All Hallows

Honoring the dead

Pray their souls will find their way

On All Hallows’ Day

The Woods

If you go first 

And I’m left alone

I’ll find a small house

Far out of town 

Deep in the woods

The quiet woods 

Where I’ll live with a dog

A big, happy dog

And we’ll go for walks 

Long adventurous hikes 

I’ll toss a ball

And he’ll bring it back

Toss and fetch

Will be our friendly game

Before he runs off

On his own for a while 

Dreaming of pheasants 

And rabbits to chase

While I stay back

On the meandering path 

Feeling the breeze

That slips through the trees 

As I dream of you 

Only of you

Of holding you 

Here in my arms

One more time

Copyright © 2020 Daniel R. South 

All Rights Reserved

What Else Can Go Wrong?

Twenty twenty

A challenging year

A deadly pandemic

Disruption and fear

A contentious election

Voter suppression

Powerful interests

Bent on repression 

A totalitarian president

A Machiavellian senate

Courts packed with ideologues 

Unrepentant 

Protests in the streets

Hungry for justice 

Videos of brutality 

That haunts and disgusts us

White supremacists

And far-right factions 

With powerful weapons 

Emboldened for action 

Fires in the West 

Storms in the South 

This whole year has been 

A punch in mouth 

Standing hours in line 

To cast a vote 

While legal wrangling 

Might cast them all out 

What else can go wrong 

As we make things right 

What else can go wrong 

As we struggle for the life 

Of Democracy?

Copyright © 2020 Daniel R. South 

All Rights Reserved

Propaganda

The first objective of a totalitarian is to cast doubt on information.

“Don’t believe the journalists! They are biased and dishonest.”

“Don’t believe the experts! They are all corrupt. They spread misinformation in order to sell books.”

“Don’t believe people that society once respected. They are now enemies of the state, secretly scheming secretly to overthrow us as soon as they get the chance.”

“Never trust outsiders! They have come here to take what is rightfully yours. They are the most villainous enemies of all.”

“Believe only in the leader, the party, their official spokesmen and their most steadfast supporters. Even if what they say sounds outrageous, believe it! It’s true! It’s the real truth, the good news, the alternate facts. Everything else is a lie. Everyone else is trying to trick you.”

This is how the insidious influence propaganda sweeps through a nation and reduces the population to obedient drones, well-meaning, functioning people who have lost the ability to think critically and who will believe any lie that the cult leader claims to be true.

Random Thoughts - 20201030

Random Thoughts - 20201030

There is power and elegance in simplicity.

Dream of the impossible and work toward something wonderful.

“Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear.” - The Aspiring Invisible Man

Every result is a success if it informs and encourages your next attempt.

If you wait for an invitation, you’ll miss the best parties.

Swim fast or be shark food.

Random Thoughts - 20201029

Random Thoughts - 20201029

If a task is tedious, there’s a better way to do it.

If that ship has sailed, at least you won’t get seasick.

I’ll take the over-under, unless you’re the undertaker.

A stitch in time comes in handy after a ripping tear.

A story that’s partially true could also be completely false.

A selfish act might be your best option, or it might just be selfish. You’ll have to figure that out for yourself.

Skills That Can’t Be Taught

Instagram features a wide spectrum of talent. There are people who take amazing photos with their phones. There are people who carry expensive gear to the most beautiful places on earth and come home with awkwardly composed images.

There are skills that can't be taught, but I believe that any skill can be learned. Someone taught Stephen King about nouns and verbs, but he taught himself to tell amazing stories.

Anyone who has a story to tell can learn to express it, but learning how requires persistence, courage, humility, and an honest assessment of strengths and weaknesses. It takes nerve to expose one's vision to the world and guts to admit when something that we worked on really hard could have been better. The people who make that bold self-assessment are the ones who can capture breathtaking images on a mobile phone, while someone less in tune with their limitations fills up hard drives with megapixels of mush.

Be kind to yourself, but be candid as well. Realize when you could be doing something better. You don't have to admit that to anyone else; this is only for you and only so you can push yourself to reach your full potential.

That Empowering Feeling

I love the feeling when things don't go right, when I'm trying to do something, but it doesn't work out they way that I want it to. I keep working on it, keep trying things and banging away while frequently cursing with frustration.

It's maddening. I take a break and come up with some new ideas, but nothing works. I shelve it until the next day, get some rest, and attack it with a new perspective. I try again and again and again, until finally...

...something works! A breakthrough! And the results are spectacular, better than I could have hoped. I **LOVE** that feeling! The frustration was worth it, the time well spent, because now, I have a new understanding, a new technique, a new strategy that I can apply whenever I need to get a similar results. I am a stronger person for having gone through the struggle, and I will never take what I have learned for granted.

The Corruptible ACB

Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett might overturn Roe v. Wade. If that happens, it will be a seismic shift in American culture. But until that happens, speculation on the fate of Roe v. Wade is a distraction, a shiny object to keep your attention focused away from the day in, day out business of the US Supreme Court.

Before ACB weighs in on a major challenge to women’s rights, she will vote on hundreds of other decisions, decisions to benefit corporations, to protect polluters, to limit voting rights.

The conservative justices on the court were selected by and sponsored by deep pocketed donors, donors who want their taxes to be low, their businesses to be unregulated, and who want to maintain their ability to bend government policy to their will. And those justices have proven to be extremely loyal, ruling in the interest of their wealthy benefactors at nearly every opportunity.

So, whether Roe v. Wade stands or falls, be assured that justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett will be working overtime, grant their corporate benefactors every benefit and fulfilling their every desire, regardless of the damage these corrupt, partisan decisions do to the law, the Constitution, to Planet Earth, and to the taxpaying citizens of the United States Of America.

Typical Political Conversation

Typical of political conversations over the past four years:

- Donald Trump is the Best Bowler Ever!

- Well, not really. Here’s a copy of the scorecard.

- That scorecard is a LIBERAL RAG!

- Okay. I was just pointing out the facts.

- You Libs can’t get over the fact that he beat Hillary!

- We weren’t talking about Hillary. We were talking about bowling. 45 just bowled a 47.

- WHY ARE YOU SO FILLED WITH HATE?