I am going to bring together highly irregular thoughts to one point.  Work with me here because this is how a brain thinks.

I used to like to drive.  I would listen to talk radio, scream, yell, try music then I would get out my digital voice recorder.  I would put my thoughts down.  Still have those recordings. (side note — really haven’t changed much)

Since I now relish in not driving; no car, no car insurance, no gas, no parking, no worry of theft, I now muse in bed.  Before I arise I lay in bed and plan my day and often just enjoy the ability to be able to relax.

Today I thought about my deceased wife and I thought about an event, that is truly dumb, but in that dumbness there was an exchange of some type.  I actually felt my facial muscles soften.

I felt a smirk of joy and happiness.  So I thought about my dad and the same feeling.  I thought about people I met or knew who could bring that softening to my face.  Then I thought about my ex and all that good feeling went away.

Somehow I went from that facial change to the following.  I watched 60 MINUTES yesterday.  I am always amazed at Leslie Stahl.  I can’t figure how she can walk and talk.  To me, she does not represent journalism.  She represents an agenda.

She is interviewing  Senator Tom Coburn.  He is the Godfather to the Tea Party.  He nicely points to the fact that the US debt is unbelievable.  Leslie knows she’s a light weight and in the face of truth, in this case numbers, she interviews a pundit from a newspaper.  This guy says that Coburn is the main reason nothing gets passed in Congress.

Here’s my point.  You could see that the pundit was trying to be nice but his tone and that slight smug grin gave him away.  This pundit did not like Coburn and his face could not hide it.  It was no accident that Leslie chose him to give a summary.

I worked for 31 years as a neuropsychologist.  When I started doing polygraphs and EEGs, I could definitely match the thinking to the facial expressions.  Now when I want to get clear of happy thoughts I no longer have to think of my ex, I can think of Leslie.

I played professional baseball.  I learned so much about life in baseball.  It is a game,, at least it was, until they started paying me then it became a job.  I might add a job you had to fight to keep.  For those who understand, I was there before Curt Flood.

Among the many things I learned from baseball, life is neither fair nor unfair – it just is.  It’s one of those baseball perceptions of life that gives both baseball and life a meaning.  A painting is just a canvas with paint until a brain interprets it.

As  a result of my world view, I stay away from people who interpret the world in categories.  Yes, I do spend much time alone.  Let me explain.

If you think something is right or wrong, I’ll listen.  If you are a jerk, I’ll still listen because being a jerk does not make wrong your telling me something that is right.  (I wrote that several times as it was difficult to explain)   Let me give some examples.

If Donald Trump says something and it sounds crude, I’ll still listen, but if Hillary Clinton says anything I can’t listen because she lies.  Bernie Sanders is a great guy.  He tells the truth about a problem and I listen but he doesn’t have a  real solution.  He seems to think he can solve problems by working within the system.  Marco Rubio likewise is a great guy but he also works in that system.

I live in a different country but the US directly influences the way of life this country strives for.  That says something about the value of being an American.  Please appreciate that.

What I like about baseball is that everybody is the same.  If you can perform you stay, if you can’t you go.  They don’t care your color, religion,(except if you won’t play on Sunday), background, education etc.  They will draw the line at certain antisocial proclivities such as domestic violence and sexual misconduct.  Even then your skills may give them the opportunity to bend the rules.

My point being the only right you have in baseball is to do your job.  Unlike Congress, you perform or you are removed.  That would be so cool in the world of politics.

When somebody repeatedly tells me that something is wrong and does not offer their failures as proof of understanding that change has to come from a different direction, in essence just saying something is wrong, then I avoid that person.  It’s like a pitcher saying that should have been called a strike.  Sorry we have to play on.  The umpire made a mistake.

The pitcher does not call out my race, religion or sexual preference to change the umpire’s mind.  He doesn’t throw a pitch at me.  He doesn’t burn down the stadium.  He doesn’t besmirch me for being me.  He plays on.  Afterwards we shake hands and laugh about it.

If the pitcher shows any sign of anger or weakness, I’ll comment to gain an advantage by using his thought process against himself.   Some catchers will make comments to the batter to distract or unfocus his attention.  Umpires will allow this up to a point.

Unlike hockey we don’t have a penalty box because we don’t fight (baseball scuffles are actually funny), We don’t have penalty flags because baseball players don’t cheat, even basketball has free throws because of infractions.

I’m not saying that thinking like a baseball player will make the world better but it is a real solution.

I am researching several topics and need a break.  So I decided to see if the blogs might offer some respite.  In a word  NO.

You know that graphic on your computer that shows how much of the whole circle is being used by your program.  Usually I see a sliver, a line, barely determinable in my circle.

So I decided to look at new blogs, hoping to find something to take me away from my research demands.  Each of the blogs offers a sliver, a finely viewed piece of someone’s view of their life.  Sometimes the sliver is part of a slice of their outlook on life.

This sliver tells of a physical pain, this one tells of the woes of politics, this one tells about a cheating spouse, this one tells about two people kissing in the park from the view of their hotel window  (they don’t know it’s the cheating spouse).

My point is that the sliver you show is the screwdriver under the lid of your paint can.  From your one view comes many thoughts and feelings.  I left FaceBook because I could not take the insipid statements.  How much racial discomfort must you see, how many lies must you hear, how many unsupported reasons from people who are powerless to get off their couch must I see before I shut down.

To me a great blog is a great conversation.  I just don’t know anything about the writer except that sliver.  Possibly in that sliver is a great insight that we can share.  Need to repeat “that we can share.”

I am left with information that is never shared- just given.

I need to clarify.  I am currently researching how emotion is reflected in the brain through the electroencephalogram (eeg).  Even if the same part of the brain is involved  in all of us, it connects to paths that are not the same in everyone, which is good and proves us different.

If I feel happy when I see a dog recalling all the good dog experiences and you are horrified because of the scar you bear from a bad dog experience, we have two truths that do not match.  But they are truths and they do not address the facts known about dogs.  My research is aiming on how things that are alike seek each other.

We are attracted to things like ourselves.  Boy, does this open up a litany of questions and possibilities.

This might be the understanding of the American mind.

My AOL somehow sends ALL my email to spam.  Don’t even try to solve that problem.  But I sloshed through all my spam looking for communications I applied for.  Well it became time consuming.

So I decided to UNSUBSCRIBE to emails every day for a month.  I do not know the answer to my suspicion and you may actually know more about the internal workings.  It appears that when an advertiser gets hold of your email they might then sell your email yet again. This allows them the legal right to say you solicited them.  Like the Bible says, Book Club begat Viagra begat feminine products begat any product sold by Amazon begat you get the idea.

Based on the resistance I receive from UNSUBSCRIBING, there must be some financial reward with the number of subscribers (willing or unwilling)

First the UNSUBSCRIBE button is in small letters on the bottom of the ad.  Oftentimes is will say click here next to a group of other click heres.  Seems like they are trying to confuse you.  Then sometimes the print color is faded and difficult to see.  Sometimes they place a big UNSUBSCRIBE button because they know you are looking for small print.

There are a bunch of sites from foreign countries (I believe they are foreign because they make common spelling mistakes that even the most impaired Americans would not)  Their gimmick is to advertise using a different email address several times a day.  This way you can’t block them and they do not have an UNSUBSCRIBE button.  What gets me is how they might think I would ever order a product from them with this overt technique.

Then I receive these personal job ads that are American based but also do not have an UNSUBSCRIBE button.  They also use multiple emails making it difficult to block.  What is their thinking, “Here you must take this job!”.  But I filter them as they come in figuring they might run out of names.

There must be some kind of UNSUBSCRIBE cottage industry because some sites send to a page that looks similar.  I say looks because  butthe tricks they use to keep you from leaving the sites are mention worthy.

Some sites just say press here and then say something like Thank You or Sorry To See You Go. I feel guilty and sad when I leave.  Not.

Some sites try the guilt thing by pointing out that you requested the email and We Miss You Already or  Press here and reorganize the amount of mail you receive from us.  They place roadblocks from you getting to that UNSUBSCRIBE button.

It seems strange that I don’t remember requesting advertising on feminine products but they are there.  If I want to UNSUBSCRIBE I have to enable links.  Funny I don’t enable links to view the ads I didn’t request but I have to do this to UNSUBSCRIBE.  Then I realize that in some cases pressing the enable links button resets the ad to the top, taking me away from the UNSUBSCRIBE button.  Some sites don’t do this.  The ones that do have a convoluted process that may not even say UNSUBSCRIBE, instead using the Manage Preferences, Manage Account or contact us.

In some cases the UNSUBSCRIBE page makes me type out my email.  Other pages allow my computer to inject the email.  Some send you to a page requesting you reconsider because you did request these ads.  They cleverly place a RESUBMIT button above the lighter shaded UNSUBSCRIBE button.

Then a friend tells me (do not know this to be accurate) that because of the cascade of names sold to advertisers, they increase the ads because they now know you are there.  Sounds like the government.

I will persist.  I found that I really don’t want to share information because I can’t control things.  So I will change my email provider.  They actually are the basis of their own demise as people can only take so much. (apparently me more than others)

I dropped off of FaceBook but they are really sneaky.

I realize how effective the advertising adage of “stay in their face” is and theydeception they will go through to keep you there.  Like voters they don’t get it.