Watch the Adjectives

News reports are filled with adjectives.  I don't think there is a thinking American who doesn't believe every news report is framed in some sort of bias.  Adjectives lead people sometimes subtly, sometimes overtly, to develop a definitive perspective on a topic or an individual.

We all have someone in our lives that can find the negative perspective to anything. Perhaps as a writer, I give more focus to adjectives, but they are powerful! There are two completely different images in your mind when you read, 'the tranquil sea was the perfect setting for . . .' and 'the raging sea was the perfect setting for . . .' Now if I'd have just written 'the sea was the perfect setting for . . .' you'd have still been picturing a large body of water, but the two adjectives literally created images a world apart. In the case of the sea, it's great to have an accurately descriptive adjective, but in the case of things that may not seem matters of life and death, adjectives can make a real impact.

 I just came in from the garden and although it's nowhere close to the terms I'm using at this point, it's still a great example of my actual point. Think of the different picture you form in your mind when you hear these two words that can have similar meaning, but . . . Her garden was lush. Her garden was overgrown. Lush gives the image of big green thriving plants, probably with produce or at least blossoms in the foliage. Overgrown could indicate large plants, but more often than not, it leads the mind to envision neglect or an abundance of weeds. Our adjectives should convey one thing specifically, but actually convey two. The one thing we should be able to count on when an adjective is used, is an accurate description of the noun. The second thing I've come to understand about adjectives is how much they reveal about the person or entity using them. I've become acutely aware of people that always have a negative adjective to include.

 I made the mistake of allowing someone to see my inventory room. Now the mistake was not in showing it. As the post 9/11 Bushites used to say, "I've got nothing to hide." I was actually hoping, of course, to drum up some business by inviting that individual into that room. I was shocked and I don't why, knowing this person as I do, but as they looked at all the work I had put into establishing a new business, the comment was simple and amazingly insightful. They said, "Oh, this is your hording room!" Perhaps they are more television minded and not so gifted at vocabulary, but until that moment, I hadn't realized it, then I began to notice.

 Every noun; person, place, and thing, was described with a negative intonation or degrading adjective, or both . . . Which brings me to the word of caution I want to share. Negativity can be contagious and certainly downgrading.  We can see that in our nation's politics and media.  Something else to consider, if a person uses negative adjectives and gives negative reports on other people, you can count on the same thing being said about you, behind your back. We all know what we hear from someone is what someone else is going to hear about us from that same individual, but I'm suggesting even more in this than the classic gossip. Our society tends to prefer to believe bad reports as good ones.

Scripture speaks clearly that there is power in words!

The Cattle are Dying

The summer drought wiped out thousands of cattle in the southern states the last couple of years, and before that, a long winter in Colorado caused thousands of bovine deaths in the high range country.  Now, in South Dakota, an early snow storm is reported to have killed tens of thousands of cattle.

I had to Google search this information, then when I did get a hit or a link, I actually had to search two of the news sites themselves.  For those who have been following these reports, in some headlines it's just a part of "government shutdown" news.  But it isn't.  Cattle dying by the droves has been taking place in America for the last several years in record number.  Not only does that affect the rising cost of beef, but it's much beyond an economic hardship on "consumers."

Many ranchers are operating on borrowed money, which means, they don't have any "room" at the bottom line.  So, even if they are reimbursed by insurance, that will affect premiums across the board, and if it declared a disaster by the federal government, well we know where that will go.  One more pile of papers to argue about through the next shut down or threat thereof.

The problem will affect our future.  The price of cattle and beef is already exorbitant, but when mature cattle of the herd dies, that means fewer calves next year and the next.  If the ranchers can hang on long enough to increase their herds, it will be two years of waiting and hoping there are no other negative variables to be factored.  When the livestock is dying, there is a spiritual problem.  When the livestock die from inclement weather, not only is it a spiritual problem, it has arrived through a sign from above.

Since the ranchers are insured and government backed, I don't believe these calamities are personal against the ranchers, but rather a sign to this nation.  The fish are dying, the birds are dying, and the cattle are dying.  Clearly, we as a nation, need to make changes and I'm not talking politics.  The change needed is deeper and much more significant than Congress playing nice.  This is judgment.  Cattle are specifically mentioned in the book of Jonah, also included is a lack of discernment between right and left.  Unlike America, Nineveh fasted and repented . . .

And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?  
                                                                                             Jonah 4:11 

Sustainable Development - Containment?

Agenda 21  has become Sustainable Development

I've been led to repost this dream and have included the original date it was posted.

Entry for December 10, 2008

A week ago, I had another dream or vision regarding the direction of our country, culture, or civilization. I’m just not sure if it is global or simply this country for now, but I get the overwhelming feeling that this particular condition that I “saw” was to provide our continental contribution to the global plan, and I saw containment. The sad thing was, the containment was considered convenient and safe and many of the people with which I spoke (in the vision) were content with the containment.

The vision or dream began, with us heading toward town in a wagon pulled by donkeys, and the other people we saw on the road were in the same basic mode of transportation. I remember specifically seeing a team of young donkeys harnessed together with a large draft type horse out ahead of them. The people in that wagon told us that was how they “broke” the young teams. As we approached the “town” or city, it was actually a gated metropolis in which all of the references had the prefix “mega” or the suffix “plex,” such as communi-plex, mega-mart. There were no private vehicles, only public transportation and the best way I can describe what we came to was a campus or compound containing apartments, schools, skyscrapers, and a health facility. We were there visiting our daughter and her family, but we kept running into other people we knew from days gone by. Our daughter told us how great it was there. She could take a bus directly from home to work, without riding for an hour and she could look out her window at work and see her children playing on their playground at school. She said, every night there was a “market stop” on the way home for groceries and supplies and as long as she worked every day, all her provisions and the children’s were met. There were more details as to child care and work schedule, but they are not specific to my memory, at this time, other than the fact they were mentioned. She said the only bad thing about the mega-metropolis was the fact she couldn’t come visit us any more. She said, “They” didn’t like them to go outside the gates and besides, there was no way to get to our place. Individually owned vehicles were obsolete. Now, perhaps this detail has been inspired by the desperation of the auto industry, I can’t say. All I can say, is this community, compound, campus was a contained “metro-plex,” completely functional in a sustained urban vacuum.

　

Agenda 21 Has Been Renamed - Sustainable Development

We've had so many political distractions of late, Agenda 21 came to mind.  I Googled it and discovered it's as politically biased as any other subject in our country, so, I went straight to the UN site and discovered it consists of over 300 pages.  I'll include the link here, and for the Cliff notes version, a link to Wikipedia.  Note Alex Jones and Glenn Beck also offer commentary and I found a video entitled Agenda 21 for Dummies.

It's been awhile since it was drawn up or mentioned, so I thought I'd offer some refresher links here.

http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda_21

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzEEgtOFFlM

The Window of Opportunity

Two weeks ago, I experienced a great disappointment and I truly wanted to whine, snivel, and complain, but . . . I chose to get inspired instead!  It was not an easy choice at first.  It required me to take responsibility for making a change . . . again.

I remembered back to the beginning of the Goshen Gazette, and how it was going to be a source of unfiltered, politically unbiased information, with a spiritual perspective.  We've been growing in that, so we're staying focused, but I was reminded recently that this publication isn't really taken as serious media, yet.

Since the mainstream news sources didn't choose to cover the event, the Goshen Gazette had the opportunity to basically have the exclusive on the Motorcycle Rally in Washington DC.   That didn't go as I had hoped at all, but two things did come from that.  I found a very unusual perspective from a gentleman who graciously agreed to let me post his observation of the event.  The second thing that occurred, as editor of the Goshen Gazette, I realized a missed opportunity is a missed opportunity.  This is the window of opportunity for the Goshen Gazette to become a serious news source, and I refuse to miss that window of opportunity!

As I watched the opportunity for this event to move from headline to history, I was just sick to see mainstream media sources still receive coverage for running wrong footage.  I knew there are too many things going on that are not being presented and now is the time.  We won't change events that are already in place, but at least we can know what we may be facing.

The Goshen Gazette will be introducing several new sections next week and offer links to many other alternative news sources for our readers.

We will remain a free publication, but we will be offering ad spaces at great rates!
We don't tell you what to think or how to think, we just present information you might want to think about!

Safe, Although . . .

It is the firm conviction of this journalist, when one sees the word "safe" followed by the word "although" in the sentence, be sure to read everything that follows the "although!"

>>>The water is safe to drink, state officials said, although they continued to caution against getting water in the nose, the route the amoeba takes. <<<

Safe to drink . . . ? http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/12/us/louisiana-brain-amoeba-water-supply/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

We all do realize how close our mouths are to our noses, right?  Please use common sense on this situation.  I do not have all the details, but when officials tell us to avoid getting any water in the nose, please don't take the chance of having it anywhere near your face.

Decide for Yourself

Do these two reports make sense, when considered side by side?   Should we be alarmed?   Is our nation large enough to consider ourselves distant from these situations?  Do we comfort ourselves with a sort of "it can't happen here" perspective?  Or do we tell ourselves, these are isolated incidents?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGhC9LTPMmk


http://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/headlines/20130529-fort-worth-family-disputes-police-account-of-shooting-that-killed-72-year-old-man.ece