Who The Heck Is Jub Jub McFadden?

Jub Jub McFadden.  The name kind of rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?  No?  Well, I guess it's in the mind of the beholder.  You see, he's the new man in my life.  Relatively new anyway. Actually there are two of them, the other being his Dad.

I've written before about how sometimes something special comes along through blogging and all that has accompanied it like You Tube.  Remember back when Bacchus was sick and I posted videos about his well being - or lack thereof?  I had just gotten my Flip video camera the Christmas before we knew he was so sick.  I never got to do all I had planned.  Videos of fun with my dog.

Fast forward maybe a year after he had left us.  I got an invitation to subscribe to the videos of one Beefstew.  Speaking of curious names!  Curiosity won and there I met Jub Jub.  A Saint Bernard puppy and his dad.  It was love at first sight.

I've a couple of other friends on Facebook with Saints though with one being Greek and the other Italian I miss out on the dialog. And of course there was Oly, the Saint belonging to our vet tech.  So it isn't as though I've been deprived of my Saint fix.

What I found, however, is this tremedous bond between a young man and his dog. I know most people love their dogs as much as I loved mine.  Most, however, don't show the relationship develop as has Stew with Jub Jub.  Every dog in the world should have a person like Stew.

It also drove home that raising a Saint Bernard is a joy  meant for people much younger than me!  The energy!  The adventures.  The laughter with dogs and cats and friends - and chipmunks!  It's hilarious, poignant and exhilerating.  The first thing I do when I open my e-mail is to look for a new You Tube announcement.

Now my vicarious world is complete.  Jub Jub has his own Facebook page! Both Jub Jub and his Dad have friended me. I'm thrilled.  I really am.  It makes me feel more a part of them.  It isn't the same as having my own living breathing furry friend, but it's as good as it gets as a substitute.  How can you not love a guy who stands with his dog, commenting on the Occupy Wall Street movement with a sign saying 'I am so angry I made a sign'.  It may not hit everyone's funny bone but it hit mine spot on!  The man is flat out my kind of people!

Without social media none of this would have happened.  It can't replace reality nor should it, but if it can fill an empty place in my heart it can't be all bad.

So to Jub Jub and Stew and everyone around you that join to warm my little corner of the world.  Thanks.  Only one thing could make it better.  That someday our paths should cross. One never knows.

The Purple Finger Of Fate

The Arab Spring is evolving into the unexpected as winter approaches. Back when the Muslim Brotherhood raised it's head in Egypt, some like Sean Hannity, worried about what would happen if they took over the countries as elections were held.  Others, far more actually, assured us they were too unorganized to be of any consequence.

Well, strange things have been happening.  The Islamists are winning.  Of course, being Islamist countries some form of Islamism is going to win.  What's happening, though, is that the secular opposition is losing.  This has the potential of being dangerous.  Especially if there is a return to strict Shariah law.  Women's rights will be decimated.  Degrees of repression and radicalism will be the order of the day.  Yet this is what the people are voting for.

Why?  It's worth thinking about because we're going to have to deal with transforming governments for some time to come.  Consider just two of the countries, Egypt and Libya.  Both secular, both considered friends of the U.S.  Yet both were ruled by the most cruel and repressive of leaders.  What has secularism done for them?  Look, too, at Iran and Syria where the monsters are still in place.

So what do you do when suddenly free to choose what type of government you want?  You go back to your roots.  Islamism.  Not thinking about how restrictive and repressive it is by nature and in the end nothing will have been gained.

I think we're about to see a classic example of unintended consequences.  The struggle for freedom and economic stability may be lost as quickly as the current despots were run from power.  It's a frightening scenario.

It will be a time when diplomacy will require untold amounts of patience and prudence.  How long will it take for the Muslim world to recognize the answers lay in a moderate middle is any ones guess.  Meanwhile, all we can do is watch and wait.  It's likely not to be to be pretty.

An Escape Into Myself

Today, Halloween, seemed an appropriate day.  Especially after what I'm watching happen to Herman Cain.  I'm not sure I have the stomach for what's coming as the campaign unfolds.

But today, for an hour or so, I was cocooned within myself in one more attempt to gain control over my back pain.  I went to a hypnotherapist.

We were in a loft area, her home office.  She sat next to me and had me relax in the biggest, most soft recliner I've ever sat in.  We talked about what ailed me and how the doctors couldn't pin point the cause.  About how I want to get off the pain medication because it's nearing the point if being ineffective.  About what sort of life I had before the pain became all encompassing and what type of life I'd like if I didn't have it.

Then she had me close my eyes, relax and so began my decension into myself. It began with attaining a peaceful vision and the feelings that went along with it.  She'd ask me to drift back to a time before the pain and what happened that might have caused it.  What was I seeing.  It didn't take me where I had expected but it clicked.  We worked through several scenarios as I slid deeper; I could feel it.  We equated the physical pain with an emotional pain then began to unravel it.

For a long time I thought it wasn't working then all of a sudden strange things began to happen.  I could feel degrees of release.  We spent some time at it. Talking.  Reacting.  By the time she brought me back up the pain hadn't disappeared, but had, indeed, receded. I felt like a rag doll.  I didn't want it to end.  I can't recall when I last felt so relaxed.

I was told to expect things to be happening in my body for the next two or three days.  I was told I would not relapse.  Positive thinking if nothing else.

I will undoubtedly go for another session after I see what the final outcome of this one is.  It has been several hours now and I'm still as mellow as I can be.  Again, I don't want it to end!

With all the ugliness in the headlines today, it was a saving grace in more ways than one.  One more step toward healing. I'm looking at the bell that sits on my desk year round.  Like the one from the Polar Express.  To hear it tinkle you have to believe.

Today I choose to believe the therapy will work.  I only wish I could believe as strongly in the decency of the press and the politicians.  Maybe one out of two is enough.  At least for today.

Ah, Herman, Don't Change

The political pundits are beginning to take their toll on you.  It makes me sad.  You've been a breath of fresh air in an otherwise same-o, same-o campaign.

Herman, understand that not all voters are as tunnel visioned on abortion as the Christian conservatives.  Your gut instinct was to give your opinion as to how you saw the issue.  For heavens sake, it was the truth!  And a whole lot of us out here agreed with you.  To change your stance to enhance yourself in their eyes diminishes you in the eyes of others.  It's not the issue to lose on.

Consider, at this point in time, Roe vs. Wade is the law of the land.  End of discussion.  We have far more pressing issues  that affect all of us that need to be addressed.

As for your comment on the border fence, it was funny.  Put an electrified wire on top, a moat with alligators on our side and a sign on theirs saying they'll  be dead.  It's what most of us are thinking when we sit around bandying about ideas on how to fix the problem!  It's a shame we don't recognize a good jab when we hear one.

That's a large part of our problem these days.  We have too many people analyzing and spinning everything said to fit their own view, be it narrow or not.  It doesn't serve us well.

Yep.  It's obvious you're not a practiced politician.  That's your appeal! You tell it as you see it.  When you start bending to the will of the bullying pundits you'll lose every time because they spin better than you do.  That's the point isn't it?  You don't spin.

Just continue being yourself.  You might be pleasantly surprised where the chips fall. The axe men might be surprised too.  Maybe not so pleasantly.

By the way, I love your 'Yellow Flowers' campaign ad! It, gasp, made me laugh!

Just Who Are The Racists?

I'm getting tired of other people telling me why I think the way I do.  Especially when it comes to Presidential candidates who interest me.  Especially if it's Democrats making assumptions about Republicans.

Okay, I'm an Independent but in order to be able to take part in the process I have to declare a party and when Independent is not a choice I choose Republican.  So to have a cable network analyst suggest it's because he's a black man who knows his place infuriates me.  That I feel like I'm not racist because I like the guy.

That they can make such statements astounds me.  It sounds like racism is surely percolating away just below the surface of those who think that.  Can they be serious?

I do like the man.  Would I vote for him?  Should he win the nomination you bet I would.  Would I vote for him in the primary?  I don't know enough about him to say 'yes' for sure.  I'm looking seriously at several.  But if I don't it will have nothing to do with race.

This is already the most silly of silly seasons I've been witness to. The President out there putting out executive orders faster than you can say Halloween. He ought to slow down or he'll have run out of material long before next November.  Then what will he do to buy votes?

The question always comes back to what's he been waiting for?  I won't even start on Congress.

Let's go back to our President.  You know what?  I voted for him and he is anything but a black man who knows his place.  A lot of other Republicans and Independents also voted for him or he wouldn't have won.

Perhaps it's because he was barely in office before I began my criticisms.  I'm sure it's assumed it's because I closeted my racism during his phenomenal run for the Presidency then could no longer contain it.

It couldn't possibly be because I disagree with almost everything he has, or mostly has not, done since taking office.  Now that we have one of our own my conscience is being eased.

Yep.  I like Herman Cain.  He makes me laugh.  I listen to what he has to say, agree with him on some issues and disagree on others.  Plus there's always the question of how he'll get things done if he has a hostile Congress.  That, of course, applies to all the candidates no matter their race.

Do I think Obama was ineffective when he had both houses because he was black? Or now that he has only the Senate? Not at all.  I think it's because he's in over his head and doesn't know how to lead nor govern.  He'd had no experience what-so-ever prior to being elected.

So don't try to accuse the Republican party as a whole of being patronizing in order to soothe our inner racism.  In fact I think the party couldn't be happier than to have a man of Mr. Cain's accomplishments and experience suggesting the Democratic party isn't necessarily the best one for any ethnic group.

I guess 'one nation, (with or without under God) indivisible, with liberty and justice for all' doesn't resonate any more.  Neither should the assumptions of closed minded 'analysts'.