Monthly Archives: May 2025

Remember

Since our nations founding, well over 1-million service members have given their lives in defense of our country.  Unless someone close in your family was one of these patriots, the term “service members” tends to dehumanize the actual toll.  And the further we get from those days of greatest human hecatomb, the more abstract the memory becomes.  Sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers, living, breathing people that through their sacrifice, left behind sorrow, grief, despair, and a lifetime of loss to those scores of the living left to mourn their passing.  The great burden of mourning blocks the light of life from the millions that survive, suffer and remember.

Today, we make that painful effort to force ourselves to invite that old hurt, that sorrow, back into our minds in order to honor their sacrifice and to harden our resolve in remembrance so that we not forget why they died.

They died in their own moment of horror so that we might live.  While not all were called to war, all are called to duty.  That sacred obligation to preserve and protect that which they have died for.  The land of the FREE, and the home of the BRAVE isn’t a clever turn-of-the-phrase ending to a song, it is a clarion call for those of us left behind to do our sacred parts.

While we celebrate today through a veil of tears, let us remember that freedom, liberty and the manifest destiny of mankind rests in all of our hands collectively.  No matter our differences, we share our freedom, important enough to warrant wholesale death.  Let this not be forgotten or forsaken.

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Tough Love

While this is an expose’ about a town here in NY, it is a repeating theme in many areas ruled over by liberals.  If where you live is experiencing this kind of nonsense, feel free to cut-and-paste anything you see here and pepper your local newspapers and media sites with your opinion.

The radical liberals representing constituents here in Binghamton, NY are openly hostile to property owners while grossly indulgent to that faction of renters that are irresponsible deadbeats.

Instead of coddling those that are lazy, game the system, abuse drugs and live in a criminal-centric mindset, we should be encouraging property development that forces this element out of the community.

When these socialist legislators talk about “ultra-affordable” housing, they are fleecing the self-sufficient, tax-paying, honest and hard-working in order to support those who aren’t willing to be responsible, productive citizens. 

This path eventually makes Binghamton unlivable.

In the short term, the goal should be to gentrify Binghamton as quickly as possible.

In the long-term, we should be encouraging intact, traditional family structures based on a religious foundation of belief in almighty God, self-reliance, accountability, education and upward mobility.

Affecting and addressing this generational change will break the bonds of the failed liberal social-science experiment that has been proven to actually foster and promote that which it was originally thought to prevent.

This long-range objective is certainly more forward-thinking than simply indulging and furthering failure that fosters learned-helplessness and offers no solutions.

Liberals exploit those they pretend to help in order to virtue-signal and pose as their saviors.

Conservatives believe in helping people move up and out of hopelessness while liberals feel they aren’t capable.  The tough love of doing that which is hard builds people up.  The pity of liberals, cloaked as help, holds them down, cementing for them a dim future

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From Fright to Faith

Our first brush with fear comes at birth, thrust from the serene safety of the womb into a world of bright lights and jarring noise. For many, that fear lingers, shaping a life of caution.  Learning how to manage our fears is the key to a happier and more enjoyable life.  Once we learn how fear is used to manipulate us, it becomes less powerful.

Fear is used in ways you probably don’t recognize.  If you don’t use our product(s); you won’t be able to sleep/lose weight/be alert/have more energy/better sex/digestion or regular bowel movements.  If you don’t support our cause; puppies/refugees/babies/the homeless and the elderly will die.  In politics, if you don’t support our party, you will be over-taxed/unpatriotic/financially ruined and hated by everyone.

External fears, like those peddled by advertisers or politicians, thrive on our compliance. Learning to question their claims—‘Do I really need this product to be happy?’ negates their power.  Many fear facing tomorrow, their state of health, their financial condition, their relationships, their careers, their futures.  Many more fear anything new; change, making new friends, losing old friends, their neighbors, traffic.  Fear slows us down, undermines our decision-making and causes indecision.  Fear can make us sick, (“I’m sick over this…”)  Fear, at the least, undermine our life’s pleasures and in some extreme cases can even end it.

There are two distinct forms of fear; the external kinds delivered from others and the internal source, entirely of our own making.  Standing up to the school-yard bully addresses the former, controlling our own mind the latter.

Napoleon Hill said, “Fears are nothing more than a state of mind.”

That said, it is key to know and understand the difference between real, legitimate fear and everything else.  Fearing the dangerous and life-threatening prevents us from death or injury.  This is an appropriate fear, processed in our brains amygdale region which triggers the fight-or-flight response.

Every other form of fear is ours to manage, whether wisely or not.  Learning how to do this means the difference between a happy life and something quite less than that.

A turning-point experience in managing my fears came to me in the form of buying my first motorcycle as a 15-year-old.  The used bike I bought came from the coolest kid in high school.  He had the nicest car, the most radical bike, and the cutest girlfriend in our school.  Everyone loved this guy and I wanted to be more like him.  While I loved motorcycles, I had no clue how to ride one.

 When “Mike” was delivering the bike, he started it up and said, “Here you go, take it for a spin.”  I made some excuse, telling him I trusted him.  Truth was, I feared that Mike would know I was a fraud.  Once he left, I wheeled that bike into the darkened garage and got out the owners manual to see how it worked.  I taught myself how to ride that bike by trial and error.  I faced my fears and I conquered that bike.  Learning about that motorcycle taught me that fear, at its core, often boils down to simple choices—act or retreat, embrace or avoid.

Facing that fear led me to a lifetime of motorcycling.  Mingling the sensation of speed, the in-your-face rush of air, the smells and sights all coincide to push the fear and the danger back into its place as you trade off the uncertainty for the sheer joy of the experience.  I learned that I could be cool too.  The fear was worth the ride.

Fear does not stop death, it stops life.

Fear, in all forms require choices—act or freeze, trust or doubt. This clarity can light the way forward.  For example, you are either healthy or you are sick.  If you’re healthy, you have nothing to worry about.  If you’re sick, consider two things; you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse.  If you’re getting better, you have nothing to worry about.  If you’re getting worse, consider two things; you’re either going to live, or you’re going to die.  If you’re going to live, you’ve got nothing to worry about.  If you’re going to die, consider two things; are you going to heaven or are you going to hell?  If you’re going to heaven, you’ve got nothing to worry about.  If you’re going to hell, well is something worth worrying about and maybe the best example of the importance of how we might best prepare ourselves for the future because we all must face our own death.

Simplifying fear into choices helps us act, but enduring peace often comes from a deeper source—whether philosophy, spirituality, or personal conviction.  While not all fears reduce to simple choices—chronic illness or systemic challenges can feel overwhelming—the principle remains: focusing on what we can control shrinks fear’s shadow.

For centuries, wisdom traditions have offered tools to tame fear, from philosophy to faith. In my own journey, I’ve found solace in the Bible’s guidance.  The word ‘fear’ appears roughly 500 times in the Bible, reflecting its dual role as anxiety and reverence.

It is interesting how fear is used as a contronym, both for the traditional meaning indicating anxiety and terror, as well as the non-traditional meaning when it come to God, meaning holding him in awe and reverence, (“fear of the Lord”)  Using it this way, Proverbs says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  Overwhelmingly, the Bible tells us, “Do not be afraid.”  And as our faith deepens, we can depend upon and take comfort in passages like, “”There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.”

With faith in God, fear fades when we anchor ourselves in something greater.  Quite simply, fear thrives in the absence of faith. … Belief is the antidote to fear.

What’s your earliest memory of fear? And how does it still shape you today?

Putting our fears into perspective can make them easier to understand and manage.  Going back to our life-and-death story, in those final earthy moments before our demise, I believe our thoughts might be consumed with wondering, did we do enough, are we prepared to face our death, do we move closer to death with faith or with fear?

Faith conquers fear.

Recalling a time of good health, when worries faded, offers perspective for today.  Because we are enjoying our good health and we are alive right in this moment, doesn’t the thought of all this clarify for us the fact that this time, right now, is the time of our lives?  Can not this perspective relieve us all of our fears, if just for a moment in reflection?  Isn’t it true that right now, any of us are free to do whatever we want, if not for whatever fears we allow to persuade us no?

Yesterday provides experience and tomorrow is only a hope.  Today is the only certainty. 

In this moment, our fears are an illusion. As Plato said, ‘We can easily forgive a child afraid of the dark; the real tragedy is when we fear the light.’ Embrace your trust in God, and step boldly into the life awaiting you, today.

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Liberal V. conservative

Kilmar Abrago Garcia was deported mistakenly by the Trump administration, an “administrative error” that has ignited a fierce debate. As a staunch conservative, I believe my side has this one wrong, and here’s why.

The mistake is reversible.  This is really all we need to know.  With a phone call, President Trump could have Garcia back on US soil in hours.  If you doubt the president’s ability to act swiftly, consider the executive branch’s recent displays of broad authority and Trump’s propensity to conspicuously display his power.

Despite the administration’s admission of error, Garcia’s detractors justify his deportation by pointing to these unproven allegations:

  1. Garcia is alleged to be a gang member, but without proof or arrest.
  2. He was accused of domestic violence yet his wife defends him and he was never charged or arrested.
  3. Garcia’s detractors point to an incident where he was driving 8-men from Tennessee to Maryland, accusing him of human trafficking.  He explained to Tennessee State police during a traffic stop that he was transporting the men for a construction job and he was allowed to continue and no arrests were made.
  4. Allegations of tattoos on Garcia’s hands indicating MS-13 gang membership have been widely debunked as digitally manipulated. 

Tampering with evidence regarding Garcia’s alleged tattoos is a federal felony, apparently perpetrated by our own government.  This alone should scare the hell out of every American.  The desperate need for the government to resort to such tactics demonstrates their lack of factual evidence.

Garcia has been in this country since 2011 and although he did enter illegally as a sixteen-year-old fearing for his life had he remained in El Salvador, a federal judge granted a “withholding of removal” order which allows him to live and work in the US legally.  To that effect, he has continually met his obligation to report to Immigration & Customs Enforcement annually.  Garcia is married to a US citizen and together they have three-children, all with special needs.  He is also a journeymen member of a US trade union.

He might hate apple pie and the forth of July but none of that matters to the issue at hand.  The man was illegally seized, deported and imprisoned and those on the right are inflaming the situation by fear-mongering with phrases like “MS-13”, “human-trafficker”, “domestic abuser” and “gang-member”, all unproven and unsubstantiated allegations that are dog-whistle code-speech meant to indict by vilification in the court of public opinion.

In an April 10, 2025 unanimous order of the US Supreme Court in Noem v. Garcia the justices said this, in part, regarding the return of Garcia to the US:

“The Government now requests an order from this Court permitting it to leave Abrego Garcia, a husband and father without a criminal record, in a Salvadoran prison for no reason recognized by the law.  The only argument the Government offers in support of its request, that United States courts cannot grant relief once a deportee crosses the border, is plainly wrong.  The Government’s argument, moreover, implies that it could deport and incarcerate any person, including U.S. citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene.  That view refutes itself.”

Those of us on the right pride ourselves on being a “Nation of Laws” however, conservative consensus on this matter suggests otherwise and instead demonstrates the unreasonable concept of the ends justifying the means.  I understand the desire for strict immigration enforcement, especially amid concerns about crime, but Garcia’s case shows how overreach undermines the commitment to due process.  Conservatives pride ourselves on actually defending the rule of law. Let’s demonstrate that by bringing Garcia back, giving him his day in court, and showing the world that our principles aren’t just words. If we can’t admit when we’re wrong, what separates us from the hypocrisy we so often criticize about the left?

The liberals got this one right and as uncharacteristic as it would be for a liberal ever to admit a mistake and side with us conservatives, we can and must admit when we are wrong.  And if ever there was an example to illustrate that, this is it. 

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