Greenland awaits us with its Minerals

   With global warming comes the melting of ice in Greenland. And with the melting of ice in Greenland, comes the availability of more minerals.

   That's right: the mineral resources that have been covered by ice are being exposed. And it is no small haul of minerals that awaits. Isn't it ironic that the fossil industry that is causing so much of the global warming, now stands to benefit from it?

  Also, let us not forget President Trump (if I can start calling him president three days ahead of his taking office) is pro-fossil fuels. With him wanting to buy Greenland, it piques our interest. If Greenland remains independent of the U.S., Trump will be obliged to follow his tariff promises.
 
   But if it becomes a territory of the U.S., Trump might be more likely to do business with it minus the tariffs. 

 Trump's Impact was Great

   The biggest news of the day is that the hostages will be released; the second biggest is deciding who should get more credit -- Biden or Trump. Oh, you can say it doesn't matter who gets credit, just be happy they are being released.

   But curious minds want to know.

   Trump announced the peace agreement before Biden. He had warned that if the hostages were not released before he took office, "all hell will break out." He had an envoy working for the peace treaty.

   Who know who had "greater" impact, but Trump's influence was significant.

    

Are Russians Behind This?

 Word is, the Russians are behind the idea of the U.S. buying Greenland out. They planted it in the ear of Sen. Tom Cotton, and Cotton forwarded the idea to Donald Trump.
  If that is true, it is striking: The Russians ... the Russians are behind this? 

 A CONVERSATION WITH MY GOVERNMENT

  "Hello, government. I'm calling about your decision to give those three sisters a year's stay here. You know, the three who were to be deported in a week."

  "Yes."
  "Yes. I need you to answer me some questions. I need to know which laws are being used, so I'll know if you're going about this in the right way."
 I see. And, may I ask who you are?"
  "Well, I'm John Jackson."
  "Are you a member of the media?"
  "No, I'm John Jackson."
  "You've reached our media relations department. I'm afraid you need to be a member of the media if I'm to help you."
 "I see. Well, I looked through your website and you don't have anyone else I can contact. Yours is the only phone number the agency lists."
 "Yes."
 "I'm one of your stockholders, so I thought maybe it would be okay if I called, even if I'm not a member of the press."
 "What do you mean you are a stockholder? Actually, the government doesn't have stockholders."
   "Actually, it does. Well, maybe not in the strict sense of the term, but this is my government, and I run it."
   "I see. I wonder who appointed you to such a high position."
   "Abraham Lincoln did."
   "Abraham Lincoln?"
   "Yes, he was giving something called the Gettysburg Address and he said something about government of the people, by the people, and for the people. That would be me."    
   "I see."
  "Ever since then, I've pretty much thought of this as my government."
  "I see. Well, you're not a member of the press. Do you realize what a nightmare it would be if we tried to take calls from everyone in the public, answering every question they have? We simply don't have time."
   "Make time. I'm one of your stockholders."
   "Have you filed a Freedom of Information inquiry?"
   "Too much paperwork. I'm a stockholder. I'll just call you up and you'll answer my questions. It's a lot simpler that way."
   "I see. If you were a member of the press, I'd be glad to help you."
   "What if I were a congressman, or a mayor or head of a government agency?"
   "Yes, I suppose I could help you then."
   "Well, those are my people. Think of them as my minions, if you will. I tell them what to do."
   "I see."
   "I don't like the way you think you only have to answer to them. And, I especially don't appreciate the way you think you only have to answer to the press."
   "Well, yes, like I said, we've only got time to answer to so many people. The press represents you in getting information."
   "I didn't elect them. I never gave the press permission to take anything from me."
   "And, what are they taking from you?"
   "My right to talk to you, to get some answers. You said you'd help me if I were a member of the press, but since I'm not, you're not going to help me."
   "But, this is media relations . . ."
   "The press doesn't run this country. I do. So, I'm going to have to ask you to quit answering so much to them and start answering more to me."
  At that point, the government hung up on me. I was left thinking that if government truly were government of the people, by the people and for the people, then, yes, it would make information more accessible to us, the public.

What is Peace - Top Ten Definations

1. Peace is but the pause between two wars.
2. It is a period of time when both sides run out of weapons and are awaiting more.
3. It is the brief moment when each side wonders if war is wrong, but then shakes themselves out of it, saying, 'That's nonsense!"
4. It's Christmas Day, and there was war the day before Christmas and there will be war the day after.
5. It is when adults walk into the room and tell the children to quit fighting.
6. It is a period of recovering from wounds, so they can go back and get some more.
7. It's when they get so confused and dizzy, they can't find the enemy to shoot at him.
8. It's waiting for a break in the weather.
9. It is the deep of night and too many shots are missing because they cannot see what they are shooting at, so they decide to wait till morning when they can see better.
10. It's the day Satan feels repentant -- as if that will ever happen. 

Don't Let Him

We've had a president who wasn't good for us
Who's set to rule again
And if we let him have his way
Things will be dark as sin

 

 Washington Warned Us in the Most Solemn Manner

 The America of today, deeply divided by political parties, is the America George Washington warned against.
  Actually, he warned against political parties, period, warning us "in the most solemn manner." 
   And we, collectively as a nation, left his words at the podium where he offered them, walking away from that farewell address to join into political parties. And, we've been in them ever since, often having as much loyalty to them as we do for the nation, itself.
   If Washington's words, by chance, could echo down through the years, what would they tell us? They would tell us that for governments, the spirit of political parties "is truly their worst enemy."
   He said, "worst enemy," but we didn't listen. We didn't listen then, and we're not listening now.
   In that great address, Washington warned of "the danger of parties."
   He warned "against the baneful effects of the spirit of party."
   He warned against the "alternate domination" of one party over the other, "sharpened by the spirit of revenge."
   He warned that their fights might result in "the most horrid enormities" and become, in themselves, "a frightful despotism."
   He warned against "combinations and associations," including groups championing the interests of the various regions of the country.
   He warned of "artful and enterprising" people being in such groups.
   He warned such combinations and associations could "become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men" would rise to power.
   He warned such groups could cause divisions among the people. Their "designing men may endeavor to excite" differences among the people, he said.
   He warned that parties "tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together."
    As if he could foresee the campaigns of our day, he warned such groups would "misrepresent the opinions and aims" of others.
   He warned that such groups would "put in place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party."
   He said the spirit of party, "is a spirit not to be encouraged." 
   He closed his comments on parties by saying, "A fire not to be quenched, it (the spirit of parties) demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume."
   Washington characterized his warnings "as the warnings of a parting friend." His farewell address is replete with these warnings against political parties. They are warnings that have gone unheeded. Instead of discouraging parties, we have embraced them.
   Perhaps there remains room to speculate whether Washington would not have had us join parties at all, nor to have had us run for office on them. We only know he spake so gravely ill of them in his farewell address, and said a wise people would "discourage and restrain" the spirit of party.
   And, we know he, himself, walked the talk. He is the only president ever elected without a party.