A young man is walking the beach in San Diego wondering what he should say to his girlfriend. As he walks he is gazing at the Pacific Ocean and thinking about how beautiful Hawaii must be. His girlfriend would love to go there. Since he is not paying much attention to where he is stepping, … Continue reading Secrets to a happy relationship
A Return to the Founder’s House of Representatives
Congress is a mess and we all know it. Much of the blame for the vast bureaucratic “swamp” in Washington falls on Congress. What no one agrees on is whether Congress can be fixed. If an attempt was made to fix it, how could it be done? Our Founders designed Congress and tampering with what … Continue reading A Return to the Founder’s House of Representatives
Person of the Year
Year in, year out, who is the person of the year? By definition, the person of the year, every year, is the person we number our years by, Jesus of Nazareth. Every time we write or say the year, we acknowledge and honor Him. He is bigger than the years we count since He alone … Continue reading Person of the Year
The Issue of our Period in History
Future historians will look back on the early 2000s and call it a very dark period in history because of one issue that is even more repugnant and evil than slavery. The issue that will define these times is not the virus, Trump, the media, the climate, immigration, the wall, the Constitution, or China. People … Continue reading The Issue of our Period in History
Johannes Saam, Immigrant and Union Soldier
Nearly 200 years ago, on 9 May 1822, Johann Saam was born in Hesse-Cassel (Germany) in the Saam family home. The Saam family had lived in that home for over 300 years (1). Sometime between 1847 and 1857 Johann’s brother Bernard went to the US and settled in Eagle River, Michigan (1). We do not … Continue reading Johannes Saam, Immigrant and Union Soldier
Antarctica Packing
This is a trip few people have the opportunity to take so the audience for this information is small. Still, we learned a few things that may be of some use or interest. Our Silversea expedition cruise to the Falklands, South Georgia, and Antarctica was from 3 to 21 February 2020 which is pretty much … Continue reading Antarctica Packing
Time to Toss AMENDMENT XVII into History’s Dumpster
The 17th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution changed the way Senators are selected. Originally Senators were appointed by the States. Now Senators are elected by the people of the State. The original idea was that Senators would be there to represent their States thus bringing a different perspective to legislation and appointments than the … Continue reading Time to Toss AMENDMENT XVII into History’s Dumpster
One Bag Packing
My wife and I each used an eBags TLS Mother Lode Weekender Convertible backpack (https://www.ebags.com/product/ebags/mother-lode-tls-weekender-convertible/143101?productid=10362789 ) on our recent 3 week trip to Europe. Our trip included traveling around Italy by train for 10 days followed by a cruise from Venice to Athens, a total of 20 nights. We took everything for the trip in … Continue reading One Bag Packing
Thoughts After Seeing “The Hiding Place”
Recently we attended a performance of “The Hiding Place”, a play about a Dutch family who hides Jews escaping from the Nazis. As we left the play, my wife said, “Sobering”. That was more than I could say at the time, very sobering indeed. In general, I do not like movies or plays about the … Continue reading Thoughts After Seeing “The Hiding Place”
Misconceptions about the United States of America
The United States of America is a democracy. No, it is not. While the country does use democratic methods to elect many government officials, the United States is a Constitutional Republic. The founders of the country looked back through history and saw that a pure democracy always resulted in tyranny. The country’s Constitution was carefully … Continue reading Misconceptions about the United States of America
Observations 