Easy Life Entitlement

Spending one’s life working and managing the duties associated with one’s job plus dealing with those naturally occurring problems in one’s family may well bring on an aversion to work of any kind. It is not unusual to find retired persons who decline to serve on committees or participate in worthwhile community service projects. They often feel that they did their share of volunteering during their years on the job and now simply want to take life easy and enjoy their retirement years.

As human beings in the United States each person has the right to choose whether or not to engage in activities during his/her retirement years.

While enjoying the individual rights, each person should not ignore his obligations to himself, his family and his community. He should actively strive to stay healthy and to avoid accidents that injure his body or cause disability, for these things cause financial or emotional loss to himself, his family or to the community.

“Staying healthy” is the watchword of an army of individuals, authors and publishers who are making fortunes through telling us how to lose weight, quit smoking, sleep well or exercise our bodies or brains. Many of their devices or ideas are simple quackery that should be avoided, but some deserve our attention.

Almost every month there are health reports stressing the importance of “doing something”, of putting to use the admonition “use it or lose it”. This is good advice.

It is easier to sit in the rocker than walk around the block, easier to watch television than read a book. Walking and reading are not difficult chores, yet, the choice to do them represents an important step toward healthy living. Walking and reading are mentioned only as examples of physical and mental activities that are important to healthful living.

Some retirees reject the idea of doing things because it arouses memories of boring work at the office or the pressure of meeting deadlines. These feelings can be avoided by choosing different and more challenging activities. Some tasks undertaken may be too difficult, but we need to remember that the work [physical and mental] involved in the task is the important part. Successful completion is just the ‘icing on the cake’.

The rewards are doubled when one’s activities help other people. Assisting Boy or Girl Scouts with projects, coaching athletic teams, mentoring school children, leading groups on tree or flower identification hikes and serving as Merit Badge counselor are just a few of the activities that one may do to use our knowledge or skill to bring life and enjoyment into our lives --- and keep us healthy and alert.

If we don’t use our bodies and minds they will dry up and become useless, making us dependent on others. For ourselves and those around us, we should do what we can to maintain our independence as long as we can.

Jerry Clements 6/29/06

My Cousin Gurthy's Famous Peanut Brittle

Here is the recipe for Gurthy Averett's peanut brittle that he brought to the family reunion at Jo Anne Hill's house (Greensoboro, Alabama) in early May. It is delicious!

Cousin Gurthy’s Famous Peanut Brittle

1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup water
½ stick butter

Combine in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook until it spins a thread.

Add 1-2 cups raw peanuts and stir. Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon soda.

Spread on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with Pam. Spread it out.

Cool and break into pieces. Store in an airtight container.

From:
Gurthy Averett, age 94, Selma, Alabama (Jerry’s first cousin, our second cousin, I think)

Pretty Red Wing - A Love Story

PRETTY RED WING
A Love Story

The ballad “Pretty Red Wing” tells the story of an Indian maiden and her love for a young brave of her tribe. What the ballad doesn’t tell is how fate and the spirits that control our lives conspired to make it difficult for Red Wing to realize her life’s dreams.

She was a daughter of Trapper Cook who was a half-breed Indian. He had the straight black hair and high cheekbones of his Choctaw mother and the dark blue eyes of his English fur trading father, Llyuellen Cook. He was a highly respected member of the Talladega tribe.

Crouching Cougar, the aged and ailing chief, relied on him to guide the tribe in the new world brought in by the ever increasing number of white settlers. In order to educate his people, Trapper Cook engaged Miss Gussie Harris to teach them to read, write and do arithmetic.

As our story begins we find Miss Gussie in the classroom.

ACT 1 The Classroom

Miss Harris calls the roll, with each child rising and answering ‘present’.

Miss Harris: Today we will have a test to see what you remember of our study of animals of the forest. Who can identify the animal I have drawn on the board?

Bubbly Brook, tell us what animal this is.

Bubbly B: It’s a--- It’s a--- I don’t know what it is.

Miss Harris: Hiawatha, I’m sure you know. What animal is this?

Hiawatha: I dunno

Miss Harris: Wake up class! What animal is this?

Class: We don’t know!

Miss Harris: [Takes a close look at the drawing] Oh dear! I forgot to put the white stripe down its back. [She draws in the stripe.]

Class: [Yell, in unison] It’s a skunk!

Miss Harris: Very good. You may have a recess now. Return to your seats when you hear my whistle.

Red Wing: [Approaches Miss Gussie shyly] Please Miss Gussie, may I talk to you about a problem I need help with?

Miss Harris: Of course, my dear. Are you having trouble with arithmetic?

Red Wing: Oh no. I can add pretty well now. It’s my father. He is being very cruel and I don’t know what to do.

Miss Harris: Tell me about it. Perhaps I can help.

Red Wing: You know Leaping Wolf—He’s the one who wins all the races—The tall handsome one.

Well, I love him and he loves me. He promises to build me a beautiful wigwam for us to live in and to cover me with beaver skins and find me the most beautiful feathers for my hair----if only I will be his squaw.

Miss Harris: That sounds perfect----but what is the problem?

Red Wing: My father is the problem. He doesn’t like Leaping Wolf. He thinks he is too young and will not be able to provide for me. And worst of all, that old Chief Flying Rattler, whose wife died last year, wants to marry me so I can take care of those awful papooses of his. {she begins crying quietly] Oh, what can I do? What can I do?

Miss Harris: I think that you should tell Leaping Wolf to try to find something he can do to show your father that he is not just a boy but is truly a man. Then your father will surely consent to your marriage.

Act 2 Solving the problem

Narrator: That evening Leaping Wolf and Red Wing met at their favorite place down by the river. Red Wing told him of her talk with Miss Gussie.

Red Wing: Unless you prove to my father that you are the best of the braves he will never let us marry and I will have to marry that old Chief Flying Rattler with all those nasty children and that tatty, old fashioned wigwam of his.

Leaping W: But what more can I do? I’ve already brought in more pelts than any of the others. I’ve won all the races and I have saved a lot of wampum. He must know that I am serious about you! But don’t worry, my pretty Red Wing. I’ll find a way,or my name is not Leaping Wolf!

Act 3 Marriage Proposal

Narrator: Chief Flying Rattler of a neighboring tribe and Trapper Cook smoked the Peace Pipe together. Chief Flying Rattler brought up a subject that was very much on his mind.

Flying Rattler: Since the death of my wife, my eyes have been taken by your daughter, Red Wing. I need a mother for my seven children; someone young, strong and not afraid of a little hard work. Your Red Wing suits me fine. I will give you ten of my best horses for her.

Trapper Cook: My daughter is indeed of marriageable age. Already several braves are courting her, especially that young hot-head Leaping Wolf. She has spoken to me about him. She is inclined to accept his proposal. You know, Flying Rattler, I don’t understand our children. In my day there was none of this wooing and courting, no looking sheep eyes at one another. Braves were braves and maidens were maidens and the fathers selected suitable mates for them. Left on their own they would skip through life like aimless crickets. You are a steady and prosperous man and you would be a good provider for Red Wing. So, good friend, I will speak to Red Wing of your proposal, but the decision is up to her.

Act 4 The Council Meeting

Narrator: The wealth of the tribe was in the animal pelts which they planned to sell to the fur traders who would be coming down the Chattahoochee in the spring. After cleaning and curing, the beautiful skins were bundled and stored in sheds adjoining the compound.
Early on the morning of the first quarter Threetoe Tobrich burst into Trapper Cook’s teepee with very bad news.

Threetoe: “Trapper Cook, some thieves broke into the sheds and stole our furs last night. They took every bundle!”

Narrator: Trapper Cook immediately called for a meeting with Chief Crouching Cougar and the Elders of the tribe.

Trapper C: Something terrible has happened, my brothers. Last night, as we slept, all of our hard earned pelts were stolen. I have already sent out a scouting party to track the thieves.

Chief CC: Not only have we been robbed of our furs, but our honor is at stake here. Are we to allow them to tweak our nose! We will find these thieves, get back what belongs to us and punish them!

[Hoof beats precede Tomcat Backas’s shouting entry.]

Tomcat B: We found them! We tracked the thieves all the way to Echo Ravine. There are many of them and they are camping there.

Chief C C: Who are they? Could you identify them?

Tomcat B: Yes, my Chief. It’s that bunch of renegade Chickasaws that have been raiding all around the territory.

Chief C C: They have dishonored us. Its time they were stopped. This could mean War!
Elders Yes, we must fight!! No more of their raids! We will fight! We must.

Trapper C: Not so fast, my brothers. We have been attacked and wronged, but there are other ways to settle this. We have lived peaceably with our neighbors for many moons…even with the white faces at the fort. I agree with Chief Crouching Cougar that we must avenge our honor!—but not by war.

If we start a war with the Chickasaws we will be letting those renegades lead us into fights that will involve innocent tribes and there would be many deaths on both sides. Go to your teepees and think carefully about what we should do. Tomorrow we will hold another pow wow and decide. If we can’t find a better plan, then we will have to resort to war.

Act 4 Action

Narrator: While the Elders were discussing the serious theft problem Leaping Wolf was sitting outside near enough to hear the loud and heated discussion. He was carving a comb out of a piece of birch to give to Red Wing. Suddenly an idea popped into his head. It was a good plan that would retrieve the stolen pelts and at the same time surely change Trapper Cook’s opinion of him. In no time he rounded up twelve of the most adventuresome and daring of his friends, and before anyone could miss them they were on their horses headed toward Echo ravine where the thieves were encamped.

Wild John: Now that we are here, Leaping Wolf, what is your plan?

Leaping W: Well, there are only twelve of us and several more than that of them. But, look where the stupid fools have camped! Echo ravine blocks them on one side and that high steep cliff blocks them on the other. If we can prevent their escape at the far end we can pick them off like sitting ducks as they try to get out at this end. Our best marksmen, Wild John, Hiawatha and Ratrace Mateo will stay here and hit them as they try to get out. The rest of us will cover the other end of their camp and raise a big racket to make them think there a lot of us as we pen them in.

Act 5 After the Skirmish

Narrator: Leaping Wolf and his friends were soon discovered to be missing from the compound.
Tomcat Backas, who had led the original tracking party, had ridden off after Leaping Wolf in hope of getting in on the action. But when he arrived at Echo ravine the skirmish was over.

Judging from the number of dead and wounded the renegades had not given up without a fight. Many of his friends were wounded. Those who were not hurt had found the stolen furs which were still on the sleds used by the renegades. Now they would be hitched to horses and taken back to the compound.

Tom Cat: Where is Leaping Wolf? Is he OK?

Wild John: We have looked everywhere and can’t find him. The last time I saw him he was fighting with two of them over there near the ravine. I would have helped him but I had my hands full. That’s how I got this—[He raises his bloody arm.]

Tom Cat: Alright, we will take the furs back home, but we will come back and find Leaping Wolf. He, or his body, must be found.

Act 6 Back at the compound

Narrator: It was early evening when the exhausted warriors straggled in, the unwounded among them leading the horses drawing the fur laden sleds into the compound. The wounded were taken gently into the teepee of Mumbling Moccasin, the tribes honored and faithful Medicine Man. Not wasting a moment, he went to work with the chants, instruments and potions of his trade to heal and make them whole again. Trapper Cook and Chief Crouching Cougar did not interfere, but went among them with expressions of gratitude and praise for their brave undertaking.

Wild John: It is Leaping Wolf who deserves the praise for recovering the furs. The whole thing was his idea. His leadership was the key to our success.

Red Wing: [Emerging shyly from behind her father] I don’t see Leaping Wolf.
I have looked, but I do not find him.

Wild John: [Puts his arms around Red Wing] Little sister, Leaping Wolf did not make it back. We fear he is dead.

Red Wing: [Screams and covers her face] Oh no! No! Oh no!

Wild John: Be comforted. Know that he died like a brave Choctaw, and has avenged the honor of our tribe.

Red Wing: [Sobbing] I would rather have Leaping Wolf alive than the honor of the tribe! Will the honor of the tribe build me a wigwam and live in it with me?

Trapper C: [Lifts her chin and looks lovingly into her eyes.] Be consoled, my daughter. I see now that Leaping Wolf was indeed a man---a brave man. He died serving his tribe, and we shall mourn his loss… and honor his memory.

Narrator: Suddenly everyone became silent, staring in disbelief at what they saw.
Using a tree branch as a crutch, his clothes in tatters and his face bloody, Leaping Wolf limps slowly into the compound. He approaches Trader Cook, looks him straight in the eye---and begins to speak, but then collapses to the ground. Red Wing screams and falls to her knees at his side.

Crouching Cougar’s squaw slaps him on the side of his head and hisses;

Squaw Wake up! You’re missing it!

Chief C.C.: (grunts and yells.) “How!”

Trapper C: (Screams, loudly) Mumbling Moccasin! Get over here quickly, bring all your stuff, fast!! You are going to have to fight the demons to save Leaping Wolf.

Mumbling M: Hurries to Leaping Wolf’s side and goes into a frantic dance, chanting “Hassee, hassee, hassee, gumbo Tallahassee.”

Leaping Wol:f (sits up, rubbing his eyes) Where am I?, What happened?

Narrator: Trapper Cook and Red Wing give him a hand and get him to his feet. He sways and puts his arms around her.

Leaping W: Oh yes, I remember now.

Narrator: He looks Trapper Cook in the eye and says the line he has rehearsed a hundred times since miraculously struggling out of Echo ravine where he had fallen during the fight. “I have earned a reward and I have come to claim it!”

Trapper C: You have proved yourself a brave man….You are a credit to our tribe!
Anything you want, you may have.

Leaping W: [With eyes lovingly fixed on Red Wing] I want only one thing. I want your permission to marry your lovely daughter, Red Wing.

[Red Wing comes to stand by Leaping Wolf. They join hands and look soulfully at each other]
Trapper C And so be it…..with my blessing.

All Cheer!

Act 8 Finale

Narrator: Red Wing married her love, Leaping Wolf. He did build her a beautiful wigwam and covered her with beaver skins, as he had promised.

The couple had four children and lived happily for many moons in the Talladega Tribe of the Choctaw Nation.

Trapper Cook went on to become Chief of the tribe. Chief Crouching Cougar lived out his remaining years in happy retirement, despite his nagging squaw.

Chief Flying Rattler was pretty miffed at losing Red Wing to Leaping Wolf, but being a practical man, he was heard to say “She is too skinny, anyway”, and soon found a brawny widow, more his own age and from his own tribe.

The End

Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson, the television showman, knows God better than most people. He knows who God likes and dislikes and often talks with him so as to keep himself abreast of the affairs of the world. He doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind at sessions of his “700 Club” and let the viewers know what God wants them to do. Now, this is not fiction made up to generate more support for his television show or to encourage him to tell us more about his intimate conversations with God. Also, it is not written to cast doubt on the accuracy of Pat’s revelations of his previous appeals to God to destroy a person or a community.

The current appeal, to assassinate Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, was not made to God, but to agents of the United States government. He felt that it would be far more economical to get rid of Chavez in that way rather than spending $200,000,000 to start a war to bring about a “regime change” in his country. It would save a lot of lives too, and would be a lot faster.

Pat hasn’t said whether God told him to handle this project on his own or whether he felt confident enough to make the request without bothering God with the matter.

President Bush was told about it in his morning briefing session by advisors who had read the news in the Post. He agreed with Pat’s thinking from a viewpoint of economics. However, he felt that the timing of the action would not fit into his schedule. Finishing the task in Iraq, and settling the issues in Iran and North Korea should be cleared up first.
However, the president did agree to pray about the matter.

Two or three newspaper columnists felt that in addition to reporting the news of Pat’s suggestion they should raise a question as to whether an assassination which would violate a valid law of the United States could be considered a Christian activity. However, as Pat has rescinded his request, the question is moot. Any further consideration should be left for Pat’s future conversations with God.

Still, somewhere in this discussion there should be time and space for those holding more normal Christian views to express their support of the Robertson position or to condemn the preacher as a charlatan who is exploiting Christianity for his own profit, and who is acting to erode the faith of those who conscientiously seek to understand and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Also, those who feel that the affairs of the church and the state should be kept separate need to be heard and given the opportunity to scold Pat Robertson for his presumptive attempts to represent the church as a department of the government.

Jerry 8/30/05

Occupation Ends

OCCUPATION ENDS

Ending the occupation of Iraq was probably the best bit of good news coming in from that area during the last two years. I haven’t seen any reports telling of the joy of the local citizens, but I am sure they were glad to learn that the infidels from America were leaving their country. Here at home it should be good news also. It would surely mean that we would be bringing home those war weary service men who have given such a big chunk of their lives to the cause of fighting the terrorist forces of the world. And we won’t have to send back those soldiers who have been at home enjoying their families for the past few months. Thanks are due to President Bush for keeping his word that on June 30, 2004 we would return sovereignty to the Iraqi people.

Unfortunately there were a few “fast reading clauses” in the agreement. And those clauses will surely cast a gloomy shadow over the celebrations in Iraq and here in the U S A. It will be easier to understand if we list those clauses:

1. The government of Iraq will be designated as “The Interim Government” which has limited power.

2. The United States has established an Embassy from which the Ambassador will exercise authority growing out of certain rules and edicts.

3. The U S appointed electoral commission is empowered to eliminate political parties or candidates it disapproves of.

4. Political parties with militias are not permitted.

5. An edict bans “hate speech” and advocacy of terrorism, worded to give the authorities power to censor or disqualify candidates.

6. Immunity was granted to US and other foreign civilian contractors from Iraq law, even after the end of the occupation.

7. Before leaving we bestowed on our Iraq cronies five-year appointments to important government positions such as head of intelligence and the head of national security.

8. Economic regulations were extended to limit taxation of foreign corporations and permitting foreign ownership of Iraqi companies.

These edicts and official actions give the Iraqi people a pretty clear picture of the kind of government we expect them to create and will generate little good will among the people whom we were surely hoping would become our friends after the occupation is ended.

Further, US military forces will remain in Iraq to maintain security until elections are held and a new permanent government is installed.

These data give a pretty clear picture of the limitations on the operation of the Interim government of Iraq, and a casual review of the 8 items above will give one a pretty accurate vision of the expected results. Certainly, a review of these items reveals the hypocrisy of our claim that we are returning sovereignty to the Iraqi people. It also shows how little the Bush administration has learned from the bungling results of the occupation resulting from our failure to make adequate plans before launching the war in the first place.

Jerry 7/25/04

North Georgia Drama

NORTH GEORGIA DRAMA A mimic farce

Narrator reads:

Once upon a time----just a few years ago----in the north Georgia town of Ellijay there lived a beautiful young lady by the name of Mollie O’Toole. Her parents, who worked in the apple orchards of the area, did their P T A and child-rearing jobs well. They bought Mollie an Apple computer and supported all of her efforts to be a star pupil. She was chosen Valedictorian of her class and described in the Yearbook as the one “Most Likely to Succeed”

Mollie was ambitious, and her beauty and skill helped her to become the computer expert at the Gilmer County Bank with the title of Computer Programmer. In this position she designed and set up a unified computer accounting system at the main office and each of the branches of the bank. Her skill and pleasant personality earned her the respect and admiration of the entire staff at the bank.

During her school years Mollie enjoyed her frequent visits to the O’Sullivan residence up on Skyline Drive, several blocks from the more modest home of the O’Tooles on Magnolia Street. Mr. O’Sullivan became an expert watchmaker and jewelry merchant following his apprenticeship in Savannah. The success of his shop on Fort Street enabled him to build a beautiful dwelling with a large recreation room in its daylight basement.

Mr. O’Sullivan encouraged his son, Sandy, to invite all of the children of the neighborhood to gather in his play room to enjoy games and refreshments at any time it could be arranged. Because of her beauty, charm and wit Mollie was always invited, a fact that led her to regard the O’Sullivan play room as a second home. Association with her three brothers was never as much fun as partying with the Sullivan crowd.

Turning Over A New Page

NEW PAGE

The swearing in of a president in January is an appropriate time for a new start for The United States. The people are confused about who we are and what we want to stand for in world affairs. The idea of an American Empire appears to have been crowded out by the difficulties incurred in the Iraqi war where we appear to make reactive moves against the Insurgent forces while casualty lists continue to grow. At the same time our allies are considering whether to stay there with us or return home. Our attitudes and actions in Iraq have isolated us from our former friends and has not generated any new ones.

It is time to acknowledge that the path we have been following has failed. We have killed a lot of people, destroyed a lot of property and maybe gained for some of us a sense of revenge. However, this revenge has come at a terribly high price.

We need to hear the new president declare the beginning of a new era of American history, a time when we discard the policy of hate and revenge and move toward universal friendship, cooperation and peace. We need to hear assurance that we will seek positive results in out policies and relationships.

There are sufficient good, positive goals for us to pursue. In our own country we could spend our energies and resources in improving our education system, designing and implementing a better health system and mending our transportation system to make it safer and more efficient. Caring for the environment could give us cleaner air to breathe, safer water to drink and enable us to eat the fish we catch without fear of mercury poisoning. The list of positive goals is much longer but these are sufficient to get us started.

In addition to the improvements here at home we would do well to take responsibility for helping improve the human condition in the other countries, friend and foe alike. Aids, polio, whooping cough and Tuberculosis are still plaguing the people of the world. We could do much more research and work toward eliminating them. We could assist others in bilateral and United Nations programs seeking peaceful ways of living together and sharing resources. More equitable distribution of world produce would be a worthwhile program which would help reduce the scourge of poverty in the world.

It could take some time for us to regain the respect and goodwill we have lost since our invasion of Iraq. So let us hope that our leaders will seize the opportunity that will come with the beginning of a new presidential term and begin the process of reclaiming our position of leadership in the world community. We are a good nation and our people will be happy to follow a leader who accepts this task.

Statement of these goals by the new president would go far toward eliminating the threat of terrorism in the world, and the entire population of the world would benefit. We in the United States would benefit most for it would also enable us to redeem the collective soul of our nation.

Jerry 10/10/04

Managing the Seasons of Life

Managing the Seasons of Life

The beginning of life is a celebrated season of awe, joy and wonder. We see the baby emerge from the mother as a hunk of soft, red tissue. It has the form of a child, appears to be alive with the appropriate appendages. The parents are thrilled when they hear its first confirmation of life in its response to the customary spank on its bottom.

A variety of impressions may have been made on the mind of the unborn child by soft music played in the mother’s presence or by tender talk by the mother. Likewise rough or angry talk may have left its impressions on the mind of the baby. Several experts have opinions about these sounds and the probability that they will influence the nature and personality of the baby.
For the purposes of this paper we take no position regarding these matters.

The essential fact is that we have a baby, a new statistic in the census records. Whatever else may be on its mind, we know that nature endowed it with instincts to squirm and search for nourishment. As its mouth searches for food and its eyes look for friendly faces the mind begins its adventure in this new, strange environment. The mind learns quickly that the body has limitations which may be frustrating. However, the frustrations don’t stop the instinctive drive of the mind to grow, and to learn that there are a variety of ways to achieve its goals.

Each trial and error sequence brings a step of progress in the mind’s development and in the strengthening of the body. It isn’t long before the mind comes to realize that it is enclosed in a body and that it can communicate with that body to achieve its objectives. A little later the baby learns that the staring eyes and faces are parts of bodies who care for it and who appear to want to help it acquire food and to improve its comfort in its new environment.

On and on it goes. Many things are happening in its body and all around it. All of these happenings help the baby’s brain and body develop. And, one day, we begin to call the baby “ child” and recognize that there is a new person in our midst. We promote the child from the “it” category to a “her” or “he”. The child learns that he can manipulate his parents by certain sounds or actions and doesn’t hesitate to exploit this knowledge. He realizes that he can remember things that happened earlier and can imagine things she would like to see happen in the future. Yes, he grasps the concept of future and can look forward to it.

When the child is born into a family with other children he must go through a period of learning how to win the cooperation of his siblings. He tries persuasion, threat, connivance or actual violence to gain acquiescence and become “King of the hill”. The good parent sees these rivalries develop and, at the appropriate time, steps in with the good news that the game “King of the Hill” is more accurately called King of a Hill. He explains that a football team may have a person who is best at the quarterback position, another who is the best at returning punts and yet another who is best at kicking field goals and extra points. A person who feels that he is the best player on the team may find that another player, in an unenvied position may be the one who makes the play that wins the game. One child may be smarter in math, another in English and another may excel in science. The important goal is for each child to be the best he can be, without envying the sibling who does better in his particular field of interest. Everyone can be King of ‘his’ hill.

It is at a time along here that a person is “born”. It seems like it has been a long time since he left the mother’s body, and tremendous changes have taken place in what actually has been a very short period of time. At last we have a person, a being with a brain coordinated with a body. Yes, we can say that we have a person who has successfully completed the birth process. We have a living unit that can turn the world upside down, can achieve things deemed impossible by its parents and can lead its generation into a new, much improved world. The child doesn’t yet think about these possibilities, it is busy learning how to use a spoon and how to tie shoe strings. The future will have to wait its turn.

The next stage of development will take the child through toilet training, kindergarten and school. This stage is accompanied by further dramatic and startling changes brought on by the body’s hormonal activity and its schedule of growth and development . These changes slip up on the child and the best of care may not explain satisfactorily what is happening to the child’s body and mind. At this point the parent needs to be an expert in child psychology and to have a deep loving concern for the child. It is here that the parent has the great and challenging opportunity to give the child the tools and communication skills he will need to deal successfully with siblings, classmates and the other incidental beings he will bump into along the way to maturity.

The child moves into adulthood in the midst of all manner of doubts, fears and anxieties. Fortunately, our subject has had a favorable environment at home, with wise parents and good teachers at school and has gained knowledge and skill that will enable him to deal with the problems that are sure to arise upon his entry into the workforce.

Whatever his employment, problems will arise that require attention by our subject and resolving some of them may lose friends or even create enemies. There will be situations that challenge his integrity and his resolve. There may be serious conflicts between what he was taught and what appear to be satisfactory solutions, accompanied by temptation to compromise his principles. It is in working through such problems that we find confirmation of his character and the resolution and firmness he needs to stand firm for the right in future conflicts. Each positive decision along the way serves to strengthen the respect of his associates, family and friends. He earns the right to a retirement of satisfaction and comfortable, pleasant living.

Retirement brings to our person a new stage of life with a new set of problems. He must develop a new set of routines to replace the work habits of the past. He needs to make a new set of friends and activity partners. It will be a matter of time until he notices more frequent appearance of friends and relatives in the obituary columns of the local newspaper. Then the man encounters the most trying loss of his life, the death of his life partner, leaving him in a state of aloneness like he had never imagined. He is sustained by family and friends and the knowledge that many of his friends and associates have already experienced this type of loss, and that death is a natural part of life that all of us must experience.

It is about here that our subject experiences the onset of reverse development. Denial is the usual response, but acquaintances notice the minor changes and hope they are temporary. The person loses contact with old friends, his memories associated with his school, job and his war service become less vivid. He has increasing difficulty telling of his experiences in a logical, coherent manner. Dates and times of appointments are more difficult to remember and excuses for failure to meet for lunch are needed more often.

Here we enter into the field of speculation about life and death. We may view death as a happening defined by the time the doctor is called in to sign the death certificate. Or we may consider death as the time when the person’s mind has become incapable of reasoned judgment, when the person is not able to recognize the persons around him and when his mind loses voluntary control of his body; leaving its functions to its involuntary operations.

At this point we encounter a variety of opinion too numerous to catalog. Emotions and reason struggle, and emotions are usually victorious. But, frequently, the reward for victory is heart break and grief. The trouble grows out of our failure to recognize the subject’s condition as a step in what we call his “ reverse development” schedule. When this concept is accepted, sensitive and caring persons are able to find ways to help the person with the problems as they arise, and to search out innovative ways to relieve his anxieties and keep him as happy as possible under the changing circumstances.

If we could agree to view death as a process that is the reverse of the early days of babyhood we could assist the dying person in the death process just as we assisted him in the early stages of development we call the birth stage. We could listen to his verbal wandering with genuine interest, and encourage him to talk more about his lifetime experiences. We could make ourselves available to assist with any [I mean ANY] query or need he might have, even when those needs are only imagined. We could give him the things he wants and we could keep him comfortable and assured of our love. We could insure his going through the process of dying with dignity.

When we accept dying as a natural process in one’s life cycle we can learn to handle all stages of the death process with as much tender love as we did in the subject’s birth process. We can accept the diminishment of mental ability as a simple reversal of his mental growth experienced in the very early days of his life. With effort we can remember the many activities and attitudes he exhibited during his prime period of life that distinguished him in his home and community. Such remembrances will enable us to envision the greatness of the man in the totality of his years. This, really, is what we are obliged to do and this will enable us to remember the man as we really wish to remember him.

Finally, all of us are implored to view and respect a person’s life as the sum of its seasons, all beautiful in their own way and in their own time.

Jerry
3/5/04

Wildflowers by Trail

WILDFLOWERS By TRAIL in vicinity of Roswell

Hearts a’ Bustin Gold Autrey Big Jones Leita

Wood Sorrell Gold

Spring Beauty Gold

May Apple Gold

Wild Ginger Gold Jones

Trillium Jones

Sweet Shrub Big Island

Wild Iris Jones

Mtn Laurel Island

Blu eyed Grass Gold Jones

Who Wins In This Election Will Make A Big Difference in My Life

Who wins in this election will make a big difference in my life.

U.S. refuses to sign the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 global warming accord. The President cited ‘incomplete state of scientific knowledge’. Yet the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an international body of thousands of scientists assembled by the U. N. and the World Meteorological Organization held that global temperatures were dramatically on the rise and that this increase was, to an unspecified degree, the result of human-induced emissions.

The E. P. A announced it was going to withdraw a new standard for arsenic in drinking water that had been developed during the Clinton years. The reason given by the president was that “the new standard had been irresponsibly rushed through” Actually Congress had directed the EPA to establish a new standard and had authorized $2.5 million a year for studies from 1997 through 2000. After a period of public grumbling the administration agreed that the 10-parts-per-million was justified.

The White House claimed it was necessary to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to “secure America’s energy needs.” The U S Geological Survey noted that the amount of oil that might be found there would cover up slightly more than two years’ worth of oil consumption.

The United States took the initiative in organizing the United Nations and used its influence to establish its purpose as the preservation of peace among the nations of the world report regarding the hydraulic fracturing to produce oil and gas the E P A stated that the process could contaminate ground water supplies in excess of the federal drinking water standards. A week after making the report to Congressional staff members

Labor Department revises Overtime pay regulations.

Administration pushes for opening government lands to oil drilling.

U.S. criticizes the United Nations as well as friends and former allies in Europe with belittling words of disdain and scorn.

U. S. diverts funds and soldiers from war on terrorist Al Qaeda.

President Bush leads people to believe Iraq may attack us at any time and his regime must be deposed even though some of the evidence has already been proven false.

General Accounting Office said “The path we are on is imprudent and un sustainable. Deficits do matter, especially when they are large, structural and growing.” The deficit for 2004 is expected to be over $480 billion, contrasted with a surplus of $236 billion in 2000.

On February 7, 2002, President Bush wrote in a memo: “Our nation recognizes that this new paradigm—ushered in not by us, but by terrorists—requires new thinking in the law of war.” This generated a memos from the Justice Department that no U. S. law could limit a President’s right to order torture or otherwise abuse prisoners . A Pentagon lawyer stated : “Any efforts by Congress to regulate the interrogation of unlawful combatants would violate the Constitution’s sole vesting of the Commander-in-Chief authority in the President.”

The gap between the rich and the poor in the U.S. is growing more rapidly than in any other industrialized country.

A U. S. Conference of Mayors survey found that less than one quarter of surveyed cities have received any of the promised homeland security funds designed to assist state and local “first responders” such as police and firefighters.

The democrats created 20 million jobs in eight years, but 3 million have been lost since the republicans took office.

Between September 11, 2001 and December the E. P. A. assured us that the air quality in the vicinity of the World Trade Center was safe. In August 2003 the Inspector General’s office revealed that EPA data did not support their assurances and that the EPA press releases were being drafted or doctored by the White House, intent on reopening Wall Street.

Greenspan: “If we have promised more than the economy has the ability to deliver, as I fear we have, we must recalibrate our public programs so that pending retirees have time to adjust through other channels” He means that unless some changes are made in the programs.

Some of My Favorite Poems

WHAT AM I, LIFE ?

What am I, life? A thing of watery salt
Held in cohesion by unresting cells,
Which work they know not why, which never halt,
Myself unwitting where their Master dwells.
I do not bid them, yet they toil, they spin
A world which uses me as I use them;
Nor do I know which end or which begin
Nor which to praise, which pamper, which condemn.

So, like4 a marvel in a marvel set,
I answer to the vast, as wave by wave
The sea of air goes over, dry or wet,
Or the full moon comes swimming from her cave,
Or the great sun comes forth: this myriad I
Tingles, not knowing how, yet wondering why.

John Mansfield


INVICTUS

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade.
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley


IN PRAISE ABOUT FEELING BAD ABOUT YOURSELF

The buzzard has nothing to fault himself with,
Scruples are alien to the Black Panther,
Piranhas do not doubt the rightness of their actions,
The Rattlesnake approves of himself wholeheartedly,
The self-critical Jackal does not exist,
The Locust, Alligator, Scorpion, Horsefly
Live as they live and are glad of it,
A Killer whale’s heart weighs 100 kilos
But in other respects is light.

There’s nothing more animal-like than
A clear conscience on the third planet from the sun.


THE RETURN

He came home, said nothing
Though it was clear something unpleasant had happened.
He lay down in his suit,
Put his head under the blanket, drew up his knees.
He’s about 40, but not at this moment.

He exists, but only as in his mother’s belly
Seven layers deep in protective darkness.
Tomorrow he will give a lecture
On Homeostasis in mega-galactic cosmonotics.
But not now; now he’s curled up, sleeping.


HIAWATHA

Gitche Manito, the mighty,
Spoke with loud clear voice:
“O my children! My poor children!
Listen to the words of wisdom,
Listen to the words of warning,
From the lips of the Great Spirit,
From the Master of Life, who made you!
“I have given you lands to hunt in,
I have given you the streams to fish in,
I have given you the bear and bison,
I have given you roe and reindeer,
I have given you brant and beaver,
Filled the marshes full of wild-fowl,
Filled the rivers full of fishes:
Why then are you not contented?
Why then will you hunt each other?
“I am weary of your quarrels,
Weary of your wars and bloodshed,
Weary of your prayers for vengeance,
Of your wrangling and dissensions;
All your strength is in your union,
All your danger is in discord;
Therefore be at peace henceforward,
And as brothers live together.
“Bathe now in the stream before you,
Wash the war-paint from your faces,
Wash the blood-stains from your fingers,
Bury your war-clubs and your weapons,
And as brothers live henceforward!”

H. W. Longfellow

George W. Bush and the War in Iraq

George W. Bush and the War in Iraq

George W. Bush wanted to be President of the United States. Being Governor of the state of Texas was a tough job, but he could handle it and he liked it. It seemed natural to move up to the finest job in the country, President, and he did. He didn’t get the votes to move to the White House, but a way was found to get him the job he wanted.

Being President is a tough job, requiring a lot of hard work, making a lot of difficult decisions, but he could do it. He knew he could, especially if he got good people to assist him. He had developed several good friends in the oil business and in the field of Republican politics. On top of that, he had a vision, a calling to be a great leader in the world.

He had developed a strong dislike for Saddam Hussein and would like to finish his overthrow that his father failed to do. We, and our devoted allies, had whipped his army and pushed him back into the established Iraqi borders. What we failed to do was find a way to share in the oil rich resources of that country.

Then, as if on a silver platter, President Bush was given the opportunity of a lifetime when the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Now he had the excuse to make a Regime Change in Iraq. However, the people of the United States understood that Ben Laden had pulled off that job and they wanted to pursue and capture him and give him the punishment he deserved. They had little desire to attack Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Their dislike of him could wait.

Art this point the conspiracy began. There was nothing but revenge to be gained by pursuing those terrorists who had holed up in Afghanistan. There was no oil up there.
If all of the terrorists could be lumped together and their center of influence be located in Iraq, then we could get our vengeance for ‘9-11’ and achieve the goal we wanted in Iraq at the same time. New plans were formulated and the search for needed evidence began.

1.Media reports stated that Mohammed Atta , lead hijacker in the 9-11 attack, had conferred with the intelligence chief of Iraq in Prague in April 2001. Bush officials used this story as proof of a link between Iraq and 9-11, but it has been definitely disproved.

2.The National Intelligence Estimate, after receiving input from the entire intelligence community, reported without dissent that Iraq did not have nuclear weapons; was not trying to get them; and did not appear to have reconstituted its nuclear weapons program since the UN and IAEA inspectors departed in December 1998. In October 2002 a new NIE unanimous report stated that Iraq did not have nuclear weapons or a nuclear weapons program.

3. Having the benefit of the information in these classified NIE reports, the following officials made hundreds of false assertions in speeches on television, at the United Nations, to foreign leaders and to Congress: President Bush, Vice President Cheney, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Their statements were consistent and false.

4. President Bush did not say directly that there was a link between Iraq and the 9-11 attack, but did convey that message by mentioning 9/11 and Iraq in speech after speech in his campaign to sell the Iraq war to the public and to the world.

5. Contradicting the National Intelligence Estimate, Mr. Bush stated in his 2002 State of the Union address that Iraq presented a “grave and growing danger”.

6. The President stated that members of Congress had the same intelligence that he had when they voted to allow him to make war on Iraq while in fact much of what they got were summaries that had qualifiers and unsubstantiated additions in them.

7. The Bush administration purposely presented a complex deceit about Iraq to both the Congress and the public in its effort to obtain authorization to attack a nation that had neither the intent, or the capability, to attack the United States.

President has attempted to justify his actions by contending that they were necessary to protect American lives against the danger of an imminent attack. At the same time the President knew that Iraq presented no such danger.

One day in the future some group will obtain the power to obtain information regarding the buildup to and execution of the war in Iraq and the items enumerated above will be affirmed of disproved. The answers will determine whether President should be praised as a good wartime president or scorned and impeached as an ambitious conspiring leader who betrayed the trust of the American people.

War Bulletin 4-17-2004

War Bulletin 41704

The war in Iraq has splintered into so many facets that it is difficult to find a place to start commenting on the present situation. This current war is so confusing and changing so fast that the paper I intend to write will be out of date before I get it completed.

There are several facts that will not change but will survive this paper and probably will outlive the administration of George W Bush and Dick Cheney.

1. The fact that Bush and Cheney were conspiring to attack Iraq prior to the 9-11 attack has turned the spotlight on the lie asserting that Iraq’s leader was a party to that disaster. This also lends credence to the contention of some that from their inauguration date they were searching for an excuse to take over the oil rich region.

2. The repeated well planned attacks on our armed forces and on the contract reconstruction crews reveals how poorly the administration prepared for the post-war activities in Iraq. It is difficult to believe the president’s statement that the program “is on track” when we read press reports of enemy attacks, kidnappings and bodily mutilations and hear the death and injury statistics.

3. The military and civilian authorities can’t agree on the issue of the number of soldiers needed to control the growing rebellious outbreaks in many areas of the country. Some units due for rotation back to the states are being kept on line in an attempt to prevent further damage and deaths. One of the results of this is a dramatic increase in the number of suicides among the armed forces personnel.

4. Events in Washington bring confirmation that the president pushed the nation into this war without having a plan for handling the aftermath that even simple-minded persons knew would follow the downfall of Saddam Hussein. When events in the area revealed that no workable plan existed the president called in business cronies and gave them generous repair and reconstruction contracts without benefit of bidding procedures. Some of those firms have been caught overcharging for their services and allowing sub-contractors to incur unauthorized expenses in their “cost-plus” contracts. Mr. Bush evidently, and incorrectly, believed that the sight of workers repairing school and government buildings, oil refineries and waterworks would ease the hatred generated in the minds of the local population by the invasion of their country by the “Infidels” from America. Evidently Mr. Bush misjudged the culture and history of these people.

5. Important leaders in the fight against terrorism have left their government jobs and have talked and written about the failures of the leadership and the dishonest tactics used to withhold the truth from the American people. Those people have been abused for their revelations. In one case the name of a man’s wife serving as a secret agent was revealed to the press to punish the man for his telling the truth about the administration’s claim that Hussein was trying to buy Uranium in Africa.

I have no doubt that the passing of time will bring news of many more instances of miss-management in the prosecution of the war in Iraq.

In the meantime, the Bush Administration is squandering the publicly owned natural resources in the United States. I am talking of forests, parks, oil and minerals under these lands that belong to you, me and all the other citizens of the country. The agencies responsible for protecting of health of the people and their property are systematically relaxing the enforcement of laws designed to preserve our resources and protect our health. If they are not able to get the laws removed or relaxed by administrative decrees, they withhold the funds needed to enforce them. These actions are part of Bush’s domestic war in which he appears to consider the American people as enemies of the state. With the help of a Republican Congress he is able to be as successful in this war as he is failing in the Iraq war. He is acting as if he has fee simple title to the natural resources of the United States and is able to let his friends and large contributors use or consume them with no (or minimum) payments to the government. It will be many years before we are able to determine the cost resulting from the administration’s revision of the pollution and environmental laws and rules to suit their program rather than enforcing them for the benefit of the health and welfare of the citizens of the country.

Certainly Mr. Bush will be out of office before the citizens learn the full cost of the management actions which have, within three years, squandered a healthy surplus and replaced it with deficits larger than we have ever had. He will leave office with accumulated national debt that will be a financial burden on the people for several generations. Interest payments on that debt will limit growth and development of our country in ways unimagined at this time.

The persons on Social Security and Medicare at this time can expect to suffer financially as a result of this administration’s policies. The Baby Boomers who will be expecting to retire in a few years will be shocked to learn how their benefits will be reduced and their Medical costs increased.

It is impossible to forecast how the Iraq war will play out, but the present prospects are pretty ugly. Certainly, the United States will have suffered a shameful and unprecedented loss of prestige among the nations of the world, resulting in loss of ability to forge favorable economic, environmental and peace arrangements. Only a long period of honest and fair relationships by future administrations can remove the stigma of chutzpah displayed by the Bush administration.

Finally, a word must be said about the wall of separation between the State and the Church. Our founding fathers had experience and historical evidence to convince them that the government had a fulltime job in managing the affairs of state and should not attempt to run the affairs of the church as well. Likewise, they were convinced that the church was not equipped to act as an arm of the government. They felt that it would be unwise for either to attempt to control the other. President Bush has taken actions that serve to weaken this traditional wall of separation. These actions should be sufficient to alert the leaders in the church and in the government to the dangers to both that would result from attempts to consolidate their functions. Both the State and the Church will work more effectively if each stays on its side of the fence.

Jerry 4/17/04

War Bulletin 11-5-2003

WAR BULLETIN 11503

We are living in a strange era of American history. A glimpse at the news in print or on television tells us daily of the trouble our nation is in at this time. Ours is a multi-faceted trouble, gnawing at the very roots and foundation of our nation. We have an administration in Washington that has abrogated treaties and agreements that former leaders of both parties worked hard to achieve for our protection and to help preserve the peace and welfare of the entire world. The administration has ridiculed the United Nations organization as well as individual nations who have been our friends and allies for generations. Its actions have destroyed our vast treasure of good will built up by constructive, fair and friendly actions of former administrations.

We have a president who lied to us, who pushed us into a war with a small country which was no serious threat to our security or welfare without having formulated a plan of action following the war. He and his propagandists convinced the nation that we were in imminent danger of being attacked with weapons of mass destruction on hand and in production by the enemy. They lied to us. They used unsubstantiated intelligence information to support their push to war when they knew that information was false or “doctored” to make it appear true. They accomplished their purpose. The people were convinced that war was necessary.

Contrary to a long national history of not striking the first blow, the president declared the right of pre-emption. He declared to the world that he had the right to make war on any nation that he decided was a threat to the national security of our country or that of our friends and allies. It will take a long time to evaluate the worldwide effects of that decision, but we have already seen a few nations take actions to build up their defenses against an attack by the United States. In our own country we are sure to see a tarnishing of our self-image as a peace-loving nation.

As the President proclaimed from the deck of the Abraham Lincoln the major fighting has ended and the new task of cleaning up Iraq and converting it into a Democratic state is in progress. The Congress has given him authority to spend the money he requested to complete the job of rebuilding the nation’s superstructure and get organized a provisional government to manage the affairs until a fair election can be arranged.

During this period of rebuilding one would expect the local people to be happy to see us building and furnishing new schools, hospitals and government building. Surely it is reasonable to assume that they would be pleased to get their water plants, streets and bridges repaired. Shouldn’t it be a joyful occasion to see the power system repaired so they could have lights, and the telephone system made operable so they can talk with neighbors and out-of-town friends.

Of course the people would surely be happy to see these jobs done if the damage had been done by a catastrophe of nature, and the repair workmen were friendly neighbors or members of United Nations work teams. However, it is different situation when the damage was done by the United States in a pre-emptive war and the reconstruction is being done by that same group of people.

To understand the attitude of the local people we need to review the long-term history of these people. Their minds simply are not able to look on people from the United States as anything but another group of despicable characters whose aim is to enslave them and take their oil and other property from them.

They might not wish to have Saddam back in power but even less do they wish to have an army of pre-emptive invaders telling them what to do or how to do it. They understand democracy as a type of government used by the infidels who caused all this trouble. The trade offs of the Great War and the protectorate regime that followed is still bitter in the minds of the older ones from experience and the young ones from their textbooks.

The people of Iraq are divided into strong, stubborn clans with special deep hatreds toward one another which have made it difficult over the years for them to live peaceably together. It may well be that it was Saddam Hussein’s iron-fisted rule that made it possible to hold the factions together as a nation. Saddam reflected a particular hatred from each population group. Yet, there is a far deeper hatred for the despised Americans. The people’s history, culture and pride come together in their determination to do everything they can to destroy everything they possible can that is American.

The people who work with or for the United States are seen as co-conspirators and hatred toward them is only slightly less intense. This will continue to be a handicap to progress as long as we are there. In turn it will make it increasingly more difficult to get support from other countries and welfare agencies who would ordinarily be welcomed to the country.

From all sides I hear that we are in a mess. Mr. Bush is the exception, saying that we are on schedule. There is growing alarm about losses of our troops. This alarm is intensified by reports that additional units are being readied for shipment to Iraq. The Generals continue to disagree as to how many troops should have been sent in the beginning and how many are needed for the rehabilitation effort.

There are calls for bringing the troops home, but without help from other nations this is unacceptable. Other nations are justifiably reluctant to bail us out of the war in which we chose to ‘go it alone’ after insulting both them and the United Nations. We are left with a very short list of alternatives, all bitter and controversial. Jerry

Truth and Respect After Bush

TRUST AND RESPECT AFTER BUSH Jerry 7/16/04

George W. Bush never admits making a mistake, but admits that he may have at one time or another, but he can not recall making one. Further, he denies ever using evasive language to conceal lies or wrongdoings. The television viewers of the world saw and heard the President making these claims at his news conference.

On another occasion he said no one at the White House or at the Pentagon “had a clue that the mistreatment of prisoners was taking place at Abu Ghraib. The few reported incidents were the work of a half-dozen low-level grunts who should have known better, he said. See, over there we are prosecuting those ‘grunts’ to the hilt. Our system of treating prisoners is working, and that’s the end of the story. So, let’s move on”.

The freedom of the press enables us to know that the President was lying. In the Pentagon Secretary Rumsfeld knew all about it and told Mr. Bush about it January. He had full, detailed reports from the Army itself and from the Red Cross. Yet, they kept it a secret until the awful truth of the torture became public knowledge around the world. His simple lie’s impact is revealed in secret memos from Bush’s Justice Department and from his top White House lawyer claiming that the U. S. did not have to comply with the Geneva Convention s and other international bans on prisoner abuse.

The President’s denial of knowledge was simply a bare faced lie. Apparently his hope was that the blame could be placed on underlings who would have to face courts that would happily choose to believe the President’s word over that of one he called a “grunt”. The President won’t have to defend himself in court, he hopes.

President Bush denied telling the American people lies to justify attacking Iraq. The intelligence data furnished him was inaccurate. He is attempting to place the blame for the fiasco on to the C. I. A. as if that agency has the responsibility for deciding to declare the war. He wants the ‘grunts’ in that organization to bear the blame for failing to determine the accuracy of the data they assembled for consideration by the President. It is true that they failed to do their job, and should be reprimanded or fired. However, it is quite possible that the defective data was what Mr. Bush wanted, to support his declaration to Congress and the American people that Iraq possessed ‘weapons of mass destruction’ and that we were in danger of being attacked at any moment. The factual data would have denied Mr. Bush the sense of urgency he sought and would have left Mr. Hussein appearing as a cruel dictator, mean to his own people, but of no immediate threat to us.

The war in Iraq has turned the spotlight on the shallowness of Mr. Bush’s understanding of the duties of a President as well as his lack of integrity in fulfilling them. As President, Chief Executive Officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces it is his duty to determine that data given him by employees are accurate before he acts on them. He is the top link in the chain of command. He is the executive who chose the Cabinet Secretaries and it is his responsibility to do whatever is necessary to make sure the information he acts upon is accurate. His failure to verify the accuracy of the data used as a basis for a war declaration is inexcusable. The President can’t justify his failure by blaming “some grunt” lower down the chain of command.

At some important date in the future the facts and figures will be assembled to assess the results of the war on Iraq. At that time the people will learn what the President knew and when he knew it. We will be able to see the cost of the war in terms of lives lost, people disabled for life, the resources in materials lost or destroyed and the monetary loss and debt incurred in the process. We will be able to read the verified facts explaining the true reasons for the war and the process employed in bringing the various forces into agreement on the necessity of declaring war on Iraq. The story of the ‘process’ will explain to us why the plans failed to include a process of managing Iraq after we had removed its leader until a stable, Democratic government could be established.

In a supplement to the War Report we will learn what failures and leadership breakdowns caused the local population to hate their liberators and why they welcomed world terrorists to come and help them get rid of the occupation forces and their contractors and employees. There will be a section mentioning the treatment of prisoners and explaining the extent to which it encouraged ordinary citizens to join in the harassment and killing of the occupiers.

In a second supplement the report will explore the extent to which the United States has lost the respect and admiration of nations that had been our friends for generations. It will measure the extent to which our ability to negotiate international agreements has been diminished by the war. Speculation will be included regarding possible abuse of our service personnel who may be captured in future conflicts.

Incompetent President

Incompetent President

It is a great achievement to be elected president of the United States of America. Such an honor brings with it a natural inflation of one’s pride and desire to brag of the accomplishment. So, the ostentatious inauguration of George W. Bush was no big surprise.

President Bush was pleased at the fast move of the armed forces in the capture of Iraq. It was expected that he was proud and anxious to let the world know of that success. It was at this time that the president revealed his basic pretentious nature. He dressed up in an Air Force uniform and exercised his authority as Commander in Chief to set up a ceremonious landing on an aircraft carrier to announce the end of major fighting activities in Iraq.

The aircraft carrier ceremony would lead one to believe that the war in Iraq was going well and the well-planned program for its execution was on schedule. In a short while Iraq surely would be a peaceful place with a new democratic regime replacing Saddam’s dictatorship.

Well, it turns out that the administration over-ruled the General’s recommendation on the number of troops needed and there were not enough troops to do the job.

The anticipated crowds of civilians to welcome our troops into Iraq turned out to be angry people anxious for us to get out of their country. There was no agreed upon plan to pacify the people and bring the troops home. It turned out to be a “plan as you go” operation with no schedule or timetable.

When pressed for information the reply was that we would turn the governmental affairs over to the Iraqi people and leave as soon as they got a government set up that could maintain order. We had already disbanded the military and law enforcement agencies making it necessary to recruit and train a whole new organization. There was no group to undertake this organizing job.
As the lawlessness, looting and citizen frustration took place there arose a group that gladly grasped the opportunity to make a concerted effort to drive the foreign infidels from their land. The coalition forces were placed on the defensive against desperate fighters with unconventional weapons and fighting techniques. They soon learned that their body and vehicle armor plating were not providing them sufficient protection. Their complaints to the Pentagon drew a reply that one fights a war with what we have.

Back on the home front the weather forecasters advised that a severe hurricane was going to strike the Gulf Coast area within a week or two. The television networks gave prime time reports of where it was located and where it was going to make landfall. The predictions were very accurate and it was expected that the advance information would enable the government agencies to prepare for its arrival and the damage would be held to a minimum.

However, the hurricane’s arrival found the area unprepared. The death toll and property damage were unprecedented. The President was enjoying a vacation at his ranch in Texas, apparently dividing his concern equally between the hurricane and an angry gold star mother who was desperately seeking an interview with him. After a few days the President found time to present himself at the Gulf Coast area for several photo-ops. He used one occasion to compliment the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the good work he had done.

The Hurricane disaster is the latest bit of evidence accumulated during the last five years concerning the competence of the man serving as President and Commander in chief of our nation. George W. Bush was not qualified to perform the duties of the presidency when he was sworn in and he appears to have learned very little on the job. He appears to be quite qualified to prepare for and show himself for photo opportunities, but totally unqualified to prepare for military or peacetime emergencies.

We have had earlier presidents who overcame their incompetence by appointing highly competent men to lead and manage the various departments of government. However, with Mr. Bush the appointed individuals have, in too many cases, proven to be as incompetent as the president. This has resulted in disunity, confusion and quarreling in the leadership of several agencies, leading to heavy loss of life and material. These losses are irreversible.

Invictus

INVICTUS

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade.
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

Get Rich Easy

GET RICH EASY

If getting rich is one’s goal we can expect him to pursue that goal in the easiest way possible. That ‘easiest way’ may lead one into ways and techniques that are not very nice----and possibly illegal. So, one has to make a choice, and this choice can lead to a life of hard work and moderate wealth or an easier life of cunning effort, much wealth and possibly a term in the slammer.
The character we observe in this paper has chosen to follow the ‘easy’ route, figuring that he is smart enough to get what he wants and yet avoid getting sent to prison.
Through gossip, newspaper stories and television programs our subject, Randy, has learned that many old people are wealthy; that old, wealthy people often move to ‘retirement communities’ to spend their last days. Therefore, retirement communities would be a good place to find a source of easy wealth.

To extract wealth from those old people in the retirement community requires a bit of skill and intrigue, but this is no deterrent to Randy. He was born with an attractive body and developed a good personality during his youth and early life. He made friends easily and learned to use those friends to make acquaintances among people he felt could be of help in future dealings. He had a good sales personality, sufficient to lead a friend to say “He could make a living selling air conditioners to Eskimos.”

Randy cultivated a roster of friends at retirement communities where residents had endless lists of needs and where some gladly accepted help from nice folks like Randy. He was ever so helpful in putting a dear old lady in touch with an attorney who helped her get a good settlement in her automobile accident. His efforts got an appointment with a doctor in spite of his rule of refusing patients who were on Medicare. He even drove her to his office, avoiding Taxi fare. Randy pays attention when friends talk, and goes to the trouble of giving them DVDs of favorite movies. Randy even called a dear friend and gave her a stock market tip that led to a connection that has doubled her investment income during the last year.

All of Randy’s helpfulness appeared to be actions of a nice man who loves to have nice friends who remind him of his dear mother, rest her soul.

What his friends don’t realize is that he had developed the friendship of an employee of the retirement community who has access to private records of the residents. For his friendship and other considerations he has been able to assemble a roster of old ladies who have special conditions and needs. One category includes those with increasing Dementia, another group who need help with all financial matters but do not have nearby relatives. Still another category list those who are still grieving over the death of their spouse.

Randy’s ‘list’ of friends includes notes by each name indicating what he calls “Hot Buttons” that he uses to evoke desired responses. He alternately refers to his list as his “Gold Mine”, “Wish List” and “Retirement Fund”. His list is revised and up-dated regularly to add new ‘friends’ or delete those who have died, moved away or have otherwise lost their value.

Efforts to identify and root out persons like “Randy” have met with a variety of responses from management of retirement communities. Several contend that such characters exist only as a figment of my imagination, some have agreed to make personal and financial records more secure and a few have agreed to amend their personnel records and rules to make mandatory dismissal of any employee who might be involved in activities that might lead to defrauding of a resident.

All parties agree that victims are likely to resent assertions that their dear friends are suspect. Some residents have responded with threats of libel and slander lawsuits on behalf of their friends. All respondents agree that all Randy characters, if there are any, should be apprehended and punished. Finally, all agree that efforts to defraud the elderly and ill persons is despicable conduct.

Jerry 3/23/06

Early Schooling

When Mama married Mr. Worthington we moved to his farm which was 8 or 10 miles from the homesteaded place where I was born and had lived for about 8 years. When school started we changed to the one-room school which was nearer to the house than the Spencer Hill had been during my first year in school. Everything was about the same except this school was operated by a man who was called Professor, the playground was larger and the water bucket was filled from a well rather than a spring.
The school had eleven grades rather than eight at Spencer Hill which meant that we had some pupils who were in their later teens. This school also had more unruly behavior which entailed more discipline action by the Professor. One day, for reasons I never learned, the professor told two teenagers he was going to whip them, and sent them out to get a switch for him to use on them. They got the switch which appeared to be about 3 feet long and capable of causing great pain. When the whipping started the switch broke. The boys had cut two or three notches in it. This infuriated the teacher so much that he went out himself and got a strong switch and gave the boys a severe thrashing. All this was done in full view of all the students who seemed to enjoy the antics of both the boys and the teacher.
Persons doing lesser offences got a different kind of punishment, though often as embarrassing to the offender. This school had the usual desks for individual seating, but also had one row of desks that seated two people. When a boy misbehaved the professor would sometimes make him go sit for a time by a girl in one of the double desks. I never learned how he decided to give this style of punishment or how he decided how long the penalty would last.
One of the professor’s actions was inexcusable and placed a black mark by his name in my book that will never be erased. On this day I wore a new pair of overalls. I was never a show-off kid and know that I did nothing to cause any disturbance in the class room. But the teacher called me up front onto the stage which was about a foot higher than the floor. Then he announced in words I didn’t clearly understand that I was wearing a new pair of overalls and he would see how they would whip. He then took a switch and gave me a whipping. It wasn’t severe, but was puzzling and made me angry. I was just 8 year old and didn’t dare question his action. But I will never forget it.
During the school year we moved to West Blocton and transferred to the school there. This was a monumental move. The new school had two floors with grammar grades up to grade 7. Junior High was grades 7,8 &9 and High School was grades 10, 11 and 12. And each of the first 6 grades had its own teacher. In the later grades there were teachers for specific subjects which she taught for all the grades.
Everything was better, but the bubbling water fountain was the most outstanding improvement. There was one located in the entrance way on the first floor and also one directly above on the second floor. Such improvements sometimes bring with them opportunities for trouble. It started here when some child started pushing down the head of the child in front of him so as to splatter water in his face. After this happened to me a number of times I made the mistake of turning around and pushing down the head of the fellow behind me [it was usually the fellow behind who did the dastardly act] and I made the further mistake of pushing down so hard it cut his lip with blood flow. He ran to the Principal’s office with a bloody lip and a finger pointing right at me. The result was a trip to the Principal’s office where he used a switch to whip me appropriately. The only good resulting from this encounter was an announcement at assembly the next day that the incident had happened and a warning that recurrence would bring severe punishment.

For the grades 7 and above there was a home-room session where the teacher called the roll. Then we went to the assembly room for announcements, bible reading and song session. The leader would give the page number of the chosen song and then lead the group in such songs as America, The Spanish Cavalier, and Love’s Old Sweet song. There would the traditional seasonal songs during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter seasons.

This was a great school, with about 300 pupils and opportunities to make new friends. It was located a few blocks from Main street and within easy walking distance of the Manring Hotel where I worked as a ‘live in’ employee. At lunch time I would get to the hotel in time to eat lunch and help with the dish washing and dining room clean-up before returning to school.

The great fire of July 1927 destroyed the hotel. Prior to start of school in September I got a job at the Silver Moon Café, operated by Mr. Walter Riley and his wife. It was located on the opposite side of Main Street and was in the first building west of the area destroyed by the fire. There was a large vacant lot east of the building which helped it survive the fire.

This lot served as a convenient location for the three tables where people sat for domino games. The coal mines operated only two or three days a week during these depression era days and the idle miners enjoyed getting together for domino games. Mr. Riley was glad to furnish the tables, chairs and dominoes without charge. The player obliged by ordering hamburgers, cokes and ice cream cones.

I would meet Mr. Riley for opening and clean up in the morning before going to school. At lunch time I would rush from school in time to help with the short-time rush for hamburgers and cokes. The rush would be over in time for me to eat a quick lunch before rushing back to school.

After school there wasn’t a lot of business but the café stayed open for the occasional drop-in customer. I had time to do my school home work, do any cleaning that needed to be done before opening the next day. There was usually time for Mr. Riley to give me a few lessons at the Checker game. He was an expert player and was patient in pointing out my errors and making suggestions to improve my playing skill. After a time I was able to win a few games and gain a few compliments on my playing.

Hearts A Bustin'

“ hearts a-bustin’ with love”
Strawberry- Bush
Euonymus americanus

This is a shy, inconspicuous shrub of the staff-tree family that grows in rich woods in altitudes up to 3500 feet. Usually it grows 2 to 8 feet tall with green or pale gray twigs with opposite veined green leaves that are 1 ½ to 3 inches long. We first noticed it on the Gold Branch trail off of Lower Roswell Road. Later, more careful, observation revealed its presence on practically all of the trails around Roswell, including the Autry Mill Preserve and the Big Tree Preserve trails.
Small, greenish-purple flowers appear in May and June. They have five joined petals with rounded ends. In the center of these petals is a small white flower with five much smaller, sharp pointed petals. This center portion of the flower matures and drops the white petals after about 30 days, leaving a small dark, round berry in the center. This berry-like pod continues to grow, develops five indented grooves and turns a darker shade of green. The grooves become more pronounced and the pod takes on a brownish tint. At this stage the pod may be ½ to ¾ inch in diameter and appears to be dry and mature, with a rough bumpy surface with a rusty red color.
At about three months of age, in late August or September, the pod breaks open at the five indentations; the five sections fold back, exposing five bright glossy- red (or orange) seeds. The folded back covers are also colored red on their inside, now exposed. The colorful seeds are attractive to the birds and are soon dropped to the ground or carried away. The seed pod fades from red to a rusty brown color before dropping to the ground.
A ranger at the Island Ford trail advised that he knew of no Hearts a’bustin on that trail. We found none as we hiked the trail until we sat down to eat lunch at the picnic table at the end of the trail. Here I noticed a large shrub in bloom growing in the middle of a cluster of Mountain Laurel about twenty feet from where we were sitting. As mentioned earlier, this is a shy, inconspicuous shrub that is easily overlooked except in its final stage when the seed pod has burst and its brilliant contents exposed.
The manager of the Big Tree Preserve strives to maintain the area free of foreign or intrusive plants. As a part of this program he has rescued a large variety of native flowers and shrubs and transplanted them in this preserve, including many Hearts a’ bustin, Lady Slippers and Purple Coneflowers.

Go Down, Death

GO DOWN DEATH

Weep not, weep not,
She is not dead
She’s resting on the bosom of Jesus.
Heart-broken husband—weep no more;
Grief-stricken son—weep no more;
Left-lonesome daughter—weep no more;
She’s only just gone home.

Day before yesterday morning,
God was looking down from his great, high heaven,
Looking down on all of his children,
And his eyes fell on Sister Caroline,
Tossing on her bed of pain.
And God’s big heart was touched with pity,
With everlasting pity.

And God sat back on his throne,
And he commanded that tall, bright angel standing at his right hand:
Call me death!
And that tall, bright angel cried in a voice
That broke like a clap of thunder:
Call Death!---Call Death!
And the echo sounded down the streets of heaven
Till it reached away back to that shadowy place,
Where Death waits with his pale, white horse.

And Death heard the summons,
And he leaped on his fastest horse,
Pale as a sheet in the moonlight.
Up the golden street Death Galloped,
And the hoofs of the horse struck fire from the gold,
But they didn’t make no sound.
Up Death rode to the Great White Throne,
And waited for God’s command.

And God said: Go down, Death, go down,
Go down to Savannah, Georgia,
Down to Yamacraw,
And find Sister Caroline.
She’s borne the burden and heat of the day,
She’s labored long in the vineyard,
She’s tired---
She’s weary---
Go down, Death, and bring her to me.

And Death didn’t say a word.
But he loosed the reins on his pale, white horse.
And he clamped the spurs in his bloodless sides,
And out and down he rode,
Through heaven’s pearly gates,
Past sun and moon and stars;
On Death rode,



And the foam from his horse was like a comet in the sky;
On Death rode,
Leaving the lightning’s flash behind;
Straight on down he came.

While we were watching round her bed,
She turned her eyes and looked away,
She saw what we couldn’t see;
She saw Old Death. She saw Old Death,
Coming like a falling star,
But Death didn’t frighten Sister Caroline;
He looked to her like a welcome friend.
And she whispered to us: I’m going home,
And she smiled and closed her eyes.

And Death took her up like a baby,
And she lay in his icy arms,
But she didn’t feel no chill.
And Death began to ride again—
Up beyond the evening star,
Out beyond the morning star,
Into the glittering light of glory.
On the Great White Throne.
And there he laid Sister Caroline
On the loving breast of Jesus.

And Jesus took his own hand and wiped away her tears,
And he smoothed the furrows from her face,
And the angels sang a little song,
And Jesus rocked her in his arms,
And kept a-saying: Take your rest,
Take your rest, take your rest.

Weep not---weep not,
She is not dead;
She’s resting in the bosom of Jesus.


God’s Trombones
James Weldon Johnson

Doing Something

DOING SOMETHING

For life to mean anything a person must do something. The thing done doesn’t have to have great significance or accomplish a particular goal. The first point is that a person needs to do something to assert his being and give meaning to his life. Later points may be asserted with respect to the importance of doing particular things. But, for a beginning we need to agree on the importance of doing something.
Doing something is what gives meaning to physical, emotional, mental and economic existence. The saying “Use it or lose it” applies to all aspects of life. Further, doing something in any one of the activity fields will exert an influence on the other fields, contributing to healthier general existence. It is the doing, or anticipating the doing of something that gives us the needed reason to rise in the morning.
One of the disadvantages associated with retiring from one’s job is the loss of purpose in getting up in the morning. Advancing age accentuates the loss of purpose, making it more urgent that the problem be recognized and dealt with. A person may not be aware of the dangers associated with this loss of purpose factor. Even in recognizing it a person may reason that after a career of hard work one is entitled to spend some time doing nothing. He may feel that he has done his part and that it is time to let the young folks take over the tasks. Such a person needs to learn that doing things and maintaining satisfactory relationships with other people are determining factors in the personal health of all persons at all stages of life.
Closely, but often unknowingly, associated with the tendency to idleness are the employees of retirement homes or other institutions who find it easier for them to let their wards sit dozing on a sofa rather than pushing them to participate in the scheduled activity. In fact, the custodian may find a host of ways to justify excusing them this time. Actually, they may have been excused so many times in the past that they are no longer capable of understanding and participating in the activity.
Surely there are games, puzzles and activities that are too difficult for some people to perform. For those persons, a special effort should be made to find an activity that, with some conscientious assistance, they can perform. While these people may be the greatest test of our training and skill they may also furnish us the greatest satisfaction of success in our work.
Whether dealing with the task of leading others in performance tasks or in doing things ourselves we need to remember that we are dealing with a matter of living. Our thinking, our interaction with others, the physical things we do and the leadership we provide are the things that define the life we live. They are the activities that contribute to our physical, mental and emotional health. The rewarding thing is the fact that we are making our own lives more healthy and satisfying in the process of assisting others.

Jerry 3/29/05

Cool Tombs / The Ship of State

COOL TOMBS

When Abraham Lincoln was shoveled into the tombs, he forgot the
Copperheads and the assassin…in the dust, in the cool tombs.

And Ulysses Grant lost all thought of con men and Wall street,
Cash and collateral turned ashes…in the dust, in the cool tombs.

Pocahontas’ body, lovely as a poplar, sweet as a red haw
In November or a pawpaw in May…did she wonder?
Does she remember?...in the dust, in the cool tombs?

Take any streetful of people buying clothes and groceries,
Cheering a hero or throwing confetti and blowing tin horns…
Tell me if the lovers are losers…tell me if any get more
Than the lovers…in the dust, in the cool tombs.

Carl Sandburg


SHIP OF STATE

Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity with all its fears,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!
We know what Master laid thy keel,
What Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel,
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope
What anvils rang, what hammers beat
In what a forge and what heat
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!
Fear not each sudden sound and shock,
‘T is of the wave and not the rock,
‘T is but the flapping of the sail,
And not a rent made by the gale!
In spite of rock and tempest’s roar,
In spite of false lights on the shore,
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee,
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith, triumphant o’er our fears,
Are all with thee,---are all with thee!

H. W. Longfellow

The Touch Revolution

TOUCH and be TOUCHED
7/12/05 Jerry

With birth comes the natural desire to touch and to be touched. The new mother wants to feel the warmth and life pulses of this miracle that has come to her. She lets her fingers trace the curves of the baby’s ear and chin. In counting its fingers and toes she touches each and proudly celebrates the perfection of the count. She is filled with awe as she recalls the events that have enabled her to produce this wondrously marvelous new life that will play an important role in continuing her family, and indeed, the entire family of mankind.
The scientists who understand such things explain to us that the touching ritual is an essential element in the growth process. It enables personalities to develop and meaningful relationships to grow, both physical and spiritual. Without this touching there will be a void, a lacking, that may appear in later life as a character flaw such as an inclination to cruelty or other social crimes. Its absence may lead one into a life of reclusion. Sadly, such a childhood loss is almost impossible to redeem.
As children grow older touching between parents and children tends to decrease. Children often feel that holding the hand of a parent is a mark of childishness, of immaturity. Sexual mores may lead a child or parent to avoid touching in sight of others. In other cases there may be a decrease in the close relationship that will lead to a decrease in touching. Development of relationships between boys and girls may cause them to prefer touching between them rather than with parents.
Regardless of age there are reasons for touching and no opportunity should be overlooked. A Cub Scout completes construction of a bird house or finishes his leaf collection or graduates into Boy Scouting. All of these should be celebrated with words of congratulations and a big hug. The daughter wins a medal in a swimming meet, makes an A in math, or learns how to play Chess. These should never be passed up as times for hugs from parents, and maybe from sibling too.
Adults continue to benefit from touching. This is especially true for those who have retired and those who may live in “Retirement Communities”. Most of the residents of such communities have moved there from other communities and have lost contact with friends, neighbors and fellow workers. They miss the congratulatory pat on the back for closing an important contract or making good golf or bowling scores. They miss the friendly handshakes of friends at Church or at neighborhood stores.
These people may not realize that the absence of touches is one of the major factors contributing to their lonely feelings. They often come to accept the lonely feeling as normal and continue to spend their time in front of their television set or in meaningless activities with others who are in the same lonely state.
A friendly touch could revolutionize the lives of these people. A hug, pat on the back, handshake or even a friendly assist to a seat could work wonders with everyone. For some, these acts might seem awkward at first. Some women might feel like a man is flirtatious. These feelings will disappear quickly and be replaced with appreciation.
For the ‘Touch’ revolution to catch on it would be helpful if each person would take the initiative, pat another on the back or shake his [her] hand and say a kind word. Even a word about the weather would suffice. In a few days it will become an easy, joyful habit and everyone will be happier. Begin today!