Does Your Vote Count?

Were David Freese’s full count hits in game six the key factor in the Cardinal’s 2011 World Series championship? Was his bottom of the ninth inning hit this year against the Nationals the primary factor in the Cards making it to the 2012 Championship Series? Yes and no, but mostly no.

Yes, in a sense that without his final moment contributions, the Cards lose. But, no, in a sense that it took the entire team a full season to get to the point that David’s hits made the difference. Looking back at the season there are countless times when a play or a hit, made by a host of Cardinals, determined the outcome of the game. In both seasons, one additional loss and the Cards don’t make the playoffs, and David Freese remains an unknown.

On November 6^th Americans will choose who will run their towns, counties, states, and country. It’s the one time when everyone is truly equal. No matter one’s socioeconomic position, their vote will count just much as that of Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Michael Moore, or Clint Eastwood. Choose the person in whom you hold the highest regard, and know that your vote is just as valuable as theirs. The aged who are casting what might be their last vote from the confines of a nursing home have just as much clout as the energetic eighteen year old voting for the first time. It’s a daunting notion. And a right that has been literally secured with blood, sweat, toil, and tears.

Elections in which the candidates are considered highly qualified by their respective parties are always close. City council contests among qualified candidates in a small town are decided by a few votes. Presidential elections are sometimes decided by the slimmest of margins. The difference in the 2000 Presidential election was less than one percent of the total votes cast.

Bringing that to the local level, estimate the number of voters in your precinct, multiply that number by 1% and that’s the potential difference in choosing the next President of the most powerful country on the planet.

How does that relate to David Freese? Every vote builds on the cumulative effect of the previous vote. The impact of the last vote depends on the previous votes. While each vote is important, no vote is more so than another. And if the election is close, each and every vote is critical. Your vote may be the very vote that makes the difference and elects the President. Vote!

But that’s not all.

Now that you’ve been convinced to vote, it’s important to note that there’s a chance your vote won’t count, anyway. In a Presidential election voters are technically casting their vote for an elector. Each state is allowed one elector per US Congressman. Every state has two, one for each Senator, and one for each US Representative. Twenty six states require electors to cast their votes according to the popular vote of the state; twenty four do not. Did you know that? No matter how you vote, your state’s electoral college may not bound to vote according to popular vote. This would be a good time to inquire as to your state’s requirements.

For arguments sake, let’s assume the electors in every state vote according to the popular vote; they always have. What happens if there’s a tie in the Electoral College vote? If that happens, the US House of Representatives chooses the President and the Senate chooses the Vice President.  Sounds simple, right? There’s a catch. In the house, each state gets one vote. Wyoming, with a population of little more than 500,000 casts one vote alongside California’s single vote representing over 35 million. That’s a hoot, especially if you’re from a small, sparsely populated state.

The Senate does a floor vote, so the VP would most likely be chosen by the party with the majority.

Has there ever been a tie? Yes! Thomas Jefferson was chosen by the House after an Electoral College tie in 1800 and John Adams in 1824.

Exercise your hard-earned right. Let your vote be the one that breaks the tie.

The American Experience

After going through a course called “The Truth Project,” which deals with critical elements of American history that have been distorted and now taught as fact, Debbie and I decided to do something about it. So, each year we host a speaker, who is an authority on a particular historical subject, to the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. The speaker typically spends the day with honor students and then addresses a large public gathering that evening. This year we hosted Dr. Daniel Dreisbach, Professor of Law at American University, an authority on our founding fathers, and particularly Thomas Jefferson. He specifically addressed Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists dealing with church and state.

During Dr. Dreisbach’s visit, I had the privilege of accompanying him to a dinner hosted by a former Missouri Supreme Court Judge. Also at the dinner were a retired Missouri Appellate Court Judge, a New York Times best-selling author, and a college professor of history. The discussion was vigorous.

A litany of subjects were debated, primarily those having to do with American legends now taught as fact and how universities such as Harvard, established by Christian organizations and once conservative have, in the name of diversity, evolved into schools with an obtuse identity. And, in too many cases, every religion except Christianity is welcome on campus and in the classroom. But the real pearl of the night came when we stumbled upon a major theme that is missing in today’s classrooms at every level.

Even though today’s history curriculum is abridged, and too often to a misleading degree, there’s an even greater crucial element that is completely missing. While students learn a somewhat distorted version of America’s roots – the Pilgrims, Paul Revere, the Tea Party, and all of that – the uniqueness of the journey known as the American Experiment, is tragically missed. What’s missing you ask? The world is primarily made up of countries formed by homogenous groups with borders that have changed repeatedly, usually after the most recent war. The United States is vastly different.

America is a country of diverse immigrants. While the original Americans were British Christian Protestants, and the founding fathers drew on their religious roots to draft our Declaration of Independence, Federalist Papers, and Constitution, America has since welcomed those from all continents, faiths, and cultures. The United States is made up of German Americans, Korean Americans, African Americans, and the list goes on. The common thread is that all are American. And, a myriad of cultures peacefully flourish under a common flag.

While students are taught a light version of American history, few are impressed with the unique nature of America. Doing so would cause more to realize the intangible aspects that make America resilient and great. America is a country of people with diverse origins; there will always be divisions. America’s greatest leaders have been able to draw upon the strengths of diversity and inspire most to a common goal. We all pledge allegiance to the same flag.

There’s currently too much focus on divisions and not enough coverage given to the diverse, but serene, communities that make up most of America. No country on earth hosts and provides protection for the variety of religions as does America. In no other country do citizens reside with a more diverse background but common allegiance. Rarely does a public protest in America result in the loss of life. Think back to the recent months-long Wall Street set-in. This freedom of speech, and too often responsibility, is an important aspect to realize in order to understand and deal with differences of notions that have always existed, always will, and are essential what makes America unique, peculiar, and great.

We’re in the final days of a Presidential election. And the pundits would have us believe that never before have the politics been so brutal. Those who say so don’t know their history. For example, Thomas Jefferson’s Vice President challenged a political adversary to a dual and subsequently shot and killed him on the capital lawn. Compared to that, our politicians – both liberal and conservative – are sedate.

What was once considered an experiment by the rest of the world raised up to defeat the greatest power on earth at that time, gained its independence and quickly rose to be the world’s greatest power, protector, and provider.

The fact that America was founded on Christian principals can’t be denied. The language of our constitution is laced with the style of those familiar with the Bible. The country first known as the American Experiment is now the country to which the greatest numbers risk all to reach.

 

Bunnies and Bears

I grew up in a small house less than a 1000 square feet. There were six of us, and consequently no room for an indoor dog. I had one friend who had an indoor dog, a poodle. Other than that, he was normal.

After being married several years my wife and I moved into a house with more than one toilet and plenty of room. The three boys began asking for a dog. I didn’t have one growing and up and I decided they didn’t need one either. I pulled into the driveway after work and the youngest, toothless, boy announced, “We got you a birthday present and you aren’t going to like it.” I sensed it was a puppy.

When they presented me with golden ball of fur, I remembered seeing a sign at a furniture store that read – “Unattended children will be given an ice-cream cone and a puppy on departure.” I wondered what I’d done to deserve this little creature that had just deposited a thousand strands of hair on my black dress pants. My feelings would change.

Golden Retrievers are without a doubt the best breed of dog. That is if you’re looking for a dog that sheds enough hair each day to fill a pillow case, isn’t bred for retrieving anything in particular, sleep 23.5 hours per day, but loves people.

Our first Golden was the perfect dog. Katy hated the outdoors, wouldn’t step on anything wet, greeted everyone as if they were a soldier returning from the front, and on walks never got more than twenty feet away. If geese or ducks came into our yard she’d chase them away before they had a chance to leave slimy evidence of their visit. Each morning she’d piddle in the same spot and then retrieve the morning paper.

It has been said that life begins when the last child leaves home and the dog dies. Katy died just before our youngest, now with teeth and much larger, left for college. We missed Katy but we enjoyed the ability to be spontaneous. Overnight trips needed very little planning; we didn’t need to get home to ‘let the dog out.’ The vacuum cleaner no longer needed to be emptied weekly.

Some years later the kids, now adults, gifted us with another Golden. Training a dog in the middle of winter is daunting. The next few weeks weren’t pleasant. Eventually Roxie became a part of the family. Unlike Katy, she’s not the perfect dog. She doesn’t chase geese and I once witnessed a pair of ducks mating not ten feet from her. She couldn’t have cared less. And she’s afraid of almost everything, including trash bags, lawn mowers, people carrying things, doors closing, the dark, flying birds, and airplanes. She does get the paper each morning, but one can’t predict what she’ll do with it.

On a cold rainy February night I discovered the one thing that she’d chase; a bunny. Yep, let her out to piddle and away she went through the wet grass into the mulch and sliding to a stop in the only muddy spot in the yard. And since that night she has continued to be vexed by bunnies. She has yet to catch one.

And so it went; the dog afraid of everything had discovered her purpose. But then one morning when I let her out to piddle she went racing toward a cedar tree where she’d cornered a bunny the night before. We were at our cabin in the Rockies where it wasn’t unusual to see a small bear now and then. Roxie had seen bears from a distance and growled like she does when the doorbell rings, but then runs to the bedroom when a stranger enters. This day was different. She ran under the low hanging branches and instead of a bunny running out the other side a large black bear, probably weighing over 300 pounds ambled out. I expected Roxie to run for safety in my direction with the bear at her heels. Instead the bear trotted away with Roxie barking viciously at its heels growing and showing teeth as if to have suddenly contracted a severe case of rabies. The bear disappeared over a ledge and then Roxie returned to me, panting, and frequently looking back in the direction of the bear’s departure. To this day when she goes to piddle in that area, she first races to the cedar tree and then goes to the ledge and looks around fearlessly.
Roxie is a people magnet; Debbie I take her along when walking to town from our cabin in the Rockies. She attracts people and I then try to sell them one of my books. They ignore me and ask what kind of dog Roxie is. I tell them she’s a Golden Retriever. “Beautiful,” they all say. “What does she retrieve?” they ask. “Bunnies and Bears,” I reply. They slowly back away. She’s not good for book sales.

Bears and Sharks

The following is based on my seeing Jaws the movie, and an actual bear hunt in the Colorado Rockies.

Bears and Sharks are similar in many ways. Both have a keen sense of smell; their heads, as if mounted on a swivel, are constantly scanning ahead, side to side, and behind. Their bodies are large and without definition. Both animals maintain constant movement, never stopping, and occasionally exhibiting blistering speed when closing in on a meal; their hunger is insatiable. Sharks and Bears are omnivorous; they’ll eat anything, or anyone. They’ll even eat their own.

I recently had the privilege to accompany my three boys on a bear hunt. It’s a father and son rite of passage that, given the opportunity, shouldn’t be missed. The hunt had been promised since the days of Gerber and in the actual planning stage for nearly two years. Our chosen hunting spot was the High Lonesome Ranch, a three hundred square-mile spread in western Colorado.

Bears move from food source to food source. Sometimes a bear will feed once and then move on. They don’t always return to the same place, but find where bears have been feeding and eventually one will appear. The best way to spot bears is to scour the area for sign and once evidence of bear activity, such as scat or tracks has been found, watch from a distance, sometimes as far as a mile away. A spotting scope is essential.

Seeing a bear in the wild for the first time is a visceral experience. One’s imagination vacillates between Yogi and Booboo at one extreme to scenes from Anthony Hopkins’s “The Edge.” They look playful; they’re not. Mountain Lions will relinquish a fresh kill to an approaching bear; that ought to tell you something.

Eventually it’s time to setup on the bear area. Under normal circumstances bears will avoid humans, so it’s necessary to spray down with a scent killer. Scent sufficiently masked and gun loaded, the next step is to find a vantage spot downwind of the area where the bears were last seen. And then wait.

In my case a sow and cubs first moved through the area. A few minutes behind them lumbered a large bear. To my advantage, the bear was preoccupied with the sow and cub. Bears will kill cubs. It’s thought they do so to force the sow into estrus.

Finally, less than fifty yards away, the bear simultaneously came into position for a clear shot, took his eyes off the cubs, and spotted me. A fifty yard shot at the shooting range is a piece of cake. Except when considering the cost of ammo, there’s no need for one’s pulse to surge. But at fifty yards it’s possible to make piercing and disturbing eye contact with a 350-pound black bear, especially one that’s looking directly at you through a high-powered scope. He paused momentarily, rare for a bear, my pulses surged; his stopped.

Since the bear died, the cubs lived. I feel good about that. It took several minutes for my pulse to resume safe levels, and more than an hour to reach my normal resting rate.

Skinning a bear, unlike the rest of the hunting experience, is something that can be missed. There’s nothing scent-free about a bear. The fact that they can smell anything when they stink so horrific is an olfactory wonder.

Ask a mountaineer if they like bear meat and you’re likely to get one of two responses. A few will lick their lips and begin a dramatic exposé on bear meat recipes. Most will gag at the notion and recommend inviting B-list friends and relatives when bear is being served. I plan to serve it to my wife’s relatives at Thanksgiving.

Prodigious Musial

Since publishing my first novel, The Bridge, I get a lot of questions. Guys I knew growing up want to know when I learned to spell. More polite people want to know why I write, how I got started, how do I create characters, when is the movie, and so on. But, there are two questions I like most and have the most endearing answers. 1) What is the most extraordinary thing that has happened to you as a result of your books? 2) What is the most poignant moment that has occurred?

The oral version of this story is much longer. For the blog I’ll keep it as short as possible.

A new friend’s wife’s grandparents live near Stan Musial. I confirmed that I was named after Stan Musial and the new friend got me a Stan Musial autographed baseball. This instantly elevated the new friend’s status to good friend. I sent him and Stan Musial a book and a thank you card.

A few months later, Roger, a friend from high school called and asked if I’d written a book. He was very suspicious at first and wanted to know if my wife had written it. We finally got to the purpose of his call. As it turned out his mother-in-law was the caregiver for Stan and Lillian Musial and she’d seen Stan Musial reading a book written by a person from Marble Hill. She called Roger to see if he knew the author. Roger called me and wanted to know about this so-called book deal.

A week or so later Roger’s mother-in-law, Betsy, called and extended an invitation to the Musial’s home. Debbie and I assumed that we’d be among many others at the Musial’s. We were wrong.

We expected to see several cars at the Musial’s but when we arrived there were none. We double checked the invitation and waited for others to arrive. After a few minutes we realized no one else was coming so we nervously approached the front door and rang the bell.

Several anxious minutes passed before the door slowly opened and an elderly lady with beautiful piercing eyes rolled up in her Hoveround. She wrapped on the storm door with her cane and said, “Are you the author?”

It was an easy enough question and I responded, “Yes ma-am.”

“Come on in,” she said. “I’m Lillian. We’re watching Magnum P.I.” Debbie and I followed her down the hall to their den where Tom Selleck was racing around on the big screen and Stan the Man was sitting comfortably in a recliner.

“Hello,” Stan said and pointed toward a comfortable looking couch. “Have a seat.” Lillian told Stan that they had company and to turn off the TV. A conversation about who was the most hard-of-hearing between the two them ensued and the TV was finally turned off. Betsy, their care-giver, who we’d never met and only spoken to by phone, walked in near the end of the audiology debate.

Debbie and I, realizing we were the only guests invited that day, and in the presence of greatness, entered into a state of shock, where we remained for the balance of the day. Lillian asked if we were hungry and offered to fix us a chicken sandwich. Stan held up a copy of The Bridge and asked about the book. It was as if we were visiting an aunt and uncle rather than a legend and his wife. We had the temerity to change the course of the conversation and got the Musials to tell us about themselves.

Lillian was seated to our left and Stan to our right. Our heads swiveled back and forth from Stan to Lillian. One would begin a story and the other would finish. We heard bits and pieces of their high school days, Stan’s first year with the Cardinals farm team, his year in the Navy, and a little about his trips to Africa with Curt Gowdy.

Stan asked Betsy to get one of the ‘good’ baseballs. He signed it “To Stan From Stan,” blew on the ink until it dried, tossed it to me, and smiled. I felt faint.

Betsy gave us a sign when she thought it was time to go. “We need to be going,” I announced and Debbie and I both stood. Lillian blocked our way with the Hoveround and insisted that we go on a house tour. For next forty five minutes or so Lillian pointed out photos taken of her and Stan with every President since Harry Truman and countless celebrities. She gave us a detailed narrative of the circumstance surrounding each photo.

Betsy, concerned about Lillian getting tired, did the right thing and again encouraged Debbie and me to make our exit. Lillian, hearing the exchange, asked Betsy to go find an autographed clock to give to us as a gift. When Betsy left to find the clock Lillian grinned and said, “That’ll keep her busy a while,” and then she resumed the house tour.

Betsy returned about twenty minutes later with the clock. It’s on my office wall; I’m looking at it now.

Saying the visit was unbelievable is not an exaggeration. I have an adjective I use in only the most extreme circumstances. The visit was truly unbelievable. The Musials treated us like family. When we were leaving Lillian thanked us for taking the time to visit them.

Betsy winked and whispered, “She means it too. That’s the way they are.”

Prodigious

Question #2 will be covered is a subsequent blog.

Get Used To It

I was recently listening to people my age trash online social networks and specifically, Facebook. I think Facebook was the chosen goat because that’s the only social network name that everyone could recall. It’s interesting how so many in the graying group proudly announce that they don’t participate in online social networks. I can remember when some of my friends didn’t have a phone; I can remember one who didn’t have electricity. That all changed, and so will attitudes toward online social networks.

Look around at any given setting and notice how when people are given a moment of free time, they’re checking their mobile devices, which are those things that some people still call a phone. And, it’s not just the younger generation; these days everybody is a palm reader.

Why should a small business owner care about social media? Millennials. What are millennials? They’re the thirty and under gang who are now beginning to shop with their own money. And, the way they make their choices is radically different than their parents.

Millennials aren’t easily influenced by traditional marketing strategies and are heavily dependent on product reviews from family, friends, and even internet strangers they’ve never met. When you think about it, taking the word of a total stranger isn’t much different than my generation being influenced by the likes of John Cameron Swayze tossing a Timex into the sea to demonstrate the watch’s durability. We all believed that a Timex could take a licking and keep on ticking. What the heck did Swayze do to earn our trust other than appear on TV?

Millennials use Facebook. The average Facebook user has 130 friends, but a Facebook friend is different than a real friend. A real friend will help you change a flat tire; a Facebook friend would consider the idea of actually meeting you in person kind of creepy. Facebook users like to share information. Let’s do the math. A person posts something of interest on their Facebook and all 130 of their friends see it and then share that with their friends. And then, those friends share the post with their friends. Even when considering for the likelihood of mutual friends, the original post is shared with literally thousands before the day is through. A business can do the same thing, except a business Facebook has fans, which are the same as friends, except different. Confused yet?

The viral nature of online social networks is intriguing but that’s not the most important element. It’s no longer kids playing on their phones. This wireless linking is now the primary source of information for the next generation of shoppers. The sooner a business gets in the mix and begins building an online brand, the better. The longer one waits the more difficult it will be to break through the clutter and be fanned or friended by the next generation of shoppers. Get used to it.

Affordable HealthCare Act

The Supreme Court has ruled. And ever since, too much time is being spent discussing if the so-called penalty should be classified as a tax. No matter the classification, it’s money that will be taken from the private sector and spent by the government. A more productive discussion addresses how the ACA will affect individuals, families, and businesses. After browsing the IRS website, I’ve boiled it down to a few talking points.

Insurance companies will be required to provide coverage for everyone by 2014, regardless of a pre-existing condition. In my opinion (IMO) this will cause premiums to rise.

Everyone will be required to have insurance. IMO – this should cause premiums to decrease. Except, there’s the penalty option which states that people without healthcare coverage will be required to pay. And the penalty option may be the less expensive choice. But then, there’s the tax credit feature that offers those who can’t afford healthcare a government subsidy to cover those costs.

Businesses with 50 or more employees will be required to provide health care coverage. If a business with 50 or more employees does not provide healthcare coverage they will be assessed a penalty of $2000  x their employee head count minus 30. Confused yet?

If the business does provide coverage and pays more than 60% of the cost, then they’re home free – almost. If any employee is paying more than 9.5% of their family income for health care coverage, then the employer must pay a penalty of $3000 x their employee head count minus 30. So, it’s easily possible for a business to provide healthcare coverage and still be assessed a very heavy penalty.

IMO – due to the potentially rising cost of individual healthcare coverage, businesses that employ more than 50 will find it difficult to escape the penalty. Many will choose to pay the penalty and drop group healthcare coverage. It’s impossible to know what affect that will have on individual cost of health care.

Businesses with less than 50 employees will qualify for tax credits to subsidize the cost of coverage. The amount of the tax credit is inversely proportional to the average employee’s compensation - the lower the average compensation, the higher the tax credit. IMO – this could result in small firms keeping the average compensation low in order to gain a higher tax credit.

There’s a lot of talk about tax credits and affordability. But there’s little talk about how the tax credits will be funded. In most cases, tax credits are a reduction of a tax liability. With regards to the ACA, tax credits are monies received separate from one’s tax liability.

The bill includes a long list of tax increases and new taxes in order to fund the tax credits. This list is complicated but can be found on the IRS website.

IMO – the ACA deals only with cost coverage and does nothing to address health cost drivers. And worst of all, the ACA will increase the overall cost and the decrease the quality of healthcare for everyone.

What's The Value Of Your Vote?

The ways in which value can be assigned are infinite. A simple materialistic approach would be to determine the amount of money it would take to cause one to vote a particular way. In some cases it might be the amount of money to cause someone to simply cast a vote. That’s a present day value.

Another means of value assignment would include all that has occurred in order to secure one’s right to vote. That cost would include intellectual property, defense spending, and life. Our founding fathers first declared our independence, and then some lost their lives defending that declaration. The survivors spent an incredible amount of time, treasure, and talent creating our constitution.

One other consideration might be to consider what those in other countries might give to be able to freely cast a vote as we do here in America. Determining a vote value is next to impossible but the fact that a vote is of considerable value isn’t debatable.

A vote is clearly more valuable than say a: driver’s license, credit card, opening a bank account, boarding a plane, or the long list of things for which an ID is required. Yet, the movement to require voter ID is shrouded in controversy. One argument is that ID requirement disenfranchises minorities. That word disenfranchise is fodder for its own blog.

Georgia has had voter ID laws for several years and recently enacted photo ID legislation. What is the voter registration experience in this most restrictive and disenfranchising state? Since the passage of voter ID laws, minority voter turnout has increased. From the 2004 to 2008, the Black and Latino vote increased 42% and 140% respectively. Certainly President Obama’s run for office contributed to the increase in minority registration, but with an increase such as Georgia experienced, it’s difficult to use the disenfranchisement argument.

The constitutionality of the Obama Health Care law will most likely depend upon a single vote. Consider the impact of that single vote. Again, what is the value of a vote?

Preferential Assent

I read an article that got me to thinking. Getting me to thinking is a bit like starting an old diesel engine in the dead of winter; it takes a bit of coaxing. But just like a diesel, once I commence to thinkin’ it’s nearly impossible for me to stop.

The article went the long way around in saying that so many of our beliefs are based on notions rather than facts. It said that we tend to shape our beliefs based on choice, rather than sound argument. I thought about that for a while and decided – dang if it ain’t true.

A bushy-eyebrowed academia tells us the sun is 94 million miles away and we ‘choose’ to believe it. Our grandparents, whom we’ve known since diapers, tell us the stove is hot and we have to touch it. Maybe curiosity plays a part in the finger-tip burning exercise.

Global warming is another. One global climate group points to the fallacy of emissions being the root cause of climate change. Another equally qualified group insists that carbon emissions are the bane of oxygen breathing life forms. How do we decide which group to believe? One way would be to ask which group is funded by an entity that will benefit from their findings.

It feels natural to associate a smoke stack belching a billowing plume with depletion of the ozone, itching eyes, smog, and global warming. And that’s partially true; smog is essentially the combination of smoke and fog, and smoke can cause one’s eyes to itch. Since one of the warmest periods on earth occurred during the middle ages, it’s difficult to assign, with certainty, the cause of climate change to an industrial age belching smokestack. But we do.

We experienced an unusually warm March 2012 here in the United States’ lower 48. And the climate change crowd dusted off their posters and called for stricter emission control. And since March was so warm, it seemed to most that a dramatic climatic shift had occurred. Globally, March was one of the coolest in 13 years. But because ‘we’ were warm in March, we prefer not to believe reports that the rest of the world was cooler.

The shuttle program was recently scrapped, and the reasons given had to do with cost. It’s estimated that the entire shuttle program from start to finish cost taxpayers less than ¼ of the cost of the infamous stimulus package. And for that matter, it’s estimated that the total cost of the entire space program since JFK’s famous speech was less than ½ the cost of the stimulus package.

What benefit was the space program? Innovations that occurred during the space program that have had lasting and widespread benefits include: laparoscopic surgical devices, lightweight polymers, GPS, just to name a few. And each of these provided cost savings for virtually every American, if not most of the free world.

What benefit, lasting or temporary, has the stimulus package provided? What do you prefer to believe?

How about religion? How many people base their choice of religion on a critical search of the scriptures of their chosen religion? Sure, most can recite the behavior that’s called for within a religion’s tenants. Can many say why a particular tenant is called for? Religion must be based on enduring belief, not preference. What could be more important that one’s religion?

It’s said that we’re now in the information age. More information is available to more people than ever before. If so, then why is it we continue to believe that which we prefer to believe and not necessarily that which is supported by evidence?

It’s a chicken and egg thing. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Likewise, which comes first: belief or truth?

Preferences are whimsical and harmless whereas beliefs are enduring and indicative. I prefer mustard over mayonnaise is a harmless statement, the truth of which is determined by the one speaking, and can change at a moment’s notice. I believe the sun is less than 90 million miles away may be one’s belief. It would be wrong, but it can be a belief. Preferences can’t be wrong - they can be in poor taste - but they can’t be wrong. Beliefs can be wrong.

Preferences are best left when choosing the color of a car. Core beliefs are best developed based on evidence. And today, evidence is a fingertip away.

Are your ascendant beliefs based on preference or something more enduring? It’s not an easy question to answer.

IWS

We celebrate our nation’s independence each year on July 4^th. Independence should be rooted in the DNA of every American. But I sometimes wonder if the independence gene is being slowly bred out of Americans and replaced with a dependence gene. Our growing dependence on government spending causes me to think this way. There’s something else that has me perplexed.

Since publication of my first novel about rural America, I’ve heard constant feedback about how much people miss the days when America was sprinkled with small autonomous towns. Countless numbers of people have shared with me a memory of their hometown when it had a business district that provided every necessary product and service. And all along I thought my hometown was special because even though small, we had a theatre, two banks, three supermarkets (grocery stores), two meat shops, three general merchandise stores, several stores selling appliances and furniture, a full service filling station on several corners, a clock shop, shoe repair, and the list could go on. Now we have empty buildings and a twenty five mile drive to the nearest Wal-Mart.

I’m not a Wal-Mart basher and I don’t blame Wal-Mart for the decay of America’s main street. My recollection is of people celebrating the opening of a Wal-Mart thirty miles away and then some becoming giddy when plans for the one twenty five miles away was announced. Nobody was forced to shop at Wal-Mart. In reality, the single biggest contributing factor in the decay of my hometown was the closing of several nearby factories. That was the beginning to the end of our autonomy. It didn’t have to be that way. Wal-Mart didn’t do it.

People didn’t stop working; they got jobs in other places. And guess what? That other place was near a Wal-Mart and other shopping venues, such as The Mall. Slowly, one by one, we handed our small town, our autonomy, our independence, over to the proverbial Wall Street.

Government spending is slowly crushing our national independence and the challenge to bring government spending under control is daunting. Liberals will cast conservatives as cold, calculating, and without feelings. Conservatives will cast liberals as socialist, communist, and immoral. Partisan bickering isn’t new and it has been going on since the founding fathers debated the writing of our constitution. One of the founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton was shot and killed in a duel by Vice President Aaron Burr. The duel was to settle a political squabble. At least our elected officials aren’t walking out onto the lawn and gunning each other down. There’s probably a case to be made that duels should be reintroduced, at least to Congress.

There’s hope! The challenge to bring business back to town rekindle independent small town America is much simpler and there’s good economic sense to do so. Independent We Stand is an organization that fosters the support of locally owned business. Go to http://www.independentwestand.org and learn how you can find independent, locally owned small businesses near you and also provide reviews that will encourages others to patronize them. If you own a business then become a member of IWS; it’s free.

It’s my hope that the one good thing that will come from higher fuel costs is for the shopping to come home. Even if the initial cost of shopping local is higher, consider the civic and cultural advantage of sealing the economic borders and keeping the money home. The next time you’re checking out at one of those chain stores consider what they’ve done for the community. Do any of their owners sit on the school board, or city council, or run the Optimist basketball program? It’s almost impossible to avoid buying stuff made in China, but if you do, buy it from someone who will at least use some of the profit to light the ball field, coach the soccer team, and donate to the fireworks display on the 4^th.

     

Small World Stuff

STIHL recently hosted a meeting in Palm Springs. STIHL gatherings are always fun and I particularly enjoy having the chance to visit at length with counterparts from other parts of the country. But I wasn’t excited about Palm Springs as a venue; I’d been there before and once one ventures beyond the sprinkler systems there’s very little to see expect cactus, rattle snakes, and geological fault lines. This trip was different.

Just getting there was an adventure. We took our small company plane, and because of a ferocious headwind, had plenty of time to look out and see the landscape below. There isn’t much grass west of I-35. I can understand why the Comanche’s were so ornery. We barely cleared the tops of the hills near Cloudcroft, New Mexico, at nearly 9,000 feet, home of the high school football field with the highest elevation in the US. Once clear of the snow-capped peaks, we glided into Los Cruces before the tanks went dry, which would have caused the engine to get very quiet.

While at the STIHL meeting we discussed just enough business to call it a business trip and then heard from some very interesting speakers. The first speaker was Dr. Robert Ballard. For those who don’t know, which included me until then and some of you until now, Dr. Ballard is the fellow who found the Titanic. And based on his credentials and long list of degrees, he is easily the most brilliant person I’ve ever met.

I learned a number of things from him. First, the search for the Titanic was a cover for the Navy’s search for a downed Soviet Nuclear Sub. Finding the Titanic was an accident, but there you go. And I learned about the world’s largest mountain range and geological formation, the mid-continent ridge, which essentially circumnavigates the entire earth. I would have guessed the Rockies or Himalayas, but what do I know. And then Dr. Ballard began talking about the mid-continent ridge being the origin of life, and he wasn’t kidding. That’s when I decided his brilliance had limits and that he’d spent too much time underwater.

The next day’s speaker, Mike Durant, was sitting next to me. We began whispering like school kids about flying. Mike, like me, is a pilot and an author, but he’s more than that. Mike’s flying is movie material and his books are non-fiction. I was reading his most recent book “In The Company of Heroes,” when we met, not actually at the moment we met, but during the time. Mike writes about his own experiences, and in the book he shares his story of the Battle of Mogadishu. Mike knows the story because he was the only American survivor of the battle and held prisoner for several days. If you’ve seen the movie “Blackhawk Down,” you know part of his story. Read the book to learn the details.

Anxious to tell Mike about my books, I began by telling him that all of the net proceeds of book sales are donated to Resurrecting Lives Foundation. And he asked about RLF - www.resurrectinglives.org, and I explained. And then he mentioned having a niece serving in Afghanistan who was a medic with a focus on head injuries, RLF’s primary focus. And that’s when the small world thing began to shape up.

I gave Mike the email address of Dr. Chrisanne Gordon, who heads up RLF and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Ohio State’s Medical school, so almost as brilliant as the speaker Mike and I were supposed to be listening to. A few days later, Mike’s niece made email contact with Dr. Gordon. It gets better. Dr. Gordon was walking into an exam room when she got the email. She’s one of those people who grabs at her cell phone like a jumpy gun slinger and was reading the email when entering the room. Her patient asked what was so important. Dr. Gordon explained. As it turned out, the patient had been stationed in Somalia during the Battle of Mogadishu and was well versed on Mike Durant’s story.

Heading home, our tailwind was over 200 MPH. Our ground speed occasionally exceeded 500 MPH. We made the trip from Palm Springs to Marble Hill in just under 4.5 hours. That ain’t bad for a little single engine airplane. It truly is a small world.

Wall of Misconception

Each December I get the chance to write a relatively unbridled article for the Stihl Post. The title for this year’s article is the same as that of a book written by a friend, Dr. Peter Lillback. Peter wrote an article criticizing the 9^th circuit court’s ruling that the pledge of allegiance was unconstitutional. Following the publication of the article Peter received a letter questioning his assertions. Peter’s letter was so detailed that he was encouraged to publish it as a book. You don’t want to challenge Peter Lillback unless you’re ready for a long, thoughtful response, replete with multiple primary sources. The primary source of support for the following comes from Peter’s book, which is supported by primary sources. So, there’s an abundance of support, I suppose.

US Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquest said it best, “The wall of separation between church and state is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned.”

All of this wall talk stems from the first amendment which states that Congress will make no law establishing a religion. And most agree the amendment simply means that religion will not be imposed upon the people. It does not mean that government will be free of religion. 94% of Founding Fathers quotes were quoted, either directly or indirectly, from the Bible. Would our Founding Fathers, so dependent on the Word of God, dream that one day Bible references would be forbidden from the public square?

Benjamin Franklin formally appealed to George Washington, President of the Constitutional Convention, that the daily proceedings begin with a morning prayer asking God for both assistance and blessing. The motion carried; the constitution of the United States was cloaked in daily prayer by its authors. Does this sound like a group who would appreciate the Ten Commandments being forbidden from a courthouse?

Franklin went on to espouse, “A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district, all studied and appreciated as they merit, are the principal support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty.” Franklin’s statement doesn’t make a constitutional case for state supported churches or prayer, but he certainly saw the value and need for both.

Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence – “The only foundation for…a republic is to be laid in Religion.”

George Washington, in his farewell address states that religion and morality are the indispensible pillars to human happiness. He went on to say that national morality can’t prevail with the exclusion of religious principal.

John Adams, our second President declared, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.”

Harry S Truman, “If we don’t have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State!”

John F Kennedy proclaimed, “The rights of man come not from the generosity of the State but from the hand of God.”

As last as 1983 the US Congress affirmed the biblical heritage of our nation with a resolution declaring 1983 as “The Year of the Bible.”

General Omar Bradley, a Missourian, like Harry Truman, said it succinctly, “We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.”

James Madison was possibly the most prescient of all when in 1788 he said, “Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people, by the gradual and silent encroachments of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations.”

More recently, Judge Robert H Bork said, “Religion supplies the major premises from which moral reasoning begins.”

Our nation was born by explicit appeals to God by our Founding Fathers. The following clauses are embedded in the text of the Declaration of Independence:

the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God

they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights

appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World

protection of divine Providence

Unlike most of my articles, I’ve put forth very little personal opinion. You’ve read direct quotes from our Founding Fathers and recognized American leaders. The questions are: Was America founded on Biblical principles? Is it still governed by those with Judeo/Christian principals? Do government deliberations still open in prayer? What has changed? Has the change been for better or worse? Do you agree with the direction the country is going? If no, then what needs to change? What have you done to affect that change?

Jefferson’ metaphoric statement was meant to support the notion that we must avoid the establishment of a state religion. But by his own actions he supported the importance of religion, and specifically Christianity, in the governing body.

It’s Christmas. The entire western civilization, including the US will come to a screeching halt December 25^th. It’s interesting that we have an international holiday, the explanation of which is forbidden in most public places.