I hate to be the bearer of bad news but winter is coming.  Are you ready for it?

I’m no weatherman; so I can’t predict the how bad this winter is going to be.  It could be mild or it could be cold.  We could have lots of snow or hardly any.

All I can say that there is no escaping the inevitable of the drastic winter season.  So we must be ready for it when it’s come.

I will say this though.  Winter isn’t as bad as it was when I was a kid.  We had a lot more snow.  It was a lot colder.

Is this because of global warming?  I don’t think so.

Here are some tips to get ready for old man winter:

Let us start with winterizing your car and driving.  First, you should make sure that your battery is charge properly; that way your car will start during the coldest part of winter.  You should also have snow tires put on your vehicle.  You should change your oil, so that it will fit the climate.  You should have a winter survival kit inside of your car, God forbid you ever get stranded in a blizzard.  A smart thing to do is never goes out in a blizzard in the first place.  Nothing is important enough to be out in a blizzard.  Not your job, not shopping, not whatever!  The most important thing, you must never text or talk on your cell phone while driving.  You must have your full attention on the road.  That way you won’t slip and slide on the ice and cause an accident.

Now let us winterize your home.  You must make sure that your chimney is cleaned; so that there won’t be a fire that will burn down your home.  I remember, every year in the Fall we would put on the storm windows to get ready for winter.  In the Spring we would take them off.  You should make sure that your furnace is running properly.  Growing up, on the farm, we had a wood stove that my step-dad built himself.  He made sure that we had a wood pile up close to our house, and easily  accessible.  The kind of woods that he liked to used was oak.  They were very sturdy and last a long time when burning to keep warm.

Winter is a time to put away your summer clothes and gather all your winter clothes.  In other words, you don’t wear shorts outside during the wintertime.  Yet, I see people who does wears shorts during the winter.  I sees kids wear shorts during the winter and wondered why the parents don’t put their foot down.  If we wore shorts outside during the winter, both of my parents would yells at us to put on pants.

You should make sure that you have a good winter coat and make sure that you wear it.  I have seen people goes outside without their winter coat.  You should also make sure to have a good pair of winter boots.  One that will help you not only in the deep snow but also help you walk on the ice as well.  Remember, ice that is buried under the snow is more likely to get you to slip and fall.  The reason, you can’t see the ice to prevent yourself from falling.  When you’re young, you can bounce right back up.  Once you get older, it’s harder to get up, and the healing process isn’t as fast.

You should also make sure that you have nice warm cap and gloves.  That way your hands and ears won’t freeze.  If your coat zip up over your mouth, then you don’t need a scarf.  That way you won’t breathe in the cold air; which will bring about a cold with a sore throat.  That cold air is so dry, it can really affect your throat, to the point that you cannot talk.  This year, I’m going to get myself a dehumidifier, to help rid the dryness from my apartment.

Those who were raised on a farm knows that during the Fall, your mother would canned all kinds of vegetables for the winter.  That way you had food to eat in case you were ever stranded at home in a blizzard.  Our parents also froze meat and even some vegetables as well.  I remember my mother canning homemade vegetable soup.  Then the during the winter all she had to do was either add it to the meat and heat it up or heat it up by itself.  We knew that we would survived the winter if God forbid there was ever a long blizzard stranding us.

The medical profession would suggest that you get the flue shot to be ready for winter.  I won’t go too much into that because that is another blog.  All I will say is, I don’t believe in the flue shot.

I’m more into the herbal remedies instead.  If you buy certain herbs, you can prevent getting a cold or sick with the flue.  I would say stock up on those herbs.  They are more healthier for you. This is all I’m going to say on herbs, for another blog.

I’m not saying that you have to wear winter underwear, unless you work outside.  I’m not saying that you have to wear wool clothing like they did years ago.

Make sure that you don’t freeze your water pipe also.  You don’t want to be without  heat and water during the winter.  If you’re going to keep your car running while in a store for a short time, make sure that you have an extra pair of keys with you; so that you can lock your car.  That way no one can steal your car.  You should also be sure to have a blanket in your car.  Believe me, it came in handy when I came home from school and my folks weren’t home and we didn’t have a key to get inside the house.  We were able to snuggled under a blanket.  I also remembered, my step-dad having straws built up around the well house to keep it warm.

These are just a few tips to get ready for the inevitable old man winter.  Folks, for those living in the northern hemisphere, winter is coming.  We can’t  fight it!  So my big question for you: are you ready for it?

First of all, Happy Halloween!!

Years ago, vampires and Dracula were evil scary creatures; but all of that change in the last few years.  Hopefully, together we’ll see what brought about this change.

Dracula originated from Transylvania.  Was he a myth or real?

Vampires were considered to be evil scary creatures that only comes out at night.  If they happened be out during the daylight, they just burn up from the sun.

They sleep in coffins.  They drink human blood as they bite the vein in the neck.

Ways to keep vampires away were as followed:  If you wear garlic around your neck.  Showing them a crucifix or a cross.  Tossing Holy Water at them.  If you put a stake directly into their heart and leave it there, you can kill them.  The sunlight also burns them up.

They were very creepy looking.

Let me set this straight, vampire bats are way different from actual vampires.  Vampire bats are real.  Vampire bats don’t drink human bloods like vampires will.  Vampire bats are flying mammals. They are adaptable to live anywhere.  They are not one size fit all.  Many bats travel south for the winter.  They built the rainforest.  They control the insect population.  There is only 3 species of bats that are vampire.  They are immune to many diseases.

Now what brought the change of vampires being the creepy villain to what they are today.  How did they became a romantic hero today?  What brought this about?  How did people seems to have fallen in love with the vampires.  Did weird Hollywood have anything to do with it?

First, let us take a look at Ann Rice’s novel, “Interview with a Vampire.”  They turned that novel into a movie starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.  In that movie, Tom Cruise was a vampire who bite Brad Pitt and turned him into a vampire.

Was it that book/movie that brought about people love with the vampire?

Vampires are now part of the Goth culture.

Goth is someone who sees beauty in the dark side of life.  Today’s society is focused on negating darkness because it is associated with evil.

There is a goth following out there.  It may not be very big.  The Goth people looks very gothic, almost creepy like-vampire like.  They wear dark clothes, dark makeup; especially lipsticks. Their face is very white.  Marilyn Manson is a goth musician.  He is very creepy looking and totally weird.  Even weirder than Kiss and Alice Cooper.  Those 2 are not goth, one is heavy metal and other rock.  I can tolerate Kiss and Alice Cooper.  Their music is good.  I’m just not into Marilyn Manson, sorry.

Maybe what brought this love affair with a vampire was the Twilight movies?

I’m in touch with my manhood, so I can admit that I was team Edward; more than team Jacob.

In the Twilight movies, if a werewolf would bite a vampire, the vampire will die.  The werewolf was an arch enemy with the vampires.

Another thing, the vampires wore a ring on their fingers that had power to keep them from burning up while out in the sun.  If they took it off they were done.

When Hollywood went about casting stars to play Edward or even other vampires, they would look for the hottest stars.  They wanted to have people fall in love with them and route for them.  They did what they can to make them a romantic hero.

There was even a TV series on the CW network called “Vampire Diary.”  I have to admit, I enjoyed watching “Vampire Diary.”  They had a very good storyline.

Actually, Vampire Diary was written before Twilight.  It just that Twilight came out first at the movies.  They both have similarity.  In Vampire Diary we learned who was that made the ring that the vampires wore gave it it’s  power to keep them alive in the daylight.  It was the witches spell.

Vampire Diary had a spin-off called “The Original,” another good show.

Do you still wonder like I do, how the vampires went from being the creepy villain to a romantic hero?

It’s almost like people are worshipping vampires and treating them like idols.

It’s how you look at them.   Do you see them as gothic and creepy like Marilyn Manson or do you make them romantics like in the Twilight movies?  Not everyone who watched the Twilight movies or Vampire Diaries are into goth.

Once again, God bless America!!

It’s great that we live in a country where we have the rights and power to vote.  There are countries where you don’t have a say with what goes on with the leadership. No wonder that people are dying to come to this country.  No wonder they want to come to America.  We have that freedom.

I don’t want to be the kind of person that tells you how to vote.  It just that this election is vital that you get out and vote.  As you can tell from my last 3 blogs, I have been very upset with the Democrat party for what they pulled, and what they are doing to America right now.

If you truly love America, you will do the right thing and vote Republicans.  We must send the Democrats a message from the American people.  The message that we must send is, “We’re fed up with their selfishness.”

Here is a quote from Sen. William L. Marcy, “The politicians of New York are not so fastidious as some gentlemen are, as to disclosing the principles on which they act.  They boldly preach what they practice…If they are defeated, they expect to retire from office.  If they are successful they claim, as a matter of right, they claim, as a matter of wrong in the rule that to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy.”

Yet the Democrats are not so willing to give up.  They just want to hang on to that power.  They will stop at nothing to do so.  They will even smear a good man’s name.  They will take advantage of anyone they can just to get what they want.

They will not listen to anyone who disagree with them.  They would rather argue or call a person names.  They do not have respect for anyone.

As I had written in my last blog, I had a college professor who was a Democrat and I was a College Republican.  We had respect for each others despite of our political differences.  I looked up to him as a mentor.

The Democrats are so desperate right now that they even become very violent.  They call it protesting.  I call them terrorist.  The Leftist are destroying property and hurting people like terrorist.

This country is so divided right now.  The Leftist Democrats and Leftist media are to blame for it.

The Democrats expect a blue wave this election; so that they can get back the control of either the House or the Senate.  Hopefully, the American people are so upset with them that they send them a message by not voting for them.

Here is a Bible verse from Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

The Leftist Democrats are being very selfish.  They say that they are for the people; but really they are for themselves and the power that goes with being in Washington.

Our forefathers were afraid that this would happen too.. That was why they suggested that they do not make a career of being in Washington.  We need to throw those bums out once and for all.

With these act of terrorism by the Leftist Democrats, it reminds me of the book, “1984.”  In that book, the Government tried to control the people and the media is their police.  The mainstream Leftist media is in the Democrats pockets.

As I said before, I will be voting Republicans.  Believe me, some Republicans leaves a bad taste in my mouth; but they are not as bad as these Leftist Democrats are becoming.

Thanks to the Tea Party movement and the non-establishment candidates, such as Trump, Carson, Rubio, and Cruz, the Republicans has some redeeming quality.

You can’t say that about the Democrats right now!

But don’t just take my words for it.  Do your research.  Get the facts before you vote, that way you will see for yourself.  Don’t just believe me or the mainstream news media.  The information is out there for us to gather.  You can go to Fox news.  You can go to the Drudge Report.  You can even check to see how they voted.

The mainstream news only tells you what they want to tell you.  There is a woman candidate running for Senate in Arizona who is in favor of the Talaban.  Doesn’t she realize that they would prefer woman to keep quiet and have their faces covered?  If they want to go forward, then why do they favored terrorists?

What the world needs now is love.  There is so much hate in this world today.  We are so divided.  The reason for the division is because of the hate by the Leftist movement.

Both John F. Kennedy and Franklin D. Roosevelt would roll over in their graves if they knew how bad the Democrats are becoming.

The Democrats claim that they are for the working class people.  Well they don’t have my back.  They claim that they are for the women.  There are Republican women who disagree.  If they are for the women, they wouldn’t had taken advantage of Christina Ford and made a victim of her all over again.  They claim that they are for the blacks.  Yet the black unemployment is lower than it was under Obama.

The Leftist Democrats is just so desperate to hold on to their power that they will stop at nothing to do so.  They seems to forget what Bill Clinton did while he was President.  They don’t want to recognize all the crimes Hillary Clinton had committed.

So when Election comes in November, let us send a message to these Leftist Democrats.  They want a blue wave, may they not get it.  May they be sent back home packing instead.  Won’t you join me and vote Republicans?  That way America can continue moving forward in making America great again.

Let us love one another and stop the hate that these Leftist is pushing!!  This is my message to the people.  I may have some very upset people out there because of this blog.  Hopefully, the American people will be more upset with them instead.

God Bless America!!

     There are people who would like to eliminate the electoral colleges.  The Democrats would very much loves to eliminate it.

The only reason why the Democrats would wants to eliminate the electoral colleges, was because they lost the election back in 2016.

I’m here to tell you that if the electoral colleges was eliminated, the fly-over state; such as North Dakota wouldn’t have a say in Washington DC. Only heavily populated states, like New York, California, Texas, Florida, etc.  will have a say what goes on in Washington for the rest of the country.  These smaller populated state will no longer have a voice in the election.

Yet the Democrats would allow the illegal immigrants to continue voting in the election.

They complained about the Russians tampering with the election since they lost; but what about the ideas of allowing the illegal immigrants to vote in the election.  That is tampering at its best.  That is voters fraud!

It goes to show that the Democrats will stop at nothing to remain in power.  They don’t care about the American people.  They are just so desperate to remain in power and to stop Pres. Trump; that they will do almost anything, even if it’s illegal or unscrupulous.

Let us look at the latest thing they did.

Under the leadership of Sen. Dianne Feinstein from California, they went to smear a good man’s  name.  They tried to stop Brett Kavenaugh from being appointed to the Supreme Court.  They accused him of sexual assault.

Not only did they smear his good name, they made a victim out of Kristina Ford all over again.  They were just using her for their own gain.  They didn’t care who they hurt.

No wonder Kavenaugh was very upset.  I would be too, and so would you.

It was like a witch hunt; similar to the Salem Witchcraft trial in the 1600’s done by the religious leaders of those days.

He had every rights to be angry at the Democrats.  It was righteous anger.  Just like when the Pharisees persecuted Jesus and crucified him on the cross.

It was similar to the ’50’s when Sen. McCarthy made accusation to anyone who he felt was commies.

What teenage boys or even men as boys ever done inappropriately things with girls back in high school and college?

I’m not disputing that something happened to Christina Ford back in high school.  I’m disputing at the way it was handled by the slimy, sleazy Democrats.

They will stop at nothing to remain in power.  They cannot stand Pres. Trump.  They wants him out of office; and they’ll do anything possible to make it happen.  They don’t like the fact that unemployment rate is at it’s lowest.  Even lower than it was under Obama.  They didn’t like his tax cut; in which the working taxpayers got a bigger take home paycheck.  If you don’t like the increase in your take home pay, just give it to me.  Why give it back to the Government?

I’m here to tell you that President Trump has been very good to me.  And I’m just a blue-collar worker.

You can’t tell these Leftist Democrats anything like that.  They just don’t listen to reason.  They just wants to argue to the point that they become very violent.  They will name-call and everything else.

Years ago, when I first became a Republican while under Reagan, I had professor back at NDSU who was a Democrat.  I consider him a friend and a mentor.  He never tried argue his point or stoop to name-calling or become violent.  Back then we respected each others.

Now days, you might as well forget ever reasoning with them.  To them we are rednecks.

Who haven’t been attack either verbally or physically?  I know a few of these Leftist personally.  They just don’t wants to listen to reason.  To them, we don’t know what we are talking about.

Even Hillary Clinton and even Obama called us rednecks and needs to be controlled.

If there is  anyone who  ever been attack by these Leftist, I would love to hear from you.  My e-mail address is daleaheger@msn.com.

As I said in last week blog, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp lost my vote this election; all because she side with her fellow Democrats.

Matter of fact, I will not be voting Democrats anytime again.  That can be a hard things to swallow; because there is some bad Republicans out in Washington.  It just that the Democrats are worst right now.

This election, let us send a message loud and clear these Leftist Democrats.  The message we must send is DO NOT VOTE for them!!   May they lose this election.  May they lose the House and the Senate.

They hope to have a blue wave this election.  Let us tell them, HELL NO by voting them out of office.

This country is so divided right now because of these Leftist.  More divided than we ever been.  To make America great again, we must vote out the Democrats this election.

The Democrats thinks that they can win the women’s vote, by lumping them all together.  There is Republican women who will not vote for them.

The Democrats even thinks that they can win the black votes also?  There are blacks out there who are big Trump supporters out there.  Kanye West is one of them.  The Leftist media just ridicule him; like they do anyone who supports Trump.

If you remember few years ago how Clint Eastwood was called senile because of what he said at the Republican convention?

The American people is upset with our government and the corruptness in Washington DC.  Who are they more upset with.  My money is on the Democrats right now.

Don’t get me wrong, there probably a few good Democrats out there.  Those are the kinds that are becoming very upset with their party.  Some even are thinking about leaving their party.  The Leftist leaders and media is doing one heck of job in destroying the Democrats party as we know it.

Two weeks ago, I read a letter to the editor that said, “the two-party system isn’t working anymore.”  I kind of have to agree.

Even Max Schneider, who is running for the North Dakota House  said that they fight like cats and dogs in Washington.  The bad part is because of Heitkamp no vote on Kavenaugh, he is also running behind his Republican challenger as well.

Won’t you join me this election to vote against these Leftist, sleazy, and slimy Democrats.  Let us send them a message that we are mad as hell and will not take it anymore.  It’s very important that you go out and vote this November.  Vote against the Democrats!  Believe me, I will!  They will never get my vote again.  No matter how bad the Republican candidate may be.  I now regret ever voting for Obama; but I couldn’t stand both McCain and Romney.

This year is one of the biggest Senate race in North Dakota between Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and Kevin Kramer.  The last time it was this important was 6 years ago when Heitkamp ran against Republican Rick Berg.

Back then I couldn’t vote for Heitkamp, because I felt that I couldn’t trust her.  I also couldn’t vote for Rick Berg either.  I had nothing against him personally.  I knew him when he started out and back then he was decent person.  What kept me from voting for him was that the power had gone to his head.  So that election, I wrote in my own name for Senate.

When this race begin, I was torn on who to vote for.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp had done some good things as Senator for the state of North Dakota.  She even did good things as Attorney General.  She didn’t always vote straight party line; at least I thought.  When Pres. Trump first became President, he invited her and Kramer in his office for a meeting with talk of a cabinet post.

She went after the sex trade industry.  Which was a good thing, and even Trump sign that bill into law.

She did vote no on Trump’s tax plan, giving the working taxpayers an increase in the take home pay.  That increase led to more jobs and unemployment rate at its lowest, even lower than when Obama was President.

Who doesn’t like less money taken out of their paycheck?  I like seeing a bigger paycheck.  The Democrats don’t though.  It means less for them.

This wasn’t what help me to make my decision about Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.  What put the nails in her coffin was her no vote against Brett Kavenaugh for Supreme Court.  That proved that she is no better than her fellow Democrats.

Her no vote only shown that she don’t care about the North Dakota’s values.  She doesn’t want to be reelected.

I used to have some respect for her; but since that vote, that respect went out the window.

She is a baby killer just like all the Democrats.  With the exception of Sen. Manchin, who voted yes for Kavenaugh.  He was the only Democrats who had courage to stand up to his party and vote for what the people wants.

It goes to show that she didn’t read John F. Kennedy’s book, “Profile in Courage.”  Pres. Kennedy would roll over in his grave if he knew how the Democrats had become.  He was the last great Democrat President; and he would not be accepted by today’s Democrats.

I don’t want to go much with attack on the Democrats with this blog.  I want to save it for next week.  This is more against Heidi Heitkamp.  The baby killer, the liar and the list goes on.  I have no respect for her.  When she said that she will works with anybody; that is a BOLDFACE lie!!

She had lost my vote.  Hopefully, she will lose a lot more votes because of her vote against Kavenaugh.

Does this mean that I will vote for Kevin Kramer?  That is still to be determine.

My big concern about Kramer is that he is a career politician.  Yet the at the same time, I’m so angry with the Democrats and I wants to continue going forward with the Trump agenda.  I may vote for Kramer on that alone.

We need to continue moving forward.  By electing Kevin Kramer for Senate, we can move forward.

I sympathized with the farmers over this trade war that we are in right now.  At the same time, I understand why we are in this trade war.  If the United States was to buckle under pressure and give in to this trade war, it will show weakness.  And by showing weakness, the other countries will walk all over us.  The last time that the United States was strong and a force to be reckon with was when Reagan was President.  No countries dare mess with us.  We need a strong leader to remain strong.  Trump is a strong leader.  He may have a mouth that some people would love to shut up; but I have respect for him because stands his ground.

The Nafta bill that Pres. Clinton signed into law was a disaster.  The reason why the terrorist attack us in 9/11 of 2001, was because they were not afraid of us.  The whole time that Obama was President, the other countries was laughing at us.  The Chinese was slowly buying up United States.  Russian President Putin had no respect for Hillary Clinton.  He had more respect for Trump because he saw him as his equal.

A person needs to stand up for something and for what they believe in.  I’m taking a stand right now and standing up for my principles.  I may get some hate mails because of this week and next week blogs.  Then again, I’m the angry blogger, so be it!

This is only the tip of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic.  You better stay tune for next week, when I go full barrow on the Democrats.  Believe me, they will deserve it.

So Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, you might as well pack up, because you are done.  You just kiss this election goodbye.  You have no courage to stand up against your fellow Democrats.  You are a liar, when you say that you will work with anyone.  This overlook the good you had done in Washington; now it’s time that you go home.  You lost my vote and my respect.

I have more respect for Sen. Collins because she did the right thing and voted for Kavenaugh despite receiving death threats.

If you are like me and feels the same way about Heitkamp and Kramer; and do not know who to vote for.  The reason for my picture on the top of this blog, with me wearing my Trump’s shirt.  You can write in my name on election day to vote for me; if you do not feel comfortable enough to vote for Heitkamp or Kramer.  Here is how you spell my name:  Dale Heger.  I won’t forget the North Dakota’s way.  I’m not one of those career politicians either.  I will put the people first.

Stay tune for next week blog, when the Democrats will feel my wrath for what they did.  As it said on that shirt, “There will be Trump Toupee.”  In other words: there will be hell to pay.

Mr. Rob Port is a fellow blogger from Minot, North Dakota.  He also has a podcast as well.  Some of his blogs are printed in the editorial of the Fargo Forum.

I don’t know if you read any of his blogs or any of his letters to the editor; or not.  If you had, you might have noticed his obsession with Senator Heidi Heitkamp.  It’s almost like he is stalking her for some reason or another.

I won’t go into too much of my opinion of Heidi Heitkamp in this blog, because I will share that in next week blog.

It seems that he really have it bad for her.  When you read it, it’s never anything good.  He is constantly critical of her.

With his obsession, he should come clean and confess.  Doesn’t he knows that confession is good for the soul?

I mean, I shared my obsession with the book, “1984” awhile back.  I came clean for my readers.  Shouldn’t he do the same?

Rob Port is a conservative like me.  He seems to be a blowhard like Rush Limbaugh and the late Ed Schultz.  Then again, some may say that I can be blowhard at times.

Rob Port wasn’t always a blogger, I bet.  It probably took him awhile to become famous.  It wasn’t until the last few years that we heard of him.

You got to start somewhere though.

I used to once in awhile write letters to the editor; that would be printed after they edit things in the letters.  It wasn’t until about 2 years ago that someone I know revealed to me that I could set up my own blog site; and write on whatever topic I so-choose.  I’m not as famous as Rob Port is right now; but who knows maybe some days I will be once my blogs goes viral.

It’s exciting to see the stats on my blogs.  I bet you that Rob Port felt the same way when he first started out.

I have people reading my blogs from all over the world.

Where we differ, Rob Port is strictly a conservative political blogger; and my topics varied from week to week.  Sometimes, I come across as an angry blogger.

Whereas, Rob Port needs to get his obsession of Heidi Heitkamp under control.  It’s almost scary.  Can he write about anybody or something else?

I usually write about topics that I know something about.  If I don’t know much about something; either I will do research on the subject or don’t write on it until I do.  I was taught one of the key things a writer should do before writing, is that they should at least know a little what they are talking about; just to be believable.

Some of my blogs get to personal for some people.  Yet it seems that when I write more personal blogs, I get more likes or sometimes comments on them.

I hope that some days I too will have what Rob Port has because writing his blogs.  I just wish that he would admit that he is obsessed with Heidi Heitkamp.

If you want to know my opinion of Senator Heidi Heitkamp, you can either read the blog that I wrote on her last year or stay tuned for next week blog.

Next week, I will be writing on the big Senate race between Heitkamp and Kramer.  In that blog I will give you my opinion on who I may or may not vote for in this coming election.

If Rob Port is reading my blogs, I welcome your inputs.  I want to know how you finally became famous with your blogs.  I want to know how long it took.

For those who have been watching Modern Family and for those who haven’t this is their 10th and possible final season on ABC.

For those who don’t know this the star, Ed O’Neil, was on another groundbreaking sitcom on Fox network.  That show was called Marriage with Children.

I will discuss the comparison between the 2 shows with a little comparison to this family; who happens to be part of my family.

Let us look at Ed O’Neil.  He was no Hollywood’s heart throb by no means.  Yet, somehow, the stars who played his wives on both show,  are very sexy.  We all know how sexy Sophia Vergaras is; even with her accent.  Well, in the Marriage with Children’s days, Katy Sagal, I would say was also very sexy.  It got me thinking, only in Hollywood can a man like Ed O’Neil be so lucky.

I cannot imagine anyone else portraying Al Bundy or even his character on Modern Family than Ed O’Neil.  He just fit both characters.

But did you know that he once tried out for the role of Sam Malone on Cheers?  It wouldn’t had been the same.

On Marriage with Children, Al Bundy was married but really didn’t love Peg.  He complained about his life in every episode.  In Modern Family, Ed O’Neil divorce his first wife and married a hot sexy wife.

In both shows, he played a father of 2 kids.  The daughter was the oldest in both shows.  If you were to intertwine the shows, you can almost put Marriage with Children into Modern Family, because of the similarities.

On Marriage with Children, Al Bundy made a quote that was, “Golf is not a sport.”  Yet on Modern Family Ed O’Neil’s character played golf and was a member of a country club.

Remember, Al Bundy wouldn’t be allowed into the country club.

On Marriage with Children, Al Bundy was a struggling shoes salesman trying any get rich quick scheme he could think of.  Whereas, on Modern Family, he had succeeded.

Both shows were groundbreaking shows.  They both depict the true family dynamics.

When Marriage with Children first came on, they were the first show on a new network.  That network was Fox.  Before Fox, there was only 4 channels and they were: ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS.  People had to get up to change the channel.  There was no remote for the TV.  They even had the old rabbit ears on top of the TV.  If you were lucky, you had an antenna on top of your roof as well.  There was no such thing as cable or satellite dish.

Another thing, Fox was a groundbreaking network at the time.  Now they are more conservative.  Fox news is probably more reliable than the other news network.

Marriage with Children was the first show that depict a dysfunctional family.  Before that, families on television seems to be so normal compare to everyday families.  Problems were pretty much solved within half an hour to an hour depending on the shows.  That isn’t life and Marriage with Children actually showed that way before Roseanne did.  Even the Cosby Show had this “perfect” family unit.

Modern Family was also a groundbreaking show in their own way.  They showed extended family with a second wife and a gay son with his gay husband who adopted a daughter from overseas.  They showed 3 smaller families; which is a part of one main family.

You probably wonder where that picture fits in with this blog?  I will try to explain it now.

As I mentioned earlier, they are part of my family.  Yet at the same time, they are what I would say a real life Bundy’s family.

As I mentioned in previous blogs, the Brady Bunch was a wish list of what I wish my family was like.  My family isn’t perfect.  It’s rather dysfunctional, and Marriage with Children depicts one part of my family.

The father, my oldest step-brother is very much like Al Bundy.  He has this entitlement belief, like  Al Bundy.  Even though he was married with children, was there really love or was it obligation.  He felt tied down like Al Bundy did.  They both looks for get-rich quick scheme.

Peg Bundy was very similar to my sister-in-law.  Peg was lazy.  She didn’t cook or clean.  She would foil Al’s scheme all the time.  She was a sex addict.

Kelly Bundy took after Peg in more ways than one.   She was also similar to my oldest niece, Tracy.  I love all my nieces and nephew; so I will get that straight first.  Kelly also had some similarity with Al Bundy as well.  She was looking for ways to break free from that dysfunctional family by any means possible.  I have to admit, I believe that Tracy is doing a wonderful job in breaking free from the bondage of the dysfunction.  I’m proud of her.  Yet at the same time, I’m very much concerned for her as well.

Now Bud Bundy, I would say was way smarter than his parents.  At least he was book smart.  He still falls in the same trap as all of the Bundy’s.  I’m very much concern about his real life counterpart, my only nephew.  He seems to be keeping up with the family tradition.

As dysfunction as the Bundy’s were, when push comes to shove, in the end, they always stood by each other.  This also goes with my family as well.

Even though my family is very dysfunctional, in the end when it’s all said and done, we are somewhat there for each other.  Some more than others!

I think that it would be fun to see the cast from Marriage with Children on Modern Family for their final season.  It will be just to show the connection between the two shows.

I love my family; despite of the dysfunction we all have.  Some days, some of my family members I would love to just give away.  All families have their problems.  There is no perfect family out there.  Even if they pretend to be perfect while in church.  They have their problems too.

I’m glad for the show Marriage with Children for showing the true dysfunctional family for a change.

The latest casualty in the lines of sex scandal is local one for North Dakota and happened just this past spring.  Just south of Fargo, in Richland School District to be precise.

If I got my facts straight, the sex scandal involved older boys hazing the younger boys.  The hazing I’m talking about is of the sexual kinds.

I don’t want to downplay this, because it’s still abuse.

Even though the older boys were sexually hazing the younger boys, the faculty, staff, and the school board were being held liable for it.

Now, I don’t think that they may or may not be liable for it.  I don’t think they made the older kids molest the younger kids.  I mean boys will be boys.

Plus, there is ways to keep things hush if they really wanted to.  I don’t believe that you can blame the school board for this, if they, themselves didn’t know about it when it was happening.

If they knew about it and did nothing; then they should be punish and held liable for it.

To me, it sounds like it was more of a sexual hazing, turned into sexual abuse.

It makes me thinks about the hazing that goes on in colleges fraternity.  I don’t know if it’s happen much up here or not though.

Hazing is forcing someone to do what you want just to be accepted into the group.  It can involved different kinds of abuse; even sexual.

I remember reading few years ago a book about sexual hazing in high school hockey.

Hazing is more about bullies taking advantage of the weaker ones.

If there is one thing that the Richland School District needs to take responsibility for is not combating bully.

They should had learned from the Columbine School’s shooting.  The ones doing the shooting were bullied at one time.  They just crack and went on a shooting spree.

Rather than the victims of abuse at the hands of the bullies, becoming violent to take back their lives; they finally came forward and told about the sexual abuse.

My hats goes off to them!!  It’s not easy to come forward and admit being molested.

The Catholic Church had been plague with the sex abuse scandal for a very long time now.  The church knew about it and kept on covering it up.  Priests were molesting the altar boys for a period of times.  They are slowly trying to do the right things now but it may be a little too late.  The sex abuse in the Catholic church may be the downfall of the church.  Even more than when Martin Luther did his reform and formed the Lutheran church.

There was a high school teacher from West Fargo who was recently charged with molesting some of her male students.

If anything the Richland School District is guilty of; it’s trying to cover-up the abuse.  So I’m glad for those boys who came forward and told their stories.  Kids do not needs to be abuse/molested.  They must be able to stay a kid for as long as they possibly can.

When a child is molested, their innocent is lost forever.   They must grow up fast just to cope with the abuse.

Girls are more apt to tell about being abuse.

Boys, on the other hand, finds it very difficult to talk about the abuse.  The statistic may show higher for girls being abuse; but in the long run, there probably just as much boys being abuse than girls.  It’s just tougher for them to come forward.

Boys are taught to be tough and take it like a man.  They are not to cry and show any signs of weakness.  Being molested shows their weakness.

Hazing is used to teach boys/men to toughen it out.

If a boy is molested by either another older boy like in the Richland School District or a man.  There is a shame factor.  There is a stigma behind it.  They are labeled queer, homosexual, faggot, etc.

In the example of the West Fargo School teacher who molested her male students, it’s a whole different story.  If a boy is molested by a woman, they are high-fived.  If they tell about it, they are to take it as their first sexual experience.

What teenage boys didn’t have a crush on their high school teachers?

I’m proud of those young boys who came forward in the Richland School District in the sexual hazing  from the older boys.  It took courage.  I’m even proud of those boys who came forward against the West Fargo school teacher and the abuse they had suffered as well.

Hazing and sexual abuse is not an easy subject to talk about.  It’s even tougher for boys.

I was waiting for the right time to write this blog; and now the time had come.  Sen. John McCain had just died of cancer.  It’s now time for the truth to comes out about him.  The media didn’t want to offend him upon his death.  I’m not about to sugarcoat the truth for no one.

Some may say, “why don’t you just let it rest?  He is dead.”

To them, I say, “He doesn’t deserve any respect.”

As Paul Harvey would say, “Now, the rest of the story!”

This past week upon reading the letters to the editor, I saw that I’m not alone in thinking that John McCain was no war hero.

According to one of the letters, the American people should reconsider their praise of him.  In another letter, the writer said that he was no maverick.

They called him a hero just because his plane was shot down over Vietnam and he was a POW.  Do you call that being a war hero?

That is nothing to be proud of!

What was so great about the Vietnam War?  Nothing good came out of it!

I lost my cousin, Joey because of that war.  I was 3 years old when he was killed.  I never had the opportunity to get to know him.  Even his nieces and nephews didn’t get a chance to know him.  From what I heard about my cousin, Joey, he adored his family.

The only thing John McCain adored was the power and money behind being a Senator.

My cousin, Joey was more of a war hero than he was.  Even my Uncle John Heger was more of a war hero than McCain.

My Uncle John was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attack.  He was just lucky that he wasn’t on the ship that was bombed.

McCain was a war monger.  He proposed going to war with countries we didn’t need to.  Some people were afraid that Trump would get us into a war.  So far, he kept out of a war because the other countries are afraid to attack.  If McCain had his way,  he would had gotten us into wars.

He supported the Nazi in Ukraine, Al-Quaeda in Libya, Isis in Syria and Saddam Hussein in the war against Iran.

When the governor and sheriff from his home state of Arizona was working to stop illegal immigrants from coming into this country through his home state, he called them out on it.  He didn’t back them up.  He joined the side of Obama and the Democrats and criticized them for it.  He was against the wall being built just like George W. Bush and Jeb Bush.

Who needs 9 mansions anyway?  With his 9 mansion, he could housed some of the homeless population.

It was John McCain who made the first attack on Donald Trump.  Trump was only defending himself; which I don’t blame.

The only reason John McCain attack Trump was because he was jealous that Trump was able to do what he couldn’t, and that was become President.  Thank God!!

The only reason he got the nomination was because Rudy Guillani just fizzled out during the primary of 2008.  McCain was about to drop out.

As Guillani was fizzling out, Obama was just getting warm up.  He was beating Hillary Clinton.  I first wanted Guillani because of what he did as Mayor of New York City after 9/11.  When he gave up, Obama promised changed that won this Republican over.

The change came but it wasn’t the change Obama was talking about.  The Tea Party started under George W. Bush and really hit their stride under Obama.

McCain was so angry with the Tea Party.  He even ordered an investigation from the IRS.  The IRS should investigate his estate!

It was the Tea Party movement that started the American people to start a revolt and throw their support to Donald Trump.  McCain didn’t much care for that.

The only reason McCain chose Sara Palin as his running mate was in hoping of winning the women supports from Obama.  When the fake news media attacked Palin, McCain did nothing to protect her.  He left her out to defend herself.  He was not man enough to stand up for her.

I’m not saying that Sara Palin was the right choice.  I’m just saying that she didn’t deserve to be treated the way she was from McCain and the press.

The politicians of New York are not so fastidious as some gentlemen are, as to disclosing the principles on which they act.  They boldly preach what they practice…If they are successful, they claim, as a matter of right, the advantages of success.  They see nothing wrong in the rule that to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy.

John McCain had no principles.  He had no integrity.  He was just in office for himself.  The rest of the American people gets screwed over.  If he had principles, he would had done the right thing and step down when he found out that he was dying of cancer.  He could had used that time to spend with his family in his 9 mansions.

As bad as Harry Reid was, at least he did the right thing when Trump became President, he stepped down.  Even Paul Ryan is stepping down from the Speaker of the House.  McCain should had step down when he knew that he was dying of cancer.

It reminds me of North Dakota own Senator Quentin Burdick.  Toward the end of Burdick’s life, he just became a figurative person to be wheeled around to special meetings.  He was useless.

Because of people like McCain, we needs term limits for our Senators and Congressman.

Here is a little joke:  McCain met St. Peter at the Pearly gate and said, “do you know who I am?  I’m a war hero.”

St. Peter responded, “I know you not.  What have you done for the people is all that matters.”  Then St. Peter send him downward.

Now with John McCain finally gone, there is still others that we need to get rid of.  It’s time for Mitch McConnell to go and he can takes his buddy John Hoeven with him.  We also needs to get rid of Lindsay Graham, Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi.

This election, the people in Minnesota needs to do the right thing and get rid of Colin Peterson.

We need to help Pres. Trump to clean up the swamp in Washington, by getting rid of these lifers, and then get term limits.

As you can see I have no respect for John McCain and I know that I’m not alone.  He was no war hero.  He didn’t deserve the praise that he was getting.  The American people needs to reconsider who is a hero and who deserves our praises.  It sure wasn’t John McCain!

I have more respect for Aretha Franklin who died just a little before McCain.  Aretha Franklin will be remembered, McCain will not!

In honor of the last big holiday weekend of summer, we celebrate Labor Day weekend.  Labor day marks the end of summer, like Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer.

In North Dakota, school begins at the end of August.  Whereas in Minnesota, school starts after Labor day.

My question is: why can’t North Dakota starts school after Labor day instead of before?

Family still goes on vacation up until after Labor day.  It’s harder to go when the kids have to start school before Labor day.

I know that there isn’t much to see in North Dakota compares to Minnesota.  That is no excuse not to start school after Labor day though.  The state is right next door to Minnesota.  Many who lives in North Dakota have lake cabins in Minnesota.  Some who don’t, still goes to the lakes to fish or just to get out of town.

I think that school should start after Labor Day and ends before Memorial day.  To make that happens, they can cut into the time off that the teachers/students get during the school year.  I think they get more time-off than I did when I was in school.

When I was in school, if we had too many storm days, we would either make it up during our Christmas break, Easter break or the end of the school year.

Who doesn’t love storm days?

I have to admit I believe the education system is better in Minnesota than it is in North Dakota.  I don’t know if it’s because they start school after Labor day or what.

I don’t understand, because these two states are right next to each others.  So what gives?

I will give an example:   my family was living in West Fargo up until I was in the 5th grade and we moved out on the farm south of Hawley, MN when I started the 6th grade.  What was the highest reading level in North Dakota was the lowest level in Minnesota.  To me it was like starting over.  I was stunned and not very happy.

I also noticed, shortly after school is let out for the summer, about July.  The retail stores starts promoting back-to-school sales.  Now that is so stupid.  Let’s the kids enjoy the summer.  Why should they have to worry about back-to-school supplies in July?

When we were kids, my mother would wait until August to buy our school supplies.  Even as teenagers, we had part-time summer jobs to help with some of our school supplies and clothes.

Kids are constantly growing.  Clothes that you buy in July may not fit your kids by the time school starts.

School is nine months of the years.  Summer is only 3 months.  So summer is very short, and kids need to enjoy the summer weather.  So by having school starts after Labor day and ending before Memorial day, the kids can have a good summer vacation.

While in school, kids are coop up.  Then the teachers wonder why they are so hyper.  Think about it!  There is no place for the energy to go.

Some of the kids who are labeled with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)  may not have it at all.  They just have so much energy from being coop up for 9 months of the year.

Kids need a chance to be kids.  Once you’re an adult, everything goes downhill from there.  Once you are an adult, you have responsibility that must be attend to.  Then we start missing those good old days of our youth.

Believe me, I missed some of my childhood days; and I don’t think I’m alone there.

I think that North Dakota state legislators should look at starting school after Labor day instead before.  I also think that all states should make sure to end  school before Memorial day.  It will be good for our kids.  It will allows them to be kids for as long as they can.  It might even curb their hyperactivity.  Kids shouldn’t have to be drugged because of the so-called ADD.