Thoughts from the Mountain Top

The internet can be a brutal place.  More and more I see it as a reflection of what's wrong with our society as a whole, as many people feel like posting on the internet gives them a license to exhibit behavior they wouldn't exhibit in person.  A lack of compassion is pretty high up there on the list of behaviors that is at an epidemic both in our society and on the internet. Many years ago, when I still lived in New York, I was in a Yahoo Group for a fan of a particular actor on a soap.  That was the real beginning of social media, between Yahoo Groups and groups on AOL.  This actor was having a meet & greet at a mall in Pennsylvania and a good number of the people in the group made plans to see him.  For most of us, we would meet each other for the first time.  About a week or so before the appearance, one of the women in the group posted that her husband had been in a bad car accident and was in a coma, asking for our thoughts and prayers.  A ...

I've said for some time that empathy is sorely lacking in this country (and the world at large).  People no longer try to look at things from anyone else's perspective and tend to denigrate anyone who doesn't respond to a situation the same way they do. I just spent 9 nights crossing the North Atlantic on the inaugural voyage of the Norwegian Encore.  For the most part, it was a great trip.  There was a major bump at the end of it for a lot of people, though. Several days before we were due to arrive in New York City, rumors began floating that we would have to disembark the ship Sunday night, despite all of the cruise information before this stating that disembarkation was Monday morning.  Many people in the Facebook group for the cruise had contacted Norwegian Cruise Line prior to the sailing asking if we would be allowed off the ship into NYC on Sunday night with no clear answer.  Some were told yes, some were told no.  At no time was having to go throug...

The debate about Joe Biden and his showing affection to other people by touching them, hugging them, and kissing them in a non-sexual way has brought out a great deal of debate.  In this day and age after all of the revelations about inappropriate behavior by many men in power, there is some push back now and I agree. For years now women have been saying they want men who are more affectionate and show that affection.  My parents grew up in a time where men did not show affection to their children. Some might have in private, but in general it was frowned upon for men to hold and comfort their children in public.  Too much emphasis was placed on pleasing the head of the family, and that usually meant not burdening him with any emotional needs from the children.  That fell to the mother, as did nearly everything that happened beyond the front door. Since the 1970's, a lot has changed.  I pick that date because that's the frame of reference I have.  That ...

Other than the fact that he nearly beat Ted Cruz in Texas and a lot of people I know and respect really like him, I didn't know what to expect. How will his Texas politics play on a national stage? He was 20 minutes late, which didn't impress me. The meet-n-greet was held at Tuckerman's Brewery and people were buying beer and food. I dragged Danny with me since this will be his first primary and Presidential election and want him to meet the candidates and really listen to them, not just the sound-bites we are fed. I fed him a soft pretzel to keep him happy. I hadn't been to the brewery before. It has a good-sized space and they were packed in. He drew a much larger crowd than I was expecting for 3PM on a weekday. The brewery is a short walk from the middle school, and high school kids who don't drive could catch a bus after school to the middle school and walk here. There were a lot of young people here. Beto started off introducing himself by talking...

I've been tossing this around in my head for quite some time.  Yes, I'm pretty liberal.  Yes, I believe in gun control.  I believe we should treat guns the same way we treat motor vehicles.  To own a gun, you should have to go through a safety course and pass a test to get a license to own and then every gun should be registered.   I also thing certain weapons and modifications should be illegal.   With the millions of guns already out there, this would not have an immediate impact, but perhaps 20-30 years down the road, things would be better.   Where I have a conflict is the background check.  To me, it's obvious we don't want people who have been convicted of a violent felony to own a gun legally.  Think of it as allowing a repeated drunk driver to have access to a motor vehicle.  There are certain times, once you've proven you cannot handle the responsibility that comes along with right of owning and operating a mot...

I grew up in a house where we commonly discussed politics at the kitchen table over dinner.  I can't say that my parents were die-hard Democrats.  The first election I remember was when I was 10 and in the 5th grade.  We followed the election at the time and I was enamored of Jimmy Carter.  I think he appealed to me in a Fred Rogers sort of way.  The next election, I can remember a discussion one night when my father announced he was voting for Reagan.  Both my mother and I were aghast.  I don't think we ever let him live it down.  He had his reasons, which at the time had largely to do with Iran.  My father did become a huge fan of Carter's after he left office and I do think he regretted that vote even without our continual harping on it. From a young age, I had empathy for those on the bottom.  I was always looking for those less fortunate and those who had been left behind, for whatever reason.  At the same time, I looked hard...