For the last month or so, the media has been obsessed with the late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein and his infamous list of evildoers who were living as foul as he was.
And oddly enough, the MAGA republic is outraged because they bought into the idea that the Trump Administration was going to expose all of the secrets our government has been keeping from us.
President Trump did release the Martin Luther King Jr., file, and the Kennedy assassination file, but not the Epstein file. There is real outrage about this. What I can’t understand is why people care about that and not all the other things.
They could be outraged about his tariff policy, the way migrants are being treated, ICE and deportation efforts, FEMA response, and foreign policy, particularly Ukraine and Israel wars.
Instead, we’re outraged about a pedophiles list of co-conspirators? We’re worried about these predators being brought to justice? Are we all of a sudden interested in the safety of children?
This country aborts more than a million babies a year. This is the place where a mass shooter went into a Uvalde elementary school and slaughtered 19 children, 2 teachers, while injuring 17 others. We made no new laws for gun safety or reform. But now, we are so interested in the Epstein list. Serious?!?!???
Do you ever think what it would be like to live without consequences? I mean, of course, there are always consequences, but we have a history of weighing the consequences and making the decision based on what we can handle or how much we have to pay.
Former heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson, loved cars and loved to drive fast. One time, on a back road, he is caught speeding by an officer. The officer charged him $25 for the speeding ticket, which was huge back then. Johnson gave the officer $50, and the officer said he did not have change. Johnson said it was ok because he has to drive back this way.
Clearly, he weighed the consequences and accepted his fate, which led him to pay in advance.
Everyone seems to do that with concrete things, but what about abstract?
If I say something to hurt my wife’s feelings and I can tell that I did based on her actions, I could just apologize, or I can simply trust that she will get over it and move on.
If my 5 year old grandbaby gets caught playing with the electrical outlet and I slap her hands and yell at her until she cries, I could feel justified in what I did because she could have seriously gotten hurt. But I see that my actions were more than just disciplinary in nature, as her ego is bruised. Do I attempt to recover her or stand as the authority?
What if I’m the boss over 40 employees at work and I create a hostile work environment? Or, I create racial tensions by paying my white employees 37 percent more than minorities? What if I decide to make all my supervisors white? What if I never lay off anyone white? Or how about I just treat everyone badly because I can? What if I allow my bias to lead me? What if I am demeaning to women in the workplace?
The past has no consequences, which is one of the greatest lies ever told. Offenders must recompense their victims. But before that happens, there has to be an acknowledgment of the wrongdoing. You can’t curse your wife, and then the next time you see her, you just start talking sweet to her without acknowledging your past mistakes.
When we don’t acknowledge our wrongdoing, we lower the victims self-esteem. God takes that personal.
Let me be clear: There are always consequences! Whether you get them immediately or later, now or in the future, today or in the afterlife, consequences are coming! Make amends today before it’s too late.
Let’s talk insurance. We live in a time where insurance companies are denying hurricane victims, California fire victims, and auto insurance is overwhelmingly high, especially in no-fault states, and life insurance is too hard to secure.
Families are suffering as promised benefits are denied while Congress continues to get richer from insurance lobbying. You can not expect to see the current Republican Congress do anything about this. Since 1992, Republicans have benefitted the most from insurance lobbyists receiving millions of dollars for their silence on the issues.
Democrats have had opportunities to deal with this problem, but even when they controlled both houses of Congress, nothing got done on this front.
The insurance industries philosophy is to find a way not to pay so the stock holders can reap their dividends. Greed has taken over morality, and the middle class and poor are suffering the most.
Insurance was actually started as an act of benevolence in Rome and Greece in 600 AD. You can even trace the concept of insurance as far back as 4000 — 3000 bce.
In the US, insurance had its origin in the late 17th century. Like everything else, it was on the level, and people paid faithfully their premiums and could expect to receive payment on their claims filed during that time. The complete reniging of insurance payments for qualified clients wasn’t widespread until the Reconstruction era, where former slaves were denied claims mostly because of the color of their skin.
In his autobiography, Malcolm X tells the story of what ultimately drove his mother insane started with trying to collect on a life insurance policy for her husband. In the movie Malcolm X, his father was murdered by the KKK as they bashed his head in with a hammer and stretched his bloody body across train tracks to be destroyed. This left Malcolm, his siblings, and his mother devastated and destitute. She eventually lost her children because she could no longer take care of them because the insurance company denied her claim, stating that they believed his death to be a suicide.
I would love to tell you that this was the only incident where this happened, but that would not be true. You see, poor Blacks during this could not afford to take the matter to court and secure a lawyer, so the insurance companies knew this and could take advantage.
Today, billions of dollars flow through insurance companies, and they have found a way not to honor their policies. Over the years, the list of things that can deny your claims has grown tremendously, as have the payouts to Congress for their silence. In just 2024, insurance companies spent more than 117 million to Congress. In previous years the number has been higher than 150 million. They have also spent around 130 million in campaign contributions for the candidates that will ensure no legislation is passed to stop them.
So, in the meantime, constituents suffer from natural disasters, health challenges, death, and dismemberment and other unpaid claims and the insurance machine rolls on! God bless America.
I love history! I love history because it allows me to stand in the present, take a factual look at the past, and in some cases, see exactly what the future will look like.
This past and future vision has a caveat, which is whether or not we learned from and acknowledged our mistakes. This is great given the fact that America never learns from it’s past and it never acknowledges it’s mistakes.
We are now about four months into the second Trump presidency, and we have seen a calamity of executive orders that have harmed millions of people. From foreign aid funding being sliced and essentially killing humanitarian efforts across the world to thousands of layoffs of federal workers to the destruction of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs to cuts in federally funded research programs at various universities across the country, all in an effort to somehow make America great again?
Those against Trump’s plans seem to be waiting on others to step up and defend the American way. These “others” I speak of are those in the Republican party. Democrats are hoping for Republicans to have a conscious and stop Trump from destroying our country as we know it. They can not defend what he’s doing, and they are avoiding meetings with their constituents, believing the carnage will end soon.
Funding for school programs that level the playing field and assist those who are struggling have been cut. Healthcare initiatives like vaccines for hepatitis B and the flu shot were sliced, and the mass deportation efforts have disrupted kids in school, workers for farms and other industries where migrant workers are now afraid to leave their homes for fear of deportation.
The worst part of all of this is the fact that most American people are delusional about the Trump administration. It seems that those who believe it’s pure evil and those who think it’s the greatest are both wrong.
As usual, the American government is repeating past mistakes. We are looking at fellow Americans being hurt by all these cuts with no regard to their well-being. We are waiting migrant workers living in fear every day of their worst nightmare coming true. We are seeing people’s lives devastated by Trump’s actions, and we don’t say much against it because it doesn’t affect us. After all, I’m not a federal or migrant worker. I have no use for social programs or welfare or DEI, and I don’t own a farm. There are still a lot of Americans that can make this claim, but for how long?
During slavery, house slaves were unique in that they could live in the Master’s house and always be in close proximity to the family. They would learn domestic skills like cooking, cleaning, and even child care. Sometimes, the slaves would be taught how to read. Definitely, these house slaves had greater benefits than being just a field slave that worked outdoors.
House slaves dressed better, did not have to work as hard, could get scraps, and other items considered trash by the Master. Life was definitely better.
But at no time did the house slaves have any influence over the Master, nor could they even express their opinions. When the Master did something that they didn’t like or agree with, they’d better just keep it to themselves. The wrong kind of expression on your face could end in a backhand by the Master if he thought he wanted to say something about his actions. So the house slaves were just that – a slave and they had no opinion or independent thoughts of their own that they could express.
In Congress these days, we have seemed to resurrect the house slave. Republicans in Congress, instead of serving at the pleasure of the people who elected them, are now serving at the pleasure of our new dictator, Donald J. Trump. He is never challenged, questioned, or advised even when he makes a decision that violates the constitution.
Now, let’s not be nieve and think that Democrats have no house slaves because they sat back and allowed Joe Biden to leave our border wide open. They didn’t wave or salute. Trump has been a bit outrageous with his latest decisions, and the recent town hall meetings in Republican districts have been very vocal about their concerns over Trump’s decisions.
The bottom line is this: We can not properly implement democracy if the checks and balances won’t hold the line. In other words, Congress has a job to do, and it is not to be the Congress for the president, but for the people. We voted for representatives who would be the voices of the people. Our country has lost sight of this. If we continue down the current path, it won’t be long before we are all house slaves or we really have an insurrection.
There was so much controversy about the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to head up the Food and Drug Administration because of his radical views and conspiracy theories. But if there was ever a government agency that needed shaken up, the FDA was it.
Now, this is not a blog in supporting of RFK Jr., it is about the harm that has been done by the FDA to the American people because they refuse to let lobbyists keep their checks.
Right now, there are over 100 countries that will not eat our meat. It is cruel and criminal how we treat chickens, pigs, and cows in this country — and we’re doing it to our own detriment. As a result, countries like Canada have decided to pass on our meat.
There are some extremely dangerous and cancer causing chemicals that we put in our food that is extremely harmful. I asked A.I. for some specifics on the most dangerous of these chemicals. A.I. broke it down this way:
The following chemicals are toxic and harmful to human health or banned in other countries. Some examples of these chemicals include:
Lead: A metal found in some dietary supplements, vinegars, and spices
Asbestos: A toxic substance linked to cancer, genetic mutations, and fetal harm
Hexabromocyclododecane: A flame retardant used in some building materials
Azodicarbonamide: A food additive that breaks down into other chemicals, including semicarbazide, which can cause cancer in mice
Brominated vegetable oil (BVO): A food additive used in citrus-flavored drinks that may affect the thyroid
Other chemicals that are considered hazardous include:
Chemicals can be toxic in our bodies, so we should read labels carefully and by organic when possible. Also, processed food is an absolute thumbs down! Lamb and fish are better meat choices, and you should only consume whole foods.
Our government is more worried about what fentanyl is doing to us than the true enemy, which is sugar. White sugar and other sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup are responsible for the obesity problem in America and all of the degenerative diseases that go with it.
Artificial sweeteners are also known as sugar substitutes, non-nutritive sweeteners, or non-sugar sweeteners (NSS). Here are some common artificial sweeteners: Aspartame: A non-saccharide sweetener that’s marketed under the names NutraSweet, Equal, and Canderel.
Acesulfame potassium: Also known as Ace-K, this sweetener is about 200 times sweeter than table sugar.
Sucralose: A non-caloric derivative of sucrose that’s 600 times sweeter than sucrose. Saccharin: A non-nutritive sweetener that’s made in a lab and looks like a white, crystalline powder. Neotame: A sweetener derived from the amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Advantame: An ultra-intense sweetener that’s 20,000 times sweeter than table sugar. Stevia: A natural herb that’s zero calories and 10–15 times sweeter than sucrose. Cyclamate: A potent sweetening agent that’s been the subject of safety and carcinogenicity studies.
Artificial sweeteners are often used in foods and drinks to reduce sugar intake. They’re generally calorie-free and don’t raise blood sugar levels, but they have no nutritional value.
So obesity is not a single person’s fault. The FDA has a dominant role in keeping you fat, sick, and unhealthy. There is no profit in healthy people.
I have posted on the problems we face because we don’t read. Critical thinking skills go right out the windows when we don’t challenge our minds to think.
To leave yourself vulnerable to manipulation is a hurtful and disrespectful truth, but what is worse is that you suffer the manipulation, and you have no idea where it came from.
Drops of water from the sky on a cloudy day are not a problem until the drops smell like urine. At that point, you have a few choices: Check the weather forcast; assume that someone obviously doesn’t like you much; or grab your umbrella and endure.
I have not listed my favorite option because when you have been tricked or manipulated, the option isn’t there, and that is to hold someone accountable for the urine!
I bring this up because the Democrats and Republicans have been playing a game with us. They flood us with information (knowing we won’t read or research anything), and they are never held accountable for lies.
Why would President Biden allow so many illegal immigrants in our country? The Democrats never gave a reason for this. Clearly, this would not be their agenda as President Obama never did this. He publicly stated that if you were here illegally, you would be deported.
We know Obama did this because it was the law. Republicans are always for less immigration at our southern borders, mainly because it does not benefit them in any way. It does, however, give an advantage to Democrats.
You see, these immigrants end up in these so-called sanctuary cities, which are normally in blue states. This is a benefit to them because it raises their census. Biden signed an executive order as soon as he became president to halt a previous executive order from President Trump to not count illegal immigrants in the census. Why does this matter? Because the number of seats you get in the House of Representatives is based on a percentage of the US population. So then, if your numbers get padded by immigrants, you could potentially get more seats and control the House.
Biden, in his fear of a Trump election win, would have tried this and any other method to gain an advantage.
For the Republicans to tell the truth about this would not have been enough for the American people to get behind securing the border. So, instead, he made up lies about immigrants taking jobs, sending their criminals over to us to rape our women, steal, and sell drugs.
See how we are so easily manipulated? Accountability is what is needed in our government, and it should be a consequence for knowingly telling the American citizens a bunch of lies!
Today, for many, can be considered as a hangover day because the Super Bowl was played yesterday. Lots of plans went into watching that game, and many folks will miss work today because of it. Congratulations to the Eagles on the blowout win!
But I don’t want to talk about the Super Bowl because I live in Detroit, I have to talk about the Lions season.
For the first time in my lifetime, I heard the media speak about my home team in a different light. They were actually picked as Super Bowl contenders.
We watched them go 15-2 on the season, win the NFC North, and capture the Number 1 seed in the conference. All season, we saw the Lions overcome adversity to injuries and poor play. We had a great run.
In their last game, we saw the coaching staff make blunder calls, the bottom finally fell out of our defense, and they could get no stops, and our quarterback, who is 80 percent consistent and reliable, was the least valuable player in the lost.
We are not used to using this term, but it accurately describes what happened. Jared Goff seemed to be damaged goods when we got him from the L.A. Rams. Our then quarterback, Matthew Stafford, went to the Rams to play in Goff’s place. The year of the trade, he won the Super Bowl for the Rams and was their MVP. They don’t win the big game without him.
Goff was a major part of the rebuild in Detroit, and it seemed like 2024 was our turn to finally win the Super Bowl. Most of the media predicted it, the fans believed it, but it wasn’t in the stars. We crashed and burned against a 6th seed Washington Commanders team with a rookie quarterback who was an absolute stud. He played like he was a superstar in the league for 10 years. The Lions, on the other hand, did not look deserving of their record, and the Jekyll and Hyde turnaround left fans devastated.
The city of Detroit was left stunned as the unthinkable happened — we got beat bad on national television! The fans wanted blood. As usual people need to place blame, and it seems unanimous that fans are angry at some of the calls by the coaching staff, but the guy who was supposed to be the golden goose, laid no golden eggs for us. It seems as though Goff can’t win the big game, and that’s why Sean McVay got rid of him in L.A. He saw something in Goff that wasn’t right and needed a quarterback with heart.
We can only think about what Stafford would have done with this team as he never had nearly this amount of talent around him when he was here. Detroit has a lot of self reflection to do in the off-season. Time will reveal everything!
One of the great principle concepts in Christianity is the notion of dealing with kindness, those who would oppose you.
Why would someone do that, you ask? Well, the biggest benefit is spiritual, and if that matters to you, then keep reading. If it doesn’t, then I apologize for posting content that you’re not interested in and check back next week.
But this week, I want to bring an understanding to the concept of heaping coals of fire on someone’s head. Paul wrote this in Romans 12, but it is an actual quote from Proverbs 25:21-22 and the end principle is that God will reward you!
But don’t get too excited about the reward because it’s not like a dollar amount or some secret blessing that no one else gets. But the reward is a state God puts you in. This state is where every child of God should want to be. Can you imagine what it’s like to reach a stage of complete peace with God. All alien sinners are at war with God, whether they know it or not. You become the opposite of that when God gives you peace.
Now, what do you get peace in exchange for? Great question. God observes you dealing with a person who has become your foe. The text translates this word as enemy. In the Greek, this word for enemy represents all scenarios/kinds of enemies. The one used in our Romans passage would be your foe, and that is someone who may have even been your close friend before, and something happened. More than likely, this person is/was a Christian that has allowed trouble to overtake them.
This means that they once had a relationship with God. They may even think they still do. See, the problem is that uncontrolled anger is so blinding. A brother or sister in Christ can do something to you and cause you to be on the verge of hating them for what they did. We do this unaware of how it ruins our relationship with God.
When this happens, we are to essentially cause remorse to happen in their heart. That is what heaping coals of fire on their head means. This action should strike a chord in their heart when they are treating you like an enemy and you are treating them like a friend…still.
As they go through trouble, you become the helping hand that heals their pain. God has promised to make us “peace buddies” with him when we do this.
At some point in our Christian walk you will be faced with challenges. Are you ready to arrive at this crossroad? Are you ready to have your love for God tested? Get ready! It’s coming! And for some reading this now, it is already here!
So, on the eve of Easter, there will be preparations for a huge celebration across Christian areas of the world regarding the Resurrection.
Easter morphed into the holiday that remembers the death, burial, and resurrection of the Christ, although it didn’t start that way. However, for many who have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ, righteousness has been bestowed upon you due to obedience. That’s right, the Bible is clear that believing in the gospel and being baptized for the remission of sins puts you in a right standing with God.
Further, he has forgiven your sins and begins the process of transforming your mind. This process is like putting on your father’s clothes as a kid. When God makes us righteous, it is like wearing clothes that are 8 times your size. The idea is that, from this point, we’re supposed to grow.
That huge garment we were given should eventually fit if we do the work. The goal is to be able to honor God at every turn of your life. In your decisions, in relationships, at your job, and in your family, God must get glory.
The problem is that there are people who have been made righteous years ago and still have not begun to grow. The way they think, act, make decisions, spend money, help people, or study their bible fall behind the person’s desire to serve self.
That was not God’s plan. Some folks will have a lot of explaining to do on judgment day. So for this Easter, allow self examination to be of the utmost importance to you. Think about your lifestyle and see if changes are warranted based on scripture. That would be the best way to celebrate the holiday this year!
ClydeStyle 