On Just About Everything
The pictures shown in the slideshow are from the grounds of the Museum of Indian & Art Culture in Santa Fe New Mexico. It is a fantastic place to visit. Santa Fe is quickly become my favorite city on Native-America … Continue reading Museum of Indian & Art Culture – Santa Fe NM
An interesting way to look at our country. It helps you understand how all those very small conservative States have so much power over the majority of us in the U.S. congress. Continue reading States By Population..
Last week, Jeb Bush told an audience in California, “It is strength, and will, and clarity of purpose that make all the difference.” This is the Tinker Bell school of foreign policy that has spread over most of the Republican presidential field. Clap if you believe in a stable Middle East where Syria is rid of ISIS, Al Nusra, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and any Iranian influence. Clap if you believe Iraq will be safe for religious minorities and free of undue Iranian influence, too….. As an electoral strategy, it is absolutely nuts that Republicans would preemptively tell the American … Continue reading Like a Death Wish… I Can Only Hope….
Abraham Lincoln is one of my favorite presidents. His library in Springfield Illinois is and impressive place. The pictures here are life-like figures from his cabinet. Most of these guys thought he was just a yokel who could be easily … Continue reading Lincoln Museum – Springfield IL
Its been a while since I used my painter app on one of my photos. The app has many different style options but I kind of like this one.. Continue reading The Great Rocky Mountains..
Only 20 percent of Americans believe there will be enough money left when it’s time for them to retire. To fix the problem, some people believe Social Security should allow means testing, where benefits are based on a person’s income. Others think the tax should be raised, the retirement age should be raised or the benefits should be cut down. Though there’s disagreement over how, Social Security is a program that almost everyone agrees needs to be fixed before the well starts to run dry. So as Social Security turns 80, when it comes to the future of the biggest … Continue reading Fear # 4 – Social Security Will Disappear
Even junkyards look fantastic with the mountains in the background. Welcome to La Fruto…. Continue reading Even Junkyards…
SEATTLE — Microsoft said on Wednesday that it would offer new parents an additional eight weeks of paid time off from their jobs at the company, in a significant boost to its parental leave benefits. Microsoft’s changes to its policy came a day after Netflix, the online video service, said it would allow new mothers and fathers who are employees to take as much paid time off as they need during the first year after the birth or adoption of a child. The more generous policies are a way to hold onto employees, particularly the highly skilled technical workers who … Continue reading The Disparity of Benefits… And a Possible Solution…
This is the first post in a new category called “My Best of the Best List”. Over my life I have always been an avid read. I’m sure I have read thousands of books on many different topic. I have also traveled to all fifty States and to Canada and Mexico mainly with history in mind. So, with this post I am starting my recommended reading/visiting list for your perusal. I thought I would start out with perhaps the one book that mostly influenced by current views of Christianity and those who claim to follow Jesus. I want to … Continue reading Being a Radical… The Best of the Best…
But the chief said he ultimately decided Miller’s mistakes required his firing. While he said he had “serious concerns” about Miller’s use of deadly force, Johnson said it would be up to a grand jury to decide whether Miller’s actions were criminal. Source: Police Chief Fires Officer Who Shot and Killed Unarmed Texas Football Player | TIME. I’m not going to talk much about the story cited above but instead I will be talking about the “Use of Deadly Force”. For the most part this is probably an American thing. I’m sure that we are number one in the world of unarmed … Continue reading Use of Deadly Force….
One thing that spreads across the U.S. landscape are distressed rural buildings. Now that corporations pretty much have taken over the old small farm buildings have been abandoned. I have more than 800 photos to help document them before they … Continue reading Distressed…
It’s amazing how our pets can so easily forgive and forget. If only we humans could learn that lesson from them. While I was talking to my wife recently, Dexter our cat proceeded to attack my right foot. He does this on occasion but this time it was annoying and I kicked him off. He took off like a rocket then stopped to give me a glaring look before going into hiding. An hour later while we were sitting on the deck getting our usual dose of the morning sun he came back and everything was forgiven. Our pets just don’t … Continue reading Forgive and Forget…
WENDY THOMAS RUSSELL: I did a survey of 1,000 nonreligious parents to find out exactly that. And the top reason cited was, people weren’t sure how to talk about religion without indoctrinating their kids into what they believed themselves. That was a hard line. The other one was interacting with religious family members and keeping the peace in families. When you’re raising a child who is in a secular household, how do you bridge the gap between the older generations who may be more rigidly religious? JEFFREY BROWN: This word indoctrinating is an important one, because it comes up time … Continue reading Indoctrination and God…
Our minds are just too filled with things that don’t matter much. All that stuff is stifling creativity. Continue reading Clean Out a Corner of Your Mind..
A little over a hundred years ago the world was in a paradigm shift away from farming to manufacturing. This was a very disruptive thing for many who were living during those times. Cars were replacing the horse and buggy which had been the primary mode of transportation for more than a century. Automation of farm implements resulted in much less labor needed to produce the same goods. Things were changing and changing quickly. Fifty years ago cars were made by thousands of workers lined up each doing a small part of the assembly. It was mind numbing work but paid well. Paychecks … Continue reading Unskilled Labor..
This is kind of an eerie picture but in reality it was once a thing of great beauty. As the cycle of life typically goes it was once a beautiful flower in my wife’s garden Continue reading Ten Headed Monster???
But since Piotrowski describes property taxes as “unethical, unchristian-like” and a form of “financial slavery,” he decided to make a statement. “Since I’m being forced to pay for something against my own will, I’m paying in pennies,” he told The Philadelphia Inquirer. SOURCE: This man collected 50,000 pennies to make a statement about paying his property taxes – Yahoo Finance. I don’t know about you but these sort of stories get on my nerves but kind of like a train wreck I just can’t seem to look away. This guy claims paying taxes is “unethical, unchristian-like and a form of financial slavery”. … Continue reading Something For Nothing…
Found this tattooed horse in downtown Louisville a few years ago. It was around Kentucky Derby time. Continue reading Tattooed Horse
Seeing all the blue jays hoarding the feeder just now got me to thinking about life. It doesn’t take much to get me to thinking these days. :) We feed over half a ton of sunflower seed annually in our backyard feeders. There is a big variety of birds that come and go. Cardinals are one of my favorites probably because of their bright color. I just seem to like bright colors at this time in my life. My “inferno orange” Chevy Sonic is a testimony to that. Anyway, getting back on topic, at least once a day a large … Continue reading The Blue Jays of Life…
What could be more creative than a shadow box of eggs. I found this on at the Des Moines History Museum a few years ago. Continue reading Eggs…
Cord-cutting headaches for pay TV have now progressed beyond just a dull, throbbing pain. Cable, satellite and telco TV companies suffered their worst-ever quarterly subscriber declines for the three months ended June 30, collectively shedding more than half a million accounts — an accelerating erosion that’s put new pressure on operators and media companies exposed in the pay-TV biz. Source: Cord-Cutting Gets Ugly: U.S. Pay-TV Sector Drops 566,000 Customers in Q2. Later in this article one of the TV execs say that the customer should be the focus of this trend and not the corporate plan or such. Maybe they would like my opinion but I kind … Continue reading Cord-Cutting Gets Ugly: U.S. Pay-TV Sector Drops 566,000 Customers in Q2
New Mexico continues to fascinate me. It is so different from where I have lived the rest of my life. These pics were primarily taken in northern New Mexico (Santa Fe and north) and southern Colorado. I am convinced that … Continue reading Mountains… Colorado, New Mexico
(CENTENNIAL, Colo.)—Colorado theater shooter James Holmes will be sentenced to life in prison without parole after a jury failed to agree Friday on whether he should get the death penalty for his murderous attack on a packed movie premiere. Source: Jury Sentences Aurora Movie Theater Shooter to Life in Prison | TIME. The Colorado theatre incident seems like a long ago memory now that so many others have happened. But it is nice to see that James Holmes finally was held accountable for his deeds. I know there are probably a lot of you who say he should have been killed … Continue reading Cruel and Unusual….
One of the things I complain about the most is having no help in choosing a career/direction for my life. I went to a very small rural school and even though I was assigned the agriculture teacher as my counselor he was actually anything but. I think every one of those he “guided” was told to be a farmer. He simply didn’t take that responsibility seriously. I don’t know if it was any different for the other students who had different teachers? Probably not… But looking back on my life there were several clues that, if I weren’t a hormones driven … Continue reading Ode to the Farm House..
Some customers, consumer advocates and the telephone-workers union accuse the phone companies of not repairing copper networks that they want to shut down. The new rules would prohibit companies from retiring a copper network through neglect. If it wants to abandon copper, it would need to tell customers. SOURCE: You still use a landline? FCC voting on new phone rules – Yahoo News. This was a new one on me. I didn’t know that the phone companies could retire copper lines through neglect. I guess when that happens they just leave it up to you to try to figure a way to … Continue reading You still use a landline? FCC voting on new phone rules
First off I hope you are enjoying the new and expanded view from RJ’s Corner. Its kind of more a neighborhood now than just a corner but that’s the way it is. Its fun to be able to put all my posts in one place. Let me know how you like the new format and anything that would make it better. I have been doing some serious maintenance on the site for the last week or so and that is why recent postings have dropped. I hope to finish that up this weekend and will then start posting on a … Continue reading My Take On The World
Creativity is by no means a new thing. When I came across this windmill in Colby Kansas I knew I was looking at 19th century version of is. It sure does get windy in the northern plains States so they need a way to keep it from tearing off their fans. What a neat way to do it… Continue reading Windy Creativity…
Road Trips, History, Photography, Blogging Some of my major passions revolves around road trips, American History, photography, and blogging. They have all come together to form the heart of the InSearchOfAmerica category of this blog. Do you want to visit places you have never been? Do you want some ideas on where to visit for your next vacation? Do you want to learn about our country by visiting our past? This blog will do those things for you. Over the past 25 years I have taken many road trips with history in mind. I have actually traveled to all fifty States with my … Continue reading About “In Search Of America”
In the past when I thought of Tulsa Oklahoma I mainly thought of cows and indians. After visiting there for the first time recently I have changed that view. Now the first thing I think of is the Woody Guthrie Center and … Continue reading Tulsa…
If you know me you know that I am one who embraces change and hate boredom. With both of those things itching at me I have spent the last week re-formatting my five blogs into one new one. It has been a tedious task but one I think is well worth the time. If you like it let me know please.. Continue reading New and Improved RJ’s Corner…
From FaceBook. For some reason I never learned that “Toddy” later went on to become secretary of war . Continue reading The Lincoln Legacy..
If we want to see police killings drop, no matter the victim, if we want to see an end to mass shootings (and Australia has proven that it’s possible to actually end them), we have no choice but to dismantle not only the laws but also the norms that make the protection of gun ownership a greater priority than the protection of human lives. A society that continues to flatly refuse to do so will continue to mourn tens of thousands of preventable deaths, every year. We will continue to carry the weight of tens of thousands of shattered families. … Continue reading What do mass shootings and police killings have in common? America’s sick gun culture.
Spouting Off… Being Loud But Not Being Obnoxious One of the things I missed the most about my hiatus from RJ’s Corner is spouting off. It does the heart good to question everything and sometimes put forth a thought or two. I plan on doing that rather frequently in the future here on the new/improved blog so get used to it! :) I hear all the latest rumbling (as in ready to explode in a bout of diarrhea) about how the peace accord worked out with Iran is so worthless. Some seem to think that our only solution to conflicts … Continue reading How About…
If tattoos are so beautiful how come no one except convicted murderers, put them on their face?? Question everything… Continue reading If Tattoos Are So Beautiful…
This is an exerpt Continue reading Play of Colors…
The Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City is an impressive building on the capital grounds of the State government. Since I have Pawnee blood in my heritage I am always looking for info about that tribe. Of course they, like … Continue reading Oklahoma History Center
I found this old truck in the WalMart parking lot a while ago. It really gave me a moment of joy. But… When I looked in the back of the bed I found a hand-scrolled racist sign about our president it ruined the moment and cheapened the item it was attached to. I won’t show or repeat the sign here but I have found variations of it several different venues. I tried to erase that sign and just enjoy the truck but it was difficult. I recognize that I am in a very red State and there are a lot of older generation … Continue reading Nice Truck But….
This blog has been in a three month hiatus due to me just getting tired of the political dialog. I have made some basic changes to prevent that from happening again. One thing is that while I will continue to allow comments, at least for now, I will not reply to many of them. I know this is not good blog etiquette but that is the way it has to be for me to continue here and keep my sanity. This is my longest running blog and has over 2,000 posts so it has become an important part of who I … Continue reading Rising Again…
Here is another macro-photo. I title it “Eye of Newt”. It is the rusty eye from our rusty lawn chicken. Continue reading Eye of Newt…
I just got a haircut recently and a memory came back to me from my childhood. In order to get it back where it belongs on the far fringes of my memory I have to post it here. I don’t have nearly as much hair as I did back then and I get it cut much less frequently now. But it was a tradition for several of my very early years that I always got my “Hollywood Burr” hair cut every two weeks. In fact it was a neighborhood tradition. Let me explain… The man living just behind us named … Continue reading The Bi-weekly Haircut…..
This is one of my favorite Springtime views. It is looking out my bedroom window. I wish it could stay like that all year. But then again I guess I wouldn’t appreciate it as much if it did… Continue reading Springtime View…
My search of America certainly includes our southern neighbors. I visited Guadalajara Mexico for the first time in the mid-1980s. It was quite different then than it was just ten years later when these pictures were taken. Guadalajara or GDL … Continue reading Our Southern Neighbors…
My family on the Walters side just weren’t very social critters. I only recall one quasi-family reunion in my life and that was for an aunt’s funeral. My dad had four brothers and sisters who in total had four children so there is not much of a clan to start with. Dad was the baby in the family, the others were considerably older than him so most of my aunts and uncles died before I reached thirty. The family of my mother’s side were for the most part non-existent. I think during my very early years we lived in a … Continue reading My Clan… Or Not…
I find so many fascinating things to take closeups of. This one is of a simple pond waterfall in our back yard. Continue reading My Mind’s Eye – Water
We just happened to come across this museum on our way home from Santa Fe this Spring. It is a fascinating place that tells the story of the Upper Plains of Kansas. One thing I do know is that the … Continue reading Praire Museum – Colby Kansas
