Apparently, the feds are looking to dismiss cases against illegals with no serious criminal record. I suppose the Obama administration was only interested in illegals that posed a threat? If that’s the case, then why do we even have Homeland Security? With all the time and money spent lately on rounding up illegals (at the taxpayer’s expense), it seemed to only serve Obama’s political agenda.
Positive life changes don’t happen through osmosis, and lone answers to our questions do nothing for us. Just knowing the answer to something doesn’t miraculously change us or our situation. It’s still up to us to seek the truth, listen to it, and correctly apply it before we see any change for the better.
Negative change is easy: Do nothing at all or keep doing what you’re doing.
Another day is like having a child and becoming a parent. It’s a blessing from God to teach us things about ourselves that we never knew before.
We may think we know what our character traits are, but each day brings something new, and we get put to the test…the same as when we’re a parent. Some have a natural talent and instinct to do the right things. The rest of us have to work at it.
I don’t believe God expects that we’ll become perfect in this life and that we’ll become omnipotent like Him, but I do believe He expects us to learn and to apply that learning.
I thank God for His mercies, His patience, and His love. The fact that He gives me (and everyone else) another day to work on my (0ur) character traits is pretty indicative of His mercies, His patience, and His love for us. Think about it. Would we give someone a lifetime to work on something?
“But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
“And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They’re quite aware of what they’re going through”
~David Bowie
“I’m looking at the man in the mirror,
I’m asking him to change his ways…
And no message could have been any clearer…
if you wanna make the world a better place,
Take a look at yourself,
And then make a change.”
~Michael Jackson
I’m not a big David Bowie or Michael Jackson fan. I just thought these lyrics were appropriate if we find ourselves in a position about wishing things would change. Trust me, I see my faults, and I know that I bitch about a lot; however, I do understand that people are free to choose what they may. And, I will add…by the grace of God, there go I. I have made progress and continue to do so.
There is one constant in life, and that’s change. If we cannot accept the change, then we’ll break under stress and growth, hope, and all the rest go right out the window. Instead of attempting to control in an attempt to change others, we should put the focus on ourselves. People will see your light shine and wonder what’s different. If they see it’s good for you, then they’ll want some of it, too.
This goes out to someone that is hurting. You know who you are. Don’t let bitterness, anger, hatred, and the past prevent you from coming into the light.
Well…we didn’t get to where we were going on Mt Rainier. We went up on the northwest side which is the rain forest side. We went to the first entrance that’s on the Carbon River Road. The road follows the Carbon River for a ways into the park, but the problem was that the road was closed once we got to the ranger’s station (1700′ elevation). So, we turned around, went back, and attempted to go up Hwy 165 to Mowich Lake (around 4500′ elevation and about 1 1/2 miles from the foot of the Carbon Glacier). We got to the 3400′ elevation, and the “forest development” road (it’s a logging road) was so bad, I said “enough”.
Now, 3400′ elevation doesn’t sound like much when you’re talking mountains, but here in the northwest, you need to understand that the base elevation off the mountains is much lower and closer to sea level. For example, where we live is about 450′ elevation. So, this makes the mountains to appear very tall compared to some place where the vase elevation is 4500′ and the mountains only get to 5500′. If we could have made it all the way to Lake Mowich, we would have been at 4800′.
Being this close to the glaciers and the upper elevation of Mt. Rainier, one would think that you can see everything much better. Well, the old saying, “Can’t see the forest through the trees” holds true, here. Also, there are about 1/2 dozen tall ridges to go over before one even gets to the glaciers on the north side. Again, it’s a rain forest in this section, and it’s treacherous in some areas. You can only go so far by car, and then it’s hiking time.
I took a few pics around the 2600′ elevation. We were just coming out of the clouds. lol. These give you a good idea of what I’m talking about.
Picture doesn’t show too much, but the truck got filthy going up the “forest development” road. It was like driving on the moon in some areas. (Crater City.)
Looking northeast. The Carbon River is beyond the next ridge.
Looking southeast. On a clear day, one may have seen Mt. Rainier (14,411′ elevation) rising above the ridges. The tops of these ridges get up to 4500′ – 5000′ in some areas. That’s about as high as it gets before you reach the base of the glaciers on Mt. Rainer, and then it’s sloping upward from there.
Looking down the side of the ridge from where we were parked. You can see how this area has been logged, already. If you look at the bottom of the ridge, you can see the Mowich River winding down in between the ridges. All the rivers in this area begin at the base of one of the glaciers that are located on the side of Mt. Rainier.
Another shot looking down the ridge from where we were parked…looking at the Mowich River.
Looking south…coming from where we were. We were on the east side of the ridge where this picture was taken. Beyond the curve, the road goes back to the west side of the ridge. On a clear day, Mt. Rainier would be over in the far left corner of the picture.
So, we didn’t get to do any fishing up there. I also found out that any fish we would have caught would have to get thrown back. You can’t keep the fish. In that case, I know where we won’t be going again to go fishing. lol.
We did make it over to a couple of ponds after we got back to Federal Way. Didn’t catch anything, but I didn’t think we would. It was really late in the day once we got back. I did learn a few things which I’m going to try out today on our trip up to Easton Ponds!
Sherrie and I went to Easton Ponds (Easton, WA.) to do some fishin’, yesterday. I caught three, but I let them go. (Too small.) These ponds are stocked by the state, and the season has just begun. Also, the fish will get larger during the next month. It was pretty cold, but that’s because it’s high up in the Cascades. Isn’t it just beautiful up there?
If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you’ve probably heard about Goldman Sachs and the possibility of getting hit with fraud charges from the SEC. Some (and I’m one) believe that this is an orchestrated attempt by the Obama administration to make the banking and finance industry look really bad in the eyes of the American people. Why? The timing, of course. Obama is getting ready to hit the road to start peddling his version of financial reform.
Think about this: the five SEC commissioners are presidentially appointed although no more than three can belong to the same political party. However, the SEC is not required to consult with the president. In any case, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect for the Obama administration. (Obama has repeatedly stated that he didn’t know the SEC was going to file charges against Goldman Sachs. Yeh…right.)
It’s no secret that Obama was “in bed” with Goldman Sachs. GS contributed almost $1M to Obama’s campaign. Now, with fraud charges being filed, wouldn’t the president want to distance himself as far as possible from GS? And betcha by golly wow…he’s able to show the American people that we really do need finance reform! I mean, look at those bad managers at GS that attempted to defraud investors. They can’t be trusted! Obama is now effectively able to kill two birds with one stone: 1) He’s using this to distance himself, and he’s using this to push his agenda which brings me to my main point.
The following is from the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section of the DSA’s (Democratic Socialists of America) website ( http://www.dsausa.org/pdf/widemsoc.pdf ):
Q [Question] Doesn’t socialism mean that the government will own and run everything?
Democratic socialists do not want to create an all-powerful government bureaucracy. But we do not want big corporate bureaucracies to control our society either. Rather, we believe that social and economic decisions should be made by those whom they most affect.
Today, corporate executives who answer only to themselves and a few wealthy stockholders make basic economic decisions affecting millions of people. Resources are used to make money for capitalists rather than to meet human needs. We believe that the workers and consumers who are affected by economic institutions should own and control them.
Social ownership could take many forms, such as worker-owned cooperatives or publicly owned enterprises managed by workers and consumer representatives. Democratic socialists favor as much decentralization as possible. While the large concentrations of capital in industries such as energy and steel may necessitate some form of state ownership, many consumer-goods industries might be best run as cooperatives.
Democratic socialists have long rejected the belief that the whole economy should be centrally planned. While we believe that democratic planning can shape major social investments like mass transit, housing, and energy, market mechanisms are needed to determine the demand for many consumer goods.
Further down the FAQ page, we see:
Q [Question] Private corporations seem to be a permanent fixture in the US, so why work towards socialism?
In the short term we can’t eliminate private corporations, but we can bring them under greater democratic control. The government could use regulations and tax incentives to encourage companies to act in the public interest and outlaw destructive activities such as exporting jobs to low-wage countries and polluting our environment. Public pressure can also have a critical role to play in the struggle to hold corporations accountable. Most of all, socialists look to unions make private business more accountable.
Now, isn’t Obama from Chicago, and isn’t Chicago big on labor unions, and wasn’t a lot of backing that Obama got during the campaign from LABOR UNIONS?
I’m sorry…I know that I’m not as educated as the Harvard academia types, but I was instilled with good old common sense from an early age. If it smells like BS, if it looks like BS, and if it feels like BS, then it’s probably BS. Obama can repeatedly say that he’s not a socialist as many times as he wants. His actions tell another story.
He tells us that we need finance reform. This is going to be another push for more governmental regulation, and at the same time, he will attempt to further paint capitalistic institutions as demonic in the eyes of Americans. Think about healthcare reform. It was basically the same thing. There was talk of even creating insurance cooperatives.
Obama isn’t wasting any time. Just as Neil Armstrong took one big step for mankind on the moon, Obama is taking several big steps for socialism right here at home.
AMEN AND AMEN!!! I wish more and more of the Democratic blacks that were “following the Democrats off a cliff for the last 40 years” could see this video. All the people in this video are 100% correct. The elite liberals that have preyed on the minorities of this country should be “escorted to the door” and thrown out on their ears. If more and more had the attitudes of the people in this video, it would happen.
I helped Sherrie with a gardening project, today. She bought a Topsy-Turvy to plant a tomato plant, and she wanted a few more. She asked if there was another way, so I came up with the bright idea of getting a couple of 5-gallon buckets from Home Depot, and I drilled 2 1/2″ holes in the sides and bottoms using a doorknob drill bit.
It worked like a charm! She’ll be able to use the buckets over and over, and we spent a fraction of what an actual Topsy-Turvy cost. :)
We need to get a few more plants for the bottoms because there were more holes than plants.
