Author Archives: bfrhodes99

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.

Wonderful

Posted in Biden by

Just heard a news report. Joe is over in Japan. What great news. Maybe he will like it there and stay.

Most likely wishful thinking. Such good things rarely last. Still, we can dream.

Possible Solution for Robocalls or Telemarketers

Posted in Computers, experience, Fantasy, Important things, Lawyers and Representation, Respect by
  1. Check caller ID. If not recognized, don’t answer.
  2. When phone stops ringing, call back. If busy, it is likely robocaller or telemarketer attempting there next call. If they answer, if it is a business they will likely answer with 1. A recording 2. A business reply identifying their business 3. Some poor college kid might reply with no idea what to do. They generally are not trained to receive calls. Your choice as to what to do, most probably tell them to stop calling. Alternatively, you can simply hang up.
  3. Of course it could be Mom on a borrowed phone wanting some help. Apologize and tell her you’re on the way.
  4. If it is a telemarketer, refuse to do any business with them. It is the ultimate solution. If telemarketing doesn’t work, they will stop doing it. My guess is the phone companies will be the losers. They know when these guys set these things up & they know they are going to make a bundle on it. As. Long as the phone companies permit it, it will not stop, especially from foreign shores.

Food Deserts

Posted in Being woke, Christian values, Communism, Crime, FOC by

I don’t know about where you live, but on the local news here, recently the news is carrying stories about “food deserts.” These are areas in Memphis where there is no food. No supermarkets exists in the desert. Those that want to shop for food must either go to a convenience store or go some distance to another part of the city.

I hope you won’t mind my borrowing a liberal term, but I suspect it is evolution. I suspect that the deserts just might be or have been high crime areas. Indeed, the areas without grocery stores are likely business deserts as well. I mean who wants to open a business in an unsafe area? It is not profitable. It is dangerous for employees, customers and vendors.

It does make me wander why they can find convenience stores. Well, they do charge more and they generally have less cash. Nonetheless, if they keep letting the criminals have their way, if they don’t start putting them behind those big walls, the convenience stores too, will disappear. They’ll fade away with all the past neighborhood markets

Evolution is not just survival of the fittest. Smartness, common sense and fiscal matters all figure into it too. It is likely why many come south of the stateline to do business, to eat, to go to school, and, in some cases, live. Northwest Mississippi is the fastest growing part of the state. My guess is that most of the new residents are from Memphis.

Just a shame that we have no way of filtering them. We have to let the libs settle here too. Notice I didn’t say dumb libs. That would be redundant. Hopefully, after a year or two, they will get smart. I mean, when we catch a criminal here, he goes to the hoosegow. Incidentally, no one here is calling for defunding of the police.

Some may find this strange but neither do we have food deserts. Oddly, you check the parking lots of the stores just south of the stateline, you will find many Shelby County car tags. Don’t mind that much. They are helping us pay for our law enforcement. They are helping us pay for our streets. Mostly, they are driving the value of my house up. Once or twice a week, I have an offer.

My guess is, not so many moving north. There won’t be until those “woke” people up there put the bad guys in jail and make it safe. Nothing brilliant about it. No need for a college degree. They have been doing it for centuries. Some are just stubborn. They insist on using the new unproven.

How Quickly They Fail

Posted in Christian values by

I was 5 the first time I saw a Sears store. It was also the first time I saw an escalator. Wow. Both were very impressive. The store was huge and it had moving stairs. I would have had a blast just riding the things up and down. I was totally impressed how the stairs all flattened and disappeared under floor.

I knew they had to go somewhere, but, to me it didn’t make any sense.

The store was in San Diego but I have seen many since. Not sure but I think it was in Chicago that the company built a huge building, which oddly, they called Sears Tower, I think.

When I first moved to Memphis, Sears had a big presence. Besides many large retail stores, they also had one of the biggest buildings in town. It’s a shame that it’s sat vacant for I don’t know how many years.

Sears is a small shell of what it was. I hate that. I did a lot of shopping there. My wife loved to do a lot of looking. We had a Sears credit card we used a lot.

However, one day the stores just started closing down. At first, it was one by one, then in bunches. I think there are but 2 or 3 retail stores in Memphis. They were on the brink of completely disappearing.

They weren’t alone in this. I’m not sure, but I can’t find a Woolworth’s anywhere. I think Montgomery Wards have pretty much disappeared from the landscape.

Let me explain. These used to be huge retailers. If there are any left, you must search for them.

Now we have Disney. They have parks all over the world. Everyone is convinced that they are here to stay.

If God desides, they will be no more than a memory in a decade. Givem the attitudes they have toward God, Jesus, the Christians and themselves, it would not surprise me. It would be a shame to destroy the man Disney’s memory like that. However, I would certainly understand it.

I’m not a prophet. Evev so, I am so tempted…. It does make me wonder what would replace it all. Would Disney World return to swamp or would someone turn it into housing projects? What would become of Disneyland and the surrounding hotels and restaurants? Just who would buy up Disney studios? Perhaps, for IRONY, a Christian company would buy them and make truly family friendly movies again, as Disney did. Perhaps he could make Christian oriented movies. One can hope.

Neutral Law Enforcement

Posted in Abortions, Abuse of Power, Agent Stzruk, Being woke, Biden, Bribes, Cancel Culture, Christian values, Communism, Deceit, Elections, Fauci, FOC, Going Green, Hillery's E-mails, Impeachment, January 6, John Kerry, Kamala Harris, Lawyers and Representation, Liz Cheney, Lobbyists, Nadler, News Anchors, News media, Newsome, Obama, Pelosi, Planned Parenthood, Psaki, Reporters, The Squad by

During my thirties, my job took me to New York, just outside Syracuse. There’s a nice park there where I used to walk. It beat looking at the hotel room walls.

It was the right time of year and the evenings were almost always wonderful. There was a baseball diamond there and, of course, little leaguers playing baseball.

When I stopped and watched the game, they found out I was from Mississippi. They suddenly realized they found the perfect unbiased umpire. They immediately put me to work calling balls and strikes.

Apparently, they were impressed with my fairness, if not my accuracy. They kept calling me back and they never complained, not once. Now that, in itself, is something of which for me to brag.

The point is this, people love an honest neutral arbiter, whether it be an umpire, a judge in a courtroom, a prosecutor or even law enforcement officers. I guess that nowadays it’s too much for we Americans to expect. No more fair umpires in our government. No more fair observations from TV and radio reporters. There are no hopes of getting unbiased reporting from newspapers. Finally, and worst of all, the historians are twisting history. They say things happened I know didn’t happen. At my age, I actually remember stuff firsthand.

It makes me sad. However, I have hope. There is a righteous judge. All accounts will be settled. The most devious government officials will pay. I don’t need to do a thing. God’s judgment is true. God’s judgment is sure. No one will get away with anything. Those who don’t believe it are only deceiving themselves.

What amazes me is some actually think they know and understand it. Yet, definitely, they continue their march. I can’t think of anything more foolish.

All You Have to Do….

Posted in Abuse of Power, Customer complaints, experience by

During a phone conversation, the young man was trying to sell me something. I don’t remember what it was. Maybe he was trying to get me to donate for something. It doesn’t really matter.

I do remember the last two things said. He said, “All you have to do is….”

I said, “I don’t have to do anything! ” I put the emphasis on the word have and hung up.

It seems to be, unfortunately a very overused very inaccurate phrase. When I was a private in the Marines, there were many things I had to do. When I was a child, there were many things I was required to do. Even today, as a citizen, as a driver, as a taxpayer there are things I must do. Last time I checked, as a potential customer, I don’t have to do anything other than pay for my purchases.

To be sure, there are things that are customary. There are things that are contingent. I mean, I do fill my own basket in a grocery store. Nowadays, I do my own scanning. Nowadays, I pump my own gas.

Before l can leave the store, I must make a valid payment. That is not just conventional but legal.

However, more and more these days I become angered when someone says all I need to do is….

It is wrong and it shows a wrong idea. As a customer, there are things reqired of me, to be sure. However, when this phrase is used, most of the time, it’s simply not true. It is very rare to be accurate by telemarketers and it is never appropriate for those representing charities.

Hence, unless a person wants to anger me, they should really avoid using the phrase, especially when not accurate. If on a phone the next sound they will likely hear is the click of a hangup. If in person, they will likely see me turn on my heel and leave. I’d suggest others do the same. Just maybe we customers might regain some of the control we deserve.

Just What We Will Know

Posted in Abuse of Power, Christian values, Collusion, Computers by

Beware, artificial intelligence is coming.

In one of my books, a woman is doing battle with the authorities.  She is convinced of something the police tell her is impossible.  Actually, I guess it is not a new plot.  However, as artificial intelligence becomes more intelligent, it also becomes more and more plausible, possible and likely.

Today, there are computers that can imitate our voices to the point we cannot recognize them from our own.  Images, even videos can be done very convincingly, to the point we will doubt our own memories.  We will be convinced that we were in places we’ve never been.

One day, you may receive a phone call that you will be convinced came from your son or daughter that is completely generated from 1s and 0s.  It is a good reason to tell your child to remember a word or two that can be used that only the two of you know.  Hopefully, you’ll never need it, but you might.

The computers will be able to convince us that people have done things they didn’t, uttered things that were never said, signed things we never signed.  We are entering a brave new world in which we must doubt that which we hear or see.  Unless we can hear or see that person who physically stands in front of us, the image just might be a lie, a deception, or a sham.

Indeed, you just might be put in the place of the woman in my book where you will know something, and no one will believe you.

Naturally, those most susceptible will be those with deep pockets.  The purpose of the ruse will be to deceive the rich out of their riches.  However, it will not stop there.  It will be used to make politicians appear to say or do things they never said or did.  It will make people holding positions in solid companies appear to flip their lids.  It might even be used to convince folks they were in places they weren’t and all will believe because they will see the evidence on the video.

Of course, that can also work the other way.  A murderer can use it to establish an alibi.  A congressman can use it to pretend a visit he never makes.  A horrible event never occurred.

I guess, to some degree, we are already there.  I mean how many know of the burning and looting a short season ago.  How many remember 9/11.  Go ahead.  Ask someone who was behind the destruction of the trade towers and the death of about 5,000 people whose only guilt was that they went to work that day.  Already, the media has done what they can to rewrite that history.

Given a little artificial intelligence and they will be able to convince anyone that anyone did anything.