Unknown's avatar

About Stephen Nielsen

I'm an author, a self publisher, and a painting contractor. I live in beautiful Minnesota, USA . Welcome to my blog site.

Update: Mostly about Me

The biggest news is Trump winning big in the Iowa caucus. But it’s not surprising to me, even that people braved the cold. Hey, it’s Iowa; cold is normal there. Many are saying that he has already clinched the election and all others should drop out and support him.

My Reading

The last three books I’ve read are biographies—Heroes of the Faith: Tyndale, Eric Little, and just finishing Gladys Aylward. I had never heard of Gladys Aylward, but now I know she is definitely a hero. This small lady was so courageous in China. She did such good work at a time when China was at war by two forces: the Communists and Japan, during the 1930’s. The reading of these books have been so inspiring to me that I have decided to read all of them I have over again—about a dozen of them, from the 1500’s (with Luther and Tyndale) to the 1930’s.

My Writing

My writing is always a slow process—because I always do tons of research firs; and I only spend about a half hour a day on it. So, it’s a grind, but I still like it and it’s so beneficial to me. I would say that it is benefiting me far more than anyone else that would be reading.

Time Off From Work

I haven’t worked for over a month—at my painting. Even though I am retired I will still be picking up some jobs soon. People will call me as soon as it gets a little warmer—or I will call them. In the meantime I will do more reading and writing. And I go out to eat breakfast almost every day. I never did that before. Well, that’s retirement I guess.

Wishing for Heavenly Dreams

It’s snowing outside. About time! It looks good to me. It warms my heart to see those huge white flakes come down.

I thank the Lord that I have been having better sleep the last couple of days. I’ve been taking melatonin. I think that is the reason. Now I just need to improve my dreams. I want dreams that are more godly, more heavenly. That would be so great. Maybe when I start writing my new book on heaven that will happen. I’m so excited about it. I’m still in the reading and note taking stage. Soon I will be ready to start writing. And, as usual I will be blogging all along as I write.

In my daily bible reading I’ve been noticing more and more passages on heaven. Hebrews 11 is that way. Each faith character mentioned has a heavenly goal—they looked for a better place, a heavenly city. And that moved them ahead through all their suffering. They looked not for earthly comfort, but for the hope of heaven. And even Christ endured the cross for the joy set before Him. I would like to have dreams of heaven and dreams where I am rejoicing in my anticipation of heaven.

Rudy Giuliani: Ordered to Pay $150 Million

On Dec. 15th Rudy Giuliani was ordered [by Judge Beryl Howell] to pay $150 million to former Georgia election workers Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman.

As Giuliani was leaving the courtroom, he said to reporters, “We will move for a new trial… The absurdity of the number underscores the absurdity of the entire proceeding… I was not allowed to offer one single piece of evidence in defense—of which I have a lot…when I get to go before a fair tribunal it will be reversed quickly.”

Giuliani said that he didn’t testify because the judge told him that if he made any mistakes she would call it contempt and would probably lock him up.

Election workers: Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman

We can’t be sure of what evidence Giuliani will present, but generally it will be of “sneaking in ballots in suitcases” and of “counting ballots multiple times.”

This case is very troubling to me, because as you heard, the judge did not allow Rudy to present one single piece of evidence. And if he did or said anything that she didn’t agree with she would call it contempt and lock him up—and we know she would!

It is also very troubling to see this good man disregarded for all the good he has done for this country, and is treated so badly. I went to Wikipedia and saw multiple pages of his works. He is best known for his prosecuting organized crime (and particularly mafia families), and for his mayorship of New York City and how he drastically reducing the crime rate there.

Here is a list I compiled from Wikipedia of all the good things he has done for this country from 1981 to 2016.

  1. In 1981, Giuliani was named associate attorney general in the Reagan administration.
  2. In a well-publicized 1982 case, Giuliani testified in defense of the federal government’s “detention posture” regarding the internment of more than 2,000 Haitian asylum seekers who had entered the country illegally.
  3. In 1983, Giuliani was appointed to be U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
  4. It was in this position that he first gained national prominence by prosecuting numerous high-profile cases.
  5. He also focused on prosecuting drug dealers, organized crime, and corruption in government. He amassed a record of 4,152 convictions and 25 reversals.
  6. As a federal prosecutor, Giuliani was credited with bringing the perp walk, parading of suspects in front of the previously alerted media, into common use as a prosecutorial tool. After Giuliani “patented the perp walk”, the tool was used by increasing numbers of prosecutors nationwide.
  7. In 1985, through November 19, 1986, Giuliani indicted eleven organized crime figures, including the heads of New York City’s so-called “Five Families“, under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) on charges including extortion, labor racketeering, and murder for hire
  8. Time magazine called this “case of cases” possibly “the most significant assault on the infrastructure of organized crime since the high command of the Chicago Mafia was swept away in 1943.”
  9. In 1987 three heads of the Five Families were sentenced to 100 years in prison. Genovese and Colombo leaders, Tony Salerno and Carmine Persico, received additional sentences in separate trials, with 70-year and 39-year sentences to run consecutively.
  10. According to Giuliani, the Sicilian Mafia offered $800,000 for his death during his first year as mayor of New York in 1994.  
  11. Giuliani served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001.
  12. Giuliani’s popularity was at its highest point to date, with a late October 1997 Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll showing him as having a 68 percent approval rating; 70 percent of New Yorkers were satisfied with life in the city and 64 percent said things were better in the city compared to four years previously.
  13. During Giuliani’s administration, crime rates dropped in New York City. 
  14. On 2001Giuliani gained international attention in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and was widely hailed for his leadership role during the crisis.  Oprah Winfrey called him “America’s Mayor” at a 9/11 memorial service held at Yankee Stadium
  15. On December 24, 2001Time magazine named Giuliani its Person of the Year for 2001. Time observed that, before 9/11, Giuliani’s public image had been that of a rigid, self-righteous, ambitious politician. After 9/11, and perhaps owing also to his bout with prostate cancer, his public image became that of a man who could be counted on to unite a city in the midst of its greatest crisis.
  16. With time, Giuliani’s legacy will be based on more than just 9/11. He left a city immeasurably better off – safer, more prosperous, more confident – than the one he had inherited eight years earlier, even with the smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center at its heart. Debates about his accomplishments will continue, but the significance of his mayoralty is hard to deny.
  17. For his leadership on and after September 11, Giuliani was given an honorary knighthood (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II on February 13, 2002.

Now it is very interesting that as soon as Giuliani began working for Trump, though he was still doing some very good things (investigations and crime fighting), he always seemed to be in deep trouble—financial and legal trouble.

Here is a short list of what he did after 2016:

  1. Giuliani supported Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He gave a prime time speech during the first night of the 2016 Republican National Convention
  2. During the campaign, Giuliani praised Trump for his worldwide accomplishments and for helping fellow New Yorkers in their time of need. 
  3. On 2017 the president-elect [Donald trump] named Giuliani his informal cybersecurity adviser on January 12, 2017.
  4. In January 2017, Giuliani said he advised President Trump in matters relating to Executive Order 13769, which barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days. The order also suspended the admission of all refugees for 120 days.
  5. In mid April 2018, Giuliani joined Trump’s legal team, which dealt with the special counsel investigation by Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections. Giuliani said his goal was to negotiate a swift end to the investigation.
  6. Since at least May 2019, Giuliani has been urging Ukraine’s newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate the oil company Burisma, whose board of directors once included Joe Biden‘s son Hunter Biden, and to check for irregularities in Ukraine’s investigation of Paul Manafort. He said such investigations would benefit his client’s defense, and that his efforts had Trump’s full support.
  7. Giuliani spoke at the rally preceding the January 6 United States Capitol attack where he made false claims [they said] of voter fraud and called for “trial by combat”. As a consequence, his license to practice law was suspended in New York State in June 2021, and in the District of Columbia in July 2021.[27][28] Later, he was also listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the federal prosecution of Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the election.
  8. On June 8, 2021, CNN uncovered exclusive audio of a 2019 phone call from Giuliani to Ukraine, stating that “Rudy Giuliani relentlessly pressured and coaxed the Ukrainian government in 2019 to investigate baseless conspiracies [not baseless] about then-candidate Joe Biden.”
  9. As of February 16, 2021, Giuliani was reportedly not actively involved in any of Trump’s pending legal cases. 
  10. But by 2023, Giuliani had reportedly incurred seven-figure legal fees in cases related to Donald Trump and the attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
  11. On August 14, 2023, he was indicted in the prosecution related to the 2020 election in Georgia, along with 18 other people. Giuliani was arrested on August 23, 2023, and a mugshot was released.

So why, after 2016 was Rudy always in deep trouble? Here are some reason that I see:

  • Giuliani was fighting for Trump and that spells trouble, since Trump has always been in some kind of trouble.
  • Rudy if very direct and bold, just like Trump is. He doesn’t back down from a fight.
  • Since Giuliani is very good at investigating crime, all liberal judges are on their guard and are afraid of him. They know that if they let him go too far they will be in trouble; they will be found out for the crooks they are.
  • The judge that ordered him to pay $150 million did it basically to scare him, shut him up, and destroy him, so that he won’t pursue his case any longer.
  • This judge wants to assure the country that Biden did not become President through voting fraud. She want to preserve the lie forever and to assure that Giuliani will not be given a chance to reveal the lies—all the voting lies and all the corruption of the Biden family.

Please know that my opinion of Rudy Giuliani is very positive. That he is a HERO! And a brave crime fighter! And he is still at work. Please pray for his good health and prosperity.

Israel Must have 3 Prerequisites for Peace

Yes, Netanyahu is right. Peace can only come to Israel if Hamas is destroyed, if Gaza is demilitarized, and if the Palestinians are deradicalized. But that will be impossible—unless they give up their evil, hateful ways. So, they must turn to God; they all must turn to God. That is the only way of true peace.

Netanyahu Offers 3 Prerequisites for Peace

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week outlined three prerequisites for peace in the region following months of war with Hamas.

Netanyahu, in an opinion piece published by The Wall Street Journal on Monday, outlined the three: the destruction of Hamas, the demilitarization of Gaza, and the deradicalization of Palestinian society.

“First, Hamas, a key Iranian proxy, must be destroyed. The U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and many other countries support Israel’s intention to demolish the terror group,” Netanyahu wrote.

“Second, Gaza must be demilitarized. Israel must ensure that the territory is never again used as a base to attack it,” he added.

According to Netanyahu, this will involve creating “a temporary security zone” on Gaza’s perimeter and a border inspection system to prevent weapons smuggling. He also claimed that expecting the Palestinian Authority to demilitarize Gaza “is a pipe dream.”

“Third, Gaza will have to be deradicalized,” the prime minster continued. “Schools must teach children to cherish life rather than death, and imams must cease to preach for the murder of Jews. Palestinian civil society needs to be transformed so that its people support fighting terrorism rather than funding it.”

Netanyahu wrote that once these three goals are achieved, “Gaza can be rebuilt and the prospects of a broader peace in the Middle East will become a reality.”