Awful Angst and Angry Aggravation: The Musings and Meditations of a Stogiemeister

Ugh, lately I don't feel good writing about politics.  Politics is so dirty today, invested as it is in the personal destruction and persecution of conservative dissenters.  Often, politics brings out the worst in me.  It causes me to feel hatred sometimes, and I hate that ugly feeling.  Liberals hate our guts, and it is a challenge not to return the sentiment.

I especially dislike the "piling on" of popular-culture robots when some person makes a comment that is reviled, repudiated, repeated and reprinted, stoking enormous ideological hatred for the person who made the remark.  Often the remark is misinterpreted or taken out of context.  I have defended many victims of this phenomenon, and not only conservatives.  I have defended liberals as well, for the sake of justice and fair play.  See here, for instance.

In any case, Fall is in the air and I look forward to the holiday season.

I finished my last corporate tax return on September 15, and now have more time to practice playing bass.  I'd like to get in three hours a day, but one hour will do in a pinch.

Writer's Block: What I Would Say If I Didn't Have It.

I haven't written for several days.  Sometimes I just don't have much to say.  But if I did, here is what I would say:

Islam -- With the advent of ISIS and beheadings occurring within the United States, people seem increasingly aware of the evil and violent nature of this terrible religion.  It should be banned from all western countries and its adherents deported.  If we are going to allow Islam in the USA, we might as well allow cannibalism and human sacrifice.  The last two items are no more shocking than the practices of Islam.  Related Post at Right Truth:  At War With Islam.

Obama -- His glaring incompetence has become so acute that even liberal newspapers and pundits are criticizing him.  Will this spell a Republican victory in the November midterms?  It's hard to say.  Never bet on the intelligence of the average voter.

Rush Limbaugh -- It has come to light that Media Matters and a few fascist Democrat activists have been running a scam to scare away advertisers on Limbaugh's radio program.  They are using automatic Twitter feeds to target Rush's advertisers, trying to make their suppression of alternate views seem like a grass roots movement.  Typical of the left:  they cannot win an honest debate, so try to silence or slime the opposition in any way possible.  Truly, "politics is war by other means," and the Democrats are high practitioners of the art.

California's Drought -- Here in California, we go through droughts fairly regularly.  Finally, the rain will start again and we'll get drenched.  The current drought, however, is particularly long-lasting.  Sunny California and all that.  Yes, too much sun is not a good thing.  We need the wet stuff.  If we don't get it soon, water rationing will begin.  Today the sky is blue and cloudless.  Rain damn you!

In spite of the drought, my persimmon tree is chock full of fruit.  This will be our biggest harvest yet.  Persimmon trees only produce every other year.  Last year we had around 8 persimmons.  This year it will be ten times that much.  We'll give a lot of it away.  The fruit will be ripe enough to pick around November 1st.

Fall Is Here, Early

Persimmons

Fall officially begins on September 22 of this year (2014).  However, the weather has been fall-like in Hollister for the past couple of weeks.  Today, September 2nd, the temperature is 61 degrees Fahrenheit, rather chilly.  The sky is overcast, resembling that of Washington State more than that of California.

My persimmon tree is full of fruit, and the fruit is already quite yellow.  Persimmons are usually ready to pick by early November.

I like this time of year.  The chill is in the air, and smells sweetly of dying grasses.

Turkey, Turkey, Turkey; a Seasoned Citizen Looks Back

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday that warms my oldest and fondest memories of home, family and food.  I have a lot to remember:  I'm a senior citizen.  I was a college sophomore when JFK was assassinated fifty years ago.  I saw the Beatles, Janis Joplin and the Jefferson Airplane perform live (to clarify, not together).  The Beatles in '64 and '65, and Janis Joplin in 1966, with Big Brother and the Holding Company.  I saw Jefferson Airplane the same night that I saw Janis.

My first recollection of a presidential election is when Eisenhower was running for president.  I was a cub scout, and we were given silvery (plastic) medals to "get out the vote, 1952."  I decided I liked Ike, was a Republican in a Democrat household, and never looked back.  I was shocked to learn my father was a Democrat, and he was equally shocked to learn I was a Republican.

I supported Nixon against JFK in the election of 1960, but later became smitten with JFK, as he was a strong anti-communist, as was I, and for a while, I fancied myself a liberal Democrat.  However, I never voted that way, as I was too young to vote.  My first presidential vote was for George Wallace in the 1968 election, as I believed he would have the gonads to win the war in Viet Nam.  I regretted my vote on election night, when Nixon was neck and neck with Hubert Humphrey, but finally pulled ahead to win by a slim margin.  I thought Humphrey would be another liberal disaster.

Yes, through the decades, I always loved Thanksgiving:  turkey and dressing; no school; getting into mischief with my cousins; football on television; and naps.  If only all my departed relatives could be resurrected to join me once more around the table:  grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts, and even a cousin or two, all of whom are now in the next world.

A Gray, Overcast, Cold Monday

It's cold and overcast here in Hollister on this November Monday.  I did no serious work today, just messed around with Photoshop some more.  I now know how Kimberlin Unmasked makes those great comics and I am all set to make some myself.  But, I can't think of anything funny.  Well, all the Democrats making excuses for the Obamacare disaster might prove grist for the mill, but they are more pathetic than humorous.

April Creeps In On Little Cat Feet (Sorry, Carl Sandburg)

April 1st.  No April Fools shenanigans here, however.  Not in the mood.

I don't have much to say today, just wanted to post something following Larry Auster's passing, as a way of moving on.

A couple of white/gray pigeons are perched on my fence billing and cooing like lovebirds.  After our last harvest of persimmons in November, my wife trimmed the branches on our tree.  Today the formerly bare tree is filled with green buds.  Life returns with spring.

I want to get a birdhouse for my backyard and maybe a bird feeder too.  But where will I hang them?  On my persimmon tree?  No, don't want them birdies pecking holes in my persimmons.  On my lemon tree?  That doesn't seem right somehow.  I may need to get a birdhouse on a pole and plant that in my garden.

The next two weeks will be brutal as I finish out the tax season.  Looking forward to some time off, practicing my bass, maybe visiting Bro in Nevada.

Right now, though, I have hot tea to drink, a cigar to smoke and then I will read the second volume of my four volume set of Calvin and Hobbes, given to me for Christmas by my youngest son.  After that, I'll jump into bed and watch the latest recorded episode of "The Walking Dead."

Considering the exciting life I lead, it's amazing that I haven't died of a heart attack yet.