I Could Be Wrong.

  What a way to say “Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men.” I guess the Trump administration says it by bombing another country on Christmas Day. Really? On Christmas Day? Is that the message we are celebrating in the Christian world? Did I miss the part in the Bible that says when Jesus was born, the Angels destroyed towns and villages in celebration? Trump picked Christmas Day of all days to bomb Nigeria because he says that they are persecuting Christians. Christmas to me was always about peace and love, and not bombs and killing. When did the message change, and who changed it? Throughout history, we have seen changes to the words of Jesus, beginning with the Roman Empire in the fourth century. Christianity went from a persecuted minority to a state-aligned institution. This created a conflict with the teaching of Jesus (nonviolence, humility, and service) to the needs of an empire (order, hierarchy, intimidation). For over 1,000 years, Christianity was fused with Monarchy, Feuda...

  Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Winter Solstice, or any other Holiday greeting that you like to say. The reason for the season is for all of us and not just one religion or group. I think that is the beauty of the season, which has been celebrated long before the establishment of the Christian religion. This has always been a season of renewal, where the sun starts a new cycle. Every day will get a little bit longer until the Summer Solstice. It has been this way since the beginning, and it is great that so many religions and groups have come to embrace this time of year as magical. Every religion and group likes to believe they are the reason for the season, but to be truthful, it has always been the Sun and its cycle that has driven the reason for the season. We have just taken advantage of it from our own religion and beliefs. As a child, I always thought it was the time of year to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but as I have grown older, I ...

  Here we go again. We have another President who is lying to the American people to go to war. Again, it is over oil. President George W. Bush lied to the American people when he invaded Iraq , and it looks like Trump is lying to the American people about Venezuela . After 9/11 , the Bush administration claimed that Saddam Hussein's regime had ties to al-Qaeda, the perpetrators of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon . The claim was widely disputed and lacked credible evidence. Another justification of the Iraq War was the claim by the Bush Administration that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and posed a threat to global security. No such weapons were found, and there were no links between Iraq and al-Qaeda. Everything was built on a lie, a lie told to the American people by our government. The cost of that war was very high. By human cost, 4,400 U.S. troops were killed, and over 100,000 Iraqi deaths occurred. The removal of Saddam Hussein led to a p...

  We are officially into the Holiday Season. Now comes the hard part: deciding what I want for Christmas for me, the Country, and the World. I am 72 years old, so I don't need many material things for Christmas. Sure, I still would like something flashy like a new car or a new boat, but the car I have is running just fine, and I am getting too old and out of shape to get in and out of a boat at low tide. I already have the best wife a man could have. My Children are grown and have busy lives of their own, but I still wish I could see them more. I have had the pleasure of seeing all four of my Grandchildren become teenagers. The oldest is now in college, and the youngest is in middle school. I am really thankful for those things. Instead of concentrating on what I need, let's look at what the world needs. The first thing the world needs is for the industrialized countries to work harder in helping those so-called third-world countries. We have children who are dying from a lac...

  Thanksgiving has passed, and we are now officially into the Holiday Season. Going all the way back to the first Thanksgiving proclamation by Abraham Lincoln, politicians have used the holiday to try to inspire the nation. When you look at Trump's own Thanksgiving proclamation, you will see a very presidential message that is worthy of his predecessors. Trump invoked George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. He praised “250 glorious years of American independence”. He also offered “endless gratitude to Almighty God for His love, grace, and infinite blessings”.   On paper, it was a very inspiring message worthy of echoing the words of Lincoln’s call. Was this the real message that Trump wanted to convey, or was it the message that the White House writers wanted the press to be reporting to the country and the world? When it comes to Trump, there is the Message from the White House, and then there is the message that he posts on social media. Trump's tone on social media is often ...