I was productive today too.

I have frequent dreams of going back to Dad's house in Walker and finding my old Cutlass in the shed. I uncover it and gingerly take it out because the brakes are bad in my dream, but I drive slowly. I am giddy as all get out because I'm driving my old car. 

Well, it's no car, but I resurrected an old lawn mower today that has a 20 year history with me.

My father bought my first wife and me a very nice push lawnmower the summer after we got married (1997). We ended up divorced and I lost ownership of that mower for awhile. I bought a new mower, not as nice, and shortly thereafter, got my old mower back. My mother was in need of a mower and my current wife KinDee wanted to keep the new mower and give my mom the 7 year old, very nice mower. I didn't like it. I wanted to give my mother the new one and keep the one my father had given me, but I relented and gave it to my mother. 

Those of you who know my mother know that she doesn't check or change oil for the most part. She just uses stuff that is mechanical. I figured it would blow up on her after a year or two. I never asked about it. I just moved on in life.

I used that new lawnmower that I bought and wore it out. Well, I didn’t, but my kids did. They kept slamming the deck every time it would be plugged. They had the wheels on it toed out, looking like a cow taking a dump. Eventually, the handle broke and the kill switch cable snapped. That was that. The engine still ran, but it used some oil. It had a very busy life. When it broke, I put it in my “someday” pile and bought a new Husqvarna push mower.

I priced parts for the now broken mower. The handle, deck parts, and cable, were over $70. I got to thinking how similar this new mower was to the one that I had gotten from my father, and given to my mother. The differences were this: The one that I gave my mother had a straight rear axle and the engine had a throttle. You could adjust the speed of the engine. The deck on the one my father bought me was heavier and easier to work under. It didn’t plug up nearly as much.

My mother has been hiring her lawn service to be done for a few years now. I thought maybe, just maybe, she’d have that old mower there for me to rob parts off of. If nothing else, I thought I could switch engines and put the engine from mine on the one that I gave to her because surely – it couldn’t still be running, could it?

She said that she had it, but that it really was junk and that she hadn’t thrown it out yet. It was sitting outside, I think covered, but outside nonetheless. I got it home last fall and pulled on the rope to check if the engine was locked up and I heard, “Clunk, clunk, clunk.” Someone had hit a boulder, or something similar, and bent the blade all to hell. The throttle cable was busted. The kill switch cable was working, but very stiff. I didn’t even try to do anything with the mower. It would have to wait for another year.

I got outside today and felt like doing something. Sean got home from school and I instructed him to get those two mowers, the one I kept and the one that I gave away. I thought about swapping engines as I knew mine worked when I parked it and I always use Sta-bil in the gas. I thought, “What if this thing actually runs?”

I looked it over. It needed a spark plug. I sent KinDee after one and then I went to work cleaning the air filter. It was junk, so I pulled the one off of the mower that I had kept. I saw the fuel line was shot. I pulled the one off of the mower that I kept. I drained the oil. It was probably the same oil that I put in the mower many years ago. It was sludge. I took off the blade. There was the anti-seize on the bolt. I use anti-seize and had I not, I doubt that I would have gotten that blade off so easily. I sent KinDee after a new blade.

I drained the gas when I changed the fuel line. We put the new spark plug in. We checked for spark. We had spark. We put oil in and the new blade on. We put a cup or two of gas in and put some Sea Foam in the gas as well as a dash in the crank case oil.

I had Sean take it over into the lawn. I told him that I wasn’t sure how to adjust the throttle as the cable was seized. I unscrewed the cable from the holder so that we could adjust the throttle on the engine. I told Sean to put it in the middle. I had him pump the primer bulb and start pulling. He pulled and pulled and pulled and pulled. Nothing.

I told him to prime it some more and keep trying. Finally, after many tries – it popped off and ran. It smoked like hell, but it ran! I had Sean fill the gas up so that it would dilute the Sea Foam and check the oil. It needed more oil. We added more oil and let it set until we felt good that it was full. I asked Sean to adjust the mower, then mow the ditch. He did it! That old mower had life in it for the first time in years. It wasn’t quite a “Cutlass” moment, but it was sure nice to see that old push mower come back to life. It was quite a bit older, having been through quite the ordeal, but it’s running.

I will never give it away again. I will keep the one that I bought new for parts. I prefer the one my father gave me 20 years ago.




Mower that my father bought me 20 years ago.



Mower that I bought new. Now being used for parts.

 

Regarding Faith and Defending it

Luke 10:17-18 reads;

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.” So He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

I have thought long and hard on this for many years. We all think that if we go to heaven, it will be peaches and cream. Well, that may not be the case. Satan was in heaven. He was supposed to be God’s favored angel at one time, yet, as the legend goes, he grew jealous and wanted to be God himself. He convinced other angels to turn away from God as well and they were hurled to earth.

We face the same decision here on earth every day. Do we follow God or do we turn from him? Are we more worried about making others happy, or God? If we were in heaven at the time Satan turned, would we stick up and defend God or would we join Satan?

Think about your life. When confronted by atheists, Muslims, and others hostile towards Christianity, what do you do? Do you defend your faith, or do you worry about offending those who hate Christians and Jews (God’s chosen people)?

It’s one thing to be civil to others. It’s another to refuse to defend God.

I was once asked by a loved one whether an all powerful God needs defended. The answer is yes, and this is why.

We are here on earth as a test. The bible tells us that we will be judged in the end and those who have denied Jesus will be denied by Jesus. Those who have proven to be unworthy will be burned like chaff. This is where we prove to God that if another Satan were to arise, that we would side with God. If we cannot defend our faith and stand with God here, then how can God expect us to do so in heaven?

There are a great many things about God and heaven that I don’t understand, and I hope someday will be answered by the “boss” himself. Until that time, I will do my best to defend my God and my faith, especially in today’s environment of utter hatred for our Lord and Savior. I know it will be hard. Even St. Peter wept bitterly after denying Christ three times.

 

 

Regarding doctors, and others.......

I have noticed how many in the medical field, and in the law profession for that matter, will think nothing of taking a long vacation, hopping on a plane, and fly overseas to administer to the poor and downtrodden.

Yet, right here to home, there are those who cannot get the proper medical care because doctors refuse to make house calls, or to go to smaller communities to visit their patients.

I don't understand this. Does it make them feel better to fly overseas to take care of those in need vs. driving out of their way or taking time out of their day, to administer to those in need here at home?

Jewish Ham and Gay Christian Cakes

I saw a news story this morning from South Carolina where the newspaper seems surprised that an openly gay lawmaker was elected in a deeply Christian and conservative district.

This shows a complete and utter misunderstanding of the Christian faith. It’s as if the author of the article would expect evangelical Christians to run an openly gay man out of town on a rail. They don’t seem to understand that Christians are some of the most tolerant people on the planet. In fact, in Christian nations, you'll see great tolerance shown towards those who live and believe differently. That great tolerance was enshrined in our Constitution, written mainly by Christian men.

What we don’t appreciate is a perversion of our faith by those who wish to change us. Homosexuality is a sin. It always has been in the Jewish/Christian faith, and until Jehovah God instructs us differently, I suspect it will remain so. Lying and stealing are also sins, by alas, nobody has asked us to change our views on those issues yet.

Because we don’t see homosexuality as acceptable, we do not feel comfortable embracing it within our churches, although, some churches that are more “worldly” have. You can see parallels in the Jewish faith. The strict adherents to Judaism will not eat pork. However, there are some Jews who aren’t really that strict who enjoy the occasional ham sandwich. It depends upon your personal religious commitment as to how you approach your faith and apply it to your life. Thankfully, in America, this is your right. Go to many Muslim nations where they have religious police, and you won’t have that freedom. Over there, you may be imprisoned, or worse, for enjoying that ham sandwich. (Muslims don’t eat pork either)

Most Christians see the gay community the same as we see others of different faiths or creeds. As long as they don’t bother us, we don’t care. Do Buddhists come into our churches and demand that we worship Buddha?  Do Muslims come in and demand that we pray to Allah? Are Jews allowed to come into our churches and remove all references to Christ? Obviously not. Why then are gay people coming into churches, many times the very church they attended their entire life, and demanding that the church change its views on homosexuality because of them? Should the church change its views on rape, lying, or murder because those people come to our churches too? No. We show the same compassion towards sinners that Christ asked of us. It does not mean that we must accept sinfulness as normal. Sin is sin and the wages of sin is death. That is fundamental Christian bedrock.

Do we see homosexuals going into synagogues and mosques demanding the same treatment? If so, I don’t see it. It’s funny to me that I’m only witnessing the attack on Christian values and beliefs, and not the same treatment towards Jews or Muslims.

Why isn’t the gay community asking Jewish and Muslim bakers to bake them gay wedding cakes? Why are they suing Christian bakers for refusing? Isn’t it the right of anyone in this country to refuse to act in a manner that they see as endorsing anything that is contrary to their religion? Is refusing to design and deliver a cake for a gay couple to a gay wedding, truly discrimination? If a gay customer came into a bakery and wanted to purchase a cake, already made, and the owner refused because the customer is gay, that is discrimination. However, asking the baker to personally design and deliver a cake for a gay wedding, something they would not normally do, and requiring them to do so, is not the same thing. It's the bakery owner's religious right to refuse.

If I go into a Jewish delicatessen and want to order a sandwich, they cannot refuse me as a Christian. I have to purchase what they have available. I can ask the deli to serve certain things, but they are under no obligation to cater specifically to me. If I want a ham sandwich, I cannot force that deli to serve ham. I don’t have a right to a ham sandwich. They are not discriminating against me or my religion by refusing to carry or make me a ham sandwich. If I want a ham sandwich, there are plenty of other places to get one. Their refusal to serve me a ham sandwich doesn’t indicate a hatred towards me. It indicates that they are living within their religious beliefs, something they have a right to do. The same ought to apply to the Christian baker. Sadly, it doesn’t.

Why should Trump sell off his businesses?

In the early days of our country, those who were our leaders had businesses. They weren’t corporations, but they certainly were rather large for the times. George Washington had many businesses, one of which was making whiskey, and Washington made decisions that benefitted his whiskey business by making it hard, almost illegal, for the average person to make whiskey themselves without the government coming after you. This lead to the infamous Whiskey Rebellion. Google it if you're not familiar with it. Does anyone hold this against Washington today? Not one bit. It’s just a footnote in history.

Jefferson had a large plantation and many slaves. It could be said that Jefferson could have favored policy that benefitted his plantation and his slave holdings. Did anyone ask Jefferson to divulge of all of his holdings when he became president? Of course not. That was not how things were understood in early America. In early America, our leaders were meant to be citizens, not career politicians.

Why should Trump sell all of his businesses? If Trump passed legislation that required people to use Trump’s services, or if he used his position to purchase land that would not otherwise be available to him, or if he funneled money through his business (like Hillary has been doing with her foundation), then there would be a conflict of interest. However, if Trump took a pro-business stance that helped all businesses, his included, then what is wrong with that? America elected a businessman.

There are many who think this will place Trump in a constitutional conflict as the constitution has a provision about accepting foreign money. The theory on this is that if Trump accepts any money through his hotels from foreign governments, who I suppose may rent rooms from Trump, that this would throw him into a position rife for impeachment.

The section in question is found in section 9, Article I of the Constitution.

 "No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State."  

I have read up on this and there’s a good piece in the New York Times about this. You can read about it by clicking HERE. In short, George Washington accepted two gifts from France without consulting Congress and nothing happened to him. It seems the law is on Trump’s side, even if some of our citizens aren’t.

What is truly lacking in this country is a good understanding of the founding of America. A good history of the early years, an understanding of why things were designed the way they were, and just civics in general is sorely lacking in America. When I was younger, I remember arguing with my father about the way things should have been instead of why they were the way they were, and Dad told me that I would have made a good shit-house lawyer, meaning, someone who could argue a point quite well, even if the facts of the matter weren’t on my side. That’s what we see a lot of these days due to our woeful lack of civic understanding.

In short, should Trump not divest all of his business interests, while it may seem inappropriate to those who don’t understand historical precedent, it is not illegal.

 

 

On why Hispanics voted for Trump

A fact of life – those who have an investment in something, take better care of that which they have invested in than those who don’t have an investment.

Case in point; In general, parents who purchase automobiles and other things for their children, find that their kids beat the crap out of those vehicles or other items because the children didn’t have to work or sweat for that car or item.

Generally, children whose parents make them get a job and buy their own car, see their children take care of that car or item because the child knows what it takes to purchase it.

As a parent, I have seen this myself in my own kids. Again, this is pretty much the rule, although I assume there are a few exceptions.

The same holds true for our immigration policy. Those who come here illegally, don’t feel the investment into our country the way someone who has gone through all of the hoops does. How can they? How can they appreciate what it takes and means to become a citizen of the United States? They break our laws right off of the bat. They take away our ability to discern who we let in. I cannot think of any other country that allows unrestricted immigration. In fact, as a disabled man, I could not become a citizen of Canada unless I was very rich. That is a fact! Canada will not take anyone they deem to be a burden on their social services. Look it up if you think I’m kidding.

CNN ran a story tonight wondering why so many Hispanics voted for Trump. The answer they got over and over was that they themselves came here legally, and that they have little sympathy for those who came here illegally. CNN just doesn’t get it. Those who came here legally understand the investment in their citizenship and they scoff at those not willing to make the same investment. It’s like paying for something and watching someone else steal it.

This argument has been terribly twisted by the left. This argument isn’t about immigration as much as it’s about legal immigration. Trump has never said that he would stop legal immigration. Regarding the Syrian situation, Trump has never said that he would never take another Syrian again, but would instead stop it until a system is in place to ensure that only those who will come here and accept our laws and way of life, get in. What’s so wrong about that?

Yes, my family is a family of immigrants, but I can tell you for a fact, as I’ve done the genealogy, my family came here legally, and I would expect all other immigrants to come here legally too.

I should add, the same thing can be said about our veterans. Our veterans have paid the price for the American Flag and this is why you won’t see them out there torching or stomping on the flag. Our veterans have an investment in that flag and they take much better care of it than those who haven’t.

Guaranteed – nearly every person who see burning or stomping on the American Flag have never paid the price for it. That’s why they don’t take care of it.

 

 

 

The Clinton Playbook – “Change the story, polish, minimize, and spin”

Hillary Clinton is sick. Let’s not beat around the bush about it. There have been rumors of her illness for some time, especially since she hit her head and had a concussion in 2012. What happened to her on 9/11/2016 was not a case of simple dehydration or pneumonia as her and her campaign have stated.

Watch the video of her. She is fine, hugging, kissing, and schmoozing people. Then there are photos of her with her doctor or nurse, squeezing fingers and the next thing we see is Clinton standing at the street, waiting for her ride, which is against all Secret Service protocol as it leaves Clinton as a ‘sitting duck’ on the side of the street. All the while, nobody is panicking. This is obviously something that Hillary’s entourage is accustomed to. Even Bill Clinton let it slip to Charlie Rose that this has happened many times. He then back-tracked and CBS edited the interview to take that part out. It is apparent that whatever is wrong with Hillary Clinton is not what we are being told.

Surprise Surprise! This is the Clintons that we’re talking about!

Hillary appeared a couple of hours later, coming out of Chelsea’s apartment, and looked so much better. Pneumonia, really? Pneumonia isn’t something that leaves you fine one moment, on death’s door the next, and then an hour or two later you’re fine.

No, pneumonia is a killer. Those afflicted with cancer and AIDS often die from pneumonia. The elderly take pneumonia shots because pneumonia kills so often.

Pneumonia caused by bacteria or virus is contagious. Here Clinton was out hugging and kissing folks. Was she told that her pneumonia was non-contagious or did she not care about spreading it about? The types of non-contagious pneumonia are from inhalants, fungus, and aspiration issues. Is this the type of pneumonia that she had? To be honest, I doubt she has pneumonia. She would have been in terrible shape to begin with if she had. I’m more apt to believe dehydration, but even then, it would be a stretch. It wasn’t that hot. Water is plentiful, and she wasn’t doing anything physically strenuous.

Why the lies? It’s because that’s what the Clintons do. I don’t know why that is. Some people rob banks. Others murder people. Some people just lie because that’s who they are; liars. That’s the Clintons for you.

Bill Clinton was the master at this. Hillary isn’t quite as good, but it isn’t for lack of trying. Below, I have posted a video from 1992. Here, Bill Clinton is facing criticism for his, “I didn’t inhale” comment. The two situations are slightly different, but in both cases, Bill and Hillary use the same tactics. First, they try and restructure the truth into a version that creates a new narrative. They polish this narrative up. It’s a narrative that allows them to minimize what they said. After that, they spin like a crocodile in a death roll.

First, Hillary;

Hillary comes out of Chelsea’s apartment two hours later looking refreshed and claims to the media that she feels fine. She even finds a kid to hug. This changes the narrative from, “Hillary is ill” to “Hillary is not ill”. But, at this point, it may not have been apparent to Hillary that video of the event was captured and then released to the public. At this point, the official story was, “She was dehydrated.” Her appearance on the street reflects this narrative.

Then, as it became apparent that video of the situation was leaked, it then became, “She was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday.” She sure didn’t act like a woman who had pneumonia, but, this allowed Hillary to again change the narrative and make herself look like a warrior, someone who just works and works and works, even when sick with potentially fatal pneumonia! That’s the polish folks. Even Christiane Amanpour used apologetics to explain how great Hillary was when compared to other past American leaders, and then Amanpour retorted, “Can’t a girl have a sick day?” How effective. It makes Clinton look like a victim and in today’s society, we’re all supposed to feel sorry for the victims. Everyone wants to be a victim these days it seems…..

Then, later in the evening, knowing that damage control must be done, she goes on Anderson Cooper and furthers her story stating that as soon as the van doors shut and she got some water, she was perfectly fine. Really? Then why not come back out and greet people some more? Why cancel your trip to California? But, this is part of the minimization tactic on this Clinton play. She even used her husband’s famous phrase, “I didn’t think it was a big deal.” Really? Boy, a female John Wayne we have on our hands here!

Finally, she spins it. She goes into stating that Trump needs to release his health information and that he hasn’t done this or he hasn’t done that. Guess what? It wasn’t Trump who collapsed and then told lies about it! Not once has Trump shown any ill health. But, this is the spin to redirect attention. It’s almost a psychological tactic if you ask me. Don’t look in this hand, look in this other one….

Compare this to her husband’s appearance on Arsenio Hall in 1992. First, Bill tells the story differently than it actually happened. This allows him to put some personal Clinton shine on it and it makes the story capable of handling the bullshit that he’s about to make the story carry.

He then minimized it by using very similar words that Hillary just used the other night, “I didn’t think it was a big deal,” from her to his, “..it is not a big deal.” Then they both spun. First, Hillary spun it into re-directing attention to Trump and claiming that he needed to be scrutinized too. Bill spun and started talking about sending kids to college.

In short, they change the story. They polish it. Then they minimize their part in it, and then they spin. On the video, you'll have to fast forward to the 23:55 mark. Here’s the video below and below that, is the transcript from the pertinent section:

 

Here is a link to the actual time where the transcript below comes from: https://youtu.be/ckHfgqK_hcU?t=23m55s

“Here’s the deal, when a politician says something, if you’re a politician, the cynicism about politicians is so great that people thought, “Well, this guy calculated this whole answer, and he calculated it so that he thought, ‘Well, maybe he won’t burn me quite as bad if I say I didn’t inhale?’.” That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of.

They asked me a question that I didn’t know they were going to ask and I gave an honest answer. And that, “I didn’t inhale.” was a nervous after-thought. I was sort of laughing about it after 22 years. I mean, that’s all that was going on and I was sort of laughing in my mind about it, but I got beat-up about it, ‘cause everybody thought that I calculated this answer.

You know, maybe I should…maybe I should be more calculating than I am? But, you know, if, you folks are never going to get good politicians, uh, really good public officials, if all you want is somebody that calculates every word they say, every deed they do; and their whole life becomes like a robot, or an automaton, you know. I did something when I was younger. I told the truth about it and I made a mess of telling about it because, I guess, I’m still kind of embarrassed about it after all these years.

But it is not a big deal, and it sure…and it was made into a federal case. I got more publicity on that … than my idea about how to send every kid in America to college, who wants to go, which I think is more important to the election and to the future of this country.”

(Applause)

(Smug smirk) (Drink of water)