Showdown in Milwaukee

"And one more thing. Donald Trump has every right to take a pass on this debate. With the Deep State trying to convict him of over 90 charges, it is okay for Trump to sit this one out."

I guess it is time to get real. The great 2024 presidential race is about to grow some legs. No more "beauty shows" at state fairs or on TV interviews - now it will be face to face with questions coming from experienced moderators. I am actually really looking forward to Wednesday night, when it will be on TV. I would be looking forward to it more however, if Donald Trump was part of it. But I understand why he is not.

I can't imagine there will be any acrimonious exchanges between participants. It is possible, but most of the folks running for president are decent people. Maybe Chis Christie might throw a few barbs at DeSantis. Maybe. Or (my hope) is the target of their positions will be Slow Joe Biden. I am tired of Republican circular firing squads. We know who the enemy is, and he or she is not wearing red.

Actually, as much as I am looking forward to the first Republican debate, I am looking forward to the first Democrat debate almost more so. Why? I will enjoy RFK Jr. telling the king he is naked. Most Democrats give Biden a wide berth and way too much grace. Not Kennedy. He will tell it like it is. Seeing how Biden will react to that blistering attack will be one of those kodak moments. Joe might end up walking off the stage, escorted of course, by "Doctor" Biden.

Besides Trump, who do I like out of all the candidates? Just about all of them. Most agree that Vivek is the rising star in the party. Tim Scott has total class. Nicki Hally has vast experience. Ron DeSantis has performed nothing short of a miracle in turning Florida red. I even like the governor of North Dakota. The rest of the group basically have zero chance, and it is time to pack it in.

One bit of advice to Ron DeSantis. If you become the target of some barbs on Wednesday night, get ready to return some fire. But do it like Ronald Reagan would have done it. With humor and class. We have a spirited debate without going into the mud bath. That is what the party loyal want to see. 

And one more thing. Donald Trump has every right to take a pass on this debate. With the Deep State trying to convict him of over 90 charges, it is okay for Trump to sit this one out. So don't target Trump with any barbs. That would be very cheap when Trump is not there to defend himself. If you want to take him on, do it face to face (if you dare). 

The last minute...

"Gramps was not looking anything like he did a few weeks ago. He was thinner and gaunter, and he was in and out of sleep. Gramps looked up at George with some tears in those steel gray eyes. 'I am not good champ' Gramps said, 'I think I am coming to the end of this train ride.'" 

George received a call from his mother. "George, I know you have seen grandpa recently, but I think it is important that you visit him now." This puzzled George. He had just seen his grandpa a few weeks ago. And George hated hospitals. But for his grandpa, whom George was very close to, he would do it. "Okay Mom. I will visit Gramps tomorrow. I promise."

George was really close to his grandpa. As far as George was concerned, his grandpa was one of the bravest men he ever knew. Gramps was in the Korean War. He was a Marine. He was a decorated combat veteran. He saw lots of action. In fact, Gramps was part of the Chosin Few - a real tough battle in a tough war, based on what George had read in the history books. Gramps did not like to talk about it however - not a memory that Gramps wanted to share.

When he got to the hospital, visiting hours had just started. The hospitalist had just left, so George had Gramps all to himself. "How are you today, Gramps?" Gramps was not looking anything like he did a few weeks ago. He was thinner and gaunter, and he was in and out of sleep. Gramps looked up at George with some tears in those steel gray eyes. "I am not good champ" Gramps said, "I think I am coming to the end of this train ride." 

George was almost speechless. He had never seen Gramps like this before. George reached over and touched his grandpa's hand. "You will beat this thing, Gramps. You will get better and come home. I just know you will!" Gramps took George's hand and said, "No George, I won't. The doctor was just in here and told me there was nothing more they could do. I am on what is known as palliative care right now, which I guess means just to keep someone comfortable. I appreciated the doctor's honesty, however. He told me the end could come in days - maybe less."

Gramps turned his head away and shut his eyes very tightly. He then looked back at George with moist eyes. "George, I am scared - very scared. I don't want to die. I am afraid of what will happen to me."

As long as George knew his grandpa, he never saw him scared. And he never saw him in church. Well, except when Grandma died. Never said one word about any faith he might have. The rest of the family were deep in the faith and had asked Gramps many times to come to church with them. Each time, Gramps politely refused.

George held Gramp's hand tightly and looked at him squarely in the eyes. George knew this might be the most important conversation he had ever had with his grandpa. "Gramps, I have some news for you. No, not just news, some real good news. I learned when I became a follower of Jesus, that there is nothing so good we can do in our lives that God would love us more, and there is nothing we can do which is so bad that God would love us less. Gramps, the door is still open for you. You can change things right here and right now. I always carry a copy of the Salvation Prayer in my wallet, in case I should ever need it. If you like, you can accept the gift of Jesus right here with me. Then you will never fear again. When you die, you will live with Jesus as well as all the saints who have gone on before you."

Gramps looked up at George and said, "That might work for some folks George, but not for me. Besides not living with God in my heart most of my life, I was never baptized, never took communion, and as you know, never went to church. No, I would have too much catching up to do to even come close."

George knew he must continue with the right words. "Gramps, do you remember the story when Jesus was crucified and there were men on both sides of him, also being crucified? Both were criminals. One rejected Jesus, and the other accepted Jesus right there. That man lived a bad life, probably never went to any church of any kind, and did not deserve Heaven. But Jesus told him, that at the end of that day, he would be in Paradise with Jesus. Gramps, it is never too late. Not even until the last minute of your life."

With that, Gramps asked George to take out the prayer he had in his wallet and pray with him. George took out the prayer, held it on one hand, and held Gramp's hand with the other. Together they prayed, and Gramp's asked God for forgiveness of all his sins, and he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. When it was over, George leaned over, and they hugged for the longest time. It was a moment George would never forget.

The next morning, right before breakfast, the phone rang at George's mother's house. It was the hospital. Gramps had passed in his sleep. The nurse who called, was the one who discovered Gramps had died. The nurse told George's mother she had never seen such a look of peace and tranquility on Gramp's face before. 

George's mother called George with the news. George just sat for a while when he got off the phone. He said a silent prayer, thanking God for the day before. George was thankful he could be the hands and feet of Jesus for his Gramps.

Then George said in a very still and quiet voice, "Goodbye for now Gramps. Until we see each other again."

Author's note: This story was fiction - sort of. It was based on stories I have heard from others who have had the privilege and honor to help a friend or loved one, cross that bridge to Jesus when the minutes remaining were few.  

A thousand years...

"Right now, this country needs a leader with experience and moxie. The world needs a leader who can give us a strong economy and peace through strength."

I just finished reading a book about some folks who did not get taken to Heaven during the Rapture of the Church. They became Christians after the Rapture and had to survive the seven-year Tribulation. They knew enough about what the Bible said the Tribulation. It was going to be really bad for the folks who were left behind.

If they could survive the seven bowls of wrath during the Tribulation, the survivors would then have a chance to live in the Millenium. After the Tribulation was over, Jesus Christ had defeated Satan and his minions and bound them in Hell until the end of the Millenium. The people who lived during the Millenium, still led Earthly lives, but lived for a thousand years. 

Bottom line is this - a thousand years is a long, long time. Now onto politics. On the news the other day, one of the legal reporters talked about all the charges which have been brought against President Trump. He said if Trump was convicted on all charges, he could spend a thousand years in prison. That is how ridiculous this entire matter is. All this just to keep Donald Trump from running for President again.

Another way to look at this matter is this - it is now 2023. A thousand years ago, it was 1023. Most people lived from day to day, under some kind of monarch. The life expectancy was to make it into the 40's. If you did not die from a disease of some sort, you might be killed by invading Vikings (not the football team).

A thousand years from now, it will be 3023. We can only imagine what the world will look like then. That is when a fully convicted Donald Trump would be released from prison.

Here is what is going to happen (according to many legal experts). Donald Trump may be convicted on some minor charges but will serve no jail time. Barring something totally unexpected, he will be the GOP nominee in 2024. He will not serve 1,000 years. He will not even serve 1,000 days. All these charges are the Deep State, showing us all how broad and pervasive it still is.

Some are afraid that should Donald Trump assume the White House again, he will weaponize the DOJ in the same manner the Democrats did. I think that is hogwash. Trump will fix things this time around, and sometimes the fixing of something very broken can be painful. But Trump will fix everything that Slow Joe broke and do it quickly. With a friendly Congress, this fix will happen fast. With an unfriendly Congress, not so fast.

Right now, this country needs a leader with experience and moxie. We need a fixer with vision. We need our strong economy back. We need our borders secured and inflation back under control. 

The world needs a leader who can give us peace through strength. That may be Donald Trump, or it may be someone else on the GOP menu. Right now, my betting would be on Donald Trump. And for Veep? Vivek Ramaswamy has captured the imagination of many - including mine.     

Preventable Fires?

"I started to think - if we can detect small missiles being launched from our satellite systems, why can't we detect forest fires when they first start?"

By now, we have all heard about the destructive and deadly fire which hit Maui. It was bad, really bad. On another note, yesterday was supposed to be a very bad smoke event in Minnesota. Fortunately, the winds continued to blow, so the bad smoke day was not so bad after all. Then I started to think - what do the Maui fire and the Canadian fires have in common, if anything.

I was watching some military show on the YouTube channel on our ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) system. Right now, our satellite system is so sophisticated, we cannot not only detect an ICBM missile taking off anywhere on the planet, but we can also detect smaller missiles being launched. I started to think - if we can detect small missiles being launched from our satellite systems, why can't we detect forest fires when they first start? 

Listening to the news, the forensic analysis of the Maui fire has already started. It was not Hawaii's finest hour. Many things were done or with left undone, which led to this catastrophic event. In fact, the civil defense coordinator told the press, he intentionally did not sound the civil defense alarm, as most islanders would have thought it was a tsunami coming and headed for the hills - right into the fire. However, the civil defense sirens did sound when they thought an ICBM has headed their way. Huh?

As soon as they detected the smallest fire starting up in the hills of Maui, that is when the emergency responders should have started to act. Not only with an orderly evac, but also getting the proper firefighting assets involved. When the unexpected wind from the hurricane developed, and the fire became a fast-moving inferno, that is when Hawaii really fell down on the job. Getting people moved out of harm's way was way too late. Having way too much fuel laying on the ground in Maui, is the same problem that Canada had this year. Once a fire starts, and dry fuel is present, the fire can spread quickly.

What is the bottom line? Our firefighting needs a facelift. It is stuck in the past and needs to plan for the future. For all our climate alarmists, having all that carbon being released into the air from massive forest fires should be unthinkable. For people in the lower 48 states who get to breathe this unhealthy air from Canada, it is unfathomable. For those in Maui who lost everything and maybe everyone to their deadly fire, it is unimaginable. 

The best laid plans...

"What is going on in America? Can't say, except for the campground we were stationed at. What have we found there? First off, there is plenty of 'their, their'. People are visiting from every corner of the country, in just about every type of camper or motor home you could imagine."

This was going to be my month. I was going to meander on the roads less traveled, and report back on a timely basis. As I was preparing my first report, the Google master's told me I would not be allowed back in. Not for Blogger, not for email, - nothing. Why? They suspected a malware attack on my main computer. After two failed attempts with the Level 1 and Level 2 support desks in India, it was time to hit the road again. Knowing of course, that upon return, this would be the number one thing on my "things to do" list. And it was. 

This time around, I had a very sharp Level 2 analyst. He figured out the problem and fixed it. Thank goodness! The Bird could chirp once again! So, I am back, my trusty computer is back, and I am ready to comment/opine on all that it is going on.

What is going on in America? Can't say, except for the campground we were stationed at. What have we found there? First off, there is plenty of "their, their". People are visiting from every corner of the country, in just about every type of camper or motor home you could imagine. Some are very friendly, some are "Hi, how are you" types, and some are introverts. But that is the beauty of the campground. It is a slice of America. It is a heterogenous mix of sojourners.

Next year our plans are to venture out further into the plains, should our health remain good. This year is trying to learn how to handle and operate this 33-foot beast. Camper tailers are part camping and part house. Some folks like the bare bones camping which is almost spartan. Others like to push the envelope to the extent that camping becomes "glamping" (glorified camping). In between those two extremes, you have everything imaginable.

This weekend it is home again. Church stuff and grandies birthday. As nice as it is going away for a week, as Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, "there is no place like home." Even if home means cutting tons of grass and doing various other sundry chores.

But the good news, and I mean the very good news for me is this - I have my access to Google back. I can now email and blog, for that, I am really a happy camper!

Hawaiian Pair-O-Dice

"Suddenly living in paradise is not the same. Maybe never be the same again. That fire burst a dream. People (including myself), would often say what they want to do when retired - "Live in Maui!" - even though many (like myself), had never been there. Now it is very different." 

I know that many reading this have been in Maui. Some more than once. I was a latecomer. I did not visit Maui (although the tour had us there for only a day), until last year. Was it everything I thought it would be? Not really, but it was nice. I was surprised by the pockets of poverty we saw on this island paradise. In fact, if you had money, Maui was indeed a paradise. However, if you did not have money and decided to dwell there it really is like throwing the dice. Like a Hawaiian Pair-O-Dice.

What happened this week was unconscionable. Un-forecasted. And most of all, unbelievable. When we were there last year, we saw many tents and some RVs set up right on the beach. When I asked the tour driver if that was some kind of state park, he told me no. That is where people who have no home have decided to live. And in Hawaii, the beaches belong to everybody, so making a home there was simply fine. I can only imagine the horror as the flames started to broach the highway toward the beach.

When our cruise ship was pulling into the islands, we could see the flume of the volcano. This was important, as this was the first time Hawaii had an eruption this large for quite a while. We were hoping to get on a tour that could take us close to seeing this rare occurrence. No such luck. The island authorities were worried about tourists or civilians getting too close to the lava and getting burned. That is the kind of natural disaster that most worried about. A huge out-of-control fire that hit Maui. Most would hardly give it a thought. But it did happen.

Scores were killed. Caught in an unwinnable situation. Or the devil and the deep blue sea. People were forced to either get burned to death or jump into a very choppy ocean. Still, scores died. The death count is now over eighty and might go higher. And the damage? The loss of historic heirlooms? Devastating.

Suddenly living in paradise is not the same. Maybe never be the same again. That fire burst a dream. People (including myself), would often say what they want to do when retired - "Live in Maui!" - even though many (like myself), had never been there. Now it is very different. 

Is this the end of paradise? I hope not. But this fire has been a game changer. I don't think we will ever visit Hawaii again. That being said, I still want Maui to be restored. Why? On this side of Heaven, we all need paradise.      

   

  

Our Climate Ninnyhammer

"BTW - how much carbon have the Canadian wildfires put in the air this year? Chew on that one Lurch! How about if a volcano erupts? Or a large meteor hits us? Mother Nature is a tough old gal. She can take anything we can dish out."

We must end the Ukraine War NOW! Why? Because as many as 354,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded? Because vast parts of Ukraine lay in ruin? Because Vladimir Putin is still itching to unleash a nuke that would change the tide of the war? No to all of these, according to Lurch (John Kerry). Kerry, our biggest climate hypocrite, said the climate effects of this war are devastating.

But Mr. Kerry - don't you have one whit of a feeling for the scores of people who have died, been wounded, or displaced by this war? A wee bit, but what this war has done to Gaia is intolerable. Thus, speaks the voice of foolishness. Our own ninnyhammer on the climate hoax. The man with a private jet chides the rest of us to either bike or walk to save energy.

Kerry is not only concerned about the fires that the fighting has started, but the septic systems which have been breached by artillery fire. Wait - what? Septic systems? Yes. Lots of methane gases are now in the atmosphere. This is horrible! Can't we add this travesty to the list of war crimes against Putin?

Meanwhile, our babbler-in-chief is out west telling the minions it is hot outside. And it is our fault. Especially those nasty truck and SUV drivers. What can we do about it? Take away our washing machines, air conditioners, cars, refrigerators, and so forth. We don't need to wait for an EMP to put us back into the stone ages - Biden is doing it instead. Where are we going to buy all these new replacements for our appliances? Same place we are buying our EV batteries - China. "We get poorer, while China gets richer", our own(ed) President could be saying right now.

How is it possible that so many in this country can fall for this buffoonery? I mean, COME ON FOLKS! Are we really going to follow the two Pied Pipers (Biden and Kerry), off the cliff? Has common sense taken a permanent vacation on our land? We are the United States for crying out loud! The world is supposed to look to us for solutions, not humor.

BTW - how much carbon have the Canadian wildfires put in the air this year? Chew on that one Lurch! How about if a volcano erupts? Or a large meteor hits us? Mother Nature is a tough old gal. She can take anything we can dish out. The only thing she can't handle are hypocrites like Biden and Kerry.