Events that Changed America

As I observe the events occurring in our nation and around the world, I cannot help but to worry that something is very much amiss. I have lived long enough to have seen times when doors were seldom locked, church bells rang on Sunday morning, people watched out for each other’s children, children were taught to respect their elders, teachers read scripture and had morning prayer in classrooms, and the pledge of allegiance was recited by students with hand over heart, including the words Under God. 

Under president Theodore Roosevelt and then Harry S. Truman, I was witness to a nation, whose citizens sacrificed their time, money, sons and daughters to a world war on foreign soil for the freedom that united we stand, stands for. Allied with England, France and Russia we went to battle against Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan. We gave aid to England and Russia under the Lend Lease Plan and allied together we liberated France, Belgium and Holland, soundly defeating Germany, Italy and Japan.

Then again, under the presidency of Harry S. Truman, I saw men and women go, not to war but a “police action”, to save the small country of South Korea from the threat of communist North Korea. China got into that fray by pouring thousands of their military across their borders into North Korea and raising havoc on our military there. When General Douglas MacArthur wanted to take on China with nuclear weapons if necessary, he was fired by president Truman fearing he might escalate the war and bring communist Russia in on the side of China. The war rocked on for years before we were finally able to get North Korea to the peace table. Thousands gave the last full measure of their life to this cause but the reward was great. Now, South Korea is a free nation with a thriving economy while North Korea is a poor retched place with only a strong military and filled with poor, starving citizens.

In the early 1960’s, president John F. Kennedy gave us reason to be proud when he faced down Castro and Kruschev during the Cuban missile crisis. Nuclear armed Russian submarines and missiles ninety miles from Florida were threatening the US. Kennedy stood firm while our navy ships and submarines chased and captured one of the Russian submarines while the other fled back to Russia. Kruschev backed down and withdrew his missiles and the threat was over.

Then came, possibly our histories most unpopular conflict, Vietnam. France had already been there and was soundly defeated, so the USA decided to take up the task. At first, under president Richard Nixon, we were only going in as advisors to the South Vietnam military and supply them with weapons to defend themselves. North Vietnam refused to meet at a peace conference in France so Nixon started severely bombing North Korea, especially Hanoi. The North Koreans came to the peace conference and a treaty was signed. The results of that treaty was a promise that we would keep the South Vietnam military supplied to a level that it could defend itself. 

Under president Jerald Ford, democrats became the majority party in both the house and senate and the promise to South Vietnam was disregarded. Without support from the US, North Vietnam began their assault on South Vietnam again.

Under President Lyndon Johnson, US military involvement kept being escalated until there were 536,100 American soldiers involved by 1968. The rules of don’t fire unless fired on seriously hampered our military. For some unknown reason, our political leaders were afraid to win this “conflict” because it might offend our other enemies, namely the USSR and China. If memory serves me correctly, again they were afraid that it might escalate into a nuclear conflict. 

There was also a anti-war movement on our college campuses across the nation fueled primarily by media coverage and the high death toll the conflict was creating. The word peaceniks was coined to identify those who were opposed to the war. 

Our returning soldiers, who had endured the “don’t fire unless fired upon” rule that clawed their way through mud and jungle and survived, were jeered and spat upon as they disembarked their ships. They were exhausted and demoralized from having lost, and yet they were treated like the “evil bad guys” when they finally made it safely back to the land of the free and the home of the brave. It was a sad thing to see. 

The Jane Fonda type “peaceniks” bravely mistreated our returning soldiers with impunity. Only in America could they have gotten away with such atrocious behavior, protected by the same men who were offering their lives for freedom around the world. Only in America are people free to be as obnoxious and belligerent as they please.

Now there are terrorists, both foreign and domestic thinking a bomb placed here or there every now and then to kill a few innocent civilians will make all the difference in the world. What kind of difference do they really want? America is the greatest nation in the world where every citizen has the freedom to speak his peace, practice his religion, and make his life pretty much what he wants it to be without any interference from anyone. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is guaranteed under the Constitution.

America’s war against terrorism is far from over and yet our citizens tire of it. It is beginning to look like another Vietnam. No real ambition to be winners again. Pogo author, Walt Kelly said it best in 1970 when he wrote: “I have seen the enemy and he is us.” 

We have no leadership in Washington; congress, the senate, the president, all seem to have their heads in the sand thinking things will eventually get better. Things won’t get better unless we decide to be a world super power again, the defender of freedom, the greatest nation on earth. At the rate we’re going it won’t be long before we’re a third world nation and there will be no one to give us aid as we have done for so many.

This nation was once the bright shining light on a hill that all other nations looked up to. We gave and are still giving aid and support to and our allies and even non deserving countries because of our wealth. Many people migrated here to become part of this greatness and to have liberty and freedom. There are many still coming but not because of liberty and freedom but because of our social welfare system. They see great opportunity in our welfare system where they can live off the wealth of others.

What are we and them going to do when the wealth of others runs out. The nation’s debt now is at $17 trillion and climbing daily due to interest and government out of control spending. How much longer can we continue being a super power in the world when our credit rating has dropped from AAA to AA+. 

Most of my adult years I have heard a pleas from a small number of politicians as well as citizens calling for a balanced budget. Yet it never happens. It is really our fault, we the voters. “The enemy is really us.”  We the people…yes, we. We are too busy to pay attention and vote as though our very freedom and liberty depend on it and yet it really does. The very people we elect to govern our country are the problem with all that is going on in Washington. Freedom loving Americans had better start paying attention to the really important matters at hand. I hope it is not too late, some people think it is. 

The value of the dollar for years has been based on the price of oil. Oil purchases by every country in the world who relied on foreign oil, paid in US currency, the almighty dollar. Behind the world scene at this time, Russia, Iran and China are plotting to do away with the dollar system mostly due to the dollar being devalued by inflation and they see a way to finally defeat America. Breaking the greatest nation in the free world’s economy would certainly bring us to our knees.

In my judgment, there is was conspiracy afoot when Muammar Gaddafi set about returning his country to the gold standard. He was  minting gold dinars and doing away with paper money altogether. Other world leaders could not allow that to happen because it would upset the current system of buying oil with paper money. Gaddafi was overthrown and Libya is back on a paper money system.

United States, at one time, was backed by the gold standard. The price of gold was set at $35 an ounce and every dollar could be exchanged for an equivalent amount of gold. The Gold Standard Act, passed in 1900 was An Act To define and fix the standard of value, to maintain the parity of all forms of money issued or coined by the United States. The gold standard was blamed for the 1929 stock market crash because it was not flexible enough to allow the Federal Reserve Bank to print money to support the economy. 

Now with a 17 trillion dollar debt the Federal Reserve is printing money faster than ever. Inflation is rampant and the cost of living is bringing down the middle class citizens of this country rapidly. With the Green thing, taxes on coal and fossil fuels are driving up the cost of everything needed for our survival. We the people of this sovereign Republic are in trouble. Our children and grand children and generations on down the timeline will be paying for our disregard for our right to vote. “I have seen the enemy and he is us”. By the way, how much is your Federal Reserve Notes in your pocket worth?

Independence Day, July 4th, 1776

The Fourth of July has just passed; the day we celebrate our independence from Great Britain and I meant to write something sooner for the holiday but I have been busy with another project.

The meaning of this celebration has all but become lost to many people in our nation who either are not well educated or don’t really care anymore. We have come to equate July 4th with vacation from work, fireworks, barbaque and beer and going to the beach. After all it has been two hundred thirty eight years since that five year long struggle for independence took place. In our modern comfortable lives we don't seem to care to remember anymore.

The Bill of Rights was the first document written in 1764 defining a list of limits on government containing ten amendments. All ten amendments listed in the Bill of Rights were attached to the Constitution written in 1788, ratified in 1789 and put into operation in 1790. Eleven more have been added and ratified down through the years.

The Declaration of Independence was written on July 2nd, 1776. It began when Richard Henry Lee brought a resolution before Continental Congress on June 2nd 1776 which became known as the Lee Resolution. This resolution stated “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states…” Congress debated for four days and a committee of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston and Thomas Jefferson gave the task of writing the Declaration to Thomas Jefferson.

John Adams wrote his wife Abigail on July 3rd: "The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It aught to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illumination from one end of this continent to the other."

The Declaration of Independence, though written on July 2nd, was not ratified until July 4th. The fifty six men who signed the declaration, as the last eight words on the declaration said: “we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” These were men of wealth, plantation owners, business men and merchants; they had much to lose however they pledged it all. King George III had denounced all rebels in America as traitors. The punishment for traitors was hanging.

If the revolution was lost they were risking all they had including their lives. If they won, they faced the long hardship of building a new nation, rebuilding all that was destroyed in the many battles. During the five years of the revolution many of them lost their fortunes, their families and their lives in the ensuing battles. 

At the start of the Revolution, America had a population of 3.5 million. The enrolled soldiers numbered 200,000, only 5.7 per cent of the population. The total combat casualties (killed and wounded): 10,263 Deaths (Disease or accident): 18,500. Total (Hessian) Combat Deaths: 1,200. Unlike modern warfare, there was no estimated cost of rebuilding towns and homes destroyed by the combat.

I could find no official British Combat Casualties but unofficially there were approximately 13,617. That is the cost in lives for freedom and justice for all in 1776. The war lasted five years and was fought from upstate New York to Savannah, Georgia.

The War of 1812, our second revolution is another story for another day.

Obama’s Plan to Use Military Against Americans

According to an article in the Washington Times, Obama now has a plan to use the U.S. military to put down any rioting or other civil unrest in the United States.

“According to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which followed Reconstruction after the Civil War, it is unlawful and prohibited for the President to order or use military forces within the United States.”

“Of course, over the years numerous exceptions and provisions have been carved out, leaving several loopholes open that can now be exploited.”

“These exceptions and loopholes typically refer to using military forces to restore order after major natural disasters or to quell an insurrection, or other similar type emergency.  However, there is no concrete definition of what exactly constitutes a ‘national emergency‘, and it is open to interpretation by the President.”

In Sal Alynsky’s book: “Rules for Radicals”, dedicated to the first radical “Lucifer”, one of his rules is “never let a crisis go to waste.” I have suspected for some time now that Obama is endeavoring to create a crisis so he can put some of us down with his military might.

In my honest opinion, he doesn’t want to face the 2016 election so he will probably create a crisis and use that to stay in power by using the following Directive to keep there from being an election, either this year or 2016. I’m not exactly sure what he has planned for the next two years but you can bet it will be a doozy. 

Back to the 'Washington Times" article:

Directive No. 3025.18, entitled “Defense Support of Civil Authorities” provides the President and US Commanders of military forces with broad authority during emergencies. 

“Federal military forces shall not be used to quell civil disturbances unless specifically authorized by the president in accordance with applicable law or permitted under emergency authority,” the directive states. 

“In these circumstances, those federal military commanders have the authority, in extraordinary emergency circumstances where prior authorization by the president is impossible and duly constituted local authorities are unable to control the situation, to engage temporarily in activities that are necessary to quell large-scale, unexpected civil disturbances” under two conditions.

 The conditions include military support needed “to prevent significant loss of life or wanton destruction of property and are necessary to restore governmental function and public order.” A second use is when federal, state and local authorities “are unable or decline to provide adequate protection for federal property or federal governmental functions.” 

“Federal action, including the use of federal military forces, is authorized when necessary to protect the federal property or functions,” the directive states.

The Directive is clearly aimed at engaging civilians in times of unrest.  An unnamed official at the White House even admitted that Obama considered using the authority from this Directive during the standoff at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada earlier this year, but wisely decided against it. 

Defense analysts say there has been a buildup of military units within non-security-related federal agencies, notably the creation of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams. The buildup has raised questions about whether the Obama administration is undermining civil liberties under the guise of counterterrorism and counter narcotics efforts. 

Other agencies with SWAT teams reportedly include the Department of Agriculture, the Railroad Retirement Board, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Office of Personnel Management, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Education Department. 

The militarization of federal agencies, under little-known statues that permit deputization of security officials, comes as the White House has launched verbal attacks on private citizens’ ownership of firearms despite the fact that most gun owners are law-abiding citizens.

That makes it sound like almost every Bureaucratic Department in Washington has been armed for a war with us private citizens. Scarey, isn't it?

Trey Gowdy lead the charge in passing a bill that directs Obama to follow the laws – clearing the House by a 233 to 181 vote. I personally would like to know who the 181 who voted against the bill were. 

But with his phone and pen and executive order ability, WILL HE? I personally cannot keep up with all his shenanigans spending 12 hours a day on my computer reading everything I can find. I read in someone’s post recently that he has written more executive orders than all other presidents combined. I was unable to “fact check” it but I suspect it is true.

One of Obama’s claims is that he taught Constitutional Law for 10 years so I guess he is pretty well up to date on all the loopholes he can slip through.

It’s no secret that they (primarily the Democrats) are trying to do away with the First and Second Amendments; politically correct speech and no armed citizens to to deal with would be a great help in Obama‘s efforts to “Fundamentally Change“ the United States. 

Let me quote the Declaration of Independence on this: "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security." 

And this quote from President John F. Kennedy: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

I have read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights several times and find them to be well written documents, easily understood with exception to Article One, Section Nine, Paragraph Three.

The First and Second Amendments are so clearly written, any child at junior high school level should be able to understand them but in Article One, Section Nine, Paragraph Three there is a short but very important sentence which states: “No bill of attainder or ex post facto bill shall be past.” With a good dictionary you will find attainder means “confiscation of property or rights”. Ex post facto means “applied retroactively: applying to events that have already occurred as well as to subsequent events.”

In other words if you own property as in a home, land, automobile and a weapon, they are property, and they cannot be taken away from you at anytime from past into the future. That would mean to any thinking person that the First and Second Amendment cannot be taken away either except by Constitutional Amendment which requires two-thirds of the House and Senate to pass and then three-fourths of the states to ratify.

This one short sentence in the Constitution guarantees your rights from when they began in 1789 until the United States ceases to exist.

Let me finish up with some quotes that come to mind:

“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.”—Thomas Jefferson

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." —Thomas Jefferson 

“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.” — Justice Louis D. Brandeis — dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 US 479 (1928)

I do believe I have said enough for one day. 

This is My Political Diatribe For Today

FOREWORD

Every time I hear politicians talk about reducing government spending, the next word I hear is “entitlements”, Social Security and Medicare. Social Security is the only retirement many of our nation’s lower income citizens have and since people are living longer and healthier lives, politicians think that changing the age of eligibility to 70 is the right way to solve the problem. Rising the retirement age to 70 will cause many to have less than cat food to eat. The fact that people are living longer and healthier does not mean they will be able to keep a job or find another job if replaced by a younger person. There may be a few who have jobs past age 65 but I doubt if many of them are in the lower income bracket. This sounds more like a “from the bottom up” effort in finding places to cut back government spending. 

I have been thinking more about a “from the top down” spending cut. We pay our congressional representatives and senators $174,000 each per year. The majority and minority leaders are paid $193,400 and the speaker of the house, $223,500. That is just their salaries. They also have an allowance. In 2008, the most recent year I could find, they received allowances ranging from $1,299,292 to $1,637,766 for office space, secretaries and aides, and mail. Consider that we have 100 senators and 435 congressional representatives plus their expense accounts; we are looking at roughly another $500 million. Then there is those travel allowances. The congressional travel budget is combined into a larger budget involving the State Department and Military travel. It is never made public. When a representative travels, he can pocket as much as $3,000 per trip in per diem (that is latin for by day) for food and lodging and due to an accounting system that does not require itemization nor demand return of unused cash. Some lawmakers can pocket up to $3,000 a trip in cash.

However, all this generosity did not start with this year's crop. Benefits payments for some 400 retired members of Congress, who receive an average benefit of $45,000 a year, cost taxpayers about $20 million annually, says the National Tax Payers Foundation. Future costs depend on the turnover rate: The more that leave before they reach the five-year vesting threshold, the lower the annual payouts required. Over time, congressional pensions are expected to accumulate more modestly as fewer members stay on beyond six to 12 years, according to the NTUF.

PART I 

The Social Security Act was signed by FDR (that is Franklin Delano Roosevelt to you uninformed about who the presidents were), on August 14, 1935. SSI withholdings were collected for the first time in January 1937 and the first one-time, lump-sum payments were made that same month. Regular ongoing monthly benefits started in January 1940.

A History Lesson on Your Social Security Card Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (& some older ones too) did not know this. It is easy to check out, if you do not believe it. Be sure and show it to your family and friends. They need a little history lesson on what is what and it does not matter whether you are Democrat or Republican. Facts are Facts. Social Security Cards up until the 1980s expressly stated the number and card were not to be used for identification purposes. Since nearly everyone in the United States now has a number, it became convenient to use it anyway and the message, NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION, was removed. Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised:

(1.) That participation in the Program would be voluntary. It is no longer voluntary.

(2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual Incomes into the Program; now they have to pay 7.65% on the first $90,000. 

3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year. They are no longer tax deductible.

(4.) That the money the participants put into the independent "Trust Fund" rather than into the general operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program. However, under president Lyndon Baines Johnson, the money was moved to The General Fund and Spent.

( 5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income. Under president Bill Clinton & vice president Al Gore, up to 85% of your Social Security can be taxed, Since many have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month—then finding that participants are getting taxed on 85% of the money they paid to the Federal government to ‘put away’. You may be interested in the following:

Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent 'Trust Fund' and put it into the general fund so that Congress could spend it?

A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically controlled House and Senate.

Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?

A: The Democratic Party

Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?

A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the ‘tie-breaking’ vote as President of the Senate as Vice President of the US.

Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to illegal immigrants?

A: MY FAVORITE: That is right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Illegal immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to them, even though they never paid a dime into it! Then, after violating the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away! In addition, the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it! If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe changes will evolve. Maybe not, some Democrats are very sure of what is not so. Nevertheless, it is worth a try. Actions speak louder than bumper stickers.

PART II

I have long been angered by politicians and news media calling Social Security and Medicaid entitlements as though it is a FREE GIFT from the government. Since 1937, American citizens have been involuntarily paying a percentage of their income, now up to 7%, matched by their employer, into a fund set up to provide for people who manage to live past the age of 65 years, or in some cases younger. They are to the point of insolvency and are considering raising the age. Yet, politicians such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a democrat, will stand and tell lies to mislead taxpaying citizens. Following are some of Reid’s mis-speakings I found recently in a news blog.

In my previous, First History Lesson on Social Security, I presented some harsh evidence and truth on the matter. Read the following lies the democratic Majority Leader had to say about the matter. Do you think he is lying again?

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat from Nevada on disputed warnings that Social Security is headed for bankruptcy, called those assertions an “outright lie.” In addition, he says the huge federal entitlement program has not added “one penny” to the federal deficit.

Both of Reid’s claims are misleading. Reid made the comments at a “Back off Social Security” rally at the Capitol. Reid was joined by other Senate Democrats and liberal activists, who accuse Republicans of plotting to privatize Social Security. Democrats have used similar tactics in the past to scare senior citizens, who vote in large numbers.

“Social Security has not contributed one penny to the debt or the deficit ever in its 75 years,” Reid said at the event.

The claim is false. According to the actuaries for Social Security and Medicare, the Social Security program ran a deficit of approximately $41 billion, excluding interest on the bonds in the Social Security trust fund. Those bonds, which are a special type of Treasury bond, are placed in the trust funds in place of the cash surpluses the government has taken in from payroll taxes.

Because there is no cash in the Social Security trust funds, any deficits the program runs, including the 2010 deficit—and those projected into the future—must be repaid from current tax revenue.

Since the federal government was already running a deficit in 2010, and ran one in 2009, the money required to pay the Social Security deficit would have had to be borrowed, meaning it was added to the deficit and the national debt, contrary to Senator Reid’s claim.

Reid also rejected warnings that Social Security is going bankrupt, saying that the New Deal-era entitlement program was in sound fiscal shape.

“We hear pundits and politicians take the bait that’s been thrown to them by these Republicans over the last few decades,” Reid said. “You throw it to them, and they grab it. They grab it, and they claim Social Security is headed for bankruptcy. It’s not just an exaggeration that Social Security is headed for bankruptcy—it is an outright lie.”

This statement is misleading. According to the Social Security actuaries, the program will no longer be able to pay out full benefits beginning in 2037, at which time it will have exhausted both its dedicated tax revenue and the value of the interest from the government bonds in its trust funds.

“The annual deficits will be made up by redeeming trust fund assets in amounts less than interest earnings through 2024, and then by redeeming trust fund assets until reserves are exhausted in 2037,” the actuary reported in August 2010.

What this means is that Social Security will begin using income tax revenue to make up the difference as it runs continual deficits from now until 2037. In 2037, the program will have completely exhausted the Treasury bonds in its trust funds meaning it will not be able to take any more extra tax revenue. At that point, the income from the program’s dedicated payroll taxes will only be able to pay approximately 75 percent of promised benefits.

This statement is misleading because if Social Security were a private-sector pension, the federal government itself would consider it insolvent or bankrupt.

According to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation—the federal entity that manages and bails out bankrupt or defunct pension plans—a pension must be taken over if it is insolvent and does not have enough money to pay out current benefits, or if it will go bankrupt.

“PBGC must terminate a plan if assets are unavailable to pay benefits currently due,” the agency states on its website.

In other words, Social Security is heading towards a level of insolvency that the federal government itself considers to be of such danger to its beneficiaries that—were it a private pension—the government would step in, take it over, and bail it out.

NOTE: When FDR established SSI (Social Security Insurance) in 1937 it was understood by most, that it would be a separate fund managed by the government and it would not be dipped into to pay for America’s overspending appetite. In other words, it would be used only for the purpose it was intended.

HAS IT? There has been more abuse and vote buying with this fund that can be understood or even completely discovered by the average American. People drawing disability who are not disabled, illegal immigrants drawing SSI (and welfare/food stamps) who did not pay into it nor even deserve it. If the SSI funds had been used as intended . . . as promised years ago . . . there would still be plenty of money go to around.

If the federal government really wants to cut the budget, they should look in their own back yard. Their high salaries and office budgets, their travel allowances and other perks they receive from lobbyists. In addition, billions in foreign aide to our so-called Allies.

A Tribute to Moo Moo Jackson

September 28, 2009
NOTE; This was written as originally dated but since then Moo Moo's father passed away so I am updating the story.

A good friend of mine died this morning. I was fortunate to have known him for several years. He was a diabetic as well as an idiopathic epileptic, who had to take insulin each morning and each evening. But he didn’t mind. He looked forward to his injections because he knew that was when he would be allowed to eat. We spent hours keeping each other company although our conversations didn’t amount to much. I guess we didn’t have very much in common. He came to me bearing the name “Moo Moo”, and I jokingly added the name Jackson. 

My dad sometimes called me Moo Moo Jackson when I was a child, so I felt obligated to share it with him. Yes, I’m sad today. What else can I say. I don’t even have a picture to remember him by. No doubt, I’ll eventually lose more good friends, I have several that I’ll probably outlive, But death is a part of living, you can’t have one without the other, we all must eventually die. We can only mourn our loss, shed tears of sorrow and go on living as best we can without that particular friend. 

In case you are wondering about Moo Moo, He was my eleven year old pet cat. I still have his fourteen year old father, Smokey, and a female cat who won’t give her age, named Ling Ling. And I have three dogs left. Yes, I’ll no doubt be shedding tears of sorrow again in time. I hope it's not too soon.

Smokey the Cat

It's four years later now and Moo Moo's father and my good friend Smokey passed away from old age. He just began to get weaker and one day he went to that eternal sleep in my arms. It was a sad day for me for he was my constant companion. He slept on my arm every night and never disturbed me until he was sure I was awake.

At my age I have had many pets. My back yard has become a pet cemetery of sorts. I have very little room for many more. My friends Midnight, Abigail, Tammy, Lady, Chip, Moo Moo, Precious, Rambo, Pookie and others whose names escape me right now are all buried there.

In the last 40 years I have owned or been owned by many animal friends and have had a great fondness for all of them. Things I have learned from my pets are that when you own small animals as pets, you become part of their family.

Grandma's Kitchen

The old cook stove.

I was born into a family of farmers way back in 1937. My earliest memories are of farm life and especially grandma’s kitchen. Grandma’s kitchen was the central most part of the house. It was where everyone started their day and came back to at lunchtime and the end of the day. 

Everyone old enough was given farm chores to do and stayed busy tending the crops, milking and feeding the cows. It seems that most of the entire year was spent with some kind of chore that needed doing and everyone knew what their chores were.

Coal fired heater.

Some chores for younger children were to walk through the crops and use a hoe to chop out the weeds and loosen the soil so the roots would be able to get more water and air. Someone had to clean the mule’s Jack's barn and put down fresh hay from the hay loft for him to sleep in. 

Grandpa had a blacksmith shop where he repaired his farming implements and plows and other things that needed mending. He was quite skilled with his hands as far as repairing things.

The Old Outhouse

The old white farmhouse trimmed in green was not insulated back in the thirties and forties so in the winter it was really cold in the wintertime. Grandma’s house had three kinds of heat in the early morning. The fireplace in the sitting room, sometimes referred to as a parlor, a coal fired small stove in one corner of the kitchen and the wood cook stove on the other side. I slept under so many of grandma’s home-made quilts I could not turn over at night. When I woke up those cold winter mornings, I would grab my clothes, run to the kitchen and get behind the big wood cook stove where it was warm to dress.

World War I well pump

On the farm, we had no running water or indoor plumbing. Everyone except grandma was expected to use the outhouse. Toilet paper either was not yet invented or was hard to come by because we used an old Sears’s catalog. Grandma, being the lady of the house had a chamber pot in the bedroom which someone had to take to the outhouse and empty it every morning. That was a chore I was glad I did not have.

I had the pleasant task of feeding the chickens and gathering the eggs. That was a fun job and easy for me. I would take a bag of corn and scatter it on the ground in and the chickens would come running. I would then get a basket and go into the hen house to gather the eggs.
The first order of the day before I woke up, someone would build a fire in the cook stove and the small coal burning stove. While the cook stove was heating up a large kettle of water was placed on the coal burning stove for washing dishes after everyone ate. This particular part of farm life took place every day, summer or winter.

Bread hutch.

One of the young boys would go to the well and pump enough water to last through at least noon. It was someone’s job to keep the house well supplied with water. The water was kept in an oak bucket on the back porch with a dipper hanging from a nail to drink from when you got thirsty. While the stove was getting hot, grandma would go to her bread hutch and make a big batch of biscuits. She would sift flour into her big wooden bowl and ad baking powder and lard, then kneed the dough until it was just right for rolling out on a flat wooden board with her rolling pin.

The old ice box.

The family was fairly large so the table was long and had a bench for the young’uns on the back side. Grandpa sat at the head of the table and grandma sat at the other end. There were chairs on the other side for the older children.

After breakfast everyone would disappear, off to do their morning chores except for the younger daughter whose job it was to help grandma clean up the kitchen and get prepared for the noon meal. The whole process started all over again. 

The wood cook stove was re-stoked for the heat to get back up to cooking temperature and grandma would choose which vegetables from the garden she would cook. Everyone in the field would put their tools down right where they were working so they could remember where to restart their chores and return to the kitchen for the noon meal. After that the process started over for the evening meal. It seemed as if grandma's job was never done.

Grandpa and Jack the mule.

My main job was playing in the corn rows and sometimes I picked pole beans which grew on the corn stalks. I sometimes went into the hayloft and played in the hay. It was great fun being raised on a farm but I now realize how much hard work went into farming. There is so much to learn about what to plant, when to plant, when to harvest and keep something growing nearly year-round.

Grandpa made money selling his crops, milk, butter and eggs to the local market. He and Jack the mule would load up the wagon once a week and head to the nearby market where he would sell his produce. For the 1940’s, he made a pretty good living as well as kept his family well fed.

To My Friends in Connecticut and Maryland

To my friends in Connecticut. I was re-reading my copy of the Constitution and Bill of Rights today and found some interesting facts about rights.

The Second Amendment of The Bill of Rights written in 1764, most everyone already knows pretty well: 

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

Article 1, Section 9, paragraph 3 of the Bill of Rights has a one sentence clause, which is not superseded by the Constitution, states: 

“No bill of Attainder or ex post facto shall be passed.”

For those without a dictionary, Attainder means: 

“confiscation of rights or property”

Ex post facto means: 

“events that have already occurred as well as to subsequent events that will occur in the future.”

So by that set of laws on the books in our nation’s capital no one can take away your right to bear arms nor your arms which are your property.