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Why I'll Vote for Trump

10/17/2016

I've been asked by several people how I can support Trump who is a "nut job." I've got to admit that I'm not voting for Trump as much as I'm not voting for Hillary. There are many reasons why I hate Clinton but to me it simply boils down to this...I don't want babies who are developed enough to live outside of the womb to be murdered "at will," meaning Hillary doesn't think it needs to be a case of rape or incest. A woman would be able to legally murder her baby all the way up until it’s born for any reason.

I’d like for you to picture something. Have you ever been to a NFL stadium? Picture a baby sitting in each seat that weighs around six or seven pounds. Now think about there being 10 of these stadiums filled with babies. This is the difficult part, now think about people going in and killing all of the babies and this whole process happening each year. This is what we’d go through if Hillary Clinton gets elected and gets through her Supreme Court nominees as she is pushing for late-term abortions. I do want to make it clear that we don’t know how many late-term abortions would occur if Hillary got it legalized, over a million babies are being aborted in the U.S. each year.

Trump doesn't support murder. I only have two candidates to choose from so of course I'll support the one who cherishes life. By the way, I do believe in a woman's right to choose up until a baby's heart starts beating (this is usually around ten weeks). If around the world it is agreed that life ends when the heart stops beating, then why in the world would we not say life begins when it "starts" beating? There are tons of other reasons for me not to vote for Hillary as corruption has followed her for decades, but this issue alone is enough for me to vote for the "nut job."

Getting Stabbed in the Back

10/17/2016

HUGE news! Doug Band, a co-founder of the Clinton Global Initiative and a top Clinton insider, accused Chelsea Clinton of backstabbing – specifically, of giving “a kiss on the cheek while she is sticking a knife in the back, and front” – in a January 2012 email sent to top Hillary Clinton campaign chairman, John Podesta, and top aide, Cheryl Mills. “As they say, the apple doesn’t fall far,” Band added. This is one of the most damaging leaks from WikiLeaks and my guess is that the mainstream media won't cover it because it goes against their Media Pac agenda of getting Hillary elected. Please get the word out on this one, the major networks won't. Thanks.

Bribery in Hillary Campaign

10/17/2016

The FBI released interview documents today that shows one of Hillary's people at the State Department tried to get them to change the classification on emails sent and received by Clinton from being classified in a quid pro quo agreement with the FBI agents involved. What he promised is that they would open up overseas assignments for the FBI in exotic locations where assignments weren't available before because they were determined to be unnecessary. How can Comey have made the claim that Hillary was innocent that she didn't try to do anything bad on purpose? Kennedy (Hillary's person), wasn't trying to get emails changed for himself. This information came from Comey’s own FBI team. I'm so glad he’s being investigated.

So now the Hillary Campaign is stating that it isn’t true, that a quid pro quo never took place. Of course it didn't take place, the FBI agent refused their deal. Just because it didn't happen doesn't mean one of Hillary's top people didn't try to bribe an FBI agent. If something like this happened to Trump the media would bury him, I bet this story isn’t even covered by the major networks. This is why Trump is making the claim the election is rigged.

Chicago World's Fair of 1893

10/1/2016

This is a wild story. On May 1, 1893, the gates opened at the Chicago World’s Fair, one of the greatest architectural feats in U.S. history. During the fair’s six months of operation, more than 26 million visited the 600-acre fairgrounds that had over 200 buildings full of art, food, entertainment and new technology. The fair was just two decades after the Great Chicago Fire which killed more than 300 people and left over a 100,000 residents homeless so the city really needed the investment in infrastructure and aggressively went after the bid to host the Fair. Here are three interesting facts you may not know about 1893 Chicago World’s Fair:

1. The fair produced a number of new products.

A number of grocery products introduced at the Chicago World’s Fair are still popular today like Cream of Wheat, Juicy Fruit gum and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. New technology was introduced that is still being used as well such as the dishwasher and fluorescent light bulbs; although the dishwater didn’t really take off until the 40’s and 50’s.

2. The newly invented Ferris Wheel helped save the fair from financial ruin.

Despite the money raised by private investors and the U.S. government (through the sale of commemorative coins and stamps), squabbling amongst the organizers and numerous construction delays resulted in a huge budget deficit. In today’s dollars it took around $330 million to put the fair together and run it and they only ended up getting less than half of what they invested in the fair back in ticket sales so getting people to spend a lot of money at the fair was critical.

Another costly financial mistake was the refusal to allow William “Buffalo Bill” Cody and his troupe of sharpshooters, cowboys and Native American performers to appear at the fair. This made him mad so he brought his Wild West extravaganza to Chicago anyway, setting up shop right outside the fairgrounds and siphoning off visitors. By the way, the Chicago World’s Fair didn’t want Buffalo Bill to perform for political reasons as his show involved cowboys and Indians having shootouts; so political correctness was around even then.

The fair’s financial woes received a boost with the long-awaited debut of a new invention from Pittsburgh and steel magnate George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. His Ferris wheel was 264-feet tall (close to 30 stories), and was an engineering marvel. It could fit 2,160 people at a time, and cost 50 cents to ride—twice the price of a ticket to the fair itself. The cost of a ticket would be around $12.70 in today’s dollars so it was an expensive ride.

Can you imagine how brave those first riders of the Ferris Wheel were? Would you have been one of the first to go up? The ride proved so popular it was moved to Chicago’s North Side after the fair ended, where it remained in operation for 10 years before it was sold to the organizers of the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.

3. Chicago was home to both a serial killer and a political assassin during the fair.

For several years before and during the Fair, Dr. Henry Howard Holmes was busily luring victims (including a number of fairgoers) to a three-story, block-long building called the “Castle,” where they were tortured, mutilated and killed. The building was custom built for him to torture the victims, murder them, and then dispose of their bodies in his own crematorium. Holmes’ heinous crimes weren’t discovered until after the fair ended and it’s believed he was responsible for dozens of deaths in Chicago. Keep in mind the police were absolutely overwhelmed with the 26 million visitors who were visiting the fair.

It was another murder major murder that stole the headlines during the fair. On October 28, just two days before the exposition was set to close, Chicago’s recently reelected and very well liked mayor, Carter Harrison Sr., was shot and killed by a disgruntled—and deranged—office seeker, Patrick Eugene Prendergast, who believed he was owed a political appointment by the mayor. With the city in shock, the fair’s organizers quickly decided to cancel the lavish closing ceremony in favor of a public memorial to the city’s popular slain leader.

One of the best books I’ve ever read is about this Chicago World’s Fair and it digs deep into the serial killing that was taking place; if you get a chance please read: Devil in a White City as it’s awesome.

Our Highway System

10/1/2016

Have you ever given much thought to how our interstate highway system got started? Would it surprise you to know that the vision for having it wasn’t about providing ease of personal or for that matter commercial transportation across the country but instead about moving military equipment and personnel?

The U.S. realized during WWI that they would’ve been much more effective at ending the war sooner if there were better roads in Europe. After World War I, leaders in Washington became concerned about the state of our nation’s roads should we ever need to fight a war at home. The automobile was still a relatively new invention so most transcontinental travel depended on a few train tracks spanning the country. The U.S. War Department (now the Defense Department), wanted to know if our nation’s roads could handle coast-to-coast movements of military equipment so the vision of having a roadway system was mostly about our military effectiveness not about having roads for personal use.

The Federal Government sent a Transcontinental Motor Convoy which included 80 military vehicles and 280 soldiers from Washington, D.C. to California on July 7, 1919. Army scouts rode ahead of the convoy on Harley Davidson motorcycles to check out the conditions. They traveled over dirt roads, rutted paths, winding mountain trails, and shifting desert sands on their way to California.

Many areas were nearly impassable and the men often had to push or pull the heavy trucks in their convoy to keep them moving. The vehicles frequently broke down, got stuck in mud, and sank when roads and bridges collapsed under them. In spite of the hardships, 62 days after it left Washington, D.C., the convoy reached San Francisco. It had covered 3,251 miles, averaging 58 miles a day at an average speed of 6 mph. The official report of the War Department concluded that the existing roads in the United States were absolutely incapable of meeting their requirements.

One of the Army officers on the convoy was 28-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower, who later said the roads they encountered “varied from average to non-existent.” Eisenhower never forgot this grueling experience nor how difficult it was during WWII to get around the various countries so one of the most important things he did after becoming president was to create the interstate highway system.

Construction began in 1956, and the entire interstate system now has a total length of 46,837 miles. It’s the largest highway system in the world and the largest public works project in world history.

Braveheart

10/1/2016

This is one of my favorite stories and felt like posting again. One of my favorite movies is Brave Heart (it won five Academy Awards) with Mel Gibson. It tells the story of Scotland fighting for independence from English rule back in the early 1300’s. What a lot of people don’t know is that it is based on an amazing true story about Sir William Wallace.

William Wallace was instrumental in freeing Scotland from English rule. Very little was known about his childhood but he was a commoner who couldn’t take the fact his countrymen weren’t free. He had enough of English Noblemen raping their women and stealing their food. The men in the villages couldn’t’ fight back because there wasn’t enough of them plus they weren’t allowed to carry weapons; they basically had rocks and sticks versus spears and swords. With this in mind the English soldiers could do whatever they wanted to their women and if the Scottish men tried to fight back they were killed for interfering with the army. The bottom line is that they weren’t free men.

Wallace knew he’d have to bring all the villagers together in order to create an army. You can imagine how scared these men must have been because they knew they’d probably die taking on England’s mighty military. Wallace motivated them in saying life isn’t worth living unless they’re free. He also reminded them the English Nobles and soldiers would only get worse in terrorizing their families and raping their women.

William Wallace (he wasn’t knighted until later) accomplished some amazing military feats. He won many smaller battles when taking down different forts the English Lords were using to govern his people. The King of England got word that a rebellion was taking place so he sent his army to squash it with a heavy hand so a strong message would be sent to the rest of the commoners. What he didn’t count on was the small Scottish Army was much more motivated than his and it was led by Wallace. Even though Wallace’s background was unknown some historians think he must have had some military exposure while growing up. They say this because Wallace deployed military strategies they’d never seen before and which were adopted later by future militaries.

Wallace solidified his warrior reputation at the battle against England called: “The Battle of Sterling Bridge.” His men were outnumbered by thousands, they didn’t have armor, they didn’t have archers (archers could kill easily at 100 yards), they didn’t have enough swords, they didn’t have horses (Calvary), etc. The English army felt very confident about winning and even thought Sir Wallace’s army would run after seeing their army. They were wrong. Psychological problems began to unfold for England’s army. The Scots didn’t run and instead waved their weapons and screamed war cries. Even if you think you’re going to win a fight it naturally makes you more nervous when you realize the other guy isn’t intimidated.

Another problem England had is there was a lot of military protocol back then. Each competing army would fire off their bows, the Calvary would be sent, then the infantry, etc. It was well scripted and followed by both sides. The Scots didn’t have protocol they had their own unique way of fighting so the English hadn’t prepared for it. The English commander followed the usual battle plan sending one group after another only to see them mowed down by the Scots. He sent army division after army division only to see his soldier’s bodies piling up. Realizing they were getting massacred he ordered a humiliating retreat and it became one of world history’s greatest victories.

After this famous battle Scottish Nobles got together and knighted William Wallace. Nobles were basically men who had been paid off by England and were given land, money, and titles to keep their own people under control. Sir Wallace told them they should pull more resources together and take the fight to England. These Nobles hadn’t participated in the war at that point although they had a lot of men who could fight; they were basically afraid to give up their nice lifestyles which were completely different than the other Scotts who were trying to keep themselves fed. They initially refused to help Sir Wallace saying it would be a suicide mission but after intense pressure they said they’d join the fight which meant significantly more soldiers for the battle. Wallace said that with them or without them he and his men would continue to fight because they wouldn’t stop until Scotland was free.

They lost their next battle at the Battle of Falkirk for a few reasons. The Nobles who said they’d help Wallace didn’t show up for the fight and because King Edward received intelligence as to where the Scots were camped. They caught Wallace’s men off guard and easily beat them but Sir Wallace was able to escape capture. Then in the year 1305 Sir Wallace was betrayed by a fellow Scotsman who was also a Royal Knight and was on King Edward’s payroll. The King gave him some additional money and land for his assistance in capturing Wallace.

They convicted Wallace and told him they would show him mercy and give him a quick death if he would make a public apology and recognize King Edward as the King of Scotland. He refused to do it. They stripped him naked and dragged him through the city by a horse. They asked him again to apologize and he refused. He was hung but released before he died. When he gained his wits they tied him to a post and whipped him. Then they tied his arms to a pole and his legs to a horse and almost pulled him apart yet he still didn’t die. They castrated him and before he bled out they gutted him and pulled out his intestines. Then when he was dead they beheaded him and cut of his limbs. His head was preserved then stuck on a pole. His arms and legs were sent to various locations across Scotland to send a message of fear to the commoners.

It didn’t work. The Scots were so mad at what King Edward did to their hero they took after the English army with a whole new conviction of freedom and revenge. Needless to say they showed no mercy to their enemies as they made their way into England. This information made its way to other English soldiers who began fearing the Scottish army. Their new war cry was “Wallace” and they weren’t going to stop until they sacked England. This didn’t happen. They scared the King of England so much that he freed Scotland allowing them to have their own King if the Scottish army would go home. Sir Wallace’s dream came true even though he wasn’t there to see it.
Sir Wallace (a.k.a. Brave Heart) became a legend. There’s a huge monument to him where he was executed, that looks like the castle at the location where “The Battle of Sterling” took place, along with several other monuments throughout Scotland. He is kind of like their George Washington. Sir Wallace never gave up and he never gave in. He could have taken the easy way out and just say the words that the King of England was also the King of Scotland but he never did and allowed himself to be horrifically tortured. I don’t know about you but I don’t think I could’ve done it.

Sir Wallace knew when he started his mission of freeing Scotland that it was highly likely that he’d die but he wanted his life to mean something. The line from Mel Gibson (he played Sir Wallace) in the movie said it all: “Every man dies but not every man truly lives.” He couldn’t have said better.

The Brady Bunch

10/1/2016

The Brady Bunch ran from 1969 to 1974 and was never a huge ratings success (much like Star Trek), but became a bit of a hit when it went into syndication (which basically means re-runs off the main networks). During its five year period it never reached the Top 30 and finally reached numbers too low to continue. This was right after Greg graduated from high school and was getting ready to go to college so the timing was probably right. But like I said, when it reached syndication the show started taking off and there ended up being nine different spin-off shows and movies. It also received six different awards after the series ended. Even 40 years after the show ended it’s still running in some TV markets.

The major networks were a little afraid of the idea for the show at the time because it dealt with a blended family. I don’t know if you noticed but we never did know why Carol Brady was single…they didn’t want people to see her as a divorce’ so they just let the narrative slide. Finally, ABC bought in for one season with right of first refusal to pick it up for additional seasons. Basically this meant the producer couldn’t shop the show to other networks unless ABC said they weren’t interested in continuing with the show.

It took over 300 interviews before they got their core characters which were the mom, dad, housekeeper, and six children. Florence Hendersen, Robert Reid, Ann B. Davis, Barry Williams, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinhand, Maureen McCormick, Eve Plumb, and Susan Olsen, ended up being a perfect blend for the series. Of course many of them continued to work together on different projects for years after the series finished.

Although kind of a cheesy show it had a dedicated following. I don’t know if you remember the episode with Davy Jones taking Marcia to the prom but it ended up being at one point the 37th greatest television episode of all time according to TV Guide. Then there’s also the famous episode where Marcia got her nose broken by a football which Snicker’s piggy-backed off of in last year’s Super Bowl Ad.

Before I wrap up I would like to pay homage to the father on The Brady Bunch and that’s Robert Reed. Most people know him by this role but he also received Emmy nominations for his roles in the popular TV shows Rich Man Poor Man and Roots. In all, he played in at least one episode on over 90 shows including Ironside, Mission Impossible, Law and Order, The Love Boat, and Father Knows Best. He quietly had a very successful career.

Unfortunately it ended when he was just 59 years old due to prostate cancer. The coroner also said he was HIV positive which Reed did come out that he was gay later in his career. Early on he tried to hide this fact by getting married and having a child. He was a good actor but more than that a very good man who people loved to work with.

Anyhow, I find it amazing that one man’s vision back in the 60’s of a television show with a blended family is still being aired today. It was a silly show but let’s face it, it could be entertaining. In order to maintain my reputation I’d never admit to my guy friends that I watched and liked the show, so let’s just keep this between us.

Comparing Ourselves to Others

10/1/2016

Happiness even more so than success, should be what all of us want to achieve. There are many things that contribute to happiness and there’s certainly at least one thing that takes it away from us and that is envy. This is an awesome Bible verse that deals with the topic: “Each one should test their own actions then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else. “ (Galatians 6:4 NIV).

Someone once said that comparing ourselves to others is the root of all envy so if we can get rid of comparing ourselves to others we can get rid of envy in our lives. Easier said than done because the fact is most of us do it all the time. We compare all kinds of things like how much money we have, how much we weigh, our jobs, how talented we are, how big of a house we have, how nice of a car, etc. The list goes on and on.

I think we’d all agree that envy is an ugly human characteristic and the fact is every time we compare ourselves to other people we end up falling guilty to either envy or pride. We’ll always find people who are doing better or worse than us in life. We can look down on others in a prideful way or we can look at those who are perceived better off and feel envious. Pride or envy is always the result of comparing and God says it’s not wise. We shouldn’t do it because we are unique. We came into this world unique and the environment we grew up in based on all the different people in it makes us unique as well. With this in mind how can we legitimately compare ourselves to someone else?

The Bible verse above says to do your very best. We were all given various circumstances in life and we’re to do the best we can with what we’ve been given. Surely it makes sense that if someone grew up in a wealthy family and had all the various privileges that often go with it he or she would have a leg up on life’s journey when it comes to success not necessarily happiness but the attainment of wealth sure is much easier. Plenty of young people have squandered these advantages but they were there. Most of us didn’t grow up this way. Why should we compare where we are in life to someone who grew up with all the advantages?

I read the following somewhere and loved it: “When you get to Heaven, God is not going to say, “Why weren’t you more like this person or that person?” No! He’s going to ask, “Why weren’t you more like you?” You can’t focus on your purpose while you’re focusing on other people.”

When we get to Heaven we’re not going to be judged on talent we didn’t have. We’re not going to be judged on opportunities we weren’t given. We are going to be judged on how we lived and what we did with what we were given.

There’s no need to compare ourselves to others. God has called us to be the best person we can be based on our backgrounds, experiences, and talents that he has given us. Like I wrote in the beginning, all of us want happiness and there’s a lot to it but one thing is for sure, we won’t experience it if we live a life of envy.

Author: John Mann

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