President Obama: “There are very few African-American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me,” Obama said. “And there are very few African-American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me, at least before I was a senator.”  Fox News: Fox’s Sean Hannity suggests that the main reason Obama identifies with Trayvon is that the two as teenagers had smoked marijuana. On Facebook, Fox News radio host Todd … Continue reading Words From the Heart….

A rain free night full of vehicle demolishing and car smashing fun was featured at the 4-H Fairgrounds Saturday for a capacity crowd inside the main arena as 38 drivers competed in four categories for trophies, prize money and bragging rights. Welcome to small town America. I have lived in it for much of my six plus decades on this earth. I want to thank my local paper for the photo and the words above. I live just north of a town of 2214 people.  At least that is what the sign says coming into town.  I wouldn’t have it … Continue reading Small Town Life…

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima appear on the balcony of the Royal Palace with their children, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, April 30, 2013. Willem-Alexander is not only the monarch of the Netherlands but also the Dutch Caribbean territories of Curacao, Aruba and Saint Maarten. He holds several military titles but requested an honorable discharge. Source: Dutch Abdication: Willem-Alexander Becomes Europe’s Youngest Monarch | The Netherlands New King | TIME.com. I just can’t understand the allure of a monarchy but I know that many are infatuated with them.  My wife stayed up into the wee hours of the morning to see … Continue reading Monarchy……

Make your home more energy efficient. It could help reduce not only your utility bills, but also what you owe the IRS. You can make relatively easy and inexpensive upgrades, such as adding insulation or replacing leaky windows, and possibly receive a $500 tax credit on your 2013 tax return. More extensive — and expensive — alternative energy improvements will get you bigger tax breaks. These include installing solar energy, wind power, fuel cell or geothermal systems. Eligible home energy improvements in these areas could qualify for a tax credit equal to 30 percent of the cost, including installation, without … Continue reading Make home energy improvements….

A century ago, people were dreaming of flying, trying and failing, falling on the ground. But why do people fall? Why do they continue to fight when all hope seems to be lost? I believe it is because it is in our nature to fight, to try to find something in the darkness of the things we do not understand, in the chaos that surrounds us…… Don’t over think it, don’t tell yourself what you are doing is more than what it is, don’t try to impress anyone. Don’t play it safe either. Simply write like yourself, and write exactly … Continue reading A Century Ago…

I was just out in the yard mowing my two and a half acres and started thinking about how I am more relaxed now that I have greatly reduced my diet of politics.  There is little that goes on in that world now that would spur anything other than frustrations. I have admitted that in 2008 I actively supported the candidacy of Barak Obama. His rhetoric was very inspiring to me. He gave me hope that he could affect the changes necessary to restore this country to some form of sanity. In the five years since that time I have … Continue reading Neither Party Deserves It….

Whatever shape your world may take in the year 2000 A.D., we can all be fairly sure that it will be one world. Whether through war or through peace, the nations fifty years from now will have learned to enmesh their sovereignties into a single supreme authority. They will have learned to do so because, difficult as it may seem now, no other alternative exists. One world or none at all is the choice…. This trend toward world authority will be contested bitterly for many years, because national sovereignty is something all men cling to. But sooner or later a … Continue reading A 1950s View Of the World In 2000…

“A real self-made man would have to be one who had received no learning or knowledge, or assistance from any person or source.” – Will Rogers, 28 October 1923 I really appreciate your words here Will. There is really no such thing as a self made man.  I have run across so many people who proudly claim to be self made.  There is a definite whiff of arrogance in every one of them. There is even a car guy on cable that has those words tattooed on his fingers.  He proudly says he built his business totally on his own. … Continue reading Self Made…..

Excessive self-criticism tends to backfire, because it leads us to focus on our so-called failures instead of the “small ways that we could have improved,” says psychologist Tamar E. Chansky, PhD, author of Freeing Yourself From Anxiety. And over the long term, studies show, self trash-talk is associated with higher stress levels and even depression. Source:  9 Ways to Silence Your Inner Critic – ABC News. Being down on yourself is just a normal state for some and an occasional state for others. This seems especially true for  certain varieties of Christians who believe that all human beings are just … Continue reading Being Down On Yourself….

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Continue reading Happy July 4th…

But, virtually every night, I would also feel from those who came, along with that hunger, a very deep cynicism about social change even being possible. And when it came to Washington or Wall Street, the cynicism was overwhelming. Virtually no one trusts either our political system or marketplace to be fair, honest, moral, or even open to doing the right thing. Most Americans seem to believe that the primary institutions of our public life completely lack integrity. And sadly, that cynicism, for many, even extends to their churches or other religious institutions, which they don’t regard as playing an independent leadership role for … Continue reading Hitting the Nail on the Head….