The Human Condition - by John Bullaro
2013, 2012 and 2011 Columns
November, 2013 America the Beautiful: Let's Keep It That Way
People on the Central Coast of California, unite to save America. There is a small
but blatantly misguided group of right wing Americans (I hesitate to refer to them
as Americans, but I will) hell bent on bringing down the country one elected official
at a time. No, I'm not referring to terrorists. I refer to a small minority group
of loud, vociferous, mostly white, male individuals, who claim US citizenship but
are really revisionists trying to turn the nation back to nineteenth century, pre-
October, 2013 Family Values
Most people are born or adopted into a legal family. Some families are large with many children, others are small—as in a one parent family. What we've come to know is that legal families do not automatically make a healthy support group.
September, 2013 The Right is Wrong
In a world so rife with turmoil, terrorists, and corruption, one has to ask what
is happening in our Capitol, Washington, D.C. The Republicans won seats in Congress
in 2009 election. The winners are narrow-
August, 2013 The Wounding of the American Psyche
The George Zimmerman's trial was about a non-
July 2013 Guns, Guns, and Guns
Firearms have captured the American's psyche. The gun debate is bifurcated into two distinct groups. The NRA represents one group that believes their myths about gun ownership. (Discussed below.) The NRA claims that gun ownership is a right enshrined in the second amendment of the constitution, which it is. The second amendment allows American citizens the right to own a gun, nothing more. It does not say ALL TYPES OF GUNS.
June 2013 Bullies in the Voting Booth
Few people see, or want to acknowledge, that an environmental catastrophe is unfolding. What's more disturbing, few politicians — from either party — see what is happening to our land, water, air, plants, and animals because to do so may jeopardize their funding sources. Denial is an easy way out, a way to ignore these problems. This denial provides cover for not acting.
May 2013 Guns and the American Mind
There is a strange and escalating logic at work in the history of gun ownership in
America, where fears exist akin to the nineteenth-
April 2013 The Global Cooking Class
As citizens we are informed or misled — depending on whose TV News you watch — to have a few leaders in our nation's capital who acknowledge that the earth is facing climate change unprecedented in modern history.
March 2013 Fairy Tales
No rational person believes the government will take away their automobile because they (the government) restricts them from driving drunk, parking in red zones, or traveling on the left side of the street. Nor do they believe they'll eventually loose their vehicle to the government because they are required pass a drivers test, and have a driver's license, before they can legally drive. No one believes enforceable restrictions on driving are an assault on their rights to own and to drive their car or truck. (Yes, yes, driving is a privilege, not a constitutionally guaranteed right.)
February 2013 Mind Games
Modern living can make us sick. Human's today are wired for a slower living pace, but we push ourselves to live at a pace we are not hard wired to handle. Modern day humans would rather save time then their sanity. Racing through life can drain us emotionally and physically.
January, 2013 A New Beginning
January is a time people make promises to improve their life. Some people want to loose weight, stop smoking, save money, find a new mate, or be more diligent at school or work. A New Years resolution suggests these individuals want a better or healthier life.
December, 2012 Democracy, Where art Thou?
The Supreme Court's recent decisions dealt citizens of the United States two foul balls. One declares corporations as persons, entitled to First Amendment protection. The second foul ball allows Super PACs big pools of unregulated and non traceable funds, to sully the election process by buying media advertising that paints an opposition candidate with lies and distortions.
November, 2012 Liar, Liar Pants on Fire
One of the more disquieting characteristics of this 2012 political campaign are the lies candidates tell the public about an opponent. In addition to lies of fact, they paint the opposition policies as bad policy. In this piece I'll focus on the lies told about what an opponent said or did or did not do.
October, 2012 Democracy for Sale
Recently the Supreme Court, in a 5-
September, 2012 Courage
One of the first causalities of aging is courage. Not the loss of courage to meet our social obligations or to work hard, find new employment, or even move to a new geographic location. Here I'm referring to the courage to take on the wilderness, to go into a forest and live a simple life for a few days.
August, 2012 Flow: The Making of the Good Life
Years ago Jimmy Durante sang, "Make someone happy . . . " Well, no one make you happy for the long term. Happiness must emanate from the inside out. Happiness is an individual quest that takes time, thought, and effort to achieve. It comes from a belief in self.
July, 2012 Finding Meaning
There are moments in life when we live on another planet — that nothing squares with our understanding of reality. Old friends suddenly seem strange, children walk out of our lives without explanation, and work loses its meaning. Too often we cope with these feelings by looking out there and claim, if these were happier times I'd be happier. So, for many of us, our default strategy for unhappiness is to look outside ourselves for answers. However, some of what goes on out in the world that dampens our enthusiasm for life is pervasive and unavoidable. Let look at just a few of these toxic scenarios.
June, 2012 Twisted Logic
The world is full of naysayers, non thinkers, and logic twisters—the world is flat, the moon landing was staged, the Holocaust never happened. Fortunately, these nutty ideas have not as yet found their way into our public school curricula.
May, 2012 Victory at Sea?
Most of the world's population lives within a couple miles of the ocean. Here on the Central Coast of California we love our coastline. The coast has the priciest homes, considered by many to be in the most desirable areas to live, and is the destination for most tourists. People love to play in the surf, fish, swim, and boat. Yet, despite our love of the sea, humans act like there is a big flush handle by the sea shore.
April, 2012 The GOD Fellows
The 2012 Republican presidential nominee race has become a blood sport. Three of the four candidates hurdle lies, distortions, and phony interpretations of their rivals accomplishments at each other. They slam their rivals' positions on issues, and on their past service history. Why? To confuse voters.
March 2012 For Sale: Democracy
Last year this court stripped from voters the likelihood they will have enough clout to elect a president. The law flowing from the decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission is clear: The longstanding limit on corporate and union money in federal elections has been lifted. The court said restriction on corporate donations to political campaigns is an unconstitutional restriction of free speech
February 2012 Life in the Far Horizons
Where will you spend the rest of your life? Along the Central Coast, on a mountain top, traveling America in your RV? Maybe. The correct answer is the future. To paraphrase a local TV news channel, The Future Starts Now.
January, 2012 A Questioning Atheist's Guide to God
I will begin this essay with a short quote from Edward Abbey's, book A Voice Crying in the Wilderness. "Why Do I believe in the desert? Because the desert is the locus Dei." .
December, 2011 Family Values
Most people are born or adopted into a legal family. Some families are large with
many children, others are small—as in a one parent family. What we've come to know
is that legal families do not automatically make a healthy support group. As I will
argue, there are family bonds greater than legal ties. These meta-