Christians Should Fear God and Not Clinton

I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. 

--Psalm 34:4*

Ephesians 6:10-17

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 

--Matthew 10:28

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 

--2 Timothy 1:7

Before you start reading this, there are some things you need to know.

• I haven’t endorsed a presidential candidate and I won’t. This essay is not an endorsement.
• I’m still considering voting for Donald Trump, but I might not.
• I may vote for Evan McMullin.
• I might not vote for president at all.
• I won’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Gary Johnson.

And the primary purpose of this post is to convey the following:

You can’t bully me into going against one of the main tenets of my faith in order to get me to vote for Trump; you can’t use fear of Clinton to do it. So please stop trying.

Many people in my circles of friendship—some political, some not--are afraid of Hillary Clinton. Most alarming is that this includes more than a few of the professed Christians among them. They say things like, “she’ll make Christianity illegal,” “she’ll take away our guns,” “SHE’LL KILL US!!!” These things are said without irony. I’d swear that some of the speakers are bots—except that I know a couple of them in person.

Check this out.

I’ve been inordinately interested in the Holocaust since I found out that it happened—back when my parents brought home a copy of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich in the 1970s. Later, when offered by the USAF to learn a foreign language, I chose German for that reason. I was stationed in then-West Berlin in the 1980s and early 1990s.

In short, I have been steeped in Holocaust and 20th-century German history for a while so, of course, I knew of Corrie ten Boom and of The Hiding Place. But I had never read the book until last week.

God has His timing and it is perfect.

In the 1940s, Corrie and her sister Betsie—spinster ladies in their 50s—lived with their father, Casper, a widower and a watchmaker. When the Netherlands--their native country--was invaded by Nazi Germany’s Wehrmacht, the family began to get used to life in a conquered country. Then, through seeming chance and with their father’s blessing, the ten Boom sisters turned their home into a way station for Jews fleeing the Nazis. It became a Hiding Place for the hunted.

The American namby-pamby prosperity-preaching “Your Best Life Now” Christianity of the early 21st century bears no resemblance to the Christianity of the Dutch Reformed Christian ten Boom family. They were not “Oh my God, Hitler is going to take away my rights” type of Christians. They walked in God’s way when times were good, when times worsened, when times were very, very bad, and when death was knocking at the doors of their dwelling.

And when I use to word 'dwelling,' I'm referring to their bodies.

We all must die. Betsie and her father didn’t last long after being arrested. But God let Corrie live into her 90s--in order to tell the tale.

I am in awe of this family as are, of course, nearly everyone who knows of them. Two ladies on the edge of old age and their elderly father were stronger than all too many--strengthened by faith.

What do you want to be thinking about when death is near? How obedient you were to the state?

*****

I don’t know if I could be like the ten Booms or like the Iraqi Christians. I do, however, know that sitting around whining about the prospect of someone stopping you from worshiping the Living God even in the face of death displays a distinct lack of understanding about the nature of the God of the Bible and/or betrays that the speaker hasn’t opened the Bible in a very long time.

The persecution hasn't even happened yet and some a cowering already.

Here's what I think: if you would let Hillary Clinton or anyone else stop you from worshiping Yahweh, you might as well stop worshiping Him now.

*All Bible quotes are KJV.

UPDATE: I voted for Donald Trump.

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Two Weeks Left.

This is my JOB. It pays for: A Roof Over My Head, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.

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Alt-Right Trumpism: Russia-bots or Americans?

This morning, before Twitter went down, I saw a long-time blog friend—one which I’ve met in person—light into a woman for the suggestion that Donald Trump’s online following has been infiltrated by Russia-bots. I thought this was common knowledge, and it’s something which would explain the vileness of Trump's alt-right fans.

Like this.

I distinctly remember the first time I saw a picture of my then-seven-year-old daughter’s face in a gas chamber. It was the evening of September 17, 2015. I had just posted a short item to the Corner calling out notorious Trump ally Ann Coulter for aping the white-nationalist language and rhetoric of the so-called alt-right. Within minutes, the tweets came flooding in. My youngest daughter is African American, adopted from Ethiopia, and in alt-right circles that’s an unforgivable sin. It’s called “race-cucking” or “raising the enemy.” I saw images of my daughter’s face in gas chambers, with a smiling Trump in a Nazi uniform preparing to press a button and kill her. I saw her face photo-shopped into images of slaves. She was called a “niglet” and a “dindu.”

The alt-right unleashed on my wife, Nancy, claiming that she had slept with black men while I was deployed to Iraq, and that I loved to watch while she had sex with “black bucks.” People sent her pornographic images of black men having sex with white women, with someone photoshopped to look like me, watching.

And this.

In March, writer Bethany Mandel related her own experience. After tweeting about Trump’s anti-Semitic followers, she was called “slimy Jewess” and told that she “deserves the oven.” It got worse: Not only was the anti-Semitic deluge scary and graphic, it got personal.

Trump fans began to “dox” me — a term for adversaries’ attempt to ferret out private or identifying information online with malicious intent. My conversion to Judaism was used as a weapon against me, and I received death threats in my private Facebook mailbox, prompting me to file a police report.

Russia has a long, unashamed xenophobic and anti-Semitic history, so when alleged Russia-bots displayed this foul behavior, it was unsurprising to me.

But my friend—an intelligent, accomplished man and a Trump fan*—found the Russia-bot theory more than merely inconceivable or ridiculous. In his disagreement with the theory, he referred to the woman who suggested it as a whore, with some adjectives thrown in, for good measure.

The alternative to Trump fans being infiltrated by Russia-bots is that they aren’t. The alternative is that these slimy bastards called the alt-right are truly Americans.

That’s something which should give us all pause.

*During this election season, I’ve taken pains to make the distinction between Trump supporters and Trump fans. The former are those who see Donald Trump as a candidate and as a human being and who have made a calculated, informed decision to support his presidential aspirations. The latter are those whose support for Mr. Trump’s candidacy is driven purely by emotion—the underlying emotion being anger.

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: A Jaunt Through the English Channel.

This is my JOB. It pays for: A Roof Over My Head, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.

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My Da Tech Guy Blog Posts in August 2016

More About the Unknown
Country-Jacked by the Driver
He Who Hesitates
Impressions
The General Nature of Lies
General Blather on Disagreement
Useless Baggage
Global Pandemic: Crazy Elections
With Ignorance and No Bliss for All

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: A Short I-Got-Nothing Reading List.

This is my JOB. It pays for: A Roof Over My Head, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.

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In Case You've Never Read My Blog Before

Blogspot has a feature I just recently noticed. It allows a blogger to ad a widget featuring his/her top traffic-receiving posts, so I put the widget up on the left sidebar. But it has a serious drawback: it only picks posts from the past 365 days. Therefore, I decided to point to some earlier posts, both highly-trafficked ones and some of my favorites...in case you're interested.

These Posts Had Lots of Hits

How Leftist Targeting Calculus Works

Exposure: BLMs Love White People

I’ll Just Leave This Right Here

The Scattered: Spiritual Reasons for Black Failure

Unhappy Obama Home

What Lies Between Normal and Nutting Up

I Accept the Shame You Cast Upon Me

Azealia Banks Perfectly Agrees with My 'Scattered' Post

Agitating Dirty


Posts I like That Didn't Necessarily Get that Many Hits

Short-Takes on Why I Prefer Blogging to Social Media

Donald Trump and Our Current Level of Deception

Maybe It’s the Novelist in Me

Kwanzaa: The Night After Christmas

Passing for Super Heroes

Action and What Comes Before It

Tin Foil-age and More

After Action Report on the Enemy

All-Purpose Cudgel

'Religious Extremism' and You

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Country-Jacked by the Driver.

This is my JOB. It pays for: A Roof Over My Head, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.

Paypal Me

How People Project Their Inferiority Complexes

Found at Tech Crunch.

You are a snob.

You think you know everything.

Stop condescending to me.

You’re no better than anyone else.

I’m just as [insert desirable quality here] as you are!

You’re not as smart as you think you are.

You’re just saying that because I’m [insert race, color, sex, etc. here].

I am offended by that.

You're not my mother/father.

Who do you think you are?

You’re a nobody.

[Any reference to IQ.]

Nobody cares what you think.

Cuck.

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Country-Jacked by the Driver.

This is my JOB. It pays for: A Roof Over My Head, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.

My Da Tech Guy Blog Posts in July 2016

What I'm Up To This Weekend

It doesn't make much difference anymore.

Lawlessness Flexes Its Muscles
Breakdown
Roundup
Watching the Build-Up
The Great Outing
Three-Dimensional Thinking
Hands-Up, Don't-Shoot--European Style
Condition: Unknown Unknowns

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Country-Jacked by the Driver.

This is my JOB. It pays for: A Roof Over My Head, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.

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Last Chance to Buy My Novel in Dead Tree Form

Paperback sales of my novel end after tomorrow. Call it "indefinite hiatus." 

It’s really difficult to get people to buy your wares. It's easier to get people to donate. I've had people donate a lot of money to Baldilocks and, don’t get me wrong—I’m very grateful for it and won’t turn it down…and you do get something for those donation: keeping my blogging afloat. 

But, I’d rather get paid for something I’ve finished creating. It feels better. I'd like to sell 20 today and 20 tomorrow. Then, I will be done with selling that particular book for a while, at least online.

Also, there has to be someone out there looking for a novel on which to base a screenplay. Certainly there is.

Buy my book and give it to one of your screenwriter friends.

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Hands-Up, Don't-Shoot, European Style.


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Black African Immigrants to America and American-Born Blacks

Today, on Social Media, I requested that my friends and followers submit writing topics to me. One of the suggestions was the difference between African immigrants and black Americans who are descendants of American slavery.

I’ve glanced against the topic before, when making other points.

The Herding, Part One:

Take everything we know about the history of Americans of African descent piece by piece. Our West African ancestors were sold into American slavery—mostly at the behest of other black Africans. Upon arrival in America, they were forbidden under pain of death, to speak their native languages or use the names with which they had been born. Unlike all other immigrants to America, the African slave was forcibly cut off from these vestiges of the Old Country--essentially the slave became a new creation. The American descendant of American slaves is, thus, wholly and deeply American.

Of Japan and New Orleans: Honor, Shame and Identity:

[N]ames, languages, family structures, belief systems (…) have buoyed all other ethnic groups—including recent African immigrants—in their sojourn to this country and all of them had the choice to hold onto the elements of their cultures that fit into the American ideal and discard those which were incompatible. American slaves were granted no such luxury. Our ancestors were emptied of their identities and re-created in the image of what America had for them. And, up until roughly fifty years ago, much of that image was molded by oppression and scorn.

However, most black Americans held on tightly to the universal totems of personal and communal honor: love of God, family, love of community, industriousness, self-reliance--all of which also flow and follow from America’s founding document. (That America strayed away from those principles with respect to black Americans isn’t the point, that those principles even existed is. And, with those concrete principles in hand, black Americans were able to point to them and say to other Americans, “live up to your—to our-- principles.”)

(…)

What we saw in New Orleans after Katrina was a microcosm of the character disintegration of this most American of Americans. It wasn’t born of DNA nor of the historical effects of slavery; it was born of the wholesale abandonment of a character tried and refined by fire and of the principles which held black Americans together in prior times of adversity.

If mother and father don’t love child enough to at least try to create the most tried and true environment for the nurturing of that child, it follows that neither mother, nor father, nor child will love and respect neighbors or community. We declined en masse the prescriptions and proscriptions of God regarding the family and allowed government to usurp the place of the head of the family--the husband/father/leader/protector. We abandoned the identity which our forebears shaped for us and put chaos in its place.

As is obvious and as one might be able to infer from my own heritage—being the 55-year-old (next month) offspring of an African immigrant to America and an American descendant of American slaves--I’ve had plenty of time and reason to give the topic a lot of thought. I don’t think that many think the circumstances through far enough, which makes for a lot of animosity between black Africans and black Americans.

My earlier observations point to several factors for the differences, some of which are common among African, black Caribbean immigrants, and other immigrant groups:

• All voluntary immigrants to America represent the go-getters among their number. It takes uncommon intestinal fortitude to get up and leave everything one knows in order to chase a dream in a foreign land.
• The birthplaces of all voluntary immigrants provide qualities to be measured. The qualities in question are: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. America almost always wins this measurement contest.

Aside from those observations, there are others to consider.

My father came to America in 1959 via the Mboya Airlift. His group of several dozen gifted students was the first large-scale immigration of black Africans since the end of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Importation. (For the record, the U.S, importation of slaves was outlawed in 1807, but there was still a huge black market—no pun intended—up until the Emancipation Proclamation.)

Mboya Airlift students; I have not been able to pick out my father among them. Attribution.

After the Civil War and before the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924, only a bit over a thousand black Africans immigrated to the USA, the dearth of which was due to the lack of financial resources among most black Africans at the time. The Johnson-Reed Act tamped that number almost down to zero. (It’s interesting to note that this law banned Arab and East Asian immigration outright and that it was a codicil to the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, which was aimed at Southern and Eastern Europeans. I’d like to investigate the effects of those restrictions with respect to Eastern Europeans who were looking to escape Ataturk, Hitler and Stalin in that decade and those following.)

But, subsequent to the Mboya Airlift, the restrictions on black African and other non-Western European immigration were eased in 1965.

The timing is significant and is the point of this singular observation. African immigrants are indeed the go-getters from among their fellows, but they also began to arrive in America at the right time—when race was becoming less of a factor for all Americans and legal residents who were willing to grab hold to the American dream. One might also note that the moral and societal re-enslavement bait to black Americans was cast at roughly the same time.

Here’s something which just occurred to me today: the underlying assumption that black Africans should be similar in ability and behavior to black Americans is that black African heritage confers a DNA-level inferiority on all of us as compared to other groups.

If it were true that black African-descended persons were genetically inferior to other groups, then it would not matter that African immigrants were the go-getters from among their various tribes. They would still tend to display intellectual inferiority to other immigrants and, indeed, be intellectually inferior to black Americans, since, roughly 80% of black American descendants of American slavery—including me--have some European heritage. 

But that does not appear to be the case.

Survey Shows Black Immigrants are More Educated, Make More Money than African Americans (sic)

“Black immigrants are doing better economically than Blacks born in the U.S. Household incomes for foreign-born Blacks are, on average, $10,000 higher than U.S.-born Blacks. And Black immigrants are less likely to live in poverty,” according to a Black Enterprise article by Stacey Tisdale. 

The Pew Research Survey also indicated foreign born Blacks were older, more educated than Black Americans and more likely to be married

(Emphasis mine.)

It isn’t just Asian Immigrants Who Thrive in the U.S. 

According to Census data, more than 43 percent of African immigrants hold a bachelor’s degree or higher -- slightly more than immigrants from East Asia. Nigerian immigrants are especially educated, with almost two-thirds holding college degrees -- a significantly higher percentage even than Chinese or South Korean immigrants. African immigrants are also very likely to hold advanced degrees, many of which are earned at U.S. universities. By many measures, African immigrants are as far ahead of American whites in the educational achievement as whites are ahead of African-Americans.

I have repeatedly pointed to the grave damage done to black Americans by the Great Society Programs and all of its evil progeny, but here’s the one which I believe is the most significant: lack of identity.

Most things labelled as identity are extremely dangerous, and feed on hatred of other identities, but, as I pointed out in my essay about Japan and New Orleans, the dearth of a core identity is just as dangerous in that pointless and evil identities are waiting to fill any such voids. Africans and all other immigrants come to America with their core selves intact and that is what drives most of them, in my opinion. That core self is often culturally-based, but it has an even more important foundation: family honor.

Do I need to go on—again--about what has happened to family honor among the vast majority of Americans who are black? I didn’t think so.

We all know about the pseudo-Africans--those black Americans who seek to cobble together African identity for themselves; indeed, that's what the creation of Kwanzaa is about. I have occasionally made sport of pseudo-Africans, mostly because I can, but, as I've thought through and composed this essay, I'm feeling less haughty and more inclined to point my identity-less American brethren to a true identity solution:

Create a family, be loyal to and accountable to it. That's what pushes our African immigrant friends further than almost all others.

And, it's a solution which we can fashion for ourselves. That goes for all Americans...at least for now. Seize the Time.

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog.

Melvin, Malik, and Tale of the Tigers

This photo gets posted a lot on my Facebook newsfeed.

It is NASA astronaut Leland Melvin and, like most others, I’m charmed by his love for his furry family and their love for him.

But, after reading Melvin’s biography, I’m struck by something else. He went to college on an athletic scholarship—football—but he did not take the easy route while there. His undergraduate degree is in chemistry.

Melvin was drafted in the NFL, but chronic injuries ended that career. But he had another avenue available to him, which resulted in his being a crew member of two missions of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

There are several reasons that Mr. Melvin’s story fascinates me, but I want to mention just one.

On the cover of my novel, Tale of the Tigers, you see three people: the main characters, Kevin and Felice, and a third person: Malik. Malik is probably my favorite creation, but I didn’t just conjure his personality and persona out of thin air or wishful thinking. I made him athletic, handsome, and brilliant because I have known many black men like him. Men who are gifted physically, but most importantly, intellectually. They are black, but they aren’t the sort of black men who are featured in the news. They aren’t “news” because they are good men who are content to use the gifts which God gave them to thrive in the greatest country available to people of all races, with the gifts being interior rather than exterior.

I’m always fascinated by black people who become well-known outside of something intrinsic to race.[i] I suppose that’s an irony, but it’s true.

---

[i] When I used to watch Fox News, I used to love seeing Neil Tyson deGrasse for this reason. Sadly, he has ruined that for me of late.

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Watching the Build-Up.


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My Da Tech Guy Blog Posts in June 2016

Alice Krige in Ghost Story

• Muhammad, the Mountain, and the Lukewarm
• CA Primary Day Blather
• Why Black Americans Think That the Federal Government is Our Friend
• What Matters
• Outlining the Plan
• Remembering a 2008 Entitlement War
• Focus on the Donald
• Istanbul and Our Perceptions

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Lawlessness Flexes Its Muscles.


IMPORTANT: Check out the left sidebar at the top.

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Your Jewels for Sale

When I wrote this rant in 2008, I was glancingly referring to another presidential election. It applies to the 2016 election even more so--not to mention, everything else. Edited.

All too often these days, when the average person talks about principles, what they’re really talking about are their personal commodities—a fixed quantity to be sold under certain circumstances, with a finite set of buyers as well. Oh sure, this merchandise is labeled as “principles” but the definition of the word has become mutable--Truth become the Lie.

Thus does the Golden Rule, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” become “do unto others as your preconceived notions would have you believe that others will do unto you.” Or does the Rule come with a codicil: “do unto others as you would have them do unto you—but only if you believe that others follow this rule?”

Of course principles like the Golden Rule have constraints—like all rules which exist in the realm of human imperfection. It cannot and, sometimes, should not be followed 100% of the time. There are exceptions to every single rule under the sun. But if the Rule is to be thrown out of the window every single time it gets a little difficult to follow it, then why even bother to pretend to follow it at all? And, please people, on those occasions when you're not living up to your principles, you could at least acknowledge that you're falling short instead of childishly pointing at the other guy and say "well he's not following the Rule either."

If your “principles” are always for sale, then call them something else, because, in spite of the Theory of Relative Definitions for Words Which Have Fixed Meanings in the Real World, they are not principles.

Call them The Family Jewels and sell them on eBay. You might fetch a high price for them.

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In Memoriam: Jeniffer Dawa Ochieng

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
--Matthew 5:4

It’s a somber and sober day. I found out this morning that Jeniffer Dawa Ochieng, wife of my Kenyan father, passed away. She had been in grave health for some time—suffering from complications of diabetes and hypertension--and when I went to Kenya this year to meet her and the rest of the family for the first time, she was bedridden and unable to speak. My sisters, Lucy Adhiambo and Judith Aluoch helped my father to see to her needs. I never got to meet her healthy and whole and I’m saddened by that.

Jeniffer Dawa Ochieng

I know what my Kenyan family is feeling; for half my childhood I was raised by my great-uncle and great-aunt, John and Alma Simpkins; both died of cancer and were invalids before they passed, in 2000 and 2012, respectively. Before the decline, both had been vital, active and loving and when they died I was relieved that they were free from pain, but a part of me wished I could have them back, healthy and whole, and…so I could have a chance to be a better daughter. The selfishness impulse is never far from any of us.

My other parents, Philip Ochieng, Nova Dorn, and Johnny Dorn, are all in their 70s and relatively hale. Mom has battled the beast called cancer twice and is still with us and cancer-free, but being in America certainly tipped the scales in her favor.

This type of loss goes hardest on the grandchildren. As we get older, say, past 40, we more or less accept the fact that we will outlive our parents. It is, of course, the order of life. But to the grandchildren, it is an especially rough introduction to adulthood, especially if the grandparent is greatly beloved, as appears so with Miss Jeniffer (spelling correct). My niece, Jeniffer Atieno--the eldest of my nieces and nephews on both sides of the Atlantic--is taking this loss especially hard.

And then there’s my father, Philip. I still don’t know him well enough to gage how he handles grief. He has had a lot of it in recent years; he is the last of his siblings and he is not the youngest of them. But it isn’t difficult to guess what it’s like to lose a life-partner of half a century.

My brother, Charles Otieno, the only son of Philip and Jeniffer, is three years my junior. From reading his Facebook posting about his mother’s death, he is taking his responsibilities as the male heir seriously, but I pray that he doesn’t fail to sit down for a minute or two and simply mourn…and rejoice in God.

A cool thing about my tribe: due to the fact that it is traditionally polygamous, there are no separations between families. My American parents are considered the parents of my Kenyan siblings; my American siblings are also the siblings of the Kenyans, and so on. (This concept remains so, even though Philip has eschewed polygamy, preferring the Western tradition of one legal wife at a time.) I love it, and it is one of the many reasons that I rarely use the prefix ‘step,’ except for clarification purposes--when I don’t have time to explain my very complicated family situation.

So it is, under Luo tradition, that my mother has died. For obvious reasons, I don’t feel the pain of her absence, but I greatly empathize with my brother, my sisters, and all other family members who love Mother.

Godspeed, Mother Jeniffer! I look forward to the day that we sit and talk and laugh about the day we were so sad that you were gone, only to discover that you are living forever in Christ. That will be a Great Day, indeed.

This is my JOB. It pays for: A Roof Over My Head, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.

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Timing is Everything

In this week’s visit to Japan, President Obama denounced the nuclear attacks which the United States made on Hiroshima and on Nagasaki in order to make a final end to World War II, calling the attacks ‘evil.’ This should not be a surprise to any keen observers of our president’s ideology and actions regarding American military power in general and nuclear weapons in particular.

But, look at which American holiday comes up in a few days: Memorial Day. That, of course, is the day when we honor all American military members who have made the ultimate sacrifice in battle. Arguably, World War II was our biggest triumph and, inarguably, yielded our largest amount of sacrifices. And it is certain that the American body count--and that of the Japanese--would have been much greater had the US Military been required to invade Imperial Japan in order to get her to surrender.

This sort of...eh...unfortunate timing isn’t new for him. Recall that when the president reneged on the missile shield treaty with Poland (and the Czech Republic)—which had been signed by President Bush’s Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Poland’s then-Foreign Affairs Minister Radoslaw Sikorski--he announced his intention to do so on September 17, 2009 which was the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Poland by Stalin’s USSR. Putin's Russia of 2009 had been threatening both Poland and the Czech Republic over the treaty and Vladimir Putin was well-pleased about the broken promise.

1939: USSR's Molotov and Third Reich's Ribbentrop--two wolves agree on which sheep (Poland) will be dinner.

I don’t know whether President Obama does this on purpose or not and some might say I’m being naïve in “hesitating” to make a stand on this. Thing is, I don’t believe in coincidences, not ultimately.

As usual, I think that when patterns happen and are observable, that it is God who is indicating something of which believers should take note.

What might that something be?

I will take one stand on that and it isn’t a new one: that President Obama is telegraphing the identity of his enemies to the world. But who will be able to see this? God knows.

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Scary Story.

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My Da Tech Guy Blog Posts in April 2016

Eater of Hot Sauce knows nothing about throwing bones.

Organized Chaos
I’m Old Enough to Remember When Others Tried to Shame Me for Talking About Nuking a Fool
Disconnect
We Will Get What We Ask For
The Way It Is
Hot Sauce and Bones
Living by Faith
Kenya Trip: Post Feelies

About WePay/Everbutton: they've seen things my way, so I'll keep them...for now. I do suggest that others do more research.

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Inserting a New Language Into a Not-So-New Brain.

This is my JOB. It pays for: A Roof Over My Head, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.

Below: Non-Paypal Donation System!

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WePay Gets the Thumbs-Down (UPDATED)

First, I want to say Thank You Again to one and all who have contributed to my utility fund; the contributions have been more than enough. Love you all at Ace of Spades HQ!

That said, I am still posting from the library and it’s because WePay.com—which provides the donation buttons on this site through Everbutton.com--is unable to verify bank accounts and credit cards automatically or in a few days like PayPal does. And even when the accounts are verified and the withdrawal process starts, it takes two to five days before the funds are deposited into an individual’s personal bank account. WePay does not provide an account in the manner that PayPal does. Also, no phone app.

I’ve been in contact with WePay’s customer service and they tell me that it will take up to 30 days before I receive the funds.

Think about that.

So, I do not recommend WePay as a PayPal replacement. And I’ll be going to bed at 8:00 PM for a few weeks. Bright side: I’m getting a lot of novel writing done!

And, since, that was the original plan, I'll say...onward.

UPDATED (4/30/16): Also no text alert, nor method of telephone contact.

I've received none of the funds donated for April 24th onward. As a matter of fact, the withdrawal process for donations on the 24th and later to my bank account hasn't even start yet.

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: A Little Drive.

This is my JOB. It pays for: A Roof Over My Head, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.

And...
If you still want to to donate via Paypal, my email address is juliette -dot- ochieng -at- gmail -dot- com.

Truth Be Told (UPDATED)

UPDATE (4/26): The Horde comes through! I'm still posting from the library, but that's only because it takes time for the funds to get through.

You can stop now!
ORIGINAL: My electricity was turned off on Thursday for non-payment. That's why I was posting from the library that day and what this post is about. Naturally, my wifi was off.

However, I had discovered a workaround; in the vestibule outside of my apartment, there's an outlet not connected to my account. So I gathered all the surge-protecting cords I could find--five, as it turns out--put them together and made it so that I could at least have light, coffee, and wifi until I could find a way to get the funds together.

I knew it wouldn't last for long but I thought it would last for the weekend and, bare minimum, for 48 hours. But when I heard a high-pitched female voice outside my door ask loudly, "what's this doing here?" I knew the jig was up. Then the knock on the door came.

I threw myself at my landlady's mercy, but she said no, and I understand her position. "Oddest" thing: I was just about to post today's Da Tech Guy offering when the knock came. The title of that post: Living by Faith.

So that's what I'm still doing at I type this from the library--living by faith. $400 is what I need. At least help me get some candles.

BTW:  My devices will not work with LAPL's wifi, for whatever reason.

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Living by Faith.

This is my JOB. It pays for: A Roof Over My Head, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.

Below: New Non-Paypal Donation System!

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6 Million Reasons Why You Should Donate to This Blog

Actually, I can give you two.

1. Because I'll never pretend like I'm blegging for altruistic, unselfish reasons--unless I actually am--and,
2. Because, unlike some people, I can tell you how all donated monies have been spent; I keep copies of all of my receipts using Neat.com scanner and software. If you ask, I'll tell you.

Meanwhile, I don't think that anyone abiding under the wing of Donald Trump will suffer earthly penalties for this.

Remember when Donald Trump snubbed Fox’s presidential debate to hold a fundraising rally for veterans back in January? Well, it seems there’s a great deal of that money that has yet to be distributed. What’s more, his staff seems unconcerned about why it hasn’t been given out. 

Trump claimed after the rally that his website drew in a total of $6 million for wounded warriors, but The Daily Beast caught up with his veteran’s issues chairman and asked about why charities haven’t exactly lined up to publicly acknowledge that they received any of it.

Two of Trump's veteran point persons say that some of the $6 million has been disbursed, but neither bothered to prove it and say that they have better things to do than be transparent about donated money intended for veterans.

And I predict that no entity of the MSM will be aggressive about this topic. Wish I could perpetrate something like this...well, then again, I don't. It would be necessary to be without a conscience.

Donate to this veteran. It doesn't have to be $6M.

And don't forget: every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Hot Sauce and Bones.

This is my JOB. It pays for: A Roof Over My Head, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.

Below: New Non-Paypal Donation System!

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Bottom Out: Why the Tubman 20 Doesn't Matter

A lot of people are still arguing about the Fed's decision to change the front image of the 20 dollar bill from that of Andrew Jackson to that of Harriet Tubman.

I was initially thrilled about the news and came across the image below early on.

It is unknown who did this awesome photoshop and, of course, this won't be the image on the new federal reserve note.

The more I think about it, however, the change is the equivalent of throwing a bone to a hungry public. And those who are still arguing about the historical merits of Tubman versus those of Jackson are wasting their time.

After all, does it really matter which the image is on any piece of fiat currency--which, by definition, is based on nothing but the word of the non-federal Fed?

If I were a little bit more paranoid, I'd say that this is why the change was allowed.

AFTERTHOUGHT: In a barter economy, aside from ammo and booze, I predict that coffee will have the most value.

BTW, while that currency still has some perceived value--at least to power, gas, and Internet companies--be so kind as to donate to this blog. Thanks!

And don't forget: every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Hot Sauce and Bones.

This is my JOB. It pays for: A Roof Over My Head, the writing of My Next Book(s), and Utilities--especially Internet and COFFEE! Yes, coffee is a utility.

Below: New Non-Paypal Donation System!

Donate to Baldilocks

Subscribe to Baldilocks