3 Years Ago

Sometimes doing what is best for you hurts others. Sometimes ending a relationship with someone you care about because you know it’s going nowhere is hard. It was on my list of one of the hardest things I’ve done. I would rather end something that’s going nowhere so I can find the one that will be there for me.  This too shall pass...to all of you staying with someone because you’re afraid of being alone, afraid of starting over even knowing it’s not right for you....don’t be afraid.  Follow your gut instinct.

So Much Bashing

It is sometimes hard for me to keep my mouth shut on Facebook because of all the bashing going on.  Facebook is a platform to be social, share pictures and fun videos.  For the past year, it has turned into a bash fest.

If you don't get the Covid shot you are putting others in danger and a selfish, inconsiderate human being. If you get the shot, you're a follower, a sheep and you are putting yourself at risk from complications.  I say, who are we to tell others what to do? It is a personal choice. I have never gotten the flu shot, as of now I never will.  There have been rumors that the shot does not protect you from getting Covid so there lies my problem.  The same goes for the flu shot, it does not protect you from the flu.  You know what will though? How about your immune system?

Everyone is an expert in the medical field.  What I just said above about a immune system is my opinion but that opinion has worked for me for years. Just tired of all the judgmental and mean treatment people are giving each other now. It is disheartening.

Happy Birthday Girls

 Happy birthday Mollie and Rylie

Prayer Shared with me on Social Media

 This interesting prayer was given in Kansas, USA, at the opening session of their Senate.

It seems prayer still upsets some people.

When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities,

but this is what they heard:

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says: "Woe to those who call evil good", but that is exactly what we have done.

* We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

* We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.

* We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

* We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.

* We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

* We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

* We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

* We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

* We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.

* We have abused power and called it politics.

* We have embezzled public funds and called it essential expenses.

* We have insitutionalised bribery and called it sweets of office.

* We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

*We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

* We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh GOD, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!"

The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest.

Monday Morning Findings

A friend of mine posted about Juneteenth and how the Republicans freed the slaves. Here is some of the things I found out, but I think I need to head to a library with history books in hand.

The Democratic Party in the first half of the 19th century largely represented agrarian economic interests and a small federal government. In the south this meant supporting slavery. In 1860 the party split along regional lines. The Republican Party replaced the Whigs in the 1850s as a party favoring free labor, a strong federal government and urban industrial development. This included tariffs to protect the young American industries from from more advanced foreign, particularly British, competition. This was directly contrary to the interests of the south in particular.

The two parties evolved considerably after the war and the Democrats eventually became a coalition of the urban north and the south. The “solid South” that reliably voted Democratic in national and state wide politics lasted from the Reconstruction down to the 1960. This started to unravel as the national Democratic Party became more attuned to black interests and promoting integration, and Truman’s order to desegregate the military in 1948 helped split the party. In 1964 with Johnson championing civil rights legislation there were disputes over setting party delegations elected to the Democratic convention on a whites only basis, and in the election Johnson lost the traditionally Democratic strongholds of Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. In 1968 the Republicans actively pursued what was called the Souther Strategy of appealing to white southern voters and this has continued since then.

It must be understood that in 1859–60, “against slavery” meant being against the EXPANSION of slavery into new states & territories. Both parties understood that slavery was protected in the Constitution, in the states where it already existed. Southerners wanted to admit new slave states to the Union; the “anti-slavery” party wanted to admit only free states to the Union.

Yes, there were Abolitionists. But they were not in the majority, even in the Republican party. They were always impatient with Lincoln for being such a damned incrementalist. Abolition was a tough sell in some states, even as late as 1865.

Lincoln & the Republicans only changed from their anti-expansion stance, to their abolition stance, during the Civil War itself. Three things combined to make that happen:

1. It became clear that slaves were an important part of the Southern war effort.
2. Many, many slaves freed themselves and come over into Northern lines, and the Union needed a coherent policy toward them.
3. The war became catastrophic enough, that they wanted to remove its “spark”, prevent it from ever happening again.

The Republican party of 1860 emerged from the ashes of the Whig party, which split into pre-expansion and anti-expansion factions. Wikipedia has this:After 1850, the Whigs were unable to deal with the slavery issue. Their Southern leaders nearly all owned slaves. The northeastern Whigs, led by Daniel Webster, represented businessmen who loved national unity and a national market, but cared little about slavery one way or another. However, many Whig voters in the North thought that slavery was incompatible with a free labor, free market economy and supported the Wilmot Proviso, which did not pass Congress, but would have stopped the expansion of slavery. No one found a compromise that would keep the party united.
…
In 1854, the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which opened the new territories to slavery, was passed. Southern Whigs generally supported the Act while Northern Whigs remained strongly opposed. Most remaining Northern Whigs, like Lincoln, joined the new Republican Party and strongly attacked the Act, appealing to widespread Northern outrage over the repeal of the Missouri Compromise.

That North-South split between the Republican & Democrat centers of gravity persisted for nearly a hundred years. Republicans were primarily the party or Northern moderate businessmen. Southern “Dixiecrats” were fervently racist, supporting segregation and Jim Crow laws.

This all shifted with surprising suddenness, in the late-1950s and the 60s. Southern politicians like Strom Thurmond & Jesse Helms switched parties, from Democrat to Republican. The Democratic party nominated a Northern liberal, JFK, to the presidency. JFK & RFK advocated for civil rights; after JFK’s murder, LBJ pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 thru Congress. LBJ observed that because of the act, “we might lose the South” – and they did. Five Southern stats swung Republican in 1964. In 1968 the Republican party adopted a Southern strategy - Wikipedia ; and the South became a stronghold of the Republican Party.

In 2005, Republican Natl Committee chairman Ken Mehlman addressed the NAACP natl convention in Milwaukee, and said:

"By the '70s and into the '80s and '90s, the Democratic Party solidified its gains in the African American community, and we Republicans did not effectively reach out," Mehlman says in his prepared text. "Some Republicans gave up on winning the African American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization. I am here today as the Republican chairman to tell you we were wrong."

It’s surprising how many major shifts in American politics, have their roots in race issues.

The thing is, we have endured this in the past and there are no modern day slaves specifically targeting the black communities.  Society today is so interested in wiping out history because it is in the past, only they don't want to wipe this piece of history out because it benefits them.  Sigh!

Saturday Morning Coffee and Picture 6/19/21

As I was getting ready to head out today for an 80th birthday party, I scrolled through my social media to see who has unfriended me.  It used to bother me but I realized that these people don't want to be a part of my life, so just let it go.   It is also possible that I share a different belief system than they do.  So I started thinking, maybe I am wrong?  Maybe I am that blinded to the truth they are putting out because seriously, how can a person be that blindsided by the obvious?   That thought quickly vanished because I am not easily blinded. I used to be but I started delving into myself and started observing and listening.  With that thought, I am now OK with people leaving my social media.  They do not have any place in my life anyhow so I am OK with that. So, when you start to feel like you're doing something, or saying something wrong, don't fret. It is just the universes way of clearing out what is not good for your soul.

It's Hot Outside

Living in Arizona you know that you are going to go through extreme weather conditions from cold to hot, this year is no different.  Everyone complains about the weather, myself included, but it is the same every year and we just need to deal with it.  So, what are some of the things you can do while its hot?  Let's get started.

Outside:  Go to the river or lake if you are near one or set up a little wading pool in your backyard and enjoy some beers or soda. How about giving your animals a bath, except your cats of course.

Inside:  How about y'all clean the house?  You're stuck inside so may as well make it pretty.

Creatives:  Work on a scrapbook.  Do some mini-photography sessions with your phone of your animals.  Write some emails, no one does that anymore.  Write poetry or songs.  Rearrange a room.  Cook a summer dish that you've been wanting to try.  BBQ some chicken for chicken salad.  

There is so much to do so let's get to it!

Say No to Facebook

Say No to Facebook on your phone, that includes messenger. I did this just the other day and I had no idea the amount of freedom it would give me.  We all spend so much time on Facebook scrolling, liking and commenting that we are missing out on life.  Part of my depression stemmed from Facebook and all the posts.  

Everyone is an expert in everything now.  All those keyboard warriors out there spouting their words, complaints and injustices.  In my opinion, it absolutely does nothing.  I spent so much time on there that the last few days, I have had trouble breaking away from my phone and still do but I know eventually, I will break free.  

Now I am going back to old school of texting, phone calls and emails.  I do not need instant access to everything, I need something to look forward to. We all need something to look forward to.  Being on Facebook every, single moment of the day will not increase your business or friends, it does nothing.  For me and my business, I know the right times to post so that is all I will be doing from here on in.  My well-being is more important to me, not Facebook and all its unnecessary content.