New title, new focus...

Hello loyal blog followers (yes, both of you...),

As I embarked to kindle up this little blog about life, my first posts were basically about whatever was on my mind at the time - which was fine with me, but I thought the site needed a little direction.

I didn't want to pound on political pundits.  I can barely keep myself healthy much less tell anyone else too much about it (that is what my son's blog is for, EndunamoomeChristoo).  So what should be the niche of this blog - meaning what is the area of focus?

I reviewed past posts (links to them are to your right if interested in some back stories), and I noticed somewhat of a recurring theme.  It seems little life hacks and advice for sustaining sanity in this crazy, jacked-up world which we all live was a recurring theme.

And then I thought, "Rob, wouldn't that make a good theme.  Stuff I've learned that can help people amongst all the chaos?  Life hacks of some sort?"  (I often converse with myself in third person.  It helps when you need to talk and no one is around - or no one wants to listen.  Hey, maybe I'll blog about that one day...)

Thus, I have changed the title of the blog to "I've always been crazy, but it's kept me from going insane."  (some of you may recognize that as lyrics to a Waylon Jennings song.  Basically my theme song of life. You can check out the video on YouTube here.)

I'm going to feature various things that you may encounter and some of my own tips and tricks for not letting them make you completely bonkers.  To give you an idea, here are some areas I may focus (I may narrow this a bit as time goes on...);

Attacking daily problems from a Christian slant (seeing what the Bible says about issues we all face)

Becoming a Christian Manly Man (Loving Jesus, but remaining a lean, mean, fighting machine.)

Living in our small part of this crazy world (what to do when the headlines are so depressing)

How stupid can people be? (highlight current events with the premise of pointing out how stupid people can be.  That seems a little harsh, but I'll try to make sure there is content there to keep you and me from making the same stupid mistakes.)

Life Hacks for the common man (physical things you can do to make life easier or better.  DIY type of stuff.)

Leadership and Management tips and help for common problems at the workplace (I have over 20 years of leadership experience in the Federal Government - no jokes about that being an oxymoron please - well, I guess if you want to, go ahead I won't mind.)

The point of all this is that it doesn't matter what problems we face, the way we approach them mentally can make all the difference in the world.

I hope you find this shift in focus useful.  If you do, I'd appreciate any comments you might have in the comments section below, share the blog with your friends or anything else you can do to promote it.  Also, feel free to leave any requests, suggestions, or other comments you'd like.



Thanks,
God Bless,
Rob
www.starvt.com

Burn those books! Or iPads... or Kindles...

Not really, do not burn any books, your iPad, laptop, or eReader (at least not until you finish reading this…). 

Although there have been times when I wanted to burn my laptop (such as when I got the blue screen of death after a month's worth of writing and no backup!), I've never wanted to burn it because of what it displayed or what I chose to have on it.  Where am I going with this?  Stick with me for minute…

I was thinking about social media again this week and the impacts it has and could have on society.  In my meanderings I thought about the printing press. (I’m not a historian – so don’t dissect my facts here.)  The printing press was invented in the mid 1400’s.  One of the key early inventors was Johannes Gutenberg (Gutenberg Bible).  His techniques revolutionized the printing industry and soon books were being made in mass quantities and spreading all over Europe.  It is considered one of the greatest inventions in man’s history, and its impact on society was enormous.  It allowed knowledge and learning to be mass produced and made available to the common man.  No longer was it only the rich or well off that had access to information.  No longer were the commoners at a disadvantage based on what information they had direct access to.  And very importantly, it allowed for God’s word to be mass produced so that it could reach millions, and not just to those who had access to people, who had access to people, who had access to people, who had access to people, who knew what the Bible said.

Let's Dance!

Skip forward several hundred years.  Not only were good books still being printed, but obviously this technology was also being used by those who wanted to do harm by spreading bad and evil thoughts through the use of books.  So people decided to put a stop to all that by burning the books they felt contradicted their thinking (this is actually called libricide, no kidding).  Most notably in our history were the Nazi book burning during WWII. Second most notably was outside the library in the movie Footloose when the townsfolk started losing their control over those wild teens (that is a joke, I just wanted a reason to use this picture.)

Now, book burning did not arrive after the printing press, they burned books long before that.  But I wanted to tie the two together to make a point.  Book burning were attempts (both physically and symbolically) to show unhappiness with the material.  However, you never hear anyone state that the printing press was the root of all this evil!  Even the book burners (who were idiots) knew it was the material and the ones who thought of the material they didn't like!

So this brings us full circle to where we are today.  The internet (and other social media outlets) is our printing press.  It allows us an opportunity to share information and knowledge at rate and in areas never before imagined.  And yes, there are people out there that take advantage of this and flood the Interweb with garbage.  

But we can’t become book burners – or hate all social media because of the bad seeds.  We have to work harder to get the good words out and not be overrun by the bad words.  We have to be diligent to let our children and brethren know what the garbage is and where to find good information.  We have to ensure that we support what is good (share, like, retweet, etc.).  And we have a responsibility to inject good words and inspirations of God into these social networks so that they don’t become completely overrun with trash.

So write something good today and put it out there (and if you don't have anything to say, then re-share one of my blogs!)

God Bless,
Rob
www.starvt.com

Ray Rice and the disappearance of moral fiber...

Where has the moral fiber of this country gone?  I know, there are many answers to that question. There are many reasons it has degraded.

But in regards to sports teams, where has it gone?

Not everyone in pro sports is corrupt.  Shoot, I don't even believe the ones who are all do it conscientiously either.  I believe many may fall victim to the world of "succeed or else" and it causes them to deviate from their own moral compass.  And I'm not just talking about the millionaire players and billionaire owners of the NFL either. Those folks sometimes look the other way when the offending player is vital to the team. It makes them money. But why are the fans and media caught in this same tolerant behavior?

The fans and media are okay with criminals, dope fiends, and wife beaters so long as it gives their team (of which they have no real connection) a better shot at winning. That's what it seems like.

We don't know for sure who knew what, and when they knew it about the Ray Rice incident. But we did know he hit a woman and knocked her unconscious. And the NFL slapped his wrist. The DA basically gave him a lecture.  Did you know the Raven fans cheered him when he came to practice the first time after the incident?  Cheered him?  For what? See that image to the right?  That man hit his wife and then was cheered when he came to practice.  Unbelievable.

But that all came unglued this morning when the TMZ full video (watch it if you want to be sick to your stomach) was released and no one could hide from how awful an act Ray Rice committed.

Now many are lauding the Ravens and the NFL for their quick action.  The Ravens cut him from the team and the NFL suspended him indefinitely.  Bull Crud! They only acted because it got too big and ugly for them to hide anymore.  And it's quite possible they've been hiding it all along. I find it unimaginable that the DA, the NFL and the Ravens couldn't get that video, but TMZ could. They were covering it up and then the covers blew up.

So why is this behavior tolerated?  And don't tell me it isn't tolerated, and they are just trying to give the players a second chance!

Ya, ya I believe in second chances. So How's this for a second chance. Mr. NFL player you hit your wife (smoked crack, got a DUI, fill in the blank). We aren't going to pay you 9 million dollars. We are going to send you to rehab, pay you the equivalent to someone in the military makes while in you are in rehab, and then help you find a regular job to finish out your life.  You are done with the NFL.  There are over 129 Division I college teams, each with 90 plus players all waiting to take to your place.  We don't need you.  We don't want you.  Have you heard fast food workers are trying to get $15 an hour?  Here's an application.  Good luck.

That is a second chance.

Ray Rice should never take another snap in the  NFL. His second chance is that he's not going to prison.  His second chance is that his wife's father doesn't plant him in the backyard.  Those are his second chances.  He doesn't deserve a second chance to make millions of dollars to play a game.  We need to seriously look at our definition of what a second chance is.

I keep hearing sports announcers say things like "this is bigger than the NFL", "It is a society issue, not just a locker room issue."  News Flash announcers - everything is bigger than the NFL.  It is a game.  Kids all over America play it for free.  They play it for fun.

And the saddest part of all of this is that if TMZ hadn't released the video, Ray would have been on the field playing in a couple of weeks.  No more penalty.  No repercussions. And who knows when it would have happened again - and it still may.

Rob
www.starvt.com