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Master List: Authoritarian and Anti-Constitutional Actions by Donald Trump (2025)
The last update to this was on May 24, 2025. Let me know if I forget to add to it. This post is a rolling chronicle of executive orders, proclamations, federal memoranda, and allied state-level initiatives that legal scholars, journalists, and watchdog groups have flagged as authoritarian, unconstitutional, or corrosive to democratic norms since President…
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The Great Risk Of Becoming Yourself
I know a man who is unhappy. He feels, almost simultaneously, under utilized and inadequate. His job defines him. Yet his job is menial and pointless. He feels a great need to be the provider to his family yet he feels empty and can’t provide for himself. There are several people who might be reading…
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On being inadequate
My kid is currently learning about Harriet Tubman. This paragraph describes her succinctly but well: Harriet Tubman She was five feet two inches (157 centimeters) tall, born a slave, had a debilitating illness, and was unable to read or write. Yet here was this tough woman who could take charge and lead men. Put all…
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On being a good person
I saw this really interesting video on how Facebook and Twitter trigger us emotionally: It reminded me of how we are all paid off by drugs. We are all addicted to dopamine and opioids. Social Media Triggers a Dopamine High According to a study of Australian consumers by San Francisco-based media-buying firm RadiumOne, social media…
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Stop Praying. Start Walking.
I’m a BIG Taylor Swift fan. So Rocky got the family tickets to her sold out show in Cleveland this last summer at our football stadium. It was amazing! At the end of the show the crowd poured out onto these large ramps zigzagging down to the street. As we were walking there was this…
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God, why have you forsaken me?
I feel like I’m moving through sludge. I plod through my task list like a dead robot. Call this person. Empty the trash Go to this meeting Empty more trash I keep hitting refresh on Reddit just hoping for a new story to avoid doing anything. This week can’t end fast enough. But it grinds…
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Loss – January 5, 2019
I have a great deal on my mind today. Transition is like that. What we knew and could count on is gone. What is in front of us is uncertain. This space of transition is very uncomfortable for most people. But for me it seems to be my natural habitat. I think we are often…
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Benedict Joseph Labre – The Patron Saint Of The Homeless
It seems taboo to think about, much less discuss, any religion that is not our own. Protestants don’t read Thomas Merton. Catholics don’t read Rick Warren. Atheists refuse to explore any God-based religion at all. I can almost guarantee this post will be met with comments on Facebook that I am not accurately understanding God, Jesus…
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Mercy Versus The Law
What is Christmas? The birth of Jesus? A melding of pagan winter holidays? Gift giving? A holiday of lights and good cheer? Santa Claus? One thing is certain: billions of people celebrate it every year. I try to imagine that sometimes. No matter what it means to them personally, it usually involves getting together with…
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We Are Meant To Come Together
I have this uneasy feeling the universe is in trouble. Like serious trouble. There is this thing called the “Great Attractor.” It is a mass thousands of times more massive than the Milky Way, our tiny little galaxy, which itself is about 100 light years across. We are HURDLING towards this Great Attractor at a…
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God is not a crutch
I like to try to imagine the power of a black hole. A black hole is a region in space that has such strong gravitational pull that NOTHING can escape. Not particles. Not electromagnetic radiation. Not light. Around a black hole there is a place of no return. it is called the event horizon. It’s just…
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Thinking more on the word ‘God’
Occasionally, people come up to me to talk about these posts. It’s really wonderful. I love talking about these topics. I had a person come up to me this week and talk with me briefly about my last post thinking about God. Basically, she said that she understood where I was coming from. But she…
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Why we must come back to spirituality and magic.
I get so frustrated with God language. I know the instant I use the word “God” I am isolating people. I am turning people off and, therefore, not helping the world spiritually in the way I would like to. For me, God is everything. It’s like the giant aquarium of everything. It is the multiverse.…
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Compassion. Kindness. Forgiveness.
Someone once gave our family tickets to a Cavs game. They’ve got these REALLY cool Jumbotrons above the floor. These massive, beautiful video displays cover the action on the floor. It’s super cool to watch the floor and then watch the Jumbotron. I was watching the game not noticing anything out of the ordinary. I…
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Why I’m Not Running For Political Office This Coming Year
I love politics. Dementia runs in my family. I tell my wife that if that ever happens to me just put me in any room of your choosing with C-SPAN running 24/7. I’ll be fine. I’ve had a couple people come to me and ask if I was thinking about running for mayor or city…
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S.A.D.
This is a picture of Donnie. Her husband died. His pension ran out. She lost her house. She is now homeless. This rain. 40 degree rain is the worst. And it just felt unrelenting this week. I think it was Wednesday where every minute of the day was this deep gray drizzling cold rain. A…
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Dear Akron Beacon Journal Editorial Board
This is the editorial I am commenting on here: Beacon Journal/Ohio.com editorial board: Sage Lewis goes to court It’s likely that link will break soon. Their content management system typically pulls these offline at some point. ********************************* I once had a neighbor who hated me. I mean…. wouldn’t look at me, wouldn’t talk to me.…
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Losing Everything and Finding God
Early on, in our homeless tent community, we had very little. We didn’t have laundry. We didn’t have a shower. We didn’t have computers or a food pantry or a clothes room. We had nothing other than ourselves. There was just some land in the back of a building where a few people put a…
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I’m not worried any more.
A couple days ago I asked Rocky about a business idea to help pay for some family expenses. She asked concerned, “Are you worried about money?” For the first time in my life I responded, “I’m not worried about money any more.” I’ve moved into a mental space that is hard to explain. It’s like…
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The Lesson of Desert
Have you ever been to the desert? You’ll know what I’m talking about, if you have. The desert is a place that makes no sense. The desert is random and chaotic. The desert is a place where you ask questions like: “What have I done to deserve this?” “God, why have you forsaken me? “What…
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You Don’t Need To Study Christianity To Know It
There are these universal experiences people have in certain spiritual moments. People talk about a white light in near death experiences. Users of a drug called “DMT” have reported encounters with “machine elves”: entities referenced throughout the world in shamanic cultures. There are no atheists in foxholes. Many prisoners report “finding” God in prison. I’m not…
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The Power Of Not Knowing
I’ve gotten real comfortable with my weaknesses. I can’t plan things. I am overwhelmed at the grocery store. I don’t appreciate nice things. I’m not getting any smarter. In the great words of Popeye: “I am who I am.” But we live in a country where we are supposed to all be “moving up.” A…
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Words
I have a hard time with the Bible, sometimes. I realize that’s heresy in the Protestant world. The key idea of the Protestant Reformation of 1517 was the belief that the Bible, not tradition, should be the sole source of spiritual authority. (This, in big part, had to do with Gutenberg and his movable type…
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Let’s Talk About God
I have debated broaching this topic for quite some time. God is a sensitive topic. Many people advise never talking about politics or religion. It’s true. That’s the safe bet. But it is also the fearful bet. Not discussing the most important and fundamental drivers of our lives is a bit of a shame. Strategically…
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We Are Emma Gonzalez
I hope you’ve had the chance to watch the speech Emma Gonzalez gave as a survivor of the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Speeches like this transcend human constraints like age. Don’t we wonder how such a young person to be so articulate, clear and inspirational? They also transcend politics and dividing ideologies. Politicians and…
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From Rubber City Auctions: Full House of Personal Property Auction – Saturday March 25, 2017 at 1:00pm
I just wrote this article on the Rubber City Auctions Website. Check it out: Full House of Personal Property Auction – Saturday March 25, 2017 at 1:00pm
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My Tweets From Last Week:
These are all the tweets I made last week: Marketing is like magic. If you believe it will work it will. If you don’t believe then you shouldn’t do it. You’ll always be a skeptic. These are all the tweets I made last week: I just got a request from Dayton Ohio to help raise…
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From The Homeless Charity: Who Homeless People Really Are
I just wrote this piece on The Homeless Charity Website. Check it out: Who Homeless People Really Are
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This Is A Video From The Trash Pandas: Trash Panda Boy makes noodles.
This is a video channel Indy and I do together. Here is the latest video:
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This Is A Video From The Trash Pandas: Grocery store
This is a video channel Indy and I do together. Here is the latest video:
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This Is A Video From The Trash Pandas: Sunday at Dunkin Donuts.
This is a video channel Indy and I do together. Here is the latest video:
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