Wednesday Bible Study: The end of all things-2 Kings

The 25th chapter of 2 Kings is a story we've hit before- the fall of Judah and Jerusalem to Babylon.  It's also a story in that it borrows from our study of Proverbs the three types of unbeliever- the simple, the fool, and the scoffer.  The simple disbelieves because he hasn't been taught; the fool says in his heart, there is no God- but can learn different; the scoffer sets himself up as his own god, and thus has little hope of turning.  And we are going to look at three gentlemen who show these traits in how they FAIL to listen.

The Fool- Zedekiah

When you study the more fleshed-out story of this last king in Jeremiah, you learn that he has several opportunities to change the judgment on both himself and his city- but he is full of fear.  Because of his fear, he listens to the big men of his society about Jeremiah:

Jer 38:4  Then the officials said to the king, "Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm."
Jer 38:5  King Zedekiah said, "Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you."

Wow, the king can do nothing against his citizens?  What a king you must be!  But see, it isn't only these men he fears, but also God...

Jer 38:8  Ebed-melech went from the king's house and said to the king,
Jer 38:9  "My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city."
Jer 38:10  Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, "Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies."


Just days before, he could do nothing to stop them out of fear;  now, he defies them out of fear, saving Jeremiah because what they did was evil.  You start to think there might be hope for him, because he asks Jeremiah what to do next...

Jer 38:14  King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, "I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me."
Jer 38:15  Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me."
Jer 38:16  Then King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, "As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life."
Jer 38:17  Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live.
Jer 38:18  But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand."
Jer 38:19  King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me."
Jer 38:20  Jeremiah said, "You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. 


Jeremiah goes on to predict the exact fate that ends up happening to Zedekiah- he's not going to listen, he's going to get caught, and he's going to suffer and the city will burn.  And why not listen?  Because his biggest fear was the Babylonians:

2Ki 25:4  Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, though the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah.
2Ki 25:5  But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.
2Ki 25:6  Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him.


He knocks a hole in the wall for himself and his guards to escape, but gets caught. He loses his city, his family, his eyes, and is taken in chains to Babylon never to be seen again.  Lesson: the fate of the fool who doesn't listen to God out of fear.

The scoffers- the big shots

These were the same men who forced Zedekiah to imprison Jeremiah; they were the royal, religious, and military leaders.  They did things as they wanted, with no regard for God or Jeremiah's warnings.  They saw themselves, as we put it now, as 'too big to fail'... and, yet....

2Ki 25:18  And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold,
2Ki 25:19  and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and five men of the king's council who were found in the city, and the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city.
2Ki 25:20  And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
2Ki 25:21  And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.


Just to flesh this out- this was about three weeks after the city was taken.  Nebuzaradan had been sent back in to destroy the city and bring these men out- it seems God gave them 18 days (Jeremiah says 21) to repent, and still they thought themselves invulnerable.  And for their lofty opinions of themselves, God had Nebuchadnezzar treat them as they really were- an afterthought.  Lesson- pride goeth before the fall, people.

The simple- Gedaliah

At the end of the story, Nebuzaradan appoints Gedaliah the governor over the poor wretches that are left, but even among these there are snakes in the grass.  One of the leaders remaining, Ishmael 'the son of Nethaniah', who supposedly has that last little bit of royalty in him (his dad was a royal secretary or somesuch).  As a snake, everybody knows he's a snake- except for good-hearted Gedaliah:

Jer 40:13  Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah
Jer 40:14  and said to him, "Do you know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?" But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam would not believe them.
Jer 40:15  Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah at Mizpah, "Please let me go and strike down Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life, so that all the Judeans who are gathered about you would be scattered, and the remnant of Judah would perish?"
Jer 40:16  But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "You shall not do this thing, for you are speaking falsely of Ishmael." 

And guess what?  Gedaliah didn't get in one year of governing before Ishmael killed him.  Lesson:  Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.


And whereforth am I?

It is just before Gedaliah's murder that Nebuzaradan and Jeremiah have a little talk:

Jer 40:2  The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, "The LORD your God pronounced this disaster against this place.
Jer 40:3  The LORD has brought it about, and has done as he said. Because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey his voice, this thing has come upon you.
Jer 40:4  Now, behold, I release you today from the chains on your hands. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you well, but if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, do not come. See, the whole land is before you; go wherever you think it good and right to go.

While the sinful have been judged, Jeremiah has a choice.  And this is what salvation does for us- it removes "the chains on your hands".  God then gives you freedom to do as you will- but will you use it for His will?  Jeremiah stayed while the governor Gedaliah was murdered and preached God's will- stay in Judah, don't flee to Egypt. He followed them to Egypt (Or was forced with them by Ishmael) warning an ever-decreasing listener base that they would not escape the judgment of God OR Nebuchadnezzar in Egypt.  In other words, he continued to try to save even one of these, in the hopes that in the midst of these scoffers there would be one fool to turn, one simpleton to educate.  Jewish tradition says he was killed by the same people he preached to; history says "records are unclear" as to whether his prediction thatGod was coming for them came true:

 "Jer 43:8  Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes:
Jer 43:9  "Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah,
Jer 43:10  and say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them.

 


But when you consider everything else came true of what Jeremiah said, it's a safe bet. Lesson for us- Salvation gives you freedom- don't waste it on evil.

Martin World News: What's wrong with the headline edition

Well, I knew what direction I wanted to take when I sauntered over to BBC News and saw...

Problem?  Uh, well, the BBC is BRITISH news, and the last I knew, they don't get a choice in the decision.  If they did, I'm sure some wag would include THEIR Prime Minister in the contest and call it, "Boris vs Boring vs Boorish"...


Meanwhile at the Moscow times...

The Giant Saber-Toothed Grasshopper and Other Endangered Species

 

This is actually not about the wonderful new species coming from Chernobyl, but actually from a new comedy movie that also 'included' a flying bear, a North American nitpicking cottontail, "and a whole brood of African Disposable butterflies"...

 

 

This one from Xinhua made me scratch my head a bit...

  Xi to attend Martyrs' Day event,  present flower baskets to deceased heroes

 

 I think he might be presenting them at the heroes' graves...  

Next, the Japan Times had me a little color-confused...

Saudi Arabia sends blue ammonia green fuel to Japan in world first

Translating this a bit better would give you, "In a world first time event, Saudi Arabia sent Japan 40 tones of 'blue' ammonia, a green fuel." So, what is blue ammonia?  Well, as near as I can figure it is an ammonia type that has enough hydrogen (18%) to be used as a fuel.  Why blue?  Because it's cleaner than most fuels- the Saudis claim to capture all the carbons released by the process- but because it's made from 'dirty fuel' (the breaking down of hydrocarbons in the oil process), it's not quite "green" ammonia- but they hope it will be a stepping stone in inventing it.  And what will Japan do with 40 tons of the stuff? Use it for fuel at thermal power stations.

Finally, let's pop over to Deutsche Welle, where we find an atrocious pun...

Some germane facts about the German language

 

I don't know how 'germane' their facts were, but they did explain how you can make some truly monstrous words in German just by sticking a set of words together with grammatical super-glue, as with these examples:

 

 

1. Rinderkennzeichnungsfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz — with a whopping 79 letters, this term translates as “task transfer law concerning the supervision of the labeling of beef as meat on sale tags."
2. Grundstücksverkehrsgenehmigungszuständigkeitsübertragungsverordnung — weighing in at 67 letters, this hulk of a word denotes the "task transfer decree governing the applicable jurisdiction concerned with granting permits for vehicular traffic on non-public property."
3. Straßenentwässerungsinvestitionskostenschuldendienstumlage — coming in third at 58 letters, we are looking at the "reallocation of the debt management of costs associated with public investments in road drainage." 



There! Questionably funny bits without politics (for the most part)!

So, this time...

...Let's try combining pictures and an M10 update!

A pretty spot at which to have a picnic along the river...

"Yeah, well, get the food out!"

The fourth member of our party- Li'l Woody...

So one thing I wanted to bring up this week is the subject of songs that drop from the top spot for a week or two (or more) and then return.  I have a reason for bringing it up, be patient!  I learned that in Martin Era 2.0 (1955-77), Cashbox totaled 19 of these occurrences- including getting double credit when they did a double flip (song a, song b, song a, song b), of which there were 3.  Billboard in that same period had 23, with three doubles.  But the reason I really wanted to dig into it is because this week, the M10 did it for the third time this year, and I wanted to see what the record was...

Obviously a male tree...

Watching a man in a boat

The most important thing I learned was, this isn't even an M10 record!  In 2017, you might say there was 3 times, and you might say 3 and a half- the classic example of the feat, where I had the Shacks and Strange Boy at the top for 3 weeks, followed by Melody's Echo Chamber and I'll Follow You for 3, then Strange Boy picked up one more week- hung over into 2017, as well as the three times it legit happened in 2017:
You're Better Than Ever by illuminatti hotties hopping Dent May's Take Me To Heaven;
The midst of the first Iron Ceiling, Mikaela Davis's Little Bird leaping over two weeks of Sunflower Bean's Twenty Two;
And directly afterward, Lucius hopping Alvvays and Not My Baby with their Eventually.

Those last two are Misty's hilarious reaction to that boat's wake!

******************************************************************

Billboard's record in a year was 4- including a double: in 1966, Simon and Garfunkel's The Sound Of Silence and the Beatles We Can Work It Out did the double flip; then it was the Fab Four again, with Paperback Writer leapfrogging Frank Sinatra's Strangers In The Night.  Finally, Winchester Cathedral by the New Vaudeville Band- a song that would also do a double on Cashbox, but with a different middle- jumped the Beach Boys and Good Vibrations.

A dip in the river, so to speak...

Next day, this blue jay spoiled a beautiful shot of him sitting on the top of a pine tree...

...though I didn't know his buddy photobombed him...

Cashbox had a couple of bigger records, and one of them showed up inside their set of 5 (with one double) in 1967.  The first that year was the Stones leapfrogging with Ruby Tuesday over the Supremes and Love Is Here And Now You're Gone; Then it was Ol' Blue Eyes again, with him and daughter Nancy and Something Stupid jumping the Monkees and A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You.  Then came another song that jumped songs on both charts- but it jumped two!  The Rascals and Groovin' jumped first the Happenings and I Got Rhythm and then 2 weeks worth of Aretha Franklin and Respect before landing at #1 on the other side.

Two songs jumped is impressive- but Olivia Newton-John topped that when I Honestly Love You spent 2 weeks at the top- with Andy Kim's Rock Me Gently, The Spinners and Dionne Warwicke's Then Came You,  AND Billy Preston's Nothing From Nothing in between the two!

This morning, the reds are coming out

At this point, I have to interrupt the jumper story with the story of our latest M10 debut.  Earlier this week, original member of the Four Seasons Tommy DeVito became the second of the four to pass away.  In one of the tributes I read, Tommy was credited with the lead guitar on a medley tune on the last lp he played on with the Seasons, 1970's Half And Half.  That song- eerily appropriate- becomes the M10 debut at #9:







********************************************************

This pile is from whatever they harrowed the south field for...

The remaining M10:

10- The Flaming Lips drop 6 to 10 with Flowers Of Neptune 6...
8-Absofacto up 1 with Someone Else's Dream...
7- and holding for Anna Burch's Not So Bad...
6- Up 4 for America and Remembering...
5- Saintseneca slips 2 with In A Van...
4- Dropping from the top to #4 is Tennis and Need Your Love...
3- Dent May moves up 2 with Pour Another Round...
2- The Innocence Mission up 4 spots with On Your Side...

And the new/old #1....

(after some more pictures...)

He was playing with a black squirrel, and paused to pose

Unusually, no chipmunk hanging out at the bridge here...

 And, that leapfrogging #1- joining the earlier songs this year:  Real Estate's Paper Cup (over Anna Burch's Party's Over) and The Jayhawks with Bad Time (leaping the Explorer's Club and Didn't Want To Have To Do It)....

...Hazel English and Off My Mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next week, God willing, back to 1967!

Slapped down

Well, I guess I learned my lesson.  Misty pics in political quips out.  I understand all you all's feelings.  Why do you think I've struggled to even try a Martin World News anymore?  But I really thought that those 'quips' might just give someone a needed chuckle, something to remind us of the days when we didn't take things so damn seriously all the time.

Apparently not.  Except for Mad Jack's banana daiquiri wisdom, I got lit up.  I guess it bothers me that I grew up enjoying the art of the political cartoon, and now there's nothing left in the corpse to laugh at.  And it's not the fault of the reader.  The rabid excess on SM for both sides have brought us to a point that we're lucky if we can stand the sight of the next guy.  Last night I had what I thought was a serious and two-way talk with a person on Twitter over differences of opinion of legality in the Breona Taylor case.  When I got up this morning, a hateful troll who admitted he thought all justice was 'white supremiscism', all cops were racist dogs and corrupt, and I was, of course, a racist for daring to disagree- and the guy I had been debating replied to his final accusation of me being racist with 'clapping hands'.  These people would rather chew their hate than do the things themselves they claim they want from the 'other side'.

To say the least, I am disillusioned.   And I am sad that Satan has won so much of this nation to his "The only thing that matters is my hate- er, my opinion" ideal that rational debate gets sneered at and poking a little fun only puts hopelessness into the air.

DAMN IT, I WANT TO LAUGH AGAIN.  I want people to get the idea that, when you get up in the morning and look into that bright, newborn sky, that all of this crap is silly at it's base, God still has control, and when we shut out hate, it's a beautiful world.

And Misty's cuteness aside, if my only choice to do that is dog pictures, I may have to think about being done here.

Wednesday Bible Study: The end of all things- 1 Kings

This week we are in 1 Kings- kinda- because I'm going to go a bit off road with this one.  So much of what we need to learn here is NOT here, but in 2 Chronicles 18 and following.  So once again, here comes the thumbnail of our chapter.

We open with the righteous king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, making an alliance with the skunky king of Israel, Ahab- yes, that Ahab.  Why are we making an alliance?  Save that one for a little bit.  But we're making an alliance, and in the midst of this Ahab slyly brings up the subject of a formerly Israelite town that Ben-Hadad of Syria had recently taken.  His reason was to gull the other king into helping him fight Syria, as Jehoshaphat is a bit naive.  So after buttering the bread, Ahab comes out and asks if Jehoshaphat will help take the town back.  His response?

1Ki 22:4  And he said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?" And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."

And AFTER he makes the deal, THEN he figures he'd better call upon the Lord to see what He thinks.  The order with which this was done we'll call mistake #1.  Of course, Ahab brings his wife Jezebel's 400 prophets, who tell the pair:

1Ki 22:6  Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, "Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?" And they said, "Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king."


Note:  They never say, "The Lord says," or which Lord (in deference to Jehoshaphat, who is slowly getting the idea they don't worship the same God), or which king was going to get 'it' delivered to them.  Jehoshaphat smells something funny, and asks for a prophet of GOD.  So they bring in a man named Micaiah, who's already went a round or two with Ahab; and after playing with Ahab a bit, he lets them know 3 things:

1- the armies are going to be scattered and wander along home;
2- the prophets have been caused to lie by God, so that God's earlier words to Ahab would be fulfilled, and not to his benefit;
3- and the proof that Micaiah had God's word would be whether Ahab made it home alive or not.

So, then Ahab dumped Micaiah in jail.  Jehoshaphat, for whatever reason, decided to go along with Ahab rather than listen- and went back to Jerusalem alone after a stray arrow killed the disguised Ahab (another stupid thing Jehoshaphat let himself be talked into).  The chapter then goes on to tell the good and holy things he did later, how he got screwed up in another alliance with Ahab's son Ahaziah, and what a skunk Ahaziah was.  Now I could get a good lesson just from that, but there is a re-telling of the story in 2 Chronicles, which adds a lot of important detail- such as how the alliance with Ahab was sealed by marrying his son Jehoram to Ahab's daughter Athaliah, who became the most evil usurper in Judah's history- so far.

Now, I want to flesh this out by looking at the 4 prophets who would speak to Jehoshaphat- and why they did.  The first one is, of course, Micaiah.  He gave a warning to the naive king he failed to heed, and he paid for it, almost with his life.  You see, Ahab had conned him into going into battle in full regalia, while Ahab went incognito.  But God had instructed Ben-Hadad to tell his men, "Go after no one small or great save for the king of Israel."  In 1 Kings, it said Jehoshaphat cried out when he started being chased, and then the warriors dropped off the chase... 2 Chronicles tells us why:

2Ch 18:31  As soon as the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "It is the king of Israel." So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; God drew them away from him.

Which might make you ask, why would God bother to help someone who didn't listen?  That's where the second prophet came in...

2Ch 19:1  Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem.
2Ch 19:2  But Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the LORD.
2Ch 19:3  Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asherahs out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God."

He had set his heart to seek God, but had made one mistake.  God therefore gave him a chance to atone for it, and he didn't waste the opportunity.  He did as much as he could to purify his people (though the writer mentions that a lot of it didn't take with them) and God prospered him.

Which means, He had to test him.

He got news that a coalition of Moab, Ammon, and Edom- all at the time vassals of Judah- were joining together to attack.  But Jehoshaphat learned- he brought the people to God first thing.  He admitted they had no chance without His hand, and because of this, the third prophet comes along.

2Ch 20:14  And the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.
2Ch 20:15  And he said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's.


And Jahaziel goes on to give Jehoshaphat God's step by step plan for victory, which basically boiled down to, "Put on your armor, stand, and watch."  And as they did, the coalition turned on each other and destroyed themselves.

So, thus far we have had him do his own thing and ask God to bless it- didn't work; get scolded for failing, but encouraged in what he did right in obedience- became prosperous; and come up against an insurmountable problem, gave it to God first- and God took care of it.  All three of these are good lessons for us- but we still have one prophet to go, and what lesson do we need to keep in mind with these?

Well, Jehoshaphat decided to put together a trade fleet as Solomon had, and his dear daughter-in-law took that info to her brother, fellow skunk Ahaziah, king of Israel.  Ahaziah managed to do like dear ol' dad, and con Jehoshaphat into letting him into the deal.  You'd think Jehoshaphat would know better, and so did God.  Thus, we hear from Prophet #4-

2Ch 20:37  Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made." And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish. 

Later, he began rebuilding, and this time He told the opportunistic Ahaziah to get lost.  So he was, on balance, a good example- except to his son.  By allowing the marriage to the evil Athaliah, he set up Jehoram for the hard fall.  The churches are full of parents hoping a good child will convert a sinful mate, and the Bible is full of people of promise being brought down by evil mates instead.  And, as Jesus said, "And great was its fall..."


2Ch 21:18  And after all this the LORD struck him (Jehoram) in his bowels with an incurable disease.
2Ch 21:19  In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers.
2Ch 21:20  He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one's regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. 


Let me end things with one more example of God's sense of humor.  Among the four hundred prophets was one man in particular:

1Ki 22:11  And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, "Thus says the LORD, 'With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.'" 


Zedekiah would go on to insult Micaiah, but would be found "hiding in an inner room", later.  The joke being, daddy's name:  Chenaanah translates out to 'humiliated'.  Like father, like son.

Misty's first Happy Boofus Day, and the perils of voting revisited

Today Misty gets her first experience at the "2nd birthday" celebration called Happy Boofus Day.  And it starts- after a couple supply-stops- at Chain-O-Lakes State park.  HOWever, since I want to get things posted in their own good time, the pics will be interspersed with something a bit off-topic.  A while back, I posted about the indy candidates for President coming up in a few months.  Of them, the Libertarian Jo Jorgenson, the American Solidarity candidate Brian Carroll, and Howie Hawkins of the Green Party made the permissible write-in list.  But there were 10 other write-in-ables that made our ballot in Indiana, and I wanted to talk about them.  So, it's gonna be pics and picks on this post.

Misty, meet lake

Sign says, "No pets beyond this point"

"Well, that sucks!"

Candidate #1- Randall F.  No other info seems to be available on whoever this is- he's not even on Ballotpedia's list, and it has 1,202 registered candidates including Princess Khadijah M. Pres Jacob-Fambro, whoever that might be.

"Where'd they go?"

"Seriously, where'd they go?"

Here I is!

Candidate #2- Shawn Howard: I took one look at this guy's banner pic and said, "Bela Lugosi"...

A typical indy candidate, trying to find centrist positions on all issues, I got off his train when, in his essay on freedom of religion, he referred to the "fictional deity."  Well, I guess a vampire would...

Dudes, please!  I'm trying to poop here...

 Candidate #3- Abram Loeb: Basically a Green New Dealer, who's ever so original slogan is "Make America love again." While we Berned it up, we set the world on fire, caught up in righteous anger, love and compassion our only desire,
But anger we used to light the fuse, for stealing our energy, karmic abuse. And caused three great fires, one still coming soon, just watch the Stars, Planets, and the phase of the moon.  And if you can guess what that all means, I guess coherent thought just isn't your thing.

On the left, a massive tree fallen.  How big?

Oh, about that big...

Candidate #4- Dr Valerie McCray.  Other than the thought that she is "entering the presidential race “straight from the trenches” as a psychologist that has spent most of her career working in the aftermath of tragedy", about all her bio tells you is that a0 she has worked with a lot of PTSD cases, and b) she really needs to go with a darker font so that eyesight-encumbered persons my level and worse can actually read it.

Nice job, Misty...

This boy and his crew (at least one more squirrel and several birds) were loudly disputing something...

"Okay, that's trail #1.  Let's eat!"

 Candidate #5- Deborah Rouse:  Notable for being the only candidate outside the big three to actually have a vice-president listed, Rouse's only message on her site is this, er, promise: My only promise is, that I will not make any promises. As your President, I will enter the position with zeal and excitement, to better serve the people of the United States of America. "Hope" let's bring it back to America! God Bless The United States of America!

Picnic it is!

A look from above

Candidate #6- Joe Schriner:  Actually the most votable for me on the list.  "Jpoe The Painter" has some pretty good ideas- unfortunately mixed with a handful of probably unworkable economic plans, to wit:

-Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Home Depot, etc., will be categorized as monopolies and broken up.

-Big city downtowns will be sectioned off and turned into sets of small towns in the city.

-De-emphasize financial speculation (Wall Street) and other extraneous paper shuffling that doesn't contribute much, if anything, to the necessary stuff of life.  (Many of these extraneous paper shuffling jobs, and the like, have evolved in the last century.)

-Another New Economy component will be a shift to a much more decentralized, organic agrarian based society.  (Mega-corporate farming would end another monopoly and there would be a return of the small family farm, en masse.

-Shift from America being predominately a Society of Consumers to America becoming a Society of Conservers. In regard to a tremendously heightened sense of environmental consciousness.

As I said Sunday night as I read this with beer in hand, good luck with that.

Up the big hill...

Big, big hill...

 With big puffballs...

Candidate #7- Christopher Stried:  Here, in three answers, is about all you need to know about ol' Chris- from his Ballotpedia questionaire:

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

    I am open minded

    I am good looking and confident individual

    I am smart and intelligent

You be the judge...

In addition, he's not welcome in several countries...

Stried was convicted on charges of stalking and theft in Melbourne, Australia in 2011. Media reports state Stried met the woman in question in Paris on vacation and eventually followed her to Melbourne. Stried pleaded guilty to the charges and was treated at a psychiatric hospital prior to his deportation.

Candidate #8- Kasey Wells: Here's another one that quickly opens his mouth and finishes himself off:

3. Who us your running mate?

KASEY WELLS: I am flying solo… though I have an 11 foot tall, 13 foot long, by 7 foot wide ELEPHANT SCULPTURE named AMERICAN STANDARD that I have been touring the country with. I have my politics written all over it. If I win the election, I will park AMERICAN STANDARD on the WHITE HOUSE lawn and I will ask Bernie Sanders to be my Vice President. I have not declared a human running mate. If I don't have too… I won't.

For the record, Bernie would violently oppose about half of his positions.

Candidate #9- Mitchell Williams:  Another invisible man, other than he tried this last election, too.

Of course, the stop for ice cream!

Uggh!  Brain freeze!

  And last but (maybe) not least- James L Johnson, Jr:  He'd be an invisible man as well, except that he ran as a write-in- so he thought- in 2014 for the Indiana Statehouse, but never made the ballot because he didn't get enough signatures.  He then sued the State Election Board, saying he was kept out by a "technicality".  The appellate review told him he blew off several chances to do things the right way and tossed his case.  And that, friends are your choices...