11-16-2022

Another Democratic Tactic

Recently the hot news story of the day was the homeless man who entered the home of Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco last month and attacked her 82 year old husband Paul with a hammer. It was around 2:30 am the morning of October 28^th when SFPD officers arrived. Officers opened the door to see Mr. Pelosi and Mr. DePape jointly gripping a hammer. It was then that DePape wrestled the hammer away and cracked Mr. Pelosi on the head, causing a skull fracture and other injuries, the report said. Additional reports say DePape went from being an Obama supporter to a QAnon follower. While other reports were said that various conservative public figures made light (fun) of the attack.  Does that sound about right?

I’m reminded of the story that surfaced just prior to the inauguration of Barack Obama. It was reported that the Secret Service, FBI and Homeland Security were on heightened alert as they got word that an illegal alien from Somalia had entered the US, was in the vicinity of Minneapolis and had threatened to assassinate Obama during his inauguration. Those reports turned out to be nothing more than hype.

What about the 2018 mid-term reports of white powder being sent through the mail to various democratic politicians and the infamous van the FBI found out and the driver arrested soon after. Another scam……?

So back to the Pelosi scare, one report was that SFPD officers opened the door while another said Mr. Pelosi opened the door but did not communicate to law enforcement that he was in trouble or stress as he went back inside and wrestled with “homeless” man (DePape) until after being struck and then officers apprehended Mr. DePape. When will the body-cam footage of both officers be released publically?

These and more are the fear tactics used by various Democratic Party operatives to influence voters during elections across the country. The trouble is that people like you or I fall for these “hot button issues” like flies to a pile of kaka. So before you fall for another BREAKING NEWS story, maybe consider the source, the timing and what is about to happen politically before blindly believing what you read, hear or even see.

On the flip side last night former President Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the presidential race in 2024. He highlighted his accomplishments as president, contrasted the current administration’s failures and seemed extremely proud of the fact that out of the mid-term candidates he endorsed 232 actually won; while 22 that he endorsed lost. I’m sure the media will focus on the losses as a means to make people think that Trump’s base is waning. I hate to be the one to break it to you but we aren’t going anywhere!

It will be interesting to watch the campaign season unfold and I’d advise you to be prepared for more surprises in the democratic bag of tricks and dirty dealings! – RTM  

11-15-2022

A House Divided

I have purposefully kept myself quarantined from election news in hopes that this nightmare would end and common sense would return to American politics. Fat chance you say!

I did watch a television broadcast where a congressional GOP representative cited off a list of “objectives” that would begin on day one after the GOP Speaker of the House takes the gavel. I didn’t write down what he was saying, yet one single most “objective” I would like to see from both chambers of Congress can be summed up in one word – ACCOUNTABILITY, the accountability of those who misuse their elected office for financial and political gain. Even the appearance of political corruption tarnishes the entire legislative body.

Since the days of Nixon in the White House congress has factionalized – fragmented the legislative body to the point that they have openly circumvented or ignored the constitutionality of the Constitution of the United States. No longer is the “rule of law” held as the measure of right and wrong in our nation.

In his Emancipation Proclamation speech Abraham Lincoln quoted the words of Jesus in Matthew 12:25 ESV “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.” That very thing appears to have happened in the halls of congress.

Newly elected members of congress during their indoctrination phase and after their swearing in ceremony are given the “rules” by congressional leadership and I’ve heard rumors that infractions have been dealt with harshly. In the past there were rules in place that forced compromises across the aisle in order to get bills written, passed and submitted to the president for signing into law. Over time many of those rules were scrubbed and there was no longer a need for partisan compromising. In recent years newly elected legislators who did not “toe the line” were stripped of their committee assignments and became outsiders.

I would like to see a major overhaul of the inner workings of the legislative body so that power cannot remain in the hands of a single individual or group of individuals while excluding those whom WE THE PEOPLE have sent to Washington to do our bidding. Start by dissolving congressional caucuses and committees and getting all 435 members of the House and all 100 members of the Senate back on the same PUBLIC SERVICE page. They work for us and should never feel they are superior to their constituents – the American people. I have watched as elected officials have had the audacity to break a number of federal laws, when they could just as easily have re-written to fix errors or to make better for our nation. Until congress gets their collective house in order (legislatively speaking) how in the world can we expect them to take care of our collective house – The United States of America?

Voters have a vital role in this process and voting against someone is NOT the same as voting for someone. Make you vote count! –

RTM

11-15-2022

The Man and the Myth

I find it strange that during the administration of President Trump a great many “stories” (I use that term loosely) were “leaked” about the president being a loose cannon with anger that caused turmoil throughout the West Wing.

These “leaks” were almost daily occurrences.

Yet when I read the books of those who worked closest with and for Trump, I read of a completely different White House deeply committed to him. Did he get angry? With all the slanderous lies used to soil his name and his reputation I’m sure he probably got angry. Not once have I read where he lost his temper, blew up and curse someone out in private or in public, as some supposed. Each of Trumps former press secretaries mirror their fondness of working for Trump and tell of his kindness to everyone he came in contact with. Those who attended his rallies or watched from home saw Trump use comic relief as a means of venting, yet doing so in jest. He would attach monikers or nicknames as a bit of Trump humor whereas his detractors took them as personal insults.

These same people overlook their own insults hurled Trump’s way and feel it was and still is perfectly okay for death threats, insults and disrespect of former President Trump by those empowered by the actions and conduct of those in high ranking legislative leadership positions and the crowds they drew.

I remember while meeting with world leaders it was implied that Trump was going to start World War III or was in their “pocket” of because he had not been a political insider prior to being elected. According to them Trump knew nothing of world politics and they grossly underestimated him.

During the Trump administration:

• China’s president arranged for theft charges against 3 California college basketball players to be dropped and allowed them to be released from their hotel so they could be flown back to the USA by the US State Department.
• Kim Jong Il stopped firing missiles in the territorial waters off North Korea, South Korea and Japan while Trump was in office.
• Russia’s leader Putin suspended his campaign of military aggression against Ukraine until after Trump left office.
• Trump was instrumental in bringing forth the signing of the Abraham Accords to bring peace in the Middle East, between certain member states as it had never been done successfully in the past.
• The worldwide outbreak of the Chinese Virus was met head on with the meshing together of government, private industry, medical and military to manufacture PPE, Vaccines and medical equipment that went to hospitals and facilities first in the US, and then across the globe. And to “prevent the spread” the US border was sealed off from foreign travelers of select areas around the world which were hit hardest with the virus.

Do you remember the deaths of former President George H. W. Bush, sitting Senator John McCain, sitting Representative Elijah Cummings, and sitting Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg – each body was placed in the Rotunda of the Capital Building and it was publicly made know that President Trump was not welcome to attend or even pay his respects.

I haven’t even touched on the Pelosi impeachments of President Trump, carried out on purely false information by congressional henchmen who decided Trump was guilty and sought out to prove it, regardless of facts or fiction.

The 2020 election was meant to be the last straw insuring that Trump would not be reelected, yet when he contested the election results, a “plan B” was put into effect and orchestrated to take place on January 6^th, 2021. Need I say more?

The furor over “classified documents” held by Trump after he left office, pales in comparison to the misuse of sensitive and classified documents by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her private server and the “cleaning” of 34,000 “lost” emails after she left office that called for no probe of potential national security violations.

Some allege that Trump divided America. I say the division in America came to a forefront in the form of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) as American’s see it as their right to come out against Trump because of what they’ve been told.

Was Trump an angel, did he not make mistakes – c’mon man! He was human and prone to error, as we all are. By the same token Trump was not the devil either. Trump’s biggest fault, he loved America so much and felt somebody had to do something. He was somebody and he would not sit aside while politicians chiseled away at the foundation America was built on – A biblically based Constitution that everybody was created equal by God and the American Dream required blood, sweat and tears – and a lot of hard work. We can be better but we must do better.

The biggest fear of congressional democrats is that Trump will not only run, but win the presidency again.

– RTM

11-4-2022

By the Dawnzearlylight

I have a problem with someone coming into my house stirring up trouble and causing widespread division. Only someone who has served in the military overseas can fully understand the importance of having a unifier, a tangible piece of America to remind us why we serve and for whom we serve.

It’s always encouraging to see the stars and bars waving in the wind or hanging on the flagpole when approaching a US embassy or military base. Francis Scott Keyes got it right when he penned the words of the Star Spangled Banner.

There is no black national anthem, no other symbol of America only the red, white and blue that fosters pride and patriotism or strikes fear in the hearts of our enemy. So before you get all riled up beyond reason, determine where your allegiance lies.

The law of the land was formed in the Constitution of the United States of America and based upon godly principles as written in the Bible. If that offends you then maybe, just maybe this land is not your land and like an animal that has lost its way by wandering off the range you should find your own way back. – rtm  

11-2-2022

Conspiracy or Treasonable

I’m still wondering why the most obvious, in your face, character assassination of a sitting president began after January 20^th, 2017 and the conspirators are still not behind prison bars? It’s one thing for 2 people sitting at a bar, talking about “what if” versus 2 people using their political power and influence to affect monumental political change to the security of our nation – I call that treason!

I’m talking about Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer at the time President Trump took office and during one of (if not the) first official meetings in the Oval Office at the White House. Rather than being polite and cordial Nancy Pelosi said to the new president “you don’t know the importance I bring to this meeting”. At that moment she was a former Speaker of the House, making her just another member of the Legislative Branch of government. Chuck Schumer then the Minority Leader of the Senate was in full agreement with her.

Who does that?

It wasn’t long after the new representatives were sworn in that Nancy Pelosi after visiting with each of the newly elected Democrats was voted unanimously as Speaker of the House again and began her crusade of publicly and openly crucifying President Trump with the Mueller Investigation, followed by not one, but two impeachments and on his way out of office a third disguised in a January 6^th Committee hearing. Not only were the key players the same, but the Democratic playbook of smoke and mirrors did not deviate in methodology. The underlying premise of guilty with “facts” introduced to insure everyone knew.

The results of the Mueller Investigation and the senatorial jury of the two impeachments all acquitted President Trump, yet the jury is still out on the J6 Committee until after the midterm elections next week.

Let us not forget that during an election, and particularly a presidential election, should a candidate contest the results there are legal and constitutional procedures to address it. Once the procedures have been followed in a presidential election there is the process involving the Electoral College, culminating on each state certifying their EC votes and submitting them to Congress so they can be presented individually before the body of Congress on January 6^th to be confirmed or rejected.

Just to be clear lest we forget it was during this final process and precisely when the contested swing state EC ballots were being presented that a breech in protocol triggered by violent protestors moved inside the Capital Building disguised as MAGA supporters and a real threat to members of Congress. This threat resulted in the loss of life for one actual MAGA supporter retired USAF Veteran Ashli Babbitt, placing undue blame on President Trump and the forming of the J6 Committee that ordered the rounding up of MAGA supporters who were identified or admitted on social media as being at the DC rally on J6. Will they ever receive justice – innocent until proven guilty in a court of their peers?

Here we are 2 years after the 2020 election and on the eve of the 2022 midterms. If the election fraud concerns of 2020 have not been address and corrected; the alleged violators identified and prosecuted – will the end results be any better this second time around?

What do they say about doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results???? – rtm

It had been a while since I had been to Khon Kaen, Thailand but I knew the way to my wife’s family’s village.

As I walked up the long rising hill towards the temple I knew that just beyond was her parents’ home.

I entered and crossed through the temple grounds looking at vaguely familiar objects while anticipating the reception I was sure to receive.

As I walked through the gateway leaving the temple I stopped abruptly in my tracks. Where was the sleepy village I asked myself? It had only been 19 years.

Nothing looked familiar. So I stopped at a little home store and asked the woman in Thai where was house #136? “Bon (house) nung (1) saam (3) hoke (6) you tee nigh (where is)?”

She just stared at me like she’d seen an alien or something. Then I realized that I WAS an alien, a furlong.

Just then a young man approached and asked what I was looking for? I asked him the same question, where was house #136?

He stood there trying to figure out how to answer. Then he pointed down the street and said go across 2 streets and turn left.

I thanked them both (Kop Khon mock Kop) and headed down the street and turned left as instructed.

I didn’t recognize anything so to another family store I asked the same question, where is house #136?

I got no response until I opened my wallet and showed a picture of me standing next to my wife.

Then she began yelling and I thought it would bring the police, but no out from the next building came a barber.

He wasn’t just any barber, but a brother-in-law I had never met.

He took me to his house while one of his sons went to get his mom.

Soon my sister-in-law came and showed me her parents’ house still standing behind her place.

The village had grown quite large compared to the sleepy village I had last been in 19 years earlier.

Believe it or not that was 33 years ago and when I go back I still remember that day like it was yesterday.

Most of my wife’s family is gone now, except a sister-in-law who still lives in her same house, and an older sister living in a town not too far away. Both are widows, with children and grandchildren living nearby.

I miss getting my hair cut by my special barber during my trips.

Memories……how they linger! – rtm

6-23-2021

A Tromp down Memory Lane

I’ve been around computers probably longer than even I knew, but my closest friends can attest I haven’t always been a computer geek.

While in the military I learned to operate one of those huge word processors. During my last assignment a computer was brought into my office a few months before I retired. I learned to play Microsoft Golf and man could I rack up the points, until I was informed that low score is the object of golf.

After retiring, I went to Ft Carson and failed miserably during a job interview when asked about my computer experience.

It was 1991 and I replied, “What is a computer?” It was not the right answer.

During my time in the military there were no computers in tactical vehicles, but in today’s military computers are  common place.

I decided to go to school and become a travel agent because I love to travel. Not the smartest reason because when you’re traveling you’re not working, so who is going to pay for your travel?

I became pretty good working at a computer workstation using the United Airlines Apollo Reservation System and became proficient with the American Airlines Saber Reservation System. I worked as a home-based travel agent, using Apollo software and connecting to the travel agency via a modem. I helped perfect the procedures used by outside sales agents to connect to the agency from home.

During a familiarization trip to Disneyworld in 1995 I stopped by to see a friend that decided I needed a computer. He stayed up all night building a computer for me. It was home built with Windows 3.1, 8MB of memory, a 128MB hard drive, a screaming Pentium 75 processor. It had that big old 5 1/4″floppy disk drive.

I checked my computer (3 boxes) as baggage and watched as we changed planes in Dallas to make sure the 3 boxes (pc, monitor & printer) all made it on my flight to Colorado.

When I got home I was at a total loss as where to begin. I asked a friend to help me get up and running. Then he configured my desktop and taught me about getting an email address and searching the internet (didn’t have Google back then).

I missed those early computer years and most definitely I’m not a DOS guy, but with lots of help I was able to start surfing the net. I was eager to learn and wanted to do more. I learned to build HTML webpages from scratch and manipulate the code to make changes.

I earned my bachelor degree in computer science while working at a telephone conference call center. I had built and maintained a couple of websites using my desktop computer as the “host computer”. Yet I managed to get and flunked a Gateway help desk interview because I couldn’t come up with 4 DOS commands.

I had some computer problems (it would turn off on its own). I got upset, reached inside and grabbed a handful of ribbon cables and ripped them out. Soon realizing what I had done, I was on the phone asking my friend in Florida how to put them back? I didn’t know that when a computer overheats it shuts down to prevent damage.

MS-DOS – Microsoft Disk Operating System (1981)…

Windows 1.0 – 2.0 (1985-1992)…

Windows 3.0 – 3.1 (1990-1994)…

Windows 95 (August 1995)…

Windows NT 3.1 – 4.0 (1993-1996)…

Windows 98 (June 1998)…

Windows 2000 (February 2000)…

Windows ME (September 2000)…

Windows XP (October 2001)…

Windows Vista (November 2006)…

Windows 7 (October 2009)…

Windows 8 & 8.1 (August 2012)…

Windows 10 (July 2015)…

Windows 11 (Released in 2021)…

Over the course of time I went from Windows 3.1 to Windows 11 upgrading shortly after each release.

Beginning in 2006 I began working on computers at home. I replacing hardware, upgraded operating systems and installed software out of my home office.

I’ve been fully retired as of 2009 and word of mouth advertising keeps me busy.

When I’m not fixing computers I’m working on websites, administering several Facebook groups, or doing other things – like blogging as The Real Truckmaster.

Writing blog posts helps to keep me in tune with a variety of issues that are of the utmost importance to me. Quite often they are of a topic that pops up in conversation or online messaging.

 – rtm

(Photo from YouTube review of The Chosen)

10-29-2022

My Thoughts About The Chosen

I recently got a message from a friend who is questioning this new crowd-funded television show called The Chosen.

I am seeing your posts about “The Chosen” and you are recommending them. 

Are they truly Christian based? 

Do they tell us who Jesus really is and that Jesus is the only way to get to know our God? 

I’m seeing posts also from other Christians who are recommending do not watch because the movies and books are not biblical.  Just asking because I have not seen any of the movies so am really confused whether or not I even want to see the movies.

Those are really good questions to ask.

I strongly recommend The Chosen, but understand that it is a television show that is written from actual bible scripture. I’ve watched every episode of every season (1 & 2) thus far and I can tell you that The Chosen brings each character to life with a compelling and plausible substantial backstory. On the screen they actually become real people who knew Jesus as a real man and as a very real God who cares for them. The Chosen is well written and even the actors have been changed in a way that only God can do.

The writing takes the bible stories about Jesus from his miraculous birth, his ministry years to the cross. It tells us about those who knew and walked with Jesus by taking a dimensional names and giving them character. The backstory of each individual enables us to get to know them as people, struggling with habits living every day with the ups and downs, death, sickness and disease – just like us.

The Chosen doesn’t replace the bible, nor does it draw people away from the bible as some believe. The Chosen can supplement the bible and help bring the Word of God to life on the big screen in a way that even little children can understand.

Does The Chosen tell that Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Life – a resounding YES!

Before the first episode was written the creator (Dallas Jenkins) produced a short video on the birth of Jesus as seen through the eyes of the shepherds “The Messengers” and this short video has been released as a Christmas special.

The Chosen is NOT just another “Jesus” movie. The writing, production, crowd-funding and everything about The Chosen is God inspired.

Season 3’s first 2 episodes are going to be released in theatres, and then they will be made available for free on The Chosen app, which can be cast through Roku onto your television. There are going to be 7 seasons, with roughly 8 one hour episodes each season.

The neat thing about The Chosen is that it is crowd funded – no Hollywood or big studio production. It is being produced and filmed from specially built studios in Texas and Utah.

Remember it’s a television series, so buying The Chosen gifts, donating or paying it forward is what enables it to be available for others to see totally free – around the world. You can buy the DVD set and share it with family and friends anytime.

You can watch The Chosen on your phone, computer or laptop by downloading the app from the Google or Apple stores and watch the episodes for free.

The Chosen brings Jesus to life as a real person for many who have been turned off or not accepted by religion. The first episode of season one sets up that premise when Mary Magdalene meets Jesus.

Recently The Chosen gathered a group of Generation X kids who don’t see them as fitting in church. They were interviewed before showing them seasons 1 & 2 and then interviewed them again.

WOW – they got it – Jesus loves them just the way they are and it has changed their lives.

God can use anything or anyone for HIS purpose and The Chosen has a purpose of reaching people around the world.

The Chosen is different and done in a way that we have not seen before in other Christian movies about Jesus.

Look at the series Blue Bloods or the old series The West Wing which are television shows meant to entertain while showing what should be going on in real life, but sadly isn’t.

I say don’t just go by what I say, but experience The Chosen by watching it.

Get used to different! –

RTM

10-11-2022

The Smartest Generation

I look around and see the youth of today each one created in the image of God.  They are some of the brightest minds with unlimited potential and the sky really is the limit.

So what is missing?

Why do we fail to see the potential God has placed inside us?

Where are the dreamers?

Instead of reaching new heights, excelling to new horizons we fail to see that the bar is not so high we can’t reach it. The bar has been lowered to the point we can’t even trip over it. In many cases the bar has been removed completely.

When God has been placed on a back burner or removed entirely from our lives we tend to think that we alone control our destiny. We make decisions based on our five senses (sight, smell, hearing, touch, or taste).

What happened to taking care of the needs of others before our own?

What happened to cutting the elderly neighbor’s grass, shoveling snow or taking out their trash and placing it on the curb on collection day?

We tend to think placing a phone call instead of dropping in for a visit will suffice.

We seldom write letters or send cards to family or friends (yes I too am guilty).

Our smartest generation is afraid or unable to make a real commitment to one another. When asked about marriage, the answer I’ve heard was “we have to learn to take care of a baby before we can get married” or “Oh Papa”.

In the Garden of Eden it was God who created man and woman for the express purpose of becoming a family.

Genesis 2:21-25

21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh. 22 And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him. 23 And the man said:

“This is now bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called ‘woman,’

for out of man she was taken.”

24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

25 And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.

We must not get the cart before the horse (so to speak).

Remember the old saying, “First comes love, then comes marriage and then here comes (her name) pushing a baby carriage”? We have done more than to simply eliminate the baby carriage and yet we wonder why life has become so hard?

Let me reminisce about the “Good Old Days” where we moved into our very first home (with help from family), and then learned to stand on our own. In order for our house to become a home we furnished it one piece at a time.

We learned to buy our own food, clothes, shoes, and a car to get to a job. We still had family, just not all up in our business. We made mistakes. More importantly we learned from those mistakes. We depended on each other as we raised our children in a God fearing home filled with love.

Love is the key.

God is love.

A life without God (love) is a life that is wasted.

Mark 12:29-31

29Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

Don’t get caught up in a life that begins or is filled with lust.

Lust is not love.

It is the desire of everyone to “make it on their own”, but taking that first step…….. –

RTM

10-9-2022

Politics Brings Out Political Bullies

It is inevitable as we approach the election season that politicians are going to badmouth their political opponents in order to influence your vote. If the incumbent is vying for re-election they may have a ton of political baggage or skeletons in their closet that they don’t want exposed. When a newcomer runs for office their personal history, background or political affiliation may be used as a means of minimizing the attention on their opponent.

I recently saw where a prominent GOP representative from one state urged voters to avoid voting for GOP candidates in another state. That tells more about her (no name needed) than it does about any of the candidates running for office.

Every political party wants voters to think they are on YOUR side, but their legislative voting record and their actions tell a different story. It’s like their knee is on your neck – vote XYZ or else.

With legislators of today it’s best to follow the money. How many holding “public office” are financially richer today than when they first took office? How did that happen? I won’t say insider trading, but DAH! Since when has it become fashionable to choose politics with the express intent of holding public office indefinitely or making it a career?

Look around you and tell me have the politicians in your area, town or state made your life better? Are you better off now than you were last year, last election, last anything?  Are their actions and decisions made from a sound basis or do they just tickle your ears? Are they biblically based?

I my state one political ad attacked a candidate because of his stand on abortion, saying he’s not right for Colorado.  I say killing babies in the womb is not right period. Certainly not for the baby!

I say that unless a candidate is intent on changing the political party from within, the Democratic Party is not right for America. If a politician does not vote or have a legislative record that reflects the voice of his constituents he is not right for them either.

American’s don’t want or need a “yes man” politician who goes with the political flow. We need men and women of integrity, strength and determination to stop the craziness in politics and return our country to the Judeo-Christian values of our founding fathers and the Constitution based on those values. Make your vote count! Let your voice be heard! –

RTM