America and the Middle East

America's industrial-military complex and most notably its oil companies, have an abiding interest in the Middle East, for the obvious reason, that there is plenty of oil there.  Unlike, say a country like Japan, or Germany, or Italy, or France, America has a large domestic oil capacity as well as the technological knowhow to extract, process, produce, distribute, and to utilize our domestic petroleum resources.  Reuters.com estimated that the United States became, once again, the biggest oil producer in the world in 2013, because of our success in extracting oil from shale formations and the sophisticated use of horizontal drilling techniques.  This doesn't mean that the United States no longer imports oil, but it does mean, that the United States essentially has the means to accommodate its energy needs without the necessity of the Middle east, if not right at this moment, certainly in the near future, especially if it made it a policy to do so.

America spends an inordinate amount of time, money, and participation in way too many wars or wars of another name, in the Middle East, of which most of this ill-advised activity could be abandoned without materially impacting the United States as a whole.  Forgetting, for the moment, the moral right or wrong, that our military incursions involve in the Middle East, the savings in money, materials, life, and good will by America simply allowing the Middle East to determine for itself, what it does or does not do, would be of immense benefit for not only America, but for the world at large.  The fact of the matter is, if it wasn't for the oil, America would be content to treat the Middle East with benign neglect, but the oil and the lust for profits has corrupted our motives.

It is high time for the American policy in the Middle East to change and to change dynamically.  The Middle East is not in our historic sphere of influence, nor is there any good reasons why America insists that it must be the world's policeman, subsequently getting itself involved in every domestic or border or civil dispute within the Middle East, as it really isn't necessary, nor does it often help to produce either a better or safer or more just world. 

The continual involvement and interference of America and its corporations in the Middle East, has served to inflame passions against our nation, and Western nations, in general.   America fears that if it should withdraw its foreign aid, its foreign investment, and its military might, that within this vacuum some other country or group of countries, would assert their power and influence against the Middle East.  What of it?  America has been intimately involved whether directly, or indirectly, in Middle Eastern politics since the conclusion of World War II, and during this entire time, has not made the Middle Eastern world, safer, more democratic, or more just.  It has, however, provided great profits for certain American-based corporations as well as feeding well the military-industrial complex.

America is in a fortunate place, it has great wealth, knowhow, as well as great natural resources, so it does not need Middle Eastern oil to thrive.  It lusts for Middle Eastern oil, because it lusts for profit, lusts for the expansion of a military that is already way too large, and lusts to have dominion of every corner of the world.  Unfortunately, for America, it forgets that to ensure domestic tranquility, unnecessary forays into foreign territory seldom brings peace, justice, or the American way.

10-Year Treasury Rates

US 10-year Treasury rates sunk to a yield of just 1.837% on January 14, 2015, this after hitting 3.03% on December 31, 2013, to which most pundits and mass media outlets predicted a 2014 10-year treasury rate to be approaching 4% at the end of calendar year 2014, instead 10-year treasury rates moved in the opposite direction almost for the entirety of 2014 and this decline has been precipitous for the start of 2015.  Treasury rates are sensitive to a lot of economic news and global economic concerns, but undoubtedly the area of most concern as to why Treasury yields have gotten significantly lower in the United States over the last year, is the commodity pricing meltdown that has occurred over the last seven months, led by the precipitous fall of oil beginning in mid-June of 2014.  Oil and its price, is by far the most important commodity in the world, its usage and availability throughout the world is absolutely critical for overall economic output and consequently when the price of oil plunges by over 50% in just six to seven months this will undoubtedly have profound effects throughout the world economy. 

While there are a slew of economic factors that affect the 10-year treasury rate, first amongst them all, is the overall inflation rate both currently and going forward.  Most Americans are use to the price of things going up, year after year, sometimes significantly, while at other times modestly, but this has not always been the case in America.  For instance, during the great Depression, and in particular from the years 1927-1933, America went through a period of deflation, to which the years 1932 and 1933 saw prices sink at approximately 10% per year.  There are two great and dangerous problems that deflation represents with one being that those that are indebted will be compelled to pay effectively significantly higher amounts of money back on their loans because while the debt service is the same, the money that is being paid back is worth more, meaning that in essence you are paying more in real terms on your debt.  The second terrible problem of deflation is that when you perceive that the pricing for goods are getting cheaper, you will have less incentive to buy something today, or to spend money on capital investments today, because you are anticipating even lower prices, leading to lower overall economic activity and thereby to a recession or a possible depression.

The United States as well as other major countries, such as Germany, France, England, and Japan is currently in situations to which inflation is low, this inflation is anticipated to continue to be low, and all these aforementioned countries are concerned about the pernicious economic effects of deflation.  The fact that each of each of these other countries also has 10-year treasury yields that are even lower than America is indicative that low 10-year treasury rates are not going away anytime soon.  While many in America, are use to treasury rates at 4% and above and consider these rates to be "normal", the fact of the matter is, if you go back further in time, for instance, from the years 1935-1955, with the exception of a couple months each way, the 10-year treasury yield did not rise above 3% or fall below 2% during this entire 21 year period.  This, in itself, is proof positive that treasury yields adjust to the economic times of the age, and in an era of low inflation, as well as possible deflation, there isn't any good reason to expect these yields to jump up to 4%, or even back to 3%, anytime soon.

Why?

Nobody wants to argue with somebody every day, nor does anyone really want to have to over think every situation, or consider all the different outcomes taking into consideration every possible ramification.  Additionally, to all that basic fundamental stuff, sometimes you are tired, sometimes you aren't motivated, or you feel weak, or your attitude isn't quite your normal self.  Yet, in all of these situations, you don't have to just pack it in, and become a recluse in one form or another; you can simply ask the question, why.  Why is it that certain things are the way that they are?  Why is that you really need to borrow my car, or borrow money, or borrow anything of mine?  Why do I go to work, or go to school, or obey the law?  All these are basic questions that should be asked from time-to-time, not in every situation, and not all the time, but you will find that the more often that you do sincerely ask why, the more often you will start the process of drilling down to the real crux of the matter.  It all really starts with asking of the question, why.

Human progress can be made in all sorts of manners, and in all sorts of ways, and often this begins with somebody taking the word, why, and then not stopping until they discover the fundamental answer to that question.  Worthwhile things happen not so much because each day you do things better and better, although that most definitely helps, but often because people see things as they are, and wonder why they can't be better, or be changed, or be substituted or transformed with something that is even better.  While habits and traditions have their place, and habits are usually very efficient in helping us to utilize our time effectively, not every habit is necessarily the correct or the best thing to actually do.  That is to say just because something is always done a particular way, does not necessarily mean, that it is the best thing for you, or for the community, or the best way, so that it does behoove someone to question it, perhaps test it, or to at least re-think it.

It is well to consider that computers are geniuses at computing, processing and analyzing information.  That makes computers a very important tool for mankind, but they are a tool, because a computer does not intrinsically think, they are instead, "doers". Whereas, mankind does think, perhaps not as much as we should, but we do, and that is one of fundamental attributes of humanity as opposed to a machine.  Because we are thinkers, we can discover and create new things, come up with new ideas and new concepts, and often make things better.  All of this really does begin with asking that question, why, having done so we often become greater detectives of human nature, or scientific research, or seeing possibilities that none have seen before.

George Bernard Shaw wrote in his play, Back to Methuselah, which was later to be paraphrased by Robert Kennedy, the following: "You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?"  In old days in the library, you would come across one word strategically posted along the book shelves, "Think," which is excellent advice, may I suggest that we bring that basic concept back, only this time replaced with the word, "Why?"

Two Weeks' Notice

Not all traditions are worth keeping or worth submitting to; in particular, employees giving employers two weeks' notice of their impending departure from said company is one of those courtesies which should, at times, be violated.  Every State of the union is a State that has a law that private enterprise employees are employed at will, which basically means that your employer can fire or replace you at any time without notice to you, although there are some States that stipulate certain specific exceptions to this general rule.  However, as a rule of thumb, that means, that every day, could in fact be your last day working at your place of employment.    Most employees wrongly fail to recognize that this is the reality of how untenable their position and their livelihood really are.

Another error that virtually all employees fail to recognize is that while their personal effects are still their property, by virtue of having their property at their place of employment, means that should they be discharged unexpectedly, that the company will control the access and the timely distribution of any personal property so left behind.  That is to say, once terminated, you as a former employee have no legal right to enter back into the premises to retrieve your personal property, it will be returned to you, but your former company will essentially control that process and that timing, and as long as they take care of this within a reasonable framework of time, that is just the way it is going to be.  In regards to personal documents that are stored on the company equipment, your chances of getting any of those documents back are solely based at the discretion of the company, since the contents of the equipment are company property, and not yours.  

While there is something to be said about providing whatever amount of notice and courtesy that is standard within your company for employees that are voluntary leaving, and as it doesn't behoove most people to burn bridges, there are still significant reasons why you may not want to give a two weeks' notice.  For instance, if your standing within the company is somewhat shaky, you may find that upon offering your notice of two weeks, that the company's response is for your immediate dismissal, so unless your new job is capable of accepting you as a new hire, sooner than expected, you will be losing two weeks' worth of salary, something that clearly was never your intention.  Another good reason, not to extend your stay unnecessarily, is if your new employment is paying you more money, perhaps even substantially more money, it doesn't make a whole lot of logical sense to work for less money for two more weeks at a company that you have already determined to depart from.

There are, however, circumstances, to which your hand may be forced in providing that traditional two weeks' notice, such as companies that make it a policy within their handbook that those not providing such notice, will forfeit vacation pay or similar, in those types of circumstances, you are better off following your company's guidelines.  

While individual circumstances clearly do not allow a one-size fits all policy in regards to providing notice of quitting to your current company, it is pretty much foolishness to stay longer at a company, than is absolutely necessary.  The most important thing to remember is that in absence of an agreement that stipulates that you are not employed at will, you really don't owe any sort of notice in return, for if it is good enough for the goose so it is for the gander.

The Most Important Words in American History

American history is replete with wonderful words of sage advice containing the wisdom of the ages.  While literally pages upon pages could be written of incomparable American quotes, it can be said though that when one combs carefully through the pages of American history, you will discover that there are these certain words that stand taller than all of the others.  The following words are a testimony to the greatness of America, of its ideals, of its vision, and of its purpose here on earth for not only its own countrymen but for all mankind, and these words come from our Declaration of Independence, a agreement that was signed by the delegates of all thirteen States, North as well as South, a document that upon its signing meant revolution against what was the greatest empire in the world, the United Kingdom, our mother country, far richer in wealth and population than continental America, as well as being the greatest naval power in the world, to which in our Declaration we stated: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…"   These words thereby formed the very essence of America, a land that has declared that all men are equal in the eyes of our Creator, and thereby no man is born into the wrongly-held concept of "the divine right of Kings", that is to say, that none can declare by birth that they derive their right to rule by the dictates of God, that instead all by birth all are equal morally as well as being equally politically within society,  so that as Abraham Lincoln stated, this is a country "…of the people, by the people, for the people…."

Moreover, it can be correctly argued, that because all men are created equal, that within these words, it cannot allow, does not permit, or countenanced, that one man has the right to enslave another, because we are all brothers in God, no matter our religion, our color, our country of origin, or other assorted attributes, because an equal creation, means exactly that, that no man can ride on the back of another's man labor, and thereby wrest the bread from another man's honest exertions.  Further to this point, the fact that all are created equally, means by implicit definition, that all must be treated equally within the halls of justice, and that true justice must be equally applied as well as being subject to a jury of one's peers, and not therefore a law onto itself.  It must also be stated, that since all are created equal, that a government or a public policy, that later determines, for example, that some deserve certain healthcare benefits whereas others do not deserve that same courtesy, is a government or public policy that is fraudulent to the people, as the government's purpose should be to live up to the credo, that all are equal, and not that some deserve more or that some deserve less.

Our Declaration of Independence makes it abundantly clear that since all are created equal, that all are equal in the eyes of our Creator, that thereby it is of utmost concern of this country to recognize therefore that: "…God is no respecter of persons…" (Acts 10-34), so that in order for this country to be a true land of freedom, opportunity, as well as liberty for all, it must do everything within its governed powers to see that all are treated fairly, with respect, with brotherly love, and as our good neighbor.

Tariffs

A tariff, or the imposition of taxes on imports into America, has historically been a very important form of taxation in America.  This type of taxation has crucial merits, for instance, by protecting domestic labor and capital investment, by maintaining domestic sustainability in certain industries, as well as protection from foreign "dumping" of goods onto our land.   The importance of import duties to historical America, is demonstrated quite strongly by the visceral reaction of domestic tea merchants in America, when England's East Indian company was allowed by British parliament to sell its tea directly to America, thereby significantly undercutting the price of tea in America, because the East Indian company was permitted a special exemption for not paying import duties in England, whereas the colonists were subject to these duties for their tea by parliament.   Therefore this inherent unfairness in the implementation of taxation/tariffs was the immediate cause of the "Boston Tea Party".

According to progressive-economy.org, in 1912 30% of the income derived by the Federal Government came from tariffs, whereas 100 years later, tariffs in America average around 1.7%.  While there is a lot to be said about having "open borders" in regards to goods, both exported as well as imported, the reduction of tariffs or the elimination of them therewith, clearly, by definition, will change who the winners are as well as who the losers are everywhere that international trade exists.  In fairness, to virtually any domestic manufacturer of goods in America, their labor, insurance, property, and other associated costs, will invariably be higher than most other non-first world countries, so that the only possible way that American companies that produce goods domestically can be competitive against foreign competitors would be only in their inherent advantages of lower transportation costs, knowhow, and machinery.  When it comes to machinery, however, and to some degree, knowhow, these too can be exported to foreign countries, effectively giving those foreign countries the final means necessary to undercut domestic competition.

As previously stated, the elimination or the lowering of tariffs obviously brings benefits to certain parties and industries within America.  For instance, as a consumer, you, for a certainty, will pay a lower price for goods than you would do with the imposition of duties, although there is always the chance that over time this will not be true, when, for instance, foreign countries are able to gain essentially monopoly or duopoly power on the basis of your exit from the business as a competitor, but overall, clearly a no tariff policy, saves American consumers money.  Additionally, the domestic manufacturers of equipment that is exported around the world are definitely beneficiaries of open markets because their market share has increased significantly from just our borders, international financiers too benefit from the loaning of money and capital while being pay fees and interest for having done so, and certain, specific industries or knowhow, that are sufficiently advanced or that take a tremendous amount of capital investment and technological skill, are typically protected quite well from foreign competition because there essentially isn't any meaningful competition to them.

Americans rightly wonder what has happened over the last few decades to the "blue collar" worker in America.  Apparently, his work is increasingly being accomplished overseas, leaving our people underemployed and dependent upon government for necessary handouts.  It is critical to understand that if multi-national corporations and foreign companies are continually enabled to exploit cheap labor and resources overseas, yet at the same time, suffer no consequences from import duties to America that this policy will eviscerate the noble, working man in America, and turn these men into serfs, without hope, without property, and without a future.

Public School Choice

There are plenty of low paying jobs in America, that typically are filled by people that either live in communities to which that is pretty much all that is offered to them, so unless they can work their way up to some sort of meaningful management within that company, they will be stuck at or close to a minimum wage, forever; there are also too plenty of low paying jobs in America in bigger cities, to which although there are also jobs within these big cities paying a good middle income wage, they typically are only available to people that have achieved certain education degrees or certificates, such as a Bachelor's or equivalent.  This means that in America, the days of the poorly educated, the ill-educated, or for those that have a general disgust of education, are very limited indeed for being able to obtain a decent living wage.  Furthermore, this signifies that for those that want to get ahead, that an education, or at least the opportunity to have a good education, is almost fundamental for success.  Fortunately, in this country, public education for grades 1 through 12, are "free" to all students within America.   Actually, public education isn't really free in the sense that it doesn't cost somebody something, as those school funds typically come from school bonds, government, and property taxes, with your sole contribution basically being able to get your child to the bus stop, providing some school supplies, and some appropriate school clothing.  To the uninitiated, this almost sounds like a perfect situation, bound to mean, that all in America, have equal opportunity to get a quality education.   The fact of the matter is, public schools in America, range from abysmal to outstanding, and consequently the school that your child attends has very meaningful consequences for the success of your child within that school as well as future college and work-related success.

In recent years, some States as well as some school districts, allow parents to enroll their child outside of their school district, or sometimes give them a choice within their school district, in placing their child at the school that they perceive to be of most benefit.  This type of choice is wonderful for all involved, as it incentivizes schools themselves to provide students with the best educational experience.  This also means that parents of these children do not need to worry so much about whether they live in the best or correct school district, so long as they have fair access to the public school of their choice.  Unfortunately, this public school choice, is not available in every State, which therefore means that parents must definitely be cognizant of where they live and the school that their child will attend, as that school choice has an incredibly high determinant as to how successful or safe their child will be.  That is to say, there are some public schools that have nearly a 100% graduation rate for high school students, whereas other schools fall under 50%.  Additionally, some schools challenge the students, provide Advance Placement tests on a regular basis, allow students to take courses for college credit, have extensive extracurricular activities, whereas other schools really come down to basic physical survival and not much else.  In situations to which there is such an extreme between a great public school and a very poor one, parents will often, at least, think about "gaming" the system, and some will definitely do so.

America has all sorts of laws and all sorts of crimes, to which some are fair, some are appropriate, and some are inherently unfair and unfortunate.  If, you as a parent, deceive a school district, about where your child actually lives in order to gain admittance to that good school, there are consequences for being found out.  Besides the obvious which is the kicking out of your child from the school, you as the parent may personally be subject to fines as well as possible jail time, all this for wanting to do and wanting to provide the best opportunity for your child, which in a fair world is hardly a crime at all.  In regards to public schools, in far too many States and in far too many school districts, there is being erected through the means of hi-technology data mining and surveillance tools a virtual wall of separation of those that have and those that only desire an opportunity for their offspring to try to have.  All this is happening in the land, that certain land, that they call the land of opportunity.

Military, Police, the use of Deadly Force and Administrative Leave

The average age of a military recruit in America is probably just under 21, to which you can with parental consent be eligible to join the military as young as age 17.  AS for police recruits, most police departments prefer that eligible police officers either have achieved a four-year college degree, and/or are veterans of military service before they apply to become a police officer, therefore, the average age of a police recruit is probably in the mid 20's, and is certainly higher than those recruited for the military.  It can be said that there are few military recruits that are ex-police officers, whereas there is a substantial percentage of police officers that have previously served their country as members of the military.

While in both professions, military as well as in police work, you may go your entire service career without having to discharge your weapon in either self-defense or in a deliberate act of deadly force to take the life of another, the fact of the matter is, that the mission of a military recruit, in times of war or combat, is dramatically different than a police officer's mission which is usually stated as being to protect and to defend the community.  A military soldier, will by definition, is given instructions to kill the enemy, whereas these orders, will seldom, almost never, be given to a police officer.  When a police officer actually engages in deadly force, as a matter of public policy, for virtually all police departments, he will subsequently be placed immediately on administrative leave, pending an internal investigation, and upon clearance will return to active duty, having availed himself of mandatory professional psychological counseling as well as peer review.  

However, in regards to a military soldier and his use of deadly force we find that during the exigencies of war, there is seldom even the opportunity for said soldier to disengage from an active battle or from his duties to his fellow soldiers, his mission, and the overall necessary cohesion of all those involved.   This means as a matter of policy, that soldiers who are younger in age than police officers, have less life experience than police officers, are much more likely to have to use mortal force against an enemy in combat, as well as subjecting themselves to the line of fire in return.  The obvious and frightful conclusion is that our soldiers at a younger age, are subject to far more stressful situations, than our police officers, yet neither administrative leave or counseling is something that they can avail themselves of in any sort of timely manner.

America has the second largest active military force in the world today, and since the end of World War II, has only engaged in war with countries that are far smaller in size especially in regards to personnel, equipment, experience, and sophistication.   This means, that the United States as a matter of policy, should actively manage their military personnel in such a way so that when deadly force is utilized, that its personnel having done so, can avail themselves at the earliest possible time of the necessary investigation of actions taken on the military field, as well as psychological counseling, and peer review.  We, as the richest country in the history of the world, owe that duty to our soldiers, so that when their service on behalf of their country has been completed, they are able to return to life in America, with the reasonable hope that they are well and able.

Immortality v. Eternity

In the English language we often use words interchangeably that have similar meanings or concepts but in actuality there are often subtle yet important differences between the words.  For instance, immortality and eternity is not the same thing, although from a simplistic standpoint they seem to be about the same thing.  Within legends or certain genres, you will come across a character or god that is described as being "immortal," meaning that this entity will never die, that they are indeed "not mortal", but importantly this implies too that this particular entity or god was once born or created.  Whereas, on the other hand any time we come across the word eternal, this word signifies that it is everlasting, existing forever and importantly existing without a beginning or an end.  To be eternal is to exist without time, beyond time, to be in a dimension to which time is not applicable, whereas to be immortal, is to live within a world or a dimension, to which you are in essence trapped in time, never dying, yet never breaking free from the boundaries and the limitations of time.

Consequently, while any being that is eternal is also as an aspect of that eternity, thereby also immortal, since eternity can never be vanquished, it does not follow however, that an immortal being can ever become eternal.  This is because it is our Creator, who is the master of both time as well as space.  Most people take it as a given, that there is such a thing as time, to which time can be subdivided into a past, present, and a future.  In the world that we live in, this does appear to be true to us as human beings, however, as Einstein stated, "... for us physicists believe the separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one."

This would imply that our concepts of both time as well as space have been created for the benefit of humans, and also apparently as an avenue or pathway for us to be drawn inexorably towards eternity, and thereby to escape the confines of a limited dimension.  For this reason, as well as for others, the Christ consciousness was brought forth in human form into our world.  The Christ consciousness existed before time, and has been and always will be eternal, in human form it was utilized by the messiah known also as Jesus of Nazareth.  This Jesus, whose human body was crucified, demonstrated to us by virtue of the empty tomb, that therefore our body is not, and will never be ourselves, that we are in essence, beyond our human body, beyond mere mortality, and if we only would reach out to the Eternal Bliss that is our Creator, we would thereby break free from the limiting delusion that we are separated from God, and that instead we shall know what we have always been, not immortals trapped in time and space on earth, but One with our Father, who art that guiding light, the True Light, from which all light originated, a Light without beginning and without end.

Economic Propaganda

Our government would have us believe that America has recovered strongly from its great recession, witnessed by the drop of unemployment down to 5.8% as of November of 2014, and GDP growth of 5% in the 3rd quarter of the same year, along with stock prices consistently breaking records in calendar year 2014.  This would seem to imply that America is once again enjoying good economic times and consequently has risen like a Phoenix from the ashes of our economic meltdown.  While it is most certainly true that America's economy is in a much better state than it was in 2008-09, it is deceptive to believe that America and its people as a whole have recovered strongly from those days, as there are three types of lies, "lies, damned lies, and statistics".

The fact of the matter is that there are a multitude of ways to look at statistics and thereby myriad ways to mix in estimates, adjustments, historical numbers, and so forth, to obtain a witch's brew of numbers that can serve the purpose of the media outlet or government agency that is disseminating the story.  Government and its media outlets are very much motivated in keeping the general population quiescent and satisfied that everything is okay, that everything is getting better, and that if your personal prosperity isn't happening right here and now, it will be, as it is just around the corner, just have patience and believe.  The one thing that our government does get done right, as opposed to failed or failing socialistic and totalitarian States, is that our government does an excellent job of distributing food and shelter to all comers in one form or another, because a full belly with access to a warm hearth of some sort, isn't too likely to have the stomach to engage in much revolutionary action.

Unfortunately, America is in rather poor straits, and has fallen far from the path of upward mobility since the turn of the 21st century.  We know this by looking at real and meaningful statistics such as reported by the weeklystandard.com that of those aged 25-54 years, "…28.9 million people, or 23.2 percent of the total—is not currently employed." CBSnews.com reports that in 2014 our workplace participation rate dropped to 62.7% which is the lowest rate it has been since 1978.  To add even more fuel to the fire, monster.com reports that "As many as 22 million U.S. workers can be considered “underemployed”."   This means, in essence, millions of Americans are either working at occupations that do not give them as many hours as they desire to work, or in positions that they are overqualified for by either experience or by education or both.

Finally, when American pundits talk about our current "robust economy", they fail to disclose the precipitous decline in home ownership in America.  Bloomberg.com reports that "The homeownership rate in the U.S. declined to the lowest in almost 19 years."   This statistic is very meaningful, as the asset distribution of the middle 60% of Americans, clearly shows that home ownership is their most prized asset, typically making up more than 60% of their net worth.  Additionally, when you do not own your own home, you are to a certain degree, no longer master of your own ship, instead you are subject to the vicissitudes of the true property owner, for better or for much worst.

American Indians as Sovereign Nations

Not every American Indian lives on land that is considered to be owned and governed by American Indians as separate sovereign nations within the United States, but a substantial amount of American Indians do so.  The entire concept that within America, there are sovereign nations, governing themselves is absolutely fascinating, until you peel back the curtain and quickly recognize that American Indians are at best quasi-sovereign nations, and at worst, live under the illusion that they are sovereign nations when in fact, when push comes to shove, they will find, as they almost have always found, that the "white man" makes and asserts the law to the white man's benefit, no matter what a certain treaty, law, or tradition may or may not say.  That is a shame, and to the discredit of America, since in virtually every instance, the American Indian, has been given a raw deal, a broken deal, and a trail of tears from their fellow countrymen, again and again and again.

Truly the American Indian's tale is a tale of woe, to which in aggregate, American Indians and Alaska natives, as reported by nbcnews.com have almost 12 percent of their deaths that are considered to be alcohol related.  Additionally, according to census.gov American Indians and Alaska natives have the highest percentage of people that are living beneath the poverty line.  The only real thing of substance that American Indians have been able to salvage since the discovery and subsequent conquering of America by Europeans is that they own a substantial amount of land as sovereign nations.  As one might expect, most of the land that is set aside as sovereign nations for American Indian tribes is land that the government thought to be of little worth in the first place, but as time has gone by, in numerous instances American Indians have discovered that their land has value in its mineral wealth, its waters, or as a gambling empire.  Not too surprisingly, when there is money to be made, or wealth to be exploited, the American government or free enterprise have a great desire to get their hands on it.  That, as you may say, is the true test of true sovereignty.

How much sovereignty that an American Indian really has as a sovereign nation, has an awful lot to do with whom the dispute is with.  That is to say, when that dispute is with a major multi-national corporation or government agency with the best legal counsel that money can entice, American Indians will often find out that their sovereignty will be essentially lost without their own access to expert legal counsel to setup a well-orchestrated defense of their sovereignty, or in lieu of that they will need a lot of sympathetic media play.  The following statement by the Federal District Court of Montana in 1973 said that ”The blunt fact, however, is that an Indian tribe is sovereign to the extent that the United States permits it to be sovereign,"  which means according to this court, that any belief that American Indians have that they are sovereign is, in essence, nothing but a pipedream.

In fairness to American Indians, in fairness to the concept of sovereign nations within America, a line should be drawn in the sand, clearly delineating once and for all what rights a sovereign nation does or does not have within America.  The Supreme Court, itself, can't seem to make up its mind as to whether American Indians have sovereign rights that predate the European's discovery of America or whether instead they are subject to the dictates of Congress per Article 1, Section 8, of our Constitution.  At the least, we owe the American Indians, a fair deal, that takes into account our previous failures to abide by treaties time and time again, because a country that will not respect its own law, that will not obey its own word, is a country that no man shall have to respect, and isn’t the country that God would shed his grace upon.

African-America Strength in Numbers

There are about the same amount of Mormons as there are Jews in America, approximately 6 million peoples of each, whereas there are about 45 million African-Americans in the United States.  Yet, there would be few people that would categorically state that African-Americans have more strength or more influence than either of these two religious peoples.  In the case of Mormons, they are the dominant force in Salt Lake City, a metropolis of approximately 1 million peoples, in addition to the fact that the governor of Utah has invariably been also a Mormon for the last fifty-odd years.   The Jewish population is a major force in the most influential city in America, with over 2 million Jews living in New York City, to which also there are significant amount of Jews in Los Angeles, which is too a very influential and important city in America.  While there are plenty of African-Americans in cities throughout America, to wit there are close to 2 million African-Americans in NYC, their numbers do not equate well to real power or real strength within NYC or in many other metropolitan areas.

While there are many cities, that are majority African-American in their population, few of those cities are cities on the rise; almost all of them, such as Detroit, Baltimore, or Memphis are cities with deeply rooted problems of crime, poor schools, and poverty.   This means in a nutshell that despite the relatively large population of 45 million peoples in the United States, that African-Americans are for whatever reasons, often on the short-end of the stick in receiving the full wealth and benefits of living in the richest and most prosperous nation that the world has ever known.  Since it is a given that African-Americans will never be a majority within America,  yet it has been demonstrated by Mormons as well as by Jews and others, that sheer numbers are not necessary to obtain power and influence in America, African-Americans must avail themselves of accomplishing these vital tasks themselves.

To have a seat at the table of democracy in America, there is wisdom in the application of utilizing your numbers in the most meaningful ways possible.  The bottom line is that African-Americans are currently woefully underrepresented in the seats of power in our judiciary, in our legislative, in our corporations, in our healthcare, and in our higher educational fields.  In order to best rectify these numbers, African-Americans must make it a priority to seize the initiative by clearly establishing goals that will allow them to begin their assent up the mountaintop of success. 

African-Americans cannot sit back on their haunches, awaiting the Government benefactors to bless them, when too often the Government itself or its agents, has been the problem.   It is true that African-Americans should hold government in all of its many forms accountable for the raw deal that has often been dealt to people of color, injustice everywhere, will be halted when exposed to the true light of fairness and the relentless demand of a people that will not submit to wrongs that continue until this very day. 

African-Americans deserve better by their country, "… Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (Matthew 25:40)

You Didn't Build That

Back on the campaign trail, on July 13, 2012, President Obama said: "look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.  You didn’t get there on your own…. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that."  Soon thereafter, a firestorm of protest was built up, over this speech from the President, to which it appeared, at best that Obama was stating that if you are successful, you shouldn't claim all of that success on your own, and that if you've established your own successful business, you should recognize that you didn't build the infrastructure that surrounds your business, such as the roads, bridges, and the internet that are utilized to move goods around in America.  To a certain extent, most people realize as a given, that their success in life, has come from their ability to as Sir Isaac Newton stated, "… If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants," but unfortunately and disappointingly Obama's speech lacks any of the poetry, humility, and the simple clear brilliance of Sir Isaac.

Obama's "you didn't build that," does on a basic level, claims that you, as a person, as an American, are in actuality, no matter your accomplishments or ability, in essence just a cog in the big picture, to which your life should be dedicated and sacrificed to the State.  In other words, the State cares only about you to the extent that your life and your performance has helped to further the State as a whole, and the State does not want you to ever forget that every good deed,  and that every good action that you have ever accomplished, in one form or another is because of it, the State.   The State wishes to submit to you, that no matter how much blood, sweat, and tears that you have provided it over your many years, no matter how much wisdom you have imparted, no matter the good advice that you have given, you are no better than anyone else, that in the eyes of the State, we are all equal, no matter what.

If, in fact, none of us gets there on their own; if, in fact, none of us builds anything on our own, this, in essence, means that the State should decide our destiny, our fate, our salary, our work, our house, our health, our religion, our family, our life, and our death.  We are, in fact, nothing, nothing, nothing, without the omnipresent State, the omnipotent State, and the Omniscience State.  You didn't build that and you didn't get there on your own, means that you should therefore check your initiative, check your determination, check your effort, check your morality, and just passively obey the State and its dictates. 

The real irony of the matter is that you can never have the audacity to speak the words that "you didn't get there on your own, and that you didn't build that," only in a country that because of the greatness of its citizens, because of  the bravery of its people, and because of the brilliance of its population, has become one nation, united, and under one God, a country that has risen above mediocrity, above superstition, and above ignorance of all types, to become a nation truly blessed by the hand of God, and yes those people of that country did get there on their own and they did build that.

Why Such High Limits on Credit Cards?

While not every American has a credit card and not every American has a credit card with a high credit limit, the availability of such to the average American of at least a decent credit rating score is simply astonishing.  Credit cards are available today with limits of $5,000, $10,000, $25,000, $40,000 and more, and I'm not talking here about special credit cards such as the American Express Centurion card or cards of that ilk, but your basic, standard credit cards that are typically issued to the consumer without a mandatory annual fee.  What is especially interesting is that these high credit card limits are being issued out to consumers to which the banks that issue these credit limits are essentially issuing credit without any associated collateral, so that these are unsecured loans to the consumer.  While it may be true, that banks have rights to get those funds back from the consumer, should the consumer miss his payment or payments or fail to meet his credit obligations, the pathway to recovering this money for the banks is certainly not quick, nor paved smoothly, and it definitely costs banks time, money, and legal fees to go through the process of collecting this money.

The first question that must be asked is why do banks issue so many credit cards with healthy limits on them to consumers in the first place to which they know for a certainty that collecting money in arrears from the consumer is going to be both time consuming and expensive?  The most basic reason is that banks are convinced that higher credit limits, leads to more credit in aggregate being used by the consumer and subsequently that certain consumers, will be unable or unwilling or uninterested in paying off their balance in full each month, and therefore that interest rate that is charged to the consumer is where the banks will make their profit, to which banks understand the law of big numbers, that is to say, the more that the consumer owes, the more that the consumer has to finance over a period of time, the more profitable the loans are to the banks.

Still, you would think that banks would want some collateral attached to their loans but banks feel confident that they can effectively monitor your credit usage and worthiness in real time and make any adjustments that they need to make "on the fly",  because what the banks give, they can also take away. Most consumers are somewhat unaware that the banks do have recourse to effectively lowering one's credit limit, typically without notice, and only having to provide a 45-day notice if by lowering your credit limit it would effectively put your balance above that new credit limit.  However, it gets worse for the consumer, because just like that proverbial snowball rolling down the hill, the lowering of your credit limit by one bank will often start a chain of events to which typically the competing banks will also lower their credit limit on you because your credit capacity and your usage percentage are above pre-determined industry norms. 

This means in essence that although the banks will issue high limit credit cards, they and not you, control whether that limit will be lowered, and effectively closing you out of the credit business, taking for instance what was once a credit limit of $10,000 and perhaps lowering it to $500 without your consent.  For those that have become addicted to their credit line and credit in general, these lowering of limits, seemingly overnight, can be a very bitter pill to swallow.  The high limits on credit cards are essentially for the purpose of getting the consumer to spend more now, spend more than you really can afford presently, and for you to worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.  While most people are deliciously happy upon receiving their first bona-fide credit card, happy too are the banks, just like a great white shark.

We Should be Grateful that People Want to Immigrate to America

As it has been said, "People vote with their feet," and despite some annoying negativities about America, to the world at large, America still does represent "the last best hope of mankind" and is rightly considered a bastion of both opportunity and freedom.  We, that live here, should be grateful for the blessings that America, its foundation, and its sacrifices by courageous and visionary men, has provided for us.  The golden gate of America must not be closed, because we are that true beacon of hope and of light to the world.

Within America there is a misconception that immigration takes away jobs from Americans and that they therefore add to our welfare rolls, that they add to our crime, that they don't have the right skills, nor the right language, nor the right behavior, nor the right God, and that don't respect our laws, nor our institutions, nor especially our border.  Not too surprisingly, according to gallup.com as of June, 2014, the majority of Americans want to see immigration to America to either remain at its present levels or to decrease, whereas only 22% of those polled, would like to see it increased. 

While I am incredibly sympathetic to those that argue correctly that our borders should not be violated by illegal immigrants, I do not believe that the solution to this is a more stringent and thereby a more oppressive border control.  Far better it is to understand why the illegal immigrants are coming to America in the first place, as well as being more pro-active in coming up with workable programs that allow an easier and a legal entry or pathway into America for students, as well as seasonal workers, as well as designated hired help or guest workers, that would thereby provide mutual benefits for all parties concerned.  Additionally, America has an obligation to provide monetary aid and knowhow to its neighboring nations that will enable these countries to grow their economy from within, to which we can provide our corporations with incentives and tax breaks to effect these changes.

When it comes to immigrants that are specifically well-off financially, the door to entry to America, should be wide open, as the business of America is business, to which if you find someone that wishes to "pay to play", assuming that they pass a background check, they should be allowed to immigrate here for a standard price, depending upon their country of origin, and net assets. 

For highly skilled immigrants, whether they be already educated, or in the process of applying for a higher education degree, or have a demonstrative skill-set, these potential immigrants should not only be embraced, they should, in fact, be encouraged to immigrate here.  America should be greedy for the best and the brightest to come to our shores, to be leaders in American industry, to be leaders in American education, or American justice, or wherever they may fit into the mix of American life, because we need them in order to maintain our status, our power, and our influence as the greatest nation in the world. 

America is a nation of immigrants, we should be proud that so many want to come from their land to ours, and to thereby be a part of the fabric that allows America to shine so brightly, we need them , we should want them, and we should be grateful for them coming to America.

Title Loans

According to hufffingtonpost.com, "…some 127.5 million people -- are liquid-asset poor. If one of these households experiences a sudden loss of income, caused, for example, by a layoff or a medical emergency, it will fall below the poverty line within three months."  This means that a substantial amount of America's population are either ripe for exploitation from predatory lenders or on the cusp of being exploited by them, if they are unsuccessful in finding monetary aid from more traditional lending channels, such as a FDIC insured bank which is regulated by law.  It is particularly troubling that in putting up your vehicle title as a security against a loan, this will often expose these people to the possible loss of their transportation, and the means thereby to get to and fro to work, to school, and to get around town.  In addition, for a one-time transfusion of cash, signatories have legally agreed to yet another bill, at typically rates that are 300% per annum or even more.

Responsiblelending.org reports that: "There are currently 16 states that explicitly allow title lending at triple-digit interest rates and four others that allow title lending through a legislative loophole."  While there isn't necessarily anything wrong with a consumer having the ability to pawn the title to their automobile to a third party, what is wrong, is that the structure of most of these deals significantly exploits the typically desperate consumer, who is often at wit's end.  We know that business is good at the title lender facilities, because of the tremendous growth in their business over the last few years.  For instance, azcentral.com reported for Arizona in April of 2013 that: "more than 430 auto-title-lending branches have been licensed in Arizona since 2009."  The nytimes.com reports that:  "…title loans in Virginia increased by 24 percent from 2012 to 2013, according to state records. Last year, the lenders made 177,775 loans, up roughly 612 percent from 2010," and "In Tennessee, the number of title lending stores increased by about 22 percent from 2011 to 2013, reaching 1,017."

It shouldn't be terribly surprising that title loan stores have been opening up at double-digit rates while also increasing their loan percentages impressively, since in so many of the States to which title loans are permitted, the annual interest rates are so usuriously high to the consumer, that the business model really comes down to making sure that the consumer selects your store rather than your competition, so consequently a high percentage of monies spent by title loan companies goes towards advertisements on television, on the internet, and on billboards.  Importantly, to the title loan originators and fundamental to their business, is the fact that by signing over your title to your vehicle, you have made the title loan company the de facto owner of it, so unless you abide by all the terms and conditions of said loan, and pay the loan off completely, your car is not really your car anymore.  This means, as a matter of course, as long as you truly own the title to the vehicle that the title loan companies therefore really don't care much about your credit or anything about you, because they definitely have a material asset which in virtually all cases is worth more than the loan that they provided to you.  To make things even easier for the title loan companies, some of these companies make it a condition upon the loan to you to add a GPS device to "your" car, or a starter interrupt device, in order to maintain control over your vehicle.

Title loan companies should not be in the position to offer loans to individuals without a reasonable cap associated with them, and the States that currently offer title loans should enact legislation to stop this unfair exploitation of their own residents.

The Failure of High School Education

Although different websites give different percentages about the number of first year college freshmen that must take remedial courses to get up to a basic collegiate knowledge on subjects such as mathematics and English, the percentage of students needing to take at least one remedial course in college is reported by several media outlets as generally around 40%, whereas as reported by Carol Burris, the true number for students that attend four-year colleges needing a remedial course is possibly as low as 17%.  Wherever, the true number lies, the percentage of students that are unable to come to college fully prepared for its curriculum should be virtually 0%, as not too surprisingly the very students that take remedial courses are the very same students that graduate at substantially lower rates than students that are already prepared for college.

For whatever reason, Florida has taken the concept of remedial classes and thrown it into the dustbin of history.  Instead, in Florida, students can opt-out completely in the taking of remedial classes, or if desired take shorter five-week remedial segments to get back up to speed.  The thought process behind this change is that since remedial courses do not count towards any credit to collegiate graduation, that this barrier in having mandated remedial courses, is precluding or preventing students from completing successfully their college degree curriculum, because these students are being forced to spend extra time and money taking courses which somehow results ultimately in many of them simply giving up or losing interest in the continuation of their college education.  While there is merit in taking a serious look at the remedial courses and how they are presented to students in college, simply sweeping this demonstrated lack of preparation of these students under the rug is clearly not the appropriate answer.

Americans are fortunate to live in a country to which their public primary and secondary education is provided by the State for free, or perhaps it's fairer to state at no direct cost to the students themselves.  This is therefore the opportunity for the State to do everything within its power to attend to these students and to prepare them to have the necessary skills to succeed in post secondary education.  The fact that double-digit percentages of students are so woefully prepared for college that the colleges themselves point out or mandate that these students need remedial courses is a direct reflection of the failure of our high school educational system to actually educate our students.   The point is this, we know for a fact what skill level is necessary for math, science, reading, and writing in order to attend an accredited college, high school education should make it their fundamental purpose to see that these goals are achieved, or they have failed their intended mission. 

It is fair to say, that not every high school student is college material, but every student deserves the best opportunity and the best efforts by our State-mandated educational system to at a minimum try to achieve these goals by providing the tools, the tests, the guidance, and the discipline to see that this is done.  The fact that a double-digit percentage of high school students that go on to attend college, are in fact, unqualified to actually do so, reflects that we are poor teachers and poor mentors.

Social Security and Medicare Taxes are Inherently Unfair

The Federal minimum wage mandated by law in America is $7.25/hr, which equates to an annual income of $15,080.  In most cases, making a wage this low, will not necessitate the payment of either Federal or State income tax, so any of those taxes taken out of your paycheck during the year will in all probability be return to you when you file your annually taxes.  However, your net paycheck also has two other taxes that will definitely not be returned to you, which are the Social Security tax and the Medicare tax which are respectively 6.20% and 1.45%.  This means that out of your wages of $15,080, a total of $1153.62 will be extracted from your paycheck for Social Security and Medicare taxes that you will not receive back at the end of the year.  This money will be taken from your paycheck as your contribution to Social Security and Medicare for your benefit later on in your life at your retirement age. 

Most people that make a minimum wage as their salary or low wages in general, need as much of their income presently to be utilized to live now, and the mandated sacrifice of a portion of their wages to be contributed to their well-being in the far distance future doesn't benefit them in the real world, and in real time.  Incredibly, both the Social Security tax as well as the Medicare tax are fundamentally flawed in their structure, instead of setting a floor, to which an employee must first make this amount of money before these taxes are taken from their pay, instead there is a ceiling to which, if you are so fortunate as to earn more than $117,000 in 2014, any monies above that amount are not subject to the 6.20% Social Security tax, although they are still subject to the Medicare tax of 1.45% which has no income limit.  What this means is that for those that earn more than $117,000, they will not pay any more Social Security tax for the balance of the year, once they exceed that level, whereas those that earn less than $117,000 cannot escape this pernicious and unfair tax.

Upon the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935, President Roosevelt stated that: "… we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age."  Unfortunately, the actual structure of this Act has been inherently unfair from day one, because instead of exempting low-wage earners from this inequitable tax, it has instead protected the highest-wage earners from its full effects.  This truly makes a mockery of providing relief for the needy and the most deserving, as the program fundamentally fails to take into account that a person that is unable to take care of themselves in the present day while dealing with the inevitable adversaries and vicissitudes of life, probably won't be in too good of condition, if alive at all, to reap any benefits from his contribution to Social Security or Medicare when he reaches the age to qualify for his "retirement benefits".

The Social Security and Medicare taxes should be amended forthwith, to establish a floor, to which you as an employee are not subject to such taxes, a floor that should be indexed to the Federal Minimum wage, it is the least that we can do for our poorest and least able, who for the most part, aren't looking for handouts, but simply for a true helping hand.

Peak Oil is still true

The price of a barrel of oil has declined precipitously in the second half of 2014, so that from June 30,2014 when the price of a barrel of oil was at $105.37, it has declined to a price of $53.14 as of December 30, 2014, an astonishing drop of approximately 50% in the span of just six months.   This would perhaps imply that the shortages and difficulty in finding inexpensive crude oil are a thing of the past, and therefore we are now entering into a stage of worldwide crude oil oversupply because of technological innovations and the like.  That conclusion, however, is flawed for various reasons.

Let us look first at the price history of crude oil, over the last four decades, to which, in December of 1973 west Texas Intermediate crude oil was selling for $4.30/barrel, yet just one month later in January of 1974, the price had jumped to over $10.10/barrel, and the price of oil since then has never been in single digits again, to wit the first modern peak oil price was $39.50/barrel in 1980, onlyfor oil to slide all the way back down to $11.60/barrel in 1986.   Oil prices then ran up to $35.90/barrel in 1990, only to slide back down to $14.50/barrel at yearend 1993.  After 1993, oil prices, began to move up in general to which by June of 2004, the price exceeded $40/barrel for the first time.  The price of oil after hitting $40/barrel consistently moved up and up, before breaking through the $100/barrel price for the first time in 2008, before because of the financial crisis of 2008, it plunged to $39.10/barrel in February of 2009, but by March of 2011, it was back over $100/barrel, and consistently ranged in the $90-$100 ballpark over the next three years.  The above demonstrates that crude oil pricing is volatile depending upon a multitude of conditions, such as the economy, war, embargoes, and the like, nevertheless the price of crude oil went from $4.30/barrel (inflation adjusted is $20/barrel) to $100/barrel in about 40 years.

Clearly, the price of oil and the ramifications of its increase, has been felt in America and worldwide over the last four decades, in which until the most recent plunge in pricing, oil has increased on an inflation adjusted basis 5X over its price 40 years ago.  Even if crude oil was to maintain its current price of around $55/barrel the inflation-adjusted increase would still be 2.75X over its price 40 years ago, so the pundits that proclaim that there isn't such a thing as peak oil, that mankind in his ingenuity has been able to come up with new and innovative ways to extract oil from the ground at unprecedented rates and thereby the shortages of old, are gone forever, or at a minimum for the near-term foreseeable future are not truly accurate in their assessments. 

The fact of the matter is that crude oil pricing is volatile, as demonstrated above, and is much more volatile than we would prefer it to be.  Additionally, the strength of the dollar, which has been consistently in an upward trend since April of 2008, also makes a significant difference in the price of crude oil, since oil is priced in American dollars.  The bottom line is that if peak oil was not true, than oil would be falling back down to the pricing of pre 1974, but this simply isn't going to happen, because the cost to extract crude oil has risen considerably since the halcyon days of the 1960s and early 1970s.  This clearly states that the easy oil has already been discovered and exploited, and while we can consider ourselves fortunate that there is so much additional oil still available to be extracted, the extraction process costs more in both labor as well as materials, which necessitates a higher price for oil, and this will continue to be the case, going forward.

Man Does not Love God because He Does not Keep his Commandments

On any given day, it is commonplace to hear man complain about his conditions, his life, his circumstances, and his fate here on this good earth, to wit that the upshot is that life is unfair, full of injustice, and unsatisfying.     But man fools himself and does not need to look far to recognize that in the end, he has only himself to blame for his woes, because always the pathway to sanctuary is there, perhaps "hiding" in plain sight, but man seems unable to grasp this most basic, and most fundamental  of all principles.   Man is often dissatisfied, because man is unwilling to follow the divine map for salvation which is to keep God's commandments.   Man preaches loudly that he loves his God, but we know that this is certainly not true, because he too often willfully disobeys the very commandments that will bring to man peace and certain satisfaction. 

Great prophets have told us, Christ has commanded us, to love our God with all of our heart, and to love our neighbor as our self, so that within this philosophy is the truth that will bring peace and comfort to us and to our neighbors.  Instead, too many of us have a lust for power over other people, over property, over laws, over that our way should be the way, and woe to those that block our pathway!  Peace cannot be brought at such a price as this fundamental nonsense; we either grow together, or suffer through the inevitable indignities of ultimately seeing our egos thwarted again and again.

Mankind wastes far too much time, desiring to keep up with the Joneses, or checking out for themselves as to whether the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence, whereas neither of these activities can ever possibly bring real satisfaction or true joy.  The person that we will not get along with, is that person that we will have to meet time and time again, in one form or another, until there is that mutual respect and love that one man owes to his neighbor, this is the lesson that all must learn.  Much as like Jonah who willfully tried to flee from God's commandment to preach to the people of Nineveh, we too try to assert our free will day after day, escaping our true calling, as if our wisdom is a match for God's omnipotent wisdom.

Too often like the Pharisees of old, there are those that claim to be doers of God's word, but even if they appear to obey God's commandments, they achieve only the pretense of doing so, and never accomplish God's work in the Spirit of God Himself.  God calls each one of us, every day and in every way, to be our brother's neighbor, to give of ourselves to others, and to understand this most basic of all tenets, that all that we really are, is all that we give to others, such as our time, our advice, our guidance, our example, our patience, our devoted labor, and our love, and it is that legacy that enables us to be true participants in the building of the New Jerusalem.