God, Divorce, And My Job Moment

The Biblical Job was the victim of a bet.
It was between God and the Devil.
God took everything Job loved away from him.
And he still never lost his Faith in God.
And so God won the bet.

Is it possible that my divorce was a gift from God. That God saw that my marriage was making me miserable. So, to pull me out of that rut, He had my wife pull the plug on the marriage. Is that true?

Sometimes I think my ex-wife pulled the plug on the marriage to do me a favor. She even admitted once that she was not nice to me. She said, "I know I'm so mean. Why do you ever stay with me?"

Well, I did because I had Faith. I made a commitment. I was not going to back out of my commitment. You know, there's this part of marriage that says, "For better or for worse." Well, here we were in the "for worse" part, and I was not going to give up.

So she did. She filed for divorce. She filed, I think, two months before she even had the nerve to tell me. And she told me. We were in the kitchen. She said, "I think we should get a divorce."

I was blindsided by this. I felt like a puppy dog getting hit by a Mack truck. It was totally unexpected. Here we were in a miserable marriage, and I was broadsided by the word divorce.

I was stuck for words. My face filled with tears. That deep, darkest feeling over came me. And I said, "Is that what you think God would want?"

She said, "God would want me to be happy."

I said, "God would want you to choose your own happiness over your commitments that you promised to uphold?"

And she defended her statement that God would want her to be happy. And I never understood that. Still don't. Perhaps that's the liberal hold inside her brain. This thing that principles don't matter. That you can just make up rules as you go along in life. That there is nothing etched in stone. That, if you're not happy, you can make changes, even if those changes destroy a marriage.

But, that's what she wanted to do. And I could barely function at work the next day. I was so beside myself. My patients talked to me, and I might have talked back. But I never paid them much attention. It was, as though, a part of me had just died.

It was so bad I did not want to go back home. I decided to go to a hotel. I left work that night planning on getting a hotel room. I did not want to ever see her again. I was that disappointed. And, hate never entered my mind. Disappointment is the word that did enter my mind. I was disappointed in her.

And I was mad at God. Instead of going to a hotel, I drove a round a bit. Then I ended up parked at the beach. In fact, it might have been almost a year ago to this day. As I'm writing this, it's November 14. I was beside myself.

I threw a fit in my car. I crinkled up every last piece of paper in my car. I tossed stuff. I threw stuff. I tossed and threw obscenities into the air. I was utterly mad at God.

"Why did you do this to me. Here I have always been faithful to you. I have always worked to be a good Christian. I pray every night. I prayed to find her. You found her for me. We had a perfect marriage. And then you took it all away! Why!"

So mad was I. Then I stopped. I meditated. Sometimes, when you meditate, you hear God's voice. A message is sent to your mind. But, on this day, there was nothing.

"Please, God! Please give me an answer."

Nothing.

Now, I know this now and not then. But, there is this old saying. It goes something like this: "Sometimes your prayer has already been answered."

Okay? I know that now. God gave me this gift of divorce. It was a gift. He helped me get away from that stress. He gave me a chance to start all over. And I would more than succeed at piecing back together my life. But, there was no way I could have possibly known that on that day.

So, the next day I'm sitting at work. My coworker says, "John, what's wrong? I can tell something is wrong with you."

I told her my story. All of it. And I told her of my Job like moment the night before.

And she said, "John, that wasn't God doing that to you. It was some other guy."

It was the Devil.

Ahh, how could I not see that? Her words caused goose flesh to creep up my spine. It brought a feeling of awe and joy. And, of course, "Doh! How could I not have seen?"

"It's because you were so deep. It blinded you to the truth," she said, "But, God would never do that to you."

Divorce Doubled My Standard Of Living

To me, divorce didn't go anything like the experts said it would. For one thing, they said that your standard of living will undoubtedly go down. This is because you will now be living on half the money you had before. That sounds like it makes sense.

But, that's not how it went down with me. My standard of living doubled, maybe even tripled. I had this second job. I am a writer. I do this all day. I love writing. I'm passionate about it. And I always told my wife if she would just let me have control of the money I made I could double it.

But, she refused.

You see, I saw the money I made writing as 'Extra Money.' Your bills are paid using our regular pay. And, before I got this 'extra job,' we paid our bills just the same

So, now I start making an 'extra' $500 a month. Then I'm making an extra $1000 a month. I figure this money can be used to get out of debt. I figured once we get out of debt, we can use this money to go on vacations or buy things for our house. So, that's kind of what motivated me.

But, after years of this, the debt never went away. In fact, it got deeper. All of a sudden she starts saying things like, "We need to pay said bill. When is your check coming?"

Like, I don't want this money being used to pay for bills. I mean, once in a while is fine, but, that's not what it's for. Our bills should be paid out of our day job money. This is 'extra money." This is money that supposed to be spent on fun things.

But she refused to make any changes. No matter how many times I requested that she not ask for my check to pay bills, she kept saying it. It was depressing to me.

So, it was a disincentive for me to write. I got to the point, if she was just going to pay bills with this money, I wasn't going to write any more than I had to.

I mean, I was fine paying bills, so long as it was to get out of debt. But, in order for that to happen, she'd also have to stop going on her vacations. But, instead of that happening, she started going on more and more vacations.

Actually, one of these vacations she went on with just her and the kids. Like, if ever a hint could have occurred, a coworker came up to me. And this was someone I barely ever talked to. She said, "John, aren't you a little concerned about your wife going on vacations without you. It's not right."

Naive, I just defended her. I was the good husband (and perhaps that would be a good name for my book). I said, "Oh, she's a good mother. She earned the right to go on vacation with just her kids. Besides, I had to work."

Hint not taken. I moved on. But, that's not to say I was happy. I was not happy at all she went on vacation without me. If I had my way, there would have been no vacation at all until we were no longer living paycheck to paycheck.

I have a good analogy here. This is like what it's like living in a socialistic dictatorship. I actually even said that once in a fight we had. I told her that she is like a dictator. She taxes me at 100%. If I make more money, she takes that money too.

And most of it went to vacations. I never got to spend any of it to make our house look nicer. Nearly 100% of it went to bills and vacations. And, eventually, her new car.

So, one day I said, "If you let me control my money, I can double the amount of money I make."

She never did. She never allowed me to have any control. So, that sort of threw me into a depression of sorts. Here we were, 15 years into our marriage, and I'm not allowed to do anything. And I do something, and I'm berated for it. And then I'm told I never make any plans.

So, you can see this was not looking good. Still, I had Faith. The idea of divorce never entered my head. We would work it out. Although, this was not good form confidence or my self esteem. In the back of my mind, there were those voices that were saying, "John, this isn't good." But, I tuned them out.

See, this was the Faith in me. I knew I was in a trap. I was trapped. I was in a cage. Damned if I did and damned if I didn't. I was in a walled up country. That country was a socialistic Venezuela country. I was chained to a chair. The sole purpose of my existence was to be a good dad to my kids and to make money for her to spend.

And I continued to believe things would get better. And I never gave up thinking that it would. I never gave up until that inevitable day in court.

But, after than, my standard of living doubled. Hell, it tripled. Motivated to get out of debt and start saving, I went from writing 5 articles a month to 20. I was on fire. I was also moderating like crazy, and getting paid by the hour for that.

So, within the first month living on my own, I doubled my monthly wages. Seriously, folks, I doubled my wages. Now, nearly a year later, I am working on a deal that might help me to triple my wages with my 'extra' job.

So, your standard of living doesn't have to go down if you get a divorce. That's not true at all. In a way, I think my divorce was a gift from God. And I think I will make God the topic of my next rant about divorce.

Here's What I Think Caused My Divorce

My wife and I made a deal shortly after we met. She loved to manage money, so we put her in charge of that. We were then going to do the Dave Ramsey Program. We were going to get out of debt. We set a 5 year plan to get out of debt.

And I was serious about this. I told her I would give up golfing and collecting baseball cards. I said I'd live on $30 a month. It might even have been $20. That's all I figured I'd need. And, in five years when we were out of debt, I could start doing the things I enjoyed again. I would start golfing and collecting cards.

I am also a home boy. I love my house. I spend lots of time in the house. I wanted to decorate our house and make it look nice. I wanted to fix the yard and make out home look nice. But, so we could get out of debt, all of this was put on hold. So, we lived kind of in a dump.

So, the plan was to get out of debt, save money, and then restart our lives when we figured we could afford it.

But, that never happened. Five years turned into 15 and then 17.

And here's why. 

The next winter she said, "Do you want to go to Florida?"

I said, "Can we afford that and still get out of debt."

She said, "Yes!"

I said, "Then, okay! Let's go have fun."

Well, the same thing happened the next ten years. Fool me once, fool me twice, fool me three times, fool me four times, fool me five times, fool me ten times. I'm an idiot.

It got to the point if I said no to a vacation she gets offended. Like, I said yes so many times she just expected it.

So, the word no never got said. And here we are 15 years after staring the Dave Ramsey program. We've gone on vacation every year almost, and we have a huge debt. Now it's I can' golf and I can't collect cards. I can't decorate the house. It's no longer something I'm doing willingly anymore. Now I'm being forced to not do anything. And any time I went to the store to get something, she got mad at me. I was being selfish.

Like, something was going to come crashing down here. So, this is what I think created tension in our marriage. To her vacations were important. To me, you only go on vacations when you can afford them. But, she always got what she wanted. And, so, this lead to tensions.

Finally, when I called her on it, it lead to arguments. I was unhappy because I figured if we just quit going on vacation 2 years we could save up. We could have an emergency fund. We could stop living paycheck to paycheck.

But she didn't want to give up her vacations. Finally, in the past year, we went on a vacation. And there was constant pressure. She refused to talk to me. When I did talk to her, she argued with me no matter what was said. So, to keep the peace, I'd just keep my distance.

I always prided myself on the fact that we never fought about money. But, in the end, it was money that caused our divorce. I am he peacekeeper. To keep the peace, I kept letting her get her way. In the end, my peacekeeping destroyed the marriage.

So, how did my standard of living double after I got divorced.

Divorce Is Like Facing Death

There are those of us who have lost spouses. This is always a sad time. There will always be that empty spot that cannot be filled again. But, we move on as best we can.

I have always said that our loved ones would want us to move on. Surely, when we lose loved ones, we go through a mourning process. That's normal. That's to be expected. But, I think it's fair to say that our loved ones would want us to always remember them. But, they would also want us to move on with our lives. I think that's fair to say. I know if I died, that's what I would be thinking as I looked down from Heaven.

Now, let's discuss divorce. I can tell you from personal experience it's not much different than having your wife die. To have someone you loved wholeheartedly and unconditionally give up on you and your marriage is just like losing your spouse to death.

There is a gaping hole in your life that cannot be filled. The only difference here is that your spouse is still alive. And you have to split time with your kids with that person. And you still have to communicate with that person because of the kids.

As a Catholic, I never in a million years expected this. My parents fought. They fought harder than my wife and I ever did. And they are still married all these years later. And people respect them for it. I always figured we'd be two old, people who would look back and laugh at the times we fought. And we'd be respected as people are when they're married that long.

I figured my marriage would be the same way. We fought. We get over it. That's just what you do. That's especially what you do when you are good, faithful people.

But, that's not what she wanted. She wanted to give up. She wanted to quit trying. And, once she came to that decision, there was no turning back. In this state you only need one person to give up on the marriage. You don't need consent from the other person.

So, being realistic, there came a point where it was best to walk away. And so you do. You read how to split. You do what the experts say. Or, you create your own path.

And then you start all over again. You have a clean slate, minus the stain of divorce.

How To Debate Liberals On Social Media

So, there's a lot of liberals on social media. They often equate people who want to stop the influx of illegal immigration as racism. You are a racist just because you want to enforce the laws. You are a racist because you are a nationalist. How do you deal with this stuff? How do you deal with liberals on social media?

I post stuff on Facebook. My liberal friends put links to Fact Checking sites like Snopes. And I offer proof that Snopes are liberals, and their fact checking is suspect. But, they just tell me that I'm stupid. So, how do you deal with this?

You have all the evidence on your side. You site your evidence, and then they make out that you are the bad guy. You are the one who ends up defending yourself. So, how do you deal with this?

The answer is: "You don't." The answer is, "You ignore it." The answer is, "You stay above it." The answer is, "You stay on offense."

You can stay on offense by asking them to list facts. Not just link to other sites. Ask then to name names. Ask them to offer evidence. And this is only if you want to take the challenge. This is only if you want to play with them. Do not engage them thinking you will change their minds, because you won't. If you engage them, do it for fun.

If someone is going to be that stupid, you aren't going to get through to them. All it's going to do is get you upset. So, it's best just to let them go on in their ignorance.

Usually, if I feel I have to say something, I leave one fact and then I never look back again.

Let me word this another way. "Never get into an argument with a fool because after a while no one can tell who's who."

I think there's truth to that saying.

My liberal friends think I put stuff on my Facebook to irritate them. So, they attack me. And, usually they attack me personally. I'm a Nazi. I'm a racist. Or, sometimes I'm just stupid.

But, the real reason I put stuff on Facebook is for my kids. I want my kids to know what I think. And I want my kids to know the facts. So, that's why, if someone says something that is completely not true, I say something. And I leave it at that.

If you feel the need to debate them, stay on offence. Do not start defending your position. State facts if you need to. But, ask them to name names. Ask then to prove their position. Have them show you why you are a racist if you want to enforce the law and defend your country. Make them show how much they don't know.

Make sure they are aware they are just emoting. Rather than using facts, they are using emotion. And then you shame them for being so uninformed. Show them how their attitudes are putting our country at risk, making it more dangerous, etc.

You are dealing with arrogant and condescending people here. But, they are arrogant in their ignorance. They feel they are superior to you. You are inferior to them. So, they think they don't have to prove anything. They are just right.

You are dealing with legitimate ignorant people here. They don't even know it. They don't even know what liberalism is. You know more than they do about their own liberalism. You know it' socialism. They have no clue. So, when you note facts, you are insulting them. You are shaming them. That's why they get so offensive and mad. And when they do, you win. Walk away satisfied.

These people think they are morally superior. They think they are right you no matter what you say will convince them otherwise, even if you state facts. They don't care about facts anyway. All liberalism is is emoting. They see a problem, and the solution is to say, "I feel your pain. I will solve your problem by creating a program someone else pays for."

Keep the high ground. Don't go on defense. Ask them for facts. Make them state their case. And then poke holes in it. Keep asking them questions. Put them on the spot. Their whole purpose for arguing with you is to make themselves look morally superior to you. So, don't fall for their trap by staying on offense.

Do not take the position where you feel like you have to defend yourself. Stay on offence. If they get angry, you win. Walk away. Be done with them. And do not ever apologize. State Facts. Take the high road. Stay on offense. Ask them to show evidence. Shame them. Walk away.

How To Challenge A Liberal On Social Media

So, you decide to confront ignorance. You decide to confront a liberal on social media. Just remember that they think they are morally superior to you. You are inferior. So, they don't feel the need to state facts.

The only reason they attack you is because they want to feel superior to you. They feel they don't have to prove anything, you do. 

Do not grant them this superiority. Make them prove it. Ask them for facts. Ask them to name names. Put them on defense. And you stay on offense. 

You can state some facts. But then just drop it. Don't feel you have to prove you are right. Instead, ask them to prove their point of view. 

That is, if you decide to have fun with them. And, only challenge them if you just want to have fun.

So, you decide to challenge them. Make sure you don't go on defense. You can state a fact. You can state a fact reported in a conservative news source. You can use National Review. 

And, when you do, they will say, "See, you have a slant. Your only looking at Conservative news sources." 

That's okay. That just proves they don't have anything. Don't feel like you need to use one of their liberal sources. Don't think you have to link to an article in CBS News or CNN. Don't feel like you have to use the New York Times. 

And don't let their name calling get you down. Instead, come back by asking them to state their facts. Make them prove that they don't know anything. Make them prove that they are just emoting. 

If they tell you America is the problem. You tell them America is the solution. If they tell you that capitalism is the problem. You tell them capitalism is the solution. If they want open borders, show them how their position puts the country in danger. 

Again, don't be afraid to use conservative sources. If they attack your sources, you just stand pat. You just let them attack your sources. That makes them look foolish. 

Do not let them get you down. Do not let them drag you down. So long as you don't go on defense, you should be fine.

Just know one thing. Not one liberal is going to say, "You are right. I change my mind. You convinced me." That's never going to happen. If might happen with you. They might make a point, and you might change your mind. You might say, "You know what. I'm a reasonable person. You are right. You changed my mind." 

They will never do that. They are not reasonable that way. So, that's why you don't want to get thrown into the mud. Make your point. Let them reveal their ignorance. And then be done with it. Walk away. Do not debate them more than you have 

If you want to challenge them, tell them they make the world less safe. Their taxes make people poor. State a fact or two. And be done with it. Then unfriend them so you don't have to deal with their BS anymore. That might be the best thing for your sanity. 

Their goal is to dispirit you. Their goal is to break you. Their goal is to make you mad. They don't care about facts. They don't care about truths. They just want to make you mad. Don't let them. 

In conclusion, it's best to ignore them. It's best just to unfriend them. But, if you choose to take them on, do it because you want to have fun with them. Do it for fun. Don't go on offense. Make them prove their ignorance. And leave it at that. Leave. Smile. Enjoy. 

9 Talking Points That Disprove Global Warming

So, quite often people blame global warming. Or, maybe they call it climate change. Here's how I get them to shut up ever time.

1. All the evidence supporting global warming is computer modulated data. What comes out is dependent on what goes in. So, if you put flawed data in you're gong to get flawed data out.

2.  There hasn't been any increase in global temperatures since 1998. So, your theory is disproved right there.

3.  God's not going to put people on this planet only to take it away 50 years later.

4. Climate is always changing. It warms and it cools. It's been going on since the beginning of time. There will be periods of global warming and cooling. It's going to happen whether there's people on the planet or not.

5. You cannot tax or regulate away mother nature. You can tax 100% of income and give it all to prevent climate change. Mother nature is unpredictable. It's going to do what it wants to do regardless of how much you tax people.

6.  People who champion for global warming often say, "It's melting the glaciers, or it's causing more hurricanes than normal." Well, how do they know. We have never lived on this planet when people haven't been here. So, how would they know? They don't.

7.  When people say "global warming" or "climate change," what they are really assuming is that it's caused by man. They never say this. It's always just assumed and without citation.

8.  Science is not up to a consensus. Science either is or it isn't. You cannot vote on whether or not global warming exists. Despite this fact, people often site the fact that 97% of scientists believe in global warming. This does not make it a fact. It just proves how politicized global warming has become.

9.  All global warming is is an excuse for democrats to raise your taxes and increase regulations. It's completely politicized.

These are talking points, for sure. And they all disprove the myth of "man made" global warming or "climate change." Nuff said.

Why Keep Beer In Fridge When I Quit Drinking

The last time I quit drinking I made it 55 days. I think that's a pretty nice accomplishment. When I quit I kept a 15 pack of beer in the refrigerator. I want to explain why I did that.

So, most experts recommend getting rid of all alcohol. This makes sense, considering you don't want to be tempted. If you don't have alcohol you can't be tempted.

Before my success, there were many times I quit and failed. You have a bad day. You have a bad week. And it's nice to sit down and have a nice cold beer.

And there were a few times I did this and had a warm beer. Not so good. But, it's better than no beer at all.

So, I believe that we learn more from our failures than from our successes. But, you also learn things from your successes. By my past failures and successes quitting, I've decided it's better to have beer on hand and in the refrigerator.

There are two reasons for this. One, it prevents you from going to the store. Your brain decides it wants a beer, you open the refrigerator. You put that beer in front of you. You might drink it. But, you might also decide better. And I did that twice during my 55 day stint as a teetotaler.

But, in the past, if I get it in my head that I'm going to the store to buy beer, that throws me into a rut. So, I go to the store. I get home. I'm going to drink that darn beer. I'm going to enjoy what I went out of my way to get. That's just how it is.

So, I decided there's less of a chance I'd drink a beer if it were in my fridge as opposed to if I went to get it. So, for this reason, I decided to keep it in the fridge. If I'm going to have a beer, I'm going to have a nice cold one.

Two, I think I just gave you #2. If I'm going to have a beer, I certainly don't want a warm one. I want a nice cold beer. I want it to be worthwhile and enjoyable. Damn, if I'm going to quit quitting, I better be drinking something I enjoy.

So, that's why I keep beer in the fridge. At least for a while. Last time I moved it to the basement when I realized I was going to stick with it.

6 Reasons To Quit Drinking Again

I decided to do another 2 months alcohol free. Do you think I make it through the holiday seasons? Thanksgiving will be easy considering I work. Here's 6 reasons I'm doing this again.

1. It's easier to stick to my diet when I don't drink. I quit drinking for 55 days and lost 10 pounds. I sort of hit a wall the last 2-3 weeks, but I still lost 10 pounds. Since I started drinking again 12 days ago I gained 4 pounds. So, I think it's fair to say that alcohol doesn't bode well for diets.

2.  Mornings become more industrious. When you're sleeping until 11 a.m. because you drank too much the night before, your mornings are not very industrious. So, that right there is a good reason to quit. At least for the rest of this year I'd like to double down on my writing. And I can't do that if I'm sleeping half the day. Not that I do that often, but still.

3.  More quality time with the kids. I'm the best dad in the world as it is. I think I already spend quality time with my kids than 99.9% of dads. Still, I'm more likely to play that extra game with my kids when I don't have a Miller Lite sitting next to me.

4.  GERD. Gastrointestinal Reflux is something I have to deal with. It's bad enough I drink 2 pots of coffee daily. Add in 4 beers and that's not good for the esophageal sphincter.

5.  Lab tests. I need to see my doctor at some point before the end of the year. I also need to get my lab tests done. Eating healthy and losing some weight would surely make my lab values look their best. Not saying they ever look bad. Just saying.

6.  The euphoria. Alcohol is a short-term solution to stress. You drink to relax. But, if you drink too much, it can backfire. You feel more stress. This makes sense, because alcohol is a depressant. Quitting drinking causes more euphoria than alcohol does. You go a few weeks without drinking you feel proud. You feel a sense of euphoria. This is especially true if you lost weight as a result. Those types of accomplishments create a sense of euphoria. And that bodes well for good health.

What to make of this? So, those are my six reasons for quitting alcohol for the rest of the year. I already did it for 55 days this year. So, I know I can do it again.

Quit Drinking Benefit #7: More Quality Time With Kids

Last week I wrote, "The 6 Benefits Of Quitting Alcohol For 30 Days." Today, I'd like to add one very important benefit to this list. In fact, this one benefit is probably the most important benefit of all. What is it?

7.  More Quality Time With Kids.

A pretty important benefit.

Now, keep in mind that I spent more time already than most 99.9% of dads. When my kids are home, I drop this project and spend time with them. I play games with them, take them on ventures outside. I can also add etc., etc., etc.

My neighbors and friends would attest to this in a court of law. If I ever needed it, I know they would. In fact, they have even told me so. Like, I'm just that good of a dad. Wherever my kids are, there's me. And, wherever I am, there's my kids. I'm not gloating, it's just a truth.

So, I was told, when I quit, that I"m supposed to pick a goal. Like, it's supposed to be something you want to improve upon when you quit. Sort of a purpose to quit drinking. Or, worded another way, "Why do you want to quit drinking?"

Well, I want to spend more quality time with my kids. It's that simple. Like, how do you improve upon something you're already good at. Well, I think an example will show you.

I already explained what happened on day #2. That was the day of my first temptation. So, had I drank that beer I opened, I would have had another and probably another and another. I would had never left that couch. I would have put my kids to bed, and maybe even had yet another. That's the life of a drinker.

Instead, I didn't have any more beer. I said to the kids, "Let's go for a walk."

We did. We went for a walk to the beach. It was too cold for the water. But, it wasn't too cold for the beach playground. So, we walked the mile long hike along the beach to the beach playground. We had a blast.

Many moments like that have followed in the days since. At day #45, there have obviously been quite a few of these "more" quality time with kids moments.

So, I will add this to my list of benefits of quitting for 30 days article.

6 Things That Did Not Change After I Quit Drinking For One Month

So, I gave you 6 benefits to quitting alcohol or one month. In this post, I'd like to list 6 things that did not change despite not drinking for a month. These are things other people said changed for them.

1. More money? More what? I said, "More money." How do you have more money after a month of quitting drinking?" For me, it was tough getting through that first month. Part of my plan was to find something else to do during those times when I'd normally drink. Plus, you have more time in a day. So, you have to find something to do with all this extra time. So, what I did is go shopping. I'd shop in stores. I'd shop online. I didn't buy a bunch of junk. I spent lot's less money on alcohol and junk food. But, I entertained myself by Christmas shopping. Yes. I got all it done. And, like, it costs me lots of money. I did manage to stick within the limits of my money, but I did not in anyway spend less. So, I do not have more money due to quitting drinking for one month.

2.  My liver is happier? What? How can people say their liver is happier. Last I knew, I have never had a discussion with my life. My liver has never talked to me. So, while it would be fair to assume my liver is happier with me, I have not heard it say so. So, I will not assume anything. I do have lab papers from my doctor. After I get my lab results, I think I will be in a better position to answer this question. But, even with that, my past lab tests have been normal. So, even when I get my lab results back, I highly doubt they will hint at what my liver might be thinking.

3.  My immune system is better? Like, how do I know this. I understand that drinking alcohol may diminish your immunity. And quitting can improve your immunity. I understand that. But, I still ended up with a cold during this one month stretch. It was a minor cold, but it was a cold none-the-less. So, to assume my immunity is better would be foolish at best.

4.  It helped my anxiety? Really? Like, I still have anxiety. Last night I stayed up late worrying about nonsense. I get anxious toward the end of the day. Why is this? I do not know. But, it's foolish to think my anxiety has anything to do with drinking. It would also be foolish to think it would improve with quitting.

I'm just being honest here. I'm not going to make up benefits. I'm not going to state a benefit just because other people on the Internet have said them. No, I am not a sheep.

Alcohol Free Day #44

So, I gave up the drink for two months. A challenge, of sorts. Up to last night, my biggest challenge was myself. And, quite frankly, I've handled myself rather well. Last night, though, I was in the company of drinkers. I figured at some point they'd beg me to drink.

I actually handled the situation nicely. My brother Dan said he was making drinks for his wife and himself. He gave me a tour of his pantry. He was proud that he had nearly every kind of booze I might want. "There's even beer in the refrigerator," he said.

"I'm good," I said. I imagined making a real drink. For a brief moment I pictured myself putting a can of beer to my lips and taking a sip. I imagined the cold fizz running down my throat. I imagined the cool, refreshing feeling it would have on my mind. But, the picture was fuzzy. It went away. "I'm good." I repeated.

It was odd hearing myself saying this. "I'll just have a Coke."

I opened the refrigerator. I grabbed the cup he gave me. I opened the 2-Liter bottle. I poured some into my cup. Then I picked up the whiskey bottle.

"That's mine!" he said. "Jen's is the bottle of Rum. "You can have whatever you want," he said, as though anticipating I'd give in and have a drink.

On his cue, I picked up the bottle of whiskey. I mocked pouring it into my cup. "Is this what you want me to do?" I asked Dan.

"Yep!" he said. "Do it!"

"Nah! I"m good."

And that was the end of it. I was impressed that he didn't pressure me. And the urge didn't hit me. I passed my first real test. This was a moment I typically would have had a drink. I didn't. I was, in a mild way, proud of myself.

6 Benefits Of Quitting Alcohol For A Month

So, I made it a month-and-a half without drinking. That's 42 days. It's a record for me. Woo Hoo! So, how different do I feel?

1. Pride. There's the pride. I'm not necessarily a proud person. But, going a month and a half is something to be proud of. So, I'm not going to under play the sense of accomplishment I feel. If you manage to quit doing something that's a habit for you, it's something worth being proud about. And, considering I drank since I was 18, that's a 30 year habit. It's not easy to quit a 30-year-old habit.

2. Weight Loss. I lost ten pounds. Like, I was able to give 100% to my weight loss program. Think of it this way. Every alcoholic beverage has 70-130 calories (or more). You have 2-8 drinks in an evening. You lose the ability to discipline yourself, so you tend to eat a bunch of junk. You have the urge to eat greasy burgers the next day. Now, you take all those calories out of your diet, and you're going to lose weight regardless of whether you diet or workout. Now, add in diet and workout as I have. Like, that's ten pounds lost in a month language there.

3.  Euphoria. Pride in itself brings a sense of improved well-being. An increased sense of well-being is also a benefit to exercising. So, it makes sense that you feel better overall. You have a better sense of your status in life. I'm not saying you're not humble, by no means is that what I'm saying. You just feel better.

4.  More energy. So, alcohol causes fatigue. It makes you tired after you drink. It also makes you tired the next day. This is regardless of how much you drink. And so, quit drinking, and you have more energy. And I can attest to that.

5.  More Time. You don't drink, you turn those hours that you used to drink into productive time. You also change the next mornings. No longer are you too tired to get up early. You don't have to sleep it off. So, you turn mornings into productive times rather than recovery times. This is one of the key benefits of quitting. I find that I write more. I find I feel better when I'm working. I find that I can work longer. A day has the same number of hours, but you make better use of those hours.

6.  Increased Productivity. Add increased sense of well-being, increased energy, and more time, and you get increased productivity. You can simply do way more in a 24 hour day. You can work more. You can get more done. You can make more money. I have definitely observed the benefits here.

What to make of this? This is my take on it. This is how I feel one month into it. This may not be how you will feel when you quit or a month. I focused solely on me.

Democrats Need A JFK-Type Candidate

If Democrats were smart, they would nominate a John F. Kennedy type candidate in 2020. This would be the best path to victory for their party.

Just think about it. The democratic party today is not the party of John F. Kennedy. The modern Kennedy democrat is now a moderate republican. Examples include John McCain and Mitt Romney.

These moderate democrats are actually RINOs: republicans in name only. They are only republicans because they don't want to associate with the radical left. In other words, they aren't socialists.

So, a John F. Kennedy candidate would normalize the democratic party. It would take the party back to the early 60s when it didn't really matter whether you voted democrat or republican. Both partys were supporters of America. Both parties were anti-Socialist and anti-communist.

When Kennedy was killed by a Socialist, the party migrated to liberalism. It championed against the Vietnam War. The reason for this, we know now, was because the new democratic party was pro-communism.

This was one of the main reasons Ronald Reagan -- a pro Kennedy Democrat -- switched parties. Reagan was basically a republican version of Kennedy. This was the new republican party.

There is yet another reason a Kennedy-type candidate would be a good candidate. He (or she) would be young. This would be contrary to the aging Trump. He would be well spoken and kind. This also would be contrary to Trump.

A key here is you would have two pro-American candidates. Republicans wouldn't be able to continue saying democrats don't care about their country and the law. They wouldn't be able to say democrats don't support the Constitution. They wouldn't be able to say the republican party is the party that supports communism and socialism.

They could run on supporting the wall, defending the law, protecting the Constitution (and the 2nd amendment), maintaining low taxes and cutting unnecessary regulations.

He would return differences between the two parties to what they were prior to Kennedy's assassination: trivial. For example, traditionally, republicans and democrats both came together during wars. They both came together when defending the nation and the Constitution.

Differences were trivial. For example, republicans were for higher tariffs and democrats wanted lower tariffs. Republicans protected businesses, and democrats championed for consumers. And that's kind of what Trump took the republicans back to.

So, democrats need a JFK type presidential candidate. They need a pro-American with charm. And they might win. Or, at least they'd be able to compete with a man who significantly improved the economy simply by getting getting a socialist out of the White House.

And that's my thought for the day.

One Month Alcohol Free

Well, it was a rocky ride. But, I made it. I accomplished my goal of going one month with no alcohol. During this month, there were really only four moments I almost had a drink. But, I did not. Here I will describe the first of these moments.

This occurred on day #2. Like, I thought I was going to fall off the wagon on the second day. It was after dinner. It was 7 p.m. It was September 8, 2018. I felt the urge to have a drink. So, I decided to have one. I opened the refrigerator. I pulled out a nice cold 16 ounce Miller Lite. I set it on the coffee table. I sat down on the couch. I cracked open the beer. I put it to my lips. And I sat it back down.

I describe these moments as "having that uncomfortable feeling." It's that feeling you want a drink. But, the "discomfort" comes from that voice in the back of your mind saying, "Don't do it." The conflict in your brain causes an uncomfortable feeling.

I prepared for moments like these. I stood up. I walked to the kitchen. I slid open the patio door. I stepped out on the porch, and took in a nice deep breath. I stepped off the porch. I walked all the way to the road.

And I decided I was not going to have that beer.

Instead, I went into the house and said: "Kids, do you want to go to the beach playground."

"Yes!" They both shouted.

And we went. And we had a blast. This was the first observed benefit of not drinking. If I had one beer, I would have probably had a second. I would have stayed in the house enjoying my beers.

Not drinking created an opportunity to spend more quality time with my kids. We all had a blast.

So, my initial goal is to make it two months. So, one more month. I can do this. Gulp!

Democratic Party Has Become Radicalized

Maxine Waters

So, I'm kind of getting tired of the Trump trash talk. I mean, I'm fine with trash talk. But, this kind of talk that encourages people to do harm is what I'm talking about. A good example here is Maxine Waters.

"Let's make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere. We've got to get the children connected to their parents,"

This is exactly what crazed democrats are doing. They are creating such a ruckus that people like Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Ted Cruz can't even have lunch with their families. It's sad.

Then later on Waters laughed about it. She said she really meant it. It's sad. It's really sad.

Unrelated to waters, you had Majority Whip Steve Scalise shot at a baseball game. He was shot because he's a republican. If it weren't for the heroics for one man, many more republicans would have been killed by a crazed liberal maniac.

Worse, you never hear democrats crying out about this kind of stuff. They never tell people to stop.

It kind of reminds me of radical Muslims. I'm not talking about the 10% or less of Muslims who terrorize and murder people who are not Muslims.

I'm thinking the true radical Muslims are the 90% of peaceful Muslims who don't speak out about those who kill in the name of Islam. Like, to me, that's just as bad as the crime. These killers are making your religion look bad, and no one speaks out. That just makes people like me think that all Muslims are bad.

Democrats are the same way. The true radical democrats are the ones who don't speak out about those who commit all these acts of violence. I mean, many of these protests or rallies are not protests or rallies at all: they are riots.

Why do I say riots. Because other democrats with money are just paying for these people to do these things. Unlike the Tea Party movement, these "riots" are not grassroots riots. They are paid for riots. And they make the entire democratic party look rotten to the core.

Two Months Alcohol Free

Just to see if I can do it, I'm quitting drinking for 2 months. I might fail. But, I don't think I will. If I fail, then all my posts the past month will be for naught. I will look the fool.

So, this is sort of my Cortez moment. My motivation is, if I fail, I will look like a fool.

Anyway, I worked for the past few days. That's why I didn't decide to start September 1. Some people have asked why I waited until the 7th. What was special about that date? Nothing. I just chose to start when I was going to have a week off work.

I took 8 days off work. You'd think I'd take time off so I can drink and relax. But, I do plan to relax. It's just going to come with some discomfort. There will be times when I have an urge to drink. And they will pass. But, those times will arrive.

After I got out of work yesterday I went to the story. I bought a 15 pack of 16 ounces Miller Lites. I sat in my recliner. I turned on the TV. I changed the channel to Fox News. I cracked open a cold one. Oh, the cool refreshing taste of beer.

I drank 6 of these. I also had a few glasses of wine. I was feeling fine by the time I went to bed. Not too bad. Went for a walk. The last walk while buzzed up a bit. Nice walk on the beach. No one but me in the darkness. Even took a bit of a swim. The water was a bit cold.

And then I went to bed. I went to bed early. I didn't want to drink anymore. Didn't want to ruin my morning. Didn't want to have any reason not to begin my new 2 months alcohol-free journey.

Last hurrah.  And today it has begun. No problem! I can handle this. Yikes! Boring!

Motivation List

Again, I'm going on a journey. For two weeks I'm going to quit drinking. I'm beginning on August 7. If I said a different date before, this is the one I'm going with. I'm just doing it to see if I can. It's just for fun. Well, maybe it's to lose some weight (like 50 pounds, lol). 

So, this is the last of my preparation posts.

Which brings me back to motivation.

September 7. Motivation list

Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to quit drinking for 2 months. It's is a list you can take out when you have a weak moments.

• Kids
• Lose Weight
• Diet.
• Reading more.
• Having more energy.
• Asthma better. Save money. 
• Reduce grocery bill. 

Alternative things you can do.

• Go for a walk. 
• Go to a movie. 
• Read one of those books over there. 
• Go to the health club

The Alcohol Culture

So, again, I'm prepping myself for two months alcohol-free. I'm doing it for fun. Like, I've done it before. It actually feels like quite an accomplishment. It also helps me to shed pounds. Hmmm. Maybe that's the ultimate goal.

Anyway.

So, you drink at home. There are no outside influences. So, you want to quit. You just do it. But, that’s not always how it is. You go to the cabin. Guys there drink. You are not drinking. They say, “Have a drink.”

They try to convince you to drink. You give in. That’s how life is. Then you have a couple drinks, and you convince yourself it’s okay to eat that cookie. Drinking does that to you. Then you convince yourself you’re fine being fat. This life is better than the life of not drinking.

Then you wake up the next day. You may not be hungover. You might. But you might not. And you feel regret. You feel guilt. You say, “What if I didn’t do that last night?” But you did. And now this is the consequence.

That’s what you do to yourself.

So, you have to hang out with these people. But you can’t for two weeks. You have to stay away from them. You have to prove to yourself you can do this first. It takes 2 weeks to make a habit. You should stay away from outside influences for two weeks.

During these two weeks, you build up barriers. You have time to build some barriers. For me when I work out and eat healthy, it’s the good feeling you get from feeling lighter. You have endorphins released when you work out. These are like morphine. They are like morphine. They make you feel good. They dull pain.

So many people say, “I don’t have time to work out.” 

I find that when I work out I have even more time. It’s because it increases your energy. These endorphins increase your energy. And, when I get to this point when I feel joy, I don’t want to go back. That’s the point I need to reach.

It takes 2 weeks to make a habit. Then it takes a month until you start feeling what it feels like to not drink. After a month, you start feeling lighter. You start having more energy. You probably look the same to most people. But, you start noticiing it yourself after a month.

After two months, those who see you on a regular basis will start saying things like, “Are you losing weight?” OR, “You look like you’ve lost weight.” Or, “You look nice!”

And hearing those types of words builds up your ego. And, while you don’t want to have too much of an ego, an ego can be good. It means you are happy with who you are. I mean, you should always be happy with you. But, when you feel good, when you hear good stuff, it makes you even more happier.

Then, after 2 months, people who don’t see you on a regular basis start to notice. This is when you hear these types of comments from other people.

The Discomfort

So, again, I am going to quit drinking for 2 months. I'm just doing it because I can. There is no medical need. I just thought it would be cool to try it. So, to succeed, I know you need to be prepared. 

Quitting any habit is hard. There are those moments you want to eat chocolate. There are those moments where you want to have a drink. 

So, you go to the store. You make that decision. You decide to go to the store. You decide to walk down the aisle of the store. You decide to go down the beer aisle. You decide to go down the whiskey aisle. You decide to put the stuff in your cart. You decide to go home and make yourself a drink. You put that drink to your lips. You put the liquid in your mouth. You swallow. And you do this over and over and over and over again. 

You put the poison in your house and you put it in your mouth. It’s your personal choice to do this over and over and over thoughout the years.

Do you want ot stop. Just stop doing it. Just stop going to the store. Just stop putting it to your lips. 

It's just a bottle. It's just a block of chocolate. It's just a cigarette. It has no telepathic abilities. It can't make you eat or drink it. It can't do anything. It will just sit there forever if you don't pick it up. It has no control over you. It has no hold over you. 

In fact, it's the exact opposite: you control it. So you can control whether you eat or drink it or not.

Sometimes, it’s as though a voice in the back of your head says, “Go get some.” You know, you’re 21 years or older. You can just go into any store and get it. No one can tell you not to. This is true even if a court says you can’t drink.

Really, you can if you want. You make the choice, you can do it. You just can’t get caught if you have a contract on your head. 

So, you have to get over the discomfort. You will have those moments. But, they only last a few moments. Go away. Go do something else. Go for a walk on the beach. Go for a walk around the block. Play a game with your kids. The moment will pass. That uncomfortable moment will pass. The urge will go away.

The Goal

So, I'm going to quit drinking for 2 months. There's no medical reason for doing this. I don't think drinking is bad. Still, I thought it would be cool to try going without for a few months' just to see what it's like. I want to see if it offers any benefits. 

So, when you quit anything, it's good to set goals. Mine is to be a better father. That was the guy from Alcohol Mastery’s goal. He wanted to be the best influence that he could possibly be. I want that. But, I also want to be healthier. I want to feel good. I don’t want to waste an entire day recouping. I never get really bad hangovers. 

Like, I don’t drink that much. But, still, it makes it difficult to stay in shape. You are usually fatigued to some extent the next day. I find that I’m unable to write as much or as good as I want. I sleep in longer than I normally do. It makes me feel lazy

This limits my ability to be as industrious as I want to be plus, when my kids are here, I’m not spending as the quality of time with them as I can. I am not influencing them as good as I can. Now, certainly, you can do good things despite drinking.

But, it takes away from your energy. So, a motivation to quit drinking is also to be more industrious. It’s also to be healthier. I know that energy from eating healthy and working out is a huge motivator. When I get to that point, that point when you can feel lighter, everything feels so good. That’s where I want to get. When I get to that point, I will know that I don’t want to go back. I

Burning Bridges

So, as a reminder, I'm watching Vlogs because I want to do one. Or, at least I'm thinking of it. So, that's how I met Kevin O'Hara. He talks about quitting drinking. After listening for a while, I thought, "What would it be like to quit for 2 months." I decided to give it a try. 

Okay, so, in today’s video, Kevin talks about burning bridges. You want to go forward. You don’t want to go back. So, the best way to do that is to burn the bridges. He said the best example used in counseling circles is Cortez. He landed in Mexico in 1517. He landed with his flotilla of ships. 

He didn’t want his crew to have any motivation to go back. So, he ordered them to burn all his ships. So, they couldn’t go back even if they wanted to. Well, they could build another ship. But, Cortez knew that wasn’t going to happen. It took years back then to build ships.

So, in that same sense, if you want to quit drinking, you have to burn the bridge. A good way of doing that is to dump out any alcohol left in your house. That way, every time you think about buying alcohol, you will have that vision in your head. You took the effort to waste $20 worth of alcohol. So, that’s a symbol of what you don’t want to go back to.

“Move forward. Conquer the land. Get on with it.” He said. There is no way to retreat. There is no way to go backward. This is how you move forward on the path you want. This is how you quit any bad habit. This is how you make yourself better. “Burn your bridges.”

Planning Ahead

I started listening to video blogs. I did this because I wanted to make some of my own. I want to make videos for my work. So, the best way to motivate yourself is to watch how others do it. So, this is how I met the guy from Alcohol Mastery. I can’t think of his name extemporaneously. Oh, I know, it's Kevin O'Hara.

But, I started listening to many of his videos. They are meant for alcoholics. Actually, he doesn’t like the term alcoholic. He says that makes it look like a disease. And, he says, it’s not a disease. It’s a bad habit. You choose to put the alcohol to your lips. You choose to do this over and over and over until you get drunk. Well, that’s usually the goal.

So, I thought it would be neat to follow his plan. That wasn’t the intent, but his videos were so inspiring, I thought I would try them out. I don't necessarily want to quit forever. But, who knows. Maybe I'll enjoy being sober every day so much I'll keep doing it. But, for now, the goal is 2 months. 

So, today, August 1, I set as my start date. I set my start date for September 7.

Today’s video was pretty neat. It was called “How to make the decision to quit drinking alcohol stick.” It was a fitting video for day #1. I didn’t plan on listening to it today. It just popped up in my feed. And I did listen to it before. In the Video, he says you have to pick a motivation. Why is it that you want to quit drinking. What is it that will motivate you more than anything else.

What is the one thing that will motivate you in the direction you want to go? You must look forward. You must look forward toward what you are moving into. You don’t have to sacrifice the present for the future. No guarantee you will get tomorrow. But, you have to live your life like there is tomorrow. This is one way to get yourself to quit drinking.

Look into the future and see who you want to become. If you want to alter your own destiny, you can. Your past decisions made you who you are today. Those decisions plus the ones you make today will make you who you will be in some future point. That’s how he explained it.

You have to push yourself forward into something that you think is worthwhile. You’ve got to build a love for the things you are replacing alcohol with. What do you want to replace it with? When you eat junk food, when is it? When you drink alcohol, when is it?

You must find something else to do during those weak moments. I think it was Dr. Phil who talked about that once. You must plan ahead. You must decide what you are going to do instead of drinking alcohol, or whatever you want to quit.

I tried this last week. I know I usually drink after working my three day weekend. I work all day Sunday. It’s a 12-hour shift. I always work 12-hour shifts. When I’m done I’m exhausted. Drinking a cold beer sounds so good. I go to the store. I buy beer. I drink one. But, you can’t drink just one. So you crack open a second and a third. You know how it goes from there. Then all of a sudden you’re waking up the next day knowing you drank too much.

So, instead of doing that, I planned on going to a movie after work. I texted Callie if she wanted to go with me. We had a great time. She was very happy. She told me that. And it made me happy. So, I learned that day that my children can be a great motivator without them even knowing it. I could have stayed home by myself and got drunk. But, instead, I made a huge impact on my daughter.

So, I think, my children are a great motivator for me. I spend more time already than 99% of dads do with their kids. But, I can do even better. I can spend even more time. But, to do that, I have to quit drinking. So, here we go.

Pleasure And Pain

So, I listened to a Tony Robins youtube video. It was called, “Pleasure And Pain.” Those are the two driving forces in life, he said.

Most of us don’t do things to avoid pain. We say, “If I do that it might produce pain.” We need to reverse that. We need to think the opposite. We need to ask, “What will be the pain if I DON’T do it?

Below I am going to write down 4 actions I need to do but keep putting off. Write down something that will cause pain when you do it, and write down the pleasure you get from not doing it.; write down the opposite, write what will happen if you don’t change.

Pain is a greater motivator than pleasure. Food gives you pleasure. But, focus on the pain you will get by eating the chocolate. Focus on the pleasure you will get by not eating that chocolate. Then behavior changes.

IF you want to change your behavior, you must change your mental focus. You must focus on how not doing something is going to be more painful than doing it. Link not taking action as more painful than just doing it.

Use pain and pleasure rather than letting pain and pleasure use you. That’s the secret to success. You do that and you are in control of your life. If you don’t do it your life controls you. So you need to make that change

Write down 4 actions that you need to do that you’ve been putting off. I’m only putting 3 here. I do have a 4th, but I don’t want to share it. Here goes.

I want to quit drinking for 2 months. 

• The pain I associate that kept me from quitting in the past is the urge to drink 
• The pleasure from not following through is the joy of good buzz; it’s relaxation
• If I don’t change I lack energy the next day; I lack the motivation to diet

I want to lose weight. More specifically, I want to lose 50 pounds.

• The pain I associate that kept me from quitting in the past is hunger
• The pleasure from not following through is the joy of eating good food
• If I don’t change I feel fat and lazy; I feel like a slug

I want to work out every day.

• The pain I associate that kept me from sticking with it in the past is taking time
• The pleasure from not following through is more time relaxing
• If I don't’ change I feel like a slug and lack energy

I'm giving myself a start date. It's September 7. I know it's Friday. I will explain why I'm starting on a Friday in a later post. But, I'm just writing this here in case anyone is interested in doing this with me. 

Donald Trump: The Statistics

Here are the Trump statistics. In four years we'll analyze than to determine how good he did as the 45th President of the United States.

• December 2016: Since Trump was elected, consumer confidence jumped to 113.7, it's the highest level since 2001. This is a signal of how confident consumers are that Trump will fix the economy. 
• December 2016: The Dow, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have all risen around 4% to 5% since the election. This has aptly been termed the Trump bump. The rally in U.S. shares continued as investors see Trump’s economic policies— tax reform, regulatory reform, and stimulus spending—as particularly good for business. This prompted Trump to tweet on December 27: "The world was gloomy before I won - there was no hope. Now the market is up nearly 10% and Christmas spending is over a trillion dollars!"
• March 9, 2017.  Illegal border crossings decline 40% in Trumps first month in office. This is what happens when you actually enforce the laws already on the books. 
• March 10, 2017: 152,528,000: Record Number of Employed in February; Participation Rate Rises
• March 10, 2017: Amazing: US Debt Decreased by More Than $60 Billion Since Trump Inauguration
• January 7, 2018: The black unemployment rate is under 7% for the first time ever. Tracking began in 1972, so it's the lowest black unemployment rate in recorded history. And it was not even mentioned by the media. This is a huge accomplishment in less than a year for Donald Trump, and not one mention of it in the media. 
• January 10, 2018: As of today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and Nasdaq have had 75 record closes since Trump was elected. 
• January 11, 2018: Voters perception of the economy at a record high. The Quinnipiac University poll showed 66% said the economy was excellent. This was the highest percentage since the poll began in 2001. 
• January 11, 2018: Illegal immigration hits 45-year low under Trump.
• January 18, 2018, Jobless claims lowest since 1973
• January 18, 2018, Unemployment is 4.2%, lowest since 2001. It's poised to go even lower
• January 19, 2018: Stock market 31% gain during Trump -- best since FDR; value grows by $6.9 trillion
• June 3, 2018: Unemployment reaches 18 year low of 3.8%. Statistically, this is considered full employment. 4% is usually considered full employment. When you get that low, that 4% is considered to be the number of people who choose not to work. Or, this is is the percentage of people no one wants to hire. So, basically, we have full employment. 
• June 3, 2018: The U.S. added 223,000 jobs in may. This is despite the prediction being 188,000 jobs for may. 
• June 3, 2018: Manufacturers added 
• In May, 6,000 new mining jobs, 18,000 new manufacturing jobs, 31,000 new retail jobs, and 25,000 new construction jobs. As a bonus, there are 24,000 fewer government jobs. 
• June 3, 2018:  Black unemployment has hit another record low. It’s at 5.9%. This is awesome! It's the first time ever black unemployment is under 6%. 
• The unemployment rate for men over 16 is 3.9%. It’s 3.6% for women. (All of this good economic news comes after Obama said our best days are behind us. 
• Unlike the jobs added under the Obama economy, a vast majority of the jobs added in the last year and a half (as of June 2018) are full-time jobs.
• Wages are also going up. 
• Korean War is over. The leaders of North and South Korea shake hands.
• June 20, 2018: Social Security Disability Benefit applications plunge as economy strengthens. This is a startling reversal of a decades old trend that threatened the solvency of the program. The decline is so significant that experts re figured their estimates on how long the program will remain solvent. They say it should now last until 2032. Two years ago it was estimated to run out of funds by 2023.
• 95% of manufacturers bullish on future -- record optimism
• Record 155,576,000 Employed in June; 10th Record for Trump
• August 31, 2018: Jobless claims lowest since 1969
• August 31, 2018: Oil exports booming
• August 31, 2018: 83% of executives say business better; 76% say they see more growth ahead. 
• Unemployment Lowest Since 1969

The funny thing is I started writing this on Trump's first day on March 10, 2017. Even back then I knew the economy was going to improve. I knew if capitalism were tried what would happen. 

Myth: Trump Setting U.S. Up For Trade War

Democrats, the media, and liberals around the world. They keep talking about how Trump is going to incite a trade war if he continues to raise tariffs. But, it's hard for Trump to start a trade war when it started over 30 years ago.

So, Trump raises the steel tariff to 30%. Democrats see this as the beginning and the end. They are afraid other countries will get upset and raise tariffs for outgoing products.

But, this is said without looking at our history. You name your country. That country has a 30% tariff to our steel going into their country. We have only a 2.5% tariff on imported steel. That 2.5% is usually not paid.

So, who benefits from this set-up. It's certainly not the U.S. So, Trump raising the tariff to 30% is only playing a game. It's making it so there is an equal tariff both ways. It gives U.S. steelmakers an equal opportunity to sell steel abroad.

Plus, what can it hurt? If those other country's don't want high tariffs, they can easily call Trump. They can make a deal. That deal can call for a reduction of tariffs on both sides. Perhaps steel tariffs can be reduced to 10% both ways. That would be fair.

So, this idea that Trump is setting the U.S. up for a trade war is poppycock. It has been going on for a long time.

Fake News: Here Some Examples

It's time to combat fake news. What is fake news? To me, it's when reporters put their opinions in articles. Or, it's when they are flat out false in their reporting. Or it's when they don't report both sides. I am going to make an ongoing list here of examples.

Here's an article from the Associated Press.

• WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump tried to cast doubt Friday on wrenching tales of migrant children separated from their families at the border, dismissing “phony stories of sadness and grief” while asserting the real victims of the nation’s immigration crisis are Americans killed by those who cross the border unlawfully.

Okay, fine so far. But, then the "reporter" starts to editorialize. 

Bombarded with criticism condemning the family-separation situation as a national moment of shame, Trump came back firing, sometimes twisting facts and changing his story but nonetheless highlighting the genuine grief of families on the other side of the equation.

This is supposed to be a news story. But, it's not. It's an editorial. It belongs on the editorial page. The "reporter" put in her opinion. That's not news. That's opinion.

That's bad journalism. Journalists are supposed to report the facts. They are not supposed to put their opinions in articles. So, bias? Well, I'm thinking more like bad journalism.

I'm going to make this an ongoing theme on this blog. From time to time, as I run across fake news, I will post it here with a pithy explanation why it's fake. Well, I doubt I'll have to look too hard.

More Fake News from the AP

So, I opened up my chrome book. And clicked on the Drudge Report. And decided to read a story headlined, "Trump Summer Hotstreak."

Of course, that's the Drudge Report Headline. The article was another AP article. The article on the actual story was similar and fair. So, the headline is good.

So, I start reading the article. It talks about all the good things happening to Trump this summer. It takes the spotlight off other things that were happening, such as images of kids being taken from their parents at the border.

Then it goes haywire. It quotes Trump taking credit for the economic recovery. Trump credits his tax cut. Then, the AP fake journalist says this:

He called recent growth an “economic miracle,” though there’s credit to be shared: Lower unemployment, fewer claims for jobless benefits and many other positive economic indicators reflect the slow and steady nine-year recovery that began under President Barack Obama.

Um... really? Regardless of whether this is true (and I think it's not, but it doesn't matter), this has no place in this article. It's about Donald Trump's lucky streak. This journalist doesn't like it. So, he tried to spin it off as -- "um, Obama has something to do with this too."

Really! Like, let's talk about fake news. Again, a journalist conflates journalism and editorialist.

Will republicans block cures for diseases like COPD?

Your question: With cuts to health care. Current congressional deregulation cuts to the EPA our air quality will be impacted. Plus their desire to dismantle Medicare and Medicaid along with the recent tax cuts, and more cuts to education, research funding will slowly dry up. We must pay attention and remind our Congress, they were elected to serve the people, not to legislate our lives out of existence.

To set the stage, this was a response to my post, "Why is there no cure for COPD?"

My answer. Says who? I'm assuming you're referring to Republicans. So, you actually think Republicans don't want a cure for COPD? You actually think that? You actually think they want poor air quality? I'm a Republican. I support the tax cuts and regulation cuts. And I want a cure for COPD and good air quality.

But, the difference between me and a Democrat is I think people are smart.  I believe in the power of the individual. I believe people, left to their own devices, are far more capable of solving problems than the government.

And I think the facts, and history, support my claim here.

First off, it's not the job of government to solve people's problems anyway, but that's beside the point. It's the role of government to create an economic environment in which we, as individuals, may prosper -- if we so make the effort. When we prosper, we have discretionary income. This is where charitable giving comes from. We, as Americans, are the most giving people in the world.

But, when you take our money from us via taxes. When you create so many regulations that there's no incentive to open businesses. You stifle the economy. You prevent economic growth.

Let me give you a good historical example to make my point. To assume the government has all the answers is to assume the people are too stupid to solve their own problems. You're assuming the people running government knows what the hell they are doing. And, quite frankly, I'm not always so impressed.

If you really want to raise money for investing in cures, the solution is with the people, not the government. Look at the war on poverty as a perfect example. That's been going on for over 40 years now, and there are just as many people in poverty today as when it started -- if not more. So, did the government succeed at solving poverty? How many billions of dollars have gone to anti-poverty programs? Lots. And the government failed to end poverty. So, what makes you think the government can find a cure for COPD?

When you have government solving problems, money gets tied up in loop holes. It gets tied up in the bureaucracy. You might raise a million dollars (or, rather, take it from people through higher taxes), but much of that money is wasted.

You look at any government project, and it takes twice as long and costs twice as much as when private individuals do it. This is because of all the red tape, all the bureaucrats who want a piece of the pie. Plus, it's not their money, so they aren't as careful with it.

You want something done right, you want to truly find a cure for COPD, leave it in the hands of individuals. Let them keep their money. Let them spend it on what they want.

Look at the 1980s as an example. Taxes were cut, regulations slashed, and a record amount of dollars went to charitable giving.

Another great example is Grover Cleveland's veto of the Texas seed bill.

Sure, the government has access to lots of money. But, it's our money, not theirs. And they have a poor track record of accomplishing anything with it. The people actually have a good track record, when they get to keep more of what they make. So, who do you think is more likely to find a cure for any disease?

Arrogant Condescention

So, occasionally I decide to put a post on Facebook about politics. I don't do this to irritate Democrats. I don't do it to tick off liberals. I do it to educate young people. I do it because if you don't teach the importance of capitalism, socialism is the natural default.

Okay? That's why I do it.

The founders of this country knew what existed before them. They knew that 99% of people in the world lived under totalitarian dictator type governments. They lived under kings and queens or totalitarian thugs. They were denied their natural rights.

The founders changed all that. They made it so anyone born in America would not be denied these rights. This is the main reason the founders thought it was so important to educate young kids. And so this was done until about 1960-1980-ish when the government pretty much took over education in the U.S.

So, now liberals basically control what our kids learn. They don't teach about American Excpetionalism anymore. I mean, some teachers probably do. But, it's the exception today more so than the rule.

Essentially, if you don't teach American Exceptionalism, socialism is the natural default. If you don't teach conservatism, liberalism is the natural result. That's why so many people now accept socialism. They accept it even though we fought two world wars to prevent it's spread.

I don't expect lots of likes on my political posts. I don't expect it. I never get any. That's fine. But, what I do get, from time to time, is a ticked off liberal. They get so mad that I share my opinion. Most of the time they don't say anything, but occasionally they share their hatred of my opinion.

So, basically, my job as a parent is to educate.  I am a God fearing conservative. So, naturally, I want my kids to become God-fearing conservatives. So, it only makes sense that my kids are taught about God and conservative principles in school.

Why? Well, I think, as a parent, I should have a say in what my kids are taught. I don't think some nut head in Washington should be allowed to tell my kids things I don't agree with.

For example, I don't want my kids learning that global warming is a fact. They can learn about it, they can be educated about it. Sure, I'm fine with that. But I don't want my kids coming home telling me the world is overpopulated. And it's because of global warming.

That's the kind of BS I hate about our public schools. They should be training kids to think, not telling them what to think.

So, to combat this, I put an occasional post on my Facebook page. I'm not a fan of memes. Mostly, I just put videos or quotes that tell the truth about America and its founding. It may about the economy. It may be the truth about tax cuts, or the true story of Thanksgiving. You know, stuff like that.

But I get lots of hate from my Democrat friends. Now, we are still friends. Political differences have never gotten in the way of friendships, at least not in my world. We bicker about it, but then we hug and drink a beer. Okay? So, it's not like political fighting is going to ruin friendships.

Still, I find that my liberal friends can't handle to learn. It's like, I teach and they get really irritated with me. It's like, I offer facts. I have all the facts on my side. But, still, it doesn't matter with them. They talk down to me in an arrogant and condescending matter, like I'm stupid.

There is a term for this. It's called Arrogant condescention. They talk as though they are annoyed that you could be so stupid. They talk down to you

They are always right no matter what. I am always wrong no matter what. It doesn't matter what facts I present. They don't even bother listening to the facts. They just get mad. Their attempt is to make me feel guilty so I shut up and quit posting.

But, all along, they do it themselves. They post on their Facebook pages whatever they want. They post about how stupid conservatives are; how naive they are. And I'm supposed to just like it. And if I disagree, I'm refusing to accept change; I'm an idiot; I'm a racist; I'm a homophobe; I'm backwoods.

So, I present facts to my kids. I present facts on my Facebook page. I mean, it's my Facebook page. It's my home. I can put anything on it I want. If you don't like it, just ignore it. Or, you can do what some of my friends have done, just unfollow me. I mean, it's that easy.

But, they don't. They continue to follow me. And when they disagree with what I post, they write hate messages. It doesn't matter how truthful I am. Why? Because they don't care about the truth.

Greg Gutfeld explained the differences between conservatives and liberals to a tee. I thought it was a very good video. So, I posted it on my Facebook page. My liberal friends did not care what Gutfeld said. They weren't attempting to learn from what Gutfeld said. Gutfeld was just the latest figure that they attempt to disagree with.

Okay? They don't even care about being properly informed. The only thing they care about is will liberalism succeed. If anyone gets in the way, they can't stand it. That's why they hate Trump so much. That's why they hate it when I post the stuff I do.

Again, I don't post this stuff to irritate them.  I don't even make a habit of posting about politics. Still, I have the right to do so. They have a right to block me. I'm fine with it.

You know, I would love to get into an intelligent discussion on politics. I'm open to doing it on my Facebook page, that's fine. If only my liberal friends -- and not all of them either, just a select few -- could quit being offended by the truth. If only they could quit being offended by hearing opposing viewpoints.

For crying out loud.