Retirement

For those of us who are spending a good bit of our life working, there will come a point when the daily grind of getting up and reaching the point of spending eight hours of your life trying to earn a few bucks to pay the bills will come to an end. I would think most people would eventually look forward to retirement. Because the days of pursuit and accomplishments will soon wain. The new days of retirement will settle into everyday life. How one looks at retirement will vary from person to person. I'm not at the point of retirement, but it's just around the corner. I believe retirement should be a time of adventure and discovery; for all the years someone works and wishes to have more vacation time, the retirement years are just the beginning. I will admit retirement will be difficult. It's a significant life event. And I do not want to work until I'm too old to adventure about, and I do not want to retire early; just not ready yet. Either way, it's something for me to look forward to another chapter in my life.

Photo - geralt - pixabay 

   

November

November is the month to honor Veterans. 

Most would think November is the month of Thanksgiving or the pre-Christmas month. But I see it as the month for veterans because, without the veterans, we would not have all those freedoms we experience throughout the year.  People take for granted and not really thinking about those who served in our military to protect our country's freedoms. My wife and I always make time for our local Veterans Day parade.  We had experienced times when just a few people came to the parade. It was a sad experience seeing World War II vets walking in the parade waving at the small gathering of groups of supporters on the sidewalk. These guys put their life on the line for us and were willing to take the possibility of dying for our country. The sidewalks should have overflowed with people waving back at them and expressing gratitude.  

Why has our country come to the point of going overboard, celebrating every ethnic and LGBTQ group throughout the year? And barely giving any notice to the US Veteran. The patriotism for our country and those who serve it has disappeared. And those of us who have served and known the sacrifices our military makes every hour of every day can't express how grateful we are to the heroes of the past and present. 

I hope more people will come to local Veterans Day celebrations this year. 

Thank a Veteran!

Photo: BrianPenny - pixabay

The Eve of All Saints Day

The vigil of this feast is popularly called "Hallowe'en" or "Halloween".

Solemnity celebrated on the first of November. It is instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown, and, according to Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year.

In the early days the Christians were accustomed to solemnize the anniversary of a martyr's death for Christ at the place of martyrdom. In the fourth century, neighbouring dioceses began to interchange feasts, to transfer relics, to divide them, and to join in a common feast; as is shown by the invitation of St. Basil of Caesarea (379) to the bishops of the province of Pontus. Frequently groups of martyrs suffered on the same day, which naturally led to a joint commemoration. In the persecution of Diocletian the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day could not be assigned to each. But the Church, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, appointed a common day for all. The first trace of this we find in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost. We also find mention of a common day in a sermon of St. Ephrem the Syrian (373), and in the 74th homily of St. John Chrysostom (407). At first only martyrs and St. John the Baptist were honoured by a special day. Other saints were added gradually, and increased in number when a regular process of canonization was established; still, as early as 411 there is in the Chaldean Calendar a "Commemoratio Confessorum" for the Friday after Easter. In the West Boniface IV, 13 May, 609, or 610, consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs, ordering an anniversary. Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for 1 November. A basilica of the Apostles already existed in Rome, and its dedication was annually remembered on 1 May. Gregory IV (827-844) extended the celebration on 1 November to the entire Church. The vigil seems to have been held as early as the feast itself. The octave was added by Sixtus IV (1471-84).

Mershman, F. (1907). All Saints' Day. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved October 28, 2022 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315a.htm

Army Posts Renaming

 

The woke culture has gone too far!

When will this madness stop?

The Difference

The fundamental difference between to two parties is dividing our country.  And I do not foresee either side changing its point of view. According to the poll, one issue is that both can agree the cost of living is an issue.  

Wow, that is something we can agree on.  

 I noticed in the poll they listed the top four issues for democrats compared to the three issues for republicans.  This is just another way for the media to only expose to the public what they regard as issues in the United States.  

The midterms are days away, and these are the issues voters will choose the candidate who best aligns with what is most important to them. 

Get Back to Work!

I was watching the news this morning, and the reports stated the pandemic affected people to the point of not wanting to return to work.  I understand businesses had to shut down during the pandemic because of local laws. But all of that is over. It's time to get back to work. Industries are suffering now because nobody wants to work. I really do not know how people cannot work.  How are they paying the bills? I know an underlying factor of receiving the unemployment check, but that has to end.  The unemployed cannot continue to live off the government. While those of us continue to work, we can't stay home and wait for our unemployment check. 

If something does not change soon, businesses will either be forced to close or move their business online, or the latest trend in the retail industry is the expansion of self-checkout. And I really do not see that lasting because of shoplifting. There will be a time when everything you buy will be online. The days of going into a business and interacting with a real person are about to end.  

Prayer

 Prayer is essential; we should all be on our knees every day.  We have become accustomed to physical actions, with activities and decisions made to get things done. We put a lot of time and money into changing things we cannot. We often forget God is the ultimate one who can change what we often struggle with in our human efforts.  Prayer is easy. It doesn't require any education and can be done by anyone.  Most people believe that God needs prayer, but this is not true. God does not need our prayers. God needs us to pray for our benefit, not his. He is the creator of the universe, and he knows exactly what our needs are. The world needs prayer now as evil prowls about seeking the ruin of souls. Prayer is our sword and shield.    

What's Next?

 As we enter November, all types of predictions are coming about at the end of the year. Predictions of economic collapse to significant supply chain issues and food shortages. No one can really say what is going to happen. But could there be underlying propaganda to just stir things up? I think so.  And it might not necessarily be the government. It could be grouped with financial support such as George Soros.  We saw most of his funding go to the Black Lives Matter protest in 2020. The problem is the unknown agenda of the progressives. We can speculate all we want, but until the evil plan makes headline news, we can only hope that we can counter the movement with the goodness of God's graces to fight it. 

Burgess Falls

 

Burgess Falls Tennessee

Comedy Films

My ratings are usually based on my surfing the channels and always stopping to watch these movies in their entirety or just the last thirty minutes. 

Here are my top ten comedy films:

10. Adam's Rib (1949)

9. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)

8. It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)

7. Living on Love (1937)

6. The Philadelphia Story (1940)

5. Modern Times (1936)

4. The Gold Rush (1925)

3. The More the Merrier (1943)

2. You Can't Take It with You (1938)

1. Groundhog Day (1993)

 

The Midterm

The top story on most news outlets is the midterm elections. In the past, these elections have had a low turnout of voters at the polls. But this year will be different.  As we will vote in our own states, it's important to note we need to also focus on the other states. Since the last election, the House and Senate have been almost evenly split. The Democrats won the House, and the Republicans won the Senate. The two Houses combined can pass legislation, but nothing will give because each party has a majority vote in each House. 

The midterm elections could change this according to who wins in both houses. If the Dems win both Houses, we can watch our rights and freedoms entirely voted out of the constitution. And if the Republicans win, we can be assured that those rights and freedoms stay in place. 

I believe what makes this election important is the preview of the outlandish legislation the Democrats have proposed in the last several years. The main reason the United States has been so successful is that we are a republic and capitalist country. No other country in the world is like us. We must vote to protect our great country and not let the liberals set into law their socialist policies that can never be changed. Because we are the last free country in the world. Fight for it by casting your vote. 

Photo: geralt - pixabay   

What's in the News?

 An indication of the current state of our country is mainly portrayed in the news headlines.  

Here is a short list of some of the news headlines for October 14, 2022.

• January 6, hearings
• Trump - Mar-a-logo documents
• Raleigh Shooting
• Potential Nuclear Attack
• Ukraine/Zelensky
• Inflation
• Climate Change
• The Border
• November Elections

I can see how someone would not follow the news; nothing good here. 

What does this say about us as a country? How did we get to this, or how did we allow this to happen?

Photo: geralt - pixabay

Columbus Day

 

Media Game Plan

The Biden Administration is playing a game with us. And the game is how many ways they can manipulate us into believing that this is the most successful presidency in the history of the United States.

A few weeks ago, gas prices started to come down, and within a few days, during the White House press conference, they mentioned how the economy is improving. This lasted for a while until no one complained about the gas price. But now the price of gas is going back up. They had the game plan to manipulate the press to convince the public that everything was okay. Distraction is the primary goal of the game.  Once the white house gets a negative spin on the news outlets, the game plan goes into effect. If you haven't noticed this yet, just watch any progressive news, and you will see how quickly the White House responds to take out anything negative every time. 

Another example from this week,

"But the POTUS' latest flub is even more cringeworthy than when Biden said the first lady's husband had tested positive for coronavirus this past March, when in fact it was second gentleman Douglas Emhoff who was sick. Because in this instance, the 79-year-old called out a recently deceased member of Congress during a hunger conference, seemingly unaware of her high-profile accident (via AOL).

"Jackie are you here? Where's Jackie?" Biden wondered aloud while thanking the meeting organizers, including Jackie Walorski, who tragically passed away in a headline-making car crash over the summer (via Reuters).

Later, his press secretary waved away the cringe-inducing moment."

             From: Melissa Willets - The List

Be aware of the media game plan because the goal is to convince you all is well and that this is the best president in the history of the United States.

Photo: Yomare - Pixabay

The Practice of Christianity

Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest religion, with about 2.8 billion followers, representing one-third of the global population.[1][2] Its adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the people in 157 countries and territories,[3] and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, whose coming as the messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in Christianity) and chronicled in the New Testament.[4]

 The four largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church (1.3 billion/50.1%), Protestantism (920 million/36.7%), the Eastern Orthodox Church (230 million), and the Oriental Orthodox churches (62 million) (Orthodox churches combined at 11.9%),[13][14] though thousands of smaller church communities exist despite efforts toward unity (ecumenism).[15] Despite a decline in adherence in the West, Christianity remains the dominant religion in the region, with about 70% of that population identifying as Christian.[16] Christianity is growing in Africa and Asia, the world's most populous continents.[17] Christians remain persecuted in some regions of the world, especially in the Middle East, North Africa, East Asia, and South Asia.[18][19

Christianity. (2022, September 18). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity

I went with a generic and very plain and simple definition from Wikipedia. 

Christians cannot be ignored. They should have a significant voice in politics and in society. But there is a movement worldwide to silence the 2.8 billion people that believe in Jesus Christ. In the United States, those who believe in the separation of church and state believe the meaning of this term is to keep religion out of the government, but the opposite is the true definition. It's to keep the government out of religion.  Which gives us the right to preach, worship, and pray on public property.  Sometimes this works out well, and other times is meant with resistance. In the United States, we have the freedom of religion and should consistently demonstrate in public whenever possible.

Here is an example of faith in practice on public property:

The Men’s Rosary Rally, started and organized by Jeff Coleman, a regular attendee of St. Marth Catholic Church in Ashland City, meets the first Saturday of every month at 1 p.m. at the Legislative Plaza.

Jeff Coleman - the organizer, says: 

“It’s to get people to renew their vows, if you will, renew their faith, and renew their trust in the Lord. It didn’t seem like we had it. It seemed like it was being lost,” he said. “With all the things going on (in society), it seemed like the Catholic faith was being lost to the secular world and everybody forgot about the spiritual world, and I wanted to bring the spirituality back, and I wanted to bring men back to say, ‘Hey, stand up and be a man. You’re the head of the house; you’re the head of everything. You need to stand up and be proud that you’re a guy and not let the secular world attack you.’”

Read the full story here.

Men’s Rosary Rally meets monthly at Legislative Plaza - Tennessee Register

This is how we practice our freedom of religion, and the government cannot take that away. 

       

The Border Crisis

 

The United States border is out of control. If this were an invading army, we would be under the rule of the conquering country. But, instead of a military invasion, the government will slowly collapse under the crippling effects of 2 million people worldwide, including criminals, gang members, and terrorists. Our infrastructure is not capable of handling this many people. 

The Biden administration has attributed the mass exodus from Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua to the policies of their leftist regimes and the dire economic circumstances faced by many people there.

"Failing communist regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba are driving a new wave of migration across the Western Hemisphere, including the recent increase in encounters at the southwest U.S. border," CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said in a statement Monday.

           CBS News

So, the main reason for the exodus to the United States is the most left policies; what then is the Biden administration? The answer is the progressive leftist policies of the current president of the United States have approved an open border for all to escape to. I do not believe anything will be done to alleviate this problem. They (the democrats) will make some statements about securing the border in the coming weeks to put on a good show just before the elections in November to make it sound like they are addressing the issue. But ultimately, nothing will happen. And we will soon become a country like Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

  

Airlines

 

Railway Unions

Today, the railway unions agreed not to strike. 

Here are my thoughts on this whole situation. 

The unions in America have too much power. The threat of the railway strike sent a panic way across America. If this had happened, it would have shut down the country's supply chain, crippling businesses and Americans, causing panic buying in the stores, similar to the pandemic.

"A potential strike could lead to $2 billion a day in lost economic output, according to the Association of American Railroads, which lobbies on behalf of railway companies. Rail is critical to the entire goods side of the economy, including agriculture, manufacturing, retail, and warehousing. Freight railroads are responsible for transporting 40% of the nation's long-haul freight -- and a work stoppage could endanger those shipments."  (ABC News)

 And that amount of power is dangerous.  It's not like the early days of the unions when workers struggled to get fair pay. Nowadays, it's not an issue. Union workers get a good salary and benefits. But the demand from the unions to get any amount they deem a fair wage will almost always be passed down to the American people with a cost increase in products. So, ultimately, it's not the company that will increase the salary; it's the American people. 

Photo:  code83 - pixabay 

 

The Media Blitz

 

There will be a media blitz of political campaign attacks in the next couple of months. Progressives and Conservatives have been gathering news clips for the past months and taking sound bites from politicians up for election.

This will hit us hard with political commercials before November 8th. I believe most ads will be aimed at independents and those undecided. Because the Democrats and Republicans have already decided on their candidate. Ultimately, the ones elected will result from the marketing manager strategy who developed the ads. Sadly, we must rely on what we see and hear in campaign ads. I know we could all do some deep research into each candidate. 

But there is some truth in our gut instincts. Most of this is based on our past experiences and the political life of the candidate.  November the 8th is a critical date that could change our government drastically. Both parties are far apart and have no room for compromise. 

In my conservative view, the progressives will say or do anything possible to convince the undecided voters to come to their side. And I'm not entirely confident that the election process will be fair. I refuse to believe that Biden received more votes than any president in the history of the United States. There is no way this actually happens. The 2020 election was fraudulent, fixed, stolen, compromised, and rigged. Biden is not the elected president of the United States, but that is just my opinion. And I believe they (the democrats) will do exactly what it takes to repeat another fraudulent election day to keep their destructive policies so they can continue to destroy the US Constitution and the Rule of Law and to take all our freedoms to live under a Socialist government.

God help us all! 

Make America Great Again! 

Photo: chayka1270 - pixabay

  

Remembering

 

Remembering September 11, 2001

Photo - WikiImages - Pixabay