Thanksgiving Sunset

Twisting leaf in wind.

Green, it moves with limb and twig

youth has strength to spare.

Twisting leaf in wind.

Red, it leaves its lofty perch

color to be seen.

Twisting leaf in wind.

Brown, it’s blown from place to place

no one knows it’s there.

Dennis Price

We enjoyed the Fall this year.  Earlier we traveled north to Arkansas just to see the colored leaves in the Ozarks.  They did not disappoint us.  Yesterday we had the complete Thanksgiving fare at our house as our family and friends gathered to celebrate a Thanksgiving feast.  There is a certain tension associated with the holiday if you are the host and turkey cooker.  All the ingredients must be laid in store and the turkey must be properly thawed in the refrigerator to insure a delicious main dish.  After much preparation (some of it at different households) the meal came together.  After we thanked our Heavenly Father for the things he provides daily and asked His blessing on all who were actually present, and those who were there in spirit, we sat down for an afternoon of visitation and relaxation.  I have no complaints.  I wrote the poem above several years ago.  It is made up of three stand alone Haiku stanzas that are linked by time and theme.  I signed up for Medicare recently and the idea struck me that Autumn is upon me.  I am thankful.

Republicans

Not since Reagan have the Republicans had a candidate that truly exhibited the basic tenets of conservatism. Main stream Republicans did not like Reagan, but, he had his own base of support that didn't need the elites to win.

The Republican Party Machine loves the excitement the conservatives bring to the table.  However, the RNC and the established "Inside the Beltway" Republicans are in the game to feather their own political nests as much as any Democrat ever thought about doing.

I have found the reactions of the Republican Royalty to be as predictable as the type of "slap stick" comedy one expects when watching the Three Stooges.  Regardless of the success brought about by the conservative undercurrent, the Republican Stooges can find a way to screw it up before, during, and after any election.

They can have great, eloquent, and electable candidates who would win in a landslide if the Big Republican Machine stayed out of the picture.  They predictably choose some favorite son who couldn't get a laugh in a room full of drunks.  McCain and Romney are good examples.  I voted for both candidates because I realized that the alternative in both elections was unthinkable. However, I gave my money to much more electable "also rans" in both elections.  In losing, the Republicans always capitulate to a lukewarm" position of nothingness.  In winning, the Republicans always retreat to a "lukewarm" position of nothingness.  I am ready to depart from this ineffective party and form an alternative party, early in the cycle, that can defeat both of the established big boys.  We must start now.

Here's what I say to the Republicans - If the Phone Doesn't Ring, It's Me  -Jimmy Buffett

What has America Become?

I know many of you are wondering this same thing.  What was started over two hundred years ago when our forefathers decided to start this great union unlike any other in history?  I found a recent letter to the editor by Alan Walden, and I am going to use selected portions in an effort to condense it without changing its meaning.

"I wonder how I became a stranger in my own land.

During more than three-quarters of a century on this planet I have come to believe in the greatness of America; a greatness fueled by goodness and the belief that this nation was founded to show the world how things can be when free men and women are allowed to pursue whatever dreams and ambitions they may have unfettered by social or political agendas or the tyranny of those to whom power is the narcotic of choice.   We chose, as our mantra "E Pluribus Unum," (From Many, One) as we invited others to join us and become Americans. But now, this stranger in his own land sees only the "pluribus” and wonders what happened to the "unum. "

 We created a government to provide structure and a sense of order, a structure in which the people, not the government, ruled supreme. We won our independence through eight years of blood and fire through the will of the people. We fought each other less than a century later and preserved the nation through the will of the people. We grew into the mightiest and most remarkable national entity the modern world had ever known through the will of the people. We saved the world and rebuilt it, not once, but twice, through the will of the people. We were the United States of America. But that was then.

And the "unum" is just about gone. The unity that once defined us has been superseded by the hyphen. No longer willing to proudly proclaim our status as Americans, we have become a Balkanized amalgam of tribes at cross purposes: African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic -Americans, Gay and Lesbian-Americans, et al. The amalgam used in dentistry contains mercury and is, therefore, a slow acting poison. No less poisonous is the tribal amalgam of 21st Century America. And, not to be overlooked, are the many millions among us who are not, nor do they wish to be, Americans. They're just here, to water at our trough and spit the dregs in our faces.

Around the world we are regarded with suspicion, amusement and, all too often, contempt. The America that sent the Great White Fleet around the world, the America that rid the world of the unspeakable horror of Adolf Hitler, the America of the Marshall Plan, the America that turned back the invasion of South Korea, the America that brought down the Berlin Wall, snapped the fetters that had kept Eastern Europe in thrall for decades, and dumped the tyranny of the Soviet Union on the scrap heap of history has become a source of ridicule. We have become a global punch line, unworthy of the mantle of greatness we once wore with such distinction.

The president has been reelected, and his slogan is "Forward." Toward what, I wonder? Toward the greatness we earned as the last great hope of humankind, or toward the abyss of mediocrity we are earning just as surely."

Alan Walden
Associate Faculty Member, Department of Communication Arts
Notre Dame of Maryland University

What in the world just happened?

Well, I'll tell you what just happened.  The 47% who live in the most concentrated population centers and who have the most electoral votes, just re-elected the president who promises to keep them in the paltry manner to which they have become accustomed.

I am encouraged that even where I live in the tip of Texas, (big Democrat country) there is a little blob of red.  Let's look at what they want to continue as I see it.

Unfettered Illegal immigration with its attendant billions in costs to the American tax payer for benefits, education, increased crime, court costs, and incarceration.  I'm sure many of these Illegal immigrants voted.

Huge increases in medical and insurance costs with a decrease in the number of doctors.  Huge increases in all sorts of taxes on all of us to pay for the mammoth bureaucratic agency needed to ineffectively run the program.  We are in the demographic Obama promised not to raise taxes on and so is anyone who has a life. On January 1st we will see noticeable tax increases, fees, and penalties.

Government sponsored abortion on demand and free contraceptives.  It would seem that free contraceptives would take care of the first cost, but apparently they don't know how to use them.

More spending on those who are in the 17 to 18 percent who are unemployed.  Only the careful manipulation of the data on unemployment before the election kept most people from knowing how bad it is.  This combined with the expenditures not only for housing and subsistence but also for such non-essentials as cell phones and computers is sure to drive up the costs of government.

Continued financial support to the United Nations and billions in tax payer dollars in foreign aid to bolster countries who hate us and want to do us harm.

More government interference and regulation of job producing industries, combined with governmental support of labor unions to insure that good jobs continue to go overseas.  This includes the auto industry that the Obama administration proudly touted as one of their greatest accomplishments.  Just check and see where not only parts, but also finished products are going to be produced in the near future.

We can be assured that this administration will continue to bow before all manner of foreign dictators who are enemies of our great nation.

I predict we will see other aberrant sexual groups lobbying for legal protection and recognition.  The pedophiles are already showing up in great numbers at the meetings of the Gay/Bi/Lesbian and Transgender meetings.  I also predict that the courts will have no option to grant their requests because of the precedents recently set.

There will be greater division in this country as this administration continues its efforts to bring the United States to a third world status.  The rest of the world may cheer at their efforts until they realize just how much they depend upon the economy of the U.S.

Our nation will be made vulnerable with huge cuts to our military strength and we will see more overt efforts to terrorize the U. S. by the cowardly weaklings of the world.

We have created a generation of voters who are totally dependent on huge government for their every need. They are a large enough group now to elect people who will sell their birthright for a bowl of porridge.  The politicians and entrepreneurs who will willing rob the treasury for their own gain are the most despicable of the entire lot.

Individual integrity and responsibility must be taught by those of us who still know what it is.  Each individual must make an effort to model these behaviors and attempt to show others how important they are to our survival.  Socialism has been a huge failure everywhere it has been tried.  It will be no different here.

Writing.

Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money.  - Jules Renard

The computer parts were ordered and have arrived.  Soon I will be operating on my new/old computer.  All that will be left to do is send in the four or five bar codes from the packing boxes in order to receive about $80.00 in mail in rebates. If I were King, I would do away with coupons, mail in rebates, special store cards,  small print in advertising, and all other gimmicky commercial come-ons.  I would make stores advertise and post specials without anything else having to happen.  If you saw an advertised price, you would not need special glasses to know how to receive it.  I was in Walgreens the other day and saw a pretty good price posted under a product I wanted.  I got two of the advertised items and put them in my little basket.  When I got to the check-out, the clerk rang up a higher price.  I asked her about the difference in the price she rang up and the posted price and she told me the lower price was for those who had signed up for their new special card.  She then asked if I would like to sign up for one.  I told her "no" without the thank you attached.  Clerks should automatically give discounts to customers who place hemorrhoid medications on the counter.  I also said that my back pain was probably caused by the thickness of my wallet which is the size of a football because of all the special cards I have to carry in order to conduct business.  Like most clerks in our area she seemed dazed and confused because there were no pictures on the register to deal with grumpy old men. 

Happy Shopping