THANKSGIVING 2012

Thanksgiving has had a lot of different meanings for me.  I’m not sure of the exact timing of when I started to understand the meaning of sincere thanks and its’ relationship to the holiday.  I am sure today that understanding of things comes in two general ways, an “ah-ha” moment or a metamorphosis from child to adult.  Mine was apparently the latter.  It seems to me that thanksgiving requires the loss of narcissistic tendencies and the emergence of compassion and awareness of conditions.  This year, the year 2012, has seen a lot of things occur both personally, for family and friends, and for our country. Not everything has been gentle and sweet, but all are cause for Thanksgiving and this is my thanksgiving statement and prayer for this year.

I am thankful for: For a wife who loves me and shows it daily through kindness, caring, friendship and laughter; Family and friends that have held me in their minds and hearts regardless of my warts and differences of opinion; My (our) God who has faithfully covered me, through all the trials and tribulations, in ways not even known; The growing understanding that good is hiding in everything that happens in life if we are patient and prayerful;  The roof over my head, the clothes on my back, the food that feeds my body, the forces of the Holy Spirit that feeds my soul.  Thank you Lord.

a DONKEY'S TALE

This is a re do of a posting on facebook.  It made me think and this is my take on it. Arbee

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well.  The animal cried piteously for hours until he alerted the farmer to his plight.  The farmer studied the situation and decided that it would be pretty expensive to excavate the well and get the animal out of the deep hole it was captured in.  The farmer called together a committee of the neighboring cities smartest politicians.  Together they decided the donkey was just too old to spend money on, and  the best solution was to bury the problem and the donkey together so that no one else would know a problem ever existed.

Because the wise people of the committee had suggested this action, the farmer agreed to give up his mule, even though it had been faithful and productive.  He hired a bunch of laborers who were hanging around the feed store to help him bury the donkey and fill in the well.  As the laborers continued to shovel dirt, the donkey quit crying for help.  Eventually curiosity got the best of the farmer and he looked into the well and was amazed at what he saw.

There was the donkey as calm as he could be, shaking off the dirt that was being thrown in an effort to bury him.  The faster they tried to bury him the quicker he would shake the dirt off.   The farmer noticed the faster they shoveled the faster the donkey seemed to be getting closer to getting out of the fix he was in.  Pretty soon the donkey was able to step out of the well on his own.

Now there are a couple of different morals to this story with more than a few thoughts to ponder.  Here are a few to think about:

1.     Every once in a while we will find ourselves in a hole and usually we get there because we didn’t pay attention to where we were going.

2.     If we are in a bad situation it doesn’t hurt to let those who care know that we could use some help

3.     Everyone gets dirt piled on them in life and it can be used as something that will bury us or as something that will put us in a better position. 

4.     If politicians decide how to solve a problem, the odds are they never realize the hidden effects of that decision.  Sometimes they get lucky sometimes they don’t.

5.     Don’t give up on yourself.

6.    Don’t trust the government to solve your problems

Vice Presidential Debate featuring 'THE JOKER"

Wow!  This would have been just as funny as Mr. Biden seemed to find everything during the debate if the topics had not been so serious. Throughout the debate I felt as though I were watching some political form of a Batman movie starring a real white haired “Joker”.  This was a fitting follow-up to the President's lackluster performance in the first debate,  with Biden taking up the slack and filling it with truckloads of manic behavior.  With approximately 60 million people watching the debates, I wondered how many viewers were spread across the rest of the globe.  The two debates, taken as a referendum on the state of our Executive branch of government, must have the rest of the world scratching their heads in dismay or licking their chops with the hope of our demise.  This seemed to be another example of the administration putting political gamesmanship in front of their abdicated responsibility to the American people and our proud heritage of leadership in the world.  Sad and dangerous!

A PRAYER FOR FAMILY SALVATION

 Lord today I pray for my family

Past Present and Future

This is a prayer I have said nightly for the Salvation of our family

THE PRAYER FOR FAMILY SALVATION

That your gentle call will be heard

And your Path will be followed

I pray that our names will be known

And will be written in your book of life

That we all will be blessed

To spend our eternity in Heaven

With You, The Father, The Son

And The Holy Spirit.

I pray for my Grandparents (by name)

My Parents  (by name)

My Children  (by name)

May Grandchildren (by name)

Those who have gone before

And those yet to come.

(2) Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father

Charlie Reese's Last Column

CHARLIE REESE ' S FINAL COLUMN A GREAT READ!!!!!

  

545 vs. 300,000,000 People -By Charlie Reese Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits? Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does. You and I don' t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does. One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country. I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank. I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don ' t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator ' s responsibility to determine how he votes. Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House now? He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to. It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can ' t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist. If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan ... If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way. There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do. Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees... We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess! What you do with this article now that you have read it... is up to you. This might be funny if it weren't so true. Be sure to read all the way to the end: Tax his land, tax his bed, Tax the table, at which he ' s fed. Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes are the rule. Tax his work, tax his pay, He works for peanuts anyway! Tax his cow, tax his goat, Tax his pants, tax his coat. Tax his ties, tax his shirt, Tax his work, tax his dirt. Tax his tobacco, tax his drink, Tax him if he tries to think. Tax his cigars, tax his beers, If he cries tax his tears. Tax his car, tax his gas, Find other ways to tax his ass. Tax all he has then let him know That you won't be done 'til he has no dough. When he screams and hollers; then tax him some more, Tax him till he's good and sore. Then tax his coffin, tax his grave, Tax the sod in which he ' s laid... Put these words upon his tomb, ' Taxes drove me to my doom... ' When he's gone, do not relax, Its time to apply the inheritance tax. Accounts Receivable Tax Building Permit Tax CDL license Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Dog License Tax Excise Taxes Federal Income Tax Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel Permit Tax Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon) Gross Receipts Tax Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Inventory Tax IRS Interest Charges  and IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) Liquor Tax Luxury Taxes Marriage License Tax Medicare Tax Personal Property Tax Property Tax Real Estate Tax Service Charge Tax Social Security Tax Road Usage Tax Recreational Vehicle Tax Sales Tax School Tax State Income Tax State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) Telephone Federal Excise Tax Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax Telephone State and Local Tax Telephone Usage Charge Tax Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax Vehicle Sales Tax Watercraft Registration Tax Well Permit Tax Workers Compensation Tax Not ONE of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely NO national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom, if agreed, stayed home to raise the kids. What in the heck happened? Can you spell ' politicians? '

THE KING HAS NO CLOTHES

This week, we once again were privileged to see our news media and the liberal blog sites attack Mitt Romney for speaking the truth as he perceives it to be.  Instead of looking to the veracity of his point of view, that faction decided to protect the image of President Obama’s administration by deflection and covering their eyes and ears. 

The American public needs a non-biased source of opinion and fact.  Our society is failing through attrition. We are losing those who respect our history and are being outnumbered by those who are receiving a jaundiced education regarding who we are as a nation.  We are falling prey to a very patient and pervasive enemy that has planned to defeat us without firing a shot but with the subtle use of propaganda. 

We no longer have a public information system that ferrets out the facts. We have opted to choose and to allow our minds to be fed information tainted and colored by ideology and ignorance. 

While we watch someone like Mitt Romney avoid the tactics of progressive reportage, a lot is hidden from view.  Mitt Romney’s business acumen is not politics as usual.  Mr. Romney has had to rely on cold hard facts in order to make business decisions. It is that fact based practice that is so lacking in the political landscape today.

Our country is at one of the most critical junctures of direction since the Civil War; at least the most critical in my lifetime.  We, the people, are preparing to vote and we need to make our decisions with our eyes, ears and minds open to the facts.  When opposition to the current administration speaks, we should be listening rather than trying to shout down that voice.

The last seventy years in our country will be reviewed in history quite differently than what the populace has been led to believe.  Our children are being taught a skewed view of their country.  They are being dumbed down and I for one am not sure if it is by intent or a lack of caring.  Regardless of the motive, the resulting lack of knowledge about our country will reap an anger against, rather than pride in our country.  Without pride and respect for who we are as a nation, the United States will be just another Roman Empire.

This election season it would behoove us not only to listen to what these candidates say but to understand them and the foundations upon which they stand.  We need to have an honest look at what they believe about our country, our current situations and where they want our country to be in the coming century. We need to listen (devoid of ideology and demagoguery) and view that as if our lives depended upon our decisions.  The truth is that our country depends on those decisions.

Remember the childhood story of the parade and how those attending covered their eyes and one small voice was heard to say, “Look the King is naked.”  We each need to be that one small voice.

HOPE, CHANGE and REALITY

2008 The majority of the American voters voted for HOPE and CHANGE.  We knew what we hoped for, we knew we needed to change the political landscape, and we were enamored with the flowing rhetoric that promised a new way of governing our country.  We hoped that the young man with the large engaging smile and the spring in his step would put an end to the divisiveness of racial angers and guilt. That he would put an end to the backroom and double-dealing political practices that put us in places and situations we would not have chosen on our own.  We could finally say that our country had emerged from the darkness into the new world where the color of a person’s skin no longer excluded him from the highest political office in the Free World.  We attached all of our aspirations for a better world to this one vessel of HOPE for a better America, a better society, the world and the America we let our individual and our group imaginations create. 

The changes we perceived and hoped for were simple: an end to the racial tensions that have plagued us since the end of slavery; a government that worked together for the good of the United States regardless of ideology; a transparency that allowed all of us to see our government in action, naked before us warts and all. According to each individual ideology, we were to get everything we wanted.  I fully understand the psychology behind electing this symbol of Hope and Change, human nature makes us wish for more than we have, for something better. 

We always hope our wishes will come true. The majority of our populace did not understand his definition of fundamental change nor did we understand the degree of demagoguery required for him to achieve his ends.  The expectations that the best outcome will take place were not tempered with the facts of who the man was, or is, and what belief structure would be in command of the oval office. 
Our national news organization (those who are supposed to protect our society) forfeited truth and facts in favor of electing our country's first President of color.  That action forgave the years of formation that created the belief structures he would use to guide our country toward his definition of fundamental change.  With his election we would finally be able to set aside the years filled with angst, bitterness, anger and guilt and rid our country of racial tensions. 
The news organizations made a big mistake.  Had they played their role as watch dogs for the good of the American people, we may still have elected him, but it would have been in the light of full disclosure. In the light of truth and full disclosure we would have the opportunity to be more honest today regarding his record as President. 
The actions of the press have put themselves, and those who voted for him in 2008, in the untenable position of admitting they brought about the election of a demagogue to the highest political office in the Free World.  Much like a cat scratching and kicking sand they use distractions and misdirection to cover up their stench.