Little Cottage by the Sea    

   Come with us and visit the place where Donald Trump wrote his inaugural speech. 
              
   Mar-a-Lago ("Sea to Lake" in Spanish) was built in the 1920s by Marjorie Merriweather Post. Her family's fortune was built on Postum, a coffee substitute. She envisioned a wintertime presidential retreat ... "a little cottage by the sea" she told her second husband. 

   Wealthy people were building their own getaways on Palm Beach. Post scouted out 17 acres of scrub between Lake Worth and the Atlantic. She was known for philanthropy, her mega-yacht, her grand balls and her jewels. 

   Mar-a-Lago - 110,000 square feet - had 58 bedrooms, 33 bathrooms with gold-plated fixtures, and an 1,800-square-foot living room with 42-foot ceilings. 
There was gold leaf, Spanish tiles, Italian marble and Venetian silks. 

   Post spent $7 million - at least $90 million today.   

   In 1929, she hired the circus to perform there for a charity fund-raiser, inviting underprivileged children to attend. In 1944, she offered the grounds to WWII vets who needed occupational therapy. 

   By the 1950s, most of the grand houses were considered "white elephants" and were razed. Not Mar-a-Lago. 

   Post tried to donate the mansion in the 1960s, but all prospects, including the Federal Government, declined due to maintenance costs. She died in 1973, with the property still in limbo.

   It went on the market in the 1980s. Three potential sales fell through before Trump bought it in 1985 for a reported $8 million. That was a deal! 

   Mrs. Post's original wish for her "little cottage" came true this year. 

Smithsonian 

         Jimmy

    

The Whole Facts and
Nothing But the Facts    

   Here at Views, we don't want your vote, and we don't charge you a penny for our thoughts. So, is our publication unbiased and totally reliable?  

   With misinformation littering the world, it's hard to trust our sources, whether we want to engage city hall, or just know the truth for truth's sake.

   Former U.S. senator and Florida governor Bob Graham offers help in his book, America, the Owner's Manual: You Can Fight City Hall - and Win.

   "Above all, be credible," Graham writes. "The biggest danger of the Information Age is the proliferation of unreliable or biased data, particularly data on the Internet." 

   "First, don't rely on outdated information. Work with the most recent data possible."

   "Second, don't confine your research to your local community. The world of ideas does not reside in your zip code."

   "Third, take care in your use of biased sources. Although many ... organizations ... attempt to be balanced and unbiased, some groups and think tanks produce information that reflects a particular political agenda or ideological viewpoint. Reinforce data with research from unimpeachable sources."  

   "Fourth, investigate the credentials of your data source." Graham says a state official or a professor with multiple degrees and years of experience may be far more reliable than a lay person. 

   "Fifth, don't limit your research to traditional, usually secondary, source information."

   "Sixth, don't try to bury information that is unfavorable to your cause. Since you have found it, (others) have done so as well. Proactively present the 'bad facts' and show how other information undermines their significance."

   "Seventh, keep up to date. In this era of rapid change, even the best-researched facts must be monitored to ensure they ... haven't been overtaken by events." 

Tampa Bay Times

   It is challenging to find good information, and to know it when we see it. In any case, the founders expected us to be informed if the government - at any level - is really by, for and of the people.

      Jimmy 

Wanted: Hoover Sweeper for Space    
                                                             
    We value satellite phone calls, Internet, Skype and the benefit of GPS satellites, while we litter space with junk that could end the fun.

    Even if we stopped launching satellites now, litter would increase. The 29,000 large bits of junk would become more than 200,000 in two centuries. Of 75,000 tons, only seven percent is operational. 

   The European Space Agency (ESA) estimates there are 166 million items, baseball-size and smaller - all moving at five miles per second. Collisions create more pieces. 

   GPS satellites at 22,000 miles are above most debris fields, but not totally out of harm's way. 

   ESA hopes to launch a robot in 2024, for $400 million, to deal with an eight-ton satellite now tumbling in orbit 480 miles above Earth. It will be extremely challenging.

   There are some 500 similar "dead" objects in orbit. (500 X $400 million?)
Something built to remove junk could also destroy enemy spy satellites, so diplomatic and legal issues arise.

   Leftover fuel and overcharged batteries can make third-stage rockets explode, creating clouds of shrapnel. Of 240 events over the years, 236 were explosions. The other four were collisions.

   In 1986, a European rocket exploded into 498 softball-sized pieces and smaller bits. Ten years later, a fragment of that wreckage damaged a French military satellite.

   In 2007, China's anti-satellite missile test blasted a 1,650-pound weather satellite, creating more than 3,000 trackable pieces of junk. In 2009, a private U.S. satellite collided with an inactive Russian military satellite at a relative speed of 26,000 mph. 

   Can't call 911. Can't call AAA. Can't call Mr. Clean.   

                                            AIR&SPACE, Smithsonian  

      Jimmy

   

                                                  

Meanwhile, As the World Turns   

   Diplomacy had failed, and a surprise attack from the Western Pacific in 1941 drew America into wars on two continents. 

   Victory in 1945 was exhilarating, but evil was already planning its next move. Allies divided Korea in two - communist and free. In 1950, Kim Jong Un's grandfather, then age 34, persecuted Christians and invaded the free South, aided by two of our WWII "friends." 

   President Trump is on a diplomatic visit to that troubled area. He seeks fair trade agreements everywhere, and wants more pressure on annoying North Korea by his counterparts - not friends - in South Korea and China. 

   This may be our generation's 1941, a moment of truth. The atheistic hermit kingdom must not be allowed to threaten us with nukes, or (irony) share that technology with their religious friends in Iran. Leading from behind, strategic patience and kicking the can were all failing policies. Like him or not, we have a president who works for us in more ways than one.

One Wealthy Swamp
   In Washington, DC, 35 percent of all new mortgages and refinancing so far this year are for more than $500,000. We assume 100 percent of those homes are in the government/lobbyist/lawyer side of town ... the swamp.

   If the swamp is drained, where will those unfortunate residents live?  

😏

Doggone Drug Bust   
   Iditarod - the world famous dog-sled race - has a doping scandal. Four dogs in a team of huskies tested positive for an opioid painkiller after the 1,000-mile race last March. 

   The suspects are impounded. They were unable to post bail, and would not speak with investigators. No other dogs have come forward as witnesses. 

   These huskies did not bite on offers of cat meat in return for confessions and reduced sentences. If they continue their silence, PETA threatens to scuttle future races altogether on the pretense of preventing cruelty to animals. 

      Jimmy 

From Creation to Apocalypse    
All things come to an end, except eternity.    
   
     We hope you found our recent series interesting. If you missed anything, our blogs remain available on this site for many months.   jxdonut.blogspot.com

   What begins also ends. When we accept God's grace, his offer of adoption and sonship, that's a beginning. Next comes spiritual growth. Human death is one ending.

   There is the end of the church on earth, followed by seven years of tribulation, followed by the Second Coming. We believe the "sharp sword" John saw in the vision represents the Lord's voice.

   He spoke the universe into existence, and he will destroy unrepentant people and nations with his voice. He is supernatural, inexplainable, existing in another dimension.

   The Millennium. When we pray, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," this is the fulfillment. 

   John, the last living disciple, received the "apocalypse," English for the Greek word meaning revelation. This conclusion to the New Testament shows God prevailing, saints vindicated, and finally the end of our universe. 

   For those who think Revelation is too difficult to understand, look at this: There are more than 400 verses in Revelation - we counted them - related to much older books in the Bible, either by quotes or agreement in meaning. 

   In his Revelation, God draws from 31 of 39 books in the Old Testament, and 21 of 26 other New Testament books. There is validation on top of validation. It's pretty obvious John couldn't have known all this himself.   

   Yes, a scholar's commentary helps greatly. Reading our Heavenly Father's story from before creation to the new heaven and earth deepens our faith, and puts our lives in better perspective.

   The Bible exists by the Spirit of God, inspiring some 40 authors over 1500 years. The last book agrees with the first. It's not man's wisdom.

      Jimmy

   Beyond the Stars   

 Part 5 

Conclusion

   Revelation 20, speaks of the Millennium, the thousand years in which saints, called ... priests of God ... reign with Christ. 

   It will be an age of peace, safety, prosperity and righteousness. Nature will be restored. There will be order, perfection and beauty, says our commentary. People still will be free to rebel, but there will be consequences!!! 

   Then John sees - Earth and sky fled from his (God's) presence. On a great white throne, God judges the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.

   Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. 

   Chapter 21: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away...

   Now the dwelling of God is with men and he will live with them. The old order of things is passed away. 

   He who overcomes will inherit all this and I will be his God and he will be my son.

   John doesn't mention a back row, nor does he describe anyone as bored.

Chapter 22:

The invitation is open

    The Spirit and the bride say "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. 

Are we thirsty? 

Dr. Leutzer

                                          We wrote this series after hearing a sermon 
                                           by Dr. Erwin Leutzer, Moody Church, Chicago. 

   Beyond the Stars   

 Part 4 

   We are there! In the Kingdom! Freely given love and knowledge like we can't here imagine. But, the new heaven and earth is still 1,000 years off. 

   First, the wrath of God must be satisfied. The Lord returns to earth to throw the beast and the false prophet into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. An angel imprisons Satan in the Abyss while the Lord rules earth over a Millennium. We will witness all this, and help rule those still on earth. Can you believe it?  

~

   Revelation 19. John heard - the roar of a great multitude (you and me in the crowd?) in heaven, shouting: Hallelujah!     < louder than a stadium crowd? > 

   Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters 
< louder than Niagara Falls? >   and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: 

Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 

   Then John saw heaven open, and - a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True. (In Rev. 3, Jesus refers to himself as the faithful and true witness.)

   The armies of heaven (the Father's children, the Son's co-heirs) were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen... 

   The rider has - a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 

   Woe to - kings, generals and mighty men, horses and riders, small and great. An angel seizes the dragon, the ancient serpent (Genesis chapter 3), binding Satan for a thousand years.      Saints - spectators - in the front row? 

Tomorrow:  Conclusion, what comes next?