True Hope and Faith will never waiver ....

My deepest sorrows and sympathy rest with those assaulted by terrorists while celebrating the Resurrection of the Savior Jesus Christ  this past Easter Sunday.  The victims in this terrible tragedy are "Christians" by name, but in truth they are all really just children of the one God we all share.  These innocents were attacked in their Holy places of worship on a day of celebration, a day celebrating "resurrection." The date of this attack perhaps in some odd way brings me solace, for resurrection is a gift promised to all Believers, from the greatest right on up to the smallest ..."The first shall be last and the last shall be first."  You see to be taken from this LIFE on this day, Easter Sunday, rings out LOUDLY with a message to all, believers or not, that these believers taken in act of unspeakable violence will be resurrected --reunited with the Creator-- and as such their 'lives' ... their essence, being, light, spirits live on without end.  So what, if anything, does this slaughter of innocents accomplish in the end?  Not one thing ... The only 'accomplishment' I can see is that from a karmic standpoint this act of deranged violence surely seals the fate of all the perpetrators involved leading into the next life --for in addition to the ultimate goal of resurrection (reunification with the source of creation), I wholeheartedly happen to believe in reincarnation ... hence "the next life." That being said the regrettable loss of lives this past Easter Sunday will be greatly felt by those left behind and the greater sympathetic world at large, but still the spirit of Hope and Faith will never waiver.  I guess, that's something those seeking to impose their view of an acceptable world-order can never seem to fully comprehend?  Maybe their eyes will open in the next life? ... With Hope and many, many ongoing prayers.  Yes, I pray for those some would deem to be 'enemies' ...Love and Hate, but a stone's throw away from one another in the circular nature of our human condition.  Sending prayers, LOVE, Light and healing intentions out for all those in need. God Bless, Heal and Keep you always close to His heart. ~Isabelle

 

(An Easter photograph I took from my balcony several years ago. This photo has always spoken of Resurrection to me.)

4/29/2019  My thoughts, healing intentions and many prayers are with those affected by shooting at CA synagogue over this past weekend, especially for the woman who gave her life, Lori Kaye to save her Rabbi.  That is the ultimate of self-sacrifice and so truly inspirational.  Her sacrifice will allow her community to heal and move forward under the guidance of their leader.

How very fortunate that those trained in the use of weapons and close quarters hand to hand combat were present within the community at the time of this attack.   While these attacks are unthinkably violent and truly deranged, it it my sincerest hope that these sorts of attacks, on various religious faiths, will begin to focus in on the fact that at the end of the day we have so much more in common that we do in difference.  Dogma is man-made. God, the Creator and our connection to the universal whole transcends Dogma.  As such we should all endeavor to make the world a better place, by our daily intentions and actions, small ripples of ever-widening HOPE and LOVE, providing the foundation for universal FAITH and  a belief in a higher purpose for our being, regardless of our individual religious choice for expression of these basic foundational pillars of our shared humanity.

The Time Has Come to Require Licenses for the Practice of Journalism ...

The only thing necessary for EVIL to triumph in our modern technological age is to have a largely unaccountable media intent on delivering biased, propaganda-driven 'news and information' under the guise of true journalism.

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Unless of course people no longer seek truth? Maybe people these days are content merely to be entertained? Then the famous Edmond Burke quote would apply "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is that good men [care to] do nothing."

The conclusion of the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller's report has left a lot of unanswered questions, but  not  lingering questions about President Trump and alleged "collusion/obstruction" as the left-leaning media would have you believe  [Omission is the weapon of choice for fools?].  No rather, these lingering questions center around our intelligence agencies and how they go about the business of conducting the "behind the scenes" business of protecting our nation.  While I am alarmed at the abuses of power at the highest level of our intelligence community leading up to the last Presidential Election, and even post-election, I still strongly believe the bulk of the intelligence community are honest and hardworking people dedicated to the defense of our great nation. That being said, somewhere along the way it appears a group of high ranking intelligence officials lost their way and abused their positions of power for purely partisan ends.  These fringe officials used a non-verified dossier --the origins of which are highly suspicious and may wind up pointing back to the Hillary Clinton campaign and Russia-- in order spy on a presidential candidate and his election campaign in an effort de-legitimize his candidacy and later his Presidency.  In short, a few bad actors literally weaponized the FBI for partisan ends.

Ironically, in decades past it would be the media demanding answers and doing the follow up to get to the bottom of this sort of abuse of power.  The mainstream media has throughout the majority of our American History served in the role of "watchdog" for our government officials, helping to ensure abuses of power never happen in the absence of accountability.  In the rare instance when abuses of power have occurred the media have usually been the first ones to shine a far-reaching bright light upon the perpetrators.  So what do you do when those responsible for helping to ensure accountability in our system are no longer accountable themselves?  At the very least, one would hope the media --and the government investigations!-- would objectively push for a balance of coverage in exposing the other side of the story, namely investigating of the origins of "Trump Dossier" and Clinton ties to Russian influential entities (e.g., Uranium One), but thus we have not seen this balance in coverage. Even a lack of balance in coverage could perhaps have been forgiven?  But what we have witnessed from the left-leaning mainstream media over the course of the past two years is far more egregious:  the mainstream media have overtly colluded with the fringe elements in our intelligence community and even government officials --e.g., Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters, Eric Swalwell-- to push a one-side unsubstantiated narrative based on unproven allegations, and in many instances outright lies, all towards the end of convincing the American public --and the world at large-- that Robert Mueller's investigation could lead to no conclusion short of treason on the part of Donald J. Trump.

Such a scam of epic proportions could never have been foisted upon the American public to the extent that this entire "Russia-Trump Collusion" Hoax has been, without the overt collusion between the media and prominent Democrats --working together with fringe elements in the intelligence community-- to further misinformation.  A whole lot of CNN (and the like) viewers must have been completely bewildered when it was finally announced, on Monday, that the Mueller probe had successfully concluded and that President Trump was NOT going to be charged with either collusion or obstruction.  Given what we have witnessed over the course of the past two years, I think it is evident to most logically thinking, factually-oriented people -- those who possess even a shred of willingness to pursue factual truth-- that the left-leaning mainstream media is no longer interested in the objective pursuit of truth with which to inform the public.  Instead the left-leaning mainstream media now have their own agenda and this agenda is based on a profit-driven (fear) motive and the furthering one political agenda (ideology) over another.  The objective "watchdog" media is now dead, along with the art of true journalism?  Maybe objective truth still lives on at FOX News?  For this is the only network I witnessed attempting to cover all aspects of the 'Russian Collusion' story (i.e., both sides of the story) in a responsible, objective manner.  Then again, there is still C-Span where you can witness firsthand some of the inner-workings of our government and then draw your own conclusions, sans interpretation by others.

While I remain confident in the ability of the intelligence community to "clean house" --although I do most sincerely feel for the people whose lives were destroyed and savings decimated as they tried to defend themselves, something should be done to help these collusion-innocent individuals recover some of their losses-- I do not possess a similar optimism for our American mainstream media.  The left-leaning mainstream media's incessant coverage and prolific speculation on the "Russian collusion" narrative these past two years --given the conclusions drawn with the closing of the Mueller investigation-- has been proven to be beyond the antithesis of anything remotely resembling true journalism.  Surely something has to be done to hold the media accountable moving forward given the volumes of misinformation, if not outright lies, we have witnessed pouring forth from the mainstream media over the course of these past two years?  And I haven't even started in on the media's "sins of omission" in covering any of the positive things President Trump and his administration were able to accomplish in spite of the ongoing shadow cast by the Mueller investigation and rampant media speculation.  Don't you kind of miss the days when omission in journalism used to be sin?

Quite frankly, the only way I can think to introduce some accountability back into the system is to require a license in order to practice journalism [I guess, the FCC would be the entity providing oversight for such licensing requirements?].  Where a clear distinction would be made between journalism and opinion/editorial content.  Yes, sadly I think the time has finally come where we need to begin licensing the profession of Journalism, just like any other  professional degree/job (e.g., lawyers, medical practitioners, hairdresser, mechanics), complete with a code of ethics and clearly articulated standards to which practitioners are held accountable.  Then when any licensed journalist willfully violates this code of accountability they will lose their license to practice further.  Taking it a step further, news channels should have to clearly indicate --via a little icon/logo in the lower left or right  hand corner of the screen-- whether they are a "news" show or an "opinion" show, such that viewers would be able to more clearly understand the information they are being given (i.e., verifiable facts vs. opinions). Where news shows will be required to verify their sources and information before going public or at least to state when sources are deemed necessarily confidential.  It would also be nice to have a complete list of verifiable sources included in the closing credits of any given show so viewers can do their own follow-up, should they so desire.  In this way viewers would be able to detect for themselves when a network/individual show might be giving out questionable information if much of their content was designated "necessary confidential." *

So bottom line, speak up now or forever hold your peace???  Because many prominent Democrats still aren't done trying to discredit President Trump and his administration just yet and you can bet that the biased propaganda arm of the mainstream media will most assuredly back them up.  These knuckleheads want to waste even more congressional time and more taxpayer dollars chasing after purely partisan ends???  I say, ENOUGH ALREADY!!!  How about you???  I mean just think on the things we could have done with a whopping $$$30 million dollars --estimated cost of the Mueller investigation-- and a focus on enacting meaningful legislation that actually benefited "we the people" as opposed to this incessant focus on "Russia, Russia" and discrediting President Donald J. Trump, his family and loyal support staff.  What a terrible precedence this whole narrative of "collusion/obstruction" sets for undermining the legitimacy of any Presidency moving forward.  If you don't like a given President, you can simply hamstring them and their administration with endless investigations, running out the clock until the next election cycle.  How is that in any way representative of  the will of "We the People"?  Hint:  It's NOT!  And the fact this has happened --is continuing to happen-- should make every non-elitist American outraged.  Why? Because next time around it could be your choice for President whose duly elected legitimacy is challenged.  More importantly no President can effectively set about fulfilling the duties of the Office of the President of the United States when they are mired down in ongoing, unjustified investigations.  We must act now, and decisively, if we are ever to put this 'genie' of a wholly unaccountable media  back into its bottle!  As for the 'resistance' politicians, well actions will end up speaking louder than their words should they choose to continue down the path of 'resistance', a.k.a. doing nothing truly meaningful on behalf of "We the People."

P.S.  So sorry for so many typos! I am trying to type with a wrist bandage around my entire right hand. 

* 1/26/2019 late p.m.  It occurs to me that market capitalists will argue that if these media networks are found to be corrupt and untrustworthy then no one will watch them anymore and the market will self correct, ultimately putting them out of business.  And in point of fact, CNN's ratings took a real nosedive in the aftermath of the Mueller Report release, so I would agree with this "market correction" theory in the short term.  Were we operating even a decade ago, I might support this theory in the longer term, but the problem is times have changed.  We now have two warring political ideologies and one side truly believes they are in a fight for our very existence --notice how often the term "existential threat" is used in day to day conversation these days--  and this side is backed up by billionaires (e.g., Tom Styer) who are on board with this newer extreme of political ideologies and they have the capital to back it up.  Moreover, they need a biased media to spread their 'truth' to an unsuspecting public, so that they can maintain power and control over 'the stupid people' for the greater good.  Bottom line these media outlets, much like the banks on Wall Street, are simply too big --bigly backed-- to fail.

2/10/2019 The really bad migraines have returned again.  It may be a few weeks before I can write coherently once again.  Until then, be informed, be well and try to find your own path to happiness ... Joy is waiting right around that corner.  ~PJP

Battlefield for the Mind ...

Whenever unthinkable tragedy strikes in the form of the senseless slaughter of innocents the shared nature of our humanity initially moves us toward sympathy and mourning.  What comes in the aftermath of the mourning, however, varies from individual to individual based upon personal experiences and core beliefs, with an added push that is often times fueled by the agendas of prominent politicians and a propaganda-driven media --both mainstream media as well as social media tech oligarchs.  While an open and non-judgmental discussion of individual's varied perspectives might actually help us to better understand the driving factors which allowed such tragedy to ensue in the first place we just aren't going there these days.  Such a dialogue would provide meaningful objectives for aiming to minimize opportunities for such an incident to occur in our future as well as providing a forum for addressing perceived grievances.  Sadly, we seem to be losing this ability to genuinely engage in meaningful, purpose-driven dialogue in our societies today.  Bringing this idea of "shutting down conversation" back to the beginning of any given senseless tragedy, don't you have to wonder if the shutting down of conversation, in and of itself, actually might be a, if not THE, contributing factor to individuals resorting to lashing out in violence towards those who they perceive to be the cause of their grievances?  The battle for our future IS currently being waged, and will continue to be waged, within the mind. The battlefield for the mind is where our WWIII will be fought, I truly believe.  More thoughts and ideas to follow.

But let me leave you with one closing thought to ponder:  Don't the power wielding manipulators, those pulling the levers and strings behind the scenes, have any notion of karma and the accountability of their individual SOULs?  They may not pay a price in this life, but the moral arc of the universe will surely collect its toll moving onto the next. And the assumption that "the people" are basically stupid and sorely in need of correction won't be a valid excuse for their behavior and manipulations.  To interfere, by means of subterfuge, with the natural evolution of a soul is perhaps the greatest 'sin' of all.

When the Angels Fall ...

1/22/2019 President Trump's Executive Order requiring Universities who take and use taxpayer dollars to fully support free speech across the spectrum will go a long way towards helping to restore meaningful dialogue on our college campuses towards the end of seeking truth and embracing a willingness to consider other perspectives.  From here conversations will likely spill over into our local communities in ever-widening circles that will hopefully broaden the larger national conversation.  This was the way things used to be, sad that we've gotten to the point where our nation's leader has to resort to issuing an Executive Order in order to restore a common sense balance where true freedom of speech is concerned.  One is naturally left wondering where the ACLU will stand on this most recent Executive Order? 

Future of the Mind ....

New post coming soon.  Reading "Future of the Mind" again has really gotten me thinking about things on an overarching scale, connecting dots for where we are now --really rudderless and therefore largely open to manipulation-- and where we are potentially heading, as local communities, states, countries, citizen of this amazing, rapidly spinning Blue Planet, in our future.  Thus far, some of my initial conclusions are a bit chilling, but not for the reasons you might think.  Lots to ponder and try to put into words that would benefit a meaningful, empowering discussion toward the end of enabling each of us to step up and be the masters of unfolding our individual destiny.  Because at the end of the day, that's really why we are here in the first place, right? 

Sage Advice ...

Best piece of usable advice I have received in a LONG time:


"The present moment is where the rubber hits the road." 

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Yup, it's happening right now.  Take it in, on multiple levels, then move spherically and in multiple dimensions simultaneously.

Busy, busy with ******** Wish me luck!  Will be back to reply to so many wonderful comments at the beginning of March 2019.  Best to everyone!

State of Our Union: HOPE is fast becoming Concrete ....

I have not had time to write until now regarding the recent State of the Union address. I am happy to say that I heard a much needed message of reasons and opportunity for unity in the speech, regardless of the political lens through which you happened to be viewing the President’s address. Because at the end of the day, as President Trump pointed out in so many different places throughout his speech, it can’t always be about politics. Sometimes we can (and have) to put aside our politics in order to come together and get things done for the benefit of “We [ALL] the People.” In the ongoing absence of any national unity our nation, and more importantly its citizens, will suffer greatly and eventually our nation will simply cease to exist.  In the absence of unity we diminish the good we can do for others here in the United States as well as abroad.

I, personally, thought President Trump delivered a remarkable speech, one that will go down in History as one of the all-time great State of Union Addresses. I loved how Trump wove the fabric of where we have been as a nation --highlighting some of our darkest hours when we rose to the occasion, working together with our allies, to deliver an astounding victory despite the overwhelming odds working against us during WWII -- together with opportunities to work together to meet new and future challenges (e.g., reigning in high prescription drug costs, making medical costs transparent to the consumer up front and across the board, ending HIV within 10 years, finding a cure for childhood cancer, putting an American in space again on an American rocket). Then Trump really brought these messages of unity to life in a beautiful tapestry of well chosen and heartfelt personal stories of the Presidential guests.

It was good to hear the President lay out fact after fact, in the absence of the 24-hour biased media propaganda filter, about actions --moving beyond mere WORDS-- that he and his administration have actually taken in order to help improve the lives of “We the [average] People.” Jobs are way up --for women, African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians-- GDP is rising significantly for the first time in a decade, Businesses are coming back to the USA in record numbers, bad trade deals are being renegotiated, energy costs have come down and we are now an exporter of energy, no longer tied to the whims of Middle Eastern countries. ISIS has had its territorial caliphate reduced to rubble. North Korea has not fired a missile in over 15 months. Iran and Russia, other potential and nuclear powers respectively, have been put on notice. NATO allies are paying their fair share. Tax cuts have provided much needed relief to businesses and individuals alike. The unfair “Death Tax” has all but been eliminated for family owned ranches, farms and businesses. Accountability has been restored to the Veteran’s Administration and Veteran’s now have the tools they need to seek medical care outside of the VA system when necessary. Our military is the process of being upgraded for the first time in decades, which will save lives and improve readiness. First time drug offenders are being given a second chance at engaging in a meaningful life again with the implementation of the “First Step Act.” And for the first time in decades we have a President who is ready, willing and able to finally address meaningful and comprehensive immigration reform, including the possibility of extending a permanent status to the Dreamers.

I must say, this is quite an impressive resume for only a mere two years in office. At the same time, it’s kind of bewildering to ponder when you consider the incessant negativity and flat-out omission of any good news for “We the People” in the mainstream media’s news coverage of the President and his administration these past two years. It truly makes you wonder what planet the mainstream media types have been living on of late? These days omission is no longer a sin, instead it’s become the media’s stock and trade. Reading over the above list again, I would have to agree with President Trump’s assessment that “the state of our union is indeed strong.” And I think that a whopping 72% of the country also agree that the state of our union is indeed strong, given the post SOTU polling -- regardless of the mainstream medias attempts to frantically convince us otherwise.

Watching the speech, it seemed that the faces, smirks, head-shaking and eye-rolling on the part of some Democrats spoke almost as loudly as the President’s spoken words. What these Democrat faces and mannerisms were saying is that ‘we cannot stand behind any good news for the “We the People” if we were not the ones responsible for designing and delivering it.’  Moreover the smugness and condescending air of these Congress members suggested to me that most Democrats truly believe that “We the People” are basically stupid.  As such their mandate is not to govern “of, by and for the people”, but rather in ‘in spite of the people.’ The masks are coming off and people are finally beginning to see these Democrats and their Big Government policies for what they truly are, mainly a misguided effort to wield power and exert control over every single aspect of our daily lives.  Perhaps the people are even beginning to connect the dots as to the true agenda behind open borders and never really addressing true comprehensive immigration reform (i.e., importing a new and more easily managed class of voters, a radical transformation of the electorate ... just ask, the 95,000 illegally registered illegal immigrant voters in Texas, 58,000 of whom have been proven to have voted in at least one or more recent national elections.  And what about proportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is based on populations in given Congressional districts?).

The above being said, I have a new-found respect for Debbie Waserman-Schultz, Nancy Pelosi, and even Chuck Shummer, who found the courage within themselves to stand up and applaud in response to President Trump’s resounding declaration that “America will never be a socialist country" because socialism runs so very counter to who were are as members of a free nation living with hard-won rights and freedoms obtained by the sacrifices of the many who came before us. This is what President Trump had to say on the subject of socialism ..“America was founded on liberty and independence and not government coercion, domination and control. We are born free and we will stay free ... Tonight we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.” .. This affirmation and the courage of these Democratic Congress members was especially reassuring to me given the hard Left turn toward socialism the Democratic Party seems to be embracing these days. I find myself wondering how so many of our youth can so eagerly be embracing a well-known failed formed of government. I mean there are literally volumes of examples throughout history to demonstrate that socialism does not work, the most recent being events currently unfolding in Venezuela. The answer has to be that our education system has systemically failed to educate our youth honestly in this respect. Then again this failure may actually be by design? Hopefully the President’s plan to finally unleash “School Choice” --giving parents the right to choose where they want to send their children to be educated, which should raise the bar for education standards and improve the overall education product by introducing competition into the system-- will help to turn around this education ‘failure’ trend, especially where an honest account of our history is concerned.

Well, it’s late. I should close. Hope you’ve enjoyed my take on the SOTU. Bottom line, this Independent wholeheartedly approves of where we are heading as a nation, even though I did not vote for President Trump. The progress we have made thus far, in a mere two years, has restored HOPE for me. That’s HUGE from where I’m standing. Hope is fast becoming concrete.  I was rather tiring of only unicorns and rainbows, must be the engineer in me? Anyway, if you can take off your political lenses for just a moment, I think you will see that President Trump honestly called for unity in his speech and more importantly he laid out a path of opportunities as to how we can begin to come together for the benefit of our great nation, while always bearing in mind that to whom much is given much in turn is expected.  Despite Congressional grid-lock and what thus far seems to be inevitable partisan politics, things are getting done and President Trump is extending a hand to come together in order to tackle new challenges on the summit of what we as a nation, working together as in days long since past, are capable of achieving.  He/she/they who choose to sit on the sidelines and/or 'resist/ should be wary lest they become obsolete vessels of ‘resistance to nothing' within the volumes of our History. For the media's biased and often outright dishonest news coverage --which now provides the 'resistance' with the appearance of purpose-- will later become little more than dust blowing within the shifting sands of time.

2/11/2019  Thinking a bit more on the noble intentions of socialism.  And I came to the conclusion that man has huge spiritual evolution chasm to overcome before we would even be close having what it takes to actually bring these nobler intentions into the realm of the achievable.  What say you???

How to SAVE and LIFE ....

A brilliant idea to shine a light on the industry of Human Trafficking in order to save lives and help bring this shadow industry to an end.  Do pay this site a visit and keep your eyes and ears open.  You may just wind up helping to save a LIFE.

It's A Penalty    [click here to access this website]


What concerns me the most is that there is such a large market for human trafficking here in the U.S..  What does that say about us a nation??? Who are the people who support this industry??? Are they our neighbors, husbands, co-workers ... Would we recognize the signs of this in them???   Are we fast becoming a nation completely lacking in any form of meaningful accountability???  And if so, why is this happening???

Shifting Sands in the Fiercest Desert Storm ....

What have we become? A society that finds its way to rationalizing the discarding innocent life simply because it is inconvenient. With the New York State's progressive “Reproductive Healthcare Act"--and other states are lined up to follow suit-- where previously we have argued over the definition of ‘life’, now there can be no ambiguity. Even a full term baby can be eliminated if a mother’s doctors deem it beneficial to the mother’s health and well being, ‘mental health’ concerns alone being sufficient to end the life of the child, yet to be born in the third trimester, in the stages of being born or even fully delivered. A child being born with birth defects or dire health concerns can also be ‘terminated’. If such a law is to stand unchallenged, put quite simply by this definition we as a nation are condoning infanticide. To those with any notion of soul, surely this is pure madness, but to those who have become warped and twisted by the ways of our materialistic, egocentric world to wield power in taking the life of another is perhaps the greatest power of all? Be forewarned, however, for once you cross this divide it's all down hill from here on out. The weak, the burdensome, ill or elderly will all soon have a moral obligation to die for the greater good [this is ultimately where government control of healthcare will lead.; I have witnessed it firsthand in other countries]? Perhaps we lost this argument long ago when we deceived ourselves by thinking that our moral obligation centered solely around determining the ‘definition of life.’ Perhaps this new 'law' is all a devious political machination designed to further the ever-widening chasms of our nation’s divide?

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I wonder what God, our Creator would have to say about such a horrific act of violence being visited upon his most innocent creation? Probably something like “I send you these most precious gifts as a reminder of who you are and from whence you came, to restore balance and Hope in your ever darkening world, and you mindlessly slaughter my most treasured creations a link from me to you, sealing your fate in this life and into the next.  Know this, any nation that condones such abhorrent and senseless violence will not stand for long, but will instead perish like shifting sands in the fiercest desert storm.”

Man is a stubbornly foolish creature of habit ... To endlessly win the battle, but forever to lose the war.  That is the eternal curse of mankind, I think. 

Dear Mr. President ....

President Trump should make clear that this current government shutdown is about so much more than a fight for border wall funding.  It is about no longer going about the business of government "with a business as usual mentality."  No more "passing a [monster] bill in order to see what is in it."  No more kicking the can on down the road.  No more purely partisan politics over seeing to the real needs of "We the People" FIRST.  That's why Trump got elected.  The PEOPLE were tired of business as usual.  Quite frankly it is this "business as usual" attitude that has brought us here to this point, some twenty years later, where nothing meaningful has been done to address true border security and comprehensive immigration reform.  If government is to reopen without a provision for an expansion of a physical barrier along the southern border, then we are back to business as usual once again and nothing has changed.  Nothing will likely ever change???

The Lens of History has a way of refocusing Truth in order to weed out extreme biases

I tire of speaking on the subject of politics, but after what I have witnessed on the 'news' at the end of last week and over the weekend (i.e., 1) Democratic response to President Trump's offer to extend legal protections and benefits to Dreamers for an additional three year --a likely precursor to a permanent legal status in subsequent farther reaching negotiations; 2) The way the media ran with the wildly unsubstantiated Buzzfeed "Cohen allegations" news story; and 3) The media's knee-jerk reaction of crucifying the Catholic teens from Kentucky at the "Right to Life" march in the absence of doing their due journalistic diligence in verifying they had the whole story) I have come to the profound conclusion that the greater politics --I say 'greater' for there are isolated exceptions-- of the Left has now reached a point where they can no longer process long-term consequence, or planning for that matter.  The Left, and the media in particular, have become like drug addicts, in withdrawal and desperately in need of their next hit, their drug of choice usually being "Trump Russia Collusion."  This past weekend, however, they substituted their usual fix with 'news' which appeared to advance their accepted narratives, namely that all white men are bad --particularly 'privileged' Trump supporting youth.  The outrage of hateful shouting on social media was sickening, with calls for violence including feeding these young men into a wood-chipper?!? And when the facts proved the initial assumptions and reporting wrong, "no one apologized, they just quietly deleted their tweets." ~Tucker Carlson

"There are none so intolerant as those who preach tolerance to the rest of us.  There are none so quick to judge as those who tell us to be non-judgmental" ~Governor Matt Bevin of Kentucky

The facts and long term consequences truly no longer seem to matter to the Left on any level.  They willfully dismiss any and all facts and reason that run counter to their accepted narratives on an 'accepted world-view' as they speak to one another in like-minded bubbles of conformity, scoffing at those who dare to dissent in a best-case scenario, outright destroying dissenters in a worse-case scenario.  It is truly remarkable, not mention SAD!  What these addicts or rather converts to the extremism of Leftward thinking fail to realize is that this type of behavior as witnessed by history (e.g., fall of the Roman Empire and more recently Venezuela) usually precipitates a total dismantling of the society that subscribes to such behavior.  Moreover, while the Left's bizarre political 'trip' is at present unchallenged by a wholly complicit and largely dishonest media, history will not be as kind.  History has a noble way of refocusing the lens of truth in order to weed out extreme biases and I fear that this refocusing will not paint the Left in any favorable light.  Even Robert Mueller chose to break his heretofore silence where the "Russia Probe" is concerned in order to denounce the (#2 in the above list) most egregious Buzzfeed news story for being inaccurate and unsubstantiated, as per the facts currently available to the Mueller team.  Robert Mueller at least has the foresight to preserve his own good name within the annuals of History.  Mueller's actions should serve as an omen of warning to those on Left currently subscribing to the Left's unyielding orthodoxy, which does not allow for any form of logic and reason or meaningful compromise for the benefit of "We [all] the People." Thankfully, the people are beginning to awaken from their slumber ...

I find myself left with the phrase "If true" ringing loudly in my mind and I wonder "If NOT true" do these latest media bungles, on such a grand scale, completely shred the last remaining thread of credibility the mainstream had towards the end of being capable of rendering any true journalistic content???  But more importantly, aren't we as a nation better than this????????????????????????????

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1/29/2019  I must say, I have to give Howard Schultz, founder and former CEO of Starbucks, credit for having the courage to stand up and hold the Left accountable for the current state of their politics.  By announcing his intention to run for the Office of the President of the United States in 2020 as an independent and speaking loudly towards the end of challenging the mindless acceptance of 'truths' in the absence of facts, logic and reason, Schultz may just wind up going a long way towards restoring accountability in our political conversations once again.

We Are Not Alone???

Not that I ever believed somehow that we were alone, but up until now nothing has been conclusively proven.  Well all that being said, it turns out that we might just be one step closer to finding out the definitive answer to this very important question.  You see, five days ago [again] the CHIME telescope array in Canada, although not yet fully operational, has detected several repeating radio blasts from deep space known as "fast-radio bursts" (FRBs).

Image Source and additonal story details here: at www.sciencemag.org

Now there are natural phenomena that could account for these bursts such as a star going supernova or information escaping the impending grasp of a black hole.  So scientists will need to rule these sorts of things out, while keeping an ear out for similar sound issuing from the same relative origin.  As an engineer, I would have to add that internal system anomalies will likely have to be ruled out as well, especially given the fact that this system has not yet been fully brought on-line.  But hey, it's still cool to think these FRBs might actually be issuing from some other form of intelligent life in the universe, right? Funny, this discovery seems to have refocused attention on how we, humans, would make long distance space journeys given our current technology.  To my way of thinking, however, they will find us first and then we will gain the technology we need to begin our own manned exploration of deep space.

Have a great day, and don't forget to Look UP!  Looking up always seems to remind me that we are just a small part of a greater and universal, all-encompassing whole.  If we're all connected somehow, then we can never truly 'be' alone, right? =))))))

~M

1/17/2019  Some food for thought ... Apparently the next generation of CERN-type super-collider is already is the works.  CERN has a 21 mile radius, whereby many of the yet to be discovered subatomic particles have heretofore alluded detection.  The next generation CERN would have a whopping 62 mile radius, thereby opening the doorway to whole new world of subatomic particles discovery.  Why is this relevant to the above discussion? Because if we were to ever have a chance of of reaching our nearest neighboring galaxy--the Andromeda galaxy-- potentially capable of being home to other intelligent life in the universe, we would likely need a sub-atomic particle fuel source.  Apparently, subatomic particle 'fuel' the size of a basketball would be sufficient to propel our ships all the way to Proxima Centauri (a how 10 year journey, given a sub-atomic particle fuel source), the large star at the center of the Alpha Centauri System.

1/22/2019 The Pentagon has working with calculations for the "Drake Equation"??? 

Buyer Beware?????

Or in the instance of the current government shutdown: Let he who refuses to buy beware??? After a day of watching news and further contemplating the subject of "border wall" funding, it occurs to me that the Democratic response the deal-breaker requirement of 5.6 billion dollars for physical barriers along our nation's southern border may actually wind up backfiring on the Dem's with epic repercussions.  To begin with, the request for 5.6 billion dollars for the physical barrier is a mere fraction of what Congress typically allocates for any given project or expenditure.  Basically, to quote the Great Greg Gutfeld (of "The Five") "It's chump-change."

Image Source: The Boston Globe

Moreover, 5.6 billion dollars is only a fraction of what the President actually needs in order to complete the building project along the southern border with Mexico.  The recently estimated-- per engineers-- project cost was 25 billion.  If Chuck and Nancy would just come to the table and give the President the requested 5.6 billion dollars --think the number was actually bumped up 5.7 billion this past week-- Trump might make a dent in his intended objective, thereby ultimately 'appeasing his base' --although any honest person with an ounce of common sense can see that the issues are truly bigger than this key Democratic talking point-- but the matter would then effectively be out of the 24-hour news cycle and most likely out of the annuals of history.  Come start of business on Monday, President Trump will have made history by taking credit for the longest shutdown ever in our government's history, a shutdown which claims to be in the national security interest of "We the People."  And quite frankly, I honestly believe historians will back this claim up, even if a dishonest media fails to do so in the near-term.

By continuing to hold out, in the absence of any willingness to engage in meaningful negotiations the Democrats not only wind up with a big FAT nothing --forgoing any chance of an immediate and concrete deal for the Dreamers-- they once again wind up making President Trump larger than life, both in terms of news coverage and ultimately history.  You see, if President Trump does make good on his promise to declare a "national emergency," he instantly goes even BIGGER and bolder.  In such a scenario the President winds up making HISTORY in the name of fighting to protect the American people and legal immigrants living within the borders of the United States, because it seems unlikely, given previous legal precedence (i.e., fact that no Supreme Court ruling has ever overturned a President's "National Emergency" declaration, which is further solidified by the 1976 "National Emergency" legislation passed by Congress) that any challenge in the court system to the President's declaration will ultimately be upheld by the Supreme Court.  More importantly, in a national emergency scenario Trump will likely wind up with way more funding to work with than the initially requested 5.6 billion dollars --and I happen to believe there are other avenues for funding than raiding the natural disaster relief fund.   Increased funds will only serve to further fuel successes where the President's Border Security end objectives are concerned.  Bottom line, come 2020 "We the People" are going to remember who was playing politics and who was actually acting on our behalf.

1/16/2018  I found myself thinking today that perhaps in this instance numbers speak louder than words? President Trump gave a lot of meaningful and quite frankly irrefutable numbers in his oval office address on the state of our nation's security w.r.t. immigration. The main argument I keep hearing from the Left, over and over again, is that "walls are expensive and ineffective."  The problem is I haven't seen the actual numbers (i.e., specific place and statistics, not to mention costs) proving this claim to hold an ounce of credible truth.  I have, however, seen countless statistics to the contrary indicating that walls do in point of fact WORK. With this in mind, I think the White House should post the numbers on its website showing specific instances where walls have worked and then challenge its opponents to post numbers of their own to support their claims.

And I'm sorry, but I have hard time believing "We the People" won't see the Democrats current position on this government shutdown as anything BUT political when they are on record --by way of votes, video footage, quotes, etc.-- in support of a border barrier funding in the past.  Think the wax of the media shine is about to wear off .....

1/18/2019  It really gives me a renewed hope for mankind, and our nation in particular, to see so many people stepping up to the plate to help those 800,000 government employees who are having to go without pay during this most recent government shutdown.  I've seen everything from food pantry donations, donated gift cards and go-fund me pages, to people willing to temporarily hire these workers in order to give them a source of income to keep their heads above water.  These government workers are true heroes, staying the course in the face of adversity that our nation might finally have hope of beginning to address a decades long problem (i.e., immigration reform) that our Congressional leaders have repeatedly failed to address for mostly partisan, political reasons.  In fact, I was at the airport about a week ago and the lines were moving and TSA agents were actually smiling.  It was amazing!  I also have give President Trump for finally drawing a line in the sand and not backing down.  I only hope both sides can come to the table and hammer out a meaningful deal that finally gets the ball rolling on true comprehensive immigration reform, and I have to say making that President Trump's offer to make the Dreamers LEGAL --not just temporarily protected by a "pen & paper" Executive Order-- is a most excellent open to negotiations moving forward.  It's time for the Democrats to finally have their actions back up their years worth of rhetoric where Dreamers are concerned, because those who fully support Dreamers are going to take the outcome of this negotiation the polls in 2020.

Dreams and Visions

I had a very vivid vision of a young, blonde American woman being wheeled in for surgery early this morning.  The surgery was somewhere in the abdominal region ... surgery for an appendicitis or perhaps an ectopic pregnancy?  The woman entered the hospital in a full hijab, so it is most likely a Muslim country.  The flag for the country, I think, is primarily green with yellow or possibly white inset.

The hospital was pretty modern, not some rundown, off road clinic and the region of the hospital's location had something to do with a scorpion? This may sound crazy, but my dreams and visions are often on point and this time I can find no peace until I share this vision with someone who might know who this women is, for I sense people had been looking for her and can perhaps do something aided by this information to help find her and bring her back home.  The woman has a small primarily black tattoo on her right ankle, but the exact image is not entirely clear.

Later P.M.,  I saw on the news today that Jayme Closs, the WI teen missing since October 2018 after her parents were found shot dead in their Wisconsin home has been found alive.  How wonderful!  Such good news, although the road to healing will likely be a long one.  Makes me think maybe the universe works in connected ways?  Maybe today the universe set events into motion whereby many missing young women can potentially be found and brought safely home once again? A cosmic ripple of salvation .....

1/17/2019  I heard on talk radio today that the FBI just recently got a tip alerting them to the fact that "young women from China were being brought into the USA on bogus student visas and then forced to work in brothels."  Hopefully, these women too will soon be set free from their captors!!  The universe does indeed work in mysterious and sometimes wonderful ways.  My ongoing thoughts, prayers and mindful intentions are most sincerely with these women and all who find themselves in similar situations.

2/3/2019  Love the NFL "It's a penalty" campaign.  A brilliant way to shine a light on such a worthy cause, namely helping to bring an end to human trafficking.  Here is the link to the official website  It's a Penalty (org)  

A Wall By Any Other Name???

What is the definition of a crisis? Circumstances leading to unacceptable loss of human life by my definition.  Are we there yet?  Absolutely!  A lack of foresight and an unwillingness to comprehensively address the issues surrounding immigration over the course last three Presidencies at least have set our nation upon a collision course with "crisis."  This crisis breathes to life in many forms as outlined by President in his oval office address to the nation:  1) influx of Drugs, 2) Human Trafficking, 3) invasion by Gang members, criminal elements and potential terrorists*, 4) Loss of innocent lives both citizen and non-citizen, 5) Loss of Law Enforcement Lives.  This crisis is the primary reason I chose to move my family out of Texas.  People who don't live in border states don't seem to fully understand or feel the impact of a broken immigration system on a daily basis and to hear the powers-that-be (i.e., politicians and a complicit propaganda-driven media) 'preach' to the rest of us about morality and 'reality' is beyond unbearable.

[*This statement by no means implies that all immigrants are criminals, merely that there is a significant criminal element among the illegal immigrants who violate our immigration laws in coming here through unauthorized channels and that this criminal element is capable of wreaking unacceptable havoc upon citizens and people living here legally in the United States of America.]

To his credit, President Trump did a great job of laying out the facts, complete with numbers, statistics and actual stories of real people who have lost their lives as a direct result of unchecked illegal immigration.  The latter provided a substantial justification for the rationale behind the need for a physical border along our nation's southern border with Mexico.  A border wall is not the end all solution to our nation's immigration crisis by any means, rather a border wall is the long overdue action required to stem the tide of loss of innocent lives.  Furthermore, a border wall will become the cornerstone for taking further measures (e.g., appointing more immigration judges, hiring additional immigration border personnel, deploying enhanced technology assets such as drones and additional aerial resources) necessary to further secure our nation's border.  The end goal being bi-partisan congressional legislation that will comprehensively address immigration reform, chief among this legislation being securing a permanent legal status for the Dreamers.

"A border is an immorality and its not who we are as a nation." ~Nancy Pelosi

Image Source: NBCNews.com

In watching the Democrats response to President Trump's insistence that he finally receive the funding necessary to begin addressing a border wall,  I find myself contemplating what exactly falls within the definition of "immoral"? Probably leaders who think that they must govern in spite of the people.  Leaders who have previously, under both Presidents G.W. Bush and Obama, supported securing our southern border with a physical barrier where possible, now refusing to give even a fraction** of what is being requested by the people on the front lines working to defend our United States border with Mexico.  Leaders who have the audacity to call this "Trump's Wall", as if the building of this wall would merely be yet another feather in 'the real estate mogul's cap.'  Seriously?!?  It's not Trump's wall you elitist hypocrites who retreat every night behind the safety and security of your own walls:  it's our wall, the wall of "We the People."  And We the People are tired of being told what to think --what is acceptable to think.  You bring no substantive arguments or actual facts to the table (e.g., verifiable numbers, in terms of actual existing walls, here and around the globe, showing where walls work --and they do work despite ambiguous, non-fact-based claims to the contrary-- comparative costs and related statistics).  Meanwhile the deaths of countless innocents pile up at your doorstep and you can't even blink?  Furthermore, your quasi-math just doesn't add up, in terms of cost to "We the People" in the long term.  I guarantee you that the long term cost of doing nothing to tangibly secure our border will be a far greater cost to the taxpayers than the mere 5.6 billion dollars currently being requested to begin construction on additional sections of a border barrier along our southern border.  And at the end of the day, can you really put a price on any one human life?

[**Based upon actual recent engineering calculations and surveys the estimated amount of funding to engineer the full border barrier in parts where a barrier is possible is 25 billion dollars.  5.6 billion dollars is a mere fraction of this estimated total.  Moreover, under President Obama the Congressional "Gang of Eight", which included Chuck Schummer, was ready to allocate a whopping 48 billion dollars towards addressing comprehensive immigration reform the bulk of which would have gone to building a southern border wall.  Funny kind of sad how time changes the politics of any given situation???] 

I didn't have it in me to watch the Democrat response to the President's speech, as given by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schummer last night, nor the subsequent media rebuttal of irrefutable facts.  So I watched the responses today.  I must say, the repeated claims that the President's statistics were "actually misleading" --not factually incorrect-- seems to be an all new low for those who still claim to be bonafide journalists.  The cookie-cutter talking point that Trump had in point of fact "Manufactured a crisis based on FEAR" leaves me wondering, if you can supposedly manufacture fear --although I have a moral problem with reducing the loss of actual innocent lives (e.g., Kate Steinle, Ronil Singh and so many others ) to the status of "manufactured"-- does that then leave hope for the manufacturing some actual common sense where immigration reform is concerned?  What really gets to me is that the Left has the audacity to call the immigration crisis "manufactured" when there is a mountain of documented evidence to support the facts that countless innocent lives have been lost as a result of a "do-nothing", broken immigration policy in the United States.  Meanwhile, the Left are practically beside themselves with dire predictions of future loss of life due to the perceived threat of "Climate Change", something there is little evidence to support that we can actually control. This when the actual climate data over the course of the past decade deviates grossly from what climate scientists' heavily parameterized models --the exception being the Russian model which tracks pretty closely with reality-- have predicted.  The lack of truth in perception, response and balance between these two different crisisies  is truly bewildering?!  But maybe it is not so bewildering when you view each crisis through a political lens? One is left wondering, can the truth really set you free in an age run rampant with dishonest politicians and a wholly complicit media?

Despite what the "thought police" have told us, we can in point of fact be both a nation of laws, with tangible borders, and still be a nation of former immigrants that remains committed to welcoming new immigrants.  These two ideas are not mutually exclusive.  Quite frankly, I have to give President Trump for having the courage and the foresight to finally, and firmly, begin addressing comprehensive immigration reform, starting with a shoring up our nation's southern physical border. The Republicans should take a page out the Democratic playbook and finally, for once, march in lock-step on this crucial issue.  Call me dreamer, but I actually think the Republicans could pull this off for "We the People" if they get their (**stuff**) together.  And Democrats, I challenge you to put your words into action.  If you truly care about immigrants then come to the table, swallow your pride, and actually hammer out a deal that helps to solidify the status of the Dreamers.  The time has come to look beyond the next election in order to do what is right by the people --both citizen and non-citizen alike-- to do what will be remembered for centuries to come in the annuals of History.  Stranger things have happened????

Random thoughts on Christmas Eve???

It seems an odd thing to be contemplating on Christmas Eve, but for some reason today I found myself struck by the notion that in a way each of us is a bit like Frankenstein's 'Monster' creation in the famous literary work "Frankenstein", written by Mary Shelley in 1818.  We are, each of us, born into this world not by choice, but rather as potential victims of circumstance not fully knowing or initially understanding or even believing in the Creator who breathed us into life on a cerebral level.  But perhaps our soul knows of this life-sustaining connection to the source of creation, then we --most of us-- begin to lose a little bit of this innocence with each passing day of our mortal existence?  Each of us is  born into a skin that we did not choose, much like the Monster in "Frankenstein", a skin that may make our navigating our way through this world difficult depending on when and where we are born chronologically and geographically speaking.  Most of us had little to no say in the crafting of the families or societies we were born into.  Many of us are born into loving and accepting families, but many of us are not.  In either case our families and our experiences with the world around us work to shape who we become and how we view the world around us later in life as adults.

Most of us have had little input into the accepted social and economic norms we find ourselves surrounded by in our daily lives.  The pliant among us --those striving mainly/merely to survive--  eagerly learn from our families, caregivers and interactions with members of society at large how to acceptably function in ordered societies, largely because we are taught by conditioning experiences to seek approval from others.  Whether we openly acknowledge it or not, judgment becomes the currency which keeps well-ordered societies running smoothly on the microscopic level and intact on the macroscopic level.  Judgment becomes hard-wired for most of us starting at an early age and sadly we tend judge those who differ from accepted societal norms with the harshest severity.  For deviation from a well-ordered norm threatens the very fabric of any given society --or so those in positions of control would have us believe.

For obvious reason those among us who find a way to fit in and blend with their surroundings can achieve a life that functions at a safe constant, albeit largely uneventful and normal pace (survival at the basest spiritual level).  Fortunately for us, there are in our more modern times a myriad of tools and services available which allow for the alteration our outward appearances in an effort to better 'fit in' with the world around us.  Frankenstein's Monster did not have such tools at his disposal.  One wonders if the Monster's plight would have improved at all if he had such appearance-altering resources available to him, given a willingness to also change within.

Image Source

Those who refuse to conform, both inwardly and outwardly, in society have a tougher road to travel in this life to be certain. The society will continue to judge these individuals and in the ongoing absence of acceptable conformity the society will condemn.  Condemnation can affect the condemned in a number of ways (i.e., the condemned may withdraw from society, they may feel shame, they may feel anger like the Monster  in "Frankenstein" ... perhaps these are all stages, one eventually leading into the other), but in almost every instance the condemned feel pain ... They feel pain unless, the condemned happen to be a unique breed of individual, one who adheres to an unwavering conviction in their purpose for being.  These individuals will not conform regardless of the price to paid for their deviation from acceptable societal norms.  And in rare instances instead of turning inward, in shame and grief or lashing outward in anger, these unique and courageous individuals actually work, over time --and sometimes not even within the linear constraints of a mortal life-- to change the world around them for the better.  Jesus happened to be one of these such unique and rare souls, drawing from a higher power to meet His needs.  Think how much easier Jesus's life would have been were he to have conformed with the norms of His society?  Then again, think what this world of ours would be like if Jesus had acquiesced to conformity?  His own people denounced him and condemned him to die a horrible and agonizing death upon the cross and still Jesus did not lash out in anger, nor did Jesus waiver from the courage of His convictions and an unyielding love for all people on the planet Earth.  Jesus rose above judgment.  He moved beyond judgment and by doing so Jesus not only made this world of ours a better place, but He also showed us a path to follow and a way to live in pursuit of spiritual evolution.

I guess, what I'm trying to say here is that we each of us have a choice.  We can become monsters, like Frankenstein's creation, "the Monster."  We can continue lost within the slumber of conformity, thereby contributing to rise of monsters within our own societies or we can willfully choose to rise above, connecting with a higher power and purpose for our being, in order to become our better selves. And maybe in the process of doing the latter we will contribute to making the world around us better in some small way.  We won't ever be on the level of Jesus, but surely Jesus serves as a shining example of what's possible if only we can quiet the mind --shutting out the incessant worldly inputs-- and learn instead to listen to the heart which will enable us to see, to think and to act from the Divine ancestral and universal wisdom we were each of us born into this world with.  I think it is important, this Christmas Eve, the night we celebrate the birth of Christ that we remember not only that Jesus lived, but that Jesus showed us How to Live.  And on that note, Merry Christmas!  For unto us a Savior is Born this glorious eve .....

12/26/2018  It occurs to me today that on a deeper level conformity and spiritual evolution are polar opposites of one another.  What say you?