How to Not Go Down A Hill, Vietnam

     This is the other half of my "How Not To Go Down A Hill Story"  I mentioned it when I was writing my previous story.  So here it is.  Hope you get a laugh from it.  The first couple pictures are of what my regular Army job was.  Farther down is a picture of the bridge we had to cross going in and out of Cam Ranh Bay in 1967.  I understand they later made a permanent bridge.  Hope you enjoy the story.

                                          How Not To Go Down A Hill…Vietnam

      

      This may sound hard to believe.  Hope it is as funny to you, as it is to me in hindsight.  I learned to drive a truck OJT in 1967 in Vietnam. That education went on till I retired in 2004. Over the years I had some, let's say, interesting experiences.  How I even got into trucking is one of them. In Vietnam some units came over as a unit.  At the end of a year everybody left to go back stateside.  Support Group Headquarters still had the duty of supplying troops in the field.  So the way they solved the problem was have each unit under their command send two truck drivers to fill up the empty slots in the company that was losing their people.  A few people had come in over the year as replacements but over a hundred had left all at once. 

       My unit was ordered to send two people to drive trucks.   My unit had several assigned trucks but we did not use them.   We needed something hauled we called a transportation unit.  My company packed parachutes and dropped supplies by parachute. Every unit in the military had a TO&E, which was a Table of Operations and Equipment.  Each person was slotted based on their MOS which is your Military Occupational Specialty.  Well our unit was heavy on riggers ( parachute packers) and so they slotted some of us in the unfilled motor pool slots.  Little did I know I was in one of those slots.  When my unit received the request my CO (commanding officer) looked at the board and said to send me and another guy.  As we were slotted in the motor pool.  Brown and I both explained we knew nothing about driving trucks.  The CO said that was no problem. We could learn.  He needed to keep the couple truck drivers he did have in case he needed them.  

     So off we went.  We arrived late in the day and they assigned us to a tent. The floor of the tent was covered with old pallets and that kept us from walking in the mud.  Kept our feet dry but it made a great home for the rodents, spiders, scorpions and snakes that moved in to keep us company.  The 1st Sgt. briefed us on the “rules” no food in the tents.  We got one day a month off.  If you were on the road on your day off, you would work till your next day off.  We went to bed early as there were no lights in the tents. Next morning we got up at O’Dark thirty in the morning.  Finally got dressed in the dark and wondered to the mess tent.  It was very appropriately named.  Just as it cracked daylight we fell outside.  The 1st Sgt started telling the people who had been there awhile to go to their trucks.  Also which trailer to hook up to.  Where the convoy assembly point was.  Also their position in the convoy.  That done he turned to us newbies.  He asked if there was anyone who did not want to drive a truck.  Several of us raised our hands and he sent us to the tire tent.

      When we got to the Tire Tent a big Scandinavian looking guy with no shirt pointed to a barrel of tools and some bottle jacks.  He told us to go down to where the trailers  were parked and to change any flat tires.  He gave us a two minute explanation/demonstration and sent us to work.  It took us over an hour just to get the tire off the truck.  As the sun got up it got blistering hot.  We had to push the tires uphill by hand to the tire tent to break them down and fix the tire.  Let’s  just say it was hot dirty work and leave it at that.  The Swede, our nick name for the Scandinavian, was built like an inverted pyramid.  He could put a hand on each side, pick up the tire and flip it over like it was nothing.  Over the course of the day I found out he had been in Vietnam almost ten months and had been in the tire shop the whole time.  He made it clear, his reason for being in the tire shop was that he did not get shot at.  When the day was done I had finished three tires.  Brown had finished four.  Mainly cause we helped each other do the first one and he got credit for it.

       The next morning the 1st Sgt asked if there was anyone who did not want to drive a truck.  Only one guy put his hand up.  The rest of us were sent to the dispatch tent and they filled out our driver’s license forms.  Then they gave us the road test.  The Sgt. giving the road test asked us if we could drive a stick transmission.  All of us but one could.  The black guy who couldn’t was sent to the tire shop.  The rest of us took turns taking the driving test.  We got in the truck and the Sgt. said to start the truck.  I could not find the key.  He pointed at a switch and said to turn it and push the button next to it.  I did and it started.  Then we went on a short drive of maybe a mile around a big figure eight pattern and back where we started.  He had me shut the truck off and said congratulations.  We had never gone over about ten or twelve miles per hour.  I asked if that was all the faster these trucks went.  He said no and pointed to a lever on the floor and told me to shift it after I went through all the gears and then shift them all again and I would go faster.  I got down out of the truck.  I was now a qualified military truck driver.  I went back in the dispatch tent.  The dispatcher typed me a driver’s license and handed it to me. He then assigned me a truck.  He instructed, which means told me, to go work on it and get it ready to go.  I would be going on a convoy to Nha Trang  in the morning.

       When I got to the truck I met several guys working on their trucks and they explained what to check.  They lent me tools. The afternoon went smooth till I found out I had two flat tires.   Three hours later I finished changing them and went to the evening mess haul.  Then I went to my tent.  I do not even remember laying down.  Suddenly it was morning.  In formation I was assigned a trailer, a convoy position and told to go hook up.  That was something I had never done.  A couple guys showed me how to do it, basically by doing it for me to save time.  After hooking up I killed the engine several times trying to take off.  Finally one of the guys came over an showed me how to release my brakes.  An hour later I was in my line up position.  Another hour and we moved out on the way to Nha Trang.  I had bundles of sandbags on my trailer.  It was an interesting trip.  Every time I missed a gear I had to pull to the shoulder stop and start over.  By the time we got to Nha Trang I could shift gears up.  By the time we got back I could even down shift.  In the next couple trips I even learned to split shift which is fun, once you master it. We went up and back the same day.  Upon our return we fueled our vehicles.  While sitting in line we tightened things that had gotten loose.  Once we got back in the company area we checked our tires, fluid levels and parked on line. This routine went on for three days

     The fourth day my truck was assigned to a one hundred fifty truck convoy going to Tuy Hua  pronounced two-E  wha.  It was an air force base about three hundred miles up the coast.  On this convoy I was hauling 750 pound bombs.   When we got there I was sent to the ammo dump and told to get unloaded.  While there the base came under attack.  We could see they were walking the rounds toward the ammo dump.  The rough terrain fork lift driver told me to back up and drop my trailer.  Unfortunately I had never been taught to do either one.  After several attempts I abandoned the truck and rode the side of the fork lift to the safety of a bunker.  After a while it was all over.  The fork lift unloaded the trailer.  A couple hours or so later I got turned around.  When I got to the assembly area they put me in line.  We made a night run over the mountain to Vung Ro Bay.  We dropped the empty trailers.  Then we hauled a loaded one full of bombs back over the mountain at night with no lights.  We had night lights called Cat’s Eyes.  They are two tiny lights shaped like commas facing each other, hence the nick name.  You are suppose to follow far enough back you can see the lights.  If you get close enough you can see both eyes you are to close.  About four in the morning we finished the job and at seven we lined up to go back to Cam Ranh Bay.  It was a really long day.  We got back in time to fuel up and get ready for the next days run.  

      Several of us were given a day to get our trucks ready for a special convoy.  We were going to go up into the mountains to a town called Bao Loc.  I had somebody explain how to back up to me.  Then I went over the hill into the ammo dump and taught myself to back up.  I kept at it till I could go full speed in reverse and in a straight line. It is not as easy as it sounds.  After the practice I did some maintenance and got my first full night’s sleep in several days.  The next morning we set out for Bao Loc.  I started out as a bobtail (truck with no trailer) but it did not last long.  About noon one of our trucks broke down.  I got lucky.  I got the trailer.  Another driver got to tow the broke down tractor.  It took us two days to get there.  Not that it was that far, but the road had lots of mines and we were constantly stopping so they could clear the mines.  The second day we arrived and started unloading.  It was an all day job.  We spent much of the night flipping trailers to make more bobtails.  It was standard practice to have several bobtails to pull equipment that broke down.  We did not leave anything behind.  Flipping trailers is an interesting experience.  The wreckers would hook chains to one side and lift it up so the trailers would ride floor to floor.  The one on top had the wheels to the front end to ride better.  One empty trailer would haul all the sideboard kits.  About 4 AM we finished the flipping operation and at 7 AM we headed back to Cam Ranh.Bay.   We made really good time going back and rolled into Cam Ranh just as it was getting dark.

     After almost two months trucking I was actually beginning to feel like I knew what I was doing.  I was no longer a cherry.  You could tell the cherries pretty quick.  Many of the bridges were in such bad condition that the side walks had broken off.  Some on both sides and on a few bridges they were so narrow the outside tires were hanging in the air. It was a scary experience, but after a while it just came with the job.  Most of the bridges were short and a philosophy developed.  If you crossed the bridge fast enough the tractor would slide across the bridge before you fell off.  So the only thing that would fall would be the trailer.  It was good in theory.  After watching one or two getting set back up on the bridge by a wrecker while waiting for hours in the 110 degree heat with 95% humidity.  Sitting was the last thing you wanted to do.  At least when you were moving the wind felt cool, except when the humidity was down.  Then it was like driving through a blast furnace.  We did get to drive with the tops folded down.  Most of us chose to fold down he windshield also.

     About two months into my experience we were making a run to Tuy Hua.  I got a load of 750 pound bombs.  I also got to be up at the front of the convoy when we started.  There were like a 125 trucks in the convoy.  Things went fine for awhile, but towards noon something happened to my truck.  Suddenly I could not get enough RPM’s to shift to the next higher gear.  If it was flat I could shift and then lug it up to speed for the gear I was in.  However every time I shifted up it was challenge and if any hill at all was involved I could not shift up.  As the day progressed I started falling back. When we started up the mountains just south of Tuy Hoa my truck really started falling out. It finally got to the point I was the last truck in the convoy.  They left one gun jeep with me for security and I kept plugging away.  Most of the way up the mountain I had to pull it in granny.  One thing I did not realize was that I had lost my ability to build air.  Which means I had no brakes at all.  I did not realize this going up the hill. However as I crested the hill it suddenly became painfully clear to me that I had more than a power problem.

      When I finally hit the mountain crest I was really happy.  It was all down hill the rest of the way into Tuy Hoa.  That happiness was very short lived.  As I started down the hill I started grabbing gears.  When I got to a speed I was comfortable with I tried to slow down.  This was when I learned I had a major problem.  I had just started down a fairly steep about three mile or so down hill grade and I had no brakes. NADA, ZIP, SQUAT.  

Well I knew what to do.  I would just down shift and slow down.  Well I kicked it out of gear okay and revved it up but I missed the gear.  I tried two or three times but my speed was building quickly.   This was not exactly a pleasant situation to be in.  I pondered jumping but it was about a 200 foot drop off on the driver’s side.  Then I realized, how far would I have to jump to get far enough away way from the 50+ bombs I was hauling that weighted 750 pounds each.  On top of this about three quarters of a mile down the hill in front of me the road made a 180% hairpin turn to the left.  I looked at the situation.  I saw only one way out of it.  The engineers had blasted the wall on the right side to make the road wide enough to handle the Army trucks. The wall on that side was vertical right down to the edge of the road.  What did I have to loose.  If it did not work I would hit a 15 MPH hairpin turn at a 60+ MPH which would not work. I started driving into the wall and could feel it trying to push me away, but the speed started dropping and I thought I had a hope.  Then I looked down the mountain to the hairpin turn.  On the inside of the turn a military dump truck was parked.  This was not good.  There was not room in that turn for two vehicles.  Even if I was clear over to the wall.  The guys in the dump truck were out of the truck and saw me coming.  They did all they had time to do. They ran up the hill towards the direction I was coming from and got clear of their truck.  

  

      I turned into the wall even harder.  It helped I was at a speed I thought I could steer around the corner.  The only problem was the dump truck.  As I started around the hairpin I heard an awful crash and looked back in my mirror.  The bed of the dump truck was peeling off the metal uprights on my side boards and the boards were falling out.  Suddenly I heard a metal on metal crash.  I looked back just in time to see the right rear tandem of the dump truck go over the edge.  The impact bled off enough speed I finally got my truck back in gear.  Only another couple miles to go.  Fortunately there were no more sharp curves.  I looked back again and saw the dump truck teetering on it’s right front wheel and it’s left rear wheels.  It was a short glimpse cause I had to pay attention to where I was going.  One glance in my driver’s side mirror told me all the side boards were gone.  I could see the bombs sitting on my trailer.  The RPM started building and I had to make a decision.  Try to shift up a gear or leave it where it was at?  My decision was not hard to make at all.  I left it where it was at.  The engine was screaming like crazy and I fully expected it to come apart.  Generally the top RPM was about 2500 and the shift speed was about 2100, but my truck for some reason would not rev up above 1900 RPM. 

At one point I looked at the Tachometer which peaked at 5000 and my needles was about where 6000 should be.  However I knew one thing it would have to come apart cause it was not coming out of gear.  Finally I hit the bottom of the mountain and out on to the wide flat gravel road.  The ground was suddenly flat with rice paddies on both sides of the road.  I kept down shifting till I could get the vehicle to stop.  When it did I got down and my knees really were shaking.  I did not care.  I was alive.  About this time the gun jeep with the driver, mechanic on the machine gun and my Platoon SGT pulled up.  The Platoon Sgt. went ballistic on me.  He asked me what happened and I told him and the mechanic I had no clue.  I just had no air and no brakes.  The mechanic checked it out and it was because of a mechanical failure of some part that had to do with the air.

(If anybody is mechanically inclined I would appreciate some feed back as to what could cause this.  On trucks today the brakes will lock up if you loose your air pressure.  The trucks we were driving had the buttons on the dash.  So how or why did my brakes not lock up?)

     After a few minutes the Platoon Sgt. told me to follow him into the base which was just a few miles away.   He took off and I got back into my truck.  I had just gotten up to speed when I saw the Commanding Officer’s jeep coming toward us.  Suddenly they pulled up next to each other and started talking.  I could not believe it.  He knew I had no brakes.  I also had no horn.  I was down shifting for all I was worth.   Suddenly the mechanic looked back and saw me coming.  He jumped over the side of the jeep and ran out into the rice paddy and screamed for the driver to move.  The driver reached to put the jeep in gear just as I hit the trailer they were pulling.   The impact flipped the Platoon SGT. over the windshield and off the front of the hood.  The trailer flipped up in the air and over on top to the machine gun bending it in half.  The jeep lunged forward and barely hit the Platoon SGT.  The impact killed what speed I had left.  The Platoon SGT was fit to be tied.   He was ranting and raving and swearing he would have me court-martialed if it was the last thing he ever did.  The CO was doing everything he could do to keep his composure.  The mechanic had been talking to the CO and checking my truck while the Platoon SGT ranted.  Finally the decision was made. The mechanic would drive my truck  the rest of the way in.  I would ride in the jeep an man the broken machine gun.

     When we got to the base the CO came over and the Platoon SGT started in on me again.  The mechanic finally showed up in my truck and came over and started talking to the CO.   The CO nodded a few times and then came over to us.  He said, “Based on what my mechanic just told me.  The fact you got that truck down off that mountain without wrecking it and loosing the load you were hauling.  I am considering putting you in for an Army Commendation Medal.”  This really set the Platoon SGT to sputtering.  The CO told him to consider the circumstances and he would see that he was making the right decision.  With that the Platoon SGT bit his lip and walked away, but he was not finished with me.  Not till the day I left.  He gave me every bad job and detail he could dream up.  I never did get the Commendation Medal, but I did not get court-martialed either, which was good as far as I was concerned.

Is It The Endtime?, Or Is It Time For An End?

      As world events unfold they seem to be headed from one climactic event to the next.  Events since the fateful day of  9/11 seem to be snowballing out of control from many peoples points of view.  It is often stated by people that we must be in the last days.

       The events of the last nine years have kept growing and spreading.  In December 2004 the world was humbled by the powerful Tsunami that took over 200,000 lives.  Hardly had the cleanup and help started to flow into the area impacted by the Tsunami when Hurricane Katrina rolled thru New Orleans creating total devastation in August 2005,   During the same period America became entangled in two wars half ways around the world. This was followed by an economic crisis that is still ongoing.  Since the  fall of 2007 hardship has fell like a plague on many Americans.. The most recent tragedy to sweep over the horizon was the Haitian Earthquake.  When the counting is done it looks like over 100,000 lives will have been lost.

      As horrible as all these events seem to be they do not exceed what man has managed to do himself.  World War II is said to have destroyed between twenty and thirty million lives.  Just the events that bought the war to an end destroyed more lives than any of the previously mentioned events.  Hiroshima and Nagasaki wiped out well over 200,000 lives in just minutes and the aftermath pushed it far higher. The truly scary part of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is the mindset that allowed it to happen.

       Some of the scientist who developed the atomic bomb were fearful that the explosions would trigger a chain reaction that would turn the earth into a miniature sun.  Yet even with these dire warnings from the men who created the bombs it was decided to risk it all and use the bombs anyway.  So our very existence is only because, fortunately for us, some scientist were slightly off on their estimation of what they had created.  Since then we have created the hydrogen bomb which is capable of 1000 times the  destruction done by the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  We still may not be able to destroy the earth itself, but it seems we could easily annihilate most life forms that inhabit this planet.

      In the midst of this dire situation, the media, feeding on the fear factor have quoted the writings of past seers and prophets of different civilizations some forecasting the end of the world in December 2012 have been quoted.

     It has always been my goal to be open minded and to be willing to take all the facts into consideration.  My understanding of the things I have been taught over the years sometimes come into conflict.  Yet sometimes they validate each other.

     My years in the public education system sometimes conflicted  with  the education I was receiving in my home and private life.  Raised as a Christian who believed in creationism it became clear to me the things I was being taught about evolution conflicted with my  belief system.  Yet some of the things I was learning about things like plate tectonics seemed so authoritative and it was something you could see.

       At first this was a problem until I found much of it could be reconciled with the Bible and many of the things that scientist are teaching as facts are nothing more than Biblical teachings rephrased.

        This created a new problem dealing with the dimension of time.  Is, or was, the act of Creation a literal seven day period or was it a figurative term.  I have compromised in a couple of ways. One is that I do not believe God expects us to use the ostrich approach to life.  It is not my position to  dismiss things just because I can not explain them.  Secondly I find nothing in the Bible that says we are condemned to hell for not understanding some things in the Bible. We are required to believe God is the author of creation and that all things were made thru, by and for him.  That I do believe, so that is not the conflict.

        This really gives me an out because I do not have enough faith or intelligence to understand evolution.  Thanks to God I do not have to understand it. All I have to do is believe God did it and I do. That makes creation much simpler than evolution.

       Getting back on track so to speak.  The classes on tectonics intrigued me.  We went on field trips and they showed us layers of limestone and how there was dirt  between the layers.   They also took us to sites where the glaciers supposedly stopped and piled gravel in great piles.  Does this conflict with Bible teaching?
Not according to Genesis 10:25.  It says the earth was divided.  This was after Noah's flood. Also before the flood it says the fountains of the deep were opened in Genesis 7:11  The real trick is reading the Bible and letting the Bible say what it says. It says in Genesis 1:3-5 God created the light. and separated it from darkness and that was the first day of Creation.  While in verse one God created the heaven and the earth.  It also says the earth was without form (shape) and void (empty): and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  This is when creation began on the earth.  It does not say this it the beginning of creation. It says in the beginning God created heaven and earth.  Those events seem to predate the seven days of creation.  Who knows how long that period was.  Was it 24 hours.  Well I suggest you read 2nd Peter 3:4-8.  That is new testament  Also Revelation 3:14 argues what is first thing of creation.  Christ is the Light of the World.  If you read my book on the end times, you will see "I believe what the Bible says, and it says what it means."  Some try to say what it does not say.

      It was explained in our class how Indiana and surrounds had been below sea level several times in the past.  It was also explained that every so often there was another ice age.  These events took long cycles to accomplish, but the earth went thru cycles.  These statements became the battle ground that over the last sixty years has driven my desire to understand, know and reconcile the conflicts created in my life by education and my faith.

    The thing I have found is that man’s wisdom is ignorance when compared to the knowledge in God’s Word.  A simple example is that until the 1400’s it was thought the earth was flat.  In my readings over the years it was my pleasure to discover that supposedly Columbus based his faith in the outcome of his voyages  on one verse he discovered in the Bible.  When you have the faith to believe God’s Word is true you can accomplish what the average man says is unbelievable.  In the Book of Isaiah written almost 800 years before the time of Jesus there is a verse.  It is in the 40th chapter and the 22nd verse of Isaiah. “It is he(God) who sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are like grasshoppers: who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreadeth them out like a tent to dwell in.”

         That is not the only tidbit of knowledge that man has taken credit for and that has been around for ages.  They have been talking of an expanding universe for years.  That is another old, old idea.  In Revelation, which was written shortly after Jesus time, it says the earth and the heavens are fleeing away from the face of God.  That is in Revelation 20:11.

         One of the newer “discoveries” is that the earth has polar shifts.  The Book of Isaiah says in 24:1 that the earth shall be turned upside down.  In fact almost all the “new” discoveries are in the Bible if someone just takes the time to look.  Nothing is really new and what is really scary is history is repeating itself.  It does not have to, but that is the way we seem to be headed.  God destroyed the earth once.  The sad thing is his Word says he will do it again.  This time it will be with fire. Is this global warming actually only part of the 125,000 year cycle.  Are we being drawn toward a warmer time than in the past and that man's pollution is only coincidence and not a cause.

      The reason God did it the first time was that man supposedly was so evil.   All that mankind did was evil one to another.  If the three Abrahamic and God based religions of the world could get it together and understand that none of them have the market cornered on God it might be a lot nicer place to live.  They all need to know and understand that every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God is true and will come to pass.   The Christians can not disbelieve the Jewish Books of God.   The Moslems can not discount the Christian Books.  All three religions claim to believe the same prophets.  Yet they agree on nothing.  They all claim their roots in Abraham and at his death his sons came together and buried him.  That was probably the last unified act in the Middle East.  They all need to get hold of what God said about killing and murder.  When innocents are being killed that is murder in God’s eyes regardless of what men do to justify it.

       Maybe we need a forth religion. The religion of Yahweh’s Way.  A religion that respects all life and every Word of God.  Not one that picks and chooses or discounts one version over another.  A religion that recognizes we are all God’s creation and our lives are to be lived by, thru and for him and him alone.

      The truly sad part is that what could be a very noble religion is being hijacked by a bunch of radicals who have no real faith in God or Allah.  They have perverted the teachings of Islam to obtain their own personal agenda’s. The worse part of it is that the so called leadership of Islam, has let a religion that supposedly teaches and believes in loving your fellow man be corrupted.

       This statement can be proven by the fact that most of  the radicals come from the Middle East and groups that relate to the Middle East.   It is not a problem of Moslems in Indonesia or other parts of Eastern Asia.  The only one getting the victory in the present situation is Satan.  That is not the Jewish or American Satan they often speak of.  It is the internal Islamic Satan that is winning.  If Moslems are killing Moslems who is winning.  Certainly not Islam.  The lay Moslems need to rise up and demand that their religion be cleaned and purified of the evil that is bleeding it.

       In Christianity the Bible says Satan or thieves come only to steal, kill and destroy.   There is no honor among thieves and killers they only want to perpetrate their evil and hide it under the guise of religion.  In America for many years the Klu Klux Klan perpetrated evil and claimed they were doing the will of God.  Finally truth filled preachers exposed the lie they were telling for what it was.  Many crimes are committed in the name of religion.  Not just in the name of Allah either.  Anyone that truly knows God knows that he brings life into the World and not death and destruction.

   
      While I have jumped around and might make you wonder where it is all going.   There is a purpose in that it shows how many things are being pondered by people all over the world.  My goal is to show that God shows in the Bible that he has a plan and a way of doing things.  The second intent is to show that based on God’s past performance and his actions that it is, in my belief, time for God to bring the remainder of his promises to fruition.  It is not that God is slack or slow in showing his intentions, but he wants mankind to understand that he is the answer to all of the problems.

       That God is the solution to all the problems can be seen by simply looking at the simple solutions to global warming.  Man is wrapped up in polluting the atmosphere and getting all he can get out of life.  Yet the way man is doing it leads to his destruction.   Global warming in the grand scheme of things does not matter.  The truth is that there are a finite amount of resources and if man does not learn to use only the renewable ones sooner or later the way we are doing it will mean and end of resources.  As for global warning, scientist who study the ice packs, have proven that global warming happens on a regular cycle every 125,000 years or so.  It is followed by a long period that gets cooler and cooler.  The cold spells tend to go downward for 5000 years or so and then level out a little,  there are usually five of these downward steps.  Then it slows or levels every 25,000 years for a fairly long time.  There tend to be five of these 25,000 year downward trends, after which things continue down till they hit bottom after 125,000 years. Then it starts another long term warm up.  However the cold spells last much, much longer than the warm ones.  The warm ups from bottom to top tend to last less than 5000 years.

        The world will go on and survive long after mankind’s stupidity exterminates him and life as we know it.  The fact of all the fossil fuel reserves say life comes and goes on planet earth.  The fact all those fossil fuels at some time were on the surface of the earth and thriving shows the very fragile nature of life. Some reserves like coal are near the surface, yet some oil is so deep we can hardly reach it.  It was my privilege to find seashells on a mountain tops in Panama. They were encrusted in the rocks at that elevation.  Earth is a changing, living thing that is far beyond the understanding of some mortal scientist. Regardless of his IQ or the number of letters before and after his name.  How many times has life been eliminated and come back from the brink.  Only God knows the answer to that question.

       The real question is, is God getting ready to wipe the slate clean and start over again.  Religion says he gives us the chance to share his existence and be with him.  Atheists say it is all hogwash and that God does not exist.  My view of it all is that as my eyes behold the majesty of all creation and the heavens above how could God not exist.  It is impossible for me to believe this all just happened.  

       Comparing the consequences of our beliefs as I understand them it is pretty simple.  The atheists say there was nothing before and nothing after.  It is a simple philosophy and requires nothing of the person who believes it.  They can be as good or as bad as they choose.  There are no consequences.  If they are right they have lost nothing.  Following my beliefs means I will have lived a life where I have helped people and tried to make the world a better place to live.  Now if I am by accident right, what have they lost?  It is my choice to take my chances and have faith that things can be better in the end of it all.

Is America's Economy Getting Better?

      Lately on the news many of the forecasters are saying the economy is getting better.  Is it?  What has been fixed.  Nothing really.  Jobs are improving, but not at a level to stimulate the economy.  Everything is barely holding itself together.  Every time there is even a breath of bad news the market slides. Some big companies are trying to manipulate the market to their advantage.  A good example of that is Apple.  They are going to start paying dividends on their stock.  They are going to buy back $10 Billion shares of stock.  Is that a benevolent act.  No it is their way of stimulating sales and getting even more money.  They are already the richest company in the world, but at what cost.  They are not creating jobs in America.  Overseas workers are forced to work in conditions that are making them suicidal.  Conditions that would not be tolerated in America.  Conditons that would make them liable to legal action in this country.  Yet Americans buy their products.  Supporting the oppression of others. Even though it costs them jobs that could be done here.  It does not matter though.  They are saving money on the over priced Apple products.
     Maybe it is time to, not only, not buy Chinese products.  It is time to quit buying American products made in foreign countries.  Recently Bank of America reversed itself.   It cancelled fee increases because of the outrage of consumers.  Well consumers have the same power with international companies.  The companies make the stuff overseas to sell in America.  If it does not sell here they will loose money.  They will have to rethink their program.  Congress needs to get involved on the behalf of American citizens.  They need to start putting taxes on the goods of American companies that are being shipped into the United States.  It could be called an Equality Tax.  Which having said all the above brings me to the real reason for writing this article to start with.  They also need to repeal laws that force American products overseas.  Like the basic light bulb. Which was and is an American invention.
   The big question is how is the economy getting any better.  Nothing is being done to fix America's problem.   The national debt is growing out of control.  Nothing is being done to reverse it.  Having been through a personal bankruptcy certain facts apply just as much at the national level as they do at the individual level.  If you live beyond  your means sooner or later a day of reckoning comes.  When you are borrowing money to keep living at the level you like to live at you have a problem.  The problem is that you have to much debt and you are spending to much.  There are several ways to deal with the problem.  The best is to make more money.  Not just print it, but actually make more money. The government does that buy raising taxes. Private enterprise does it buy creating jobs that pay taxes.  With the government method individuals who pay taxes have less to spend and that hurts the economy.  Private job growth is by far the best way to solve the problem.
     The other way to cut debt is to reduce spending levels.  In other words quit buying as much.  Again that hurts the individual who has to do without some good or service. It also hurts the business which can not sell its products.  Businesses that do not sell as much also do not pay as much in taxes.  However if government spending is cut enough the debt level starts to go down.  The trick is finding the balance of belt tightening and spending cuts that bring things back into line.  In line means spending only what you have to spend and not creating more debt.  At present the country is doing neither.  It is not cutting spending and it is not increasing income by raising taxes. So the debt continues to increase at a rate that is not sustainable.  Sooner or later, I believe sooner, the government will not be able to do all it is required to do.  Even with borrowing huge sums of money.  When that happens it is called bankruptcy.   We are headed there as certainly as the sun comes up in the morning.  You can count on it.  It is going to happen.  The problem can be fixed, but it will take an effort not only of the government.  It will take the creation of jobs and on a much grander scale than is presently happening in America.  Even little things can help start the tide to turning.  Pay someone to mowy your yard or wash your car instead of doing it yourself.  Preferably someone unemployed.  It may help them and it may stimulate people to see ways to create jobs that help others. The ideas are out there. Private enterprise can create the jobs needed.  What needs to be done is to change the way the game is played.
     The rules need to go back to the way they were before a compromise between Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich set in place a couple of plans that were destined to create the problem we now face.  Clinton wanted  a program where low income people could participate in home ownership in America.  We know what that caused.  The housing bubble and the collapse of the housing market.  In return Gingrich wanted the largest Capital Gains Tax Cut in history.  What that simply meant is that the rich got to take their profit off the top of their income and keep it.   The problem is that they did not make a corresponding cut in the government spending. The income going into government coffers was cut tremendously.  While spending went merrily on its way and still is.  You throw in 9/11 and a couple of wars which raise expenditures and the debt level literally is in explosion mode. With no cuts in spending to offset the Capital Gains Tax Cut.  Also no allocation of extra money to pay for the wars.  The rising debt was not probable, it was inevitable.
     The only solution is to put things back in balance.  Those who benefited from the tax cut need to be taxed to give that money back.  They in essence ripped off the government.  The government did not have the money to give up. The Capital Gains money was already being spent.  During the housing melt down the big bankers raked off more and more profits. Mostly in the form of bonuses.  Money they did not earn and would not have had except for the not well thought out Capital Gains cuts.  Even a non banker like me could and can see that something had to give.  Down the road we may be able to get things back in balance. Then we can make the spending cuts to let the rich have "their" money back  However right now the only solution is not just cuts in spending, but there needs to be a major increase in tax income that is going in the governments coffers.  Till that happens the problem will not be solved.  Eventually the system will collapse.  Somebody will not be paid money the are entitled to.  Money they worked all their life to get.  It will be the people who paid into the system all their lives.  Unfortunately it will not be the ones who took advantage and raped the system to get all they could get.
    The increasing oil prices may bring it to a head.  Oil prices are what drove the collapse in the period of 06-08.  People who are living on the edge.  Ones who have already lost their income and now are losing their unemployment will no longer be able to pay their bills.  The cycle starts again.  On one of these cycles the reality is going to hit home to the government that business as usual is not working.  As the old Biblical saying goes." The writing is on the wall."  The facts are there and they can be seen.  Figures do not lie.  However liars do play with the figures.  The truth is no matter how good things might look or seem,  America is setting on the edge.  Cutting off oil or increasing its price will drive the economy over the edge.  Unfortunately recovery in other parts of the world which increases demand for oil may also drive America over the edge.  At this moment in time the downside holds a lot more potential for happening than the upside does.  In my open letter to the President a few weeks ago(which is on one of my posts)  I showed a way to help the economy, but as usual it was ignored.  This administration either does not care or does not read their mail.  Either way four more years of nothingness that has kept us on the edge, will only drive us over the edge.  Especially if the "Status Quo" is pursued and nothing is done to put things in order.  Right now I think 25% unemployment is more of a possibility in the future than 6%.  Make your own decision.  Make your own preparations for what you see coming.  When it happens it will be to late to start making plans.  In an economy with 25% or higher unemployment violence will explode in America. That is one fact you can take to the bank. It happened in the twenties and thirties and it will happen again.  Might be time to write your politician and tell them to do something.  Can you really afford not to.

Some Bible Verses That Say We Might Be Near The Endtime

       Lots of people are curious about the endtime.  Some care what the Bible has to say on the matter.   Other Christians say it does not matter.  Or that we do not have to worry about it if we are saved.  While I agree with both somewhat, it is not something to be ignored either.  If it is not important why did Jesus make several comments concerning it.  When he was nearing the end of his life he took the time to lay out a lot of details of things that would happen in that time.   His disciples also mentioned it many times.   In fact the whole last book of the New Testament deals with the subject almost exclusively.  There are two verses I find in the Bible that I think make the matter pertinent to this day and age.  Several other verses speak directly into this day and age.  Hopefully I can explain them in a way the average person can understand.  Many of the unsaved and others I have had fellowship with over the years spoke to me mainly because that was a subject that they were worried about.

     Opening the door to a conversation is one of the good points of knowing what the Bible says about the endtime.  The first two verses I intend to quote give very strong reasons for understanding what the Bible says.  The first, Hosea said it the best. "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge."  That is what God supposedly said.  He did not say the heathens or the lost are destroyed.  He said "MY PEOPLE."  So knowing God's Word can save us from destruction.  That is not me speaking it is the Bible.  That makes it a pretty good reason. The second is much like it. In Luke 12:56 Jesus said, "Ye hypocrites, Ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth: how is it that you do not discern this time."  He said clearly they should have understood the time.  All they had to do was look around themselves and read the scriptures which would tell them what was happening.  However in Matthew, Jesus gives some very clear warnings if people will only listen to what he is saying.

           "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

      Jesus makes it clear there will be things we can observe.  They will be marrying and drinking just as they were in the days of Noah.  He makes clear nobody got it in the time of Noah either, until Noah entered the Ark. He makes it clear that it will be the same when he comes back.  Jesus is the Incarnate Word of God, what does the Word say was happening at that time.

        " And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.  There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.  These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.  And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.  And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. "

     At the time of Noah men were living for hundreds of years.  Not just a hundred as is now the case if you are lucky enough.  The key point in this scripture is that wickedness was great in the earth, men thought of evil continually.  Verses 11 and 12 say it plainly that there was violence and corrupted flesh.  Those things are what we read about daily and see in the news.

     In the 24th Chapter of Matthew and the 21st Chapter of Luke Jesus lays out for his disciples the things to watch out for.  The things that will be happening in the endtime.  In Matthew 24:6 Jesus starts off by telling his disciples, "You shall hear"  However when he gets to verse 15 he changes it to "You shall see."  Is that just a figure of speech.  I think not.  I have a reason for not thinking it is and accident.   In Revelation 11 it lays out the story of two witnesses to the endtimes.  They are supposed to prophesy for 3 and 1/2 years and then they will be slain.  That is when it gets interesting.  Verse 8 sets the location as Jerusalem. Verses 9 ans 10 describe what is going on.  It says " the peoples and kindreds and tongues, and nations shall "see" them dead in the streets. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry and shall send gifts one to another. because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt upon the earth. After three days and a half the spirit of God entered them.  They stood upon there feet and ascended into heaven.  It says great fear fell on them who saw it.  I bet it did.  What could two prophets do to the whole world.  They told them where they were headed if they did not change there ways I imagine.  That would terrify any reasonable person.  The point of telling that scripture is this.  That scripture could not have been fulfilled till the last few years.  The advent of worldwide satellite technology make it possible for people all over the world to "see" what was happening.  Also the fact that people were sending gifts to each other.  That implies it was not just the local people who knew about it and saw it.  In three days at the time the prophecy was made seventy five miles would have been the average distance traveled in that time.  It definitely implies greater mobility.  Which leads me to my final Bible quotes that say we are in the end time

     In the book of Daniel another book that has a lot to say about the endtime.  Chapter 12:4 the Angel told Daniel to close up his book and seal it till the time of the end.  It also says in the time of the end two things shall happen. "People shall go to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."  Well anyone can see the explosion of knowledge that has taken place over the last few years.  Also people definitely to go to and fro all over the earth.  Hopefully I have made my point.  As I am able it is my goal to lay out an endtime Bible study that reinforces and explains other reasons to believe we are in the end time.  Why should you care? Well it might help you make the decision to give your life to the Lord.   If you already have it might help you to make changes in your life and live like it.
 
      One of the events that is explained in the old testament is in the book of Micah in the 5th through the 7th Chapters it says that the Jews will be dispersed among the Gentiles for a period of time.  However Jesus said in Luke Chapter 21:24 that the Jews would be dispersed till the time of the Gentiles was fulfilled.  Well when the Jews returned to "their" land that completed the time of the Gentiles. When you look at the Bible from the historical point of view.  It was roughly 2000 years from Adam till Abramham.  It was also about 2000 years from Abraham to Jesus.   Then finally it has been 2000 years from the time of Jesus till now.  In 2nd Peter Chapter 3 and verse 8 it says. " A day with the Lord is as a thousand years.  Based on that verse mankind has been around for about six days.  The seventh day is the Lords Day.  It is the period of the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth.

     Hopefully I will be able to lay out and show people how all the prophecies of the Old Testament point to the end time.  How if we really study and look at the Bible we are at that point.  The time is definitely ripe for the second coming of Christ.  My writing will lay out several prior periods of time.   Certain events that occurred in each time period.  Events that foreshadow things happening in this day and age.  The key thing is that it is the Bible showing the events not me.  All I am doing is putting them together in a way I hope opens peoples eyes.  My goal is for this all to make sense to those who take the time to read it.  Hopefully I will be blogging on this subject at least one day a week.  Laying out what I have studied and understand it to mean.  Till then keep looking up.
     

My First Year, Top Ten & Most Read Articles

      March 8th of this year I celebrated my first year of blogging.  My main purpose of doing this particular blog is to share some of my older stuff with my new readers.  The search bar on my blog will work with a title or even just using one word.  This year has been fun and a learning experience for me.  I appreciate all the support.  Especially all the readers from around the world who have read and encouraged me to keep at it.  The blog has been read in over 33 countries which really amazed me as to how broad of a reach it gives a writer.  My writing generally deals with saving money, political problems, solutions to help the economy and create jobs.  Also some personal experiences from my 65 years of life.  My thirteen years in the military, ten years living overseas, twenty years as an over the road trucker and finally as small business operator.  My writing background comes from my last year in the Army.   It was my experience working as a photo/journalist for the Southern Command News in the Panama Canal Zone that stimulated my interest in writing.  Hopefully people will find my writing interesting.  I know I sometimes have grammar problems but my goal is to share the content.
     Following down this page you will find ten blog titles with they dates they were posted.  Also I will try to give enough to let readers determine if it is something they might be interested in.  The first one I am going to mention is not part of the list.  It is a fairly current one.from 24 February 2012, it is a letter to President Obama about the jobs problem with a couple enclosures.  This letter was sent at the start of the President's Administration and offers job creation and energy conservation ideas.  All of which seem to have been ignored.  I encourage you to read it and if you think it is viable send it to your political representative in Congress, your local energy company and yes even the President.  Ideas work but only if enough concerned people start pushing.  The recent victory over Bank of America and the Occupy Wall Street crowds show that if enough people scream loud enough, long enough and back it up with actions, like closing accounts. The powers that be will sooner or later take notice
     One of my biggest concerns is dealing with the drug problem in America.  Hopefully I am making a valid argument and people who read my views will see a new side to the issue.  Drugs are destroying lives and the failed drug war is putting a tremendous burden on our economy.   Incarceration and turning citizens into social lepers is not the solution to the problem.   There will always be some who abuse any system that is established.  However my personal view is that as Christians and America claims to be a Christian nation.   We could have a lot better results if we encouraged people to accept and live by the principals of the Christian faith.  I do not quote the Bible to beat people down with it.  I use it to show how little many people understand that it is the Word of God.  It is the truth and the truth will set you free.  When you do come into understanding you will see that there really is a spiritual battle going on over America.
    Part of the purpose of my starting this blog was to share a book I have been writing over a period of several years.  It was a couple hundred pages long, but I have trimmed it back to about 54 pages.  It is a Bible study dealing with the end time.  My goal is to publish it a couple pages a week till I get it all published.  When I post  pages they will stay up for a month then I will take them down.  When I am finished or anywhere along the line if a person is interested they will be able to send me a small amount to cover postage and the price of copying the book to CD and I will mail it directly to them.  When I get enough computer knowledge I may be able to put it up over the internet.  It is not my interest to make money off of the book.  It was freely given to me and I will freely share it.  However being on a fixed income I can not afford to mail it out of my own pocket.  All I am interested in is recovering my actual cost.  Thanks for the support and I hope you all keep following me.  I truly appreciate any and every comment I receive.  They help me determine if my writing is doing what it is supposed to do.  That is inform people.  Thanks again for following my blog.
     So here goes the list.  The letter to Obama is not on it but I do encourage you to read it.

1. 4/19/11  Why America Is Loosing The Industry and Marketing Battle.
           This was and has been my most popular article of them all.  Americans care about why America is in the trouble we find ourselves in.  My years in trucking, my military experience with logistics and working with the Military Airlift Command and my Associate Degree in Business all worked together to give me an insight from a laymen's point of view that not many Americans get to see.

2. 11/7/11  How Not To Go Down A Hill..Or..Murphy's Law At Work
        This may not have been the most popular but it did and has gotten lots of reads.   It is meant to be a humorous but serious and true story of an experience I had early in my civilian trucking experience.  Every time I go down that hill.  That first time is fresh in my mind. I was lucky enough to walk away from with only my pride and my boss's truck hurt a little bit.

3.6/22/11  Swatting Flies With Sledgehammers
       This blog deals with he incompetence of the government to deal with problems both foreign and domestic and show that no one is in charge of what is going on.

4.  How Did The Wealth Meltdown Occur.
     My love of history helped me write this and summarize a lot of important but ignored history.
     This blog deals with how our economy actually melted down and what caused it.  It happened over a very long period of time.  It is a fairly long article, but it explains how "Our Government, helped overthrow the Iranian Government."  You often hear about the hostage situation and how the ruthless Iranians overthrew our embassy and held the staff hostages for almost four hundred days.  Releasing them before Reagan took office.  The part that is left out is that we worked with Britain to overthrow the democratically elected government of Iran.  Yes America did that.  That is the source of the sore spot in the relations between Iran and the U.S.  In my view we owe Iran an apology.  Of course that is not a popular thing to say.  However if it opened communications and the door for us to help them make a peaceful nuclear system.  It might avoid the war that seems to be coming down the road.  However I doubt we will as it is all basically a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.   Have to wonder whatever happened to the Monroe Doctrine though.  Kruschev used our own policy against us during the Cuban Missile Crisis to defuse that time bomb before it went off.

5. 4/12/11  The Big One, Some Points To Ponder.
          This deals with the idea of the Big One.  A super earthquake that shakes the whole world.  What science and the Bible say about the issue.   It is meant to be serious but not to heavy.

6. 2/11/12  America's Moral Crisis.
         Basically this one deals with America and the attitude towards birth control and abortion that is going on in America today.

7. 9/21/11   The Postal, Postal System...A Sign or A Symptom
            What is wrong with the U.S. Postal System and how to fix it.  Also why it probably will not get fixed. It is just a mirror of the real problem in America.

8. 11/17/11 Prohibition, Income Tax & Pot,  What They Have In Common
           A look at how some of America's problems have been created by a hypocritical do good spirit.  This one was done over a long period of time and came about when I saw that many events in history are related to each other.   What sparked my interest was why would anyone pass a tax on themselves, which led to a study of prohibition and finally of its effect on the pot situation.

9.  5/19/11  2012, Or Sooner, Or Later, Whenever, Whatever, Endtime, Gloom and Doom
          This is meant to be a light hearted look at all the end of time doctrines and prophesies of the end of the world as we know it.   It got a lot of hits over the last year and still does.

10. America's Political Suicide, We Are About To Be Ga$$ed To Death
      A look at how America came to be in the situation we find ourselves in today.  Most of the time the problems we are having today have roots years in the past.  They are just coming to the surface in this day and age.  All this financial crisis and the meltdown were created by the efforts of Clinton and Gingrich clear back in 97 and 98.

     That summarizes all the top ten or what I consider the top ten and a little bit of what they are about. Any body that chooses to I hope you enjoy reading them.  Thanks again and I do appreciate comments both positive and negative.  it gives me an idea if I am making sense and what to pursue and write more or less about.

WAKE UP AMERICA, OUR GOVERNMENT IS LYING TO US.

       America is being played like a fiddle.  It is time for America to wake up and see what is happening to us as a nation.  On the surface it looks like we are in control, but if you sit back and look hard that's not the case.  It used to be my position to accept what the government said as gospel.  That is something you learn to do when you give thirteen years of your life to your country.  The view of most of the people I served with was that we did not vote or get involved in politics because we had to serve whoever was in power.  In the Army we had a phrase, " You respect the rank, even if you do not respect the person wearing it."  In other words they are in charge.  The last couple election cycles have hammered home to me, especially since Obama took office, that is not the attitude of the American public in general.
     It makes me wonder if the racism is that ingrained in the American mindset that they would hate to see a black man be successful in America.  He took control at the absolute worst time since the Great Depression and he has been fought at every point along the way.  Over every issue.  The fact that he has managed to keep it going this long has amazed me.  My favorite saying about him that I created is, "Obama was raised and fed on the American Dream, he was naive enough to believe it, determined enough to pursue it.  He proved it is true, but now what is he going do with it."  That is where the American Dream meets reality what do you do with the truth when you see it.
      Recently I discovered a couple of other truths and they are making me question the whole value system of America.  The Constitution says we are endowed by "Our Creator" which implies a belief in creationism by our Founding Fathers.  With certain inalienable rights. rights given by God and supported by our Constitution.
WELL SOMEBODY IS LYING.....Why do I say that.  It is pretty simple. In Genesis 1:29-30, God said he gave "every" herb bearing seed for man to use.  George Washington and Thomas Jefferson raised hemp, that is Marijuana in today's language, as cash crops.  They did not demand the government control and attack a frigging weed.  Let alone spend billions and billions of dollars trying to legislate morality.
     When I realized these simple truths I had to ask myself what in the world is going on.  Finally I got it.  John 10:10 states very simply,  Satan is come to Steal, Kill and Destroy.  He will do it any way he can.  Part of what opened my eyes to this is the issue of abortion.   America claims to be a Christian nation.  However abortion goes against everything Christianity stands for and believes.  Life is God given.  It says clearly in the Bible, " God knew you in the womb before you were born."  In other words you had personhood before you were born.  Also in the Bible Satan used killing children several times to try and thwart the works of God.  He did it in the time of Moses and he did it in the time of Jesus.  He also did it in the time leading up to the captivity in Bablylon.  God feels very strongly about killing children.In Leviticus 20:1-5 God commanded the people to kill a person who would kill or sacrifice a child.  Not only that he said to kill anyone who allowed it.  If a nation did not do so. He would pour out his judgment on that nation.  Welcome to the just judgment  of God we are now receiving.  He said he would do it.  He is doing it.  If you doubt my word I invite you to read what God's Word says he will do to nations in the form of Blessings and Curses.  It is laid out very clearly in Deuteronomy Chapter 28.  You will quickly see America abided  by God's standards but that is not the case in this day and time.
    Additionally the Bible says Woe..Webster's says woe means great trouble, sorrow or grief.  That is so you will know what we are talking about when I quote the next verse because Woe is not very commonly used these days.  So here goes.  " Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet,  and sweet for bitter." that is in Isaiah 5:20.  Looking at that verse I realized that God knows the purpose of every plant and its potential.  Even its uses for healing and medication.  So when man says that something God given is evil.  Well I hate to be literal, but that man is working for the Devil.  When I look at all the lives that are destroyed and locked up in prison.  All the money being wasted trying to kill a God given weed.  It is insanity.  Not to mention that the medical system is totally messed up.
     The original purpose of the government creating drug laws was not to ban drugs.  It was to make sure that the people selling snake oil. (worthless medicines that they said would cure anything and everything) were banned.   Unfortunately a bunch of misguided, or maybe SATAN guided souls over the years have perverted the purpose of the law.  Legislating in the name of morality has cost Americans dearly over our history.  During the Civil War our government started taxing alcohol and it represented 30% of government income by the end of the war.   Buy the turn of the century it had climbed to 70%.  The Prohibitionist ( use the search bar on my blog and read some detailed blogs on these issues) manipulated the American people into voting for Prohibition,  Jesus did not say ban alcohol, in fact he turned water into wine.  We all know what happened in Prohibition.  Gangsters and violence went out of control.  Finally the government did away with the ban, but they did not do away with the income tax, which was supposed to replace the alcohol tax,   they just started taking both.  Have to know that SATAN was laughing over that one.  At the end of Prohibition the alcohol companies used what they had learned from Prohibitionist to eliminate marijuana as a competitor.  I know this because my grandfather told me so.  He said during Prohibition pot became very popular and a lot of people did not go back to drinking when prohibition was over.  Hence the law.
     This evil is not confined to drugs and alcohol.  America invented the light bulb.  Now it is illegal to have and use a regular incandescent bulb.  The replacement is an environment polluting abomination.   These bulbs are going into land fills and polluting all over the country.  However that is not being monitored.  They say it is to reduce energy usage.  Well turning off lights when not needed would save just as much energy if not more. Designing homes so they face south and building them semi underground would reduce the need for light in the homes and also the demand for heat.   It would also afford more protection from being destroyed by tornadoes which lately has been a major problem.
     So in conclusion.  If we are a Christian nation, we better wake up and act like Christians.  The present arguments going on over birth control show the lack of moral understanding in America today.  Years ago when I was still trucking I heard a female Congressperson from California say, "Passing a law against partial birth abortions in America will create a moral crisis."  I had to wonder if she was so ignorant that she did not know what the word "moral" meant.   Just for the record, she had to be using the part that said, "distinguishing between right and wrong,"  Because the second part of the  definition says, "good in conduct or character specifically; sexually virtuous"  Well a sexually virtuous person has no need of an abortion period.  It is a perfect example of the verse I quoted earlier. Woe, to them that put good for evil and evil for good.  If America is a Christian nation it is time for them to stand up and be counted.  Not to hypocritically worry about what is wrong with another persons life, but to truly examine their own life in relationship to what God wants us to be doing.  That is caring for the lost, poor, orphans, widows and needy,   Not judging them.  The Christian ethic is alive an well that is evident when there is a disaster and people show the good side of America.  If Americans were living true Christian lives it would not matter if drugs were legal or illegal,  They would be leading souls into a path that leads them away from the evils of life. There will always be drunks, sinners, and poor people.  It is the Christians job to reach out to them, not condemn them.  It is easy to see who has the upper hand in America at this point.  It is time to WAKE UP AMERICA AND LET'S TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK FROM THE LIBERALS, POLITICIANS AND DECADENT CORRUPTION IT HAS FALLEN INTO.   Lets get America back on track by abolishing laws and agencies that stop Americans from being able to take care of themselves,  That stop us from making safe products that do not pollute.  Laws that force Americans to participate in a medical system that is designed simply to bleed people of every last dime.  Legalizing drugs will eliminate the need to give up everything you own just to relieve your pain when you are suffering from a terminal illness.  Laws that benefit the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor.  How often do we see celebrities, politicians and the wealthy violate the laws with no consequence or a slap on the wrist while a poor person gives up years of their lives for being in possession of something God said he had a right to use.  You say, Well God did not intend for them to abuse that drug.  No he did  not but he knew it had the potential to relieve suffering when he created it.  God gave the job of saving souls to man, especially to Christians.  It is time to wake up and realize we are getting railroaded to hell by SATAN.

Why Would Anybody Want To Be President

      It is a amazing to me that people will spend millions upon millions of dollars to get a job that only pays $400,000 a year.  Of course it is not their money they are spending in most cases.  So why would a person spend that kind of money to get the job, for the power, for the fame.  Surely not because they want the responsibility.   Maybe they think they will change the world.
   
      Here are some interesting trivia about Presidents you might want to impress friends with.
         
             18 % of our presidents have died in office.  Some by natural cause and some by assassination.
 That means that almost one in five presidents die in office.  The Presidency is evidently a high risk job. .

             !6 % have been shot.

            37% of those who died in office were in there second term in office.  Proof that politics can kill you.
                        The longer you stay the greater the risk.
             9% of our Presidents have been assassinated.  That means you have almost a one in ten chance of dying in office.  Those odds are almost worse than playing Russian roulette.  Guess mos people seeking the job have not done the research to know the risks that come with the job.  Only an idiot would want such a high risk job.
         
 50%  of those that have been assassinated were in their second term in office.  Which definitely proves  my theory of higher risk if you serve longer.

      When it comes to getting the job, education is not mandatory but it helps.  Twenty per cent of the ones who have been President did not graduate from college.  In fact a couple had no formal education.  Having not gone to college did not hold them back though.   While twenty five were lawyers.  Twenty percent (6) of those who were lawyers did not have a college education.  They were self taught and motivated.

       Four of the Presidents were professional soldiers and at least two of them graduated from military academies.  At least four of them attained to the office of President based largely on their role in the military.
Washington, Jackson, Grant and Eisenhower were held in high esteem because of their military records and not from their non military accomplishments.  Several others were military veterans with impressive records.

       In America's times of greatest trial we have had leaders who were not college educated or did not hold a degree.  Washington, Lincoln and Truman had no college degrees.  So God evidently provided men with strong common sense when the nation needed strong leadership.

      When you do look at the educational backgrounds some colleges standout.  Before the Civil War four of the Presidents had been graduates of William and Mary in Virginia.  From the beginning to now seven have been Harvard graduates,  Yale has produced five Presidents.  So it seems your choice of place of higher education can influence your chances of being President.

      America has proven to be a pretty good place to achieve the American dream by working your way up from the bottom.  Religious backgrounds have varied.  We even had a Quaker for President.  Even racism has not been a bar to reaching the highest office in the land.  When the Constitution was written blacks were considered only three fifths of a man.  That was changed with the Civil War and now a man of Color has achieved to the highest  office in the land.   He was raised by his mother and his white grandparents and he evidently was fed a full measure of the American dream.  He not only believed it.   He pursued it and proved it is truly possible for anybody to become the President of the United States of America.  He proved the dream is true and works. Now that he has the job, he seems to be struggling to figure out what to do with it.   He has views that our considered wrong by many Americans, but his life view is tempered by his upbringing. Having lived overseas his view is more comprehensive. He has seen  that America is the land of opportunity and hope. He could not have picked a worse time to become President, but history has shown divine providence provides the right man for the job at the right time.  Lets pray that is still the case.   There is only one thing that will keep you from becoming President of the United States.  You have to be born here.  That has been an issue since the President took office, but it has not been proven that he was not born here.  It is time to give the man a chance to do the job he was elected to do.  Hopefully his "change" will not tear America apart.  Time will judge if his actions are right or wrong like it has every President before him.

       As a "Christian nation" if we have elected a man who does not believe in and live the Christian values this nation was founded an based upon,  we will get our just reward.  Whatever that may be.  While Obama does and says many things I do not agree with.  It is my prayer that my judgement is right.  That he will do the right thing in the end.  We have a nation of checks and balances.  In the end he can do no more that the Congress allows him to do.  My hope and prayer is that he not be made the scapegoat for the whole mess America finds itself in today.  He was given a broken system with a broken and empty piggy bank and given the job of fixing the mess created over a period of eighty years.  Things do not happen in a vacuum and they do not happen in a day.  Just as I explain in my blog, of 20 Feb America's Political Suicide, this mess was set up to happen by a compromise by Clinton and Gingrich clear back in the 90's.  The stage was set by actions they took.  They passed the bill to give housing to people who could not really afford it.  Then they made the largest capital gains tax cut in history.  That tax cut took immense amounts of money out of the governments pockets and gave it directly to the wealthy.  The main problem was that they made no corresponding cut in spending.   So spending went on its merry way and when the housing crisis happened capital gains drained the system as it was given to Wall Street Bankers in the form of bonuses.  Now today we are seeing the real cost of the deal they made.   The nation can still be saved, but it will take a determined effort and cooperation between the President and Congress and sadly I do not see that happening.  Fortunately for Obama history will see and show what really caused this whole mess and he may be vindicated as a victim of circumstance.

      In the past there were a couple of men who took matters into their own hands and tried to make America great again. Both Booth and Oswald were deluded but living in times when there was a great amount of hatred in America. My first forever memory was walking out of my sophmore shop class and hearing President Kennedy had just been shot. I remember watching the Oswald shooting on live TV. Later in the sixties I was in Vietnam when both Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were killed. Things seemed to mellow out during the seventies to the nineties, but then they started getting dark again.

      The hate in America today is something I have a hard time getting a grasp on. The election of Obama seeemed to churn up emotions and common sense went out the window. Since the Trump election hate has seemed to permeate our culture. People I have considered friends for years have disowned me because I do not like Trump. My Biblical view is that of Jeremiah 17:5 which says. Cursed is the man who puts his trust in a man. While Proverbs 6:16-19 tells of seven things God hates. To like what God hates would take a fool or an atheist. I choose to believe God.

      It has been thirty-four years since Ronald Reagan was shot. With all the crazies in America and candidates out on the trail sticking their finger in the pot and agitating them, I think the forty year average is in risk of fulfillment again. Neither side is seeking to accomplish anything new, Their main goal is to undo what the other party has done. That is not progress. My prayer is for peace and common sense to prevail, but what I see is an evangelical movement in Ameica that is deceived.

      Just for the record I vote independent. The Constitution and the Bible guide my views. I spent thirteen years in the military, ten of it overseas.  As a history buff I try to look at the whole picture.  Not just what I can see right now.  Hope some body gets something out of this.