Who Are We???

Are we Japan, where our Emperor is a Deity?

Are we England, where our Dear Queen, by virtue of birthright only, is entitled to respect and reverence for her entire life!

Are we North Korea, where one can be imprisoned for insulting our Dear Leader?

No! We are the United States of America, with three co-equal branches of government. Where the head of our Executive Branch is just another politician who has conned millions of citizens into
voting for him/her. Where we are guaranteed the right to criticize or speak against this political person.

Now comes an incident in my native state of Missouri, where a rodeo clown (clown=pretend-to-be-a-fool) is banned for life from the State Fair Rodeo, because he wore a mask of our current president and acted a fool.

Come on, people! This is not 1850 or 1860. This is 2013! Enough of the skin-color BS! Good Grief!

There have been "clown masks" of every president, since people learned how to make them cheaply and sell them, for a buck or so.

I am disgusted with Missouri State Fair officials, the NAACP, Sharpton, Jackson, and every other race-baiter on the planet.  

Opinions of recent observations

 
1. The gift of organized labor: Just read (or heard) some gal talking about all that organized labor has given the American people. She was so misinformed it was painful to observe. Organized labor did not give us the 40-hour week, as she said. Henry Ford did that. When he developed the assembly line for making automobiles, the work was so monotonous he could not keep employees. So he cut work time to an 8-hour day, five days a week, and doubled the hourly rate.

It worked pretty well, but later, when a young Japanese engineer named Toyoda sought his advice, Ford taught Toyoda many other things, like giving every employee the ability to stop the assembly line if he temporarily fell behind. These things made working on the line more bearable.

Toyoda employed Ford's advice in his motor car company (spelled Toyota) and became hugely successful. Interestingly, Toyota employees are not often union organized.

I'll tell you what organized labor gave us: an adversarial relationship between employers and employees. After the Great Depression, during which it was almost impossible to find a job, men were so grateful to have a steady paycheck, they believed in giving their employer an honest hour's work for an hour's pay.

Labor unions taught workers to believe they should squeeze every possible dime from their employers, while reducing their performance to the minimum necessary to hold their job.

2. Employer provided health insurance... isn't that a good thing?: Shakespeare wrote about "the tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive". Indeed. "During World War II, Employer-sponsored health insurance plans dramatically expanded as a direct result of wage controls imposed by the federal government.

The labor market was tight because of the increased demand for goods and decreased supply of workers during the war. Federally imposed wage and price controls prohibited manufacturers and other employers from raising wages enough to attract workers.

When the War Labor Board declared that fringe benefits, such as sick leave and health insurance, did not count as wages for the purpose of wage controls, employers responded with significantly increased offers of fringe benefits, especially health care coverage, to attract workers." (Wikipedia, the Online Encyclopedia.)

So, it all began with an effort to 'legally' break the law. Yes, that law was a misplaced idea, but that is all part of the tangled web.

3. Minimum wage laws: Of all the dumb things that originated in the last century, the mandated "minimum wage" is surely the dumbest.Two kinds of people push minimum wage: A: well-meaning, but ill-informed individuals who think they are bettering people's lives. ("You cannot support a family on minimum wage!") B. Well-informed but dishonest politicians who only seek more votes.

I once worked for 10¢ an hour. Hard work, too! I didn't need "support", I just wanted to earn some spending money. But I learned a lot about showing up on time and doing the job I was supposed to do.

I remember when movie theaters hired teenage ushers for 50¢ an hour. They just hung around at the back of the theater and when a customer came in, they used their flashlight to guide the customer down a dark aisle to a vacant seat.

The kids got to see movies for free and earn a little spending money. Like me, they also learned to show up for work, on time, bathed and appropriately dressed. They learned how to relate to people. Valuable experience for when they were ready to seek a full time job.

The minimum wage ended all that. Many kids, who had no skills, could no longer work. What do idle kids do? Many take to the streets and get into trouble. They may later mature. They may learn some skill. But without the experience of actually working on a real job, they are largely unemployable.

Should we forgive them?

Elliot Spitzer, Anthony Weiner and Bob Filner are just the latest in a long string of politicians, involved in some sort of scandal, who have said they are sorry and have asked forgiveness.

Should we forgive them?

No!

The Founding Fathers wanted us to know that integrity in office was absolutely paramount.

John Adams wrote: (referenced by W. Cleon Skousen in The 5000 Year Leap Copyright 1991, 2006 by The National Center for Constitutional Studies)

Politics are the divine science, after all. How is it possible that any man should ever think of  making it subservient to his own little passions and mean private interests? Ye baseborn sons of fallen Adam, is the end of politics a fortune, a family, a gilded coach, a train of horses, and a troop of livery servants, balls at court, splendid dinners and suppers? Yet, the divine science of politics is at length in Europe reduced to a mechanical system composed of these materials. (Quoted in Koch, The American Enlightenment. p.189.)

"Some might feel inclined to smile at such a puritanical ideology in a practical politician such as John Adams, but he had a ready answer for the skeptic. Said he:"

What is to become of an independent statesman, one who will bow the knee to no idol, who will worship nothing as a divinity but truth, virtue, and his country? I will tell you; he will be regarded more by posterity then those who worship hounds and horses; and although he will not make his own fortune, he will make the fortune of his country. (Ibid.; italics added.)

Benjamin Franklin had some comments as well. In a speech to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Franklin said:

   Sir, there are two passions which have a powerful influence in the affairs of men. These are ambition and avarice; the love of power and the love of money. Separately, each of these has great force in prompting men to action; but when united in view of the same object, they have in many minds the most violent effects. Place before the eyes of such men a post of honor, that shall at the same time be a place of profit, and they will move heaven and earth to obtain it. The vast number of such places it is that renders the British government so tempestuous. The struggles for them are the true source of all those factions which are perpetually dividing the nation, distracting its councils, hurrying it sometimes into fruitless and mischievous wars, and often compelling a submission to dishonorable terms of peace. (Smyth, Writings of Benjamin Franklin, 7:4. Referenced by W. Cleon Skousen in The 5000 Year Leap Copyright 1991, 2006 by The National Center for Constitutional Studies)

 And, Edmund Burke said, "Constitute government how you please, infinitely the greater part of it must depend upon the exercise of the powers which are left at large to the prudence and uprightness of ministers of state." Prudence and uprightness. Remember those characteristics?

Can anyone imagine any reason but ambition and avarice for any of the aforementioned to seek or hold political office? I am not aware of any talents they may possess for making money outside of politics, but certainly high office is a road to riches. Something the Founding Fathers warned against.

Consider Barack Obama. Abandoned by his  father, before his birth, raised by a middle class family, but today worth millions. Just imagine the millions more he will be paid making speeches when he is finally out of office. Outside of politics, that is an almost impossible accomplishment.

Consider Nancy Pelosi. Already wealthy, she continues, after 26 years in Congress, to make the arduous journey between Washington and California. Averaging one trip per week, that is over 1,300 round trips at some 5,000 miles each. Over 6.5 million miles! 265 times around the earth. Only an insatiable thirst for power would drive that. Why, oh why, do voters keep re-electing such people?

Learning from the obvious

I'll give one thing to ancient mankind. When they made an observation, they thought about it. They often came to the wrong conclusion, as in the cause of weather phenomena, but at least they tried.

Modern man seems to prefer turning a blind eye to things most visible. British Historian, Paul Johnson, said, "The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions, which seem to us novel and plausible, have been tested before, not once but many times and in innumerable guises; and discovered to be, at great human cost, wholly false.”

It isn't just history. There are everyday things we might honor, but many ignore. 

Recently we've heard much about crime among black youth in America, and many opinions as to the solution. Most of those opinions seem wrong to me. For example, Thomas Sowell decried the fact that these are often called "troubled youth". He said "... they are not troubled... these young thugs are having the time of their life."

I look at black Americans and I see so many quality people. I am reluctant to start naming names, as I know I will forget some of the best. But here are a few: Dr. Benjamin Carson, Dr. Thomas Sowell, Dr. Walter E Williams, Star Parker, Col./Congressman Allen West, Deneen Borelli, Charles Payne, Ken Blackwell, the list is much longer. These are individuals who have earned the respect and admiration of a vast swath of America.

Barack Obama spoke of white people being afraid of black men. Col. Allen West said that no white woman ever 'clutched her purse' when he stepped into an elevator. No one fears the likes of Dr. Carson or Larry Elder. Personally I'd give anything to spend an hour or two in the presence of any of the aforementioned. Just to hear them talk.

Shouldn't every black child be taught to emulate these extraordinary people? Yes, I can imagine a single black mother, working two jobs to support her family; fighting the kids to do their homework, clean their room, take a bath, etc. She has little time for morality lessons.

Still, A number of these men attribute their success to a mother who insisted upon a certain code of behavior. Often we hear "mother made me study". Yet, several of these successful men were raised in poverty by a struggling single mother.
 
It seems to me that the blueprint for success is glaringly apparent to every black child in America. What can be done to make every one of them see it?

Intelligence vs. Education

Knowing I had not obtained a college degree, a friend recently asked me 'where the intelligence came from'.

Won't comment on my level of intelligence, but in our modern world, intelligence is equated to formal education. Strange. My father, born in 1893, had only a fourth grade education, but he had a curious mind and a thirst for knowledge. He purchased one of those huge, ten-inch-thick unabridged dictionaries and built a stand for it. It stood beside his reading chair and he consulted it frequently. He was, indeed, a very intelligent man.

That's not to say that formal education does not foster intelligence. An education in which one learns how to learn, will surely develop an aware, thinking human.

IQ tests are supposed to measure intelligence, or, at least the 'intelligence quotient', apart from education. But I hold that some measure of formal education will certainly help one attain a higher IQ score.

Schooling can bend the learning curve. But, so may other life experiences. Ralph Waldo Emerson pegged it when he said “Shall I tell you the secret of the true scholar? It is this: every man I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn of him.” Always be prepared to listen to what someone has to say. You may be surprised to learn what you may learn!

Years ago a friend remarked that "the first time an internal combustion engine is started, it tries to tear itself apart. Eventually it succeeds" When you think about all those pistons and connecting rods and valve lifters, the crankshaft and the cam shaft, all whirling and clicking some 4,000 revolutions per minute, you see the reasoning behind that comment.

But, until I read this column by Philadelphia Daily News Columnist, Christine M. Flowers, I never applied that to humans. Ms. Flowers, commenting on a nephew who had just lost his first tooth wrote, "...even at the beginning of life, we start losing bits and pieces of ourselves. It's a subtle diminishment, but as they say, we start dying with our first breath."

That was not the main thrust of that particular columns, but isn't it great when another little light bulb clicks on above your head and you think, "Gee, I never thought of that!"

I love to learn!

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20130712_Of_life_and_morality__in_the_shadow_of_a_saint.html#7CP18xHbRdy4yQI1.99

even at the beginning of life, we start losing bits and pieces of ourselves. It's a subtle diminishment but, as they say, we start dying with our first breath.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20130712_Of_life_and_morality__in_the_shadow_of_a_saint.html#vxUpx3Bfks1oR5fU.99

even at the beginning of life, we start losing bits and pieces of ourselves. It's a subtle diminishment but, as they say, we start dying with our first breath.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20130712_Of_life_and_morality__in_the_shadow_of_a_saint.html#MkMxUzibU6uoQaX6.99

even at the beginning of life, we start losing bits and pieces of ourselves. It's a subtle diminishment but, as they say, we start dying with our first breath.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20130712_Of_life_and_morality__in_the_shadow_of_a_saint.html#MkMxUzibU6uoQaX6.99

Black Pastors and Trayvon Martin

With protests against the 'not guilty' verdict in the George Zimmerman murder trial erupting in over 100 cities today - protests sparked by race-baiters Sharpton, Jackson, Obama, et al, it may seem that the entire black population of America opposed the verdict.

Not so.

A number of black Americans have spoken out in favor of the verdict, and in support of George Zimmerman.

Notable among them have been at least two black pastors. I have listened to black pastors during my lifetime. While elitist academians may find these pastors lacking in formal education, I have always found them unusually wise in everyday common sense knowledge. Something many academians are not.

Dr. James David Manning, speaking from the pulpit of his ATLAH World Missionary Church in New York City, called Martin a "pot-smoking, paranoid boy".

Rev. Jesse Lee Patterson, in a television interview, called Martin a "thug", not a "nice little boy".. Asked for evidence for that charge, Patterson spoke of Martins' use of marijuana, his behavior problems in school, and his propensity to engage in fighting.

The interviewer demanded to know if Rev. Patterson regarded everyone who had used 'pot' and had run afoul of school officials, as a 'thug'. Patterson explained about single-parent homes and other symptoms of a youth gone astray. Mostly his reply dealt with what I have always called 'moral grounding'. Many people engage in poor behavior in their youth, but those who have been taught morality soon discover the error in their ways. Without moral grounding, it is all downhill.

Several other black Americans, whom I consider intellectuals, have also spoken out against Martin's behavior. If you see news coverage of today's protests, do not think for a minute that all of black America agrees with the protestors.

More things that make an old man cry

Mark Steyn is always a good read, but this one is a crown jewel! Steyn revealed: The other day, The Boston Globe ran a story on how the city's police and other agencies had spent months planning a big training exercise for last weekend involving terrorists planting bombs hidden in backpacks left downtown. Unfortunately, the Marathon bombers preempted them, and turned the coppers' hypothetical scenario into bloody reality. What a freaky coincidence, eh? (snip) In the far more exciting Boston Police fantasy, the bombers were a group of right-wing militia men called "Free America Citizens," (who) even had their own little logo – a skull's head with an Uncle Sam hat.

"I was taught that if I left home, I would be fully responsible for any evil that befell me, because men cannot be expected to control their extincts." -  Manal al-Sharif, on growing up as a young girl in Saudi Arabia.

The crime is not hate speech, but hate thought -- a state of mind that apparently only self-appointed liberal referees can sort out. - Victor Davis Hanson in a discussion on charges of hate speech against conservatives.

Ron Kelly retired from the Army in 1993 after 20 years of service. As an infantryman who fired tanks and machine guns, he likely expelled over 100,000 rounds. But when he tried to buy a .22 caliber rifle at a local Wal-Mart recently, he was turned down because of an old conviction. Forty-two years before, when he was in high school, he got arrested for having a baggie of marijuana. He wasn’t even sentenced to a night in jail, but he did get one year of probation. He contacted his home state of North Carolina to find out if they had a  record of his arrest, and they didn’t, because it was so old. But the FBI obviously remembered. And they’ll never forget, because they want to make sure that no gun ends up in the “wrong hands.” - Political Outcast

 

Black Education... or, the lack thereof.

Dr. Walter Williams is probably today's most coherent writer about America's black community. Yesterday he wrote a column titled Black Education Tragedy. For his opening shot, he wrote:

"As if more evidence were needed about the tragedy of black education, Rachel Jeantel, a witness for the prosecution in the George Zimmerman murder trial, put a face on it for the nation to see. Some of that evidence unfolded when Zimmerman's defense attorney asked 19-year-old Jeantel to read a letter that she allegedly had written to Trayvon Martin's mother. She responded that she doesn't read cursive, and that's in addition to her poor grammar, syntax and communication skills."

I have not closely followed that trial, but I did see the segment where Jeantel testified. I was saddened by her performance. Saddened that this young American girl will, next spring, graduate from High School unprepared for a successful future.

It made me think of the difference an education, and a dedication to learning, can make. Williams, himself, and Dr. Thomas Sowell, are both positive proof of the successful future awaiting a couple of poor black boys, raised in the housing projects of Philadelphia and New York.

They are proof, also, that skin color, ethnicity and "pedigree" are irrelevant.

So, my question is this: Why isn't their story being shouted from the rooftops? Why isn't their story being told in schools? Why aren't black mothers telling their sons they could grow up to be another Walter Williams or Thomas Sowell?

I am hopeful that today's black students are taught about outstanding black Americans of the past. That is good. But it would seem that the story of two men who grew up in an environment similar to the one in which today's students live, would be more powerful.
 

The puzzle.

A 13-year-old girl, raised in a Liberal household, asked her Conservative grandmother why she disliked President Obama. Not having been privy to the conversation, I don't know the grandmother's answer.

But, hearing of the conversation, caused me to think: How would one explain something so complex to a 13-year-old? Puzzling!

I think I would first try to explain that, while you vote to elect only one person, you are actually choosing thousands of persons to run the executive branch of our government.

Yes, the name of the Vice-President is on the ballot, but that person was personally chosen by the presidential candidate. Once elected, the President gets to choose the people to run the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Health and Human Services, Justice, and more. The President also chooses the Secretary of State, who oversees our relations with all foreign nations, the Secretary of Defense, who oversees our entire military force, and others.

So, when you speak of the policies or the actions of "President Obama", you are actually describing the policies and actions of tens of thousands of people.

Many of these people, like Barack Obama himself, have little experience to qualify them for such important jobs. Many are well-meaning people who propose rules and regulations which sound plausible, but in practice are burdensome, costly and restrict the freedoms of law-abiding citizens.

As a Conservative, I believe the government has grown too large and unweildy. I believe there is much waste of taxpayers money. Because the government has grown so large, I believe it is impossible to keep track of everything that is happening, and that leads to fraud and abuse.

In the past, many new government programs were created. If they were later proven to be ineffective, those programs were discontinued. Today, however, failing government programs are never ended.

For example, in the 1970s, it became apparent that America was too dependent on foreign nations for our supply of oil. If those nations were to cut off shipments of oil to America, we could no longer operate our cars, planes, ships or trains. We could no longer make many of the plastics we use in everyday products.

The Department of Energy was formed to solve that problem and end our dependence on foreign oil. The D.O.E. has clearly not solved the problem, yet we continue to spend billions of dollars each year to run the D.O.E.

We Conservatives would like to abolish the D.O.E., but President Obama does not agree.

So, when we say we dislike Obama, we are really saying we disagree with the way the government is operating.

Is my young teen listener still awake?

Stop it!

Paula Deen has lost her Food Network Gig and some spokesman roles, for truthfully admitting, that in the past, she had used the N word.

How many of us have? There was a time in America when we were so proud of our great "melting pot". People of diverse ethnic and nationality backgrounds came together as proud Americans. We had varying social characteristics, which became stereotypes, and we pretty much laughed at those stereotypes... ours, and theirs.

 Remember when we told 'Pat and Mike' jokes, about two dumb Irishmen. And, Irish were considered drinkers. There were unending Polish jokes. Italians were chided for their manner of speaking English: American sailor, "Is that a U-Boat?" Italian sailor, "No, That's nota my boat." Asians were considered bad drivers. I had a close friend who was an Italian immigrant. When he entered the United States, his documents were marked "W.O.P.", meaning "without papers". He called himself a Wop.

Mexicans were pictured in a sombrero, asleep under a palm tree. Both Scotsmen and Dutchmen were considered tightwads. Jews were money-hungry, always seeking to "Jew someone out of" something. Germans were Krauts. Frenchmen were frogs. Blacks were called the N word. Nobody hated anyone. We laughed at our differences and moved on, abandoning many of those terms over time.

I am sure some people were hurt by this practice, although I hold it was mostly folks who did not have strong self-confidence. My guess is that the word, itself, was not too painful, since many black comedians and black youth use the word freely. I suspect it is who uses it that matters.

Years ago I worked with a wonderful young woman who was Jewish. She told me, "Jews love Jewish jokes - when they are told by other Jews. When told by non-Jewish people, we are never sure if they are laughing with us - or at us." Fair enough. I get that.

I, for one, have never understood exactly why black Americans were called the N word. The definition of the word, after all, is a meanly stingy person. Doesn't fit any black people I know! Think Joe Louis, the heavyweight boxing champ who made lots of money and gave it all away, 'treating' his friends.

Then, something happened. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, et al, learned they could become rich and famous, while destroying their enemies, by claiming victimhood. Some of those terms were declared to be hate speech and people bought those definitions. The meanings changed entirely. Like the now-despicable C word. Once a vulgar, slang name for a part of the female anatomy, it morphed into a demeaning term for women. Where did that come from?

I never advocate violence, but I wish the mother of the lawyer who interrogated Paula Deen could grab him by the ear and wash his mouth out with soap for using unacceptable language.

He asked Deen if she had every used the N word. She could have just lied and said, "No". But she told the truth and is vilified. Has she been accused of truly demeaning any person because of their skin color? Has she exhibited racial prejudice in hiring practices? Hardly.

What about that planned "plantation wedding", with blacks as old time servants, posing as slaves? I am sure everyone would have been well paid and the 'actors' appreciative of the gig. If she had just had cameras rolling and called it a movie, it would have been wonderful.

Since these race-baiters have successfully turned certain terms into "hate speech", we, including Paula Deen, have quit using them. 

It is time to stop this divisive nonsense. If Sharpton and Jackson really deserve the "Rev." prefix before their names, let them go back to their congregations and preach the Gospel. Stop destroying people with this victim nonsense. 

It couldn't. Could it?

World news gets scarier every day. There is civil war in Syria. Not just unrest, but war, with tens of thousands dead.

There have been massive riots in Greece, protesting some action by their government.

More riots in Turkey. Sparked by announced plans to build a shopping mall in a park.

Now riots in Brazil, over... gee, I forgot what they were protesting.

So I settle back in my chair and think "Thank heavens I am in America where ths sort of thing doesn't happen."

Then comes the news that busloads of protestors supporting the cause of illegal immigration, descended upon the Kansas City area home of Kansas' Secretary of State, Kris Kobach. An estimated 200 persons, screaming in English and Spanish. such taunts as "Kris Kobach come on out, we'll show you what Kansans are all about!"

Happily, Secretary Kobach, his wife and four young daughters were not home at the time. But, imagine 200 angry, screaming people on your front porch!

Someone called the police. They were on the scene in just 15 minutes. Imagine what an angry mob could do in 15 minutes!

I am not faulting the police. Most police departments are so under paid, under staffed, over worked and loaded with stupid tasks, it is impossible to be everywhere in their jurisdiction in a moment's notice.

A former sheriff of my huge home county once told me, "sometimes in an emergency, the nearest available deputy can be 40 miles from the scene."

A State Police official once revealed that he cautions his officers with this warning: if you make a highway stop 'out in the middle of nowhere', do not talk yourself into a dangerous confrontation. Back-up may be a half hour away.

I am not involved in government. I am not a policy maker. It is impossible to imagine a mob descending on my home. But I'm willing to wager that before last Saturday, Secretary Kobach would have imagined it improbable, if not impossible, for a mob to rally on his front porch.

Secretary Kobach says it is vital for all Americans to be armed, to protect themselves and their families. I agree.

But, arms are most effective when you have ammunition. In the Army, we were taught how to use an unloaded rifle to defend ourselves. That, too, may become necessary. Locally, Wal-Mart stores (open 24/7), say customers begin gathering at 2:00 a.m., waiting for the store's daily shipment of ammunition to arrive. The more popular calibers are instantly sold out.

Think they are kidding? Stroll by the sporting goods department of your nearby Wal-Mart and note the empty shelves in their ammunition department.

Things that make an old man cry!

In a June 14 column, Deroy Murdock revealed that 'Petrona Smith told her Bronx Spanish students that "black" in that language is "negro." Some took offense, and she got fired.'

Also, that NBC News recently profiled Oregon's South Medford High School and its 21 valedictorians. At Alabama's Enterprise High, 34 students are "first in their class."

Recently, Arnold Ahlert wrote that 'kids can no longer do simple mathematical calculations such as making change. While their ignorance is mildly amusing, it represents a paradigm shift in the way people think for one overriding reason: math is the gateway to logic. Rob a child of the ability to think logically and anything becomes possible.Especially totalitarianism.'

Celia Rivenbark revealed  that "At the grocery store produce counter last week, a clerk saw me pondering a huge selection of greens. He smiled approvingly and said:

"Always remember: Red and green keep a colon clean!"

Are you kidding me? I don't want to think about my COLON when I'm buying vegetables. What next? Do these cukes go with my pancreas?"

The world is buzzing

with talk about Edward Snowden, the self-identified leaker/whistle blower who revealed the NSA practice of gathering meta-data on phone calls. To some a traitor, to some a hero.

I find both points of view very compelling. But I make no judgement on something I know so little about.

There is, however, one side of the story that is upsetting. News reporters are declaring, with alarm, that Snowden has no higher education credentials! How in the world did he get that job?

Don't you see... if you did not 'go to college' and graduate with a piece of largely worthless paper and a mountain of student loan debt, you cannot be very smart!

Surprise! Snowden probably got the job because he was the smartest computer whiz kid to come along.

Another amazing point of view: How did someone with so little formal education get security clearance? And, do you realize there are over 4 million Americans with high security clearance? Shocking!

Not really. As of June 1, the U.S. Population stands at 316 million. About 200 million of whom are of 'working age'. I see no reason why the vast majority of those adults would not qualify for security clearance. Are we to believe that American citizens cannot be trusted?

In the military I held high level security clearance. As Chief of the Radio & Cable Section at an Army base in the Philippines, I handled message of all levels of restriction.

I have known civilians with high level security clearance. Doesn't take too much to get. An applicant for a job requiring security clearance is interviewed by the F.B.I. From that interview, they learn a lot about you, your friends, your habits, previous employment, etc.

Next, the F.B.I. interviews just about everyone you know. They ask a lot of questions that might indicate your character, etc. When they are satisfied with your probable trustworthiness, when you swear to protect and defend the Constitution of The United States and take an oath of secrecy, you are issued clearance.

Snowden claims to believe that the secrecy he swore to keep put him in conflict with his oath to protect and defend the Constitution.

We shall see how it all plays out. But, please, let's not assume that persons without a college degree cannot be trusted, or are not intelligent.

Funny about history.

Knowledge of past human failures and successes is vital. But history is so frequently re-written, we often damn past successes and glorify colossal mistakes.

I just read a detailed column, written last Saturday by Dutch Parliament member Geert Wilders. Wilders provides detailed evidence that Islam is destroying Europe.

That made me think centuries back, when Islam very nearly did destroy Europe. They conquered Spain, and spread their influence. Native Europeans finally had enough. They set about to fight back, launching what history calls "The Crusades". Their purpose became mangled. They accomplished some goals, failed at others. But, I was always led to believe the Crusades were an unending effort to punish innocent Islamists. Innocent, indeed! It was Islam that had waged unending war on Western Europe.

Wilders clearly distinguishes between Muslims and Islam. In another case of learning from badly re-written history, many Muslims believe the story of 'Religion of Peace'. and live their lives accordingly.

But, Wilders stated, and I find it entirely credible to believe, that  "Islam is a totalitarian political ideology which aims to impose its legal system on the whole society. Islam is an ideology because it is political rather than religious: Islam is an ideology because it aims for an Islamic state and wants to impose Islamic Sharia law on all of us. Islam is totalitarian because it is not voluntary. It orders that people who leave Islam must be killed."

How can Islam be considered a Religion of Peace?

I implore people to study history. But you cannot just skim one writer's impression of history. Check more than one source. Satisfy your mind that you are getting the more accurate story. We cannot learn from past successes or failures, unless we clearly recognize both.

Scandals at high places in government:

Something new? No.

The Federal Government is caught surreptitiously snooping through news reporters emails and phone records. The president checks it out, and announces, "Nothing wrong here, everything's okay!"

That is just one of several current scandals, all of which have been brushed off in similar fashion. Some think this sort of thing has never happened before!

Go back to the early years of the Truman Administration. V.P. Truman, on April 12, 1945, became president upon the death of Franklin Roosevelt. Before being chosen as FDR's running mate in 1944, Truman had been a United States Senator from Missouri. Before that, he held a small time political position in Jackson County, MO (where I was born and raised).

Just as Barack Obama was helped in his early political career by domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, Harry Truman was supported by the notoriously corrupt Kansas City political boss, Tom Pendergast. As a result, scandals plagued Truman throughout his presidency.

At one point, another alleged scandal, rooted in Truman's Kansas City past, erupted. Maybe it was related to Truman's long-time friend and adviser, fellow Missourian Harry Vaughn, I no longer remember which scandal was the headline du jour.

So, President Truman traveled to Kansas City to 'get to the bottom' of the story. Shortly he appeared on the front steps of downtown Kansas City's Muehlebach Hotel, to address gathered reporters. "Well, boys," Truman announced, "You can go home now. I have checked this thing out and there is nothing to it." Whereupon, the reporters closed up their notebooks and 'went home'!

My father was infuriated. That was not 'the bottom of the scandal', but it was the end of the scandal!

What happened to Truman? In spite of his scandals, his colossal foreign policy mistakes, for which we are paying yet today, Truman is revered as the no-nonsense, 'The buck stops here' president, the epitomy of clean and honest government.

One day they'll be building a huge monument to Barack Obama. 

What's wrong with lawyers?

As a class, there is nothing wrong with lawyers. The study of law is a noble profession which provides an invaluable service.

The vast majority of lawyers spend their working days in their office, with their staff, poring through law books in an effort to guide some client through the maze that is our legal code. We could hardly survive without them.

Somewhere between 1787, when The Constitution was offered and, say 2010 when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed, we forgot how to craft laws briefly written and easily understood.

But then, as John Adams said: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” We do indeed seem to have slipped from a lofty position of morality and religious fervor, so perhaps all the whys and wherefores and what-ifs, and WTFs are needed.

Another group of lawyers spend their working days in courtrooms, trying to assure that accused persons' rights are protected. A right so valuable, it is protected by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution. In fact, our Founding Fathers, familiar with the commonly unjust treatment of the accused, devoted 40% of the Bill of Rights (4 of the 10 amendments) to the rights of persons charged with law-breaking. Again, defense lawyers are important to our freedoms-they are indispensable.

Growing up on the farm we planted potatoes. When the harvest was complete, we stored a lot of potatoes in a bin in our fruit cellar. They lasted well into the winter, but you had to monitor that bin. If one potato turned bad, that 'bad' quickly spread to other potatoes. Must have been some sort of bacteria, generally the source of stink everywhere from roadkill to sewage treatment plants!

Some lawyers are like the bad potatoes. Their stink can taint the entire profession. They are the lawyers who use their knowledge of the law and their rhetorical skills to persuade juries to make obscenely large cash awards to people they successfully portray as 'victims'. These lawyers, of course, pocket a large percent of the cash.

Think medical malpractice lawsuits. Or, the case of the woman who received a pile of cash because she bought a cup of hot coffee at a drive-thru window, then spilled it on herself.

My personal beef was lawsuits against aircraft manufacturers. During World War II, many of us first experienced flying in an aircraft. After discharge, we took flying lessons and hoped to buy our own light aircraft. Then, lawyers began suing aircraft manufacturers and soon liability insurance exceeded the cost of the aircraft. Result? The market dried up and manufacturers just quit making small, low-cost aircraft.

On the farm, we found the 'bad' potatoes and tossed them out of the bin. When will we do the same with bad lawyers?

Would you deface

a precious work of art?

Suppose you were to visit the Musée du Louvre in Paris and could gain access to Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Would you spray paint a mustache and goatee onto the portrait?

If you were in Rome and could gain access to Michelangelo's David, would you grab hammer and chisel and proceed to carve your impressions on this incredible sculpture?

If you had visited ancient Greece and came upon the beautiful sculpture of Aphrodite, more commonly known as Venus de Milo, generally attributed to Alexandrus of Antioch, would you have broken off her arms, as someone did 2,000 years ago?

Now, suppose the artist were God, and the art were his masterpiece... a self-portrait, of sorts. A sculpture, which, as we are told in Genesis 1:27, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Then he gave this sculpture life, intelligence, reason. Would you deface His work of art?

Many people do. Recently I sat at our City's open market observing the passing crowd. Obesity was just the starter at defacing God's art. Slovenly appearance and unattractive attire were common. A slumped, lazy posture often was added.

Recently, basketball great Shaquille O'Neal recorded a TV commercial for some sort of body lotion. In that commercial, O'Neal read the line, "You can't improve on perfection but you can rub lotion on it!" I loved that line, that attitude! The human body is a miracle of perfection. Yes, all living things are miraculous, but only humans can build skyscrapers, fly to the moon, write great books and compose symphonies. Only humans were created in God's own image!

Before you leave home tomorrow, step in front of a mirror and ask yourself to judge if you are defacing God's finest work of art. If you agree that you are, decide what you are going to do about it.

Teaching old fingers

a new keyboard.

My long time favorite computer keyboard just quit. I was not surprised, I have been pounding those keys without mercy.

So, I bought a new keyboard. Lots of neat new features - plus, it is wireless. Using it? Not so neat. Some keys are a slightly different size and shape. Some are in slightly different locations. I misspell a word and want three back spaces. I get three back slashes. Now I need six back spaces, but I have to find that key!

Eventually these stiff old fingers will learn all the new key sizes, shapes and locations. Eventually.

The "Ride To The Wall"

stopped in my town this morning.

Actually they arrived last night. One of the local VFW Posts provided dinner for the Vets, who then spent the night and stopped by our Veteran's Memorial Park this morning before heading toward Midland, Texas, their next stop.

There were over 500 motorcycles on the ride this year, plus a number of "trikes" and "four-wheelers", as the Viet Nam Veterans made their annual cross-country trip from California to Washington, D.C., where they will observe Memorial Day ceremonies at the Viet Nam War Memorial.

I spent some time at the park, visiting, shaking hands and getting hugs. Uplifting!

Who said to... or didn't?

So the IRS is harassing certain Conservative groups, as well as some Evangelical and Jewish groups. People are asking if the White House "ordered" or even "knew of" this activity.

Erick Erickson of Red State explains all of this beautifully today. Erick points out that in 1170, King Henry II of England was troubled by the actions of the Archbishop of Canterbury, one Thomas Beckett. Henry II was quoted as having said words to the effect that "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"

Shortly thereafter, some  of the King's devoted knights, went to the Cathedral and murdered Beckett. There was no proof that Henry II sent them, but that was hardly the point.

With President Obama making such utterances as "if they bring a knife, we bring a gun", and telling Congressional Democrats to "punch back twice as hard" at Republicans, Erickson asks, 'was not Obama asking Will no one rid me of this turbulent group?'

Is it any wonder then that certain loyal Liberal Democrats in an IRS office would try to comply?