Why good people are divided by politics and religion?

The two subjects that seems to be taboo to talk about is religion and politics. Nobody likes to talk about it. It can cause a great divide between family and friends.

At the same time, the best blogs that gets the best views is human relations stories, follow by politics. Religious blogs don’t do very well.

Yet at the same time, Christians are called to go out and witness. How can they do that if talking religion is a hot topic for a lot of people? When they see someone like a Jehovah’s Witness coming up their house, they quickly shut the blinds and pretend they are not home. It doesn’t necessarily have to be them, but you get the point.

When Mike Huckelby ran for President in 2012, I couldn’t bring myself to support him. I may like what he stood for; but since he was a former Baptist preacher, I wouldn’t vote for him. It wouldn’t matter if he was a Baptist preacher or what church he was from. I don’t think a preacher should run for any political office, not just the President.

Politics is a dirty business. You have to take a cold shower to get the slime off of you. Plus some preachers can be so self-righteous, to the point of being controlling. The Government is controlling enough the way it is; especially the Democrats who wants to control us and take away our freedom.

The Constitution says that there is separation between state and religion. Yet at the same time, it is recommended that Christian should get out and vote. Otherwise, their values may be hurt by those in Washington. That is why most Christians support the Republican party to the point of endorsing them. The reason for that is because the Republicans support their values more than the Democrats.

Even politics can divide family as well.

I have heard on Rush Limbaugh when Earl Pomeroy was in Congress, that he has a nephew who was a Republican in a family of Democrats. Now that must make an interesting family get together.

James Carville, a Democrat and Mary Matalin, a Republican is an example of a marriage couple with 2 different political views and parties; yet somehow they may their marriage works. They make it works by not talking politics at home.

Most recently Bobby Kennedy Jr. is not only attacked by his own Democrat party; but there is a separation in his own family, the Kennedy’s clan. The grandson of President Kennedy, Katherine’s son doesn’t agree with his cousin’s views, and they’re both Democrats.

I can understand that because I see that in my own family, involving cousins. Some cousins won’t have anything to do with a certain cousin because of their political differences.

Politics and religion are both expressions of our underlying moral psychology, and an understanding can help bring people together. If we can only see eye-to-eye!

The mind is divided, like a rider on an elephant, and the rider’s job is to serve the elephant.

Liberals sometimes say that religious conservatives are sexual prudes.

When you put individuals first, before society, then any rule or social practice that limits personal freedom can be questioned.

America has descended deeper into polarization, separating us because of our political views.

It used to be easier to get along with others with different political views than it is now. When I first became a Republican in 1984 because of President Reagan, I had a college professor who was Democrat. We had the utmost respect for each other, and he even became my advisor. His name was Dr. Thomas Matchie. Now days it is frowned upon on colleges campus.

If you are a Conservative Republican in college, you are physically attack if not verbally attack. You are even attack on Facebook. Sometimes even factcheck.

When did it get so bad that people cannot have a good debate without people getting offended and attacking one another?

How did it get to the point when our political views would break up family and friends?

You need a good debate to understand other’s views. We were either in debate club or took debate classes to help better ourselves and understand others. I can be pretty good at debate when I was in school.

The last time this country was united was September 11, 2001, after the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was attacked by terrorist. I think that would be the last time this country would be united if it would happens again.

We need to learn to get along better despite of our political and religious views. We are all God’s children. The enemies of the United States love seeing us at each other throats because of our differences views. It’s divide and conquer! This will be the downfall of our country.

There is always the poor among us since the beginning of time. There is even more poor people today than ever due to the Biden’s inflation. Everywhere you look there is people who are homeless or struggling financially to stay afloat.

America has the best dressed poverty in the world.

The poor is more likely to get sick more than anyone else in society. That is because they live in slums, jammed together under unhygienic conditions; they have inadequate diets and cannot get decent medical care. It cost more to eat healthy than it does to eat junk food.

The Democrats solution in helping the poor is by giving them assistant such as welfare; whereas the Republicans is known to have no real solution to the problem. As President Reagan said, “government is not the solution to the problem; government is the problem.” In other words, the Democrats would rather keeps people poor and under the thumbs of the government; that way they are easily controlled.

As the saying goes, “give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day; but teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.”

North Dakota state Senator Mike Wobbema, a Republican from the 24th district made a statement to, “It’s really the problem of parents being negligent with their kids if their kids are choosing to eat in the first place, which is entirely the problem that could be existing.” He said this as they were debating free school lunch for low income kids. He says that parents are to blame for their hunger.”

It goes to show that he is so out-of-touch with society. It’s hard for kids to concentrate on their schoolwork on an empty stomach. There is more and more food pantry propping up lately. There is even Feed my hungry children, which will be set up at the Fargo Dome in January to help feel starving children. The reason for this is because of the high cost of food and such. Everything is going up but the wages. If the wages does goes up, we can’t tell anyway because of the high cost of living.

Some employers looks for any excuses not to give raises to their employees.

This doesn’t affect children. It also affects the Senior Citizens as well. There are Senior Citizens who only have Social Security to live on. Now that’s not very much. Many become homeless! They have to choose to eat or get their medical treatment to survive. Some can’t even retire. They end up working until they drop. Those who do have retirement plan and/or investment; it can get eaten up very easily if they happen to go into a nursing home.

The fact is that poverty remains a major blight on the American scene. There is more homeless shelter and low income rental place propping up. At the same time, the 1% has the galls to complain by saying, “we can’t have these low incomes homes in our neighborhoods. It will lower the property value of our beautiful homes.” It’s almost like they would rather ship the poor out in a small community outside the city limit just so they can’t be seen. They’ll bus them in to work and shop but they must stay in their own personal area away from them; so that they will not be seen.

If these people are not starving, they are hungry, and sometimes fat with hunger, for that is what cheap foods do. They are without adequate housing, education, and medical care.

Just south of Fargo is the towns of Oxbow and Hickson. Now Oxbow is the rich side; whereas Hickson is the poor side. They are right across from each other. Oxbow got their country club and flood protection; while Hickson is not protected against a flood. People in Oxbow used the excuse that we have to protect their country club; while care nothing about the people of Hickson.

With this high inflation, those who are poor have to makes cuts in certain area of their lives. They are limited in what they can spend. They buy the bare minimum to just get by.

It is one of the cruelest ironies of social life in advanced countries that the dispossessed at the bottom of society are unable to speak for themselves. They have no one to speak for them.

Here is the most familiar version of social blindness: “The poor are that way because they are afraid of work. They are living off the system and taxpayers.”

There are more absentee fathers, crimes, and teen pregnancy involving the low income society.

The poor is known as the rejects of society.

Yet, when the rich does give to the poor, they do it to make a show to impress people and write it off on their taxes. Yet at the same time, they don’t want to be seen anywhere near the poor side of town. They sees them as being unclean; and they might get dirty by being around them.

People who lives on skid row can be found asking for handout. They are labeled the alcoholic poor. They have been defined as a major problem in our society.

As winter is fast approaching, the homeless are looking for places to get out of the cold. They are turning good neighborhood into bad. They are getting into security apartment buildings to get out of the cold anyway possible. They are sleeping in the hallways in some of these apartment buildings.

In these bigger cities, they have problems with the homeless and illegal immigrants sleeping on the streets. New York City is becoming like Paris, France, very dirty and rat infested. These rats are as big as a cat. Plus there is also bed bugs and cockroaches.

They are low paid workers, drifters, outcasts of one kind or another, and rebellious young people. Not only are they addicted to alcohol; but they are addicted to many different kinds of drugs. Drugs are being found where children are playing; and these children are getting harm because of it.

This past Saturday, the Fargo High Rise was torn down. When it was built, it was a beautiful thing; but throughout the years, it has deteriorated.

As the cost of living is skyrocketing, there is becoming more and more poor people. This Biden’s inflation is killing us all. And they wondered why some people have to works 2-3 jobs just to make a living. They wondered why there are so many who are living from paycheck to paycheck. They wondered why there is so much crimes in the area. I don’t know how much more we can take of Joe Biden’s failed economic policy that is hurting America. All Joe Biden cares about is helping China more than our own people. More money goes overseas than to help our people. Our taxes is raised to do so. Think about the fire in Mauli, more money is being sent to Ukraine than to the victims of the fire in Mauli.

There is no real solution to this problem with the poor. We need better wages, benefits, housing, medical treatment, affordable food, and not junk food; but rather healthy food. We need someone who will speak for us and not the rich corporation. Yet at the same time we don’t need to be dependent on the government.

The summer of 2001, I had an opportunity to go on a work & Witness trip to Indianapolis, working in the inner city. Around this time, my sister, Barb had lost her battle with cancer and passed away.

Some may wonder why go on a work & witness trip when a family member is diagnose with cancer? Some may even think I was selfish for going at the time.

I planned this trip before she got the devastating news that she had cancer. Believe me, I almost didn’t go because I was taught to be there for your family even in the toughest times; no matter how dysfunctional they may be. My mother didn’t want me to go at that time; but at the same time, it was an opportunity of a lifetime. My sister, Barb was a saint for all she put up with throughout her life. This blog is not about her though.

Someone from church, Paul Dennis, who was part of the missionary program in the church and I got together before I left. He knew I was struggling with the decision of should I or shouldn’t I still go, during this time. He told me that missionary would leave their family, even in times like this.

Even Jesus said, “Let the dead bury the dead,” and follow me as He picked His disciples.

I took the bus down to Minneapolis, Minnesota to meet up with the rest of the team that was going on this mission trip. I met some good friends on this trip and it was growing experience I will never forget. At the same time as the mission trip, there was a General Assembly going on at the old RCA dome, where the Colts used to play before they got their new stadium. That stadium was huge.

We drove through Wisconsin past Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While going through Wisconsin, we stop along the way where there was a pink elephant I had to see and take a picture of; otherwise, some may think that I was drunk.

I also made a comment that you don’t say to someone from Minneapolis, and that was, “Wisconsin is so beautiful.” We all know the rivalry between Minnesota and Wisconsin.

My mother loaned me her video camera to videotape the trip. Even though she didn’t want me to go at that time; she knew it was a chance of a lifetime not to pass up. She missed her chance of a lifetime, and didn’t want that for her kids.

When we got in Illinois, there was lots of toll booth before hitting Chicago. When we entered Chicago area, I made sure that the car doors were locked out of fear of that crazy big city. It took 5 hours just to get around Chicago, only because we got lost. In other words, it took a little longer to get to Indianapolis than expected.

We stayed at a historic building used as a hotel near downtown Indianapolis. It was a beautiful hotel. The meals were included, and there was a laundry room there to do our laundry if needed. A big dining room where we could sit and eat our meals, breakfast and supper. There was a big yard to spend outside to play volleyball and such.

We went to spectacular kickoff of music from other countries and cultures, to kickoff the trip. It was full but very enjoyable. The next day was Sunday morning, and we went to an old Nazarene church in the inner city. It was near the site where we were to be working.

On Monday, we were working on a house in the inner city, helping do repair works on the house and yard. The Mission program was called, “One Heart, Many Hands.” It was a chance of a lifetime for me; I will never forget. In the inner city, the streets were narrow and they drove very fast, like they were driving the Indianapolis speedway. Some worked on the roof and some did yard works. It was an older house and the people who lived there and in the neighborhood couldn’t afford very much. They wasn’t able to do as much either, so they were appreciative for what we did for them. They had a welcome to the neighborhood at the neighborhood park with music, food, and fun. For lunch, some people in charge of putting this all together brought sandwiches and such. There was even an ice cream truck that went by everyday at the same time. (Believe me, I remembered the old ice cream truck in Fargo when I was a child.) It was a good experience even though, we had some tools stolen while we were there. We also had some play time while there.

It was while I was there, I got the news that my sister, Barb had passed away. The people I was with was willing to help me make it back to her funeral if I chose to go. I prayed and chose I needed to do this. It helped me to see the other Americans and know that there are people who are worse off. It helped me understand the situation better, to what my sister, Barb went through.

There was a General Assembly going on at the same time at the old RCA Dome that I had a chance to go to the evening service. It was smack downtown! They had a lot of old historic buildings and even horse drawn carriage to give those a ride downtown if they wanted to.

You could see the big difference between downtown and the inner city. It was like the rich and poor.

While there, Paul Dennis was also there for General Assembly and he took me out for supper after the convention. We went to a historic building turned into a nice restaurant.

When we left at the end of the week, we took a different route to avoid Chicago. We went passed the Indianapolis speedway and then north avoiding Chicago.

It was an experience I will never forget; even though I missed my sister, Barb’s funeral. I was told that I didn’t missed much. Her funeral wasn’t to my family liking. Her in-laws made light of her life.

I recommend all to go on that experience of a lifetime. Don’t just give to be giving, experience it. We are to be self-giving, not self-serving. There are people who gives to such causes just to get notice as to say, “Look at me, I give!” They bragged about giving and hope to write it off on their taxes.

It’s like Peter Fendt, who is a part of the rescue and search team here in Fargo. Him and people like him are just out to impress people. Well I got news for them, that’s doesn’t impress me much. People like them are just hypocrites. They should try walking in there shoes instead. That is the only way to fully understand the other Americans.

If they want to help the poor, they must first comes to fully understand what we go through on a day to day basis. Walk a mile in our shoes! As Johnny Cash sang in his song, “Man in Black.” Johnny cash sang, “I wear black for the poor and beaten down. Living in the hopeless, hungry side of town.”

I hope you were able to see the connection between this week blog and last week. Next week in part 3, I will be discussing the other America, a look at poverty in the United States. The poor among us.

Where is the worst paying job at? How do they sleep at night knowing that they do not pay their helps very well? I will mention a few of them, 2 of them is no longer open for business.

I will start with the job the Fargo Country Club. It was a low paying job when I worked there in the ’90’s; and they still are the lowest paying job in Fargo, North Dakota. You may ask, how can they be so cheap? The riches people in Fargo and even the state of North Dakota are members of the Country Club. If they can afford to be a member of this ritsy club; they sure in hell can afford to pay their helps more than what they do. They don’t even offer benefits.

I put in 8 years at that place; and you may wonder why?

To start with, I was in my 20’s, young and dumb. Plus, when I worked their, it was like a dysfunctional family, a comedy show. You enjoyed working with the people there. We had some good times together. The big saying there for us employees was, “You can check in but you can’t check out.” That was taken from the song, “Motel California.” When we weren’t working, few of us would get together drinking and playing poker. We even played broomball on a Sunday afternoon. (Back then, I was able to do that .) They had good teamwork, people working together as a team. The executive chef, Eric Ronson, at the time was one of the good ones. It’s too bad that he didn’t write a book on how to be a better manager to teach some of these so-called managers. He recently passed away. He would even help those who needed it. He’ll stay to even help out it needed. Some of the managers I worked for would rather sit in their office on their fat asses. If you complained, they say, “You have an attitude.”

The closest I came to this kind of work environment is the Fargo Dome; even though, they pay more than the Fargo Country Club.

It was hard to leave the Fargo Country Club because of this factor; even though, the pay was horrible, and no benefits. I enjoyed working with the people, even Eric Ronson. He was like a father-figure to most of us there. I did get burnt out working there though. I was taken advantage of. Maybe this is why, on my day off, I shut off my ringers on my phone.

I was able to moved on to a better paying job at Concordia College with benefits. Eric Ronson was hurt and hated to see me go; but deep down he knew I did what I needed to do.

The next place of business that was very cheap in paying their employees was Quality Bakery. Now, Quality Bakery is no longer open, and I couldn’t care less. My mother worked there for over 30 years; and she was taken advantage of by the owners, especially Peter Fendt. He should be ashamed of himself for the way he treated my mother. She was only getting around $8/hours give and take for as long as she worked there. She used the excuse that they paid for her benefits and that they were friends. Peter was no friend. He was only in business for himself, to make money for himself. My mother droved many miles into Fargo every night to worked for peanuts.

Before my mother started working there, they had a chance to go union; but the owners either paid off or blackmailed, or whatever to keep that from happening. Now that is very crooked.

Peter criticized another boss of having an affair; and he did the same thing himself; proving what a hypocrite he was. Whenever he was angry with his father or wife, who also ran the business, he would take it out on the employees. My mother called him a friend. Friends don’t do that to friends! He should be ashamed of himself!

If he was dying of thirst, I wouldn’t give him the sweat off my brow. I hope he feels so guilty for the way he treated my mother’s loyalty to that place.

Peter Fendt is also involved in the rescue and recovery to help search those in the Red River. He does that to show his good deeds. When all it does is shows his hypocrisy, what a true hypocrite he is. He’s not alone at that though; so many rich people do that, which I will explain more of that in the next 2 blogs.

Believe me, if I ever run into Peter, he will get a piece of my mind for the way he treated my mother. I hope he lose a lot of sleep over this. I hope he burned in hell for this as well! I don’t think I can ever forgive him.

Another cheap place to work was Kmart. Now Kmart not around anymore. They couldn’t afford to pay their employees because of poor management. Working at Kmart is like working at Walmart; both didn’t pay their employees very well. When you work retails, you have to deal with customers; and some are jerks. You also have to deal with people who dash and grab. There is a lot of stress working retails.

On that same line as Kmart and Walmart is Cash Wise. I heard from others, that employees at Cash Wise doesn’t get paid very well either. Places like them rather hire part time to avoid paying out benefits as well as decent wages.

When I was working at Kmart, the movie, “The Help” became our favorite movie, because it spoke to all of us.

I put in 12 years at Kmart, and you wondered why? It wasn’t because of lack of trying. The timing just wasn’t right for me to quit earlier.

Another place that doesn’t pay their employees well is Don’s Car Wash. They charge enough to wash your car; but cannot pay their employees. Even their temp employees get treated like shit. They would only work you 6 hours but pay you for 5 and a half. Those from temp agency only goes to Don’s Car Wash if they’re desperate, the last resort. No wonder, you don’t get an accurate job in cleaning your cars. If they don’t pay the employees well, how can you expect them to do a good job at cleaning the customer’s cars?

These are just some of the employers who doesn’t or didn’t pay their employees very well. If you know any others, comment below.

Then they wonder why most Americans are working paycheck to paycheck. It’s even worst now because of this Biden’s inflation. Joe Biden and the Leftist media cannot tell me that the economy is good. If a person was to get a raise, you wouldn’t even know it because of the high cost of everything. They are getting rich in Washington promoting Socialism while the rest of us is struggling financially.

I will continue this topic in the next 2 blogs; working up to the climax in part 3.

As you probably already heard North Dakota is trying to make history with Doug Burgum running for President of the United States. He’s the first to run for President from North Dakota. Even though North Dakota claims Teddy Roosevelt, he’s not from the state.

Doug Burgum wants to do what 4 candidates for President from Minnesota couldn’t do. The first from Minnesota was Hubert Humphrey back in 1968. He lost to Richard Nixon; even though he was Vice-President under Lyndon Johnson. Walter Mondale, who was Vice-President under Jimmy Carter ran for President in 1984, but lost to Ronald Reagan due to a landslide. Then in 2012, Tim Pawlenty and Michelle Bachman both ran for President but couldn’t get the nomination in the primary.

Doug Burgum will suffer the same fate as both Pawlenty and Bachman. There is better candidates than Burgum running for President. Deep down, I think he knows that. He’s just hoping to maybe get a cabinet post in the White House. He’s not really North Dakota best governor. That title goes to Ed Schaffer.

When Ed Schaffer was asked to run for Senator, he flatly turned it down, because he had his fill of politics and the corruption in Washington. A smart man!!

Don’t get me wrong, I did vote for Burgum for Governor in 2016 when he ran against Wayne Stenehjem. Now Stenehjem was the Attorney General for the state of North Dakota. He was also a career politicians; unlike Burgum, who was a businessman like Trump.

Now Doug Burgum is the founder of the Kilbourne Group, a real estate development firm focused on downtown Fargo. Former Congressman Rick Berg is now involved in the Kilbourne Group. Before that, Berg was involved with Goldmark.

The Kilbourne Group repurpose buildings and inspire the future by redeveloping vacant lots into active, thriving spaces for residents, visitors, students, entrepreneurs, artists, etc.

One of Burgum’s campaign’s promises was to find the missing surplus from the oil company.

Doug Burgum’s wife is Kathryn Helgaas from Jamestown, North Dakota. Her duties include: supporting and developing initiatives to eliminate the shame and stigma of the chronic disease of addiction. She is in a long term recovery for 21 years for addiction.

I don’t think Burgum is the best choice to be President of the United States. I don’t think he has any balls to stand up against the swamp in Washington. They will just eat him up and take advantage of him, like they do to Sen. John Hoeven, another former governor. John Hoeven couldn’t even control his wife, Mikey; when she said, “You know who I am.”

There are better candidates out there either running or not running that has more balls than Burgum. Ron DeSantis has more balls than Burgum, when he stood up against Disney as they gone Woke. He stood up against Gov. Newsom and even Joe Biden.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has more balls than Burgum. She took a stand against the Federal lockdown during the Pandemic. She stood up against Biden over such thing as having Mount Rushmore evening lighting ceremony that is held beginning the Friday before Memorial Day to September 30 each year up until the Pandemic.

Governor Glenn Youngkin from Virginia is another good governor with more balls than Burgum. He stood up against the school board for the parents rights. He’s cut from the same cloth as DeSantis, in standing up against those behind Woke and Critical Race Theory being taught in our schools.

Governor Burgum is all for dressing casual, in blue jeans; rather than suit and tie as so many are accustomed to. He got criticized for it to.

Yet during the Pandemic, Burgum couldn’t stand up against Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and otherwise. He allowed the state to be shut down, not like South Dakota. There are other things that he couldn’t stand up to Tim Walz for either.

A President must be bold and a strong leader to withstand against the enemies of the United States. They have to be bold to stand up against those in Washington as well. If they see you as being weak, they will take advantage of you and United States. That is why Russia invaded Ukraine when they saw Biden as being weak.

This past week was the first Republican debate. I have to admit that Burgum did better than expected. He just couldn’t beat DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott.

He did say one thing I really like though. He said, “They need small town value in Washington.”

Now Burgum is from Arthur, ND, a small town north of Fargo.

Those in Washington doesn’t have small town value, especially Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; especially when she said, “We need to ban cow farts.” She doesn’t know anything about small town values.

This doesn’t mean I’m going to vote for Burgum or even support him as he makes history for North Dakota by running for President.

In the words from the movie, “Jerry Maguire,” when Tom Cruise shouted, “Show me the money!” Well Governor Burgum, “Show me the money! Show me the missing money from the surplus involving the oil company!”

If Burgum couldn’t stood up to the oil companies, how can we expect him to stand up against those in Washington, and our enemies like Russia and China?

Have you noticed that there is more bars and coffee shops opening up in Fargo, ND lately? They are practically on every corner, everywhere you look.

It used to be churches on every corner years ago. Now it seems that bars and coffee shops are replacing churches.

Then they wondered why North Dakota has such a high alcoholism rate. Think about it, with all these bars opening up and even restaurants selling alcohol; what do you expect. The latest thing is at West Acres. They are now selling alcohol in the food court in all places. You pay with a credit or debit card and is charged by the ounces when you buy your drink.

West Acres is supposed to be a family place, where family goes to shop, people watch, and just hang out. This shows how desperate they are to attract customers. Much like restaurants are when they get their liquor license to also sell alcohol.

It used to be years ago, bars were separated from restaurants. Bars would only sell alcohol; but now they are becoming more than just a bar. There are sports bars and nightclubs as well as restaurants. You can watch any sports you want, drink and eat dinner or supper. Some even have other entertainment, such as music or comedy shows; making them into a nightclub.

When I was a child, and the family did goes out, we would go to a restaurant that didn’t serve alcohol. Now days that is hard to find. Back then, if a father went into a bar, the kids sat outside in the car until they came back out, and hope they don’t stay in too long.

When I first became legal to drink, 19 in Minnesota and 21 in North Dakota, we would go out drinking. We would stay until the bars closed and then goes to a restaurant that was open all night for breakfast. I felt sorry for the waitress, because she had to deal with a drunk crowds.

There was some bars that didn’t card you either. I have been in bars in Fargo before I was 21 drinking.

I do remembered one time, when my mother was in the hospital, and my dad wasn’t much of a cook since he was dependent on my mother, stopped at the old bar on the corner of Downer either on the way to the farm or town. At that times they had the best burgers in the area.

On a hot summer day, my dad would take us out for a drive and stop at a bar near the lakes. He had a beer and bought pops for us youngest kids.

I had my first taste of beer when I was a child. I didn’t like it then; but I did when I got older.

Now that coffee is becoming more fancier, coffee shops is also opening up more and more lately as well. With such coffee places as Starbucks for example.

When I was younger, coffee was just coffee and it was bitter, nothing fancy. There was no flavored coffee, cappuccino, latte, iced coffee, or blended coffee. I had my first cappuccino because of my best friend, Roger. Now I’m into drinking cappuccinos or blended coffee, depending on the weather. My favorite coffee shop is Caribou. I stop at Starbucks if I’m in the neighborhood; but I won’t go out of my way.

Even churches is selling coffee to attract new people. One of the coffee shop is the Lighthouse.

I think the reason for these coffee shops opening up more and more lately is because people in North Dakota, and especially Fargo, is becoming snooty and uptight. They are becoming more and more like bigger cities.

In the past when going on a date, you would go out to dinner at a restaurant, then go to a nightclub for drinking and dancing. Now you can do it all at one place.

My favorite restaurant is Appleby. When I was a child, there was no Appleby in Fargo. It goes to show how much restaurants is becoming the new bars. Bars and restaurants are becoming one.

There is a good German bar downtown Fargo called Wurst Bier Hall, I really like. They got good German food and good German beer.

Sure there are 4 corners, and when I say on every corner, think about this: On one corner is a bar, on the other corner is a coffee shop, on the other corner is a car wash, and finally on the last corner is a bank. You can go to the bank to get some money, cross the street to the car wash to wash your car, then go out to eat and have a drink at the bar/restaurant. Then before you go home, you can stop in at the coffee shop for coffee to sober up a little before driving home.

Then they wonder why people drinks so much? They are promoting alcohol.

I love my coffee, especially cappuccino or blended coffee. I’m becoming sophisticated that way and fancy.

As Tom T. Hall would say in one of his song, “I like Beer.” Well hell yeah, I like beer too!! I don’t go out of my way to have a drink like some people would. I drank more in my 20’s than I do now. I drank more when I first turned 19, because it was the things to do. It doesn’t make me an alcoholic, like some people.

To all those who drinks, this beer is on me! If you prefer coffee, then this coffee on me.

They should do a study on this and see what they are promoting instead of criticizing people for drinking alcohol. That’s the only way to solve the alcohol problems in North Dakota.

Have you ever stood at a corner either walking or driving, and have someone waved you to go?

This is one of the signs of North Dakota nice.

Have you noticed how people in Fargo, and even North Dakota is becoming more uptight lately?

There was a time that I was crossing University Drive near the Bowler. I got half way across and in the process of waiting to cross the rest of the way. There was a car in the turning lane, who waved me to cross. The stupid thing was that the driver of that car didn’t look behind him to see other passing cars on University Drive. I saw them and I wasn’t about to cross.

Another example happened on 25th Ave and 15th street. I was waiting to cross when a car stop and the driver waved me to cross. Now that’s a busy intersection. There was cars behind him and cars going the opposite direction.

Both time, I was walking.

I know someone who was driving and waiting to turn when someone waved them to make the turn. Of course, they made the turn and was involved in a car accident; in which the car was totaled.

Did the person who waved the person to go stay? Will a person who is being North Dakota nice and waving you to either walk across or drive out stay ?

Hell No!! They just took off thinking that they did a good deed. They are thinking that they are just being nice. They don’t realize that they are just being stupid.

Just because one person is being North Dakota nice; that doesn’t mean anybody else is. They are obeying the rules of the roads; at least you can hope.

If you were to get hit either on foot or in the car, you are responsible, not the person who was being nice or should I say stupid.

You never know what the other drivers are thinking. They may not be as nice. They may be in a hurry or texting and driving; not paying attention to the road. Or they may be talking on the cellphone.

Now talking on the cellphone or texting and driving is as bad as drunk driving if not worse. It seems like more and more people cannot leave their phones in their pockets or purse while driving or even walking.

I have seen people on their cell phones either scrolling the internet or texting while walking. They are not even paying attention to their surroundings. It’s not until they nearly run into you do they realize it. Then it’s almost too late!

Do they apologize? Hell no!! They just keep doing what they are doing. Acting like it’s all your fault. You should be paying attention to them.

It seems that more and more people are very uptight in Fargo, North Dakota for some reason. They are in a hurry and don’t know why. They are not paying attention to their surroundings and the road.

This North Dakota nice is also in Minnesota; but it’s called Minnesota nice.

If you are in a busy parking lot trying to get out. You can also run across things like this as well. If there is no security to direct traffic, an accident is waiting to happen.

I heard someone who isn’t from this area but moved here from another state, complained about North Dakota’s drivers. They even would say that they should just drive.

It just seems that people have no common sense anymore. They are book smart but not street smart. And the government, especially today’s Democrats like it that way. They are easy to control.

Like the song, “Don’t be Stupid” by Shania Twain: Don’t freak out until you know the facts, relax. Don’t be ridiculous. Don’t be absurd. Don’t be impossible.

Don’t freak out and allow someone to either cross the road while walking or driving without knowing without a doubt that it’s actually safe for them to go as well.

You think you are being nice by doing that. You’re just being an idiot. This North Dakota and Minnesota nice is just being stupid instead.

Since I had came close at being hit because I nearly fell for their stupidity of them being North Dakota nice, I don’t fall for it anymore. If I see it cleared when someone would wave me across then I will cross and say thank you. If I don’t see it cleared I will not cross the road. I would point to the other cars that I see either behind them or on the other side. I will even turn my back as to say, “no thank you. I’m not going to be stupid just because you are.” The other drivers may not be so nice. They may not see the whole picture for some reason. They could take off and either turn as I’m crossing or decide to pass you up because of your stupidity.

Pay attention to the road before you decide to be nice and let someone cross the road or make the turn or take off ahead of you. That is the rules of the roads!

Don’t be stupid with this North Dakota and Minnesota nice! You are just being an idiot! Think before you do, please!!

Do you ever wonder why some people are turned off by the Bible and even churches?

The Bible is full of laws that is hard to live up too. The Old Testament is more legalistic than the New Testament. Rules and regulations can trip a person up.

The Flagellants were known for their public displays of self-flagellation that they used as a form of penance as well as a way to demonstrate their devotion to God. They would often march in processions, chanting prayers and singing religious songs, while flogging themselves with whips.

You may wonder why they felt the need to do that. They felt unworthy.

The Old Testament is full of laws that most are not practiced in the church much anymore; thanks to what Jesus had done for us. This is why most Christians follows the New Testament over the Old Testament.

When Jesus was walking on earth, the Pharisees attacked Him because they felt that He was breaking the laws of Moses. They crucified Jesus because of it. Jesus wasn’t about legalism but rather about forgiveness and grace.

As Jesus was attacked by the Pharisees for not upholding the laws of Moses in the Old Testament; Donald Trump was/is attack for not upholding the laws of Washington D.C. He was a rule breaker much like Jesus was in His days.

This isn’t about that though; but rather Ephesians 6:1-9. This passage in the Bible is one of the hardest for me to swallow when I first came to accept the Lord. I will go through those verses and hopefully explain the difficulty. I then hopefully will explain the picture of my folks at the top, and how I finally came to understand those verses.

In Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” 6:2, “Honor your father and mother-which is the first commandment with a promise.” 6:4, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

Most people who haven’t been raised in a dysfunctional household doesn’t understand why it’s hard for those who had been raised in a dysfunctional household. They haven’t lived the abuse. There’s a fine line between discipline and abuse that some parents have overstepped. It’s hard to honor your parents in that situation. It’s hard to honor your real father when he abandoned you as a child or was never there for you emotionally.

Those who were raised in that situation, sees God as an authoritative. They sees God as controlling and abusive. They don’t see Him as a loving God. This is why there are some who feels that they have to whip themselves into submission. They don’t trust themselves and God; because they lack trust of their parents.

That mistrust leads to lack of trust to others as well. It doesn’t matter what abuse you went through, physical, sexual, mental, and emotional. You can get all the counseling but it takes years to actually recover and eventually learn to trust again.

If you tell one of your parents that you need to let go of the dysfunctional family. They don’t understand why and is hurt. They’ll even say that all family is a little dysfunctional.

If you tell someone who haven’t lived through what you went through, they don’t understand why you want to divorce your parents or family. They will just say, “you’ll regret it.”

Ephesians 6:5, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.”

This isn’t necessarily just slaves but employees as well.

Ephesians 6:9, “And master, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.”

Yet there are bosses who treats their employees as slaves. Then they wonder why the employees have an attitude, and why they cannot keep help.

Those who were raised in an abusive family already has a lack of trust of those in authority; and it carried on into adulthood and the workforce.

They also don’t trust the government and God, because of the abuse they went through as a child.

You can say that I’m speaking from experiences.

This is one of the reason that keeps some away from church as well as reading their Bible.

Now to explain the picture of my folks at the top of this blog. They may be gone now. It was hard for me to honor them somedays. Now that they are passed away, I have to admit that I missed them. That picture was taken when they were married 25 years; and they were married 40 years before my mother had passed away first.

Since my parents are no longer with me, I can come to finally understand Ephesians 6:1-9. My parents weren’t perfect. Because of what I went through, I can come to understand the importance of raising up your children right. By raising them right, they eventually return to that teaching.

Kids today are not properly taught respect like I was. Because of that, look at the world we live in today.

I miss my parents now and I love them; despite of the abuse. At least dad was there more for me than my real father.

If you are anything like me and found it very difficult to comprehend Ephesians 6:1-9, I hope that this blog will help you deal with any issues you may have. I hope that I didn’t come across as being preachy. I just want you to understand that there is hope. You don’t have to live in the past of the pain. Take it from someone who lived it.

What is your reaction when you call for technical support or whatever, and you get an actual person on the phone; but their English is hard to understand?

According to the Ethnologue publication, there are 7,151 distinct languages spoken around the world. About half of the global population speaks 23 languages. The most spoken languages are English, Mandarin, Hindi, and Spanish. Language differences can become a barrier to getting along with others.

As many already know from personal and painful experiences, even speaking the same language doesn’t always avoid misunderstandings and serious conflicts. Language brings humanity together but also becomes a “dividing wall of hostility.” Saying the wrong words at the wrong time has ruptured numerous friendships and relationships. The wounds sometimes happen even if the negative impact of the words is not intended, when meaning is lost in translation.

It’s so easy to misinterpret what someone have said or written. People now days are easily offended by what is said. Those on the Left may call me a racist because of this blog. It seems everything is all about race these days.

Let us really dissect our English language. American English is different than our mother’s tongue, the true English from England. Just listen to the dialect of that English compared to our English. The English language is not the easiest language to learn. Some say that German is easier to learn than English. When you write, you write as you would speak; so you sometimes forget all the rules when speaking and writing in English.

Even in the United States, when you listen to someone speak, it’s different across the nation. People from the South may think that we talk funny up here in Minnesota; likewise, we may think that they talk funny down there. For example: they will say, “Ya’ll come back now.” Whereas, in Minnesota, we’ll say, “Uffda!” In Montana, they call a horse a hoss.

It’s not just the language that is a barrier; so is the culture. This country is known as the melting pot. There are many different languages spoken in this country. Just like there is different cultures as well.

Don’t you just hate it when you lives in a security apartment building; and someone would leave the security door ajar because they cannot bring their keys out with them. I can understand if a person is either moving in or out, or have lots of stuff to carry. Have you ever noticed that most people who does that are people from other countries? Don’t they understand that the apartment building is secured for a reason? Are they more trusting than we are? Believe me, if I see the door ajar open and there is no one around, I will remove the object.

Have you ever noticed that even though a person of color or from other country is next to each other, they still have to talk very loud? Plus, they would not be speaking English either. If I’m in the lounge area at work before I start work or on break, it’s hard to hear the TV because they happened to be talking very loud. I have to turn the volume up just to hear the TV. To me, that is very rude.

Have you ever been around someone who seems to put on way too much cologne or perfume? It’s not necessarily a cultural thing. There are some white who do that too. But a big percentage of black men would bathes in their cologne. When I smell that, I say to myself, “nice cologne, must you marinate in it.” I used cologne and deodorant too, but I don’t saturate in it like some people. Some cologne or perfume is so strong, it gives me a headache. If you are standing next to that person, it just burn your nose.

In some culture, some are more affectionate than others. In some cultures it’s offensive to stand too close to someone. We need to know the proper distance so not to offend someone. In Italy, the Italian are known to give kisses with your meal or when you comes to visit. If you watch any mob movies, if an Italian mobster would kiss you on both cheeks, you’re going to die.

There are many misconceptions about different cultures that cause people to misinterpret and possible offend someone. That is why it’s important to know the proper etiquette.

How do you feel when you go to church and someone is shouting praise the Lord and such? Up here in the north with the Catholic/Lutheran background, people are taught to be quiet in church. Yet down South or color people are more vocal in church. They are more apt to shout, clap their hands, and even raise their hands. One time my mother came to my church and was offended when she heard someone shouting praise the Lord or Amen.

The church I belong to is a multinational church with multiculture. It’s so good to see people from different culture getting together not just to worship but working to get along.

Yet at the same time, you just wish that they would learn to speak English or learn to respect our culture a little.

Some politicians want immigrants to come to this country to fill the job vacancy we have. Some employers figured that they will work for less money because they do not know any better. The Democrats want them to come to this country and they will bribe them just to get their votes. They figured that they can control them. In a way, they are treated like slaves because they do not understand our language and culture.

How do you feel when you have to train them for the job they are being hired for? You don’t speak their language and they truly don’t understand our language. It’s frustrating! I have went through it. My mother went through it herself.

Don’t get me wrong and call me a racist, because I’m far from it. I love people from all nation and culture. I knew a woman who I met at a day labor place. We became friends. She was a colored woman. One time we were visiting with each other at Walmart and someone thought that she was my girlfriend. Some people thinks that black and white person shouldn’t hook up because of the children’s sake.

I also have a friend who was from Iran. He’s a Christian and his family are Muslims. His name is Fred. He’s fun to be around.

There are good and bad people in all culture. It doesn’t matter if they are black or white. All that matter is how we interpret what is being said. If you are offended with this blog, deal with it. Don’t just sit their high and mighty and call me racist when I’m not!

Sweden is part of the Scandinavian countries along with Norway, Denmark, and Finland. Most recently Sweden had joined the United Nation, shortly after Finland joined. They both joined after Russia invaded Ukraine. Putin even warned Finland that if they joined the United Nation, they would be next to be invaded. You may wondered why now that both Finland and Sweden had joined the United Nation? I’ll save that for a later blog on the United Nation. I just want to give a few good words on Sweden right now.

Sweden sits north of Norway and south of Finland. The country of Denmark is an island south of Norway and Sweden. Sweden is a Scandinavian nation with thousands of coastal islands and inland lakes, along with vast boreal forests and glaciated mountains. Stockholm is not only the capital of Sweden; it’s also one of the principle city. The world bank is in Stockholm.

The nature in Sweden is dominated by forests and many lakes. A very beautiful country. They are usually neutral when it comes to wars; much like Switzerland was during World War 2. Switzerland was able to remain neutral because of the mountain that border the country. Much is the same way as Sweden.

Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times. This is one of the reason that the Scandinavian countries relate to Germany.

They are primary Lutherans. As I mentioned earlier, Sweden maintained an official policy of neutrality during wartime and non-participation in military alliances during peacetime. Sweden celebrated 200 years of peace, a longer span of peacetime than even Switzerland.

Sweden is a highly developed country ranked 7th in the human development index. They maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens. It has the 14th highest GDP per capita and ranks very highly in quality of life, health, education, protection of civil liberties, economic competitiveness, income equality, gender equality, and prosperity.

With Sweden functions under mixed economic system of high-tech capital, with plenty of private freedom as well as government regulation. There might be notoriously high taxes in place, but this keeps the welfare state, and its extensive benefits, well-oiled, meaning the country’s wealth pays off for residents.

Their healthcare and welfare system is better than the United States. Yet, the United States seems to want to copy Canada’s healthcare system; which is way worse than ours. People from Canada would comes down to the United States for any major medical treatment because of the poor medical treatment in Canada.

Yet, the American citizens would go to Canada to get their medicines because it’s way cheaper than ours.

Why not look more into Sweden system instead? We can probably learn from Sweden.

The Stockholm syndrome is described as the psychological condition of a victim who identifies with and emphasizes with their captor or abuser and their goals. This came about when the media in 1973 and the 4 hostages were taken during a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden.

The band ABBA originated from Stockholm, Sweden in 1972. The Dancing Queen is one of the band popular song, along with Mama Mia. We all know that Mama Mia became a movie starring Merle Streep.

I’m not Swedish but there is one foreign movie from Sweden that is very good. That movie is “My Life as a Dog.” I’m not big fan of foreign films because I’m not big in culture; but I just loved that movie. Even though they had subtitles, I was able to understand the movie without reading the subtitles. I don’t know if it’s because every once in a while my dad would speak Swedish or the fact that Sweden is so connected to German?

In the movie, My Life as a Dog is about a young boy who is obsessed with comparing himself with those less fortunate. It’s a very good movie, and I recommend anyone to watch it.

Since some Germans had refuge to Sweden, there is connection between the two countries culture wise, at least the high German. They are both light complexion, compared to low German. The language is pretty much the same as well. They eat some of the same food. Such as Lefsa and lutefisk.

My step-dad is related to King Olaf of Sweden through the generation lost. Is that is so down low in the genealogy. An account of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor.

How sweet it is to be Swedish? Enjoy your Swedish meatballs!