tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62983944967185130362024-03-05T23:38:21.080-06:00The Brown PerspectiveOzark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-6133634979958263492019-07-24T12:57:00.001-05:002019-07-24T12:59:50.286-05:00CURLING GAME -- American Style<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #1c1e21;"><span style="background-color: white;">I</span></span>, Ken Brown, penned the following narrative in March 2016 during the presidential primary campaign that led to the election of American's current president. Since then, I've watched American society, and perceive the following analogy still holds to this very day. Current issues such as health care, immigration, the environment, world affairs, and personal rights might seem to have undergone major change in recent years. But America's "curling stone" existence can drift only so far in one direction or another.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following was posted to my Facebook timeline (Ken W Brown) on March 15, 2016. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UTTER NONSENSE, OZARK UNCLE! SOME WILL SAY (584 words)</span></h2>
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I see the world like a giant game of curling (see shared photo). Think of God putting the world in motion like the Captain of a curling team starts the “stone” down a lane of ice toward a target or “home.” Now, think of God (the creator) as putting mankind on earth as “sweepers” who can provide the stone some guidance but only a little bit. With their brooms, sweepers accompany the stone down its path and can cause the stone to go a little left or a little right and maybe speed it up or slow it down. But regardless the stone just keeps on moving toward an uncertain end.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8PL_q2ZXpjg6H2QlWQnjENuuW07WBpW85GVZUDBlA6xpDQCQLuu8dyMBhI44aRP2g2NsIwym6AV7nJ2SR0FCQKiOnKQxDmoEQaP2fS7KR19lcdU-gkVQ7FrVY8o4V9A1wYl0fkq3sBXg/s1600/curling-ligi-basladi-IHA-20121109AW000706-1-t-labelled.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8PL_q2ZXpjg6H2QlWQnjENuuW07WBpW85GVZUDBlA6xpDQCQLuu8dyMBhI44aRP2g2NsIwym6AV7nJ2SR0FCQKiOnKQxDmoEQaP2fS7KR19lcdU-gkVQ7FrVY8o4V9A1wYl0fkq3sBXg/s400/curling-ligi-basladi-IHA-20121109AW000706-1-t-labelled.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now think of the stone in the photo as “America” and not the world—that’s fitting since many Americans think our country is the “world”—they think the game the Captain started is all about them and for them.</div>
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Imagine all four people in the photo are America’s team trying to affect the stone. Oh, they used to be teammates—but in recent decades the team has had a falling out to where the “sweepers” on the left and right have become enemies rather than allies, and they don’t listen to the Captain at all (some would argue the Captain has gotten disgusted and abandoned the team altogether). </div>
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While the left and right sweepers can influence the stone somewhat and can tell horror stories about what the other sweeper can do, in fact the effect of the sweepers isn’t that dramatic. For example, the sweeper on the right might want there to never be another aborted fetus in America—and if certain laws change, they will dance in the streets and say “we win”, and rejoice; but almost immediately the stone will simply adjust itself toward a new alignment with alternatives that resolve the issue of unwanted pregnancies—all kinds of preventatives will surface. For example growing over-population, food shortages, Zika babies that no one wants to pay for or the like, will eventually foster in new views about reproduction; and someday people will wonder why the pro-life fight was ever fought at all. </div>
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(I can play out similar scenarios for all kinds of issues that the two sweepers are forever fighting over. If you want, choose an issue, write it to me, and I bet I can provide a scenario where the movement to the left or right is limited).</div>
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Now this evening (March 1, 2016), as Missouri finishes its political primaries, one can imagine but can’t see what is happening off to the side of the curling rink—there is a tremendous battle as to who the right-side sweeper should be—a battle of historic proportions—books will be written about this election for decades to come. A little less dramatic is the battle for who the left sweeper should be. In fact, these side battles are yet another reason why the sweepers have limited effect on the stone—America seems to have some kind of a self-balancing feature that doesn’t let one side get carried away. Right now we have would-be sweepers proclaiming they will have great power to alter the “stone.” But in my view, they carry a foolish message to the most foolish of my fellow Americans. </div>
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Does the “stone” ever get stopped or severely altered? No, not really. Barring a horrific event such as a nuclear war or a major catastrophe, the stone will go on down the ice lane toward an uncertain end and none of the would-be politicians for 2017 can do great good or harm in the long run.</div>
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Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-9185376776394645772011-09-25T10:41:00.001-05:002014-03-11T21:35:29.635-05:00EDITH, ETHEL, AND THEIR CHOICES<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>by Ken Brown</i></div>
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<i>Springfield, MO</i></div>
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<b>Choice...</b><br />
...what a critical and difficult mental exercise. Interestingly, CHOICE is something for which adult chooser holds responsibility, she/he/it needs to be the judge of the selections. Unless directly affected, one should be careful in judgments of other people's choices. For example, presently too many within our American society cry out from one side of their mouths for unfettered "freedom to choose" while demanding legislation to end some choices of those not like-minded on certain issues. The target group are the "haves" judging the "have-nots."<br />
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From the Ozark Uncle's perspective, quite a few judgments of others are clouded because the judge <i>simply has too much food in her, his, it's gut</i>. Explain that, Unc! Well, very hungry people just view things differently than the well-fed among us. If you're in the latter group, then try it some time and notice the difference--your perspective could very well turn upside down after prolonged hunger. This oddity is best explained by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs">Maslow's Needs Hierarchy</a>.<br />
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Maslow's Needs Hierarchy suggests that we start at the bottom tier (Physiological Needs) where our only concerns are food, shelter and the bare essentials. Then as our condition improves we advance up to the loftier tiers. In a nutshell, some people are stuck in the bottom tier just trying to obtain basic food, clothing and shelter. Choice is irrelevant for those at the bottom; when rummaging through garbage for food, these poor souls don't bypass a morsel of discarded filet mignon simply because it is <i>well done </i>instead of <i>medium rare</i>. <br />
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Many of us, the Ozark Uncle included, started at or near the bottom of Maslow's chart and advanced up the tiers to where physiological needs are not so pressing. Unfortunately, once a few rungs higher, we often forget what it was like when on the bottom. Again, the disconnect is simply the result of having too much food in one's stomach. Food for thought?<br />
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<b>THE UNCLE'S RELISHED AND REGRETTED CHOICES</b><br />
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<li><b>Relished (No Organized Religion) - </b>Those who chose to read an earlier Ozark Uncle's blog posting, <a href="http://ozarkuncle.blogspot.com/2010/07/pivotal-moment-baptists-turn-green.html">BAPTIST TURN GREEN</a>, learned of the Ozark Uncle's choice of secular education over a narrowly scripted one based on the Protestant Bible. That choice (which was a couple of decades in the making), plus a later decision to turn away from any formal religious institution, would set him on a path of spiritual loneliness but not hopelessness. In the process, however, the message of Jesus somehow got hard-wired within the Ozark Uncle by no conscious choice of his own. Perhaps, that's why the Uncle truly enjoys church services when he attends and observes the uplifted and ignores the indifferent ones.</li>
<li><b>Regretted (No Military Service) - </b>While the Ozark Uncle is comfortable with his position (albeit ever changing) on religion, he probably only rues one of his most critical choices--to opt for college over military service. It was the 1960s part of the Vietnam War era, and he wishes he would have chosen to join with those who served in the U.S. Air Force or the U.S. Navy. [Readers, correct the Ozark Uncle if he's wrong on the following statement] In general, those who either couldn't choose or simply neglected to do so were drafted by the U.S. Army and were closest to the action. It was a war among men and a war within men where their morals and ethics were challenged. <br /> In the Ozark Uncle's opinion, those like himself who haven't served are not complete, and a little hollow inside. (The Ozark Uncle's Vietnam-era vet friends know that he has the utmost respect for those who did that job for all of us).</li>
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<b>OTHER CHOICES</b><br />
Like all Americans, the Ozark Uncle has made thousands of <i>choices </i>during his 66 years of existence--<i>choices</i> about schools, jobs, relationships, money, religion, and even movies. While he has few regrets regarding his choices, he does rue his choice to watch the 1982 film, <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084707/">Sophie's Choice,</a></i> with Meryl Streep. Her choice remains lodged in his brain like a festering splinter that can't be removed no matter how much he digs with the longest and sharpest needle.<br />
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Related to <b>ABORTION</b>, the Ozark Uncle has had three occasions in his life to encourage a women not to abort a child; once, his advice was taken, on another instance the child was aborted for perhaps the wrong reasons, and the third was aborted for perhaps a rational reason; but again, who is the Ozark Uncle to judge. Being the last born to a mother of five whose health should have stopped her childbearing at one, the Ozark Uncle recognizes that life is a very random event; if it had turned out that his mother died because of his birth, the Ozark Uncle would wish she had aborted him. She was a wonderful person, and her husband would die only four years later than the Ozark Uncle's birth. Four orphans would have been created. Make any sense?<br />
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Regarding <b>GAY LIFESTYLES</b>, the Ozark Uncle staked out his position in the posting <a href="http://ozarkuncle.blogspot.com/2010/08/most-evil-muslims-gays-or-serpents.html">MOST EVIL--MUSLIMS, GAYS, OR SERPENTS?</a> Credible individuals (e.g., Jerry Falwell's ghost writer, <a href="http://www.melwhite.org/article/2">Mel White</a>) have come out of the closet in recent years to report childhood and teenage same-sex attractions that they could neither explain nor control. Who is the Ozark Uncle (or anyone) to not accept these testimonies such as that of Mel White's. A response from a conservative Christian friend to the aforementioned blog posting was "I don't care what he said, it's a choice he made, [damn it]!" The Ozark Uncle pondered this response and now posts this rebuttal--really, only gays CAN possibly know whether it is a choice or not--just think about it. At age five, the Ozark Uncle knew he had no choice in his attraction to the female gender. <br />
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But gay bashers <i>need</i> to call it "CHOICE." To demonize a group of people, just say that the "sinner" can help it by simply making a different choice; then compassion is taken off the table helping to ensure that the group is expelled with no hope of re-inclusion. In recent decades the same tactic has also been used to declare that all poor people choose to shun work and live the way they do. Within that group are millions who deserve some compassion. Read on.<br />
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<b>UNCLE! SEGUE NOW--Readers Don't Leave Yet, Please....</b></div>
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Is choice good or bad? Look at the definition of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice">choice</a>, and one will find that too much choice might be debilitating. Still, the old "Professor Uncle" used to always counsel his students--"...try to control your lives to where your options (i.e., choices) remain open." <br />
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Professor Uncle encouraged open-mindedness always regardless of the perils that accompany it. That segues to the stories of (1) Edith, Lot's wife, and (2) Ethel. Both made dramatic choices that deserve some discussion. Read on.<br />
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<b>EDITH'S CHOICE</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Magdalene Collums</td></tr>
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The Ozark Uncle's wife (Aunt Joy) has a wonderful cousin, Magdalene Collums, who is one of Arkansas's best and most prolific poets. She is in her 80s, has always had an inquiring mind, and her poetry reflects the world she sees--both good and bad. Over the past year, the Ozark Uncle has been helping pull together a book of her poetry. The draft is flirting with 200 pages at the present.<br />
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Magdalene's poetry is so wonderful that even the unpoetic Ozark Uncle has come to love all of it. Magdalene's works are far ranging--flowers, birds, people, family and school memories, places and events, social issues, and religious dogma. Also included are poems in which she defends Arkansas against outside critics' condescending remarks. </div>
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When the Ozark Uncle was working on Magdalene's manuscript, several different poems caught his eye including a couple in which she provided a defense of Lot's wife as she looked back at Sodom and turned to a pillar of salt <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lot's_wife">(Genesis 19 of the Protestant Old Testament)</a>. Here's one of the two poems:</div>
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<b>Sundown at Sodom</b></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;">by Magdalene Collums, Hope AR</b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;">copyright 2011</b></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BHwgai5u6PQYMTjIRuEF790wTFlruukvONlDo3kcFIX-obo8N7lcadZoeh5h0-pYnC3V8U8Nmk2LAh-n_pBzN684ZL6h4R5Y5y6ppl7P5SQeGsPEsPHG8H3Du7H3I7_esWNlL2ultsQ/s1600/lots_wife_pillar_of_salt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BHwgai5u6PQYMTjIRuEF790wTFlruukvONlDo3kcFIX-obo8N7lcadZoeh5h0-pYnC3V8U8Nmk2LAh-n_pBzN684ZL6h4R5Y5y6ppl7P5SQeGsPEsPHG8H3Du7H3I7_esWNlL2ultsQ/s200/lots_wife_pillar_of_salt.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">They say she looked back out of curiosity, </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">But she did have other reasons. </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">She looked back mourning her silver bowl, </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Carelessly while tying her sandal strap, </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">So she wouldn't have to stare at the righteous nape </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Of her husband Lot's neck. </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">From the sudden conviction that if she dropped dead, </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">He wouldn't so much as hesitate, </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Struck by the silence, hoping God had changed his mind. </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Their two daughters were already vanishing over the hilltop. </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">The wife felt age within her, </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">The futility of wandering. </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">She looked back not knowing where to set her foot.</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Serpents appeared on the path, </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Spiders, field mice, baby vultures. </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">They were neither good nor evil now; </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Every living thing was simply creeping </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Or hopping along in the mass panic. </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">She looked back in desolation, </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">In shame because they had stolen away, </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Wanting to cry out, wanting to go home; </span></b></i></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">A sudden gu</span></b><b style="background-color: white;">st of wind unbound her hair. </b></span></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">It seemed to her that eyes were watching from the walls of Sodom </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">And bursting into thunderous laughter again and again. </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">She looked back in anger to savor their terrible fate. </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">She ran on; she crept; she flew upward </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Until darkness fell and with it scorching gravel. </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">She couldn't breathe and spun around and around. </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">She looked back involuntarily </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">Until a sudden crack froze her solid in her tracks. </span></b></i></div>
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In both the above poem and in a second one entitled "Lot's Wife", Magdalene suggests that Lot's wife did not feel loved by her husband. Even the Ozark Uncle has thought what kind of husband would be out front of his wife in that traumatic situation and not behind her in a protective manner. He knows the story...the scribe wanted to illustrate what happens when God's Will is not followed. <u>Yet, was not God's Will communicated to her via a husband who did not love her--she was at a spiritual disadvantage, for Christ's sake?!</u> Wow, I'm good--maybe I'm ready to write for one of those big news channels where the censor of illogical news items usually has a hangover and fails to show up most days.)<br />
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For Lot's wife, Edith, her choice caused the end of her earthly existence but not the memory of her. As luck would have it, Lot apparently went on over the hill, told his story to the elders and then relayed to the purported Genesis author. Mention of her name was omitted from the Protestant Bible but Jewish lore identified her as "Ildeth" or "Edith" (it was the answer to a <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/mi/dinosaurs/lotswife.html">2004 Jeopardy</a> question)." <br />
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<b>ETHEL'S CHOICE</b></div>
In the early 1970s, the Ozark Uncle was climbing up his career ladder as a bean-counting bureaucrat at a state-funded college. On a warm spring day, he'd just finished his lunch of hamburger and fries at the campus grill, and as he stepped out into the busy quadrangle, he noticed all heads were turned to the southeast where a clamor was developing. In a split second, they appeared from that direction--running at a leisurely gait--two young men wearing nothing but head gear. They were engaging in a new campus craze--<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streaking">streaking</a>.</div>
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The second streaker lagging behind wore only a ski mask and was otherwise unworthy of mention. His chosen head gear's statement was "I'm frightened--why am I here, and please, Lord, let this be over without my being identified. What would Mom say?"</div>
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The laggard's companion in front, however, was most impressive--his only apparel were an vintage leather aviator cap, over-sized goggles, and a colorful scarf that draped around his face and neck before flowing freely behind him in the breeze--not unlike Snoopy as he chased after the Red Baron.</div>
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I focused on the leader, quite impressed, until he disappeared in the direction of the dormitories to the northwest. His head gear suggested a daring and adventuresome fellow who no doubt went on to lead an interesting life. <br />
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The Ozark Uncle secretlhy wanted to join the students who applauded the escapade but withdrew into his conservative and prudish 1970s self . Several seconds after the streakers had departed, a couple of overweight campus security guards came shuffling along the same path asking what direction the miscreants had gone. They got little assistance, and they probably didn't really want to catch them anyway.</div>
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<b>The Mooning of Ethel</b></div>
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Streaking eventually faded away but stayed long enough for comedy musician, Ray Stevens, to get a hit from his 1974 song, <i>the Streak</i>. A link to his delightful music video is provided at the bottom of this post. Here is a portion of the lyrics: </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Ray Stevens</td></tr>
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<i>Once again, your action news reporter in the booth at the gym </i><i>covering the disturbance at the basketball playoff. Pardon me, </i><i>sir, did you see what happened? </i></div>
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<i> Yeah, I did. Halftime, I's just </i><i>going down there to get Ethel a snow cone. Here he come, right </i><i>outta the cheap seats, dribbling. Right down the middle of the </i><i>floor. Didn't have on nothing but his Keds! Made a hook shot </i><i>and got out through the concession stand. </i></div>
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<i> I hollered up at Ethel, </i><i>I said "don't look, Ethel!"...too late. She'd already gotten a free </i><i>shot. Grandstand. Right there in front of the home team.</i></div>
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The song finishes with the following:</div>
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<i> "Ethel! Is that you Ethel? What do you think you're doing? You get your clothes on!" "Ethel, where you going? Ethel, you shameless hussy!!" Ethel!!</i></div>
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Bantering around about the relationship between Ethel and her husband would be fun. Was he trying to protect her from an act of indecency or was he controlling her? Deep down, did he sense that Ethel was impressionable and secretly had a desire for independence--for the freedom to choose? Taking Stevens' song further, the Ozark Uncle wonders how Ethel's marital relationship changed after her wild moment of self-expression. But he had better get on to the point of this post lest his few loyal readers rebel themselves.<br />
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<b>TODAY'S THOUGHTS FOR TOMORROW'S GENERATION</b></div>
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Both Edith and Ethel made critical choices in their lives. For Ethel--did her choice lead (1) to a free and enlightened existence, or (2) to a shameful and depraved phase in her life? The Ozark Uncle doesn't want to judge her act but only hope she experienced the former and not the latter. Edith--of course, bless her heart, she didn't live to tell her side of the story--if you must judge choices, has your scorn for her abated any? Moses left little information for those of us who cannot read Sumerian clay tablets--that's a whole other posting. <b>Please don't miss the video by clicking below.</b><br />
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<a href="http://youtu.be/XtzoUu7w-YM">VIEW RAY STEVENS VIDEO -- THE STREAK</a></div>
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Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-37220896648183968172011-04-22T23:01:00.000-05:002011-04-22T23:01:43.196-05:00J.B.'s Deer Camp<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><i>by Kenneth Brown, Springfield, MO</i><br />The Ozark Uncle's </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Facebook friends have read his occasional postings about the project he calls "Deer Camp." The project is little more than a small house on a vacant lot at the edge of the Wilson Creek flood plain barely one-hundred yards outside of the Springfield city limits. But the Ozark Uncle and several of his family members see it as a chance for a temporary existence without TV, phones, or air conditioning, and a pot-bellied wood stove for heat in the winter.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">J.B. & Magdalene (Neal) Collums<br />
Hope, AR</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The "Deer Camp" designation is in honor of the late J.B. Collums of Hope AR who passed away in April 2010 at the age of 81. J.B. had a real deer camp in southwest Arkansas, although he befriended every buck and doe that wandered into his kingdom. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">While the Ozark Uncle's skill set is so limited that he must hire everything done at his "Deer Camp", J.B. had been a welder and mechanic--he had his own tools and even his own bull dozer. He did all the work himself at Deer Camp including putting a dam across the creek to create a lake. He even engineered an efficient spillway and flood control valve for his dam. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">J.B. Collums was married for 63 of his 81 years to Joy's cousin, Magdalene Neal Collums. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">In the past decade, the Ozark Uncle and Joy got to know them and see that they were an almost perfect couple--supporting each other through thick and thin--always sensitive to the needs of the other.<br />Magdalene's skill set is unique too -- she got her college education in English at nearby Henderson (AR) State University, and has been a prolific writer and award-winning poet for the past almost forty years. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">A couple of weeks ago, the Ozark Uncle told Magdalene about his "Deer Camp" and he asked her if she could be moved to write a poem about J.B.'s "Deer Camp." Her first response was one of hesitance but within 48 hours, she had produced this wonderful piece of verse.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b><i>J. B.'S DEER CAMP</i></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Should you have asked him what it meant to him-</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>He would have answered, he would have told you</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>That it was piece of him and peace in him,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>A wonderful place</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Where shadows were still</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>And oak trees hung low,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>An 80-acre tract</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>On the banks of a lake,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>His hands had made,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Where songs could be heard</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>From flocks of birds,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>A magical place,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>A sanctuary that restored his equilibrium,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Soothed his soul and calmed his racing mind.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>With J. B. gone almost a year -</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Not just in November but all of the year,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>We cherish the time we had with him</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>And wish we could do it all over again.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">by Magdalene Collums, Hope AR</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">March 2011</span><br />
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</div>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-81253539348596231422010-09-11T12:30:00.003-05:002011-01-09T21:21:51.695-06:00Stricken with Terminal Disease, Presidency Nears Death<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>by Ken Brown</i><br />
<i>Springfield, MO</i><br />
The Ozark Uncle started writing this post on Wednesday, September 8, 2010--he never expected that it would be 9/11 before it was completed and published. <br />
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We are at a pivotal moment in U.S. History. The Ozark Uncle perceives that hardships are ahead for those generations following what the 65-year old is calling his <b>Pampered Generation</b>--those of us born between 1935 through 1945. We didn't have to serve in WWII, and we were later blessed with good paying union jobs and now many of us are living on funded pensions. But our country has major internal structure problems--political, financial and even militarily. Money to fund the <b>Baby Boomer Generation </b>(e.g., born in 1946 or later) retirements just isn't there. There probably isn't a politician alive with any kind of a magic bullet to fix our fiscal problems--we need to look to self-reliance and each be willing to make some kind of sacrifice.<br />
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A dear friend in my <i>Over 70 Club</i> forwarded me an email that listed many suggestions for changes in our country--of course it's one of those with bold type, different colored fonts and, you guessed it, an anonymous author. But the Ozark Uncle saw possibilities in the list and he may dissect the ideas when he has a chance. Perhaps considered extreme now, in a couple of decades many of these suggestions will occur by default, not by any political decision.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">[Insert silence: the Ozark Uncle is taking a moment to remember the victims of the 9/11 tragedy which changed our world forever. But he's also remembering those who died at Pearl Harbor, the millions of Holocaust, Armenian and Rwandan genocide victims, plus the millions of soldiers whatever their uniform, and all the innocent civilians killed in wars]. </span><br />
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Well, that moment of silence didn't go too well; just as I went into silence, 19-month old Skye baby asked the Ozark Uncle to put on his "Papa" hat and get her more "Wice Kispies." That highest-priority task completed, let's get on with the heart of the matter at hand.<br />
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<b>Honored Member of the Ozark Uncle's Over 80 Club: <i>Code Name</i> Miss Lillian</b><br />
The Ozark Uncle has a relative who he is calling Lillian--that's not her real name. She's in her 80s now, and she lives in the same rural southern community in which she was born. Best I can tell, Miss Lillian raised her children as a single parent. For many of those years, she supported her children as a medical nurse working at the side of the same doctor in a small town clinic. She knew all the patients' personal and medical history but will take that knowledge to the grave with her. Morals and ethics are hardwired into Miss Lillian. <i>And she's perhaps one of the wisest people I know.</i><br />
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Miss Lillian is a very private individual, and few photos exist of her. The facsimile of an unidentified older woman to the left is not her. Miss Lillian has no use for computers and little use for television. If told about the Ozark Uncle's openness on Facebook and his two blogs, she'd just fold her arms, look up into his eyes and with her soft but stern rural accent, say, "Kee-un, Kee-un". Then she'd just bow her head and shake it in disbelief. <br />
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You see, to Miss Lillian, something like Facebook should be renamed Fools Book, and to her a blog is something that happens between the house and the septic tank. And you know, with regard to the Ozark Uncle's writings, she'd probably be right on each count!<br />
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To my knowledge, Miss Lillian doesn't watch too much television. FOX is something to be kept out of the hen house, and for all she knows, CNN, HLN and MSNBC are random letters on an eyesight chart. Yet, she seems to gather sufficient information that makes her quite knowledgable on what she considers is relevant to her and her rural world. You see, the Ozark Uncle perceives that Miss Lillian does better than most at setting priorities as to what is really important in her life and that of her family. Not every national battle is hers to fight.<br />
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Miss Lillian's front door is like a lot of other people. It's open wide for her close friends and relatives; she can be a wonderful hostess and will serve a healthy southern meal and fresh brewed iced tea. However, business with all others can be conducted just fine through the screen door. Miss Lillian and the Ozark Uncle haven't discussed it--no reason to--but she probably would not be comfortable at all with Muslims, foreign speakers, or gays in her home even if they were my friends. But, be assured if any one of them had a car wreck out in front of her house and was bleeding profusely, the nurse in Lillian would be out there doing her best to help out another human being, and she wouldn't worry about whether she had a pair of latex gloves or not. There are no pretenses with Miss Lillian--without ever using a cuss word, she can make it real clear what should transpire around her.<br />
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<b>Uncle Ozark, What's Your Point?</b><br />
The Ozark Uncle could write for pages about his perceptions of Miss Lillian, but she's introduced here for a specific reason. <i>Have I already said Miss Lillian is one of the wisest people I know?</i> Well, the subject of respect for a sitting U.S. President came up between me and one of Miss Lillian's daughters recently. Reportedly, Miss Lillian always quoted her own mother to her children and it's as follows: "My Mama always said you may not have voted for a President and may not even like the man, but he always deserves your respect as the President of the United States." That piece of wisdom is <i>today's thought for tomorrow's generation. </i>Unfortunately, with the death of the U.S. Presidency at hand, this point of view may only fade into the annals of history as how things used to be. Here's an example of the Presidency's disease.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQ0zfkkyr25yFV0IEj1PiCxnjFdDw-NubFXen4TyMyqQXUVK_meNkzLgBH4-YzJPMN19qgpz1Gp_Ep6BCPgTun2Uz3TPCdyYZaOXx2Jtfn6bJnZtraB-TB5Lb3pFn48e1xzI0CU9tCKDw/s1600/branson-financial-center.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQ0zfkkyr25yFV0IEj1PiCxnjFdDw-NubFXen4TyMyqQXUVK_meNkzLgBH4-YzJPMN19qgpz1Gp_Ep6BCPgTun2Uz3TPCdyYZaOXx2Jtfn6bJnZtraB-TB5Lb3pFn48e1xzI0CU9tCKDw/s200/branson-financial-center.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Branson Financial Center</td></tr>
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A couple of times a month, the Ozark Uncle takes a family member to a medical appointment in Branson, 45 miles south of Springfield. (Interestingly, he'll be making that trip again later today--September 11). The doctor's office is in the Branson Financial Center, and an immigration attorney with a Hispanic name has the adjacent suite. Frequently, one will share the elevator with Spanish-speaking immigrants from Mexico.<br />
<br />
Also in the BFC building are the real estate offices of <a href="http://www.commercialonebrokers.com/properties.php">Commercial One Brokers</a>. This summer, the partners of this firm purchased a full-sized billboard near the town of Ozark between Springfield and Branson which says: <i>Vote for Obama? Embarrassed Yet? </i>In an interview with Springfield TV station, <a href="http://www.ky3.com/home/video/Billboard-buyer-shares-why-he-brought-Vote-Obama-sign-to-the-Ozarks-101850443.html">KY3</a>, partner Steve Critchfield acknowledged that he'd received death threats because of it, but he rather glibly moralized that "...if every one is happy with Obama, they could go out and buy billboards saying so." The Ozark Uncle will let that statement just land on the floor and stay there.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGt72bLG_Ch_pDxHGbUP4Kh_PKab-fX-bDu-ZFEdG7j8CE2c10vmgApUcPByiINko6UL1WmG1P03Ls2XxF3biVMvgpHdn6HKc8j-pvRiFbWd8KeQywewyGZa9lc0_OK6OBcInR9mrrqhS4/s1600/obamabill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGt72bLG_Ch_pDxHGbUP4Kh_PKab-fX-bDu-ZFEdG7j8CE2c10vmgApUcPByiINko6UL1WmG1P03Ls2XxF3biVMvgpHdn6HKc8j-pvRiFbWd8KeQywewyGZa9lc0_OK6OBcInR9mrrqhS4/s200/obamabill.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Billboard Similar to Critchfield sign<br />
on U.S. 65 near Ozark MO</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Ozark Uncle really doesn't have any perceptions about how Critchfield <i>et al</i> should use their advertising dollars--though, the real estate business must be good in Taney County, Missouri. No doubt the partners felt that their clients and their target market (white retirees with 401k funds from my <b>Pampered Generation</b>) would be happy with this sign--might even help business. If I were Critchfield, though, I'd probably avoid local restaurants for awhile after considering who might be making my omelet and exactly what could be used for seasoning.<br />
<br />
But, hey, the Ozark Uncle is cool. He's all for the First Amendment. Yet Gainesville, Florida's <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/07/pastor-says-church-deterred-petraeus-warning-koran-burning/">Pastor Terry Jones</a> and his 50 followers who intended to burn Muslim holy books today (9/11) are really testing the amendment's limits relative to the public's common good. (Since this posting was started on Wednesday, Pastor Terry Jones has been granted prime time coverage of his every move. What a country--another religious figure with the surname Jones [like Jim and Bob] will become a household name.<br />
<br />
Now back to Critchfield's billboard question. [Note: the Ozark Uncle's little postings are intended for today's adults but, over time, will also serve as an archive for his grandchildren and their children as to how their Grandpa Brown perceived issues during this historically troublesome time].<br />
<br />
<b>Disappointment? Sometimes. Embarrassment? Never</b>.<br />
The Ozark Uncle struggles with the concept that anyone in America should be embarrassed about a vote--it doesn't make sense to him. Oh, perhaps failing to vote at all might be a cause for some guilt. While his ancestors had to cast their ballots with the little information printed in their weekly newspapers and talk around the wood stove at the General Store, the Ozark Uncle's era isn't too much better off. Technology, mass media and advertising make it almost impossible to make an informed decision before voting. Lies, falsehoods and misstatements litter the political landscape. Candidates can't really come out and express their true thoughts--they are chained to specific positions and code words like "Pro-Choice" or "Pro-Life" lest they be deserted by some political base critical to their election.<br />
<br />
Some voters don't look at the candidates' names but only for the (R) or (D) behind them and vote accordingly. Others of us form some impression and cast a vote. What follows is the Ozark Uncle's recollection of his Presidential votes over the past 20 years of voting. It may not be totally accurate because many a time he went into the voting booth terribly undecided. For today's readers, it illustrates a typical American's attempt to vote responsibly. For his descendants, it leaves a little trail to show that he just didn't vote for all the (R)s or all the (D)s. <br />
<br />
<b>1992 -- Bush 1 versus CLINTON (D) versus Perot (I).</b> The Ozark Uncle distinctly remembers voting for Ross Perot. He didn't know enough about Clinton, and he still felt that Bush 1 had not been forthcoming on the Iran-Contra scandal hung over from his Reagan era Vice-Presidency.<br />
<br />
<b>1996 -- Dole (R) versus CLINTON (D).</b> A real fan of Sen. Bob Dole (R), the Ozark Uncle considered voting for him. Still he wasn't packaged right by his campaign staff. Also the Ozark Uncle, while disturbed by Clinton's sexual scandals, sensed that powerful people were in the background waking up every morning determined to that particular President's day was a living Hell. From the Ozark Uncle's perspective, the U.S. Presidency contracted its fatal disease under Clinton. A lively debate can be had as to whether the disease was from internal (Clinton's own fault) or external sources.<br />
<br />
<b>2000 -- BUSH 2 (R) versus Gore (D).</b> The Ozark Uncle was a reluctant voter this year. Right along here, he saw futility in being tied to either party and he became an independent and sees no reason to change the rest of his life. In 2000, at 55 years of aged and about to take early retirement on a public education pension, the Ozark Uncle had become a real fan of a Vietnam hero by the name of John McCain. Then the Bush campaign people played the "race card" on my hero, John, and his dark-skinned adopted daughter during the South Carolina primary, and the rest is history. (By the way, in recent years, the Ozark Uncle has expressed a point of view that America missed a great opportunity when John McCain was not made President in <i>2000</i> instead of George Bush. Hindsight is 20-20 they say but the Ozark Uncle perceives that President McCain might have had the magic bullet needed to eradicate the Presidency's fatal disease).<br />
<br />
<b>2004 -- BUSH 2 (R) versus Kerry (D). </b>Although forever thoughtful, Ozark Uncle can be more naive than many people, and he bought then Secretary of State Colin Powell's WMD speech to the United Nations, and he supported the Iraq war during Bush's first term. By 2004, however, both the Ozark Uncle and Powell realized they had been duped. Still the Ozark Uncle voted for Bush because he really felt that the Bush-Cheney alliance got us into the mess, and they should be given a chance to get us out.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMKZNFhVZx0ekAgZeTJQEmZ8KXIPpkUAoLrCrsu_7dnkGVXM6G77pQF5jwfoK01bsv9U8atmO1JCEeYyR50chRfCLeZm2KEkol52xdf6FbXmQHek2zfsiykscvkC4P375LfEqm9tkSVPP/s1600/mccainpalin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMKZNFhVZx0ekAgZeTJQEmZ8KXIPpkUAoLrCrsu_7dnkGVXM6G77pQF5jwfoK01bsv9U8atmO1JCEeYyR50chRfCLeZm2KEkol52xdf6FbXmQHek2zfsiykscvkC4P375LfEqm9tkSVPP/s200/mccainpalin.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>2008 -- McCain (R) versus OBAMA (D). </b> The 2008 campaign was very hard on the Ozark Uncle. His close relatives were quite divided, and lots of discussions led to family disunity. Eventually everyone figured out that it was best not to talk about it. The Ozark Uncle went ahead and voted for Barack Hussein Obama after his hero, John McCain, selected the unknown "Mama Grizzly", Sarah Palin, as his running mate. Some of my intelligent Christian friends applied incredible contortions to common sense attempting to convince me she was ready for the co-pilot's seat of a great nation. I found my own intellect being insulted on every corner, and I abandoned my buddy, John McCain, once I got into the voting booth. [Note: since that time, the Ozark Uncle has become much more impressed with Ms. Palin and would give her due consideration in 2012. It would be nice, however, if her so-called "grizzly" skin could toughen a little bit--she seems to fight every unfavorable mention of her].<br />
<br />
<b>Ozark Uncle Has had Many Embarrassing Moments But Not from a Vote</b><br />
There you have it, Grandchildren, and any other interested parties--my voting record for what it is over the past 20 years. Am I embarrassed by any of those votes? No, and it's really a silly question. Were some of the votes misguided or dumb votes? Probably some and maybe all but who's to say--voters are accountable only to themselves, no one else.<br />
<br />
As for the present, the Ozark Uncle perceives that with all the power that voters gave to the political left in 2008, President Obama and his Democratic party have turned on the political oven for the Republicans when they get the kitchen back in its control in 2010. In the oven, the Democrats have been able to place half-baked casseroles of health care, energy, immigration, financial reform and entitlements (including tax breaks). <br />
<br />
Now, after the 2010 elections, the Republicans will get another chance to (1) take the casseroles out of the oven and discard them or (2) somehow change the ingredients in the casseroles--a feat requiring culinary magic. It won't be easy for them -- you see each casserole is implanted with a few tablespoons of an unknown substance that can lead one to political suicide. To my grandchildren, when you read this, national politics is not an easy career in Papa Brown waning years.<br />
<br />
<b>Impending Death of the U.S. Presidency</b><br />
<div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
The Ozark Uncle's July 28, 2010, post entitled <i><a href="http://ozarkuncle.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html">War Heroes and Victims</a>. </i>Near the end of the post, the Ozark Uncle cites retired Lt. Col. Andrew Bacevich and his book <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/books/review/Tepperman-t.html">Limits of Power</a></i>. He argues that the system in Washington is so broken that the holder of the U.S. Presidency is really irrelevant. This systemic virus has helped lead to its impending death foreseen by the Ozark Uncle.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Symptoms of the Presidency's fatal disease called D-I-S-R-E-S-P-E-C-T surfaced early in the first term of William Jefferson Clinton. The position of First Lady was temporarily affected by the disease too but seems to have at least partially recovered. The Presidency's disease was in almost total remission during the first term of George Walker Bush, but only for a short time. Now, under Barack Hussein Obama, the Presidency's affliction appears to be worse than ever (as evidenced by the Critchfield billboard). <br />
<br />
Note: some experts (no substantiations available at the moment) suggest that the country would be better off after the death of the U.S. Presidency followed by a re-incarnation as a Prime Minister, perhaps. With this lower profile position would come lowered expectations--something that people should want if they want to reduce the effect of government. Thus, with the death of the U.S. Presidency, this Prime Minister-type person would still have considerable governing power but little to govern--just a country of "I"s and "Me"s with little unity, insight, or compassion among us. Also, an empty Treasury will cause Americans to ween themselves from entitlements, tax breaks and wasteful spending. Thus, we are the problem, not our elected politicians.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Today's Thoughts for Tomorrow's Generation</b></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZrdHxdvClQt3rO8FPTk0Dsw0uEGvYz11L9Jg8UQswb90aFWWsjyRs2L0d19NBJLoV7D9tmzmFDDsx_Ma4Y_F2bSwCYBg33KhKaYXjfq0XUhLkInJE5d3QbKWVEKgEbeyNXXqVxWU_Tn4d/s1600/a4s_piper090508b_36828c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZrdHxdvClQt3rO8FPTk0Dsw0uEGvYz11L9Jg8UQswb90aFWWsjyRs2L0d19NBJLoV7D9tmzmFDDsx_Ma4Y_F2bSwCYBg33KhKaYXjfq0XUhLkInJE5d3QbKWVEKgEbeyNXXqVxWU_Tn4d/s200/a4s_piper090508b_36828c.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Piper Palin with her brother at the 2008<br />
Republican Convention</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
To the left is a photo of Todd and Sarah Palin's two youngest children, Piper and Trig. Note that the photo appeared on CNN and hopefully Ms. Palin won't mind my using it. Piper is my favorite, and part of me wishes she were at the Brown house playing with the Ozark Uncle's two Grand-Girls, Ora and Skye Brown, instead of being dragged around the country as part of the Palin Family Tour. <br />
<br />
Watching the 2008 Republican Convention, the Ozark Uncle immediately wondered how the limelight would affect each member of the Palin family. Certainly life hasn't been the same for little Piper since that night. Her family is now wealthy but family time has to be totally different and is difficult to manage. Such is life for children of high-profile parents.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiItIjffmn5e55dIroTtni-e2_MiOyWm6vE8i0yNivN58OvcWA4Y4Mi4ODr0Fqrf2sYjymJ8_KKibs7P-KVjaJLF6CGeMf7bYHM5gJWSt9beoClbzGAdiBQYgLGwhM5KEfcoQsoC6z7Vz8S/s1600/P7200021-D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiItIjffmn5e55dIroTtni-e2_MiOyWm6vE8i0yNivN58OvcWA4Y4Mi4ODr0Fqrf2sYjymJ8_KKibs7P-KVjaJLF6CGeMf7bYHM5gJWSt9beoClbzGAdiBQYgLGwhM5KEfcoQsoC6z7Vz8S/s200/P7200021-D.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skye and Ora Brown - 2010</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>Today's thoughts for tomorrow's generation </i>are really guided to the parents and grandparents (Papa and Grandma Brown included) of today's young children. Recognize that 2010 is a really troubling time in America that could just as easily worsen as improve. The Ozark Uncle's perception is that we should prepare our little ones for a time when they shouldn't count on state and national government to be of major significance in their lives.<br />
<br />
A few suggestions to the parents and grandparents come to mind such as to help the little ones: (1) learn to be self-reliant; (2) learn to take care of their bodies and their minds, (3) learn to garden, cook and clean (Ora, remember, like the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boxcar_Children">Box Car Children</a></i>--Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny?)<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtX-nKXpf11fSItqal-dt_TldZhNAeoX-uKNFpUE-u0royrraGQw3qFm9xyKJSC4EmoJUEm_-BdJDil9zXJJrNCQhyphenhyphenAsxHcL6NSoHKOp2tw9bZUoOW2sanmi6KsctaeG9Vujw1iHhn__Xb/s1600/P6010012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtX-nKXpf11fSItqal-dt_TldZhNAeoX-uKNFpUE-u0royrraGQw3qFm9xyKJSC4EmoJUEm_-BdJDil9zXJJrNCQhyphenhyphenAsxHcL6NSoHKOp2tw9bZUoOW2sanmi6KsctaeG9Vujw1iHhn__Xb/s200/P6010012.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James "the Genius" Brown <br />
self-portrait -- 2008</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRo5-5MaKlg56gAO8pUZSWGiUhy6bd2lgehCUleBnvaLWhfBQXPIAkysNZ9xpij_i5jFDQOmibTTOF_3_YEd5DhHoDgKH_vZSdS-DJi2ZQjFiYg7LF5hwTHWBNLM68yvruZEksC2dmuJe/s1600/P7100050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRo5-5MaKlg56gAO8pUZSWGiUhy6bd2lgehCUleBnvaLWhfBQXPIAkysNZ9xpij_i5jFDQOmibTTOF_3_YEd5DhHoDgKH_vZSdS-DJi2ZQjFiYg7LF5hwTHWBNLM68yvruZEksC2dmuJe/s200/P7100050.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louie "the Athlete" Brown - 2010</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Learn survival skills and ways to be at peace with less material things. Seek out as much practical education and training as they can. Don't forget the liberal arts but basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter are always the first order of the day.<br />
<br />
Show them ways they can find peace for themselves in a wonderful yet ever changing less materialistic world. <br />
<br />
Thanks for reading to the end.</div>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-91668469882419723082010-08-29T12:55:00.001-05:002011-01-09T15:04:23.476-06:00BECK, the OLD LADY, and the "JESUS" WORDGreetings from the Ozarks Plateau here in Springfield MO where the weather on this Sunday morning is gorgeous. The Ozark Uncle is compelled to write about his Saturday and all two of his encounters with the "Jesus" word that occurred that day. Needless to say this posting won't take long.<br />
<br />
<b>Beck-Palin Rally</b><br />
<b></b>Joy and I didn't have the grand-girls this weekend so we started a rather lonely Saturday morning with coffee in the living room. We turned on C-Span and encountered the start of Glenn Beck's <a href="http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2010/08/28/HP/A/37551/Restoring+Honor+Rally.aspx">Restore Our Honor</a> rally (click on the link to view the entire event) at the D.C. Lincoln Memorial. For the time we had before leaving the house, I listened carefully not only for content but for word usage.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhujZHAnX7fMFgQh-wOmbwAStdS2Tg-DT6aODB1_ktlKll-o42_gGZCoJicMn6pzR1MD97h4oSYEucaUgYsbE_VpzSkk4NQ2Q8DtjhOXjY5NxzKqrM2z8dm0VoaSP4wzmI_2FanTb9ETi8o/s1600/Beck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhujZHAnX7fMFgQh-wOmbwAStdS2Tg-DT6aODB1_ktlKll-o42_gGZCoJicMn6pzR1MD97h4oSYEucaUgYsbE_VpzSkk4NQ2Q8DtjhOXjY5NxzKqrM2z8dm0VoaSP4wzmI_2FanTb9ETi8o/s200/Beck.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8.33333px; line-height: 16px;">Glenn Beck speaking on the steps<br /> of the Lincoln Memorial. <br />Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although the Ozark Uncle's hearing is worsening, he senses that his listening skills are improving. He has now listened to Glenn Beck videos for two or three times in the last month, and he's still mulling on the <i>content</i>. Listening to the rally on Saturday, he understood Mr. Beck to say in a round-about way that a <i>divine vision</i> had came to him last year after a Florida rally revealing what God wanted him to do. <br />
<br />
Otherwise the Ozark Uncle listened for the "Jesus" word somewhere in Beck's comments about his being anointed but never heard the word used. During the 45-minutes or so that he was able to watch, the Ozark Uncle only heard the "<b>Jesus</b>" word once. Sarah Palin didn't use it either but a Christian minister's prayer, the content of which didn't include the word, ended with "In <b>Jesus's</b> name we pray."<br />
<br />
<b>Thrift Store Volunteering</b><br />
Joy and I then left home to spend our Saturday volunteering at the Thrift Haven (TH) thrift store. We try to get there not long after it opens as 10 a.m. and stay until 6 p.m. when it closes. The store benefits the Fair Haven Children's Home in nearby Strafford, and the Home is operated by Springfield's Water Mill Church of Christ. So, the store has a very happy and peaceful environment, and the Ozark Uncle enjoys being down there except the piped in <i>A Capella</i> church music is not one his listening favorites. He grew up with old time gospel music accompanied by an acoustic guitar.<br />
<br />
My wife, Joy, has been the TH volunteer "toy lady" for almost three years. When she broke her wrist this past spring, the Ozark Uncle went down to help her and he's been going ever since. Well, back in the hot warehouse off the side of the store, Joy and I sort through all the donations of toys and games, select the best for sale and then pack the rest for shipment to other countries (there's an irony there that the Ozark Uncle has to gloss over for time's sake at this moment).<br />
<br />
<b>The Lady</b><br />
The Ozark Uncle's "station" at TH is close to the door between the warehouse and the store, and early in the afternoon, an elderly lady popped her head in this "employees only" door and asked for help. The lady was definitely in her 70s and maybe a little older. Her layered clothing was of the type that disguised any perception of her economic status--she could have been poor and she could have been rich. Her grey hair was slightly unkempt but neat enough--beauty salons were definitely not a line item in her monthly budget. Eccentric, that's what the Ozark Uncle perceived. Please read on.<br />
<br />
The lady was looking for a special kind of lamp base and wanted to know what we had in the warehouse. Well, it wasn't the Ozark Uncle's department, but he proceeded to help her look around the warehouse. The manager of the day (a former house parent at the Children's Home), strolled through and joined our search. The lady had a very specific idea of what she wanted, and after turning down several that we found, she selected one lamp base resting in the $1.50 box still unpriced.<br />
<br />
<b>Her Visions</b><br />
As I proceeded to place a price tag on the lamp, the lady started to testify to me. In a nutshell, she told me of visions she had received from God. In her visions, God had told her that the people who ran "the government" were going to be replaced soon, and God was going to make a series of changes because of what we've become. <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrF1PAkmEmIDvmaQEKGCLoyBGqqoH1tdo2INMkLoX-CjFgC2t5XwANXKZRBY1vmmomLxZHjWDXMXU3GrlxS4wTEeA1DRgSICLFJn2lpZDXqNEaBiVVPkqO1_4GWUrATosKiOLjKpOAvVr/s1600/Jesus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrF1PAkmEmIDvmaQEKGCLoyBGqqoH1tdo2INMkLoX-CjFgC2t5XwANXKZRBY1vmmomLxZHjWDXMXU3GrlxS4wTEeA1DRgSICLFJn2lpZDXqNEaBiVVPkqO1_4GWUrATosKiOLjKpOAvVr/s200/Jesus.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the store manager quietly creep away leaving the two of us alone. The lady went on to tell about her visions for at least another minute, and then there was a slight pause as she looked at me for feedback.<br />
<br />
"Have you written this down?" I said.<br />
"No, it's all here in my heart." as you placed a hand on her chest. "And I'll tell you God says <b>Jesus</b> is coming soon."<br />
<br />
I don't know what came over me but I threw both my arms up in the air like an Assemblies of God worshiper. Excitedly I said, "You said the <b>Jesus </b>word!!" and I spun in a circle.<br />
<br />
<b>The Point of All This</b><br />
The lady accepted my emotional outburst with a seeming mixture of pleasure, shock, and bewilderment. While she no doubt had told other people of her visions, probably no one had reacted quite like the Ozark Uncle. We had a few more words of encouragement to each other, she thanked me for my help, and she exited the warehouse back into the store.<br />
<br />
Those readers who've read some of the Ozark Uncle's early postings to his other blog, <a href="http://ozarkuncle.blogspot.com/">The Brown Perspective</a>, know he can take an encounter like this with the elderly lady and cogitate on it for quite a while. Well, working in the warehouse at TH is not terribly taxing on one's brain, so he mulled over both the Beck rally and the Elderly lady off and on the rest of the day<i>.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
A fundamental question lodged in the Ozark Uncle's brain--Whose vision is more credible, that of Glenn Beck or that of The Lady. Should one even try to judge whether these visions occurred or not? The Ozark Uncle is certainly not going to try to judge. The Ozark Uncle is better off having seen some of Glenn Beck's rally and hearing this elderly lady testimony.<br />
<br />
<b>Closing Thoughts</b><br />
Once at home last night, I noted on Facebook that inspirational blogger, <a href="http://terryhampton.blogspot.com/">Terry Hampton</a>, had sent a link to a <a href="http://blog.sojo.net/2010/08/23/is-obama-a-christian-cathleen-falsani-responds-on-cnn/?continue">CNN interview</a> with a long-time religion journalist, Cathleen Falsani, about whether Obama is a Christian. Another link that has the interview transcribed is one <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/11/obamas-interview-with-cathleen.html">Obama's Fascinating Interview with Cathleen Falsani</a>. To all my friends, I try to watch the links you suggest regardless of their political slant. Please do yourself a favor and watch this seven minute video. This journalist is framing the debate on the "Christian" question. My <i>perspective</i> is that if this question is going to be a litmus test, start lining up all those you trust, watch their eyes, and then start asking them how then feel about the <b>"Jesus"</b> word.</span><br />
<i><br /></i>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-6905498676678655102010-08-26T22:36:00.001-05:002015-12-13T19:03:24.744-06:00MOST EVIL--MUSLIMS, GAYS OR SERPENTS?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One of today's news headlines compelled the Ozark Uncle to write a quick and half-baked post this evening. He really wasn't ready to write an in-depth <a href="http://ozarkuncle.blogspot.com/">Brown Perspective</a> on either the Muslim or the Gay issues although his cerebral oven has been baking a Perspective "pie" all summer about the latter.<br />
<br />
<b>Snakes Alive!</b><br />
The Ozark Uncle never planned an extensive <i>Perspective</i> post on serpents nor a shorter <i>Today's Thoughts</i> post but let's start right here and now and get it over with. As a child and all the way into his thirties, the Ozark Uncle had an abnormal fear of snakes--not spiders, nor bugs, nor lizards, just snakes. They appeared in his dreams as nightmares, and he found himself avoiding the possibility of a snake sighting or encounter if at all possible. He even avoided the Biology class in high school for fear he'd have to dissect a snake.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq8jlPUTGIef3khBOYuBg-H-xHgPsY2eS8o2SAj1cAGjpNcBRGu2vcvC4UFL3k9PpEqyBSQjy5740Bi-dtHNe8NpzKdhQDbheM4IiZ4kav-RNnDoyGt3yG5aV6xiClXP2O8OpH1ZM7ylBZ/s1600/2411-circusB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq8jlPUTGIef3khBOYuBg-H-xHgPsY2eS8o2SAj1cAGjpNcBRGu2vcvC4UFL3k9PpEqyBSQjy5740Bi-dtHNe8NpzKdhQDbheM4IiZ4kav-RNnDoyGt3yG5aV6xiClXP2O8OpH1ZM7ylBZ/s200/2411-circusB.jpg" width="141" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ozark Uncle and<br />
Grandchildren with<br />
a Friendly Python-2007</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As he got older, the Ozark Uncle questioned himself about his fear of snakes and decided he'd never really gotten to know any snakes personally and was totally unfamiliar with their actions, dispositions, and capabilities. One day, a greenhouse friend, Dianna, gave him a tour; as they went down the first aisle of plants she said, "Now, Oscar, don't you go scaring me." She explained that Oscar was a garter snake that lived in the greenhouse and helped control the insects. Then she went about working among the plants with no fear of the little creature.<br />
<br />
Not long after, I had to work on my mother's landscaping, and she had quite a nest of garter snakes that resided along the back side of her house. Their presence bothered me considerably but remembering Dianna's technique, I began to call them "friends" and talk to them as I worked. Now we got along fairly well but the Ozark Uncle was still far from cured. The next module of sensitivity training for the Ozark Uncle was to watch documentaries on reptiles to get a sense of their movements, their speed and even their striking distance if they struck at all. This part was probably the hardest because it took a long while before I became comfortable with the closeup views of their heads and bodies. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tvxU9tns5qdqT8qzc95WJSZcE5XfhEE07MDeynzzxJ7m2-2ofRBv2eL3A1YPGlwmH7mPj_IZpyZWJTFFrCJJBwjix6if9zvj6E8lo0oATzJaC8kX6RCOuhJrtpA1kgogG_5ARJygR-Bp/s1600/2544B-NatureCtr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tvxU9tns5qdqT8qzc95WJSZcE5XfhEE07MDeynzzxJ7m2-2ofRBv2eL3A1YPGlwmH7mPj_IZpyZWJTFFrCJJBwjix6if9zvj6E8lo0oATzJaC8kX6RCOuhJrtpA1kgogG_5ARJygR-Bp/s200/2544B-NatureCtr.jpg" width="166" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ozark Uncle with 4-year old<br />
Ora and a Friendly King Snake</td></tr>
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Still a work-in-progress, the Ozark Uncle attended a seminar at the Springfield Nature Center which featured a snake expert. This gentleman brought several live non-poisonous snakes including a large snake that he let the children come up and touch. Well, there was the adult Ozark Uncle in line with these seven and eight year olds, waiting for his turn to touch the snake which he did! Self-worth shot up like a rocket! Someone in the audience asked the expert about handling poisonous snakes and his reply was, "I don't know, I've NEVER handled a poisonous snake."<br />
<br />
In the Ozarks, if any snake should be called <i>evil</i>, it would be a poisonous snake. The expert's advice is simply to try to stay away from "evil" serpents. Some of my readers know that the Ozark Uncle has been Mr. Field Trip for his six-year old granddaughter, Ora, since she was about three. The Nature Center was a major part of my effort to help allay her fears of reptiles and insects caused simply because she hadn't gotten acquainted with them.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Mayhem Over Muslim Cordoba Center </b><br />
The Ozark Uncle's regular readers know he displays an extremely open mind on a wide range of issues. He feels the need to lift up the covers, read between the lines, and listen to what isn't said as much as what is said. And he wants to make up his mind, not have it made up for him, and he follows his gut as to whether an information source is credible. He is always on the guard for hidden agendas which in the media are more numerous than snakes in the Ozarks.<br />
<br />
The Ozark Uncle has an elderly friend who, at the moment, is frightened for her children and grandchildren because of the impending Muslim menace. I tried to call her this morning to console her and intend to try again tomorrow. Although we email regularly, I want to hear her voice and her hear mine. There will be comfort come out of our visit.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3Xad4o1JO88Ch0__URrZfBet28s9N5b2cUtQcqpuAqn6E82NBqisvzvgSDkXdsn67OjEamH_-tp2_TiNxvRwswp3TaK__ascCxS3twPgAZTsIWYnDZ1OFXC8QQnTRwZlKn9_zgnlpAyF/s1600/Rick+Mathes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3Xad4o1JO88Ch0__URrZfBet28s9N5b2cUtQcqpuAqn6E82NBqisvzvgSDkXdsn67OjEamH_-tp2_TiNxvRwswp3TaK__ascCxS3twPgAZTsIWYnDZ1OFXC8QQnTRwZlKn9_zgnlpAyF/s200/Rick+Mathes.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rick Mathes & Wife, Mission Gate<br />
Prison Ministry, St. Louis, MO</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A couple of days ago, this friend forwarded me a "new" email that recounted questions and answers between Rick Mathes, a Christian prison minister, and a Muslim Imam during a prison ministry seminar. My friend felt this was a recent event, and she's very disturbed about the Muslim faith taking over our society.<br />
<br />
In this supposed discussion during the seminar, the Iman confirmed that Muslims are commanded to kill one infidel (i.e., an un-believer). Well, if one does a search of the internet for the name "Rick Mathes," several sites pop up that identify this forwarded email as being at least five years old, and the underlying encounter has some question marks as to Mathes' version of it. For example, <a href="http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/allah.asp">Snopes.com</a> research indicated that the encounter occurred at the Fulton Penitentiary here in Missouri in 2003. The prison staff indicated that no Muslim Imam or cleric could be found for the seminar that Mathes attended so a Muslim inmate used what knowledge he had to answer questions. No one remembers anything resembling Mathes' claims, and when asked by a reporter back in 2005, Mathes didn't really want to discuss it.<br />
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This is not the first time one of my older conservative Christian friends have received recycled missives intending to instill fear and encourage older voter turnout. The Ozark Uncle is really unprepared to address the Muslim issue or agenda, today, but he senses political agendas all over the matter. The news magazines that come to the Brown house (Time and Newsweek) both identify the issue as being right-wing fear mongering. If one were to enter the words "Ground Zero Mosque" into a search engine, one can see immediately that the focus of the headline is in direct correlation with the news outlet. Right-wing outlets are ratcheting up the rhetoric while all other outlets (presumably labeled left-wing) bring out the inconsistencies of the argument and express concern that some Muslims will be pushed to the extreme side of their religion by the issue.<br />
<br />
For the moment, the Ozark Uncle's <i>perception</i> is this--Muslims are like serpents; most are nonpoisonous and they would just like to be left alone to lead a peaceful life. Some of the peaceful Muslims' cousins are poisonous (i.e., they are terrorists), and they WILL strike again within our borders--the Ozark Uncle perceives it will be sooner rather than later. They are more evil and more dangerous than a poisonous snake because the terrorists are proactive whereas the snakes are reactive. Generally, if one doesn't invade a snake's den, she won't come into yours.<br />
<br />
To my knowledge there are very few Muslims in Springfield. The only Muslim friends I had moved to Los Angeles not long after 9/11. They wanted to be in a safer environment, I perceived. Here in Springfield, small Islamic Center is off of Division Street and it's on my "to visit" list. It's like going to the Nature Center to get used to an harmless reptile. The Ozark Uncle wants to know more about this issue.<br />
<br />
<b>For God's Sake Help Gays Get Out of the Closet</b><br />
Today, the Ozark Uncle had lunch with his granddaughter at Pershing Elementary and then headed to Panera Bread for a large glass of unsweetened ice tea and free WI-FI. In his Gmail Inbox, the Ozark Uncle had a message from the e-magazine, <i><a href="http://draft.blogger.com/Bush%20Campaign%20Chief%20and%20Former%20RNC%20Chair%20Ken%20Mehlman:%20I'm%20Gay">The Atlantic,</a></i> with the following headline: <i>Bush Campaign Chief and Former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman: I'm Gay. </i>Mehlman was quoted as saying<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RYhkYazSNS9_Z2-V2mt0Pk9km0KOagcFSU-pkwQDvvfOwvUTGogE9IXqL-DNFRh3EWt3klWrl0vU3yHQAj1XTvZiaM_G2QAsYrR_OHQ7-RW-8Tuo7NituqbSAR_pi_xpkpgLFjwApMKK/s1600/Mehlman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RYhkYazSNS9_Z2-V2mt0Pk9km0KOagcFSU-pkwQDvvfOwvUTGogE9IXqL-DNFRh3EWt3klWrl0vU3yHQAj1XTvZiaM_G2QAsYrR_OHQ7-RW-8Tuo7NituqbSAR_pi_xpkpgLFjwApMKK/s200/Mehlman.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ken Mehlman</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life," said Mehlman, now an executive vice-president with the New York City-based private equity firm, KKR. "Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I've told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they've been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that's made me a happier and better person. It's something I wish I had done years ago."<br />
<br />
The Ozark Uncle read the above quotation at 2 p.m. this afternoon on his wife's Toshiba Laptop using Panera Bread's WiFi. Immediately, he felt compelled to write this post, and it had to be this evening. He picked up his granddaughter from school a 3 p.m., delivered her to her destination and immediately told his wife, Joy, "I have to write tonight--everything else off the schedule--I have to write."<br />
<br />
<b>Please Read Carefully</b><br />
<b></b>During the summer, the Ozark Uncle came to know a Christian who went all the way through a Protestant seminary to learn that the related church would not let him pastor because of his life style. He is the partner to a close relative of mine; since we met this summer, he has opened up to me. The Ozark Uncle's long unasked questions about homosexuality simply had to do with the following: when and how do adolescents get involved with the gay life style? That's all he wanted and still wants to know. <br />
<br />
The new Christian gay friend recommended that I read Mel White's <i>Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America. </i>Well, the Springfield-Greene County Library doesn't have a copy. So a copy was purchased from Amazon.com, and of course came in a brown paper wrapper. It took the Ozark Uncle a few weeks to finish the book which he did last week.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6m_cdlkEIuxSV7My_ZLoTYvCAkDFuOhJDK6L9X7Wfmq0Uc-d_Uh7oWbYfYsH0vq79hUpHl5h36vlg2xrXiLEvjH7hoIwgzG4_lx2rh9yjI_FCh94lnZMFn5e1XT9ZGtWTP593aFnekITe/s1600/White.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6m_cdlkEIuxSV7My_ZLoTYvCAkDFuOhJDK6L9X7Wfmq0Uc-d_Uh7oWbYfYsH0vq79hUpHl5h36vlg2xrXiLEvjH7hoIwgzG4_lx2rh9yjI_FCh94lnZMFn5e1XT9ZGtWTP593aFnekITe/s200/White.jpg" width="140" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rev. Mel White</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I had not read too far into Mel White's book, maybe 30 pages or less, and I realized he was writing my own story as a teenage Christian except from the opposite sexual orientation. Just as I felt guilt for my lust and desires for females, he felt an even worse guilt for his desire for males which surfaced when he was 12 years old. Raised in a very religious home where his grandmother was a Pentecostal minister, Mel White hid his desires for years, and married a wonderful and beautiful Christian woman who he loved and she loved him. He went on to become a national Fundamental Christian leader and pastor, and also a Christian movie producer. Eventually he was hired to "ghost write" books for Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Jim and Tammy Bakker.<br />
<br />
After all kinds of Christian counseling and therapy treatments while in the closet, Mel was a nervous wreck and finally after many years of marriage, he cheated on his wife for the first time. His guilt was unbearable and a more sympathetic Christian therapist said "Mel, you have to tell her, today!" Well, he did tell Lyla White that day--what a fantastic woman! The couple prayed and tried to work through it for several more years but they finally let each other go after 25 years of marriage. Still he remained in the closet until 1993 when he was 53 years old! His lovely wife, Lyla, wrote the foreword to Mel's book and it was heartwarming--I still can't get over her love for Mel and her spiritual strength.<br />
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My regular readers know I seldom if ever use the use the word <i>believe</i> and prefer the term <i>perception. </i>The latter allows more information to come in that might alter a <i>perception</i> but <i>beliefs</i> are much more concrete and immovable.<i> </i><br />
<br />
<i></i>Well, here's a rare moment--I <i>believe </i>the Whites' story, and I <i>perceive </i>that there are no telling how many other Ken Mehlmans and Mel Whites still in the closet across this nation. <i>America, we have to let these fellow Americans out of the closet--men and women. </i>They are in your churches, your military, your work place, and they are not causing you any harm but they are living a miserable life in the closet. That's now my perception, and I'm stickin' to it.<br />
<br />
<i></i>My discussion on gays doesn't have anything to do with gay marriage--it has to do with kindness for our fellow human beings. And the Ozark Uncle wants to learn more about my gay brothers and sisters--Mel White contends you can't be led to the lifestyle, your natural sexual orientation does it for you. A conservative friend told me there are no scientific studies of this--Mel White says there are. The Ozark Uncle wants to know more. <br />
<br />
(There is an irony to gay marriage -- it's an institution that gays want but a lot of heterosexuals are giving up on--isn't that ironic?) I saw somewhere the other day, "Fix Marriage, Not Gays."<br />
<br />
Are there evil gays like there are evil Muslims (terrorists) or evil snakes (poisonous)? Yes, but even before his enlightenment this summer, the Ozark Uncle has always perceived that there are several times more sex crimes against women by men than there are against men by men. And pedophilia, child porn, and sex abuse are evil regardless of the parties involved--that's a major issue and breaks my heart but is not relevant to this discussion. <br />
<br />
The Ozark Uncle will no doubt write more on the topic of sexual orientation, and he may lose some friends because of it--he certainly hopes not. Mel White lost friends and even though Mehlman says he's being supported, one has to know there will be lots of acquaintances who won't be accepting his phone calls tomorrow.<br />
<br />
<b>Message to the GOP</b><br />
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Republicans, the Ozark Uncle is a gosh darn independent who is also a fiscal hawk. He's an old Governmental Accounting professor and knows his stuff regarding budgets. America needs real Republican fiscal conservatism but would you <b>stop pissing me off</b>?! Stop putting fear into everyone to get votes. (Note to self: yeah, like they're going to listen to you?)<br />
<br />
And here is <b>Today's Thought for Tomorrow's Generation</b>. Young people, it may take thirty years or more but the Ozark Uncle perceives that you will bring a stop to this political madness. Watch, listen, and feel for all that is going on around you, and a true path will appear on which you will travel forward as Americans.</div>
Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-59980013327646308902010-08-25T09:57:00.001-05:002011-01-09T15:02:44.058-06:00The "N" Word and the "J" Word<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<i>by Ken Brown</i></div>
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<i>Springfield, MO</i></div>
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<i><br /></i><br />
<i>Foreword: The Ozark Uncle is paradoxical in many ways but particularly regarding religion -- he is a non-Christian who loves Jesus, (h)is teachings and (h)is principles. The Ozark Uncle tries not to be judgmental but doesn't always succeed. If readers find places in this post where I seem to judge or not be Christ-like, please call me out on them. The biggest concern is that the Ozark Uncle, as a non-Christian, is passing judgment on people who call themselves Christians. I'll accept all criticisms as graciously as possible.</i><br />
<i><br /></i></div>
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<b>Rights, Rights, Rights--Rights to Say the "N" Word and Rights to Build a Muslim YMCA.</b><br />
(Saturday night--Aug. 19) Well, on this blog, the Ozark Uncle posted some thoughts about Dr. Laura and her use of the "N" word on air during her Aug. 10 show. The posting received responses of both agreement and disagreement with her actions. <br />
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(Sunday morning--Aug. 20), the Ozark Uncle used Facebook to shared NPR's report on <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129330121">religious freedom versus freedom of speech</a>. The religious freedom issue relates to the so-called Ground-Zero Mosque and whether American Muslim rights are being imperiled. Again voices appeared on my Facebook account on both sides of this dilemma.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) Ky.</td></tr>
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Sunday mornings at the Brown house generally involve drinking coffee while watching <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/">Meet the Press</a> as the host, David Gregory, wrestles with politicians trying to get them to "out" themselves as to their true agendas. He most always fails in his effort. <br />
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On this particular Sunday morning, the Ozark Uncle was actually dreading it because he knew the headliner guest, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell">Mitch McConnell</a>, would say absolutely nothing about Republican ideas for when they regain power. <i>[Note on photo at left: Ok, you caught me being biased. The internet provided over 100 images of the Senator, and I chose the one that seemed the least flattering. Also it was the only one with his mouth closed].</i><br />
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<i>P.S. Joy ended up watching the show, and she confirmed that he again said nothing worthwhile. But she failed to mention one thing--when he was asked about whether Obama was a Christian and not a Muslim, Sen. McConnell said he had to take the President at his word that he's a Christian. Some media outlets took that to mean McConnell wanted to keep the question in play. What do you think would happen if Gregory's question was "Senator, do you love Jesus and do you think the President loves Jesus?" Besides Gregory being fired for using the "J" word, what would the Senator say?</i><br />
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At the end of this blog posting, the Ozark Uncle will talk about Jesus being the important focus for everyone, and the term "Christian" is a rather hollow sounding word. People sling around the words "I'm a Christian" when many of them don't have the foggiest idea of what Jesus should be in their everyday lives [oops, judgment--my bad]. The Ozark Uncle does try to focus on Jesus even though he's a non-Christian. Regular readers already know this but one can get a glimpse of the Ozark Uncle's past religious experiences on his other blog site <a href="http://ozarkuncle.blogspot.com/2010/07/pivotal-moment-baptists-turn-green.html">"The Brown Perspective"</a> particularly in his <a href="http://ozarkuncle.blogspot.com/2010/07/pivotal-moment-baptists-turn-green.html">"Baptists Turns Green"</a> posting).</div>
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<b>Today's Thoughts for the Ozark Uncle</b><br />
The Ozark Uncle has only a few Facebook friends who are not Caucasian. But he wants more diversity in his pool of Facebook friends and his personal friends here in Springfield. If they wish, black friends can tell me what the "N" word means within their community. The Ozark Uncle perceives that the use of the word is controversial within the black community and it's their issue to address. <br />
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At the moment, the Ozark Uncle's perception on disparaging word usage is like this--he has some close friends who play golf together. Listen to the group on the golf course and you might hear something like this: <br />
<i>"Dumb Ass, shut up and hit the damn golf ball." </i><br />
<i> "Listen Turd Bird, go over behind that tree and play with yourself--I'll hit the ball when I'm good and ready." </i><br />
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Now, let someone from the trailing group of golfers call one of us "Dumb Ass", and we've got ourselves a situation. The same is for the "N" Word. <br />
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And that's where I'm leaving this "N" word business. In summary, it's more that the word, it's (a) the context, (b) who is saying it and (c) how it is being said. In America, everyone has the right to say any word or groups of words they wish, but they don't necessarily have an automatic safe harbor after they've said those words. We are all responsibility for our actions (including our words).<br />
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<b>The "J" Word--Today's Thoughts for Tomorrow's Generation</b></div>
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Finally something good out of Sunday, August 21 (besides a first grader's birthday party that the Ozark Uncle attended). <br />
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"Sister" Terry Hampton's regular posting on her <a href="http://terryhampton.blogspot.com/">More To Live For</a> blog outlined her perception of a disconnect between American Christianity and the ways of <b>Jesus</b>. My interpretation of her main point is that American Christianity focuses on words in the Bible, not on <b>Jesus</b> and his <b>Way</b>. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rev. Oswald Chambers<br />
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She cites the Rev. Oswald Chambers and his book of daily devotions called <a href="http://www.myutmost.org/">My Utmost For His Highest</a>. [Note: Chambers' wife pulled together the book of his writings after his death]. The 19th Century Scottish minister taught that a complete knowledge of the words in the Bible was useless if one did not have a personal relationship with Jesus.<br />
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My good friend, Fern, keeps sending me quotes from Thomas Jefferson. That reminded me of the <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/co/JeffersonBible/">Jefferson Bible</a> in which Jefferson extracted all the teachings of Jesus and placed them in a single volume. In essence, he created the first "red-letter edition." Those are the passages that get the Ozark Uncle's attention more than any.<br />
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A few years ago, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_would_Jesus_do%3F">WWJD</a> bracelets seemed to be everywhere. The Ozark Uncle even adopted the personal motto, "What Would Jesus Do?" <i>Today's thought for tomorrow's generation</i> is to consider Jesus as a pattern for your life and address daily problems with "WWJD." Once you're comfortable with and accept his principles and his ethics, start using the "J" Word. It's not a word you hear every day.<br />
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News channel (Fox, CNN, MSNBC) watchers, listen and count the number of times the "J" word is used. An interviewee might use it in an occasional personal testimony but it probably won't hear a moderator us it. You'll hear words like God, Christian, Evil, Devil, and Divine but not <b>Jesus</b>. Is it a politically incorrect word? </div>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-18323958751910236022010-08-21T18:41:00.001-05:002011-01-09T15:01:27.464-06:00ADVICE FOR DR. LAURA, BE NICE!Hot in Springfield -- will mow half the lawn that's still unmowed about 7:45 this evening. Joy said that Russia is having an incredibly hot summer. <br />
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Thrift Haven second-hand store -- Joy (the Ozark Aunt) should be home from TH sometime after 6 p.m. I was up there from about 10:30 a.m. until around 1:30 p.m. I had to come home and take a nap. The Ozark Uncle is going to have to get his diet and exercise right if he expects to keep up his quality of life.<br />
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<b>Dr. Laura, the "N" Word has a Horrible History with Blacks </b></div>
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Dr. Laura -- 63-year old Laura Catherine Schlessinger announced this past week that she is ending her national radio show, <i>Dr. Laura,</i> at the end of this year. This was after she got into an exchange with an African American woman on her live show. Before the dialogue was over, Schlessinger had used the "N" word eleven times on the air. I'm still trying to hear a full audio of it, but I perceive that her "advice" to this woman was really more off-color than even the use of the word. It's now eleven days later and all the evidence is that Schlessinger could rise as a conservative heroine, and her fame and fortune will grow. Sarah Palin of Alaska has jumped to her defense and through a "Twitter" claimed Dr. Laura is not a racist. I had to smile at this and wondered if Dr. Laura appreciated Sarah stealing some of the limelight. </div>
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<b>My Thoughts on Dr. Laura</b></div>
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I listened to Dr. Laura on radio back in her early days--it was a time when I needed all the advice I could get. Since then, I've learned that the best advice is to ignore advice who haven't been in my shoes. Her advice wasn't all that bad on her show, but her callers were often unbelievably pathetic, and Dr. Laura seemed to chew them up into little pieces before going to a station break. I imagined these troubled souls becoming even more distraught and helpless after Laura's staff cut them off. So, if there was one reason I turned her off is that her program format turned me off. But, if you love Dr. Laura, don't fret -- she'll come out of this with more influence than ever. <br />
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The Ozark Uncle perceives there are a growing number of Americans who want to call other Americans whatever they wish--even if it's offensive (First Amendment and all that). The Ozark Uncle needs to learn how to "Twitter." He's considering twittering to both Sarah and Laura this question: Is there a name I could call each of you that would immediately insult you? Here in the Ozarks, most of us don't like to be called "hillbillys"; native Floridians don't like to be called "Crackers." Back in the 1960s, my old college buddy, Ralph Johnson, didn't like being introduced as "my colored friend." Can you believe I didn't really understand that at first? Ralph did a lot to help this white boy see through the eyes of someone of another race.<br />
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Back to Sarah and Laura, if I were to know what words might push their buttons, the Ozark Uncle wouldn't use them. There is enough hateful and hurtful things being said among us Americans, and I for one won't be a part of it. Sometimes it's hard to keep from it, but it's a game I really don't want to play.</div>
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To the future generation, the Ozark Uncle says, be considerate of other people's feelings. I perceive a future when America will again be a caring nation. But it will be a time when Americans have much less (food and housing, for example). And it's much easier to care for each other when we're all in the same lifeboat.</div>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-36751927274789721462010-07-28T20:27:00.007-05:002010-07-28T21:14:34.751-05:00War Heroes and Victims<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<i>by Ken Brown</i><br />
<i>Springfield, MO</i><br />
<i></i>Although we've gotten off schedule here in the hot days of July, the Ozark Uncle's almost 14-year-old grandson, James Brown, and I try to walk a trail in the area once a week. James is keen into nature while his younger brother, Louis, age 12, is the athlete (soccer goalie/golfer) in the family. Thus, Grandpa Brown's field trips generally involve one grandchild or another which makes for a great time always.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James "the Genius" Brown</td></tr>
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The Brown family has lots of little traditions, and the Ozark Uncle has several personal ones; for example, one is never play the same golf course twice in a row (course familiarity breeds good scores which leads to false self-image of said golfer's ability--actually the Ozark Uncle has never had this problem regardless). Another is to never walk the same set of trails twice in a row--the Ozark Uncle gets bored easily. Last, having tried it once, the Ozark Uncle vows never to <i>piss in the wind</i> (especially in southwest Kansas -- background story forthcoming in a future post).</div>
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<b>WILSON CREEK'S BATTLEFIELD NEAR SPRINGFIELD</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">File photo from <a href="http://www.nps.gov/wicr/index.htm">Wilson's Creek Site</a></td></tr>
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<b></b>In late June, James and I had chosen for our weekly excursion the foot trails at <a href="http://www.nps.gov/wicr/index.htm">Wilson's Creek Battlefield </a>about eight miles southwest of Springfield. We parked the Ozark Uncle's 2003 Ford Escape on the Confederate (east) side of Wilson's Creek near the hill where on the morning of August 10, 1861, Pulaski's Confederate cannon bombarded the Union lines on Bloody Hill across the creek valley to the west.</div>
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Knowing Bloody Hill was the tallest, Papa Brown had planned a hike that would allow the pair of us to trudge up to the apex of Bloody Hill before heading back to the Ford Escape; under this plan, he allowed himself a downhill walk for the last half of the trek. So not far from the parked Escape we found the path that led to the top of Pulaski Battery Hill; there we took time to discuss the cannon on display and look across the creek valley toward Bloody Hill.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">File Photo of Battery Hill</td></tr>
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Immediately James declared that the cannon was really a Howitzer; he noted the green corrosion on the chamber and tapped his knuckles near the barrel end to bring out its bell ringing quality. At the time, I was dubious about the cannon being a Howitzer, but did not dispute my grandson's claim. A wise move on the Ozark Uncle's part because alas a quick check on the internet later in the day confirmed that, yes, these cannon pieces were called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howitzer">Howitzers</a>, the same name as the enhanced versions that appeared in the World Wars of the 20th Century.</div>
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From Pulaski's hill, we headed down the "wire road" which dates back before the Civil War; it was actually used by the Confederates on their trek out of Arkansas to their camp site at Wilson's Creek. Had we been on that road in 1861, we would have seen thousands of men camped out in this valley along the creek. While many were dressed in Confederate gray, other types and colors of uniforms were used. Uniform confusion would lead to the Union defeat that day in 1861. (The scapegoat for the Union became Col. Franz Sigel who advanced his brigade from the south right into a unit he thought was Union because of its blue uniforms when in fact it was a Confederate unit--he was routed and that turned the tide toward the Confederates).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">File photo of Wilson's Creek</td></tr>
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I digress, back to 2010. For James and me, crossing over Wilson's Creek to the west or Union side is by way of an old iron bridge with a wood plank floor. Although built after the Civil War, the bridge has historical charm to it. James and I stopped on the bridge and looked down into the murky waters and noted a warning sign suggesting that the water was too polluted to even be entered. These polluted waters flow out of Springfield toward the James River and finally into Table Rock Lake where thousands of people flock to swim, boat or fish each year. Is pollution a current problem for the tourist-laden recreational lake? It certainly is.</div>
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Having spied some bubbles surfacing on the water, James suggested that the creek might still have some fish in it but otherwise, it really looked like it might be one of those "dead zones" we hear about in our oceans. With a sigh, I said: "James, you, your children and your grandchildren are going to be faced with cleaning up what my generation has done. But I have confidence you can do it" He nodded in agreement but his mind well could have gone straight to the thought of having children and no further. We're bonding, and we can and probably will talk about just about anything including having children on our future treks.<br />
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Once across the old bridge to the Union side of the creek, we found a trail that veered off to the northwest toward the apex of Bloody Hill. On it is a monument marking the spot where the Union's Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon was shot off his horse and died; not long afterward, the Union forces, in some disarray, retreated back to Springfield, and the battlefield was left to the remaining Confederate Army and the casualties from both sides. On the orders of the Confederate officers, Lyon's dead body was immediately removed to a nearby farmhouse so that it would not be dishonored or abused by the enlisted men.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">File photo of Lyon's Monument</td></tr>
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Once we reached the top of Bloody Hill, James and I saw the small monument placed there for Gen. Lyon several decades ago. "That's an obelisk," James the genius stated matter-of-factly. Incredible is the data base of knowledge he has already harnessed in 13 short years. <br />
<br />
Now half way through our hike and getting rather thirsty, both of us pined for the same creature comfort (a 59 cent 32-oz cold soda from one of the area's many Kum-N-Go convenience stores). <br />
<br />
Perhaps being disrespectful, we bypassed seeing and reflecting at "the sink hole" where the bodies of at least 30 Union soldiers were buried in a hurried manner right after the conflict ended. There may be some unrecovered bodies in it.<br />
<br />
At that moment, though, all we wanted was to leave and find the Ford Escape. We started our descent back down the trail toward the Ford Escape with James well in the lead--but apparently not far enough ahead. The Ozark Uncle used the opportunity to relieve himself of bodily gases. "Grandpa! I can't believe you did that," James exclaimed. We laughed about it, and I decided that James knows a little more about Grandpa each we go time out. My retort was, "James, you didn't know your Grandpa was an Old Fart?!"<br />
<br />
<b>CIVIL WAR SADNESS</b><br />
During all of his visits to Wilson's Creek Battlefield over the years, the Ozark Uncle always reflects on the price paid by the combatants and their families in a conflict that pitted Americans against Americans--sometimes even blood relatives. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUHP9eE7nT6LsB3qdd5sEl2QejUXtofg1rwj_hKFDKaC3SszJlvUFkERXeCcRn2WPrkJirtkYb3Is_UbvvpeQhN0WZVCcy0lgxXLFVa4ao-IitTqO0A3VnEhkyndP81tV5WOcA6eNnRI/s1600/00210-HenryGunnels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUHP9eE7nT6LsB3qdd5sEl2QejUXtofg1rwj_hKFDKaC3SszJlvUFkERXeCcRn2WPrkJirtkYb3Is_UbvvpeQhN0WZVCcy0lgxXLFVa4ao-IitTqO0A3VnEhkyndP81tV5WOcA6eNnRI/s200/00210-HenryGunnels.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ozark Uncle's<br />
Great-Grandfather<br />
Henry Curtis Gunnels<br />
in his Union blues.</td></tr>
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Records of the Ozark Uncle's ancestors indicate their propensity to join the Missouri Union ranks while the ancestors of his wife, Joy, were all in the Arkansas Confederate ranks. Being on the west side of the Mississippi River, all our ancestors probably focused mainly on surviving the war and keeping their land if they had any. They owned no slaves; so they were involved in a conflict not really of their own choosing--maybe they had opinions about state sovereignty or pride, but that was just about it. With that in mind, I <i>perceive</i> that loved ones who suffered a casualty weren't really war <i>heroes</i> but <i>victims</i> of circumstances over which they had little control. (Three of the Ozark Uncle's four great-grandfathers enlisted in the Union army for short periods of time -- some of the time they were in what was called "Home Guards" where they stayed in current Douglas County, MO to protect the county as best they could. Ken's fourth great-grandfather, William Burton, was murdered by Confederate bushwhackers in his native Douglas County, MO, around 45 miles north of the Arkansas line).<br />
<br />
<b>VIETNAM WAR: HEROES OR VICTIMS</b><br />
The Ozark Uncle is a hard one for people to classify or pigeon hole. His perspectives on most issues (e.g., abortion, environment, gays, guns, health care, immigration, politics, religion, taxes or welfare) are uniquely personal to him. He is free to share his <i>perspective</i> (as in this blog) if one has the time for a lengthy discussion. His views are not easily stated in a few words.<br />
<br />
As in the Christian Bible, the Ozark Uncle struggles to say he's in one camp like that of Cephus or Paul (1 Cor. 1:12). He hesitates to say he is "pro-life" or "pro-choice" because, to do so, he is inadvertently thrown into a group defined in a incredibly specific way by unknown people with an agenda toward one side of that issue. One can find parallel classification terms on all the issues listed above (for example, saying one is pro-gun or pro-environment can lead to similar classification errors of a person).<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUs39m1M8jvOQL4NwCRbusnv0X-WZwSn4fagEF-Smqhe_n3VqQtdaAPQ32_kwpuDgi5GRanQIfubpJCkW1oMJcAwlQnJ6x3LL95LycUl1-ncdDM7UlCfewvj6cO9SWCy8hpD-6no95vkI/s1600/vietnam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUs39m1M8jvOQL4NwCRbusnv0X-WZwSn4fagEF-Smqhe_n3VqQtdaAPQ32_kwpuDgi5GRanQIfubpJCkW1oMJcAwlQnJ6x3LL95LycUl1-ncdDM7UlCfewvj6cO9SWCy8hpD-6no95vkI/s200/vietnam.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="http://vietnamw.wikispaces.com/">VietnamW</a></td></tr>
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Regarding war, the Ozark Uncle is hard to classify as well -- he is neither a hawk nor a dove. Now 65 years old, the Ozark Uncle has <i>always, always, always </i>supported American troops who are in harm's way. His war would have been in Vietnam during the last half of the 1960s for which he legally registered but was never called. He heard all the protests and the card burning during that war, and he didn't like it. As much as he tries to be a forgiving and forgetting soul, he has had an awfully hard time dealing with Jane Fonda's visit to the enemy side of that war. It was an incredibly stupid act for which I feel Ms. Fonda is probably asking forgiveness every night before she goes to bed.<br />
<br />
To this day, the Ozark Uncle has a special feeling for the soldiers who went in his place to that conflict in "Nam" with its unique horrors. Specific to that war, generally one got drafted into that conflict--it wasn't a choice as it is now. Those who returned were immediate <i>heroes</i> to the Ozark Uncle even though they came home to less than a hero's welcome. Yet, when reading about the way in which leadership prosecuted that war, one can easily build a case for also calling the 'Nam vets <i>victims</i>. <br />
<br />
<b>INEVITABILITY OF WAR</b><br />
<b></b>Thinking back to all the conflicts in which the United States has entered during my adult life, I remember being in agreement with the start up of every action, and oftentimes I wished we would have gotten there earlier. I was ecstatic about our entry into Afghanistan after 9/11, and I accepted Colin Powell's "evidence" to the United Nations about WMDs in Iraq but it didn't totally feel right (now, I <s><i>believe</i></s><i> wonder</i> if we had elected Sen. John McCain in 2000 instead of George W. Bush, we probably would never have gone to Iraq). <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcSbkzy9ttiq11GDH84ONGIjhKP2qmgvZK1uKNqofBZB31O_M34bfSNz6MQC6WoDc-7id90SxGIWRlqu67vrXK0Ac9PIE861E_4wP8RpBYA7dy0niAym8HGDB8EVVGMlt4zaknZK-0-Q/s1600/afghanistan-war-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcSbkzy9ttiq11GDH84ONGIjhKP2qmgvZK1uKNqofBZB31O_M34bfSNz6MQC6WoDc-7id90SxGIWRlqu67vrXK0Ac9PIE861E_4wP8RpBYA7dy0niAym8HGDB8EVVGMlt4zaknZK-0-Q/s200/afghanistan-war-3.jpg" width="121" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <a href="http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Everyone%20Else/pages-4/Afghanistan-war-zone-declared-unsafe-after-American-soldiers-killed-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html">ScrapeTV.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Yet as the latest conflicts (Iraq and Afghanistan) have waged on, the Ozark Uncle's radar is always picking up signals that our reasons for being in those places are foggy at best. Yet withdrawal seems to present very real consequences too that are beyond the Ozark Uncle's understanding. What has changed in the Ozark Uncle is his growing lack of confidence in military leadership both at the Pentagon and in the White House. This perception didn't start with the current administration but has been building for at least a couple of decades.<br />
<br />
With all this uncertainly about Afghanistan that is front page news right now, I have to ask myself "Are the young soldiers dying in those places <i>heroes</i>?" They most certainly are, but I have a deep fear that the second classification, that of <i>victim,</i> may raise it's ugly head some day soon. The Ozark Uncle intends to write more on the issue of <i>heroes</i> versus <i>victims</i>. The subject is very unsettling to him. Troop morale is so important, and it's hard to be objective without undercutting the troops' efforts. It's a dilemma. <br />
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<b>OZARK UNCLE SEZ: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">'SUITS', SEND YOUR CHILDREN TO THE FRONT </span></b><br />
An unbiased and informed view is difficult to find by the average American on our country's military presence on foreign soil. Presently, one of the Ozark Uncle's ever changing rules of thumb is to listen to (1) academics whose specialty is the country in which the conflict is occurring (they know the background from before the conflict), and (2) retired military officers who have never worked in the Pentagon (they know what is really happening now and are willing to share it in an unbiased and open way). <br />
<br />
I'm not sure the average journalist can see the whole picture, and I absolutely ignore "the suits" across the Potomac from the Pentagon in Washington at each end of Pennsylvania Avenue. The job of all "suits" whether they be the President, his/her cabinet, Congressional members or staff, is not to tell us the truth but to sway public opinion in a way that supports their goals for the nation. If you and I were there we'd probably do the same thing. (I once held a relatively high administrative position at a large University; while in that position I held the <s><i>belief</i></s><i> perception</i> that truth was the best policy--needless to say I had my head handed to me on a platter!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYHc3JhrYNECGTKSq6DUYCFF13h-ddrn2zw7oLH7yQOG9QdRWBwy59Tv6fWvpky_PrkaMl1fnVKkzpLqXnkEWfDLS88nHYHx-Becx2o3UEV6AqBQsObGW2MmjOmCSFEFueaajRrA7Ja8/s1600/LimitsOfPower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYHc3JhrYNECGTKSq6DUYCFF13h-ddrn2zw7oLH7yQOG9QdRWBwy59Tv6fWvpky_PrkaMl1fnVKkzpLqXnkEWfDLS88nHYHx-Becx2o3UEV6AqBQsObGW2MmjOmCSFEFueaajRrA7Ja8/s200/LimitsOfPower.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>
The Ozark Uncle's perspective has been influenced greatly by the book, <i>Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism</i>, by retired Lt. Col., Andrew J. Bacevich. It was published in August 2008 before the Presidential election. Bacevich's perspective caused me to see the political parties and Washington in a totally different light. He provided me peace in the knowledge that the system is broken and not fixable by either party. I took this point of view to the ballot box in November of 2008, and I was prepared to accept whoever (whomever, hell I don't know which) won the elections. Bacevich is billed as a conservative who sees things as they really are, not what he wishes them to be.<br />
<br />
Bacevich has his book chapters organized around the themes--the <i>economy</i>, <i>politics</i>, and the <i>military</i>, all three of which he describes as being in a state of crisis. Presently my copy is with a retired political science professor. I'm wanting feedback on Bacevich's political view. My background as a former accounting professor helped me to evaluate his economy section. His military view seemed a little like "sour grapes" but was well reasoned. <br />
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As my fellow blogger, Terry Hampton, wrote this past weekend, we should evaluate the authors we read. Look for their agendas and signs of credibility. Many of us need to read her post entitled "<a href="http://terryhampton.blogspot.com/">Consider What You Hear</a>."<br />
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Below is the uplifting third grade video sent to me by a cousin around Memorial Day -- it's incredibly appropriate and a nice way to end this post.<br />
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</div>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-41555705691087086632010-07-18T11:31:00.037-05:002010-07-28T21:16:03.600-05:00Tolerance for Perspectives<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by Ken Brown</span></i></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Springfield, MO 65809</span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">IF you had the power to sort of wave a magic wand and make one change in America, what would it be? Would it relate to one of the mainstream issues that dominate our current news (e.g., immigration, religion, environment, war or taxation)? No offense intended, but hopefully you won't wish that "The American People" (a terribly fractured group) think and act just like you think and act.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Tolerance for Different Perspectives</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">FOR the Ozark Uncle, his one wave of the wand would cause each American to become more tolerant of the different perspectives of other Americans. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">The word </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">perspective </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">is generally defined as a "point of view based on one's </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">opinions, </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">beliefs</span></span></b></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"> </span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">and experiences." [</span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_(cognitive)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Wikipedia.com</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">]</span> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From his own </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perspective</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, the Ozark Uncle feels that is the nation's biggest problem. Everyone seems to "anchor" onto a position and becomes stubborn and obstinate. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPNAe9o6qYn0tLn07DeYHwkzo8b5Iz5FbHGIZ0gGeymQxyN98LQ1tYYWoeY53dtUw72O5UNd_VmpjORzihxd3fsf6-pAz_qbp5TrWVVK67FtI0hrDAmlzBYvTxQbw4QwFnSwtRmAMiFU/s1600/Track-Converted-BW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPNAe9o6qYn0tLn07DeYHwkzo8b5Iz5FbHGIZ0gGeymQxyN98LQ1tYYWoeY53dtUw72O5UNd_VmpjORzihxd3fsf6-pAz_qbp5TrWVVK67FtI0hrDAmlzBYvTxQbw4QwFnSwtRmAMiFU/s200/Track-Converted-BW.jpg" width="160" /></span></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE drawing at left of a railroad track represents a </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perspective</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">--a vanishing point </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perspective</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in that the tracks merge in the distance to one point. We all have different perspectives even of this drawing, and that is the central point of the posts on the Ozark Uncle's blog. Please fellow Americans, can we all try to respect and tolerate all points of view?</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE Ozark Uncle knows his wish would take a magic wand or some other kind of miracle. We Americans are seemingly <b>clustered</b> into groups according to a certain </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perspective,</span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and we stop trying to understand other views. Additionally, we choose one or two daily information sources (i.e., a certain "news" channel, newspaper or maybe even a specific TV evangelist) that cement our <i>perspectives</i> to where our view can't be changed. In the Ozark Uncle's opinion, being unable to engage in continued evaluation of a person's <i>perspectives</i> is neither mentally nor spiritually healthy.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b>Palestinian-Israeli Perspectives--the Ozark Uncle is perplexed.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">NOT just in America, it's worldwide--intolerance of different <i>perspectives </i>in virtually every country. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A case in point is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Joy and I have learned so much about this from our dear friend, Mareen. </span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MAREEN is a well-educated woman of the Jewish faith, and she </span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">keeps well abreast of the Palestinian-Israeli situation using a series of international news outlets that range from </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Al Jazerra</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to Singapore's </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strait Times</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">S</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he's the first to acknowledge that her </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perspective </span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is bias toward the </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">belief</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that the Jews are God's chosen people and heirs to the Holy Land. Still, Mareen is unique--she's constantly evaluating her perspective regarding the Palestinian question. Through Mareen, I've learned that even the citizens of Israel have different <i>perspectives</i> on the issue--essentially two groups that are either <i>hawks</i> or <i>doves.</i></span></span></i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ON June 24, Mareen sent me a news item from the Israeli news service, </span><a href="http://haaretz.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Haaretz.com</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. The news item reported that a YouTube video of a Palestinian children's choir was getting a lot of views, and the singing group has become very popular among Arabs. Apparently the video was produced by a Jordanian group called "Birds of Paradise." Not knowing how long the video entitled "When We Die as Martyrs" will stay on line, I've transcribed the lyrics as follows:</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">{Young girl sings}</span><br />
When we die as martyrs, we will go to heaven</span></span></span></b></span>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, don't say we are too young, this life has turned us into grownups</span></span></span></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Without Palestine, what meaning is there in childhood?<br />
Even if they give us the whole World it won't make us forget her, no, no<br />
My country and my blood are for her sake<br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> {Adult sings}</span><br />
Children, you have fulfilled your religious obligation<br />
There is no God by Allah and the martyr is Allah's favorite<br />
You have taught us the meaning of manhood<br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> {Young girl prays}</span><br />
O Allah, with your mercy I shall be assisted<br />
O vital and enduring God </span></span>
</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">O merciful of mercifuls O noble of nobles<br />
O Allah, Protect Islam and the Muslims<br />
O Allah, Save the Children of Palestine<br />
O Allah, take revenge for us<br />
O Allah, answer our prayers. Amen.</span></span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">YOU may have to view the video more than once to catch it but there is one scene where children with Jewish skullcaps (Kippahs) are in the background with toy assault rifles.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><object height="344" style="background-image: url(http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/illF1vt5g1Q/hqdefault.jpg);" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/illF1vt5g1Q&hl=en_US&fs=1">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE Haareetz.com article included this quote: "Journalist Fawzia Nasir al-Naeem wrote in the Saudi Arabian newspaper Al-Jazirah that [Birds of Paradise] is one of the most widely distributed children's song groups in the Arab world, and it seems to have crossed the ocean to Canada and Britain."
She added that the group represents a new wave in Jihadist youth indoctrination, as it is child-friendly, as opposed to previous Jihadist programs.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What Is a Martyr Anyway?</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BECAUSE of the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide bombings and subsequent suicide bombings in Iraq. the word <b>martyr</b> has deviated far from its original meaning of "...</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">somebody who suffers <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Persecution">persecution</a> and death for the people, a country or an organization, or refusing to renounce a belief, usually religious, political or rights." [<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyr">Wikipedia.org</a>].</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Until the 1990s, the only martyrs I had heard of were early Christians and Joan of Arc. Tending to be a little on the n</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">aïve side, the Ozark Uncle even viewed the Palestinian video as simply suggesting the children's willingness to die at the hands of Israeli aggression--not through suicide-terrorist acts. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ozark Uncle's Perspective? Uh Well, You See....Hell, I don't know.</b></span></div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE Ozark Uncle is struggling with a comfortable <i>perspective </i>about (1) the video, (2) its possible exploitation of children and (3) even the whole concept of what is a martyr. The Ozark Uncle cannot readily share his friend Mareen's view because he honestly doesn't know who, if anyone, should possess a given parcel of land on this earth (including his own). </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From a distant and uninformed point of view, he senses that the Palestinian-Israeli issue is all about land possession and governance over it. An</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> old and recurring story in recorded history. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE Ozark Uncle's and Mareen's eastern Springfield homes each sit on land less than a mile from the James River. This river's banks were enjoyed by little Osage Indian children and their families for a couple thousand of years before the white man's land ownership system took over. While it would take another miracle for the Osage tribe, I have to imagine how I'd feel if somehow they were able to regain power and come take back their lands including my house and Mareen's. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b>Is the Gaza Strip Another Indian Reservation?</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmD-Cl9s33T0m9MR9jKm3gvtBOXESwJmFQdIV4pf5jOaIcK0B_Fd7Ac0X3KNZVRFqBsTV2OyaG1vcw7sBATIiIpBZNs_h4ymldIA-Z8NpFL3FEKDPUZu8IEFJONm2mwqRXjNMUNxAIq-o/s1600/Bloodland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmD-Cl9s33T0m9MR9jKm3gvtBOXESwJmFQdIV4pf5jOaIcK0B_Fd7Ac0X3KNZVRFqBsTV2OyaG1vcw7sBATIiIpBZNs_h4ymldIA-Z8NpFL3FEKDPUZu8IEFJONm2mwqRXjNMUNxAIq-o/s200/Bloodland.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">AS outlined in earlier posts, the Ozark Uncle's <i>perspectives</i> have been fluctuating both during and after his 2010 Lonesome Road Trip through Arkansas and Oklahoma in May. Right after his trip, the Ozark Uncle took the advice of a friend and read Dennis McAuliffe's <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=7J7zbQDV9BgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Bloodland&source=bl&ots=4CkZyLS0IM&sig=q4pDBh6VimtNnAqm-yX5zRcCrKM&hl=en&ei=ePVATN2HOoH_8AbAwZSZDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CD0Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false">Bloodland</a> about the 1920s murders of wealthy Osage Indians in Oklahoma by greedy white men. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Actually, McAuliffe only re-awakened the Ozark Uncle's to native American mistreatment--he was already sensitized in the 1970s when he read Dee Brown's <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=JUkoA29CFRsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Bury+My+Heart+at+Wounded+Knee&hl=en&ei=qvZATNL8CYOC8gb42-m-AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee</a>.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">DID the native Americans come to hate white Americans as much as Palestinians hate Israelis? Well probably even more so if that's possible. I'm sure the proud Osage Indians would love to have made that Jordanian video 150 years ago. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">DID McAuliffe's book give me any new </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><i>perspectives</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">? Actually two: one regarding the family of Laura Ingalls Wilder (hang on Cathie, this is the post that any Alsup would love to read or write), and the other about the Indian Reservation system. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">WELL, in his book, McAuliffe talks about the American government's use of Indian Reservations as a way to control and effectively wipe out an unwanted race of people. Then, according to McAuliffe, in the 1950s, the white South African government was researching how to corral its unwanted race of black people. Their research led them to the United States, not to study how black Americans had been treated, but how the reservation system effectively eradicated most Indian tribes by the end of the 1800s.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b>Non-Christian, Non-Jewish, Non-Muslim--How Does One Form a Perspective?</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8faiqdzXDPR0A0D1VrnPn_mFf489iCUA2TNr9xJG_h2suy_dmTkhrX9tTspNVP4EyzQZiBooCeU3I6b5yCMEvoYHXDlwK_pDoqpT9YTxY3Oaz3-ww823ktIoF80Ljjo4kdHcopibJyxk/s1600/482px-Palestine_Map_2007.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8faiqdzXDPR0A0D1VrnPn_mFf489iCUA2TNr9xJG_h2suy_dmTkhrX9tTspNVP4EyzQZiBooCeU3I6b5yCMEvoYHXDlwK_pDoqpT9YTxY3Oaz3-ww823ktIoF80Ljjo4kdHcopibJyxk/s200/482px-Palestine_Map_2007.gif" width="161" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">THE 2007 Palestinian map at left shows those areas under Palestinian authority in green and the rest under Israeli control. From this map, one can see why Palestinians get alarmed when new Jewish settlements are set up in the West Bank. It's eerily similar to the encroachments of white settlers onto the Osage Reservation in southeastern Kansas in the 1830s. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">AMERICA is reported to be a Christian nation, and my old Nazarene friends, Guy and Doris Gettys, God rest their souls, preached to me often the need to support Israel because of, as I recall, an interpretation of the Book of Revelations in the Christian Bible. Once Israel is defeated, the end is near--or something like that. That Revelations book was hard for the Ozark Uncle to read in his Christian years and even harder to interpret. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther">Martin Luther</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">, the father of the Protestant movement back in the 15th Century, reportedly felt so unsure about that Book of Revelations that he felt it should have been left on the cutting room floor as the chapter selection committee did its work. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b>End This Damn Thing, Brown.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">THIS post is going nowhere--it's not settling anything. All of recorded history confirms that land goes to the one with the biggest stick. Without a magic wand or some divine intervention, this Palestinian issue will not be solved except in the same way as recorded history--through armed conflict aided by the Indian Reservation concept. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">BUT the Ozark Uncle has made a resolution--inform himself about the history of how we got to this point. That's something Christians, Jews and Muslims should all do--and if possible try to be tolerant of all <i>perspectives</i>. Still, if this earth is turning one-hundred years from now, it wouldn't surprise me if historians will be talking about the similarities between the Palestinians and the Osage Indian tribe.</span></div>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-22214523322790118252010-07-04T09:50:00.001-05:002010-07-07T21:08:25.677-05:00Pivotal Moment -- Baptists Turn Green<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by Ken Brown</span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Springfield, MO</span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Returning home from a Sunday walk (June 27) with my 13-year old grandson at Wilson's Creek Battlefield, I went through my daily survey of internet news and stopped at the National Public Radio site (</span><a href="http://www.npr.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NPR</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">). The following headline caught my eye, </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128130198"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An Evangelical Crusade To Go Green With God</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Reading about the recent action taken by the Southern Baptist Convention caused the Ozark Uncle to realize that one of his </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perceptions</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> was about to change: the multi-year marriage between corporate America and the Christian community regarding the environment is on the rocks (or in this case, "in the sand").</span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #134f5c;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Baptists Turn Green</span></span></span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bBiKO4DtdB58WQYD6stH9oYj6EAI2QPZvInLzeGnHPqNJpZ6U0eJM9QJFu3OVwSVK3DJV2AHpImdatHom0JhzJx-uEjzFtSJFzkufl4YRG7FaYzoaIok20sVCSDGvO2sGqFQJGVD5qo/s1600/evangelical_wide-100px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bBiKO4DtdB58WQYD6stH9oYj6EAI2QPZvInLzeGnHPqNJpZ6U0eJM9QJFu3OVwSVK3DJV2AHpImdatHom0JhzJx-uEjzFtSJFzkufl4YRG7FaYzoaIok20sVCSDGvO2sGqFQJGVD5qo/s200/evangelical_wide-100px.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The topic of the NPR report was a mid-June resolution passed at the Orlando FL meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention calling on both the government and Southern Baptist congregations: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"to act determinatively and with undeterred resolve to end this crisis ... to ensure full corporate accountability for damages, clean-up and restoration ... and to ensure that government and private industry are not again caught without planning for such possibilities." </i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i> </i>Apparently a key player in the Convention's resolution was Dr. Russell Moore, a Southern Baptist seminary dean and Louisville pastor. The NPR article quoted him as saying on his blog:<i> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"The Gulf spill has the potential to be a defining moment for evangelicals, he says, much like Roe v. Wade activated the evangelical anti-abortion movement."</i></span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unholy Alliance Ends?</span></span></span></b><br />
<div style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Readers, remember that the Ozark Uncle tries to live through </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perceptions</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, not </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">beliefs</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. The following is only his </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perception </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and will change as more information is received. He admits to few biases -- but one is against all types of large institutions whether they be profit, nonprofit, religious or governmental. When faced with an internal crisis, the leaders of large institutions seem most likely to make decisions based on what is best for their entity, not the people it serves.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Another Ozark Uncle </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perception</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is about the relationship of mainstream Christian leaders and the business world. Starting in the late 1980s and continuing all the way up to the recent BP drilling tragedy, the Ozark Uncle has sensed there existed an implicit, if not explicit, understanding between the Moral Majority leaders and the corporate world that the former will get its wish (outlawing abortion, for example) if those same religious leaders would support deregulation and lackadaisical oversight for the corporate world as it pursues its ongoing profit motives.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Now, I'm not an environmentalist; however, I do lament that probably only one spring in my native Douglas County, MO now has drinkable water whereas 60 years ago it had hundreds. But, from the Ozark Uncle's </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perspective, </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christianity has been asked to </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">believe</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that (a) global warming is a myth, or (b) if it isn't, human pollution isn't causing it. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I never could understand why my non-denominational Christian Bible study group at Glendale Christian Church here in Springfield, and their fellow Christians across America seemed to feel that this climate change issue was an argument on which they had to align with the polluters. The only reason I could come up with was that a pact had been made in political back rooms that resulted in a tit-for-tat deal. In the 1980s and 1990s, (as part of the strategy) Christian authors and pundits lined up to create the rationale for this odd marriage of issues. One such author was Steve Farrar.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz5QlWbopb3Iw0c0gglsxEDHue5btxiHYw7AzmNXvOc9lZeEjntYPZZp58XqHWrY3HcslrJIRJuRaQL27P_xQfkXPeKXWb9emA45yehBe3NzMOep_-YLLNqG_aBAvAj-aW1sdgs1-tTpE/s1600/Steve+Farrar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz5QlWbopb3Iw0c0gglsxEDHue5btxiHYw7AzmNXvOc9lZeEjntYPZZp58XqHWrY3HcslrJIRJuRaQL27P_xQfkXPeKXWb9emA45yehBe3NzMOep_-YLLNqG_aBAvAj-aW1sdgs1-tTpE/s200/Steve+Farrar.jpg" width="169" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Around 2008, my Bible study group that I attended went through a multi-week discussion of the 2001 version of </span><a href="http://stevefarrar.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steve Farrar's</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Standing Tall: How a Man Can Protect His Family</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. (Farrar is pictured at the left). One chapter in the book is devoted to the argument that God gave this planet to humans to use and abuse as they see fit. His biblical support was </span><a href="http://bible.org/article/baalism-canaanite-religion-and-its-relation-selected-old-testament-texts"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Baal worship</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that got the Israelis in trouble in the old testament. Apparently they worshiped the sun and earth. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> As well, Farrar capitalized on continued Christian disdain for Al Gore, the environmentalist, and Bill Clinton; thus he was able to create an open and shut case--Christians need not be concerned with the environment.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> My comment to the study group was that had he written his book in 2008 (when we discussed the book), he might greatly alter that chapter. Now, today, I suspect he's considering a total rewrite or perhaps omitting the chapter all together.</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Public Face of Christianity </span></span></span></b></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Jerry Falwell (deceased in 2007), Pat Robertson (still kicking but an incredibly loose cannon) and James Dobson (retired in 2010) were interviewed on major news channels on a regular basis in the 1990s and well into the 2000s. They were the public face of the Moral Majority and Christianity for that matter. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But news reports during the winter of 2007-08 suggested to me that Dr. Dobson might have been frustrated that Christians had been short changed in Washington.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisqEC5wl-SSGyxy_U3i23fcnd5sQDdY72wcsaophgbTUiJH9POmIIBWOtQM0oQrF684CQ1tEDDm4yYSKA5VmB74Zw800xNN54TCEKnqz32fFL8DcLsbxo7ckjzKMVx5u5YQ6JozuaLb1k/s1600/j_dobson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisqEC5wl-SSGyxy_U3i23fcnd5sQDdY72wcsaophgbTUiJH9POmIIBWOtQM0oQrF684CQ1tEDDm4yYSKA5VmB74Zw800xNN54TCEKnqz32fFL8DcLsbxo7ckjzKMVx5u5YQ6JozuaLb1k/s200/j_dobson.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even earlier than that, I remember a National Public Radio interview with a leader of the </span><a href="http://www.nae.net/about-us"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Evangelicals</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> whose name I cannot remember (perhaps Dr. Don Argue with the National Association of Evangelicals but I'm not sure). The interviewee had at the time been visiting with Dr. Dobson and encouraging his </span><a href="http://www.focusonthefamily.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Focus on the Family</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> group to embrace environmental issues. Reportedly, Dr. Dobson's reply was to the effect that the environmental issue, although compelling, would dilute his followers' efforts toward the single most important goal of all--that was to overturn Roe v. Wade.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In early 2008, the Ozark Uncle was still watching the major cable news channels (a practice that was stopped over a year ago when he finally realized it was a waste of time and even counterproductive). Memorable during that period was a January 2008 interview of Dr. Dobson by a Fox News anchor. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> This was early in the Presidential primary process and, at the time, the network's owner, Rupert Murdoch, was pushing Rudy Giuliani for President. The anchor was apparently told by producers to try to get Dr. Dobson to say that he could support Giuliani. After several attempts that bordered on the third degree, the anchor failed in that effort. It was also at that time that I </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perceived</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Dr. Dobson was getting tired of the political arena and probably feeling frustrated at Christianity's attempt to legislate morality.</span></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who Becomes the Public Face?</span></span></span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNzGAhB_r2T_DycoeuJUGubmaUcpIfnA9tk8CwJ-zjjhomT1twS0DvH2Me8NZDDPoQZDzgffM-6dqk3f93zAP6ppA6EXE62bnubGkrv0JrPluFM-3xPJgzhM3Alqniv3_D47pNit2YB4w/s1600/sarahp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNzGAhB_r2T_DycoeuJUGubmaUcpIfnA9tk8CwJ-zjjhomT1twS0DvH2Me8NZDDPoQZDzgffM-6dqk3f93zAP6ppA6EXE62bnubGkrv0JrPluFM-3xPJgzhM3Alqniv3_D47pNit2YB4w/s200/sarahp.jpg" width="139" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> With Falwell and Dobson gone, the Ozark Uncle is wondering who will surface as the public face to address a new Christian view of environmental issues. I'm not being sarcastic when I say: </span><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why not </span></b></i><a href="https://www.sarahpacdonate.com/gbook"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sarah Palin</span></b></i></a><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">?</span></b></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (The link would allow one to contribute to SarahPAC. Does anyone have a better site? It's all I could find for her.). </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Sincerely, I've become a great admirer of what Ms. Palin has accomplished. Her 15 minutes of fame are going to put her into the history books. The Ozark Uncle </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perceives</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that fundamentally (1) she's going to do what is best for her family first and foremost. And (2) at the end of the day, Sarah P is a Christian first and a politician second. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Right now she's squeezing all she can out of the political arena. It seems she's looking over her shoulder to see where the conservative crowd is headed and adjusting her direction accordingly in the hopes that she can stay in front. At the right time, she could become the face of the Moral Majority, and have an incredible impact. She gets my vote. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Can she tap dance around her Drill-Baby-Drill? Sure! Of course! She can always use the Ozark Uncle's </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perception </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">approach and just say new information was processed to change it.</span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perspective Comes from Early Religious Experiences</span></span></span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Is the Ozark Uncle a credible source to write about Christianity? He's not a </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">believer </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and therefore not a Christian. But he loves Jesus and Christians. His early religious experiences affected him in ways that can never be undone. For example, this post on the relationship between mainstream religion and politics is heavily influenced by his early lessons learned at the Faith Baptist Church in Wichita, KS during the early 1960s. Separation of religion and politics was preached there almost every Sunday. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Somewhere in a Wichita Kansas grave the Rev. Roy Davis, "Brother Roy" to his followers, is rolling over again and again about religion's meddling in politics during the past 30 years. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Note--Brother Roy was a great influence on my life and hundreds if not thousands of others. He loved Jesus, his family and his church including me. But he represents the end of a religious era that is no longer mainstream and a theology that I ultimately rejected. Please, if anything I say in my description below seems to demean him, it is in no way my intension).</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipBYU15oDWgcd5SFiIhpdlEJk9lf-0iEzI4CHTzhn9_qEKHn5QySDPCVJnjx0Mg50DZedX5XnaimafGfd5EbwxVX3s4HHOmVO9r8WgwN4OD3aIMFDKr-v5NcMYhc3vkNru6sy2ehyphenhyphenmd5Y/s1600/1961Pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipBYU15oDWgcd5SFiIhpdlEJk9lf-0iEzI4CHTzhn9_qEKHn5QySDPCVJnjx0Mg50DZedX5XnaimafGfd5EbwxVX3s4HHOmVO9r8WgwN4OD3aIMFDKr-v5NcMYhc3vkNru6sy2ehyphenhyphenmd5Y/s200/1961Pic.jpg" width="155" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Fifty years ago, the Ozark Uncle was an impressionable 15-year old in the front pews of Faith Baptist Church in Wichita. The church called itself an </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">independent</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> one and what was preached from the pulpit was at the discretion of Brother Roy. Sunday after Sunday, I heard Rev. Davis preach fire and brimstone. "Focus on Jesus and nothing else" was his message. But, he also preached that government and politicians were in essence "Caesar". We, as Christians, should "...render unto Caesar" our tax dollars and avoid that whole arena while going about God's business. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> A few years earlier, Jesus had lifted Brother Roy from the fires of hell after many years of alcohol and sinful living. I have to smile...while he was saved from hell, he drove his car like a bat out of one. He bragged in the pulpit about how, when stopped for speeding, he would slip his large worn Bible on the dashboard, and make sure the officer knew he was a Baptist minister. According to him, it worked every time.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> A church budget did not exist at Faith Baptist because such a document presumed a future, and God could come back at any moment. Although a teenager but yet a male, I was welcome at the monthly "Men's Business Meeting." The middle aged Boeing airplane worker sitting next to me stood up one night and suggested having a budget. To this day, I can feel the heat that descended on him from the leader of the meeting, Brother Roy. The meeting didn't end until he preached a sermon right then and there.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> With regard to other churches, Brother Roy preached that Southern Baptists were lukewarm at best and all Church of Christ members wanted to do was argue. I honestly don't remember the issues of abortion, homosexuality or the environment being discussed in Brother Roy's sermons. His message was simple--trust in God, keep one's personal house in order, and stay on the straight and narrow path. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfs0a_Rzj_tgUyK6QhdzTI64-496VxcWqkam5Tnb4aKaz65wdgkdWyLVnN3z7D6h9nun0GAl2J_9KZaThxmIIiPlTlHIRMZ3-1wg8rU1wJPJa4AbtastYRtI6yjLqx7OzqxhnuCOlxPfA/s1600/Carradine-75px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfs0a_Rzj_tgUyK6QhdzTI64-496VxcWqkam5Tnb4aKaz65wdgkdWyLVnN3z7D6h9nun0GAl2J_9KZaThxmIIiPlTlHIRMZ3-1wg8rU1wJPJa4AbtastYRtI6yjLqx7OzqxhnuCOlxPfA/s200/Carradine-75px.jpg" width="159" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> John Carradine, the actor, is pictured at left. Having no picture of Brother Roy, the Ozark Uncle is substituting John's because of their similarities -- tall, thin almost emaciated bodies and deep bass voices. Unfortunately, Rev. Roy had neither the refined nor educated speech that John possessed. So readers, try to imagine a drawling Oklahoma farm boy voice with John Carradine's body--I know, it's not easy.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Rev. Davis had a sunken chest and raspy cough from years of cigarettes, a bad habit that may still have haunted him then--but I'm not sure. He struggled with saliva control and had to wipe his sleeve across his mouth several times each service. He was dynamic and his stage presence was memorable. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Brother Roy preached "spare the rod and spoil the child," and I always had a sense of dread (no doubt false) for his children as the family loaded in the car after services. But, from what little I've learned since, his PKs (preachers' kids) turned out fine and remained faithful. My </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perception</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is that Ks don't do that unless they see their P practicing what he preaches.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> My split with Rev. Davis and Faith Baptist Church came in 1963 at the age of 18. I chose to attend a state college, now called Emporia (KS) State University. Brother Roy wanted me to head off to Baptist Bible College right here in Springfield, a place that had graduated a young and relatively unknown Jerry Falwell not too many years earlier.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I can still remember our embrace after services on an autumn Kansas Sunday in 1963 before heading up the road to Emporia. Brother Roy's sunken chest and his tall frame seemed to loom over me at the door as he repeated again to me "...that state college up there will make you lose the faith, boy." I assured him I would be steadfast--but he was right. Although continuing on to attend various religious institutions--Nazarene, Assemblies of God, Christian, Church of Christ-- for another thirty years, my tenure with Rev. Brother Roy Davis and Faith Baptist Church of Wichita was almost over.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrop35SG_esYs2ow3M8Rcx0hTiRbFWnTqRMzAZzkwhLBprXc2zcF36gbdkOKTR-tbwUrDAbgNX13V6oPz0bItZvI_hBwF0gwlqxuXUG6o2AsbDWmWYnL5SLoFFpH-67rWJ-_DxjPatxo/s1600/2201-BrownKenJoy-B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrop35SG_esYs2ow3M8Rcx0hTiRbFWnTqRMzAZzkwhLBprXc2zcF36gbdkOKTR-tbwUrDAbgNX13V6oPz0bItZvI_hBwF0gwlqxuXUG6o2AsbDWmWYnL5SLoFFpH-67rWJ-_DxjPatxo/s200/2201-BrownKenJoy-B.jpg" width="176" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 1964 marked the last year I attended one of Brother Roy's services. Along with me was a little Missouri Bootheel gal named Joy Neal I had met in ESU's William Allen White Library during my first semester there (we would later marry and we just had our 45th wedding anniversary last month--read our story the <a href="http://www.ozark-uncle.com/index.html">Ozark Uncle</a>'s web site). </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Joy had insisted I attend her Church of Christ which, compared to the lively Baptist services, hardly seemed like a religious experience at all. But my interest in Joy had grown to the point where she was brought to Wichita to meet my mother and brother. Included was a free ticket for her to attend one of Brother Roy's services.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Little is remembered about the Sunday service that day except my constant dread of our inevitable exit past Brother Roy at the back door after the invitation. When that dreaded time came, I braced up and thought I did a fairly good job of introducing them to each other. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> And almost immediately, Brother Roy, with his biggest and best good-humored smile, asked this young lady: "...and where do you go to church?" My heart sank. His smile didn't change when he got her unabashed reply--only because I think it was kind of paralyzed on his face. The exact subsequent dialog between the two now escapes me, but a definite hint of contention came forth from both parties with the young lady neither flinching nor bat an eye.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> A lame attempt at levity on my part gave me enough of an edge in the conversation to drag her on out the door. But before they were out of sight of each other, I imagined Brother Roy sending her brain waves that said "Bring that boy back!" and her return message in ESP code was "He's mine now...ha.ha.ha.ha.HA!"</span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Change is the Only Constant</span></span></span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZEF9b1nVgmqlMduDLzGrFsnrfCx9WJwBFI_msNh9QtnmaGpl0DbwkF7zbWHLQSTBYBd44791pOftiusFTBKNPjW6fGMOH0JgTPUvXNjzp5TWR7Vh3JEWXYprQyDG9_YW9NRK34gd9w2Q/s1600/4057-BrownKen-B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZEF9b1nVgmqlMduDLzGrFsnrfCx9WJwBFI_msNh9QtnmaGpl0DbwkF7zbWHLQSTBYBd44791pOftiusFTBKNPjW6fGMOH0JgTPUvXNjzp5TWR7Vh3JEWXYprQyDG9_YW9NRK34gd9w2Q/s200/4057-BrownKen-B.jpg" width="159" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The few consistent readers of this blog--The Brown Perspective--know that if there is any message here at all, it is to encourage one to be open-minded on all issues. Leaving the Baptist church for the Church of Christ changed a lot of my </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perceptions</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> about worship, the Bible and its interpretation. Also discovered was the fact that Churches of Christ think that all Baptists want to do it argue!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The Ozark Uncle left the Church of Christ in both mind and spirit many years before his body left the fellowship. Almost 20 years ago, he went through that excruciating "Peter thing" by denying Christ publicly. To this day, I remember keeping count and looking up toward the skies on the third denial.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Today, I enjoy observing Christianity both from within the church buildings and through discussions with Christians. For example, a visit to the 8,000 seat mega-church, </span><a href="http://jamesriver.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James River Assembly of God</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, is a sight to behold--Pastor John Lindell has a delivery and a message that leaves me misty-eyed every time I visit--an outpouring that makes the members think I want to go to the altar, and they begin nudging me that way which creates an awkward moment.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Christianity has and is changing so much, and I wish change weren't so stressful on many Christians. Once, my friend and Bible scholar, </span><a href="http://www.charleshedrick.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Charles Hedrick</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, very eloquently wrote in the Springfield News-Leader how God may never change but our definition of God changes as the human race changes. He got some hate mail over that one. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> This post is all about a major change in subject matter that may start being preached from pulpits all over the land--protection of the environment. The Ozark Uncle's uneducated guess (or perhaps false hope) is that Christianity's embrace of green energy will lead to corporate entities recognizing business opportunities in the field thereby creating jobs. Anyway life will go on but constantly changing and that is one thing the Ozark Uncle really <i>believes</i>. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But will Christianity ever get Roe v. Wade overturned? And will Creationism become mainstream? Well, the Ozark Uncle has his radar out looking for signs and will post his perspective here. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Thanks for reading to the end.</span>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-9261981501591233412010-06-17T11:40:00.001-05:002010-07-28T21:17:33.334-05:00Leaving Cimarron -- Edna Ferber Style<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>by Ken Brown<br />
Springfield, MO</i><br />
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Yesterday (make that three days ago--a time warp occurred at the Brown house), I finished Edna Ferber's book, <i>Cimarron, </i>an epic story that began with the 1890s land run into present-day northern Oklahoma and ended with the area's oil boom in the 1920s. The Ozark Uncle became aware of the book during his 2010 Lonesome Road Trip that took him across northern Oklahoma--the same as the setting for Ms. Ferber's book. While total immersion into the history of this area would be rewarding, the Ozark Uncle shall let the Ferber book reading and this blog post bring an end to the topic so he can pursue his many other writing projects.<br />
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<b>Accompanying photos</b><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.apl.org/history/ferber/edna.bio.html">Edna Ferber</a> -- </b>One can find several biographies of Edna Ferber online. All of them will say that she was a great writing talent and also suggest that she walked to the "beat of a different drummer." Her well-known works include <i>Giant, Ice Palace, </i>and<i> Show Boat.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasPersonalities/TempleLeaHouston/TempleLeaHouston.htm"><b>Temple Lea Houston</b></a> -- A fascinating pioneer lawyer who was the son of Sam Houston of Texas fame. He is the person on whom Ferber based her <i>Cimarron</i> fast-drawing lawyer and publisher, Yancey Cravat. Unlike, Houston, whose roots and life can be traced, Ferber left Yancey's past only to speculation. Her Yancey was almost mystical and more of a spirit than a person. (Note: Houston is also the basis for Jeffrey Hunter's 1963-64 TV series, <i>Temple Houston</i>).<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053715/"><b>Glenn Ford and Maria Schell</b></a> -- The Ozark Uncle had almost finished Ferber's book when he looked to see who had been cast as Yancey in the 1960 film <i>Cimarron</i>. Understandably Glenn Ford brought people to the movie theatre but he didn't fit my vision for the part--perhaps in a perfect casting world, a Tom Selleck body with a Charles Bronson personality.<br />
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<b>Summary Thoughts</b><br />
<ol>
<li>Ferber's main characters, Yancey and Sabra Cravat, were incredibly unique both individually and as a married couple. I simply have to put my perceptions of them in writing.</li>
<li>Through Ferber's book, the Ozark Uncle learned about the use of <i>conflict</i> in fiction writing--something necessary in writing if one is to keep a reading audience.</li>
<li>The Oklahoma chaotic oil boom and Ferber's description of the strife and ironies included has caused the Ozark Uncle to wonder about the new-found mineral wealth in Afghanistan. No doubt, as I write, individuals are gearing up a plot, scheme, and steal their way to that wealth. </li>
</ol>
<b>Ah, Google Earth (a God-like view)</b><br />
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For the last couple of years, Google Earth has provided the Ozark Uncle with a visual aid for his book reading. Try this if you haven't--as you read a book, go to Google Earth and find the locations mentioned in the book. One can get a geography lesson while at the same time enjoying a good book. <br />
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Identifying the Caribbean isles and related hide-a-way bays helped me overcome boredom with Jimmy Buffett's <i>A Salty Piece of Land</i>. Jimmy's book often mentioned and led me to read Rudyard Kipling's short story, <i>A Man Who Would be King</i>--one that became a 1975 film starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine. The story takes the reader through 19th Century India and Afghanistan. The main character in Kipling's story was Daniel "Danny" Dravot. In a different way, he was ever bit as unique a character as Ferber's Yancey Cravat.<br />
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Google Earth wasn't needed for Ferber's <i>Cimarron </i>because the territory was still etched in the Ozark Uncle's mind from his 2010 Lonesome Road Trip in late May and early June. Ferber states that her fictional town "Osage" could have been one of five existing cities. I'm guessing that I traveled through some of them with possible candidates being Enid, Ponca City, Pawhuska and Bartlesville.<br />
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<b>Fact Stranger Than Fiction</b><br />
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In her preface, Ferber states that her characters (like the town of Osage) are fictional but the events, although sensational, are none the less true. Her model for the almost mystical <i>Yancey Cravat</i> was Woodward Oklahoma's gun-toting lawyer, Temple Lea Houston. Temple was the son of Texas's Sam Houston, and he came to the newly sprouted village of Woodward in northwest Oklahoma right after the land run.<br />
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Yancey Cravat's courtroom adventures were actual occurrences from Houston's past. One that Ferber didn't use but gives you an idea of the pair's eccentricity is the following::<br />
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<i>Once a judge persuaded Houston to represent a penniless horse thief and Houston promised, "I'll provide the unfortunate gentleman the best defense I can." Houston asked the judge for a private office in which he could confer with his client. Sometime later, a court official decided to check on Houston and the horsethief. He found Houston sitting alone in the room with the window wide open. Houston smiled and remarked, "I gave him the best advice I could." <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">From </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.texasescapes.com/">http://www.texasescapes.com</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> </span></i><br />
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<b>Main Character? Yancey or His Wife?</b><br />
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<b></b>On the Ozark Uncle's "Must Watch" list is the 1960 movie version of Ferber's book with Glenn Ford as Yancey--although probably already seen, it was really not on my radar when I watched it years ago. Without even seeing the movie (again?), I'll wager that Glenn Ford is definitely "the star" lest his agent would never have signed the contract. Yet, when I think about the book version and even Edna Ferber's own life, her 1929 novel really had Yancey's wife Sabra as the main character. She was the person who not only held Yancey's life together but all the glue that held the book together.<br />
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Edna, with a journalist background, wrote the entire book from Sabra's point of view. She didn't write in first person but almost like Sabra's shadow. There is no scene in the book where Sabra wasn't present. We learned Sabra's thoughts and views. On the other hand, Yancey was but a story book character described to us. Sabra kept couple's newspaper, the <i>Osage Wigwam, </i>alive and eventually quite successful.<br />
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In the book, Yancey would be gone for years only to resurface at an opportune moment when some area crisis or event was occurring. In just a few moments after his arrival, Sabra would melt in his arms and forget all the hurt caused by his absences. He would take over the editorial page and unlike current media, he would espouse a point of view that could be quite divisive and unpopular particularly with the white settlers. Yet, it never really hurt the newspaper--if anything, subscriptions would surge after one of these episodes.<br />
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Edna Ferber never married and some suggested she wasn't the "marryin' kind." The book would not have worked had the Cravats divorced, but probably the most incredible of all the incredibles in the book was that the couple's love for each other never wavered. What is most credible, however, was the accomplishments attained by Sabra entirely on her own. To me, she was the real story.<br />
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Well, the Ozark Uncle is hooked on Edna Ferber for the time being. The Springfield-Greene County MO library will have to find him a couple of Ferber's <i>Giant</i>. Oh, I've seen the movie version with Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean more than once. But how did Ferber tell the story originally -- that's the question.Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-75520621906732688172010-06-11T07:17:00.108-05:002010-07-28T22:37:18.311-05:00Dangers of Extreme Anchoring<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><i>by Ken Brown<br />Springfield, MO</i></span><br />
The Ozark Uncle is a retired accountant and accounting professor. Some feel that people with my background must be very smart and know a lot. Yet, many others are probably more accurate when they sense that the Ozark Uncle doesn't know very much at all--particularly as it relates to some topics being covered in this blog. But accountants are, for one, historians (i.e., they record the business events that have already happened), and second, they are information providers whereby they are supposed to inform stakeholders about an entity's finances. That background relates to this blog.<br />
<i>To you grammarians including my lovely wife of 45 years, please don't let the Ozark Uncle's constant switching back and forth from third person to first person bother you. I do it on purpose but the Ozark Uncle can't tell you why I do it. [I'm now holding up an audience response card that says LOL].</i><br />
<b>Cartoon Descriptions</b>--these cartoons were scanned from recent issues of Newsweek. Click on a cartoon to see it full sized and see the credit line of each one. Here is the context of each:<br />
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The "Don't Ask-Don't Tell" cartoon really hits home that all of our regulators (e.g., financial markets, banking, or natural resources [mines, oil, etc]), have been asleep at the wheel. The Ozark Uncle feels there is a kind of double twist captured by the artist to perhaps suggest that we as a people spend so much political energies on social issues like gays and abortion while a collapse of our economy, energy and banking systems could put us in a worse way than during the Great Depression.<br />
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The "Damn it Obama" cartoon picks up on our current paradox as to whether we want "Big Government" to step in or not. Even the Ozark Uncle (a fiscal conservative who wants someone with ideas to step up) is wringing his hands with indecision also.<br />
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The corporacracy" cartoon was in response to the Supreme Court decision handed down that treats a corporation as a citizen like individuals. The Ozark Uncle has come to terms with this strange decision--some academic circles have suggested that the Supreme Court realizes the United States (with its special interests and lobbying influences) already is no longer a democracy of the people and it is simply acknowledging reality--we are run by big business.<br />
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<b>Executive Summary for this Post on Anchoring--Essentially the points are as follows:
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<ol>
<li>Be cautious and critical when choosing information sources.</li>
<li>Be forever critical of one's own conclusions and beware of one's level of "anchoring"</li>
<li>A wise person will pass on to the next world with more questions than answers.</li>
<li>This post is pretty academic -- however, please try to plow through if your time permits.</li>
</ol>
<b>Gasping for Breath in a Flood of Information</b><br />
In the late 1980s, the <a href="http://aaapubs.aip.org/accr/">Accounting Review</a>, an academic journal that in my mind is barely readable, actually published a readable and enlightening interview with Nobel laureate and artificial intelligence expert, <a href="http://www.cs.cmu.edu/simon/">Herbert Simon</a> of Carnegie Mellon University.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Herbert Simon</td></tr>
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The World Wide Web was in its infancy but one could see the massive storm clouds of digital information forming on the horizon.
Dr. Simon's advice to information users like you was to "...be very selective in the information sources that one tries to follow. One should not feel that every information source should be absorbed" [paraphrased].
Dr. Simon's message to us accountants as information providers was to recognize that [direct quote] <i>"...the scarce resource is not information but human attention."</i> In other words--we accountants should not overload our target audience with all the wonderful data we possess. The readers who have been trying to follow my rather lengthy blog postings prior to today have no doubt sensed the Ozark Uncle continues to have a problem with <i>Too Much Information</i> (TMI).<br />
<b>Anchoring: A Bias Toward Certain Pieces of Information</b><br />
Here in 2010, we have cable and satellite television containing scores of channels, and high speed internet that use incredible search engines. For example, enter the words "ozark uncle" into Google from anywhere in the nation and a link to my <a href="http://ozark-uncle.com/index.html"> web site</a> appears. Thus, Dr. Simon's advice about information source selection is not easy--particularly if one has anchored into a set of biases whether they be religious, moral, cultural, or even racially discriminatory.<br />
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According to ScienceDaily.com, "...<a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/a/anchoring.htm">anchoring</a> or focalism is a term used in psychology to describe the common human tendency to rely too heavily, or 'anchor,' on one trait or piece of information when making decisions." Furthermore the site's article indicates that, "...bias is distortion in the way we perceive reality." While, the internet will provide many more sites with a similar description, the Ozark Uncle deliberately chose the site with a "science" connection. Because of anchoring against the field of science, some readers and certainly the Texas School Book Commission (my current whipping post) may consider this source to be either unreliable or even false just because of the word <i>science</i> in its address. If so, just pick another site, duh!<br />
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(Now, true believers in the Holy Bible or the Koran or the Book of Mormon <i>anchor and should anchor </i>on their chosen source because <i>they know it in their head and heart to be true--the definition of a belief</i>." The Ozark Uncle admires and is actually envious of those who have reached and are maintaining that pinnacle of belief. With regard to the topic in this blog, however, remember that the New Testament Bible says to "beware of false prophets" (Matt. 7:15) A more modern paraphrased version might be reworded to say "beware of false emails, news anchors, and talking heads with hidden agendas.")<br />
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Psychologists have a research interest into the degree to which we anchor ourselves and then how much contradictory information we must receive before we will alter our anchor. For example, a family to which I'm related have for years only bought gasoline at Conoco or Phillips stations because of a "bad gas" experience 20 years ago at a "no-brand" station. The family's members even today will drive miles out of the way to be sure they get only Conoco or Phillips gasoline. The problem with their anchor is that they are not allowing any new information about today's "no-brand" stations to either substantiate or debunk their original decision.<br />
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What are the Ozark Uncle's anchors you might ask? Well, he's thought of a couple and he intends to keep assessing myself. Here are two:
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<li><b>Formerly Anchored onto daily CNBC financial information</b>
In the year 2000, the Ozark Uncle retired from paid work. Now he still works but just doesn't get paid! Well, he had a little more money to play with then, and he began to watch the CNBC stock channel several hours a day. He felt so well informed and entered into investments with great confidence. Well, it took about 18 months of losing money before the Uncle realized that he was being misinformed by the analysts and guests on the network. Included in the contradictory information that finally caused the Ozark Uncle to "pick up my anchor on CNBC" was an academic study which found one would have made money by <a href="http://draft.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6298394496718513036&postID=7552062190673268817" ref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_(finance)">going short</a> on every stock that the CNBC guests suggested that one buy. So, I guess CNBC is my "bad gas" experience, and I hold an incredibly negative bias against that information source almost a decade later.</li>
<li><b>Currently Anchored on the Resilience of America's Young People</b>
There is an academic field called <a href="http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_(finance)">futurology</a>. No doubt Herbert Simon applied his genius to the field somewhat. Futurists try to make educated guesses about the direction of the world twenty or thirty years from now. They probably wouldn't take issue with my saying that our world in 2110 will be as different from 2010 as 2010 is from 1910. And America's young people, while confronted with incredible economic, political, and cultural challenges, will adapt and will carry on. They will live, eat, drink, work and worship differently, but they will survive. Remember that <a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Heraclitus">The Only Constant is Change.</a> Hericletus said that in 500 B.C. Is the Ozark Uncle just filled with knowledge? No, he just Googled that 30 seconds ago and found the author. God in the heavens, I love 2010 technology!</li>
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In the 1990s, the Ozark Uncle had his faculty office across the hall from a deeply religious man. It was in that period when the "Moral Majority" became mainstream, and the "liberal bias" and similar terms surfaced to help its followers stay anchored to the socially conservative boat. My across-the-hall colleague testified long and often to me about abortion, gun rights, drugs, traditional male-female roles--well you get the idea. It so happened I had problems in my life then, and looking back, I remember him as being arrogant with his simplistic but ever-present judgmental answers to all my problems.<br />
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One day my colleague made a fatal slip; he said: "Don't you wish you had all the answers like me?" Then I woke up--I started thinking about the guy and realized that he did not possess a single view that had not been fed to him by someone else. Although a very smart and highly educated man, he had allowed himself to be someone's pawn. He was tuned into a set of talking points that had been provided to him. If he hasn't changed--I have not seen him for years and don't really want to--then I feel sorry for him.<br />
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In closing, think about your anchors, challenge and double-check your information sources, and look for those hidden agendas which are so prevalent any more.
</div>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-7815906056621924572010-06-06T09:30:00.013-05:002010-07-11T18:01:06.102-05:002010 Lonesome Road Trip Ends<i>By Ken Brown</i>
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<i>Springfield, MO.</i></div>
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The Ozark Uncle <i>perceives</i> that a few of his blog readers will read every word in his posts while others will read a paragraph or two, look at the accompanying pictures and then hit the back button. We live in an era with so many information sources, we all must make choices. Still, please read the picture descriptions and a summary at the beginning of this and future posts.
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #003300;"><b>PICTURE DESCRIPTIONS</b></span>
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Seminole OK with its brick roads still in fine shape after many decades of use.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ohmeKsDkyxja6toOJ24Zk6TxlrlmRKAWgzwi2hy4ScYiRiJ7z0SFrJiddTPtVeftt2Rxc7DWkUS29Lxfzbf3VPaQLYJx8-5t8FkiBDVYRhrPLpPXdoFRtHzNTL0x04QdjLrhrKnYiJs/s1600/P5270012_edited-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ohmeKsDkyxja6toOJ24Zk6TxlrlmRKAWgzwi2hy4ScYiRiJ7z0SFrJiddTPtVeftt2Rxc7DWkUS29Lxfzbf3VPaQLYJx8-5t8FkiBDVYRhrPLpPXdoFRtHzNTL0x04QdjLrhrKnYiJs/s200/P5270012_edited-1.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
Dust bowl era house between the towns of Kingfisher and Woodward OK somehow hoisted on a pile of trees and brush for later burning.
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Plains Indians and Pioneer Museum in Woodward Oklahoma.
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Isaac Brown's Hilltop Homestead in northwest Oklahoma near Quinlan, OK.
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">EXECUTIVE SUMMARY</span></b></div>
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<li>The little Ford Escape delivered the Ozark Uncle back to Springfield MO from his Arkansas-Oklahoma 2010 Lonesome Road Trip one week ago. Yes, this first blog post since arriving home has been fermenting all week. Watch out!</li>
<li>This post is brought to you by the color <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #003300;">GREEN. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Ozarkers love the green grass and the green forests. My perceptions of Oklahoma are currently positive probably because it was green this time of year. </span></span></i></b></li>
<li>Oklahoma, also called "Native America," is a great state--only decent thing the white man did for the native Americans was to give them Oklahoma (before taking much of it away, that is). I'm currently interested in the history of the state. Currently, I'm reading Edna Ferber's 1929 book entitled "Cimarron." It was based on characters involved with the Cherokee Strip Land Race in current northwest Oklahoma.</li>
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The Ozark Uncle Sez <i>we all should <b>perceive</b> more and <b>believe</b> less</i>. Casual readers, before leaving the blog, remember why this blog is about the Ozark Uncle's<i> perceptions</i>, not <i>beliefs</i>. A <i>belief</i> held by a person is something s/he just knows in heart and soul is true. Unfortunately, beliefs can cause a living hell for someone who feels the pressure to profess a belief while internally aren't so sure. I perceive that politicians in America are fundamentally good people, but most must play the <b><i>belief game</i></b> particularly on social issues. John McCain, right now, is going through a living hell in Arizona trying to come up with a list of beliefs that will get him re-elected.</li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #003300;"><b>PERCEPTIONS OF OKLAHOMA</b></span></div>
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Home is sweet but quite an agenda-changer. The core of this post was in my head and heart last Saturday afternoon when the The Ozark Uncle's 2010 Lonesome Road Trip ended. At Vinita OK, the Ford Escape saw the entrance to an Interstate for the first time in weeks and said "...let's get home, my tires are tired" in a pitiful car talk voice.</div>
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<b><i>The Roads Now Taken</i></b></div>
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In general terms, the route of 2010 Lonesome Road Trip was as follows: down through the Arkansas Ozark Mountains to the Ouachita River valley (southwestern Arkansas), then back up to eastern Oklahoma around Sequoyah County across the Arkansas River from Fort Smith. Then west-bound Oklahoma Highway 9 took the Escape and me across central Oklahoma while staying south of Tulsa and only on the outskirts of the Oklahoma City before finding old El Reno west of OC for a glance at it's historic sights and a night's rest.</div>
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Eventually my westward migration ended in northwest Oklahoma's Woodward County, an area "alloted to the white man" as part of the 1893 Cherokee Strip land race. The three days spent in Woodward County were educational, informative, and motivating. Having filled my cup with historical research information, U.S. Highway 60 brought me eastward through northern Oklahoma through cities like Enid, Ponca City, Pawhuska and Bartlesville. While Hwy 60 could have brought me directly in to Springfield, MO, that plan was aborted at Vinita in favor of the Will Rogers Turnpike (I-44).</div>
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<b><i>My General Disdain for Interstates</i></b></div>
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To choose the Turnpike on Saturday, May 29, was an act of expediency and nothing more. You see, an interstate highway provides almost no informational value to its users and is generally useless to sightseers like yours truly-- all one's time is spent watching the two lanes assigned to one's general direction of traffic. </div>
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Interstate driving strategies are few. One can be on the <i>offensive</i> by choosing the fast lane or play <i>defense</i> over in the slow lane. For a couple of years now, the Ozark Uncle has perceived that it's in his best interest and that of his riders if he chooses the slow lane. Furthermore, he has made a pact with the Ford Escape that its maximum speed be 65 MPH.
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Well, the Will Rogers Turnpike has a 75 MPH speed limit, and my fellow Americans in the other vehicles treated my little Escape with some disdain. Once, a Mack truck came so close to the Escape's rear bumper that I could count on its grill. Really the only negative perception I had of Oklahoma was that its speed limits were a little too high for my comfort zone. Even two-lane state roads without shoulders were posted at 65 MPH. Within the cities, however, speed limits ranged from reasonable to a little on the slow side. Not knowing which villages were speed traps, I honored every speed limit sign, even going well below to gawk at some building or scene.
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On the Interstate, the Escape and I struggled with the chaotic environment we’d put ourselves in and both agreed that the cool and shade tree laden rest stop between Joplin and Springfield was our only chance to regain our collective sanities. The local post of the Springfield Purple Hearts had set up a tent with drinks.
After using the restrooms where I met an old Springfield acquaintance and chatted a few minutes (I never really liked the guy too much), I returned to the Veterans' tent and visited with the two Purple Heart recipients there. By definition, the members of this Veterans Post had to have been injured in action and awarded a Purple Heart--they were the real deal. No wonder some politicians have been trying to enlist themselves in their ranks without ever having served.
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These Purple Heart guys are a set of veterans who deserve a special dose of respect beyond what is already deserved by all Veterans. Failure to serve in the military is probably one of the few regrets the Ozark Uncle saddles himself with. One of the veterans had Douglas County Missouri ties, and we talked about Civil War Veterans and my current interest in bronze markers for my Union Army ancestors and Joy’s Confederate Army ancestors. It was a nice visit and the coffee was good; but alas, it became time to move on.<br />
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<b><i>Other People's Problems</i></b></div>
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Well, the Ozark Uncle arrived home in Springfield about mid-afternoon on Saturday, May 29th. Not surprisingly, some of the problems in Springfield that can only be solved by someone other than myself still existed. Yet, the road trip had helped me to realize that I should help if possible and do it with a willing and cheerful heart. Interestingly, little fifteen-month old Skye Baby and a bad fever and was very sick. Joy and I took her in to help her recuperate away from her sister and step-sister. </div>
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Besides medicine, little Skye Baby <i>perceived </i>that sitting in Grandpa's lap while watching <i>Wiggles</i> tapes would be quite therapeutic. She applied this remedy for two solid days this past week. She's all better now, and maybe I helped a little.</div>
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<i><b>Oklahoma, an Ironic Land</b></i></div>
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The Ozark Uncle arrived home in a euphoric state following his loop through Oklahoma. Truly, off the Interstate, Oklahoma is a beautiful area. Probably the Ozark Uncle's perception was greatly influenced by the greenness of the landscape. Also, it was influenced by the historically preserved condition of the business districts of mid-sized cities on the byways that were traveled.
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<i>Perceptions</i> are flexible (while <i>beliefs </i> are rigid), and my perceptions of Oklahoma could be greatly modified if the trip were replicated say two months from now. But late May of this year presented the state at its optimal point--storms had pelted the state earlier in May. The torrents of rain left the stock ponds full, and the fields green even in western Oklahoma. Roadside wildflowers were in bloom and blue skies with soft fluffy clouds provided an ever pleasant horizon.
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These excellent land conditions made it difficult for me to form an image of that same land during the dust bowl years of the 1930s--back then, this same land was stripped of vegetation and became a landscape of brown sand and dirt for the winds to "reallocate" across the distance at will. <i>(Yet, we're living through another dust-bowl like crisis right now -- the gulf oil spill. This latter man-made calamity can't be solved by some rain falling from the heavens. In the 1970s, our family enjoyed the beaches of Dauphin Island off the Alabama coast. I fear that it might be 2070 before a family could enjoy that little land mass --maybe never).</i></div>
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<b><i>The Ironic Fate of the Red Man</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Sarah P<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">, come sit down and let's have today's little history lesson. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">The first white man's land race into the area we now know as Oklahoma was in 1889 and various areas were opened up in succeeding races until the final one in 1896. </span></i></b><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Here's a quick timeline:</span></i></b></div>
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<li>1834-1889 Native Americans were alloted areas of Oklahoma as their reservations. The area was known as the Indian Territory.</li>
<li>1889-1896 White settlers participate in land races.</li>
<li>1890-1907 The area became known as the Oklahoma Territory.</li>
<li>1907 The territory was admitted into the Union as a State</li>
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<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><i>READERS BEWARE -- the following source was used for the above timeline: </i></span></i></b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Territory"><i>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Territory</i></a><i> </i></div>
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<i>and it has not been edited by the Texas School Book Board. My chosen source speaks of injustices excised on the native Americans' land rights just after the end of the Civil War. Some may BELIEVE this entry to be inconsistent with their whitewashed view of our American past.</i></div>
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Cynicism set aside, I could see remnants of native American culture everywhere across Oklahoma. In many ways, it seems like a source of state pride. Road signs inform the traveler when leaving or entering the reservation of the various tribes. The business districts of the towns included headquarters, clinics, or license bureaus for a particular tribe.
Some cars sport licenses issued by a tribe not the state. But it seemed like those cars were generally were old clunkers that weren't hitting on all four cylinders (now that's the type of perception that could be absolutely wrong--it remains my perception but very open to alteration upon further observations).</div>
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<b><i>The Ironic Source of Oklahoma's Wealth--Oil and Gas</i></b></div>
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Few of the dust bowl era houses were apparent along the roadsides. Many fields sported lush crops of alfalfa or wheat. Others contained healthy looking cattle or horses. Generally though, the land seemed not to be heavily populated with humans. Still, the towns were bustling, and the downtown areas were like a walk back in time--a time in the 1920s with some building capstones revealing dates as early as the 1890s.
But by coincidence or design, these wonderful business structures had not been defaced by aluminum siding facades or other attempts to modernize. The town of Seminole (pop. 7,000) still had its original brick streets downtown and El Reno (pop. 2,000) (a major stop on old Route 66) still had streetcar tracks downtown. Pawhuska (pop. 3,600) had a downtown area with multi-story structures built for a population that was once very much larger.</div>
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Bartlesville, OK was a disappointment to me. The original home of Phillips 66 Petroleum, Bartlesville Ok had a downtown of modern white plastered buildings, and an original building was hard to find. Frank Lloyd Wright's 1920s art deco skyscraper was still there that I used to call the Johnson & Johnson building. Now it is called "Price Tower" and is some kind of community center.</div>
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The wealth that built these cities came from oil and gas exploration. While the Ozark Uncle doesn't wish bad times on the Sooner State, he so wants us to make a serious effort to find alternatives. That's not anti-capitalist, is it? But, the Ozark Uncle does have some awfully socialistic tendencies. An unbiased Christian would probably have to admit that Jesus teachings are filled with socialistic ideas. From what I've learned recently about native Americans, their distinct tribes were socialistic. The receptionist at the Cherokee Nation Office in Sallisaw explained to me that one of the problems the State of Georgia had with the resident Cherokees was that the tribe held its lands in common not as individuals.
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Ah, that brings up an interesting topic for a later post--<i>the sanctity of individual land rights in America</i>. Also, I want to study up on some <i>ism</i> words (e.g., Fascism, Socialism, Deism) being tossed about by people who probably, like me, don't really know what they mean. </div>
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<b><i>Conclusion</i></b></div>
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With this post, I put into the past my 2010 Lonesome Road Trip that started on May 9 and ended on May 29. But the perceptions it provided the Ozark Uncle will no doubt crop up in other posts. I'm now moved to write about the Saga of <i>Lacey Pahl's Quonset Hut</i>. Readers have probably forgotten the context of that story; so it will be reintroduced at the outset.</div>
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</div>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-5664749922227662852010-05-30T06:52:00.016-05:002010-07-11T18:36:31.647-05:00Climbing Glass (Gloss) Mountain<div>
<i>by Ken Brown</i></div>
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<i>Springfield, MO</i></div>
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My blogs seem to be turning into set-ups for full blown stories that need to be written. "Lacey's Quonset Hut," which was introduced to my readers a few of days ago deserves more than a blog entry. When finished, the story will be shared with my readers. The same is for the person I'm about to introduce you to, Elder Isaac Brown.</div>
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On mid-Friday afternoon (May 28), I finished my research on a great-uncle, "Elder" Isaac Brown, in Woodward County, Oklahoma. Woodward County lies south and a little east of Dodge City, Kansas, and cattle drives passed through the area. During the western expansion, Fort Supply was built in the area, and it supplied Sheridan and Custer for their excursions further west. <br />
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Woodward County OK sits on land that was parceled out during the 1893 Cherokee Strip Land Race. Well, my Great-Uncle Isaac was there long before the land race. He took his family and left Ozark County MO in the early 1880s as a missionary for the General Baptist Church. So I'm setting up and adding another article to my writing agenda about Elder Isaac Brown. A Civil War veteran also, Isaac is a fascinating character to me as he now is to Ian Swart, the Curator of the Pioneer Museum in Woodward.<br />
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Well, I left Ian Swart's Pioneer Museum in Woodward around 2 p.m. Friday and headed back east on U.S. Highway 412. Some news from home had been unsettling to me, and I felt the need to be there. My reaction to the news told me that my 2010 Road Trip had cleared my mind and restored my body but I was still ME -- I still have this impulse to run to the aid of family members when they really don't need it. </div>
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Twenty miles east of Woodward on U.S. 412, I passed for a final time Union (aka Brown) Cemetery where Isaac and his wife were buried, and the surrounding land that they had homesteaded. The area seemed to me to be the most worthless parcel of land in the whole county. But the area is now dotted with oil derricks of the Cabot Oil Co. It would seem, from my land records research (my latest passion) that Isaac's family seemed to have sold out and left the area just before the oil boom.</div>
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Well, my driving goal for the day was to pick up U.S. 60 west of Enid OK and follow it all the way to Springfield while stopping for the night somewhere in between. As my drive continued, the land seemed to get more worthless yet more beautiful. Large buttes of land rose up showing the vividly red clay for which Oklahoma is famous. </div>
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My "Official Oklahoma State Map" told me that the Gloss Mountain State Park lay directly ahead. I couldn't miss the turn off because a State Trooper with flashing lights had a vehicle cornered in the entrance. I weaved around the vehicles and drove down a lane into the parking lot hidden from the road's view. </div>
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It was a lonesome place with only a picnic pavilion and a port-a-potty along with signs warning of rattlesnakes. Next to the parking lot was a mountain and I made out a trail that led to the base of the mountain and then sections of stairs zig-zagged up to the mountain top. It was a hot afternoon with no one around, but I decided I was going to see how far up the mountain I could climb. A little common sense prevailed, however. I went over by the port-a-potty and relieved myself at its side after checking for wind direction -- a lesson learned during my windy 1993 Kansas Lonesome Road Trip.</div>
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Grabbing a bottle of water and my camera from the Escape, I approached the mountain and started to climb. At several intervals up the mountain, benches were placed for resting, and I used every one of them. With each glance back, the little Ford Escape looked smaller and smaller. As I neared the top, the stairs disappeared, and I had to climb across craggy rocks the remaining distance. Once at the top, I turned to see an old pickup pull in the parking lot. My distrustful nature first caused me to imagine the little Ford being violated but I soon sensed it was just a family wanting to enjoy the area like myself. Part of me was glad to have human company and another part of me was disappointed that I was no longer truly alone.</div>
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The top of the mountain (or butte) was flat and was made up of rock that had glassy particles in it (thus the name of the mountain). About a dozen black hawk-like birds were my constant companion from that point on. (I forget what I've read about buzzards and vultures -- one comes at you after you're dead and the other joins you when it senses death is imminent).</div>
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A trail led back farther than I could see and although already quite tired, I started to follow it. Stops were made often to look out in the distance or over an edge of the butte. After what seemed like a half-mile, I came to a fenced lookout point at the end of the butte. Across the valley was another butte called "Lone Peak." It was here that I made a self-portrait with the peak behind me. I felt an incredible sense of accomplishment and spiritual awareness. This moment had become pinnacle of my 2010 Lonesome Road Trip. </div>
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Occasionally worry crept into my mind about the return trip down the stairs (my knee surgeries tend to talk to me now and then). As I turned to leave I could see in the distance a couple of people coming up the trail stopping to throw rocks off the edges. Eventually we met, and they were two young teenagers who looked like their trek up the butte caused them no sweat whatsoever. Oh, the vim and vigor of youth. We spoke for a moment--no one passes Ken Brown on a mountain top without at least a short visit. One said he'd been up on the butte before and he was bringing the other for the first time.</div>
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About half way back on the trail, I felt the need to share my quest with some one I love -- I tried to call Joy but no answer there. Then I called my son, Kelly and told him to Google "Gloss Mountain", and that was where my call was coming from. His reply was "I didn't know Oklahoma had a mountain!" Anyway, he found it on the Internet, we talked a few moments more mostly planning our golf outing for when I returned.</div>
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Once back to the place where the descent was to commence, I looked out toward the highway, and it reminded me so much of that romantic scene in the movie, "Cars", where Sally and Lightning McQueen look out over the landscape to where the interstate's construction caused the ruin of Radiator Springs. I thought of Joy and wished I could share the moment with her.</div>
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As I descended the mountain, I was very careful on the craggy rock section that led to the safe staircases. Halfway down, I met the parents accompanying the teenagers. They were lounging on a bench and enjoying the sun, the wind and the scenery. Apparently locals, they were at their favorite place.</div>
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Once back at the Ford Escape and preparing to leave, I saw the two teenagers had already scaled down the mountain and were skipping out across the base of the mountain off-trail and totally oblivious to the prospect of rattlesnakes. I though: "This country will be OK--its youth will respond to the challenges ahead of them--the human race is incredibly adaptable and probably evolutionary.</div>
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After getting back on the highway, I drove to Ponca City, Oklahoma where I decided to stay for the night. Ponca City is where Conoco-Phillips has a huge oil refinery and related facilities--possibly even its headquarters. </div>
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Ah, back to "civilization". Driving around the refinery, I detected that smell that emits from such facilities. Personally I prefer turkey farm odor to that made by refineries. The motels were hard to find in Ponca City, and a convenience store clerk had to give me directions after questioning the wisdom of even wanting to stay in what he considered to be a very undesirable place to live. He sold me a couple of 16-ounce beers that were on sale for $2.22 total, and I made my way to the not so Super 8 for my final night on my tour.</div>
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</div>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-17624221718501287152010-05-25T22:43:00.001-05:002010-07-28T22:47:02.829-05:00Sequoyah, Not Lacey<i>by Ken Brown<br />Springfield, MO</i><br />
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Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd's grave<br />
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John and Caroline Morris's graves<br />
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The fireplace in Sequoyah's Cabin<br />
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Well, the second chapter of my serial, "Lacey's Quonset Hut" has been delayed. I break camp early in the morning -- the Ford Escape tells me it is headed into western Oklahoma tomorrow and that I should come along. I still need to scan in court house documents for my cousin and fellow Morris researcher, Nancy Morris Boyd.<br />
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Well, my search today provided evidence that Great-Grandfather John Morris was probably not a Cherokee. Still, I got to visit the Cherokee Nation office in Sallisaw and learned a lot about the tribe. For you Douglas County folks who wonder about the Cherokee homesteaders back there, I was told that some Cherokees saw the hand writing on the wall and started west into unsettled lands before the Trail of Tears even started. I always wondered if the Bell family that was supposedly in the county before 1820 were in fact from an eastern tribe.</div>
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I visited the graves of my Great-Grandparents in Akins OK north of Sallisaw. The cemetery precedes statehood, and the village there was call Sweet Town by the Cherokee. The cemetery is only about three miles from Sequoyah's 1829 cabin which I also visited. The Curator there, Jerry Dobbs, cleared up a lot of questions too. </div>
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Well, while Sequoyah is the most famous person around, the most infamous former citizen is Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd. His grave is less that 200 feet from those of my grandparents. In the early 1930s, "Pretty Boy" was considered the neighborhood boy who did good.</div>
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All in all, it was a good day -- that final serial chapter on Lacey will come soon plus I need to give you my thoughts on something called "anchoring." I'll use Tiger Woods' chaos to illustrate my point. </div>
</div>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-68414971484312839782010-05-24T20:38:00.000-05:002010-05-24T22:16:08.119-05:00Lacey's Quonset Hut<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bPr6_mFNKfnqVfwLf4Zpi-5JOQU6xdU1Q6gBu2KiYFxdDsVzhnNyPt52dJKidhjLGmzoklfEmZs9GVaz5VtkjVXdstYd0xMvXXl0ZB33qR8qJZ9UeExNa7iBy7OVotEHXPvjavuO5SM/s1600/P5240001.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-bPr6_mFNKfnqVfwLf4Zpi-5JOQU6xdU1Q6gBu2KiYFxdDsVzhnNyPt52dJKidhjLGmzoklfEmZs9GVaz5VtkjVXdstYd0xMvXXl0ZB33qR8qJZ9UeExNa7iBy7OVotEHXPvjavuO5SM/s200/P5240001.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475041121240409106" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAqkYle7fhrbyqEbfsyDwPGNYLFqz9qKJBz9kySMDc6aX7YCaPEuMezTuhvfgCxVqekp7U-9f8CboJZHlU5D8hBPIDam8XCnY9MDCOtBbx6wFr9qhok3anbHDdsliDWS4e2XzjhpqHPc/s1600/P5230044.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAqkYle7fhrbyqEbfsyDwPGNYLFqz9qKJBz9kySMDc6aX7YCaPEuMezTuhvfgCxVqekp7U-9f8CboJZHlU5D8hBPIDam8XCnY9MDCOtBbx6wFr9qhok3anbHDdsliDWS4e2XzjhpqHPc/s200/P5230044.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475041112726551666" /></a><br />When one is in eastern Oklahoma, the Cherokee Indian Nation is never far away. Initially the Cherokee had most of it. Yesterday, my Ford Escape led me to Sallisaw, Oklahoma, the seat of Sequoyah County. (Sarah, if you're reading this, Sequoyah was a brilliant Cherokee man who developed and alphabet for the Cherokee language -- his people were her before the founding fathers). Sequoyah's final home is nearby, and I hope to visit it tomorrow. <div><br /></div><div>Today, the morning was spent at the Sequoyah County Court House looking through land records. Around mid-morning, a document was discovered where the Cherokee Nation chief deeded 147 acres to my great-grandfather, John W. Morris in 1909. The document stated that Great-Grandfather was entitled to the land as a "member of the tribe" which was a complete surprise to both myself and the principal Morris researcher, Nancy Morris Boyd, of Percival, Iowa. He would have had another 3 acres but it was a right-of-way owned by the Kansas City Southern Railroad. Tomorrow's agenda includes follow-up on this discovery which will likely take me to the Cherokee Nation headquarters and also to Tahlequah where older Cherokee Nation land records are stored.<div><br /></div><div>The hot afternoon was spent on the Shadow Creek Golf Course in Sallisaw, a dry and dusty place with a menacing creek that snaked across virtually every fairway or hid behind many of the brown and splotched greens. Lucky I had plenty of Dunlop "Butter Soft" golf balls because there are a few of them headed down stream toward the Arkansas tonight. A couple of years ago, the Maxfli "Noodle" golf ball was all the rage and the "Butter Soft" was Dunlop's cheap copy. Well, WalMart virtually gave me the golf balls because I was the only one who would buy them. <i>Real men don't hit golf balls called "ButterSoft!" </i> Anyway, I still have about five dozen of those balls in the garage. Joy tried to sell them in her flea market booth and even female golfers wouldn't buy them. (You know, I really need to play a few more rounds here -- put enough golf balls in Shadow Creek, they would all eventually end up in the gulf and maybe plug that oil leak. Not funny, huh? Sorry).</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of the oil spill, the public seems to have mixed emotions, I think, about whether the Federal Government should step in. In some ways, it's an opportunity to see what we do with less government. Is that why the Obama opponents don't seem to be clamoring for Federal involvement. About a week ago, I heard an NPR call-in show where an oil engineer called in and suggested the Navy take a submarine down there, blast the leak and cause the well to cave in on itself. That may eventually be the final answer.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Lacey's Quonset Hut -- Serial Chapter 1</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Now, why is this post titled "Quonset Hut Barns and Theatres?" Well, family members know I like to hunt down the old theatre in each small town and take a picture of it. Here in Sallisaw, the Sequoyah Theatre is a converted World War II Quonset Hut. If you check the internet for Quonset Hut, you'll find that about 170,000 of these were built during the war and afterward were sold for $1,000 each. Check out "Quonset Hut Theatres" on-line and you'll find a partial listing of known Quonset Hut Theatres around the country.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'd better <i>cut to the chase</i> or you're going to hit that backbutton. Well, seeing the Quonset Hut Theatre brought back vivid memories of an old girl-friend from the 1960s and also my last solo road trip in 1993. This girlfriend was Pentecostal which is what attracted her to me. Her name was...well we'll call her Lacey Pahl. Her father was an old German corn farmer from...we'll say Sublette Kansas, way out there on the plains. Lacey always told me about her father's barn and that it was a Quonset hut. Well, my 1993 Road Trip across U.S. Highway 160 got detoured way out in western Kansas, and that old 1980 Corolla of mine delivered me into Sublette to take a look at that Quonset hut.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, that Quonset hut was there on the edge of town, but to my surprise the town theatre was a Quonset Hut Theatre! No Way! Way. Lacey never told me about the theatre I supposed because she was never allowed to attend it being Pentecostal and all. So this was a two-Quonset hut town! I was impressed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Did I run into Lacey? Well, it took a little while to get anyone to talk to me about her. It was like I had wandered on the set of <i>The Stepford Wives. </i> Don't miss the next installment of my real-life serial later this week.</div></div>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-75489567760312652502010-05-23T19:35:00.009-05:002010-07-11T18:50:37.932-05:00Alternative Lifestyles<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><i>By Ken Brown</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><i>Springfield, Missouri</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Well, strong winds hit my southwest Arkansas abode and has blown me all the way up into eastern Oklahoma not far from the burial place of my great-grandfather, John W. Morris. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Since my last post, several themes on which to write have crossed my path:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><b>That's No Angry Mob, That's My Mom: Team Obama's Assault on Tea-Party, Talk-Radio Americans." </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><b></b> I often turn on the C-SPAN Book Channel by which to go to sleep at night. Last night, I had the misfortune to tune into Jonathan Karl's interview of Michael Graham about his new book titled above. Graham is apparently a conservative talk show guy in Boston of all places -- and yes, he has a website and yes, you can get his newsletters and support his cause which is allegedly the Tea Party movement. Well, I'm a fiscal conservative (was once considered an expert in government finance during my academic career), and if Graham is the voice of the Tea Party, the group will not appeal to many independents like myself. I do not plan to read Graham's book -- his premise and his conclusion don't match at all. I truly feel he is just trying to get out in front of the parade and make some money in the process. <i>Conservatives, beware of false conservative voices</i>. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Nuff said about that theme.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><b>Rand Paul and Sarah Palin</b> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">As a fiscal conservative [someday I'll write about my social issues views], I was very intrigued with Rand Paul's election in Kentucky. Also, I felt it would be a wake-up call to the Republican Party to get an intelligent approach to our problems. Well, I guess Rand wasn't told he can't tell the truth if he's to stay in politics and he's gotten off to a rocky start -- something about his civil rights views. He canceled his "Meet the Press" interview intended to air this morning on NBC, and I guess the Republican establishment will coach him on what to say from now on. Then, I understand that Sarah Palin has jumped to his defense and said it's not Rand's fault, he was just a victim of the "Got-ya" media. By the way, I don't really want to knock Sarah Palin -- she's securing her family's financial future thanks to her talents and the "Got-ya" media. She's amazing. Unlike Graham's book (see 1 above), I may find time to read one of Sarah's books once they hit the flea market booths. No more</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"> on this theme.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><b>Alternative Lifestyle A</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">As my road trip has continued into now its third week, I continue to scour the road sides for evidence of current and past lifestyles and unusual sights. <i>(As my family knows, the only way I stay on a road is that my mind is wired to always be sure the roadbed comes into view each time that I pan from left to right and so forth -- most of my 200 miles of travel today was on U.S. Highways 71 in Arkansas and 59 in Oklahoma. Sidenote: I wasn't too far north of Ashdown AR when I came up behind a car that was having trouble staying between the lines. I worried that someone was intoxicated and questioned if I should call it in. Well, a passing lane opened up and as I went around, I looked over to see a young woman texting on her cell phone).</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><i></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Well, I've now put around a 1000 miles on my Ford Escape and probably less that 50 of them have been on interstate highways. Just outside of Arkansas's Millwood State Park on Ark. Highway 32 at a little place called Fomby, I found a group of apartments made out of boxcars! Well, my six-year old Granddaughter and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading <i>Boxcar Children,</i> that 1924 children's classic by Gertrude Chandler Warner. So, I had to photograph the apartments for her and I'm attaching one of those shots.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><b>Alternative Lifestyle B</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbvE6djCWqZliQhfZezzvIS-ji8vTuT12zRBDqF1b2O0R8xjqCt7b1BQf1XdYyhcRlrcI64-9_M4X5hfcSkbDvAWRLoBODzUzlK7cecjV8jvMZJg7eKgCp2KcULpa8B47e9mpdHYSR98g/s1600/P5230031RevLee.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbvE6djCWqZliQhfZezzvIS-ji8vTuT12zRBDqF1b2O0R8xjqCt7b1BQf1XdYyhcRlrcI64-9_M4X5hfcSkbDvAWRLoBODzUzlK7cecjV8jvMZJg7eKgCp2KcULpa8B47e9mpdHYSR98g/s200/P5230031RevLee.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><b></b>A few miles north of DeQueen Arkansas on U.S. Hwy 71, I passed a man dragging a cross and cart. Unlike Forrest Gump whose walk attracted a huge group of followers, this man was only accompanied by his dog. As soon as I could get the Escape stopped and did a 180, I met up with the walker and his dog at a dirt road junction. We visited for several minutes and here's what he told me:</span></div>
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<li>His name is Rev. Lee Simpson and he has now walked over 7,000 miles having started from Florida some time ago. I have his card with his cell phone number if I ever want to call him.</li>
<li>Everything he needs by which to live is on his cart, and he just let's God tell him where to walk and when to stop and pitch camp for the night.</li>
<li>He is 61 years old and is a cancer victim that required surgery a few years back, and his dog almost died a few days ago -- he told me what the vet told him the dog had, but there was the dog looking amiable and compliant with his master.</li>
<li>I reached in my billfold and handed Rev. Simpson a $20 bill which he accepted graciously. Then I walked to my car and returned with an apple left over from my Super 8 Continental breakfast. That he gladly accepted as well, and we shook hands. As I climbed in my car, a large white SUV appeared from the dirt road and rolled by us onto the highway without giving us a glance. Perhaps heading to church, it was about that time of morning.</li>
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I told Rev. Simpson that I admired him and what he's doing which he labels as "Walking for Christ." But as the miles rolled by after leaving the walker, I started asking myself, "Why did I stop? If he had not been dragging the cross, would I have stopped? I'm not a Christian. Did the fact that he had a dog make him more approachable? Probably so. If he had neither the cross nor the dog, would he have seemed any different that the homeless bums and bag ladies I've seen in Washington DC or San Francisco? Definitely so.</div>
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Then, being incredibly skeptical in my old age, I wonder if old Rev. Lee scammed me. Maybe he just lives in the area, and on Sunday mornings he gets out this cross and heads down the highway to earn a little money. I don't think so but if he did, HURRAH for him. I'm sure if a Christian God were watching this Sunday morning, she probably had much bigger scams of her followers to deal with than the Rev. Lee Simpson.</div>
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I "Googled" Rev. Simpson's name this evening. He has no website, no radio talk show, no books nor tapes to sell. I envision him in camp right now bedded down with his dog beside him. That's what I want to "perceive" but not necessarily "believe." For to "believe" means you absolutely know something is true. In my mind, "truth" is elusive and becoming more endangered every day.</div>
</span></div>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-83114174871417427212010-05-22T08:57:00.000-05:002013-08-12T06:20:37.945-05:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Recently, I learned that Kenneth Starr will be the next President of Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Virtually everyone over the age of 30 will remember him as the independent prosecutor whose investigation led to the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton in December 1998. This past week, Starr's appointment led to a conversation started on Facebook among the friends of Stan Risener -- Stan is a guy who is always starting a wide range of interesting topics. <br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Immediately, Stan's friends lined up on both sides with comments--pro-Starr and anti-Starr. I weighed in on the latter side but eventually posed the question as to whether MORALITY and COMPETENCE go hand in hand, or can one be very competent but then go home and abuse family members, for example. That kept the ball rolling a couple more days, and I think we're all tired of the subject now.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Well, right now I'm on a retreat of sorts that is helping me adjust both my mental and physical conditions. A writer-historian friend, Cathie Reilly, has encouraged me to pick up on my stalled writing projects and get productive again. I'm accepting the challenge.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>To get myself going, I spent last night on my laptop computer searching through and separating out any incomplete writing projects. Well, I found my folder of "Letters to the Editor Never Sent." In it was a February 1998 letter I had written that expressed my view at the time the Clinton sex scandal came to light. Now 12 years later, the letter is being published here on my Blog for anyone who is interested. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Recognize that, in 1998 when I wrote the piece below, I was a Democrat having switched from the Republican Party in the mid-1980s. Now, I'm a devout Independent having decided around 2003 or 2004 that neither party was of any value. Well, here it is.</div>
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<b>Why I Approve of President William Clinton<br />February 1, 1998<br />By Ken Brown, Springfield, MO</b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Like many Americans, I’ve endured the emotional roller coaster of the presidential sex scandal of the past few weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like most I was titillated sometimes and bewildered most of the time as the media put out a barrage of facts that .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I groped (oops, I grasped) for some solitude and a chance to think through some of what was happening in our society.</span></o:p></b></span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I found that solitude at a rural monastery in the Ozarks hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As part of its Christian mission, the Assumption Abbey near Ava, MO, opens its doors to anyone looking for a chance to step back and reflect on life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a Christ-like manner, the monks asked nothing of its guests other than to be present for meals lest food be wasted, and to honor the solemnity of their institution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Under their system, the only chance for conversation is with other guests during meals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On one of these occasions, I fell into a discussion with two other guests, who like myself turned out to be educators, about an assortment of interesting topics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inevitably, the conversation disintegrated to the more earthy presidential sex scandal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surprisingly, we soon realized that all agreed on one aspect of the matter: the premise that presidential effectiveness and leadership is somehow correlated with marital fidelity simply is NOT supported by historical perceptions of who did and who didn’t, going all the way back to, yes, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our founding fathers</i>.</div>
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None of us around the table, as we finished our meager meal of homemade bread and potato soup prepared by the Brothers, doubted President Clinton’s capability for infidelity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as the Monks asked nothing about our private lives before inviting us into their midst, we just didn’t believe the President’s private life is our affair, and we were mystified about Kenneth Starr’s role in the matter (a view shared by Molly Ivins and Tom Teepen in their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Springfield News-Leader</i> editorials of Jan. 27 and Jan. 28, 1998 respectively).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The contention that our presidents should somehow have less rights than you and me didn’t seem right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Our defense of Clinton was NOT for his benefit but for the position he will leave for the next politician to follow<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The New Zealander at our table suggested the time might be right for the United States to have a prime minister tied to the majority party rather than the current irrationality of a President inherently at odds with a opposing party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s correct if we insist on a President whose personal profile could only be fulfilled by Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This latter thought, however, gives cause to reflect on Senator John Ashcroft, whose assertion of marital fidelity make him better qualified than others for the next presidency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People who have known John personally, including me, say that is a plausible assertion for him to make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That fact should cause John to get Janet Ashcroft’s vote but is otherwise none of our business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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More important to the voting public is the need to know what backrooms, not bedrooms, you went through on your way to the White House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I suspect that the political backrooms test every candidate’s moral and ethical fiber.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, this is an opportunity for Senator Ashcroft to get national attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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And before this letter goes to print, President Clinton could well be forced out of office on such grounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around the table at the Monks’ retreat all of use gathered concurred that the European model which separates the public and private lives of politicians, would serve us better.</div>
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As I drove out of the hills from the retreat on this 1998 super-bowl Sunday afternoon, I tuned in on a national conservative talk show in which the host had already decided that Clinton was history, and no doubt to keep his ratings alive was beginning to roast Vice President Gore as being even worse: reason, “he’s an environmental nut.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lest we ever forget her immortal words of wisdom, Roseanne Rosannadanna said it best: “It’s always something.”</div>
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Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-49534776841547071602010-05-21T07:31:00.000-05:002010-05-21T07:38:52.137-05:00Good Friday!I'm a very lucky person today. After months of trying to help out family members for the last two weeks I've been helping out myself. I'm in southwest Arkansas several hundred miles away from Springfield. I've played two rounds of golf this week, and I discovered some land record information for my wife's family in Ouachita County, Arkansas. Today, I'm headed first to the Nevada County, Arkansas courthouse at Prescott to search land records for the Neal surname. If there's time, I'm going to return to Hope Arkansas where I'm staying and do some land record search at the Hempstead County courthouse.Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-55851450016910462902010-03-23T11:58:00.000-05:002010-05-21T07:31:01.466-05:00Senior citizens, we must sacrifice.<ul><li>People before have told me I'm an idealist. </li><li>I support health care reform and I should be happy today -- President Obama signed it into law earlier today. But instead, I have a very heavy heart -- I perceive that "The American People" are fractured into so many pieces, and our politicians are forced to select a set of them that help them get re-elected. Some are greedy, some are lazy, some have major health issues, some are deep poverty. We have thousands of high school age children not in school when they should be, and we have thousands of people in our colleges who have no business being there. We senior citizens can get incredible health care for our aging bodies when a 10-year old child can bankrupt his/her family by just being born with a bad heart.</li><li><br /></li></ul>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6298394496718513036.post-26251369630408004202010-02-18T09:58:00.000-06:002010-03-23T11:58:32.318-05:00Change<div><ol><li>Change -- I read in Newsweek a piece about change occurs gradually, not in jumps. Here in the United States, virtually every one wants major changes, and they want them now. Interestingly, we talk out of both sides of our American mouths -- we want government to fix any major problem that comes up, but then we don't want big government at all. Even economists disagree on whether the Federal Government should fix the economy or just back away and let us fix ourselves. </li><li>Past and Future -- My reading material at the moment is a recent copy of "U.S. History for Dummies," by Steve Wiegand. It's written for adult idiots like myself, not school children. Also, I doubt if it's marked as "acceptable" on the reading list of James Dobson and his "Focus on the Family" organization. Our Founding Fathers just aren't portrayed quite as in touch with God as his group would like us to believe.</li><li>Focus on the Family -- I just jumped to the Focus on the Family Website <a href="http://www.focusonthefamily.com/">http://www.focusonthefamily.com/</a> Apparently the website's current hero is former Florida football star, Tim Tebow, whose mother chose not to abort him. Until about a year ago, I studied the Bible with a great bunch of devout Christian guys over at Glendale Christian Church here in Springfield, MO. I'm not able to attend their early morning sessions anymore because I'm caring for a beautiful little one year old granddaughter who was an abortion candidate momentarily before love and common sense prevailed.</li><li>Abortion -- Through the Glendale guys, I was able to observe that much of their political energies seemed to be focused on the abortion issue. Pro-life was virtually the only litmus test for any political candidate (that and anti-gay rights). I don't think anyone will disagree that political strategists on the right have used the issues to mobilize Christians to vote a certain way. Something happened recently (a Supreme Court decision) that made me think the political right doesn't really want Roe vs. Wade overturned because then the Christians will go back to doing their "churchy thing" (Palin language), and not be so likely to turn out on election day.</li><li>Supreme Court Decision on Corporations -- if you're reading this from the right wing, I'd like to know how you feel about the recent Supreme Court decision that corporations should not be limited on their contributions to political campaigns -- one of those left-wing commie professor types suggested that perhaps the Supreme Court was really just acknowledging what some feel is already the case; i.e., that we're really governed by corporate and special interest lobbyists anyway, and the five conservative judges just pulled it out from under the table. I'm cool with the decision (or rather resigned to it). But if the conservatives still have a 5 to 4 edge, why don't they overturn Roe vs. Wade? Are you thinking what I'm thinking? The abortion issue is needed to keep the Christians in the voting booth for the right? </li><li>Voting Republican in 2010? -- I'm a devout Independent who has some Socialist views and a Capitalist wife of 44 years. Still, I'm thinking about voting Republican in 2010. Why? Because some recipients of entitlements are going to have to be told no, and I think the Republicans can do that more easily than the other side. </li></ol></div>Ozark Unclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13341799329525805285noreply@blogger.com2