Stormbringer's Thunder

Buona sera. Yours truly had an interesting trip. Oh, you didn't know I was going away? Right, I neglected to mention it. Almost 2,000 miles by car. (And for that stronzo on US-131 between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, you're damn lucky I was in too much of a hurry to pull over and explain a few facts to you.) Anyway, had a safe and productive trip. OK, gang, Uncle Bob is going to reveal some personal history to you. Way back in the mid-1980s, before my activities became both confidential and occasionally underhanded, I was married and we had a young child. And we were very devout in our Christian beliefs. (I still believe, but I'm much less active today.) We were also down on our luck. After much searching, a job offer came in. We were going to be co-resident managers of a self-storage facility. Back then, we were living in the town of Ionia, Michigan (which is a situation that I do not recommend for anyone), and the job was in Grand Rapids. Or so we thought. The owner was

Nicky got himself a nasty glare when he referred to a woman as a "broad". Funny, I've heard women use the word for other women. But the woman was built like a UPS truck, and neither of us cared about her opinion. A while ago, I learned that political correctness is a threat to free speech . And it becomes a tool for someone with a chip on their shoulder or is looking for some kind of a fight. If you say the "wrong" words, say something the "wrong" way, or even look at someone crosswise, they'll run crying to their advocate and file a lawsuit. Too bad the more accurate term, "culturally correct", did not catch on because it's not always about politics. But I suspect it's always about seizing power. You have to essentially walk on eggshells because you'll offend some cafone. And then you'll be in trouble for walking on eggshells! Somewhere, somehow, no matter how careful you are, someone can be offended. If people c

"Don't get too high on a bottle, "Get right with the Man, son. "Fight your fights, find a grace, "And all the things that you can change, "And help somebody if you can. "And get right with the Man." — Van Zant, from Get Right with the Man Buona sera. No, I'm not going to go on about the passing of my father and my oldest brother again. Yes, I'm going to go on about how we're remembered. Some of the things I've been reading and hearing lately have been coming together. Naturally, because of my experiences in recent months, I've been thinking about how I hope I'm remembered. My crew will remember me as a strict disciplinarian, but I hope they know that I'm that way because I want them to survive. Also, I hope they've learned a few things from me that they can apply to their lives. And I hope they remember the jokes and fun times. With this thinking going on, my old buddy Neil has had some bad times lately. His father-

Buon giorno. I have talked to you about gaining and building trust . Today, I'm going to go in the opposite direction: How we lose trust. And in that negative, I'll make it positive. Trust me. I need to point out something fundamental. Different people will have their own experiences and "emotional baggage" or psychological scars that they bring into a situation. Someone that has been hurt and betrayed often and/or deeply will be less likely to be trusting. For instance, I am very suspicious of people at the top of The Organization because of harsh experiences that I've had. (I'm also suspicious of that guy hanging around outside, wearing the dark glasses and a long coat, but never mind about that now.) The opposite is true as well, that if someone has had successful experiences with trust will be more willing to trust again. When someone wants to be trusted, they can be in for a disappointment when that trust is not forthcoming. You can demand trust a

Buon giorno. Although I haven't had Earl Grey tea in a few days (I've been renewing my acquaintance with the Daniels Brothers, Charlie and Jack), I'm disappointed in the American "leadership". To say that giving back the bust of Winston Churchill (someone that I have personally admired for decades), given to the United States in a gesture of solidarity after the September 11 attacks by murderous cowards is in poor taste is an understatement. Listen, Britain, I didn't vote for the guy that just gave you a rude gesture. Millions of us did not vote for him. And I bet even more are appalled at the rudeness given in the White House to the Prime Minister. When Tony Blair was the Prime Minister, I sent him a letter. There is a song that is popular here that says, "God bless the USA". And I told him my feeling is, in addition to the USA, "God bless the UK!". So, please don't hold the actions of a weasel that is a closet Muslim, intent on destr

Buon giorno. I've been thinking about love and hate. No, not the big deal stuff that will answer the questions that philosophers have asked for thousands of years. Rather, why am I loved or hated when I write things? I think it's because people have a shallow response to the viewpoints of others. They'll love me if I write things that they agree with, and hate me if I go the opposite way to their viewpoints. People are emotionally vested in their viewpoints, and I have been known to discuss some hot-button topics. When I write about the flaws of evolution, I get hate "mail". I think it's because I'm challenging the Darwinian orthodoxy, and they don't want to admit that their anti-God approaches may be wrong. My unapologetic, admittedly emotional, politically Conservative views are sometimes inflammatory, but they, too, challenge entrenched Liberalism. I have discussed the historical accuracy of the Gospels regarding the resurrection of Jesus Chris

Edited for wording 9-21-2012 Guten tag, again. If you missed our last episode, you can read Part 1 here , or scoll down if it's on the same Web page at the moment. Within hours, I received some venom-enriched hate mail that proves what I'm saying about the intolerance and emotionalism of Darwinists. It was a personal attack, including my religious beliefs (which is pretty low of them), but there was no "religion" in my previous article! Evolutionism as a world view has led to a host of problems. It has led to a loss of faith because people chose to believe in the philosophy of evolution. “Survival of the fittest” is a frequent excuse for economic and social injustices . It leads to a liberal view of euthanasia and abortion. Eugenics, the sterilization and extermination of the “unfit” people of the world fits Darwinism. Marxism is hard-core Darwinism applied politically. So is Nazism. Hitler was a devout Darwinist, and thought that he was doing the

Edited for wording 9-21-2012 Guten tag. I've just gone through Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed for the second time, and I'm glad I bought the DVD. The first time through, I had to walk away because the logical conclusion of what the movie presented was very upsetting. I'm not much of a fan of documentaries, but this one sings a song that I've been doing for many years. It shows the flaws of the philosophies of evolution, and the discrimination of the scientific establishment against anyone that dares run against their orthodoxy and say that maybe, just perhaps, Intelligent Design (I.D.) should be considered an alternative explanation of the facts. Some of what I'm writing now is a repeat of previous postings. Get over it, because it's important, capice? Important point: Defining the term “evolution” is the gradual development of life over vast periods of time, with transitional forms leading to completely new species of life. I am not talking ab

Trust in the business world. In a word, fuggedaboudit. Or, to borrow from Tony Montana, "What, are you nuts?" I've learned from my own experiences, from the experiences of co-workers and from simply reading articles that trust is not something you give away freely. You have to be slow and sparing when you give trust in the worlds of government, espionage, counterespionage, organized crime and big business. All of these have elements in common in their organizational structures and interactions. Trust has to be earned, and it has to be earned slowly. I trust some members of my crew more than others. Some of them, I trust with my life. But guess what? I do not trust anyone one hundred percent! That is "thinking" with emotions, frankly. And in my businesses, you can't let emotions interfere. "Can I trust anyone at all, Uncle Bob?" It depends on how much you want to survive (literally or professionally). If you're not interested in friendship at th

Today's thundering rant has some advice for business executives. Uncle Bob has been hearing some unpleasant things from Neil and his friends. Too bad I can't get them to join my crew. It's dangerous and sometimes borderline legal, but my organization shows appreciation. Well, I do, anyway. Neil's department at a huge Fortune 500 soulless company is run from ivory towers with incompetent stronzos. They have to process forms in a "timely manner", and the semi-sentient subhumanoids that run the show have made the situation worse by quadrupling the work load and not providing extra staff to cover the work. The amazing thing is that the upper managers have no concept of how the work is done! They just come up with schemes and make things worse. And yes, the people that actually do the work resent the meddling of the ivory tower managers. Let me interject something that puzzles me here. How is it that his department resents having a manager that has no experience i

Buon giorno. Yes, I'm back and ready to rock. Nicky and Lela didn't let me down and kept the crew in line in my absence. Good thing, I didn't need to come back from my father's funeral and deal with extra stress. I didn't even have time to visit any of my Michigan goomahs while I was away! I've talked about my feelings on funerals and memorial services in another post , so I'm not going to rehash that here. But what I will do is tell you how I deal with these things. Don't hide from it This is probably an extension of the Buddhist approach of facing your problems. What works for me (and I wish my surviving brother would try this instead of putting it out of his mind) is to face it head on. There were feelings to sort out and there was sorrow to face. There was regret because he didn't know me when I last saw him, and did not have a chance to see where my spiritual and mental development have taken me. I'll admit to shedding tears, but I

“I wasn’t there that morning when my father passed away I didn’t get to tell him all the things I had to say...in the living years.” If you’re looking for thunder and lightning, try the archive or come back another day. I have some things to work through. Friends and family may be interested, and casual readers may still get something out of my experiences. Uncle Bob is sad lately. My father died two days ago (February 7, 2009). If he could have lasted another two months, he would have been 86. He went quietly in his sleep in a home in Michigan, and I am in New York. Naturally, I felt sadness. This cowboy has no shame in admitting that he wept. My oldest brother died on December 21, 2008. Before that, my mother died in November of 2003. And before that, my father’s brother died in March, 2000 (while I was going through my divorce). No wonder I don’t like winter... My parents were both reasonably sound of mind for that funeral. I learned things about my uncle, and realized tha

Buona sera. I received some distressing news from Neil. (Yes, he's fine and the Bulletproof Bitch's influence is less pronounced in his life.) He works for a huge company that shall remain nameless for now. It's a "Fortune 500" company with international activities. They count their profits in the tens of millions of dollars each quarter of the year. The distressing news? No raises this year. Neil's company sent out a memo announcing that not only would there be no raises ("economic uncertainties"), but employees should work harder and be happy. Stronzos! Who likes to work extra hard without appreciation? Everyone wonders how big the salaries are for the CEO and the Ivory Tower Management, and if those will be frozen as well. Not bloody likely. Part of the problem is that this company has regulations to follow. So, they are in and out of court a great deal. If they are late or foul up somewhere, they have to pay fines. There seems to be a lawsui

"It's kind of a sad thing when a normal love of country makes you a super patriot. I do think we have a pretty wonderful country, and I thank God that He chose me to live here." — John Wayne Buona sera, Pilgrims and Pilgrettes. Yours truly still has a Duke buzz going. After watching John Wayne movies and reading some biographical information, I see more than ever that he was the embodiment of strong American values. Something that bothered me on a quotes page : "...major American motion-picture Actor who embodied the image of the strong, taciturn cowboy or soldier and who in many ways personified the idealized American values of his era. " "...of his era"? Say it ain't so, Joe! Not only do his values apply today, but we need those values. He did not want to get on a soapbox and preach. Instead, he'd say it through his movies. But when he did speak his mind, it was straight to the point. Just like he did in his "pictures".

"Courage is being scared to death - and saddling up anyway." Buon giorno. Now that festivities and difficulties surrounding Christmas are over with for a while, it's time to get back to the business of daily living. And writing. "Are you going to be a cowboy again, Uncle Bob?" Yep. Well, people do expect it of me, don'tcha know. I've been thinking about being a cowboy. (No, I don't mean that I'm going to be a poser and dress up in the full western regalia, smoke long cigars, drawl and do other things that movie cowboys do.) What got me thinking about it was when a woman called me a cowboy one time. She was making a joke, but I started thinking about it after that and realized that it has some truth in it for me and my father as well. What does it mean to be a cowboy? Sometimes it's a derogatory term, meaning someone who is reckless. When used in the proper context, I can understand this usage because someti