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Social Media

I find it curiously interesting that if you read LINKEDIN rules, regulations, and Professional and Community Standards that it is stated several times not to create a FAKE or FALSE profile and yet, I have talked with numeral people who say that that is exactly what they have done because they don't want their bosses to find them posting derogatory comments about their employers.  LINKEDIN also wants you not to put anything into your profile that is not true, which is also done all the time as people embellish who they are to seem more impressive.  Think about this...   how many people are 100% honest on their RESUMES???

There is not supposed to be any solicitation on LINKEDIN and yet for the last 6 weeks, I have been solicited daily to invest in cyber currency or Foreign Exchanges...

In point-of-fact, LinkedIn cannot possibly monitored EVERYONE and every once in a while catches someone and kicks them off or restricts their account because you violated the rules.  LINKEDIN is exactly like HIGHWAY PATROLMEN who pass out speeding tickets to those they catch letting 80% of the speeders drive like they want to...

Prayer, Answering, & Miracles

Throughout my entire life so far (and I am 73 years old) I have believed that prayer was being used to communicate with God, Allah, or some kind of Superior Entity that had God-like qualities.  I have also believed that MIRACLES have and will continue to take place on earth, but I am not sure that it is the result of prayer or because of some other reason(s).

WHY...  do I think like this?

Well...  

1. how come some prayers are answered while other prayers are not answered?
2. how come some miracles are performed while other miracles do not happen at all?
3. how come miracles happen to those who believe as well as to those who do not believe?

There are literally millions of people praying everyday for:

• their own good health
• the good health of others
• the end to conflict and wars
• the cure for disease
• children with terminal illnesses
• a long awaited promotion
• to pass a difficult test
• that their children grow up unharmed
• the recovery from cancer

HOWEVER...

We have been told that when we pray to use THE LORD'S PRAYER and for God's Will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven...

AND YET...

Do we always believe that God's Will is, in fact, being done on earth as it is in Heaven when so many of our prayers are unanswered?

Socialism Lives

Socialism, social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members.

What does this actually mean for you and I?

It means...  FOR EXAMPLE...  that instead of Walmart being owned by the Walton Family it is owned by ALL THE EMPLOYEES and they share equally in the ENTIRE WEALTH of the company...

If Walmart generates $100,000,000 in PROFIT each year and there are 1,000 employees then each person receives $100,000...

Under CAPITALISM, some employees might receive $30,000, some might receive $50,000 while only a few might receive $100,000...

ANOTHER ISSUE is the fact that under SOCIALISM there is no guarantee that each employee will work equally as hard each year to receive their $100,000...

Social Scientists see this same sort of behavior happen when there are UNIONS that negotiate the salaries of the workers as workers know that they will get paid regardless of how hard they work.

They Will NEVER Believe...

Politics has never been so crucial and so mean as it is now...  For almost 4 years, the Democrats supported by the mainstream media have been trying to DESTROY TRUMP and anyone else who might be close to him like family, friends, and work associates...   This is the most devastating political period of our history, including what took place during WATERGATE...  Never in the history of our country has a President been so ABUSED by the press and by the Democrats...

Today, I heard Nancy Pelosi state that we cannot believe what Trump's doctors say about his health because TRUMP has put pressure on his doctors to LIE to the American People.

Chuck Schumer has forcefully made the claim that Trump should PULL OUT of the 2020 Election because he has contracted the Corona Virus and therefore is UNFIT to lead.

Other Democrats have said, Trump got what he deserved.

Fanatical Supporters of the Democrats has TWEETED that they hope THE PRESIDENT DIES...

BUT,

the fact remains that whether or not Trump wins a second term or not, he has accomplished the following:

1. Created the greatest economy in the history of the United States to date
2. Created the strongest military in the history of the United States to date
3. Created the LOWEST UNEMPLOYMENT in the history of the United States to date
4. Created the MOST EMPLOYED in the history of the United States to date
5. Confirmed 3 Conservative Justices to the Supreme Court
6. Confirmed over 300 Conservative Judges to Federal Courts
7. Brokered peace deals between Israel and Arab Nations
8. Negotiated favorable trade deals with Mexico and China
9. Lowered taxes for Americans and Businesses
10. Created highest level of employment for Minorities in the US to date
11. Built the WALL between Mexico and the US
12. Stopped the treat of terrorism from the Middle East

HISTORY may record that TRUMP was an ASSHOLE but they will also record that TRUMP actually accomplished more than ANYOTHER PRESIDENT in our history in his first 4 years in office.

I'm FLIPPIDITY FLAP and I Approve This Message

2020

        2016

               2012

                       2008

                               2004

                                       2000

                                               1996

                                                       1992

                                                               1988

                                                                       1984

                                                                               1980

                                                                       1876

                                                               1972

                                                       1968

                                               1964

                                       1960

                                       These ELECTION YEARS are all the elections that I have experienced and through which I have lived during my 73 years of life...  and, I have listened to the promises and lies of politicians and seen first hand that these politicians will say whatever they need to say in order to get elected...  but, once they win, they set about doing whatever it is that they want to do or that their party or the lobbyists influence them to do...

President Kennedy, in my opinion, was the last President of the United States that any of us could believe...  and, I am not totally confident that this President was completely and totally honest with the American Public.

15 Elections and listening to I'M FLIPPIDITY FLAP AND I APPROVE THIS MESSAGE...      and 1 that is soon to take place...  a total of 16 and very little has changed as they all continue to spread half truths and lies and deception in an effort to gain power...

Boy Scouts of America BSA

They Knew...
The BSA knew all along about the abuse that was happening within its ranks. They even had a secret list known as the “Perversion Files” or “P Files” that included names of sex predators going all the way back to the early 1900’s. Tragically, the BSA did everything in its power to conceal these documents, allowing the abuses to go on. Instead of rooting out abusers, the BSA, like The Catholic Church, systematically protected pedophiles by allowing them to move from troop to troop.

When I lived in Alexandria, VA  until 1962/1963, prior to my leaving I was a Boy Scout, receiving my Eagle Scout and God and Country Awards that were later presented to me by the US Ambassador in Cairo, Egypt.  If I was abused, I don't recall and one would think that if there was abuse, one would never forget...  but abuse is not always physical...  and, there is probably a good possibility that one of those leaders during a camping trip in the Appalachian Mountains could have showed me photos and could have had conversations with me that I really don't remember because nothing physical happened...  and my leader was just more apprehensive about following through with something physical...

NONETHELESS...  it is disgusting what was happening to boys my age by leaders we grew up trusting to make us better people through Scouting.  And, I have always enjoyed my camping experiences...  

OFTENTIMES... I wonder about his contradiction...

After spending over 3 decades (at least) attending Church Services on Sundays, I pretty know the MAJOR SERMONS that are typically preached even though some ministers approach them a little differently to target either an older or younger congregation.

But, I did not get a full understanding of what was going on with these sermons until I read the Bible from cover-to-cover, taking notes and writing down questions along the way.

One area that still causes me concern is the way we PRAY.

Jesus told us to use THE LORD's PRAYER when praying to HIS FATHER.

St. Augustine gives the following analysis of the Lord's Prayer, which elaborates on Jesus' words just before it in Matthew's gospel: "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then in this way" (Mt. 6:8-9).  SOURCE:  Wikipedia

SO...

why then do so many ministers, pastors, and priest pray differently than what was asked of them, especially when THIS ASK was ASKED BY JESUS???

That has always bothered me...

But, no one has provided me with any plausible explanation.

Our FAITH is CORRECT but WRONG: Trinity Part II of III

 As you recall from Part I,

The 12 Major religions are:

1. Christianity
2. Islam
3. Hinduism
4. Buddhism
5. Sikhism
6. Taoism
7. Judaism
8. Confucianism
9. Bahá'í
10. Shinto
11. Jainism
12. Zoroastrianism

What if these 12 Major Religions and/or philosophies operating in the world today were not by coincidence but by design, in that there were 12 Tribes of Israel mentioned in The Bible; and...   what if, it is from those 12 Tribes of Israel that these 12 Major Religions were created? 

Sounds impossible?

Perhaps...

But, not improbable...

And...  if probable...  then it is also probable that each of these 12 Major Religions could be designed by our CREATOR with the understanding that each one of them bring some CRITICAL ISSUE OR BELIEF that and if brought together, could be the basis and foundation of ONLY ONE UNIVERAL OR GLOBAL RELIGION.

Let's explore what that might look like, shall we?

1.     From Hinduism - “The concept that the world (& man) reincarnates in life after life.” Similar to the physics theory of energy.

2.     From Judaism - “The existence of ‘free will’ and in using that ‘will’ to accept the sacredness of life as the good creation of Yahweh (God).”

3.     From Buddhism - “Through the practice of meditation (a philosophy of hope), one can acquire the Insight Knowledges and attain Nibbana (awareness).”

4.     From Jainism - “Have a respect and an appreciation for all life.”

5.     From Confucianism - “Development of the human character (duty and moral obligation); an inward quality is created from which all actions take place without ulterior motives.”

6.     From Taoism - “An assertion of truth, a way of life, a moral force that should be present in those who govern and in all governments.”

7.     From Zoroastrianism - “The concept that God would send messages to mankind through messengers.”

8.     From Christianity - “The idea that God sent His son Jesus so that man will find God through Jesus and his resurrection.”

9.     From Shinto - “The physical act of ritual purification in water.”

10.  From Islam - “The idea that the Koran supports the notion that all things (both good and evil) are the direct result of God’s will.”

11.    From  Sikhism - “A new way of looking at self, creation, and the creator and merging the three together.”

12.  From  Bahai - “Humanity is one single race and that they day has come for its unification into one global society.”

 

Komic Korner Kartoons

 

THE LIST

I would suspect that we all make lists...  and... as we get older, we intentionally make lists to keep us from forgetting the obvious like toothpaste and toilet paper and oil for the lawn mower.  At 73 (well almost, 28 more days) I am one of those people who tends to forget shit so I write stuff down as a JUST IN CASE...  and, like the alarm beside the bed, always seem to wake up just before it goes off...  but know that if I did not set the alarm I would not have automatically woken up...  and, my lists are no different.

Every Fall, we pretty much do the following:

1.  trim up bushes and trees

2.  cut all returning flora to the ground

3.  winterize the pool

4. Put all water hoses inside the garage

5.  Put all deck furniture inside downstairs storage

Winterizing the pool and dealing with hoses and deck furniture takes place either Oct/Nov and the other two items take place around Dec/Jan or earlier if we know it is going to get cold and remain cold earlier.

As part of winterizing the pool, we cover the top of the pool with a tarp and then hold the tarp on the deck with heavy landscaping bricks and rope tied to the deck railing where appropriate.  In the past, those landscaping bricks got dirt and mud all over the tarp and found its way into the pool when removing the tarp in the spring so we have been encasing the landscaping bricks in Walmart grocery bags.

We need a total of 24 landscaping bricks so today, we enclosed 24 landscaping bricks in Walmart grocery bags in preparation for our pool closing in a couple of weeks.

This item was actually on OUR LIST or what my wife refers to as THE LIST...  or, a list of MUST DOs at the exact time that THE LIST indicates that we are to do them.

Lists and Wives seem to be necessary evils, especially as one ages...  LOL

Away From the Violence of the Big Cities

One of the KEY FEATURES of living in East TN is the fact that there is minimal crime being perpetrated on individuals and families and there is absolutely NOTHING going on in Knoxville that resembles anything like we hear about in Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, or Las Angeles...   and, it is highly unlikely that anything like that will ever happen here.  

WHY NOT?

1. People who live in East TN just are not like that
2. We honor the right of law and order
3. We proudly support the Second Amendment
4. We care about our faith and the Church
5. We have better things to do with our time

Saturday morning and the temperatures are in the 70's with just a slight breeze in the air and my neighborhood is quiet and calm as there are no people outside working in their yards, allowing me unfettered access to my screened-in back porch as I enjoy the afternoon sun warming everything around me.

NOW...  don't get me wrong about how absolutely great it is in East TN because we have plenty of problems with illegal drugs in our elementary schools and in our high schools.  And, there are an enormous amount of people who like to drive faster than the posted speed limit signs...  and, there are a few people who like to steal from others who they think might be too stupid to realize what is going on...  and, our hospitals and cancer centers are full with patients all the time.

BUT...  it is still better than living up NORTH where all them millionaires live and expect people to bend over backwards because they are wealthy...  there are wealthy people down here too, but they are not as arrogant.

PLUS...  it is a hell of a lot cheaper to live here than anywhere else...   ON AVERAGE that is...

THIS and THAT

All Creatures Great and Small

I Done Had Two of Them Thwangs...

Being an English Major in College, I pay attention more than normal I suppose to how people talk and sometimes how they write but since talking is more readily available than writing, it is more on my mind.

Today, at the doctor's office, patients were asked a series of questions before they were allowed to enter and one of those questions was:  Have you had a COVID test?  And, the following response caught my attention...  "I done had two of them thwangs."

I did not eves drop on the rest of the conversation because my name was called by the nurse and I left the lobby, heading towards one of their exam rooms.  But, the comment remained on my mind which prompted all kinds of other thoughts and recollections regarding:

• this person's appearance
• how this person was dressed
• was this person clean shaven
• did this person have long hair
• did he appear to have followed proper hygiene
• how old was this person

My thoughts changed to being a doctor and having to deal with all sorts of patients in all sorts of situations day-after-day, week-after-week, month-after-month, year-after-year, and decade-after-decade...  I am not sure if I have or would have had the personality to deal with something like that for 45-50 years and more.

AND...  to be quite honest, it is difficult not to see yourself as BETTER THAN THAT when one comes across another person who talks like that.  Of course, in God's eyes we are all equal or at least that is what is stated in the Bible and yet, I also have come across some "holy rollers" who consider themselves to be better than everyone else because they are "holy rollers."  I doubt if God would have approved.

BUT, outside of GOD'S DOMAIN, it is obvious that we are not all EQUAL and will never be EQUAL simply because of the various combinations of our DNA.

• We have tall ones and short one
• We have thin ones and fat ones
• We have smart ones and dumb ones
• We have athletic ones and non-athletic ones
• We have musical ones and non-musical ones
• We have sick ones and healthy ones

NO MATTER WHAT THE CONGRESS LEGISLATES AND THE GOVERNMENT MANAGES AND THE JUDICAL RULES OVER, WE WILL NEVER BE EQUAL IN MAN'S EYES...

GREED: America's Downfall...

In the summer of 1967, I was working as a laborer for a Road Construction Company called Regal Construction up Upper Marlboro, MD that was building a new stretch of Interstate Highway in that area. and had no desire to know if the company was building other highways or not because I was ATTENDING COLLEGE so that I would not have to work as a laborer at $2 per hour.

My reason for attending COLLEGE was personal and selfish:  I wanted a better job and more money...

Little did I know that this was the foundation of our economic free market enterprise system... to continue to make as much money as one can arrange over a lifetime of work and use that money to buy bigger and better THINGS over one's lifetime of work...

As one gets older and wiser and accumulates more wealth, one learns to shelter that money away from taxes even though one knows that taxes are used to provide services to those who are not wealthy and support our government's growth.

In addition to providing for the national defense and negotiating treaties and deals with our countries, our government provides PUBLIC;

• education
• transportation
• highways
• parks and recreation
• welfare
• medicare
• housing
• unemployment
• social security

Each one of these governmental services is a FORM OF SOCIALISM and in order to increase the payouts to any of these services, the government MUST increase its base of TAXES or borrow money from FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS...

DATA FROM 2020

Currently, ONE THIRD of our NATIONAL DEBT is owned by CHINA.

As the wealthy become more wealthy, they shelter away from taxes more and more of their money knowing that the government needs those taxes to pay for increases in those services...  so, the tax burden always falls on those who cannot shelter their taxes like the WEALTHY.

While this is not FAIR or EQUITABLE, it is the AMERICAN WAY which is protected by the AMERICAN LAWS...

Illegal immigration consumes more and more of those services (as well as the low paying jobs) as their numbers increase to the detriment of the American People who also need those services and jobs.

Some of our DEMOCRATIC PARTY citizens want to provide FREE COLLEGE EDUCATION to everyone including ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS which will, over time, INCREASE GREED EXPONENTIALLY and our Businesses and Industries who are also facing increases in taxes and fewer profits to pay for new product research, have NO REASON to provide employment to these EDUCATED AMERICANS.

Our Government CANNOT FORCE business and industry to HIRE WORKERS unless our government OWNS these businesses and industries which under our current governmental law is not possible or permissible.

THEREFORE and in order to increase the services to Americans, our Government will need to ACQUIRE all of America's Businesses and Industries in order to provide employment to all the college educated citizens so that they can enjoy greater income and enjoy the pleasures of GREED by buying more and more.

AND...  it is these actions...  that will cause America's Downfall...  as our free market enterprise system begins to bite itself in the ass...

Karl Marx

Karl Heinrich Marx (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary. Born in Trier, Germany, Marx studied law and philosophy at university. He married Jenny von Westphalen in 1843. Due to his political publications, Marx became stateless and lived in exile with his wife and children in London for decades, where he continued to develop his thought in collaboration with German thinker Friedrich Engels and publish his writings, researching in the reading room of the British Museum. His best-known titles are the 1848 pamphlet The Communist Manifesto and the three-volume Das Kapital (1867–1883). Marx's political and philosophical thought had enormous influence on subsequent intellectual, economic and political history. His name has been used as an adjective, a noun and a school of social theory.

Das Kapital means capital and capital is different than capitalism according to Marx with the understanding that capital is simply money and as everyone knows ALL SOCIETIES need some form of capital to exist in that they exchange capital for goods and services.

Capitalism on the other hand, uses capital in such a way that the accumulation of capital is what drives capitalism not just using money to purchase goods and services.  Capitalists want to generate more capital than is needed in order to create a profit.

Marx believed that each person generated capital according to his ability and received capital according to his contribution...  this means that if you do not have much of an ability then you cannot make much of a contribution but you get something which is better than nothing.

An International Perspective of Our Presidential Debate

Again, when preparing this article, I chose to go to the BBC rather than CNN, CBS, MKSNBC, or ABC because of extreme mainstream media bias...

You will be amazed at how bad it made America look in the eyes of the rest of the world...

            

So...

From the BBC...

UK
The event "was not a debate in any meaningful sense" but rather "an ill-tempered and at times incomprehensible squabble between two angry septuagenarians who palpably loathe each other".

The Guardian described it as a "national humiliation".

"The rest of the world - and future historians - will presumably look at it and weep," the paper wrote, adding that Mr Biden was the only man who looked "remotely presidential" on the stage and saying that if Mr Trump was re-elected in November, "this dark, horrifying, unwatchable fever dream will surely be the first line of America's obituary."

FRANCE
"Chaotic, childish, gruelling" - that's how French newspaper Libération described Tuesday's debate. Le Monde agreed, calling it a "terrible storm", and saying that the president had sought to "push his opponent off his hinges" with constant interruptions and by mocking his answers.

Le Figaro said Mr Biden had "systematically refused to play his opponent's game". While Mr Trump tried to directly confront his challenger, pointing at him and addressing him directly, the Democratic candidate spoke more to viewers and looked directly into the camera.

GERMANY
Der Spiegel's analysis of the debate is headlined "A TV duel like a car accident".

In a piece titled "Part fist-fight, part play", Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote: "Both Trump and Biden could go home satisfied because as far as the theatrical performance is concerned, both did their job properly. Donald Trump played Donald Trump, Joe Biden played Joe Biden, and fans should have liked it."

Die Welt said the debate had revealed very little about policy. "Most importantly, it showed that America has a president whose behaviour stands out and who lacks self-control - but that's not exactly news," it wrote.

Mr Biden in contrast was not an exciting candidate but "at least someone with common sense and a stable personality" who would "bring something like normalcy back to the White House".

ITALY
"Never had American politics sunk so low," La Repubblica's US correspondent wrote, describing the debate as "Chaotic, rowdy, and based on mutual contempt".

Il Corriere della Sera meanwhile said President Trump's refusal to condemn white supremacy was "a message for Black America".

RUSSIA

One broadcaster described it as a "one and a half-hour exchange of insults", while another said there was "no constructive dialogue".


"The rivals kept interrupting each other and instead of a balanced discussion they chose the path of mutual insults," pro-Kremlin NTV television said.

Mr Biden's description of President Trump as "Putin's puppy" also generated comments on Russian social media. One Twitter user said: "Two old men are figuring out which of them is more worthy to become the president of the United States, but without Putin, you can't boost your rating."

CHINA
Chinese official media sites broadly ignored the US debate although some wrote about how both candidates had used China to attack their opponent.

The state-run Global Times called it "the most chaotic presidential debate ever" and noted that Mr Trump had taken "aim at China by blaming [it] for the raging Covid-19 epidemic and US economic woes".

Editor-in-chief Hu Xijin wrote on Twitter that the debate reflected "division, anxiety of US society and the accelerating loss of advantages of the US political system".

INDIA
Hindi-language news channel AajTak accused both candidates of "mud-slinging", while broadcaster Times Now said the debate was "marred with personal jibes and political barbs".

But the strongest commentary came from The Times of India, the country's largest-selling English-language newspaper, which compared the debate to "mud-wrestling".

"The US embarrassed itself before the world for 100 minutes," it wrote.

BBC Monitoring contributed to this report.

Last Night's Presidential Debate

FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, the debate turned into a verbal brawl by two grown men whose testosterone levels were higher than normal.  Personally, I was embarrassed by both candidates and felt sorry for Chris Wallace who was forced to contend with two idiots.

President Trump has NEVER been a very good speaker but last night he was the worst that I have ever seen him and more incohesive than usual in the way he strung sentence phrases and fragment together.  It was also clear that he lost his "professional cool" and was "rattled" several time by Biden's comments and attacks.  President Trump failed to answer several important direct questions and it was unclear if he did not want to answer or did not know the answer.

Former Vice President Biden, was NO BETTER with his comments, although he did answer questions directly, acted more professional than Trump (which is not saying much) and talked to the American People by looking directly into the camera.  All of this was the result of being a politician for 47 years and had nothing to do with any potential President abilities that he might have.

Personally, I am a former DEMOCRAT and while I do not considered myself a REPUBLICAN, I do dislike the Democratic Party very much because of the way that they have attacked the President from the very beginning since they refused to accept the results of the 2016 election because it was decided by the Electoral College and not by the POPULAR VOTE.

Because of the constant and relentless attack on President Trump and his family, I will never step over the line and support the Democratic Party again, nor will I ever have respect for the mainstream media who have turned a blind eye to the Trump Administration and wholeheartedly supported the Democratic Party even when the Democratic Party was WRONG.

I have been around for several Presidential elections and terms of office and one issue is decidedly clear, if there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court, that vacancy is filled as quickly as possible to keep the opposing party from filling it after an election.

And, when the Democrats state that President Trump is being UNCONSTITUTIONAL, they are LYING to themselves and to the America People.

WHEN POLITICIANS PLAY POLITICS THE AMERICAN PEOPLE LOSE...