Sunday, March 7, 2021
It is important to define yourself, it allows you to stay true to yourself and it becomes easier to live a life of fulfillment. Also if you have clearly defined yourself it is easier to find your way back when you lose sight of what is important in life. If you have never taken the time to define yourself you may be living a life to fulfill societal or family expectations and not your own expectations. You must know who you are before you can set out on life's journey to live it properly. Also regardless of your age, it is never too late to start the process.
I am guilty of allowing things beyond my control to define who I had become. Back in 2009, I was told that I had cancer, I spent a year undergoing 4 surgeries and eventually became cancer-free. Just for the record, I am absolutely fine today. For about a 2-3 year period of my life that's all I could think about or talk about even after cancer had cleared from my body. One morning I woke up and realized that I had spent all this time becoming the person with cancer. I was allowing cancer to define who I was and from that day forward I never mentioned cancer again. When friends or family would ask about it I would simply respond that I am cancer-free and feeling fine. Next subject, please.
The upsides of no longer being defined by cancer was that I started thinking about what defines people. What defines me? I realized I didn't care how people defined me but it was important that I define myself. This put me on a path of doing a bit of soul searching. I really couldn't answer the question of what defines me and that in itself was as frightening as having cancer. I had to start a process of self-evaluation and while I believed that I had some really good things going on such as being empathetic and compassionate I didn't always like what I found. I was on occasion short-tempered, I lacked patience and I could be confrontational. Probably one of the most disheartening things I realized about myself was that I could be reactionary to information without giving the subject any critical thought whatsoever. The process of finding out who I was took several weeks and was worth every minute.
Defining yourself is basically the idea of knowing who you are, what you stand for, what your identity is, and what rules you have set for yourself. Knowing how to narrow down the essence of you is integral to shaping who you are and who you are becoming every day of your life.
If we don't know who we truly are, how can we stay strong through the growth and change that we all experience? Knowing who we are will allow us to weather the trauma and drama that we absolutely know is coming our way at many different points in our lives.
Knowing who we are and truly defining ourselves gives us a much better chance to lead fulfilling lives. It allows us to stay true to who we really are and washes away all the outside expectations. Of course, we all evolve over time and things change but it is likely that our core definition of ourselves will stay mostly the same throughout our lives.
What defines you?
Sunday, March 7, 2021 0
Thursday, June 25, 2020
As a general statement, we do live together and we live together very well. The vast majority of people on this planet interact with their families, friends, acquaintances, fellow workers, and even our neighbors well. The majority of people on Avalon (most of the time) interact with each other very well. We have been led down the garden path to believe the majority of people on this planet are evil, racist, self-centered, corrupt, and mean spirited. This is a lie that you must guard against and not believe. If you accept this false premise then you have lost. A broken person is one that is malleable and easy to manipulate.
There are a lot of reasons why people think the world is evil but I assure it is not. In today's world, the main offenders pushing hate and division are mainstream media, social media, and the internet. I can assure you this will pass. The 24/7 news cycle is unavoidable even if you haven't owned a TV for decades. All media wants to keep people in a hypercritical state regardless of the issue, environment, race, politics, health, and economics. They are the masters of using labels to divide us against each other. Once people start identifying with their "assigned" labels (race, age, gender, sexual preference, economic status, etc) they lose the ability to work towards a better society. They begin to believe that fighting for and defending their tribe will move society forward. Nothing could be further from the truth. I can assure you this tribalism will pass. Media is already being exposed, the internet and social media are in an evolutionary state, it will change for the better.
Evil is real and it does exist. It has always been here and will always be, sometimes it can "appear" to be taking over but this is an illusion. Mankind's DNA will not allow it to take over. Humanity will survive with all its blemishes and imperfections. If you have allowed the seed of doubt (about the survival of humans) to grow then you have let your guard down.
Evil is intelligent, clever, and deceptive. It feeds on the susceptible in an attempt to turn the masses. Life is a gift, don't let evil determine the perception of your life or the world.
Thursday, June 25, 2020 0
Sunday, June 14, 2020
The liberal agenda has moved so far left that most Democrats are confused, bewildered and alarmed. They don't even recognize their own party. For some, the liberal agenda they grew up with is now considered right-wing in some circles. Why? Well, it doesn't go far enough. It has to be far-left, quasi-Marxist, or full bore Marxist. The woke that were mocked on college campuses have graduated in sufficient numbers. And now, their toxic agenda is spreading like a brush fire. It is unknown if this fire will just quickly burn the debris on the surface exposing the larger reality underneath or if it will take hold and blaze to the core of the precarious lower 48.
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| Gary Varvel - |
Even the black protesters are beginning to question the motives of their white allies. Some black leaders have started to publicly question what protesters are even doing there, one said "These people, I’m not even sure they know why they’re here.” While the white protesters are supporting racial equality there goal is much larger and much more ominous. Some liberal Democrats fail to see the bigger picture, Bill Maher said "defunding the police is friggin nuts". The Mayor of Minneapolis was booed out of the room when he said he would not defund the police. The list of astonished Democrats reads like a who's who of the left. They just don't get it that the fringe on the left has put much more than just their nose underneath the proverbial tent. It started long before AOC arrived on the scene but she was the first visible harbinger that things had radically changed. Even today many still don't truly understand the sea change that is taking place right before their eyes. It is possible that some are beginning to see it but they are like deer in the headlight, wondering if they should run or standstill.
The four years (or more) of training these protesters acquired at University taught them that no dissent is permitted. The idea of a young college mind having an opposing thought different from the mobs is stamped out at lightning speed. This is why the thought police have been unleashed around the edges of society. The activist modern-day media are in lock-step supporting the rebellious and riotous mob and giving credence to the thought police at every opportunity. Just one slip-up or differing opinion could get you fired, suspended, or canceled. These are the hordes of Mordor, an apt description by conservative commentator Erick Erickson. The hordes are lying in wait to pounce with a ferocity that we have not seen before. The cancel culture is being supported by the corporate community worldwide because they want to be seen to be doing something but they have no idea where all this is going.
Bernie Sanders was the great tell of this generation, young Socialist and Marxist were comfortable with him, after all, he reminded them of the radical grandfatherly figure that had taught them for four years. Somehow our higher learning institutions are no longer educating they are in full-on indoctrination mode with no sign of slowing. The good news is more and more are waking up to the seeds of this radicalization.
In one way or the other, the left-wing mob will find a way to get you. They don't want apologies; they want the destruction of those they view as enemies to their worldview. Just look around all of the weird acts of contrition being exhibited by white liberals that are rightfully described as activities that are more in line with cult behavior. I was going to put some examples here but many of them have been removed or made so hard to find that people like myself simply say it is not worth the effort. I'm sure you have seen the washing of feet and the communal praying to the race diety.
Among self-described liberals, we’re watching an intellectual revolution. This particular revolution is a political catastrophe that in reality appears more of a psychotic break than a revolt. It now appears that the American left has actually lost its mind. It’s become a cowardly mob of upper-class social media addicts, Twitter Snobs who move from discipline to discipline torching reputations and jobs with breathtaking casualness.
The leaders of this new movement are replacing traditional liberal beliefs about tolerance, free inquiry, and even racial harmony with ideas so toxic and unattractive that they shun debate, moving straight to shaming threats, and intimidation. They are counting on the guilt-ridden, self-flagellating nature of traditional American progressives, who will not stand up for themselves. They will walk straight to the razor's edge voluntarily and then ask for more.
They’ve conned organization after organization into empowering panels to search out thoughtcrime, and it’s established now that anything can be an offense, from a UCLA professor placed under investigation for reading Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” out loud to a data scientist fired* from a research firm for — get this — retweeting an academic study suggesting nonviolent protests may be more politically effective than violent ones!
Yes, change is good. Yes, change is needed and even once in a while a bit of insurrection can be healthy. The problem is this toxic mess we find ourselves in originates from a location that is occupied by hate, far beyond the limits of anger. Oddly enough colleges, prestigious universities, and the media are at risk as well. The motto of the mob is death to the institution, it makes no difference if the institution supports the left or the right.
Once the mob breathes enough life into the cause world leaders, countries with great resources and the United Nations global activist will pick up the charge. At that point, it will be a well funded clearly defined march towards the goal of transferring power to the global governance system. It is all about controlling the environment, population, and freedoms that determine the quality of our lives. Of course, this will be sold to us as something good for society. You will be told that if you don't get behind this or if you prevent it from happening it will result in the destruction of the human race.
Nothing could be further from the truth
Sunday, June 14, 2020 0
Thursday, June 11, 2020
These are just random thoughts regarding race. My internal dialogue. Some of these thoughts may certainly be controversial but that is OK with me because (like you) I am just trying to figure this out.
If you hear someone make a racist remark don't you want to keep them talking to show them how hurtful those remarks might be the black community. Silence is the best friend of racism.
Many prominent figures and ordinary citizens have been intimidated into silence, people are unsure of what truly is a racist remark. At the very least you might want to get clarification to understand what the offending party actually meant before shouting racist. Words that might seem racist on the first pass may not be racist at all.
My way of determining if words are racist is to turn those words around and apply the same meaning to my race. If I find it offensive than it is most likely racist.
Are the police really at the heart of the current protest and riots or is this an attempt deflect blame away from the real culprit?
What role does white guilt play in all of this? If you feel guilty about your race doesn't it imply that you feel your race is superior.
What role does white privilege play in this, if you feel that you were born with white privilege doesn't that imply that you feel that your race is superior?
Isn't it racist for white politicians to say we can save you from racism? The implication is that black people are incapable of saving themselves.
Is it possible to be friends with a racist or someone you believe to be a racist?
What is institutional or systemic racism? Nice words but what do they really mean? Words like this make it seem like all police or all white people are guilty of racism. Could that even possibly be true.?
What responsibility does the black community have, if any to solve the race relations problems? At first, this might be construed as a racist thought but when you think about it I honestly believe this might be one of the most important questions on the table.
I believe the media wants to keep the people in a constant hypercritical state on race, politics, environment, and health. They also want people divided and this is evident by their perpetual use of labels.
How much culpability does the media have, if any regarding race?
As much as I want to stay away from politics on this issue it is like ignoring the elephant in the room.
The Civil Rights Bill was passed in the USA in 1964 and it was necessary and good things followed.
- Ended segregation of public places, including schools, housing, etc
- Banned employment discrimination
- It paved the way for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968
We have been languishing in a stalemate on race for the last 30 years. I don't believe the USA has moved forward or backward.
The Civil Rights Bill married the black voter to the Democrat party. Since 1965 the Democrats have never received less than 85% of the black vote.
Isn't one of the definitions of insanity doing the same thing over and over and each time expecting a different outcome?
Why does the black community vote overwhelmingly for democrats who are vehemently opposed to school choice. Why won't the democrats allow minority children access to the best schools?
Why does the black community vote overwhelmingly for democrats who strongly advocating for open borders. Don't these immigrants take jobs away from blacks and keep wages low.
Does the Democrat party really believe they "own" the black vote and have they gotten so complacent that they make no effort to earn that vote?
Won't defunding the police hurt minorities in the inner city the most? It seems beyond crazy but I need to try to understand what it all means.
How much, if any of the rioting is all about people trying to get rid of Trump.
Many people have adopted a policy of "worse is better," why?
What does the silent majority think and when will they speak. When they do what will they say?
Are politics and white guilt enabling the black community?
Does ANTIFA care about race or are they just using the black community to further their own agenda? I believe they could care less about race.
Does the Black Lives Matter Organization really care about race or do they have a political agenda? I struggle with this because they clearly do care about race and they are very politically driven. Then the question becomes do they only care about Black lives when they die at the hands of police or do they care about all black lives?
Am I willing to give BLM organization a pass because I am white?
Everyone seems so intolerant of opposing views do we even stand a chance at any type of dialogue. Silence keeps everything in a static position.
What is the end game? A better society, socialism or to overthrow the government and remake in someone else's vision. If so whose vision and why?
What can I do in my daily life to help eliminate racism?
Thursday, June 11, 2020 0
Saturday, May 30, 2020
The murder of George Floyd has many in the black community questioning their allegiance to the Democratic party.
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| Minneapolis in 2020 looks identical to the race riots in 1967 |
Minneapolis, while a prosperous city that celebrates liberal policies and politicians - has struggled for years with socioeconomic inequality and segregation. It's a phenomenon that's been dubbed the "Minnesota paradox".
The Twin Cities, as Minneapolis and St Paul are known, are still overwhelmingly white - about one-quarter of the population is non-white - and its neighborhoods are still highly segregated. Most people of color live on the cities' north sides.
Even before the pandemic caused massive layoffs, 10% of black residents were unemployed compared to 4% of whites. That disparity ranks as one of the nation's worst.
According to a 2018 study, the rate of black homeownership in the Twin Cities is among the lowest in the nation.
In 2016, the average white household in the Twin Cities made about $76,000 a year, while the average black household earned just $32,000. Thirty-two percent of black Twin Citians fell below the poverty line, while only 6.5% of whites did.
When Lyndon Johnson (Democrat) signed the civil rights bill into law in 1965 it padlocked the black vote for the Democrat Party for decades to come. Yet here we sit in quiet disbelief watching the exact same circumstance play out as the race riots of 1967. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.
Since 1965 no Republican presidential candidate has received more than 15 percent of the black vote, yet very little has changed.
The Democrat party has been hyping racism for a long time but where do we actually find systemic racism? One major area is school choice. Black families have been deprived of school choice because the Democrats refuse to allow it. Republicans have been pushing for it for years but Democrats have used every trick in the book to deny school choice which keeps inner-city black children stuck in underperforming resource hunger schools.
The Democrat Party almost always points to the prisons, telling us that a disproportionate number of blacks are locked up which is systemic racism. The violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 commonly known as the Crime Bill was written and sponsored by Joe Biden. Once again systemic racism created by the party that tells you to vote for them so they can fix this horrible problem. The irony is so massive that it just goes right by most people.
Yes, the party screams that they can fix systemic racism when in fact they are the ones that caused it in the first place. This is a common ploy by all politicians. Create a massive problem and then tell us to vote for them because they can fix it. The Democrat party notorious for this behavior.
Black people have been voting for the same Democrat party for more than 55 years. Nothing seems to have changed especially the promises that have not been delivered. Better jobs, better schools, better housing the mantra of the Democrat politicians has been consistent and steady but hollow. Over the years Democrats have come to believe they own the black vote. Anyone who doubts that need to look no further than Joe Biden's latest comment, "you ain't black" if you going to vote for someone other than a Democrat. While Biden did go on to immediately apologize the meaning is not lost on the black community or the country at large. There is no other way to put this, the arrogance is staggering.
The black community is quickly being replaced by a new larger minority group being created by the Democrat party, the Latinos. This group is not so eager to embrace the promises that have left the black community feeling betrayed. They have the luxury of seeing how this has played out over time.
Business, as usual, is a recipe for insanity.
Saturday, May 30, 2020 0
Sunday, May 3, 2020
Hunter Biden’s Perfectly Legal, Socially Acceptable Corruption
How did this get to be standard practice?
The whistle-blower scandal that has prompted the fourth presidential impeachment process in American history has put a spectacle from earlier this decade back on display: the jaw-smacking feast of scavengers who circled around Ukraine as Viktor Yanukovych, a Moscow-linked kleptocrat, was driven from power. Ukraine’s crisis was the latest to energize a club whose culture has come to be treated as normal—a culture in which top-tier lawyers, former U.S. public officials, and policy experts (and their progeny) cash in by trading on their connections and their access to insider policy information—usually by providing services to kleptocrats like Yanukovych. The renewed focus on Ukraine raises jangling questions: How did dealing in influence to burnish the fortunes of repugnant world leaders for large payoffs become a business model? How could America’s leading lights convince themselves—and us—that this reprehensible corruption is acceptable?
Who was feasting at the corruption table?
Hunter Biden, the former vice president’s 49-year-old son, served on the board of Burisma Holdings, a major Ukrainian natural gas producer, from 2014 until April 2019. His decision to join the company’s payroll caused some political discomfort at the time since Burisma’s owner had recently been embroiled in a money-laundering scandal and Biden’s father, the vice president, was heading the Obama administration’s efforts to discourage and crackdown on corruption in Ukraine. Hunter Bide all but admitted that he was profiting on his family name and selling access to the highest most influential level of the American Government.
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James and Sarah Biden |
Biden brother James won a massive contract in war-torn Iraq. James Biden was joined HillStone three weeks prior to winning a massive government contract. James had little or no background in housing construction. His bio stated that he was politically and financially connected. James joined Hillstone just as the firm was starting negotiations to win a massive contract in war-torn Iraq. Six months later, the firm announced a contract to build 100,000 homes. It was part of a $35 billion, 500,000-unit project deal won by TRAC Development, a South Korean company. HillStone also received a $22 million US federal government contract to manage a construction project for the State Department.His firm announced a contract to build 100,000 homes. It was part of a $35 billion, 500,000-unit project deal won by TRAC Development, a South Korean company. HillStone also received a $22 million US federal government contract to manage a construction project for the State Department.
David Richter, son of the parent company’s founder, was not shy in explaining HillStone’s success in securing government contracts. It really helps, he told investors at a private meeting, to have “the brother of the vice president as a partner,” according to someone who was there.
The Iraq project was massive, perhaps the single most lucrative project for the firm ever. In 2012, Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business reported that HillStone officials expected the project to “generate $1.5 billion in revenues over the next three years.” That amounted to more than three times the revenue the company produced in 2011.
A group of minority partners, including James Biden, stood to split about $735 million. “There’s plenty of money for everyone if this project goes through,” said one company official.
The deal was all set, but HillStone made a crucial error. In 2013, the firm was forced to back out of the contract because of a series of problems, including a lack of experience by Hill and TRAC Development, its South Korean associate firm. But HillStone continued doing significant contract work in the embattled country, including a six-year contract with the US Army Corps of Engineers.
James Biden remained with Hill International, which accumulated contracts from the federal government for dozens of projects, including projects in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mozambique and elsewhere.
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Hunter Biden |
With the election of his father as vice president, Hunter Biden launched businesses fused to his father’s power that led him to lucrative deals with a rogue’s gallery of governments and oligarchs around the world. Sometimes he would hitch a prominent ride with his father aboard Air Force Two to visit a country where he was courting business. Other times, the deals would be done more discreetly. Always they involved foreign entities that appeared to be seeking something from his father.
There was, for example, Hunter’s involvement with an entity called Burnham Financial Group, where his business partner Devon Archer — who’d been at Yale with Hunter — sat on the board of directors. Burnham became the vehicle for a number of murky deals abroad, involving connected oligarchs in Kazakhstan and state-owned businesses in China.
But one of the most troubling Burnham ventures was here in the United States, in which Burnham became the center of a federal investigation involving a $60 million fraud scheme against one of the poorest Indian tribes in America, the Oglala Sioux.
Devon Archer was arrested in New York in May 2016 and charged with “orchestrating a scheme to defraud investors and a Native American tribal entity of tens of millions of dollars.” Other victims of the fraud included several public and union pension plans. Although Hunter Biden was not charged in the case, his fingerprints were all over Burnham. The “legitimacy” that his name and political status as the vice president’s son lent to the plan was brought up repeatedly in the trial.
The scheme was explicitly designed to target pension funds that had “socially responsible investing” clauses, including pension funds of labor union organizations that had publicly supported Joe Biden’s political campaigns in the past. Indeed, eight of the 11 pension funds that lost their money were either government employee or labor union pension funds. Joe Biden has “a long-standing alliance with labor.” He closely identifies with organized labor. “I make no apologies,” he has said. “I am a union man, period.” And many public unions have endorsed him over the years.
Transcripts from Archer’s trial offer a clearer picture of Hunter Biden’s role at Burnham Asset Management, in particular, the fact that the firm relied on his father’s name and political status as a means of both recruiting pension money into the scheme and alleviating investors’ concerns.
Tim Anderson, a lawyer who did legal work on the issuance of the tribal bonds, recounts seeing Hunter while visiting the Burnham office in New York City to meet with Bevan Cooney, who was later convicted in the case.
The political ties that Biden and Archer had were considered key to the Burnham brand. As stated in an August 2014 email, Jason Galanis, who was convicted in the bond scheme, agreed with an unidentified associate who also thought the company had “value beyond capital” because of their political connections.
In the closing arguments at the trial, one of Archer’s defense attorneys, Matthew Schwartz, explained to the jury that it was impossible to talk about the bond scheme without mentioning Hunter Biden’s name. This “was perfectly sensible,” according to Schwartz, “because Hunter Biden was part of the Burnham team.”
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Howard Krein |
It would be a dream for any new company to announce its launch in the Oval Office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
StartUp Health is an investment consultancy based out of New York City, and in June 2011, the company barely had a website. The firm was the brainchild of three siblings from Philadelphia. Steven Krein is CEO and co-founder, while his brother, Dr. Howard Krein, serves as chief medical officer. Sister Bari serves as the firm’s chief strategy officer. A friend named Unity Stoakes is a co-founder and serves as president.
StartUp Health was barely up and running when, in June 2011, two of the company’s executives were ushered into the Oval Office of the White House. They met with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
The following day, the new company would be featured at a large health care tech conference being run by the US Department of Health and Human Services, and StartUp Health executives became regular visitors to the White House, attending events in 2011, 2014 and 2015.
How did StartUp Health gain access to the highest levels of power in Washington? There was nothing particularly unique about the company, but for this:
The chief medical officer of StartUp Health, Howard Krein, is married to Joe Biden’s youngest daughter, Ashley.
“I happened to be talking to my father-in-law that day and I mentioned Steve and Unity were down there [in Washington, DC],” recalled Howard Krein. “He knew about StartUp Health and was a big fan of it. He asked for Steve’s number and said, ‘I have to get them up here to talk with Barack.’ The Secret Service came and got Steve and Unity and brought them to the Oval Office.”
StartUp Health offers to provide new companies technical and relationship advice in exchange for a stake in the business. Demonstrating and highlighting the fact that you can score a meeting with the president of the United States certainly helps prove a strategic company asset: high-level contacts.
Vice President Joe Biden continued to help Krein promote his company at several appearances through his last months in the White House, including one in January 2017, where he made a surprise showing at the StartUp Health Festival in San Francisco. The corporate event, open only to StartUp Health members, enabled the 250 people in attendance to chat in a closed session with the vice president.
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Frank Biden |
In late March 2009, Vice President Joe Biden landed in Costa Rica aboard Air Force Two, and went to the Costa Rican presidential palace for a one-on-one with President Oscar Arias. The Biden visit had symbolic significance. The last time a high-ranking American official had visited the country was back in 1997, when Bill Clinton had come.
Joe Biden’s trip to Costa Rica came at a fortuitous time for his brother Frank, who was busy working deals in the country. Just months after Vice President Biden’s visit, in August, Costa Rica News announced a new multilateral partnership “to reform Real Estate in Latin America” among Frank Biden, a developer named Craig Williamson, and the Guanacaste Country Club, a newly planned resort. The partnership, which appears to be ongoing, was wrapped in a beautiful package as a “call on resources available to the companies and individuals to reform the social, economic and environmental practices of real estate developers across the world by example.”
In real terms, Frank’s dream was to build in the jungles of Costa Rica thousands of homes, a world-class golf course, casinos, and an anti-aging center. The Costa Rican government was eager to cooperate with the vice president’s brother.
As it happened, Joe Biden had been asked by President Obama to act as the administration’s point man in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Frank’s vision for a country club in Costa Rica received support from the highest levels of the Costa Rican government — despite his lack of experience in building such developments. He met with the Costa Rican ministers of education and energy and environment, as well as the president of the country.
On Oct. 4, 2016, the Costa Rican Ministry of Public Education signed a letter of intent with Frank’s company, Sun Fund Americas. The project involved allowing a company called GoSolar to operate solar power facilities in Costa Rica. The previous year, the Obama-Biden administration’s OPIC had authorized a $6.5 million taxpayer-backed loan for the project.
In June 2014, Vice President Biden announced the launch of the Caribbean Energy Security Initiative (CESI). The program called for increasing access to financing for Caribbean energy projects that he strongly supported. American taxpayer dollars were dedicated to facilitating deals that matched US government financing with local energy projects in Caribbean countries, including Jamaica. In January 2015, USAID announced that it would be spending $10 million to boost renewable energy projects in Jamaica over the next five years.
After Joe Biden brought together leaders for CESI, brother Frank’s firm Sun Fund Americas announced that it was “engaged in projects and is in negotiations with governments of other countries in the [Caribbean] region for both its Solar and Waste to Energy development services.” As if to push the idea along, the Obama administration’s OPIC provided a $47.5 million loan to support the construction of a 20-megawatt solar facility in Clarendon, Jamaica.
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Valerie Biden Owens |
Frank Biden’s Sun Fund Americas later announced that it had signed a power purchase agreement to build a 20-megawatt solar facility in Jamaica.
During his years in the Senate, Biden’s family benefited financially in other ways as he leveraged political power. Joe’s sister Valerie ran all of his Senate campaigns, as well as his presidential runs in 1988 and 2008.
But she was also a senior partner in a political messaging firm named Joe Slade White & Company; the only two executives listed at the firm were Joe Slade White and Valerie.
The firm received large fees from the Biden campaigns that Valerie was running. Two and a half million dollars in consulting fees flowed to her firm from Citizens for Biden and Biden For President Inc. during the 2008 presidential bid alone.
Joe Slade White & Company worked for Biden campaigns over 18 years.
Sunday, May 3, 2020 0
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
A few years ago I started poking around the edges of putting together a bucket list. Once I started to assemble one something did not feel right. I did not bother to give it much thought and set it aside until it was forgotten and became a distant memory.
Recently I decided to revisit the entire bucket list issue. I started to search around the internet for a list that made sense. I looked up bucket lists in every conceivable way I could think of, no matter how generic or esoteric they all seemed to be the same. Travel to an exotic destination, take a cruise, learn a language, adopt a positive attitude etc. These are all great things to do but they are not even close to what I had in mind.
I instinctively knew a couple of things. A bucket list should not cause you to spend money. A bucket list should not be what society thinks is good for you nor should it be something that bolsters your ego. A bucket list does not need to be life-changing but it should at the very least be life-enhancing. A good bucket list should cause you to think about how you are moving through life. Last and certainly not least a good bucket list is not just about you, a really good bucket list will take into consideration all the lives you touch during your journey.
The list is long but it is meant to be a reference list that people can pick and choose from and refer back when they feel the need.
The list
Listen To Your Intuition And Act On It
Find Things And People In Your Life To Be Thankful For
Confront Your Fear(s)
Think Deeply About Someone You Miss and Cry
Understand, If You Don't Ask the Answer Will Always Be NO
Channel Anger Into Something Positive
Think Hard About Your Hot Buttons Issues, Neutralize Them
Show Kindness To Someone Once A Day
Define What Happiness Means To You
Let Go Of One Toxic Issue In Your Life
Let Go Of One Toxic Issue In Your Life
Learn That Running Away Only Relocates Your Problems
Listen More, Speak Less
Sometimes The Best Response Is No Response At All
Evaluate My Life As If I Were Going To Die Tomorrow
Listen More, Speak Less
Sometimes The Best Response Is No Response At All
Evaluate My Life As If I Were Going To Die Tomorrow
Make Sustainability a Mindful Part of Your Life
Remove One Toxic Person From Your Life
Understand That You Are Not Always Right
Go One Full Day Without Using The Word I
Donate Time Not Money To A Charity
Apply The Laws Of Attraction to Everyday Life
Find Room For Forgiveness In Your Heart And Soul
Become Fully Aware
Don't Use Labels To Describe People
Momentum Counts, Do The Easy Things First
Make A Real Effort To Laugh
Tell Somebody You Love Them Everyday
Praise Someone Everyday
Ponder The Size Scope and Meaning of the Universe
Understand Saying NO Is OK
Understand What People Argue About Is Not The Real Issue
It Is OK To Be A Victim But Not Forever
Tell No Lies, No Matter How Small
Stop Looking Back
Stop Watching The News
Understand That Wisdom Doesn't live on The Right or Left
Review The Mistakes In Your Life and Forgive Yourself
Understand That Happiness Is Not The End Goal Of Life
Help Others Even When It is A Burden
Look Inside Yourself For Truth, Stop Looking For Validation
Even When Life Seems Unfair, Always Take The High Road
Understand It's OK To Feel Down But Not Forever
Think About What It Means To Have A Soul
Make a Friend That Is 65+, Pick Their Brain About Life
Spend Some Time Thinking About The Afterlife
Think About The Best Things That Happened in Your Life
To Meditate It Is Not Necessary To Be Still or Quiet
Choose Your Words Carefully
Be Present For Everything You Do and Say
Tuesday, January 7, 2020 0
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