The Fireside Post

Physician Jokes

Doctors are brilliant.  They cure poor people faster. My doctor told me I had two weeks to live.  I hope they are not in August. The receptionist said, “Let me get your medical history.  Do you pay your bills on time?” When a doctor wants a consultation that means he is calling in an accomplice. […]

The Allegory of the Forest – Carl Jung’s Collective

There are no more trees.  No more forested wildlife.  Humans no longer have terms for forest or wildlife.  The Earth was deforested many years ago.  Some older adults remember playing in the woods.  No pictures, photographs, exist.  There are many drawings by children.  Some drawings are done in pencil, others in water colors – some […]

Military Priorities – Education, Health Care, and Golf

The Sequester is upon us.  I just saw a feed on CNN that the military is going to cut back on military funerals at Arlington National Cemetery.   One might think these nuts have their priorities out of whack. Anyone who talks revenue increases confine themselves to taxing the top 2% income bracket.  But what about […]

Choosing the Right Coffee House

To get started in finding the right experience with coffee, you have to choose a coffee house. This is important because there are a lot of coffee houses out there that are expensive and cushy, but do not fall into the “micro-brew” coffee house category. Micro-brew coffee shops will roast their own coffees on the […]

Farm Jokes

I met a farmer who was a magician.  He turned a cow into a field. We were in the country, standing by wishing well.  My wife fell in.  I had no idea those things really worked. What this country needs is a lie detector that seed catalogs can take. We tried mating cows and mules […]

Elephant Jokes

Why does the elephant wear red sneakers.? So he can hide in the strawberry patch. How do you get six elephants in a Ford Focus?  Three in the front and three in the back. Why do elephants have flat feet?  So they can stand on marshmallows. Why do elephants stand on marshmallows?  So they won’t […]

The Gun Control Debate is no Longer About Guns

The vitriolic language from the far right over Second Amendment rights tells a story beyond the fear of losing the right to a thirty round clip in the favorite 9mm semi-automatic hand gun.  This debate is not about guns – this debate is about fear of government.  That is one way to say it – […]

Choosing the right coffee drink

The owner of the coffee shop where I worked was a stickler for quality, and I worked with him for over two years. There were customers in our store that came to our location because I was working, trusting that my skill with steamed milk and my knowledge of espresso would come together in a […]

Celebrating Ignorance In Missouri

Ok, I admit, I live in Missouri.  For many years I justified this existence by saying I was close to my family.  That defense is losing ground.  Missouri is not an unusual “Red State” (meaning it votes new age Republican).  My thought is that Missouri is representative of that whole block of right wing fanatics […]

Retired? How Do You Know?

I live in Missouri, northern Missouri.  I tell people that I am one generation removed from hillbillies – which means my parents were most likely rednecks, and it follows that I am a redneck too.  Or was.  I went to college and the rednecks disqualified me.  Anyway, I know some hillbillies, rednecks, and the watered […]

To Be, or Not To Be – Do We Have a Choice?

Hamlet asked, “To be or not to be?” That was his question. He was addressing some new information in his life which presented ethical questions – like “Do I shed more blood or do I let it go?” The question has presented itself many times in my life. Generally, I shed the blood. So I […]

Bearing the Sword of Justice

I am Aries, born under Mars. I swing a heavy sword, the heavy sword of justice. The sword strikes at ignorance, at injustice, at human frailty. A child is threatened. Captured by the rogue of the closed mind. The child, once destined for greatness, becomes the rogue. Small town America, a bastion of self righteous […]

Just for laughs

I do not know anything about this stream of videos.  Someone posted this on facebook and I happened to see it.  enjoy:  

Jef Foxworthy on Being a Missourian

(This was taken in its entirety from an email). Missouri according to Jeff Foxworthy: If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don’t even work there, you may live in Missouri. If you’ve worn shorts and a jacket at the same time, you may live in Missouri. … If you’ve had […]

Grand Canyon 2012 Winter Expedition II

The Stuppy & Clark Expeditionary Force

Bryan Stuppy, LISW, LADAC, a leading psychologist in New Mexico, has asked me to join him on an Expeditionary Force to study the effects of primal living in a nomadic tribal environment.  The ruse has been established.  The ‘tribe’ thinks they are to study the effects of man-made flooding in the Grand Canyon.  In reality […]

Theology and Boundaries

When we step on the wet leaves of spirituality we risk slipping and falling.  The fall can be disastrous.  We might whack our heads and wake up with all sorts of belief systems that cannot be scientifically proved. Consider this:  Some believe in a virgin birth.  Some believe in bodily resurrection.  Some believe there was […]

Old Men Walking, And Falling Down

I am a senior.  That is the life designation we get when we are between middle age and elderly.  My health is generally good.  I walk about three miles every day and as a result I take no medications for any heart or respiratory conditions.  But walking of late has become a treacherous proposition.  I […]

15 Amp Rovian Politics

Lee Atwater and Karl Rove can take credit for the partisanship of America’s 21st Century politics.  By playing on the ignorance of the masses, the lack of critical thinking, the fears, the prejudices, and the perverted glory people find in righteous indignation at the expense of others – Atwater and Rove changed the face of […]

Religious Tools of the Trade: The Church, The Bible, and The Doctrine

When we learn to use the tools and hone our craft, we can make something beautiful. When we leverage the Bible for our own purpose or to prove our own point, or use our doctrine to manipulate people into uniformity, or even use the church to grow the church rather than invest in the community, then we misuse the tools of the trade.

Looking For James Bond

The mystique of James Bond has come out of a three decades slump. All of the bad guys in the world have heard of 007 – but only the most evil of criminal minds have had the misfortune of making Bond’s acquaintance. So what is it about this mystique that continues to enthrall the movie […]

Boy Scouts – False Prophets – Eject Gay Eagle Scout

According to the St, Joseph, Missouri, News Press, “A 19 year old Boy Scout has lost his job at Camp Geiger after disclosing that he is gay”.  Words like ‘hypocrisy’ come to mind.  That boy was “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent,” and what did that get him? […]

Penn State Child Sexual Abuse by Sandusky

The warnings are legion.  The past fifty years has surely taught us that child sexual abuse cannot be protected in the interest of an institution.  From the Boy Scouts to the Catholic Church the scandals swirled – griping and choking the institutional life.  With this horrendously embarrassing history of protecting pedophiles tucked away in an […]

Old Women Talk and Gay Marriage

My mother is eighty-five years old.  She has been living alone the past two months after my father, her husband of sixty-three years, passed away.  She asked me to help refinish her dining room table – and what are you gonna’ do?  So I sanded and polished while she sat and talked.  I was surprised […]

“Never Brag On Your Children”

A relevant post revisited: December, 2009.  Parenting can sometimes feel like a complex endeavor – especially when the child is not cooperating.  When the child is failing to  meet expectations, to make the grade in school, to make the basketball team, to identify future aspirations – whatever – parents can become frustrated.  And that frustration […]