Category: Uncategorized

RIP Pete Rose – MLB’s Unforgivable Sin

RIP Pete Rose 1941-2024

Baseball and I go back nearly 60 years. I remember sunning in the lawn with my Mom as we listened to the Yankees on the radio. Back then I was a Yankees fan and continued to be so for several years. I’m not sure when I switched loyalties to the National League and the Mets but no doubt George Steinbrenner had something to do with it.

As far as Pete Rose goes, as a Mets fan I all but swore a blood oath the hate him until the day I died. First I hated him as a player because it seemed he was always in the midst of every lost to the Cardinals. Then I hated him as a manager – mostly because he managed the Cards, of course.

When Pete Rose was banned from baseball for gambling  on baseball, I had no sympathy for him. None at all. Shame on him for shaming baseball. I was never a gambler. Hell, I hated taking risks for the most part. Still do, but I’m working on getting over that ,but gambling? No, thank you. Seems like every bet is a sucker’s bet.

Then one day I read an article about “Charlie Hustle”. From that day on, I saw Pete Rose in a different light. What changed my mind? Pete did. His attitude, his work ethic, his humility. Now don’t get me wrong, I have no doubt if I’d met Pete Rose at the height of his career, say when he became the all-time MLB hit leader, he might not have been so humble. Fact is, I’ll never know now will I? What I do know is what the article said about his amazing feat that stands to this day.

They said Pete Rose himself said he was no great talent. He said he was an average player at best. So how did he manage so many hits? Hard work. He practiced his craft relentlessly. I found this inspiring. I think any boy who aspires to a career in professional sports or any endeavor for that matter should take a page from Pete Rose’s book . Don’t fret about the other guy’s “natural abilility” – his gift. Don’t whine about God granting some advantage to another. Do the best with what God gave you.

What Pete “Charley Hustle” Rose believed about God, I cannot say, but his example says plenty. So… should he be considered a “role model” despite his apparent gambling habit? I say yes, without a doubt.

The trouble with role models and “heroes” is we tend to put  them on pedestals. We want to worship them, think they can do no wrong. That is always a mistake. Pete Rose, just like any other “hero” is a mere human. Every human is capable of making mistakes. Most of us do – in fact every single one of us has, save one, Jesus Christ. None of us are Jesus so live with it. You are going to muck up.

As for MLB – your sin borders on the unforgivable. You denied Pete Rose a place in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Shame on YOU. In case you forgot, Jesus told the pious church leaders “whoever is with out sin, cast the first stone” at the woman caught in adultery. They were wise enough, barely, to realize their error and walk away. You? Not so much.

Now Pete Rose, all-time hit leader (4,256), games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053), singles (3,215) and outs (10,328). and yet he died without ever being officially recognized for his tremendous achievements. If his sins were so onerous, why stop there? Why not hand over those three World Series wins to the opposing teams? After all, you seem to want to pretend he was never a part of baseball or at least his efforts did not count.  You know why you’d never do that. It would be a slap in the face of baseball fans and players everywhere. So is your refusal to recognize the man while he lived. Again, SHAME ON YOU!

It is time to repent. You didn’t honor him in live, at least honor him in memory. Induct Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame. Let those wounds heal. Give his family peace. Give Pete Rose peace.

RIP Pete Rose 1941-2024

Update on What’s Happening Around Here (No, I have NOT been Disappeared)

WHEW! It’s been a month and then some. For those of you, who have stopped by to find nothing new or worse… a broken site, lemme tell ya.

It’s all good.

Nobody has come knocking on my door – a distinct advantage of having a blog nobody reads. I’m still alive and kicking, but I have been busy. More on that in a bit.

The past few days have been a challenge after I decided to launch a new website “I Shoot 22“. Whoa there! No need to rush over. You won’t see much at this point. For one reason was – somehow when installing WordPress on that domain, I broke this one. And it has been a bear getting it back. As you can see, everything is now hunky dory.

Before that, I got talking to an old acquaintance, Avner Netz (Yes, that IS is real name!) He is a shopping cart developer and a good one. His cart is very stable – going on 20 years now – and chock full of just about anything anyone might need. But… he’s a developer, not a marketer so  his platform simply hasn’t grown like some others. That’s okay by him, he doesn’t have to be number 1 in the hit parade. All he wants is a few more decent customers and he asked me for some help and I agreed.

So that’s where I’ve been. Soon, I’ll post more about Netzcart (catchy, huh) and so on but for now I just wanted to let you know all is well and I have not been “disappeared”. Mom.

FIB’ers Infiltrating Christian Churches – Yawn.

This was a big headline on The Gateway Pundit:

“They’ve Already Infiltrated the Church and Wanted to Go Even Futher. I Wonder If This Is Just the Beginning” – FBN Host Sean Duffy Admits to Attending Latin Mass, Slams Chris Wray for His Criminal Assault on Christians

I’m sorry but so what? PLEASE don’t tell me you are really surprised by this Sean? Sorry, but WAY back when I was just a young man, I went to this annual camping event sponsored by a Christian ministry. It was attended by thousands of believers. I remember the head of the ministry, standing on state, berating the feds for snooping. He said something like “I know the FBI is here looking for guns and stuff. You won’t find any.” I don’t know what else he said but it wasn’t much. Of course we were shocked – this was over 40 years ago. I doubt if it was anything out of the ordinary even then for feds. Hoover, among others, sported a long history of trashing our Constitution.

So, no, I’m not shocked nor am I surprised. The fact is most Christian services are open to the public so there’s no need to sneak in. Expect to be welcomed in. No doubt someone might even take you aside and tell you about our “secret” plans to take over the world. We even have a name for it. We call it evangelism. We want to win the world to Christ one person at a time.

On the darker side of this picture is FIB director Chris Wray’s memo to agents warning of “dangerous ‘radical traditionalist Catholic ideology’”. Now look, I don’t agree with a significant amount of “Catholic ideology”. I just don’t. Depending on how you look at it, it may even be “dangerous”, but what is that “danger” anyway? Well… some of it could turn someone off from wanting to accept Christ. (I hear Catholics view communion as literally eating Christ’s body and drinking his blood – if this is true I find it a bit creepy myself, if not downright pagan.) Fact is, some of the most vehement anti-Christians I’ve met were raised Catholic. Then again, I’ve met plenty of others who have turned away from the Christian faith from other demoninations, a good number of them were the children of preachers.

Obviously there are other places to look for the real dangers to society rather than Christian churches and I’m not referring to school board meetings either. In fact, considering what I’ve gathered from January 6, et al, the FIBs are a greater danger to our nation than just about any other organization, at least those organizations they are “investigating”. The question is are they really investigating or are they recruiting? Either option is not likely to bear much fruit.

As Christians, we’ve got much bigger fish to fry and not just on Fridays. We need to hold fast to God’s matchless word and hold it forth. We need to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 WEB)

We need to turn to God, confess and repent our sins, and ask Him to restore our nation. We really don’t have time to wring our hands wondering what the government is doing. Instead, let us pray that the time they spend among us bears good fruit and brings them to Christ.

May our Heavenly Father bless you and keep you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Debate on AI – the REAL Issue

So I decided to comment on Elon Musk’s warnings about AI on Lance Wallnau’s Facebook page.  For the most part I said we’ll never see true AI. And I added that any AI that does emerge can be no better than the programmer’s involved. This is true of any software. Call it what you will, any AI program is a program. It’s software. Can it learn? Certainly it can, but this so-called “learning” does not make it sentient and that is the sort of AI everyone wants to extrapolate this concept to. It ain’t happening. That doesn’t  mean one or more programming groups can’t or won’t develop dangerous AI wannabe programs. More than likely they will. But there is a bigger issue at state.

GOD.

All this hand-wringing over AI diverts focus from the things of God. Let the non-Christians fret over AI, we Christians have more pressing issues at hand. Christ is coming. When? I don’t know. No man does. Jesus said so himself so it is not for us to know. What should we do instead? Whatever God calls us to do. Me? I’m posting, praying, studying, and whatever other godly tasks come my way.  What about you?

 

THE PAYPAL SCARE – I will NOT Accept PayPal!

I will NOT Accept PayPal!

Nor am I asking for donations at this time.

(This is excerpted from my donation page. There I struck through the old appeal but I left it up for documentation purposes. Unlike so many websites, I’ve got no problem with what I said before but times change and sometimes I have to change with them – usually kicking and screaming.)

Today is October 9, 2022. Due to PayPal’s revised “user agreement” I hereby officially and unequivocally renounce any and all association with Paypal as well as any organization with direct ties to them.

Let it be publicly known I  do NOT accept Paypal’s “Terms of Service”. I do NOT accept their “Acceptable Use Policy“.  As of this writing, the link appears to lead to a blank pdf file.

According to a Fox News report :

However, when contacted by FOX Business, a PayPal spokesperson said that the Acceptable Use Policy notice went out in error and that the company will not fine users for misinformation.

“An AUP notice recently went out in error that included incorrect information,” the spokesperson said. “PayPal is not fining people for misinformation and this language was never intended to be inserted in our policy.“

In other words, Paypal has decided they will not, at this time, “fine” their users for what they deem to be “misinformation”. Ironically, Paypal just admitted to publishing misinformation.

In light of all of this, I’m done with Paypal. I’ve allowed myself to be associated with them even though I’ve ascertained they are less than honest and worse, they pander to the globalists. I don’t need them, really.  If I can no longer afford to keep this site up, I’ll simply shut it down. My two readers will need to find another way to cure their insomnia and the two feds who track this site will have to move on.

If, by chance someone out there would like to support my efforts financially, please contact me via email. Do note that I am NOT a “non-profit” organization under the law, though at this time I am not exactly a “profit” operation either. However should somebody actually send me some money, said funds would NOT be deductible as a “charity donation”, and I would be liable to pay any taxes due as income.

That is all.

So much to do – so little time

Okay, so I’m not the only one who feels like this. We all do from time to time. What’s in my craw these days?

Of course I’d like to “keep” posting regularly to this blog. What’s keeping me from doing it? Too many things. The substack articles for one thing. I post the links here because the things I post there are very relevant to the issues of liberty. Maybe more relevant than one might think.

Also my other writing projects are squeezing me for time. My writer’s site AMHavens.com needs to be kept up. Who knows?  I might write something worth reading someday. Well that and I am working on a couple of other projects.

One of these pertains to Joy and my scriptural research into this and related topics. The problem here is, when it comes to God’s Word, everything is relevant. Relevant to other topics. Relevant to life itself. God’s Word is certainly relevant to issues of liberty and our Constitutional Republic. Only this morning I saw a blatant analogy between the Body of Christ and our Republic. It’s mind boggling. I have no research on this other than decades of reading and studying scripture but for reference sake, read Ephesians chapter 2 and compare what it says to a body of self-governing citizens forming a nation.

Then there’s my fiction works. I  have one book for a potentially “final” edit before sending it off to a line editor and the publishing. In addition to that I have several other projects I could be working on.

All of these, including both fiction and non-fiction projects could be published at one point and that brings me to a major decision point. What do I want to promote?

There are a couple of real-time considerations involved. This blog has yet to gather much steam at all. Is this because I’ve been lousy at promoting it or more that so few care about the topic? This latter reason is why I’m leaving off promoting Life Insurance “Dirty Little Secrets” for Consumers Revealed!.  I might as well promote a book entitled “Pulling Your Own Teeth Just for the Fun of It.”. Yeah.

I’m not all that certain the Substack newsletter GOD and the Republic will fare any better. Time will tell… IF I can keep up the pace.

Then there’s the fiction works. The book I have in the works “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” is, if I may say so myself, pretty good. It is one of two novels I’ve completed. The other one, my first attempt, is unlikely to ever see publication. While the story and the novel itself will always be dear to my heart, I don’t think it would be received too well in this day and age, even (or especially) in Christian circles. (It is a Christian novel.)

Then there’s my newest project. I am only at the beginnings of  this one so I won’t say much except I am very excited about it. It was “born” of an epiphany I  had the other morning. Now that I think about it, the idea has been brewing for quite some time but on that day, it all jelled. The epiphany was similar to those I experienced with the first two novels so that is encouraging. Better yet, unlike my two previous efforts, I can see this idea as a continuing series with a wide appeal. It won’t appeal to everybody, but the concept could easily pique the interests of a wide range of people. What that boils down to is it may stand a good chance of being a commercial success and something I would feel comfortable promoting. What do I mean by that?

Take Life Insurance “Dirty Little Secrets” for Consumers Revealed! for instance. I’m glad I wrote that book. I’m glad it was the first book I published. All else aside, it is well worth reading for the intended audience. It is best suited for young couples with or planning on families or for individuals who already have life insurance. For all that, I can tell you from a great deal of personal experience the very people who need this information most have near zero interest in reading about it. Many of them may even want to get life insurance but, gee, do they have to learn a bunch of insurance stuff? The answer would be a resounding NO if life insurance was sold properly but it is not. So, anyway, that is the problem there. I can see where promoting the book would be almost as discouraging as trying to convince people to consider their life insurance needs. They may need it and know they need it but they don’t want to hear it.

As for as the Christian novel is concerned, well, it revolves around some concepts that are not favorable these days. In addition to that, the story deviates enough from certain doctrines as to make it somewhat controversial. And I have no ideas, much less plans, for a sequel. For that matter, at this point I have no ideas for any other Christian novel.

Then there’s No More Mr. Nice Guy. It may or may not sell well.  I think the story is engaging enough to be enjoyable. Again, I have no where to go as far as another book is concerned. As with the Christian title, I’ve no ideas for anything in that genre.

So with these three examples, can you see where I’m going here? Why promote what may well be “one hit wonders”, IF they have any appeal at all? While I do have other projects I work on from time to time that do have potential to become series, this last one is something I feel has all the elements.

The next thing I had to ask myself is “is commercial success all that important?” The answer is no, at least not financially. Don’t get any ideas. It’s not that I am well off but rather my financial needs are few. Sure, if my bank account swelled up to dizzying levels, I’d make some changes, but if my income relative to my current standard of living remains level, I’ll do just fine. Nor do I  have any great desire for fame. In fact, I’d likely hate it. While I doubt I’d have any problems appearing on an interview (hey, I don’t have to look at me!), I rather like going places and doing things as just another person.  What commercial success does mean to me is validation. If I perpetuate any stereotype at all it is the “insecure writer”. Maybe I’ve earned it. (See?) It would just be nice to know that thing I’ve done all my life, that thing that is so much a part of me – writing – is worth reading to someone other than myself.

Add to that the fact that I have no “credentials” when it comes to writing on scriptural  topics. I’m just an average believer in Christ. What do I know about godly things? When it comes right down to brass tacks, I have nothing and know nothing more than what’s available to any of my siblings in Christ. The only thing I can really call uniquely my own is my perspective.

I don’t need credentials to write fiction. All I need is a good story and the ability to tell it well. So what does all this mean?

If you’ve stayed with me this far, you can probably guess my biggest challenge. It’s me. Yeah, I’m longwinded all right. Worse, I write slow. With so many things on my  plate through nobody’s fault but my own, I need to make some choices. I don’t want to discourage anyone stopping by here but I’ve been where you are myself. I stop by a blog from time to time only to find out there’s nothing new posted. So let me as a favor…

Anyone reading this, if you would like me to continue posting here, please leave a comment or drop my a line at the email address at the top right of this screen. I do answer emails.

God bless,

Andy

Update for Sat July 25

For the one and a half persons who may have noticed, I have not been posting much lately. This is due to some changes in my personal life. Nothing dramatic but time consuming. In addition to this I simply have not felt particularly “inspired” lately.

Long story short, as my minuscule contribution to the abundance of thought about current events seems largely unnoticed, I doubt if even this post is necessary. In any case, I’ll post when I get the urge and not before… except maybe for tomorrow’s video.

Meanwhile I removed Liberty Hosting and will no longer offer cheap hosting. Strangely enough conservative blogs still regularly get dumped by our elite betters who run the free hosting schemes. But ya know what? Anyone who is too cheap to cough up one buck a month for hosting rather deserves what they get when the rug is pulled out. They say there is a price to pay for freedom. I have to agree.

By the way, if anyone cares, Patriotnewswire.net is next on the chopping block. It was an interesting experiment that turned out to be hugely unwanted. The domain registration is up  in another month. I do not see the point in renewing it.

That’s all for now.

God bless,

Andy

Shadowbanned or Something Else

The other day I came across a post from someone who says they are being shadowbanned on Twitter. I understand the concern on two levels:

First, I seem to rarely see posts from those I follow. Maybe I am looking in the wrong place, I dunno.

Second, my own posts consistently only get one or two “likes” at most. Very rarely do I get retweeted. Hopefully, vanity is not so much an issue as I  wonder whether what I am saying is worthwhile at all. Am I boring people? Am I “that guy” people see coming, roll their eyes and duck to avoid?

If I was to guess, my guess would be I am not just using Twitter effectively. I’ll be the first to admit I’m a social-media neophyte – to put it politely. At best I’m a fish out of water.

I’d be happy to hear from anyone who cares to reach out.

God bless,

Andy

John Whitehead on Taxes

We’ve all heard “nothing is certain but death and taxes”. We all take it for granted. Strangely enough, this quote is attributed to none other than Benjamin Franklin concerning our new constitution. That said, those who we’ve entrusted with the purse strings of our governments have taken taxation to new heights – both figuratively and literally.

Here’s John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute.

 

Dec 12th Lunenburg BOS 2nd Amendment Sanctuary Resolution Vote

Lunenburg Board of Supervisors Meeting

When: December 12, 2019 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Where:
Lunenburg Courthouse
160 Courthouse Square
Lunenburg VA 23952

Proposed Draft Resolution to Declare Lunenburg County as a Second Amendment Sanctuary

Posted on

The Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors, at their November 14th meeting, declared that the draft resolution for Second Amendment Sanctuary would be placed online the week before the December 12, 2019 Board meeting.  Please see link below for the draft document:

Lunenburg 2nd Amendment Sanctuary Resolution

Democrats AND Republicans Behind Closed Doors

Or… when the sideshow takes center stage, just try taking a peek at what on the other side of the closed curtain.

As John Whitehead at The Rutherford Institute details… you’ll see some horrifying hypocrisy as well as both “sides” of today’s parties not only in bed together but immersed in an orgy. Their lust is not for sex , well, not THIS time anyway. No, this time their lust is for unconstitutional power over the citizens in this nation. My question is: do they laugh hysterically every time they say “The Patriot Act”?

As Whitehead explains:

while Americans have been fixated on the carefully orchestrated impeachment drama that continues to monopolize headlines, Congress passed and President Trump signed into law legislation extending three key provisions of the USA Patriot Act, which had been set to expire on December 15, 2019.

Yep, you got it, publicly these clowns fight tooth and nail but when it comes to shredding our privacy, there’s no drama, no contention. They are all – “all in”. It doesn’t stop there either. Few if any of these cretins have a shred of remorse when it comes to extracting money from taxpayers, spending every cent and borrowing more so they can continue to spend. Why are they so intent on spending our wealth? Follow the money and you will soon see. Ask yourself how so many “public servants” retire as millionaires. That thread alone promises to lead to some unsettling answers. Ask the Clintons or the Bidons or the Pelosis or the Obamas. Shall I keep going?

Yes, I got off track. How can I not? The cancer rampages everywhere in our nation. It affects everything. As you read Whiteheads article, ask yourself… why? Why do our nations representatives – our EMPLOYEES – insist on “legally” spying on us? Why indeed. My own speculation is to enable them to maintain power over anyone they choose so they may stay in power. The purpose is simple with such an assumption: they are protecting their fiefdoms.

Here’s John Whitehead (h/t zerohedge)

Betraying the Constitution: Who Will Protect Us from an Unpatriotic Patriot Act?

God bless,

Andy

Government Gone Rogue – A Second Opinion

As a point of information, I am not the only person who believes our government is out of control. No, not by a long shot. Nor do I lay claim to coming up with this conclusion without any outside influence. What I have maintained is one needn’t anyone else’s opinion to figure this out. Just consider the facts. More on this in my next post. Meanwhile, consider the latest opinion by John Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute.

Read John Whitehead’s article here:

Impeach the Government: Rogue Agencies Have Been Abusing Their Powers for Decades