Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all! May the Light of Hope illuminate the path before you.

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PS: Hoping this auto-posts to Facebook since I installed a new plugin on my blog!

Photo Blogging Part 1

I’m going through my old pics from over 10 years ago. I’m going to post some from time to time. Nothing more than making use of pictures that otherwise are just sitting in the cloud doing nothing.

My Favorite Pic

This particular picture was just a whim, as the description notes. In fact, I didn’t even look through the view finder. I just held the camera over the plant while walking by and clicking. When I got home and looked at it on my computer I realized just how beautiful it was. I’ve used it on my PC and MacBook Air desktops ever since.

For Those Who Are Truly Christian

38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
— Matthew 5:38–5:42 KJV

27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,

28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.
30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
— Luke 6:27–31 KJV

New Castle

Once again I have moved. This time Tina and I are living in Duluth, MN. A little neighborhood called “Smithville.” I’m only three quarters of a mile from where the Munger Trail crosses Highway 23. Yes, the same one that ran just behind Peggy Sue’s. Only, this time it’s up hill, not flat. Or, down hill when I turn around to go back home!

Now, the house is still a clutter, but we are slowly making headway in getting things set up. Perhaps there will be pictures to follow. I’m not exactly quick with doing that. Anyway, just thought I’d let you all know! All none of my readers at this blog, anyway!

Mocking History

I’ve a cousin who proudly proclaims her conservative views. She knows who she is. Anyway, at the reunion the other day she told this joke: Do you know why the North won the war? Well, the South threw dynamite, the North picked it up, lit the fuse, and threw it back.

Now, I’m not saying the joke is funny (it’s all a matter of taste, after all). But, and I think this is important, it’s the first time I’ve heard a joke mocking the South’s loss of the civil war. Having been in the Navy and been to all four corners of the Continental United States, I can say for a fact that the North was mocked on a regular basis, but not once did I hear the South get mocked.

This, by the way, is from Balloon Juice:

………. The other day Dr. Mrs. Dr. F. was sitting in traffic in the university part of town behind a lifted pickup flying that huge rebel flag. A couple of college kids, chatting on the crosswalk, stopped and did a double take. The black guy told the other guy, who was maybe south Asian, something about the flag and then he started laughing. The spouse watched him call out to the rock-still white kid in the pickup cab, (roughly) “Really, dude? It’s the twenty first century”. Then he shook his head, laughed again and walked off before the light changed. Now having people hate your symbol and fight against it, that is more or less the point. Hating something is just another type of respect. But nowadays ol’ Dixie is clearly in retreat (again), the reddest of red legislatures have started abandoning it and people who should feel intimidated just laugh in your face.

The Civil War was just the start of the overall battle about slavery, race, and bigotry. I think we’ve started to see the final loss of the South. They no longer have the ability to claim heritage, they get mocked and ridiculed openly on the streets, and even the most Southern of states have removed the flag.

Will ol’ Dixie ever completely disappear? No. Like an infectious virus it will linger in out of the way places, dormant, waiting for a chance to spring forth. However, the vaccine to combat this infection is going strong (despite some peoples’ claims otherwise) and the struggle to inject it into the populous has finally worked; it is self-replicating. All men are created equal.

Dude, Where Are My Voters?

Way to have the pulse of the electorate.

(Bloomberg Politics) “If you’re getting high in Colorado today, enjoy it,” Christie, a Republican campaigning for the 2016 presidential nomination, said Tuesday during a town-hall meeting at the Salt Hill Pub in Newport, New Hampshire. “As of January 2017, I will enforce the federal laws.”

The nation has moved on. The war on drugs is a war on American Citizens. How, exactly, does he plan on winning an election by declaring he would resume the war on the vary voters he hopes will vote for him?

One Big Party

From Mustang Bobby I’ve learned that Fox News is going to let the entire Republican presidential field take the stage in their two debates.

(CBS News) Fox News announced another change to its August 6 Republican presidential candidate forum on Tuesday, removing the requirement that candidates clear at least one percent in an average of national polls to qualify for the second-tier debate.

To what end? Is this because their core audience was threatening to turn off the TV if the entire Republican Clown Car wasn’t allowed on stage? Is their core audience even in the economic range needed to adequately support higher ad fees? Does the “get off my grass!” crowd even leave their homes to buy stuff for fear their lawns will get trampled? Or perhaps it’s an effort to get the younger, more hip, and more loose with their money crowd to watch the Keystone Pols?

You know, it just doesn’t seem to be a viable commercial move on the part of Fox.

Oh, wait. Fox ain’t commercial, they’re propaganda. My bad.

Okay, I’ve Got Other Plugins

A while ago I installed a Gallery Plugin that helps with organizing pictures for posts. Specifically, it does a side show. I’ve just not gotten around to playing with it. I’m thinking I just might do that today. So, hopefully, pics to follow!

Okay, it’s a bare basics, time intensive plugin. It’s going to get removed.