Opinions and Thoughts of LightHouse Dann Verner - Just as he is!

     When I sleep is when I am the most awake. On the opposite side, when I am awake is when my mind sleeps. How do we know when we are consciously awake? Is it when we dream of robots dreaming of electric sheep or is it when the darkness of dreaming awakens thoughts best forgotten? How do we know when our dreams are actually reality? Some   believe that dreaming is our crossing over into another plain of this space/time reality. The great comedian, George Carlin, once stated … “Reality! What a concept.” For the majority of my 69 years of life I have agreed with Carlin. Reality is a conceptual interpretation of what the seeker seeks to discover within the reality of the realism their individuality perceives. Often I find myself in a quandary created by my perception of my realities. I balance precariously on a fence post with reality on one side and my expected reality upon the other. It is not uncommon for me to question whether my dreamstate is when I am actually a...

  “How I miss riding Old Yeller!” Do you feel life has been fair to you? We all have complaints and grievances. The big question is are they “ justified ”? My childhood was absolute Hell. Yet I feel that my life has simply been exactly that – “ life ”. No different than many others has been. I was bounced through thirty_two foster homes in my first ten years. Finally going to live with my father, stepmother and step brother and sister at ten years old. However, I never felt like I belonged with them. I resented discovering that I had a father and family that lived a few miles from my last fosterhome but they never visited me until the last year. At the age of twelve I was renited with my older brother when he returned from the famous “Woodstock Concert”. Together we decided that the nomadic hippie life was our calling. So, he, 16 and I, 12 walked out of our so-called ‘parental ’  home and joined the “Awarehouse” hippie commune. The tribe kept me secure from the grasp of author...

  If I knew how to dance, I would not be so handsomely intelligent and charismatic. Or so I have been told. Personally, I wouldn’t have a clue either way. I learned many years ago that how others perceive the intellectual me is their reality. Not mine. The physical ‘self’ I project on the behalf of ‘others’ is the ‘me’ that I manafest to appease their perception of the ‘me’ that they ‘see’. This applies whether it be singular, multiple or virtual “others” Communal living in modern society is no different today then it was five hundred years or even ten thousand years ago. People do not change. Architecture changes. Technology changes. Religion changes. Music changes. Education changes. Medicine changes. Hospitals change. Transportation changes . Even the Universe itself, changes. People? I regret to inform you that against popular demand, People, the “Others”, do not, I repeat, do not change! At this very moment you are thinking to yourself, “LightHouse Dann is either full of crap ...

  I was beginning to change my harsh opinions about Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith. And then … She starts this nonsense of mimicking Trump and demanding Alberta gets more judicial power than all the other provinces and territories. Which reassured my “ common sense ” that these “ niceties ” she has been displaying these past few months were definitely   political ploys. Blessing for me because now I could resume my deep fired dislike of the traitorous rhetoric she spells. Ploys constructed to distract non-Albertians from her real initiatives and encourage us to let our guard down. Guaranteed somehow both Smith and Trump are tied together in this. Incidentally, Time wise, this coincided with   one of the first of many early warnings the American people ignored. I do not believe in coincidences. That said, you have to wonder how Premier Smith came out with the sudden decision to ban certain books and genres of magazines. At the same time as President Trump and his band of...

Is there such a thing? In my opinion and, by today’s standards, my definition of a great leader is comprised of a trio of high priority traits. The first of which is “honesty”. The most important trait of all traits. For if there lay dishonesty then all that follows is based on lies. Second would be “compassion”. For how we react emotionally to the emotions of others defines the person we truly are within. “Strength”   would be next. There are many forms of “strength”. Inner strength is the defining factor of our ability to survive in society. We need physical strength in cases such as shovelling away the tons of bullshit life throws our way. A “compassionate”, “honest” person of “strength” will be a leader of leaders amongst their community. The type of leader who will lead the people, not govern them under submissive obedience to their power. A GOOD LEADER! To the people they would be “Good for you” and “good for me”

Let me ask you a serious question. “Do you feel safe? I am not referring to the security of your home. I am referring to how “safe” you feel. How secure you feel is another matter. When it comes to home security, safe and secure are two definitive different things. I remember in my rebellious teens a police officer telling a neighbour   whose   home had been broken into that, and I quote, “Locks are only for honest people.” It was fifty years ago I heard him say that , yet, I still remember it well. “Why?” Because of it’s raw realism. A strong portrait of the society of man. And sadly, a simple truth. Our enormous amounts of police and law related movies and tv series   take away from our safety by giving us false confidence in our security. Such scenarios like: “In a house, full of ground floor windows, that burglars are attempting to break into, all you have to do is run and lock all your windows and doors, call 911 and the calvary will arrive and catch “Bob the Burglar...