2016: OH WELL

"NEVER ARGUE WITH AN IDIOT,

                BECAUSE BYSTANDERS CAN'T

               ALWAYS TELL WHO THE

          IDIOT IS."

                                           Mark Twain

     Another year has passed on and we are all looking forward to a fantastic 2016, well maybe.  We have the wonderful chance to be lied to by candidates, incumbents, and the press about how wonderful they are, how bad their opponents (and their party) are, and how stupid we are.  After all they talk right in front of us on every interview, their advisors talk about the strategies, and we are sitting there listening to it all.

     What is amazing is that we do this and so many just validate their plans by doing just what they say will happen.  Given the examples of the walking around education of students, voters, and people on the streets who do not even know who the pilgrims were, they may be right.

      The rioting (it don't qualify for protesting) on university campuses who a level of education that is defiantly not what mom and dad paid for.  Since I do not have kids I am just amazed that so many parents are so happy to shift the kid off to college and fleece their savings, and indenturing the kid for decades paying loans, that it is still desirable.

      The throwing of money into schools without a real strategy has turned out a huge drop out rate and illiteracy from most inner city schools.  Yet it is also in a degree happening down into more affluent and smaller systems.  The education game has been turned over by states to corporations who have a stake in creating conditions that kids have to be tested more frequently because it makes them more money.

      The dead set attitude that a kid cannot do any kind of work until he reaches sixteen or seventeen has become institutionalized.  The knowledge of how to get up on time, show up on time, look presentable, and be paid as to the effort put in is a thing of the past.  Basic skills that should be instilled by parents at a young age are now subject to special programs so those who cannot go on to higher education can function in the factory environment.

      Critical thinking and values are subjects of ridicule in education today.  The protected position of professors who have well thought out positions and no practical knowledge dominates the collegian scene and any free thought, speech, or questioning is derided.

      Simple basic knowledge of how world history and US History are a foundation for what we enjoy today is not a subject taught without critical slanting.  History is not an opinion it is to be a record.

     As we go into this year be prepared to be ridiculed for your faith, history, simple logic, and wanting straight information not slanted by pundits, theorists, consultants, and those who would call you an idiot and teach your children to think for themselves and not be bullied for any reason.

      Be prepared for those who support the status quo to continue to subvert the Constitution, history, news, Bill of Rights, and continue to call you an idiot at the top of their lungs.

PEACE ON EARTH

"CHRISTMAS IS A SEASON NOT ONLY

OF REJOICING BUT OF

REFLECTION."

                                          Winston Churchill

     It can be difficult to be in the Christmas spirit with all the goings on in the world.  There are so many that will have their Christmas harmed because of the terrible losses that an avowed enemy of those who follow the teachings of the Christ.  The thought of love and peace are so foreign to those who will not receive the joy that is freely given.

     The Christian in the Mideast and other countries have become again a persecuted and martyred people.  The very earliest Christian communities have been turned on by their neighbors and those who set in pews thinking that actually dying for your faith is a real possibility are having a hard time actually talking about it.

     It is so easy to go and set in a pew and hear about those from hundreds of years ago being martyred and being restless in the seat thinking of getting home and opening presents.  What would the fair weather Christian do when the sign of the Nazarene is painted on their door?  How would we all react when it is demanded that you deny your faith or suffer torture and death?

     We get so tied up in the political happenings and the everyday problems that we take for granted and think we are having a bad day.  Do we stop and just be thankful for what we have been given and the life we have?  Would we do so if it all had to be put on the line?

     I get up and see the sunrise over these hills and the problems seem like something out of a movie that can be turned off and just talked about down at the coffee shop.  Looking out the window and seeing the deer and birds gives a sense of well being.  Seeing things that most do not see in their everyday lives gives me pause to be thankful for everything that I have been give through no merit of my own.

     I was born in a country that was fought for and created by thoughtful and God fearing people.  It has paid the price for its existence by the blood of its sons and daughters time and again.  It has been torn apart and had growing pains.  I live in a state that is full of interesting people and so full of wonders that it cannot be all fit in a book.  But it's beauty is subtle and those speeding through it sometimes miss it.  Even those who live here sometimes miss the wonders of Kansas.

     We have people who actually care about their neighbor and do something when required to come to their aid.  If the story would make the news more the quiet kindness of our people would become matter of fact and mundane.  So it is only presented as one piece among all the negative just so the viewer would not just throw up their hands and turn off the bad news and negativness all together.
     For all the angst and anxiety that people deal with on a daily basis if we did not have a bit of redeeming news we would all become total skeptics.  So at least a couple times a year we are able to take refuge in the fact that a baby was born in a stable.  And thirty three years later was hung on a cross so we would have hope and peace.  For all the things that worry and upset us as people the only chance of Peace on Earth is within our hearts.
      As the hubris of the human specie grows to the point to think that it has the power to affect the weather and have power over nations and individuals we get to stop and realize that we don't.  That whatever drives the worries of people is not affected by themselves except when they accept that God is still in charge.  And however things end it will be on his terms and time line.
      So I would like to take this time to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  And this is my View From the Hills.

POTUS

"THREE THINGS CANNOT BE LONG

HIDDEN:  THE SUN, THE MOON,

AND THE TRUTH."

                                                     Buddha

     I was asked by a friend who I hold in very high esteem, for her thoughtfulness, talent, and a quiet attitude of confidence, to not call POTUS Der Furher'.  I am rather sure that my political attitude and hers are quite different.  I have never made similarities or differences a required condition for friendship and respect.  I find that many of my friends who are on the liberal side of thought take my observations with a grain of salt.  I like to sit and learn from those I hold in esteem and profit from the diversified view points of others.

     You may notice that I will not say the name of our Commander in Chief in any of my stories.  My friend has an objection to my referring to him as Der Furher'.  I have this fault of saying things as I see and understand them.  I am so unimpressed with POTUS that if I were to say his name it would be in any number of derogatory names that others use.  I am told I have to support the office rather than the man.

     Of course Der Furher' was the name used for Adolf Hitler.  I am sure I would get the same objection if I used El Ducce.  As the leader of this country the office is suppose to be respected.  When I see our leader bow to a Saudi king, ignore the advisors that he appointed to deal with military matters, appoint a proven liar to be Secretary of State, appoint Attorney Generals that refuse to enforce the law I cannot respect what he does and stands for.

     For a country who was so delighted to show that the days of prejudice and repressed civil rights are over, we have seen a leader that has divided the nation worse than it has been for years.  I cannot respect a man for declaring that this nation is no longer a Christian nation.  When the very basis of our law and foundation of our country is based on Judeo Christian principles, and the guardian of our republic declares us not to be anymore, I cannot respect the man.

     When a leader allows his bureaucracy to circumvent the letter and intent of the law I cannot respect the man.  When the party he leads considers the other party as "the enemy" rather than the 'loyal opposition' I cannot respect that.  When the emphasis of the leader and the group is to destroy the Constitution that allows us as a people to live together peacefully and prevents the unwarranted suspension of our rights, I cannot respect that.

     When a leader threatens to use his phone and a pen to do what he deems is right and cannot even try to come to a solution for issues, I cannot respect that.  When a leader makes a treaty that allows the chief funder of terrorism to not only retrieve money but enables that country to achieve status as a nuclear power, I cannot respect that.

     When the man refuses to call ISIS what it calls its self, I cannot respect that.  When he cannot call radical Islamist terrorist by name, I cannot respect that.  When his definition of compromise is to do everything his way, I cannot respect that.

     Why I call him Der Furher' is that when I see his style of pronouncing what he considers to be his unimpeachable power and raises his chin in defiant superiority to the citizens and opponents, he reminds me of Hitler, Mussolini, and others that feel the power of his office and lord it.

     If you have read my positions in the past you will find that I hold the establishment of the Republican Party in the same disdain as the Democratic Party.  Those who have argument with me many times forget that fact.  I believe that politicians should be limited to two terms, one in office and the other in prison.

     I believed that there can be no rights or freedoms if you cannot be born.  That everyone has personal responsibility and at some point will be made to answer for what they do and believe in this life.  I believe that what a person does or believes should not be infringed if it does not affect the freedom and rights of the person next to them.  I believe that each person is born with a calling and that it is up to each to answer the call and live what should be a fruitful life.

     I believe that the United States should not be the policeman of the world but lead by example, and those who would kill or enslave us for their ideology should be defeated.  I believe that leaders should take office from local to national and believe and understand the oath of 'to protect and defend the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic.'

      I believe that a leader who seeks to disarm the people that he serves and arms those who would attack us as not deserving respect.  I am also disappointed in an electorate that will not exercise it's responsibility to vote and allow those who have no right to dictate the vote.

      As a Representative Republic I abhor those who continue to call our system a Democracy.  Democracy is majority, or mob, rule.  Our Republic respects the rights of those not in the majority but cannot be railroaded by minority groups into abandoning the freedoms and guarantees that our system affords.

      As the attack in California shows that when political correctness and the threat from the Attorney General to prosecute hate speech is allowed to flourish, causes the neighbors that saw the activities of the bomb building factory to go unreported I cannot respect that.

      So to my friend I say I will try not to call Der Furher' Der Furher'.  But I cannot give him the respect that he has stripped from the office of President.  I cannot stop the sickening in my stomach when he ignores what is wrong in the world and pursues 'climate change'.  When an enemy tells us what they are doing and it is ignored by the President, I cannot respect that.

     I will respect our institutions and our leaders, including the press, when the rights of the citizen, country, and sovereignty are placed once again as how the United States of America opposes evil in the world.

MINDLESS

"WE HANG PETTY THIEVES

                AND APPOINT THE GREAT ONES

 TO PUBLIC OFFICE."

                                                        Aesop

     It is maddening when you do not even have to listen to someone to know how they are going to react to something tragic.  When I caught the news of what was happening in San Bernardino I knew that to get the real story it was going to take a lot of time and elimination.  Time to take in the happenings that you could see and the reports of officials, witnesses, and the cameras actually recording what was going on.

     Watching the reporting and the reactions of people who had no idea what was really going on was irritating because of the agenda that these people would immediately add to the narrative and use a bad situation for their own point of view and agenda.

     Der Furher' immediately started calling for gun control before any information was actually known yet.  Plus the fact that the incident was the result of climate change.

     PMSNBC gave an immediate report that there was no gunfire near the local Planned Parenthood office.

     CBS interviewing Speaker of the House Paul Ryan pressed hard for a meeting with Der Furher about gun loop holes.

     Fox would quote other sources as to preliminary information and would not put it in the narrative until it could be confirmed by at least two sources.

     NBC I could not bring myself to watch because I am fighting a cold and my stomach just would not take the narrative that comes from them.
     Barbra Boxer Senator from California stated after the attack "that gun control works and California has proven that."
      Head of the Democratic party says that the NRA is responsible for the attack.
      Even after finding a bomb factory in the two Muslim attackers home, shoot out with an exchange of around 400 rounds of ammunition, 14 dead and 21 injured, the spokesmen and journalists (I use that term loosely) state that they are not sure it is not work place violence.
     Not knowing who the attackers were the CAIR group trotted out the brother in law and statements from the family at almost the same time the names were released to the public.
       Just take all these things change the names, location and you can quote the same people with the same statements without even listening.
      I just can't wait for Der Furher to have an international meeting about climate change in San Bernardino like he did in Paris.

     I am just curious that every time something terrible happens everyone that depends on the protection of the constitution become so eager for it to be thrown out.

PREPAREDNESS

"THE THREAT FROM EXTREME WEATHER

                  EVENTS HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE

                       OF INVESTING IN PREPAREDNESS."

                                                           Sheri Fink

      There is nothing like a good old fashioned ice storm to shake up we who think we are prepared for about anything.  Well it proves we are not, and if we are not prepared for an ice storm how many other things are we just not able to cope with very well?

      All of the stores make a killing from those who run in for portable 3500 to 5000 watt generators.  Well those little things may keep a refrigerator running and your freezer if you are willing to keep moving extension chords around.  How many know that when you tie a generator into your system you have to throw the main switch off?  If you tie into you house wiring in some way you are feeding current back into the system and a repairman is going to be electrocuted.  Every year there are linemen killed from someone who has no idea what they are doing putting power back into the lines.

     Unless you are a Master or Journeyman electrician you have no business hooking a temporary generator into your house or building.  Also that small generator will not fire up your heat pump.  There is going to be more damage to electronics when last minute fixes are attempted.

      If power outages are common or even if you do not want to go the route of the portable generator under lousy conditions, invest in a permanent generator that carries the whole load for you place.  Yes it is pricy but not as much as defending a legal action for injuring or killing someone.

     Now a generator gives a lot of comfort when the weather is nice and nothing is going wrong and cutting power in your neighborhood.  But even a permanent generator set is not without flaw.  The generator that we have had for 8 years, with only 350 hours on it, decided to throw the bearings or a rod through the oil pan during this last power outage.  So you still have to be prepared for when your preparation plans don't work.

      The word 'prepper' has become a derisive label in some circles.  Those who decide to prepare for the worst are often laughed at or derided.  TV shows have been made about the extreme things some do to be prepared.  Well just look at the film footage about Black Friday.  If people will act stupid and fight for TV's and computer games what do you think it would be like at the grocery store?  A big snow storm finds the shelves cleaned off in a couple of days in the grocery stores.  That is just for things to last a few days.  There are not warehouses in the back of your stores, all stock comes by truck once a week.

      Many still can and put up food and staples like your grandmothers did before the supermarket was created to sell anything you needed.  A household had to have the basics of life put up to last until next garden season and butcher time.  You don't look back and call them silly.

      I remember the story told by the 93 year old ranchers wife up in Wyoming.  Since the paved road to town was 53 miles they went to town only a couple times a year.  When asked about the supplies she lays in when she get to town she replied "I load up on toilet paper and a case of whiskey, if you have that you can get by pretty well".

      We have had to take our planning for problems to a serious level after this ice storm.  We simply said before that we needed to prepare.  And how many things can go wrong?  Think it is time to quit acting like the grass hopper and a little more like the ant.

TIME, PATIENCE, AND THEN WHAT?

"PATIENCE HAS IT'S LIMITS.

TAKE IT TOO FAR,

                              AND IT'S COWARDICE."

                                                         George Jackson

     I have lived six decades.  Of course to some that makes me a pup and to others it makes me an old fart.  Some would even call me a curmudgeon. I have had a lot of interests and done many things.  I once had a resume made for myself.  When it was finished the woman that put the facts into some sort of order, that would be understandable to anyone considering me for something useful, had one comment to make.  "According to your resume you have led a very impressive life".  My response to that was "yes maybe, but it could also be construed that 'that joker couldn't hold down a job'."

     I have a life long interest in history.  I love knowing what made things happen the way they did.  I know that our fore-fathers and mothers were a whole lot tougher than we are.

     I do also realize that politicians have not changed any in hundreds of years.  I also have a disgust for the way that the press has acted for all the years of our great experiment in freedom having shaded the truth for their particular outlook and opinion.  That is why news reporting cannot be the sole guide for figuring out what happened in history and why.  It is almost certain that the generation that records history has to pass away before the digging can begin to get at the truth.  And then the record can be shaded according to the opinion of the researcher.

     I always loved the statement made by the police detective Joe Friday on the TV show Dragnet.  "Just the facts".  Building history is like a great detective case, you have to build the case.

     Now I can be a patient person.  I have to be.  BUT there is something that bothers me!

     Since I was born in the 1950's I have always heard the term 'DEVELOPING COUNTRY'.  Generally in reference to countries that are at the outset poor.  Many were colonies.  Many have been conquered many times over by aggressors, dictators, and invaders.

     So how long does it take for a 'developing' country to ever get there?  I don't know.  It seems that as a nation we have been helping 'developing countries' forever.  It seems that the powers that be around the world are happy to have a large part of the world as developing.

     As a nation who is first and foremost always there for those who are not achieving success, we are demonized not only by other countries but by those with agendas in our own country.

     Can a developing country ever develop if it is used as a cheap source of labor?  What is so hard about building a society in a developing country into a self sustaining and self respecting country?  Many clichés can be used here.  But I believe that it seems to be the interest of many that ignorance, poverty, and oppression serves their agenda better than prosperity.

     Most of the people of the United States are fed up by politicians, bureaucrats, and lobbyists that keep the money flowing to everywhere in the world and cut the essentials here at home.

      Foreign Aid seems to be a no brainer to be able to get spending under control but it is not allowed to be determined by the congress who gets all the money.  The package is passed whole or not at all.  This is not only wrong but stinks to high heaven.  And both parties are to blame.

     As a student of history I have to go back to the intent of the founding fathers.  In all the annals of history there has not been a group of people who saw so far into the future and tried to provide for and defend against those who would tear down what we so dearly love and enjoy.

     My patience has been pushed too far for members of congress spending a lifetime in office beholding to no one other than who pays the most.  If a true statesman would rise up attempting to take back control and put the country back to the point of where it leads by example, he would be taken down.

     My patience with those who manipulate the education of our people, seek to take control of all aspects of our lives, and replace individual responsibility with rules and regulations, is gone.

     When freedom of speech has been reduced to freedom for you to agree with the correct thought, it is too much.  When freedom to worship is replaced by enforced humanism, it is too much.  When your property and money can be taken by accusation rather than conviction, it is too much.  When you disagree with the point of view of those that are the loudest and that makes you a bigot, it is too much.

     When a group of people repeatedly say that they want to kill and destroy you, your family, and everything you stand for, it is too much.

     As the cartoon once said with one vulture talking to another "PATIENCE MY FOOT, I AM GOING TO KILL SOMETHING."

WORDS HAVE MEANING

"THOSE WHO DON'T STUDY HISTORY

               ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT.  YET THOSE

 WHO DO STUDY HISTORY

                          ARE DOOMED TO STAND BY HELPLESSLY

                    WHILE EVERYONE ELSE

                   REPEATS IT."

                                          unknown

      The first part of this quote is attributed to several people including Edmund Burke, and George Santayana.  Many others have said it in various forms and is one of my favorite quotes.  Yet I found it in this form in a cartoon.  Picture a depressed historian setting in his study visiting with another speaking these words.  That is how those who have taken words seriously and look past the politically correct feel.

     We have been taught distorted and misconstrued stories even by those who should, and do know better.  Now we have hacks who lecture us their only qualifications being that they are either elected to office or self appointed to 'inform' us as the press.

     The press who was designed by the founders as the fourth unofficial part of our republics government have shirked the constitutional protections that they enjoy and advocate the repeal of other guarantees to others.  And how are future journalists being trained?  Go to the film of the protests of the rioters at the University of Missouri.  Watch the screaming hateful woman calling for "muscle" to remove the reporter from filming the protest.  A professor of journalism at the school.  One who teaches about using the first amendment insisting that it be denied to another.

     Words do matter.  When a government can not call a group what they call themselves.  When they ignore the very words that the people say.  To use misdirection and lies to divert the attention that any thinking person knows is wrong, there is an agenda.

     So many are surprised at what happened in Paris.  Not really, only those who keep perpetuating these politically correct lines and views.  Most of the things that have happened and are happening are no surprise to anyone who actually listens to what is said.  And then see the actions that those who promise to kill us and burn us, it is no surprise.

     One commentator has been listing and predicting everything that has been happening for ten years and the mainline media and political machines have all called him crazy.  Yet no one is admitting that they were wrong and the 'crazy' ones.

     I am reminded of a quote of a comedian "you can't fix stupid".  It is no laughing matter now.  I see this stupidity displayed on a daily basis by people who try to convince you and me that they know more than what we hear and see.

      It is amusing to me setting out here on the hill and when I go somewhere and am recognized all the support that I am getting for my thoughts.  The flack I used to receive has either gone silent or they just give up on scolding me for my opinion.  I see this as a great source of encouragement.  It also gives me a little hope that people when prompted can think for themselves and not get their talking points each morning from a political group.

      It is gratifying for me to hear someone tell me "I don't necessarily agree with you but you made me think.  Thanks.

     Words do matter.

FAMILY

4

     If you do not know what 4 is then maybe you should watch the local news a little more often.  4 became a sad note in Kansas history last week.  I am tired of the usage of the term "it takes a village".  That phrase does not mean what it purports to.  It is a political term that is used for too many reasons that are not what we as people are.

     We are family; as Kansans, Christians, football fans, supporters of high school athletics.  The loss of such a bright light with so much ahead and so much to give is heart breaking.

     All too often today we hear of young athletes that are injured or lose their life un-expectantly.  The same week a 6th grade football player in practice was running normal training and was taking a break drinking Gatorade.  He was setting on his helmet and just fell forward dead.  There was two soccer players at Winfield that collided, one was flown to Wichita with a head injury and the other taken to a local hospital with a broken leg.

     It is all sad and it is too easy to start ranting and raving about athletics and how these things should not happen.  There is nothing I can say that will give comfort to any of the family or friends.  I can feel bad about the happenings.  I can offer a prayer.

     I go back and remember when I played football and wrestled in school.  Our physical exams consisted of going to the local Doc's.  He would ask "did you walk in?  Are you breathing?  pay the receptionist here is your form."

     I don't know much but as a former EMT I hold the opinion that a simple EKG could find a few of the heart defects that seem to be a large part of the deaths each year.  I know that the KSHSAA should give direction to require better screening.  I know that a school that can justify $600,000 for an Astro Turf field should consider a little better screening of their athletes.

      We can always discuss the shoulda, woulda, coulda's.  But that won't bring back a great kid or help anyone to grieve.

     I have never been to Sharon Springs but feel the loss anyway.  I am proud of all the teams around the state that honored number 4 and all the prayers for him and the friends and family.

     We have to be satisfied that we won't know why these things happen.  We just know we have to come together as family.

EXPERTS

"HUBRIS AND SCIENCE ARE

INCOMPATIBLE"

                                              Douglas Preston

     The number of experts sometimes amazes me.  Especially concerning how farmers and ranchers manage to feed the world without the indispensable input from experts who never have raised, processed, or produced anything.  The qualifiers for trying to dominate how things are done seems to be just an opinion or mimicking someone else's viewpoint so they can just sound important.  Or cool.

      Special interest groups seem to be forcing themselves into the conversation on just about everything today, whether they know what they are talking about or not. 

      Just think for a minute, who needs and wants the food supply to be the safest, most nutritious, and available possible?  The producers.

      Will an animal thrive on mistreatment, poor nutrition, or mishandling?  No.

      Can a crop thrive on worn out soil or in weed infested fields?  No.

      Can a crop thrive when infested with pests?  No.

      Would you not use every effective treatment for a sick animal to restore it to health?  Yes.

     Would you feed yourself, your family, your friends, or your customers with food you produce that is dangerous, inferior, or substandard?  No.

      When you are sick would you go to the man at the service station for treatment?  No.

     When you are threatened would you call the dentist to come protect you and your family?  No.

      Would you call the Sheriff to send someone out and feed your stock and milk your herd because you are going out of town for a week?  No.

     Would you trust your spiritual well being to the lawyer down on main street?  No.

      So why do you put your faith in McDonald's to dictate how it's beef is grown?  Why would you put your trust in the United Nations to put forth the plan they control how agriculture will work in the future?  Why would you believe the claims of the Sierra Club on climate matters when scientific facts are not produced by them when pressed?  And the climate is being used to determine how your agriculture is going to be permitted to operate in the future?

      Why would you care how a sandwich restaurant tries to dictate how the meat is raised that goes into their product, when their meat is mostly turkey manipulated to imitate the product you ask for?  Why would you allow the EPA take control of the water that runs across your land when they allow California to dry up and agriculture to die, all the while allowing trillions of gallons of water to run into the ocean?

     Would you trust your water to an agency that caused the most toxic spill to foul a pristine river?  As the affected people downstream asked the agency for help and they say that the heavy metals and poisons were "safe for human consumption?"  No.
     Why would you allow the EPA to have a standing SWAT TEAM to enforce rules they formulate, not how the law is written?  Why would you let them have a SWAT TEAM at all?

     When you want to purchase or raise your food organically that is a choice you freely make.  If concerned about the safety of your food that is your right to question.  And a producer who wants his product purchased and consumed by his customers, and his family, will freely do his best.

     It benefits no one to allow poor quality, dangerous, or inferior products to be stamped with the producers name on it.

     Experts are those trained and who are in the field of research and production.  Not the object of a national organization, or international, who clearly have political motives about control and not quality.

     Why would you listen to 'experts' that have no credentials?

SELF AWARENESS

"PAIR OFF IN THREES"

                                Yogi Berra

     Just some observations here.  Do people ever look at themselves or listen to what they say on TV? 

      Weather people have got to be the most not aware of what they say and do.  Next comes TV news reporters.  Not naming names but one weatherman I give this advise:  Unbutton that jacket, when that button pops off it may knock out a lens or your director.  To several weather women:  Really, get someone with taste to pick out your clothes today.

     Here in Kansas we are never "Plagued" by rain unless your car is floating away and we have had rain for months.  Stop saying that!  I don't care if the little league has to cancel today. 

     Weather people, your fascination with where the weather went is not as important as where it is coming from.  Rain in Southeast Kansas is not in your viewing area, they cannot hear you.  Storms to the southwest line up on your town.

     Check the squelch on your radar.  When you show rain every day on the radar in northwest Kansas and they are still in the drought zone three months later means they did not get that rain.

     When the light rain you show on radar may not be hitting the ground, THAT IS A CLOUD!  When you show heavy rain over a spot you might want to check the area, the last 10 rains over us were not there.  Maybe you could check the accuracy of the radar location wise.  Google maps can't find anything out here, is your radar calculated off of them?

     There is no dramatic value to me or most people to stand by the side of a snowy road and point at the ground and tell us "this is snow".  We know what snow looks like.

     When reporting on floods and telling the public to stay out of the water you look ridiculous standing up to your waist in it and saying 10 inches could sweep you away.  Or standing in three inches of water and saying it used to be up to there.  Really!

     Quit telling people to not try to get a good picture of a tornado when you are running people off the road to get a good picture of a tornado.

      News people, if you are reporting from the scene of a crime from a half mile, or blocks away, the picture of a cop car running it's lights blocking anyone from getting closer is not news.  Pointing down the street and not seeing anything does not impress when you say it is going on down there and we cannot get any closer.

     Advertisers, there are a precious few that can make a cute commercial that gets our interest or makes us laugh.  The  rest just tick us off.  You think I am going to do business with someone that irritates me?  Doing the big box store commercial, when the 2x4 is pulled off the shelf, don't you think pulling the scabbiest one off the pile is not a good representation of quality?

     I have never and never will do business with car dealers that have to scream and act like idiots.

     And remember when the 'law' was passed that the commercials could not be turned up louder than the regular programing?  Well where is the prosecution of that because the ads still blare?

     Cable and satellite TV companies.  Do you even watch the worthless programming?  Who really comes up with the subjects of these shows?  It is beyond belief that I can have 500 channels of programing paying absorbent prices and have times that there is NOTHING on to watch.

     Finally network news people.  A little truth in reporting would be nice.  I don't give one whit what you or your boss want to support or attack.  We just want the facts.  As unreasonable as this may sound to you, we can make up our own mind if given the straight information.

     If you don't agree with this, I quote Yogi Bara again, "I really didn't say everything I said".

I AM ANGRY

"THE WORLD NEEDS ANGER. 

 THE WORLD OFTEN CONTINUES

TO ALLOW EVIL BECAUSE

IT ISN'T ANGRY ENOUGH."

                                             Bede Jarrett

     I am angry and I will not apologize.  I have had an ongoing hate with the most insidious word in the human language, CANCER.

     I have related before that I have lost both Grandmothers, and most of my closest friends to cancer.  It has been such a soul wrenching experience that the continued fund raising for the cure, that has gone on all my life that I can remember, seems to have been to build a multi billion dollar industry.  You may think that I have gotten cynical.  Well yes I have.

     Two of my friends I could have held in my arms like a small child as the insidious disease wasted their bodies away before our eyes.  And the pain they felt cut through the soul.

     We lost one of our families best friends not long ago to the beast of cancer.  As the learned specialist assaulted her body with treatments it turned out that the body took the hit and the cancer thrived.  It is hard not to be totally angered by the system.

     I know that there are good people that are doing their best to beat this scourge of mankind.  But I am hardened that with all the money thrown at these problems, the last thing that was really totally beaten was Polio.  Even it is making a comeback because of laxness of people.

      What brings this to a head for me?  You may or may not know who Joey and Rory Feek are.  They are a really talented and entertaining couple who is in Country Music (the real country music).  They have a TV show on RFD TV.  Rory is from Kansas so ties us to his success.  We love to see Kansans do well.  Rory is a successful singer and song writer who has made a mark in Nashville.  Joey is his equally talented wife.  They live on a farm in Tennessee and have a music venue on the farm that they do a lot of great things from.  They are just plain nice people that you would love to have for a neighbor.

     I have never had the opportunity to personally meet the couple.  My music circle has not allowed the meeting to happen.  But I am a fan and as all fans have followed the pregnancy of Joey and the birth of their daughter who has Downs Syndrome.

     Not long ago cancer was detected in Joey.  She has had surgery and has been undergoing treatment.  The latest scan showed that the tumors have returned and many more have appeared. 

     They have had the dreaded conversation that no one ever wants to have with their doctor.  The "I'm sorry but" conversation.

     They have a time expectancy.  They came home and threw away the calendar and are concentrating on living not dying.  Which leaves only one thing that I and anyone else can do.  PRAY.

     Just as I do not want to see one more person die from war, accident, crime, and more.  I do not want to see someone die from cancer.  Can we be so impersonal that we can accept another death from something, that we as a people, are given talents from God to overcome?

     We know that we start to die the moment we are born.  Some believe that our 'expiration' date is set before hand.  But given free choice from our creator has to mean that there is a choice, be it ours or someone who is ordained to move that time back.  Doctors and scientists have worked under the mission to do this.  It seems that to a skeptic and someone who is angry that other things have come into play.  We kill our unborn, play bloody online games, engage in destructive behavior, encourage suicide, and relegate the aged to warehouses.

    Yes I am angry.  I would hope that that anger could be directed in a satisfactory direction.  In the meantime I Pray for Joey Feek, Rory, their family and friends.  Normally I try to not write when angry.  This time I think it is appropriate.

AGEING GRACEFULLY

"I AM NOT GOING TO EXPLOIT, FOR

POLITICAL PURPOSES, MY OPPONENT'S

YOUTH AND INEXPERIENCE"

                                                   Ronald Reagan

     One of the side affects of aging is that all the things you had been wanting to do all your life is now out of the question.  Giving up dreams is very hard to do.  When you are young and bull headed it is just a matter of how much you want it and how hard you are willing to work for it.

     A lot of times things happen that just get in the way of what you want to do.  Like having kids or facing health problems.  Or getting so tied up and invested in a job that it precludes doing what is in your heart.

     Now this is a mixed bag.  When it comes down to it, it is not all about you.  But today people think it is.  Things like responsibility, intelligence, faith, hope just seem to be a concept from a bygone era.

      It used to be that a person would find a vocation and expect to stay with it for the rest of his working life.  All the while dreaming and pondering on what he will do when he retires.  So many retirees I have visited with all have the same thing to say.  "Do it while you are able to". 

     How many people have you known that waited for retirement and either lost their health or died?  How many retired and within weeks or months they were dead or debilitated?  How many retirees have you known that went to the rocking chair and aged before your eyes?

     Those who do make it start noticing all their friends dying off and those who's company they enjoyed became bitter and withdrawn.  There is also the ones that become curmudgeons.  Grumpy and opinionated and not able to get along with themselves let alone others.

     If you notice that you are starting to stiffen or having health problems. If you find the discussions that all are about health now, (didn't that drive you crazy when you were young?), it is time to be self aware.  If you did not blow your savings on a new corvette or girl friend, you made it through the middle aged madness?  It is time to start ageing gracefully.

     You have a lifetime of experiences that you can share if you are pleasant enough for others to be around.  Use a little tact, you did not take advice from old fogies when you were young, but when you wanted a little advice from someone you respected it was given freely.  Wait til you are asked.

      When you are drinking coffee at the Liars Club and solving the problems of the world maybe a little more listening and less lecturing will give what knowledge you have a chance to be taken a little more seriously.  A little awareness and thoughtfulness goes a long way.  And maybe someone may actually listen to you.

THE MEN WHO RIDE NO MORE

"EVERY MAN HAS HIS SECRET SORROWS

WHICH THE WORLD KNOWS NOT;

AND OFTEN TIMES WE CALL A

MAN COLD WHEN HE IS

ONLY SAD."

                                                       Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

     I started writing poetry as a way to deal with the sudden loss of a very good friend.  It was a loss that had started some time before when my best friends started to die.  The most of which were from cancer.  Youth has a way of shaking off loss because there is always the prospect of tomorrow and the optimism that we are bullet proof.  When you look back it begins to dawn on you that it was amazing that we have made it this far considering all the crazy things we did.

     I did have the advantage of building a wall around my emotions because of the work I did on the fire department and ambulance.  You deal with people at their best and worst.  And though you always try to help you soon learn that there are times when your best is not good enough.  If you took to heart every tragedy that you dealt with on a regular basis it would drive you crazy.  So you deal with the things you see that no one should and build a shell and a strange sense of humor to cope.

      There were times that all the shielding in the world would not stop a knife being plunged into your soul.  That was the kids.  There was no callousness that could stop the pain of losing a kid or dealing with severe injury.  I am sure that this was among the many influences in my life as to how I arrived where I am now.  I guess this is why I don't understand the thinking of anyone who supports abortion.  I have seen how fragile life is and how valuable it is.  And how I would work to exhaustion at times to preserve a life.

     Losing friends and aging has a way of opening your mind to many things that you kept bottled up.  Poetry and music was a way to deal with it and it is something that I enjoy doing.  I would have liked to be able to put more time and energy into my entertaining and writing but there are many things that demand my time.  So I have to appreciate the friends that I have in the music industry and the fact that they have allowed me into their world.

     There is an old saying and it was put into poetry and song by many about old cowboys that "he never sold his saddle".  I have my custom built saddle sitting in the shed and it will be the last thing that goes and that is, hopefully, after I am gone.  Above all the many things I have done in my life it was working on the farm and ranch that defines me the most.  Some may laugh at me loving the cowboy life I hope when I am gone there will be a few that thinks I was a fair hand.

     I was listening to the radio online today to my buddy the WESTERN BELLE on COWTRAILS.  It is a program of cowboy and western music on the public radio station in Mancos Colorado.  Belle, or Barb Richhart, and I have become good friends through the music and declining health.  She is on KSJD FM Radio.  Once in a while she will play a cut off my CD and sends messages out when she knows I am listening.

     Today my favorite cowboy poem was read.  It is one of those things that you wish you had written.  It hits so close to home for both myself and many that I have been friends with and have known.  It is called 'THE MEN WHO RIDE NO MORE'. 

     It was written by Joel Nelson, a Texas horse breaker and cowboy.  He is also in demand for his poetry that he writes and performs in a style that you know he is the real thing.  He was on his way to Hawaii to break horses for a ranch and stopped into a nursing home to visit an old cowboy.  It was his first time in a care home.  What he saw weighed on his mind and he wrote the poem.

THE MEN WHO RIDE NO MORE

"Bronc to Breakfast" calendars hang faded on the walls

There's a lost and aimless wandering through the corridors and halls

Of slippered feet that shuffle on a waxed and polished floor

And vacant stares of emptiness from the men who ride no more

Men who once rode proudly-men with long straight backs

Men who covered hill and plain with steel shod horses tracks

Now pass their idle days in rooms with numbers on the door

With orderlies and nurses for the men who ride no more

Time was when spur rowels jingled when boot heels bumped the floor

Dawns with hot black coffee and saddling up at four

With feet in tapaderos and broncs between their knees

And silken neck scarves snapping as they turned into the breeze

From full-blown living legends true to riding for the brand

To the scarcely mediocre who could hardly make a hand

They would gather for the branding or the shipping in the fall

Now it's walker, cane, and wheelchair in the antiseptic hall

And they all have their mementos on the table by their side

Like a cracked and fading snapshot of a horse he usta ride

Or standing with the wife beside a thirty-seven Ford

A high-heeled boot hooked nonchalant on a muddy running board

Just instants frozen from the past that somehow give a clue

To who and what they were before their riding days were through

Horseback men with horseback rules from horseback days of yore

their one and only wish would be to somehow ride once more

To once more rope a soggy calf and drag it to the fire

To long-trot for half a day and see no post or wire

To ride a morning circle-catch a fresh one out at noon

And trot him in when the day was done to the rising of the moon

To put in one more horseback day and have just one more chance

To ride home to a pretty wife and drive her to the dance

To take her hand and hold her close and waltz across the floor

Before the time to join the ranks of the men who ride no more
Joel Nelson

THE EMPORER HAS NO CLOTHES

"HOW SMOOTH MUST THE LANGUAGE OF

THE WHITES, WHEN THEY CAN MAKE

RIGHT LOOK LIKE WRONG, AND

WRONG LIKE RIGHT."

                                 Black Hawk, Sauk

     What has been happening at the hand of government that has no basis in right and honorable is lamented by many.  However, when the wrongs of the past are continued by a government that has no sense of right, wrong, decency, and morality, there should be outrage.  And those who raise the issues of the past the most are guilty of perpetuating the wrongs today.

     The disaster of the Gold King Mine that released millions of gallons of toxic chemicals into the Animas River was done by and with the forewarned knowledge of the EPA.  Warnings were there before they commandeered the mine and started the process of disaster.  Even a week before it happened a geologist sent a letter to the Leadville CO. newspaper warning of the disaster.  Checking the papers web site the first thing that is shown is "Yes we printed that letter".  The volume of inquiries prompted them to post this to save the time of responding to each request and reference of the paper for that week.

      Had this been caused by any private company there would be a major uproar.  Investigations would be held, jobs would be lost and indictments made.  Yet no official has lost their job or faces criminal charges.

     Yet as the yellow poison flowed down the river focus was on the immediate area.  The major part of the river flows through the Navaho Reservation and they were given no notice.  And when asking for help received more from private organizations that the government that caused the problem.  On a reservation that has grinding poverty and a history of the brutal treatment of the tribe the government continues the indifference and miserable treatment of the people.

     According to the President and Vice President of the Navajo Nation there has been virtually no return of calls or action from the government.  Their farmers and ranchers are being devastated and the one's that caused the problem are doing nothing. 

     Worse yet the Animas River flows into a slow moving river where the poisons will settle out and cause long term problems.  It is not safe for human or animal to drink the water.  The organic production that the Navajo farmers and ranchers live by has been ruined.  And the little that was done for them was withdrawn after the spotlight was gone.  Now it is back to business as usual.

     It has been ignored and nothing done on the same reservation about radioactive uranium spills on reservation land.  As bad as this is it is not isolated.  At the same time on Apache Reservation land the Government with the backing of John McCain, AZ state senator, a mine is being started by outside companies with no permission or input from the tribal council.

     Is it any mystery that the persistent mental state of the native people is of a defeated people?  People pay lip service to the atrocities of the past and yet still perpetuate the wrongs today.  Native people were herded onto the worst land that no one wanted originally and when value is found on that land it is stolen from the tribes again.

     We live here in the center of the country and have minimal contact with the sheer might of the all powerful central government.  Many even support the ability of government to make all decisions of how to live.  We should take warning from the continued treatment of those being run over by a government that uses its power to ignore science and commons sense and justify what ever it wants to do.

     Yet to come:  The replacement of UN Agenda 21 with Agenda 2030.

WHEW!!!!!!!!!

"SOME PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS GRUMBLING

BECAUSE ROSES HAVE THORNS;

I AM THANKFUL THAT THORNS

HAVE ROSES".
                                Alphonse Karr

     Did you hear that big sigh of relief Sunday afternoon around 4:30.  Well if you did that was the big WHEW that ends the 2015 Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Pageant.  Mark it on the calendar four years from now for the next one.  On Monday morning, after I am sure is a late wake up, Kay Kuhn (executive director) will be busy making notes and starting on the next one.

      The numbers are not in but for a community to take on an event, that is known worldwide, is an undertaking that the original founders may not have considered.  It is an event that focuses people, who may not always see eye to eye, to work on a common project that is a huge heritage for the area.

      Visitors from all over the United States, and the world, come to see the story of the 300 years of history here in the Gypsum Hills.  The number of events requires workers and organizers that come together from a wide range of volunteers.  Many friends and family come home to play a part.  The amount of behind the scenes things that have to be done is astounding.

      When you literally double the population of the county for three days there are hundreds of details that have to come together.  Safety is one.  The Sheriff, Medicine Lodge PD, and outside agencies come together to make sure things run smooth.  Lines trying to park for the Pageant itself can back up over a mile in each direction on US 160 highway.  You have to get everyone into the parking as well as keep the regular traffic moving on the state highway.

     We made it this year without a major auto accident and we are grateful for this.  All the EMS crews were on duty as well as the Life Flight Helicopter crew in case of medical emergencies.  Even with the added precautions against accidents there was a larger number of people brought into the Emergency room.  There were patients transported to Pratt by EMS as well as a helicopter transport to Wichita, and a ground transport to Wichita all on Saturday alone.  Everything went smoothly because of preplanning and team work.

     Barber County Fire Dist. and Medicine Lodge Fire were on duty and were not needed for anything major.  Over all it was a great event.

     If you came and did not do everything don't feel bad.  There was so much going on it was impossible to do it all.  There was a great parade all three days, night shows, new shops open, food vendors, helicopter rides, art showings, our own Navy Seal free falling into the football game and the Sat. parade.  The Stockade and Carey Nation house had activities and author book signings, plus lots of things for kids to do.  The Kansas State Ranch Rodeo Championship and trade show on Friday and Sat. night.

     At one time it was stated that it takes 5000 people to be involved with everything that goes on during this weekend.  In a county of 4500 you can see how much organization and volunteerism it takes.  With 28 pieces of rolling stock for the pageant alone plus the teams and saddle horses, a lot has to be practiced for a long time before this all comes together.

     Thanks to a great lady from the Mid American All Indian Center we have a permanent Pow Wow that takes place every year now at the City park.  Thanks to a lot of volunteer work and a grant of $75,000 from an un-named donor there is a new permanent Pow Wow facility.  The crowds were great at the Indian Village and the Pow Wow this year.

     The Longhorn cattle that is in the pageant is driven from Bucklin Kansas starting a week ahead.  Gypsum Hill Trail Rides at the Gant-Larson Ranch played host to the TV program BEST OF AMERICA BY HORSE BACK from the RFD Channel.  Look for the pageant and trail riding on TV later on RFD Channel.  Western music star, Hall of Fame member, and real cowboy, RW Hampton was the announcer for the Ranch Rodeo and performed several times.  It was great for him to be back to see all his old friends here and his family had a great time.

     There were so many small unnoticed acts of kindness that took place all over everyone was at their best.  A lot of us are older and more restricted than we like to admit and there was always someone close by to jump in and help everyone that started to get in a little over their head and needed assistance.

     Every group in town was involved in either breakfasts, concessions, and providing overflow camping.  One pastors kids come from California for every pageant to make the donuts for the breakfast that the church sponsors.  Almost every home in town had visitors staying with them and all accommodations were full.  As well as the hotels and motels in neighboring communities.

     I do not think I am stepping over my bounds to speak for everyone involved to say a big THANK YOU to all the visitors and everyone that is involved.

LONELY

"THE LONELY BECOME EITHER

THOUGHTFUL OR EMPTY".

                                                              Mason Cooley

      The fact that I have never been married can result in many feelings that can include lonely.  But there are many forms of lonely and this country is having a crisis where the individual is being pushed to conform to the  politically correct or be ostracized and isolated.  But to be an individual can also be isolating from people who are in general agreement with your positions but do not like the way you speak or write them.

     The norm now is to be worried about standing for what you really believe.  As a rule I have had a great experience putting my opinions and observations into print.  I have also received my share of flack from those opposed as well as those who are supporters.

     We get news today from so many sources that it is hard to determine which is legitimate and what is deliberately masquerading as reality.  I see so much hate that comes from people who listen or read out of context bites.  When I put my opinions out I try to research as much as I can and I have made some mistakes.  I am human, what did you expect?  I will continue to make mistakes.  But I will still try to give you a thoughtful view from where I set.  Which has the backdrop of these wonderful hills and makes it difficult to believe that the things are happening in the world that are.

     I will not compare myself to any great person in history but there has to be someone that will raise their voice as Dietrich Bonheoffer did in Nazi Germany.  We have become so desensitized to evil from the incredible exposure of fiction that we do not distinguish between evil and good.  This time there will be no excuse of not knowing what is happening.

      But when I put forth an observation I risk even offending my friends.  What will be labeled 'hate speech' is beyond my control.  I suggest that whomever you believe to be a total clown and despicable that you listen to everything in context and with a desire to discern right from wrong, good from evil.

     If this leaves me or you lonely I guess that is just the way it is.  Loneliness can be in a crowd or by yourself.  So be it.

     We kill the unborn and stand by and tolerate the selling of the parts for a huge profit.  We see video after video where Planned Parenthood officials make jokes about the dead, or not just dead yet, infants.  And our tax money is used to support them without our consent.  We see the people doing it regarding it with total indifference.  Yet we are ridiculed when we do point it out and demand it be stopped.

      We watch people being beheaded, burnt, drowned, blown up, all in the name of a religion from the 8th century and do nothing about it.  Even when they promise to bring it to our own shores.  And we allow a government totally out of control bring these people here to settle in the name of being humane.  Yet a Christian family cannot seek refuge here and a well known personality who has some values is ridiculed for, and is willing, to meet these refugees and walk them across our border.
     300 cities in the US refuse to cooperate or enforce immigration laws and as a result we have murders from illegal's who come back after being deported time and again.  Also the worst gangs of the inner cities are swelling in size from the members coming from across the border.
     Universities allow no discourse of anything that goes against the official speak that they promote.  They give students 'rights' to be free from free expression.  Students are loaded with wrong, vial, and tainted information, loaded with debt and turned loose to find out in the real world it takes knowledge, effort, curiosity, and information to make it.
     God is banned from everything then when evil happens there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth and yet no one invites God back in.  Standing for principles is bashed because of the life that was lead before being saved.  God forgives but men don't.
     So if you insist on speaking the truth as you understand it be the lone voice in the wilderness.  It is not so bad out here.
     Groups that have demanded recognition of our country are speaking for and advocating the killing of cops.  And the start of a race war, yet go untouched.  And to oppose them is considered racist.
      Is it so bad to want a president, congress, and supreme court that recognizes the Constitution and return this country to greatness?  Is it so bad to desire candidates that do not scoff at the law and rules as applying to someone else and not them?  Is it so bad to want the thought of attacking our country and our people to be made so frightening that war is not a choice?
     Sometimes the old Roy Orbison song (Only the Lonely) hits pretty close to home.

RETROSPECTIVE

"IF FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS TAKEN

AWAY THEN DUMB AND SILENT

WE MAY BE LED, LIKE SHEEP

TO THE SLAUGHTER."

                                              George Washington

     I write this on September 11, 2015, I do not know when I will post it or when you will see it.  This date is one of those dates, that they say you will always know where you were at and what you were doing when the news happened.

      I remember that the day the space shuttle blew up I was in an attorneys office making a report on a case that I worked on for him when I was a private detective.  He told me that it blew up and it did not really hit me it was so unbelievable.  I thought it was a bad joke, but he was serious.

     I was watching the Today Show when the first attack on the World Trade Center took place.  I spent much of the day watching the reports and footage of that scene.

     On 9-11-2001 I was watching the Today Show and the report came on that something had hit one of the towers at the World Trade Center.  Knowing that the New York Fire Department would be moving a lot of men and equipment I could imagine what kind of effort would be involved in fighting the fire and rescuing survivors.  I was glued to the TV as the scene kept getting worse and worse.

     When the second jet liner hit the other tower it took a second to realize, that this was not only real but an attack on our country.  Soon the Pentagon and then another plane went down in a farm field.  Pulling from my training as a firefighter and investigator I was imagining this happening all over the country.  And it was supposed to.  Somehow, someone through the grace of God, ordered all flights to put down where ever they were and stop the threat. 

     On this one day we became as one people like after December 7, 1941 facing a common enemy and coming together.  And since then, WHAT HAPPENED?

     We have allowed our outrage and sense of who we are and what we stand for to be killed and diverted to fragmented groups desperately trying to hold on to the greatness of the United States.  And those who want to change what we are and destroy us.  Every divisive tactic has been used and the sad part is that it has all been written as to what and how to do it.  And those doing it said that they were doing it.  And so it is as if what is known to be wrong is right, what is good is bad, what is evil is good.

     I constantly see images of the towers with the label "how did we get from this too today?"  I don't know.

     I want to write about light hearted subjects and laugh at our foibles and irony's.  On this day I cannot.

      As I watched the bodies fall and the haunting sound that they made hitting the ground.  As I watch all the firefighters, police, and EMS personnel heading to the scene I was in a horror show.  And I do not like horror films, but myself and the rest of us were trapped in a living horror show.  When the buildings fell I yelled "NO, THE FIREFIGHTERS ARE STILL IN THERE!!!"

     Active, retired, or former once you are a firefighter you are part of a brotherhood that you cannot leave.  And I witnessed the loss of 343 of my brothers who I never met.  You may not understand it, you cannot.  Believe in coincidences?  I don't, but, my street address at that time was on 343rd Street.  Some things will stay with you whether there is any connection or not.  That is one.

     In retrospective we went from a nation who was held together by the knowledge that we were being attacked for our way of life.  Until today we have allowed ourselves to become a fragmented people quickly losing the Republic.  As the forefather told us "here you have a free Republic, if you can keep it."

     My hope is that the great majority that spends its days building and tolerating those who would tear it down has had enough.  That the good, decent, freedom loving, and God fearing people will stand and say THAT IS ENOUGH!  And go back to building a free nation to leave to our grand children.  And to those who try to destroy us, go back to your evil master and report defeat.

HEY, HEY, HEY, LETS BE CAREFUL OUT THERE

"HEROS MAY NOT BE BRAVER THAN ANYONE ELSE.

THEY'RE JUST BRAVER

FIVE MINUTES LONGER."

                                                    Ronald Reagan

     There are disturbing things happening now and most people here do not know how to make a difference.  There is a lot of lip service paid to politics and individual initiative.  Honesty, bravery, loyalty, and things that used to be qualities that were strived for are made to be wrong headed.  Going to church on Sunday is deemed to be good enough and the principles there are left in the pews and lives are spent pursuing other gods.

     The most many people have to do with the police is being shot by radar and getting a ticket or making a joke about the cops and donut shops.  Yet they are our friends and neighbors. 

     Unlike Baltimore if there is a problem you don't call a Black Panther for protection you call 911 and expect prompt response by someone in uniform to come to your aid.  And now these people are targets.

      I come from the Fire & EMS service as a background as well as the rural roots that I love.  I had a delivery person ask me a while back if we were afraid to live so far out in the middle of nowhere.  I had a weird look and asked her what is there to be afraid of?

     We have an excellent Sheriff's department and great EMS, a fire service that puts out more fire with homebuilt trucks (instead of expensive equipment), and we can and would defend ourselves.  What is there to be worried about?

      One of the hot topics in the Fire and EMS service now is wearing bullet proof vests.  The changes on the street have gone wild past what I dealt with when I was on the street.  Back then we were considered the good guys.

      It is still a question as to what makes someone run towards danger when everyone else is running away.  That question will never be answered.  Even as officers are being gunned down all over the country.  As first responders are having to watch their backs as well as the fire or patients in front of them.

     It has been observed that we are only 20 minutes away from anarchy.  Without the presence of those who serve our society would break down as Ferguson and Baltimore.  Yet there are those who advocate this and most important there are those who are so cozy that they support the politics and politicians that allow our society to disintegrate.

     We have been given a society that freedoms are something taken for granted.  We cannot anymore.  For standing for your faith and beliefs you can be jailed, scorned, attacked, and lose your job.  If you put a comment on Facebook criticizing the president or anything else that is not the darling cause of the moment, you will pay a price.

     One boy who wants to be a girl can make all the girls in a high school put up with him in their locker rooms and bathrooms.  This will be allowed because simple decency has been removed from the schools and to go against simple scientific fact will allow lawyers a field day.

     I will leave the results of this to your imagination if it had taken place when I was in school.  But I am a dinosaur.

     I want to admonish every decent person to watch the backs of our police and first responders.  When they are down they are in grave danger and you are in grave danger.  At some point to have to do more than step over the body like the people in the convenience store in New York did.  Call for backup before you continue to shoot pictures with your I phone.

     There is a line from a favorite movie of mine from one of my favorite actors.  It has to do with the edge that a gunfighter needed to face an opponent.  "You have to be willing".  What that means is the edge is realizing that you may take a bullet but you are willing to win.  You have to be willing to put it all on the line to make sure that evil does not win.  It may demand that you put yourself into harms way to assist another.  You have to be willing.

      To the Officers, Military, Fire, EMS I offer this from a popular TV show from years ago.  From the Sergeant after the briefing to his people.  HEY, HEY, HEY, LETS BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!  To the rest of us, keep your eyes open and lets keep them safe.