“Seek first to understand, then to be understood”

1.) First, please READ THIS ENTIRE THREAD – and the full text of any discussion thread you wish to participate in.

2.) PLEASE STAY ON TOPIC – do not post something unrelated to the specific matter and content of the thread subject. There is ALWAYS a daily open thread available for any subject you feel should get attention. Never place unrelated, “O/T”, or “Off Topic” comments on a thread unrelated to the topic. It is not ok to say: “sorry, O/T but”… or any iteration therein, it is actually quite rude.

The Treehouse operates on the ‘old school’ standards and practices of civil discourse amid the original blogging community, long before social media took over.

3.) PLEASE NARROW YOUR THOUGHTS – Quality beats quantity. Please construct your comments to target specific areas and not broad generalizations about the discussion topic at hand. If you have four or five disconnected points, break them up into individual comments; that allows people to respond to the specifics.

4.) PLEASE AVOID GENERALIZATIONS – Do NOT speak in riddles. Words like “he, she, they, it, them” should rarely be used. Spell out “who” using the name, spell out who “they” are at the beginning of every sentence in your paragraph; so that there is clarity as to who you are talking about. Please avoid using acronyms.

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The server maintenance conducted last night was considerably more challenging than initially anticipated.  Unfortunately, the anticipated 20 minutes of down time ended up being, intermittently, around three hours.   Hopefully, that is not the case tonight.

CTH server containers are anti-fragile, privacy protected and a little ‘technically heavy’ in the modern era of optimized data networks.  In order to ensure last night’s fix was identified and implemented accurately, another maintenance test is needed tonight.  “This maintenance is being performed to exercise prior changes made and validate that we’ve fully resolved the issue.”

Unfortunately, there may be site disruption after 9:00pm ET tonight.   Engineers say disruption should last around 20 minutes; however, they said the same thing last night.

My apologies in advance.

Love to all,

Sundance

The colonies had been in conflict with England for over a year in June of 1776. A Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia on June 7 of that year. Richard Henry Lee from Virginia offered up a resolution with these now famous words:

“Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”

Lee’s words spurred the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. A committee of five was appointed to draft a statement making the case for the colonies, a statement to the world of the intent and the reason behind that intent.

Members of the Committee were John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston of New York and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. Jefferson took on the task of actually drafting the document as we know it today.

The Continental Congress reconvened on July 1, 1776, and on the following day, the resolution for independence by Lee was adopted by 12 of the 13 colonies, with  New York not voting. Minor changes were made to the Jefferson document.

Work on the document continued through July 3 and into the afternoon of July 4, when the Declaration was officially adopted by the Congress. Of the 13 colonies, nine voted in favor of the Declaration, two — Pennsylvania and South Carolina — voted No, Delaware was undecided and New York again abstained.

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As we gather with family and friends for this Independence Day celebration; as we still hold the memories of how government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by dispatching liberty; we remind ourselves that freedom is a valuable and precious gift worth fighting for.

There are many current anxieties, frustrations and feelings of despondency as our July 4th, 2022, celebrations take place. However, we would be well served to remember that we alone control our responses to events around us.

We can choose to put aside all of the challenges and issues that seem beyond our control, and we can gather in joyful fellowship with our family and friends to celebrate the reason our forefather’s defeated tyranny.

We Americans come from solid stock.

We carry in our DNA a fortitude of individual identity that is not dependent on government for affirmation or permission.  We are the beneficiaries of those who believed in stubborn independence.  What takes place at your picnic, gathering or assembly of fellowship is your independent choice.

I am reminded of an article written more than two decades ago, that still rings true to this day.

“An American credo, By Don Feder”:

I am an American. I was conceived at Plymouth, born in Lexington and Concord, and reached maturity at Philadelphia.

I went through the fires of Shiloh, Gualdacanal, the Chosin Resovoir, Khe Sanh and a thousand other battlefields, and emerged rededicated to the ideals on which America was founded.

I am an American. Ever ready to defend my liberty and independence, to make any sacrifice and bear any burden – still, I seek no quarrel.

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Special note: I’m very sorry if I have confused you guys. Sundance is a good friend, not my husband. My husband isn’t part of the Treehouse crew, and he has no idea about the stuff I write unless it’s something about the grandkids I might show him. 

This weekend we celebrate our 46th anniversary. Okay, we’ll celebrate later, my tough guy is at the races with a bunch of other tough guys. Believe it or not, I’m okay with that. These guys work hard and deserve their annual weekend. I think guys need times like that, and I happen to be a huge fan of toxic masculinity.

A few weeks before I turned 18, I met this really captivating guy who was good looking, strong, kind, and most attractive of all to me, not afraid to follow his own path in the face of teenage peer pressure. He was matter of fact about his family ties and his religion, at a time when most teens were way too cool for that stuff.

He had been working a hard physical job in the summers for a number of years, and he’d developed real toughness already. Mental and physical, the kind that does not come cheap. He was humble, and cared about people. He’s always been a people person, while I’m much more reserved. (more…)

A couple of brief notes from the Misfits mailbox.

First, to everyone who has sent well wishes, helpful suggestions and a request for an update as I battle the Xi-Flu, thank you.   I’m on day five of this thing and I would like to say it’s improving, but every time I think I’ve turned the corner, it gets bad again.  Mostly just massive aches and fatigue like nothing I have ever experienced.

Overall, I’m a healthy hermit.  Part of this COVID treatment is just letting the meds do the work and staying active between the episodes of exhaustion.  All will be okay, just the darnedest type of illness I have ever encountered.  No need to dwell, but my sincere appreciation for all the well wishes.  Y’all are great.

Second point, I’m not exactly sure why all of a sudden there’s a bunch of emails saying thanks for the advanced warnings last year about prices and our current economic status. However, it makes me feel good that many people are better positioned to assist their families through this Biden nightmare because of a little diligent advanced planning.

Every once in a while, -when digging through the data- my mind does wonder if there’s value in these forecasts.  I worry at times that it can seem depressing, but generally my intent is always to help people be prepared.  Knowing that so many people have been able to take even just a little bit of the stress out of the situation through preparation inspires me.  Our little community are the best peeps I know – smart too, and a very high information crew.   I cherish all y’all.

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Hey guys.  For the past two days I have been battling COVID.

Everything is ok, I just feel like I have been run over by a truck; deep, deep body aches, slight fever and exhaustion.

I’m in good health and using the protocol.  If no improvement tomorrow, I will go on the hunt for the monoclonal antibodies.

Again, not to worry, I just wanted to explain why the deep research outlines are missing.

Love to all,  Sundance

Don’t be worried if your comments are in a holding pattern “awaiting approval”, it’s not you.

As you know for Treeper privacy purposes, at CTH we operate a proprietary commenting system and do not use any tech systems that can open us up to Big Tech instability vectors.

We are currently in a little bit of a battle with the internet mafia, related to our core position on commenting privacy and proprietary control.

It’s a long story that you will eventually hear about as we refuse to concede an inch on user privacy.

Bottom line, if you find your comment “awaiting approval” don’t worry, it will surface after a bit of a delay.

We, in combination with our Rebel Alliance members, are working on a parallel track for a solution short-term and long-term. The internet comment mafia will not win.   Our conversation, and user engagement, will always remain secure and private.

Folks, I know times are rough right now for many people, but we have a long-time Treehouse friend who urgently needs our help.

Richard Stiller’s dog Dexter is having health issues and the vet in Southern California costs a bundle right now because of COVID stuff.

Dexter has been the loveable MAGA dog on various social media for a long time.  He’s cute as a button and just all around great.   He’s been sick for several days.

The dog hospital in SoCal charges a whopping $3,000/night for care.  Richard and his wife have exhausted their resources to try and take care of Dexter at home.  Now he trying to raise money to help heal his best friend and loyal companion in the hospital.

I’ll vouch for the authenticity of the need. Every $5 matters.

If you can help his Go Fund Me is HERE

Richard is on Twitter Here

Please keep Dexter and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Love to all.

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… “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

~ Robert Frost

2021 has again been a tumultuous year for most of us.  As the eve winds down, we are given to considering everything that has taken place.

Perhaps we have new challenges, perhaps our center is askew, perhaps our faith holds a new perspective, or perhaps our exhaustion weighs heavy as we rush turning to the next chapter…. hoping, praying for a better tomorrow.

It is easy to lose our sense of optimism.  Retaining a joyful perspective while everything around us seems mad isn’t easy.  However, if you accept that you can create something just a little bit better by making a choice, then you have accomplished a great deal.  Regardless of what tomorrow brings, we always have choices.  A new year’s perspective:

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