Sidetracked Charley

How can the god of the New Testament of the Bible allow mass shootings of innocent people in a municipal building in Virginia or a high school in Florida or a concert in Las Vegas? The list of his errors in judgment is long. Remember the Oh, God movies where the little girl asks if he was so smart why did he make the seed of the avocado so large? Or Judas's closing number in Jesus Christ Superstar, "Why did you choose such a backward age or such a strange place?" Oddly I get the floods, and the swarms of tornadoes. And accidents happen. All are subject to the natural order. But why lying pastors just after your money? Why  Christians Sessions or Pence or Graham or Trump? Why does evil triumph over good again and again and again? I just want to know. Frankly, in this day an age I see more evidence of a Zoroastrian God.  Maybe that is why those true believers  fight so hard to not die and go to their reward. Or punishment. Like why if Trump is innocent does he fig...

Part of the whole deadly triad of blaming others and impression management is campaigning for agreement. We are herd animals. Especially the extroverts among us. We are not comfortable being shunned or blocked of even not getting enough likes for our posts on social media. I call it the deadly triad because in just a few hours, thanks to Facebook and email, we can create opinions which once took months to spread by word of mouth and telephone. Thank heavens we have gotten beyond literal lynch mobs. But maybe what we have now is worse, because we do not even have to think about what we are doing when we post on social media. Nor can we take it back easily because once it is out there it is out there. And some organizations like the Right to Lifers who want to kill abortion doctors don't just shop for agreement but campaign for it. They post names and addresses and hit lists of those against what they believe on websites they manage. And they celebrate in a post when one of t...

We have a local thrift store run by a Christian ministry. The money they make from their thrift store sales goes to help local families in need and several charities their faith supports. There are one or two on their posted list I cannot in all honesty wholeheartedly support but their good outweighs their bad on my scales. At least until today. In fact I have always seen a trip to the Attic is a positive point in the week. You always run into friends. The prices are always amazingly cheap. The merchandise very good because so many of our citizens donate their clothing and house goods to the charity. A fun time is usually had by all. Casually shopping I picked out two very nice shirts which run $1.50 each. Looked at quilts and comforters which I use as dog beds. And through kitchen wares. I at last wound up in purses. The locals seem to favor a very nice quality of purse and surrender them for resale with just a minimum of wear. Sometimes no wear at all. I found a lovely purse ...

Reflections by J. Binford-Bell Sandy came on shore. All the Aspen leaves were on the ground. The weather channel revised its long range forecasts and the drought continues. Well, except for where Sandy came on shore. New York and New Jersey would like a dry and warmer trend. Meanwhile I was walking the dogs around placid ponds and taking stunning pictures of reflections and ignoring all my email in boxes because they are full of messages from what seems a million Democrats. And staying off Facebook where I am bombarded by Republicans that want to tell me yet again how stupid I am. I am rather above the fray as I voted mid October. I have been more concerned about my renters as real estate agents began calling me asking for credit information about them. There lease is not up until the 1st of March. Nobody in the highlands of New Mexico wants an empty rental property in the winter. But I have to wonder what they were thinking as they are not current on their rent and most month...