Good Morning Digital Neighbors! Hello Supporters, Members and Visitors to @-Padre's.
Pills, pills and more pills. Maybe because of our love easy solutions and the effectiveness of so many pills in our lives the usage of pill as a force for change does have a great hold on our imagination. The Red pilling of Neo reminded us that one can be living in a dream that is in fact a nightmare. A beautiful lie is still a lie and a comfort prison is still a prison. No good idea remains pure in the marketplace, CAPTIALISM ALWAYS WINS! as dear @Bridgetphetasy likes to say on the Dumpster Fire. Now we have Black Pills and White Pills. Black for the Doomers and White for the Hopeful. (Hard to escape the binary nature of life) I am sure there are other pills out there as I sail into the waters of old fogery, I miss more current things as I spend too much time looking back with fondness and looking forward with a tired mind and heavy heart. In the end I am a White Pill person because of faith, but I tend to be a fan of the final chapter as one of hope and providential fulfillment. The interim chapters look rather black.
I am not a fan of doomcasting, a good friend of mine has entered the "I told you so" stage of recalling statements made in the past that predicted things getting worse. While he is often right, predicting things getting worse is not really that great of an accomplishment in my thoughts. It takes no effort, planning or dedication for things to get worse, just ignore things and plenty will get worse on its own. Turn in to yourself, join the self-absorbed and things will get worse for you and for the common good.
Maintaining the good, expanding its reach takes sustainable effort and dedication, it often requires those with a willingness to sacrifice some of their own ease and peace for the greater good. I don't think we are too far over the cliff, but I don't think there will be a painless fix. No pills for the potential pains that may await us. Hard work, sacrifice beyond self, hopeful attitudes, little oases of rational thought and classic community with a real appreciation for broadness of thought and a dedication to sustainability might be the future. Time will tell. Thanks for listening to the morning ramble. Happy Wednesday my friends!
On to the quotes and a beautiful barn. These old barns always prompt me to imagine what lives and stories might have happened there for families that owned them.
Vermont Colchester Autumn Barn - Martin Spilker
Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service, when it is violating all His laws. - Thomas Jefferson writing to John Adams.
Experience should teach us to be most on guard to protect liberty when the government's purpose are beneficent . . . the greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding. - Justice Louis Brandeis
Today marks the three hundred and thirtieth birthday of the Frenchman François-Marie Arouet, better known by his nom de plume, Voltaire (1694-1778).
Born into a bourgeois family during the reign of Louis XIV, the “Sun King” (r. 1643-1715), Voltaire suffered tragedy at a young age when his mother died. Never close with his father or brother, Voltaire exhibited a rebellious attitude toward authority from his youth. His brilliant mind was fostered in the care of the Society of Jesus, who introduced him to the joys of literature and theater. Despite his later criticisms against the Church, Voltaire, throughout his life, fondly recalled his dedicated Jesuit teachers.
Although he spent time as a civil servant in the French embassy to the Hague, Voltaire’s main love was writing—an endeavor where he excelled in various genres, including poetry, which led to his appointment as the royal court poet for King Louis XV. Widely recognized as one of the greatest French writers, and even hyperbolically referred to by ...
Padre - Tom Miller invites you to a Coffee Talk, Speakeasies, Schmoozes, Tea Times, Afterhours and other gatherings.
https://teams.live.com/meet/93792382189049?p=DiBHsYfuECPgDrG7vO
2026 Coffee Talk with the ADD Irregulars
Thursday, January 1, 2026
6:00 AM - 8:00 AM (CST)
Occurs every day starting 1/1 until 12/31/2027
Coffee Talk - Daily beginning at 6:00 AM Central Time Zone - USA
White Pilled Wednesday - A break from the heaviness of news and current events to focus upon things more personal & positive for the first hour of Coffee Talk.
Afternoon Chats - Most Tuesday, Friday & Sundays 2:00 PM Central
Other chats as posted in the community.
Don’t argue with people over sixty.
Just don’t.
It’s not just an age; it’s a masterclass in survival.
They grew up without Google, without DoorDash, without therapy podcasts, and without an "undo" button. If something broke, they grabbed duct tape, WD-40, a hammer, and a look of sheer determination that made even the broken appliance second-guess itself.
As kids, they knew exactly what kind of mood their mom was in just by the sound of how hard she slammed the cast-iron skillet onto the stove.
They were the original latchkey kids — walking home from middle school with a house key tied around their neck, with strict orders to heat up lunch and not burn the kitchen down. By the time they were ten, they could bike to the corner store, buy a gallon of milk for the neighbor, feed the family dog, and still have time to play freeze tag in the yard until dark.
Their knees were a permanent canvas of scrapes, bruises, Mercurochrome, and rubbing alcohol. Their universal first-aid kit was just ...
