Why We Should Not Go By Appearances ~ The Father of Fake News

The Fairness Doctrine made the important distinction between broadcast and cable news. Now the FCC says it is OK for the media to lie to us and pretend they are telling the truth. How do you like being duped?

Appearances and momentum capture the attention so easily that we sometimes confuse what we see, hear and think to be the truth of what we are seeing, hearing and thinking. Magicians know this and use this when they trick their audiences about what they are seeing and hearing, ultimately affecting their thinking.

No, this is not a comical bit from a Friends TV episode. The reality is, sometimes we delude ourselves into thinking that what we are seeing and hearing is real because we literally saw someone doing something, and heard them say it. No one would ever lie to us, right?

We need to be smarter humans. Whether the subject is religion, finance, or politics, it is never advisable to listen to only one side before we make important decisions. Look past the drama, the popular mantra of the group, the wishful thinking and look clearly at the facts, the real and accurate facts.

Many of us have allowed others to confuse our thinking. At these times, we are choosing to step out of our own personal power by listening to others because they seem to be louder, more sure of themselves, or seem to be in the know. If they are pontificating erroneous fictions as if they were facts, how is anyone to know without personal investigation?

Television, radio and social media does not serve the public like it used to do before the days of President Reagan when he vetoed the regulation that the news media had to profess the truth in what they reported. How many of us know that the television news media and some of its counterparts are more interested in the advertising dollars they attain over telling the actual truth which they have consciously decided not to tell?

Keep in mind that it is the conservative entities (not liberals), usually Republicans (not Democrats) who own most of the media who are pushing hardline, rightwing spin to appease the huge corporations and conglomerates who pay for the advertising that makes the TV, radio and print media possible. No one ought to lose their jobs for telling the truth.

We do not help ourselves nor our country when we focus on the fictional reality, such as Fox News with its many hosts, and quote the deception they promote as if that was real. Anyone with a grammar school education, who can read, is able to get to the bottom of the truth of the matter. We do not need to take someone else’s view point, then say, “There are so many confusing viewpoints out there. I do not know what to believe.”

Stop watching fictional news. Go to reputable sources. How do you know the difference?

Go to mainstream news outlets: Reuters, AP, NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, BBC, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Bloomberg News, The Atlantic, and Politico. All these news outlets tell the truth based on facts of actual events and history without spin of a particular political party.

Don’t choose ignorance and confusion over accurate facts. We know fact and fiction are different things, but when people in high profile places tell us something, and we have something to gain by listening to them, we can easily fool ourselves into believing what we want to believe over what is true and factual.

It is better for us all, and for our country, to base all our decisions on real and true facts. Facts do not have opinions, they just are what they are.

It is time to move past choosing sides, as if we are ordering our favorite Kentucky Fried Chicken meal, or picking our favorite sports team. Facts are not interchangeable with fiction.

This is a critical moment in our history, between the Presidential Election of 2020 and the Inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, who won in a free and fair election. No one stole the election. Voters in every state as well as the electoral college have certified on this President-elect. These are provable facts.

On January 5, Democratic Senator Candidate Jon Ossoff is challenging incumbent Senator David Perdue earlier in the day in the first runoff election, followed by a second runoff election between Democratic Senator Candidate Raphael Warnock and incumbent Senator Kelly Loeffler.

Georgia voters will be the ones to decide which political party controls the U.S. Senate, since the protracted vote count in the previous election did not result in winners in either race.

Democrats need to flip both Senate seats to have unified control of the White House and Congress. Again, every vote in these elections matters.

Stagnation and the inability or unwillingness to work together works against the democracy this country has long fought for. Perhaps it is time to step out of the molasses and take a new breath sweeping through our land at this time.

Since we are a country of law and order, now is time for us to be lawful and orderly and do what all government officials and everyone in the military have sworn their oath to do, which is to serve and protect the Constitution of the United States of America, not any particular person.

Remember, the Constitution of the United States of America was written because of the abuses of King George III of Great Britain usurping the rights of the people of the 13 colonies. Our Forefathers, representing all citizens then and now, shunned an autocratic king ruling over the USA.

Recognize that this past Presidential Election was run as all previous elections have run, with in-person, and absentee ballots. Absentee ballots include provisional and mail-in as our military have always used and been counted after the election, since they voted on Election Day, often out-of-state or out of the country and required being mailed in to be counted after that day. This is nothing new.

Absolutely no one stole the 2020 Presidential Election. It’s called counting all the ballots because every vote counts. As mentioned above, there were no illegal votes/ballots. This has also been documented by Republican appointees of Homeland Security.

When it comes to counting ballots, ballots that have been cast for one side or the other are not illegal ballots, nor are absentee ballots illegal. This is perhaps the biggest lie being touted today, as if only Republican or in-person votes are legal. That assumption is false no matter who says it. Facts are facts, and history is history.

However, if we do not align ourselves with democracy we will be aligning ourselves with non-democracy, with a ruler who is an autocrat, a tyrant, a dictator, a king and the like.

Saying the economy is great because the stock market is doing well, while ignoring the rest of the 90 percent of the citizens who are lining up in countless food lines, losing their jobs, their homes, their very lives, is not the real test of how “great” the economy is.

Now is the time to stand on accurate facts while we can. It is possible to lose democracy. I believe most of us do not want to do that.

God Bless Everyone Everywhere

Being Guardians Of Democracy

Democracy is a living, life-changing aspect of a civilized society today, evolving from past generations of autocrats, oligarchs, tyrants, dictators, and would-be kings. But the life blood of democracy does not reside in one president only, or any particular group of politicians. Democracy’s pulse remains alive within the heartbeat of you, me and everyone else in democratic countries.

Our country and ourselves are in a symbiotic relationship. Our democracy lives or dies by the will of us, the people.

Remember, as the Appendix of the Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (and women) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men (and women) deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. …

“… But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necesssity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present king of Great-Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. …”

Today, as the final results pour in from this year’s presidential election, more than 150 million voters have done this very thing, changing the tone of the United States of American from becoming victim to another would-be king, based on the promotion of the Lame-Duck President as an autocratic oligarch, to a truly democratic government run by the people and for the people, who have chosen liberty and freedom over tyranny and despotism.

You and I are in charge of keeping democracy alive. It is in the words we say and actions we take. It is up to us to create fairness and kindness within our homes, work places, schools with empathy and compassion at the top of our minds. Democracy begins with us.

Democracy is hard fought for. The aspiration of any ruler in any country to take over the liberty and freedom of the people they rule is the misuse of their own personal free will.

We retain and continually stand up for democracy when we peacefully live in the liberty and freedom with which the United States of America was born. We do this in our neighborhoods. We do this in our daily coming and going. We not only care about ourselves, we care about other people, too.

Free will is a gift of God given to every human being born on the planet, regardless of what country in which you live. Our political ancestors of the fledgling 13 colonies fought long and hard for the freedom we have today, to govern ourselves, to vote for our leaders void of the abuse of all forms of voter suppression, all written down in the Constitution of the United States of America.

One of the reasons our country thought it important enough to later write in term limits for the presidency of the USA is that we wanted to get away from would-be kings such as King George III.

Do not fear. Fear is the fuel of hate and hate groups; fear of others, fear of different thoughts, fear of different religions, fear of different races, fear of different skin colors, fear of different languages, fear of anyone or anything who/that is different from ourselves.

Rather, be the light. Shine the light of inspiration and knowledge of what can be when we work together for the common good. Focus on positive, life-affirming solutions. The darkness of fear is what happens when enough good people think, say and do nothing. That is the definition of evil, when enough good people think, say and do nothing. Find the good. Work for the good.

Learn more about our heros and heroines who stood up for all human justice. Speak out and correct racial slurs when they are heard. Explain when misunderstandings arise.

For example, “Defund the Police” does not mean to financially demonish the police departments. “Defund the Police” means to help police departments by adding counselors where situations call for diplomacy rather than police with guns. Guns are not the only answer to every problem, which also does not mean we never need a police woman or man with a gun when the situation for that is called for. Also, all good cops agree that bad cops need to go.

We need to recognize all our prejudices in order that we can evolve into better people, better neighbors, and better government officials.

Democracy stands firm against all political leaders who do not choose to work across the isle with government leaders from a different party affiliation for the good of the citizens they represent.

Democracy also stands firm against all hate groups which have sought, and still seek, to destroy democracy by pitting one human being against another, or one political party against another. Do not fall for the undemocratic antics of those who seek to destroy democracy.

We continue to stand up for our precious democracy in our every thought, word and action. Democracy has not won by the vote of one person to the presidency. Let us never again come this close to losing our democracy, which is possible to do when we forget that it is you and me, and all individuals in our UNITED States of America.

God Bless Everyone

Positive Problem Solving ~ Life-Affirming Decisions ~ Peaceful Actions Work Best

Is money the bottom line?

While it is important to acknowledge important information that directly affects us everyday, it is equally important not to loose our Spirit of Love and Light Energy as we go through each day of our life.

It is not helpful to absorb every negative feeling as we keep up with local, national and world atrocities. Internalizing negative emotion on a constant basis as it unfolds before us will make us mentally and physically sick. There is no place in the body that is meant to store excess stress, anxiety, panic and discordant energy. The stomach holds food, the lungs hold oxygen, but excess stress, anxiety, panic and continual discord will breakdown the human body into dis-ease, better known as disease.

Beating the dysfunctional drum of the negative emotions of anger and fear (which is the root cause of anger), though you may feel justified, still ignites an imbalance, which feeds on itself like an avalanche down a steep snow slope, burying everything it its path. It is not necessary to feed on fear for lack of knowing what else to do. We need to rein in our misqualified energy and transmute it into positive, life-giving action that makes a real and lasting change. This is possible for you to do.

What is an effective action we can take to make our voices heard in a way that shines a positive light on the problems we need to address, in the energy of love and unity, not hate and division?

In these days we can take our pick of topics we want to address: racism; tackling the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression; global warming and climate change causing wildfires sweeping across the USA; pollution affecting our oceans, lakes and rivers; farming practices that won’t kill our ozone layer any further; saving the rainforests which are the lungs of our planet; inequality in the work force between men and women; gender equality; oppression and suppression of voting rights in every oligarch, autocrat or dictatorship leaning country; or the current, out-of-control COVID-19 (Sars Co2 – or any other name we switch this particular coronavirus to) pandemic which is nearing 25 million confirmed cases worldwide, and nearly 850,000 deaths worldwide. The USA has nearly 6 million confirmed cases alone, and since yesterday has increased by at least 46,000 cases. The sadest note of all regarding the pandemic is that the USA tops the list of countries worldwide, including Third World Countries. This what happens when we place intuition and guess work above science. It did not have to happen like this. We could have stopped it the same way President Obama stopped Ebola from spreading across the USA. That worked.

Still, we make our own choices, to go along with ignorance, or proven science. The choice is ours. But it seems that ignorance and denial has not stopped this invisible so called  “hoax” of a disease, at least the families of the nearly 850,000 dead people worldwide, nor the families of the nearly 181,000 dead people in the USA, would call this pandemic a “hoax.” Most medical doctors, including Dr. Fauci, tell us that these numbers are most likely higher, not lower, than what has been reported since we still do not have tests for everyone who needs to be tested, as opposed to what some are professing. Some of us die at home alone, untested and uncounted.

Racism, a fear-driven ideology, is present across the globe, not particular to one nation. Racism affects gender equality in addition to skin color, as does differences in religious and spiritual beliefs, as if there is a different God for each of the thousands of belief systems out there. Rasicm is a man-made creation which can respond positively to life-affirming, positive solutions that build up communities. Using discordant energies that promote division only serve to exacerbate the situation, not solve it.

It takes a great deal of integrity, fortitude, and creativity to address systemic racism in the warped minds of people who are ingrained with faux facts since birth, that one race, color, creed, age or gender is better than another because of man-made, inequitable agendas fueled by greed and selfishness rather than decisions made for the good of all.

We are facing the problems of pollution which feed the flames of global warming and climate change, raging in the wildfires burning out of control, caring not for which side of politics is present. Global warming and climate change have no political agenda as the polar caps are melting. They just melt, releasing unknown pathogens and illnesses that have been frozen for thousands of years, regardless of the denial that it is happening to the degree it is.

Doing nothing has not and will not ever solve a dilemma or a situation that desperately needs changing. Ignoring problems that need to be addressed is like holding an air-filled beach ball under water. The longer and deeper it is held under pressure, the greater equal and opposite reaction occurs. We all know this.

Now is not the time for outrageous and outlandish words and actions that will undermine the very problem our hearts, minds and voices are stirring us to face. We cannot deny reality, nor can we sit by, watch and do nothing, as if denying the problem will make it go away.

Now is the time to map out positive, life-affirming solutions, laws, changes in our thinking, even if we stand alone on the island of our peers and co-workers. Now is the time for Truth, Light and Loving solutions. Money is not the bottom line. It never has been. Money is an energy exchange.

What do you want to invest in, money or humanity? Keep in mind, money burns in wildfires just as well as the trees from which it is made.

Namaste

We Are More Alike Than Our Differences ~ USA Presidential Election ~ Have No Fear

We are more alike than the differences we profess. There is nothing to be afraid of. Stop shaking in your boots. There is no reason to fear people of different ethnic backgrounds, different genders, different ages, different religions, nor any difference in skin color. There is nothing we cannot handle with peaceful negotiation.

Truth matters.

Spanish/Mexican land greatly exceeds the land mass of the 13 colonies in 1763.

The United States of America is founded as a nation of immigrants. We welcome everyone, not just white people from Eastern Europe. As a matter of fact, people from assorted backgrounds were already here and settled within the current borders of the USA prior to the westward push to the opposite sea. The indigenous people of our great and wonderful land are still here. We love them. They are all part of the American Dream in this beautiful melting pot of humanity.

There is no reason to demonize people. We associate with groups of people who are different from our own. In these

Just 249 years ago, most of the central and southwestern USA was Spanish/Mexican.

days before the November 2020 Presidential Election, including the Presidential Conventions and TV shows, differences in the beliefs of the parties are being highlighted. There is a palpable undercurrent of fear that is present. Fear of others, how they think, and how they look, is not the way to make the best decisions, nor is lack of understanding the actual history on which this great nation is founded.

This present and palpable fear between political parties has infected the base of each within this country. It is important to separate fact from fiction in order to make common sense decisions based on love for all of humankind, not hype, hate or spin of the truth. This is not like rooting for your favorite sports team. We need to make decisions not based on the popular opinion of others, but based on our own research with input from more than one credible source.

I am writing to you as a former newspaper reporter and feature writer for three large newspapers. I needed to get real facts from three corroborated and credible sources, not friends who thought the same way I did. When I covered local Town Hall meetings, which are the heartbeat of the town, I could not misdirect the information to any particular target audience. The news I wrote had to apply to all townspeople. It was their tax dollars that funded the government of their town. I did not have any right to distort the truth of my own personal opinion. We all need to investigate further than what one side of any issue is before jumping on any bandwagon that may take you in the wrong direction, simply because you negelicted to navigate the precipice just around the corner.

How important is it to you that other countries with autocratic and oligarch leaders not interfer in the elections of the United States of America?

How important is it to you that factions of other countries not put bounties on the heads of our American soldiers?

How important is it to you to have your vote counted in the next Presidential Election?

It is easy to see the fear instigated by those with fear-based agendas.

What is the best way to make decisions not based on fear, but instead on intelligent investigation?

Is money the bottom line?

STEP OUT OF FEAR. STOP THE HATE. STOP SPREADING THE FEARMONGERING.

It is possible to stop the runaway train of fear by switching tracks to the path of love, empathy, compassion, justice and liberty for all, as we profess to believe in our Pledge of Allegiance.

Let’s see, who are really illegal immigrants in the USA?

Who are the people we count as illegal aliens?

Who counts as legal residents of the USA?

Should we determine who is legal by what they look like?

Is the USA still the country who welcomes the tired, poor, huddle masses yearning to breathe free, homeless, tempest tossed, as the Statue of Liberty lifts her golden flame of welcome?

How far back should we look, to the Native American Indians? Well, no, we should not go back that far because then we would all be illegal aliens. Looking back at the history of the United States of America it is easy to see why the USA border with Mexico is such a hot spot. However, Mexicans were here long before we were, and many of them and their families never left. They still live on their original homestead. Some Americans think these people are immigrants when in fact, they were here for generations before we got here.

Spanish/Mexican land greatly exceeds the land mass of the 13 colonies in 1763.

Shall we count the Spanish/Mexican people who lived here in 1763, prior to all our wars with them?

Shall we include those people in the land before we arrived in all the conquests and purchases?

When you think of it this way, who are really the aliens?

There has got to be a better way for people of conscience, to resolve our current humanity and immigration dilemmas, that do not include a gun to someone’s back or face, and deportation of this nations’ children who are in this land of “freedom” trying to make a better life for themselves and their families, like we all are.

We can be so short-sighted. For Americans living here now legally, it was not that long ago, not even 200 years

Maps of the USA from 1776-1866, just 146 years ago.

ago, when our very own grandparents and their grandparents were immigrants to this country. Most of them simply walked through Ellis Island, signed their name, or an “X” if they could not write, to get in. We do need smart immigration reform that does not include inhumane treatment. The scarcity mentality based on fear, fear of others, fear of their beliefs, fear of how they look, fear of how they think, fear, fear, fear is the pinacle problem of our time. We are smarter than this.

We need to stand on principle, not fear of others. We need to be fair, not self-righteous. We need to empathetic and compassionate to the plight of humanity caught in the midst of inhuman actions in these extraordinary times. We need a clear mind not infected with the plague of inhuman actions to solve the problems facing us today.

This fear and demonization of others has infiltrated the small minds, greedy hearts and loud voices of a few of those among us. We need to broaden our horizons and find creative solutions that do not include the destruction of the soul and spirit of human integrity, that place all non-white Americans, as well as non-American people, in the same category as crimminals and drug lords. We need to address crime issues, but often it is the illegal immigrant who is the victim of the crime, not the perpetrator.

Namaste