Vote, or Don't

During my younger, idealistic life, every voting day came around and I would try to get out the vote.

And then I would look at the percentage of people who don't vote and it's a lot.

Most voter eligible Americans don't vote. 

It seems it's always around 50% of eligible voters.

But...

As I realize how much fake social media is manipulating us, and I read what many people actually post online, and I watch video after video of how uninformed people are...

I've changed.

Don't vote.

I'm not as upset when I see those low voter turnouts because if you cannot even get to the polls, you probably shouldn't be pulling the levers of the voting machine.

So don't vote.

Unless...

You're informed.

You're willing to question what you think is true.

You're going to understand that it's a choice, usually, between two or more people that aren't much different from each other.

Never forget, you hate them more than they hate each other.

So vote, or don't.

I really don't care, and probably wish  you wouldn't if you're not going to do some basic work and be informed. 

And it's really not our fault because we believe that the other side is evil, it's intentional to win elections, but they're not.

They're not.

Insanity

Free people in the West, specifically the USA are slowly spiraling into the end of Western Civilization.

We support terrorists over democratically elected people.

We support dictators when it fits our  purpose.

We support groups that go against our very values.

We can't define words that have been around for thousands and thousands of years.

We will allow our most innocent to be exposed.

And if any of this is brought it, you are being bombarded with propaganda, when in reality, it is them.

Just because I don't support what you do, doesn't mean I lack empathy.

It probably means that I am empathic with the logical, common sense side of the issue.

And I'm not supporting evil people who would love to use the Useful Idiots. 

Another Day in Paradise

You cannot continue to not give someone a raise compared to the cost of inflation, and expect them to be "happy".

You cannot take away planning time for teachers, AND add work to their already busy, stressful schedules and expect them to be "happy".

I'm not saying that I agree or disagree, I tend to think teachers have it pretty good, but the shock of administrators when there is push back from teachers is always catches me off guard.

How long has it been since you were in the classroom?

How motivated are you to do your job every second of every day?

How tired do you get those from above are adding more to your plate?

And why in the world do we have so many administrators and their support staff, and what do they do?

Because every cent that is paid to them is not going to teachers.

But what do I know?

Maybe I'll retire and run for school board...

There's probably a better chance that I'll work and watch and become too cynical to actually care about all the piles of b.s.

And I'll continue to worry and focus on the people who matter the most,

My students.

 

Notre Dame Walk Around and Adidas Circuit in Mishawaka Indiana

 

It's Pouring

I teach many different social studies classes and before each class, we talk about current events "stuff".

I give them time to ask questions or tell me something they read, heard, or found that they think is interesting.

In 26 years, I cannot tell you how many times I have had to share a different idea as a devil's advocate to try and get students out of their echo chambers.

It wasn't too hard in the past.

They read an article, they watched the news and came in with an opinion and I could easily get them to think about that issue from different angles.

I could counter misinformation, disinformation, incomplete information, but now...

I'll use the analogy of someone, one person shooting arrows at me. You could dodge one or two, or all of them because you had time to move.

Then social media came along and it was long being shot at with a gun. The bullets came quicker, but you could still move and counter.

But today, with domestic and foreign organizations using bots (which are computers), I am trying to stand under Niagara Falls and not get wet.

It's overwhelming and it's not ending any time soon.

We are becoming less informed,  yet having access to all known knowledge at all times is not helping.

It's hurting.

I used to be all about how everyone should vote in elections.

The more of what I'm seeing, the more of what I am hearing...I'm not sure everyone should be able to vote.

The bots are attacking social media, creating "likes" and recreating an idea so that the user believes that what they are seeing is not only true, but supported by thousands of people, maybe even millions.

Very frustrating.

Very scary.

It's Hard

We have a family member, Hannah Ray, who has been going through some serious health issues.

All brain related.

And our family has dealt with other health issues, but it's always with a body part that can be changed, helped, manipulated.

You can't do that with the brain.

She has an autoimmune disease that is attacking her brain, and she's only 26 years old.

The goal is to get it under control and to stop her from having strokes.

But it's been a long hard road, and it feels like it's only getting started.

I'm really struggling how and why this could happen to her because she is the sweetest, nicest young woman.

Yet, here she is.

Fighting for both her life and her quality of life...why her?

I cannot wrap my mind around why this is happening, but I understand I will not ever this side of heaven.

I can blame God, get mad at God, whatever, but I approach ever situation like this understanding how in awe I should be of God.

I can never understand what He does, doesn't do, allows, or doesn't allow.

But it's hard.

It's real hard.

Reality Show

We all live in our own reality.

Some of that reality is amongst others in the "real world".

But we have this movement of people who live in their realities, and expect everyone else to live in it also even though it goes against their realities.

It's my reality that we should pray in my class before class, but I can guarantee I would never force anyone to take part in my reality. I don't care if it's legal or not, I just wouldn't do that.

I do not expect everyone to bow to my reality even when it violates theirs.

It's just not right.

Now, there's a difference in forcing and sharing.

If I share my faith after class privately with a student who asks about it, that's sharing.

Forcing is telling a captive audience and not only telling them about my faith, but that everyone should partake in some form with my faith.

That's just not right.

And it doesn't matter if it's religion or pronouns, we shouldn't be forced to partake in anyone's reality because it hurts our feelings.

Grow up.

Live the way you want.

Realize there's going to be confusion.

File suit if you feel you're being discriminated against because no one should be treated differently.

But...the law only should go so far.

Cannot Believe I Had Any Part In These Two

 

Two of Best Hugs Ever

 

Same kid, 12 years a part, one as a ball boy, the other as the PG.

You think differently than me?

That's cool.

Don't want to talk about it?

That's cool.

Want to talk about it?

That's cool.

Just because we disagree, doesn't make you a Communist, a Nazi, a racist, a homophobe, a transphobe, or fearful of anything.

We have to quit demonizing those we disagree with and making "them" out to be the complete extreme of their view because we don't like what they say.

Just stop.

The problem comes from that every single issue we believe in has become some existential crisis or threat to our every day lives, and most of them just don't.

The threat comes from outside, not inside, however, if we forget that inside is safe...we could be in trouble.

Or not.

Every generation has thought that the current generation is awful and that the country is going to hell in a hand basket, and that may be true.

But we're still here.

Spoiled.

And blinded that the rest of the world does not have it like we do here in the USA.

What If I'm Wrong?

I can guarantee you that if something comes out of my mouth, I have thought too long about it.

But...

I could be wrong, couldn't I?

I try to keep that concept in my thoughts and I really struggle with some of my stances vs. my beliefs.

How often do any of us even consider that we could be wrong?

The universe is a vast, vast area, yet so many of us think we're at the center of it.

You're not.

And you could be wrong.

 

 

Clear Away the "Stuff"

I'm a free thinker, I believe.

I mean, there are things I believe in when it comes to right and wrong, but if you're not bothering me, I don't care what you do.

But what I've found is that those who claim to be progressive or free thinkers may be the most small minded people I know.

Here's what I believe:

Minorities have the right to think for themselves and vote for the political party they identify with most.

Gay people have the right to exist and be married.

Trans people have the right to exist and live their life as they see fit.

People should be allowed to work and make as much money as they want to.

Everyone should have some form of education.

The unborn and the youngest of children should be taken care of and sheltered as much as possible.

You have the right to be religious, not religious, any religion.

What I don't believe:

Call minorities ignorant, sell outs or any other negative name because they don't support who I think they should.

Gay people and straight people should keep their affection for each other (within reason) behind closed doors.

Trans people shouldn't force me to partake in their right to exist.

Taxes should be higher on expensive things and millionaires and up should be donating to charity.

Yes, I'll help pay for some form of education with my tax dollars.

Children are innocent for too short of a time...let them be kids.

Do what you want to do religiously, but understand that you live in a predominantly Christian country.

Everyone has the right to be free and informed, but do not have the right to force their reality onto my reality.

They can share it, they can approve it, they can disapprove of mine, but do not force me to partake in it.

Isn't that the free thinking way?

I'm not forcing my reality on to you, just sharing.

If you want to force your reality (again within reason) on me and not allow for people to think for themselves,  you're the fascist.

Not me.

D.C. 2026

 

Kobe Bryant

 

Out West last weekend, we drove to some places we hadn't been to before.

The Hollywood Sign.

UCLA.

And where Kobe Bryant's helicopter crashed killing him, his daughter and everyone on board.

Crazy time, he was so young with so much to give to the world.

And he was gone in an instant.

Along with all of the other people most of them young girls, what started as a regular day ended leaving many people speechless and sad.

If you get out there, the best way is a path behind a Bark Park in Calabasas...about a mile up a path that is windy, but not too hard to get to, you can be in that area where everyone's basketball world changed.

Where Do Your Kids Get Their Athleticism?

Well, I mean, their mom and I were both multi-sport athletes who weren't too bad.

It didn't just come from out of nowhere.

It's part DNA.

Part not being soft because we won't allow it.

Part being competitive, we taught them to be that way.

Part love; we've always been there for them win or lose.

I'd like to think they got their quickness and jumping from me, and their toughness from mom...or vice versa or mostly all from mom.

But they weren't created in a test tube.

They got it from us.
 

Cali...We Went Back and Cooled Out (IYKYK)

Well, There's That

 

Indiana High School Basketball Needs a Shot Clock

I've changed.

I used to be that guy who would say we already have a shot clock and it's 8:00 minutes long.

Sure it's because I coach at a larger school now, but I've seen a shot clock used all over the world, at the youngest ages and I see better basketball than I do in a lot of games here on a Friday night.

And that's the FIBA shot clock time of 24 seconds.

And my biggest reason will definitely fall on deaf ears of those against the shot clock.

I cannot stand to play really, really good defense for 30, 45, 50, 60 seconds against a team who is trying to patiently score and then make one mistake and that team scores.

Sure, play great defense all the way through the possession, but here's the deal. We did play great defense for 45 seconds and in seconds 46 and 47 the offense is rewarded.

I get it...guard the whole time.

But make the possession end sometime, put some pressure on the offense at some point.

Now...the people who hold the ball out front and the defense doesn't come out and guard....I could care less about that argument.

100% the defense should make them try to score.

Hypocritical?

Maybe, but I'm like everyone else...selfish.

But it's coming.

Not this year or even next season.

But it's coming.

By then, I'll be watching on the sideline listening to people my age talking about the good old days of no shot clock, no NIL, no class basketball, peach baskets, railroad lines for half court, the 5 second mark in the half court, actually tossing the ball up on each jump ball, and on and on and on.

Beauty is Everywhere

Potomac River at Dusk.

Spiritual Warfare is Real

I love everyone.

I am commanded by my faith to do so.

But...

I don't like everyone.

In fact, the hatred and anger I see in others, I often get angry immediately.

Then it's disbelief.

Then sadness.

Then prayer for them.

But these people want to control everything.

You don't think demons are real?

My daughter told me a story the other day about someone she saw on social media and the absolute anger that came from her.

She ate at a restaurant.

She got her receipt.

And the server had written "Jesus loves you" on it.

And she posted it and lost her mind over it, and even posted a video showing how angry she was over Christians forcing their views on her.

It was a simple message.

She lost it.

Demons are at work.

My daughter explained that if someone had written something else on it, we would have laughed, shrugged it off, maybe got a little aggravated, but nothing to that extent.

This person is a nurse.

Yes, she takes care of you and me and was so angered by a simple phrase of love that she decided to let everyone know her opinion.

And these people aren't just nurses.

They're teachers.

They're doctors.

They're in the government making decisions for us.

They're everywhere.

They've taken control of speech, the media, really most everything.

But they cannot take one simple phrase of love on their receipt for lunch.

Yea, demons are at work. 

I Want That For You

I want you to do what you want to do.

Just don't force me to do it.

I want you to be what you want to be.

Just don't force me to acknowledge it.

I want you to be taken care of.

Just don't force me with my tax dollars to support issues that I don't want to.

I want you to be loved.

Just don't force me to love you.

I want you happy.

But my unhappiness shouldn't be brought about for it.

I want your minority rights and culture to be treasured.

But I don't want the majority rights and culture to be trashed.

I want there to be no evil.

Just don't be evil to me while fighting it.

I want there to be freedom of thought.

Just don't blanket everyone as all the same.

I want there to be no political violence.

Just don't demonize one side or the other.

I want you to have your own worldview.

Just don't force me to participate in it with you.

 

 

I Cannot Wrap My Intellectual Brain Around It

When I was in high school and didn't know any better, I was a staunch Reagan Conservative. I remembered, as a very young child, how bad it was under the Carter Administration and how much the country had "improved" under Reagan.

Then I went to college, and I definitely became more Liberal, not really because I had Liberal professors, though I did, but because I was aging, and I was seeing that the world wasn't black and white.

So I had gotten more to the middle.

Then I gave my life to Jesus and my empathy skyrocketed, and became even more left of center politically.

Then...

The group that I could agree with on many things started going so far Left that I didn't recognize them anymore.

And I was being radicalized and I thought I was going back to being Conservative, then I listened to Liberal Bill Maher, and Liberal John Fetterman, and some of my Progressive friends and realized I wasn't becoming more conservative.

The people I was identifying more with were leaving some of their own "believers" behind, so it had to happen to me.

Things that confused me, and made me dig my feet in.

"They" fight for women's rights, but can't define a woman.

They believe all humans have rights, but are pro choice with the unborn.

They believe all land is stolen land here in the USA, but I don't see any of them giving it "back".

They believe that Americans don't belong here, but any immigrant that shows up is as American as anyone.

They want to politicize the government and who they're arresting, indicting, and jailing, but call the other side fascist for doing the same thing.

They believe in freedom of speech unless they don't like what you're saying then they want you to shut up.

They are growing in numbers that believe political violence is needed at times.

They are anti-Christianity, but pro-Islam and Islam is almost everything they're against when it comes to freedoms of just about every group.

They are pro-terrorists and anti-democratic countries.

They are anti-Kings, but will give a standing ovation to one.

They are anti-fascist leaders, but support putting an actual dictator back in power.

They believe in women's rights, but are ok with women with penises to be allowed in women's bathrooms and locker rooms.

They are against religious "brainwashing" but are ok with indoctrination at the earliest stages.

They are against black face, but ok with woman face.

They are against human suffering, but ok with mass waves of illegal immigrants, some of who are criminals.

They want "free" social programs, but are angry when massive governmental fraud is exposed.

They want everyone to be who they want to be, unless you're someone who doesn't believe that they should be forced to partake in that belief system.

They want everyone to live a more green life, but have made some small changes in their own over the top lives.

They want the Epstein files exposed, but vote to keep private everyone who has been accused of sexual harassment in Congress.

They are against sexual assault, unless they agree with the person's politics.

They are against pedophilia, unless they agree with the person's politics.

They are against Nazis and their tattoos, unless they agree with the person's politics.

They are pro-minority rights, but won't acknowledge how many minorities are killed every day in this country in their communities and in the womb.

They don't want a man with a cross on to read to their children, but they are ok with men dressed as women to do so.

They don't want religious materials in their schools, but they're ok with pornographic material there.

They believe in body autonomy unless it has to do with brand new vaccines that haven't been tested for long.

They're pro-science, but claim you're an ignorant fool if you question "the science" which is how science is done.

They want to be left alone in their private lives, but are quick to judge and want to force you to "ok" the choices in their private lives.

They are ok with violent protests, but not with the other side just speaking their truth.

They are anti-police, but yet will call them immediately when needed.

They are anti-gun, but surround themselves with protection that are armed.

They are anti-gun, but they seem to be the ones doing most of the violent gun crimes.

They have grown so against Donald Trump (trust me, I'm no fan) that they have lost their collective minds.

As the wackos in the Progressive party sprint to the Left moving that line so fast that I can feel it moving under my feet, I've watched the middle and some of the right being moved to my left.

If that makes sense.

I want to be empathetic and full of love for everyone, but it scares me where we are heading.

I cannot wait to read Suicidal Empathy by Gad Saad which is, in effect, that we love and help so much that we will be dominated, replaced and jailed.

Not by the political Left or Right, but by those we allow to slowly take power.

When the traditional power of the USA is chipped away and eventually removed, it will create a vacuum and that vacuum will be replaced by something much, much worse.

In fact, it will be replaced by groups who will immediately go after many of those who allowed them to gain power, the useful idiots.

Seriously...WTH?

Seriously, there are people celebrating the death of people they don't like and upset that others are still walking around.

What a bleak time to be alive here in the good old USA.

You're a bad person if:

You cheer when someone is murdered, killed, unlived and they haven't done anything really different by their actions than previous people before them. They're just not nice in doing it, so you hate them. 

You feel the need to let your opinion about the near miss of a famous person from being killed on social media.

And yes, I am talking about President Trump in this situation, but it could have been Biden or Obama, too...you don't cheer for their deaths or upsets because they're still living.

We don't do that.

We vote them out.

I wonder, when you cheer for those people being murdered, how do you feel about the people who follow and listen to them?

They're just using words.

Do you want them unlived, too?

Oh...you just think they're idiots and are subject to ridicule...they shouldn't be killed.

You make no sense.

Obama deportations: 3.1 million

Trump deportations: First term 932,000 plus second term so far 700,000 for total of 1.6 million.

Biden accusation: Tara Reade with several other accusations.

Trump accusation: E. Jean Carroll with several other accusations.

Clinton, Biden accusations: They had sexual misconduct with underage women.

Trump accusation: Accusation of sexual misconduct with underage women.

Previous Presidents on Iran and a nuclear weapon:

This is just an example...

Should there be accusations? Yes and they should be investigated equally and if found guilty, you go straight to jail.

When it comes to other policies, treat them equally, don't get mad because one guy is "nicer" than the other one in implementing any policy.

You're So Vain, You Probably Think This Post is About You

I guess, if the shoe fits...

But there's a post coming soon, and I am sure no one will read it, but the venting will commence. 

You (We've) Lost our Collective Minds

If you support terrorist organizations.

If you support foreign dictators.

If you support Islamic theocracies.

If you support the killing of American troops.

You might have lost all perspective.

In fact, no, you have.

Post Season Pics 2026