Saturday, December 5, 2020

"There is no Santa Claus?"

 

Tremendous message borrowed from a friend:

 

I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit Grandma on the day my brother dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," he jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns.  I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted, "Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kirby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars.  That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kirby's.

I was only eight years old.  I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping.

For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker.  He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."

The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it.

Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. “All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were -- ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

 

I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.

 

May you always have LOVE to share,

 

HEALTH to spare and FRIENDS that care...

 

And may you always believe in the magic of Santa Claus!

 

 

Thank you, Nancy Monroe, for sharing this wonderful story.

 

 

Saturday, November 14, 2020

A little something to ponder

 Sharing a good Facebook posted by great friend Steve LaFata,  Thank you Steve


A little something to ponder...

 

I asked one of my friends who has crossed 70 & is heading to 80 what sort of changes he is feeling in himself?

 

He sent me the following very interesting lines, which I would like to share with you ....

 

#1 After loving my parents, my siblings, my spouse, my children, my friends, now I have started loving myself.

 

#2 I just realized that I am not “Atlas”. The world does not rest on my shoulders.

 

#3 I now stopped bargaining with vegetables & fruits vendors. A few pennies more is not going to burn a hole in my pocket but it might help the poor fellow save for his daughter’s school fees.

 

#4 I pay my waitress a big tip. The extra money might bring a smile to her face. She is toiling much harder for a living than me

 

#5 I stopped telling the elderly that they've already narrated that story many times. The story makes them walk down the memory lane & relive the past.

 

#6 I have learned not to correct people even when I know they are wrong. The onus of making everyone perfect is not on me. Peace is more precious than perfection.

 

#7 I give compliments freely & generously. Compliments are a mood enhancer not only for the recipient, but also for me. And a small tip for the recipient of a compliment, never, NEVER turn it down, just say "Thank You"

 

#8 I have learned not to bother about a crease or a spot on my shirt. Personality speaks louder than appearances.

 

#9 I walk away from people who don't value me. They might not know my worth, but I do.

 

#10 I remain cool when someone plays dirty to outrun me in the rat race. I am not a rat & neither am I in any race.

 

#11 I am learning not to be embarrassed by my emotions. It’s my emotions that make me human.

 

#12 I have learned that it's better to drop the ego than to break a relationship. My ego will keep me aloof, whereas with relationships I will never be alone.

 

#13 I have learned to live each day as if it's the last. After all, it might be the last.

 

#14 I am doing what makes me happy. I am responsible for my happiness, and I owe it to myself. Happiness is a choice. You can be happy at any time, just choose to be!

 

I decided to send this to all my friends. Why do we have to wait to be 70 or 80, why can't we practice this at any stage and age....

 

I stole this, I don't know who to credit it to, but thank you!

 

Good to share

Monday, October 19, 2020

Everything is about to change!

 


I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to captor the words the Pat has written her. She has clearly done a superb job. It is my hope that as many Americans as possible will read this article at least once, before voting. Thank you.

 

 

Patricia Coakley 

October 19, 2020 

Facebook

 

This morning, I realized that everything is about to change. No matter how I vote, no matter what I say, something evil has invaded our nation, and our lives are never going to be the same. I have been confused by the hostility expressed by strangers and acquaintances, even some that I consider friends. I look at people I know, some for years, that are so hate-filled that they agree with opinions they would never express as their own. I think that I may well have entered the Twilight Zone. You can't justify this insanity. We have become a nation that has lost its collective mind.

We see other countries going Socialist and collapsing, but it seems like a great plan to us.

Somehow it’s un-American for the census to count how many Americans are in America.

People who say there is no such thing as gender are demanding a female Vice President.

Universities that advocate equality, discriminate against one ethnicity - Asian-Americans - in favor of a different ethnicity - African-Americans.

Some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, and other people are not held responsible for what they are doing right now.

Criminals are caught-and-released to hurt more people, but stopping them is bad because it's a violation of THEIR rights.

People who have never owned slaves are told they should pay slavery reparations to people who have never been slaves.

If a dude pretends to be a woman, you are required to pretend with him.

People who have never been to college are told they should pay the debts of college students who took out huge loans for their - often useless - degrees.

Immigrants with tuberculosis and polio are welcome, but you’d better be able to prove your dog is vaccinated.

Irish doctors and German engineers who want to immigrate to the US must go through a rigorous vetting process, but any illiterate gang-bangers who jump the southern fence are welcome.

$5 billion for border security is too expensive, but $1.5 trillion for “free” health care is not.

If you cheat to get into college you go to prison, but if you cheat to get into the country you can go to college for free.

And, we are somehow "racists" for pointing out all this hypocrisy?!?

We are considered to be "fascists" if we believe in American exceptionalism and that the principles our republic was founded upon are the best in the world.

Nothing makes sense anymore; values, morals and civility seem to have disappeared and people are dying of a Chinese virus, but it is "racist" to refer to it as Chinese even though it began in China.

We are clearly living in an upside down world where right is wrong and wrong is right, where moral is immoral and immoral is moral, where good is evil and evil is good, where killing murderers is wrong, but killing innocent babies is right.

Wake up America. The great unsinkable ship Titanic America has hit an iceberg, is taking on water, the band is playing on the quarterdeck and the decks are listing greatly.

The choice is yours to make. What will it be? Time is short; make your choice wisely! 

 

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Enough with the Victimhood: Millionaire Athletes and Their Lost Cause

 

Sharing a Facebook post thats totaling fitting today - 

Salty Dad 

September 8, 2018 

 

 

If a white person had written this, he or she would immediately be declared a racist and shunned by all.

 

 

Enough with the Victimhood: Millionaire Athletes and Their Lost Cause

by Sylvia Thompson

 


 


I must admit I have never in my life purchased a ticket to a sports event. I am not a sports enthusiast. But I am an American black citizen, and I have had it up to the gills with black people who embrace victimhood. I also highly resent my being expected to do the same in order to affirm my "blackness."

 

Black victims these days, for the most part, are the product of decades of Black Americans being used primarily by white progressive leftists to advance an anti-American agenda.

 

The current brouhaha surrounding the despicable behavior of NFL athletes toward the National Anthem and the American flag is a prime example of what the Left has done to my race.

 

One must assume these players and their guilt-conflicted white coaches and owners (and victimhood-inflicted black coaches) are being manipulated by the Left, because no intelligent, thinking people would deliberately cut themselves off at the knees. Essentially, what these young misguided mostly black men are doing is ensuring the demise of their lucrative paychecks.

 

Further, I would wager that if these teams consisted of all white athletes, none of this idiocy would be allowed. We are witnessing this travesty because the vast majority of players are black and can whine "oppression" if appropriate action is taken against them for their unconscionable behavior.

 

The twisted reasoning that claims these protests are to highlight "injustice" and "police brutality" is a laughable crock. What they do in fact is dishonor valued symbols of this nation's heritage and cover over truth about black crime.

 

Black males bear the brunt of police encounters because black males commit disproportionately more crimes. Police encounters with black men are so often confrontational because so many of these men, especially the young, don't think "compliance" applies to them. They foolishly assume they are above the law and disrespect for police officers is an act of honor.

 

These young blacks, sadly, took much of their direction from racists Obama and Eric Holder during Obama's destructive, eight-year regime and Holder's corruption of the Justice Department. These two men, abusing their federal powers, gave young blacks the impression they need not heed the law, because laws are somehow unjust when they are applied to black Americans. The NFL lot, and any other athletes taking a similar stance, are also influenced by Obama's and Holder's disdain for law and law enforcement.

 

I am not familiar with one case where a black suspect to a crime was not proven legally to have caused the behavior against him, particularly in cases where the police officer involved was exonerated by facts. Michael Brown of "hands up, don't shoot" infamy is one good example. Blatant lies were spread to cloud the truth about Brown's case.

 

Back in the day when I was growing up in the racially segregated South, the opposite prevailed in many cases. There was much injustice particularly toward black men, but not today. Today, too many blacks have been fed the notion that it is now "pay-back" time, and they can flaunt their lawlessness because some whites flaunted theirs during an earlier time in our nation's history.

 

Although Obama and Holder no longer wield power in this country, some of their minions continue on the pernicious path of "paying back" American whites for wrongs, real or imagined. But as the saying goes, there is a new Sheriff in town and he is not guilt-conflicted. He expects fair play under law and tolerating pay-back is not part of his agenda. Black Americans, when they break the law, can no longer claim victim status simply because they are black. Those days are over.

 

American laws and law enforcement personnel will be respected in America, again; our traditions and values will not be impugned in America without consequences, again. Anybody unsettled about this turn of events is welcome to leave this country. I suggest all the black players try a country in Africa, and see how successful they will be at making millions playing games. They will all soon learn what oppression really means.

 

Some self-directed, independent-thinking blacks (and there are many of us) have offered that if these millionaire protestors want to tackle some real problems, they might consider the thousands of black children killed in abortions annually (by the progressive Left), or perhaps the many, many young blacks murdered routinely on inner-city streets by other young blacks (in cities run by progressive, leftist Democrats), or the downright criminal state of education of black inner-city children, orchestrated by the progressive leftist National Education Association (NEA). The NEA's aim is to produce unintelligent pawns to feed the cause of progressivism.

 

I am annoyed by the expressions of "sincerity" gracing the faces of the NFL protestors-as if to convey the "hallowedness" of their cause. In actuality, they provide a picture of grown men allowing themselves to be made fools of by the progressive Left. I don't doubt, however, that some of these men have been coerced into compliance with this lost cause, either through threats of violence or shunning (from coaches and players). Alejandro Villanueva of the Pittsburgh Steelers and former Army ranger is very likely a victim of such threats. He was publicly castigated by his leftist coach for his patriotism. The coach demanded unity behind an ignorant cause.

 

And finally, this issue has nothing to do with First Amendment rights. President Trump's speaking out against the clownish behavior of the athletes, on behalf of the majority of American citizens, does not mean he can or would stop any of these misguided people from making fools of themselves. To restrict them, as a government entity, would indeed be a violation of the First Amendment ... But their employers, if they were to develop even a modicum of testicular fortitude, could and should fire them for doing major damage to the bottom line of the business. The rest of us non-millionaire "Joes" would certainly be pink-slipped by an employer if we dared to be so clueless about the necessity of profits and so disdainful of the sensibilities of customers.

 

I will wait patiently for the true sports enthusiasts to vent their rage by simply boycotting the games. It will be sweet revenge to witness the slain goose cease producing its golden eggs.

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

The Coming Coup

 


Bloggers Notes: 

·      Below is an email I received today;

·      All letter coloring as in the email, except those in green – they are for endnotes; 

·      References and the actual publish article are provided.

 

 

“Unfortunately, something like this doesn’t surprise me.  Hope I am wrong.”

 

Subject: The Coming Coup? -- The enemy will wear an American face and be financed by Soros and the new World Order gangsters--swamp Republicans as well as Democrats.

 

 

We need us a George Patton—a chesty Puller— and a General Smedley D. Butler—and a Robert E. Lee—and a General Wade Hampton — and a General MacArthur.   Remember the last Bush president voted for Hillary.  McCain was a Democrat in action— so are all on the Council of Foreign Relations, The Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg group and the International Bankers.

 

This would have been deemed tinfoil hat territory a few years ago, but today it sounds plausible that those crazed with Trump Derangement Syndrome would plan a coup to remove the President even if he wins re-election.  I hope there are enough bold and savvy people on the President’s team to keep a sharp eye and plan for the worst, while building a coalition to rally to his side if needed.  Perilous times indeed.  ~ BZ (hat tip Cuz Chip)

 

 

The Coming Coup?

 

Democrats are laying the groundwork for revolution right in front of our eyes.

 

Michael Anton — 4 September 2020 — The American Mind (Claremont Institute[a] 

 

As if 2020 were not insane enough already, we now have Democrats and their ruling class masters openly talking about staging a coup. You might have missed it, what with the riots, lockdowns and other daily mayhem we’re forced to endure in this, the most wretched year of my lifetime. But it’s happening.

 

It started with the military brass quietly indicating that the troops should not follow a presidential order. They were bolstered by many former generals—including President Trump’s own first Secretary of Defense—who stated openly[b] what the brass would only hint at. Then, as nationwide riots really got rolling in early June, the sitting Secretary of Defense himself all but publicly told[c] the president not to invoke the Insurrection Act. His implicit message was: “Mr. President, don’t tell us to do that, because we won’t, and you know what happens after that.”

 

All this enthused Joe Biden, who threw subtlety to the winds. The former United States Senator (for 26 years) and Vice President (for eight) has not once, not twice, but thrice confidently asserted[d] that the military will “escort [Trump] from the White House with great dispatch” should the president refuse to leave. Another former Vice President, Al Gore, publicly agreed.

 

One might dismiss such comments as the ravings of a dementia patient and a has-been who never got over his own electoral loss. But before you do, consider also this. Over the summer a story was deliberately leaked to the press of a meeting at which 100 Democratic grandees, anti-Trump former Republicans, and other ruling class apparatchiks got together[e] (on George Soros’s dime) to “game out” various outcomes of the 2020 election. One such outcome was a clear Trump win. In that eventuality, former Bill Clinton White House Chief of Staff John Podesta, playing Biden, refused to concede, pressured states that Trump won to send Democrats to the formal Electoral College vote, and trusted that the military would take care of the rest.

 

The leaked report[f] from the exercise darkly concluded that “technocratic solutions, courts, and reliance on elites observing norms are not the answer here,” promising that what would follow the November election would be “a street fight, not a legal battle.”

 

Two more data points (among several that could be provided). Over the summer, two former Army officers, both prominent in the Democrat-aligned “national security” think tank world, wrote an open letter[g] to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in which they urged him to deploy the 82nd Airborne Division to drag President Trump from the Oval Office at precisely 12:01 PM, January 20, 2021.

 

About a month later, Hillary Clinton declared[h] publicly that Joe Biden should not concede the election “under any circumstances.” The old English major in me interprets the word “any” to mean “no,” “none,” “nada,” “niente,” “zero,” “zilch” “bupkis”…you get the idea.

 

This doesn’t sound like the rhetoric of a political party confident it will win an upcoming election.

 

The Cover-Up in Plain Sight

 

These items are, to repeat, merely a short but representative list of what Byron York recently labeled[i] “coup porn.” York seems to think this is just harmless fantasizing on the part of the ruling class and its Democratic servants. For some of them, no doubt that’s true. But for all of them? I’m not so sure.

 

In his famously exhaustive discussion of conspiracies, Machiavelli goes out of his way to emphasize the indispensability of “operational security”—i.e., silence—to success. The first rule of conspiracy is, you do not talk about the conspiracy. The second rule of conspiracy is, you do not talk about the conspiracy.

 

So why are the Democrats — publicly — talking about the conspiracy?

 

Because they know that, for it to succeed, it must not look like a conspiracy. They need to plant the idea in the public mind, now, that their unlawful and illegitimate removal of President Trump from office will somehow be his fault.

 

Never mind the pesky detail that the president would refuse to leave only if he were convinced, he legitimately won. Remember: Biden should not concede under any circumstances.

 

The second part of the plan is either to produce enough harvested ballots—lawfully or not—to tip close states, or else dispute the results in close states and insist, no matter what the tally says, that Biden won them. The worst-case scenario (for the country, but not for the ruling class) would be results in a handful of states that are so ambiguous and hotly disputed that no one can rightly say who won. Of course, that will not stop the Democrats from insisting that they won.

 

The public preparation for that has also already begun: streams of stories and social media posts “explaining” how, while on election night it might look as if Trump won, close states will tip to Biden as all the mail-in ballots are “counted.”

 

The third piece is to get the vast and loud Dem-Left propaganda machine ready for war. That leaked report exhorted Democrats to identify “key influencers in the media and among local activists who can affect political perceptions and mobilize political action…[who could] establish pre-commitments to playing a constructive role in event of a contested election.” i.e., in blaring from every rooftop that “Trump lost.”

 

At this point, it’s safe to assume that unless Trump wins in a blowout that can’t be overcome by cheating and/or denied via the ruling class’s massive propaganda operation, that’s exactly what every Democratic politician and media organ will shout.

 

Stop the Presses

 

What then? The Podesta assumption is that the military will side with the Dems. There are reasons to fear they might. The Obama administration spent a great deal of political capital purging the officer corps of anyone not down with the program and promoting only those who are.

 

Still and all, determining the outcome of an election would be the most open political interference possible from our allegedly apolitical military, and it’s plausible that the brass won’t want to make its quiet support of the ruling class agenda that overt. The aforementioned Chairman has already stated that the military will play “no role[j]” in the outcome of the election. That’s probably not a feint, but one wonders if it will hold given the obvious attempt to influence military thinking by people like Jeffrey Goldberg in his recent Atlantic essay.

 

Can the Dems rely on the Secret Service to drag Trump out? I have my doubts on this one. I’ve seen the Service up close; it really is (or strongly appears to be) apolitical. It has a job to do: protect the president, whoever that is. Officers take that job very seriously. If they don’t believe Trump lost, I don’t think they can be counted on to oust him. On the other hand, were they to believe he did lose and was refusing to leave—a scenario I find impossible to imagine but the Democrats insist is just around the corner—it’s possible the Service might act?

 

Barring all that, what’s left? Remember that phrase from the Dem war game: “street fight.” In other words, a repeat of this summer, only much, much bigger. Crank the propaganda to ear-drum shattering decibels and fill the streets of every major city with “protesters.” Shut down the country and allow only one message to be heard: “Trump must go.”

 

I.e., what’s come to be known as a “color revolution,” the exact same playbook the American deep state runs in other countries whose leadership they don’t like and is currently running in Belarus. Oust a leader—even an elected one—through agitation and call it “democracy.”

 

The events of the last few months may be interpreted as an attempted color revolution that failed to gain enough steam, or as a trial run for the fall. Is the Trump Administration prepared?

 

Here’s one thing they [Trump supporterscould do: play their own “war game” scenario so as to game out possibilities and minimize surprises. They should also be talking to people inside and outside of government whom they absolutely trust to get a clearer sense of who on the inside won’t go along with a coup and who might.

 

They also need to set up or shore up—now—communication channels that don’t rely on the media or Big Tech. Once the ruling class gives word that the narrative is “Trump lost,” all the president’s social media accounts will be suspended. The T.V. channels, with the likely exception of Fox News, will refuse to cover anything he says. Count on it. He’s going to need a way to talk to the American people and he has to find the means, now.

 

For the rest of us, the most important thing we can do is raise awareness. If there is a conspiracy to remove President Trump from office even if he wins, they’re telling you about it precisely to get you ready for it, so that when it happens you won’t think it was a conspiracy; you’ll blame the president.

 

Don’t be fooled.

 

 



Happy Birthday Dad!

  October 15, 2023 Each day, I walk into my den to see what in new and what are my ‘to do’ items for the day and say good morning, Dad. This...