just Bob

let's see. i was born at St. Alban's naval hospital in Queens, NY. since until i was 10 my father was in the army(spec. 6 or 7 i think) we moved quite often. St. Louis, El Paso(twice), Seatle, some where in California, Germany and of coarse NY. After his discharge we settled in Brentwood, LI. when i was in 8th grade we moved to upstate NY were i finished high school, married( at 17, 2 weeks before graduation). i was granted permission to pursue my degree independently of any particular NY. college or university by the NY. state board of regents. after 3 months in this pursuit my oldest was born and i quit and went to work to support my family. became a blacksmith(no, i did not shoe horses). as a member of a community of artists, craftsmen an inventors i chased knowledge where ever i could. hmm...2 more children, divorce after 9 years, gold and silver repair for Jostens in Santa Barbara and some other jobs while creating useful objects as well as art in my own shop. married again for 16 years, kids finished high school(i was granted custody when the kids were 11, 4 and 3) did some sculpture for a famous cellist, the Robert E. Lee museum and the local Masonic Temple among others. fast forward to 1992 and the news of MS. move to Fla after divorce in 1999 and set up shop under a tarp, trained a helper and started selling ironwork in Mt. Dora outside Orlando(yes, in my wheel chair). after 5 years i moved back to upstate NY. (heat and humidity, sand, bugs, gators and snakes beat me up). maybe the time line is a little off. and here i am, 2006.

now can we move on?(SADDAM IS GONE, so?)

this is not about him. it's about us. all of us. soon i hope the flurry of comments will fade into history. we have more pressing things to get to. what are we to do with our power to shape the future? learn from the past, yes. dwell on it , no. yesterday is beyond our power to change it. but the future is ours to create. let's hope we have the vision and wisdom not to repeat all of our mistakes. let's also hope for good ideas to manifest the full potential of humans to do the right thing, not just act in a limited self interest. power to the people...

age fatigue

well I'm 52 with a 34 year old daughter, a 28 year old daughter and a 26 year old son and i feel it. i did not foresee the day when those that love me would call me a geezer, but that time has come. as the de facto leader of this small group of humans, it was my job to show them the way thru the woods of life(and where the bear leaves a sign..lol). i realized, as my parents must have, that i could not make them follow but only lead. i hope they can read the signs i left for them along the way. i can't go back and do it again so let's hope i did it right. semper fi...

judges

should judges say what a law is or what they think it is? is judicial independence the same as no judicial oversight or judicial autonomy?

recources on resources

while skimming thru some articles on the earth, i came upon a very scary statistic. it seems the earth takes a year to create what we humans now consume in 10 months. and as time goes by and the population grows this dilemma will only get worse. consumption and pollution must be addressed to save our home. although in the past the quest for wealth paid little heed to the future, we now find ourselves the beneficiaries of this selfish kind of view. now it is us, and our children, that will pay the ultimate price of such folly. 35 years ago some of us sounded the warning but little has been accomplished. yes a few laws and practices try to deal with the ever growing reality of overuse and waste as well as pollution, but these are inadequate and subverted at every turn. wake up people and stand up to those that prosper at our futures risk. one would think the top beneficiaries of this kind of self destructive system plan on God to protect them or they plan to leave the planet when it is no longer safe to live here. can we come too?

blog, pain and emotional agony

after some time blogging i have reached the point that i just don't have the poop. i invest way too much of myself with a world that can just shut me out without a care. as one that has always cared, i do not understand how this could be. i know i am not perfect and make many mistakes, especially when talking into nowhere. it hurts me deeply when someone thinks ill of me because of something i said or did. i do notice when the amount of feedback i get declines on a blog that was very active when i arrived. i am not a troll, a secret employee involved in selling anything or anything that is hidden. I'm just Bob. that has always seemed to be the greatest of compliments because it showed peoples trust. not that i never make mistakes but that i always give my best, which is usually pretty good. so to protect myself and heal, i think it best that i stay here and write for awhile. this is not a comment on others, just on me. I'll go back to blogging when i feel i can. after all i am just Bob.

Gerald Ford

like so many people that were politically active in the 60' and 70's, emotions were raw and bleeding. i really wanted Nixon to do hard time. Spiro was making known the term" nolo contend re" as we so called revolutionaries licked our chops as well as our wounds. i turned 18 in 1972 and voted. we thought getting Nixon would finish our quest. when Ford pardoned him a shiver of fear went up my spine. were we going to have to retreat? thru the lens of time i join all those that applaud his courage under unbelievable fire...

time tech and the law (of physics)

while having a talk with some friends the other day, the subject of time travel came up. there were many theories and opinions. they involved all kinds of scientific principals. speed of light, Einstein's theory, the make up of the quantum foam, the effects of gravity on the time/space thingy. it seemed that all of us thought time travel was a worthwhile pursuit. then i brought up the question of what time would be like if any or all of us could surf thru time at will. could we resist trying to make changes? this seemed like a desirable opportunity to correct our mistakes. but what of the unforeseen? since it is hard enough to see all the effects of our actions now, what horrors could we unleash if we could change the past? then like a bolt of lightning a pivotal question came to me. what would happen to time if indeed we could go back in time and make changes? if we changed an outcome to benefit someone, would not their enemy go back even farther and negate it. can you imagine a bunch of us selfish humans running amok in time? whoa!!!! maybe there are some things we best not figure out. don'tcha think.... or don'tcha???

law v. people

it seems there will always be conflict as long as we think that it is OK. i don't mean conflict because of mistakes or misunderstandings. i refer to a dog eat dog world that accepts cheating and subversion as good business. all one has to do is take note of the volume of court cases that involve copyright or patents. it is very difficult for me to not think that these involve very smart and knowledgeable people that are just trying to cheat the system. although i do believe that we need a system that protects our property and our right to prosper from it, i have trouble with a system that focuses on who gets the control of economic benefit rather than the quality of creation. i guess the best way to close this out is to use the words of another. John Lennon said "you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one...i hope some day you'll join us, and the world can live as one" and"imagine all the people sharing all the world"

missteps

one of the downsides to the digital world may be in the area of our ability to shut anyone out of our world for any reason with no need to listen to their explanation or apology. this can happen in the world outside the net, but it seems much more prevalent in this one. a simple click can shut someone down. a little like sticking ones fingers in ones ears and humming. we have the right to listen to those we chose or not to. what i am talking about is the chance that we should have given someone our respect and alowed comment before we made up our mind. in a court of law we can rebut, but on the web we have no such right. only the willingness of the other party. usually it is evident quickly if one is sincere.
in the world of economics, the fight between etheopia and starbucks is an interesting case. what responsability do the big boys have? who will really gain if the verdict goes against starbucks?

tech

i have found an incredible number of people and blogs. most are legit on the surface but some contain disguised access to my computer. i hope those among us that find this kind of thing tell others. only by using the communication that the net gives us can we hope to negate and expose this abuse of our freedom. technology must not be feared but its uses must be watched closely. and to those that perpatrate these kinds of abuses, be warned "we are watching and will retaliate." the benifits will pale in contrast to the penalties when you are caught. i know there will always be those that seek to cheat thier way to wealth but we who are honest can thwart most.

people

i have met and known many people in my life so far. thousands i would imagine. all walks of life. from intellectual and well to do,to outlaw motorcycle clubs in California, granola people in rural NY, city people, small town people, old ones, young ones and many more. most were great, some were not. living outside the box has let me see clearly what goes on inside it. one of the things that makes me the maddest is when someone in a position of advantage thinks that they are better than most. yes, arrogance. useless, wrong and unnecessary. on the net i have found the traits of humans seem to expand. i once read in a book on new age physics something that spoke of the union (or reunion) of these traits. the mental,spiritual and physical"someday when we walk we'll float and light will pour from our eyes"

greetings

moving around the net has opened my mind to the vastness of thought that the world contains. no more do i exist in a sheltered world of my own design. the universe is much more complex and random. not to allow all input and then decide on the truth would severely limit the validity of my own thoughts as well as do an injustice to all that think. so please feel free to comment and i will think hard and fairly and then respond. i make this pledge before i know the volume i must deal with so cut me a little slack, OK?
my task now is to determine if one can learn in a scholarly way outside a formal university. the first area i must examine is writing and composition. any thoughts?

this is a new blog. give me a little time to get it right