Blog Archives

April Topics

4/1/2018

I don’t know about you, but these first three months have blown by for me. I would complain as to how our weather has been much worse than usual, but I’d be complaining about grey skies and temperatures mostly in the 40’s so in no way can I compare it to the horrendous weather in other parts of the country.

There are a lot of articles this month with the more serious ones being about: 1) Trump congratulating Putin on his election victory. 2) Gun control and student marches. 3) Hillary’s continued attacks on the Trump voters. 4) The farce that is the current budget. 5) The new transgender ban in the military. 6) Trade wars. 7) Assistant FBI Director Andrew McCabe’s fall from grace. 8) The most dangerous U.S. cities. 9) The repercussions of “White Flight” in Flint, Michigan. 10) Bonuses for Federal employees.

On the lighter side this month I have: 1) Blue Whales. 2) History of photographs. 3) Where is the best place to live? 4) Old age. 5) Barber shop signs. 6) First films. 7) The real story of Adam & Eve. 8) Various jokes. 9) History of fingerprints. 10) The story behind the game Red Rover.

There are a lot more articles than what I just listed so I’m sure you’ll find some you find interesting. A reminder that all you must do is copy and paste any of the articles to an email to share with others. Never worry about sourcing me for the material as it doesn’t matter to me, I just want the good stories to get out there to hopefully have a positive influence on other people.

Thanks for visiting my site and I hope you have a fantastic month!

A Positive Attitude

4/1/2018

I've got this friend that is more positive than anyone I've ever known. He's the type of guy who would take a row boat out to catch Moby Dick and have some tartar sauce with him.

The Best Places to Live

4/1/2018

I've lived in a variety of places over the years and I've heard some people mention they wish they would've done the same, but they stayed in their hometown instead.

The thing is, a place is only as good as the people you know in it. In other words, living in a cool place like San Diego won't mean as much if it doesn't include the many great people you know from family, friends, and co-workers from where you live now. Sure, they aren’t all perfect and I’m sure there are some you’d like to get away from, but it will be at the expense of the good relationships you have going. I don’t care who you are and how good of intentions you have, if you move away from a great friend it will never be the same. Absence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder. It’s basic logic, if you’re not growing together, you’re growing apart.

I’m not saying that a change of scenery isn’t bad from time to time but what I am saying is if you’re running off someplace thinking the location will make you happier then you need to know the whole truth and that is it’s not the place so much as it is the people.

Photographs

4/1/2018

Photographs weren't all that common until the late 1800's as it was expensive. Ever wonder why there wasn’t much smiling going on in pictures dating back to the 1800’s? One, not everyone’s teeth looked all that attractive but also, they were afraid that if they smiled, the camera would somehow magically take away their souls. Photographs were the devil’s work to some.

Before this time, people who had money would have portraits and mini-portraits (which were amazing), done by artist so they could take a likeness of their loved one(s) with them...the wallet size photos so to speak although they were mostly placed in small lockets. The detail it took to create these mini-portraits is extraordinary.

Think of a world without pictures if you can. How quickly would the image of my parents fade if I didn't have pictures to remind me of what they looked like? We are blessed to live in a time where moments can be captured so easily. When counting your blessings add this to the many we have.

Trade Wars

4/1/2018

A lot of people are jumping on Trump for starting a trade war, but the fact is, it's what he promised voters who voted for him; he's delivering on a campaign promise and he’s the one who won the election.

Trump's a negotiator. One of the first things in his book: "The Art of the Deal" is that you focus on your leverage and in this case the leverage is we're an $800 billion-dollar customer. Even more than this but I’m just addressing the trade imbalance which is where they really make their money. China alone is making around $500 billion off us with many unfair trade practices. If we're losing this much money and it's leaving our economy (every dollar drops our GDP), then the fact is we're better off with no trade deals.

Trump's not talking about getting a much better deal than countries like China but he's trying to make us more competitive; he wants a comparable deal. If we're paying a 20% export tax, then surely, we could get 15% which would put us more in line with our competitors. Why in the world aren’t we getting the same deal from China that we’re giving them? Even if you’re a Democrat you should see how horrendous this is…Trump’s saying no more.

The bottom line is even with how devastating a trade war can be because of the politics involved, all Trump is trying to do is make a better deal...a fairer deal. What is so evil about that? Sure, they'll get mad but what's fair is fair.

What I like most is that there's nothing that Trump promised that he hasn't tried to bring to fruition. Even when Obama had the House and Senate he didn't even try to follow through with promises he made on the campaign trail. So even though I'm not a huge fan of a lot of Trump's on a personal level, so far, he's staying the course and trying to follow through on promises made; I like that.

Bad Time for Me

4/1/2018

I don’t know about you, but old age has come at a really bad time for me. 😊

Sow for It

4/1/2018

Some people "go for it" when they should consider an alternative and that is "sow for it." More and more people are living their lives making choices to obtain instant gratification but it's not an effective strategy for long-term happiness. We must understand clearly the type of life that would make us happy and then sow the seeds to get us there where we can reap the goods later. It takes more work and it generally takes longer, but it sticks, it's not fleeting. So, forget going for it and instead sow for it!

Disclaimer: I did grow up on a farm so anytime I can work in the word “sow” I always go for it. 😊

Amazon

4/1/2018

Trump is saying/tweeting that Amazon isn't paying enough taxes. Doesn't he really mean that it's not Amazon so much since they paid $412 million in Federal taxes but ecommerce in general? Where else will Trump get more tax revenues from Amazon but to create and where applicable, increase sales taxes?

Although he's saying Amazon he really means you and me. Amazon is paying their fair share of taxes based on current tax laws and the fact is Trump is lowering corporate tax rates across the board. Is he now going to pick and choose which companies get the reductions…that’s not capitalism.

I've got to say that this sounds bad to me. I'm hoping that since I don't have all the facts that it isn't as bad as it seems. The bottom line is I voted Trump in office to reduce taxes on U.S. citizens, not raise them.

No More Religion

4/1/2018

I've heard people say from time to time that we don't need religion because millions of people have died in "religious wars."

The thing is, what they often call religious wars aren't, instead they were just wars about power and influence. The kings would come up with a "Holy" purpose for attacking another country or group of people to protect or extend their power.

The soldiers in almost every war mentioned weren't fighting because they were Christians or Muslims, they were fighting because they were either made to fight or because their families were starving to death, so they took a job in the army so they could better feed their loved ones.

Most organizations that help people in need are Christian based. We need more of these people, so we can help our brethren more not less. Atheists' organizations don't generally focus on the needs of others in their community. Not that there aren’t great, caring, people who are atheists, but the bottom line is they don’t generally come together to help people with clothing, food, and/or shelter.

Losing Their Minds

4/1/2018

Democrats and the mainstream media are losing their minds over Trump pardoning Flynn and Manafort. The problem? Trump never said he'd do it. His legal counsel said they never even discussed the matter because there isn’t anything to pardon. You can’t pardon someone who hasn’t been indicted.

So here we go again with liberals attacking Trump over something that doesn't exist. Will the mainstream media go back and tell their viewers that they got it wrong...that Trump never planned on pardoning the two? No way!

How much time will they spend letting their viewers know that the independent counsels found no collusion with Russia? My guess is around 30 seconds. They spent hours stating he’s guilty yet they'll pass quickly by the fact he and his election campaign were innocent.

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Author: John Mann

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