Category: LifeStyle

A good Spanking!

“If you don’t behave I am going to give you a “good spanking”!”

Is there such a thing as a good spanking?

“Experts” are all over the map on this one so, allow me to pontificate on the subject for a moment.

First and foremost there must be consequences to ones actions.

As adults when we break a law the consequences usually come very close to the bottom; as in the back pocket where we carry our wallet. If we break major laws we end up paying out the nose and maybe end up incarcerated or even on death row!

Teaching children at an early age that there are consequences to their actions are the best way to keep them out of jail, and of course off of death Row!

Recently a teacher had several students hold some child down while she spanked them.

This type of actions bespeaks of gang or mob mentality, the likes that we are seeing in Ferguson.

Involving other children in the actions of reprimanding a child in such a fashion is close to criminal and at the very least that teacher should be fired for showing such poor judgment!

Swats or CP in schools should not be carried out by the teacher but, rather a disinterested third party whose job it is to carry out such actions.

The argument could be made that when it comes to swats they are one step away from needing a more serious form of “guidance.” A case could be made that some part of the system for be created to deal with Juveniles who have yet to break any serious law but are headed that way. Very possibly these wayward kids are introduced to the system where any form of “course correction” that a judge might see fit to order be employed.

The goal is to save the kids from incarceration or avert them from going down the wrong path. Some intermediary form of “the system” could be created to give these kids the attention that they need whether it be in parenting, guidance or just a good old fashioned spanking!. We need smart people dealing with this now, vs guards keeping them in line later.

There is no harm in getting creative with the punishment either.

For instance, some schools give swats for chewing gum in class. Not that anyone cares what you eat but gum chewers in a quite environment can be distracting so we prohibit gum chewing in class!

Should such an offence get swats?

To my way of thinking; I would have the child stay behind in detention with some sort of tool to remove all of the gum found under the desk where these same inconsiderate few, place it after they are finished with it.

Spanking for such an offence might happen after two or three attempts to break the habit in less drastic measures.

The “bottom line,” spanking within reason in a calm rational environment along with a note sent home for the parent to sign should be available to the teachers. School is a place to learn and all should have that equal opportunity to learn and not be interfered with by those that are there “because they have to be.”

I stress here calm and rational environment because we are not interested in beating anyone. While CP should not be the first line of punishment. it should certainly not be done away with.

Since the family unit is in disarray, the school must often pick up the mantle of responsibility for teaching Reading Writing Arithmetic and Reverence for the laws of this country as well as Respect for the Rights of others.

If we had more of this,

we would most certainly have less of this!

Now, which is worse?

In retrospect if we created some form of intermediary adjunct to the local police force to deal with “kids on the way to being problem kids” the money spent might very well save money from incarcerating them later as well as getting them to be productive citizens rather than something else. When a few swats don’t turn them around, you need something a little stronger that makes more of an impression.

This is not a one size fits all however; as the kids in the inner city would need a program different from the ones in the burbs.

-Best

The Third Sex or No Sex?

Recently a lady was asked to leave a Planet Fitness facility because she complained that there was a man dressed as a women in the dressing room with her.

Carlotta Sklodowska, the transgender woman at the heart of the Planet Fitness story. Photo credit: Facebook

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2015/03/planet_fitness_transgender-fri.html

http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/dear-planet-fitness-why-dont-you-care-about-the-safety-and-privacy-of-women/

Planet Fitness seemed more concerned with the rights of the man dressed as a women, than the majority of their clientele which identifies as man or woman. That was reported by a third party.

Houston has also set precedence allowing those that identify as a sex other than what they were genetically born with (plumbing,) to pick the bathroom that best suits their needs. This bill would allow anyone to use any bathroom that they wish, of either gender. This bill also allows for those same folks to go into other private places, which are gender specific.

http://thedailycougar.com/2014/10/22/bathroom-bill-hero-draws-national-attention-to-houston-mayor-parker/

This progressive thinking is not without collateral damage.

Imagine a 13 year old girl in the women’s dressing room when a transgender-ed person comes in to change next to her, and a penis is exposed to her. Is this transgender-ed person going to pay for that girl’s therapy? While I would hope that anyone with such anatomy would do their best to be discrete, there is still the issue of the privacy of the child, and protection from those that are truly ill and wish to expose themselves for self-gratification or the fulfillment of some dark fantasy.

Imagine some deviant individual deliberately dressing in such a manner as to gain access to the facility for the opposite sex for clandestine purposes. Several cases have made the news where locker rooms have been bugged with cameras and other recording devices, which are commercially available to anyone with a few dollars to spend.

One option is that you have a men’s and a women’s facility, and then you have “other.” As I cannot relate to “other,” I have no idea how palatable that would be. As a man I have no desire to enter into a ladies bathroom, and I am certain that women would say the same. As these folks seem to want to relate to some sex, I would think some might find it offensive; and others might prefer it.

You could have co-ed, where “anything goes” which not only would attract a whole new clientele but, most probably, several visits from undercover agents. We are talking co-ed nude wet areas, open showers and pools and just whatever. Many of the Korean spas have nude wet areas for the different sexes, why not just have one nude wet area for everyone! I think they did this in early Rome, and that really didn’t work out too well.

The only agreeable option that should satisfy everyone’s needs is unfortunately the added expense of providing an environment that allows for privacy, no matter what sex the person is.

Setting aside the obvious gender differences, there are those that go to such facilities and hang out in the “wet area” to ogle others of their same genetic sex. Imagine these sheep in wolves clothing going to the opposite sex’s side for entertainment.

It would seem that with this in mind that the best answer is to provide privacy for any and all concerned. The wet area with saunas and so forth should be co-ed where proper attire is required. This would hopefully offset the added cost of providing private areas for all to change shower etc.

Bathrooms for either gender should also provide appropriate privacy, as you never know who is in the bathroom with you. As children use these facilities they must be protected from the possibility of deviant behavior by those that are truly not there because they identify one way other another, they are just genuinely mentally disturbed.

Mayor Parker and other progressive individuals should put their personal agenda’s aside to look after the “entire population” and not just those of the LGBT community. I would think that the LGBT community would also support this as instead of a women’s and men’s bathroom, there would simply be “The bathroom.”

The simple facts are that we as a people must rise up to meet this challenge. Ignoring it will not make it go away. Law abiding citizens regardless of gender must be heard and accommodated for and protected from those that wish to take advantage of a situation for devious purposes.

Before we change the rules, we must make changes to protect those who are most vulnerable in our society from those that are of ill repute. Video surveillance of the bathroom “common area” could actually be accomplished without violating anyone’s privacy, thus allowing for some modicum of security.

There is an answer; working together instead of the truculent attitude which pervades this entire conversation every time that it is mentioned, will provide a solution.

-Best

Is “gay” a choice, or are you born gay?

Is “gay” a choice, or are you born gay?

Dr. Ben Carson was recently asked some gotcha question about “is being gay a choice?”

Dr. Carson is a Famed Neurosurgeon, he is also a potential GOP 2016 presidential candidate. That makes him a target by the “Liberal Media.”

Firstly and most importantly as a politician you have got to know how to handle “gotcha” questions like that one and not give them what they want which is “talking points” for the next several weeks while people instantly form opinions about you based on some conversation taken out of context.

Subjective topics like gay marriage should all be handled at the state level; so if people don’t like what is going on in one state they can vote with their feet, they can move. For instance if you don’t like the fact that WEED is not available legally in your state, MOVE! This should not be a presidential issue as “there is no one size fits all,” where people are concerned.

This would make a nice looking house plant...

The context of the interview went along the lines that straight people go into prison and come out gay, a lot of them; therefor he reasoned, that being gay is a choice.

I think it is much more of a complex situation than being gay or not. It has to do with making do with what you have on “hand,” pardon the pun. After a while of changing your behavior to adapt to your circumstances, the associated life style comes with the package! The real differences between man and women has a lot more to do with the brain, than the plumbing; but most don’t know that.

His answer should have been “I suppose it could be or, it could be that you are born that way.” Next subject! Now the narrative is cast for the next few weeks as he backtracks or explains his position. The good news is that people are talking about him. The bad news is that some will make the decision to vote for him or not by this one question taken out of context.

They picked that question to get him to swing in the dirt, because they knew he would. A short one sentence answer, to stop the BS; is all that he should have said. They “the liberals” need to control the narrative and if they can keep good candidates on the defensive. subjects where emotions are easily involved, they win!

Politics is a science of manipulation and controlling the narrative through subjects like this or race or you name it, subjects where you can stir up people’s emotions damned the facts! The War on women was a biggie for Obama

By damaging the credibility of strong candidates and allowing for the weaker candidate to succeed even if it means getting the other party to vote for the weaker candidate in the primary so be it! That is how you win elections!

What difference does it make what the president of the US thinks about is “gay a choice or are you born with it?” You are what you are and what he thinks is just a so what!

The good news is for him is that he is making his gaffs now when few will remember, and he can make points when it comes to other topics that people care about.

Going to be an interesting next two years, and I plan to be here to make sense out of it all.

-Best to you and those that you care about!

www.guard-protect.com

Obama the Magnificent

This administration has an affinity for magic. Not because they enjoy pulling a rabbit out of the hat but because they use the power of deception.

There are so many problems with this bunch that I can only hope that people that are on the other side are smarter than I.

Every time they want to pull off something, they do something to take your eye off the ball. Today we learned that Millions of documents have been found linking Bin Laden to Iran.

We also learned that the IRS mess had criminal activity going on and there is documentation to prove it.

Netanyahu has legitimacy in coming here as our alley to make his case not to negotiate with terrorist or a terrorist sponsoring state like Iran. I find it incomprehensible and frankly malevolent that the Democrats are injecting so much politics into this when we should be there for BiBi!

I am ashamed of the lot of them.

Pelosi and the other “elected sub humans” are drunk on their own importance.

You don’t negotiate with terrorist! It is that simple!

So we now know who the famous be-header is Jihadi John! Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born Londoner.

Mohammed Emwazi, Killer of this Guy, Foley and others….

Jhidi John is a rapper… I wonder if he is on iTunes?

All of this information released today, why? With all of the distractions today keeping the media busy and the few Americans who care, what are they up to? Is it golf? I suspect something entirely different but with the media satisfied to have something juicy to talk about, they will be too busy to pay attention to his majesty and his cronies.

Every time some news story breaks it seems these people are doing something behind the scenes. Oh yes, we also have the government and Pelosi allowing the government shutdown until he gets everything that he wants in the way of funding, for his illegal actions on immigration!

Since there is no Football games, and not much going on with any other sports to take our eyes off the ball; we have to throw someone under the bus! Mrs. Lerner and some poor slobs at the IRS are probably going to have to fall on their proverbial swords to make this happen.

Maybe the inclement weather will be a good distraction but it kind of blows Global warming out of the picture, doesn’t it?

I don’t know if they have all done this but it seems to me that this administration has been more transparent about its philandering’s than any before it. IS that what he meant about being “transparent?” If so he told the truth about something!

Rosen, 44, was arrested “following a series of online exchanges” with a detective assigned to the Fairfax County Police Department’s Child Exploitation Unit, Caldwell said. He was charged with one count of using of a communications device to solicit a juvenile, Caldwell said. Court paperwork in Washington said he was wanted for “obscene communication.”

http://wtop.com/government/2015/02/state-dept-official-charged-with-soliciting-minor/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scandals_in_the_United_States

How long did they know about this guy?

Watch the other hand folks! If they are telling us this, or leaking it, there is a reason.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

-Best to you and those that you care about!

re-blogging without editing is ok and appreciated!

Www.timedok.com

Www.guard-protect.com

Are you called?

Are you called? Is this God that some worship, real?

Let me preface this blog by saying that I am not, and hope to never be one of those “Bible Thumpers” that the South is rife with.

Yes, yes I can and as any thinking person would, should!

There is a time and place.

Shopping in a local store during the day an elderly man approached me. “Do you know Jesus?” he asked!

Immediately my red flags of “crazy person alert” sprang into action looking for places and or reasons to leave. This guy was probably 80-ish, about 5 foot nothing and was sporting the “old man shuffle.” Having gotten over my first reaction and sizing this man up as someone who had either escaped the home or, who was “thumping and imaginary bible” or as someone who was genuinely concerned for his fellow man ending up devoid of our savior.

After listening to him for a moment I elected to think more of the latter and not so much of the two earlier choices, besides; “I could move much faster than he had he gotten totally nuts.”

As it happened however he was “preaching” to the choir.

Firstly I have never met a stranger. If you are nice to me, I will return the favor and kind.

I have always been a “good person:”

Can you be a good person without god? Some would tell you yes, and some would tell you no. If you have read many of my blogs, you know that I am not a fan of preaching speculation as fact. The answer is that “I don’t know.”

The religious ilk would tell you that you cannot be a good person without god. God is responsible for everything good and the devil for everything bad. That dichotomy to me is too simplistic of an answer much like “Jesus” is most always the correct answer for any question asked in Sunday school. Not buying it.

At my earliest remembrances, God has always played a pivotal role in my life. I did not always realize that it was God doing it.

The most expensive .50 cents:

While visiting my grandfather one summer, there was a stash of coins placed on a piece of furniture and before we departed, I took 2 quarters. I was not aware at the tender age of 4 what theft was, or that had I simply asked; my grandfather would have most likely given me the whole amount of what was there, he was that kind of person.

Before we got home from Minnesota to Texas, I was lamenting what I had done. Why, I was still not sure, I just sensed that what I had done was wrong.

You must understand that in the 1960 .50 cents was a lot of money. That represented a good handful of candy from the local Stop and Go! Never however; was candy so bitter to me. Had I traded my soul for candy?

The theft of those two quarters plagued me through my childhood. Had I confessed my crime I am not certain what my parents would have thought or done, and had I had the opportunity to confess to my grandfather, I know now that he would have embraced me and told me not to worry about it. That however is now, fifty some odd years after the fact.

I say fifty some odd years later because I never confessed my crime. Not catholic so no asking some “father” for forgiveness.

In my late teenage years my grandfather came to live with us. His neighbors reported to us that at the age of 84 he was up on his roof repairing some damage to it. My parents could not stomach the idea of him falling or getting hurt and nobody would know.

After he was moved in, I went into his room when he was out of the house and placed some coinage on his desk. The pain of the theft of many years ago was lessened but, strangely enough; returned some years later!

Actions have consequences:

It was not too many years after arriving at our home he passed away during the night. I grieved for him for many years. Every Saturday night I would come into his room, and he and I would watch wrestling together. He would get so excited yelling at the TV screaming, “kick him!” or some other armchair quarterback commands! I knew that it was all choreographed acting but, if he thought it was real, so be it. It was simply quality time between him and me. The rest of the family seem to tolerate him but I genuinely loved him.

Years after his death that damned .50 cents haunted me once again. I would argue that I paid it back many times over, “stop worrying about it!” I would tell myself. Still, to this very day I still think about it from time to time but, not with the usual pain that it once caused me.

You see, everything that you have ever done was supposed to happen as it did to teach you something. I truly believe that. In a dream, which I still remember to this day were the undeniable instruction to let it go, it was a teaching moment and you would not be who you are today had things transpired differently.

You could argue that my subconscious was talking to my semi-conscious as a defense mechanism or you could argue that God was playing a role. You could even argue that it was the spirit of my grandfather. I will never know on this side of heaven but, I am finally at peace with it, and any other transgression that I have perpetrated in my life. The lesson was to learn to forgive myself, and if I ever found myself in that situation again, asked for forgiveness from those that I have “trespassed” against.

Truthfully, that .50 cents has done more to dissuade me from ever even thinking about doing something that is not upright. The price is simply too high!

Some will read that and laugh at my stupidity. “It was only fifty cents for crying out loud!” To me it was not the money but; the simple fact that I took that which was not mine. If you are one of those laughing at this, I suggest self-examination.

Were you ever a teacher’s Pet?

One of my favorite teachers was my fifth grade teacher. She was very impressed with me for some reason. I was I guess “teacher’s pet” but I never intended to be, nor did do anything special to get there. In the fifth grade we still did “show and tell.”

At that age I was in the middle of teaching myself electronics, as I was fascinated by radio and TV! How could a man in some distant location speak into a microphone and his voice come through some small tinny speaker many miles away!

How could a movie or news program be transmitted from one place and show up on the TV screen and how did making moving pictures actually work,! I was 9 and there was no such thing as cable.

I was not aware of the first satellite for TV, fax, radio and phone but in 1962 the first one was launched by name of Telstar. Live audio from the Vietnam War was broadcast over the radio. Some reporter was there as live machine gun fire could be heard in the background. I was entranced!

Today we have a wealth of information a mouse click away. Back then, you had to get to know Dewy. I did. During show and tell I would give “lectures” about the things that I was studying. Not to show off but, I found it fascinating and why not share that with the class. I still remember one day explaining how radio wave propagation worked, complete with diagrams, names of the different layers of the atmosphere and how they were affected by the sun! I actually remember explaining what “refraction” was and how radio waves “skipped” off of the different layers. That was not my first such lecture, and this one she had invited the principle to sit in without my knowledge. At that time I had never met him, and dismissed his presence as I went about “doing my thing.”

To quote Humphrey Bogart, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. For the rest of my fifth grade and through part of sixth, he and I were friends, a truly good man. He passed that year and the school went from Webb’s Chapel Elementary to Neil Ray McLaughlin Elementary, which it still is today.

On the last day of that fifth grade class I was asked if I would like to come up on that following Monday and assist her with cleaning out the storage room, and organize things for the next year. No thinking was required. Monday morning I showed up early and spent the last and final day with her. Before parting she offered me a present. This present was an unexpected Bible of the King James Version with an inscription from who it was given by, and to whom it went. I don’t think many other version existed then, thinking back, I think I know how she got the idea.

Easter of that year; we were all asked to draw what Easter meant to us. I was a budding artist, even back then so I put all of my juice into creating the happiest looking fluffy bunny with psychedelic eggs in a basket and with some on a “trail” on a bright spring day. I even remember playing the song in my mind as I was working “Here comes Peter Cotton Tail….” As I was putting the finishing touches on my masterpiece my song and vision of what I was drawing was shattered as I heard one of the girls sitting next to me start to snicker. As more of the others started to snicker I looked up to find they were snickering at me and my “creation!”

What was so funny? As I looked around the room the vision of what they drew is still indelibly etched in my mind! Every one of their pictures were macabre, dark with a black sky and some bearded white guy with blue eyes on a cross. It was Terrible! Is this what Easter meant to so many? Instead of a favorite “candy holiday” they thought that some guy nailed to a cross was what it was! It was clear at that point that I was un-churched, and I was mocked by the entire class. If there were any other bunny’s in the room, they quickly disappeared; as I was the first one noticed.

As the teacher came back into the room to find the laughter and the mocking of my Bunny, she quickly took control of the situation. The moment passed by the next day, but not for me. That stayed with me even to this day. I don’t hold them in contempt; it remained relevant as I learned that one cannot afford to be so wrapped up in one thing that they are no longer part of this world. The Munster’s were popular in the day and I envied Grandpa, and his basement; with all of his laboratory stuff and even the trap door! Things are easy to understand and wrap your head around; people, not so much.

That summer I plowed through the bible which I still have to this day. The Bible had the distinctive smell of leather and the paper was so thin that one had to be really careful with it. I have to admit that King James was a little hard to read and understand; truthfully I understood little of it. My favorite book at that time was Psalms, with Proverbs running a close second.

Gaining a basic understanding of Christianity that summer, I was no longer susceptible to the “Christian” traps of the world of which I lived.

So, was I called or pushed?

As I read the Bible I found some of the things in there; “crazy talk!” I went about studying it, making notes about how the flood , the ark.and snakes that talked! I reasoned that snakes could not ever talk and where did Cain’s Wife come from?

The flood has been scientifically proven as impossible and… Lets talk about the ARK!

One of my Church of Christ friends told me “you just have to have faith.” BS! Having faith in talking snakes and why the hell would God put a fruit bearing tree in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve lived and then forbid them to eat of it? That to me is like giving a child a big red sucker and say, don’t eat it. Crazy talk!

Another told me when arguing the age of the earth that it was a little over 4 thousand years old and I the scientific minded person retorted, have you ever heard of Carbon dating? “That has been proven to be not reliable!” What about the dinosaur bones? “Don’t you think that the God of the universe could create those bones and put them there?” For what purpose would he do such a thing? Blank stare…

Firstly, carbon dating is incredibly reliable. What kind of Kool-aid was this guy drinking?

One argument with a preacher of the Church of Christ, why don’t you have music in your church? “Because the bible tells us to make beautiful sounds with your voice.” What about celebrate with the harp, the trumpet etc.? “We don’t go by the old testament.” What! The Old Testament is a preface to the new, complete with prophesies foretelling of events to come, they go together! “Well that is the way that we believe.” End of argument, end of story. Here, drink some of this purple drink and then it will all make sense.

The simple facts are that Science and the bible must necessarily be juxtaposed! If God created all things or had a hand in it, he must be the greatest physicist, scientist, biologist etc. that ever was and is; or it is all evolution, from ooze to youze, and there is no God! Science and God must necessarily co-exists!

Many people over the years have become strong Christians by way of trying to de-bunk Christ. The problem is that many had a hand at writing the bible and while some take it completely as literal “the world was covered by hundreds of feet of water,” science has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that it never happened. Noah made this huge ship 500 some feet long, without a rudder, and put two of every kind of animal in it, and lasted through massive storms for over a year!

Nice story but, scientifically impossible. Wooden ships of that time “the copper age” leaked like crazy. There was no caulk in the day so the boards were made with trees and shaved with copper tools to fit together and lashed with rope made out of plant bark. Looking at the technology of the day found in a well preserved ship, there is not a possible way one could have been made that size with what they had to work with. It simply could not be constructed to be viable. Secondly, a boat built like that without a rudder would capsize in any kind of rough water. Again science today has proven that time and time again. So how do we reconcile Genesis? Allegory.

It is a story meant to teach principle, not history. How many people get lost in such things and therefor don’t believe anything in the bible? Staunch supporters of “every word in the bible is factual history and was spoken directly by god” need to give it a little more thought. There is a dichotomy between some “believers and science types.” Some science type toss out God and the bible as that which is written for those with low IQ or low cognitive abilities. If it brings you comfort and you don’t mind tossing away 10% of your money, and time to propagate a myth, have at it. I am off to hunt for the “god particle.”

Conversely, some religious types take the bible as the end all be all to everything and do not know anything of science and do not want to know anything of science. Why? Because their “faith” is so weakly constructed that they fear that learning anything about science, would threaten it. Or, they are simply too damned lazy.

The Truth is the Truth:

If you don’t have the intestinal fortitude to look at all the facts; me personally, I discount you. One must look at all of the facts through an unbiased eye and put them together. Once you learn the total truth, embrace it and talk of it boldly.

I once was trying to speak with an overly religious person about science. I asked him if he had an open mind. He said “sure, I have an open mind, as long as it does not conflict with anything in the bible I am open to discuss it!” Holy Hannah, you have got to be kidding me! Take the blue pill my friend and don’t waste any more of my time. That is probably one of the most ignorant sentences that I have ever heard. If your faith is so weak that you will not consider that what you “believe to be true” in fact may not be true, “You are deluded!”

Safety in numbers:

There is currently well over 3000 different denominations of Christianity! Tell me, how the hell does that happen?

For years the early church would not allow you to own a bible. They ordered them destroyed. Why? Because you are too stupid to understand the bible as written, so they must spoon-feed what they want you to believe. That is how the early church screwed up. That is why we had the reformation as Martin Luther read the bible for himself and said “Whaaaaat, this does not gel with what we are taught.” It was in fact a way to control the masses.

So, he was most probably the beginning of the problem of the 3000+ and the self-aggrandized “all knowing preachers” spewing who knows what from the pulpit. The good news is he put light on the real problem that the early church was corrupt, ignorant and most probably consisted of megalomaniacs! You must know that the early church was not only a church, it was the school and the government, a taxing authority. If they control what you know along with your spiritual knowledge and kill anyone with a dissenting view as a heretic, they are pretty much in control of the world, or their part of it.

Finding a church is not easy. It must be scriptural based. If they teach anything that is not in the bible they are in error. If they add things like “you shall not drink,” they are in error. “You must not dance or wear jewelry,” they are perverting the bible, and you should find another church. Man cannot saddle their preferences on you as sin, or blasphemy, or what have you, if it is not in the bible, it aint so! They in fact will be forced to pay a special price for perverting the text, according to scripture.

As long as they preach from the bible, and nothing else; they are good to go. Everything that they teach must come from the bible, if it is not, you are wasting your time and worse, you are being lied to.

There is money to be had from faith. Sadly there are preachers out there that will tell you only what you want to hear and not what you need to hear. If I only tell you good things that make you feel good, you will come back every time the church is open because you feel good when you leave. Conversely, if you are uncomfortable in the pew, you will either not be a regular attender, or you might look for one of these “feel good” churches.

So those churches that are multi-million dollar churches, what do you think that they preach?

The smaller churches that are struggling, why is that?

As a side note: a church is not a building but, the “saints that are in it.”

If you struggle like so many of us to understand the bible and who you are you were most likely called. If you think that you are a good person and don’t need to wake up early on Sunday to go into a building full of hypocrites’, the chances are good that you have not been called yet, or you are denying the call.

The absolute bottom line is to do your own research. Question everything. Don’t take my word or anyone else’s word for it, do your own research! You must know what you believe and why you believe it! If you start the process, sooner or later it will all become clear to you.

To those that disagree with something here, By all means comment. I will happily discuss anything on any of my blogs but keep in mind, if you are terse, I will most likely not give you the time of day. Respectful discussion is always welcome.

-Best to you and those that you care about!

Www.guard-protect.com

Www.Timedok.com

The Green Thing

The Grocery Bag

While checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment.

The woman apologized to the young girl and explained, “We didn’t have this ‘green thing‘ back in my earlier days.”

The young clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.”

The older lady said that she was right — our generation didn’t have the “green thing” in its day. The older lady went on to explain:

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribbling’s. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn’t do the “green thing” back then.

We walked up stairs because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the “green thing” in our day.

Back then we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220volts. Wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day.

Back then we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blade in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family’s $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the”green-thing.” We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the “green thing” back then?

If you feel so inclined forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart ass young person.

We don’t like being old in the first place, so it doesn’t take much to piss us off… especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smart-ass who can’t make change without the cash register telling them how much to return to the customer.

And he wonders why he cant find work while living in his mothers basement.

-Best to you and those that you care about!

Kool-Aid

Kool-Aid

Why are we transfixed on things like the Oscars or other award shows?

Why do we idolize those which best talent is to be able to put themselves into a faux situation and emote? Oh yes, they can remember lines.

We hold these folks up on pedestals and actually place their opinions higher than those that live in the “real world.”

Tom Cruise is an activist for Scientology. A religion invented by L Ron Hubbard as a way to avoid taxes.

The precepts of this “cult” are way out there and yet it has many followers. Much of this is due to Tom Cruise and his rather affable fondness for what they spew.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0870271/

arguing the folly of Scientology.

Here are a few of the top 60 Celebs who are members of this cult according to this site.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/nico-lang/2012/07/60-famous-people-you-didnt-know-were-scientologists/

Leah Remini

Leah reportedly returns Scientology pamphlets to her fan mail senders.

Kirstie Alley

Nancy Cartwright

Voice of Bart Simpson who also has been known to make cold calls on behalf of the “religion.

Demi Moore

Shirley MacLaine

This one did not surprise me…

Brad Pitt

Charles Manson

Manson took Scientology classes and then murdered a bunch of people, after deciding that Scientology was “too crazy” for him. Process that.

While this is not a blog against this cult if you know anything about it, you know that it is pretty far out there and these “followers” also lend their name to other causes which are also BS!

Talking backstage, Arquette appeared to urge oppressed groups to fight the corner of older women being underpaid.

“It’s time for all the women in America and all the men who love women and all the gay people and all the people of colour that we’ve fought for, to fight for us now,” Arquette added off-stage.

Many pointed out the irony of a wealthy white woman begging people who are often worse off in society to help her out.

In the United States and the UK alike, white women are likely to earn more than most minority ethnic groups.

Prominent feminist activist Roxanne Gay was among those to articulate what she believed was controversial about Arquette’s remarks.

“Lesbians and women of colour really need to start pulling their weight in the fight for the rights of straight white women apparently.” Tweet from someone named MATT…

My point to this is Patricia and others like her don’t live in our world. They get their news from John Stewart or Comedy central while sitting in their Ivory Towers mistakenly thinking they are “one with the little people.” The problem is that the little people live vicariously through them and thus believe whatever they say which effects their behavior and unfortunately, their vote.

When people ask “How the hell did this happen,” this is how!

These folks don’t have Solo cups at their parties. They don’t have Walmart anything in their homes. They don’t drive cars that are on their last legs and if they were to come into your home they would most likely not sit on your furniture or eat anything that you had made or even drink anything that you offered them. They are not like us and yet we watch them getting awards and some how live through them.

The stuff that comes out of Hollywood needs to be carefully examined before your think about watching it, as it seems that they are all loaded with messages. Climate Change has been a hot topic and the focus of several movies with big names serving the Kool-aid.

This man stands to make billions by scaring you to death, and causing you to vote for change to save the planet by causing companies to purchase carbon credits.

If he managed to make this happen economics would once again come into play. Those companies s that could would outsource overseas or move overseas. Those that could not would pass along the cost of these “credits” to you the consumer, the little people.

Have you flown recently and looked at your ticket.

Oh, and by the way Al, if your going to be an activist and really sell your concern and show that you are serious, you should probably live it instead of simply trying to scare the “little people.”

My point to you, like me, if you go to the movies or watch these guys get their awards for whatever; don’t drink the Kool- aid! Enjoy the show, take your mental vacation but stay grounded.

Celebrities and DC party it up on your tax dollars.

Your Tax Dollars at work… Still think they give a tinkers damn about us?

Yep, they are in touch with us the folks, you bet!

However it is served, don’t drink it…. “metaphorically speaking!”

Purple Kool-Aid at work.

-Best to you and those that you care about.

#Texting while #driving @DentonTweets

Texting while driving

The smartphone has offered us many different things both good and bad. The inclusion of a GPS has been a rather cool edition to the arsenal of tools that this Swiss army-knife of a device does for us.

Each and every day new apps are developed by someone trying to make it rich with their programming prowess.

Along with the GPS and many cool games and business applications there are some that are shortsighted in the total thought process.

We need to think through the process or, the makers of laws will do it for us in typical government knee jerk fashion, and we then lose control of the process. Let’s look at Facebook for example.

Facebook is a success story of immense proportions for many reasons and mobile technology has pushed it over the edge of being what it is today. The problem with this app and others that require your attention are that while driving these apps are distraction to the task at hand, driving.

Texting is another example of a good idea run a muck! Texting is a great way to communicate without a long drawn out conversation. “I am running late. I am going to the store is there anything that you need? Would you grab some milk on the way home?

Texting and other applications take your eyes off of the road and that is a recipe for disaster. How many times have you sat at a red light after it turned green waiting for people to look up from their smart phone to see that the light has changed?

How many times have you seen cars or even big trucks weaving all over the road as they think that they can text and drive because they are somehow better or more evolved than the rest of us.

I have actually seen many cops sit at red lights and weave in the road because of their distractions. These folks have the phone, two way, radar, a laptop and, not only are they supposed to be able to drive but, they have to listen to the two way and watch for people breaking the law all while driving! And they unlike the rest of us “know” that they are better and more equipped to handle distractions while driving… Yeah ah huh….

The City of Denton has just implemented a ban on texting while driving that comes with a $200 fine each time that you do it. We already have a state-wide law against distracted driving, so why a law so granular?

I would love to know how much of Daddy’s money ends up in the city coffers because they probably target students. I know they in fact have a zero tolerance on speed limits so this falls into the same arena. The police should be a cost center, not a profit center. When they turn into a profit center they loose their objectivity and come up with things like “zero tolerance.” I stay the hell out of Denton for this reason, and I live real close to there. Business’s should ban together and stand up against things like this. Zero tolerance means zero thinking!

The answer to this is really simple. Disable the device’s ability to do anything but answer the phone while it is in motion. This is not rocket science, many car GPS’s already limit what can be done with them while in motion, why not a smart phone?

It’s not fair! Cries the passenger. I am not driving so what difference does it make that I too will not be able to text, Facebook and so forth? Actually, it is fair. Do you realize how rude it is to sit in a car with people and you are on your phone texting or face booking or using some other app, rather than being part of the conversation or team “if you will” that drives from point a to b? As a passenger I often drive my half of the car, help navigate or point out something that the driver may not have seen, like a speed limit or stop sign hidden behind a bush or tree..

Removing the risk of distraction from other drivers; is it really such a sacrifice to make? Some will agree and others that are more selfish will not. The bottom line is that this action would save lives and keep the government from creating more laws and making revenue off of people making bad decisions while driving. Lets help people to help themselves.

If you plan to use your phone while driving make certain that you have voice recognition working as well as a blue tooth device so at most you have to touch a button on your headset that tells the phone you wish to do something like “call home.”

I could probably write a book on Cell phone etiquette but, let’s start with texting while driving and let’s make it easy for the rest of the people who think that they are impervious to being distracted.

Lets help someone who thinks that they are so happy that they must post it on Facebook while driving, it can wait!

This too might be a change.org thing…

If the City of Denton would think outside the box rather than in its regular 2 dimensional style, they would contact the state law makers and propose a bill that made sense. Have Apple and Samsung and others put something into the OS that disables the phones ability to open apps when it is in motion. Excluding of course the telephone itself and or some apps that are made to run mobile like the GPS.

Thoughts?

-Best to you and those that you care about!

www.guard-protect.com

www.timedok.com

Dok at TimeDok.com

Time to #die #computer #PC

Time to Die

Before you think this is some macabre blog about life and death hold on! I am talking about time to let your trusted computer retire.

“Why the hell is my computer so slow!” I substituted “hell” for the F word! You get the point. People are frustrated and just pissed off by the time I get a call.

The average life span of a PC is about 5 years, give or take. The issues I have with that are many, and most of that revolve around the EULA. (End User License Agreement)

Does anyone read these? I did a couple of times and boy oh boy, you need a lawyer to figure it out!

If you purchase a computer with an operating system that dies than the OS dies when the computer does. Unlike the old days of DOS and or early Windows.

When it gets right down to it the expensive part of the computer is not the hardware, but the software. The OS is about $150 or so… Ok I can stomach that.

Office full blown is $500! Does it die with the computer?

The Adobe suite is off the charts expensive, does it die with the computer?

Why is it that a computer running an OS runs just fine and as time goes by it slows down? Does the computer just get tired?

Three finger solute brings this up…

It has a lot to do with the patches and ad-ons that we do to them. A computer is much like a baby. Everything that you do to it, or with it from its “birth,” has some effect on it.

Herbie Pulling a trailer and from the 1954 movie the long long trailer Ricky and Lucy pulling a trailer full of rocks.

I equate it to a car. Let’s say your car is a Volkswagen beetle that new, gets you down the road and does what you want it to do. After a few months it is not quite as Zippy as it was earlier and after a year it starts showing its age. You take it in for a tune-up, start using a higher grade of gasoline and for a while it works fair. Then after a while going up hills are a struggle. After downshifting to 2cnd you make it up the hills but you remember earlier in its life when maybe you only had to downshift to 3^rd but for the most part; not at all.

After much head scratching you start looking at every little detail of your poor car. Suddenly you find out that your partner in crime has secretly had a fascination with collecting rocks. Your poor car is hauling tons of rocks in the “bonnet” under the back seat, and even the glove box!

Some of the rocks have been there so long that they have become part of the car! After removing all of the rocks that you can; the car once again makes it up the hills but not as fast as it did when it was new.

Your computer when new; was the fastest thing around, if you are like me, you over buy!

After months and maybe years the computer much like the car has the occasional issue with web sites, or e-mail or loading a picture file to edit.

Time to look for rocks.

You buy a product like Crap Cleaner and you let it work its magic. Not before too long, your computer is running “ok” so you push on.

After a few years Crap Cleaner no longer does it. You enlist the help of someone like myself. I hunt and kill malware and other viruses. I check for the latest drivers and work my magic and manage to get your computer running as it should, but it is not as good as it was new.

Yep, that is me….

Why?

I can tell you that it is most probably not the hardware. I can prove it to you by installing another hard drive and installing the virgin OS that your machine came with. The machine will behave just like it did out of the box, until you put your “stuff” back on it, most of the time.

Uninstall Crap

One of the things that I find the most, is people install all of this “stuff.” It all looks cool until you see that your computer is full of trial-ware, and other “stuff” that you don’t use. Delete it or “uninstall it.”

Startup

A quick look at the startup software will usually tell you that you have too much crap starting up.

A CTRL ALT DELETE or three finger solute will bring up a menu which you can then bring up task manager. Look at the processes utilization and so forth and see where it is. Frequently I see machines that have used all of the allotted memory and are now into virtual memory. Virtual memory is orders of magnitude slower than “real memory” as it is swapping to your hard drive. Troubleshoot the issues and remove programs or processes that are starting up that you really don’t need. The goal is to keep the machine using only real memory and not have to deal with a bunch of “Rocks!”

Hardware dust bunnies

I have seen worse!

They are overclocking some computer so they have taken to using water cooling systems much like they did back in the days of the Amdahl MainFrame’s.

There is a special breed of animal that I liken to gremlins. They live inside your computer and other electronic “stuff.” They plug up the vents, restrict air flow and clog up fans and get inside your CD Rom drive stopping it from working, even inside your floppy drive if you still have one. These are the ever present Dust Bunnies that once only lived under beds and furniture. Now they have found a new occupation destroying electronic stuff and they are not even cute!

Someone had way too much time on their hands…

Just like Gremlins, don’t get water anywhere near them!

One thing that I never overlook is cleanliness of the machine. These things are ecological disasters when it comes to dust! If Hoover was smart they would build a combo PC / Air Cleaner as these things really do look like the inside of the vacuum cleaner bag. If you have pets or maybe are in a warehouse etc. the problem is exacerbated. While I really want to title this BJ, I decided that might be too crass. You get the idea, take it outside and blow the crap out of it, “literally,” with an air compressor if you have it, or that expensive canned air. I clean mine out every 6 months and that goes double for laptops as people use those things in strange places, even on their bed where the machine can’t breathe correctly! Laptops should be used on a hard surface, not carpet, couches or beds!

These machine generate heat and must be adequately cooled. If your machine is still running warm after the BJ, consider buying and installing a better CPU cooler and even more fans for the case.

While I am talking about hardware, make certain that your power supply is up to the task at hand. It needs to be able to produce more wattage than you need and it should have a large fan in it that moves lots of air. Today they have power supplies that have plug in cables that give you the ability to only use that which you need in the way of cables and not have a lot of extra wire floating around inside the box! Anything in there that you don’t need can obstruct air flow.

While I am talking about cables, dress them properly. They should be neatly tied together and routed where they do not obstruct a fan from turning and if possible away from air paths so cool air can make its way through the case.

Antivirus

Antivirus is Key to computer users today and more critical than ever before. While my tin foil hat side of me thinks that the creators of this software are all out to be better than the next guy by actually producing and passing the thousands of viruses out there; I don’t have the smoking gun. I see that this is a huge industry and where there is money there is greed / motive. I cannot fathom why anyone would sit around in their mother’s basement in their underwear writing destructive viruses if they cannot see the effect of their work and are not being paid.

Eww, I just about feel bad putting this here….

My current favorites are Eset Node 32 and Trend Micro. I also have Norton running on a PC that I use infrequently and do not depend upon or even allow anything “free” other than defender on my network / lab computers / home computers. Free is not worth what you pay for it! Defender is not the end all be all product and I would never depend upon it as my sole protection. That would be like people practicing the “rhythm method” for birth control, you know what they call those folks right? Parents!

Get the latest updates

Allow the stinking updates from Microsoft as they have a vested interest in your machine working properly. Like the antivirus folks who work tirelessly to constantly put out new updates, so does Microsoft. It may be a simple tweak and yes, they frequently allow stuff out that should be tested more thoroughly so you may want to wait for a few days before you actually install it yourself but, most of the time they are the thing to do.

Turn off indexing

By default Windows has indexing turned on. As your computer ages and you fill up those massive terabyte hard drives with stuff, the computer uses valuable horse power to index all of your stuff. That can slow your machine down to a crawl! Unless you search for files constantly turn off indexing! If you still want to have faster access to certain files you can selectively index.

Defrag

After all else, run check-disk and then defrag your hard drive. If during the checkdsk process you find bad sectors don’t wait, stop right there and back up everything and replace the hard drive! Most all electronic equipment is rated in MTBF or (mean time between failure.) It is not a matter of “if” but when it will fail.

Let it Die

XP is dead, get over it. End of life software keeps those that write the stuff in business. Software is an incredibly dynamic industry. Linux is more static if you want to learn something totally new but even it changes.

Machines that run DOS have been re-cycled and are polluting third world countries where some send old boards and parts to allow low budget workers to re-claim precious metals at risk to the person and their ecology. If old Al really wanted to something of value, he would tackle this issue as those people are seriously polluting their environment as our garbage is a job for them. Bottom line, re-cycle your old hardware in a responsible manner. PC’s are not an investment in hardware but rather for what they do! They have a finite life and when they start sucking the life out of you by you having to baby them, wait on them and spend your hard earned money to “fix them” get a new one!

If I had a nickle for every time the phone rang asking me what do I do now with this C thing….!

If you decide to re-cycle any old computer and you are worried about your “information, as you should be” remove the hard drive and hang on to it. When you are certain that you no longer will need anything that possibly could be on it, take your drill and drill a hole, straight through it, hit it with a hammer multiple times, after dropping it on a cement surface, and then put the remains into the recycle bin. Wear your safety glasses just in case….

I am experienced in forensic computing so trust me, if you do any of the above, or some combination, nobody will get anything off of it, ever!

Crap Cleaner as part of its program has something called Drive Wiper. That may very well do it, without all of the destructive energy being spent. Once you run it everything is gone to the great bit bucket in the sky, or basement..

Who am I?

I am just a guy who has been working with computers since before Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were anyone, period! The internet was not around and Al Gore was still inventing the calculator to determine how much to charge for green-house gas emissions, from the basement in his mansion!

Al, what can be said?

Actually a lot, can you say “MEME,” I bet you can…

There was no e-mail, no internet; and porn was not digital anywhere! There was still Greg Shorthand and Secretaries were a hot commodity, as executives could not construct a proper sentence without them.

First picture of something racy that was found on the internet I think using “gopher.”

Early Internet usage… This is actually advanced as there is a browser!

I lecture, consult, and when time permits, give back to the community with things like this “free advice or entertainment.”

Re-post this if you think that it will help your folks, or readers, or some family member that wonders why their computer is “so slow!” just don’t edit it and make sure proper credit is given. Thanks!

Just in case: There are no warranties expressed or implied with this “free advice” for the legal record, let’s call this “entertainment” as I know that there are those out there that will do something to their computer and try to claim that this blog was in some way responsible and they might even be the ambulance chaser attorney type, that sees a lawsuit in a free lunch!

So, anything that you read here is “entertainment” and if you should try this at home, you do so at your own peril, if something goes awry! “Plain language…if you stuff it up” I am not responsible.

Stuffed up!

-Best to you and those that you care about!

Www.Guard-Protect.com

Www.TimeDok.com

#Minimum #Wage @Greta –> Follow the link….

Minimum Wage
This is a much more complex situation than merely a governing body dictating more laws to the folks.

Minimum wage jobs were starting points in ones career, never meant to be a career, just a paid internship if you will. These jobs are for kids in school, jobs that require that you be at an appointed place at an appointed time; learn a work ethic, and possibly some future skill set that you currently lack. As an example, I learned how to “really mop a floor” 40 odd years ago.

Some mom and pop shops may only be able to afford some laborer like this. They might be for menial tasks that also keep teens busy and out of trouble while teaching them some work ethic.

The bottom line is, few companies are started with the concept of creating jobs. Businesses are about creating a product or service, and employees are a “necessary evil” in most cases; as there are so many regulations and laws that companies must adhere to when one has employees. It has not become easier over the years, quite the opposite!

On top of existing regulations, Obamacare has changed the paradigm of the fabric of business vs. employee / minimum wage.

Full-time jobs have been modified to part-time, to avoid healthcare all together. Along with the part-time designation came more employees and less pay. Retail giants were one of the first on the bandwagon and many industries have followed suite to make certain that the full-time employee count was for folks that were indispensable.

The new immigration law that was enacted by Obama has once again changed the way that business work. I recently visited a McDonalds where there was not one English-speaking employee in the place, at least, which English was their native language.

If trends continue, I perceive that more Americans will be surviving on the government tit, as the part-time-minimum-wage-jobs of today will go to more of these types of folks who will be happy to have them, as they do not qualify for “free stuff,” yet.

To your question: why not pay your employees more than minimum wage if you can? I have a client that does. He pays his people much higher than scale, and is learning that you cannot buy good employees. A very small percentage of the people that you hire have a work ethic that you the business owner has. They possess the Fred Flintstone work ethic of when the whistle blows, Yabba Dabba Doo!

-Best

http://www.timedok.com

<img src="https://thetimedok.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/img_7951.jpg"