A Rest Stop on the Journey

Peace. Spiritually, I’m at peace.

Not much has changed for me concerning my post-sabbatical journey. I no longer attend the church I had been a member of for more years than I can count off the top of my head. That’s not new. I read the bible a lot less than I did, mainly due to its standing in my life. That’s not new either. And I try to take religion a whole lot less seriously than I did before. And that’s not new either.

I guess what has changed is that I’ve grown comfortable. I don’t feel that my “radical” beliefs are all that radical anymore, and that I can and do “fellowship” with other Christians in a straightforward, honest, and still loving manner. I don’t have the nagging feeling that the other shoe is going to drop and I’m going to find myself in a spiritual tailspin (I know I’m mixing metaphors, but bear with me.)

Part of that is most likely due to the generous acceptance of some friends who have welcomed me into their group (worship team). You see, the one thing I never lost before, during, and after my sabbatical is my desire to worship God. Even though I don’t believe the bible to be a co-equal member of the Godhead anymore, I still desire to give honor and praise unto the One who holds all of existence in His hands. For many years I’ve played harmonica, percussion, and provided bass harmonies in a worship environment. Leaving that former church left me without the avenue to express my love for God with those “gifts”. And again, thanks to the generous acceptance of some friends, I have again the ability to do just that.

Does that mean I am once again in full attendance at a church? No. These friends have accepted me where I am and allow me to join them whenever I can. At the moment that is about once a month. Sometimes more, but pretty much just that. I don’t think it will ever become a weekly thing again. And to be honest, I really don’t think I could go back to a weekly thing anymore.

And that’s okay.

Did I mention I was at peace?

© Emittravel 2019

Maybe the Game Isn’t Broken After All

For us fans of baseball, Spring Training marks the beginning of one of the most exciting seasons of the year (“officially”, Spring doesn’t arrive here in Cleveland until after the first Indians home game . . . ) As far as Major League Baseball (MLB) is concerned, the game is losing its excitement with the public and all kinds of changes are in the works to bring that excitement back.

A 20-second pitch clock has been in the works, along with a three batter per pitcher change. Those, amongst other rumors, are ideas that are supposed to make the game more thrilling. Of course, if you measure baseball against the last Super Bowl, a rain delay is more thrilling. Another item of interest is the destiny of several players stuck in free agency limbo. A favorite of mine, Bryce Harper, formerly of the Washington Nationals, is still waiting for a contract with a new team. The Philadelphia Phillies are currently the front runner in the pursuit of adding a locker with Harper’s name on it. Lest you think I’m just rambling here, there is a connection. According to an article by Todd Zolecki (Phils being deliberate in pursuit of Harper - February 23, 2019), Scott Boras, Harper’s manager, is looking to “obliterate Manny Machado’s 10-year, $300 million contract … and Giancarlo Stanton’s 13-year, $325 million contract”. Look at those numbers for a second. Okay, now take another look at those numbers. Starting to feel a bit uneasy? Maybe the MLB is wrong. Baseball is not losing its thrill. Maybe baseball is pricing itself out of business. My wife and I recently finished watching the Ken Burns’ “Baseball” documentary. (Warning: it is awesome, but will make you very angry at times.) One of the big issues in baseball’s history was the fact that the owners made all the money, and the players got bupkis. It was one of the factors that resulted in the 1919 World Series scandal where a number of players from the Chicago White Sox threw games to make extra money from gamblers. Times have changed. Players are no longer, for the most part, struggling financially. But as it is with many things, the pendulum has swung the other way. Oh, the owners aren’t struggling now, but the money many players make make most CEOs jealous. (Funny, people complain when a CEO makes a lot of money providing jobs and helping the company be successful, but don’t seem to mind when millions are dumped upon those who entertain us.) For us regular folk, earning that many dollars in our lifetimes makes no cents. If we took every dollar earned (talking gross, not even net) and did not spend a single dime of it (including food, shelter, clothing - you know, basics), we would still not see those kinds of numbers by 65 years old. I understand that a ballplayer’s career is limited, so earning as much as possible during those years is only wise. But the end of a baseball career does not mean the end of earned income during their remaining years. Maybe the reason people aren’t filling the stadium seats has nothing to do with the game on the field, but the cost to go there and enjoy the game. Unless you want a nosebleed seat, you may find yourself paying out the nose. Add to that parking, feeding your family, and a souvenir or two, and a day at the park can be a once in summer event. Instead of changing the game itself, maybe it’s time to seriously look at the salaries. Maybe it’s time that a little fat be trimmed. And, in case you think that cutting salaries would mean the end of the game, you need to spend time at some farm team games. Those guys understand making bupkis and STILL play the game. Let’s make “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” more of a financial possibility, and the excitement of the game will take care of itself. © Emittravel 2019

C'Mon, It's Only (Our) Money!

As I write this, the U.S. Government is currently in the longest shutdown in history. “Since 1976 . . . the United States Federal Government has had funding gaps on 20 occasions.”

If you have been keeping score, 20 times (I counted 22 times - where a deadline for funding was missed and a “new” shutdown started) since 1976, the folks we keep sending to Washington outspend their agreed upon budgets. Before 1976, the last time the government shut down over funding was in 1933, and before that 1790. So, before Jimmy Carter, the Federal Government shut down twice. SINCE Jimmy Carter, the Federal Government shut down 22 times. You can whine all you want about President Trump and his wall, but the problem you SHOULD be complaining about is that the Federal Government, regardless of the party holding the reins, has driven this wagon right over the financial cliff multiple times. And it seems like their aim for that cliff just keeps on improving. The Federal Government has never met a dollar they didn’t like . . . TO SPEND!! Will somebody please explain to me how “Democratic Socialists” like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders can hoodwink a large number of American citizens to think their “Dire Straits” programs (“Money for nuthin’ and your chicks for free”) can ever work?!? With both the Democrats and Republicans bankrupting the country trying to provide “a car in every pot and two chickens in every garage” (or something like that), how are we supposed to “Make America Great Again”?!? Maybe we should force these bozos to do what the rest of us have to do: live within our means. Because sooner or later, the piper needs to be paid. © Emittravel 2019

Whatever Happened to Aleppo?

“Follow the money.”

It’s a short phrase with a lot of impact. If you keep it in the back of your mind, it will help answer a lot of questions.

Why does healthcare cost so much? Follow the money.

Who benefits from this particular legislation? Follow the money.

Why all the vitriol over this person or issue? Follow the money.

I’m hearing a lot of conversation over free speech, hate speech, social media, fake news, and election impact. How many times is Mark Zuckerberg going to stand before a government to explain what he is doing in these areas? And, to be honest, why should he?

Follow the money.

This goes back many, many years, but for the sake of this post, let’s keep it to the more recent past.

In 2016, Donald Trump beat the “favorite”, Hillary Clinton, in the race for President. According to the talking heads of the “major” media outlets, this should NOT have happened. And since it did, there MUST have been some kind of interference in the election process. We’ve blamed the Russians for meddling. We’ve blamed “fake news” for meddling. And we’ve blamed social media for allowing all of this meddling to take place.

And it’s bullsh*t. Follow the money.

The Clinton campaign spent about $72 million on television ads and about $16 million on digital ads. The Trump campaign spent about $39 million on television ads and about $29 million on digital ads. Oh, and according to talking heads, the Russians spent about $100,000 (that’s thousand - not million) on Facebook ads.

Now, let’s look at the impact. Apparently, $100,000 of Russian ads had MORE impact on the election than the Clinton $16 million and the Trump $29 million. Does that make sense to you? And since Facebook “allowed” those ads, it must be Zuckerberg’s fault. Thus his CSPAN performances.

So, if the impact of Russia was, in reality, NOT the impact the Democrats (and some Republicans) are saying, what’s all the crying about?

Follow the money.

Who traditionally benefits the most from political advertising dollars? The “mainstream” media: newspapers, television, and direct mail. Who has the potential to LOSE the most IF social media proves to have the most impact over elections? The same “mainstream” media. So, who do you think are holding the Democrat and Republican parties feet to the flames? You guessed it: the “mainstream” media.

There is a reciprocal relationship here. The Democrats and Republicans spend MILLIONS on advertising and the same outlets provide untold HOURS of FREE advertising by talking incessantly about them on their "news" shows. (Which is another reason third-party candidates are shut out. More on that later.)

Here’s a question: Why the concern over “fake news” being spread on social media, when traditional campaign advertising is FULL of lies, slander, and false statements (which, conveniently, is considered “protected speech” for politicians)?

The answer is simple. If more impact can be had via social media without the spend (only $45 million for digital vs. $111 million for televised), why would anybody spend so much over the “mainstream” media outlets? Thus the “war” on free speech, and the rise of what is considered “hate speech”.

The Bird loves political ads as much as we do!

There will come a time when the traditional media outlets will find themselves with a voice and no ears listening to it. It’s already happening. Back during the campaign, there was a third-party candidate that was taking a major chunk of the voting block by the ear. That was Libertarian Party member Gary Johnson. Now, as we know, there can only be two parties that you can vote between: Democrat and Republican. They not only get your tax dollars to run their campaigns, but they also control who can be in the televised debates, who shows up in polls (and what is reported by the “mainstream” media about those poll results), and who ultimately can show up on the ballot.

During a “mainstream” media interview, Gary Johnson was asked about what he thought about Aleppo. He famously responded, “What’s Aleppo?”

He quickly became a laughing stock - with that response being played over and over and over again. Now, when the interviewer clarified that it was a city in Syria, Johnson replied with a well-thought out and intelligent response. Didn’t matter. They got him.

What that little slice of baloney showed was Johnson had a good grasp on the goings on in the Middle East, but did NOT look to the “mainstream” media for his briefings. Shame on him! You know what? Until that interview, I had never heard of Aleppo either. Thus the reason the game is called “TriviaL Pursuit”.

Whatever happened to Aleppo? I don’t remember really hearing much about it after that. Syria, yes. The Middle East, yes. But Aleppo? Nada.

You have to understand, the Democrats, Republicans, and the “Fourth Estate” believe that YOU, the general populous, are nothing more than slow-minded children that need to be told what to think, how to think, and what is important. You need to be protected from yourself. You can’t make decisions on your own. The great trio will guide you to Nirvana (the transcendent state, not the rock band). They can’t have you making decisions, or worse yet, having intelligent conversations, over the major issues (in other words, “candidates”) on your own.

So, follow the money. As Tony Montana said, “In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.” (“Scarface”)

Or the votes.

© Emittravel 2018

And the Bottom of the Ninth to You!

Today (20181008) the 2018 baseball season has come to a close for the Cleveland Indians. They lost the five-game series in the first three games against the Houston Astros. Not a particularly great way to end the year. And I’ll admit, I’m not disappointed. I’m bummed, but not disappointed.

It wasn’t much past the All Star Game that when asked how I thought the Indians would do this year I would respond with, “They will clinch the Central Division, but that’s about it. It would be awesome if they would win the American League Division series, and incredible if they could win the pennant, but I doubt they would win the World Series this year.” My reasoning was that they were playing at the top of the division - but the division sucked! Most of the other teams were in rebuilding years, and the Indians had a pretty solid line up. But compared to the rest of the American League, we weren’t much to write home about.

So, I was bummed that the season ended so quickly, but not disappointed. However, one thing I had, in spite of the above paragraph, was hope. You see, as I’ve said repeatedly, baseball is the only sport where you can’t run out the clock or take a knee. You have to play until the final out. And because of that, I always have hope that things could change before that final out.

I wish I could say the same thing for the rest of the Cleveland Indians “fans”.

My wife and I are fair-weather fans. We try to get to at least one or two football games at the high school where she teaches. However, we only go if the weather is decent. You know, “fair”. The Cleveland Indians fans, on the other hand, are fair-weather fans of the other sort. You know what I mean.

When the Indians are winning, people are wearing their gear, screaming in the stands, and letting the world know that Cleveland is a true sports town. But when they aren’t doing so good? They are leaving the stands before the game is even over. And like I said above, it’s never over until the final out.

Are you from Cleveland? Do you call this place CleveLAND? Are you one of those who say it is “us against the world”? I wish it were so.

At around the 7th inning, the wheels came off. I won’t go into the stats - you can look those up yourself - but in the 7th Houston scored three runs to put them in the lead for the first time. Then, during the 8th, they scored an additional SIX runs, bringing the score to 10-2. I had the game on my tablet (my wife and I are “Slingers”) up until 17:00, when it was time to head for home. I then had the local radio station (WMMS 100.7 FM) giving me the audio play-by-plays for the rest. I wish I hadn’t.

As I listened to the “voice of the Cleveland Indians”, Tom “Hammy” Hamilton, I got angry. At one point Hamilton informed us that after the top of the 8th fans were leaving the stadium in droves. It was a mass exodus. And that’s not what really blew my stack. It was when Hamilton said the season was over for the Indians. He thanked the production staff for such a great job over the season (and yes, they have), since it was over. When the Astros’ 9th inning pitcher came out, he said that after he was done pitching he would be going to the visitor's clubhouse to celebrate.

THE GAME WASN’T OVER!!!

I don’t give a rat’s ass what the score is. You don’t call the game over before it’s over!!

So, in closing, I want to leave you with a few suggestions for next year:

It’s time for Tom Hamilton to retire. He’s had a great run, but I prefer my sports announcers to be informative, a bit entertaining, and maybe a LITTLE biased towards the home team. I don’t think he is able to do that anymore.

Cleveland fans need to put up or shut up. You sit in your seats until the very end of a Marvel movie to see the end credit “shawarma” stinger, but leave when your team is down? What impact do you think that has for the players when they see the seats empty?

Cleveland fans need to stop bad-mouthing the Indians. Remember the “wait until next year” unofficial slogan the Indians rallied for years? In 2016, when the Indians looked for a World Series win they haven't seen since 1948, what did the fans do? They gave the Chicago Cubs home field advantage here in Cleveland by selling their tickets to Chicago fans and providing the Indians a sea of Cubs blue to rally them. Maybe you aren’t ready for “next year”.

And finally, you should read a book about baseball. Not a book of stats. Stories. Read books like “Indians Memories” by Tim Long and Don Fox, or “The Curse of Rocky Colavito” by Terry Pluto, or “Shoeless Joe” (the story that inspired the movie “A Field of Dreams”) by W.P. Kinsella, or “For the Love of Baseball” by a bunch of different writers taking you on an emotional roller coaster.

This off season, fall in love with the game of baseball again. So next year, you will root, root, root for your home team; and if you don’t, well, it’s a shame.

© Emittravel 2018

Knowing Another

Knowing Another

May I be graced by God to know the love of one,
To opportune the chance to love;
Experience the joy
and intense sorrow
That comes from a lifetime,
though cut far too short;
A "soul-mate" to share life's burdens
(to fortune to carry that of the other).
To sing
  cry
shout
whisper
weep
scream
pass on to another,
The meaning of life that God may bestow,
by knowing another in such a manner as this.

J.P. Wiegand

©Emittravel 2004

Back in 2004, a lady I worked with showed me part of a poem that described the love she had for her late husband. This wonderful lady, aged in body only, shared with me a part of her heart; a love that transcends "till death do us part". It was from this inspiration that the above came to be. Now, you have a part of my heart. -j.p.

©Emittravel 2018

Pundit-cation Without Representation

I listen to quite a few podcasts. 131 shows to be exact. That’s a lot of podcasts. Some are more active than others. About 26 of them are music. The rest are made up of current events, stories (i.e. “The Moth”), and lots and lots of geek. There are about seven that focus primarily on technology and its impact.

I’m sure most of you have heard of “Silicon Valley”. It’s not a real place, as far as the postal service is concerned. It is, however a real place for the rest of us. It is located in the southern San Francisco Bay area of California and is where many technology companies hang their hats.

Most of the technology-related podcasts I listen to are based in the southern California area. That’s not surprising, since San Francisco is the hub of technology. The unfortunate side-effect to this is that the folks who do the podcasts report the impact of technology based on what is seen in California.

California, if you haven’t noticed, is NOT the entirety of the world - or just the United States for that matter.

Much of what I hear has little-to-no impact by the time it reaches my part of the country (Ohio). You think I’m kidding? I’ve yet to see anyone riding a Segway down the streets of Seven Hills…

This localized focus is not limited to just technology. If you ever watch cable news, or read “major” publications, you’d think that the entire country resides in either California or New York. The rest of the country, and the opinions expressed, are basically ignored - or worse, taken as the ramblings of the “uninformed masses”.

If you look up a map of election results from the 2016 Presidential election based on votes, you’ll see that the far ends of the country are blue (Democrat) and the middle is red (Republican). The majority of states are red - again, in the middle of the country - you know, NOT California or New York.

The majority of cable news networks and “major” publications are based in California and New York. This is why you hear so much vitriol over the current administration from them. If you don’t pay attention, you’d think that is the way the majority of the country thinks.

So, what can you do? Well, you could turn off your TVs, but that won’t help. You see, those folks think that their opinions are the only ones that matter and you need to think like they do. Just turning off your set won’t let them know that you disagree. You could write them and tell them. You could write their advertisers and tell them. But honestly, it won’t matter. As I said, for some reason, the folks in California and New York think that those of us in the middle are truly in the “flyover states” and can simply be ignored.

And that is what we need to do to them: ignore them.

According to an article in Wikipedia, Donald Trump received 62,984,828 votes. Hillary Clinton received 65,853,514 votes. That’s a difference of 2,868,686 votes. Hillary Clinton received almost six million more votes than Donald Trump in California and New York alone. So, you can see why the pundits in those states were ACTUALLY shedding tears after the election.

In 2016 there were about 200 million registered voters (I’m not even going to refer to the fact that there are over 300 million people in the United States). This means that 71,161,658 registered voters did NOT vote for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.

So, the next time someone whines that we should get rid of the Electoral College, tell them that by popular vote, that big chair in Washington, DC should be vacant right now…

© Emittravel 2018