Dwain Northey (Gen X)

What You Focus On Is What Becomes Powerful – Why Your Thoughts and Feelings Matter

There is an interesting theory and real-world correlation on achievement through thought. There have been numerous books written on the subject and many of them have become bestsellers. ‘How to Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill is an oldie but a goodie and one many of us have probably read, there are thousands of titles out there and I would recommend reading every one of them if you have the inclination.

The basic premise of most of these titles is that if you focus on something that energy will have you always on the lookout for it. I read if you are thinking about a yellow car, you will unintentionally see more yellow cars because you are looking for them. The same holds true for your attitude, if you are always angry or upset that all you will see in the world and that negative outlook will only drive you deeper into the ditch.

Think about a time that you were broke… that constant feeling and thinking about how little you had perpetuated the brokenness you were experiencing instead of looking for a solution your mind focuses on the lack of what ever you were missing. It the same concept of focusing on your pain… if instead you concentrate on you breathing the pain diminishes.

I know this all sounds like Dali Lama, hocus pocus BS but it actually works. I am not trying to fill your head with the fantasy that if you concentrate on winning the lottery you will win it, that would be some next level magic shit. But, if you focus on something you want or need and keep it in the forefront of your mind, our miraculous brain will look for ways to satisfy that goal. Crazy right!?

So here is an experiment for you to try… just decide that you are going to have a great day. When someone asks how you are, smile and say great. Say it and believe it. I can almost guarantee that you will have a great day!!

Thank you for indulging me… and HAVE A GREAT DAY😊

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

The origins of Juneteenth date back to June 19, 1865, when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, a U.S. Army officer and Union General during the Civil War, issued an order in Galveston, Texas, announcing that all slaves were free under the Emancipation Proclamation. The Civil War ended in Spring, 1865. Robert E. Lee surrendered the last major Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865.

I completely understand the information delivery system in the 1860’s was antiquated as compared to modern day, but they did have the telegraph before the civil war so why did it take 40 days after Lee’s surrender for all slaves to be told that they were free.

In retrospect Washington ended hostilities ending the war for independence on April 18, 1783, and the proclamation of the end of the war was widely recognized by April 23, 1783. So, the news that the war for our independence ended, nearly 100 years prior to the end of the Civil War and with the telegraph system, was disseminated in 4 days but the totality of slaves did not know they were free for 40 days. That would seem comical if we didn’t understand the historical president that this fact obviously fits into.

In June of 2021, Congress passed a resolution Congressman Cohen co-sponsored to establish the federal holiday. President Biden signed it into law on June 17, 2021, and Juneteenth was first celebrated as a federal holiday the next day. It took the remaining slaves 40 days to know they were free and 156 years for the country to recognize this as a historical event. I loved history in school and have read about every period in American history and this small sliver of information wasn’t something I randomly came across I literally had to go looking for it. I knew about Juneteenth in the early 2000s only because I had done the research and even though President Biden has made it a Federal Holiday most still have no idea what the date stands for.

It is sad that we still celebrate a murderous Italian that sailed under a Spanish Flag that never stepped foot on North American soil. Columbus for those of you who don’t know who I am referring to. But then again, he was a white European so there’s that.  

How many other events do we ignore of our own stained history? We do celebrate MLK day, but we discount so much more. In the early 20^th century because segregation laws that prevented Black residents from shopping in white neighborhoods, and the desire to keep money circulating in their own community, Tulsa, OK, Greenwood residents collectively funneled their cash into local Black businesses. This was affectionately called Black Wall Street. As if on que for the white populous on May 31 and June 1, 1921, mobs of white residents attacked Black residents, homes, and businesses, as well as cultural and public institutions in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, OK,. An estimated 300 people were killed and approximately 35 acres of commercial and residential property within the Greenwood District. Have any schools taught about this ugly event in our nation’s history. Well of course not because it might make Jaden uncomfortable just like amending Rosa Parks story to not include, she was disobedient to a white segregation law that said she had to sit in the back of the bus.

Guess what folks this isn’t Critical Race Theory, the right-wing cry about CRT, this is just fucking history.  Lincoln said it best: “History is not history unless it is the truth.” The facts of our past may not be the rosy picture you want to see but the lessons to be learned from our past mistakes are what history has to offer.

Today we cannot whitewash the past just because it doesn’t subscribe to a favorable, we can do no wrong, image some want to believe we have always had.  As a nation we have done some really great things, but we have also done just as many, if not more, really terrible things. The goal of history is to recognize the facts, learn from them and try with all our might not to repeat the bad shit.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

• “Every father should remember one day his son will follow his example, not his advice.” — Charles Kettering

This is the most appropriate Father’s Day quote I could find. I feel that I have always tried to follow my father’s example not that his advice was not worthy, but the example helped set the path. I hope that I have set an example for my son, I know in my heart that he will be a better man than I am.

Short and sweet day…. Happy Father’s Day

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

We have so many angry people running around shouting and telling one and all that you cannot be __________ and vote democrat. That is an opinion and the person doing the shouting is the one holding it. What makes him right or wrong or smart or stupid? 

So, look at it as his opinion and he has a right to it, shouting about his opinion and telling others what he thinks is stupid. We each hold opinions on so many things and if we truly hope to get others to accept and support that opinion, we should try by not pissing off half the people within earshot of where we are shouting. 

Expressing oneself is a right but inciting a riot is a crime. In the present state of so many states it would also be a very good way to get yourself killed. This is the ultimate way to shut up someone who has definitely lost the necessary mental ability to know when to be quiet.

All of these well informed, we know what is best for everyone types, seem to possess the same attitude these days. That attitude is to be as loud as possible and repeat our message as often as possible even when it has nothing to do with what was going on. Social media has the same hang up in as much as you can get plenty of talk on any subject from any angle and most of it is supportive of only one side of any issue.

This is also the way that our elected officials seem to be handling the business of the nation. They sit in the palaces of Congress and talk incessantly about how good we are and how bad you are depending on which side of the aisle you sit. How the hell did any congressional group ever get anything done? The Continental Congress had to come together to wage the war of independence, the Civil War did not get concluded without cooperative effort, WWI the great depression and WWII. The more recent activity must have been a monumental challenge as all we have is talking heads. Decisions do not seem to be part of the outcome of our current batch of elected officials. 

There are some members that we hear next to nothing about, so hopefully they are taking care of business not spending their time at a casino or strip club. The ones that are always in the news are either trying to make a name for themselves or pushing some punitive measure that is designed to hurt the majority of the country’s citizens and help just a handful of rich ones.

Money seems to be the only thing that is needed to get elected by either party. There seems to be no background checks. We hear so much about profiling when it comes to police interactions with certain segments of the population, but no one is profiling people running for congress. It would be helpful to know certain things like how many times have they been picked up for DUI, or are they a former porn star, or do they have a history of violence? These attributes as well as others might tell us what kind of legislative person they are going to be. 

What on the list bothers you? Not being able to control drinking, the violence or being a porn star? Other things that should be considered are things like can this person make decisions without running to a parent, or church leader, or based on a situation not hyperbole.

At one time all actors and people connected to movies were considered to be Communists. Then a few years later we elect an actor to be President. No one would have considered Al Capone for President, but we elected a man that talks and acts like a mafia boss. What happened to our value system? Did the nation go and lose focus on what we are, and where we were headed? Has the change come about gradually as members of Congress have gone from the stance that legislation was to be considered and tempered to reflect the best for the largest segment of society to the stated attitude that “My one task is to stop whatever the President put on the table”. 

This is not legislation; this is belligerent malfeasance and it needs to stop. The person that so blatantly is going to be the roadblock needs to go home and not come back. The people that follow those kind of directions need not be in congress as they are representing anyone, unless it is a core of rich contributors that are making this very buyable but not reputable individual rich.

Too many influences have been added to the mix over recent years, such as corporations are people too, and these super PACs that put millions into the companies to get individuals elected.

It seems that if you do not have money and you cannot be bought you have no place in politics.  We might be better off with the porn star, after all the main reason to have sex is pleasure and if you can keep the endorphins going that pleasure can last quite a while and if they are able to get pleasure from service to the public good then go with it.

Once an older man described to me when he thought of the U.S. as great. That was during the Second World War and he watched for 7 days in a row as American troops marched through his village going south toward the coast of England. They stopped at night, were taken in by the locals, and the next morning they joined up and continued. Then a few days later they watched as trucks and tanks moved on that same road around the clock for 7 more days and he said everyone knew that the Germans were in for it then. Let us hope that we do not have to fight World War Three to be considered great again.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

The government has all sorts of regulations and since we are the government we elect or hire people to enforce those regulations and take care of our best interests. Sounds laughable considering the Congress is made up of more idiots than it takes to fill a loony bin and they are only, or some are only interested in making sure the lord high almighty doesn’t get his shoes dirty walking through the shit that has been put in place to represent. 

These people do not have a clue, they are setting up special committees to see if they can find a reason to distract criminal charges against their leader and place blame on someone else. With the current track record of screw ups that would have to be a pregnant woman of color that was raped and does not wish to have the child. About par for the sorry excuses they are.

At this point in time, it is too late to teach the former President about the proper handling of classified information. He should have paid attention when he was briefed instead of figuring out how he could rip off the country to enrich his own bank account. This is not kid stuff, if you think otherwise look up the Walker case. Father and Son went to prison for selling secrets. Mata Hari died for betraying secrets and a host of others have been put to death in most countries around the world for telling things that leaders and high-ranking military did not want told.

Get out a copy of the espionage act and the presidential papers order and after reading them listen to what you are being told and figure out who is telling it like it is. Many of you have family history that goes back at least to WWII and some may have lost family at Pearl Harbor. That happened because the Japanese were able to keep a secret long enough to pull off that raid. After that we went to work figuring out their codes and if it was done by letting them believe that a desalination plant on Mid-Way was not working. It is history. Look it up.

June 6th was successful because we were able to fool Hitler long enough that he kept his forces near Cali France and did not deploy them early enough to interfere with our invasion forces. Again, it is history, look it up.

Every major conflict that has ever taken place had secret plans that were intended to make victory that much more assured. When those plans were exposed events did not work out the way that was intended by one force or the other. When that happens it usually means that many lives are lost, but what are a few thousand lives. You don’t need a vaccination; it is all a hoax and this is going to be over in just a few days. What it did was cut down on the excess population similar to Scrooge. Just does not matter they probably voted the wrong way anyhow.   

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

It seems, according to research, that everything we eat has an effect on us. If you have arthritis, you are to avoid certain foods, if you have diabetes, you should avoid sugar, and the list goes on. Granted we are what we eat, said a wise old man, and everything we eat seems to matter in one regard or another. 

We know that certain things can kill you, or make you have bad dreams, or produce a woody that would make a porn star proud, and other things kind send you around the bend. So, what if your diet is very limited, does that have an effect on your physical and mental health? 

If you have seen the movie Big Friendly Giant, you know that certain foods for certain people can be very bad. There is a formula that makes farts rise instead of sink, don’t mention the stink. So, having mentioned all this, what does a diet of McDonalds do for you? According to one study it destroys most of the good bacteria in your guts and if your internal workings are not right how is your thinking? Are you smarter than everyone else, or do you just believe you are? Are you more paranoid and always feel that you are the victim of other abusive people? Do you believe that you are the ruler of the world, or at least you should be if you are not. 

Some foods are very bland, and others are not. There is a type of canned fish in Norway or Sweden that even the people that will eat it won’t open the can in the house because it smells so bad. Kimchi is a staple food for many Koreans and it must be good for them as one person told me that if she did not eat it daily she felt ill. It certainly keeps the blood vessels open as I never met a Korean with cold hands, even on cold winter days.

There are foods or drinks that are cures for all sorts of things. Worked with a couple of guys that were from Oklahoma and they swore that buttermilk was the cure for everything. If you had a cold, drinking buttermilk would make you better faster. If you were all nervous, drink buttermilk and it would calm you down. If you weren’t feeling up to sex, drink buttermilk and you would be ready. I told them that sounded like my brother’s cure for everything but just was beer.

 Is there a point to all this? Yes, when we hear that someone goes into a place that is known for fantastic food and still prefers to go get McDonalds you really have to wonder if they are wrapped too tight or not tightly enough.