Free Speech, Mothers Day, Red Rocks, Cover Bands, Biased Truths

“Free Speech includes the right not to agree, not to listen, and not to finance one's antagonists.” - Ayn Rand.

Happy Sunday, you beautiful, beautiful people. How are you? How did you sleep, we got 9 hours of delicious sleep, and we are heading over to our daughters to celebrate Mother’s Day.  Speaking of Mothers, Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom, my wife, the mother of my children, my mother-in-law, my daughter-in-law, my daughter, and all the women that choose to birth a child; motherhood is a superpower and a miracle.

We had a great day yesterday; we took PVHT for a long walk and bought some bread at our local bread shop, Amelia’s. We headed down to the Ale Emporium for lunch and picked up some food for our kid. We headed over to see Bo, our kid took a shower, and we all went on a walk with their pup Griffey.  We headed to the grocery store, and my wife bought supplies and came home and cooked while I watched the preliminary rounds of the UFC.  We wrapped up Ozark, and I think that, along with Breaking Bad, might be some of the best long-form T.V. shows ever made.  

As I type these words, my pup is ripping into a new bone we bought her; we introduced green beans to her last night; she loves them. Her diet is kibble, rotisserie chicken, and green beans. She’s spoiled and healthy. I suspect we will go for a walk this morning and then head south.  My wife is still sleeping; it’s quiet here; the only sound is the refrigerator, my dog’s constant chewing, and our ice machine making ice. Now and then, Joleen will chime in with a “Marwaha,” her favorite word.

They are talking about going after Russia for war crimes. I think going after the country that started a worldwide pandemic might be another news talking point but try and find any article about a world response to China. Ask yourself why?  There are a lot of questions that should be asked but are not being asked. Where is that ministry of truth when you need it?

As we drove home, we listened to NPR, which claimed that striking down Roe would make all abortions illegal. That is not the case, it’s a lie, and I call on our new Ministry of Truth to help shed light on the potential Supreme Court Decision. I’m not a legal scholar, but my understanding is that if and when Roe is struck down, it will fall back to the states to decide how they want to manage the issue of killing babies. Some claim most people support abortion rights, but they also fail to indicate that most think it should happen in the first trimester.

Free speech is a big deal these days, I agree anyone can say anything, and then it is up to each individual to do their research and check the validity of each claim. Some people watch the news and believe everything they hear; we call these people sheep. I’m starting a new group called the Shepard’s of Truth, where I will take a news item and break down the factual and misleading points.  

 There is already a Shepard of Truth called Ground News, and it ranks each news story on its bias. Every article has a tendency; it’s interesting to read a left, right, and center version of the same level. Ground News is an app that every human should have on their device, and as news breaks, you should do a little work to find out the way, truth, and light.

I just pulled up the app, and there is an article titled “Pandemic pushes Oregon’s public defender system to the brink.”  If you click on the article, a link shows the source marked “center.” If you scroll down, most stories about this issue are left and center, and very few “right” new sources report this issue. If you continue to scroll, you can read the article deemed most centered, a long-form piece with more data, a recommendation based on my reading habits, another one considered high factuality, and finally, an article from my blind spot, a view from a different political viewpoint.

My wife is up, the dog has been fed, and she’s outside chatting with our neighbor’s dog. My wife is buying tickets for our Red Rocks season. Yesterday we picked up Black Crowes, Brit Floyd, Killer Queen, and a Led Zeppelin Cover Band. Don’t miss the cover bands at Red Rocks; sometimes, they are better than the original act.  I would rather watch a KISS cover band today than see the band currently touring for their end of the road their tenth “final tour.” At 70 years old, the members are just going through the motions filling their treasure chests and giving fans one more memorable event to share with their kids and grandkids that they saw the most incredible show on earth. There is a KISS cover band called Mr. Speed out of Ohio that I’ve seen and can say they do KISS better than KISS does KISS.

I got a call from my friend Jim, and he reminded me that he was the one that renamed Anson from Andy. I have not shared this, but he’s not alone. My wife also claims that she was the reason I evolved to Anson from Andy. My first memory of someone telling me I was not Andy, but I was Anson was Dr. Neuman Williams at Ball State. He said, “There are many Andy’s, but few Anson’s, so be Anson.” So, Jim, there you go, the credit you deserve with a little more back story. Speaking of Jim, my wife is texting his wife to see if they will be joining us at Nathanial Ratliff and the Night Sweats in August.

Well, that’s the Mother’s Day version of my word soup. I hope you liked it; if not, I’m sorry; I never mean to trigger anyone; I empty my mind and let the facts fall where they may. I am biased, and I think every human has their bias, but I also believe there are certain core truths that we have to agree on to have a civil society. If you think men can be women and women can be men, you and I will disagree, but I can respect your opinion. I will encourage you the ability to say anything you like and thank you for allowing me to tell my biased truth.

“Free Speech includes the right not to agree, not to listen, and not to finance one's antagonists.” - Ayn Rand.