Manns Medium

THE DYNAMICS OF ACTIONS

2024-12-25T13:07:00.003-06:00

For anything to operate, there needs to be a process. This process can consist of many different things but there are a few common denominators that will exist in all of them. This requirement covers all actions, and the only variance is the degree in which each occurs.

All behaviors are comprised of three other components which will always be present. First it is the event which spurs a thought, and this thought spurs a feeling which leads to our actions/behaviors, even personalities.

Let us take for example, as a child you were playing in your front yard when a big mean dog charged toward you. Once noticing the charging animal (which is the event), there quickly appeared a thought as to the intending of the dog, then based upon that thought, you experienced a feeling (often fear). Based upon that fear, you either took flight or was frozen in place which is the behavior. What takes place now is recorded by the mix-match negative which is the only cognitive part of the amygdala and at that point may now shape your behavior when you encounter a big dog and a personality of not liking big dogs’ period.

Let us take this example a little bit further and imagine that when that big dog was upon you, someone stepped in and saved you from that dog. From that point on you may look upon that person as a loyal protector for all things which could bring you harm and feel so much obligated to that person, you may now develop a strong belief or dependency upon that person. This now dependent personality lasts if you do not experience betrayal by the person or come to believe that this relationship may now be unhealthy.

This dynamic, leads me to surmise that when it comes to crime or aggressive actions, all are premeditated except for those few times when crimes are more spontaneous but even those crimes of opportunity will have a small degree of the three previously discussed.

I come by this conclusion after studying the body language, postures, eye movement and respirations of other people in many different circumstances. If close attention is paid, one will see the process playing out within the above-mentioned indicators before any action is performed. The staring at another is the beginning after an event has taken place and following closely behind is often a slight head tilt, shifting of postures, exploring avenues with the eyes and the speeding up of a person’s breathing.

Spontaneous actions do not undergo this entire process, it is an event (car running in the driveway with the doors unlocked), then think of how quickly you can jump in that car and get away because you are tired of walking, then the actual action of doing it.

This process plays out every time and whether it is successful on the first try or not, may be repeated provided the consequences of that actions did not cause the perpetrator of that action any major hurt, harm, or inconvenience.

After this point, we now consider whether we should attempt that action again but this time we process past events and try to incorporate ways to not get discovered as fast as we did the first time. The real proof is what is said by the perpetrator when caught or being held to account for their actions as to whether the remorse they display is truly genuine about their actions or simply the reaction to being caught?

THE BASIS OF BEHAVIOR

2024-10-21T14:28:00.002-05:00

To better understand our behavior, we must first begin where it all started. In the preliminary stages of conception, there is the oldest part of the brain called the amygdala. Within this amygdala is one cognitive component called the Mix Match Negative or MMN. The MMN informs the fetus body when it is time to form the parts of the body, but it also has another function which is to begin to record everything that occurs from that moment on including our reactions to them. This dynamic gets more become increasingly important as we age, develop, and grow. In the initial stages of development, it becomes our “go-to” safe harbor when anything happens that is close to or identical to what may have already happened.

The study of cognitive behavioral therapy teaches us that thoughts influence feelings and feelings influence behavior but what does not explain is where the origin of those thoughts. Now it is unquestioned that for any thought to occur, it must be sparked by some type of action because everything originates from somewhere. This is where I say that the missing piece to better understanding human behavior is experience. Remember the initials E.T.F.B. The E stands for experience, the T stands for thoughts, the F stands for feelings, and the B stands for behavior. It should also be mentioned that once an experience has happened, the results and reactions are often recorded and pass to our subconscious.

The first time something happens, we react and once that event has passed, those recordings are processed and stored in our subconscious for referral back to if something similar or exact happens. These experiences can be real or witnessed and shall imprint on our memory to last for the rest of our lives. We will never forget them, and we cannot ever erase them, the closest we can come is to find the coping skills to manage them and prevent them from becoming so inflexible that they now control our behavior instead of us.

Consider you are playing in your front yard when a noticeably big dog charges, this is traumatic for you and even though you are not hurt or injured, it makes you fear dogs, especially big dogs. As you grow and mature, if you have not been able to address this when it comes to big dogs your experience (whether real or witnessed) creates a though of danger. This thought of danger creates a feeling of fear (paralyzing or not), so this leads you to behave in a way that never takes a dog for a pet or feels quite uncomfortable around them.

This application is applicable to every situation that we have witnessed or experienced combined with the reaction we first exercised and stays as our “go-to” reactions and only stay dominant when we do not make any efforts to change or modify it.

These original experiences are not of our creation and so we must resign ourselves to never being able to take full responsibility for the behavior it sparks until we have sought the education to learn what steps are necessary to make those changes or modifications. The choice of whether we wish to make these changes are the only choices and decisions we need to make. If we are advised even one time that these behaviors need to change, and we feel that this advice is correct, but we still choose not to make that journey then the ultimate result of the refusal is ours alone to bear.

Dr. Ronnie Manns began his journey in the fields of psychology/sociology in 1978 and honed these skills while serving ten plus (10+) years in the United States Marines from 1980 until 1991. He chose to rekindle this love of psychology by refamiliarizing himself with this subject in his pursuit for his Associate Degree in Business Management in 1992. Not satisfied, Dr. Manns continued his professional development by finishing with a Diploma with Distinction in Neuropsychology from the Centre of Excellence in the United Kingdom and an Advanced Diploma in Neuropsychology from Allison University in Australia. Dr. Manns was also able to secure a Fellowship with the American Institute of HealthCare Professionals and become a Registered Fellow with the Complimentary Medical Association. He can be reached at atofcounseling@gmail.com.

Hey Marines, What Has Happened to Semper Fidelis?

2024-07-28T13:09:00.002-05:00

My wife saw this article and decided to share it with me because she knows just how the actions of many claiming the title of U.S. Marine has been making some erroneously bad choices and doing untold damage to the universally wide image to the title MARINE.

The title was “Three men — including ex-Marines — sentenced for involvement in plot to destroy power grid” written by MAKIYA SEMINERA for the Associated Press on July 26, 2024, it reported that “three men have been sentenced in federal court for their involvement in a plan to strike a power grid in the northwestern United States. Three men with connections to white supremacist groups were sentenced Thursday in federal court after plotting to destroy a power grid in the northwestern United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Paul James Kryscuk, 38; Liam Collins, 25; and Justin Wade Hermanson, 25, were all sentenced for their yearslong involvement in a scheme to strike the power grid as part of a larger, violent extremist plot, according to a Justice Department news release. Two of the men, Collins and Hermanson, were members of the same U.S. Marine unit at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, during the planning, a federal indictment shows”.

The article went on to say that “In 2016, Collins was a frequent poster to a neo-Nazi internet forum and sought recruitment for a paramilitary group he referred to as “a modern-day SS,” prosecutors said. He explained on the forum that he joined the Marines “for the cause” and would funnel most of his earnings toward funding the proposed group, the indictment shows”. Now pay close attention to the reason Collins explaining why he joined the Marines, ““for the cause.” Now don’t get it twisted, the cause was not to earn the title but to find a way to get the training and use it for no other reason than to make is “modern day SS” group more capable.

So here’s what makes me see red. I was sixteen years old when I saw my first Marine commercial on the television and saw my brother off as he joined the U.S. Army. Being a Black child with very few options living in a small southern town in Tennessee, I wanted to know what I could do to have influence in my life and the lives of others. After much contemplation, I decided to follow my brother’s lead, but I made the choice of joining the Marines in September of 1980. It was not the dress blues that drew me in, it was the slogan at that time. It said “The Few, The Proud, The Marines” which said to me that many may try to earn that title, but few ever do, and I wanted to see if I could be part of the few who did. Needless to say, I did succeed and spent many great years embracing what I truly meant to be a Marine until my honorable discharge in April 1991.

This was not the reason that Collins joined, and I suspect it was not the reason Hermanson did either, so what has happened to this United States Marine Corps that I matured and became a real man in? First, leaders have turned from history of the best fighting force ever assembled since Tun Tavern establishment and laxed all standard that was vital to the mystic and status of what being a Marine was all about. Recruiters are chasing enlistment numbers for personal promotions instead of carefully shifting through those who express a willingness to sign for those who are serious about placing the needs of their country above themselves and those signing up have forgotten the one major requirement necessary to not only earn the title Marine but elevate it.

Your see, when your join the United States Marines and earn that title, your are no longer a member of your “homeboys,” Republican, or Democrat. You no longer belong to your PTA, Boys Club, or Neo-Nazi group. You have given all that and so much more up to become part of a group that only one-percent of Americans can belong to. A group that stands head and shoulders above any other group known to man. No other cause is greater than that and no other American is qualified to carry that banner except you. When you earn that title your are now part of a group that is dedicated to the protection of the nation’s first period, point blank and nothing more.

A Tree shall be Known by the Fruit that it Bears

2024-07-13T16:33:00.006-05:00

I find it quite humorous when I hear people claiming to be one thing or another. Claiming to be a republican, a Democrat, or an Independent but the thing that seriously bothers me when people claim the title of Christian and yet act like a total hypocrite.

Hypocrisy is defined as “the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense” and if we are to be honest with ourselves and those around us, not one person can ever claim to not have claimed to be one thing while their actions depict something else. I don’t think that any one mortal can ever claim that they have not fallen into this trip at least one time or another in their lives. Because we are human, and accidents happen, it is okay to admit that we have faults and work to fix them instead of covering them up but of course many of us will go to our earthly graves pretending that this has not or currently happened to them. Hence the title of this article.

Here is how we got here. After the devil got his butt handed to him when he tried to take over heaven, God not only evicted him from heaven forever but added insult to injury by making him form the worlds for his newest creations. Noe the devil, refusing to be outdone, decided to add a few landmines in the utopia that God was making him create for a species that he felt was far inferior to he was. One of these landmines was exposed in the Book of Timothy when he wrote that “money was not the root of evil, it was the love of money that is the root of all evil”.

This landmine continues to explode in our faces and take down many a soul condemning them to al life of servitude to a false master, a false God, the devil. It began when the religious leaders of the early Old Testament times sought golden idols and robes to prove that they were of better stock and smarter than all the rest. To evidence that they and they alone had the wisdom and intelligence to lead this world and that after the laws of God, their voices was the law. God may have endowed man with the authority and domain over the planet, but he never gave anyone, except himself, over the human species and any inference to the contrary is a clear act of hypocrisy. Money does not and never will make anyone a monarch, it only makes those filled with hypocrisy a moron.

So, as you go through life and see those such as the Heritage Foundation claiming to be Christian, but their behavior says something else, then the only real title that can be associated with them is hypocrite. It is the only label ever muttered by Jesus to describe that tree based on the fruits that it bears. Politicians who claim that it’s the money in politics that is damaging politics yet chase big money donors for their campaigns-hypocrites. Individuals who claim the title Christian but does not believe with all their heart, mind, body, and soul that God is Lord and treat others as they wish to be treated, hypocrites. Judges who claim the title of justice and fairness but are swayed by cold-hard cash-hypocrites. CEOs who claim to be all about their workforce but seek ways to manipulate the rules to increase their bottom line-hypocrites. People who claim to be for freedom but seek any reason to restrict the freedoms of others, hypocrites. If you wish your tree to be tried and true then seek to bear that fruit and when your time is over, on this earth, you will not have to worry about being denied your place in heaven.

A TREE SHALL BE KNOWN BY THE FRUIT THAT IT BEARS AND NEVER BY THE LIES USED TO CLOTHE IT IN RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Survival of the Fittest; Dispelling the Myth

2024-06-21T11:56:00.002-05:00

We all have heard this term batted around like it was something to behold and a true compass by which to live and thrive. Some have even used it as an excuse to justify their dominance and their oppression of others, but let’s be real and ask ourselves this question.

Could those who claim to have mastered this “natural selection” thing should be always seen as the ruling class and thereby granted all of the privileges that comes with the title?

I ask you to consider this question because if your agree with it, then my only argument is, would the current class of privileged individuals retain that title if they had to endure the true trails of those that they wish to reign supreme over and/or suppress. Consider the following.

Survival of the fittest is “also known as “natural selection,” a simple statement of the fact that in dangerous circumstances, only those individuals most adapted to their environment survive—and the world, with its limited food supply, fearsome predators, and devastating diseases is always a dangerous place.” (The Law of Evolution: Darwin, Wallace, and the Survival of the Fittest, National Institutes of Health (NIH) (.gov), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › books). However not even that is actual fact because “The phrase 'survival of the fittest' is often incorrectly attributed to Darwin. In fact, it was coined by the philosopher Herbert Spencer in response to reading Origin of Species five years after the first edition was published.” (Survival of the fittest | Darwin Correspondence Project, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk › commentary › survival of the fittest).

Now before you get your underwear in a bunch, I presented the above to only get you to understand that often what we hear and take for gospel was never gospel at all but an excuse to try and appear justified in their belief that one group of people should be endowed with the power and privilege to rule over all others but I can’t help but wonder if these omni humans would be the fittest if they had to endure just a few of the things that those they attempt to rule over has.

Would they be able to tame a land and it’s multiple species inhabitants with crude man-made weapons like those manufactured by the cave man. Be careful now, you may be willing to try and claim the ancestry of the cave man but before your affix your tag, think on this. During the cave man time, there were very little forest or trees to protect them from the cancer-causing ultraviolet rays of the sun, so, as science teaches us, the human skin darkens to provide that protection in areas where trees are scarce. Still wish to claim that the cave man was your ancestor because since the color of people’s skin is all your use to judge their abilities and worthiness, the cave man skin would have been much darker than the ruling class.

How about if the current ruling class lived in a place where all the creatures of that place lived in harmony and those future subjects of the ruling class had been able to travel to any place and reside in any area before this ruling class predecessors appeared and stole every inch of that area not to mention attempts at taking their dignity as well. Now we can’t leave this question without addressing how those Native to this land also had all the inventions created and improved were ripped off as well.

And let’s not forget, the weaker sex. The ones who brought every single member of this ruling class life and raised your to see them as inferior, not worthy of thinking for themselves, taking care of themselves, and unable to master any other activity except those activities found in the kitchen.

Personally, I don’t think so. I think that if those who claim to be superior to all others had to endure just half of what those spoken about in this article had to, they would have quickly thrown up their hands and ran for the hills.

A Truer Sense of who you Really Are

2024-05-10T10:24:00.000-05:00

At conception, the first thing that forms are part of the brain, this portion has only one cognitive component which is called the Mix match negative (MMN). This component is tasked with telling the fetus when it is time to form the different parts of the body and recording all events and reactions. This recording captures everything from the way things happened to how you felt about them, this is the start of all your memories and beginning stages of creation of your behavior.

From infancy to the age of eleven (11), the MMN continues to capture your memories and reactions. This is defined by all your experiences and all that you witness. You learn by watching those closest to you and the examples that they set to figure out how you should react or handle those same situations. Your only sense of right or wrong is the justification that if those closest to you are doing it, then it must be okay and right.

From ages twelve (12) to approximately twenty-five (25), you test what you have learned in the early stage. Even though the MMN is still recording, reasonable thought has now been replaced by “impulses”, this is the stage where the brain goes on vacation and all that you are operating on at this stage is “impulse power”. We may correct behavior based upon what we learn at this stage but mostly we are inclined to try other things that we would probably never try, for no other reason than to see if what we are hearing about them is right or wrong. Doing our “impulse stage” is when many of us make those mistakes that we later come to regret.

At the age of twenty-six (26) the brain is back from vacation and completely formed which then allows us to address whatever issues that were created during our “impulse” stage and correct our behavior to match the person we now wish to be or think we wish to be.

The only problem is we are not sure who that is nor what it looks like, so we wander around confused, angry, and in a daze. We were given a good excuse for our behavior because it was what we were taught or what we experienced but now that the brain is fully formed, we know that it is and wasn’t right because our truer self, the soul that dwells within says so.

Traumas allowed us an excuse to be ignorant of correct and decent behavior, but it only provides us with two (2) options. The first is to remain a victim of these traumas or we can choose the second which is to learn the lessons of these traumas and become a survivor. Becoming a survivor means that we have got to now start taking full responsibility for our choices, our actions, our inactions, and yes, our reactions. Continuing to play ignorant is choosing to continue to be a victim.

If you were born, then you would have and will continue to endure trauma. The real question to ask yourself is whether you are content with your behavior or not. If you are not, then follow the example of Superman and ask for help from a professional Super Friend.

America Ideal Opportunity for Advancement Thanks to Donald Trump

2024-05-02T12:14:00.012-05:00

For those who have heard but refuse to believe the saying that “everything happens for a reason”, history provides us with the blueprint to advance and failing to take advantage of this opportunity leaves us unprepared and woefully ignorant of how bad things can get.

Today, we stand with clear knowledge that the real distance between a democracy and an autocracy is a razor’s edge. We know this because the first term as president by Donald Trump, enabled by those around him such as David Pecker who made up stories against his political rivals while finding and killing stories about Trump. A Republican party that did not drop him like a sack of potatoes after the Excess Hollywood tape came out and instead choose to continue to push the narrative that they knew was a lie about him being an honest and decent person. Mitch McConnell who was compensated to finally take out Roe vs Wade by blocking President Obama from appointing Supreme Court Judges as well as a whole host of federal judges so that he could use that incentive to have Trump hire his wife for his cabinet. The Democratic party’s failure to stop those seeking federal and supreme court appointments, knowing that when they got the majority, Roe vs Wade would not survive. They asked for a commitment that Roe vs Wade was the law of the land and were content to pretend that this weak action was enough, thanks for your inability to do your job of defending the freedoms and rights of all Americans. Let us not forget others like Stephen Miller, Jim Comey, Chuck Grassley, Harry Reed, Chuck Schumer, Mike Pence, and so many others. These and others knew the risk of allowing Trump such latitude but found a weak excuse to allow it and now those who played the largest part in pushing this country so close to the edge of autocracy, quickly retires and slink back into the shadows hoping no one will remember how much disdain that they must have had for this country to be so wimpy at a time where bravery was required. So why did this happen, well here’s a clue.

Our democratic institutions were never strong enough to last as long as it has, the idea was for us to pay heed to history and look for those holes in the walls so that we could replace those weak damaged parts with newer more reinforced materials. There is no better time than right now to learn the lessons that history is trying to teach us and do our job to make sure that this world which we will turn over to our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids are more solid a democracy upholding the freedoms of those who are here and those who risk everything to get here.

Time to reform the Supreme Court by having judges chosen by the majority and not a president. To have them spend not a lifetime on that bench but a maximum of twenty (20) years. Turning our Inspector General Offices into a court-mandated reporting agency that must investigate and refer valid violations to congress first for a legislative fix but if congress can’t find one or neglects to perform their job, move it immediately to the Department of Justice. Penalties should be a charge of dereliction of duty, forfeiture of current position, and a minimum of two (2) years in federal prison. Elected Officials should be limited to no more that ten (10) years of service in congress and also held to the mandated reporter statues, facing the same penalty if they choose to take bribes instead of doing their elected jobs. Congress should also be mandated to pass laws, not to prevent people from committing crimes, but to clearly state the penalties for commission of those crimes. This does not prevent people from choosing so we do not have to concern ourselves with violation of anyone’s right, it just clearly spells out what penalty your can expect if your choose to commit crimes. Any law that is created in either Federal or State Chambers that clearly infringe upon the rights of any American, the voters, in the affirmative, for this law to be, should also be held to account.

It is not the right of anyone to convince but it is the responsibility of all to share what they have learned during their existence. No one has the right to demand and attempt to control the choices of another and this sad attempt to do so has blown up in our faces every time those who thought themselves to be in charge tried. History is evident of this, yet we still keep trying to do the same thing the exact same way expecting a different result.

The Importance of Traumas

2024-04-28T13:59:00.005-05:00

There are two avenues of approach on how and why traumas that occur in our lives are not only necessary but very important to the outcome of what many seek. You can accept the spiritual one or the pragmatic one but if you are truly daring, you can accept that both are true because one does not exist alone and needs the other to be complete. Here let me try to explain.

From the stage of infancy to the age of eleven (11), is the time span where parents have to educate their children, instill proper manners and behaviors, and lay out options for their children in as many situations as they can think of so that if that situation happens, our children will react to it without thinking and avoid that Freeze, flight, or fight mode we enter when faced with something that we have never encountered before.

At the age of twelve (12) to twenty-five (25) is our exploration stage and here we are trying out the skills taught by our parents, combined with those from society, and the examples those most influential in our lives set. We watched them closely and mimicked their ways early, so now it’s test time to see what really works and what really doesn’t. This exploration stage will be what we will capture as our beliefs, ideas, and principles. We will find out what skills taught by those before were right or wrong.

This is where traumas come in and is the best test as whether your existing coping skills are adequate for these times or do your need to find new ones. Traumas forces us to deal with those things that we may not wish to deal with and often times are not aware of their existence until it happens. Without options to consider when a trauma happens, we immediately go to the only coping skill we have which is often the freeze, flight, or fight response. Had we been given options or even created our own, we would have operated exactly in that fashion as if it was so natural.

After the trauma, we then begin to search for the “why” and without prior options or any input from a influential person, we struggle. Every single person born will suffer trauma, this fact is unavoidable. So it is strongly suggested that each time your hear about a situation, your ask yourself, what would your do in the same situation and then work out several different ways in your mind. When your fail to do this your now open yourself up to not control your trauma but allow that trauma to control you.

Traumas offer us all only two options. Your can allow it to keep your as a victim or your can become a survivor. A victim is someone who uses the fact that this particular trauma happened to them and curry favor in any way shape or form. They see the world as owning them for putting them through that trauma and soiling their innocence. A victim will dedicate the remainder of his or her days to this hell we call life, trying to make everyone that they come across pay for this crime against them. A victim will ultimately continue repeating these traumas in one way or another and remain mired in the mud with then, never moving forward.

A survivor takes the lesson of this trauma, finds ways to prevent a repeat of it and uses every single piece of it to make better choices and the fuel to continue to move forward. A survivor finds what part that they played in the movie, takes full responsibility for the role that they had, holds others accountable for the parts that they played and carries the burden of the choices that they made and the results from them. A survivor quickly and often shares what they have learned with others who may be about to or are currently going through that same trauma. A survivor teaches not to convince but to share and can respect another person and respect themselves enough to allow those individuals to choose for themselves.

Traumas are life lessons that are placed upon your when you are ignorant of the pain and suffering of others. When your refuse to see that a trauma is a blessing to help your become a much better version of ourselves. Enter the spiritual side. We were all made in the image of God, God is an angle, and we already have our wings. We know this because we can walk into any business and find strangers staring at us like they know us, they do. Our task here in this hell I call life is to demonstrate to God that we can handle the halo that goes with the wings and that we will never allow that halo to make us prideful and think as the other angel did, that he was a better ruler over humanity than God. Any idea who that other angel was? Here’s a guess he has used the name Lucifer. Evil is a master of disguises, wears many masks, and hides in the dark but goodness only has one which is the light. Trauma gives us a choice of either staying in the dark or stepping out into the light. The choice is ours and ours alone, no one can make it for us, no one can live it for us, and no one can be held accountable for it.

The Problem with Trying to Erase History

2024-04-26T13:14:00.001-05:00

Throughout the history of this nation, or any nation, there will be things that leaves us with a sense of pride and things that we would rather choose to hide but history itself teaches us that if becoming a more perfect union is what we truly desire, trying to hide or erase our bad actions of history is not and never will be the proper way to go.

Ripping down Confederate statutes, changing the names of military bases which carried some of these general’s name, burning books or banning them, and of course rewriting history to suit a particular cause or belief are these ways of condemning the nation and all nations to eventually and constantly repeat these bad acts. The push to erase our history does not come from those seeking to make our world a more inviting and welcoming place, it’s sought by the kings, queens, and dictators who have been allowed to act as their ideas, beliefs, and desires are the only ones that matter. Laws created during a time where few ruled over the many with personal objectives are still on the books, yet we choose to change names or rip down a statue instead of going line by line through each states history of these laws and bringing to light those legal demons which could be reactivated just as some have been recently.

As imperfect people we wish to live in a perfect world but our first action, toward that endeavor, should always be to fix ourselves first. Our history of any actions or inactions will add to the overall history of this nation and be the legacy that we leave for those who will come after us. If it is our desire to leave those not yet here, a much better world than we found when we arrived, our vision should be clear on what it is that we have to do.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr did not start the fight for civil rights, it started many generations before him but what elevates him to the top of the civil rights leaders of all time is he took up that mantle and finished that part of this fight. Christopher Columbus is created with discovering America, but truth be told the reason it is called the United States of America is because before Columbus, there was Amerigo Vespucci, but we do not celebrate or know very little about this person.

The richness, intelligence, ingenuity, and innovations of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca Indians civilizations are still a blurb in the history books while all those great achievements by those nations were stolen and credit awarded to the Spaniards or Europeans instead. Slavery began because warlords of Africa was so taken by the things brought to them by Portuguese ships that they had to have something to trade and so when they conquered another African village, they captured the inhabitants of those villages and used them to trade for those material things.

Where are these and many other events of history stored, only in the mind of a few who wanted answers and were able to collect this information before it disappears. Without the true story of a nation’s history, real change can never be achieved, and we commit ourselves to travel the same road that we have been embarked on for over 300 years, repeating the same mistakes that those before us committed. We never fully allow ourselves or even those coming after us a real opportunity to seal up those mistaken steps in the wrong direction because we are more reactive than proactive.

If it is our desire to make this land a better land for generations to come, we must stop constructing temporary barriers at the mouth of entries to the worst part of our history and construct fortified and never-ending walls to prevent that entry. This can only be done one way and one way only; we must expose our demons to the light and not continue to hide them in the dark or our closets. Ideas to better our society begin with a thought and then an action, but the thought may not become that action within that same generation. While the current generation may not have a good idea how to prevent a repeat, those generations coming after us could, but they will only be given this chance if we allow all or history, good and bad, to be readily available for any who desire to take up the fight like a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Movie Review-Mending the Line

2024-04-01T08:45:00.001-05:00

The movie “Mending the Line” is a story about a Marine wounded in Afghanistan who is sent to a V.A. facility in Montana where he meets a Vietnam Vet who teaches him how to fly fish as a way of dealing with his emotional and physical trauma. The films director is Joshua Caldwell, writer Stephen Camelio and stars Brian Cox, Patricia Heaton, and Perry Mattfeld.

Now when I saw the trailer, I was a little apprehensive about watching the movie because lately it seems that almost anything sends me back to my time in the Marines and host of unreconciled feelings as well as a few more nightmares but this one was different. It showed true emotions and feelings as well as top notch action and drama, but the overall ending result was a massive feeling of joy and happiness that could never be explained or put into words.

I am not about to sit here and try and tell you the entire movie because there is no way that I could capture the beauty and satisfying mark it will leave on you. All that I can do is strongly recommend it to anyone and especially those like myself that is still dealing with ghosts from their military service as well as those who may have not worn the uniform but served alongside someone who did.

There are few movies that I could watch repeatedly, and this is one of them. Take an hour out of your day to view this movie because it will be the most enjoyable and memorable hour you may ever spend in front of a television.

Movie Review-Harlan Coben's Shelter

2024-04-01T08:42:00.006-05:00

The movie Shelter is based on the bestselling series by Harlan Coben, it follows the story of Mickey Bolitar (Jaden Michael) after the death of his father leads him to start a new life in suburban New Jersey. When another new student disappears, Mickey finds himself tangled in a web of secrets. With the help of two new friends, Spoon (Adrian Greensmith) and Ema (Abigale Corrigan), they reveal a dark underground that may hold the answers to decades of disappearances.

Keeping me totally engrossed from the first episode to the last was not really the storyline or the actions and dramas, it was how awesomely those actors and actresses played their roles. It seemed so effortless, watching them, that it was easy to forget it was a movie/series. I could not control my anxiousness to start the next episode. Not many movies can make me feel the same emotions that the players were supposed to feeling but man, this was one and that journey this series took me on was one that I must go on again.

Whoever oversaw the casting, is a genius with the choices they made to cast this series? I was even blown away by the supporting cast which included Didi Conn as Mrs. Friedman. The subplots in this series were not as overwhelming as with most series and was just enough to give you background on the characters but not to overshadow the theme of the presentation like other shows have been known to do.

The one ranks within my top five most memorable movies/series and the most disappointing part of all this is hoping and praying that they make more of it. For me, however, I have come to expect that the movies/series that take me on a glorious journey through space and screen are often the ones that they don’t renew. This is one case where I pray that I am wrong so that my family and I can ride this magic carpet just one more time.

When the Republican Party Stopped Being the Party of Lincoln

2024-03-12T12:50:00.005-05:00

You hear many claim the Republican party as the Party of Lincoln when they make attempts to reform the current Republican Party into a party of human rights, decency, and a true governing body but these attempts soon fall face first at the feet of those who prefer to bully people instead of listening to them.

Those using this method often gets extremely frustrated because they thought this fact would snap them out of this MAGA funk and back to a party one could be truly proud of again. The frustration mounts because perhaps they said it to the wrong wayward Republicans or in the wrong group of the GOP because they truly believe that if anyone looked at the stance that Lincoln took, they would change directions and honor his name and memory.

The truth is, the Republican Party stopped being the party of Lincoln when those of political strength and influence created a plan to install their own guy into the seat of the presidency during Lincoln’s second term. History tells us that the Republican party carried the same ideas that the current Democratic Party claim to care about but that was when the Republican party was born from the Whig Party filled with abolitionist and others who saw all men and women as created evil and indentured servitude was nothing more than another name for slavery.

History is absent of the facts that before Lincoln took on his second term, he wanted to bring the country together, so he enlisted the aid and suggestions of those called Dixiecrats. Dixiecrats were slave owners who loved their way of life and had refused to surrender it, choosing to succeed, and fighting a civil war to save it. After losing that war, they began to search for another way to restore their southern way of life. Lincoln asked them to help him reunited the country and they agreed upon on condition. Lincoln had to choose a guy of their choosing to be his vice-president. And now the die was cast.

Those little people operating behind the curtain, out of sight of the public became instrumental in convincing some dope of killing the President of the United States and bribing those around that President to be absent on that day and at that time. History blamed John Wilkes Booth and those in power played their roles by hanging those that they said were aligned with Booth, perhaps silencing those who actually knew more about the truth than those behind the curtain wanted them to know.

The Republican Party stopped being the party of Lincoln on the date of his death because the Dixiecrats had infiltrated the older Republican party, knowing that the recently freed slaves would be so grateful to the Republican Party that they would vote overwhelming and those still claiming the title of Dixiecrat or singing that same old refrain of Dixieland would never see the inside of a capitol building again. The remaining ex-Whig party, older Republican party members, migrated over to the newer Democratic party, therefore clearing the way for the bullies once Dixiecrats, to feel even more embolden and ABOVE THE LAW.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: The less resistance a bully feels toward achieving their goals, the more powerful they believe that they are and this perception becomes the norm for all those quietly sitting on the sidelines but if resistance is strong and consistent, bullies tend to give up because they do not possess the heart, spine, backbone, or balls to take the hardest road to a goal, they prefer the easiest way and the easiest way the public gives them is when they cower in the corners, hid under the tables, and under their mothers skirts because they are too afraid to stand eye to eye with a bully.

The Story No One Wishes to Hear

2024-02-22T12:01:00.000-06:00

Let’s begin at the beginning. For those who wish to think that evil existed at the very same time as good, here’s something to think about. In the Garden of Eden, there lived only two people and much vegetation and one particular apple tree, deemed the Tree of Knowledge. Adam and Eve lived in a utopia without worry, fear, and dread until they allowed the one representative of evil to convince them to take a bite of an apple from that tree. When they did this, they now knew themselves to be completely naked, which started the trip to now question everything. That bite of that apple did more than just make them aware of their surroundings, it opened the door for evil to enter this world from which it would never leave. Another shocker for those of your wishing to continue to stumble around in the dark. Adam and Eve were not white, as many wishes us to believe. Adam and Eve were Indian.

Think that’s a lie, consider this. Ice-Age Indians are the ones responsible for populating this planet by following the herds of pre-historic animals as they migrated to find better grazing lands. History teaches that ice had frozen much of the land, making it easy to cross from one continent to another. A clear example of this is the once existing, Caucasus Bridge that once existed between what is now Siberia, Russia to what is now Alaska. Once the world was amply populated, the majority of the ice melted and formed the oceans, seas, rivers, and waterways. Now for those who still wish to argue this and use the Charles Darwin Theory of Evolution, let me ask you. Have many white apes had you seen?

What this proves is that no one race is better or more entitled than another. The color of one’s skin is not a birthright or proves ownership of nothing because our skin tone differences are simply a matter of the melanocytes in the epidermis of the skin. Melanin is a substance in every body that produces hair, eye, and skin pigmentation. The more melanin you produce, the darker your eyes, hair and skin will be. The amount of melanin in your body depends on genetics and how much sun exposure your ancestral population had. Meaning the less sun you have been exposed to for generations, the lighter your skin, hair and eyes will be, while the more sun you were exposed to for generations means the darker your skin, hair and eyes will be.

The moral of this story is that it is the bite of that apple that causes us to see and create our own answers to why we may look different, not the fact that we really are more alike than we are different. It’s the evil that makes us want to compare, contrast, and place ourselves above all others, clearly utilizing the color of our skin when the real truth is some of our ancestors were exposed to less sun than others. Still our weakness to resist not being able to justify our evil desire to feel entitled and better than all the other races, for that reason, I ask your this. Whom are you truly serving and praying to because God created all of us the same. We must admit that in the beginning, God did favor the Jews, but this began to wear thin when they began to give the glory to Moses instead of him and elevated themselves above all the others. I think that they really stepped in it though when they murdered his son.

Know Yourself by Knowing Your Child

2024-02-21T10:05:00.008-06:00

FULL DISCLOSURE: The opinion spoken here is mine and mine alone. It is the culmination of over 40years in the field of Psychology/Sociology and over 60 years of existing on this earth, closely observing and analyzing the actions of the millions I have been surrounded by. While I welcome any and all comments and respect any and all positions even those in conflict with my own, make no mistake and let’s not get it twisted. If you believe differently than I “EXCELLENT!”, exercise your right and keep believing for between the differences of belief, lies the real truth. Just know, that I will also continue to believe what I have been exposed to and experienced by, know that nobody possesses the power to convince or force my change.

We all should know by now that the forming of a child is much more than just genetics and DNA. It is much larger than eye color, hair color, skin color, and inherited genes. It’s a mix of the feelings, emotions, history, experiences, reactions, and the current level of intelligence of two separate and individual people. All their highs and lows experienced at the time of conception. All their likes and dislikes and all their hopes and fears. What makes your child slightly different than either of you is the choices that they make based upon what they have borrowed from both of you combined with how they choose to conduct their own business and confront their own demons during their development and all through their lives.

As parents, we are given up to the age of eleven (11) to prepare our children with the tools that they need to be healthy and happy in life. These tools are greatly enhanced by the examples we choose to set for them and the options covering a vast array of situations we choose to address with them. Along with these things, we must be sure to not neglect the 5 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs scale which begins with the need for food and clothing, next comes safety (job or personal security), number three is to be loved and to belong (friendship). Number four is self-esteem, and finally number five is self-actualization (truly believing yourself as vital and worthy). This is the responsibility of the parent and when they are lacking the result is a chaotic existence for your child. If this is your desired result as the parent, then you have succeeded but if it is not then dedicated yourself to making sure you provide these needs to your children each and every day.

Your problem is not that you had children, it is not knowing what to do and how to prepare them for life that is the biggest failure of parenting. Males uses their biological mothers to get an idea what kind of wife that they want or their idea of what kind of woman that they will be drawn to. They use the examples of the biological father to determine what kind of man and husband that they want to be. Girls do the same with their biological mothers and with their biological fathers, is formed their idea of the perfect man or the type that they may be attracted to. For those from broken homes or absent biological parents, they are immediately put in a very dangerous situation. If those who came together to create these angels of humanity or were too self-absorbed and were too busy trying to simply sleep with each other, then maybe this is where the village must then step in and try to give that child a fighting chance.

Let me explain: In the second phase of conception, the oldest part of the brain appears called the amygdala, part of the temporal lobe, which is primarily responsible for our sexual drives and “primal” emotions which is our “fight-flight-or-freeze sensation. What that means is at the very beginning of our existence these are all that exist except the one and only cognitive component which is called the Mix-Match Negative (MMN). This portion has two major functions, the first is to instruct that body when it is time to form the different parts of the fetus body and organs, the second, and one which will present more influence than any other aspect of our existence is designed to record every event that happens to us and our reactions to them. These events and reactions become short-term memories formed in the hippocampus, also part of the temporal lobe. The hippocampus commands the production of cortisol by the adrenal glands and creating a pathway between the short-term and the long-term memories in the prefrontal cortex, also a part of the temporal lobe. Cortisol is the primary stress hormone vital because it increases the availability of substances in the body that repair tissues and also slows functions that would block, hinder, or restrict the actions of our amygdala.

As we continue to develop, so does the most powerful part of the human body, the mind/brain. We briefly mentioned the prefrontal cortex earlier, but this is why it is important to help you understand why. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for regulating emotions, making decisions, and forming memories but when we are experiencing continuous stress, the cortisol is overly produced causing the prefrontal cortex appears to shrink in size, greatly hampering our ability to control our emotions and make rational decisions. We are now forced to comply with our only other options which is to “fight-flight-or-freeze” or becoming highly sexually aroused.

Some wish to excuse us for not taking ownership of our choices on many things from the devil to the actions of another but the truth is that we are the only ones totally responsible for the choices we make, the actions we take, and the of these. Many seek to blame it on either being ignorant or stupid. Truth is ignorance is best because being ignorant only means that you did not know before you made that choice or took that action while being stupid is when you do have an idea of the negative results yet still elect to do them anyway.

Some choose to blame it on our level of intelligence, but truth be told, an individual’s level of intelligence can never be measured because intelligence is not what you can recall nor is it the ability to figure something out, which is what many tests are comprised of. Intelligence is the knowledge of knowing what is right and true even during the times when you don’t know how you know. You see intelligence has nothing to do with the brain but everything to do with the soul, your experience, and any previous reactions to those experiences. Anyone seen a test that can test that? I have found soaring intelligence with the patients I have counseled but what was lacking was their belief in their own intelligence.

Consider this: God blesses us with an astronomical gift every single day. When the sun is at its highest point wherever you are, whether you are sitting, laying, knelling, or standing, you’re doing so on top of the world. So why would he unless he knew how worthy we really were?

The Return of the Dixiecrats

2023-12-09T09:56:00.002-06:00

Today’s experts say that what we are dealing with today regarding Donald Trump and the Maga-Republicans making an unveiled attempt to end democracy as we think we know it is new. Some used the word “unprecedented” but these proclamations from those who we are supposed to depend on to help understand what is really going on are WRONG.

The time of Donald Trump and the Maga-Republicans is neither new nor unprecedented. It has happened before in our history but because we did not learn the lessons of the past and still to this day refuse to even honor that past, we are allowing history to repeat itself. For the same souls that occupied the bodies of the once Dixiecrats have returned and now they inhabit the bodies of Maga-Republicans.

In 1957 there was a small faction of governmental leaders lead by then Governor Strom Thurman within the Democrat Party who called themselves Dixiecrats. These highly educated dictators were so in defense of the southern way of life that they were willing to do whatever they could to prevent the destruction of slavery because they felt it was their right to own other human beings and lord over them in any way that they felt appropriate.

At the time the Whig Party had recently changed their name to the Republican Party in hopes to apply enough pressure to end slavery. Their chose to lead them in this endeavor was Abraham Lincoln. No real record exist that the Dixiecrats took dismantling this nation to a much higher level than so far, the Maga-Republicans have, they took the steps and was successful in assassinating a president to install their own in his place.

The Dixiecrats had, at one time, a serious stronghold on the south, never worrying about not getting elected to political offices until the Emancipation Proclamation and then things began to look a little bleak for them. They knew that recently freed slaves would vote for the Republican Party in droves and deny them the feeling of superiority that they had so enjoyed being able to shape their world in their own image.

They enlisted the aid of an old 1965 group called the Klu Klux Klan to help and gave them a very wide berth to intimidate the voters of the south who would dire vote for a Pro Civil Rights agenda only to have the Democratic Party’s Harry S. Truman, win the presidency on that same platform.

The die was casted and the road to redemption clear, in 1960 the Dixiecrats broke away from the Democratic Party lead by Strum Thurmond and his followers who had developed what they called a “southern strategy” designed to infiltrate the Republican Party and slowly take it over, continuing to cloak itself so that no one would know who was actually pulling the strings. The desire for power far outweighed the love so many expressed for a nation.

If any of this sounds familiar or causes your any hesitation, then perhaps we all need to re-visit this time in history and stop pretending that it never happened. Take the lessons history is trying to teach us and learn from them by instituting the changes that are needed to guarantee the continuance of this experiment we call democracy. For those who may find themselves asking how this could be and why again, I present a simple answer. The souls who were in control of this strategy were never held to account and never had to pay for this treasonous act. They were allowed to just blend back into the shadows and continue their planning in private.

Strum Thurmond had now become a Senator and probably would have died in that office. The Dixiecrats soul has now returned and manifest itself within the bodies of Maga-Republicans but the real threat to democracy is not their existence but the fact that those who know and are in a position of authority to change this nations course from going through this again and again may choose to not hold anyone of significant accountable, only pick the lowest hanging fruit and think that this will end. If they do, then those of us who voted these cowards into office to make this decision are as much to blame as the spine-less ones who casted that vote.

And now we can again wait until history returns, the old souls of the Dixiecrats now dwelling within the bodies of Maga-Republicans rise again with the only difference being what title we will give them next time because Dixiecrat had already been used and now Maga-Republicans can’t be used again.

Something to Think About Regarding These State’s Abortion Bans

2023-12-09T09:51:00.001-06:00

According to an article titled “The Conversation- A concise history of the US abortion debate, by Treva B. Lindsey, Professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University, Published: June 10, 2019, https://theconversation.com/a-concise-history-of-the-us-abortion-debate-118157. History has again been totally ignored and the lesson lost. This being the case, it bears out the great need for educated people to finally diagnose history as it happens and make the necessary changes to ensure that this particular piece of history is not constantly repeated.

Consider this, “While many may think that the political arguments over abortion now are fresh and new, scholars of women’s, medical and legal history note that this debate has a long history in the U.S. It began more than a century before Roe v. Wade. As of 2019 “around 1962 the Food and Drug Administration approved the first commercially produced birth control pill, Enovid-10. Although various forms of birth control predate the birth control pill, the FDA’s approval of Enovid-10 was a watershed in the national debate around family planning and reproductive choice”.

“From the nation’s founding through the early 1800s, pre-quickening abortions – that is, abortions before a pregnant person feels fetal movement – were fairly common and even advertised. Women from various backgrounds sought to end unwanted pregnancies before and during this period both in the U.S. and across the world. For example, enslaved black women in the U.S. developed abortifacients – drugs that induce abortions – and abortion practices as means to stop pregnancies after rapes by, and coerced sexual encounters with, white male slave owners”.

“In the mid- to late-1800s, an increasing number of states passed anti-abortion laws sparked by both moral and safety concerns. Primarily motivated by fears about high risks for injury or death, medical practitioners in particular led the charge for anti-abortion laws during this era.

“By 1860, the American Medical Association sought to end legal abortion. The Comstock Law of 1873 criminalized attaining, producing or publishing information about contraception, sexually transmitted infections and diseases, and how to procure an abortion. A spike in fears about new immigrants and newly emancipated black people reproducing at higher rates than the white population also prompted more opposition to legal abortion”.

THE LOVE OF MONEY

This was the first real glimpse into how a needed debate of competing ideas is to a race for greater influence and a need for money. Every side of the issue on abortion began to search for and seek out support for their ideas any way that they could to include out right lying about anything that would pull more voices to their cause than the others. To that end, many began to seek those of great wealth, power, and influence to stand in front of a camera and say the words placed down on paper.

But the most dangerous tactic used was when the Bible was enlisted in their argument. Using religion to pretend to be standing on the side of God making others think that he believes in their stance. Regardless of the way we wish to slant religion, one thing is quite clear. 1 Timothy 6:10 of the King James Version says “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” so it is not that money is the root but the love of money. Nothing God given is monetary but freely given.

RECOMMENDATION

The choices we make are ours and ours alone to make. It does not need, want, nor require the consensus of the majority. Each choice we make will be our cross to bear and ours alone and only God will be the judge of these choices, so man needs to resign himself from attempting to regulate something that even God has chosen not to.

For the fathers of daughters, to have complete strangers decide the course of the life of your daughter and refuse to stand and defend her from this obstruction means that perhaps you are simply a father in name only minus the actions.

For mothers of daughters, was it not a dream of yours to have grandkids but are you truly willing to jeopardize the health and life of your daughter because a group of individuals in some state house says so?

For birth mothers do you not have to bear the loss of your child for the rest of your life and how much more pain do you wish to bring upon yourself by failing to stand up and say, “keep your hands off my uterus”?

I believe that for those who continue to play God and push these bands, the American Medical Association must step up to correct the thing that they started, along with all the parents of daughters and any one threatened by the laws being passed to say, if that, then they should is the course you truly wish to pursue, then we will see you in a court of law. I suggest listing everyone and anyone who supported this cause, signing this legislation and pushing it on the list of those you sue and holding them monetarily responsible for taking the right to choose what happens to your body. Really, if they feel so compelled to control this, then they should be willing to pay the cost of their ownership.

The Determination of History to Repeat Itself is Due to our Cowardice to Stop It

2023-12-05T01:09:00.004-06:00

America has always been the land of opportunity however we have become lax in our efforts to ensure that this right is made available for all of us to achieve and enjoy. Far too often, those who see themselves in a position of authority or great wealth begin to confuse themselves with an idea that since you may be thought of as successful, means your now have the power and authority to dictate to everyone else. This lying power makes those allowed to flex it feel bigger and better than they really are. It gives them a false sense of righteousness and security over all people, places, and things which must be corrected before we completely lose our very humanity.

Every last one of us knows this is wrong but history has allowed these individuals to exercise this false position of power without consequences and punishment. Every one of us is guilty of sitting on our hands and waiting on someone else to save us instead of finding our own intestinal fortitude to save ourselves. We have allowed superficial differences to separate us from our only true job which is to continually ensure that every single human being has the opportunity and exercise his or her right to pursue happiness.

Because we choose to cower in the face of taking this action, the history of those who have getting away with crimes committed against those that have-not continues and will continue until we finally find our spine, our backbone, our intestinal fortitude to stop it.

History is like a merry-go-round which has presented us with iron-clad proof, time after time, that power corrupts, and unchecked power will corrupt the entire species of any kind. Consider these as examples of how the few have always tried to control the many.

The Texas Rangers were formed in 1823, (some say 1835) to perform the task of patrolling the borders of Texas (previously named Tejas) preventing and quelling attacks to citizens from the Karankawa Indian Tribe, Comanche Indian Tribe, disgruntled Mexicans, and others who wanted there beloved Tejas back which had been a part of Mexico before the Mexican-American War. These “good citizens” became unbridled and allowed to perform unsupervised by lawful people, that it had to finally disbanded in February 1848 because they went far becoming severely corrupted, and yet we failed to heed this lesson and in the year 1915, allowed an Imposter group to co-op the name Texas Rangers go unchecked before finally holding the top man in charge to account in February after eight (8) Rangers murdered fifteen (15) Mexican-American citizens during a night raid called the Porvenir Massacre.

Today, the stakes a far higher because now we have Maga Republicans under Donald Trump who seek to do far worse by casting this country that we all claim to love into a dictatorship. Not enough of us seem to care that Mr. Trump appears greatly influence by Vladimir Putin and is following the directions as dictated from the number of calls he has and are making. Those who were in a position of authority introduced him to the life of “me now and forever” but never bothered to check his passion for chaos, so he continues.

Those that seek to control a woman’s body, the books we can read, the lessons we can teach in schools, and any other selfish cause that suits their agenda at this hour. Those put in place to prevent this erosion, are far to cowardly to stand up and stays hidden under the kitchen table and those who stand up hesitates because they fear retribution from people who are very good at talking but lack that same degree of courage to act.

For me personally, these are the groups who existed in the flesh before and introduced these very same ideas the last time they were here and the reason they are back to reintroduce them again is because they were never held accountable the first time. We need to begin right now and take people at their word and actions as the only sole indication of their intent and not justify those actions by turning a blind eye. History will continue to spin round and round, repeating itself over and over again until we learn the lesson it is attempting to teach us and make the necessary changes to where everyone stands accountable regardless of perceived wealth, position, or status.

Listen to the Voice of Your Soul

2023-12-05T01:07:00.001-06:00

During the second week of conception as the fetus grows so does the brain but the only cognitive part of it, at that time is called the Mix-Match Negative or MMN. The MMN has but two tasks, first being telling the fetus when it is time to form all of the organs and parts of the body and the second is to begin recording everything that occurs as well as the fetus’ reaction to them. These instructions or messages are sent to the temporal lobe to be housed and disseminated as needed. This dynamic creates our “normal” which often times manifest as our core behavior.

Knowing this allows us to change our normal/behavior if we so desire and alter the way we see, feel about, and even absorb things. For example, whenever something new and frightening happens to us, we revert back to our only option and learned a solution, which is to cry, we learned this behavior when we were snatched out of the womb and the only really safe place we knew. Our only defense to this action/birth was to cry and we did not stop until we were able to feel some sort of security, compassion, and ease again.

At that time, we all stepped aboard this merry-go-round called history both in our private and our public lives, touching not only us but those around us as individuals and the collective. From that moment on, not knowing that this merry-go-round will continue to turn and the only way to stop it is to get off by making slight but educated choices to step down. Since we were never informed that we had this enormous power, we fail to use it and therefore continue to spin around and around until some loses their minds and go against their very essences of who they are, or they find other ways to prevent the dizziness produced by the spinning.

INDIVIDUALLY

If your feel yourself eager to please, perhaps it is because when you were growing up your made an attempt to please those closest to your but to your it was not appreciated and because we crave love, acceptance, understanding, compassion and so many other things, you may seek to satisfy that hunger from others. Maybe your find yourself settling for relationships that your already know will fail because that’s all your learned by those surrounding your and since you have not experience with any other kind sinks to the depth of possibly not deserving more or better. These and many other things can be changed once your come to see, hear, feel, taste, and believe that only you have the power to change this dynamic, then take the steps necessary to do so.

No other person can bring to those pieces that your soul is missing except you. They can give you the courage to seek change within yourself, but they can never make those changes for you. This is the merry-go-round that we find ourselves on in this situation. Thinking that we can save others, or they can save us when all along we knew that saving ourselves can only be done by one person and not by any other spiritual being. Yes, don’t kid yourself, you were born a spiritual being, and the power is yours.

COLLECTIVELY

In this search for the acceptance and appreciation of who we think we are, we tend to gravitate toward like-minded people or others who speak as we do, think as we think, and act as we act. This becomes the collective idea that we are all the same and belong together but what is later found to be missing is the stark realization that we are indeed similar in a lot of ways, but we will never be identical. It is not our similarities that make us this spiritual being but our differences.

Differences that are articulated clearly to anyone willing to listen that provides us the perfect opportunity to help so many of our fellow humans by setting an example of how it really should be to stand on your own convictions while respecting others chosen positions, thereby fulfilling one of the greatest of the only two commandments delivered to us by God’s only son.

By sharing our true thoughts and feelings on all subjects discussed with us, we demonstrate how very vital it is to be open and honest with not only others but most importantly ourselves. Now no one has to guess who we are, nor do we have to accept others definition of who we are. We set our limitations, expectations, and experiences by being the captain of our own ship and educating others on how we wish to be treated by treating others that very same way. So many of our personal issues can be solved by simply remaining true to the voice of our soul.

Americans Standing Idle While Democracy Dies at our Feet

2023-11-30T14:04:00.001-06:00

Please allow me to begin with a phrase that we all have heard and many repeated over time, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, yet utilizing another phrase many may have heard but seldom repeated In God is speaking about rebellious people. “They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear” (Ezekiel 12:2).

Today we consider the influence of Donald J. Trump in reference to his ability to lead the MAGA-Republicans in a take over of the Republican Party. Many are surprised by this and have been asking how it happened and what does it mean for the democracy of these United States, but truth be told, this evolution is not surprising and should have been expected since history does repeats itself and many of us have eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear.

The dye was casted when the Whig Party, “a conservative political party that existed in the United States during the mid-19th century and joined the Democratic Party to become one of the two major parties in the United States between the late 1830s and the early 1850s” allowed themselves to be corrupted and taken over by then small section of the Democrat Party known as Southern Democrats or Dixiecrats. This all took place after the Whig Party renamed itself the Republican party and Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The Southern Democrats/Dixiecrats saw the writing on the wall and figured out that once all slaves were free, they would show their gratitude towards Lincoln and his party by joining them and becoming a very large group of votes to keep them in control. Those Whig/Republicans who were upset at this take over decided to move to the Democrat Party but in doing so they forgot to pack their spine, backbone, and intestinal fortitude, leaving it behind. History repeats itself and many of us have eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear.

MAGA-Republicans used that blueprint and it’s the same or similar one that has been used in the history of this nation since the time of the Pilgrims. So perhaps let’s begin at the very beginning. In the second term of conception when the brain of the fetus begins to form, there is but only one cognitive component present called the Mix-Match Negative which has two very important functions. One is to inform the fetus when to begin manufacturing the parts of the body and the other is to begin recording all events and our reactions to them. This information is sent to the temporal lobe to be housed and dissimilated when necessary.

Because of this, we are truly the results of all of our experiences and our reactions to them because this information forms our habits or behaviors. They then become so much part of us that we continue to do them even though we may no longer be benefiting for them and yes, even though they may be wrong.

Now don’t get it twisted, just because this is the way it is does not mean that each of us, individually, cannot change it if we choose to so the choice not to make any corrections to our behavior is not for governmental choice but a personal one that only that particular individual has to make. This point leads us to how we can overcome complacency and save the life of our dying democracy provided we first understand that History repeats itself and many of us have eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear.

Throughout the history of this nation, those Wizards of OZ, who has been operating and orchestrating all these events from behind the curtain, has never been held accountable for their actions. We have chosen to select the lowest hanging fruit, the foot soldiers, and punish them with the long arm of the law, while allowing those of greater influence and wealth to escape with a slight slap on the wrist and a promise not to do it again. This leniency has emboldened the “haves” with the impression that a slight slap is a small price to pay for getting what they want even if it is turning a democracy into a dictatorship.

Many say that the MAGA Republicans hang on every word that Donald Trump says but I disagree because if that was true, then they would have heard him clearly say that if he ever ran for president, he would run as a Republican because they are stupid. The MAGA Republicans are individuals who “normal” or behavior is to trust no one but themselves and use their fellow Americans as stepping stools to grab what they have been educated to believe belongs to them and them alone. They hear the words spoken from the other side but as we have said before, are now so pampered and privileged that they will risk anything even though that thing may no longer be benefiting them. They care not that History repeats itself and many of us have eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear.

But is it truly the MAGA Republicans that is the threat to the death of democracy? Partially but there is also another group that is just as guilty whose spine or backbone can be rented for a small monetary price from time to time. This group is the American voting public. Those times you sit on your hands and claim that your vote doesn’t count makes you complicit in the death of democracy. Those times you stay quiet and not raise your voices when your leader takes an un-American stand makes you complicit and those times you allow those who are truly responsible for the creation of circumstances that threaten this democracy to go completely unpunished makes you complicit. Those times you refuse to step in and work for peace instead of war makes you complicit. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

Now for those out there who may be wondering how they could change their normal/behavior here are a couple of things you could memorize and try. First, when asked, by the religious leaders of his time, which commandment from Moses Law was the most important, it is written that Jesus first informed them that those were God’s laws that he gave to Moses to present and these ten are now rolled into these two, before saying, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind which is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is great also which is to love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:37–39). The second suggestion is making sure that you heed these words before opening your mouth to define another. It is written that Jesus said How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,' when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye (Luke 6:41-46).

If we all were to attempt these things perhaps then we can really make history instead of allowing it to repeat and finally use our eyes to see and our ears to hear. This is my prayer and hopefully yours as we stand at the feet of our dying democracy.

The Sum Total of all our Experiences and our Reactions to Them By Dr. Ronnie Manns, NP, Psy,D., FAIHCP

2023-11-27T11:52:00.000-06:00

At the Start

In the second term of conception, when the fetus begins to form, so does parts of the brain. The parts of the brain that begin to form contain only one cognitive component which is called the Mix-Match Negative (MMN). This portion has two major functions, the first is to instruct that body when it is time to form the different parts of the fetus body and organs, the second, and one which will present more influence than any other aspect of our existence is designed to record every event that happens to us and our reactions to them.

All the information created and recorded by the MMN is sent to the temporal lobe to be housed and disseminated when necessary. These recordings begin to establish your normal, the safe harbor you will run to every time something like a past event or even similar to it happens because it is the only defense you have and the safest place to be.

How this works is based on the example of being born. For nine (9) months we are safe, secure, loved, and nourished in the womb, every basic need supplies. While there we get accustomed to that heartbeat, voice, and even smell. Soon and without warning, we are snatched out of our happy place and become surrounded by a multitude of different smells, sounds and heartbeats. Our only defense, cry and we do so until we are either reconnected with the familiar or placed in the cuddle of a calming, soothing soul of a surrogate.

Remember back to times when a newborn was crying and didn’t stop crying until it found a safe place to rest. Many may argue that sometimes the newborn will continue to cry even when they are placed in the arms of the birth mother, but I would counter by saying, to that newborn with no other history, the smell may be the same but there was a slight change in the heartbeat and voice that they detected even if older people around that same person could not.

From Day Dreaming to Regret

It’s during our early childhood and pre-teen phase that we start to dream of what we would like our lives to evolve into, mostly from the stories we watch on television, the stories we hear and the books that we read. Much of what we are allowed to watch measures up to the “feel-good” variety where authors like Hans Christian Anderson became famous for many of his endings where the words “And they lived Happily Ever After” were used.

Many young boys dreamed of being a ”Prince Charming” or a Superhero, there to save the day and protect all the world. Many young girls dreamed of being a Princess who would eventually meet their Prince Charming and live happily ever after and even if they saw themselves as the Ugly Duckling, would be okay because they pictured themselves maturing into a beautiful swan.

Since they had not been completely corrupted yet by community and society, they were often allowed and even encouraged to dream not only at night but even doing the day. These times were mostly filled with laughter and love. They express no true worries at all and seemed almost unphased by catastrophe events because they still believed in the possession of their newest safe haven, the recesses of their mind.

Since there was no established timeline to finding their Prince Charming or growing into that beautiful swan, there was no pressure or concern about reaching their golden star. During our early childhood and pre-teen years, the thought of possibly never reaching that star or touching it but not being able to hold onto it, cross their minds, but now that they are adolescents or teens, the threat is real. Now they had to construct other options to achieve that happily ever after, but certain influences would be present and each day it would appear harder and harder to see that as an option.

So, the happily ever after would be placed on the back burner and slowly fade while all efforts would then be placed on simply just being happy even if it was for a short period of time. It is then we begin to allow us to stop daydreaming about happily ever after and start the long journey into adulthood with less expectation of blissful happiness and settle for just a joyful existence.

Day dreaming is now regret as we age but since day dreaming had been condoned in our past and that was the normal then, we assume that this new thing, regret, is the same so it too must be an acceptable replacement.

There is the one thing that you will never be able to change and that is still searching for that happily ever after so instead of trying to change it and end up settling for something less, grab it. This can be done but you have got to be willing to reduce all other wants and desires and move them to a step down on your ladder of important things.

Make happily ever after your number one priority and accomplish it by simply treating others as you wish to be treated. If you treat others how you wish to be treated and educate them on why you do so, there is no reason that others could not return the favor and the less complication in your life, the happier your life will be.

What’s the Meaning of All This

Simply put, what all this means is who you really are is not your moniker (name). You are not any label placed upon you by society meaning you are neither black, nor white, nor brown. You are not Republican nor Democrat. You are not Conservative nor Liberal, you are not Christian nor any other religion. What this all means is you are simply the sum total of all your experiences and your reactions to them.

The Sudden Concern about a Democracy in Decay

2022-06-08T18:36:00.001-05:00

In this year, 2022, so many Americans are screaming about the clear and present danger facing our democracy as well as those whose current position within this society lending credibility to this claim but as it has been for so long, there is still a lingering element within this society that do not carry the fear of this decay. They are those who are much more aware of the history of this nation and its system of unequal justice. History of this action of attempting to hold those truly responsible for seditious acts to account, are welcomed by those who have been emboldened to exercise this perceived right or privledge because they hold the victory over it’s coming.

This idea that certain laws does not apply to certain people found its beginning when the Constitutional Convention got together in May of 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and did something on September 17, 1787, that not only guaranteed that this democracy would eventually decay but fired the starting gun for racism and discrimination in this nation in this, a new nation. Those who may dissent to my proposition will undoubtedly use the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence which states “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” but will not mention that in the beloved and exalted document called the Constitution, Article one, section two declared that any person who was not free would be counted as three-fifths of a free individual for the purposes of determining congressional representation and that was the only thing it did because it did not, nor does it now, “make any attempt to ensure that the interests of slaves would be represented in the government”.

And while we are on this subject of privledge consider this. Now in a nation were all shall be governed by laws, and no one shall be above those laws, what we have now is the almost total opposite. While the majority is governed by laws, there are those more privileged, famed, and influential that know they are not subjected to them. Would it surprise anyone to learn that perhaps those who make the laws has created a cut-out for them so that the laws that they make, they will not be subjected to? How about if I told your that at one time, there was a successful attempt to remove the Three-fifth clause from the Constitution, but it never made it pass the buildings front door?

Here is the history, as I see it, regarding seditious acts committed in this nation and the results of same. On the evening of April 14, 1865, it is history that John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., now those who were convicted of sedition were publicly hanged however the greater conspiracy was never exposed and those who had worked in silent to make this assassination happened got their first feel of true privledge and elevation above the law.

Ninety-eight years and seven months later, another seditious act was committed, and as most mass shooters take lessons from other mass shooters, those guilty of this seditious act surely read about and took lessons from those surrounding the Lincoln assassination. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November of 1963 in Dallas, Texas. One man caught and the public told committed this act all alone, but history and society knew better, however no other silent partner in this has ever been questioned nor confronted about their role. This “get-out-of-jail free card was being passed around like the candy bowl at Halloween.

Now, fifty-nine years and two months later we have two more groups charged with seditious-conspiracy charges from Jan. 6. One could just about guess how these two will end so the question then becomes why bring the charges in the first place if all those truly responsible are not going to be held responsible? Perhaps those making these decisions of bringing charges or not appear to prefer appeasement versus prevention. Why go after every single person who had something to do with this current seditious act when it is easier to just pretend to fear the decay of a democracy and rely upon past outcomes to carry this nation another seventy-nine years and 2 months.

Doris’ Final Dagger

2021-12-10T08:16:00.004-06:00

As far back as the memories will allow, life has not been the subject of legends living with Doris. From the denial of saying goodbye to your father at the age of three to leaving your alone to fend for yourself at the age of seven. From attempting to sell your off to marry for off to some very old guy to disappearing for weeks with no word and no apology when she finally returned.

All of these your still find it hard to forgive and even though your wish you could forget, you know that forgetting is not possible so your simply exist and struggle every day not to retaliate especially since you took her into your home over seven years ago and her health is declining.

For the remainder of her earthly life, you dedicate yourself to her service, making and transporting to hundreds of doctor’s appointments, juggling work, family, and her care. Going to bed each night mentally and physically drained only to get the very next day and doing it all again. Weekends bring a small bit of relief, but it flies by and before you know it, the weeks start to last longer each week.

You nursed her through, chronic COPD and cancer only to see her appear to waste away. Everything you have done has been to re-create a relationship with her even though there were times when she seemed as if she did not want one with you. Regardless your persevered and pushed on so that in her final hour, when no one else was there, you were sitting by her bedside and talking to her as if she were answering back. Your watched her take her final breath and kissed her on her cheek and forehead, saying your good-bye with a true passion. Tears of her passing still pour out like a never-ending fountain still today.

In final preparations, your have aligned the financial, medical, and funeral conditions as she had wished and even though her passing still feels fresh, you know that she no longer suffers. All the hurt and pain your attribute to her that was caused your in your formative years, does not seem so important anymore. That was before your received notification that every piece of her only sole possessions was left to your brother. Now all that hurt, and pain comes back in spades and your ship has veered off course. What do you do now, how do you survive this, what more could you have done? Because in your mind and to those who knew this history as well, this was Doris’ final dagger.

The Dark Side of Privledge

2021-12-09T16:28:00.000-06:00

The Idea that because something bad has or is happening to me, gives me the right to take any action that I deem appropriate even if it results the most unnatural act of all, the taking of another human being’s life.

Ethan Crumbley entered his Oxford High School armed with a pistol and the knowledge that it was okay to shoot it up because his family had been totally disrespected by those immigrant parents who did not care about learning and is the primary cause to his family’s financial struggles. He wanted to change his mind and was hoping that someone would talk him out of it or stop him from completing his task, but no one stood up for him, no one saw him, no one heard him, and no one listened to him.

The desire to win the admiration of his parents won out that day and ends now with a 15-year-old teen being charged as an adult on 24 counts of murder and terrorism. He sits in his jail cell, under suicide watch and with a public defender at his side, while those most responsible for not seeing in him a whole lot of them, those who planted that seed of bias in his mind and hatred in his heart for a group of people he didn’t even know, sits in their jail cell with a smirk on their faces and a high powered lawyer by their side. Perhaps they expect to get the same judge and jury that acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse.

The fact that his parents were able to withdraw around $4,000 before going on the run, the fact that they left thee son to fend for himself and the fact that the high-powered lawyer wasn’t hired to represent him but them, should enrage every red-bloodied human being regardless of color, party, or philosophy.

But let’s not stop here, there is another side of this privledge spectrum rarely discussed and often ignored and that is when individuals believe that since people who looked like them were slaves that this allows them the right to put forth no real efforts to change their situations or circumstances. That they are allowed to strike out when things do not go right for them, that they are well within their rights to pack up and leave their creations because they cannot get along with their co-creators. That the child will not miss them, will not want for them, will not chase them, and will not try all that they can to win acceptance from them. The same seed that were planted in the mind of Ethan Crumbley are also placed in the mind of children who grow up missing a parent or missing both.

At what point did it become okay for parents to concern themselves more about themselves than their own children. How much longer and how many more times are we going to just sit back and accept, individuals creating life but not being held responsible for that creation. We have no hesitation in finding and holding God Almighty responsible for his creations, we need to start holding parents for theirs.

JUST HOW CONNECTED IS MENTAL ISSUES TO HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS

2021-07-26T18:42:00.007-05:00

If we are completely honest with ourselves, even the blind can see the connection between

mental issues and criminal activities. You can gather all the proof your need through live

interviews with those who are currently incarcerated or those who have a criminal record

including misdemeanors. Since there are not one human being free of trauma in their lives

which spawns a mental issue, the alarm should ring quite loudly when you hear them say that

they are fine, normal, sane, or free of sin. The very fact that a living, breathing human being

thinks that they are immune from mental issues should, itself, be very alarming.

We all begin contact with mental issues at birth. Abandonment is the first mental trauma we face as we are forced out of the only safe and secure environment that we know. We then spend most of our time trying to make sense of this new world that we are now a part of. To get an idea of how we are supposed to navigate this new world, we dependent on many different people and factors to help us along the way. The first place we choose to collect this information from are those we believe are responsible for us being here. With each failing of those other humans, pushes us a little bit deeper in this hole and without the help of someone else, this is where we stay. We use their words to help guide us, but the number one influencer is their actions. How we see them dealing with the daily activities of life is often how we choose to deal with them as well.

A child watches his father beat his mother and he decide that this is how your handle your anger and what you are supposed to do to fix the problem. A little girl sees her mother take drastic actions against her father to the point of murder and as she grows, she believes that this is how she needs to act. Because now these things have become their normal, history has shown that no amount of incarceration is going to change it.

To make the change we are going to have to accept a few hard truths and number one is our old coping skills for dealing with mental issues and criminal activities is not working. The next truth we need to face is having a mental issue is not something to be afraid or ashamed of, its purpose is to help us learn more about ourselves, why we do what we do, why we think how we think and what we can do to modify or even change that outcome.

The third truth is that medication is not and never will be the answer. Medication clouds the mind and makes us think we are fine when deep within the very soul of every human being, we know that we are not. Medication is only effective if the individual taking it believes it is. Once that train of thought has departed the station without them, no medication will ever be the same.

This is clear by drug users who will tell your that with each intake of drugs it is that first high that they are chasing but never finds again simply because there is a reason that they call it the first high. Self-medication is a clear indication that no matter how much your take or how much your do, those demons that you are attempting to escape from simply just waits until you have come down from your high to hang themselves around your neck again.

What we must do as a country, if we truly do wish to address the rising tide of crime both at home, in the communities and now at our schools is figure out a way to provide answers to every single person as to how and why.

We can begin this by requiring that before anyone is incarcerated, they must go through an

extended mental health evaluation so the behavioral health counselors within the penal system

knows what areas to address so that we truly rehabilitate them which begins with helping them

see themselves as worthy and not worthless.

Next, we must provide an affordable or cost-free access to extended mental health evaluations

beginning at middle school. More teen is committing suicide than ever before because the

answers that they are getting they know deep within is not right and the fact that those who they

trust more than anyone else is lying to them, where else can they go to get their truth. Many

of those dependent upon for that truth are far to uneducated or embarrassed to give them that truth

and when they choose to avoid showing those that they claim to love so much so little love by

lying, denying, or avoiding, where will that love to come from.

Societies’ answer appears to be only medication and when that does not work, it is blamed upon

the individual, the science, and yes even the side effects of the drug. It should always be

education before medication because only when we have an idea of how, what, and why we do

what we do can we ever take command and choose our own path instead of allowing a disease to

lead us or choosing to follow uncaring pretenders.

Life is not as complicated as many would want us to believe, it is merely a series of choices,

decisions, and follow-throughs. Whatever choice you are faced with right now, you must make

a decision and whether it turns out like your thought is would r not if your follow through with

your decision and accept all that comes with that decision, whether good or bad, it strengthens

your and begins to rebuild that peace, harmony, inner strength, and courage your need to tackle

the next obstacle that appears in your chosen path in life. Do we not own this to those we claim?

to love, those we claim to care about, those we claim to appreciate. Do we not owe this to ours?

communities, our towns, our cities, and our country. Do we not owe this to ourselves?

Our similarities do bond us together and our differences make us stronger.

2021-05-14T10:27:00.007-05:00

I remember the times when Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, many called him the “Anti-Christ” and proclaimed that he would lead many down a very destructive path. A destructive path that will cause major damage to humanity and this very nation but last check, Barack Obama preached calm and even demanded protest to remain peaceful and non-violent.

Can we, honestly, say the same thing about Donald Trump, by which, none of those claiming Obama as the anti-Christ even whispered this titled be attached to Trump. Let’s be honest, for it is written “Romans 16:17-18 says I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naïve”.

Which explains why, I was not too surprised to find this headline in the USA Today written by Kristine Phillips and Tom Vanden Brook titled “Marine Corps officer becomes first active-duty service member charged in Jan. 6 attack, DOJ says”. Where else could anyone of current or previous military service find justification in getting involved in the capitol Riot unless they were led by and follow the example of front-line military members.

The article reports that “A Marine Corps officer was arrested Thursday and charged with assaulting police officers at the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, making him the first service member on active duty charged for his role in the deadly riot, the Justice Department said.

Maj. Christopher Warnagiris is accused of forcing his way inside the Capitol by pushing through a line of officers guarding the building's East Rotunda doors. Video footage showed Warnagiris keeping the door open for others to get in and later pushing a Capitol Police officer who tried to close it, the Justice Department said.

Warnagiris, 40, of Woodbridge, Va., is facing several charges, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, obstruction of law enforcement, and obstruction of justice. He is among several dozen people with ties to the military who are facing charges related to Jan. 6. The Justice Department said it has charged more than 40 veterans, guardsmen, and reservists.

The U.S. Marine Corps, which confirmed Warnagiris is on active duty, said: "The Marine Corps is clear on this: There is no place for racial hatred or extremism in the Marine Corps. Our strength is derived from the individual excellence of every Marine regardless of background. Bigotry and racial extremism run contrary to our core values."

While I still maintain that one must remain true to oneself and if it is truly your belief that one race is superior to another, or one group of Americans are better than all the rest, stand in your conviction just be respectful that there are those who do not believe as you do, and they too deserve equal respect. Just because we disagree does not make us enemies and violence will never convert anyone to your position. The answer is to allow each their own truth and if that truth does not infringe upon the rights and truths of another the strength of any nation shall continue to grow.