Remembering

 

Remembering September 11, 2001

Photo - WikiImages - Pixabay

September

There is a lot to blog about this month. Here are just a few thoughts:

September is the month of change, at least from my perspective. It's the month of my birthday. It's the change to the fall season. It's also a historical month, the terrorist attacks on September 11th. And especially this year, the mid-term elections will be in full swing to convince voters to vote progressive or conservative on November election day.  And on a short note, the death of Queen Elizabeth will take over most of the news in the coming weeks.

The Rule of Law

In recent news, the term the rule of law has been a hot topic. The Rule of Law, in short, is the agreement of society to agree to the terms of the established laws. If we disagree with these terms, then chaos would consume society. But, due to all the recent crime events, the community has begun to ignore the established rules. I recently saw a local news report on the response time for the police to non-emergency calls. It averaged six hours. I greatly respect law enforcement, but they are few in number and cannot respond in seconds. The responsibility falls on us as individuals for our protection against criminals.  

Criminals will always be in action no matter where you live, and depending on the situation, we cannot count on the authorities to come to save us. Individuals must take responsibility for their own personal security. There will come a time and possibility soon when the rule of law will collapse. 

Personal security - the time is now.

Also, here is an interesting article on the rule of law

What is the rule of law (americanbar.org) 

Photo: geralt - pixabay

Labor Day

The weekend was the last day of summer and the beginning of fall. People celebrated Labor Day to recognize the efforts of all of us who work every day to bring a paycheck home. I typically take the extra day off to work around the house, preparing things for winter.

It's nice to have an extra day off, but I do not get the whole celebration of Labor Day because I will always make a point to say "Thank you" to all I have interacted with in business.  

Photo: Alexas_Fotos - pixabay 

The Divided Country

 

The picture demonstrates the anger in the Democrat Party about the Republicans or the MAGA Republicans, as Biden said in last night's speech.

His speech clearly divided the country; if there was any chance of uniting us, this definitely ended all means of us coming together. I realize there have always been differences, but this goes way beyond anything I have seen in my lifetime.  He spoke last night about the MAGA Republicans, about 75,000,000 people, and how they were against the Rule of Law and the US Constitution. I think the main issue that is so disturbing is the spin he put on everything he said, and the sad part is that the media will expand on his speech and spread even more lies. The MAGA Republicans are the true patriots, believers in the values to which this country was born. The Republicans are not a threat to America.

The real threat to America is Joe Biden and the Democrat Party.

Make America Great Again! 

The Time is Now

In the social media world, there is a lot of talk about preparing for the months ahead. Most of this is about the supply chain breakdown and, from there, the collapse of our basic infrastructure. And most of these opinions are based on facts.

The public media, broadcast news, and newspaper opinions have to some extent, mentioned this breakdown.  But as we all know, it will go unnoticed if it's not the day's top story.

Here are my thoughts, taking all factors and personal observations into consideration.

1. The supply chain is breaking down. The car lots in my area are almost empty. The cars in the lot are parked close to the road to make it appear full, but it's not.

2. I have noticed empty sections in the grocery store, which is different from the shortages during the pandemic. These are all food items.

3. The public response to shortages that affect them directly will cause panic buying.  We saw this during the pandemic, and people will react the same way now. 

2020 

4. The mid-term elections are in a few months, and politics will be a significant component in this breakdown.

  

I will typically observe any situation and evaluate all the information to come to a reasonable conclusion. With all that said, I predict we will be in a supply chain collapse by mid-October.  We are close to the tipping point as events are slowly becoming a reality, and this time will be worse than the supply issues of 2020.

Start preparing now! 

  

A Perfect Marriage

We Must Take Back Our Country

Have the citizens of the United States become complacent about decisions made by the federal government on their behalf?

Why does it seem that our elected officials are implementing their own opinions about laws that govern the people who put them in office?

I realize some decisions are made on our behalf because it is a matter of ongoing day-to-day business that all political parties can agree on.

Lately, laws like the Inflation Reduction Act are being introduced and passed without any voice. 

Highlighted below are the points that have nothing to do with inflation or reduction.  This is where politicians will insert their personal opinion on how the federal government should spend our money.

From Wikipedia:

 Background

The Build Back Better Plan was a legislative framework proposed by United States President Joe Biden between 2020 and 2021. Generally viewed as ambitious in size and scope, it sought to make the largest nationwide public investments in social, infrastructural, and environmental programs since the 1930s Great Depression-fighting policies of the New Deal.[7]

The plan was divided into three parts: one of them, The American Rescue Plan, a COVID-19 relief spending bill, was signed into law in March 2021.[8] The other two parts were reworked into different bills over the course of extensive negotiations within and among Congressional entities. The American Jobs Plan (AJP) was a proposal to address long-neglected infrastructure needs and reduce America's contributions to climate change's destructive effects;[9] the American Families Plan (AFP) was a proposal to fund a variety of social policy initiatives, some of which (e.g. paid family leave) had never before been enacted nationally in the U.S.[10]

The Build Back Better Act was a bill introduced in the 117th Congress to fulfill aspects of the Build Back Better Plan. It was spun off from the American Jobs Plan, alongside the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, as a $3.5 trillion Democratic reconciliation package that included provisions related to climate change and social policy. Following negotiations, the price was lowered to approximately $2.2 trillion. The bill was passed 220–213 by the House of Representatives on November 19, 2021.

In December 2021, amidst of negotiations and parliamentary procedures, Senator Joe Manchin publicly pulled his support from the bill for not matching his envisioned cost of about $1.75 trillion[citation needed], then subsequently retracted support for his own compromise legislation. This effectively killed the bill as it needs 50 senators to pass via reconciliation, and all 50 Republican senators opposed it. Continued negotiations between Manchin and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer over the course of months eventually resulted in the $737 billion Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.[11]

The sudden deal on the Inflation Reduction Act, which was negotiated in secret and announced on July 27, 2022, was widely regarded as a 'shocker' as Democrats had voiced that there was little hope for a revival of many of their priorities in addition to Manchin himself being rather pessimistic on the prospect in public.[12]

As the revised bill made its way through the chambers of Congress, the new reality of Biden unexpectedly having a clear path to enacting substantial portions of his domestic agenda into law led to a wide reevaluation of the success of the Biden presidency thus far and is expected to give the President and his party a boost while campaigning for the upcoming 2022 Midterm elections.[13][14][15]

This is just one example of what goes on behind closed doors that directly affect us as taxpayers.

We must take back our country!

Photo: Prettysleepy - Pixabay

 

 

 

 

 

Top Ten Western Movies

 Here is a list of my top 10 Western movies:

10. The Shootist (1976)

9. Shane (1953)

8. Seraphim Falls (2006)

7. Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

6. The Magnificent Seven (1960)

5. The Man from Laramie (1953)

4. High Noon (1952)

3. El Dorado (1966)

2. Rio Bravo (1959)

1. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

To Preach

 

What is preaching?

This can go in many different directions.  One can say they will "get on their soapbox" or preach about how bad the game was last night: even preaching about procedures at work. Some will even say they will rant about something.

All of this is correct; we all do this from time to time. But what is preaching from God's perspective?

This can be in a few forms, and I will elaborate more in an upcoming post.  Here is a short list:

• Speaking the Word
• In your everyday action
• Good knowledge of God's plan
• Knowledge of your faith
• Setting an example of a Christian
• Exposing the Devil for the liar he is to deceive the world

Preaching aims to get the Good News to people who have never heard of God or someone who is in despair that there is hope in God and saying the right words at the right time.  

Photo: Pixabay FotoRieth

Retreat Weekend

 

This past weekend I went on a retreat to the Bethany Retreat House.  This is usually a yearly event, but due to the virus, this was the first time in a little over three years. I am a Lay Dominican formally known as Third Order Dominican. More on this in a later post.

The retreat is my vacation for the year. It's a silent retreat meaning no talking except while eating. The basic structure of the weekend is a Catholic Priest will have several sermons at various times along with long hours of silence, prayer, and reflection on the theme of the weekend. I would highly suggest if you ever have an opportunity to go on retreat, it will revive your soul and open you to God.

Here are a few pictures  

Small Pond

Hiking Trail

Stations of the Cross

The Great Room

The Chapel

Evening on the last day

The Last Summer Eggs

I took a bit of a risk taking this photo. I knew it was getting close to them fledging.

And I was correct, within a few days they were gone.  

 

Gasoline vs Electric

 About 137 years ago, the gasoline engine was produced and manufactured for public use for those who could afford it.  During that time, only the rich could buy this luxury item.

Gasoline

Think about this:

• gasoline was very limited - no gas stations because most of the population did not own a car.
• parts for the car when something broke, again limited demand - no manufacturing parts because no factories to produce them.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Electric

Now, think about this comparison:

• Electric cars are somewhat limited, and public charging stations are limited.  Home charging stations are expensive.
• Parts are limited because of supply chain issues, especially at this time.

 

So, here are my final thoughts on this topic.  

I will be ready to buy my first electric car in 137 years.

My Opinion - on the war in Ukraine

 

No significant change from a few months ago.  I think primarily due to the military weaponry coming into the country from all over the world. 

I do not understand why the US media has stopped reporting on this war when we send billions of funds and equipment. Does the US know something and is not telling the American people?  Are the repercussions of this silence something that would be unpopular?  Could there be some conspiracy theory? 

One thing that has caught my attention is the high level of US government officials visiting a country currently at war.  This raises concern for me.  And why would the leader of Ukraine come to the United States for a photo op with Vogue Magazine?

If your country is under a major attack by a border nation, why would one of your priorities be a photo op?

This goes deeper into an international war crime, and the US and other countries fund it.

 

Summer Eggs 3

I'm really surprised these guys survived.  The temperatures have been in the 100's.  This is late in the year to see bluebirds of this size still in the nest.

God's Plan

 

The Fall season in a few months

 

Politics and Religion

 What does this say about how we interact with each other?

Most people say, " I won't talk about politics or religion" Well, it seems that politics is an essential part of deciding on new friends, yet no one wants to talk about it. Politics should be an open and civil conversation.  Most would say they would not speak because they are afraid of an argument about trying to convince others of their opinions. Discussions on politics should be openly discussed with the exception, not without the consent of the other to talk about it. If individuals are willing and open, I believe it should take place.

As for religion, this is a tricking one because estimates are about 10,000 religions in the world.  This is difficult because one would need some common knowledge of all faiths. I think it should be discussed but with limits; if there are some common values, it's good. One would need to understand some general aspects to have a reasonable discussion. But, as I said about political debates if both are willing to engage, go for it.

Music and entertainment are not essential factors in deciding on friends.

Disclaimer: I do not endorse NBC News or any other progressive media. But there is a need to know what the other side is discussing. 

Summer Eggs 2

 Finally, after a few weeks they are here.

More later..... 

Tridentine Mass