Setting in a Mousetrap, Pondering my Fate for July 2nd, 2008

I figured it out; good for me.
Many times I wonder, how stupid the government thinks we are. As I said in a recent article, "We all want to trust our government." I did as a boy until another Texas president got into office and started giving out free trips to Vietnam.
Now Bush has come on as the savior of the American motorist. The truckers are having troubles buying diesel, the airlines are all on the verge of being grounded and I really feel sorry for those who; like me, would like to have heat in their homes this winter. I wonder how many people are going to make it, but I have been wondering that for several years now.
Let me make this clear. When it comes to money I don’t trust anyone. Today while reading an article in the Des Moines Register, about drilling for oil, it finally hit me what Bush is up to. How do we get from Bush to the bottom line of his presidency, which is "no good?"
To refresh your memory, our beloved president wants to lift the ban on drilling off shore and in Alaska. On the surface that sounds really good, I mean really good. I really don’t think it takes brain surgery to figure it all out. What have the oil companies been wanting to do for several years but have run into political road blocks? You got the answer? Drill offshore and in Alaskan wildlife areas and whereever else oil companies want to drill. So what part of this big scare is about, is simply, a way to open new pools of oil for the oil companies, so they can get r____. (Fill in the last word yourself.) Not that they are not rich now. You have to remember this country is run by the oil companies. Our problem isn’t so much the amount of oil we have, it is we do not have enough resource to refine anymore. So what difference does it make how much oil there is if we cannot refine it fast enough? I read this one time. "Don’t lie, you won’t have to remember so much."
We have been told how many times that it is the speculators who are driving up the price of oil. The phrase begins, "If there is a 1. War 2. Natural disaster, or 3. The board members of Exxon-Mobil needed a new set of golf clubs the price is going to go up." I have told you before, the power of any leader is sealed like glue when he can make you afraid and makes you believe he is your only savior.
Frankly, I don’t care where they drill, I don’t worry about the spotted owl, I am not an environmentalist, I believe that no matter what happens, animals will adapt to the situation. They seem to be a little more flexible than many of us humans. Another thing, don’t tell me Iraq is not in a large part about oil. As far as I am concerned; Iraq’s oil has been bought and paid for by our service personnel. Why isn’t Iraq paying for its American mercenaries?
George Bush and his sidekick Sam Graves are now national heroes, like Cisco and Pancho, The Lone Ranger and Tonto or Cagney and Lacy. I hope Sammy is enjoying the kickbacks he gets from the oil companies. If you haven’t heard that before, you haven’t been reading your mail. I wonder how many other Republican congressmen are like Sammy? He gets up in the morning and asks George how he is to vote.
To put it simply, "the plot thickens."

Setting in a Mousetrap, Pondering my Fate for June 25th, 2008

Somebody over there must actually be able to think.
The news this week? The Saudis feel that the price of oil in to high.
Yes, the Saudis look to the future and see Americans not buying oil from them. They had heard us. If they don’t quit ripping us off, they are going to find they have no customers for their oil. Didn’t take long for them to put two and two together, and you want to know the real truth of the matter? They are right. The Saudis are going to start pumping more oil in hope that other countries will do the same and the price will come down.
Here is where they are wrong. Americans have seen the future and I hope we will end that quote by saying, "it is ours." The Saudis also think we will slow down in our quest for alternative fuels. I wish I could live long enough to see the day when oil is an alternative fuel. It is not hard to believe that the world is controlled by oil interests and we made one of them the most powerful men in the world. We now hold our breath in anticipation of the day coming soon that Bush will not be president anymore.
(Please do not send me that tired joke about the man who calls Bush and asks to speak with the president and Bush finally says, "I am not president anymore," to which the caller replies, "I just needed to hear that." I have heard that one applied to several other candidates and it is not funny to me. I have lost a few friends over such "humor." Although I do look forward to that day, January, 2009, I don’t want to hear any jokes making fun of politicians.)
Back to my story: The oil barons have actually done us some favors. We will become used to driving less and maybe more responsibly. Not driving hurts the economy, but in reality it saves us a lot of money to pay off our other debts. Don’t tell me you don’t have any. An automobile is the second biggest investment we make, how much money do we save if we are so tired of high oil prices that our cars last longer. How much money would you save it you bought a new car every seven years instead of every five years? That is just an example. High oil has cured this boy of new car fever.
Less driving of course means lessens pollution. I wonder how long it will be before people in Los Angeles will be able to see the sun? Think of how driving less will help the environment and maybe prolong the danger of global warming; that is to you who believe in such a thing.
High oil prices could even in fact to be the savior of the small town. I drive; as my second car a 1998 GMC Somona. I bought it about three years ago, it gets 22 mpg on the road. I now think at least twice about going to Bedford to the grocery or have supper.
So now what do we do? Alternative fuels are right around the corner. I believe the spike in fuel prices is the proof of that. "They are getting it while they can," my best friend says. They know the day will soon upon us we don’t need them anymore. As I said, I hope to see it.
The Arabs have forced us to be better. That is how we got through the oil problems of the 1970’s; boy do I miss those land yachts. We did it before and we will do it again. God bless America, the people have spoken.

Setting in a Mousetrap, Pondering my Fate for June 11th, 2008

Our troubles are nothing
My wife is a Russian National. Next month she will have been in the United States for one year. I grew up with visions of Khrushchev pounding his shoe on the podium of the United Nations yelling, "we will bury you." In order to better understand her and her daughter, I have been reading two books by Orlando Figes. The one I have finished is Natasha’s Dance, which is about Russian culture in the time of the czar. The book I am now half way through, is The Whisperers , About the private live of the Russian people during the time of Stalin, 1917-1954. I want to point out if you saw my wife and I, and if she didn’t open her mouth; yes I thought it, you would never know she wasn’t as red, white and blue, like most of us. I also want to say before I begin, I believe what this book says, because even though my wife will not talk about life in Russia, I have been there and from observation, it all fits. Actually, my wife not talking about it is part of the proof. I know very little of her family history with the exception of her parents and that she had a grandfather and an uncle killed at Stalingrad. The uncle was only 18 years old.
I got into this relationship with the Russians because first my wife was a newspaper editor; which we have in common and second, I wanted to know the truth about the cold war. My marriage in a sense is research and I have gone far deeper than I really expected.
To put it simply, the years of Stalin were terrible beyond American belief. It is like the 1956 movie based on George Orwell’s book 1984, where it was against the law even to fall in love. Stalin tried to destroy the basic family structure. It was a society where children were reward for denouncing their parents. People were arrested for any reason they could think of. If children were taken from their parents, they were often given a new name. Even siblings were separated.
Russians have never had much of a taste of freedom. Before the revolution of 1917, 85 percent of them were peasants. Meaning mostly they had no rights. Communism seemed like a dream come true. To many of them it was, to be fair, and after 1917 had opportunities they did not have before the revolution. But the problem rose being divisions among the revolution. First there were the "White Russians," who were those trying to stop the revolution and return to the czar. Then there were many figures battling for control. Then at last there was Hitler. Stalin was not so naive that he denied the coming war with Germany.
The next problem was there are many classes among the Russian culture. Those who were picked on first were the rich peasants. A second problem the young Russian people had was their belief in Stalin. They never believed he was behind any of this problems and they loved and trusted him; until the end and some still do. I know this can be true because this is how I felt as a boy; until Lyndon Johnson. To be fair Stalin did Russia a lot of good. One commentator said on television, "he enslaved his county to bring it out of third world status."
There are many more things I can say about this subject. I have only skimmed the surface and may at times tell you more. But what I really want to do is make this point. Americans really worry about the wrong things at times. We worry about the price of gasoline far more than we worry about the destruction of the America family. I think it is time Americans started to think about what is really important. Not to think about themselves or their race or their place in society. They need to start thinking how our country is sinking. How it needs to be propped up by faith and commitment to higher and spiritual values. This country is not the same as it was twenty years ago and that scares me. We have brought many of the problems we have on ourselves. There is no one to blame but us.
How long will it be before we have a leader like Joe Stalin? How long before we cannot sleep at night before the authorities come for us? How long before our children are sent away only for the reason they were our children? We must remember, our worst enemy on this planet is ourselves.

Setting in a Mousetrap, Pondering my Fate for May 21st, 2008 -- II

Oil Prices bring back memories
I remember when an automobile was a joy, yes kids, it used to be fun to have a car. The cheapest I ever paid for gasoline was .23 cents a gallon. Those were the days when, if you got 20 mpg, you were going great. But in a sense no matter how expense or inexpensive gas was, it was always still to high. I have heard of people talk about paying .10 cents a gallon. It was still high because many were probably making less than a thousand dollars a year. When my parents were married my father worked for around $40 a week. ($ 2,080) a year as an automobile mechanic. Which was a good wage just before World War II.
Recently going down to MCI, we passed several loads of new cars. It took me back to the day my brother and I were walking home from uptown and they were unloading new Buicks at Brown’s Buick. We sat on a wall and watch until they were all unloaded. In 1958 we had just taken my grandfather to his home in Ohio, when we were a distance from a carrier carrying new Edsels. My dad knew what they were and put the ‘57 Ford, with the 317 in racing gear and we caught it someplace in the hills. When traveling, we always were on the lookout for car carriers and kind of played a game to which brand we would see the most of. Seems like the most were General Motors products. At first carriers only carried four, it was always a thrill. New cars were important to our family. This is one reason I have always been car poor.
New car showing were the best time of the year after Christmas and my birthday. The earliest memory I have of the garage my father worked at, was the new car showing of the 1956 Fords. They put a back and white two-door hardtop in the window the night before. The cars came under a tarp and were carefully hidden until the showing date. It was always a big event in the community and the new cars coming out was always a time when people flocked to the showrooms. It was tradition. Next to Haase Ford-Mercury dealership was Brake Pontiac-Cadillac. I remember going past there one night and there was no room left. The showroom held three cars, was wall to wall people. Major leaguer Nellie Fox was a Pontiac fan. He came every year to Brakes. But we were not allow to go because my father sold Fords next door. It was one of the times I wish my father didn’t sell Fords.
The night before the showing my dad took the family to the dealership after it had closed. I remember it was dark when we went in and he had to turn on a few lights. He would pull back the canvas for us to see the latest models. It was a special time I will always remember. When the ‘57’s came out he brought one home as soon as he could, it was a dark green and white Custom 300 and took my mother and I for a ride. I was always proud of my first ride in a new car. The next day we got his demonstrator, it was light green and white. We started off for Washington D.C. to get my grandmother at National Airport and had a flat tire. I have a picture of myself standing in front of our new ‘55. My mother had just picked it up and drove to Smith Grocery, a small mom and pop store. When she came out the car would not go in reverse. She said I was never so embarrassed in my life. A new Ford that didn’t work.
Haase and Brakes are now gone including the buildings. In my town in those days there were four GM Dealerships, three Chrysler dealerships, Ford, Nash, Packard, Studebaker, Crosley and Edsel; at different times. Now like Maryville, there is only one full line GM dealer. I was told that at one time there was four dealerships in Grant City, including a Pontiac-Studebaker dealer, what a combination? Even Allendale had a Dodge-Plymouth Dealer. The only one I ever heard of in Sheridan was Mason. That was a long time ago.
Today it is all different. And for my money it is not better. Now cars are expensive luxuries. You plan every use of it, Sunday rides are out and cruising is a thing of the past. There was a day, a good day, where life in America was great.

Setting in a Mousetrap, Pondering my Fate for May 21st, 2008

Soon to be over
This has to be one of the most interesting political seasons in my lifetime. More like a three ring circus. First it is the first time since 1952 an incumbent president or vice-president has not been one of the choices.
But now it seems as if there are skeletons in every closet. Obama is in trouble because of his former relationship to Rev. Wright. McCain is in trouble because of his association with President Bush and Hillary is in trouble because of her relationship with Bill. Right wing talk show host Glenn Beck even made light of McCain, 5-14-08. At least that is what the news is saying.
The senate on Tuesday, 5-13-08 voted 97-1 to stop filling the national emergency surplus, 70,000 gallons a day in hopes of lowing the price at the pump. The president is against it, but senators in the Republican Party; fearing the administration will hurt their chances for reelection in November, are trying to distance themselves from Bush. But if you like what we have, by all means vote for John McCain. As luck would have it, Congressman Graves draws closer to the president with each passing second.
Hillary is going to fight it out till the end. She reminds me of Robert Taylor, the last surviving American fighting the Japanese in the movie Bataan. In doing so Hillary will divide the Democratic Party. Her attitude is giving me all the more the sensation that I have done the correct thing in ending my former support for her. There is no doubt however Hillary Clinton will show up at the capitol, on inauguration day expecting to be sworn in. Many think that she and Obama need to be a ticket together. Hillary ran one administration as the first lady, now she could do it as vice-president. What Americans face in such a situation is a lot more difficulty than we can imagine. Hillary is not going to be put in a place of obscurity as being the Vice-President of the United States. If you don’t like Obama the best thing to do is make Hillary his vice-president.
Obama is faced with the problem of his name. Many think it is a bad sign that his middle name is Hussein. I knew a man who in 1994, when Dodge introduced their new line of trucks say, "I love the looks of the Dodge truck, but I won’t buy one because it is a Dodge." What he was really saying, if they put a Chevrolet emblem on it, there would be a sale. Does Obama have something to prove to the American people? Without a doubt yes. He has to prove that a black man has the brains to be president and the wisdom not to cause to much trouble. During the civil war the black man, until 1863 was disqualified from serving in the Union Army, simply because he was black. I want to say something more about this. I grew up in Chicago in the late 50’s and early 60’s.
The star for the Chicago Cubs was Ernie Banks. I never thought of Ernie Banks being black or white. I only thought of him as being great baseball player. Ernie is also a great person. Racism is not something you are born with, it is something taught to you. As a teenager I learned every race related derogatory term there is for blacks and others, being many. I believe that Barack Hussein Obama is just as good of a red, white and blue American as anyone. Not voting for a man because of his middle name makes about as much sense to me, as my getting rid of a friend in Minnesota because his name was Adolf. It is silly what we can use as a guide to like or not like of someone.
My feelings today are not who to vote for in November. My feelings are to vote or not to vote. I will go to the polls and vote for Kay Barnes for Congress, that is a given. Like I said, it is very interesting, and the future of America faces a crossroads. Go straight ahead and turn the corner. We need to get off of this road, we can’t afford the gas to drive on it and I wish Mr. Bush would have to go back to Texas by car at his own expense.

Setting in a Mousetrap, Pondering my Fate for April 23rd

I am impressed by Pope Benedict XVI
You who know me know I am not Roman Catholic. I want to begin this article by saying that I have no intentions of offending anyone, but when a non-Catholic comments on the pope, it can be easily construed to be a slam. The truth of the matter is, lately I am professing no affiliation to any organized religion. By doing so I have become more tolerant of different beliefs. My religion is between God, Jesus and myself and if that is not good enough, I guess that is just to bad for me. Enough of me but it gave me a tolerant mind to look at television where I would not have before.
I watched the ceremony at the sight of the World Trade Center in New York City and I was very deeply impressed. Yes, it has been six and a half years since 9-11, but I do not think we appreciate the trauma it caused in New York City and to the friends and family of those whose lives were changed on that day.
Pope Benedict impressed me as a man who truly wants to bring comfort to those who came to him. I got the impression at times he did not understand the short comments made by the faithful; do to the language barrier, who came to be blessed by him. I saw him smile and at times it looked like he was laughing. I feel he is a very tender man, but the most of my impressions were he really cared about his flock in this city and wanted to make his flock know the ceremony at the World Trade Center very important to him. I felt no pretension in this man.
As a boy I grew up in a very heavily Roman Catholic population in the Chicago area. There was a Roman Catholic Church on about every corner it seemed. Many of my friends at the time were of that faith. As a non-Catholic it seemed at times there was a certain friction between the Catholics and the Protestants. This friction really began to ease when John F. Kennedy was elected as president. The days of the Italian only popes held my vision of them was old men, in long robes, stuck in some old, musty, dusty, Vatican only to be seen on a balcony, far above the crowd and illusive to all but the inner circle. John Paul II changed all of that, the end of the centuries long Italian only pope era, seemed to bring a new freshness to the office of pope and the Roman Catholic Church as well. John Paul II became the people’s pope and began to travel, become more accessible and to minister to his people. I really believe that John Paul had a lot to do with the downfall of the Soviet block. Benedict now; in what in reality was a tough act to follow, has in good sense not taken the office of pope back into the seclusion of the Vatican. He has followed the example set by his predecessor and gone into the world, "to preach the gospel." He came to America with a real heart to minister the church, which he bears responsibility, in the spirit of Christ. Pope Benedict XVI brought a teaching example to men and women of any faith, may it be clergyman, pastor, minister, evangelist, missionary, rabbi, priest, or what ever else I am missing. Go to your people and minister to them, don’t wait for them to come to you. The people who gathered in two baseball parks, one in Washington and one in New York, didn’t come to get upbeat by music, they came to have their faith renewed and strengthened by a man who they respected as a man of God, who really cares for them.
When I was a boy, in all honesty the Catholics were a brunt of many jokes, many of them degrading and or dirty. As I said, Pope John Paul II set a new tone for the Catholic Church and Pope Benedict continues in that frame of mind. People want to see a real man of God, they want faith and they want an example of faith. They want somehow to believe in a world of difficulty. Pope Benedict gave them a lot of what they needed.
There is only one thing I can think of more about the man, which I thought the second I heard he took the name Benedict. His given name is Joseph Alois Ratzinger. I wonder how he would have really brought his church into the twenty-first century if he would have taken the name, "Pope Joe?" I hope you will forgive me for this one piece of attempted humor. I know he would, because that is the kind of man I know he is. Frankly, I think he would laugh.

Setting in a Mousetrap, Pondering my Fate for April 23rd

John McCain will be the next president.
As much as I hate to say it, I think unless something drastic happens between Hillary and Barrack, that John McCain will be and deservedly so, be the next President of the United States after the November elections. Unless he makes a terrible mistake, I think Senator McCain had better go on down the local post office and get his change of address stickers to read, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Why?
The Democrats have gotten away from the issues, they are doing nothing but picking at each other. Was what Hillary said that big of a deal? We all know she is a control freak and we all know that if Senator Clinton believes it to be true, then it is true, don’t doubt it. What Obama said, about people looking for a comfort wasn’t a big deal, but they went after each other and that is not want we need. Hillary calling Senator Obama an elitist, Now is that the pot calling the kettle black or what? We already know the kettle is black. :) McCain however is talking issues and solutions and that is what I want to hear. I want to hear the issues, I want to hear the candidate has a plan and I am the type who even believes he will institute them. Today, 4/15/08 McCain said that what should be done in the face of rising fuel prices is that congress suspend the federal gas tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day. People are not going to stop and consider what consequences will come out of that, neither am I, but it sounds at this time like a good idea.
I started to have this feeling before the day’s announcement. It started as I know the strong feelings the followers of Senator Clinton have and the strong feelings of the followers of Senator Obama. I believe that if their candidate is not the one chosen many democrats will not cross over and vote for the other democrat, but will either cross over and vote for Senator McCain or simple stay home. If my predictions happens the democrats are split pretty much equally in two and then are sunk. Unity after the convention will do no good. I talk to more and more people who don’t like any of the candidates and I am wondering what the turn out will be like. From what I read on this day, the election pie is pretty much spliced three ways. No one can afford to lose to many votes, especially the democrats.
At this time my allegiance sets with Senator Obama. Why? I have talked about this before but here are my feelings racist as they are. I never thought a black man could get this far in the race for the office of President of the United States. The man must have some good qualities within himself. He is not where he is because he is black. He is where he is because he is a man of quality.
Although I feel Bill Clinton did this country a lot of good and would love to see it go back to where it was when he was president. I would make a similar comment about Bill and Monica as Abe Lincoln said about General Grant. I think it would have been better if he would have had a wife that supported him and not competed against him. What was she doing running around the world anyway? I will never forget her comment, "We are the president."
I will never vote for a Republican for anything. If you are a Republican you are a supporter of Chairman George Bush in my eyes. I am excited about Bush leaving office and I hope he takes his rubber stamp Sam Graves with him. If Obama is not nominated for president, I will vote only for the congressional candidate and vote for an independent presidential candidate as I have done twice before. One of them I don’t even remember who he was; that was in 1980.
So I say, "Congratulations Senator McCain." At least I can say that, even if it is not with a sincere heart.

Setting in a Mousetrap, Pondering my Fate for April 16th

Is it all about money isn’t it?
The news carried the reports of Senator Obama raising 40 million dollars recently to Senator Clinton’s 20 million. This, for some reason means the one with the most money will win the office. Is there a date, like the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November that the one with the most money will go to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Sounds more like a game show than an election. I wish it was all about the best candidate, I wish there was a clearly best candidate. I am reminded of what Nikita Khrushchev said about John F. Kennedy. "If that is the leader of America, I feel sorry for those people." Just for the fun of it what do the Russians think of our election? My friend in New Jersey thinks all of our candidates are fools. She does not want Hillary or Barrack, she thinks the presidency is not a place for a woman, or an African-American. Historically, since maybe FDR or HST. America has not really impressed the world with its leadership. If we did anything to impress the world, it is the power of our military behind the man in office. Now it seems this doesn’t impress them anymore; at least not since Korea. Not to Monday morning quarterback Harry Truman, he didn’t drop a bomb on North Korea because of fear of starting World War III. He knew that Joe Stalin wanted WWIII and the only thing that really turned a hot war into a cold war was Stalin’s death. My New Jersey friend told me her father was a real supporter of Stalin, she said she never understood it and never agreed her father, but she could not change his mind; some day soon I will write why the man felt as he did, I was really interested to learn. I bet Joe Stalin never had to raise money to remain in office.
What it all boils down to for me is, all this raising money for the presidency is like bidding on a woman. The one with the most cash wins. I really hate to see the one with the most money win. I don’t count their money, I listen to their message. I try to feel if I trust them or not.
Moving on. If you live in Iowa I feel sorry for you. The Des Moines Register, Monday, April 7,2008 reported the state has lost a lot of revenue because the price of gasoline and people driving less. Now they want to raise license and document fees to recover part of it. I always believed that when I made a little extra money in life, somebody knew it was there and took it from me. I think you know the feeling. This my friends is not fair. They feel in Iowa, "since your not going to spend it at the pump you can give it to us." Like they haven’t figured out we quit spending it at the pump because we don’t have it.
If I lived in Iowa the message should be sent to Des Moines. This is not our problem and you can’t just tax us more when you are short of money. That has always been government’s approach to collection of revenue. It stinks, it needs to stop. The message should be sent clearly, if this new measure is put into motion, all of those who supported it will be in the unemployment line: What they belong. Their reasoning is there is not enough money to fix the roads. If we aren’t going to drive on them, why fix them? This whole argument reminds me of the British Stamp Act of the 1770’s. If we need money we just tax you. Well as far as I am concerned, if I have to spend the money anyway I’d rather put it in the gas tank. If the state of Iowa wants to do something for the common man, why not lower the gas tax a penny? But they don’t. What ties these two complaints together is the fact, they don’t. The giving is only one way. I was going to say like taking care of my cat, but my cat did give me a lot of affection.
It is all about money, he who has money has power. In the military system in the 18th and early 19th century and even during the American Civil War, you were not given an officer’s commission because of your ability to lead, it was because of your pocket book or political influence. If you don’t believe me, study up on a guy named Dan Sickles. He wasn’t the only one.
Please don’t let advertising tell you how to vote and in hard times, NO NEW TAXES. NO INCREASED TAXES.

Setting in a Mousetrap, Pondering my Fate for April 9th

The waving state
As I walk I wave. Many years ago I wrote a column about how Missourians wave more than any other people I know. I was out walking and was reminded of an event which happened to me while I was living in Utah. One day with my friend driving, we were returning from Wendover, Nevada after donating some money for those of you who win at the casinos. Believe me I am not one of them, winners I mean. We came up behind a car and I could see the Missouri plates. I said to my friend, "I bet I can get them to wave." He gave me kind of a funny look; read why bother? But that was his nature. So we got in the left lane of I-80, which is straighter than a straight pin for about 100 miles and he began to pass. When we got up next to the driver I waved, and they waved back. After all they were from Missouri.
I think if it was not that law that Show-Me-State be on the license plates, it could be changed to, "The Waving State." It is the home of people who like to wave and it is not out of necessity or anything, except that we are a friendly people. This reminds me of another story of when I came back to Missouri to see my kids when I lived in Salt Lake. I got to the rental car carrying two large and very heavy suitcases filled with gifts for my first grandchild. I was a bit concerned about lugging them into the rental car office at Kansas City International. An attendant said, "Let them on the curb mister, you are in Missouri, no one is going to take them." I did as he said and they were just were I left them when I got back. Things like this kind of make it proud for me to be a Missourian.
When I wrote the article years before, I talked about the types of waves I have seen. My favorite was a school teacher, who coming down the hill in Hopkins did it with both hands. Another is from an older man who made it look like a slow and stiff salute.
So my dream is to sponsor the Missouri wave contest. The rules are simple, there is a panel of judges and you give your best wave. You are judged on enthusiasm, originality, and sincerity. You are then scored like in high diving or figure skating at the Olympics, by a panel of judges who have studied the art of waving for years and are pure Missourians. This is only second to my chocolate chip cookie contest. I get to keep the cookies.
I think waving is what sets Missouri apart in some respect. We are special at it and I believe if you are a bad waver you should move to another state. I am also tempted to believe that waving should be on the driving examine. I mean even in this state the highway patrol will wave at you. In other states I have lived, they all look like they have to go to the toilet and can’t get it out. This reminds me of our interview with Immigration and Homeland Security a few weeks ago in Kansas City. Nadia and I prepared for the interview being told that the inspectors had no sense of humor, were trying to trick you and deny the application and you had better be on guard even to answer personal questions; like I mean, very personal questions. When we left after forty minutes, I ask Nadia and Kate, "What happened in there?" It was no more than a friendly chat. Yes, of course she waved good-bye.
Nadia is very surprised by the friendliness of Americans. I mean she thinks it is Americans, but what she really doesn’t know it is Missourians. Missouri isn’t looked upon by many as the most pleasant place to live. I think we have something special. (Wave good-bye!)

Setting in a Mousetrap Pondering my Fate -- March 19th

by Jim Lohman
A man and a boy, and the price of their toy
There was a fellow on CNN last week by the name of David Walker who was some kind of economist or a flunky of some kind, you figure it out. He said in essence, "American cannot afford National Health Insurance because it will bankrupt the country." I looked again to see if I was watching CNN or the Comedy Channel. Folks, I have news for you. America is bankrupt and it was long bankrupt before either of the Bushs got their hands on the national treasury. We all know the fun of spending other peoples money. Fact is our country has been in serious debt since World War II and even I see that as being a good reason. Even I cannot argue the point it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt that got us into financial trouble. We ‘Baby Boomers’ inherited the debts of our parents and keep adding to them.
Mr. Walker reminds me of most men. "We can afford the toys but we cannot afford the food to feed our families." We can afford Iraq, outer space, foreign aid and every sort of pork barrel spending we can think of, but we cannot afford to take care of the sick in the country. As I believe we only see the needs in the third world areas of the world and have little sight for the suffering and poverty in America. Yes, folks we are bankrupt and now Mr. Bush is trying to save his reputation in the presidency by handing out money. I have a better idea, take the money you wasted in Iraq Mr. Bush and split that between us. To make it plain, don’t think I am not going straight to the bank and cash the check, I am not a crazy trouble maker, must a trouble maker, I am going to use the money to pay debts and if I were you my friends and neighbors, it would be the best thing for you to do the same thing.
Think on this for just a second. How much more money would you have if you didn’t have to pay taxes? Why do you pay taxes? Answer to question number one. If you didn’t pay taxes you’d have a lot more money. Number two: You pay taxes because you have to. How much of your tax money goes to pay the national debt. Ross Perot said in 1992 that, "every dollar collected in federal income tax, west of the Mississippi River; [where you and I live,] goes to pay the interest on the national debt." What could this country have if we did not have the national debt? What has really happened is, our parents spent our money. Now in order to have anything, we are spending our children’s money and we have done even a better job of it than our parents did to us, because we are a spoiled rotten generation. We bought toys, now we can’t afford food.
We spent much of it on toys and now we don’t have the money for what we need. As is said, "the only difference between a man and a boy is the price of his toy."
Why didn’t these people start spewing this garbage about bankruptcy fifty years ago? If they would have, there would not have been a race to the moon, the Russians would have gotten there and we would have gotten the same news, "it is not made of green cheese." We could afford the space program because we wanted to do it and as the axiom goes, if we want it we can afford it, if we don’t want it, we can’t afford it. Boy, have I heard that argument many times over the years from families. David Walker doesn’t want national health insurance. Why should he? He can obviously afford health insurance, he might even get it for free. I don’t get it for free, I pay for it; when I can get it. I don’t believe that national health insurance should be free, there should be a premium, but it should be affordable. In my way of thinking our health care system is one of the biggest arguments that democracy doesn’t work perfectly and you know the main reason we have such a problem is, simple greed. That doctors feel they have to make as much money as a pitcher in the big leagues. That is the main reason we need national health insurance in this country, medical greed and why we can afford it because, we need it. The alternative is to wipe out greed, Our country is bankrupt and I mean morally. That is the real problem.