The Richard Randall Show

FRANK'S PLEDGE

2012-02-07T08:42:00.001-08:00

INTRODUCTION Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution demands that every president of the United States must be a “natural-born citizen. As evidenced by the veil of secrecy and cover-up surrounding the incumbent president’s official records of birth, as well as other incriminating documents, which he fails to make public and available to the American people, it is imperative that the vetting process include a thorough vetting as to the eligibility of all the presidential candidates, irrespective of political party. Accordingly, the following resolution is submitted for consideration and adoption by the Colorado Republican Party and is referred to in short as the “Constitutional Eligibility” resolution, which reads in bold as follows. CONSTITUTIONAL ELIGIBILITY RESOLUTION In order to ensure that candidates are eligible to be President of the United States of America under Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, which requires a candidate to be a natural-born citizen, be it hereby known that each candidate willpublicly disclose official hard copies of their birth certificate, school transcripts, and passports for thorough examination and allow verification of their SSANs to ensure no irregularities, such as having a SSAN from a state in which they’ve never lived. All candidates’ documents will be subject to professional analyses by forensic and graphics experts to ensure that they are, in deed, valid official documents of record and not forgeries. RATIONALE AND JUSTIFICATION Military personnel & others are required to show proof of citizenship in order to get a job. Should we expect anything less from those who are applying for the most important job in the country? Just like any other market or job application, we need to know what and who we are getting before we buy or hire. We, the electorate are supposed to be the boss in a free, Constitutional Republic; ergo, we should be as thorough as we can be to ensure that we are getting the best candidate (employee), who is both eligible and qualified for the office. I believe if this is pushed within the Republican Party it will spread beyond the party. All other political parties will be forced to follow suit, including the Democrat party, if they want the support of informed and thoughtful voters. I doubt that anyone would be able to successfully argue against a thorough vetting process, which allows for maximum disclosure of pertinent information regarding a candidate’s eligibility and qualifications. That would be tantamount to suggesting that we shop blindly in the grocery store and randomly pick items off the shelves. As Republican delegates, we should do our best to ensure that each candidate is fully vetted and that official, hard copies of pertinent documents regarding each candidate’s eligibility are thoroughly examined. It’s very important to keep hammering away on this subject, because, as we have seen, it gets lost within the party machinery and rush to get the product to market (candidate on campaign trail and in office). There’s an old saying within computer programming: “Garbage in, garbage out.” And, we’ve seen enough garbage out in previous elections, particularly the 2008 Presidential election with the election of Barack Obama (BO), and didn’t that stink. Dare we continue to make the same mistakes and expect a different outcome? Despite some Republican party functionaries’ reluctance to address the issue of thorough vetting of eligibility and forcing the issue in Congress and elsewhere, we should insist that they stop reneging on their responsibility by their remaining silent and/or chastising those who believe that the Constitution is supreme and trumps political party and/or ideology. Too many times we’ve heard someone tell us that we have more important issues before us and that we should focus on them instead. Talk about shortsighted thinking. What could be more important than the Constitution in a free, Constitutional Republic? Jobs, National Defense, etc., are of little value in the end, if we do not uphold and defend our Constitution. Those who try to bend, twist, or ignore it are only setting up more problems. We can ill afford to allow the continuance of all the chipping away of the Constitution, piece by piece for party or candidate convenience and career. This is how we got into the present mess which we’re in today, the idea that the little things don’t matter and that we can just sweep them aside out of political cowardness (PC) and/or schemes of having a favorite candidate run for a particular office down the road. GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO STAY ON OFFENSE AND GO FOR THE JUGULAR Wars are not won by pussy-footing around and being on the defense and expecting the enemy to relinquish his advance and yield to your cause. It is won by attacking the enemy on all fronts and going for the jugular to win. Either you believe in your cause and fight with all your might for victory or you live under the yoke of your enemy. It’s that simple. And, don’t think for one moment that we aren’t engaged in a war right now here in our country, fighting for our individual freedom and rights and whether we are to remain a free Constitutional Republic or continue to descend into a socialist dictatorship. Accordingly, the stakes are high and I would think that the strategists within the Republican party and the assorted campaign managers would seize the opportunity to bring the eligibility issue right up there on top with the others, since it is a legitimate issue, which has import upon many of the others, particularly National Defense and Foreign Policy. Imagine, if you will, a national debate, whereby a Republican or Independent candidate whips out an official copy of his birth certificate, school transcripts, passports, etc., then announces something like this, “Not only am I qualified to be President and right on the issues, but first and foremost I am eligible to become President, as required by Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution. I can prove my eligibility, yet my opponent has spent approximately $1.5 mil covering up and hiding his records from public scrutiny, attacking and disparaging those who challenge his eligibility, and refusing to appear in court because he’s too busy campaigning, giving our money away, bailing out banks and corporations, bankrupting and apologizing for our country, and playing golf or basketball. Is it any wonder to anyone that this publicly, undocumented socialist, anti-American president takes the positions on immigration and other issues that he does, since he is not a natural-born citizen, which is why our Founding Fathers were concerned about the danger of loyalties to a foreign land and addressed it in the U.S. Constitution?” If the president doesn’t release his records for public scrutiny in like manner and if the debate panelists in the debates and the media in general do not insist or ask the question, then the opposing candidate(s), Republican and Independents should rightfully challenge and ask this question, “Since the panel doesn’t ask the question and are possibly censoring the tweets, I will ask the question. Mr. President, what is in your records that is so secret that you don’t want revealed and us to see, what is it that you are hiding from the American people, Mr. President? As Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces personnel, who have sworn to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, and who put their blood and guts on the line to do so, and who are required to prove their citizenship as do most Americans to get a job, don’t you think that you, too, should provide an official, hard copy of your birth certificate and other pertinent documents? Surely, sir, you don’t think that you are above the law or somehow exempt from showing that you are, in fact, under Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, eligible to be President of the United States of America?” Hopefully, all Republican delegates will approve this resolution and continue to elevate the eligibility issue all the way up to the National convention and insist that whoever is the Republican nominee keep this issue as a high priority item to be brought forth in political ads and debates during the General election. BACKGROUND RESOURCES WND.com is an excellent website, which provides the latest information regarding the eligibility and the birth certificate issue. Also, below is a link to Orly Taitz’s comments after the Court hearing in Atlanta, January 26, 2012, on Barack Obama's ineligibility to be on the Georgia ballot for President. Note the biased and antagonistc attitude of the media rep asking the questions. http://www.wnd.com/?s=Where%27s+The+Birth+Certificate%3F&sort=&order=&from=&to=2012-01-30&category=&author= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2EVrQiOZ1g&list=PL54FAA29E29AD9139&context=C32d20a4ADOEgsToPDskK9TFEtZndLztPRpzwgnFWG An excellent book on the subject is, “Where’s The Birth Certificate? The Case That Barack Obama Is NOT Eligible To Be President, by Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D. You can obtain this book online or locally at Barnes & Noble. If anyone hasn’t read the book, I highly recommend it and the website above as a source for getting up to speed on the subject to demolish the flimsy arguments presented by the media and the Obama enablers in and out of the Democrat party, including some so-called Conservatives. It should be incumbent upon all delegates and candidates, alike, who truly believe in upholding and defending the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, to use these resources, so that they can do their own research and become a powerful influence in arguing the subject and promoting a thorough, eligibility, vetting process, which will surely contribute significantly to a Republican victory in November.

RICK SANTORUM IN COLORADO SPRINGS TUESDAY MORNING

2012-02-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

Rick Santorum will be at a rally on Tuesday morning at 9:00 am at Giuseppe's Depot Restaurant at 10 South Sierra Madre St.

Colorado Springs, CO 80903719-635-3111

NEWT GINGRICH IN COLORADO - MONDAY 11:30

2012-02-05T12:12:00.000-08:00

Newt Gingrich coming to Colorado!!!!2012 Colorado Energy SummitMonday February 6, 2012 - 1:00pm MTGreen Center... 924 16th St.Colorado School of Mines... Golden, CO 80401

Newt Gingrich rally!!!Monday February 6, 2012 - 11:30am MT (Doors open at 10:30am)Marriott Denver West1717 Denver West BoulevardGolden, Colorado 80401... This event is free and open to the public.

MITT ROMNEY RALLY ON SATURDAY

2012-02-02T08:04:00.000-08:00

On Saturday Mitt Romney will be at Springs Fabrication, 850 Aeroplaza Drive in Colorado Springs, for a 2:45 p.m. “Grassroots Rally,”RALLY WITH MITT AT ARAPAHOE HIGH SCHOOLWhen: February 6, 2012 - 6:15pmWhere:Centennial, COJoin Mitt and Team Colorado for a grassroots rally in Centennial.More

CHANGE OF LOCATION FOR SANTORUM RALLY

2012-02-01T14:55:00.000-08:00

Due to demand, the Rick Santorum Rally in Colorado Springs has been moved to Mr. Biggs Event Center at 7:00 p.m. at 5825 Mark Dabling Boulevard

Colorado Springs, CO 80919

HOW TO FIND YOUR CAUCUS LOCATION - TUESDAY FEB. 7th at 7:00 p.m.

2012-02-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

Here's some caucus info from the El Paso County GOP website:Top Two Questions For 2012 CaucusQ: WHAT IS MY NEW PRECINCT NUMBER?A: There are at least three fast and simple ways to determine your new precinct number:1). Go to the Secretary of State web link, www.govotecolorado.com, or click here. Under "View My," click "Registration Status." Click the "Verify/Update Record" button. Complete the form. Your precinct is displayed in a 10-digit number. THE LAST THREE DIGITS indicate your precinct. For instance, the LAST THREE DIGITS ni the number 5101621150 are 150. The precinct number is 150.2) You will receive a Voter Information Card from the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder. That Card will include your precinct number, as well as other information concerning your new districts.3) You can find your precinct on a map at this link, provided by the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder. http://car.elpasoco.com/Election/Documents/2012%20Proposed%20Plan.pdf.Q: WHERE IS MY CAUCUS?A: You can find your caucus quickly by checking this link: www.caucus.cologop.org. This is a pre-registration for the caucus on Tuesday, February 7th, 7:00 PM. Fill in your address, submit, and then you'll see your caucus location. So easy!If you have any questions or if you would like assistance, please call the GOP Headquarters at 719-578-0022.We hope to see you at the CAUCUS ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7th, 7:00 PM!

2012-01-31T11:35:00.000-08:00

RESUME FOR RICHARD RANDALL EDUCATION:The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois - Juris Doctor, 1981Saint Joseph's College, Hammond, Indiana - B.A. Communication Arts, Journalism, cum laude, 1978 - B.A. Communication Arts, Radio & Television, cum laude, 1978AWARDS: - “Best Radio Talk Show” – The Colorado Springs Independent – 2011, KVOR- “Best Radio Talk Show” – The Colorado Springs Independent – 2010, KVORIndie Spirit Film Festival – 20010- “Best Radio Talk Show” – The Colorado Springs Independent – 2009, KVOR- “Best Radio Talk Show” – The Colorado Springs Independen – 2008, KVORShorts Film Corner – Cannes International Film Festival – 2007Feature Documentary Film – Memphis International Film Festival – 2006Feature Documentary Film – Denver International Film Festival – 2005Feature Documentary Film – Denver International Film Festival – 2005- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, Documentary, 2005, KVOR - 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Documentary, 2004, KVOR - 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Spot News, 2003, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Best Use Of Sound, 2003, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Best Morning Show, 2003, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, Feature Story, 2003, KVOR - 1st Place, Communicator Awards, Documentary, 2003, KCSJ- Honorable Mention, Communicator Awards, Documentary, 2003, NPREdward R. Murrow Regional Award, Spot News, 2002, KVOR Edward R. Murrow Regional Award, News Documentary, 2002, KVOR - 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Investigative Reporting, 2002, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Spot News, 2002, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Spot News, 2002, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, General Reporting, 2002, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, Feature, 2002, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, Documentary, 2002, KVOR- 1st Place, Communicator Awards, Documentary, 2002, NPR - Honorable Mention, Communicator Awards, Documentary, 2002, KVOREdward R. Murrow Regional Award, Spot News, 2001, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Documentary, 2001, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Spot News, 2001, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, General Reporting, 2001, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Broadcasters, News, 2001, KVOR- 2nd Place Colorado Broadcasters, Feature Reporting, 2001, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, Documentary, 2001, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, Spot News, 2001, KVOREdward R. Murrow National Award, Sports Reporting, 2000, KVOREdward R. Murrow Regional Award, Sports Reporting, 2000, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Documentary, 2000, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Sports Reporting, 2000, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Broadcasters, Feature Reporting, 2000, KVOR- “Best Radio Talk Show” – The Colorado Springs Gazette – 2000, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Broadcasters, Best News/Talk Team 2000, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, Investigative Reporting, 2000, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, Feature Reporting, 2000, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Broadcasters, Best News/Talk Team 1999, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Broadcasters, Best Remote Broadcast 1999, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Broadcasters, Best News/Talk Team 1999, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Broadcasters, Best Remote Broadcast 1999, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Investigative Reporting, 1999, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Spot News, 1999, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, Investigative Reporting, 1999, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, Documentary, 1999, KVOR“Best Radio Talk Show Host” – The Colorado Springs Gazette – 1999, KVOR“Best Talk Show Host” – The Colorado Springs Independent – 1999, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Investigative Reporting, 1998, KVOR- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, Investigative Reporting, 1998, KVOR- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Documentary, 1997, KKTV- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, General Reporting, 1996, KKTV- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, General Reporting, 1996, KKTV- 1st Place, Colorado Broadcasters, Public Affairs Program, 1996, KKTV- 1st Place, Colorado Broadcasters, Single Topic News, 1995, KKTV- 1st Place, Colorado Broadcasters, Sports Special, 1995, KKTV- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Spot News, 1995, KKTV- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, General Reporting, 1995, KKTV- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, Investigative Reporting, 1995, KKTV- 2nd Place, Colorado Associated Press, General Reporting, 1995, KKTV- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Spot News, 1994, KKTV- 1st Place, Colorado Associated Press, Sports Special, 1994, KKTV- 2nd Place, Colorado Broadcasters, Single Topic News, 1994, KKTV- 1st Place, Colorado Broadcasters, Lifestyle Reporting, 1992, KKTV- 2nd Place, Colorado Broadcasters, Spot News, 1992, KKTV - 1st Place, Illinois Associated Press, Best Newswriter, 1991, WAND- 1st Place, Illinois Associated Press, Best Feature, 1990, WANDKVOR - RADIO - Colorado Springs, ColoradoTalkshow HostApril, 1997 - present Richard Randall Show (Afternoon Talkshow) – 1997 to 2001Richard Randall Show Mach II (Morning Talkshow)– 2005 to 2006CS Morning Update, Saturday Edition w/ Richard Randall 2007 - 2008Richard Randall Show Mach III (Morning Talkshow)– 2008 to present

KKTV-11 - Colorado Springs, ColoradoNews Anchor, General Assignment & Legal Reporter March 1992 – June, 1997WAND-TV - Decatur, IllinoisSubstitute Anchor, General Assignment & Legal ReporterOctober 1990 - March 1992WGBO-TV - Chicago, IllinoisHost & Producer of PSA’s & Documentary Summer, 1990THE LAW OFFICES OF JAMES J. Des VEAUX - Chicago, IllinoisLitigation & Appellate Attorney1982 – 1990

RON PAUL MAKES COLORADO SPRINGS WHISTLE STOP

2012-01-30T12:51:00.000-08:00

Congressman Ron Paul to speak at the Colorado Springs Whistle Stop at the City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport Colorado Jet Center, 1575 Aviation Way, Colorado Springs, CO 80916 on Tuesday, January 31st at 2:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.PLEASE NOTE: it is NOT the main airport, but rather the Jet Center located near the old airport site.1575 Aviation WayCity of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, Colorado Springs, CO 80916

RICK SANTORUM IN TELLER COUNTY

2012-01-30T12:39:00.000-08:00

This comes from The Teller County Tea Party Patriots.The Santorum campaign will be making a visit to Teller County. As you might know, Rick visited all 99 counties in Iowa prior to their caucuses. He has little time in Colorado before our February 7th Caucuses and would like to take time for us. Colorado is a very important swing state in the upcoming Presidential elections. Rick has chosen to visit us here in Teller County. The time slot is a very narrow window and we can only make it happen during the day on Wednesday. 1:00pm - 3:00pm. We know this is a work day for most, but if it is possible, please come join us. It will be an open forum and there will be plenty of time, after his initial speech, for you to personally meet with him and get your questions answered directly.

RICK SANTORUM IN COLORADO SPRINGS

2012-01-30T12:31:00.000-08:00

THE RICK SANTORUM "FAITH, FAMILY, AND FREEDOM TOUR" IS COMING TO COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO!Wednesday, February 1st,7:00 pm-9:00pm Crusaders Hall2221 N. Wahsatch AvenueColorado Springs, CO 80907Parking on East side of the building and along Monroe Street by Bonforte ParkOverflow parking could possibly be at the Bon Stopping Center on Wahsatch.Any Questions Please call Robin Coran at 719-460-0888Tom IntorcioField DirectorRick Santorum for Presidentc: 303.349.9224tintorcio@ricksantorum.comFacebook & TwitterRobin CoranPhone (719)460-0888Email/ rcoran@msn.com

[T]he only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government is the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible. -Benjamin Franklin =

WATCH OBAMA'S STATE OF THE UNION WITH ME

2012-01-23T08:50:00.000-08:00

Colorado State of the Union Watch EventJeff Crank and Richard RandallJoin Americans for Prosperity Colorado, State Director Jeff Crank and KVOR talk show host Richard Randall on January 24, 2012 for a State of the Union Watch Event in Colorado Springs. Come join us for this free event where food will be provided. This is an opportunity to learn about how President Obama's agenda for the next years stacks up against America's free-market, free-enterprise roots.Tuesday, January 24, 20126:00 p.m.Stargazers Theater10 S. Parkside DriveColorado Springs, CO 80910

THE BOOK I TOLD YOU ABOUT - "ON KILLING"

2012-01-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

From Publishers WeeklyDrawing on interviews, published personal accounts and academic studies, Grossman investigates the psychology of killing in combat. Stressing that human beings have a powerful, innate resistance to the taking of life, he examines the techniques developed by the military to overcome that aversion. His provocative study focuses in particular on the Vietnam war, revealing how the American soldier was "enabled to kill to a far greater degree than any other soldier in history." Grossman argues that the breakdown of American society, combined with the pervasive violence in the media and interactive video games, is conditioning our children to kill in a manner siimilar to the army's conditioning of soldiers: "We are reaching that stage of desensitization at which the infliction of pain and suffering has become a source of entertainment: vicarious pleasure rather than revulsion. We are learning to kill, and we are learning to like it." Grossman, a professor of military science at Arkansas State University, has written a study of relevance to a society of escalating violence. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.From Library JournalGrossman (psychology, West Point) presents three important hypotheses: 1) That humans possess the reluctance to kill their own kind; 2) that this reluctance can be systematically broken down by use of standard conditioning techniques; and 3) that the reaction of "normal" (e.g., non-psychopathic) soliders to having killed in close combat can be best understood as a series of "stages" similar to the ubiquitous Kubler-Ross stages of reaction to life-threatening disease. While some of the evidence to support his theories have been previously presented by military historians (most notably, John Keegan), this systematic examination of the individual soldier's behavior, like all good scientific theory making, leads to a series of useful explanations for a variety of phenomena, such as the high rate of post traumatic stress disorders among Vietnam veterans, why the rate of aggravated assault continues to climb, and why civilian populations that have endured heavy bombing in warfare do not have high incidents of mental illness. This important book deserves a wide readership. Essential for all libraries serving military personnel or veterans, including most public libraries.Mary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, Wash.Biography: Lieutenant Colonel Dave GrossmanLT. COL. DAVE GROSSMAN, U.S. Army (Ret.) Director, Warrior Science Group, www.killology.com: Member, American Board for Certification in Homeland Security; Member, American College of Forensic Examiners InstituteLt. Col. Dave Grossman is an internationally recognized scholar, author, soldier, and speaker who is one of the world's foremost experts in the field of human aggression and the roots of violence and violent crime.Col. Grossman is a former West Point psychology professor, Professor of Military Science, and an Army Ranger who has combined his experiences to become the founder of a new field of scientific endeavor, which has been termed “killology.” In this new field Col. Grossman has made revolutionary new contributions to our understanding of killing in war, the psychological costs of war, the root causes of the current "virus" of violent crime that is raging around the world, and the process of healing the victims of violence, in war and peace.He is the author of On Killing, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize; has been translated into Japanese, Korean, and German; is on the U.S. Marine Corps Commandant's required reading list; and is required reading at the FBI academy and numerous other academies and colleges. Col. Grossman co-authored Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence, which has been translated into Norwegian and German, and has received international acclaim. Col. Grossman's most recent book, On Combat, has also placed on the U.S. Marine Corps Commandant's Required Reading List and has been translated into Japanese and Korean.Col. Grossman has been called upon to write the entry on “Aggression and Violence” in the Oxford Companion to American Military History, three entries in the Academic Press Encyclopedia of Violence and numerous entries in scholarly journals, to include the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.He has presented papers before the national conventions of the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has presented to over 100 different colleges and universities worldwide, and has trained educators and law enforcement professionals, in the field of school safety, at the state and regional level, in all 50 states and over a dozen foreign nations.He helped train mental health professionals after the Jonesboro school shootings, and he was also involved in counseling or court cases in the aftermath of the Paducah, Springfield, Littleton, Virginia Tech, and Nickel Mines Amish school shootings.He has been an expert witness and consultant in state and Federal courts, to include serving on the prosecution team in UNITED STATES vs. TIMOTHY MCVEIGH.He has testified before U.S. Senate and Congressional committees and numerous state legislatures, and he and his research have been cited in a national address by the President of the United States.Col. Grossman is an Airborne Ranger infantry officer, and a prior-service sergeant and paratrooper, with a total of over 23 years experience in leading U.S. soldiers worldwide. He retired from the Army in February 1998 and has devoted himself to teaching, writing, speaking, and research. Today he is the director of the Killology Research Group, and in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks he is on the road almost 300 days a year, training elite military and law enforcement organizations worldwide about the reality of combat.

JIM RUDER - 1929-2011

2012-01-12T20:27:00.000-08:00

I will miss Jim and wish I had spent more time with him. I was VERY proud to call him "friend". If a person is known by company he keeps... when I saw all of the people I knew at his Memorial I realized what a rich life he had, and how he had enriched theirs. God Bless You Jim, and thanks.R2/2.0

James Calhoun Ruder, better known in Ivywild as "the German Shepherd Guy", passed away very suddenly on Wed, Nov. 10th, 2011. He was 82 years old. He will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him well, and slightly missed by hundreds of people who barely knew him at all. For more than 37 years, Mr. Ruder walked a German Shepherd or two around the streets of Ivywild. During that time he chatted with neighbors, observed problematic dwellings, and otherwise kept watch on us all. He was, in many respects, the epitome of the solitary man, and yet, he was connected to so many of us. Jim Ruder was born to Ralph Emerson Ruder and Evelyn Arnold (Ruder) in Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 6, 1929. He attended prep school at Mercersburg Academy (PA.). He then went on to receive an MBA from Stanford (1953). He was ROTC becoming an officer for the Air Research and Development Command (A.F.) He then spent 1956-59 working for the Martin company and from 1959-61 working for Lockheed. He owned and operated Hermosa Orchards (1963-68), then Fruitland Trading Company (1971-78). He became a partner in Mountain Drilling Company from 1970-75, and was a Private Security Analyst starting about 1980, primarily in gold mining equities. This interest led him to become a Board member and eventually the Chairman of the Board of Golden Cycle from 2002-08. Jim is survived by: a sister Alison (Ruder) Thomas and her husband Edward Morris Thomas, of Glenview, Ill; a brother Dr. John Regan Ruder of Palatine, Ill.; a sister Josephine Ruder Perrone of Boulder, CO. and nieces and nephews. He also left behind his two German Shepherds, Holly and Duke who have been faithful companions for 10 and 8 years respectively. Certainly he is now overjoyed to be reunited on some distant shore with his other 16 German Shepherds (from years past), all of whom will greet him with wagging tails, barks of joy and expectant mouths awaiting that next biscuit. Rest in Peace, Jim. Service: Saturday, December 10, 11:00am., in the Lehmberg Chapel at the First United Methodist Church, 420 N. Nevada Ave. 471-8522. In lieu of flowers and cards, donations can be made in Jim's name to Hillsdale College, 33 East College Street, Hillsdale, MI 49242.

LIFEQUEST MUSIC CAMP

2012-01-12T17:27:00.001-08:00

BINGE DRINKING AT ALARMING RATE - THIS IS THE MOVIE TO WATCH BEFORE YOUR KIDS HEAD OFF TO COLLEGE

2012-01-10T15:06:00.000-08:00

(CDC news release) -- More than 38 million U.S. adults binge drink an average of four times a month and the most drinks they consume on average is eight according to a new report released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While binge drinking is more common among young adults ages 18–34, of those age 65 and older who report binge drinking, they do so more often – an average of five to six times a month.Binge drinking is more common among those with household incomes of $75,000 or more, but the largest number of drinks consumed per occasion is significantly higher among binge drinkers with household incomes of less than $25,000 -- an average of eight to nine drinks, the report said.Binge drinking is defined as consuming four or more drinks for women and five or more drinks for men on an occasion. Binge drinkers also put themselves and others at risk for many health and social problems, including car crashes, other unintentional injuries, violence, liver disease, certain cancers, heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases, and both unintended and alcohol–exposed pregnancies.Drinking too much, including binge drinking, causes more than 80,000 deaths in the United States each year, making it the third leading preventable cause of death, and was responsible for more than $223.5 billion in economic costs in 2006. Over half of these deaths result from injuries that disproportionately involve young people.“Binge drinking causes a wide range of health, social and economic problems and this report confirms the problem is really widespread,” CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden said in the news release. “We need to work together to implement proven measures to reduce binge drinking at national, state and community levels.”Adult binge drinking is most common in the Midwest, New England, the District of Columbia, Alaska and Hawaii, the report said. However, binge drinkers consume more drinks in the southern part of the Mountain states (Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah), the Midwest, and some states where binge drinking is less common – including Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina.CDC scientists analyzed data on self–reports of binge drinking within the past 30 days for about 458,000 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older. The data were in the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The data used in this study included about 36,000 cell phone respondents.“It is alarming that binge drinkers are consuming so much alcohol with such regularity,” Robert Brewer, M.D., M.S.P.H. said in the news release. “The risk to their lives can be reduced. CDC is working in collaboration with our partners to strengthen binge drinking prevention through improved public health surveillance of excessive alcohol use and by supporting the implementation of community–based prevention strategies that can reduce excessive drinking.”Adult binge drinking also casts a shadow on future generations.“Binge drinking by adults has a huge public health impact, and influences the drinking behavior of underage youth by the example it sets,” said Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrator Pamela S. HydeExternal Web Site Icon. “We need to reduce binge drinking by adults to prevent the immediate and long–term effects it has on the health of adults and youth.”Haze SynopsisOn the afternoon of September 16, 2004, a joyous 18-year-old, Lynn Gordon Bailey Jr., pledged Chi Psi Fraternity at the University of Colorado. The next morning he was found dead, a victim of an irresponsible hazing ritual involving alcohol. A sad situation, but made even worse because it was so preventable.Every year, a staggering 1,700 college students face the same fate. Another 100,000 are victims of sexual assault as a result of heavy drinking. But no one working on a national level to change a culture that puts our young people in peril. Until now.HAZE is a feature documentary, created with the intent of placing a focus on the issues of binge drinking, alcohol-laden hazing rituals, and rapid-fire drinking games. Simply stated, the film's goal is to save lives and prevent harm. Harm that would never have happened if a few crucial steps had been followed by friends, by fraternity brothers and sisters, family members or peers. HAZE won't end irresponsible drinking but it will be the first chapter in an educational process for parents and young adults--teaching us what to do and what to look out for in order to "save a life."Click Q&A for an interview with Pete Schuermann (Director, Haze) and Michael Lanahan (Executive Producer, Haze).

COMMON SENSE - PUBLISHED 1/10/1776

2012-01-10T14:48:00.000-08:00

Common SenseBy Thomas PaineIntroductionPERHAPS the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason. As a long and violent abuse of power is generally the means of calling the right of it in question, (and in matters too which might never have been thought of, had not the sufferers been aggravated into the inquiry,) and as the king of England hath undertaken in his own right, to support the parliament in what he calls theirs, and as the good people of this country are grievously oppressed by the combination, they have an undoubted privilege to inquire into the pretensions of both, and equally to reject the usurpations of either.In the following sheets, the author hath studiously avoided every thing which is personal among ourselves. Compliments as well as censure to individuals make no part thereof. The wise and the worthy need not the triumph of a pamphlet; and those whose sentiments are injudicious or unfriendly, will cease of themselves, unless too much pains is bestowed upon their conversion.The cause of America is, in a great measure, the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all lovers of mankind are affected, and in the event of which, their affections are interested. The laying a country desolate with fire and sword, declaring war against the natural rights of all mankind, and extirpating the defenders thereof from the face of the earth, is the concern of every man to whom nature hath given the power of feeling; of which class, regardless of party censure, isTHE AUTHOR.Philadelphia, Feb. 14, 1776. OF THE ORIGIN AND DESIGN OF GOVERNMENT IN GENERAL. WITH CONCISE REMARKS ON THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONSOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamities is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer! Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise. For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform, and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver; but that not being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish means for the protection of the rest; and this he is induced to do by the same prudence which in every other case advises him out of two evils to choose the least. Wherefore, security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows that whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expense and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others.In order to gain a clear and just idea of the design and end of government, let us suppose a small number of persons settled in some sequestered part of the earth, unconnected with the rest, they will then represent the first peopling of any country, or of the world. In this state of natural liberty, society will be their first thought. A thousand motives will excite them thereto, the strength of one man is so unequal to his wants, and his mind so unfitted for perpetual solitude, that he is soon obliged to seek assistance and relief of another, who in his turn requires the same. Four or five united would be able to raise a tolerable dwelling in the midst of a wilderness, but one man might labor out the common period of life without accomplishing any thing; when he had felled his timber he could not remove it, nor erect it after it was removed; hunger in the mean time would urge him from his work, and every different want call him a different way. Disease, nay even misfortune would be death, for though neither might be mortal, yet either would disable him from living, and reduce him to a state in which he might rather be said to perish than to die.Thus necessity, like a gravitating power, would soon form our newly arrived emigrants into society, the reciprocal blessings of which, would supersede, and render the obligations of law and government unnecessary while they remained perfectly just to each other; but as nothing but heaven is impregnable to vice, it will unavoidably happen, that in proportion as they surmount the first difficulties of emigration, which bound them together in a common cause, they will begin to relax in their duty and attachment to each other; and this remissness, will point out the necessity, of establishing some form of government to supply the defect of moral virtue.Some convenient tree will afford them a State-House, under the branches of which, the whole colony may assemble to deliberate on public matters. It is more than probable that their first laws will have the title only of Regulations, and be enforced by no other penalty than public disesteem. In this first parliament every man, by natural right will have a seat.But as the colony increases, the public concerns will increase likewise, and the distance at which the members may be separated, will render it too inconvenient for all of them to meet on every occasion as at first, when their number was small, their habitations near, and the public concerns few and trifling. This will point out the convenience of their consenting to leave the legislative part to be managed by a select number chosen from the whole body, who are supposed to have the same concerns at stake which those have who appointed them, and who will act in the same manner as the whole body would act were they present. If the colony continue increasing, it will become necessary to augment the number of the representatives, and that the interest of every part of the colony may be attended to, it will be found best to divide the whole into convenient parts, each part sending its proper number; and that the elected might never form to themselves an interest separate from the electors, prudence will point out the propriety of having elections often; because as the elected might by that means return and mix again with the general body of the electors in a few months, their fidelity to the public will be secured by the prudent reflection of not making a rod for themselves. And as this frequent interchange will establish a common interest with every part of the community, they will mutually and naturally support each other, and on this (not on the unmeaning name of king) depends the strength of government, and the happiness of the governed.Here then is the origin and rise of government; namely, a mode rendered necessary by the inability of moral virtue to govern the world; here too is the design and end of government, viz., freedom and security. And however our eyes may be dazzled with snow, or our ears deceived by sound; however prejudice may warp our wills, or interest darken our understanding, the simple voice of nature and of reason will say, it is right.I draw my idea of the form of government from a principle in nature, which no art can overturn, viz., that the more simple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered, and the easier repaired when disordered; and with this maxim in view, I offer a few remarks on the so much boasted constitution of England. That it was noble for the dark and slavish times in which it was erected is granted. When the world was overrun with tyranny the least therefrom was a glorious rescue. But that it is imperfect, subject to convulsions, and incapable of producing what it seems to promise, is easily demonstrated.Absolute governments (though the disgrace of human nature) have this advantage with them, that they are simple; if the people suffer, they know the head from which their suffering springs, know likewise the remedy, and are not bewildered by a variety of causes and cures. But the constitution of England is so exceedingly complex, that the nation may suffer for years together without being able to discover in which part the fault lies, some will say in one and some in another, and every political physician will advise a different medicine.I know it is difficult to get over local or long standing prejudices, yet if we will suffer ourselves to examine the component parts of the English constitution, we shall find them to be the base remains of two ancient tyrannies, compounded with some new republican materials.First.- The remains of monarchical tyranny in the person of the king. Secondly.- The remains of aristocratical tyranny in the persons of the peers. Thirdly.- The new republican materials, in the persons of the commons, on whose virtue depends the freedom of England.The two first, by being hereditary, are independent of the people; wherefore in a constitutional sense they contribute nothing towards the freedom of the state.To say that the constitution of England is a union of three powers reciprocally checking each other, is farcical, either the words have no meaning, or they are flat contradictions.To say that the commons is a check upon the king, presupposes two things.First.- That the king is not to be trusted without being looked after, or in other words, that a thirst for absolute power is the natural disease of monarchy. Secondly.- That the commons, by being appointed for that purpose, are either wiser or more worthy of confidence than the crown.But as the same constitution which gives the commons a power to check the king by withholding the supplies, gives afterwards the king a power to check the commons, by empowering him to reject their other bills; it again supposes that the king is wiser than those whom it has already supposed to be wiser than him. A mere absurdity!There is something exceedingly ridiculous in the composition of monarchy; it first excludes a man from the means of information, yet empowers him to act in cases where the highest judgment is required. The state of a king shuts him from the world, yet the business of a king requires him to know it thoroughly; wherefore the different parts, unnaturally opposing and destroying each other, prove the whole character to be absurd and useless.Some writers have explained the English constitution thus; the king, say they, is one, the people another; the peers are an house in behalf of the king; the commons in behalf of the people; but this hath all the distinctions of an house divided against itself; and though the expressions be pleasantly arranged, yet when examined they appear idle and ambiguous; and it will always happen, that the nicest construction that words are capable of, when applied to the description of something which either cannot exist, or is too incomprehensible to be within the compass of description, will be words of sound only, and though they may amuse the ear, they cannot inform the mind, for this explanation includes a previous question, viz. How came the king by a power which the people are afraid to trust, and always obliged to check? Such a power could not be the gift of a wise people, neither can any power, which needs checking, be from God; yet the provision, which the constitution makes, supposes such a power to exist.But the provision is unequal to the task; the means either cannot or will not accomplish the end, and the whole affair is a felo de se; for as the greater weight will always carry up the less, and as all the wheels of a machine are put in motion by one, it only remains to know which power in the constitution has the most weight, for that will govern; and though the others, or a part of them, may clog, or, as the phrase is, check the rapidity of its motion, yet so long as they cannot stop it, their endeavors will be ineffectual; the first moving power will at last have its way, and what it wants in speed is supplied by time.That the crown is this overbearing part in the English constitution needs not be mentioned, and that it derives its whole consequence merely from being the giver of places pensions is self evident, wherefore, though we have and wise enough to shut and lock a door against absolute monarchy, we at the same time have been foolish enough to put the crown in possession of the key.The prejudice of Englishmen, in favor of their own government by king, lords, and commons, arises as much or more from national pride than reason. Individuals are undoubtedly safer in England than in some other countries, but the will of the king is as much the law of the land in Britain as in France, with this difference, that instead of proceeding directly from his mouth, it is handed to the people under the most formidable shape of an act of parliament. For the fate of Charles the First, hath only made kings more subtle not- more just.Wherefore, laying aside all national pride and prejudice in favor of modes and forms, the plain truth is, that it is wholly owing to the constitution of the people, and not to the constitution of the government that the crown is not as oppressive in England as in Turkey.An inquiry into the constitutional errors in the English form of government is at this time highly necessary; for as we are never in a proper condition of doing justice to others, while we continue under the influence of some leading partiality, so neither are we capable of doing it to ourselves while we remain fettered by any obstinate prejudice. And as a man, who is attached to a prostitute, is unfitted to choose or judge of a wife, so any prepossession in favor of a rotten constitution of government will disable us from discerning a good one.OF MONARCHY AND HEREDITARY SUCCESSIONMANKIND being originally equals in the order of creation, the equality could only be destroyed by some subsequent circumstance; the distinctions of rich, and poor, may in a great measure be accounted for, and that without having recourse to the harsh, ill-sounding names of oppression and avarice. Oppression is often the consequence, but seldom or never the means of riches; and though avarice will preserve a man from being necessitously poor, it generally makes him too timorous to be wealthy. But there is another and greater distinction for which no truly natural or religious reason can be assigned, and that is, the distinction of men into KINGS and SUBJECTS. Male and female are the distinctions of nature, good and bad the distinctions of heaven; but how a race of men came into the world so exalted above the rest, and distinguished like some new species, is worth enquiring into, and whether they are the means of happiness or of misery to mankind.In the early ages of the world, according to the scripture chronology, there were no kings; the consequence of which was there were no wars; it is the pride of kings which throw mankind into confusion. Holland without a king hath enjoyed more peace for this last century than any of the monarchial governments in Europe. Antiquity favors the same remark; for the quiet and rural lives of the first patriarchs hath a happy something in them, which vanishes away when we come to the history of Jewish royalty.Government by kings was first introduced into the world by the Heathens, from whom the children of Israel copied the custom. It was the most prosperous invention the Devil ever set on foot for the promotion of idolatry. The Heathens paid divine honors to their deceased kings, and the Christian world hath improved on the plan by doing the same to their living ones. How impious is the title of sacred majesty applied to a worm, who in the midst of his splendor is crumbling into dust!As the exalting one man so greatly above the rest cannot be justified on the equal rights of nature, so neither can it be defended on the authority of scripture; for the will of the Almighty, as declared by Gideon and the prophet Samuel, expressly disapproves of government by kings. All anti-monarchial parts of scripture have been very smoothly glossed over in monarchial governments, but they undoubtedly merit the attention of countries which have their governments yet to form. Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's is the scriptural doctrine of courts, yet it is no support of monarchial government, for the Jews at that time were without a king, and in a state of vassalage to the Romans.Near three thousand years passed away from the Mosaic account of the creation, till the Jews under a national delusion requested a king. Till then their form of government (except in extraordinary cases, where the Almighty interposed) was a kind of republic administered by a judge and the elders of the tribes. Kings they had none, and it was held sinful to acknowledge any being under that title but the Lords of Hosts. And when a man seriously reflects on the idolatrous homage which is paid to the persons of kings he need not wonder, that the Almighty, ever jealous of his honor, should disapprove of a form of government which so impiously invades the prerogative of heaven.Monarchy is ranked in scripture as one of the sins of the Jews, for which a curse in reserve is denounced against them. The history of that transaction is worth attending to.The children of Israel being oppressed by the Midianites, Gideon marched against them with a small army, and victory, through the divine interposition, decided in his favor. The Jews elate with success, and attributing it to the generalship of Gideon, proposed making him a king, saying, Rule thou over us, thou and thy son and thy son's son. Here was temptation in its fullest extent; not a kingdom only, but an hereditary one, but Gideon in the piety of his soul replied, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, THE LORD SHALL RULE OVER YOU. Words need not be more explicit; Gideon doth not decline the honor but denieth their right to give it; neither doth be compliment them with invented declarations of his thanks, but in the positive stile of a prophet charges them with disaffection to their proper sovereign, the King of Heaven.About one hundred and thirty years after this, they fell again into the same error. The hankering which the Jews had for the idolatrous customs of the Heathens, is something exceedingly unaccountable; but so it was, that laying hold of the misconduct of Samuel's two sons, who were entrusted with some secular concerns, they came in an abrupt and clamorous manner to Samuel, saying, Behold thou art old and thy sons walk not in thy ways, now make us a king to judge us like all the other nations. And here we cannot but observe that their motives were bad, viz., that they might be like unto other nations, i.e., the Heathen, whereas their true glory laid in being as much unlike them as possible. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us; and Samuel prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, THEN I SHOULD NOT REIGN OVER THEM.According to all the works which have done since the day; wherewith they brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day; wherewith they have forsaken me and served other Gods; so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice, howbeit, protest solemnly unto them and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them, i.e., not of any particular king, but the general manner of the kings of the earth, whom Israel was so eagerly copying after. And notwithstanding the great distance of time and difference of manners, the character is still in fashion. And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people, that asked of him a king. And he said, This shall be the manner of the king that shall reign over you; he will take your sons and appoint them for himself for his chariots, and to be his horsemen, and some shall run before his chariots (this description agrees with the present mode of impressing men) and he will appoint him captains over thousands and captains over fifties, and will set them to ear his ground and to read his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots; and he will take your daughters to be confectionaries and to be cooks and to be bakers (this describes the expense and luxury as well as the oppression of kings) and he will take your fields and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants; and he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give them to his officers and to his servants (by which we see that bribery, corruption, and favoritism are the standing vices of kings) and he will take the tenth of your men servants, and your maid servants, and your goodliest young men and your asses, and put them to his work; and he will take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants, and ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen, AND THE LORD WILL NOT HEAR YOU IN THAT DAY. This accounts for the continuation of monarchy; neither do the characters of the few good kings which have lived since, either sanctify the title, or blot out the sinfulness of the origin; the high encomium given of David takes no notice of him officially as a king, but only as a man after God's own heart. Nevertheless the People refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay, but we will have a king over us, that we may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us and fight our battles. Samuel continued to reason with them, but to no purpose; he set before them their ingratitude, but all would not avail; and seeing them fully bent on their folly, he cried out, I will call unto the Lord, and he shall sent thunder and rain (which then was a punishment, being the time of wheat harvest) that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, IN ASKING YOU A KING. So Samuel called unto the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God that we die not, for WE HAVE ADDED UNTO OUR SINS THIS EVIL, TO ASK A KING. These portions of scripture are direct and positive. They admit of no equivocal construction. That the Almighty hath here entered his protest against monarchial government is true, or the scripture is false. And a man hath good reason to believe that there is as much of kingcraft, as priestcraft in withholding the scripture from the public in Popish countries. For monarchy in every instance is the Popery of government.To the evil of monarchy we have added that of hereditary succession; and as the first is a degradation and lessening of ourselves, so the second, claimed as a matter of right, is an insult and an imposition on posterity. For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have a right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others for ever, and though himself might deserve some decent degree of honors of his contemporaries, yet his descendants might be far too unworthy to inherit them. One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in kings, is, that nature disapproves it, otherwise she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an ass for a lion.Secondly, as no man at first could possess any other public honors than were bestowed upon him, so the givers of those honors could have no power to give away the right of posterity, and though they might say, "We choose you for our head," they could not, without manifest injustice to their children, say, "that your children and your children's children shall reign over ours for ever." Because such an unwise, unjust, unnatural compact might (perhaps) in the next succession put them under the government of a rogue or a fool. Most wise men, in their private sentiments, have ever treated hereditary right with contempt; yet it is one of those evils, which when once established is not easily removed; many submit from fear, others from superstition, and the more powerful part shares with the king the plunder of the rest.This is supposing the present race of kings in the world to have had an honorable origin; whereas it is more than probable, that could we take off the dark covering of antiquity, and trace them to their first rise, that we should find the first of them nothing better than the principal ruffian of some restless gang, whose savage manners of preeminence in subtlety obtained him the title of chief among plunderers; and who by increasing in power, and extending his depredations, overawed the quiet and defenseless to purchase their safety by frequent contributions. Yet his electors could have no idea of giving hereditary right to his descendants, because such a perpetual exclusion of themselves was incompatible with the free and unrestrained principles they professed to live by. Wherefore, hereditary succession in the early ages of monarchy could not take place as a matter of claim, but as something casual or complemental; but as few or no records were extant in those days, and traditionary history stuffed with fables, it was very easy, after the lapse of a few generations, to trump up some superstitious tale, conveniently timed, Mahomet like, to cram hereditary right down the throats of the vulgar. Perhaps the disorders which threatened, or seemed to threaten on the decease of a leader and the choice of a new one (for elections among ruffians could not be very orderly) induced many at first to favor hereditary pretensions; by which means it happened, as it hath happened since, that what at first was submitted to as a convenience, was afterwards claimed as a right.England, since the conquest, hath known some few good monarchs, but groaned beneath a much larger number of bad ones, yet no man in his senses can say that their claim under William the Conqueror is a very honorable one. A French bastard landing with an armed banditti, and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives, is in plain terms a very paltry rascally original. It certainly hath no divinity in it. However, it is needless to spend much time in exposing the folly of hereditary right, if there are any so weak as to believe it, let them promiscuously worship the ass and lion, and welcome. I shall neither copy their humility, nor disturb their devotion.Yet I should be glad to ask how they suppose kings came at first? The question admits but of three answers, viz., either by lot, by election, or by usurpation. If the first king was taken by lot, it establishes a precedent for the next, which excludes hereditary succession. Saul was by lot, yet the succession was not hereditary, neither does it appear from that transaction there was any intention it ever should. If the first king of any country was by election, that likewise establishes a precedent for the next; for to say, that the right of all future generations is taken away, by the act of the first electors, in their choice not only of a king, but of a family of kings for ever, hath no parallel in or out of scripture but the doctrine of original sin, which supposes the free will of all men lost in Adam; and from such comparison, and it will admit of no other, hereditary succession can derive no glory. For as in Adam all sinned, and as in the first electors all men obeyed; as in the one all mankind were subjected to Satan, and in the other to Sovereignty; as our innocence was lost in the first, and our authority in the last; and as both disable us from reassuming some former state and privilege, it unanswerably follows that original sin and hereditary succession are parallels. Dishonorable rank! Inglorious connection! Yet the most subtle sophist cannot produce a juster simile.As to usurpation, no man will be so hardy as to defend it; and that William the Conqueror was an usurper is a fact not to be contradicted. The plain truth is, that the antiquity of English monarchy will not bear looking into.But it is not so much the absurdity as the evil of hereditary succession which concerns mankind. Did it ensure a race of good and wise men it would have the seal of divine authority, but as it opens a door to the foolish, the wicked; and the improper, it hath in it the nature of oppression. Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent; selected from the rest of mankind their minds are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially from the world at large, that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interests, and when they succeed to the government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions.Another evil which attends hereditary succession is, that the throne is subject to be possessed by a minor at any age; all which time the regency, acting under the cover of a king, have every opportunity and inducement to betray their trust. The same national misfortune happens, when a king worn out with age and infirmity, enters the last stage of human weakness. In both these cases the public becomes a prey to every miscreant, who can tamper successfully with the follies either of age or infancy.The most plausible plea, which hath ever been offered in favor of hereditary succession, is, that it preserves a nation from civil wars; and were this true, it would be weighty; whereas, it is the most barefaced falsity ever imposed upon mankind. The whole history of England disowns the fact. Thirty kings and two minors have reigned in that distracted kingdom since the conquest, in which time there have been (including the Revolution) no less than eight civil wars and nineteen rebellions. Wherefore instead of making for peace, it makes against it, and destroys the very foundation it seems to stand on.The contest for monarchy and succession, between the houses of York and Lancaster, laid England in a scene of blood for many years. Twelve pitched battles, besides skirmishes and sieges, were fought between Henry and Edward. Twice was Henry prisoner to Edward, who in his turn was prisoner to Henry. And so uncertain is the fate of war and the temper of a nation, when nothing but personal matters are the ground of a quarrel, that Henry was taken in triumph from a prison to a palace, and Edward obliged to fly from a palace to a foreign land; yet, as sudden transitions of temper are seldom lasting, Henry in his turn was driven from the throne, and Edward recalled to succeed him. The parliament always following the strongest side.This contest began in the reign of Henry the Sixth, and was not entirely extinguished till Henry the Seventh, in whom the families were united. Including a period of 67 years, viz., from 1422 to 1489.In short, monarchy and succession have laid (not this or that kingdom only) but the world in blood and ashes. 'Tis a form of government which the word of God bears testimony against, and blood will attend it.If we inquire into the business of a king, we shall find that (in some countries they have none) and after sauntering away their lives without pleasure to themselves or advantage to the nation, withdraw from the scene, and leave their successors to tread the same idle round. In absolute monarchies the whole weight of business civil and military, lies on the king; the children of Israel in their request for a king, urged this plea "that he may judge us, and go out before us and fight our battles." But in countries where he is neither a judge nor a general, as in England, a man would be puzzled to know what is his business.The nearer any government approaches to a republic, the less business there is for a king. It is somewhat difficult to find a proper name for the government of England. Sir William Meredith calls it a republic; but in its present state it is unworthy of the name, because the corrupt influence If the crown, by having all the places in its disposal, hath so effectually swallowed up the power, and eaten out the virtue of the house of commons (the republican part in the constitution) that the government of England is nearly as monarchical as that of France or Spain. Men fall out with names without understanding them. For it is the republican and not the monarchical part of the constitution of England which Englishmen glory in, viz., the liberty of choosing a house of commons from out of their own body- and it is easy to see that when the republican virtue fails, slavery ensues. My is the constitution of England sickly, but because monarchy hath poisoned the republic, the crown hath engrossed the commons?In England a king hath little more to do than to make war and give away places; which in plain terms, is to impoverish the nation and set it together by the ears. A pretty business indeed for a man to be allowed eight hundred thousand sterling a year for, and worshipped into the bargain! Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.THOUGHTS OF THE PRESENT STATE OF AMERICAN AFFAIRSIN the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense; and have no other preliminaries to settle with the reader, than that he will divest himself of prejudice and prepossession, and suffer his reason and his feelings to determine for themselves; that he will put on, or rather that he will not put off the true character of a man, and generously enlarge his views beyond the present day.Volumes have been written on the subject of the struggle between England and America. Men of all ranks have embarked in the controversy, from different motives, and with various designs; but all have been ineffectual, and the period of debate is closed. Arms, as the last resource, decide the contest; the appeal was the choice of the king, and the continent hath accepted the challenge.It hath been reported of the late Mr. Pelham (who tho' an able minister was not without his faults) that on his being attacked in the house of commons, on the score, that his measures were only of a temporary kind, replied, "they will fast my time." Should a thought so fatal and unmanly possess the colonies in the present contest, the name of ancestors will be remembered by future generations with detestation.The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth. 'Tis not the affair of a city, a country, a province, or a kingdom, but of a continent- of at least one eighth part of the habitable globe. 'Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or an age; posterity are virtually involved in the contest, and will be more or less affected, even to the end of time, by the proceedings now. Now is the seed time of continental union, faith and honor. The least fracture now will be like a name engraved with the point of a pin on the tender rind of a young oak; The wound will enlarge with the tree, and posterity read it in full grown characters.By referring the matter from argument to arms, a new area for politics is struck; a new method of thinking hath arisen. All plans, proposals, &c. prior to the nineteenth of April, i.e., to the commencement of hostilities, are like the almanacs of the last year; which, though proper then, are superseded and useless now. Whatever was advanced by the advocates on either side of the question then, terminated in one and the same point, viz., a union with Great Britain; the only difference between the parties was the method of effecting it; the one proposing force, the other friendship; but it hath so far happened that the first hath failed, and the second hath withdrawn her influence.As much hath been said of the advantages of reconciliation, which, like an agreeable dream, hath passed away and left us as we were, it is but right, that we should examine the contrary side of the argument, and inquire into some of the many material injuries which these colonies sustain, and always will sustain, by being connected with, and dependant on Great Britain. To examine that connection and dependance, on the principles of nature and common sense, to see what we have to trust to, if separated, and what we are to expect, if dependant.I have heard it asserted by some, that as America hath flourished under her former connection with Great Britain, that the same connection is necessary towards her future happiness, and will always have the same effect. Nothing can be more fallacious than this kind of argument. We may as well assert, that because a child has thrived upon milk, that it is never to have meat; or that the first twenty years of our lives is to become a precedent for the next twenty. But even this is admitting more than is true, for I answer roundly, that America would have flourished as much, and probably much more, had no European power had any thing to do with her. The commerce by which she hath enriched herself are the necessaries of life, and will always have a market while eating is the custom of Europe.But she has protected us, say some. That she hath engrossed us is true, and defended the continent at our expense as well as her own is admitted, and she would have defended Turkey from the same motive, viz., the sake of trade and dominion.Alas! we have been long led away by ancient prejudices and made large sacrifices to superstition. We have boasted the protection of Great Britain, without considering, that her motive was interest not attachment; that she did not protect us from our enemies on our account, but from her enemies on her own account, from those who had no quarrel with us on any other account, and who will always be our enemies on the same account. Let Britain wave her pretensions to the continent, or the continent throw off the dependance, and we should be at peace with France and Spain were they at war with Britain. The miseries of Hanover last war, ought to warn us against connections.It hath lately been asserted in parliament, that the colonies have no relation to each other but through the parent country, i.e., that Pennsylvania and the Jerseys, and so on for the rest, are sister colonies by the way of England; this is certainly a very roundabout way of proving relation ship, but it is the nearest and only true way of proving enemyship, if I may so call it. France and Spain never were, nor perhaps ever will be our enemies as Americans, but as our being the subjects of Great Britain.But Britain is the parent country, say some. Then the more shame upon her conduct. Even brutes do not devour their young; nor savages make war upon their families; wherefore the assertion, if true, turns to her reproach; but it happens not to be true, or only partly so, and the phrase parent or mother country hath been jesuitically adopted by the king and his parasites, with a low papistical design of gaining an unfair bias on the credulous weakness of our minds. Europe, and not England, is the parent country of America. This new world hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers off civil and religious liberty from every Part of Europe. Hither have they fled, not from the tender embraces of the mother, but from the cruelty of the monster; and it is so far true of England, that the same tyranny which drove the first emigrants from home pursues their descendants still.In this extensive quarter of the globe, we forget the narrow limits of three hundred and sixty miles (the extent of England) and carry our friendship on a larger scale; we claim brotherhood with every European Christian, and triumph in the generosity of the sentiment.It is pleasant to observe by what regular gradations we surmount the force of local prejudice, as we enlarge our acquaintance with the world. A man born in any town in England divided into parishes, will naturally associate most with his fellow parishioners (because their interests in many cases will be common) and distinguish him by the name of neighbor; if he meet him but a few miles from home, he drops the narrow idea of a street, and salutes him by the name of townsman; if he travels out of the county, and meet him in any other, he forgets the minor divisions of street and town, and calls him countryman; i.e., countyman; but if in their foreign excursions they should associate in France or any other part of Europe, their local remembrance would be enlarged into that of Englishmen. And by a just parity of reasoning, all Europeans meeting in America, or any other quarter of the globe, are countrymen; for England, Holland, Germany, or Sweden, when compared with the whole, stand in the same places on the larger scale, which the divisions of street, town, and county do on the smaller ones; distinctions too limited for continental minds. Not one third of the inhabitants, even of this province, are of English descent. Wherefore, I reprobate the phrase of parent or mother country applied to England only, as being false, selfish, narrow and ungenerous.But admitting that we were all of English descent, what does it amount to? Nothing. Britain, being now an open enemy, extinguishes every other name and title: And to say that reconciliation is our duty, is truly farcical. The first king of England, of the present line (William the Conqueror) was a Frenchman, and half the peers of England are descendants from the same country; wherefore by the same method of reasoning, England ought to be governed by France.Much hath been said of the united strength of Britain and the colonies, that in conjunction they might bid defiance to the world. But this is mere presumption; the fate of war is uncertain, neither do the expressions mean anything; for this continent would never suffer itself to be drained of inhabitants to support the British arms in either Asia, Africa, or Europe.Besides, what have we to do with setting the world at defiance? Our plan is commerce, and that, well attended to,will secure us the peace and friendship of all Europe; because it is the interest of all Europe to have America a free port. Her trade will always be a protection, and her barrenness of gold and silver secure her from invaders.I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation, to show, a single advantage that this continent can reap, by being connected with Great Britain. I repeat the challenge, not a single advantage is derived. Our corn will fetch its price in any market in Europe, and our imported goods must be paid for buy them where we will.But the injuries and disadvantages we sustain by that connection, are without number; and our duty to mankind I at large, as well as to ourselves, instruct us to renounce the alliance: Because, any submission to, or dependance on Great Britain, tends directly to involve this continent in European wars and quarrels; and sets us at variance with nations, who would otherwise seek our friendship, and against whom, we have neither anger nor complaint. As Europe is our market for trade, we ought to form no partial connection with any part of it. It is the true interest of America to steer clear of European contentions, which she never can do, while by her dependance on Britain, she is made the make-weight in the scale of British politics.Europe is too thickly planted with kingdoms to be long at peace, and whenever a war breaks out between England and any foreign power, the trade of America goes to ruin, because of her connection with Britain. The next war may not turn out like the Past, and should it not, the advocates for reconciliation now will be wishing for separation then, because, neutrality in that case, would be a safer convoy than a man of war. Every thing that is right or natural pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, 'tis time to part. Even the distance at which the Almighty hath placed England and America, is a strong and natural proof, that the authority of the one, over the other, was never the design of Heaven. The time likewise at which the continent was discovered, adds weight to the argument, and the manner in which it was peopled increases the force of it. The reformation was preceded by the discovery of America, as if the Almighty graciously meant to open a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years, when home should afford neither friendship nor safety.The authority of Great Britain over this continent, is a form of government, which sooner or later must have an end: And a serious mind can draw no true pleasure by looking forward, under the painful and positive conviction, that what he calls "the present constitution" is merely temporary. As parents, we can have no joy, knowing that this government is not sufficiently lasting to ensure any thing which we may bequeath to posterity: And by a plain method of argument, as we are running the next generation into debt, we ought to do the work of it, otherwise we use them meanly and pitifully. In order to discover the line of our duty rightly, we should take our children in our hand, and fix our station a few years farther into life; that eminence will present a prospect, which a few present fears and prejudices conceal from our sight.Though I would carefully avoid giving unnecessary offence, yet I am inclined to believe, that all those who espouse the doctrine of reconciliation, may be included within the following descriptions:Interested men, who are not to be trusted; weak men who cannot see; prejudiced men who will not see; and a certain set of moderate men, who think better of the European world than it deserves; and this last class by an ill-judged deliberation, will be the cause of more calamities to this continent than all the other three.It is the good fortune of many to live distant from the scene of sorrow; the evil is not sufficiently brought to their doors to make them feel the precariousness with which all American property is possessed. But let our imaginations transport us for a few moments to Boston, that seat of wretchedness will teach us wisdom, and instruct us for ever to renounce a power in whom we can have no trust. The inhabitants of that unfortunate city, who but a few months ago were in ease and affluence, have now no other alternative than to stay and starve, or turn out to beg. Endangered by the fire of their friends if they continue within the city, and plundered by the soldiery if they leave it. In their present condition they are prisoners without the hope of redemption, and in a general attack for their relief, they would be exposed to the fury of both armies.Men of passive tempers look somewhat lightly over the offenses of Britain, and, still hoping for the best, are apt to call out, Come we shall be friends again for all this. But examine the passions and feelings of mankind. Bring the doctrine of reconciliation to the touchstone of nature, and then tell me, whether you can hereafter love, honor, and faithfully serve the power that hath carried fire and sword into your land? If you cannot do all these, then are you only deceiving yourselves, and by your delay bringing ruin upon posterity. Your future connection with Britain, whom you can neither love nor honor, will be forced and unnatural, and being formed only on the plan of present convenience, will in a little time fall into a relapse more wretched than the first. But if you say, you can still pass the violations over, then I ask, Hath your house been burnt? Hath you property been destroyed before your face? Are your wife and children destitute of a bed to lie on, or bread to live on? Have you lost a parent or a child by their hands, and yourself the ruined and wretched survivor? If you have not, then are you not a judge of those who have. But if you have, and can still shake hands with the murderers, then are you unworthy the name of husband, father, friend, or lover, and whatever may be your rank or title in life, you have the heart of a coward, and the spirit of a sycophant.This is not inflaming or exaggerating matters, but trying them by those feelings and affections which nature justifies, and without which, we should be incapable of discharging the social duties of life, or enjoying the felicities of it. I mean not to exhibit horror for the purpose of provoking revenge, but to awaken us from fatal and unmanly slumbers, that we may pursue determinately some fixed object. It is not in the power of Britain or of Europe to conquer America, if she do not conquer herself by delay and timidity. The present winter is worth an age if rightly employed, but if lost or neglected, the whole continent will partake of the misfortune; and there is no punishment which that man will not deserve, be he who, or what, or where he will, that may be the means of sacrificing a season so precious and useful.It is repugnant to reason, to the universal order of things, to all examples from the former ages, to suppose, that this continent can longer remain subject to any external power. The most sanguine in Britain does not think so. The utmost stretch of human wisdom cannot, at this time compass a plan short of separation, which can promise the continent even a year's security. Reconciliation is was a fallacious dream. Nature hath deserted the connection, and Art cannot supply her place. For, as Milton wisely expresses, "never can true reconcilement grow where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep."Every quiet method for peace hath been ineffectual. Our prayers have been rejected with disdain; and only tended to convince us, that nothing flatters vanity, or confirms obstinacy in kings more than repeated petitioning- and nothing hath contributed more than that very measure to make the kings of Europe absolute: Witness Denmark and Sweden. Wherefore since nothing but blows will do, for God's sake, let us come to a final separation, and not leave the next generation to be cutting throats, under the violated unmeaning names of parent and child.To say, they will never attempt it again is idle and visionary, we thought so at the repeal of the stamp act, yet a year or two undeceived us; as well me we may suppose that nations, which have been once defeated, will never renew the quarrel.As to government matters, it is not in the powers of Britain to do this continent justice: The business of it will soon be too weighty, and intricate, to be managed with any tolerable degree of convenience, by a power, so distant from us, and so very ignorant of us; for if they cannot conquer us, they cannot govern us. To be always running three or four thousand miles with a tale or a petition, waiting four or five months for an answer, which when obtained requires five or six more to explain it in, will in a few years be looked upon as folly and childishness- there was a time when it was proper, and there is a proper time for it to cease.Small islands not capable of protecting themselves, are the proper objects for kingdoms to take under their care; but there is something very absurd, in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island. In no instance hath nature made the satellite larger than its primary planet, and as England and America, with respect to each Other, reverses the common order of nature, it is evident they belong to different systems: England to Europe- America to itself.I am not induced by motives of pride, party, or resentment to espouse the doctrine of separation and independence; I am clearly, positively, and conscientiously persuaded that it is the true interest of this continent to be so; that every thing short of that is mere patchwork, that it can afford no lasting felicity,- that it is leaving the sword to our children, and shrinking back at a time, when, a little more, a little farther, would have rendered this continent the glory of the earth.As Britain hath not manifested the least inclination towards a compromise, we may be assured that no terms can be obtained worthy the acceptance of the continent, or any ways equal to the expense of blood and treasure we have been already put to.The object contended for, ought always to bear some just proportion to the expense. The removal of the North, or the whole detestable junto, is a matter unworthy the millions we have expended. A temporary stoppage of trade, was an inconvenience, which would have sufficiently balanced the repeal of all the acts complained of, had such repeals been obtained; but if the whole continent must take up arms, if every man must be a soldier, it is scarcely worth our while to fight against a contemptible ministry only. Dearly, dearly, do we pay for the repeal of the acts, if that is all we fight for; for in a just estimation, it is as great a folly to pay a Bunker Hill price for law, as for land. As I have always considered the independency of this continent, as an event, which sooner or later must arrive, so from the late rapid progress of the continent to maturity, the event could not be far off. Wherefore, on the breaking out of hostilities, it was not worth the while to have disputed a matter, which time would have finally redressed, unless we meant to be in earnest; otherwise, it is like wasting an estate of a suit at law, to regulate the trespasses of a tenant, whose lease is just expiring. No man was a warmer wisher for reconciliation than myself, before the fatal nineteenth of April, 1775 (Massacre at Lexington), but the moment the event of that day was made known, I rejected the hardened, sullen tempered Pharaoh of England for ever; and disdain the wretch, that with the pretended title of Father of his people, can unfeelingly hear of their slaughter, and composedly sleep with their blood upon his soul.But admitting that matters were now made up, what would be the event? I answer, the ruin of the continent. And that for several reasons:First. The powers of governing still remaining in the hands of the king, he will have a negative over the whole legislation of this continent. And as he hath shown himself such an inveterate enemy to liberty, and discovered such a thirst for arbitrary power, is he, or is he not, a proper man to say to these colonies, "You shall make no laws but what I please?" And is there any inhabitants in America so ignorant, as not to know, that according to what is called the present constitution, that this continent can make no laws but what the king gives leave to? and is there any man so unwise, as not to see, that (considering what has happened) he will suffer no Law to be made here, but such as suit his purpose? We may be as effectually enslaved by the want of laws in America, as by submitting to laws made for us in England. After matters are make up (as it is called) can there be any doubt but the whole power of the crown will be exerted, to keep this continent as low and humble as possible? Instead of going forward we shall go backward, or be perpetually quarrelling or ridiculously petitioning. We are already greater than the king wishes us to be, and will he not hereafter endeavor to make us less? To bring the matter to one point. Is the power who is jealous of our prosperity, a proper power to govern us? Whoever says No to this question is an independent, for independency means no more, than, whether we shall make our own laws, or whether the king, the greatest enemy this continent hath, or can have, shall tell us, "there shall be now laws but such as I like."But the king you will say has a negative in England; the people there can make no laws without his consent. in point of right and good order, there is something very ridiculous, that a youth of twenty-one (which hath often happened) shall say to several millions of people, older and wiser than himself, I forbid this or that act of yours to be law. But in this place I decline this sort of reply, though I will never cease to expose the absurdity of it, and only answer, that England being the king's residence, and America not so, make quite another case. The king's negative here is ten times more dangerous and fatal than it can be in England, for there he will scarcely refuse his consent to a bill for putting England into as strong a state of defence as possible, and in America he would never suffer such a bill to be passed.America is only a secondary object in the system of British politics- England consults the good of this country, no farther than it answers her own purpose. Wherefore, her own interest leads her to suppress the growth of ours in every case which doth not promote her advantage, or in the least interfere with it. A pretty state we should soon be in under such a second-hand government, considering what has happened! Men do not change from enemies to friends by the alteration of a name; and in order to show that reconciliation now is a dangerous doctrine, I affirm, that it would be policy in the kingdom at this time, to repeal the acts for the sake of reinstating himself in the government of the provinces; in order, that he may accomplish by craft and subtlety, in the long run, wha he cannot do by force ans violence in the short one. Reconciliation and ruin are nearly related.Secondly. That as even the best terms, which we can expect to obtain, can amount to no more than a temporary expedient, or a kind of government by guardianship, which can last no longer than till the colonies come of age, so the general face and state of things, in the interim, will be unsettled and unpromising. Emigrants of property will not choose to come to a country whose form of government hangs but by a thread, and who is every day tottering on the brink of commotion and disturbance; and numbers of the present inhabitant would lay hold of the interval, to dispose of their effects, and quit the continent.But the most powerful of all arguments, is, that nothing but independence, i.e., a continental form of government, can keep the peace of the continent and preserve it inviolate from civil wars. I dread the event of a reconciliation with Britain now, as it is more than probable, that it will be followed by a revolt somewhere or other, the consequences of which may be far more fatal than all the malice of Britain.Thousands are already ruined by British barbarity; (thousands more will probably suffer the same fate.) Those men have other feelings than us who have nothing suffered. All they now possess is liberty, what they before enjoyed is sacrificed to its service, and having nothing more to lose, they disdain submission. Besides, the general temper of the colonies, towards a British government, will be like that of a youth, who is nearly out of his time, they will care very little about her. And a government which cannot preserve the peace, is no government at all, and in that case we pay our money for nothing; and pray what is it that Britain can do, whose power will be wholly on paper, should a civil tumult break out the very day after reconciliation? I have heard some men say, many of whom I believe spoke without thinking, that they dreaded independence, fearing that it would produce civil wars. It is but seldom that our first thoughts are truly correct, and that is the case here; for there are ten times more to dread from a patched up connection than from independence. I make the sufferers case my own, and I protest, that were I driven from house and home, my property destroyed, and my circumstances ruined, that as man, sensible of injuries, I could never relish the doctrine of reconciliation, or consider myself bound thereby.The colonies have manifested such a spirit of good order and obedience to continental government, as is sufficient to make every reasonable person easy and happy on that head. No man can assign the least pretence for his fears, on any other grounds, that such as are truly childish and ridiculous, viz., that one colony will be striving for superiority over another.Where there are no distinctions there can be no superiority, perfect equality affords no temptation. The republics of Europe are all (and we may say always) in peace. Holland and Switzerland are without wars, foreign or domestic; monarchical governments, it is true, are never long at rest: the crown itself is a temptation to enterprising ruffians at home; and that degree of pride and insolence ever attendant on regal authority swells into a rupture with foreign powers, in instances where a republican government, by being formed on more natural principles, would negotiate the mistake.If there is any true cause of fear respecting independence it is because no plan is yet laid down. Men do not see their way out; wherefore, as an opening into that business I offer the following hints; at the same time modestly affirming, that I have no other opinion of them myself, than that they may be the means of giving rise to something better. Could the straggling thoughts of individuals be collected, they would frequently form materials for wise and able men to improve to useful matter.Let the assemblies be annual, with a President only. The representation more equal. Their business wholly domestic, and subject to the authority of a continental congress.Let each colony be divided into six, eight, or ten, convenient districts, each district to send a proper number of delegates to congress, so that each colony send at least thirty. The whole number in congress will be at least three hundred ninety. Each congress to sit..... and to choose a president by the following method. When the delegates are met, let a colony be taken from the whole thirteen colonies by lot, after which let the whole congress choose (by ballot) a president from out of the delegates of that province. I the next Congress, let a colony be taken by lot from twelve only, omitting that colony from which the president was taken in the former congress, and so proceeding on till the whole thirteen shall have had their proper rotation. And in order that nothing may pass into a law but what is satisfactorily just, not less than three fifths of the congress to be called a majority. He that will promote discord, under a government so equally formed as this, would join Lucifer in his revolt.But as there is a peculiar delicacy, from whom, or in what manner, this business must first arise, and as it seems most agreeable and consistent, that it should come from some intermediate body between the governed and the governors, that is between the Congress and the people, let a Continental Conference be held, in the following manner, and for the following purpose:A committee of twenty-six members of Congress, viz., two for each colony. Two members for each house of assembly, or provincial convention; and five representatives of the people at large, to be chosen in the capital city or town of each province, for, and in behalf of the whole province, by as many qualified voters as shall think proper to attend from all parts of the province for that purpose; or, if more convenient, the representatives may be chosen in two or three of the most populous parts thereof. In this conference, thus assembled, will be united, the two grand principles of business, knowledge and power. The members of Congress, Assemblies, or Conventions, by having had experience in national concerns, will be able and useful counsellors, and the whole, being empowered by the people will have a truly legal authority.The conferring members being met, let their business be to frame a Continental Charter, or Charter of the United Colonies; (answering to what is called the Magna Charta of England) fixing the number and manner of choosing members of Congress, members of Assembly, with their date of sitting, and drawing the line of business and jurisdiction between them: always remembering, that our strength is continental, not provincial: Securing freedom and property to all men, and above all things the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; with such other matter as is necessary for a charter to contain. Immediately after which, the said conference to dissolve, and the bodies which shall be chosen conformable to the said charter, to be the legislators and governors of this continent for the time being: Whose peace and happiness, may God preserve, Amen.Should any body of men be hereafter delegated for this or some similar purpose, I offer them the following extracts from that wise observer on governments Dragonetti. "The science" says he, "of the politician consists in fixing the true point of happiness and freedom. Those men would deserve the gratitude of ages, who should discover a mode of government that contained the greatest sum of individual happiness, with the least national expense."- Dragonetti on Virtue and Rewards.But where says some is the king of America? I'll tell you Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal of Britain. Yet that we may not appear to be defective even in earthly honors, let a day be solemnly set apart for proclaiming the charter; let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America the law is king. For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other. But lest any ill use should afterwards arise, let the crown at the conclusion of the ceremony be demolished, and scattered among the people whose right it is.A government of our own is our natural right: And when a man seriously reflects on the precariousness of human affairs, he will become convinced, that it is in finitely wiser and safer, to form a constitution of our own in a cool deliberate manner, while we have it in our power, than to trust such an interesting event to time and chance. If we omit it now, some Massenello* may hereafter arise, who laying hold of popular disquietudes, may collect together the desperate and the discontented, and by assuming to themselves the powers of government, may sweep away the liberties of the continent like a deluge. Should the government of America return again into the hands of Britain, the tottering situation of things, will be a temptation for some desperate adventurer to try his fortune; and in such a case, what relief can Britain give? Ere she could hear the news the fatal business might be done, and ourselves suffering like the wretched Britons under the oppression of the Conqueror. Ye that oppose independence now, ye know not what ye do; ye are opening a door to eternal tyranny, by keeping vacant the seat of government.(*Thomas Anello, otherwise Massenello, a fisherman of Naples, who after spiriting up his countrymen in the public market place, against the oppression of the Spaniards, to whom the place was then subject, prompted them to revolt, and in the space of a day became king.)There are thousands and tens of thousands; who would think it glorious to expel from the continent, that barbarous and hellish power, which hath stirred up the Indians and Negroes to destroy us; the cruelty hath a double guilt, it is dealing brutally by us, and treacherously by them. To talk of friendship with those in whom our reason forbids us to have faith, and our affections, (wounded through a thousand pores) instruct us to detest, is madness and folly. Every day wears out the little remains of kindred between us and them, and can there be any reason to hope, that as the relationship expires, the affection will increase, or that we shall agree better, when we have ten times more and greater concerns to quarrel over than ever?Ye that tell us of harmony and reconciliation, can ye restore to us the time that is past? Can ye give to prostitution its former innocence? Neither can ye reconcile Britain and America. The last cord now is broken, the people of England are presenting addresses against us. There are injuries which nature cannot forgive; she would cease to be nature if she did. As well can the lover forgive the ravisher of his mistress, as the continent forgive the murders of Britain. The Almighty hath implanted in us these inextinguishable feelings for good and wise purposes. They are the guardians of his image in our hearts. They distinguish us from the herd of common animals. The social compact would dissolve, and justice be extirpated the earth, of have only a casual existence were we callous to the touches of affection. The robber and the murderer, would often escape unpunished, did not the injuries which our tempers sustain, provoke us into justice.O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa, have long expelled her. Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind.OF THE PRESENT ABILITY OF AMERICA, WITH SOME MISCELLANEOUS REFLECTIONSI HAVE never met with a man, either in England or America, who hath not confessed his opinion, that a separation between the countries, would take place one time or other. And there is no instance in which we have shown less judgment, than in endeavoring to describe, what we call, the ripeness or fitness of the Continent for independence.As all men allow the measure, and vary only in their opinion of the time, let us, in order to remove mistakes, take a general survey of things and endeavor if possible, to find out the very time. But we need not go far, the inquiry ceases at once, for the time hath found us. The general concurrence, the glorious union of all things prove the fact.It is not in numbers but in unity, that our great strength lies; yet our present numbers are sufficient to repel the force of all the world. The Continent hath, at this time, the largest body of armed and disciplined men of any power under Heaven; and is just arrived at that pitch of strength, in which no single colony is able to support itself, and the whole, who united can accomplish the matter, and either more, or, less than this, might be fatal in its effects. Our land force is already sufficient, and as to naval affairs, we cannot be insensible, that Britain would never suffer an American man of war to be built while the continent remained in her hands. Wherefore we should be no forwarder an hundred years hence in that branch, than we are now; but the truth is, we should be less so, because the timber of the country is every day diminishing, and that which will remain at last, will be far off and difficult to procure.Were the continent crowded with inhabitants, her sufferings under the present circumstances would be intolerable. The more sea port towns we had, the more should we have both to defend and to loose. Our present numbers are so happily proportioned to our wants, that no man need be idle. The diminution of trade affords an army, and the necessities of an army create a new trade. Debts we have none; and whatever we may contract on this account will serve as a glorious memento of our virtue. Can we but leave posterity with a settled form of government, an independent constitution of its own, the purchase at any price will be cheap. But to expend millions for the sake of getting a few we acts repealed, and routing the present ministry only, is unworthy the charge, and is using posterity with the utmost cruelty; because it is leaving them the great work to do, and a debt upon their backs, from which they derive no advantage. Such a thought is unworthy a man of honor, and is the true characteristic of a narrow heart and a peddling politician.The debt we may contract doth not deserve our regard if the work be but accomplished. No nation ought to be without a debt. A national debt is a national bond; and when it bears no interest, is in no case a grievance. Britain is oppressed with a debt of upwards of one hundred and forty millions sterling, for which she pays upwards of four millions interest. And as a compensation for her debt, she has a large navy; America is without a debt, and without a navy; yet for the twentieth part of the English national debt, could have a navy as large again. The navy of England is not worth, at this time, more than three millions and a half sterling.The first and second editions of this pamphlet were published without the following calculations, which are now given as a proof that the above estimation of the navy is a just one. (See Entick's naval history, intro. page 56.)The charge of building a ship of each rate, and furnishing her with masts, yards, sails and rigging, together with a proportion of eight months boatswain's and carpenter's sea-stores, as calculated by Mr. Burchett, Secretary to the navy, is as follows:For a ship of 100 guns £35,55390 £29,88680 £23,63870 £17,78560 £14,19750 £10,60640 £7,55830 £5,84620 £3,710And from hence it is easy to sum up the value, or cost rather, of the whole British navy, which in the year 1757, when it was as its greatest glory consisted of the following ships and guns:Ships Guns Cost of one Cost of all6 100 £35,533 £213,31812 90 £29,886 £358,63212 80 £23,638 £283,65643 70 £17,785 £746,75535 60 £14,197 £496,89540 50 £10,606 £424,24045 40 £7,758 £344,11058 20 £3,710 £215,18085 Sloops, bombs, and fireships, one another £2,000 £170,000Cost £3,266,786Remains for guns £229,214Total £3,500,000No country on the globe is so happily situated, so internally capable of raising a fleet as America. Tar, timber, iron, and cordage are her natural produce. We need go abroad for nothing. Whereas the Dutch, who make large profits by hiring out their ships of war to the Spaniards and Portuguese, are obliged to import most of the materials they use. We ought to view the building a fleet as an article of commerce, it being the natural manufactory of this country. It is the best money we can lay out. A navy when finished is worth more than it cost. And is that nice point in national policy, in which commerce and protection are united. Let us build; if we want them not, we can sell; and by that means replace our paper currency with ready gold and silver.In point of manning a fleet, people in general run into great errors; it is not necessary that one-fourth part should be sailors. The privateer Terrible, Captain Death, stood the hottest engagement of any ship last war, yet had not twenty sailors on board, though her complement of men was upwards of two hundred. A few able and social sailors will soon instruct a sufficient number of active landsmen in the common work of a ship. Wherefore, we never can be more capable to begin on maritime matters than now, while our timber is standing, our fisheries blocked up, and our sailors and shipwrights out of employ. Men of war of seventy and eighty guns were built forty years ago in New England, and why not the same now? Ship building is America's greatest pride, and in which, she will in time excel the whole world. The great empires of the east are mostly inland, and consequently excluded from the possibility of rivalling her. Africa is in a state of barbarism; and no power in Europe, hath either such an extent or coast, or such an internal supply of materials. Where nature hath given the one, she has withheld the other; to America only hath she been liberal of both. The vast empire of Russia is almost shut out from the sea; wherefore, her boundless forests, her tar, iron, and cordage are only articles of commerce.In point of safety, ought we to be without a fleet? We are not the little people now, which we were sixty years ago; at that time we might have trusted our property in the streets, or fields rather; and slept securely without locks or bolts to our doors or windows. The case now is altered, and our methods of defence ought to improve with our increase of property. A common pirate, twelve months ago, might have come up the Delaware, and laid the city of Philadelphia under instant contribution, for what sum he pleased; and the same might have happened to other places. Nay, any daring fellow, in a brig of fourteen or sixteen guns, might have robbed the whole Continent, and carried off half a million of money. These are circumstances which demand our attention, and point out the necessity of naval protection.Some, perhaps, will say, that after we have made it up with Britain, she will protect us. Can we be so unwise as to mean, that she shall keep a navy in our harbors for that purpose? Common sense will tell us, that the power which hath endeavored to subdue us, is of all others the most improper to defend us. Conquest may be effected under the pretence of friendship; and ourselves, after a long and brave resistance, be at last cheated into slavery. And if her ships are not to be admitted into our harbors, I would ask, how is she to protect us? A navy three or four thousand miles off can be of little use, and on sudden emergencies, none at all. Wherefore, if we must hereafter protect ourselves, why not do it for ourselves? Why do it for another.The English list of ships of war is long and formidable, but not a tenth part of them are at any one time fit for service, numbers of them not in being; yet their names are pompously continued in the list, if only a plank be left of the ship: and not a fifth part, of such as are fit for service, can be spared on any one station at one time. The East, and West Indies, Mediterranean, Africa, and other parts over which Britain extends her claim, make large demands upon her navy. From a mixture of prejudice and inattention, we have contracted a false notion respecting the navy of England, and have talked as if we should have the whole of it to encounter at once, and for that reason, supposed that we must have one as large; which not being instantly practicable, have been made use of by a set of disguised tories to discourage our beginning thereon. Nothing can be farther from truth than this; for if America had only a twentieth part of the naval force of Britain, she would be by far an over match for her; because, as we neither have, nor claim any foreign dominion, our whole force would be employed on our own coast, where we should, in the long run, have two to one the advantage of those who had three or four thousand miles to sail over, before they could attack us, and the same distance to return in order to refit and recruit. And although Britain by her fleet, hath a check over our trade to Europe, we have as large a one over her trade to the West Indies, which, by laying in the neighborhood of the Continent, is entirely at its mercy.Some method might be fallen on to keep up a naval force in time of peace, if we should not judge it necessary to support a constant navy. If premiums were to be given to merchants, to build and employ in their service, ships mounted with twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty guns, (the premiums to be in proportion to the loss of bulk to the merchants) fifty or sixty of those ships, with a few guard ships on constant duty, would keep up a sufficient navy, and that without burdening ourselves with the evil so loudly complained of in England, of suffering their fleet, in time of peace to lie rotting in the docks. To unite the sinews of commerce and defence is sound policy; for when our strength and our riches, play into each other's hand, we need fear no external enemy.In almost every article of defence we abound. Hemp flourishes even to rankness, so that we need not want cordage. Our iron is superior to that of other countries. Our small arms equal to any in the world. Cannon we can cast at pleasure. Saltpetre and gunpowder we are every day producing. Our knowledge is hourly improving. Resolution is our inherent character, and courage hath never yet forsaken us. Wherefore, what is it that we want? Why is it that we hesitate? From Britain we can expect nothing but ruin. If she is once admitted to the government of America again, this Continent will not be worth living in. Jealousies will be always arising; insurrections will be constantly happening; and who will go forth to quell them? Who will venture his life to reduce his own countrymen to a foreign obedience? The difference between Pennsylvania and Connecticut, respecting some unlocated lands, shows the insignificance of a British government, and fully proves, that nothing but Continental authority can regulate Continental matters.Another reason why the present time is preferable to all others, is, that the fewer our numbers are, the more land there is yet unoccupied, which instead of being lavished by the king on his worthless dependents, may be hereafter applied, not only to the discharge of the present debt, but to the constant support of government. No nation under heaven hath such an advantage as this.The infant state of the Colonies, as it is called, so far from being against, is an argument in favor of independence. We are sufficiently numerous, and were we more so, we might be less united. It is a matter worthy of observation, that the more a country is peopled, the smaller their armies are. In military numbers, the ancients far exceeded the moderns: and the reason is evident, for trade being the consequence of population, men become too much absorbed thereby to attend to anything else. Commerce diminishes the spirit, both of patriotism and military defence. And history sufficiently informs us, that the bravest achievements were always accomplished in the non-age of a nation. With the increase of commerce England hath lost its spirit. The city of London, notwithstanding its numbers, submits to continued insults with the patience of a coward. The more men have to lose, the less willing are they to venture. The rich are in general slaves to fear, and submit to courtly power with the trembling duplicity of a spaniel.Youth is the seed-time of good habits, as well in nations as in individuals. It might be difficult, if not impossible, to form the Continent into one government half a century hence. The vast variety of interests, occasioned by an increase of trade and population, would create confusion. Colony would be against colony. Each being able might scorn each other's assistance: and while the proud and foolish gloried in their little distinctions, the wise would lament that the union had not been formed before. Wherefore, the present time is the true time for establishing it. The intimacy which is contracted in infancy, and the friendship which is formed in misfortune, are, of all others, the most lasting and unalterable. Our present union is marked with both these characters: we are young, and we have been distressed; but our concord hath withstood our troubles, and fixes a memorable area for posterity to glory in.The present time, likewise, is that peculiar time, which never happens to a nation but once, viz., the time of forming itself into a government. Most nations have let slip the opportunity, and by that means have been compelled to receive laws from their conquerors, instead of making laws for themselves. First, they had a king, and then a form of government; whereas, the articles or charter of government, should be formed first, and men delegated to execute them afterwards: but from the errors of other nations, let us learn wisdom, and lay hold of the present opportunity- to begin government at the right end.When William the Conqueror subdued England he gave them law at the point of the sword; and until we consent that the seat of government in America, be legally and authoritatively occupied, we shall be in danger of having it filled by some fortunate ruffian, who may treat us in the same manner, and then, where will be our freedom? where our property?As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensable duty of all government, to protect all conscientious professors thereof, and I know of no other business which government hath to do therewith. Let a man throw aside that narrowness of soul, that selfishness of principle, which the niggards of all professions are so unwilling to part with, and he will be at once delivered of his fears on that head. Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society. For myself I fully and conscientiously believe, that it is the will of the Almighty, that there should be diversity of religious opinions among us: It affords a larger field for our Christian kindness. Were we all of one way of thinking, our religious dispositions would want matter for probation; and on this liberal principle, I look on the various denominations among us, to be like children of the same family, differing only, in what is called their Christian names.Earlier in this work, I threw out a few thoughts on the propriety of a Continental Charter, (for I only presume to offer hints, not plans) and in this place, I take the liberty of rementioning the subject, by observing, that a charter is to be understood as a bond of solemn obligation, which the whole enters into, to support the right of every separate part, whether of religion, personal freedom, or property, A firm bargain and a right reckoning make long friends.In a former page I likewise mentioned the necessity of a large and equal representation; and there is no political matter which more deserves our attention. A small number of electors, or a small number of representatives, are equally dangerous. But if the number of the representatives be not only small, but unequal, the danger is increased. As an instance of this, I mention the following; when the Associators petition was before the House of Assembly of Pennsylvania; twenty-eight members only were present, all the Bucks County members, being eight, voted against it, and had seven of the Chester members done the same, this whole province had been governed by two counties only, and this danger it is always exposed to. The unwarrantable stretch likewise, which that house made in their last sitting, to gain an undue authority over the delegates of that province, ought to warn the people at large, how they trust power out of their own hands. A set of instructions for the Delegates were put together, which in point of sense and business would have dishonored a school-boy, and after being approved by a few, a very few without doors, were carried into the house, and there passed in behalf of the whole colony; whereas, did the whole colony know, with what ill-will that House hath entered on some necessary public measures, they would not hesitate a moment to think them unworthy of such a trust.Immediate necessity makes many things convenient, which if continued would grow into oppressions. Expedience and right are different things. When the calamities of America required a consultation, there was no method so ready, or at that time so proper, as to appoint persons from the several Houses of Assembly for that purpose and the wisdom with which they have proceeded hath preserved this continent from ruin. But as it is more than probable that we shall never be without a Congress, every well-wisher to good order, must own, that the mode for choosing members of that body, deserves consideration. And I put it as a question to those, who make a study of mankind, whether representation and election is not too great a power for one and the same body of men to possess? When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.It is from our enemies that we often gain excellent maxims, and are frequently surprised into reason by their mistakes. Mr. Cornwall (one of the Lords of the Treasury) treated the petition of the New York Assembly with contempt, because that House, he said, consisted but of twenty-six members, which trifling number, he argued, could not with decency be put for the whole. We thank him for his involuntary honesty.**Those who would fully understand of what great consequence a large and equal representation is to a state, should read Burgh's political Disquisitions.To conclude: However strange it may appear to some, or however unwilling they may be to think so, matters not, but many strong and striking reasons may be given, to show, that nothing can settle our affairs so expeditiously as an open and determined declaration for independence. Some of which are:First. It is the custom of nations, when any two are at war, for some other powers, not engaged in the quarrel, to step in as mediators, and bring about the preliminaries of a peace: but while America calls herself the subject of Great Britain, no power, however well disposed she may be, can offer her mediation. Wherefore, in our present state we may quarrel on for ever.Secondly. It is unreasonable to suppose, that France or Spain will give us any kind of assistance, if we mean only to make use of that assistance for the purpose of repairing the breach, and strengthening the connection between Britain and America; because, those powers would be sufferers by the consequences.Thirdly. While we profess ourselves the subjects of Britain, we must, in the eye of foreign nations, be considered as rebels. The precedent is somewhat dangerous to their peace, for men to be in arms under the name of subjects; we on the spot, can solve the paradox: but to unite resistance and subjection, requires an idea much too refined for common understanding.Fourthly. Were a manifesto to be published, and despatched to foreign courts, setting forth the miseries we have endured, and the peaceable methods we have ineffectually used for redress; declaring, at the same time, that not being able, any longer to live happily or safely under the cruel disposition of the British court, we had been driven to the necessity of breaking off all connection with her; at the same time assuring all such courts of our peaceable disposition towards them, and of our desire of entering into trade with them. Such a memorial would produce more good effects to this Continent, than if a ship were freighted with petitions to Britain.Under our present denomination of British subjects we can neither be received nor heard abroad: The custom of all courts is against us, and will be so, until, by an independence, we take rank with other nations.These proceedings may at first appear strange and difficult; but, like all other steps which we have already passed over, will in a little time become familiar and agreeable; and, until an independence is declared, the continent will feel itself like a man who continues putting off some unpleasant business from day to day, yet knows it must be done, hates to set about it, wishes it over, and is continually haunted with the thoughts of its necessity.APPENDIXSINCE the publication of the first edition of this pamphlet, or rather, on the same day on which it came out, the king's speech made its appearance in this city. Had the spirit of prophecy directed the birth of this production, it could not have brought it forth, at a more seasonable juncture, or a more necessary time. The bloody-mindedness of the one, show the necessity of pursuing the doctrine of the other. Men read by way of revenge. And the speech instead of terrifying, prepared a way for the manly principles of independence.Ceremony, and even, silence, from whatever motive they may arise, have a hurtful tendency, when they give the least degree of countenance to base and wicked performances; wherefore, if this maxim be admitted, it naturally follows, that the king's speech, as being a piece of finished villainy, deserved, and still deserves, a general execration both by the congress and the people. Yet as the domestic tranquility of a nation, depends greatly on the chastity of what may properly be called national manners, it is often better, to pass some things over in silent disdain, than to make use of such new methods of dislike, as might introduce the least innovation, on that guardian of our peace and safety. And perhaps, it is chiefly owing to this prudent delicacy, that the king's speech, hath not before now, suffered a public execution. The speech if it may be called one, is nothing better than a wilful audacious libel against the truth, the common good, and the existence of mankind; and is a formal and pompous method of offering up human sacrifices to the pride of tyrants. But this general massacre of mankind, is one of the privileges, and the certain consequences of kings; for as nature knows them not, they know not her, and although they are beings of our own creating, they know not us, and are become the gods of their creators. The speech hath one good quality, which is, that it is not calculated to deceive, neither can we, even if we would, be deceived by it. Brutality and tyranny appear on the face of it. It leaves us at no loss: And every line convinces, even in the moment of reading, that He, who hunts the woods for prey, the naked and untutored Indian, is less a savage than the king of Britain.Sir John Dalrymple, the putative father of a whining jesuitical piece, fallaciously called, The address of the people of ENGLAND to the inhabitants of America, hath, perhaps from a vain supposition, that the people here were to be frightened at the pomp and description of a king, given, (though very unwisely on his part) the real character of the present one: "But," says this writer, "if you are inclined to pay compliments to an administration, which we do not complain of," (meaning the Marquis of Rockingham's at the repeal of the Stamp Act) "it is very unfair in you to withhold them from that prince, by whose NOD ALONE they were permitted to do anything." This is toryism with a witness! Here is idolatry even without a mask: And he who can calmly hear, and digest such doctrine, hath forfeited his claim to rationality an apostate from the order of manhood; and ought to be considered- as one, who hath, not only given up the proper dignity of a man, but sunk himself beneath the rank of animals, and contemptibly crawl through the world like a worm.However, it matters very little now, what the king of England either says or does; he hath wickedly broken through every moral and human obligation, trampled nature and conscience beneath his feet; and by a steady and constitutional spirit of insolence and cruelty, procured for himself an universal hatred. It is now the interest of America to provide for herself. She hath already a large and young family, whom it is more her duty to take care of, than to be granting away her property, to support a power who is become a reproach to the names of men and Christians. Ye, whose office it is to watch over the morals of a nation, of whatsoever sect or denomination ye are of, as well as ye, who are more immediately the guardians of the public liberty, if ye wish to preserve your native country uncontaminated by European corruption, ye must in secret wish a separation But leaving the moral part to private reflection, I shall chiefly confine my farther remarks to the following heads:First. That it is the interest of America to be separated from Britain. Secondly. Which is the easiest and most practicable plan, reconciliation or independence? with some occasional remarks.In support of the first, I could, if I judged it proper, produce the opinion of some of the ablest and most experienced men on this continent; and whose sentiments, on that head, are not yet publicly known. It is in reality a self-evident position: For no nation in a state of foreign dependance, limited in its commerce, and cramped and fettered in its legislative powers, can ever arrive at any material eminence. America doth not yet know what opulence is; and although the progress which she hath made stands unparalleled in the history of other nations, it is but childhood, compared with what she would be capable of arriving at, had she, as she ought to have, the legislative powers in her own hands. England is, at this time, proudly coveting what would do her no good, were she to accomplish it; and the Continent hesitating on a matter, which will be her final ruin if neglected. It is the commerce and not the conquest of America, by which England is to be benefited, and that would in a great measure continue, were the countries as independent of each other as France and Spain; because in many articles, neither can go to a better market. But it is the independence of this country on Britain or any other which is now the main and only object worthy of contention, and which, like all other truths discovered by necessity, will appear clearer and stronger every day.First. Because it will come to that one time or other. Secondly. Because the longer it is delayed the harder it will be to accomplish.I have frequently amused myself both in public and private companies, with silently remarking the spacious errors of those who speak without reflecting. And among the many which I have heard, the following seems the most general, viz., that had this rupture happened forty or fifty years hence, instead of now, the Continent would have been more able to have shaken off the dependance. To which I reply, that our military ability at this time, arises from the experience gained in the last war, and which in forty or fifty years time, would have been totally extinct. The Continent, would not, by that time, have had a General, or even a military officer left; and we, or those who may succeed us, would have been as ignorant of martial matters as the ancient Indians: And this single position, closely attended to, will unanswerably prove, that the present time is preferable to all others: The argument turns thus- at the conclusion of the last war, we had experience, but wanted numbers; and forty or fifty years hence, we should have numbers, without experience; wherefore, the proper point of time, must be some particular point between the two extremes, in which a sufficiency of the former remains, and a proper increase of the latter is obtained: And that point of time is the present time.The reader will pardon this digression, as it does not properly come under the head I first set out with, and to which I again return by the following position, viz.:Should affairs be patched up with Britain, and she to remain the governing and sovereign power of America, (which as matters are now circumstanced, is giving up the point entirely) we shall deprive ourselves of the very means of sinking the debt we have or may contract. The value of the back lands which some of the provinces are clandestinely deprived of, by the unjust extension of the limits of Canada, valued only at five pounds sterling per hundred acres, amount to upwards of twenty-five millions, Pennsylvania currency; and the quit-rents at one penny sterling per acre, to two millions yearly.It is by the sale of those lands that the debt may be sunk, without burden to any, and the quit-rent reserved thereon, will always lessen, and in time, will wholly support the yearly expense of government. It matters not how long the debt is in paying, so that the lands when sold be applied to the discharge of it, and for the execution of which, the Congress for the time being, will be the continental trustees.I proceed now to the second head, viz. Which is the earliest and most practicable plan, reconciliation or independence? with some occasional remarks.He who takes nature for his guide is not easily beaten out of his argument, and on that ground, I answer generally- That INDEPENDENCE being a SINGLE SIMPLE LINE, contained within ourselves; and reconciliation, a matter exceedingly perplexed and complicated, and in which, a treacherous capricious court is to interfere, gives the answer without a doubt.The present state of America is truly alarming to every man who is capable of reflection. Without law, without government, without any other mode of power than what is founded on, and granted by courtesy. Held together by an unexampled concurrence of sentiment, which is nevertheless subject to change, and which every secret enemy is endeavoring to dissolve. Our present condition, is, legislation without law; wisdom without a plan; a constitution without a name; and, what is strangely astonishing, perfect Independence contending for dependance. The instance is without a precedent; the case never existed before; and who can tell what may be the event? The property of no man is secure in the present unbraced system of things. The mind of the multitude is left at random, and feeling no fixed object before them, they pursue such as fancy or opinion starts. Nothing is criminal; there is no such thing as treason; wherefore, every one thinks himself at liberty to act as he pleases. The tories dared not to have assembled offensively, had they known that their lives, by that act were forfeited to the laws of the state. A line of distinction should be drawn, between English soldiers taken in battle, and inhabitants of America taken in arms. The first are prisoners, but the latter traitors. The one forfeits his liberty the other his head.Notwithstanding our wisdom, there is a visible feebleness in some of our proceedings which gives encouragement to dissensions. The Continental Belt is too loosely buckled. And if something is not done in time, it will be too late to do any thing, and we shall fall into a state, in which, neither reconciliation nor independence will be practicable. The king and his worthless adherents are got at their old game of dividing the continent, and there are not wanting among us printers, who will be busy spreading specious falsehoods. The artful and hypocritical letter which appeared a few months ago in two of the New York papers, and likewise in two others, is an evidence that there are men who want either judgment or honesty. It is easy getting into holes and corners and talking of reconciliation: But do such men seriously consider, how difficult the task is, and how dangerous it may prove, should the Continent divide thereon. Do they take within their view, all the various orders of men whose situation and circumstances, as well as their own, are to be considered therein. Do they put themselves in the place of the sufferer whose all is already gone, and of the soldier, who hath quitted all for the defence of his country. If their ill judged moderation be suited to their own private situations only, regardless of others, the event will convince them, that "they are reckoning without their Host."Put us, says some, on the footing we were in the year 1763: To which I answer, the request is not now in the power of Britain to comply with, neither will she propose it; but if it were, and even should be granted, I ask, as a reasonable question, By what means is such a corrupt and faithless court to be kept to its engagements? Another parliament, nay, even the present, may hereafter repeal the obligation, on the pretence of its being violently obtained, or unwisely granted; and in that case, Where is our redress? No going to law with nations; cannon are the barristers of crowns; and the sword, not of justice, but of war, decides the suit. To be on the footing of 1763, it is not sufficient, that the laws only be put on the same state, but, that our circumstances, likewise, be put on the same state; our burnt and destroyed towns repaired or built up, our private losses made good, our public debts (contracted for defence) discharged; otherwise, we shall be millions worse than we were at that enviable period. Such a request had it been complied with a year ago, would have won the heart and soul of the continent- but now it is too late, "the Rubicon is passed."Besides the taking up arms, merely to enforce the repeal of a pecuniary law, seems as unwarrantable by the divine law, and as repugnant to human feelings, as the taking up arms to enforce obedience thereto. The object, on either side, doth not justify the ways and means; for the lives of men are too valuable to be cast away on such trifles. It is the violence which is done and threatened to our persons; the destruction of our property by an armed force; the invasion of our country by fire and sword, which conscientiously qualifies the use of arms: And the instant, in which such a mode of defence became necessary, all subjection to Britain ought to have ceased; and the independency of America should have been considered, as dating its area from, and published by, the first musket that was fired against her. This line is a line of consistency; neither drawn by caprice, nor extended by ambition; but produced by a chain of events, of which the colonies were not the authors.I shall conclude these remarks, with the following timely and well intended hints, We ought to reflect, that there are three different ways by which an independency may hereafter be effected; and that one of those three, will one day or other, be the fate of America, viz. By the legal voice of the people in congress; by a military power; or by a mob: It may not always happen that our soldiers are citizens, and the multitude a body of reasonable men; virtue, as I have already remarked, is not hereditary, neither is it perpetual. Should an independency be brought about by the first of those means, we have every opportunity and every encouragement before us, to form the noblest, purest constitution on the face of the earth. We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation, similar to the present, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at hand, and a race of men perhaps as numerous as all Europe contains, are to receive their portion of freedom from the event of a few months. The reflection is awful- and in this point of view, how trifling, how ridiculous, do the little, paltry cavillings, of a few weak or interested men appear, when weighed against the business of a world.Should we neglect the present favorable and inviting period, and an independence be hereafter effected by any other means, we must charge the consequence to ourselves, or to those rather, whose narrow and prejudiced souls, are habitually opposing the measure, without either inquiring or reflecting. There are reasons to be given in support of Independence, which men should rather privately think of, than be publicly told of. We ought not now to be debating whether we shall be independent or not, but, anxious to accomplish it on a firm, secure, and honorable basis, and uneasy rather that it is not yet began upon. Every day convinces us of its necessity. Even the tories (if such beings yet remain among us) should, of all men, be the most solicitous to promote it; for, as the appointment of committees at first, protected them from popular rage, so, a wise and well established form of government, will be the only certain means of continuing it securely to them. Wherefore, if they have not virtue enough to be Whigs, they ought to have prudence enough to wish for independence.In short, independence is the only bond that can tie and keep us together. We shall then see our object, and our ears will be legally shut against the schemes of an intriguing, as well as a cruel enemy. We shall then too, be on a proper footing, to treat with Britain; for there is reason to conclude, that the pride of that court, will be less hurt by treating with the American states for terms of peace, than with those, whom she denominates, "rebellious subjects," for terms of accommodation. It is our delaying it that encourages her to hope for conquest, and our backwardness tends only to prolong the war. As we have, without any good effect therefrom, withheld our trade to obtain a redress of our grievances, let us now try the alternative, by independently redressing them ourselves, and then offering to open the trade. The mercantile and reasonable part of England will be still with us; because, peace with trade, is preferable to war without it. And if this offer be not accepted, other courts may be applied to.On these grounds I rest the matter. And as no offer hath yet been made to refute the doctrine contained in the former editions of this pamphlet, it is a negative proof, that either the doctrine cannot be refuted, or, that the party in favor of it are too numerous to be opposed. Wherefore, instead of gazing at each other with suspicious or doubtful curiosity, let each of us, hold out to his neighbor the hearty hand of friendship, and unite in drawing a line, which, like an act of oblivion, shall bury in forgetfulness every former dissention. Let the names of Whig and Tory be extinct; and let none other be heard among us, than those of a good citizen, an open and resolute friend, and a virtuous supporter of the RIGHTS of MANKIND and of the FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES OF AMERICA.EPISTLE TO QUAKERSTo the Representatives of the Religious Society of the People called Quakers, or to so many of them as were concerned in publishing a late piece, entitled "THE ANCIENT TESTIMONY and PRINCIPLES of the people called QUAKERS renewed with respect to the KING and GOVERNMENT, and Touching the COMMOTIONS now prevailing in these and other parts of AMERICA, addressed to the PEOPLE IN GENERAL."THE writer of this is one of those few, who never dishonors religion either by ridiculing, or cavilling at any denomination whatsoever. To God, and not to man, are all men accountable on the score of religion. Wherefore, this epistle is not so properly addressed to you as a religious, but as a political body, dabbling in matters, which the professed quietude of your Principles instruct you not to meddle with.As you have, without a proper authority for so doing, put yourselves in the place of the whole body of the Quakers, so, the writer of this, in order to be on an equal rank with yourselves, is under the necessity, of putting himself in the place of all those who approve the very writings and principles, against which your testimony is directed: And he hath chosen their singular situation, in order that you might discover in him, that presumption of character which you cannot see in yourselves. For neither he nor you have any claim or title to Political Representation.When men have departed from the right way, it is no wonder that they stumble and fall. And it is evident from the manner in which ye have managed your testimony, that politics, (as a religious body of men) is not your proper walk; for however well adapted it might appear to you, it is, nevertheless, a jumble of good and bad put unwisely together, and the conclusion drawn therefrom, both unnatural and unjust.The two first pages, (and the whole doth not make four) we give you credit for, and expect the same civility from you, because the love and desire of peace is not confined to Quakerism, it is the natural, as well as the religious wish of all denominations of men. And on this ground, as men laboring to establish an Independent Constitution of our own, do we exceed all others in our hope, end, and aim. Our plan is peace for ever. We are tired of contention with Britain, and can see no real end to it but in a final separation. We act consistently, because for the sake of introducing an endless and uninterrupted peace, do we bear the evils and burdens of the present day. We are endeavoring, and will steadily continue to endeavor, to separate and dissolve a connection which hath already filled our land with blood; and which, while the name of it remains, will be the fatal cause of future mischiefs to both countries.We fight neither for revenge nor conquest; neither from pride nor passion; we are not insulting the world with our fleets and armies, nor ravaging the globe for plunder. Beneath the shade of our own vines are we attacked; in our own houses, and on our own lands, is the violence committed against us. We view our enemies in the characters of highwaymen and housebreakers, and having no defence for ourselves in the civil law; are obliged to punish them by the military one, and apply the sword, in the very case, where you have before now, applied the halter. Perhaps we feel for the ruined and insulted sufferers in all and every part of the continent, and with a degree of tenderness which hath not yet made its way into some of your bosoms. But be ye sure that ye mistake not the cause and ground of your Testimony. Call not coldness of soul, religion; nor put the bigot in the place of the Christian.O ye partial ministers of your own acknowledged principles! If the bearing arms be sinful, the first going to war must be more so, by all the difference between wilful attack and unavoidable defence.Wherefore, if ye really preach from conscience, and mean not to make a political hobby-horse of your religion, convince the world thereof, by proclaiming your doctrine to our enemies, for they likewise bear ARMS. Give us proof of your sincerity by publishing it at St. James's, to the commanders in chief at Boston, to the admirals and captains who are practically ravaging our coasts, and to all the murdering miscreants who are acting in authority under HIM whom ye profess to serve. Had ye the honest soul of Barclay* ye would preach repentance to your king; Ye would tell the royal tyrant of his sins, and warn him of eternal ruin. Ye would not spend your partial invectives against the injured and the insulted only, but like faithful ministers, would cry aloud and spare none. Say not that ye are persecuted, neither endeavor to make us the authors of that reproach, which, ye are bringing upon yourselves; for we testify unto all men, that we do not complain against you because ye are Quakers, but because ye pretend to be and are NOT Quakers.*"Thou hast tasted of prosperity and adversity; thou knowest what it is to be banished thy native country, to be overruled as well as to rule, and set upon the throne; and being oppressed thou hast reason to know now hateful the oppressor is both to God and man. If after all these warnings and advertisements, thou dost not turn unto the Lord with all thy heart, but forget him who remembered thee in thy distress, and give up thyself to follow lust and vanity, surely great will be thy condemnation. Against which snare, as well as the temptation of those who may or do feed thee, and prompt thee to evil, the most excellent and prevalent remedy will be, to apply thyself to that light of Christ which shineth in thy conscience and which neither can, nor will flatter thee, nor suffer thee to be at ease in thy sins."- Barclay's Address to Charles II.Alas! it seems by the particular tendency of some part of your Testimony, and other parts of your conduct, as if all sin was reduced to, and comprehended in the act of bearing arms, and that by the people only. Ye appear to us, to have mistaken party for conscience, because the general tenor of your actions wants uniformity: And it is exceedingly difficult to us to give credit to many of your pretended scruples; because we see them made by the same men, who, in the very instant that they are exclaiming against the mammon of this world, are nevertheless, hunting after it with a step as steady as Time, and an appetite as keen as Death.The quotation which ye have made from Proverbs, in the third page of your testimony, that, "when a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him;" is very unwisely chosen on your part; because it amounts to a proof, that the king's ways (whom ye are so desirous of supporting) do not please the Lord, otherwise, his reign would be in peace.I now proceed to the latter part of your testimony, and that, for which all the foregoing seems only an introduction, viz:"It hath ever been our judgment and principle, since we were called to profess the light of Christ Jesus, manifested in our consciences unto this day, that the setting up and putting down kings and governments, is God's peculiar prerogative; for causes best known to himself: And that it is not our business to have any hand or contrivance therein; nor to be busy-bodies above our station, much less to plot and contrive the ruin, or overturn any of them, but to pray for the king, and safety of our nation, and good of all men: that we may live a peaceable and quiet life, in all goodliness and honesty; under the government which God is pleased to set over us." If these are really your principles why do ye not abide by them? Why do ye not leave that, which ye call God's work, to be managed by himself? These very principles instruct you to wait with patience and humility, for the event of all public measures, and to receive that event as the divine will towards you. Wherefore, what occasion is there for your political Testimony if you fully believe what it contains? And the very publishing it proves, that either, ye do not believe what ye profess, or have not virtue enough to practice what ye believe.The principles of Quakerism have a direct tendency to make a man the quiet and inoffensive subject of any, and every government which is set over him. And if the setting up and putting down of kings and governments is God's peculiar prerogative, he most certainly will not be robbed thereof by us; wherefore, the principle itself leads you to approve of every thing, which ever happened, or may happen to kings as being his work. Oliver Cromwell thanks you. Charles, then, died not by the hands of man; and should the present proud imitator of him, come to the same untimely end, the writers and publishers of the Testimony, are bound by the doctrine it contains, to applaud the fact. Kings are not taken away by miracles, neither are changes in governments brought about by any other means than such as are common and human; and such as we are now using. Even the dispersing of the Jews, though foretold by our Savior, was effected by arms. Wherefore, as ye refuse to be the means on one side, ye ought not to be meddlers on the other; but to wait the issue in silence; and unless you can produce divine authority, to prove, that the Almighty who hath created and placed this new world, at the greatest distance it could possibly stand, east and west, from every part of the old, doth, nevertheless, disapprove of its being independent of the corrupt and abandoned court of Britain; unless I say, ye can show this, how can ye, on the ground of your principles, justify the exciting and stirring up of the people "firmly to unite in the abhorrence of all such writings, and measures, as evidence a desire and design to break off the happy connection we have hitherto enjoyed, with the kingdom of Great Britain, and our just and necessary subordination to the king, and those who are lawfully placed in authority under him." What a slap in the face is here! the men, who, in the very paragraph before, have quietly and passively resigned up the ordering, altering, and disposal of kings and governments, into the hands of God, are now recalling their principles, and putting in for a share of the business. Is it possible, that the conclusion, which is here justly quoted, can any ways follow from the doctrine laid down? The inconsistency is too glaring not to be seen; the absurdity too great not to be laughed at; and such as could only have been made by those, whose understandings were darkened by the narrow and crabby spirit of a despairing political party; for ye are not to be considered as the whole body of the Quakers but only as a factional and fractional part thereof.Here ends the examination of your testimony; (which I call upon no man to abhor, as ye have done, but only to read and judge of fairly;) to which I subjoin the following remark; "That the setting up and putting down of kings," most certainly mean, the making him a king, who is yet not so, and the making him no king who is already one. And pray what hath this to do in the present case? We neither mean to set up nor to put down, neither to make nor to unmake, but to have nothing to do with them. Wherefore your testimony in whatever light it is viewed serves only to dishonor your judgment, and for many other reasons had better have been let alone than published.First. Because it tends to the decrease and reproach of religion whatever, and is of the utmost danger to society, to make it a party in political disputes. Secondly. Because it exhibits a body of men, numbers of whom disavow the publishing political testimonies, as being concerned therein and approvers thereof. Thirdly. Because it hath a tendency to undo that continental harmony and friendship which yourselves by your late liberal and charitable donations hath lent a hand to establish; and the preservation of which, is of the utmost consequence to us all.And here, without anger or resentment I bid you farewell. Sincerely wishing, that as men and Christians, ye may always fully and uninterruptedly enjoy every civil and religious right; and be, in your turn, the means of securing it to others; but that the example which ye have unwisely set, of mingling religion with politics, may be disavowed and reprobated by every inhabitant of America.

NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY VIEWING PARTY

2012-01-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

El Paso County RepublicanHEADQUARTERS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 10th from 5:30 till ???205 Sutton Lane, Colorado Springs, CO 80907Off of Sinton Road, between Garden of the Gods and FillmoreEmail: info@gopelpaso.comPhone: 719-578-0022Republican PrinciplesI'm a Republican Because...I BELIEVE the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.I BELIEVE in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.I BELIEVE free enterprise and encouraging individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.I BELIEVE government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn.I BELIEVE the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations, and that the best government is that which governs least.I BELIEVE the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people.I BELIEVE Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times.I BELIEVE Americans value and should preserve our national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world.FINALLY, I believe the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government.

THE TEBOW MYSTIQUE

2012-01-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

This is the book we talked about a week or so ago with author Patton Dodd. I also suggest his recent articles in The Washington Post and The Wallstreet Journal. The following is from J. Knutsen from the amazon.com website. R2/2.0//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////How to explain all the inflamed and irrational passion for a second-year QB whom a consensus of experts believe is doomed to failure?In a word, perhaps: *Hope*. Patton Dodd smartly peels away the many layers of the Tebow mystique to find, at its heart, our hope that something unexpected might happen. Maybe even something we'd call miraculous. This, of course, is the language of faith, for which Tebow is known, and so what we love about sports gets conflated with what we love... and then it's no surprise that our response to a 57-yard-touchdown pass by an excitable, charismatic and virtuous young leader is to throw our arms in the air, drop to our knees, and shout, "Hallelujah!"(Which is exactly what I did, yesterday. Though, to be honest, as a Broncos fan I am Tebowing for Luck.)The Tebow story needs some objectivity, and to be viewed through a bigger lens than throwing mechanics or college wins. Dodd provides that perspective, and some insights you won't read elsewhere.

RICHARD RANDALL ON COVER OF SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

2012-01-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

OK, OK, OK, it WAS kind of a trick (still as a former lawyer I can honestly say it via technicality) to say I was on the cover. My son and I are two small dots in the crowd. But we WERE there, and ARE on the cover, along with thousand of other fans. Thanks to Jack for the tix. R2/2.0

COLORADO REPUBLICAN CAUCUS FEB. 7TH

2012-01-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

Chairman Ryan Call Announces Republican Caucus Websitewww.caucus.cologop.orgColorado Republican Party Chairman Ryan Call released the following statement announcing a website for Republican caucus goers to find their caucus location online and pre-register to attend:“Colorado Republicans are committed to investing in new technologies in order to maintain a competitive advantage in the upcoming 2012 elections. I am pleased to announce our new caucus registration website will not only allow caucus goers to find their local caucus location, but also allow attendees to pre-register for their caucus.”The Colorado Republican Precinct Caucus will be held on February 7, 2012 at 7PM statewide. In order to participate in the Republican Caucus, you must have been a registered Republican as of December 7, 2011, and you must have been a resident of your precinct since January 9, 2012. Pre-registration for the caucus is optional.For more information about the caucus process please visit www.cologop.org

*Note: Due to reapportionment and redistricting every 10 years, precinct lines will not be finalized until January 9th, if your precinct location is not available now, it will be shortly after the 9th. If you choose to pre-register for your caucus, your location will be e-mailed to you as soon as it is updated in our system.

I LOVE GREAT CARS & A GOOD REAL MYSTERY

2012-01-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

CSX2287 - The long lost Prototype Daytona CoupeThe original prototype Cobra Daytona Coupe that has been missing for 30 years, was recently sold for over $3 million dollars. As one of six closed Coupe Cobras, the prototype had a interesting racing career, but that is where the story starts.After winning the Manufacturer's trophy for Shelby American in 1965, the six Coupes were retired. Ford brought the GT 40 project to Shelby to take over. The instructions were simple enough, retire the Cobras and race & win with the GT 40's. Daytona Coupe CXS2287 returned to Shelby American to be reconditioned. It joined the public relations Cobra Caravan touring the country. Later Craig Breedlove and Bobby Tatroe took it to the Bonneville Salt Flats and set 23 international and national speed records. Shelby wanted to sell the cars, but no one wanted the spent racing Coupes. They sat around Shelby American for a couple of years. The engine and transmissions were taken out. Interest finally awoke for the cars and they were sold, some for less than $4,000.CSX2287 was sold to Jim Russell, owner of Russkit Models for $4,500. Russkit made slot-cars and model car kits. Russell converted the car for street use and kept it for about a year. He then sold the Coupe to Phil Spector, music producer. Russell had advertised the car for $12,500.Spector drove the Coupe on the streets of Los Angeles. But retired racing cars do not make good street cars. Designed for high speed race tracks, the Coupe was uncomfortable and hot. The story has it that Spector got so many tickets his lawyer advised him to get rid of the Coupe before he had to give up his driver's license. Spector took it to a mechanic to see about making it more streetable. They said conversion was going to cost a lot of money. The shop suggested "scrapping it" and offered him $800 for it as a parts car. Spector didn't scrap the Coupe but he was ready to get rid of it. George Brand, Spector's body guard, offered him $1,000 for the Coupe in 1971. Brand later gave the car to his daughter, Donna O'Hara. (Read below for an update on this part of the story.)O'Hara and her husband, John, were approached numerous times about selling the car. The offers, according to the SAAC registry, were under market value and were repeatedly turned down. O'Hara finally did put a price on it equal to a piece of property they wanted to buy, but offered that kind of money for it. In 1982 the O'Hara's were divorced and Donna took the Coupe with her. She went into obscurity and hid the car. Potential buyers who found her were told to go away and she wouldn't confirm she even had the car. Rumors floated around that the Coupe set in a garage in Southern California unrestored. Actually as it turned out it was wasting away in storage. The legendary lost Daytona Cobra Coupe...An article in the LA Times reported that Robert Lavoie, an attorney representing Kurt Goss, said she was approached at least two times in the last couple of years. She was offered about a half-million dollars but wouldn't sell it. She told friends she was going to hold on to it to pay for her retirement. During the 70's she let Goss drive it once in awhile. He was a childhood friend of Donna's.The ownership of the car is now a court issue. On October 22, 2000, Donna O'Hara went under a bridge, her rabbits in hand, on a horse trail in Fullerton, poured gasoline on herself and lit it. It took her 15 hours to die. She was found before she died but refused to even give her name to the police or the hospital. A month later she was identified when some friends reported her missing.Goss said she called him on October 17 and asked that he come to her La Habra house. There she asked Goss should something happen to her, if he would take care of her personal effects. Goss says she also said she wanted him to have the Coupe and three other cars she owned. When he heard that she died, he contacted her mother, Dorothy. He also paid the back rent for the storage garage where the Coupe was parked. However, the manager of the rental storage place would not let Goss move the car without proper legal authority. By the way, Donna died without a will.In the meantime a rare car dealer from Montecito, Martin Eyears, contacted Donna's boss at Sears, trying to get in touch with her. He had tried to buy the car from her earlier and wanted to make another offer. He was told that she had died. Donna's boss agreed to pass Eyear's interest in the car to her mother. Dorothy Brand called Eyears on December 16 and agreed to sell him the Coupe for $3,000,000 and reassured him that she and Donna's father were sole heirs to Donna's estate.Apparently Eyears had an arrangement with Steve Volk, president of the Shelby American Collection in Boulder, CO, to sell the Coupe to the museum for $3,750,000. But he did not sell it to Volk, instead he sold it to a private collector on the East coast, Fredrick Simone, a Philadelphia neurosurgeon.A legal fight over ownership of the car has broken out. When Goss learned of the sale, he went to the garage and to find that the car was gone. He retained an attorney to stop the sale of the car, and prove Donna gave him the Coupe. Goss has the title and the keys to the storage garage, the car is with the collector. Goss is being accused of taking the title illegally. Mrs. Brand has already given some the sale money to charities and other family members. Probate court has not settled Donna's estate yet so there are questions at to whether Mrs. Brand legally owned the car to be able to sell it to Eyears. Judge James Gray was quoted by the LA Times, "I'm going to challenge all of you and ask if you are not making this up. This smells from many standpoints." on March 6. Gray ordered the remaining $2,000,000 be held until ownership can be resolved. The hearing is set for April 17, 2001.Additional Information: Wallace Wyss, author of Shelby's Wildlife, sent me an email regarding the 4-17-01 hearing. Nothing was settled. Judge Gray was not happy that Mrs. Brand has not revealed where the $1,000,000 is that see reportedly gave away. Gray was also annoyed that Dr. Simone has not responded to any inquiries. And Gray set a date in October to reach a settlement if one is not reached prior.To add to the confusion, Phil Spector now says he never sold the car to Brand. That in fact he only gave it to Brand to store. Store it for 30 years? Maybe Shelby never sold it to Russell, either.OR THERE IS THIS VERSIONThe Missing Daytona Coupe MysteryPosted on January 14, 2007 I think it is the strangest automotive story I have ever heard. I’ll try to lay it out for you.

Back in 1964 Carol Shelby was tearing up the tracks in the US with his Cobra roadsters. Nothing had a chance. But on the European tracks with longer straights it was a different story. The roadster aerodynamics limited its top speed and the Ferrari’s would clean their clocks. In 1965 Shelby was intent on winning against Ferrari. Because Ferrari was allowed to enter a special version of their road car it opened the door for Carol Shelby to do the same. Fortunately he had Pete Brock on his payroll and Pete had studied aerodynamic texts that the Germans had put together from years of research. Pete also had a great eye for form and with the help of the Shelby crew they designed the Cobra Coupe. It was fantastic and the chassis number of the first one was CSX2287. Six were made in all.The design was so perfect it allowed Shelby to win against Ferrari, but Ford was intent on LeMans and wanted Shelby to devote his shop to the GT40. This left CSX2287 to get cleaned up and used on the public relations Cobra Caravan. It even spent some time on the Bonneville Salt Flats with Craig Breedlove and Bobby Tatroe setting 23 international and national speed records.Then it dissapeared. It would take thirty years to turn up again.Since Ford wanted Shelby to concentrate on the GT40, Carol put the coupes up for sale. The most he could get for any of them was about $4000 without engines and transmissoins. CSX2287 was sold first to Oscar Koveleski of Autoworld fame and then to Jim Russellof Russkit slot cars who converted it to street use (sort of) and sold it to none other than Phil Spector. Phil accumulated a lot of speeding tickets and also found the race car did not convert that well to the street, often becoming unbearably hot. Phil took it to a shop to see about further converting it to street use, but the mechanic told him it would cost tons of money and offered to scrap it for him for $800.Now here is where the story gets a little screwy. Some say that Phil sold it to his body guard for $1000 in 1971. The body guard, George Brand, then gave it to his daughter, Donna O’Hara, who stashed the car and wouldn’t tell anyone where it was or even admit that she had it.Donna got divorced in 1982 and she retained control of the car. In the last couple of years Robert Lavoie, an attorney representing Kurt Goss a childhood friend of donna’s, tried several times to buy it for half a million dollars, but she refused.On October 22, 2000, Donna went under a bridge Fulerton, CA, with her rabbits and a couple of bottles of gasoline. She poured the gasoline on herself and lit it off. It took her 15 hours to die and she wouldn’t even tell the police who she was. She just told them to “Shut up”. It took over a month for her to be identified when friends reported her disappearance.Goss claimed that she called him five days prior and told him that if anything happened to her he was to take care of her personal belongings. Goss said that she wanted him to have the coupe along with three other cars of hers. When he heard that Donna had died he contacted her mother and paid the outstanding storage charges expecting to remove the coupe. The owner of the storage center would not let Goss remove it without legal authority and Donna had no will.Meanwhile Martin Eyears, a rare car dealer from Montecito, tried to close a deal with Donna’s mother to buy it for $3,000,000. Donna’s father suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and can’t help with the questions over ownership. So Martin decides to sell it to a collector on the east coast for $4,000,000.Then Phil Spector comes out and says he still owns the car. Phil claims that he neither sold nor gave the car away, and that he asked Brand to put it into storage for him. December 8, 2001, the legal battle ends. Kurt Goss has been determined to be the legal owner and Dorthy Brand is to pay him more than $800,000, since she sold the car. After estate and gift taxes Dorthy will end up with nothing according to her lawyer, Milford Dahl. I suspect the lawyer will pocket enough to put a couple of payments on that beach condo he owns in Malibu.

PRIMARY & CAUCUS DATES

2011-12-27T10:01:00.000-08:00

Full Primary/Caucus CalendarJanuary 3, 2012 Iowa (caucus)January 10, 2012 New Hampshire (primary)January 21, 2012 South Carolina (primary)January 31, 2012 Florida (primary)February 4, 2012 Nevada (caucus)February 4–11, 2012 Maine (caucus)February 7, 2012 Colorado (caucus)Minnesota (caucus)Missouri (primary) – *See note below on MissouriFebruary 28, 2012 Arizona (primary)Michigan (primary)March 3, 2012 Washington (caucus)March 6, 2012(Super Tuesday) Alaska (caucus)Georgia (primary)Idaho (caucus)Massachusetts (primary)North Dakota (caucus)Ohio (primary)Oklahoma (primary)Tennessee (primary)Vermont (primary)Virginia (primary)March 6-10, 2012 Wyoming (caucus)March 10, 2012 Kansas (caucus)U.S. Virgin Islands (caucus)March 13, 2012 Alabama (primary)Hawaii (caucus)Mississippi (primary)March 17, 2012 Missouri (GOP caucus) – *See note below on MissouriMarch 20, 2012 Illinois (primary)March 24, 2012 Louisiana (primary)April 3, 2012 District of Columbia (primary)Maryland (primary)Wisconsin (primary)Texas (primary)April 24, 2012 Connecticut (primary)Delaware (primary)New York (primary)Pennsylvania (primary)Rhode Island (primary)May 8, 2012 Indiana (primary)North Carolina (primary)West Virginia (primary)May 15, 2012 Nebraska (primary)Oregon (primary)May 22, 2012 Arkansas (primary)Kentucky (primary)June 5, 2012 California (primary)Montana (primary)New Jersey (primary)New Mexico (primary)South Dakota (primary)June 26, 2012 Utah (primary)*Missouri: Missouri will hold a primary on February 7th, 2012, which will not count for delegates toward the 2012 GOP convention. The Missouri Republican Party will hold a caucus on March 17th, 2012, which will determine the delegates sent to the 2012 GOP convention

Paul D DeBerjeois

2011-12-23T08:14:00.001-08:00

revolutionrealtime@gmail.com

2011-12-21T22:20:00.000-08:00

I have started posting to twitter and fb as if I were a member of Washington's troops as they head to Valley Forge.revolutionrealtime@gmail.com I am 2 days behind Washington. Have only three miles from Whitemarsh. Country is picked over & hard find woodrevolutionrealtime@gmail.com We stopped at dark, huddled in field. wet, cold, can't stop teeth from chattering. Feet are numb.revolutionrealtime@gmail.com We have small fire but what little wood it wet and keeps going out. Farmers friendly but have nothing to give.revolutionrealtime@gmail.com At least British not following, so we set no guards. moving with stragglers, women & camp followers. Many sickrevolutionrealtime@gmail.com hope sleep will come and i can dream of a warm hearth. GN

CHRISTMAS SUGGESTIONS FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER, 22ND

2011-12-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

FOR CHRISTMAS QUOTE:I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. ~Charles DickensFOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE:"A CHRISTMAS CAROL" - Charles Dickens - Focus On The Family Production on CD or downloadA full cast of award-winning voice actors bring Charles Dickens' timeless story to life as never before! Dramatizing the struggle between earthly gain and eternal treasure, it challenges you to examine your own heart to re-evaluate where your treasure lies. This Focus on the Family Radio Theatre production features over 90 minutes of family entertainment. Full cast narration. Cinema sound. Original music score. Recorded at the Soundhouse LTD. London, United Kingdom.FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE:"BONES" - "The Man in the Fallout Shelter"This is a holiday episode based on events happening on Christmas Eve. On December 23, Booth brings in the skeletal remains of a man found dead in a bomb shelter discovered recently. Everyone is in Christmas-Eve mode with a company party going on upstairs. Bones and the rest of the team start investigating the dead man's story when Zack triggers the bio-hazard alarm while cutting through the skeleton.The lab is shut down for containment and every one is under quarantine based on the discovery of a fungus causing Valley fever (even though it's not actually contagious). The prospect of spending the two mandatory quarantine days away from friends and family makes everyone morose. Booth develops a side-effect of euphoria due to drugs given to immunize them from the disease.The case, meanwhile, progresses into the discovery of a love affair between the dead man, Lionel Little, who worked as a lease inspector for a company called Silver Cloud Petroleum and had a coin collection, and his black cleaning lady (Ivy Gillespie) in the late 1950s. Due to the oppressive racial climate in the US, they planned to emigrate to France. Lionel tried to sell his valuable coin collection to a shifty con artist who murdered Lionel to procure the collection (worth approximately $8000 at the time).An emotional segment in the show occurs when everyone gets to meet their family and friends with Christmas carols crooning in the background. We find out that Booth has a 4 year old son named Parker (because his mother didn’t marry him, his parental rights are vague), and that Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top is Angela's father.With everyone else in the lab celebrating Christmas with secret Santa gifts, Bones decides to track down Ivy and reveal the lethal mystery behind Lionel's disappearance to her. Bones does this on Angela's advice. Angela says that Bones must find Ivy so she can have the closure that Temperance herself never had (her parents disappeared when she was 15, and no information has been uncovered regarding their whereabouts). Bones, listening to her friend, goes to her office and starts making phone calls trying to locate Ivy Gillespie. Finally, on Christmas morning, she finds Ivy’s granddaughter who provides information to contact her.Bones asks Booth to look at the penny they found in Lionel’s pocket. She scanned it to find out that it was actually a copper penny minted in 1943, unlike almost all pennies from that time that were made of zinc clad steel to conserve copper for World War II. Today, there are just 12 of them and it is worth over $100,000 dollars. Dr. Goodman enters telling them that it is time for the results.They are all together waiting for the results as the Head of the Jeffersonian and other guys in biohazard suits are running them in a computer and a green light turns on. They remove their helmets and one of them tells “Merry Christmas”. They all start walking out the Jeffersonian but Temperance stays behind. When Booth realizes it he stops and turns to her, she just says: “Go, go have Christmas. Wish your boy a Merry Christmas from me,” to which he says: “I’m at Wong Foo’s if you decide you want company. Merry Christmas Bones,” and he leaves.A young and an elderly woman came in the lab. They are Lisa Pearce (granddaughter) and Ivy Gillespie. Bones takes them to her office and she starts explaining all that happened. Ivy starts crying when she realizes that she wasn't abandoned by Lionel; that he was actually trying to keep his promise to go to Paris. But that is not all the happiness that Temperance gave them. Lisa wants to be a doctor but can’t afford it, but Brennan gives her and her grandmother Lionel's 1943 bronze penny, worth over $100,000.After visiting Booth at Wong Foo's, Bones returns to the lab alone and retrieves several wrapped gifts and cards from an old suitcase; it was previously explained that when her parents went missing around Christmas, Brennan had childishly refused to open their presents to her until they returned- which they never did. Sitting alone on the couch with Angela's holographic Christmas tree and leftover decorations still up, Temperance finally opens her parents' gifts to her and smiles through her tears.//////////////////////////////////////////////////FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE:"The Best Christmas Ever" - James Patrick KellyAunty Em's man was not doing well at all. He had been droopy and gray ever since the neighbor Mr. Kimura had died, shuffling around the house in nothing but socks and bathrobe. He had even lost interest in the model train layout that he and the neighbor were building in the garage. Sometimes he stayed in bed until eleven in the morning and had ancient Twinkies for lunch. He had a sour, vinegary smell. By midafternoon he'd be asking her to mix strange ethanol concoctions like Brave Little Toasters and Tin Honeymoons. After he had drunk five or six, he would stagger around the house mumbling about the big fires he'd fought with Ladder Company No. 3 or the wife he had lost in the Boston plague. Sometimes he would just cry. · · · · · Begin Interaction 4022932· · · · · "Do you want to watch Annie Hall?" Aunty Em asked.The man perched on the edge of the Tyvola sofa in the living room, elbows propped on knees, head sunk into hands."The General? Monty Python and the Holy Grail? Spaced Out?""I hate that robot." He tugged at his thinning hair and snarled. "I hate robots."Aunty Em did not take this personally—she was a biop, not a robot. "I could call Lola. She's been asking after you.""I'll bet." Still, he looked up from damp hands. "I'd rather have Kathy."This was a bad sign. Kathy was the lost wife. The girlfriend biop could certainly assume that body; she could look like anyone the man wanted. But while the girlfriend biop could pretend, she could never be the wife that the man missed. His reactions to the Kathy body were always erratic and sometimes dangerous."I'll nose around town," said Aunty Em. "I heard Kathy was off on a business trip, but maybe she's back.""Nose around," he said and then reached for the glass on the original Noguchi coffee table with spread fingers, as if he thought it might try to leap from his grasp. "You do that." He captured it on the second attempt. · · · · · End Interaction 4022932· · · · · The man was fifty-six years old and in good health, considering. His name was Albert Paul Hopkins, but none of the biops called him that. Aunty Em called him Bertie. The girlfriend called him sweetie or Al. The pal biops called him Al or Hoppy or Sport. The stranger biops called him Mr. Hopkins or sir. The animal biops didn't speak much, but the dog called him Buddy and the cat called him Mario.When Aunty Em beamed a summary of the interaction to the girlfriend biop, the girlfriend immediately volunteered to try the Kathy body again. The girlfriend had been desperate of late, since the man didn't want anything to do with her. His slump had been hard on her, hard on Aunty Em too. Taking care of the man had changed the biops. They were all so much more emotional than they had been when they were first budded.But Aunty Em told the girlfriend to hold off. Instead she decided to throw a Christmas. She hadn't done Christmas in almost eight months. She'd given him a Gone With The Wind Halloween and a Fourth of July with whistling busters, panoramas, phantom balls, and double-break shells, but those were only stopgaps. The man needed cookies, he needed presents, he was absolutely aching for a sleigh filled with Christmas cheer. So she beamed an alert to all of her biops and assigned roles. She warned them that if this wasn't the best Christmas ever, they might lose the last man on earth. · · · · · Aunty Em spent three days baking cookies. She dumped eight sticks of fatty acid triglycerides, four cups of C12H22O11, four vat-grown ova, four teaspoons of flavor potentiator, twelve cups of milled grain endosperm, and five teaspoons each of NaHCO3 and KHC4H4O6 into the bathtub and then trod on the mixture with her best baking boots. She rolled the dough and then pulled cookie cutters off the top shelf of the pantry: the mitten and the dollar sign and the snake and the double-bladed ax. She dusted the cookies with red nutriceutical sprinkles, baked them at 190°C, and brought a plate to the man while they were still warm.The poor thing was melting into the recliner in the television room. He clutched a half-full tumbler of Sins-of-the-Mother, as if it were the anchor that was keeping him from floating out of the window. He had done nothing but watch classic commercials with the sound off since he had fallen out of bed. The cat was curled on the man's lap, pretending to be asleep. · · · · · Begin Interaction 4022947· · · · · "Cookies, Bertie," said Aunty Em. "Fresh from the oven, oven fresh." She set the plate down on the end table next to the Waterford lead crystal vase filled with silk daffodils."Not hungry," he said. On the mint-condition 34-inch Sony Hi-Scan television Ronald McDonald was dancing with some kids.Aunty Em stepped in front of the screen, blocking his view. "Have you decided what you want for Christmas, dear?""It isn't Christmas." He waved her away from the set, but she didn't budge. He did succeed in disturbing the cat, which stood, arched its back, and then dropped to the floor."No, of course it isn't." She laughed. "Christmas isn't until next week."He aimed the remote at the set and turned up the sound. A man was talking very fast. "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese …"Aunty Em pressed the off button with her knee. "I'm talking to you, Bertie."The man lowered the remote. "What's today?""Today is Friday." She considered. "Yes, Friday.""No, I mean the date.""The date is … let me see. The twenty-first."His skin temperature had risen from 33°C to 37°. "The twenty-first of what?" he said.She stepped away from the screen. "Have another cookie, Bertie.""All right." He turned the television on and muted it. "You win." A morose Maytag repairman slouched at his desk, waiting for the phone to ring. "I know what I want," said the man. "I want a Glock 17.""And what is that, dear?""It's a nine millimeter handgun.""A handgun, oh my." Aunty Em was so flustered that she ate one of her own cookies, even though she had extinguished her digestive track for the day. "For shooting? What would you shoot?""I don't know." He broke the head off a gingerbread man. "A reindeer. The TV. Maybe one of you.""Us? Oh, Bertie—one of us?"He made a gun out of his thumb and forefinger and aimed. "Maybe just the cat." His thumb came down.The cat twitched. "Mario," it said and nudged the man's bare foot with its head. "No, Mario."On the screen the Jolly Green Giant rained peas down on capering elves. · · · · · End Interaction 4022947· · · · · Begin Interaction 4023013· · · · · The man stepped onto the front porch of his house and squinted at the sky, blinking. It was late spring and the daffodils were nodding in a warm breeze. Aunty Em pulled the sleigh to the bottom of the steps and honked the horn. It played the first three notes of "Jingle Bells." The man turned to go back into the house but the girlfriend biop took him by the arm. "Come on now, sweetie," she said and steered him toward the steps.The girlfriend had assumed the Donna Reed body the day before, but unlike previous Christmases, the man had taken no sexual interest in her. She was wearing the severe black dress with the white lace collar from the last scene of It's A Wonderful Life. The girlfriend looked as worried about the man as Mary had been about despairing George Bailey. All the biops were worried, thought Aunty Em. They would be just devastated if anything happened to him. She waved gaily and hit the horn again. Beep-beep-BEEP!The dog and the cat had transformed themselves into reindeer for the outing. The cat got the red nose. Three of the animal biops had assumed reindeer bodies too. They were all harnessed to the sleigh, which hovered about a foot off the ground. As the man stumped down the steps, Aunty Em discouraged the antigrav, and the runners crunched against gravel. The girlfriend bundled the man aboard."Do you see who we have guiding the way?" said Aunty Em. She beamed the cat and it lit up its nose. "See?""Is that the fake cop?" The man coughed. "Or the fake pizza guy? I can't keep them straight.""On Dasher, now Dancer, now Comet and Nixon," cried Aunty Em as she encouraged the antigrav. "To the mall, Rudolf, and don't bother to slow down for yellow lights!" She cracked the whip and away they went, down the driveway and out into the world.The man lived at the edge of the biop compound, away from the bustle of the spaceport and the accumulatorium with its bulging galleries of authentic human artifacts and the vat where new biops were budded off the master template. They drove along the perimeter road. The biops were letting the forest take over here, and saplings of birch and hemlock sprouted from the ruins of the town.The sleigh floated across a bridge and Aunty Em started to sing. "Over the river and through the woods …" But when she glanced over her shoulder and saw the look on the man's face, she stopped. "Is something wrong, Bertie dear?""Where are you taking me?" he said. "I don't recognize this road.""It's a secret," said Aunty Em. "A Christmas secret."His blood pressure had dropped to 93/60. "Have I been there before?""I wouldn't think so. No."The girlfriend clutched the man's shoulder. "Look," she said. "Sheep."Four ewes had gathered at the river's edge to drink, their stumpy tails twitching. They were big animals; their long, tawny fleeces made them look like walking couches. A brown man on a dromedary camel watched over them. He was wearing a satin robe in royal purple with gold trim at the neck. When Aunty Em beamed him the signal, he tapped the line attached to the camel's nose peg and the animal turned to face the road."One of the wise men," said Aunty Em."The king of the shepherds," said the girlfriend.As the sleigh drove by, the wise man tipped his crown to them. The sheep looked up from the river and bleated, "Happy holidays.""They're so cute," said the girlfriend. "I wish we had sheep."The man sighed. "I could use a drink.""Not just yet, Bertie," said Aunty Em. "But I bet Mary packed your candy."The girlfriend pulled a plastic pumpkin from underneath the seat. It was filled with leftovers from the Easter they'd had last month. She held it out to the man and shook it. It was filled with peeps and candy corn and squirtgum and chocolate crosses. He pulled a peep from the pumpkin and sniffed it suspiciously."It's safe, sweetie," said the girlfriend. "I irradiated everything just before we left."There were no cars parked in the crumbling lot of the Wal-Mart. They pulled up to the entrance where a Salvation Army Santa stood over a black plastic pot holding a bell. The man didn't move."We're here, Al." The girlfriend nudged him. "Let's go.""What is this?" said the man."Christmas shopping," said Aunty Em. "Time to shop.""Who the hell am I supposed to shop for?""Whoever you want," said Aunty Em. "You could shop for us. You could shop for yourself. You could shop for Kathy.""Aunty Em!" said the girlfriend."No," said the man. "Not Kathy.""Then how about Mrs. Marelli?"The man froze. "Is that what this is about?""It's about Christmas, Al," said the girlfriend. "It's about getting out of the god-damned sleigh and going into the store." She climbed over him and jumped down to the pavement before Aunty Em could discourage the antigrav. She stalked by the Santa and through the entrance without looking back. Aunty Em beamed her a request to come back but she went dark."All right," said the man. "You win."The Santa rang his bell at them as they approached. The man stopped and grasped Aunty Em's arm. "Just a minute," he said and ran back to the sleigh to fetch the plastic pumpkin. He emptied the candy into the Santa's pot."God bless you, young man." The Santa knelt and sifted the candy through his red suede gloves as if it were gold."Yeah," said the man. "Merry Christmas."Aunty Em twinkled at the two of them. She thought the man might finally be getting into the spirit of the season.The store was full of biops, transformed into shoppers. They had stocked the shelves with artifacts authenticated by the accumulatorium: Barbies and Sonys and Goodyears and Dockers; patio furniture and towels and microwave ovens and watches. At the front of the store was an array of polyvinyl chloride spruce trees predecorated with bubble lights and topped with glass penguins. Some of the merchandise was new, some used, some broken. The man paid attention to none of it, not even the array of genuine Lionel "O" Scale locomotives and freight cars Aunty Em had ordered specially for this interaction. He passed methodically down the aisles, eyes bright, searching. He strode right by the girlfriend, who was sulking in Cosmetics.Aunty Em paused to touch her shoulder and beam an encouragement, but the girlfriend shook her off. Aunty Em thought she would have to do something about the girlfriend, but she didn't know what exactly. If she sent her back to the vat and replaced her with a new biop, the man would surely notice. The girlfriend and the man had been quite close before the man had slipped into his funk. She knew things about him that even Aunty Em didn't know.The man found Mrs. Marelli sitting on the floor in the hardware section. She was opening packages of GE Soft White 100-watt light bulbs and then smashing them with a Stanley Workmaster claw hammer. The biop shoppers paid no attention. Only the lead biop of her team, Dr. Watson, seemed to worry about her. He waited with a broom, and whenever she tore into a new box of light bulbs he swept the shards of glass away.Aunty Em was shocked at the waste. How many pre-extinction light bulbs were left on this world? Twenty thousand? Ten? She wanted to beam a rebuke to Dr. Watson, but she knew he was doing a difficult job as best he could."Hello, Ellen." The man knelt next to the woman. "How are you doing?"She glanced at him, hammer raised. "Dad?" She blinked. "Is that you, Dad?""No, it's Albert Hopkins. Al—you know, your neighbor. We've met before. These … people introduced us. Remember the picnic? The trip to the spaceport?""Picnic?" She shook her head as if to clear it. Ellen Theresa Marelli was eleven years older than the man. She was wearing Bruno Magli black leather flats and a crinkly light blue Land's End dress with a pattern of small dark blue and white flowers. Her hair was gray and a little thin but was nicely cut and permed into tight curls. She was much better groomed than the man, but that was because she couldn't take care of herself anymore and so her biops did everything for her. "I like picnics.""What are you doing here, Ellen?"She stared at the hammer as if she were surprised to see it. "Practicing.""Practicing for what?" He held out his hand for the hammer and she gave it to him."Just practicing." She gave him a sly look. "What are you doing here?""I was hoping to do a little Christmas shopping.""Oh, is it Christmas?" Her eyes went wide."In a couple of days," said the man. "Do you want to tag along?"She turned to Dr. Watson. "Can I?""By all means." Dr. Watson swept the space in front of her."Oh goody!" She clapped her hands. "This is just the best." She tried to get up but couldn't until the man and Dr. Watson helped her to her feet. "We'll need a shopping cart," she said.She tottered to the fashion aisles and tried on sweaters. The man helped her pick out a Ralph Lauren blue cable cardigan that matched her dress. In the housewares section, she decided that she needed a Zyliss garlic press. She spent the most time in the toy aisle, lingering at the Barbies. She didn't care much for the late models, still in their packaging. Instead she made straight for the vintage Barbies and Kens and Francies and Skippers posed around the Barbie Dream House and the Barbie Motor Home. Dr. Watson watched her nervously."Look, they even have talking Barbies," she said, picking up a doll in an orange flowered dress. "I had one just like this. With all the blond hair and everything. See the little necklace? You press the button and …"But the Barbie didn't speak. The woman's mouth set in a grim line and she smashed it against the shelf."Ellie," said Dr. Watson. "I wish you wouldn't …"The woman threw the doll at him and picked up another. This was a brunette that was wearing only the top of her hot pink bathing suit. The woman jabbed at the button."It's time to get ready for my date with Ken," said the doll in a raspy voice."That's better," said the woman.She pressed the button again and the doll said, "Let's invite the gang over!"The woman turned to the man and the two biops, clearly excited. "Here." She thrust the doll at Aunty Em, who was nearest to her. "You try." Aunty Em pressed the button."I can't wait to meet my friends," said the doll."What a lovely toy!" Aunty Em smiled. "She certainly has the Christmas spirit, don't you think, Bertie?"The man frowned and Aunty Em could tell from the slump of his shoulders that his good mood was slipping away. His heart rate jumped and his eyes were distant, a little misty. The woman must have noticed the change too, because she pointed a finger at Aunty Em."You," she said. "You ruin everything.""Now Mrs. Marelli," she said, "I …""You're following us." The woman snatched the Barbie away from her. "Who are you?""You know me, Mrs. Marelli. I'm Aunty Em.""That's crazy." The woman's laugh was like a growl. "I'm not crazy."Dr. Watson beamed a general warning that he was terminating the interaction; seeing the man always upset the woman. "That's enough, Ellen." He grasped her forearm, and Aunty Em was relieved to see him paint relaxant onto her skin with his med finger. "I think it's time to go."The woman shivered. "Wait," she said. "He said it was Christmas." She pointed at the man. "Daddy said.""We'll talk about that when we get home, Ellen.""Daddy." She shook herself free and flung herself at the man.The man shook his head. "This isn't …""Ssh. It's okay." The woman hugged him. "Just pretend. That's all we can do, isn't it?" Reluctantly, he returned her embrace. "Daddy." She spoke into his chest. "What are you getting me for Christmas?""Can't tell," he said. "It's a secret.""A Barbie?" She giggled and pulled away from him."You'll just have to wait.""I already know that's what it is.""But you might forget." The man held out his hand and she gave him the doll. "Now close your eyes."She shut them so tight that Aunty Em could see her orbicularis oculi muscles tremble.The man touched her forehead. "Daddy says forget." He handed the doll to Dr. Watson, who mouthed Thank you. Dr. Watson beamed a request for Aunty Em to hide, and she sidled behind the bicycles where the woman couldn't see her. "Okay, Ellen," said the man. "Daddy says open your eyes."She blinked at him. "Daddy," she said softly, "when are you coming home?"The man was clearly taken aback; there was a beta wave spike in his EEG. "I … ah …" He scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know," he said. "Our friends here keep me pretty busy.""I'm so lonely, Daddy." The last woman on earth began to cry.The man opened his arms to her and they clung to each other, rocking back and forth. "I know," said the man, over and over. "I know." · · · · · End Interaction 4023013· · · · · Aunty Em, the dog, and the cat gathered in the living room of the house, waiting for the man to wake up. She had scheduled the pals, Jeff and Bill, to drop by around noon for sugar cookies and eggnog. The girlfriend was upstairs fuming. She had been Katie Couric, Anna Kournikova, and Jacqueline Kennedy since the Wal-Mart trip but the man had never even blinked at her.The music box was playing "Blue Christmas." The tree was decorated with strings of pinlights and colored packing peanuts. Baseball cards and silver glass balls and plastic army men hung from the branches. Beneath the tree was a modest pile of presents. Aunty Em had picked out one each for the inner circle of biops and signed the man's name to the cards. The rest were gifts for him from them. · · · · · Begin Interaction 4023064· · · · · "'Morning, Mario," said the cat.Aunty Em was surprised; it was only eight-thirty. But there was the man propped in the doorway, yawning."Merry Christmas, Bertie!" she said.The dog scrabbled across the room to him. "Buddy, open now, Buddy, open, Buddy, open, open!" It went up on hind legs and pawed his knee."Later." The man pushed it away. "What's for breakfast?" he said. "I feel like waffles.""You want waffles?" said Aunty Em. "Waffles you get." · · · · · End Interaction 4023064· · · · · She bustled into the kitchen as the man closed the bathroom door behind him. A few minutes later she heard the pipes clang as he turned on the shower. She beamed a revised schedule to the pals, calling for them to arrive within the hour.Aunty Em could not help but be pleased. This Christmas was already a great success. The man's attitude had changed dramatically after the shopping trip. He was keeping regular hours and drinking much less. He had stopped by the train layout in the garage, although all he had done was look at it. Instead he had taken an interest in the garden in the backyard and had spent yesterday weeding the flowerbeds and digging a new vegetable patch. He had sent the pal Jeff to find seeds he could plant. The biops reported that they had found some peas and corn and string beans—but they were possibly contaminated and might not germinate. She had already warned some of the lesser animal biops that they might have to assume the form of corn stalks and pea vines if the crop failed.Now if only he would pay attention to the girlfriend. · · · · · Begin Interaction 4023066· · · · · The doorbell gonged the first eight notes of "Silent Night." "Would you get that, Bertie dear?" Aunty Em was pouring freshly-budded ova into a pitcher filled with Pet Evaporated Milk."It's the pals," the man called from the front hall. "Jeff and … I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name.""Bill.""Bill, of course. Come in, come in."A few minutes later, Aunty Em found them sitting on the sofa in the living room. Each of the pals balanced a present on his lap, wrapped in identical green and red paper. They were listening uncomfortably as the cat recited "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." The man was busy playing Madden NFL 2007 on his Game Boy."It's time for sweets and presents, Bertie." Aunty Em set the pitcher of eggnog next to the platter of cookies. She was disturbed that the girlfriend hadn't joined the party yet. She beamed a query but the girlfriend was dark. "Presents and sweets."The man opened Jeff's present first. It was filled with hand tools for his new garden: a dibbler and a trowel and a claw hoe and a genuine Felco10 Professional Pruner. The dog gave the man a chewable rubber fire hydrant that squeeked when squeezed. The cat gave him an "O" Scale Western Pacific Steam Locomotive that had belonged to the dead neighbor, Mr. Kimura. The man and the cat exchanged looks briefly and then the cat yawned. The dog nudged his head under all the discarded wrapping paper and the man reached down with the claw hoe and scratched its back. Everyone but the cat laughed.Next came Bill's present. In keeping with the garden theme of this Christmas, it was a painting of a balding old farmer and a middle-aged woman standing in front of a white house with an odd gothic window. Aunty Em could tell the man was a farmer because he was holding a pitchfork. The farmer stared out of the painting with a glum intensity; the woman looked at him askance. The curator biop claimed that it was one of the most copied images in the inventory, so Aunty Em was not surprised that the man seemed to recognize it."This looks like real paint," he said."Yes," said Bill. "Oil on beaverboard.""What's beaverboard?" said the cat."A light, semirigid building material of compressed wood pulp," Bill said. "I looked it up."The man turned the painting over and brushed his finger across the back. "Where did you get this?" His face was pale."From the accumulatorium.""No, I mean where before then?"Aunty Em eavesdropped as the pal beamed the query. "It was salvaged from the Chicago Art Institute.""You're giving me the original American Gothic?" His voice fell into a hole."Is something the matter, Bertie?"He fell silent for a moment. "No, I suppose not." He shook his head. "It's a very thoughtful gift." He propped the painting on the mantle, next to his scuffed leather fireman's helmet that the biops had retrieved from the ruins of the Ladder Company No. 3 Firehouse two Christmases ago.Aunty Em wanted the man to open his big present, but the girlfriend had yet to make her entrance. So instead, she gave the pals their presents from the man. Jeff got the October 1937 issue of Spicy Adventure Stories. On the cover a brutish sailor carried a terrified woman in a shredded red dress out of the surf as their ship sank in the background. Aunty Em pretended to be shocked and the man actually chuckled. Bill got a chrome Model 1B14 Toastmaster two-slice toaster. The man took it from him and traced the triple loop logo etched in the side. "My mom had one of these."Finally there was nothing left to open but the present wrapped in the blue paper with the Santa-in-space print. The man took the Glock 17 out of the box cautiously, as if he were afraid it might go off. It was black with a polymer grip and a four-and-a-half-inch steel barrel. Aunty Em had taken a calculated risk with the pistol. She always tried to give him whatever he asked for, as long as it wasn't too dangerous. He wasn't their captive after all. He was their master."Don't worry," she said. "It's not loaded. I looked but couldn't find the right bullets.""But I did," said the girlfriend, sweeping into the room in the Kathy body. "I looked harder and found hundreds of thousands of bullets.""Kathy," said Aunty Em, as she beamed a request for her to terminate this unauthorized interaction. "What a nice surprise.""9 millimeter Parabellum," said the girlfriend. Ten rounds clattered onto the glass top of the Noguchi coffee table. "115 grain. Full metal jacket.""What are you doing?" said the man."You want to shoot someone?" The girlfriend glared at the man and swung her arms wide."Kathy," said Aunty Em. "You sound upset, dear. Maybe you should go lie down."The man returned the girlfriend's stare. "You're not Kathy.""No," said the girlfriend. "I'm nobody you know.""Kathy's dead," said the man. "Everybody's dead except for me and poor Ellen Marelli. That's right, isn't it?"The girlfriend sank to her knees, rested her head on the coffee table, and began to cry. Only biops didn't cry, or at least no biop that Aunty Em had ever heard of. The man glanced around the room for an answer. The pals looked at their shoes and said nothing. "Jingle Bell Rock" tinkled on the music box. Aunty Em felt something swell inside of her and climb her throat until she thought she might burst. If this was what the man felt all the time, it was no wonder he was tempted to drink himself into insensibility."Well?" he said."Yes," Aunty Em blurted. "Yes, dead, Bertie. All dead."The man took a deep breath. "Thank you," he said. "Sometimes I can't believe that it really happened. Or else I forget. You make it easy to forget. Maybe you think that's good for me. But I need to know who I am.""Buddy," said the dog, brushing against him. "Buddy, my Buddy."The man patted the dog absently. "I could give up. But I won't. I've had a bad spell the last couple of weeks, I know. That's not your fault." He heaved himself off the couch, came around the coffee table and knelt beside the girlfriend. "I really appreciate that you trust me with this gun. And these bullets too. That's got to be scary, after what I said." The girlfriend watched him scoop up the bullets. "Kathy, I don't need these just now. Would you please keep them for me?"She nodded."Do you know the movie, Miracle On 34th Street?" He poured the bullets into her cupped hands. "Not the remakes. The first one, with Maureen O'Hara?"She nodded again.He leaned close and whispered into her ear. His pulse soared to 93.She sniffed and then giggled."You go ahead," he said to her. "I'll come up in a little while." He gave her a pat on the rear and stood up. The other biops watched him nervously."What's with all the long faces?" He tucked the Glock into the waistband of his pants. "You look like them." He waved at the painting of the somber farm folk, whose mood would never, ever change. "It's Christmas Day, people. Let's live it up!" · · · · · End Interaction 4023066· · · · · Over the years, Aunty Em gave the man many more Christmases, not to mention Thanksgivings, Easters, Halloweens, April Fools, and Valentine Days. But she always said—and no one contradicted her: not the man, not even the girlfriend—that this Christmas was the best ever.The End

CHRISTMAS SUGGESTIONS FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21ST

2011-12-19T19:46:00.000-08:00

FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE:
"The Polar Express"

FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE:
"Colorado Christmas" - The Dirt Band

FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE:
"The Greatest Gift" - Philip Van Doren Stern

Unable to find a publisher for "The Greatest Gift," Philip Van Doren Stern printed two hundred copies of the story and used them as Christmas cards in 1943. From this humble beginning, a classic was born. Van Doren Stern's story captivated Frank Capra, who said he "had been looking for [it] all [his] life." Capra's beloved adaptation, It's a Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore, was released in 1946, and while the film, which received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director, didn't take home an Oscar, it has secured its place in the American holiday tradition.

The Greatest Gift

The little town straggling up the hill was bright with colored Christmas lights. But George Pratt did not see them. He was leaning over the railing of the iron bridge, staring down moodily at the black water. The current eddied and swirled like liquid glass, and occasionally a bit of ice, detached from the shore, would go gliding downstream to be swallowed up in the shadows under the bridge.
The water looked paralyzingly cold. George wondered how long a man could stay alive in it. The glassy blackness had a strange, hypnotic effect on him. He leaned still farther over the railing...
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a quiet voice beside him said.
George turned resentfully to a little man he had never seen before. He was stout, well past middle age, and his round cheeks were pink in the winter air as though they had just been shaved.
“Wouldn’t do what?” George asked sullenly.
“What you were thinking of doing.”
“How do you know what I was thinking?”
“Oh, we make it our business to know a lot of things,” the stranger said easily.
George wondered what the man’s business was. He was a most unremarkable little person, the sort you would pass in a crowd and never notice. Unless you saw his bright blue eyes, that is. You couldn’t forget them, for they were the kindest, sharpest eyes you ever saw. Nothing else about him was noteworthy. He wore a moth-eaten old fur cap and a shabby overcoat that was stretched tightly across his paunchy belly. He was carrying a small black satchel. It wasn’t a doctor’s bag—it was too large for that and not the right shape. It was a salesman’s sample kit, George decided distastefully. The fellow was probably some sort of peddler, the kind who would go around poking his sharp little nose into other people’s affairs.
“Looks like snow, doesn’t it?” the stranger said, glancing up appraisingly at the overcast sky. “It’ll be nice to have a white Christmas. They’re getting scarce these days—but so are a lot of things.” He turned to face George squarely. “You all right now?”
“Of course I’m all right. What made you think I wasn’t? I—”
George fell silent before the stranger’s quiet gaze.
The little man shook his head. “You know you shouldn’t think of such things—and on Christmas Eve of all times! You’ve got to consider Mary—and your mother too.”
George opened his mouth to ask how this stranger could know his wife’s name, but the fellow anticipated him. “Don’t ask me how I know such things. It’s my business to know ’em. That’s why I came along this way tonight. Lucky I did too.” He glanced down at the dark water and shuddered.
“Well, if you know so much about me,” George said, “give me just one good reason why I should be alive.”
The little man made a queer chuckling sound. “Come, come, it can’t be that bad. You’ve got your job at the bank. And Mary and the kids. You’re healthy, young, and—”
“And sick of everything!” George cried. “I’m stuck here in this mudhole for life, doing the same dull work day after day. Other men are leading exciting lives, but I—well, I’m just a small-town bank clerk that even the army didn’t want. I never did anything really useful or interesting, and it looks as if I never will. I might just as well be dead. I might better be dead. Sometimes I wish I were. In fact, I wish I’d never been born!”
The little man stood looking at him in the growing darkness. “What was that you said?” he asked softly.
“I said I wish I’d never been born,” George repeated firmly. “And I mean it too.”
The stranger’s pink cheeks glowed with excitement. “Why that’s wonderful! You’ve solved everything. I was afraid you were going to give me some trouble. But now you’ve got the solution yourself. You wish you’d never been born. All right! OK! You haven’t!”
“What do you mean?” George growled.
“You haven’t been born. Just that. You haven’t been born. No one here knows you. You have no responsibilities—no job—no wife—no children. Why, you haven’t even a mother. You couldn’t have, of course. All your troubles are over. Your wish, I am happy to say, has been granted—officially.”
“Nuts!” George snorted and turned away.
The stranger ran after him and caught him by the arm.
“You’d better take this with you,” he said, holding out his satchel. “It’ll open a lot of doors that might otherwise be slammed in your face.”
“What doors in whose face?” George scoffed. “I know everybody in this town. And besides, I’d like to see anybody slam a door in my face.”
“Yes, I know,” the little man said patiently. “But take this anyway. It can’t do any harm and it may help.” He opened the satchel and displayed a number of brushes. “You’d be surprised how useful these brushes can be as introduction—especially the free ones. These, I mean.” He hauled out a plain little hairbrush. “I’ll show you how to use it.” He thrust the satchel into George’s reluctant hands and began: “When the lady of the house comes to the door you give her this and then talk fast. You say: ‘Good evening, Madam. I’m from the World Cleaning Company, and I want to present you with this handsome and useful brush absolutely free—no obligation to purchase anything at all.’ After that, of course, it’s a cinch. Now you try it.” He forced the brush into George’s hand.
George promptly dropped the brush into the satchel and fumbled with the catch, finally closing it with an angry snap. “Here,” he said, and then stopped abruptly, for there was no one in sight.
The little stranger must have slipped away into the bushes growing along the river bank, George thought. He certainly wasn’t going to play hide-and-seek with him. It was nearly dark and getting colder every minute. He shivered and turned up his coat collar.
The street lights had been turned on, and Christmas candles in the windows glowed softly. The little town looked remarkably cheerful. After all, the place you grew up in was the one spot on earth where you could really feel at home. George felt a sudden burst of affection even for crotchety old Hank Biddle, whose house he was passing. He remembered the quarrel he had had when his car had scraped a piece of bark out of Hank’s big maple tree. George looked up at the vast spread of leafless branches towering over him in the darkness. The tree must have been growing there since Indian times. He felt a sudden twinge of guilt for the damage he had done. He had never stopped to inspect the wound, for he was ordinarily afraid to have Hank catch him even looking at the tree. Now he stepped out boldly into the roadway to examine the huge trunk.
Hank must have repaired the scar or painted it over, for there was no sign of it. George struck a match and bent down to look more closely. He straightened up with an odd, sinking feeling in his stomach. There wasn’t any scar. The bark was smooth and undamaged.
He remembered what the little man at the bridge had said. It was all nonsense, of course, but the nonexistent scar bothered him.
When he reached the bank, he saw that something was wrong. The building was dark, and he knew he had turned the vault light on. He noticed, too, that someone had left the window shades up. He ran around to the front. There was a battered old sign fastened on the door. George could just make out the words:
FOR RENT OR SALE
Apply JAMES SILVA
Real Estate
Perhaps it was some boys’ trick, he thought wildly. Then he saw a pile of ancient leaves and tattered newspapers in the bank’s ordinarily immaculate doorway. And the windows looked as though they hadn’t been washed in years. A light was still burning across the street in Jim Silva’s office. George dashed over and tore the door open.
Jim looked up from his ledgerbook in surprise. “What can I do for you, young man?” he said in the polite voice he reserved for potential customers.
“The bank,” George said breathlessly. “What’s the matter with it?”
“The old bank building?” Jim Silva turned around and looked out of the window. “Nothing that I can see. Wouldn’t like to rent or buy it, would you?”
“You mean—it’s out of business?”
“For a good ten years. Went bust. Stranger ’round these parts, ain’t you?”
George sagged against the wall. “I was here some time ago,” he said weakly. “The bank was all right then. I even knew some of the people who worked there.”
“Didn’t you know a feller named Marty Jenkins, did you?”
“Marty Jenkins! Why, he—” George was about to say that Marty had never worked at the bank—couldn’t have, in fact, for when they had both left school they had applied for a job there and George had gotten it. But now, of course, things were different. He would have to be careful. “No, I didn’t know him,” he said slowly. “Not really, that is. I’d heard of him.”
“Then maybe you heard how he skipped out with fifty thousand dollars. That’s why the bank went broke. Pretty near ruined everybody around here.” Silva was looking at him sharply. “I was hoping for a minute maybe you’d know where he is. I lost plenty in that crash myself. We’d like to get our hands on Marty Jenkins.”
“Didn’t he have a brother? Seems to me he had a brother named Arthur.”
“Art? Oh, sure. But he’s all right. He don’t know where his brother went. It’s had a terrible effect on him, too. Took to drink, he did. It’s too bad—and hard on his wife. He married a nice girl.”
George felt the sinking feeling in his stomach again. “Who did he marry?” he demanded hoarsely. Both he and Art had courted Mary.
“Girl named Mary Thatcher,” Silva said cheerfully. “She lives up on the hill just this side of the church— Hey! Where are you going?”
But George had bolted out of the office. He ran past the empty bank building and turned up the hill. For a moment he thought of going straight to Mary. The house next to the church had been given them by her father as a wedding present. Naturally Art Jenkins would have gotten it if he had married Mary. George wondered whether they had any children. Then he knew he couldn’t face Mary—not yet anyway. He decided to visit his parents and find out more about her.
There were candles burning in the windows of the little weather-beaten house on the side street, and a Christmas wreath was hanging on the glass panel of the front door. George raised the gate latch with a loud click. A dark shape on the porch jumped up and began to growl. Then it hurled itself down the steps, barking ferociously.
“Brownie!” George shouted. “Brownie, you old fool, stop that! Don’t you know me?” But the dog advanced menacingly and drove him back behind the gate. The porch light snapped on, and George’s father stepped outside to call the dog off. The barking subsided to a low, angry growl.
His father held the dog by the collar while George cautiously walked past. He could see that his father did not know him.
“Is the lady of the house in?” he asked.
His father waved toward the door. “Go on in,” he said cordially. “I’ll chain this dog up. She can be mean with strangers.”
His mother, who was waiting in the hallway, obviously did not recognize him. George opened his sample kit and grabbed the first brush that came to hand. “Good evening, ma’am,” he said politely. “I’m from the World Cleaning Company. We’re giving out a free sample brush. I thought you might like to have one. No obligation. No obligation at all...” His voice faltered.
His mother smiled at his awkwardness. “I suppose you’ll want to sell me something. I’m not really sure I need any brushes.”
“No’m. I’m not selling anything,” he assured her. “The regular salesman will be around in a few days. This is just—well, just a Christmas present from the company.”
“How nice,” she said. “You people never gave away such good brushes before.”
“This is a special offer,” he said. His father entered the hall and closed the door.
“Won’t you come in for a while and sit down?” his mother said. “You must be tired walking so much.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I don’t mind if I do.” He entered the little parlor and put his bag down on the floor. The room looked different somehow, although he could not figure out why.
“I used to know this town pretty well,” he said to make conversation. “Knew some of the townspeople. I remember a girl named Mary Thatcher. She married Art Jenkins, I heard. You must know them.”
“Of course,” his mother said. “We know Mary well.”
“Any children?” he asked casually.
“Two—a boy and a girl.”
George sighed audibly.
“My, you must be tired,” his mother said. “Perhaps I can get you a cup of tea.”
“No’m, don’t bother,” he said. “I’ll be having supper soon.” He looked around the little parlor, trying to find out why it looked different. Over the mantelpiece hung a framed photograph which had been taken on his kid brother Harry’s sixteenth birthday. He remembered how they had gone to Potter’s studio to be photographed together. There was something queer about the picture. It showed only one figure—Harry’s.
“That your son?” he asked.
His mother’s face clouded. She nodded but said nothing.
“I think I met him, too,” George said hesitantly. “His name’s Harry, isn’t it?”
His mother turned away, making a strange choking noise in her throat. Her husband put his arm clumsily around her shoulder. His voice, which was always mild and gentle, suddenly became harsh. “You couldn’t have met him,” he said. “He’s been dead a long while. He was drowned the day that picture was taken.”
George’s mind flew back to the long-ago August afternoon when he and Harry had visited Potter’s studio. On their way home they had gone swimming. Harry had been seized with a cramp, he remembered. He had pulled him out of the water and had thought nothing of it. But suppose he hadn’t been there!
“I’m sorry,” he said miserably. “I guess I’d better go. I hope you like the brush. And I wish you both a very Merry Christmas.” There, he had put his foot in it again, wishing them a Merry Christmas when they were thinking about their dead son.
Brownie tugged fiercely at her chain as George went down the porch steps and accompanied his departure with a hostile, rolling growl.
He wanted desperately now to see Mary. He wasn’t sure he could stand not being recognized by her, but he had to see her.
The lights were on in the church, and the choir was making last-minute preparations for Christmas vespers. The organ had been practicing “Holy Night” evening after evening until George had become thoroughly sick of it. But now the music almost tore his heart out.
He stumbled blindly up the path to his own house. The lawn was untidy, and the flower bushes he had kept carefully trimmed were neglected and badly sprouted. Art Jenkins could hardly be expected to care for such things.
When he knocked at the door there was a long silence, followed by the shout of a child. Then Mary came to the door.
At the sight of her, George’s voice almost failed him. “Merry Christmas, ma’am,” he managed to say at last. His hand shook as he tried to open the satchel.
When George entered the living room, unhappy as he was, he could not help noticing with a secret grin that the too-high-priced blue sofa they often had quarreled over was there. Evidently Mary had gone through the same thing with Art Jenkins and had won the argument with him too.
George got his satchel open. One of the brushes had a bright blue handle and varicolored bristles. It was obviously a brush not intended to be given away, but George didn’t care. He handed it to Mary. “This would be fine for your sofa,” he said.
“My, that’s a pretty brush,” she exclaimed. “You’re giving it away free?”
He nodded solemnly. “Special introductory offer. It’s one way for the company to keep excess profits down—share them with its friends.”
She stroked the sofa gently with the brush, smoothing out the velvety nap. “It is a nice brush. Thank you. I—” There was a sudden scream from the kitchen, and two small children rushed in. A little, homely-faced girl flung herself into her mother’s arms, sobbing loudly as a boy of seven came running after her, snapping a toy pistol at her head. “Mommy, she won’t die,” he yelled. “I shot her a hunert times, but she won’t die.”
He looks just like Art Jenkins, George thought. Acts like him too.
The boy suddenly turned his attention to him. “Who’re you?” he demanded belligerently. He pointed his pistol at George and pulled the trigger. “You’re dead!” he cried. “You’re dead. Why don’t you fall down and die?”
There was a heavy step on the porch. The boy looked frightened and backed away. George saw Mary glance apprehensively at the door.
Art Jenkins came in. He stood for a moment in the doorway, clinging to the knob for support. His eyes were glazed, and his face was very red. “Who’s this?” he demanded thickly.
“He’s a brush salesman,” Mary tried to explain. “He gave me this brush.”
“Brush salesman!” Art sneered. “Well, tell him to get outa here. We don’t want no brushes.” Art hiccupped violently and lurched across the room to the sofa, where he sat down suddenly. “An’ we don’t want no brush salesmen neither.”
George looked despairingly at Mary. Her eyes were begging him to go. Art had lifted his feet up on the sofa and was sprawling out on it, muttering unkind things about brush salesmen. George went to the door, followed by Art’s son, who kept snapping the pistol at him and saying: “You’re dead—dead—dead!”
Perhaps the boy was right, George thought when he reached the porch. Maybe he was dead, or maybe this was all a bad dream from which he might eventually awake. He wanted to find the little man on the bridge again and try to persuade him to cancel the whole deal.
He hurried down the hill and broke into a run when he neared the river. George was relieved to see the little stranger standing on the bridge. “I’ve had enough,” he gasped. “Get me out of this—you got me into it.”
The stranger raised his eyebrows. “I got you into it! I like that! You were granted your wish. You got everything you asked for. You’re the freest man on earth now. You have no ties. You can go anywhere—do anything. What more can you possibly want?”
“Change me back,” George pleaded. “Change me back—please. Not just for my sake but for others too. You don’t know what a mess this town is in. You don’t understand. I’ve got to get back. They need me here.”
“I understand right enough,” the stranger said slowly. “I just wanted to make sure you did. You had the greatest gift of all conferred upon you—the gift of life, of being a part of this world and taking a part in it. Yet you denied that gift.”
As the stranger spoke, the church bell high up on the hill sounded, calling the townspeople to Christmas vespers. Then the downtown church bell started ringing.
“I’ve got to get back,” George said desperately. “You can’t cut me off like this. Why, it’s murder!”
“Suicide rather, wouldn’t you say?” the stranger murmured. “You brought it on yourself. However, since it’s Christmas Eve—well, anyway, close your eyes and keep listening to the bells.” His voice sank lower. “Keep listening to the bells...”
George did as he was told. He felt a cold, wet snowdrop touch his cheek—and then another and another. When he opened his eyes, the snow was falling fast, so fast that it obscured everything around him. The little stranger could not be seen, but then neither could anything else. The snow was so thick that George had to grope for the bridge railing.
As he started toward the village, he thought he heard someone saying “Merry Christmas,” but the bells were drowning out all rival sounds, so he could not be sure.
When he reached Hank Biddle’s house he stopped and walked out into the roadway, peering down anxiously at the base of the big maple tree. The scar was there, thank heaven! He touched the tree affectionately. He’d have to do something about the wound—get a tree surgeon or something. Anyway, he’d evidently been changed back. He was himself again. Maybe it was all a dream, or perhaps he had been hypnotized by the smooth-flowing black water. He had heard of such things.
At the corner of Main and Bridge Streets he almost collided with a hurrying figure. It was Jim Silva, the real estate agent. “Hello, George,” Jim said cheerfully. “Late tonight, ain’t you? I should think you’d want to be home early on Christmas Eve.”
George drew a long breath. “I just wanted to see if the bank is all right. I’ve got to make sure the vault light is on.”
“Sure it’s on. I saw it as I went past.”
“Let’s look, huh?” George said, pulling at Silva’s sleeve. He wanted the assurance of a witness. He dragged the surprised real estate dealer around to the front of the bank where the light was gleaming through the falling snow. “I told you it was on,” Silva said with some irritation.
“I had to make sure,” George mumbled. “Thanks—and Merry Christmas!” Then he was off like a streak, running up the hill.
He was in a hurry to get home, but not in such a hurry that he couldn’t stop for a moment at his parents’ house, where he wrestled with Brownie until the friendly old bulldog waggled all over with delight. He grasped his startled brother’s hand and wrung it frantically, wishing him an almost hysterical Merry Christmas. Then he dashed across the parlor to examine a certain photograph. He kissed his mother, joked with his father, and was out of the house a few seconds later, stumbling and slipping on the newly fallen snow as he ran on up the hill.
The church was bright with light, and the choir and the organ were going full tilt. George flung the door to his home open and called out at the top of his voice: “Mary! Where are you? Mary! Kids!”
His wife came toward him, dressed for going to church, and making gestures to silence him. “I’ve just put the children to bed,” she protested. “Now they’ll—” But not another word could she get out of her mouth, for he smothered it with kisses, and then dragged her up to the children’s room, where he violated every tenet of parental behavior by madly embracing his son and his daughter and waking them up thoroughly.
It was not until Mary got him downstairs that he began to be coherent. “I thought I’d lost you. Oh, Mary, I thought I’d lost you!”
“What’s the matter, darling?” she asked in bewilderment.
He pulled her down on the sofa and kissed her again. And then, just as he was about to tell her about his queer dream, his fingers came in contact with something lying on the seat of the sofa. His voice froze.
He did not even have to pick the thing up, for he knew what it was. And he knew that it would have a blue handle and varicolored bristles.

CHRISTMAS SUGGESTIONS FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20TH

2011-12-19T14:38:00.000-08:00

QUOTE FOR THE DAY:
"Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves." - Eric Sevareid

FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE:
"Joyeux Noel"

Joyeux Noël (English: Merry Christmas) is a 2005 film about the World War I Christmas truce of December 1914, depicted through the eyes of French, Scottish and German soldiers. It was written and directed by Christian Carion. It was screened out of competition at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards. The film was one of Ian Richardson's last appearances before his death on February 9, 2007. This film is based on the true stories of the World War I Christmas truce along the Western Front. The story centres mainly upon six characters: Gordon (a Lieutenant of the Royal Scots Fusiliers); Audebert (a French Lieutenant in the 26th Infantry and reluctant son of a general); Horstmayer (a Jewish German Lieutenant of the 93rd Infantry); Palmer (a Scottish priest working as a stretcher-bearer); and German tenor Nikolaus Sprink and his Danish lover, soprano, Anna Sørensen (two famous opera stars).

FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE:
"Driving Home For Christmas" - Chris Rea

FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE:
"Stories Behind The Best-Loved songs Of Christmas" - Ace Collins

Behind the Christmas songs we love to sing lie fascinating stories that will enrich your holiday celebration. Taking you inside the nativity of over thirty favorite songs and carols, Ace Collins introduces you to people you've never met, stories you've never heard, and meanings you'd never have imagined. The next time you and your family sing 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,' you'll have a new understanding of its message and popular roots. You'll discover how 'Angels from the Realms of Glory,' with its sublime lyrics and profound theology, helped usher in a quiet revolution in worship. You'll learn the strange history of the haunting and powerful 'O Holy Night,' including the song's surprising place in the history of modern communications. And you'll step inside the life of Mark Lowry and find out how he came to pen the words to the contemporary classic 'Mary, Did You Know?' Still other songs such as 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel' trace back to mysterious origins--to ninth-century monks, nameless clergy, and unknown commoners of ages past. Joining hands with such modern favorites as 'White Christmas' and 'The Christmas Song,' they are part of the legacy of inspiration, faith, tears, love, and spiritual joy that is Christmas. From the rollicking appeal of 'Jingle Bells' to the tranquil beauty of 'Silent Night,' the great songs of Christmas contain messages of peace, hope, and truth. Each in its own way expresses a facet of God's heart and celebrates the birth of his greatest gift to the world--Jesus, the most wonderful Christmas Song of all.

CHRISTMAS SUGGESTIONS FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 19TH

2011-12-19T10:38:00.001-08:00

FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE:
"Old Folks Christmas" - Ring Lardner

Tom and Grace Carter sat in their living-room on Christmas Eve, sometimes talking, sometimes pretending to read and all the time thinking things they didn’t want to think. Their two children, Junior, aged nineteen, and Grace, two years younger, had come home that day from their schools for the Christmas vacation. Junior was in his first year at the university and Grace attending a boarding-school that would fit her for college. I won’t call them Grace and Junior any more, though that is the way they had been christened. Junior had changed his name to Ted and Grace was now Caroline, and thus they insisted on being addressed, even by their parents. This was one of the things Tom and Grace the elder were thinking of as they sat in their living-room Christmas Eve.

Other university freshmen who had lived here had returned on the twenty-first, the day when the vacation was supposed to begin. Ted had telegraphed that he would be three days late owing to a special examination which, if he passed it, would lighten the terrific burden of the next term. He had arrived at home looking so pale, heavy-eyed and shaky that his mother doubted the wisdom of the concentrated mental effort, while his father secretly hoped the stuff had been non-poisonous and would not have lasting effects. Caroline, too, had been behind schedule, explaining that her laundry had gone astray and she had not dared trust others to trace it for her.

Grace and Tom had attempted, with fair success, to conceal their disappointment over this delayed home-coming and had continued with their preparations for a Christmas that would thrill their children and consequently themselves. They had bought an imposing lot of presents, costing twice or three times as much as had been Tom’s father’s annual income when Tom was Ted’s age, or Tom’s own income a year ago, before General Motors’ acceptance of his new weather-proof paint had enabled him to buy this suburban home and luxuries such as his own parents and Grace’s had never dreamed of, and to give Ted and Caroline advantages that he and Grace had perforce gone without.

Behind the closed door of the music-room was the elaborately decked tree. The piano and piano bench and the floor around the tree were covered with beribboned packages of all sizes, shapes and weights, one of them addressed to Tom, another to Grace, a few to the servants and the rest to Ted and Caroline. A huge box contained a sealskin coat for Caroline, a coat that had cost as much as the Carters had formerly paid a year for rent. Even more expensive was a “set” of jewelry consisting of an opal brooch, a bracelet of opals and gold filigree, and an opal ring surrounded by diamonds.

Grace always had preferred opals to any other stone, but now that she could afford them, some inhibition prevented her from buying them for herself; she could enjoy them much more adorning her pretty daughter. There were boxes of silk stockings, lingerie, gloves and handkerchiefs. And for Ted, a three-hundred-dollar watch, a de-luxe edition of Balzac, an expensive bag of shiny, new steel-shafted golf clubs and the last word in portable phonographs.

But the big surprise for the boy was locked in the garage, a black Gorham sedan, a model more up to date and better-looking than Tom’s own year-old car that stood beside it. Ted could use it during the vacation if the mild weather continued and could look forward to driving it around home next spring and summer, there being a rule at the university forbidding undergraduates the possession or use of private automobiles.

Every year for sixteen years, since Ted was three and Caroline one, it had been the Christmas Eve custom of the Carters’ to hang up their children’s stockings and fill them with inexpensive toys. Tom and Grace had thought it would be fun to continue the custom this year; the contents of the stockings—a mechanical negro dancing doll, music-boxes, a kitten that meowed when you pressed a spot on her back, et cetera—would make the “kids” laugh. And one of Grace’s first pronouncements to her returned offspring was that they must go to bed early so Santa Claus would not be frightened away.

But it seemed they couldn’t promise to make it so terribly early. They both had long-standing dates in town. Caroline was going to dinner and a play with Beatrice Murdock and Beatrice’s nineteen-year-old brother Paul. The latter would call for her in his car at half past six. Ted had accepted an invitation to see the hockey match with two classmates, Herb Castle and Bernard King. He wanted to take his father’s Gorham, but Tom told him untruthfully that the foot-brake was not working; Ted must be kept out of the garage till tomorrow morning.

Ted and Caroline had taken naps in the afternoon and gone off together in Paul Murdock’s stylish roadster, giving their word that they would be back by midnight or a little later and that tomorrow night they would stay home.

And now their mother and father were sitting up for them, because the stockings could not be filled and hung till they were safely in bed, and also because trying to go to sleep is a painful and hopeless business when you are kind of jumpy.

“What time is it?” asked Grace, looking up from the third page of a book that she had begun to “read” soon after dinner.

“Half past two,” said her husband. (He had answered the same question every fifteen or twenty minutes since midnight.)

“You don’t suppose anything could have happened?” said Grace.

“We’d have heard if there had,” said Tom.

“It isn’t likely, of course,” said Grace, “but they might have had an accident some place where nobody was there to report it or telephone or anything. We don’t know what kind of a driver the Murdock boy is.”

“He’s Ted’s age. Boys that age may be inclined to drive too fast, but they drive pretty well.”

“How do you know?”

“Well, I’ve watched some of them drive.”

“Yes, but not all of them.”

“I doubt whether anybody in the world has seen every nineteen-year-old boy drive.”

“Boys these days seem so kind of irresponsible.”

“Oh, don’t worry! They probably met some of their young friends and stopped for a bite to eat or something.” Tom got up and walked to the window with studied carelessness. “It’s a pretty night,” he said. “You can see every star in the sky.”

But he wasn’t looking at the stars. He was looking down the road for headlights.

There were none in sight and after a few moments he returned to his chair.

“What time is it?” asked Grace.

“Twenty-two of,” he said.

“Of what?”

“Of three.”

“Your watch must have stopped. Nearly an hour ago you told me it was half past two.”

“My watch is all right. You probably dozed off.”

“I haven’t closed my eyes.”

“Well, it’s time you did. Why don’t you go to bed?”

“Why don’t you?”

“I’m not sleepy.”

“Neither am I. But honestly, Tom, it’s silly for you to stay up. I’m just doing it so I can fix the stockings, and because I feel so wakeful. But there’s no use of your losing your sleep.”

“I couldn’t sleep a wink till they’re home.”

“That’s foolishness! There’s nothing to worry about. They’re just having a good time. You were young once yourself.”

“That’s just it! When I was young, I was young.” He picked up his paper and tried to get interested in the shipping news.

“What time is it?” asked Grace.

“Five minutes of three.”

“Maybe they’re staying at the Murdocks’ all night.”

“They’d have let us know.”

“They were afraid to wake us up, telephoning.”

At three-twenty a car stopped at the front gate.

“There they are!”

“I told you there was nothing to worry about.”

Tom went to the window. He could just discern the outlines of the Murdock boy’s roadster, whose lighting system seemed to have broken down.

“He hasn’t any lights,” said Tom. “Maybe I’d better go out and see if I can fix them.”

“No, don’t!” said Grace sharply. “He can fix them himself. He’s just saving them while he stands still.”

“Why don’t they come in?”

“They’re probably making plans.”

“They can make them in here. I’ll go out and tell them we’re still up.”

“No, don’t!” said Grace as before, and Tom obediently remained at the window.

It was nearly four when the car lights flashed on and the car drove away.

Caroline walked into the house and stared dazedly at her parents.

“Heavens! What are you doing up?”

Tom was about to say something, but Grace forestalled him.

“We were talking over old Christmases,” she said. “Is it very late?”

“I haven’t any idea,” said Caroline.

“Where is Ted?”

“Isn’t he home? I haven’t seen him since we dropped him at the hockey place.”

“Well, you go right to bed,” said her mother. “You must be worn out.”

“I am, kind of. We danced after the play. What time is breakfast?”

“Eight o’clock.”

“Oh, Mother, can’t you make it nine?”

“I guess so. You used to want to get up early on Christmas.”

“I know, but—”

“Who brought you home?” asked Tom.

“Why, Paul Murdock—and Beatrice.”

“You look rumpled.”

“They made me sit in the ‘rumple’ seat.”

She laughed at her joke, said good night and went upstairs. She had not come even within hand-shaking distance of her father and mother.

“The Murdocks,” said Tom, “must have great manners, making their guest ride in that uncomfortable seat.”

Grace was silent.

“You go to bed, too,” said Tom. “I’ll wait for Ted.”

“You couldn’t fix the stockings.”

“I won’t try. We’ll have time for that in the morning; I mean, later in the morning.”

“I’m not going to bed till you do,” said Grace.

“All right, we’ll both go. Ted ought not to be long now. I suppose his friends will bring him home. We’ll hear him when he comes in.”

There was no chance not to hear him when, at ten minutes before six, he came in. He had done his Christmas shopping late and brought home a package.

Grace was downstairs again at half past seven, telling the servants breakfast would be postponed till nine. She nailed the stockings beside the fireplace, went into the music-room to see that nothing had been disturbed and removed Ted’s hat and overcoat from where he had carefully hung them on the hall floor.

Tom appeared a little before nine and suggested that the children ought to be awakened.

“I’ll wake them,” said Grace, and went upstairs. She opened Ted’s door, looked, and softly closed it again. She entered her daughter’s room and found Caroline semiconscious.

“Do I have to get up now? Honestly I can’t eat anything. If you could just have Molla bring me some coffee. Ted and I are both invited to the Murdocks’ for breakfast at half past twelve, and I could sleep for another hour or two.”

“But dearie, don’t you know we have Christmas dinner at one?”

“It’s a shame, Mother, but I thought of course our dinner would be at night.”

“Don’t you want to see your presents?”

“Certainly I do, but can’t they wait?”

Grace was about to go to the kitchen to tell the cook that dinner would be at seven instead of one, but she remembered having promised Signe the afternoon and evening off, as a cold, light supper would be all anyone wanted after the heavy midday meal.

Tom and Grace breakfasted alone and once more sat in the living-room, talking, thinking and pretending to read.

“You ought to speak to Caroline,” said Tom.

“I will, but not today. It’s Christmas.”

“And I intend to say a few words to Ted.”

“Yes, dear, you must. But not today.”

“I suppose they’ll be out again tonight.”

“No, they promised to stay home. We’ll have a nice cozy evening.”

“Don’t bet too much on that,” said Tom.

At noon the “children” made their entrance and responded to their parents’ salutations with almost the proper warmth. Ted declined a cup of coffee and he and Caroline apologized for making a “breakfast” date at the Murdocks’.

“Sis and I both thought you’d be having dinner at seven, as usual.”

“We’ve always had it at one o’clock on Christmas,” said Tom.

“I’d forgotten it was Christmas,” said Ted.

“Well, those stockings ought to remind you.”

Ted and Caroline looked at the bulging stockings.

“Isn’t there a tree?” asked Caroline.

“Of course,” said her mother. “But the stockings come first.”

“We’ve only a little time,” said Caroline. “We’ll be terribly late as it is. So can’t we see the tree now?”

“I guess so,” said Grace, and led the way into the music-room.

The servants were summoned and the tree stared at and admired.

“You must open your presents,” said Grace to her daughter.

“I can’t open them all now,” said Caroline. “Tell me which is special.”

The cover was removed from the huge box and Grace held up the coat.

“Oh, Mother!” said Caroline. “A sealskin coat!”

“Put it on,” said her father.

“Not now. We haven’t time.”

“Then look at this!” said Grace, and opened the case of jewels.

“Oh, Mother! Opals!” said Caroline.

“They’re my favorite stone,” said Grace quietly.

“If nobody minds,” said Ted, “I’ll postpone my personal investigation till we get back. I know I’ll like everything you’ve given me. But if we have no car in working order, I’ve got to call a taxi and catch a train.”

“You can drive in,” said his father.

“Did you fix the brake?”

“I think it’s all right. Come up to the garage and we’ll see.”

Ted got his hat and coat and kissed his mother good-by.

“Mother,” he said, “I know you’ll forgive me for not having any presents for you and Dad. I was so rushed the last three days at school. And I thought I’d have time to shop a little when we got in yesterday, but I was in too much of a hurry to be home. Last night, everything was closed.”

“Don’t worry,” said Grace. “Christmas is for young people. Dad and I have everything we want.”

The servants had found their gifts and disappeared, expressing effusive Scandinavian thanks.

Caroline and her mother were left alone.

“Mother, where did the coat come from?”

“Lloyd and Henry’s.”

“They keep all kinds of furs, don’t they?”

“Yes.”

“Would you mind horribly if I exchanged this?”

“Certainly not, dear. You pick out anything you like, and if it’s a little more expensive, it won’t make any difference. We can go in town tomorrow or next day. But don’t you want to wear your opals to the Murdocks’?”

“I don’t believe so. They might get lost or something. And I’m not—well, I’m not so crazy about—”

“I think they can be exchanged, too,” said Grace. “You run along now and get ready to start.”

Caroline obeyed with alacrity, and Grace spent a welcome moment by herself.

Tom opened the garage door.

“Why, you’ve got two cars!” said Ted.

“The new one isn’t mine,” said Tom.

“Whose is it?”

“Yours. It’s the new model.”

“Dad, that’s wonderful! But it looks just like the old one.”

“Well, the old one’s pretty good. Just the same, yours is better. You’ll find that out when you drive it. Hop in and get started. I had her filled with gas.”

“I think I’d rather drive the old one.”

“Why?”

“Well, what I really wanted, Dad, was a Barnes sport roadster, something like Paul Murdock’s, only a different color scheme. And if I don’t drive this Gorham at all, maybe you could get them to take it back or make some kind of a deal with the Barnes people.”

Tom didn’t speak till he was sure of his voice. Then: “All right, son. Take my car and I’ll see what can be done about yours.”

Caroline, waiting for Ted, remembered something and called to her mother. “Here’s what I got for you and Dad,” she said. “It’s two tickets to ‘Jolly Jane,’ the play I saw last night. You’ll love it!”

“When are they for?” asked Grace.

“Tonight,” said Caroline.

“But dearie,” said her mother, “we don’t want to go out tonight, when you promised to stay home.”

“We’ll keep our promise,” said Caroline, “but the Murdocks may drop in and bring some friends and we’ll dance and there’ll be music. And Ted and I both thought you’d rather be away somewhere so our noise wouldn’t disturb you.”

“It was sweet of you to do this,” said her mother, “but your father and I don’t mind noise as long as you’re enjoying yourselves.”

“It’s time anyway that you and Dad had a treat.”

“The real treat,” said Grace, “would be to spend a quiet evening here with just you two.”

“The Murdocks practically invited themselves and I couldn’t say no after they’d been so nice to me. And honestly, Mother, you’ll love this play!”

“Will you be home for supper?”

“I’m pretty sure we will, but if we’re a little late, don’t you and Dad wait for us. Take the seven-twenty so you won’t miss anything. The first act is really the best. We probably won’t be hungry, but have Signe leave something out for us in case we are.”

Tom and Grace sat down to the elaborate Christmas dinner and didn’t make much impression on it. Even if they had had any appetite, the sixteen-pound turkey would have looked almost like new when they had eaten their fill. Conversation was intermittent and related chiefly to Signe’s excellence as a cook and the mildness of the weather. Children and Christmas were barely touched on.

Tom merely suggested that on account of its being a holiday and their having theatre tickets, they ought to take the six-ten and eat supper at the Metropole. His wife said no; Ted and Caroline might come home and be disappointed at not finding them. Tom seemed about to make some remark, but changed his mind.

The afternoon was the longest Grace had ever known. The children were still absent at seven and she and Tom taxied to the train. Neither talked much on the way to town. As for the play, which Grace was sure to love, it turned out to be a rehash of “Cradle Snatchers” and “Sex,” retaining the worst features of each.

When it was over, Tom said: “Now I’m inviting you to the Cove Club. You didn’t eat any breakfast or dinner or supper and I can’t have you starving to death on a feast-day. Besides, I’m thirsty as well as hungry.”

They ordered the special table d’hôte and struggled hard to get away withit. Tom drank six high-balls, but they failed to produce the usual effect of making him jovial. Grace had one high-ball and some kind of cordial that gave her a warm, contented feeling for a moment. But the warmth and contentment left her before the train was half way home.

The living-room looked as if Von Kluck’s army had just passed through. Ted and Caroline had kept their promise up to a certain point. They had spent part of the evening at home, and the Murdocks must have brought all their own friends and everybody else’s, judging from the results. The tables and floors were strewn with empty glasses, ashes and cigaret stubs. The stockings had been torn off their nails and the wrecked contents were all over the place. Two sizable holes had been burnt in Grace’s favorite rug.

Tom took his wife by the arm and led her into the music-room.

“You never took the trouble to open your own present,” he said.

“And I think there’s one for you, too,” said Grace. “They didn’t come in here,” she added, “so I guess there wasn’t much dancing or music.”

Tom found his gift from Grace, a set of diamond studs and cuff buttons for festive wear. Grace’s present from him was an opal ring.

“Oh, Tom!” she said.

“We’ll have to go out somewhere tomorrow night, so I can break these in,” said Tom.

“Well, if we do that, we’d better get a good night’s rest.”

“I’ll beat you upstairs,” said Tom.

FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE:
MERRY MADAGASCAR & THE PENGUINS CHRISTMAS CAPER

FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE:
"It's A Wonderful Life"(RADIO VERSION 3-10-47)

CHRISTMAS SUGGESTIONS FOR SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18TH

2011-12-18T21:24:00.001-08:00

FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE:
"What Would Jesus Buy"

What Would Jesus Buy? is 2007 a documentary film produced by Morgan Spurlock and directed by Rob VanAlkemade. The title is a play on the phrase "What would Jesus do?" The film debuted on the festival circuit on March 11, 2007, at the South By Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas. It went into general US release on November 16, 2007.

The film focuses on the issues of the commercialization of Christmas, materialism, the over-consumption in American culture, globalization, and the business practices of large corporations, as well as their economic and cultural effects on American society, as seen through the prism of activist/performance artist Bill Talen, who goes by the alias of "Reverend Billy", and his troupe of activists, whose street theater performances take the form of a church choir called "The Church of Stop Shopping," that sings anti-shopping and anti-corporate songs. The film follows Billy and his choir as they take a cross-country trip in the month prior to Christmas 2005, and spread their message against what they perceive as the evils of patronizing the retail outlets of several different large corporate chains.

FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE:
"Christmas Is Drawing Near" - Steve Winwood

This is an old English folk song that is at least a couple hundred years old. Amazing how the lyrics still apply to modern society & culture. R2

Christmas is now drawing near at hand
Come serve the Lord and be at his command
And God a portion for you will provide
And give a blessing to your soul beside

Down in the garden where flowers grow in ranks
Down on your bended knees and give the Lord thanks
Down on your knees and pray both night and day
Leave off your sins and live upright, I pray

So proud and lofty is some sort of sin
Which many take delight and pleasure in
Whose conversation God doth much dislike
And yet He shakes His sword before He strikes

So proud and lofty do some people go
Dressing themselves like players in the show
They patch and paint and dress with idle stuff
As if God had not made them fine enough

Even little children learn to curse and swear
And can't recite one word of godly prayer
Who'll teach them better or teach them to rely
On Christ the sinner's friend who reigns on high

FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE:
"Letters From Father Christmas" - J. R. R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien was best known for his epic fantasy "Lord of the Rings" and his studies in myth and language. But Tolkien was also the proud dad of four kids - and he didn't just read "Hobbit" to them at bedtime. Over the course of many years, he wrote and illustrated detailed, whimsical letters from Father Christmas, populated with a clumsy polar bear, elves and goblins.

In these letters, Father Christmas kept the Tolkien children updated with stories about the hijinks at the North Pole - the slapsticky North Polar Bear and all the things he broke, firework explosions, the discovery of ancient caves full of old cave drawings, and battles with the goblins. (When Father Christmas couldn't write, his Elvish secretary filled in)

Tolkien's old-school style of writing is a bit formal and very correct, but he tosses in comments of exasperation, amusement, and in the last letter, a sort of sad resignation that children will grow up. Maybe it is because they were given to real children, not intended for publication, that the letters are only a little cutesy, and never cloying.

And of course, Tolkien's detailed, colorful, fantastical, intricate pictures are what make the letters come alive; you can imagine the Tolkien kids eagerly examining the pictures as well as the written words. They aren't terribly realistic - Father Christmas never looks quite real - but their detailed fantastical charm makes up for it, such as the murals on Father Christmas's walls, with suns, moons, stars and trees.

Tolkien also sprinkles the stories with things that his kids were probably intrigued by, like prehistoric cave paintings, fireworks, and a comic bear who causes all kinds of mayhem. And fans of Tolkien's fantasy works will probably enjoy checking out things like the invented Elf language (as written by the secretary Ilbereth) and goblin language. Tolkien includes a letter from the North Polar Bear in the latter language.

"Letters From Father Christmas" won't exactly make you believe in Santa Claus again, but it is one of the prettiest and most charming Christmas picture books out there. Definitely recommended - and not just for Tolkien fans too.

As for the illustrations, JRRT had a wonderful sense of color and line. He was very good at drawing stylized landscapes and interiors. Who wouldn't want someplace like Cliff House? He was less successful at drawing people and animals, probably because he knew very little about anatomy. Still, the portrait of Father Christmas wrapping a package is very fine; his features look somewhat Asiatic. I don't know if it is because JRRT had trouble drawing European round eyes, or if the Tolkein children were old enough to have seen pictures of Lapps and Eskimos and would have felt that such features would be appropriate to a man who lived at the North Pole. Also, the picture of the Polar Bear battling the Goblins to save the Good Children's presents was full of movement and spirit enough that one didn't mind the questionable anatomy; the same could be said of the illustration of the accidental flooding of the English Deliveries room.

If you have children in your life, get a copy. Younger children will love to have these read to them, while older ones will love reading them themselves.

Colorado Springs Independent's 2011 Give Campaign

2011-12-13T15:30:00.000-08:00

I hope that your life allows you to help others this Christmas and Holiday season. If you are looking for that perfect match between your budget and your values, please consider the Colorado Springs Independent and their program for giving. I will have them on my show to explain how easy it is to donate. There are non-profits to match your interests, but I VERY MUCH hope you consider helping the military and Fort Carson and their troops who protect this great country.
Richard

Give! is the Colorado Springs Independent's year-end multimedia and guerilla marketing campaign designed to generate funds, volunteers and applause for the important work local nonprofits perform.

This year their broad-based community steering committee has selected 49 incredible non-profits to be part of the 2011 Give! campaign.

Community members can select one, two or multiple non-profits and make a donation online in a single, easy transaction. And if, in this admittedly difficult economy, you cannot give much, or at all, no worries. There are plenty of valuable opportunities to volunteer as well.

Giving can be made via their secure web site, and all funds are held by the Pikes Peak Community Foundation, until mid-January 2012, when non-profit organizations will be paid 100% of funds citizens donate at an event sponsored by the El Pomar Foundation and Heuberger Subaru.

The Goals of the 2011 Give Campaign are:

to encourage people who do not regularly give to donate time and money, with a particular emphasis on getting those in their 20s and 30s to become philanthropists.

to educate our community about the important work performed by local non-profits

to provide a Pikes Peak philanthropic platform which will make giving back to our community easy, enjoyable and effective.

How can I give to Give!?

Online is the best way. Just click on the Give! button featured at csindy.com and 60 other local Web sites. Then select one, two or multiple nonprofits and make a donation online in a single, easy, secure transaction.

Your donations will be held by the Pikes Peak Community Foundation until mid-January 2012, when nonprofits will be paid 100 percent of donated funds at an event sponsored by the El Pomar Foundation and Heuberger Subaru.

At this ceremony, nonprofits will also receive additional money from our "Friendly Competitions" and "Individual Matching Grants" programs.

All costs, including credit card processing fees, are paid by the Independent.

MY EYE DOCTOR - MEDICAL MISSIONS

2011-12-13T13:18:00.000-08:00

Dr. John M. Rabins, Ph.D., O.D. is a graduate of the New England College of Optometry in Boston, Massachusetts. A retired Air Force colonel, he spent much of his career in Colorado Springs, having served tours of duty at the Air Force Academy, Peterson AFB, and Cheyenne Mountain. Having done a pediatric rotation during optometry school, Dr. Rabins loves working with children and families.

Medical Missions

Each of the past four years Dr. Rabins has gone on a medical missions trip to another country, where he has performed eye care for some of the poorest people in the world. In 2004 he visited a remote area in the Aragats region of Armenia, and each of the past three years he’s been to Abelines, El Salvador.

Abelines is a village on a mountain in southeastern El Salvador near the Honduran border. It has a population of 2,000– 4,000, with another 6,000 scattered along the mountain. They are extremely poor, with most living on less than $1 a day. There is neither electricity (the fortunate ones use car batteries in their homes) nor running water (no toilets, only outhouses). The people grow crops and raise animals, walking 2-4 hours to get to stores where they buy and sell products.

The para-churchgroup with whom Dr. Rabins works periodically brings in a doctor who provides primary care. However, the people cannot afford to see an optometrist, which is why this team effort is so important. The first year he saw well over a hundred optometry patients during his brief stay in Abelines --but this just scratched the surface of the need there. Many adults over 40 simply needed glasses for doing close-up work and many children needed basic reading glasses for school. A number of patients cried when he placed glasses on them and they could see well, some literally for the first time.

ADDRESS:
3585 Van Teylingen Drive,
Suite B
Colorado Springs, CO 80917

TELEPHONE:
(719) 550-EYES (3937)
FAX: (719) 268-6694

Monday
Closed

Tuesday
9am to 6pm

Wednesday
9am to 6pm

Thursday
9am to 6pm

Friday
8am to 4pm

HONOR FLIGHT CRAFT FAIR

2011-12-10T08:24:00.000-08:00

Honor Flight's Last Chance Craft Fair
Today, Saturday, Dec 10 9:00a to 4:00p
at Clarion Hotel and Conference Center, Colorado Springs, CO
Price: $2.00 admission

Honor Flight of Southern Colorado is hosting a Last Chance craft fair to raise funds to help us send our WWII vets to DC at no cost tothem We will have Santa and a balloon maker for the kids and lots of great draftees for the adults to fill those Christmas lists. We will also have raffle items from our crafters and local businesses. Come join us at the Clarion Hotel at 314 West Bijou and help send our WWII vets to DC.

HOW COULD ANYONE DO THIS?

2011-12-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

A published report says the remains of many more troops have been dumped in a Virginia landfill than the military originally acknowledged.

The Washington Post says the incinerated partial remains of at least 274 American troops were sent to the King George County Landfill in Virginia. The report was based on database information at the Dover Air Base mortuary, where the remains of most war dead return.

The families of the dead authorized the military to dispose of the remains respectfully and with dignity. They were unaware of the landfill dumping, and Air Force officials told the Post they have no plans now to alert the families.

Military policy or regulations did not formally authorize the practice. The mortuary has handled the remains of more than 6,300 troops since 2001.

PHOTOS FROM PEARL HARBOR MEMORIAL

2011-12-07T14:45:00.000-08:00

Pearl Harbor Veterans at the Memorial were Jim Downing and Bill Browning.

PEARL HARBOR & OTHER VETS AT PEAK GRILL

2011-12-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

That is Pearl Harbor Bill Browning. Great man. Honor to be there.
Richard

LUNCH WITH PEARL HARBOR VETERANS

2011-12-05T13:40:00.000-08:00

Pearl Harbor FREE lunch at the The Peak Grill has changed the 2nd Tuesday luncheon from DEC.13th to DEC 6th in honor of our Pearl Harbor Veterans. Just this month for the date change to make it closer to Pearl Harbor Day. Come on down Tuesday and say hi to Bill Browning and the rest of the veterans.

LET'S SEND HIM BACK TO PEARL HARBOR

2011-11-24T06:41:00.000-08:00

SPECIAL VETERAN APPEAL

This comes from my friend, Brett Axton. GREAT cause. Please do what you can to help.

This year, on December 7, at the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Mr. Donald Stratton will stand for the 1,177 who died aboard the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941. This event will mark the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Mr. Stratton is currently one of only approximately 19 men still living today who were stationed aboard the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941.

Mr. Stratton is an amazing individual, as were all of the Greatest Generation, and is alive to share his story with those of us who were not there on that horrible day. He was burned over 60 percent of his body in the attack, spent a year in the hospital, rehabbed and then reenlisted and continued to fight the remainder of WWII.

(I will put some links to some video and written stories on the RMR website so you can see who we are helping….just go to our website and access the NEWSLETTERS and November 10 News for some pictures and stories)

RMR is putting the effort together to raise enough money to send Mr. Stratton, along with his wife, to Pearl Harbor this year to join in the annual ceremony at the USS Arizona Memorial. Our goal is to reimburse him for the expenses he has already paid in preparation for the trip. Additional money raised beyond his expenses will be donated to help the wounded warriors at LifeQuest Transitions here in Colorado Springs.

If you would like to help send Mr. Stratton and his wife to this historic reunion, you can send a check in any amount to:

Bank of Colorado
c/o Donald Stratton
421 N Tejon St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Interview with Donald Stratton: USS Arizona Survivor's Tale
Published Online: December 06, 2006

Bored with Depression-era life in a small Nebraska town, Donald Stratton was just the sort of youngster the U.S. Navy was looking for prior to World War II. Stepping into the local post office in 1940, Stratton was all ears when a recruiter began what became a successful sales pitch. The recent high school graduate traded his civvies for blues and eventually found himself reporting for duty at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to board his first ship: the battleship Arizona (BB-39), pride of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

World War II: Commissioned in October 1916, the battleship Arizona was a 31,000-ton behemoth that was home to more than 1,700 men. It must have been a remarkable sight for someone from Red Cloud, Neb. What was your first impression of the ship?

Stratton: They were working on it at dockside. There were so many hoses…saltwater hoses, welding cables, everything all over the decks. They brought us aboard and assigned us to different divisions — we were standing fire watch pretty near every night when the welders were working onboard. I remember thinking at the time, 'Oh boy, this [isn't] really what I anticipated.' But the chaplain [Captain Thomas L. Kirkpatrick] came around and said, 'This isn't always the way it is….My friend, when we get out to sea you'll notice quite a bit of difference.' And sure enough, we did. After a few days in the shipyard, they put her in dry dock. We had to go over the sides and scrub it down and paint it. To an old flatlander like me, when I saw the battleship out of the water it was quite a sight. I was awestruck.

WWII: To which division were you assigned on the ship? What were its responsibilities?

Stratton: The 6th Division. That was a boat deck division on the port side. In the Navy, the starboard side is always assigned to the odd-numbered divisions; port, the even ones. Most of our time was spent scraping and cleaning some of the boats. We had to holystone the decks and keep everything shipshape. We had two 50-foot motorboats, two 40-foot launches, whaleboats, the captain's gig and the admiral's barge on the boat deck. That was a deck behind the smokestack. I was assigned to clean up the foremast. The stack was right there, and when they blew tubes the smoke would gather on the paint in the yardarms and the foremast, and we'd have to scrub it down.

WWII: The refit on your ship was completed in January 1941, and you set sail for Hawaii on January 23. Were you excited about going to Pearl Harbor?

Stratton: Sure, it was an experience. I'd never been there before. A lot of people had never been there, and it was just something you could talk about.

WWII: Keeping a battleship in fighting trim was a constant job. The entire crew must have been kept pretty busy on the voyage to Pearl Harbor.

Stratton: Yes. We had our usual duties, but I also had a chance to become familiar with some of the ship's armament. It had a 5-inch .25[-caliber] anti-aircraft gun that I was assigned to. We practiced loading and firing. We actually didn't fire, just practiced loading. The shells were all fixed ammunition, and they weighed probably 70 or 80 pounds. The loader had to load them into the breech and then the rammer had to ram them home. My job was as a sight setter for the gun. My battle station was in the director [room] on the foremast.

WWII: With the threat of war, the U.S. Pacific Fleet was moved from San Pedro, Calif., to Pearl Harbor in May 1940, representing the greatest concentration of military might the United States possessed at that time. Eight battleships, three aircraft carriers and countless cruisers, destroyers and other smaller craft were anchored at Pearl. It must have been quite a spectacle.

Stratton: It was very impressive. Almost the whole crew was topside as we came in. The place was lush and green, and with memories of the Dust Bowl still pretty vivid I remember thinking that the folks back home just wouldn't believe this.

WWII: Did you ever consider the possibility of war with Japan?

Stratton: I don't think anyone really thought about it. I think the first inkling we got was when we went on maneuvers for a couple of months or so and they only allowed us five gallons of water every day. We figured something must be up because they were seeing what would happen if they did [have to] ration the water.

WWII: Duties onboard ship started pretty early, even on a Sunday. How did your day begin on December 7, 1941?

Stratton: My quarters were in what they called the casemates, near where the 5-inch broadside guns were. There were four of these quarters on the port side, and that is where I was when reveille was sounded. After cleaning up a bit, I went for breakfast around 7 a.m. Most of the crew was wearing shorts and T-shirts. That was the uniform of the day, except for the Marines and the boat crews. After breakfast I [headed] to the sickbay to visit my friend, Harl Nelson.

Editor's note: Harl Coplin Nelson, seaman first class, was among the 1,177 to die onboard Arizona that morning.

WWII: What sort of relationship did you have with Harl?

Stratton: He was just another sailor in the 6th Division. He and I had been working on the incinerator. Everyone was temporarily assigned these sorts of duties. It usually lasted for three months. Harl and I met burning garbage.

WWII: Were you able to visit Harl before the attack started?

Stratton: No. I had just stepped out of the mess area near the casemate on the bow of the ship when I could hear sailors yelling and hollering. I took a look and they were all pointing at Ford Island. We could then see all sorts of planes. Then I saw either the dive tower or the water tower on Ford Island go over. The planes would peel off, and we could see their Rising Sun insignias and then we could see bombs bursting. I asked myself, 'What the hell is going on?'

WWII: It was just after 8 a.m. when the Japanese attack began. When you realized this was no drill, what did you do?

Stratton: I made an about-face and started for my battle station, which was one deck above the bridge. First I went up the ladder to the radio shack, and from there took another ladder to the bridge and finally a third ladder to get up to the sky control platform. I must have been quick because I was already there when General Quarters finally sounded.

WWII: You were finally facing an enemy in earnest. What was happening at your battle station?

Stratton: There was a gunnery officer up there. There was a port on top of the director where you could look out to get a visual picture and try to set the range and flight path of the target. My job was to crank whatever the gunnery officer would say into this gauge I had in front of me and send the estimated coordinates to the gun crew below. Once the coordinates were set, the crew would switch the gun to automatic so it would point to wherever the director told it. I was responsible for four of the 5-inch guns.

WWII: There were a tremendous number of guns on the ship. How many of you were spotting up there?

Stratton: There was a starboard director on the other side with the same amount of men. It took about eight or nine men to man the inside of my director, and they had all kinds of sailors with binoculars sighting planes coming in. The big gun director was on the same level for the 14-inch guns. There were probably at least 50 men in the port director and a similar number on the starboard side.

WWII: Did you go right into action?

Stratton: Yes. It was all happening very quickly and I didn't have much time to think. We were firing. There were only 50 rounds of ammunition in the ready box behind each gun, and I could see that some of the crews had to break the locks off the boxes to load their guns. We were firing at the planes — more or less at the high altitude bombers. We knew that the torpedo bombers and the dive bombers would be covered by the .50-caliber machine guns. We worried about the high altitude bombers, [but] we couldn't reach them. Our shells were bursting before they ever reached their altitude.

WWII: At approximately 8:10 a.m., Arizona was hit by an 800-kg armor-piercing bomb just forward of No. 2 turret. The bomb penetrated the ship's deck and went off a few seconds later in the forward powder magazine. The subsequent blast gutted the ship, and the foremast and forward superstructure began to collapse. What do you remember of this blast?

Stratton: We were hit once before — aft on top of No. 3 turret — and it bounced over the side. One went through the afterdeck and didn't explode. Then one hit up above on the starboard side — it was big. It shook the ship like an earthquake. Then all at once there was a big explosion, which just raised the ship pretty near clear up out of the water and then back down. There was a ball of flame that went about 500 to 600 feet in the air, and it just engulfed the whole foremast up there where we were and the whole bow of the ship.

WWII: What happened inside the director at this point?

Stratton: It just rattled us around like we were inside of a tube or something. As soon as I came to my senses, I tried to hide under some of the equipment to keep away from the blaze, but I still got burned. The fire came right into the director.

WWII: Did you or anyone else try to escape the fire by going outside onto the platform?

Stratton: No, we stayed in there for a little protection. A couple of the people in the director jumped out and I never did see them again.

WWII: How long was it before you went onto the platform?

Stratton: When the fire kind of squelched down a little bit. There was a little sea breeze that blew the smoke away. The fire control director and I got out on the platform. All the deck…inside of the charthouse and the ready boxes: Everything was red-hot. We couldn't lay or sit down.

WWII: From your director, you were one of only two survivors of the blast. Were you injured?

Stratton: Yes. I knew I had been burned and was in terrible pain. My legs were burnt from my thighs clear to my ankles. My T-shirt had caught on fire, and my back, both my arms and left side were burned pretty bad — so was my face. All the hair on my head was burned off, and part of an ear was gone.

WWII: Could you see what was happening below you on the rest of the ship?

Stratton: [Pause.] I'm not going to say anything. That was so terrible I don't even want to say anything about it.

WWII: With your injuries and the condition of the ship, it is something of a miracle that you survived. How did you get off the ship?

Stratton: Vestal was tied up alongside and we got this sailor's attention [Jon Georg]. He threw us a heaving line and then attached another heavier line to it so we could pull ourselves across to safety. I was all burned to hell, and I remember that as we got ready to leave I grabbed the skin on my arms and just pulled it off like a big long sock and threw it on the deck.

WWII: Crossing over to a ship like that must be difficult, even under the best of circumstances. How did you do it?

Stratton: Well, you know, you're 40 feet in the air and the water below you is on fire. It was about 60 to 70 feet across to Vestal. I didn't have much choice, so I just started pulling myself hand over hand. I had to have a lot of help from up above, the good Lord. It was quite a feat, especially when your hands were as raw as mine were.

WWII: Do you know if any others onboard the ship used this lifeline to reach safety?

Stratton: I think there were only six of us. I was either the third or fourth to go over. Two of the others who crossed died of their wounds that night.

WWII: Do you remember how long it took the group to get across?

Stratton: No. I would have no idea at all. Vestal was lower than we were as a ship, so we were going kind of downhill a little bit. You have to realize that Arizona sank to the bottom, too, and was at about 18 feet. That brought us down a little bit to the level, but still going downhill a little bit. When you get to the middle of a line going across like that, with the weight you start going back uphill again. The last 10, 15 or 20 feet were the hardest.

WWII: What happened once you finally made it aboard Vestal?

Stratton: Nothing really. We just kind of all huddled together for a little while. They were trying to figure out how to get us off the ship to a hospital on shore. We were there for quite a little bit. Finally a shore boat came alongside. We were loaded on and taken to the pier.

WWII: When the shore boat arrived at the pier, what did

you do?

Stratton: We had to get up on the dock, which was kind of a chore because the tide was down some. We reached up and grabbed with our hands — burns and all — to get ashore. Then they put us in an open-air truck and took us to the…naval hospital there on the island.

WWII: Up to that point, it seems as if, despite your wounds, you were looking out for yourself. Did the situation improve at the hospital?

Stratton: It was kind of chaotic, but the staff was pretty well organized. They were doing a good job when they finally got to us. There was a lot of damage to a lot of people; a lot of things going on.

WWII: What was the extent of your injuries, and what type treatment did you receive?

Stratton: Over 70 percent of my body was burned. I got the best treatment they could provide for such injuries. There were lots of sulfa drugs and morphine. One problem was that we were so badly burned the nurses and orderlies could not tell who had been given a shot of morphine and who hadn't. Finally, some nurse figured out to use lipstick to mark us. They'd put an 'X' on you once you had been given a shot and then put down what time it had been given. There were so many people in my condition, it was hard to keep track of all of it.

WWII: How long was your treatment at the hospital?

Stratton: Not long after we had first been treated, someone came into the room and said, 'Some of you people are going to go to the States.' 'I'll go,' I called out. 'No,' he answered, 'we don't think you can, you're not in good enough shape to make it. You probably wouldn't survive the trip.'

WWII: So did you stay?

Stratton: No. I told the man I could make it easy. 'Well,' he said to me, 'if you can stand up while we change the linen, we'll think about it.' So I stood up while they changed the linen. I didn't get up for a long time after that. They sent me back to the States. I arrived on Christmas Day and was taken to a burn unit at Mare Island Naval Hospital [Calif.]. I was glad to be back in the States. All of us were. I think we had peas and other stuff for our Christmas dinner.

WWII: What was your treatment like at Mare Island?

Stratton: They gave me a lot of antibiotics. After a while they decided saltwater baths would help. They would put double sheets under me and take me to the bathroom. Then they would get four corpsmen, one on each corner of the sheets, who would pick me up and set me down in this tub of saltwater. It seemed to help. The first time was a little rough, but after two or three you'd start to look forward to it. It was still tough. I couldn't move. I couldn't feed myself. I couldn't do anything. They had a canopy over my bed to keep me warm, but no sheets or blankets; all the burns were left exposed to the open air.

WWII: How many men were in that burn unit? Were they all from Arizona?

Stratton: I don't know how many beds there were, probably 20. They were all full. The guys were from different places, though, not just my ship.

WWII: How long were you in the burn unit?

Stratton: For about nine months. Then I was transferred to Corona, Calif., where the Navy had taken over a hotel for convalescence. It was nice. We had a golf course, swimming pool and mineral baths. It was very enjoyable once I could stand up and get around. When I first got on a scale, I weighed 92 pounds. I had weighed 165 or 170 on the morning of the attack.

WWII: Were any of your family able to visit you while you were at Mare Island or Corona?

Stratton: No. The fact is I didn't want them to come out. They knew I had been burned. Some of the nurses would write letters for us. It had been pretty rough on my parents. First they got a notice that I was lost, and then they finally got one saying I was in the hospital but had been badly burned.

WWII: Did you return to service after your convalescence?

Stratton: I was medically discharged in September 1942. My whole left side was kind of disabled. My left arm was in pretty bad shape, and my left leg as well. After being back home for a little over a year, though, everything was in pretty good shape, so I decided to go back into the Navy. The only way I could get in was through the draft. I had a couple of friends on the draft board and they signed me up, and the Navy sent me to Omaha.WWII: Why did you want to get back into the Navy?

Stratton: There was just not a lot going on at home and, you know, it wasn't any different from 1940 when I graduated, as far as jobs were concerned. There may also have been a little bit of wanting to get revenge, you know. I went to boot camp in January 1944. I did well at the camp and they wanted me to stay there, but I wanted to go back to sea. After graduation they sent me to Treasure Island, where I was when they received a request from USS Stack [DD-406] for gunner's mate third class. The destroyer…needed crew. I was picked and eventually reported aboard.

WWII: Like most ships that fought in the Pacific, Stack stopped at Pearl Harbor en route. What was it like for you when you passed Arizona's remains?

Stratton: Well, it was just one of those things. I welled up a little bit; I still do even now when I think about it. It's quite a memory — a sad memory.

WWII: You were headed for a war zone. Given what you had already experienced, were you at all worried about that?

Stratton: I don't know that I thought a lot about it. It was just one of those things you did when you're in the Navy, the Army, the Marines. I participated in quite a few of the landings. I was part of the invasions of New Guinea, two in the Philippines and at Okinawa.

WWII: Does anything in particular stand out in your mind regarding your time aboard Stack?

Stratton: We had submarine contact several times while I was onboard. One time when General Quarters sounded, I jumped out of my bunk, and just as I got topside there was a big flash right in front of my face. My first thought was, 'Oh man, we're hit again.' It was like a flashback. It was kind of spooky. Once I calmed down, I found out it was an impulse charge that had launched a depth charge over the side.

WWII: The U.S. destroyers were pretty busy during the Okinawa operation, supporting the landings and providing pickets for the fleet. Several ships were attacked by kamikazes. How was it for you?

Stratton: We were on picket patrol between Okinawa and Japan for quite a number of days. We were losing quite a few destroyers to kamikazes. We had radar and would make contact with the planes coming in and contact for other ships and tell them what was on the way. We survived, but I remember they got four or five destroyers one night.

WWII: How did it all end for you?

Stratton: In October 1945, I was transferred to electric-hydraulic school and was discharged on December 4, 1945. Given everything I had seen, I probably should have been more excited, but I seem to remember it as just one of those days. Nothing more to do — the war was over, so let's get out of this United States Navy and do something else.

WWII: You had quite a remarkable experience during nearly four years in the Navy. Although it has been more than 60 years, do you still think about it?

Stratton: I think about it every day. I have no animosity against the Japanese people, but I can't forget what happened. When I go to these reunions and there are Japanese pilots there that were doing the bombing, they ask if I'll get up there and shake hands with them. I don't do that. I never will do that. You have to understand my position. There's a thousand men down on that ship that I was on and I'm sure they wouldn't do that, and I'm sure they wouldn't want me to do it. I know that I'm very fortunate to be here. I just can't help but think people should be more aware of what happened that day and how many lives were taken. How many of those sailors and Marines onboard that ship right now don't even know what happened to them or why it happened or who it was? It seems like an awful, awful waste of life for something that people are going to forget about. We have so many people [today] who don't appreciate their liberty and wouldn't fight for it.

A total of 1,177 men were lost when Arizona sank on the morning of December 7. Many of the 334 crewmen who survived were ashore when the attack began. Donald Stratton is one of only six men onboard the doomed ship still alive to tell his story.
This article was written by David Lesjak and originally appeared in the December 2006 issue of World War II magazine.

MAYOR STEVE BACH ON HIS MONTHLY APPEARANCE ON THE SHOW

2011-11-08T12:30:00.001-08:00

You can count on Mayor Steve Bach joining me once a month to talk about the issues that are important to you, and to take your calls.

THIS IS THE MAN I TRUST WITH MY 401(K) MANAGEMENT

2011-11-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

Ian Ahrendsen

Financial Representative

Colorado Springs Office
7350 Campus Drive, Suite 300
Colorado Springs, CO 80920

Phone: (719)388-7196
Fax: (719)593-7731
E-mail: iahrendsen@co.nef.com

Joining New England Financial was a natural fit for Ian as he is a 3rd generation financial services representative. Following in his grandfather and father’s footsteps, he enjoys working with business owners to find solutions on employee benefits, wealth accumulation and retirement options. On a more personal scale, he can identify life insurance needs and put together a full financial game plan for families.

Ian is active in the Rising Professionals branch of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and supports the local group with the National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors (NAIFA). When not in the office, Ian lives the full “Colorado outdoor lifestyle.” He plays squash, golf, baseball, hikes, and enjoys travel, playing the guitar and is a proud coach of youth football and baseball (helping Richard Randall to guide the Rays baseball team to the playoffs).

He attended Colorado State University and his prior work experience includes Guardian Life Insurance and Park Avenue Securities and holds his Series 6 license. He is licensed in CO to sell life & health insurance and is looking forward to a long career in the financial industry.

VETERANS DAY PARADE

2011-11-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

SPRINGS RESCUE MISSION FIGHTS HOMELESSNESS

2011-11-06T09:56:00.001-08:00

I was proud to be a part of this wonderful event. Great people doing great work. Richard

p.s. here is more info:

Springs Rescue Mission
5 W Las Vegas Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 632-1822

info@mysrm.org

Donate Food, Clothing, and Furniture
(719) 632-1822

Donate a Vehicle
(719) 314-2379 or (719) 314-2368

Schedule a Donation Pick Up
(719) 314-2364

Volunteer Opportunities
(719) 632-1822
volunteerassistant@mysrm.org

Receive Food, Clothing, and Furniture Information / Evening Meals Information
(719) 632-1822

Financial Donation / Donor Account Information
(719) 314-2346

Media
(719) 314-2359
stevew@mysrm.org

Men's New Life Program (Recovery)
(719) 314-2341

Catering Program Information / Request Catering Service
(719) 314-2360
walterl@mysrm.org

Culinary Arts Program Coordinator
(719) 314-2361

Direct Services Department
(719) 667-0564

Resource Advocate Program
(719) 314-2376

Finance Department / Accounts Payable
(719) 314-2340

Joe Vazquez, Chief Executive Officer
(719) 314-2351
jvazquez@mysrm.org

Russ Gosselin, Chief Operations Officer
(719) 314-2342

Larry Yonker, Chief Development Officer
(719) 314-2350

Bob Hughes, Chief Programs Officer
(719) 314-2354
bobh@mysrm.org

Tim Hromadka, Chief Financial Officer
(719) 314-2357

Springs Rescue Mission is a non-profit, faith-based charity

We serving the homeless and needy of Colorado Springs. We are interdenominational and work with a wide range of churches, organizations, donors, and volunteers.

No one is denied services because of race, color, creed, sex, or national origin.

Springs Rescue Mission is a member of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM). The first rescue mission started in 1876. Today, AGRM consists of over 300 member ministries around the globe.

Our Mission

"To partner with and engage the local church and community to serve the poor and homeless, feed the hungry, and minister to the addicted with the transforming message of the Gospel."

Core Values

Christ-Centered - Christ is our foundation and our purpose; this ministry belongs to Him. In all things will we be Christ-honoring, committed to ongoing transformation, and to pursuing Christ-likeness.

Service - We commit to serve one another, our clients, the community and donors with encouragement, respect, compassion, grace, and honesty.

Teamwork - We acknowledge and celebrate our differences and the unique way in which Christ made us. Individually, we purpose to fully give of our talents in order to strengthen the ministry team and to honor Jesus Christ. We agree to consistently act and speak in a manner that is edifying and promoting of a unified body.

MUSLIM GIRL WANT TO WEAR HEADGEAR IN ROTC

2011-11-06T09:28:00.001-08:00

When you envision signing up for the US Army, what's the picture that comes to mind? Green fatigues and dress blues that match your fellow soldiers? Or wearing any darn thing you please?

The military is pretty well known for requiring uniformity in uniforms. So news that a Muslim teenager has been told she can't wear her headscarf when she marches with her high school's junior ROTC, a youth offshoot of the Army, isn't terribly surprising. And it's not discrimination either.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has come out to say that Demin Zawity, a 14-year-old cadet from Tennessee, has been treated unfairly because her ROTC commander told her she couldn't wear her traditional headscarf with her uniform if she wanted to march in a homecoming parade with the rest of the cadets. Although they didn't call it Islamophobia, the undertones of their complaints are clear: they think the Army needs to change its rules.

But ROTC regulations do allow for the headscarves worn by Muslim women for religious reasons to be worn, so long as they're "completely covered by standard military headgear." She wasn't told no. She was told "yes, but ... "

But Zawity wanted a special dispensation -- something that takes time to make its way through the proper channels -- and she only learned her scarf was inappropriate the day before the parade.

Or so she says.

It's not that I think she's lying, per se. But as a Muslim American who wears her headscarf on a daily basis, I find it hard to believe that this is the first time Zawity was ever faced with the notion that some people don't wear headscarves. As a 14-year-old, I'm finding it hard to believe that she can't fathom the concept of "uniforms."

There are dozens, maybe hundreds of jobs that are known for requiring their employees to match. She has to have seen police officers, chefs, nurses, basketball players ... the list could go on. But in particular, Zawity chose to join a military organization, where the uniform rules are widely known for being stringent.

Join the Army -- or in this case, the ROTC -- and you pledge to live by their rules. She signed up for that, not the other way around.

This is the demarcation between what represents discrimination in this country and what allows for the freedoms we so enjoy as Americans. We all have the right to take a job that carries strict rules for its employees or join an organization with specific expectations, and we all have the right to say, "You know, that job isn't for me."

Liberal teenagers don't join the Young Republicans. Evangelical kids don't join the Gay/Straight Alliance. It's all about choice, something we as Americans are lucky to have.

This Muslim teenager chose to join an organization that accepted her, and gave her an ability to merge her religious background with their strict standards. She, in turn, asked for special treatment. That doesn't mean she's been discriminated against. It means she picked the wrong organization to join.

GREAT QUOTES ABOUT MOTHERS

2011-11-06T09:23:00.000-08:00

"Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate." -- Anonymous
"The potential possibilities of any child are the most intriguing and stimulating in all creation." -- Ray L. Wilbur
“Children are great imitators of others' behavior. When they are surrounded by people who love them and respond to them respectfully, and with empathy, they respond this way to others, too.” -- Tamara Parnay
"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see." -- Unknown
"Before I got married, I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories." -- John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester
"To bend bamboo, start when it is a shoot." -- Malaysian Proverb
"It's a great mistake, I think, to put children off with falsehoods and nonsense, when their growing powers of observation and discrimination excite in them a desire to know about things." -- Anne Sullivan
"The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth." -- Maria Montessori
"It is amazing how quickly the kids learn to drive a car, yet are unable to understand the lawnmower, snow-blower, or vacuum cleaner." -- Ben Bergor
"Let us be the ones who say we do not accept that a child dies every three seconds simply because he does not have the drugs you and I have. Let us be the ones to say we are not satisfied that your place of birth determines your right to life. Let us be outraged, let us be proud, let us be bold." -- Brad Pitt
"Children and drunks always speak the truth." -- Proverb
"Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them." -- Oscar Wilde
"With children ... it is a face that most parents criticize children more than they laud our congratulate them. We tend to be quick to criticize, slow to praise. We should be careful to keep the praise and the expectations far ahead of the criticism." -- Unknown
"Your top job as a new parent is to love your baby like crazy. After showering her with affection, your next two important jobs are to feed her and to calm her when she cries." -- Harvey Karp
“Of all things love is the most potent.” --Maria Montessori
"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance." -- Franklin P. Jones
"Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them." -- Lady Bird Johnson
"The best way for a man to train up a child in the way he should go is to travel that way himself." -- Unknown
"Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them." -- James Baldwin
"Children are a great comfort to us in our old age, and they help us reach it faster too." -- John Ruskin
"The soul is healed by being with children." -- Proverb
"No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness, and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure." -- Emma Goldman
"Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when raking leaves." --Marcelene Cox
"When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child." -- Sophia Loren
"I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child, well nursed, is at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or broiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout." -- Jonathan Swift
"Children wish fathers looked but with their eyes; fathers that children with their judgment looked; and either may be wrong." -- Shakespeare
“A child enters your home and for the next twenty or so years makes so much noise you can hardly stand it. Then the child departs, leaving the house so silent you think you are going mad.” -- John Andrew Holmes
"Children need models rather than critics." -- Joseph Joubert
"You have to love your children unselfishly. That is hard. But it is the only way." -- Barbara Bush
"There is no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." -- Nelson Mandela
"Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression." -- Dr. Haim Ginott
“Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future.” --Maria Montessori
"It's not 'empty nest syndrome' until all of their crap is our of your basement." --via a bumper sticker
"Children will not remember you for the material things you gave them but for the feeling that you cherished them." -- Richard L. Evans
"Childhood: The period of human life intermediate between the idiocy of infancy and the folly of youth -- two removes from the sin of manhood and three from the remorse of age." -- Ambrose Bierce
"So long as little children are allowed to suffer, there is no true love in this world." -- Isadora Duncan
"Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them, all of it has always been big stuff." -- Catherine M. Wallace
"It is the nature of the child to be dependent, and it is the nature of dependence to be outgrown. Begrudging dependency because it is not independence is like begrudging winter because it is not yet spring. Dependency blossoms into independence in its own time." -- Peggy O’Mara
"It's easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." -- Frederick Douglass
"Most parenting information out there puts parents in a very narcissistic role. The focus is on meeting the parent's needs only. The parent's needs for quiet, uninterrupted sleep, compliance, and obedience. If children learn what they live, this speak volumes as to why so many in our culture are so self-focused. A culture of peace and respect starts with living in partnership with our children." -- Dayna Martin
"If family violence teaches children that might makes right at home, how will we hope to cure the futile impulse to solve worldly conflicts with force?" -- Letty Cottin Pogrebin
"Wherever I look, I see signs of the commandment to honor one's parents and nowhere of a commandment that calls for the respect of a child." -- Alice Miller
"There never was a child so lovely, but his mother was glad to get him asleep." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The most effective form of birth control I know is spending the day with my kids." -- Jill Bensley
"Alas! Regardless of their doom, the little victims play! No sense have they of ills to come nor care beyond today." -- Thomas Gray
"Having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist." -- Michael Levine
"At work, you think of the children you have left at home. At home, you think of the work you've left unfinished. Such a struggle is unleashed within yourself. Your heart is rent." -- Golda Meir
"One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade." -- Chinese proverb
"Becoming responsible adults is no longer a matter of whether children hang up there pajamas or put dirty towels in the hamper, but whether they care about themselves and others -- and whether they see everyday chores as related to how we treat this planet." -- Eda LeShan
"Making the decision to have a child -- it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body." -- Elizabeth Stone

OBAMA DOESN'T WANT FDR PRAYER AT WWII MEMORIAL

2011-11-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

Obama pretends to be a new FDR... though I disagree with FDR on much, he certainly got it right on the prayer that Obama doesn't want included at the memorial. Once again, shame on this President and his administration.

Richard

Roosevelt asked the nation to join him in prayer as U.S. and allied troops launched the invasion that led to the defeat of Nazi Germany. He asked God to give the allied troops courage and faith, saying, "With thy blessing we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy."

But Robert Abbey, the director of the Bureau of Land Management, said any plaque or inscription of the prayer would "dilute" the memorial's central message and therefore "should not be altered."

"It is not a judgment as to the merit of this new commemoration, simply that altering the Memorial in this way, as proposed in HR 2070, will necessarily dilute this elegant memorial's central message and its ability to clearly convey that message to move, educate, and inspire its many visitors," Abbey said in written testimony.
Abbey explained to lawmakers that altering the memorial would be contrary to the Commemorative Works Act -- a law that prohibits "encroachment by a new commemoration on a existing one." It also respects the design of the "completed work of civic art without alteration or addition of new elements."

"For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. "

Franklin Roosevelt's D-Day Prayer

June 6, 1944

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas -- whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them--help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

I WILL HOST A WORLD WAR TWO VETS DINNER

2011-11-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

Event is Nov. 11th from 6:30-9:30 at UCCS. Benefits World War Two Vets and Honor Flight Of Southern Colorado. contact Lt. Col. Misti Stowell at 1-719-637-7609 or misti@honorflightsoco.org.

Honor Flight Network is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization created solely to honor America's Veterans for all their sacrifices. Honor Flight transports our heroes to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to the senior Veterans who may be terminally ill.

Of all the wars in recent memory, it was World War II that truly threatened our very existence as a nation-and as a culturally diverse, free society.

HONOR FLIGHT Network is our way of paying a small tribute to those who gave so much to fight for our freedoms, a memorable, safe, and rewarding TOUR of HONOR!!!

Phone: 719-287-6095
6547 N. Academy Blvd, #553
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918

MORE ZOMBIES OF POLITICIANS

2011-11-01T12:23:00.000-07:00

Excuse me. dID i MISS THE OUTRAGE OVER THE ZOMBIE DRAWINGS OF bUSH, cAIN, ETC.

STEAM TRAIN IN SOUTHERN COLORADO

2011-11-01T12:09:00.001-07:00

My father used to work for the Union Pacific, so did my very best friend. I missed it, but there is still time to catch it before he heads too far south. Richard

p.s. The wonderful photos were taken by Bob Leppold as the train was pulling into Colorado Springs. He was kind enough to allow me to share them with you. Thanks Bob. All the best, Richard

NEW MEXICO/ARIZONA CENTENNIAL TOUR (UP NO. 844)
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29
Depart 8:00 a.m. MT Cheyenne, Wyo.
Arrival
Depart 9:45 a.m. MT
10:15 a.m. MT Greeley, Colo.
Service locomotive
Greeley Depot
902 7th Ave
Arrival
1:00 p.m. MT
Denver, Colo.
North Yard
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30
Depart 8:00 a.m. MT Denver, Colo.
North Yard
Arrival
Depart 9:45 a.m. MT
10:00 a.m. MT Castle Rock, Colo.
Whistle Stop
995 Park St.
Arrival
Depart 11:01 a.m. MT
11:15 a.m. MT Palmer Lake, Colo.
Whistle Stop
11 Primrose St.
Arrival
12:30 p.m. MT
Colorado Springs, Colo.
112 Pikes Peak Ave.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 31
On Display:
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. MT
Colorado Springs, Colo.
112 Pikes Peak Ave.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Depart 8:00 a.m. MT Colorado Springs, Colo.
112 Pikes Peak Ave.
Arrival
11:00 a.m. MT
Pueblo, Colo.
400 W. B St
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2
Depart 8:00 a.m. MT Pueblo, Colo.
400 W. B St
Arrival
Depart 10:00 a.m. MT
10:15 a.m. MT Rocky Ford, Colo.
Whistle Stop
Old Depot
Front Ave and Main St
Arrival
Depart 10:30 a.m. MT
11:00 a.m. MT La Junta, Colo.
Service locomotive
1 West 1st St.
Arrival
Depart 12:45 p.m. MT
1:15 p.m. MT Springfield, Colo.
Service locomotive
15th Ave and Main St.
Arrival
Depart 3:15 p.m. CT
3:45 p.m. CT Boise City, Okla.
Service locomotive
Adjacent to intersection of 12th St S and Cimarron St next to the grain elevators
Arrival
Depart 4:30 p.m. CT
5:00 p.m. CT Stratford, Texas
N. Cedar St. and N. 3rd St.
Arrival
5:45 p.m. CT
Dalhart, Texas
Behind ALCO
Liberal St. across from Blair St.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3
On Display:
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. CT
Dalhart, Texas
Behind ALCO
Liberal St. across from Blair St.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Depart 1:00 p.m. CT Dalhart, Texas
Behind ALCO
Liberal St. across from Blair St.
Arrival
Depart 2:00 p.m. MT
2:30 p.m. MT Logan, N.M.
Whistle Stop
118 Hwy 54
Arrival
3:00 p.m. MT
Tucumcari, N.M.
100 E Railroad Ave
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5
Depart 7:00 a.m. MT Tucumcari, N.M.
100 E Railroad Ave
Arrival
Depart 8:45 a.m. MT
9:15 a.m. MT Santa Rosa, N.M.
Whistle Stop
21 N. 4th St.
Arrival
Depart 10:30 a.m. MT
11:00 a.m. MT Vaughn, N.M.
Camino AL Basual Rd
Arrival
Depart 12:45 p.m. MT
1:15 p.m. MT Carrizozo, N.M.
Whistle Stop
4th and Court Ave.
Arrival
2:30 p.m. MT
Alamogordo, N.M.
N. White Sands Blvd. Adjacent to Alameda Park
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6
On Display:
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. MT
Alamogordo, N.M.
N. White Sands Blvd. Adjacent to Alameda Park
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7
Depart 8:00 a.m. MT Alamogordo, N.M.
N. White Sands Blvd. Adjacent to Alameda Park
Arrival
11:00 a.m. MT
El Paso, Texas
211 N. Piedras
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8
On Display:
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. MT
El Paso, Texas
211 N. Piedras
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9
Depart 8:00 a.m. MT El Paso, Texas
211 N. Piedras
Arrival
Depart 8:45 a.m. MT
9:15 a.m. MT Santa Teresa, N.M.
Whistle Stop
2750 Airport Rd.
Arrival
Depart 11:00 a.m. MT
11:30 a.m. MT Deming, N.M.
Service locomotive
100 E. Railroad Blvd
Arrival
12:45 p.m. MT
Lordsburg, N.M.
401 Southern Pacific Blvd.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10
Depart 8:00 a.m. MT Lordsburg, N.M.
401 Southern Pacific Blvd.
Arrival
Depart 9:45 a.m. MT
10:15 a.m. MT Willcox, Ariz.
Service locomotive
Near intersection of Maley St. and Railview Ave.
Arrival
Depart 11:01 a.m. MT
11:30 a.m. MT Benson, Ariz.
Whistle Stop
249 E 4th St.
Arrival
Depart 12:15 p.m. MT
12:30 p.m. MT Vail, Ariz.
Colossal Cave Rd. Crossing
Arrival
1:00 p.m. MT
Tucson, Ariz.
(Enter yard at intersection of Silverlake and E. Fairland and follow signs to No. 844)
Union Pacific Rail Yard
Silverlake Rd and E. Fairland Stra Ave
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11
On Display:
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. MT
Tucson, Ariz.
(Enter yard at intersection of Silverlake and E. Fairland and follow signs to No. 844)
Union Pacific Rail Yard
Silverlake Rd and E. Fairland Stra Ave
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12
Depart 8:00 a.m. MT Tucson, Ariz.
Union Pacific Rail Yard
Silverlake Rd and E. Fairland Stra Ave
Arrival
Depart 8:20 a.m. MT
9:15 a.m. MT Tucson, Ariz.
Amtrak Depot
400 East Toole Avenue
Arrival
Depart 10:15 a.m. MT
11:15 a.m. MT Picacho, Ariz.
Service locomotive
(TBD)
Adjacent to Pine Ave. and Hanover St.
Arrival
Depart 11:45 a.m. MT
12:01 p.m. MT Coolidge, Ariz.
Whistle Stop
Central Ave. Crossing
Arrival
Depart 12:45 p.m. MT
1:45 p.m. MT Gilbert, Ariz.
Service locomotive
N. Ash St. Cul-de-sac
Arrival
Depart 2:15 p.m. MT
2:45 p.m. MT Tempe, Ariz.
300 S. Ash
Arrival
3:15 p.m. MT
Phoenix, Ariz.
631 S. 7th
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13 – MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14
On Display:
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. MT
Phoenix, Ariz.
631 S. 7th
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15
Depart 8:00 a.m. MT Phoenix, Ariz.
631 S. 7th
Arrival
Depart 11:00 a.m. MT
12:30 p.m. MT Coolidge, Ariz.
Service locomotive
Central Ave. Crossing
Arrival
Depart 1:00 p.m. MT
2:00 p.m. MT Picacho, Ariz.
Service locomotive
(TBD)
Adjacent to Pine Ave. and Hanover St.
Arrival
Depart 2:25 p.m. MT
2:45 p.m. MT Casa Grande, Ariz.
Whistle Stop
Florence St. and Main St
Arrival
Depart 4:00 p.m. MT
4:15 p.m. MT Gila Bend, Ariz.
Service locomotive
Martin Ave
Arrival
Depart 5:45 p.m. MT
6:00 p.m. MT Wellton, Ariz.
Whistle Stop
Williams St.
Arrival
6:45 p.m. MT
Yuma, Ariz.
599 S. Gila St.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16
On Display:
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. MT
Yuma, Ariz.
599 S. Gila St.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17
Depart 7:00 a.m. PT Yuma, Ariz.
599 S. Gila St.
Arrival
Depart 8:20 a.m. PT
8:45 a.m. PT Niland, Calif.
Service locomotive
Main St Crossing
Arrival
Depart 9:45 a.m. PT
10:15 a.m. PT Indio, Calif.
Service locomotive
Intersection of Indio Blvd. and Civic Center Mall
Arrival
12:01 p.m. PT
Bloomington, Calif.
10359 Alder Ave
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18
On Display:
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. PT
Bloomington, Calif.
10359 Alder Ave
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19
Depart 8:00 a.m. PT Bloomington, Calif.
10359 Alder Ave
Arrival
10:30 a.m. PT
Yermo, Calif.
Union Pacific Transload Facility
Intersection of Dusty Trail and Jellico St.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20
Depart 8:00 a.m. PT Yermo, Calif.
Union Pacific Transload Facility
Intersection of Dusty Trail and Jellico St.
Arrival
Depart 9:45 a.m. PT
11:15 a.m. PT Kelso, Calif.
Service locomotive
Intersection of Cima and Kelbaker
Arrival
1:45 p.m. PT
Las Vegas, Nev.
1001 Ironhorse Ct.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21
On Display:
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. PT
Las Vegas, Nev.
1001 Ironhorse Ct.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22
Depart 8:00 a.m. PT Las Vegas, Nev.
1001 Ironhorse Ct.
Arrival
Depart 9:15 a.m. PT
9:30 a.m. PT Moapa, Nev.
Arrival
Depart 12:01 p.m. PT
12:30 p.m. PT Caliente, Nev.
Service locomotive
Spring St. Crossing
Arrival
Depart 2:00 p.m. MT
2:15 p.m. MT Modena, Utah
Service locomotive
Modena Rd. near old water tower
Arrival
3:45 p.m. MT
Milford, Utah
Union Pacific Rail Yard
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23
Depart 8:00 a.m. MT Milford, Utah
Union Pacific Rail Yard
Arrival
Depart 9:30 a.m. MT
9:45 a.m. MT Delta, Utah
Service locomotive
2nd North St. Crossing
Arrival
Depart 10:00 a.m. MT
10:15 a.m. MT Lynndyl, Utah
Center St. Crossing
Arrival
Depart 11:45 a.m. MT
12:05 p.m. MT Stockton, Utah
Silver Ave. Crossing
Arrival
1:00 p.m. MT
Salt Lake City, Utah
Rose Park Spur
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24
No Public Display Salt Lake City, Utah
Rose Park Spur
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25
On Display:
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. MT
Salt Lake City, Utah
Rose Park Spur
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26
Depart 8:00 a.m. MT Salt Lake City, Utah
Rose Park Spur
Arrival
Depart 8:30 a.m. MT
10:00 a.m. MT Salt Lake City, Utah
Amtrak Station
340 South 600 West
Arrival
11:45 a.m. MT
Ogden, Utah
2501 Wall Ave.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27
On Display:
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. MT
Ogden, Utah
2501 Wall Ave.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28
Depart 8:00 a.m. MT Ogden, Utah
2501 Wall Ave.
Arrival
Depart 10:00 a.m. MT
10:30 a.m. MT Evanston, Wyo.
Service locomotive
Evanston Depot
10 10th St
Arrival
Depart 11:45 a.m. MT
12:15 p.m. MT Granger, Wyo.
Service locomotive
Main Street crossing
Arrival
Depart 1:00 p.m. MT
1:30 p.m. MT Green River, Wyo.
Service locomotive
Depot
200 E. Railroad Ave
Arrival
2:00 p.m. MT
Rock Springs, Wyo.
Near Elk St.
501 N. Front St
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29
Depart 8:00 a.m. MT Rock Springs, Wyo.
501 N. Front St
Arrival
Depart 9:30 a.m. MT
9:45 a.m. MT Wamsutter, Wyo.
Service locomotive
near Wamsutter Crooks Gap Rd. overpass along Broadway St.
Arrival
Depart 10:30 a.m. MT
11:01 a.m. MT Rawlins, Wyo.
Service locomotive
UP Yard
300 W. Front St.
Arrival
Depart 1:00 p.m. MT
1:15 p.m. MT Medicine Bow, Wyo.
Service locomotive
Hwy. 30 at Medicine Bow-Mcfadden Rd.
Arrival
Depart 2:30 p.m. MT
3:00 p.m. MT Laramie, Wyo.
Service locomotive
Old UP Depot
E. Kearney and S. 1st St.
Arrival
4:25 p.m. MT
Cheyenne, Wyo.

REALLY DUMB MOVE BY GOP IN VA

2011-11-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the montage and photo. Dumb Republicans since you certainly can make a zombie without a shot in head... did you not think people would take issue and make a big deal out of this and try to make GOP look bad?????????? Nice job of giving them ammo. Below is AP story.

Va GOP hits graphic of zombie Obama shot in head

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- A Halloween-themed graphic featuring a zombie President Barack Obama with a bullet hole in his forehead provoked widespread outrage and the attention of the Secret Service Monday after a local Republican committee in Virginia used it to scare up interest in Halloween parade political activities.

The montage, a banner on a mass email to Loudoun Republicans, mingles seasonal images including a jack-o-lantern, a disfigured U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi and a throng of flesh-hungry zombie Obama supporters.

The posterized image of a rotting, undead Obama with a bleeding, large-caliber hole an inch above his right eye prompted Democrats to cry foul and Virginia's Republican governor to denounce it as "shameful and offensive."

"This is a disgusting and violent portrayal of the president of the United States," said Democratic Party of Virginia spokesman Brian Coy.

Gov. Bob McDonnell, through spokesman J. Tucker Martin, called on the Loudoun GOP to "apologize for their actions, and to immediately ensure that such imagery is never used again."

Virginia GOP Chairman Pat Mullins said such an image "has no place in our politics. Ever."

Loudoun County GOP chairman Mark Sell said in an email response to The Associated Press that the graphic was "a light-hearted attempt to inject satire humor into the Halloween holiday."

"Apparently, some individuals have interpreted an image of Barack Obama that appeared within the email as intending to portray the President as a victim of a violent crime," Sell wrote. "Nothing could be further from the truth, and we deeply and sincerely apologize to the President and anyone who viewed the image if that was the impression that was left."

There was no reply from Sell to a follow-up email seeking an alternative explanation for the nickel-sized hole in Obama's forehead.

The image was first reported in a post Monday on the conservative northern Virginia blog, Too Conservative. The post's author, identified as a "Loudoun Insider," said he's no Obama fan, "but putting up a photo of him as a zombie with a bullet hole in his head?"

"Someone should send this to the US Secret Service," the blog post concluded. The Secret Service is in charge of the president's security.

"We are aware of the situation," said George Ogilvie, a Secret Service spokesman in Washington.

The image the Loudoun GOP altered is the red, white and blue image of a determined-looking Obama gazing upward that, emblazoned with the caption "HOPE," became a ubiquitous Obama poster during his 2008 campaign.

It was created from a copyrighted AP photo taken in 2006 when Obama was a U.S. senator appearing at the National Press Club in Washington. The AP sued over the unlicensed, uncredited and uncompensated use of its photo. The litigation was settled earlier this year.

REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES

2011-10-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

Republican Principles

I'm a Republican Because...

I BELIEVE the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.

I BELIEVE in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.

I BELIEVE free enterprise and encouraging individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.

I BELIEVE government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn.

I BELIEVE the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations, and that the best government is that which governs least.

I BELIEVE the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people.

I BELIEVE Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times.

I BELIEVE Americans value and should preserve our national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world.

FINALLY, I believe the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government.

MAYOR STEVE BACH'S NEW WEBSITE

2011-10-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

Here is the new website for Mayor Steve Bach.

bachsoffice.com

HOW TO CONTAC THE MAYOR

2011-10-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

If you are concerned about the protests at Acacia Park and want to contact the mayor.

The Mayor's phone number is 385-5900

email: sbach@springs.gov.com

COMPLETE NUTRITION... I AM NOW A CUSTOMER

2011-10-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

I am now a customer of Complete Nutrition. I spent Saturday hanging with Andy and his great people at the Complete Nutrition location near I-25 and Lake Street. Whether it is weight loss, better sleep, American made all natural vitamins, energy, joint health, etc. you will find great supplements. They will consult with you to find out about your lifestyle and just what is right for you. And if you are in the Military they can help you keep your body ready for anything. Talk to Andy, they are located at 1803 E Cheyenne Mountain Road, Colorado Springs - (719) 576-9323

http://www.completenutrition.com/

OUR STORYHelping Individuals and Families Achieve and Maintain
Health & Wellness Goals Since 2004
Complete Nutrition is an upscale nutritional supplement retail store. Our goal is to help each customer look better, feel better and perform better every day.

Started in 2004, Complete Nutrition is now one of the fastest-growing franchises in the nation with over 80 franchises in over 30 states. Our stores eliminate the clutter and high pressure sales environment of typical nutritional supplement stores and instead focus on giving customers the best experience and results for their money. To that end, Complete Nutrition stores employ certified personal trainers, former strength coaches and other experienced fitness professionals in order to best assist customers in developing personalized nutrition programs.

After accruing a combined 30 years experience in the supplemental retail industry, the leadership behind what would become Complete Nutrition recognized a niche was not being served: A nutritional supplement store where personal service, less intimidating store environments, and truly great products combine to help people live and breathe a healthy lifestyle.

In addition, they recognized a truth that would be the basis of all Complete Nutrition stores: An understanding and admission that there is no such thing as a “miracle pill.” Living a healthy lifestyle requires a commitment across the areas of hydration, supplements, eating a balanced diet, and exercising. By helping people understand that Complete Nutrition is simply one step in that process and by giving them the education and advice they need, Complete Nutrition has solidified itself as a company that goes the extra mile for its customers.

Complete Nutrition also works with various health care providers, nutritionists and chemists to develop the highest-quality formulations for supplements. These products are exclusive to Complete Nutrition and serve as a customer’s best weapon in reaching their goals.

THE HOMEFRONT CARES BENEFIT

2011-10-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: I spoke with Jay, the owner. They raised more than $13,600.00 in one day for The Home Front Cares. Congrats. Job well done.
Richard

The Home Front Cares benefit
Today, Monday, Oct 10 9:00a to 9:00p
at HuHot Mongolian Grill, Colorado Springs, CO

HuHot Mongolian Grill
7790 N. Academy Blvd.
Colorado Springs, Colorado
(719) 598-4044

HuHot Mongolian Grill is trying to raise $10,000 for The Home Front Cares. They are donating 100% of sales to the non-profit.

The Home Front Cares is a local non-profit that provides support for military family impacted by deployment in harms way. Over the past eight years, the organization has helped 1,900 families and contributed over $2 million in aid.

About The Home Front Cares
The mission of The Home Front Cares is to provide support for Colorado military families impacted by deployment in harm’s way. We offer emergency support to military personnel, their families, and veterans throughout the entire State of Colorado. Assistance may occur with utilities, adaptive housing/vehicle modification, resource referrals, costs associated with attending memorials and monetary support in the form of general assistance grants to assist with food, gas, rent, etc. To learn more about The Home Front Cares, visit the website at www.thehomefrontcares.org

I WILL BE SPEAKING A THE A.F.P. RALLY

2011-10-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

I will be speaking tomorrow morning at the A.F.P. Rally tomorrow morning. Here is the press release from A.F.P. Thanks to Jeff for the invite. Richard

Cut Spending Now Tour Comes to Colorado
While inside-the-Beltway politicos continue to dicker and dither over various ways of bringing runaway federal spending and borrowing under control, average Americans now have an opportunity to send Washington a clear, convincing, unequivocal message on the issue, by attending a Cut Spending Now event as the tour moves across the country. Coloradans will get their chance on Tuesday, Oct. 11, when the tour makes 3 stops along the Front Range, in Colorado Springs, Highlands Ranch and Loveland.

The tour serves as a call to action for AFP’s 1.8 million activists, nearly 50,000 of whom live in Colorado. It's meant to send Washington the message that Congress and the President need to focus on spending cuts, not on raising taxes or waging class warfare. It's a call for fundamental budget reforms that will reduce the size of government and restore fiscal sanity. It's meant to remind President Obama that picking the economy’s winners and losers is not government's job -- which is one reason why unemployment is so high, and our economy is so weak, under this administration.

“Citizens of Colorado understand that Washington’s excessive spending has disastrous consequences," said AFP Colorado State Director Jeff Crank. "Higher spending will follow with higher taxes. At a time when families are tightening their belts and making tough choices to make ends meet, Congress continues to spend inefficiently and as if there are no limits. Americans have tightened their belts. Washington should too.”

“Cut Spending Now is launching in a crucial place and at a crucial time,” added Tim Phillips, President of Americans for Prosperity. “While President Obama continues to push his second Stimulus boondoggle Americans continue to look for jobs and the economy continues to flounder. It is up to Americans to make sure Congress and the debt super committee rein in the president’s spending habits.”

We encourage you to join us at the Cut Spending Now Tour stops in Colorado:

Colorado Springs
8:00 am, Tuesday, October 11th
KVOR studios parking lot
6805 Corporate Drive, on Woodmen, just west of I-25

Read more: http://www.americansforprosperity.org