This morning Diane took Jennifer, our first daughter, to the Expo Center in Portland to attend the Antiques & Collectibles event. I was given the option of staying home and spending my day unsupervised, free to let my senses sense stuff, and eat whatever I want. Soon after Diane left to get Jennifer, I found myself engrossed in a video about the coming apocalypse, and WWIII.

It was an incredibly long video that started out on a very religious note, quoting the bible and events associated with End Days and I was captivated because it was interesting to see how the authors interpreted the prophecies. I’ve been captivated by long videos of a similar nature, regarding other subjects, but the result I suspected was at the end where I was offered a “program” that would help me and my family survive the end of days for only $39. Not for the quoted street value of $197, or the $500 others might charge, but only $39. Seemed like a pretty good deal.

Then, the guy kept talking, offering to provide a 60 money back guarantee, and support for a full year after purchase, even though he reported that WW III was going to happen before January 2017. Yup. 2017. Perhaps you’ve heard about this offer, too.

Well, that’s when he lost me and I chose to not click the “add to cart” button at the bottom of the screen. I just sat there thinking about all that for a bit and the voice came back letting me know he knew I was still there and began another spiel to try to convince me that I should really take advantage of this special offer.

Now, after the first 45 minutes of listening to this person talk, I was pretty sure it was going to end with a special offer of some sort, so that wasn’t a surprise. What did interest me, however, was the claim that WW III was going to begin with a powerful EMP strike 20 miles above the center of the USA. He reported that President Putin was going to be the delivery boy for this attack that will cripple America by destroying our power grid. No more iPhones, folks.

I closed the message and opened an email from a friend that provided me with quotes from famous people from the past that is more on topic for what’s been going through my brain lately. Without his permission, I’m going to share them here and put WW III and the apocalypse aside for a while. I have until the end of the year to address that subject and need to do some more research before stepping out on that one.

Here are the quotes … they don’t portray anything new. They just have a common theme that, sadly, “we the people” deal with all the time.

If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.
~Jay Leno~

The problem with political jokes is they get elected.
~Henry Cate, VII~

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office
~Aesop~

If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these State of the Union speeches, there wouldn’t be any inducement to go to heaven.
~Will Rogers~

Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.
~Nikita Khrushchev~

When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I’m beginning to believe it.
~Clarence Darrow~

Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel.
~John Quinton~

Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you.
~Author unknown~

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.
~Oscar Ameringer~

I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them.
~Adlai Stevenson, 1952~

A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.
~ Tex Guinan~

I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.
~Charles de Gaulle~

Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.
~Doug Larson~

There ought to be one day — just one — when there is open season on Congressmen.
~Will Rogers~

You may have noticed that one of the quotes above was made by Henry Cate, VII. My older brother, Lyle, once told me that he traced the Cate heritage back to Mary Queen of Scots. Turns out Henry was her father, so guess I’m descended from royalty. Who knew?

Maybe I really should run for King, unless, of course, one of my older brothers wishes to be in charge.

Have a good day.