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Earlier today I published a short article outlining some content changes, here at The Other Shoe. This series, ‘A Week In Review’ will be (temporarily) be moved to Monday morning. Starting this Saturday, November 2nd, 2013) I will start a new series ‘Weekend Wisdom’. I have a good feeling about this series because it is another opportunity for me to ‘tell it like I see it’. I mean no disrespect to any of my readers. However, I must be completely honest in telling you that, in the past year, I have ‘pulled a lot of punches’ in an effort to garner wider support.
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When we all were younger, we called this selling out’. I prefer to see my efforts as working to appeal to a broader audience, and making a genuine effort to represent both sides of an argument. I have no problem with honesty in reporting or writing. However, I have been asked… I feel to stretch the truth in order to appeal to a… small and misguided minority.
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The majority of you, My Dear Readers, see my writing as; honest, genuine and truthful. During my last Indiegogo campaign, I was told that ‘if you start writing about the mistakes Democrats make (example- “Free Obama Phones” and stories of that nature) [FYI I did look into the “Free Obama phones” story, and I found that this was an unsubstantiated story. One carried by only one cable network and based, very loosely, on the increased requests for Mdeicare paid ‘Medi-Alert’ phones for seniors with health problems that choose to live independently. With 50,000 Americans becoming ‘Seniors’ every month once can, reasonably, expect the use of and requests for these type of services to spike. Unfortunately, this spike has been mischaracterized and spun (disingenuously) into a story with no legs.] With each and every story, I do my best to;
- · Document the validity of the point I share and include references in the form of footnotes
- · Keep an unbiased and factual viewpoint
- · Keep hyperbole and rhetoric, of any type, to the minimum if not non-existent
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I understand that, to some, I am seen as biased merely because I do not parrot rhetoric just to appeal to a larger audience and garner wider support and even financial favor. I ask, those that see my work as biased towards Democrats, that I understand that everything I write here will be with me for the rest of my life. Therefore, I cannot simply write articles to win support if I do not believe in what I am writing. I hope, and pray, that I have a long and productive career writing. Having said, I can not put the credibility of that career into jeopardy by echoing “today’s deeply divided political beliefs” for momentary social or monetary gain.
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I have to write from an informed point of view, and write what I know will be true not just today, but tomorrow and tomorrow’s tomorrow. I simply must take a long view on what I write and the political positions I take on my blog. I apologize to those who might think that I am politically lopsided. I disagree with that assessment and offer this; I read and gather news from many sources. I am open to the failures of Democrats, just as much as I am open to the failures of Republicans. However, there is one major and significant difference, today. Today’s Republicans, in office, often advocate and parrot extreme positions merely out of a deep and real fear of being primaried. This fear has made many intelligent and honest Republican Senators and Congressman to say and do things… out of character, and that they later regret.
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The current atmosphere of intimidation of ‘being primaried…’ is coming to an end, and the Republican party has fallen into such public disgrace that many Republicans are stepping out of the shadows and into the light. The majority of Americans are disgusted that Republican Senator Ted Cruz shut down the government (costing $24 billion) all out of a disingenuous brinksmanship over the Affordable Care Act law. Recent polls (from CNN to Reuters to Fox News) show that this action has caused Republican approval to historical lows. As well, the majority of Americans blame Senator Cruz and Congressional Republicans for the “Failure of government”.
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These actions have helped me regain my spirit to write what I believe. I am garnering even more support from My Dear Readers in England and many other places outside America. I deeply believe in America. However, I agree with President Lincoln;
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“A House divided cannot stand…”
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America has been divided by those with wealth, they have turned us against each other. Brother against brother, son against father and daughter against mother. All in an effort to concentrate wealth and power into the hands of the few. They have pulled no punches and ever resorted to using very old tactics from The John Birch Society. I honestly think that Republican Judge Carlo Key said it better than I ever could;
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“For too long, the Republican party has been at war with itself… Rational Republican beliefs have given way to ideological character assassination. Pragmatism and principle have been overtaken by pettiness and bigotry.”
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“I cannot place my name on the ballot of the political party that is proud to destroy the lives of hundreds of thousands of federal workers over the vain attempt to repeal a law that would provide health care for millions of people throughout our country.”
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““As the smallest minds continue to make the loudest noise in the Republican Party, true leaders will be driven by their principles and values to become Texas Democrats.”
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His words have given me strength. His actions have spurred me into action. From now on I will proudly write and publish my beliefs, and help chart a course to a; better, kinder and smarter America.
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And, now, without further adieu, ‘A Week In Review’.
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- · Time Article About Texas… And MORE!: “I do not believe that the future of our great Republic lies in; low wage uneducated workers, cheap housing at the expense of the general health of a population, and the gutting of the middle class just to make the already wealthy, more wealthy. I do not believe that Americans should just ‘get used to’ getting paid less for more work each and every year. Accept that One in three adults and one in two children do not have any form of health care.”I disagreed with the author of this article. I was offended by the superficial nature of his characterization of Texas, and Texans. I find deep disagreement with his underlying theme, that the fringe and temporary greed-based atmosphere in Texas is ‘the future of the nation’ and that libertarian ideals shall rule America they way they rule Texas. I also take offence to his proposition that ‘more guns = less violence’ and that the ‘Old West’ mentality (that is currently spreading like a disease through the south and mid-west) will make the America of the 21st century anymore safe than it made America in the 1870’s. I ran out of toes and fingers to count all the ways this author mischaracterized Texans and painted them as some two-dimensional characters from a Zane Grey[1] novel.
- · The Other Shoe… Changes : “I wanted to make you all, My Dear Readers, aware that I just made a ‘pre-reservation’ for the URL www.theothershoe.blog. When these new URLs become available I plan on moving The Other Shoe to this new web address. I am hopeful, that by this time, my financial… difficulties will have worked themselves out and I will have the resources to obtain; the URL, web hosting, email addresses and everything I will need to move from blog.com and wordpress. It is my intent to keep these original blogs updated.” ‘A leap of Faith’. I just could not describe my actions in any better way, than to say I am taking a leap of faith. This week I put in a pre-reservation for the new URL www.theothershoe.blog . (There are several new URLs coming out soon. Instead of; .com, .org and .net there will be; .blog., .company, .ecom, .enterprises and many many more. I had heard about these upcoming domain extensions and wanted to make sure that The Other Shoe was the ONLY .blog The Other Shoe on the internet.
- Moving The Other Shoe Store to Amazon, Soon. : “In an effort to replace said funds, I sought to sell some electronics. I have been buying electronics parts and peripherals from eBay since 2007. Now, I though I might turn the tables and make some money. Easier said than done, I tell you what My Dear Readers. Before I ventured into this unknown territory I; read the FAQs at eBay, read several articles on the web about ‘How to sell on eBay’, and followed all the directions as I listed my items. I did everything according to the advice and directions I received.” I simply cannot put into words how much damage the theft of my $300 has caused me to date. I understand that to most of you, My Dear Readers, $300 is a lot of money, but not so much that it would take food off of your table… for weeks. It has, for me. I could not come to you, My Dear Readers, and ask for your assistance (via an Indiegogo campaign) so soon after my last campaign. I did not have any other viable course of action, at that time, than to take some of my worldly possessions and place them up for sale. I thought that eBay would be a good place to get a fair price for my items, as I had used eBay many times in the past six years to find parts for my computers. Little did I know just how much eBay had changed, since last I used it, or how much it had become like a ‘dirt mall’. I placed the items up for sale three weeks ago and I have had only two bid on, and neither buyer has paid for the items. What kind of person gets a 3G data card for 99 CENTS and NOT pay for the item once they win the auction?
- October 25th Update, and Danny’s Dreams and Nightmares… : “Bottom line, I found that the buyers I had encountered wanted something for nothing and then some. I have used eBay since 2007, but only as a buyer. Until now I had never attempted to sell anything I owned on eBay. Now, as a disclaimer, I am sure that not all buyers on eBay are expecting something for nothing, I am just expressing my personal experience and nothing more. I have made the decision that I have more time than patience.” I explain my ongoing frustration with the current eBay mentality. I also indicate my hopes that I will have better luck moving to Amazon. I also share a very ironic nightmare I experienced, and explain that for the past ten years I have very few dreams or nightmares that I remember upon waking. Just another enjoyable and entertaining update on Danny’s life and living.
- Weekend Update October 26th, 2013 And A Tour! : “Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. I opened one of the final boxes to unpack, today, and found what I thought to be a lost 1080p video camera. I had used this camera for lots of videos during the last Indiegogo campaign. I had feared that the camera was lost forever. Overwhelmed with joy, I was, upon finding it today.” A very happy day for me, and one that I wanted to share with you, My Dear Readers. Seems I thought that I had lost my only 1080p camera for my computer. Alas, on this day I FIND my 1080p camera and am very happy at my find. I also include, in this post, a short Tour Of My New Home! ENJOY!
- Sunday Funnies October 27th, 2013 : “Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. It has been a long and tiring day. I had hoped to post this article, and the featured video, early in the morning. That is when most people enjoy their ‘Sunday Funnies. That just did not happen, and the morning was lost to an unwelcome and incomplete journey.” Rather than focus on my failed adventure, or the lack of food that was driving a deep and painful hunger (little did I know that help would be coming, shortly, in the way of a ‘Care Package’ of food from… England! Thank you, again, EVER SO MUCH Ian! With the discovery of my better (1080p) camera, and Alexander rebuilding his second home, I made a short video. This video is of Alexander taking torn up grocery store brown paper bag into his NEW second home. A delightful little video, of my favorite little man in the whole wide world! Thanks, Alexander!
- Content Changes Here at The Other Shoe : “Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. You all have noticed the site changes at my primary blog location at blog.com. Now, I am making a few changes to posting times of regular articles. From now on; ‘A Week In Review’ will be posted on Monday and contain all the links to the previous week’s content. This will continue until such time I get another author and/or I get a microphone to use my Dragon Speech program.” This article outlines some structural changes to the posting schedule here at The Other Shoe. Until such time that I; get a new microphone and fix the problem with my Dragon Speech Voice-to-Text program, and/or get assistance with writing and/or editing here at The Other Shoe. I have made some simple changes to shift the work load, and hopefully make meeting the schedule of my regular articles more easily obtainable for me. My pain is the worst it has been, in nearly a decade. My use of my left hand is at an all time low, and all this happens just as my desire to write… and personal need to write hits an all time high. I simply LOVE writing for you, My Dear Readers. It is ONLY my pain that keeps me from writing a ten page article seven days a week. I am hoping that Allen will help me by buying me a new microphone later in the month… or for my BIRTHDAY (November 20th… FYI). It would be nice to have a good and old friend (hint, hint James) help me out by editing articles for me. Just another set of eyes to check spelling and grammar prior to publication… but I am not holding my breath. Just getting a new headset microphone would enable me to get back to dictating articles and that leaves me with just checking what it typed for me, and publication.
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That, My Dear Readers, brings us to the very end of the first ‘A Week In Review’ in more than three weeks. I am hoping, that with the schedule changes, this will be the last time I got weeks without this very popular weekly article. I am so happy that you all came by and read this review. I look forward to seeing you here, later this week and this weekend. I hope that you have a very happy and productive week. As well, a BIG “KUDOS” to my niece Jessica Hanning on “Vet school has taken a turn for the better despite it being "hell week!". We all are so very proud of you, Jessica. Keep up the great work and know that you have a crowd of people and family standing behind you cheering for you every day. As well, to Kimberly Hanning on her very successful Halloween party this Saturday the 26th. I am so proud to have such wonderful and talented nieces. :)
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As always, I am deeply honored that you come here and read my work.
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Thank you!
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P.S. I would like to express a VERY special Thanks to Ian Cottier. Ian saw that I managed to be able to pay my rent, come November 1st, but was forced to "sell my worldly possesions for food..." This did not sit well with Ian, he is such a great and caring friend, and Ian helped me out with a 'Care Package' of food! Later this week I am going to prepare (thanks to Ian's generosity) my famous beef stew in my crock pot. Look for pictures of the stew, from start to finish, later this week right here at The Other Shoe. Ian, thank you very much for your kindness and timely support!
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The Other Shoe eBay Store[/caption]
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