"Lessons of My Father"

I want to share a video this morning. It's available on YouTube. It is part of a series and you can find the rest if you want to.

Are you a father? Have you taught your kids the right way to be? This video talks about the concerns of not passing down what is important in life. When was the last time you sat down with your son and said, "This is how your granddaddy taught me to ...(you fill in the blanks)."

It doesn't matter if you agree with Nutnfancy or not. What matters is how we teach our children to live.

The Life of a Slave

"Freedom is an illusion," as the song goes. I've contemplated on that idea. Looking back of the last 50 years, I see that as much as Americans scream of being free, we aren't. It's an empty promise that we have been forced to believe has been fulfilled. If you look, you can see the degrees that freedom has been given, taken away with the illusion that they have been returned. We have become dependent on others for our lives.

After the ratification of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Americans were the most free they have ever been. There is the exception that not all men are truly made equal. Until after the Civil War, Blacks living in the United States were slaves by most definitions. After the surrender at Appomattox. freedom was taking away from some Americans and given to others. There can be little argument that the Reconstruction deprived many Southern Americans from freedoms they had enjoyed before the war.

With the coming of the railroads, America spanned the continent. White Americans seized the opportunities to press Chinese laborers in to deep holes in the ground in which to run the tracks. There was no freedom for them. Likewise, the Mexicans became second class citizens in the region their Spanish ancestors had taken. There was no freedom for them either. The immigrants from Europe felt the harsh reality of being free in America. They were treated with contempt and forced to do jobs 'beneath' others. Black Americans were still forced to live under a thinly, veiled belief in freedom, only to be denied it's full meaning.

The Great Depression brought huge engineering works. In the Tennessee River valley, the government forced thousands of families away from their homes so dams could be built. Generations of farming families were forced to relocate, some against their will, into cities or to unfamiliar farm land. The freedom won by their ancestors at King's Mountain was taken away from the very government it created.

Now, we have the internet. We just can't live without it. We are forced by the government to pay for garbage collection that we do not want. The money saved in Social Security accounts is being used by the government as a carte blanche to fund wars, while the money put away for retirements is being given to those who have not earned it. The rights of States noted so importantly in the Constitution have been replaced with the larger, non-localized federal bureaucracy that has lost touch with the individual. The government is taking land under the guise of immanent domain for the general good. You can't drill for water on  your own land.

We are no longer free men. We have become slaves to our government. The country that has given us freedom from one tyrannical government for another. We have become slaves.

Take a moment at 12:01

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. Unfortunately, Memorial Day has become the heralding of the summer season. It is the first party day of summer. A good many of Americans where I live spend it on the rivers and lakes around the area. Some never give a thought about what Memorial Day is about.

Memorial Day is set aside as a national holiday to mourn, celebrate and to give thanks to those brave souls who died in the service of their country. It does not matter if the conflict was popular or not, these men and women took up the challenge. They volunteered, or were drafted, the did what they considered  their patriotic duty.

Today, Monday, May 27, 2013, take a moment at 12:01 pm and give a moment of silence to those men and women who gave all they had. 

I did find it interesting about some numbers of soldiers serving in Vietnam. The draft called over 2 million Americans to serve in Vietnam. An additional 8 million volunteered. Whether they were drafted or the volunteered, many returned to subsequent tours.

Love your family

We all have events in our lives that we wish we could have done differently. I know I certainly have, in spades!

A close family member has been in the hospital. My household has been visiting daily. Some visit regularly  Other close family members have visited once but not returned.

I missed opportunities in my past that I don't wish to repeat. Please, love your family and visit or talk to them regularly. A time will come that you will no longer be able to.

Anonymous

Anonymous comments are no longer accepted (or shouldn't be). No vulgar comments. They will be removed. If you post a comment sharing a link to porn or any off topic website will be deleted. Links advertising "teen" porn will be reported to the owner of blogger.com.

However, you are free to comment. LOL!

F.A.M.I.L.Y.

Recently, a family member posted this on Facebook about what the letters of the word 'family' means and that they follow it.


F-forgiving
A-affectionate
M-meaningful
I-irreplaceable 
L-loving
Y-years of laughter

I see it! I get it! However, what they failed to admit that they do not follow it. Here's an example...

A senior family member is in the hospital. This person only visits once. Using the meaning posted about family, They can take out the "affectionate" and "loving." If you have love someone, and it is possible to visit them in the hospital, you should visit. Visiting them in the hospital shows that they are "forgiving" and have affection for the sick. The sick do not hold much meaning to them because this person don't call or visit. Oh, a promise was made to come back and visit but never did. The senior family member has been replaced.

Modesty forbids me from telling what I have done.

The proof is in the pudding about how you feel about family. No, no one is perfect. Still! Don't boast about something you don't do.

Free Choice

No private organization should be forced or coerced into changing their beliefs. Furthermore, no organization should change it's beliefs based on public opinion. The Supreme Court ruled in Boy Scouts of America vs Dale that private organizations can have restrictive membership based on the Fist Amendment of the Constitution. In these cases, membership rules. Changes in membership of an organization is done from the inside but not from outside. Recently, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have changed their long standing membership restriction to non-homosexuals. This seems to be a reaction to outside groups trying to interfere in BSA business.

Several groups have kowtowed to the fist of socialist liberals besides the BSA. Outside pressure forces compliance to the socialist agenda. The Augusta National Golf Club has allowed women membership. This was only after a hail storm of criticism from women rights groups because those silly green jackets weren't given to women. Several religious organizations has changed their beliefs so that women are equally eligible for the priesthood. Once again, someone from the outside wanted in but ran into opposition from the status quo. More religious organizations made changes to allow openly homosexual individuals into the priesthood. In this case, pressure mounted from the outside forcing organizations to change. If an organization wants to make changes from the inside I have NO problem. I object to outside forces creating an atmosphere of fear and hate forcing an organization to change.

I think that one reason people dislike the Westboro Baptist Church is that they refuse to change what they believe. Conspiracies abound about Masons because they refuse to open their doors to general membership. There are still some churches that believe that homosexuality is a sin and refuse to adopt a more permissive stance. Individuals are harassed daily for their beliefs. Why? I can tell you why. The socialist agenda does not like and cannot tolerate exclusiveness. Yes! It is all about restricting the individuals right to free speech, religion and association.

To me, it would have been better for the BSA to close it's doors than cave to those outside it's membership. No group is worth having if it does not stand up for what it believes.