I rant a lot about professional sports and how much I dislike them. I have 2 reasons, but the biggest point of contention - is that many of these men (in particular) are held up as examples of heros. These are the "heros" to many kids who desperately need a father figure or example of an adult to watch and learn from. The contention for me is that they are only sports stars for a short amount of time. Would it be too much to ask these guys to keep their business in their pants, or at home in the liquor cabinet, or in the medicine cabinet. This is a unfairly short address of an issue that is much more complex and deserves a real discussion. But seriously, how can any of you approve of professional sports - when so many of them are out there influencing your children? (DON'T ANSWER THIS QUESTION HERE. (Look up rhetorical I'm not asking for an answer) This is part of why I can't stand to watch professional sports. This type of thinking/behavior is also why I can't stand to watch television or listen to music and glorify the celebrities who bring us the arts. I can think of - right off the top of my head - a particular music artist - who has escaped numerous charges regarding underaged girls (13 -15 years of age). And still his music is selling.

WITH ALL THAT SAID: I want to share someone I admire very much. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Coffee 

This is two separate issues bound together by the same core issue.

The Easy American

Most people don’t see the truth. The truth is complicated, not at all easy (I’m not telling you anything, you don’t already know – if you are reading this.) Believing the status quo, even though it is a BLATANT lie is easy, for the average American. Believing a lie, instead of confronting it, requires no investment of emotions and intellect and allows people to keep the blinders on. That is just human nature. Easy – is what comes naturally to humans - watch YouTube blurbs, and share memes, yeah...we've become a nation of uncaring, arrogant, blind, uneducated, lazy people. Easy is the operative word.

Look all over Facebook. How many people do you see writing with text on their walls?

They share bright colorful altered pictures, videos, and enlarged picture of

for the attention it will bring. A large graphic of text will be shared and shared, yet the same text written out in normal font type, doesn’t get shared. Why?

Humans are easily distracted by bright shiny moving objects. It’s our base instinctive nature – we stayed on top of the food chain by keeping a close watch on moving objects. When that cheetah that runs faster than a human can, has sharper claws, bigger pointier teeth, started creeping up on him or her – humans still won – because the talent – was to be prepared for any movement long before it became a problem. Fight – or – Flight! And this is why television (and now Internet) advertising and marketing have always been so effective – they know about this well documented instinct that humans still have, and it’s why Facebook turned into a giant comic book.

I do get that there are many people who don’t have time to write – I see that they are the ones that usually share a funny joke or pictures of the family – that’s cool – I’m not saying they are willfully ignorant. But all the memes and videos about politics, current local news, world events, even religion and philosophy are spoon-fed in pictures and videos. I don’t think they are all wrong, all the time – I just think the key word is MODERATION with the mass media. (Well, moderation but also vetting the sources.)

We lost that moderation a long time ago – right after the industrial revolution. Like any good American, we do things BIG – and BOLD – and SHINY! And vetting? That is done by you, the sharer, who assumes the last person to share the graphic, a dear friend or family member, would never pass on a lie. THIS IS THE STUFF of “Urban Legends” And, People? You who post the question almost daily – “has anybody noticed that Facebook is slow today?” Let me tell you a secret. The Internet (in particular – I mean websites) is not a magical worm hole – it operates in the same way an automobile highway operates – it has a finite width and length – you put too much on it – it’s going to buckle. Consider this the next time you share. And the next time you see “Page, content, or website not available”

Every time someone shares information with you in the form of video or graphic – think twice before you also share it. Not just because we’ve all already seen it now but because of why you are sharing it. I’m going to share with you some clues on how to tell when its valuable information and when it’s just rubbish being shared for the sake of advertising or self-promotion (called “Like-Farming” 👍)

Never trust media that says you must “Like” it if you agree, and “Share it if you ______” fill in the blank.

Never trust media that says you should “Like” it if you want to save a copy to your page. That is not necessary – there are 2-3 options for saving it to your page and they are much better than putting it in your news feed that will get pushed out of sight in several days.

Never trust media that is giving away products – just for sharing it with a comment. (There are exceptions – but I’ve seen too many RVs, 72 inch TVs, Cars, and Luxury vacation trips, from sites that offer no details – just that you should share it and comment.) Nothing is free. If there is a giveaway – it’s not going to be done without some effort.

Never trust media that claims an entity, such as Facebook, deleted or censored the picture/video because it was too shocking/sad/violent/racist. And THEN exhorts you to share that picture to prove the censorship was wrong; especially if the picture doesn’t actually fall into that category. It’s simply not true – Facebook, for example, would lose money if they did that kind of censorship. When someone tells you Facebook deleted a picture they posted (and it happens to be true) – there is something they are not telling you – their very own friends – are the ones that reported the post was offensive and wanted it removed.

Finally, don’t you think a true friend shouldn’t have to prove their friendship by copying and pasting something that you copied and pasted…again? Since when is it required to prove you support an illness by copying and posting? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, you wanna put your human instincts to good use? Flight or Fight? This one is FIGHT! Consider putting your vote to real use – make a statement – vote for the Veterans Party of America. To vote for a candidate because the other one is worse – is a flight instinct – come on – you can only out-run the two party system and it’s corruption for so long – It’s time to FIGHT! The other reason why our ancestor humans climbed to the top of the food chain and stayed there is because they correctly picked when to fight and when to flight. I fear (yes, I'm a drama queen) we are headed for extinction if we spend this election voting against candidates, rather than voting for a well-qualified candidate. We, yes, the collective “we Americans”, put ourselves in this position. We are responsible for fixing it – not Washington DC.

“The fact is that this dissent is the highest form of patriotism."
 ― Mayor John Lindsay of New York City
“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.”
 ― Edward Abbey
“The duty of youth is to challenge corruption.”
 ― Kurt Cobain
“To sin by silence, when they should protest, makes cowards of men.”
 ― Ella Wheeler Wilcox
“Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, Don't give up the fight.”
 ― Bob Marley
“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.”
 ― Henry David Thoreau
“One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
 ― Martin Luther King Jr.
“Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government”.
 ― George Washington

I think I managed to cover every type of person with my quotes, eh?

22 A Day - This should have never been a statistic...

Hide Your Friends List On Your Phone 

By now most of you probably know that scammers are using your photo, creating an account using your name and photo, and then using your list, friending your friends. Next the scammers will send your friends some message about how they got rich, or got some tax refund, or some other such baloney. And so begins the scam. You can avoid being in this scam, and involving your friends by one simple step. Hide your friends list. This is fairly easy on the PC but on the phone a little trickier to do. Some people don’t have access to a computer - so here are the instructions to hide the list of friends that you have. Oh, and be sure to tell all of your friends - because as long as your friends have their list public - you will receive requests from scammers posing as your friends. The trick on the phone - is to not use the actual app you downloaded from the play store. You must use a browser. It can be Chrome/ie/Safari anything that let’s you browse the web. The address to facebook on your phone is below in the screenshot. m.facebook.com. Hopefully you know your userID and password. Once you are logged in - your screen should look somewhat like the below - with your current photo just about where mine is (see red arrow pointing up). You click on your photo and that will take you to your own personal wall.

Step 1 - open Facebook in a browser not the phone app.

You’ll know you have succeeded, when your picture appears centered on your banner/background image. Your name below your picture, the ability to edit, and various menu items. Scroll down until you hit....

Step 2 - for hiding your friends list

Here it is, your a menu to manage your Friends (circled in red below) along with the section of Facebook containing your friends. You need only click on the Friends Button (circled in red).

Step 3 for Hiding your friends list.

If you correctly clicked on the Friends button - you will see the below screen. The rest of it should be fairly obvious. Your screen might show something like Public or Friends. You should change it to “Only Me”. If you can’t find that choice - use the More button. Remember to click Apply or Save - if you see those options (I’m not saying they are there - just be sure to check. And you are done!

Final step in hiding your Friends list

I am an American. I am a Veteran. When I entered the service I agreed that I would follow all orders to protect America. And I did. I've never had a problem with that. What I saw in the big picture was that when we followed orders, we made a great team. And a great team served the purpose of protecting America. I was in Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and Provide Comfort. Many of my brothers and sisters have spent time in other life threatening situations, some never came back. We all did this for America. I see once again America needs protection, from herself; from the corruption of her government. I think the rationale of third party wasted votes is a cheap easy cowardly cop-out. I think you are failing your duty as an American - if this is your reason for voting for Clinton or Trump. There is a solution!!!!

In the early start of our country, we primarily had Federalists and Anti-Federalists, two opposing viewpoints on whether the country should be ran at a national level or each state may do as it chooses. George Washington deplored the widening split in the new government. In announcing his decision to retire from office at the end of his second term as president, he warned the country about the harmful effects of what he called the "spirit of party," which he believed would weaken the administration of public affairs.

In his inaugural address Adams, who had served as Washington's vice president for eight years, expressed his dismay at the rise of political parties, calling the 'spirit of party' an enemy of the Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson turned his back on any partisan affiliation upon assuming the presidency: "We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists".

James Madison, also, agreed with Thomas Jefferson. James Monroe, like the first four presidents, viewed political parties as divisive elements that tended to destroy the country's political institutions. He once described political parties as ''the curse of the country".

And yet there existed political parties to promote officers of government.

I feel very frustrated that we are no longer the America we say we are. The original American Revolution was because the locals were being over controlled and over taxed by King George in the UK. They didn't see the colonies as people, only as a source of income. Sound familiar to you? Seems to me, it's time for the next American Revolution...just a thought.

I think it's time to put in office a person who will live by the constitution and carry out the constitution, it served us well for 200 years why are we throwing it away? For corruption? For love of money? For love of power? Vote for the Veterans Party of America, Chris Keniston and Deacon Taylor.

And as for any pompous conciliatory rationale on wasting votes, this guy says it better than I can: https://fee.org/articles/how-not-to-waste-your-vote-a-mathematical-analysis/.