Today's Thoughts for Thanksgiving

TODAY IS THANKSGIVING DAY 2019. HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY TO ANYONE WHO MAY HAPPEN ON TO THIS BLOG AND ACTUALLY READY IT.
For today I am going to make just a couple of comments, AKA, thoughts of the day and then post and get off.
1. I am thankful for what I have. My house is not the best, and not what I would desire to have, but so far it is intact and warm and for that I am thankful. We have had rain for nearly 22 hours now, with a little snow during the past evening that didn't last long and the temperature is not unbearable. There are so many suffering on this day from illness, storms much worse that the one I just mentioned, earthquakes and fires and floods. So far, I and mine, mostly, have been spared from the bulk of these disasters.  Our family has been blessed with two new babies (great grandbabies for us) and there are three more to be born in the next few months. Always grateful and thankful for family, even though we may not get together very often, because of distance and work and school etc. So, on this Thanksgiving day, I am thankful most of all for my knowledge of the plan of Salvation that our Father in Heaven put in place before the earth was formed and the family of Man was placed here in the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve began this family that we all belong to.  Have a great day.
2. With all that being said, I have to mention the New York City Macy day Parade.  We watched it as a family as our children were growing up and we acquired a TV set. We always enjoyed watching it, so today I turned on the TV and it was off the air. OK  No Problem. Later in the morning I turned it on and it was back on the air and the Parade was in progress. BUT, I couldn't see the parade for the TV station "Personalities" being in the way. I didn't turn to the parade just to watch Savana and Hoda and Al. So I turned to another channel. Yep, they had the parade on but you couldn't see the parade for the TV personalities talking about the great football game that was coming on later today and the players and how great they are  blah blah blah. So I turned to another channel to watch something else and hope the parade was good and that someone got to enjoy it. Maybe I'm just to old to be enamored with the various TV entities and what most people watch these days. 
AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

TODAY'S THOUGHTS

I MAY HAVE TO JUST TITLE EACH OF MY POSTS WITH THAT TITLE; TODAY'S THOUGHTS. Even thought I will not be posting every day, when I do, that will be my thought for that day, even if I had the thought a week or so ago.  So, here is the thought for today.
I mentioned a while back that if the Democrats wanted a good candidate that I, a Republican, could consider voting for, look at the congresswoman from Hawaii. Namely, Tulsi Gabbard. However, she is so far back in the polls that she is not likely to qualify to even be on a debate stage. Then, out of the blue, she is mentioned by Hillary, of all people. And what did Hillary have to say?  Why she said that Gabbard was being groomed by the Russians for her run for President.  Now, why would Hillary even say that. In my sceptical mind, I really have to wonder why, since Tulsi was so far behind in the polls.  Does Hillary actually like her and was trying to bring her into the focus of the american public? Or was there something else going on that was getting to close to her, Hillary, and she was trying to divert attention away from her.  Hadn't heard any thing, but that doesn't mean there wasn't something there. The talking heads don't report every thing that is going on so I wonder.
I have one more thought for today.  Sometime back Matt Lauer was fired by NBC for sexual impropriety. Now, lets back up a few years. Ann Curry was promoted to be a co anchor with Matt Lauer in a time when co anchors were moving around. She didn't last long before she was no longer employed by NBC. Not a lot was said about why, but there was an indication that she didn't get along with Lauer. Now, just a couple of weeks go, Matt Lauer was mentioned in a news item on NBC and a list of improprieties was reported on by his friends that now hold the job he was fired from. Meredith Vieira who worked with Matt and seemingly got along with him, was told by the woman who reported Matt to the powers that be first told her story to Meredith, and was advised by her to report him. She did and he was gone. Now, in the recent story on the news, Apparently Ann Curry tried to report him back when she worked with him and that resulted in her termination from NBC.  while some didn't, I liked Ann and suspected that Matt was the reason for her termination. Now that that has come out for public consumption, I feel that NBC owes her at the least an apology. A public apology.
I guess that is enough for today  from THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

SOME THINGS POLITICAL

AND MAYBE A FEW OTHER THINGS. MAYBE
This is something I have been thinking about for a while. President Trump apparently called for Joe Biden's son to be investigated for something that was done while Joe was vice president. Something to do with the Ukraine. 
Then something he did with China.  So, a couple of comments from my little brain.
1. While Joe was vice president his son traveled with him to the Ukraine on Air Force two and somehow became a millionaire as a board members of some Ukraine business or something.
2. Hunter Biden then traveled with his dad, the vice president, to China and got to be a board member of a business there also and made a few more millions. Hunter has said, now that the news is out, that he will resign from the board in China. Not sure if that is imminent, or if his dad is elected President. 
3. Good Ol' Joe and the democratic house immediately called for President Trump to be impeached because of pressure he put on the Ukrainian president. Trying to get them to investigate the Bidens.
4. My final thoughts on this.  IF and I said IF the Bidens did nothing wrong, as they claim, I would think they would welcome this investigation. That would prove that they did nothing wrong and do a lot more toward Trump not getting re elected than what is actually going on. regardless of my or any one elses opinion, a lot of American's are getting tired of the constant onslaught against the President and the millions of tax dollars that are being used to do so and so far with minimum results. And nothing getting done except to cause a divide among the people. 
5. So investigate. If Trump did something wrong, that is impeachable, then impeach him. If bidens did something wrong, then do what ever the law allows in that regard. But don't just assume Trump is wrong and Biden is not. After all, the fact that his son traveled with him on a government plane to a foreign country, or country's, and then became a board member of a company in that country and is being paid millions to do so, is, in my eyes, very suspect.

AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

JUST A FEW THINGS I WONDER ABOUT

I SEE THINGS IN TOWN OR ON THE NEWS AND JUST HAVE TO SHAKE MY HEAD IN WONDER.  Sometimes I have to really wonder what is going to become of the world and the population thereof, and then I remember who is in charge and that we have been told how the end will be and I know that the younger generation is going to be OK. At least for the most part.  That being said, lets look at a couple of things.
1. I was raised eating what we called Spanish or Mexican food. I don't know, really, what they eat in Spain, but have learned enough about Mexican food to know that mostly what we eat is Southwest type Mexican food. I also have seen and heard enough on the news and on TV to know that people all over are eating what we call Mexican food. Well, kinda. They all know what a Taco or a Burrito is, even though I wouldn't eat some of what they call Tacos. But I never hear any one on the TV, hardly ever, mention Enchilada's or Tamales. Which is a good thing, in my opinion. They have messed up Taco's and Burritos enough already.
2. California's governor signed a bill that will allow college athletes to be paid to play.  While he and LeBron James thinks this will be a good thing, I can't help but see problems for the future of college athletics. And colleges that can't pay students or have a student athlete that is good enough to get an endorsement. Although you know it is going to happen, I would hope that other States didn't follow California's lead on this.
3. Tesla. Need I say more? Probably not, but I will. Saw on the news that Tesla is coming out with an upgrade to their self driving car. As if the self driving car is not bad enough, now they are adding a feature that lets you call it to you if you are within 200 feet of the car. Yep, people will be naming their cars Fido and calling it to come to them. Tests though, so far, have proven to less than successful and some close calls have happened during those tests. One car even did a right turn onto a grassy area. I shudder to think what will happen if they ever turn them loose on the streets. Probably will get into a standoff with a smart garbage can. Which brings me to number 
5. Also on the news this morning was a report about a smart garbage can. It is programmed to know when garbage day is and can take itself to the curb and ready itself for garbage pickup. Next I guess Tesla will come out with a self driving garbage truck to pick up these self motivating garbage cans and then we the people won't have to be involved with garbage in any way. Guess we just need to find a way for Alexa to take the garbage for us and put it in the can.
I have to feel that the younger generation is getting lazier and lazier and so I have to refer back to my opening statement and decide maybe not all of them, any way.
6. We have hummingbirds visit our house from early summer to early fall. Lots of hummingbirds at times. We often have as many as 5 or more feeders hanging somewhere in the front or back of the house. They eat all day from dawn to dusk. We have been filling the feeders in the evening after they quit for the day. Recently we noticed that one of the feeders in the back was empty every morning. So we started watching and it looked like Bats were feeding there. After some research, we discovered that there is a Bat that actually feeds on nectar like humming birds do and will eat from a humming bird feeder. We don't have a Belfry but if we did we would have Bats in our Belfry.
AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

JUST SOME MORE THINGS I WONDER ABOUT

DO YOU EVER WONDER HOW THINGS APPEAR TO OTHER PEOPLE?  Or how different people see the same thing so differently? I guess I will explore that somewhat in this post. If you don't follow my line of reasoning, then you obviously see things differently than I do. And so we begin.
Some time back we purchased an enchilada plate from a group of young people. They were a little league baseball team. We didn't particularly need the enchiladas, but they were raising funds for their cause and we supported that. Then more recently we purchased an enchilada plate from a group of young people who were raising funds for their cheer leader squad. For those who read this and are in the know, this was the Cobre cheerleaders. Then just last week or so we purchased an enchilada plate from a high school band group. Silver High for any one who reads this and wants to know. So why do we do this? Well, cause we can and we feel that any young person that is interested in pursuing an activity that will keep them active and away from idleness, we will do what we can to support that. Many people don't feel that way, and I am ak with that. 
A few days ago my wife found a recipe somewhere for a 15 bean soup. Well, that sounded interesting, but frankly, I would like more beans in my soup that 15. If two people share the soup, that would give them 7 1/2 beans apiece. 
Now here is a topic that is sure to get someone steaming, or freezing or something.  Climate change. A young 16 year old girl is making passionate pleas for the governments of some 15 or 16 countries to do something about it, cause she says they have stolen her childhood and her dreams. I say bull.  I am 60 years + older than her and I can say that climate change has been going on for centuries. And no, I am not centuries old, I just know that  it has been going on and I also know that there is a much higher power in control of the climate than the governments of the earth. 
That being said, yes there is much that governments and residents of said governments can do to keep the environment, namely air and water, clean and healthy. However, much if this is about power and money and fear on the part of those in position to exert said power. 
So, lets explore a couple or three things that are fact. 
Fact 1. Environmentalists and governments are pushing for solar and wind to furnish our power for the future,  and closing down coal and other mines. They do support natural gas, though.
Fact 2. You have to mine material from the earth to produce the wind turbines and solar panels.
Fact 3. Solar panels don't last forever and have to be replaced. They can become damaged in a hail storm and if they are broken they release toxic substances into the ground at an alarming rate. 
Fact 4. Electric cars. They run on batteries that have to be charged by electric power. Power form wind farms or solar panel arrays that may not be working because the wind don't blow or the sun isn't shining. And the batteries will need to be replaced and put where?  In a land fill? Probably not, but they will need to be put somewhere.
And finally Fact 5. Microsoft is building a new facility in Fawn Lake, VA. It will run on a solar energy farm of 6350 acres holding 1.8 million panels containing an estimated 100,000 pounds of cadmium. These panels will last about 20 years, then what do they do with all that toxic waste when they have to replace them.
OH! guess I will have a Fact 6.  Wind turbines also last about 20 years, just long enough for the power savings to pay for them and the they also need to be replaced. More mining and more waste to dispose of.
And finally, yes there is much we as people can do, but cutting off our collectively noses to spite our face is just plumb idiotic. And to listen to those who cry the sky is falling will only lead to bad choices, usually.
AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

A CHANGE IN DIRECTION

When I started this posts all those many years ago, about 10, I think, at the insistence of some of my children, My focus was on politics and things that are going on around me, from my uneducated point of view.  For the most part, I have stuck to that focus.  I don't really intend to depart from that, but have decided to change directions from time to time and post something else. So bear with me and we will see where this goes.  Probably not very far.
Due to some medical issues that I choose not to dwell on, I lost a lot of weight and all my muscle. Literally all my muscle. For a time I was very weak from being in the hospital 5 times for a total of 45 days over a three month period. 
I am now gaining some muscle back and have put back some of the weight. I am eating more healthy and walking a fair distance three days a week. My wife walks also, often on the days I don't she walks any way, and often regardless of the day takes a longer route. She walks faster than I do, she always has, but there was a time I could mostly keep up with her. Now, nope, not happening. So, being members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, if we were in Nauvoo, Illinois and were ask to walk to Salt Lake City, we could do that. However, my wife would be in Salt Lake City and have a cabin built while I was still crossing the plains of Wyoming. But perseverance would come into play, and I would make it, eventually. And be there in time to help till and plant a spring garden. Such is the life of us oldsters.
We are now getting into the fall of the year. I love fall. I am not so much of a winter person any more, all though there was a time that I enjoyed winter. I like spring and summer, but I love fall. We are also at the end of what the weather people call our monsoon season. Here it has been more like a nonsoon season, but we can hope for some winter moisture in the form of snow.
My wife and I are in the process of going through a lot of our belongings and getting rid of the excess. This will prevent the children from needing to do that at some future date. We can see them now, rolling their eyes and saying to one another, why in the world did they keep that?  Well, in order not to put too much strain on their eyes, we will get rid of a few items any way.
OK   I will mention politics. I did not watch the democrat debate last night. I heard about it this morning, though, and it seems that the 10 of them are spending time trashing President Trump and trashing each other to the point that they can't put forth a comprehensive plan of what direction they want to take the country. Maybe they did, but the talking heads on the news didn't say so.
AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

WHAT I BELIEVE

I'M GOING TO STATE RIGHT UPFRONT. I BELIEVE IN AND SUPPORT THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.  And yes, that includes all 27 of the amendments to it. 
And that does include the 1st and 2nd amendments. Both of which are under attack by so many now, both in and out of politics. However, having stated that, I am going to focus at this time on the 2nd amendment and my view of what is going on.
Much has been said about gun control both pro and con. There is so much on the news and on social media that is just not correct. Again, both pro and con. Many that want gun control, often those  talking heads on the tv and print news, say things that is just not correct. I'll address that in a moment. On the other side of this coin, many that want guns also say things that are not correct. In most cases both sides present "Facts" that support their viewpoint and are misleading. So where to start. OK   on the side of gun control. This item comes to the forefront every time there is a mass shooting. And there have been far too many lf late. OK so even one is too many. I agree. But the talking heads will so often say the person used an AK-47 usually purchased legally. Well, no, AK-47 are not legal and have not been for a long time. So now they say they used an AR-15 with a clip that held X number of rounds. They always include this to mean that the AR designation means assault rifle. No, it does not. It means the material the rifle is made of and stand for armor lite. I probably spelled that wrong. But those rifles have been around since I was a teen ager and that was a LONG time ago. And clips that hold a lot of rounds have been outlawed in most states, also for several years. While the rifles can be purchased legally, the multi round clips were legal and so they are around but probably not purchased legally now. Many other restrictions have been imposed on gun owners over the years, and many of them are beneficial in this day and time. And this day and time is what I am going to focus on now.
When I was growing up, a majority of households had guns. And they used them to go hunting or sport shooting. People still do. Also when I was growing up, the flag of the United States was respected, people in uniform saluted when it went by ( they still do) men took off their hats and put them over their heart or their right hand if they didn't wear a hat or cap. A lot no longer do. People were mostly religious and went to what ever church they belonged to on Sunday. Prayer was allowed in school. Now, the percentage of people of religion is smaller, and prayer is banned in school, as well as any type of religious teaching. I know there are exceptions to this statement, but for the most part it is accurate. While drugs and alcohol have been around since Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, I suppose, they are exceptionally prevalent today. Parents aren't allowed to discipline their children, police arrest law breakers and judges let them go. Family's call police to come because a family member (usually one with a police record already) is causing problems. The family members then threatens the police and winds up getting shot and then the family sues the police office and the department and the city, state, etc because they didn't need to do that. And if it happens to be a white cop and a black man, or woman, then they protest and wind up getting big bucks when the law suit is settled. Never mind that the dead person was breaking the law to start with. And as the morals of the country seem to get lower and lower with each passing day, crime rises and shootings become more prevalent. 
Am I immune to these shootings? No I am not. It breaks my heart when a shooting happens. Not limited to, but especially in a school and children lose their lives. I fear every day when I turn on the news and wonder what will happen today. 
So, should there be gun control? Well, there are laws already on the books that don't seem to be enforced. More laws probably won't solve the problem. Not to be trite, although it will come out that way, I will quote one thing that is circulating on social media.   It is not a gun problem, it is a people problem. One of lower or lack of a moral compass. One that has been predicted by the prophets in the scriptures. I am glad that I am an old man but I feel for my children and grandchildren and just hope that the millenium happens sooner than later.
AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK