When They Want to

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I wish I could say for sure, but I thought I heard something about big improvements in the reading and math test for third graders this year. If so, I guess it would show what a little encouragement will do. When they knew they’d get promoted regardless, the students and teachers did not put that much effort into it. When they realized the students would not be promoted without good scores on the tests, both the teachers and the students improved.

That is sort of the way things work. When the teachers started really looking bad, they did better. Moreover, they encouraged the students to try harder. In a way, it is the purpose of the test.

When I went through instructor training, they told us there were three reasons for tests. It measures the students individual progress. It measures the teachers effectiveness. Finally, they alert management to trends. Is just one student having problems, is one class having problems, or as in Memphis school’s case, is there something wrong with the system. I mean the whole school system was failing, not just one student, class or even school. It was a school system wide failure. That’s when the administrations start having to answer questions. That’s when they have to start making changes.

Finally, if they are having some success now, it does show, when they want to do it, they can. If we let them come up with excuses they will.

High Quality AM Reception

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Now that I hardly watch TV, I listen to news on the radio much more. It does have a downside. The station I listen to is weak. Any kind of a storm, and I get very bad reception. As a last resort, I have taken to listening to the station on the internet. It is far better. The voices are far clearer and crisper. As a small side benefit, it’s stereo. It is a small point, given as it is news, it’s still a little nicer. I am sure there are some stations where that would make much more beneficial.

There is another advantage. Sometimes, for hours, the station is off the air but continues to transmit on the internet. It does make me wonder. Is the conventional radio station, AM & FM, going the way of the horse whip. It seems that I get more reliable internet than radio, an important factor in emergencies.

I don’t know. At one time, I was amazed at 3 minutes for a dollar over the AT&T long distance phones. Now, as long as I pay my cell phone bill, There is no extra charge at all if I should talk all day. We might be looking at a day when the TV stations disappear too. I really don’t think ABC, NBC, or CBS will much care for that. For decades, they have ruled what we watch on TV. Shortly, anyone who has the know-how and a little content will be competing with what little is left of the big networks. You notice that I left FOX out. They apparently saw it coming and are well on the way to the conversion. They already have 2 internet news channels that are doing very well. (Then that might have something to do with the content too.)

One more little thing. If I don’t like what is on the radio stations here around Memphis, I can just as easily listen to Milwaukee or Atlanta just as easily. It does broaden the competition, doesn’t it.

Worth Repeating, Maybe

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It has been a while since I last said anything about our trip to the Grand Canyon. You know, not everyone gets to see the Grand Canyon. I have been there three times. And yes it is a big hole the ground.

We were at the overlook near the hotel and looking at the plateau that was somewhere half-way down. We were looking at it for 3 or 4 minutes when a stranger off to my right that said, “There are people down there!” Exact words.

I squinted and strained my eyes and saw no one. I turned to the woman and asked, “Where?”

She pointed out a landmark and she said that they were just a little past that. Again, I strained my eyes and sure enough. I still wouldn’t have seen them but they were moving. Again, I remind you, the plateau is only about half way to the bottom. If somehow I were suspended above the canyon at the current altitude in a way that I could see the river, there is simply no way I’d have been able to see a person, maybe with a telescope. As I said, it is a big hole.

When we first arrived to the first lookout, my wife and my sons started watching squirrels. I couldn’t get them to look at the canyon. I mean we have squirrels at home, by the dozens. They were getting the chance of a lifetime to see the canyon and all they wanted to see was squirrels.

Well, at least they were Grand Canyon squirrels. I should have taken movies of them. I could have sold it, you know. I could have advertised, “genuine Grand Canyon squirrels.” I mean my wife and kids liked watching them. Why not others?

A side note, people are permitted to walk to the bottom of the canyon. However, they do need to check-in before they start. Also, everything that goes down must be carried back up. No littering allowed. The fines are very stiff.

Finally, another caution. It is much easier going down than coming back up. It has often been compared to climbing a mountain in reverse. That trail coming back up is the same, but it will seem very much more longer.

Daily writing prompt
Describe your most memorable vacation.
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What Is the Democrat Party

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I suspect I am neither the first, nor will I likely be the last to notice that the party we call democrats has a strong similarity to the Borg. (the science fiction creation in one of the Star Trek spin offs).

  1. The primary purpose and importance is the Borg. To the dems, the most important thing is the party.
  2. The Borg is made from many. The dems are made from many groups, pro abortion, Black rights groups, women’s rights groups, criminal rights groups, going green outfits and on and on it goes. For a while, there was the mask group, this even though everyone knew they didn’t work. Even today I see people wearing masks, hanging down where they wouldn’t do any good if they could.
  3. No one but no one is allowed to use any terms that are not approved by the party. Even though illegal alien is the proper term by law, those of us who use the term are in danger of losing life or limb for using it. They have turned gender terminology all upside down for the benefit of one of their groups and a teacher can lose his or her job if they use the wrong pronoun. No wonder our schools are turning out children who can’t read and write. They are too busy memorizing pronouns.

Well, things are now falling apart. It looks like Joe’s best known secret is officially out. Even the NY Times has asked him to step aside. I mean, the NY Times is a really big part of the Borg. If they are going to jump ship, it must really be bad for the Borg.

Does this mean the Borg is dead. No. Of course not. It will regroup. It will find new endeavors, new ways to distort things in favor of some new group.

By the way, I will believe the going green people when three things happen. (1) The dems stop buying seaside property. (2) They start building seawalls in DC and NY, NY and especially the Hamptons. (3) The wealthy dems start flying commercial.

It’s sort of the way of the Borg. Everyone in the party is equal. It just is that some are more equal than others.

Incidentally, it does bring the question to mind: if these are all separate groups, what is the glue that holds them all together? That’s simple. Communism. It is the promise of total equality, like in the Soviet Union, like in Cuba, Like in China. When’s the last time that you’ve seen any of these leaders toiling on a farm or anywhere for that matter. Have you ever seen the opulence these leaders live in. In reality, they are all kingdoms as the days of old. There is the royalty and there are the peasants. The peasants live in shacks, if they are permitted to live at all. The kings live in the palace. It is the deception of the Borg. It is the deception of the communists.

Blogging Etiquette

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I can’t even remember. I guess that I have been posting posts just about 4 maybe 5 years now. No one gave me a list of things that I should or should not do. I suspect I have gone outside the rules a few times, a few on purpose.

However, the first time I received a comment, I was completely set aback. I didn’t know the proper thing to do. Was I supposed to respond to it, in essence start a conversation. On the other hand was I supposed to just read it and go on. Some who I have talked to have said the comments are more for my readers than for me, which does seem to ring true.

Word Press has given me some tools to regulate what I allow or disallow. The way I figure it, if I am going to make some strong statements, I should be willing to accept them too, even when I disagree. I really do enjoy the comments, even the ones that are disagreeable. Some, I must admit help my ego while others I learn from. The Bible tells us that we should listen to our enemies. They will us of a fault when our friends will likely not tell us of our faults, in fear of hurting us. Naturally, while the enemy might do it to hurt us, they actually so us some good, though it does hurt.

However, being a Christian, there are some terms I simply will not permit. I will remove the comment immediately. If you want my attention, if you want your comment to be out there for others to see, well, I am sure you know which words will get your comments removed. When I was in the Marines, I had to tolerate that. I had to put up with some of it in the civilian world too. I’m retired now. I don’t need to tolerate such things. And, by the way, it really is beneficial for all to avoid such vernacular. It indicates a limit in vocabulary. It indicates a lack of self control. In some cases, it will drive people away. In some cases, it indicates a tendency to do things outside the law.

At any rate, back to my main point. I have gotten the idea that I am not supposed to respond to comments. So, for the most part I don’t unless there is an element in the message inviting a response. Even then, I might remain silent. I say this as an explanation to those that might be expecting a reply. You might think I don’t read them, though I do, every one of them, especially the ones that are a little less than complimentary.

A little piece of advice for one and all: Listen to your friends. Pay close attention to what your enemies say about you. You might be amazed at how much it will help you.

A Hurricane Made to Order

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The going green folks are busy jumping up and down and cheering saying they told us so. Every weather report makes sure to say it is the earliest hurricane that came along that strong. Of course, there is no chance of it being coincidence. As an aside, I noticed Old Joe got it wrong and simply said it was the strongest ever hurricane. I have no heard anyone correct it, so I figured I would, though few will know ever read it.

Then too, what do the going green folks say if the season turns out to be a mild one. After all, one hurricane does not a season make.

It may indeed turn out to be an active season. I am not a prophet. I’m just saying, neither are they.

I don’t suppose that the going green outfit ever consider that God might have sent the hurricane as a warning. On the other hand, maybe the natural weather is the stronger hurricanes and, up until now, he has been keeping them calm. It can work that way too, you know. He can send punishment by simply removing his protective hand.

Either way, any way, it’s just not proper for the going green folks to cheer when such tragedies occur. It is just improper for the weathermen to carry that little note in his or her voice that says, “See I told you so.” More than that, it is not nice for those who are power hungry to use the weather one day and gloss over it the next.

Scammed

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Though at this point it is obvious that Old Joe and his puppeteers have scammed the dems, it appears a large part of them will remain loyal to the people who scammed them. I mean this is not a run of the mill scam. He has convinced them that he is in perfect mental health. Let’s face it, Old Joe flimflammed the bulk of the dems. Let’s face it. If they had been sheep, he would have completely sheered them all. There would not be any fleece left on any of them.

He tricked them and at this moment he continues to deceive. He has played the ultimate shell game on them. If it were me that he did that to I would be angry. I would never ever want any association with the trickster again. And yet, regardless of the scheming and conniving, there are still those who continue to believe in him.

At one time, I encouraged an effort to get Old Joe to take a mental test. At this point, it would be pointless. Even if he were declared incompetent by a team of a dozen doctors, some would still to refuse to admit it. It would be blamed on Republican doctors, even if the doctors were dems.

Now my confusion… why in the world are there any senators or representatives still standing at his side? I have to assume, they are sheep too. In the vernacular, someone has pulled the worsted fabric over their eyes, both of them.

It Would Seem God Is Inconvenient

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And so it is that when a person wants to do this, or he wants to do that, he is hindered from doing it because God does not want him to do that. “It seems God keeps me from doing what I like to do.”

I suppose that it sounds ridiculous, maybe a little sacrilegious. And yet most have had such thoughts. I heard a pastor say it a little different way. He was talking about how hard it is to make decisions. He said that it is easy to know what the right decision is. It’s doing it that is so difficult.

You think, I know this is right, but I really, really want to do that. It is inconvenient to tell this truth to my best friend, but…. The teen says “I really would like to go to that big party. That new girl in town will be there, but I don’t think God wants me to go there. There will be drinking and maybe drugs. And now I might not ever get to meet that girl.”

There was a certain dem, a liar, that produced a movie, “The Inconvenient Truth.” The hitch, history has proven that he lied. It was a prophecy that never came true. He said that Florida would be covered by the ocean. He said that most of Washington DC would be under water. It would appear that the inconvenient truth was really a big lie that made a bundle, not only for the producer of the movie but also for many of his cohorts.

Now if he had been a real Christian man, he might have had to think about producing that movie. He would have wanted to produce “The Inconvenient Truth,” but he’d have known it to be a lie from the beginning. God would have been an inconvenience to his desire to make the movie. Then again, knowing it was wrong, maybe as a Christian, it does make me wonder if the man had some incredible way of justifying it. Maybe, when he went to confession, he told the priest, “Well, how was I to know. I thought it was going to rain, a lot.”

The fact is, there are many others who would have us believe the lie of the going green outfit. They are able to make money from it. They are able to gain power from it. However, to borrow the title of the movie, There is an inconvenient truth. It’s all part of a big lie. And, by the way, here is another inconvenient truth. There is a God. We all shall one day meet him face to face. Those who love the lie will realize they got it wrong. Those who love the abortions, will realize, they were on the wrong side of that idea. Those who love to call good evil and evil good, will realize they really got that wrong. Moreover, they will have eternity to think about it all.

Politically Confused

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I’ve looked for the proper clinical term. At first I thought it was schizophrenia, then simply split personality. I even looked up confused personality. None of these seem to truly fit. Nonetheless, the dems seem to have one political goal at one time; and another goal at another time.

People start having riots, tearing down statues and destroying buildings and they call it “mostly peaceful” demonstrations. People are invited into the Capitol building by capitol police and never hurt anyone, and the dems call it insurrection. Old Joe does all he can do to bypass The Constitution to forgive all the student loans and he is hailed as a hero. On the other hand, at every effort for the Republicans to control the outbreak of crimes and suddenly Old Joe complains in the name of defending constitutional rights.

It has become obvious that their two faced political endeavors have but one motive, power. In their goal to gain that power, they are bound and determined to destroy all that is in their way. They don’t walk over the Constitution in that effort but run over it. They destroy the flag that the great men of WWII fought for. They confuse the meaning of words and they make sure that anyone that points this out are destroyed, just as Hitler did, just as Lenin did, just as Stalin did. Make no mistake, they have the same goals as they did.

They complain that Trump is trying to become “king,” while all the time trying to set up their dictatorship.

The real hiccup for the dems these days is Old Joe. He has been discovered and now he is no longer an asset. He is the object in the way. He has become the barrier, their hindrance. By the dems, he is no longer the human that was was helping, but has become the inanimate hurdle they must clear before they can continue their march to domination.

And so it is, one minute they will do what the claim is right and the next minute condemn someone else for the same thing. To be sure, all the time they try to condemn Trump for that which he has not done, they do the very thing they claim Trump did. Of course, if Trump had done it, it would be horribly wrong, while all the time the dems do it, and it’s right and proper.

And so it is, one day, they have the one personality, and the next day, they have the other personality. They are not truly dual personality as people who have such an illness is involuntary. The multi-personalities of dems have are planned and intentional. If the dems truly have any mental disorder, it is caused by the desire for power. They truly have goals of ruling the world, just as is prophesied in the Bible. One world government, one world ruler. It has been the devils goal for thousands of years.