2025.11.11 Daily Thread – American Stories: Honor Our Veterans

As a reminder the national holiday we recognize today, November 11, was stablished by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 as Armistice Day. It served as a celebration of the end of WW I. After WW II and the Korean War, Congress was pushed by citizens and groups to recognize the day for all veterans, not just those fallen in service to our country. In response Veterans Day was approved and President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law in 1954.

With two fathers having served during WW II, the day will always be a special one for wifey and I. I have posted summarized versions of these stories previously, but many have not had the opportunity to read them. These will provide a bit more detail. I hope they will be a source of inspiration to you.

You’re In The Army Now

The Great Man from hillbilly land in Tennessee served as a heavy mortar crewman in the 36th “Texas” Infantry Division in the Army in the German theater and was captured in a fierce battle in and around Monte Cassino, Italy. That battle lasted nearly five months and had Allied forces from several nations involved. Complicating efforts was the desire by the Allies to preserve as much of the historically significant landmarks in the region as possible, which the German military was using to escape attack. In the end stage it was efforts of the Polish troops that brought it to a successful conclusion and opened the path of Allied troops toward Rome and final victory in Italy. Allied forces suffered approximately 55 thousand casualties along with 20 thousand Germans. At war’s end the Texas Division had suffered 19.5 thousand casualties. A summary description of this horrendous battle is below.

Monte Cassino: The Brutal WWII Battle That Shattered Armies, Spirits on the Road to Rome

The Great Man survived over 13 months in German Stalags and farm labor camps before being freed by Russian troops on April 13, 1945. He once attempted to escape a labor camp by swimming across a river with strong currents with two other prisoners. They did not make it and one of them drowned in the rapids. They were forced to sleep in old barns and on the frozen ground in the dead of winter, praying that the Allied bombers would not have them in their sights. During the last two months of captivity in 1945 the German guards kept them on the march. At one point they were strafed by allied planes who thought they were enemy combatants. Six of his fellow brothers were killed and they had to dig their graves. The Russians freed them a month before the official end of the war as their guards fled from the area.

He suffered from malnutrition and frostbite from the ordeal as well as from PTSD throughout the remainder of his life. Once he arrived back in his hometown there was nobody there to greet him at the train station, they had no idea of when he was coming. His family believed he had been killed in action the entire time until notified by the military after his release in late April. Even then they did not believe he was alive as other townspeople had received similar communications in the past only to find their family members had died. He began walking the approximate 5 miles to the small family farm in his broken physical condition until he could not any longer. The last bit of road he crawled until his momma saw him and came running. He could not believe her eyes when she saw him along the road.

It would have meant more to be home if The Great Man did not remember the years of abuse he suffered from his alcoholic father before he left to serve. As it was, he had nowhere else to go and he knew his momma would help. By this point his father was a shell of himself anyway, as the drinking had led to health problems as he had his legs being amputated at the knees from diabetes caused by the alcoholism.

He weighed less than 120 lbs. and initially could not sleep in a bed in their home. For months he slept on blankets on the ground under the front porch. Over time he regained strength from being back working and living on their small farm with food to eat.

His two brothers also returned to the family home after serving in the Navy. This lifted his spirits and he began to heal. He started attending church with his momma and met a pretty teenager he adored. They fell in love and eloped to Georgia to get married a year later. Upon their return it was not long before she was pregnant at the age of 18. The pregnancy went well until the sixth month and she began hemorrhaging. The old country doctor came to the small run down home they rented and thought it was time to try to give birth as both mom and baby were in serious danger. A few hours later a tiny baby girl weighing about three pounds was delivered. She did not make a sound and they all believed she did not make it. The Great Man began massaging her tiny chest and prayed to the Lord the entire time while the doctor addressed the needs of his wife. A few moments later they were overjoyed when the tiny baby began to cry.

Daddy’s Girl was born. She was nurtured at home, there were no NICO units or incubators to help her along. They got by with what they had and could do along with the help of that country doctor, families and friends. Daddy’s Girl turned out to be a tough fighter, just like her dad. This guy will be forever grateful. As a result I was able to grow old with the love of my life, experience being a girl dad, and now be a papaw to three wonderful grandchildren. We are forever grateful that The Great Man never gave up.

Four more children were born to the couple over time. He worked jobs where he could find one along with the farm work and eventually found a job at the Post Office in town at age 36. He was so proud and the townspeople all enjoyed visiting with him when they came by. When their parents passed away, he and his brothers sold that scrub 30 acre farm so they could each have enough for down payments on small places of their own. They were so happy to have homes with running water, indoor toilets and electricity for the first time in their lives.

Life happened and The Great Man stayed in touch with all of his POW buddies at annual events through the decades that followed. There were 30 from his unit that were initially captured. When they began their reunions they tracked down 21 who were still alive or could be found. They visited each other’s homes or at met up at motels through the years. They all came and visited The Great Man’s family home one weekend 32 years afters the war and again, some 9 years later in 1986. By that point only a dozen participated, half of the original 30 were deceased. The original 21 in the group were from every corner of America. All of The Great Man’s and his Angel Wife’s children, spouses and grandchildren came to meet the men and their wives. The time was filled with good food, laughter and interesting stories.

However, when we heard the Kansas public school teacher turned superintendent take his turn our eyes grew moist. He described how he hid a tiny notepad and pencil stub under the sole in his shoe that a kind, local German woman snuck to him when they were taken into town to haul grain seed back to the farm labor camp. At night in the dark when the guards were not watching he recorded dates and important events of most days. It served as a journal that helped him chronicle those last few months of their captivity when they were exposed and in the most danger. He had provided each POW brother a copy of it, which we still have today.

Many of the men spoke of how they cherished the potato peelings the thoughtful German women would throw to them that helped keep them alive. They talked about how the Russian captives in the Stalags were treated much worse than they were.

As a separate thought, maybe that helps to explain some of the deep seated hatred that we see between Russians and the Ukrainian/Euro Nazis today. The Russians seem intent on the total destruction of the nation that grew out of that Nazi stronghold. Perhaps it was not the best idea for our uniparty to have given away $350 B of our national treasure to a disgusting Day One lost cause.

As the families visited and told their stories we all knew we were in the presence of greatness. These men and their devoted wives were the best America had to offer to save the world.

The time came when Daddy’s Girl needed to become both The Great Man’s and his Angel Wife’s primary care giver. There were countless doctor and hospital visits, loads of laundry, bills to be paid, food to be provided and errands to run. With a family of her own, she was getting worn down. However, it became clear that The Great Man was being prepared to go home at age 80. The nightmares about the war that gripped him all those years no longer bothered him as life left his body. No more being embarrassed after diving under the kitchen table when a plane passed over their home or grabbing his rifle if he was startled by an unusual noise at night. Daddy’s Girl laid in bed with him at the nursing home as he went to be with Jesus. Their unshakeable bond was on display until the end. His trials and health issues were released as he entered into the waiting arms of Jesus.

His legacy was seen in the faces and words of over 700 people who came to the funeral of a man who had never held a position higher than janitor in his home town. This was followed by a full honor guard burial. Angel Wife handed the American flag that was presented to her by the honor guardsman to Daddy’s Girl and said, “Here, you deserve this.”

His greatness was found in the stories that were told and the lives that were made better by the strong, selfless, caring manner of The Great Man who was always there for his nation and others as had been done for him when he needed them most.

Anchors Aweigh, my boys…

The coal miner’s son was a Little Guy who took after his 4′ 10″ diminutive in stature school teacher and Appalachian poet mother who oriented him to the importance of seeking a higher education despite living in poverty. Then Pearl Harbor happened. The Little Guy left his community college classes and headed straight for the enlistment office. Standing 5′ 6″ tall and weighing 129 lbs., he was upset to learn he was barely tall enough and did not weigh enough. For weeks he did everything he could to gain weight including carrying rocks in his pockets when he tried to enlist the next time. The enlistment office personnel looked the other way as he stepped on the scale to find he weighed the minimum 133 lbs. to join the Navy. So, The Little Guy joined America’s military the same year as The Great Man in 1942.

His small size turned out to be a benefit for the role he would be assigned later. After basic and flight training on radar and as a radioman along with plane electrician in the Naval Air Force in Jacksonville and assignment to sunny Pensacola, his crew was soon based in the Aleutians at Attu, Alaska. Attu was a cold and barren place that was nearly devoid of life forms after the Japanese took it in the early days of the war.

The very small, primarily native Aluet population of the island who did not escape had been savaged by killing the adult males and sending the women and children back to Japan as prisoners. Later, it became the site where the blood of thousands of Japanese and hundreds of American troops lost their lives. The 500 or so remaining Japanese troops who survived the final battle were so brainwashed about their plights they committed mass suicide as well as murder of each other rather than being captured. A summary of the struggle is below,

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/retaking-aleutians-1943

Once retaken, The Little Guy’s squadron was assigned and utilized as spotters who focused on reconnaissance in the Pacific. The initial plane they flew was a B-24. From 1944 until the end of the war it was a PB4Y-2 Privateer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_PB4Y-2_Privateer

With each battle of our military they would be based into those areas to spot enemy ship, submarine and troop movements in the region. This led to him eventually spending time with his crew mates in Okinawa, Korea, Taiwan (Formosa), Myanmar (Burma), and China as well as post surrender, in Japan briefly. He saw the aftermath of the atomic bombs and other destruction from the air.

Interestingly, although they never met, he was stationed in Okinawa during the same period as one of The Great Man’s brothers who was a crewman on a Naval ship assigned to that battle and later based there.

It was a stressful period wondering if the plane would go down from Japanese attacks and becoming shark bait. Dodging flak was a regular occurrence. His crew survived it all due to a good tail gunner, “Gunny” Hagedorn, along with the help of American fighter pilots who protected them as well as the Lord’s will. He only experienced frostbite in his feet and an occasional nightmare about the widespread destruction he witnessed from the experience. He counted himself fortunate. His experiences led to a deep appreciation for President Truman’s decision to end the war with that atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

After the war he returned to college life. At that point with the better nutrition and physical conditioning from Navy life at age 24 he found he had grown 3″ taller and was 20 lbs. heavier. After college and a short term job in an aluminum mill; there was a return to the mines and a mining school to become a surveyor. After that there was a move into industrial construction as a surveyor and engineer from his education at the University of Tennessee. That led to a final long career in his field with a steel manufacturer. Along the way it meant hitting the Hillbilly Highway as he searched for a better life than could be found in dead end coal mining camp towns. Before he left the region he married a young woman in one of the coal mining towns who wanted out as well. Their first child, Daddy’s Boy, arrived on the scene a few years later as he worked construction on a major DOD project a half dozen years after the war. As that project wound down he found work doing what he loved in that steel mill town in SW Ohio.

The Little Guy was in his element. He shared a bond with many of the men at the mill as former brothers in arms serving their country. Generally there was great respect shared in that work place with all races and cultures of people employed there. They shared a common bond as the working class that loved their country and the work. You would find them gathered on weekends at the ballfields and high school stadium. Daddy’s Boy was coached up in team sports by many of his co-workers. These were the same fields that decades later produced home run hitting Kyle Schwarber – a current MLB All Star along with former NFL stars Todd Bell and Chris Carter.

Despite his important role in mill operations and maintenance he never made much money. Most weeks he worked 50-70 hours for the overtime pay to help the family make ends meet. That left very little family time except on weekends. However, before he left in the mornings he would cook breakfast for Daddy’s Boy and his sister. He did not want them to go to school hungry. The Little Guy never knew that he would be working with and living a half dozen blocks from the grandfather and family of a future Vice President. He would have been very proud of JD.

Life happened and The Little Guy grew old. Unlike The Great One, he never knew the stability and love from a good marriage. With the passing of his beloved parents he turned even more to his two children and families, sister, and friends for companionship. He knew Daddy’s Boy would always have his back just like he always had his through the years. As his body began to be wrecked by cancer and his relationship with his wife worsened; he left to live with Daddy’s Boy and family. Despite his body shutting down, in his own words the next five months became some of the best of his life emotionally and spiritually. He had always adored his only grandchild and family times brought him great joy. Wifey (Daddy’s Girl) was like a daughter to him for all of those years and he would always remind Daddy’s Boy, “You have a keeper, son.” He even returned to his faith, began attending church for the first time in over 40 years, and for possibly the only period in his life led prayers over meals.

As his time grew short, he asked for one thing from Daddy’s Boy, to be taken back to SW Ohio to say goodbye to his old friends and make arrangements at the funeral home. The trip that normally would have brought great sorrow turned into a joyful event as he visited with his buddies as his daughter joined us. Since his youth Daddy’s Boy had known The Little Guy’s best friend who was a co-worker. He had been a positive Christian influence. Spending time together was so rewarding for all four of us.

Despite their miserable relationship; he had provided a home, vehicle, no debt, enough money in the bank and retirement income to sustain his wife, the mother of Daddy’s Boy, for the rest of her years. The same person who hated and ridiculed him in life and in death; who drove him out of their home while he was dying of cancer, is who he made sure had all she needed to live life well. He often said he did not want her to be a burden on Daddy’s Boy and his sister when he was gone.

After a few days in hospice The Little Guy passed away quietly at the age of 83. His 91 year old former pastor, the same one who had led Daddy’s Boy to the Lord as a youngster, led The Little Guy’s funeral and burial services. The Little Guy’s final journey could all be summed up as finishing well. There were no tears, only a sense of gratitude and love as the honor guardsman presented the flag – to Daddy’s Boy.

Shared Traits

Both of these great men became well acquainted and friends through the years. They talked of their upbringing that was less than 75 miles apart, but living completely different lives. Both were very reluctant to talk about their war experiences. Both worked hard all of their lives to provide for their families. They never made a lot of money, yet, were not burdens on anybody else while providing enough for their wives to live well the rest of their lives. Both men had deep bonds of friendship with other men who lived through tough times. Interestingly, both men were strong supporters of the GOP all of their lives. The uniparty members would have made them angry today. Both men always had the backs of their families and friends. Both men focused on others instead of themselves. Both men exited the world quietly and mentally sharp despite their physical ailments.

Both wifey and I loved each other’s fathers deeply. We also both understood the role of the eldest child in many families, both dads taught it to us. I never fully realized just how valuable that commitment was until both fathers had gone to be with the Lord. Our collective younger family members were looking to us at that point. We also saw it in the eyes of Angel Wife as she laid The Great Man to rest and we helped her through her long battle with dementia after he passed. We saw his life’s partner go to meet him in paradise with all of the family at her bedside. Some bonds just can never be broken no matter who or what rises against them.

Did I mention Angel Wife passed away 11/11/11? Yes, she passed away on Veteran’s Day fourteen years ago today. Did I mention that her Veteran husband, The Great Man, passed away on the second anniversary of 9/11? He told me the day before he died that he knew the military would take out “that SOB bin Laden” at some point. Then there was The Little Guy passing away on St. Patrick’s Day. It was also appropriate due to the recommitment to his faith.

God has His ways and all we can do is marvel at them.

The following song was the story of different people in a different place, but the spirit of the words explains how wifey and I feel as we look back through the old photos and mementos of The Great Man and The Little Guy. They too were just trying to survive in their poverty stricken situations that led to going to war to protect our nation. Every time we hear it, in our minds we can see and hear the voices of our fathers.

Lesson

Each day we walk by the book case that holds those two tightly folded American flags from the burial services that are encased in frames to preserve them for the generations that follow us. We have also preserved the history of these two great men in memory books that incllude old photos, military documents, related news stories, etc. These included aerial and local photos The Little Guy took of all of his crew’s assignments while in the Japanese theater. They are in black and white, of course. It is never lost on us the sacrifices they and all patriots have made to keep America free. But to Daddy’s Girl and Daddy’s Boy, they were our dads who did that and so much more.

Our collective history as Americans matters in world history. In reality, We the People doing as the Lord has desired of us are all that has held the world together for a lot of years now. The future generations who follow need to know and learn from our experiences just as we have learned from others before us.

Please take time to honor those who have served you and your country well this Veterans Day. With those who have passed, keep their memories alive in your minds and hearts. Each generation of patriotic Americans has worked to keep this dream of We the People alive and flourishing. Look those who would do us harm dead in the eyes and do whatever it takes to stop them, just like our patriot fathers and mothers have done throughout our history.

Go to work. Never back down, never give up. Fight, Fight, Fight!

God bless our Veterans and God bless the U. S. A.

Please remember Wolf’s rules for our community. In general that means to be respectful to each other and to pull no shenanigans that your mom might find offensive or otherwise cause jail time. That said, free speech is honored here.

Be blessed and go make something good happen!

2025.11.04 American Stories: Daily Open – Special Edition (Short Version)

We have all seen enough now to better understand if we choose to understand.

IT. IS. TIME. FOR. THIS. DISCUSSION.

Once again, for emphasis this time in a dedicated post. TRUST TRUMP as KK says frequently. You and the lives of loved ones depends upon it. What initiated this post is below. It is a link to a Clandestine post that KK brought to the daily this past Sunday.

https://bioclandestine.substack.com/p/its-time-to-nuke-the-senate-filibuster

He is echoing what I have brought several times on here. My stories about Rules, Practices & Procedures, Parts 1-3, provide examples of the game playing that aligned in opposition to the wills of We the People. The current GOP uniparty players self identify when they insist on remaining members of Club Senate.

Folks – as those know who read stories in BIMD and since with America Stories: I lobbied off and on for years at high levels of federal government on behalf of the industry in which I worked. Many Congressional members and their staffers then and now are not good people. Some lived in their own versions of personal soap operas that left them open to blackmail and extortion. Others never hid it – they were brazen and did not care.

This has been going on for over 250 years. It is human nature when people are lacking or devoid of God in their lives, the One that Carl describes in his posts. Throughout American history when one actually does the research you see the same BS antics.

Many people give lip service to God when He is beneficial to them. However, it does not translate into living the life as one who fears (loves, honors respects and is also scared of) God Himself. For example, those type people are involved as deep state and unipartyists today. However, those type also devised the filibuster in 1806 as a circumvention of the will of the people, even though some legitimately thought the will of the people was too independent and rogue for them back in their day over 250 years ago. This is not conjecture, they said so in correspondence and documents. We can read their words today.

These founding fathers faced all sorts of riots, criminal activities, insurrections pre and post Revolutionary War that – OH, WAIT – that is also happening TODAY!

The practical matter is they used it as an excuse to do what they did. The truth is after 30 years of governance they were tired of listening to windbags hold the floor for hours and days of time. Again, they said so in written documents. They were the obvious ones that circumvented the business of the people. When you read deeper into American history you see it expressed by founding fathers and those in governance that followed them time and time again. Human nature was allowed to get in the way of the will of We the People so that the minority could circumvent the will of the people to acheive their own goals and aspirations as well as those of foreign powers.

If the goal was to reduce the control of the individual floor time in governance, all they had to do was invoke a rule like the ancient Roman Senate that the talking stops at sundown and everybody goes home. Or, do one such that a Senator does not get to control the floor on any singular issue after XX period of time. Or, that on a bill scheduled vote must be conducted in XX period of time.

But that would be too easy and too common sense. Too many people could see what they really wanted and would get pissed at them if common sense solutions were in place. They could lose their phony baloney jobs.

History

Many are surprised to be informed that some of those founding fathers they revere such as George Washington, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock, John Jay, etc.; actually (validly) feared insurrection and return to British rule. This led to the following being inserted into the Constitution. From Wiki (but accurate);

Only five supermajority requirements were explicitly included in the original United States Constitution, including conviction on impeachment (two-thirds of senators present),^[6] agreeing to a resolution of advice and consent to ratification of a treaty (two-thirds of senators present),^[7] expelling a member of Congress (two-thirds of members voting in the house in question),^[8] overriding presidential vetoes (two-thirds of members voting of both houses),^[9] and proposing constitutional amendments (two-thirds of members voting of both houses).^[10] Through negative textual implication, the Constitution also gives a simple majority the power to set procedural rules.^[2]: 1217

Did you read that last sentence? That is what the current filibuster discussion is all about – a simple majority (that the GOP now has and the Dems previously had) with the power to set PROCEDURAL rules. The filibuster was then added through that process in 1806 along with other rules through the years.

In Alexander Hamilton’s view per Federalist #22 as it applied to the previous Articles of Confederation, he saw rules such as the filibuster that were in use later as a negative. Yet, he went on to champion the Constitution that included the clause that eventually negated his argument on the subject against the Articles of Confederation. This is also given as a reference in the same Wiki article on Filibusters.

“To give a minority a negative upon the majority (which is always the case where more than a majority is requisite to a decision), is, in its tendency, to subject the sense of the greater number to that of the lesser. […] The necessity of unanimity in public bodies, or something approaching it, has been founded upon a supposition that it would contribute to security. But its real operation is to embarrass the administration, destroy the government’s energy, and substitute the pleasure, caprice, or artifices of an insignificant, turbulent, or corrupt junto, to the regular deliberations and decisions of a respectable majority. In those emergencies of a nation, in which the goodness or badness, the weakness or strength of its government, is of the greatest importance, there is commonly a necessity for action. The public business must, in some way or other, go forward. If a pertinacious minority can control the opinion of a majority, respecting the best mode of conducting it, the majority, so that something may be done, must conform to the views of the minority; thus the sense of the smaller number will overrule that of the greater, and give a tone to the national proceedings—hence, tedious delays; continual negotiation and intrigue; contemptible compromises of the public good. And yet, in such a system, it is even happy when such compromises can take place: for upon some occasions things will not admit of accommodation; then the measures of government must be injuriously suspended, or fatally defeated. It is often, by the impracticability of obtaining the concurrence of the necessary number of votes, kept in a state of inaction. Its situation must always savor of weakness, sometimes border upon anarchy.”

What we see and experience is designed the way it is for a purpose. At some point we need to realize it has been our nature as a country to be the way we are in the operation of the federal government. If we do, we realize that it will not change unless We the People change what is causing it. We the People are not like our ruling class that we supposedly elect, but now know are largely appointed. The truth is our founding fathers and their successors added this particular clause to the Constitution that led to the circumvention of the will of We the People and in so doing undermined the intent and statements made in the approved Declaration of Independence that they fought a brutal war over. They thought better of their own judgment than the majority of We the People. That also explains their desire for deference to be paid elected officials over the common man. Again, they stated such in documents. The truth is the common man was not held in high regard by many of them. Except when they fought or worked for them.

Today

The rules, practices and procedures that work in opposition to the will of We the People are totalitarian responses by devious people who are benefitting at our expense. They have been upheld by BAD PEOPLE throughout our nation’s government, judiciary and globalist involveents around the world. Yet, per the Declaration the only thing that matters in America is the will of We the People.

All of the negative effects from the circumvention and criminal activities does not mean there should be rules, practices and procedures approved and used to counter them. Those are also circumventions that become two edged swords. The proper and legally correct answer has always been for supposedly elected representatives and their support staffs of the federal government to do the will of We the People.

The only way current day patriots can do that is if we stopping living in fear. Stop going along to get along. Stop with the what ifs that paralyze positive actions from being taken.

That is what PDT, his Cabinet and the white hats are trying to do. PDT clearly believes as do I that the filibuster should be terminated. He has been saying it for a decade. It and many other rules, practices and procedures are being used as weapons against potentially major positive changes in governing that could eliminate stolen elections, forever wars, economic blackmail from excessive debt, weaponization of government, an oppressive judiciary, citizen disunity, undue foreign influence, cultural perversions and so on. We do not have to concede anything to criminal Democrats. They do not ever have to return to power. Their criminal enterprise can go down into the ash heap of history just like the Federalists and Whigs. Remember that the Federalists, the party of Washington and Adams, controlled our federal government in the early years. By the end of the War of 1812 it had completely died.

However, that cannot happen if We the People agree to support the status quo.

The future of God’s people and nations dedicated to Him will always come down to personal and collective decisions to choose this (and every) day whom you will serve.

Which is why my life verse for over 30 years continues to be Joshua 24:15.

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

We need a nation of Joshuas for what and who we face today that would destroy our nation. So what current American leader embodies the Joshua spirit in word and deed?

TRUST TRUMP.

Be blessed and go make something good happen!

2025.10.21 Daily Thread – American Stories: Background For A Revolution And A Civil War

While we are frolicking this fall, you have a placeholder reading assignment.

However, first I want us to remember our friend GA/FL, Ms. Georgia Smith, who passed away recently. She accomplished her mission of care giving for her daughter, Sally Q, and the Lord called her home when the mission was complete. She was a special lady and contributor here. She will be greatly missed.

I had very little time to prepare this next part and need some R&R, which is going extremely well. So I am going this route and believe you may enjoy it.

I have discussed this author’s work previously and the article below adds information and perspective to the current subject matter. In my opinion the article is worth every minute you invest into it if you desire to be better informed about the historical past of We the People. This helps explain why we face what we do even today.

Hubris

Below is a link to her blogged articles at the Abbeville Institute Press. They are excellent. You may be surprised to learn she is from Long Island, NEW YORK and is not tied to the south at all. She really has not even travelled here. Below is her page with links to other articles.

https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/author/valerie-protopapas

To learn more about her, this is an interview by Dissident Mama.

One of my favorite maxims of life is stated in one article about divine intervention into the life of George Washington – “Man proposes but God disposes.” We would be wise to remember that to gain perspective about all of the crap we face every day in this world. The Creator is still in charge.

The Abbeville Institute Press is dedicated to the accurate discussion of 400+ years of Southern Culture in our nation. You can explore their site when reading Ms. Protopapas’ blog. Many readers do not have southern roots in their family history, just like her. You should be the most interested in reading her pieces. Not being aware of the truth contributes to ignorance and an inaccurate understanding about the nation you reside in today. Southern culture strongly influenced every corner of American life then and now.

It helps We the People to be aware of each other and our backgrounds to increase unity. Information such as the above linked article will never be presented truthfully if provided at all, when it comes from a corrupted government, fake media, and an education “system” that rewrites history and creates narratives for propaganda and brainwashing purposes.

Enjoy!

Be blessed and go make something good happen!

2025.10.14 Daily Thread: TB’s Investment Column Advice – 🇺🇸

Well, not really. I am no day trader or Wolf of Wall Street. I am too lazy to work that hard to make every last penny I could. However, I can share what has worked for me, which is a long term strategy that led to no debt and an early retirement.

As we head into this one, these are the ground rules for TB’s take on this and any other subject. I am not you and you are not me. As always take what I say and apply only after thoughtful consideration of whether it works for you and your situation. My purpose is only to inform for what has worked for me or that I otherwise have legitimately beneficial knowledge to share. If any of this can help you or loved ones in some way(s), my purpose has been fulfilled.

To get to the financial, which is not complex or ground breaking, you need to handle the prerequisites first. Skipping the part that stabilizes your life and gives it meaning circumvents the good that comes from wealth accumulation. If you skip it, you either lose the wealth you do accumulate at some point, or, it becomes your idol or god because you are not grounded in truth.

Intentions

Start with first things first. Live a life of fulfilled intentions. Not just in financial matters – in everything. FAFO’ing through life is not a good way to approach it. You know this.

Per definition, intention is an aim that guides your actions to achieve an objective. You aim yourself as a weapon is aimed at a target. Anything or anybody that gets in the way is a distraction. Sometimes the distraction is good, it can cause you to rethink things. Sometimes the distraction gets in the way of you hitting the target. You need to decide the best course of action with the distractions and react accordingly.

Stay focused on the objective. Once the target is lined up, do not flinch and over think. Pull the trigger to get it done.

Most importantly, to fulfill intentions requires that you have some. Intentions give purpose to life. Do not go through life aimlessly.

It does not matter how old you are or your personal situation to fulfill your intentions.

Understand that God created the way the world was created – and you are not Him. Don’t fall for there is no God, no creator, bullshiz regardless of whether you are religious or not. Accept somebody greater than you created all of this by intention and move on to understanding your role and purpose within your circumstances. That means you really should ask Him, but that is your choice. If your life seems aimless or unproductive, start there.

You live in a country that provides for fulfilled intentions. Be grateful everyday and realize you have been blessed to be in the place you are. You have been given personal liberty secured by the Constitution that was executed within the providence of God as it states. When oppressors come against you, stand firm within your rights as an American citizen and counter their aggressions. Our founders and many patriotic Americans have bled out and died to provide that right. You owe it to them to give it your all and even do likewise if called upon. Do not go down without a fight. Fight, fight, fight!

Financial Freedom Basics

Work until you can retire, if you want to retire. Preferably, make money doing something that you love if possible. Sometimes that is not possible. So, whatever you do, do as unto the Lord. That is scripturally supported. If you do those things you will live within your means.

Do not spend more than you make. Getting the big eye is for kids, do not act like a kid as an adult. It’s dumb.

Compounded interest and returns are your great friends. Seek them. Make sure it is more than inflation and your personal tax burden. The more you make above the inflation rate and tax burden the better. It is doubtful you will achieve that depositing all of your funds in a bank or credit union. That is like floating around in a pool, you will never really get anywhere. I will address this below. There are no sharks in a pool and that makes it more safe and relaxed. It also makes it less productive for your financial gain purposes.

Again, avoid spending more than you make or borrowing excessive sums that cannot be repaid easily. Be risk averse when it comes to borrowing money.

Combine all of that understanding by first building a rainy day fund that is sufficient to pull you out of a loss of job, major household or auto expense, a medical emergency, and so on. Go for a minimum of 6 months income invested into savings. Buck up and have some discipline. If your current income is stretched to the max and you cannot cut any more expenses, find a second job or other legal method to increase income. As an example I know medically disabled people who make nice second incomes from just dog or invalid sitting. Figure it out, it doesn’t have to be a forever thing.

Give to your house of worship and others in need. It is a tenet of the faith that is between you and Him. If you do not believe, giving to others in need brings fulfillment personally.

Financial Freedom Intermediate Steps

Now, it is time to go bigger picture. Gaining knowledge, wisdom and discernment while continuing the basics are the next steps. This will be current and practical.

What has PDT told you (as well as the entire world) and what are big money world leaders doing in response relating to the plans for our economy?

Bonus points for the correct answer.

The answer is investing in America. How many trillions of dollars have you seen committed and already being spent by business and governments around the world within our borders? That informs your big picture. So stop being scared of the big, bad Democrat coyotes howling through their media pups. World business and governmental leaders are investing massive, previously unheard of sums into our nation. They know more than any of us do. Trust your eyes and ears.

Into what industries are they investing the majority of the funds? That would be Artificial Intelligence (AI) and anything that supports it or can directly benefit from its implementation. That should inform your decisioning.

They do not care if you like it or support AI. It is going to be a thing whether you like it or not, whether you participate or not. To Christians, we are to be about life and living it in accordance with what Jesus told us up to His return per scripture. So you should continue to live life accordingly while being wise to not fall into any Satanic traps.

AI is a tool. Use it for your purposes while realizing it can be easily corrupted. That is where wisdom and discernment come in.

A major intention of AI is to build an accurate knowledge base for many applications. This is intended to remove the mistakes and lower productivity coming from humans. So AI is combined with many robotic applications in business, industry, medical fields, defense, education, etc. in addition to intellectual use. That is why some jobs handled by humans will cease in the future. However, how well it does at those things is dependent upon human input. Expect hiccups along the way. Lots of them.

Two Opposing Sides & Lots Of Traitors

Now you see another blatant means for the globalists with depop – to corrupt the intention and twist it to their advantage. So, the two sides are clearly represented. One side reduces world population and uses AI applications to replace human productivity where it can. Sort of like culling the herd to only who is necessary while making sure the remnant do as trained. That is where digital ID and social compliance scoring comes in. They have more for themselves with less inconvenient rebellion that way as they replace God and march on to transhumanism where they believe they will never die. You have heard and read this from numerous developers of it including world leaders. Believe their intention even if you know it is all bullshit.

The other side uses AI to increase productivity, but believes humans are necessary for the continuance of the world and further exploration of the universe. They see life as transitory until death and passing into paradise with a Creator, so they want to leave things better for those that follow along the way. Their use of AI gives benefits to all humanity including financial, medical, educational, occupational, etc. advantages. They believe in doing good and caring for their neighbor.

I think you already know which government, business, industry, political, etc. leaders support which camp. Do not be overly concerned about the details in each, just focus on the big picture. One believes in the scarcity of worldly assets and the other believes in the abundance of worldly assets. The culture that develops from that is death for the scarcity crowd and life for the abundance folks.

That informs your investment decisions. Who is winning and what do they support?

In America you will also know them by their political affiliation with infiltrators that attempt to push things off course. Your role today is to work against our common opponents and invest in America as PDT has arranged.

If you have chosen to follow the money (investment), you know America is going to widen its lead the world in business and industry. Our military will continue to provide the protection we and our allies need for the foreseeable future as they are retrained as war fighters instead of woke nation builders, perverts, and baby sitters. This makes them more cost efficient as well as lethal. That scares the bejeezus out of our enemies. It is unlikely there will be any frontal attacks. However, there will be infiltration attempts, sedition and treason. There will be the Chynas of the world that attempt to stir the pot. Don’t fall for the fear porn it gins up in the media.

Our return as a nation in the form of the secular and religious Great Awakening only provides more support for the Golden Age as we justifiably give all of the credit and glory to the Lord for his provision for us as American citizens, as well as all believers around the world.

As a result we go about our lives and business with intentions that fit our world and kingdom view that we intend to fulfill.

Investments

Few adult American citizens are competent individual investors in the stock and bond markets. So, it would be foolish to do that as an investor of your hard earned money without the knowledge necessary to do so successfully long term.

The good news is you do not have to do it yourself. You can invest through funds with managers that do have the experience and knowledge, that make a living at successfully doing it for large numbers of people and institutions. That simply means to invest into good mutual funds with solid investment companies long term.

Consider using the Morningstar website. They review the performances of mutual funds and provided useful information about each. Start there if you are going to invest larger sums. It started over 40 years ago and does deep research. if you are just starting out or doing it smaller, just look for Morningstar ratings and info associated with mutual funds in which you may be interested. It would be safer for you to look at well known large financial providers such as Schwab or Fidelity. The link below gives a sample of their recommended ten best from Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/best-mutual-funds

My first point is to not fall victim to conspiracy theories and purity motives. Sure, you may find the investment choices of some funds to be distasteful if you investigate them. Refrain from investing in them if you feel that way. Check each fund’s prospectus and choose funds that are more what you would approve; just realize you have no control and there are bound to be some slugs, thugs and duds mixed in with the good ones in most funds.

That leads to you choosing your financial weapon(s). Pray about it and think it through.

Knowing the huge amounts of capital being invested into America informs you on how you need to invest long term. The S&P 500 index is comprised of the largest, better performing companies in America. It represents 80% of all of the market capitalization of American public companies. These are the companies that can and are investing into big into AI, all things that support it, all things that benefit from it, and other planned American economic growth drivers relating to energy and power production, tech, automotive, defense, etc. As a result you know you probably need to invest into already successful mutual funds that are largely comprised of the companies in the S&P 500, or by the index itself.

This index has performed at an average of about 10% return since its inception in 1957. Think about all of the things that have hit America hard during that period, yet, the average return has still been a strong 10%. For example, in the past ten years there have been a couple of loss years and far more good return years that has led to an 11% overall return. So you do not freak out if the markets decline for a year or two. You sit tight and wait for the rebound.

Average inflation has been around 3.25% over a 100+ year period in this nation. The goal per the Fed and PDT is 2%, which it has been for several months and was (and less) throughout #45’s term. So deduct your inflation assumption from the 10%. Next up is federal and any state taxes that may be due. Only you know your current tax rate. We have no state income taxes in TN, so our effective Federal tax rate is all that applies. By any measure, you learn that a 10% average return of a mutual fund will accumulate a substantial amount of wealth over time. How much is dependent upon your commitment to making additional deposits to it and refraining from taking funds out of it, which allows your contriutions and returns compound.

That does not mean you ignore the NASDAQ, Russell, or any other index with mutual funds. The participants are different in each one. The listed companies are generally smaller in market capitalization, so they are more subject to overall economic conditions of the economy. In good times they may perform better than the S&P. In stagnant or bad times they may be more susceptible and perform worse. The mutual funds associated with them will also have track records for you to review. They will also benefit from the massive investment into America.

Once you start you should basically forget you have done so. Leave it alone unless there is an emergency. That’s it. If your choice of funds does not perform well against peer funds, you can always move it to a better one. You now know a relatively safe path to wealth accumulation. You just have to be willing to pursue it and fulfill the intention to take advantage of the opportunity.

For those who are still a bit queasy, the industry has an insurance fund that covers potential individual investor loss if a fund provider goes bankrupt. Its link is below.

https://www.sipc.org/for-investors/what-sipc-protects

The Future

OK, now that you have your rainy day fund, you are living within your means, you have a low debt load, you are contributing to any 401-k retirement plan you may have at work, and you are now investing for wealth in the stock and/or bond market through at least one good mutual fund; it is time to talk about the future and how it could all go in America for you as well as your children and grandchildren.

Below is a link that is a MUST WATCH (8:41 long) interview by Larry Kudlow with Vivek Ramaswamy. Both are PDT allies and very knowledgable about all of this. Vivek will be Ohio’s elected governor after their next election. Kudlow served in an economic advisor role in #45’s term. They are in the inner circle. They both know how government, politics, business, industry and foreign investment works. They are MAGA.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6380305244112

There is much to unpack there. I hope you picked up on it because those two know what is coming. Ambitious expectations. All within reach of those who prepare accordingly.

It has been my expectation that we will finally see an eventual successful push to have Social Security funds invested safely into the capital markets, which has been prohibited. Think about it, had a significant portion of Social Security funds been safely invested into just the S&P 500 index, a great deal more funds would have been made available and the SS fund would now be self sustaining after many years of 10% compounded returns. Instead, the talk every year is about its future solvency while they use these dedicated funds to make the budget deficit appear smaller than it actually has been. Who has used that fear porn talk to fuel voter turn out for their candidates through the decades? Who benefits the most by keeping it and Medicare in a flux at all times?

The American public has been scammed far more than they ever realized. Collectively we had the power to end it all along. We just needed to become a movement of like minded patriots who held the politicians to account while keeping elections clean. The politicians have known and participated in the scams for many years. They kept selling the public on the lack of safety in investing public funds in capital markets. The same markets that the entire country uses to fuel its capitalistic economy. Ironic, huh? It has been infuriating to those of us who have seen the deception and corruption in plain sight for decades.

If you ask yourself why the answer is obvious. If the public were made aware they would have become outraged when the politicians intentionally overspent the budget or caused bubbles in the stock market or debt markets (2008 mortgage collapse) that caused booms and busts. The politicians knew these activities caused losses in the investment returns of the stock market that would endanger Social Security’s viability. If we had found out about their scamming it would mean the uniparty’s forever wars and depopulation efforts would have to come to an end. Using their media lapdogs they knew they could always sell the less informed sheeple about a potential shortfall in the SS and medicare funds in the future while at the same time approving increases in withholding rate, moving back the age to full retirement, restricting the amounts people could earn before being taxed, etc. That put even more money at their disposal to steal and misappropriate.

I will not spend much time discussing the truth that Jeff Childers of C&C recently brought about PDT and Bessent revaluing America’s gold reserves to more current market values. That impact alone would send the markets into the stratosphere. For once it would be nice if marked to market for something meant that gold could go back to being the reserve that supported the dollar to help it work for the common man’s benefit. Imagine the benefits to the retirement plans of We the People.

The answer for national solvency that included well funded retirements for all Americans has been sitting there all along. There was no political will power or citizen understanding to accomplish it.

Now there is.

Take Control

Once you identify how you want to invest, know that there are literally hundreds of funds that have no loads. Spend some time looking at reviews, ratings of funds, investment emphasis, fund expenses, 10 year returns and so on. The safety is in the S&P with the historically largest upside for growth in the NASDAQ index. Less risk with S&P, more risk with NASDAQ. More stable, proven acceptable returns in the S&P. More upside for returns with the NASDAQ.

Study it, work on it, budget for it and just do it. As wealth accumulates you may choose to move funds into crypto, precious metals, real estate and so on to diversify and reduce risk if you desire. It is never too early or too late to take the plunge. Actually, it can be good fun. For example, giving to children under aged 18-25 (depends on state law) is made easy with the Uniform Gift to Minors Act account. You can remain custodian until they hit the age limit and if you have taught them how investment works through the years they may choose to keep it invested and become millionaires later in life from a relatively modest investment in their youth. Linked below is an IRS update on the effect of the tax law changes on minors.

https://www.irs.com/en/do-minors-have-to-pay-taxes

You can also set up your personal account as a regular investment, traditional IRA or Roth IRA depending on your needs and situation.

Use the calculator below to play with the investments, rates, years, returns, etc.

https://www.gigacalculator.com/calculators/compound-interest-calculator.php

Conclusion

It is time to invest in America. Why let this golden age go by with nothing to show for it? If you have hit your senior years like us, beyond the additional personal income it provides it gives you an investment outlet while you are alive that will survive and be of benefit to whoever or whatever you designate when you pass.

For us that represents a fulfilled intention.

Be blessed and go make something good happen!

2025.10.07 Daily Thread: Ground Report

As our family’s very excellent beach adventure nears that we call our Fall Frolic, I felt it was time to give an updated Ground Report from this neck of the woods since it is in a tourism mecca for the eastern US. Literally millions of “leafers” will be on the prowl into this region to enjoy the beautiful colors and pleasant conditions of hillbilly country in Autumn.

They will be faced with frequent traffic issues in the form of bottlenecks on the main interstates and highways. I expect some “off the beaten path” travels and adventures, which will be of economic benefit to some smaller communities in the area. I will address a few of the primary road issues later in this report.

But first…

Bud

Thank you very much for your prayers and concerns for Bud. I am very happy to report his surgery went as well as we all hoped. Bud’s dad called me after he made it back to his room. Doc #2 did exactly what he said needed to be done and would do. He did a resection of 10″ of the diseased/dead part of his colon, closed, and sent him to recovery. The procedure took less than an hour. He was out of recovery three hours later with a normal meal, well, as much as hospital food can be normal, waiting for him in his room. He was told he could eat whatever food he wanted that did not cause him discomfort. He will be in the hospital for a couple more days and released if it all goes as expected. He will have a no heavy lifting restriction for three months.

The surgery was identical to my father’s from sixty years ago. The result is similar as well. We are all encouraged by the results and God’s provision. He dodged a bullet with idgit Doc #1. The lesson being always to pray first and then get a second opinion if you have any doubts whatsoever with anything medical.

Chemtrails Again In The News

Below there is a link with MTG coming off the top rope on chemtrails. Like or dislike her, the awareness she is bringing to the issue is a very good thing. I am still amazed at the people who will accept and agree that the jabs turned out to be a bad thing for humanity since they have been obviously injuring and killing people worldwide. But mention this subject and they go into denial and think it is BS or another annoying conspiracy theory even with the government itself admitting that it has been done for over 80 years.

It’s just another tool in the belt of the globalist criminals with depop and creating chaos for business opportunities. Your injury or death means nothing short of a celebration to them.

https://www.infowars.com/posts/mtg-blasts-chemtrails-we-never-voted-to-have-chemicals-sprayed-into-our-skies

Anecdotal observations for our region have been that weather patterns are returning to the 1980’s and early 1990’s patterns in the eastern part of the state, which means normal to you flatlanders. Call it a regular old climate cycle. Precipitation has been historically normal without many extremes of deluges or severe droughts that had become common for the past 30 years. Temps have dropped as a trend overall. Local insect population has declined from its unprecedented annoyance level of the past several decades and is now more typical of this mountainous area. Wildlife remains abundant. One other pleasantry has been that we enjoyed cool nights in the 50’s for nearly two weeks in mid-late August before warming up moderately into September. That has not happened since the late 1980’s. We have returned to “mild” and pleasant conditions for which this area was formerly noted, along with the brilliant blue, non-chem trailed skies

All of that says the fall colors could be spectacular in the region unless the remaining government criminal embeds pull off more wildfires.

It also means the potential for some major snowfall events, which have not been seen around here for a long time. The old farmers’ weather predictions related to fogs in August bringing snow in winter will be scary this year if proven true. It was very foggy in the mornings for over half of the month of August, as in so dense you could not see more than 20 feet in front of you type foggy at times. Will see how it goes. I am thankful for my tri-fuel generator just in case. In the 1980’s and early 1990’s we had some dandy winter storms that paralyzed the area.

Effects of Helene

Less than two weeks ago there were local news reports about Helene’s on-going effects that blew many of us away. Of course the national fake news would never report it so I am doing so here. There was a feature story from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that controls the waterways and lakes in our region. Their leadership and engineers discussed openly on local newscasts that if they had not opened the dams more and lowered the water levels of the lakes a few weeks before Helene hit, there would have been two or three dam failures in east TN as the volume from the storm increased water levels in those affected lakes by 21 feet. Their assessment was that both Knoxville, Chattanooga and everything within the vicinity would have been been flooded. More than 2 million people would have likely had their lives signficantly impacted. The DOD, DOE and Oak Ridge National Lab reservation would also have been affected as it sits along the Clinch River basin that is in this discussed TVA controlled flood zone. Same with the University of Tennessee main campus that is located on the Tennessee River in downtown Knoxville.

Once again by the providence of God, a regional calamity was avoided by the wise acts of unseen engineers, who had no idea an event was coming of Helene’s magnitude in just a few weeks. They believed that precipitation in the weeks prior to Helene was above normal and raising lake levels more than they deemed appropriate and safe, so they took action sooner than normal. They saved lives and untold misery.

All I can say is that it was a good thing residents around here did not know or there would have an untold amount of panic and chaos.

Nah, nothing to see here. Cloud seeding and geoengineering are BS. Receiving 1.5-2.5 feet of precipitation in 48 hours on top of a mountain range from a hurricane that made landfall hundreds of miles away that was initially going in the opposite direction, a path that all previous hurricanes have taken, would not cause that. Would it?

🤪

As things stand now in east TN, these TVA operated lakes and waterways are in recovery. We were very fortunate the dams did not fail during the event. As it was, massive flooding of area rivers and tributaries contributed to towns flooding, death, property damage, and extended despair. Lake clean up efforts will pick back up this fall since water levels were lowered by TVA as they are supposed to do every year. They made sure they informed the public it had been done this time. As Mother Nature cleans herself, recreational activities in the lakes will also increase. As an example, due to the nastiness of the water quality the many professional bass fishing tournaments typically held in the region post Helene were cancelled or relocated. I am pleased to report that they have resumed for the fall/winter schedule beginning in late September. That is a very good sign water quality conditions and natural habitats are improving.

Area Roads/Bridges

Now on to the road situation. Most of us never really think about all of the bridges we cross each day. In the affected area in TN alone there were 47 bridges destroyed. Yup. Due to the great efforts of our state’s DOT and related contractors, 29 have been rebuilt a year later. This includes the bridges wiped out along I-26 in the most affected Unicoi County area, a massive rebuild. Most of the contractors worked straight through the coldest parts of winter to get things done. They are unsung heroes.

Which leads to the most important damaged section of interstate road in the region; eleven miles of I-40 through the gorge at the state lines of NC and TN. Earlier in the spring the contractor was able to get two lane traffic going along this stretch. Large tractor trailer rigs had to reroute such that only smaller rigs are permitted on the road as it was on I-26 for a year.

The good news is that traffic through the area generally moves, albeit more slowly, such that delays are usually only around 30 minutes or so unless you are on it during peak periods. The other good news is that they are rebuilding in the manner they would if it was a dam. They are going 30′ down into the bedrock along the river and building a dam like structure for the entire eleven miles. Rock slides will no longer cause extended shut downs for clean up and repairs and the adjacent river will no longer wash out the road bed. The various governmental entities got together and agreed to build the best it can be and the funding is appropriated. This is encouraging because it is a major national interstate that cross country truckers and tourists are dependent upon.

The bad news is that it will take three years to complete. Yup – 2028. Oh well, at least the construction is well underway.

Total cost of project will be $1.36 billion for eleven miles of road rebuilding. Ouch.

Thankfully, FL has joined us in the chemtrails/geoengineering ban. That is a big deal. Hopefully, other Atlantic/Gulf bordering states will follow suit soon.

Regional Economy

The negative effects of Helene and its destruction of roads and bridges messed with tourism in the affected area. That would seem pretty obvious.

Not according to the local fake news media. They keep telling us that they are certain it is Trump’s tariffs causing it. Yes, despite TN’s 3.6 unemployment rate and a national CPI of 2%, the economy is slowing they say and people are having to stretch their budgets. Of course, people always have to stretch their budgets even in the best of times. That is just a tired old expression used by idgits in media.

The propaganda continues. The interesting thing to me is they continue to say leftist garbage in a deep red area while it is painfully obvious they have a dwindling number of advertisers to pay for those young, inexperienced (cheap) fakebook style news reporters.

In fact, the local Fox affiliate no longer has its own news staff. They contract the local NBC affiliate to use their news staff to provide it. That Fox affiliate is just hanging on by a thread.

In reality our tourism numbers through July revealed a 6% downturn year to date, although more recent visitation is surging unbelievably strong. The following photo was not taken in the middle of tourism season in July. This was from this past Saturday in October and an on-going thing for the past couple of weeks.

SIL was called in after his night shift later that day to assist with thousands of unruly young people who had taken over the roads throughout the county. So, authorities cancelled the second day of their event in response. Organizers have been told they are no longer welcome here. The recently hired new City Manager is much more safety oriented than the previous good ole boy who was afraid to step on anybody’s toes.

https://seviervilletn.org/index.php/public-information/news/5357-city-of-sevierville-statement-on-cancellation-of-slammedenuff-sunday-october-5-show.html

Some of the car shows and rod runs are getting out of hand, like this one did. It will no longer be tolerated throughout the area. Some residents could not leave or return to their neighborhoods due to the effects that day. They let their elected officials know they will take it into their own hands if it happens again. They put the heat on the mayors and the results were good.

Tourism will all end up strong on the year as it usually does. It has helped from a labor point of view with ICE cleaning things up. There are less illegals for employers to hire in restaurants, cleaning, lawn services and construction. You know, the ones the employers frequently pay cash under the table or otherwise pay for contractor services; who pay cash and provide housing free of charge under the table to their illegal employees. I know that probably shocks some readers. Not. Deporting them helps the rental housing market crunch for the citizens moving here for the many jobs that are available.

It is happening in the SC lowcountry as well. Per friends and news reports, ICE has been busy picking up illegal workers who had, yup, fake social security numbers and no visas. They were working in local businesses such as landscaping/nursery companies, construction, restaurants and such. Buh-bye, amigos. Their families are shown the door and head out with their departures. The businesses that hired them are then investigated and many are fined. They are monitored closely after that.

Expect voting turn out and results to change. Oh well…

Most know that many employers are a major reason we have many illegals in this country. The remaining illegals in our area have been left some time to self deport before being dealt with when ICE has more assets available. That appears to be soon as a large influx of ICE officers arrived two weeks ago. Employers have been placed on notice that they are aware of some who are still employed and residing in the area. I expect many to head out over the next 60 days. By exiting voluntarily they now know they can probably reenter legally with worker visas at some point. However, at that point the employers can no longer hire and pay them under the table, so there will be less of them.

The short lived tourism downturn was primarily due to much road construction during the peak tourism season even in areas that were not affected by Helene. This area is at the crossroads of two of the most traveled and far reaching interstates in America; I-75 north and south and I-40 east and west. I-81 also feeds into it from north and east. Both 40 and 75 have major road rebuilding and bridge replacement projects going on within an hour of the subject area that have made traveling a nightmare at times. Some of it had nothing to do with Helene, it was just age and condition related. The 75 rebuild/repaving project is nearing completion.

I also hate to tell Dolly she pushed the pricing envelope too far, but Dolly, you pushed the pricing envelope too far. That has not helped things. Many local folks can no longer afford the annual passes. That has not stopped the park from adding at least one major amusement ride to the park each year and this off season is no exception.

https://www.dollywood.com/themepark/rides/nightflight-expedition/

Things around here should grow in a big way in 2026. Conditions have not deterred many new attractions and businesses from going under construction throughout the area. Expansion is rapid in both commercial and residential sectors regionally. Housing inventory has improved. It is still tighter than normal, but going the right direction without an uptick in prices. If anything the prices have drifted down a bit with the increased inventory.

The industrial, educational and governmental sectors remain stable. Industrial will jump forward when the licensed nuclear power plant for DOD and private businesses in the Oak Ridge area is completed down the road. This new plant will be located at the site of a former small coal fired TVA power plant that was taken off line and removed recently.

Churches

Talk about a resurgence. My goodness, so many churches are growing rapidly. Baptist, Global Methodist and non-denominational are leading the charge. The “progressive” churches are declining steadily, but not anywhere enough to offset the growth in the others. Catholic churches have remained stable.

Young people were returning to church around here even before Charlie’s death, which mirrors a nationwide trend. That is a very good thing. As the drug culture is beaten back, I expect more of the same. Trans is not much of a thing in our neck of the woods, nor are pedos and perverts accepted in any way. Only the white liberal women will support any of them around here, which means the other 90+% of our population will not tolerate any of it.

Charlie Kirk’s death had an impact here as it has nationwide. People are still talking about what happened. People who would have never believed the truth about our current situation as a nation, do now. TPUSA chapters are booming.

Schools

A funny thing happened when ICE made its appearance. Children of illegals began disappearing as well. All of sudden there were many vacant desks in all of the classrooms this fall as school started. When added to the rapid expansion of homeschooling and 20 K of state students receiving financial assistance to attend private schools via the state’s school choice program, well, the times they are a’changing. All that led to some significant teacher, tutor and assistant layoffs. Which led to the state teacher association (non-union – right to work state) to becoming quieter and more cooperative with state authorities and administrators. It also reduced facility expansion plans in many school districts, which takes more tax burden off local tax paying residents.

Imagine that. The next thing the officials will be telling us is that the state’s comprehensive test scores have significantly improved.

It’s science.

😀

Medical Care

Another funny thing happened when ICE made its appearance; medical offices and hospitals are providing easier access to citizens. Wait times in emergency rooms have declined. Access to physicians is met with, “What time works for you that day?” and “If you need to be seen today I can work you in at 3 PM.” type responses. Lobbies are empty to having small numbers with short wait times to be seen. It is as if 1990 has returned to our area.

Food/Fuel Pricing

Overall food prices are down significantly everywhere. There is no denying that truth any more. Fuel prices have started slowly trending down. In our area it takes tourism to decline into the off season to see substantial declines of fuel prices. But the trend is down.

Conclusion

I could rattle on, but that is enough to give a good indication for where we are. I hope some of you will do likewise and talk about your areas so the rest of us can learn more about what is going on in this great country of ours.

Be blessed and go make something good happen!

2025.09.30 Daily Thread – Odds n’ Ends

We have begun our Fall Frolic countdown, so I am pressed for time. I decided to do a post requiring no research that just updates some past subjects of which some expressed an interest or update. There may be some information that can help somebody. However, I am going to lead off with something that is important and in the news daily.

New York City Mayoral Race

New Yawkas need to prepare for the very real possibility that the commie might win. There are that many criminals and idgits that live in the city with so many others that do not give a shiz about voting that it can happen. Should that happen and barring a last minute successful attempt to salvage that mess, the NYPD will react. Many quality officers and families are going to relocate, as they have aleady been doing, or they may do their version of blue flu. Things are going to deteriorate in the capital of world capitalism. We will see more major companies and investment houses pull out of NYC. Gotham City will be real for a time. Implosion will be the big picture.

Then at some point, PDT and patriots will shut it all down. Memphis, Chicago, New Orleans, and St. Louis and even Portland are dress rehearsals. Most Americans have no idea that those first four cities provide safe haven and sponsor illegals, operatives, gangs, union criminals and armies of other criminals that have helped fund corrupt NYC based business and political leaders for over a century. When patriots take over the center of America they are destroying a feeder system for the northeast and left coast. They will be replacing it with a walled defense of law enforcement and military assets. One must never forget we are at war. Forget Normandy and Okinawa. Forget Iraq and Afghanistan. It has not yet devolved into Gaza City here, but that is what our enemies wanted. If you need proof, simply remember what happened at our southern border. Then go take a cold shower and wake up.

Should the more sane, but still criminal Democrat enabling and supporting residents decide they better unite around Cuomo, the immediate crisis will be averted. I predict he might put up an anti-Trump front, but be token opposition to the eventual move by the feds to straighten it all out and send the illegals packing as well as the domestic criminals and terrorists to prison. That will keep the blue on the job and the Street still doing what they do.

The rot is infested into all of federal government as well as in some states. However, I seriously doubt PDT will allow the permanent destruction of his home town and assets there, although it would not bother this hillbilly in the least. They have it coming to them in spades. If you continue to reside, work, buy things from, and pay taxes to criminals and traitors in that area, you are enabling what has happened. Choose this day, stay and fight or leave, but do not contribute to the status quo without raising a legal ruckus.

Charlie

Never forget. I once again feature…

Now on to more pleasant subjects.

Homeschooling

Just some advice, homeschool your children and grandchildren if you can arrange it. By all measures, homeschooled students score higher on comprehensive state and college entrance exams as a general rule. You can look up the research yourself, you don’t need to depend on my representations. Many kids have environments at home that lead to better focus than at school and as a result, more comprehension of subject matter. Scheduling their work to when it fits the family’s lifestyle and their biological clocks is just a better way to do things. So is allowing them input as to how to arrange their studies.

If this latter point or any other problem area is getting in the way of academic achievement, which should be the primary goal of an education, you can change and do it a more appropriate way for the student. As an example, being able to multi-task is important, however, it is a skillset that can be developed later or at a more measured pace if it is in the way of learning effectively now. Such is the case with Grandson #1. He hyper focuses on one subject. The widget process of traditional schools that teaches multiple subjects a day for shorter periods does not work for many kids. They lose focus and do not retain what they have been taught.

Taking it one subject at a time works for a good number. With Grandson #1 he absolutely slays it – throws all he has into it. As an example, he completed 6th grade math in less than four weeks with a solid A despite dumb problems with the curriculum provider that are explained below. There were no other distractions or concerns. He would go at it for 3-4 hours each day – done. It was also good to see he retained a good portion of what he learned from previous studies in the past couple of years doing it this way.

We multi-task by breaking up his school days with sports and physical activities such as golf and swimming; vocal music lessons; library and educational field trips; and his OT sessions. This method has delivered high achievement in his subjects and far less boredom. As a result he has generally completed all of his core subjects by some point in January. He is then free to focus on electives that interest him until he accumulates the state mandated 180 days of school. That mandate becomes a moot point if the material is interesting.

Other students may respond better the exact opposite way or some other tailored method, which is the point. Students and parents can flex it in whatever manner helps the child to learn most effectively while fitting the demands on the family’s time. Regardless, no more woke, bullying, alcohol/drugs and other drama in schools when you homeschool. You are removing sources of concern that also involves the competency of teachers and administrators. The kids have a better opportunity to be educated, well adjusted and happy. If desired, most homeschooled students are permitted to participate in school sports and many permit participation in music/choral programs as well.

Going into this school year we collectively chose to use Time 4 Learning as the primary curriculum again. It instructs at a mid-high achievement level and is the largest provider in America with a 20-25% market share. However, the updated software they rolled with this year is not good overall. We nicknamed it Glitch. 😀

This was another perfect example of fixing something that was not broken, which will probably break the provider if they do not quickly fix the issues.

In the updated version there are far more written answers to lessons, quizzes and tests; which are graded by AI review of the student’s responses with grading being provided an hour or more after taking. It has some major problems and obviously needs an overhaul already. They occasionally cannot even give the correct answers on lessons, quizzes and tests as well explanations of their AI responses that are wrong – frequently. In one case they called a lesson as a test. During lessons they will abruptly interrupt in the middle of it for the student to do a question with no warning at all. That interrupts the concentration of the student. Then they start the lesson back mid sentence. It is stupid to put out a product that is not ready for distribution. The users are letting them know by the thousands.

We gone. 😂

As a result, after much research we have made a switch to one that gives parents more control and input into the teaching method and testing while providing a great visual and interactive experience for the student. Miacademy is much more user friendly, interesting, has more subject options, and is in a similar price range as Time 4 Learning. It has a 4.7 out of 5 star Trustpilot rating from users. Parental controls, reporting and access to test answers are very easy to navigate. The text is even easier to read. The parent/teacher can print out PDF’s of the video lesson in advance to have the student follow along and fill in notes to reinforce the lessons, which helps them study for quizzes and tests. The way it is done will train the student to be self taught through the curriculum’s system as time passes, which is a big benefit to parents.

We LOVE it so far. Below is a user review that we found accurate.

Homeschooling with Miacademy: an Honest Review (2025 update)

The founders and staff of the company have a strong international education background. As a result we were very careful to review closely before selecting. However, any woke/leftist concern we had went away as there has been none force fed into the curriculum so far. Quite frankly it is very well done and interestingly presented. #1 never gets bored with it at all. Unlike Time 4 Learning we have yet to observe woke elements, although we have not gone into all subjects at this point. It seems solely focused on educating, however, if a parent is concerned with a segment there is a feature permitting them to exclude that subject matter. There are also numerous good Christian subjects from which to choose as electives. #1 is taking a Bible study related one for an elective this school year.

Parents can also accelerate or delay the taking of subjects as they are presented in the curriculum listing for two grade levels. As an example, #1 loves Social Studies and American History like his Papaw. For all curriculum providers we know, including the local public school, sixth grade Social Studies is some form of World History. #1 is all about PDT, America, Charlie Kirk, etc. currently. He loves learning about our nation’s history, culture, government, founding documents, people, etc. So, strike while the iron is hot. U. S. History is normally assigned to seventh/eighth grade. We have the flexibility to go ahead and do it in sixth grade and take World History in seventh grade as it is a sixth/seventh grade listed subject. In effect, #1 will be taking an advanced placement class in Social Studies because of his current interest level and capability. He can return to the normal placement subject next year.

Miacademy and his umbrella school both permit the acceleration of his education if he so chooses. We have observed over the past couple of years that #1 would prefer to not take a long break over summer as an example. He gets bored. He has told us he would rather have shorter breaks while only taking a month off in the summer. If that desire changes at some point we can adjust to fit it. All of this is the beauty of homeschooling while self reporting or using an umbrella school. If a curriculum is messed up or just not worthy of using, change it. You the parent are in control. The net result for #1 is that he will probably take three or more elective subjects, which is beyond the state requirements (2) for this grade level, which will only broaden his knowledge and understanding overall.

He will ace them all. So far he is making a 100% score in Language Arts more than halfway through the subject. He will be done with that subject in less than three weeks from start to finish. Try doing any of that it in a public school. What was it they told us in those IEP meetings in third and the start of fourth grade? Oh yeah, he was at the level of a kindergarten student academically.

The umbrella school charges $135 a year to record grades and attendance as well as transmit the information to the public school/state on behalf of his parents. It is a “family” charge, so if there are multiple students they do not charge more, which will be soon with #2. Once #1 completes high school classes, he will receive a regular diploma from that accredited school. It has been a seamless process. The school is accredited in four states and they are domiciled as an actual private school facility in our state. His transcript will be accepted no matter the higher education school he chooses to attend subject to his college entrance exam test results. So if you or someone you know goes the route of homeschooling, they can do likewise with an umbrella school in their area.

Grandson #1’s Health Status

In addition to great academic progress while homeschooling, #1’s health continues to improve. His dyspraxia is lessening with OT and his coordination is becoming completely normal for his age. We have begun to work on his physical strength. His sensory condition is being managed better by him and all of us. His nutrition is improving and he is finally beginning to gain a little weight. His eyes are still performing normally as they should. The infrequent focus events only happen with increased anxiety from the sensory condition and are short in duration (5-10 seconds). A light tap on the shoulder generally snaps him out quicker. He is now active in the Youth Program in church as well. All systems are go.

That said we are having his folate level tested this week. After PDT, Kennedy, and crew’s comments it made sense as his pediatrician believes he has moderate ADHD in addition to the known sensory issues. They are interconnected. His pediatrician has been very supportive.

Wifey

The past health issues of Wifey have been discussed periodically. As you did with #1, a number of you provided recommendations and prayers that helped for which we are very grateful. In Wifey’s case she physically recovered from her corneal ulcer that occurred upon return from our Fall Frolic a year ago as we traveled through the effects of Helene. The specialist had the infecting white colored blob analyzed at the lab and they came back with, “We don’t know, the lab results were inconclusive.” They treated as a bacterial infection and it responded reasonably well. Scar tissue remained and was near a newly forming cataract. Vision in the affected eye made it back to the 20-40 with her corrective lens. So after release from the specialist she went to our optometrist and was refitted with a more appropriate lens. She continued to struggle some with focus in the affected eye. Which led next to what I learned from my eye issues.

I had experienced early stages of macular degeneration (MD) for 15+ years in one eye to go with early stage cataract development in both eyes. With my use of IVM for several years and a parasite cleanse of IVM/Mebendazole this spring; my vision has been quite good for my age. My comprehensive annual optometrist visit revealed no change in lens needed and no presence of cataract formation at all. In fact, they did not even note the MD in the report despite the use of computer aided high tech imaging equipment. I did make a move away from the prism lens I had used that the binocular vision doc had me using. The prisms did a nice job of encouraging my weak eye to be more involved, but the lens can be a bit disconcerting with some activities, especially while walking and looking down. So I decided to try traditional lens and see if the affected eye got lazy again. 😀

About this same time things got interesting with Wifey’s situation. My success encouraged Wifey to get serious about doing something different. So she also did the Parasite Cleanse and noted a month later that she felt better and could see better, the eye focus issues had begun to go away. In previous posts I also discussed the fact that we chose to begin DSMO drops in our eyes at that point, which was in the spring of this year. She uses a 20% concentration. Wifey wanted to look for positive changes in vision that may or may not have occurred from the time she was released by the corneal specialist until her next appointment with him in a few months. She does the drops morning and evening every day. I did them once every other day for a couple of months and stopped due to my vision improvement. Her observation is that her vision has returned to pre-corneal injury performance, which was very good for her age, and all focus blurring is gone. She is very happy with the results.

I will update folks on this after her appointment.

The second thing with Wifey has been blood pressure spikes. For about a year she had weaned herself off a fluid pill, Hydrochlorothiazide, and tried going with just supplements. She researched thoroughly and tried everything that was recommended that made sense for her. For a time she found some success. However, over time the random BP spikes came back at 200+/100+ more frequently, such that she was taking Clonidine to bring it down too frequently. Her weight, fitness and nutrition are not contributing factors – she is in good shape with them. So with our wellness exam results in June she agreed to retry the lowest dose of amlodipine for the BP. It worked. No more spikes and very good BP and heart rate every single day. That improved her sleep patterns. We have no idea why it worked well now when it did not work several years ago.

So far, it looks like a win for traditional medicine with that one.

Bud

Bud is having his surgery in about a week. Will try to update everybody afterwards as to status. Again, thank you for the prayers. They are working.

As things work and God would have it, Bud had something positive happen out of the blue. His former employer called him. As previously posted, Bud had worked with this large family owned contracting firm that handled sheetrock installation and finishing for commercial and industrial businesses in the region for over 15 years before venturing out on his own. His upside was blocked by his supervisor who was no where near retiring then, but is now doing so. The company’s ownership has offered Bud the job, His previous experience with them would be vested and his personal income would be guaranteed at the level he is making now along with annual bonuses and 401-k with matching contributions. He would work normal day shift hours Monday through Friday. It is a job working for Christian people he trusts and respects, as they do with him.

They asked a few months ago if he was interested. They have been pressing him for an answer, which demonstrates he is their Plan A choice. He asked my opinion and for prayers. It did not take long to ponder and hear the still small voice. Bud has been estimating jobs after work hours 6 days a week in his own business. He has much business risk and the incomes of employees that includes two family members are also at stake. His employees are all ready from a competency standpoint to work as a unit without him through another contractor’s company connected to Bud’s if they so choose. Bud’s former, soon to be new employer has assured each of his employees that jobs with them are available if they choose to not go on their own. This employer has also agreed that Bud can work other jobs, such as handling our needs, whenever he chooses after hours.

Bud has reached the age to make this move and his health concerns are just more reinforcement. This all came up as a no-brainer to me after prayer. I let him know, that just like Doc #2 walking in the door and positively changing the trajectory of his life, it appears God is making sure Bud continues down a path he has made straight for him. Bud and his wife agree with this assessment and had come to the same conclusion He has started the ball rolling.

It has all been so reassuring of God’s love and provision for His children. All praise and glory to the Lord!

Thank you, Charlie. As so many have said and I repeat, we have it from here. Your work will not be in vain. See you in Heaven, brother.

2025.09.23 Daily Thread – American Stories: When in the Course of human events – Part 28

With our focus still on New York, we can dig deeper into the system that delivers slaves to be used by the wealthy and globalists which dominate it. As devious and complex as their methods appear to be, they are really simple in concept.

Today the goal is to enslave people in vices of which they hold a natural attraction as well as poverty that leads to total dependence upon a master. The first intends to warp their minds into abnormal and immoral behavior that at first excites and fulfills them, but gradually entraps them. The second is a long utilized method to enslavement. For both they seek to bend the targets and develop an overall sense of hopelessness, that it is pointless to fight against these “natural’ inclinations that become addictions that slowly take control of the mind and soul as well as their physical dependence on the masters to live. This can lead to all sorts of evil thoughts and deeds. Again – think Tyler Robinson for one recent example.

As a personal experience example, I had never heard much about drag queens until I started doing business travel to NYC two decades ago. The business people, primarily investment bankers, we met with were regulars at local clubs where they performed. Some even had photos of some of the “queens” framed and hanging on the walls in their offices. For this hillbilly it was all a bit disconcerting and uncomfortable. They all thought it was good fun and asked me to join them for dinner and to tag along to a show. I passed. To me it was just another culture clash and reason to get out of there. But it taught me a lesson that I never forgot. The people that dress and act like that are perverts and the people who enjoy their shows are birds of a feather to even be interested. That meant they could never be fully trusted in any situation. There were other red flag things they did and said, but that was one that stood out.

Since America was founded under the providence of God, we seem to be in a quandary. The embracing of secularism, communism, socialism, criminality, perversions, humanism and the corresponding march to transhumanism, and so on stands in direct opposition to the Creator and His stated purposes. It is my opinion that it is not found more openly expressed anywhere than on the city streets of the nation’s largest urban center – New York City. It is one shining example of what not to become.

Psalm 49:5

Why should I fear in days of adversity,
When the injustice of those who betray me surrounds me, (NASB)

Yes, they were then as we are today; unnerved by the evil of that day as many are in this day. The worry that resulted then as it does now led to fear, submission and even revolt against oppressors. Things can head downhill in a hurry. Fear changes the minds and hearts of mankind. Survival becomes the modus operandi and accommodation of rulers and taskmasters frequently results. Whatever it takes to get by is the response even when there is a constant drumbeat of dread beating in the subconscious.

Look closely a what happened with the Charlie Kirk assassination details and narratives in the days that followed. Already there are calls to reconcile differences by those who in the days before were calling for his rejection, fighting and violence. There is celebration by the demons on the side that approved and encouraged the deed. It openly demonstrates the insincerity of those posturing after demanding power, cheating elections for power, attempting to assassinate a political opponent (Trump) to retain power, looking the other way while millions of illegals pour across the borders to retain power, and so on.

We learn that their goal is to add slaves to support their goals and ambitions, which are relating to the overthrow the American way of life to take control for themselves.

Admit it, many of you (me included), were worried and concerned during most of the years leading up to the term of #45; the lies, deceptions and crimes endured throughout the term of #46; the anticipation of PDT’s return as #47 while being investigated, charged and enduring attempted incarcerations and assassinations. Even now with the federal judge law fare mutiny there is concern. To some it may have just been unsettling, for most it has been depressing and may have made us bitter.

During the past decade, how many Americans prepped for what seemed to be the end of days of our nation? Looking at gun and ammo sales alone answers that question.

It causes people who are normally kind and helpful to fellow Americans to retreat into preservation mode and hiving. Which is exactly what the evil doers of the past as well as the present desire. The product they seek is disunity into smaller groupings of people they can infect and control, or in the case of MAGA backers, isolate and attack.

Which results in… slavery.

Founders And Slaves

It has become apparent to me that most of us do not really understand that slavery has always been a thing with mankind. Groupings of people have always viewed other groupings of people as lessers throughout history. Whether that be related to skin color, national origin, religions, political beliefs – whatever. It is the figurative Star of David that identifies people as non-human who are to be used, abused and discarded when their usefulness is complete.

Some slave masters exhibit a heart of compassion as the revelation of what they have done opens their minds. We have seen this throughout this study of our Declaration of Independence signers. Some released their slaves to be free. Others retained some due to honest concerns about their wellbeing within a developing society that could be raw and brutal. Still others held on to them for for personal gain. A handful of slaves refused to be free, they liked how they were treated and living. These were generally associated with serving benevolent masters who regarded them more as members of a patriarchal led family.

However, we also know many were seeking to escape as soon as they had the opportunity and were willing to fight and die in the war to have that opportunity. Many joined the British forces as a result.

Which proves the point that all mankind yearns to be free. Even those who remained to serve their masters when given the opportunity to leave, did so willingly. It seems our founding fathers were also on a life journey of discovery of the meaning of what the Declaration of Independence states even as they composed it:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

That statement as the foundation of our new nation was the death knell for physical slavery of people in America going forward. We see similar words about the subject in the Holy Bible where we also learn that all mankind is created equal, which is probably why the founders included it as a principle for America. I sincerely doubt many founders were thinking much about the predicament of the slaves when they composed it. They should have, to not do so was blatantly hypocritical. I am sure that many felt conflicted by it from their own journal entries and correspondence. History has taught us that it took a lot of funerals of the slave holders and their family members over the next century to finally get the principle firmly rooted into our national psyche, but the God fearing freedom lovers got it done.

However, it did not stop those who profit most from having and using slaves from finding other methods of doing so while using their positions of power in government, business, religions, and so forth.

Nowhere has that ever been found to be more openly integrated into its way of life than in New York in my opinion. It started early on with the state leadership’s refusal to approve the Declaration of Independence. They abstained as the other 12 colonies agreed to be independent. So, they kicked the dirt and gave in to not be left out of the spoils that could result. Many of their leaders in those days were loyalists and Tories as our study continues to show, so they wanted to play both sides to keep things the way they were. However, the Average Joe of New York was very patriotic as the numbers who joined the military show. Which is still how it goes in New York today, some 250 years later. The leadership is corrupted and aligned with evil doers to retain power. They maintain control through the imported who came from oppressive circumstances and know nothing better than what they are provided.

There is a solution.

We the People need to change that by first removing all of the illegals in NY since many have been given the right to vote through fake ID’s, fraudulent voter registrations, and crooked judiciary and law enforcement. The #1 problem in NYC is housing availability and affordability per their own representations. Guess what gets largely solved with illegals exiting? Guess what the corrupt government officials will fight tooth and nail as a result? Yup, removing illegals who vote, work, and support criminal leaders; many of whom also receive rental income through properties they and their handlers own.

It is a system and it is as corrupt as Hell. I am personally looking forward to ICE and Homeland Security’s full scale assault on the illegals and citizen criminals who harbor them in NYC. That starts taking bites out of The Big Apple and their plantations.

But most of all it takes a realization of the individual parts played in its continuation. We need to develop an awareness that we are sinners and need to confess and repent. That is the long term solution. Sort of like the converted slave trader turned preacher (John Newton) from centuries ago who wrote the lyrics of this still relevant and treasured song.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

Time to move on to the next signer.

William Floyd

William Floyd was born in 1734 in Brookhaven, NY to Nicoll and Tabitha Floyd. William’s great grandfather immigrated to the area in the 1620 time frame. The family was of Welsh descent. He opened a law practice there in 1640. William’s grandfather bought a 4400 acre farm in Brookhaven in 1688. William’s parents built a home on the property in 1723, which is where William was born. His father passed when he was seventeen and left the farm to him. He was successful and ran a profitable farming operation as well as renting land to others. He had no formal education, just practical experience as well as learning from the highly educated and accomplished circle of friends they had in the area. In addition to farming, with the property fronting the Atlantic Ocean, William had business involvements with shipping through dock operations as well as in the fishing business.

He married Hannah Jones in 1760 and they had three children together. His activities in local and provincial politics increased due to his influence on Long Island and in Connecticut. As a result he was an easy selction to represent Suffolk County in the First Continental Congress. After the Battle of Lexington and Concord, he was elected to the Second Continental Congress and nominated to several committees. He faithfully served there throughout the period. He was nominated as Colonel in the Suffolk County regiment. He spent his time split between Congress and securing funding for the Continental Army, handling Indian affairs, handling the treatment of loyalists, and issuance of paper money.

After the Declaration was approved, NY delegates were cleared to sign, which William Floyd did. A very short time later battles were lost on Long Island under General Washington. The British took Long Island and with it, Floyd’s home. Hannah Floyd buried valuable family assets before fleeing with their children and other residents across the harbor to Middletown, CT. Floyd took leave from Congress and Gov. Trumbull authorized an armed party to cross over the sound and retrieve Floyd’s assets from his farm. He then served a short term in the NY Senate before returning to the Continental Congress.

The effects of war were not kind to Hannah and she passed away from illness, fatigue and exposure in 1781. William returned to his farm after the war in 1783 and found everything essentially destroyed. A year later he married Joanna Strong and they had two children. All five of William’s children survived to adulthood and had families. In 1794 William conveyed his farm to his son, Nicoll, and moved to a frontier area of NY in Westernville, purchased land and built a house there. He resided there until his death in 1821. He was a slave owner up to the point of his death. He is buried in the Presbyterian cemetery. Joanna passed away five years later and is buried there.

We give thanks for the efforts of William Floyd to the cause of independence. He was a dedicated American patriot.

Be blessed and go make something good happen!

2025.09.16 Daily Thread – American Stories: When in the Course of human events – Part 27

Why has New York become so leftist, even communist in its governmental approach? Granted this is directed more toward the urbanites of the Big Apple and surrounding areas, but look at the vote totals each election. Upstate and rural areas are much more normal and patriotic based on my observations and relationships. However, I observed in my business career as well as with extended family who live in the area, (said in my best hillbilly vernacular), a lot of them ain’t right in the head. The absolutely bizarre behavior you see from supposedly “elected” officials and administrators of law there is actually not unusual. It has been their modus operandi for many years. For a people who have benefitted from capitalism and the actions of patriots as much or more than anywhere in America, they sure have a strong inclination to run toward and embrace criminality, communism, and slavery.

A Google provided AI response to the “why” question is below,

New York’s liberal leanings stem from its diverse population, history of progressive movements supported by strong labor unions, and a political system that has historically allowed for influential third-party politics, such as the Working Families Party, which champions policies for working-class families. The state’s large urban centers, particularly New York City, have long been centers of social reform and progressive ideology, attracting and fostering a populace that values social justice and government intervention.

Key Factors Contributing to New York’s Liberalism:

Diverse Population:New York is a melting pot of cultures and experiences, and this diversity has historically fostered progressive and liberal viewpoints.
Strong Labor Movement:A powerful labor history, particularly with unions like those in the garment industry, has supported liberal politicians and policies that benefit working-class families.
Influential Progressive Parties:The state has a history of strong third-party movements that have promoted progressive agendas, like the Working Families Party, focusing on issues like inequality and opportunity for middle- and working-class families.
Urban Centers and Social Reform:New York City and other urban areas have long been hubs for social movements and progressive ideas, creating a political culture that supports policies aimed at social and economic justice.
Historical Liberalism:The Liberal Party, though now defunct, once wielded significant political power, demonstrating the historical presence and success of liberal politics in the state.

I found the response to be observationally reasonable and justified. As you can tell, none of that screams tradition, patriotism and American exceptionalism. In fact, much of it is misdirection to funnel support away from American traditional values. The very premise of each of the bullet pointed statements assumes America’s historical values are insufficient or wrong headed. There is no emphasis on assimilation in being in a melting pot today. In fact, there is an increased emphasis on polarization and division that is exploited by Democrat Party political leaders as they build their support models and fund raising opportunities. Division and manipulation appear to be the code words. They cobble together coalitions and alliances among the groups listed above and others in their efforts to circumvent the Constitution, laws, regulations and so on for their benefit. If laws, regulations and so on can be made to bend to fit their aspirations, that’s how it goes with no regard or acceptance of the original intent. If a law or regulation covers something they do not like, they ignore it if they are in power.

Simply, they employ “relative truth” as their modus operandi with power and money being their gods. Everything described above by the AI response to the question can demonstrably be proven corrupted – and for a very long period of time in that state. It is not exclusive to NY, but is a dominant feature there.

The overwhelming majority of its urban citizenry are immigrants or children of same who left their homes to relocate to America for good reasons. Primarily, it is because things were not working out in their favor where they previously lived. There may have been really good reasons they were encouraged or forced to leave. Who wants to keep up criminals and other wackos when they can be dumped on America? In the case of the criminal Dems they represent more opportunities to increase their power. Once the immigrants (legal and illegal) arrive they proceed to hive with other people similar to themselves. Which is when the criminal Dems and their minions step in to “help”, frequently through the use of taxpayer dollars to build alliances and coalitions that the colluding politicians eagerly provide.

All of that leads to…

Slavery Of The Masses

Many years ago a friend once told me the sheeple described above were useful idiots. They are allowed to live and be supported as long as they are useful. Since the described activities have been going on for a couple of centuries in America, it is clear they are just modern day slaves.

Many have been recruited and otherwise lured to our shores with offers and promises contingent upon their performance of certain actions which often requires selling their souls. The slave traders may not be trolling Africa for helpless victims as in the past, however, these modern day counterparts are trafficking in a similar manner. They do not need force and shackles to make the capture, they use promises, false narratives and money. The force comes later if these modern day slaves do not do what is required. The slave traders recruit criminals, terrorists, revolutionaries, and poverty stricken participants with promises of a better life, more money, and freedom. They sell a false image of America that has been created to circumvent the one our patriot founders sacrificed their blood and lives to create.

It is not just confined to NY by any means. Look at Hyundai in Savannah, GA. Same deal.

The criminals are not recruiting people to assimilate into America’s melting pot who can add to society. They are recruiting to tear down our culture, create chaos, and work to achieve their ends. But once here and assigned their tasks, failure to comply with the terms of entry results in harsh punishment, personal death, or deaths of loved ones. I hope readers realize this invasion has not been about paying coyotes to escort invaders across the border and the latter not having responsibilities to fulfill while living here. They are picked up and taken by soldiers of the left (traffickers) to their next destinations where they are given ID, basic supplies and their future assignments. Then they are transported to their handlers, given shelter and put to work. Which should tell all of us that the employers using them are as bad as the slave traders who secure and traffic them.

It is no wonder their children continue that way of life; it is all they know.

You have seen how this all works first hand, you know now. As an example POTUS Trump and patriots compelled the whole nation to watch in real time with Kilmar Abrego Garcia. A MS-13 human trafficker, wife beater, and alleged child porn lover with an outstanding deportation order was caught by the highway patrol in my state, with the officer making the stop recording the event. He radioed in for instructions and his department supervisor was then told by the Brandon administration to send him on his way. They had no interest in sending ICE to arrest the Maryland Man and his traveling illegal companions. Once addressed by ICE with POTUS Trump’s election, Democrat Senators and Representatives have gone insane protecting their boy, making their support of criminals even more obvious.

This was happening in every state in America for years. How much of it did you see in the fake news media? Yup, nothing until President Trump was elected and the Dems needed to find something, anything to try to create disunity within our population.

Knowing this today, we turn our attention to patterns that developed over a couple of centuries in New York (and other colonies turned states) to establish a basis of fact versus fiction. Please read the link below from The New York Historical Society,

https://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/history.htm

Now consider what happened on those slave ships that brought those poor souls to our shores. Don’t pass this one up. The misery they endured is worthy of your time to read it if you value the pursuit of truth. It is not for the faint of heart.

https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2023/2/22/a-history-of-slavery-in-new-york

We see wealth built and power attained on the backs of the poor and oppressed with total disregard for the person. It is a tale as old as time, similar to what can even be found in the Old Testament that extended into the Roman Empire and New Testament of the Holy Bible. Human beings treated worse than vermin for thousands of years. We just do not like to think about it happening here in America, in a time period of our nation’s founding by people we have been taught and grown to revere for all they gave toward our independence.

Which is exactly what continues today through the trafficking and other forms. It turns out there are many ways to enslave. Some slavery is intended to be permanent, other forms are purpose intended and may have limited periods of service.

My advice is to never be sucked into a belief or argument that equates slavery with skin color. That’s a non-starter. Slaves have been of all skin colors throughout world history. Slavery is achieved through domination of cultures and groupings of people without regard to skin color. Some cultures and people groupings are developed for the purpose of producing slaves. Others devolve into weakness that makes is easier to be dominated. In America the left has been developing its own culture of weak sheeple who serve as their slaves. They are incapable of being able to critically think and analyze. Logic totally escapes them. That is why they resort to violence, sexual perversions, drugs, corruption and more.

They indoctrinate people like Tyler Robinson into being their willing slaves.

What Now?

With what POTUS Trump and patriots are accomplishing in a short period of time with great cooperation from much of the world’s leadership; is there any doubt that the primary role of America First MAGA is to release all mankind from slavery? I really see no legitimate counter to that statement.

So, what is it that the Declaration of Independence was authorized to say 250 years ago, oh yes, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The point of government is to serve that end as it further says in the next sentence, “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,”.

Did you notice that nothing is said about the colonies or any country in particular in those two statements? They are about universal truths and principles for mankind’s existence on this planet. They pointed to the Creator as the author. The vision of the Declaration is far bigger than any one group of people or nation. So why was it viewed acceptable by the people who wrote those words to enslave other people? Did they not view the slaves as people? How about the indentured servants who were viewed as lessers and also frequently abused? Were they really just property to them, like livestock?

That is something to ponder. We will address more of this important issue as we venture on. However, it is now time for another NY Declaration signer.

Francis Lewis

Once again we turn to the motherland to determine the birthplace of Francis Lewis. We are fairly certain he was born in Llandoff, Wales in 1713. However, sources diverge a bit at that point. Most all of them messed up some details and timeline of events, even the Descendants site. So you are receiving the TB best guess interpretation.

😂

Despite its issues I primarily used the Descendants site, which has corroborating statements from other reputable sites. Then I reconstructed a timeline from all sources. This is yet another example of not blindly accepting Wiki as accurate.

Young Francis was the son of Rev. Francis Lewis and wife, Amy Pettingal. His father was Episcopal clergy and his mother was the daughter of clergy. Young Francis was orphaned at age 5. He lived with his wealthy aunt who made sure he received a good education, first in Scotland and later at Westminster School in London.

After graduation he went into the mercantile business. At the age of 21 he sold some property his father left him, purchased merchandise, and shipped out to America. He landed in NY, went to Philadelphia briefy and returned to NY, having set up a mercantile business with Edward Annesley. He next became involved in shipping with trade in Europe and Africa primarily. In 1745 he married the younger sister of his business partner, Elizabeth Annesley. They had seven children, but only three survived to adulthood.

During the French and Indian War, Lewis supplied British forces with clothing. During one period in 1756, the fort where he was located came under attack and its commander killed while standing next to Lewis. The Brits surrendered and were assured safety. However, the Indians were given the opportunity to take 30 from the British side to take captive or kill. Lewis was one of those chosen. Fortunately, he was able to communicate with the Chief due to similarities with the Welsh language of his youth. The Chief liked him and released him back to the French in Montreal with recommendations for his release. Instead, they sent him to France as a prisoner. He was released in 1763 in an exchange of prisoners. To compensate him from his years in captivity, the British authorities gave him 5000 acres of land in NY upon his return.

Apparently, within a two year period he made an absolute fortune. So much that he was believed to have been the fifth wealthiest founding father to sign the Declaration. At the end of the two years he retired at the age of 52. Other than helping a son get established in business, he turned his attention to government and the independence movement, attending the Stamp Act Congress. He is believed to have been one of the leaders in the Sons of Liberty. He joined the NY revolutionary related committees and later helped set up the state government. He had a strong sense of detail and accounting, so he was very valuable in securing supplies and arms for the continental army through the Secret Committee.

He became a member of the Continental Congress. Due to strong Tory influence in the colony, he was instructed to not vote for independence, however, once the Declaration was approved he signed without reservation. Later that same year the British moved on NY. They destroyed his home in Whitestone (aka Flushing today) and took his wife captive. She was later released in an exchange with British wives, however, the hardship cost her health. She passed away from the effects in 1779. Apparently, he remained a staunch ally of George Washington even through the Conway Cabal mischief of Gen. Horatio Gates that was sandwiched around Valley Forge. He was one of 16 Declaration signers who also signed the Articles of Confederation.

With the death of Elizabeth, Francis grieved and took a step back from governmental activities in 1781. After the war he served for three years as a vestryman of Trinity Church (Episcopal). He spent the last 20 years of his life enjoying his children and grandchildren. He passed away in 1802 at the age of 89. He is buried in the Churchyard at Trinity.

Francis is also famous for being the father of son, Morgan Lewis. Morgan was a highly accomplished patriot who graduated from Princeton and served as a Major under Gates. As an aide to Gates he was named the quartermaster-general of the northern Army and had a part in the Gates led victory of the colonists at Saratoga. He returned to law practice after the war, was elected into the assembly and later became a judge. He was elected Governor of the state from 1804-07.

President Madison asked him to serve as Secretary Of War, but he declined as he wanted a more active role in the War of 1812. He was appointed quartermaster-general of the armies instead. He was promoted to major-general a year later and led forces in victories against the British. Afterwards he became a founder of New York University.

We give a big salute to the Lewis family and in particular, Francis, for his commitment to the efforts of patriots. Despite the hardships, he persevered and left a lasting family legacy that benefited America.

Be blessed and go make something good happen!

2025.09.09 Daily Thread – American Stories: When in the Course of human events – Part 26

We move to neighboring New York to begin the next reveal of the remaining Declaration signers. So let’s open with some famous New Yorkers and NY related songs to get us warmed up. There are Goober Gump sightings in this one.

OK, went back in the time capsule for that one. In fact, I saw him in concert in Vegas a few years previous to this performance. Yes, I’m old.

Let’s go with a more current NY music entertainer, albeit a now older guy who is having his own health issues and stepping back from the limelight.

Well, now that you asked, I also saw this guy in concert in 1973; the year Piano Man came out following the Cold Spring Harbor Tour. He excitedly announced on stage that the song was going to be released in about a month along with a planned album later. The response from the thousands in the crowd after hearing the song was like thunder. As we now know, that song is timeless Americana that will be forever associated with Billy Joel.

Then there was the following New York bred music entertainer, Harry Chapin, that some may know, or barely remember, or may not know at all . Yup, saw him the same year. Hands down one of the best concerts I have ever seen. He held the crowd in his hands with his stories, humor and talent. His brother, Tom, sang the high female voice part. Tom also did a cool Saturday morning children’s TV show called Make A Wish that won an Emmy. He played six instruments in the band. In addition, Harry’s bass player was the baritone voice heard as Mr. Tanner in the song of that name. That song was based on a real person and event with the actual name, location and occupation changed to protect the described person. Years later the person learned about the song and was very happy that Harry had remembered him.

Harry’s life was cut way too short at age 38 in an auto accident on the Long Island Expressway. So, here is one in his memory…

However, as much as I enjoyed and was musically influenced by the NY entertainers above, the following expresses my personal thoughts and feelings about New York itself. That is not a slam to the many fine people who live in the state or some of its more beautiful environment. It is directed at just how far the state in general has strayed from its founding and service to America. That has led to the virtual destruction in the quality of life one should expect. I will address more of my thoughts on that issue in a future part.

Yeah, as he toured the south I saw this Philadelphia area singer songwriter, Jim Croce, who would not be recognized by many as a classically trained music student at Villanova as a young man. Yes, the concert I attended was in that same year. It was held less than two weeks before his plane went down with his bandmates traveling to a concert in Louisiana and he was lost to all of us. What the world did not know at the time was that he was choosing to give up his promising entertainment career to write short stories and movie scripts. While on this last tour he had written his wife a letter describing his decision. It arrived after his passing.

We never know as we wander through life what is in store. Time to get busy.

New York Revolutionary War Militia Involvement

The following in the link below is priceless for historians and genealogists as it was published in 1904 and archived by the State of New York’s Office of the Comptroller. It contains documents and records from the Revolutionary War period in the state that includes names of militia members in every regiment and area of service. I found it interesting, especially the fact that the Comptroller at that time documented the fact that NY provided more than double the number of military members during the Revolutionary War than credited by historians up to that point. The two figures are starkly different at 17.8 K officially versus 43.6 K with this revision. Yet, another proof that history and narratives are frequently wrongly stated. Readers should keep that in mind when trying to learn more and should not take statements of historians as gospel without first personally investigating and consulting numerous sources.

https://archive.org/details/newyorkrevolution01statrich/page/n63/mode/2up?view=theater

So why is this adjustment important? It is hardly surprising that Massachusetts earned the honor of having the most members in our military. But few might know that with this documented revision that New York would be second on the list. It gives readers an indication of the commitment of the residents in each state toward the cause of liberty during the period. You learn that NY’s involvement represented approximately 20% of the total estimated participation of 200,000 men give or take. Even with the information provided there is cause to believe there were a great deal more men involved in the conflict based upon the records of pensions granted to members who were injured in the conflict whose names do not appear in any other records, indicating the original enlistment records were lost. Such is the case with NY.

Included in the first 25 pages or so of text are descriptions of war efforts, battles, conflicts with Indian tribes who were stirred up against the colonists by the Brits/loyalists, pay, rations, service requirements, attire, weapons, training and so forth. This quote was also very interesting – “Quakers, Moravians and United Brethren were enrolled, but exempted from service upon payment of money, which varied in amount as the war progressed until, in 1780, they were obliged to pay £160 per year.”

So some could legally buy their way out of serving. I guess money was tight and patriot lives were cheap for everybody else.

Another interesting quote relates to slaves – All slaves ‘killed in the service were to be paid for. In time of invasion, any slave, not in the military service, found one mile from his master’s abode, without a certificate from his master showing his business, might be ” shot or otherwise destroyed without fear of censure, impeachment or prosecution for the same.” In 1781, it was provided that any slave who should enlist and serve ” for three years, or until discharged,” should be declared a freeman of the State.

That might burst some holier than thou bubbles.

So, even if I am not a big fan of New York today as the state has clearly lost its way for quite some time and still creates millions of slaves of a different sort, I salute the commitment to the patriot cause of its forefathers. We will now turn our attention to one such Declaration signer. As we will learn, the cause of liberty was met with challenges, violence, death and misfortune for many; which included some of our founding fathers who we celebrate and thank today.

Phillip Livingston

Phillip Livingston was born in Albany, NY in 1716. He was the fourth surviving son of Phillip and Catherine Van Gogh Livingston. His father emigrated from Scotland and mother was Dutch. His father lived in the Albany area in 1673 and later owned a large rural estate as a 2nd Lord of the Manor, some 160,000 acres located along the Hudson River about 40 miles from Albany. He received the estate for his faithful service to the Brits in political appointments such as Secretary of Indian Affairs, in his fur and other trading activities as well as in his close associations with the Dutch due to their family’s background and ability to speak both languages. This established him into the aristocracy of the region and the estate was granted him by the royal governor for his efforts. The manor later became known as Clermont and was held by seven generations of the Livingston family until the year 2000. A photo and link about them and it is below.

https://www.friendsofclermont.org/the-livingstons

Young Phillip spent his time between his father’s Albany townhouse and the estate. He went on to Yale and graduated in 1737 before returning to begin a mercantile apprenticeship under his father. He served in clerkships in the Albany government before moving to New York City to begin a career in the import business trading in the West Indies. He was very successful through the years that followed and became wealthy. He made much money providing British military provisions, slave trading, and privateering. For those who do not know what privateering is; it is a government authorized form of pirating. The privateer was authorized to violently attack shipping interests, usually foreign, to seize the cargo on behalf of the government. They would split the goods and/or profits. In 1740 he married the daughter of a British Colonel, Christina Ten Broeck. They went on to have nine children together.

Phillip gave back to the region with his finances and time. He advocated for the founding of a school that is now Columbia University, for a Professorship of Divinity at Yale, helped in the building of the first meeting house for the Methodist Society of America, and helped organize the New York Public Library. He then entered public service as a New York City alderman. He served three terms on its Provincial Assembly. He was slow to join the independence movement, but over time he saw it as the right way as the oppressive British tax acts began accumulating. He was adamantly opposed to taxation without representation as he still considered himself to be a British citizen accorded all rights of the nation. He would be elected or chosen to positions within the Provincial Assembly only to meet British opposition and removal. Eventually, in 1769, the royal governor dissolved the city’s Assembly.

In response he became a member of the Committee of 51 that chose him as one of five delegates from the state to attend the First Continental Congress in 1775. At the same time he served as President of the New York State Provincial Assembly. He signed the Olive Branch Petition to try one last time to move the King away from his push for more control and taxes in the colonies. The King refused as we know. This led to the Declaration of Independence, which Phillip approved and signed on behalf of the state.

As a person Phillip could be gruff and irritable at times in his political and business dealings. However, he was known to be very kind and loving with family and friends. He was reserved and spent a great deal of time reading. He was a deacon and elder in the Dutch Reformed Church throughout his life.

However, like many wealthy mercantilists during the era he participated heavily in the slave trade and personally owned some for a number of years. There is a report that indicated he was involved in at least 15 shipping transactions of hundreds of slaves that were brought to the NYC area for sale. As another example, in one article there was discussion of him advertising and offering a reward for the return of his property, a slave who had escaped. This bit of history and other slave trading related accounts have often been deleted or glossed over in the many historical accounts of Phillip as well as other northern founding fathers.

I must interject here as I find what has been happening with the rewriting of history to be tragic. This series has been a real eye opener for me. There is no call for this type narrative based rewriting of history that I am seeing repeatedly. In my view it means the rewriters have ulterior and probably nefarious motives to do so. In regards to the subject of slavery, what was an acceptable and legal practice during that period in time is no longer so. Just observe, recognize the truth, and move on. Chalk it up as a wrong that has been righted.

The Livingston extended family were prominently involved throughout New York state and colonial government. Phillip’s first cousin, Robert, was even appointed to Chancellor of New York State, its highest judicial office. He was a framer of the Declaration of Independence and later administered the oath of office to George Washington as President. He served as Minister to France in negotiations for the Louisiana purchase in 1803. We must note that he and the other American negotiators figuratively struck gold on that one. Some twenty Livingston kin of Phillip served as officers in the Continental military. The family was patriot to the core.

Both Colonial and British forces occupied two of his homes in the city at various times, First, Gen. Washington used one as his headquarters before the colonists lost battles around the city, at which time the Brits used it to house military members as well as his second home as a hospital. Phillip and his family fled from the fighting to their home in Kingston, NY. When this happened his slaves escaped and some were thought to have joined the British forces to later earn their freedom. The Brits eventually burned all of the town of Kingston to the ground. The family escaped again back to the safety of their native Albany area.

Phillip was chosen as a state senator while remaining a member of the Continental Congress. In fact, he served up to the actual day of his death while working in the same assembly in 1778. He died from the long term effects of dropsy (edema) at age 62. Members of the Continental Congress attended his funeral and there was an official one month mourning period. He is buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery in York, PA. The prominence and dedication of both Phillip and his cousin, Robert, are noted with several memorials in Washington, DC. With the British destruction he had lost most all of his properties and holdings while still having debts owed from his estate. The sale and repayment took nearly 25 years to resolve. His wife, Christina, remained in the Albany area surrounded and cared for by family for the rest of her life. She lived to the age of 82.

Phillip Livingston gave all he had for his country, family and friends. His family legacy was faithfully served by his efforts as well. We have great appreciation for this patriot founding father.

Be blessed and go make something good happen!

2025.09.02 – American Stories: 24 Hours Dealing With The Medical Industry

Time for a break from the usual. I will return with more signers next week.

The following recent event happened a month ago in mid July. This is a discussion on the state of medical treatments for an average Joe, who likely represents thousands of patients nationwide each day. In this specific case it is about a close friend and brother in Christ, so it is personal.

For the record, our family’s approach toward the use of the medical industry has evolved into a belief that they are guilty until proven innocent in their motives. As a result we verify first, trust maybe after a great amount of consultation and prayer.

With the rebuild of the medical industry well underway through the Trump administration, it seemed appropriate to do an authored post about this very recent real life experience of our good friend, who has been sharing some of his story on fakebook. The idea for telling this story at all started with my reading this X post from Secretary Robert Kennedy that was shared by TheseTruths on here a few weeks ago.

Our findings show that hospitals allowed the organ procurement process to begin when patients showed signs of life, and this is horrifying. The organ procurement organizations that coordinate access to transplants will be held accountable. The entire system must be fixed to… https://t.co/DeiFa2FlEJ
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) July 22, 2025

Then there is this recent article,

https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/the-unseen-cost-of-organ-transplants

The Back Story

For this true story I will call our friend “Bud”. Some may figure out he was a source for a BIMD story in that Bud is the same one who is long term friends and a former co-worker with country music superstar Morgan Wallen’s dad. Bud is in his early 50’s, married to the love of his life for 20+ years (his third marriage/her second); has three adult children from his first two marriages along with a step daughter from his wife, most of whom have spouses; has nine grandchildren; and has a growing six employee construction business with three family members working in it. He is nearly the same age as my step daughter, who went to high school with him although they did not know each other well.

I became acquainted with Bud a dozen years or so ago when he was referred to me by a neighbor as a good handyman. At the time Bud had been employed long term in the construction industry as a working supervisor in his speciality. However, he had learned a great deal about all aspects of residential and small commercial construction through the years. He also learned more from his father, who had built his own home as well as worked part time for other builders. Bud has been gifted the ability to figure things out and do them the right way when handling home construction, remodeling and repairs. With his after hours handyman workload picking up, he was faced with a decision, should he continue on his own full time or stay in a decent job that had no upside while continuing to moonlight as a handyman.

Over the next year he did work for us and many others around the area. We got better acquainted and learned each other’s life stories, shared our common faith, got to know each other’s families and friends, and so on. He justified my trust enough that we could leave town on a Fall Frolic or other trip and I could give him jobs to do in our absence and never have the first concern about it. He never had to be concerned about getting paid, beating him down on price, or ignoring his recommendations. We treat each other respectfully and fair, but more importantly, we have developed a bond of friendship well beyond the work. We love them and they love us as family.

One day he stopped by our house because he knew my business and banking background. He asked my opinion if he should go full time into his own business, that he felt led to do so and his wife supported whatever decision he made. Her job was good, stable and could provide health insurance. I told him that if the Lord was putting it on his heart, he had no choice. I confirmed that I had never met a more conscientious builder/home repair guy in all my years of lending into the industry as well as with my own, more limited residential home building and ownership experience. I reaffirmed he had the expertise and work ethic to be successful if he had access to good customers that needed his services at fair prices. We talked it through some more and he called me a week later to say he had pulled the trigger. His mid-life crisis at around age 40 was to start a business. 😀

From that point over the next decade his workload and business grew. He and his company are a rarity in an industry populated by a number of crooks, posers, and wannabes.

All of which leads to this current point in time and the related medical industry story.

Medical Emergency

Bud has been experiencing pains in his gut at infrequent, random times for a couple of years. For background purposes; diverticulitis runs in his family, so he attributed the pain to that. He would go to a GI doc, have blood tests and be scoped – nothing. Last month the pain knocked him for a loop and he headed to the nearest hospital ER fast due to the extreme pain. Bud’s wife works in an administrative office in a competing hospital, but there was not enough time to get there.

For those who are wondering, Bud took just the first jab, did not get the second and had nothing after that. He grew uneasy by what was going on. He has also been a half pack a day cigarette smoker. the periodic gut pains had been going on randomly for ten years, just not as acute.

Things started off well; he was seen quickly, admitted, scans/tests run, provided a room, etc. The nursing staff and on staff resident doc examined and gave him a pain med. They told him an assigned surgeon had read the scans and part of his colon was dead. They also saw another spot of concern at the lower end of his colon. The resection surgery would mean he would have to wear a bag for at least 6 months. He is a hands on builder who also does the electrical and plumbing roles himself, so there would be added financial and scheduling burdens from adding subcontractors for this replacement work as a result. Not good – Bud was worried.

They told him he would need a colonoscopy the following morning, then the surgeon (former military doc) would operate the day after that. Bud said if the man would not come to his room and talk to him personally first that he would not be cutting on him. They told him the surgeon was great, but never saw any patient before surgery. Bud’s wife verified that statement was true with her co-workers at the other hospital. Bud told his wife to have him moved to her hospital and find another doc for a second opinion. The current hospital agreed to release him. Then Bud and wife found out how much they would have to pay out of pocket to both hospitals if they did so. They could not afford it and were stuck.

It was at this point that he texted me from his hospital room to update. He said they were working on alternatives. I told him we were praying for him and that my father had exactly the same problem 60 years ago. His surgeon did a similar procedure without using a bag after giving him antibiotics for a serious infection first. My father recovered quickly after the surgery and lived another 40 years without issue. It lifted Bud’s spirits to learn this.

Bud’s daughter is in nursing in a city a couple hours away. She told them to do nothing that evening; to wait for her to get back with them. She had surgical nurse friends that might know a good alternative. So they bedded down for the night. The colonoscopy guy came in early the next morning and told him it was time to do the procedure. Bud said no it wasn’t, the nursing staff never prepped him for it. The guy was then pizzed at the nursing staff. They told him they thought Bud was leaving and going somewhere else. So they start prepping him only to mess it all up. Prep fluids and fecal matter start flowing out everywhere on Bud, the bed, the floor, etc. 😂 They then had to clean him and the room up. After all of that he was taken to be scoped.

Soon after he was brought back to his room a different surgeon (Doc #2) walked into his room. Doc #2 told him that a friend of Bud’s daughter had contacted his office and asked him to give a second opinion. He asked Bud if that was OK and he responded that he was relieved and appreciative. Doc #2 told him he had reviewed the scans, blood tests and exam notes – he indeed appeared to have a partially dead colon. He was relieved to learn from Doc #2 that all scans and tests showed he was negative for cancer, since idgit doc did not let him know anything. Doc #2 did a quick examination. Bud asked him about the spot they wanted to check with the colonoscopy. He responded that it was just a small amount of fecal matter that showed up in the scans. Bud asked what would happen after the surgery that was scheduled the next day. Doc #2 asked, “What surgery?” Then proceeded to explain there would not be surgery for several months unless his condition worsened if he chose to use his services.

Bud was puzzled at this point. Doc #2 told him he would first prescribe a series of antibiotics to clear the infection that set up in his colon that was causing the pain. Once it was cleared up he would do more scans and know more about its condition before doing any surgery. Bud asked why the idgit surgeon did not diagnose the infection so that antibiotics could be used first? Doc #2 rolled his eyes, but refused to speculate. Bud asked him if he would have to wear a bag after the surgery. Doc #2 said nope, he would remove the dead section and close. He predicted if all went well he would have a recovery time in the hospital of about four days afterwards. Bud decided to press his luck and told Doc #2 that he had a long planned vacation to FL before this happened that was supposed to start in two days. Doc #2 said to go, take the meds, and do no heavy lifting. The couple’s four grandkids who were going with them received the good news and were elated.

Bud called to give me an update after the exam. He thanked us for the prayers. I asked him if they fire hosed him and the room down after the colonoscopy prep. He had a good laugh, so I knew the pain meds were working well.

Sometimes the difference 24 hours can make is mind boggling. God is so good. All we have to do is to learn to wait and pay attention.

I talked with Bud again a few days afterwards as he was laying under a canopy at the hotel pool. His wife drove them down, he was feeling much better, the antibiotics seemed to be helping. His pain was minimal. It had dawned on him fully that the Lord still has plans for him springing from this crisis in his life.

God’s Provision

Bud’s father came to the Christian faith later in life at around age 40. He had lived rough up to that point. He was a former hard living Vietnam vet and factory worker. When he accepted Christ he changed dramatically and made a positive impact on the lives of his wife and children. This eventually led to him becoming a pastor in a small church in a poverty stricken community in his time off from his factory job. The church flourished and became a light to the community. Lives were changed. He retired recently at age 70. He is one of the finest men I have ever met.

During his father’s first visit that evening with Bud in the hospital he pointed out that God did not want him to go to the other hospital or it would have been an open door with the right surgeon provided and nothing would be getting in his way. He urged Bud to be patient and wait on God to provide what was best. The next day it all changed for the better.

I initially brought this story because of the ridiculous handing of the medical diagnosis and treatment of my friend. He was at a very vulnerable point and the medical system was set up against him. Had Bud and his wife not stood their ground he may have been butchered or given a death sentence by this grievous error. Had his daughter not solicited help for a second opinion from a reputable, competent surgeon they may have given in and had it done when all he needed immediately was antibiotics and rest. He should have been given options on treatment and surgery. The idgit surgeon had to know it was an option to try to heal the infection before any surgery, but refused to speak with the patient and was going to cut him open anyway. The untreated infection could have easily caused the surgery to be a failure. It also could have led to more of his colon being removed than was necessary as well. This would have affected Bud’s quality of life. Idgit’s actions were malpractice with what could be considered as malicious intent in my opinion

I shudder to think about what COULD have been if they had not delayed the decision and sought a second opinion under God’s guidance. There was potential for a tragic loss to loved ones, employees, customers, church and community.

In truth, at some point Bud could have been reduced to an organ donor by simply going to a hospital to be healed of something that has commonly been treated successfully in the manner that Doc #2 is using just as my own father’s situation was handled sixty years ago. Which makes me wonder about how many other people go through experiences similar to these throughout the nation on a daily basis.

As I finish this story, I need to relay a more recent conversation with Bud. He went to a scheduled appointment with Doc #2. After exam and tests he determined that the infection is being handled well. It is now time to start the pre-surgery preparation, which will be in early October as compared to the Idgit’s desires. It will be robotic with a laparoscopic incision to reduce chances for infection and improve healing time. Idgit planned traditional surgery with the bag. I doubt he would have even been capable of doing what Doc #2 is planning, who is obviously much more qualified. Bud also learned Idgit was planing to leave on a two week vacation the next day after the scheduled surgery. Hard to believe, but true.

Once again the lesson is to wait on the Lord.

In preparation Doc #2 wants Bud to do a one mile fitness walk every day to build his core stronger and ready for the surgery. The couple live on top of a hill and the road has a steep incline, so building his core should not be a problem. His wife is also using it as an opportunity to improve her health as they walk together in the evenings. A revised diet has started with no red meat, no desserts, more water, less caffeine, soft foods, etc. The third thing was addressed with him eye to eye – Doc #2 ordered him to quit smoking if he wanted to live. He wants all of the nicotine and stuff out of his system over the next two months to improve his chances for a full recovery. Bud is on board with it and began immediately.

Doc #2 plans to have him out of the hospital in four days post surgery as predicted previously. He will be under a no lifting restriction for three months to keep the bag away. Needless to say, Bud has no problem with complying and has employees who can handle the heavy lifting.

He is in an introspective, more joyful state of mind now. He is thinking things through and waiting on the Lord to give him clarity about how to proceed with his life from here. Selfishly and from the cheap seats, I would tell him to keep doing what he is doing. He just needs to take more time to decompress and enjoy the blessings in his life. So many people need the presence of this man until the Lord calls him home.

If you get a spare moment, please pray for Bud’s healing. Then take time to let others you care about know what they mean to you. If you need a medical provider, keep your eyes and options open. As we see in this story; there are sincere, competent professionals you can trust. There are also money hungry losers with no concern for you. Take nothing at face value, ask questions, consult with others you trust, and spend time with the Lord to gain clarity. Do not allow yourself to be set up to be a potential organ donor.

Be blessed and go make something good happen!