09-04-2023 Snippets

I believe it is time for a snippets article, as I know it is somewhat overdue since the last time I wrote a snippets article was on 4-14-2023, over two months! So, I apologize about that, and I have been swamped lately with many things on my plate. I have been dealing with a lot of things; as I said, I have a ton of things that I had to deal with, and I still have so many things that I have to deal with, so I am being overwhelmed lately, not just on the businesses side, but also personally and as well mentally. Nonetheless, a snippets article is overdue, so it is time for a new one, and I have a few things (a few topics) that I would like to discuss or share with some of you!

Here is the list of the topics that you will be reading for this snippets article; click/press that to open/expand the topics list, and you can click it again to close the topics list as well to get the list of the topics out of the way or that you would prefer to read the entire article instead of selecting only topics that might interest you. To read a specific topic all you have to do is click/press on the topic in the list and that will take you straight to the topic that you want to read.

09-04-2023 Snippets

What have I been up to, and how have I been?

For the past two months since that last snippets article I wrote, my photography business needed my focus more, so I put my focus on it. Now that I feel my photography business is okay enough, I changed my focus back to JoshiesWorld as that is the business that needs my focus more now; hence, I am writing this snippets article. During the two months, I have been heavily focused on my photography business, trying to get some clients, and while trying to get some clients, I have been working non-stop trying to find some fashion businesses in the hope that they would be willing to send/loan some of their clothes or jewelry for some of the people or models that I do a photoshoot with. Having models who wear their products in some of my pictures, they would pay the people or models to show them off and pay me as a photographer for taking pictures of the models or people wearing their stuff. Trying to get some fashion company or designers willing to send or loan me some things for the people or models to wear for the pictures I take as a photographer is challenging for two reasons. One is that I am only known in two regions in two states: the Commonwealth of Kentucky and West Virginia. By two regions, I meant two counties – one county in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and one county in West Virginia because where I serve as a photographer is on the border of these two states. If you have ever lived or visited the border of these two states, you know it is rural in that area. The second is, being that it is rural, it’s even more challenging for a photographer to find a model or anyone willing to do a photo shoot or get paid to have their pictures taken for some of the fashion companies or fashion designers that sent or loaned their stuff for the people or models to wear in the pictures. Being a photographer in rural is challenging; trying to find a fashion business or fashion designer willing to send or loan their stuff because I am only known locally as a photographer. Also, to convince them to send or loan their stuff, I would have an extensive portfolio that involves pictures of models or portraits of anyone because, as I said, I am in a rural area where it is already difficult to find anyone willing to do the photoshoot. So, it is a double whammy for me as a photographer living in rural. It wouldn’t be this difficult if I lived in a large city or maybe in urban areas.

If you are interested in becoming a professional photographer and you happen to live in a rural area, then this is something that you have to think about. When I say this, being a professional photographer who lives in a rural area, you will have to work 3-4 times harder. Of course, I am not saying that you should give up on wanting to be a photographer if that is your passion because if you have a passion for doing something, then that is something you should never give up on but just that you should expect that there are a lot of barriers that will be in your way than you would if you were living in a large city or urban area. I always tell myself and others that photographers who live in New York City or near that city are fortunate. In New York City, photographers will never run out of anything to take pictures of, and not only that, millions of people walk around the city or live within it, so they will always easily find a model or someone to take pictures of. And there are many fashion companies or designers over there too, so that is, in my opinion, a lottery for a photographer living there or nearby! The nearest large city or urban for me is Louisville, Kentucky, a 4-hour drive, or Columbus, Ohio, a 4-hour drive. Being a professional photographer, at a minimum, you want to live in or near at least that size of a city such as Louisville, KY, or Columbus, OH. The bigger the city, the better; New York City is the ultimate place for a photographer, in my opinion.

Being a photographer who lives in a rural is a struggle for many reasons, to name a couple, such as not enough people and not enough businesses (especially for fashions) – talking about ending up in the wrong place with that passion of mine.

But as for how I have been, I am doing okay. Always being overwhelmed with the businesses, but that is to be expected. I am dealing with some hardship in life, hating the summer because I am not never a fan of the heat. I was in the emergency room not too long ago because it felt like I was on the fence about having a heart attack. I am going through a lot personally, but I am doing okay, and I have been on a diet for about a year now. I am doing very well at that because I have lost almost 60 pounds, which I am proud of. For the past two months, I have been struggling with a new pain that seems not to give up as it continues growing and is getting a bit harder on me. Speaking of new pain, I am referring to my right hip to my knee, and it is a bit strange because ever since I broke my femur in half on my right leg, I have been dealing with it for more than half of my life. Still, it wasn’t hurting too much, so I could hardly straighten up my leg or stand on it until now. I usually could sleep on my right side comfortably, which was my most comfortable way to sleep, but now, because of the pain, I have to sleep on my left side instead, and that is my worst position when sleeping; about two months ago, the pain started growing intensely, as if I aged 40-50 overnight and the pain seems not to be temporary since it is two months, so that is something that I have to think about getting checked. Still, I would have to put aside my stubbornness to do that. Nonetheless, in general, I am doing okay! I hope everyone is doing great; I would love to hear how you are doing, so please leave a comment below and let me know!

People are abusing their SNAP!

Yes, you heard that right. As the topic above says, people abuse their SNAP, and I will discuss that here. If you don’t know what SNAP is, it is short for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as Food Stamp, funded by the United States government to help anyone in poverty get food. Many years ago, SNAP recipients would get funds directly to their banking account for them to use to buy food. Still, that is no longer the case because many recipients would use this money for something other than buying the food they are supposed to. The government decided to crack down on that by making it the only way for the recipients to get food is with SNAP or EBT cards. They would be outright denied if they went to any store and asked to withdraw money from that card. The only time that the funding from the SNAP account can be used is if it recognizes that what they purchase is food or beverages. It will not act as a prepaid, credit, or debit card. It will only be used if a SNAP/EBT card recognizes food or beverages in their shopping cart. If you put $50 worth of food and $50 of clothes in there, the SNAP will only pay $50 for that food while forcing them to pay that other $50 for the clothes out of their pocket. So, the government has successfully cracked down on that because it prevents anyone from using the money intended for food as it should be. I think it’s wrong for a lot of people to choose to use the fund that was intended for the food for something else because some people prefer to spend that fund on other things than not being able to have any food to eat, which in the end harms themselves as they need food not to be starved.

As I said, the government has succeeded in curbing the people from using the money intended for food, but unfortunately, that did not last long. Why did I say that? I have witnessed some loopholes that some people on the SNAP program can use food money for something. Unfortunately, some are for drugs, and some for alcohol. Because no one is supposed to use the food money from the government on anything but for food and beverage, their EBT or food stamp card will only be accepted if they recognize that there is food or beverage in their shopping cart. Now, how can they get around that? I stumbled upon some of these people who can get cash from them by selling their EBT/SNAP food cards and, yes, selling them. Sadly, many want to sell them for 1/2 of what is on that EBT/SNAP card. If they get $250 a month on that EBT/SNAP card, they will sell them for $150, which is very successful for one reason. People who receive food stamps get cash to spend on something more important than food, while those who buy the EBT/SNAP card from them essentially purchase food or beverages at half price. They have a 50% coupon for any food and beverage the buyers need. How it goes with selling and buying the food stamp card (EBT/SNAP card) is that a person who has it would hand the card over to the buyer by telling them how much they can use from that card if it sells for $150 then the buyer can spend $250, then the buyer would hand the money to that seller and the buyer goes grocery shopping with that card. Once the buyer is done with shopping to use that food stamps money, they will hand the food stamps card back to the seller, and then the seller waits until next month for when that card gets reloaded, then that seller sells it again to any buyer that wants them. Let’s say the buyer refused to give the card back to that food stamp recipient and tried to keep it so that the next month, that buyer would get it reloaded to rob from that food stamp recipient; that won’t work. Because that food stamps recipient can call it in stolen and have it replaced and will not sell that card to that buyer again, the recipient seeks another buyer willing to pay that food stamps card at half the price of whatever is on it.

Yes, that is called food stamp abuse. I couldn’t believe it when I witnessed it; although I have no idea who the seller is, I have seen the buyer I know of and watched how it goes. At first, I wondered why the recipient would sell them at very low because you would think that you could sell it at the same price as whatever is on that card, but that isn’t the case because no one would do that as they can spend the cash by themselves so for them to be able to sell them is that they would have to sell a lot lower than however much it has on that card. So, they often sell them at half the price of whatever that is on that card, and the seller gets what they want even though it is half of what it is on that card but having cash is more important to them because it allows them to buy drugs or alcohol which is disappointing. I might not be disappointed if they are for clothes, bills, or whatever, but I am because they need the cash for the wrong things.

Now, that means the crackdowns by the government have failed, but they succeeded in the short term. So, what can they do about that? No idea. The only thing I can think of is to have it reported that they are abusing them. If you see that a seller does this, at first, try to tell that recipient that it is not intended for anything else but for the food and that food is the most important thing so that they would have food to eat rather than getting sick by not having any food especially if they have children. Try to convince the recipient to stop doing it and use it only for food and beverages. But if they keep doing it, you should report that recipient for abusing SNAP because if they keep doing that by getting cash for drugs or alcohol rather than using SNAP for food or beverage, then what is the point of them having food stamps? None, since they choose something else, such as drugs or alcohol, that is more important than food, so take that away from them, and in the end, you might be saving that person’s life even though you would be taking the assistance that they have for some food but again you would not anyway because they do it to themselves by not spending them on the food. Plus, not only that, if they are doing it this way, then it is apparent they don’t need SNAP in the first place. It is wrong in many ways because abusing them could be better used by someone else struggling to get assistance putting food on their table.

How to report SNAP abuse? You can go to this link and then fill out your information on the recipient. https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/integrity/fraud-reporting

Socialism is good for the United States of America!

I am sure that some of you who are Republicans will probably bark at the topic’s title above. Before you start barking, let me tell you something first, and then you can bark all you want, but if you do, think twice before doing that because many Republicans have done what is considered socialism! Is the United States becoming socialist? My answer is it already has been, and it mixes with capitalism, which is why it works well in the United States of America. Socialism and capitalism seem to be the right ingredients for this country as both are balanced. What is socialism? Let me break it to you. Public education (public schools, public universities, public colleges, etc.), churches (tax-free), public parks, public beaches, public libraries, police, military, veterans programs (such as Veterans Affairs where they get many benefits including healthcare), post office, public road, national parks, state parks, social security, general hospital, public energy, and utilities, daycare, and many more.

Socialism is NOT communism; both are different from each other. Socialism is where the government supports by funding many things, including your favorite church (tax-free), military, and police. Communism forces everyone to share everything, forces collectivism, forces everyone to share their wealth, is ruled by a collected group (such as one political party under the head of a country), and more. Collectivism is a big thing in communism. In socialism, it is individualism with support, such as it is up to us to do whatever we wish to do, thanks to our freedom. At the same time, if any of us cannot make it, such as not being able to afford food or clothes, then that is where the government’s assistance (socialism) comes in to ensure these people survive. In that case, that is where socialism goes so well with capitalism because socialism helps capitalism grow by giving people who need help to afford food, clothes, or anything. How can we protect ourselves from another country? With socialism, since the government pays our military. The bottom line is that being socialist means they want to ensure that each of us individually has the things we need and leave it to us. Communism is the opposite of that because they want EVERYONE instead of the government to pay (sounds almost like Republicans, doesn’t it?).

I know that sounds great, even to Republicans. But the problem is that they don’t like that socialism is associated with Democrats because IT IS WHAT DEMOCRATS ARE ALL ABOUT! If Republicans had the chance to be socialists, believe me, they would be the ones who bragged about it instead of opposing it. Just that the problem is that socialism is more aligned with the agendas and the ideology of the Democratic Party than it would ever be with Republicans since Republicans do everything to make sure that many social programs such as public schools, hospitals, social security, food stamps, and others to be cut. They would even cut the military and the police, but they will not because few realize they are part of socialism.

So, socialism is GOOD for the United States. If there were no socialism, then we wouldn’t have all of these here in the country, such as churches, public schools, public libraries, public hospitals, public parks, public roads, the most powerful military, police departments, and many more to go on! Socialism and capitalism go hand in hand, and it’s a perfect combination for the United States, which is why the United States has been so great for decades. Decades? No, socialism has been here for many centuries already, ever since there is a church, a police department, a public road, a public hospital, a military (such as Veterans Affairs, where they get many benefits, including healthcare), and many others. Socialism has been everywhere in the United States since the birth of the United States of America. What about bad things that are going on in the government? Yeah, that’s fascism, and I’ll let you be the one to research that.

Add people to your Facebook friends list without allowing them to access too much information on your Facebook.

In case you did not know, there is a way to limit some people from having full access to the information you have on your Facebook, such as your posts, pictures, videos, and whatnot. Whenever you set some of your posts, photos, videos, and whatnot to only friends, they will not be able to see them, although they will still be on your friend list. They will only see whatever you have set to the public. This is somewhat a way to not feel bad by not accepting their friend’s request just because you don’t want them to see too much information that you have on your Facebook profile. Now, you can accept their friend’s request and limit them from seeing whatever you have on your Facebook profile, as they can only see anything you have set to the public. Here is how to do it. First, they would have to be already on your friends list for you to do that, so if you haven’t accepted their friend request, go ahead and do that. Afterward, go to a button that says “friends” on their profile, giving you a list of a few options, and then go to “Edit Friend List”. When you click/press that, it will take you to some list, and then click/press “restricted” in that checkbox. That is it; now, whoever you added to your restricted list on Facebook cannot see anything you have set to friends only on your Facebook profile, and they can only see whatever you have selected to the public. This is a great feature for people you are uncomfortable sharing too much information with, such as your boss, coworkers, certain family members or friends, and whatnot! Here are the screenshots so you can better understand how to do it.

The reason for the increasing cost of goods and people getting broke.

Some people still complain about some products (goods) getting more expensive. I don’t blame them; the goods (products) in the United States and everywhere else are costly. I am talking about a ton of money, especially for the likes of meats and as well eggs. It’s part of inflation. Yes, that is precisely what inflation is. What causes inflation? People cannot stop buying them, as if everyone can afford them. The irony is that people are complaining about the cost of the goods, yet they cannot stop buying them, and because so many people buy these products, the manufacturers or companies increase the price of their products. Are people getting broke? Especially the lower class but not the middle class and certainly not wealthy people either.

Middle-class and high-class (rich people) overspend on many products so often that the companies have a hard time producing or manufacturing them, so they increase the cost of their products in the hope of slowing down to continue making them. The higher the demand, the more expensive they will get, and the suppliers will struggle to meet the demands, so how to solve that? To meet the demands, that is to push the price up. Because everyone in the middle and top classes can afford them and they are overspending on them, it’s hurting the lower class greatly. Yes, under President Joe Biden, there are broken records in the number of jobs available, and that is because the economy is doing too well. The more people work, the more demand for many products, and the suppliers have a hard time meeting the demands, increasing the cost of the products in the hope of slowing down from running out of the products too quickly. That goes the same with the interests; the government has been increasing the percentage of interest in the hope of slowing the overspending by people. It is out of control because many people can afford them thanks to a record-breaking number of jobs, which means more money that people get their hands on and more spending on the products, making it harder for the suppliers to meet the demands. The demand is the number of how many people that buy the goods and how much we buy these goods. That is part of the inflation: increasing the interest, increasing the cost of the goods, and increasing the cost of the services is to cool down the inflation by slowing down or hopefully to slow down too many people overspending on these goods so that the suppliers can finally be able to meet the demands then they will in turn lower the cost of the goods. The less sales they make, the lower their goods will cost. The more sales they make, the higher their goods will cost. That’s in the most straightforward words I can think of!

Lower the cost of the products? Tell people to stop overspending. To cool down inflation, the government keeps increasing the interest for credit or loans, and the companies or manufacturers jack up the prices of their products. That way, I hope that it will make people think twice before overspending on some of the products, and then the companies will see that there aren’t too many sales for their products so they will lower the prices on their products, and then everyone will be happy. That also means the inflation will start going down, and we will finally be getting out of the inflation!

Yes, it is the opposite of blaming President Joe Biden for not doing too well on the economy – blame President Joe Biden for doing TOO WELL on the economy. It’s common sense: more jobs, money, spending, and higher product costs – less spending, lower product costs, and more money employees can save. Goodbye, inflation!

What freedom do you preach about in America?

It is cringeworthy to hear many people say freedom on Independence Day and any day when there is no freedom in America as long as there are bans on abortion, bans on so-called “woke” books, the wants to ban anyone from switching a gender, the wants to prohibition of people to be LGBTQIA, and many more – NO FREEDOM! That is all Republicans and Trump supporters, aka MAGA cult, do is stripping down many freedoms from the people. If we allow everyone to choose what they want to do and be however they want to be. Maybe we can start thinking about associating “freedom” with America, but until then, don’t even think about saying it or using that “freedom” word anywhere. Because right now, as I type this, more freedoms are being taken away from the people. Sometimes, I even wonder if some of the people who are Republicans or support Trump truly understand the meaning of “freedom,” but I very much doubt that! If that person does not want a baby, get out of the way and allow that person to get an abortion. If that person has a feeling or loves another same-sex person, get out of the way and let them be happy. Speaking of that, they do NOT choose to be interested in the same-sex person; it is PART of them. No different from you as a straight person meeting someone else who is opposite sex and falling in love with or liking that person right away because you are FEELING it, not by choice.

In the same way, the LGBTQIA community does not choose to like other people; they like or love others because they FEEL it. In other words, yes, I guess I am saying that it comes from a person’s heart, yet you are trying so hard to suppress them from doing so, and that is enough! Why are Republicans trying so hard to stop students from reading books related to the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community?! Slavery happened, and we white people did it. We stole the lands from indigenous people; we white people did it. We, white people, killed indigenous people for their lands. That’s that. Why do these Republicans or Trump supporters not want the students to learn about that? It’s called education! I mean, you Republicans tout that your party was the one that freed slavery thanks to a Republican President at that time, Abraham Lincoln. Great, great, then let these students know about it! Banning the books especially written by BIPOC writers, like really?! Talk about taking the freedom away from the BIPOC writers by not allowing them to publish their books or having them in the schools.

Now, I am a Christian myself, and I will say this. Why not take our Bible away from us? Why not ban us from going to churches? Or, how about this: by law, we are NOT allowed to be Christian and worship our God or the son of God Jesus Christ? Are we NOT allowed to marry a same-sex person? Before you start an outcry about what I said here. Now, think hard; it is no different from what we do to others. Banning books, banning abortions, banning LGBTQIA people from marriage, banning people from changing their gender identity, and more. If we can have a Bible, then they should have books. If we can go to churches, then they can be married. If we can be Christians, then they should be transgender or interested in same-sex. If we can have sex, so should women have the right to abortion. I could go on, but you get the idea! Then, that is finally a step toward what freedom is all about!

To truly have freedom in America, everyone has to be equal without oppression!

Not a fan of raising the debt ceiling? Plus, President Joe Biden’s tax proposal.

Not too long ago, our government in the United States decided to increase the debt ceiling by lifting the cap off it so that President Joe Biden could borrow however much money he needed to spend. Commonly, they raise the debt ceiling, as they have done so many times through both Democrat and Republican Presidents. Yes, Republican presidents are known for overspender than Democrat presidents, but the point is that it is common here in the United States. Although it almost became uncommon that this time, Republican congress didn’t want to increase the debt ceiling, thankfully, in the end, they decided to do so, and that wasn’t all they did. Still, they lifted that cap instead of just increasing the limit. But only for two years of President Joe Biden’s first term, as it will expire in January 2025. The reason that there are so many times when our government has increased the debt ceiling is that we need more money to borrow to pay to keep our country running, such as paying for the military, different social programs, including police departments, public schools, public hospitals, and many more. As I said above, we keep on increasing the debt ceiling because Republican presidents tend to overspend (look at Trump’s spending, for example, the most spending by a president), so even if Donald Trump won the second term, we would still have to increase the debt ceiling regardless because we were running out of the money to pay all of the services in our country. If former President Donald Trump didn’t pass his tax bill, we would likely not need to increase the debt ceiling for a while, but thanks to that tax bill that Donald Trump wanted, we had to raise the debt ceiling so soon.

Is raising or lifting the cap of a debt ceiling a problem? Yes and no. It depends on how our government goes about it. Let’s say we can pay our borrowed money back in, say, ten years. If so, then that is good. If it’s longer than that, maybe it’s not that good. The more we borrow, the more we risk the undervalue of our dollar and the credit of the United States. But again, in my opinion, that debt ceiling is just a way for us to control our spending, but we never will run out of money because we can always make more money. The United States has the power to make a heck of a lot more money if they wish to, although that probably would make the companies here in the United States more greedy because they will see that as their way of getting more money from us by increasing the cost of their goods (products or services).

To stop or drastically slow down the government from increasing the debt ceiling or lifting the cap from the debt ceiling is really on Republicans. It is a simple thing to do, more simple than you would think. Tax the darned millionaires and billionaires! That is why President Joe Biden advocated for passing a law that would tax anyone who has more than $400,000 and no less. For some reason, a lot of people, especially Republicans and Trump supporters, are against that because they think that what President Joe Biden wants to do is to tax everyone when that is not even close to being true. The only thing that President Joe Biden said and promised is that the new tax bill is to tax anyone who makes more than $400,000. Yes, if you make $399,999, your taxes will not change, but if you go a dollar over, you will be taxed. If you have a dollar over $400,000, then that one dollar is where they will be taxed. Not that $400,000 or under, but that one dollar that goes over it is what will be taxed. Let’s say 30% of that one dollar if you bring in $400,000 home yearly is about $0.30 that the government will take from you. Not your $400,000, but that one dollar from $400,001.00 brings you down to $400,000.70 home.

I bet that by now you realize that isn’t too bad, isn’t it?! Yeah, well, you overreacted! By the way, that 30% was just an example. I believe it is at 21%, and President Joe Biden wants to bring that up to 28%. Again, before you overreact, 21% to 28% is a tax bracket only for anyone making more than $400,000 annually.

Back to the debt ceiling, taxing the millionaires and billionaires would drastically slow down the government from having to increase the ceiling debt because we would be getting plenty of money from them to pay for the military and all of the services/programs. Not only that, but it would also help us as a country to pay back some of the debts. By the way, we pay more taxes than millionaires and billionaires, so it is time they pay their fair share! What is the other option if you still don’t want to do that and are afraid to tax the millionaires and the billionaires? The military takes the cut, and the police departments take the cut as well. Before you even think about complaining, the military already has too much money, and they don’t use all of them! Yes, that means there is a lot of money left over in the military that they haven’t used up. That tells you what? They must not need that much money, then! So, if there is no tax on the rich, cut a small percentage of the funding that goes to the military and the police department so that we can have some money to pay for other things in dire need, such as social security. Even if we take a small cut of that military spending, they would still be the most powerful military, and we would still be paying our military more money than all of the countries combined on this earth!

These two ways to drastically slow down the government from increasing the debt ceiling if you are not too fond of the government having to raise our debt ceiling as often! So, make a choice. If not, get used to our government asking for our debt ceiling to be increased or having the cap lifted.

What in the heck are you doing with the United States flag?!

Why is the United States of America flag on your clothes? Why are you wearing the United States of America bikinis in the summer?! Why did you put the United States of America flag on your products?! Why is that United States of America flag on your vehicle’s window?! Do you realize you disrespect the United States of America by doing these?! The irony is that you act as if you are proud to be American, wearing that US flag, whether with Trump’s name on it or whatnot, then you are outright disrespecting this country that you THINK you take pride in being America! So stop wearing anything with the United States flag, take that sticker off your vehicles, stop supporting Trump’s hat with the US flag, and everything. Then maybe you would finally say you respect the United States of America! What am I talking about, and why am I speaking like this? Because I respect my country enough to know that there is a United States flag code!

Read the United States flag code here: https://www.military.com/flag-day/us-flag-code.html

Or, in more depth, every code and whatnot on US House’s website: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?hl=false&edition=prelim&path=%2Fprelim%40title4%2Fchapter1&req=granuleid%3AUSC-2018-title4-chapter1&num=0

Or you can read it right here because I want to make sure that you read it, and you should if you are THAT proud to be an American like I am, who refuses to violate the United States flag code!

It is somewhat lengthy, but if you are a Republican or Trump supporter, the way I have seen, you have disrespected the United States flag more than you think! So, please refrain from wearing the US Flag, from using them on your vehicles, and whatnot.

Ozempic and Wegovy paralyze your stomach!

Not too long ago, I was reading a bunch of news, as I always do almost daily, which everyone should do because it is important to keep up with current events worldwide. Still, as I said, I was reading a bunch of news online, and when I do, I often like to do so on Google News or Bing News because both feed all kinds of news in one place rather than needing to check the news in many places. I saw one of the trending news in the medicines section that caught my attention: Ozempic or Wegovy. In case you don’t know what these medicines are for, they are advertised to help people with diabetes, such as to help them either maintain their diabetes or to get their diabetes level back in control if they overate sugar. Do you notice that I used the word “advertised”? That is where the problem is because many people, including some of them, use them for something else: to lose weight fast. Yes, now they are starting to say that they can be used not only for diabetes but also for weight loss because they have semaglutide in them, and that is fine, but when they were advertised for diabetes, people found out that they could help them to lose weight very fast. They go after them like kids going after candy in a candy shop. Because of that, many places started having shortages of these medicines, making it hard for people with diabetes to find them in stock at their pharmacies. I have witnessed that firsthand because my mother is diabetic, so she needs them to maintain her sugar levels. As soon as people around here discovered that these medicines were the magic for their weight loss, my mother struggled to find them and would have to wait a few days until she could finally get her hands on them when they were out of stock because there were so many people getting them for weight loss, my mother and other people who have diabetes have to figure a way to maintain their sugar levels by not eating much of anything because they are too afraid that they might miscalculate how much sugar or carbs that are in their food for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Remember I said that when people discovered that these medicines could help them lose weight fast, they started getting them like the kids go crazy after some candy in the candy shop? Now, there are consequences! Many people report to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) that they suffer from severe gastroparesis after taking these medicines (Ozempic or Wegovy) for weight loss. FDA says they have received reports of stomach paralysis among patients taking Ozempic and Wegovy. What is that? Stomach Paralysis. Many now say they wish they had never touched these medicines advertised for diabetes!

If you are using Ozempic or Wegovy for weight loss, you might want to be careful because they can now cause your stomach to be paralyzed, which I am sure you don’t want to happen! Yes, they can help you with weight loss fast. Still, they just discovered not too long ago that they can not only help people with diabetes but also help people with weight loss, so that part of weight loss is still new, and not many scientists or doctors have figured out how to take them properly or how much is appropriately such as dosage or whatnot. I am sure this news you have found out now scares you, and I don’t blame you. I would have if I were taking them to lose weight, although I do lose a lot of weight by going on a diet for a year (the keyword, a year), but not because of these or any medicines. My diet is strictly based on ensuring I don’t eat more calories than I should.

Here are a couple of sources that you can read about that.

• Ozempic users report stomach paralysis as weight loss drug side effect: ‘I wish I never touched it’ by Meredith Clark at The Independent.
• They took blockbuster drugs for weight loss and diabetes. Now their stomachs are paralyzed by Brenda Goodman at CNN.
• ‘It comes at a big cost’: Diabetic Ozempic users experience stomach paralysis, pancreatitis by Melissa Lopez-Martinez at CTV News.
• Makers of Ozempic and Mounjaro sued over ‘stomach paralysis’ claims by Berkeley Lovelace Jr. At NBC News.

Wayback Machine

The other day, I was thinking about how to prepare for all of my websites after I am no longer on this earth. This is something that I will have to figure out, seeing if I could do something that would keep all of my websites up after I am no longer here because I am sure that some of my family members and businesses benefit from this website due to reviews or sponsorships if there are any, friends, readers/viewers and others would like to see that all of my websites still to be active after my death. Because I am the only one with access to everything, such as keeping the websites up and running, because I am the one they charge to do so. Once I am no longer here, my payments to them will halt, and from there, they will shut down everything. Sure, I can entrust someone with my information where they can access it and change my payment information with theirs. Still, one would have to go through a lot of hassle because they are not in one place due to having many providers that keep everything up and running. So, what else can there be? Then I remembered that there is a website that is called Wayback Machine. Suppose you don’t know what Wayback Machine is. In that case, it is a website with a huge database of internet archival where they archive as many websites as that allows them to do so. However, some websites have set it to where they refuse their crawl bots to scan their websites to archive anything on their websites. Luckily, since day one, I have set it to where all of my websites would allow Wayback Machine to send their crawl bots to scan all of my websites from the day it was launched to now, so that means that they have everything that my websites have. Although they do not archive the websites daily, they do archive periodically, especially if any new update was done to them, such as new articles, pictures, and whatnot. Wayback Machine doesn’t archive many pictures or videos unless embedded with other providers such as YouTube or elsewhere. Still, they archive anything in the text, and this website, JoshiesWorld.com, has plenty of that, meaning many of the articles that JoshiesWorld has published are likely to be archived.

So, in case I didn’t prepare anything in time before my passing or something, then you now know you can still view or read some of the things on all of my websites. All you have to do is go to this link and then type what website you want to visit: https://web.archive.org. Or you can go to this link to see all the things that they have archived on JoshiesWorld here: https://web.archive.org/web/20230000000000*/https://www.joshiesworld.com.

For any of you who is a web developer and would like to know how to have your website archived. First, you must create a robots.txt and ensure that you allow all the crawlers to index your website(s). If you want everything crawled on your website(s), create a new txt document, name it robots.txt, and add this code below. Then, save it and upload it to your website’s root folder using an FTP client.

User-agent: *
Allow: /

Once you do that, go to web.archive.org; on that front page, look for “Save Page Now” at the bottom right. Then, just let all the crawler bots (including Google Bot, Bing Bot, Alexa Bot, Wayback Machine Bot, etc.) crawl your website(s). These bots will check your website(s) periodically; if there is a change on your website, they will archive that, too, so everyone can see your website’s old and new versions!

Stone, Ky, and Henry Ford

Here is a history lesson for the people who live around here in Pike County, Ky. If you live in Pike County, KY, you know where Stone, KY, is, but do you know any history behind that place? Stone, KY, is about a five-minute drive from where I reside, and I have gone to that place so many times in my lifetime for different reasons. They have one of my favorite places to fish, which is at Grants Branch. If you drive through that area/town, there is one thing that you cannot miss because it is right in front of you every time you go through Stone, Ky, and it is that building that is in the center of the street in Stone, Ky – Red Robin building or also known as Eastern Coal Corp building. Here is a picture of it.

If you have driven in Stone, KY, and missed that building, then I don’t know how you could because, as I said, it is right in the center of the road, and you would have to steer a curve to get around that building to stay on the street. Now, that Red Robin or Eastern Coal Corp building in Stone, Ky, do you know anything about it? If not, then this might surprise you a bit. In 1922, the city of Stone, Ky, went into a negotiation with someone to purchase the old coal mining company called Pond Creek Coal Company, which had 2,500 acres, and from there, it became his largest coal mining operation that produced about 6000 tons of coal daily while they had 180,000,000 in reserve. At that time, when that person purchased Pond Creek Coal, it had around 1,500 workers, and it was an essential economic resource in the area. That person was Henry Ford, the same person who created the Ford Company and made Ford vehicles along with other different vehicle companies like Lincoln vehicles under the parent of the Ford Company. When Henry Ford founded the Pond Creek Coal Company, it was renamed to Fordson Coal Company, aka Ford Coal, which was also one of his subsidy companies under his Ford Company. But then, in 1936, the Fordson Coal Company sold the mining company to Eastern Coal Company, where you see the name “Eastern Coal Corp.” on that building. So, when you see that name on the building, “Eastern Coal Corp,” as you pass by, you can know that before that name, it was Fordson Coal Company, owned by Henry Ford under his Ford Company! Henry Ford sold his coal mining company in Stone, Ky, because he didn’t want a union in his organization (Ford Company) during what was known as the mining wars. Now, at that building is a museum called Stone Heritage Museum, which you can visit to learn about Henry Ford and the coal mine in that area.

Sources –

• https://www.herald-dispatch.com/a-piece-of-history/article_84d525e6-1d46-5e76-9a02-e485015a9d13.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/1923/02/20/archives/sell-to-ford-form-new-coal-company-pond-creek-interests-acquire.html
• https://tamelarich.com/roadtripping/connect-deep/henry-ford-coal-camps-memories/
• https://tourpikecounty.com/things-to-see-do/history_culture/stone-heritage-museum/

Losing interest in Twitter/X

Ever since Jack Dorsey decided to sell Twitter to Elon Musk, Twitter has become something else, and when I say something else, I don’t mean that in a good way because it is not at all! Now that Twitter is in the hands of Elon Musk, one of the most popular social media is in its downfall as many advertisers leave, and so did many well-known users because it is becoming more of Elon Musk’s social media rather than a consumer social media like it once was. Why do you think Twitter is no longer a Twitter since Elon Musk has changed the Twitter brand to X? X brand has been owned by Elon Musk for decades; when he owned PayPal, it was called X before it became PayPal, and when it became PayPal he kept the domain name along with X brand, which he can use that for anything else – now that is Twitter. There are so many changes to where many of the isms are skyrocketing on Twitter, such as racist, misogynist, ableist, genderist, sexist, ageist, and more of other isms. Because Elon Musk says that Twitter should have no restriction on freedom of speech, which is a bit of a problem. Having no restriction on freedom of speech does not mean that everyone should be racist, sexist, misogynist, and whatnot. That is the biggest reason that turned off advertisers and well-known users. X is not only open to isms, but it is also open to full-blown pornography; you get to see so many posts with videos of people having sex and masturbating. Because of that, I am surprised they have not reached where anyone wants to register on X; they must be eighteen or older. Even worse, since X is wide open to isms, whenever there is a good tweet or now-called post that tries to discuss, they would have people going after them, calling them a bunch of names or trying to find a way to insult them just because these tweets or posts don’t side with any Republicans or Trump. If I were to say that I didn’t like that one bill proposed by a few Republicans in the House of Representatives, I would be under a heavy attack of insults from many people. I would be for all civil arguments or hearing their disagreements, but it seems that they don’t know how to do so, and only they know how to insult me when they should tell me why they disagree with what I said.

I am all for freedom of speech, as I am a big-time supporter of the First Amendment, but what I am not for is being uncivil and throwing tantrums. I mean, if there is something that you don’t like what I said, then please tell me what you disagree with and why instead of insulting me about my looks or about what I like, such as hobbies or whatever! In other words, stop being a child! X is now full of crazy people, far-right people, Trump supporters, people who want to show their private parts, people who want to share videos of them having sex or masturbating, people who are racists, xenophobic, misogynist, ableist, sexist, homophobic, and more!

Nonetheless, because of how it is now, I am losing interest and motivation in using Twitter or now X. I mean, who wants to be on there now with all of these that X is filled with?! Thankfully, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of META, which Facebook is under, has decided to create one that competes with X called Threads. Even the former owner of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, has decided to build another like Twitter, which he created, namely Bluesky. I am starting to use Threads and Bluesky more now. Elon Musk sees that Twitter is at its downfall as they are losing money due to many advertisers leaving Twitter. Hence, Elon Musk decided to add a new feature under monetization that allows Twitter or X users with 500 followers, subscribed to Twitter’s Blue or now X’s Platinum and have 15 million impressions in 3 months to earn some money for using X in getting a share of their ads revenue. So, they are trying to do anything to retain their users and hopefully get advertisers to come back because as long as they retain their members base or grow, the advertisers might give it a second chance, knowing that social media has a large audience where they can sell. Still, so far, it’s not doing a good job. Twitter, or now X, is failing as we speak, even if Elon Musk says it’s growing fast and their server is struggling to keep up. Yes, their server is having a hard time handling, but not because of the size of members; it’s because Elon Musk has laid off the majority of technicians that handle them, and Elon Musk even admitted that they hardly could come up with the money to pay for the server from Amazon called AWS. So, I am sure that Elon Musk decided to downgrade their server with a different provider or downgrade the server with Amazon, which means more restrictions for the bandwidth of X. Elon Musk can afford them as he is a billionaire. Still, he does not want to pay for them. Think of it as trying to pour a liter of water into an 8oz cup.

There is so much that I can go on about Twitter or now X, but that is all I will say; the point is, I am losing the motivation or interest in Twitter or now X because what is happening over there is horrible. It’s like being at someone’s house you had fun at for years, and then that place is no longer fun, so you start thinking that you cannot leave that house soon enough but try to stay for the sake of that someone. If I didn’t have businesses, I would have stopped using X, but I have not because I need to ensure that all of my businesses have a reach everywhere.

Are you a Twitter, or should I say now X? If so, comment below and let me know what you think of X now with Elon Musk running it. By the way, if you have Threads, Bluesky, or Mastodon, follow JoshiesWorld on there! Here’s the social media list so you know my username on Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

New social media: Threads!

If you have read the topic about X above, then you know a bit about Threads, but it is a new social media that competes with X. The new social media, Threads, was created by Mark Zuckerberg, who owns the Meta company under which Facebook is under. There was Facebook, but then the owner of Facebook started acquiring or creating more companies such as WhatsApp, Instagram, etc. So, Facebook as a head company doesn’t sound right because it is a social media and decided to create a head/parent company called Meta Platforms, Inc. Meta for short. These companies, such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Portal, Threads, and others, are subsidiaries of META.

Like above, many people were getting frustrated with X and had enough of it, but the problem is that there is no other X, although there are alternatives such as Mastodon and invites-only Bluesky. So, as any business owner would do, take advantage of that; Mark Zuckerberg is no different and decided to develop a new social media that directly challenges X. When Threads was launched to the public, it was an app only, and ever since Threads app was released many people including me calling on Mark Zuckerberg to make a web version of Threads so that we would not have to only use Threads on our smartphone but also on our desktop or laptop. Mark Zuckerberg heard us and made a post on Threads to say that there was a web version for Threads that is now in development, and finally, not too long ago, on August 22, they released the web version for Threads! When that Threads app was released, it suddenly became the number one app in popular software smartphones such as iOS and Android. It reached over 50 million sign-ups on the first day. Threads currently have 128 million users, which isn’t even a month yet! You can track how many users grew on Threads here. That is a mind-boggling thing to witness, and that tells you how much people were fed up with X, so Threads got that many sign-ups in just a very short period, which is impressive!

The final straw with the users that prompted META to create a new social media that directly competes with X was that the new owner of X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk, decided to limit how many posts (tweets) that the users could see or read on each hour or a day unless they are subscribed to the X Platinum (formerly Twitter’s Blue). That upset large numbers of users on X, which I don’t blame them because I would have been, although it didn’t affect me because I was already subscribed to their X Platinum when it was Twitter Blue. They saw it as unfair and contradicted what Elon Musk said when he purchased Twitter because he said he wanted Twitter to be a platform where everyone can have freedom of speech. Yet, he turned his back on that by limiting how many tweets they could read or see in a way that severely limited their so-called freedom. Now, we have a new platform like Twitter before it got a new owner Elon Musk and screwed everything up on it, which, as we know, caused so many advertisers to leave social media, which in turn caused him to lose a huge revenue. That is why you will see so many ads from so few companies, especially those from Cheech and Chong’s gummies, instead of so many different ads from many companies. Not just many advertisers have decided to leave, but so did many users, and where did those users go to? Threads!

Mark Zuckerberg, under META, stated that Threads is Instagram’s new way to share text. Using Instagram to share photos and videos but cannot share text until now with Threads. So, in a way, Threads is under Instagram, so if you already have Instagram, then you pretty much already have an account on Threads because Threads uses Instagram’s login. There is no way to sign up on Threads without an Instagram account, so the only way to sign up is to log in using your Instagram. Because of that, beware that if you decide to delete an account on Threads, you will also delete your Instagram account.

What do I think of Threads? I like it so far; I signed up for an account on Threads on the first day they released because before they released the Threads app, they let people pre-download the app so that we could get the Threads app as soon as it was released, and when Threads became available I signed up right away. I am honestly not too big on using apps or whatever on my smartphone; I like to use the web version, and there was no web version for Threads, so I only used the Threads app once to twice a day until they finally released a web version for it so now I am more active on there. Threads is new, which means it just started and will get better as they continue developing Threads. The web version does not have the feature for reposting with a quote, although it does have the repost feature but not with your quote, which the Threads app has. So, give it a time. The web version of Threads will catch up to what Threads app has, and both will continually improve each day, which I look forward to. If you were a fan of Twitter, then you would be a fan of Threads, and I recommend Threads!

Why did Threads grow drastically on the day it was released, while the alternatives for X, such as Mastodon or Bluesky, didn’t have that effect? The simple answer is that it is because the CEO/Co-Founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, did it. It is all about branding and who owns it. Yes, Bluesky is owned by the founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, and it would have a good turnout if it isn’t invite-only. Mastodon is the more popular one, the most popular alternative to Twitter until Threads came. Still, not many people know or understand what Mastodon is about, and Mastodon may be a bit too complex for people. Because Mastodon is a platform allowing users to have their Twitter-like service using Mastodon’s servers, all of that confusion is off-putting, and I don’t blame them. Again, Threads became successful overnight thanks to the fact that META owns it. If an unknown person in the basement developed Threads, it probably would not succeed overnight. Think of it as Android is popular because Google developed it.

The website for Threads (both web version and app): Threads.net
Follow JoshiesWorld on Threads!: Threads.net/@TheJoshiesWorld

Deaf is a disability!

There is a small group in the Deaf community that emphasizes that being Deaf is not a disability, and I’m afraid I have to disagree with that for a few reasons. I can understand that they want to make it where being Deaf is great and that being Deaf comes with more positive than it is with negative. Hence, taking pride in being Deaf, and that is ok! But let’s not disregard that being Deaf is not a disability because it is, and the word “disability” does not refer to a person who does not have a functioning limb or is missing a limb in the body. A disability means something is not functioning normally anywhere on a body; this includes the eardrums, eyes, limps, and others. I have a discussion on this over at Bluesky; as I stated, being Deaf is a disability, and if anyone in the Deaf community continues to reject the fact that being Deaf is a disability, then they, in a way, do not accept being Deaf like many of them taking pride in saying so. I got a good response; a person said that the rejection of recognizing Deafness as a disability is rooted in ableism. That person is correct; if you are Deaf and take pride in being one but reject that it is a disability, you are a bit of an ableist because you did not accept it as a disability. In other words, by saying that being Deaf is not a disability, you reject it while simultaneously oppressing the disabled community.

We can celebrate our Deaf culture, as many of the communities have their own culture, but at the same time, we should not ignore that being Deaf is a disability. There is nothing wrong with saying so because it is what it is – now we can control the narrative from there – being disabled because we are Deaf, but it comes with benefits! Besides, saying that Deafness is not a disability is nonsense. Remember what I said from the beginning: if anything does not function normally in our body, that part is unable, which means it is disabled – a disability! So, even a small percentage of a loss in our hearing is a disability.

If we do not accept that being Deaf is disabled, we certainly do not take pride in being one; otherwise, why would we say that? So, let’s concede that and accept that Deafness is a disability, and not only can we truly take pride in being one, but at the same time, we recognize that we are part of the disabled community by no longer rejecting them by saying that by being Deaf is not a disability. Being Deaf is part of a disabled community; then there is a sub-community, which is our Deaf community, that has a culture. Doing that does not mean surrendering our “Deaf culture” or “Deaf community” because it is impossible, just as all other groups have their culture and community but are PART of the disabled community.

Being Deaf is being disabled, period!

There is a bunker for the US government in case of an apocalypse.

Did you know that there is a bunker that was constructed many decades ago for the US government in case there were atomic bombs, nuclear bombs, or anything that would put the danger of ending the US government, such as an apocalypse? In Washington, D.C., you would assume? Nope, it is not even in Washington, D.C.! Where is it? It is in West Virginia! Yes, in one of the poorest states of the United States. Specifically, that bunker was constructed in White Sulphur Springs in West Virginia. Now that you have heard the name of a city, you probably started narrowing it down in your head. If you couldn’t figure it out, that would be a bunker under the Greenbrier Resort, part of The Greenbrier Resort basement. Yes, that resort is owned by the Governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, or in the name of the “Justice Family.” Still, Jim Justice owns the Greenbrier Resort in Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

The basement of The Greenbrier Resort is a bunker for the US government, commissioned by the US government, especially President Dwight Eisenhower. President Dwight Eisenhower decided that the Greenbrier Resort would be the perfect cover to construct the congressional bunker, so they sent federal workers there to construct it in 1958. The bunker project called Project Greek Island, with the codename of “Casper,” continued for around 30 years until a reporter from the Washington Post discovered and exposed it. Then, the US government ended that program in 1992. That bunker in West Virginia would refresh periodically to ensure that the government would have six months of food, pharmaceuticals, and other things that the US government would need to survive in the bunker. Now that tourists can visit the bunker at the Greenbrier Resort, the US Government has found another secret home that not many know where it is now. However, the reporter who exposed the bunker at Greenbrier Resort knows where it is but refuses to share it this time.

Greenbrier Resort’s bunker had everything prepared, such as all the seats for US representatives and US Senators, beds, and several rooms they could use, such as offices, restrooms, and whatnot. A US capitol with bedrooms and a white house under Greenbrier Resort! It is as big as Greenbrier Resort is GIGANTIC. There were TV technicians who would be seen as working at Greenbrier Resort for Forsyth Associates. If anyone visited Greenbrier Resort before 1992, they probably have seen some people who show as TV technicians working at the resort under Forsyth Associates. Still, that was their cover because these people were secret federal employees keeping the bunker operational.

Awesome, right? That is one of the US secrets back then. There is a documentary video or articles you can watch or read to learn more about the Greenbrier’s Resort bunker commissioned by the US government. I will be providing these for you below!

• The Ultimate Congressional Hideaway by Ted Gup at Washington Post.
• HILL LEADERS ‘REGRET’ REPORTS ON BOMB SHELTER SITE by Kenneth J. Cooper at Washington Post.
• The Secret Bunker Congress Never Used by NPR Staff at NPR.
• Project Greek Island at Wikipedia.

Johnsonsville?

If you are from Pike County, Ky, especially on the border between the commonwealth of Kentucky and West Virginia, then you would know a few area names, which are South Williamson, New Camp, Happy Valley, Turkey Creek, Leckieville, Aflex, and Goody. The areas starting from Tug Valley ARH Regional Medical Center to Forest Hills were being proposed to be incorporated into a city named Johnsonsville. This was not the first time they tried doing this, which was proposed at Pike County Fiscal Court in 2015, but it has been attempted several times for four decades, as they say, which means that it is almost five decades since the last attempt was in 2015!

Source: New effort to incorporate South Williamson, Ky, gets underway by Bruce Justice at Mingo Messenger.

I was unaware of any attempts to incorporate or integrate these areas into one city. For so long, I have been complaining and advocating that South Williamson, Turkey Creek, Belfry, and Forest Hills be incorporated or become one city so that we could grow this area that would greatly benefit all residents, including me and my family. I always say that if we do anything like this, we will grow drastically as a community. It’s a neighboring city on the side of West Virginia, Matewan; they have already started annexing some areas and are becoming a bigger community thanks to the Hatfield-McCoy Trails system. We should do the same here; why can’t we? I have no idea why that didn’t happen as they have said nothing about that on Mingo Messenger (ironically, a newspaper from Mingo County, WV, where Matewan is) except that the people around here have started talking about incorporating these areas into a city called Johnsonsville. If anyone knows, please let me know, and if anyone in Pike County, KY, plans on trying again, please let me know so I can be on it, too, because I sure would advocate the idea of bringing all of these areas into one city so we can grow as a community – maybe bigger than Pikeville!

If any of you live around these areas, would you support that?! Let me know by commenting below or on social media, like JoshiesWorld on Facebook!

Are you a fan of crime stories but in American Sign Language?

The other day, I was browsing through many videos on YouTube, which I often do for two reasons: to watch and learn something. I stumbled upon a YouTube channel with so many videos in American Sign Language for a podcast about crimes. That YouTube channel is called Crime Junkie, which is the same name as the podcast, but the podcast is done by hearing women while the one on YouTube named Brooke Roberts is Deaf, I am assuming, but they do many videos in American Sign Language. If you have nothing to do and want to listen to or watch some of the crimes in American Sign Language, I highly recommend that you head over to a YouTube channel called Crime Justice, which I will provide the link to go to! https://www.youtube.com/@CrimeJunkie/. In these American Sign Language videos, I am not sure if there is any voiceover since I am Deaf myself, which means that I am unable to hear to know if there is any voiceover. It is great that they do this to allow the Deaf community to listen to the Crime Justice podcast in American Sign Language!

If you have already watched some of them, please comment below and tell me what you think of that YouTube channel, Crime Justice?!

What is the goal of JoshiesWorld?

Every business owner has some goals for their businesses; as an owner of businesses, and JoshiesWorld is one of them, I do have plans for JoshiesWorld, which I will share a few of here with you readers! Well, there are a lot of goals that I have for JoshiesWorld that I will, in one way or another, reach, no matter how long it may take me to reach them.

When JoshiesWorld started, it was a very plain website where I would post my daily dairies online or share how I felt and what I sometimes do. Still, it has transitioned into a complete website today that shares my opinions and my investigations on different things, which turns into news and reviews some of the items. Suppose you have visited sites such as CNET, PCWorld, Rolling Stones, and whatnot where they have a few writers writing their opinions on different things, including sharing their reviews on whatever that they could get their hands on by getting them through some companies that make them then think JoshiesWorld in a way like them except that it is done by one writer which is me. Sure, sometimes I bring in guests to co-write or guest write some articles or reviews, which JoshiesWorld will continue with. These websites I mentioned above have names, such as CNET and whatnot, because it is a company or brand with more writers writing some of the things. Still, rather than being a writer for any of these sites, I prefer to have complete control, which is why it is called JoshiesWorld. Not EveryonesWorld or whatever.

Now that is out of the way, a little information about what JoshiesWorld is all about, and now that you get an idea of what JoshiesWorld is. Some of my goals with JoshiesWorld are to gain more audience for two reasons, which are that I want to make sure that they have access to something such as news or some new information that they might not get from anywhere else, and secondly to be able to get many companies to recognize JoshiesWorld so that they would send JoshiesWorld some products or anything for me to write reviews on them. Right now, the majority of the reviews that I made came out of my pocket. I don’t have much of the means (funding) to purchase more products to be able to review them for the audience so they can get an idea if these products that they may be interested in buying are honestly good or bad before they decide to get them. The larger the reader base, the better chance that the companies will want to send their products to JoshiesWorld to review them because, in a way, they are a free advertisement for them to have their products on here, but in exchange, the reviews on them will have to be honest as I can get but what is important on their side is that the fact their products or their company name get seen to large viewers while reviewing part is essential to me. Right now, the reader base for JoshiesWorld is somewhat large as JoshiesWorld has been here since the year 2007, but NOT large enough to their liking as it seems, which means JoshiesWorld needs more readers or viewers that will convince them to send their products over to JoshiesWorld for a review.

That is the priority goals I have for JoshiesWorld for now. I have many other goals, but they will become a priority once I have completed the two goals I mentioned above. Grow more and get more products or an invitation to some place to review them without putting a dent in my bank.

You can help me with that; all you would have to do is share this article and any other articles that JoshiesWorld published, and that goes the same with any review articles published by JoshiesWorld on your social media accounts. Another way is sharing JoshiesWorld’s social media so that they will see every published article or review. You can contact them by sending them an e-mail or through their social media and ask them to send their products to JoshiesWorld for a review of their products or have them contact me to invite me to their places to review their services or products such as foods at their restaurants or whatnot. I would greatly appreciate it if you do that for me, as JoshiesWorld, like any other business, cannot grow without you!

Republicans who support Trump, MAGA is a cult!

I have noticed that lately, these Republican people who support the former President of the United States of America and a candidate for the second term as a president in 2024 as he is running to be re-elected where he lost the election in 2020 to the current President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, are becoming a cult. That cult is called, of course, the MAGA cult, which has Republican people who are big fan of Donald Trump and is willing to follow him anywhere he goes or believe anything that he says, including the fact that he didn’t do any of the crimes when it is well-known that he has done many of them. What is bothersome is that when Donald Trump said anything, a mob of his people in his cult would do anything he said or wanted. For instance, they have a lot of the people in his cult going after some judges, threatening them or making a threat to them, such as death threats if they decide to jail them if the grand jury finds Trump guilty, and going after anyone threatening them with their life if they do anything to Trump such as refusing to vote for him to be a President again. Remember back then, in 2020, when he told everyone to go to the United States capitol, and they did so, which we know what happened. Yes, I am talking about coming so close to destroying the democracy of the United States, obstructing the government of the United States, and going after the states that had flipped and elected Joe Biden instead of him. These people in Trump’s cult went after former Vice President Mike Pence and threatened to hang him if they found him at the United States Capitol on that day, which I am referring to January 6th of, 2020. Wearing Trump hats and shirts, putting Trump stickers on something, and whatnot to this day is cringeworthy. When the election is over, so should those Trump stuff. Same with Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden. You don’t see people waving Clinton, Bush, Obama, or Biden’s flags now, same with their clothes or stuff every day like you see people with Trump’s. That election is over, and we don’t need to continue. Of course, in 2024, we will do so, but only during the election time, and once the election is over, we will put them up rather than continue waving or wearing them. If you tell me that these people are Republicans, then you are wrong because they are not. They are a new party, sure, a subsidiary of the Republican party, if you will, namely Trumpicans. They are very dangerous people, and I wish it didn’t happen because some of them, including my family and friends, are part of them. Stop making him your god because he is NOT.

What is a bad thing is that there was polling asking which one these people trust more: Trump or Priest. Can you guess which one got the most votes? Trump! Even higher than their own family, which is even worse. Okay, these people say they believe in God and are Christians, yet they trusted Trump more? That is skewed! I am a Democrat, which is well-known, but I would NEVER trust any Democrat president, any Democrat politicians, ANYONE, over my religion and definitely not over my family!

Source: Trump voters trust him more than their families, their religious leaders: poll by Dave Lawler at Axios.

If you are in Trump’s cult, would you mind leaving a comment below and telling me why you people trust Donald Trump more than your religious leaders and your families?! Because if you tell me that you are Christian, with that poll cast by you all, I now absolutely don’t believe you, and shame on you for believing Trump or anyone more than your families or religious leaders! Nonetheless, that is one of many examples of these people being a cult!

• Texas woman charged over threat to kill judge overseeing Trump case by Rebecca Falconer at Axios.
• Trump supporters post names and addresses of Georgia grand jurors online by Blayne Alexander and Ryan J. Reilly at NBC News.
• The Threat From Trump’s Supporters Has Evolved by Juliette Kayyem at The Atlantic.

Second Amendment in the United States of America’s Constitution

I am sure that many people, especially those who live in the United States, know what the Second Amendment in the United States of America’s Constitution is. Which is the right to bear arms, as it says: A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. The other day, I made a post on X (formerly Twitter) about this, and I will share that here as well because I think it is important to do so. When the United States’ founding fathers wrote the Second Amendment in the Constitution, President James Madison was the one who proposed that it be added to the United States Constitution because he wanted to allow the creation of civilian forces that could counteract a tyrannical federal government.

Before I start, I want to note that I support the Second Amendment in the United States Constitution because I firmly believe that we should have the right to bear arms just in case our government decides to go against their civilians, which is us. But the thing is, that amendment in the Bill of Rights was ratified on December 15th, 1791 (15 years after the Declaration of Independence), and during that time, our arms were musket guns or rifles. It took 30 seconds to load or reload the weapon, and they were not even accurate, so they were instructed to fire as a group simultaneously to ensure they hit the enemy. The average time to load or reload the arms that we have today, such as AR-15, is 3 seconds, and they hold between 20 to 100 bullets depending on the magazine that came with them or if they are aftermarket. They are mostly accurate and can reload as many magazines as they want per 3 seconds on average, which is insane, while the musket gun or rifle can load one bullet per 30 seconds on average. Now, if someone is going to shoot someone, which would have a better chance of being taken down before the evil person can shoot? Thirty seconds average to load or reload a gun with only one bullet or three average seconds to load or reload a gun with 20 or more bullets? Of course, the person with a musket gun can be taken down before that person can load a gun or reload the gun. The students, teachers, shoppers, and anyone could easily take down someone who comes in with a musket gun because that person would not have the time to shoot or shoot another person when that person reloads the gun. They cannot have the time to take down a person who has a gun that is capable of loading/reloading with 20 or more bullets in it because they would be likely killed. If there is anyone else behind these people, they would still have no time to stop the person from reloading because it would take 3 seconds on average to reload the gun. If President James Madison were alive today, he would likely not want the Second Amendment in that Bill of Rights or make sure that the Second Amendment would be updated every ten years to ensure it catches up with the modern arms.

It is shocking to see many Republicans or these people who support former President Donald Trump saying that the Democrats want to remove the Second Amendment when most of them do not. Yes, there are a few people that do, but the majority of the Democrats do not. That includes me, I am a Democrat, and I would never support the repeal/removal of the Second Amendment. What most of these democrats, including me, want is to update the Second Amendment because we no longer bear musket guns; we now bear semi-auto or auto weapons that are capable of holding a ton of bullets. The point is that the Second Amendment is very outdated and needs to be updated. Not repealed or removed. Why do we need assault rifles? Yes, they are fantastic! But they are meant to be for the United States military and not us civilians. It is not meant for someone to go to a school to kill several students; these students are not their enemies, and that goes the same with teachers, shoppers, and others. They are our freaking people! Not enemies. We do not need assault rifles. The Second Amendment is outdated and needs to be updated so that no civilian is allowed to purchase any assault rifles such as AR-15, AK-47, etc. Then the school, shopping center, business, and others would be safe. People’s lives are more important than allowing anyone to have assault rifles because you don’t know the people who buy them. We don’t trust everyone, so what is the point of allowing the sale of assault rifles then? Besides, they are cool and make us look cool – none!

We don’t need any gun capable of loading or reloading so many bullets in a few seconds. If we only allow firearms such as a handgun, which carry about 6 to 8 average bullets, they might get 6 to 8 people out of 30 to 50 people in that group, allowing them to stop that person before killing more. But if we allow a gun such as an AR-15, which carries 20 bullets or more, that would kill 20 people and then reload within’ 3 seconds on average for another 20 kills out of that 30-50 people in that group. So think about that. We either need to update the Second Amendment or restrict the gun manufacturers to where it is harder to reload that quickly and to limit how many bullets can be in that magazine severely. That included banning the extended magazine and a possible ban on assault rifles. It was a big success during President Bill Clinton because the stats of the people they killed were so few compared to so many today.

Here are the stats; you can see a big difference in the mass shootings from the year that former President Bill Clinton banned assault weapons to when that ban expired. Because, at that time, Bill Clinton could only get Congress to agree to a ten-year ban rather than a permanent ban.

We should have the right to bear arms, but the arms are where the problem is. This is why I am for a revision/update on the Second Amendment and NOT a repeal/removal. Common Sense Guns law is one of the great places to start. Again, like I said, we should have the right to bear arms, but the arms are where the question mark is. If you don’t want to touch the Second Amendment, OK, then ban assault weapons and only allow them to be in the hands of the United States soldiers. Who knows, that could be a great incentive for anyone to join the military!

• Impacts of the 1994 Assault Weapons
• Understanding the 1994 assault weapons ban and why it ended by Meghan Keneally at ABC News.
• Federal Assault Weapons Ban at Wikipedia.

Please comment below if you would like to share your opinion about this topic. Should we update the Second Amendment, ban assault weapons again, and restrict gun manufacturers from doing certain things on their weapons and others? If you have any idea on how to reduce mass shootings and make sure that evil people cannot get their hands on any of these assault weapons or any weapons, please let me know that, too.

Donate to support JoshiesWorld.

For JoshiesWorld, I am asking for some donations only if you have any spare that you would be willing to donate to support JoshiesWorld. For many years, I have been paying out of my pocket to run JoshiesWorld, which is not cheap at all, and because of that, I hardly have anything that would reward me for my labor. It has been labor out of love, but it is getting more expensive as technology advances and improvements are built into JoshiesWorld’s website. I would greatly appreciate it if any of you would be willing to donate to support JoshiesWorld. These funds would not be for my labor, but they will be used for JoshiesWorld’s website because, like I said, my labor is out of my love. I will continue that, but I need help running JoshiesWorld’s website. Also, with your donations, I can buy more stuff to review them. If you are donating some money for the products you would like me to buy to review them, please let me know so I know to do so! You can donate by going to the donate in the menu above or click here to go to the donate page. Then, from there, you will see a few ways of donating. Even a dollar can help in a big way!

Thank you so much for any contributions if you have decided to do so!

United States Senator from Ky, Mitch McConnell

Have you seen the news about what is happening with the United States Senator from Ky, Mitch McConnell?! Not too long ago, he was speaking to a press at the United States Capitol, and when he got up to the podium, he was frozen. He just stared at the press without any movement, standing there and spaced out until other senators walked up to him to see if he was okay. Then they gently pushed Mitch McConnell out of the way, but a few minutes later, he returned to the podium to say he was okay. A few days later, it happened again. Yesterday (Aug 30, 2023), he froze at a public meeting and could not speak. But the thing is, yesterday when he was frozen, it was not the only time he was frozen because he got frozen again on the same day! It is alarming, especially that we have one of the most powerful Republican senators showing drastic signs of declining health. Many Republicans, Trump supporters, and whoever says President Joe Biden has dementia or whatever should look more closely because ever since Joe Biden became the President of the United States, he has never shown any decline in his health. It is saddening to see that some people point out that when Joe Biden speaks, he sometimes repeats a few words, automatically assuming that he has dementia when he does not because long before Joe Biden became President or even Vice President, it was well-known that he has a disability called stutters. Stutters is where you have a problem saying what you were thinking; it has nothing to do with your memory and whatever else they made it out to be. His mind is fine; President Biden’s only problem is to make his brain voice what he thinks or reads.

A speech disorder involving frequent problems with the normal fluency and flow of speech.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/stuttering/symptoms-causes/syc-20353572?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=abstract&utm_content=Stuttering&utm_campaign=Knowledge-panel

Back to Mitch McConnell. I think it is time for Mitch McConnell to resign because this was not the first time as he did it again yesterday and even worse twice in front of the press.

• Sen. Mitch McConnell appears to freeze again at a Kentucky event by Frank Thorp V at NBC News.
• Mitch McConnell freezes, struggles to speak again in second incident by Savannah Kuchar, and Phillip M. Bailey at USA Today.
• McConnell quickly convenes with allies after second public freeze by Burgess Everett at Politico.

I am speaking as a Kentuckian, as I have lived here in the Commonwealth of Kentucky since birth, and I think it is high time for Mitch McConnell to retire because he has been a senator for decades. Specifically, he has been in office for 39 years since being elected in 1984. When we talk about that we should not have any politicians in the office when their health is in decline, Mitch McConnell is that who, and no, don’t go saying that Joe Biden should be when he has not shown any decline in his health or his mental except with his stutters disability which has been known for decades since he was born. If Joe Biden shows any signs of decline in his health or his mental, then I will be the first one in the line to tell him to get the heck out of the office, but he has not shown that yet, and Mitch McConnell has been showing that a few times in the summer this year alone! I am repeating Joe Biden because it is all Republicans and Trump supporters talk about, which, by doing that, downgrades the importance of dementia. Mocking and saying that Joe Biden has dementia when he doesn’t have it is not cool because saying that puts a stigma on the people who do have it!

Nonetheless, it is time for Mitch McConnell to retire. I am sure that Mitch McConnell will continue to deny that and refuse to retire because he loves the power that he wields. As he always does, he never cared about his citizens here in the Commonwealth of Kentucky or any citizens in his country. He wants to make a record, such as becoming the longest senator. He would likely not give up because of that or give up his power because that power comes with everything, including his wealth and his networking connections with many companies (like shipping cocaine). To get him to retire finally is probably when he is dead unless some Republicans can convince him to retire by letting him know that his health is more important than the power he wields – not that I care, but if Republicans do care about him, then convince him to retire. RETIRE MITCH MCCONNELL!

US Congress cannot be removed from office due to the inability to do the duty like the President or the President’s successors.

Speaking of the United States Senator Mitch McConnell from the commonwealth of Kentucky’s health declines. Did you know that no guideline or such thing can remove a member of Congress from office due to inability to do the job? A United States constitution (25th Amendment) tells you that the President of the United States and the President’s successions could be removed from office if any of them cannot do any duty. This means that a United States Congress can continue to be a congress until they have reached their term, even if they are physically unwell, like Senator Mitch McConnell. The only way a congressperson can be removed from office would be death, resignation, or expulsion. To expel a congress would have to be done by 2/3 of the votes from the congress, which means near zero chance. So, that leaves death or resignation. Suppose a President of the United States is permanently unwell to where the President can no longer do their duty. In that case, the President can declare inability to discharge the powers and duties. Then, the President’s power would be voluntarily transferred to the Vice President. But there is no such thing as that, the 25th Amendment, for a member of Congress, and because of that, to remove any of them would almost have to be by force unless they chose to resign or die. Mitch McConnel can continue being a Senator until his term is up, which would be in 2026. This is one of many reasons we should limit the terms of the United States Congress to prevent them from holding their powers stubbornly like Mitch McConnell does while his health declines. That goes the same for the Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein. Both of them aren’t doing too well physically, and they are holding onto their powers tightly. If any of them finally decided to resign, then the governors of their states would appoint someone else to take their seats until they finished the terms of these senators that they were replaced with. Then, they can run for a first term because it wasn’t theirs.

So, I ask you, do you think we should limit the United States Congress terms? Maybe the same as the President of the United States, which is two terms. Not only that, we reduce how many years per term because a United States Senate can run for six years while a United States House Representative can only go for two years per term, so I think it should be the same for the United States Senate. Two years per term and maybe only two or three terms allowed. The President of the United States has four years per term and can only be President for two terms, which is eight years total. So, maybe four terms with two years per term for the Senate? Or is that too much and only let them have four years, such as two years per term, which would be two terms before their time is up? Let me know by leaving a comment below because I am curious about your thoughts!

Another person with the same name in the same area!

As many of you know, my name is Joshua Sullivan; what not a lot of you know is that another person with the same name as mine lives in the same county in the same state that I live in! So, imagine if that person with the same name as mine gets in trouble; they might find me using my name without knowing that another person has the same name as mine, which is a scary thought! Because of that, I always hope that person doesn’t do anything wrong because if that person did and looked for someone with my name in this area, it would be pointed at me or that other guy since we share the same name. Thankfully, the difference is that I am older than him, and we didn’t go to the same school, although both of our schools are under the same county in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Many people that I know around me know that person with the same name as mine; they have met him and whatnot, but I personally never have met him but know his name since he has the same first and last name as mine, although we don’t have the same family which is strange. I ask you, readers, do you have someone with the same name as yours who lives in the same county and state you live in? If so, how do you deal with that?! One example for me is that a former representative of Ky has sent a recognition paper or some award to him when it was meant for me, or when they sent me a certified paper of some kind, it shows Mr. Joshua Sullivan and Mrs. (name removed) Sullivan. I am never married, which caught me off guard when I got some kind of mail like that. If someone looks for me, they will find two people with the same name that live in the same county in the same state, and poor them have to decide which one it is for them to mail or contact or whatever.

At times like that, I wished I had a different name, but now I am very proud of my name because everything that I have accomplished is affixed to my name. And having a nickname, Joshie, helps too! Anyway, again, I wonder if that happens to you as well. Leave a comment below! If you search for me, pick the right person, lol!

Happy Labor Day to business owners!

JoshiesWorld would like to wish all of the business owners a happy Labor Day! It is the day that we celebrate our labors, the work we have put in to run our business through the easy and hard times, but we must never surrender them! Here’s a cheer to business owners, and may we succeed! You got this, I got this, and we got this! Dream big for your business, as it is always okay to dream big, and we may be able to reach that, although we may fail many times before we can succeed. To succeed, we sometimes have to fail!

Search engines have their own AI chatbot!

AI, short for artificial intelligence, is growing more than ever. Although AI has been around for many years, it has grown so big and fast in the past year. AI is getting smarter every minute, and AI can now learn everything independently without the need for humans to educate AI on how to behave or what to say. It is amazing to see AI’s progress, but at the same time, it is something that many people worry about. I don’t blame them because right now, there are no regulations for them, which means AI can do or say anything without you or their permission, including saying what you want them to say but in someone else’s voice, such as President Biden which is something to be concerned. After all, if we have AI that can sound precisely like our President while speaking the words that you want the President to say, this can mislead the whole country to think that it is actually the President speaking when it is not. But on the positive side, having AI is convenient because it can help you with many things and do many things for you, such as writing an essay for you and whatnot.

Nonetheless, you get the basic idea of what AI is. Now, many companies are building their artificial intelligence (AI); some of them are free to use, and some of them you would have to pay to use them. Speaking of that, search engine companies now have them, and their artificial intelligence is superior to other companies that build AI because search engines already have everything built onto their databases for decades. Hence, they have plenty of information that their AI can use. If I were you, I would rely on these AI from search engines more than others, although some AIs are on the top of the five best lists, such as AI by IBM.

Here are search engine companies’ AI that you can use for free, and I highly recommend them! Microsoft’s AI is called Bing AI, and Google’s AI is called Bard. You can chat with them, as they are called AI chatbots. You can ask them anything, from searching for something to asking them to write something for you, such as an essay, a letter to fire an employee, a contract for something, and whatnot.

Bing AI: https://www.bing.com/chat
Google Bard: https://bard.google.com/

(Edit 09/6/2023) Finally, JoshiesWorld got an Instagram account!

If you read an article several years ago about Instagram refusing to give up the username JoshiesWorld to the rightful owner, which in this case is me, from someone else who has decided to register an account using that username without my permission as I own JoshiesWorld, then I have great news! Today, I saw that Instagram finally let JoshiesWorld go after me, repeatedly sending them a ton of information that I own the name of JoshiesWorld. When I went to JoshiesWorld on Instagram, it was blank, as if that person no longer owned it, so I quickly changed the alternative username on Instagram from TheJoshiesWorld to JoshiesWorld. Now, the username JoshiesWorld belongs to the rightful owner, as I got it, and not only that, the username JoshiesWorld was transferred to me on Threads as well! Today is a day that I am overjoyed because it has been a long battle trying to get Instagram to recognize that the person who registered that name violates copyright and trademark law, but now I own the account! So, if you are on Instagram, be sure to follow JoshiesWorld’s official Instagram account, which you can click this link to go to my Instagram to follow!

The end!

Okay, this is the end, and I think I have written plenty of topics for you to read in this snippets article! I know this snippets article is overdue; this snippets article has been in the work for close to or over a month because I barely could find the time to write each topic, so I only write per topic from time to time whenever I could find the time to do so. Finally, this snippets article is being finished, and I hope that every one of you enjoy at least one topic or so in this snippets article! As always, you can let me know what topics you would like me to write about by using this page to contact me or message me on social media. With the summer coming to an end, I should be getting a little bit more free time, which I should be able to write more articles in a short time and that goes the same with the reviews, but that depends on if I buy anything unless some company is willing to ship their products over to JoshiesWorld to have them reviewed. I hope every one of you has a great day or night, wherever you are!

Joshua “Joshie” Sullivan.

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