CPT Twits - America in the Golden Age - 1950's (and a little 1960's) Muscle cars, Fashions, Hot Rods, and Kids

A time when we fixed our own car and social media was talking to a human!

What is a CPT Twit?  A story with pictures for those not able to grasp a 140 character Tweet or construct sentences.

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Celebrate the Holidays with Random Acts of Kindness Stimulate the Brain and Change the World

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The Power of Kindness

How to stimulate the brain and change the world.

What exactly is a random act of kindness?  While Wikipedia takes a stab at defining it whatever is on Wikipedia is subject to continuous change.  As a result there are numerous references on the Internet to Wikipedia definitions for the phrase, "Random acts of kindness" but all of them are different.  Here is the latest incarnation of their definition.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

A random act of kindness is a selfless act performed by a person or people wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual person or people.  Either spontaneous or planned, random acts of kindness are encouraged by various communities.

Any further search for a definitive definition for this phrase has been met with frustration, deception and despair, all reactions contrary to the whole concept of random acts of kindness.

Perhaps the problem with today is our preoccupation with precisely defining what we are doing before we can do it.  When there is confusion in terms of the definition, there can only be chaos in the execution or lack of execution.

In other words, maybe we just think to much.

Why in the world do we need definitions in order to do good?  I mean do we really adhere to a world view that if it is not in Wikipedia or the Urban Dictionary then it cannot be right, or good or even worthwhile?

I use both resources on occasion but as a journalist I also realize that any effort to use democracy to create truth is doomed, and both resources do it.

What does that mean?  Both services allow their definitions and other content to be submitted by the public, edited by the public, changed by the public and even interpreted by the public.

That sounds like a form of democracy, power to the people, regardless of whether the people know the subject or understand the power.  It is like the French Revolution, a brutal and bloody overthrow of a monarchy in 1789 with no idea what to do if it succeeded.  It took them three times to get it right.

Encyclopedia Britannica defines it as follows:

French Revolution, also called Revolution of 1789,  the revolutionary movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799 and reached its first climax there in 1789. Hence the conventional term “Revolution of 1789,” denoting the end of the ancen régime in France and serving also to distinguish that event from the later French revolutions of 1830 and 1848.

So what exactly is a "Random act of kindness" and why should we care what it means?

Well, I say a "Random act of kindness" is a selfless and often spontaneous act performed to help others or to cheer them up.  It is usually performed anonymously with no expectation for acknowledgement or recognition.

If we worried less about motive and reward and more about giving we would need no definition and no reason to act.  It would be an everyday occurrence because it was just the right thing to do whenever you can do it.

But from a scientific perspective there may be compelling reasons why you really should be doing it every opportunity you may get.

Helping others feel good and happy might just be your ticket to happiness and to a whole lot of other people, and that sounds like a good thing.

Science has proven that the brain generates chemicals naturally,  One of these is a hormone called serotonin found in the pineal gland, digestive tract and the brain.  It serves to transmit nerve signals to nerve cells.

Changes in the hormone level can alter your mood by making you sad when the level goes down and making you happy when the level goes up.  When you stay happy this endorphin protects you from depression while helping to strengthen your immune system.

Studies have proven when a person does a random act of kindness it not only increases the happy feeling, through production of more serotonin, for the recipient of this act of kindness, but also for the giver and anyone watching the act or reactions.

Imagine that, we spend billions of dollars on prescription drugs because we don't feel good only to feel worse and destroy our immune system in the process, when we could be feeling well by doing random acts of kindness.

Unfortunately, here in America it may be difficult to find people able to react naturally to a random act of kindness.  You see, if they are already under the influence of prescription drugs their brain is no longer able to react naturally to such acts of kindness.

Think about this, based on our national addiction to legal, prescription drugs, one could conclude Americans are about the most depressed people on the planet.  We have the highest standard of living, most expensive health care and education, more wealth and better homes and diets than most people.

Yet we have had a 400% increase in anti-depressant pill use the last two decades because of our depression.  That figure comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, not me.

Helplessness, hopelessness, and immobilization are now the fashionable keys to being good Americans and great fodder for social gatherings.

Sooo.  Maybe our first random act of kindness should be to help people get off the drugs that are keeping them from being depressed in the first place.  There are a host of prescriptions to take care of our plethora of mind illnesses.

Here are some of the manifestations of depression and mood swinging.

Which Drugs Are Abused?

The most commonly used prescription drugs fall into three classes:

1. Opioids

Examples: oxycodone (OxyContin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), and meperidine (Demerol)

Medical uses: Opioids are used to treat pain or relieve coughs or diarrhea.
How they work: Opioids attach to opioid receptors in the central nervous system (the  brain and the spinal cord), preventing the brain from receiving pain messages.

2. Central Nervous System (CNS) Depressants
Examples: pentobarbital sodium (Nembutal), diazepam (Valium), and alprazolam (Xanax)
Medical uses: CNS depressants are used to treat anxiety, tension, panic attacks, and sleep disorders.

How they work: CNS depressants slow down brain activity by increasing the activity of a neurotransmitter called GABA. The result is a drowsy or calming effect.

3. Stimulants

Examples: methylphenidate (Ritalin) and amphetamine/dextroamphetamine (Adderall)

Medical uses: Stimulants can be used to treat narcolepsy and ADHD.
How they work: Stimulants increase brain activity, resulting in greater alertness, attention, and energy.

Here are some of the results of our obsession with depression.

Therapeutic Drug Use
(Data are for the U.S.)
Percent of persons using at least one prescription drug in the past month: 48.5% (2007-2010)
Percent of persons using three or more prescription drugs in the past month: 21.7% (2007-2010)
Percent of persons using five or more prescription drugs in the past month: 10.6% (2007-2010)
Source: Health, United States, 2012, table 91  [PDF - 9.8 MB]

Physician office visits
Number of drugs ordered or provided: 2.6 billion
Percent of visits involving drug therapy: 75.1%

Most frequently prescribed therapeutic classes:
Analgesics
Antihyperlipidemic agents
Antidepressants
Source: National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2010 Summary Tables, tables 22, 23, 24  [PDF - 382 KB]

What other people are saying.

Imagine this!  Kindness extended, received, or observed beneficially impacts the physical health and feelings of everyone involved!

Did you know that a single act of kindness can; bring a rush of euphoria, followed by a longer period of calm, reduce stress, increase the sense of self worth, happiness, and optimism, lower blood pressure, diminish pain, an increased sense of self-worth, greater happiness and optimism, translate to immense immune and healing benefits, increase a sense of self-worth, greater happiness and optimism, enhance our feeling of joyfulness, helps reverse feelings of depression and lower the heart rate.

Kindness Breeds More Kindness: In findings sure to gladden the heart of anyone who's ever wondered whether tiny acts of kindness have larger consequences, researchers have shown that generosity is contagious.

Goodness spurs goodness, they found: A single act can influence dozens more.

The positive effect of kindness on the immune system and on the increased production of serotonin in the brain has been proven in research studies. Serotonin is a naturally occurring substance in the body that makes us feel more comfortable, peaceful, and even blissful.

In fact, the role of most anti-depressants is to stimulate the production of serotonin chemically, helping to ease depression. Research has shown that a simple act of kindness directed toward another improves the functioning of the immune system and stimulates the production of serotonin in both the recipient of the kindness and the person extending the kindness.

Even more amazing is that persons observing the act of kindness have similar beneficial results. Imagine this! Kindness extended, received, or observed beneficially impacts the physical health and feelings of everyone involved!

Wayne Dyer

Kindness isn't just a fluffy, feel-good, warm-fuzzy concept. It is a powerful, energetic experience that transforms both the giver and recipient at such deep levels that some say it can work miracles. When we open our hearts and reach out to others in kindness, our brain releases endorphins—the morphine-like chemicals that produce the feelings of exhilaration know as the "runner's high." Acts of kindness, according to researcher Paul Persall, also cause your brain to release "Substance P," a neurotransmitter chemical that blocks pain. These two powerful physiological processes have an immense influence on our body/mind/spirit and the way that we experience life.

A steady flow of endorphins and Substance P through our bodies strengthens our immune system, keeps us feeling happy, joyful, optimistic and energized. This heightens our sense of well being so that we feel calmer, more centered and focused no matter what kind of stressful events might be happening around us. Physiologically, these brain chemicals improve circulation, reduce blood pressure, increase body warmth and improve weight control. Kindness helps us relax so that we can connect with others and with our own good feelings.

Janae Weinhold, Ph.D.

Now heal thyself and then help heal the world.

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Happy Holidays to all my friends around the world!

OUR HOLIDAY GREETING FOR YOU

For all of the world we offer hope for world peace and wish you happy holidays for (Christian) Christmas, (African) Kwanzaa, (Hispanic) Las Posadad-Noche Buena-Navidad, (Jewish) Hanukkah-Rosh Hashanah, (Persian) Yalda, (Islamic) Eid al-Adha-Muharram, (Buddhist) Rohatsu, (Hindu) Sankranti, (Celtic) Winter Solstice and (Chinese) New Year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Feliz Navidad y Felices Fiestas

Joyeux Noël et joyeuses fêtes

Buon Natale e Buone Feste

Frohe Weihnachten und frohe Feiertage

Vrolijke Kerstmis en Gelukkige Vakantie

Καλα Χριστουγεννα και καλες διακοπες

Feliz Natal e Boas Festas

И Рождеством Христовым праздники

メリークリスマス休暇で幸せ

聖誕快樂，節日快樂

This is Rockefeller Center in NYC - the America we want you to remember.

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From the Coltons Point Times -- have a great, safe and loving holidays....

Classic Christmas videos - American style

    

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Is the Liberal Media Trump trashing finally over, or is it now destined for oblivion?

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With the latest effort to dump Trump, inspired and promulgated by the Liberal media, failing miserably, along with the election of Hillary Clinton, the Russian invasion of the American cyber world, and the phony recount efforts, do we finally get a break?

The election is still over, Donald Trump is still president, and the left wing liars, whiners, and wimps, best get used to the new America, Donald Trump's vision of hope, for a change.

I have been following presidential elections for more than half a century and the world has not seen such a despicable performance by a free and protected media to influence an election as that witnessed in 2016.

Sadly, the same biased, bigoted, and racist, left wing writers, prognosticators, pundits, pollsters, and political consultants will write all 21st Century historical accounts of the election of 2016.  Once again, we will fail to find truth in the news or history because of the manipulation by those who continually used their media positions to advance the Clinton agenda.

They still do not get it.

Once upon a time in America our news media reported the facts and let the public decide the truth.  Those days are long gone.  As the liberal movement swept over the media thanks to the merger of academic freedom with radical liberalism starting back in the 1960's, there has been a disconnect missed by all those attempting to shove an agenda down the throats of the public.

The people in America, to the shock of the left leaning media, have the same protection by the Constitution and Bill of Rights and retain the right to ignore the banshee screams of an alarmed liberal media that we are teetering on the eve of destruction for the past 50 years.

The same pollsters, who failed to rig our national election by misreading the mood of the public, seemed to miss their own credibility demise as public faith in our news media faded to the lowest level ever recorded this past year with just six percent of the public trusting the news media.

Ironically, it was just one of many signs that the Obama tenure as president gave them a very false sense of security, as the popularity of Obama the person could never overcome the many staggering "wrong track" polls against the Obama agenda.

The result was a media full of itself and the social agenda they intended to impose, whose real foundation, built on the temporary executive orders of a president without a country to run, were doomed from the start.  Obama was the vanguard of the political activist, community organizer, and ethereal professor, a champion of a social revolution not wanted in America.

Is it any surprise there were so many shocked experts and players every step of the election process as the lofty vision and dreams of a popular president failed to result in any public support and consensus?

While the liberals were busy congratulating themselves for eight years of Obama, and looking forward to eight more with Hillary, they did not even notice for the first time in modern American history more eligible American voters registered as Independents, than either Democrats or Republicans.

This is one of the most significant shifts in our history and the news media failed to notice as the majority of eligible voters rejected both political parties for the first time.  Is it any wonder a candidate for change finally had a path to victory?

From the point of the national conventions and selection of final candidates, the media made the coronation of Hillary Clinton the sole priority of the news media and ignored all warning signs that the public did not agree.

The nightly news anchors and reporters stopped being objective if they ever were, and created a murders role mentality among their liberal brethren to destroy the deplorable Trump by any way and means possible.

By late fall it seemed impossible to find unbiased media with the networks spewing the mantra that Trump cannot win while cable news became a bigger joke than the Saturday Night Live gang did.  Speaking of Saturday Night Live, the legendary network show did their best to humiliate Trump but drew some of the lowest ratings in years averaging about a third of their peak audiences from decades ago.

SNL pulled 2-3 million viewers a night, paltry for a network icon yet better than even lower numbers generated by all cable media, except the dominant Fox News.  Liberals dominated the media, yet totally missed the fact the public stopped watching the traditional news.

We are now more than a month past the election and just today, the Electoral College voted Trump president despite the many negative stories from the media about how he could still lose.  Clearly major network and cable news outlets will never accept Trump as president nor the will of the people in electing him.

If the liberal media continue to treat Trump as a pariah rather than president then it is only fair the Trump administration treat the media as hopelessly lost in unethical journalistic conduct and not deserving a place in the White House press corp.  Why recognize a media that refuses to recognize you as president?

Trump proved you do not need to spend a billion dollars on media buys to win an election.  He proved politicians could successfully appeal directly to the public and ignore the media.  The failure of the media to give Trump a fair chance and his astonishing victory tell the tale of truth.

The real dinosaur in this campaign is the outdated and biased news media.  The have suffocated on their own egos.  Now, never even considering the possibility of a Trump victory, they are lost at sea.

If there was any doubt of media bias against Trump here are excerpts from a recent article of the liberal media commenting on their own dilemma of having no one on their fair and balanced media staff who can write an op-ed article favorable to our new president Trump.

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Mainstream media puts out the call for pro-Trump columnists

By Paul Farhi December 9 at 9:09 AM 

Wanted: Columnists to say nice things about Donald Trump. Must be able to make cogent arguments in favor of the president-elect’s policies, appointees and statements. Experience preferred but not required.

It’s not an actual want ad, but it might as well be one. As they discovered during the long campaign season, the nation’s newspapers and major digital news sites — the dreaded mainstream media — are facing a shortage of people able, or more likely willing, to write opinion columns supportive of the president-elect.

Major newspapers, from The Washington Post to the New York Times, have struggled to find and publish pro-Trump columns for months. So have regional ones, such as the Des Moines Register and Arizona Republic, which have a long history of supporting Republican candidates

 “We struggled to find voices that could advocate for Donald Trump’s ideas,” said James Bennet, the Times’ editorial-page editor. “It was really unusual. It didn’t help that the conservative intelligentsia lined up against him.” But Bennet says Trump’s campaign contributed to the imbalance: “He didn’t have the people around him who were prepared to put together his arguments” for publication.

The Washington Post’s editorial-page editor, Fred Hiatt, said the paper is as committed “as ever” to offering readers “a range of smart, independent thinking, and we are always thinking about whether there are new voices we should be adding” as Trump takes office.

Said the Times’ Bennet: “We owe it to our readers to help them hear the voices that were supportive of Trump. . . . I’m proud of the work we did, but we could have done better.”

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So, the bias is built in and extensive by their own admission.  It continues with the misleading headlines, false fact checking services, and unusual use of long discredited information on Trump still used in current stories.

If the liberal and former Main Street media continue their practices of bias and twisting the truth, ratings will continue to collapse, trust will reach rock bottom, and the once venerable American media will face extinction not from government censorship or assaults on the First Amendment, but a failure to meet the public need for truth.

Oblivion will be a self-imposed death sentence due to lack of interest on the part of the public.

  

Enough whining - the People Spoke - Donald Trump is our President

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With almost all votes finally counted for president, the results demonstrate the widespread route by Donald Trump among the 50 states, which will make him our 45th President.

Trump wins Electoral vote by 306-232

Clinton wins popular vote by 2,357,260

Clinton wins California by 4,187,903

Trump wins remaining 49 states by 1,830,643

Clinton wins California and New York by 5,697,409

Trump wins remaining 48 states by 3,340,149

So far, the Trump victory has defied the media projections,

defied the polls,

defied the political pundits,

and left a lot of Hillary supporters in shell shock.

America has not broken out in civil war.

Our economy has not collapsed as the financial experts warned.

In fact, our financial markets have shattered all time records.

Nations around the world have not panicked or been traumatized.

It is about time for a deep breath in our Republic, and let Donald Trump demonstrate what kind of President he intends to be.

For all those who think someone should be president if they win one or two states by a landslide and ignore the rest of the states, you need a crash course on America, our Constitution, and the history you obviously missed.

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