Ironical or Comical?

East TN was the State (and area) to which I ran back in 1990, when my EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE put me into a DIME A DOZEN group for potential employment opportunities which even for a dead man walking is still rather easy to comprehend....   oddly, and to my favor as it worked out, TN was not as progressive as NC in that area of the marketplace, so, in 1990 I was ONE of THREE who had this particular expertise, even though the expertise was still not in high demand, outside of Kingsport which was the home of EASTMAN CHEMICAL formerly known as Eastman Kodak.

It appeared that Eastman Chemical had hired a PhD by the name of Edwards W. Deming to help them improve the quality of their products and their profitability.  Deming was a PhD Statistician who taught the top mangers TQM and SPC and how to improve processes, reduce costs, all while improving quality with that quality being defined by the customer not the producer.

In 1990, I was trained in those areas as well as it turned out...  and quite ironically, that training had absolutely nothing to do with my BA degree in English or my MBA in Strategic Planning...  I could have acquired this training without going to college at all.

By 2005, I was again in the DIME A DOZEN pond and 15 years older than before with no desire to find another State in which to relocate...   So...  I turned to Proprietary Education and go caught up in Project Management Course Design which was DIRECTLY connected to my MBA as in the 1980's this area of business was referred to as PRODUCT MANAGEMENT or managing a womb to tomb operational product line for a company...   kinda like managing a company within a company.  

SO...  in 2012, it was this same State that put me out to pasture that had given me life 22 years earlier.  And, it is this same State that continues not to have a State Income Tax and offers a cheaper cost of living index than most anywhere else in the country.

This State whether it wants to admit it or not, has saved my life with the quality doctors at the University's Medical Center that were trained by the best healthcare facilities all over the USA and who decided to give it all back in Knoxville....

Irony or Comical...   I am not sure what to say...  but what Tennessee has offered me is worth far more than the millions of dollars I could have earned elsewhere...  Tennessee saved my life and continues to do so everyday that I am alive and look out into this beautiful valley or over at the Great Smokey Mountains...  it is free to anyone who wants to park their car on the side of the road and look.

Money is not always success

Money is not always happiness

Money is not always peace-of-mind

The American Worker versus East TN

2018-2020 --  The average per worker income is $108,245

2018-2020 --  The average household income in right around $50,000

2018-2020 --  The average middle class income was $48,500 to $145,500

How does this compare to your current income levels?  family or individual?

In 2019...

                In Tennessee...

                                         the average income was $56,627...

                                                                                                   $3,774/month after taxes...

My wife and I receive about $36,000 in Social Security each year as long as we both remain alive...  which is kinda obvious one would think.  but, it is $20,000 less than the average...

1. If wages increase so too does prices
2. If wages increase so too does the cost of living
3. If wages increase so too does taxes increase
4. Inflation is right around 2% which is not bad    

TN has a cost of living index of 87.6 out of a possible 100 which means it is less expensive to live on average than other places.  AND...  the average monthly cost of living in the USA for a family of 4 is $4,609.00 and if TN is 87.6% of that then TN's cost of living for a family of 4 is about $4,000.00 and less if you are single or a retired married couple.

My wife and I live very comfortably on right around $3,500 each month which does include a couple of week long vacations.  If we want to go more often then we have to draw money out of savings.

In other words, our SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME just about pays for all of our expenses and if we cut back on a few luxuries then we could easily get down to $3,000/month on which to live.  Of course, my wife and I are debt free...  which makes a big difference.

The point is that EAST TENNESSEE is a pretty damn good place to live taking into consideration other factors like:

• Traffic
• Pollution
• City Crime
• Property taxes
• Cost of living
• Weather
• BLM Crime in cities
• Healthcare
• Open spaces
• Parks and Recreation
• Transportation

Drug Use in AMERICA on the RISE

Perhaps the simplest explanation for the increase in substance abuse in
America is our collective mental state. Several employee surveys have shown that American workers are struggling with high levels of stress and anxiety related to job security, income and the threat of discrimination.

A 2015 study conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA), measuring stress on a scale from one-10 found that the average stress level for Americans stood at 5.1, a slight increase from the year before. Of those surveyed, nearly one-quarter reported “extreme stress.” Since introducing the survey in 2007, the APA has consistently found that money and work were the top two sources of stress reported among Americans. The survey also found that 61 percent of adults reported experiencing unfair treatment on a day-to-day basis and that it resulted in higher levels of stress.

Another survey, which included 500 American workers, revealed that 90 percent of workers were stressed out about finances. More than 50 percent of those surveyed reported “moderate” or “significant stress.” There are many reasons why people choose to abuse drugs or alcohol, but few have the same impact of stress.

Common Risk Factors for Addiction:

• Poor education
• Mental illness
• Poverty
• Parental substance abuse
• Environment

In most cases, prevention of drug use begins at home and school. Parents need to lead by example, and educators need to be diligent in talking about the dangers of substance abuse.

However...  there is an alarming trend of drug use increases among with wealthy which, if they are also parents is going to be difficult to get them to set a good example.

Additionally...  poverty is a relative terms in most cases...  if we try to improve poverty by boosting income, we also increase the cost of living and everything shifts upwards, leaving the poor people on the bottom still living in poverty.

It is possible to get a handful out of poverty without disrupting the economic balance but just a few each year is not really going to help the problem...  at least, it does not seem it will help it all that much for me...

ALSO...  with the amount of money that drug dealers make each day, each week, each month, each year, it is going to be difficult to stop them from doing that with more education...  knowing that education will not come close to providing the income that selling drugs provided...

It's nothing personal DUDE...   just business...

AMERICA... She Promised...

America promised to end racism in the 1960's

America promised to end racism in the 1970's

America promised to end racism in the 1980's

America promised to end racism in the 1990's

America promised to end racism in the 2000's

America promised to end racism in the 2010's

America promised to end racism in the 2020's under a new Presidential Administration...

I was alive, well and present during 6 of these decades and I pretty much plan to be around during the 7th one as well...  and, in each one of these decades...  WHITES were blamed for the problem as politicians on both sides wanted to pass laws forcing whites to change their attitudes and behaviors...  making sure that blacks were treated more fairly...  more equal...  so that they could get more of the American Apple Pie with or without ice cream was optional.

BUT...  nothing changed...  even with those new laws...

SO...  whites were blamed even more forcefully...  and then, someone decided that whites would change if we took their statues down...

FINALLY...  we have decided that the problem does not just lie with the whites but with LAW ENFORCEMENT even when under a black command structure....

SO...  during the next few years I suppose, we will work on restructuring our law enforcement agencies to make them more conducive to black folks and black neighborhoods...   while REPORGRAMMING WHITE MINDS not to see blacks as the enemy...

OF course...  blacks will be allowed to continue with their behaviors and actions as if they are not at all contributing to the problem...  especially since we have all agreed that it is the WHITE MAN WHO IS THE CULPRIT HERE...   and, there can be ONLY ONE VILLIAN.

Uniting America

For my entire 73 years of life, I have never nor will I ever refer to myself as a WHITE AMERICAN or a NON-HISPANIC WHITE who just happens to be a citizen of America.

Let the RACES and ETHNIC GROUPS celebrate their ETHNICITIES or whatever else it is that they want to celebrate but until we refer to ourselves simply as AMERICANS, we will continue to live in a country of racial discrimination.

Giving African Americans more money, more education, better employment, better housing, better healthcare is NOT GOING TO STOP THEM from referring to themselves as African Americans or seeing themselves as African Americans...   and, until our leaders realize this....  NO CULTURAL AWARENESS TRAINING or getting in touch WITH ONE'S WHITENESS is going to work.

NO...  I am not loaded with COLLEGE DEGREES to support my opinion...   I am just looking at this from a logical perspective and using the military as an example.

Why do you think there is so little discrimination in the military?

I said LITTLE not NONE...

There is gender discrimination and racial discrimination BUT NOT MUCH OF EITHER...

Why do you think that is?

The military has bent over backwards to make sure all their personnel see themselves first as soldiers, then as Americans defending other Americans...

Soldiers defend FREEDOM

Soldiers are loyal to their country not to an ethnic group or a race

Soldiers are united by codes of conduct

Soldiers see themselves as one body of thought to be directed

Americans are NOT SOLDIERS in the truest sense of the word, yet because of their ethnicities they are willing to fight like soldiers in the streets of our cities as they burn and loot that which belongs to their brothers...

For Most Americans:

• There is no harmony
• There is no unity
• There is no IDEAL of being an AMERICAN   

Americans:

• are either white or black
• wealthy or poor
• educated or not educated
• employed or not employed
• democrat or republican
• independent or socialist
• religious or non religious
• obese or average
• leaders or followers
• married or not married

Our BILL OF RIGHTS underscores our desires never to become UNITED or see ourselves are ONE... it may take you a minute to receive this clarity but it is there right in front of you...  hiding in plain sight...

OUR FREEDOMS PREVENT US FROM BECOMING UNITED...

Token Philanthrophy

NATIVE SON by Richard Wright

SUMMARY:  Bigger Thomas, a poor, uneducated, twenty-year-old black man in 1930s Chicago, wakes up one morning in his family’s cramped apartment on the South Side of the city. He sees a huge rat scamper across the room, which he corners and kills with a skillet. Having grown up under the climate of harsh racial prejudice in 1930s America, Bigger is burdened with a powerful conviction that he has no control over his life and that he cannot aspire to anything other than menial, low-wage labor. His mother pesters him to take a job with a rich white man named Mr. Dalton, but Bigger instead chooses to meet up with his friends to plan the robbery of a white man’s store.

Anger, fear, and frustration define Bigger’s daily existence, as he is forced to hide behind a façade of toughness or risk succumbing to despair. While Bigger and his gang have robbed many black-owned businesses, they have never attempted to rob a white man. Bigger sees whites not as individuals, but as a natural, oppressive force—a great looming “whiteness” pressing down upon him. Bigger’s fear of confronting this force overwhelms him, but rather than admit his fear, he violently attacks a member of his gang to sabotage the robbery. Left with no other options, Bigger takes a job as a chauffeur for the Daltons.

Coincidentally, Mr. Dalton is also Bigger’s landlord, as he owns a controlling share of the company that manages the apartment building where Bigger’s family lives. Mr. Dalton and other wealthy real estate barons are effectively robbing the poor, black tenants on Chicago’s South Side—they refuse to allow blacks to rent apartments in predominantly white neighborhoods, thus leading to overpopulation and artificially high rents in the predominantly black South Side. Mr. Dalton sees himself as a benevolent philanthropist, however, as he donates money to black schools and offers jobs to “poor, timid black boys” like Bigger. However, Mr. Dalton practices this token philanthropy mainly to alleviate his guilty conscience for exploiting poor blacks...

Richard Wright's writing showed the ongoing oppression of the black race by the white race in the 1930's which many believe has continued well into the 21st Century and will continue far beyond unless something drastically happens here in the USA...

One would have thought that a BLACK PRESIDENT like Barrack Obama who was President for EIGHT YEARS would have been able to change the system...  but very little if anything changed for the Black race except maybe a little more employment in government positions.

Richard Wright died in Paris, France in 1960 and one can only again assume that he felt better appreciated and treated in a foreign country than in the country in which he was born.

WHITES have treated the BLACKS terribly and many WHITE people make generous donations to black causes OUT OF THE GUILT they feel and while I suppose that is good for the BLACKS, there are MANY WHITES that are not involved in oppressive treatment of the BLACKS and therefore do not feel guilty at all because of what someone else did or did not do.

Morbidity and Actuarial Tables

A morbidity table is a statistical table that shows the proportion of people that are expected to become sick or injured at each age. The company must calculate a constant premium over the total lifetime of the contract at the time the policy is issued and base the calculation on an actuarial morbidity table.  While this definition does not include DEATH...   since deaths are calculated using another type of table.

An actuarial life table is a table or spreadsheet that shows the probability of a person at a certain age dying before their next birthday. It is used often by life insurance companies.  An actuarial life table is also called a mortality table, life table, or actuarial table.

These two tables are used together to calculate one's premium...   which always works out to the advantage of the insurance company.

If life insurance companies can convince couples in their 20's, especially those with children that a life insurance policy or more than one is necessary and that policy is renewable for the next 40 years, then the life insurance company is destined to make a TON OF MONEY just off that one person...  now, multiply those potential profits by ONE MILLION...   by TEN MILLION...

Of course, once the person who is insured becomes vested or whatever the word is that indicates payment in full in mandatory should the subject die...  and that person does in fact die, then the life insurance company has to pay out a TON OF MONEY...  now multiply that LOSS by One Million or by Ten Million...

When one buys life insurance one is betting that one is going to die EARLY so that the least amount of money is paid in for the most amount of money paid out...  otherwise, the insurer is SIMPLY BEING STUPID...

If a family invests that same amount of money...   that is to say that premium amount paid to a life insurance company...  into a mutual fund and does not remove that money over the course of one's lifetime, one will have several hundreds of thousands of dollars in that mutual fund account...

The only downside to this strategy is if one DOES IN FACT DIE EARLY...

A Mutual Fund over a 20 year period of time can typically generate an annual rate of return from between 8-12% and sometimes higher but hardly ever lower although that is possible too...  but, when we had the financial downturn in 2008 but 2016 all of the money that had been lost had been regained and then some.

Black Lives Matter is Racist

When we gather as a group of black activists and concerned America citizens and chat out the slogan:  Black Lives Matter...  we are discriminating against the whites, Hispanics, Mexicans, Jews, Alaskans, Native Americans, Hawaiians, and all other minority groups that live here in America...

OF COURSE...    black lives matter...

actually...  all lives matter my friends...

surely you have not forgotten that we are all Americans???

BLM was started...  I am speculating because WHITE COPS killed several BLACK MEN across the United States and the black community (also racially discriminatory) got PISSED OFF as well they should and began to protest WHITE COPS and WHITES KILLING BLACKS.

Not only did these black people protest...  but they took to the streets and committed acts of rioting and looting just to show the white man and prove the point as to how pissed off they were...

VIOLENCE BEGETS VIOLENCE and all is well in America

When the Blacks in England protest they are referred to as Britain's

When the Blacks in France protest they are referred to as the French

When the Blacks in Italy protest they are referred to as the Italians

BUT when the blacks in American protest, they are not referred to as Americans but as African Americans, making sure their ETHNIC GROUP is how they are to be defined...

That smack of discrimination

Many Are Invisible

 THE INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison

SUMMARY: The narrator of Invisible Man is a nameless young black man who moves in a 20th-century United States where reality is surreal and who can survive only through pretense. Because the people he encounters "see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination," he is effectively invisible. He leaves the racist South for New York City, but his encounters continue to disgust him. Ultimately, he retreats to a hole in the ground, which he furnishes and makes his home. There, brilliantly illuminated by stolen electricity, he can seek his identity.

DETAIL: Invisible Man is Ralph Ellison’s only novel and is widely acknowledged as one of the great novels of African-American literature. The invisibility of Ellison’s protagonist is about the invisibility of identity—above all, what it means to be a black man—and its various masks, confronting both personal experience and the force of social illusions. 

The novel’s special quality is its deft combination of existential inquiry into identity as such—what it means to be socially or racially invisible—with a more socio-political allegory of the history of the African-American experience in America. The first-person narrator remains nameless, retrospectively recounting his shifts through the surreal reality of surroundings and people from the racist South to the no less inhospitable world of New York City.  SOURCE:  Britannica

Being a WHITE MAN with an English Degree, I love to read novels regardless of which race or gender or ethnic group wrote them.  Ellison's novel was moving for me in the late 1960's and is still moving for me half a century later.  I am sad that Mr. Ellison only wrote one such novel as I would have liked to have read more.

While being the son of a white immigrant who was the son of a white immigrant who was the son of a white immigrant, I literally have no idea what it was like to be treated as a slave...  but, I do know what it is like to be an educated man in a RICH MAN'S WORLD and that experience in the 20th Century is not much different than being a black man outside of being racially profiled by the POLICE...

I grew up lower middle class I would have to say and during my father's career my parents moved up into the upper middle class category but never any further...  while I remained in the lower middle class of America and had to pay the price of not being wealthy or have wealthy friends to call on for support.

I was always MORE EDUCATED than all of my bosses except when I taught my final 3 years in a University environment...  but the politics at this so called CHRISTIAN School were more devious and devastating than any of those experienced before...   sadly...  there were no wealthy people involved on which to blame.

During my 45 year career...  I TOO WAS INVISIBLE...  including those years spent as an enlisted man in the military.

Could Possibly Be Confused

I believe in a female's right to have an abortion or not have an abortion...  as it is her choice and should always be her choice not the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT's choice.  If she is religious, then her decision is between her and her faith.  If she she not religious then her choice is between her and whoever else she wants.

This choice should take place regardless of rape or incest or simply not wanting to be a mother and it is not the place of our FEDERAL GOVERNMENT to make that decision for her unless she is mentally incapacitated...   and, then it should be the decision of healthcare officials not our FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

I believe that our Founding Fathers provided us with a Second Amendment for a variety of reasons none of which any of us should talk about because we will never be in the minds of our Founding Fathers.  If we disagree with this Amendment then we should have it repealed.  However, any attempt to curtail the use and ownership of guns and/or firearms will just increase that desire among Americans...  because that is simply who we are.

Americans will have their guns

Americans will have their abortions

And...  the sooner we realize this, the better off our internal relationships will be...  being an American is easy...  understanding Americans is not so easy...  especially with the freedoms that we have bestowed upon them and the education that we allow them to escape.

FREEDOM WITHOUT EDUCATION is a dangerous combination that not even our Founding Fathers fully understood or could appreciate since education was not so much of a big deal back then, and only provided to the wealthy.

In addition to guns and abortions, AMERICANS WANT:

• Alcohol
• Illegal Drugs
• Marijuana
• Free Healthcare since they do not take care of themselves
• Free Education even though they do not want to learn or retain

Now if we step outside of being just an American....  then we have this:

BLACKS WANT BLACKS TO BECOME ENTITLED

especially when it comes to:

1. being accepted in college
2. being offered a job anywhere
3. being given a promotion
4. being authorized a loan
5. buying a house anywhere
6. never being stopped by the police
7. not being stared at by whites
8. not being called abusive names
9. not experiencing discrimination

THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL THE USA BE A BETTER PLACE IN WHICH TO LIVE AND RAISE A FAMILY ONCE THE WHITE FOLK HAVE BEEN PUT IN THEIR PLACE AND BE TAUGHT HOW TO SERVE...   AS THEY ATTEMPT TO TEACH BLACKS HOW TO KISS ASS.

Laurel & Hardy

 

Charlie Chaplin

 

Christmas

 

Christmas Eve -- Christmas Music

 

It Ain't Me

 FORTUNATE SON by Credence Clearwater Revival (1969)

Some folks are born made to wave the flag
They're red, white and blue
And when the band plays "Hail to the Chief"
They point the cannon at you, Lord

It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no senator's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves, yeah
But when the taxman comes to the door
The house look a like a rummage sale

It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no millionaire's son, no, no
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one

Yeah, some folks inherit star-spangled eyes
They send you down to war
And when you ask 'em: "How much should we give?"
They only answer: "More, more, more"

It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no military son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one, one

It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one

I used to listen to this song often and when the song was playing on the radio in the car at the same time I was driving, I would turn the volume up loud and roll down the windows to let everyone listen...  we were children of the 60's and we were no fortunate son...

HOWEVER, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Three years prior to the song's release date, I had graduate from high school in Cairo Egypt specifically because I was, in fact, a FORTUNATE SON...  as my Dad was a high ranking official in the American Embassy and I held a Diplomatic Passport.

It was in 1969 that I also dropped out of college and lost my deferment for the draft, so instead of waiting around to be drafted, I enlisted in the NAVY...  thinking being on a boat was better that grunting around on the ground with a rifle.

I wasn't much into the military hierarchy but I found myself adapting very quickly and like any FORTUNATE SON, learned how to manipulate the system so that I could get more vacation than had been approved...  all legal mind you...

I would ask for 5 days of vacation in between 2 weekends neither of which were my duty weekends.  So, at noon on Friday, I would leave for home, then while home on Sunday, I would call into the ship at midnight, informing them that my vacation had started.  On that next Friday, I would call the ship just before midnight, informing them my vacation had ended...  then I would report for work that following Monday.

Five days of annual leave approved but actually 9 days taken...  and since the military gave us 30 days of annual leave, I could perform this little stunt 6 times which is exactly what I did...  of course, I was not the only clever sailor to do this.

Wealthy Fat Cats

It is easy to imagine myself as the bird above and the Wealthy Fat Cat trying to take everything away from me so that he can get wealthier and fatter...  fatter and wealthier...

No matter how hard we work 

No matter how much we put our families second

No matter how much we believe

There are some of us well educated and well intentioned who find themselves struggling and not getting anywhere...  because we are not quite skilled enough, maybe less than one tenth of one percent...  but, there is always someone just a little better...

OR...  we are too skilled and therefore, working here would simply not be a good fit for either one of us...  and, I am sure that you understand...

Think of it as being an actor or a singer and in addition to your lessons, you practice, practice, practice, but the role always goes to someone else...  but, have a nice day...  we will see you next time...

Only a few become successful

Fewer still become wealthy

Even fewer become super wealthy

So, it is very easily to feel like the blue bird and the wealthy fat cat getting ready to pounce...

 

Our Place In Society

Our parents, our teachers, or coaches, our ministers, priests or pastors, and our leaders can TELL US ALL DAY LONG that AMERICA is the land of opportunity and that everything is possible even though it is highly unlikely that you will reach your initial goals, especially if the bar is set very high.

For instance...

1. becoming President of the USA is entirely possible for anyone, but how many do actually believe will ever get there?
2. becoming a professional athlete is another goal that is entire possible but less than ONE TENTH of ONE PERCENT ever make it to the pros.
3. becoming a professional entertainer and being called a celebrity is always another lofty goal but there are literally thousands of potential entertainers working in restaurants waiting for their big break.

Not all college graduates will become CEO's or even Vice Presidents let alone part of a senior management team, and yet these are the dreams that everyone keeps beating into our heads...   WHY?

Are they intentionally trying to give us FALSE HOPE?

Or, is this some kind of mental punishment for not having inherent skills and abilities?

AND...  how many doctors do you think that graduate from MED SCHOOL will actually EXCEL in their respective fields of medicine and how many will simply become ordinary?

Once you are in your 40's, you pretty much know what your future is going to be and if you are on a path to success or not...  although success for many of us is a relative term and is not always associated with money, power, or control.

Actually, one should know where one is really going during the first decade out of college although, it could take 20 years or more for a high school graduate to become a restaurant manager.

AND...  for those fortunate enough to be born into wealth, their lifetime role in many cases especially if they inherited a business or a farm is making sure they don't loose it which can be all sorts of embarrassing.  Not everyone is a smart as their parents unfortunately.

Is This Being A LIBERAL?

I am against the government... 

raising taxes            
telling me what to do                                
telling what how to think                       
telling me how I should dress            
telling me what to believe

I will never own a firearm or handgun

But I support the SECOND AMENDMENT

I support the legalization of marijuana

Illegal Drugs should be taxed and regulated like alcohol

Prostitution should be legalized and regulated like gambling

I believe high school should prepare for life as well as college

College Degrees should be certified after graduation 

Couple should be required to live together for 5 years before marriage

Everyone without exemption should serve in the military for 2 years

I don' believe in abortion

But I support a female's right to choose

I support... equal rights

                       equal pay

                       equal opportunity

                       equal justice

But in REALITY, America is the land of INEQUALITY

I support the fact that all lives should matter

I support religious tolerance as long as one's beliefs are not forced on me

I believe in our FREEDOMS 110%

I believe in a small federal government with more rights given to the States

I am in favor of abolishing the Electoral College

I believe we can be free enough to vote ourselves out of having freedom

I am against wars of any kind outside of our borders

I believe only in legal immigration

I believe that only citizens should enjoy/benefit from our Constitution

I am against the abuse of power at any level

I am against sexual harassment of any kind

I believe that all races should be proportionately represented in government

I believe that Congress and Senate should have limited terms like the President

I believe in a balanced budget and becoming debt free

I believe that we should defend the USA to the last person standing

I really do not care for LBGT's or their movement

LGBT's offend my religious beliefs

But LGBT's have the right to be who they want to be as long as they stay clear of me

I believe that American Justice will NEVER be equal

I believe that being uneducated is a fundamental right

I believe that being stupid is a CHOICE

Eating Leftovers

My Dad's entire career of 40 years (retiring at the age of 62) was spent not just working for our Federal Government, but working specifically and exclusively for the Department of Agriculture.  Aside from being the Agricultural Attache to Egypt, Holland, and Poland,  I can recall only two of duties prior to working at our Embassies and those were:

• Responsible for the food lunch programs in all the public schools
• Responsible for selling American Agricultural products to other countries in the world

I believe that it was from the first of the two jobs listed above that I adopted the habit of eating everything that was on my plate and making sure all the leftovers were eaten before cooking any new meals...  and, it had nothing to do with all the starving children in China or anywhere else in the world other than the fact that it was logical, common sense, and prevented waste.

As I got older, I began noticing more and more how Americans WASTE FOOD, especially leftovers, but they only eat about half of what they have ordered because it has gotten cold I suppose, but in about an hour later, they are hungry again.

I attributed this to a lack of parental discipline or being so wealthy that food waste was not that important.  And, I remember an economics professor telling me that once I paid for my food and/or beer that I need not consume either because the money was already spent...  and, there were no do-overs.   

I have left my father's home at the age of 18 and 55 years later, I am still making sure that I eat all the leftovers.  My wife discovered, in the last day or two, that we still had a box of Moravian Sugar Cake in the freezer from last Christmas...  after ordering more for this Christmas...  She put the Sugar Cake in the refrigerator to be eaten but after warming up a section, it no longer tasted good, so it is left up to me to eat all that remains

While it does not taste as good as just coming out of the oven, it still tastes pretty good and I have no problems eating a little each day to keep down on the calories.

Cooking and Calories

First of all, let me deal with calories...

According to Health.Gov, I should be eating around 2,000 to 2,200 calories a day and about 2,600 if I am active...

According to VeryWellFit.com,

A calorie is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. Calories in food provide energy in the form of heat so that our bodies can function. Our bodies store and "burn" calories as fuel. Many people who are trying to reach or maintain a healthy weight will count calories and try to decrease caloric intake.

However, and I am not an educated nutritionist, but I have decided (right or wrong) that my caloric intake is going to be somewhere between 1,500 and 1,800 calories per day with the understanding that it is ok for me to exceed 2,000 calories one day out of seven, if there is an occasion to do so...

My Oncologist says I should eat a Mediterranean Diet but I am trying to move towards a Chinese Diet where one DOES NOT EAT anything with a FACE or a MOTHER...   really!!!  but, that is exactly what it says.

THEREFORE, my focus will be on FISH (Salmon, Cod, Tuna, White, Flounder) and WHITE MEAT (Eggs, Chicken, Turkey) along with a variety of FRUITS (Berries, Bananas, Apple, Pears, Peaches) and VEGETABLES (Peas, Lima, Spinach, Kale, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Potatoes, Asparagus, Squash, Zucchini, Tomatoes) and LEGUMES (White Beans, Pinto and Kidney), with my GRAINS being low calorie English Muffins and my DAIRY (Yogurt and Mozzarella).

I have kept track of my calorie intake as well as the various food groups for the last 9 months and have gotten my calories down from over 2,500 to 2,000 each day with a little bit of effort, and now I am experimenting with the minimum number of calories from the foods that are the most filling like soups...  and no, it does not have to be cold to have soup.

This afternoon, I decided to cook the following:

770 calories     2 cans of White Beans

100 calories     1 package of frozen spinach

320 calories     2 cans of diced potatoes

140 calories     2 turkey burgers

200 calories     2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

 70  calories      2 medium onions, 2 medium peppers, 1 large tablespoon Garlic

1,600 calories

My wife and I save the plastic containers that slices of ham come in to be used to store leftovers...  but, I use them to store things I have cooked because each container holds just enough for a meal from which I can say I am full once eaten.

I filled 6 of these containers and place them in the refrigerator to be eaten over the next 6 days starting tomorrow.  None of the food will spoil in that amount of time, and each container contains only 267 calories.

I like to keep each meal under 500 calories which leaves room for 1-2 snacks of fruit.  My meals have been averaging between 250 and 350 calories...  sometimes, 450 calories but that is not often.  For example:

BREAKFAST

70 calories    1 fried egg

80 calories    1 vege sausage

60 calories    1 slice American Cheese

140 calories    1 English Muffin   

350 calories

250 Calories    5 cups of Decaf Coffee with 2 spoons of Sugar Free Cappuccino Mix

180 Calories    6 --  8 oz glasses of flavored teas

LUNCH

60 calories     1 slice American Cheese

50 calories     1 slice Mozzarella Cheese

70 calories      4 thin slices of Ham

140 calories    whole wheat bread

80 calories     1 tablespoon of Mayo

400 calories

SNACK

90 calories     1 container of Yogurt

110 calories   1/4 cup of granola

200 calories

DINNER

267 calories    Bean, Burger, Potato, Spinach Soup

1647 Calories for the entire day...

It takes me only 2-3 hours to prepare a pot of soup that will last me 4-6 days and most of that time is spent cutting stuff up.  I have an electric heating device on which I sit a pot and can set the temperature and the timer for every 20 minutes so I can get out of my chair and stir...

At first it was a tad difficult to force myself to cut back on my eating especially when I was watching some kind of drama series on NETFLIX but once I concentrated and made sure I was drinking plenty of liquids, it was relatively easy to change my eating habits.

When I am writing articles there is never a compulsion or a need to eat as I am focused on research or on doing my writing.

Since I started this process about 9 months ago, I have lost 25 pounds which does not seem like too much at all...  and about 5-7 of those pounds were lost while being in the hospital for 6 days...  which actually helped me reduced my need and/or desire for food.

My goal is to continue reducing my weight gradually until I get down to 205 pounds which is the weight I was at in 2007 when I was first diagnosed with cancer.  That leaves me losing another 20 pounds and while my calorie intake is below the recommended level,  I am eating the healthiest I have ever eaten in my entire life...  plus, I see my Oncologist monthly, my Cardiologist semi annually, my Urologist quarterly, and my family doctor whenever I need to.

When the COVID scare is over, I will probably return to the gym and no doubt I could walk around the community if I wanted to...  I suppose...  it is just that I lost my motivation...

All in all, I am doing fine and all my days are now taken one at a time.

SLAVE OWNERS

VALID:

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

INVALID AND SHOULD BE VOIDED:

US CONSTITUTION/BILL OF RIGHTS

Sponsored by Friends of Black Lives Matter, but not ANTIFA

What's SO GREAT About America?

Politicians Lie

News Media Censors

America Cannot Stop POVERTY

America Cannot Stop Owning Guns

America Cannot Stop Abortions

America Cannot Stop Human Trafficking

America Cannot Stop Blacks From Dominating Professional Basketball and Professional Football

Wages May Increase A Little

America Cannot Stop Rap Music Lyrics From Saying KILL WHITEY

Cost of Living Out Paces Wages

Healthcare Costs Are Only For The Wealthy

The Wealthy Control All Aspects of Life

America Does Not Take Care Of Her Elderly

America Does Not Take Care of Her Veterans

America Cannot Stop Systemic Racism

America Cannot Stop People From Hating

American Cannot Stop Rape

American Cannot Stop Illegal Drugs

America Cannot Stop Illegal Immigration

America Cannot Improve Her Education

America Cannot Control BLM or ANTIFA

America Cannot Stop White Supremacists

America Cannot Stop COMMUNISIM

America Cannot Stop Terrorism

America Cannot Stop CHINA from Global Domination

America Cannot Stop Russia From Interfering

America Cannot Stop Nuclear Proliferation

America Cannot Stop American INDIFFERENCE

America Cannot Stop Spending Money and Borrowing Money

America Cannot Stop the End of Democracy

What Makes A Country Great

 Printed by the BBC in 2018...  author:  Amanda Ruggeri

For almost a hundred years, two measurements have been used to get a sense of how well a country is doing. One is GDP, or gross domestic product, the amount a country earns. The other is its unemployment rate. But when it comes to figuring out how well a country is serving its citizens, these tools might not only be incomplete: they may not in fact be that helpful at all.

On estimates of social progress, for example – which measures aspects like access to education, food and affordable housing – poorer countries often outdo their wealthier counterparts. “Broadly, richer countries have higher social progress, so getting more economic growth is not a bad idea,” says Michael Green, CEO of the Social Progress Index. “But what we also find, very clearly, is that social progress is not completely explained by economic variables. GDP is not destiny.

The Social Progress Index is one of a number of indexes that aggregate data about countries worldwide – and about how well those countries are serving their populations. If we come across them at all, we usually see them being used for the kinds of country rankings that make us daydream about a move to Denmark or New Zealand.

Behind the scenes, though, this kind of information is used for much more. It can show surprising relationships that help shape policy. It can determine which countries get help with funding. And it may even be able to help predict the future.

One of the interesting ways these kinds of indexes are used is to see how countries have improved or declined – or just stayed the same.

There are some who argue the US government is less effective than ever, for example; the US public has lower levels of trust in government since almost any time since 1958. But the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) show that levels of government effectiveness have remained roughly the same every year since 1996. (The measurement analyses outcomes like the condition of highways, primary school quality and the amount of red tape).

Other countries have moved a fair amount. Tunisia, for example, saw a steady decline in voice and accountability, which measures aspects like confidence in elections and freedom of the press, from 1996 to 2010. Then the Arab Spring happened. In 2011, Tunisia jumped from the 9th percentile to the 36th and has grown steadily since then; in 2016, it was on par with Hungary at the 57th percentile.  TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...