More Of the Same !

Time Magazine came today but I find that I am reluctant to read it. I understand that professional Journalists have been working for days if not weeks and yes some have even risked their lives to bring me information about the world, still based upon what I've read in Time in recent months it will only bring me pain.

Every week there are reports of great hordes of people having to leave their homes on short notice. This week the fires in California are forcing them out.Last week it was a hurricane. Last week it was the Hispanics from South America still trying to get into the U.S., this week the Curds are being forced out. It seem like their destiny has been determined by the President of Turkey and the President of the United States. Both countries purport to believe in freedom and yet they are taking away the freedom of the Curds. So its little wonder that I am hesitant to open Time Magazine again this week.     

THEY ARE NOT CRAZY

Now that I have grown up ( 85 qualifies ) I see a much larger problem in the field of mental illness. This week a new report says that eleven million Americans are so mentally ill that they cannot fit into normal life.
Lets put that into perspective: the Southern Baptist Convention has about eleven million members. The United Methodist about eight million members and eleven million is more than all the charismatic movements put together.
Another way to think about this widespread illness is to realize that almost every congregation has someone who is suffering from a mental condition. To narrow in down even further; few families have escaped some form of mental illness.
Trouble is, the problem is getting worst! There are many reasons for this. There are more people in the world. Life is more complicated. Many people have failed to find a deep faith that brings peace of mind. This same faith believes that life has a purpose even when they can't see that purpose.
It's true that eleven million represents only about one percent of the population but that brings to mind the parable that Jesus told about leaving the ninety nine behind and searching for the one lost sheep. As Americans we should give far more attention to these one percenters. To create a safe loving environment should be our goal and it is possible. Just because the problem is difficult doesn't mean we should avoid it. 

Peeking At the Rich

INSIDE BILL's BRAIN
The last two evenings I have watched the Netflix special on Bill Gates. Now that he has stepped down as head of Microsoft he has focused his attention on how to solve three of the worlds biggest problems. Each of us would be wise to study his approach to problem solving and adapt what we could to our own lives.
True he has lots of resources including many well to do friends to help brain storm. You and I will probably not have those kind of resources but there's no harm of getting some of his advice free.
First he tries to find the real problem, the one that caused the difficulty to begin with. If we don't have the patience and or the courage to go back to that we will just be putting band aids on the surface.
Next he goes through a process of putting the possible answers on a board and evaluates their strength and weaknesses: will it take to long, will it cost to much,
will the public misunderstand and thus put up road blocks? In our personal life it may mean that our spouse will not understand or approve. In our work life it often takes awhile to bring the troupes on board.
Of course Gates has an extreme amount of resources but even so he must find something once established that will duplicate, something the community can continue to use.
Right now there is a need for large numbers of people who agree on the problems that we face and at least fall in line to support those who are hard at work trying to bring about a solution.

Home Town Road

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

Many many years ago when I was studying psychology, there was a phase when I looked into what makes a song popular. Why do some songs that seem to make no sense become hits and sell in the millions? There were those that caught the mood of the day and others that had certain vowel sounds which many people like to hear.

This year a song that stayed at the top of the charts for six months is; " Old Town Road." Written and sung by Lil Nas X, a name he gave himself, he's a young 20 year old black man and is already a multi millionaire.

But how and why has it become so popular? It does have those vowel sounds and a beat that is easy to dance too. ( I tried to show my guest how to dance to that beat but I fell on the couch. Need to practice more.)

But the psychology of the song is how it catches the nonsense and absurdity of our times. It switches subjects and directions faster than the horse he purports to ride. There is an element of rebellion and of moral looseness. The video captures the spirit of bewilderment and absurdity. And the beat goes on!

It's for the Birds

This week there has been a report that billions of birds have died out in recent years. By that they mean that the earth now has several billion less birds than it did when we were young. For the past 35 years I have been feeding birds and enjoying their presence. But of course have no way of counting them and I think that they mean large flocks of birds they have been scientifically following.

Even so we have to decide if we believe them and if so what does it mean. They say that spraying the crops with poison is a major cause and the gain in human population is another reason.

In the bible it says; who hath believed our report? Rom 10:16, there are a lot of reports but which ones are we to believe? Here in the south there is a tendency not to believe any report that comes from north of the Mason/Dixon line. In the bible it says that we can believe a report if there are two or three witnesses.

I tend to look for motivation; does the reporter have anything to gain? In this case I see no reason to lie and with modern cameras and equipment and record keeping they surely have the ability to count. So what does it mean? Yes it probably is something like the canary in the coal mine. Something is going on and mother earth is in trouble.

The question is; what shall we do about it? In most cases it will require massive effort and action by politicians from many different countries. That means that we should be aware of the problem and encourage our leaders to take whatever action necessary to help preserve our planet for future generations.

Ten Thousand a call

THE BIG SEMI TRAVELLED DOWN AN OFF RAMP AT 70 MPH.

Then left the pavement and plowed through soft rain soaked soil for another 75 yards, where it rammed into a tree and turned over with the driver caught on the lower side. Based on observations I would say he didn't make it.
Several agencies where on scene to do their part of the recovery. The ambulance crew, the fire department, haz-mat to check for fuel spills and to check out the load for hazardous materials, the police were there to slow down traffic and to see that no crimes were being committed during the recovery.
In this case the recovery team had to unload the full trailer by hand and put the load on their roll back trucks, it took several trips to a storage place to safeguard the merchandise.
The Ron Pratt team always film their work, they have cameras mounted on their hats and on the boom and the footage is used later in many ways. For one thing it is used to protect their reputation and to justify their billing. Ron Pratt on U T.

More Than You Think

A HELPING PROFESSION THAT YOU HOPE YOU NEVER HAVE TO DEAL WITH.

Recently I have watched several hours of Youtube videos put up by Ron Pratt.
Ron runs a multi million dollar wrecker/recovery operation in, Scott City, Missouri. He has become rich because of his location. Remember the secret of success for most business is, location, location and location.
Pratt's business is called Midwest Truck and the business site covers many acres.
What is remarkable is that Ron is in his middle forties and goes on most of the recoveries himself. Normally he drives the big 14 wheeler rig that is equipped to handle almost any of recovery.
I estimate this big rig, made by the Miller Century wrecker company of Ootewah, Tn., as costing around a half million dollars. So you know that when this rig is needed large amounts of money turn over.
Tune in for yourself, these videos has all things that make for good watching.