Right Wing Unhinged Part One: Loving Putin

If you want to see a group of U.S. citizens willing to sacrifice every shred of human decency to see their candidate get elected, look no further than the right wing of the Republican party. There is no depth to which they will not stoop, no moral value they will not cast aside to win back what they often racistly call "The Brown House."  Case in point -- a Facebook post from someone on my "Friends" list that I'm about to take the unprecedented step of "unfriending" for political reasons.

In case those comments are hard to read, I've enlarged the pertinent show of support

Hmmm... where have I seen a group of mindless lemmings cheering and saluting a strong-armed leader who vowed to annihilate an entire religion/race of human beings?

Of course, loving Vladimir Putin is not a new concept for right-wingers. Many were initially suspicious of Putin's merits as a leader and a human being, what with him being a "Rooskie" and all, until their own sainted and Supreme Court-anointed leader George W. Bush assured them that Putin was a "godly" man in the Republican sense:

Right-wingers in the U.S. love and trust leaders who lie and lead their nation into murderous wars, so long as that leader has an (R) beside his or her name. This is Donald Trump's Amerikkka. Enter at your own risk, while you can, if you dare, because this is the future that Right Wing Republicans envision:

Pie Chart for Abusers

Pie charts are easy to understand. Even a small child can conceptualize the data presented in this infographic:

Here is another of the world's most accurate pie charts. Wrap your mind around these figures:

Yes, that's right. One hundred percent of the time, violence in the home is caused by abusers and nothing else. Some people may have trouble understanding that, and if you are one of those people I feel very sorry for you and your family. Some people have no idea that there are whole households and quite possibly whole neighborhoods where the years go by and not a single person ever raises a hand against a family member in anger. It's true! There are many homes in which people rarely, if ever, even shout at their loved ones in anger. Ideally, that would be the norm.

Some people actually use their religion to justify committing acts of violence against their family members and others who trust them, but if one is a Christian then Jesus Christ Himself sets a pretty high standard when it comes to temper tantrums and abusive behavior in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 5:

21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment..."

If you are being abused, I hope there is help for you. Here are some Google searches that might lead you to help in the area where you live:

Help for Battered Women
Help for Abused Children
Help for Battered Men - This is more common than many people realize. I know of a well-educated businessman who used to have to cover up and explain away bruises and other marks left as a result of his ex-wife hitting him with shoes and brushes and any object that could be thrown during her frequent temper fits.

If you are an abuser, please pardon the expression but, "Knock it off!" Quit hurting people! You have absolutely no one in the world to blame for your behavior other than yourself and possibly the person or people who taught you how to act that way. So stop the cycle of violence starting today. There may be help even for you

Help for Batterers

If any of this information applies to you, please find help. And if none of this applies to you, be very happy and please consider using your time and resources to help others who are trapped in these situations:

Help Victims of Domestic Violence

More to the Story

As is so often the case, there is more to the story than we were led to believe.

 

 

 

(Get well soon, my dear friend;  there are so many stories still to be told.)

Religious Blackmail

It's against my religion and against any Abrahamic religion (Jewish, Christian, Muslim) to claim that God said something if He didn't actually say it, yet every single day well-meaning and kind-hearted Facebook friends challenge me to "prove my faith" by circulating ridiculous religious memes that do just that. In my religion, making up stories about Jesus isn't kosher either (ala "Footprints in the Sand"), but every day I am given the choice to either share something that will supposedly prove my love of the Lord or keep scrolling and "deny my Savior".

This is what I woke up to today, a picture that had been shared almost 375,000 times:

Yesterday, one of the first things I saw was an alleged wager between the Creator and his nemesis about whether or not I would share the picture:

They like to remind you that God's ability to monitor your Internet activity puts the NSA spying program to shame

and every day Jesus Daily gives you a chance find out who amongst your Facebook friends REALLY loves the Lord (and thinks he's a white guy)

Thankfully, there is an occasional push-back

If you didn't know already, I DO believe in God and I love Jesus with all my heart.  Beyond that I will not push my religious doctrines on you, and you wouldn't want me to.  I don't want to tempt you to judge me. Use your own due diligence and figure out what you believe, but if you share images such as these please stop guilt-tripping people into proclaiming their belief on Facebook via silly memes.  You'll only get your feelings hurt and question the salvation of your nearest and dearest, while making them feel guilty when they scroll instead of sharing because, as you learned above, 97% of Facebook users won't.

This Summer's a Bummer

Over the course of two weeks, my husband lost his best friend, my recently widowed "uncle" lost his brother-in-law (roommate) and his own brother (two days apart), and my first friend in life lost his wife (having just lost his mother this past April).
All but one of these deaths were completely unexpected.

The first part of the summer was kind of fun.  Since late February I'd devoted myself to cheering my Uncle Al up, and we spent a lot of time going places he liked to go and doing things he liked to do but hadn't been able to during his wife's prolonged illness.  We were making a lot of progress, too.  Lots of laughs, and I'd pat myself on the back for my ability to bring hope and happiness to the bereaved...

But then came the onslaught... and whatever trick I had up my sleeve to cheer people up and make their lives happier became just that, an illusion with no basis in reality when confronted with heartbroken people whose only hope is that they themselves have enough time left for time to heal.  It turns out I am impotent in the face of bereavement... all of the strawberry shortcake and chocolate in the world can't bring even momentary peace of mind to somebody who's drowning in sorrow. In fact it can have the opposite effect... the "Morel Effect," I call it, in honor of a springtime four years ago when well-meaning people showered me with my beloved morel mushrooms in hopes of providing a momentary escape from my own sorrow.  I don't even like seeing pictures of morel mushrooms now.

Tomorrow I'll go to the cemetery like I do every July 23, and "celebrate" the birthday of a kid I loved dearly, who would be 27 that day except that he died when he was 22.  Strangely, this annual family gathering will probably be a rather happy event... we always have a lot of laughs and catch up on each others' lives and gossip about the people who don't show up... Maybe I'll be able to take something away from celebrating my nephew's birthday, and especially his life, that will help me somehow to help some of these other people... my nearest and dearest who, in the middle of summer, can barely see the light of day.