Category: Asked Questions

Update 11/12/2024 9:57am CST. Republicans at 219. CA 13 & 45 still in play as the Republican is still ahead as well as Alaska.

Update 11/11/2024 approximately 6:45 pm. Republicans at 218 to retain control of the US house of Reps. 4 more look to also go Republican and another is close with a Dem lead.

Update 11/11/2024 – Currently there are 5 US House seats that are still leaning for Republican and there are 2 seats remaining for Republicans to retain US House control. 216 Rep / 208 Dem. Now 216 Rep/209 Dem. as of 5 minutes ago.

*Update 11/8/2024 – It’s been a couple days since I last wrote. The US House of Reps are now at 216 for Republicans and 204 for Democrats with 15 seats remaining. 2 more seats for the Republicans to retain control of the House. Washington seat was won as well as a California seat, PA and another in Arizona. There are 2 races that are very close with Dems leading, there are 5 races in California where the Republicans are leading by various margins, some small and some not as small. Alaska at the moment seems to be polling towards the Republican candidate. A point of concern is that California hasn’t really shown that they are keeping the counts going. Not sure really what is going on there. Will keep an eye on all this. One add on. Ohio. It was called for Dem, but it’s so close, it could turn around? Maybe?

Senate is now at 53 Republicans and 46 Democrats with one race left in Arizona – Kari Lake (R) and Ruben Gallego (D) with only a point or so between them. Dem candidate ahead currently.

11/6/2024 – I don’t generally follow races of the US House of Reps, but perhaps I should. We have the latest toll and all appearances is that Trump won 312 to 226. Not bad for his third time at running. I’m glad that Trump said he was looking to heal this country. That’s a great starting point… But how is he going to do that? Takes power, not only of Executive Orders, but also it will take the House of Reps and the Senate.

For the Senate, 51 is the number to make majority. Well, as it stands, Republicans are at 52 seats, with 3 races yet to call, including one in PA that seems to lean towards another Republican at the moment. Either way, the Senate will move forward under Republican control. What does this mean? First, Trump will need to start appointing government positions. About 1,200 of those appointments require Senate confirmation. Should make that easier.¹

For the House of Representatives, 218 is the number to make majority. House Republicans are at 212 with Democrats at 197. There are 26 seats remaining.

The US House of Representatives purpose is:

Creating Laws: It introduces and debates bills, which, if passed by both the House and Senate, are sent to the President to be signed into law.

Representation: House members represent specific geographic districts within their states, advocating for their constituents’ needs and interests.

Budget and Taxation: The House holds “the power of the purse,” meaning it initiates and approves government spending and taxation bills.

Oversight and Investigations: It monitors government operations, conducts investigations, and ensures laws are properly enforced by federal agencies.

This will be quite important as well for Trump. And so without further delay, here is the current state of seat races for the House of Reps. (changed while in progress – FYI – with totals at bottom)

Ohio, US House General Election 9 – shows that the Democrat running is about 1200 votes ahead as 95% of the votes counted. (Dem win)

Iowa, US House General Election 1 – shows the Republican running is about 800 votes ahead as 95% of the votes counted. (WON)

Colorado Dem – GE 8 at 3900 ahead with 74% counted. As of 11/10/2024 95% and shows Republican up up by 2600.

Pennsylvania Rep at 27,600 ahead with 95% counted. (won) 10 out of 17 won here as of 11/11/2024.

Arizona has two races left.

-One Rep 9,400 ahead at 81% counted *Update (WON)

***** -Rep GE-6 at 1,600 ahead at 73% counted. 1800 at 83% on 11/9. 11/11 2,100 ahead at 91%. Won 11/11.

Nevada Dem 7,700 ahead at 95% counted.

California has a lot: GE stands for General Election – From AP News:

-GE-6 Dem 18,100 ahead at 45% counted.

-GE-9 Dem 2,000 ahead at 56% counted.

*****-GE-13 Rep 2,200 ahead at 53% counted. (no change from 11/6. Today is 11/8) (11/11 – 62% with 2,200 ahead.) (11/12 – 63% – 67,384 Rep to 64,408 Dem)

-GE-21 Dem 1,000 ahead at 58% counted.

-GE-22 Rep 9,800 ahead at 57% counted. (says 59% as of 11/7 – Republicans WON this one) 67%as of 11/8

-GE 26 Dem 20,800 ahead at 67% counted.

***ODD -GE-27 Rep 5,700 ahead at 72% counted. (no change from 11/6. Today is 11/8) 1000 ahead at 81% (11/11 – Dem 4,700 ahead at 88%) Dem won 11/11 – 92% counted – only 7,000 remaining with total of 288,151 votes.

-GE-38 Dem 26,000 ahead at 61% counted.

-GE-39 Dem 13,900 ahead at 56% counted.

****-GE-41 Rep 7,800 ahead at 69% counted.(no change from 11/6. Today is 11/8) 7400 ahead at 75% 11/8 (7,900 ahead at 80% on 11/11) (Rep Won 11/11)

****-GE-45 Rep 10,100 ahead at 72% counted.(no change from 11/6. Today is 11/8) 7600 79% (83% – 6,100 at 83%) (11/12 – 86% 143,184 Rep and 139,276 Dem – down to about 3,900 for Rep)

-GE-47 Rep 2,800 ahead at 76% counted.(no change from 11/6. Today is 11/8) Dem 1100 at 81% 1100at 82% (11/11 2,700 Dems ahead at 86%)(11/12 Dems ahead 3,300 @ 87%)

-GE-49 Dem 2,200 ahead at 74% counted.

So they say……. below:

****Alaska Rep 10,400 ahead at 74% counted.(no change from 11/6. Today is 11/8)

Oregon has two outstanding:

-Dem 7,800 ahead at 80% counted. (called while doing this effort)

-Dem 16,900 ahead at 69% counted. (called while doing this effort)

Now at 24 seats remaining (Republicans still at 212)

One of the Senate seats was called for a Dem. Republicans still at 52 with 2 seats remaining.

Washington State has two outstanding:

-GE-3 Dem 12,100 ahead at 86% counted.

-GE-4 Rep 5,000 ahead at 58% counted. (WON by 4 points 11/7/2024)

Current tally.

212 for Republicans with 24 seats remaining. 11 of these are leaning to Republicans. 6 are needed to retain control of the House of Reps.

8.45am 11/7/2024

I’ve been asked many times, “If God is a loving and moral God, why is there so much pain, suffering and evil in this world?”

How do you answer such an impossible question.

The atheistic answer seems clear enough. First, there is no God. And second, we are largely pre-disposed to just do what we do, with no free will, because our minds are simply chemical reactions to external stimuli.

But that doesn’t really satisfy the intellect, does it?

The atheist will then ask, why did God create war and famine and killing and and and… ?!? All the while, they presuppose, there is no God and there is no free will. But… IF God did give humanity free-will, then the atheist will be put back on their heels and here’s why.

Christians believe God gave humanity free-will. What that means is that Christians, by their very nature will take responsibility for their own actions, KNOWING that they sin and KNOWING that they are in fact the ones that MADE THE CHOICE to do really terrible things. God allows it. That’s a tough position to hold to, but that doesn’t make God bad, it makes God loving. He allows us to live freely, with the hopes that we would seek to know him.

The atheists position however suggests that they didn’t have a choice in the matter and so sin, in and of itself is a moot point and doesn’t exist. I don’t know about you, but I had a choice to write this piece about how atheists, when they actually take accountability for their own actions and accept there is a higher morality than their very own subjective point of view, will actually come face-to-face with their creator, who is Jesus. Hard pill to swallow, but that’s just the way it goes.

I was asked yesterday, “I’m curious…do you fact check?”

If the question is, “Do you just go to one source, CNN or FoxNews, to see if what someone’s meme said is true and to see if it fits what I think it should sound like,” then no. I’m afraid I don’t do that version of fact checking. That’s not really fact checking at all, is it. It’s going to a source where you know you’re going to get the narrative that you expect. It’s rather an incomplete way of getting to the bottom of things on the surface and quite disingenuous at its core.

However, if the question is really, “When I look at a meme, do I not only critically analyze what is being said, but do I also do more than just go look at one article in a newspaper to see if that meme is actually correct by finding the actual conversation that took place and review the entire context”, then YES, I do fact check.

The answer to this is rather ironic. I probably spend way too much time researching important issues and then make notes, collect resources, etc. What I mean by that is, I go to multiple sources – especially sources that I would likely disagree with, I look to see what they have written in actual quotes and what are just their journalistic “add ons”, that they utilize in order to direct the reader’s perspective. I will also go find the source and investigate to see if what was said is actually true, what was added, what was missing and if it was spun.

If I read a headline – I can assess someone’s perspective really quickly – pro or for a particular person. A lot of op-ed pieces don’t you think? But if I see and article and it says, “Someone said, ‘I am the one who‘ is the most something ever“, I will know immediately that this writer has left something out and added something else. Special note: Unfortunately, sometimes people just completely misuse the “” quotes and just include their own perspective. But many times, they will quote part(bold), add in their bit(italics), leave out the rest of the comment and then rarely will they include the true context and hardly ever will they attach a link to the actual source. HOWEVER… that’s how people are informed now a days. What we get is innuendo, incorrect assertions and outright fabrications, no source – and of course assumes that the whole piece isn’t just the opinion based on which party the author ascribes to – which certainly slants the narrative.

But to the question at hand. Here are a couple of examples where I have gone through to fact check. You tell me your opinion. Do I fact check?

“Biden Claims Boilermakers Union Support for His Campain”

“Not Entitled To Your Own Facts, Senator Kamala Harris” regarding Honest Abe and the Trump Supreme Court Justice appointment.

With regards to the later of the two, I happened to have been watching the debate when Kamala said what she did and it didn’t quite sound correct. And oh boy, once I did the fact checking, I saw just how corrupt media is their their bias and just how flat out of a liar Kamala Harris is. It wasn’t a matter of degree as to how exaggerative she was, it was a completely fictitious lie. So, this is for you Melissa. Oh yes, I do fact check.

I’ll sign off with this. I can appreciate the two choice – absoluteness of your statement, however I will leave the racist/anti-racist and there is no in between for another time – because it is an incomplete position and it’s completely off topic to the other question you asked.