Life in 25 Words

Things aren't either black or white with so many shades of gray in between. In between the black and the white lies every color imaginable.

A Reader's Revelation

"The best writers make life clearer to us. The worst writers only titillate our senses." – Science Fiction author (and avid reader) Michael Casher, 4/1/07, Science Fiction for Thinkers.com/Bytes

20th Rule of Thumb

A rule of thumb for living your life is only icing on a cake that you bake yourself.

Guilty and Not Guilty

There are many things in life that make us feel guilty about something. We are always pressed by our own consciences when our deeds conflict with our own principles. Making amends for wrongs based on our own introspection and self-examination is a healthy way for us to evolve into better human beings.

The laws of our many lands often demand justice for wrongs done unto others by forcing wrongdoers to make restitution and to endure other penalties. Making an apology to another for a hurtful act is another way to demand justice from ourselves, one which furthers our advancement as evolving creatures whose choices include self-governing attitudes and the desire to correct errors before they become faults. These are the proper prices we pay for our misconduct and our misdeeds and it is the mark of good citizenship in a civilized and growing culture.

There is, however, a type of guilt that is thrust upon us by the errors of recorded history and by those who benefit from the proliferation of untruths about our rightful place in the cosmos. This is the undeserved guilt we all feel at times for simply being alive. None of us began our lives with the stain of wrongdoing. That is a lie perpetuated by those among us who fail to assess their own shortcomings, shortsightedness and misconduct. The guilt of being human and being alive is the brand they want us to accept and to display like cattle. Their desire to continue their lives as unfettered free spirits controlled only by their own wills makes them feel alone, fearful and resentful among those of us who strive for peace, harmony and beauty in the world.

Accepting undeserved guilt for the privilege of being alive will not only defeat all your endeavors and dash all your hopes and dreams, it will empower the worst among us to continue ruling our world and preventing it from becoming the paradise it was meant to be.

19th Rule of Thumb

You are what you seek.

The Evolution of Things

A luxury item becomes a necessity when everyone has it. The telephone and the automobile were once luxury items that became necessities when they became household words because of their common use. The common use of anything requires its presence in the everyday world.

The everyday presence of anything surrenders its original design to the marketplace. The marketplace is the final resting place of any idea that becomes a common thing in the everyday world. In the marketplace common things never die as long as they remain common by being continually altered to fit an evolving culture.

If household items cease to remain common because of lack of use they die the undeserved death of all original ideas that became common things. They are discarded by a jaded population because they were so taken for granted as household words that they became luxury items once again. Their graveyard is the world of antiques.

A Well-Founded Suspicion

Most traditions and customs are options, not requirements, for living your life.

The Hidden Cost of Freedom

The price of freedom is manifold. In order to gain freedom people must sometimes fight for it and die so that others may obtain it. Once obtained, many more will fight and die so that freedom will continue ringing its bell of liberty for everyone.

But freedom carries a hidden price tag once it is obtained. Freedom's hidden cost is one that many people fail to see but a price that must be paid nonetheless. This hidden cost must be satisfied in order to assure real freedom for everyone and not mere servitude to authority in exchange for peace and prosperity.

In order to gain real freedom you must always question authority and you must always be ready to challenge authority when you think that authority it is not in everyone's best interests. Paying freedom's hidden price is not only the duty of every citizen in a free society, it is the hidden mark of a man or a woman who values and seeks freedom for others and who cherishes his or her own.

18th Rule of Thumb

An understanding of something is not necessarily required for its acceptance.

The Three Betrayals

The worst betrayal in life comes from those closest to you.

The cruelest betrayal in life is inflicted by people who don't care about the damages they cause.

The biggest betrayal in life is when good people are treated badly.

Jonco Bugos Blog Under Construction

As of today, the Jonco Bugos blog is being migrated from LiveJournal to Blogger. The Jonco Bugos blog should be completely relocated to Blogger within a week of this posting.

At that time (or possibly before) the blog author, Michael Casher, will delete the LiveJournal blog which has become cumbersome and slow with unwanted Flash ads.

Thank you for you patience and for your interest in Jonco Bugos.

Michael Casher
Blog Author

Tip-of-the-Year

Never leave a trail that can become a fuse.

16th Rule of Thumb

If you bare your soul to strangers they just might try to steal it.

To Have and Have Not

Those of us who have the basic comforts of food, shelter, clothing and medical care and who are willing to share their good fortune with those who aren't so fortunate are the best among us. They are charitable people who are also aware enough about life to realize that hard work is not the only means of securing the necessities of life and that these necessities ought to be entitlements in any free and progressive human society. The best among us know that there are many individuals who are more than willing to work for these entitlements but do not have that opportunity for various legitimate reasons, including a waning national economy.

Those who "have not" are not necessarily unmotivated and irresponsible. The element of luck has much to do with one's success in life and only the selfish among us who "have" will contest that notion. When opportunity knocks it is often an event of pure chance.

If you are someone who has the basic entitlements of food, clothing, shelter and medical care, you are obligated as a citizen of a free and progressive society to share your good fortune with fellow citizens who are less fortunate. Freedom means nothing if the benefits of freedom are not shared and enjoyed by all.