Happy New Year

From Pimpernel and my staff of highly trained monkeys, we wish everyone a Happy New Year. Lets face it, the last few years have been pretty bad and there is a good chance that next year will also be tough. I just read that a 7 point earthquake has hit Japan and it is raining birds in the south again.

Next year hundreds of thousands of service men and women will return home with little hope of finding jobs. No good news on the job front for any of us. I hope the coming year finds you closer to your family and friends, we can all do that. I hope this coming year finds my readers well and less focused on the material things.

This has been a difficult year for me; but, I survived it and so did you. Every year is a mixed bag; but, we can choose to overcome adversity. Let us pray that next year is a year of peace. Be well.

A Must See Video

It is hard to describe a near death experience. Some people don't believe they are real; but, the evidence says that they are. The people who have had them never really care if anyone believes them and will usually say that it was more real than this life. Many atheists don't want to believe in near death experiences; but, they have them too.

What if tomorrow you had a near death experience? What if you fell, hit your head and died for a few minutes. During that time you find yourself having an out of body experience followed by a quick trip through a tunnel to a world of light and warmth and complete acceptance and love? Then you came back. The most common thing in the world for people who have had a near death experience is to be mad that they had to come back.

So you have your near death experience and come back to this world, then what? What do you do after? You can tell people; but, they either wont believe you or think you were delusional from what happened to you. I think most just keep it to themselves or tell very few. But it changes your life, it gives you a firm knowledge that others simply don't have and you stop worrying about dying because you know that you do not die, you just die to this life.

My doctors have told me many times that I should be dead and I should; but, I am not. My blood is more like oil than blood. My triglycerides are at just shy of 1,000, lol. My mother's were the same, genetics. The AMA says that healthy is 100, I have an extra zero on mine. Ten times good is not considered good, it is considered deadly. Now, that is not all, I have more red blood cells than normal people, a lot more. My doctor told me I was like someone who lived in the mountains of Peru. This all adds to my blood pressure being so high that when they take it, I get to go to the hospital and yet, I look good. The casual reader of this blog should know that there are people who know me that read this blog and they know that what I said is true.

On any given day at any given time, I could have a heart attack or stroke or so my doctors have told me. It will never get any better and eventually something will kill me; but, I know that it can be any second of any day. I had a relative in a similar situation, his blood was attacking his veins and he would have heart attacks and strokes, sometimes multiples in the same day. They gave him 6 months, he lasted a few years. He watched movies and cataloged things, he liked lists. He drank his beer and smoked his cigarettes. He lived his life as best as he could.

I got pretty stressed out during my divorce. My health did not improve, it got worse; but, it has gotten better over the last two years. At least I feel better. The pills they gave me were beginning to kill me so I stopped taking them three years ago. I haven't felt this good in a long time. If anyone thinks that I want their pity or fear death, you are as far the truth as you could be. I am only now beginning to enjoy life and can do so with no fear of death.

I spend my days living my life as if I will be around for awhile. My priorities are the same and I still believe the same things and work towards goals that I believe in. I could have taken a disability retirement, still can; but, I chose to keep working. I am not what I was; but, I think I still have something to offer and so do others. Might as well be of use if you can is my thought. Everyone decides for themselves how they will be of use. I think I am of use because I know what to do at my job and because I can still teach others. I teach business others teach other things. I have a video by a young man who had a near death experience and knew he was going to die and then he died. He left a message and I will let him speak for himself. If we take his word for it, he came back to leave us this message and then return to a better place.


Yahoo News - Sick Teen's Videos Go Viral After Death

Crowdsoucing Democracy

I told you this would happen. I wrote about it and it still sits on this blog, direct democracy is the coming foolishness.

The Washington Post - Iceland crowdsources its next constitution

Lets explain again what crowdsourcing means, it means no laws clear enough to be held up, it means that bureaucrats will truly rule the world and you don't want that; but, they will decide what the law means.

Tuesday and I woke up early

I am off for the week and woke up early, around 5:30. A thought on my life, does it represent you also?

Bob Seger- Turn the Page

I ask myself who helped me and I ask who I helped. Do others ask the same, do others ask if they helped me? LOL. How do you view the world, by those who helped you or those you helped?

Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead Or Alive

Those who have helped me the most in this life are all dead. My parents. I helped my ex and my children more than they ever helped me. As to my friends, they can decide; but, I have helped all my friends and they were there for me. I have spent 40 years working or going to school and working for 14 hours a day, sleeping 8. That gave me 2 hours a day for myself, I have more now.

I will make a bet, I bet next year is ever worse and weirder than this year. What does it all mean? How would I know? What does it mean to you if next year is good or bad, how will you even know the difference without a decade or two to understand it? Peace.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas all. I have a few days off and intend to sleep as much as possible.

Thank You For Following This Blog

As Christmas approaches and the year finally ends I wish to send seasons greetings to all who read this blog and even to those who do not. I have three unpublished posts over the past week and will consider finalizing them. Tomorrow, on Christmas Eve, I have said that I will do something for the family of my childhood sweetheart that passed away. After that I will celebrate the season with a nice dinner with a friend. I hope you all have a friend or family to share this time with.

This last year has seen a lot of closing doors for me. I put my old life away or it put itself away. I lost my last aunt, my childhood sweetheart and a respected and valued friend and business associate. I lost my house and most of my possessions are gone. I made new friends and have found a new place to live that suits me just fine.

I will make some predictions about the coming year. I expect my life to get better as I continue to heal from my past. I expect the world to get crazier and I expect a failure of many currencies, I expect more natural disasters and I expect that we will survive 2012. We do that, we survive as there is still more to learn.

OSBI and Pastor Carol Daniels

Please excuse me for my stupidity. Someone posted a comment on my blog regarding Pastor Carol Daniels and it made me think. I know I have received the most hits because of my post about her and it didn't occur to me to post how to contact the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Should anyone have any information regarding Pastor Daniels death, please contact the OSBI. Here is a link to the unsolved cases webpage.

Unsolved Cases

If you scroll down their page you will find her listed. You may also call them at 1-800-522-8017.

I know more that a few people found my site through the websleuths website. Who knows, maybe they will have some thoughts that the police should consider.

I still plan on making a post tonight; but, I thought I should provide this information first. Many of us know that if a case is not solved within 72 hours, the odds of solving it at all go down dramatically; however, a few years back a serial killer known as BTK was caught after 40 years. Never give up hope, the truth has a way of finding it's own way out. Peace.

The Super Memory Happy, Happy, Pill.

I have written on this subject before. Turns out that science has built a better mouse that can quickly avoid the trap. Scientists have found a chemical that can help mice to recover from Alzheimer's Disease. I bet the guy that developed gives it to his kids so that they do better in school once he is sure it is safe. What would people pay for that pill if it meant they could do better in their job? Cookie opportunities.

Passings

Last week I was asked by the Pastor that I work with to speak at a funeral today as he was unable to make it. Having spoken at numerous funerals, this was okay with me. It was a Hispanic funeral, I speak practically no Spanish; but I was assured that they all did. Nope, better than half of the service was in Spanish. A friend of mine gave me rough translations.

Things went well at the service and it turned out that I did not need to speak, so I was really more there for the family. I didn't know any of them; but, had the opportunity to. A very nice family. The father had passed away and he seems to have been one of those old school Mexicans. Low paid for life, break his back and take care of his family. The words that I heard over and over being used about this man was that he was honest, hard working and patient. He was also very much in love with the Lord. The whole family love God.

I spoke to one of the grandsons, a very pleasant and mannered young man who also happens to play music. He asked me if it was okay to be in a band that was not associated with church. Of course my answer was that it was fine, just watch the lyrics. They kept referring to me as Pastor Pimpernel and I kept asking them to just call me Pimpernel. I also don't like to be called Doctor Pimpernel.

I saw a 30 something man speak about his father, I saw his sisters speak. They all respected their father and they all talked about the values that he left them and that they live. I thought of my father and mother and the values that they left me. I thought about my children and the values that I have tried to leave them and live. I told my children to not lie, cheat or steal and I do not do so.

A passing is a time to look back and look forward at the same time. Look back at what the event or person meant to you, how it effected your beliefs or actions. Look forward to what you will leave as your legacy. For me, I think I leave a pretty good legacy, I leave my children and all those whose lives I have impacted. I try to have a positive impact on a daily basis, it is for God to decide if I was successful.

This passing comes days before Christmas. While the symbology used at Christmas was originally pagan, the Christian re-interpretation is about one of birth. Birth is a new beginning; but, it is also a passing from what was. Some passing's are the result of us growing up, others are the result of us not learning and missing an opportunity to grow.

Three deaths in two months. Each effected me in a unique way and my relationship with the people was pretty wide. All the way from my childhood sweetheart to somebody I didn't know at all. I will have another passing soon and I am not sure what I think of it. Let us say that I have gone through a life and awareness experience for almost the past three years. The past six years have seen a change in every aspect of my life. Now things are stabilizing and I am acquiring a new sense of normalcy (we shall see how long that lasts, lol).

As the craziness of the past departs and as I find a new sense of calm I am now starting to be able to put some context on all of it. It began with me losing most of my family and friends, too many to count. They died and left me behind. Then I was faced with a series of health issues and finally I was faced with divorce and losing everything I spent my life working for in order to take care of my family. In the last ten months or so I began my new life, in a new city and with new friends.

While the last few years have been incredibly stressful (with the stress causing me permanent visual damage), it also had lots of exciting new things for me. I went white water rafting, I drove to Portland and met up with a bunch of people I only knew from the internet and I even began preaching. As my old life passed, I was busy forming my new life, making choices for what I would and would not pursue. I dated and then stopped, I had never thought that I would date again in my life. I found out that there are women who actually enjoy my company and who were very interesting to listen to, I enjoyed dating.

A passing is an opportunity to put old things away and pick up new things. It can be a chance to upgrade. I choose to upgrade. Most might not see it that way, they might see losing a half million dollars, your home and your possessions as a downgrade; but, it wasn't for me. As for the divorce, I did not lose anything, another chose to leave and there is nothing we can do or that we should do to deny another their free will. It is okay to attempt to discuss such matters; but, in the end we all make our choices.

Some might say that they thought I should have gone through my trials better; but, none would say that I could not have done a whole lot worse. In the end I am still standing and that is a good spot. I have grieved the past as we all should or we miss out on this very human experience that we call life. Now I will spend more time contemplating what I am creating, the next part of my journey.

Here is the thing about passings, they are just new beginnings if we let them be. We take from the past; but, some opportunities that we once had will not open up again because others have also gone through their passages. After a passing, the world is a new landscape, new choices and new beginnings; but, we take with us what we have learned on our journey and should go forth in hope. We may not be perfect; but, we can learn and make things better. Peace.

Nothing Going on in my Head

Sorry for not posting. I am officially brain dead. I have read the news; but, don't really have much to add to it. Kim June Il died. It means nothing, his son is taking over. Newt Gingrich apparently said that if he were president he would have judges who disagreed with him arrested. Is this guy insane or does he just not care? Who would vote for anyone who said such a thing?

Well, at least the year is almost over though I fear next year will be worse for most people. I recently was told that an old co-worker had moved to Wyoming to avoid what he perceived to be of the world coming apart. He isn't even a Christian as far as I know. I absolutely do not believe the world will end next year. Sorry I don't buy any of what is being pushed.

I look back at this year and say good riddance. Best part of this year was moving to my new apartment. I plan on making some change next year. I plan to pay off the last of the credit cards for one. I also am considering dating again. Personally I like petite women and they will have to be over 40 by a bit. I am very unsure of what type of person I am looking for; but, at a minimum they must be Christian. I think it is important to agree on fundamentals.

I am also thinking about retirement more. I am thinking that when I retire I might just disappear for a year or so. Just wander off and spend some time alone. I am just rambling, I have no idea what I am going to do and I don't know that it matters.

Sorry, not much to say as I have been too busy

Today was utter insanity as far as the Pimpernel goes, busy, overloaded, too many people with too many needs. I read some of the news, I retain nothing. LOL. I am one burnt out old Pimpernel and you will get no valuable post from me tonight.

For those who are foolish enough to worry about me, there is never a need. Good friends and loving family are around me and I appreciate everyone of them. This old fart is still valued and my opinions are still listened too by those who value them. I am in a really great place in my head and my heart.

My life has been an odd journey to say the least. Over the past few years I have blessed by seeing how many people appreciated what I did for them and it is many. We all go through things, we all make mistakes; but, some of us learn from them and payback is the best. Not paying back harm, paying back for the help we have received along the way.

Too much going on, be well.

Too Many Things Going On at Once Today

I had to deal with the insurance company that the person who hit my car uses. They were really good about it; but, many calls and now I have to take my car to an adjuster, body shop and whatever else. Then I had a meeting and way too many calls from too many people. After that two hours working on church business. It was all good and it was all too much. Truth is I haven't had a chance to really read the news.

A few days ago I saw the following on YouTube - Occupy Melbourne Tent Monsters

It was a kind of sweet and playful protest making fun of the restrictions placed on protesters in Australia. Then I saw this today.

Occupy Melbourne Protestor violently stripped by MCC & Vic Police

When they first saw the tents being worn as clothes the police were confused and left. When they came back they took the tents off the people leaving them in just their underwear. What do you think of that? What do you think of the fact that protesters in the west are treated little better than those in Arabia? Does it make you feel proud to live in a democracy? For those who like to justify everything done by people in uniforms, if it was illegal to be in a tent and that was determined to be a tent then they should have arrested her wearing the tent, not stripped her and leave her there naked. They didn't know what to do, the cops did not have a clue as to what was the RIGHT thing to do because they stopped thinking as humans.

I don't believe in direct democracy, I believe in representative democracy that has the proper structure and not allowing the rich to have more influence on government than anyone else. I do believe we should have a system that has people in authority, it is needed in every organization; but, the people directing the use of authority and exercising it must understand right from wrong.

How did we get to a place where the Constitution is meaningless and the people we hire to protect us, instead prevent us from exercising our rights? When you saw the second video, did you take into consideration what the Occupy movement is protesting in deciding if what the cops did war right? You shouldn't, it is not about that. I would no more condone the public stripping of a Tea Partier, Republican, Democrat or Occupier. What does it matter what they are protesting, is it okay to abuse some more than others based on what they are protesting?

I spoke to an older woman today. A friend of mine introduced while we were waiting to have our church meeting. He reads this blog and he will know that I am talking about him. A very nice man and loves the Lord, he is also a big supporter of my writing and I appreciate that. Anyways, this lady was very sharp. She had learned the language of politicians and the media, she had worked for someone who understood the theater that is put before us in order to achieve a result.

She and I had never spoke before and she had never read my blog, she had no idea who or what I was. She said that she thought that what was going on in the economy was staged in order to make a worldwide economic order. She had worked for someone who was involved with legislators and knew the game, she didn't know how it was done, what she understood was that everything big is staged, especially in politics and the economy.

We get older and we don't have the energy to read 80 news sources a day anymore. We get to a point where we have seen so much that everything filters automatically and is understood in it's own language. It is a language of theater and that is how the masses are led. It was not designed to lead people, it was designed to explain what was going on and why. Diplomacy was meant to find consensus not lead the discussion, it was meant to explain and not to manipulate because at that point it becomes undemocratic.

My dear friend that used to work for me and has gone on to prove that he has no competition, I taught him how to understand the conversation. I take this blog seriously because it is my hope that others learn to read the signs. This blog was never intended to last long, I have killed the first two iterations of it and have said that I will not do so again. I originally did that because I discovered that people were interested in what happened to the good Pastor Daniels and many came here to read what I wrote about her. While that is a sufficient reason to keep the blog up, it is not a reason to keep writing about other things. I will keep writing as long as people are reading because maybe others will learn to see what I see.

I should say that they don't have to agree with my opinions or conclusions, just look at the world and what you are told in a bigger way. That is why I keep writing and reading. A lonely voice in the wilderness calling out to but a few. There are relatively few that read this blog regularly, no millions of hits a day and it was never intended to be such a thing. Just like me, it was supposed to have a shelf life. Somehow this nasty bit of writing has become more, at least for a few and that is enough.

I will throw something out there. The Iranians "captured" a US drone and they didn't shoot it down. They claim that they had over-ridden it. I have a problem with that. They also claim that they are going to back engineer and mass produce them. I have a problem with that also. It is a story, the Iranians might believe it; but, I know better, it doesn't fit. That drone would have a dead man switch and destroyed itself first. In addition, I don't see that the Iranians could have taken command of the drone when the Iraqi's did not do so when we flew them over Iraq.

It is possible that I am wrong; however, when you read the news you should stop and ask if what you are being told makes sense and not just accept it. Lost my train of thought. Peace.

Vernon, I know this answer and it is a SCAM

L.A. Times - Vernon agreed to pay $60 million to avoid disincorporation

Lets see if little Pimpernel has any mental abilities left. Now, the LA Times has reported that the City of Vernon had agreed to gift $60 million to surrounding small cities in exchange for being allowed to remain a city. Well that in and of itself is disgusting, basically a case of blackmail and bribery; but, let us think for a moment.

The City of Vernon doesn't know where it is going to get the money. I know where they are going to get the money. They are going to sell the land in Kern that they paid $60 million for. You can read about it in my earlier posts. A friend of Mayor Villaraigosa's bought the land in Kern with money supplied by public pensions. It was land that the LADWP was going to buy for about %60 million. After CIM and the Mayor's friend bought the land it made the papers and the city couldn't justify paying twice the amount that CIM paid for it and the City of Vernon bought the land without the water rights for about $60 million.

Now if the City of Los Angeles buys it from Vernon for $60 million then LADWP gets the land to put up their wind or solar farm; but, it is still not worth $60 million without the water rights. When this lie plays out I am going to refer people back to this post. Think it won't? Well consider the politics.

Los Angeles had already considered buying the land for about $60 million so nobody in Los Angeles will care. Vernon never needed the land in the first place so nobody in Vernon will care. The surrounding cities won't care because they all get bought off with money from Vernon. People in most of the state won't care because it doesn't effect them. NOBODY CARES except little Pimpernel and that is why this type of garbage will continue. When it happens come back and read all the posts tagged "pension fraud".

Getting Crazy Out There

While the mainstream media largely ignores idiots unless they claim to belong to mainstream religions, there are a lot of crazy things out there right now and way too many people claiming to be prophets or ascended masters. I just read something by another person trying to prove that they have special knowledge given from our other worldly watchers or whatever he called them. I find it amusing that the book of Revelations says that in the end times there will be many false prophets, why would the end times be filled with false prophets? If you are in the end times then what are their prophesies? To be false their prophesies must prove false.

It is a logical conundrum; but, I think I have an answer. How can one be correct about saying that we are in the end times and incorrect at the same time? It is a riddle rather than a paradox. What if saying we were in the end times was accurate; but, that your end date was wrong made you a false prophet? If the earth is still here in 2013 then how many people that claimed the world would end next year would turn out to be false prophets? All.

My readers come from all beliefs and I have a separate site dedicated to the bible, this is more of a social and psychological post. You should also consider the logic when looking at government actions, it is an approach used to distract people. If you here a boy cry wolf enough and always turn out to be wrong then when he tells the truth nobody will listen. The best way to hide a key is to put it in a room full of keys.

My father taught me something about money. When they want to teach new Treasury agents how to spot counterfeits, they begin by teaching them how real is made, they teach them about every aspect of it from the paper to the ink to the pressings. Once you know the truth, the lies cannot long deceive you.

Now, if I were to read the old testament I would notice some things about prophets. Firstly, they usually live pretty miserably. It does not generally appear to be much fun. Secondly, they rarely have a message that others like, they usually have bad news with the hope of redemption if people change their ways. The new age prophets usually promise a great awakening, free energy and knowledge from either aliens or inter-dimensional beings. The one I read tonight basically covered all these areas.

For Christians my answer remains just about as simple. Love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. That is how you are ready for your end time regardless of what brings it about. Odds are that it will be a car wreck. Whether it is the end of the world or a car wreck, for you it will not matter. Speaking of car wrecks, a television producer backed into my car while I was stopped. I love living in Los Angeles.

Last Friday I was headed to a workplace and stopped to get coffee. I got my coffee, returned to my car and was leaving. The person in front of me pulled forward and made a left and then stopped, I followed and stopped. He then backed up about 25 feet and ran right into my front drivers door. He t-boned me in reverse while I was stopped. Oh, I hit the horn to warn him; but, it didn't do any good. Sometimes you can see what is coming; but, you cannot do anything about it. Maybe it is the same with the end of the world and maybe that is why we shouldn't know the time and the day.

If I had known that someone would have hit my car, I would not have gotten coffee there, I would have gotten it some place else. If I knew in advance what was going to happen then it would impact my free will. Prophets of God give up a part of their free will because they do as they are told, they do it for the love of others; but, they still do give up some degree of free will. I like my free will and I don't need to know exactly when my life will end.

As for the end of the world, I don't know the day or the hour. Will it come, yep. The dinosaurs all died and other planets have died. Ours will too. The material world is but a transient being, nothing material lasts forever. Peace and be well.

Felt Pretty Weak for a Moment

I will try and finish this post; but, for no apparent reason I had an eye ache that led to a headache that led to me being nauseous. I felt fine all day and it hit me when I took a relative to dinner. I had to bring my dinner home and end the night early. I am feeling a little better now, just one of those things and as a result my writing may not be up to snuff.

I may just be some random blogger; but, I really take pride in knowing that people that read my blog will come away being aware of things that most people are not. I am blessed with having the time to read numerous news articles on a daily basis and pull out the one or two things that I think are the most important and might otherwise be overlooked. It is sort of like being the secretary who goes through and summarizes the news for her boss. I know secretaries can be men, mine was.

I was reading about the UN conference in South Africa that is going on. They want to declare the earth a person, I think I wrote about that over a year ago. They are also demanding an end to war because of the carbon emissions. That my dearest readers is true insanity. It means that carbon emissions are more important that human beings. Any person with any sense would like to see and end to war because of the impact to people.

Oh, they are also calling for the creation of a world court to prosecute people and nations for their impact on the environment. In other worlds a court that supersedes the courts of your country. I had stopped writing and was reading the papers and I just found an article saying that they passed the resolution.

Associated Press - Climate conference approves landmark deal

What was the top news story of the night, the Presidential debates and it is reported just like it mattered. I mean, just like a baseball game. Who's on first, What's on second, I don't know, third base. Just like the old comedy sketch.

The other story that is getting some play in limited release is the fact that the congress passed a bill that allows Americans to be detained without trial by the military in the United States. Doesn't this all sound more and more like a bad fiction novel? I mean really, first the Patriot Act, all these give away schemes by the Federal Reserve to the tune of trillions and now this nonsense. When were we taught that you didn't have a Constitutional right to a trial by your peers?

I forgot something, tens of thousands of protesters were in Russia calling for Putin to leave. As bad as the United States police have become, the ones in Russia are even worse. The Russians believe their elections were rigged and according to a former Soviet President, he thinks so too.

I forgot something else, a government contractor is seeking companies to work with it to provide medicine, food and other items should it need them to house untold numbers of American in camps. Huh? Now, I don't care what is anticipated, natural disaster because of solar flares, riots because of the collapse of the economy or some pandemic. It really does not matter to me; but, it is pretty obvious that our government is preparing for something.

BREAK IN WRITING

Sorry, had to step away mentally for a minute. I just read that there were three earthquakes in Mexico in the last day that exceeded 6 on the Richter scale. That is a lot, we should all pray for them. One of the nice things about living in the Los
Angeles area is that we made building codes that forced people to build with earthquakes in mind. We are not immune from earthquakes; but, have buildings that anticipate them. That is a good analogy for how we should live our lives.

Lost my train of thought again. Be well.

Jerry Reed and some others

A musical interlude

Jerry Reed "Amos Moses"

Jerry Reed "When You're Hot You're hot"

Jerry Reed East Bound And Down

Vanishing point (1971) soundtrack,Kim Carnes-Nobody knows

The Mayor and a Letter

There is a letter circulating from Mayor Villaraigosa regarding the recent payment of $1.2 million to the ex-head of the Housing Authority. On Tuesday the L.A. Times reported that the Mayor said that he was unaware of the payment. While I may have personal doubts about that, the letter that people are now saying proves the Mayor lied was written yesterday. Now, obviously he knew about it by Thursday; therefore, the letter does not prove the Mayor knew in advance nor what he may or may not have known.

There is a blogger that I usually like named Ron Kaye and I recommend people read his writings; however, in this case I think he went to far in calling the Mayor a liar without more proof then he offered. Mr. Kaye was an editor of the L.A. Daily News and his words could certainly influence other people's opinions; therefore, I think a little more restraint is needed.

I want to talk for a minute about writing on the internet. Those who read my ramblings know a couple of things. Firstly, I attribute my sources and give links to the original articles. I do that so that people can make a decision for themselves. Secondly, I do not claim to be a reporter (and recently an internet blogger was sued and lost when she libeled someone without proof), I write my "opinions" and discuss my take on things.

The internet is a wonderful place to express ideas and exchange information; but, there is also a need to take some responsibility and give other people their due respect. I don't like the President and I didn't like the last two presidents; but, if you read my posts where I mention him I refer to him as either the President or Mr. Obama or President Obama. I do that because he deserves to be treated as such even by a lowly blogger like me.

When I was going through my divorce and afterwards I was very angry with my ex-wife; but, I have never given her name or my name on this blog. I haven't done it because it would be wrong. The readers either know me in person and what occurred or they have no idea of who she and I are. When I hear about people creating websites or posting on their blog about their ex and giving their name or address or other personal information I am in complete disagreement with them.

If blogs and twitter and facebook are going to continue being meaningful, people need to restrain themselves from using street talk insults and making accusations without firm facts to back them up. In my discussions about the pension problems I have made sure that numerous sources were quoted and have questioned many people's actions; but, I differentiate between proven allegations and speculation. Just because I believe someone is a crook does not mean that I should say that they are.

Peace.

Housing Authority Bonus More Expensive than Occupy LA

Across the nation we were told how the Occupy movement cost $13 million in city costs. In Los Angeles we were told it might go as high as a million of a couple hundred thousand. We were told how the taxpayers were angry at the Occupiers. Here is something to be even more angry about.

LA Times - Villaraigosa didn't know about agency chief's payout, aide says

The man who headed the Housing Authority was fired and there were many complaints about money that he spent on travel. The punishment was that he was just awarded $1.2 million for leaving. That is more than what was spent on months of the Occupy LA movement to someone that just got fired and this goes on all the time for the people who are political appointees.

One might also consider the case of the rise in the costs of electricity and water at the LADWP that will result in Los Angelenos paying hundreds of millions in additional costs during a recession. These are the things that the Occupy movement were complaining about and that is why they had to be removed.

L.A. Daily News - Board backs `desperately needed' water-rate increase

Why didn't anyone tell the ex-head of the housing authority to stop whining, take a bath and get a job? Why didn't the media compare the two events? Nope, they come out and report that the Mayor was out of town and didn't know. Do you really believe that?

We don't need to agree on the solutions to the problems in government; but, we better begin agreeing on what the problems are in the government and in business and banking or nothing is going to get better. Don't call people whiners or lazy when they speak up because there is no work. Both the Tea Party and the Occupiers know what we all know, the system is rigged so that the insiders win and the rest of us get taken advantage of. It is not government employees that write the laws, it is lobbyists and your politicians, not bureaucrats, politicians and lobbyist direct the laws.

Maybe some people still don't get it. Forbes - Wiping Out Millions of Jobs is the Whole Darn Point

In short the writer for the magazine by and for millionaires asks why we should have more jobs than we need. He completely forgets about people because he doesn't care. A quote from the article, "For this is what we're actually hoping to do: destroy millions of jobs and thus get retailing done with less resources, with the use of less labour."

A couple of questions for the author Tim Worstall. Firstly, who is the "we" that you refer to that actually hope to eliminate jobs? Secondly, why do you think we created commerce and business, to give money to a few or to find productive ways to spend our time to benefit society? You are a douche bag sir. You also completely ignore why we automated, it was not to leave millions unemployed the claim was that it would give people more free time in order to pursue intellectual and spiritual purpose. Tough to do that when you are living on the street and hungry. Finally, you forget a very important lesson in history, it is about when civilizations fail. It occurs when they are the most efficient because there is no room for error and everyone eventually makes one.

According to Mr. Worstall, I find it ironic that Polly Toynbee called you a pendant. I would love to know if she was related to the great historian, Arnold Toynbee. He would disagree with you. So, what does Mr. Worstall think we should do with the excess labor, he doesn't outline how they should be treated or what they should be provided with. Do they just become excess humans, do they cease having meaning when you cannot make money off them?

The purpose of life is not to find out who can win the most toys or cheat the best. The purpose of life is to see how far we as humans can go without being genetically or technologically modified for the sake of commerce. The purpose of life is not to make things nice for a few; but, to make life better for all. To make a better world. Now that may involve people being rewarded differently; but, not the reduction in the number of people.

There is a concept called the singularity, it is about when machine surpasses man in intelligence. For many who are very wealthy, the same applies to humans. It is the point at which we don't need as many of them to remain wealthy at the top because automation can make things for us.

After the baby boom in the 40s and 50s the hippie generation of the 60s forced change. It scared the powers of the world because the hippies took charge and protested and got change. Right after the 60s, the world was terrorized with the threat of overpopulation. We were told that by the year 2,000 that the world would be out of food and clean water and a whole bunch of nonsense. Who funded these studies, while one of the biggest was the Rockefeller family. It was determined that there were too many people because they were taking charge and changing the world the way they wanted. Everything you are seeing happen in the world today was intended and planned. The term used in 1971 was "Population Stabilization" and it called for population control, restrictions on mobility and an elimination of all barriers between people.

I have linked to these reports in the past on this blog and don't feel like looking for them again, check the older posts. The links were to their own websites. Ask what you can do for society and what society can do for you. Kennedy was wrong. I could give everything for my country; but, there must be a payback unless I choose to give more freely, otherwise we benefit the wrong people. When I give my time for free it is not so that one person can benefit at the expense of everyone else. Especially not someone I don't know who is stealing from all of us. That is not why people give to charity.

If you want to understand the world you have to think about people first. We are not here for the rock that we live on, it is here for us. People matter more than rocks. Do not be blinded to the fact that we matter and are special, we are the self-awareness of the universe that is capable of understanding purpose and how this place all works. The rock that we live on cannot understand us, it is not self aware without us on it.

We all have to stop saying that "those" people don't matter, we all matter. We have to stop calling people drags on society, we have to start cherishing each other because that type of thinking is what leads to the type of thinking that only takes care of their own and takes advantage of everyone else.

Update to Post about Freedom of Assembly

Apparently, the Supreme Court has refused to take the case of the church that rented space at a New York city school. This mean that the decision by the Court of Appeals is currently the law of the land.

Fox News - Court: NYC Can Ban Churches From School Buildings

While I don't think that churches should want to meet in government owned buildings, they should at least be treated the same as any other group. What is most interesting was the courts statement that, "Bronx Household acknowledges that it excludes persons not baptized, as well as persons who have been excommunicated or who advocate the Islamic religion, from full participation in its services." The article said that the judge took acceptance that the church didn't allow Muslims or people who were not baptized in it's services.

Go back to the post about freedom of assembly and read what I wrote. This is not about religion although that is the biggest target, this is about your right to get together with people who believe as you do without allowing in people who disagree with you, the heart of freedom of association.

It is a scam - foreign currency tax

The Washington Examiner - Report: Obama, UN to tax US for Green Climate Fund


Basically the article says that the President wants to put a tax on every currency exchange. Lets say you go to England and exchange dollars for euros, you would get taxed to pay for climate change and the money would go to the United Nations. What is interesting is that this would come up now just as the Federal Reserve is flooding foreign banks with dollars, I wonder if there is a connection.

What is True Freedom of Assembly?

Do you have the right to freedom of assembly and association? I don't like racists; but, does the Klu Klux Klan have the right to refuse to have black members? Recently, the congregation of a church in Kentucky voted to not allow interracial couples in their church. Aside from the fact that their decision violated their own by-laws and that it is stupid and unloving, shouldn't they have the right to decide for themselves who is and is not allowed in their church?

When I was a very young child we still had segregation in the United States. Restaurants and stores and other businesses used to prohibit blacks from going inside. Laws were changed and that type of segregation was outlawed. The theory used to stop businesses from discriminating was that it impinged on trade, on commerce. Lets look at a variation on this, should a Satanist store or church be allowed to keep Christians out? The flip side is should a Christian church be allowed to keep out Satanists.

It is Sunday and I am not teaching tonight. I am not teaching tonight because a group of young Christian wanted to hold a prayer vigil at the church where we rent some space. The churches response was to lock up the church doors and keep the kids out. I guess they didn't want to be "occupied" by believers.

The issue, as was explained to me, was that the kids wanted someone to preach with a more conservative voice. The church (and we are not a part of it, we just rent http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifspace) that owns the building has allowed Wiccans and Muslims an Jews to all participate in services; but, rejected conservative Christians.

We are entering a very dangerous time for Christianity and Christians. We are going to continue to see churches come under attack for taking a position on things such as abortion, homosexuality, per-marital sex and anything that is not popular. Small examples such as the one I mentioned will be used to condemn whole churches. If you read this story, you will see that the story was not as simple as it was portrayed.

Kentucky.com - Pastor of Pike Co. church calls for new vote on accepting interracial couples as members

Apparently, the denomination involved was a leader in championing the end to slavery in the 1800s. The issue itself was also apparently raised by a prior pastor at the church and not by the current pastor who sought to reverse the vote. Yet, none of that mattered to the people who reported the incident. I think I should put out a video called "Pastors Gone Wild", it would sell like hotcakes.

We are seeing the media highlight the dumbest preachers and ignore churches that are actually helping people. A small church in Kentucky did not deserve to make the international news, the issue wasn't what the church did, the issue was what rights do churches have to decide who can be a member.

I am going to link to two videos regarding the Occupy movement and explain a little more.

Youtube - Occupy Melbourne Tent Monsters

Occupy the Bronx - NYPD Wrongfully Arrested Participants of Occupy The Bronx Festivities

In the first video we see what appears to be a number of tents in Melbourne as part of the Occupy Melbourne movement. The intrepid police swoop down to remove and arrest; but, it turns out that people are wearing the tents and they just get up and start running around. The police are completely baffled and wander away.

The second video is a little more disturbing. It takes place in the bronx where some people were standing in solidarity with others who had lost a urban farm. The officer in charge told the other officers that the moment someone stopped walking they should be arrested for blocking the sidewalk.

Now there is a good chance that the members of the church in Kentucky that voted against interracial couples are probably not big supporters of the Occupy movement; but, their rights are intertwined. We either have the right to assemble and decide who we associate with or we do not.

What we are seeing across the whole world, including the "western democracies" is a clamp down on your freedom of assembly and association. It begins by making a big deal about small events that are clearly distasteful and hateful. Laws are enacted to deal with these anomalous events and then they are used against all protest.

The Occupy movement is worldwide and it is more disturbing to the people in power because when they gather it shows just how many people do feel the same way. It is disturbing to the status quo because it is leaderless and therefore cannot be easily manipulated. Many police have overreacted because they want peace and quiet, they want order. They have been brainwashed to believe that peace is more important that the constitution.

Freedom of assembly doesn't just exist for "official" organizations, it is an individual right that we all have. Not long ago a family in Orange County was fined and cited for holding church services in their home. Lets see, you cannot meet in public spaces and you cannot meet in your home, where can people meet? You have to buy or rent a space and incorporate to get any respect it seems.

When you read the newpaper or watch the news pay attention to how these assemblies are portrayed. No matter where in the western world these protests take place they are portrayed in the exact same way. The protesters are portrayed as selfish children who don't have a clear message and need to get a job. Ignore the fact that most are employed or students who are complaining that they are going to be the ones who have to pay for the corrupt system that rewards the wealthy and penalizes the average person.

Rather than worrying about whether or not people support the system, rather than worrying about whether or not you agree with any group, we better support each others right to assemble or it to will be gone.

UPDATE:

After I posted this I came across another news article. Apparently, in New York the schools are able to rent out space for meetings. They even allow you to rent space for religious groups; but, you cannot worship there. You can pray, you can sing, you can teach and you can discuss; but, you cannot worship. Well, some of the space was being used for their church services and the school and them are before the supreme court trying to get a decision.

What happens if the supreme court decides that any religious expression makes it a church? What happens then, how does that effect other laws and the right to assemble? This is no joke and has serious implications. The court might decide that the definitions were too vague and that you can only prohibit actions and not beliefs or intent. That would also be used against churches.

I do not believe that churches should have any business with government. I would not agree with a church that rents space from the government, take money from the government or attempt to effect elections. I have gotten off track.

It is our freedom of assembly and association that is under attack. It is under attack because your government fears you, it fears that you don't trust it and will not willingly do as you are told. I have said many times that I am a pacifist and I do not support mob violence; but, I support people's right to assemble, discuss and just enjoy each others presence.

Huffington Post - Bronx Household Of Faith Awaits Supreme Court Decision Over Worship Services In Public School

I have Sunday off - Lets talk about the Post Office

The U.S. Post Office is going away. For hundreds of years the postal service has allowed Americans to securely communicate and pay bills; but, because of costs it is now delaying mail delivery. It is a minor delay, one or two extra days; but, the impact will be tremendous. If I have to pay fees for late payments then it will drive people to use the internet and online banking.

Here is the thing about the internet, your e-mails and payments are not protected under your right to privacy. I have written about this before; but, wanted to update as service will begin slowing very soon.

NPR - Postal Cuts To Slow First-Class Mail


As mail delivery takes longer and longer, who will continue to use it? As fewer people use it, more cuts will be needed and it will become even slower. It is a death by a thousand cuts.

A Mark That is Not a Mark

I came across this article today and as I had discussed some of the issues a long time ago I thought it was worthy of posting.

Salon - Occupy protesters “branded” with UV ink.

Here are a couple of things to consider. Firstly, the protesters were marked with an invisible ink that got under their skin and Secondly, it was used to identify them. Does this not seem creepy to you? Many people are worried about a RFID chip being forced upon them and there are Christians that believe the RFID chip is the Mark of the Beast discussed in Revelations; but, I am not one of them. I am against being chipped by anyone for most reasons; but, it is not a mark.

The word used in the bible is χάραγμα charagma. It means "something graven or sculptured". It means that something is cut into or stamped on the body, not an implant. Here is the difference between an invisible mark and an RFID chip. An RFID chip can monitor you, track where you are and effect your health. A invisible (to the eye) tattoo only works when it is scanned using ultraviolet, it would be used to verify that you were you.

Given the choice between an invisible tattoo and an RFID chip being implanted in you, wish would you prefer? I think most would take the tattoo; but, that is a mark. Personally, I would not take either; but, it is interesting to consider. So why did the police brand these protesters, it should be obvious, to find them later.

Something Odd

I was checking my statistics and looking at what links led people to this site. One of the referencing sites was Facebook, I clicked the link back and found this on Facebook.

http://thetruthisinsideyou.blogspot.com/2011/11/nathalie-rothschild-and-occupy-wall.html

It is a link to a post I recently wrote that received a lot of hits. I don't have a current Facebook account and the one that I did have I never used nor did I link to this blog. I don't use Facebook; but, I am going to assume that someone that does use it linked to my post. I cannot understand who or why. Who could possibly care about that little post? Blogging is fascinating. Be well.

Why So Many Readers

I was checking my statistics for the blog and last month saw the most hits in history. I have no idea why. I am not aware of any public links to this site and only one private one. My site is not actively promoted, I have never monetized it and talk about whatever is on my mind. You could never accuse this site of being dedicated to any one thing, it is not a place to go for information regarding some hobby or interest.

They say that the world is actually 4.7 degrees of separation. That means that if you tell someone something and it is meaningful then it can spread throughout the whole world and you don't need a television or radio or even the internet to do it. If you have something to say, start a blog, comment on other blogs when appropriate. Heck, just tell people what you really think and try and be polite.

One of the statistics that really got me was the number of hits from Russia. They now make up about a fifth of all hits on this blog. When I was dating Russians always seemed to have a thing for me. LOL.

A Winter Storm and Warnings of Financial Doom

Associated Press - Central banks move to stabilize financial system

I want you to read this article and consider what it says. European, Canadian and Japanese central banks are letting commercial banks borrow U.S. Dollars. This would be like the Federal Reserve, our central bank, allow Bank of America to buy Japanese yen. The stock markets in many countries rejoiced and a good time was had by all.

Sounds great, we get to sell dollars to banks in foreign counties. We create value out of nothing. The foreign countries banks convert to the only truly internationally accepted hard currency, the dollar, which allows them greater borrowing and the ability to purchase oil, which can only be purchased with dollars.

What happens if inflation hits the U.S. Dollar? Doesn't that make all the money that these banks borrow from us worth less or possibly even worthless. Beyond that, how does giving countries which have borrowed all they can better off if they borrow even more? You also need to remember that for every dollar one of these banks borrows, they get to loan out ten. This is basically turning the dollar into a truly one world currency. We don't need to create one, we just adopted an existing one.

Did you get to vote on this, nope. Did we even hear about this prior to it being done, nope. Is there anything we can do to stop it, nope, it has already happened and not only that but the Federal Reserve doesn't have to do what the government tells it, it is a private banking reserve.

How come this isn't all over the conspiracy sites? Didn't see it on Alex Jones or Rense or David Icke. I didn't even see it on Above Top Secret. I am not recommending any of those sites to anyone, I read them to know what is being sold to their audiences. Why haven't they posted on this already, this is huge.

With this action the final seal is put on the coffin of the United States. Maybe this is why congress is about to authorize the military to arrest American citizens in America and hold them indefinitely without a trial. This is being brought to you by the same group of criminals that created the economic crisis in the first place.

What I also find odd is that we will be paid in the foreign nations currency. This basically means that each countries currency directly and immediately effects the value of the other nations currency. Lets say that today one dollar is worth two yen. Okay, you borrow a dollar and you give me two yen. Simple enough. Next week, the yen drops and it is three yen for one dollar. I lent you the only dollar that I had and you lent me the only yens that you had. For this to work, we have to keep our currencies valuation at about the same rate till all debts are paid off.

Even if you do not understand the intricacies that can result from this, doesn't it just hit you as odd? Would you like your bank to borrow foreign currency? Now lets consider how this could benefit someone. What if they create an international stock exchange where you can buy stock in any country using any countries currency. Now that makes for a truly global economy, a one world economy.

Silly Rabbit, Don't Go Down That Hole

People seem to enjoy making bad decisions. Two articles that I read today really highlight this. The first one is about teaching through crowd sourcing techniques and the second is very scary. Seems a scientist took the bird flu and modified it so that it was capable of killing half of the people on earth.

Doctor Tipster - Dutch Researcher Created A Super-Influenza Virus With The Potential To Kill Millions

What reasonable person would create a flu that is capable of killing half of the people on earth? In the book "Faust" by Goethe there is a scientist who creates a little human man. The little man is constantly causing the scientist trouble and Faust asks the scientist why he created the little man in the first place. The explanation was that he wanted to see if he could. That is poor logic when it comes to putting others at risk.

The Globe and Mail - Physicist's crowd-sourcing philosophy gains traction in the classroom

Basically the article is promoting group think or at least that is what we used to call it. I have written about crowd sourcing before, in teaching situations I consider it pure poison. The fact that ten people might come to a good conclusion does not mean that they learned much individually. Let me try it this way, I understand how subtraction works and you understand how multiplication works, we can together arrive at the answer to some math problems; but, neither of us learned anything more, we just used what we already knew.

Working collaboratively has great value, consider the things that we have built that could not be done alone; however, the byproduct of compartmentalization and specialization is the inability of anyone to understand how things fit together, to understand the big picture and consequences of our actions. That sort of brings me back to the first article, the scientist created a thing that has dangerous consequences because he was more concerned about what he was capable rather than understanding that what he was doing was dangerous with little to no value.

Two sides of the same coin, two extremes. The truth is that some of us know more than others; but, all of us are part of a greater community. Not everyone is going to understand quantum physics, be able to create great art, find the deepest philosophical understanding or reach the limits of our human potential because each persons potential is unique to them. At the same time, our duty to the community should keep us from thinking just about us and when we impact the community in too extreme a manner without a valid reason then the community should censor us.

The problem is not one of individual freedom nor is it one of societal dictatorship, it is about reasonableness and balancing both. As we head towards a world where because of technology anyone will be able to bio-engineer something that can kill everyone on earth we need to seriously consider how we will limit these technologies and to do that we need to understand their consequences, it requires wisdom and groups do not exhibit wisdom because that is more comprehensive.

The internet has given us the opportunity to tap into the knowledge base of people worldwide and find new solutions and come to a greater understanding of one another. In the end though, there must still be the individual and he must also be allowed to flourish. We cannot advance society by holding back the individual's search for meaning and we do not have a society worth living in if we restrict variety; but, that does not mean anything goes.

Our national representatives have sold us out (seems completely unrelated doesn't it). Currently congress is considering passing a bill called Senate Bill 1867. This bill would allow the military to imprison Americans without trial indefinitely. This is prohibited by the Constitution as we have a right to go before a judge and have a trial by a jury. The "Patriot Act" denied these rights to foreign citizens and this bill would deny those rights to American citizens if the government so chose.

Theoretically, the relevant language is intended to catch "terrorists", presumably so they do not become the dreaded "terrorrizer guys", the modern day equivalent of the boogeyman. The changes in our laws and the outright rejection of the constitution as the law of the land has happened because people failed to pay attention to what was going on. A few have been telling people about the erosion of our basic liberties for years; but, none listened until all could see. The people we should listen to are not the people who control the world; but, instead the people who can and will honestly explain what is going on. The world needs outliers, those who are unique because they bring a perspective that no group ever would.

I am absolutely exhausted and would have preferred to have discussed these articles at another time; but, I didn't want my readers to miss them. Not my greatest post by any stretch; but, things to consider. More important that either of the articles is the question of the relationship of rights and responsibilities within society, the relationship between the individual and the group, both matter.

To New Readers

I have seen an amazing amount of new readers. While I don't know exactly what to make of it, especially the rise in views from Russia, welcome. Look around, read my oldest posts and anything in between. Don't know how you got here or what you expect and it doesn't really matter, I say what I feel when I think it.

Please feel free to post comments either with your login or anonymously. The site is not monetized, identifies it's quotes and gives attributes it's links. There is no reason to agree with everything I write, much is meant to raise questions more than provide answers. I am much more about discussing perspective than proving how others should think, I didn't live your life and only know what I have learned.

This site is not about telling you the truth, it is about raising questions and providing scenarios to consider. Some of my hypotheticals are very complicated and created in conjunction with others. Others are spur of the moment. It really doesn't matter. The issue for others is not if I am right or wrong, it is whether or not you have fully explored the possibilities, we never can, yet, we can expand on what those possibilities are. In the end, only you know what your truth is, the one that is inside of you. Be well.

Busy Weekend

At the last minute I had to leave my house on Friday, drive about 150 miles and give some advice and spend some time with a relative of mine. I came back today just in time to finish a sermon that someone had to come in and begin at the last minute because of my being delayed.

I haven't even finished eating my sandwich and that is all that I have had all day along with some water and a cup of coffee. After service we had a half out meeting and then rush off home. Got here and tried to catch up on the news. My brain is frazzled and I feel rushed because I feel how little time I have before I have to sleep. Had a great time; but, I love coming home.

I am not really big on travel anymore; haven't been for awhile. I love where I live and sitting at my little table, just reading and writing. I like the tranquility and quiet, I have had too much turmoil and noise the last few years. Still, we find reasons that we have to travel on occasion and should enjoy it when we do. I just know that coming home is even more fun than traveling.

Anyways, over the last few days my relative and I were discussing politics, the what and how of it and what the proper approach is to it. I kept re-iterating the concept of the representative and defining what it meant. To go straight from that to discussing the concept of the hope within you is interesting.

I said that if you are a Christian than the bible says that we should always have an answer for the hope that lies within us. That is generally used to refer to our salvation and it does; but, as Christians we should have more hope than just our salvation if we are to love others as ourselves it would be for salvation for all. That is real hope.

The hope within us should include our believing that God makes everything work to his plan. We should look at everything to see how it can be used to help, learn from, know to avoid, whatever. We should eek the good out of every bad situation, not deny it was bad; but, find a way to learn from it our use it to help others.

Supposedly tonight at 12:01 the police are going to remove people from the park surrounding L.A. City Hall. I wonder if it will go peacefully or if the police will use force and then we can read in the papers how a confrontation occurred at Occupy L.A., then again, what if they do leave and no use of force is needed. What would that say. There is a man named Ron Kaye, in general I like what he has to say; but, he is being a bit of a weasel right now. He referred to the protesters are the red rabble and now is saying that he things they should force a confrontation.

I have always considered Mr. Kaye to be a progressive and supporter of "good government" and cannot understand why neither the left, the right, the progressives or the Tea Party can find any agreement with the Occupy movement. I believe it is because they have been unable to utilize them for their own political ends.

My relative plans on running for office. My advice was simple, don't let any supporters change your message just to get elected. Run on your ideas and if people elect you then do what you said you would do because if they vote for you they are saying that your ideas represent them.

My prayer is that nobody gets hurt tonight and that all ends peacefully in Los Angeles. I hope all of us find some peace this week and find ways to help one another rather than lead one another or harm one another. Be well.

L.A. to Evict the Occupiers

According to reports Los Angeles plans on removing the Occupy LA protesters on Monday. What will this look like? Will it involve the police using batons and pepper spray or will it be peaceful? I guess we will see, lets hope it is peaceful.

Don't Ever Count Me Out

So many people have made the mistake of counting me out, thinking that I will give up. It won't happen, it has not happened. Thanksgiving is about appreciating what we have and I have me. I hope you have you. Be well.

Happy Thanksgiving

Easter and Christmas are for children. Neither holiday is about God, at least not how they are celebrated. Thanksgiving is the best holiday for Christians, it is about saying than you God for all that we have. Life is much better than eternal silence and separation from God and it only gets better.

In the last month I lost a very good friend that always challenged me and helped me to grow and my childhood sweetheart. I also learned that one of my loved ones was running for office and that one of my daughters is getting married. Life changes and I miss my Julia because it was not her time and I cannot fix it. I can just miss her. Still I am thankful that we can still try and do good.

Shameless Media Spin Regarding OWS

This is from Fox News. Hey, isn't Fox owned by Rupert Murdoch. The same man who owned the newspaper in England that was found to be paying cops for information and hacking the phones of celebrities?

The article's titles is "Weapons Cache Found During Zuccotti Park Cleanup, Sources Say"

One line from the article is very telling, "Officials from the NYPD would only confirm that one knife was found buried in a planter on Tuesday." We read earlier in the article about this weapon of mass destruction. "Gardeners employed by the park owners, Brookfield Properties, to clean up the mess made by occupiers during their two-month stay discovered various knives, including a large kitchen knife and other potential instruments of violence in flower beds throughout the public space, according to officials."

They had a large kitchen knife, of my, didn't they also have a kitchen? I wonder if the two things are connected? Kitchens and kitchen knives, I see a pattern here. How does this pass for reporting? In another part of the article it talks about how Sanitation workers found items that COULD have been used as weapons. No kidding, anything can be used as a weapon. What it did not say was that anyone who has been arrested or anyone who was a participant was found with any weapons, not even a gun. Across the United States over 1,000 protesters have been arrested and how many had guns on them, none.

The New York police department is not claiming that they found weapons, no, the honest and good folk at Fox news are making this garbage up. Who are these unnamed sources and why not just name them? Because it is a smear piece and not real journalism, it is propaganda.

Here is the issue. I can understand not liking what the movement stands for, I can especially understand people not liking the approach; but, why just run a smear campaign, why not deal with the issues? The reason is the same, because the people that have power see this as an attack upon the system that they use to take advantage of the rest of us.

Everybody knows that the rich got bailed out and the rest of us have to pay the bill. That is what upset everyone on the left, right and even in the middle. We know that the politicians represent the interests that get them elected and it isn't 99% of us, doesn't matter if you are left, right or in the middle. We don't matter and we don't like that. The Tea Party and the Occupy Movement have the same issues, their solutions are just different.

The Tea Party was disliked by the conservatives until they found a way to manage them. The Occupy movement is not liked by liberals because they haven't found a way to get them into the party to support their candidates. The Tea Party and the Occupy Movement members need to meet together to find out what they do agree upon and then insist upon legislation that achieves their united goals rather than agree on candidates.

The most common thing that both agree on is that the Federal Reserve should be abolished and that people should be prevented from paying off politicians with anything. At this point the goal of the media is to make sure that it does not happen and they do that by vilifying both and making both look like wackos.

New Lies About Occupy from L.A. and U.C. Davis

Lets start with the ridiculous. Linda Katehi, the U.C. Davis Chancellor must have cut her deal with the campus police. She has just come out and said that the police DEFIED her by using pepper spray, here is a quote from the L.A. Times article and a link.

"We told the police to remove the tents or the equipment," she told the paper. "We told them very specifically to do it peacefully, and if there were too many of them, not to do it, if the students were aggressive, not to do it. And then we told them we also do not want to have another Berkeley."

L.A. Times - UC Davis chancellor: Police defied my orders by using pepper spray

Do you believe her? If it were true then why didn't she say so when it occurred, it seems like important information to know. The most likely reasons are that she is playing word games now or that if she had said it at the time she was attempting to support clearly wrong police actions after they occurred. Neither is very hones. As for the police, if that had been her instructions then why were they ignored and riot gear and weapons brought?

As for the officers who used the pepper spray, you have officially been thrown under the bus as I predicted. Right now the Chancellor has probably told the officers involved to keep silent; but, your best bet is to speak up and tell the truth. Fact is the officers involved have been identified and no matter where they go or what jobs they are offered somewhere else, this will follow you. Something for the officers to consider is that if, as she says, they violated her instructions then when the civil suits come the University will not be responsible for representing you or paying the damages, you will be personally responsible because you acted beyond your authority according to the Chancellor.

L.A. Times - Occupy L.A., city inching into endgame for City Hall camp

Now, this story is interesting. It is claimed that the City has offered the Occupy protesters 10,000 square feet of office space in exchange for leaving City Hall at the cost of $1 a year. That my friends is called a gift of public funds and requires Council approval or it is illegal. Rather than clash with them, buy them off. The City apparently thought that their offer would be immediately accepted except there were a couple of problems, one is that it became public and the other is that the protesters that were in discussions had no authority to speak for the movement.

According to OccupyLosAngeles.org, this whole offer is a little shaky and suspicious. "The City/"liaison" Exit Deal & the General Assembly" Their article claims that someone named "Mario Brito" sort of appointed himself as their liaison without support from their general assembly. Now I am not familiar with Mr. Brito; but somewhere in the back of my mind I thought I had read his name before so I did a search.

According to numerous articles, Mr. Brito was depicted as a communist and union organizer running the encampment. Now that is interesting. He is sort of an all around patsy. When the encampment began the accusation was that communists were actually running it rather than some participating in it, big difference. Mr. Brito was the one they used to make this assertion and now apparently he is a representative working with the City to end the encampment.

I am off today and have plenty of water to drink, I like to stay hydrated even if the European Union says that people cannot legally claim that water hydrates us (that is an article that you can search for - lol). A couple of questions come to my mind, if Occupy Los Angeles is not a legal entity (incorporated) then who would the property be leased to? Mr. Brito and his organization?

It all seems sort of orchestrated with complicity on the part of the City. The mayor of Los Angeles has probably done one of the best jobs at not letting it get violent in Los Angeles and he has done it by mostly ignoring the protesters and not surrounding the camp with police day and night. The fact is that one block away from the encampment is the headquarters of the LAPD, one short block away.

What is apparent is that across the nation mayors want to have the encampments closed down before the year ends. What they don't want is for this to last into an election year and buying them off is the last offer. Now if some of the people take the offer then the remaining ones will be removed by force and will be accused of being radicals who will not work with the City, pretty nifty public relations set up isn't it.

Now, there is the chance that the Occupy movement will be removed from the encampments and that the only encampments left will be on Universities and the message will then be about student loans and tuition costs alone as fewer voices are heard because the vast majority of protesters are not students and they will not be allowed to camp out on University properties.

So what should the people within the movement do? I am not a member so I don't get a vote; but, I can make some suggestions. My first one would be don't be bought off and turned into supporters for some political party or "leader". The moment you do your relevance will go away. My second recommendation is remain peaceful no matter what. Third is be prepared to be removed, it will happen soon. The "leaked" letter from the head of Recreation and Parks was done in preparation for the removal (by the way, does anyone really believe that it was not written at the instruction of the mayor?).

Personally, I think it would be a good tactic to remove the encampment prior to the police taking action and then put it up somewhere else for a month and then return again to City Hall. In the end though, this is not about an encampment, that only works so long. It has highlighted the dissatisfaction with our system of finance and political influence; but, now what?

This is not Egypt or Libya and the Occupiers will not topple a government through protests in the streets. For any movement to remain relevant it must not just be against things, it must determine what it is for and then find a way to sustain it's message. I recommend that they consider what they want people to think the message was five and ten years from now.

This blog has often focused on corruption within the political system and continues to attempt to discuss the lies and deceit that we are confronted with in the media. When I changed the title to OCCUPY The Truth is Inside You, it was done partly tongue in cheek and mostly to support the idea of the first amendment and the right to free speech because too many people dismissed the protesters without even making an attempt to hear what they had to say.

Well, the movement has "occupied" many public spaces, the question is what do you do once you occupy, do you involve, do you revolt, do you find consensus for what specific changes you want, how do you continue to be heard as a group. In the end if you will continue to be heard you must have representatives or leaders, I wrote about that not long ago.

Many years ago there was a movement in the United States called the "good government" movement. The protesters might want to investigate it to consider a method that had some effect long term.

Representatives or Leaders

I was thinking about all these articles that I have read where they say that the Occupy movement should pick leaders and it occurred to me how little people understand who do elect. We don't elect leaders, we elect representatives and there is a big difference.

The people we vote for are supposed to represent what we believe and want, not lead us to what we should think. That would be backwards. The problem is that we look at any politician as our "leader", they are not, leaders political "leadership" is totalitarian.

The Tea Party picked leaders and it has gotten them nothing. The problem is not "authority" the problem is looking for leaders. Why would the people of California vote for someone like Arnold, because they think that they are supposed to vote for a strong father figure. It makes them feel safe.

I have been responsible for managing people for four decades and I have never once considered myself to be anyone's leader. I think of work as a group effort with people having different roles to play.

A call for a leaderless society is not a call for anarchy, it is a call for representation. When we elect representatives they have elective authority which makes their decisions have authority. When they cease to represent us they lose this authority. If 90% of the people have no confidence in our elected representatives because they are not attempting to represent us and represent a limited group then our government loses it's moral authority as it has failed to meet it's primary responsibility of representing us. Their duty to represent us is even more important that their duty to protect us.

Before we can fix things we need to understand what went wrong. Part of the problem is what we think and how this led us to electing leaders and representatives that don't represent us. Think about the whole election process, a bunch of sociopaths offer to do things for us, give us things, we vote for them and then they blame others in congress or wherever for being unable to give us what they promised.

Why You Should Not Vote For Any Presidential Candidate

What happened at U.C. Davis has made international news and made us look like a third world dictatorship. I personally am not very happy with that. Here is something else to consider, how many presidential candidates have said anything about what happened and I don't even care what position they took, here is why you cannot vote for them, because they have yet to take a position on what happened. They are waiting to see how it will effect them in the polls.

Our politicians have no opinions, they only think about what will get them elected. Even the idiots Gingrich and Cain have not come out with strong support or any comments that I can find on what happened at U.C. Davis and they both oppose the Occupy movement, they are cowards. Come out and say that this is how our citizens and students should be treated if you believe it. Prove to us that you are capable of firm and decisive decisions regardless of the effect on your popularity. If you actually believed what you say you do then you would say that, "While I may not agree with them, I will defend to the death their right to say it". Isn't that what the Tea Party was about Mr. Cain or was it just about taxes moron?

I have no political affiliation so don't think the Democrats are any better. Where was the President during all this, where are his statements. If you can't comment on this how can we listen to you berate other countries for doing the same. You lack all moral authority Mr. Obama.

People might think that this post is about the Occupy movement; but, it is not, it is about the lack of honest, selfless political leadership in this country. It is about asking ourselves the same questions we ask of other governments.

No Big Deal, Not My Fault, I Made a Mistake, What Now

An open post to Lieutenant P of the U.C. Davis Police,

I am writing this as if I were talking to you, perhaps you will find it and perhaps you will not; but, it is going to be good advice to both you and other police. Firstly, my father was a highly decorated law enforcement officer and many of my friends were either in intelligence, law enforcement or the military. I myself work for the government. If you had worked for my father, it would not have been for long.

I don't know what you were thinking when you so casually pepper sprayed those students; but, it sure didn't look like you cared about their well being. My guess is that you thought you were doing your job, exercising the authority of the state. You do work for the state of California's University system. I read that you were trained in the use of pepper spray; but, that doesn't mean you are supposed to use it.

As you walked out to the small group of people sitting in the quad you probably thought the most important thing was to remove them for not listening to authority; but, you were wrong. Your first and highest priority is to the citizens and not to the university authority figures. It is claimed that you have two awards from the university for your actions in the past. It is possible that you have protected in the past and did not understand your number one allegiance is protect others even more than enforcing rules. Lots of people get that wrong.

I wrote earlier about the incident, my focus was more on the media; but, I did predict what would happen next. Your name and face and address and phone number have all been released on the internet. I do not agree with what has been released; but, I expected it. One way or the other it would have gotten out eventually. You are no doubt concerned about you and your family and probably should be, I would be. When I was a child, criminals targeted my family. I feel sorry for your children, should you have any, having to experience what I did. The difference is, my father was targeted by criminals.

You have a couple of choices. You can leave and hide, find a place where you are not known or is supportive of such tactics; but, do you really want to live in a place full of right wing militia types? The second choice is that you can attempt to stay. Because of the publicity, there is a good chance that the university will throw you under the bus even if you were following directions. Nope, don't expect help from the university. You might think the police union will support you; but, then what, you stay on knowing that everyday the students hate you. That does not sound like a good idea. You might go out on stress, then you can be an example and a reason for people to go after the pension benefits for all state police. Bottom line is you are going to be used by everybody with any agenda and you put yourself in the situation.

I will make a different recommendation. Make a public statement and tell the truth. If you truly thought what you were doing was right, whatever the reason, then publicly announce it. If you thought you were right; but, truly now believe you had overreacted, then say that; but, don't say it if it isn't true. You showed no courage when you sprayed them; but, you can show it now.

You might think this will all blow over; but, it will not. It will lessen; but, things will never be the same for you at the university. Now, if you truly do believe that you were wrong, you have an opportunity for redemption. Come out, say why you did what you did, why it was wrong and that you are going to dedicate your life to being a example and mentor to other police officers to tell them that acting with aggression on the people you are supposed to protect is wrong. Tell them where you went wrong and how things should have been handled. By the way, when it is peaceful protest the correct response, if people's lives are not being threatened, is for disengagement. You are supposed to leave and then come back in plain clothes and talk to the people, it is a community approach to policing.

This should also be a lesson to all people who should be honored to be responsible for the security of the citizens. Think about all the information that you have on citizens, they have the same on you. Lt. P, they will no doubt hack your phone and your internet. There is the chance that they will release your browsing history. I say this so that you have a chance to protect your information.

My opinion is that none of your information should have been released unless and until the university had the chance to either deal with what happened or put out what I expect from them, a watered down explanation. In everyone's lives there are moments of truth, the first one for you was when you chose to douse the students in the manner that you did, the next one is in how you deal with the consequences of your actions and the truth is, the whole world is watching.

The first step, if you do believe your actions were wrong, would be to invite the students who you pepper sprayed to meet with you in person so that you can see how it effected them. That could be very tough to do; but, it would show some sincerity and remorse. It was your job to make the students feel safe on campus, I assume you have seen the videos, would you feel safe if you were them?

You are no doubt getting a lot of advice and hate. Advice from those who love you and hate from those who don't know you. Worse yet, you are probably getting support from people who don't know you at all and just like to see people "put in their place". Think for yourself, decide if what you did is right, if you would feel the same way if it was your family and friends.

This is an opportunity for you to grow and learn a whole lot about yourself and how society should work. It is my prayer for you that you make the best choice and understand that it is your privilege to protect others from authority, not abuse it.

Tags for Pastor Carol Daniels

I noticed that along with a spike in readership, there was also increased traffic regarding the good Pastor Carol Daniels. For whatever reason, and it is beyond me, my little blog is one of the highest when you search for information regarding her. When I wrote the original it was just a one time post; but, words tend to have a life of their own. Because people continue to be interested I have gone back and attempted to tag each article that I wrote regarding her just to assist the reader.

I did a search for her name myself and did not see any new information; but, if anyone ever has any I would appreciate it if they would leave a comment so that I can check the article and leave a post and link for those who come here. As always, my prayers and thoughts go out to her family and friends.

In case you are not familiar with using tags, at the bottom of each post is a place where I can post a label also referred to as a tag. It is the subject matter of the post. If you find any post with a tag and want to read more articles tagged on the same subject, you click the tag and all articles that are similarly tagged will appear.

Health Benefits of Pepper Spray"

As the chancellor of UC Davis said that the police were sent because of health concerns for the students, I decided to look up the medical benefits of being sprayed in the face with pepper spray. According to Wikipedia:

"The US Army concluded in a 1993 Aberdeen Proving Ground study that pepper spray could cause "[m]utagenic effects, carcinogenic effects, sensitization, cardiovascular and pulmonary toxicity, neurotoxicity, as well as possible human fatalities. There is a risk in using this product on a large and varied population".[13] However, the pepper spray was widely approved in the US despite the reservations of the US military scientists after it passed FBI tests in 1991. As of 1999, it was in use by more than 2000 public safety agencies.[14]"

Now if I read that correctly some of the health benefits include death. I don't really see that as very beneficial. I mean even if you believe in assisted suicides for the terminally ill, those kids looked sicker after being sprayed then before. Obviously I am being sarcastic; but, they make it so easy. The truth was that the University didn't want the kids occupying the campus so why lie. I would have a lot more respect if the chancellor had said that the university did not want to be disrupted and that the officers had overreacted.

The chancellor's answers were just stupid and politically aimed and it failed. If the chancellor thought the officers were using pepper spray as some sort of vaccination against disease then maybe she would be willing to stand in the quad and prove that it is a good form of vaccination by being sprayed in the face herself. If she is so stupid that she believes that there are health benefits to being pepper sprayed then she does not deserve to run anything and should be removed.

The students were protesting the fact that their tuition had doubled in the last seven years. I went to a website that showed the salaries for people working for the university in 2007 or 2008 and it said that the head coach of the football team made over $2 million a year. It was amazing how many working for the university were making around a million.

The way the universities look at students anymore is purely business. The universities promote the kids taking out as much in loans as possible in order to pay the administration and faculties salaries. The UC system was theoretically created to educate Californians; but, out of staters and foreign students pay more so the Universities have been letting more in with fewer Californians being accepted even though our taxes pay for the system.

UC Davis chancellor says student safety dictated tent removal

This article is from the Sacramento Bee. UC Davis chancellor says student safety dictated tent removal.
Is that what was on the officer's minds, they were trying to protect the health of the students by shooting industrial strength pepper spray into their faces? Are there no nurses or doctors on the campus that could have given the kids physicals, it seems more sensible. If I am not mistaken the police were also carrying weapons that looked like paintball guns, maybe they were really advanced medical equipment; but, it didn't look that way to me.

Now if we can cut through the spin and lies, we all should be able to figure out what happened. Around a dozen students decided to pitch tents on their campus in support of the Occupy movement. The University did not want it to spread, ordered it's removal and the officers came with an overwhelming show of force in order to make an example of the students in order to intimidate others to not participate in further occupations. That is a much more likely scenario than that they came to protect them from the flu or whatever nonsense.

Rather than sending in the campus police with weapons and body armor, maybe the Chancellor could have walked down to the encampment and talked to the students and worked out something where they could have camped during the day and returned to their dorms at night. Certainly something could have been attempted rather than sending the police to break it up. The Chancellor is probably very well paid, I would have hoped she could have come up with better answers.

Spike in Readership

I am off this week, sort of, and slept till noon. It was very nice to just lay in bed. When I woke up I logged into my e-mail accounts and then checked the blog. Since yesterday I have seen ten times as many readers as normal. The number one post that people read was about Ms. Rothschild complaining about the Occupy movement. I have no idea why as no comments were left.

Now, to tell you the truth I don't really care who she is, I haven't been impressed by her articles or condescending approach. From the comments left on her article at Huffington post, a lot of people found her annoying. In the end, she misses the biggest point of all, how should society be organized so that we have a decent life for as many people as possible. That is what philosophers have questioned for thousands of years.

We have become a world of very educated people with some being very good at taking advantage of the system to benefit themselves at the expense of others. We do this on a national level and on a personal level. The idea was that someone should be compensated based on how much they contributed to society and that we should protect people who could not contribute. It was based on morality and not just money.

There are those who talk about the "job creators", okay what if we compensated people based on how many jobs they created rather than the value of a companies stock. That would change how CEOs operated (this is an example, it would not be as easy as it sounds).

Here is something to consider just for the fun of it. Many police departments were given stimulus money to "create jobs" and they used this money to hire police and buy supplies. Wouldn't it be nice to know how many jobs were created by the police buying pepper spray. Maybe the cop from Davis felt he was creating jobs by spraying the kids with pepper spray, I mean you have to use it up to justify buying more. Maybe the cop thought of himself as a job creator.

It sounds completely ridiculous because it is insanity. It takes the human element out of how our society is organized and should function; but, that is what happens when it stops being about people and is just about money. Hey, this may not be my best post ever; but, I am still drinking my first cup of coffee.

Ms. Rothschild offers nothing on how to improve the world, status quo seems quite alright with her; but, the status quo is failing at every level of society. The world has become bankrupt on an international, national and personal level because people have ceased believing in a greater morality than just personal gain.

U.C. Davis's chancellor is calling for a 30 day review of what happened and has put the two officers involved and the chief on administrative leave. That means they will be paid for not pepper spraying people, I mean working. It means that the Chancellor is now a job eliminator. I am okay with that, those officers need to find new jobs.

Now knowing a bit about politics, there are only so many ways that the investigation can end. Lets consider them. First, they find the officers guilty of abuse of power and fire them. Second, they find the officers guilty of overreacting or some nicely worded justification. If that happens the cops could stay at UC Davis where they will be under constant risk of whatever or they are transferred to another campus. If that happens then everyone at the new campus will feel they are being threatened. Perhaps the officers will be allowed to retire; but, one of them it said was relatively new.

Now another possibility is that the officers are not disciplined other than being sent for retraining or sensitivity training or whatever, that is not going to please anyone. Here is the problem, the investigation will not be about if the officers were guilty, it will be about finding a Public Relations answer, not about fixing what led to the situation.

As for the individual officers involved, I bet they are having a bad week. While the officers may not have thought anything of what they did at the time, I would hope that rather justifying it to themselves they would sit back and ask if what they did was morally right. I would hope they would ask them how they would have felt if it was their family that was pepper sprayed. At some point they will be interviewed and their answers will determine how people respond; but, true rehabilitation does not happen in a day. Maybe they will be given jobs in the prison system because so few care about how we treat prisoners, just consider the L.A. County jails problems.

I find it interesting that the governor and the mayor's have not said anything about what happened at the university. They don't have much to say because there is a good chance in their minds that we might need more pepper spray in order to stop the Occupy protests.