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David McElroy

making sense of a dysfunctional culture

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David McElroy

Little girl’s happy ending reminds us not to be defined by tragedy

By David McElroy · December 17, 2019

It was 19 years ago this week that a powerful tornado slammed into Tuscaloosa, Ala., and killed 11 people. One of the most powerful images from the aftermath of that tragedy was this photo of a man carrying what appeared to be the lifeless figure of a small child from the rubble of her home.

The picture was shot by a Tuscaloosa News photographer and it appeared in newspapers around the world after it was carried by the Associated Press wire. The man is Michael Harris and the little girl is 6-year-old Whitney Crowder.

For years, I had assumed she died that day, but I found out Monday that she is alive and has a happy family of her own.

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AUDIO: Finding meaning, true self requires rejection of your culture

By David McElroy · December 15, 2019

Personal growth is a path to alienation from the world.

When I was younger, I assumed that things such as spiritual growth and personal development would allow me to fit in with those around me better. I thought that as I learned to love others and learned to experience God more fully, it would be easier to live in human society.

I’ve realized lately that the truth is just the opposite. It’s easy to fit into the culture around us without emotional or spiritual growth. All it requires is molding ourselves into whatever those around us want.

But finding transcendental meaning and discovering your true self require you to give up what your culture and your friends and your family want you to be — because human culture is ultimately in conflict with what God created us to be.

I’ve realized lately that Jesus told us this 2,000 years ago, but we’ve simply missed the point. Finding the truth — and finding our true self — requires us to be something entirely different from what our culture demands.

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Briefly: Intuitive judgment of a faraway child made me happy today

By David McElroy · December 13, 2019

I got a note today from a woman who lives on the other side of the country and has a young son: “[Young son] says that we should meet you sometime. He just said of your profile picture that he likes your face. I have shared photos and videos of Lucy and the cats since he was really little.” This made me profoundly happy. I trust the intuitive judgment of children about people. Little ones tend to read character very well. Adults are easy to fool, but it’s much harder to fool children about who you really are. I hope I do get to meet this young man and his mom one day.

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This is the face of a man who’s thrilled that the This is the face of a man who’s thrilled that the weekend is finally here. It was a very long (and productive) week, but the time has finally come that I have time to write and read and think. Late Friday night, I’m at the McDonald’s near my house with a Diet Dr Pepper and a MacBook. For me, it’s like Cheers without the booze.
Donald Trump has figured out who to blame for the Donald Trump has figured out who to blame for the the D.C. Reflecting Pool turning green. The dastardly deed was carried out by a specially trained squad of Antifa cats trained by the Far Left. It’s not his fault. Arrest all the cats! #satire #parody
This was the sunset that faced me as I left Walmar This was the sunset that faced me as I left Walmart near my house just a few minutes ago. It was a beautiful light show for just a few minutes.
Here’s proof that reality and satire are indisting Here’s proof that reality and satire are indistinguishable these days.
This was the sunset I saw from the parking lot out This was the sunset I saw from the parking lot outside of the Walmart near my house just after the sun went down Friday evening.
This little parody was inspired by my trip to buy This little parody was inspired by my trip to buy gas a little while ago. Even at a no-name brand, the price was $4.09. If I remember correctly, it was $2.29 a gallon at the same station on the day the war started. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of winning. 🤣
For the best and most sophisticated in lawn care, For the best and most sophisticated in lawn care, check out the sponsor of one of my upcoming YouTube video episodes. 🙃 #parody #threestooges
Have you felt as though you’re living through Grou Have you felt as though you’re living through Groundhog Day lately? Me, too. Here’s a quick-and-dirty political satire I made this evening for fun and stress relief.
About three minutes before sunrise, vibrant color About three minutes before sunrise, vibrant color is poking through the skies to the east of my back yard.
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Critter Instagram

Alex and Sam remained asleep after I got home from Alex and Sam remained asleep after I got home from work Friday evening, but Oliver jumped into my arms just as soon as I changed clothes and sat down.
Alex is trying to decide whether to wake up Friday Alex is trying to decide whether to wake up Friday afternoon or go back to sleep for another nap in the bright sunshine.
This completes our classic art project. Alex borro This completes our classic art project. Alex borrowed Sam’s time machine again, traveling this time back to the early 1500s, where he briefly served as a model for the painter Raphael when he did some art work on church. Most people have never seen this version of the famous work, though. 😃
Alex was asleep when I told him I had to leave to Alex was asleep when I told him I had to leave to go to a closing for a client. He just muttered something about how I’d better bring some money back from it — since his food isn’t cheap.
Remember that time machine that I told Sam has? Th Remember that time machine that I told Sam has? The one that took him back to the 1970s a week or so ago? Well, he used it again, this time to go back to the late 19th century. He accidentally changed art history when he looked in a window where a famous painter was busy creating a masterpiece. And this is what The Starry Night looks like now. 😺
From the CritterCam: I’m not at home, but I just c From the CritterCam: I’m not at home, but I just checked and found Alex quite relaxed and comfortable without me. These are low resolution since the camera is so far away from Alex’s bed, but I liked them enough to ignore that.
I made the mistake of letting Oliver watch some ne I made the mistake of letting Oliver watch some network news this evening. He was traumatized, so he painted a self-portrait to represent what he experienced. What do you suppose it means?
When I got home Wednesday evening and wanted to us When I got home Wednesday evening and wanted to use my desk in the office again, Oliver didn’t seem prepared to give it up.
When I left the house, Alex was looking over the e When I left the house, Alex was looking over the edge of the top level of the castle to stare out of a nearby window — because a strange man was riding a loud machine all over the yard. It was a lawn mower, but he doesn’t seem to understand that.
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Briefly

It turns out that the radical far left has been training “Antifa cats” to sabotage anything important to Donald Trump. Everything he did was perfect. Honest. It was all the cats’ fault. Arrest all the cats! This is the latest of my ridiculous satirical shorts. Please go watch it. Then “like” it and subscribe. Please. I’m begging you. (Too much?) Although a couple of the previous videos have had views in the hundreds, most have still been seen by fewer than 20 people. So I seem to be having trouble letting people know that page exists.

Here’s the latest of my ridiculous parody shorts. It crossed my mind Tuesday to wonder what a slick and fast-talking car dealer might do right now to try to turn the high price of gasoline to his advantage. So I conceived of a fat and lovable character who tried to sell cars that don’t use any fuel — and then I started wondering if it would be funnier if all the characters were felines. Designing the King Cashpaw character took about four hours, but the rest took only another four hours, so this was a relatively quick piece that virtually wrote itself. I know it’s almost impossible for these parody videos to find a larger audience, but at least they amuse me — and there are 19 of them on my YouTube page now. The first few were very limited, but they’re getting more complex.

The Republican Party is dead. It still exists in name, of course, but it’s nothing but a shell. All that’s left are idiots and stooges and con men of the MAGA party. When Donald Trump is gone — which won’t be long — those populist idiots and pragmatic fools will have no one to follow. Democrats will thrive. They will take more power than ever and they will push the federal government further to the radical far left than ever. When that happens, don’t just blame Trump if you’re a conservative. Blame every person who has claimed to be a conservative and has given up on principles, character and everything else that Republicans once claimed to stand for. As someone who worked as a GOP political consultant for many years, this is disgusting and disturbing to me. Those who have enabled Trump to have almost unchecked power are going to be shocked when they see what they will unleash in the long run. It’s been plain all along what this narcissistic con man is. It’s your fault that you chose to pretend not to see what he really is.

We are ruled by the dumbest and most incompetent people among us — and we have a system which allows stupid and irresponsible people to force the costs of their idiocy onto smarter and wiser people. Can we get away with that? Yes, for quite some time. But we eventually reach a point at which the dumbest of the dumb — who are habitual liars and mentally ill fools — lead us to the disasters and destruction that some of us have seen coming for years. We are approaching that point. And yet most of the idiots around us still wave their rhetorical banners of support for the evil people who are leading us to ruin — and all of them point their fingers at someone else, never noticing that their own enthusiastic support of evil is to blame. When things finally fall apart, blame yourself for your blindness to the evil, not whoever happens to be in power when it happens.

I’ve been making some changes to the site lately and there are more changes coming in the days ahead, so don’t be surprised if you some small differences. This is not a wholesale redesign, but rather the addition of some features. Since they’re smarter than I am, I’ve put Oliver and Alex in charge of the technical work, which you can see in this action photo from the control room of our media complex. I recently added a series of landing pages for readers who randomly discover the site from an Internet search. I’ve also changed the YouTube link at the top of the page to go to the new YouTube channel for video essays that reflect things I’ve already published here. (Here’s a little bit about both of the YouTube channels I’m working on.) In addition, I’m trying to move away from using Instagram, so I’m experimenting with photo plug-ins that will eventually allow me to host the pictures — cats, dogs, sunsets, whatever — that I often take. So don’t be surprised to see more changes. Thanks for your patience. Let’s hope Alex and Oliver know what they’re doing.

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