MikesThoughts

Before I get into this post a bit of my background.  I was born in Huntington West Virginia in 1952 and have lived in the state most of my entire life.  As a youth my father was an insurance salesman and my mother worked at Owens Illinois Glass Plant.  I remember that out family was close net and our neighbors watched out after each other.  It was a time of the nuclear family. A Peyton Place type of community where Sundays was time to attend church and then the strong sent of charcoal burring in the air as everyone seemed to be grilling out at the same time.  A time when families set down to dinner together at a set time and then retired to the living room to watch the Wonderful World of Disney on TV.  A typical middle working class family. Somewhere along the way things started to change. I remember Owens Illinois closing.  Then ACF "American Car and Foundry" closed.  Then the C&O shops closed.  The jobs were leaving and there was not ...

Now I am all about efficiency and the reduction of government waist.  But radical over the top changes is like asking a blind person to help you touch up your makeup.  Donald Trump is suggesting the combining, or even privatizing some of the executive branch offices.  First lets look at the list of executive offices. State Justice Justice Interior Agriculture Commerce Labor Defense Health and Human Services Housing and Urban Development Transportation Energy Education Veterans Affairs Homeland Security So which of these departments could you imagine being combined or privatized? Reference. The Presidential Executive Order on a Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/13/presidential-executive-order-comprehensive-plan-reorganizing-executive . 

Donald Trump apparently gets his security briefings from watching TV and reading right-wing reports off the internet.  Donald Trump tweets the following on March 4th, 2017 at 6:35am.  the following. "Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!" "Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW! "   "I'd bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election!"  "How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!"  These tweets set off a firestorm with the media and within the government.  The question that first arose was "Where are the facts that support this ...

Today one of my Facebook followers brought to my attention that West Virginia state senator Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, wants to get a resolution though the state senate in regards to the apparent epidemic of men watching porn and the related health crises this is causing.  Now here is how my mind works.  My first thought was where did this research come from?  Who knew it was an epidemic and then I thought why?  Well lets first look at her claims and they may be true, I have no personal knowledge of such things.   She says "pornography viewership ultimately damages families and children, can cause depression, psychological issues and self-esteem issues, and leads to the objectification of women and domestic violence."  She goes on to say that pornography is equal to the opioid crisis in West Virginia.  Really?  Well I would love to know where her research comes from?  There must be a lot of surveillance going on to ju...

Without a single shot being fired Donald Trump went to war with Mexico.  Now I realize no tanks or armaments have been used and we have not started deploying troops to our neighbor south of the US.  But we are at war just the same.  What is war?  Tony Benn describes it best. “All war represents a failure of diplomacy.” and Donald Trump has no prior experience in foreign relations or diplomacy.  And to make things worse he has not surrounded himself with people with experience in these areas.  So the result is a failure in diplomacy with Mexico.  He made no effort or as he would put it "Negotiate the deal" with Enrique Peña Nieto the president of Mexico.  But instead started by making the following remarks.  I am quoting here his exact words. * Donald Trump kicked off his campaign on June 16, 2015 with a speech in which he labeled immigrants from Mexico "rapists" and criminals...

On the issue of Donald Trump making the claim that President Obama wire taped his phones in Trump Tower during the election season.  When the president makes such a claim things happen.  When the president speaks he is speaking for the highest office in the land.  And he is speaking for the country. So if it is not true this could result into something very serious because Congress has started an investigation as a result of Donald Trumps tweets.  This cost resources and a lot of tax payers money.  But Donald Trump is not a seasoned politician and is now learning on the job that when he tweets or says something as president things happen.  And if it is determined that Donald Trump did make these unsubstantiated claims he has violated the trust of the office.  That would lead to his impeachment under Article 25 of the constitution.  "4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or...

There is a growing number of republican law makers on the hill who are saying that the repeal and replace of Obama care is looking more and more like Obama Care Lite (ACA).  But for me I think most of America is missing some critical points.  First, a part of the new affordable care act is about tax credits to help Americans afford insurance.  Here is how I think that works.  You pay higher premiums for your health insurance and when you file your taxes you get some of that back in the form of tax credits.  So is that not subsidizing the insurance industry?  And what keeps the insurance industry from simply increasing premium cost?  How does the average working class American afford to pay even more for insurance monthly and then have to wait till tax season to get some of that back?  For me that just seems hard to accomplish when most hard working families are living from pay check to pay check with little or no extra money to pay for increase ...

I have decided to start posting my thoughts about the state of our planet, our country and our future here on my blog.  That way they can be read by those who have an interest and skipped by those who have no interest.   Me writing about my feelings is mostly self serving and therapy.   I am a democrat.  Mainly because I believe like most democrats.  We share many of the same views.  But I also welcome self proclaimed independents and republican thoughts and views.  We may not agree but I do read the post and support your right to disagree with me. So lets just get to right into todays news.  Today the RNC "Republican" party finally released what would be considered a pre-release of there replacement to the ACA "Affordable Care Act"  Or as it is known Obama Care.  President Obama all during his administration kept telling the RNC if you have a better plan or you want...

Has it really been three years since I last posted? I feel like life really does fly bye. Am I really turning 60 years old next month. In some ways a very short time and in others a very long time. I am facing the idea of retirement. So many questions and such a big decision. The idea of going where I want and living life on my time table instead of the time table of a full time job is appealing. But I really hate not having enough money to take care of me and my daughter and grand-kids. So I have to make hard decisions. The job is a great job that I work at. That makes the decision even harder. Well, I must take some time alone and do some serious soul searching and financial planning. I also have been feeling very lonely for female companionship lately. Most of the time it really does not bother me as I am very busy with life and responsibilities. But then I slow down and realize that something is missing. It is a combination of a lot of emotions, feeling...

Feeling the need to write again. Each time I slow down a bit in my incredibly busy life I want to reflect and take a breath. I have been reading Joe Mcnally's blog and thinking not only is this man a killer photographer but also a master writer. "I am not worthy, master!" I am in the land of pink houses and palm trees this week. Just returned from the airport where I took my good friend to catch a flight back to reality. Back at the apartment the grand-kids are sound asleep in there little beds. There is something so comforting just feeling there presents and knowing all is well with them. I so enjoy my time with them but must admit that it is self inflicted pain as I know I will once again have to leave them and return home. I want to get out and take some pictures today. Should be a perfect day for it. Nothing real important on the agenda for the day. Vanessa is growing up so fast and quickly moving from the little giggly kid that I helped raise to a wonderful...

So much going on in my life do not know where to start. I have come to the realization that life is full of stages. As much as we resist we change. Things that were so important to us become a past chapter in our life. We turn the page and start moving through the next chapter without giving the past chapters a second thought. At my age I realize that health is high on my list. Every day that you are not sick or something does not hurt that is a great day. Remember when you could not wait to go to the amusement park and now when you go you can not wait to leave. That is what I mean about change. Music is another good example of change. When I was young I enjoyed heavy rock. Loud hard driven music. Then country and folk rock. And then came jazz and then enjoyment of the talents and mixes. So now I am starting to learn about Alternative music. Not sure what that means but I know it is part of change. I also find myself starting to think a lot about the past. My life and w...

Vanessa and Papaw Big Adventure (New York and Washington DC) Vanessa, still asleep and it is 10:00am but I am going to let her sleep in. We arrived in Washington DC last night on Amtrack about 9:00pm and took the metro from the train station over to Alexandra VA. We took the (Blue Line), not the Red line but it could have just as easily been us in the big commuter crash in Washington. Life is timing. But when we got into the station in Alexandria it was about 10:30pm. We called the hotel and the desk clerk said the driver is off at 10:00. I ask how far it was to the hotel and he said just a couple of blocks. So we set off walking. But totally lost. No problem right? I have my handy dandy new GPS. So I pull it out and the battery is completely dead. It is dark, we are tired and totally lost. So we see a tow truck driver dropping off a car and I ask him where the hotel is. His answer was the same as the desk clerk, it is at the top of the hill. He also added that we should ...

Sometimes things go as expected but if they do not then things get really interesting. My new friend and great photographer Mark Velasquez visited with me on his tour of America. This was set up months ago and I was so surprised and pleased that he decided to take me up on my offer to visit me in West Virginia. One of our stops was to my cabin in Canaan Valley. The shot above was one of our photo ops where we were taking pictures of the great views from Dolly Sods. The area is about 4000 feet above sea level and I had just a few days earlier purchased a portable GPS. The real purpose was to take it with me on my upcoming trip to New York and Washington DC. Since I was going to be walking around quite a bit I wanted a GPS to keep from getting lost. Well, Mark had climbed out on the rocks to get a shot of the mountains below. I had in mind that I wanted to try to capture a panorama shot so I also thew safety to the wend and made my way across treacherous rocks to the summat where Mark ...

Local Muti-screen theaters bites the dust. Many years ago I went on a regular basis to Carmike Cinema Theaters at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville West Virginia. Since I lived close by it was just the thing to do. But I always missed the old theaters down town. There was something about the charm and the smells and it just seemed more like a movie theater to me. Also maybe because I use to live in the west end of Huntington West Virginia and would walk the railroad tracks to town to go to the movies on Saturdays. But Carmike Movie Theaters started changing. The cost of treats at the snack bar started to go out of sight. So high that you would rarely find anyone in the snack bar area before the movies. Then they did something that caused me to boycott them forever. They started showing commercials. Not previews or the short promotion for there snack bar but full national commercials for clothing and cars and such. And not just one or two but 30 minutes of them. If the mov...

So Lets Do the Movie Numbers.... Warning, this is another one of my rants so read on if you dare. Tonight I took the very rare opportunity to take in a movie. I say rare since over the past year family obligations have left little time for such activities. But I was in the mood and decided to go see Will Smith in "I am Legend" First let me say that the movie was not bad and the effects were nice but it just seemed to me that I have seen this story before. Come on does someone remember the movie where a scientist crashes in a helicopter and injects himself with an antivirus. Then he holds up in a fortified house in New York. I also seem to think those zombies only came out at night. I just keep saying -- I have seen this story before. OK, so that is enough of the movie review. Let me get back to the rant while it is still fresh in my mind. The movie had just come out and it was Saturday Night in Huntington West Virginia. So where do you expect everyone to be. At the...

Christmas Looms around the corner like a dark dragon. Its that special season again were everything seems to hit a once. It is no wonder that the suicide rate is the highest during the Christmas Season. It is the time of the year when the Cold and Flu Virus are at there peak. When the sun has reached it soltrus and is the lowest on the horizon and you come to work and drive home in the dark. At this time of year you start to notice that all the green has disappeared from the hills and have been replaced with drab colors of brown. The sky turns a slate gray and it either rains or snows almost every day. The times when it is sunny the temperature drops to bone chilling cold. Also with everyone going more places that usual and this combined with weather related road hazards the accident rates climb to new heights. And the reality of the season is we spend money we do not have on gifts that are forgotten two days after Christmas. With all the time and effort putting up ...

Christmas Photo Club Banquet Last night was a big night for me. I was officially sworn in as President of the Ohio Valley Camera Club. This is a real honor since this coming year the club turns 50 years old. The banquet went over great with the membership and was held at Twin Silos Golf Club. The dinner was Prime Rib, Vegetable Melody, Corn, Baked Potato, Assorted Deserts, and Tea and Coffee . The cost to the membership was only 23.00 per member. Since it went so well the membership requested that next years banquet be held at the same place. Since I was putting the event together one of my tasks was to write and to give the prayer before the dinner. I wanted to write something that was photography related and I wanted to try to keep the prayer seasonal. So here is what I came up with. Photo Club Banquet Prayer Dear Heavenly Father we would like to thank you for this wonderful evening and would also like to thank you for beauty in this world that you have created for use to enjoy a...

Women - Trying to figure them out. You would think at my age I would have figured out something about why the opposite sex act and do what they do. So here are some generalized observations for consideration. Most women that are on On-Line dating all say the same thing. "I am looking for a man who would be good to me, treat me like a lady, and be faithful and a loving partner." They all go on to say "I enjoy taking long walks, travel, setting at home curled up with my man and a good movie" OK girls does that sound familiar? Well it should if you ever looked at the on line dating profiles. So if that is true then how come women seem to go out with, fall for and hook up with men who are jerks, have tattoos, and could care less about there partner after the score. Women continue to say, "I am not looking for a one night stand and I am not interested in players. I want someone who is truthful and honest" My answer to this is hogwash. What I find is women...

Life's a journey... It has been over a year since my last post and I have felt compelled to start posting some of my thoughts again. In some ways this is good therapy. This post is an attempt to catch up on my life's events over the past year and to try to assure myself that my decisions to take a path makes some since. There is three large events that have influence, molded, and changed my life in the past year that stand out. The first and largest event is making the decision to help my daughter move to Florida and to find her way in life. April and her two daughters have lived with me for the biggest part of the past five years. Prior to my divorce she lived with Sharon (my now X wife) and me. At that time she just had Vanessa (who is now 10 years old). During the time April, Sharon, Vanessa, and myself was living under one roof it was turbulent times. Sharon and April never got along. There is a long history behind that but I will hold that story for another post. ...

Still Stuck on this planet. Rescue ship not due for another six months. Ok, it has been a very long time since I updated my blog and so much has happened I do not know were to start. First the new house is almost complete and I am living in it. It has been a tremendous amount of work. I can see why building your one home can cause marriages to break up, people to go bankrupt, and others find tall buildings to jump from. But I went into the project knowing and expecting all of this. The funny thing is when you expect the worse it never seems to be all that bad. But would I do it again? Not on your life. It was a great journey but now that I am at the end I have no interest in starting that trip again. Rekindled Interest!!! Many years ago I was a professional photographer. Or at least I made my living with a camera, selling the illusions. And people did pay me for my photography and my vision. So I guess that made me a professional. At some point I decided that there was just not suffici...