tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-113245191828770182024-03-18T21:56:59.093-05:00Towery Along the Way中國Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger267125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-47704085543362143242014-02-28T10:50:00.001-06:002014-02-28T10:51:16.608-06:00THE YEAR OF THE HORSE WAS JODY'S YEAR 1930-2014JAN 31, 2014<br />
Enter the year of the Blue Horse <br />
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For centuries the Chinese have had a yearly cycle designated with a creature or an animal’s name. From today on, until January 2015, the Chinese symbol for the year is the horse.<br />
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The spirit of the horse is one that makes great efforts to improve themselves. The Ancients liked to designate an able person as “Qian Li Ma,” a horse that covers a thousand li a day. (“Li” is a Chinese mile, or thereabouts.)<br />
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Unfortunately all of us can’t be born in the Year of the Horse. I am one of those born at the tail end of the Year of the Snake. In polite society it is known as the Year of the Small Dragon.<br />
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I must agree with the records that say one born the Year of Horse is energetic, bright, warm-hearted, intelligent and able.<br />
Why do I agree? Because, my lovely wife of nearly 64 years, Nelda JoAnn Long Towery, known to one and all as Jody, was born in the Year of the Horse, 1930. She is all of that and more.<br />
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Jody has the communicating techniques so evidently needed in the art of teaching. She began as an elementary teacher at Alice Carlson Elementary School, next to the campus of Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas. <br />
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Then in the beautiful desert in San Manuel, Arizona; teaching English and Bible in Pingtung, Taiwan. She kept at it with vigor in Hong Kong: Pui Ching Middle School and Hong Kong Baptist University in Kowloon, and Hong Kong International School on south side of Hong Kong Island.<br />
The Ancients go on to say Year of the Horse people are cheerful, perceptive, talented. Earthy but stubborn. I am sure of one “stubborn” moment only. That was when she fell in love with West Texas and wanted to move to San Angelo. I’m glad she knew we should move here. These 12 years have been some of the best and we have lived in lots of places.<br />
<br />
Now I should confess that the Ancients also listed a number of weaknesses. Those I do not think apply to Jody, so no reason to list them here.<br />
Thanks to the Internet information sites we know that other outstanding people are Year of the Horse people: Chopin, Davy Crockett, Rembrandt, Teddy Roosevelt, Sir Isaac Newton, Harrison Ford, Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, the Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Yongzhen of China’s last dynasty, the Qing, and finally old Genghis Khan himself. What a crowd!<br />
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According to the Moscow Times, many Russians love to honor the animal that symbolizes the coming year, based on the Chinese astrological calendar, believing — half-jokingly but many would insist – that it brings them luck for the next 12 months.<br />
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The Moscow Times advises its readers: “The year of the wooden horse is supposed to be a temperamental one, so if you feel like horsing around during the upcoming festivities, that may be particularly fitting this year. Just be careful with the fireworks: Setting something on fire or upsetting a police officer would be backing the wrong horse.”<br />
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To be precise, the color blue in the Year of the Blue Wooden Horse, is suppose to be a lucky color to wear. Green also ranks as a lucky color to many Asian peoples as well as the Irish. <br />
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Russians and some others speak of the Blue Horse, while in the Chinese tradition the Horse is green. In fact, both blue and green are possible, as are emerald and turquoise. Green is the color associated with wood, nature and harmony. Blue is the color for Water, the element that nourishes the Wood.<br />
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(Personal Word: Last Christmas night Jody had a stroke from which she is coping at this time. She always read these columns to help me do s better job of writing. I shall be very glad if and when she can do so again,)<br />
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<b>ON FEB. 8 JODY PASSED FROM THIS WORLD TO A GREATER ONE. SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN 84 MARCH 4.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jnUaETmGpHk/UxC9UP3Jg2I/AAAAAAAABAI/ssH3C48FDWM/s1600/ConfucCamel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jnUaETmGpHk/UxC9UP3Jg2I/AAAAAAAABAI/ssH3C48FDWM/s400/ConfucCamel.jpg" /></a></div></b><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-13100206201660585042014-02-28T10:32:00.001-06:002014-02-28T10:32:09.199-06:00WHENCE COMETH THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION???Feb. 28 Towery column<br />
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<b>Whence cometh the U.S. Constitution?<br />
</b><br />
DeLay says God wrote our constitution. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay made the news again last week when he announced that God wrote the U.S. Constitution.<br />
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James Madison, the lead author of the United States Constitution, and later the fourth president of the United States could not be reached for comment. (Records show Madison died in 1836.)<br />
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DeLay was voicing his concern that the American government is becoming secular, and leaving its spiritual roots. In the interview Delay said, “we stopped realizing that God created this nation, that he wrote the Constitution, that it’s based on biblical principles.”<br />
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To rise to the occasion DeLay’s supporters tell us that DeLay meant that God guided those who physically wrote the Constitution. DeLay was speaking metaphorically. <br />
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This is politics for the 21st century? Apparently it is as America’s ultra-right wing of the Christian religion continues to insist that the United States began as a Christian nation. The only way for America to become great again is in a religious awakening. Their thinking is in a Christian revival, not in connection with other faiths. The Christian faith alone is included in the phrase, “freedom of religion.” <br />
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Tom DeLay, who was convicted of money laundering and conspiracy charges until the Texas appeals court overturned the judgment, continues in the interview that he has been trying to lead members of the House to Bible study. He assured Matthew Hagee, son of John, pastor of the San Antonio Cornerstone Church that Americans “stopped realizing that God created this nation, that he wrote the Constitution.” <br />
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This sounds a lot like the revelations in Jeff Sharlet’s 2008 book “The Family” that was about the frat house for Jesus on C Street in Washington, D.C. The congressmen, lobbyist and Republican and Democratic supporters lived in an eighteenth-century brick row house on C Street. Bible study and prayer meetings (in their view) would restore fundamentalist faith to America’s political agenda. <br />
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C Street was the old political power grab with an evangelistic approach. The homosexual problems in Uganda today grew from these men’s opposition to anything related to gay rights. Congressmen even went to Uganda urging the government to make anything gay illegal.<br />
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Religions of the world generally have good relationships with one another until one of them claims to worship the one and only true God. The trouble is between monotheists. Monotheists believe in one God. The greatest of these are the Christians, the Jews, and the Muslims.<br />
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These three, following the ancient texts, each claims to have a lock on God. Living by the letter of their own religious texts, puts them at odds with each other and other religions.<br />
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That is why a fanatic Muslim becomes a human bomb, refuses to eat pork and abstains from alcoholic drinks, goes to his heaven in the process. Not every Muslim, just the fanatic taking his book literally.<br />
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Throughout the Jewish scriptures are rules for fasting, warring, loving, cooking, and activities to be done or avoided on the Sabbath. They too, like their Arab brothers, have a dislike for pork products. (But Hebrew Nation makes a wonderful all beef weenie.)<br />
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A full embrace of scripture is simply to believe it, act on it, make it as a means of pleasing God. That is why we have fundamentalist, conservative and liberal religious believers. Each in his or her own way is seeking to grow closer to God and Truth through their own understanding and faith.<br />
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As time evolved religious man or woman sought to be more religious than their neighbors. As religions developed, divided and grew more common, humans felt their god was much better than the god across the pasture.<br />
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So what is so different today when a politician or a preacher says his god is the true God, sewing discontent. They were not there when God, after writing the Ten Commandments, wrote us a constitution.<br />
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What does it mean? Simple answer: No one knows. I was not there “In the beginning…”<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-15040488921246979132014-02-28T10:26:00.001-06:002014-02-28T10:29:40.018-06:00Feb. 21 Towery newspaper column ---- <b>A classic book is born in jail </b><br />
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There was a Baptist preacher who was known more for being thrown in jail than making converts. In the year 1678, this middle class man of fifty years wrote a book.<br />
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The father of the preacher-writer was the son of a rural tinker who mended utensils, pots and pans. The boy traveled with his father, learning the trade and meeting a variety of people.<br />
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Later in this preacher’s life he would talk much about his poor upbringing, when actually he did not grow up in poverty nor did he lack an education.<br />
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At the age of 16 he joined the Parliamentary army and fought in the English Civil War. He married a young woman he described as “amiable and religious.” Her dowry was simple: a Bible and two other religious books.<br />
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The man was John Bunyan and his book became the renowned “The Pilgrim’s Progress.”<br />
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In his 1666 autobiography, Grace Abounding, Bunyan wrote about his youth, describing himself as did the Apostle Paul as the "chief of sinners." The sins he listed were profanity, dancing, and bell-ringing.<br />
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John Bunyan’s conversion to Christianity was with a nonconformist sect. A nonconformist was a believer who did not conform to the teachings and worship of the Church of England. Numbers of nonconformist left for the British colonies in America.<br />
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One thing this sect did not do was preach or worship in public. They were real “house churches.” Not authorized to worship as they pleased. John Bunyan began preaching in public places and he was thrown in jail.<br />
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The story goes that the judge asked Bunyan to give up preaching, but he refused. Next the judge asked Bunyan to just stop preaching even in private groups. What the king feared was such private gathers were forming plots against him. <br />
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Bunyan refused the judge on that count as well and he stayed in prison for 12 years. When released he went right back to preaching the Gospel but was jailed again for six months.<br />
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To support his family while in jail he made thousands of shoelaces. But this work did not meet the need he felt about the Christian life and he began to write “The Pilgrim’s Progress.” (A “denn” was another word for jail.)<br />
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He begins his book: "As I walk'd through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place, where was a Denn; And I laid me down in that place to sleep: And as I slept I dreamed a Dream." (A “Denn” was another word for jail.)<br />
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Many are the lessons in this powerful allegory. Many of the phrases are a part of the English language. It follows its main character, Christian, on a journey from the City of Destruction (earth) to the Celestial City (heaven).<br />
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Along the way Christian faces many difficulties as is common to all of us. Places like the Valley of Humiliation, Slough of Despond, Doubting Castle and Hill Difficulty. <br />
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He meets interesting bunch of characters along his journey, each with a lesson for him: Mr. Worldly Wiseman, Old Honest, Mr. By-Ends, and Talkative. <br />
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The book was a best seller from the first day. It has been translated numerous times into many languages. (In our first year of studying Chinese, we were required to read portions in Mandarin.)<br />
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With all the trials of Christian readers are reminded there is no “free lunch,” or “bed of roses” without leaving the impression of being “persecuted.” It is just the way life is.<br />
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This classic would not be such a treasure had the nonconformists been stamped out by the government. It was a tremendous step toward freedom of religion.<br />
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--30--<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-55719931774515778682014-02-07T14:09:00.000-06:002014-02-07T14:11:06.347-06:00George Volsky -- White Russian RefugeeFeb. 7 Towery column<br />
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George Volsky, A White Russian’s Story (693 words)<br />
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It was winter, the year 1969, when I met face to face with a White Russian. It was in a small hotel in the Tsimshatsui District of Kowloon, the mainland side of the British colony of Hong Kong. One of those hotels reached by a long narrow and steep staircase. There were many of these establishments serving as a rest stop for travelers coming and going in this unique China border and British port city.<br />
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The term ‘White Russian’ had nothing to do with race. It was a term for ethnic Russians who opposed the Bolsheviks in the 1917 Russian Revolution. Many Russians were forced to leave their homeland with the Soviet’s communist takeover of the government. <br />
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Many Russian refugees settled in China. Harbin, on the border with Mongolia and Russia, had 100,000 Russians by the 1930s. Portions of the city are still distinctly Russian with Eastern Orthodox churches and Russian language and culture still quite noticeable. Shanghai became one of the best-known artistic centers in the Far East due to the presence of exiled first-class opera singers, ballerinas and musical comedy stars from Russia.<br />
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The lot of the White Russian was never good anywhere. A White Russian woman in Shanghai wanted a passport more than any treasure. They were stateless with no country and no ability to go anywhere. So any single American or European man became easy prey.<br />
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For the White Russian males it was even more desperate. The stigma of statelessness hung around their necks like an albatross. He had little hope of marrying even a girl of his own race. Because he was a foreigner and poor, it was out of the question to marry a Chinese girl<br />
Their plight became even more hazardous when the Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966. Any foreigner or person with any foreign connections was suspect as an enemy of the people. The Communist began to force the White Russians to leave. Hong Kong was the most convenient exit port. <br />
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George Volsky was the first White Russian I met. He spoke enough English for me to understand his story. Fellow-Russians had helped him from the Lowu border train station (now Shenzhen) and found him this room. Several of them were in the room as we talked.<br />
He was born in China and had lived in Shanghai since 1934. He was a secretary for a British Reality Company before the Communist took over in 1948. After that there was no work for a foreigner.<br />
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He had a Russian passport that he received during the Japanese years in Shanghai. It was not one of the new Soviet passports, but they half-heartedly honored it. He had to report in person to the Soviet Consulate once a week. <br />
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The passport helped with the amount of rations the Communist provided from time to time. Through a black market.<br />
In his broken, yet precise English, he said, “If you wish to know from the beginning, it was 1962. I am having a dinner at half-past eight. It is Russian New Year. Friday, January 12, I have a friend there and one Chinese lady. I’m a bachelor and natural have girl friend.”<br />
George Voskey’s dinner friend, Mr. Kostoniony, excused himself after dinner and George walked him to the door and out to the gate of the compound. George said was “a sort of a half-lawyer or something.” <br />
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At the gate he saw a strange sight. Crowds of people were in the street. “Of course,” he continues, “I always have a feeling I will be arrested. One by one every foreigner has been arrested and my time must be coming.”<br />
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George Voskey was repatriated to Australia the year after we talked. He never said what happened to Mr. Kostoniony.<br />
Do we really appreciate the honor and privilege we have to live where there is the fear of being arrested? America is still free or we would not be talking about NSA spying on us, and other stuff that may not be ideal, but as long as it can stay in the public press or news we need not fear the taking away of our rights.<br />
<br />
--30--<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-51208232476676749482013-11-22T14:33:00.000-06:002013-11-22T14:33:06.721-06:00Aug. 9, 2013 ---- Britt Towery column
<b>“Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth” </b>
The cartoon showed two bored office workers, idly gazing out the window, when one of them said, “Let’s go to California and start a new religion.”
Fair or not, California has been a starting place for many religious-minded (and otherwise) folk to break out new ways to find and share the religion of their choice.
More than three in four of Americans say religion is losing its influence in the United States, writes Dan Merica of CNN. It is evident that many Americans do not think this is a good thing. According to a Gallup survey 75 percent of Americans said the country would be better off if it were more religious.
There may be some answers to why church attendance is slipping ever so slightly, and bored office or blue collar workers are looking for something more challenging.
The last fifteen years books dealing with the history and reality of Christianity have become best sellers such as: Charles Kimball’s “When Religion Becomes Evil.” John D. Caputo’s “What Would Jesus Deconstruct?” “Water Into Wine” by Tom Harpur and Neale Donald Walsch’s three books on “Conversations with God: an uncommon dialogue.”
Historian and scholar, Reza Asian, has just published a new biography of Jesus, “Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth,” Professor Asian was born in Iran and grew up in America. He accepted Jesus as his savior in his teens. (Later he returned to the faith of his fathers.) The book relates the author’s spiritual journey while understanding the peasants, priests, soldiers and their daily lives of Jesus’ Palestine. This biography seeks to separate the man from deity.
I found the book an interesting read. It shares the epoch-making story through the writings of men who were there before, during and after Jesus. He says he wrote the book “in order to spread the good news of the Jesus of history with the same fervor that I once applied to spreading the story of the Christ.”
“Ironically,” Asian writes, “the more I learned about the life of the historical Jesus, the turbulent world in which he lived, and brutality of the Roman occupation that he defied, the more I was drawn to him.”
Reading this book and a couple of Tom Harpur’s books filled in a lot of gaps in my faith, hope and understanding of religion in general. These books increased my faith because of the honesty and enlightenment they brought. Harpur is a former columnist for the Toronto Star, an Anglican priest and a Rhodes scholar.
Twenty-first century believers and unbelievers are questioning about Jesus, the Son of Man, just as they were from the beginning of his ministry. The first 300 years were filled with what we might call “denominations” today. Those with the historical-literalist approach won the battle of “views” and have been with us to this day.
That could be one reason people are seeing little relevance in “church going” and want more than set-in-concrete, unquestioning blind observance in their faith: traditions, rituals, rites, demands, regulations, ceremonies and even “know-it-all” sermonizers.
I began with a joke about guys starting a new religion. There is no reason to start a new religion, nor a new denomination. The world has more than enough of both. There are many reasons to grow up in our faith and know what we believe and why. Church-goers will find in spiritual growth the dimension that may be lacking.
--30--
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-77466703379793305012013-08-02T09:42:00.002-05:002013-08-02T09:42:30.712-05:00
<b>“Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth”
</b>
The cartoon showed two bored office workers, idly gazing out the window, when one of them said, “Let’s go to California and start a new religion.”
Fair or not, California has been a starting place for many religious-minded (and otherwise) folk to break out new ways to find and share the religion of their choice.
More than three in four of Americans say religion is losing its influence in the United States, writes Dan Merica of CNN. It is evident that many Americans do not think this is a good thing. According to a Gallup survey 75 percent of Americans said the country would be better off if it were more religious.
There may be some answers to why church attendance is slipping ever so slightly, and bored office or blue collar workers are looking for something more challenging.
The last fifteen years books dealing with the history and reality of Christianity have become best sellers such as: Charles Kimball’s “When Religion Becomes Evil.” John D. Caputo’s “What Would Jesus Deconstruct?” “Water Into Wine” by Tom Harpur and Neale Donald Walsch’s three books on “Conversations with God: an uncommon dialogue.”
Historian and scholar, Reza Asian, has just published a new biography of Jesus, “Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth,” Professor Asian was born in Iran and grew up in America. He accepted Jesus as his savior in his teens. The book relates the author’s spiritual journey while understanding the peasants, priests, soldiers and their daily lives of Jesus’ Palestine. This biography seeks to separate the man from deity.
I found the book an interesting read. It shares the epoch-making story through the writings of men who were there before, during and after Jesus. He says he wrote the book “in order to spread the good news of the Jesus of history with the same fervor that I once applied to spreading the story of the Christ.”
“Ironically,” Asian writes, “the more I learned about the life of the historical Jesus, the turbulent world in which he lived, and brutality of the Roman occupation that he defied, the more I was drawn to him.”
Reading this book and a couple of Tom Harpur’s books filled in a lot of gaps in my faith, hope and understanding of religion in general. These books increased my faith because of the honesty and enlightenment they brought. Harpur is a former columnist for the Toronto Star, an Anglican priest and a Rhodes scholar.
Twenty-first century believers and unbelievers are questioning about Jesus, the Son of Man, just as they were from the beginning of his ministry. The first 300 years were filled with what we might call “denominations” today. Those with the historical-literalist approach won the battle of “views” and have been with us to this day.
That could be one reason people are seeing little relevance in “church going” and want more than set-in-concrete, unquestioning blind observance in their faith: traditions, rituals, rites, demands, regulations, ceremonies and even “know-it-all” sermonizers.
I began with a joke about guys starting a new religion. There is no reason to start a new religion, nor a new denomination. The world has more than enough of both. There are many reasons to grow up in our faith and know what we believe and why. Church-goers will find in spiritual growth the dimension that may be lacking.
--30--
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-78466381356962823572013-08-02T09:38:00.003-05:002013-08-02T09:38:23.615-05:00
Are religious women still second-class?
It has been, from time to time, a now and then concern of mine for the nuns, sometimes called sisters, of the Roman Catholic Church, whose headquarters in the Vatican, a suburb of Rome, Italy, do some of the finest work of any religion.
All women in ministry in this devout organization continue to be second-class employees according to their own superiors. These women lovingly care for the sick, teach the young, and have never been accused of any form of child abuse.
Last year the Vatican appointed an American bishop to rein in the largest group of Catholic nuns, saying that the sisters “had serious doctrinal problems.” (Laurie Goodstein, New York Times.)
The nuns were reprimanded for publicly disagreeing with the American bishops – the Roman Church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals. Being “a man of the cloth” once upon a time, all the religious doctrines, dogmas or traditional values, for me, have always been trumped by common sense.
Common sense, which is anything but common, is seldom in the mix for religious leaders in Protestant and Catholic churches. This could be one of the reasons that religion is not making much of an impact on the present scene.
Much of the good work the nuns do goes unnoticed, until long after they leave their “earth suit” for glories above, when they might be proclaimed a “Saint.” (But only if there are enough “miracles” credited to her ministry.)
Women have been getting the blame for everything wrong since Adam, the coward, pointed to Eve and said: “The woman gave the forbidden fruit to me!” (The Roberts-Fisher song “Put The Blame on Mame, Boys” would be a good title for a book about the eternal plight of the so-called “weaker sex.”)
Tis’ strange the Roman Catholics look askance at nuns while making much prayer to Mary, the mother of the historical Jesus. They cannot perform Mass. They take orders from priests, monsignors, bishops, archbishops, cardinals and papa, all of whom are men.
On the web site CatholicEducation.org, Matthew Pinto writes: “Although the early Church allowed married clergy, the Church later came to see celibacy as a better example of the norm and model of Jesus’ priesthood.” (One thing Jesus never claimed was being a priest.)
This Catholic website goes on to say: “Celibacy surely gains the Catholic clergy a hidden respect from many people.” The priesthood has been one of the most unfortunate inventions of the last 1000 years. They stand in for God; confession is to them; power grows as they “lead the flock.”
In 306 A.D., the Council of Elvria decreed: “Bishops and other in ministry are to abstain completely from sexual intercourse with their wives. If anyone disobeys, he shall be removed from the clerical office.” The subject was violently debated for over 800 years until at the Second Lateran Council in the year 1139 sex and marriage was out for priests of the Roman Church.
It was still a problem until 1322 when Pope John XXII decreed married men were forbidden from the priesthood. (Read the newspapers of the last 20 years for the results of such Middle Ages ignorance.)
Sex has always been a “shameful” thing to Puritans and the Catholic male-dominated hierarchy. Why such fear? Who knows, possibly because a woman is involved?
Which brings me back to why women in Roman Catholic society and culture are unworthy to lead?
I thought I might have an answer to women being classified as lower than men, when most of them I have met remind me more of angels.
Sometimes I think I can solve riddles, or problems, such as the saying: “Save America from Atheists (they are taking-over?); or “God Bless America” (why not the whole world?); or where did President Barack Obama find so many inept advisors?
C.S. Lewis said in his book The Great Divorce: “A sum can be put right: but only by going back till you find the error and work it afresh from that point, never by simply going on.”
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-39697493607351800002013-03-26T15:48:00.000-05:002013-03-26T15:48:11.407-05:00March 8 Towery Fri. column, Bwd Bulletin & SA Standard-Times
Child abuse more than a religious problem
The world is getting a new pope. Pope Benedict XVI has resigned. He is the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415, seventy-seven years before Columbus “discovered” some Caribbean islands.
The word Pope is from the Latin: papa, a child’s word for father. The Roman Catholic doctrine of Apostolic Succession claims the doctrine has its roots in the New Testament’s Simon Peter, the first pope.
Actually there have been many popes who were disposed, coerced into resignation or abdicated (words apparently not applicable to Benedict XVI’s resignation last month). As reported, Joseph Ratzinger is now Pope emeritus, or just one of us pilgrims. The Vatican said his resignation was due to “Physical infirmity and advanced age.”
There is much that could have influenced the pope to leave the power before his time. The Vatican ignored, as far back as 1975, reports sent to them on child abuse going on in some schools and parishes. Benedict knew of these complaints more than most. It had been his responsibly to handle those reports before he even became pope. But did nothing as far as we know.
I personally understand why Benedict would yearn for an exit. He could have been the greatest of all the popes had he chosen the difficult and dangerous route of not just admitting and exposing, but rectifying the secrets hidden so many decades. I’ve created a musical idiom: Face the music by turning a mournful funeral drudge into a glorious new rhapsody.
It was not until the 1990s that the tragic stories of abuse in American Roman Catholic churches became widely known. The bishops and various higher officials shielded priests accused of child abuse, then acted like Dick Nixon, franticly trying to cover it up.
The cover-ups that followed were as bad, if not worse, than the sins committed on innocent children. And we need to note that abuse is not gender specific. Domestic abuse is far more common than in religions and/or churches.
The institution of celibacy, is not as old at the Catholic Church. The custom began eleven hundred years after Jesus Christ was on earth. It is a pledge that requires the impossible of those who attempt it. “[Celibacy is] foolishness, even recklessness: of the way it warps the culture of the priesthood; of the unreasonable standard it sets.” (Frank Bruni, NYT, Feb. 25, 2013.)
Back in 2007, Bob Allen wrote an article on ethicsdaily.com: “The Associated Press reported that three insurances companies receive upward of 260 reports each year of young people under 18 being sexually abused by Protestant clergy.”
Allen goes on to write that Protestant abuse has a higher annual average of “credible accusations” brought against Catholic clerics, as reported by the Catholic Church. These sex offenders are addicts. They are sick individuals and their crimes have nothing to do with religion.
The beginning of the papacy has been shrouded in legend and a philosophy that depends on hearsay. The stories about a Galilean Jew named Simon Peter, a probably illiterate peasant fisherman, being the first pope is a tremendous reach. The legend came from wishful thinking and has never been documented. Claiming Peter died in Rome and the Vatican has his bones is amazing.
(Additional questions for those interested: The infallibility of popes -- they are preserved from even the possibility of error. This was defined dogmatically 1,870 years after Simon Peter was fishing. The Immaculate Conception -- Jesus’ mother Mary was declared free of original sin by Pope Pius IX in 1854, making her a perpetual virgin. The New Testament does mention Jesus had brothers, not cousins.)
Folks who disagree with this history do not know what they are talking about.
For unique insight into this child abuse problem, see Alex Gibney’s HBO documentary, “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God.”
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-14571669232637941412013-03-08T10:43:00.002-06:002013-03-08T10:43:50.870-06:00March 8 Towery Fri. column, Bwd Bulletin & SA Standard-Times
Child abuse more than a religious problem
(648 words)
The world is getting a new pope. Pope Benedict XVI has resigned. He is the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415, seventy-seven years before Columbus “discovered” some Caribbean islands.
The word Pope is from the Latin: papa, a child’s word for father. The Roman Catholic doctrine of Apostolic Succession claims the doctrine has its roots in the New Testament’s Simon Peter, the first pope.
Actually there have been many popes who were disposed, coerced into resignation or abdicated (words apparently not applicable to Benedict XVI’s resignation last month). As reported, Joseph Ratzinger is now Pope emeritus, or just one of us pilgrims. The Vatican said his resignation was due to “Physical infirmity and advanced age.”
There is much that could have influenced the pope to leave the power before his time. The Vatican ignored, as far back as 1975, reports sent to them on child abuse going on in some schools and parishes. Benedict knew of these complaints more than most. It had been his responsibly to handle those reports before he even became pope. But did nothing as far as we know.
I personally understand why Benedict would yearn for an exit. He could have been the greatest of all the popes had he chosen the difficult and dangerous route of not just admitting and exposing, but rectifying the secrets hidden so many decades. I’ve created a musical idiom: Face the music by turning a mournful funeral drudge into a glorious new rhapsody.
It was not until the 1990s that the tragic stories of abuse in American Roman Catholic churches became widely known. The bishops and various higher officials shielded priests accused of child abuse, then acted like Dick Nixon, franticly trying to cover it up.
The cover-ups that followed were as bad, if not worse, than the sins committed on innocent children. And we need to note that abuse is not gender specific. Domestic abuse is far more common than in religions and/or churches.
The institution of celibacy, is not as old at the Catholic Church. The custom began eleven hundred years after Jesus Christ was on earth. It is a pledge that requires the impossible of those who attempt it. “[Celibacy is] foolishness, even recklessness: of the way it warps the culture of the priesthood; of the unreasonable standard it sets.” (Frank Bruni, NYT, Feb. 25, 2013.)
Unfortunately Catholics are not alone in the seedy sin of sexually abusing innocent children. It is more rampant in Protestant church organizations than I ever imagined.
Back in 2007, Bob Allen wrote an article on ethicsdaily.com: “The Associated Press reported that three insurances companies receive upward of 260 reports each year of young people under 18 being sexually abused by Protestant clergy.”
Allen goes on to write that Protestant abuse has a higher annual average of “credible accusations” brought against Catholic clerics, as reported by the Catholic Church. These sex offenders are addicts. They are sick individuals and their crimes have nothing to do with religion.
The beginning of the papacy has been shrouded in legend and a philosophy that depends on hearsay. The stories about a Galilean Jew named Simon Peter, a probably illiterate peasant fisherman, being the first pope is a tremendous reach. The legend came from wishful thinking and has never been documented. Claiming Peter died in Rome and the Vatican has his bones is amazing.
(Additional questions for those interested: The infallibility of popes -- they are preserved from even the possibility of error. This was defined dogmatically 1,870 years after Simon Peter was fishing. The Immaculate Conception -- Jesus’ mother Mary was declared free of original sin by Pope Pius IX in 1854, making her a perpetual virgin. The New Testament does mention Jesus had brothers, not cousins.)
For unique insight into this child abuse problem, see Alex Gibney’s HBO documentary, “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God.”
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-67592979747847255192012-09-12T12:56:00.001-05:002012-09-12T12:56:13.502-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-41192791977086294642012-08-31T15:56:00.000-05:002012-08-31T15:56:05.738-05:00<b>September 7, Towery column
Something ‘good’ in the state of Denmark </b>
Forgive my word-play on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where Marcellus says to Horatio: “Something is rotten in Denmark.” This is about something very good from Denmark.
Let me back up. The way countries do ‘government,’ has never been one of my concerns. But getting a taste of Denmark’s parliamentary system through a television series upped my interest.
This came while watching episodes of the award-winning television series from Denmark. It’s title “Borgen” is the Danish word for government. Having been to Copenhagen once and knowing some very fine Danish families, I began watching this series as ardently as my mother used to listen to radio’s “Stella Dallas.”
When I realized there are more parliamentary forms of government in the world than the American style, I wanted to learn more.
Our USA has a constitutional system where powers are vested (by the U.S. Constitution) in the Congress by three distinct branches: legislative, executive and judicial.
Whereas a parliamentary government system gives the executive power to a cabinet composed of members of the legislature. These elected citizens are individually and collectively responsible to the legislature. (My ninth grade civics class had no access to Wikipedia.)
The “Borgen” series from Denmark has been called: “The Best TV Show You’ve Never Seen.”
This award-winning Danish drama series is about the fight for political power, along with the personal consequences of the characters involved. Not knowing Danish (except the words for ‘thanks’ and ‘good morning’), I had to depend on the finest subtitles ever seen on the screen.
The acting is exceptional, headed by Sidse Babett Knudsen as Denmark’s first female Prime Minister Brigitte Nyborg. The series came from a novel and is fictional with very real-time problems, in home and office. It is evident that political power cannot be won without sacrifice. Newsweek Magazine calls it “The Best Political Show Ever.”
Since political parties in Denmark need only 2% of the vote to get a seat, several parties win seats, making it all but impossible for one party to win the 90 seats required for a majority. No party has won an outright majority in either house since 1901. All Danish governments since then have been coalitions or one-party minority governments.
Earlier shows can be seen on the idiot box. It would be great if our local cable channel providers would carry LINKTV where this series will begin it’s third season in September. Or go to WWW.LinkTV.org and see episodes from the first two years.
The third season begins in September and can be seen on DishTV and DirectTV. (I stumbled across “Borgen” by way of DishTV on LinkTV, the channel without borders, channel number 9410.)
I thought HBO’s series “Newsroom” set a high standard for television drama, but it does not hold a candle to “Brogen.” This is an excellent political show without the Hollywood stuff we are used to. “Borgen is smart entertaining television,” writes Andrew Romano of Newsweek. “It pains me to report that the Danes, of all people, have recently overcome America’s home-field advantage. The Best Political Show Ever no longer hails from Hollywood, birthplace of The West Wing. It comes, instead, from Copenhagen, and it is called Borgen.”
Rumor has it that an American version of “Borgen” is in the works. I hope if this is true that it will retain the honesty and openness of the American political scene.
Shakespeare has Hamlet saying Denmark, -- “’tis an unweeded garden.” But for me it has the best television around.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-44513123793597030032012-05-27T17:21:00.002-05:002012-05-27T17:21:47.632-05:00ARE WE THREATENED BY RELIGIOUS FREEDOMFor those readers who missed or have forgotten last week’s column, “Freedom of thought too precious to be ignored,” go to your newspaper recycling pile and dig out last Friday’s paper. It will help you gain some insight on the freedom of religion that is little recognized today.
The life and times of Roger Williams (1603-1683) and his contributions to the American ideals of the freedom of thought and faith needs to be told for every American generation. Freedom of thought and religion did not originate with him, but he gave the idea a great kick-start. History is littered with the sacrifice of many who envisioned the basic importance of individual freedom of thought and freedom of religious or non-religious practice.
Roger Williams was anything but a nobody. He was born in England, graduate of Cambridge, and mentored by the famous jurist Sir Edward Coke. Later he gave the poet John Milton lessons in Dutch in exchange for refresher lessons in Hebrew. Williams knew Oliver Cromwell, the military and political leader whose revolt lead to the English Civil War (1642-1651).
Williams was becoming a Separatist even before he left England for the Massachusetts colony in 1631. He wrote that the Church of England (Anglican/Episcopal) was irredeemably corrupt. He also found Congregationalists and later the Baptists short of his ideals of freedom of thought and practice. Such a stand was beyond comprehension to his generation.
In October, 1635, Williams was tried by the Massachusetts General Court and convicted of sedition and heresy. The Court declared that he was spreading diverse, new, and dangerous opinions. The court ordered that he be banished.
Williams was convinced nothing to be more precious than soul liberty and freedom of conscience. Foe him true religious freedom demanded that church and state be separated; everyone had the natural right to freedom of religion. He did not attempt to change the civil government to suit his whims. He did not necessarily agree with other’s theology or church practices, but he was not in a holy war with secularists.
What we have today, over 350 years later, is the essence of freedom of religion, but not a lot of actual adherents. Take the example of the Amish faith. While society changes (some would say advances) the Amish stay with their horses and carriages, lack of many modern necessities, and simple faith. They are not threatened by the world around them.
The Amish may not agree with President Barack Obama’s tolerance of same-sex marriage but it does not affect their daily chores or worship. They see Christians as living in an unfriendly world but are not shocked nor threatened by it. The rest of us are “fighting the good fight of faith” against a sinful and secular world that threatens our faith. “If we could only get God back in government,” say some insecure Christians.
Those wanting to revamp the world to their interpretation of religion would make poor Amish believers. The Amish would go along with Roger Williams much more than many American Christians. Making America “Christian” is not the Eleventh Commandment. Living in this world does not mean we become a part of it. It would help if Christians learned to enjoy their faith more and spend less time trying to tear down the wall between church and state.
--30--Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-31965558167937200362012-05-27T17:08:00.002-05:002012-05-27T17:17:58.786-05:00FREEDOM OF THOUGHT TOO PRECIOUS TO IGNORE<b>Freedom of Thought too precious to ignore
</b>
Providence, Rhode Island, had a unique beginning. Roger Williams’ 1630s “colony” was the first organized community that did not base its formation on a call from God. In addition, Providence Town was under no command from European kings or popes to bring the original inhabitants to Christianity.
It was a time when the vast majority of Protestant and Catholic clergy were paid by governments for their services to God and country. The old saying, “He who calls the tune pays the piper,” was true in this case and still is.
In New England, there were unnecessary burdens foisted on the believers by the clergy. For example: those who missed religious services were fined by the combined church-state system. Ministers were told where to preach in the early Puritan days. If a follower was excommunicated he or she could not even have conversation with town folks. Black-balled in the extreme.
Roger Williams’ practical opinions on freedom of thought and speech caused him to be forced from his Salem church. The Puritans’ law was a combined church-state authority. The church elders kicked Williams out of church and the legal authorities banished him from living in Massachusetts. He was forced in the dead of winter to flee his home and family. He had learned the Indian’s language and was their friend. They saved him and he lived with the tribe before finally founding what is now Providence, Rhode Island.
His colony in Providence (on land he purchased from the local Indians) provided not mere toleration, but an individual’s freedom from religious/state control and freedom of thought and speech. (For more, see the new book “Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul” by John M. Barry.)
Williams’ freedom of thought, speech and religion was a long-time in coming. He knew that such ideas had often led to torture and even death. Few clergy agreed with him, and certainly not Devine Rights kings. The Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut Christian leaders saw Williams’ ideas far too radical and definitely unscriptural; at odds with the Bible.
The Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors resembled a tenth century Christian crusade to save Jerusalem and the Holy Land. European Catholic missionaries were in the front lines in the conquistadors campaigns. They were not like today’ military chaplains; often ranked with commanding officers as they claimed innocent tribes for their faith and king.
Popes even had the nerve to divide the South American peoples between Portugal and Spain. It was like a religious Olympics as Jesuits and Franciscans and lesser Catholic orders fought for the souls of the savages. (The 1986 movie, “The Mission,” with Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons is about 18th century Spanish Jesuits protecting a South American Indian tribe from falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.)
In 1644 Roger Williams wrote on the seriousness of freedom of the church from man-made government: “When they have opened a gap in the hedge or wall of separation between the Garden of the Church and the Wilderness of the world, God hath ever broken down the wall itself …” (“The Complete Writings of Roger Williams,” New York: Russell and Russell, 1963.)
The third president of the United States, and his contemporaries evidently had read Roger Williams’ books. Here is a quote from Thomas Jefferson’s “Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia:”
“We the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities ...”
The freedom of thought, speech and religion was won for us by scores of men with convictions like Roger Williams. It is too precious to ignore. These freedoms are threatened today, not by politicians, atheists, or Muslims, but by those seeking to revive the old Puritan spirit.
Britt Towery writes a weekly column every Friday. His e-mail: bet@suddenlink.net. His latest book “Strangers in a Strange Land” is about Texans in China, 1912-1950Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-91560727827181143042012-04-16T14:41:00.005-05:002012-04-16T14:48:59.831-05:00Political-Religious Radio's King<span style="font-weight:bold;">BRYAN FISCHER:</span> The preacher who desires to be king of politicaly-loaded Ultra Conservative Christian radio rides again.<br /><br />In January 2011, Newsweek Magazine called Bryan Fischer "the media's new poster boy for right-wing extremism." On his radio talk show he has had a stream of notable conservative guests: Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Haley Barbour and Newt Gingrich.<br /><br />The Stanford University and Dallas Seminary graduate began to gain fame finding ways to denigrate the lesbian-gay-bi-sexual-transvestite (LGBT) community. He admired the Holocaust revisionist writings of Scott Lively. Lively’s infamous claim to fame is that Hitler and his whole Nazi Party were gay. <br /><br />Because of the “savage nature” of gay men, Lively says the Nazis were able to carry out the Holocaust. (It should be noted: Lively's work has been roundly and fully discredited by reputable historians, but facts never seem to bother Fischer.)<br /><br />Just a tad of research reveals how utterly out of touch with the real world preacher Fischer really is. An example of his absurd thinking: In a November 2010 blog post at the American Family Association site, Fischer groused that the Medal of Honor, like American culture in general, was being "feminized" because it was awarded to soldiers who saved their comrades rather than soldiers who "killed people." Fischer demanded to know when it would be awarded again to "soldiers who kill people and break things so our families can sleep safely at night." <br /><br />If that does not make you want to throw-up Rick Santorium-style read on. Fischer called for "open season" on grizzly bears because two people were killed by bears in 2010 and "God makes it clear in Scripture that deaths of people and livestock at the hands of savage beasts is a sign that the land is under a curse." (Fischer has a neat sense of humor or he was absent from seminary on biblical interpretation day.)<br /><br />At the end of Fischer’s two-hour call-in show on American Family Radio there is always a disclaimer that “the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio." The disclaimer now follows all AFR programs. Cuts down on possibility of being sued.<br /><br />He argues that Muslims should be banned from serving in the U.S. military. He is actively waging a culture war and any publicity is good for his cause. There has been plenty of it from mainline media. <br />He claims he is spreading a muscular Christianity and being criticized makes him a hero to his followers. He calls his work “that of enriching social conservatives,” and bringing America back to it’s pilgrim glory.<br /><br />Over 30 years ago AFA started out with a focus on the family values of abortion, same-sex marriage, and pornography. Now the main theme is if Barack Obama wins re-election, it will be the end of America for sure. <br /><br />Bryan Fischer is asking us to boycott the national chain Home Depot for donating to gay-pride parades; he is sure the Tea Party ended slavery in America; Bill Clinton was responsible for the rise in oral cancer. The man is utterly clueless.<br /><br />Repeatedly Fischer says "people on the Left never check their facts and simply repeat false information ...” which is something he would never do. <br /><br />Finally, he is proclaiming that President Obama does not believe that the Constitution has any "moral authority and therefore it does not need to be obeyed." For his belief the cultural war is “a winnable war,” I nominate Bro. Fischer for the PRRA (Polito-Religo-Radio Award) for 2012. while making American Christian again. Just note the small print: be sure it’s his brand of Christianity.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-45366868119907498502012-04-05T06:56:00.005-05:002012-04-05T07:04:04.092-05:00Making Movies in 1945<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1A5QO9xlkWw/T32JCH4MBhI/AAAAAAAAA6o/T9I8NZ2oChk/s1600/CowboyGun1945.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 208px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1A5QO9xlkWw/T32JCH4MBhI/AAAAAAAAA6o/T9I8NZ2oChk/s320/CowboyGun1945.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727884970652599826" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Making of “Don’t Try Anything”</span><br /><br />The making of the 8mm TSG film on the tank-training grounds of old Camp Bowie, Brown County, Texas, in 1945 was an event that went unnoticed by the public. It was not not expected to have a wide release. Using black and white film was a major decision. Who with TSG could afford color? TSG name comes from the major share-holders, actors and writers: Towery, Swan and Graves. <br /><br />Work on the picture could only be done when school was out and some sunshine left. The three of us (Britt Towery’s comparades Joe Swan and Bob Graves have since passed away) created the story idea from our second floor office in the old Southern Building on Center Ave., in downtown Brownwood, county seat of Brown County, Central Texas. <br /><br />Before the Southern Building was made into an office building it was the Southern Hotel. The three of us were employed now and again by the Lyric Theater, catty-cornered from the Southern Building. The Lyric, revived at the close of the last century, is now a community theater with all sorts of good entertainment. But no films, not ever the kind TSG once produced.<br /><br />It was a very different world back in the first half of the 20th century. Not so many people and families owned most of the farms and neighborhood grocery stores. The county was dry, meaning that spirits could not be bought or sold. Unless you went into a frowned upon profession something like what Al Capone involved himself much earlier.<br /><br />Bootlegging took talent, but our firm did not feel it wise to do a film or stories on them because it was just too risky. <br /><br />Getting back to the film and major point of all this historic era of Texas westerns review there is not much to tell. It was not long until 8mm film was moving into Super-8 and with that an increase in film-making.<br /><br />As far as known, the photo still from the movie is all that has survived. Audio was being put on a wire recorder which today’s media and public probably do not recall. It was a great invention that was later replaced by the reel to reel tape invention. No wire remains. If it did what could you play it on?<br /><br />The film would without doubt been a trail-blazing success had it not been misplaced once our years as ushers and popcorn poppers at the Lyric ended and we all had to go to work for real<br /><br />Bob Graves, whose sister-in-law Harrette Graves of New York City wrote for the Brownwood Bulletin forever, lived and died in John Steinbeck country. Wrote one magazine story that sold, had lot of wonderful kids and lovely wife.<br /><br />Joe Swan was professor Photo-Journalism at San Jose State University, a little north of Steinbeck country, nearer home area of writer of “Call of the North.” He too had fine kids and wife. Laura was from Dallas and they met at Howard Payne College (now a university).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-17563969599712022872012-03-22T10:34:00.002-05:002012-03-22T10:36:17.065-05:00Benefits of Early Language StudyTexans best hurry and learn Spanish.<br /><br />The Chinese People’s Consultative Conference closed in Beijing with a proposal that surprised both the locals and foreigners.<br /><br />It was proposed that lessons in the study of English should no longer be give in Chinese kindergartens.<br /><br />Ling Zi, a respected deputy chair of the Chinese Confucius Academy, believes that English and other foreign languages should only be studied beginning in high school. The idea is to make sure students are given enough time to develop their Chinese skills.<br /><br />The Confucius Institute offers cultural and Chinese language courses in 105 countries and regions, covering 86 percent of the world’s population. And 160 universities in 62 countries are working with the Institute to advance the language study. (Sweden plans to offer Mandarin in all primary schools and Pakistani education authorities are making Mandarin compulsory for primary schools.)<br /><br />China’s culture needs to be known and understood by the Han (94 percent of the population) and the other 50-plus ethnic groups. The traditional forms need bolstering, in historic buildings, language and ancient skills.<br /><br />It is important to retain the old and traditional. But it is also a proven fact that the earlier a child studies a foreign language the greater will be the success.<br /><br />By delaying foreign language study until their teens is not the road to take. Next to adults starting a second language the teenage years are the most difficult. <br /><br />It is also unfortunate there are those who think learning a second language early is harmful to the child. Studies in all cultures have shown that learning a second language speeds up learning in other subjects, especially critical thinking and history-cultural studies.<br /><br />China’s continued economic development benefits as more of the people learn English. In the tourist industry China needs thousands of interpreters in many languages. <br /><br />In learning a foreign language the individual also learns about foreign culture; understanding more clearly why foreigners act the way they do. <br /><br />There would be fewer wars if we got to know each other better.<br /><br />The most effective way to teach children a second language is like the idiom “thrown them in at the shallow end” like a youngster learning to swim. <br /><br />I did not learn to swim until I was in my late 20s. By then my fear of water was greater than when I was a child. So it is with language study. Start learning before the fear of the study gains the upper hand.<br /><br />It is in the majority of American high schools that the student first encounters foreign languages. This is more than unfortunate, it is tragic. It is a lost cause to begin so late.<br /><br />According to the Confucius Institute in Beijing the United Kingdom offers Mandarin language study in 5,200 schools.<br /><br />All this about what others are doing should wake up Texians to study their neighbor’s language. San Angelo schools should begin the study of Spanish in kindergarten and carry it through all 12 grades of study. To do less is not fair to the student and certainly not good for the future of our city, state or nation. <br /><br />China schools have made great strides in teaching English. But beginning a foreign language in the teen years is not a good decision and may yet be reversed.<br /><br />Our schools have done and are doing a terrible job teaching foreign languages. With Texas soon to have a Hispanic majority, it is unwise to continue to ignore the study of Spanish.<br /><br />--30--Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-21135502346615970902012-03-22T10:32:00.002-05:002012-03-22T10:33:57.699-05:00Credit Cards: America's Tragic EndA Major Reason For America’s Economic Dilemma <br /> <br />To those who say America is in the dump, I ask who then is at fault? Who or what has caused there to be so many homeless; so many people out of work; so much national debt; so many empty houses; sky-high food bill; record gasoline prices and the no-longer-stretchable dollar bill?<br /> <br />Some are blaming it on the out-of-touch Washington crowd we voted to serve our country. Blame it on the millions who could vote but don’t.<br /> <br />President Barack Obama has yet to close, as he promised, the U.S. prison on Guantanamo Bay – where torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners continues. He also said he would not be hiring lobbyists -- he did that and brought into his administration many who had caused the Wall Street and bankers crimes. <br /> <br />But don’t lay all the blame on the White House resident. The incredibly stubborn and uncooperative, can’t-care-less congress refuses to work for what is good for the country. When was last time our obscenely wealthy congress West Texas representative did something for the good of the people he swore to represent? <br /> <br />There is lots of blame for America’s mess. Being lied into one war (Iraq) and going after Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan turned into an even longer war. Now Senator John McCain and some of his comrades want to begin a war against Iran.<br /> <br />We are in a fix not because of the war mentality or all the s0-called “patriots” of the Pentagon and the Halliburton-types. <br /> <br />One major reason for America’s disarray is not a secret, but a seldom acknowledged one. It all began with a small piece of cardboard that soon became plastic money. <br /> <br />It is easy to trace most of our people’s quandary to the once well-meaning and now toxic innovation: the development and promotion of THE CREDIT CARD.<br /> <br />About sixty years ago the curse of plastic charge plates began eating its way through the life and blood of this country.<br /> <br />In 1946 John Biggins, a Brooklyn banker, introduced a “Charg-it” card. Then Frank McNamara and Ralph Schneider came along in 1950 with the Diners Club Card.<br />The American Express (formed in 1850) saw the success of the Diners Club Card and in 1958 issued its first “never leave home without it” purple charge card. Theirs was the first card to be made of plastic.<br /> <br />Then Visa, MasterCard and a few others turned a very good thing into a monster. It has become a plague for people who cannot or will not pay off their balance each month.<br /> <br />It is a proven psychological fact that when using a credit card the buyer purchases more than when using cash. These companies know this fundamental shortcoming of our human nature, and use it with all their ads.<br /> <br />Credit card companies go beyond simple interest on their use. Ever tired to make sense of the requirements for payment on one of the demonic plastic plates? Usury is the word that comes most to mind. Usury is the archaic word for lending money at exorbitant interest rates.<br /> <br />No longer is a simple profit for credit card companies (and others in the retail business) but profit that that becomes greed: compound usury.<br /> <br />Before you think I have gone completely bonkers, remember that we ordinary folks are the laughing stock of these corporations. Every week one of these big banks or slimy plastic perverts sends me a letter “to solve all problems” with their card.<br /> <br />They provide plastic guaranteed to make us all paupers. American people average $10,000 worth of plastic debt. This is a greater danger than the National Debt.<br /> <br />"The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender" -- Proverbs 22:7. (Bible verses are common in a column about avarice.)<br /> <br />Benjamin Franklin is always good for a closing word. Here is one of his typical remarks: "Who goeth a borrowing goeth a sorrowing.”<br /> <br />--30--Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-79578092671391974722012-03-22T10:22:00.005-05:002012-03-22T10:31:33.791-05:00The Khan Academy<span style="font-weight:bold;">The Kahn Academy is the future!<br /></span><br />The CBS 60 Minutes television program recently had a segment that blew me away. It was about a teaching program with videos in digestible chunks, approximately 10 minutes long, and especially purposed for viewing on a computer. <br /><br />Sal Khan (MIT and Harvard) is the creator of this education tool. Khan is a math, science, and history teacher to millions of students around the world. Now that the program is backed by Bill Gates, Google and others. Sal Khan wants to make learning more accessible while putting fun and intellect on a higher level.<br /><br />Sal Khan writes on the web site Khan Academy <a href="http://www.khanacademy.org"></a> "I teach the way that I wish I was taught. The lectures are coming from me, an actual human being who is fascinated by the world around him."<br /><br />It is a free world-class education for anyone. As soon as the 60 Minutes segment ended I looked up the web site. I fell in love with it immediately. I even scrolled down the thousands of videos and spent seven minutes of the history of algebra, with maps, markers and explanation of the earliest stuff on the subject.<br /><br />Had I had such a learning opportunity in the 1940s I may have gotten interested in all kinds of math and science. I might have even made a passing grade.<br /><br />The not-for-profit Academy is apparently an organization on a mission. Their goal of changing education for the better via a free world-class education for anyone anywhere is off to a good start. <br />The videos on world history caught my eye also. I enjoyed the short lesson and unique way it was presented. I wanted to stay at the computer all night. You might say I was impressed.<br /><br />All of the site's resources are available to anyone. It doesn't matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology. The Khan Academy's materials and resources are available to you completely free of charge.<br /><br />Students can make use of the 3,000 –plus video library, practice exercises, and assessments from any computer with access to the web.<br /><br />There is more, like helping coaches, parents, and teachers have unprecedented visibility into what their students are learning and doing on the Khan Academy.<br /><br />In the 60 Minutes piece Sanjay Gupta, the interviewer, watching Khan record a 10-minute economics lesson. “It's so simple - all you hear is his voice and all you see is his colorful sketches on a digital blackboard,” say Gupta.<br /><br />“When Khan finishes the lecture, he uploads it to his website - where it joins the more than 3,000 other lessons he's done. In just a couple of years he's gone from having a few hundred pupils to more than four million every month,” continues the interviewer.Khan and his now expanded team has amassed a library of math lectures that starts with basic addition and builds all the way through advanced calculus. The courses are from kindergarten to college and beyond. I may get an education yet!<br /><br />Sal Khan has tackled so many subjects that if you watched just one of his lectures a day it would take over eight years to cover it all. No excuse for the world’s peoples (who have the Internet) to reap the tremendous blessings of an education.<br /><br />The Khan Academy office has the intense vibe of a Silicon Valley startup. The team is working to create software they hope will transform how math is taught in American classrooms. It is not the final answer to educating folks, but it is going in the right direction.<br />--30--Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-11896404423468923592012-03-17T06:56:00.004-05:002012-03-17T07:01:46.825-05:00Doonsbury Confronts Texas Governor with humor and insightG.B. Trudeau Does It Again. Hits The Target. Reveals Truth with an artist's brush.<br /><br />Like it or not: press freedom requires the exchange of ideas <br /><br />If you ever wonder if America’s press was free -- just take a look at last week’s Doonsbury funny pages strip. (It can be found on many Internet web sites.)<br /><br />Newspapers in this country are free to censor what they do not like or are unwilling to discuss and talk about. G. B. Trudeau, the brains behind this long-running progressive strip, is used to this kind of treatment.<br /><br />If you are among those who do not know of which I speak, here is what’s going on in the comics. A number of newspapers did not run this week’s Doonesbury strip that skewers Texas Republican politicians for the law they passed requiring women to undergo a sonogram before they can have an abortion.<br /><br />There is comedy (sad to say) in the reaction to this week’s strip. Right here in Texas, under our very noses, the wanta-be U.S. president, who sits in the governor’s mansion in Austin, signs a bill to be invasive of pregnant women by making them law-breakers if they do not submit to sonograms and worse. <br /><br />Our middle-aged state legislators created the bill and the governor signed it some time ago. The governor of Virginia got in the same hot water and is struggling for his political life.<br /><br />Our governor may not be in as much trouble because of the huge numbers of right-leaning Christians and non-believers who want to ensure we do not forget women are second-class citizens.<br /><br />A mother from Seattle wrote the following on the Doonsbury pages of Slate.com: “I am a mother of five with three grown daughters and two daughters-in-law all of child bearing age. Thank you for trying to protect their right to choose when and how and if they start a family by bringing this issue to light for so many. You have a way of explaining things to even the stupid people.”<br /><br />Another brave soul from Philadelphia submitted this wisdom born out of experience: <br /><br />“Thank you so much for addressing this farcical legislation in the manner it deserves. I had a good chuckle. As a victim of childhood sexual abuse, it makes me sick that many Republican politicians believe sticking probes into women's bodies for no medical purpose and against their will is anything other than a traumatic and unconscionable violation.”<br /><br />Then there were those of a different opinion as this e-mail from Illinois: “Your comic strip appears to be liberal tripe masquerading as entertainment. Much like Bill "the Muppet" Maher.”<br /><br />A guy in Oregon wrote: “Your "cartoon" is disgusting and way out of line. You should switch to commentary and get out of the "cartoon" business. Go to church.”<br /><br />So we are free to express our impartially, our views, biases, hate or love without danger of going to jail or being run out of town. Our daily paper does not run the 40-years running strip on a daily basis, depriving (in my weird view) our readers of a minority opinion in this Texas town.<br /><br />Government invasion into the private lives of “We the people…” has gone to extremes the last 20 years. It is the very political party (especially the Tea Party element) that wants to reduce government intervention into our lives, pushing this. That is the amazing part. They appear to be all for this invasion of women claiming it will prevent abortions. They are for “life.” I respect the free exchange of ideas.<br /><br />It has been said that there is a reason that God gave us two ears and only one mouth. Listening is such a crucial activity yet we devote so little time to it. Listen twice as much as talking or think twice before opening the mouth, or writing a piece like this.<br /><br />30--Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-43069241862277342972012-03-06T12:12:00.004-06:002012-03-06T12:17:47.873-06:00Former Senator Rick Santorum Does Not Have a Clue What "Church and State" means to the whole world.Former Senator Santorum sick and tired of hearing JFK’s remarks (660 words)<br />As the American presidential nomination race continues to romp through our living room television sets, we learn more about the thought processes of the candidates.<br /><br />Former Senator Rick Santorum, who wants to replace President Barack Obama, is “sick to my stomach” every time he is reminded of the 1960s remarks of then candidate John F. Kennedy to a bunch of Houston, Texas, pastors. JFK’s talk that day makes Rick Santorum want to throw up.<br />Strong language. Apparently what upset the former senator from Pennsylvania was this comment of JFK:<br />“I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference; and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.”<br /><br />Rick Santorum saw JFK’s words as implying that “people of faith have no role in the public square.” He told a crowd later: “ You bet that makes you throw up. What kind of country do we live that says only people of non-faith can come into the public square and make their case?"<br /><br />Santorum: "I don't believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute," <br /><br /> Kennedy, the first Catholic president, was merely informing a group of Protestant ministers in order to put to rest concerns about his faith.<br /><br />Candidate Santorum, who is also Catholic, said the Kennedy speech was part of an effort to begin to "force God out of the public square." <span style="font-weight:bold;"> KENNEDY DID NOT SAY THAT!!!<br /></span><br />"To say that people of faith have no role in the public square? You bet that makes you throw up. What kind of country do we live that says only people of non-faith can come into the public square and make their case?" <br /><br />The issue of the church or the state having the final say in matters of religion began in England during the first half of the 1600s. King James of Scotland (the one the 1611 Bible is name for) and his son Charles II were brought to their demise due in large part to their demands to be “Head of the Church.”<br /><br />Roger Williams, founder of Providence, Rhode Island, learned first-hand the unfortunate results when civil magistrates imposed their will in church affairs. That was the reason tens of thousands left England for the American colonies in the 1630s.<br /><br />The magistrates of New England did not learn from history. Roger Williams, a learned graduate of Cambridge, knew the dangers of the Crown making decisions for the Church. This attitude of not conforming to civil authorities being the final “church authority,” got him expelled from Massachusetts. Conformity was central to John Winthrop’s city upon a hill. Its purpose was to advance God’s interests on earth. “Conformity was to be the perceived will of God.”<br /><br />One plantation minister said: “endeavor after a Theocracy as might be to [that] which was the glory of Israel.” (Quoted in James Ernst’s “Roger Williams: New England Firebrand.”) <br /><br />If not a theocracy, Massachusetts was theocentric. The week was filled with church services, including two on Sunday, each of which lasted roughly three hours. The Puritans passionate view of the Bible told them they were to build the New Jerusalem. “And those who controlled both church and state worked in unison to build that perfect society” <span style="font-weight:bold;">(“Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State and the Birth of Liberty” by John M. Barry. A great new book, not just a biography.)</span><br /><br />President Thomas Jefferson, 150 years later, read the many writings of Roger Williams stressing importance of a society having a strong wall separating Church and State. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />If Rick Santorum became ill when hearing the words of John F. Kennedy on church and State, Roger Williams’ writings would have given him a stroke.</span><br /><br />--30—<br /><br />Britt Towery’s E-mail: bet@suddenlink.netUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-70254004493800493272012-03-06T12:06:00.004-06:002012-03-06T12:11:15.348-06:00Conservatives thrive on low intelligence<span style="font-style:italic;">CONSERVATISM THRIVES ON POOR INFORMATION? <br /></span><br />A study in the January issue of the Canadian journal, Psychological Science, expressed the idea “that people with conservative beliefs are likely to be of low intelligence.”<br /><br />Firm, unyielding conservatives may be set in their thinking and programs but this study is the first I have seen that suggested they were lacking in intelligence. The right-leaning conservative religious friends of mine are an inflexible sort, strict, even severe and stern in following their faith, but not lacking intelligence. It has been interesting noting how rigid personalities are always bumping into unforeseen problems and difficulties.<br /><br />But, there it was in a medical journal that conservatism thrives on low intelligence. This study went on to say that conservatives also thrive on poor information.<br /><br />Brian Nosek, a social and cognitive psychologist at the University of Virginia, notes that such social and political science research shows those who hold right-wing agendas are more resistant to change than those of other political persuasions. The lower the level of education, the higher the levels of prejudice.<br /><br />Intelligence is the first thing to be left behind when it comes to presidential campaigns. That is true of both major parties. It is embarrassing that the United States calls itself a Democracy or a Republic and is run by only two political parties, usually in cahoots with each other. Making it impossible for anyone else to contend.<br /><br />What do these democrat and republican politicians do as they run for the office of president? They spend untold millions of dollars pointing out the foolishness of the other side. They solve absolutely nothing and in the process reveal their own prejudice and ignorance of human nature, society and religious biases. With all that stupidity and sham they expect us to respect them and vote for them. That is first class low intelligence.<br /><br />In spite of the findings of conservative’s lack of intelligence, it is not true of all conservatives. There are also too many stupid progressives and/or liberals among us. We could all use the infusion into our brains of some ‘flexible’ juice; some milk of human kindness, and a smidgen of that uncommon commodity: common sense.<br /><br />The low intelligence study is backed up with actual events. Just one example: from the moment Barack Obama took over the ship of state every kind of lie and innuendo has been shot across his bow. <br /><br />Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, doubts our president is a Christian but is sure the disgraced, unethical former Speaker of the House and thrice-married Newt Gingrich is. If nothing else Franklin Graham disproves the adage, “the proverbial acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree.” <span style="font-weight:bold;">Franklin must have been adopted.</span><br /><br />The zealous religious crowd know President Barack Obama was not born in the USA, is a closet Muslim, hates Christianity and is out to destroy American freedoms. Brian Fischer, of American Family Radio, loves it when former Senator Rick Santorum calls the president’s Christianity a “phony theology.” <br /><br />Santorum denies it now but back in 2008 he said there really is no such thing as a "liberal Christian." Anyone who doesn't share his right-wing views doesn't really have any right to claim to be a Christian. <br /><br />Also on American Family Radio is faux historian David Barton who has a tendency to completely misrepresent early American history in order to bolster his ultra-right-wing agenda.<br /><br />But as a paragon of low intelligence Bryan Fischer has few peers. He accused President Obama of “behaving like a dictatorial tyrant.” Fischer has also likened Obama to Adolf Hitler.<br /><br />No political party or individual has a corner on ignorance, but advocates like radio preacher Fischer are the nearest thing to a real monopoly on ignorance, twisted Bible ethics and just plain intelligence.<br /><br />-30-Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-77846842179766784922012-02-22T18:09:00.001-06:002012-02-22T18:11:38.626-06:00Look Back At the Years 1911-1912<span style="font-weight:bold;">What a hundred years hath wrought </span><br /><br />One hundred years ago America was a vastly different world than the one we have today. Let’s take a glancing look over our shoulder and wonder at the extreme changes wrought (borrowing a well-used Bible word) since 1910-1911. <br /><br />One thing is for sure: the good old days were different. It was a world unknown to most of us living in the 21st century.<br /><br />In 1910 Texas had a population of 3.8 million. Today we are well over the 25 million mark. Old Glory had only 44 stars and Las Vegas Nevada’s population was all of 30.<br /><br />When checking out the differences it will boggle your mind. It was the childhood days of my mother, then six years old, and my dad, going into his teens.<br /><br />For starters we are reminded that in 1911, the average life expectancy for men was 47 years. The average U.S. blue collar worker averaged 22 cents an hour. The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year.<br /><br />One hundred years ago a dentist could expect to earn $2,500 a year. Now a dentist can make five times that amount in a week or two. (That figure is from personal experience.)<br /><br />Jimmy Carter was the first president to be born in a hospital. He was born a dozen years after 1911 but in 1911 more than 95 percent of all births took place at home.<br /><br />Ninety percent of all medical doctors had not been to college. Sub-standard medical schools were the norm.<br /><br />In 1911 automobiles were still an oddity but not exactly a new invention. Numerous railroad car manufacturing companies began making autos in the 1880s, such as Ensign of Huntington, West Virginia and Gilbert Car Company of Troy, New York. <br /><br />By 1910-11 only 8,000 automobiles were on American roads (only 144 miles of them paved). In cities that had automobiles the maximum speed limit was 10 mph. <br /><br />Though bathtubs were known in antiquity, only 14 percent of American homes had a bathtub. I tried, but failed, to find what the percentage of West Texans with bathtubs was back then. Lots of men could bath in the back of the barbershop or saloon. I guess most folks washed off in a number ten washtub in the kitchen on Saturday night. My wife’s family used one, but she lived in northeast Texas, a more advanced people than here on the desert-plains.<br /><br />Eating out places, other than the boarding house near the train station, were few and far between. Home cooking was what most people enjoyed. Sugar cost four cents a pound; eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. coffee was fifteen cents a pound. Iced tea had yet to be invented as well as canned beer.<br /> <br />Not counting courthouses, drug stores were favorite meeting places and not just because you could purchase marijuana, heroin and morphine over the counter without a prescription. <br /><br />Pharmacists were known to say things like “heroin clears the complexion, give buoyancy to the mind, regulates the bowels and is a perfect guardian of health.”<br /><br />Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write and only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school. But what would be impossible for today’s youth to believe: ONLY 8 PERCENT OF HOMES HAD A TELEPHONE.<br /><br />Amid all this, little Miss Christine French, six years old, was entering R. J. Looney Elementary School (joke of the times: looney kids) and teenager Britt Edward Towery was a marble carver apprentice. It was truly “a ‘nuther world.”Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-51263823140439372302012-02-22T18:04:00.003-06:002012-02-22T18:08:48.492-06:00Trivia: M*AS*H Film - TV Series<span style="font-weight:bold;">M*A*S*H trivia questions <br /></span><br />For a break from the world’s wars; the political primaries and confusion of a dysfunctional Washington, let’s put all that out of our minds and escape to the lighter side of life. <br /><br />Once upon a time a 1970s television series, set in the 1950s Korean War, spoofed the futility of war as American got more and more bogged down in Vietnam. Few programs since have begun to touch the humor, pathos, satire and near-reality as did this TV series based on the novel by Richard Hooker and Ring Lardner, Jr.’s 1970 dark comedy screenplay, “M*A*S*H.” <br /><br />The television series <span style="font-weight:bold;">(“M*A*S*H” is short for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) </span>ran from 1972 to 1983. Alan Alda, son of actor Robert Alda (who appeared in two episodes), For thsplayed Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce, better known as ‘Hawkeye,’ an anti-war surgeon there against his will but making the most of it. He was famous for refusing to carry a sidearm of any king. He also wrote and directed a number of episodes.<br /><br />For those who enjoy trivia, and have been addicted to M*A*S*H as I have, here are ten questions dredged from the archives of the TV series. <br /><br />Answers will be following this piece.<br /><br />1. For a time, Hawkeye and Captain ‘Trapper’ John McIntyre (Wayne Rogers) had a houseboy. What was his name? <br /><br />2. What outfit did Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger (Jamie Farr) wear when General Douglass MacArthur drove through camp? <br /><br />3. At a goodbye dinner, what did Hawkeye, Trapper and Radar give Lt. Colonel Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) for a farewell gift?<br /><br />4. Where was Major Frank Burns (Larry Linville) transferred after leaving the 4077th?<br /><br />5. What was name of Hawkeye’s hometown?<br /><br />6. Who replaced Trapper John when he left the series?<br /><br />7. When a new shipment of Bibles arrived, Father Francis Mulcahy (William Christopher) discovers a glaring typographical error. What is it?<br /><br />8. What was unique about Gary Burghoff, who played Corporal Walter Eugene ‘Radar’ O’Reilly?<br /><br />9. Major Charles Winchester (David Ogden) falls for a Frenchwoman who is on tour with the Red Cross. What changes his mind about their future together?<br /><br />10. What inspired Hawkeye to give up booze?<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Enjoy. See you back here, same time, same station next week with the answers to the M*A*S*H TV trivia quiz.</span><br /><br />--30--Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-30049920134081578702012-02-22T18:01:00.003-06:002012-02-22T18:04:29.028-06:00M*A*S*H Trivia Answers<span style="font-weight:bold;">Answers to M*A*S*H trivia Piece Just before this one<br /></span><br />Last week we took a break from the world’s wars; the political primaries and confusion of a dysfunctional Washington, in an effort to settle our nerves and visit the lighter side of life. <br /><br />Once upon a time a 1970s television series, set in the 1950s Korean War, spoofed the futility of war as American got more and more bogged down in Vietnam. Few programs since have begun to touch the humor, pathos, satire and near-reality as did this TV series based on the novel by Richard Hooker and Ring Lardner, Jr.’s 1970 dark comedy screenplay, “M*A*S*H.” <br /><br />The television series (“M*A*S*H” is short for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) ran from 1972 to 1983. Alan Alda, son of actor Robert Alda (who appeared in two episodes), For thsplayed Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce, better known as ‘Hawkeye,’ an anti-war surgeon there against his will but making the most of it. He was famous for refusing to carry a sidearm of any king. He also wrote and directed a number of episodes.<br /><br />For those who enjoy trivia, and have been addicted to M*A*S*H as I have, I offered ten trivia questions last week about that television series. <br /><br />F0r the long-suffering faithful the time has come to reveal the answers. Here are the questions followed by the answers in bold type:<br /><br />1. For a time, Hawkeye and Captain ‘Trapper’ John McIntyre (Wayne Rogers) had a houseboy. What was his name? <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Ho Jan.</span><br /><br />2. What outfit did Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger (Jamie Farr) wear when General Douglass MacArthur drove through camp? <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Statue of Liberty costume.</span><br /><br />3. At a goodbye dinner, what did Hawkeye, Trapper and Radar give Lt. Colonel Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) for a farewell gift?<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">A new suit.</span><br /><br />4. Where was Major Frank Burns (Larry Linville) transferred after leaving the 4077th?<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Veterans Hospital in Indiana.<br /></span><br />5. What was name of Hawkeye’s hometown?<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Crabapple Cove.<br /></span><br />6. Who replaced Trapper John when he left the series?<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Captain B. J. Hunnicut (Mike Farrell).<br /></span><br />7. When a new shipment of Bibles arrived, Father Francis Mulcahy (William Christopher) discovers a glaring typographical error. What is it?<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">“Thou shalt commit adultery.”<br /></span><br />8. What was unique about Gary Burghoff, who played Corporal Walter Eugene ‘Radar’ O’Reilly?<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">He was the only actor to play same character in both the film and the television series. <br /></span><br />9. Major Charles Winchester (David Ogden) falls for a Frenchwoman who is on tour with the Red Cross. What changes his mind about their future together?<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">He discovers she used to have a live-in lover.<br /></span><br />10. What inspired Hawkeye to give up booze?<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">High bar tab.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Sorry, there are no prizes.<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324519182877018.post-26943545504943423342012-02-22T17:56:00.005-06:002012-02-22T17:59:46.053-06:00Let's Stand and Cheer Ye Olde Postal Service<span style="font-style:italic;">U.S. Postal Service Review<br /><br />Today, Feb. 24, 2012, is the anniversary of the first perforated U.S. postage stamp. The year was 1857. No celebrations have been planned.</span><br /><br />The U.S. Postal Service is expecting to lose $18.2 billion a year by 2015 unless it can cut Saturday delivery and raise stamp prices. At the post office not so long ago I asked for a three-cent stamp. I was not being funny nor being a smart aleck. I think the clerk could see that for a moment I was still in the mid-20th century. At least I did not ask for a penny postcard.<br /><br />Those of us who pay bills using envelopes affixed with U.S. postage stamps and still write friends using ink and paper are facing the very real possibility of a first-class stamp costing fifty cents.<br /><br />In early colonial times, messages depended on any “going my way” friends or merchants. In 1639, the first official notice of a postal service in the colonies appeared. A good place to pick up your mail was at a local pub, tavern or coffee shop.<br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />(For history buffs: William Penn established Pennsylvania's first post office in 1683. In the Southern colonies slaves or private messengers carried the mail from plantations to towns and settlements.)</span><br /><br />In 1760, Benjamin Franklin reported a surplus to the British Postmaster General. Note that this historic first of making a profit, was twenty years before the U.S. Federal government began carrying the mail. <br /><br />In the nineteenth century, Congress authorized the Postmaster General to release a 5 cent stamp which would carry a half-ounce letter 300 miles. At that rate said letter would not make it from San Angelo to El Paso. <br /><br />For those with far-away friends a 10 cent stamp would take a half-ounce letter for distances greater than 300 miles, making it possible to get the letter out of the state sometimes.<br /><br />William Penn established Pennsylvania's first post office in 1683. In the Southern colonies slaves or private messengers carried the mail from plantations to towns and settlements.<br /><br />Suppose (or what-if?) back in the 1970s, a man named Frederick W. Smith had gone to work for the U.S. Postal Service? While an undergraduate at Yale University he wrote a research paper on how companies could make more money by being more efficient.<br /><br />Mr. Smith went into business, making a profit where others were just getting by. He learned that most airfreight shippers were sadly inadequate, inefficient and economically not making the profit they could. What a difference it would have made had Frederick W. Smith, like Jimmy Stewart in the movie, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” took such findings to the national Postal Services in Washington, D.C. instead of going into business.<br /><br />All Mr. Smith did was develop the efficient distribution system known today as FedEx.<br /><br />Federal Express not only completely revolutionized global business practices, but defined speed and reliability while making a good profit. <br /><br />Another money-maker is United Parcel Service (UPS) is older than FedEx. So old in fact their first delivery car was a Model T Ford. <br /><br /><br />Our Founding Father Benjamin Franklin probably had such ideas and dreams of an efficient and profit-making mail service. Who knows? Many have tried and many still hold out hope for a profit-making postal service. <br /><br />Fredrick Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, wrote in last week’s USA Today: “Almost 90 percent of the red ink stems from a 2006 congregational mandate that the Postal Service pre-fund future retiree health benefits for the next 75 years and do so within a decade. This burden, borne by no other public agency or private firm, cost the Postal Service $5.5 billion annually.”<br /><br />Before beating up on the Postal Service remember they are just doing what Congress has demanded. Happy First Perforated U.S. Postage Stamp Day.<br /><br />--30--Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1