Go Pats!
[Props to my brother who made this. Thanx, JT!]
Just when you thought it was safe…
Category Archives: Generic Rant
Bad at Good, Good at Bad? You can bet on it!
The US is suddenly very bad at a lot of good things: caring for the unfortunate, uplifting the oppressed, promoting a healthy environment, and protecting future generations, for instance. We’re making up for that by being really good at bad things: terrorizing minorities, killing innocent civilians, and invading friendly countries come immediately to mind but there are loads of others.
One more example of the latter occurred to me of late, reinforced by the commercials that have bombarded my senses as I watched football playoff games. It appears as if we are world leaders at manufacturing gamblers.
It used to be that, if you wanted to gamble, you went to Las Vegas (a.k.a. Lost Wages) and blew the nest egg. Other alternatives were the dog and horse tracks, for those drawn to such diversions. For the truly desperate, there has always been the option of tracking down some lowlife bookie and throwing away money at him. (Not to be sexist, but were there female bookies?)
Over time, short-sighted local governments got into the game with lotteries, i.e. voluntary taxes on people who are bad at math. All the aforementioned activities catered to a limited population or at least were small potatoes, it seems to me.
Things have changed.
You can literally gamble anywhere, anytime, if you have a phone and a connection to the Internet. It’s safe to assume that’s pretty much everyone in the US. If the proliferation of sports gambling commercials is any indication, all sports above youth level exist for the sole purpose of gambling, while sports “news” is all about odds, overs and unders, and other such profligate falderal.
For football, you have the ability to not only bet on game outcomes but countless other possibilities. Who will win MVP? Who will kick the first field goal? What color Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach? (Seriously, that’s a thing!) I can only assume the same goes for baseball. Will the next pitch be a strike? How many innings will the starting pitcher go? What will be the “launch angle” of the next home run? With baseball, the number of trivial stats and possibilities is virtually endless. Any baseball fan knows that. A veritable gambler’s gold mine, paying off almost solely to “the house”, whoever that might be.
Punch in, folks! They aren’t paying for all these big names and expensive advertising minutes on money they’re giving away. They’re getting it from suckers who think they’re going to win in spite of the fact that the odds are stacked heavily against them. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Someone has to win. It just won’t be you.”
My point is that there were only so many outlets for gambling back in the day. Today, there are more than anyone could count. Plus, it’s encouraged by the new bookies: everyone from your governor to your favorite entertainers, be they artists or athletes. To keep that voracious beast fed requires churning out new gamblers. They have to come from somewhere and they don’t grow on trees. We’re manufacturing them. It’s likely they were gamblers all along but didn’t partake, not unlike an alcoholic who doesn’t drink. ‘Cept these folks have fallen, or perhaps been thrown, off the wagon. To quote another wise man, “If you think you may have a gambling problem, stop thinking.”
That’s bad.
And America is good at it.
Are we great yet?
Checking out of the inn
We all have our days of reckoning when it comes to Christmas. Remember that fateful moment when you came to the realization that Santa Claus was fabricated by parents (as a scapegoat for their gift-giving failures) and toy manufacturers (as a profit-making ploy)? This year I had a similarly painful epiphany, this one regarding what Linus says “Christmas is all about.”
I learned that there’s a very good chance that Jesus was not shut out of an inn by a hostile innkeeper and forced to give birth in some Godforsaken cave. (Another spurious artifact, the “stable” motif, long ago bought the farm, pun intended.) No, it’s most likely that the young parents, Mary and Joseph, were hosted by family back there in Bethlehem and delivered the Christ Child within the confines of their home, which might still have been a cave. Given that setting, they were likely assisted by family and/or a midwife, a far cry from the lonely birth witnessed only by animals.
The manger remains—it’s there in scripture. The Magi are still part of the picture, although they probably arrived on the scene closer to Jesus’s first birthday than on the night of His birth as depicted in the classic creche. So also those those scruffy n’er-do-well shepherds. (Note well: Pariahs (shepherds) and pagans (the Magi) were the first to know of the Incarnation, long before the religious elite or royal powers-that-be. That’s like God revealing himself to illegal immigrants and irreligious idolators before presidents and preachers. Think about it.)
All these minor details are just that and shouldn’t be allowed to distract us from the “the true meaning of Christmas.” This is not, contrary to what lame Hallmark Christmas movies tell us it is, a renewed romance with your old high school flame in your home town. It’s not spruces or snow or Santa, gifts or Grinches or gewgaws. No, it’s the ultimate drop-in, Immanuel, God with us. That part will not be shaken.
Merry Christmas.
Thanx 2025
Apropos to the day, and in keeping with a tradition I’ve maintained for the past few years, I herewith present my annual cryptic list of a small sampling of items I’m thankful for on this Thanksgiving week and always.
- Andraé… still
- Reconciliation
- Keeping connections
- The Fit
- WPL
- The Swytch and the throttle
- Dropins
- Small group
- Problem solving sessions
- Psalm 109:8
- Bryan Stevenson and EJI
- The Sudbury diamond
- Mary
- Luke
- A day in Nahant
- Failures that lead to victories
- Humility
- Godspell
- Orchard logo
- Calls out of the blue
- Sending and receiving letters
- This painting by my granddaughter:
- W@H script & book
- Peacock journal
- Lemonade stands
- Pizza lunch with the gang in person
- Memories of Jeff, Ralph, and Yiayia
- Adventures with little ones
- 13.5 mph
- The porch
- “Ladies in Black”
- “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”
- Wes and the crew at VSHS
- Father Brown
- Memoirs
- Bottom of the 33rd
- Deconstruction
- Ken Burns
God and family are implied, as always.
On the subject of gratitude, here are two of my favorite quotes on the topic from one of the most quotable people of all time, G. K. Chesterton:
- “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
- “The worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank.”
Now a couple of thoughts from a lesser voice, me:
- “Giving thanks is prayer for the past.”
- “Generosity is gratitude in action.”
I hope and pray you have the most Grateful Thanksgiving ever. And that you have Someone to thank.
The Eighth Deadly Sin
Most people can rattle off a few of the classic “seven deadly sins”, although few can name them all. According to Wikipedia, that Font of All Imperfect Knowledge (or FAIK), they were codified by Pope Gregory I in 590 AD. They are:
- Pride
- Greed (or my preferred rendering: Avarice)
- Wrath
- Envy
- Lust
- Gluttony
- Sloth
It’s been said that envy is the only one in the list that has no upside. The others can be kind of fun to wallow in, for a little while anyway. That’s one problem with the list. The other, more troubling one, is that it no longer resembles a list of faults or transgressions. Rather, it reads like a job description for POTUS. (Seriously, look at that list and make the comparison yourself. It’s one thing to perpetrate those transgressions. It’s a whole ‘nother to brag about them.)
For a very long time, I’ve believed the list to be incomplete. There’s one I fall victim to as do most people I know, to our and society’s detriment.
Fear
Yup, I think fear might be the deadliest sin. For those who, like me, take their standards from the Christian Bible, you’ll find the pages there replete with exhortations to overcome fear or avoid it altogether. Here are a few:
- “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Jehovah, as recorded in Joshua 1:9
- “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Jesus, in John 14:27
- “…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” St. Paul, in 2 Timothy 1:7
- “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” St. John, the Beloved Disciple, in 1 John 4:18
And the grandaddy of them all, Psalm 23:
- “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…”
In fact, I once did an audit of the entire Bible in order to determine what the most common command in Scripture is. I can’t remember the exact order, but “fear not”, or some variation thereof, was first or second.*
Here are a few more excellent quotes that affirm the truth of the above:
- “Everything you’ve ever wanted is sitting on the other side of fear.” – George Addair
- “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” – Marianne Williamson (not Nelson Mandela, as some claim)
- “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – this one is Nelson Mandela
- “There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life.” – John Lennon (I wonder if he knew he was merely paraphrasing St. John.)
- “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” – Plato
Avoid this deadly sin, probably your elected leader’s greatest one, and the rest of the list becomes a whole lot easier. And less frightening.
Fear not…
* For the curious among you, the other charge was some form of “Go.” Combine those and you have something to think about. And do.
Having a Fit… or not
Last week at this time I was bemoaning the sad state of car purchasing when I related the story of trying to replace my (now it can be told) Honda Fit. Like most small, roomy, gas-conserving, inexpensive cars, it was discontinued by its manufacturer. The motivation is either collusion with the Oil Oligarchy or simply a cynical attempt to drop low margin cars in favor of high margin gas-guzzling SUV’s that are purchased by people whose only off-road driving is accidentally rolling across a corner of their lawn while backing out of their driveway.
The Fit was the perfect car for me. It got great gas mileage, routinely more than 40 MPG, which fits my budget. My bike fit in the back along with two weeks of vacation packing. (Yes, I did it.) And it fit in the smallest of parking spaces, even those encroached upon by aforementioned behemoth SUV’s.
Do you see the recurring theme? The Fit fit my lifestyle to the proverbial “T”. It also lends itself to some cool vanity plates, two of which I’ve seen being “HISSY” and “2B TIED”. The only improvement would be if it carried the same moniker as its European counterpart: Jazz. Now, that’s a cool name.
No more. The geniuses at Honda decided no one wants them anymore. This in spite of the fact that the market for used Fits is through the roof, along with the prices. There seemed to be no hope for me.
Then I found this local business where I’m sure I can pick up a brand new one:
Who knew? A Fit factory right nearby! Can’t wait to check it out. Wish me luck.
What Will Set Us Free Now?
Recently, I was searching for information about cars. There was a car I was interested in that had been discontinued by its manufacturer back in 2020. (I won’t mention any names, but it’s the Honda Fit.) I searched to see if the model might be back some time. Other cars have made a return, e.g. Mustang, Honda Prelude, and VW Bus (or Buzz, as it’s called now) so why not that Fit, er, that unnamed car?
I was thrilled to find a couple of websites announcing a 2026 version of the car. They had video presentations of the design and various features. It looked great!
But something smelled funny about these sites. First of all, they weren’t from Honda, that is, the manufacturer. Just a brief examination made it obvious the websites were fraudulent. The videos and photos had been created by AI. That’s when it hit me. Nothing can be trusted anymore, especially on the Internet.
When MAGA came along and began its assault on truth with its “alternate facts” and other such nonsense, I thought it was just a blip on the lie radar. Nope. They never let up their onslaught. Now they’re joined by a far more sophisticated and pernicious purveyor of deceit: AI.
There have always been lies and liars. (Remember Lyndon Larouche, Bernie Madoff, Frank Abagnale, Rosie Ruiz, the Tobacco Institute, Richard Nixon, and all the other Trump forerunners?) AI makes them all look like amateurs. Anyone can tell anyone anything anytime and it’s almost impossible to discern the truth because AI excels at camouflaging lies. That’s what it does best.
Jesus once famously and accurately said, “The truth will set you free.” With truth now held hostage by sleazy power brokers, ruthless criminals, vicious bullies, amoral techies, and other ne’er-do-wells, where do we turn to be set free? Personally, I throw my lot in with the Originator of that maxim.
Quotes#4
Back in the day, when I was writing another blog (q.v. Limping in the Light) I had a few series of posts, such as things I’m thankful for, lies we believe, spiritual disciplines of the modern world, among others. One abbreviated series I ran was of meaningful quotes. There were only three such posts in that blog. (If you’re interested, you can find them here, here, and here.) That’s a shame because I collect and save such quotes at an alarming rate. The file in which I record them contains a few hundred.
Such a waste! To relieve my conscience, I think I’ll share a couple here.
I just finished reading Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”. Not only was it a wonderful book, it was a treasure trove of wisdom. Here are a couple of nuggets.
Here’s a statement of the human condition which sadly has been so for all recorded time.
People whose history and future were threatened each day by extinction considered that it was only by divine intervention that they were able to live at all. I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God’s will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at a commensurate speed.
Although her book was published in 1969, Ms. Angelou prophetically characterizes certain current national figures with this analysis:
In order to be profoundly dishonest, a person must have one of two qualities: either he is unscrupulously ambitious, or he is unswervingly egocentric. He must believe that for his ends to be served all things and people can justifiably be shifted about, or that he is the center not only of his own world but of the worlds which others inhabit.
I’ve never seen a more precise description of a certain despicable scoundrel who is even now tearing down everything we cherish.
Dissection of a support response
At one time or another, most of us have to send a support request to our favorite online service, technology supplier, or website. Upon receiving a less-than-helpful response from one company this week, I realized most of these messages follow a very specific template, probably generated by (God help us) AI. Here’s one I’ve broken down for your reading pleasure. There’s no pleasure (or help) in receiving one of these inane replies, so enjoy this one.
[meaningless polite greeting]
Good morning,
[Obnoxious and totally disingenuous expression of empathy. The question is, do you “completely understand” how frustrating it is to get this phony automated response to every question I send? Let me tell you about “frustrating”, robo-responder!]
I hope this message finds you well. I’m truly sorry to hear that you’re experiencing difficulties accessing our services online—I completely understand how frustrating that can be, and I appreciate you bringing it to our attention.
[Acknowledgment of problem with no hope of resolution]
At the moment, we are aware of a known issue affecting [some people and/or platforms unrelated to what you described in your question], which is causing the problem you are experiencing. [No, you obviously aren’t aware because that isn’t the problem I’m experiencing.] preventing some users from using our site. Our technology team is actively working on a resolution, and we sincerely apologize [I think we’ve already established how sorry you are, in every sense of the word.] for the inconvenience this may be causing.
[insanely complex and/or inconvenient workaround, plus buy stuff to get the other stuff working that you already paid for]
Please perform the following steps:
- Refer to our FAQ.
- Clear your browser’s cache, temporary files, and cookies.
- Disable any pop-up blockers.
- Ensure your browser is set to accept cookies.
- Close all browser windows and restart with a fresh session.
- If the issue persists, try accessing the site using a different browser.
- If the problem still persists, reformat your disk and rebuild your entire operating system.
- If the problem still doesn’t go away, sacrifice a chicken, do an app-fixing dance, renew your subscription to GeekSquad, pick up your missed package at FedEx, buy some “enhancement” meds, and send $10,000 to Nigeria.
- Read those FAQs again.
Or:
- Install our app.
- Uninstall our app.
- Restart your phone.
- Reinstall the app from your app store.
- Buy an extended warranty from us.
- Buy, install, and uninstall the app a few more times for good measure.
- Have you read the FAQs?
[Acknowledgment of problem with no promise of resolution]
Once you’ve tried these steps [which no one in their right mind will do because it would take a few years and set them back a few more], please reply to this email and let us know if the issue has been resolved. [We know you won’t do them and that will keep you from bothering us again, which is actually the point of all this.] If not, it would be very helpful if you could include a screenshot, the versions of every piece of software on your computer, your mother’s maiden name, and a urine sample so we can investigate further.
[Further disingenuous pablum to try to pacify you]
Thank you again for your patience and understanding. We’re here to help and will do everything we can [everything except fix the problem, that is] to get this resolved as quickly as possible [or get rid of you any way we can].
[Meaningless but affable signoff]
Warm regards,
[Insert foreign or fabricated Anglo-sounding name.]
Better yet, just take Dogbert’s tech support advice, “Shut up and reboot.”
Poor Thomas
A BlogSnax© post
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a poor guy named Thomas. I don’t know his last name; he probably didn’t have one. But we all know his “first name”, which also turns out to be his claim to infamy:
Doubting
Yes, I’m talking about the Thomas in the Bible, chapter 20 of the Gospel of John, to be more precise. (Verses 24 through 29, to be even more precise. This is worth reading. Seriously.) As a result of the fact that he didn’t (at first) believe that Jesus had risen from the dead (would you?) he has been labeled “Doubting Thomas” for all of CE human history.
Now that’s just not fair.
Imagine if you were named based on the worst thing you ever did. Think about it. We’d be surrounded by…
- Drunk Driving John
- Sleazy Mary
- Tax Cheat Phil
- Swindler Suzy
Never mind if you rehabilitate yourself as Thomas did. You’re stuck with that miserable moniker as long as you live and, if Tom is any model, forever.
What would your nickname be???
Thank you for reading,
Lying Rick
Scribbling in the Sand 