It's Been Awhile, But I'm Still Here

 

Mount Denali May 2025

It's been quite a while since I posted on this blog, but don't worry, I'm still here. I took the vacation of a lifetime in May, when I took a cruise and land tour of Alaska with my husband. It was magnificent, but a little tiring. It was well worth it. When I returned home, I had to make a few decisions about my writing. 

Before I left on vacation, I was just getting started putting in more effort on my Substack newsletter, and pondering my future writing on Medium, trying to decide what I wanted to do with my YouTube Channel, as well as how much effort I should put into this blog. Well, I've finally made up my mind what to do.

My original purpose in starting to write online was to earn a little extra money, and that hasn't changed much. My main focus is not making a lot of money, but enough to pay the expenses involved in writing, such as Internet fees, electricity, and grammar software, when I can afford it. Even if I can't make any money, I'll keep writing, but maybe not that enthusiastically,  ha ha. 

Writing on Medium, up until last January, spoiled me with earnings well over a hundred dollars a month. Then, drastically, it all changed. Medium wasn't distributing my work and most other writers' work, so people could read them. Then, Medium decided to pay about 1 cent per read for each article read.  This dramatically reduced almost everyone's earnings to a mere pittance. Writers left the platform in droves. A few weeks ago, I decided that I'm not going to publish every day or more, when no one can see my work, in hopes of earning a few cents. I am still on the platform, but no longer a paying member or contributor.

I have been spending more time writing my Substack newsletter. I offer my subscribers the choice of a free or a paid subscription. The paid subscription does not include any special benefits, other than the ability to show their support. I also accept one-time donations. I feel that what I have to offer in my newsletter articles is more important than earning a lot of money.

I also recently started a YouTube channel, where I can share some of my Substack videos or anything else I want to say. I never thought I could be able to do this, but once I started, I enjoyed it. I know I will never make any money, as you have to have at least 1000 subscribers to your channel to be able to monetize it. I currently have 33😂.

As I had previously said, I spend the majority of my time writing on my Substack newsletter. I predominantly write about politics and social issues, with a liberal leaning. I don't offer any "breaking news" or "investigative reporting", but what I do offer are my thoughts and opinions on what is happening to our country, from a gay, retired senior citizen - an average American like you. I feel it is important for people like me to get the word out, so we can save our democracy. Making big bucks from the newsletter is less important.

Finally, I am getting to this blog. Like I have said, I haven't spent much time on here, and I apologize to those few followers I have for not being more productive. I have decided that since politics is my main focus on Substack, I will use Steve Sovie's World, for everything else I want to share. Occasionally, I will share some material from Substack and my YouTube channel. If you notice, the title of this blog is Steve Sovie's World, while both my Substack newsletter and YouTube channel are titled Stepehen Sovie's World. My Substack link is Stephen Sovie's World. My YouTube channel is Stephen Sovie's World.

I hope you can visit each of my sites and subscribe if you like what I have to say. And if you are feeling generous and can afford to, please consider making a one-time donation or becoming a paid subscriber on my Substack newsletter.

I apologize for any mistakes you may have found in this post.  I used to use Grammarly Pro as an editing software, but I can't see paying the high price they are asking for. Hey, I'm on a fixed income!

Thank you for reading.

Why I Have Cancelled My Medium Membership and Concentrate on Substack

 

Photo by daniar ainun on Unsplash

 

 With the drastic decline of Medium, which began in November 2024, I found that my visibility on Medium was almost non-existent. Six months ago, I decided to start publishing my newsletter on Substack and occasionally sharing the same articles on Medium.
 

As readers of my newsletter know, I mainly write about politics and social issues, which are extremely important to me. As our democracy is now in serious danger of being destroyed by a fascist wannabe dictator, I feel an urgency to inform people that we may soon lose our rights and freedoms.
 

My Medium statistics revealed that my posts were receiving very few views and even fewer reads. I was earning only a few cents per article. In early May, I cancelled my Medium Partnership Program membership, realizing it was a waste of time and money. But to my surprise, Medium charged me my membership fee in June, even though I had cancelled it. I decided to give Medium one last chance and remain on the platform to see if my stats improved.
 

During the first two weeks of June, I published four articles, which I had also posted on Substack. For the articles I posted on Medium, I had a total of 50 views, while on Substack, I had 1583 views. I earned 36 cents for my articles on Medium. My posts on my Substack newsletter are free, so I naturally did not earn any money; however, I did receive one paid subscription, for which I am thankful.
 

For the first two weeks of June, on Medium, I got 60 new email subscribers and 14 new followers. Interestingly enough, all of the new Subscribers and all but 2 new followers were from India. Apparently, people from India are not interested in American politics, and I can’t say I blame them.
 

There are a couple of people I subscribe to on Medium who write about politics and publish a couple of times a day. I have noticed that their articles were not widely distributed, and the ones I read appeared to have had no interaction. This would mean they also would not have made any money from their articles. I honestly don’t know why they continue to publish on Medium if no one reads or even sees their work.
 

From my observations, those articles that seem to get the most attention are technology articles, and those articles geared to new writers on Medium wishing to make money by writing online. I feel that either Medium readers are not interested in the possibility that America is becoming an authoritarian state, or Medium chooses not to allow people to see such articles. Regardless, I feel that continuing to publish on Medium is a waste of money and a waste of my time.
 

I feel a little sad that I may be abandoning the few people left on Medium, whom I have followed and supported in the past, but hopefully, I will see them here on Substack. I may not earn much money on Substack, but at least here I am not invisible.

 

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We Have a Eunuch in the Oval Office

President Musk has officially castrated Donald Trump

Photo from X

I am sure you have all seen this photo or similar ones on X, Bluesky, or Facebook. It tells us all we need to know about who the “real” president is running our country.

I have never seen a photo of the sitting President in the Oval Office where he is not the focus of attention and respect. Even as corrupt as he was, Richard Nixon maintained an air of respect and dignity with all eyes focused on him.

There has never been an occasion where a private citizen, no matter how influential, was the main focus of an event in the Oval Office. But just look at Donald Trump! He slovenly sits in his chair, cowering in fear and disgust of a 4-year-old, Musk’s son X! As seen in the caption in the photo and reported by numerous news outlets, Musk’s little brat told Trump, “You are not president; you need to go away.” It is also reported that little X told Trump to “shut his fucking mouth.” Here is a clip on Instagram that sums it up.

If little X Musk did utter these words to Trump, they were not his own. Children that age only repeat what they have heard others say or what has been said to them. In this case, I am sure he is mimicking his father’s words.

The fact that Musk called the press conference and not Trump indicates who is running the show. Musk further denigrated the integrity of the Oval Office by wearing a MAGA hat and tee shirt, while Trump was dressed in his signature oversized blue suit and mile-long red tie. I cannot recall seeing a photo taken in the Oval Office where people were not properly attired.

In this and similar photos of the event, Trump appears defeated and subjugated, old and worn down. He is no longer in charge. Musk purchased the presidency for Trump, but Trump only enjoys the title. Trump owes half a billion dollars in fines to New York State and millions to E. Jean Carrol for defamation. He doesn’t have the money. Musk will guarantee the money for Trump in exchange for Trump ceding the presidency, the government, and the US Treasury to him. Republicans in Congress have rubberstamped the agreement.

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump took the Oath of Office but gave his balls to Elon Musk. We now have a Eunuch-in-Chief pretending to be President.

Please check out my YouTube Channel, Stephen Sovie’s World

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This Isn’t the First Time Bishop Budde Showed Her Christianity

Do you remember Matthew Shepard?

Photo Courtesy of Washington National Cathedral

During the Inaugural Prayer service at Washington’s National Cathedral, Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde looked Donald Trump directly in the eye and asked him “ to have mercy” on people who are scared. She particularly mentioned the LGBTQ community, transgendered children, and immigrants. The transcript of her sermon can be found here.

Trump was stunned and fired back an angry, childish response to her, as he does every time someone says something he doesn’t like. Naturally, Trump-world exploded, attacking the Bishop with derogatory names and, in some cases, even death threats. Republicans referred to her as “a so-called bishop” of a “so-called church” in their typical hypocritical Christian fashion.

Bishop Budde has become somewhat of a hero for having the courage to stand up to the malevolent Trump, something that very few males in Congress or any other “religious leader dared to do. But this isn’t the first time Bishop Budde has stood up against hate and shown what a real Christian is all about.

Do you remember Matthew Sheppard, the teenager who was beaten, tortured, and left to die on a barbed wire fence near Laramie, Wyoming, in October of 1998? He died as a result of the attack. He was murdered because he was gay. You can read Matthew’s story in The Guardian.

After Matthew’s death, he was never given a final resting place, as his family feared it would face desecration by hate groups. Ten years after his death, Bishop Budde granted Matthew’s parent’s request to have his ashes interred at Washington’s National Cathedral, where he now lies in peace, finally.

Bishop Budde is truly an American and Christian hero whose faith and love for humanity should be exemplified. If you have ever asked, “What would Jesus do”? Your answer would be, as Bishop Budde has done.

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I Fear It May Already Be Too Late to Save Our Democracy

Our descent into hell has commenced

Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash

Like many Americans, I was shocked when Trump won the election, But what shocked me even more was the reaction of the Democrats. There were no lawsuits, no investigations, and no questions asked. They waived the white flag, rolled over, and gave up.

Since then, there have been some issues regarding the election that have called into question the validity of the election. During the campaign, people remember Trump telling his supporters he did not need their votes. Did he know something we didn’t? Two days ago, Trump made this odd statement about Musk, “He knows those computers better than anybody all those computers those vote counting computers”. Trump was thanking Musk for his help in winning Pennsylvania. The video may be viewed here.

I’m not saying the election was rigged, but I am wondering what would happen if it was. What would happen if there was sound, irrefutable truth that Musk tampered with the voting machines to change the votes in favor of Trump? And what would happen if there was indisputable evidence that this was done at the direction of Trump and his campaign staff? What if it could be proven that Trump was never shot in that supposed assassination attempt where the alleged shooter was killed and that Trump orchestrated the entire incident?

Sure, everyone would say impeach him. That wouldn’t work. The Republicans in the Senate blocked an impeachment in his first term. This time, his MAGA Republicans control both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

So, how about the Department of Justice and the judicial system investigating, charging, and indicting him? That won’t work because Trump will have his hand-picked Attorney General, who has pledged loyalty to him, block any such actions. The last refuge of hope would be the Supreme Court. But we are in this position today because SCOTUS allowed a person who planned an insurrection to run for office and then granted him almost complete immunity.

If, by some miracle, Trump was impeached and removed from office, we will still be left with an autocratic style of government. Every single person in the line of accession to the presidency has been hand-picked for their loyalty to Trump. The entire Trump regime, the Supreme Court, and numerous Congressional Republicans would have to be impeached, removed from office, and imprisoned. It will never happen.

We will never get to a point where, if there were abundant damaging evidence against Trump and Musk, the public would never know. Fox News, the official propaganda arm of the Trump syndicate, would never allow anything negative about Trump to be reported. The major cable and network news organizations are under the control of wealthy Trump supporters, and they would never jeopardize their relationship with Trump.

The Constitution has no provision for dealing with an entirely corrupt and treasonous government. Our Founding Fathers never in their wildest imaginations could have envisioned such a dangerous and disastrous situation.

I do not hold out much hope that Trump or anyone in his Reich will allow another fair presidential election. Otherwise, we are doomed. I hope I am wrong.

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It’s Only Day One, and He’s Screwing the Very People Who Supported Him

It’s Only Day One, and He’s Screwing the Very People Who Supported Him

I told you so

Photo by taylor on Unsplash

Here we are on day two of the Trump oligarchy, which is actually the first full day since his anointing. He didn’t wait for today to start his reign of terror, though. Yesterday, he began firing off executive orders like he was ordering Big Macs at McDonalds.

For all his followers who are on Medicare and Medicaid and have difficulty affording their prescription drugs, you must be thrilled. When Biden lowered the cost of insulin and other prescription drugs for people on Medicare and Medicaid, you were excited, but you didn’t give Biden credit for helping you. No, instead, you believed Trump’s lies promising you better healthcare. Yesterday, Trump rescinded Biden’s order. You now have lost your prescription drug savings so Trump could put more money in the pockets of his big pharma buddies.

Now that your prescription drug costs will remain high, you must be careful not to get sick. Don’t worry; Trump withdrew the US from the World Health Organization, so if there is another pandemic, you’re on your own, left only with bleach and heartworm medication. It must be comforting to hear Trump say he knows so much about health issues!

Yesterday, Trump also withdrew the US from the Paris Climate Agreement to protect his wealthy cronies in the oil industry. I’m sure this doesn’t mean anything to you MAGA supporters, who think the weather and the climate are the same thing. Maybe you’ll discover the difference when your home is blown away in a hurricane or left in ashes after a wildfire. But climate change is a hoax.

Thank God all of you Trump followers are straight, white Christians. Yesterday, he rolled back policies protecting gay and transgender rights and supporting equality and diversity. If your son or daughter loses their job or faces discrimination over their gender or sexual identity, you can proudly tell them you voted for that.

I doubt that any of you MAGA people have relatives who are children granted US citizenship through birthright citizenship because Trump is trying to eliminate that right. However, it will be next to impossible because it is a Constitutional Amendment. So forget about turning in your neighborhood children because they look Mexican.

These are just a few of Trump's executive orders issued on his first day as President. Wait until he places a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada! I’m sure you won’t have any problems paying 25% extra for your cars, fruits and vegetables, and beer. After all, your fearless leader said you weren’t better off with Biden.

This is only the beginning of Trump’s reign of terror, and there will be many, many more to come. Since he and wealthy white supremacist Christian nationalists have more in store to return the country to the days when the robber barons ruled and minorities existed in the shadows. For now, I will refrain from saying I told you so. I am sure you will get everything you deserve.

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January 20, 2025, A Felonious First

Let the raping and pillaging begin

Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

In three days, for the first time in American history, the first convicted felon will be inaugurated President of The United States. He will take an oath with his hand on a Bible he has never read to defend the Constitution, a document he has never read nor understood or respected. He will, as usual, make a speech filled with gibberish, accusations, lies, and promises he does not intend to keep.

So now he is being inaugurated for his second term. His goal was not to “Make America great again”, as his branded slogan asserts, because America has always been kind of great. He doesn’t want to unite the country because his campaign was formulated to divide it with “us” versus “them.”

He has no intention of making life better for the poor and middle class, the workers, the aged, and the infirmed. He doesn’t care about voting rights, LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, the climate, or the economy. He doesn’t care about crime, the rule of law, or democracy.

He has two main goals: to stay out of prison and to bring unprecedented wealth to himself, his family, and his fellow millionaires. To achieve his goals, he plans on being the exalted and feared leader of an authoritarian government, in the style of his idol Vladimir Putin.

He did not win the election in a landslide, as he has proclaimed. He does not have a mandate from the American people, as tens of millions stayed home instead of voting. People who did not want a Black woman as president and those glued to Fox News voted for him. With those votes and hundreds of millions of dollars, Elon Musk was able to purchase the Office of the President for his puppet, Donald Trump. No doubt Putin also had a hand in the win. Trump will be President in name only.

During Trump’s campaign, he promised his MAGA followers that he would do many things on day one of his presidency if elected. According to NBC News, they are as follows:

1. Begin a mass deportation program.
2. End birthright citizenship.
3. End Biden-era policies.
4. Pardon the January 6 defendants.
5. Ending the war in Ukraine.
6. Implement tariffs.
7. Cancel the electric vehicle mandate.
8. Drill, Drill, Drill.
9. Made in America auto industry.
10. Limiting transgender participation in women’s sports.
11. End gender-affirming care practices.

None of these, if carried out, will help bring down the price of eggs, groceries, or gas. They were promised to stir up the racism and bigotry of the far right.

Remember these promises and see how many are implemented on day one, as he promised. You can keep score if you wish. Trump has evaded prison time. He now will concentrate on enriching himself and his cronies and staying in power. He doesn’t need MAGA anymore. They are now only his subjects to be tossed aside.

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I Think It’s Time to Move On Over to Substack

It may not be the answer, but it beats stagnating on Medium

Photo by Handiwork NYC on Unsplash

It’s already been over two weeks since Medium began its death spiral; things haven’t gotten better; they’ve gotten worse. At the beginning of January, my reads and views more than doubled and tripled compared to previous months. But my earnings rapidly declined to where they are now, about 2 cents a day.

Every writer on this platform experienced the same devastating earnings and was searching for some answers that never came. Medium staff sent out a few emails that created more confusion. According to Medium, they were working on eliminating scammers, spammers, and other non-genuine members. This didn’t explain the extreme drop in earnings, though.

I cut back on publishing stories in hopes the situation would change for the better. They haven’t. In the past few days, my reads and views dropped significantly. My earnings amount to 1 cent per day.

What is annoying is the change in the number of notifications I receive daily. I now receive over a hundred notifications each day. The vast majority of these are “also highlighted” notifications. But I am getting more and more followers from people who haven’t read or interacted with my stories and have not published anything. I am also getting more replies to my older stories, asking me to “please read my work.” They must have escaped Medium’s spammer net.

I moved to Medium after spending years writing blogs that made little money and attracted only a few followers. I put in a lot of work and got little in return. Now, I have come to a complete circle on Medium. I have tried numerous strategies to increase my readership, including starting a newsletter on Kit in hopes of increasing readership. Unfortunately, most subscribers ignored my newsletters and didn’t open the emails.

I now see only three options left for me. Firstly, I can stay on Medium and do nothing but wait, hoping to survive on this site. Secondly, I can try to make a go at publishing on Substack. Or, as a last resort, I can return to my blogs, where I continue to maintain my custom domain. For now, I have decided to move over to Substack.

I am uncertain whether or not any of my followers or subscribers on Medium would see value in spending money for a paid subscription to my articles. Subscriptions to my Substack newsletter, Stephen Sovie’s World, are free. Hopefully, if enough people subscribe, I can offer a paid subscription in the future.

I apologize to my followers who have stuck with me for all the confusing changes I have subjected you to in my efforts to make my content more available and profitable. Once again, I am asking you for your support. If you would like to continue to read my articles, please subscribe. Thank you.

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It’s Official: The Insurrection is Complete

And Trump got away with everything!

Photo by Jackson Simmer on Unsplash

Today, January 6, 2025, the House of Representatives certified Donald Trump as the winner of the 2024 presidential election. Unlike in 2024, when Trump refused to accept he lost the election to Joe Biden and organized and led an attack on Congress, there were no objections, no false slate of electors, no riotous mobs, and no one was killed or injured.

In the four years since Trump’s insurrection attempt, there have been many legal battles to hold Trump accountable for his treasonous acts, as well as other felonies he has committed. He was found guilty of fraud in one case and has been adjudicated a rapist in another, both state charges.

Trump has not been held accountable for his actions on January 6, 2021, or his mishandling and concealment of classified documents, which are more serious charges. It is doubtful he will ever be held accountable for any of his crimes.

A rogue, corrupt, far-right SCOTUS and an incompetent federal judge who sided with Trump during legal actions against him effectively shielded Trump from any serious legal actions. SCOTUS ruled that Trump was basically above the law and could not be prosecuted for any crimes committed in association with the duties of his office, even murder.

I must point out that five people died in connection with the January 6th insurrection, and no one has ever been held accountable. According to SCOTUS, even if there was irrefutable proof that Trump was responsible, he could not be prosecuted. He would get away with murder. He has previously bragged that he “could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose any voters.” It turns out he was right.

We would never have gotten to this point in time if Attorney General Merrick Garland hadn’t been such a blatant coward and investigated not only Trump but the many sitting members of both the House and Senate who actively participated in the planning and execution of the insurrection. Even the wife of a Supreme Court Justice who financially supported the insurrectionists was allowed to evade any questioning.

The House Select Committee on the January 6 attack uncovered solid evidence against Trump and members of Congress but lacked the power to do anything. Those members of Congress with intimate knowledge of the insurrection refused to testify and ignored subpoenas issued to them. Garland and the Department of Justice did nothing.

Garland, the Justice Department, and even Biden were so afraid of being accused of being “political” that they allowed Trump, members of his administration, and numerous members of Congress to get away with treason and even murder.

Even though there were many inconsistencies in the 2024 election, Democrats chose not to investigate or litigate. I am not suggesting they should have acted like Trump and his supporters. They should have been more forceful in prosecutorial work long before today. Instead, they rolled over and waved the white flag. Once again, they brought a knife to a gunfight. I don’t expect much meaningful resistance from them in the next four years.

The attempt to take over the government began on January 6, 2021, and successfully ended on January 6, 2024, without a raised voice or a shot fired.

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January 20, 2025, The End of a Dream

And the beginning of a nightmare

Photo by Ehsan Eslami on Unsplash

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.

“The land of the free and the home of the brave.”

These are all phrases that should be familiar to all Americans and many people all over the world as well. With the second inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, they will no longer be relevant.

On November 5, 2024, millions of people didn’t vote or could not accept a Black woman being President and voted for Trump, thus handing over our country to a group of white supremacist oligarchs who have promised to demolish the democracy we all know.

The government of the people, by the people, and for the people will become the government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. A government of freedom and inclusiveness will become one of hatred and divisiveness.

Even before the new administration begins, the leading players, Elon Musk, the new President of the United States, Donald Trump, the titular head of the government, and Stephen Miller, the new Deputy Chief of Staff or Minister of Propaganda, have set the priorities for the next four or more years.

They have left little doubt that they will attack transgender people and immigrants on day one of the administration. Trump’s entire 2024 campaign centered not on policies that would help people but on eliminating transgendered people, abolishing LGBTQ+ rights, voting rights, and deporting non-white immigrants.

All you need to do to see the face of hate is to look at the face of those in the Trump administration. The only differences between the Ku Klux Klan and the white Christian nationalist administration are the hoods. Thanks to the GOP, people are now free to hate and discriminate.

Stephen Miller Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff

You can see the hate in their eyes. The similarities between these two are not only obvious but alarming. We know what happened under Joseph Goebbels and Miller has signaled what will happen with him advising Trump. And these are only two of the White supremacist Christian nationalists who will be running our government and determining our future if we are to have one.

Joseph Goebbels Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda

If this country does not correct itself in the midterm elections in 2026, if elections are allowed, and Democrats don’t grow spines, we are doomed to become a nation devoid of any values and morals where we, the citizens, exist as servants of the wealthy white male oligarchs. Will that country last as long as our democracy did? It isn't very likely. When there are none of us left to hate, hate will then destroy the haters.

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So Many People Pray During Difficult Times

But does it ever really help?

Photo by Ismael Paramo on Unsplash

In times of need and grief, most people turn to prayer. After each of our mass school shootings, politicians ask for thoughts and prayers. After natural disasters, community leaders ask for prayers. If we or a loved one is seriously ill, we pray to God for assistance. But there is something about this phenomenon I don’t understand.

I was raised a Catholic and attended Catholic schools. We constantly prayed for world peace, and people still do. People have prayed for world peace for thousands of years, but it has never happened.

People are still dying from mass shootings and natural disasters, such as tornadoes and hurricanes, as people continue to pray for their safety. People pray for their favorite sports team to win and continue to pray, even when they lose.

Perhaps the situation that is most perplexing to me is when people pray for their loved ones who have been diagnosed with a fatal disease. It is a shock for anyone to hear that a loved one or ourselves has been given a diagnosis that could end our life. Understandably, many people turn to prayer to spare one’s life from a deadly disease. A person would believe God could make the disease disappear if they prayed hard enough.

What I don’t understand is that God gave the disease to the sick person in the first place. Shouldn’t people pray that God doesn’t give us a disease instead? And if we are diagnosed with a fatal disease, shouldn’t we accept it because it is what God wants?

I feel the same about natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes. God created them, so He must want them, regardless of whether or not they kill people. There is no use in praying for the victims because God wanted them to happen.

After every mass school shooting in this country, people pray for the victims and also pray that it doesn’t happen again, but it does. If it keeps happening, maybe it’s what God wants. But why doesn’t He want it to happen in other countries?

I know that some people reading this will say what all clergy and religious people always say when they can’t explain something about religion, “It is God’s will.” This leads me to ask, “Why should people pray if it is God’s will?”

Maybe we should be praying to God for help at all. Perhaps we should be doing something about the problems, like living healthier lives or taking better care of our environment. Maybe we should stop playing politics and bowing down to the almighty gun lobby to save the lives of our children instead of praying that God save them for us.

I am not really sure prayer helps other than giving desperate people hope. Yes, even though I am not religious, I still sometimes pray, in case it does work. I believe in the old saying, “God helps those who help themselves.” I also think we should help each other as well.

I am not entirely sold on religion, and I will always have questions about some aspects of Christianity and other religions. I only wish people would believe in each other as much as they believe in what they can’t see or understand.

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I Checked My Social Schedule for the New Year

And I realized I am officially a senior citizen

Photo by Diogo Cardoso on Unsplash

It’s only the second day of the new year, so I checked my calendar for upcoming events. I never did this when I was younger because I had no problem remembering what I had planned for the days, weeks, and months ahead.

Back then, my social schedule consisted of my Mother’s and Father’s days, my parents and brothers’ birthdays, term paper due dates, the occasional wedding, and maybe a concert or two. I had no problem remembering the dates of keg parties, beer blasts, or other drinking events, primarily because they happened almost every weekend.

Today is different. Looking ahead to the next 264 days, I found one wedding anniversary party and one air show my husband has booked in advance. However, plenty of other appointments are scattered throughout the next 12 months.

Each of those appointments is a doctor’s appointment or appointment to have my blood drawn. I have appointments with my primary care physician, cardiologist, urologist, pulmonologist, and gastroenterologist.

I can’t remember having a doctor’s appointment other than a yearly or employment physical when I was younger. As I aged I acquired a series of badges of the old age process, I began to have fewer social events and more medical-related appointments.

To make things a bit more confusing about having so many doctors’ appointments in our “golden years,” we also have more of a problem remembering those appointments. If I don’t write it down immediately, there’s a good chance I’ll forget it. Fortunately, my healthcare system does an excellent job of keeping track of my appointments and reminding me of them as they are near.

Checking my social schedule has become a tradition for celebrating the New Year. I am not complaining because to remain healthy, it has to be done. The time to worry is when I check the schedule and see an appointment for the undertaker!

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Happy New Year 2025

The year of the billionaire

Photo by Jacob Vizek on Unsplash

New Year’s Eve celebrations are many of us have made our New Year resolutions for 2025. Some have chosen to lose weight, some to stop drinking, some to join a gym, and others to work harder. In a few weeks, those resolutions will all be broken and abandoned. Oddly, these resolutions are the only parts of our future we can control.

Because almost half of all Americans thought a racist old white millionaire felon and former President would improve their lot in life more than a Black woman, they gave their future to Donald Trump. In reality, their future is in the hands of Elon Musk, who purchased the presidency and allowed Trump to be president by name only.

Trump’s choices for his new cabinet are all billionaires or, at least, millionaires. Musk, aiming to be the first and only billionaire in modern history, has already flexed his newly purchased muscle.

He attempted but failed to have Congress shut down the government and significantly shut down the government. However, he did succeed in eliminating money for research into childhood cancer and raising the salaries of Congressmen.

Musk’s latest endeavor is to significantly increase the number of H-1B Visas. This is something that Trump was dead set against during his campaign, but he has since come into complete agreement with Musk. Musk has a history of laying off workers at Tesla and hiring H-1B visa holders at a lower pay rate, who cannot ask for a raise or unionize.

American workers can now expect a somewhat shaky employment future, knowing foreign workers can easily replace them, something Trump promised he would not allow. So much for Trump’s promises.

Speaking of promises, Trump said, during the campaign, he would lower gas and grocery prices. He has since walked back that promise, admitting he couldn’t do that. This doesn’t bode well for the future many of us will be experiencing soon.

Musk and Rivik Ramaswamy, Trump’s picks to head DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, a non-existent agency to cut government spending. The billionaires naturally have targeted government spending essential for the most vulnerable Americans, such as Social Security and Medicare. By cutting these two programs, the government can give much-needed tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires.

Don’t think for a minute your healthcare will get better or cheaper. Cost reductions in some drugs, such as insulin and asthma inhalers, passed by the Biden administration, are future targets for President Musk and his loyal servant, Donald Trump.

The traditional greetings for the new year include, “Have a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!” Thanks to the idiots who voted to return to office the worst President this country has ever had, the new year will not be healthy for millions, nor will it be prosperous, except for the uber-wealthy, so I hope you’ll be happy for the choice you’ve made.

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How Much Money is Enough?

Will our new billionaire administration steal us blind?

Photo by Rob on Unsplash

It’s no secret that multi-billionaire Elon Musk bought the presidency and has allowed billionaire Donald Trump to merely act as President. As of this writing, every cabinet member of the new administration is at least a millionaire. Trump received overwhelming support from those Americans in MAGA who considered him one of their own who supported their interests.

Surprise! You’ve been had!

Trump has named Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to be the heads of a new agency that will oversee government spending. According to Rolling Stone Musk has announced one of their top priorities is to cut Social Security and Medicare, so Trump will be able to give his promised tax cuts for millionaires.

For all of you MAGA members who voted for Trump because he understood your needs, now you know he may have understood your needs, but he doesn’t care. It looks like you’ll never get that invitation to Mar-a-Lago.

Have you ever wondered how much one billion dollars is? If you had a billion dollars and you spent $1000 each day, it would take 2,740 years before you went broke,

Now, let’s look at how much Elon Musk is worth. Musk is worth 449.5 billion dollars! He could never be able to spend his fortune. But he could make life better for millions of poor and suffering people all over the world. Unfortunately, that is not how Elon Musk is wired. 

I think if most people had a million dollars, they would spend a lot on themselves, but they would spend much of the money helping others. It’s hard for me to comprehend how a person is so greedy that he is willing to make others suffer so he can acquire more wealth. But I guess that’s just me. 

Millions of people voted against their best interests in the last elections, believing a con man would give them a better life. They voted for a man because he hated the same people they did. But what they didn’t know was that he hated them too.

We may be in for four years of economic distress while the ultra-wealthy pillage the Treasury and force us into poverty. We can only hope our billionaire masters will not have taken away our right to vote. But, I am not sure many Americans will have learned their lesson if there is another election.

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If You Were in Nazi Germany in the 1940s

What would you have done?

Photo courtesy World History Encyclopedia

It’s the 1930s in Germany, and Adolf Hitler has come to power. You see nazi stormtroopers goose-stepping in the streets. You see the swastikas hanging from buildings and lamposts all over where you live. You know Hitler is firmly in power.

You see massive rallies with Hitler spouting hatred against Jews, blaming them for everything that is wrong with Germany. You have listened to him call for the extermination of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and the handicapped. You’ve heard him proudly proclaim the purity of the Aryan race as the superior race.

You have seen massive bonfires where books that the Nazi regime has banned are summarily burned. You have seen The words “Juden” painted on the storefronts and homes of your fellow citizens of the Jewish faith. You have seen some Jewish-owned businesses destroyed by your German neighbors.

You have seen fewer and fewer of your Jewish neighbors and friends. You know where they have gone because you have seen them loaded on cattle cars heading towards concentration camps, never to be seen again. The few Jewish people you have seen are forced to wear a large yellow Star of David that identifies them as Jews.

You have seen young members of Hitler’s Youth acting like their adult counterparts, proudly displaying the Nazi salute and screaming “Heil Hitler,” parading in front of Hitler as he smiles and salutes the future of Germany. You knew these little Nazis would soon turn in their parents, teachers, or neighbors to the Gestapo for the slightest indiscretion.

You have seen smoke rising from the concentration camps, but even though you suspected what was burning, you didn’t want to know. You once again ignored the trains, full of your Jewish neighbors, constantly arriving at the camps outside your town. Let’s face it: you knew what was happening.

It is now the 1940s and Hitler’s war is not going well. The Allies were moving toward Germany, but Hitler only ramped up his plan to eradicate the Jews and other undesirables. How much longer can this genocide go on?

You knew about the assassination attempt at Wolf’s Lair in 1943 by some of Hitler’s staff that was meant to kill him and bring an end to the war. You knew the war was lost, and the longer it dragged on, millions more innocent people would be killed. Could you do anything about it?

Even though you supported Hitler, you now realize he was a monster. You and millions of ordinary German citizens allowed him to take power and carry on his mass exterminations. Better late than never, you decided you must do something.

You are a crack shot with a rifle, and you can easily obtain a high-powered rifle with a scope. Hitler is speaking at a rally near where you live, and you have easy access to the stands surrounding the podium where Hitler will speak. You know you have an easy shot. You also know you may not escape alive.

You were raised a Christian by your parents, and you know it’s a sin to take the life of another person. You know, according to your religion, you will go to hell if you kill people. But you also know Hitler was responsible for killing millions of people.

Hitler begins to speak as you raise your rifle and have him in your crosshairs. You pray and think of the Fifth Commandment, “Thou Shall Not Kill.” Your finger is on the trigger. What would you have done?

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