Posted originally on the CTH on December 24, 2022 | Sundance
If you visit a local library, you may discover there was a time when the focus of electricity companies was to generate and provide the most dependable, efficient, lowest cost and critical power to customers who need electricity to live. Alas, those were in the olden days, when service providers were generally focused on improving the quality of life of their customers.
In the modern era, the horrible carbon emitters, aka customers, have become the parasite to manage. People are now a problematic encumbrance blocking the high-minded climate and financial aspirations of the energy corporations.
Heating, cooling and comfort? Get a grip Boomers and GenXer’s, those insufferably selfish indulgences were the priorities of yesteryear.
Yes Alice, as we try to peer through the looking glass, we discover it’s a mirror now. The reflection is the opposite of normal, the reflection is the world of pretending. Say hello to the modern Christmastime when you pray for coal in your stocking.
From Pennsylvania and New Jersey, westward to Illinois and Ohio and all the way south into South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and beyond, power companies are turning off the electricity to preserve and equally distribute the minimal amount of energy they are able to generate.
This my friends, is the “equitable distribution of misery.” How weird does it feel to see that generational prediction turning into reality?
TENNESSEE – […] The TVA began instructing local power companies to reduce power usage on Friday night, and some have instituted rolling blackouts in some cities such as Nashville, Tennessee. Some local power companies have also started using rolling blackouts after the TVA asked them to reduce power usage.
PJM Interconnection, based in Pennsylvania, also asked companies within its system to conserve energy. The company asked residents to turn off non-essential lights, set their thermostats lower than usual, and not use major appliances like dishwashers and laundry machines, the AP reported.
PJM covers areas in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C, according to the AP. (read more)
QUESTION: I see how you were surprised by your dog in discovering how she studies your patterns and predicts where you are going. My dog does the same. I didn’t pay attention to those traits until you wrote about them. The very trait of how to think is fascinating. Have you incorporated that into Socrates?
LC
ANSWER: Yes. I had a friend who was a psychologist and he explained to me many years ago that there were two fundamental types of thinking in humans – linear v dynamic. There is a good book written by Richard E. Nisbett entitled “The Geography of Thought, How Asians and Westerners Think Differently … and Why.” He attributed his work to a Chinese student who said: “You know, the difference between you and me is that I think the world is a circle, and you think it’s a line.” He goes on to quote him:
The Chinese believe in constant change, but with things always moving back to some prior state. They pay attention to a wide range of events; they search for relationships between things; and they think you can’t understand the part without understanding the whole. Westerners live in a simpler, more deterministic world; they focus on salient objects or people instead of the larger picture; and they think they can control events because they know the rules that govern the behavior of objects.
I can say I never had to explain cycle theory in Asia to anyone. In the West, we were taught to think linearly. What stunned me about my dog was noticing that she thought dynamically. I had no idea any animal possess such a thinking process. There are dogs who even has done simple math. Understanding how the thinking process works was absolutely essential to be able to create any AI program that was functional. Of yes, there were those trying to create a neural net, dump all the data in, shake it up, and somehow it would unexplainable to come forth with the answer. IBM tried that and it failed.
There was just a lot more to how we thought that necessitated investigation. Anyone who thinks they cannot learn by observing even how a dog thinks is so biased that they will never discover anything.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on November 23, 2022 | Menagerie
Because less than great just doesn’t cut it for Thanksgiving! In our family, Thanksgiving is the biggest holiday of all. We go to the same brother’s house every year, almost an hour’s drive out to the country. My husband comes from a family of eight siblings, and most of them have grandkids now, one even has a great grandchild.
As many of us as possible gather together since we will all be with our immediate families on Christmas. Usually, one or two people at least snag a friend who has no one nearby to celebrate with. Until a few years ago, there were four generations of us gathered to give thanks, but my husband’s paternal aunt died a few years ago. She was the last of his father’s siblings, although we often have a beloved aunt by marriage who still comes with her son and granddaughter.
There are often close to 20 kids, so my sister-in-law came up with the idea of a bouncy house years ago. It is the greatest idea in the world for a little peace and tranquility in the house as we gather and get ready.
Best of all, we never even discuss the menu. We’ve been doing it so long that it isn’t necessary. Certain people bring certain things, and yeah, you can maybe not bring green beans but have a new Brussels sprouts dish, but if you are depended upon for sweet potato casserole (that would be one of my responsibilities) or the turkeys, hams, or banana pudding, you’d best not disappoint.
No day of the year is as fun, and full of great food and family as this one. Every year we see people we haven’t seen since the last Thanksgiving meal. And every year we do give thanks for many things, most especially a huge, noisy, boisterous and growing family, who by God’s grace are still able to gather round all the tables and share our lives.
I hope you’ll share the best of the best of your own family traditions and recipes. I say this almost every year, I know. I so enjoy getting all the different recipes that are popular in different parts of our huge country. Here in the remnants of the Old South, tradition reigns at most tables on holidays, and we are slow to turn loose of Grandmother’s rolls and Mother’s dressing. But sometimes a few new excellent dishes turn out to be the hit of the day.
Here’s my casserole, but you have to wing it. I long ago lost the actual recipe. You’ll find similar ones online, but if you get one that tells you to add flour to the topping, just don’t. It ruins it.
Not my actual photo!
Boil 8-10 medium sweet potatoes until just tender. Mash with a cup of sugar, a few spoons of vanilla, half a stick of butter, a tablespoon or so of salt, three eggs, and whole milk or cream, just enough to get a thick consistency on the mixture, just like you’d want your mashed potatoes to be.
For the topping mix a about 3/4 stick of chopped butter, four cups of chopped pecans, and 1.5 to 2 cups of brown sugar until well mixed and crumbly. This is never a fixed ingredient deal. You have to eyeball how large your casserole is, and also how much of the topping you like. We pile it on. If you’re unsure, start with about half of these amounts and add until quantity and consistency work, then add the topping and cook at 400 degrees until browned.
In 2021, the average American family paid at least 14% more for Thanksgiving festivities. In 2022, celebratory costs are estimated to rise by 20%. The US Farm Bureau noted that the average American family paid $46.90 in 2020 for Thanksgiving, which rose to $53.31 in 2021 before soaring to $64.05 in 2022. This is a drastic underrepresentation of costs, as absolutely no one I know can afford to create a Thanksgiving meal for a family with such a small amount of money.
The survey was based on a shopping list of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and coffee and milk. If the survey were to include ham, frozen green beans, and Russet potatoes, the cost would rise to $81.30.
Turkey costs alone rose 21% from last year at an additional cost of $1.81 per pound. Every food item costs significantly more down to a gallon of whole milk that now costs 16% more compared to last year. Stuffing mix rose 69% this year at around $3.88. Pumpkin pie canned mix is up 18%, pie crusts rose 26%, and whipped cream is up 26%. Sweet potatoes (11%), veggie trays (8%), and misc. ingredients (20%) all cost notably more. Those on the West coast will pay the most ($71.37), followed by the Midwest ($64.26, Northeast ($64.02), and South ($58.42).
This is simply the cost of the bare essentials to prepare a meal. Most will spend more traveling to their destination due to energy costs. Alcoholic beverages will drastically add to the budget, as will any specialty foods. Then American consumers will be bombarded with Black Friday deals the following day, and don’t forget Cyber Monday! Friday also happens to be Native American Heritage Day, and perhaps we will have a day to honor the fallen US as we know it today.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on November 18, 2022 | Sundance
It might, heck, -check that- it does seem overwhelming at times. But that is the nature of this collectivist strategy. That is the purpose of this bombardment. We must hold strong and push back against the lies and manipulations. If you look closely at the attack, it is weak and much of it is psychological bait. Do not fall into the trap of despair.
When I share the message “live your best life”, it is not without purpose. Every moment that we allow the onslaught to deter us from living our dreams, is a moment those who oppose our nation view as us taking a knee. Do not allow this effort to succeed. You might ask yourself how I can, one person, a flea looking into a furnace, retain an optimistic disposition while all around me seems chaotic and mad.
Simple answer, it’s your choice. Two wolves fight – one filled with despondency, isolation, despair and dark imaginings; the other filled with faith, something bigger, unrelenting hope, focus and driven to remain connected. Which wolf will win? The one you feed.
Shake it off. “Get up, get back on your feet, you are the one they can’t beat, and you know it.” WATCH:
The point? It ‘seems’ chaotic and mad because it has been created to appear that way. There are more of us than them; they just control the systems that allow us to connect, share messages and recognize the scale of our assembly.
And here we are… divided by a network of seemingly intoxicating systems; many purposefully driven by the modern dynamic of social media, steering a tribal outcome we are only now just beginning to fathom.
Ultimately the collective weight of progressive leftism is putting us is isolation. There are many historic references to this disconcerting sentiment to review with hindsight. However, ultimately the feeling of isolation first begins with a rejection of God. Defeat it by embracing Him.
In/around July 2020 it was obvious in my travels we were on the precipice of a disconnect from human interaction that would numb our psyche to what ultimately matters, fellowship.
Not only are various governmental agencies forcing the separation of people from their community networks, we were also seeing faith-based organizations, churches, buying into the fear.
Even in areas where churches were not forcibly shut down, we saw a structural shift where some faith leaders were willingly ostracizing their community under the guise of various medical, social and cultural alarms.
This is not good…. not good at all.
Fellowship is the essential ingredient to a purposeful life. How and why we interact with each-other is how and why we recharge our core humanity.
To see faith leaders willing to separate from the function of fellowship was alarming. However, as individuals we must not allow this foreboding sense to become the normal expectation.
Our nation needs more people like you, right now. Don’t wait… engage life, get optimistic however you need to do it. Then let that part of you shine right now… This is how we fight. Hold up that flag; give the starter smile… rally to the standard you create and spread fellowship again.
Throughout history large armies have been defeated through the process of division. It is not a leap to see the same strategic objectives being deployed against social assemblies including congregations. It is puzzling how many in leadership cannot see the danger in social and spiritual distance when the bond of fellowship is needed more than ever.
Each of us has a different connection to our community. Each of us has a different level of internal strength… such is the nature of living. However, the distance between people is manifestly not a good outcome when combined with the lack of food for the soul.
The influence of social media is already troublesome, physically distancing from human engagement only worsens the impact. There is no digital replacement for the true fellowship of humanity on a personal level.
Ultimately it is the currency of human connection that is the true value in our lives.
We have each felt how our positive influence upon the lives of others nourishes our own sense of purpose and fulfillment… Do not lose that. Do not think you can compensate for that through other arbitrary measures; you cannot.
With local, state and federal leaders moving increasingly toward self-interest; with disconnected workplaces creating social distance; with faith-based leaders unfocused on the value of fellowship; and now government entering your home to tell you the importance of separating yourself from your family we must dispatch these arbitrary decrees very deliberately.
Perhaps we are in this position today because we didn’t sit still enough and contemplate the real priorities in our lives. Fellowship is the essential ingredient to a purposeful life.
I will not divide my humanity, nor concede my core view of fellowship, simply to comply with the demand of another that I consider my brother or sister of greater or less value than myself. Any system that seeks to steer my path will not benefit from my participation. I choose freedom!
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on November 17, 2022 | Sundance
Incoming House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.), along with lawmakers from the legislative committee, held a press conference today declaring an investigation shall commence into the Biden family’s influence peddling, the Hunter Biden laptop, and the Biden scheme to enrich themselves. WATCH:
Genuine investigations do not need to be announced. Take office, start working. This announcement is not needed, unless the announcement itself serves a purpose. That purpose is what we have previously called “chaff and countermeasures.”
Understanding the DC game of Chaff and Countermeasures…. A “Countermeasure” is a measure or action taken to counter or offset a preceding one.
Politically speaking, the deployment of countermeasures is a well-used tactic by professional politicians in Washington DC to counter incoming public inquiry and protect themselves from anger expressed by the electorate. The republican leadership are very skilled in the management of “chaff” (outrage), and “countermeasures” (the distraction).
Weaponized government serves its own interests. The countermeasures are DC politicians assigned a role to control the incoming righteous inquiry from voters who find out about the weaponized or corrupt governmental action. In the republican wing of the UniParty, it looks like this:
There seems to be a willful blindness on the part of the American people, a chosen refusal to acknowledge the implications of the unAmerican and unConstititional behaviors, actions and outcomes we are being served on a daily basis.
It can no longer be presumed to be a matter of “I can’t see what’s happening” because a whole lot of normal Americans really are clean and articulate.
“I can’t see it” just doesn’t cut it.
NONSENSE! Most people can see it. Most are just choosing to reconcile the irreconcilable because it is more comforting to ignore the truth of it. Just be honest, for many people avoidance has become a survival mechanism.
It’s more along the lines of “I see what’s happening, but it’s scary and complicated and confusing, and if I admit that I see it, I will become responsible in a way that I am not if I keep pretending I can’t see it or hear it or maybe I don’t understand it.”
Lucy has unlimited footballs.
Admit, or keep pretending.
The choices are ours.
Personally, I will not pretend.
If we all stop pretending, eventually the DC house of cards collapses. We collapse it one wing at a time.
Veterans Day is on opportunity for all to reflect on & appreciate the founding principles of this country, the freedoms we hold dear, & the servicemen & women who for generations have served & sacrificed to protect those freedoms. Honor those who serve by honoring WHY we serve.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
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