Chris is a follower of Jesus Christ. A technologist. And a believer in the words of the US Constitution being the 2nd most important document ever written. He plays, runs, and creates various table top role playing games and is collector of dice.
What we are seeing with the released income tax information of President Trump is exactly why the present system doesn’t work. Our current system of income tax creates far more issues than it ever solves. And it took a Constitutional amendment in order to even enact it.
The taxation of income is morally wrong. It wastes taxpayer money on enforcement and compliance. It is unfair to the working class and poor. It is over complicated. It has been weaponized against political opponents. And the list goes on and on.
As for the President’s taxes. I don’t care. It isn’t an issue. His income is his business and not mine or yours. Unless you have envy in your heart and covet his wealth. The President’s taxes have nothing to do with how well he will be president or is fit for the job.
Due to our current tax code. President Trump doesn’t do his own taxes. He hires professionals to do that who find all the possible exceptions he can take. Thus reducing his tax burden to mere pennies. I say good for him. I would do the same thing if it was within my means to do so.
This isn’t an impeachable offense at all. This is following the current tax laws and having it benefit the taxpayer. Anyone is able to do this if they either know the tax laws themselves or hire the appropriate professionals. This isn’t an issue with the President. This is an issue with the current tax code.
If you don’t like that the President paid only $750 in taxes. Have the law changed. Abolish the IRS and get the FairTax going. Then you get to keep all of your paycheck and don’t have to report any of it to the government. Or get a better tax professional.
With the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg the U.S. Supreme Court is down a member. It is the President’s job to nominate a replacement Justice for the Supreme Court. And per the Constitution it is the Senate’s job to confirm or deny such appointments.
Throughout President Trump’s presidency the Senate has dragged its heels in the confirmations of his Administration. No other president in history has had such a delay in getting their nominees appointed or even getting Senate hearings for them. So the Senate certainly isn’t Pro-Trump otherwise this would not be the case.
During the previous administration, there was an opening on the Supreme Court and President Obama did his duty in nominating a replacement Justice. And the Senate did their duty as well.
They rightly refused to have a hearing for the confirmation of Merrick Garland who was nominated by President Obama. The Constitution clearly states that the President needs the Advice and Consent of the Senate to appoint Judges to the Supreme Court. The Senate did not give their Advice or Consent in President Obama’s nomination of Mr. Garland. Yet he didn’t have any issues getting his administration confirmed.
The Senate is under no obligation to give consent to any appointment. That is why there are many still open positions within the Administration of President Trump. The Senate hasn’t given their consent to his appointments. He will either have to withdraw the nominees and appoint someone else or wait to see if it gets filled.
So here we are coming up on a presidential election in November. And President Trump is still the President of the United States until at least January 20th of 2021. And I pray that he is President for the next four years as well.
No matter the outcome of the coming election. If President Trump submits a nomination to the Senate. The Senate has every right to either hold hearings and confirm the nomination or reject it.
I’ve been a table top RPG gamer for many decades now. I haven’t played or ran a D&D game in many years. My gaming interests have taken me to other games and systems. The last D&D system I used was 3e/3.5e, the original d20 system.
Now I’m taking a hard look at the current 5th Edition of the game that pretty much started it all. And I’m a bit disappointed. A friend described 5e to me as an RPG with training wheels. It looks like I’m going to agree.
Many aspects of the game got removed. Probably because someones frakking feelings got hurt.
Clerics got the short end of the stick this time around. Their ability to turn undead has been seriously reduced.
A number of beloved spells used by magic-users and other spellcasters have been completely removed or greatly weakened in their scope and power. Now I’m all for some changes with D&D’s magic system. The Vancian fire and and forget has always bothered me. But getting rid of important spells like Permanency is just stupid. Many wizards have used this spell to protect themselves and to protect strongholds established by the adventuring party since it was first included.
Ability score damage seems to have been eliminated as well. That was a handy trick of many spells, monsters, and other hazards.
Psionics are mentioned but again they are treated like spells and never should be. 1st Edition AD&D had them kinda right. 2nd Edition AD&D also had them kinda right but went overboard on the idea. 3rd+ Editions of D&D have never gotten Psionics right. Although there have been some 3rd party adaptations that were pretty good.
There are some good things to come out of 5e. The advantage/disadvantage system is good. Still carrying on from the 3rd era where AC goes up instead of down is good. The d20 mechanic is still great. It makes rolling very uniform.
I still haven’t looked at all of it to see about other things that are good and those that were bad ideas. I guess Hasbro doesn’t have any good game designers on at Wizard’s of the Coast.
I think it was a mistake to have the game enter into the hands of a large corporation. Hasbro might become the new Lorraine Williams if this kind of poor design keeps up.
There is a Democratic Party movement to lower the voting age from 18 to 16. I am not in favor of this movement at all.
16 year olds are known to make very poor decisions. They lack wisdom and life experience to make sound decisions. I was 16 once and made poor choices then. My children were 16 once and they made poor decisions. It’s a part of growing up and becoming a responsible adult. But not worth risking the future of the nation on the chaotic mind of a young teenager.
I do think we need some voter reform. So here is my proposal on the subject of age and voting eligibility. We raise the voting age. Not universally, but on a sliding scale.
The sliding scale is based on already established laws throughout the United States. These are the laws that have restrictions on who can run for a particular public office.
For most state and local offices this is 18 years of age. However some jurisdictions and offices have other age and related requirements on who can be elected to office. In Montana for instance, one has to be 21 years of age to be a mayor of any town.
Thus we adapt this system for all elections in this proposal. In order to vote in an election or candidate for office. You must meet the same requirements as running for that office. In the example above. If there was a mayoral election in Montana, only those voters who were 21 years of age or older could participate. The same would be true for any other local or even state-wide election. The same requirements in age, residency, citizenship to be elected would also apply to those voting.
In Federal elections. Those requirements are defined in the Constitution.
To run for or participate in the election of a US House congressman. Both the voter and candidate would have to be at least 25 years of age. And a resident of the particular state for the last 7 years.
To run for or participate in the election of a US Senator. Both the voter and candidate would have to be at least 30 years of age. And be a US Citizen for the last 9 years and a resident of the particular state.
To run for or participate in the election of the US President. Both the voter, including the electoral college, and candidate must be at least 35 years of age. And a Natural born US Citizen and a resident of the United States for the past 14 years.
All active duty military and honorably discharged veterans would be exempt from any age requirements in voting as a reward to their service to the nation.
With the implementation of this sliding scale voter requirement. Every voter would need to have and show a photo ID in order to vote. Thus proving the age of the voter. There would be multiple ballots. Not only based on precincts but also based on age. And presenting a photo ID does reduce the changes of having voter fraud.
This proposal will produce an electorate with more wisdom and life experiences necessary to properly elected our representatives who govern in our stead in a just republic.
This Leftist meme needed more attention. In my previous article I stated that the meme was attacking the Lefts big three enemies.
President Donald Trump American Conservative (Republicans) and America itself and Christianity/Christians.
This is psychological propaganda. Doctor Joseph Goebbels would be proud of this meme and what others have done with his body of work.
Dividing the meme in half there is a right side and a left side.
All of the negative aspects are on the right side. This creates a subconscious thought that right is bad. Thus the Left begins it’s clandestine attack on the American Conservative (Republican) which is generally viewed as being on the right side of the political spectrum.
The particular images of Jesus here are also well chosen for propaganda purposes. On the left side is a very African featured Jesus. Fully in line with the current affairs of the Leftist-Marxist Black Lives Matter movement.
While on the right side is a very Caucasian Jesus. And it has been altered from the original image with the addition of an American Flag and MAGA hat.
Since the Left hates America all this imagery appears on the negative right side of the meme.
The positive left side has some additional false hoods besides the image of Jesus. He was not African, so we would not look like that image. He was Jewish so his skin complexion would be olive and not brown.
Jesus was never a child refugee either. This lie is being put out by the Left for political gain and goes against the truth in Holy Scripture.
Jesus was neither poor or homeless. Jesus was a skilled carpenter. A trade learned from his given human adoptive father Joseph before he began His ministry. And he had a home in Nazareth.
No true believer, or American Conservative (Republican), or even any right leaning political organization believes any of the aspects listed on the negative right side of this meme.
Again, Jesus was of an olive complexion since He was a Jew born in Bethlehem in the Roman Province of Judea in the 1st Century.
Jesus could not be an American since the nation would not exist for another 1700 years at the time of His life on Earth. It is absurd to even have this as an aspect listed. But the purpose is to attack the American nation.
Jesus however did play a major role in the formation of the American nation. His teachings would lay the foundation for the Constitution and the American Dream. Freedom and Liberty for all people as our Founding Fathers designed this Great nation under Christian principles.
Within Holy Scripture from the time of creation to the great flood. All people descended from Adam and Eve. Thus there is only one race up through the time of the great flood.
And from the time of the great flood to the present day. We have all descended from Noah and his family that were spared. Again we are but one race. Man. Humankind. Created in God’s image.
When the Holy Bible divides people into ethnic differences it is only to divide them in half. One is either Jew or Gentile. Or sometimes written as Jew or Greek. The only other major division of the people is by Faith. One is either God-fearing or a pagan.
Ethnicity, race, and Nationality are all tied closely together. Sometimes they are even confused and mistaken for one another. Nationalities are mentioned in Scripture.
Was Jesus a Nationalist? Certainly not for the Roman Empire which He was a subject of like everyone else in Judea.
But read Matthew 15:21-28. In this passage of Holy Scripture Jesus tells a Canaanite woman that He has come only for the lost sheep of Israel. Jesus, in this passage, also compares the Canaanites to being dogs while the Israelites are children. In our modern world of today such statements would be very racist and nationalistic.
Many have pointed out that since Jesus never condemned homosexuality in the New Testament it means that Jesus approved of the practice. And Christians today are in error for condemning it.
Those doubters know that there are many verses in the Old Testament that condemn homosexuality as a grievous sin but they are wrong about the New Testament and what it says on the subject.
For Romans 1:24-27 speaks of the sin of homosexuality as does 1st Corinthians 6:9-10. And if these verses are not enough to convince the reader on what Jesus believed about the nature of homosexuality. Then remember this, Jesus was a Jew and was taught the Laws of Moses (the Old Testament) which declares that homosexuality is a sin.
But more importantly, Jesus is God. He and the Father are one. Moses received the Law from God. Thus he received it from Jesus. Jesus wrote the Laws of Moses which condemn homosexuality. There is no escaping this fact.
Yet the meme does call the aspect homophobia. And here it is correct. Jesus was not homophobic and neither are His followers today.
It is love of our neighbors that drive Christians to preach the truth of homosexuality and other sins. To free our neighbors from sin in the forgiveness and redemption of Jesus Christ. Loving your neighbor does not mean you condone their sins.
We touched before on the wealth of Jesus. He was not poor and nor was he rich. There are numerous verses in Holy Scripture where we see the Disciples go into town to purchase food or other goods. And it is written that those Disciples gave up everything to follow Jesus.
So where did they get the money to by the things that are mentioned in the Scriptures? Where do they get the money to pay for their travel across all of the Province of Judea?
Scripture doesn’t say. Jesus wasn’t rich. But as a skilled carpenter for many years before beginning His ministry he wasn’t poor by any means either. Of course some monies could have been given to the Disciples by the people as they traveled and preached as well.
Jesus hates sin. As a righteous God and creator of all the universe He has that right. We see His hatred and anger of sin when He verbally confronts the Pharisee hypocrites. We see His hatred and anger of sin when He enters the Temple at Jerusalem and turns over the tables causing destruction and physically assaults the money changers and merchants that have turned the Temple into a den of thieves.
And we see it again when Jesus curses the fig tree so that it withers and dies never to bear any fruit.
Lastly, of course Jesus was never a Christian. He was a 1st Century Jew but also the Son of God. He came to save the world from its sin. He was killed, buried, and rose again to complete this task.
His initial followers, mostly Jews, called their movement “The Way”. It would take several centuries after his ascension into Heaven before the term Christian started to be used. And at first it was an insulting term. Only adopted later to be a term that we are happy to use today.
A placebo is anything that seems to be a “real” medical treatment — but isn’t. Psychologically you feel good because you think the placebo is working.
In 2020 during the Covid-19 outbreak we have the placebo of face masks.
I don’t wear them. I don’t go anywhere they are required. Those businesses who wish to enforce the the placebo don’t get my business. I’m not going to give up my liberty.
There is a meme on Social Media that displays the psychological feel goods for wearing a face mask in public. It’s just the control group on the placebo.
But lets talk facts. Not mine, but the facts from OSHA and what they say about face masks. OSHA is a trusted source when it comes to protecting the health and welfare of the American worker. And they have a lot to say about face masks.
The N95 masks are designed for working in a contaminated environment. These masks do not filter anything going out of it. That means if you encounter someone who has Covid-19, the virus can easily escape their mask.
Surgical masks are designed for working in a sterile environment. Like an operating room in a hospital or other “clean room”. They do filter outgoing but not incoming air. They become contaminated and clogged quickly. If they are worn in public they become spreaders of viruses. This is because they need to be changed or tossed out about every 20 minutes in non-sterile environments.
Good old cloth masks. Yes even the homemade ones. These don’t filter anything in any direction. They are very good however at trapping exhaled carbon dioxide and moisture. This moisture quickly mildews and becomes micro-mold particles over night if they are unwashed. Then you breath that back in the next day which causes dry coughing, enhanced allergies, and a sore throat. You are much better off not wearing a mask at all rather than this one.
But there are still skeptics. They believe the placebo is working. But these masks are nothing more than an accessory to your wardrobe. The latest style and fad of what to wear. And here is the proof of that from my local Target selling these accessories.
Target Face masks
There is no Target associate at this face mask display. Anyone can walk up. Try on a face mask and put it back. Contaminating every single one of them on the display. Sending the buyer home with a mask full of disease and death to infect themselves and their family.
If face masks were about a deadly virus and protecting the people against it. There would be an associate here ready to sanitize any mask not being purchased. And they would have to have it manned and monitored all day long.
But it’s not. It’s like every other accessory display. So what is the real agenda?
The Left isn’t hiding any more. In one meme they attack the three things they hate the most.
President Donald Trump The United States of America And the Body of Christ and His church.
Like most of Leftist propaganda there is truth in this wicked deception. So instead of my usual method of taking the meme apart bit by bit. I have decided to simply just fix it. So here is a better meme.
Of course some of the items that are listed as what Jesus was not. No one believer would ever say that Jesus was these things. This is just more of the Leftist propaganda to desecrate Christians, Christianity, and to deceive their useful idiots to enrich and empower themselves.
There are 3 reasons why the Courts at every level can and do legislate from the bench in defiance of the US Constitution and the Will of the People.
1) There is a deep misunderstanding on the function of the Courts. We see, hear, and even say it all the time. The Court’s job is to interpret the Law.
This is a fallacy. And interpret by definition allows the Courts to redefine anything within the statute to mean what they wish it to mean.
The Court’s true job is to apply the Law. This doesn’t allow for interpretations. The words are written and have specific meanings. It either applies to the case or it does not.
2) The Courts have from time to time granted themselves additional powers that our Founding Fathers saw not to grant to them in the Constitution.
This had lead to such powers like Judicial Review of legislation.
The powers of both the legislative and executive branches are constantly being usurped by these unelected, unaccountable black robed tyrants with every opinion they write.
3) We the People and our elected representatives in all legislative and executive positions have allowed the Courts to usurp powers granted to those branches of government or even to the States and People against the Constitution.
We continue to do nothing about it. Our elected representatives need to do their sworn duty and protect and defend the Constitution. Even if it means taking on the Courts.
This is the time of D-Day celebrations when the US lead the Allied invasion of Nazi occupied Europe. The Left is taking this opportunity to re-write history in their twisted image with several perverted memes.
I have seen at least half a dozen of these so far this past week on Social Media. All of them are presenting a false narrative. All of them pervert history. All of them dishonor those brave soldiers who gave everything on D-Day.
Here is just one of these perverted discussing memes:
These are heroes not Antifa terrorists
This meme and others like it want to project the notion that those brave soldiers who fought oppression in the 2nd World War were Antifa.
Including a meme that presents President Eisenhower in his General’s uniform that states Republicans were once Antifa. But none of the soldiers, or their commanders, or any Republican has ever been Antifa because of what Antifa really is all about.
Lets see who the real Antifa was during this period of history and who they are now as well. This will clearly show why the memes are false.
The original Antifa, Antifaschistische Aktion, was a militant arm of the German Communist Party in the 1930’s. They clashed on the streets of Berlin and other German cities against other Marxist groups and against the National Socialists. This group went underground after the 1933 elections which swept the Nazi’s into power.
The modern Antifa, is a direct descendant of the original. Today it is still a Leftist militant movement. That uses violence and terrorism to make its point. It is pro-communist, pro-Marxist, and anti-capitalist.
The heroes of the 2nd World War were none of these things. They are anti-Marxist, anti-communist, and pro-capitalist. Which is part of the backbone of the United States of America. They would never resort to terrorism to achieve a political aim.
Every Republican is against fascism and any other Leftist form of government or society. But never Antifa as that glorifies Marxism and communism. And the Left always wants to re-write history to make themselves out to be the hero.
This has happened in every socialist, communist, fascist, monarchist, and Islamist state that has ever been created by the evils of man. And Antifa wants it to happen here.
The Orange Man Bad crowd, those that suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, cannot understand and they scoff at the idea that President Trump could have been called by God to lead our nation at this time in history.
They are all ignorant of Holy Scripture, even if they profess with their lips that they are Believers and Children of God. This lack of Biblical knowledge clearly shows that they are deceiving themselves and others. Many of these people are actually anti-Christian and wish to stamp out the Light and Truth.
So today we have a Bible Lesson. It does help your understanding if you actually read and study the Holy Scripture. Then you will know what it says and what it does not say.
God can and has called some pretty poor examples to do His work. That of course is looking at these Biblical heroes through our own mortal and flawed eyes and standards. Here are a few of them to ponder.
Jacob: He deceived his father to gain the family birthright which was not his to gain. God used Jacob whom He renamed Israel to give birth to the nation of Israel and the 12 tribes.
David: The first King of Israel chosen by God. He penned many of the Psalms. Within his story of the Bible, God calls him the apple of his eyes. Having a heart like God. And beloved by God. David was a sorry excuse for a father to his children. He was an adulterer who murdered his friend to cover up the adultery he had committed with his friend’s wife.
Moses: Prone to anger with a bad temper. A murderer. He also had a speech impediment. Yet God chose Moses to lead His people out of bondage in Egypt.
Paul: As in Saint Paul. The man and Roman citizen who penned many books of the New Testament. He was originally Saul of Tarsus and a devout persecutor of anything involving the early Church and followers of Jesus. He is responsible for torturing them and having them executed. But he too was called by God and did so much for the early Church once he was on the right path.
In the Book of Kings we read of the prophet Elisha who anointed at God’s direction a narcissistic general and madman named Jehu to end the house and reign of the wicked King Ahab and his queen Jezebel.
These are just a small scattering of Biblical heroes who are deeply flawed individuals. Sinners all of them, some have some very deep and dark sins to their names. Yet God calls and uses them to fulfill His Glory and purpose.
So of course it doesn’t matter what sins Donald Trump has to his past. God can call him too. And make him President of the United States to fulfill His Glory. Russian collusion has proven to be a false reason for the Trump election of 2016. Perhaps it was God collusion instead having His anointed take center stage and defy all the odds and talking heads that don’t include God’s plans into their own.
