Checking In

I'm always about ten years behind the latest fad. That makes it time for me to start a blog about now.

I've named this ship Crafted Clarity, a phrase I coined as a hopeful expression of my performance as a freelance writer. Writing almost always disciplines thinking and shapes it into clearer communication.

Any topic is fair game as far as I'm concerned. My interests are broad, and include religion, politics, sports, music, cooking, entertainment, literature, investing, etc.

I hope to create or encounter interesting discussions about topics that matter, more or less, because they affect us all.

With the hope of planting a robust seed for what is to come, I'll begin by posting a simple but lengthy statement of the things in which I believe:

I BELIEVE

I believe the spirit and the body together are the soul.

I believe that our individual essence has always existed in some form, and always will.

I believe I have a mother in heaven as well as a father.

I believe in brand new phosphor-bronze guitar strings tuned to perfection.

I believe in the power of great music to expand the heart.

I believe in a great left hook.

I believe in butter-sautéed onions and rocky-road ice cream (but not at the same time).

I believe in freedom of the press.

I believe in laughter.

I believe all people are responsible for their own sins, not for Adam’s or Eve's.

I believe there are dimensions beyond the three in our physical world, and beyond time, as we know them.

I believe heaven helps the man who fights his fears.

I believe in mercy and in justice.

I believe Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone. (I believe Oliver Stone went overboard).

I believe professional athletes are overpaid.

I believe good schoolteachers are underpaid.

I believe in teaching people to learn to fish rather than giving them fish for a long time.

I believe in legitimate authority.

I believe in getting all the facts before making an important judgment.

I believe in hugs.

I believe Bill Clinton sold and spat upon the office of the Presidency.

I believe many people's hearts are set on temporary things.

I believe EVERY child ought to live in a family with a mother and a father who love them.

I believe parents (male or female) who abuse their spouses or children, should be publicly horsewhipped.

I believe in the death penalty, applied with as much justice and mercy as we can muster. I say this as someone who has literally signed a legally binding jury verdict imposing the death penalty, which means that my conviction has been put to the acid test.

I believe in adapting to broad changes in my social environment that do not conflict with revealed truth.

I believe certain moral principles should never be compromised, no matter how the social environment changes (I believe moral relativism is one of the great scourges of our society).

I believe I am here on the earth for a purpose.

I believe that human beings are far too special for life to end at physical death.

I believe in the power of great thoughts, quotes, and speeches to change people's lives.

I believe the entire purpose of my existence is to come to know joy (I believe I must therefore also experience joy's opposite).

I believe compound interest is a wonderful slave and a horrible master.

I believe in order and common sense.

I believe that on certain occasions common sense must be thrown to the wind.

I believe in respecting the property and personal rights of others.

I know God answers prayers.

I believe in teriyaki sauce.

I believe in common courtesy.

I believe in noblesse oblige.

I believe the world will get more chaotic and dangerous than it is now, up to a point.

I believe in teaching those behind us, and learning from those ahead of us.

I believe that when I ride, ALL my loved ones should ride too.

I believe I am an incurable optimist.

I believe mortal life is a school, and a proving ground.

I believe FDR and Winston Churchill saved Western civilization.

I believe in being slow to anger.

I believe there is a huge difference between being a hero and a victim (I believe the media have forgotten the difference).

I believe “Fiddler on the Roof” is the finest musical motion picture ever made.

I believe Tolkien’s “Ring Trilogy” is the finest English language novel ever written.

I believe in violence when my loved ones or I are truly threatened.

I believe all the strong and smart people should be kind to those who are not strong and smart.

I believe it is a mistake to induce children everywhere to say to themselves, "I am Tiger Woods".

I believe in service to the community.

I believe in insurance.

I believe in naps.

I believe that most people, consciously or subconsciously, do things that move them closer to getting what they really desire deep inside.

I believe baseball really turned for the worse when the first MLB player stepped up to home plate on national TV wearing an earring. (I think it was Barry Bonds.)

I believe in hot, hot baths.

I believe in poetic justice.

I believe that democracy is not ultimately the best form of government, but the best thing we can now make work (so to speak).

I believe in music that includes melody, harmony, and rhythm.

I believe it is impossible to be a virtuoso and be truly happy at the same time.

I believe the movies Field of Dreams and Armageddon made me cry.

I believe the Gettysburg Address to be the most finely crafted and moving speech any President ever made. I believe Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby to be the most perfectly crafted and poignant written communication ever produced by an American president.

I believe JFK would not be a hero today if he had lived.

I believe it's a mistake to allow technology to separate us instead of bringing us closer together.

I believe investments in paper companies are ill-advised for the foreseeable future.

I believe there is no rational reason why alcohol should not be targeted as vehemently as tobacco has been (both are a plague to the human race).

I believe I detest professional victims.

I believe in dancing.

I believe people mock what they fear, or do not understand.

I believe in motocross.

I believe in songs that tell a story.

I believe James Michener's novels are all too long (I believe James Michener couldn’t care less what I believe).

I believe Americans like their heroes sanitized.

I believe you CAN fool most of the people most of the time if you are very skilled, funded, and motivated.

I believe the scourge of racism is alive and well in America.

I believe drugstore aftershave works just as well as expensive cologne.

I believe in recliners and massage chairs.

I believe in creativity.

I believe there are very few places in America, let alone in the rest of the world, that are free from corruption.

I believe some problems have no solution, and must simply be borne.

I believe in fresh, warm bagels.

I believe in acoustic music.

I believe everyone deserves a spanking from time to time, whether they want it or not.

I believe the highest laws are written by the finger of God upon the hearts of honest people.

I believe in praying and working for peace while keeping your powder dry.

I believe parables are the most powerful instructional tool ever invented.

I believe Reverend Jim was funnier in Taxi than Kramer was in Jerry Seinfeld.

I believe all great comedians are mentally ill to some degree (which makes laughing at them seem rather cruel, but they seem to enjoy it).

I believe East Coast people north of the Carolinas hustle more than their west coast counterparts, but the west coasters have more fun.

I believe humidity should be outlawed.

I believe both sides of the environmental debate have resorted to extreme tactics.

I believe we ought to think carefully about giving the government the power to protect us from ourselves.

I believe Disney is the most powerful marketing machine ever created.

I believe the show Family Guy is generally devoid of any redeeming content, but may possibly still be the funniest show on TV. That thought ought to make someone shiver.

I believe in Mel Blanc.

I believe no adult who hates Warner Brothers cartoons should be trusted.

I believe The Far Side is a great meridian of humanity -- either you get them, or you don't (my mother-in-law never will).

I believe in protecting my “wasted time”.

I believe people who crave status and power in corporate America will someday regret the price of acquisition.

I believe my grandma Ethel was right when she said “fear is like a rocking chair; it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere”.

I believe there is something magic about a candle flame that electric lights will never be able to duplicate.

I believe all the human beings in the universe are not on planet Earth.

I believe I am one of the laziest people I know.

I believe George W. Bush started the Iraq War out of a desire to leave a legacy of being a wartime president who spread freedom and democracy throughout the Middle East. I believe he and his team lied to the American people to sell the war. I believe the Bush Administration’s profound ignorance of Iraqi political, economic, social, and religious values doomed the war from the start.

There...that ought to do for starters.