It’s better to make mistakes when you are young

As fallible human beings, each of us is going to make mistakes, for that is part and parcel of human nature.  That doesn’t mean that we should desire to make mistakes; it merely indicates that because we aren’t perfect and because we are susceptible to all sorts of character faults, as well as ignorance, that mistakes are pretty much going to be inevitable.  Therefore, this signifies that we shouldn’t feel shame when we make a mistake, because everybody, regardless of how much respect we have for that person, mentor, or parent, also makes mistakes or has made mistakes.

 The advantage of being young is that young people are typically more willing to try and to experiment with various things and activities that many older people would not dare to attempt.  Additionally, older people are quite capable of carrying a grudge for years, or even decades, against an individual; whereas, younger people, though they might say the ugliest thing possible to their friend, are only too willing to forgive and forget the very next day.

 The above basically indicates that younger people are simply more flexible and also more forgiving, primarily because their ego is not yet fully developed, and also because they recognize that they are still in the learning stage.  This means that when we are young, it is acknowledged by those who are older than us that mistakes pretty much come with the territory, and even those types of mistakes, as in various crimes, are typically treated differently for juveniles than they would be for adults, because this country recognizes that it is a mistake to give up on the youth, too soon, especially for youthful indiscretions that can be subsequently turned around and thereby overcome successfully.

 Additionally, the best mistakes are those that serve as object lessons, in which, because we have made the mistake in our youth, and have learned from it, this thus indicates that we aren’t going to make the same mistake when we are older.  This signifies that those that do wrong when they are young, but never are punished for it, or caught, may rue the day that they didn’t have to serve justice when they were young, for the same types of wrongs so done when they are older, could conceivably get them into a lot of trouble and thus having to pay a much higher price for their mistake.

 Finally, although we seemingly live in an age of “helicopter parents,” it has to be recognized that young people need space to go about their business, and to thus experiment, or put something of personal value at risk, to thereby know the consequences of these actions -- for though mistakes do invariably occur, it is also has to be acknowledged that when there is nothing ventured there thereby is nothing gained, which means that a complaint child in all things isn’t necessarily the best thing, because children need to be taught to think for themselves, and for a certainty, recognize that what they do has consequences, of which not all of those consequences are desired or good, and to thereby learn from this missteps to thus become a better person as an adult.

It’s only a matter of time before the government will pay you to euthanize you

Presently, there are twelve States, including the most populous State, which is California, that permit what they like to call “physician-assisted dying,” which is, in essence, despite the semantics, euthanasia.  In truth, it shouldn’t even be called euthanasia because that seems like a rather sanitized term for the deliberate and premeditated taking of another person’s life, either assisted or not, but rather it should be seen for what it really is: state-sanctioned physicians being legally permitted to kill the patient, humanely, supposedly done via the patient’s uncoerced choice.

 When it comes to the estimate of how much America currently spends on end-of-life care, it is estimated by debt.org that 10% of the $4.3 trillion spent on healthcare for 2021, which is $430 billion, was allocated to end-of-life healthcare. In consideration, that America is a nation that runs massive federal deficits and seems to be overly concern about reducing benefits to the general public, such as medical expenses, then it is no real leap of faith to believe that sooner as compared to later that this government is going to come up with financial incentives to get end-of-life patients to end their life sooner, so that the government can thereby save itself money and basically remove from their sight, those that have little or no utility to the government.

 For all those that don’t believe that government would ever pay an end-of-life patient, money, that could thereby be subsequently allocated by the legal recipient(s) of such to whatever suited their purpose, they don’t seem to knowingly comprehend that the die has already been cast, by virtue of the fact that a significant amount of States are already in the business of killing patients through physician-assisted dying, in which, quite obviously, structured in the right way, potentially a whole lot of end-of-life patients would sign up to be euthanized if the money was right and thereby provided a benefit to their love ones as basically therefore representing their final will and testament to them.

 Indeed, in this country which is so fixated upon money and seemingly nothing but the money, it makes logical sense that in this era of which never has there been so many old people, in rather poor health, with demographics that shows that we have fewer and fewer workers to carry the load of the expense of those older people, that it makes reasonable sense to concentrate on that segment of the population, so as to propagandize to them, their duty to simply call it a day, and thereby die for a price that seems sensible to them.

 So too, it has got to be recognized that the day that this nation first permitted on an individual State level that it was absolutely fine for physicians to kill end-of-life patients, is the same day that this government determined that it wants to take it to the next level, and simply make it a numbers game, because it certainly isn’t about ethics, morality, or the inherent dignity of human life.

ICE and the road to tyranny

When it comes to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel it has to be recognized that because this department only answers essentially to one party of this nation and to the President, that this thereby permits ICE to be used as a cudgel against undesirables, which at the present time, are those people that look like immigrants because of their skin color not being white, so that then we have a situation in which the United States has surely placed itself upon the road to tyranny, for when the people of this nation, are treated unequally and those that are simply about their business, recognize that at any time, they could be subject to arrest and subsequent deportation, without due process of the law, then this nation has bastardized its Constitution and replaced it with the form of tyranny.

 For those of the white race, and that clearly are perceived as being white, there is going to be a certain comfort, in the knowing that ICE specifically goes after those of color as well as those that appear to be unfavored Asians, such as the Chinese, which in its implementation signifies that ICE isn’t going to ever go after whites, even though, there are people of the white race that are illegal immigrants, but because of the consistent favoritism by both parties as well as the Executive branch that the white race is the perennial favored race of America, they need not worry about ICE and can see therefore ICE as being not some sort of menace, but in a sick way, an agency designed to put terror into all those that are non-white and thereby to keep the other races in their place of subordination to whites.

 While it could be argued that ICE has its place if it truly concentrated on dealing with illegal immigration in a way that conformed to the laws of the land, the agency as exercised doesn’t do that, but rather cuts straight to the chase, and gets right to the locking up and thereby deportation and cares not a whit about what a particular court or justice has to say, though to a large extent, those courts and justices often do their good part in staying the hand of the injustices committed by ICE. 

 Nevertheless, the die has been cast, and the overwhelming numbers of ICE personnel are obedient to the dictates so demanded upon them, of which, there are plenty of ICE agents only too happy to put their boot upon alleged illegal immigrant’s necks, with the understanding that they will not themselves need to worry about any sort of pushback from the administration that supports and defends ICE, because this essentially is what they want.

 While the optics of ICE makes for difficult viewing for those that believe in the Constitution, equality under the law, and that America should represent the preeminent “melting pot” of the world, it is on the other hand, a delicious delight for those primarily of the white race, who are quite satisfied in seeing that the clock can indeed be turned back to those times in which the white man need not respect a damn thing about those of color, and can’t believe their present good fortune to be back high on the hog, as if they never left it.

History is written by the victors

Indeed, history is written by those who control the narrative, and those controlling the narrative are typically the victors, and seldom the vanquished.  That is to say, there are plenty of people who believe that when it is all said and done, that the history of today will be rewritten to reflect a more honest and nuanced view of the events that transpired, thereby vindicating those who were not accorded their proper place and consideration at that time.

 As much as we might desire to believe that truth will always win out, in this world, it can be said with absolute certainty that truth is far too often superseded by those in authority who have their own agenda that they wish to propagate, and will not relinquish such, unless they are overcome or neutralized, somehow.  So then, when we look upon history, even recent history, it has to be recognized that even in those countries that stand for free speech and the freedom to dissent, that without any true power championing their cause, their voice will be effectively silenced as if it never existed.

 This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t pay attention to history, but rather we need to understand that even when it appears that multiple viewpoints are seeming to have their day, it still is not going to be the same thing, as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, because even the most even-handed of historians falls victim to spinning their narrative in a way and manner that supports how they wish things to be projected and considered.

 Therefore, when it comes to history, more people need to pay close attention to human nature, in which, many a person when their feet is held to the fire, are still not going to admit all that they have done which is wrong, because their own self-respect and dignity won’t permit them to do so, especially in consideration that in fairness to them they should be able to also proclaim the good deeds that they have done, as well. 

 Additionally, it has to be recognized in regards to history, that it’s difficult to place ourselves in another’s shoes when those shoes are a person who comes from a different era, a different background, and a different perspective than our own.  In other words, too many people have the unfortunate habit of desiring to place the mores of today upon what has happened in the past, which isn’t fair to those events, because it doesn’t take into account the differences between back then and now, which means that our interpretation is going to be faulty.

 All of the above signifies that as much as we might desire to see that our history is perceived the way that it really was, it just is not ever going to happen, but that isn’t so important – what is important though is that we learn from the past to thereby in the present create the type of history that is becoming of an intelligent and forward-thinking civilization, which will bode well for the future and the history thus created, so of.

It’s always about the oil

Serious and bloody wars are fought over oil, and strategic partnerships are created because of oil between countries; in addition to powerful countries, such as America, exerting pressure and influence upon major oil-producing nations as a power play, which is part and parcel of how things are played in the real world when it comes to oil. For instance, we find that Saudi Arabia has a strong alliance with the United States, not necessarily because they desire to have one, but in recognition that at the present time, this thus makes most sense for them, because firstly it secures the country from any sort of domestic overthrow while also keeping the spigots of oil flowing smoothly into the monetary accounts of Saudi Arabia. 

 That said, what would surprise a huge number of people is the fact that when it comes to the largest proven reserves of oil in the world, the country that has the most is not Saudi Arabia, but rather is Venezuela, which is the proximate reason and probably the only reason why America has such a high concern about Venezuela in which the desire of America is pretty much to either have a compliant leader of Venezuela in their pocket, or to secure a solid relationship in which Venezuela conforms to the professed dictates of the United States of America.

 Indeed, there are lots of countries in Central and South America, of which some of these countries are completely compliant with American desires, as well as there being others that pretty much comply, though they really don’t desire to.  Then there are those recalcitrant nations, as in Venezuela, that are defiant to America, which thereby signifies with an absolute certainty, that Venezuela is not only not going to be economically stable, without appreciable outside help from other nations, so that they can more readily extract oil and sell such from their oil fields, but also that those at the pinnacle of power within Venezuela have absolutely no security that they won’t be overthrown through the purposeful interference of America, done undercover, indirectly, or directly.

 When it comes to oil, and therefore the prevailing control of the availability of that oil, along with pricing, so of, just about every nation of influence and power that is aligned with America, has a strong desire to see that oil flows smoothly and at a fair price, which thereby signifies that whatever that America does to Venezuela will not be protested in any real sense, by those nations that count upon oil, but rather is only going to be questioned by those nations that are opposed to American interests, and perhaps a few nations that find it offensive that America would interfere in the sovereignty of another country.

 So then, life in Venezuela is certainly not going to get any easier, because defying America is one of those things in which the power structure of America, as exercised, will not willingly tolerate, and while America would prefer that a deal be made that permits Venezuela to still appear to be independent and sovereign, the reality is that America is going to get its way, by any means so necessary, sooner or later.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has its place

The bottom line is that DOGE could have its rightful place in governmental services if it were first structured in a bipartisan manner, with congressional oversight, and secondly, if that Department actually concentrated on where it could best save money on behalf of the American people without harming those very same people.

 The national government of this nation is so gargantuan at the present time, that there surely needs to be some sort of robust oversight of where the monies so being allocated are being expended, in addition to discovering whether or not such money is being spent in a purposeful and principled way.  So too, whenever it comes to a budget, the very first thing to take a careful look at is the biggest expenditures that exist, so that when it comes to the United States, while there are plenty of big budget items such as Healthcare and Social Security -- there are also big budget items such as Net Interest spent on the debt so incurred by the Federal government, as well as the Department of Defense which lend itself more appropriately to being thoroughly examined.

 We find that, as listed at pgpf.org, Net Interest for 2024 was estimated to be at $880 billion for the fiscal year 2025, and that the Department of Defense was estimated to be at $874 billion for that same fiscal year, which are incredibly large amounts of money being so budgeted.  When it comes to Net Interest, the first thing that stands out is whether or not the United States is paying too much in interest for the money being borrowed.  That is to say, this is the United States, the preeminent superpower in the world, of which, since the United States likes to throw its weight around, one would think it could thereby get the most competitive interest rates in the world, bar none.  Second to this is the salient fact that loan agreements should be subject to thorough negotiation, especially when the terms aren’t as favorable as they could be.  For a certainty, the United States could save money in its interest expense if it investigated that expense more thoroughly and thoughtfully.

 When it comes to the Department of Defense, it has to be admitted that the United States is honestly not being attacked by any nation-state, and that whatever so-called war there is against terrorism is something that could be addressed at a level far below the expenditures being allocated to such presently.  Additionally, as the world’s policeman, the United States should never be in the position in which it is expending billions upon billions getting ocean lanes clear and being present in all areas of the world, just in case its miliary force is needed, unless it is also getting “tribute” from those relevant nation-states, assorted agencies, corporations, and so forth that are being protected.  Not receiving tribute means that the American taxpayers are picking up the bill, and that whoever is being protected is not therefore paying their fair share.

 Indeed, if DOGE wants to start with Net Interest and the Department of Defense and then work its way through other inefficient areas, there would not only be meaningful savings in the budget, but there would also be more efficiency in those monies being spent.

The price of freedom is the consequences, so of

For everything there is a price, which thereby means that freedom has its cost, and those who do not pay attention to that most important fact are the same who are going to probably find out the hard way that freedom of choice always has consequences, and those exercising such freedom have to answer for it.  That is to say, for every action that we take, there is going to be a consequence to that action, of which, in some cases, we may not have a good idea of what that consequence may be, though in many a case, we do have a real good idea of what the consequence will be, and need thereby to be cognizant of such, before we take that action, especially when the consequence is ultimately going to be bad and undesirable.

 In this world, it would appear for some people under some circumstances, that they really can get away with it, in the sense of getting over on society or the other, and this has been proven out again and again, because there are many instances of people that not only aren’t getting punished for their bad actions, but rather are being praised or appreciated, instead, under the misimpression that whatever has occurred, is to their credit.   While this may well work in the here and now, it has got to be recognized that in the skeins of time, there will be a fair reckoning, and those that do not pay the appropriate price in the present for their misdeeds will for a certainty pay that price in the future, for in the end, justice will be served.

 All of the above signifies that life should be seen as a challenge, in which, given free will and free choice, the possibilities of what we will or won’t do seem endless.  However, the way that the rules of the game are structured is that, however we use our freedom, the actions that we have taken have effects upon others as well as our own self, of which, we should strongly desire to pay attention to those effects so generated, so that in that knowledge we can subsequently make adjustments to our freedom so that we will not end up building the wrong edifice, which will revert back to us in some other form or way.

 Those then that understand that with freedom comes responsibility and acknowledge that they are indeed responsible for all of their actions, good and bad, are the same that have placed themselves in a more knowledgeable position to do right, but just because we know what the right thing is to do with our freedom, does not necessarily mean that we will do the right thing, for there are millions upon millions of people that know right from wrong, but somehow can’t seem to help themselves from doing that wrong, when they know that they should do right, and it is those people, especially, that will understand, sooner or later, that freedom has its cost, and that cost must be paid.

The continuing need for positive role models

While there are many ways to learn, we often find that the amount of knowledge or advice, good or bad, that we gather from those we look up to is somewhat discounted or dismissed, though it should not be, because it is often quite influential.  This is why it is incumbent upon society to desire to see that there are good role models for those growing up to aspire to emulate, because when there are no good role models, those who are impressionable are going to end up emulating undesirable characteristics, which is not good for society and not good for their person.

 Regrettably, as much as we might want to believe that America is fully integrated and of which all are equally treated and thereby equal under the law, this isn’t true at all.  Rather, we live in enclaves in which some of those enclaves have an abundance of the accouterments that represent success and of which there is also an abundance of opportunity, counseling, and often good role models to lean upon; whereas, on the other hand we also have those enclaves of poverty, lack, and hopelessness, in which the amount of good role models to be found in those places is not only limited, but when found, these role models may only be around for a limited time before they move on to somewhere else, more accommodating and positive for them.

 Indeed, those that do not see or are unable to find successful role models in their community are going to be hard pressed to be successful, or as successful as they could be, mainly because it is hard to believe in something, and even harder to believe in yourself, when there doesn’t appear to be anyone else of your age bracket, or your complexion, or your creed, that is a paragon of virtue and orthodox success within that community.  This is why it is so important to provide those who have so little with representatives of people that look like them, and have also come from a similar background, for these adolescents to respect and to desire thereby to emulate, for without these role models, it’s hard to break out of the mold that confines people to something unbecoming of their innate ability and potential.

 We find that while there are plenty of people who have a generic belief that they can indeed be something of merit, they need help, though, in overcoming their unbelief, mainly because they lack positive role models to lean on and learn from.  This is why society needs to look carefully at communities and see where they can be an ever-present help in trouble, by deliberately making it their point to take the brightest and best amongst them, and doing their good part to help them in the achieving of success, so that these future community role models can become the foundation for others of the same ilk, to look up to, with the sure knowledge that because it has been done before, they too can do the very same, if not even better.

What we believe should directly impact how we behave

It would seem logical that what we believe impacts how we behave, because, quite frankly, our beliefs are the driving force in our lives.  Yet, as sensible as that might sound, we do so find that there are plenty of people who profess themselves as, for instance, believing Christians, or moral agents, that through their actions and their behavior belie that very thing, by clearly doing those things which are inimical to those beliefs.  In other words, they are not only hypocrites but clearly also lack the discipline and integrity to do right by their beliefs, or in some cases, don’t really care to.

 This thus signifies that it isn’t good enough for children, for example, to go to a good school or to just have good parents, that teaches them the difference between right and wrong, and impresses upon them an ethical guideline about what is or isn’t appropriate, if at the end of the day, despite believing in the goodness of such instruction, they end up behaving in a way and manner that is at loggerheads to what they have been taught to believe in.  This means that as much as one might wish that the right beliefs are going to make the right citizens, in actuality, how we end up behaving has a lot to do with the character of our person, in tested action.  This is why we need to hold those that we care about accountable to the good beliefs that they have been taught, and to therefore correct that which is in error, before it becomes an ingrained bad habit or character flaw.

 That is to say, to simply know the difference between right and wrong has its place, but if that person thus consistently does the wrong thing, then there is something there that needs to be fixed, because if not, they will continue along the same pathway, which is bad for them and bad for society.  So too, whenever we take the time to reflect upon our behavior, and recognize that we have drifted off course, wittingly or not, we need to make it our purpose to make amends to return to where we ought to be so as to become that which is consistent with our good beliefs, or ever fall further into that darkness which harms our character.

 It has been said, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22: 6).  Yet, this may not be good enough, for lessons learnt can also be lessons lost, signifying that we as parents, or as a society, need to make sure that the lessons we believe are so important to make for a good and productive life, have indeed been ingrained into the being of those so taught, for if it is not, then the result will not be what we desired to see, which isn’t good for the person, isn’t good for society, and isn’t what we had strived to accomplished when we made up our mind that we had an obligation to get the right beliefs into our children and friends, but somehow it didn’t end up turning out right.

The laws, as structured, make everyone susceptible to arrest

The problem with having so many laws, of which some of those laws are so open-ended, such as in loitering or disturbing the peace or disorderly conduct that these can thereby be adeptly applied to just about everyone, which signifies that everyone is at any time, susceptible to being arrested, and while spurious laws that are structured to capture anyone may not hold up in a court of law, they are, though effective in getting someone arrested and thereby taking away their freedom, while also intimidating and inconveniencing them, along with potentially negatively affecting their employment, their necessary obligations, and their life, for to be arrested even when all charges are subsequently dropped, still means that this arrest will in all probability be part of the public record.

 Indeed, being subject to a spurious arrest does separate the sheep from the goats, for there is many a person who has been arrested by the selective enforcement of the law, that through that experience will be far more reluctant to engage in whatever behavior that made that person to be subject to that arrest, and therefore because of that arrest, this takes away their freedom, for no justified reason.  This thus signifies that whenever the policing arm of the state has the tools of the trade to arrest anyone under the umbrella of laws that are so broad that they are applicable to everyone, it essentially makes that policing arm to create what is a police state, which thereby impinges upon our freedom.

 The worse part of the people being subject to being arrested on a bogus charge is the fact that this permits the policing arm of the state to target those that are considered to be not really enemies of the state, but rather those that are irritating or inconvenient to the state, to thereby to get these people to settle down and to behave per the desires and dictates of those that are the power brokers of the state.  In other words, freedom is a great power of the people, and whenever that government determines that such freedom conflicts with their desires, they thus, through that policing arm, put the hammer down and especially target those that they consider to be the most vulnerable, in being unable to handle law enforcement pressure.

 It is unfortunate that we now live in a day and age, in which our government, through its policing arm seems to be one that isn’t there to protect and to defend our Constitutional rights, but rather is structured in a way and manner to try to control and to manipulate the population, so as to favor the few and well-positioned over the many.  This is why all sorts of real crimes, financial, ethical, or criminal that are committed by the elites are so often treated with kid gloves, with the exception of those that are well-positioned but have fallen out of favor with those elites, because the law, as applied, protects the elite establishment and targets especially those that get in their way or that annoy them.

Is this really the land of the free?

 In life, there are easy words and easy sayings that make us to feel good about what we are reading and what we are hearing. Nevertheless, as it has been wisely said, actions speak louder than words, so those then that declaim that this is indeed the land of the free, have the inherent obligation to prove that very point, because as it stands right now, America doesn’t seem to be all that free, but rather seems to be determined to limit one’s freedom, under the guise such is necessary for the protection and safety of the state and its people.

 When we think of God, and thus our creation by that beneficial God, it should be recognized that, as in the story of Adam and Eve, God bestowed upon us, perhaps God’s greatest gift, which was freedom of choice, and to the degree that we don’t make good choices, we thus suffer the fair consequences of that poor choice.   This thus indicates that God believed that in our creation, it was necessary to provide us with that free choice, for how else could God determine that when given a choice, we voluntarily made the right choice; and when tempted, we did not give in to temptation -- for to simply have created automatons would have been of no good purpose whatsoever.

 It so follows, therefore, that those who are quick to take away our freedom should recognize that while restrictions and laws have their necessary place, at the end of the day, though, people and societies need to have agency in order to prove or disprove their character.  Additionally, some of the finest human beings have been, at least for some period of time, on the wrong side of the law or of ethics, but were subsequently able to turn it around and become great paragons of virtue and accomplishments, signifying that controlling people, supposedly for the greater good is not necessarily the only way to look upon how we should govern one another.

 Also, it needs to be noted that, as much as we want to believe that our parents always knew best, they really didn’t.  It therefore follows that as much as we wish that our government knows best, for a certainty, they do not, for they don’t really know us, but rather many a government seems to decay into favoring the few over the many, and therefore are for a certainty, respecter of persons; whereas our Creator is no respecter of persons, and until such a time as a government is run under the same sort of criteria as our God, in which all are equally created and therefore all should be dealt with, under the same ethical umbrella, then we aren’t really free at all.

 To be free, is to have not only a true freedom of choice, but to also be responsibly limited by our governance in the choices that are available to us, of which, then, the type of government that we should aspire to have is that government that lives up to the highest moral code possible, of thereby treating its people as we wish to be treated, and to be uphold thereby the virtues of love, integrity, and neighborly respect.

Credit cards can be interest-free loans

The era of personal loans has basically been replaced by credit cards, because credit cards can essentially be used as a loan for those who have such, and while the interest rate for that loan is typically rather high, unless one is able to get a promotional discount rate, it still represents a loan and also a credit line for the consumer.  So too, banks have a constant need to loan out money or else the banks wouldn’t themselves make any money, of which, credit cards serve that purpose of loaning out money to consumers, of which, thereby the bank has the right to charge interest rates for those loans that are not fully paid off every month, along also with the right to charge penalties for those that are late in making their minimum payment.  Additionally, when it comes to credit card limits, the bank is always in the boss seat, because although many people believe that once a credit limit is issued that a bank can’t reduce it or even to eliminate such, the terms and conditions of these credit card loans stipulate that banks can reduce the customer credit limit at their discretion upon written notice, and finally banks can terminate a credit card account immediately for various types of violations that the consumer has violated.

 Yet, one of those things which isn’t recognized as much as it should be, is that credit cards can also serve as a consistent short term interest-free loan, of which, this is easy to accomplish for a conscientious consumer to take advantage of, because credit cards have a known billing period of the charges accumulated; so then, for instance, if a credit card bill consists of charges from June 16th through July 15th, with a payment due date of August 10th, a savvy consumer would therefore deliberately make the bulk of their charges on or about July 16th, with the sure recognition that those charges would not be due on August 10th, but rather they would be due only on the next billing cycle, which would be on September 10th, thereby indicating that the consumer would get an interest-free loan from the bank of about 55 days or thereabouts.  Again, this only applies to those who pay their credit card bills on time and in full, and who have timed their credit card purchases to take advantage of the “float” between their purchase and the payment of such.  This means that the consumer who is able to do this consistently essentially gets interest-free loans of up to 55 days again and again, thereby saving them a considerable amount of money, which would be due if they paid the traditional interest rate on their credit card balance, which often is situated around 20% per annum.

 One might think that millions of people take advantage of this knowledge, and this is indeed true, which therefore means that it is those consumers that don’t pay off their credit cards in full, that are supporting not just those that get that free ride by paying their monthly credit cards in full, but also the very banks that issue these credit cards, for the expressed purpose of making a profit.

The downside of comparing yourself to others

We find that in many modern societies, there appears to be a constant desire for individuals to compare themselves to others, and when they find themselves wanting, it irritates them, and makes them to feel smaller than the other.  On the other hand, even for those that feel that they are truly in the catbird seat, the problem that they often have is their concern that this may not be the way that things will always be; in addition to the inconvenient fact that those in even the most superior of positions, can seemingly always find someone else that is doing even better than them and that annoys them to no end.

 In this life, we have got to recognize that either we are each individuals, wholly unique and thereby different from the other, or that we are in our essence, the very same as the other, in the sense that we are all equally created and thereby equally entitled to all the fruits of the immortal realm that we are an integral part of.  That is to say, we are part of the cosmic whole, which does not differentiate between anyone, because what we are at the present time is a material representation necessary for our incarnation upon earth, but at our core, we are the timeless soul, without a beginning and without an end.

 The problem with this planet for so many people is that they perceive what it represents as being a competition, and thus, because they are competitive with an ego, they are determined therefore to do their best to win the competition.  While we are entitled to see life in that sort of prism, it is far better to see life in this world as an exercise in collaboration, in addition to our inherent obligation to help make society and those that we interact with better because of our active and good participation.

 Indeed, those that just can’t seem to picture life outside of their physical body as well as the mind that they think with, have entrapped themselves into a domain, that thus seems to necessitate an endless drive to compare and to compete with the other, and while on the one hand, this can be beneficial in the sense that it pushes us to be more accomplished, it does though have a strong tendency to make us to be more selfish, self-centered, and driven by greed.  This is why we need to take the time to understand better the purpose of our being here, which is to test ourselves in the cauldron of life, in which we will prove not only to ourself but to others, then when tempted, we did not give into that temptation; and when provided with the opportunity to do right by those that we interact with, we not only did not let those people down, but we actively did our good part to help those that needed our aid, especially in consideration that this thus proves our mettle, when such needed to be proved to thereby demonstrate our good character, and therefore have earned our way back into the only sanctuary worth winning.

The Department of Defense (DoD) needs to be penalized for consistently failing its audit

The Department of Defense (DoD) has a gargantuan budget, which would presuppose that those paying attention to budgets, would definitely want to determine as to whether or not the monies being allocated to the DoD were being appropriately spent and accounted for.  Regrettably, the DoD has failed every audit since 2018, and the bottom line is that the DoD will continue to fail every audit until such a time as this becomes a priority for the DoD to rectify, because as it stands right now, the DoD budget continues to go up, which thereby sends the signal that all is fine and well, and thus it is business as usual.

 There are a multitude of ways to get any department to adhere to rules and regulations that are important to this government of, for, and by the people, of which the most basic way is to either provide an incentive or in lieu of such, a punishment, to get those necessary things done.  What the DoD does not need is an incentive to successfully complete an audit, because it has an inherent obligation to do that very thing.  This signifies that the DoD needs to be punished for its failure to be successfully audited, and the best punishment is to hit the DoD where it really counts, which is in its budget. 

 Therefore, a fair punishment is to deduct from all contracts and engagements in which money is being spent 1% of that contract price, which will only be returned to the vendor or else to the DoD when the DoD passes a successful audit.  The 1% represents just a little bit of belt tightening, but considering that the DoD budget is approximately 1 trillion dollars, this would be a savings to the taxpayers of $10 billion.  Additionally, should the DoD continue to fail its audit, that percentage should increase on a yearly basis by .5% until it reaches its maximum at 2.5%.

 For all those that don’t understand audits or the point of such, it needs to be recognized that failing an audit, for the DoD, can represent lost, stolen, fraudulent or unaccounted for equipment and supplies, along with contracts that do not conform to industry standards or are structured in a way in which the contractor is given essentially “most favored” treatment, when such is not warranted or necessary.

 The fact that the DoD is permitted to exist and to increase its budget year after year, despite its failure to be successfully audited, is a reflection of the need of the American people for a DoD.  However, just because the people need a DoD does not mean that the DoD should be permitted to run an operation which cannot with a straight face tell those that pay for the DoD that everything is on the up and up, because those organizations that cannot pass an audit, clearly have systemic problems that need to be addressed forthrightly, and therefore, the sooner that the DoD becomes in compliance with such, the better it will be for all.

The negative aspects of “we band of brothers”

There is something to be said about soldiers or law enforcement personnel who band together in order to accomplish great and necessary things on behalf of their task masters.  This is all to the good when the overriding purpose is to serve the people and their countrymen appropriately, so as to protect the homeland and society, thereby to make for a better world.

 On the other hand, when soldiers band together, and are under the wrong leadership or the wrong mission, we find that it is far easier for those that are part of that band of brothers to slip into doing the types of negative things that they would in all likelihood they would not do on their own, such as rape and the wholesale annihilation of civilians or unarmed enemy combatants.  That is to say, those who believe that their loyalty must at all times be to the group, and thereby discount their moral and ethical obligations, have forsaken the good for that which is wrong.

 Indeed, those who are under armed fire or the intense pressure of life and death are going to see the team that they are an integral part of, as of supreme importance, which thereby lends itself to that team, if not directed in the right direction, being susceptible to doing the types of horrible crimes that society would not countenance if awake, but in many a case society does countenance, by simply not giving any credence to the stories so generated or ignoring such, which thereby signifies that because nobody is held accountable, this thereby does not resolve what should be and needs to be resolved.

 When we look at human personality, it has to be understood that peer pressure and the feeling that we cannot let ourselves down to those that we either respect or are part of a group with, encourages people to do things that they probably would not do, but because of that peer pressure and also in conformance to what appears to be occurring by others, as either seen or believed in, lends itself to people embracing that which is inimical to their good character, and once that line is crossed for the first time, it thereby becomes easier for it to be crossed again and again.

 This means that soldiers and police officers need to be periodically examined by internal affairs, or something akin to it, to root out problems, so that what is occurring that should not be occurring can be rectified, before it becomes even more ingrained or worse.  Because the bottom line is that regretful actions are taken far too often by soldiers and policemen, that need not be happening, and would not happen if there was a more robust response to deter them from doing the types of things which are damaging to their psyche, to their being, as well as to society.  This is the salient reason why there are so many soldiers who suffer from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), because once a soldier finishes his tour of duty, and thereby disbands from their band of brothers, they are left ruminating on what went down, and that which is morally reprehensible leads to endless regrets and a very troubled mind and soul.

The motivation of religious jihadists

Virtually every government wants to see terrorism, and thus religious jihadists, become a non-factor, because they do not condone their violence, which often harms and kills innocent civilians, and does not, in its effect, accomplish anything of lasting purpose or meaning.  That is to say, religious jihadists don’t seem to have a goal other than to be destructive of those that they do not respect, such as those labeled as infidels, and somehow in their mindset, have convinced themselves that non-believers or apostates deserve to die, as their punishment for not having the right religious beliefs.

 The above would presuppose that religious jihadists are, first of all, quite religious. Therefore, those who are religious jihadists haven’t been radicalized, but rather this is part and parcel of their religious tenets.. The truth though is far more nuanced, for a significant number of those that make up religious jihadists aren’t really religious, at all, but rather come from the background of the criminal class, and see that in their joining to a cause that thereupon permits them to be seen as an avenger against those that deserve to be punished, makes them therefore to be designated as honorable and righteous in the killing of the other, which permits consequently them to focus their criminal mindset upon committing dirty deeds which they believe they will be absolved of, because of the religious cloak that they have become part of.

 This thereby signifies that those that end up becoming religious jihadists have more in common with the criminal element that thereupon has been redirected and refocused to take their anger, frustration, or lack of respect and re-channel such into an activity in which they will receive respect from those that are their peers, meaning that those that are religious jihadists are typically not those who have grown up in an orthodox mosque, but rather those that have grown up with a chip on their shoulder, and thus desiring to get rid of that chip by striking out against those that have been targeted to deserve what happens to them, all done under the guise that doing so, is justified within that interpretation of their religion.

 So then, it could be argued that jihadists aren’t interested in seeing those that are infidels, converted by the sword, but rather they want to eradicate them from the face of the earth, because their motivation is to destroy, which they believe aligns with the beliefs of their espoused religion, structured in a way and manner that this seems to be right.

 This thus signifies that for those nations that desire to see that their people do not become religious jihadists, their government needs to be structured in a way and manner that is accommodating, civil, and just to all of the people, because those most likely to be drawn to religious jihadism are the same that feel that they are misunderstood, uncared for, unloved, and forsaken.  These then find their purpose in harming the other, done so, under the misimpression that it is for the greater good, when, in fact, it isn’t and never will be.

The dark truth about lynching

The lynching is the forceful taking of somebody accused of some nefarious crime, oftentimes historically involving the alleged rape of a white woman by a black man, and subsequently the hanging of that alleged offender by a mob of citizens, riled up to do that very thing.  The lynching of black Americans is a great national shame, which was just another way for white people to enforce their bastardized form of justice upon the black man, so as to keep the black man down and subservient, because the white man preferred to keep the hierarchy of dominance which was the white man’s domain during the times of slavery, and did not care to see that to change.

 The thing about lynching, as wrong as it was, is the salient fact that the excuse that a black man molested a white woman was, in many cases, not true at all.  Rather, this narrative was created because the white man knew that the general public would be up in arms whenever they were led to believe that the black man had violated the white woman.  In fact, lynching was, in many cases, a situation in which the person so being lynched was somebody of substance, such as a black man who owned his own successful business, or was respected throughout the black community for his contributions to his people.  In other words, whites deliberately targeted black men to be lynched, specifically because of their success, because these black men were giving the impression that blacks weren’t inferior to the white man, at all, but rather were able to represent that they, given even half of a chance, were just as capable as whites, and this could not be tolerated by those of the white race who felt threatened by this inconvenient fact.

 So then, lynching wasn’t really about a white woman being raped or molested, but was instead about raising hell and wreaking havoc upon black communities, by deliberately targeting the best and brightest amongst them, who dared to show the white man up, by outcompeting him, and by thus being successful.  This then signifies that the purpose of lynching was to demonstrate to blacks that no matter how successful a given black man might be, that the white man had the power to disrupt that in the worse way possible, so as to impress upon black people, that the only blacks that the white man was willing to tolerate, were subservient, compliant, and that paid endless respect to all white man, no matter their given place in society, for the white man believed wholeheartedly that even the lowest of the low of whites, was superior to any black man.

 This violence perpetrated upon the black man was a grave injustice, that was quite frankly a form of terrorism, that the government of this nation, along with the law enforcement of communities, did not do nearly enough, and in a lot of cases, did nothing, to protect the black man, because at the end of the day, they didn’t care to or believe that the black man was entitled to their full Constitutional rights or to have a fair opportunity at all.

Are your taxes fairly distributed?

As a people, we are directly taxed upon, for instance, our income, capital gains, and property, and all of this money, collected from a local, county, State, and Federal perspective, is thus utilized or distributed by these respective governmental agencies.  The thing, though, that isn’t really answered is whether or not the taxes, having been collected, are being fairly or appropriately distributed.  It would seem that this would be something that should be carefully studied, because quite obviously, those areas that receive more in benefits than they are taxed upon would seem to be in a superior position to those areas that receive less in benefits than they are taxed upon.

 The thing about taxes and the distribution of those tax monies is that there are certain communities that, for instance, have a lot of people of retirement age, who thus are benefiting from receiving Social Security and Medicare benefits that far exceed what they are paying into the system at the present time.  Yet, that seems to be alright because that is the nature of how these programs were structured.  Nevertheless, this appears to reflect a common complaint of the younger generation that their payroll taxes would seem to be going into the pockets of those of the elder generation, making them to believe the distinct possibility that when it comes to their own retirement and need for Medicare that the well might be running dry.

 So too, corporations that have a lot of presence and payroll in certain communities, probably aren’t seeing those taxes being return to their particular area of domain, but rather these taxes are being allocated to other areas of interest, that is to say to different communities or organizations, which though making sense at one level, seems to be something in which, those that are contributing these tax dollars would obviously prefer to see that the tax monies so being collected be fairly spent in closer proximity to the communities in which the employees are employed.

 Then there is the situation in which the United States is made up of fifty States, in which each State pays taxes to the Federal government of differing amounts, but the allocation of where those taxes goes does not reflect a distribution that is consistent with those payments, thereby signifying that certain States are net beneficiaries of federal taxes; whereas other States are net contributors, which is something that would appear to be unfair.

 In sum, because of the sheer amount of taxes being collected, it would behoove politicians and legislators of all types to desire to find out whether they are getting their fair share of that rather sizeable pie, because those that are not, would appear to be cheating their own communities, thereof, in addition to the salient fact, that the tax system, though progressive, should at the end of the day, be fair to all of the people of this nation, as opposed to certain segments of that population as well as communities apparently getting over on the other.

Public housing and “Big Brother” surveillance

There is a significant and fundamental difference between public and private property, of which, that difference is the fact that private property is not permitted to be surveilled by the government, unless a properly issued warrant has been put into effect; whereas, public property because it is governmentally owned can be subject to intrusive surveillance, sold under the aegis that this is for public safety, and for crime control.

 While there may well be a significant portion of those that live in governmental public housing who appreciate being surveilled for their protection, the problem is that the control of that surveillance and the monitoring, so of, is virtually never in the resident’s hands, but rather is in the control of the government and what the government does or does not do, would appear to be at their discretion, which means that those living in public projects are being surveilled, which thus places them essentially into a fishbowl to be examined, monitored, and dealt with.

 So too, when it comes to surveillance and the laws of the land, surveillance is going to permit governmental authorities to have video documented evidence of crimes that have been committed, ranging from serious crimes to crimes that are not only trivial, but often are the type of crimes that are ignored or of little concern to those residing in private housing.  In other words, because of this surveillance, it becomes rather easy for the government to concentrate and to target certain residents that they consider to be troubling, not from a true crime perspective, but from the perspective that they are too vocal, complain too much, or are trying to engage other residents in some sort of formal complaint against the public housing authority.

 This therefore is one of the main reasons why those being surveilled, aren’t going to appreciate such, because they are thus put into the unenviable position of being susceptible to being arrested or harassed for trivial violations, which could result in their removal, or at a minimum, quiet their voice, which thus means that their freedom has been restricted, which doesn’t seem fair or right, all done under the supposed need to surveil residents for their protection and safety.

 The problem with video cameras that are on 24/7 is that they are not only on 24/7, which makes them to be ever monitoring those that are in their view, but that there isn’t ever any relief from that monitoring, and thing about human nature, is that people, need to have space to do their thing, of which, some of those things are going to be considered violations of some part of the criminal code, but in actuality, aren’t really harming anyone or anything.  This would indicate that those surveilling public housing should be subject to some sort of residential feedback, review, or pushback, or else that surveillance will be seen for what it truly represents, which is the control and the monitoring of those residents in public housing, as the taxation and price that they have to pay in order to live there.

Arrests for the convenience of the state

Police officers are known for many things, but one of those things that they are not known for is their high expertise in criminal law.  That is to say, police officers are not lawyers and typically have never attended law school, which means that they actually don’t know the law backwards and forwards.  Additionally, no human being knows every single law or the appropriate application of the law in every single circumstance.  In other words, when police officers arrest a given individual, they often are just going to go to a common playbook that they are familiar with, and find a charge that seems to fit, which will thus justify the arrest, of which, there are those types of charges that pretty much can be used in many a circumstance, such as disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, and things of that general ilk.

 The above thus signifies that when a person is being arrested and they ask what they are being arrested for, there probably isn’t any point in the asking, because the police officer is just going to find a charge that seems reasonable for the circumstances, for that initial charge leading to the arrest is not going to often represent the formal charge. In actuality, the charging of an individual with a crime is determined by the prosecuting agent of the state, who will look at the notes so provided by the police officer and determine what charges are most appropriate, or decide not to charge the individual so arrested, at all.

 This signifies that those being arrested not only don’t know for certain what they are being arrested for, but really won’t know what charges they will be accused of until the prosecuting agent weighs in.  Additionally, there are many cases in which someone is arrested in which no formal charges are ever filed, whatsoever, and thereby the person arrested is released.  While that might sound good to the person that has been released from having been arrested, it has to be noted that being arrested is for many people a pretty traumatic affair, and to thus lose one’s freedom for some period of time in which at the end of the day, no charges are filed, seems to be the type of thing, that should be investigated more thoroughly because there may be arrests being made that the officer of the law knew were under a spurious charge, but they did so perhaps because they simply wanted to enforce their authority that they are an agency not to be trifled with.

 The bottom line is that it is one thing for a police officer to engage in a conversation with a person, over some perceived incident, and to thereby let that person go, as compared to actually arresting and putting a person in handcuffs and the back of the police vehicle to be processed.  This means that police officers seemingly have a lot of discretion over what they are allowed to do, which seems to be something that should be monitored, but not necessarily by agents of the state, such as the prosecution, but rather, monitored by those who are citizens of the state to ascertain as to whether police officers are behaving in a way and manner consistent with civility and service to the community.