I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!

Befriending the life in others is sometimes a complex matter. There are times when we offer our strength and protection, but these are usually only temporary measures. The greatest blessing we offer others may be the belief we have in their struggle for freedom, the courage to support and accompany them as they determine for themselves the strength that will become their refuge and the foundation for their lives. I think it is especially important to believe in someone at a time when they cannot yet believe in themselves. Then your belief will become their lifeline.

I still have the Ron be Gone sticker on my car. I get thumbs up 👍 and honks. I also get one finger drive bye.

While waiting in my car the other day a woman went by, said she knew Ron personally and he was a good man. I nearly choked on my coffee.

They show you who they are from the get-go and that is exactly when we should believe them. Or put another way -- I've decided to care about you in the same way you show your care for me.

I remember when Mr. Khan pulled out his copy of the constitution during his DNC speech saying he would lend it to Donald Trump. Pretty sure Trump still isn’t familiar with the constitution. Was very pleased with all of the recipients.

What a shame that so many adults in the U.S. only have the proficiency of a sixth grade educational level.

I have to confess that last winter I started following the story of Josh Duggar. You may know him as the oldest son from TLC's "19 Kids and Counting" show. TLC paraded the Duggars out like they were simply a quirky large family from Arkansas. I always found them strange. Last year I came across several internet sites that criticize and call attention to the Duggars' dangerous religious beliefs which I learned stem from “The Institute of Basic Life Principles" which some people consider a cult. There's also something called a quiverful movement which the Duggars "claim" they're not part of, but it means having as many kids as possible because God.

Men are revered and practically anything that goes wrong is blamed on the women. Female modesty is of utmost importance. The wives are to always joyfully submit to their husbands sexual demands. No birth control. The older daughters end up raising the younger kids. The Duggars were poor before they hit it big with a TV show, but many IBLP/quiverful families have little money.

Most of these families homeschool their children. That means the kids get a six to eighth grade education. College is either a no-go or else a non-credited Christian college. Most often, the kids are married off young. Their "courtships" don't permit handholding or kissing until their wedding day. Then, very young wives start pumping out babies and with their limited education, turn around and homeschool their kids.

It's a vicious cycle. All these young minds going to waste.

There's a documentary in the works described as being about "the connections between some of reality television's most famous large families and The Institute in Basic Life Principles, a controversial fundamentalist organization and homeschooling empire….(and will) explore the broader zeitgeist of reality television, social media, faith, fundamentalism, patriarchy, and power." Scheduled for late 2022/2023.

Good to see you here Divine. I worry when you don't show up too often. I did hear some of your Duggar material a while back, or I should say over time. I am glad the Duggars religion is not so far out there that Kool-Aid has to be kept in supply, but I admit freely that I frown on those that have non-standard ideals and rules attached. Has always seemed to me that if you can live by the Ten Commandments ( with minor adjustments maybe needed ) then you will be a decent human being. Keeping women barefoot and pregnant so to speak is way too far out. Thinking here mainly that the simpler the religion is, likely the better. I think the Duggars actually have shown something of the worst side of having a big family. Law of averages being what they are and they did seem to kick in where the Duggars were concerned. We heard about Josh -- but I'm wondering if we really heard about everyone and since averages do play a part I will wonder about a whole family of individuals who will likely not get much of an education and may or may not have hang-ups or other issues that cause distress as they all try to find their way in life.

Since we are all adults here:

Josh Duggar had an Ashley Madison account? About as surprising as finding out water is wet. I used to drive 7 hrs. down to Sparta, IL (across the Mississippi from St. Genevieve, MO) when I was recording, and in order to avoid having to switch radio stations as signals faded I listened instead to SiriusXM--when it wasn't E Street Radio, "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" on NPR National, or Little Steven's Underground Garage, it was MSNBC. Now, the ads I'd hear on satellite radio MSNBC are not the ones you see when you watch it on cable or satellite TV. Besides the financial-doomsday spots for crypto or gold coins, or the incongrously placed fundraising pleas from Mike Huckabee, there were also the Ashley Madison spots.

Now, mind you, it was not merely a cheating site--the ad copy was definitely aimed at the traveling salesman or exec or trucker when motel room Kleenex and complimentary lotion just wouldn't do. I still remember nearly running off the shoulder into a ditch when the little ditty came on; "Ashley Madison man, does what he can, to provide for his home & family..." Meaning, Mommy should give Daddy a break because he's working so hard for you. (Wonder what happens when the condom breaks or the Pill fails and his Ashley Madison match gets pregnant...hint: the site isn't gonna pay for prenatal care & child support and neither will the dirtbag client).

I feel like I'm giving a choppy version of the Duggar saga which is extensive, but here's a bit more information. Critics of the family had a problem with conservatives minimizing Josh's repeated molestations of his sisters-—Mike Huckabee had even issued a statement supporting Josh when the scandal surfaced. Within the patriarchal fundamentalist religious group, male sexual deviant behavior is often forgiven and female victims blamed for enticing the male. The religion constantly reinforces the belief that females are second class people.

Only when the Ashley Madison scandal surfaced did conservatives including Huckabee distance themselves from the Duggars. Josh issued a public statement at the time admitting he'd had a porn addiction for several years which led him to "being unfaithful" to his wife.

In an interview his parents gave that year to Megan Kelly about the molestations, Josh's dad claimed that within their religion "a lot of families have said that they've had similar things happen in their families." (So that made it okay?!) He also said, "Even though this was a very bad situation, as we've talked to other families who have had, you know, other things happen, a lot of their stories were even worse."

In a separate interview with MK, two Duggar daughter victims defended their brother's actions as a teenage boy who was a little too curious and whom they'd forgiven; critics believe they were coerced to do so to try to save the family reality show.

So much minimizing. Many lies about the molestations were told in the MK interview; the real truth came out in a court of law during Josh's child sex abuse trial last year where it was also learned this father of seven had gone on the dark web and downloaded what is considered some of the worst of the worst child sex abuse material known to investigators.

One more part of the story: A year before the molestations were made public, Josh's mother Michelle had narrated a robocall that went out to households in their area asking residents to protest an anti-discrimination ordinance. The call "suggested transgender people might want to go into the bathrooms of girls, locker rooms of girls, and that they may be child molesters." Said the mother who knew her own son was a child molester.

Lots of hypocrisy weaved into the Duggar lifestyle.

They really thought Trump would pay????

betrayal,

Both the Democratic and Republican parties held very different views during the Civil War era than they do now. At the time, Southern Democrats were in deed, not in favor of abolishing slavery while the Republican President was.This bit of history is sometimes a thorn in the Democrats side but the positions of both parties has significantly changed. It is important to remember history accurately but also in the context of the times.