If left alone, most individual members of the human race live and let live. The vast majority carve out lives for themselves peacefully, all the while respecting the innate rights of their fellow humans. The majority of these self reliant individuals work for a lifetime. They work for themselves or employers. Their work is productive. The work underpins and cultivates what is known as an economic system. Basically, these individuals have been responsible for what you call civilization. Meanwhile, fewer members of the human race, a minority, don’t work. Some can’t. One segment of this minority steals. Many organize themselves into gangs. Small gangs operate in towns and cities. The Mafia is a well known gang. Larger gangs — some numbering in the thousands, organize themselves into armies that wage war against their neighbors for the purpose of stealing property and all manner of wealth, and enslaving the subjugated majority. In ancient times, great cities rose up on the backs of slave labor. In modern times, the working majority in a country like America devise a government to protect themselves against various types of gangs and individuals who steal human life, property and wealth. What the majority in America had not counted on was that the government they created — the Federal Government — would itself become a major-league gang on steroids — a government responsible for stealing lives, wealth and future of all working Americans. Without detailing the countless government iniquities, suffice it to say your country’s debt at this moment is approaching 37 trillion simoleons — a contemptible, indefensible crime of grand theft waged against the people.  Regrettably, suffice it to say, members of the working majority lose no sleep over a catastrophe beyond their control. And the minority that doesn’t work couldn’t care less. So this is the deal, Matilda. Congress doesn’t care. State Governments don’t care. SCOTUS doesn’t care. If Trump cares, he won’t live long enough to make a dent in the debt. Simultaneously, and incredibly, however, the Trump Administration does care about something far more important than a strangling debt crisis — nothing less than the perilous controversy over biological men playing women’s sport. If you want a peek at what’s wrong with the gang in Washington D.C, consider transgenderism in women’s sport — a study in absurdity on the federal level. Ask yourself — why is this idiotic quarrel any business of the Federal Government? Answer: Because in direct violation of the Title IX civil rights law, California has passed its own law including language that allows males who “identify” as females to participate in women’s athletics. The Trump administration’s response? Threaten California with loss of federal funding that, believe it or not, has been in place for decades to liberate women. (Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.) Have you upchucked yet? One, why in holy hell do schools, especially universities, receive federal funding? Two, why don’t female athletes boycott sanctioned events? Three, why do parents of female athletes put up with the oppression? Four, why do school coaches allow this travesty? Whatever eventually transpires, the Federal Government has no business being involved in any professional or amateur sport in America, period. But, you see, the Federal Government is absolutely drunk with power over domestic life. In a continuing, massive violation of The Constitution, it can’t keep its tyrannical arms from meddling with jurisdictions originally assigned to The States. But do you hear your U.S. Representatives and Senators speaking out about reducing federal power? No way, baby. Not a chance. Once you’re part of the gang, you walk the line — no different than being a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, Latin Kings, Crips and Bloods, Vice Lords, MS-13, Jewish Defense League, Mexican Mafia, etc. The U.S. Congress has had decades to prove its dedication to The Constitution and has failed repeatedly, like spoiled children who waste generations of family blood, sweat and tears. Trump, D.O.G.E. and his disciples will make headway, sure; but don’t kid yourself. The elephant in the room is immovable until the States decide to act. In that regard, give a shout out to the nineteen states ** that have acted — a glimmer of hope amid the gloom and doom. And while Congress refuses to rescue America from the grip of fiscal insanity, you do have a little advice for the tireless efforts of these leaders: Bug off. Let schools, parents, athletes and fans work it out. The best athletes can qualify independently for Olympic and professional careers. So, yes, grow up and bug off.

Ed. Note 1: FYI, while minority members (who won’t or can’t work) vote for and depend on the Federal dole, charitable giving in America totaled $557 billion (2023). In China (2024), philanthropy stood at $17 billion; in France, $8.5 billion. Food for thought.

Ed. Note 2:  By comparison, depending on your source, the Federal Government social welfare budget runs between 1-1.1 trillion simoleons — between 16-18 % of the total federal budget.

Ed. Note 3: The following 19 States have acted for the Convention of States Resolution. Ga., Alaska, Fla., Ala. Tenn. Ind., Okla., La., Ariz., N. Dak., Texas, Mo., Ark., Miss., Utah, Wisc., Neb. W. Va., S.C. If the GOP majority acts responsibly, N.C. will be the 20th state. 

www.conventionofstates.com

This is Easter week 2025. Tomorrow, Christians will observe Friday, April 18, as the day Christ was crucified, and celebrate Sunday, His resurrection. Some scholars place His death on either a Wednesday or Thursday. The dates may differ but there is little disagreement over the event. A Jewish assembly, you might say a legislative body (the Sanhedrin), conspired to kill Him. That’s a pretty blunt way to state it, but why mince words? Some people make the mistake of thinking Roman troops captured Jesus in Gethsemane. Debatable, but not true. Roman authorities would never stoop to do the work of Jewish authorities. Christ presented no threat to Rome. He was, however, a real and present danger to the Jewish hierarchy — to a high priest named Caiaphas and his predecessor/father-in-law Annas. The Jew’s Temple guards arrested Him and took Him to Caiaphas’ house to be interrogated in the dead of night. Basically, the Jewish leaders wanted to dredge up evidence to justify putting Jesus to death. They looked for false witnesses. But there was no evidence. Like present day detectives without evidence, Caiaphas counted on securing a confession. Accusingly, Caiaphas asked, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?” Scripture says that Christ replied, “So you say.” But He allegedly followed with ” . . . . .from this time on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right side of the Almighty.” That testimony was all the evidence Caiaphas would need. Blasphemy! Blasphemy — punishable by death according to Mosaic law. Guilty as charged, “they spat in His face and beat Him.” By today’s standards, Christ would go unnoticed. Today, people who talk with God or claim to have healing powers are judged as crackpots. Christ committed only one crime that is still “punishable” in 2025. He challenged the authority of the ruling class of 30 AD. The rest of His indictment was window dressing: He hung out with the society’s riffraff. He worked on the Sabbath by healing people. So Jesus suffered crucifixion. Why? Why wasn’t He stoned in the Garden according to Jewish law? No one really knows. But Biblical scholars suggest that the High Priests didn’t want an unremarkable stoning. They wanted a public condemnation that would forever eliminate Jesus from the public consciousness and relegate Him to the ash heap of history, dishonored and forgotten, citing Deuteronomy 21:23. “Anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse.” You know the rest. Although it was none of Rome’s business, Pilate thought he was creative, asking the crowd to choose between Barabbas and Christ. You must question: Where was Christ’s crowd during His scourging and trial? Chances are they were afraid to be seen and persecuted by the ruling Rabbis. Chances are they were at home and not even aware of His trial. Whatever details are true, Christ was doomed to die at the hands of those who despised him. They happened to be the big shots. They hated to hear “I am the Christ, son of the Blessed.” But when He accused them of hypocrisy, when He said their  rules and rituals did not come from God, the die was cast.

This week, Christians will celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. At a time like this — at all times, really, you question what Christ might think of the state of Christianity. Of church governing bodies. Of church governance. Of church & state. Of worship rituals and rules. Of denominations. Of sin. Of the Pope. Of Israel. Of anti semitism. Scholars say you can find answers in both the Old and New Testaments. Perhaps, but the best theological minds have been at it for centuries and still disagree on key issues. You can only imagine how Jesus might grade Christianity, circa 2025. Something tells you the churches would get high marks for charitable outreach and biblical study. But He also might take issue with the corporate and political structure of religions. You can’t imagine a meeting between Him and His Holiness in the Vatican. Would Jesus opt for an Armani suit and would His Holiness dress down and lose the tiara and papal ring? Sacrilege aside, you think Jesus would cast aside the showy trappings of religious symbolism much as He cast out the money changers on the temple steps. Well, imagining doesn’t help.  Christ didn’t leave behind a diary. In scripture, you won’t find conversation; you find questions and Christ’s brief replies and parables.  Perhaps the question shouldn’t be, “What would Christ think today?” Perhaps it should be, “What would Christ do?”

www.conventionofstates.com

Yesterday, a private health insurance carrier doubled your monthly premium. This increase follows similar decisions by another carrier who insures your vehicle and home. Simultaneously, the cost of all medical services has risen ferociously, thanks to your  Federal Government. After decades of his predecessors’ failed attempts, Lyndon (God Help Us) Johnson and his Congress pushed Medicare through and the rest is hideous socialist history. Everything that man touched was foul beyond description. For that matter, everything that government touches is some form of malfeasance. Your parents had no insurance. They were poor. By comparison to them, the poor today are rich. But your parents paid for your birth and later for the occasional Doc. You can’t recall any family member hospitalized. Little by little, things changed. Married with four children, you took part in group insurance plans at work. Those plans had one goal — protect your family against catastrophic illness. For the cost of run-of-the-mill hospital visit, in addition to your monthly premiums, you paid 20% and insurance paid 80%, with an out-of-pocket limit. You paid for years with no hospital visits. Insurance didn’t pay doctors or dentists. You paid them direct. In particular, pediatricians were a monthly expense — a necessary cost of living year after year. You didn’t begrudge the expense. But somewhere along the way, people decided they didn’t want to be responsible for the state of their health, much less pay for it. Somewhere along the way, healthcare became a right. And right on schedule, the Healthcare Industrial Complex grew exponentially, becoming a giant bureaucracy. Now, doctors submit to essentially being employees of HMO’s. A night’s stay in ER costs thousands. Pharma dominates TV, drumming disease after disease and drug after drug. As healthcare rules the national scene, the United States spends more on healthcare than any other high-income country but is the sickest country among those same nations. According to recent reports, the US has “the highest rates of deaths from avoidable or treatable causes and the highest maternal and infant death rates.” * The U.S.consumes approximately 80 percent of the global opioid supply. And coincident with RNA vaccine proliferation, all-cause mortality is through the roof. ** You can thank the Federal Government — all governments, really — for skyrocketing health costs as just one part of the 37 trillion dollar disaster plaguing America. Medicare is just one atrocity. Taxation is another. Congress taxes the hell out of people. Congress spends and spends, borrows and borrows — and when the income isn’t enough, issues more debt — keeps spending — and prints and prints more money — creating inflation. Inflation steals. It sucks more money from the people in the form of rising prices for all of life’s necessities. There is no excuse for this wrongdoing. Robin Hood’s enemy, King John, who inflicted ruinous taxes on the poor of 1377, was a cream puff compared to Congress. No one in America should pay taxes on wages. Consider what you pay — income tax, sales tax, property tax, capital gains tax, business tax and all manner of other taxes. Without an ounce of fiscal restraint, adding insult to injury, the Federal Government decides to divvy up your donations to thousands of recipients, foreign and domestic — picking winners and losers in the process. The mismanagement of the people’s money is nothing short of evil. For his crime, Bernie Madoff sat in prison for 11 years before his death. For their crimes, congressmen and congresswomen sit in revered seats in the People’s House to enjoy highly lucrative careers, jacking their jaws and voting on interminable bills that mostly place shackles on those who can least afford them. Whatever pain it causes, DOGE can’t work quickly enough to slash and burn the Fed’s size and return it to its Constitutionally enumerated jurisdiction. If Speaker Mike Johnson wants to make history, he should stand before his peers and accuse himself and his political pals for breaking their venerated oaths of office — “we, and those who came before us, are guilty of conducting a criminal charade — for driving this great country to ruin; and in doing so, we spit in the faces of those patriots who gave us their lives.” But you won’t hold your breath for that speech. He’s too busy sending emails complaining about the bad guys and the broken system. Of course, what he’s really doing is  asking for money. Duh.

* www.cnn.com/2023/01/31/health/us-health-care-spending-global-perspective/index.html

** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHpvhZFvUl4

www.conventionofstates.com