“Sorry Mindy”

April 21, 2020

-By Jim Culp

I was told by a friend {yesterday morning} yesterday that she was highly offended by my posts on Facebook, and very offended about the content of my blog, as well as my novel.

“Wow!” I said. “I never knew I had such a fan. Thanks!”

I could see and feel her face turn red over the internet.

She told me that she was going to unfriend me. I told her to do what she thinks is right.

She messaged me again, which I got over four hours later, because I was at work and my shift had ended.

“Please try to see things my way…” she said.

I thought for a while as I drove home, then I replied thusly:

“Mindy, hope you and Dan are ok. I am well… and even working again. It seems we have come to an impasse on this whole politic/religion/opinion thing. Well, here is my take on that:

POLITICS:

“I studied politics in college. But my real education is when I sat in my tent in Iraq, my study in home, or my car waiting for VA appointments in the years 2000 to 2013. Yes, 13 years. I studied the US Government from top to bottom, and learned that over half of the teachings in textbooks were either false or simply left out important facts…the events did not happen in the manner they stated, or someone changed it at some point to keep their family name out of the mix. I learned that (between 1929 and 1937) the government of the United States accepted the idea of transparent currency and collected 99.87% of the gold in the United States. They performed a similar operation with Silver, but it was far less valuable. The government then began heavier use of the Federal Reserve System (that was started in 1913) using Federal Reserve Notes in multiple denominations ($1.00 to $1,000) as currency. The notes cost $.05 cents to make, because they are not worth the paper that they are printed on, unless they are issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States.

I learned that “Electoral Colleges” were started in the last 1700’s when the population of the USA was about 2.5 million. This was meant to do one thing, and one thing only. It was manufactured so that an election could be rigged. It was not that easy until electronics came to play, but it sure is now. It is my form belief that they last six elections were rigged, and they were rigged for many reasons, which I am not going into now. Enough on politics for now.

RELIGION

I was brought up a fundamental Baptist, as you know from our many conversations over many beers and chips. You know how I was raised, but for my readers (yeah, my letter to you is this week’s blog) I was raised in a Christian household. I lost my Dad when I was 3, and my Mom remarried when I was about 5. The new “Dad” was a heavy smoker, a recovering drinker, and a railroad man of 33 years on the Santa Fe. He was a big dude, and it was “his way, or the highway.” He and my Mom were undergoing spiritual reformations, and decided to be not only abstinent, they were also going to take religion to fanatical proportions. This led them to attend church three times a week, extra meetings here and there, and “revivals” that were full weeks and such.

This led to the belief that we (the kids) needed to attend private schools, where fanatical parents and teachers could preach their beliefs to 40-90 kids at a time, giving them a purpose on God’s Earth.

As I grew older, I studied the King James Bible (one version of many) and began dissecting the differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

When I was alone at night in Iraq, I read many books, but the ones worth mention here were the Quran, the Torah, The Keys of Solomon, and the Book of Mormon. I talked to chaplains on a weekly basis about their faith and beliefs, and some impressed me with their surety that God was their creator and the master of the Universe. Others assured me that they were following the path of Christianity because it kept their bills paid.

When I returned from Iraq in 2004, I studied further and further. I read more books, and cross-indexed references from one book to another, and religious tome to secular belief. What I found religion to be was a hoax crafted by man to control man. It is been done for 10,000 years, and that is just on our cycle of life here. Who knows how many lives of men have seen ages of our planet? I stopped studying the whole thing when I went to the top of a mountain (in my beloved New Mexico) and beseeched God to hear me out. I said this: “God, if you’re up there, and you have a message to send to men, let me be your messenger. I will devote my life to nothing else. Just let me know you are real.” I stayed up there for two days in a semi-dry camp and waited for God to give me an answer. He never did. I travelled back down the mountain, and that was the last time I had anything to do with God {whether I did or not}.

When I tell people this, they tell me I am crazy, and need to see a psychiatrist. “I already do,” is always my reply.

So, what is God? I do not have a clue, and I gave him his chance to talk to me if he wanted to. So, I will wrap this up with that.

So, my dear Mindy…you can see why I do not believe in God or gods anymore, and politics are nothing but corruption and bullshit to me. Anyone that thinks that the USA is something today that the founding fathers envisioned 244 years ago…is as crazy as I am about Sofia Vergara’s bosom.

-Jim

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“Food for Thought”

By Jim Culp

Our (human) have brains that allow traditional cognitive or rational interpretations of others which affect the way we understand thought. The notion of the fundamental role of non-cognitive understanding is inherent in humans; the only mammal capable of doing so.

Thinking allows humans to make sense of, interpret, represent or model the world they experience, and to make predictions about that world. It is therefore helpful to an organism with needs, objectives, and desires as it makes plans or otherwise attempts to accomplish those goals.

That is why humans go on trial when they choose to murder or rape another human. They can even be placed on trial for murdering or raping other animals.

The definitive difference in our brains and those of other animals is this: We (humans) have the ability of cognitive thought, or in simple terms…to think.

In the cute examples above, these domestic animals have not had a parent teach them to hunt and kill. They do not need to do so. In domestic life or as a wild beast on the plains, they would have to be caught critical skills to survive. They do not need to be taught that in domestic settings. Besides humans, some other animals can be taught to do amazing things; like a dog that places his toys back in the box and goes and retrieves his leash for his master to walk him. Another example is an ape like Koko the gorilla, an ape that learned sign language and over 2,000 spoken English words.

Humans, however, have the ability of cognitive thought, and reasoning. When we are born, we do not know a language, a culture, or a religion. We are taught those things. Parents teach their children positive things every day, and parents teach their children negative things all day. In 1943-45 Germany, children were taught that all other humans (besides Germans) were lesser humans, and that certain other races were born on the earth to be slaves, or simple to be eradicated.

Similarly, many children in the USA today are taught that when they act up, it is perfectly acceptable for Daddy to come into the room, pull off a leather belt, and beat them. The next morning, Mommy tells little Billy that Daddy did not like beating him, and he loves him. That Mommy and Daddy were taught that by their parents, and they by theirs.

Children are taught that it is ok to shame other children because they are not in the same social class as they are. Other parents teach their children that it is ok to hit someone if they piss you off.

If our children are never taught violence, hatred, and hypocrisy, they would never know that it is OK to do so. Nowadays, children (sometimes at very young ages) are either playing video games or have their own smartphones and have the same access to everything on the internet that his parents do. This is the reason that children are so arrogant these days. They have been indoctrinated by the World Wide Web while their parents were taking “Mom and Dad” time of for hours a week.

Think about it.

-Jim  

April 11, 2020

Tales of Ironmongery: Number 1

By Jim Culp

In these times of woe, there are many weapons available to those of us on tight budgets. There are broom handle, shovels, and hand axes. Some of us have our squirrel hunting rifles, and even more of us have a shotgun or two loaded with your favorite buck.

But…if you lucky enough to be rich, or you have a rich girlfriend that isn’t mad at you…you can afford the Trollibrator.

The Trollibrator is a gas fed, semi-automatic handgun that fires the venerable 50AE cartridge? “What does “AE” mean? Good question. “AE” means “Action Express.” It’s a cool name for a cartridge, right? Right.

So, the .50AE cartridge was developed by Developed in 1988 by American Evan Whilden of Action Arms, the .50 AE is one of the most powerful pistol cartridges in production. No, it’s not the same cartridge that a M2 Browning Machine Gun fires, no matter if that is what Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer think. The 50AE is measured at 12.7 X 33mm, whereas Mr. Browning’s marvelous invention measures at 12.7 X 99mm. Quite a difference, since the M2 was designed to destroy equipment at ranges of up to1,800 meters (2,000 yards). The Trollibrator was not made for such heroism, it’s built to kill Trolls, humans, and large mammals up to a range of 220 yards (660 feet).

Targets may abound soon when food and toilet paper run low, so get yourself armed soon. Remember a rule on shooting trolls: they have thick hides. A .22 will piss it off, but it won’t drop it. Get a Trollibrator. Most of the time, it will kill the troll next to the troll.

Also, when all the animals escape the zoo, the Trollibrator can take down bear, apes, zebra, and buffalo.

Be safe and remember…we’re all in this together.

-Jim

{1} “Trollibrator” is a fictitious name.

{2} The author is a trained gunsmith and ballistician, the measurements and ranges in this article are fact.

{3) Photo is courtesy of Google photos.

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April 7, 2020

I saw online today that some friends were discussing their issues with quitting smoking. I have my own experience with this struggle and thought that I would share it with you all. In early 2009, I was living and working in Twentynine Palms, California. It was a time of high stress, and I was smoking heavily as one of my means of coping with the stress of the job as well as some family issues. I was part of a small team of people that were managing a construction project on the military base there. This team consisted of five managers, a large crew, and numerous sub-contractors. We had started this project way back in 2007 and were about 80% done with it.

As with any other day, I would leave my apartment and drive up Adobe Road, then take a small road that went south over the hill to my office. I was a short drive that I was accustomed to traveling 2-3 times per day, and I was very complacent doing it. As always, when I climbed into my truck, I would light a cigarette with out fail. One aspect of smoking cigarettes that people start doing (without any conscious thought) is light up without even thinking. It becomes an automatic response to a certain action, and your body and brain act before your senses even think about it.

On this day, I did my usual thing, and traveled to the office, I spent the day doing the usual things, filing papers, making copies, making phone calls. Rental companies would fill my mornings with advertisements about specials they were running, and the main office in Walnut Creek would flood me with emails about this and that. Some days I would spend time out at the site, but on the day, there was too much to do at my desk. Over the course of the day, I would step outside of my back door, and smoke a cigarette. Most of the time, I would smoke half of it, and throw the rest of it away. I didn’t care, I was rich. I made more money that I had every made in my life. I wasn’t a millionaire, but I made enough that I could buy anything I wanted. That always included two packs of Marlboro Smooth 100’s…every single day for almost four years.

At about four or five o-clock, the Site Managers would stop by, file their paperwork, and I’d give them any paperwork or drawings they needed, and that happened every day. As each of them came in to handle their business, I’d smoke a few cigarettes with them, and we’d complain about the job, laugh at something stupid, and then start thinking about that cold beer waiting in the fridge at home.

At about 5:30 PM, I headed home. I’d take the same route over the hill, smoking that “automatic cigarette,” and driving on “auto-pilot.”

But particular day would be a game-changer for me. It would be a day I will never forget. About halfway over the hill, I took a drag on my cigarette, and the wind blew the “cherry” off the end of my smoke. The burning ball of tobacco rolled over my thigh and under my crotch. Well, seeing as how I didn’t want any of those parts getting burned, I started doing the happy dance in the seat, and trying to move the cherry with my left hand, because my right hand was now controlling the cigarette and the steering wheel together.

My attention would soon turn to darker things, because when I lifted my eyes for a split second, I had veered off the pavement (onto packed sand) about two feet. At that same time, a little girl had chased a kickball into the street. Luckily, she had already seen me, and had headed back to her driveway. If I were to try and measure the distance of my truck’s fender and the little girl’s body, I’d have to say it was probably less than a foot. As soon as it was over, I stopped my truck about a quarter mile down the road and sat there shaking. Cold shivers ran down my spine, and the cigarette still in my hand was unlit. I threw it out the window, and slowly forced myself to get it together and drive back home. That was the last day I ever smoked a cigarette. I tried lighting one up several days afterward, because my body was screaming for nicotine. I couldn’t take a drag without thinking of that little girl who almost lost her life because I was a dumbass. It was stuck with me for year now, and I am very glad that it has. When I had a heart attack in 2010, they ran every test they could think of (of course) to make sure that the bill was an even $100,000. My lungs were as clear as a mason jar. So, all in all, I think two blessings happened that day. That little girl got to grow up, and I got some part of my health back.

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-Jim

April 1, 2020

Good Morning,

It is a beautiful morning here in Kansas City. The sunshine is so welcome here; it was absent for so many days. Today used to be called “April Fool’s Day…” called such because someone would come to you can state that something had happened or some other semi-believable idea, and let you stew on it a while, then shout “April Fools!!!”

When I was a kid in El Paso, Tx, I attended a Christian School when I was starting 5^th grade. Mom had to take us to our church on Cielo Vista Avenue, and then we hopped a bus that would take us all the way out to Northwest El Paso to our school, which was a large building that sat on the church grounds, just 20-30 feet from the main church building.

On this day…some 43 years ago; my friends and I departed the doors of the bus playing “April Fools” jokes on one another. The pastor’s wife (a prominent Christian educator and wife of the Associate Pastor) quickly ordered silence among all of us and told us to move quickly into the building and seat ourselves. She then proceeded to give a sermon on the mount about “April Fools” being a tool of Satan, a venomous lie that corrupts children, and a pathway to drugs, sex, and rock and roll.

This was my very first example of how blatant ignorance led some poor soul down the long highway of religious hypocrisy and fanaticism. This school (and hundreds like it) had an intent of eradicating all secular thought from a child’s mind, “leaving only room for Christ.” I always likened that ideology to training a child to use the potty, but not teaching him/her how to wipe their behind. The child will learn to defecate in the potty but won’t ever bother to finish the job. In comparison, the child that is only taught verses and concepts out of the bible, and is never allowed to study the works of Galileo, Plato, and Socrates…will grow up to become an ignorant adult that perpetuates ignorance on his children.

Here in the USA, ignorance is a problem, and not a small one. Ignorant people spread ignorance like they are handing out candy. I hear people in Walmart telling their kids things that kids should never hear, and I see adult cahiers in checkout lines that can’t perform the most basic arithmetic.

Our country will pay dearly for that in the next twenty years. Kids today earn bachelors and master’s degrees and start their adult lives at least $27,000. If they attend a private school, you can almost double that. Our government (in its arrogance and ignorance) should have facilitated this long ago with better systems for college kids to mitigate debt.

Today, with Corona virus threatening the world’s population, many people choose to live in ignorance, and many choose to follow leaders that are ignorant. Our leaders are counseled by physicians with many years of experience, yet our leaders (namely the President of the United States) ignores or disregards this counsel until the last minute, and then it is too late. During this time of arrogance, people die. Most of us don’t bat an eye until the point where that is one of our children, our parents, or our close friends. At that point, all the bullshit it over, and ignorance has triumphed once more. I think back to that lady at the school telling us about the evil of April Fool’s day, and how it was “the Devil’s Tool.”

In my reckoning, “the Devil” is something that resides in all of us, and he is the master of negativity and ignorance. These days, I think “the Devil” is winning the race.

-Jim