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Tag: Hot Takes

Bruce’s Ten Hot Takes for April 16, 2025

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hot takes

Object to calling the prison in El Salvador the Trump Administration is using to house undocumented immigrants a concentration camp? Consider: “What distinguishes a concentration camp from a prison (in the modern sense) is that it functions outside of a judicial system. The prisoners are not indicted or convicted of any crime by judicial process.” (U.S. Holocaust Museum)

President Trump thinks executive orders are the equivalent of law. Unfortunately, Congress has done nothing to disabuse him of this false notion.

I saw a video of a Trump Cabinet meeting where the people seated at the table went around the room, one by one, giving praise to King Donald. Disgusting, to say the least. Trump is a petulant child who must be frequently praised lest he throw a tantrum.

When it comes to the Trump Administration, everything I see and hear reminds me of junior high. Well, except for the fact that these juveniles have a massive military and nuclear weapons. What could go wrong, right?

We are in the middle of a measles outbreak that has killed two children and sickened hundreds more, yet HHS director Robert “Worm Brain” Kennedy, Jr. is “investigating” the efficacy of vaccines. Just take Vitamin A, he says, and now we have children getting sick from vitamin poisoning. Kennedy is a threat to the health of the American people.

When Trump first appointed Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, I thought he was a decent pick. However. I noticed in a picture yesterday that Rubio has dark brown stains on his nose — the sure sign of someone who spends his days and nights kissing Trump’s ass. His behavior, so far, has been disgraceful.

President Trump wants to show the world he has a big dick. On his birthday in June, Trump plans to have a large military parade in Washington, D.C. Only authoritarian leaders such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un have dick-wagging parades.

Doubt that MAGA is a cult? Some Republican members of Congress want to chisel Trump’s likeness on the face of Mount Rushmore, rename Dulles International Airport with Trump’s name, put his face on the $100 bill, and print a new $250 bill with Trump’s face on the front of it. And then there’s the Marjorie Taylor Greene types who think Trump is the greatest president to ever sit in the Oval Office. Can’t fix that level of stupid.

It’s hard to believe Andrew Cuomo is running to be the next mayor of New York. What’s next, Anthony Weiner running for president? Hell, why not? Morals and ethics no longer matter.

Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people continues unabated. While Hamas is the stated target, it’s clear that it is the Palestinian people who are facing the brunt of Israel’s bloodlust. It will take decades to rebuild Gaza — that is, if Trump doesn’t turn Gaza into an amusement park for American billionaires.

Bonus: The Cincinnati Reds are one game above .500, having won four straight games. Dare I hope? Polly and I hope to attend several games this year.

Bonus Video: Do you have TRS — Tesla Regret Syndrome?

Video Link

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Bruce’s Ten Hot Takes for April 9, 2025

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hot takes

China (and Japan) can bankrupt the U.S. Government in short order by dumping the U.S. treasury bonds they own. These bonds help fund deficit government spending.

I’m convinced Donald Trump is a modern-day mad king. (Mad King” typically refers to a ruler, like King George III of England or King Aerys II Targaryen from A Song of Ice and Fire, who is known for periods of mental instability or erratic and often cruel behavior.)

Trump wants to show the world how mighty he is by having a massive military parade in Washington, D.C. on his birthday. Historically, it is authoritarian world leaders who hold military parades — Russia and North Korea come to mind.

Most Republican legislators aren’t interested in cutting the federal budget deficit. Trump raised the deficit during his first term, and he’s on course to raise it to record levels this term.

I am double-minded when it comes to the federal budget deficit. A balanced budget seems like a good idea, but in practice, it leads to pain and suffering for middle-class, working-class, and poor people. Millions of families live from paycheck to paycheck. Budget cuts necessary to balance the budget will bankrupt scores of Americans (and impossible if Congress is unwilling to make massive cuts to defense and security funding).

Ohio’s Republican legislators and Governor Mike DeWine have made it clear that they are anti-public education. Billions of dollars meant for public school budgets were cut from the latest two year budget, with some of this money going to pay for students to attend primarily religious schools.

Get ready for a marked uptick in farm bankruptcies. Trump’s tariffs, especially on China, will cause horrific harm to American families. In 2018, Trump’s tariffs harmed American farms. The President saved his ass by giving farmers billions in welfare payments. Most farmers vote Republican. I wonder if they are tired of all the “winning.”

Trump signed an executive order designed to bring back “beautiful” coal mining. The President couldn’t care less about the environment. He has rolled back countless environmental laws. His goal is to return the United States to the good old days of the 1950s (or the late 1920s) of rampant air, water, and land pollution.)

Trump sees himself as the greatest president ever. The President thinks his face should be carved on Mount Rushmore. History will show that he is one of the worst presidents, right down there with Herbert Hoover.

Chris Hayes said of Trump today, “You set the house on fire, watched it burn, and then lost your nerve and put it out. You now have a partially burned house. Great job.” Yep.

Bonus — It is clear the Trump and his administration don’t give a shit about working class/poor people. From cutting food stamps and Section 8 funding to the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), the message is clear: if you aren’t rich, you don’t matter.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Bruce’s Ten Hot Takes for March 1, 2025

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hot takes

President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance embarrassed the United States on the world stage with a staged meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. I appreciate Zelenskyy standing up to the Orange Bully and his butt plug.

More world leaders need to follow in Zelenskyy’s footsteps, standing up to a bully who only knows violence and power. Trump has likely gift wrapped Ukraine for Vladimir Putin, but if enough world leaders stand their ground, maybe Trump will put an end to demands that violate the national sovereignty of other states. Maybe, though it is just as likely he will drag us into World War lll.

It is astounding that most congressional Republicans refuse to stand up to Trump’s acquiescence to Putin and Russia. What happened to Russia being our mortal enemy? Something tells me Russia knows things about Trump he doesn’t want anyone else to know, so they blackmail Trump to get him to do their bidding. This was clear when Trump demanded Zelenskyy apologize for what he said about Putin — a man who has killed thousands of Ukrainians and destroyed their country’s homes, schools, hospitals, and infrastructure.

Stupid reporter of the day was the one from right wing media who asked Zelenskyy why he didn’t wear suits. The reporter went on to allege that this is a burning question on the minds of Americans. Really?

It is not at all certain that our republic will survive Trump’s presidency. Maybe, but I have my doubts. Trump is unilaterally making decisions that could destroy our economy and lead us into military conflict.

Where is the Democratic Party? I’m at a loss to figure out the party’s game plan, or even if they have one. Outside of a handful of outspoken Democrats, all I hear is deafening silence.

We now have a bathroom law in Ohio that protects us from roaming hordes of transgender people storming public bathrooms and attacking us. Of course, this is a non-issue. There is no bathroom problem outside of the cheap, single-ply toilet paper used in most public facilities.

Ohio can fix the bathroom issue by making all bathrooms co-ed with individual, private stalls. See how easy that was?

There’s a measles outbreak in Texas. Most of the infected are unvaccinated Mennonites. This is yet another example of how Fundamentalist Christianity can and does cause harm and kill people.

Connect the dots . . . between Fundamentalist Christianity, MAGA, and vaccine denial. They seem to be closely connected.

Bonus: The Southern Baptist Convention has no intention of building a database to list preachers who have committed sex crimes. Their excuses are legion, all the while preachers continue to prey on children, teenagers, and vulnerable adults. As I’ve asked about people still attending Catholic churches, why do people still attend Southern Baptist churches?

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Bruce’s Ten Hot Takes for December 23, 2024

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hot takes

Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 record two different creation accounts. They cannot be reconciled without resorting to Bible gymnastics. Evangelicals, of course, love gymnastics.

Donald Trump is threatening to seize the Panama Canal unless Panama reduces the fees charged to go through the canal. I thought Trump was a capitalist.

Donald Trump, once again, is demanding Denmark sell Greenland to the United States. Evidently, he doesn’t understand the concept of sovereignty. This is understandable since the founding of our nation was built upon ignoring the sovereignty of indigenous people.

I am troubled by how many atheists think it is okay to commit murder, as in the case of Luigi Mangione’s murder of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Is anyone surprised that Matt Gatez had sex with an underage girl, hired prostitutes, and used illegal drugs? I’m not. What surprises me is that Gaetz is married and his wife hasn’t divorced him.

Donald Trump plans to go after transgender people, banning access to gender-affirming care, not permitting them to serve in the military, and forbidding transgender women from playing women’s sports. These issues deserve a vigorous science-based debate, but that’s not Trump’s approach. He thinks he is a king, and citizens must bow to his edicts.

I predict Donald Trump and his current co-president Elon Musk will have a falling out. Musk is a publicity whore, and if there’s anything we know about Trump, he will quickly push Musk out of the limelight. In MAGA World, only Trump can be in the limelight.

It’s high school basketball time in Ohio, my favorite time of year. I miss photographing local high school games. I had to retire from doing so due to being unable to hold my camera properly. The weight of my professional camera and lenses put a strain on my neck and back, causing me increased pain. One thing I don’t need is more pain.

I feel bad for our feral/stray cats. Temperature lows are now in the teens. We have four inside cats — all stray/shelter cats — and that’s our limit. So we do what we can. We feed and water them. I also bought three oversized storage tubs, cut holes in their sides, and put straw in them, hoping they shelter the cats from the worst of winter. So far, five cats have been using the shelters.

The Democratic Party is headed for a nasty split as centrist, corporate Democrats continue to disparage and marginalize progressives. Nancy Pelosi and her gang of corporate shills need to go.

Bonus: MAGA Republicans in Congress have made it clear that they plan to reign in “entitlements,” including Social Security and Medicare. Instead of raising taxes, they plan to cut benefits by raising the retirement age. The suggestion that the Social Security Fund is insolvent is a bald-faced lie. How about demanding Congress pay back the trillions of dollars it has borrowed from the fund?

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Bruce’s Ten Hot Takes for July 8, 2024

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hot takes

MSNBC talking head, Lawrence O’Donnell, thinks all the questions about Joe Biden’s health have been answered. Not even close, Lawrence.

I’m not a Joe Biden fan. I’ve never been a fan. He wasn’t my first, second, or third choice in the primaries, and the only reason I voted for him in 2020 was the fact he wasn’t Donald Trump. I used the same approach when voting for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Some of my friends and acquaintances want me to ignore what I see with my own eyes: Joe Biden’s health is declining, and even if he wins reelection, he has a one in three chance of dying in office.

I continue to be amazed by Democrats who think that no one else but Joe Biden can beat Trump in November. Really? With a 37 percent approval rating?

We currently have at least twelve feral/stray cats we are feeding, including a mother with four kittens, and a female with one kitten. We have three inside cats of our own — all rescues. It infuriates me that people are not held accountable for abandoning their cats or allowing them to roam unspayed.

Google made drastic changes to its search algorithm earlier this year. Result? Sites losing thousands and millions of visitors and page views. Traffic for this site is down 30-40 percent.

Several weeks ago, I worried that we wouldn’t have any young raccoons in our backyard this summer. Good news! They finally showed up: three adults and five young raccoons are in our yard as I write.

Our newest cat, Charley, is about nine months old. He’s quite clumsy. Last night, Charley tried to jump in the window above our couch — where I’m presently sitting. He missed, clobbering me in the head as he fell, scratching my left ear. Boy, did it bleed, and, boy, did I cuss. 🙂

I have major back surgery scheduled for August 19, at ProMedica Hospital in Toledo. A routine pre-op chest x-ray revealed a spot on the lower lobe of my left lung. This will require a CT scan on Friday to make sure nothing is amiss. My physician said, “Better to air on the side of caution.”

The Reds sweep the New York Yankees, and then turn around and get swept by the Detroit Tigers. Arg! Baseball. ⚾️

Bonus: Busy week ahead: medical tests, Band of Horses concert, Reds game vs. Colorado Rockies, dinner (Mancy’s Steakhouse), and overnight stay (Hancock Hotel) in Findlay with my partner of 46 years. I’m pushing it physically, but my present mantra is “I only die once.” If not today — when?

Double Bonus: Recent election results in Britain and France give me a glimmer of hope. I fear, however, that the United States will face a lot more upheaval and turmoil before we finally uproot MAGA extremism from our midst. We will likely have to have a “Brexit” moment before people see the bankruptcy of right-wing extremism. That’s the optimistic side of me speaking. My pessimistic side thinks our democracy is in decline and will not survive another Trump presidency, and may not do all that well with a Biden win. Our “rot” is there for all to see. “Hey, did you see who won American Idol?”

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Bruce’s Ten Hot Takes for May 2, 2024

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hot takes

President Joe Biden thinks giving Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel billions of dollars in direct military aid is a “good day for peace.” His statement is irrational. U.S. military aid is directly responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths in the past year, and millions of deaths since the inception of our nation. Many of these deaths were children and civilians.

Colorado coach Deion “Prime Time” Sanders is a bully. His treatment of Colorado’s football players shows he has no regard or respect for them as men.

Social Security is not broken, contrary to what Congress tells us. Congress owes the Social Security Administration the 2.7 trillion dollars it “borrowed” from the fund. Repay this first before saying the fund is insolvent.

According to Evangelical megachurch pastor and grizzled culture war general John MacArthur, there’s no such thing as mental illness, especially PTSD. Someone should sue MacArthur for not only being an asshole, but practicing medicine without a license.

President Joe Biden supports “peaceful protest.” Evidently, “peaceful” means doing what you are told or we will send in the police to arrest you. Biden is clueless when it comes to war, peace, civil disobedience, and nonviolent resistance.

Atheists, agnostics, and nones overwhelmingly support Joe Biden. Why, then, does the president and the Democratic Party pretend we don’t exist?

Kristi Noem shot and killed her fourteen-month-old puppy. She also killed a goat that she deemed unworthy of continued life. Noem is a bad person, yet she is being considered for vice president on the Republican ticket. The Republican Party lacks a moral and ethical foundation. Trump is their God, and whatever he says is law.

Evangelicals think Taylor Swift’s latest album is Satanic and anti-Christian. Good job, Taylor! Anyone that pisses off Evangelicals is good by me.

Childhood immunization should be required before students enter school. No religious exemptions, and that includes students in private religious schools.

God did not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah due to homosexuality. It’s in the Bible. Look it up.

Bonus: Churches should be required to run annual state and federal background checks on all clerics. staff, and volunteers. Churches that refuse to do so should lose their liability insurance coverage.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Bruce’s Ten Hot Takes for March 3, 2024

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hot takes

Spring is sneaking up on far northwest Ohio. Starlings, grackles, robins, and cowbirds have returned to our feeders.

Ohio State fired its men’s basketball coach a few weeks ago. Since then, the team has only lost one game. A win against Rutgers and a win or two in the Big Ten tournament and the team should make the NCAA tournament.

In 1979, I worked an entry level union job that paid $8 an hour with zero cost health insurance. If this job’s pay rate had kept up with inflation, it would be $33 an hour today. A similar job today starts at $15 with exorbitant insurance costs. Real wages have been flat or in decline for decades, especially when counting benefit cost increases.

It is clear that the U.S. Supreme Court is trying to keep Trump from being tried for his crimes. By delaying the trial date, the Court is making it impossible to hold Trump accountable for fomenting the 1-6 insurrection — yet another reminder that rich people are held to a different standard of justice than poor people.

It’s embarrassing to watch the Biden administration air drop food into Gaza. It’s hard to watch Israel neuter the United States, knowing we could get their immediate attention by cutting off aid and ending arms shipment — but we won’t.

The “undecided” vote in Michigan is a blaring warning siren to Biden and his handlers; one that says, “Put an end to the war crimes in Palestine, or come November, we will not vote for you.” So far, it seems Biden is deaf.

Abortion will be a deciding factor this November, and Republicans know it. That’s why these liars for Jesus are trying to distance themselves from the Alabama IVF ruling — pretending they don’t know IVF results in “murdered babies.”

A writer for the Toledo Blade warned Ohioans that buying cannabis in Michigan and taking it over the state line is a federal crime. I’ll be sure to watch for FBI and DEA agents the next time I break the law. I’m sure busting recreational marijuana users is their top priority.

It’s been thrilling to watch Iowa guard Kaitlin Clark play basketball this year. Today, she broke Pistol Pete Maravich’s all-time NCAA scoring record.

I heard a dumbass on MSNBC say that Mitch McConnell was an “old-time” Republican, not like the MAGA Republicans today. McConnell did more to harm our nation than all the Trump worshippers combined. Incalculable harm that left deep, lasting scars, that’s McConnell’s legacy.

Bonus: Donald Trump is a bigot and a racist, as his words at the border this weekend clearly show. Yes, the U.S. (and Mexico) has a border problem, but the men, women, and children trying to immigrate are, for the most part, decent people. Trump’s words are racist, no different from those uttered by other race baiters.

Bruce’s Hot Takes for February 11, 2024

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hot takes

The Forty-Niners will beat the Chiefs by three in the Super Bowl. Right-wingers will go nuts over Taylor Swift, and the halftime show will suck.

We need term limits based on age. Neither Biden nor Trump should be running for president. Both show signs of mental decline. I support an age seventy cutoff.

Biden isn’t the first president to be managed by his spouse, cabinet members, or trusted advisors. Ronald Reagan, by Nancy, and George W. Bush, by Dick Cheney/Donald Rumsfeld, come to mind.

Biden’s unwillingness to speak out against Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians may cost him the election in November. I suspect Biden is more worried about losing more Jewish votes than Arab votes. What should matter is the violence and bloodshed. That it doesn’t says a lot about the American people and their political leaders.

Evangelicalism is in an uproar over whether Christians should attend a same-sex/transgender wedding, revealing the hateful bigotry that lies underneath the surface in many churches. Jesus said, “It’s just a fucking wedding.” Alistair Begg said Christians should attend LGBTQ weddings. He was promptly deplatformed by John MacArthur and other notable Evangelical leaders.

Our NATO allies should pay their fair share of mutual defense costs — a minimum of two percent. The question is what do we do when they don’t? Let Russia attack them, as the orange Cheeto said?

If Texas wants to protect their border so bad, Biden should let them, removing all border patrol agents and federal national guard soldiers from the border.

I’m re-reading James Michener’s book, Chesapeake. I last read it forty-four years ago. I’m a Michener fan, but his books tend to voluminous. It will take me several weeks to read the book.,

Catchers and pitchers for the Cincinnati Reds begin spring training this week. I’m so ready for baseball. I predict the Reds will win the Central Division. Hope springs eternal. 🤣

Warning about using your cellphone number for two factor authentication. Change your phone number and you are screwed — as I’m learning firsthand.

Bonus: Corporations continue to make gaudy profits by gouging the American public — raising prices just because they can, regardless of whether costs have increased. Thieves, the lot of them. This is the primary reason most Americans think the economy is in bad shape. All they see is rising prices.

Bruce’s Ten Hot Takes for November 21, 2023

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hot takes

Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh is a control freak. Suggesting that Harbaugh didn’t know anything about sign stealing by his staff is ludicrous. He knew, and that’s why he will be in the NFL next year at this time.

Joe Biden continues to remind me of why I didn’t want to vote for him in 2020 and don’t want to vote for him in 2024. His handling of the war between Israel and Palestine leaves a lot to be desired. His speeches border on incoherence, especially his recent speech after meeting with China’s president, Xi Jinping.

Is it a given that I will vote for Biden in 2024? No. I am hoping other credible candidates will challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination.

In 2016 and 2020, over 80 percent of voting white Evangelicals voted for fascist Donald Trump. Eight years of evidence that he is unfit to hold office has changed nothing. Most white Evangelicals plan to vote for Trump again in 2024. This should tell you everything you need to know about Evangelical Christianity.

Evangelicalism is now a hotbed of white nationalism and fascism. I say now, but truth be told, these “isms” have always been a part of Evangelical Christianity. The difference today is that the “cute” baby is now a full-grown monster.

Just remember, if you are a progressive, liberal, socialist, communist, atheist, agnostic, or liberal Christian, your Evangelical neighbors and friends support politicians who want to either throw you in jail or remove your U.S. citizenship. Some of them even want to put you in mental hospitals or kill you.

Polly and I, in our Luddite, environmentalist, back-to-nature days, thought about moving with our family to a Bruderhof — an Anabaptist movement where communities hold everything in common. We loved the “world” too much to do so, but there are days when I wish we had done so.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was injured on Sunday and is done for the year. And all the Gerencsers wept, wondering why God hates them. 🙂

I have concluded that Evangelical leaders are incapable of being honest about why people are deconstructing (or deconverting) and leaving Evangelicalism.

I am preparing for six weeks of being asked if I am Santa Claus. Of course, I am, but then I say, “would Santa really live in Ohio?”

Bonus: Recently, I was diagnosed with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) — a rare disease that affects food digestion. My pancreas does not produce the necessary enzymes to digest food and absorb minerals and vitamins. This has led to malabsorption and malnutrition. This is different from gastroparesis, another rare disease I have that affects how food is processed in my stomach and travels through my digestive tract. It is commonly called stomach paralysis. Neither of these diseases is curable. Left untreated, they will be the death of me (that is, if Polly doesn’t hit me with a Lodge cast iron skillet first). I am currently on Creon for EPI — a $ 3,000-a-month enzyme replacement therapy. I will have to take this drug for the rest of my life. I am hoping to have a surgical procedure (as soon as I can find a surgeon to do it) that will lessen my nausea, vomiting, and stomach pain. It is a specialized procedure, so few surgeons can do it.

How do I feel about this? After my gastroenterologist gave me the diagnosis of EPI, I turned to Polly and said, “It sucks to be me.” Over the weekend, I had dinner with several friends of mine. I told them about my latest diagnosis, and then I said, “Just another fucking thing to deal with.” That’s all I know to do — deal with it.

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Bruce’s Ten Hot Takes for October 25, 2023

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hot takes

Newly elected House speaker Mike Johnson is a Christian nationalist (Southern Baptist), a right-wing Evangelical. He thinks Gilead is a wonderful place to live.

Mike Johnson’s election clearly shows that the MAGA wing of the Republican Party and its fascist leader Donald Trump are in control of the GOP.

Our democracy will not survive the re-election of disgraced felon Donald Trump. We are on the threshold of the collapse of the United States and its democratic institutions.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and his wife deliberately lie in their “Vote No on Issue 1” TV ad. Not a difference of opinion — lies, lies, lies.

Mike Johnson wants to criminalize abortion and arrest, prosecute, and imprison women who have one.

Israel continues to slaughter innocent Palestinians in Gaza. Joe Biden says nothing of substance as hundreds of Palestinian children are bombed and killed every day. It seems Biden is intent on letting Israel get their pound of flesh from largely innocent people.

Apple raised its monthly streaming fee by 43 percent to $10. Other streaming services are doing the same, forcing users to jump from one service to the other to manage costs. So much for streaming being “better” and cheaper.

I am no longer a Democrat. I may, on occasion, hold my nose and vote Democrat, but I no longer support the party.

American bombs, bullets, and armament are killing innocent people in Palestine. The West is outraged over Hamas’ use of Iranian weaponry, but silent over Israel’s use of American designed and manufactured weapons of mass destruction. All of us have blood on our hands.

Despair. That’s what I feel right now. I see little to cheer about these days.

Bonus: Gastroparesis is an incurable stomach disease. I plan to have a pyloroplasty procedure done in November. Last ditch effort to lessen the nausea and vomiting. It would be nice to have just one day when I didn’t have to worry about what I ate or running to the bathroom to vomit. Where’s God when I need him? 🤣 It is what it is, but I’m tired and worn out from daily battles with nausea, vomiting, bowel pain, and loss of appetite. Some days, in moments of despair, I find myself thinking, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.