An Evening with the Artist

Last evening our local church hosted the Spring dinner for the district Senior Adult Ministries.  We were privileged to have Gary Varvel as our speaker.  Gary recently retired from his forty year gig as an editorial cartoonist.  His last twenty-four years were with the Indianapolis Star and his work was syndicated in newspapers and magazines nationwide.

Varvel told the story of his journey to living his dream, giving full credit to the leadership of God in his life.  He shared three dozen or so cartoons on the "big screen" and showed the trailers for three of the films that he is involved in through House of Grace Films.

This cartoon demonstrates the dream that Gary plans to live in his retirement from the pressure cooker of the newspaper world.  His intent is to spend his life sowing the seed of the gospel as the cartoon illustrates.

It was a very entertaining and worth-while evening.

Trumpy Bear and Melissa

Just saw (again) the ad hawking "Trumpy Bear."  At the lines, "God bless America, and God bless Trumpy Bear," I found myself on my feet, hand over my heart as I heard the strains of the National  Anthem playing in my head.  Couldn't help myself.  Laughed maniacally.  Couldn't help myself.  Then I sobered up and realized how totally unfunny the whole thing is.

But it got me to thinking about a post I made here last November in which I explained that in good conscience I could vote for neither of the leading candidates.  Now were you to ask me after the fact who I voted for I would tell you the ballot is sacrosanct and I am not obliged to tell you.  However, of my own free will I am going to tell you anyway.  I, along with 43 of my fellow-Hoosiers voted for Melissa L. Kelly.

I think I made the wiser choice.

 With his very own certificate of authenticity; i.e., it is a real stuffed ripoff.

July 11

Did you know that July 11 is less likely to fall on a Tuesday or a Friday than on any of the other five days of the week?  Now does that not make today special?

No, it does not.  What makes this day special is that you woke up today to experience another day in your life.  Make the most of it.

A special day in the life of former President William Howard Taft was July 11, 1921, the day he was sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States making him the only person ever to serve both as POTUS and CJOTUS.




William Howard Taft, 27th President 1909-1913, 10th Chief Justice 1921-1930.
Taft also served as Civil Governor of the Philippines and he was Secretary of War in TR's administration.

 "Presidents come and go, but the Supreme Court goes on forever."  --WHT

Hopes Dashed

A few days ago I expressed the hope that the political phone calls would abate for awhile.  No such luck.  Less than three days after the polls closed

*ring*

"Hello."

"Hi, I'm Eric and I am calling on behalf of Governor Pence's campaign.  May I ask you a few questions about the November election?"

"No, you may not."

*click*

Primary Day. Finally

 I am running for Congress because I am a businessman, not a politician, [but I want to be a politician above all else so I am spending thousands of dollars, OPM, for these glitzy ads].  I am Trey and I approved this message.

It is Primary Election Day in Indiana.The good news is that the spate of bad political advertising and dinner-time robocalls may abate-- for a while.  The bad news is someone is going to prevail at the polls.

Well, "we" are going to take back Washington, or the Country, or perhaps the promises we've made.

Say, who "gave away" Washington in the first place, or who took it away?

Indiana has an "open primary" which I personally find  to be an abomination.  Sign your name and mark "R" or "D".  Pick a different party next primary if you so desire.  What sort of party politics is that?  Ticks me off.

Well, the state of the state and the nation, not to mention the local scene, ticks me off anyway.

Have to get up and go to the polls.  Politics truly do make strange bed-fellows.   I probably will be casting my vote for the darling of the millennials, though they are making the choice for the wrong reasons.  My motives are pure.  Purely intended to throw a wrench into the works.

 Obstructionism:  Hope for the nation.

RR is reputed to have said  that the ten scariest words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."

Perhaps a more accurate statement would be, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help myself."

Politics as Usual, 1956

 Remember Ezra Taft Benson? Sam Rayburn? How about Ike, Adlai, and Dick?

She says to the pollster, "I haven't decided!  Which do you think would help me the most=-Eisenhower or Stevenson?"

Well, which will help ME the most is always the question, isn't it?  plus ça change

 Eisenhower was the second campaigner I heard speaking from the rear platform of a train.  Truman the first in Colorado Springs, Ike in Seattle.

227 Years of Self-rule

March 4, 1789  the first Congress of the United States meets in New York City, puts constitution into effect, receives proposed  Bill of Rights.

I'll save you doing the math: that was 227 years ago. 

We've come a long way, Baby.  The question is:  Are we headed in the right direction?

We've grown, we've seen many advances in technologies, many changes in the social fabric; we've engaged in many conflicts.  Old Glory has fifty stars and she still flies.  The question is: How long will she continue to wave?

We are given to "progress," to compulsions, and to deliberations, to argument, and even, alas, to outrage and insults:  The question is: Are these  the values by which we really want to live?

One could hope that the momentum of descent into  a morass, a quagmire, could be slowed, could be stopped before it is too late.  And the question is:  If that original set of congressmen of 1789, in their powdered wigs and frilled shirts could see us today, would they see the extension of the body and the nation as they envisioned it, or would they see an asylum run by the inmates?

The prayer is: God help the denizens of the USA.

Color Me Puzzled

MNWR headquarters is occupied by militants, a situation about which I know only what I read on social media, i.e., opinions and flame-throwing from left, right, and heaven knows where, and from the mainstream newspapers and tv outlets, which is pretty much the same thing in a more sophisticated format.

All that to say that with what knowledge I have gained about the West from my years of living and reading, a good bit of that time in the West I know enough about the situation to disseminate obfuscating and obscuring smoke and virtually no light.  Which is another way of saying I know about as much about it as any other random person you might encounter, or read or listen to on the airwaves.

Yes, I could give a sketchy rundown of the history and throw around names such as Malheur, Roosevelt, Bundy, Hammill, Harney, numerous politicians and even some alphabet salad: FBI, BLM, NWR, there's your proof of that.  But I reiterate: I could shed no light.

But.  But an article I read in the Oregonian stated that the occupiers were using BLM computers and had access to the information thereon.

 I doubt I am much smarter than the average bear, but one question.  Okay, compound question:  Where is the power switch to the compound and why has someone not flipped it to the "OFF" position?

If you have followed this episode in the various media and if you are a thoughtful person, you may have observed that there is a number  of words that appear in virtually every article you read that have not been used here.