Music Tells The Story of Our Lives

Music tells the story of our lives. What's your story?
(Respond with a YouTube Music video link)
‪#‎simpleman‬ ‪#‎soundofsilence‬ ‪#‎musicstory‬

Shinedown - Simple Man
https://youtu.be/rgFQ6WmxdMs

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (shared from an unkown source)

His Portrait is on the Two Dollar Bill.

Thomas Jefferson was a very remarkable man who started learning very early in life and never stopped.

At 5, began studying under his cousin's tutor.

At 9, studied Latin, Greek and French.

At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.

At 16, entered the College of William and Mary. He also could write in Greek with one hand while writing the same in Latin with the other.

At 19, studied law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.

At 23, started his own law practice.

At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.

At 31, wrote the widely circulated "Summary View of the Rights of British America" and retired from his law practice.

At 32, was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress.

At 33, wrote the Declaration of Independence.

At 33, took three years to revise Virginia's legal code and wrote a Public Education Bill and a statute for Religious Freedom.

At 36, was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.

At 40, served in congress for two years.

At 41, was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben Franklin and John Adams..

At 46, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.

At 53, served as Vice President and was elected President of the American Philosophical

Society.

At 55, drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.

At 57, was elected the third president of the United States.

At 60, obtained The Louisiana Purchase doubling the nation's size.

At 61, was elected to a second term as President.

At 65, retired to Monticello.

At 80, helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.

At 81, almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia and served as its first president.

At 83, died on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams.

Thomas Jefferson knew because he himself studied the previous failed attempts at government. He understood actual history, the nature of God, His laws and the nature of man. That happens to be way more than what most understand today.

Jefferson really knew his stuff.

A voice from the past to lead us in the future:

John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: "This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

"When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in

Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe."-- Thomas Jefferson

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those

Who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

-- Thomas Jefferson

"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes.

A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world."

-- Thomas Jefferson

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government

From wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."-- Thomas Jefferson

"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government

Results from too much government."-- Thomas Jefferson

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."-- Thomas Jefferson

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."-- Thomas Jefferson

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time

With the blood of patriots and tyrants."-- Thomas Jefferson

"To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical." -- Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than

Standing armies.

If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their

Currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

I wish we could get this out to every American! Hillsdale College's course, Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution

Once Upon an English 101 Class...

Dave Cowles

Sept. 7^th, 1999

English 101

Another Glorious Day in Paradise

His sagging bulk shifts from side to side as he shuffles closer. The Sun’s bright good mornings bounce off the evergreens reducing my vision, but there is no mistaking his approach, even at this early hour. Daisy barks furiously and lunges at the rusty hog wire fence that separates us from HIM. Some cows have all of the luck. Here is a brute among brutes, the mighty bull, King of the Pasture, come to moo. Welcome to The Yard.

His mottled dull brown hide looks like old shoe leather as it erratically rearranges itself across his muscular chest and legs. He pauses and appears deep in thought. Perhaps there are bovine females who deserve his attention more than these two curiosities. Alas, the loud little one, looking like dead grass and old newspaper, has gotten his attention, and he shuffles to within goring distance of a fence post.  Clouds of dirt scatter behind him to tell their friends of his coming.

Daisy is beside herself, frantic at his approach. As if this were not a near daily occurrence. I wonder what it would be like to be a dog’s nose. Such sensations! Then gratitude that I am not kept in a pen twenty some hours a day washes over me. I guess I’d be a bit psyched too if something a hundred times my size wandered back and forth past my prison window, nose or no nose. It really is a big dog run, I tell myself, glad that I am the keeper, not the kept.

The bull cants his head to one side, chewing stupidly, his cheeks surging like two rats in a wool sock. Daisy runs back towards me, the overgrown grass nearly up to her ears in spots. A hard J hook turn and she’s in the run, munching on day old Bill Jack dried dog food, having been reminded that she hadn’t had anything to eat for a good four minutes.

I lean back in the forest green plastic chair and wonder when I got so old that I would buy such crap. My Camels call me and I take one from the pack, carefully placing it in my lips and bringing it to life with my beat up old purple Zippo. Blue smoke wanders out of my nose and mouth, fleeing upward to the heavens, and I sigh heavily.

I’d stand and stretch, but I know better. The knots of pain in my back awoke first, then tormented me until I could take no more and had to rise. The morning ritual of letting Daisy out for a spin and a poop called and I obeyed. Hunkered over sideways, looking forward to the relief occasionally brought by a hot shower, I had meandered out the back door, careful not to awaken my sullen wife, hunched up in faded, ratty, pastel blankets on the couch.

Daisy, ego and belly momentarily satisfied, the beast satiated, strolls up and puts her paws on my knee.  I am violently reminded that I had her nails clipped yesterday when, out of the corner of her eye, she spies a tennis ball, stalking her from beside her Barbie™ wading pool. She is off in a flash, using my bare knee as a launch pad. The bull forgotten, the helpless fuzzy yellow intruder doesn’t stand a chance against Daisy’s crushing jaws and killer instincts. The memory of a possum’s tail and derrière found near her food dish makes me forget the world for a moment as a smile runs across my face. Despite Life’s wicked turns, I am home.

Rock's Philosophy 101

Rock's Philosophy 101

It's all temporary.

Try to enjoy yourself.

Don't shit where you eat.

Whether you believe you can or you believe

you can't, you're probably right.

Don't trust the government.

Persistence trumps all.

Ignorance is not a virtue. Never stop learning.

If you expect to be appreciated,

it isn't love, it's barter.

Being happy is more important than being right.

Never call a lady cop "Fatboy".

Karma hates assholes.

Choose your battles wisely, your friends even more so.

Don't throw good time after bad.

People treat you the way that you teach them too.

Don't wait for people who

aren't going to be there for you.

If you change the way you think,

it changes the way you feel.

Don't take yourself too seriously.

Big you, little me.

Argue your limitations and they are yours.

Religion is a dangerous crutch.

Those who have the gold make the rules.

Get some gold.

There is no shortage of stupidity. Be prepared.

Be a spendthrift with love.

We only get one go around. Make the best of it.

You can't take it with you, not even longevity awards.

Our children are our greatest teachers.

As soon as you know that you're wrong, admit it.

They'll get over it or you'll get over them.

No one here gets out alive.

Relationships of convenience can cost the most.

Music tells the story of our lives.

You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose,

but you can't pick your friend's nose.

The best is yet to come.

Every Day Concealed Carry

I picked up an XDs 9mm 4.0" about an month ago and I couldn't be happier with it. It fits snug, conceals easily, and shoots like a much bigger gun. It's small enough that I don't have to dress around it with just an IWB holster, T-shirt, and cargo shorts. It is a year round EDC pistol. People yammer on about higher capacity, but I am no longer an active duty sailor, soldier, or LEO. I am a civilian with a CWP. My job is not to rush into danger, but to survive it and extricate myself and my loved ones as quickly and efficiently as possible, If I cannot do that with two magazines and a total of 15 rounds, I probably don't deserve too. Except in the movies and zombie/Rambo fantasies, law abiding civilians with good situational awareness and common sense about their haunts and activities do not get into firefights requiring more rounds than that. I keep another 100 rounds in my glove box and 100 more in my bug out bag if I needed to get home in a SHTF scenario. 

 


 If someone comes into my house uninvited, I already know I have a threat/problem, and you can expect my FN FNS-9 housegun to have 18 rounds in it and more waiting. I just read a very enlightening articles on handgun stopping power. As a former LEO, soldier, and sailor, and once again a civilian CWP, it was a big paradigm shift. I have house guns and concealed carry guns and tended to put the same defensive ammo in both.

Now I'll think twice. Mindset.


http://www.chuckhawks.com/handgun_stopping_power.htm

#EDC #ConcealedCarry #CWP #Springfield #FNH

Chronic Likers: A Facebook Page Admin's Dilemma

When you are a webmaster or an admin (administrator) for a facebook page or group, new members are greatly appreciated. In fact they are your life's blood and reason for being there, whether you're there to make a profit or not. Unfortunately, some tend to suffer from hero worship-like tendencies and be underfoot like a litter of puppies fresh from their nap. They willfully and wantonly like each and every single post, picture, edit, and reply as quickly as their mouse ("Clicker" in Liker lingo) will allow.

As an Admin, you get notified of each and every comment, post, or like. When your phone tells you you have 72 facebook notifications and 60+ are from one guy in the last fifteen minutes (who could not possibly have read all of the posts and visited the links that he liked and LOLed) he does as much damage to your productivity and peace of mind as a troll. You have to look at each one from him and everyone else to keep the page or group from blowing up. Are they mentally ill, cyber-stalkers, drunk, high, ignorant newbies, needy, or trolls? It seems like a genuine compulsion. I manage several groups, pages, and sites and see it regularly. Far, far, far too regularly. I call it the New Best Friend Syndrome. These chosen ones are the newly converted.

I have had people get furious when I politely and diplomatically  explained about the notifications and asked them to curb their enthusiasm. (Please LIKE all of my blog posts, subscribe, share them, and tell all of your friends to subscribe! That's different!)

Other than mental illness, I can't explain it. Often these folks will have less than a hundred facebook friends, but seem to be at it around the clock. I guess it beats playing solitaire and it does get someone's attention.

How do you vent your frustration without coming across as ungrateful (or unhinged)?

Cognitive Dissonance, Ignosticism, Logic, and Questions About God

I spent a great deal of my life studying religion and philosophy and searching for truth. It turns out that disproof is far easier than proof to find in those realms. After having been a Unitarian, an atheist, and a Christian, and studying numerous religions while visiting churches of many faiths and denominations, temples (Buddhist, Jewish, Baha'i), mosques, fellowships, supposed cults, and sometimes who knows what, I have embraced Ignosticism. To me, it became the only honest and intelligent choice.

I am an atheist; I do not believe in god/s. I am an agnostic; I do not know if any gods exist. I am an Ignostic: I have no evidence that god/s can be defined, explained, or recognized by human beings if said gods exist, and if they do and want to interact, they (He, She, It, They) will make their presence undeniably known to human kind in no uncertain terms. Below are some tools to rational thinking that have been useful and extremely interesting.

This is a great web site that explains logical fallacies. I wish the study of it was mandatory for any adult wishing to have potentially intelligent discussions. I'm not seeking to debate with or deconvert anyone, just sharing part of my path that I think can be beneficial to anyone with an open mind who is trying to discover truth.

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com


Cognitive Dissonance definition (or Why Evidence Often Doesn't Seem To Matter To Some Folks)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance


Here are two excellent web sites that pose a multitude of very legitimate questions for anyone who was indoctrinated into any Judaeo Christian faith.

http://godisimaginary.com

http://whywontgodhealamputees.com


Ignosticism definition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignosticism

Above all, don't poop where you eat.

#ignostic #ignosticism #cognitivedissonance #logic #reason #atheism #agnosticism #atheist #agnostic