Senator Fehrenbox

No need to be a presidential candidate to do a fact check on those around you - just listen...

What percent of people's statements are false?

In speaking with a new found friend regarding a very important topic, I was concerned when the information brought to the table on their behalf was, in fact, not true. How long had this opinion been developing, mind scheming, frustrations building - over something inaccurate? So naturally, I quickly corrected the fallacy and start in on the lecture against letting other people determine your opinions. And in my moment of haste I was mercilessly humbled. How many tales have I told? How many truths did I stretch? How many 'close enoughs' did I share with others and cause them to walk away fancied by a fib?

Frank McCourt says it plainly - "you have to study and learn so that you can make up your own mind about history and everything else but you can’t make up an empty mind. Stock your mind. You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace."

Vote for Senator Fehrenbox - for a fallaciously free world.

Plodding Pandora

M-i-ss-i-ss-i-pp-i.
This great state we learned to spell so many years ago presents us today with a perplexing paradox:

#1 Lowest per capita income
#1 Highest charitable donations per capita

Why is it that the poorest people give the most?

In an attempt to sort out this contradiction, one suggested it is because they themselves experience the need for charity and therefore understand its necessity, resulting in their monetary support.
This spun a web of thoughts...

As middle class citizens if we do not eat three healthy meals a day, it is our own fault. We drive our cars to work, consume ourselves with topics of choice, watch our entertaining television shows, and sleep in our warm beds. In our daily lives we may not experience hunger, abuse, third trimester abortions, child trafficking, mental illness, loneliness... we may even ignore it.
To the homeless on the street we say,

"they should get a job, i worked hard for my money".

To the lives lost at abortion clinics we say,

"i would never do something like that".

To those who have no one to share Christmas with we say,

"I have two families to see and a turkey to cook, I can't possibly spare 30 minutes".

Perhaps our greatest fault is we are afraid to open Pandora's box. We are afraid to see what evils are in this world. Because if we don't see them, they may not exist. If they do exist, we may be responsible to do something about it - how can we truly live knowing that others suffer injustices.

If we were exposed to those same injustices, would we respond similarly as our fellow Mississippians?


...maybe Pandora was on to something

A Love/Hate Relationship

Winter.
For those who have justly experienced Madison, you will recognize the snow-smothered terrace tables overlooking lake Mendota.

For some this picture brings anxiety and fear. For others, relief; they do not have to de-ice the car, bundle the face, or chapstick the lips.

And yet for others in mind, it brings excitement and joy and a world of activities the summer just cannot offer. Such as kite flying on a frozen lake, snow shoeing, cross country skiing, chili cook-offs, ice fishing, tea in front of a fire...

I have found no middle ground. People either love the winter, or hate it.
Are you in a love or hate relationship?

Those who experience both extremes within the season are perhaps distracted at first. The beautiful first fallen snow, the 4WD adventures, the stimulation of a new season, the anticipation of holidays the snow brings with it. Does this love endure? Or do the countless car-thaws, ice falls, wind-chills below zero, and frozen gasoline tanks turn us quickly into the greenest grinch?