Never Too Late for Questions

“Thunder may sound a warning, but it's too late for the lightning.”

-- Anthony T.Hincks, author

It’s never too late, but if it were, when and what would make it so?

A firm deadline. For example, If you miss boarding time for your flight, you’re out of luck. Once the flight leaves, they’re not returning for your lack of timeliness.

Would you be considered a loser if you are still using a BlackBerry?

Only if you feel like a loser, or care about how others judge you. I have a “flip” phone, and I’ll be pulled into technology kicking and screaming. The real losers, in my view, is the mass of society who can’t get their nose out of their phone to communicate face to face with people they care about. Take a walk through a restaurant, or anywhere else where people go to socialize and look at how many are still texting or reading an email. This is just sad. If you’re with me, then be with me. Anything else is simply rude.

How do we know you are who you say you are?

I spent over 22 years in military intelligence. Hell, I’m not even sure I am who I say I am.

“I yam what I yam, and that's all what I yam.”

-- Popeye the sailorman

Is what you consider as your greatest achievement also considered the hardest?

My greatest achievement is my two children, grown now. Raising them wasn’t as hard as it was the duty of a parent. There were ups and downs, to be expected, and a divorce in the mix, but they were both my joy, and still are.

Does music help you in educational activities and life?

No. I enjoy music as a way to relax, or when I’m doing mindless labor. But, I find it hard to concentrate and focus with noise in the background. I have always been able to knock out twice as much work if I stayed late, after everyone left.

Trump's approval ratings seem to be dropping even further. Should he quit concentrating on his base supporters and start concentrating on the moderates of both parties?

Stop listening to “polls” as their “cross-section” really isn’t. There are also variables polls don’t take into account. Trump will either win this or Harris will be the new President. Seen any polls on that?  I'll bet not.

“In America, everyone is entitled to an opinion, and it is certainly useful to have a few when a pollster shows up. But these are opinions of a quite different order from eighteenth- or nineteenth-century opinions. It is probably more accurate to call them emotions rather than opinions, which would account for the fact that they change from week to week, as the pollsters tell us. What is happening here is that television is altering the meaning of 'being informed' by creating a species of information that might properly be called disinformation. I am using this world almost in the precise sense in which it is used by spies in the CIA or KGB. Disinformation does not mean false information. It means misleading information--misplace, irrelevant, fragmented or superficial information--information that creates the illusion of knowing something but which in fact leads one away from knowing. In saying this, I do not mean to imply that television news deliberately aims to deprive Americans of a coherent, contextual understanding of their world. I mean to say that when news is packaged as entertainment, that is the inevitable result. And in saying that the television news show entertains but does not inform, I am saying something far more serious than that we are being deprived of authentic information. I am saying we are losing our sense of what it means to be well informed. Ignorance is always correctable. But what shall we do if we take ignorance to be knowledge?”

-- Neil Postman (1931-2003), media theorist, author, educator 

What was totally acceptable in high school 50 years ago that isn't today?

Learning, teaching, and good conduct. Not necessarily in that order.  Check out this link:  Eduacation 50 Years Ago

What is something important to think about today, 9/23/20?

Being happy always! Removing drama from our lives and learning to be happy should be first and foremost in our minds each and every day. We need to be happy always and bring those around us aboard for the ride. Be their light and show them how.

Is the phrase "love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life" true? To the people who have jobs related to their passion, are there times where you feel like you wish to get a different job or at least just get tired of it?

My aunt was a doctor, she had several higher degrees, and she built a company from scratch over the course of years. She loved what she was doing and never considered it work. She, and her company, became world-renowned, She made millions on the sale of it. She never wanted to do anything else, unless it dealt with this business. I tried to get her to take a vacation, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She had her dog, her gardens, and her business, and was very happy.

What aspects of humanity do people take for granted?

Naivete. I simply take for granted that most people are naive. They lack wisdom, good judgment, and selflessness. And, good “common” sense is not so common anymore. Embracing this, and looking at current events, I have been rarely disappointed.

“Most often, what I don’t know will have a vastly greater bearing on my life that what I do know.”

-- Craig D. Lounsbrough, minister, counselor, life coach

How come somebody who has nothing will give their last and help you out but somebody who has the whole world in the palm of his hands won't give you a single penny and just watch you starve and freeze in the cold to your demise and laugh?

If you have nothing to risk, what’s their downside of giving what you don’t have? It is a sad admission that it is so easy for people to be selfless when they risk nothing in doing so. However, I bought groceries for a group that fed the homeless in Olympia and I have never seen anybody walking by that laughed at those who are starving and cold.

Are “To be honest with you” or “to tell you the truth” mostly used to share honest answers or to cover up a lie?

To preface a statement with these would seem to indicate you aren’t always honest and truthful. I think we do it as a matter of form, but we should ask why we feel the need? If you’re always honest and truthful they would be redundant. It might be better to preface the other statements with, “I don’t know” or “I would be lying if I answered.”

What's your opinion on the saying "do what I say, don't do what I do"?

As a self-proclaimed hypocrite, I use this saying quite often. There is wrong, there is me, and then there is right. I often skirt the “right” because no one wants to be preached to, and I’m not one to be preachy. I prefer to approach people from my own, less than laudable, past when it comes to giving advice. Would you go to a Catholic priest for marriage counseling? I think not. They have no valid point of reference.

“The difference between my darkness and your darkness is that I can look at my own badness in the face and accept its existence while you are busy covering your mirror with a white linen sheet. The difference between my sins and your sins is that when I sin I know I'm sinning while you have actually fallen prey to your own fabricated illusions.”

-- C. JoyBell C., poet, author, philosopher

What is the best and simplest way to advise someone without breaking them down?

Ask if they’d like some advice. Tell them your advice might be too honest, and then ask them, again, if they’d like to hear it. 

What real-life trends were driven entirely by COVID-19?

Hoarding mass toilet paper, like anyone reported a COVID-19 symptom was pooping your brains out.

What does "life matters" mean?

ALL LIFE MATTERS! It means that, regardless of color, religion, age, gender identification, political affiliation, etc., ALL life is important. Unborn children are important, and those babies that are born and left lying in another room while a decision is made whether to murder them or not are extremely important to how our society should be viewed. 

“Everyone’s important. Trouble is trying to figure out why.”

-- Emory R. Frie, author

Why come up with dumb ideas to improve society like defunding and such when we have such a golden chance to really do better?

You’ve answered the question by addressing it with “dumb ideas.” These ideas come from the ignorance of reality. What is scary, to me, is these “dumb” ideas come from “intelligent” people, which might be evidence of how far our educational system has fallen.

What are we in the Golden age of?

We won’t really know this until we’re in another age of the same thing, then we can look back and say, “That was the golden age of whatever.” Perhaps, looking forward with the knowledge that it will only keep developing, we can say we’re still in the golden age of computer technology. The new age, which will become the “silver age,” might be Artificial Intelligence. 

Questions from my children. Does everywhere end somewhere?

Not necessarily. The truth is, we really don’t know. We can tell you what science thinks, our best guess, but that’s all it is - a guess. What lies beyond our universe? What lies beyond “what lies beyond” our universe, and so on. Some people will argue the “universe” is finite, and this may be right. But, what lies beyond the beyond? We won’t truly know until we go there and see.

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”

-- Albert Einstein (1879-1955), theoretical physicist

 

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as a chaplain at the regional medical center.