America - Election 2024

This week I have been thinking about all the money issues we face as individuals, as a nation, and as a global economy now.  

Today I decided to go shopping to get out of the house and then watched my budget get destroyed for this month.  It was a reminder for me about government budgets.  I have to do without for the rest of the month when I make a mistake with my money, the government seems to print more money when they overspend - which is like using a credit card and causes inflation.  

This is the crisis we face.  It seems to be the same cycle major civilizations in history have faced and lost over and over again.  We don't seem to learn not to do this path.

I have been watching a lot of videos at YouTube on government budgets, spending, and survival.  

• One highlighted how the government manipulates the statistics they use to make us think everything is just fine.  I have known this was happening but had no way to prove it.  Unemployment and jobs is just one example.  (Noted below.)
• One video was on how the government manipulated new job creation and unemployment.  It seems that when an unemployed person gets a part-time job of any kind they are removed from the public statistic on unemployment and may be moved to the list of underemployed people who never get counted for the public statistic.  People who have been unemployed for five years are also dropped from the counting process.  These people are considered not looking for work.  --  This means many people are not counted so we don't really know how bad the situation is.  
• One video was on how over fifty major US cities spend more than they take in through taxes.  This puts them in danger of bankruptcy, but on the way to bankruptcy are all the social problems not having money creates.  (Like trash pick-up and police/courts/jails and transportation and libraries and public healthcare and any other services provided by the government.)  The list of cities included the city where I live, Los Angeles and San Franciso areas, Chicago, New York, and Houston.
• One video was about the gold standard.  I did discover one interesting perspective from this one.  I always thought people were promoting gold and silver purchases as a simple way of prepping.  This video said governments all over the world are buying up gold to prepare for a new financial system after the collapse of what exists now... to have funds when they start over, when gold returns as the foundation of money. 

There were more videos than this, but it would take too long to share every important detail.  The main idea was our nation, and other nations, are in trouble.

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Who we elect as President this year will be the man behind saving our country from financial collapse, or leading us through it.  We have to choose, either Trump or Biden, unless something changes our options between now and then. 

Every election will matter.

I keep wondering what GOD is trying to tell us.

If you know, please share it with me in the comments.

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

https://work2gather.us

Wednesday, 2 May 2018

I have food again!
Simple pleasures.

With my new (used) mini-fridge, I have to be careful what I buy.  I used some of my rice for lunch, from the day before, and it was FROZEN!  So I turned the dial down, and waited.  Now it is relatively full of food, and by tomorrow morning, I will know if it is a lost cause.  I have a fridge thermometer I bought to check my last fridge temps with, so I am using that... and looking for the best place to put it for a good reading.  Food is money.  Money matters more when you are poor.  Food money is especially important for the survival of the poor.

It has been a big day for me... my body is telling me how much I did more than I should have.  :-)

I actually made it into the yard for about an hour later in the day...  about 5-6pm here.  Right before going shopping for food.  I felt the effects of exercise on a previously, generally, dormant body.  I have to clean up the mess tomorrow... so, I hope I survive.  :-)

I finally decided to register as a Republican so I could actually vote in a primary and other things.  I keep getting these opinion surveys from the Republican Party saying how desperately they need to know my opinions (as long as I agree with their choices), with a plea for funding to actually complete the survey.  I didn't notice that last stipulation until today.  :-(

I tend to send my surveys back with lots of unwanted comments about the questions they provide.  I will be doing this again, but I am addressing the envelope to the listed Chairman's (Chairwoman's) name as the intended recipient.  Tomorrow I plan to add a letter detailing some of my opinions.  I don't know if the people in charge ever get my responses, but I feel it is my responsibility to share them.

I am an American.  I care about my country.  I care about issues.  I want us to survive what our government has done to our nation.  I want our leaders to care about our survival as a nation, and to make better decisions, and to represent the people who put them there...  It is hard for me to deal with all the issues I have discovered since becoming poor, government funded, and unable to find solutions that are what we think America stands for.  In the process of the years, we change.  I still want to find a way to help America and its citizens.  In my life, that seems to be an impossible dream.

So, I keep writing about my perspectives, my solutions, my desires for answers, my anger at the way things are.  I use to just write letters to whomever I could, then emails, then I discovered social media, and commenting, and things I never thought of discovering before.  In my senior years, it will be my purpose in life... to find out how to do these "political involvement activities" better.

So, what else...  I have reorganized a lot of the spaces in my room, to help me do my crafting better.  I am still working on it, have a bit more moving around to do, but it is getting workable... for now.  I hope to get some of my projects listed on my selling sites this month.  It is still a problem with my shipping process, but I can do what I can all the way up to that part.

I was on LINKED IN today and noticed a really nice post there by Forbes...  It was a video on what makes for the best chance to succeed... as opposed to education and intellect...  They shared reported findings of a psychologist named Angela Duckworth.  Her perspective was that "grit" was the secret; and "Grit is the ability to persevere, to be resilient, passionate, and hardworking."  What I liked the best was this combined "formula" about the topic of who succeeds ::

Talent x Effort = Skill
Skill x Effort = Achievement

I hope that encourages you.  Sometimes we don't think much of ourselves when we don't rank high on the social curves of success.  I do the "grit" part, but haven't made it to the achievements I want to reach... so I guess I will just keep going.  :-)

Until next time...
In Christ,

Deborah Martin
work2gather.us

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May the GOD of heaven help our country.
May every citizen find a way to do something to make us better.
May our churches reach out to those who need them.
May our wealth be in goodness and charity.
May those who see us from the internet see a better display of our nation.
May America matter more than our personal goals.
Amen.

Tuesday, 30 January 2018

BACON!
I can't believe I ate it all!

Thank goodness I only had 4 slices in the house, and cooked... even if they were thick slices. I really cringed when I cleaned all the grease out of the pan to wash it clean again... I have to say it was between a quarter and a third of a cup, I think.  It was so gross to look at.  The bacon tasted so good... I decided I will only buy one or two slices at a time, or limit my bacon to restaurant sandwiches.  That will help.

I finished off my deli turkey, too.  No meat in the house now... I think.  I probably will find something hidden someday.  :-)  Once you discover a new truth it is hard to pretend it doesn't matter.  It changes every day from that moment on.  One of the interviews on the extra DVD from Forks Over Knives shared that animal protein kind of stops your colon from working right... something like that.  It may have been the whole digestive system.  I am planning to watch that part over again and take some notes.  It was one of the new statements I noticed.

I have known from previous research efforts that the body does not process meat easily.  I didn't know why.  In watching so many documentaries on food now, I see better that science is not finite, it is evolving.  When the news reports a new discovery it is just filling its air time with something that has been shared with them (press releases).  In the bigger picture, it is just one more study on the way forward.

It's hard to remember way back when I was young, but I remember being worried about the health of my children because our poverty did not allow the best food options.  That made vitamins and essential, not a luxury.  Now that I am a senior, alone, and eating better, plus discovering that senior bodies have different needs, my vitamin consumption remains but at an every other day level.  A lifetime hope was always to be able to eat real food that would cover what the vitamins provided for optimal health.  I always hoped to improve the lives of others with the financial blessings I was trying to discover through Working Together.  I guess that isn't my path.

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The State of the Union address is scheduled for 6pm here.  I hope to be able to watch it.  I stopped listening to the liberal news tonight because it is never good... always biased toward the politics that they endorse.  It isn't worth listening to anymore. 

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I started reading THE TREASURE PRINCIPLE, by Randy Alcorn, this morning and became discouraged by the views presented in the very first chapter.  I made a Facebook post about them, which probably should have been shared here, but I was angry and that is where I was, checking on my page.  If you want to read it, look for it here.   facebook.com/DeborahMartin.2014

I will force myself to keep reading for a bit more... to see what else he has to say about money issues and GOD.  It was a popular book, which is why I bought it when I saw it at the thrift store.  Money issues in Christianity are important to me.  I have a section in my book collection for them.

It is always hard to need something from GOD, and to look at other Christians with the impression they have enough to share.  My readings with the Dave Ramsey program showed me that looks are deceiving... all those good Christians may be struggling with debt and the battle with the "Jones family" in the church... all their income may be allocated to payments before they get it, and can be living paycheck-to-paycheck just like everyone else in the world.  Looking to GOD for your supply is really the only way to be fully Christian... to find contentment.

The god of money is a powerful enemy of faith.  It attacks us all.

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It has been a strange day because of that early morning experience.

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I have been working to use up my current foods before I go into new food items, so today I tried to bake my "fried rice" effort when I baked my bacon strips.  It turned out great!  I am so happy to be experimenting and creating things I like.  Now I have to keep better records of what I do so I can make it again.  :-)

Chili is next on the FOOD TO DO list.  :-)  One can of beans, maybe two, and a can of tomatoes, with diced onions, maybe some diced sweet peppers... who knows.  My biggest challenge is figuring out the right spices, and keeping the final amount as small as I can.  I love veggie chili, so that is not a problem food for me.  I may mix it with pasta this time.

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Well, that's enough for today.
I hope tomorrow is better for all of us.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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May the GOD of all provisions bless His people with abundance so they might share with those around them...
May the world discover GOD, the salvation of His Son (Jesus), and the amazing difference the Holy Spirit makes.
May our country find a way through our current financial challenges.
May our leaders put America before their own agendas.
May our media providers learn what Truth in reporting really is.
May those without a moral foundation find one... and help us to recover from the damages of crime.
May life become balanced, and families become strong, and Americans become the voice of our government.
May we become ONE Body in Christ so that our future will be stronger together.
Amen.