I’m old, the holiday travesty has begun. I’m feeling grouchy because every joint in my body is screaming at me as the big snowpacalypse or however one spells it is within hours of arriving. Some of these are random. Some are not. Enjoy.

Black Friday… a capitalist propaganda piece to give you the illusion of choice and savings on inventory that has been stored since before the tariffs began. Each store is selling the same stuff from the same places with just a small change. THE PACKAGING. …and they are making money off these low low low prices. Why don’t we have these low prices year round? Conditioning… We have been conditioned to accept what we can’t control like sheep… Buy Buy Buy Buy… I hate this stupid b.s. called black Friday.

Socialism is bad… The latest vote by congress condemning socialism. I don’t think a single one of them actually knows what democratic socialism is. I think they are confused by the propaganda from the Third Reich and the former U.S.S.R. Neither were socialist. They were fascism and communist fascism wrapped in a red bow with symbols to exult power. Congress is so scared of Bernie Sanders… Why oh why? I know… He would tax them to bring back a middle class. Imagine them all having to deal with Eugene Debs. That would be a blast. Democratic Socialism is working in the European Union and Iceland. God forbid the US try it. It might make our lives better. That just isn’t fair to the billionaires…

I’m so over the desecration of the flag of the United States for nationalistic and pride purposes. The black striped flag with the blue or red stripe is desecration. If you want to support the police or fire protection services wear their department t-shirts. Market a back the blue or back the red heroes merchandise. Stop desecrating the flag for selfish purposes. Stop using the flag on merchandise for capitalist purposes. I don’t want to see it on hunting, fishing, camping, and athletic gear in an effort to market your company to boneheaded kids who think that is patriotic. It isn’t good business. The flag is a symbol for everyone. It should not be an altered symbol for your individual version of patriotism in support of a capitalist venture. Capitalism and freedom of speech or expression really don’t mix well in my opinion. Final thing. I’m tired of seeing made in China, Indonesia, or some other country on the tags of American flags. The irony… just tired of everyone desecrating the flag for their version of nationalism… which in itself is not really patriotic… more irony.

Stop driving with your (*&^%$#@#^^%!!%^$) phone in your hand. YOU ARE NOT SMART ENOUGH TO DO MORE THAN ONE THING AT A TIME. BTW, neither am I. I leave my phone where I can’t reach it. Focus on driving… let’s get there safe.

Is anyone else bothered that the University of Iowa and Iowa State University have fight songs written by the same composer? Meredith Willson wrote both of them, and the Music Man, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, a couple of symphonies, and hundreds of other songs. I would think geographically Willson would have been an Iowa State fan since he was from Mason City, IA. Mason City is just 85 miles away from Ames, IA home to Iowa State. I’m not bothered, but it has made me ponder things a bit.

Steven Bryant or John Mackey? Which composer wins in a battle of anything? (Band music only.) A decade ago I felt this was like the capitalist band composer competition of the time. Mackey was getting lots of reps from ensembles all over the world while Bryant was nailing down huge commissions for concertos for elite performers. Mackey’s rhythmic groove versus Bryant’s high art music for the wind ensemble (band.) Both are incredibly creative artists… (Wild Card) Let’s not forget about the late David Maslanka either… Sorry John… I like your music, but I’m in Steven’s corner. If this could ever be made into a rational competition…

Hall of Fame voting time for Major League Baseball. The writers are still leaving out some great players from the steroid era. Yet they elected Commissioner Bud Selig to the Hall of Fame and he was the one who let it all happened. Let’s face it. Steroids were legal back then. The men who used it brought baseball back from the 1994 labor strike. They made the game fun again. I’m of a growth mindset. I think it is time to elect the greatest players in despite their use of performance enhancing substances. Gambling is part of the game now. Time to reconsider the gamblers of the past. You can’t ignore the record books forever. Stop treating everyone like you did Roger Maris.

Holidays are nothing more than cultural markers revolving around capitalism or some religious tradition started arbitrarily centuries ago by a church. These days are just days. Some are longer some are shorter. It all depends on the tilt of the Earth. I’m thankful for every day I get to breathe and spend time with my wife, family, and my dogs. I don’t need to be told to be thankful on the last Thursday in November. I don’t need Christmas, Easter, Valentines, or Father’s Day. (Humanist/Athiest) Love is not a capitalist entity. Father’s Day is everyday when you have children. Halloween isn’t a holiday. It is pagan ritual masqueraded to be a dress up day to be silly and hand out candy to kids. We need more labor days… aka vacations… for everyone… Life needs time to breathe… We all need time to be ourselves… Veteran’s and Memorial Days. Keep them. People need reminders. Independence Day is not celebrated in the USA. Most people in the US celebrate July 4th. What are you doing July 4th? Can’t wait till the 4th of July to blow s*** up. They have no thoughts on the risks of declaring independence or even the American Revolution for that matter. Holidays suck… Especially those who profit off of them…

Lastly, President George Washington was a pompous, arrogant, self promoting, slave owning, cultural assimilating hypocrite. I’ve been reading Ron Chernow’s Washington biography on and off again for about a decade. I make it about 100 pages in a week or so and become so disgusted with him personally I put it down for months. A few times over a year. I pick it up again later and then marvel at how he helped guide a young nation as a general and then as president. He was who they needed to lead. Without him, we don’t exist in the USA in a traditional sense. With him, slavery continued. He was human. I believe he saw his hypocrisy. I believe he saw his imperfections. Absolution however is complicated in a time full of complications economically, humanistically, and ethically. I want to admire the patriot, but I despise the plantation slave owner… I love that Chernow was honest in his writing and left nothing out. He demonstrates that Washington was above all else an imperfect human doing something extraordinary for the time. I’ll leave it at that. I may blog on this more.

Thanks for reading my drive by dissents. Some are more social commentary, a couple are sassy music snorts, and all of them are mine. Love them, hate them, that is fine. You won’t find me wearing an American flag t-shirt, but I will wear something from my police and fire department. I love my country, but I do not love what the nationalists are doing to it. I also despise the inhumane actions our elected leaders are performing. They are criminals. In that end, my expression of my opinion is as patriotic as it gets… If you love holidays, please enjoy them. Most importantly go enjoy the music of Steven Bryant and John Mackey. Tell them I sent you! …so it goes…