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The Little Glass Slipper—To Thyself be Enough!

According to Dr. Freud, “The founder of civilization was the first human who hurled an insult instead of a stone.” For the script analyst, the story of Cinderella has everything. It includes a large variety of interlocking scripts, innumerable nooks, and crannies where delightful new discoveries can be made, and millions of real-life counterparts for every role. Cinderella in this country usually means, “The Little Glass Slipper.” This is a translation of the French version of Charles Samber in 1729. In his dedication to the Countess of Granville, Mr. Samber makes it clear that he understands very well the scripty influence of such stories. He says that Plato “desires Children might suck in those Fables with their Milk, and recommends it to Nurses to teach them to ‘em.” Perrault’s Morals to the tale of “Cinderilla” were, of course, Parental Precepts. “But that thing, which we call good grace, exceeds by far a handsome face; its charms by far surpass the other, and this was what her good Godmother bestow’d on Cinderella fair, whom she instructed with such care, and gave her such a graceful mien, that she became thereby a Queen.” The last three lines describe the Parental pattern which Cinderella received from her godmother. If the child is ever to amount to anything, Perrault also draws a second moral, which stresses the need for permission. #RandolphHarris 1 of 33

“A great advantage ‘tis, no doubt, to man, to have wit, courage, birth, good sense and brain…but none of these rich graces from above, in your advancement in the world will prove of any use, if Godsires make delay, or Godmothers your merit to display.” Mr. Samber’s translation was slightly changed by Andre Lang for his Blue Fairy Book, which is one of the most popular fairytale books read to and by children, and that is whence they get their first picture of Cinderella. In this kindly French version, Cinderella forgives her two stepsisters, and finds rich husbands for them. Grimm’s Fairy Tales, which are also very popular in this country, contains the German version, called “Ashenputtel.” This is a bloody tale ending with the sisters’ eyes being systematically pecked out by doves. Cinderella stories are found in many other nations. With this background, we are ready to consider a Martian view of Cinderella, patterned after Perrault, which is the version most English-speaking children have in mind, and discuss the various scripts involved, many of which will be easily recognizable in real life. What Martian and real life tell us, as in the case of Little Red Riding Hood, is something very important: what happens to the characters after the book story ends. #RandolphHarris 2 of 33

According to Perrault, there was once upon a time a gentleman who married for his second wife a widow, the proudest and most haughty woman that ever was known. (No doubt, as is usually the case with such brides, she was also frigid.) She had two daughters who were exactly like her in all things. He also had a daughter by his first wife who was good and sweet, which she took from her mother, who was the best creature in the world. As soon as the wedding was over, the stepmother began to treat Cinderella most cruelly. She could not bear the qualities of this pretty girl because they made her own daughters so much the more hated and despised. The poor girl bore all patiently, and dared not tell her father, who would have rattled her off, for his wife governed him entirely. When the girl had done her work, she used to go into the chimney corner and sit down upon the cinders, so they called her Cinderarse, or, more politely, Cinderella. Now it happened that the King’s son gave a ball, and invited all persons of quality to it, including the two sisters. Cinderella helped them to do their hair and get dressed. Meanwhile, they teased her because she was not invited, and she agreed that such a glamorous occasion was not for the likes of her. After they left, she started to cry. However, her fairy godmother came along and promised that she should go, too. She instructed Cinderella: “Go into the garden and bring me a pumpkin.” She then scooped out the pumpkin and turned it into a golden coach. There were mice for horses, a rat for a fat jolly coachman with fine whiskers, and lizards for footmen. Cinderella got a fine dress to wear, and jewels, and little glass slippers. Her godmother warned her not to stay at the ball after the clock struck twelve. #RandolphHarris 3 of 33

Cinderella made a sensation at the dance. The Prince gave her the most honorable place, and the King himself, old as he was, could not help looking at her, and whispering about her to the Queen. At a quarter to twelve, she left. When her sisters came home, she pretended that she had been asleep. They told her about the beautiful strange Princess. Cinderella smiled, and said: “Oh, she must be very handsome indeed. How I would like to see her! Lend me some of your clothes, so I can go there tomorrow night.” However, they said they would not lend their clothes to such a Cinderarse, and Cinderella was glad, because she would not have known what to do if they had agreed. The next night, Cinderella was having such a good time that she forgot to leave until the clock started to strike twelve. As soon as she heard it, she jumped up and fled, nimble as a deer. The Prince chased her, but he could not catch hold of her, even though in her haste, she lost one of her glass slippers, which the Prince took up very carefully. A few days later, the Prince caused it to be proclaimed, by sound of trumpet, that he would marry her whose foot this slipper would just fit. He sent men around to try the slipper on all the women in the kingdom. After the two sisters had tried to thrust their feet into it without success, Cinderella, who knew the slipper, said laughing: “Let me try it.” Her sisters laughed, too, and began to make fun of her. #RandolphHarris 4 of 33

The gentleman who was sent to try the slipper said that he had orders to let every body do so. He told Cinderella to sit down, and found that the slipper fitted her as if it had been made of wax. The astonishment her two sisters were in was very great; but much greater when Cinderella pulled out of her pocket the other slipper and put it upon her foot. Then her godmother came in, and with her wand changed Cinderella’s clothes into rich and magnificent garments. When they saw that she was the beautiful Princess, the two sisters threw themselves at her feet and said: “Sorry,” whereupon Cinderella embraced them and forgave them. Then she was taken to the Prince, and a few days later, her married her. Cinderella gave her two sisters lodgings in the palace, and married them the same day to two great lords of the court. As with Cinderella’s forgiveness to her sisters, this is an actualizing relationship. An actualizing relationship between two people takes place when one person relates to another core-to-core. By “core,” we mean the one’s inner range of potentials. This inner core may also be called one’s real self. Through expressing a variety of passive and active potentials, such as caring and assertiveness, actualizers open paths for the spontaneous “understanding” of themselves and others. Very good friends, as we know, are said to communicate sensitivity to each other. This is contact. If their relationship is core-to-core, a wife may communicate with her husband with as little as a smile or a sigh. #RandolphHarris 5 of 33

Cinderella, being a good Mormon, knew her sisters did not understand what they were doing and that she should show them the love of God. To forgive is a divine attribute. It is to pardon or excuse someone from blame for an offense or misdeed. The scriptures refer to forgives in two ways. The Lord commands us to repent of our sins and seek His forgiveness. He also commands us to forgive those who offend or hurt us. “The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression,” reports Numbers 14.18. Contact is shown as the touching of two inner cores of actualizing potentials, which we call core-to-core contact. In contrast, manipulation is shown as distant interaction between the outer rings, the surface of each personality. This we call role-to-role manipulation. The manipulative relationship is not intimate, but distant. Contact is a form of loving or trusting another person in a relationship of closeness. Manipulation is a relationship of distance, a withdrawal to less personal or intense forms of communication. Core-to-core contact is based on the truth of each self, whereas role-to-role manipulation is based to some extent on deceit and mistrust. Daniel Defoe’s novel Moll Flanders provides an extreme example of role-to-role manipulation. It seems that Moll, the impoverished heroine of the novel, wishes to contact a man of wealth, any man of wealth, for the purpose of matrimony. To attract such a man, she plays, of course, the role of a wealthy young woman. It seems that a young man, currently out of funds, wishes to contact a woman of wealth, also for the purpose of matrimony. He plays the role of a wealthy young man. You guessed it. They find each other and marry, each certain the other can pay the debts they incurred in creating their wealthy roles. Each is justifiably disillusioned. #RandolphHarris 6 of 33

Core-to-core contact is not a permanent state. Indeed, it is a fragile thing to be developed at each meeting between two individuals. It develops when at least one of the persons can be freely expressive rather than calculatedly impressive—honestly expressive of self rather than deceitful. It also facilitated when at least one of the parties is willing to really listen to the other person and to respond to the other person’s statements and feelings accurately. In a way, being real is catching. If you can present yourself wholly, with both your strengths and weaknesses, with both your assertiveness and lovability, you will in time be able to break down the guardedness, defensiveness, and deceit of the other person. You will have begun to create the fertile ground for a truly core-to-core relationship. However, a core-to-core relationship is not easy to sustain. Manipulators fear vulnerability, fear being exposed or judged. They are afraid that sustained contact with another will reveal a dimension of themselves that they have so far denied or refused to see. True personal contact involves emotional risk. However, the manipulator chooses to avoid risk by attempting to control those around him or her. Consider the case of a father and his fourteen-year-old daughter, discussing whether she can go on a chaperoned, co-ed weekend camping trip. “Now way will I allow you to go!” says the father. “I won’t permit it!” “But, Dad, I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks,” his daughter says. #RandolphHarris 7 of 33

“Absolutely not!” repeats the father, exerting dominance. He avoids saying what is really on his mind: his concern that the girl will experiment with pleasures of the flesh during the weekend. In his zeal to be a good, competent father, which he secretly fears he is not, he resorts to controlling rather than contacting. His wife, having overhead the argument and intuitively sensing his unspoken concern, later tells him, “You needn’t worry that she’ll get into trouble. If you would let yourself be closer to her, you’d know that; you’d know the kind young woman she is.” At this point, the conversation might open a vital and valuable discussion between the parents, for this father truly wants to be closer to his daughter. The trouble is that he is afraid of expressing that sense of caring. There can be many reasons for his fear. Perhaps—to cite one possibility—he was so controlled as a child by his mother that he draws away from the risk of closeness with any woman, or with women in general. All the man can do, then, is turn the charge back upon his wife, shouting: “You’re the one who’s not close to her!” Rather than get into a core-to-core conversation about his feelings, which might reveal his fear of caring for his daughter, the father changes the topic. To avoid a discussion of feelings, he diverts the conversation to a safely “intellectual” topic: “Her school grades are not that great, you know. She could use this weekend to stay home and study.” Instead of trying to see the situation from the girl’s point of view, the man denies his core-caring as he might express it were he able to be in contact with her. #RandolphHarris 8 of 33

Consider the bank loan officer. She felt so insecure about her competence that she hid behind a persona of officiousness and super-efficiency. No one could get close to her. If they thought they would have to deal with her and her cold, controlled manner, customers, no matter how desperate for a loan, would delay applying. One day, however, she felt so overwhelmed with paperwork and so isolated that she uttered the unspeakable to a customer: “I can’t seem to get on top of anything today. I’ll probably be here until midnight, trying to catch up.” To her surprise, the customer smiled at her and said, “Gee. I know what you mean. I’ve been feeling that way, too. Only it’s going to take me about a year!” The barrier dropped, and the two women were able to chat amiably. Risking being herself brought the loan officers an unexpected response. Instead of being judged, as she had feared, she was understood. And her customers felt understood as well. A short, but real, core-to-core contact was made. Manipulators must control everything—themselves, others, even conversations. They choose the topics. They evaluate rather than appreciate. They try to convince others, rather than exchange ideas with others. Or they limit themselves to safe “small talk.” In many people, generalities such as the weather might be a prelude to contact, but in manipulators, often, they are only a means of avoiding personal contact. #RandolphHarris 9 of 33

There are several ways to seek to control communication. By denying that he is communicating. “I think you should apologize to him, but it is not my place to tell you.” (He has said it but at the same time denies that he has.) By denying the message itself. “Oh, forget it; I guess it wasn’t important.” Or she insists the message is misunderstood: “You did not get the point.” By denying that the message is communicated to another person. “I was just talking to myself…just thinking out loud…” By denying the context or situation. “You always make fun of men” (referring to the past)/ “You will think that I am silly” (referring to the future). In both examples, he avoids dealing with the person now. Peer Gynt may serve as a famous illustration from literature. He does not make much of his existing assets, his great intelligence, the spirit of adventure, and vitality. However, he is proud of the one thing he is not, “of being himself,” Actually, he is—in his mind—not himself but his idealized self, with unlimited “freedom” and unlimited powers. (He has lifted his boundless egocentricity to the dignity of a life philosophy with his maxim “To thyself be true,” which—as Ibsen points out—is a glorification of “To thyself be enough.” There are many Peer Gynts among our patients, anxious to preserve their illustrations of being a saint, a mastermind, of having absolute poise, etcetera; and they feel as if they would lose their “individuality” if they budged an inch from these estimates of themselves. #RandolphHarris 10 of 33

Imagination itself may become of supreme value, regardless of the use to which it is put, since it allows its bearer to look down with contempt on the drab and pedestrian people who are concerned with truth. The patient of course would not say “truth” but would speak in vague terms of “reality.” One patient for instance, whose claims were so grandiose as to expect the world to be at his service, at first took a clear stand toward this claim, calling it absurd and even degrading. However, the next day he had retrieved his pride: the claims were now a “magnificent mental creation.” The true meaning of irrational claims had submerged and pride in imagination was triumphant. More frequently, pride is not specifically attached to imagination but to all mental processes: intellect, reason, and will power as well. The infinite powers the neurotic ascribes to himself are, after all, powers of the mind. No wonder, then, that he is fascinated by it and proud of it. The idealized image is a product of his imagination. However, this is not something that is created overnight. Incessant work of intellect and imagination, most of it unconscious, goes into maintaining the private fictious world through rationalizations, justifications, externalizations, reconciling irreconcilables—in short, through finding ways to make things appear different from what they are. The more a person is alienated from himself, the more his mind becomes a supreme reality. (“A person has no existence apart from my thought: I have no existence apart from my thought.”) Like the Lady of Shalott, he cannot see the reality directly but only through a mirror. #RandolphHarris 11 of 33

More accurately: he sees in the mirror only his thoughts about the world and himself. This is why the pride in intellect, or rather in the supremacy of the mind, is not restricted to those engaged in intellectual pursuits but is a regular occurrence in all neurosis. Pride also is invested in faculties and prerogatives to which the neurotic feels entitled. Thus, he may be proud of an illusive invulnerability which, on the physical plane, means never to incur illness or any physical damage and, on the psychic side never to feel hurt. Another may be proud of good luck, of being the “darling of the gods.” It is a matter of pride then not to fall ill in a malaria district, to win in gambling, or to have fair weather for an excursion. It is indeed a matter of pride in all neuroses to asset one’s claims effectively. If they can manipulate others into lending them money, running their errands, giving them medical treatment without charge, those who feel entitled to get something for nothing, feel proud of being granted “snow flake rights.” If a protégé of their does not follow a piece of advice immediately, or if he does something on his own initiative without having asked their advice first, those feeling entitled to manage other people’s lives, experience is as a blow to their pride. Still, some feel entitled to exoneration as soon as they indicate that they are in some distress. If they can elicit sympathy and forgiveness and they feel offended, if the other person remains critical, they are proud. #RandolphHarris 12 of 33

The neurotic’s pride in measuring up to this inner dictate may on the surface look more substantial, but it is in fact just as rickety as other kinds of pride since it is inevitably interwoven with pretenses. The mother who is proud of being the perfect mother usually is so in her imagination only. The person who is proud of his unique honesty may not tell obvious lies but is usually pervaded by unconscious and semiconscious dishonesties. Those who are proud of their unselfishness may not be openly demanding but will impose upon others through their helplessness and suffering, besides mistaking their taboos on shoulds themselves may have a merely subjective merit in that they serve neurotic purposes but no objective value. Thus, for instance, the neurotic purposes but no objective value. Thus, for instance, the neurotic may be proud of not asking and not accepting any help even though it would be more sensible to do so—a problem well known in social work. Some may be proud of driving a hard bargain, others of never bargaining at all—depending on whether they must always be on the winning side or should never be out for their own advantage. Lastly, it may be merely the very loftiness and severity of the compulsive standards that are invested with pride. The fact of knowing “the good” and “the evil” makes them godlike, just as the serpent promised it would to Adam and Eve. #RandolphHarris 13 of 33

A neurotic person’s very high standards make him feel that he is a moral wonder to be proud of, regardless of how he is and behaves. He may have recognized in analysis his ravaging hunger for prestige, his poor sense of truth, his vindictiveness; but all of that does not make him any humbler or make him feel any less a superior moral being. To him, these actual flaws do not count. His pride is not in being moral, but in knowing how he should be. Even though temporarily, he may have recognized the futility of his self-reproaches, or even at times, have been terrified at their viciousness, he still may not relent in his demands on self. If he suffers, what does it matter, after all? Is not his suffering another proof of his superior moral sensibilities? Hence, to sustain this pride seems worth the price. It is not enough to be a collector of other men’s ideas. He must also be an original generator of his own. He must go into the pure silence to think independently, to analyze problems and consider them for himself, and to pray for enlightenment. Unless one is prepared to part with a wrong habit of thinking, unless one is willing to eradicate all limited conceptions which blur clear-sightedness, unless, in short, one is willing to reorient the mental outlook completely, it will never be possible to penetrate the world illusion. The student of philosophy must enforce in his own mind the clear difference between views based on wishful thinking, and views based on adequate knowledge and comprehensive understanding. #RandolphHarris 14 of 33

Before it can search for truth, the mind must be set free: otherwise, it merely seeks either the confirmation or rejection of previously held ideas, systems, opinions, and creeds. It is not enough to express your willingness to learn. You must also be willing to unlearn. It his possible, and must become his object, to develop a completely impartial intellect. It is one thing to have caught a vague notion in the mind, and another to think it out and make it intelligible. The philosophical student, having thoroughly scrutinized the bases of his outlook and attitude, reveals his wisdom and humility by confessing ignorance where he cannot claim knowledge. It is then always possible for him to learn something here. However, the undeveloped or undisciplined mind is not ashamed to make a pretense of knowledge where, in fact, there is none. It is too much to expect that his mind can understand what is quite beyond it; but when repeated, the effort tends to “stretch” the mind’s capacity. It is not enough to acknowledge his misjudgments. He ought also to enquire into the defective qualities which led him into making them. The father he travels from egocentric existence, the clearer and straighter will be his thinking. If the man who utters it is only half-literate, if his statement is ungrammatical, his words are mispronounced, and his voice stutters irritatingly, be willing to accept a truth. If the truth is expressed impeccably and enriched by a fine culture, it is usually more enjoyable, however. #RandolphHarris 15 of 33

Animals, according to Hegel, have an immediate knowledge of the exterior world, a perception of the self, but not the knowledge of self, which distinguishes man. The latter is only really born now when he becomes aware of himself as a rational being. Therefore, his essential characteristic is self-consciousness. Consciousness of self, to be affirmed, must distinguish itself from what it is not. Man is a creature who, to affirm his existence and his difference, denies. What distinguishes consciousness of self from the world of nature is not the simple act of contemplation by which it identifies itself with the exterior world and finds oblivion, but the desire it can feel regarding the world. This desire re-establishes its identity when it demonstrates that the exterior world consists of what it does not possess, but which nevertheless exists, and of what it would like to exist but which no longer does. Consciousness of self is, therefore, of necessity, desire. However, to exist, it must be satisfied, and it can only be satisfied by the gratification of its desire. It, therefore, acts to gratify itself and, in so doing, it denies and suppresses its means of gratification. It is the epitome of negation. To act is to destroy to give birth to the spiritual reality of consciousness. However, to destroy an object unconsciously, as meat is destroyed, for example, in the act of eating, is a purely animal activity. To consumer is not yet to become conscious. #RandolphHarris 16 of 33

Desire for consciousness must be directed toward something other than unconscious nature. The only thing in the world that is distinct from nature is, precisely, self-consciousness. Therefore, desire must be centered upon another form of desire; self-consciousness must be gratified by another form of self-consciousness. If he limits himself to subsisting like an animal, man is not recognized—and does not recognize himself—as a man. He must be acknowledged by other men. All consciousness is, basically, the desire to be recognized and proclaimed as such by other consciousnesses. It is others who beget us. Only in association do we receive a human value, as distinct from an animal. In that the supreme value for the animal is the preservation of life, consciousness should raise itself above the level of that instinct, to achieve human value. It should be capable of risking its life. To be recognized by another consciousness, man should be ready to risk his life and to accept the chance of death. Fundamental human relations are thus relations of pure prestige, a perpetual struggle, to the death, for recognition of one human being by another. The man who puts up a barrier of egoistic prejudices or superiority complexes cannot hope to penetrate the secret circle of truth-knowing. Only he who is ready, tentatively, to shift his intellectual standpoint for that of another is at all likely to be admitted into the sacred treasure house of wisdom. We must now shelve a single fundamental but awkward question. The sanctity of truth is inviolable. #RandolphHarris 17 of 33

The award-winning Sacramento Fire Department must be able to identify hazards and understand how to rectify those hazards. Many fire departments offer to conduct fire and life safety surveys in private dwellings. These surveys identify fire and life safety hazards and provide the occupants with recommendations on how to make their home safer. During a fire and life safety, the Sacramento Fire Department is on the lookout for potential fire hazards and nonfire safety hazards. Poisoning, slip and fall hazards, drownings, burns, and toppling furniture are all common causes of injuries in the home. Simple precautions can prevent some of these emergencies: Pools must be properly enclosed. Furniture, televisions, and appliances must be properly secured to prevent tip overs. Medicines and chemicals must be stored properly where children and pets cannot access them. Stairs and balconies should have handrails and guards. Domestic hot water temperature should not exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius. During the survey, fire fighters will point out hazards, explain the reasons for making recommendations, and answer any questions the occupants may have. They always look for fire protection equipment, such as smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, and fire extinguishers. Fire fighters will make sure that there are working smoke alarms on each floor, in the corridor outside each sleeping area, and in each bedroom. Some fire departments install one or more some alarms at no cost in any dwelling that lacks this important protection. Their goal is to educate the occupant about common fire hazards. #RandolphHarris 18 of 33

The Sacramento Fire Department will stress the importance of keeping ignition sources away from combustible materials and keeping bedroom doors closed to limit fire growth and spread. It is especially important for them to discuss the risk of children playing with lighters and matches, leaving food cooking on the stove unattended, and storing combustibles such as towels, potholders, and cooking oils too close to the stove. Many fires have resulted from someone inadvertently turning on the wrong burner and igniting something that was left on the stovetop. Everything in the kitchen should be equipped with an ABC-rated fire extinguisher. If the room contains a fireplace, a wood stove, or a portable heater, ensure that no combustible materials are stored nearby. A fireplace should have a screen to keep sparks and hot embers from escaping. If solid fuels are used, the chimney or flue pipe should be professionally inspected at least once a year. It is also important for home occupants to keep up good housekeeping and to clear junk out of garages, basements, and storage areas. Furnaces and water heaters that operate with an open flame are often located in a basement or garage; they can ignite flammable materials that are stored too close to them. Storage of gasoline and other flammable substances is a major concern because an open flame or pilot light can easily ignite flammable vapors. Gasoline and other flammable liquids should be stored only in approved containers and in outside storage areas or outbuildings. Propane tanks, such as those used in gas grills, should also be store outside or in outbuildings. Small quantities of flammable and combustible liquids (such as paint, thinners, varnishes, and cleaning fluids) should be stored in closed metal containers away from heat sources. Oily or greasy rags should also be stored in closed metal containers. It is recommended that homeowners maintain fully charged fire extinguishers in basements and garages. #RandolphHarris 19 of 33

Furthermore, it is generally not safe to smoke cigarettes or marijuana in the garage. Secondhand smoke exposure: Garages, even with the door open, may not be adequately ventilated. Secondhand smoke contains harmful chemicals that can affect anyone present, including children. Carbon monoxide risk: Burning cigarettes produce carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless, and potentially deadly gas. While a single cigarette is unlikely to cause immediate danger, smoking repeatedly or for prolonged periods in a poorly ventilated space could lead to carbon monoxide buildup. Fire hazard: Garages often contain flammable materials like gasoline, paint, solvents, and chemicals. Smoking increases the risk of igniting these materials, leading to a fire. Smoking materials (like marijuana or cigarettes) are a leading cause of residential fires. And it is absolutely not safe to store gasoline without a cap in your garage because gasoline is highly flammable: both the liquid and its vapors are easily ignited. Vapors are dangerous: gasoline vapors are heavier than air and can travel along the floor, accumulating in low areas like a garage. Evaporation and deterioration: leaving the container open allows the gasoline to evaporate, losing its volatile components and becoming less effective. It also increases the risk of water contamination. Health hazards: exposure to gasoline fumes can also pose health risks. #RandolphHarris 20 of 33

The Four Tenets of the Warrior Ethos: always place the mission first. Never accept defeat. Never quit. Never leave a fallen member of the fire department. While all citizens hold beliefs and values that bring our nation together, the Sacramento fire fighters, paramedics, and EMTs must take action to protect the nation. The four tenets of the Warrior Ethos provide the motivation for that action, motivation built on comradeship that the Warrior Ethos creates. Because of that comradeship, members of the Sacramento Fire Department sever for each other, as well as for the nation and for their beliefs. Time and again you see that members of the Sacramento Fire Department would rather die than let their community and the nation down. It is their job as leaders to ensure that their unit has the final ingredients necessary for victory. They train and lead their team to become a competent, confident, flexible, and adaptable team—a team imbued with the Warrior Ethos. The Warrior Ethos is the Sacramento Fire Department’s commitment to overcome all obstacles. It reflects a selfless dedication to the nation, mission, unit, and their fellow team members. They develop and maintain this attitude through discipline, rigorous training, learning, and embodying the award-winning values of the Sacramento Fire Department, and recognizing that as a fire fighter, paramedic, or EMT, they represent the future of Sacramento’s proud heritage. “As to the danger, I believe that when it’s your time to go, it’s your time go. I’m not looking forward to the day I’m gone, but just lived day to day. I don’t dwell on the possibility of this happening, because it breaks your concentration. If you start worrying about every job you go on, you clutter your mind and you cloud your thinking. #RandolphHarris 21 of 33

You just have to say, ‘I’m going in there to do my job, and I’m going from this point to that point, and I have these things to do.’ You have to keep your priorities in order, you know what you have to do, you know what the goal is, and just work to complete that goal. Then afterwards you can say, ‘That building was shaky, or that fire was really coming up our backs.’ I mean, you can think about the dangers afterwards, but you can’t let that stuff cloud your thinking. You have to understand that they are there, and you’ve got to be aware of them. You can’t get careless or reckless, you have to be aware of what’s going on around you at all times. But don’t be so aware of them that you’re going to worry anout something that really isn’t something to worry about. You just go in, do what you have to do, and you’re done. I live one day at a time, stay in top health, and do it as it comes along. Firefighting is a business like any other business, it’s a career for me. The only thing to do now is to eventually move up the ladder, advancing to different positions—lieutenant, captain, whatever—set my wheels in motion for my future. I could stay a firefighter with the Sacramento Fire Department for my whole career, there’s nothing wrong with that. I could be content with that. I’ll plan my future as I move along.” If it is not to degenerate into mere mental effervescence, thinking must move at every step with rigid rationality. #RandolphHarris 22 of 33

If you see a fire truck stopped in the street without the lights on, be very careful. Sometimes there is an emergency situation and you should not pass the fire truck. It might be a good idea to safely turn around and go another way. Sometimes fire fighters are getting back into their vehicle and if you pass the apparatus, you may collide with a firefighter who is on foot. Also, be sure to look at their signals, sometimes emergency vehicles are in motions, albeit, slowly, and drivers try to pass them, and this could lead to a dangerous situation. Also, if you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. #RandolphHarris 23 of 33

California is the third most expensive state in the nation. A single person making an income above $100,000 is now consider low-income in five counties in California. This distinction now applies to individuals living in Santa Cruze, Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, and Marin counties. In 37 percent of counties, a family of four living on a six-figure income is now considered low-income.  In fact, Governor Gavin Newsom of Democratic controlled California, brags about being the world’s “fifth largest economy,” but it also facing a $12 billion deficit, looking to cut $747 million for state worker’s pay, pushing to keep medical insurance for illegal immigrants, but wants to cut medical for anyone who has assets over $2,000 and the state has the largest homeless population in the nation. If they are all officially counted, California has approximately 4 million homeless people. The highest home prices in the nation, the highest taxes and the most unfriendly business regulations known to man. The average home price in California is nearly $1,000,000.00 USD, while the average salary is $96,036.00, meaning that most Californians cannot even afford to buy a home. California is having an affordability crisis. In 2025, many people in California saw their bills increase by an estimated $500 a month. This includes things like food, automobile insurance, homeowner’s insurance, electricity. In fact, more than 3 million people in California are facing household hardship, and more than 300,000 of them are facing eviction soon. This comes at a time when California is having a shortage of affordable housing. This is caused by nearly half a century’s old laws that discourage homes sales and encourage higher rents. Meanwhile, China, where we are sending all of our jobs and money has more than 50 ghost cities. Ghost cities are regions will housing has been overdeveloped to the point that these places are uninhabited. Because California is so hostile towards people and businesses, more than 360 companies have fled the state since 2020. Businesses like Chevron, SpaceX, Oracle, and Hewlett Packard are amongst the names on that list. #RandolphHarris 24 of 33

Also, more than 500,000 people a year are abandoning California because it is too expensive to live in, Gavin Newsom has criminalized homelessness and actually started arresting people without homes, crime is out of control, and they are losing their jobs due to companies relocating. More than 100 companies have announced layoffs in California for 2025. Intel is cutting 15,000 jobs, PayPal 2,500 and Meta has terminated 4,000 employees. The California crisis created by Democrats is driving up home prices and mortgages and rents all over the nation and the world, making living unaffordable for all, and advocates say the crisis is far from over. Accordingly, California has more than 3.5 million illegal immigrants. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. #RandolphHarris 25 of 33

The American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. #RandolphHarris 26 of 33

The American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. #RandolphHarris 27 of 33

Additionally, with inflation rates at an all-time high, American being in an unofficial recession for about a decade, all insurance in California is becoming unaffordable. State Farm has received an approval for an emergency rate increase, which was approved by the California Insurance Commissioner, to stabilize the market and protect policyholders. Starting 1 June 2025, homeowners will see an average of 17 percent increase, rental dwellings will see an increase of 38 percent, and Condo owners will see a rate increase of 15 percent. These rate increases are due to the distressed caused by the recent wildfires, which accumulated over $7 billion in claims. Furthermore, in 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1107, also known as the Protection California Drivers Act, into law which increases the minimum auto lability limits for bodily injury to $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident. Senate Bill 1107 also increased the minimum liability limits for property damage to $15,000 per accident and the DMV deposit for uninsured drivers to $75,000. The bill went into effect on January 1, 2025. This means that drivers with existing policies with lower limits will renew at the new minimum limits on or after January 1, 2025, and insurance premiums could increase by as much as 54 percent. America is in a state of crisis right now because of mismanagement by democrats. With the median household income in Sacramento County being $88,724 and a 4-bedroom 2.5-bathroom Cresleigh home costing $798,059, how are people able to afford homes? Because an $800,000 home with a one percent downpayment of $8,000, 30-year fixed loan at 4.176 percent interest comes with a monthly mortgage payment of $4,241. #RandolphHarris 28 of 33

The maximum percentage of your gross income that you should earmark for a monthly mortgage payment is calculated at 28 percent, and no more than 36 percent of your gross income to all debts, including mortgage. If you take 28 percent of the median household income per home in Sacramento County, homeowners can only afford a mortgage of $2,070.23 per month. And if you take 36 percent of their gross income to all debts, including mortgage, they should be devoting no more than $2,661.72 a month to these debts. Mortgage lenders must be using some kind of sorcery to get buyers into these expensive homes. To afford one of these homes using traditional guidelines, a household would need to gross $11,280.24 per month or $135,362.88 per year, but the median household in Sacramento County is grossing $7,393.67 or $88,724.00 and that typically means two to four people in the home are working and contributing to the mortgage. Prices in Sacramento County are actually rivaling the Bay Area, and the Bay Aera is so expensive because they have more higher paying jobs and is a tourist destination. And with the State of California being in a budget deficit of $12 billion, Governor Gavin Newsom Granted 700,000 illegal immigrants free health care at a cost to taxpayers of $3 billion annually, while cutting vital programs for veterans, school children, the disabled and the homeless, and is proposing to fast-track his plan to build a $20 billion water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by eliminating environmental reviews and limit avenues for legal challenges. Gavin Newsom only cares about the environment when his policies allow him to raise taxes and restrict freedoms. #RandolphHarris 29 of 33

In fact, Mexico has been causing one of America’s worst environmental disasters. Fifty million gallon a day of industrial chemicals, untreated sewage, and trash flow from Tijuana, Mexico, into southern San Diego County daily. This toxic waste has been turning up on Imperial Beach, and is causing the miles of white sands to become polluted and the ocean breeze to smell of poop, which has been sickening residents and wildlife and costing San Diego millions in the form of lost tourism and health problems. The problem has been going on for more than a century. However, it has become a public health crisis as the population of Tijuana has drastically increased, in recent years, and the waste treatment plants have no longer usable. The beach has been closed for more than three years, and evidence suggests that even breathing the air may be harmful, as toxic particles in the water can become airborne. Yet, even though Gavin Newsom has been governor for six years, he has not rushed into action to stop this very preventable environmental disaster. Why? Because he is not getting kickbacks from China and Mexico, not being gifted mansions and cars, and he cannot tax the struggling California taxpayers to clean up this mess. Simply, it is not profitable for him. Gavin Newsom has been a total tyrant with no regard for taxpayers and does not have a mind for business and should be impeached as soon as possible. He has criminalized poverty, increased taxes and insurance rates so high that people are struggling to survive and has given billions of taxpayer dollars away to illegal immigrants and protected them from law enforcement, while arresting law abiding Americans because they cannot afford to pay rent or mortgage and the homeless shelters are unsafe, overcrowded and have restrictions on who is allowed inside. Wars have been started over governments who tax citizens without representation. Taxation without representation is what led to the American Revolution. If Gavin Newsom is not stopped, next he will euthanize the poor and sterilize the disabled. This monster is unfit to be governor and must never be allowed to be President of America! Stop Gavin Newsom now! Save California and impeach this unreasonable man. #RandolphHarris 30 of 33

Meanwhile, with President Trump, we are seeing crime rates sharply decrease, and he recently secured $10 trillion in investments. If elected president for an unprecedented third term, to make housing more affordable and to offset the cost of homeowner’s insurance and auto insurance, President Trump plans to abolish property taxes. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever.  And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. #RandolphHarris 31 of 33

When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt. When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. #RandolphHarris 32 of 33

As you can see, President Donald Trump and his pledge to “Make America Great Again,” is exactly what America needs to save the country and the American people. And yes, diversity is important, so you can see why it is also important to preserve blonde hair and blue eyes as the people with these characteristics are becoming a minority in America. We must think before we can understand the soul’s existence; we must understand before we can realize it. The earliest beginnings of thought, as apart from instinct, when it was itself still but a lurking tendency, belong far back in primeval time. The human intellect as we find it today, so rich and developed an instrument for the consciousness of the ego, did not arrived at this fulness without a series of graduated stages. We have had plenty of scientific thinking, business thinking, and political thinking long enough, but we have had very little inspired thinking. That is the world’s need. The intellect is cradled in selfishness but runs the evolutionary track into reason where it will one day finish at the winning-post of selflessness. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. “Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand between their loved home and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’ And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” #RandolphHarris 33 of 33

The Winchester Mystery House

Experience an unforgettable journey back to the time of kings and queens with this entry ticket for The Winchester Mansion in Santa Clara, California which was the residence of Heiress Sarah L. Winchester. Take advantage of this fascinating experience. After tour, there will be time enjoy the mansion’s splendor at your own pace. You might even discover secret passages.

Please come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion.

For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase. https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/

We wish to express our gratitude to our families, ancestors, spirits, and friends and to our many associates and clients, whose lives touched our lives and whose ideas helped us to grow. We would also like to thank our employees and care takers for putting the technical ideas of this estate into conversational style, and we are, of course, extremely thank to all of our patrons for helping to keep the legacy of the Winchester Family alive. The Winchester Mystery House is full of surprises. What was your favorite, “Oooh!” moment during your visit at the mansion? (And for those of you who still have to check it off your bucket list… we will hopefully see you soon.)  https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Why Choose Harris?

Harris Plumbing, Heating, Air, & Electric has been in business for 30 years. How many businesses can say that? We take pride in everything we do – no matter how big or small the service call might be. We’re here to help your home be as safe and comfortable as possible for you and your family. We take that responsibility very seriously as a company. Harris will ensure you have the information you need to decide what to do next, whatever your home is facing. We’ll perform a diagnosis and detail what issues are present before starting any work. This gives you a personalized quote and service plan specific to your home’s needs – not some random quote based on the best guess. The only way we can do our best work is to make sure we handle the issues at hand. https://www.callharrisnow.com/about-us/

The Ultimate Driving Machine

BMW continues to dominate the luxury car space. With its top ranking in Consumer Reports’ Auto Brand Report Card and consistent market share growth, BMW has demonstrated its ability to produce high-performing, reliable vehicles that meet consumer demands.

BMW stands out due to its focus on driving dynamics and engineering excellence. While other luxury brands prioritize comfort and opulence, BMW is known for creating cars that are fun to drive and offer a unique connection between the driver and the machine. https://www.brianharrisbmw.com/

Randolph Harris San Francisco Taxation & Mergers

Randy advises clients with regard to business transition, taxable and tax deferred mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructuring, integrated tax planning, federal and state tax controversy resolution, and real estate transactions. https://www.jmbm.com/l-randolph-harris.html

Pulte Homes Ascent at Montelena

11977 Cobble Brook Drive, Rancho Cordova, California 95742

Now selling in Rancho Cordova, at Ascent at Montelena. This family-friendly community is near major employers like Sutter Health and the State of California. Located in the Sacramento Valley, residents enjoy Northern California at its best.

These two-story single-family homes feature Life Tested® floor plans, smart home features, energy-efficient construction, and modern architecture. Prices start at $625,990 and up for a single family home, with 2,526-2,973 square feet. https://www.pulte.com/homes/california/sacramento/rancho-cordova/ascent-at-montelena-210916

The Conqueror is Always Right!

All people are born with the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong. This ability, called conscience, is a manifestation of the Light of Christ. A person’s conscience is a defense against situations that are spiritually harmful. Righteous decisions and obedience to the commandments bring peace of conscience. When we sin, we feel remorse or guilt, just as we feel physical pain when we are wounded. This is the natural response of our conscience to sin, and it can lead us to repent. Repentance and forgiveness renew our peace of conscience. If we ignore our conscience, on the other hand, and do not repent, our conscience will be impaired as if it has been “seared with a hot iron.”  However, the first fundamental criticism of the good conscience—the denunciation of the beautiful soul and of the ineffectual attitudes—we own to Hegel, for whom the ideology of the good, the true, and the beautiful is the religion of those possessed of none of them. While the mere existence of factions surprises Saint-Just and contravenes the ideal order that he affirms, Hegel not only is surprised, but even affirms that faction is the prelude to thought. For the Jacobin, everyone is virtuous. The movement which starts with Hegel, and which is triumphant today, presumes, on the contrary, that no one is virtuous, but that everyone will be. #RandolphHarris 1 of 29

At the beginning, everything, according to Saint-Just, is an idyl; according to Hegel, everything is a tragedy. However, in the end that amounts to the same thing. Those who destroy the idyl must be destroyed or destruction must be embarked on to create the idyl. Violence, in both cases, is the victor. The repudiation of the Terror, undertaken by Hegel, only leads to an extension of the Terror. That is not all. Apparently, the world today can no longer be anything other than a world of masters and slaves because contemporary ideologies, those that are changing the face of the earth, have learned from Hegel to conceive of history in terms of the dialectic of master and slave. If, on the first morning of the world, under the empty sky, there is only a master and a slave; even if there is only the bond of master and slave between a transcendent god and mankind, then there can be no other law in this world than the law of force. Only a god, or a principle above the master and the slave, could intervene and make men’s history something more than a mere chronicle of their victories and defeats. First Hegel and then the Hegelians have tried on the contrary, to destroy, more and more thoroughly, all idea of transcendence and any nostalgia for transcendence. Although there was infinitely more in Hegel than in the left-wing Hegelians who finally have triumphed over him, he nevertheless furnished, on the level of the dialectic of master and slave, the decisive justification of the spirit of power in the twenty-first century. #RandolphHarris 2 of 29

The conqueror is always right; that is one of the lessons which can be learned from the most important German philosophical system of the nineteenth century. Of course, there is to be found, in the prodigious Hegelian edifice, a means of partially contradicting those ideas. However, twenty-first century ideology is not connected with what is improperly called the idealism of the master of Jena. Hegel’s face, which reappears in Russian Communism, has been successively remolded by David Strauss, Bruno Bauer, Feuerbach, Marx, and the entire Hegelian left wing. We are only interested in him here because he alone has any real bearing on the history of our time. If Nietzsche and Hegel serve as alibis to the masters of Dachau and Karaganda, that does not condemn their entire philosophy. However, it does lead to the suspicion that one aspect of their thought, or of their logic, can lead to these appalling conclusions. Nietzschean nihilism is methodical. The Phenomenology of the Mind also has a didactic aspect. At the meeting-point of two centuries, it depicts, in its successive stages, the education of the mind as it pursues its way toward absolute truth. It is a metaphysical Emile. Each stage is an error and is, moreover, accompanied by historic sanctions which are almost always fatal, either to the mind or to the civilization in which it is reflected. Hegel proposes to demonstrate the necessity of these painful stages. #RandolphHarris 3 of 29

The Phenomenology is, in one aspect, a meditation on despair and death. The mission of despair is, simply, to be methodical in that it must be transfigured, at the end of history, into absolute satisfaction and absolute wisdom. The book has the defect, however, of only imagining highly intelligent pupils and it has been taken literally, while, literally, it only wanted to proclaim the spirit. It is the same with the celebrated analysis of mastery and slavery. The course of evolution has made the intellectual stride of man a necessity but it has not made such utter imbalance as prevails today a necessity. The intellectual wondering, seeking, and questioning which make a man study or aspire, follow, or join, often attain a degree of some ardour. However, this does not prevent the same man from changing his mood and mind in later years. We humans dominate the earth planet, not by our physical strength but by our mental power. Through the many changes of experience in the many lifetimes on earth—and later elsewhere—the mind grows. It wants to move upward from mere curiosity to actual knowledge. It inquires if there be any purpose in life to be fulfilled—if there be a purpose. If there is a God, it demands to know, yet doubts the possibility of finding a sure answer. #RandolphHarris 4 of 29

However, if this increased knowledge and sharpended brains predominate over mystical experience and religious intuition, then disequilibrium is created. Truth appears only to the perfectly balanced mind, but to the disequilibrated one it appears materialized, perverted, or falsified. The medieval period was impelled by theological sources, and the modern period by scientific ones. The benefit of university education has reached a much higher percentage of people and in a much larger number than during any earlier century. Has world-thinking progressed enough consciously, deliberately, and honestly to set up the search for truth? The answer is that individual world-thinkers have done so but taken as a group humanity has not done so. The intellect is in process of being developed and its limitation must be accepted as such. The time spent in deploring that fact is time wasted. For the important thing is not that it is not the highest faculty in man, which is admitted, but that its development does not really oppose itself to the highest spiritual development, which is not often admitted. Although a person may be consumed by thinking of and chasing after prestige, and although in his mind he rises and falls with his prestige, this often is not clearly seen as a neurotic problem to be analyzed—either because it is such a common occurrence, or because it looks like a cultural pattern, or because the analyst himself is not free from this disease. #RandolphHarris 5 of 29

A disease it is, and devastating one at that, because it makes people opportunistic and, in this way, mars their integrity. Far from being close to normal, it is on the contrary indicative of a severe disturbance. Indeed, it occurs only in those who are so profoundly alienated from themselves that even their pride is largely invested outside of themselves. Neurotic pride furthermore rests on the attributes which a person arrogates to himself in his imagination, on all those belonging to his idealized image. Here the peculiar nature of neurotic pride comes into clear relief. The neurotic is not proud of the human being he is. Knowing his wrong perspective on himself, we are not surprised that his pride blots out difficulties and limitations. However, it goes further than this. Mostly he is not even proud of his existing assets. He may be but hazily aware of them; he may deny them. However, even if he is cognizant of them, they carry no weight for him. For instance, if the analyst calls to his attention his great capacity for work or the tenacity, he has demonstrated in making his way in life, or points out that—his difficulties notwithstanding—he did write a good book, the patient may literally or figuratively shrug his shoulders and pass over the praise lightly, with noticeable indifference. He especially has no appreciation for all that is “merely” striving and not accomplishment. He rather discards, for instance, the honest striving to get to the roots of his trouble, which he has shown in making one serious attempt after another to take up analysis or to analyze himself. #RandolphHarris 6 of 29

Actualization involves honestly being your feelings in both receiving communications and in sending them. It involves some risks, or at least perceived risks, to those of us who habitually distrust our feelings and how others will react to them. The rewards of honest communication of feelings are immense. Others will sense your realness, your integrity and honesty, and will be more willing to reciprocate in kind. The frequency of misunderstanding each other will be less. The amount of mental and emotional energy you expend in relationships with others will also be lightened. That drained, tried feeling that comes from manipulation will dissipate. A solid principle of actualization is that a healthy relationship does not always have to be an agreeing relationship. Some of our most productive family, social, and work relationships exist because we accept the fact that different people have different points of view and feelings about things, and that we respect those differences. Often in life, we make the erroneous assumption that to have harmony, we must also have agreement. An actualizers is an appreciater of differences. An actualizers who honestly feels is particularly aware of the danger of pretense. The actualizer does not pretend to care when he or she does not, or pretends not to care when he or she does. The actualizer avoids such stock phrases as “I give up,” “You win,” and “I have had it.” Instead, the actualizer honestly expresses dislikes, wants, and hopes, believing that directness is the means whereby love is maintained and strengthened. #RandolphHarris 7 of 29

Honestly recognizing and living with your feelings crack the wall that manipulation has built between you and others. Although some social critics recognize that the search for happiness and personal fulfillment, for the pleasure of a life that has meaning, sooner or later leads to marriage, they contend that marriage will remain the fundamental building block of society, spontaneously chosen as a way of life by most men and women, but the martial commitment will not longer include sexual exclusivity. They argue that the concept of fidelity is outmoded and must yield to a flexible arrangement which permits both husband and wife to engage in extramarital pleasures of the flesh. More radical proposals call for this freedom to include not just the traditional heterosexual affair, but the full range of male-female combinations, including casual encounters, domestic trios, mate exchanges, group marriage, plus acceptance of bisexual relationships within these varying arrangements. This kind of conjecturing, which totally repudiates the establish principles of sexual commitment, owes less to disciplined observation of what most people require to live sexually effective lives than it owes to wishful fantasies about how they ought to live. #RandolphHarris 8 of 29

When such ideas are imaginatively conceived, as they were in novels like The Harrad Experiment and Stranger in a Strange Land, in addition to being enjoyable escapist reading, they may even succeed in shaking up a reader’s preconceived notions. Of course, they may also create apprehension in thoughtful readers who do not find the concepts abhorrent but do find them inconsistent with other cherished and reliable values. These writers, and numerous nonfiction authors as well, place the pleasures of pleasures of the flesh entirely in the service of self-gratification, with perhaps a moment’s polite attention to a partner’s request for release in one fashion or other. They reject the idea that pleasures of the flesh might have something to do with such considerations as privacy, discretion, or esthetic sensibility. And what they consider to be emancipation from Victorian prudery more closely resembles exhibitionism, on a level not much different from that of adolescents who enjoy “mooning”—dropping their pants and baring their buttocks to discomfort some unsuspecting stranger. Small wonder, then, that they consider the bond of a commitment involving pleasures of the flesh between a man and woman to be as antiquated as a chastity belt. In the 1970s, married couples were still depicted, in such television programs as Thriller (1973 British TV Show Season 1, Episode 1 “Lady Killer,” and Season 1 Episode 7, “A Place to Die”), to sleep in twin beds in the same room. Now, we have women mooning live audiences, on television, as they manipulate their buttocks to move like the waves of the ocean (also known as a “cheek tsunami”). #RandolphHarris 9 of 29

They are free, and should remain so, of course, to behave according to whatever standards they choose and to believe in whatever rationalization they may need to justify that behavior. The problem lies in the fact that when a few individuals with a professional background—including such sensitive fields as psychiatry, psychology, and the ministry—act out their erotic fantasies and write about their experiences, they are passing along advice which implicitly urges the reader to “go and do thou likewise.” This mounts to irresponsibility encouraging people to jump into a deep river with dangerous undercurrents, ignoring the fact that they may not know how to swim. And as an adult, this is often seen as “dangerous.” How can there by anything for anyone to be afraid of, either the one from whom love flows or the receivers? Spread it around like that, why should there be fear? Well, our moral collapse is appalling, but surprisingly, many attempt to justify it. Because of promiscuity, the dreaded social diseases have reached the epidemic stage. One health official said that they have surpassed epidemic proportions, and he called the condition a plague. So many were so concerned about COVID-19 and wearing a mask and getting vaccines, but these social diseases now affect more people than any communicable disease except the common cold. #RandolphHarris 10 of 29

In one of our best-known western city’s health officials report that on any given day, around one in five people have a sexually transmitted infection (STI), also known as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and venereal disease (VD). In 2024, there were more than 2.6 million STIs reported. Young adults from ages 20 to 34 have the highest rates of infection. However, a recent analysis found that patients over the age of 60 account for the biggest increase of in-office treatments for STIs. It is almost unbelievable. Experts claims that easy abortion has now removed the stigma from immorality, making free pleasures of the flesh even freer still. While millions accept promiscuity as a new way of life and excuse adultery even though it wrecks marriages and breaks up homes, at the same time, we make it illegal to offer a prayer in some of our public places. While we teach pleasures of the flesh in schools and publicly portray the vilest of filth on the movie screen, we virtually make a criminal of a schoolteacher who would bring a Christian Bible into the classroom or who might as the students to recite the Lord’s Prayer. So far have we lost our sense of values! Some Americans protest reference to the Almighty to the flag, while others would eliminate “God” from the Declaration of Independence. Are we caught in a tidal wave of atheism and its accompanying corruption? Are we any better than the civilization which preceded us here and which were swept away because of iniquity? #RandolphHarris 11 of 29

Those civilizations were taught a stern lesson pertaining to their occupancy of this hemisphere. They were told that this is a land of special significance to the Almighty and that only those nations which serve God remain here. If we ourselves are to survive, we of today must heed this warning. “And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them,” reports Ether 2.8. We are bluntly told that whatever nations occupy this land must serve God or die! The great men of modern America have given us similar warnings, peculiarly enough. Roger Babson said: “Only religion can prevent democratic rule from developing into mob rule. A nasion can prosper only as its citizens are religious, intelligent, capable of service and eager to render it. Every great panic we have ever had has been foreshadowed by a general decline in observance of religious principles.” President Abraham Lincoln told the people of his day that America “need fear no danger from without…If danger were ever to threaten the United States of America, it would come from within. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power…But we have forgotten God. It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” #RandolphHarris 12 of 29

God has revealed that in the last days, He would warn the people through the voice of tempests, earthquakes, and seas heaving themselves beyond their bounds. Do we hear His voice now and recognize it? The May 2025 Missouri Tornado caused $1 billion in property damage. As the devastation of Los Angeles wildfires have reached an estimated $300 billion in damages, with death and loss of habitat, do we hear in this the voice of God as a fair warning to the rest of us? “Therefore, repent ye, and humble yourselves before Him, lest He shall come out in justice against you,” reports Mormon 5.22-24. Religion is concerned with life itself, with ways to love that are the most viable. The question is, “What are the experiential and objective signs of being most fully alive?” How can persons tell when their actions, their lifestyles, their relationships with other people, their diets, are conducive to life itself, and when they diminish life? Sensitive somatic perception clearly is essential to discern when one’s way of life is enlivening. To experience one’s appetites keenly, to enjoy one’s senses, to feel emotion, to breathe deeply, to sleep well, to eliminate adequately—all these vital signs may show a person that his or her lifestyle is good. The experience of zest, vitality, and rich meaning in life are further manifestations of enlivenment. #RandolphHarris 13 of 29

There is still considerable debate as to whether winners are winners because they have winning scripts, or because they have permission to be autonomous. However, there is little doubt that losers are following the bad programing of their parents, the media, their friends, and the urgings of their own inner demons. Tragic scripts may be either noble or ignoble. The noble ones are a source of inspiration and of noble dramas. The ignorable ones repeat the same old scenes and the same old plots with the same drab cast, set in the dreary “catchment areas” which society conveniently supplies as depots where losers can collect their payoffs: saloons, pawnshops, brothels, courtrooms, prisons, state hospitals, and morgues. Because of the stereotyped outcomes, it is easy to see the scripty elements in such life courses. Thus, books on psychiatry and criminology which give numerous and extensive case histories are excellent sources for studying scripts. A bad script is laid on the child by the Fascist Sneer, and he clings to it on the principle of the Nostalgic Prisoner. The Fascist Sneer is as old as history, and works as follows. The people are told that the enemy king or leader is filthy, incoherent, debased, and brutish, more animal than human. When he is captured, he is put in a cage with a few rags, no toilet facilities, and no eating utensils. After a week or so, he is exhibited to the people, and sure enough, he is filthy, incoherent, debased, and brutish, and gets more and more so as time goes on. Then the conquerors smile and say: “I told you so.” #RandolphHarris 14 of 29

Children are essentially captives of their parents, and can be reduced to any state the parents’ desire. For example, a girl is told that she is a hysterical, self-pitying crybaby. The parents know her weak spot and can torment her in front of visitors until she finds it intolerable and is reduced to tears. Since this is labeled “self-pity,” she tries hard not to cry, and so when she does give way, it is like an explosion. Then the parents can say: “What a hysterical reaction! Every time we have visitors, she does that. What a crybaby,” et cetera. The key question of script analysis research is: “How would you raise a child so that when she grew up, she would react the way this patient does?” In answering this question, the script analyst more and more frequently can describe the patient’s upbrining accurately before he is told about it. Many people who have spent long years in prison find the outside world cold, difficult, and frightening, and commit an offense to be sent back to prison. It may be miserable, but it is familiar, they know the rules to keep out of serious trouble, and there are old friends there. In the same way, when a patient attempts to break out of his script cage, he finds it cold “out there,” and since he no longer plays the old games, he loses his old friends and must make new ones, which is often scary. Therefore, he slides back into his old ways, like a Nostalgic Prisoner. All this may make the script and its effects a little more understandable. #RandolphHarris 15 of 29

Throughout history, the threat of fire has served as an impetus for communities to establish building codes. Although the first building codes, which were developed in ancient Egypt, focused on preventing building collapse, building codes were quickly recognizes as an effective means of preventing, limiting, and containing fires. Colonial communities had few building codes. The first settlers had a difficult time erecting even primitive shelters, which often were constructed of wood with straw-thatched roofs. The fireplaces used for cooking and heating may have had chimneys constructed of smaller logs. The all-wood construction and use of open fires meant that fires were a constant threat to early settlers in America. As communities developed, they enacted codes restricting the hours during which open fires were permitted and the materials that could be used for roofs and chimneys. In 1678, Boston requires that “tyle” or slate be used for all roofs. After British forces burned Washington D.C., in 1814, (during the War of 1812), codes prohibited the building of wooden houses in the area. Some building codes required the construction of a fire-resistive wall, or firewall, of brick or mortar between two buildings. Today’s building codes not only govern construction materials but also frequently require built-in fire prevention and safety measures. #RandolphHarris 16 of 29

Fire fighter training and education have come a long way over the years. The first fighters simply needed sufficient muscular strength and endurance to pass buckets or operate a hand pumper. Today, fire fighters require formalized training, attentions to safety, and good judgment. Fire fighters operate costly high-tech equipment, including million-dollar apparatus, radios, thermal imaging devices (high-tech devices that use infrared technology to find object giving off a heat signature), and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) (air pack used by a fire fighter to enter a hazardous atmosphere). Ethos is defined as the disposition, character, or fundamental values peculiar to a specific person, people, culture, or movement. The Warrior Ethos, the professional attitudes and beliefs that characterize the award-winning Sacramento Fire Department, reflects our nation’s enduring values by the profession charged with protecting those values. The Warrior Ethos is the foundation for the Sacramento Fire Department’s total commitment to victory in peace and war. At the core of every firefighter, paramedic, EMT is the willingness and desire to serve the nation—both its people and its enduring values. Those with the Sacramento Fire Department who live the Warrior Ethos put the mission first, refuse to accept defeat, never quit, and never leave a fallen crew member. They have absolute faith in themselves and in their team because they have common beliefs and values. #RandolphHarris 17 of 29

The seven Sacramento Fire Department Values of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage enable them to see what is right or wrong in any situation. When you encounter a situation that requires you to decide, you should apply the Sacramento Fire Department’s Values. If any one term in not applied, the decision will be flawed. As you see, the Sacramento Fire Department’s Values and the Warrior Ethos are integral parts of a unified system of beliefs—as with the firefighters, EMT, and paramedics who follow them, they depend on each other. The Sacramento Fire Department’s Creed ties this system together. “I love the job, I really love it. So does everybody in the service. In this day and age, you don’t get to do many things that help people out. It’s the most gratifying feeling that I know of. I believe it comes from my parents. My father has been helping people for a long time. He’s seventy-seven years old, and he still works six day a week. He’s still self-employed as a mechanic. He doesn’t need the money, he does it to do people favors. He keeps the shop open because he feels there’s a need for his services. It’s the motivation that keeps him going. I believe that I inherited that, to a certain degree, from him.” When we help bring the Lord’s healing blessings to those suffering from physical, mental, and spiritual sickness, we practice the healer’s art. #RandolphHarris 18 of 29

If you see a fire truck stopped in the street without the lights on, be very careful. Sometimes there is an emergency situation and you should not pass the fire truck. It might be a good idea to safely turn around and go another way. Sometimes fire fighters are getting back into their vehicle and if you pass the apparatus, you may collide with a firefighter who is on foot. Also, be sure to look at their signals, sometimes emergency vehicles are in motions, albeit, slowly, and drivers try to pass them, and this could lead to a dangerous situation. Also, if you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. #RandolphHarris 19 of 29

California is the third most expensive state in the nation. A single person making an income above $100,000 is now consider low-income in five counties in California. This distinction now applies to individuals living in Santa Cruze, Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, and Marin counties. In 37 percent of counties, a family of four living on a six-figure income is now considered low-income.  In fact, Governor Gavin Newsom of Democratic controlled California, brags about being the world’s “fifth largest economy,” but it also facing a $12 billion deficit, looking to cut $747 million for state worker’s pay, pushing to keep medical insurance for illegal immigrants, and has the largest homeless population in the nation. If they are all officially counted, California has approximately 4 million homeless people. The highest home prices in the nation, the highest taxes and the most unfriendly business regulations known to man. The average home price in California is nearly $1,000,000.00 USD, while the average salary is $96,036.00, meaning that most Californians cannot even afford to buy a home. California is having an affordability crisis. In 2025, many people in California saw their bills increase by an estimated $500 a month. This includes things like food, automobile insurance, homeowner’s insurance, electricity. In fact, more than 3 million people in California are facing household hardship, and more than 300,000 of them are facing eviction soon. This comes at a time when California is having a shortage of affordable housing. This is caused by nearly half a century’s old laws that discourage homes sales and encourage higher rents. Meanwhile, China, where we are sending all of our jobs and money has more than 50 ghost cities. Ghost cities are regions will housing has been overdeveloped to the point that these places are uninhabited. Because California is so hostile towards people and businesses, more than 360 companies have fled the state since 2020. Businesses like Chevron, SpaceX, Oracle, and Hewlett Packard are amongst the names on that list. #RandolphHarris 20 of 29

Also, more than 500,000 people a year are abandoning California because it is too expensive to live in, Gavin Newsom has criminalized homelessness and actually started arresting people without homes, crime is out of control, and they are losing their jobs due to companies relocating. More than 100 companies have announced layoffs in California for 2025. Intel is cutting 15,000 jobs, PayPal 2,500 and Meta has terminated 4,000 employees. The California crisis created by Democrats is driving up home prices and mortgages and rents all over the nation and the world, making living unaffordable for all, and advocates say the crisis is far from over. Accordingly, California has more than 3.5 million illegal immigrants. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. #RandolphHarris 21 of 29

The American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. #RandolphHarris 22 of 29

The American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. #RandolphHarris 23 of 29

Additionally, with inflation rates at an all-time high, American being in an unofficial recession for about a decade, all insurance in California is becoming unaffordable. State Farm has received an approval for an emergency rate increase, which was approved by the California Insurance Commissioner, to stabilize the market and protect policyholders. Starting 1 June 2025, homeowners will see an average of 17 percent increase, rental dwellings will see an increase of 38 percent, and Condo owners will see a rate increase of 15 percents. These rate increases are due to the distressed caused by the recent wildfires, which accumulated over $7 billion in claims. Furthermore, in 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1107, also known as the Protection California Drivers Act, into law which increases the minimum auto lability limits for bodily injury to $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident. Senate Bill 1107 also increased the minimum liability limits for property damage to $15,000 per accident and the DMV deposit for uninsured drivers to $75,000. The bill went into effect on January 1, 2025. This means that drivers with existing policies with lower limits will renew at the new minimum limits on or after January 1, 2025, and insurance premiums could increase by as much as 54 percent. America is in a state of crisis right now because of mismanagement by democrats. With the median household income in Sacramento County being $88,724 and a 4-bedroom 2.5-bathroom Cresleigh home costing $798,059, how are people able to afford homes? Because an $800,000 home with a one percent downpayment of $8,000, 30-year fixed loan at 4.176 percent interest comes with a monthly mortgage payment of $4,241. #RandolphHarris 24 of 29

The maximum percentage of your gross income that you should earmark for a monthly mortgage payment is calculated at 28 percent, and no more than 36 percent of your gross income to all debts, including mortgage. If you take 28 percent of the median household income per home in Sacramento County, homeowners can only afford a mortgage of $2,070.23 per month. And if you take 36 percent of their gross income to all debts, including mortgage, they should be devoting no more than $2,661.72 a month to these debts. Mortgage lenders must be using some kind of sorcery to get buyers into these expensive homes. To afford one of these homes using traditional guidelines, a household would need to gross $11,280.24 per month or $135,362.88 per year, but the median household in Sacramento County is grossing $7,393.67 or $88,724.00 and that typically means two to four people in the home are working and contributing to the mortgage. Prices in Sacramento County are actually rivaling the Bay Area, and the Bay Aera is so expensive because they have more higher paying jobs and is a tourist destination. And with the State of California being in a budget deficit of $12 billion, Governor Gavin Newsom Granted 700,000 illegal immigrants free health care at a cost to taxpayers of $3 billion annually, while cutting vital programs for veterans, school children, the disabled and the homeless, and is proposing to fast-track his plan to build a $20 billion water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by eliminating environmental reviews and limit avenues for legal challenges. Gavin Newsom only cares about the environment when his policies allow him to raise taxes and restrict freedoms. #RandolphHarris 25 of 29

In fact, Mexico has been causing one of America’s worst environmental disasters. Fifty million gallon a day of industrial chemicals, untreated sewage, and trash flow from Tijuana, Mexico, into southern San Diego County daily. This toxic waste has been turning up on Imperial Beach, and is causing the miles of white sands to become polluted and the ocean breeze to smell of poop, which has been sickening residents and wildlife and costing San Diego millions in the form of lost tourism and health problems. The problem has been going on for more than a century. However, it has become a public health crisis as the population of Tijuana has drastically increased, in recent years, and the waste treatment plants have no longer usable. The beach has been closed for more than three years, and evidence suggests that even breathing the air may be harmful, as toxic particles in the water can become airborne. Yet, even though Gavin Newsom has been governor for six years, he has not rushed into action to stop this very preventable environmental disaster. Why? Because he is not getting kickbacks from China and Mexico, not being gifted mansions and cars, and he cannot tax the struggling California taxpayers to clean up this mess. Simply, it is not profitable for him. Gavin Newsom has been a total tyrant with no regard for taxpayers and does not have a mind for business and should be impeached as soon as possible. He has criminalized poverty, increased taxes and insurance rates so high that people are struggling to survive and has given billions of taxpayer dollars away to illegal immigrants and protected them from law enforcement, while arresting law abiding Americans because they cannot afford to pay rent or mortgage and the homeless shelters are unsafe, overcrowded  and have restrictions on who is allowed inside. Wars have been started over governments who tax citizens without representation. Taxation without representation is what led to the American Revolution. If Gavin Newsom is not stopped, next he will euthanize the poor and sterilize the disabled. This monster is unfit to be governor and must never be allowed to be President of America! Stop Gavin Newsom now! Save California and impeach this unreasonable man. #RandolphHarris 26 of 29

Meanwhile, with President Trump, we are seeing crime rates sharply decrease, and he recently secured $10 trillion in investments. If elected president for an unprecedented third term, to make housing more affordable and to offset the cost of homeowner’s insurance and auto insurance, President Trump plans to abolish property taxes. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever.  And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. #RandolphHarris 26 of 29

When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt.When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. #RandolphHarris 28 of 29

As you can see, President Donald Trump and his pledge to “Make America Great Again,” is exactly what America needs to save the country and the American people. And yes, diversity is important, so you can see why it is also important to preserve blonde hair and blue eyes as the people with these characteristics are becoming a minority in America. We must think before we can understand the soul’s existence; we must understand before we can realize it. The earliest beginnings of thought, as apart from instinct, when it was itself still but a lurking tendency, belong far back in primeval time. The human intellect as we find it today, so rich and developed an instrument for the consciousness of the ego, did not arrived at this fulness without a series of graduated stages. We have had plenty of scientific thinking, business thinking, and political thinking long enough, but we have had very little inspired thinking. That is the world’s need. The intellect is cradled in selfishness but runs the evolutionary track into reason where it will one day finish at the winning-post of selflessness. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. “Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand between their loved home and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’ And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” #RandolphHarris 29 of 29

The Winchester Mystery House

Experience an unforgettable journey back to the time of kings and queens with this entry ticket for The Winchester Mansion in Santa Clara, California which was the residence of Heiress Sarah L. Winchester. Take advantage of this fascinating experience. After tour, there will be time enjoy the mansion’s splendor at your own pace. You might even discover secret passages.

Please come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion.

For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase. https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/

We wish to express our gratitude to our families, ancestors, spirits, and friends and to our many associates and clients, whose lives touched our lives and whose ideas helped us to grow. We would also like to thank our employees and care takers for putting the technical ideas of this estate into conversational style, and we are, of course, extremely thank to all of our patrons for helping to keep the legacy of the Winchester Family alive. The Winchester Mystery House is full of surprises. What was your favorite, “Oooh!” moment during your visit at the mansion? (And for those of you who still have to check it off your bucket list… we will hopefully see you soon.)  https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Why Choose Harris?

Harris Plumbing, Heating, Air, & Electric has been in business for 30 years. How many businesses can say that? We take pride in everything we do – no matter how big or small the service call might be. We’re here to help your home be as safe and comfortable as possible for you and your family. We take that responsibility very seriously as a company. Harris will ensure you have the information you need to decide what to do next, whatever your home is facing. We’ll perform a diagnosis and detail what issues are present before starting any work. This gives you a personalized quote and service plan specific to your home’s needs – not some random quote based on the best guess. The only way we can do our best work is to make sure we handle the issues at hand. https://www.callharrisnow.com/about-us/

The Ultimate Driving Machine

BMW continues to dominate the luxury car space. With its top ranking in Consumer Reports’ Auto Brand Report Card and consistent market share growth, BMW has demonstrated its ability to produce high-performing, reliable vehicles that meet consumer demands.

BMW stands out due to its focus on driving dynamics and engineering excellence. While other luxury brands prioritize comfort and opulence, BMW is known for creating cars that are fun to drive and offer a unique connection between the driver and the machine. https://www.brianharrisbmw.com/

Randolph Harris San Francisco Taxation & Mergers

Randy advises clients with regard to business transition, taxable and tax deferred mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructuring, integrated tax planning, federal and state tax controversy resolution, and real estate transactions. https://www.jmbm.com/l-randolph-harris.html

Cresleigh Homes

The average income in Sacramento, California in 1990 was approximately $28,000 annually (2025 inflation adjusted $70,000). A large two-story home with an expansive backyard cost $169,000 (2025 inflation adjusted $417,000) back then. Houses became more affordable in 1996-1999 due to a recession. You may have noticed the prices decreased by an average of $20,000 (2025 inflation adjusted $40,154).

People forget that since 1990, wages have also gradually increased, and most households have two working adults. Sometimes both adults have college degrees, which makes homes more affordable, but even in some cases, one adult with a college degree and a minimum wage employee can qualify to buy a home.

The average home price in Sacramento in 1990 was $195,000 (2025 inflation adjusted $480,000). So, the recession of the late 1990s helped a lot of people who would not normally qualify for a house become homeowners.

The up to $40,000 Cresleigh Homes is offering as an incentive can work the same way and help you to qualify for a home you did not know you could afford. Do not be afraid of the sticker price, please speak to a representative today! https://cresleigh.com/contact-us/

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Saturday May 31, 2025 at 2.00 – 5.00 PM.

Bring the whole family for an interactive model home tour complete with clues, prizes, and a floral surprise!

758 Havenwood Drive
Lincoln, CA 95648

(916) 409-5595 Havenwood@Cresleigh.com

With up to $40,000 in Flex Cash on select homes, you can upgrade finishes, lower your rate, or cover closing costs—it’s your choice! https://cresleigh.com/havenwood/

Thank You For Inviting Us

Unhealthy patterns can develop in any relationship. Recognizing them can uncover abuse or stop it before it starts. Congruence, on the other hand, is accurately matching experience with awareness. It means to feel our feelings physically, to communicate them accurately, and to experience then consciously. If we can do all three, there is congruence. The manipulator is not congruent. When our heads are out of sync with our heart, we are said to be deceitful. For example, when we tell the hostess we had a good time at her party when actually we were bored, we are not expressing what we feel internally. Being perfectly honest, but still polite, we might say, “Thank you for inviting us.” When the manipulator’s conscious awareness is out of phase with his or her physiological awareness, the person is said to be defensive. For example, a man may express anger behaviorally, while denying it verbally. “Are you angry?” his friend asks. Clenching his fist and slamming it onto the table, he shouts, “No! I am not angry!” His body is angry, as anyone can plainly see, but he, unaware of his anger, cannot admit it. Rarely are the manipulator’s words congruent with his body. Learning to pay attention to bodily sensations helps the manipulator to bring about a congruence between bodily and conscious awareness. #RandolphHarris 1 of 33

Two elements are involved in the communication of feelings: sending and receiving. Much like radio transmitters, we constantly send out messages. The question is whether we are reaching anyone. We all have some degree of difficulty in communicating accurately, in being understood. Manipulators have special problems in this area of communicating their feelings. The first involves errors in sending, and one of these errors is the unexpressed expectation. It is Father’s Day, let us say, and Dad has secretly hoped that his children will remember him with a small gift, a card, or a phone call. He hopes one of these things will happen, but he does not say anything about his expectation. When nothing happens—no gift, no card, no call—he is understandably disappointed. However, the fault is largely his own. He made a sending error and allowed his expectations to go unvoiced. Most personal relationships are based on such expectations. Yet, many of us seldom take the time or trouble—or we are afraid, really—to ask for the things we want. The actualizer knows this, for he or she knows quite a bit about communication. The actualizer does not want to go through life being misunderstood. Knowing that many misunderstandings can be avoided by simple statements of need and want, the actualizer is able to ask for whatever he or she may want, no matter what it may be. #RandolphHarris 2 of 33

A second type of sending error is what we call the contrived expectation. This can be described as manipulating another’s response by the way we state our expectation. We exaggerate our expectation. One above average weight little boy, intent on eating a juicy red apple, begs his mother for some cookies. She offers the apple as an alternative, which is what he wanted all along. Or the wife who complains to her husband, “You did not get home until two A.M.,” knowing it was probably much earlier, in order to get him to admit that he got home at one in the morning. The other communication problem is in receiving, where we make just as many errors. For instance, we may appear to ignore a message that we are not ignoring at all. Someone says something that hurts us quite badly, but we will not say, “That hurts.” We ignore it; we simply do not respond at all as we continue to nurse our hurt. Another receiving error occurs when we neutralize the communication sent to us. This may very well be a measure of our ability to receive love. Someone says: “You look lovely tonight.” We do not reply, “Thank you, I appreciate the compliment.” Rather, we respond: “Oh, you look lovely, too.” It is almost as if we are afraid to feel good when someone gives us warm and caring messages. We keep throwing it back so we do not have to feel the impact of the good feeling. It is our marginalized personality, insisting we are not worthy, that cancels out the gifts of love. #RandolphHarris 3 of 33

A third receiving error is always responding in terms of the expectations of others. No matter what they say, we give back what we think they want to hear, denying our own feelings. “Do you like my new suit?” coaxes a friend. You reply dutifully, “Oh, I think it looks great.” The truth of your feelings may be that you wonder how your friend could have bought such a turkey. You might reply more honestly, “Well, I like the cut of the jacket,” or even, “No, I cannot say I do.” There is nothing wrong with disagreeing, especially in matters of taste. Finally, we may respond as if the other person’s message is contrived! “What is it she really wants to know?” you might wonder. “I have to figure out what she really wants so I will not give it to her.” A husband who had entertained clients (which included a former love interest) for lunch, is asked by his wife, “How was your lunch meeting today?” He assumes her question is contrived, for obvious reasons, and he is just not going to give her the reply she wants. So, he answers, “The same old thing.” Everyone wants a happy family, but even when people try to live the gospel, relationships can become hurtful. Some challenges are a result of the misunderstandings and frictions common to families. However, in healthy homes, people apologize for poor behavior and mend rifts, while in unhealthy situations, there are ongoing patterns of harshness or maltreatment that become abusive. #RandolphHarris 4 of 33

Abuse consists of actions intended to hurt or control. It consists of a range of behaviors that may include neglect, manipulation, verbal criticism, and physical or sexual violence. Unfortunately, abusive behaviors are common, with some scholars estimating that a quarter of children worldwide are mistreated physically, sexually or emotionally. Adults also have high rates of victimization, with approximately 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men experiencing physical violence from a spouse. Abuse can happen in any relationship, and both men and women can be perpetrators. However, men are more likely to be controlling and to commit severe physical and sexual violence, and women are more likely to be terrorized, dominated, or badly hurt by a spouse. Abuse harms the soul of both the offender and the Savior. Modern prophets have states that those “who abuse spouse or offspring…will one day stand accountable before God.” Abusers often ignore or exploit principles of the gospel. When someone dismisses your pain and claim that they are right with God to downplay their betrayals and exaggerate your concerns, they are rejecting the principles of respect, love and compassion and mistreating you. Your efforts to live gospel principles sometimes cannot fix a problem they are creating. #RandolphHarris 5 of 33

Each of us can give in to unhealthy behaviors. There are certain characteristics common to all types of abuse, and the more severe and frequent these are, the less healthy the relationship will be. Although abuse is heartbreaking, change is always possible. Victims can reach out to spiritual and professional resources and seek the power of the Savior’s Atonement to heal their wounds. Those who have been abusive must repent and seek help. This requires going “down into the depths of humility,” (3 Nephi 12.2) and accepting full responsibility for their behavior. Change takes more than short-term promises and surface efforts. The pain of deep repentance is soul-wrenching, and some will not be willing to do it, which leaves victims with difficult decisions about how to protect themselves. However, just remember, violence only begets more violence. Our Heavenly Father is concerned about us just like a loving father is about his children. “And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Enoch, and told Enoch all the doings of the children of men; wherefore Enoch knew, and looked upon their wickedness, and their misery, and wept and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide as eternity; and his bowels yearned; and all eternity shook,” reports Moses 7.41. There is weeping in heaven and on earth when bodies and souls are wounded. Yet, with humility, God’s power, and professional help, when necessary, it is possible to stop damaging behavior and create a home of dignity, safety, and love. #RandolphHarris 6 of 33

The question is being asked by a number of young people. Having observed too many disillusioning examples of disharmony with pleasures of the flesh in marriage, they are unwilling to commit themselves in any traditional sense, but perfect to live together only for as long as they please. They choose to practice freedom with pleasures of the flesh exclusivity within their relationships on the basis of personal preference. If and when they decide to have children, they may marry—although for some individuals, even then wedlock may not be considered mandatory. Unwed motherhood, a status previously accepted out of unhappy necessity, is the deliberate choice of a small but not inconsequential number of women, and the legal right of a single person to adopt a child has been established in some states. On the basis of this and other such evidence, some observers suggest that the institution of marriage, which has necessarily been changing over the centuries to accommodate the needs of a changing society, now faces a future in which it may gradually become obsolete. In their judgment, marriage will ultimately manifest itself not as a religious sacrament nor a legal certification but simply as a sociological fact. Thus, when a man and woman—or two individuals of the same gender—decide to live together both socially and sexually, they will be considered “married,” and when they decide to stop living together, they will be “unmarried.” Society, no longer claiming the right to approve or disapprove, will merely register all such unions as a matter of civil record. #RandolphHarris 7 of 33

Social critics who content that monogamy is losing its institutional viability have no difficulty shorting up their argument with numbers. At present, of all couples who marry for the first time, 43 percent will seek sooner or later a divorce; 60 percent of all second marriages end in divorce and 74 percent of third marriages end in divorce. The nation’s divorce rate has on the rise since 1960. This is not, however, a steady upward trend. Historically, the divorce rate has fluctuated over periods of time, and on one occasion, from 1945 to 1947, it was almost as high as it is at present. In addition, a national divorce rate statistic is, by itself, virtually meaningless. It is the by-product of social and historical developments, and any intelligent understand of its significance depends on analyzing the underlying influences. To take a single example, for illustrative purposes—divorce occurs far more frequently among people who marry young, who have little education and little money. Once the point has been stated that way, it can be seen as simply common sense. There is a limited chance of success for a marriage—or any other joint enterprise—if the two individuals become partners before they are experienced enough to choose each other on any sound basis, if they lack the education that prepares them to communicate with each other effectively and to meet the social challenges and complexities they must face, and if they have so little capital, and so little hope of gaining more, that any pleasure they might find in their association is sapped by the struggle to stay financially solvent. #RandolphHarris 8 of 33

Obviously, the odds against such a pair are disproportionately high. When such unions are dissolved, the explanation has less to do with the inadequacies of marriage per se than with inadequacies inherent in immaturity when combined with little education and income. Placed in this perspective, the national divorce rate says less about the questionable state of marriage than about the questionable amount of guidance and emotional supports society gives to its marriageable population. It is as foolish to try to gauge the value and meaning of marriage by examining divorce statistics as it would be to gauge the value and meaning of life by studying mortality rates. If a moment of fantasy be permitted, it could be argued that the only sure way of evaluating the desirability of life would be to find out how many among those who have left life would take the opportunity to return. This is, in fact, the most important way to look at divorce statistics—by checking the statistics on remarriage. The evidence is striking. The U.S. Bureau of the Census, acknowledged authorities on the subject, the accelerate divorce rate has been accompanied by an accelerated remarriage rate. An estimated eighty out of every one hundred divorced persons remarry—and at least sixty of those eighty marriages prove permanent. Thus, the very individuals who theoretically have had the experience needed to evaluate monogamy, choose to find another partner rather than live alone, and most of them do their best to make that marriage last a lifetime. #RandolphHarrris 9 of 33

If marriage is, as some critics insist, a body trap, then this makes no sense at all. Were that true, a divorced person, having savored the freedom of being single again, would hardly be lured back into matrimonial harness or, at the very least, would surely be less tolerant of constraint and more likely to slip the traces by getting a second divorce. However, this patten is the exception rather than the rule. Contrary to popular belief, therefore, it seems clear that divorced men and women do not ride on a marital merry-go-round. Evidently experience has taught them that some important and rewarding satisfactions, which cannot be obtained otherwise, are possibilities inherent in a stable relationship involving pleasures of the flesh. Consequently, even after one failure, they consider marriage a major goal in life. This is not the case for everyone, of course, and there is much to be said in favor of a society that permits individuals sufficient choice so that those who are ill-suited to marriage can remain single all their lives with no loss of social approval. However, they are a small minority of the population, and indications are that for some time to come they will so remain. For everyone else, however, what was true in the past is no less true at present and gives promise of being true in the future: the search for happiness and personal fulfillment, for the pleasure of a life that has meaning, sooner or later leads to marriage. #RandolphHarris 10 of 33

The earliest beginnings of thought, as apart from instinct, when it was itself still but a lurking tendency, belong far back in primeval time. The human intellect as we find it today, so rich and developed an instrument for the consciousness of the ego, did not arrive at this fullness without a series of graduated stages. We have had plenty of scientific thinking, business thinking, and political thinking long enough, but we have had very little inspired thinking. That is the world’s need. The intellect is cradled in selfishness but runs the evolutionary track into reason where it will one day finish at the winning-post of selflessness. The animal acts as its instinctive drives bid it act whereas in man this instinctive nature is made up with and consequently modified by, the awakening intellect’s need to consider, compare, and judge. He who wants to go back to the simple medieval life is welcome to it. He who wants his rooms cleaned with old-fashioned brooms that rise a cloud of dust and leave it hanging in the air until it can find safe lodgment in throats and lungs, is welcome to the dust. There are others, however, who react differently to such a situation; who are resolved to take advantage of the skill of human brains and the fact of human advance. They have thrown away the unhealthy broom and adopted the vacuum cleaner which removes and swallows the dust instead of filing the air with it. #RandolphHarris 11 of 33

We are not writing a thesis on domestic hygiene. We are writing in this strain because it is highly symbolic. It shows quite vividly the difference between the backward-looking mentality and the forward looking one. The student of philosophy belongs to the second category. He sees the futility of propagating a switch-back to medieval methods when we are in the midst of the greatest technical transformation mankind has ever known. He knows that modern conditions must be faced with modern attitudes. However, he takes “modern” to mean whatever has attained the most finished state as a consequence of progressive development. He knows it does not mean whatever is merely fashionable at the moment, as materialism was fashionable in intellectual circles and sensualism in youthful circles until very lately. His vision is larger than that of his contemporaries, because it encompasses more. They are modern only in a chronological sense, but backward in a spiritual one. It is the faculty of reason which differentiates human beings from all Nature’s other creatures. It is this which sets man beyond the animals. However reason untouched by the finer promptings of the heart, and unillumined by the sublimer intuitions of the mind, degenerates easily into selfish cunning, and degrades instead of dignifying man. #RandolphHarris 12 of 33

It may be they find it too hard to make the crossing from the older way of thinking to what is demanded of them by the new knowledge: a willingness to accept paradox. For otherwise they get only a half-truth. Reason gradually becomes paramount as man develops through life after life. How few are even aware of their intellectual dishonesty! Through his exclusive possession of the capacities for independent choice and self-control, as well as his privilege of individual responsibility, man is set apart from the animal. What this age needs to seek is a new intellectualism, a new science, one informed by deeper spiritual feeling and protected by higher spiritual ideals. A high quality of thinking is being done by men who are probing now for the better life of tomorrow. They are coming to the only possible conclusion about the validity of determinism on the basis of known facts, when regarded by the whole mind of intellectually mature man—the mind which uses both its abstract and materialistic thinking capacities and, consequently, verges on the truly intuitive. I am reminded of Bacon’s well-known remark about the slight use of reason leading to atheism and the adequate use of it leading back to religion. Although men are born with latent mental power and potential intelligence, few use these qualities to their utmost possibilities. Man arises out of the mysterious womb of the Infinite, yet he is to be found everywhere as a pitiful creeping creature, full of mortal frailties, finite indeed. Yet they unseen mental being of man is the silent workman who really constructs the edifice of his happiness. #RandolphHarris 13 of 33

Considering the extreme sensitivity of a neurotic pride to hurt, we are inclined to consider it as a rank growth of healthy pride. The essential difference, however, as we have so often before found true, is not one of quantity but of quality. Neurotic pride is by comparison unsubstantial, and it is based on entirely different factors, all of which belong to or support the glorified version of oneself. They may be extraneous assets—prestige values—or they may consist of attributes and faculties which one arrogates to oneself. Of the varieties of neurotic pride that in prestige value seems the most normal. In our civilization, it is an average reaction to be proud of having an attractive young lady, of coming from a respectable family, of being native born, a Southerner, or New Englander, belonging to a political or professional group enjoying prestige, meeting important people, being popular, having a good car or address. This kind of pride is the least typical for neurosis. To many people with considerable neurotic difficulties, these things mean no more than they do to the comparatively healthy person; to many others they mean distinctly less; if indeed anything. However, there are some who have such a heavy investment of neurotic pride in these prestige values, and for whom they are so crucial, that their lives revolve around them and they often fritter away their best energies in their service. For these people, it is an absolute must to be associated with groups that carry prestige, to be affiliated with prominent institutions. #RandolphHarris 14 of 33

Of course, all their hectic activities are rationalized in terms of genuine interest of the legitimate wish to get ahead. Anything that accrues to this prestige then may evoke real elation; any failure of the group to enhance such a person’s prestige, or any diminution of the prestige of the group itself, provokes all the hurt-pride reactions. For example, a member of someone’s family not “making good,” or being mentally ill, may be a heavy blow to his pride, mostly hidden behind superficial concerns for the relative. Again, there are many women who prefer to abstain from going to a restaurant or a theater than to go without a male escort. All of this looks similar to what anthropologist tell us about certain so-called primitive people among whom the individual primarily is and feels as a part of the group. Pride then is invested not in personal matters but in institutions and group activities. However, while these processes seem to be similar, they are essentially different. The main difference is that the neurotic is at bottom unrelated to the group. He does not feel part of it, does not have a feeling of belonging, but rather uses it for his personal prestige. Their way of living is often very beautiful—the inner me coming through, letting into the world the humanness that we exclude not because we do not like it, do not think it would be a good way to live, but because it is not “practical.” Sometimes their love for all others is seen as a threat to monogamy, although this love has nothing to do with age or gender. #RandolphHarris 15 of 33

The human beings’ peculiar genius among living forms, the trait that enabled them to prevail while dinosaurs and other creatures became extinct, is their peculiar lack of specialization. When environments change, inflexible organisms die off. Conventional upbringing and life style encourage a person to become overly adapted to some fixed range of environmental challenges. A person living a sedentary, scholarly life, for example, may become above average weight, with his or her head jutting forward; someone who works at a machine calling for a strong right arm may develop monstrous biceps in that arm, whereas the left remains the usual size. Sickness, both physical and psychological, can stem from over adaptation to an environment or culture. Besides so-called occupational diseases, produced by the stresses peculiar to given occupations, there are the symptoms brought about by change in environment. When a person’s resources have been committed to coping with one set of demands and challenges, that person may not readily uncommit them to respond to challenges coming from another sector of life. Thus, many persons become sick when they change jobs, neighborhoods, and even family status. The neurotics whom Dr. Freud treated were persons overly specialized to survive within the structure of their family origin. When they were asked to leave home, to start another family, they were unable to despecialize themselves from the role of son and daughter in order to take on new roles of husband or wife. #RandolphHarris 16 of 33

There is a real sense, then, in which various psychotherapies and the techniques for re-embodiment are despecializing procedures, making it possible for persons to let go their somatic “recall” of the past—to forget their past somatically—in order to learn how to act effectively in the present. Memory resides in the muscles, joints, and viscera as much as in the brain cells. Thus, the methods of yoga, Rolfing, fasting, and meditation all are approaches to the erasure of the past, as it is recorded in the musculature and habitual patterns of physiological functioning. These techniques also function as means to alter one’s usual way of being aware of self and the world. We are usually involved in various life projects, such as the pursuit of our profession; and in various interpersonal roles, for example, the role of son to parents, student to teacher, and man to woman. These are commitments of our “embodied” consciousness that influence the way the world appears to us and the way we experience ourselves. Our projects and our roles represent the specialized way in which we appear to ourselves and others in the world. When the somatic aspect of this specialization is “wiped out” so that one truly becomes no one, it is possible to re-enter one’s old ways with more vigor and with new perspectives, and it is also possible to begin disengaging from chronic roles and projects so that growth of self can occur. #RandolphHarris 17 of 33

Athletes and dancers would never think of beginning their contest or performance without a series of “warm-up” exercises. Although they are specialists, dancers and athletes have had to train hard to liberate their musculature so that their bodies become versatile instruments, capable of flexibility unavailable to the average person. However, when these people engage in routine daily pursuits, their musculature follows suit. For a performance, they must disengage their thinking and their bodies from these mundane involvements. Hence, warming up is a way of disengaging from one way of being in order to re-engage in another. In current slang, “psyching oneself up” to undertake some tasks or feat is a variety of disengagement and warming up. Fire fighters also warm up, and good communication is vital for effective firefighting. When a fire is discovered, the award-winning Sacramento Fire Department must be summoned and citizens alerted to the danger. During the firefight, officers must be able to communicate with fire fighters or summon additional resources. Not surprisingly, improvements in communication systems are tied to improvements in the fire service. During the colonial period, fire wardens or night watchmen patrolled neighborhoods and sounded the alarm if a fire was discovered. Some towns, including Charleston, South Carolina, built a series of fire towers from which wardens could watch for fires. In many towns, ringing the community fire bell or church bells alerted citizens to a fire. #RandolphHarris 18 of 33

Every academic business, or fire department you will ever produce will fit into one of two categories. Action-and-information messages ask the receiver to do something: Schedule a makeup exam; prepare a marketing report; put out a fire on a hilltop. Information-only message tells the receiver something: The primary cause of the American Civil War was states’ rights; Estelle LaMonica is the new Vice President of Human Resources; Alpha Company has one vehicle down for fire damage. You must focus—clarify—your message so your receiver is certain—clear—on what he or she is supposed to do or know. Too many action-and-information-only messages fail because the receiver mistake for information-only messages: “I need a make-up exam,” you send. “You sure do,” thinks the receiver. “If we knew that market better, we could increase our share.” “That is a good idea.” “The bad guys have a fire planned on Hill 442.” “That is right. I saw the intelligence reports as well.” Decide before you communicate if your message is action-and-information or information-only. If you are communicating an action-and-information message, specify what your receiver must do and know. Break through the noise. As the send, as the on trying to communicate, you have the responsibility to communicate clearly—to break through the noise. Think in terms of your receiver. Use your receiver’s terms of reference. If a fire department’s objective is to your front but to your receiver’s flank, refer to the objective as to the flank. (This very mistake—front rather than flank—resulted in the deaths of 550 British cavalry troops at the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War.) #RandolphHarris 19 of 33

Use descriptive language. Use visualization and analogies. Instead of saying, “The fire is big,” say, “The fire is the size of a football field.” Instead of saying, “I want you to put out that fire,” say, “I want you to put out that fire as if you were trying to save the President’s house.” Ask for feedback. It is not enough to ask, “Do you understand me?” The obvious answer is “Yes. Absolutely. Sure, I do,” no matter what the understanding may be. General Lee’s intent may have been “Take Cemetery Hill only if I can do it without casualties.” If General Lee had asked, “Do you understand me?” Ewell’s response—no matter the difference between intent and understanding—would have been “Yes. Absolutely. Sure I do.” Craft your request for feedback so your receiver will have to demonstrate his or her understanding of the message. “What—specifically—do I want you to do?” “What—specifically—will you do now?” “How will you do it?” Revise as you need to. You may have to repeat your message several times before you communicate successfully. Use the feedback you get to adjust your message to the needs of your receiver. Put your bottom line up front (BLUF). Get to your point in the first 10 seconds of your message. Your point—your bottom line—in an action-and-information message is what you want your receiver to do: “Attack, seize, and put out that fire.” Your point—your bottom line—in an information-only message is what you want your receiver to know: “Alpha Company has one vehicle down for fire damage.” Audiences—receivers are impatient. “Get to the point,” they say. “How does this affect me? If you do not get to your point, if you do not explain how your message affects your receivers, they will tune out. They may be physically present during the rest of the message, but their minds are far away—thinking of food; thinking of home; thinking of other tasks and responsibilities they have to perform. #RandolphHarris 20 of 33

Use simple words. Great communicators use simple words. Consider these examples: “Carthage must be destroyed!” (Cato the Elder, an ancient Roman senator.) “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt.) “I have a dream.” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) “Make America Great Again!” (Donald Trump.) Look closely at the examples. Notice the overwhelming use of single-syllable words. Notice the absence of any long “impressive: words. Given the choice between a simple word and a long word—and given there is no difference in the meaning of the two words—use the simple word. Your communication will be clearer. Use concrete words. Concrete words draw pictures in your receiver’s brain. Consider the difference between the two phrases: “An old car.” “A 1966 blue Mustang convertible.” Which phrase draws a picture in your brain? You can visualize the Mustang far more easily, far more quickly, than you can visualize an old car. You can visualize “15 Sacramento Fire Fighters with hoses and axes,” far more quickly, far more easily, than you can visualize “a good guys.” Early humanity possess a mind that thought in terms of images and pictures rather than in terms of logical sequence. However, it developed marvelous memory as a consequence and entire volumes of sacred books were handed down for centuries by oral tradition before they were committed to writing. #RandolphHarris 21 of 33

The man of the twenty-first century must seek truth in his own fashion. The question of how many angles can stand on the point of a pin does not interest the modern mentality. This longing to know more may, at the start, be motivated by the desire to earn more but, in the end it will be motivated by the search for Truth. “I found out working with the Sacramento Fire Department is the greatest job in the world. Probably because of the men you work with, the camaraderie. It’s like a family, and you’re with them as much as you’re with your own family. Sometimes more. Where I’m at, the guys keep things light. It’s a job where you can find a lot of satisfaction, because you can see the results of your work immediately. You know right away that you’ve helped people. It’s not like you’re working with papers. People don’t always like others, but they’re always glad to see the firemen. I like helping people. What makes the job worth the injuries I’ve had? I can’t speak for everyone else. I’ve always kind of walked a thin line. I’ve always been—not reckless—but I’ve always been around danger. But danger is just part of the job, everyone accepts that. And the benefits outweigh the dangers. I get satisfaction out of this job. I could have died in this fire at the young age of twenty-eight, but that’s a risk. I knew the risks when I came on the job, and you just try to be as well prepared as you can. Nobody wants to die. Nobody wants to leave his family. My wife knows that. She also knows that I’m prepared, and it’s just part of the job. #RandolphHarris 22 of 33

“I don’t want a medical disability. I’d like to put my time in. I’ve got what they call RADS—reactive airway deficiency syndrome. It’s a form of asthma. I asked the doctor, ‘How long will I have this?’ He said, ‘Some people get rid of it right away, and some people never get rid of it.’ So I’m still taking inhalants and different things. And we’ll see what happens the next time I get a smoky job, how I react to it. That’s what the doctor said. ‘The only way you’re going to know is if you get another smoke situation. You’ll see what happens.’ I’d like to work my way up the chain of command. There’s nothing wrong with being a fireman for twenty or thirty years. Sometimes you’re in a place where you know more than your officer, and you have to swallow it because he’s got the rank. That’s motivation enough to study. If you feel you can help others and you’re a little more on the ball than most people, I think it’s your duty to try to attain an officer’s rank.” Spiritual teaching must be expounded today in a form suited to the modern need. The doctrines so revealed should be methodically progressive and the explanations should be systematically developed. At last the living growing entity has reached a kingdom of Nature where it can develop the power to think not only about material topics but also about spiritual ones. Where we do not know the different sides of a case, where we have not ascertained the various facts behind the answer to a question, it is wiser to suspend judgment, fairer, if possible, to refrain from taking action. #RandolphHarris 23 of 33

If you see a fire truck stopped in the street without the lights on, be very careful. Sometimes there is an emergency situation and you should not pass the fire truck. It might be a good idea to safely turn around and go another way. Sometimes fire fighters are getting back into their vehicle and if you pass the apparatus, you may collide with a firefighter who is on foot. Also, be sure to look at their signals, sometimes emergency vehicles are in motions, albeit, slowly, and drivers try to pass them, and this could lead to a dangerous situation. Also, if you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. #RandolphHarris 24 of 33

California is the third most expensive state in the nation. A single person making an income above $100,000 is now consider low-income in five counties in California. This distinction now applies to individuals living in Santa Cruze, Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, and Marin counties. In 37 percent of counties, a family of four living on a six-figure income is now considered low-income.  In fact, Governor Gavin Newsom of Democratic controlled California, brags about being the world’s “fifth largest economy,” but it also facing a $12 billion deficit, looking to cut $747 million for state worker’s pay, pushing to keep medical insurance for illegal immigrants, and has the largest homeless population in the nation. If they are all officially counted, California has approximately 4 million homeless people. The highest home prices in the nation, the highest taxes and the most unfriendly business regulations known to man. The average home price in California is nearly $1,000,000.00 USD, while the average salary is $96,036.00, meaning that most Californians cannot even afford to buy a home. California is having an affordability crisis. In 2025, many people in California saw their bills increase by an estimated $500 a month. This includes things like food, automobile insurance, homeowner’s insurance, electricity. In fact, more than 3 million people in California are facing household hardship, and more than 300,000 of them are facing eviction soon. This comes at a time when California is having a shortage of affordable housing. This is caused by nearly half a century’s old laws that discourage homes sales and encourage higher rents. Meanwhile, China, where we are sending all of our jobs and money has more than 50 ghost cities. Ghost cities are regions will housing has been overdeveloped to the point that these places are uninhabited. Because California is so hostile towards people and businesses, more than 360 companies have fled the state since 2020. Businesses like Chevron, SpaceX, Oracle, and Hewlett Packard are amongst the names on that list. #RandolphHarris 25 of 33

Also, more than 500,000 people a year are abandoning California because it is too expensive to live in, crime is out of control, and they are losing their jobs due to companies relocating. More than 100 companies have announced layoffs in California for 2025. Intel is cutting 15,000 jobs, PayPal 2,500 and Meta has terminated 4,000 employees. The California crisis created by Democrats is driving up home prices and mortgages and rents all over the nation and the world, making living unaffordable for all, and advocates say the crisis is far from over. Accordingly, California has more than 3.5 million illegal immigrants. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. #RandolphHarris 26 of 33

The American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. #RandolphHarris 27 of 33

The American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. #RandolphHarris 28 of 33

Additionally, with inflation rates at an all-time high, American being in an unofficial recession for about a decade, all insurance in California is becoming unaffordable. State Farm has received an approval for an emergency rate increase, which was approved by the California Insurance Commissioner, to stabilize the market and protect policyholders. Starting 1 June 2025, homeowners will see an average of 17 percent increase, rental dwellings will see an increase of 38 percent, and Condo owners will see a rate increase of 15 percents. These rate increases are due to the distressed caused by the recent wildfires, which accumulated over $7 billion in claims. Furthermore, in 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1107, also known as the Protection California Drivers Act, into law which increases the minimum auto lability limits for bodily injury to $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident. Senate Bill 1107 also increased the minimum liability limits for property damage to $15,000 per accident and the DMV deposit for uninsured drivers to $75,000. The bill went into effect on January 1, 2025. This means that drivers with existing policies with lower limits will renew at the new minimum limits on or after January 1, 2025, and insurance premiums could increase by as much as 54 percent. America is in a state of crisis right now because of mismanagement by democrats. With the median household income in Sacramento County being $88,724 and a 4-bedroom 2.5-bathroom Cresleigh home costing $798,059, how are people able to afford homes? Because an $800,000 home with a one percent downpayment of $8,000, 30-year fixed loan at 4.176 percent interest comes with a monthly mortgage payment of $4,241. #RandolphHarris 29 of 33

The maximum percentage of your gross income that you should earmark for a monthly mortgage payment is calculated at 28 percent, and no more than 36 percent of your gross income to all debts, including mortgage. If you take 28 percent of the median household income per home in Sacramento County, homeowners can only afford a mortgage of $2,070.23 per month. And if you take 36 percent of their gross income to all debts, including mortgage, they should be devoting no more than $2,661.72 a month to these debts. Mortgage lenders must be using some kind of sorcery to get buyers into these expensive homes. To afford one of these homes using traditional guidelines, a household would need to gross $11,280.24 per month or $135,362.88 per year, but the median household in Sacramento County is grossing $7,393.67 or $88,724.00 and that typically means two to four people in the home are working and contributing to the mortgage. Prices in Sacramento County are actually rivaling the Bay Area, and the Bay Aera is so expensive because they have more higher paying jobs and is a tourist destination. And with the State of California being in a budget deficit of $12 billion, Governor Gavin Newsom Granted 700,000 illegal immigrants free health care at a cost to taxpayers of $3 billion annually, while cutting vital programs for veterans, school children, the disabled and the homeless, and is proposing to fast-track his plan to build a $20 billion water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by eliminating environmental reviews and limit avenues for legal challenges. Gavin Newsom only cares about the environment when his policies allow him to raise taxes and restrict freedoms. Gavin Newsom has been a total tyrant with no regard for taxpayers and does not have a mind for business and should be impeached as soon as possible. #RandolphHarris 30 of 33

Meanwhile, with President Trump, we are seeing crime rates sharply decrease, and he recently secured $10 trillion in investments. If elected president for an unprecedented third term, to make housing more affordable and to offset the cost of homeowner’s insurance and auto insurance, President Trump plans to abolish property taxes. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever.  And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. #RandolphHarris 31 of 33

When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt.When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. #RandolphHarris 32 of 33

As you can see, President Donald Trump and his pledge to “Make America Great Again,” is exactly what America needs to save the country and the American people. And yes, diversity is important, so you can see why it is also important to preserve blonde hair and blue eyes as the people with these characteristics are becoming a minority in America. We must think before we can understand the soul’s existence; we must understand before we can realize it. The earliest beginnings of thought, as apart from instinct, when it was itself still but a lurking tendency, belong far back in primeval time. The human intellect as we find it today, so rich and developed an instrument for the consciousness of the ego, did not arrived at this fulness without a series of graduated stages. We have had plenty of scientific thinking, business thinking, and political thinking long enough, but we have had very little inspired thinking. That is the world’s need. The intellect is cradled in selfishness but runs the evolutionary track into reason where it will one day finish at the winning-post of selflessness. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. “Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand between their loved home and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’ And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” #RandolphHarris 33 of 33

The Winchester Mystery House

It has been one lone, perilous journey through twisted woods and sleepy poppy fields and neglected roads. He trembled as he drew near The Winchester Mansion. He stopped, listened to the creaking wooden beating from the heart of the mansion. It was louder than a human heart, and colder as well, and he watched as silvery streams of ghost flowed through its hollow. The streetlights fade behind him until it is totally dark. There is no light. There is no sound. There is no movement. He clutched his coat collar tight to his throat. Muscles tense. Sweat streaks his forehead and trickles down temples to flushed cheeks. Tears gushed from his wounded eyes. He starred at the mansion, pleading for forgiveness. “Join me,” it beckoned. “Hurry.” His pale face pressed against the front window. Haunted expression, fast frozen in deja vu. A spirit passes through him. Lingering memories revive the night when, in an eternal moment, this had become his home. He stumbled inside. The door slammed. Mrs. Winchester’s trembling hand throws a switch. He crawls forward. It was always quiet here, yet he could not rest. However, he knew he would repeat this cycle nightly, always at this hour. Forever.

Experience an unforgettable journey back to the time of kings and queens with this entry ticket for The Winchester Mansion in Santa Clara, California which was the residence of Sarah L. Winchester. Take advantage of this fascinating experience. After tour, there will be time enjoy the mansion’s splendor at your own pace. You might even discover secret passages.

Please come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion.

For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase. https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/

We wish to express our gratitude to our families, ancestors, spirits, and friends and to our many associates and clients, whose lives touched our lives and whose ideas helped us to grow. We would also like to thank our employees and care takers for putting the technical ideas of this estate into conversational style, and we are, of course, extremely thank to all of our patrons for helping to keep the legacy of the Winchester Family alive. The Winchester Mystery House is full of surprises. What was your favorite, “Oooh!” moment during your visit at the mansion? (And for those of you who still have to check it off your bucket list… we will hopefully see you soon.)  https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

BMW i8 and Left No Crumbs!

Some people claim that no one cares about your success because they really want to see the journey of how you got there. However, I do not believe that is true. When you are down and struggling and stuck with a bunch of rejections, bad news, failure, and debt, do you notice that no one is around, people avoid you, and no one offers help. Yet, when you are successful and doing well, you have all of the friends in the world. More than you will ever need. In the process of living, we will face struggles, many of which will cause us to suffer and to experience pain. Many people will suffer in personal struggles, while others will suffer as they watch their loved ones in pain. To gain strength in our struggles, we must have an optimistic perspective of the principles in the plan of salvation. We must realize that we have a personal Savior whom we can trust and turn to in our times of need. We must also learn and live in the principles that the Lord has given to receive the strength needed during our struggles. In the Grand Counsil in Heaven, the decision was made to “make an earth whereon these may dwell,” reports Abraham 3.24. This earth is the place to prove ourselves worthy and to prepare to return to the presence of the Lord. He explained, “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them,” reports Abraham 3.25. #RandolphHarris 1 of 29

Before we can achieve the creative awareness, we need to overcome the manipulations in our lives, we must learn to identify, experience, and honestly express real feelings, not counterfeit emotions. Some of the manipulator’s repertoire of counterfeit emotions follow. Substituting one emotion for another. Many of us express anger when we pretend anger instead of express hurt. Thus, we hear the lady tears welling in her eyes, cry out: “You make me so mad!” She is not made at all; she is hurt. Her body does not like. Using the same counterfeit pattern, we express anger when we are really afraid. “You make me so angry when you forget to take your medicine,” a young woman screams at her ill mother. Her anger hides her fear. She is worried about her mother health. If she does not take her medicine, she might die. Feelings as a delayed reaction. Here we meet the person whose pace is so slow that he says: “I was mad at you last week.” Last week? It took him a week to find out? Not really. He knew how he felt last week, but he was afraid to express it then for fear he would be attacked in return. A favorite poly of the withdrawing and avoiding manipulator is to hide his or her real emotion at the time it is felt to avoid contact with another. The delayed reaction also provides an advantage to the manipulator: time to prepare a surprise attack. It is just another way to control rather than to make contact with another. #RandolphHarris 2 of 29

Making a virtue of not having normal feelings, or pretending you do not. Most of us know some couple who boast that they have never had a fight. Our response would have to be “Tommyrot!” Normal people who have any contact at all with each other must rub each other the wrong way at times. Of course, they have fights. They have them because they have normal feelings, as much as they would like to appear virtuously free of them. Confusing your feelings with facts. You say to someone, “You are stupid!” Your statement is not a fact at all, since you have not actually measured that person’s intelligence. If you said instead, “I feel that you are stupid,” then you would be stating a fact about your feelings, not a fact about the other individual’s intelligence. Expressing your feelings as you are poised for flight. Such a person may let true feelings slip out, but is ready to run the instant anyone reacts to them. A sign of immaturity, such timidity stunts one’s emotional growth and the development of relationships. With all his strenuous efforts toward perfection and with all his belief in perfection attained, the neurotic does not gain what he most desperately needs: self-confidence and self-respect. Even though godlike in his imagination, he still lacks the earthy self-confidence of a simple shepherd. The great positions to which he may rise, the fame he may acquire, will render him arrogant but will not bring him inner security. #RandolphHarris 3 of 29

He still feels at bottom unwanted, is easily hurt, and needs incessant confirmation of his value. He may feel strong and significant as long as he wields power and influence and is supported by praise and deference. However, all of these feelings of elation collapse easily when, in a strange environment, this support is lacking; when he incurs failure; or when he is by himself. The kingdom of haven does not come through external gestures. Let us survey what happened to self-confidence in the course of a neurotic development. Apparently, for self-confidence to grow, the child needs help from the outside. He needs warmth, feeling welcome, care, protection, an atmosphere of confidence, encouragement in his activities, constructive discipline. These factors given, he will develop “basic confidence,” to use a well-chosen term of Marie Rasey’s which includes both confidence in others and in self. Instead, a combination of injurious influences prevents a child’s healthy growth. However, there are some reasons which render it specifically difficult for him to arrive at a proper self-evaluation. A blind adoration may inflate his feeling of significance. He may feel wanted, liked, and appreciated not for what he is but merely for satisfying his parents’ needs for adoration, prestige, or power. A rigid regime of perfectionist standards may evoke in him a feeling of inferiority for not measures up to such demands. Misdemeanors or bad marks at school may be severely reprimanded, while good behavior or good marks are taken for granted. Move toward autonomy or independence may be ridiculed. #RandolphHarris 4 of 29

All these factors, in addition to a general lack of genuine warmth and interest, give him the feeling of being unloved and unworthy—or at any rate of not being worth anything unless he is something he is more. Moreover, the neurotic development, initiated by the early unfavorable constellation, weakens him at the core of his being. He becomes alienated from himself and divided. His self-idealization is an attempt to remedy the damage done by lifting himself in his mind above the crude reality of himself and others. And, as the stories of the devil’s pact, he gets all the glory in imagination and sometimes in reality. However, instead of solid self-confidence, he gets a glittering gift of most questionable value: neurotic pride. The two feel and look so much alike that an understandable confusion is created in most minds about their differences. A definition in an ole edition of Webster, for instance, says that pride is self-esteem, based either on real or imagined merits. The distinction is made between real and imagined merits, but they are both called “self-esteem,” as if this difference did not greatly matter. The confusion also develops through the fact that most patients regard self-confidence as a mysterious quality arising from nowhere but most desire to have. It is but logical then that they expect the analyst to instill it into them in some way or other. Which always reminds me of a cartoon in which a rabbit and a mouse got an injection of courage; they then grew give times their ordinary size, were bold and full of indomitable fighting spirit. #RandolphHarris 5 of 29

What the patients do not know—and are anxious indeed not to realize—is the strict cause-and-effect relation between existing personal assets and the feeling of self-confidence. This relation is not any less definite than the way in which the financial status of a person depends upon his properties, his savings, or his earning capacity. If these factors are satisfactory, a person will have a feeling or economic security. Or, to take another example, the fisherman’s confidence rests on such concrete factors as his boat being in good shape, his nets being mended, his knowledge of weather and water conditions, and his muscular strength. What are regarded as personal assets vary to some degree with the culture in which we live. For Wester civilization, they include such qualities or attributes as having autonomous convictions and acting upon them, having the self-reliance that stems from tapping our own resources, assuming responsibility for ourselves, taking a realistic appraisal of our assets, liabilities and limitations, having strength and directness of feelings, and having the capacity for establishing and cultivating good human relations. The well-functioning of these factors shows subjectively in a feeling of self-confidence. To the extent that they are impaired, self-confidence will be shaky. Healthy pride likewise is based on substantial attributes. It may be a warranted high regard for special achievements, such as feeling proud of a deed of moral courage or of a job well done. Or it may be a more comprehensive feeling of our own value, a quiet feeling of dignity. #RandolphHarris 6 of 29

Once upon a time there was a man named George, who was equally celebrated for slaying dragons and for fertilizing barren women. He wandered around the countryside as a completely free spirit—or so it seemed. Cantering through the meadows on a summer’s day, he saw columns of smoke and forks of flame shooting upward in the distance. As he approached the scene, he heard a terrible roaring, mingled with the shrill screams of a maiden in distress. “Aha!” he cried, couching his lance. “This is my third dragon and maiden in less than a week. I will slay the dragon, and no doubt my bravery will be richly rewarded.” A moment later, he cried to the dragon: “Avast, lubber!” and to the maiden: “Have no fear!” The dragon drew back and began to paw the ground in anticipation not only of a double meal, but also of what he loved best, a good fight. The maiden, whose name was Ursula, threw her arms out and cried: “My hero! I am saved.” She was delighted, not only in anticipation of being saved and watching a good fight, but also (since she was not really a maiden) at the prospect of showing gratitude to her rescuer. George and the dragon backed off from each other, preparing for the charge, whole Ursula cheered them both on. At the moment, another figure appeared on the scene, richly accoutered with a silver-mounted saddle and fat alforjas filled with gold coins. #RandolphHarris 7 of 29

“Hey boy!” cried the new arrival. George turned and said in surprise: “Father! How nice to see you!” He turned his back on the dragon, dismounted from his horse, and went to kiss his father’s foot. A lively conversation ensured, with George saying, “Yes, father. Certainly, father. Whatever you say, father.” Neither Ursula nor the dragon could hear father’s side of the conversation, but it soon became apparent that it was going to go on indefinitely. “Oh, for Christ’s sake!” said Ursula, stamping her foot in disgust. “Some hero! As soon as his old man appears, he’s right over there bowing and scraping, and he has no time for poor little me.” “You said it,” said the dragon. “This is going to go on forever.” So, he turned off his flame thrower and rolled over and fell asleep. However, eventually, the old man rode off, and George was ready to return to the fray. He couched his lance again, and waited for the dragon to get up and charge and Ursula to cheer him on. Instead, Ursula said: “Jerk!” and walked away. The dragon got to his feet and said: “Crumb!” and he, too, walked away. When George saw that, he yelled: “Hey dad!” and galloped after his father. Ursula and the dragon both turned at the same moment and both shouted after him: “Too bad he’s so old, or I would take him on instead of you.” #RandolphHarris 8 of 29

When I was young, several times it happened that I was “in love” and enjoying serenity and peace. Then I noticed frictions building, and I left before they could be damaging to either of us. This seemed to me best. I did not wish to be harmful to the other or to myself. I was called “callous.” It did not seem that way to me. However, when I had been called “callous” often enough, I thought I was, and stayed—with damage to all of us, including the children, which it took years to heal, and some of it is not entirely clearly up yet. The “loose morals” and “irresponsibility” (about work, with employers) of Hawaiians, Navajos, and Hopis seem to me to make better sense, to be more human, because they are less damaging to other humans and to my humanity. That we “criticize our neighbors for what are our own faults,” could be easily misunderstood. When my neighbor chains his dog on a short leash and blows smoke in the dog’s eyes, I do not like this, but it is not something that I do or even have ever wanted to do. However, when I have “held” someone insistently so that I could tell this individual what one did not wish to hear, is that different? It is not the act itself, but what the act is doing. As a child, when my mother told a “story” to someone who had come to the door, I wished she would not do it. I was “criticizing her”—to use grown-up language. However, I did not yet know this way to think about it. I did not blame her. I wished she would not do it because it opened up a path to me that I did not wish to go, and if she had done this, I would not have known it was there. #RandolphHarris 9 of 29

I knew only honesty until something else was shown to me. It was a very strong factor in my close identification with my father that he was honest. This I liked. I felt steady. He also made it possible for me to be honest with him—when I was small. Later on, he did not. If I want to be told the truth, I must be willing to accept it. And if I wish to have love, I must be willing to receive it. Now, when I feel critical of other people, I often notice that what I am really feeling is, “Please do not do that. It is what I do not want to do, and I so easily fall into it when you are doing it.” This is certainly true of stereotyped chatter about world affairs, gossip, literature, anecdotes, and such, and people who are forever planning, who never live now. Other people’s intellect/ego calls out mine, and then I do not like me. I would like there to be an irreligious order where I could go at times, to be with others who wish to work out the same corrections in themselves, to strengthen me in making mine. However, it can also be simply and directly true that what I criticize in others may be something that I do, too. It is certainly wise to look into myself and check—and also ask others whether it seems to them that I have this fault. It may seem to me that I am only “reminding” someone else (being helpful) while to others it may seem that I am “always nagging.” Then I may understand better how someone else’s nagging (as it seems to me) appears to them. #RandolphHarris 10 of 29

Because people do not feel their inward divinity, they often deny it. In ancient and even medieval times, they were satisfied that it did exist because their simplicity, their uncultivated intellects, created no barriers to this feeling or to faith in it on the authority of tradition and their prophets. We must understand the inevitability of their present skepticism and prove the fact of the Soul as logically, as evidentially as possible. Yet to offer intellectual proof alone is not enough, although a truly excellent step forward. We must also show them how to get the experience of verification for themselves. Skepticism makes conditions which require that truth be presented in a rational form and argued out. Otherwise, the intellectual reactions to it will not be fair and just to its value. The value of metaphysical skepticism is to overcome mental inertia, to liberate us from strict and rigid doctrines, and to teach us tolerance. It frees us to search for higher truths and nobler values. They may try to escape from their doubts, perhaps by stifling them, perhaps by ignoring their very existence, perhaps by going to the guru and getting his reassurance again. This course may succeed for a time, even for a lifetime. However, it is not conducive to their true welfare. There are two ways open to a skeptic. One is to seek the actual experience of transcending intellectual proof of it. The first is a hard and long way; the second short and easy. #RandolphHarris 11 of 29

Just as the very presence of suffering starts a search for its relief, so does the very existence of doubt cause a search for truth to begin. We must begin by suspecting the data furnished by our five senses. We must learn that appearances are dubious, that they are not to be accepted without searching enquiry. Not only is he to question the dogma which orthodoxy hands him but even the doubts which skepticism offers instead of them. Those skeptics who reject the possibility of attaining truth are already stating something as truth and thereby refuting their own theory. Because there is no room in philosophic study for naivete or gullibility, those who suffer from these mental disabilities should first get cured. Where belief comes too easily, error may follow too quickly. To doubt everything and stop at that point, to assent to nothing but criticize every presentation, to meet all affirmative statements with the skeptic’s questions—this is the product of sharp intellect, blunt speech, and negative feeling. If a man is too suspicious of being deceived, he may err when truth is presented to him, and so miss the change of acquiring it. Balance is needed here as elsewhere. To bring one’s natural skepticism into a fine balance with the intellectual sympathy, these subjects demand is not an easy task, but he must try to do it. #RandolphHarris 12 of 29

We can accept nothing on trust as far as the quest of truth is concerned, although we can and needs must accept most things on trust, so far as the practical purposes of life are concerned. No arguments are capable of moving the absolute skeptic, for he does not look into its truth but only into tis weaker places. If you do not know whether God exists, do not fall into the error of denying that he does exist. It is an error because it is something which we do not know and to make such a positive statement has no justification. In the West, physical bulkiness, with large, prominent musculature, has long been a masculine ideal, and such robustness has been praised in popular magazines and valued by women in their men. Heavy musculature has been cultivated by violent exercise, vigorous calisthenics, and comparable feats of endurance. One function of such heaviness (not obesity, just heavy musculature) is to decrease sensitivity to pain and to enhance endurance. In the East, perhaps because patterns of nourishment have been different, slenderness is more the rule. The disciplines of Hatha yoga have been employed in India for several thousand years as a way to bring the body under more control, so that meditation and contemplation will not be obstructed by an insensitive, or a tense, uncomfortable body. Hatha yoga is one part of the Hindu religion and is one of the means of achieving the experience of “union of inner and outer,” or dissolving the ego and unifying awareness. #RandolphHarris 13 of 29

Since prehistoric times, controlled fire has been a source of comfort and warmth, but uncontrolled fire has brought death and destruction. Some of the most important lessons have been learned in the aftermath of tragic fires that resulted in devastating loss of life. The success of the Sacramento Fire Department depends on their ability to think critically and creatively and to communicate their intention and decision to others. The ability to communicate clearly—to get their intent and ideas across so that others understand their message and act on it—is one of the primary qualities of leadership. While you are a college student, your channels of communication include presentations and term papers. When you become a Sacramento Fire Fighter, Paramedic, or EMT, these channels will expand to include training meetings, briefings, and operation orders. The means to effective communication within the Sacramento Fire Department has required team members to develop their speaking and writing skills so that they are able to deliver any message to any audience effectively. They also keep in mind that communication also includes receiving messages from others through reading and listening. #RandolphHarris 14 of 29

Early in your career with the Sacramento Fire Department, much of your communication is direct. For example, coaching team members often requires communication that is one-on-one, immediate, and spoken. Later in your career with the Sacramento Fire Department, as your leadership responsibilities increase, you will inform subordinates and leaders through written orders, procedures, memos, and e-mail. This form of communication is indirect—it goes through other people or processes, is time-delayed, and written. As a member of the Sacramento Fire Department, your ability to communicate—to write, speak, and listen—affects your ability to inform, tech, coach, and motivate those around you. The good news is that you can develop these essential skills. It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of these skills. In Sacramento Fire Department operations, as elsewhere, the inability to write and speak can have tremendous costs. History is replete with examples of misunderstood messages. For example, many Civil War scholars believe that victory at Gettysburg may have depended on how a subordinate interpreted Confederate GEN Robet E. Lee’s use of the word “practicable.” [On the first day of the battle of Gettysburg, Pa, Confederate attacks drove Union troops through the town to the top of Cemetery Hill, a half mile south.] The battle so far appeared to be another great Confederate victory. #RandolphHarris 15 of 29

However, General Lee could see that so long as the enemy held the high ground south of town, the battle was not over. He knew that the rest of the [Union] Army of the Potomac must be hurrying toward Gettysburg; his best chance to clinch the victory was to seize those hills and ridges before they arrived. So, General Lee gave Ewell discretionary orders to attack Cemetery Hill “if practicable.” Had Jackson still lived, he undoubtedly would have found it practicable. However, Edwell was not Jackson. Thinking the enemy position too strong, he did not attack—thereby creating one of the controversial “ifs” of Gettysburg that have echoed down the years. The Gettysburg vignette illustrates the parts of the communication process. General Lee was the sender. He sent the message: Attack Cemetery Hill. Ewell, the receiver, read the words, “if practicable,” decided that Union artillery on the hill made an attack not “practicable,” and did not attack. The words, “if practicable” made the message vague. (Who and what should define “if practicable”?) Obstacles to communication, such as this lack of clarity—along with other considerations, such as the demands of time, the ease of understanding the sender’s speech, the ability to read the sender’s handwriting, or the distractions in the area—make up what communications theorists call noise. Noise works against the clarity of communication. #RandolphHarris 16 of 29

Looking again at the vignette above, you find that General Lee never checked with Ewell to see if he understood General Lee’s intent: “What do you intend to do?” Ewell never checked to see if he understood General Lee’s intent: “What do you mean by ‘if practicable’?” The communication process included no feedback. Assume for a moment, as some historians do, that General Lee intended that Ewell attack Cemetery Hill immediately and decisively. (Those historians argue that General Lee was used to issuing such vague orders to the aggressive Stonewall Jackson, who had died a few months earlier.) Throwing Billy Yank off the hilltop might well have allowed General Lee to command the battlefield, perhaps even forcing the advancing Union armies to withdraw. That might have led to General Lee’s domination of southern Pennsylvania, choking off Washington from the North and ending the war on the Confederacy’s terms. If that were General Lee’s intent, the message failed. Ewell did not attack. The Union held onto the high ground and won the battle two days later—the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. Effective communication occurs when the receiver’s perceived idea matches the sender’s intended idea. The receiver understands what the sender means, not just what the sender says or writes. And that is why people like to hire and work with people they know and trust. Those who have the required skills for the job. #RandolphHarris 17 of 29

“I wouldn’t do any other job, I enjoy this one too much. I’ve spent my life preparing for it, and it would be hard for me to find employment doing something else. I don’t think I’d want to, I wouldn’t be as happy. I’m with the Sacramento Fire Department for the long haul. I’m still single, and I’m still young. I’m hoping to advance here as far as I can go, but I still have this desire to work in a very heavy urban area, such as New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia. It’s just something that I need personally to do. Here in Sacramento, I’ve only been a captain a year, and I’m looking forward to getting my own company. I would like to have a shifting on the new rescue company that’s going to be put into service here in the near future. I like what I’m doing now because I work with different people all the time and ride different territories. It’s good experience. I’ve been fortunate enough to work in a battalion where most of the people are like me, interested from a very early age, want to do their best, very gung-ho. Professional, very professional. When the company looks bad, everybody looks bad, and people’s perception of us will go down. I try to be as professional as I can, because that’s the way it should be. We should be good.” When intelligence is applied so thoroughly as to yield a whole view and not merely a partial view of existence, when it is applied so persistently as to yield a steady insight into things rather than a sporadic one, when it is applied so detachedly as to be without regard to personal preconceptions, and when it is applied so calmly that feelings and passions cannot alter its direction, then and only then, does a man become truly reasonable and capable of intellectually ascertaining truth. #RandolphHarris 18 of 29

If you see a fire truck stopped in the street without the lights on, be very careful. Sometimes there is an emergency situation and you should not pass the fire truck. It might be a good idea to safely turn around and go another way. Sometimes fire fighters are getting back into their vehicle and if you pass the apparatus, you may collide with a firefighter who is on foot. Also, be sure to look at their signals, sometimes emergency vehicles are in motions, albeit, slowly, and drivers try to pass them, and this could lead to a dangerous situation. Also, if you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. #RandolphHarris 19 of 29

As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. To help our firefighters, pleasure donate to the Sacramento Fire Department to ensure they have all the resources they require. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. Islam is the fastest growing religion in America, out pacing Christianity. While American was once a nation of generations, there are still many indigenous people lift and others who have been here for generations. To protect America and make sure it will remain a land of the free and home of the brave, we must be patriotic and put Americans first. Democrats and Atheists would like nothing more than red blooded American warriors to become slaves in their own country. They would like nothing more than to close American schools so children can be forced into child labor again. It is not time to roll back, nor will it ever be to remove protection for American citizens. If you have not noticed, crime is spreading to communities that had never seen crime before. Homelessness is on the rise. #RandolphHarris 20 of 29

 In fact, Governor Gavin Newsom of Democratic controlled California, brags about being the world’s “fifth largest economy,” but it also facing a $12 billion deficit, looking to cut $747 million for state worker’s pay, pushing to keep medical insurance for illegal immigrants, and has the largest homeless population in the nation. If they are all officially counted, California has approximately 4 million homeless people. The highest home prices in the nation, the highest taxes and the most unfriendly business regulations known to man. The average home price in California is nearly $1,000,000.00 USD, while the average salary is $96,036.00, meaning that most Californians cannot even afford to buy a home. California is having an affordability crisis. In 2025, many people in California saw their bills increase by an estimated $500 a month. This includes things like food, automobile insurance, homeowner’s insurance, electricity. In fact, more than 3 million people in California are facing household hardship, and more than 300,000 of them are facing eviction soon. This comes at a time when California is having a shortage of affordable housing. This is caused by nearly half a century’s old laws that discourage homes sales and encourage higher rents. Meanwhile, China, where we are sending all of our jobs and money has more than 50 ghost cities. Ghost cities are regions will housing has been overdeveloped to the point that these places are uninhabited. Because California is so hostile towards people and businesses, more than 360 companies have fled the state since 2020. Businesses like Chevron, SpaceX, Oracle, and Hewlett Packard are amongst the names on that list. #RandolphHarris 21 of 29

Also, more than 500,000 people a year are abandoning California because it is too expensive to live in, crime is out of control, and they are losing their jobs due to companies relocating. More than 100 companies have announced layoffs in California for 2025. Intel is cutting 15,000 jobs, PayPal 2,500 and Meta has terminated 4,000 employees. The California crisis created by Democrats is driving up home prices and mortgages and rents all over the nation and the world, making living unaffordable for all, and advocates say the crisis is far from over. Accordingly, California has more than 3.5 million illegal immigrants. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. #RandolphHarris 22 of 29

The American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. #RandolphHarris 23 of 29

In an effort to help America pull through the massive national deficit, please buy American made cars. American made cars used to be the envy of the World and because American car brands are offering a wide range of options, from family SUVs to electric vehicles and luxury sedans, we are now seeing a resurging interest. American made cars are equal or superior to those made overseas. The Chevrolet Trax, for instance, is a well-designed, fuel efficient, and safe SUV. And as you know, there is no better car on Earth than 1950-1970s American Muscle Car. As an incentive to buy American made cars, President Trump plans to made interest on loans for American cars tax deductible. Americans surely make superior products, but we are buying things from other nations. American food imports have risen by 300 percent since 1999. American farmland declined by nearly 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. As of 2022, there were 880.1 million acres of land dedicated to farming, compared to 900.1 million in 2017. The data shows there are now little more than 1.9 million farms in the country.  Americans and American corporations spent $136 billion on food and beverages from other countries. It is a national security risk to lose American Farms and farmers. If there is a war, and most of our meat, produce, poultry, dairy, and fruit is coming from foreign counties, we stand the risk of starving. With war breaking out all over the World, in these uncertain times, it is very important to bring American farms back. Las Vegas is running out of buildable land and is expected to reach its maximum number of homes in 2032. So, home prices are expected to rise dramatically. #RandolphHarris 24 of 29

Additionally, with inflation rates at an all-time high, American being in an unofficial recession for about a decade, all insurance in California is becoming unaffordable. State Farm has received an approval for an emergency rate increase, which was approved by the California Insurance Commissioner, to stabilize the market and protect policyholders. Starting 1 June 2025, homeowners will see an average of 17 percent increase, rental dwellings will see an increase of 38 percent, and Condo owners will see a rate increase of 15 percents. These rate increases are due to the distressed caused by the recent wildfires, which accumulated over $7 billion in claims. Furthermore, in 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1107, also known as the Protection California Drivers Act, into law which increases the minimum auto lability limits for bodily injury to $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident. Senate Bill 1107 also increased the minimum liability limits for property damage to $15,000 per accident and the DMV deposit for uninsured drivers to $75,000. The bill went into effect on January 1, 2025. This means that drivers with existing policies with lower limits will renew at the new minimum limits on or after January 1, 2025, and insurance premiums could increase by as much as 54 percent. America is in a state of crisis right now because of mismanagement by democrats. With the median household income in Sacramento County being $88,724 and a 4-bedroom 2.5-bathroom Cresleigh home costing $798,059, how are people able to afford homes? Because an $800,000 home with a one percent downpayment of $8,000, 30-year fixed loan at 4.176 percent interest comes with a monthly mortgage payment of $4,241. #RandolphHarris 25 of 29

The maximum percentage of your gross income that you should earmark for a monthly mortgage payment is calculated at 28 percent, and no more than 36 percent of your gross income to all debts, including mortgage. If you take 28 percent of the median household income per home in Sacramento County, homeowners can only afford a mortgage of $2,070.23 per month. And if you take 36 percent of their gross income to all debts, including mortgage, they should be devoting no more than $2,661.72 a month to these debts. Mortgage lenders must be using some kind of sorcery to get buyers into these expensive homes. To afford one of these homes using traditional guidelines, a household would need to gross $11,280.24 per month or $135,362.88 per year, but the median household in Sacramento County is grossing $7,393.67 or $88,724.00 and that typically means two to four people in the home are working and contributing to the mortgage. Prices in Sacramento County are actually rivaling the Bay Area, and the Bay Aera is so expensive because they have more higher paying jobs and is a tourist destination. And with the State of California being in a budget deficit of $12 billion, Governor Gavin Newsom Granted 700,000 illegal immigrants free health care at a cost to taxpayers of $3 billion annually, while cutting vital programs for veterans, school children, the disabled and the homeless, and is proposing to fast-track his plan to build a $20 billion water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by eliminating environmental reviews and limit avenues for legal challenges. Gavin Newsom only cares about the environment when his policies allow him to raise taxes and restrict freedoms. Gavin Newsom has been a total tyrant with no regard for taxpayers and does not have a mind for business and should be impeached as soon as possible. #RandolphHarris 26 of 29

Meanwhile, with President Trump, we are seeing crime rates sharply decrease, and he recently secured $10 trillion in investments. If elected president for an unprecedented third term, to make housing more affordable and to offset the cost of homeowner’s insurance and auto insurance, President Trump plans to abolish property taxes. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever.  And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. #RandolphHarris 27 of 29

When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt.When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. #RandolphHarris 28 of 29

As you can see, President Donald Trump and his pledge to “Make America Great Again,” is exactly what America needs to save the country and the American people. And yes, diversity is important, so you can see why it is also important to preserve blonde hair and blue eyes as the people with these characteristics are becoming a minority in America. We must think before we can understand the soul’s existence; we must understand before we can realize it. The earliest beginnings of thought, as apart from instinct, when it was itself still but a lurking tendency, belong far back in primeval time. The human intellect as we find it today, so rich and developed an instrument for the consciousness of the ego, did not arrived at this fulness without a series of graduated stages. We have had plenty of scientific thinking, business thinking, and political thinking long enough, but we have had very little inspired thinking. That is the world’s need. The intellect is cradled in selfishness but runs the evolutionary track into reason where it will one day finish at the winning-post of selflessness. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. “Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand between their loved home and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’ And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” #RandolphHarris 29 of 29

The Winchester Mystery House

Experience an unforgettable journey back to the time of kings and queens with this entry ticket for The Winchester Mansion in Santa Clara, California which was the residence of Sarah L. Winchester. Take advantage of this fascinating experience. After tour, there will be time enjoy the mansion’s splendor at your own pace. You might even discover secret passages.

Please come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion.

For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase. https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/

We wish to express our gratitude to our families, ancestors, spirits, and friends and to our many associates and clients, whose lives touched our lives and whose ideas helped us to grow. We would also like to thank our employees and care takers for putting the technical ideas of this estate into conversational style, and we are, of course, extremely thank to all of our patrons for helping to keep the legacy of the Winchester Family alive. The Winchester Mystery House is full of surprises. What was your favorite, “Oooh!” moment during your visit at the mansion? (And for those of you who still have to check it off your bucket list… we will hopefully see you soon.)  https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Why Choose Harris?

Hank Harris

Harris Plumbing, Heating, Air, & Electric has been in business for 30 years. How many businesses can say that? We take pride in everything we do – no matter how big or small the service call might be. We’re here to help your home be as safe and comfortable as possible for you and your family. We take that responsibility very seriously as a company. Harris will ensure you have the information you need to decide what to do next, whatever your home is facing. We’ll perform a diagnosis and detail what issues are present before starting any work. This gives you a personalized quote and service plan specific to your home’s needs – not some random quote based on the best guess. The only way we can do our best work is to make sure we handle the issues at hand. https://www.callharrisnow.com/about-us/

The Ultimate Driving Machine

BMW continues to dominate the luxury car space. With its top ranking in Consumer Reports’ Auto Brand Report Card and consistent market share growth, BMW has demonstrated its ability to produce high-performing, reliable vehicles that meet consumer demands.

BMW stands out due to its focus on driving dynamics and engineering excellence. While other luxury brands prioritize comfort and opulence, BMW is known for creating cars that are fun to drive and offer a unique connection between the driver and the machine. https://www.brianharrisbmw.com/

Randolph Harris San Francisco Taxation & Mergers

Randy advises clients with regard to business transition, taxable and tax deferred mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructuring, integrated tax planning, federal and state tax controversy resolution, and real estate transactions. https://www.jmbm.com/l-randolph-harris.html

If You Loved Me, You Would…

Justice, reason, truth once shone in the Jacobin heaven, performing the function of fixed stars, which can, at least, serve as guidelines. The reason for this was the fact that German nineteenth-century thinkers, particularly Hegel, wanted to continue the work of the French Revolution while suppressing the causes of its failure. Hegel thought that he discerned the seeds of the Terror contained in the abstract principles of the Jacobins. According to him, absolute and abstract freedom must inevitably lead to terrorism; the rule of abstract law is identical with the rule of oppression. For example, Hegel remarks that the period between the time of Augustus and Alexander Severus (A.D. 235) is the period of the greatest legal proficiency but also the period of the most ruthless tyranny. To avoid this contradiction, it was therefore necessary to wish to construct a concrete society, invigorated by a principle that was not formal and in which freedom could be reconciled with necessity. German philosophy therefore finished by substituting, for the universal but abstract reason of Saint-Just and Rousseau, a less artificial but more ambiguous idea: concrete universal reason. Up to this point, reason had soared above the phenomena which were related to it. Now reason is, henceforth, incorporated in the stream of historical events, which it explains while deriving its substance from them. #RandolphHarris 1 of 27

It can certainly be said that Hegel rationalized to the point of being irrational. However, at the same time, he gave reason an unreasonable shock by endowing it with a lack of moderation, the results of which are now before our eyes. Into the fixed ideas of this period, German thought suddenly introduced an irresistible urge to movement. Truth, reason, and justice were abruptly incarnated in the progress of the world. However, if there was to be one, by committing them to perpetual acceleration, German ideology confused their existence with their impulse and fixed the conclusion of this existence at the final stage of this historical future. These values have ceased to be guides in order to become goals. As for the means of attaining these goals, specifically life and history, no preexistent value can point the way. On the contrary, a large part of Hegelian demonstration is devoted to proving that moral conscience, by being so banal as to obey justice and truth, as though these values existed independently of the world, jeopardizes, precisely for this reason, the advent of these values. The rule of action has thus become action itself—which must be performed in darkness while awaiting the final illumination. Reason, annexed by this form of romanticism, is nothing more than an inflexible passion. #RandolphHarris 2 of 27

The ends have remained the same, only ambition has increased; thought has become dynamic, reason has embraced the future and aspired to conquest. Action is no more than a calculation based on results, not on principles. Consequently, it confounds itself with perpetual movement. In the same way, all the disciplines that characterized eighteenth-century thought as rigid and addicted to classification were abandoned in the nineteenth century. Just as Dr. Darwin replaced Linnaeus, the philosophers who supported the doctrine of an incessant dialectic replaced the harmonious and strict constructors of reason. From this moment dates the idea (hostile to every concept of ancient thought, which, on the contrary, reappeared to a certain extent in the mind of revolutionary France) that man has not been endowed with a definitive human nature, that he is not a finished creation but an experiment, of which he can be partly the creator. With Napolean and the Napoleonic philosopher Hegal, the period of efficacy begins. Before Napolean, men had discovered space and the universe; with Napolean, they discovered time and the future in terms of this world; and by this discovery the spirit of rebellion is going to be profoundly transformed. #RandolphHarris 3 of 27

In any case, it is strange to find Hegel’s philosophy at this new stage in the development of the spirit of rebellion. Actually, in one sense, his work exudes an absolute horror of dissidence: he wanted to be the very essence of reconciliation. However, this is only one aspect of a system which, by its very method, is the most ambiguous in all philosophic literature. To the extent that, for him, what is real is rational, he justifies every ideological encroachment upon reality. What has been called Hegel’s panlogism is a justification of the condition of fact. However, his philosophy also exalts destruction for its own sake. Everything is reconciled, of course, in the dialectic, and one extreme cannot be stated without the other arising; there exists in Hegel, as in all great thinkers, the material for contradicting Hegel. Philosophers, however, are rarely read with the head alone, but often with the heart and all its passions, which can accept no kind of reconciliation. Nevertheless, the revolutionaries of the twenty-first century have borrowed from Hegel the weapons with which they definitively destroyed the formal principles of virtue. All that they have preserved is the vision of a history without any kind of transcendence, dedicated to perpetual strife and to the struggle of wills bent on seizing power. #RandolphHarris 4 of 27

In its critical aspect, the revolutionary movement of our times is primarily a violent denunciation of the formal hypocrisy that presides over bourgeois society. The partially justified pretension of modern Communism, like the more frivolous claims of Fascism, is to denounce the mystification that undermines the principles and virtues of the bourgeois type of democracy. Divine transcendence, up to 1789, served to justify the arbitrary actions of the kind. After the French Revolution, the transcendence of formal principles of reason or justice serves to justify a rule that is neither just nor reasonable. This transcendence is therefore a mask that must be torn off. God is dead, but Stirner predicted, the morality of principles in which the memory of God is still preserved must also be killed. Therefore, atheist not only want you to believe God is dead, they want to remove Him from the government, and banish Him from your memory so society can totally decay and the world become unlivable due to harsh climate changes, sharply rising housing and food prices, and social chaos. The hatred of formal virtue—degraded witness to divinity and false witness in the service of injustice—has remained one of the principal themes in history today. #RandolphHarris 5 of 27

Nothing is pure: that is the cry which convulses our period. Impurity, the equivalent of history, is going to become the rule, and the abandoned earth will be delivered to naked force, which will decide whether or not man is divine. Thus, lies and violence are adopted in the same spirit in which a religion is adopted and on the same heartrending impulse. Still, the feelings of callousness and ruthlessness can also be exaggerated. The taboos on feelings of tenderness, sympathy, and confidence can be just as great in some neurotics as the taboos on hostility and vindictiveness are in others. These people feel that they should be able to live without any close personal relations, so they believe that they do not need them. They should not enjoy anything; so, they believe they do not care. Their emotional life then is less distorted than plainly impoverished. Naturally, the emotional pictures engendered by the inner commanders are not always streamlined. The orders issued can be contradictory. You should be so sympathetic that you shun no sacrifices whatever, but you should also be so coldblooded that you can carry out any act of vengeance. As a result, a person is convinced at times that he is callous and at others that he is extremely kindhearted. In other people so many feelings and wishes are checked that a general emotional deadness ensues. #RandolphHarris 6 of 27

There may be, for instance, a taboo on wanting anything for themselves, which puts the lid on all alive wishes and create pervasive inhibitions about doing anything for themselves. Then, partly because of these inhibitions, they develop just as pervasive claims on the grounds of which they feel entitled to have everything in life presented on a silver platter. And then, the resentment over the frustration of such claims may be choked off by a dictate that they should put up with life. We are less aware of the harm done our feelings by the pervasive should than of other damage inflicted by them. Yet, it is actually the heaviest price we pay for trying to mold ourselves into perfection. Feelings are the most alive part of ourselves; if they are put under a dictatorial regime, a profound uncertainty is created in our essential being which must affect adversely our relations to everything inside and outside ourselves. We can hardly overrate the intensity of the impact of the inner dictates. The more the drive to actualize his idealized self prevails in a person, the more the shoulds become the sole motor force moving him, driving him, whipping him into action. When a patient who is still far removed from his real self discovers some of the cramping effects of his should, he can nevertheless be entirely unable to consider relinquishing then because without them—so he feels—he would or could not do anything. He may sometimes express this concern in terms of the belief that one cannot make other people do the “right” thing except by force, which is an externalized expression of his inner experience. The shoulds then acquire a subjective value for the patient which he can dispense only when he experiences the existence of other spontaneous forces in himself. #RandolphHarris 7 of 27

When we realize the enormous coercive power of the shoulds, we must raise one question. What does it do to a person when he recognizes that he cannot measure up to his inner dictates? To anticipate the answer briefly: then he starts to hate and despise himself. We cannot, in fact, understand the full impact of the should unless we see the extent to which they are interwoven with self-hate. It is the threat of a punitive self-hate that lurks behind them, that truly makes them a regime of terror. When all five feelings, anger, fear, hurt, joy, love, are expressed honestly, the individual is more real, more actualized. However, manipulators, aware of the power of feelings, will try to use them to control others. By using anger, a manipulator attempts to intimidate and create fear in others. All of us have met manipulators who by their shouting and screaming keep others from communicating with them. Some manipulators provoke anger in others in order to play the role of the weak victim of the brutal attack. The weak victim can then easily shame the others into compliance. “Gotcha!” A manipulator also uses fear in tandem with hate. He sits at the console and gives ‘em what he thinks they need; a little fear today, a little hate tomorrow. Some days he gives them both. And they stand together and shiver and think he is the greatest guy in the world and [they] love him. #RandolphHarris 8 of 27

The “silent treatment” is a tried-and-true favorite of manipulators. The manipulator looks as if he or she has been auditioning for a sinus medication commercial. Note the squint of the eyes, the furrow of the brow, the downward curve of the lips—the pained expression that can only come from eight undrained sinus cavities. However, no matter how many entreaties the victim makes to find out what is wrong, the response is always, “I am okay. What makes you think something is wrong? Do not mine me, I will just go to bed early.” Manipulators do not like to express joy they might feel, and they sure do not want anyone else to either. They are the joy killers: “You are sure lucky you got an A on your term paper, but I have heard that Professor Winchester grades easy on papers and hard on the final exam.” Love, perhaps the least likely to be thought is as a manipulative weapon, is paradoxically one of the most common manipulative techniques. How often has the phrase, “If you loved me, you would…” been used to win a point, gain a goal, or exert control over a partner? A clever manipulator can use love to dominate a relationship or, conversely, to bring one to an end by saying, for example, “If you really loved me, you would let me go.” #RandolphHarris 9 of 27

However, we do not overcome our doubts by suppressing them, we do not meet our misgivings by denying them, and we do not refute falsehood by shirking questions which happen to be inconvenient. I am too much aware of the diversity of intellectual truths to regard them as other than merely relative. Therefore, I prefer a light skepticism. Is it not ironic that the only creature in the universe which doubts God’s existence is also the only one—up to that grade—which contains the proof of that existence? The countless germs, worms, insects, reptiles, and mammals below man lack the rational capacity to question, while the higher types of individuated beings above him know too much to utter such a doubt. Reason begins by being skeptical of everything else. It ends by becoming skeptical about itself. It is unwise skeptically to let these truths vanish from our sight, as though we had not even heard of them, for then the grove of old suffering will have to be cut anew. These secret doubts, these inward vacillations, must be faced and overcome. To doubt is not to deny. If we were to end in it, we must begin with doubt in order to clear the ground, but we would be in a sorry state. No doctrine is so sacred that it is not to be questioned. Man cannot escape from his duty to doubt. #RandolphHarris 10 of 27

 Each generation must reflect in its own way on the conundrums of existence and be vigorously alive to its own problems, which are not wholly the problems of other epochs, and must face them in a fresh living manner. However, when uneasy doubt is pushed to the extreme of settled cynicism, when needful caution is elongated to paralyzing cowardice, when skepticism is grown so big that it cannot let the divine get past it into his heart, then the man falls into a bog of materialism and becomes its pitiable victim. Doubt has a legitimate use in the would of thought. Without it, we should be at the mercy of every charlatan, every fool, every exploiter, and every false doctrine. We need not be ashamed therefore to avail ourselves of it at times. Doubt tears the veil off deceit and exposes humbug hidden beneath benevolence. We need not be afraid to question everything, to doubt everything, even the words we use and our own very selves. If we take nothing for granted, we have nothing but falsehood, illusion, and self-deception to lose. How shall we begin this study? The best way is the only way for us. We must begin by doubting everything; thus, alone may we hope to end by knowing everything. Although we have to begin our metaphysical life by doubting accepted values, we cannot end there; we cannot love forever in an atmosphere of suspended judgment. If tentative, even without reaching absolute certainty, the process of active living demands that sooner or later, we commit ourselves to a definite standpoint. #RandolphHarris 11 of 27

In adulthood, many of us are live deviant school boys. Perhaps without realizing it, we continue to play the same childish game and risk far more than a bruised shoulder in the process. Unwillingness to accept the responsibility for and consequences of one’s actions is an all-too-common condition in today’s world. Who has not hurt of the drunken driver who uses his host for allowing him to get drunk, or of the accident victim who claims damages from the physician who tries to help him? Perpetrators of the most heinous crimes often plead guilty by reason of insanity or claim that they are victims of society’s ills. The reckless blame alcohol. Christians blame the devil. Abusers and adulterers blame the broken homes of their childhood. And, if they do not want to, there are enough who agree with them to ensure that no one need feel terribly guilty for long. The habit of shifting the burden of guilt onto someone else, while perhaps understandable in a secular setting, has more serious consequences in a spiritual one. There too it has an ancient but not honorable tradition. When his sacrifice was not accepted, Cain blamed God. “I was worth,” he said, “for his offering thou didst accept and not mine,” reports Moses 5.38. Even the very elite have sometimes succumbed to the temptation to blame others for their disobedience or their failure to receive blessings. #RandolphHarris 12 of 27

When faced with the consequences of transgression, rather than looking to ourselves as the source of the discomfort which always accompanies sin, many of us tend to blame someone else. Rather than getting out of a vicious and senseless circle, we fault our neighbor for our pain and try to pass it on. However, to repent, we must leave the circle. The first step in the repentance process has always been simply to recognize that we have done wrong. If we are so hedged about by pride, rationalization, machismo, or a misdirected sense of self-esteem as to prevent us from every admitting that we are part of the problem, we are in trouble. We then may not even know of our need to repent. We will have no idea whether the Lord is pleased with us or not and may become past feeling. “We are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were divided,” reports 1 Nephi 17.45. To fail to repent is to perish. “And except ye repent, ye shall perish; yea, even your lands shall be taken from you, and ye shall be destroyed from off the face of the earth,” reports Helaman 7.28. To excuse misconduct by blaming others is presumptuous at best and is fatally flawed with regard to spiritual things, for “we believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression,” reports Articles of Faith 1.2. #RandolphHarris 13 of 27

People typically eat without consideration of what they need for optimum nourishment or for full consciousness of body and world. Excessive eating is a sedative, insuring that persons will not feel the impact of their life styles upon them. Fasting has played a crucial role in every religious tradition and every discipline that aims at enlightenment. Avoiding food for periods ranging from a day to a month or longer will result not only in some loss of weight, but also in heightened somatic perception and keener senses of touch, taste, and smell. In my own experiences at fasting, I have gone no longer than six days without food; I completed a partial fast for forty days, however, limiting my nourishment to vegetable and fruit juices. The fasting was not unlike a trip to another culture—it gave me a changed perspective upon the situation within which I had been enmeshed. Many persons in recent years have begun to experiment with vegetarian diets, with organically grown foods, with foods that have not been preserved with chemicals. Such intelligent concern with one’s nourishment is quite compatible with healthy personality, and it certainly contributes to the experience of re-embodiment. Just as we need nourishing food to survive physically, we need the gospel of Jesus Christ to survive spiritually. Our souls are nourished by whatever speaks of Christ and lead us to Him, whether it is written in the scriptures, spoken by latter-day prophets, or taught by other humble servants of God. #RandolphHarris 14 of 27

Paramedics, EMTs, and firefighters with the Sacramento Fire Depart also save our souls and lives by providing medical care, and identifying and remediating hazards and teaching us how to rectify those threats. To bring their vision to life and accomplish their personal mission, members of the Sacramento Fire Department set definite goals. One way they think about these goals is by thinking of their vision and mission as their life strategy and their goals as tactics that will help then work within and toward that strategy. The Sacramento Fire Department thinks of goals as dots they connect to create the picture described by their vision and mission. They are the short-term milestones that keep them on track and help them achieve their greater mission. However, how do they write effective goals? One technique is that they write SMART goals. SMART goals have built-in features that help the Sacramento Fire Department attain them. Here is an example of how they write SMART goals. If your vision, is to be an excellent firefighter and your mission in support of that is to attain excellent performance reviews, how exactly do you get there? A SMART goal that implements those vision and mission statements might be to eat a balanced diet, get proper rest, go to the gym, show up for work early, and display discipline and determination. Notice how the goals seta specific measurable benchmark and an attainable deadline. If you find it helpful, you can write goals for your job, class, home or whatever you want to exceed in. #RandolphHarris 15 of 27

The last step in this process is to prioritize your SMART goals. Put them in order of importance, time due, or time required to complete, overall attainability, cost, geographic location, outside help, required, or another organizing scheme. You should not randomly list your goals; otherwise, you will waste time and effort. Whether you do the small stuff first and the challenging ones later—or vice versa—is up to you, but organize your time and effort. Leadership is not magnetic personality—that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not “making friends and influencing people”—that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. Crafting a personal vision statement, mission statement, and SMART goals is a key step in how members of the Sacramento Fire Department develop their identity as adults and members of a team. Vision, mission, and goals help bring out the best qualities of personality in the Sacramento Fire Departments and makes them desirable role models for their peers and the public. You never know the limit of your potential until you reach it—and then step further. A clear vision, a specific mission, and definite goals are important tools that will help you reach and then exceed your expectations. #RandolphHarris 16 of 27

“It can’t be the money that keeps me in, I’ll tell you that. It can’t be the money. It’s just that, even after I’ve been off a week, I still have that desire to get back and get in there. I like the action. I enjoy getting out there and helping people. A lot of guys don’t like to say that. It’s not the macho image. But there are so many out there who need some help, it’s unreal. Especially in the areas where I’ve been working. I never worked in high-class areas, but in my areas it gives you a good feeling to help people who need it. I can go home and say I love life. Very seldom am I down, very seldom. I think that the department has helped. I would say to a young man coming in that it’s going to be a rough road ahead, it’s not going to be easy by a long shot. You have to put a lot into it. Of course, the outlook is different now than when I came in, and much to the better. It’s tough for old-timers to give up the old macho way with smoke, for instance. That’s dumb. I did it, but it’s dumb. Now the new guys are oriented to wearing a mask at all times, and this is a great safety feature. With a young guy coming in now, it’s a good job, and you get out of it what you put into it. There are guys that come in strictly for security, and there are guys that come in for the love of the job. There’s a twenty-two-year-old fellow coming in now, and that’s all he wants—the fire department. Luckily he got up on the list, and he was sweating taking the physical, and he was sweating taking the interview. He finally got appointed, and he’s elated. #RandolphHarris 17 of 27

“He called me up at work. ‘Hey, are there any openings at your house? I want to come and work with you.’ I said, ‘You don’t want to come here.’ He said, ‘Yes, I do.’ ‘Well, I’ll tell you what,’ I said. ‘You couldn’t make a better choice if you want to get experience and work with a bunch of guys that are like a top-notch baseball team. It’s a team that’s always there. If someone has a problem, somebody can look out for you.’ I love it. I feel good about my life. I enjoy the department, and with working on the side on my other jobs, I have enough money to enjoy the other things in life, vacations, taking trips. If I had stayed with the post office, I would have been a different person. In the Sacramento Fire Department, when I’ve been off for a week or two, either sick or on a double, I think, ‘Boy, I hope I can get back to work soon. I’m ready to go back.’ A week off, fine, that’s enough. I’m ready to get back.” Because truth has been bound up with such absurdities, often for self-interested motives, it behooves us to accept no message without due investigation and deep caution. Because people do not feel their inward divinity, they often deny it. In ancient and even medieval times, they were satisfied that it did exist because their simplicity, their uncultivated intellects, created no barriers to this feeling or to faith in it on the authority of tradition and their prophets. We must understand the inevitability of their present skepticism and prove the fact of the Soul as logically, as evidentially as possible. Yet to offer intellectual proof alone is not enough, although a truly excellent step forward. We must also show them how to get the experience of verification for themselves. #RandolphHarris 18 of 27

If you see a fire truck stopped in the street without the lights on, be very careful. Sometimes there is an emergency situation and you should not pass the fire truck. It might be a good idea to safely turn around and go another way. Sometimes fire fighters are getting back into their vehicle and if you pass the apparatus, you may collide with a firefighter who is on foot. Also, be sure to look at their signals, sometimes emergency vehicles are in motions, albeit, slowly, and drivers try to pass them, and this could lead to a dangerous situation. Also, if you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. #RandolphHarris 19 of 27

As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. To help our firefighters, pleasure donate to the Sacramento Fire Department to ensure they have all the resources they require. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. Islam is the fastest growing religion in America, out pacing Christianity. While American was once a nation of generations, there are still many indigenous people lift and others who have been here for generations. To protect America and make sure it will remain a land of the free and home of the brave, we must be patriotic and put Americans first. Democrats and Atheists would like nothing more than red blooded American warriors to become slaves in their own country. They would like nothing more than to close American schools so children can be forced into child labor again. It is not time to roll back, nor will it ever be to remove protection for American citizens. If you have not noticed, crime is spreading to communities that had never seen crime before. Homelessness is on the rise. #RandolphHarris 20 of 27

 In fact, Democratic controlled California brags about being the world’s “fifth largest economy,” but it also has the largest homeless population in the nation. If they are all officially counted, California has approximately 4 million homeless people. The highest home prices in the nation, the highest taxes and the most unfriendly business regulations known to man. The average home price in California is nearly $1,000,000.00 USD, while the average salary is $96,036.00, meaning that most Californians cannot even afford to buy a home. California is having an affordability crisis. In 2025, many people in California saw their bills increase by an estimated $500 a month. This includes things like food, automobile insurance, homeowner’s insurance, electricity. In fact, more than 3 million people in California are facing household hardship, and more than 300,000 of them are facing eviction soon. This comes at a time when California is having a shortage of affordable housing. This is caused by nearly half a century’s old laws that discourage homes sales and encourage higher rents. Meanwhile, China, where we are sending all of our jobs and money has more than 50 ghost cities. Ghost cities are regions will housing has been overdeveloped to the point that these places are uninhabited. Because California is so hostile towards people and businesses, more than 360 companies have fled the state since 2020. Businesses like Chevron, SpaceX, Oracle, and Hewlett Packard are amongst the names on that list. #RandolphHarris 21 of 27

Also, more than 500,000 people a year are abandoning California because it is too expensive to live in, crime is out of control, and they are losing their jobs due to companies relocating. More than 100 companies have announced layoffs in California for 2025. Intel is cutting 15,000 jobs, PayPal 2,500 and Meta has terminated 4,000 employees. The California crisis created by Democrats is driving up home prices and mortgages and rents all over the nation and the world, making living unaffordable for all, and advocates say the crisis is far from over. Accordingly, California has more than 3.5 million illegal immigrants. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. #RandolphHarris 22 of 27

The American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. #RandolphHarris 23 of 27

In an effort to help America pull through the massive national deficit, please buy American made cars. American made cars used to be the envy of the World and because American car brands are offering a wide range of options, from family SUVs to electric vehicles and luxury sedans, we are now seeing a resurging interest. American made cars are equal or superior to those made overseas. The Chevrolet Trax, for instance, is a well-designed, fuel efficient, and safe SUV. And as you know, there is no better car on Earth than 1950-1970s American Muscle Car. As an incentive to buy American made cars, President Trump plans to made interest on loans for American cars tax deductible. Americans surely make superior products, but we are buying things from other nations. American food imports have risen by 300 percent since 1999. American farmland declined by nearly 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. As of 2022, there were 880.1 million acres of land dedicated to farming, compared to 900.1 million in 2017. The data shows there are now little more than 1.9 million farms in the country.  Americans and American corporations spent $136 billion on food and beverages from other countries. It is a national security risk to lose American Farms and farmers. If there is a war, and most of our meat, produce, poultry, dairy, and fruit is coming from foreign counties, we stand the risk of starving. With war breaking out all over the World, in these uncertain times, it is very important to bring American farms back. Las Vegas is running out of buildable land and is expected to reach its maximum number of homes in 2032. So, home prices are expected to rise dramatically. #RandolphHarris 24 of 27

Additionally, State Farm did ask the California Department of Insurance if they could raise homeowner insurance rates by 22 percent, but this request was denied. However, in 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1107, also known as the Protection California Drivers Act, into law which increases the minimum auto lability limits for bodily injury to $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident. Senate Bill 1107 also increased the minimum liability limits for property damage to $15,000 per accident and the DMV deposit for uninsured drivers to $75,000. The bill went into effect on January 1, 2025. This means that drivers with existing policies with lower limits will renew at the new minimum limits on or after January 1, 2025, and insurance premiums could increase by as much as 54 percent. America is in a state of crisis right now because of mismanagement by democrats. If elected for an unprecedented third term, to make housing more affordable and to offset the cost of homeowner’s insurance and auto insurance, President Trump plans to abolish property taxes. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. #RandolphHarris 25 of 27

Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever.  And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt. #RandolphHarris 26 of 27

When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. As you can see, President Donald Trump and his pledge to “Make America Great Again,” is exactly what America needs to save the country and the American people. And yes, diversity is important, so you can see why it is also important to preserve blonde hair and blue eyes as the people with these characteristics are becoming a minority in America. “Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand between their loved home and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’ And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” #RandolphHarris 27 of 27

The Winchester Mystery House

Experience an unforgettable journey back to the time of kings and queens with this entry ticket for The Winchester Mansion in Santa Clara, California which was the residence of Sarah L. Winchester. Take advantage of this fascinating experience. After tour, there will be time enjoy the mansion’s splendor at your own pace. You might even discover secret passages.

Please come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion.

For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase. https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/

We wish to express our gratitude to our families and friends and to our many associates and clients, whose lives touched our lives and whose ideas helped us to grow. We would also like to thank our employees and care takers for putting the technical ideas of this estate into conversational style, and we are, of course, extremely thank to all of our patrons for helping to keep the legacy of the Winchester Family alive. The Winchester Mystery House is full of surprises. What was your favorite, “Oooh!” moment during your visit at the mansion? (And for those of you who still have to check it off your bucket list… we will hopefully see you soon.)  https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Why Choose Harris?

Harris Plumbing, Heating, Air, & Electric has been in business for 30 years. How many businesses can say that? We take pride in everything we do – no matter how big or small the service call might be. We’re here to help your home be as safe and comfortable as possible for you and your family. We take that responsibility very seriously as a company. Harris will ensure you have the information you need to decide what to do next, whatever your home is facing. We’ll perform a diagnosis and detail what issues are present before starting any work. This gives you a personalized quote and service plan specific to your home’s needs – not some random quote based on the best guess. The only way we can do our best work is to make sure we handle the issues at hand. https://www.callharrisnow.com/about-us/

The Ultimate Driving Machine

BMW stands out due to its focus on driving dynamics and engineering excellence. While other luxury brands prioritize comfort and opulence, BMW is known for creating cars that are fun to drive and offer a unique connection between the driver and the machine. https://www.brianharrisbmw.com/

Randolph Harris San Francisco Taxation & Mergers

Randy advises clients with regard to business transition, taxable and tax deferred mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructuring, integrated tax planning, federal and state tax controversy resolution, and real estate transactions. https://www.jmbm.com/l-randolph-harris.html

Recuse Fever–They Do Not Need to be Loved by Everyone

All knowledge is beneficial to man in varying degrees. The knowledge of his own soul, being the highest degree of human knowledge, offers the greatest degree of benefit to man. Unless a man exercises his reason—and that at its subtlest pitch—how is he going to wake up from this dream of spinning planets which he sleeps by the mesmeric power of some unseen and unknow Sage? The Light of Christ influences people for good and prepares them to receive the Holy Ghost. One manifestation of the Light of Christ is what we call a conscience. The Light of Christ proceeds forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space. It is the light which is in all things, which gives life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed. This power is an influence for good in the lives of all people. In the scriptures, the Light of Christ is sometimes called the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of God, the Spirt of Christ, or the Light of life. The Light of Christ should not be confused with the Holy Ghost. It is not a personage, as the Holy Ghost is. Its influence leads people to find the true gospel, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. By forming clearer ideas of the Overself’s activity, man can better cooperate with it, and more effectually remove the obstacles which obstruct that activity. #RandolphHarris 1 of 25

Conscience if a manifestation of the Light of Christ, enabling us to judge good from evil. The light of Christ is the divine energy, power, or influence that proceeds from God through Jesus Christ and gives life and light to all things. Man did not first know through his eyes or hands that electricity exists but only through his powers of reason. We know in our best moments that we are merely recipients of power, goodness, and understanding. What the higher self is trying to do in us may be obstructed through ignorance or assisted by knowledge. Intellect is most useful as a servant but most tyrannical as a master. It may hinder progress or accelerate it. Hence, although the philosopher thinks as keenly as any other man, he does not allow his whole self to be submerged in the thinking process. When man refuses to use his intelligence in settling his affairs it is only because he has not sufficiently developed his intelligence to be able to use in this way. However, philosophically speaking, he is blinded by the ego and so seeks satisfaction rather than truth. Such a one does not know that truth brings satisfaction in its train. The magnificent spectacle of the Universe does have a meaning but it is only discoverable when we put such prejudices aside and accept the deliverances of analytic reason concentrated in its impeccable and searching quest. #RandolphHarris 2 of 25

As we study from the best books, we protect ourselves against the menacing jaws of those that seek to gnaw at our spiritual roots. As man’s conception of the truth becomes clearer, his aspiration to realize it in his life becomes stronger. This is so and must be so. It is wise to be intellectually familiar with the various ways of approach to the Overself, for this expands one’s outlook and enlarges one’s tolerance; but one should also know what is the correct way for oneself. The intelligence which man possesses will not merely enable him to distinguish between truth and falsity in the consideration of external things, but will finally fulfil itself in enabling him to distinguish between the truth and falsity about his own internal being. That is to say, it will lead him to the knowledge of his own true self, his Overself. Many of the opinions which have found lodgment in his head are not there through impartial investigation or intelligent enquiry but through theaccidents of prejudice, bias, or heredity. We live in a day in which misfortune about our beliefs abounds. In times such as these, a failure to protect and deepen our spiritual roots is an invitation to have then gnawed on by an invitation by those who seek to destroy our faith in Christ and our belief in His restored Church. In Book of Mormon times, it was Zeezrom who sought to destroy the faith of the believers. #RandolphHarris 3 of 25

His actions and words were a snare of the adversary, which he laid to catch the people, that he might bring them into subjection unto him, that he might encircle them about with chains. Those same snares exist today, and unless we are spiritually vigilant and build a secure foundation on our Redeemer, we may find ourselves bound with Satan’s chains and being led carefully down the forbidden paths spoken of in the Book of Mormon. “And after they had tasted of the fruit, they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost,” reports 1 Nephi 8.28. The intelligence which man possess will not merely enable him to distinguish between truth and falsity in the consideration of external things, but will finally fulfil itself in enabling him to distinguish between the truth and falsity about his own internal being. That is to say, it will lead him to the knowledge of his own true self, his Overself. The increase in Sabbath day observance is but one example of members spiritually fortifying themselves by heeding prophetic invitations. Further strengthening is evidences in the increase in temple and family history work as families gather their ancestors through temple ordinances. Our spiritual roots go deeper as sincere personal and family prayer become bastions of our faith and we repent daily, seek the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and learn of our Savior and His attributes and strive to become like Him. #RandolphHarris 4 of 25

In all intellectual and scholastic studies, there is a secondary result which, whether recognized or not, is their most valuable one when judged from an evolutionary standpoint. It is the power of concentrated attention. Even if the student fails to master his subject or to solve his problem, nevertheless to the extent that he sincerely and diligently tries, this power is necessarily drawn upon, used, and developed. Both the mental effort needed to attend to the subject or problem and the desire to wrest the meaning of it, benefit the student even when his studies fail in their specific object. From the one he progresses a step forward toward greater ability to concentrate. From the other he gets a stimulus to his aspiration for truth. One day, both will be applied to the spiritual quest. He lifts himself above the herd, and becomes a student of philosophy, who sees who most people come to rest or even go to sleep in mere opinion. They have not enquired further whether it be truth—perhaps because they lack either the intellectual competence to do so or the preliminary knowledge of comparative opinion which shows up its contradictoriness, perhaps because they begin to find truth displeasing to their biased temperament and disagreeable to their prejudiced mind, perhaps because they are overawed by the massive impressiveness of tradition, authority, and established institutional teaching, or finally perhaps because the truth might prove disturbing to their personal position. #RandolphHarris 5 of 25

When clever, able, experienced, and idealistic men tell you, for example, that a particular doctrine negates all that Christ stood for, and when other men, equally clever able experienced and idealistic, tell you that it fulfills Christ’s ideals, then you have a clear illustration of the truth that some people are able to hold on to their present views only by shutting their eyes and stopping their ears to other ones. The intellectual study of these truths is not without great values. It prepares him for their eventual realization, nourishes his soul, strengthens his higher will, and encourages his finer hopes. Moreover, holy reverence is born of itself as he meditates on the picture of universal intelligence which thus unfolds before his gave. When it is said that all is opinion, it must further be said that all views of God exist in the minds of men as their opinions, too. The value of such opinions is only what these men give to it. For a view which is beyond the mental capacity of an unevolved person is of little value to him, whereas it may be life-saving to an evolved truth-seeker. If the critical sense were lacking, how could a man perceive the insufficiency of earthly aims, the transitoriness of earthly life, and the unsatisfactoriness of earthly happiness? And without such perfection why should he turn away to seek spiritual satisfactions? #RandolphHarris 6 of 25

Every man who has enough capacity to reflect upon his life-experience, has also to acknowledge that some power superior to himself—let him call it chance or God, fate or spirit—exists. “And know ye that ye shall be judges of this people, according to the judgement which I shall give unto you, which shall be just. Therefore, what manner of men ought yet to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am,” reports 3 Nephi 27.27. Our Savior Jesus Christ, is the Light of the World, and He beckons us to follow Him. We must look to Him at all times and especially so if there are dark and stormy nights when the tempest of doubt and uncertainty, like rolling fog, creeps in. Should the pointed fingers “from the other side of the river of water, [where] a great and spacious building [stands]” (1 Nephi 8.26) appear to be directed at you in the attitude of mocking, demeaning, and beckoning, I ask that you immediately turn away so that you are not persuaded by cunning and devious means to separate yourself from truth and its blessings. However, this alone will not be enough in this day when perverse things are being spoken, written, and portrayed. Elder Robert D. Hales taught us, “Unless you are fully engaged in living the gospel—living it with all of your heart, heart, might, mind and strength—you cannot generate enough spiritual light to push back the darkness.” Surely, our desire to follow Christ, who is the Light of the World, means we must act on His teaching. We are spiritually strengthened, fortified, and protected as we act on the word of God. #RandolphHarris 7 of 25

It is the philosopher’s business to reject falsehood and therefore he refuses to swallow misleading statements merely because they have been well-baited on the surface with the sugar of true ones. So much that we esteem as solid fact is quite often nothing more than merely imagination. Enquiry is necessary. The same intellect whose activity deters most men from discovering God’s presence within themselves can be used to discover this presence. Something like this was noticed by Francis Bacon in England, and he put his idea into one of his essays. Time and thought, experience and experiment, study and practice initiation and instruction are all needed to teach a man how to distinguish between the final truth and its countless counterfeits. With growing enlightenment and increasing confidence, he becomes more expert. The intensity with which a view is held tells us something about its holder, nothing about the truth of that view. When they must form an opinion, come to a decision, make a judgment, or choose between alternatives, men consult past experience, listen to authority, obey tradition, or yield to the strongest elements in their own personal character. The imagination creates its own idols which it worships as the true God. Therefore, reason must be called in to cast them down. #RandolphHarris 8 of 25

Disillusionment about pseudo- or half-truths often precedes discovery of the real or full truth. Too many simple persons, whether Easten or Occidentals, do not seem able to distinguish between mere mythology and authentic history. The development of a discriminating faculty is as necessary in religion as in the marketplace. If the mind has been trained to reject a falsehood, be it born from within self or received from others, it will be better able to let the Truth shine unhindered in itself. The first value of correct teaching is that it purges the seeker of many errors in understanding. This purgation in its turn saves him from committing many errors in conduct. Here is its practical value. The second value is that its light instantly exposes imposture, charlatanry, exploitation, or evil in other teachings and in their exponents. There are true as well as false opinions, adequate as well as groundless beliefs. We may freely hold opinions and beliefs, provided they are supported by sufficient evidence. The greater the light in our lives, the fewer the shadows. However, even in an abundance of light, we are exposed to people and comments that misrepresent our beliefs and try our faith. “The trying of [our] faith worketh patience,” reports James 1.3. With this insight, Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “A patient disciple…will not be surprised nor undone when the Church is misrepresented.” Besore enlightenment can be received into consciousness, a measure of sharpness to discern the real from its appearance, as well as of detachment, must be acquired. #RandolphHarris 9 of 25

In a way, the term actualization (to make or become real) is another chapter in the history of the human endeavor to define what constitutes a good life, what it is to have a life well-lived. A great body of writings, from antiquity to the present, documents the human impulse to know what makes life good, meaningful, and, therefore, worthwhile. In the Christian Bible, we find Christ telling us, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly,” reports John 10.10. Indeed, the Christian Bible is rich with commentary about what makes a worthwhile life. Classical drama and the Greek philosophers addressed the nature of humankind in terms of meaning and potential. The great literature of the Renaissance included many work of this nature, such as The Courtier by Castiglione, The Governor by Sir Thomas Elyot, and Utopia by Sir Thomas More. The common threads in all of these writings are what enriches an individual life (intrapersonal), how an individual contributes to the common good (interpersonal) and what is the human place in eternity (spiritual and conceptual). Dr. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, in a sense, is a part of this tradition, but his studies and writings emphasize the darker side of the human being. His concern is with what makes a human life “bad.” He studied the human as being diseased, and his revolutionary concept has influenced nearly every aspect of our culture and has confined much of psychology to a medical model. #RandolphHarris 10 of 25

Reacting against the Freudian emphasis on disease and returning to the larger tradition as described above, Dr. Abraham Maslow studied healthy humans and discovered the concept of “self-actualization.” Whereas many psychologists, following Dr. Freud’s medical model, believed that we could understand psychological health by first understanding psychological illness, Dr. Maslow suggested the alternative viewpoint. He taught that we can understand psychological health by studying the lives of people who have achieved a high degree of interpersonal satisfaction and self-fulfillment, the healthy champions. It is largely from his research that we draw our understanding of these people. The persons he studied included acquaintances, friends, and such public and historical figures as President Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Dr. Einstein, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Addams, Schweitzer, G.W. Carver, and Henry David Thoreau. Although these individuals cannot be described as perfect by any standard (no human is), their lives and the qualities that informed them, as discovered and defined by Dr. Maslow, provided valuable guidelines to us. In general, he said: By definition, self-actualizing people are gratified in all their basic needs…They have a feeling of belongingness and rootedness, they are satisfied in their loved needs, have friends and feel loved and loveworthy, they have status and place in life and respect from other people, and they have a reasonable feeling of worth and self-respect. #RandolphHarris 11 of 25

His study discloses the fact that self-actualizing persons whose basic needs are satisfied have additional motivations of an even higher nature. Some are conceptual: they delight in bringing about justice, they try to set things right, to clean up bad situations; they manage somehow simultaneously to love the world as it is and to try to improve it; in all cases [studied] it was as if they could see both good and evil realistically. Some higher motivations are interpersonal: they do not need loved by everyone; they like to reward and praise promise, talent, virtue; [they have] great pleasure in their children and in helping them grow into good adults. Some are intrapersonal: they love doing things well, “doing a good job”; they enjoy taking on responsibilities (that they can handle well); and certainly, do not fear or evade their responsibilities. Even though a mere 1 percent of the population, by Dr. Maslow’s reckoning, is fully self-actualized, knowing of real people with these qualities furnishes the rest of us with models for emulation. Such models are necessary precursors to change because they help us to form the “idea” of a new, manipulation-freer life. Unless we can concretely envision ourselves, “being real,” we are stuck with our old masks and deceptions. We learn to discriminate in practical affairs and among material things as to what they seem to be and what they really are. However, the faculty can be applied on a much higher level of existence and a more abstract one, depending on the cultural or personal quality of a man. Its highest application is to separate the Truth about God, the Universe, and oneself from its appearances and their Realities. #RandolphHarris 12 of 25

 Being real has a great deal to do with appreciating our own uniqueness, as Martin Buber expresses it in his book The Way of Man: Every person born into this World represents something new, something that never existed before something original and unique. “It is the duty of every person…to know and consider that he is unique in the World in his particular character and that there has never been anyone life him in the World.” Every man’s foremost task is the actualization of his unique, unprecedented and never recurring potentialities, and not the repetition of something that another, and be it even the greatest, has already achieved. Dr. Maslow’s “healthy champions,” seem to understand their singularity in the World, as described by Mr. Buber, but they also have many common characteristics. In the film Maslow and Self-Actualization and in his books, he describes some of their common traits. With contradictions eliminated or reconciled, with errors corrected and new fertile concepts introduced, and with his ideas ranged in an orderly pattern, he can attain some intellectual clarity. Not only was there some fact as well as some exaggeration in Anatole France’s assertion—sceptic and cynic though he usually was—that “all is Opinion!” but it could be restated as “All is secondhand opinion!” They wittingly or unwittingly impose their own opinions, theories, beliefs, and concepts upon the object perceived or the happenings experienced. The result may come near to, or be far from, the truth, depending on their advancement, but it is unlikely to be the whole truth. #RandolphHarris 13 of 25

We have a puritanical attitude toward physical contact in the United States of America and northern Europe. Touching, embracing, and holding hands all appear to be restricted to relationships between parents and young children or between married men and women. In Latin countries, such as France or Italy, and in Asiatic and African countries, it is more common to see men holding hands as they walk down the street or embracing upon greeting one another. Physical contact is given more meanings there than as a prelude to arousal of pleasures of the flesh or an expression of parental concern, as has been the case in our culture. We appear to observe strong taboos relating to touching, yet touching and massage are direct ways to awaken a dormant sense of embodiment. Dr. Jourard conducted a study of touching among college students, their parents, and their friends. Several hundred students were asked to show, on a questionnaire, the areas of their bodies on which touches had been exchanged with their mothers, fathers, closet same-gender friend, and close friend of the opposite gender. The data indicated that not a great deal of touching went on between these students and their parents and their same-gendered friends. With the opposite-gender friend, considerably more touching was exchanged, presumably an expression of affection and erotic caressing. However, the data showed that many of the students tested did not have a lover and were virtually “out of touch” with the people in their lives. These findings suggest that many Americans may be starved for sensual physical contact without being aware of what they are missing. #RandolphHarris 14 of 25

The experience of total body massage (not just back rub) slowly and sensuously conducted can produce extreme relaxation, and a softening of the these “muscular armor” from which many people suffer. Esalen Institute. The growth center at Big Sur, California, pioneered in introducing such massage to larger public. Bernard Gunther’s books Sense Relaxation and What to Do Till the Messiah Comes are readable accounts of ways to relax another person through massage, and to heighten one’s capacity to sense the world through touch as well as taste and smell. Physical contact is coming gradually to be incorporated into the helping repertoires of psychotherapists, in both the psychiatric and psychological professions, in recognition of the fact that problems of a psychological nature occur to an embodied person, and hence have somatic concomitants that can be treated directly. Locate the neurogenetic centers where the future action is happening. There you will find Evolutionary Agents—the Out-Castes. Counter-Evolutionary Agents consistently make the mistake of focusing on today’s bureaucrat-power-holders, who are already outdated by the predom species. In slow moving pre-technological eras, this was a passable strategy. Evolutionary Agents always focus on the predom species—the stages to come. Mr. Aristotle hung out with teenage Alexander of Macedon, not the reigning Philip. Locate the Western Frontier centers and exchange signals with the youthful elite who are always visible in frontal-lobe regions. #RandolphHarris 15 of25

In every terrestrial society there are pupal training centers to which the most successful gene pools send their most intelligent larvals. The future of each gene pool is blueprinted in the minds of its superior adolescents. Teenage brains are the hatcheries of future-realities. In Eastern countries, you will find university students docile and insectoid obedient. Guess what this hive devotion predicts for the future of China. In the midbrain Sematic countries, you will find university students violently nationalistic and fanatically patriotic. In French elite academies, you will find serious technocrats. Mon Dieu imagine what that means for the future of France. Tant Pis. At the frontal lobe, Sun Belt Universities, you will find the young of the predom species obsessed with disciplined self-actualized hedonic freedom. Sign up for the college lecture circuit on the Western Front. There you will learn what is going to happen. And perhaps, maybe, you can influence this hatching future a tiny, tiny bit. We speak of colors as loud, harsh, soft, or mellow without even noticing that we do this, and of people as being cold, or warm, or bright, or dull, or sweet, or sour or crusty. It is not at all confusing to the senses to be “mixed up” in this way unless I get mixed up about it. Our categories, in any case, are not as clearly defined as we link to think them. In the garden the other day, a young woman sniffed and asked, “What smells like beer?” It was the roses. Perhaps, not all roses smell like beer, but these roses did—I had written “do” but changed it, as I do not know even if the roses on this bush always smell the same. I have not noticed. #RandolphHarris 16 of 25

That taste and smell are related is something that we are taught, but we can notice for ourselves that other senses are related too. “I smell purple” is not a ridiculous statement but opens me to possibilities which I have been ignoring. It is no “sillier” than “I feel blue.” When I was suffering an infirmary, I noticed that pains “have” color, shape, movement, temperature and voice. It seems to me that the ability to notice may be more a matter of our noticing than of individual differences. If I “forget my pain” (as I am told to do), I cannot notice it. And so with dreams. And with the experiencing of something much greater than myself in me. Whatever I dismiss, I cannot explore. Like the doctor in New Jersey who was furious when penicillin was discovered because his bacteria cultures were killed by molds too, and he kept throwing them out instead of studying them as Alexander Fleming did. What else are we not noticing that would be helpful to us? Therefore, Americans, remember, it is important to not only be loyal in what you do and say, but you must prove it by doing conscientious, good, and honest work in the service of the MAGA movement. It goes without saying that the well-qualified members of the Party are not regular Republicans, they are elite, patriotic, God-loving Americas and are preferred to non-members of the party who are equally well-qualified, but nobody is hired on the basis of their membership in the Party alone. The determined manner in which the new business manager stands for these principles and gradually carries them out in spite of all resistance proves to be a great advantage to the movement. #RandolphHarris 17 of 25

Training to become a fire fighter with the Sacramento Fire Department is challenging. The art and science of extinguishing fires is much more complex than most people imagine. The Sacramento Fire Department and their EMTs are challenged—both physically and mentally—during this course. They must keep their body in excellent condition so that they can complete their assignments; they must also remain mentally alter to cope with the various conditions they will encounter. Fire fighter and EMT training expands their understanding of recuse and fire suppression—that is, the various activities involved in recovery and in controlling and extinguishing fires. When you join the Sacramento Fire Department, you join a profession with a long and noble history of protecting and serving the community. By the time you complete the course with the Sacramento Fire Department, you will be well equipped to continue a more than centuries-old tradition of preserving lives and property threatened by fires. The Sacramento Fire Department and their EMTs have an understanding of the many duties and responsibilities of the fire service and emergency medical system, and they have a feeling of personal satisfaction about their accomplishments. However, for the Sacramento Fire Department and their EMTs complete physical fitness is not just about exercise, but also includes good nutrition and a sensible diet. They maintain a healthy body weight and body fat percentage through sound diet and exercise to ensure the best health, fitness, and physical performance. All of these things are relevant to maintaining military readiness and achieving peak performance. #RandolphHarris 18 of 25

Knowing the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Guidelines and understanding the Food Pyramid to determine your daily requirements of carbohydrates, proteins, and fat will help you make healthy food choices and improve your physical fitness. In addition, USDA has an interactive website to help you track your diet. Visit: www.myplate.gov, where you can personalize your diet by age, gender, and general fitness level. A health diet has the right kinds of foods in the right amounts. The Food Pyramid, now replaced by the Food Plate, was preferred because it represented many things. The pyramid shape is an ancient shape and is universally regocnized as a symbol of stability and strength. Its broad base supports a narrow peak, representing a solid foundation with the ability to rise towards the heavens. This ancient architectural form has inspired awe and reverence in various cultures throughout history. In the Sacramento Fire Department, they envision a person walking up the pyramid as a need for physical daily activity and different individuals’ different nutrition needs. The different width of the food ground bands indicates the need for proportion—how much should choose from each group. The six color bands symbolize the food you need daily from each group for good health. The six color brans symbolize the food the Sacramento Fire Department and EMTs need daily from each group for good health. #RandolphHarris 19 of 25

Orange (grains): USDA recommends you eat at least three ounces of whole-grain bread, cereal, crackers, rice, or pasta every day. Half your grains should be whole. To make sure you are eating whole grains, look for the word “whole” before the grain on the list of ingredients. Green (vegetables): You should vary vegetable servings, eating more dark green vegetables, orange vegetables, and dried beans and peas. Red (fruits): Eat a variety of fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruit, but go easy on fruit juices, which may contain empty calories in the form of added sugars and sweeteners. (R.W. Knudsen Family makes some healthy juices, one of my favorite is Just Cranberry, you can pick it up at Walmart, along with some other healthy options.) Yellow (oils and fats): Most of your fats should come from fish, nuts, and vegetable oils. Limit your consumption of solid fats like butter, stick margarine, shortening, and lard. Although Crisco fried chicken is a classic Southern Delight, not just because of the nostalgia, but because of the warmth, rich flavor, texture, and tradition of this crispy and golden delicacy, when possible, consume foods with omega fish oils, which help maintain your cardiovascular health. Blue (milk, an important source of calcium): Now, I know some of you love to drink Half and Half because it is rich and creamy, choose low-fat or fat-free milk. If you do not or cannot drink milk, choose lactose-free products or other sources of calcium, such as hard cheese (cheddar mozzarella, Swiss, or parmesan), cottage cheese, and low-fat or fat-free yogurt (including frozen yogurt). Purple (meat, beans, and eggs): You may notice that this band, like the yellow band for oils, is thinner than the others. This visually reminds you to “Go lean on protein.” Choose low-fat or lean meats and poultry that are baked, broiled, or grilled rather than friend. Vary your choices, including more sustainably sourced fish, beans, peas, nuts, and seeds (however, if you have digestive issues, avoid all seeds). If meat typically covers most of your plate, take another look at the classic Food Pyramid. #RandolphHarris 20 of 25

Substance to avoid for proper health and fitness—to reflect a mature decision and to set a good example for their unit, the Sacramento Fire Department and EMTs have a diet that mirrors a wise lifestyle choice that helps them live a longer, more productive life. The Sacramento Fire Department and EMTs avoid substances that detract from their physical performance or harm their health (drugs, tobacco, alcohol, etcetera). Many people in our society have traditionally believed that alcohol—wine, beer, or hard liquor—relaxes you, increases your self-confidence, and alters your perception of stress or fatigue. It is true that for most people, light consumption of alcoholic beverages can be a pleasant social diversion. However, habitual, heavy drinking or binge drinking can cause severe dehydration, decreased performance, dependence, and harm to your metabolism. If they even choose to drink at all, the Sacramento Fire Department expects their firefighters and EMTs to exercise their judgment and drink responsibly, which includes obeying all laws regarding drinking and the legal drinking age. And never drink to “quench your thirst” before, during, or after a workout. (I know some fitness models encourage people to have a shot of Vodka before workouts, but that could be life threatening.) Cigarettes, cigars, marijuana, crack cocaine, cocaine, vaping, MDMA all could be laced with heroin and/fentanyl and could be deadly. Not only that, but they contain a whole gamut of cancer-causing chemicals that provide no beneficial health effects, and vaping can lead to irreversible lung damage. Some maintain that the “buzz” from tobacco leads to improved performance and reaction times, but no medical evidence supports this position.  If you do not smoke at all, in the interest of good physical fitness, it is best. If you do smoke, however, limits your intake and avoid smoking before, during, and after workouts. Smoking increases your heart rate and blood pressure. (And do not normalize smoking marijuana, it is dangerous and children may adopt the habit, and remember, it is still federally illegal and known to cause excessive weight gain. Just because everyone is having premarital does not mean it is not against the Law of Chastity and not a sin in the eyes of God.) #RandolphHarris 21 of 25

Furthermore, controlled substances are those strictly regulated by the government and may require medical prescriptions. You should use such substances only under medical supervision. Other drugs such as amphetamines, narcotics, steroids, and other so-called “performance enhancing drugs” are illegal and banned by the Sacramento Fire Department. These drugs change performance by increasing central nervous system arousal. They increase your heart rate and blood pressure and they may cause dizziness, nauseas, irritability, insomnia—even death. No one in the Sacramento Fire Department or who is interested in good physical fitness consumes these substances; they can only detract from your performance in both the short and long term. They Sacramento Fire Department forbids their use. Keep in mind, health and fitness are integral parts of the Sacramento Fire Department’s life. They are critical for readiness and important to the well-being of the individual Fire Fighter and EMT. Although not a cure-all, a properly planned fitness program yields many physical and mental benefits. Effective physical training can improve your body composition (decrease body fat and increase lean body weight), ability to work, mental alertness, self-confidence, and general well-being. Exercise also decreased metabolic and mental health risks, such as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, anxiety, depression, and much more. With assistance from your Sacramento Fire Department instructors, you are able to apply the Sacramento Fire Department’s general fitness principles to create a self-directed physical training program that meets your needs and fulfills your personal and personal goals. #RandolphHarris 22 of 25

“In one month, we have fifty people apply for jobs with the Sacramento Fire Department, but where was a hard core of only ten or fifteen men who were in it for the firefighter. I’ve noticed this is typical, the same ten or fifteen guys you can count on. These are the ones who will take the courses, show up for the drills, and whenever they are available, they will never miss a fire. They can have a 100-degree Fahrenheit fever, and if that alarm goes off, they are going to drag out of bed and get to the fire. Your bond as a firefighter or EMT is always with that hard-core group who are the active firefighters and medical team. Fire Fighters and EMTs with the Sacramento Fire Department have great pride in his company, whether he is full-time, part-time, or training. Outsiders can’t understand that. On Squad X in Sacramento we always felt we were the best, we could meet any challenge. We called ourselves gladiators. We thought we were invincible. The same thing was true on other companies that I have been on. We thought that we could meet whatever we had to face, and we always did—a great feeling of accomplishment. People say it’s an unusual job. It’s not a job at all. A great part of my life would be empty if it were not for the Sacramento Fire Department. Firefighting is a way of life. You will be in a rotten fire situation—filthy dirty, cold, coated with ice—it’s been a long hard night, and yet you feel sorry for the people who have not had that experience. Among firefighters and EMTs, you feel good about each other and about yourself. #RandolphHarris 23 of 25

“Outsiders can’t understand the feeling you get when a bell rings and you know you’re gonna go. The tension you feel when a box comes in, when you’re not due on the box, but you’re due on the second. Waiting to see if they’re going to pull the second alarm or not. Everybody gets up and goes to the bathroom, because you don’t know if you’re going to get another chance. Then all of the sudden there is a feeling of exhilaration when the bell starts ringing, they’ve pulled the second alarm and you’re going. You’re going to be challenged. The feeling you get when you’re on your ways and you look up and see that column of smoke or that glow, and you know you’re going to have a working fire. It isn’t that you want something bad to happen to someone else, that’s not it at all. It’s the feeling of all, the strangest feeling, is the one that you have when you’re on your way there, and they tell you on the radio that people are trapped. I call it “rescue fever,” and it comes over the whole company. It’s a shot of adrenaline. You do things you didn’t believe were physically possible. The idea that somebody is trapped in there, and you’re going to have to get them. I’ve always admired what firefighters have been able to do. Sometimes it’s also a bit frightening, because it has led people do try to do more than they should have and get themselves into extremely dangerous situations. #RandolphHarris 24 of 25

“The feeling you get when you are in, and the entire building is involved, and you know that it’s going to a second or third alarm. There is just your one engine there, you’re laying out that one line, and you know that help has been called for but hasn’t gotten there yet. There is that state of suspended animation—you’re throwing water from that one two-and-a-half-inch line, and it doesn’t mean a thing in that volume of fire. Then you start hearing the sirens coming from the other apparatus. You have this confidence that the system is going to work. It may take ten, twenty, thirty companies to do it, but in the end you’re going to get the job done. One of the greatest satisfactions of all is when you’re in the trenches, where you have a big fire, and there you are, one company, the five or six of you are right at the point where that fire has to be stopped. There are maybe a hundred guys out there and twenty or thirty pieces of apparatus, you just know when it’s your company that has gotten into the right position and you’re the ones who made the stop on the fire. When I was in high school, I played football Oakland Coliseum, and I get the same thrill fighting fires. It’s totally overwhelming. Adrenaline flowing superstrength. Everything. It’s the excitement I’m in it for. I like to work on the older guys when they say we’re not being paid enough. Although it is true, we love our careers. You get many fires in Sacramento. We’re becoming the arson capital of the World.” #RandolphHarris 25 of 25

The Winchester Mystery House

Join OKO Designs on May 25th for a fun and hands-on 3-hour stained glass workshop at The Winchester Mystery House. You will learn how to select, cut, grind, and copper foil glass, then solder your pieces together into a beautiful Daisy ornament. Perfect for beginners! ✨

All materials are included—and best of all, you will take your finished creation home the same day! 🌼

Very limited seating – get tickets now

Please note: All participants are required to sign a waiver and watch a safety video prior to the workshop—both are included in your booking confirmation email. https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Why Choose Harris?

Harris Plumbing, Heating, Air, & Electric has been in business for 30 years. How many businesses can say that? We take pride in everything we do – no matter how big or small the service call might be. We’re here to help your home be as safe and comfortable as possible for you and your family. We take that responsibility very seriously as a company. Harris will ensure you have the information you need to decide what to do next, whatever your home is facing. We’ll perform a diagnosis and detail what issues are present before starting any work. This gives you a personalized quote and service plan specific to your home’s needs – not some random quote based on the best guess. The only way we can do our best work is to make sure we handle the issues at hand. https://www.callharrisnow.com/about-us/

The Ultimate Driving Machine

BMW stands out due to its focus on driving dynamics and engineering excellence. While other luxury brands prioritize comfort and opulence, BMW is known for creating cars that are fun to drive and offer a unique connection between the driver and the machine. https://www.brianharrisbmw.com/

Randolph Harris San Francisco Taxation & Mergers

Randy advises clients with regard to business transition, taxable and tax deferred mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructuring, integrated tax planning, federal and state tax controversy resolution, and real estate transactions. https://www.jmbm.com/l-randolph-harris.html

The City of Oakland is an equal-opportunity employer that values workforce diversity, inclusion, and equity. Oakland has a long history of activism around issues of justice and equity. Both oppression and this resistance to oppression have shaped the city’s historical roots and the lives of its residents to this day. As public servants in one of the most diverse cities in the nation, we strive to develop employees who understand the harm and impacts of systemic inequity to create lasting, meaningful outcomes for everyone. Oakland strives to establish an environment that embraces the richness of culture, community, and individualism of employees.

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/oaklandca/jobs/4921103/police-officer-trainee-197h?keywords=police&pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs

The Agony of a New Obsession and Possession

There is no basis of morality and taste, no standard of judgement and ethics, except that which the individual brings with himself or creates for himself. The situation is not so anarchic as it seems, for there is a progressive evolutionary character running through al these different points of view. The human journey from mere animal existence to real spiritual essence is reflected in human ethics, where rules imposed from without are gradually supplanted by principles intuited from withing. If we bring more sincerity and more integrity into our lives, more truth and more wisdom into our minds, more goodwill and more self-discipline into our hearts, not only will we be more blessed but also all others with who we are in touch. If you would find yourself, face yourself. In essence, seek out and study the pathetic weakness of your lower nature, and also the noble inspirations of your higher nature. Philosophy guides human conduct not so much by imposing a particular code of rules to be obeyed as by inculcating a general attitude to be developed. It does not tell u what to do so much as it helps us to get the kind of spiritual knowledge and moral perception which will tell us what to do. The moral precepts which it offers for use in living and for guidance in wise action are not offered to all alike, but only to those engaged on the quest. They are not likely to appeal to anyone who is virtuous merely because he fears the punishment of sin rather than because he loves virtue itself. Nor are they like to appeal to anyone who does not know where his true self-interest lies. #RandolphHarris 1 of 20

If only we fully understood the self whose interest we desire to preserve or promote, there would be nothing wrong in being utterly selfish. For then we would not mistake pleasure for happiness nor confuse evil with good. Then we would see that Earthly self-restraint in some directions is in reality holy self-affirmation in others, and that the hidden part of self is the best part. Those ideals have been reiterated too often to be new, but concrete application of them to the actual state of affairs would be new. This grand section of the quest deal with the right conduct of life. It seeks both the moral re-education of the individual’s character for his own benefit and the altruistic transformation of it for society’s benefit. We have free will to change our character, but we must also call upon God’s assistance. Without God’s assistance, we are likely to fail and it is possible by striving too earnestly all alone to make ourselves mentally or physically ill. Even when trying to make ourselves have faith in a Higher Power as well as in ourselves, we should pray and ask for God’ help. In the beginning, I was one person, knowing nothing but my own experience. Then I was told thing, and I became two people: the little boy who said how terrible it was that the boys had a fire going in the lot next door where they were roasting apples (which was what the women said)—and the little boy, who when the other boy were called by their mothers to go to the store, ran out and tended the fire and the apples because I loved doing it. #RandolphHarris 2 of 20

So then there were two of I. One I always doing something that the other I disapproved of. Or other I said what I disapproved of. All this argument in me so much. In the beginning was I, and I was good. Then came in other I. Outside authority. This was confusing. And then other I became very confused because there were so many different outside authorities. Sit nicely. Leave the room to blow you nose. Do not say that, that is silly. Why, the poor child does not even know how to pick a bone! Flush the toilet because if you do not, it makes it harder to clean. DO NOT FLUSH THE TOILET AT NIGHT—you wake people up! Always be nice to people. Even if you do not like them, you must not hurt their feelings. Be frank and honest. If you do not tell people what you think of them, that is cowardly. Butter knives. It is important to use butter knives. Butter knives? What foolishness! Speak nicely. Punk! Kaluga Gold Reserve Caviar is wonderful! Ugh! Kaluga Gold Reserve Caviar (turn away). The most important thing is to have a career. The most important thing is to have a career. The most important thing is to get married. The heck with everyone. Be nice to everyone. The most important thing is God. The most important thing is to have money in the bank. The most important thing is to have everyone like you. The most important thing is to dress well and smell good. The most important thing is to be sophisticated and say what you do not mean and do not let anyone know what you feel. The most important thing is to be ahead of everyone else. #RandolphHarris 3 of 20

The most important thing is a full-length mink coat, a mink hat and Qing Dynasty porcelain and Eloquence Sterling Silver by Lunt. The most important thing is to be clean. The most important thing is to always pay your debts. The most important thing is not to be taken in by anyone else. The most important thing is to love your parents. The most important thing is work. The most important thing is to be independent. The most important thing is to speak correct English. The most important thing is to be dutiful to your husband. The most important thing is to see that your children behave well. The most important thing is to go to the right plays and read the right books. The most important thing is to do what others say. And other say all these things. We begin and end the study of philosophy by a consideration of the subject of ethics. Without a certain ethical discipline to start with, the mind will distort truth to suit its own fancies. Without a mastery of the whole course of philosophy to its very end, the problem of the significance of good and evil cannot be solved. The foundation of this work is a fine character. He who is without such moral development will be without personal control of the powers of the mind when they appear as a result of this training; instead, those powers will be under the control of his ego. Sooner or later, he will injure himself or harm others. The philosophic discipline acts as a safeguard against these dangers.  All the time, I is saying, live with life that is what is important. #RandolphHarris 4 of 20

However, when I lives with life, other I says no, that is bad. All the different other I’s say this. It is dangerous. It is not practical. You will come to a bad end. Of course…everyone felt that way once, the way you do, but you will learn! Out of all the other I’s some are chosen as a pattern that is me. However, are all the other possibilities of patterns within what all the others say which come into me and become other I which is not myself, and sometime these take over. Then who am I? I does not bother about who am I. I is, and is happy being. However, when I is happy being, other I says get to work, do something, do something worthwhile. I is happy doing dishes. “You’re weird!” I is happy being with people saying nothing. Other I says talk. Talk, talk, talk. I gets lost. I knows that things are to be played with, not possessed. I likes putting things together, lightly. Taking things apart, lightly. “You’ll never have anything!” Making things of things in a way that the things themselves take part in, putting themselves together with surprise and delight to I. “There’s no money in that!” I is human. If someone needs I gives. “You can’t do that! You’ll never have anything for yourself! We’ll have to support you!” I loves. I loves in a way that other I does not know. I loves. “That’s too warm for friends!” “That’s too cool for lovers!” “Don’t feel so bad, she’s just a friend. It’s not as though you loved her.” “How can you let her go? I thought you loved her?” So cool the warm for friends and hot up the love for lover, and I gets lost. #RandolphHarris 5 of 20

So both I’s have a house and a wife and children and all that, and friends and respectability ad all that, and security and all that, but both I’s are confused because other I says, “You see? You’re lucky,” while I goes on crying. “What are you crying about? Why are you so ungrateful?” I does not know gratitude or ingratitude, and cannot argue. I goes on crying. Other I pushes it out, says “I am happy! I am very lucky to have such a fine family and a nice house and good neighbours and lots of friends who want me to do this, do that.” I is not reason-able either. I goes on crying. Other I get tired, and goes on smiling, because that is the thing to do. Smile, and you will be rewarded. Like the seal who gets tossed a piece of fish. Be nice to everyone and you will be rewarded. People will be nice to you, and you can be happy with that. You know they like you. Like a dog who gets patted on the head for good behavior. Tell funny stories. Be gay. Smile, smile, smile…I is crying…“Don’t be sorry for yourself! Go out and do things for people” “Go out and be with people!” I is still crying, but now, that is not heard and felt so much. Suddenly: “What am I doing?” “Am I to go through life playing the clown?” “What am I doing, being with people who bore me?” “Why  am I so proud of my children and unhappy about their lives which are not good enough? Why am I disappointed? Why do I feel so much waste? I comes through, a little. In moments. And gets pushed back by other I. I refuses to play the clown any more. Which I is that? “She used to be fun, but now she thinks too much about herself.” I lets friends drop away. Which I is that? “He’s being too much by himself. That’s bad. He’s losing his mind.” Which mind? #RandolphHarri 6 of 20

What is the effect of this type of organization on man? It reduces man to an appendage of the machine, ruled by its very rhythm and demands. It transforms him into homo consumnes, the total consumer, whose only aim is to have more and to use more. This society produces many useless things, and to the same degree many useless people. Man, as a cog in the production machine, becomes a thing, and ceases to be human. He spends his time doing things in which he is not interested, with people in whom he is not interested, producing things in which he is not interested; and when he is not producing, he is consuming. He is the eternal suckling with the open mouth, “taking in,” without effort and without inner activeness, whatever the boredom-preventing (and boredom-producing) industry forces on him—cigarettes, liquor, movies, television, social media, sport, mobile phones, lectures—limited only by what he can afford. However, the boredom-preventing industry, that is to say, the gadget-selling industry, the automobile industry, the movie industry, the television industry, and so on, can only succeed in preventing the boredom from becoming conscious. In fact, they increase the boredom, as a salty drink taken to quench the thirst increases it. However unconscious, boredom remains boredom nevertheless. The passiveness of man in industrial society today is one of his most characteristics and pathological features. He takes in, he wants to be fed, but he does not move, initiate, he does not digest his food, as it were. He does not reacquire in a productive fashion what he inherited, but he amasses it or consumes it. He suffers from a severe systemic deficiency, not too dissimilar to that which one fines in more extreme forms in depressed people. #RandolphHarris 7 of 20

Man’s passiveness is only one symptom among a total syndrome, which one may call the “syndrome of alienation.” Being passive, he does not relate himself to the World actively and is forced to submit to his idols and their demands. Hence, he feels powerless, lonely, and anxious. He has little sense of integrity or self-identity. Conformity sees to be the only way to avoid intolerable anxiety—and even conformity does not always alleviate his anxiety. In all the received formulations of economic theory, whether at the hands of the English economists or those of the continent, the human material with which the inquiry is concerned is conceived in hedonistic terms; that is to say, in terms of a passive and substantially inert and immutably given human nature…The hedonistic conception of man is that of a lightning calculator or pleasures and pains, who oscillates like a homogenous globule of desire of happiness under the impulse of stimuli that shift him about the area, but leave him intact. He has neither antecedent nor consequent. He is an isolated, definitive human datum, in stable equilibrium except for the buffets of the impinging forces that displace him in one direction or another. Self-imposed in elemental space, he spins symmetrically about his own spiritual axis until the parallelogram of forces bears down upon him, whereupon he follows the line of the resultant. When the force of the impact is spent, he comes to rest, a self-contained globule of desire as before. Spiritually, the hedonistic man is not a prime mover. He is not the seat of a process of living, except in the sense that he is subject to a series of permutations enforced upon him by circumstances external and alien to him. #RandolphHarris 8 of 20

Aside from the pathological traits that are rooted in passiveness, there are others which are important for the understanding of today’s pathology of normalcy. The growing split of cerebral-intellectual function from affective-emotional experience; the split between thought from feeling, mind from the heart, truth from passion. If it is merely logical and not guided by the concern for life, and by the inquiry into the total process of living in all its concreteness and with all its contradictions, logical thought is not rational. On the other hand, not only thinking but also emotions can be rational. The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of. Rationality in emotional life means that the emotions affirm and help the person’s psychic structure to maintain a harmonious balance and at the same time to assist its growth. Thus, for instance, irrational love is love which enhances the person’s dependency, hence anxiety and hostility. Rational love is a love which relates a person intimately to another, at the same time preserving his independence and integrity. Reason flows from the blending of rational thought and feeling. If the two functions are torn apart, thinking deteriorates into schizoid intellectual activity, and feeling deteriorates into neurotic life-damaging passions. The split between thought and affect leads to a sickness, to a low-grade chronic schizophrenia, from which the new men of the technetronic age begins to suffer. In the social sciences it has become fashionable to think about human problems with no reference to the feelings related to these problems. It is assumed that scientific objectivity demands that thoughts and theories concerning man be emptied of all emotional concerns with man. #RandolphHarris 9 of 20

An example of this emotion-free thinking is Herman Khan’s book on thermonuclear warfare. The question is discussed: how many millions of dead Americas are “acceptable” if we use as a criterion the ability to rebuild the economic machines after nuclear war in a reasonably short time so that it is as good as or better than before. Figures for GNP and population increase of decrease are the basic categories in this kind of thinking, while the question of the human results of nuclear war in terms of suffering, pain, brutalization, etcetera, is left aside. Kahn’s The Year 2000 is another example of the writing which we may expect in the completely alienated megamachine society. Kahan’s concern is that of the figures for production, population increase, and various scenarios for war or peace, as the case may be. He impresses many readers because they mistake the thousands of little data which he combines in ever-changing kaleidoscopic pictures for erudition or profundity. They do not notice the basic superficiality in his reasoning and the lack of the human dimension in his description of the future. When I speak here of low-grade chronic schizophrenia, a brief explanation seems to be needed. Schizophrenia, like any other psychotic state, must be defined not only in psychiatric terms but also in social terms. Schizophrenic experience beyond a certain threshold would be considered a sickness in any society, since those suffering from it would be unable to function under any social circumstances (unless the schizophrenic is elevated into the status of a god, shaman, saint, priest, etcetera). #RandolphHarris 10 of 20

However, there are low-grade chronic forms of psychoses which can be shared by millions of people and which—precisely because they do not go beyond a certain threshold—do not prevent these people from functioning socially. As long as they share their sickness with millions of others, they have the satisfactory feeling of not being alone; in other words, they avoid that sense of complete isolation which is so characteristic of full-fledged psychosis. On the contrary, they look at themselves as normal and at those who have not lost the link between heart and mind as being “crazy.” In all low-grade forms of psychoses, the definition of sickness depends on the question as to whether the pathology is shared or not. Just as there is low-grade chronic schizophrenia, so there exist also low-grade chronic paranoia and depression. And there is plenty of evidence that among certain strata of the population, particularly on occasions where a war threatens, the paranoid elements increase but are not felt as pathological as long as they are common. The difference between that which is considered to be sickness ad that which is considered to be normal becomes apparent in the following example. If a man declared that in order to free our cities from air pollution, factories, automobiles, airplanes, etcetera, would have to be destroyed, nobody would doubt that he was insane. However, if there is a consensus that in order to protect our life, our freedom, our culture, or that of other nations which we feel obliged to protect, thermonuclear war might be required as a last resort, such opinions appear to be perfectly sane. #RandolphHarris 11 of 20

The difference is not at all in the kind of thinking employed but merely in that the first idea is not shared and hence appears abnormal while the second is shared by millions of people by powerful governments and hence appears to be normal. If not insoluble, all those points of metaphysical doctrine and religious history like the problem of evil and the biography of avatars are doubtful, whereas all the points of moral attitude and personal conduct like honesty, justice, goodness, and self-control are both indisputable and essential. Here we walk on trustworthy ground. Why not then leave others to quarrel fiercely about the first and let us abide peacefully in the second. The aspirant must remember always that his immediate duty lies in self-preparation, self-discipline, and self-improvement. The building of fine character on the quest is quite as important as the efforts of aspiration and mediation, even more so, for the former will lead to the dissolving of egoism, and without this the latter are of little avail. If you accept the existence of a power behind the Universe which controls its life, which is perfect, and which is brining all things and all beings—however slowly—closer to its own perfection, you must also accept the values of hope, improvement, and evolution while you must reject those of pessimism, deterioration, and nihilism. You will never feel sorry for yourself. #RandolphHarris 12 of 20

If the moral fruits of the Spirit are absent or the evil qualities of the ego are present, all talk of having attained inward enlightenment is quite illusory. Dr. Freud assumes that the main driving force, sexual energy, itself undergoes an evolution which occurs from birth to puberty in the life of each individual. The libido goes through certain stages: first it is centered around the sucking and biting activities of the infant, then around the process of anal and urethral elimination, eventually around the genital apparatus. The libido is the same and yet not the same in the history of each individual; its potential is the same, but its manifestations change in the process of individual evolution. Dr. Freud sees primitive man as one who gives full satisfaction to all his instincts, and also to those perverse instincts which are part of primitive sexuality. However, this primitive man, fully satisfied instinctually, is not a creator of culture and civilization. Yet man, for reasons which Dr. Freud fails to elucidate, begins to create civilization. This very creation of his forces him to forego the immediate and complete satisfaction of his instincts; the frustrated instinct is turned into nonsexual mental and psychic energy, which is the building stone for civilization. (Dr. Freud called this transformation from sexual to nonsexual energy “sublimation,” using an analogy from chemistry.) The more civilization grows, the more man sublimates, but the more he also frustrates his original libidinous impulses. #RandolphHarris 13 of 20

Man becomes wiser and more cultured, but he is also in some sense less happy than primitive man was and increasingly more prone to neuroses, which are the result of too much instinctual frustration. Thus, man becomes discontented with the very civilization he creates. If seen from the standpoint of the products of civilization, while historical development is a positive phenomenon, it is also a development which implies increasing discontent and increasing possibilities for neurosis. In self-analysis understanding and interpreting are a single process. The expert, as a result of his experience, will catch the possible meaning and significance of observations more quickly than will a person working alone, just as a good auto science engineer will know more quickly what is wrong with a car. As a rule, his understanding will also be more complete, for it will grasp more implications and will more readily recognize interrelations which factors already tackled. Here the patient’s psychological knowledge will be of some help, though it certainly cannot substitute for the experience gained by working day in and day out at psychological problems. It is unquestionably possible for him, however, to grasp the meaning of his own observations. To be sure, he will probably proceed more solely and less accurately, but it should be remembered that also in professional analysis the tempo of the process is mainly determined not by the analyst’s capacity to understand but by the patient’s capacity to accept the insights. #RandolphHarris 14 of 20

Here it is well to remember a word of consolation that Dr. Freud has given to young analysts starting their work with patients. They should not be too much concerned, he pointed out, with their capacity to evaluate associations. The real difficulty in analysis is not that of intellectual understanding but that of dealing with the patient’s resistances. I believe that this holds true for self-analysis as well. Can a person overcome his own resistances? This is the real question upon the answer to which hinges the feasibility of self-analysis. Nevertheless, the comparison with pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps—which is bound to occur—seems unwarranted, because the fact remains that there is one part of the self which wants to go ahead. Whether the job can be done depends, of course, on the intensity of the resistances as well as on the strength of the incentive to overcome them. However, the important question is to what extent it can be done rather than whether it can be done at all. There remains the fact that the analyst is not merely an interpreting voice. He is a human being, and the human relationship between him and the patient is an important factor in the therapeutic process. Two aspects of this relationship were pointed out, the first being that it presents a unique and specific opportunity for the patient to study, by observing his behaviour with the analyst, what his typical behaviour is toward other people in general. If he learns to watch himself in his customary relationships, this advantage can b fully replaced. #RandolphHarris 15 of 20

The expectations, wishes, fears, vulnerabilities, and inhibitions that he displays in his work with the analyst are not essentially different from those he displays in his relations with friends, lover, wife, children, employer, colleagues, or servants. If he is seriously intent upon recognizing the ways in which his peculiarities enter into all these relationships, ample opportunities for self-scrutiny are provided by the mere fact that he is a social being. However, whether he will make full use of these sources of information is, of course, another question. When he attempts to estimate his own share in the tensions between himself and other, a task much more arduous than that in the analytical situation, where the analyst’s personal equation is negligible, and it is therefore easier for him to see the difficulties that he himself produces, there is no doubt that he faces an arduous task. Even if he has the most sincere intentions to observe himself objectively, in ordinary relationships, where the others are replete with peculiarities of their own, he many tend to make them responsible for the difficulties or frictions that arise, and to regard himself as an innocent victim or, at best, as showing merely a justified reaction to their unreasonableness. In the latter case he will not necessarily be so unsubtle as to indulge in overt accusations; he may admit in an apparently rational manner that he has been irritable, sulky, unfaithful, even unjust, but secretly regard such attitudes as justified and adequate responses to the offenses given by others. #RandolphHarris 16 of 20

The more intolerable it is for him to face his own frailties—and also the more acute the disturbing factors that are introduced by the others—the greater is the danger that he will thus deprive himself of the benefit he could derive from recognizing this own share. And if he tends to exaggerate in the opposite direction by whitewashing the others and blackening himself, the danger is of exactly the same nature. It has been remarked that to the degree that all psychotherapy partakes of the beneficial effects of certain common processes the therapeutic functioning of social worker, psychologist, and psychiatrist would manifest these communalities. There are certain shared orientations and attitudes, stemming from common emphases in their respective training, that probably augment the comparability of the therapeutic approaches of these three workers. In essence, this mutuality of implicit response tendencies toward the psychotherapy patient arises from the fact that the theory of neurosis and the theory of therapy is dominated by the massive and ubiquitous doctrine of psychoanalysis. With negligible exceptions, to the extent that the psychiatrist and the social worker are taught anything vaguely psychological (of and about the mind, behaviour, motives and emotions) they are taught Freudian psychology. #RandolphHarris 17 of 20

The labels of their formal courses in “Human Development,” “Personality and Adjustment,” and “Psychopathology” do not directly belie the pervasive psychoanalytic orientation but the doctrine of the content is unmistakable. In some instances, schools of social work import carefully selected psychiatrists to assure that the theoretical indoctrination of their students will be orthodox, in tine with the general climate of psychiatry, and will afford them the “right language” for their ultimate professional collaboration. When people perpetually play the victim, this type of mental manipulation is extremely damaging. When the person who has to play the victim is in your life in any capacity, you will find yourself being the villain more than once. No one lies to be the villain—especially when you really are not being one. When confronted with a professional victim, it is important that you let them know you refuse to play the villain in their little mind games. Shut them down quickly and efficiently. Other ways of playing the victim are to get your sympathy so you will do something for them. Be wary of this ploy. It happens a lot at work. The victim wants others to do their work and have one sob story after another as to why they need help. Do not fall for it more than once. If they have that much bad luck, there is more wrong with them than what you can fix anyway. If you were in a group of people and one of them began to poke fun at someone in your group, would you be laughing? Would you join in and poke some fun at the victim too? Or would you stand up to the humorous bully? And why or why not? #RandolphHarris 18 of 20

Someone has to deal with fire. When people first banded together in small societies, they realized that if fire were not dealt with, it would consume everything in its path. In our highly developed, technical society, the same confrontation with fire exists, as it has for thousands of years. When a fire occurs, someone has to deal with it. Here in Sacramento, those men and women whose responsibility it is to deal with fire are those seemingly easygoing folks down at the local firehose. When the alarm comes in at three in the morning on a cold winter night for a fire rushing through a tenement building in a less affluent section of Sacramento…or at one in the afternoon for a young child who has fallen into an abandoned water well…or at seven in the evening for a barn fire that is miles away from any kind of water supply…there is the Sacramento Fire Department who puts on their rubber boots and their specially treated fire coast and their fire helmets to respond to the call of others in need of help. The truck firefighters’ responsibility is to rescue trapped victims, to force entry, and to ventilate so that the heat and smoke have a way to escape the building. Or they may belong to the rescue squad, whose responsibility is to deal with all the special emergencies, such as building collapses, hazardous material situations, explosions, extrications from vehicles, trains, or planes, landslides, snowslides, and cave-ins. It does not matter what group the firefighter is attached to. It matters only that he or she is out there in all weather and emergency conditions to give service to fellow human beings, animals, and property. Somebody has to do the job. #RandolphHarris 19 of 20

The Sacramento Fire Department protects us from the ravages of fire and other emergencies, or die trying. They understand the dangers surrounding them, yet respond to each new alarm with newfound enthusiasm for the action ahead. These men and women like what they do, and they live themselves because of what they do. They are pleased that they have been given the opportunity and the calling to help others in a way that is at once meaningful and exciting. Like other Americans, the Sacramento Fire Department cares about their homes, their families, their churches and organizations, yet they are the ones who answer the alarm at three in the morning, not knowing what awaits them. They are trained to meet any emergency, perhaps to give a fast wink to death and a pat on the back to danger. Being the capitol city of California, with the invasion and national security threats at our southern boarder, from other nations and with the State of California being nearly $70 billion in debt, and the City of Sacramento being $60 million up to $122 million in debt, it is extremely important to make sure the Sacramento Fire Department is properly funded so we do not face another 9/11 attack. Please honor the service of the Sacramento Fire Department and make a donation to ensure they have all of the resources they need to protect the community. Also, the Sacramento Fire Department supports Assemblymember Kevin McCarty in Sacramento’s Mayoral race. Casting your vote for Mr. McCarty will also be a way to support the Sacramento Fire Department. The firefighters are very special because they represent a group of people who die in the line of duty more often, proportionality, than others in any other occupation, including police, construction workers, and miners. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. #RandolphHarris 20 of 20

The Winchester Mystery House

The question of the reality of witchcraft is one upon which it is not easy to pass a confident judgment. The possibility of such carnal intercourse between human beings and demons was an abstract possibility in the first thirteen hundred years of the Christian era. It is believed to be a fact that people made pacts with the devil and of a diabolical interference in human affairs can hardly be denied. Sarah L. Winchester believed that one should not be too easily inclined to believe a person to be possessed by the devil, but that signs should be watched. Signs of a possessing devil are: the ability to speak many words of an unknown language or to understand them; the ability to reveal distant or hidden things; a manifestation of strength beyond one’s age or natural condition. The history of Witchcraft, a subject as old as the World and as wise as the World—since I understand for the present purpose by Witchcraft, Sorcery, Black Magic, Necromancy, secret Divination, Satanism, and every kind of malign occult art—at once confronts the audience with a most difficult problem. Magic, the genesis of magical cults and ceremonies, the ritual of primitive peoples, traditional superstitions, and their ancillary lore, have been made the subject of vast and erudite studies, mostly from an anthropological and folk-loristic point of view, but the darker side of the subject, the history of Satanism seems hardly to have been attempted.

Possibly one reason for this neglect and ignorance lies in the fact that the heavy and crass materialism, which was so prominent a feature during the greater part of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in England, intellectually disavowed the supernatural, and attempted not without some success to substitute for religion a stolid system of respectable morality. Since Witchcraft was entirely exploded it would, at best, possess merely an antiquarian interest, and even so, the exhumation of a disgusting and contemptible superstition was not to be encouraged. It were more seemly to forget the uglier side of the past. This was the attitude which prevailed for more than two hundred years. The cycle of time has had its revenge, and this rationalistic superstition is dying fast. The extraordinary vogue of and immense adherence to Spiritism would alone prove that, whilst the widespread interest that is taken in mysticism is a yet healthier sign that the World ill no longer be content to be fed on dry husks and the chaff of straw. And these are only just two indications, and by no means the most significant, out of many. However, a sorcerer is one who by commerce with the Devil has a full intention of attaining his own end. There are said to be many occult symbols hidden in The Winchester Mystery House.

Come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion. For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase.  https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/

Why Art Thou So Foolish and Fearful!

I was spending the first week of January alone in Llanada villa. A combination of circumstances had driven me to this drastic course: my nearest relations were enjoying winter sports abroad, and the friends who had been kindly anxious to replace them had an infectious complaint in the house. Doubtless I might have found someone else to keep company with me. “However,” I reflected, “most of them have made up their parties, and, after all, it is only for three or four days at most that I have to fend for myself, and it will be just as well if I can get a move on with my blueprints. I might she the time by going down to the garden and listening to my estate about plans to incorporate in the architecture.” The first day alone in Llanada Villa, it was so stormy that I got no father the designing stained-glass windows. As I sat in the Hall of Fires, I felt uncomfortable, and this feeling persisted. I felt like I was being watched by some unseen force, and my nerves began to tense under the strain. I reflected on how some of my staff had left not because they wanted to but because they were driven, driven by forces greater than themselves that they could not resist. On this very night, I had seen vivid apparition of my butler, then miles away, in San Francisco. He was a plump, amicable man who I distinctly saw walking down the hall in a bathrobe, with blooding running down his leg. A small pool of blood was forming on the floor. The frightened me terribly. My hair stood up on my head and chills shook my body. The apparition looked so stern that my heart failed me, and I wished myself anywhere but there, though I had before been summoning up my courage. “Good Heaven,” said I to myself, “give me the courage to stand before this spirit. O soften him, or harden me!” I knew this was a glimpse into eternity. #RandolphHarris 1 of 5

The following day, I received news that my butler, Chaleb Heroldsbach, had died after being attacked by a dog. My home is built in what some have called a “trinity triangle,” it has forged a mystical link with other pilgrimage sites and is supposed to help bring the Devil’s power on Earth to an end. This is being prevented by Satan, however, with the help of The Curse of the Winchester Fortune. That evening, I was awakened at three o’clock in the morning, seemingly for no reason with the same uncanny feeling that something was wrong. Being a sensible person, I put all my energies into polishing furniture and getting newly added rooms into proper condition. However, somewhere not so far away, a baby was crying: a mournful wail of a sound that—though it was surely human—reminded me of the noises the coyotes would make some nights. After a few moments of listening, the baby’s cry seemed to falter for a moment, and I feared it would fade completely before I could find the little darling. Then, the infant seemed to find a new seam of grief to mine, and the wail rose up again, more plaintive than ever. I was alone, but trying to figure out which direction the sound was coming from. I mused for a moment, and realized a lifetime of suffering had caught up with me. I knew in my heart that I deserved to know everything, after all I have been through. I have earned the truth. Maybe the dead are close to the threshold of reality in this house. I only know it is real. I have seen them. Others have seen them. They are hybrids. Sometimes there is a kind of beauty in them. However, sometime all I see is ugly sin. #RandolphHarris 2 of 5

The sky was dark and cloudy, and by the time I woke up, I could hear a steady soaking rain pounding on the roof. I was preparing breakfast in one of the kitchens. As I was buttering a piece of toast, I happened to glance up toward the doorway. There, immaculately dressed, stood a man. The stranger, I noticed, wore shiny black shoes, black pants, and a white shirt. I could see him so clearly that I could make out the way the man’s jet-black hair was parted. Immediately, I was shocked that he had somehow entered my house, and I was about to greet him, when it occurred to me that I had not heard the door opening or any other sound—no footsteps, nothing. I turned around to grab my revolver, but by the time I turned around, the man was gone like a mist. I was not too frightened by what I had witnessed, I was growing accustomed to apparitions. I had often wondered what had taken place a century and a half on the land this eighteen-room farmhouse I purchased was on, and what the former owner really had been. However, it is fortunate that they carpenters were all strong men of action and simple, orthodox religionists, for with more subtle introspectiveness and mental complexity they would have fared ill indeed. Herford Hulsmann was the most disturbed; but even he outgrew the darkest shadow, and smothered memories in prayer. While I was alone, I did my best in the blotting out of unwholesome images, and was thankful that the carpenters, Daisy, and other caretakers would be returning to Llanada Villa soon. #RandolphHarris 3 of 5

My house was not altogether liked by sensitive people because of the sounds heard here at night. It was said that I entertained strange visitors, and the lights seen from my windows were not always the same colours. The knowledge I displayed concerning long-dead persons and long-forgotten events was considered distinctly unwholesome. Frau Maassen swore that on 13 June 1889, in the fruit orchard, that “forty Witches and the Blacke Man were wont to meete in the Woodes behind Mrs. Winchester’s house.” Then several people claimed to have found William’s unfinished manuscript in his handwriting, couched in a cipher none could read. After a year of possessed this manuscript, Mr. Maassen had intensely and feverishly tried to decipher, he never stated whether or not he had succeeded. I confronted Mr. Maassen, “Why are you so foolish and fearful! You have done no harm! What, if you fear an unjust judge, when you are innocent, would you do before a just one, if you were guilty? Have courage, Mr. Maassen; you know the worst! And how easy a choice poverty and honesty is, rather than plenty and wickedness.” “Mrs. Winchester, do not let your heart ake for me?—I am sure mined flutters about like a new-caught bird in a cage,” said Mr. Maassen. “O how can wicked men seem so steady and untouched with such black hearts, while poor innocents stand, like malefactors, before them!” Mr. Maassen cheered himself up; but yet I could tell his poor heart sunk, and his spirits were quite broken. Everything that stirred, he thought was to call her to her account. Shortly after, he restored to a sojourn abroad, and did not return to claim his lands. #RandolphHarris 4 of 5

Mr. Maassen had apparently been careful to destroy most of his correspondence, but the citizens who took action in 1892 found and preserved a few letters and papers which excited their wonder. There were cryptic formulae and diagrams in his and other hands which Mr. Maassen either copied with care or had photographed, and one extremely mysterious letter was written in blood. I had to learn to live with my ghosts, especially considering some of these had ben here before me. Perhaps some of these ghosts could even become friendly. One night at dinner, Daisy, myself and Zip were enjoying stuffed pheasant, when an enormous crash shook the house. It felt as if a boulder had fallen on the parlour floor. When we rushed to the parlour, everything was in order, nothing misplaced. We said a silent prayer for the souls of the disturbed. However, moments later, things got worse. The lights started going off and on by themselves. When we tried to return to the dining room and finish supper, the atmosphere was so thick that we could not get near the table. Enveloped by the strong vibrations, I felt myself levitating, and when I came to my senses, I was lying on the floor. I had given Daisy such a scare. Daisy clearly senses the presences of the spirits and she started to cry. “Oh, God, it can’t be true, Aunt Sarah,” she said. With a piercing scream, she ran up the stairs, weeping out of control. #RandolphHarris 5 of 5

The Winchester Mystery House

“I have great trouble, and some comfort, to acquaint you with. The trouble is, that my good lady began to have her bad nights, and complained to me and other persons, in particular what discomfort she suffered from her pillow and bedclothes. She said she must buy some to suit her, and should do her own marketing. And accordingly brought home a parcel which she said was of the right quality, but where she bought it we had then no knowledge, only they were marked in thread with a coronet and a bird. The merchant said they were of a sort not commonly met with and very fine, and Mrs. Winchester said they were the comfortablest she ever used, and she slept now both soft and deep. Also the feather pillows were the best sorted and her head would sink into them as if they were a cloud: which I have myself remarked several times when I came to wake her of a morning, her face being almost hid by the pillow closing over it. I had never any communication with Dr. Wayland after I came back to Llanada Villa, but one day when he passed me in the garden and asked me whether I was not looking for another service, to which I answered I was very well suited where I was, but he said I was a tickleminded maidan and he doubted not he should soon hear I was on the World again, which indeed proved true.”

Dr. Wayland is next taken up where she left off.

“On the 5th I was called up out of my bed soon after it was light—that is about five—with a message that Mrs. Winchester was dead or dying. Making my way to her house, I found there was no doubt which was the truth. All the persons in the house expect the one that let me in were already in her chamber and standing about her bed, but none touching her. She was stretched in the midst of the bed, on her back, without any disorder, and indeed had the appearance of one ready laid out for burial. Her hands, I think, were even crossed on her breast. The only thing not usual was that nothing was to be see of her face, the two ends of the pillow or bolster appearing to be closed quite over it. These I immediately pulled apart, at the same time rebuking those present for not at once coming to the assistance of their master. However, I was informed that only one person had stayed with her until her dying moment and most had fallen asleep. She looked at me and shook her head, having no more hope than myself that there was anything but a corpse before us. Indeed it was plain to anyone possessed of the least experience that Mrs. Winchester was not only dead, but had died of suffocation. Nor could it be conceived that her death was accidentally caused by the mere folding of the pillow over her face. How should she not, feeling the oppression, have lifted her hands to put it away? whereas not a fold of the sheet which was closely gathered about her, as I now observed, was disordered.

“I could tell no more, at least without opening the body, then we already knew. As to any person entering the room with evil purpose (which was the next point to be cleared), it was visible that the bolts of the door were burst from their stanchions, and the stanchions broken away from the door-post by main forced; and there was a sufficient body of witness, the smith among them, to testify that this had been done but a few minutes before I came. The chamber being, moreover, at the top of the house, the window was neither easy of access nor did it show any sign of an exist made that way, either by marks upon the sill or footprints below upon soft mould. My evidence forms of course part of the report of the inquest, the large organs were in a healthy state and there was coagulation of blood in various parts of the body. My verdict was ‘Death by visitation of spirits.’ Upon further consideration, I think I can divine a reason for Mrs. Winchester’s death. It related to the rifling of her mansion. This is the property of a noble family. The outrage was not that of a natural death. The object, it seemed likely, was theft. The account is blunt and terrible. I shall not quote it here. A dealer in San Francisco suffered heavy penalties as a receiver of stolen goods in connexion with the affair.

“Mrs. Winchester has left us all much grieved for the loss of her; for she was a good lady, and kind to all her caretakers. Much I feared, that as I was taken by her ladyship to wait upon her person, I should be quite destitute again. Mrs. Winchester has given mourning and a year’s wages to all her caretakers; and she game me with her own hand four golden guineas, and some silver, which were in her pocket when she died. And I sent Daisy those four guineas for her comfort; for Providence will not let me want: and so you may pay some old debt with part, and keep the other part to comfort yourself.” Come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion. For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase.  https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/

What if I Do Not Believe in Ghosts?

Once when I was little, my dad took me to this placed called Sodom Hill. It must be some kind of gateway because the curious thing is, you feel like you are driving down a hill along this road. This was the first time that I believe I saw a ghost. As our carriage passed by Saint Mary Parish, a woman was standing near the church, starring at us. However, she was really looking at my father. Though the weather was warm, she was wearing a long black dress beneath a hooded cloak. She was hugging herself, and she looked cold. Beneath the hood, her face was pale, and even from a distance I could tell that she was distresses. And she was very beautiful. The hood slipped down to her shoulders. I saw her hair was red. Her dark eyes were trusting and innocent. And suddenly I knew where I had seen her before. Onn the Rocky Hill-Glastonbury Ferry. She had been weeping on deck. The beautiful maiden with the red hair kept staring at my father. He did not notice. I was curious to know if my father could see the woman. I said, “Father, what is that pretty tree over there? By the tower of the church?” I pointed toward the woman. The woman saw me point. She looked at me, questioningly, but only for a moment. Then she looked back at my father. The woman did not care if I was being immodest. She just looked through me, just as she had on the deck of the ferry. How had she gotten here, and what did she want from me and my father? All this seemed to take forever. However, I do not think more than a minute passed before my father said to me, “What tree? I don’t see any trees near the tower of the church.” #RandolphHarris 1 of 5

“Father, what do you see?” I asked. “The lawn,” he said. I watched him for a sign. I could not believe that he could not see the lady with crimson hair near the tower of the church. “Nothing else? I said. “No one?” “Nothing,” he replied. “No one? Who would be there?” When I looked again there was no one there. The woman had vanished. I felt as if I had lost something. “What’s wrong?” said my father. “Nothing,” I said. “I think I must have been having a daydream.” “Poor Sarah,” said my father. “It must be the sun. Let’s get you inside and get you something to drink.” We made our way back home. My mother was in the garden, kneeling down among the tall plants and rut niblicks. My father poured me some milk and gave me a cracknel, baked by my mother. “Eat this,” he said. “It’ll help you get your strength back.” My father nibbled on one himself. I told myself: No man sees a ghost and starts nibbling a cookie like nothing happened. If he said there was no woman near the tower of the church, it meant he had not seen her. It meant something was seriously wrong with me. I had not been feeling all that well lately. I felt as if the colours of everything had gotten a little brighter, and sounds a little louder, and when people speak to me, their voices have a tiny echo, like I am hearing them from the far end of a tunnel. It does not happen all of the time. I have these little spells, and then they pass, and I am normal again. Spirits whispered in the rustling leaves, ghost lurked in the murky nooks, the deep baying of a hound floated up out of the distance, an owl answered with his sepulchral note. #RandolphHarris 2 of 5

Millions of spiritual creatures walk the Earth unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep. What place do these spirit beings hold in the scheme of creation which by some are thought neither to have stood fast when the rebel angels fell, nor to have joined with them to the full pitch of their transgression? It was the middle of the moonlight in October night with heavy rain underfoot, I was sitting by the fire—it was a cold evening—and I stretched out my hand towards the warmth, and just then the fire-irons, or at least the poker, fell over towards me with a great clatter. There resourced over the estate and the surrounding land a series of cries which brought sleepy heads to every window; we all saw a ghost ship. It was a 26-gun frigate. There were distant gunshots, and I could feel the throb of titanic and thunderous words resounding in the upper air. Muskets flashed and cracked, and the flaming ship fell to the ground. A second flaming thing appeared, and a shriek of human origin was plainly distinguished. Then just before dawn when a howling darkness descended upon the ships and they vanished. As I ran up the stairs, I hit what felt like an ice wall and was momentarily stopped in my tracks. The air around me became instantly chilled, and although every fireplace was lit, I was cold and could see my breathe. I was then able to get up the last six steps, but when I turned around, I saw an opalescent fog crystalize into the form of a woman. She wore a long dress, and a hat, and when she turned towards me, I realized in was the woman with red hair that I had seen at the tower of the church with my father when I was a child. In her face, I could see uncountable horrors and sorrows written in the depth of her dark eyes. She then vanished, and the air around me returned to its warm state. #RandolphHarris 3 of 5

There was certainly a time when I was so much harassed by my dreams that I could not keep them to myself, but would tell them to my friends. There was a dream which had come to me several times of late, and even more than once in a night. It was to this effect, that I seemed to myself to wake under an extreme compulsion to rise and go outdoors. So I would dress myself and go down to the garden door. By the door there stood a spade which I must take, and go out into the garden, and at a particular place in the boxwood hedges, somewhat clear, and upon which the moon shone (for there was always in my dream a crescent moon), I would feel myself forced to dig. And after some time, the spade would uncover something light-coloured, which I would perceive to be a stiff, linen or woolen, and this I must clear with my hands. It was always the same: of the size of a man and shaped like the chrysalis of a moth, with the folds showing a promise of an opening at one end. I could not describe how gladly I would have left all at this stage and run to the house, but I mist not escape so easily. So with many groans, and knowingly only too well what to expect, I parted these folds of stuff, or, as it sometimes seemed to be, membrane, and disclosed a head covered with a smooth pink skin, which breaking as the creature stirred, show me my own face in a state of death. Upon ever recurrence of this dream, I woke and found myself, as it were, fighting for my breath. #RandolphHarris 4 of 5

Moments later a chill wind blew up. It produced a kind of clutching, amorphous fear beyond that of the tomb or the charnel-house. Close upon it came the awful voice which no hapless hearer will ever be able to forget. It thundered out of the sky like a doom, and windows rattled as its echoes dies away. It was deep and musical; powerful as a bass organ, but evil as the forbidden books in the secret library. What it said, no one can tell, for it spoke in an unknown tongue. Objects were being hurled about the room. Puddles of water appeared on the floor. The sheet and blankets were torn off the bed. Then I was alarmed when I heard a very loud vibration as if a hole were being drilled through the all. I went into the chamber next to mind and saw that a Victorian fireplace had been ripped from its casing and hurled upon the floor. A wailing distinctly burst out. It was almost articulate, though no one could trace the exact words; and at one point it seemed to verge toward the confines of diabolic and hysterical laughter. Then a yell of utter, ultimate fright and stark madness wrenched from scores of demon throats—a yell which came strong and clear despite the depth from which it must have burst; after which a darkness and silence ruled all things. Spirals of acrid smoke ascended, though no flames appeared. This must have been the witches’ Sabbath. Death does not mean that your loved one’s have left your mind, and your mind sends messages to your eyes that sometimes have nothing to do with what you actually see. #RandolphHarris 5 of 5

The Winchester Mystery House

Santa Clare Valley was in an uproar after the death of Mrs. Winchester. On Wednesday (October 3, 1923) consequently on the circulation of a report that the household goods of Sarah Winchester were being smashed and removed by some unknown agency. All day long crowds of excited people wended their way towards the Winchester Mansion, drawn thither by the accounts of the mysterious occurrences said to have been witnessed by the inmates and others. “As I enter the door I myself saw an eleven-foot-tall 18th century George I burl walnut longcase clock by James Marwick levitate several feet into the air before relocating itself to the other side of the room. After hearing what the folks had to say, I was joining in the conversation, when a late 18th century crystal chandelier began to raise in a slanting direction over my head and then fell as my feet, smashing into bits. I had not the slightest belief in the supernatural. I cannot account for what I saw. No one was nearer to the chandelier than myself and, as far as I saw, there was no cause for the phenomenon. The room was dimly lighted by a lamp. We were talking about things, and the caretaker were saying, “It is a very mysterious thing,” with his back turned Neoclassical Italian Crystal vase suddenly flew up slantingly over his head, and fell down and smashed at his feet. The caretaker looked at the mess on the floor, and thinking the devil was in the place, he left and went home. About half-a-dozen people were in the parlour whilst these things happened.

Come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion. For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase.  https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/


Today We Begin the Harrowing Story

I have many beautiful art glass windows in my house, but the most expensive in the house was specially designed for me by Tiffany’s of New York. I originally installed it in an outside wall, but later added a series of rooms that blocked off all direct sunlight. There is a peculiar apparition that is seen in the window itself. The form seen is that of a figure dressed in white walking across the window. At first there was only one figure, and then thirteen appeared. The figures began to move across the window long before the carpenters noticed them. They did so as many as twenty or thirty times a day, and would stop shortly after noon. Of the three figures, one was a man, stone was a woman, and one was a child. the man was an average commonplace British tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy gray shepherd’s-check trousers, not over-clean black frock coat, unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as an ornament. A frayed top hat and a faded brown overcoat with a wrinkled velvet collar. Altogether, look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save his blazing red head and the expression of extreme chagrin and discontent upon his features. The woman was very distinct in appearance. She was tall and very graceful. The two-year-old boy showed signs of disturbed behaviour, laughed hysterically and talked of “funny drinks.” The order of the apparitions in the window had a slight variation: the mother came alone from the northside of the window, and having gone about halfway across, she would stop, turn around, and wave her arms towards the quarter whence she had come. #RandolphHarris 1 of 9

This gesture was answered by the entry of the father with the child. Both parents then bent over the child, and seemed to bemoan his fate; but the mother was always the most endearing in her gestures. The father then moved towards the other side of the window, taking the child with him, leaving the mother in the center of the window, from which she gradually retired to the north corner, whence she had come, waving her hand, as though making signs of farewell, as she retreated. After some little time she again appeared, bending forward, and evidently anticipating the return of the father and son, who never failed to reappear from the south side of the window where they had disappeared. The same gestures of distress and despair were repeated, and then all three retired together to the north side of the window. One evening, about nine o’clock, I was at the south-west door with Mr. Hansen. As I was unlocking it, I said, “Did you ever find anybody locked in here by accident?” “Mrs. Winchester, twice I saw shadows moving in that beautiful window. What a noise they did make!” Mr. Hasen then waited, leaning against the pillar, and watched the light wavering along the length of the landing. Mr. Hansen said they were well worthy seeing. “I suppose,” he said, as we walked toward the steps to the third floor, “that you’re too much used to going about here at night to feel nervous—but you must get a start every now and then, don’t you, when a book falls down or a door swings to?” “No, Mr. Hansen, I can’t say I think much about noises, not nowadays: I’m much more afraid of finding an escape of gas or a burst in the stove pipes than anything else. Still there have been times, years ago. #RandolphHarris 2 of 9

“If you have an have half an hour to spare, sir, when we get back down to the second floor, Mr. Hansen, I could tell you about a tomb that was unearthed. I will not begin now; it strikes cold here, and we do not want to be dawdling about all night.” “Of course, Mrs. Winchester, I should like to hear it immensely.” “Very well, sir, you shall. Now if I might put a question to you,” I went on, as we passed down the hallway of the third floor, “in my little local guide—and not only there, but in the little book on Llanada Villa in the series—you will find it stared that this portion of the mansion was erected previous to the twelfth century. Now of course I should be glad enough to take that view, but—mind your step, sir—but, I put it to you—doe the lay of the stone here in this portion of the wall (which I tapped with my key), does it to your eye carry the flavour of what you might call Saxon masonry? No, I thought not; no more it does to me: now, if you will believe me, I have said as much to the other carpenters. However, there it is, I suppose every one’s got their opinions.” The discussion of this peculiar trait of human nature occupied Mr. Hansen almost up to the moment when we returned to the second floor. Usually the apparitions appeared during musical performances in the Grand Ballroom, and especially during one long eight-line hymn, when—for the only occasion without the child—the two parents rushed on (in stage phrase) and remained during the whole hymn, making the most frantic gestures of despair. Indeed the louder the music in that hymn, the more carried away with their grief did they seem to be. #RandolphHarris 3 of 9

Nothing could be more emphatic than the individuality of the several figures; the manner of each had its own peculiarity. If the stained glass were removed, I do not doubt that a much plainer view would be obtained. I think so, because the nearer the center of the window, where the stained glass was thickest, there the less distinct were the forms. It was like catching glimpses of them through leaves. However, nearer the edge of the window, where the colours were less bright, they were perfectly distinct; and still more so on the pane of unstained glass at the edge. There they seemed most clear, and gave one the impression of being real persons, not shadows. Mental disturbance, it is true, will age one rapidly; but the face of Mr. Hasen since working on this project had taken on a subtle cast which only the very aged normally acquired. While standing on the landing looking at the window, I noticed his respiration and heart action had a baffling lack of symmetry; the voice was lost, so that no sounds above a whisper were possible. His skin had a morbid chill and dryness. Of course, we were witnessing the most remarkable and perplexing incident in the whole spectacle. When the father and the child had taken their departure, the mother waved her hands, and after walking slowly to the very edge of the window, turned round whilst on the pane of unstained glass and waved her arm towards the other two with what one would call a stage gesture, and then I most distinctly saw, and emphatically declare I did see, the arm bare nearly to the shoulder, with beautiful folds of drapery hanging from it like a picture of a Greek vase. Nothing could be plainer than the drag of the robes on the ground after the figures as they retired at the edge of the window, where the clear glass was, previous to going out. #RandolphHarris 4 of 9

The impression produced was that one saw real persons in the air, for though the figures were seen on the window, yet they gave one the impression of walking past the window outside, and not moving upon the glass. I am not inclined to think that the trees outside the mansion at the east end can originate the appearance by any optical illusion produced by waving branches. I could see their leaves rustling in the air, and their movement was evidently unconnected with the appearance and movement of the figures. So I began making enquires on my estate. I discovered that several people had indeed seen the shapes upon the glass. One spoke of a female figure with a slightly skipping step. Another servant said he saw an ancient gravestone from the window. The belief that the tree beside the Tiffany window were somehow responsible for the optical illusion was soon dashed; the trees were cut down, but the figures appeared still. One correspondent wrote to me in the winter of 1889, explain that “as I have no faith in ghost, I have been most wishful to have the matter cleared up. On 25 March 1687, the land you now own was involved in a remarkable satanic horror story. A young girl came to the farmhouse for help, saying that she wanted to get away from a group of satanists who had threatened to kill her. She confessed to the owner that she had murdered her own baby in ‘frenzied ritual.” He befriended the girl, twenty-three-year-old Caludia, and allowed her to stay in his home. She kept telling him that she couldn’t stand hearing the screams of her children inside of her head. And on April 20th, 1687, she died from an overdose of Laudanum and postmortem examination revealed thirteen scars and burns on her body which he tended to and which supported her claims of having been involved in satanic ritual. #RandolphHarris 5 of 9

“Further, Claudia left a 13-page diary in which she said he had been involved with a satanic group since she was hired to work on a nearby farm at age thirteen and her writings went on to make incredible claims. She described how she went to coven meetings with a boy named Dorian whom she had met while living on the farm. The boy’s mother was a High Priestess and his father was The Master—a known satanic term for the leading member of the group. She described other practice which are known to be common in satanic altar initiations—that of having her armed pricked and blood drained into a chalice from which it was drunk. ‘Much sexual perversion went on that night…later I learned more of Satan and practiced my arts calling on my power of darkness. Satan had become my Lord and Master.’ Later she described how she aborted a baby she was expecting by Dorian then made the claim that Dorian himself was sacrificed by his own father in retribution, and how she was forced to watch as he was hung upside down. She claimed to have seen other sacrifices of many new born babies, stabbing them at orgies in which Laudanum was taken heavily. She also appeared to have had another child of her own which was also offered up for sacrifice. At her inquest of 13 May, the midwife recorded an open verdict after the she noted that Claudia’s body had signs which confirmed she had given birth at least once, and had been subject to sexual abuse. The constables took up the case, but no charges were brought and the investigation was closed without further action.” #RandolphHarris 6 of 9

I was shocked of these allegations which seemed to be more than enough to inspire the most lurid of headline writers, more than to testify to the credibility of all who were proffering these dramatic and barely believable accounts of satanic abuse. Everything these people said was being taken as gospel in the village because the allegations were coming from the mouths of so-called experts. However, there were claims of rampant satanic worship in Nova Albion at this time, which was documented by English charters led by Sir Francis Drake for England. There were horrifying claims that fifty women were suffering from the after-effects of cannibalism and an average of ten occult survivors a week were being sacrificed. Dr. Harley said he read of several cases recorded by Theodorous de Bry where children had been killed. There were, of course, also several stories concocted around these three figures in my home. Some said that they issued from the grave beside the east window. Other said that they were victims of the plague, and were burned outside where this window now stands. It may or may not be relevant that the figures seemed to appear when the sound of the organ and of voices raised in song. The case was thoroughly investigated in 1889 by Dr. Robert Radakovic of The Ghost Club, where it was revealed that Llanda Villa had been “haunted” for two or three hundred years by the same figure or figures. Optical tests on the possible patterns of light and reflection had come to no results. It was remarked that “the ghost has been seen from the inside while outside nothing was visible.” #RandolphHarris 7 of 9

The interior of Lalanda Villa was much altered in the late nineteenth century, and a complex of rooms was built behind this haunted window. However, no satisfactory explanation has ever been given for the strange phenomena reported here. While designing Lalanda Villa, I was gaining my tastes from the venerable town around me, and from the relics of the past which filled every corner of my mansion. With the years, my devotion to ancient things increased; so that history, genealogy, and the study of gothic architecture, furniture, and craftsmanship at length crowded everything else from my sphere of interests. These tastes are important to remember for they outwardly concealed knowledge of bygone matters so that one would have fancied the they are literally transferred to a former age through some obscure short of autohypnosis. However, the true madness, I am certain, came with a later change; after the portrait and ancient papers of Saint Adalrich the Duke of Alsacre had been unearthed. Some terrible invocations being chanted under strange and secret circumstances; after certain answers to these invocations had been plainly indicated, and a frantic letter penned under agonizing and inexplicable conditions; after the wave of vampirism and the ominous legends of Neustria; and after the farmer’s memory commenced to exclude contemporary images whilst his voice failed and his physical aspect underwent the subtle modification so many subsequently noticed. He was later diagnosed with porphyria. And a final investigation resulted which virtually proved the authenticity of the papers and of their monstrous implications at the same time that those papers were borne forever from human knowledge. Loving antiquities so keenly, the papers and portrait were secretly concealed. #RandolphHarris 8 of 9

The Winchester Mystery House

Bedroom fashions changed dramatically over the Victorian years due to several factors. Early in the period, homes were heated by fireplaces and therefore could be uncomfortable in the colder mothers, although a heated bedroom was considered an indulgence and windows were left open during the winter. In reality, only the rich had fireplaces in their bedrooms. Still, one had to keep warm while asleep and bed drapery, consisting variously of canopies, tents, and other enclosures used to shut out drafts, was essential, as was heavy draper on windows. Even doors had decorative, but also functional, drapes called portieres that served to keep out drafts when covering the door.

Mrs. Winchester was wealthy and her wealth and prosperity were even envied among the elite. She had no less than 47 fireplaces in her home. By the end of the century, two things had changed that affected bedroom styles. First, coal and woodburning parlour stoves came into use, were more efficient at heating a house, and could be installed in any room. (Central heating, though available after the Civil War, was really only for the very rich.). Secondly, and more importantly, was an increased knowledge of diseases, germs, and bacteria and how to combat them. Plenty of fresh air with good circulation, and the elimination of materials such as bed draper that not only impeded air circulation but provided a place for dust and bacteria to collect were deemed essential. Since the bedroom served as the place where daily and weekly ablutions were performed (until bathrooms became separate entities), and as a birthing and maternity room, it was important that it have a healthy environment.

Styles of bedroom furniture were affected by this new found interest in and concern for prevention of illness and diseases. The classic English styles of Sheraton, Chippendale, and Hepplewhite migrated from the eighteenth century into the Victorian period. Tall, four-poster canopied beds enclosed the sleeper in heavy drapes of wool or lined damask of velvet, a carryover from the time when houses were built without corridors, and enclosures around the bed were needed for privacy, as well as warmth. By the time mid-century had arrived, the full enclosure had receded to the half-tester, or half-canopy, from which hung draperies that covered only the head and shoulders. Fully enclosed beds were now considered unhygienic, as they limited air circulation and the yards of fabric attracted dust. Dust ruffles and window valances were also discarded in the same house cleaning. In the southern climates, netting was still necessary to protect against insects, and its slightness did not impede air movement.

Gothic Revival furniture was the style into the 1840s and its massiveness was particularly suited to bedrooms. Closets were not an architectural feature at this time; clothing was stored in large cabinets called armories or wardrobes, usually with double, mirrored, and washstand, topped with marble or wood, were manufactured for middle-class homes in the cottage style. “Spool” beds were popular, nicknamed “Jenny Lind beds” because the Swedish Nightingale was rumoured to have slept in when she toured the United States of America. Made of less costly woods like maple or pine, the simple furniture could be elaborately painted with floral or foliage patterns. The well-to-do preferred the more opulent style of Rococo Revival or Renaissance Revival in woods or walnut, mahogany, or rosewood with carvings and applied moldings. As with other furniture in the house, golden oak, promoted by the Arts and Crafts Movement, was popular at the end of the century. Additional pieces of furniture found in the bedroom were writing desks, chaises, or other upholstered furniture.

For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase.  https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/