OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE

What Elon Musk, or Bill Gates do in terms of achievements or acquisitions or benefits to humanity or sinister plots may be of interest to me, but they mean nothing to me. They are unimportant to my life. What PM Justin Trudeau, or wannabe presidents Kamala or Donald say or do, or think, is ultimately of no consequence for me. What the World Economic Council publish publicly or resolves clandestinely does not need to waste my time. My shorts should not be in knots over anything outside of myself. I am a temple of God the Holy Spirit. His presence is my security and my peace. The love of God is the foundation of my life. His Word illuminates my way. He is God and I am His child. That alone is of real and paramount importance. My communication with Him and about Him and His messages to me must be where I allow my mind to exclusively settle each day that I live here. 

Qualifier: None of the above implies an ostrich head-in-the-sand approach to personal and world events; or infers unconcern about the conflicts in the Mid-East or Ukraine, or suggests a lack of empathy and action to aid anyone around me who requires my assistance. It does declare my valid and uber-effective coping mechanism for all that is harmful and threatening in this world, and my world. 

3 DAYS & THINGS WE FORESEE IF ...

The light of my new 50-watt flood lamp will last longer than I do. If I let it shine 24/7 it will shine for 15 years.  My genetics project me that far without guarantees. Think of it, my Phillips 50-watt lamp and its two siblings in the 3-pack, will each glow through three more US Presidential campaigns and be on the cusp of a fourth. From north of the 49th Parallel, this Presidential amusement is spectator sport held every 4 years like the Olympics, Football World Cup, UEFA European Championship, and Rugby World Cup but is comparatively more costly.

3DAYS & THINGS WE FORESEE IF  …

IF President Trump wakes up Nov 9th.

§  2017 trade war with China; 45% imports tariff

§  2017 trade war with Mexico; 35% imports tariff

§  China & Mexico go into recession; block US businesses

§  US businesses lose 7 million jobs

§  Soaring US inflation, recession, even depression

§  U.S. renegotiates NAFTA

§  Repeal Obamacare; 24 million without insurance.

§  Deportation 2 million illegal immigrants; cost $20 billion

§  Huge tax cuts > spending cuts > job loss

§  Halting immigration from Terror prone countries

§  Pull out of Trans-Pacific Partnership and Paris climate-change agreement

§  Cancel US climate change programs

§  Devalues ally nations risking international instability

§  military standoff with China in South China Sea

§  military standoff with North Korea

§  resumption of waterboarding

§  federal agencies go after Hillary Clinton

IF President Clinton wakes up Nov 9th.

§  Comes into office under criminal investigation

§  Scandals and Wikileaks never go away

§  foreign policy and national security platform follows Obama's

§  builds on Obama’s affordable universal health care

§  a Paycheck Fairness Act to challenge sex-based pay discrimination

§  Increases minimum wage to $12 or $15; requires Congressional approval

§  Creates a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants

§  Deports criminal illegal immigrants

§  Republican House resists all Clinton moves

§  Her administration raises tax for ultra wealthy

§  Withdraws from the Trans Pacific Partnership

§  Eliminates tuition for families with income less $125,000/yr

§  amends constitution to undue Citizens United (super PACS)

§  Expands background checks for gun sales

§  Increases federal infrastructure funding $275 billion over 5 yrs. (bridges, highways, airports

AMERICA - DON’T VOTE FOR A 70 PLUS CANDIDATE

I am 73 years old and I am advising Americans to think twice about voting for a presidential candidate who is 70 years and older.  Political correctness declares that age should not be an issue, but honestly, it is.  President Obama's hair colour is an indicator of the onerous burdens of the office. He took office at age 44. Imagine the cumulative affects of national governance on a president whose best years are 20-30 years behind him. Of course Trump, if elected, will never grey out because his present hair colour is simulated. That should not dupe anyone. This office requires grey matter. The synaptic gaps in Trump's brain are already too far apart for responsible information transmission. All other Republican candidates are 65 years and younger. Of the Democratic candidates, Bernie Sanders is 75, Jim Webb is almost 71 and Joe Biden who will soon declare his candidacy, is 74. Hillary will turn 70 before the presidential election and she gives evidence now that she should consider a position no loftier than co-host of The View.

Two Men Along the Hudson River in New York

A NEW LEARNING
My reading is so diversified these days and I surprise myself at times with my observations. Here is an example, a comparative study of two men whose connection is their involvement with the Hudson River.

The Hudson River was most recently in the news when US Airways Flight 1549 was ditched in her but stayed afloat for the rescue of all 150 passengers and five crew members. Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk, meaning the Great Mohegan is the Iroquois name for the Hudson River which flows its 315 mile course from the Adirondack Mountains to New York City emptying in the upper bay. Englishman Henry Hudson sailing for the Dutch East India Company explored the river and its uninhabited shores in 1609 naming it Mauritius in honour of Prince Maurice of Nassau. He himself was later honoured when his name was given to the river. European immigrants settled around the river. It inspired the mid 19th century Hudson River School of painting, a group of landscape painters influenced by romanticism and using the Hudson River Valley, and the Catskill, Adirondack and White Mountains as their idyllic inspiration. The river is a premier example of industrial pollution.

Donald Trump was born in 1946 in New York City, the fourth of five children of Fred Trump, a wealthy real estate developer. Go figure! So much of his highly publicized business career has located along the Hudson River. His own offices and Penthouse home look out upon the waters. The Donald, as Ivana, the first of his three wives named him has been in and out of legal bankruptcy throughout his career having filed it three times, yet staying afloat by restructuring the debt by surrendering large percentages of ownership. His is ambitious and aggressive. His name and his moniker is born by the Trump World Tower, Trump Tower, Trump Entertainments Resorts which include (Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza, and Trump Marina), to name only a few. He has been earning in the range of 32 to 40 million dollars annually. In 2008 he failed to pay a $40M loan to Deutsche Bank citing the crisis was an Act of God. His most recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy was filed on February 17 2009 on the Trump Entertainment Resorts. But it’s all business. He is on TV and he has written many books and his hair is lousy.

Pete Seeger was born in 1919 in Patterson, New Jersey near the Hudson River. His father, Charlie Louis Seeger Jr was a composer and pioneer ethnomusicologist and his mother, Constance Edson was a classic violinist. Although his parents divorced when he was seven, his stepmother, Ruth Crawford Seeger was one of the most influential female composers of the 20th century. In 1943 Pete married Toshi-Aline Ohta, a folk musician to whom he has been married ever since. Seeger himself became a key personality and contributor to the American folk music revival during the 50’s and 60’s. He wrote such memorables as “Where have all the flowers gone?” and “If I had a Hammer” and “Turn, Turn, Turn.” Countless other artists and musical groups have recorded these songs after Seeger made them famous. Seeger himself became famous for his anti Vietnam War activism and then later the environment and what has become his legacy, the efforts at Hudson River recovery. He also wrote “That Lonesome Valley” in 1969 to highlight the polluted Hudson River. He founded the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, built a sailing sloop used to education grade school children. Over time the US Government listened and began legislating and funding the cleanup.

Seeger is financially worth less than Trump but he may leave behind more that is worthwhile for everyone.