Welcome. Come in. Make yourself comfortable.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I am glad my Facebook post was intriguing enough for you to follow the link to my blog. Let me state and explain what inspired me to take this step and why I am blogging here.

Inspiration. I am sorry to say, it was not a burning bush. No bushes were harmed in the inspiration of this blog. I think I can break it down to two things.

1. A lot of introspection. Why I think the way I think, why I comment, why I believe what I believe, why I criticize, why I like discussions, even light confrontations. Here are some of my findings. I came up with these ideas, these thoughts, and these criticisms on my own. I was raised to think for myself. I was allowed to do, for the most part, what I wanted all through life. I have read, and watched, and conversed with hundreds of people and came to these conclusions and these understandings on my own. I was a Scout, that influenced me. I am in the Navy, that has influenced me. As well as the random lessons and examples from people and from life. My ideas and positions are not all written in stone. Some are flexible, some are not. I have no guru. I was not indoctrinated. These are original or reinforced ideas. But the more I learn, the more I know I don’t know. The more I learn, the more similarity’s I see throughout history. Now, apply that to any subject and that is me. Politics, religion, government, child raising and so on. Back to my introspection. I have felt semi crappy since about last summer. Why, well the election. It all came to a head on inauguration day. Just as it did four years ago. Even though I know this and can recognize this, I can’t really stop this. Well, it might cure itself when we get some real Change.

2. Martian Luther King. As I’m sure you all know, it was his birthday Monday and a national holiday. MLK is many things to my people. There are no rules on inspiration. I am sure I am not the first person to be inspired by him, his ideas were not new to me, but I was reminded of them at the time when my mind and emotions were ready to receive. Some of those ideas are love, acceptance, sacrifice, persistence, action for change, living by example. Those are a few words that come to mind when I think of MLK. I don’t know that I will do any of those things, but I will try. This blog, this act, is me trying.

Now you know my inspiration, kind of, so why this blog.

1. Pissing people off. I have over the past few years, for one reason or another, either pissed off or turned off or just plain made people not want to connect with me on Facebook. I am not in the business of Facebook “friend collecting” but with each person I find I’m longer connected to on Facebook, I have to ask the question why. Was it what I said, how I said it, how it made them feel, mad or sad or scared? Did I make them question their own beliefs or did it strengthen their beliefs? I have opinions (some may even call them strong opinions), as many of you know, but I still consider myself to be very tolerant and open minded (my opinion). Are these people (the defrienders) not? I don’t know. Maybe they only use Facebook for fun and to be happy? I used Facebook for everything. Family, friends, politics, photos, religion and food, just to name a few. I have come to realize time and time again, some people just don’t want to know the truth or your opinion. Or some people just don’t want to have their world views questioned, or some people just can’t believe that others may have valid ideas and arguments that differ from theirs. Some people don’t want to know that their Nobel Peace Prize Laureate President has ordered drone strikes in foreign countries that have killed innocent children. MLK won the Nobel Peace Prize too, but so did Yasser Arafat, so what the hell does that prize actually stand for? I digress. Whatever the reason is that they didn’t like what I had posted, I am fine with. I am not only fine with it, but I ask for their forgiveness. I ask for their forgiveness for violating what they have designated a safe and happy place for them to scroll. Facebook and the world is a place of free association of people. Many of these people I have grown up with, or deployed with, good friends, good people. The world put us together, and Facebook allowed a venue for us to be pulled us apart. That is unfortunate. I see Facebook as a public square. Yes, you can say or talk about whatever you want in the public square, but sometimes you want to take your conversations to a more private venue. This blog is that venue.

2. So why blog. I am going to attempt to blog for the sole purpose of continuing the discussion on an array of subjects with those so inclined and to free my Facebook world for other things. Facebook will now be for such matters as; what I’m grilling, how awesome or sucky my garden is, my child’s art work or her astonishingly intelligent questions and observations. I might even throw in some photos of the subjects I just listed. Why? Because that is the world and the country we now live in. I would rather it not be that way. I would rather not have to resort to intellectual and political segregation. But in order to keep and maintain relationships with some people in this day in age, I have to play by their rules. This blog will enable me, within the boundaries of military law, to talk about politics and religion and whatever else I deem too controversial or too heavy for Facebook.

3. Free association of peoples. All are welcome to read and comment on this blog. If you are reading this, you came here on your own. Whatever the discussion is about, you sought it out. It did not punch you in the face while you were scrolling by photos of people’s kids or bacon or some dumb ass/smart ass some-e-cards. You are here because you want to be here. Maybe you will just read, maybe you will comment, maybe you will post your own manifesto. Maybe you will visit once, come to the same conclusion you did on Facebook (that I am crazy) and never visit this blog again. I truly hope that some of my most liberal and engaged Facebook friends will frequent this blog and contribute to the conversations. I have stated many times, and I truly mean it, I love conversations. Yes, I love being told I am right or that people agree with me, but I also love the challenge that people with differing opinions pose to me when they question my point of views. I really do enjoy it. I like to hear well thought out and presented points of views, especially those that differ from my own. I like to be mentally and intellectually challenged. That being said, if you come here and leave a comment on a post that is false or attacks other contributors personally, you most likely will be censored. But other than that, let it rip. I want ideas to be discussed, opinions to be defended and maybe even minds changed. Most of all, I want people who agree or disagree with me to be informed, and I think I am capable of that, I think we are capable of that. I am counting on my friends, my readers, to help me be informed. I don’t want to live in a world or country where everyone agrees with each other. I want to live in a world and a country where everyone can talk to each other.

So join me, or not. That is the choice, your choice. That is what this blog is doing, or attempting to do. Allowing people to have more of a choice to engage or not engage each other. It’s kinda what I thought being an American in America was all about.