Day: June 27, 2022

The American Theocracy

Fandango26 Comments

Above is the headline from Slate that appeared on my iPhone’s newsfeed this morning. In yet another move to slowly transition America from a secular democracy to a Christian theocracy, a 6-3 ruling along party lines by the Supreme Court’s conservative justices today has removed foundational, decades-old constitutional limits on religion in public schools.

Today’s decision lowers the bar between church and state in an opinion that will allow more religious expression in public spaces.

Just last week, the Court made it harder for states to decline to fund religious education. In today’s decision, the Court is making it harder for secular schools to keep religion out of extracurricular activities. In the name of defending religious exercise, the Court’s conservative majority has neutered the First Amendment’s reference to the prohibition of a state sanctioning of religion, in this case, Christianity.

And this is hot on the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade after a close to 50 year effort by conservative Christians to force their idea of morality on all Americans.

Welcome to the Divine Republic of America, one nation under God. In God we trust. Praise be.

Share Your World — 06/27/2022

Fandango9 Comments

It’s already the last Monday in June. Can you believe that? But because it’s Monday, it’s time for Melanie’s Share Your World.

What’s your favorite way to spend a day off? If you’re retired, what’s something you now include in your schedule that you dreamed about while employed?

I didn’t really dream about this when I was still working, but now that I’m retired, one of my favorite activities is bike riding, especially now that I have an ebike. Yesterday my wife and I met up with our daughter and her fiancé to go on extended (~30 mile round trip) bike ride. Because we were riding at the shoreline of the San Francisco Bay, it was cool (in the sixties) compared with the 95° temperatures we experienced further east where we live.

Now that Covid isn’t so strictly monitored and folks can go out and about again, are you into after-work happy hours?

As a retiree, going out after work for happy hour is a thing of the past. And truth be told, I rarely went out after-work for happy hour even when I did work.

What physical traits do you share with your relatives? (Example: I have my mother’s nose.)

Both of my parents had blue eyes, and my eyes are blue, so there’s that. I inherited my mother’s dimpled nose and my father’s cleft chin, although with my beard, you can’t see my cleft chin.

How long does it take you to decide if you like someone or not?

I can tell if I like how someone looks almost instantly. But as to their personality, intellect, sense of humor, perspectives, and other non-physical characteristics, that can take a lot longer.


Feel free to share some wisdom you live by.

In addition to “whatever floats your boat,” another boat metaphor I live by is “we’re all in the same boat and there’s no such thing as a hole only in your end of the boat.”

Blogging Insights — Hard Work: Yes or No?

Fandango8 Comments

It’s Monday and Dr. Tanya is back with her weekly Blogging Insights prompt. She provides us with a quote about blogging or writing and asks us to express our opinion about said quote.

This week’s quote is from author Dean Koontz.

“The desire to write well cannot be fulfilled without hard work.”

I have, on more than one occasion, attempted to write a novel and I can attest that, while the desire is there, it is a lot of hard work. I suppose the fact that I have three started novels on my laptop, but none finished, is indicative that, while I have the desire to write a book, I have not dedicated myself to putting in the hard work required to do so.

Blogging is a different story. I’m not a professional writer. My livelihood doesn’t depend upon writing. So not putting in the hard work that Dean Koontz says is required to fulfill a desire to write does not apply to me. Because I love expressing myself “in writing” — and, truth be told, I’m better doing so than I am expressing myself orally — blogging is not hard work. It’s a hobby. It’s a pastime. It’s something I do because I enjoy it. But it’s not hard work.

Still, on my blog, I try to write well, and hope that I write well. But if I ever start to think of blogging as hard work, that’s when I’ll hang up my spurs.

The Letter M

Fandango12 Comments

Deb, over at Nope, Not Pam, has this weekly challenge called A Letter a Week where she gives us a place, an emotion, an adjective, a verb, and an animal all starting with the same letter. Then she asks us to write a post using those items and the letter she has given us, which this week is the letter M.

Here are Deb’s M-words:

Place – Melbourne
Emotion – museum fatigue
Adjective – majestic
Verb – manifest
Animal – macaw

There was a robbery at a museum in Melbourne, Florida, where a colorful sculpture of the majestic macaw was stolen. Detective Morrisey was called to the scene and immediately came to the conclusion that the motive for the theft was museum fatigue.

“Let me explain,” the detective said. “It’s a condition that often manifests itself in long-term museum workers. They experience a feeling of languor, a weariness of body and soul. They often act out by doing something destructive directed at the cause of their malady. So my conjecture is that the culprit is likely a long-term employee of the museum.”

“Museum fatigue?” a surprised director said. “What is that? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“That’s ridiculous,” the museum director argued. “I can’t imagine any of our staff members stealing the macaw. While it’s a piece of art, it’s just painted plaster. Your conjecture, Detective, is rubbish.”

“And you, madam,” Detective Morrisey said, “will soon find that you intransigence on this incident will not serve you well. Based upon my aforementioned conjecture, my partner, Detective Ron Hayden, went to the home of your assistant director, Charles Farrington, who has worked here for twenty-five years, where Detective recovered the stolen macaw.”

Also written for these daily prompts: Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (robbery), The Daily Spur (conclusion), Ragtag Daily Prompt (explain), Your Daily Word Prompt (languor), My Vivid Blog (plaster), and E.M.’s Random Word Prompt (intransigence).

Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #175

Fandango9 Comments

Welcome to Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge. Each week I will be posting a photo I grab off the internet and challenging bloggers to write a flash fiction piece or a poem inspired by the photo. There are no style or word limits.

The image below is from snatti89 at DeviantArt.com.

For the visually challenged writer, the image shows a young woman standing at dusk looking at her smartphone at what may be a train platform. There is a large puddle of water in the foreground reflecting her body, the overhead wires and lights, and the deep reddish-orange color of the sky.

If this week’s image inspires you and you wish to participate, please write your post, use the tag #FFFC, and link back to this post. I hope it will generate some great posts.

Please create a pingback to this post or manually add your link in the comments.