one-word prompt

Fandango’s Flashback Friday — September 16th

Fandango19 Comments

Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Friday Flashback post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 16th) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on September 16, 2017.

Faith Versus Reason

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My blogging buddy, Jim, wrote a fascinating post today entitled “Why is it So Hard to Believe in God.” In addition to being a provocative post, he managed to get in the WordPress one-word prompt, “recreate,” when he wrote, “We cannot recreate the Big Bang, so we may never understand all of this, but we can believe that we do exist.” Well done, Jim.

In response to one of the comments on his post, Jim wrote, “I believe in logic and God makes sense to me….” I found that notion to be particularly interesting. I believe in logic, reason, and rationality, and it’s because of embracing those things that God makes no sense to me.

For purposes of this post, I’m going to consider “logic” and “reason” to be synonymous, although technically they aren’t. Reason is the capacity for consciously making sense of things, applying logic, establishing and verifying facts, and changing or justifying practices, institutions, and beliefs based on new or existing information.

That said, logic (or reason) is the antithesis of faith. It takes tremendous faith to believe that an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, supernatural being created everything that exists.

So the question I have for Jim, or for anyone who cares to weigh in is this. When it comes to belief in God, can logic and reason support that belief, or must one suspend logical and rational thought in favor of pure faith to believe in the existence of God as the creator of all things?

Please feel free to share your thoughts (or beliefs).

Fandango’s Flashback Friday — March 4th

Fandango10 Comments

Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Friday Flashback post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 4th) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on March 4, 2018.

Another Trump Quote of the Day

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“He’s now president for life, president for life. And he’s great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday.”

Donald Trump has already revealed that he will be running for re-election in 2020, making clear that he is planning to cling to power for the maximum eight years. But why limit his reign to just two terms?

After hearing that the ruling Communist Party in China announced that leader Xi Jinping was eliminating the two-term limit for presidency, meaning he could rule indefinitely, Trump told Republican donors at a luncheon at Mar-a-Lago yesterday that he thought that was great and actually suggested that we, in the U.S., will have to “give that a shot someday.”

Sure, his surrogates, including his despicable press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, will claim that he was just making a joke. But here’s a man who still denies that Russia meddled in the 2016 elections and is doing nothing to protect against further Russian meddling in this fall’s midterm elections.

He has refused to place additional sanctions on Russia even though those sanctions were overwhelmingly passed by Congress. He has his head so far up Vladimir Putin’s butt that he will never say even one negative word about the Russian dictator.

He is breaking all political and social norms, wants his political adversaries to be investigated by “his” Department of Justice, denigrates the FBI, and has given enormous political powers and influence to his daughter and corrupt son-in-law, even though neither can earn a top secret clearance from “his” FBI.

How much clearer can it be that Donald Trump and his Republican cronies on his cabinet and in the GOP-controlled Congress are tearing at the very fabric of our American democracy?

Written for today’s one-word prompt, “fabric.”

Fandango’s Flashback Friday — January 21st

Fandango24 Comments

Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Friday Flashback post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 21st) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on January 21, 2018.

Has My Blog Been Hacked By The Russians?

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Up until a few days ago, the WordPress Akismet filter seemed to be working flawlessly. Bogus comments by phony commenters rarely made it by that filter and into my comments sections. But these insipid spammers have apparently come up with a new strategy.

Starting around three days ago, someone who goes by the name Alex began commenting on my posts. His first comment was, “Nice weblog here! Additionally your web site loads up fast! What web host are you the usage of? Can I am getting your affiliate link to your host? I wish my web site loaded up as quickly as yours lol.”

Obviously this was spam that sneaked by my Akismet spam filter. I marked it as spam and didn’t give it a whole lot of thought.

But then I started getting more comments from “Alex” on different posts. Comments like:

You actually make it seem really easy along with your presentation however I find this topic to be actually one thing that I think I might by no means understand. It sort of feels too complicated and extremely huge for me. I am taking a look ahead in your subsequent publish, I will try to get the cling of it!

Wow, superb blog layout! How long have you ever been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The entire look of your website is great, let alone the content material!

I am no longer certain where you’re getting your info, however good topic. I must spend some time studying more or working out more. Thanks for excellent info I was on the lookout for this info for my mission.

It’s really a great and helpful piece of information. I am happy that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.

At least a dozen similar comments from “Alex” showed up on various posts. And I designated each as spam.

I haven’t received any comments from “Alex” yet today, but “Ula Guzman” wrote:

F*ckin’ awesome issues here. I’m very happy to look your article. Thank you so much and i’m taking a look forward to contact you. Will you please drop me a e-mail?

“Stacy Henderson” commented:

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And “Delores McCarty” wrote:

Thanks for any other fantastic post. Where else may anybody get that kind of info in such a perfect means of writing? I have a presentation subsequent week, and I’m on the look for such info.

Definitely Russian hackers. This new strategy to get through the spam filter is apparently working and it’s really starting to piss me off.

Written for today’s one-word prompt, “strategy.”

Fandango’s Flashback Friday — December 3rd

Fandango20 Comments

Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Friday Flashback post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 3rd) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on December 3, 2017.

Is That a Typo?

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I was sure that WordPress had a serious typo in today’s one word prompt, “tenterhooks.” I was absolutely positive the word was supposed to be “tenderhooks,” a word I’ve use occasionally to mean to be filled with painful or anxious anticipation or suspense. Like when you and your girlfriend are waiting to see if that plastic pregnancy test stick she peed on has a little plus sign in the window.

So I was going to write a snide post in which I would be laughing my virtual ass off at Michelle Weber, who posted the prompt, for her careless error. It turns out, though, that the error is mine. “Tenterhooks” it is! Sad!

Then I figured that tenterhooks must be hooks that campers use to secure their tents. I’ve tent-camped many times and had never heard of that term, so I thought maybe it was an archaic term for tent poles, stakes, or ropes. To confirm that, I Googled “tenterhooks.”

It turns out that tenterhooks have nothing whatsoever to do with tents. The word “tenterhooks” comes from the metal hooks that manufacturers used to stretch wool on a tenter while it dried. A tenter is a wooden frame, often in the form of a line of fencing, used to hang woolen or linen cloth to prevent it from shrinking as it dries. The tenterhooks are, not surprisingly, the hooks on the tenter used to hold the cloth in place.

Tenters are no longer everyday objects, but a hundred years ago, in wool weaving areas like the north of England, they were a common sight on the land around the many woollen mills, called “tenter-fields.”

Who knew? So I apologize to WordPress and to Michelle Weber for thinking it was a typo. And I am now swearing off ever using the phrase, “I’m on tenderhooks.”

By the way, she wasn’t pregnant.

Time to Call the Lawyer

Fandango13 Comments

Alex walked into his apartment to hear what sounded like chanting coming from the living room. He found his wife sitting in the corner with candles on the floor all around her. “What’s going on here, Tabitha?” Alex asked. “Is this another nonsensical screed of yours? It sounds almost like some of your brain neurons aren’t properly firing. You know, your crazy rants are beginning to wear thin on me,” Alex said to his wife.

“No, it’s not a rant or a screed,” Tabitha responded. “It’s an incantation that I read about.”

“An Incantation?” Alex said. “You mean like a spell or a curse? When did you decide to become a witch?”

“I’m not a witch,” Alex. “If you must know, this incantation is supposed to improve the relationship with someone you love. I’m desperate to save the remnants of our very broken marriage.”

“I can see consulting with a lawyer, a shrink, or even a priest, Tabitha,” Alex said, “but the casting a spell crap is just over the top, even for a crazy bitch like you.”

“You know, Alex,” Tabitha said. “You’re absolutely right. Forget about incantations and spells. It’s time to call a lawyer.”

Written for these daily prompts: Your Daily Word Prompt (screed), Ragtag Daily Prompt (neuron), The Daily Spur (wear), Word of the Day Challenge (incantation, My Vivid Blog (decide), and Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (remnant). Photo credit: iStock.