Hi everyone!

I want to apologize for not being on in the past… (looks at the editor, swears softly)… month. I’ve been ill, and during the last 2.5 weeks, I’ve pretty much been unable to see to type thanks to a sinus infection. I’m much better now (thank you, modern medicine!), and hope to get posting some juicy stuff in the near future.

Is there anything that you’d like commentary on? I can think of several topics I could touch on… Presidential candidates, current TikTok/Social Media bull cookies going around, education in America, the war in the Ukraine, the war in Gaza, etc. Are there any topics you’d like a more left-leaning point of view about?

Blessings of the season to all of you, and may you have quiet and peaceful holidays and holy days.

Hagar

There’s so much going on with kids right now. I’ve had numerous conversations at the dinner and breakfast table, with friends, when out and about, about the state of children, and what’s going on in schools.

Kids are being insane at schools. There are children who are so badly behaved that they are holding entire schools hostage because of that behavior. Be it throwing rocks at cars and breaking windshields, wrecking classrooms by tossing around desks, or biting teachers and swearing incessantly, it’s 100% out of control. I often comment that these brats could use a good beating, but of course I don’t mean it the way it comes out. Unfortunately, I’m also very strongly of the opinion that I’m right.

Teachers are no longer allowed to touch students. They have to get permission slips to hug kids or hold their hands in the hallways. Recently, a teacher got written up by HR because she walked her (IEP “low” intelligence/skill) kids to the bathroom and waited for them to take them back to class. Never mind that at least two of her students had that very accommodation in their IEPs. I know of a teacher who, in a fit of absolute desperation, took a picture of a child doing something bad and threatened to tell the parents about it. The TEACHER was written up, and had to go to a mandatory meeting with her union rep, and all that stuff. It was seen only as “threatening the child”, and not as anything positive. I kid you not. There’s a reason that teachers are leaving the classrooms en masse. At this point, our school district has unlicensed people in doing teaching, because they cannot find the staff.

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A long time ago, AWA and I were talking about gun rights. Keeping in mind that I am originally from Canada, and therefore have some canalized thinking about firearms that harken back to those days, I was shocked to hear that he was okay with people getting back their guns coming out of jail.

I want to unpack this, because being a convert to 2A stuff, I think I have an interesting view on it. Perhaps my process will help you understand the Left a little more.

I grew up in a place where guns were considered terrifying. Only the police had guns, and guns were considered something only criminals would have. While there were hunters up north, where I lived in the suburban areas it was considered “odd” to own a gun, even if you had some need for one. This was pushed onto us, brainwashed into us from an early age.

To give you an idea of how much it messes with you, I’ll share a story. When I was a young adult, I went to live with my Hungarian grandparents to help take care of them. I had a kid at the time, and a boyfriend. I took care of them until they became unable to function at all, and were a danger to themselves and others, at which point I found a wonderful home for them where many of their friends were, and the kitchen staff allowed my grandmother to continue cooking. As I was cleaning the house up and out after they left, I ran across my grandfather’s gun. My boyfriend (who was from Michigan originally) told me it was a 22, but I honestly have no idea. It was packed in this dense, icky stuff which I now am pretty sure was cosmoline or something similar. It was behind the washer and dryer, in a spot where no one would have ever found it had I not been moving furniture around.

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Every once in a while, AWA and I, and sometimes others, get into conversations about charity. On Sunday, I went to pick up a (lightly) used recumbent bike for my hubby, and the person we got it from was obviously well off. The grounds were fenced in tasteful stone, with carvings of animals romping on top, and the land itself was meticulously well kept. The gentleman was older, and he’d apparently purchased the bike for his wife, who was now disabled and unable to use it. He wanted it to go to someone who would get good use of it. We took it, very thankful because it was much needed, and we can’t afford such luxuries.

This is the way the Right handles charity. They give personally. They give to people they can see for themselves are needy in some way. They tend to give to specific people, and to registered charities that they know are doing good in areas that they care about. Think Salvation Army and various church groups.

The Left often accuses the Right of not caring, and not giving. That’s never been my understanding. I see those on the Right (even the ones I consider to be “far right wing nuts”) consistently giving to those in need. They give at a community level, so they can see their dollars at work. They give it during disasters, en masse.

The Left does give to charity, it’s true. Most will help a close friend in need, if pressed. But mostly, they want to give in very anonymous ways. They give to charities directly off their payroll, so they don’t see it or feel it. They give at the government level, so they don’t have to hand it over out of their cash on hand. It’s impersonal.

Obviously this is an over generalization of the situation, but it’s something I see time and again. The Left get SO upset over what they see as the Right “not giving and not caring” and I’ve never understood that. They do give, lots. Americans as a whole tend to give a lot, and the mix of the impersonal Left and the very personal Right seems to work.

The only part that I have real issues with is when charity becomes something more, something not just accepted when necessary, but demanded. The Right is very good at giving a “hand up” most of the time, and a lot of that (IMO) comes from the fact that they want to see and interact with the people who are getting the money or goods. The Left, being more hands-off in their approach, seem to see it all as “someone else’s money” and therefore easy to throw away.

I remember going to an LDS cannery to pick up some canned long-term storage items some years ago. When we were there, their minister (not the right term but I don’t actually know the right one) was there to meet with a young couple. It seems the young couple had come in for help (which is fine… that’s why they have their internal charity), but then hadn’t moved to get OFF the help. The hand up had turned into a hand out, and the minister wasn’t having any of it.

That is how charity should work. No one at an upper government level has even the faintest clue whether I actually need money or not. But Bob down the street has at least a clue, because he sees me at the store, counting change to put gas in my car. Bob knows I volunteer and do things for the town, to make up for what I take. (This is hypothetical, by the by; I am not on the dole at this point in my life, but I have been.)

I don’t think that it’s wrong to want your charity donations to just disappear out of your check. If that’s how you want to give, go for it. I’m glad you’re giving. Me, I want to see the people I’m giving it to. That’s just me. I like to know that my money isn’t being used to pay someone’s overhead salary instead of for food for the widowed mother down the road. But there’s room for both types of giving. Giving is good, for body and soul.

Today is known as All Saint’s Day, or Dia de los Muertos, Samhain, the Day of the Dead, and lots of other interesting names. In my own religion, it is a day when we say a formal goodbye to those who have passed on in the last year. I would normally read names. I did so last night, for my personal family stuff.

This Saturday, I’ll be saying a prayer for all the innocents who’ve died in the Middle East this year, especially those in Israel. I have chosen to stand with Israel in this, for so many reasons I cannot count, but mostly because I am not willing to stand by and watch my Jewish friends be terrified for good reason. If that means we load up the Redneckmobile with lawn chairs and rifles, so be it.

But the prayers? Those are for all the innocent lives lost. I don’t mourn for people who chose to be terrorists (or even those few Israelis who chose to be assholes to the Palestinians before all this went down. But I do mourn for the infants and children and women of Hammas and its terrorist fiends…er I mean friends. Those children did not choose to be born into the horror they’re currently in. They didn’t choose to be trapped in Gaza, because their parents pissed off the only people who cared enough to help them out. There’s a reason that the other Middle Eastern countries aren’t willing to take in Palestinian refugees.

What I wish? That the women and young children could be allowed to leave. Would it mean innocent men and older boys were sentenced to death? Yes, yes it probably would. I, for one, could give that order. I think Golda could have done it. Her words are wise… even now. That wasn’t the clip I was looking for, but it gives an idea of who she was.

I’m sad. I’m a little scared. I’m angry. I’m worried. I have kids who could get drafted, if this turns into a World War. And this war would not be like the last two. I suspect they’ll be considered small beans if we go to a third war. I don’t want to be involved… and in a lot of ways, I’m NOT involved. I am very limited in what things I can actually DO to help, here in America. I do what I can, whenever I can. I teach, I educate, I listen, I comfort. Sometimes I berate. But wow… what a helpless feeling.

Whatever you believe… join me in a prayer or a mournful thought tonight. As the sun sets, wherever you are, take a moment to say goodbye to those good people who’ve lost their lives in the past year, and in the past two weeks.

Amen,
Hagar

Another report from the Left of center…

I received the following on FB from a friend. I haven’t verified it, but I don’t feel the need to. I’ve experienced the things mentioned in it, myself, personally, many times over the past umpteen years. If this one happens to be an amalgamation of other real things, it doesn’t matter, because it describes something that does, indeed, happen. All. The. Fucking. Time.

CBMT Tek said to Hagar:
Thoughts on this fiasco?
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2023/10/04/sunak-steps-in-it-a-man-is-a-man-and-a-woman-is-a-woman-n582395
.
If the left really wants to live in a Star Trek tolerance level of society, why the automatic leap to “hate” and “…phobe?” It is almost as if the left cannot imagine anyone can disagree with them unless they “hate” them. Someone misgenders you, and it is apparently the end of the world. Why? Because the allure of power is too overwhelming, and shutting down the UK PM over a statement he made is power.
Granted, I see that from the right as well, but not as frequently. (Then again, my personal biases may be at play)

So… I have a ton to say and I’m not entirely sure how to say it. Let me give it a go here.

Part the first: I don’t believe it’s as simple as, “A man is a man, and a woman is a woman.” According to Yale, there are two biological genders: male and female. According to some other scientists there are six genders, or 27, or some other odd number. Per the National Institute of Health, there are two main genders, male and female, and other outliers that sometimes happen, but that basically if there’s a Y in the mix of chromosomes, it’s a male, and if there’s no Y, it’s female. These biological genders may OR MAY NOT match the sexual organs exterior to the body. It’s possible, for instance, for a person with both Xs and Ys in their genes to have genitals that we perceive as female, but they are still male no matter whether they have breasts, ovaries, or even female hormones. Essentially, chromosomes are the only way to actually determine someone’s biological gender.

I personally believe that people under the age of 18 should be restricted from making irreversible life-altering changes to their bodies. That includes, but is not limited to, tattoos, piercings, circumcision, sexual organs, etc. Those changes should be made under only two circumstances. Either you’re 18 (old enough to vote, live on your own, and to give consent that is at least somewhat informed), or there’s a medical emergency that requires something happen (such as an emergency hysterectomy due to cancer, or something along those lines). I am somewhat okay with those 16 and older getting piercings with parental consent, but I’d be absolutely fine with it being 18, as well.

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