Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets. —Leonardo da Vinci
Author: Mr_Sercanto
I am a finger pointing to the moon. Don’t look at me; look at the moon. — Buddha
Bear and forbear, live and let live, give and forgive.
As an individual I don’t matter. What matters is what I am advocating.
God Save the King!
May 6, 2023: As I watched the crown being places upon the head of Camilla, Queen Consort, it occurred to me that Diana should have been the one so honored. Her tragic death in 1997 made that impossible. Of course, Charles and Camilla loved each other before Diana came into the picture and had an ongoing affair right through his marriage to Diana. Camilla was Charles’ true love. He should have been allowed to marry Camilla at the first, without involving Diana. But in those days the bride of the heir to the throne had to be a virgin, and as he approached age 30 that priority became more and more urgent. So he married Diana. She became a pawn in the Windor family’s plan to produce an heir. Had Charles been allowed to marry the woman he loved, Diana would have retained her status as a noble (Lady Diana Spencer), and although largely unknown to the world, probably still be alive today.
And why should we feel anger at the world? As if the world would notice! — Marcus Aurelius
Think you have problems? Are you angry about something? Do you hate the world today? Guess what. The world goes on no matter how you feel! And remember: your problems are nothing compared to what others are suffering.
America Passed the Test! Trump and the Presidency
<start Allegations>
The New York Attorney General’s lawsuit against Donald Trump and his adult children September 2022 should come as no surprise. This could mean the corporate “death penalty” for the Trump family (banned from doing business in the state) but he should have taken warning.
Donald Trump has been a con man all his life. This is how he’s made his way through the world. People in New York and around the country were aware of this but winked at it for years. But then he was elected President; then his life was thrust into a brighter spotlight and subjected to more scrutiny than ever before. Becoming President was the best thing that ever happened to him — and the worst. He was a loose cannon in the White House, not hewing to the GOP party line, doing things that upset the leadership but advanced his fame and wealth. Even then, he could have left office in 2021, returned to his life in New York City, and continued his lucrative con games.
Usually when a President departs the White House, he steps out of the limelight, writes books, gives lectures, and lets the new President have the power and attention he deserves. The two parties prepare for the midterms and look ahead to the next Presidential election in four years. Both parties do this. Trump was different. He knows he lost the 2020 election, but some of his supporters are stupid enough to believe he won! Trump was aware of this and chose to use it to keep himself forward in the news. The people and the press were constantly talking about him. Perhaps he believed he could use it as a springboard for a run in 2024. He felt it would help him but failed to realize that he lost the support of the Republican Party leaders. They want Trump to shut up and go away. They want Ron DeSantis to be in the spotlight to prepare for the race in 2024. But due to Trump’s popularity with the right wing of the GOP, DeSantis is forced to take a back seat, outshone by the intense spotlight on Donald Trump.
The party leadership wants to bar Trump from running for President again, not to put him in jail. This is why the legal process against him is having such success. The Democrats are expected to attack him. He has no powerful friends left in the Republican Party; however loud their public protests about the supposedly stolen 2020 election or the illegality of the raid on Mar-a-Lago, privately they want Trump out. They want the political machine to function the way it used to. Now that he has been in the White House for four years, people know what he’s like. Whatever else may be said about him, Donald Trump will mobilize Democrats to vote. If he runs for President in 2024, he will lose. DeSantis might win a matchup with Joe Biden. Trump will not.
The Trump fiasco has been a stress test on the American political system and way of life. I am pleased to see that America passed the test! The Republic still holds! But watch for big changes in the way electoral votes are counted in state capitals, certified by the Senate, and the way Presidents leave office and what they do afterward. New legal safeguards will be put in place to prevent another January 6 style riot / interrupt the peaceful transition of power.
The system works when people care enough to take an active part in it and most importantly, vote!
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Important Information about early and absentee voting for November 8, 2022, midterm elections!
https://ballotpedia.org/Early_voting_dates,_2022
For those in the United States, click on the link above to see when early voting opens and closes in your state!
These midterm elections are the most important in recent American history! Be informed and vote!
Voting is one of the most vital parts of maintaining our great system of American government — and one of the most patriotic things you can do!
“Black Lives Matter sued one of its own executives, accusing him of siphoning $10 million in donations toward his own ‘personal piggy bank'”
One board member allegedly “…’managed to steal control of’ the Global Network Foundation and became its sole board member and officer. He made more than $2.1 million from the Global Network Foundation within the span of less than eight months, the lawsuit says.”
“Earlier this year, a court filing said that Patrisse Cullors, once the executive director the Global Network Foundation, sent her brother $840,000 from funds received through donations to the movement.”
Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation must agree to open its books to an independent audit! How much money is missing? How has it been spent? What other secrets is BLM hiding?
August 16, 2022: Biden signs breakthrough bill into law. It’s about time these measures were enacted!
https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/advocacy/info-2022/medicare-budget-proposal.html
“President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 on Aug. 16. This historic legislation will help millions of Medicare enrollees better afford their life-sustaining medications, and millions more Americans will be able to pay their Affordable Care Act premiums.”
“Medicare saves hundreds of billions of dollars over 10 years as a result of the new law, with the majority of the savings coming as a result of prescription drug price negotiations and the rebates to Medicare designed to encourage pharmaceutical companies to keep price increases to no more than the rate of inflation, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.”
August 14, 1935: FDR signs Social Security Act
“…over the ensuing decades, it contributed to a dramatic decline in poverty among the elderly…..”
Imagine being a senior citizen without the assurance that you will have a basic lifetime income from Social Security.
“The Social Security Act of 1935 is a law enacted by the 74th United States Congress and signed into law by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The law created the Social Security program as well as insurance against unemployment. The law was part of Roosevelt’s New Deal domestic program.
“By the 1930s, the United States was the only modern industrial country without any national system of social security. In the midst of the Great Depression, the physician Francis Townsend galvanized support behind a proposal to issue direct payments to the elderly. Responding to that movement, Roosevelt organized a committee led by Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins to develop a major social welfare program proposal. Roosevelt presented the plan in early 1935 and signed the Social Security Act into law on August 14, 1935. The act was upheld by the Supreme Court in two major cases decided in 1937.”
Golden Oldies
The other day I was in a store that played a radio station specializing in “oldies” music. The last time I listed to the station on a regular basis, it played 50s tunes. I wondered why today the station was playing songs from the 1980s. Then it struck me: 80s hits ARE from 30 years ago! They are golden oldies — and so am I!
Mike's Maxims 