Category: Blogging

It seems that I may have some new eyes visiting the site, so I wanted to take a minute to get into some background that may (or may not) be of interest to new readers. Some of this may be of interest to established readers as well, as there may be some changes coming.

This blog got started more than 20 years ago thanks to a push by Joe Katzman of the missed Winds of Change blog and science fiction author John Ringo (with some assist by David Weber who pushed me a bit as well). It started as an anonymous blog to write about space, space exploration, and space politics. However, I was accidentally outed almost immediately which did cause some issues but I pressed on.

Space politics, along with defense and national security writing, led into more general politics. On some levels, I loathe politics and am not always good at institutional politics as I tend to be bluntly honest more than I should and I’ve not always had the patience I should. My being a sarcastic smartass on occasion is likely to get me killed if I’m not careful. Responding to a typical Captain Obvious with ‘No bleep! Really?!?’ is not always the best approach even if it is therapeutic.

My own political journey is interesting. My Dad raised me to be an independent, and taught me to vote for the person, not the party. My Uncle James (AL National Commander 63) was a Republican who tried to get me to go Republican early but didn’t meet with the success he might have hoped for. Sad to say, I worked very briefly on Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign, which is ironic since I’ve spent time since then trying to clean up some of the messes he made.

My thoughts on communism/socialism (two sides of the same coin), are best left unsaid as they can get the blog suppressed. Part was shaped in elementary school when I met (and had a crush on) a Cubanita who’s father was a political prisoner in Cuba. Started meeting survivors of communism from around the world, and cordially loathed such for most of my life.

For all that I found Thomas Jefferson fascinating, I’m probably more Jacksonian in many respects these days. I used to be what would be described as a ‘classical liberal’ though I’ve always been something of a defense/fiscal conservative. I am a small-l libertarian, though I admit that if I had to pick a fictional universe to live in I would quite probably go with the late (and much missed) L. Neil Smith’s libertarian universe (The Probability Broach universe). Had a great time talking with him at WeaponsCon I, where to be there you had to be carrying one or more weapons openly. That was a fun, enjoyable, and well-behaved science fiction convention and I was honored to be a guest there. Need to raise a glass to him and to Irv tonight.

These days, I choose to describe myself as a cranky individualist and independent. The current progressive democrat party is what it is (socialist/communist), and the Republican side isn’t much better. I’ve been amused watching Trump/Maga take over the republican party and wear it like a skin, and the reactions both within the party and without as people realize what is going on. The times are a changing…

I think the worst president in our history was Woodrow Wilson, who started us on the path of rule by the credentialed elite (technocracy for all intents and purposes), followed by FDR, then the Peanut, with Johnson/Obama/Clinton sorta tied. Waiting to see exactly where I put the Biden Regency, but for now will put the Peanut ahead. All of them make Andrew Johnson, Pierce, etc. seem good. I’m willing to entertain discussion on such, as there are a few darkhorse candidates out there as well and a good case can be made for Franklin Pierce just being mediocre.

My political desires are to see the massive growth of the federal government undone, and a return to the Constitutional Republic as intended. The government that governs least, governs best IMO. Within that, I want maximum individual liberty, which happens to coincide with a central point of my religious beliefs. A man (male or female) can’t make a truly free choice if constrained. It’s why Free Will is such a thing in Christianity, and I think that it also applies to our governance. Which begs a good discussion one day soon to get into how the common definition of “freedom” has changed over the years. One is free to do what is right versus one is free to do whatever one wants.

All that said, there may be some changes here as I grow into a new life. Getting hit by lightning ended my old life, and I have a chance to make a new and better life. I honestly do feel I’m alive for a reason, and trying to figure out what it is I’m supposed to be doing is a matter to which I have been paying some attention. After all, if lightning didn’t get my attention, what might come next?

If my health was better and I was younger, monastic life has some appeal. That said, I don’t see it as a viable thing given age and health. As it is, a semi-monastic routine does work for me, in that right now I do best with structure and routine. I suspect some form of lay ministry could be in my future, which also means I may need to not be as blunt, and sarcastic, as I can be. Patience most definitely is a virtue and I need to practice that as well. I also need to work on my use of invective, though I have been working to reduce it for a while now.

This doesn’t mean some of the word play is going to go away, or that I plan to pull punches in discussing situations. It does mean, however, that I want to be/need to be perhaps a touch more diplomatic. Or at least a little less pugnacious. Then again, not sure where the whole thing about priests and saints being milquetoast came from, as I seem to recall more than one time two (future) saints got into fistfights at some of the early councils, and wasn’t it reported that St. Nicholas punched Arias?

We will see what happens. I do feel that some of my work on disaster and emergency preparedness is something I’m supposed to be doing. It may be I concentrate more on that and some other topics than politics. But, the future is unwritten, and it is up to us to write it. For me, I hope and plan to do a lot more writing, with God’s help and guidance. Meantime, I wanted new readers to have a bit more background on myself and the blog. Discourse is welcome and good, and I value the great comments and discussions so many of you regular readers bring to the site. Let’s keep that going.

Onwards.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. If you want to know some of what it is going for, read here. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

I’m headed out to the Lightning Strike and Electrical Shock Survivors annual meeting, thanks to your help and encouragement. I’m not taking the laptop with me, so probably not a lot of posting until I get back. May have a couple of surprises to share, looking forward to being back in the Knoxville and Pigeon Forge areas.

More soon.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Back in this optimistic post, I mentioned that I was doing some discernment. For those who prayed for such, my fullest thanks! I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and trying to figure out a number of things, including what I am supposed to be doing with my life.

One of the few things I’m sure of right now is that — for now — this blog is supposed to be part of what I am doing. While preparedness seems to be the driving part, some of the other things I write about are important as well. If any of you have thoughts on this, sing out in the comments. One caveat to what is below is that I have always tried to point out things happening here and there that I think are important, and intertwined in ways not readily apparent. I plan to continue that almost no matter what.

On the subject of preparedness, I’ve always tried to push the mental focus as being key. Yes, having x number of y widget is important; but, what is truly important is realizing that things happening on the other side of the world can have an impact here, and that an ounce of preparedness is worth a pound of cure. The better prepared you are mentally and physically (and fiscally too), the less you face disasters and only deal with inconveniences.

And, yes, I’ve been told that if I had true Faith I would not bother with preparedness, as I should trust in God to provide everything in need. That doing and teaching preparedness indicates I don’t trust God. Far from it, and as of now I don’t see that mindset as being scripturally or theologically sound.

In point of fact, there are a number of times where God has pointed out bad things are about to happen and to prepare. Noah being one such most people have heard of… The mindset reminds me a bit of the joke: A man was up on his roof as flood waters approached, and a neighbor driving by stopped and offered him a ride; he declined, saying “God will save me.” Then a National Guard truck came by as the water got even deeper, and again the response was the same. Then a boat came by, and again the response was the same. Finally, a helicopter came by, and the man again refused saying “God will save me.” Shortly after, the house collapsed and the man drowned. Standing before God, he angrily demanded to know why God had not saved him. God replied, “I sent a car, a truck, a boat, and a helicopter, what more did you want me to do?”

I suspect God wants us to be smart enough, independent enough, to look after ourselves in the proper ways, and to have the wisdom to turn to him and let him handle the important things. Sometimes large, and sometimes small, as I’ve seen both in my life.

If you’ve got thoughts on this or on what you would like to see more of, let me know. Keep in mind, however, that my journey in Faith and in the Church may limit time and ability. I’m looking at both what I do within the Church and in some things outside but related. I’m also starting to look at doing a pilgrimage that would take me to visit the Church founded by my patron (name) saint if possible, then on to our mother Church and then down ultimately to Mount Athos for a time. Would love to tour the Holy Lands, but that most likely would be another trip. There has also been some discussion of some possible lay ministry via a cafe/restaurant.

So, again, your thoughts and prayers for discernment are appreciated, as is your thoughts on what I do here. In some ways I write for myself; but, I’m also wanting to write things you want (and like) to read. Sound out.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Still hope to get at least one “real” post up today, but we will see. Meantime, as the room turns, I did manage to get the new grocery cart put together and ready to go. Really like being able to steer!

I also finally sat down and worked through some issues with site and hosting. Thanks to support at said hosting, was finally able to get in and do some critical upgrades, tweaks, and other delights. Even sprang for a paid plug-in upgrade since it was on sale for $30. All should reflect in a better experience for you and for me. Nice to have those issues dealt with.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the day goes. I have some things I need to do, but am unsure if trying to go do them is a good thing. We will see. Onward.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

I want to thank everyone who donated, hit the Wish List, and prayed. The laptop is fixed and I am back in operation. While I can post from the phone, I literally can’t see what I’m typing and while I can get a momentary glimpse if I work hard, it literally is under a second. Much easier and less messy coming in from the laptop.

My goal is to catch back up on things, and respond to previous comments now that I can do so. May take a while, but that is the plan.

No medical tests next week that I know of, but that could change. We are still working to get a day of testing scheduled, and with how things are going I more than halfway expect that I will get one of those fun ‘oh it’s on for tomorrow morning’ calls one afternoon. ENT coming up soon, both for testing that complements the neuro consult and because I’ve been having some vertigo. That got scheduled for election day, so I voted early to be safe. All I can say is that I know how I voted, but I will say I have no confidence in the system (here or anywhere). All the more reason everyone needs to get out and vote.

If anyone can hit the tip jar, please do so. Among other things I would like to pay $100 for the guitar lessons as instead of four lessons I get five when I pay ahead. Not sure yet on truly learning a new skill, as that means getting notes and chords memorized and to the point I don’t have to think about them, but I am having fun. IMO, memorizing the notes and names of the chords is not going well, but I’ve also been told I’m doing okay and not to sweat it by my instructor. It may seriously take a year (or more) to get all the info into long-term memory, but meantime I’m having fun with it and slowly getting better with my playing. Got a ways to go to truly being good, but that just takes practice (and lots of it!).

Also, just got some water purification gear from the Wish List, so Thank You to whoever sent it! It is much appreciated.

There is more to share, but want to wait until next week on some of it. May what is left of your weekend be Blessed!

More soon.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

My laptop apparently took a bump or spill that managed to damage/break the screen. I got it working (sorta, apologies for typos/issues) long enough to get this up. Can’t get it fixed until Wed as I don’t get my stipend until then. Anyone cares to hit the tip jar, much appreciated as estimate is $300 to repair.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Had planned to do a different post today, following up on some previous promises. However, at around 0500 I discovered that the basement where I live had flooded. Worse, the bathroom I really needed to reach was on the other side of the flood (floor slopes down to the center from each end of the house).

Thankfully, I found my waterproof safety boots and made it across. Then, went and got the landlord up. We had a good storm last night (I slept through it) and the emergency pump either didn’t work (my bet) or couldn’t keep up. Going to try to get the landlord to check the pump, will see what happens.

As of right now, the basement is pumped out courtesy of the landlord and a shop vac. Took him a little bit to get it done. I just mopped with an insane amount of bleach in the bucket just in case it wasn’t all storm water. Also, just took my censer out into that area to deal with some of the odor and a few other things (bless this house).

Despite all, did get the bread baked and the muffins cooked too. Have cleaned that up, and am now contemplating doing as little as possible until time for choir practice. I may get back to the planned post, but no promises.

Be good, be safe, and be prepared.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

No, everything is okay here, but it is an important topic. I’ve been blessed to have had access to an amazing Hospice organization for both my parents. Having their help and support made a very difficult time much easier, including on levels I didn’t fully appreciate at the time.

There is a new blog/substack out from a Hospice nurse called Life During Death. Please allow me to commend it, and the discussions therein to you. There is already a lot of hard-learned and much needed food for thought there. Yes, the topic is one that can make many shudder or want to turn away, but it is important. Don’t turn away, and use it to have some conversations that are needed with family and friends. Much better that way.

This weekend, I made a mistake on Twitter and want to not only own up to it, but examine how it happened and try to make up for it a small bit. It involved the now infamous viral video of an HOA Karen (biological male, HOA president living up to your expectations/stereotypes) who may or may not have been drinking, was a complete douche, and who snapped a teenager’s fishing pole (expensive) over its knee.

The abuse of authority, especially against minors, is one of those things that sets me off. I dug into the story, especially as it involved Knoxville, TN — as I used to live there and have a few fond memories of the town and a certain academic institution located there. Others had done the same, and Karen was quickly identified as one Matt Webster, who is a member of a Church and takes part in a Haiti relief operation that is affiliated with the Church. There were photos of him, and they matched the video.

Someone else identified him as working for United Community Bank in Knoxville. Now, this was from a different source and while they seemed to have some credibility with the party who had done the initial detective work, I did try to check their work before accepting it. Couple of problems came up.

First, UCBI had scrubbed the personal page, which is not a good sign of innocence. Worse yet, it appeared one or more notes had been posted on it before being wiped, one of which appeared to be to the effect that what people did in off hours was not the business of the bank. Again, seeing that something had been posted that appeared to indicate it was the person then was part of the wipe was not a good sign. If you are doing coms, keep in mind that such ghost pages can and do show up for a bit even after you wipe them.

Second, I had limited my search in regards this Matt Webster to Knoxville, trying to eliminate false returns. Net result, I missed an article in a Nashville journal that had a photo that clearly did not match the video and other photos of Karen Webster. Had I seen it, I would have known the info was not correct. In the absence of such, and in the absence of a photo on the corporate website (which deleted page apparently had a photo that could have prevented much grief), I decided to go with the information.

Net result, I screwed up. I have deleted the tweet and posted both a mea culpa and an apology. I want to do so here as well. I also would like to offer a couple of suggestions to the “good” Matt Webster and UCBI.

Crisis communications is not easy, even with prior planning. Management seldom wants to invest time or money in such, though they should. Having done a bit of it over the decades, here are a couple of suggestions for UCBI.

First, always plan for a crisis and the way to bet is that such will come up on a holiday or during a time key people are not available. Seems to be some variant of Murphy’s Law. In a case like this, a good response is to remove all contact info while putting up a banner to the effect that this is not the person in the video, acknowledge that the video is disturbing, and that the bank shares the concerns of the public even though it is not involved. From experience, legal may object to such, but I will note that if you go with what legal recommends and only what legal recommends, you will get corn cobbed every time. It’s a balancing act but such a banner gets across: it’s not your person, your bank is not involved, people have the wrong person, and, you share the disgust at what happened. Not perfect, some will ignore, but it gets the basic information out and sets the stage to do more later at need. Internally, you change the coms for the person involved, shield them as much as possible, and work to help them weather the storm. There are arguments for and against doing a generic reply to emails, but my own take is that a generic reply emphasizing wrong person, wrong institution, not involved, and shares community concerns over the video helps reinforce other messaging Ignore the most vitriolic, but forward them to security for safekeeping against future need or turning them over to law enforcement as needed.

For Matt Webster, I recommend using humor (though you might not be feeling it right now) and flipping things on a tangent to your (and UCBI’s) advantage. First thing, reach out to the kids in the video and their parents. Not to complain, but to check on them, how they are doing, ask if the pole has been replaced and if there is anything you can do. Not all Matt Webster’s are like Karen Webster and while you share the same name you are thankful you are not that person. Keep it light, focus on them, and consider offering expertise and help with what is going on, that while monetization of content and such is not your area, glad to provide introductions to those who are, etc. Focus on them. Do not publicize that you have reached out, leave that up to them. You should note it made your weekend most interesting, and can only imagine what it has been like for them.

Once that is done, consider a video of your own at UCBI. Again, keep it light as humor works well with American audiences. Do something short emphasizing you look nothing like Karen, clearly you are younger, more handsome, and a professional. Maybe say something about internet supersleuths getting it wrong (with an eye roll or such) and noting that while HOA rules are not your thing, X, Y, and Z are and you look forward to providing that knowledge and service to the members of the community. Recommend not mentioning Karen by full name, rather, something like “that other fellow” instead. Again, this approach works well with American audiences, and can be a good start to a larger professional campaign.

As for me, I am sorry for the mistake, and apologize for spreading the false information. I hope this helps explain how it happened, and provides some suggestions that may help deal with the situation.