Donald J. Trump

2025年12月29日

Donald J. Trump is one of the most polarizing and outspoken persons in our lifetime. Here are a few of his quotes from his speeches, books, and news conferences.

“Get going. Move forward. Aim High. Plan a takeoff. Don’t just sit on the runway and hope someone will come along and push the airplane. It simply won’t happen. Change your attitude and gain some altitude. Believe me, you’ll love it up here.”

“As long as you are going to be thinking anyway, think big.”

“Show me someone without an ego, and I’ll show you a loser.”

“When you are wronged repeatedly, the worst thing you can do is continue taking it–fight back! ”

“What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate.”

“Sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make.”

“What’s the point of having great knowledge and keeping them all to yourself?”

“I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present. That’s where the fun is.”

“Anyone who thinks my story is anywhere near over is sadly mistaken.”

“One of the problems when you become successful is that jealousy and envy inevitably follow. There are people—I categorize them as life’s losers—who get their sense of accomplishment and achievement from trying to stop others. As far as I’m concerned, if they had any real ability they wouldn’t be fighting me, they’d be doing something constructive themselves.”

“I know words. I have the best words.”

“Don’t get sidetracked. If you do get sidetracked, get back on track as soon as possible. Ultimately sidetracking kills you.”

“Remember There’s No Such Thing As An Unrealistic Goal – Just Unrealistic Time Frames”

“I discovered, for the first time but not the last, that politicians don’t care too much what things cost. It’s not their money.”

“And if it can’t be fun, what’s the point?”

“good publicity is preferable to bad, but from a bottom-line perspective, bad publicity is sometimes better than no publicity at all. Controversy, in short, sells.”

“MY STYLE of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward. I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after.”

“Watch, listen, and learn. You can’t know it all yourself. Anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity.”

“There’s an old German proverb to the effect that “fear makes the wolf bigger than he is,” and that is true.”

“Everything in life is luck.”

“My motto is: Always get even. When somebody screws you, screw them back in spades.”

“I like to think of the word FOCUS as Follow One Course Until Successful.”

“Our country, our people, and our laws have to be our top priority.”

“I don’t hire a lot of number-crunchers, and I don’t trust fancy marketing surveys. I do my own surveys and draw my own conclusions.”

“My people keep telling me I shouldn’t write letters like this to critics. The way I see it, critics get to say what they want to about my work, so why shouldn’t I be able to say what I want to about theirs?”

“success comes from failure, not from memorizing the right answers.”

 

Rick

A Legacy of Control: Beyond the Façade of Christmas

2025年12月22日

Every December, a carefully constructed illusion descends upon the world. We call it Christmas, a season supposedly celebrating peace and a sacred birth. But a brief look at history reveals this celebration is largely a fabrication, a clever rebranding of far older pagan traditions. In fact, the Bible offers no date for Jesus’ birth, and the selection of December 25th deliberately overlapped with ancient Roman festivals.

 

The date itself was not chosen for its historical accuracy but for its strategic value. Early Church leaders deliberately placed the celebration to absorb and replace popular winter solstice festivals like the Roman Saturnalia and Norse Yule. The Christmas tree, the feasting, the gift-giving—these are not Christian inventions but echoes of pagan rituals celebrating the return of light. Christmas is less a holy day and more a masterclass in cultural appropriation, designed to consolidate religious power.

 

This pattern of control is not an anomaly; it is a defining feature of organized religion’s history. While promising salvation, without any proof of course, religion has delivered centuries of bloodshed and oppression. The Crusades saw holy wars that slaughtered thousands in the name of a loving God. The Spanish Inquisition perfected torture to enforce doctrinal purity. Countless women were burned as witches based on superstitious dogma, and scientific progress was brutally suppressed when it contradicted scripture.

 

From religious wars to the justification of slavery and the subjugation of women, history shows that faith is a dangerously divisive force. It creates an “us versus them” worldview, where differing beliefs are not just wrong, but evil. By demanding obedience to ancient, unprovable texts, fairy-tales for the feeble minded if you will, it stifles critical thought and fuels conflict.

 

Perhaps it’s time to look beyond the tinsel and the dogma. True peace and goodwill come from our shared humanity and commitment to reason, not from a rebranded festival with a dark legacy of control.

So, the next time you light up a candle or decorate a tree on Dec 24 or thereabouts perhaps instead of thinking about an imaginary friend in the sky, you should think about all the people who have been killed in his/her/its name in the last 2,000 years. Not to mention all the children who have been sexually abused by pedophile priests in Catholic churches, the very places where love and peace supposed to be celebrated.

I for one would never leave my child alone with a “holly man”, “a servant of god”, but you do you.

Christmas is as fake as the people celebrating it.                                                                                           Alex

 

Christmas in the UK

2025年12月15日

Britain doesn’t have a national holiday – we have no Bastille Day, no Independence Day, no Founder’s Day: instead we have Christmas.
Christmas in Britain, and most particularly in England, is the biggest party season of the year. Christmas Day itself, the start of the great holiday period, is the one day in the year on which the head of state – the King – speaks to the nation. Christmas Day is the high point of a festive period that lasts at least two days, but depending on the calendar, can become a holiday period of up to nine days, and one which people have been getting ready for up to two months.

The essential Christmas holiday in England can be up to four days off in a row. Not only is Christmas Day, December 25th, a public holiday, but so is the day after Christmas, December 26th, known as Boxing Day. In addition, according to a now-established tradition, if one or both of these holidays fall on a Saturday or Sunday, Britons enjoy one or two extra days of public holidays on the Monday and possibly on the Tuesday that follow.

In 2023, December 25th being a Monday, most activity in Britain except shopping will close down from some time on Friday December 22nd to Tuesday 26th inclusive. Some firms let their employees off as from the evening of December 23rd, and until the morning of January 2nd. As for public transport, services are considerably reduced during the two days of 25th and 26th December.

 

 

Among the major activities of modern Christmas in Britain, the Winter sales are particularly important. In Britain, people do not need to wait until January, the winter sales begin in England on 26th or 27th December, if not before, because stores are free to have Sales as and when they want ….. and notably to organize them when the people are still on holiday, not after the holiday period ends. Throughout the Christmas and New year period, stores are always full – to the point that gift-vouchers have become a popular form of Christmas present, allowing the recipient to buy the gift they really want, and make the most of the bargains that are to be had in the Christmas – New Year sales period.

 

 

Even if shopping is now a more important part of Christmas for most people than remembering the nativity of Christ, the origins of Christmas as a Christian festival are not forgotten. In many public and private schools, especially at primary level, the “nativity play”, a theatrical staging of the birth of Christ, remains an important event in the calendar; and according to a recent ORB (Opinion Research Business) survey, over a third of the UK population attends a Christmas Mass or a carol service during the Christmas period – far more than the 3% or 4% of the population that are regular church-goers.

Richard

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR

Christmas in the Air

2025年12月8日

Walk through your local shopping center this time of year and you are bound to hear piped through the speakers a handful of the thousands of songs with a Christmas theme. For the most part, these songs are divided into two camps: secular and spiritual with the main difference being that the spiritual songs are about the birth of Jesus (“Silent Night” and “Joy to the World”), and secular ones are not (“Jingle Bells” and “Last Christmas”).

The traditional songs, some dating back to the Middle Ages and some as recent as the early 1900s, are referred to as Christmas carols. A carol is a song of joy and praise which is appropriate as they sing of the birth of Jesus which 2,000 years ago the angels declared was meant to bring joy to all people.

Some Christmas carols that I am very fond of include “O Holy Night,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Their lyrics tell the true story of Christmas in a way that touches the heart. At the pinnacle of my Christmas carol list sits “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” which unbeknownst to most people is the ultimate cry of every heart as they seek the peace that only comes from being reunited with their Creator.

It takes little effort to recognize that all is not right in our world from global conflicts to strife in homes and individual breakdowns. The uncertainty, pain and suffering that is all around can feel enormous. Yet, the declaration being made through “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” remains as true as it was when it was written hundreds of years ago, and that is we can rejoice because Jesus, aka Emmanuel (“God with us” in Hebrew), has come to us to restore the broken relationship between God and humanity which is the ultimate reason for all the uncertainty, pain and suffering in the world. My prayer this Christmas is that you embrace the true message of Christmas which will fill your heart with the peace and love of God that goes beyond understanding. Here is a great rendition of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” by the band For King & Country. A blessed and very Merry Christmas to you and yours, Erik

 

Thanks, Around the World

2025年12月1日

November 27th this year is Thanksgiving day in America. What are you thankful for? Me, I am thankful most for family, faith, and freedom. There are many ways to say thank you in different languages. See how many you can use today!

  • Arabic (spoken in 22 countries across the Middle East and North Africa): shoukran
  • Czech (spoken in the Czech Republic): dékuji
  • Danish (spoken in Denmark, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Southern Schleswig, a region of Germany on the border of Denmark): tak
  • Dutch (spoken in the Netherlands, Belgium, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Aruba and Suriname): dank
  • Esperanto (spoken Europe, East Asia, and South America, particularly in the UK, Germany, Brazil, Japan, and the United States): dankon
  • Estonian (spoken mainly in Estonia): deküi
  • Finnish (spoken mainly in Finland): kiitos
  • French (spoken mainly in France, but also in 29 other countries): merci
  • German (mainly in Germany but also in Austria, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.: danke
  • Greek (spoken mainly in Greece and Cyprus): efchariso
  • Hebrew (spoken primarily in Israel): todah
  • Hungarian (spoken mainly in Hungary, but also some in Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, and Ukraine: koszonom
  • Indonesian (spoken mostly in Indonesia): terima kasih
  • Italian (spoken officially in Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, and Vatican City): grazie
  • Japanese (spoken primarily in Japan): arigato
  • Latvian (spoken primarily in Latvia): paldies
  • Lithuanian (spoken primarily in Lithuania): tänan
  • Norwegian (spoken primarily in Norway): takk
  • Polish (spoken mainly in Poland): dziekuje
  • Portuguese (spoken chiefly in Brazil, Portugal, and several countries in Africa): obrigado
  • Romanian (spoken primarily in Romania and Moldova): multumiri
  • Russian (spoken mainly in Russia and other former Soviet republics, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan): spasibo
  • Serbo-Croatian (spoken in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia): hvala
  • Spanish (spoken in Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Equatorial Guinea): gracias
  • Swahili (spoken mainly in East Africa in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. It is also spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Mozambique, Malawi, and Zambia): asante
  • Swedish (spoken mainly in Sweden, the Åland Islands and Finland): tack
  • Turkish (spoken mainly in Turkey and also in Northern Cyprus): tesekkür

Rick

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956) – A Brave but Doomed Fight for Freedom

2025年11月27日

In the autumn of 1956, the streets of Budapest erupted in a blaze of defiance against the government, Hungarian People’s Republic, a Soviet puppet state established in 1949, four years after the end of the WWII.

For years, Hungarians had chafed under the iron yoke of communist rule, imposed by Moscow’s subordination. Stalinist purges, forced collectivization, and economic ruin had stripped the nation of its sovereignty.

 

The government, led by Mátyás Rákosi and later Ernő Gerő, slavishly followed Kremlin dictates, suppressing dissent and enforcing Russification. The Hungarian people wanted to break free from this suffocating Soviet and communist domination.

On October 23 1956, sparked by student protests demanding democratic reforms and national independence, the revolution exploded. Workers, students, and soldiers toppled Stalin’s statue and seized key buildings. For two grueling weeks, ragtag freedom fighters—armed with Molotov cocktails and captured weapons—battled the overwhelming might of the Red Army. Soviet tanks rolled in on October 24, but initial retreats gave hope. The insurgents fought valiantly, briefly toppling the regime and installing Imre Nagy as prime minister, who promised free elections and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact.

The world watched in silence. Thousands died in the fighting—estimates range from 2,500 to 3,000 Hungarians killed. As borders briefly opened over 200,000 fled to Austria and beyond, seeking refuge in the West. When Soviet forces finally crushed the uprising on November 4 with 80,000 troops and 500 tanks, the borders slammed shut, the Iron Curtain, (a double barbed-wire fence with land mines between the two fences) rebuilt stronger than ever preventing anyone from leaving the “Workers’ Paradise”.

No aid came from the West, despite endless encouragement. Radio Free Europe, funded by the CIA, broadcast propaganda hinting at imminent liberation—”Help is on the way!”—stirring hopes that never materialized. While the West was under no obligation to help, this irresponsible incitement fueled the fight and led to needless slaughter. In a newspaper interview in 1957, Khrushchev commented, “support by United States … is rather in the nature of the support that the rope gives to a hanged man”. The revolution was brutally quashed: thousands of freedom fighters imprisoned in gulags, hundreds executed, including Imre Nagy in 1958.

The message? Never trust the West, they lie even when they breathe. In case you disagree with my sentiment ask the Poles and Czechs about their experience with the British during WWII.

A lesson Vladimir Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, should have headed before trusting that pathological liar Boris Johnson with his lies, I mean advice, in 2022. Help was promised to the Ukrainians if they continued fighting the Russians, look where Ukraine is now.

But the Hungarians, rebellious bunch they are, never gave up and 33 years later it was Hungary who first threw off their chains and started the process that first led to the end of communist rule in Eastern Europe and ended in the break-up of the Soviet Union. Serves them right. Alex

St Andrews day 30th November

2025年11月17日

 

Saint (St.) Andrew has been celebrated in Scotland on the 30th November for over one thousand years, with feasts being held in his honour as far back as the year 1000 AD. However, it wasn’t until 1320, when Scotland’s independence was declared with the signing of The Declaration of Arbroath, that he officially became Scotland’s patron saint.

Since then, St. Andrew has become an integral part of Scottish society. The flag of Scotland is the saltire, also known as St Andrew’s Cross, and the ancient town of St. Andrews was named due to its claim of being his final resting place. (see below)

The story goes that Andrew, was a Galilean fisherman who was singled out to be Christ’s first disciple, preached the Gospel in the lands around the Black Sea and in Greece and was eventually crucified on an X-shaped cross in Patras.

St. Andrew is also the patron saint of other countries as well as Scotland. His association with Scotland, a land he never sets foot on is, not surprisingly, based on several conflicting legends, the most colourful of which is the story of St. Regulus.

Three hundred years after Andrew’s martyrdom the Roman Emperor Constantine, himself a Christian, ordered that the saint’s bones should be moved from Patras to his new capital city of Constantinople.

Before the order was carried out a monk called St. Regulus (or St. Rule) had a dream in which an angel told him to take what bones of Andrew’s he could to ‘the ends of the earth’ for safe keeping.

St. Regulus duly took what he could, presumably in a swift and frantic raid on the tomb, and after an epic journey, he was finally shipwrecked on the east coast of Scotland. He must have thought that he had indeed reached the ‘ends of the earth’!

 

The resting place of the relics of St. Andrew are now kept at St. Mary’s Catholic church in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Richard

What Do You Call Someone From …?

2025年11月10日

English, as with any language, is full of quirks that cause fits for those learning it. Whether its silent letters, inconsistent pronunciation, irregular verbs or unusual plurals, there is always something that is just waiting to bring an English learner some angst.

One of those has to do with demonyms which are the words used for a person who is native or lives in a particular place. While you can say, “I met a Canadian” or “I talked to an Israeli”, you can’t say, “I met a Japanese” or “I talked to an English.” This stems from whether or not the word can be used a demonym and an adjective or solely as an adjective. From the above sentences, Canadian and Israeli can be used as both demonyms and adjectives while Japanese and English function as adjectives and not demonyms. Those nationalities that are adjectives and not demonyms need to be followed by a noun: “I met a Japanese woman” or “I talked to an Englishman.” Here are a few points to help you use these words correctly.

‘-an’ and ‘-i’ endings are both adjectives and demonyms: a Mexican, an Italian, a Pakistani, a Bangladeshi
‘-sh’ or ‘-ch’ endings need man or woman: an Englishman, a Frenchwoman, a Dutchman, an Irishwoman, a Welshman
‘-ese’ endings need to be followed by a noun: a Taiwanese man, a Portuguese person

The final grouping are demonyms that are different from the adjective with many of them coming from Europe.

Country                 Adjective                          Demonym
Croatia                  Croatian                            a Croat
Denmark               Danish                               a Dane
Finland                  Finnish                              a Finn
Iceland                   Icelandic                           an Icelander
The Philippines       Philippine                           a Filipino
Poland                    Polish                                a Pole
Scotland                 Scottish                             a Scot
Serbia                     Serbian                             a Serb
Spain                      Spanish                             a Spaniard
Sweden                   Swedish                            a Swede
Turkey                    Turkish                              a Turk

While we mostly associate demonyms with countries, they can also be used for regions, states/provinces, cities, etc.
Regions: Scandinavia – a Scandinavian, The South (in the U.S.A.) – a Southerner
States: Washington (U.S.A.) – a Washingtonian, Quebec (Canada) – a Quebecer
Cities: Tokyo – a Tokyoite, Hong Kong – a Hong Konger, Sydney – a Sydneysider,
London – a Londoner. Paris – a Parisian, Madrid – a Madrilean

As can be seen, talking about nationalities in English is the polar opposite to the simplicity of Japanese where simply putting ‘-jin’ at the end of a place suffices. So, what am I? I am an American, an Arizonan, a Prescottonian, a Shisuiite and a citizen of Heaven. What are you?                  Erik

The Olde Pink House

2025年11月3日

Today is Halloween, so I thought I would share an actual haunting from my hometown. The Olde Pink House, a historic mansion in Savannah, Georgia, is one of the city’s most famous haunted locations. The most prominent spirit is believed to be the original owner, James Habersham Jr., a Revolutionary War figure.

Legend suggests Habersham Jr. died in the house in 1799, with rumors circulating that he committed suicide in the basement after learning of his wife’s unfaithfulness. His spirit, often seen wearing colonial clothing, is said to frequent the basement tavern, where he is seen observing customers, ordering drinks that disappear, and even lighting candles.

Other spirits reportedly include a Revolutionary War soldier who offers ghostly toasts at the bar, a sobbing woman on the upper floors, and most distressingly, the playful, mischievous ghosts of enslaved children who reportedly died of yellow fever on the property. Staff and guests have reported poltergeist activity, such as wine bottles flying off shelves and doors mysteriously locking, particularly in the basement bathrooms. The house’s tragic history, compounded by family discord and the presence of slavery, is said to have instilled it with a lasting haunted atmosphere.                                     Rick

Talent Doesn’t Guarantee Kindness

2025年10月28日

We often assume that talent and goodness go hand in hand — that someone who creates beautiful music, inspiring words, or revolutionary technology must also be a kind, admirable person. But history repeatedly shows that brilliance and decency don’t necessarily coexist. talent and personality are entirely separate; genius in art, leadership, or innovation tells us nothing about empathy, ethics, or decency.

Talent is part luck and part skill; morality is a choice.

Take John Lennon for example. He was born almost exactly 85 years ago, on Oct 9th, and some consider the guy a talented musician. I think Beatles music is just a step above annoying noise but I digress. In reality, Lennon was a despicable human being, a wife beater, a violent man who abandoned his first son and often made fun of disabled people. You didn’t know that about him, did you? He sang about not having any material possessions while has was a millionaire. Upstanding morality…

 

How about Mahatma  Gandhi, the champion of non-violent resistance? The man was a racist and a pedophile, who preferred to sleep with very young girls.

Then there is Michael Jackson, “the king of pop”, do you remember him? He revolutionized music and dance but faced serious allegations of child abuse, he was clearly a big fan of very young boys and regularly slept with them in the same bed. A grown man with underage boys in the same bed? Curious at least….

 

Do you remember Charlie Chaplin? Have you ever seen any of his movies? Supposedly a comic genius, but had a history of manipulative relationships with underage women, he married his second wife at the age of 16! He sure liked ‘em young…

Let’s switch to technology. Steve Jobs. You must know him if you have an Apple product.  He is considered a revolutionary innovator, while the guy couldn’t write a single line of computer code. He was an absolute disgrace, an appalling human being and a thief.

He cheated his best friend out of money, refused to pay child support to his ex-girlfriend and was a control freak and a horrible boss. Yet people somehow idolize him. He was clearly a psychopath in a turtle neck.

 

Of course there is more, the line is long of people who were supposed to be nice, decent, trustworthy but in reality were abhorrent. A lot of the Catholic priests come to mind who have been accused of pedophilia, over 3,000 of them actually….

But that’s another story for another time.

These examples remind us that brilliance in one area doesn’t equate to moral goodness. Idolizing someone for a single extraordinary ability blinds us to the full truth of who they are. Admire the art, respect the innovation but always separate the talent from the person behind it.                                                                                                                                  Alex