LIFE
Wandering my mind: >
I have been to three funerals in less than a year. In one way I don’t feel bad about their departure in that they had all reached a point in their lives that continuing would be fruitless and painful for all concerned. Not only do we lose a Relative and/or Dear Friend and the company they provide us, but equally sad, we lose the precious memories and a lifetime of information that they have stored in their wonderful brain. As I sit here and consider whats next, I realize another great loss is the “Personality” that I will never be graced with again. I think maybe a persons personality might be a window to their soul. We take pictures, make recordings, and movies of people and our experiences. Few things are as personal and enduring as a letter written about ones thoughts and experiences. I think about my Uncle Willard and Uncle Pete. I’ve lost contact with their children. I think of my other relatives who I am still in contact with and realize that some of the “Personalities” are not totally lost. I see My Uncle George among my Cousin Michelle’s traits ( her Grandfather). Not all is lost. LIFE AFTER DEATH?
Mark Rawlins
LIVING
Wandering my mind: >
To be alive. To be living. I can define both to mean the same. I can define both to mean different things in either order. I can be alive and not “living”. I can be living and not “alive”. A context conundrum? I could live my life as a couch potato, and I would be alive but not “living” my life.
Mark Rawlins
Wandering my mind:
I try to remember back to the first thing I can remember. I think I was about three. Mom said we were living in Long Beach, California when I was learning to talk. I remember several things from that time period. It then occurred to me, How could you remember anything before you had a vocabulary? You may be able to associate an event or emotion to a vision or noise, but you would have no words with which to describe or define what occurred.
Mark Rawlins
Wandering my mind:
I sometimes gently joke that children become human at about four years old. Seems that is about the time they become cognizant of their effect on other people.
Mark Rawlins
Wandering my mind:
Years ago it was a common practice to not name a baby until it was one to two years old. They didn’t want to use a special name and then have the baby die. Infant deaths were very common back then. A practical custom.
Mark Rawlins
Wandering my mind: >
When one person disparages another be calling them a nasty name, just remember; in the balance of things, that exchange says volumes more about the name caller than the intended victim !!
When someone calls me a name like Honky, or Gringo I smile to myself because they just said “Hey, you’re white and I’m not”. Not that it makes me better than any one else, just an observation..
Mark Rawlins
Wandering my mind: >
I have a little exercise for you:
Rule #1; You can’t change the rules. #2 ; You will live your whole life by the choice you make. #3 ; The other person will live his life by your decision. Your choice : It is 1823. You are one of two souls up in heaven. God calls you both before him and says, “It’s time for the two of you to be united with a body down on earth”. He points to you: “ You have been here longest so you must choose. There are only two positions available, your choices are: #1 The son of an Atlanta, Georgia red-neck farmer, a sharecropper, working too much land to do by himself. He hates “ niggers” but owns a black man and a black woman to help with the work. His motto is ‘spare the whip and spoil the slave’. You can choose to be born as his son and follow in his likeness, or You can choose to be born as the son of his slave. You must choose now.”
I have never known anyone to make a choice. No-one wants to live either of these life styles. Yet even today we have many people living lives all too similar to these situations.
Mark Rawlins
How do we, as a “modern” society, justify standing by and letting this thing happen? I believe the decline in morals and religious participation is a major part of the problem. I think we can trace these problems back to some Supreme Court decisions and some hypocrisy in established religions. I know this is a simplistic and incomplete thought. I hope everyone will put some thought into it and maybe take a little action.
Mark Rawlins
If predetermination is true this scenario would never happen. If predetermination is true how far back in history would that decision be made for you?
Mark Rawlins
Considering the challenges associated with growing up and being homosexual, how many people would choose that life? Pretty close to minus zero I would guess. I do know one person ,who, late in life, chose the homosexual lifestyle rather than gamble on marrying another man, too much abuse! She still needed to love and be loved. What does this say about our society?
Homosexuality is a fact that we as a society are struggling with. Just as with racial prejudice. There is an awfully lot of negative history we have to work our way through. I wonder if, at this point in history, the minority groups might make some important discoveries if they would inspect their own prejudices
At this point in history, I believe the Negro community is just as, or more, prejudiced as the white (honky) population!? But what the heck, I’m just a senile old man. What do I know. Just wondering ——
Mark Rawlins
MY WONDERING MIND : >
How have we become a Nation who hates ourselves SO MUCH !?! So many Americans HATE their government! But aren’t WE supposed to BE our government?? How did this HAPPEN ? What or Who is generating all this discontent? Did we come to this state by our own research? Were we led into it by friends, family, church, work, television, radio, internet,or, what ever, —-? WHY do we HATE OUR SELVES/ GOVERNMENT ?
ON MY SOAPBOX : >
Here we are ! Again ! In a national discussion about the use of the term “Nigger”. This time with the NFL and professional sports. A few years ago the Black Caucus attempted to eradicate “Nigger” from dictionaries and from our society. Apparently it didn’t work. Like it or not, the term Nigger is part of the history and heritage of “The United States of America” !
I don’t know all of the history of the term but I read somewhere it began in the Niger River area in Africa. There it was a well respected term. When Negro Slaves were forcibly brought to the U.S.A., the term morphed into a slang term for Negro. ( I think the term “Negro” is a fine term and I use it with reverence and respect).
DEFINITION : (My definition) Nigger : A person from any of a great number of African nations (tribes) brought to the U.S.A. as a slave. These slaves were mistreated, tortured, treated like livestock, beat into submission, mentally broken, bred to enhance “the breed”, families broken up – sold to the highest bidder, disrespected as human beings ! There was legislation brought before Congress to decree that Negros were not human but a form of Ape.
All this led by the fine Southern Plantation owners. Many of them Christian. The ugly side of Capitalism. Some of the worst of the beatings, torture, and mental cruelty that was used to subjugate a slave into a “Nigger” was done by the poorer Red Neck farmers, Sharecroppers, and White Laborers.
In my view not one of those “Niggers” need hang their heads one IOTA. They were not in control of their fate. Those who should find their chins dragging the ground are their Christian owners, and all others who participated in those SINS against GOD, Humanity, and The United States of America !
Somewhere in the 1970’s we had a President who put into place a program to help black communities raise themselves up with neighborhood cleanup, small business loans, with business training, and programs to keep kids busy with after school programs, and anti-gang education. Just as it seemed that success was taking root we had a presidential election – the “other” party won and immediately shut down that whole program.
Barack Obama’s Reverend Wright had it correct when He said “God Damn (“White”) America.!”! When taken in context of the preceding several minutes of his speech, he was speaking the truth! What I have been talking about is exactly the point Rev. Wright was trying to make. It is the White Christian population that, has been and still is, systematically pushing the Negro Community down. I very much disrespect President Obama for not standing tall as a proud Black Man and defending his Religious leader’s POINT OF FACT !
My Daddy told me that “When you make a mistake, Admit your guilt if there is any, Apologize to those you wronged, make amends if appropriate. After that you stand tall and “live down” the episode”.
When one person calls another a “Nigger”, the speaker is only expressing their opinion. I does not make it so!
When one person uses such a word or phrase to “dis” another it says VOLUMNS more about the speaker than the target of the abuse !
When a negro uses the term “nigger” or “nigga” when talking to another negro, what they are really doing is saying to themselves and their honky cousins that “We” are in this way special. They lord it over whites, in effect saying, “Ha Ha We can say ‘Nigger’ and you can’t!”. I don’t personally care if that term lives or dies, but, If the black community wants to get rid of it – let it die!
It is actually discrimination for the black community to be able to use the term when no one else can! I think, at this point in history, the black community may be more discriminatory than the white community?!?
“To the Black Community” : Stand tall and live up to your God Given right,as equals to all others. Negros have a much different history than Orientals, but Orientals did not stand around and wait for white men to bless them with success – they went out and made their own;! It is time for the Black Community to find a way to pull themselves up by their boot straps and be successful. Stop being the drug runners for rich users who turn around and imprison you for selling drugs! I know it is hard to start a business when you don’t have a clue how to do it. But. People do it all the time! Stop knocking yourself down by robbing your own businesses. ( Don’t rob mine either. “:)” Please ). Historically it is time !! Start now.
PS : I realize that an educated person may be able to punch a few holes in my “facts”, but they cannot factually deny the truth of the intent of my dissertation.
Mark Rawlins
Wandering my mind: >
When I think about something worth thinking about I then to think about it until I don’t know what else to think about it. And then I think, I wonder if others would like to think about it, and what they might think about it, and who might think about it, and would they think about it even if I didn’t think about it, and do they think it is worth thinking about. BUT : No matter how much thinking is going on it is of little consequence if no-one is talking. OOPS! Did anyone really listen to what was said? Or did listeners just interpret what they wanted to hear?
Mark Rawlins
On My Soapbox >
ABORTION
Exactly the reason Safe Legal Abortions were legalized was that Women and Girls were going to back alley abortion chop shops, Mexico, and overseas, or mangling their own bodies trying a do-it-yourself abortion.!! Abortions are an ugly business but I firmly believe they will keep happening no matter what the law says. There is nothing in the Constitution that says religious groups get to decide what the morals of everyone else should be.! I believe that everyone who is anti abortion should band together – start an organization that would provide (1) FREE, FRIENDLY, HELPFUL counseling for people thinking about abortion. and. (2) provide funding and support,( including financial ) for those who choose to the have the baby and sign pre-birth adoption agreements. Depending on the circumstances, sterilization should be offered and in some instances maybe even required. I respect religions and religious people and rue the decline in morality that the decline in religious participation has influenced.
Mark Rawlins
MY WONDERING MIND : >
When I sit in the pilots seat and look out one window and see the Self Righteous engines running amok, then look out the other window and see the Morality engines in flame-out I have to think “ THIS PLANE IS GOING TO CRASH !“
Mark Rawlins
I would like everyone, especially politicians, to start acting more like Mother Teresa and less like Adolph Hitler?
Mark Rawlins
It is said that : “Necessity is the Mother of invention”.
I think that makes : “Imagination is the Father invention”.
( Mark Rawlins )
New – Per Websters dictionary “Figuratively means Literally” !
So! Does :literately – also mean – figuratively? Websters does no one any favors by merging the two words in meaning. Instead they should point out the misuse of both words. The English Language is adequately difficult and ambiguous without our professional linguistics team purposely muddling the “aquifers” !
Mark Rawlins
NO!!!! Obama is not my favorite person but the campaign of negativity against him is damaging our whole country – it doesn’t affect just Obama – it affects the whole of our society! This kind of strategy is obviously effective but it is genuinely UN-American and most probably has our forefathers turning in their graves. What has happened to the spirit of “I may not agree with what he says , but, I will defend to the death his right to say it!” ?! P.S. Obama has done some good things!
Mark Rawlins
And the first one said ” I think it is like a tree” , the second said ” I think it is like a snake “, the third said ” no it is more like a wall”. And they were all wrong, and they were all right ! Both Mike and Jayson are right – looking at it from their personal perspectives. Not everyone can be an entrepreneur . Someone needs to grind the wheat and bake the bread. for a livable wage. To be sure, there are slackers, but most people will put in a good days work for a fair days wage. I am 74 years old and lived through the Golden Years of this country’s history, 1940’s through about 1978. We had high taxes, a bunch of regulations, fought wars, built the Interstate Highway system, went to the moon, developed the Space Shuttle,and helped build the Space Station !!! We now have to depend on Russia to ferry our astronauts to the space station, we have credit card companys that act more like loan sharks than legitimate businesses, and commercial airlines we never know if they will be flying when our flight is scheduled. We used to get fed pretty good meals and now are lucky to get a bag of peanuts. Someone please explain to me how deregulation has benefited the 90% of the population who make the 10% so rich, since 1980 ?! P.S. I do like what Mike is doing, it’s great ! It’s’ just that not everyone fits neatly into that mold. Companys used to care about it’s workers no matter what the job level. That has turned upside down now. It’s more like it was before Unionism, workers rights = zero, corporations rights unlimited ! I have much more to say, but feel I’m lucky if anyone reads this far. Thanks for “listening”
Mark Rawlins
HIGHWAY AND INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING
People need to look at the comparative cost of tolls (tax) paid to a private for profit companys against taxes paid to a government entity (non profit) ! I don’t have any data to back up this claim but the “TAX” paid to “for profit” tolls would be 2 to 10 times higher than true taxes for the same material benefit. Further beneficial comparisons – the Boulder turnpike versus E470 and the HOV Lane scam pulled on the public here in Colorado.!
The ” Taxes are bad! ” theme has been pounded into the public’s collective brain for SO long, People have forgotten how to think.! As soon as they hear “TAX” they go into panic mode and brain meltdown.!
Mark Rawlins
Citizens of the U.S.A. ! PLEASE ! Awaken at the snap of leg irons being clamped on your ankles ! There is a pernicious attack on TAXES in America and worldwide. Citizens need to realize that MONEY is POWER. He Who controls Money controls Power ! Plain and Simple ! The reason Denver’s HOV lanes belong to a private entity for the next 50 years is voters would not support the tax to do the required work. Now we are stuck paying 2 to 10 times as much in toll fees ( TAXES ) as we would have paid in true taxes. To be sure , there is such a thing as too much taxes, but lets be smart about how we manage our Government Money. Commercial enterprise pays for absolutely everything that money buys ! BAR NONE ! When Commercial enterprise starts paying everyone a living wage – Welfare type programs will be reduced to next to nothing! As long as low wages and part time work are the order of the day – We will need welfare programs.! PLAIN and SIMPLE.!
xx
Citizens of the U.S.A. ! Awaken ! There is a pernicious attack on TAXES in America and worldwide. Citizens need to realize that MONEY is POWER ! Plain And Simple ! The reason Denver’s HOV lanes belong to a private entity for the next 50 years is voters would not support the tax to do the required work. Now we are stuck paying much more in ” TAXES ” than we would have paid in true taxes. There is such a thing as too much taxes, But lets be smart about how we manage our Government Money. Commercial enterprise pays for absolutely everything that money buys !!! When Commercial enterprise starts paying everyone a living wage – Welfare type programs will be reduced to next to nothing! As long as low wages and part time work are the order of the day – We will need welfare programs.! Plain And Simple.!
Mark Rawlins
Dottie Lamb’s article on birth control is a good start to a serious conversation that needs to be had world wide on the very serious subject of over population. If anyone thinks this is not a serious problem they should talk to someone from Easter Island. Also check out the area on the western slope of Colorado that President Truman designated a wildlife sanctuary for the deer in that area. They ate their way out of house and home! It took over fifty years for the area to mostly recover from that very well meant program. It could even be that is where the wasting disease that plague mule deer in Colorado started.
China finally took some drastic but very necessary steps to stop population growth. If We, the Community of Man, do not recognize the warning signs and take action very soon, Mother Nature will very likely take matters into her own hands. In fact, the signs are there if anyone takes the care and time to notice.
Mark Rawlins
China ,again, went hog wild with spraying crops to control insects with the intention of increasing harvests. What they did was poison their bee population to the point that human hands have to collect pollen and spread it on the flowers in order to get crops of many tree born fruits and nuts. The things we have to do to get ever larger crop amounts like indiscriminately spray, poisoning all insects, to kill the few “bad” ones; adding poison to the DNA of seed crops to kill insects that feed off the crops has drastic consequences for every other life form in the area. Bees collect pollen from a very diverse array of plant life – from farm crops to grasses to weeds to bushes to trees. The only reason we have bees to pollinate our crops now is the efforts of bee keepers who specialize in growing Queen Bees which they ship all over the world. When the bees collect pollen from poisoned flowers the poison is brought to the hive and fed to the queen. Even if the queen doesn’t die, the honey will be tainted. Monarch Butterflies, who require the milkweed plant to survive have suffered about 90% decline in population due to weed poisoning programs.
Mark Rawlins
8/9/2015 Denver Post >
TRUTH
TRUTH is an unrelenting taskmaster.
TRUTH is the basis of all morality.
TRUTH IS!
Mark Rawlins
No matter how many laws are passed – no matter how many Judgments Judges pass into law – no matter how many half truths or lies you tell – you can confuse people, but, you cannot change TRUTH. PERIOD. For instance : The marriage of a homosexual couple cannot ever be equal to the marriage of man and a woman. Naturally True – Therefore – Morally True.
For instance : What the power brokers on Wall Street, the European Union, and International Business Community, are doing to the United States and the World economies, is just as Morally wrong as what Mafias and Drug Cartels are doing! When Wall Street uses Congress and Judges ( making law ) to steal from America and the World they need to be prosecuted for those crimes! TRUTH. PERIOD.
Mark Rawlins
More Truth:
For instance : GOD IS GOD! For most people Faith is Truth – Truth is God. So, how do Religious Communities account for the many organized Religions of the World?! Christians cannot decide which form of Christianity is the True One. Muslims cannot decide which form of the many Muslim sects is the True One. Judaism has ultra conservatives thru modern versions of their faith. If there is One GOD there is ONE TRUTH! They fight wars for the right to believe that their version of God is the Truth! So go fight ANOTHER war! Surely that will bring forth TRUTH, and then God can finally enjoy the Sabbath! Just leave Me and Mine out of your wars!
Mark Rawlins
10/6/2015
Forgiving
Those who have sinned do not have the right to ask to be forgiven – their responsibility is to act in such a way that deserves and encourages others to forgive. There is no legal requirement for victims to forgive, their only incentive is for their personal moral, social, religious, peace of mind. If the sinner makes the true effort to make restitution morally and/or financially and does not receive forgiveness, both parties may suffer guilt and bad karma.
Mark Rawlins