This is copied from a friend's FB post
“Trump’s obsession with wall-building and zero-tolerance has led Americans to this grim political spectacle. His personal cruelty and political ignorance have created a crisis that will kill conservative immigration reform and lead to future Democratic majorities. More troubling is the harsh reality now staring Americans in the face: Their president is a brutish political boss who has cheapened conservatism, sullied the office of the presidency and called into question the very character of a country once seen as the envy of the world. That so many Republicans still support this depraved man and his malignant movement could be the most damning element of this tragic American tale.” — Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida, now hosts the MSNBC show “Morning Joe."
Friday, June 22, 2018
Friday, June 15, 2018
Commentary copied from a FB post
I didn't write this. I copied it from a friend's FB post
In January 2016, Trump announced that he skipped a debate to raise funds for veterans. Then, instead of contributing the funds so raised to veterans' causes, he put the money into his own foundation. Trump then used the foundation to fund his own campaign and to buy things he wanted for himself. So that's campaign fraud, tax fraud and diverting funds that folks contributed for veterans. Now many of these veterans and their families have been supporting Trump, and they've been shamelessly used. I wonder if they'll notice. In other news, Trump is denying that Manafort ran his campaign. Manafort did so for 141 days. Trump said he was barely associated with the campaign for 49 days. But there's more: the DOJ's Inspector General delivered a report that states that Comey and the FBI were so worried about pressure from the GOP that they trashed Hillary even though they were correct in not recommending that DOJ charge her for using a private email server. Comey apparently felt that since she was going to win anyway, he needed to throw Trump a bone. In the process, he forgot that he's the cop and that the prosecutors at DOJ are supposed to make that decision. The IG lambasted him for that. Of course, Trump won and Comey's attempt to protect the reputation of the FBI on a freebee failed. Now Trump is going around trashing the FBI for bowing to pressure from his supporters to harm Hillary's campaign. In the meantime, other than Nunes and the Freedom Caucus, the GOP leadership recognizes that the Russians and other foreigners were crawling all over the Trump campaign and that the FBI was justified in running a counterintelligence operation on these foreign agents. Actual GOP conservatives (those who believe in a smaller federal government) are either not running for reelection or getting trounced in primaries by the Trumplicans. The GOP now stands for huge deficits, tax cuts for the wealthy, no health insurance for the poor, middle class and those with pre-existing conditions, trade wars with China and our closest allies, belittling black athletes who are concerned with police brutality aimed at African Americans, and getting tough on immigration, which means ripping babies from the arms of their asylum seeking mothers, who happen to be overwhelmingly Hispanic. That will leave the GOP with support from some 35% or so of voters. Not clear to me why that makes sense to them, but then again, right now I have no idea when and how sanity will return to these United States. Oh, and if you are one of my GOP friends who dislikes my characterization of current events, I'm in no mood to talk to you today or any time soon about anything other than sports. How about that hat trick by Ronaldo?
In January 2016, Trump announced that he skipped a debate to raise funds for veterans. Then, instead of contributing the funds so raised to veterans' causes, he put the money into his own foundation. Trump then used the foundation to fund his own campaign and to buy things he wanted for himself. So that's campaign fraud, tax fraud and diverting funds that folks contributed for veterans. Now many of these veterans and their families have been supporting Trump, and they've been shamelessly used. I wonder if they'll notice. In other news, Trump is denying that Manafort ran his campaign. Manafort did so for 141 days. Trump said he was barely associated with the campaign for 49 days. But there's more: the DOJ's Inspector General delivered a report that states that Comey and the FBI were so worried about pressure from the GOP that they trashed Hillary even though they were correct in not recommending that DOJ charge her for using a private email server. Comey apparently felt that since she was going to win anyway, he needed to throw Trump a bone. In the process, he forgot that he's the cop and that the prosecutors at DOJ are supposed to make that decision. The IG lambasted him for that. Of course, Trump won and Comey's attempt to protect the reputation of the FBI on a freebee failed. Now Trump is going around trashing the FBI for bowing to pressure from his supporters to harm Hillary's campaign. In the meantime, other than Nunes and the Freedom Caucus, the GOP leadership recognizes that the Russians and other foreigners were crawling all over the Trump campaign and that the FBI was justified in running a counterintelligence operation on these foreign agents. Actual GOP conservatives (those who believe in a smaller federal government) are either not running for reelection or getting trounced in primaries by the Trumplicans. The GOP now stands for huge deficits, tax cuts for the wealthy, no health insurance for the poor, middle class and those with pre-existing conditions, trade wars with China and our closest allies, belittling black athletes who are concerned with police brutality aimed at African Americans, and getting tough on immigration, which means ripping babies from the arms of their asylum seeking mothers, who happen to be overwhelmingly Hispanic. That will leave the GOP with support from some 35% or so of voters. Not clear to me why that makes sense to them, but then again, right now I have no idea when and how sanity will return to these United States. Oh, and if you are one of my GOP friends who dislikes my characterization of current events, I'm in no mood to talk to you today or any time soon about anything other than sports. How about that hat trick by Ronaldo?
Thursday, June 7, 2018
About finding your HP in program
A sponsee asked me some questions about finding HP in program. These were some answers I gave.
I personally find HP more easily in nature, particularly in places where there is a nice view. Though there is this one spot in my kitchen, between my sink and my refrigerator, where I was struck abstinent, that seems to be fruitful. I also find that going into places, like houses of worship or retreat centers, where lots of people have prayed, but when they are empty, is often good. I feel like places where lots of people have prayed retain a lot of spiritual energy. Personally quiet appeals to me. Some people prefer to be there during a service when there is music and verbal ministry.
I saw one exercise that might be helpful. Take a piece of paper. Make a vertical table with one box for each decade of your life. Write in each box the best things that happened to you during each decade -- ignoring the bad things. Then, after you've filled out all the boxes, imagine all the things you've written down rising out of the paper and swirling together. Try to imagine that swirling thing as HP.
It takes some practice to sense the intuitions that program asks us to look for. In most cases, I think this is because I have a natural tendency to suppress myself and feel ashamed of my thoughts and feelings. I feel that this stems partly from dysfunction in my family of origin and partly from my mild autism spectrum disorder.
Perfectionism here is the enemy, though. Expecting a perfect relationship with HP is one of those perfectionism things. Lingering on step 2 -- or jumping to step 11 without doing the earlier steps -- is not going to work.
There's a saying I learned in Al-anon "anything that's worth doing is worth doing poorly."
I personally find HP more easily in nature, particularly in places where there is a nice view. Though there is this one spot in my kitchen, between my sink and my refrigerator, where I was struck abstinent, that seems to be fruitful. I also find that going into places, like houses of worship or retreat centers, where lots of people have prayed, but when they are empty, is often good. I feel like places where lots of people have prayed retain a lot of spiritual energy. Personally quiet appeals to me. Some people prefer to be there during a service when there is music and verbal ministry.
I saw one exercise that might be helpful. Take a piece of paper. Make a vertical table with one box for each decade of your life. Write in each box the best things that happened to you during each decade -- ignoring the bad things. Then, after you've filled out all the boxes, imagine all the things you've written down rising out of the paper and swirling together. Try to imagine that swirling thing as HP.
It takes some practice to sense the intuitions that program asks us to look for. In most cases, I think this is because I have a natural tendency to suppress myself and feel ashamed of my thoughts and feelings. I feel that this stems partly from dysfunction in my family of origin and partly from my mild autism spectrum disorder.
Perfectionism here is the enemy, though. Expecting a perfect relationship with HP is one of those perfectionism things. Lingering on step 2 -- or jumping to step 11 without doing the earlier steps -- is not going to work.
There's a saying I learned in Al-anon "anything that's worth doing is worth doing poorly."
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