Winter is Lasting How Long?

Photo: pixabay - offroy66

February 2nd 

The Official Groundhog Day

An American tradition for 137 years.

I personally have never been to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. But from what I have seen, it is a big deal and months of planning.

 Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, predicts 6 more weeks of winter (msn.com)

I don't believe in such folklore. But it seems like a fun event to experience.  I wonder if other countries do similar events? Winter is one of those seasons where especially in the South, we are ready for it to end and the Spring season to begin. 

Prayer to St. Francis of Assisi

 

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to be console; 

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Questionable Authority

Before making a post for the day, I'll scan various news headlines for a story I'll have an opinion about. During the search, I have to filter the extreme opinion news articles. I look through all the news media hype, trying to grab my attention. Because we all know how easy it is to be influenced by what we see on any day of the week on the news.

Today there are a few articles about police authority and their actions. I'm not here to question or to give specific opinions about any incident involving the use of police authority, but if video evidence captures a particular event and is complete from beginning to end, I believe it is right to question the actions of those involved from both sides, and that is just at a surface level, it will take attorneys, juries and many court trails to come to a final conclusion. But in the meantime, this will spark a spontaneous reaction from the general public, causing protests and rioting, which causes more police involvement in dealing with potentially hostile environments. Creating a cycle of violence. 

My point is there will always be questionable incidents with those who are law enforcement, and it is right to do so. Justice must be served, and this applies to those in law enforcement and those arrested. And because of a few officers' actions, we should not apply those actions to the whole law enforcement occupation. 

The bottom line, we must trust in our judicial system to do what is right.

 

    

Photo - pixabay - sergeitokmakov

 

Found Documents

What is up with this?

Finding secret documents.

I understand the importance and concern of secret documents being in an unsecured location. 

Did this all of a sudden become the hobby of collecting for elected officials?

This has probably been going on since the founding of the United States. If former politicians took a souvenir series of documents, I would bet they are going through their occupied places and destroying papers as I write this post. And if that is the case, and the DOJ discovers they had documents and destroyed them, this would be a whole new controversy. 

What about those responsible for securing and controlling the secret documents? Where is the chain of custody?

This will grow bigger and involve more people over the next few months. 

Photo: pixabay - TheDigitalArtist

My Top Movie Couples

Film Friday - my top-rated movie couples in no particular order.

Vivien Leigh & Clark Gable

Barbara Stanwyck & Fred MacMurray

Katharine Hepburn & Humphrey Bogart

Elizabeth Taylor & Paul Newman

Myrna Loy & William Powell

Katharine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy

Donna Reed & Jimmy Stewart

Jane Russell & Robert Mitchum

Ingrid Bergman & Cary Grant

Jean Arthur & Gary Cooper

Job Security

In recent news, Microsoft (10,000) and Amazon (18,000) laid off thousands of employees.

There was a time going back to the1950's 1960's you landed a job at a well-established company; you were set until you were ready to retire. But in today's economic-driven environment, it is more prevalent that the bigger the company, the more chance you have of being laid off. And the much smaller business is the one to retire from.  Having a job has always been a necessary part of making a living to pay the bills, but if you're in the job market looking for the perfect job. I'll have to say they do not exist. There will always be a boardroom of decision makers to decide about layoffs or the large, more profitable companies with specialized teams to seek and find another company to buy out. The big fish eats the smaller fish reality, it's a brutal business. 

My generation has experienced excellent companies that care for 20-year employees; I believe future generations will only experience working for a place for about 5 years. 

Job security has been redefined as working at most 10 years in one place. Sad as it may seem, it's the truth.

Photo - pixabay - geralt

God's Freedom

God gives every single one of our freedoms. This freedom is the ultimate freedom, but it comes with consequences. 

The freedom of free will.

Our will is what drives us in our ability to choose to act on what is good or bad. God could easily have made us always be inclined to do good and never evil. But he gave us the freedom of choice of good or evil. Just as He did with Adam and Eve. The choice of good strengthens our faith when confronting the evil we experience daily. But the choice of sin has the consequences of the judgment of God. It also has been given to us internally, deep into our souls; this freedom is within each of us, and no country or government and take that away from you. 

Exercise your God-given right of free will. But be sure it is with deep thought because the wrong choice has consequences. 

Photo - pixabay - geralt

Mr. Smith the Politician

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a 1939 film directed by Frank Capra. The main characters, Jimmy Stewart (Mr. Smith), Jean Arthur (Saunders), and Claude Rains (Sen. Joseph Paine), are the main characters.

It's one of my favorite movies. The story goes as Mr. Smith is elected as Senator and goes to Washington with a great sense of doing some good for a country he loves. He discovers early the deep corruption of the senior politicians who try to oust Mr. Smith because he is not going according to the rules of corruption within the political world. But he resists and continues to fight for the truth and the duties of his position. And with persistence, he prevails and becomes a model Senator.

Politics, especially at the higher levels in Washington DC, have a certain amount of corruption, and I'm sure there are a few "Mr. Smiths" in the office today, or at least I would like to believe. Politicians should represent the people who elect them, but that does not necessarily reflect everyone because some didn't vote for the elected. But the majority rules, and if you live in a district where your representatives do not reflect your values, you should move to another city or state. In America, we can elect those who best represent our values.   

What Happened?

The FAA Flight System is down; what is up with that?

How could a powerful computer system go entirely down?

And according to the reports, it is the first time this has happened. 

And with that said, they have had plenty of time to install redundancy systems, so if one fails, the other should kick in without delay.

This goes much deeper than what we are hearing. The disruption of flights today will take days to recover from and to return to normal operation. There should have been lessons learned Airlines from the breakdown of Southwest Airlines during Christmas. But again, how does this happen, and why wasn't it fixed?

Clearly a lot of unknowns. In the next few weeks, more reports will come about what really happened.

Photo: pixabay - JESHOOTS-com

The Smoke Screen

Living the faith of Christ can be difficult. We go about daily life with all the interjections of evil surrounding us. But sometimes, the bombardments from the evil one are difficult to see.

It's almost like a smoke screen, the enemy is firing rounds at us, and we do not know where it is coming from. We do not understand why we are reacting to the influence the enemy has on us. 

The difficulty is understanding good and evil. This may seem like a simple solution. We all know what good is but is the good disguised as evil in reality. After all, he is known as the Bible tells us satan is the master of lies. Evil is a master in deceiving us to believe into believing that something evil would be perceived as good. 

The resolve is just as difficult to see, but as the devil is attacking us non-stop, we should be in non-stop prayer and examining our conscience to see through the smoke screen. 

Photo: pixabay - intographics

Stories and History

 

Listening to the wisdom of older generations is a treasure we should not take for granted.

We have all experienced a relative who talks about the old days, the days when they were younger, the days of glory, some might say.  And sometimes, these stories are repeated. But in a way, it's a good thing. 

Throughout history, families have passed down their stories from generation to generation. 

• The stories of how their family came to America. 
• The stories of the 'old country.' 
• The stories of their time in the war
• The stories of being poor and struggling to provide for their families 

This sharing of stories even goes back to biblical times. The passing of the Word of God through oral tradition has given us today the foundation of Christianity, specifically the Bible. Also, the writing from the Saints has been passed down in the same way.

Take time to listen to those who have a story to tell, no matter how small or great, because this is who we are and what we do as the people of God to care and take the time out of our busy days to listen to an old-timer share their part of history. 

Photo - pixabay - beauty_of_nature

Who will be the next Speaker of the House?

The House is now under the political control of the Republicans. But it is undecided who will be the next speaker. So, at this point, I'm going to be critical of the conservatives. They have had plenty of time to debate this among themselves. I know politicians have always been about power and control, which goes for any political party. 

But, come on! You would think after all the years of the Pelosi dynasty. The republicans could easily have someone in mind to clearly take control as Speaker of the House. I can see from most news reports that the agenda of what needs to be done is somewhat agreed on by most congressional republicans.

What is the big delay? The longer this goes on, the more division within the Republican Party will add to the democrats being critical of conservatives.

Photo: pixabay - TheDigitalArtist

2023

What will the new year bring?

So many forecasters predicting what 2023 will bring to us.

But as I've said, they can say all they want, but no one knows. But some predictions are standard every year the financial markets, the weather, the Sun comes up and sets every evening, and the list goes on and on.

What will the first significant event be in 2023?

Year End 2022

The year 2022 has come to an end.

Here are some of the most viewed posts for each month this year.

January: What's Next?

February: The Federal Drug Program

March: The Oil Agenda

April: The Good News

May: Are You Convinced?

June: Reasonable Conclusion

July: Summer Eggs 2

August: My Opinion

September: The Border Crisis

October: The Mid Term

November: Priority Vote

December: The Wait

Photo: pixabay - geralt

Predictions

Predictions for 2023

It has yet to be determined what will transpire next year. Businesses use their budget forecast as a guild line to manage their finances.

Every year we all go through the thought process of what we want to happen in the new year, but ultimately there is no possible way of knowing. The outside influences in our lives always seem to change a well-thought-out plan. Now, making plans is fine, but long-term goals can always change.

A prime example of this was the year 2020. The outside influence of the virus changed the entire world and continued into the following year.

I know this is pessimistic but prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Hope for the best is more than just a pleasant thought; it is in true hope and graces from God that great things happen, and those well-thought-out plans are not entirely yours but the touch of God's hand in our everyday life. 

Going forward into 2023, hope and prayer are the real influences, as God is the ultimate predictor of the future.

Cardinals

 

The past severe cold weather brought many cardinals to my feeders; more in this picture could not capture them in the frame.

The Effects of Cold Weather

The world's infrastructure is weak. As we go through the winter months, the weakness begins to demonstrate how behind we are in electricity and water management.

The recent freezing weather has stressed our systems and sometimes caused a complete breakdown in the age when we can develop new technologies overnight. 

Why can't we manage our utilities?  

I am nowhere close to having any knowledge of this topic, but those in the industry could create a failsafe system, or is this done on purpose (putting on my tin-foil hat). It does not make any sense! Suppose one does not have a power backup system. In that case, one would live in the 1800s as a pioneer in the west, with no electricity, limited water supply, communications, and limited travel. This should not happen in the technology age. 

Photo: pixabay - GDJ

Merry Christmas

Most would think days after Christmas would be the end of Christmas, but actually, it's just the beginning. Birthdays are generally celebrated the day of and the days after.

Does anyone really just stop celebrating the day after their birthday? 

Then why should we stop the celebration of the Savior of the World and the Son of God?

Merry Christmas!!

The Angelus Prayer

 

V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.

R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

    Hail Mary, full of grace,

    The Lord is with Thee;

    Blessed art thou among women,

    And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

    Holy Mary, Mother of God,

    Pray for us sinners,

    Now and at the hour of our death. Amen

V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.

    Hail Mary, etc.

V. And the Word was made Flesh.

R. And dwelt among us.

    Hail Mary, etc.

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

LET US PRAY

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

A Time for Peace

I remember my grandfather telling me the story of when he was at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.  The story goes it was Christmas eve, and the Germans and Americans were separated by a river.  Fighting had taken place during the day, but as night came and midnight, the action stopped. It was Christmas. Both sides realized the peace of Christ, the peace of Christmas.  

We should all find the time this week to stop and take a break from the holiday rush. Do not lose sight of what Christmas day brings, peace and joy to the world. A time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the hope of a New Year. Remember, when the stress gets too much, fighting forces can find the time for quiet and take the peace of Christ into their hearts.

Photo: pixabay - Angeleses