Let our allies beware

I am a cold warrior. 1975-1979, following Vietnam when the military was not held in high esteem, I enlisted. I chose a combat arms mos because that is the mission. Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were the Presidents of the United States during my service years. They were both veterans. Neither of them bent their knee to Lenin Brezhnev, nor Kim Il-Sung during their tenure. If you don't know those names, then refrain from commenting.

We, the U.S., established a diplomatic relationship with Ukraine in 1991, following the fall of the Soviet Union. According to the U.S. Department of State, The United States attaches great importance to the success of Ukraine as a free and democratic state with a flourishing market economy. U.S. policy is centered on supporting Ukraine in the face of continued Russian aggression as it advances reforms to strengthen democratic institutions, fight corruption, and promote conditions for economic growth and competition. The United States does not, and will not ever, recognize Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea, and continues to work with our partners to seek a diplomatic solution to the Russia-instigated conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Our greatest national threats, Russia, China, and North Korea have acted in concert to overpower Ukraine. The response of the current administration is to abandon our ally, Ukraine, and grant our enemies their specious desserts. Remember the Kurds, look to NATO, consider those who Trump calls "shithole" countries.

To say that if you rely upon an alliance with the United States, you are a fool, shames me.

REAL Censorship

 For years I have been amused by people claiming to be censored.

When a private body, IG, FB, X (formerly known as Twitter), etc. disallows or even suppresses views contrary to their interests or inclinations this may be inconvenient, even reprehensible, but it is not censorship.

Censorship occurs when a government authority engages in such practices. Let me give you an example.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered restrictions on what books DOD schools can teach. The Defense Department has begun restricting access to books and learning materials covering subjects from immigration to psychology in its school system serving U.S. military families. The effort affects curriculums for elementary school ages and up.

THIS is what censorship looks like. An official of the government, with no experience or training in education has decided he may determine what can be taught in DOD schools.

This is just the start. DOD today, independent school districts tomorrow.

The above is not hypothetical. It has begun.

Read, comment, follow

Whaduyathink?

Oathbreaker

It had been my hope; this day would not come. Yet, here we are, 13 days into a 2nd Trump Presidency. 

The first time around I called upon citizens to unify and support our new President.  This time, I know he is out to enrich himself and utilize all the resources of the U.S. and the authority of the Presidency to do so.

January 20th at 12n eastern time the oath of office was administered to Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States. That oath has the party to whom it is administered state, in part, they will "...preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

The day had not ended when he broke his oath. By executive order, he acted to expressly violate the 14th amendment. In fact, not only to violate but to eliminate the right/protection it extends to every American born or naturalized in the United States. According to the Executive Order signed by him on the day of his inauguration, January 20, 2025, "Sec. 2.  Policy.  (a)  It is the policy of the United States that no department or agency of the United States government shall issue documents recognizing United States citizenship, or accept documents issued by State, local, or other governments or authorities purporting to recognize United States citizenship, to persons:  (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth."

I don't have any particular beef with amending the Constitution.  There are already 27 amendments. However, executive fiat is not the manner by which those amendments have been ratified. There is no perspective by which any action of this sort is preserving, protecting, or defending the Constitution of the United States.

Whaduyathink?

Fire Insurance

 A few insurance companies have been dropping policies or refuse to issue policies for homeowners in California. Among those are State Farm, Farmers, and Allstate.

Therefore, homeowners and landlords are suffering losses of property and life and absorbing all damage, cost, and tragedy without commercial support. It's not like insurance companies are in the business of sharing risk for a price. Who hasn't seen their premiums increase without regard to coverage? We must maintain record profitability and qualify for CEO bonuses.

Speaking of CEO's, who remembers Brian Thompson, recently deceased? I wonder if he has been on the minds of Jon Farney, Raul Vargas, or Thomas J Wilson, the CEO's respectively of State Farm, Farmers, and Allstate. They gotta be considering increasing security.

Friends

For me, friendship is not a transactional relationship.

If I consider you to be my friend, you are essentially family I won't find on 23 & Me, Ancestry, etc.

I do not act in a manner to benefit you in order to obligate you. I act to your benefit because I can, and I want to. You do not OWE me anything. 

You may act towards me as you desire, but know you owe me no debt.

I don't have the time

      So, last Sunday, July 18, one of the verses of scripture shared in my Sunday School/Connecting group was  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  It says, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

     As a pretty solid Methodist, it is of course not the first time I have heard, read, shared this scripture.  Almost without fail there are questions regarding how may one actually pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances.

     I have even been told it is not possible to pray without ceasing.  There are jobs to which we must attend and livings which must be made.  If one is of the mind that prayer must be incorporated into a busy life then this certainly presents a dilemna of time management.  However, the dilemna here is not one of time management but of priorities.  What if rather than incorporating our prayer life into our "real" life we begin to incorporate our "real" life into our prayer life?  Is it possible that instead of concentrating on careers or paying bills our concentration could be upon our prayers and their results?  

     If you consider prayer to be only a method of asking "Santa" God for stuff then praying without ceasing is not really a viable option for living your life.  Praying in this manner is also not a viable prayer life.  If you pray only in moments of desperation when you have failed miserably then you most likely would not even desire to pray without ceasing.  

     Prayer is a gift from God.  God has provided an easily perpetually available method to approach our sovereign.  Prayer is not an avenue for you to tell God what is happening, what you need/want, how or by whom you have been offended.  While all of those cited above may be incorporated in your prayer, the prayer itself is to permit you to relieve yourself of those concerns and anxiety which may result.  Prayer's purpose is not for you to advise God but for you to commune with God.  Neither is prayer a oneway conduit for you to express yourself.  You may also avail yourself of the opportunity to listen for, recognize, and incorporate God's response to prayer.  If, in your prayer, you recognize your need for God and acknowledge the sufficiency of God to address all concerns it follows you would accept and act upon the reply of God.  In that recognition you must realize the need for meditation and contemplation to discern and understand the response of God to prayer.

     Practiced sincerely and steadily this type of prayer life becomes the focus of one's life rather than just another call upon one's time.  This prayer life will become your "real" life.  This prayer life will affect your career choices and concept of "success".  Initially, one may feel there are sacrifices being made to live prayerfully.  This is merely a matter of familiarity.  Change is always feared and results in discomfort.  As Christians, and I realize this may surprise some people, even many, we are not called to live comfortably.

     And what about this "give thanks in all crcumstances"?  I'm tired, hungry, wet, alone, sad, aggrieved, homeless, betrayed.  What do I have to give thanks for?  

     Once again we encounter a difficuly in perception rather than reality.  The very nature of circumstances is they are temporary.  Just as the rest of life, the only constant is change.  The Lord has promised you, Matt. 28:20 ...I am with you always, to the end of the age.  Whereas the cirumstances in which you find yourself are temporary, the mercy, grace, and love of the Lord are infinite and eternal.

     

     

Testing; Bad

Here's a couple pf things Donnie has to say about Covid-19 testing.

“Cases are going up in the U.S. because we are testing far more than any other country, and ever expanding."

"If we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any,”

If you think either of these statements is valid, you probably won't wear a mask.

Testing has no bearing on how many cases of infected people exist in the U.S. or anywhere else. The number of infected will be the same whether or not testing takes place.

“More testing only reveals more infections and therefore increases the numbers. In a way, by doing all this testing we make ourselves look bad”

No, it doesn't. You know what more testing does? More testing allows you to identify and care for victims. More testing and the resulting data allows us to more productively work towards an effective course of treatment/vaccine. More testing doesn't make us "look bad". More testing at least suggests we have some measure of concern/empathy for our fellows. More testing enables us to more readily identify and inform those who have been put at risk.