the radio this week, I heard the Morning Drive DJ say that there are studies out there that say over the course of your lifetime you will spend 75k on just your smart phone, when you consider the fees, the cost of the phone, the constant upgrade and replacement and the increasing data charges. Also, another time last week, he mentioned a new study that over the course of your lifetime, when added together, the average person will spend 1/3 of their entire life on their cell phone either talking or surfing, interacting, whatever you call it now. Think about that, a third of your entire life on that one activity. And that is the average. Averaged in with people like me who spend almost zero time on a phone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Back when I had a day job, smart phones were just coming into existence. They gave me one for work, because they wanted to be able to contact me at all times. It had all the features even then. They never left me alone, and like many, I started to use it in ways that bothered me. I was always checking the stock price of the stocks I had at the time, as I was trading a lot of stocks back then. I surfed way too much, and played all the games many play on those gadgets. When I quit that job, they took the phone back. I never replaced it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There came a time when I was forced to get a cell phone again. I didn't want one, but we don't have a home phone anymore, so it was beneficial to at least have something. We went to the store to get something. I was insistent that I only wanted a basic cell phone. No internet connection, no apps, no bells, no whistles, no camera, no social media connection. They just kept trying to steer me to the smart phone and all its great features. They even told me it cost me the same to get the dumb phone as it did the smart phone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>And that is where they are dead wrong.</i></b> In every way, the smart phone costs you much more than simply having a basic cell phone to make phone calls when you absolutely need to do that. It costs you a lot more money, it costs you valuable time in your life, it costs you your ability to think clearly, and most importantly, it removes you from the moment to be current in the life you lead. It costs many more things, but I listed enough already.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To me, its an epidemic, and its like being on dope. Once they hook you, you are almost helpless to get off it. It becomes part of your core and your body tells you that you need it and have to have it. Its that bad voice in your head that some addicts talk about hearing when they cant stop, even when they have some will to stop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Its the worst addiction of our society, mostly because there are so many addicts. As a percentage, there are very few drug addicts, alcohol addicts, gambling addicts or sex or porn addicts. But, in terms of smart phone, social media addicts, I'd say its the majority rather than the minority. And the next generation wont even be able to distinguish between the current world we now deal with, and the one where you seek some level of peace and contentment from not always being connected or interacting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I know a blog like this makes me sound like Mr. Hand from Fast Times At Ridgemount High. I'm aware of that. And like Mr. Hand, that is because I was around and aware of what it was like to not be consumed by a gadget to the point you were lost in the fog. Smart phones are the new dope. </span></div>
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Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-76115106256571027172018-11-01T21:28:00.000-04:002018-11-01T21:29:56.990-04:00Even if I wanted to be<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In my high school yearbook, everyone wrote some little blurb to go along with their picture. To me, much of what most wrote was obvious and juvenile. I get that we were only 17 or 18 and its hard to expect Shakespeare from teenagers. I was never your average teenager in that respect. </span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>Anyway, I got a lot of response from mine as you might expect, although that was not my intention. I was always different than others. I realized that when I was very young, and I rarely have tried to fight it. I have my moments when I do, but I always come back to the gist of the blurb I wrote, and the poem I wrote below. Here is what I wrote back then, in 1984, and I can say it only took 10 seconds thought to come up with it, because its how I've always felt.</b> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i><span style="color: blue;">"I can only be me, who else can I be?"</span></i></b></span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>The poem below is something I wrote this week, as I try to rekindle my creativity, for various beneficial personal reasons. Basically, its just an extension or continuation of what I wrote 35 years ago in my high school yearbook. </b></span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">-------------</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Even if I wanted to be</span></b></span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">----------------</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I cant be the person people want me to be</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Even if I wanted to be</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Sometimes I think I want to be that person</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Sometimes I don't know if I do</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Sometimes I try</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Every time I try</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I fail</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I know I cant be</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Because its not me</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I'm not capable of being that person</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Its never going to be me</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I'm only capable of being who I am</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">For better or worse</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">That is who I am</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">That is what I am</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">That is what I was meant to be</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Even if that isn't good enough</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I give what I've got</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Its all I've got to give</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Even if I wanted to be more</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">There is no more there to be</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I can only be me </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I cant be more than that</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">So I've quit trying</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">To be more than I can be</span></b></span>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-43469927191760174572018-02-19T03:40:00.002-05:002018-02-19T10:34:49.643-05:00Cell phones are for making phone calls.<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've talked a lot recently about social media, and the collateral damage effects were are seeing in society. Today, I will put it in real, day to day living terms. I'm not talking here about the social degradation and depression it can cause, but in this case, simply about cold hard economic facts and the breakdown of how people think and learn. That all boils down to listening and paying attention, which sadly, in this society, has been lost by at least one generation, and probably 2 or 3.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Let me have your attention for a moment."</span></span></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Put that coffee down. You think I'm fucking with you? I am not fucking with you. </span></span></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I don't got to listen to this shit.</span></span></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b>You certainly don't pal. </b></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">There is a time to just listen. Even if you think you shouldn't, or you think you should be doing something else. Like drinking coffee, as in the above scene, or, something else in the next one.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><i><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">'It's not the greatest country in the world professor, that's my answer"</span></span></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><i><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">"It sure used to be"</span></span></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I'm not going to dissect the entire scene. It's there above if you want to watch it and take it in. The real point is how it was framed, and shot. In the first scene, the brash Alec Baldwin character is there to give it to them straight, and he is clearly going to do that. Which he does. In The Newsroom scene, It's clear that Will Mcavoy doesn't want to tell them, because he knows the reaction. But, he gets frustrated enough to just give it to them straight and to a generation that needs to hear it and pay attention to it. The reaction of the crowd, which is almost exclusively college kids? At first they are shocked and troubled. Which is what they should be. That was the point. But, almost immediately, their response is to film it with their phones, and then likely share it to wherever they do that in the great big social media world. While they are doing all that, I doubt many are listening to the details and facts he lays out for them. The message is clear, and the message is also lost. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">But, why?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because they are more interested in being an</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> internet photographer and reporter, than to just listen to
what someone with something to say is saying. That is the culture that we have created, and probably are stuck with.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">What is my point?</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Put the phone down and stop being a
pretend, wannabe </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">internet photographer and reporter.</span></span></span></span> To "put that coffee down."
That point was made very clear in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, in very
dramatic effect. Getting someones attention is what powerful speakers
do. But getting them to pay attention is difficult when they are not
interested in paying attention. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It doesn't matter if you agree with the ideas and statements those two characters in those two scenes are spewing out there. It matters that you are listening and taking them in, completely. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Oh, have I got your attention now?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Listening is an important skill. One it seems that has been lost in the age of internet and social media. It has fallen by the wayside, as being more of the "star of the show" is the thing now. Don't listen, but record. Don't think about what you are hearing, just find a way to get attention and stir up the pot with the masses of your friends and followers. But what is the cost of that behavior, what is the root of how it started, and what can we do about it?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The idea for this blog was created when a friend sent me the following link this week. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://orders.cloudsna.com/chain?cid=MKT342135&eid=MKT343219&step=start&hpmv=2&mp_distinct_id=161955ddc4d9-0eb9e3274e80c98-17357940-100200-161955ddc4ed1#AST74018"> https://orders.cloudsna.com/chain?cid=MKT342135&eid=MKT343219&step=start&hpmv=2&mp_distinct_id=161955ddc4d9-0eb9e3274e80c98-17357940-100200-161955ddc4ed1#AST74018</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In it, there is a concept of what is going to happen in the next couple of years, and what to do about it. It's somewhat along the lines of what the two characters in the clips above were doing. They have a theory, an idea of how to go about life, and what they think is happening. But to either agree with them, or debate and refute them, you have to listen carefully and pay attention. So, while I agree with a few points in that article, I know where the author of it is coming from and why he is doing it. And of course, I see it as almost completely con man bullshit created to sell his newsletter and books. It's not like he invented that concept. It's as old as the bible, and he makes sure to use biblical references in his approach. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why? Because that works. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This guy on the net laid it very clearly why to disregard Stansbury, and you can watch that if you wish.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I will get to Stansbury's biggest lie, but first, quickly, lets go over some of his main fear mongering points, most of which are just false or at best, taken way out of context to make a point that isn't valid and to propose a situation that isn't going to happen. That is what con me do btw, they do that to achieve that so they can sell you something. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Note, that if the text below is highlighted in red, Stansbury wrote it in the article. They aren't my words, but his. My response will be the part that isn't in red. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">After all, how can things be "OK" when nearly half the men ages 18-34
now live with their parents—the highest level since the Great
Depression?</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> How can it be a "recovery" when 78% of the U.S. population now lives paycheck to paycheck, with essentially zero savings?</span></span></h1>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Stansbury uses these two very provocative facts to hook the reader. The facts are accurate, within reason. The concept that there is a great economic recovery or boom is a fallacy, and Stansbury is right about that part. I agree with him. Things are not OK, and <i><b>there is no recovery.</b></i> That is pure lie. Stansbury does it because it gets the attention of the reader with today's short attention span to at least put the phone down and read. Mission accomplished. Its the Alec Baldwin technique in Glengarry Glen Ross. It's very effective. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Today</i></span> I want to share a few facts our politicians are afraid to tell you—including the <u>secret reason</u> why working class Americans have gotten dramatically <i>poorer </i>over the past 40 years.</span></span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Today</i></span> I'm contacting you with a serious warning: We've hit a serious tipping point in America.</span></span></span></h1>
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But what they're really about, underneath it all, is money... and hopelessness.</span></span></span></h1>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Again, more statements, and generally, they are factual. The average guy and family out there is poorer than ever before, America has hit a tipping point and its all about money and hopelessness. Although, that isn't an explanation of why it did or is happening. He gets to that later, and that is where I will diverge from his sales pitch. Notice how he starts sentences with words like <b>Today</b>, and later...<b>AND</b>. That is a very biblical, preacher like based way to get the attention of the congregation to make them pay up, eventually. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">But what they don't tell you is that the growing disparity between rich and poor in America is a <u>symptom</u> of our problem... <u>not the root cause</u>.</span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>You see, while the rich are getting richer, everyone else is losing ground. </span></span></span></h1>
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<i>average </i>Americans are actually worse off than they were decades ago.</span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">All the above statements are, again, true. You can go to thousands of reputable sites on the net and get that exact info. He is just repeating that to scare the reader for what is coming next, and that is...the lies and then his solution to lead them out of the abyss. Note his use at this point of <i><b>YOU SEE</b></i> and What they don't tell <i><b>YOU. </b></i>He is using the age old, I'm the prophet, listen to me tactic con men love to use. I see the light, listen to me. I'm not them. I'm not the man trying to screw you out of your rightful life. At this point, if you are drinking his Kool Aid, you are about ready to buy his book. So, he goes in for the kill, and that is when the lies really start. </span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">What got me started on The Newsroom clip though was one thing the author of the article, Porter Stansbury wrote, that made me think he was pandering and fear mongering to sell his book. It's just a blanket, blatant statement not based in fact, and something Will McAvoy refuted with actual facts. It was this:</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>This is incredibly sad—and it's unfathomable that this is happening in the<span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="color: yellow;">greatest country on earth.</span></span></b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">And why not use this statement? It works. It probably got a noted con man elected President. If it worked for him, why not for Stansbury? McAvoy took great pains to refute it, because, it's just simply not fact anymore. That isn't what the masses want to hear. So, it's easier and better to lie to them. That sells more books. It sells hope. That is what Stansbury is selling. Not facts or solutions, just hope and voodoo.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">The real underlying cause of our wealth and income disparity in
America is that wages are no longer connected to gains in productivity. </span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">And this is the big secret the corporate executives and politicians hope you never understand.</span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because wages are no longer
connected to gains in productivity... Over time... there's nothing the
average American can do to stay ahead of inflation.</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Most
would rather just share this drivel with the masses than do some
homework to see the motives behind this con man. That is the issue
here. That is what the rich are relying on, that you are more interested
in sharing and being popular than actually doing homework or
understanding the real problem. The real reason that the debt piles up is that income isn't meeting expenses, on the macro and micro level. To bridge that gap, the rich loan the poor money and it perpetuates to the point the poor can't afford to pay or keep up. That is the situation the middle class guy is in, and the country is in. </span></span></span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Con men like Stansbury rely on most not understanding that, because its true, and also, why it perpetuates. It' easier to believe the rich are stealing or skimming from the poor than that they are loansharking them because they and many have been getting more benefits than they can pay for for up to 60 years now.</span></span></span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>Now the lies have started, and there is a reason he goes in for the kill
starting here. He knows at this point the reader who is now prone to
use his or her cell phone to record stuff is not going to fact check his
argument. He has built a base of trust, and some legitimate arguments
based on known facts, that he knows you aren't going to out him at this
stage. He has you--if he has you, <i><b>and he knows it</b></i>.</span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have used many still shots from the Newsroom scene in this blog, and I created them myself. I did that to show what Sorkin was doing in this scene. He was making a point about the audience. What was that point?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This generation, maybe even more than that, this society, is more interested in the fight, or the moment, than the actual debate or knowledge being imparted. Even more than that, they are conditioned to think that being able to share it is more important than being attentive enough to consider and understand it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because of that, they don't really listen, and or learn, and because of that, they don't see the trouble coming because they are not doing those things. </span></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you hear the song I sing<br />You will understand (listen!)<br />You hold the key to love and fear<br />All in your trembling hand<br />Just one key unlocks them both<br />It's there at your command</span></span></span></i></h1>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The whole thing reminds me of a real estate infomercial, with the leader
of the pack leading and prodding the willing masses to drink his Kool Aid. In spite of his car salesman approach, that doesn't mean Stansbury doesn't
make some very good points, and some other half truths and inaccurate
statements for effect that can be pointed out here.. and will be pointed
out here.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></h1>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">And this debt can never, ever be repaid.</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">But what they're really all about is money, debt, and economics</span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Again, this is where he uses some facts, but then he will later use them to try and sell a theory that is not fact and is never going to happen. It's easy to spot if you are listening, or in this case reading, and paying attention. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I agree with Stansbury. This debt can never be repaid, and its all about money. But, that isn't the root cause of the problem, its the diagnosis of the current disease. He doesn't want to tell you that, because that wont sell his theory and his book. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> It's about hopelessness and the feeling the game is rigged...which it is. Its about a system where a country and all of the world these days, is based on debt, deficit, and the rich loaning the poor money at a high rate because they have to pay that rate, and just letting the masses, the average guy, sink deeper and deeper into that debt hole. Stansbury has a theory and solution to that, which comes next, and that is just complete bullshit, which will <b>NEVER HAPPEN</b>. He claims to have a cure for the current disease, but it's no cure, and it wont ever happen or work. At this point, like Tom Vu, he has convinced you to believe it will, because it has before. He calls this the Debt Jubilee. A biblical term he relies on you believing exists. Without consequence. </span></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A
Jubilee—which wipes the slate clean for millions of the most indebted
Americans and "resets" the financial system—is inevitable</span></span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">.....that is
outright bullshit, and it will never happen, just like you thinking you
will go out and buy houses with no money down, or on pure voodoo credit. The entire society will collapse in one trading session on Wall Street if that was the case. It can't happen. </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">how making the right decisions with your money could dramatically transform your life.</span></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> And so I've spent my entire adult life helping people all around the world understand how investing works...</span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">At this point, Stansbury is using the "I am one of you", not one of them scam. Much different than the Baldwin character, in that he basically said I am better than you and I'm only doing this because my colleagues told me to. I don't believe you can be helped. Stansbury is telling the reader they can be helped, and he, being one of them, is the one to do it. He lists his middle class history and why he understands you and your plight. </span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYY5Ilo-l3I">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYY5Ilo-l3I</a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I used the above clip, partly because I have always liked it as a piece of comedy, but also because it makes the point. What you think its going to be like, because you buy into that con, and what it is actually like is something someone with first hand knowledge can explain to you. If you are willing to listen. In this clip, at the end, he isn't listening. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The link actually provides more context to the scene, if you want to watch that. The shorter, edited clip is right to the point. Just because you think you are entitled to cake, and the world or some con man tells you there will be cake, there will be no cake. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">There is no cake.</span></span><i><b><br /></b></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><b><i> </i>Millions of investors, pensioners, insurance customers, and creditors will lose a fortune.</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Stansbury's theory is that there will be a debt jubilee, where the government decides that the debt you have, be it car loan debt, credit card debt, and maybe even the debt the country holds, will be forgiven completely in a blanket, catch all sort of way, and there is precedent for that. That is just outright bullshit. There is no other way to say it. The world doesn't work that way, unless you are a 3rd world country and want to stay that way. Once you get a rep for not paying your debts, or not enforcing contracts and laws, nobody will ever loan you money again. Will some investors and creditors lose money because of the debt crisis? Yes, but not because it is forgiven in some crazy jubilee. And they wont lose. Someone will pay more to cover it. That someone wont be the rich, and it wont be the poor who don't have money to pay. It will be the middle class guy already getting screwed, and it will come with higher taxes and cost of goods and services. That is the way the world works, and Stansbury likes to ignore that fact. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">And then Stansbury uses the infomercial techniques to seal the deal. They are, "but wait, there's more." And its free. As a bonus, to you, the person who will buy my bullshit, worthless book. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Plus, in addition to our new book, I want to send you a special series of Research Reports, <i>at no additional charge.</i></span></span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">its all directly from the infomercial, scam 101 playbook.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> But these market moves are going to happen, no matter what. There's
nothing you or I can do to stop it. All you can do is prepare.</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> He uses words like could and should a lot. To cover his ass. Wisely. Then, he offers more free stuff. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>PLUS: My daily financial update, called <i>The Digest</i>,
delivered to your inbox around 6PM each day. This is for my paid
customers only. There is so much to stay on top of with this debt
crisis. I'll keep you up to date on everything you need to know.</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why do you need to sweeten an already sweet deal unless its not really sweet but just sour?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> That's why as part of this deal, I'll also send you a free 30-day trial to my Monthly Advisory Newsletter called: <i>Stansberry's Investment Advisory</i></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">There you go...there it is...what I really want is to manage...and mismanage your assets.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">My Investment Advisory newsletter normally costs $199 per year,
but your 30-day trial is totally free of charge. If you want to
continue receiving my work after your free trial is up, that's great,
but if not, no problem. It won't cost you a penny to have a free look.</span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yeah..that doesn't sound at all like..here kid, have this free hit of LSD, no obligations...its free, how can you go wrong here?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">and then, the testimonials.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Again, it will cost you just $19. </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">keep repeating the offer, in stages. that is the sales pitch de con man strategy. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Just let me know in the next 30 days, and we'll part as friends. I'll even refund the full $19 you pay today—</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">....and then, the refund offer that costs you nothing. This
is so text book, its even shocking to me that it still works. but it
does. for those that don't pay attention and listen. It always will.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">P.S. I almost forgot... there's one more thing I want
to send you totally free of charge too. I just checked in on it a few
weeks ago. It's a way to 100% legally hide and protect money from the
U.S. government. If you are at all capable of doing this personally, I
strongly recommend it. All the details are on the order form here...</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">the one last big hook..the p.s, b.s thing that suckers the last holdouts. </span></span><b><i><br /></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Why did I go through so much about Stansbury's approach here? I did that because I know its very easy to fall for, and also very easy to find out that he is just a con man selling nothing to those that will pay something for it. You only have to do one search and this article will pop up. How many will do that? I'd say not many, because they would be more interested in sharing it to their friends, who also wont do their homework, than doing that homework. </span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2013/04/02/financial-publisher-who-defrauded-public-investors-is-back-with-another-ominous-video">https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2013/04/02/financial-publisher-who-defrauded-public-investors-is-back-with-another-ominous-video</a> </span></span></span></h1>
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<i><b><span style="color: blue;">The video directs listeners to "protect" themselves and their families by signing up for a subscription
to his investment firm's newsletter for $49.50 per year. His
Baltimore-based firm, Stansberry & Associates Investment Research,
already has hundreds of thousands of paid subscribers in more than 120
countries, according to Stansberry. Sara Wilson, a spokeswoman for the
firm, told Whispers that Stansberry "is widely recognized for his
economic insight and understanding."</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="color: blue;">But a legal disclaimer at the bottom of the page notes that the firm's work "may contain errors."</span></b></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;">At this point, the blog has become long, not that I intended that to be the case, but because it seemed important to make the point I'm about to make as I tie it together. </span></span></span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">How does a Stansbury get away with convincing many that the debt they have is just going to be forgiven because America is a great country and it can be again? He does that because the reader wants to believe it, and wont bother with facts or sound logic from really smart people like the Mcavoy character. </span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="color: blue;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I don't got to listen to this shit.</span></span></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b>You certainly don't pal. " </b></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> What does Mcavoy have to say about all that in the clip, as he goes on, with how he perceives this situation plays out? As the students continue to film, he tries to reach them with some education on how America used to be great, and how it can be again. I don't know that I agree with Stansbury or Mcavoy that it is still or can be again, short of forgiving all that debt, and the more to come that is coming, but that is just my opinion. There was a time to put a stop to it, but it has gone much too far and many other countries have simply passed America on the greatness ladder. He sort of has their attention, but not really. Anyway, this is what he says.</span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral
reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars
on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our
neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our
chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances,
explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world's
greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the
stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't
belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify
ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare
so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things
because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first
step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not
the greatest country in the world anymore.</span></i></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">What were cell phones intended to be? Not intended to be? To me, they were intended to give you some freedom to make phone calls outside of your home. To have some safety late at night if you car breaks down. To allow you to do more with communication..not less with it. What they were not intended to be was an all in one, game playing, texting, video recording device and connection to the social media and internet world. That is the bastard child way it has played out, and because of that, this generation, and even more than them, masses of people can't tell the difference between intelligent speeches and arguments and the type of stuff Stansbury is putting out there. </span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">And if you need more proof of that, Donald Trump, the con man of all time, got elected President, basically by saying this.</span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Cell phones are for making phone calls, not for understanding your world. Until that is comprehended, we are all in big trouble, and some con man who tells you that you will just not have to pay your debts can sell that baloney to those that are confused by the reality they now see as reality. Which is not real. </span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The first
step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. Cell phones are destroying the minds of those that have them. Until we fix that problem, there is no going forward on any of the other problems, like how is it possible to be great again when you have so much debt you can't pay. </span></span></span></span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></span></span></h1>
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</h1>
Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-21882378046694617662018-02-08T11:31:00.001-05:002018-02-08T13:21:04.397-05:00The boy who cried big membership<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the court of public opinion, you are guilty as soon as someone levels an accusation at you, even if it is baseless. Not everyone thinks like that, but most do. They figure there must be fire there if there is smoke. Especially if it is more than one accuser. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Politics is the ultimate court of public opinion. The whole process is based on that. So, when that is not on your side anymore, you are shit out of luck.</span></span><br />
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<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b>"Mr. Brown is entitled to a legal defense and due process, but he cannot
lead us into an election as a result of these allegations," the
statement read.</b></i></span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/patrick-brown-denies-sexual-misconduct-allegations-from-two-women-resigns-as-ontario-pc-leader-1.3774686">https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/patrick-brown-denies-sexual-misconduct-allegations-from-two-women-resigns-as-ontario-pc-leader-1.3774686</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Did Patrick Brown get screwed over? Well, we probably wont know that for a year or
two. Did he sexually harass two women, or more? We might never know the answer
to that for sure, no matter what the courts decide. But in the court of public
opinion, he was guilty as soon as those allegations were made.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/patrick-brown-speaks-up-says-truth-will-come-out-1.3792125">https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/patrick-brown-speaks-up-says-truth-will-come-out-1.3792125</a> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He is now vowing to fight, and seeing that his political career is over anyway, he is speaking out, publicly.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b>In interviews, the women allege inappropriate behavior by the rising
political figure throughout his tenure as an elected official.</b></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b>
</b></i></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b>
One was still in high school when she says Brown, a well-known Barrie politician, asked her to perform oral sex on him.</b></i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Is it a crime to ask a woman to perform oral sex on you? It isn't. And if it was, then there are a lot more guilty men walking the streets free than there are spots in jail to house them. <b><span style="color: red;">As long as you are just asking.</span></b> Forcing, threatening, physically dominating, anything like that, those are crimes. Asking is not. <span style="color: red;"><b>As long as you take no for an answer</b></span>, if no is the answer. If you are the woman, and you do it, and then regret it, that is regret, but also you aren't a victim. Not legally anyway.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.vulture.com/2018/01/aziz-ansari-accused-sexual-misconduct.html">http://www.vulture.com/2018/01/aziz-ansari-accused-sexual-misconduct.html</a> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It
has been troubling to see the rush to judgement that we see taking place now. If
secrecy and acceptance of bad behavior was the norm before, it seems rush to
convict and brand anyone who is accused has become the standard way any
accusation by any person---mostly women, play out. We saw that with Aziz Ansara,
and I'm sure of the hundreds we are going to see come out this year, we will see
2 or 3 that were totally baseless, or as in the case of </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ansara</span></span>, just a
situation that a women was convinced to do something, and regrets it. That isn't
harassment. But why has </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ansara</span></span></span></span> been able to clear his name, so to speak, while
others like Patrick Brown were taken as guilty and ruined on the spot?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Did Ansara sexual harass and violate this woman? If you go strictly by her account, I would say yes. So, its he said/she said in this case. But, the way its portrayed in her accusation, it was just a date, he didn't have any actual power over her, she was free to leave at any point if she wanted, and did eventually without him forcing himself further on her. Would I do the things he is accused of doing? No, I would not, but I don't view what he did as harassment in the strictest sense. The variables are somewhat the same as Patrick Brown's though, so why are there many people rushing to support Ansara, while there is virtually no one that thinks Brown was innocent here?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This
blog isn’t about sexual harassment, or taking lightly any woman who claims
their basic human rights were violated. If any man harasses or violates a women, in my eyes, they should throw the book at them and ruin their lives, as we see with Matt Lauer and Harvey Weinstein. This blog is only how we treat those who are accused,
and why we treat some one way while others get different treatment.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Patrick
Brown was never likeable. It wasn't hard to believe that he would sexually
harass a woman. That doesn't make him guilty in a court of law, but in the
court of public opinion, it certainly does. He looks like the type of guy who would
be guilty of a thing like this. He is on the wrong side of the benefit of the
doubt. Why do I say that?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">One difference is that Brown preyed on very young girls, both 18 at the time, and got them drunk, then made his move. He was no teenager when he did this, and they weren't dates, but events where he calculated the way it was going to play out. That is much different than what Ansara did. You can read the account of how Brown did it in the article I linked above. It should be noted that both Brown and Ansara both stopped when the woman said stop. It appears the woman in Ansara's case just didn't put a stop to it when she wanted to, while the one in Brown's case did because Brown was much more aggressive in terms of how he was accelerating the encounter. He was on top of her and pinned her to the bed, if her account is to be believed. Brown hints that he is denying that happened. Again, he said/she said.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">First,
Brown was never known to be a "people person". To watch him, his
abrasive nature, his pissy attitude, just rubs you the wrong way. He looks like
he wouldn't take no for an answer. Pretty much, that is what he is accused of
here. For a more concrete example, we only need to look at how he handled his
brouhaha with Kathleen Wynne. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2017/12/11/wynne-sues-brown-for-100k-in-libel-action.html">https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2017/12/11/wynne-sues-brown-for-100k-in-libel-action.html</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b>Deputy premier Deb Matthews has accused the Tory leader of behaving like U.S. President Donald Trump, whose penchant for prevarication is well known.</b></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b>“There
is a principle in Canada that you do not make defamatory, misleading
comments about another political leader,” Matthews said in October.</b></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b>“In
Canada, we actually expect people to be honest. There is, south of the
border, a change in that culture. I do not want to see that change
coming to Canada.”</b></i></span></span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I'm
no fan of Kathleen Wynne, and neither are most Ontarians. I have spoken about
that before in other blogs, so I will just leave that as a statement of where
I'm at. But, no matter what, in my world, you don't slander somebody and then
insist on not taking it back, even when the proof is there that you have to be
wrong and you are being threatened with a lawsuit. That is the position Brown
was in with Wynne, and Brown was defiant in that instance. That is a sign to
me. A sign of poor character. The kind of thing that leads you to believe he
likely did harass those women who are now coming forward years later. He has a
pattern. In a case that will boil down to he said/she said as to what happened on the encounter, I am inclined to believe the women in this case. They have more credibility, only because Brown has zero.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<a href="http://nationalpost.com/news/politics/patrick-brown-likely-inflated-membership-numbers-by-70000-says-ontario-pc-official">http://nationalpost.com/news/politics/patrick-brown-likely-inflated-membership-numbers-by-70000-says-ontario-pc-official</a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b>With Brown gone, his successor says the figure is actually far less —
under 130,000 — and a party insider made a surprising admission about
the discrepancy Monday, blaming it on creative exaggeration.</b></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><b>“The
membership number was likely inflated for communications purposes,” said
the official, not authorized to speak on the record about the topic.
“We’re not going to defend the actions of the previous administration …
Now people have the facts.”</b></i></span></span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">One
of the reasons Brown was tolerated for as long as he has been, when there was
little to like in the first place was that he took a completely broken party,
became its leader, and vastly increased their membership numbers in a very
short amount of time. Or, so it seemed he had done that. Well, it seemed that
way, because <i><b>he claimed it himself</b></i> and the party accepted it as fact.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now
that Brown is gone, and his career is over either way, its apparent he didn't
increase the membership anywhere near to what he had claimed. What he did was make
up numbers and scam the party. That came out a few days later. The party is in
disarray because of it. Brown has no credibility whatsoever, so he is not going
to get any benefit of the doubt on any matter. I'm sure that will be something
that comes up in court when the lawyers of these women attack him. And
rightfully so. In a battle of he said/she said, what he said is hard to
believe without irrefutable proof, which he does not have. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/nyregion/donald-trump-tower-heights.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/nyregion/donald-trump-tower-heights.html</a></span></span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of
course, we know of others who have this credibility problem. One very famous
one in fact. Among the many lies that Donald Trump tells, the ones where the
actual facts clearly show otherwise and only lead you to believe that anything he
says is likely more fiction or deception than truth are... the size of the Trump
Tower, the crowd size of the inauguration, and the viewer ratings of the State of
the Union address. We could go on and on of the consistent lies he tells. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2017/01/the-facts-on-crowd-size/">https://www.factcheck.org/2017/01/the-facts-on-crowd-size/</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/trump-state-of-the-union-ratings-1202682703/">http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/trump-state-of-the-union-ratings-1202682703/</a> </span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">When
you get to the stage where everything you say is probably going to be a lie, or
thought of as probably a lie, or even just a gross exaggeration, it doesn't
matter if you are actually on the right side of the ledger in any dispute. That
is where Brown is, and where Trump is.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In
the case of Brown, he is the boy who cried big membership, and now even if he
actually sees a wolf, nobody would believe he did. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In cases like we see
now, character and credibility will decide how you are judged by those that
don’t have to use the rule of law and evidence to make decisions. In the court
of public opinion, Patrick Brown is now
a sexual harasser. His lack of character in public got him that title, not
his actions in private.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">If your word is your bond, you have no bonds to call on when the shit hits the fan. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-4557544237761612762018-02-07T13:14:00.002-05:002018-02-07T13:14:55.733-05:00I try to keep an open mind.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">One of the things I've done since I made the decision to just walk away from social media, mostly facebook (as that was my worst vice) was to go back through the hundreds of saved files I have, and either discard them if they are now trash, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">(and were all along) or take what I have and do what I can with them. Out with the old, in with the new. But first, out with the old.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Finishing, that is one of my biggest problems. Not insurmountable though, I'm no quitter, so I trudge on. So far, 9 of every 10 files I come across are garbage, and that is where they will go. I save everything, but I don't hold on to them forever if I feel there is no worth.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">But, that 1 in 10 is still there. I stumbled onto this passage I wrote in 2011. I have no clue what brought me to write this, but here it is raw. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The title at the top is "Spiritual", so I will stick with that.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I </span>cant feel your touch, because you are motionless<br />I cant hear your voice, because you are voiceless<br />I cant see your face, because you are faceless<br />I can still feel your spirit, because I am spiritual</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I thought I would play around with it for 30 seconds, and this is what it ended up being. In, out, fix, post, on to the next one.</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I </span>can feel your touch, but you are motionless<br />I cant hear your voice, because you are voiceless<br />I cant see your face, because you are faceless<br />I can still feel your spirit, because I am spiritual</span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I can feel your touch, just like it was yesterday</span></span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I cant hear your voice, because yesterday is gone</span></span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I cant see your face, because you are gone</span></span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;">I can still feel your spirit, because it lives within me.</span></span></b></span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">As it turns out, that one was worth saving. Some are, some aren't. Tomorrow is another day to see which are, which aren't. I try to keep an open mind about that sort of thing. </span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-74405492394396278712018-02-06T14:55:00.002-05:002018-02-06T14:55:17.314-05:00Its like looking in a mirror.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I'm not anywhere near as smart as this guy, but the way he says things, the way he speaks, the way he thinks, the personality he exudes, for me, its like looking in a mirror.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He touches on basically every point I have made in the last few weeks. I hadn't seen or heard of this video until an hour ago, but its great to hear someone else that intelligent and legit say these things, when I have been raked over the coals to some extent for saying them myself. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I will be using this video in another blog to come in a day or two, but I urge anyone who needs to be provoked and to think about what is going on out there to watch this. All of it. Stick with it.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-6350631998594089362018-02-06T09:01:00.001-05:002018-02-06T09:01:14.223-05:00Keeping the faith<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Trying to get used to not having something to lean on is not an easy thing. When you are used to something, and it's in your routine, it's foreign when you have to exist and move on without it, even if you know its the best thing in the long run.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, sure, it was tough today. It's one thing to say something is distracting you and you had to detach or remove it to regain your focus, but its another thing to then actually get to work and not have it there. Today was day 1 with no excuses. No Facebook to blame for my poor performance.The truth is that I am the one to blame for my poor performance, and I am the one to take action to fix it. Facebook was just the roadblock I had to remove. It will still be up to me to make it work. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I suppose every day will just get easier as it goes along. I felt I was productive and somewhat potent today. So, that's a good thing. At least I felt my head was in the game. I didn't make any bad decisions today, and I attribute that to having a focused and clear head. The extreme fatigue I have been feeling lately also went away, and even though I was up early, I never felt like I needed to go take a nap to make it through the day. This will be the first day in probably a week I can say that. I expect to build on that each day.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> It's a start. There is a long road ahead to regain my level, the level I am capable of, and that I need to have to succeed. I guess its just like going to the gym. If you stop going for long enough you have to just get back at it and struggle a bit at the start, until you get the hang of it again. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now I have to figure out how to get back in the zone. The zone where you can just look at a race, go over it, and zone right in on the winner. Its something you take for granted when you are in it, but once you fall out of it, you know the value of being blessed to have that. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have faith in myself, my skills and my work ethic. So, I trust to just stick with it. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Having faith that it will work out has carried me my entire life, and through some very dark and disturbing days and times. This is no different. Back to the music posts in the blogs, but just one here to close it out. I derive so much from music and poignant lyrics that that will have to be a blog just for that to explain what that gives me. Another day.</span></span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>You can linger too long<br />
In your dreams<br />
Say goodbye to the<br />
Oldies but goodies<br />
'Cause the good ole days weren't<br />
Always good<br />
And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems</b></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>I told you my reasons<br />
For the whole revival<br />
Now I'm going outside to have<br />
An ice cold beer in the shade<br />
Oh, I'm going to listen to my 45's<br />
Ain't it wonderful to be alive<br />
When the rock 'n' roll plays, yeah<br />
When the memory stays, yeah<br />
I'm keeping the faith</b></span></div>
Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032155883913171218.post-14747341342364504372018-02-05T03:13:00.001-05:002018-02-05T03:13:20.781-05:00This is my explanation, for what its worth.<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">There
are times in life when you have to do certain things. They don't make
sense to other people, even those that know you very well. I've said
before that nobody really knows anybody as well as they think they do.
What goes on inside someones head is very personal. There are times when
it doesn't even make sense to me, and I'm very sensible as a rule.</span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
deactivated my facebook account on Sunday. I knew I was going to do it
eventually, but when that was I didn't know. I'd thought about doing it
for a long time. I'd talked about doing it many times. I'd already cut
down on a few other things, hoping it would improve my work ethic and thinking
process. It did, and it didn't. I was more productive, but not more
potent. I was getting more done, but not doing it well. </span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
woke up today thinking I would just do my thing. I had big plans on
what I was going to achieve, to start moving back in the right
direction. I have been going in the wrong direction for weeks. I was
hopeful that I took some pain to get some gain. Today was the day I
thought I would start gaining. By midday, it was clear there was very
little gain. <br />It was a rough week in terms of the things I've done,
and mistakes have been made on many levels, on many things, and even
with some people and how I conveyed that I just needed time to sort out
why I wasn't getting where I needed to be. That didn't have anything to
do with them, but only with me. Unfortunately, I didn't express that
right in some instances, and it was only logical for them to think it
was about them, or some incidents that occurred. Yes, I'm sure that was a
small part of it, but it wasn't the driver. It was about me. I just
needed time to sort things out in my head. I tried leaning on my
writing, because that usually works and helps me sort things out. It
did, but it didn't. In some ways, it only muddied the waters.</span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
should have been in that place today, that productive, potent and good
place, but I wasn't. I was already starting to think about doing
something about that, and then I read a post about just letting go of
something if its not working for you. That made sense. Facebook is not
working for me, and it hasn't been for a very long time. I stayed only
because its a crutch, a valve to ease my mind when I do the intense hard
mental work I do on a daily basis. But, that never made it enjoyable,
but for a few friends and a few activities. It wasn't enough to keep me
anymore. It was actually hurting me a lot more than helping and it was
time to go, at least for now. <i><b>I had to go.</b></i> </span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
am a patient person. That has been noted by people. That is true. I am
one who considers carefully all the options and tries to make informed
decisions. But, when the time comes to make the decision, I will do it
in seconds, if that feels like the right thing to do. Sometimes I get it
wrong, but I know that if my gut tells me to do it, I do it and live
with the fallout or result of however it plays out. If I hadn't
deactivated right when I did, I might have convinced myself to wait and
then fall back into the black hole that Facebook can be. I couldn't let
that happen. I stayed training racehorses way too long because I talked
myself out of stopping many times when it was already time to stop. I
try to learn from that lesson. </span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Does
it feel good to be off Facebook? It does. It did immediately after I
did it. Is it strange to just walk off the playing field after being
there for 10 straight years? It is strange, but also somewhat liberating
at the same time. When I quit training racehorses, I did the same
thing. Thought about it for a long time without saying or doing anything
to indicate I was pondering it, then just one day put it in motion and
got out. I'm not impulsive, but I'm very decisive. Unfortunately, I'm
also oblivious when I do it, and that will cost me in some ways. </span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
know this is going to cost me a lot of good friendships, and I guess I
just have to accept that. I hope it doesn't, but I'm realistic enough to
know it will. Will that bother me? Sure it will. I'm not as cold as
some think I am. </span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Should
I have said something to certain people? I should have. That part I
would do over, in private. On my main page? No. I didn't want to make a
big deal about it. I just had to get off. Facebook, and social media in
general can consume you and alter how you are at the core of your
person. I am and was very close to that edge of the cliff. I am not
religious, but I am very spiritual and introspective. That is my core,
and I felt my core was eroding.</span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
did this for me, and solely myself. Is that selfish? I don't know, but
if it is, then selfish was something I had to be this time, and really
the last week or two. I am generally a very giving and helpful person
overall, but there comes a time when you have to take care of yourself. I
had a friend tell me that lately, and its true. </span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Transforming
yourself is never a smooth process. Nor is it easy. Change might be
good for you, but its not easy for you. When you are transformed, it
changes how you act with others and how they perceive you, and you them.
I am certainly transforming myself, because that is necessary. I will
not get where I need to be if I stay on the track I am on. Was on. I am
already transforming, even though it appears to be a very rocky road if
the first few weeks of this year are an indication. I have to believe
its the right thing to do, and just stick with it. If it turns out wrong
in some ways, then I will think about how to fix those things as they
come. There are already some casualties on that road, and that I
probably cannot fix. I'm not Superman and I'm not God. I am just me.
Flawed me. I accept that.</span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Being
off Facebook is something I'm glad to be, but how I did it is not
something I'm proud about. Again, that decisive/oblivious thing that
bites me. We all have flaws, and that one has consistently been one of
mine for longer than I can remember. </span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hopefully
that will work itself out with those that really matter, but that is
only hope. If it doesn't, then I can't do much about that. I have to
accept that being extremely selfish in this case to save myself from
myself will result in forcing others to walk away because of it. </span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I'm
sorry if this has hurt some people. I wish it didn't. There is a lot of
water under the bridge, but possibly the bridge wont be there to come
back towards a meeting back in the middle. That is the part I really
don't know. I've had that sort of thing go both ways in my life, and I
don't think I knew which would go south and which would go north until
it finally did.</span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
have many "friends" on facebook. The majority will just move on, mostly
forget about me, except for the odd thing that jogs their memory. As
with anybody, there are a select few that really cared, that bonded in a
variety of ways, be that interests or just a personal connection. </span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">If
you are one of the few people that really cared, you are reading this
now and we will find a way to connect and repair the broken connection,
which, again, is all on me. I did that and I cop to it.</span></span></div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Time
will heal the situation, but it may not mend it. It might be broken
past the point of repair in some instances. I am open to fixing it and
taking responsibility for my part in it, if that is enough. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
wrote, edited, re wrote and updated this many times over, and I could
keep doing that, but I'm just going to stop here and go with it. </span></span>Mark Deutschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657964285111110546noreply@blogger.com1