10 lessons from The Art of War by Sun Tzu:

 

 

10 lessons from The Art of War by Sun Tzu:

1. Know your enemy and know yourself. This is the most important lesson in The Art of War. If you know your enemy and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.

2. Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak. This is a lesson about deception. By appearing weak when you are strong, you can trick your enemy into underestimating you.

3. Attack where the enemy is unprepared. This is a lesson about surprise. By attacking where the enemy is unprepared, you can gain an advantage.

4. Make use of spies. Spies can provide you with valuable information about your enemy.

5. Use terrain to your advantage. The terrain can be a powerful tool in battle. By understanding the terrain, you can use it to your advantage.

6. Be flexible. The situation on the battlefield is constantly changing. You need to be flexible in order to adapt to these changes.

7. Concentrate your forces. Don't spread your forces too thin. Instead, concentrate your forces on a single point of attack.

8. Strike at the enemy's heart. The heart of the enemy is their will to fight. If you can break the enemy's will to fight, you will win the battle.

9. Use deception. Deception is a powerful tool in war. By deceiving your enemy, you can gain an advantage.

10. Know when to retreat. Sometimes, the best course of action is to retreat. By retreating, you can preserve your forces for future battles.

These are just a few of the many lessons that can be learned from The Art of War.

This book is a classic for a reason. It is full of wisdom that can be applied to all aspects of life, not just war.

Why we should pay cash everywhere we can:

 

 

 

Please understand what NOT

using cash is doing.

Cash is important. 

Why should we pay cash everywhere we can

with banknotes instead of a credit card? 

- I have a $50 banknote in my pocket.

Going to a restaurant and paying for dinner with it. The restaurant owner then uses the bill to pay for the laundry. The laundry owner then uses the bill to pay the barber. The barber will then use the bill for shopping.

After an unlimited number of payments, it will still remain a $50, which has fulfilled its purpose to everyone who used it for payment and the bank has jumped dry from every cash payment transaction made...

- But if I come to a restaurant and pay digitally - Card, and bank fees for my payment transaction charged to the seller are 3%, so around $1.50 and so will the fee $1.50 for each further payment transaction or owner re laundry or payments of the owner of the laundry shop, or payments of the barber etc.....

Therefore, after 30 transactions, the initial $50 will remain only $5  and the remaining $45 became the property of the bank thanks to all digital transactions and fees.

Small businesses need your help and this is one way to help ourselves too. Pull small draws of cash out at a time and use that instead of tap, credit, etc.

When this is put into perspective, imagine what each retailer is paying on a monthly basis in fees at 3% per transaction through their POS machine.

If they have, for example, $50,000 in sales & 90% are by Card, they are paying $1500 in fees in ONE Month. $18,000 in a year! That comes out of their income every month.

That would go a long way to helping that small business provide for its family!"

 

And now a little levity......

 

And now a little levity......My daughter and I went through the McDonald's driveway window and I gave the cashier a $5 bill.

Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her 25c.

She said, 'you gave me too much money.'

I said, 'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar coin back.'

She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request.

I did so, and he handed me back the 25c, and said 'We're sorry but we don’t do that kind of thing.'

The cashier then proceeded to give me back 75 cents in change.

Do not confuse the people at MacD's.

We had to have the garage door repaired.

The repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener.

I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower.

He shook his head and said, 'You need a 1/4 horsepower.'

I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4 and he said, 'NOOO, it's not. Four is larger than two.'

We haven't used that repairman since...

I live in a semi rural area.

We recently had a new neighbor call the local city council office to request the removal of the DEAR CROSSING sign on our road.

The reason: 'Too many dears are being hit by cars out here! I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.'

IDIOT SIGHTING IN FOOD SERVICE.

My daughter went to a Mexican fast food and ordered a taco.

She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.'

He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.

I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked,

'Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?'

To which I replied, 'If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?'

He smiled knowingly and nodded, 'That's why we ask.'

The pedestrian light on the corner beeps when it's safe to cross the street.

I was crossing with an 'intellectually challenged' co-worker of mine.

She asked if I knew what the beeper was for.

I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red.

Appalled, she responded, 'what on earth are blind people doing driving?!'

She is a government employee.....

When my husband and I arrived at a car dealership to pick up our car after a

service, we were told the keys had been locked in it.

We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver’s side door.

As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked.

‘Hey,' I announced to the technician, 'its open!'

His reply, 'I know. I already did that side.'

STAY ALERT!

They walk among us, they breed, and they vote…....

Make Your Soul Grow Kurt Vonnegut

In 2006 a high school English teacher asked students to write a famous author and ask for advice. Kurt Vonnegut was the only one to respond - and his response is magnificent:

 

“Dear Xavier High School, and Ms. Lockwood, and Messrs Perin, McFeely, Batten, Maurer and Congiusta:

I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) in his sunset years. I don’t make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana.

What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.

Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood, and give it to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you’re Count Dracula.

Here’s an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don’t do it: Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK?

Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash receptacals. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.

God bless you all!"

 

Kurt Vonnegut

 

What is paganism?

 

What is paganism?

From a Christian viewpoint, pagans are generally characterized as those who are caught up in any religious ceremony, act, or practice that is not distinctly Christian. Correspondingly, Jews and Muslims also use the term pagans to describe those outside their religion. Others define the term paganism as any religion outside of Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity; whereas some argue that a pagan is anyone with no religion at all.

Pagan comes from the Latin word paganus, which means “country dweller”; paganism can refer to polytheism or the worship of more than one god, such as in ancient Rome. A pagan is also considered to be one who, for the most part, has no religion and indulges in worldly delights and material possessions; someone who revels in sensual pleasures; a hedonistic or self-indulgent individual. Another, more modern term is neo-paganism, which refers to some of the contemporary forms of paganism such as Wicca, Druidry, and Gwyddon.

These modern “pagan” practices are actually similar to their ancient counterparts in that they rely heavily on hedonism—sensual gratification and self-indulgence and the pursuit of happiness and pleasure to the exclusion of everything else. In ancient times, sexual ceremonies were a major part of pagan religions. The Old Testament references these perverted religions in such passages as Deuteronomy 23:17, Amos 2:7–8, and Isaiah 57:7–8.

Though they are numerous and varied in their practices and beliefs, pagans do hold to some similar beliefs. For example:

• The physical world is a good place, one to be taken pleasure in by everyone.

• Everyone is considered to be part of this Mother Earth.

• Divinity reveals itself in every facet of the world.

• Every being, man and animal, is a derivative of the Divine. As such,

• Most pagan religions do not have gurus or messiahs.

• Doctrine is superseded by one’s own responsibility.

• Solar and lunar cycles are significant in pagan worship.

Any form of paganism is false doctrine. Paul addressed this perversion of the truth in his letter to the believers in Rome (Romans 1:22–27). The people Paul described were worldly and materialistic, worshiping created things rather than the Creator. They worshiped trees, animals, and rocks, going so far as to abuse their bodies in deviant sexual practices to revel in their passions. Paul then goes on to tell us why they did this and the end result:

“Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done” (Romans 1:28).

In spite of common assumptions, most pagan worshipers claim they don’t believe in Satan. However, there’s no question that Satan is their chief source of influence and control. Though they will deny it, they deify him in their worldly and sensual practices. Paul tells us plainly how Satan works in the lives of people without God, through his power, his signs, his deceit, and his lies:

“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (2 Thessalonians 2:9–12).

That Satan is alive and well is powerfully evidenced in these pagan practices. This was not only clear in the times of the first-century church, but also in today’s postmodern world. To the faithful believers who know the Lord, pagan worship is what it appears to be—the power and deceit of the prince of this world, Satan (1 John 5:19), who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). As such, paganism should be avoided

Electric roads?

 Believe it or not!

 

"Workers removed the asphalt in Russia, and found this mysterious "road" made of metal.

You know that they always have some fancy explanation to shape your perception of how primitive we were. Good ol'days.. 

 

 

Sarcasm aside, riding a horse with carts would definitely be a nightmare on this road, and not to mention walking.

 

.

These metal rods were used to delegate the electricity, and ground negative potential, and the dome towers used as Antennae receivers. Same thing was applied in ancient temples aka churches/mosques/temples that all have copper floors."

Inflation Reduction Act... what's in it?

 

Here is a bit of what the so-called INFLATION REDUCTION ACT has tucked away within the WORDS WORDS WORDS!!

- $6.5 Billion Natural Gas Tax Which Will Increase Household Energy Bills

- $12 Billion Crude Oil Tax Which Will Increase Household Costs

- $1.2 Billion Coal Tax Which Will Increase Household Energy Bills

- Corporate Income Tax Hike on U.S. Businesses Which Will Be Passed on to Households

- $124 Billion Stock Tax Which Will Hit Your Nest Egg — 401(k)s, IRAs and Pension Plans

- 95% Federal Excise Tax on American Pharmaceutical Manufacturers

- $52 Billion Income Tax Hike on Mid-Sized & Family Businesses

- Supersizing the IRS to Increase Audits – $124 Billion

KEEP IN MIND THAT VIRTUALLY EVERY SINGLE PENNY of this bill will ultimately be coming out of the consumer's pockets.

Remember this as you go to the polls this November.