Author Archives: bfrhodes99

Literacy Is Not Optional

Posted in Border wall, Cancel Culture, Drug Abuse, Education, Going Green by

A few days ago, I posted my remarks about a report I thought I heard. The report was about the abject failure of the Tennessee school systems to teach reading. When I say school that means teachers.

Since then, unfortunately, it has been proven true.

These teachers have been trained in universities, many with masters degrees. The schools are given massive amounts of monies. They are given all the most modern technological teaching aids.

I have heard the reasons, really excuses for failure. Yet, in tmes past, teachers with no more than 12th grade educations have taught using nothing more than Bibles to teach and far more successfully.

Maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps it isn’t the teachers fault. Maybe the fault lies with the teacher’s teachers. Perhaps, the problem originated in the colleges. Maybe they can’t or don’t want to teach how to teach. It is entirely conceivable that their modern methods are at fault.

Then too, I’d really like to see a breakdown by school, by area, by district and yes by teacher. I don’t think we will ever see that. I suspect many teachers and administrators would be embarrassed, or should be.

I certainly understand that some of the blame lies with the parents. Still, the the teachers of the early 1900s got the job done under much worse conditions, while we were much more an agricultural nation.

More importantly, as the title of this post implies, we are in a different world today. Even the farmers have college degrees. Even they must be able to read and perform basic math. In this modern world, failing to be able to read and write is a recipe for failure.

Finally, it is imperative we keep the drugs out of our schools, out of our communities and out of our country. If we don’t, we will certainly need to shoulder some of the blame.

A Challenge for Joe

Posted in Abuse of Power, Biden, Border wall, Build the Wall!, Christian values, Drug Abuse, law enforcement by

That’s right. Little me. Never held public office. Never been a reporter on any news media let alone such as The Pravda Times. In my little blog, I am issuing a chalenge. Most likely he will never hear it, let alone pay any attention to it.

However, numbers have power us little individuals don’t. Maybe, if others helped. Maybe if the right people hear and help. Just maybe someone who matters will hear my challenge and find it important and just, the challenge will be publicly and forcefully placed at the feet of Joe.

He needs to be asked why he has done nothing, said nothing, or has never even acknowledged the loss of 70,000 people a year to the drugs that he permits across the border. He needs to publicly answer the question, especially before those that have directly and indictly lost loved ones to drugs and the drug trade.

I have hope he will be challenged, but not much. It would appear there are few that care as much as me.

Selectve Concern

Posted in Abuse of Power, Being woke, Biden, Build the Wall!, Drug Abuse by

Joe’s press secretary just brought to mind that 14 thousand died from guns in one year. That’s horrible. One is too many.

Yet they ignore the 70,000 that die from drugs. Maybe it is because of the dems open borders. Maybe it is because of Joe’s close relationship with China. For the life of me, I don’t understand why, but he also seems to be friendly with the cartels and drug smugglers. Maybe it is his hope to rid the nation of drug addiction by killing all drug addicts.

I like the idea of cutting down on addicts but I certainly didn’t approve of his methods. I also dislike his misplaced concerns. If we look closely at the deaths by gun, we’d likely find at least a third drug related. Seems to me, if we stop drug abuse, we’ll also cut down on gun deaths. Also, we’ll cut down on robbery, knife assaults, child abuse and wife beatings.

Better to treat the real problems more than the symptoms.

BUILD THE WALL!! NOW! Fix the illegal alien proplem, the drug problems and the crime problems. The gun problem mostly will go away… all by itself. Generally, law bidding citizens rarely shoot people without a good reason.

Not All Things Are Static

Posted in Abortions, Christian values by

Contrary to the concepts and beliefs of some folks, the world is far from static.  If something is changed here, then it will result in changes there and maybe there too.

The dems believe they can increase revenue by increasing taxes.  The fact is, it can actually have the reverse effect.  After all, who is going to work harder if their extra pay will go to Uncle Sam?  I’ve heard, though it was not confirmed, that Elvis Presley limited the movies he did each year because he was tired of so much of his income going to taxes.  Don’t know if it is true, but it seems believable.  On the other hand, he might not have wanted to do any more movies.  Then again, he might have run out of plots or leading ladies.

The truth is that the dems are well aware that raising taxes does not always increase revenue.  It’s just in their blood.  They take the podium and, by their nature, they just insist it has to be done usually for the children.  One thing we do know, large amounts of taxation does stifle production, especially internally.

If you doubt this, consider what might happen if taxation were 100%.  It would totally bring the economy to a grinding halt.  Nothing would get done.  Farmers wouldn’t farm, bakers wouldn’t bake and it would be impossible to hale a taxi.

Now, I’m going to apply the static concept to something else, perhaps a little more touchy.  If I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times.  Even conservatives say that exceptions should be made for rape or incest.  I don’t like the idea.  I find killing any innocent child unthinkable.  But it’s worse.

As I said, the world is not static.  The woman wants an abortion, no problem.  She says my uncle raped me.  Or she says she was raped but she has no idea who it was or it was the man down the street that she doesn’t like.

Immediately, this causes at least two problems.  Innocent people become accused, perhaps convicted.  Moreover, police and court resources are used where there was no crime.

I have heard the argument against this idea.  No woman would ever do anything like that.  Hogwash.  Even today, men are falsely accused of sexual assault and rape.  This is without the additional incentive of a woman ridding herself of an unwanted burden.

It would divert needed resources away from real rapes and assaults.  Worse, it would weaken the case of women who have actually been raped.  The question in court would always come up, “Are you accusing this man because he raped you or because you want an abortion?”

To be sure, there are also legal problems.  Just when and who decides there was a rape?  Does the woman immediately get the abortion or does she have to wait until the case is proven in court.  If she has to wait, the baby just might be carried to term before the trial is over.

Finally, it can devastate the already weakened families.  Men, fathers, uncles or even brothers will have to guard themselves from ever being alone with a young lady.  Do we really want to expose our family life to such things?  Is this what we really want?

Such things might only happen one out of a thousand times.  If you were the relative, if you were the friend of the family, would you ever want to be charged with such a thing, even if you managed to prove your innocence?

The fact is, when you make such laws, they need to be thought completely through.

Is rape and incest bad?  Of course it is.  Personally, I feel men convicted of such things ought to be hung by their toes till dead.  Just my own personal opinion.  But not all fixes are good.  Sometimes, they are worse than the problem.

Real Racism

Posted in Uncategorized by

Margaret Sanger was an admitted racist. She created Planned Parenthood with the sole purpose of eliminating the African-American race. That is real racism. That is the ultimate picture of racism.

Planned Parenthood is racist. They may not openly admt to it, but most of their abortion clinics are in black communities. Sorta same-same. Based on this, I am going to take a real risk, and say that Planned Parenthood is racist.

I will also really take a giant step out there and say that those who provide political and financial support to Planned Parenthood support racism, even if they aren’t racist. I mean, they are supporting the inhalation of all black people. Maybe they are trying to claim ignorance.

Now. Stop and think. Who are those who support Planned Parenthood. I suppose right at the top…Democrat party. Virtually every democrat senator, most democrat representatives, perhaps all. Certainly Joe is one of their biggest cheerleaders.

Maybe, if you try really hard, you just might think of a few.

By the way. I don’t support Planned Parenthood. I find Sanger’s ideas appalling. It is not just wrong; it is non-Christian; and un-American.

Perhaps, you’re one of those that, now being enlightened, that will pull any and all support from Planned Parenthood, both direct and indirect. Besides the Democrat party, there are a few charities, labor unions, and other organizations that contribute to them.

Home of the Brave

Posted in Abuse of Power, Christian values, Controllers by

Most of us recognize the words. We hear them regularly, though some would prefer to hide in locker rooms. Some, figuratively, defiantly, put their fingers in their ears every time the words are sung.

On the other hand, there are those that would do all they can to effectively negate the words. They want to make sure none of us !!are!! brave.

If we protect ourselves, if we protect others, if we defy the greenies, be sure; we will pay. They will find things with which to prosecure us. Never mind if it’s right. Never mind if it is even legal.

In many situations, a mere threat is enough to cause most to take the fetal position and cower. Even should we successfully defend ourselves in court, they ruin our lives. Indeed, in some cases a simple accusation in the NY Times is all it takes. In a way, it’s worse than a court case. We never get a day in court. We never get a chance to confront and challenge the accusers or their evidence. That jury of public opinion can be very rough and frequently wrong.

So, if those in control – the government, the media, the social media etc, etc, and so forth – have their way, the US will not be the home of the brave. Nothing will be left but the disarmed cowards. The brave will be disarmed and behind bars.

Then the controllers walk in and take control. No one will be left to stop them. No one dare be brave enough. Even if there were, they’d have no weapons with which to fight. The guns will all be locked up while criminals will be roving the streets. None of us want a such a world but it is the one for which we are headed. And by the way, don’t dare stand in the way, that is unless you want to have your name printed in the Pravda Times.

Color Me Surprised

Posted in Education, Going Green, Reading, Schools by

For some time, I kept hearing about those Tennessee 3rd graders failing to meet third grade reading criteria would not be advanced to 4th grade. I thought little of it, though it did seem reasonable to me. The most important thing a child learn in early school is reading.

No one told me as much but I figured they would be holding back 3 to 5 percent. Then, I heard a news reporter casually say that 40 percent met the qualification.

Please! Please! Someone tell me the report was wrong or that my ears deceived me. If not, It does help me understand why Shelby County parents are trying to sneak their children into Desoto County schools.

Still, it would be far better if they fix their own schools. Somehow, I suspect that will not happen soon. I think they’re too busy teaching about going green or how bad Republicans are.

The No Cable Saga

Posted in Cable TV, CEO Princeple by

Those following me already know that I’ve abandoned cable service. It was because I couldn’t arrange a service call but they were about to raise ridiculous fees significantly. Being as we live totally on Social Security, being as the costs of living living were skyrocketing, we would have had to unplug anyway.

I also disconnected internet, same outfit, same reason. It just so happened T-mobile started providing internet for 50 a month. So I traded a cable/internet bill of almost 300 for an internet bill of 50.

Naturally, I don’t get near the selection from the antenna, but it really isn’t all that bad. Oddly, what I missed was the DVR. I had no way to record programs or pause programs when I got a phone call.

So, I went to Best Buy and asked if they had a solution for me. When I foud out they sell DVRs for $50, I bought 2. One I installed on the 30″ living room TV. The other went on the 23″ in the bedroom. The bedroom TV is not digital capable so, in that case, it restored the use of the the older flat-screen.

So, now if I can just figure out what to do so I can get channel 5, NBC. Shame. They do have a few decent shows.

The DVR doesn’t come with a disk, but a 10 dollar 32 GB USB thumb drive took care of that. (Or, if you prefer, you can attach an actual hard drive)

As my aside, it’s a real shame. Some outfit could come up with cable service for strictly local stations. Maybe they could charge fifty a month and still make money. It just might encourage the big outfits to drop their rates and provide better support. Let me revise that. Provide some support.

Limited Time Only

Posted in Christian values by

You and I have heard it a million times. Well, maybe a time or two more. Perhaps a few times less. If you make your purchase in the next three days, you will get a really, really, good discount. And, by the way, you’ll also get this wonderful free gift.

Actually, the limited time offer is not new. Around 2 thousand years ago, Jesus died on the cross, rose from the grave and paid for our sins. In essence He arranged a one time offer for us all. For us, the period, time of option, lasts one lifetime. Never more. On rare occasions less. (Some of us may spend days, weeks & even months unconscious before dying.)

If you never accept the option, you’ll spend forever paying for your own sins. Incidentally, forever is another word for infinitely. Neither word truly expresses the concept fully.

On the other hand, those who accept the offer will have all their sins totally paid for in full. He or she will spend their eternity in Heaven in the presence of God. It is nothing they will have to pay a penny for. Indeed, any attempt to make payment for it will be fully rejected. If you attemp payment, even in part, the gift will be withheld and rightfully so. I mean Jesus did make payment in full. Why should He permit any of us to claim that we helped. It would be dishonest for us to make any such claim.

More importantly, none of us has the power. It is a power, it is an authority that He alone possesses. If we say we earned or partially earned our salvation, we are saying that we have that power. We don’t. Bad idea to presume we do.

It is simple, yet difficult. We must admit our sin before man and God. We must accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Finally, we must believe that He, and He alone, possesses the power to do as He promised. Then too, be sure, that Jesus will do as He promised. He always speaks truth. Also, He is never wrong.

Jesus has made a one time offer. Many of the advertisers make second, third and umpteenth offers. However, there is one aspect that all those offers share with the one made by Jesus. Death terminates all offers.