Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Tested Truths: President of the United States

Tested Truths: President of the United States:   It's strange how things happen? For awhile, I was seriously considering running for President of the United States, a fact that I had ...

President of the United States

  It's strange how things happen? For awhile, I was seriously considering running for President of the United States, a fact that I had shared with one of my one way friends. But after more serious consideration, I figured that I was about a billion dollars short for reaching that goal! The story of a simple man with a limited formal education becoming President of the United States is the stuff of fairy tales, as there is no way ole Abe Lincoln could have become President in this day and age!
  But anyway, the strange part is, that I am running for the presidency of the Homeowners Association of the village that I live in. But here's the really strange part? The problems we face here are exactly the same as the problems the country faces, and the reason for these problems are strikingly similar! This once sleepy community where people go to retire, finds itself embroiled in law suits and political wrangling! It has gotten so bad that it pits neighbor against neighbor, and there can be no logical reason for it! It smells like corruption? Our current village president rules as if he were elected king, sound familiar? What reason can there be for bringing about such a state, where neighbor is pitted against neighbor? Who or what stands to gain in such a circumstance? 'A house divided against itself cannot stand' is more then a famous quote, because it is true right down to the foundation of this great nation!
  I will look to do for this community what the next president must do for the country, and there will be nothing more pressing to do, and that is to heal this land! The way we are now is not the way that it should be. The country, just like this little village deserves better then to be divided and worried all the time. In both situations, the people are to be told the truth, and no one's agenda is more important then that of the common good! So my plan here is a simple one? I look to return this village to exactly what it was before this current administration, I look to make this village a sleepy community, just as it was!

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Roy Orbison - Black & White Night - Go, Go, Go (Down the Line) - Full HD...

edschneider9@gmail.com
Calming The Beast? So it's sluggish Thursday. Today is Thursday, right? Despite what you may have heard, retirement is not all that it's cracked up to be?
  But anyway, I was thinking to myself, How is it that I might instill a little life into this crowd? And of course, a special shout out to St. Louis fans. Cheer up gang, it's only one game? But anywho, back to the subject at hand! Music, music will calm the savage beast. Something up tempo. Certainly not a ballad, for they are best appreciated at night when you are looking only to relax.
  To wit: By the way, does anyone know what a wit is? I would submit Roy Orbison's A Black and White Night, tracks 11-13, starting with Candy Man, and ending with the Mean Woman Blues! Call them Three for Thursday, or call them what you will, but these ought to do the trick? They will definitely get your foot to tappin, and with any luck, they might just get your soul rejoicing!
So have a great Thursday everyone, and I hope this little musical interlude put a little spring back into your step!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Tested Truths: The Best of Us

Tested Truths: The Best of Us:   Baseball is a funny game? Last year around this same time, I went over to the Red Sox home page to wish them well, and to have a speedy re...

The Best of Us

  Baseball is a funny game? Last year around this same time, I went over to the Red Sox home page to wish them well, and to have a speedy recovery! I explained to them how I was a fourth generation Yankee fan, and how it just wasn't the same without them in the race! Them, tugging at our pant legs, or them, shattering our dreams?
  Fast forward a year, and it is my Yankees who seem destitute, and the Red Sox lead 5-0 in game one of the World Series! By anyone's standards, that is a huge reversal of fortune in only one year! Knowing the game of baseball, I have no doubt that there are Red Sox players and fans who feel the same way about the Yankees this year as I did for the Red Sox last year! That is one of the beautiful things about baseball, Rivalries! And these two teams go all the way back to the start of professional baseball!
The Yankees and the Red Sox have played some of the most memorable games not only of baseball, but of sport! We love the game because it strives to be pure. Obviously, this is true throughout the world. People love their games because they are honest, pure competition! Man against man, player against player, and team against team. When they are played as they are meant to be played, it is a beautiful thing!
  Now I didn't come all this way just to tell you this, but since it came to mind, I guess I'll just go with it? It was the great Vin Scully who dubbed Yankee Stadium as the Cathedral of Baseball but not wholley for the Yankees, but rather, for the game itself. That is how revered we Americans hold our sport! The reason that Bob Costas offended so many people is not because of his politics, but rather that he saw no problem at all with sullying our game with the filth of politics! The play by play booth is no place for politics, what it is for, is the celebration of sport, and isn't that one of the things that is best about us?

Tested Truths: Tax Write Off?

Tested Truths: Tax Write Off?:   The Bible tells us that in the end times, many will come in his name. What this means, is that many will come who don't know God, but ...

Tax Write Off?

  The Bible tells us that in the end times, many will come in his name. What this means, is that many will come who don't know God, but claim that they do. Not that there is anything new about trying to discredit the bible, there isn't! It's just now that we get closer to the end times, there will be a lot more of them!
  All will tell you a pretty story, why there's even some beautiful young fairies and goddesses to make your journey a pleasant one? But then there is the other type, and this kind appeals to your intellect? Let's focus on these then shall we, and leave the fairies to the Fairy Tales!
There is a lot of misinformation out there. Just the other day, I heard someone say that all religions taught that people are born good? Obviously her knowledge of religion is extremely limited! Here's the one I didn't want to do? I figured by now it would have just gone away, but according to the Times best seller list, it hasn't?
Obviously I speak of Mr. O'Reilly's book. But let's leave the biblical perspective aside, and look at one of his assertions from a common sense point of view. Before we do that, let's set the scene for you shall we? Which civilization would you say is the most morally bankrupt, our current time, or during Jesus' time? Now only an idiot would say that we are superior morally to the people of biblical times! The point? The point is that we don't even justify murdering someone over a tax write off, do you really think that they would? Jesus was sentenced to death because he was convicted of blasphemy, and certainly not because of a tax write off! And yet, apparently, there are plenty of fools!
  The Bible is true folks, and it will weather these latest attacks, just as it has done for thousands of years!

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Tested Truths: The Wisdom of Solomon

Tested Truths: The Wisdom of Solomon:   According to the left, it is the Tea Party who are the extremists who are driving the Republican bus, and according to the right, the extr...

The Wisdom of Solomon

  According to the left, it is the Tea Party who are the extremists who are driving the Republican bus, and according to the right, the extreme left currently reside in the Whitehouse. So what is a poor citizen to do, but get trapped in the middle?
  The point that both the left and the right make by they're complaining, is that extremism is not a good thing, and on that, We the people couldn't agree more! In hard core politics, the stakes are high, because the rewards go to more then just wild wealth, they also go to feed that ultimate addiction, Power! A very few make the decisions for all of us, and consequently, they wield much power.
As far as the rank and file, there are three basic types? There are those who understand and adhere to the ideology, and so that makes two of the three. The third group is the largest, and it consists of those who do not understand what the core beliefs of the party are? For these it is simple, they vote for party and that is all that they know! That is why it is so frustrating trying to reason with this type? Because they can't see beyond party, and so they don't have the facts! If someone is ignorant on the subject, and all they can do is react with a prepared talking point, with that person, there is no reasoning.
  So, the fringe on the right, what shall we call them? Strict Constitutionalists? The fridge left already has a name, it is the one name those on the left are afraid to say, Socialists. We could have a much more mature conversation, if only they would all man up and admit it! Like them or not, the Constitutionalists are easy to find, they are not hidden behind names. But the Socialists hide amongst the liberals, and they couldn't be happier with their new moniker, and who can blame them? What kid would want to be known as anything other then progressive? Certainly not the Grand Old Party? that would sorta make them old before their time? But I digress. There is a wise king from out of the Bible, who when confronted by two unyielding types, in this case, two women both laying claim to the same baby. His decision after the two could not agree, was to split the baby in half! He knew that only the real mother would rather give up her baby then to see it killed. If you use that as a metaphor, then you would make the baby the United States. Now all you have to do is decide which side loves the country, and which one wants only to win, no matter the cost?

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Tested Truths: Conspiacy Theories

Tested Truths: Conspiacy Theories:   So on TV last night, they jumped and they danced, and they sung, Oh how they sung! It's entertainment, anything to take your mind off ...

Conspiacy Theories

  So on TV last night, they jumped and they danced, and they sung, Oh how they sung! It's entertainment, anything to take your mind off the drudgery and the problems that beset us. But outside in the cover of darkness and in the full light of day in other places, they plan and connive! They look all about them, and make plans to divide the spoils. They can do it in plain site, because the oblivion of the people is all that they need! Conspiracy theories thrive in an environment like this, and why not, because it is from secrecy, that conspiracy theories are born.
  What is still unseen for the most part, is a plan that has been underway for decades, but is only now coming into fruition. This conspiracy theory is no longer just a therory, because it has moved from a plan to a reality! The plan moves forward, unencumbered for the most part, slowed only when the secrecy becomes apparent to even the most naive among us. The murder of innocents, the assassination of four brave Americans, murdered on sovereign American soil, government spying, the IRS used for political gain, these are problems that must be addressed and swept under the carpet quickly, so that all will be forgotten.
  But how has it gotten to this, how is it that the American people are so grossly unaware? A compliant press certainly, but it goes much deeper then that. The freedom of the people is falling by the wayside while the people dance? But the changes are subtle, so much so that the people fail to notice? It starts with the dulling of our speech, and political correctness has seen to that quite nicely! Once the people have been made to be afraid of their own words, then the goal of stiffling free speech is within reach. The people must be kept unaware, because only when the public is oblivious to what is really going on, can those who would do us harm have any chance at all of winning. It has been said that this country will fall without a shot being fired, and it is the only way that we can fall. Even though we are no longer respected in the world, no one would choose to take on the American Military! If we are to loose our freedom, it will not be because it was taken from us, but rather, it will be because we gave it away!
Remember, that by your silence, you invite evil to have it's way.  

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Tested Truths: Exceptional

Tested Truths: Exceptional:   Want another reason for American exceptionalism? Our music! It is the most copied music in the world by far and away! Whew! sure felt good...

Exceptional

  Want another reason for American exceptionalism? Our music! It is the most copied music in the world by far and away! Whew! sure felt good to get that off my chest! What inspired this little offering?
Friday night I saw the Steely Dan concert with my son at the Beacon Theatre in NYC! It doesn't get any better then that! The band was great! Wanna know what was better? Sharing it with my son!
He made a case for Metal Music, and explained to me that I was in error for not liking it? He went about making his case by using his car's satellite radio. I saw that there were two types, one just screaming and loud cords, and the other, which paid close attention to their music! I didn't doubt him, but I was too busy talking about the basics of American music! All of the influences from all of the different genres that make up American Music!
  Meanwhile, back in the car, he asked me on the way up, a time spent doing 85 miles per hour on the Jersey Turnpike, what kind of band I would classify Steely Dan as? Genres are tough, I mean how do you go about pigeon holing the music of any band? Anyway, I told him, Jazz/Rock fusion.
  Make no mistake about it, and don't be afraid to mention it, but American Music is the most revered in the world! It is our music, and it sprung from our beginnings, it is our heritage, and our living legacy!
The purpose of this little piece? Just that we are exceptional for many things, but at the top of that list is our music!

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Tested Truths: Street Talk

Tested Truths: Street Talk:  Bullshit don't go uphill, but it sure in hell goes down hill real quick! Man you got that right, it always finds it's way down to u...

Tested Truths: Street Talk

Tested Truths: Street Talk:  Bullshit don't go uphill, but it sure in hell goes down hill real quick! Man you got that right, it always finds it's way down to u...

Street Talk

 Bullshit don't go uphill, but it sure in hell goes down hill real quick! Man you got that right, it always finds it's way down to us! I heard that.
  So in Washington, while the ruling class goes on with business as usual, out here on the streets, things aren't getting any better, but they sure have gotten a lot worse! The further down the economic scale you go, the harder the hits are felt! Who is to blame for this condition, who is there to be held accountable?
  Villains, who do you think are the villains in this whole shutdown debacle, Government or Big Business? It's a complex problem for sure, and the players on both sides make sure of that! Because it is a big problem, it is always best to dissect it into smaller parts. Who or what is the government? Three branches of a mix of mostly two parties, most all of whom are inept! Politicians are well paid folks, and the perks have made many a millionaire out of a peasant! Another way to say it is that the government is full of politicians. There are few Statesman, but there are politicians galore!
  Republican or Democrat, does it really matter, because haven't they all become inept? You know who's not being represented in all of this? We the people! But what about those evil corporations, who or what are they? They too are made up with people, and the great majority of these are similiar to the EPA's non essentials, for they are the worker bees. There is however, a distinct difference between the two, in that the workers in the corporations produce goods and services, like those I-phones that everyone seems to want? The workers in the EPA create nothing by their labor, other then to self perpetuate the EPA itself. It gets larger by adding more rules and regulations. Like it or not, it is Wall Street that is keeping us afloat right now, and this is a good thing, as most of you own some stock in one form or another.
  There are other glaring differences between the private and the public workforce? Both pay the top eschelon real well! Consider this, The EPA layed off 83% of their workforce as non-essential, but what about the remaining 17%? They are well paid, just as the top spots in any corporation are paid well.
 So who are you going to hate, Big Government or Big Business? While you consider this, remember that the government doesn't make money, it can only take it, and so far, they have taken 17 Trillion Dollars! Hello, has any of them heard of living within their means? That is the simple talk of the man in the street. Maybe street smarts is the best smart?

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Tested Truths: Questions

Tested Truths: Questions:   Why had I said it, and what version of it had I told? Was it just to stop and mention it, or had I heard it before? Where was I going with...

Questions

  Why had I said it, and what version of it had I told? Was it just to stop and mention it, or had I heard it before? Where was I going with it, and from where had I gotten it?
  Questions are the search party of the mind. What questions always seek, is to find the peace that comes from knowing the truth. Unfortunately, we too often settle for a well worded lies. The reasons you give for not giving in are yours alone. I do not know them, nor for that matter, do I want to know them.
  It's a choice you see, and it is your choice, no one else's. It is a yes or no situation, and there is no way to avoid making it! If you try to hide from it, it will do you no good, as this question will seek you out.
For these are questions of the most serious type! Do you think that you have the stomach for them, is your heart big enough? Eventually, if you ask the right questions, the answers will lead you to the most important decision that you will ever make!
  The question of questions is really a simple one, even though your answer will have eternal ramifications. This one question is the door through which eternity lies on the other side, if only you would step through it! The question is this: Do you believe in the everlasting God, living God, maker of heaven and earth? Jesus is the true door, no one enters the eternal realm if not through him!