Saturday, July 30, 2011

Our SORROWS!!

OUR SORROWS

BY HOLLY MILLS

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not
troubled. for all these things must come to pass, but the end is
not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and
earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of
sorrows. " (Matt. 24: 5-8).

These words that Jesus spoke in Matthew are certainly true of
today. It seems that almost every day we hear of a war or some
type of disaster happening somewhere in the world. A look at news
items on the internet shows the following:

1. Syria: Tanks and troops `deployed in restive Hama' - BBC News
Middle East
2. Floods at China mines trap '40' -BBC News Asia-Pacific 3. Los
Alamos fire evacuees might return home soon - Weather on
MSNBC.COM
4. Jim Rogers: Boost Crop Production or 'No Food at Any Price'-
MONEYNEWS.COM 5. A Look at the Devastating Impact a Solar Storm
Could Have on Society - OILPRICE.COM
6. Huge rock avalanches rumble down Mount Rainier - The Seattle
Times
7. Tropical Storm Arlene slams Mexico - MSNBC.COM
8. Global Warming and the Science of Extreme Weather - Scientific
American
9. Horn of Africa sees 'worst drought in 60 years' - BBC News
Africa
10. Asian 'megapest' is chomping up US orchards - YAHOO NEWS
11. Record Flooding Crests for Some in North Dakota -
AccuWeather.com
12. Scientists Say  California Mega-Quake Imminent - The Weather
Channel, weather.com
13. Another Step Closer To A One World Religion: 50 U.S. Churches
To Read From The Quran On Sunday - The American Dream, endoft-
heamericandream.com
14. How climate change could cause a 30-year war - The world is
careening toward a bloody global battle over energy, says Michael
Klare at CBS News. - The Week, theweek.com
15. Australia Urged to Protect Key Farmland from Foreign Buyers -
voanews.com
16. Qantas and Jetstar cancel all flights for weekend - It could
be a long weekend for travellers wanting to get home as Qantas
and its budget subsidiary Jetstar announce all flights in and out
of New Zealand are cancelled all weekend because of ash from the
Chilean volcano.

These are just some of the headlines from the end of June, 2011
to July 1, 2011. So much is happening in the world right now it
is hard to keep up. Natural disasters seem to be increasing and
are more intense. Here are some statistics that I found on the
internet for earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 to 9.9: 2004 (1,672),
2005 (1,844), 2006 (1,865), 2007 (2,270), 2008 (1,948), 2009
(2,056), 2010 (2,117), 2011 (659 up to March 16). It certainly
appears that the earthquakes are becoming more intense. Here is
the website if you would like to look at the full list back to
1970, htt www.iohnstonsarchive.net/other/quakel.html. Of course
we are aware of the huge earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand
and in Japan. These were both extremely devastating earthquakes
and have changed those areas forever.

Tornados in the US have been extremely harsh so far this year.
Here are the statistics on tornados up to July 1, 2011 from
http://en.wikipedia.or/ wiki/Tornadoes of 2011:
"As of July 1, there have been 1,604 tornadoes reported in the US
in 2011 (of which at least 1,142 were confirmed). 2011 has been
an exceptionally destructive and deadly year for tornadoes;
worldwide, at least 551 people perished due to tornadoes: 12 in
Bangladesh, one in New Zealand, one in the Philippines and an
estimated 537 in the United States (compared to 564 US deaths in
the 10 years prior). Due in large part to several extremely large
tornado outbreaks in the middle and end of April and in late May,
the year is currently on nearrecord to record pace. It is also
the deadliest year in the United States since 1936, due mostly to
the 322 tornadic deaths that occurred during the April 27
outbreak across the Southeastern United States and the 157
tornadic deaths in the 2011 Joplin Tornado." Canada has also had
some severe winds and a few destructive tornados.

Flooding has been a very destructive force in the past year.
There has been flooding in Aus tralia, especially in Queensland,
which was disastrous. Flooding in China, the Philippines, Sumatra
and many other countries has been extremely devastating. Canada
has had and is still experiencing flooding in Manitoba, Quebec
and Saskatchewan.

The United States has also had terrible flooding along the
Mississippi River, which affected Memphis, TN and West Memphis,
AR. There was also extreme flooding in the Midwest which affected
Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa. It's amazing to me
how much of the land that is being flooded is the bread basket of
our nations. What will come next, famine and high food prices?
What a year and these are only the beginning of sorrows! We must
remember though, that the worse things get, the closer we are to
the Lord's return and the coming Kingdom on earth. Hallelujah!
Remember Jesus' words, "And when these things begin to come to
pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption
draweth nigh." (Luke 21:28).
..........

From "Thy Kingdom Come" - August 2011, a publication of The
Association of the Covenant People, Burnaby, B.C. Canada.

MSN.COM and your HEALTH!!!

TODAY maybe especially, for whatever reason, msn.com has some great info on being HEALTHY!!!

They have this section for MEN, fourteen or so ways that men can be happy and healthy. I found nothing new in it all, but yes those ways do make for a healthy and happy man. Come to think of it those all apply to women also.

And when you analize it all, it is the BALANCED life to live. Sure some of us have to drop out a few specifics like taking time with your children (if you do not have any or are single or old and the kids have left the coop). But apart from a few adjustments, the rest is pretty common sense. I guess we have to be reminded for too many of us have forgotten common sense or we get so busy with work, common sense gets pushed to one side.

Now msn.com always have snipits of healthy living on their website so you may want to check in with them on a regular basis, and see what the up-to-date science news and discovery info has come out for this and that health issue.

I have discovered recently (probably been there for maybe years) from looking around with wider vision in the large grocery stores, that they have ORANGE juice that is pure orange juice NOT from consentrate, but just from oranges WITH (one brand) extra pulp. Ingredients: Orange juice ..... my it is really good.

My doctor said I should be eating "oatmeal" for breakfast, and went out and found a whole variety in the stores.....some more natural than others and less sugar .... the quick cooking pack paymeal. I get natural goats milk, my Dad started me on that, he's been making oatmeal breakfast for years with goats milk (you can now get organic cows milk) .... yes I know it is all still pasturized, but tryingt to get unpasturized milk in Canada is very difficult (Canadian laws for milk producers) unless of course you have your own cows or goats. So we do the best we can in the situation. My Dad has made the best he can do in his situation all through his life and he's 91 in August.

People wonder if I die my hair. I have some grey on the sides but overall my hair is still dark brown (looks black when I put hair cream on) at age 69 come 9/11 (Sept.11th). No I do not die my hair, but attribute to keeping most of it dark brown because I take minerals in pill form and eat licorice made from molasses which contains lots of minerals. Most people do not realize how important it is for you to be getting minerals in your diet. And because of our produce farming habits we today in the Western world do not get enough natural minerals in our foods. I still also have most of my hair, just a round bald spot on the top that when I comb my hair gets covered over. I can only put down to having still my hair and its original color to making sure I get minerals in my diet one way or another.

I have no wrinkes in my face and no droopy skin under my eyes. My face tissue is still pretty tight as when I was a teen. What have I done all my life? Good healthy diet, but way way before it was "now the natural cool things to do" for men, I put cream on my face starting as a teenager, when such things were only done by girls and women. Now you go into the drugstore etc. and you can find all kinds of creams for men for the face and body. I was well ahead of the game. Now of course they have special anti-wrinkle creams for both sexes. I found a Nivea one for men recently with Q10 in it.
There are also facial exercises you can do; learned that from Mr. Charles Atlas - the health and strength guy from way back (at age 65 he was still bending 6 inch nails with his hands). You can pull up on the neck tensing your neck muscles as you do - that keeps you from getting that saggy neck look. You blow your cheecks out - that keeps you from deep cheek wrinkles. So all that, together with creams and a good healthy diet, good 8/9 hours of sleep each day, will keep you looking 20 years younger than you are.

The photo you see of me was taken when I was 50 years old. Now I plan that when I'm 70 I will take the same photo with the same jacket I still have - the rose colored one - and you will see not much difference.

.....................

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Don't Blame God!

DON'T BLAME GOD

BY ROBERT B. MACDORMAND

The current turmoil in the world may have people questioning
whether God cares. We talk about the greatness and power of God
and wonder why He lets chaos prevail. We must realize that we are
the victims of our own choices and the choices of others.

The prophet Job in the Bible was a righteous man who suffered
because of the choices of Satan. Also, he received condemnation
from his friends because of their sins. David was a righteous man
who suffered because of the jealousy of Saul. Jeremiah was put in
a dungeon because he spoke God's word. John the Baptist was
beheaded because he preached the law of God to Herod. "They were
stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the
sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not
worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens
and caves of the earth." Hebrews 11:37,38. These people, our
ancestors, realized that God is not the author of chaos; it is
the result of sin. They suffered for the sins of others. All of
us today suffer for the sins of our first ancestors, Adam and
Eve, who chose to yield to Satan rather than God.

We did not bring the current turmoil on the western world. We did
not create the massive economic bondage our nations are in. Most
believers are ordinary middle class, hard working, and honest
Christian people. We did not create the economic policies of our
nations. We are not responsible for the behaviour of stock-
holders, banks, and corporations that dominate the financial
decisions made in our nations. The people responsible will have
to appear before God one day. "For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things
done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be
good or bad." 2 Corinthians 5:10.

We were all concerned when we saw on the news the devastation
from tornadoes in Alabama, and from the floods in Manitoba,
Quebec, and down the Mississippi. Australia and New Zealand also
suffered from a cyclone and earthquakes this year, and there have
been terrible fires in western Canada and Arizona. We never know
where disaster will strike next. When these things happen there
is no use shaking a fist at God and blaming Him. I do not like
calling these things "acts of God". Satan rules in the earth
right now and this is a fallen world. I believe when Jesus Christ
takes over rulership of the planet He will transform it into a
paradise. In the meantime, He can still help us through these
difficult events. The weather of the planet seems to be in chaos.
We can expect more extremes of weather as we approach the Third
World War. God can take control of the weather when He chooses to
accomplish his purposes. The Bible indicates that He will use the
weather in his judgment of the nations. "Hast thou entered into
the treasure of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the
hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against
the day of battle and war?" Job 38:22-23. Speaking of Gog, the
leader of the great conglomerate of nations that will fight
against the Israel nations in the Third World War, (shortly after
the 3rd world war in truth - see my study of Ezekiel on my
website - Keith Hunt) the Lord says, "And I will plead against
him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and
upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, and
overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone."
Ezekiel 38:22.

God does not promise that we will not have trouble in this
time of the end, but that He will be with us through our time of
trouble, and eventually we will be delivered from it when the
Lord returns. "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like
it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved
out of it." Jeremiah 30:7. In prophecy, the name Jacob often
refers to unconverted Israel. The time of trouble should turn
some of them to the Lord as they seek answers to the tragedies
they experience. This is part of God's plan for our people. He
will be saving souls when everything looks hopeless. Our God is
always with us.
..........

From the July 2011 "Thy Kingdom Come" - a publication of The
Association of the Covenant People, Burnaby, B.C. Canada.

Welllll.... Robert I can agree with you in the main, BUT last
time I looked Hosea 4 was still in my Bible. Kinda plain I think.
Now is God directly or in-directly responsible? Well could be
both. We sure know this though, God does ALLOW it all; He does
not stop it, not for now He does not stop it, and physical
disasters will be used to bring this world to its knees and be
ready to accept the way of the Lord, which the world and the
nations on it do not want to do today, but want to do the way
that seems right to man, but which ways end in death.

Keith Hunt

Money verses Christ!

MAMMON VERSUS CHRIST

By DON ROBSON
 
In Jesus' day, He encountered the money changers in the temple, casting them out and overturning their tables. He also had harsh words for them as recorded in Luke 16:13, "No servant can serve two lords; for either he will hate the one and love the other: or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON."

There is a tale in Nehemiah where the people cried out to him because they were mortgaging their possessions to buy food and they were reduced to poverty. Nehemiah stepped up to the challenge and had the people's possessions restored to them. But it did not last! We are confronted with the same conditions today except we have no Nehemiah to take a stand.

Usury is generally a practice of the wealthy who have the money to lend. The working class and the impoverished tend to be the borrowers who, in many cases, pay interest all of their working lives. They are in fact the bondmen of the lenders and they are never free until they have paid the last penny of their debt. By borrowing for the purchase of a house, the cost of the house is incremented a great deal, so that it often takes all of their working lives to own outright their homes. What does the Bible say about usury? Deuteronomy 23:19,20 states, "Thou shalt not the money lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent upon usury. Unto a stranger you may lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to posses it." I speculate this law was not grouped with the Ten Commandments because it was conditional, allowing usury to be charged to the stranger.

As part of the law of the Sabbath, debt is to be cancelled every Sabbath year, with the Lord promising to take over the debt Himself! How wonderful! Jesus called His disciples fools for being so slow to believe all that the prophets had written. Well, we are slow to learn too, and now, two thousand years after Christ, we learn that we cannot keep piling debt on debt with compounding interest and no debt relief. Many countries, led by the United States have accumulated a debt that can never be repaid.

Money is the life blood of our economic activity. By giving money direct earning power (through interest) we have converted a medium of exchange to a commodity. Our economic activity is stifled by a lack of money, especially within our government. They only have two means of raising money, either by taxing or borrowing. With the latter, one has to wonder why government borrows money instead of providing more and putting it into circulation by paying for contracts and salaries. The idea is to measure money supply to meet the needs of the economy and thus prevent massive borrowing so as to avoid the present situation, that is, "The borrower is servant to the lender." As it is, domestic and international bankers have us mortgaged to the hilt (meaning a death grip!).

Wouldn't it be at least nice if our government could start by proclaiming that all interest contracts would be honoured but no new contracts can be authorized in accord with the laws of usury. So, when retirees' interest bearing bonds and GIC's run out they would have to invest their money in dividend paying stocks and securities. In the meantime, with the government issuing enough cash to fund the country's economic activity, they could provide employment for all workers and set off an unusual round of prosperity, rivaling the kingdoms of David and Solomon.

Yet, without a Nehemiah to force a change, we must wait for the return of Jesus Christ who will implement the Law of Moses in His Kingdom.

In Revelation 18:4, we read, "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." In raising this issue, I might be compared to a voice crying in the wilderness. But where is our Nehemiah?
..........

From the July 2011 "Thy Kingdom Come" - a publication of the Association of the Covenant People, Burnaby, B.C. Canada.

Don, there are other voices out there crying in the wilderness, you are not alone, but the governments of this world will ignore the true voices of truth, just as they have ignored the voice of God in the Bible.

Keith Hunt

Friday, July 22, 2011

USA still at loggerheads! Norway under attack!

I come back from a week at the Ranch (for kids horse and pony camp) that went smooth in the overall, no injuries of any kind for the children, a few horses getting cut or coming down lame, but with about 100 horses and ponies, that is kinda normal stats.

So Obama has NOT come to any agreement with the Republicans (especially the afternoon "tea party") on figuring how to get more money to pay the USA bills by the first week in August. Wow, it would be quite something if no solution or agreement is reached. Just fancy the USA in the position that it can no longer pay its bills.......a tsunami of economical 50 foot wave would crash into most of the G20 countries and some new kid on the block would take the first place in the world power for finance and economy. Well time will tell as to how all this will play out.

Europe says it has come to some plan to bailout Greece so Europe can move along without a huge tsunami hitting them in economic terms.
..........

Once more we have the sad experience of some "nut-case" guy blasting away and killing over 80 in Norway and injuring dozens more. It seems no "terrorist" group is behind this attack, just some political fruit-nut-cake going to the extreme to make his point. Too bad the police did not shoot him dead. Now there will be the big expense of a trial for this political nut.
..........

The weather is playing havoc here and there around the world - heat-wave records set in the USA and Canada. Then we have the terrible famine in Somalia, and tens of thousands having to flee to neighboring countries in refugee camps. Canada has pledged 50 million dollars to help, and hopes that will set an example for other countries to give. If this was not all bad enough, just the famine alone, you have this Somalia country in civil war fighting fractions of I think at least 3 differing groups - differing enough to fight and kill each other. Jesus said there would be wars, rumor of wars and famines before the end time would come. Sure having them. I can hardly believe mad-man Madhafi is still holding on and has not yet been put to rest - six feet under. A military depot in Syria has been hit by two bombs. I guess the average person there is forming groups to hit back at the killing of civilians the police and military have been doing for a number of months now. Yes Jesus said those who live by the sword shall die by the sword. Sure enough bright-minded persons in the civilians to start making bombs and blasting back at the military and police for the violence they have done by randomly shooting into crowds peacefully demonstrating.  So it could be heading for pay-back time on the military and police.
..........

The scandal over that British newspaper and its phone line tapping to get stories is still a shaking and a rattling - some heads rolling, and now they say there will be a police investigation. It could be more shocking news yet to come.
..........

Saturday, July 16, 2011

USA MONEY TROUBLES!!!

SO NOW IT IS CRUNCH TIME....FINALLY AFTER DECADES of the USA going into debt deeper and deeper and still deeper, as if there would never be a day of reckoning, that day is not far away; the clock is counting down.

The big guys are meeting with Obama, day after day, to try and come to a meeting of the minds, some kind of compromise between the Democrats and Republicans, with a little bit of the "tea party" coming in with afternoon tea and cookies, but they say all parties are not partying at all together, and the cookies are getting stale, and the tea cold, and tempers on the edge.

On the Canadian radio the other night they were interviewing a rep from the "tea party" and he seemed to be making sense as to what the USA government should do to cut its spending and get its money and debt problems going in the right direction, without raising taxes.

The Canadian government some years back under another administration, had to make some hard moves but they did it and came out of debt, one of the very few Western nations to get out of debt. With the crash of 2008 and the role of Canada in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, we are back in debt once more, though we are in a much better position in jobs and economy and debt wise than most, if not any Western nation.

China has given the USA a stern warning to get its house in order with its debt problems now in the 14 Trillion dollar mark, they are holding much of the cards. IF the USA goes bankrupt there will be HUGE and SERIOUS economic woes for the world, it will cause a spiral spin for all the world. Major changes will take place, and politically it could bring about the Beast of Europe moving into a more revamped union making a powerful march to its prophetic future as proclaimed in Bible prophecy and the book of Revelation.

Interesting times we are in. You are seeing end time Bible prophecy coming to pass right before your eyes. Very serious events are taking place in the the West and in the Arab world, which will lead to the king of the north (Europe) and the king of the south (Arab union) and the downfall of the USA and the British Commonwealth and some nations of Europe, as they go into literal captivity to the Beast Babylon end time Holy Roman Empire.

Then comes the last 42 months of this age, and the return of Christ Jesus to establish the Kingdom of God on this earth for the first 1,000 years and then for Eternity under the Father and Son, as given in Revelation 20, 21, 22.

Sin, evil, corruptions, death, famine, wars, are everywhere, the latest is the downfall of the British 168 year old tabloid newspaper, with its corrupt ways of "getting a story" - as Jesus said before His return "evil shall abound and the love of many wax cold" (Mat.24).

We need to indeed pray, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven."
..........

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Betty Ford dies/British jobs in the dumps and ...

Betty Ford was remembered for many things, a free speaker, brought breast cancer out in the open, founded the Betty Ford Rehab for people hooked on drugs, alcohol, and prescription drugs.

So she gets TWO church services....yes church I said, yet Ford was pro-abortion rights. So in God's eyes she was like king David, a BLOODY MAN, in her case "bloody women."

So her pro-abortion - abortion on demand - wipes out all the good she tried to do, and is hypocrisy to have two church funerals.

So is the world, so is the popular church that is NOT the church that Jesus built.
..........

Britain still has massive job problems. Many are saying it will be 5 years before that country gets back to its previous economic position before 2008. Now we have talk about huge economic troubles for Italy, and Ireland, and a few more Europe countries.....it is the Beast of the Holy Roman Empire made up of iron and clay.
..........

The USA with 14 TRILLION debt could fall - call declare bankruptcy, yet most think she will not. But a long way to go to be as it was before 2008, and it may never will be as before. China/India is well on the track to take over the economy of the world right now, until Europe becomes the mighty trading and influential  power of the world. So probably a decade or so before Europe rises to be the Holy Roman Empire  - the Babylon of Revelation.
..........

Pakistan and the USA are out of sink with each other, have troublesome times between each other, two countries with two "not so equal" a mindsets.
..........

It's is all part of the prophecies of the end-time that Jesus spoke about in the first verses of Matthew 24.
..........

A 168 year newspaper "The News of the World" is three strikes and OUT - getting into phone tapping, brides to this and that man; anything it seems to get "a story" - some maybe on the line of "criminal" acts.
Well the paper is GONE!!
Silly, stupid, ways to be a newspaper at the top. Surely it could not go on forever, if would finally blow them away - and so it did.
..........

On BBC news tonight.....Greece and Europe in trouble, the USA in trouble, China must step in to keep the hope of a rise from the doldrums. And it seems to be doing just that.
..........

The half brother to Pakistan's leading man and President, has been shot dead....Taliban is to blame.
The enemy of the USA and Britain, and Canada etc. is far from being defeated though the West would like you to believe it is so. All they have to do is wait it out until the Allies are gone home......then they can do their dirty work ..... they've had decades of so doing and so living, pretty skilled at it all.
..........

Saturday, July 9, 2011

USA economy and jobs .... down again/Another new world country

The latest in the job market for the USA is again a dismal down month.....unemployment up again.

The hype that the USA economy was on the up and up was all just that.... false hype. For the average worker the true story has once more been told, and President Obama has again had to make a speech he probably very much wishes he did not have to bring to the people.

While the USA is down once more, Canada has actually created jobs and is looking very rosey on the world economic scene, the Canadian dollar still running high above the USA greenback.
..........

Parts of Europe back into high high temperature heat wave, while North America has the whole nine yards of
mixed up weather from heat, to fires to floods, to blow you away storms of one kind or another.
..........

So one more country is born in the last few days..... South Sudan, after 50 years of North and South civil war. Britain and European countries will give aid and help but also they say it will come with tough love, as this new country must move the right way in its new life as an independant country. Time as they say will tell how well it will do for itself. I do pray it will be a new and better life for its people, after 50 years of fighting, they need a better life.
..........

It's my summer time at the Ranch with the "Horsesrcool" summer camp for children and adults. Just had our first week of 8 straight weeks. The weather was great this first week, and the 50 plus kids really enjoyed themselves. They sign up for a week at a time - Monday to Friday. It's a day camp - they come out on a school bus each day, and learn about horses and ponies and how to ride, some already know and have been to the camp in past years, but many are new to the horse riding world. They learn a lot in one week. We have a great group of young people on staff, many been with us for 3 or 4 years, now moving on from High School to University this September. 
..........

Saturday, July 2, 2011

The "Green Zone" movie

I've just re-watched the Universal Pictures "Green Zone" staring Matt Damon.

It is an eye opening movie for seeing the political "un-correctness" in this case about the start of the Iraq war from the USA and Britain - the two B boys - Bush and Blair.

It shows you how "politics" and a certain mind-set can get in the way, nay MESS UP and interpret what your mind-set has already determined what you want to do. It shows you how deliberate MIS-INFORMATION can and does go on behind closed doors of those with a certain mind-set who want to see what they want to see, so they can do what they have already determined they want to do.

Politics and war often go hand in hand with those who want to combine politics and war.

You need to see this movie if you have not seen it.

It is raw as they say, so CANADA has it as a 14A movie......for people 14 years and older.

On the CBC "Has it Happens" radio show (Monday to Friday - 6:30 to 8:00 pm) was a very interesting interview the other evening. Though Obama has said the Iraq/Afghanistan/Pakistan war has cost ONE TRILLION DOLLARS, the true facts as studied by a group of experts, digging deeper, says it is more like 2.5 to 4.00 TRILLION, when ALL things are taken into consideration, which the figure of one trillion does not take into account. And then the fact of all the money that will yet be spent on soldiers with disabilities and the cost of ongoing for years, from those injuries and disabilities, will continue to move into the tens millions of dollars for years and decades to come.

The same group of experts give about 225 thousand deaths in those wars in those three countries over the last 10 years. And of that figure it is close to 200 thousand civilians killed. Hence about 25 thousand classified as "soldiers" and "police" from all sides.

Then the fact remains when all allied soldiers are removed from those three countries will "democracy" truly win the day and be established? And that answer up front depends on what political side and mind-set you are in. Only time will give the true answer, as well as the Taliban and other Arab terrorists groups.
....................

Friday, July 1, 2011

The BUS STOP movie

I'm about 1/3 the way through the new biography "The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe" by Randy Taraborrelli.  It's a New York Times best seller.  On the back from King Features Weekly Service is:
"Groundbreaking ... More books about Monroe will no doubt be written, but it is against this one that all others will be measured."

The book delivers the details of the tough, sad, emotional draining, tormented, stressful, life that you would not want to see any child having to go through, as in the childhood and early teens, that Norma Jeane (who became Marilyn Monroe) went through. But the inspiring thing is what she tried to do with her life, and the pitfalls along the way, the fight she had to wage with Hollywood, to move out of the "dumb blond" image they wanted to cast her as, besides the "sex godess" they wanted to make her into. Behind the scene that few out in the world knew about with her mentally ill mother, and the fear she had of inheriting that mental sickness. All the stress and pressure from both sides, and the off-beat, out of sink two men she married (baseball's Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller) who abused her in many ways as the book brings out. All of this finally led to her sleeping pill habit and to her finally taking an overdose of them that put her to rest from this physical life, at age 36.

Marilyn's life was tragic, sad, and also kinda inspiring, especially coming from the circumstances of her
childhood, and misuse by Hollywood and DiMaggio and Miller.

Marilyn was much more talented than many people think, and she finally got to show that versatility of talent in a few movies towards the end of her short life.

One is especially moving in its story, a 1956 Fox color movie called "BUS STOP." It's set in a "western" setting. Marilyn takes on an accent (literal voice accent) that shows she had the talent to be an all around actress, she even has to learn for this movie how "not to sing" very well.

The movie has a serious lesson to it all. It shows how a man should not be this kind of man, and not to rough-shod it over a woman, push his weight around, and put force on a woman, not the force of physical violence in this movie, but a force of rough dominant personality. It's a movie that shows these kinds of men do not truly win the heart of the woman they want. It shows these types of men must sooner or later be beaten down, if a change in attitude and personality desirable for both the decent man and woman (even a woman from a not the greatest background, but who really wants the right man in her life, so she can find true happiness) is to find favor with.

The movie shows a man that needs to change, can change his ways and mannerisms, that should be the right way to live with fellow man, and the woman of his dreams.

All the actors do a very fine job in the roles they play, and certainly Marilyn and Don Murray (as the rough cowboy that needs to learn many things) show the great talent they had for the persons they play in this movie.

It is a family movie, that I can recommend for children 8 years and older. The lessons in the movie a well brought up 8 year old should be able to see clearly.

Yes sir, a movie of Marilyn's that I recommend you have in your library (as well as "River of no Return") and as Randy Taraborrelli says in his book about Marilyn, a movie you should watch many times, over your life time. And I fully agree.

Oh yes, it has a good ending, as it can when people start to act, and speak, and do what they should to win favor with other men and women.
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