Category: Community

Segregation is not Racist

Societal segregation is not inherently racist. Segregation is a natural human experience. Positive Examples:

  • Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA)
  • Democrat voters
  • Republican voters (including me)
  • Libertarian voters
  • Boy Scouts (including me)
  • Girl Scouts
  • LULAC (including me)
  • The NRA (including me)
  • Sunday School and Church groupings (including me)
  • Law Enforcement Officers (regardless skin color)
  • The American Legion (including me)
  • The ACLU
  • Labor Unions

The above examples are normal, healthy aggregations of people who share a common interest. Is a church of mostly white people racist? If yes, then all churches of mostly black people are racist, as are all churches of brown-skinned, Spanish-speaking people.

We are naturally drawn to people who look like us. Period. This true for me and it is true for you, also. We are also naturally drawn to people who share common objectives.

Negative Examples:

  • Black Lives Matter (BLM)
  • ANTIFA
  • Nazis
  • Islamists
  • Ku Klux Klan
  • Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)
  • Organizing For Action (OFA)
  • The ACLU
  • Labor Unions

Under what circumstances is societal segregation beneficial to the general population of

hurricane harvey rescues - see the difference
Graphic Creator Unknown

a nation? The keyword lies within the question: beneficence (the doing of good; active goodness or kindness; charity). Beneficial segregations do no harm to other segregations. A congregation is the opposite of a segregation.

 

Did you notice I listed the ACLU as both a good example and a bad example of segregation? Likewise Labor Unions?

A segregated congregation is beneficent when it contributes to the betterment of a nation and malevolent when it serves to harm a nation.

How is it possible a segregation can be both a good example and a bad example? What principle factor shifts a people group from one category to the other?

My limited observations (my lifespan is somewhat less than a century) of human activities tell me the difference is the worldview of a people group. For over one-third of my life, my worldview was godless, existentialist.

For the first one-third of my life, my worldview was godless, existentialist. At a point in time, my worldview began a phenomenal reformation due to an epiphany, a revelation that left me with an unshakeable faith and an indefatigable desire to benefit my fellow man (the human individual as representing the species, without reference to sex).

This reformation is incomplete. When will it be complete? “…I am certain that God, who began the good work within [me], will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6 personalized

My worldview motivates me to respect the opinions of others whose worldviews run counter to my own. It could be said, so I’ll say it, respect is evidence of love.

Don’t be paralyzed by political correctness when your association(s) come under attack If your segregated group is beneficial to the nation, starting with your community. On the other hand, if you find yourself associating with a group for which the goal is to harm others, you need to have a little talk with God and He will probably tell you to avoid evil associations.

I close with a thought on selfishness. Selfishness, like the above remarks on benevolent and malevolent segregations,  is good when you seek to become a better person. In fact, the Bible indicates a benevolent selfishness is highly desirable. I refer to Mark 12:20-31 where Jesus answered a question about the greatest commandment.

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

Segregation is not necessarily racist. Evil desires in the heart of a man or woman are inherently racist and selfish. If you have black skin and attend a church with other black-skinned people, that’s okay. If you advocate protecting the natural rights of a particular people group, that’s always okay. Go ahead and enjoy your beneficial segregated groups guiltlessly.

John White
Rockwall, Texas

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A threat of nuclear war? As Yogi Berra would say, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”

Headline: BREAKING: NORTH KOREA CLAIMS IT HAS DETONATED A HYDROGEN BOMB

north korea nuke exploded

* * * * * * * *
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake in North Korea early Sunday was likely the result of the country’s sixth nuclear test, media reports said.

North Korean state media claimed early Sunday that the blast was a test of a hydrogen bomb. The test was estimated to have a yield of 100 kilotons, meaning a blast that was four to five times more powerful than the explosion in Nagasaki, Japan in 1945.
Fox News | 3 Sept. 2017 | http://fxn.ws/2eRaPmh
* * * * * * * *

A local fellow active in a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) told me my postings on the subject of emergency preparedness are scaring people. Well, I hope this is true. My goal is to go beyond scaring you to motivate you to adopt an emergency-preparedness mindset.

What damage can we anticipate the detonation of a single 100-kiloton nuclear bomb? Consider the following magnitudes of distance from ground zero.

1 – the fireball would measure 3.6 miles in diameter
2 – the deadly 500 rem radiation dose would encompass an area 9.3 miles in diameter
3 – the thermal radiation (heat) would cause third-degree burns and widespread mortality throughout an area 95.76 miles in diameter

In the years of my youth, Civil Defense was the agency that promoted emergency preparedness throughout the USA. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the threat of nuclear annihilation was greatly lessened. Governments fell into complacency.

The family of nuclear nations has grown to include Israel, Iran, Pakistan, India, Russia, China, the USA, and North Korea. Last on this list is the current threat.

Disasters disrupt all manner of services from electrical power to water resources, from motor fuel shortages to empty grocery shelves. and even down to hospitals unable to care for patients.

Personally, I have no fear of chubby-cheeked Kim Jong-un and his nuclear arsenal. I fear the inevitable chaos, anarchy, and shortages of basic things to support day to day life.

Surely, you read news stories from Houston about armed looters that emptied stores and even fired upon rescue workers. Houston PD couldn’t even begin to answer calls for help.

What would you do for short-term food and water? How would you come to the aid of injured family, friends, and neighbors?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the contemporary version of the old Civil Defense. FEMA provides a wide array of educational resources that are used to train citizens to come to the aid of fellow citizens who are victims of disasters. Trained citizens make up Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT).

Rockwall CERT will be hosting a two day FEMA Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Basic Training Class will be held on September 23rd & 30th. The class iscity of rockwall CERT logo conducted on two consecutive Saturdays from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm each day, and includes hands-on indoor and outdoor training. Course curriculum includes disaster preparedness, fire safety, controlling utilities, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, introduction to the incident command system, disaster psychology, and terrorism response.

Sign up for CERT training by clicking on this link: http://www.rockwall.com/FireDepartment/cert.asp

Next, click on the icon that says Register Now!
or use this link directly – http://bit.ly/2iRTVZd

Being prepared isn’t just for the Boy Scouts.

John White
Rockwall, Texas

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A Case for Emergency Preparedness – Natural Disasters

Few of my fellow Americans are aware of the potential risks to daily life posed by nature.

Asteroids

A 2.7 mile-wide asteroid will pass earth on September 1, 2017. The NASA Near Earth Object (NEO) program discovered this asteroid in 1981. This pass will be its closest encounter with the earth since 1890.

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A massive asteroid estimated to be 2.7 miles wide is set to make a ‘relatively close encounter’ with Earth on September 1. Dubbed ‘Florence,’ the huge space rock will pass just 4.4 million miles from our planet. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4802926/THREE-MILE-wide-asteroid-set-graze-past-Earth-Sept-1.html#ixzz4qDEFmHl3 
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Volcanoes

There are sixty super volcanoes known to the USGS and the one with the greatest potential for death and destruction is Yellowstone. However, as potentially dangerous as Yellowstone is, there are eight active volcanoes in California that pose a significant threat to America.

What is the danger to America by Yellowstone? Read from the Daily Star: NASA plan to save Mankind from Yellowstone supervolcano eruption could trigger NUKE WINTER

What is the significance of this volcano alert from the USGS? According to the USGS, using fewer than 1% of U.S. farmland, the Central Valley supplies 8% of U.S. agricultural output (by value) and produces 1/4 of the Nation’s food, including 40% of the Nation’s fruits, nuts, and other table foods.

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Photo: SeatlePI.com – While Mount Shasta unsurprisingly tops USGS’s list of very-high threat volcanoes in California, there are seven other volcanic areas in the state that are also young, nervy, jacked up on magma and “likely to erupt.”

Tornadoes

In 2015, 228 tornadoes blasted across Texas. On average, we experience 140 tornadoes per year in the Lone Star State. Fortunately, most tornadoes appear in open country, but when they hit residential communities, lives and businesses are disrupted, as it has happened in Royse City, Rowlett, and Rockwall.

There is little advance warning, apart from National Weather Service Doppler radar and local news broadcasts.

The Texas tornado season typically runs from April to June and can occur at other times of the year.

Hurricanes

Those of us raised on the Texas Gulf Coast know that tornadoes are a small component of hurricanes that typically spawn numerous twisters which, when concurrent with extraordinary flooding can disable entire cities for months.

Your Plan of Action

Why do I write all the above? It’s to elevate your awareness of the risks to you, your family, and your property should one of the above natural disasters hit your community.

What Can YOU Do?

FEMA’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program trains volunteers to prepare for the types of disasters that their community may face. Through hands-on practice and realistic exercises, CERT members:

  • Learn how to safely respond to man-made and natural hazardsFEMA CERT Logo
  • Help organize basic disaster response
  • Promote preparedness by hosting and participating in community events
  • Prepare “go bags”, small backpacks with essential items: medicines, first-aid kits, emergency clothing, and other items you and your family may need to carry you over until temporary residency can be found.
  • If you were to lose 40% of your retail food supply, do you have a backup pantry to feed your family?
  • Join City of Rockwall CERT Serves Rockwall and Heathcity of rockwall CERT logo
  • Join EastTex Regional CERT

My wife and I received this training two years ago.

Here in Rockwall County, the Office of Emergency Management provides this training. Think. Prepare. Act.

Questions?

Submit your questions via a reply to this posting and I will promptly answer.

John White
Rockwall, Texas
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Running down Rumors in Rockwall

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The Rumor Mills Grind Away…

From time to time, this is to say on a daily basis, questions about government actions pop up on Facebook and Nextdoor social media websites. Unfortunately, I see them appear in local news media, albeit infrequently.

I find it humorous how one person posts a rumor on social media and as many as a hundred will chime in an opinion. In the end, how does this serve representative – republican – government?

The Cure

There is an almost magical way to extract truths directly from local governments. It’s called the Public Information Act.

In brief, if you submit a written request to any employee of a local government, that agency has ten working days to promptly answer your request IN WRITING if the information is not classified confidential by law. You have a tremendous authority in this regard.

If you have the authority and don’t know it or don’t know how to properly exercise your authority, it is as though you have no authority at all.

Learn from an online video course provided by the Texas Attorney General. At the conclusion of this one hour course, there is a certificate you can receive so don’t hastily close the window.

Read: THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT to learn more.

Learn how to use the law via the Texas Attorney General’s online training video: Public Information Act Training.

This training is free and it’s mandatory for all persons engaged in local government, whether elected, employed, or sitting as a volunteer on a government board.

How to best use it

  • Ask questions. Don’t waste time griping. Agencies are not required to do anything more than answer requests for information.
  • If you have a gripe, state your gripe directly to the appropriate elected officials.
  • Ask ONE question per written request.
  • Don’t ask stupid questions. Doing so wastes taxpayer dollars that pay employees to expend time answering stupid questions. And, asking stupid questions will most often result in your personal embarrassment.
  • Recognize that the elected office holders and employees are generally good people who truly want to lawfully and effectively serve you.
  • Address your requests appropriately. For example, don’t ask the County about school tax rates; ask the school district.

City and County Elected Official Want to Hear from You

Rockwall County Commissioners Court

City of Rockwall

Rockwall ISD (Yes, the school district is government)

  • President and Place 7 Trustee Stephanie Adams
  • Place 4 Trustee Jon Bailey
  • Place 2 Trustee Russ Childers
  • Place 1 Trustee Christopher Cuny
  • Place 3 Trustee Linda Mitchell Duran
  • Place 6 Trustee Leigh Plagens
  • Place 5 Trustee Jim White

In the case of the RISD board of trustees, they actually don’t want to hear from you. Nonetheless, the Public Information Act still works. To request information from Rockwall ISD, send your requests to Chief Communications Officer Renae Murphy via her email address renae.murphy@rockwallisd.org or call 972-771-0605 extension 7002. Renae responds quickly and politely to all requests for information.

The County Commissioners Court and the City of Rockwall City Council invite and welcome public commentary at meetings. While you can speak at school board meetings, don’t expect your comments to affect the outcome of board decisions – my opinion.

John White
Rockwall, Texas

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Diversity – I don’t think this word means what you think it means

E Pluribus Unum – National Motto adopted 1776

e pluribus unum
Latin: Out of many, one

Diversity – Politically-Correct Term

A reasonable translation of diversity is ‘many out of one’.

One synonym for diversity is difference. Compare with an antonym for unity: difference.

Many out of one is the antithesis of out of many, one.

Power Shift

A fundamental principle of democracy is majority rule. The diversity phenomenon deconstructs this vital principle as it shifts power from the majority to one or more minority groups.

Forgotten History – Revisionism at Work

Proponents of diversity reach back into history to say we (implying contemporary white people) murdered millions of Native Americans. These same historical revisionists say that we white people of today who live prosperous lives got to this point on the backs of slaves.

Is it helpful to know it was white Christians who ENDED slavery in America? All the while, why do we conveniently forget that it was Muslim slave traders who sold west Africans to the slave business owners? Yes, Muslims put them into slavery; Christians brought them out.

Is it helpful to know native Americans routinely conquered neighboring native American lands and killed the former owners?

Divine Truth

Of even greater importance are the Biblical truths upon which America became the greatest nation in all history. What Biblical truths?

“‘What?’ you ask. ‘Doesn’t the child pay for the parent’s sins?’ No! For if the child does what is just and right and keeps my decrees, that child will surely live. The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness.” Ezequiel 18:19-20

Regardless the sins of my parents and grandparents, I am not responsible for their sins. I owe no one an apology for what sins of commission or omission God may lay to their accounts.

Furthermore, Native Americans of today, descendants of their forefathers who may have been mistreated by my own ancestors, have no claim on my property for reparations.

Episode 003: Bishop T.D. Jakes with Bill Hybels and Heather Larson from The Global Leadership Summit Podcast in Podcasts. Open with iTunes. Download iTunes here: itunes download button

Bill Hybels and T. D. Jakes appear to ignore the principle of forgiveness. One who does not forgive the sins of others himself will not be forgiven by God.

Unity of purpose is essential to our survival as a nation. The diversity movement is a tool of leftists who despise all America stands for.

John White
Rockwall, Texas

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Freely You Have Received – Freely Give: Texas family appeals for emergency help

Susan Woodward, her husband Dickson, and their son Jack live in Princeton. Barely. Theirs is a captivating story to which I respond with a contribution to the GoFundMe drive and invite like-minded Texans, especially you who live in Rockwall and Collin Counties, where Rockwall hometown boy Justin Holland represents us in Austin.

“Give to him that asketh thee; and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away.” – Matthew 5:42

Read the full story via this link and prayerfully see what you can contribute. https://www.gofundme.com/9u-emergency-housing-repair

 

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God Click on the above image to go to the GoFundMe page. Then give.

 

God has mercifully given America a second chance; can we not also to the same for fellow Texans. Think of this as a thanksgiving offering.

Thank you,

John White
Rockwall, Texas

Open Letter to Cong. John Ratcliffe: It’s time to restore respect for authority

UPDATE 1/7/2017 – 

GOP Representative Pulls Down Anti-Cop Painting, Returns to Democrat

Honorable John Ratcliffe
Representative, Fourth Congressional Dist. of Texas
6531 Horizon Road
Suite A
Rockwall, TX
75032

Subject: Death of police officers due to loss of respect for authority

One news source reports the deaths of 135 law enforcement officers in 2016, killed while in the line of duty. Sixty-five were fatally shot; twenty-one by ambush.

I learn this morning about a painting hanging on the walls of the tunnel between the U.S. Capitol building and Longworth House Office Building. The painting shown below depicts a policeman as pig shooting a black man with his hands up.

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According to a press release by Congressman William Lacy Clay (D-MO CD1), “Tonight, we are celebrating our sixteenth year of recognizing outstanding young artistic talent. As you can see from the artwork on display here, the level of talent is truly impressive. Your work is inspiring, and I encourage all of you to continue to develop your creative abilities.”

The debate about the differences between art and pornography. Allow me this distinction.

Pornography stimulates the baser instincts of individuals; instincts that will not be satisfied by that alone.  Art engenders admiration for … glory and beauty, and thus the glory of [our] Maker. (Source: Ravi Zacharias)

The above painting is pornographic because it engenders rebellion against lawful authority, instead of promoting the divine benefits of obedience to lawful authorities.

I call on you to demand this painting be removed right away.

After January 20, 2017, we will have a new ‘sheriff’ in town and he has his work cut out to #DrainTheSwamp and restore respect for authority.

Sincerely,

John White
Rockwall, Texas