Archive for December, 2022

I Suspect it’s not just Mitch

Posted: December 27, 2022 by datechguy in politics

Donald Trump said something interesting concerning GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell:

The Marxist Democrats must have something really big on Mitch McConnell in order to get him and some of his friendly “Republican” Senators to pass the horrendous “All Democrat, All the Way” OMINOUS Bill. It gives Border Security to other countries, but ZERO $’s to the U.S., it fully funds the corrupt “Justice” Department, FBI (which RIGGED the Presidential Election!), and even the Trump Hating Special “Prosecutor.” It is also a massive giveaway & capitulation to CHINA, making COCO CHOW so happy!

Donald Trump on Truth Social

I actually suspect this is the norm rather than the exception. I suspect that when a promising young alderman or state rep starts advancing the deep state gets right to work. They look for an opening to compromise them, maybe it’s a “companion” at a party, maybe it’s a financial consideration that they insist is legal, maybe it’s a favor for a son, daughter, brother or sister, or if they are already compromised in some way, they promise to keep it quiet during any election to higher office. They provide comfort, wealth and advancement.

But once these favors are taken, they’re owned and said favor is held over their head to compel action and then the compelled action exasperates the hold until the subject is held in bonds that they are terrified of breaking because if they do then all the wealth, power, influence and comfort they have acquired for themselves and their family and friends can suddenly disappear. Even worse an investigation can take place where the process is the punishment, a process that will take years and most of the gains that they have acquired in years or decades of the grift.

This is the type of hold I suspect an awful lot of people are subject to in congress and other places these days and I suspect these hold are exercised, not on every vote or every issue, but in the key moments where it’s needed to protect the deep state and those who profit from it.

I could be totally wrong about this, as could Donald Trump, but I doubt it.

New Year’s resolution: Write your obit before you die

Posted: December 27, 2022 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

As people consider resolutions for the coming year, I’d like to make a suggestion: Write down your life story before you die. In other words, do it now!

James R. Hagerty, an obituary writer for The Wall Street Journal, makes a strong case for writing your own obituary.  

“When it comes to money and real estate, most of us make careful arrangements for what will happen after we die. Why not take equal care of our stories, which can’t be retrieved once lost?” Hagerty muses. “Think of the stories you’ve heard your partner or parents tell a thousand times. They are precious. When someone dies, we need those stories—not in a vague, half-remembered, secondhand form but in the original version, with all the plot twists, nuances, and personal storytelling quirks. Your own words and insights are more illuminating than others’ eulogies and tributes.”

I had the opportunity to write a quasi-autobiography about a decade ago, which was a lot of fun. That book, Flyover Country, recounted the tales of my life and those of my fellow high school graduates from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and I even made a few bucks from the publication.

Hagerty makes the following suggestions:

–Preserve your stories now while the memories are vivid.
–The best stories show what you have done, why, and how. Starting points include how you got on a career path; what you are trying to do with your life and how it works out; your biggest triumphs and failures, and what you have learned from them.
–Include the oddest, funniest, most wonderful, and awful things that have happened to you.

Hagerty suggests that people write their obituaries, making it easier for loved ones when the time comes. Writing a letter or an email to a friend or loved one is another way of putting one’s thoughts together. If someone doesn’t like to write, record one’s life stories.

For those needing help, software such as Storyworth or MemLife provides a template with questions and the option to create a book.

Hagerty has some cautionary notes. “Revealing too much about certain topics could hurt or offend loved ones. Life-story writers must consider what to leave out, particularly marital and family issues.

Make sure you organize those hundreds of photos you’ve taken over the years, including as much information as much about the dates, places, and people in the snapshots.

Whatever the case, it’s time to start recording those memories—not only for your family but for yourself.

2nd Day of Christmas Mario Lanza

Posted: December 26, 2022 by datechguy in Uncategorized
Tags: , ,

As the Christmas season continues despite the culture’s desire to put it behind them I’ll highlight one great Christmas artist each day.

Today Mario Lanza

A Great Turning Point in the Chosen (Spoiler Alert)

Posted: December 26, 2022 by datechguy in catholic
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Yesterday the third episode of the third season of the Chosen premiered in a live stream. It is a significant episode for a few reasons.

  1. It is an all Jesus episode without any of the disciples.
  2. It introduces Lazarus along with his sisters Martha and Mary.
  3. It has a flashback with a young Jesus and Joseph

All of these things make the episode interesting but the biggest thing is that it is an adaptation of Luke Chapter 4 verses 16-30 which says:

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom 8 into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.

He said to them,

“Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” He said to them,

“Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.'” And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

Luke 4:16-30

Note that last paragraph. They were preparing to execute Jesus for his words and that’s what were were seeing in the episode. The men of the town were preparing to kill him. Even more important in the episode, one of the two men charged by the Rabbi to hurl Jesus off the brow of the hill is a character from season 1. Rafi, the father of the bride at Cana where Jesus preforms his first public miracle. Even though he knows that there is something miraclious going on with Jesus, even though Jesus saved him from incredible embarrassment at his daughter’s wedding he is still unwilling to speak up and defend him.

It’s an important reminder, it’s not all about the nice soft comfortable fuzzy things, Mary with her demons banished, Simon Peter with his debts cleared. Matthew reformed and reconciled, Simon Z with his brother healed and abandoning the way of the sword.

We are invited to follow Christ and are offered great rewards but many people skip over an important bit:

Jesus said,

“Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and (the) last will be first.”

Mark 10:29-31 Emphasis mine

We are entering an age where the persecution and the othering of Christians by society will be the normal, an age where merely praying silently can get you arrested in England. It’s good that people remember this and it’s important that the chosen remind us the cost of discipleship.

But it’s also necessary for a crowd funded project like the chosen to inspire people to kick in the money for the next season. They have paid for 3 episodes for season 4, 5 episodes costing 15 million remain. With tonight’s livestream they have moved the needle from 3% of episode 4 paid for to 5%.. It remains to be seen if the message of the costs of the faith are enough to inspire the funds to keep the ball rolling.

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