JUST STOP IT DANG IT!

"NO RATIONAL ARGUMENT WILL HAVE

A RATIONAL EFFECT ON A MAN

WHO DOES NOT WANT TO ADOPT

RATIONAL ATTITUDE."

                                     Karl Popper

     How many times do we have to be burnt before we stop doing stupid things?  A few years back houses in Florida had to be stripped of all wall board because the cheap Chinese board was so full of Formaldehyde that it was making people sick.

     Dogs across the country were getting sick and their livers damaged and many died because of contaminated Gluten filler in dog treats 'made in China'.  Lumber Liquidators are caught up in a controversy that the flooring 'made in China' has many times the deemed legal limit of Formaldehyde being given off.

      Do we see a common thread here?

      Many 'Dollar' canned foods especially mushrooms, shrimp, fish, and more are imported from China or the Pacific Rim.  I find these products poor in quality and not acceptable to feed myself or anyone else.  At a fish fry that I was involved in several years ago we always used a wholesale supplier for catfish.  The last year I helped the supplier switched the American product for Chinese.  It might have been fish but it was rubbery and it never did cook right.

     There is no problem with making a profit that is what fuels the economy and the standard of living that we enjoy in this country.  And since we support the world it is how they enjoy prosperity also.  But there has to be ethics involved.  If we as a people want products of poor quality and cheap prices that is what will be provided.

     If we as individuals and as a nation insist on quality and safety in our products it will be provided.  No company can stay in business by not catering to the desires of the consumer.

     Using slave labor is always a cheap way to produce and by supporting the nations that use slave labor or underpaid labor they will be happy to do so.  Are we so hard up as a nation that a few pennys more for quality is a problem?  I have always found that 'cheap' is always the most expensive.

     We would not have companies going overseas if we would make a conscious effort to buy American and demand that the products used in our behalf are quality and fairly produced.

      Many retailers have told me that it is nearly impossible to find American made products.  Yet I investigated opening a Made in America store and found all kinds of products available.  And, big surprise, many of them were cheaper that the Chinese made products of the same type.

     All we have to have is an ATTITUDE change and just STOP IT DANG IT!  Amazing what can be done with attitude.  Then maybe we can adopt an attitude with our elected officials and government.

WHAT ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION?

"TO EDUCATE A MAN IN MIND

AND NOT IN MORALS IS TO

EDUCATE A MENACE TO SOCIETY."

                                           Theodore Roosevelt

     What has education come down to that it is acceptable to blame a promoter of free speech for the attack on it?  The leaders of Islam have put a hit out on the promoter of the cartoon competition in Garland Texas.  Since two radicalized Muslim terrorists attacked the event there are those on MSNBC, CNN, and other leaders and media people who believe that there should be no right to exercise that right.  Would these people agree to place the United States under Sharia Law? 

      Who teaches that the Constitution is only valuable when you agree with it?  When did the actual words of the Constitution become incomplete and only used when lawyers and courts inject into it what is not there?

      Specifically, it is in the Constitution that if a subject is not mentioned specifically it becomes States Rights.  Why are courts continually overturning what has been voted on in a state and nullify it when there is nothing in the document that specifically addresses it?

      When officials from the very top on down ignore what the Constitution says, and takes the view that it is an enemy, it is time to take them down and put people there who take an oath and actually uphold it.

       Now our former Attorney General and his replacement have said they would ignore the law and follow the direction of the President.  More and more officials disregard the law and there is no one to prosecute or bring them to their duty.  When it is said in open and plain talk that the Federal Government needs to take over all policing why would anyone not be incensed?  It is distressing that one of my Senators voted to approve the new AG even when she says she will not enforce the law.

      What is coming out of Universities and those who set standards for education scares the hell out of me.  Education is becoming a joke and the good teachers who fight to do the right thing are prevented from doing so.  I am afraid that the ones who set the curriculums at all levels have used personal agendas and the goal is not students who are taught to learn and think but to accept what is fed them and go along.

      It is easy to look across the fields and hills and be lulled into thinking that all this discord worldwide does not affect me.  But the reality is that in some way what is going on will eventually affect us all.

      There are those who want to dictate how all agriculture is conducted, take the right of the property owner away, take the right to be secure in your own home and in your communications, and those who would dictate what and how much you can earn.  And if you cannot earn that it should be taken from those who do.

     What will it take for this country to return to the standards that made it the leader of the world?  Education?

      

AHH SPRINGTIME!

"SOMETIMES I WONDER WETHER THE

WORLD IS BEING RUN BY SMART

PEOPLE WHO ARE PUTTING US ON,

OR BY IMBECILES THAT REALLY

MEAN IT."

                                                             Mark Twain

     Oh yes Springtime, that time of year that renews all that is old.  Oops, the Legislature is still in session.  OH!  Congress is still in session.  Potus is not on the links in Hawaii yet, he still has his phone and pen.  Well at least nature is in that time of renewal.  Oh, earthquake in Nepal, volcano in South America, big eruption in Hawaii, quakes in Kansas & Oklahoma.  Well at least here it is a wonderful spring.  Someone said the earth moved again in town.

     Well at least the Kansas Sampler Festival was grand.  The cattle are now in the pasture.  Wheat is pushing heads up.  We had some rain and the days are great.

     The kids got graduated and are free.  Have a great summer so you can start building your next 35 years of debt in College.  Yes things are sweet.  The hummingbirds are back and so are the ants.

      You know I am going to have a good spring in spite of all the madness in the world because I decided to.  Attitude is the key ingredient in how things go.  You have to be stubborn sometimes to resist getting down by those who would pull you with them.  Believe there is no hope and there won't be.  It is a self fulfilling prophecy.

     Believe that things are going to be good they will.  It may take some elbow grease and fortitude but you can decide that things can be looking up. 

     You know that the name of my column is ROGER'S VIEW FROM THE HILLS.  I call it as I see it.  The overwhelming support that I have had does help me continue to vent.  I do have those who think I am nuts, 'place label here' (dumb, stupid, ill informed, uneducated, dunce,) just pick one or create your own.

     But if you would do as one recently did and declare that he did not agree with me so I have no right to express myself, I appreciate the challenge and the opinion.  But to believe that because he doesn't agree with me that he can invalidate my right to an opinion borders on the insane, or liberal.
     I enjoy the give and take of ideas it helps me to grow and stay sharp.  But as a famous man once said "if everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking".
     Disagree with me, but don't say I have no right to express my views.  You can find that mentality in any Fascist or Communist country.
     I am now adjourning to my new bench on the deck to contemplate.

CHANGE

"WHAT WE CALL PROGRESS

           IS THE EXCHANGE OF ONE

                     NUISANCE FOR ANOTHER

             NUISANCE"

                                            Havelock Ellis

     When stopping for our Sunday edition of the Eagle we were in for a shock.  Seems that, once again, the paper will scale back it's coverage and we will no longer be able to go down after church for a copy.

      Now of course this irritated me to no end.  Kansas has the distinction of at one time having the most newspapers in the country.  It has been a long tradition that the news be put out at a regular pace and many places had competing papers that lead a spirited battle with each other.

     Many papers in the country used to relish the shared copies of several Kansas newspapers because of the unique insights and coverage of events.  The roots of the Eagle can be seen in Old Cowtown museum at the recreated offices of the WICHITA CITY EAGLE.  The Eagle has been a part of the development of Kansas since the 1870's.

     When Marshal Murdock was recruited to come to Wichita in it's early days it was a booster that helped the fledgling town grow and prosper.  The mark of the Murdock's can be found in numerous places both around Wichita and the state.

     The town of Murdock in Kingman County, Murdock Avenue in Wichita, the town of Marshal (now gone) in Sedgwick County and many other things bear the name of the publisher and family that owned the paper for three generations.

     Since the sale of the paper and subsequent resale's there has been many changes over the years. The change in the newspaper business has been overwhelming for every paper.  It is an instant information age and many names have simple gone away from the list of papers.  The era of corporations owning multiple papers all over the country has delayed the inevitable demise of many but also the local investment in the communities they serve.

      Some newspapers and publications do a better job of serving their readers than others such is the state of doing business.  This never changes.  It was a disappointment when the Eagle pulled back from statewide coverage and distribution several years ago.  This latest pull back from distribution is also a disappointment.

      One thing that is constant is change.  We all hope that the change is for the better and that everything is being done for positive change rather than negative change.  The blessing of youth is that change is not noticeable for a while, until some time passes and they have the reference to look back and decide if what is change is for the better.

     So for now I can be irritated that I will not have my Sunday Eagle but I will have to get along.

SLAP IN THE HEAD

"DO YOU HAVE EYES BUT FAIL TO SEE,

AND EARS BUT FAIL TO HEAR?

AND DON'T YOU REMEMBER?"

             Mark 8:18

      Where is the outcry and the words from the pulpit?  Where is the outpouring of outrage from a people so complacent that will not recognize or care that Christians are being martyred by groups who have declared a holy war on believers of the cross?

      Since the blood has not been shed on your street yet is that an excuse to ignore what is going on in the world.  Why would you watch the bloodiest programing on the movie and TV screen and not watch the true horrors on the news?  Why would you shield your children from it? 

      Are we so comfortable as a people that we can stand by and ignore what is going on and what is promised to come to our shores?  During the 1920's the economy was going along so well that that few foresaw the crash of 1929.  Even though there were warnings from sincere people the crash of the 2008 devastated the nation and we have not recovered yet.

      So when a people makes it the main tenement of its religion to kill or subjugate those who do not believe we treat them as another 'religion of peace' even though there is not one year of peace in it since 800AD.
      The murdering of men, women, and children does not strike a note.  The fact that women can be summarily killed or maimed if they displease about anyone is overlooked by the women who lament over a glass ceiling.  Girls that are married to older men and the marriage is consummated at 9 years of age is ignored but if someone is caught here with a picture of a girl under 18 they go to prison.  Maybe the radical Muslims have done something that will finally raise the passions of Americans.  They are now killing dogs in a horrific fashion.
     In this society that has to fight to keep a doctor and mother from cutting up a baby up to the moment of birth, killing dogs may finally wake some people up.  Maybe now PETA and Human Society of the United States will turn from how much room a pig needs to the defense of dogs in the Middle East.
      In July the US military will begin and exercise that is for conquering an urban area in seven states.  Maybe a slap in the head will get them to defend our borders.  Somehow I don't see Dallas as a target to take.  Maybe it will take the invasion of the dog pound to get people to care.



PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

"THE MOST FOOLISH MISTAKE THAT

                  WE COULD POSSIBLY MAKE WOULD

                           BE TO ALLOW THE SUBJECT RACES

             TO POSSESS ARMS."

                                                                          Adolf Hitler 1938

      It never ceases to amaze me at the people who are so against guns that a complete loss of sense occurs.  No matter what the history and no matter what the facts are, there are those who insist on making the decision to force their views on others and summarily violate everything that this country has ever stood for.

      The concern over Kansas passing the unregulated concealed carry bill into law has so much hand wringing and worrying going on.  There are even those who mostly support the Second Amendment that express concern.

      First, what other constitutional amendment do you have to qualify for before it is afforded to you?

      Second, all freedom requires personal responsibility, so that if you violate the terms of the Constitution it's rights can be taken away by a felony conviction.

      Third, if you can deny me my right by your opinions, we then live in a tyrannical state and all rights are void.  Even for you.

      It is a huge mistake to carry a firearm and not be conscious that there is a huge responsibility to do so.  If faced with the possibility that you have to defend your life or the life of another, to do so will change your life forever.  Right or wrong there will be a process to go through that could take your freedom and rights away.  It has to be with serious consideration that you take the defense of yourself seriously.

     There is so much talk about civil rights today that it is forgotten that the most important civil right is to live.  If I am dead at another's hand there is no restoration of my right to live.  No lawyer, judge, court, party, or individual can restore my right to life once it is taken.
     The continual abuse by sue happy people and equally willing lawyers has taken the personal responsibility out of most everything.  Obvious hazards must be marked out for those assumed to be to stupid to avoid danger.  Anything that can be considered as an abuse is the cause of unlimited harm to the psyche from childhood to adult.  Yet those with real problems are loosed on the public and their privacy is sacred until they actually harm someone.
      An active child that challenges a mediocre teacher is forced onto drugs and labeled as, choose your label here.  This lack of skill and patience ruins a life for the convenience of the system who wants to turn out drone citizens.  But when parents try to exercise their personal responsibilities the state and authorities nullify what they do and endanger the very right to raise the child according to their own belief system.
      This great experiment that is the United States will not work without personal responsibility.  If everything is continued to be placed in the hands of others we will soon have lost our own family members, but the entire nation as well.
     I do not worry about the law abiding person that carry's the gun, but the person who has no regard for the law and does not care that they impose their abuse on others.  I fear more those who would defend the outlaw and leave the citizen vulnerable.

CHECK EDUCATION NOW

"DEMOCRACY MUST BE MORE THAN

TWO WOLVES AND A SHEEP

                   VOTING ON WHAT TO HAVE

            FOR DINNER."

                                                                 James Bovard

     If there is one thing that drives me crazy it is all the supposed educated people (and un-educated) that refers to our form of government as a Democracy.  Is the education of the country deteriorated so bad that the fact that we are a REPRESENTATIVE REPUBLIC is ignored. 
      Democracy is at best majority rule, at worst mob rule.  There is no minority rights or defense for different points of view under mob rule.  Our Constitution limits what government can do so the individuals rights are superior to governmental power.  This seems to be a sticking point for those who only allow you to agree with their point of view and cares less if you don't agree.
      The Constitution, which is so simple that it can be carried in your pocket, has been subverted by courts, causes, and special interests to be interpreted in volumes of pages.  Mostly to deny the individual the basic rights that it is supposed to protect.
      From the President down to the township official all take a pledge to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic.  Yet the self crowned emperor flouts his ability to act with a pen and phone.  The Attorney General ignores the liberties of citizens unless they are a part of a particular race or party.  The IRS is allowed to persecute people and organizations that are not on the left political side.  The former Secretary of State defies the law on e-mails and does away with them even when under order from the Congress to turn them over.  Social Security still says it doesn't hold relatives responsible for over payments and then seizes money from tax returns of those.  Then is forced to give it back when it becomes public knowledge.
      It is distressing that when interviewed on the street students and adults ,that supposedly have been educated, cannot answer the simplest question.  Maybe this was comedy at one time now it is an indictment of todays education.  With the approval of Billionaires and Governors, the Common Core has infected the education process with misinformation, omission, and outright lies to indoctrinate the student into being the best burger flippers in the world.  And now they strike for $15 per hour minimum wage.
      The University, where freedom of ideas and expression have become politically correct places of indoctrination, that puts students into debt ridden servitude.  And crushes any deviation of the official line.
       Students fail to find jobs in areas that they have been supposedly educated in.  Yet the cost goes up and up.
      To listen to what many elected to office say, or their inability to articulate an intelligent thought, it is time to end the education as it stands and return to facts not opinion.  Debate rather than hate speech.  Instruction by instructors who actually can impart knowledge and not propaganda.
      The premise that a piece of legislation must be passed before knowing what is in it screams tyranny and to actually believe that is ignorance.  Bills that run into thousands of pages are breeding grounds for tyranny and screams ignorance to those who go along.
     It is time for those running for office to concern themselves with what is right and not convenient or politically correct.  It is time for taking personal responsibility and not allowing causes to dictate how we do everything.  Then tell us it is good for us.