On this Labor Day weekend, we should have joy, relax, have fun, and have camaraderie with family and friends. Also, we should realize that we should use this time to recognize why we have this holiday in the first place. We have this holiday in celebration of workers, past and present, who sacrificed their lives to make our lives better. There are unsung people in health care, education, construction, tourism, business, legal places, social activism circles, and other endeavors worldwide. We, who are workers, have a powerful work ethic that has transformed society. That is why labor unions were created to help workers have a fair wage, health care benefits, and pensions. Back in the day, there was no Social Security or Medicare, so workers had to fight to make sure that Social Security existed since 1933 and Medicare existed since 1965. Many agents want to promote division based upon ethnicity (as found in the ADOS and FBA movements), sexism, xenophobia, and bigotry in general. This agent activity is not new. We know of the FBI's COINTELPRO program that tried to destroy black liberation groups and progressive activism in general. Such programs from the CIA, FBI, NSA, etc. exist today, and these surveillance acts have been documented by Snowden and other whistleblowers for years and decades. We must reject that evil of divisiveness and adhere to the truth of unity, love, morality, integrity, and human dignity. The journey for justice is not yet complete, but we are in favor of being part of that august journey so that justice for all human beings becomes a concrete reality.
Recently, my cousin Albert Thomas Peeples passed away on August 28, 2026. He was born on September 8, 1934, in Southampton County, Virginia, to Mack Peeples (1881-1939) and Josephine Cousins Peeples (1912-2011). During the early part of his life, Albert accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He became a member of Shiloh Baptist Church in Boykins, Virginia. I have been to Shiloh Baptist Church before on many occasions as that church is a very historic church in Virginia. He married his wife, Nadine Avens, and the couple moved to Richmond, Virginia (which is also the capital city of my state of Virginia). In Richmond, he joined the Trinity Baptist Church and was a long-standing and faithful member. Albert and Nadine had three children who are Mack Peeples, Stephanie Peeples, and Stacey Peeples. Albert was a very hard worker being a machinist at General Electric. H was always diligent, strong in his work ethic, and had a commitment to excellence. He built an excellent career and took great love to provide for his family. He served his church as a great deacon and was member of the church choir. Albert was involved in the church's ministry to help the sick, and give comfort, encouragement, and prayer to who weren't able to attend worship services. He graciously served God and cared for others throughout his life. His siblings are George Peeples, Wallace Peeples, John Ralph Peeples, Arthur Lee Peeples (1932-1973), Mary Johnson, and Jestine Kindred (1936-2013). He has three living sisters who are Lillian Jean Warren (b.1943), Gladys Ivey (b. 1943), and Lucinda Greene (her husband is Emory). He had two brothers in law, and six grandchildren. His six grandchildren are Jaired Epps, Jeremy Epps (Keturah), Shartek Woodson Jr., JaNiece Woodson, Stpehon Woodson, and Jamil Crump. He had four great-grandchildren and many nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends. Albert Thomas Peeples was my 1st cousin whose grandparents were my 2nd great grandparents of Charles Peeples (1855-1922) and Fannie Fronianna Susanna Virginia Brown Peeples (1857-1946).
The history of the jetpack has a long history from the 20th century to the present. It relates to modern turbine-powered and jet suited flight systems. In 1919, Russian inventor Alexander Andreev filed the first design concept for a rocket-motor backpack powered by oxygen and methane. It is never built. In 1928, the concept explodes into popular culture through pulp comic strips like Buck Rogers, promising a future of personal flight. During World War 2, the Nazi enemy experimented with the Himmelstürmer (Sky Stormer), a pulse-jet propulsion device designed to help soldiers leap over minefields and obstacles. By 1952, Thomas T. Moore develops the "Jetvest" using hydrogen peroxide. Funded briefly by the U.S. Army, it successfully lifts a human but is abandoned due to instability. In 1958, Engineers Garry Burdett and Alexander Bohr create the "Jump Belt", which utilizes compressed nitrogen to propel a runner 7 meters into the air. In 1961, Engineer Wendell F. Moore at Bell Aerosystems builds the legendary Bell Rocket Belt. Pilot Harold Graham completes the first successful untethered flight, flying for 21 seconds. In 1965, The Bell Rocket Belt achieves global fame in popular culture when it is featured in the James Bond film Thunderball. In 1969, Bell develops a "Jet Belt" using a miniature turbojet engine. It extends flight times to 5 minutes, but the military cancels funding because the machine is heavy, complex, and highly dangerous. In 1984, Pilot Bill Suitor flies the Bell Rocket Belt in front of 100,000 live spectators at the Los Angeles Olympic Games opening ceremony, cementing the device in aviation history.
By 1984, NASA introduces the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), an untethered, nitrogen-propelled backpack that allows astronauts to perform spacewalks completely free of the Space Shuttle. In 2000, Inventor Raymond Li introduces a new concept: the water jetpack. Instead of dangerous rocket fuel, a trailing hose pumps high-pressure water from a boat unit to propel a tourist-friendly backpack. In 2006, Swiss pilot Yves Rossy builds the "Jetman" wing—a rigid carbon-fiber wing equipped with four micro-turbine jet engines. While it requires a high-altitude drop from a plane, it reaches speeds exceeding 125 mph. In 2015, Jetpack Aviation introduces the JB9, a compact, kerosene-burning turbojet backpack. CEO David Mayman flies it around the Statue of Liberty, proving a true personal jetpack can be practical and maneuverable. In 2017, Richard Browning foundable Gravity Industries and reveals the Daedalus Jet Suit. This design distributes micro-jet engines across the pilot's back and arms, utilizing human body English for hyper-precise steering. In the 2020s, Modern tactical, paramedic, and competitive sports programs take off. The UK Royal Marines and paramedic units test Gravity jet suits for rapid response terrain navigation. In 2024, there was world's first Jetpack Racing Competition is held in Dubai. Pilots using Gravity Industries technology compete in an all-air obstacle course over water, reaching speeds of 128 km/h.
Some of the biggest heresies now in our generation are the Prosperity Gospel movement and the Word Faith movement. The Prosperity Gospel believes in the old lie that wealth defines moral and spiritual character. We know that to be false as loving money is the root of all evil. For example, during the British imperialist invasion of China back in the 19th century, imperialists wanted money and wealth in a lustful, wicked fashion. We have many corporations have record profits while having disdain or an askance attitude towards the poor and working-class people. Diddy is one of the richest people in the world, but he is in prison for abusing innocent human beings multiple times. Jeffrey Epstein was one of the rich people who allied with other rich people, but he committed massive sexual abuse against little girls. He wasn't the only one guilty. Therefore, wicked people can be rich, poor, or middle class. Money is a tool that can be used for good or evil. Money should never be used as a false god to promote materialism, covetousness, and greed. For example, Jesus Christ never owned a mansion on Earth, but he healed the sick, got souls saved, and preached the Gospel without seeking payment from other human beings. The prophets Elijah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, the Apostle John, and others were never super wealthy, but their prophecies and inspirational teachings remain relevant in our time of late 2026. Therefore, the Lord wants us to have resources to live, but we shouldn't live by bread alone. We live by the words that proceeds from the mouth of God alone. Some former Prosperity Gospel leaders have renounced that false Gospel like even Benny Hinn. Being truly rich in spirit is about giving the wisdom and insights of the Lord to bless another person. That act doesn't cost any form of money. The World Faith Movement has massive heresies like some members believing that humans were created as exact duplicates of God and possess a divine nature. God alone is divine while human beings are wonderfully made in the image of God. World Faith adherents view faith as a mechanical force or law that operates independents. They believe that spoken words can control reality, force God to act, nad command health or wealth. This is heresies as God is not a slot machine and words can't control all forms of reality. Some World Faith people teach that Jesus lost his divinity on the cross and was tortured by demons in hell which is blasphemy. Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross was fully sufficient and complete. The World Faith movement also believes in the old lie that poverty or physical sickness is ultimately a sign of a weak faith or sin and that financial prosperity is a guaranteed right for believers. The Bible teaches humility and wealth is not definitive of salvation. That is why saved people include the rich, poor, and middle class as God is no respector of persons.
Religion has been influenced by technology and vice versa. For example, back in ancient times, it would take weeks and months to record and duplicate long writings that were found in paper. That would change by the 1400s when Johannes Gutenberg would develop his movable type printing press that would allow the written text to be copies in a massive scale. By the mid-1450s, Gutenberg printed his famous 42-line Bible in Latin, the first book printed on a movable type of press in the West. By 1500, there were almost 20 million books in Western Europe, including Bibles. Today, we live in a new spiritual age. The spiritual paradox is that information is more available now in 2026 than in any other time in human history. The problem is that there is an increasing lack of reading among the human population. There are tons of benefits for reading, including mental development, concentration, and spiritual growth. It is so bad that a survey established by the National Endowment for the Arts found that fewer than half of all adults in America read a book in 2022. Another American Time Use Survey, which analyzed 236,000 responses, found that only 16 percent of Americans reported reading anything for pleasure on a given day, down from 28 percent in 2004. There are many younger people who struggle to understand the concepts of words in a story. Researchers at the American Bible Society (ABS) found in their 2026 State of the Bible report that 55 percent of Americans are Bible-disengaged and only 17 percent are Bible-engaged. The Bible is clear that people have the right to examine the Scriptures, as stated in John 5:39: "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." The Apostle Paul said the same thing in II Timothy 2:15, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." We have to be committed to serve the Lord. That means to show love to our neighbors, build in our communities, and be righteous. We all should spiritually and emotionally reject unnecessary anger, division, and other wickedness as found clearly in Colossian 3:8, "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth." We should promote forgiveness. We, as human beings, will disagree on certain issues. That's normal, but we should never let our disagreements grow into anger, hatred, and wickedness. Also, we have to expose and reject false doctrines. The myth is that the status quo is enough. That is not the case as souls should be saved from the false doctrines and heresies of Freemasonry, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormonism, adultery, gender war nonsense, the MAGA cult, Scientology, Christian Science, witchcraft, etc. Repentance is free of charge. You only need an open heart and do it. That is why we all need to repent of our sins, do the right thing, save souls, and grow in our spiritual walk completely.
We have a real problem of millions of Americans being purged from U.S. food stamp rolls as Wall Street interests disgracefully demand more cuts. The budget reconciliation law was signed by Trump on July 4, 2025, or H.R. 1, OBBBA. This law created the largest reduction in the history of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps. By cutting $187 billion from the program for over 10 years- a cut of about 20 percent- the legislation has harmed the social safety net in America in destructive ways. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) puts the decline at about 5 million people or 12 percent since the law has been enacted. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture numbers, 36.6 million people are now receiving benefits. That is down 5.7 million from May 2025, below the pre-pandemic level and the lowest number enrolled in 17 years. Children are suffering massively too in the heaviest share of the cuts. In the 25 states that report data on children, 1.2 million have been cut off since July 20025. U.S. citizens and others who are authorized to be in America (like refugees, people granted asylum, survivors of trafficking, and victims of domestic violence) have been stripped of eligibility completely. This attack is about cutting resources from the poor and working class to be used to fund the war and other interests of the oligarchy. Some in the Wall Street Journal are celebrating this cruelty as they are more in love with laissez-faire capitalism than economic justice. One Gallup poll said that Democrats outnumber the GOP ahead of the midterms. Regardless of your ideological views, please vote, as the MAGA movement is trying to suppress voting rights with their attacks on mail-in voting and other matters. Affordability of health care, childcare, housing, education, and other areas of our lives matter, and these issues must be addressed to improve American society indeed. We have to fight to strengthen Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security without privatization. People want a government to address the needs of the people as the purpose of government subsequently is to improve the lives of the people progressively.
By Timothy
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