Tom Brokaw makes a controversial statement

Tom Brokaw makes a controversial statement during a commencement address when he stated that more guns means more terrorism.  While it is true that having a firearm empowers some people to act more quickly to settle a problem by using a weapon against another banning weapons will not prevent acts of terror any more than requiring drivers to have licenses and insurance will prevent traffic accidents.    

sick puppy

     I started on insulin yesterday after 3 months of extra high glucose readings.  The tip of my little finger has experienced some numbness of late and I'm afraid it is a consequence of dupredrens contracture.  In case you are unaware of what that is I'll fill you in.  It is a involuntary curving of the little and ring finger of the hand.  The little finger on my left hand has curved so much that the tip of the finger normally rests in my palm.  I can move it about half an inch.  I am experiencing some curvature in my right hand as well but it may never be a serious problem or it could curl rapidly.

   My concern is that the disease will cause an interruption in the blood flow to my finger so I'm exploring the possibility of amputation.  My father suffered from the same malady and because of his work it caused him problems so he had his amputated. 

  It seems some things that are minor inconveniences when we are young  can become serious problems when we get older.  I have done a good job of controlling my diabetes over the years but the older one gets the harder it is to stay healthy. 
     

Photo controversy highlights black women in Long Gray Line

16 black women just graduated from West Point and posed for a graduation picture in dress uniform, complete with swords, and with their fists raised in the air.  They just didn't understand why the picture would be controversial. 
   During my high school days the band would play a certain song every time the football team scored a touchdown but after integration the song wasn't allowed to be played anymore.  If your relatives fought in the War Between the States and you fly a flag or put up a statue, or belong to an organization that remembers the contributions of those brave soldiers that fought and died in the war, then you are labeled a racist.  You can name any organization after the color of your skin except if you are white and not draw the ire of the community.  One can tell blonde jokes all day long but for goodness sakes don't call anyone "nappy headed" or you will find yourself out of a job and in a lawsuit. 
  I don't know how many women graduated with these 16 in the photo but I am willing to bet there were more and probably some of them were not black women but they were excluded from the photo.  maybe there is no cause to believe the picture was politically motivated but if all the non-black women had taken such a picture then I'm willing to bet it would have been labeled racist and heads would have rolled. 
  There once was a blog entitled "big pieces of chicken" and the writer of that blog complained
that at events at the Greensboro coliseum white did not come over and sit in the same sections black people were sitting in and said it was because white people were racists.  I suggested he swallow his racist pride and go sit in the section s that white people were sitting in that way he could demonstrate his willingness to break the color barrier and show himself friendly.  Racism  works both ways and so does the solutions. 
  When I had a part-time job at a convenience  store, sometimes customers started pumping their gas without using a credit card or pre-paying for the gas.  When customers do that there is always the possibility of a drive-off.  One evening after the sun had gone down, business was extremely slow and it had been a while since I had a customer but about the same time two people pulled up to the gas pump.  One was pump 10 and started pumping   gas without prepaying or using a credit card.  Pump 10 is the pump most likely to have a drive-off as it is futherest from the store and harder to see a license tag.   The driver was also young, the age group most likely to leave without paying.  That particular customer was also female, pretty, and dressed in a bikini.  The other driver was pumping gas on pump six and was a middle aged black male who had used a credit card at the pump.  Pump 6 was in direct line of sight to pump 10. 
   I wasn't interested in him as he had pre-paid via credit card for his gas but the other driver was a different story.  Besides being attractive she was a potential risk and for that reason I watched her to insure she didn't drive off.  Of course, the man came into the store and started accusing me of being racist because I was watching him.  I asked him to look at pump 10 and then decide who I was watching.  He left but didn't apologize. 
  All I'm saying is that what one looks at as racist isn't always so but sometime what one doesn't see is.   

Another stupid article

MSN has an article titled "23 foods we have been eating wrong our entire lives".  I don't know about you but I just open my mouth, shovel something in, chew and swallow.  Anyone do it differently?

A different South

     This isn't the South that I grew up in.  I grew up in the rural South where it seemed everyone went to church, policemen were former neighborhood bullies or those that were to much of a drunk to keep driving their cabs, where blacks had their own neighborhood and place, where ruthless bank robbers could be hero's but  most citizens were so honest stores sold newspapers on the honor system.  There were lots of things to like about the old South and there were a lot of things to not like also. 
   For one thing, why good church going people who believed Jesus died on the cross for everyone still found it justifiable to exclude a good portion of society from dignity.  Even if the races remained separate everyone deserved to be treated with the same amount of respect.  The majority had no cause to hate the minority.  Even so, the redneck, outhouse owning, backward living barefoot half toothless character of cartoons were far from what the average Southerner was like.  That idea is as far from what a Southerner truly is as the idea that a Yankee is an educated, tolerate, highly advanced form of life that can drive in three feet of snow with nary a problem.  Being more subtly about ones vices doesn't make them more virtuous. 
   Honestly, I miss the old South.  Not the part about separate but equal because there was nothing equal or fair about that policy.  Today even with integration the equal part just doesn't seem to exist.  It's been a hundred and fifty years since there were legal slaves in the country.  I believe it is past time both races forget and forgive that part of our heritage.  The part of the South that I miss was the part were family's stayed together and gathered at Grandma's house on Sunday's after church for a chicken dinner and a soda in the back yard under the shade tree. 
  I miss the part where strangers said hello to each other and were often seen stopping to help one another.  I miss the part where a man's hand shake and his word meant something.  I suppose that part of the South has moved on too and now times have given away  to an era of selfishness where people want to act like they want to act and one has to force them to behave, where people do illegal and immoral things but the people who are hated are the ones who stand up for what is right. 

National Association of the Easily offended

  I go to the YMCA for an arthritis exercise class done in the heated pool.  Sometimes one of the men who used the pool or the gym will come into the locker room and parade around in full nakedness as if I would really enjoy looking at their nude and wrinkled body, which I do not.  I know that some exposure will happen when people get into a confined area in which they have to shower and change clothes but there is no reason to walk to ones locker which is on the bottom and bend over while totally naked when their is a person sitting on a bench   putting on his shoes. 
   I totally understand that such behavior is offensive and can be avoided.  But that is not the kind of offensive practices I am referring to.  I am talking about intellectual intrusion where my thoughts or ideas are deemed offensive to you yet you feel that your thoughts and ideas are enlightened and
should be accepted by me.    I'm sorry about that but I have already been down the road where I questioned my beliefs, studied the alternatives, and applied them to my life and am sure of the results.  It is your right to disagree with me but not to call me names and bring hurt to me in one or more ways because my belief system is different. 

My parents didn't teach me that.

The red headed controversial alderwoman from Randleman, NC posted a video of a Negro man
claiming that it was white people that decided to call him black but he didn't see color.  Yea right. 
First of all, the term "black" was first used by the Negro people but then they finally decided on being called African-American but recently have decided that they would just as soon be called black so do not blame white people for that one.  Back then white people had a name for them that is not politically correct today. 
  Secondly, my parents didn't teach me to call people names.  I didn't learn to call people japs, or spics, or wetbacks, or any other derogatory name.  They did teach me the song, "Red, yellow, black, or white they are precious in his sight.  Jesus loves the little children of the world."  Do they get credit for that? 
  Thirdly, black people are just as prejudice as white people are.  White people just happen to be the majority and hold political and economic dominance  but if the situation had been reversed then we would be the oppressed ones. 
  I served in the military overseas and in areas that had never seen white or black people before a military base was put near where they lived or they happened to move to the area.  It certainly wasn't my parents that taught them negative things.  It seems many of them learned these things from observing the behavior of people. 
  I detest irreverent people but I like people that act descent.  I don't care what you look like or what color your are or where you are from.  I do care how you act.  
 

Fit Moms Chontel Duncan and Stacie Venagro Gave Birth to Healthy Baby Boys!

If the world, or least Americans, are not getting dumber and dumber my uncle's a monkey.  Read the above headline: two women give birth.  No, one woman gave birth.  It isn't possible for a woman to get another pregnant.  I believe in tolerance but I also believe in telling the truth.  Two women can not and have never been able to make a baby.   

Trump is afraid he will win.

 The election of 2016 seems to be coming down to the rejects of 2008: Hillary and the Donald.  Hillary is serious about being President while Donald Trump just wanted free publicity for his on-going business concerns.  This year it backfired and people thought he might be a good candidate. 
  Our system of government only works if the populace is educated.  I'm afraid the American population isn't as educated as they would like  to believe.  They can't get their faces out of their electronic devices long enough to pay attention.  Americans ability to express themselves via the written world has seriously deteriorated.  Computers, once thought to be the gateway to knowledge, is only a platform to watch movies and play games.  Many of the news stories on the web are now presented in video form. 
   It seems the American public wants to smoke as much marijuana as they want without being arrested for it, drive as fast as they want without being ticketed for it, party as hard as they want without being held responsible for their actions, want to be paid as much as possible for doing as little as they can, and if they screw up, they want everyone else to pitch in and bail them out without themselves having to face the consequences of their actions.  Americans want to live in an idealistic world were everyone is love, respected, and well taken care of but where everyone really means themselves. 
   Donald Trump is not Presidential material.  We live in a real world where we have real enemies and they want to do us harm.  They consider most Americans infidels and to be honest, they might not be too far off the mark.  But being an infidel gives no one the right to do us harm.  To survive as a  country we need to change some things.  Donald Trump is not the person to lead this nation to bring about these changes.
  

diet soda in the news: again

The article was titled "What diet soda is doing to your body"  and indicates that diet soda is bad for a person.  What exactly is it that is bad for a person?  Soda is carbonated water, sweeter and flavoring along with preservatives.  All soda has carbonated water yet it isn't regular soda or carbonated soda getting the bad rap.  Regular soda doesn't contain sugar  but corn syrup or corn sugar which diet soda doesn't have.  Diet soda has an artificial sweetener that regular soda doesn't have  but it isn't the sweetener that is getting the bad rap.  The other ingredients in sodas vary from drink to drink: that's what makes them different. 
  So exactly what is the problem with diet soda?

Not so buddy

Just read an article on MSN that was entitled "He retired at 33, so can you."  Sorry but I passed that milestone 35 years ago.  My brother retired yesterday  but the rich brother is still working.  Go figure. 

neighbors yard

  This is what I have to look at everyday.  The shed in the backyard is not finished and the fenced lot on the right of the house is for yappy little dogs.  He has an untagged yard machine which he rides on the streets, blocks the road with excess vehicles and broken trailers, and is constantly swapping junk
but is always bringing more than taking. 
  Bot only is the place an eyesore the man is drawing disability but is constantly working, building, tearing down, loading and unloading junk.

A different kind of march mdness

    March is known for St. Patty's Day and for March Madness, the NCAA Basketball tournament.  It is also the month that One Way Baptist has it's annual revival services.  This year the speaker was Danny Castle from Shinning Light Baptist Church in Morganton, NC.  He was one of the best speaker's I've ever heard.  But more than being able to deliver an interesting and entertaining speech, he was able to present the gospel  in an appealing way. 
   You missed the services this year but we are having him back next year so mark your calendars for next March.

Revival services at One Way Baptist

  Danny Castle from the Morganton area is the guest speaker at One Way Baptist.  Although I am the longest attending active member of the church having missed only a couple of services (not Sunday morning services but all services of the church) my pastor and I have very different tastes when it comes to "good preaching".  It seems the louder and more flamboyant a speaker is the more holy our preacher thinks he is.  Flaying od the arms, hacking, and screaming at the top of ones lungs does nothings to enhance a mans message.  Granted, these types of preachers can generate excitement and garner a lot of whops and hollers  but rarely have anything of substance to say.  The ones I dislike the most are the ones that have speech impediments that make them hard to understand.  It seems though that this type of preacher is the type preferred by my pastor and it also seems the more animated, the louder, and the worse the speech  impediment the better the preacher likes it. 
  I will agree that a message should be delivered with a degree of enthusiasm so that time seems to fly by and your interest held but I also think the message should have a beginning, a body and an ending and to have gone somewhere.  Some preachers can spew out well worn phrases for an hour and never actually make a point.  One preacher carried two handkerchiefs, one in each hand, and wiped his face constantly as he spoke, using one hanky to swipe his brow and the other to wipe his lips.  He would start on his cheek wipe down and the across his lips and then down to his chin.  He has the required speech impediment   and wiping his lips made it impossible to understand what he was saying.  That made for a long evenings  and to be subjected to that night after night was a little more than one soul could bear. 
  I have been looking forward to this weeks revival services with dread especially since the preacher seemed to be so excited about the proposed preacher.  It would be a big shock to everyone at the church if I wasn't there but I had already informed my wife that if this preacher was anything like the last three preachers that had been booked for our revival services I was staying in Hickory and not coming back until all the work there was done and I was serious when I said that. 
  I was pleasantly surprised last night.  Danny Castle is one of the best speakers I've heard in a long time.  I will be back tonight.  

Remodel complete

  I picked the tops up from Lowes Tuesday morning, purchased some liquid nails from Wal-mart and glued the tops down.  I had the project complete by 7:05 am.  I was then able to visit Mom to have breakfast with her.  I then brought her to her house to see the finished project and to do some cleaning.  She was very pleased with the results,  She said my younger brother, who saw it Sunday, was pleased with the results also. 

Remodel almost complete

    I'm going to Hickory tomorrow and pick up the counter tops.  Once they are installed the remodel will be complete.  Of course there is still plenty of work to be done, the hardest of which will be the clean-up.  I have an out building to paint, grass to plant, and  china cabinet glass to replace and furniture and stuff to arrange and window to wash. 
  There is, of course, things I wanted done I couldn't get done like the flooring in the kitchen and bathroom replaced, a dishwasher installed, and the yard professional landscaped, and the stumps ground, but some of that will come in due time.  I had the money to get all the undone stuff completed but because of time constraints most of Moms money went to pay the Bryan Center and Omnicare.  If all the money had been available from the start and I could have paid for everything up front then I could have completed all the necessary projects. 
   I know Lowes refused to replace the bathroom and kitchen flooring but I could have found someone to do it.  But things are were thy are and I did the best I could under the circumstances.  The house is much improved and I believe all the work and aggravation   was worth it to get the final results. 

Upholding science at the expense of religion

    In todays paper one of the feature guest writers extolled the virtues of science while depicting religious institutions of being close-minded and pig-headed, believing in miracles where non exists and he has every right to feel that way and to say so publicly.  But that doesn't make him right.   
  First of all, what the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church did has no reflection om the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.  True religion is having a relationship with Jesus Christ  and not debating the value of religion over science or denying the accomplishments of science.  What scientist have been able to prove in no wise contradicts the scriptures.  What some scientist conclude about what they believe but can't prove, however sometimes sounds more foolish than what is taught in the scriptures. 
   During WWII a German Doctor operated on hundreds of Jews without them having need of an operation and without them having the benefit of pain killers all in the name of science yet I would not hold him up as an example of what science is about yet secular people like to hold up the ungodly popes of centuries gone by as typical of the Christian attitude yet these popes were not Christian at all.  The crusades were waged by the Catholic church against Christians because they choose to believe the teaching of Christ was that salvation was through Him yet the Church wanted people to believe that only the Catholic Church could grant salvation. 
  The secular world disallows creation to be taught in school yet they teach a theory as fact.  Who is being close-minded and pig-headed.  If an idea cannot be proven as fact then it should not be taught at all or opposite and/or opposing views should be allowed. 
  I'm sure the writer is willing to dismiss claims of miraculous healings as just consequence but exactly how many consequences in a row does it take for one to think there may be a divine hand in things?  Impossible things do not happen to one person often yet when the impossible happens over and over and over again for years on end then does that prove mere luck or provide a cause to believe
in divine intervention? 
  While the writer mocks the early church and modern day believers he conveniently leaves Christ alone while is the only wisw thing he did. 

Trump for President

    It seems the Donald is doing a good job of getting people to turn out to vote in the primaries and to vote for him.  The trouble is, Donald Trump doesn't really want to be President.  It's all a joke to him and I believe he is as shocked and the RNC is that people are taking him seriously.  Lately he has been doing things and saying things to derail his campaign but no one seems to be paying attention.  In the last week or so he made the statement that he would not be surprised to lose the nomination and this week he bragged about the size of his manhood.  The President of North Korea might be interested in that but the rest of the world does not care. 
 

Black History Month

The year was 1966, the year after I graduated from the last all-white high school in my home town.  I was home from college and I saw an article in the newspaper about busing.  The writer, a local parent, was objecting to busing because, the writer claimed, that busing the black kids across town to attend the formerly all white school was a dangerous thing to do.  The kids got less sleep, might not have time for breakfast, and all the miles spent on the road in a bus increased the changes of them being in an accident.  In response I wrote the following article which was read on WBTV Charlotte.

   "I don't know if busing is a good thing or a bad thing and I'm not for nor against it.  I do know that the writer of the article against busing is blowing smoke.  While on the surface it may seem like he has legitimate concerns, the truth is he isn't concerned with the safety and welfare of the black students.  He just doesn't want his white kids to go to school with them.  If the writer and his friends were really concerned about the safety of the children then where were they six years ago?  I lived just a few blocks from the black high school yet I had to walk almost two miles to school every day for three years then walk the same two miles for another three years to catch a bus to the white high school yet no one was concerned about me.  Is the writer now claiming he cares more about the black kids then he did the white kids that had to be bused across town so they didn't have to go to school with the black children?  I think he needs to be honest about the real reason he objects to busing.

Profession of faith

A lady at the church had been praying for her grand daughter when she heard a TV preacher say something that upset her, indicating that her prayer's were not getting through to God.  She called me really upset about what this man had said.  I assured her what she heard was just a Haggiism and not biblical truth.  Last night her grand daughter came to church and midway through the service this lady's prayers were answered.  Be careful who you listen to.  If it isn't scriptural the man may be a servant of the devil.