Welcome. The purpose of this website is to encourage individuals to step back, to pause, and to think. Try to gain a more thorough understanding of what is going on around us: in politics, in business, in society, and in the world in general. Basing one’s beliefs on emotions and feelings instead of observation and facts is, well, ignorant.
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It is by paying close attention to the thoughts and ideas of individuals who are far more intelligent than myself that I attempt to learn from them and thereby improve my own condition. -jh
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If you enjoy having sincere, thoughtful and occasionally accurate analysis censored by shallow-thinking leftist liberals, then you should continue to enjoy your mainstream social media platforms.
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“…a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest” -Paul Simon
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“Alas, how many have been persecuted for the wrong of having been right?”
—Jean-Baptiste Say, An Economist in Troubled Times: Writings Selected and Translated by R. R. Palmer (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997), p. 154
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What appears below are brief, summarized comments on selected topics. In the future, this website may attempt to provide deeper and more thoughtful commentary on these issues. An entire book could be written on each of these topics; the material is endless.
Sometimes we have a very strong personal opinion about an issue and we set about to either blatantly ignore facts or attempt to manipulate the information in an effort to force truth to be on our side. We should instead evaluate the evidence and factual information and then, making a fully informed decision, choose to be on the side of truth.
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“When the student is ready, the teacher will arrive.” – Norman Newlander
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Random Thoughts & Random Comments
■■■ Political Correctness – Why do so many people think that it is acceptable to be less than fully honest and truthful? Truth should determine what is acceptable and what is not – rather than a concern that someone may dislike the statement or somehow be offended by that truth. If a person is uncomfortable with truth, perhaps that individual should reevaluate his/her position and values. Truth should be acceptable; a truthful statement must always be recognized as correct – even politically correct.
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■■■ Reality – “…reality is very politically incorrect — especially harsh on the blank-slate ideology preferred by the current academic elite.” – Wilfred Reilly
■■■ Reality in layman’s terms: Reality is a bitch.
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■■■ Gay Pride – Is being gay something that an individual should be proud about? If it is acceptable for an individual to be proud of being gay, it follows then that it is also acceptable for a different individual to be proud of being straight.
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“When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.” – Thomas Sowell
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■■■Marriage – A growing number of gay couples insist on being married while a growing number of strait couples choose to not be married – even when having children and starting a family. This makes no sense- I don’t care where you’re from.
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■■■ Question: – Does “the hand that rocks the cradle” bear a measure of responsibility for the outcome?
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■■■ Parenting Advice from Esther Wojcicki – Author of How to raise successful people : simple lessons for radical results, London : Hutchinson, 2019. “Here’s a wake-up call for American parents: We are doing too much for our kids… Don’t do anything for your kids that they can do for themselves… That worked out for my daughters. All three grew up to be highly successful: Susan is the CEO of YouTube, Janet is a doctor, and Anne is the co-founder and CEO of 23andMe. They rose to the top of competitive, male-dominated professions.” – Esther Wojcicki
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When you help your children– despite your good intentions– you are doing long-term harm by disempowering them. A mindset of independence, self-reliance, personal responsibility and personal accountability is the most valuable and lasting gift you can give your child. The more you help your child, the more likely that the end result will be an individual who is intellectually weak, remains unfulfilled and perpetually dependent upon others.
May your child grow up to be fiercely independent and always reluctant to accept help from others.
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■■■ Personal Achievement – “There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement. For an achievement does not settle anything permanently. We still have to prove our worth anew each day: we have to prove that we are as good today as we were yesterday. But when we have a valid alibi for not achieving anything we are fixed, so to speak, for life.” -Eric Hoffer, The Passionate State of Mind, p. 181.
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■■■ Personal Wealth – It is human nature to want to improve our present condition, to rarely feel completely satisfied, and to always “want more”. This innate desire is not necessarily evil- it has driven the progress and improvement of civilizations for centuries. For most individuals it seems that there is never enough; people seldom actually feel wealthy. Many criteria and various statistics have been postulated to identify and categorize whether or not an individual qualifies as being “rich”. Probably the most accurate way to determine your own level of wealth or “richness” is to ask this question:
Do you work for your money, or does your money work for you?
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■■■Free Will and the Power of Choice – The power of choice may be one of the least appreciated and yet it remains one of the most powerful forces in existence. Throughout earth’s history, choices made by a single individual have influenced the trajectory and the destiny of entire civilizations. Realizing that there are exceptions, the present condition in which one finds himself today is primarily the cumulative result of his own personal and individual choices/decisions made in the past. Understand this: The life you are living today is the one which you have chosen for yourself through a lifetime of choices.
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■■■ “Diligence is the mother of good fortune…” -Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote
Luck and good fortune usually smile more broadly on individuals who apply themselves than on those who do not. Taking the easier road through life yields a much lower ROI.
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“I Told You So” Drawing in pencil by Ted Bair used with permission
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■■■Sexual Gender and Power of Choice – As powerful as it is, the power of choice does have a few limitations; there are certain things which you simply do not have the ability to choose- two of which are: 1. Your biological parents 2. Your sexual gender
Sexual gender is a biological designation- not a psychological one. Sexual gender is not determined by how an individual “feels” or by what an individual “wants to be”. Sexual gender is a biological distinction determined solely by empirical physical and verifiable scientific evidence.
“Emotions neither prove nor disprove facts. There was a time when any rational adult understood this. But years of dumbed-down education and emphasis on how people ‘feel’ have left too many people unable to see through this…” ~ Thomas Sowell
FACT: The scientific sex determination method uses chromosomal DNA to classify sex in mammals. In this system, unless one suffers from a chromosomal disorder, the sex of an individual can be determined by examining the pairing of the X and Y sex chromosomes: XY chromosome pairing = male YY chromosome pairing = female
Question: If I believe that I can choose my own sexual gender, which of the following is correct: a) I should flunk a basic biology course b) I should seek help from a mental health professional c) both (a) and (b) are correct
TRUTH: Gender identification is NOT a personal choice. Period.
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♀♂◄▲???▼►♂♀
Something bothers me. Well, a lot of things do, actually, this is just one of them. This is me some years ago:
I have aged. I have changed. Will the Liberal Left support and defend me if today I choose to self-identify as a black lesbian? Why or why not?
Is the answer based upon truth, science and reality? Should it be? A response to this question has far-reaching implications.
♀♂◄▲???▼►♂♀
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-Booker T. Washington
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According to empirical observation I am about 5′ 6″ tall. But what if I really wish that my body were 6′ 3″ tall? How about I just identify as being 6′ 3″ tall. Shouldn’t I be able to get the DMV to indicate my height=6′ 3″ on my driver license? Oh, and while I am busy imagining my own reality, perhaps I can get them to identify my weight as the weight I really wish my body to be rather than the number of pounds that the scales actually indicate.
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Astonishing: In January 2023, St. Philip’s Community College in San Antonio, Texas, fired one of its biology professors, Dr. Johnson Varkey, for teaching his students that sex was determined by X and Y chromosomes.
When teaching the human reproductive system, Dr. Varkey stated that human sex is determined by chromosomes X and Y, and that reproduction must occur between a male and a female to continue the human species. In the course of teaching Human Anatomy and Physiology, Dr. Varkey has made these science-based statements in every class for more than 20 years, without incident or complaint.
But, on November 28, 2022, four of Varkey’s students walked out of his class when he stated that sex was determined by X and Y chromosomes, just as he had dozens of times before. The disgruntled students complained to college administration which resulted in Dr. Varkey’s dismissal.
Dr. Varkey had been teaching science-based Human Anatomy and Physiology at St. Philip’s College for 22 years. St. Philips fired Dr. Varkey for teaching basic, fact-based and widely accepted biological science. Now that an increasing number of cultural elites are at odds with the truthfulness of these ideas, the school no longer supports professors who teach them.
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Male is Male (XY) Female is Female (YY)
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■■■Transgenderism – According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, transgenderism refers to the broad spectrum of people who transiently or persistently identify with a gender different from their natal sex.
It is now ok for a man to hit a woman. (click on video above for details)
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■■■Common Sense Obituary – (modified from) the NY Times…
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Why the early bird gets the worm;
I am my own responsibility;
Hard work and diligence now will pay dividends later in life;
Life isn’t always fair;
Maybe it was my fault;
I am responsible for my own actions and their outcomes.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound, and time-proven financial policies such as don’t spend more than you earn.
Common Sense believed that parents are in charge and that children should show honor and respect not only to them, but also to all authority figures- and be severely punished for not doing so.
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student; a burglar’s ability to successfully sue a homeowner who was protecting himself and his property from the burglar, and society’s unwillingness to admit that male and female sexes are distinctly different- only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer an aspirin to a student- but are not allowed to inform the parents when a student becomes pregnant and is seeking abortion.
Common Sense grew gravely ill after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap and was promptly awarded a huge financial settlement. The rest of us pay for her ignorance (and the ignorance of others like her) by paying higher prices across the board.
Finally, Common Sense entirely lost the will to live as he observed criminals routinely receiving better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense was preceded in death:
by his parents, Truth and Trust,
by his wife, Discretion,
by his brother, Integrity,
by his daughter, Reason,
by his son, Responsibility.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers:
I’m-a-Victim
I-Know-My-Rights
Someone-Else-is-to-Blame
Pay-Me-for-Doing-Nothing
Not many attended his memorial service as so few even realized he was gone.
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■■■Human Beings – Human Beings themselves are an invasive species, and like parasites are spreading, polluting and devastating this planet. Humans have a confirmed history of destroying anything that lies in their path. Sadly, there are too many humans on earth- more than 8 billion of them; all of nature groans under the weight of this burden. Biodiversity suffers. Continued global human population growth is not wise and will not end well. Approximate world population right now:
More than 1,000 humans die every hour from starvation and hunger-related causes. According the the United Nations, “Hunger and under-nutrition are the greatest threats to public health, killing more people than HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Each day, 25,000 people, including more than 10,000 children, die from hunger and related causes. Some 854 million people worldwide are estimated to be undernourished, and high food prices may drive another 100 million into poverty and hunger.” Click here for UN Chronicle article: “Losing 25,000 to Hunger Every Day”.
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■■■Pro-Choice – I am pro-choice, very pro-choice: I believe that a female should be able to choose whether or not she is willing to become pregnant and have a baby. It’s all about her own choice and her own decision. BUT, the time for her to make that decision and that choice is BEFORE she chooses to engage in unprotected sex. Once she has become pregnant, that is the decision and the choice which she has already made.
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■■■Taxes – Occasionally, certain groups are targeted and publicly accused by politicians of not “paying their fair share” of income taxes. Let me explain to you the actual truth (it’s simple math): The 61.1% of households who did not pay any income tax in 2020 are in fact the ones who are not “paying their fair share”.
“Using adjusted Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data to include households that do not file tax returns and fewer filing households paying income tax, we arrive at a preliminary estimate of 61.1 percent of households not paying income tax in 2020…” – source: taxfoundation.org
In addition to funding a number social programs like Medicare and Medicaid, Federal Income Tax secures freedom for every American- it pays for our national defense- the U.S. military (Army/Navy/Air Force/Marines etc.) as well as funding numerous other national security programs and expenditures. Everyone benefits. Everyone should pay. Simple Truth. Simple Logic. If everyone would pay a little, no one would have to pay a lot.
