Blog is five years old

I can hardly  believe it!  This blog was begun five years ago as a Christmas gift  from daughter Jessica in December 2009.For several months the number of posts per month were few, but I soon got fired up.  I was surprised that politics was an early topic of interest  --with  comments on the election of Scot Brown as senator.

Remembering family and school events soon became the main interest but  when I wrote about Iwo Jima and the role of the USS Pickens many responded.  One was John White, whose whose father  Mike  was ship     photograhper.   John has provided me and others with much information.on the Pickens.                            

We were having a cold winter in 2010 with several snows.    No snow so far this winter but plenty of rain.  What will the next five years look like?  We will take the years as they come.                   

Jessica preached Sunday

Jessica preached the sermon for Sunday services; attendance was good considering the holiday and the cold rain.

I am obviously prejudiced but I think most would agree that the content was outstanding and her delivery was excellent.  She did not use the pulpit, speaking from in front of the altar, a practice she began in Duke preaching class.

Jessica is spending this week in Baton Rouge.  Soon she will return to North Carolina to finish her final semester in Duke Seminary.  After that, she plans to spend a year as a missionary in Israel.

Tis the day after Christmas

You may be among those  who will fill stores today to change gifts because of wrong sizes or because you don't like the gift. Or you may not be in that throng but  chances are you will hit the grocery stores for batteries,  milk and bread, if nothing else.

The day after Christmas is oftener a downer as excitement is replaced by weariness; half the toys are already broken and bills begin to arrive.  Now we have time to reflect on the true meaning of  Christmas -- Christ was born and died to give us everlasting life.

I can remember as a child the let-down feeling that began Christmas night.  We would return from visiting family in Shreveport to a cold dark house.  Cows had to be milked; chickens and pigs required food, and wood had to be brought into the house and a fire started in the fireplace.

For many years, beginning in 1929 when many family members moved to Shreveport, I suppose to search for jobs, we spent every Christmas away from home. I must have been three when in that year we had 11 inches of snow, with a half inch remaining on the ground to give us our only recognized white Christmas.   It wasn't enough to stop us from traveling in a Ford Model-T to Shreveport and back.

Joy to the World with Lyrics Christmas Carol

26 Popular Traditional Christmas Carols w/ Festive Art by Thomas Kinkade

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

How to celebrate Christmas Eve

You are  in the majority if there was just one more errand to run, one more item to buy, one more present to wrap before Christmas Eve is done.  I have a suggestion for your last  gift to make -- an extra contribution to a favorite charity.

This gift can be in addition to one already made or it can be to any other worthwhile organization, including but not limited to St. Judge, children's cancer society, Appalachia, the Indians, Wounded Warriors, blind children, etc.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year to all.

For its bad cop now

For its bad cop now and kill him, the brute;
But its help us you brave men in blue;
Oh, its save us when the guns begin to shoot.
   

(With apology to Rudyard Kipling)





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John White sends LSU gear

Relatives were visiting Saturday when   I was surprised to learn a large cardboard box has arrived  from John White.  (John's father Mike served on the Pickens as ship photographer and pharmacist  mate). John has sent me and others information his father saved, but what could this huge package contain?

I opened it and found LSU sweaters and other LSU  gear.  My grandchildren and I will find a use for it. Actually, just hearing from John was a pleasure.  I would like to hear from anyone who served or has a relative who was a shipmate.                                        

O Holy Night - Josh Groban

Some bad but some good

Songs of the Season, attended by the family Saturday night, will be followed tonight by a concert at Josh's home in Logansport.  This morning the church service will be entirely music.  If I cannot get the Christmas spirit something must be wrong.

Something is wrong.  Obama sells out to Castro and the demonstrators who want dead cops got  their wish, with two New York policemen murdered from ambush.

Yes, they are guilty of murder

Every rabble rouser is guilty in the murder of two New york policemen.  That includes loud mouths like Sharpton but it also  includes some congressmen and other elected officials who  kept on calling for something like these cowardly murderers did.  Above all, the mayor of the city is directly responsible. All demonstrators who have been demanding revenge are guilty.

We must not become a nation of cowards

Surrender by Sony  makes us all subject to terrorist attack.  North Korea (so the government now says) has hacked Sony and has threatened death and disaster if Sony shows the comedy  making fun of North Korea.
Several theaters have announced they will not show the film.

Are we going to live in cyber terror?  That would be a terrible way to live.  We refused to give in when Japan attacked us at Pearl Harbor and terrorists attacked us on 9/11, and we must not allow any country or group of terrorists to turn us into a nation of cowards today.

Christmas concert at 7 in Logansport

Music and 15,000 lights bring Chistmas joy to locals and visitors in Logansport.  For the fourth year Son Josh Lowe has provided the display at his home.  This year Josh  will host a concert at 7 Sunday night featuring songwriter/singer Judy Pancoast.

Judy has a Christmas album and she travels the country doing house shows for different charities. This show will benefit the Logansport food bank.

Signs of a healthy economy?

This is what is happening  in America under Obama's leadership, according to figures posted on Drudge:

       13.5 million Millennials  (those 18 to 28) live in poverty.

        46 million are on food stamps.

        65 per  cent of children live in households which are on federal aid programs.

Can the world exist with so much evil?

Six Taliban terrorists attack a school in Pakistan and kill 130 students and teachers, injuring 250.   
 The terrorists we are  fighting have beheaded Christians, including little children.

Americans have made mistakes but in the past we have tried to be on the side of those who can more likely be called "good."   World War Two is a prime example.  Few  people remember that war and fewer make an effort to learn history, so you hear from many, including the president "we are tired of war."                      
The day we learn about this evil event the president is threatening to weaken our already weak armed forces.  Haven't he learned that the way to peace is through strength?                        

Congratulations to James Flurry

Congratulations to James Flurry on his election as Shreveport District E councilman. I suppose congratulations are in order for all those elected last week, but I have a special interest in Flurry; he campaigned for me to be elected mayor of Homer when he was about 12.

All Shreveport officials have a task ahead; this city is a mess, to put it kindly.  I'm glad that the present mayor can serve no longer, but will the newly elected mayor turn the city around?  I have not seen any plans she has for solving our problems, including getting more  benefits from our high taxes.  Someone is going to have to straighten out the fireman and policeman conflict.  That will require a strong individual.

Time to address Christmas cards

It's Christmas card time again.   Some people actually enjoy sending cards along with a letter recounting what the family has experienced the past year.

I knew a guy who had the Christmas card situation whipped.  He gave his secretary two lists, one business and another personal.  His secretary addressed the cards and signed the  business cards. All cards were addressed and signed in early November, ready to be mailed the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Anyway, I have begun the task of addressing the cards.

Price biography of General Middleton

While reviewing  the bibliography of Reilly's book "Killing Patton",  I read that one of the most helpful books was the "Biography of Troy Middleton" by Frank J. Price.  Was this the same Price who was my first journalism teacher at LSU?  Yes, it was. Price, who later became the school directer, wrote the book in 1974.

Among other duties Price was the adviser  for the school newspaper, the Reveille,  For a    period of time I was the paper's proof reader.  Price checked the first paper I proof read and could find no errors except a wrong size period.  He was impressed and joked, "Didn't a wrong font period just jump at you?"

General Middleton saw action in World War I and was called to active service again in 1942.  He is best known as the hero of Bastogne, which he refused to surrender and led to victory of the Battle of the Bulge. General Middleton became LSU president after the war and served there eleven years.

Remembering Sunday, December 7

I can remember where I was that Sunday morning that we heard over the radio that Japan had carried out an aerial attack on Hawaii.  Not many  of us who are still alive remember the unbelief, the shock we felt.  We didn't know that diplomacy had concluded with Japan refusing a peace offer from FDR.   It is unlikely that most of us  were even aware  of  the negotiations between the United States and Japan.

Some question why we observe anniversaries of our  greatest defeats.  We don't celebrate; we hope to learn from our mistakes.  Hopefully, we will never be so  unprepared again.

Louisiana eleventh worst run

Louisiana is the eleventh worst run state in the nation, according to 24/ Wall Street,  an opinion  organization, in an article released today.  I am not surprised at Louisiana's low rating. I admit I am disappointed in Gov. Jindal, who has accomplished little in seven years.  I had expected  him to eliminate corruption and run the state more efficiently.

Louisiana Voice mentions two failures --tax breaks for movie production and the cost of enterprise zones.  Both sounded good when proposed  but they have become wastes of  taxpayers money.

What state  is the best run?  North Dakota is first for the third year, followed by Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minneapolis.  The five worse run --states in order of the worst leading are Illinois, No. 50, New Mexico, Mississippi,  Kentucky,  and Rhode Island.

Compare three cases of cop killing unarmed man

Cop kills unarmed teenager who attacked him; mob violence follows.

Man resisting arrest killed by cop; mob violence follows.

Cop kills unarmed teenager; no mob and no violence follow.

     Why the difference?  The first two cases involved a white cop killing a black man; the third case was of a black police officer killing a white teenager.

          

No such thing as a free lunch

A half century ago at the Homer Lions Club annual banquet  the speaker was a man who traveled the country giving the same speech over and over, "There's no such thing as a free lunch."

That saying means more and more to me today as the nation nears the tipping  point -- a time where productive citizens are  outnumbered by takers. Many people are recipients of welfare and other government programs through no fault of their own; government rules and unfair taxes have forced some companies out of operation and  we lost   the jobs they provided.  Of course, we will always have those who think they are entitled to a free lunch.

President Obama and the EPA want to eliminate the coal industry and handicap all fossil fuel production, taking away  from a source of millions of jobs.

Now, by executive action, Obama seeks to add five million illegals to the work force by executive order, favoring them over native Americans.

Obama loves illegals; hates American workers

In his continuing campaign against the economy, Obama through Obamacare gives three thousand dollar incentives to hire  illegals over native-born US citizens.  Under the amnesty  for five million illegals given by
aliens.Obama's executive order is the provision that will give employers  a saving of $3,000  if the hires are illegal aliens.

This action is just one more blow at our suffering economy.  More and more regulations are designed to put companies out of operation and cost jobs.