Is 44 countries enough?

In 27 of 44 Countries, Mandatory Face Masks reduce Deaths?

Recently in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine published a study declaring that the mandatory use of masks in the SARS-CoV-2 and MERS environment prevented deaths.  It was a “ModelingCovid-19 Mortality across 44 Countries” indicating face coverings “may reduce” mortality.  The study was simple enough but it brought to my mind some questions. I have always thought the most important part of any discussion was asking the right questions.  The basic results of the study indicated there were 288 deaths per million people in countries that did not mandate masks and only 48 per million in countries that did.  A significant difference. Two things to point out about this is that the death rate in both instances was very low.  Even the 288 as almost the same as a Flu epidemic of two one-hundredths of 1% death rate in the population.  That is still higher than four one-thousandth of 1% for the masked.

NOTE: The data for this study was from February to May 2020 so Vaccines were not a factor.

Why deaths?

In the material the claim was it reduced virial load.  Maybe I suppose, but then just simple isolation would also be a determining factor and that does not seem to be true. People place in isolation still get worse. They paid no attention to the infection rate, which in some of these places we know to be quiet high.

We know from experience that despite masking: age, population density and general population health are contributing factors.

Was age a factor?

According to the model, the average age for the 17 “non-masking” countries was slightly higher at 42 years old versus 41 years old on average for the 27 countries forcing the masking.  This really does not sound like a lot.  Until you understand that the over 60 population was moderately higher in those non-masking, immigration was major factor and as well as population density which was higher in the 17 non-masking countries. This would indicate a more stressed medical community and possibly lead to a higher death rate on its own merits.

Did the 27 lower death rate masked countries have a different treatment protocol?

It is not indicated in the research if any protocols were used in the lower death rate countries different than the non-mask countries either.  If the treatment methods were the same, then the study is valid.  If most if not all of the masked countries also used varied treatments or any significant treatment at all, then the study is really flawed.  Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine were already being used in some places by then.

Assuming that just masking was the primary factor is a false promise.  There is also no real indication that they looked at the population’s compliance.  It is one thing to force a mandate, it is another to comply.  Japan is known to have one of the highest mask compliant populations at 91%, Ireland is about 88%.  So the level of compliance could affect the results.

Why 44 countries?

I am always skeptical of limited quantity studies.  Back in the 1960s the “Mediterranean Diet” was based on something called the 7 Countries studies. Seven countries had diets that were low in Saturated fat and high in carbohydrates that had a low rate of heart disease.  It made Olive oil a cure-all and was touted as the secret to a long life.  Soon after America became a far more obese nation.  What is never mentioned is that they had data for some 30+ countries.  They chose 7 because the charts made the wanted result. Low fat, moderate carb, less heart disease.   In truth, if you mapped all the data there was no conclusion in the amount of saturated fat.  Countries like Switzerland and France wherein there, both had high fat, medium to low carb diets, yet their level of cardiovascular disease was also minimal. 

So here we are with a minimal sample size really.  It was too complicated to use county data in the US or province data in Canada because, well I don’t know.  So we have 44 countries picked out of probably 70 we have data for?

When you limit your data, it always looks like you want a specific result.  That is the joy of statistics.  You can always get the results you want, it is just how you look at the data points. So I  encourage you to be skeptical.  There is an awful lot we are not being told. 

What percentage of deaths in the US are vaccinated?  In Oregon, 99% of people over 65 are vaccinated. And they account for 90+ percent of the deaths in the state.  So how many of them are vaccinated?  Nobody will say. Some states have indicated 50% of those dying are vaccinated.  60% o the new infections are vaccinated.  To me, the vaccine, that I did get, does not seem to be effective.

Why are miscarriages up over 60% in Invitro Fertilization Clinics Nationwide among vaccinated women over 2019?

Why are cardiovascular issues up 100% in men below 40 and in good health nationwide in 2021?

Why are school districts in Oregon asking children to eat lunch in 35 degrees in December when the risk of death in children below 16 is so low, vaccinated or not?

Asking questions is how we learn.  Asking the right question is how we advance.  Currently I wear a mask for the fear of others.  Not because I am afraid of them, but because they are afraid of me.  It is a sad situation.

Next time you see a person with a mask remember it is YOUR FEAR that drives that.  

Here’s a question: How long do you want to live in fear? 

Gregor - Back from the brink! From there and back again. A spiritual Hobbits journey.

Is Biden our Pre-Civil War Prsident?

Is President Biden our Buchanan?

Many consider President Buchanan to be “the worst” president of the United

States.  Mr. Buchanan was elected at a far different time, where media was not the same as it was today.  Though born in the north, he was Pro-Slavery.  He had a penchant for the antebellum society, possibly because of his relationship with his “Vice President to Polk” Mr. De Vane King, of Noth Carolina.  He walked into a recession caused in part by the largest insurance company folding.  This was long before the Federal Reserve to bail them out.  Kansas was voting to become a state, and though Buchanan bore an impeachment hearing for influencing Kansas to the side of Slavery, He was acquitted in Congress but several of his cabinet were cast under suspicion.

Though Buchanan claimed to be pro-Union, he essentially did nothing to stop the states from seceding. Some may praise him as a Federalist supporting a state's right to separate or as a racist supporting the slave industry and the idea that people of African descent are somehow able to be declared personal property.  Buchanan destroyed his personal papers, so we have little of his own writings to know what he thought.  We have a few letters he wrote to others and that is about it.  This is how we are relatively sure that he was Homosexual. But besides his loneliness, we know little about what he thought about.

Rather like both Obama and Biden whose college days are locked away from scrutiny. The only thing we have to go on is the scrubbed information allowed out by the handlers.

Will President Biden score lower than Buchanan?

At his writing, we are almost exactly at 8 months of service under Joe Biden, President. So let us look at what has happened just off the top of my head:

1.      The Vaccines that were produced by Pfizer, Maderna were released in November of 2020. They have proven to be far less effective than advertised, and serious side effects are far worse for some than expected. Biden’s fault? Only in the pushing of something that needs improvement.

2.      We no longer have a southern border.  People walking across the border to get fast food without ramifications means there is not a border.  Two million people plus, criminally entered the United States, we will never get them out. With those illegal entrants, our infection rate has ballooned.  In 2020 we had the lowest immigration rate in recorded history.  Our infections were half of what we are now seeing, and that was without a vaccine.

3.      Crime is up nationwide.  See number 2 for that plus the lack of response to the riots perpetrated by  BLM Inc. Murders are up 800% in Portland alone. 

4.      Homelessness is up nationwide and the evictions have not started.

5.      Drug use is up nationwide

6.      Eleven million jobs are waiting for people to come work, ninety ships are off the coast of Los Angles waiting to be unloaded, but nobody is there to unload them.  Wonder where that thing you ordered last year is?

7.      Afghanistan – I’ve been checking in on the hearings and the State Departments' primary defense is the same one that Hillary Clinton used it during her eMail hearings back in 2016.  It boils down to “I’m sorry, I don’t have that because I am incompetent.” Yes, I am serious.  No, they do not use those exact words.  But they essentially say they have no way to get that information. Thank you for your service I expect the resignation of everybody in your department forthwith, thank you.

8.      We left $85 Billion with functional equipment in a working airbase. We did not hand the base to the then Military.  The transition was incompetent.  It was actually criminal.

9.      Border Patrol FALSELY accused of whipping Criminal Immigrants. The use of horses allows them to move faster and cover more ground.  It is an equalizer in an unequal situation. The photographer that took the pictures confirmed nobody was struct with reins. The administration as a whole is lying on purpose.  Why?  Reduce the protection on the border, even more, to increase the criminal immigration with the associated liabilities and increase in SARS-CoV 2 infections that will occur.      

The list could continue.  But I think that is impressive for 8 months.  Not to mention the States of Texas and New Hampshire talking of Seceding from the Union. 

President Biden has no Idea where the Federal Rights stop and the State and Individual Rights start.  He says on one side he can’t force a Vaccine.  Yet he gets OSHA to force one through “Safety Regulation” what?

Who will be our Lincoln?

Abraham Lincoln is often touted as one of the better Presidents.  It is not that I don’t like him.  I just note that he chucked the constitution multiple times to save the Republic.  The “ends justified the means.” That is a very Democratic/Socialist philosophy.  Would I have done anything differently in Lincoln's shoes?  Maybe not. So yeah there is a challenge.

But how did Lincoln do what he did and then go back to order? 

He worked from principle.  He strove to preserve the Union. To pull America back together, to abolish Slavery. He had a bedrock of things to accomplish he held as important.  To have our next civil war not cost millions of lives, we are going to restore that bedrock of American Principles.   The 1861 Civil war cost some 630,000 lives, about 2.3% of the US population. Just for fun let us pretend we have not learned how to kill each other more efficiently which means we could estimate a civil war would claim about  7.6 million.  So many died of infection and such we might be able to lower that, but with explosives, etc, we have gotten pretty efficient so maybe not.

Who would work on principle? That is the question we need to look at, and not just for our President.  If we looked for representatives of principle at every level, our freedom could be guaranteed again in no time. 

In 2022 in Oregon will be electing our Governor, the District Attorneys in many of our communities but especially in Multnomah County Oregon, who released rioters and caused much of the current crime problems.  I will not suggest who to vote for.  I encourage you to decide what to vote for.

Biden won because people voted against Donald Trump.  They did not vote for Biden. They voted against President Trump and his Tweets, and abrasive personality. Now, look at what that got us. 

Understand this is what you voted for.  Claiming “I didn’t know” is just like saying “Sorry I am incompetent” to your boss.  Because those who looked at who Joe Biden was working with knew this is what would happen. We just got Obama 2.0. Not that Obama is running this. Just many of the people who were in his administration are also in Joe Biden’s. Drone Strikes on Innocents again are in the news, just like before.

What can you do about it”?

Stop being quiet!

It is not time to riot, or use force.  It is time to speak and do so loudly. It is time to run for the local office. The Media thinks you like the garbage they produce.  They think you believe them. Make it clear you do not. Verify what I say, verify what they say.  Believe no one. Speak out THE truth.  Not Your Truth or My Truth. 

There are self-evident truths.  All people are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Among those are the rights to Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of happiness. The purpose of our government, instituted among people, is to secure these liberties for ourselves and our posterity.

Not to restrict them.  And yet here we are.  “For safety.”

Before SARSCoV 2 you were at risk of death walking out your door without a mask.  If you are 45 or younger and healthy, you are still at risk about the same amount, with our without a Vaccine of dying with Covid as you were before Covid. Your risk changes based on health, weight, blood condition, and type as well as age.  So talk to your doctor as to whether a vaccine is right for you. I am not against vaccines nor a doctor.

If you want to live free, start doing so, and make them stop you. 

Gregor - Back from the brink! From there and back again. A spiritual Hobbits journey.

Is the Constitution of the United States unique?

The Preamble:

“We the People of the United States, in order to form the a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the General Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty for ourselves of Liberty and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

September 17^th, 1787 the Second Continental Congress ratified and approved the Constitution of the United States, replacing the Articles of Confederation that had organized our republic for 13 years.  This act was really the culmination of the first Civil War of the United States. No shots were fired in this war. We had ended the war with England just four years before. And we successfully had a bloodless civil war proving the concept of a republic is a superior brand of self-governance.

It was a war of ideas.

The forging of the constitution was brought about because the Articles of Confederation were Libertarians look at Nervana. It gave the Federal Government so little power that the states literally considered warring with each other, on more than one occasion state militias faced off. More unity was needed.  Some way of keeping the state independent, the federal government fostering unity yet allowing individual liberty to reign was needed.  Hence the Second Continental Congress was formed as the tools, history was the anvil and ideas the forge to create what we have today.  The US Constitution.

Note the purpose of the Constitution:  to secure the Blessing of Liberty for the individual and our descendants. That is what makes it unique. It is about the individual. 

Yet our President has said it is not about Freedom, it is about safety.  That brings us back to the old Benjamin Franklin quote “People willing to trade their safety for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both.”

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is unlike other things we have “gotten rid of”.  Polio, Whooping Cough, and such are not transmissible from the animal population.  There are no interspecies reservoirs.  Research indicates that White Tail Deer, possibly Dogs, and some other species, though not susceptible to the disease can carry it and pass it on.  As an airborne contagion, that means we will never eliminate it, just like the annual flu.  It will return and mutate in cycles.  Just like the flu, it should get weaker over time.  Yet the Delta Variant is more contagious and oddly seems to be more lethal, and it will infect younger people.  If you are vaccinated or previously infected your survival is practically guaranteed. This means the very notion of “flattening the curve” is a lie, it is no longer possible.  It is not a pandemic but an endemic situation.  Something we need to live with.

Fear and panic are being sown to continue to limit your liberty. The Powers That Be (PTB) would have us in our “Dark Mirror” rooms feeding us through our IP connections. Unwilling to socialize outside of the IP interface.  Sort of like Sandra Bullock and Sylvester Stalone in “Demolition Man” where VR rules the day.

Without a herculean effort on our part, we will stay under the thumb of our government.  This started twenty years ago with the “Patriot Act” and it is being pushed under the guise of health and safety. The tools that were supposed to protect against terrorists continue to be used to track whomever the government wants. 

We seem unable to arrest the people that cause billions of dollars in damages nationwide during two years of riots, but the 500 people that walked through the US Capital can be arrested and held without charge or bail no problem. What is the difference? One group had a single person shot to death by police, the other killed over 30 people and injured hundreds of others in 2 years of protests, not to mention the property damage in “Mostly Peaceful Protests.” The rule of law was unjustly served.

And that is what makes our constitution so unique.  We are not supposed to fall under the rule of a person, but the rule of law.  

Currently, President Biden has disobeyed the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) regarding rental forgiveness and his actions on the US/Mexico Border.  He has chosen to ignore them.  Presidents are to be brought in to line by either the Judicial Branch, who has said no and been ignored or the Representative Branch who is cheering him on. 

So who is left? Who needs to force the issue? The sovereigns of the United States,  the Citizens.  We the People have to stop the madness. As a Christian that could put me in a hard place.

Is Resistance to the President of the United States a Sin?

TRIGGER WARNING: The Following is a religious as well as a political discussion.  If religious speech is offensive then I suggest you leave now. 

Yes, this will be both political and religious.  And no I’m not indicating any sort of violence.  Resistance is not violence in the context of this blog post.  I am only looking at this from a Biblical view.  And it may get me kicked out of my congregation.  But I’ll deal with that when and if it comes…

Romans 13: 1 is pretty clear:

“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.”

This concept is backed up in Titus 3:1-2 and 1 Peter 2.

Then there are many other scriptures pointing how we are to be above reproach among the world,  Peter said for example.

“…having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”
1 Peter 2:12-16 (NKJV)

I am not arguing against that.  There is truth in those words, inspired by God. 

Who is “King” in the context of the United States?

Have you ever noticed in the Pledge of Allegiance we do not make mention of the President or Congress?

The United States of America is unique in the aspect that our head of state is not our sovereign leader.  That right belongs to the individual citizen.  Our government is not an officeholder, it is founded upon the law as laid out and based on the Constitution and its amendments.  SCOTUS is the actual final arbiter of the law, yet their whole purpose is to be sure that laws conform to the spirit and purpose of the Constitution, literally nothing else.  When these more liberal justices start talking about international law and such, they are breaking their oaths. An impeachable offense.

When our chief executive legislates via executive order or gets his departments like the CDC to use emergency powers, they probably should not have, based on Supreme Court decisions, to legislate power, he is outside of the government. A leader like this unchecked is a tyrant. Our 45^th President was accused of that, our 46^th is doing that, and met with cheers. “So this is how Liberty  dies, with thunderous applause.” Senator Amidala – Revenge of the Sith

So as a Christian what am I to do?

Make your own choice, do what you think is right in the eyes of God. That part is easy.

The hard part is what if some of the brethren think differently and want to go against the standing order of the President, Governor or other “official?” Or require that everybody follows said orders and you do not want to?  Here is where the rubber (AGAPÉ, unconditional love) meets the road.  I’m not going deep here, I’m just saying for me, If I am causing such division, I would want to change something before I split a congregation.  But that is just me.  Though Dante’s levels of Hell are fictional, part of my brain assigns a special place for those that cause division.

Some folks think that the question is will you be condemned by God for not wearing a mask, for wearing a mask, getting a vaccine, or not getting a vaccine <insert reason here>?   As usual, that is not the right question.  My wearing of a mask at Worship has nothing to do with what Governor Kate Brown has ordered and more what my brethren in my home congregation. Currently, most wear masks. So I wear a mask.  If people stop, I will stop.  Do I believe masks do any good?  No.  Why? Because countries like Japan or Ireland that have high mask use have incredibly high infection rates.  Places like Kentucky who had 15 counties without mask mandates had lower fatality rates than the 60 counties with mask mandates.

In the Church described in the New Testament, I am not to cause my fellow Christians to stumble. If me not wearing a mask will cause another to stumble, so be it.

'But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. '
I Corinthians 8:9(NKJV)

Jesus was clear on not saying much about politics.  They are outside the realm of the Christian Domain. Even though the idea of abortion was present in Ephesus, Corinth, and other places, as well as child sacrifice, Jesus did not address these things directly.  “Render to Ceasar what is Ceasar..” was about the most directly political statement he made, yet he drove the money changes from the temple.  Cleaning his Fathers house.  We do not have a Temple save our bodies.  

One of the greatest lines that Edmund Burke never said was “For evil to prevail all that needs to happen is for good people to do nothing.” I am not sure who actually said it.  But there is no record that Edmund did.  It is still great wisdom.

So doing nothing is not an option anymore and violence is not the answer.

The dumpster fires that are Portland Oregon and Chicago Illinois should prove that.

Bowing down is not an option either.  By giving them that satisfaction you're approving the tactics and relinquishing the rights that so many have fought and died to provide for you. Just in the Afghanistan conflict 2,460 brave souls lost their lives, and 20,746 brave people sustained an injury keeping the wolves in Afghanistan. That is not including some of the sideshows like Syria and Jordan.  That is just in the last 20 years.  If you were to total the dead over the last 245 years… well you get the picture. Freedom is not free.  Yet we treat it as such.

So what can a Christian do?  Speak Truth to Power.  When the leftist socialists say that they are talking about a relative truth that they made up.  It is a lie they tell to get their way.  If we speak, we must speak the actual truth, but not in a hateful manner.   Be factual, be honest, and do not be sparing in truth.  You will hurt feelings.  But do not be cruel.  Just be honest. 

If a person who identifies as a woman, but is obviously sporting a Y chromosome, wants to chat? Be compassionate and honest.  Address them respectfully.  It is your choice what pronoun to use because that is between you and God.  If they correct you, ask them if they have a Y chromosome,  they may lie to you.  But you can respond with compassion or you can leave or they can.

Write fair, honest, and compassionate letters to newspapers.  Not quoting scripture so much as the principles of the scriptures.  They will have trouble not publishing if you are not spouting what they see as “religious doctrine.”

Write your local and state representatives.  Use actual Letters.  Drives them nuts.  But again, no hate mail.  Just logic, facts, and compassion. 

Write pamphlets to PDF and share them.  Let people see what you think.  Alexander Hamilton changed our country with the Federalist Papers writing under the pen name Publius.  With a web page or a Social Media page, you can o the same.  

Do not be silent, but be respectful, factual, and honest.

Do I follow the law though?

Is it a law if the President decrees it? Is it a law if it has not gone through the House and Senate? Is Obedience to a tyrant acting contrary to the established law of the land something that God will judge you for?  I think that depends on how you do it.  If you are arrested, fined, and then fight to the supreme court and win, no. If you kick, scream and whine like a baby, yes.  One way is within acceptable behavior and above reproach.  The other is not.  The question is, are you willing to risk the freedom and treasure to do so in a Christian manner.

If the State of Oregon Outlaws Christianity tomorrow, and the police show up at my door.  I am guilty and go quietly.  But I will fight in the courts as with the full force of the law.  I would hope that if I end up on the table waiting for the needle, my last words would be an audible prayer for the forgiveness of those around me.

But causing violence to defend the constitution?  I see that as a no-win.  The Civil war demonstrated how ugly that could be.  I for one do not want to see that.  For starters, the lines would not be a North/South kind of thing.  It would be city vs rural,  or coastal vs central. In other words an absolute mess.

Do you know what you fight for?  Saying you fight against tyranny is not enough.  Fighting for Freedom or Liberty is not enough.  If you read the Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers knew what they wanted.  If you look at their writings and broadsides from the continental congress, both the first and second, they were clear in their purpose.  Are you?

The Progressive Socialists want a National Government that controls everything.  They want national elections and everything controlled at the top. Congresspeople even encouraged the President to just go against SCOTUS “Because what are they gonna do” – Maxine Waters (D). That will make it easier to control everything.  Central control always does. That is why our founders wanted a Federalist system that we sort of let melt away since Theodore Roosevelt (R). Thank you Progressive Movement.  

The Federal Government filed suit against Texas over the “Heart Beat Abortion Law.”  Assuming SCOTUS upholds the Law, there are 48 other states that they can go to to have an abortion without consequences (Oklahoma passed the same Law Thursday, September 9^th). This law only rules Texas, does not impede the right of the mother.  So what standing does the federal government have? I am sure there will be charities that will fly the Women who want abortions anywhere in private planes with media coverage to be sure the world knows that Texas was defeated. The fine city of Portland Oregon has already established a $200K fund to aid Texas Women. Because they could not figure out how to boycott Texas, so they did that instead. People will threaten to move from Texas.  And Texas will yell “Yeee haw! don’t ferget ta close the gate on yer way outa here.” Liberty is preserved. If the President loses the suit, what will he do?  Send in the Army? Are you sure?

At about 2800 words this is the longest post I’ve ever written.  It is a celebration of our Constitution.  The one thing that does make America Great.  Because we are supposed to value the rule of law.  But the principle of “Equal Protection” has gone away.  The premise of Black Lives Matter Inc is that People of Color are more equal than others, and as a less brown person I owe something even though my ancestors were not even in America when there was a slave trade.

We need to demand equal treatment.  That is all I want.  Nothing more.  No special treatment, not anything but what is fair.  Not the “New Equity” where if your melatonin levels are correct you get more equal than others.

Principles are hard but important.  Politics are based on vanity and greed. Take the hard road.

 

 

 

 

 

Gregor - Back from the brink! From there and back again. A spiritual Hobbits journey.

Forgive but not forget, “This is the way?”

On the evening of September 10^th, 2001, the skyline of New York City sported its then familiar skyline.  It’s “Twin Towers” rising to touch the sky.  A Hub of international trade and financial interaction on an international scale.  People of literally of every religion, ethnicity, social and economic niche could be found working in and around this marvel of engineering. “The World Trade Center” (WTC) was a feather in the cap of the Big Apple. For 28 years, the WTC and the Statue of Liberty were the symbols of the United States.

For 15 years, it was the obsession of Osama bin Laden.

In 1993 bin Laden orchestrated the First bombing, Trying to collapse the towers by using a car bomb in the underground parking.  Though several parking floors were damaged, the structure remained sound.  The US did not respond. 

Nine years later, and several other Embassy attacks by al Qaeda, they orchestrated the Infamous 9/11 attacks.  Getting on to planes with box cutters and such and taking control of aircraft through terror and intimidation. These terrorists flew one plane into each tower, one into the most protected portion of the Pentagon, and another was brought down in a field by the passengers who fought for control and died in the effort.  

At 8:46 AM Eastern time (15:46 UT) the first plane crashes into the North Tower. Seventeen minutes later the South Tower is struck.

At 10:28 Eastern (17:28 UT) the skyline of New York City is changed forever as the Twin Towers fell. The Pentagon has been struct, and Flight 93 has crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Thousands are dead, and the country mourns.

This is where the “War on Terror” starts.

Never Forget! But can we heal if we never forgive? 

Forgiveness or “to forgive” is a noble trait. In Christianity, it is an integral part of our belief:

For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
Mathew 6:14-15 (NASB 1995)

There are no conditions placed on why we forgive. It is just an expected duty. As the forgiven, that does not mean I do not suffer the consequences. Justice demands it. I think a study of the Book of Philemon is a great example of this. But I won’t bore you with those details here. If you want a blog on that let me know in the comments. Suffice it to say that Paul is clear that forgiveness is expected, but justice is not too much to ask. So forgive, but not forget, this is the way.

Islam also teaches forgiveness. They even break it down into two distinct types. One where you have no “power” This is more about a pardon, patience, or tolerance on your part, a personal journey. It is noble but not the important kind. Then there is the type where you have the opportunity to take revenge or exact a toll. Where you are in control and can extract justice. This forgiveness, the Prophet says is much better and something to be cherished by the person who does this. I will not risk an infidels insult to Islam by quoting the Holy Qur’an.

In doing some research for this I did a quick search on “Psychology
forgiveness” and found tons of articles dealing with self-forgiveness as well as forgiveness of others. The basic idea of all of them is that forgiveness is for the forgiver and not so much for the forgivee (Yes that is a new word, See definition).

Am I saying at this point we should trust our new “Friends” the Taliban?

No! I fully expect something awful to happen on September 11th, 2021. They will blame ISIS-K or ISIL or somebody else. And in the last 20 years, there have been few years where something was not either thwarted or did happen someplace in the world.

Yet I think forgiving is a major step in our recovery. I do not hate Islam, Muslims, Persians, Arabic, or Afghan peoples. I do not trust Radical Islamists who promote Sharia Law.  Why?  Because, by their own admittance, peace is obtained by world domination.  You will have 3 choices in a Sharia Afghanistan, Convert to Sharia/Suni Islam, be a slave or die.  It is not complicated.

Will we need to go back to Afghanistan?

I don’t know.  But I expect to.  We have left behind Americans and supporters.  We have abandoned our allies. Our President and State Department has committed Treason and Misdemeanors in arming our enemies and breaking the trust of the American People and her allies.  We have created the 26^th most powerful military in the world by abandoning some $85 Billion of advanced military equipment, who also thinks that they should rule under a medieval architecture of Sharia Law. And will probably gleefully sell our tech to both Russia and China, people whom we seem poised to fight in the near future.    We have broken trusts around the globe.  The only way you earn that back is to pay the price.

Let me be clear. 

For 20 years our service members fought, bled, and died to keep this country safe.  Their mission was to keep the wolves in the mountains of Afghanistan, and they were mostly successful.  Out fighting personnel.  Have nothing to be ashamed of.  They fought well and did their duty.  It is not their fault our ambiguous mission of “War on Terror” did not give them the direction they needed.  Next time we end up in a war, “We the People” must hold our leaders to a higher standard.  I don’t want a war on an idea.  We will look for and find an enemy.

Ideas can’t be destroyed, enemies can. And it all starts first with forgiveness.

First, we must stop fighting ourselves.  Come together under a principle of Liberty and Justice for all.  Not Equity or Social Justice that tries to guarantee outcomes that cannot be upheld. But the opportunity for each person

Remember first we are all human on this planet.  Homo Sapiens. If you are in a hospital and need a kidney, do you care if the person who gives you one is Afghan, African, Chinese, or Caucasian?  I know I don’t.

In the end Mr. President, I can forgive you for your mishandling of Afghanistan and its withdrawal.  But that does not mean I can forgo the consequences of your actions! The incompetence of your actions and that of the State Department you have appointed are criminal. The abandonment of US citizens and others for no other reason than to meet a political goal simply shows your lack of personal morals.

Just because I forgive, does not mean I forget.  If I forgive a doctor for a bad diagnosis, I do not allow them to continue as my doctor.  If my contractor builds a bad staircase, I forgive them and make sure the folks that build the bad staircase do not continue to work on my project. 

Mr. President, Secretary of State Blinker, Thank you for your service, I hereby accept your resignations.

Or we could do the whole perp walk thing out the West entrance in cuffs for Treason.  The choice is yours.

Gregor - Back from the brink! From there and back again. A spiritual Hobbits journey.

What does Peace with the Taliban Look Like?

It has been a week since we declared peace with the Taliban.  Officially we have gotten 4 Americans out of Afghanistan that the State Department claims credit for.  They bravely met them outside of Afghanistan at a Consulate in an undisclosed country bordering Afghanistan after the 4 tracked across the Afghan battlefields to escape.  Forgive me if I have my doubts about how much the State Department actually did.

Earlier in the week a Congressman Markwayne Mullin had a plane ready to land at KIA (Kabul International Airport) but was forced to circle.  He planned to pick up 20 Americans who were supposed to have been there waiting.  The Taliban Refused.

On Tuesday, August 31st, there were reports of several airplanes, Airbus A380 and Boeing 737,  on the tarmac with Americans and Afghans loaded waiting for takeoff clearance. The State Department did not provide that clearance. The planes have been there for several days.  The passengers have melted back into the city in hiding.  Thanks to our new Taliban peace-loving and cooperative allies they remain there.  Some reports indicate these people are being held hostage for more demands of money (CBS News). Also, there are reports of the Taliban going door to door seeking those with "Blue Passports" (USA).

Taliban Flag

Peace with the Taliban looks a lot like a hostage crisis.  I remember the 1979/1980 Hostage crisis President Carter ineffectively dealt with in Iran.  I see our current administration looking far worse.  Our current president has been in the government for 50 years and has sat on committees dealing with these things, including the Iran Hostage Crisis.  And yet we purposefully left Americans behind to be used as a pawn, enslaved or worse.  In the hands of an enemy that we know to have a different moral code that we do not ascribe to.

Forgive me for saying this Mr. President, but if this is peace, I almost prefer the war we had.

A peace where our people are ransomed, raped, or enslaved.  Where the brave Afghans who tried to help establish a free Afghanistan were abandoned to be mutilated or killed?  That is not how a moral society works. But there is another question, is America moral anymore?  

So why did President Biden do this?

Politics over principle.  The ends justify the means.  Take your pick, they essentially mean the same thing.  Many Americans wanted out of what was becoming an endless war, myself included.  For the last 10 or so years, I did not see an end game.  A point of victory.  We were fighting an idea that would always return like a hydra “The War on Terror” not an enemy.  If we did that we would be stuck there forever.  All the nation-building we had tried to do in that area had failed over and over.  We tried to westernize people.  As somebody who has spent time overseas in a foreign land, I can say this is a bad approach. 

America is unique for many reasons.  Most of us these days don’t even know the real things that make us so unique, because we are too busy blaming people for things.  I highly recommend “The 5000year Leap” as a start.  But the fact is we cannot expect Syria, Afghanistan, or any other Muslim Majority country to adopt a Constitutional Republic like ours.  Not in one generation.  One of the huge differences between the US and most countries is our lack of Homogeny.  You have heard the phrase “Strength Through Diversity?” Well, that is a bald-faced lie.  Most countries have a racial homogony that gives them a commonality.  We do not have that.  Our Homogeny comes from the principles in our Declaration of Independence that was then codified in our Constitution.  Eventually amended to be sure every individual is included. 

The true secret to the United States of America is not that "BIPOC-Americans" and "White-Americans” can get along and do something wonderful. The secret is that Americans have common principles and will work to develop a community that is a better place to live. Hyphens cause division. 

That is at least how it did work in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

Then we got over it and started looking to the Federal Government to fix it all again.  Between Wars, and Depressions and Civil Rights Acts, and National Aid to this group or that group.  These special groups became something less, or more accurately something more.  More equal than others.  Thank you, George Orwell.

I am a firm believer that we are all Human or Homo Sapiens.  Melatonin levels have nothing to do with race.  According to many Anthropologists, we came out of Africa, according to scripture we originated from Adam and Eve.  In either case, our genetic differences are so small we can exchange, blood, organs, and create progeny together.  That is enough for me to view all people as just that, people.  Nothing less.

It is the content of your character that makes you special. Be loyal to your country, your community, and love your family.  Help those around you.  Try to build up, do not tear down.  That is American.

Gregor - Back from the brink! From there and back again. A spiritual Hobbits journey.

Does a war end just because you say so?

On September 10^th, 2001, if you asked Al Qaeda they would have told you they were at war with the Great Shatan, America. Suddenly on September 11^th of that year, America became educated as to our status in that conflict.  Though we had fought skirmishes since the 1980s, we always treated them as a punitive police action.  Play nice or we will throw bombs and missiles at you. We never viewed it as a war.

The last war that ended was World War II.  In that case, the enemies of the allies surrendered. There was no question the war had ended.   Later the enemies we defeated asked us, the allies to help them rebuild and we have had a presence there, to guarantee their freedom from the new communist enemy. Slightly different than in Korea.

In Korea, we got sucked into a 70-year occupation of territory to protect the southern half of a republic.  That was negotiated by the “peace.” A peace that has threatened to erupt into war the entire time. 

We retreated from Vietnam. Should we have been there?  Probably not. Again we fought for no real purpose and then withdrew under political pressure from home.  World War II had a cause.  Korea and Vietnam did not. 

In these 20 years of unfettered conflict, we have attacked countries all over the middle east. In that time, we have destabilized the entire region.  We have gifted $80 billion in advanced weapons to a group of tribal leaders who wish to establish a theocracy.  Who has a vision of global peace through making all of us either radical Islamists, slaves, or dead!  In their eyes, those are your choices. Now they are better armed than many nations. 

What was the purpose in Afghanistan?

I would love to be done with Afghanistan.  That has been a wish of mine for years.  My reason is I’ve seen no end in sight.  There has not been an exit strategy in any conflict we’ve been in for 70 years. But the answer to ending a war is to defeat an enemy.  Not negotiate a peace, nor simply walk away.  With Japan, Germany, and Italy, we defeated them and then offered the hand of friendship to help them rebuild. For many years we had a good relationship with our allies, and we could count those former enemies among that number.  Now we have broken the trust of our allies, but we have armed people who have sworn to destroy us. Forgive me if I think this is not a win, but an abject failure.

In a news conference today (08/31/2021) Representative Dan Crenshaw, who was injured in that Afghan war in 2012, made very clear how abandoning hundreds if not thousands of American Citizens, and even more, Afghan Citizens who helped us fight is a travesty that may never be resolved.  That breach of trust and violation of responsible behavior is yet another misdemeanor if not a High Crime that this President has committed in the name of his political agenda. So the list of impeachable offenses continues.   There was no sound reason to handle this in the way his administration has. President Biden exercised criminal intent by tying the hands of our military and forcing them to do what they did.  And our Military Command showed their true colors by capitulating and not fighting for a congressional review. Again, passion over principle in the politics of the Democrats.

Please note who is responsible!

If you really think it is President Biden you are wrong.  It was obvious what was going to happen if he came into power.  President Biden was going to be exactly the President he has become. A man with no principles.  Tossed to and fro by the whims of his party.  Paying no attention to the principles set in our constitution.  Ignoring the Supreme court.  If he is willing to ignore the Supreme Court on the Border and property rights, what is next?  Do you think any of your individual rights are safe here?  Like Maxine Waters Said “Just do it! What can they do?”

This is what you voted for America when you voted Personality over principle.  Congratulations.  The blood of our fellow citizens is on your hands.  And if you think it is not, then feel free to lie to yourself while the rest of your rights are taken away. 

Gregor - Back from the brink! From there and back again. A spiritual Hobbits journey.

#ImpeachBiden, #ImpeachBidenHarrisPelosiNOW

Can we now impeach President Biden?

To impeach a president they must be guilty of high crimes or misdemeanors.  Though “High Crimes” is relatively obvious, we consider misdemeanors as traffic tickets or lower crimes like petty theft.  In the 1828 Webster Dictionary:

Misdemeanor: In law, an offense of a less atrocious nature than a crime. Crimes and misdemeanors are mere synonymous terms; but in common usage, the word crime is made to denote offenses of a deeper and more atrocious dye, while small faults and omissions of less consequence are comprised under the gentler name of misdemeanors

That is a far cry from what we currently consider shoplifting a candy bar.

Treason is a high crime.  In that same dictionary:

In the United States, treason is confined to the actual levying of war against the United States, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them aid and comfort.

Question:  Is abandoning a fully equipped airbase giving aid and comfort to the enemy?

According to news reports we “Turned over” Bagram Airbase to the Afgan Military.  Some follow-up reports indicate Afghanistan was not notified we were leaving.  The Taliban/Isis and looters arrived at the base before the Afgan Military and took control of the billions in advanced weapons. This was done at the order of President Biden

Question: As an American, should you expect your government to protect you?

As of this writing, people with American passports are not being allowed on to the tarmac at Kabul Airport.  Estimates of 11,000 to 19,000 Americans are outside the fences.  They are people that will be used by the new regime as hostages or bargaining chips, compounding the crimes or treason by this administration.    I would at least consider this a breach of trust and therefore a misdemeanor under the constitution.

Question: Is this President Bidens fault?

This is a valid question.  When this first started I was willing to think it may not be.  But let us look at the facts. 

1. The date of May1^st has been known for over a year.  The Current administration then picked August 31st after they failed to act on what was needed.  The 15-20 thousand US non-combatant civilians should have been evacuated starting in January.
2. The administration gave the names and identities of Americans and US Green cardholders to the Taliban and therefore ISIS.  There is no indication that these people are actually allies.  They have not kept their word on any occasion. 
3. As soon as The current administration was sworn in, the Taliban was on the offensive.  No consequences were given to the Taliban for breaking their promise of non-aggression. 
4. For the first time in history, the State Department was put in charge of an evacuation.  The last time the State Depart was put in charge we saw another

   

   Everything I need to know I
   learned from "Princess Bride"

   
   failure in Benghazi. And again no charges were filed

Mr. President, your administration is to blame for this.  Not Mr. Trump.  Just like at the border, had you followed the existing plan things would not have escalated.

Are you in charge or not President Biden? 

Gregor - Back from the brink! From there and back again. A spiritual Hobbits journey.