Views by the Sea
Dear readers: We are entertaining company.
We plan to post again, Friday, January 1
2020...goodbye and good riddance
2021...you're on probation
Scary, but Happy New Year!
What did the clock do when it was hungry?
It went back four seconds.
Why did the turkey join the band?
He had the drumsticks.
What subject are snakes best at?
Hisstory
Boo! Hiss!
Third C - the Constitution
Along with Christianity and Capitalism, our Constitution is responsible for America's success, however imperfect, say authors Mike Huckabee and Steve Feazel.
Its first three words - We the People - set the table for all that follows, and separated this new nation from monarchies and dictatorships. For those today who would rewrite or replace our Constitution, it is the lone document established for the benefit of its people - not for those who govern them.
The authors contend that most Americans have little idea how precarious was the summer of 1787. The 13 colonies had become states, united to declare independence. But could they remain one nation?
Our Constitution was a foundation on which the rest of the country's laws would be built. The national government had to be strong enough, but with not so much power that puts fundamental rights at risk.
Government was a necessity, but the founders were suspicious of it becoming so powerful that individual liberties might be jeopardized.
Today, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments) work to protect liberties and restrain the power of centralized government.
At the end of the book, the authors wrote a section, "Corruption," which exposes corruption in government and our culture, undermining the Constitution. Will the Constitution continue to withstand the test of time?
President John Adams said: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Jimmy
The Second C - Capitalism
We pick up where we left on Saturday - Christianity, one of the THREE Cs THAT MADE AMERICA GREAT, written by Mike Huckabee and Steve Feazel.
Capitalism is the second C.
Settlers in the colonies were escaping feudalism, common in Europe, where kings owned and dispensed land to nobles. They in turn gave kings political security.
Peasant farmers did not own land, which was key to wealth. Ordinary citizens had little hope of owning land or gaining wealth.
After the Revolutionary War, the Washington administration sold western land at a dollar an acre to help pay off debt to France. Soldiers were paid in land grants.
Capitalism grew, and other means of acquiring wealth became reality. The authors explain how America overcame some of capitalism's imperfections.
They also discuss personal stories of entrepreneurs, including Cornelius Vanderbilt, Sam Walton, Alexander Graham Bell and Rush Limbaugh.
"More people have been lifted out of poverty by capitalism than any other economic system ever to appear in the history of the world," they wrote.
Tomorrow, the Constitution - the third C.
Jimmy
Wisdom and Judging
We ... speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1 Corinthians 2:6-8
Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes.
1 Corinthians 4:5
Then what?
Do you not know we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
1 Corinthians 6:3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wonderful Counselor - our legal helper
Mighty God - our powerful helper
Everlasting Father - head of the family
Prince of peace - eternal ruler, guarantor of peace
Isaiah 9:6-9
What We Stand to Lose, if...
Here we are, a few hours after we again celebrated the human birth of God himself. And we wonder when those in Washington might change Christmas to Gift-Giving Day.
Those who want God out of the way are increasing in strength. They are related to religious Sadducees and Pharisees who rejected Jesus 2000 years ago. (That "knowledge" - attributed to our nephew, a pastor in Oregon.)
If America turns away from tradition and the ideas that made America successful, we stand to lose. This comes from a book, The Three Cs That Made America Great, by Mike Huckabee and Steve Feazel, both Christian ministers, retired. Huckabee as you know was governor of Arkansas and twice a candidate for president.
The first C - Christianity.
The authors believe America's relationship with God influenced colonial life and was at the heart of many of our laws. They write about early colonists, charters of the colonies, and the religious ideas of the founders.
Immigrating from Europe, where worship meant official state churches, the colonists established their own relationship to God.
The "establishment clause" in the First Amendment says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." This was not written to deny Christianity's influence, but to make sure that one denomination would not be favored over another.
(You may know that unbelievers intentionally misconstrued the comment of one of our founders to claim that church and state must be separate.) Many now believe that sleight was and is the law. It isn't.
Justice Samuel Alito Jr. said, "In certain quarters religious liberty has fast become a disfavored right."
Monday, the second C - Capitalism.
Jimmy
Immanuel, to Thee We Sing
The angelic message said the baby was to be named Jesus (Savior), so what's with the Old Testament name Immanuel? Are Scriptures a little confused here?
In the 1600s a German believer wrote a hymn focused on Immanuel. Other names in the hymn include Prince of life, almighty King and heavenly Guest.
Names are what we are called. In Bible times, names could also mean who you were. For example, in Acts, Paul's helper Joseph took on the name Barnabas, "encourager."
Immanuel means "God with us." (Isaiah 7:14) That's who Jesus was in human flesh, and is, and eternally will be ... with us. Matthew quoted Isaiah 7:14 in his first chapter, after providing genealogy starting with Abraham.
In Isaiah chapter 9 the prophet provides other, awesome names of the "child," the "son" to be given to us centuries later.
"And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince (ruler) of Peace."
It doesn't get any better than who he is. There is one God. If we have the Holy Spirit, we have the Son and we have the Father ... inseparable ... both here and above ... on our behalf ... no matter what ... in this fickle world.
Merry Christmas.
Jimmy
Young and Old, Rich and Poor
*
Suddenly, the night lights up with the glory of the Lord over poor shepherds tending their flocks. Were they speechless? "Terrified!" the Book says. The angelic message is good news and great joy to them. Then a great company of angels of the heavenly host gives glory to God. Excited shepherds find the manger, see the child, and return to their fields, spreading the news as they go.
When they were able, Mary and Joseph travel six miles to Jerusalem, to present the child to the Lord. By the Law of Moses, a first-born male was to be consecrated / dedicated to the Lord, and parents would offer a sacrifice. Being poor, they offered a pair of doves.
*
Simeon, an old priest, received the child. He knew. Simeon praised God, saying: For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.
Then, Simeon gave Mary something to ponder. This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul also. ...and so it did.
*
Then there were the rich. Coming from the east were "wise men" who had seen glory in the sky resembling a star. Somehow they knew it was leading them to a house in Jerusalem, where the family now was staying. They worshipped the child and delivered valuable gifts.
A fiction novel might have Mary and Joseph returning to Nazareth, and years later tearfully waving goodbye as their son goes off to save the world.
But this world is vile. King Herod is troubled by the report of wise men searching for a newborn king. He learned from priests and teachers that Bethlehem was the place in prophecy. To assure his rival was eliminated, he ordered all babies in the city killed, up to age 2. Paranoia?
*
Six centuries earlier, Jeremiah received a word: This is what the Lord says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more."
A fictitious hero would have saved the children.
* *
Instead, an angel warned Joseph to flee to Egypt, where they lived two years. When Herod died, the angel told Joseph it was safe to return home.
Hosea, seven centuries prior, foreknew this: Out of Egypt I called my son.
The birth was a miracle, and acts of God continued.
This was written in the book of life before there was a world. (Rev. 17:8)
The Lamb that was slain conceived his plan to
redeem humanity before there was humanity. (Rev. 13:8)
Merry Christmas
More Divine Intervention
*
Mary, not well educated, is permitted to ask the obvious question. How will this be, since I am a virgin? Gabriel explains: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. The holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
*
Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age. For nothing is impossible with God. Mary is pledged to marry Joseph. Routine. No, she is found to be with child, and morally-correct Joseph plans to end their relationship, quietly.
*
An angel appears to Joseph, whom he calls son of David (he is in David's line) and instructs him to marry his betrothed, Mary. The child has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. Give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Was Joseph speechless?
*
The prophet Isaiah knew this seven centuries earlier (earth time is nothing to God). In chapter 7, troubled by Israel's backsliding, he wrote: Therefore the Lord himself will give you (plural) a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God with us).
*
Overjoyed, Mary hustles down to Judah to visit her relative, Elizabeth, now a few months along. When Elizabeth hears Mary's greeting, her child leaps in her womb (remember, this baby already has the Holy Spirit) and she herself becomes filled with the Spirit. Mary speaks a "word of knowledge" (Proverbs 23:12), known as Mary's Song. (It may be related to Hanna's prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-10).
*
When Elizabeth gives birth, people expect him to be named after his father. Elizabeth says, No. His name is John. There were no boys named John in the family. What about it, Zechariah? He asked for a tablet and wrote, His name is John. Immediately his voice returned and he prophesied (Zechariah's Song.)
Caesar Augustus requires a census taken throughout the Roman Empire. Joseph is a descendant of David. He must travel from unimportant Nazareth to the city of David, to register. Unfortunately, Mary is due, and she must travel (three days on a mule?) Fortunately, unimportant Bethlehem is the town Micah the prophet spoke of seven centuries before:
*
But you, Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler of Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.
The (motels) were full of visitors, so Mary and Joseph retreated to an animal stable or cave where she gave birth. Caesar unwittingly arranged for the King of kings to be born where Micah said he would.
Tomorrow: Miracles keep on coming
Count the Miracles *
The Christmas story is far, far more involved than unbelievers claim...oh, a man came along who was special in some ways; then he died. It began long ago.
I will put enmity between you and her offspring ... he (Eve's offspring) will strike your head. This judgment pronounced on the serpent (Genesis 3:15), was the first Biblical mention of the Messiah. Our knowledge is imperfect, but we think the "strike" is still to come.
A defeated disciple restored by the risen Christ, later wrote as the Spirit taught: He was chosen before the creation of the world, revealed in these last times for your sake. (1 Peter 1:20). He, of course, is the One who surprised even teachers of the Law, taking on humanity as a baby of the virgin Mary.
*
Centuries beyond Abraham, God chose David, in Abraham's line, to be king. Still centuries later, a man named Jacob was born into that line. He fathered a son named Joseph. Forty-two generations had lived.
In Jerusalem, Zechariah was serving in the temple, taking his turn representing the priestly division. His wife, Elizabeth, a descendant of Aaron (Moses' brother), also was upright, observing regulations blamelessly. But they had no offspring. Elizabeth was barren (a disgrace).
*
An angel named Gabriel suddenly appears to tell Zechariah his prayer has been heard. His wife, well along in years, will bear him a son. Name him John, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from birth, the spirit of Elijah, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
The priest, well educated, wanted Gabriel to explain how old folks can bear children. Bad move. Zechariah will be speechless until John is born.
*
In Nazareth, a town of no importance, Gabriel next appears to a young woman, Mary, who found favor with God. Naturally, she is speechless. The angel tells her not to be afraid. She will give birth to a son, and is to give him the name Jesus. He will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David (here in 2020 this has not yet occurred) and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.
Tomorrow: miracles continue
Miracles...
Planned before creation, through to the virgin birth, and beyond.
For us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 1 Corinthians 8:6
Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, who we believe while on earth was the "exact representation of God."
The unbelieving world-at-large needs to explain the figures in this story, spanning centuries - including five prophets, the roles of Abraham, Jacob and David, a couple too old to have children, their son John, a multitude of angels, virgin Mary and Joseph, Caesar, numerous shepherds and "wise men," two special people in the temple, and of course, the Father, Holy Spirit and the baby in the manger.
Two different gospel authors, about six decades after the virgin birth, presumably realized they needed record for history what they knew personally (Matthew) or what they investigated (Luke). Even these writings, we believe, were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Views by the Sea retells the miracles - acts of God - for three days starting tomorrow. We hope that believers will enjoy, and forget about 2020 for a few days. Other readers? Give it some thought.
Jimmy
Santa Connects in 2020
We were stunned when Santa Claus himself commented on our blog site. It must be true. He knows who's been naughty or nice.
So we responded, even though his big day is fast approaching. He replied:
We have things under control. Some elves have tested positive, and some are laid off. But others are working longer hours, keeping socially distant.
Well, we hope all will be well soon. Ha. Ha. How many toys are you delivering this year?
It's been difficult. With so many moms and dads out of work, we're not going to surprise every child as usual. And stimulus money isn't coming through.
Oh, deer! I mean, dear! But, Santa, the stock market is way up.
It's the children I'm concerned about. So many are aborted before we can give them a gift. But, yes, we will land on a good many roof tops. If there is any upside for me, I won't be going down as many downsides...chimneys that is.
Since you were jolly enough to correspond with me, I'm curious. Are high-tech gifts more challenging for your elves than trains, ice skates and Barbie dolls?
What's challenging are the progressives down your way insisting that every child's gift is equal in value to every other gift. Ho! Ho! Ho! is Woe! Woe! Woe!
I'm sorry, Santa. Maybe you should leave their gifts up on the roof. By the way, are you wearing a mask this year?
I'm wearing it now. It's bright red.
Miracles Abound
Think the conception of baby Jesus is the singular miracle we celebrate? We found many more miracles (plural) to praise about. Monday through Wednesday in Views by the Sea.
Jimmy
Finding Peace in Our Days
Despite the troubles of 2020, there are ways find more peace. Barbara Danza gives us some tips.
Reduce Screens
Given the computer, phone, TV and other screens we view daily, the inputs our brains process is excessive. The more we can enjoy the real world, the more relief we'll have away from our screens. (Not so easy for a daily blogger.)
Step Outside
It's cold this time of year, but some fresh air allows our five senses to slow the pace, find simplicity and hopefully enjoy some nature.
Connect With Loved Ones
We can pick up the phone, send a card, share a picture, and if we follow the COVID rules, get together with others regularly.
Let Go of Resentments
Let go of toxic thoughts and feelings. Find forgiveness, understanding and compassion.
Apologize
Guilt makes peace difficult to find. It's honorable to admit mistakes, own up, and avoid excuses.
Give
Holidays especially are a great time to practice generosity.
Pray
Look up for the ultimate sense of peace. Calm your thoughts, desires, worries and strife. There's more to life than meets the eye. Get quiet. Find peace.
Part 3
Can U.S. Save the World?
Again?
The historian in this interview makes an analogy to the 1930s, "when the world was spinning out of control." Western democracies such as France were wavering.
Even in Britain, some conservatives thought Hitler was better than the alternatives. People expected the world would be choosing between fascism and communism. Churchill, an arch conservative, recognized the danger.
In 1941, Great Britain held out - pending U.S. help - Switzerland and Sweden were neutral, while the rest of Europe was fascist-sympathetic (Spain) or under German, Italian or Soviet control.
Today in America, the right may think the extreme right is more reliable than the moderate left. The moderate left may suppose the very radical left is better than the moderate right. But when that happens, it's more probable that the ultimate winner will be one of the extremes.
It's what happened in Russia, the historian says, and in Iran, where religion is far more important than right and left. Iran's revolution in 1979 was neither right nor left. The shah was hated by many, including moderates.
They all joined forces thinking that would solve their problems. Yes, they got rid of the shah, but religious radicals outmaneuvered moderates.
The shah was well educated, but he had no idea what was going on with the people. Catastrophic outcomes follow when powerful leaders are out of touch.
Socialism is popular among some American students. Others are uninterested.
Our educational class has not informed young Americans that socialism is no panacea. Many don't know that the U.S. saved the world during World War II.
Now we have leading Sen. Schumer confidently yelling during a post-election rally, "We will win Georgia and then we will change America!" To what?
The world is not sure America wants to save it again.
Jimmy
Part 2
Seeing Our Future in History
When we were kids the joke was, "Russia got Hungry and fried Turkey in Greece."
We continue with a historian's remarks about nations and what we might learn from them.
Personalities are important. Lenin killed his enemies. Stalin also killed friends. Their nemesis, Trotsky, if successful may not have killed as many. Personal paranoia plays a role. Mao became like the Russians. All killers.
In China, Xi Jinping (Joe Biden's "friend") seems likely to repeat aspects of Maoism. Communist China has become a fascist state. There is no attempt to socialize the entire economy. The government is sucking up private enterprise.
It's a military, aggressive dictatorship based on nationalism, and it persecutes minorities.
(Funny, how a Biden administration, which will oppose nationalism
here, may/will be chummy with China's nationalistic regime, there.)
What's the difference between communism and fascism? The latter is more practical. If Mussolini had died in 1938, he would be remembered as a successful modernizer. But he got Italy into war that destroyed his country. Fascist regimes alienate everyone around them.
What about Arab Spring revolutions? They were led by liberals who didn't understand the power of extremist religion.
In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood took power, the army overthrew it, and Egypt is back where it was - corruption and dictatorial rule. Only, it won't try attacking Israel again.
The attempt to free Syria led to terrible civil war, Russian and Iranian intervention, and the country is ruined.
Revolution sometimes leads to ethnic tribalism. That's how leaders gain support. It doesn't matter who they pick on, as long as they can blame someone for all your problems.
Tomorrow. Part 3, Repeating the 1930s?
Jimmy
Where Do We Go from Here?
With Obama-friendly people preparing to take over our government January 20 - and we don't know yet which way the U.S. Senate will swing - what can we learn from world history?
Somehow we misplaced part of our source article, so we don't know who interviewed who. Nevertheless, let's look for similarities with today.
Liberal figures in France, Mexico, Russia and Iran long ago led revolutions. They underestimated rage on the far left, and the ruthlessness of extremists, who killed or exiled them.
Liberal, idealistic Lenin was followed by even more deadly Stalin, and the Soviets slid into corruption and loss of political energy. Liberalism is very promising. Then extremists take over and provide solutions the people don't want.
Rather than abandoning their ideals, they create terrorist states. In Iran that's still going on. Societies become more corrupt and everything falls apart.
France in the 18th century had resources. But the conservative aristocracy loved its privileges, and when the public heard and believed "fake news," government collapsed.
Meanwhile, in Russia, the czar and friends rejected reforms. World War I exposed their incompetence and failure to reform; the system failed.
The same for the Shah of Iran, and in Nazi Germany, where conservatives so feared leftist (communist) reform, they turned to an extreme "savior."
Here, both conservatives and liberals underestimate the revolutionaries.
Our downfall: Once free, we did nothing about slavery, partly because many founders were slave owners, and because the South would not have joined the Union (remaining loyal to England). The Civil War officially ended slavery, but not discrimination.
Tomorrow: Personalities and Revolutions
Jimmy
Today's Possibilities
Here are some things that may happen today, or not.
1. Electoral College electors certify our next president.
2. The Supreme Court orders electors to stand down.
3. If no. 2, rioters burn down the cities.
4. Joe Biden (the "big guy") admits he was/is in business with wife Jill, son Hunter and brother Jim, "office mates" with Gongwen Dong, of Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC, connected to the Chinese Communist Party.
5. Hospital workers begin receiving precious COVID vaccine.
6. Black Lives Matter admits they are using black Americans for their Marxist (and profit) purposes.
7. Elementary school children sue Gov. Cuomo for the right to attend school.
8. Gov. Cuomo is nominated for Secretary of Education.
9. The South secedes.
10. Planned Parenthood declares abortion "evil."
11. Eight-year-old discovers Michigan cable that connects a Dominion voting machine to the Chinese embassy.
12. The UK offers to take on troubled USA as a colony.
13. Two Georgia, Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate concede, making January 5 runoff unnecessary.
14. Jesus comes for his church.
Jimmy
Wisdom and Power
The world has its wisdom and its power.
Here is a wiser, higher power:
"For the message of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God. For it is written (Isaiah 29-14):
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.
Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar?
Where is the philosopher of this age?
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom
did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness
of what was preached to save those who believe.
We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block.
Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom,
and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Thankfulness Brings Peace
When we were kids our parents taught us to say "please" and "thank you." We didn't have to feel it. Sure, it was better if it came from the heart, but they would settle for the words because it was the beginning of civilization, up from barbarism.
Wish we had said that. But, credit to Andree Seu Peterson, always a thoughtful read in WORLD magazine.
As adult Christians we're taught to thank our perfect, heavenly Parent, she notes. He knows what we need, and he reserves the right to say what is "bread." We can thank him for a "no."
Corrie ten Boom, Peterson reminds us, if you read The Hiding Place, loathed the flea infestation where Nazis imprisoned her among many women. The Lord told her sister Betsie: "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Corrie eventually realized, because of the fleas guards left their barracks alone.
People who didn't honor God or give thanks became futile in their minds. God gave them up to a debased mind. (Romans 1:21, 28)
When we "enter his gates with thanksgiving" (Psalm 100:4) we find peace.
Peterson recalls that Amy Coney Barrett received double-barreled news one day, when she learned of her pregnancy and also her orphaned child coming from Haiti.
She went to a cemetery to think ... and consoled herself with "Life is hard. But at least it's short."
Jesus healed ten lepers. One of them probably lived with more joy.
Jimmy
Insights
After six years of blogging, perhaps I should reveal the real me so you can better appreciate who is attempting to beguile you every day.
1. I approve of the U.S. Constitution, and am wary of socialist states. Therefore, I am zenophobic.
2. I use hundreds of small, white lights in our outdoor Christmas display. Therefore, I am a white supremacist.
3. When Mrs. Donut and I go somewhere together, most always I drive the car. Therefore I am a misogynist.
4. I live in the South. Therefore I am a cracker and a rebel.
5. I am a registered Republican. Therefore I don't care about poor people.
6. My hope is in Christ. Therefore the world hates me.
7. The only rainbow I really like is the one Creation makes. Therefore I am anti-gay.
8. I don't have tattoos. Therefore I'm not a "real man."
9. I believe in honest journalism. Therefore I'm antiquated.
10. I am forgetful. Therefore I don't remember what No. 10 was to say.
What's in a Name?
Have you thought about voter machines made by a company named Dominion? The word means ruling, controlling power, sovereignty. Ouch.
Dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. Psalm 22:28
Jimmy
Great Reset
Triggers and Opportunities
These days, it's not the old Soviet Union that dreams of controlling the masses. No, people we call allies are doing the devil's work.
No offense, Catholic friends, but Pope Francis advocates strengthening the United Nations (those humble, God-fearing protectors of the little people?) so that "the concept 'family of nations' can acquire real teeth." There well may be Protestant leaders who share his sentiments.
(No doubt China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela and other team players are itching to support the family of nations.)
Boris Johnson, UK prime minister, said events such as the plague "are the trigger for social and economic change." Justin Trudeau of Canada calls the pandemic "an opportunity for a reset to reimagine economic systems that address global challenges like poverty, inequality and climate change."
(We reimagine a world without such do-gooders in power.)
A corporate CEO proclaimed: "In its present form, capitalism is not truly contributing to the well-being of humanity. We need to reimagine capitalism, to incorporate (socialism?) social sustainability." The private sector will be the prime enforcer of a Great Reset.
(Are there global talking points all these collaborators are using?)
Finally, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - who asked them? - support even greater censorship of social platforms. "It's up to the tech companies to self-regulate their content," they wrote. "or, failing that, governments to step in and impose restrictions."
(Wow! No freedom of speech in la-la land!)
Wesley Smith concludes, "If we have a President Joe Biden - who bragged he would 'follow the science' - expect him to participate in centralized schemes to rebuild the infrastructure of human existence, and establish a Great Reset. Dr. Fauci won't be the only voice lecturing us to 'do what you are told.'"
Fact: Any global "resets" they imagine have been tried by one nation or another under different labels. None contributed to the well-being of humanity, and never will produce utopia.) That's for the Lord to provide, during the thousand years.
Jimmy
The Great Reset
Our Ruling Class Rules
Pandemic restrictions have opened the door for ruling classes to go global, long a socialist/communist dream. The very aim of the red dragon.
The chairman of the World Economic Forum wrote of the pandemic's "silver lining" to show "how quickly we can make radical changes to our lifestyles." They launched "the Great Reset Initiative" with a goal of "revamping all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions, with every industry from oil and gas to tech - transformed."
Its ultimate goal: To deploy anti-pandemic, behavioral control strategies to save the planet from climate change. Watch how quickly the Biden Administration returns to the Paris Accords. But not China.
Shoot! Yes, wouldn't it be easier to just shoot everyone below the ruling class, and be done with human pollution for ... well, until some hypocritical rulers are found to be polluting?
Wesley Smith writes in Epoch Times that the "lockdowns have (increased) social isolation, suicides, opioid addictions and an economic implosion. But hey! They are great for the environment."
"Like every revolution," he says, "the Great Reset needs an enemy. That role is assigned to national loyalty, mindless xenophobic nationalism." (Shame on Trump.)
Backlash has hampered global governance. "But globalists (like Biden) don't have to listen," Smith adds. "Just redouble their efforts."
World establishment elites chip in. Prince Charles believes that COVID-19 provides a "golden opportunity to reset (there's that word again) ourselves." Among other things, "create a means of enabling net zero carbon emissions" (which have nothing to do with the pandemic).
See, millions aren't dying and losing jobs in vain. Sir Charles assures us, they are part of a golden opportunity for the whole world.
Pope Francis...would you believe it? Tomorrow.
Jimmy
The Great Reset
New World Order
Quick! Somebody cue the great prostitute, the kings, the woman on a scarlet beast, multitudes, nations, languages ... and the beast and the dragon. It's soon time for the last act. Enter stage left. (Rev. 17)
By honest vote or otherwise, bit players did away with the presumed hero of the story, the knight who tormented denizens of the swamp. A Robin Hood who challenged convention and gave opportunities to deplorables.
Lo, there are too many reptiles. They are done with hiding under the scum.
Consider Dr. Anthony Fauchi. After we voted, he lectured, "Now is the time to do what you are told." Experts decide matters, and the rest of us obey.
To defeat the pandemic, "We must empower the U.N. and other organizations to rebuild the infrastructure of human existence, from cities to home to workplace, to water and sewer systems, to recreational gatherings venues."
Did he forget to include the many towers of Babel?
Dr. Fauchi, my Lord, if we obey, will the virus go away?
He might answer, this revolution requires the coerced turning of societies upside down and inside out. Everything will be on the table. "Chief among them," he said, "are reducing crowding at home, work, and in public places as well as minimizing environmental perturbations such as deforestation, intense urbanization, and intensive animal farming."
You see by these glorious words why Joe Biden ask him to be his prime advisor on all things science. See where this is going?
We want to know, is China on board with minimizing perturbations?
We'll hear from the ruling class tomorrow. And don't bring up that antiquated Declaration of Independence. You don't want to be labeled an "enemy of the state," do you?
Jimmy
An Imagined Interview
If we didn't discourage you with quotes from journalist Sharl Attkisson, we'll try try again. Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) was an influential journalist and columnist for more than a half century.
Marvin Olasky dug up Lippmann's writings, posing his own questions as if to interview the late "father of modern journalism." These quotes are at least 45 years old. "Fake news" is nothing new.
Does our 'cancel culture' concern you?
"It is clear that traditional liberties of speech and opinion rest on no solid foundation. Men cease to say what they think; and when they cease to say it, they cease to think it. They think in reference to their critics and not to the facts."
Much of what we read seems based on hearsay.
"The world has become so complicated as to defy understanding. What a man knows of events, he knows second, third or fourth hand. He cannot see for himself. Even the things near to him have become too involved for judgment."
Who has the expertise we need?
"I know of no man who can even pretend to keep track of (various levels of government), the industrial situation and the rest of the world. He must seize catchwords and headlines, or nothing."
What effect do the worldviews of editors have?
"The editor may know all about something, but he can hardly know all about everything. Yet he has to decide which is more important than any other in the formation of opinions. The news is an incredible medley of fact, propaganda, rumor, suspicion, clues, hopes, fears ... and the task of ordering that news is one of the sacred and priestly offices in a democracy. Once you know the party and social affiliations of a newspaper, you can predict the perspective in which news will be displayed."
Sounds like groupthink.
"Why the editor is possessed by a particular set of ideas is a difficult question of social psychology. He deals with the news in reference to the prevailing mores of his social group."
Is international news and analysis likely to be made up?
"If I lie in a matter involving war and peace, I can lie my head off, and be entirely irresponsible. Nobody saw this war. What correspondents saw, occasionally, was the terrain over which a battle was fought. But what they reported day by day was what they were told at press headquarters, and only what they were allowed to tell."
In domestic news, (do) we get just the view from cities and major organizations?"
"It is possible, with effort, for me to know what a few organized bodies are up to. But what the unorganized are thinking and feeling, no one has any means of knowing."
We don't get much street level reporting.
"Thought comes to be what somebody asserts, not what actually is."
We end up with an imperial presidency?
"The power in the Executive is out of proportion to the intentions of the Fathers. It can be informed and it can act, whereas Congress is not informed and cannot act."
We're supposed to trust a leader.
"Successful democratic politicians are insecure and intimidated. They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, bamboozle or manipulate their constituencies. The decisive consideration is not whether the proposition is good - not whether it will work well, but whether the active constituents like it."
Now, are you discouraged?
Truth is found in the Bible.
Jimmy
Fear the Lord
And now, O Israel, what does the Lord our God ask of you but to fear the Lord
your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and
decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth
and everything in it. Yet the Lord set his affection on your forefathers and loved
them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today.
Circumcise your hearts, therefore.
Moses
Deuteronomy 10:12-16
Love the Lord
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the
height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its
place.
Jesus
To the Ephesians
Revelation 2:4
saturday
We've Been Cancelled!!!
This morning we opened our draft of today's blog, which we wrote days ago, and - poof! - all we found was the word "saturday." See it, above? That's how we maintain order here. If it says "saturday," that means we proofread it once more, and post it - on Saturday. Got it?
It's not that we forgot to save it. Blogspot revised its software recently. Among the changes, every word is automatically saved within seconds after we type it. So, what happened?
In desperation we hired a lawyer investigating voter fraud in Georgia to unravel our mystery. She did some online snooping and quickly discovered - we've been cancelled!
Big Media, subject of our weeklong summary of Sharl Attkisson's interview on fake media, is a big player in the "cancel culture." They didn't wipe her comments, which are available worldwide, but they deleted today's dangerous - to them - comments on Views By the Sea.
Do you believe all that?
We don't recall what we wrote, so we'll move on.
Coyote Attack?
Just before breakfast, Mrs. Donut called my attention to a coyote walking leisurely, right to left about 30 feet behind our house. A few minutes later, the animal returned along the same path.
Where houses weren't blocking the low, morning sun, the coyote stopped to look a couple times. God's creation in the sunlight was absolutely beautiful, and graceful. Then it broke into an easy trot and exited stage right. The pack lives in the woods nearby.
Jimmy
Conclusion
Where to Get News?
Sharyl Attkisson, who has contacts the rest of us don't, goes "to the source as much as possible. That means watching a news conference or hearing on C-SPAN, for example."
"My takeaway," she says, "when I actually see something happening without the spin, that is different than what I read in a news story, really scares me."
"So I try to go to the source. And then I read alternate views. So if I see a narrative, everybody reporting something one way, I become suspicious and skeptical. Oftentimes when I dig, it's not true or I'm not getting the whole story. I try to go to the primary source."
She tells people, "Whatever you see on the news, particularly if everybody's reporting it using the same language, similar terms, same take no matter how much proof and sourcing they claim, I'm immediately skeptical."
"I ask myself, 'Who wants me to believe that and why?' And that leads to a truer truth or a more complete story than the one they're telling you."
She concludes her interview, "I want people to understand there is something they can do, and there is some hope in the book (Slanted) and some sources you can turn to that I list."
"But don't give up, because there are tens of millions of people who understand what's going on and should not be silent."
"I think we can pull out of this and change."
Jimmy
Nothing to See Here
PART 4
Nothing reveals the disease in our national press better than its coverage of the November election.
Sharyl Attkisson notes, "We saw the press, and it looked like Joe Biden after Election Day was winning, they were telling the public in this very uncritical, uncurious sense, Nothing to see. Nothing to look at. Nothing to examine. Amid a lot of suspicious things doesn't mean there was widespread fraud, but certainly doesn't mean there wasn't."
"It seems like journalists didn't want to look," she said. "They were saying 'There's no evidence,' as if the evidence walks up to the door and knocks. Instead, we saw the media saying, 'Well, none of this matters."
"What we've done is create a crisis of confidence in our institutions. People...tend to not believe anything."
"They feel that way about the media covering Black Lives Matter, or the DOJ - whether it's going to prosecute crimes against certain people but not others, how we handle elections. Tens of millions of people think things aren't being handled fairly and accurately."
"I think this is all very dangerous. It's created by powers that be," she says, "who dictate the narratives and then look at the public and say, 'What's wrong with you?' I think we're in a really troubled information landscape today."
Tomorrow: Conclusion. Where Sharyl searches for truth
Jimmy
Enter the Firms and Lawyers
PART 3
Reporters once covered stories such as pharmaceutical dangers. Problems with otherwise "wonderful" medicine affect millions and need to be exposed.
Along came the industry, manipulating and shaping reports, in partnership with media through direct-to-consumer ads. Journalist Sharyl Attkisson said, "Advertising prescription drugs on TV used to be illegal. But once the media and industry lobbied to legalize these ads, we were beholden to the tune of millions of dollars to this industry."
From there, "The same PR firms and global law firms (representing pharmaceutical companies) took on other corporate clients. And bragging and advertising they could to stop or shape news stories by bullying news reporters. And using tactics that we see the smear industry use on a daily basis."
Her interviewer ask Attkisson about "100-plus media mistakes in the era of Trump," written in her book, Slanted. She said "the tone was set by a Time magazine false report on Inauguration Day that claimed he (a racist?) had removed the bust statue of Martin Luther King from the Oval Office." If the reporter had bothered to look behind a door, the bust was still there.
She noticed that all press mistakes were "going in one direction. There was never a mistake that benefited Donald Trump...mistakes that journalism students would know not to make, sloppy and irresponsible."
What about the 2020 election?
She answered, "If we were a neutral news media...we would have gone in with a rational skepticism of things on the ground, with reporters in swing states watching for fraud (regardless of party). We know there are domestic actors, some still working in our government, accused of or allegedly found to have interfered politically with President Trump."
Tomorrow: Nothing to see here
Jimmy
'Journalists' Who Are Not Journalists
PART 2
Veteran journalist Sharyl Attkisson says an increasing number of people at news organizations are not journalists. (We thought so.) "They are simply propagandists who put forth a certain view. And if that requires a half-truth or lie, they're perfectly happy to do that."
"They are political operatives or corporate interests disguised as reporters," she said. "They avoid accurate information, view points, scientific studies that could lead you to draw...or a harmful conclusion to their interest."
Sadly, she notes, "Even journalism groups and journalism professors have changed what we thought of as news. They are proud to say they have disregarded objectivity and neutrality, which they say was overrated. I liken that to a doctor telling you that good diet and exercise are overrated."
"Journalism professors are teaching, and the New York Times is going along with it, that objectivity, neutrality and lack of bias are actually antiquated, old-fashioned notions," Attkisson said. (Double Wow!)
What about social media?
She thinks, "Social media became another tool used by the same players in what I call the smear industry to manipulate and influence public opinion. We haven't been able to control (keep free) the internet."
Attkisson believes "This started with President Obama announcing in 2016 that somebody needed to step in and 'start curating information in this wild, Wild West media environment on the internet.'" So, somebody did.
"They created a market where...the notion that third parties who know nothing about what they're fact checking...somehow should keep you from seeing certain things, or make sure you don't think certain things."
Tomorrow: Pharmaceuticals, PR firms and global law firms
Jimmy
Smear and Narrative Industries
How sure are we that the news we receive is truth? Trustworthy? Honest?
Can we depend on people in high places for information needed to cope with COVID-19, to make decisions best for our families, to vote on solid grounds?
Last week, we focused on the shiny object - equality - socialists/communists use to draw uninformed people into their hellhole. This week, we summarize an interview with award-winning journalist Sharyl Attkisson, author of Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism.
We haven't read her new book. She has a TV show, "Full Measure."
Attkisson last week told interviewer Virginia Allen, "Over time, I saw what I call the smear industry and the narrative industry. I'm talking about corporations, PR firms, crisis management firms, nonprofits and political people."
"And not just to get us (journalists) on their talking points and uncritically report what they want us to report, the way they want us to report it, but I saw them become part of the newsroom."
"There's a trend now," she said, "that I saw, as I left CBS, to try to make stories come out a certain way regardless of the facts. ...the networks and other places were making it impossible to do accurate, fair, honest journalism."
She knows executives and journalists in news organizations who are equally as critical about what she calls "the death of the news." They work for ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times and "all kinds of other places."
Tomorrow: Half truths and lies
Jimmy
The Victors Sing
"Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.
Who will not fear you, O Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed."
Revelation 15
Those who kept their faith in Christ when persecuted, threatened or killed by the antichrist, sing the song of Moses, the song of the Lamb.
Then John sees seven angels with seven plagues, prepared to pour out God's wrath on the earth, on those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
What's in Our Oven?
We hope you appreciated our summary of Mr. Gairdner's article, illustrating the tide of history's failures now repeating across our land.
After we digested the article, we began to notice words and methods that sound much like today's American left - envy, cancel culture, equality, enemies, elimination.
Do progressive intellectuals not understand the pit they are digging for us, and themselves? Are so-called moderate Democrats morally okay with who it is they're in bed with?
In college we learned about figures such as Rousseau and Robespierre. So what? That was then. They were over there.
Well, hello!
On Monday we wrote of Trump and Biden as heating on the stovetop. But the cake in America's oven is what should concern us most. Will Biden's friends be the icing on that cake?
Finally, author Gairdner wrote of "evil."
There is no denying that evil requires its own author, that is the spirit, Satan. He was there in the Garden of Eden. In Babel. In Rome, in ages of monarchs and misguided clergy, in France, Germany, Cuba, Moscow, China, Iran.
Now he has infiltrated diverse institutions of the last hope of Earth.
We win by trusting and obeying the One who governs the universe, not humans or human institutions. Whatever is in the oven, our food comes from the bread of life.
Jimmy
IMPOSSIBLE EQUALITY
PART 4
Even Robespierre, the grand theorist of the French Revolution, lost his head. He walked dazed and beaten to the guillotine holding his copy of Rousseau's "Social Contract."
William Gairdner does not suggest that the U.S. or Canada will ever reach such a point. But no one thought (nominally Christian) Germany would, either.
Prominent Western progressives, he writes, admired Hitler, as did people like Charles Lindbergh, for raising Germany from the ashes of World War by the power of government. The two largest professional memberships in the Nazi party were educated teachers and lawyers.
Today, our universities, now secularized, increasingly resort to a mindset that produces evil. We shouldn't believe we are exempt from the worst natural consequences of such thinking.
Once a bastion of liberty, universities of the West have become islands of ideological oppression. Observers point out that when fascism comes to America (and Canada) it will come in the name of democracy. (the very word Democrats use in criticizing Trump and justifying their own goodness)
The author says that the notion of "substantive equality" has become a modern substitute for divine grace. D.H. Lawrence once described a kind of "earthly bread" to be gathered up by our priesthood of social engineers and redistributed as "heavenly bread" to thankful, docile masses.
Tomorrow: Our comments
Gratitude
O give Thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endures forever.
Psalm 118:1
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts...and be thankful.
Col. 3:15
Giving thanks always for all things unto God...in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph. 5:20
Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Phil. 4:6
Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.
1 Chron. 16:8
By him let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Heb. 13:15
Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding with thanksgiving.
Col. 2:7
Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.
Ps. 107:8
