THE MINISTER AND THE MODEL Part 3 v2.0

PLEASE READ PARTS 1 AND 2 BEFORE READING PART 3

It was only the Grace of God and Time that enabled Mark and Susan to keep pursuing their respective careers in spite of the pain. Mark would often remember the admonition of his college baseball coach, "Gents, sometimes you have to play through pain."

Following graduation from seminary, Mark was called as an associate pastor at a small church in Redlands, CA. When the senior pastor retired, Mark was the unanimous choice to succeed him.

In two years, under Mark's leadership, a new worship center, daycare, gym, and education space was completed and the 200 members soon became 1,500 members.  

A staff of 15 helped Mark and the church to meet the spiritual needs of the local population, minister to the ballooning Hispanic community and to work with the many international students at the nearby Loma Linda University.

The phenomenal growth of the Mountain View Church made Mark a frequent speaker at church growth conferences. A hectic schedule of three preaching services on Sunday Morning, endless staff meetings, weddings, funerals, counseling, and hospital visitation ruined his feeble attempts at staying in shape. He was no longer the fleet footed center fielder that once seemed destined to be in the major leagues. He was paying the price of sacrificial service.

During this entire journey he never stopped missing Susan, but he did occasionally ask God if it was right for him to serve others yet hurt her and him so much.

Alone on his bed at night he often recalled the softness of her skin, her clear and cheery eyes, and the captivating fragrance of her flowing blond hair. He could almost hear her reassuring sweet voice that seemed coated with love and desire. He longed to see her again, smell her again, hear her again, and yes, kiss her and draw her close to him.

Mark was unaware that Susan's modeling career was on the fast track and getting faster. She was featured in the last two Sears summer catalogs, appeared in a ton of fashion shows, traveled to Rome, Paris, and London to judge several design contests, and she appeared in a half dozen info commercials. It was the info commercials that caught the eye of a production company's casting executive who would later invite her and her agent to Hollywood for a screen test.  

Susan worked very hard to win and maintain her ascent to the top. She went through three hard workouts each week; counted calories at each meal; and tried with modest success, to be in bed by 11 pm each night. Her skin remained flawless, even without makeup. Her posture was West Point correct and her eyes had the dual feature of compassion and competition glowing within them. Her toned figure remained a major selling point in the cut throat world of international class modeling.

She could model an evening gown to open a fashion show; change a dozen times; and bring the house down with the latest in the new line of fashionable beach wear. Susan was a genuine, smoke free, drug free, silicon free, head turner, both on the runway and the sidewalk.

After firing her first two agents who each had substance abuse issues, she found a tireless, likable  and reliable agent that located all of the modeling work she could handle. Good help has always been hard to find. 

Like Mark, she often reflected on their storybook romance together. Would she ever see him again?
Wonder if he ever married?

PART FOUR WILL BE RELEASED IN A FEW DAYS.

REVERSE MORTGAGE---The Cold Hard Facts !

Perhaps I was wrong in assuming all of the readers of this Blog were familiar with the term Reverse Mortgage. 

The dog and pony shows on TV about Reverse Mortgages are incorrect by omission. Actor Fred Thompson is the worst at omission. For example, they fail to mention that while the deed does remain in the owners name; so  too do the taxes, insurance, city or county fees and assessments, etc. The payback interest rate makes a pawn shop look legit! 

Here it is in a nutshell---A Reverse Mortgage is nothing more than a Home Equity loan with a much longer repayment time frame.. It is polished to look like something else but at the end of the day it is just a Home Equity loan with an enormous interest rate..

If any of our readers want to challenge that assertion, I'll print their response in full without any editing. 

I have been forced to learn more about this topic than I wanted to. Serving our church families requires many topics be explored. (I do not like what I am discovering on this topic!)

REVERSE MORTGAGE---A True Horror Story

A family in our church recently came to the knowledge their recently deceased father had, against all advice, taken out a Reverse Mortgage prior to his demise. 

Approximately 12K dollars was borrowed. Either through ignorance or intentional design, he paid nothing in the year following the loan. That same 12K has now ballooned to 28K AND the mortgage company is demanding either the 28K or the deed to the property---worth about 100K.


Some of the family members are still reluctant to see where their elderly father ("He was too smart") was scammed by a woman and her two adult daughters. Outside observers can see this clearly.

I am not making any financial advice or estate planning information. What I am stating is a true case where a Reverse Mortgage has created a major burden for a good family. Also, elderly relatives need a trusted family member to handle their financial affairs. 

THE MINISTER AND THE MODEL Part 2

Please read Part 1 and the story will make much more sense.


Susan did not immediately know what to do; but she knew her life long dream, from her first Barbie Doll to her graduation, to become a professional model was totally incompatible with being a pastor's wife.

The next 10 days for both Mark and Susan seemed trance like, neither believed in Zombies, yet they both seem to walk and talk in an numbed state of mind and body. They would briefly see each other when CDs and other items were located that belonged to the other. Both hated these necessary, but awkward, meetings. Neither mentioned the reason for the breakup.

Mark called baseball scouts from the Angels, Cubs, Giants, and Cards and told them of his decision to enter the ministry. Two of the scouts used language he had never heard before and probably never hear again. All expressed major disappointment. Only one wished him well in his career in the ministry. 

Susan had a job offer in Chicago at the Front Cover Modeling Agency even before she graduated. A phone call and a couple of emails later and the position was officially hers. 


Mark, on the other hand, was starting from scratch. His pastor in his hometown church made a couple of calls on his behalf. The necessary seminary paperwork arrived in an Overnight Delivery the next day.  It was completed that night and faxed back to the Gateway Seminary in San Francisco the next day.

In spite of the mental hygiene that comes with positive work, both had a dull pain that felt like a headache that would not go away: Perhaps it never would.

Susan and and Mark had a finally meeting in their favorite sit down sandwich place. Each ordered only a Coke. Neither said much. Their tearful eyes said everything for them. Outside, a third grade kiss on the lips and an embrace that seemed like minutes served as the official and  final good-bye. Driving was very difficult for both.

Someone has wisely observed that about 10 percent of our lives is what actually happens to us. The remaining 90 percent is how we react to the 10 percent. Would the hurt ever subside for both Mark and Susan?

PART THREE WILL BE RELEASED IN A FEW DAYS.  KEEP CHECKING BACK !

YA GOTTA SEE THIS !!!!

You will not believe these young dancers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCvYLQb-NDw 

I can watch this for a long, long time !


Glenn <><
Just West of Yesterday

THE MINISTER AND THE MODEL--- Part 1 v3.0

THIS POST IS FICTION. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL.

                     THE MINISTER AND THE MODEL

                                       

It took Mark Robertson two weeks to pray up enough courage to tell her.

It took Susan McElroy two weeks to stop crying after he told her.

In less than 60 seconds, Mark brought a four-year, white-hot relationship with Susan to a complete halt. Friends and family were equally stunned by the out-of-the-blue announcement by Mark. How could he do that?

Both had just graduated from State College, with highest honors. Mark was Mister Everything in baseball. He batted .407 for four years, led his conference three years in RBIs, Slugging Percentage, and Stolen Bases. He covered center field with gliding ease and had a powerful laser like arm. He led the nation for two straight, years in Put Out Assists from the outfield. 

He was a handsome specimen of very high intelligence and sound body, articulate, and steady boyfriend of the most beautiful girl on campus---Susan McElroy

Susan won so many beauty contests her father had to build a larger glass door cabinet to hold them all. In college she was elected Homecoming Queen, the

 Sweetheart of Sigma Chi, and a sure fire bet to win the State Miss America contest---the death of both grandparents on her mother’s side in a three car accident took her out of competition. She was a talented singer, tap dancer, and the top student in her professional modeling and fashion design class. She and Mark had it all figured out: His almost certain baseball career and her frequent out of town modeling appearances would fit together nearly perfectly. 

However, all of those plans evaporated when Mark announced he no longer could deny nor ignore the unmistakable Call from Almighty God to be a minister.

After all he was a frequent speaker for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes,  assistant Youth Director in both his local church and campus church, and a much sought after speaker at high schools throughout the state. His affirmative answer  to the Call of God meant his T-Ball through college dreams  to play in the major leagues was now a thing of the past.

Dreams can die in an instant but memories never do.

Susan now had a very difficult decision to make concerning her plans to be a professional model or forget about her altar-bound relationship with Mark. Mark was unmovable about his decision to enter seminary as soon as possible. He and Susan seemed destined to spend their lives together---what was she now to do ?  

Glenn  <>< 
Just West of Yesterday

Part 2 Will Appear Next Week 

  

GET THE PAIN KILLERS OUT !!!! Boogie Woogie Championship

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nvhL2sbZlM



WOW! What creative energy these young folks have.


Interestingly, no USA dancers in the finals. Lots of music from the good old US of A.


Many, many more dancers on You Tube. Check out Fred and Ginger.

++++++++++COMING SOON ++++++++THE MINISTER & THE MODEL ++++++++++++COMING SOON +++++++++++

A New Short Story Will  Be Posted Soon !!!!!!!!!!!

Successful careers cannot quench the desire of the heart for real love. A minister realizes the call of God on his life can result in sacrifice of his own happiness. A model who has stars in her eyes must choose between her career and her heart. Her decision will impact several lives and so will the minister.

Help spread the word that the Blog is back on the air and the future looks very, very bright !!!!!!!!! 

NEW SHORT STORY COMING !!! Minister & The Model

Preview--!

lovrl

Hard Luck Charlie

Some Have All The Luck---Hard Luck Chark

I THINK THIS WAS A COMPLIMENT. DO YOU?

I recently conducted a funeral of  a 
wealthy rancher in our community. The man had many friends from near and far.

Following the service, a lady visitor said to me,  "Your sermon was so earthy."

I think this was a compliment. Do you?

THE REAL COWBOY (Hint---Willie Nelson was wrong)

I recently met three generations of real cowboys. They reaffirmed my growing respect and admiration for the real cowboys in Oklahoma. In all fairness to Willie --there are probably a few cowboys he warned Mamas about.

The real cowboys I know:

• Wear ball caps when working. Stetsons for dress up.  
• Ride horses AND four 4-wheelers 
• Are soft spoken---lot like Gary Cooper
• Seldom smoke---some dip
• Are family oriented, many are church goers
• Few drink 
• Treat their employees as family
• Are politically conservative, but open minded
• Are not afraid of technology 
• Are happy and doing what they always wanted
• Work unbelievable long hours
• Keep cattle well fed regardless of the weather
• Treat their horses as best friends
• Are Very, Very Patriotic

Yes, these are the cowboys I know. Wish all of the readers of this Post could know them too.

"The Wild Side of Life" and "It Wasn't God Who made Honky Tonk Angels"

Back in the 50's there was a trend in Country Music to record a song and if was a big hit, another artist would record what was called in the trade as an "Answer Song"

Here is the best example I know of

Hank Thompson "The Wild Side of Life"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5y5jWv2xQw&list=RD6l7rLA9Jm1I


Later, Kitty Wells recorded the answer song ---It wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYij4OpOY6E

By the way, Hank Thompson was an Oklahoman!

IS THIS TRUE ABOUT YOU ????? V. 2

Added: I had hoped the word "minister" would imply the discussion of spiritual issues. For the record: Spiritual concerns are at the heart of what I am most often asked about and what I ask about. ETERNITY IS FOREVER !!!! 


The distinguished professor of history at Norte Dame, Thomas F. X. Noble, says that all of recorded history seeks to answer two questions:

• WHAT HAPPENED ?
•  WHAT WILL FUTURE GENERATIONS THINK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED? 

Now let's look at the question raised in the title of this Post?

Being doubly blessed to have a father alive as he nears 99 years of age, and to be in a capacity to be involved with many senior adults as they come face to face with their own mortality has given me a special opportunity to know and understand the personal histories of many, many people.

1. ORAL HISTORIES (What Happened)---All of us have an oral history. Most do not have a written history of our lives. Consequently, as people age they want  to be remembered.  Their "Story" is oft repeated to family, friends, and as Forrest Gump taught us, even to total strangers. 

An oral history is usually meant, without this being verbalized, to be transmitted to and through many generations. Most people want to try and connect the dots from their earliest memories to the present and beyond. Subjects covered include significant people who were involved in our lives, love and  marriages,jobs, places lived, education, hobbies, vacations, and the complete script of life itself.

As people age, long term memory outpaces short term memory and old stories are retold and new facts and events never revealed before, come to the forefront. 

2. CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT TOMORROW (What Will They Think)

Whether we like to admit it or not, all of us, from a very early age, are "Spin Doctors." That is, we try to influence how our listeners will respond to our "Story" Most of the time we seek to present our history in a positive light. 

Sometimes humor and the "Poor Boy" approach is employed. "When I was your age I had to walk ten miles, barefoot, to school!" No one believes that;but it says, "I had it rougher than you."

We tell of our mistakes in an effort to influence our listeners not to repeat them. 

Here's something I find most interesting: Oral histories of the elderly are often told in a Tell All fashion. Maybe this is confession that is long overdue or it is to set the record straight on what others may have told the listener. They reveal things in confidence.

Over the years I have heard many, many accounts of youthful indiscretions--- including minor crimes, drinking, detailed romantic encounters, lies, both big and small, anger, fights, and assorted other teen and young adult adventures.

Often, stories of affairs, serious addiction,  stealing, and a host of major wrongs come forth from the period of their early twenties to the present so as to clear a troubled conscience. 

It has been said that when a minister dies a thousand secrets go to the grave with him. I wonder if a thousand is a large enough number.

I would be remiss if I did not tell of a woman I once knew who had written multiple volumes of her family's lives. Truly, this is the exception rather than the norm. 

BAD THINGS CAN HAPPEN AT A DOCTOR'S OFFICE

THE PERSON WHO TOLD THIS STORY MAY WATCH TOO MUCH TELEVISION!

• Sometimes people are afraid to see a doctor because they fear bad news.
• Others are afraid because the doctor might make their pain worse during the exam.
• Many are afraid to see a doctor because of a possible big bill.

What follows has just about made me afraid to see a doctor. Here's why:

This particular doctor had a number of exam rooms that were all in a row and separated only by a thin layer of sheet rock.

While awaiting the doctor to come in, all of a sudden a sledge hammer comes through the left wall and a person sticks his head through the hole and shouts, " !Viva de Mexico"

His heart nearly stops when another sledge hammer comes through the right wall and a person pokes his head through and yells, "Brazil!"

The nurse comes in and tells the patient that because of the chaotic disturbance there will be no bill.

The patient is somewhat relieved and replies, "That's generous." 

The elderly nurse says in her loudest outdoor voice, Crazy Generous!

I 'LL NOT BE GOING TO SEE THAT DOCTOR!

POPS, I'M SORRY I FAILED TO PICK YOU UP !

THINGS DON'T GET MUCH WILDER THAN THIS. THIS A TRUE STORY--NAMES CHANGED TO PROTECT THE GUILTY !

SAM SELDOM VISITED HIS CHILDREN IN COLUMBUS, INDIANA. ON A RARE VISIT HE ASKED HIS SON WOODY TO PICK HIM UP IN INDIANAPOLIS AT THE TRAIN STATION (THIS TOOK PLACE A LONG TIME AGO)

WOODY WAS INVOLVED IN A BIG BUSINESS DEAL AND FAILED TO GO GET HIS DAD.SOMEHOW BEN GOT TO HIS DAUGHTER'S HOUSE IN COLUMBUS.

WOODY CAME TO SEE HIS DAD AND AN INSTANT ALTERCATION STARTEDsAM CHATCH

IT WAS SO WINDY........

OKLAHOMA HAS LOTS AND LOTS OF WIND. RECENTLY WE HAD 40-50 MPH WINDS ON A CLOUDLESS DAY.

Today I was checking out of the Dollar General store and the elderly lady ahead of me was complaining to the clerk about the wind.

I couldn't resist making this comment to both of the ladies, "Yes, it sure was windy. In fact, it was so windy that even Superman was walking!" 

Without a moments delay, the elderly lady said to me and the clerk, "That ain't nothin'. A lady I know who lives on a farm told me it was so windy that one of her layin' hens laid the same egg twice!" 

I remarked, " That sure beats the one I told." The clerk agreed and said, "It sure does!"

Oklahomans are great story tellers. Especially when it involves the weather.

SHE DID IT ALL WITH HIGH HEELS ON !

YOU TUBE HAS MANY, MANY CLIPS OF FRED AND GINGER DANCING !!!! PREPARE TO BE AMAZED !!

Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire made 10 movies together. They thrilled and bedazzled audiences for decades. 

The plots were all about the same and they were tissue thin. The supporting casts were usually drawn from the low B lists. Much of the orchestration was right out the 1930's---what would you expect from their movies made in the 1930's?

Some of the tunes were straight from the major composers of the day. Ginger and Fred were average singers and a bit above average actors. However, their dancing was without equal and not likely to be duplicated ever again.

Fred Astaire is generally recognized as the greatest "hoofer" ever. Yes, Gene Kelly was good, but Fred was in a class alone. He was a perfectionist and it showed.

While Fred had many dance partners over the years, it was Ginger Rodgers who turned dancing with Fred into an art form. She seemed to effortlessly dance from stage right to stage left with Fred. The tap numbers always amaze me.

Fortunately, TCM shows their movies from time to time. I try to never miss them. I wish the younger generations would watch and appreciate the Fred and Ginger classics. 

Ginger and Fred could do any dance to any number. But always remember, Ginger did it all with heels on!

TWICE IS ENOUGH---THREE TIMES IS TOO MANY ! v 2.0

MY YOUTHFUL ROMANCES SOMETIMES ENDED WITH SOME HEARTACHES.

LATER, I WENT THROUGH THE PAIN AND HEARTACHE OF MY CHILDREN'S BREAKUPS.

AS COMMENTED EARLIER, MY WIFE AND I ARE RAISING THREE OF OUR GRANDCHILDREN. OUR OLDEST GRANDSON HAS JUST EXPERIENCED THE PAINFUL BREAKUP OF A LONG TERM ROMANCE.  (GRANDSON  WILL MAKE IT OK.)

I WISH I COULD TELL HIM TO FORGET IT AND GET ON WITH HIS LIFE. LIFE AND HEART MATTERS ARE NOT THAT EASY. TIME DOES NOT HEAL EVERYTHING. TIME DOES HELP US PRIORITIZE THE MANY THINGS WE LEARN---OFTEN THE HARD WAY! 

HEY, THIS IS OKLAHOMA !!!!

THINGS CAN GET STRANGE ON THE PRAIRIE (From KFOR-TV Website)

Residents in south Oklahoma City say they were forced to call 911 after an intruder showed up on their porch. However, the suspect was a goat.

“I heard some rumbling, and I thought that somebody was trying to break into the house, and then I come out here and check it,” Edgar Cardoza said. “Then I see it coming towards me, and so I run back inside. Heck no.”

Cardoza thought it was a burglar.

“It was a goat. I don’t know what it was.,” he said. “It was like a ram I think. Can’t really tell.”

It is big. Has horns, and it was using those horns to try to get inside Cardoza’s house. That is when he did the only thing he knew to do. He called 911.

“First somebody called and said that there was a goat running around the neighborhood, and as we were driving to it the homeowner where the goat actually was called in too to say that a ram was trying to beat down his front door,” OKC Police Lt. Jeff Spruill said.

Police arrived on scene.

“We got there,” Spruill said. “It wasn’t a ram. It was a goat, but it was trying to beat down his front door.”

Cardoza refused to come out of his house again.

“It’s pretty scary when it charges at you,” he said.

That’s when the goat turned his attention to police and went after them and their police cars.

“The front door was like this, and they had a window right here and the goat is right here hitting the front door, and so you can see the signs of someone peaking out the blinds, but they never came to the door,” Lt. Jeff Spruill said.  ”We had to communicate with them through dispatch.”

Cardoza displays a gun sign in his front window that reads “We don’t dial 911.” However, the goat was an exception.

“I don’t want to hurt an animal,” he said.

The goat was an exception police as well.

“If it were a burglar, a human burglar on their front porch we know how to deal with that,” Lt. Spruill said. “We’re trained and equipped, but we don’t know how to deal with a goat. We go deal with the things that nobody else wants to.”

Police dealt with the goat, but if he had been an actual person, things would have ended much differently.

“It would be attempted burglary,” Spruill said.

Cardoza says he now knows his neighbor uses that goat as a guard dog. The owner eventually captured his lost pet and took him back home.

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!

THANK YOU LORD FOR BRINGING US TO THIS POINT. WE PRAY FOR WISDOM, COURAGE, FAITH AND STRENGTH TO FACE THE CHALLENGES OF 2014 ---AMEN

A Story That Should Be Read By All

Camille Paglia: A Feminist Defense of Masculine Virtues

The cultural critic on why ignoring the biological differences between men and women risks undermining Western civilization itself.

By 

BARI WEISS 

CONNECT

Dec. 27, 2013 6:55 p.m. ET

Philadelphia

'What you're seeing is how a civilization commits suicide," says Camille Paglia. This self-described "notorious Amazon feminist" isn't telling anyone to Lean In or asking Why Women Still Can't Have It All. No, her indictment may be as surprising as it is wide-ranging: The military is out of fashion, Americans undervalue manual labor, schools neuter male students, opinion makers deny the biological differences between men and women, and sexiness is dead. And that's just 20 minutes of our three-hour conversation.

When Ms. Paglia, now 66, burst onto the national stage in 1990 with the publishing of "Sexual Personae," she immediately established herself as a feminist who was the scourge of the movement's establishment, a heretic to its orthodoxy. Pick up the 700-page tome, subtitled "Art and Decadence From Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson, " and it's easy to see why. "If civilization had been left in female hands," she wrote, "we would still be living in grass huts."

The fact that the acclaimed book—the first of six; her latest, "Glittering Images," is a survey of Western art—was rejected by seven publishers and five agents before being printed by Yale University Press only added to Ms. Paglia's sense of herself as a provocateur in a class with Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern. But unlike those radio jocks, Ms. Paglia has scholarly chops: Her dissertation adviser at Yale was Harold Bloom, and she is as likely to discuss Freud, Oscar Wilde or early Native American art as to talk about Miley Cyrus.

Ms. Paglia relishes her outsider persona, having previously described herself as an egomaniac and "abrasive, strident and obnoxious." Talking to her is like a mental CrossFit workout. One moment she's praising pop star Rihanna ("a true artist"), then blastingObamaCare ("a monstrosity," though she voted for the president), global warming ("a religious dogma"), and the idea that all gay people are born gay ("the biggest canard," yet she herself is a lesbian).

But no subject gets her going more than when I ask if she really sees a connection between society's attempts to paper over the biological distinction between men and women and the collapse of Western civilization.

She starts by pointing to the diminished status of military service. "The entire elite class now, in finance, in politics and so on, none of them have military service—hardly anyone, there are a few. But there is no prestige attached to it anymore. That is a recipe for disaster," she says. "These people don't think in military ways, so there's this illusion out there that people are basically nice, people are basically kind, if we're just nice and benevolent to everyone they'll be nice too. They literally don't have any sense of evil or criminality."

The results, she says, can be seen in everything from the dysfunction in Washington (where politicians "lack practical skills of analysis and construction") to what women wear. "So many women don't realize how vulnerable they are by what they're doing on the street," she says, referring to women who wear sexy clothes.

When she has made this point in the past, Ms. Paglia—who dresses in androgynous jackets and slacks—has been told that she believes "women are at fault for their own victimization." Nonsense, she says. "I believe that every person, male and female, needs to be in a protective mode at all times of alertness to potential danger. The world is full of potential attacks, potential disasters." She calls it "street-smart feminism."

Ms. Paglia argues that the softening of modern American society begins as early as kindergarten. "Primary-school education is a crock, basically. It's oppressive to anyone with physical energy, especially guys," she says, pointing to the most obvious example: the way many schools have cut recess. "They're making a toxic environment for boys. Primary education does everything in its power to turn boys into neuters."

She is not the first to make this argument, as Ms. Paglia readily notes. Fellow feminist Christina Hoff Sommers has written about the "war against boys" for more than a decade. The notion was once met with derision, but now data back it up: Almost one in five high-school-age boys has been diagnosed with ADHD, boys get worse grades than girls and are less likely to go to college.

Ms. Paglia observes this phenomenon up close with her 11-year-old son, Lucien, whom she is raising with her ex-partner, Alison Maddex, an artist and public-school teacher who lives 2 miles away. She sees the tacit elevation of "female values"—such as sensitivity, socialization and cooperation—as the main aim of teachers, rather than fostering creative energy and teaching hard geographical and historical facts.

By her lights, things only get worse in higher education. "This PC gender politics thing—the way gender is being taught in the universities—in a very anti-male way, it's all about neutralization of maleness." The result: Upper-middle-class men who are "intimidated" and "can't say anything. . . . They understand the agenda." In other words: They avoid goring certain sacred cows by "never telling the truth to women" about sex, and by keeping "raunchy" thoughts and sexual fantasies to themselves and their laptops.

Politically correct, inadequate education, along with the decline of America's brawny industrial base, leaves many men with "no models of manhood," she says. "Masculinity is just becoming something that is imitated from the movies. There's nothing left. There's no room for anything manly right now." The only place you can hear what men really feel these days, she claims, is on sports radio. No surprise, she is an avid listener. The energy and enthusiasm "inspires me as a writer," she says, adding: "If we had to go to war," the callers "are the men that would save the nation."

And men aren't the only ones suffering from the decline of men. Women, particularly elite upper-middle-class women, have become "clones" condemned to "Pilates for the next 30 years," Ms. Paglia says. "Our culture doesn't allow women to know how to be womanly," adding that online pornography is increasingly the only place where men and women in our sexless culture tap into "primal energy" in a way they can't in real life.

A key part of the remedy, she believes, is a "revalorization" of traditional male trades—the ones that allow women's studies professors to drive to work (roads), take the elevator to their office (construction), read in the library (electricity), and go to gender-neutral restrooms (plumbing).

" Michelle Obama's going on: 'Everybody must have college.' Why? Why? What is the reason why everyone has to go to college? Especially when college is so utterly meaningless right now, it has no core curriculum" and "people end up saddled with huge debts," says Ms. Paglia. What's driving the push toward universal college is "social snobbery on the part of a lot of upper-middle-class families who want the sticker in the window."

Ms. Paglia, who has been a professor of humanities and media studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia since 1984, sees her own students as examples. "I have woodworking students who, even while they're in class, are already earning money making furniture and so on," she says. "My career has been in art schools cause I don't get along with normal academics."

To hear her tell it, getting along has never been Ms. Paglia's strong suit. As a child, she felt stifled by the expectations of girlhood in the 1950s. She fantasized about being a knight, not a princess. Discovering pioneering female figures as a teenager, most notably Amelia Earhart, transformed Ms. Paglia's understanding of what her future might hold.

These iconoclastic women of the 1930s, like Earhart and Katharine Hepburn, remain her ideal feminist role models: independent, brave, enterprising, capable of competing with men without bashing them. But since at least the late 1960s, she says, fellow feminists in the academy stopped sharing her vision of "equal-opportunity feminism" that demands a level playing field without demanding special quotas or protections for women.

She proudly recounts her battle, while a graduate student at Yale in the late 1960s and early '70s, with the New Haven Women's Liberation Rock Band over the Rolling Stones: Ms. Paglia loved "Under My Thumb," a song the others regarded as chauvinist. Then there was the time she "barely got through the dinner" with a group of women's studies professors at Bennington College, where she had her first teaching job, who insisted that there is no hormonal difference between men and women. "I left before dessert."

In her view, these ideological excesses bear much of the blame for the current cultural decline. She calls out activists like Gloria Steinem, Naomi Wolf and Susan Faludi for pushing a version of feminism that says gender is nothing more than a social construct, and groups like the National Organization for Women for making abortion the singular women's issue.

By denying the role of nature in women's lives, she argues, leading feminists created a "denatured, antiseptic" movement that "protected their bourgeois lifestyle" and falsely promised that women could "have it all." And by impugning women who chose to forgo careers to stay at home with children, feminists turned off many who might have happily joined their ranks.

But Ms. Paglia's criticism shouldn't be mistaken for nostalgia for the socially prescribed roles for men and women before the 1960s. Quite the contrary. "I personally have disobeyed every single item of the gender code," says Ms. Paglia. But men, and especially women, need to be honest about the role biology plays and clear-eyed about the choices they are making.

Sex education, she says, simply focuses on mechanics without conveying the real "facts of life," especially for girls: "I want every 14-year-old girl . . . to be told: You better start thinking what do you want in life. If you just want a career and no children you don't have much to worry about. If, however, you are thinking you'd like to have children some day you should start thinking about when do you want to have them. Early or late? To have them early means you are going to make a career sacrifice, but you're going to have more energy and less risks. Both the pros and the cons should be presented."

For all of Ms. Paglia's barbs about the women's movement, it seems clear that feminism—at least of the equal-opportunity variety—has triumphed in its basic goals. There is surely a lack of women in the C-Suite and Congress, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a man who would admit that he believes women are less capable. To save feminism as a political movement from irrelevance, Ms. Paglia says, the women's movement should return to its roots. That means abandoning the "nanny state" mentality that led to politically correct speech codes and college disciplinary committees that have come to replace courts. The movement can win converts, she says, but it needs to become a big tent, one "open to stay-at-home moms" and "not just the career woman."

More important, Ms. Paglia says, if the women's movement wants to be taken seriously again, it should tackle serious matters, like rape in India and honor killings in the Muslim world, that are "more of an outrage than some woman going on a date on the Brown University campus."

Ms. Weiss is an associate editorial features editor at the Journal.

(From the Wall Street Journal)

WSJ In-Depth

 

ANOTHER LETTER TO EDITOR ON JAMES COVERED BRIDGE V 2.0

THIS WAS PRINTED

Dec 26, 2013

North Vernon Sun & Plain Dealer

Letters to the Editor

 The recent contribution of Robert (Bobby) Keller to protect the James Covered Bridge from over-size farm equipment is impressive, but not surprising. I have known the Keller family over half of a century and they have served for years as the principle unpaid advocates for the preservation of the historic and irreplaceable James Covered Bridge.

The two covered bridges in Jennings County are major tourist attractions which produce revenues for the entire county, especially those businesses located in close proximity to the bridges. These businesses have a bottom line interest in the preservation of the bridges.

During the recent major renovation of the James Covered Bridge the value of the bridge to mega-farms in the area could be easily measured in lost productivity and added fuel and manpower costs.

Some readers may question my continued, long distant interest in this matter. In 1947 Jennings County represented a modern day Promised Land for my family; until age 21, I called Jennings County home; for 20 years as member of the USAF I paid Indiana State Income Tax; and I have many relatives and friends who live and work in Jennings County. 

Protecting our covered bridges preserves the past and serves as a visible monument to a brighter economic future for all.

Glenn 

Shawnee, OK  

CHRISTMAS QUAKES IN OKLAHOMA !!!!

Earthquakes shake homes over the holiday

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — It wasn’t Santa and his reindeer landing on roofs that shook some central Oklahoma homes on Christmas.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that two small earthquakes struck the area on Wednesday, in addition to one that struck the night before.

The first, a 2.7-magnitude earthquake, struck near Spencer at about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. A USGS preliminary report says the earthquake’s epicenter was 5 miles north of Spencer and 11 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. The second earthquake hit a little before 3 p.m. That 2.9-magnitude quake was centered 19 miles south of Norman.

The area also had a Christmas Eve earthquake, a 3.7-magnitude trembler near Edmond around 9 p.m. on Tuesday. Preliminary USGS data show that the quake was centered about 6 miles east-northeast of Edmond and 14 miles north of Midwest City.

All three had a depth of about 3 miles.

Earthquakes have become more common in Oklahoma in the past several years. A recent study by the USGS says the seismic activity is here to stay, although it’s not clear why.

Only a handful of earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 3.0 occurred each year in Oklahoma from 1975 to 2008. But since 2009, the USGS says, more than 200 temblors have hit central Oklahoma. Many are based around the Oklahoma City area.

From Shawnee News-Star (12-26-13)

CHRISTMAS STORY---Thank You Mrs. Johnson (REPOST)

MRS. JOHNSON WAS 3RD AND 4TH GRADE TEACHER AT LOVETT. EACH STUDENT WAS REQUIRED TO MEMORIZE THE KJV CHRISTMAS STORY FOUND IN THE BOOK OF LUKE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.


Can you image the fun and money, the ACLU would have with this?


David Barton has written much about the decline of American education after God was expelled from our schools.


Christmas Story Luke 2:1-20 (No copyright on KJV) 



(Luk 2:1)  And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.


(Luk 2:2)  (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)


(Luk 2:3)  And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.


(Luk 2:4)  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)


(Luk 2:5)  To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.


(Luk 2:6)  And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.


(Luk 2:7)  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.


(Luk 2:8)  And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.


(Luk 2:9)  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.


(Luk 2:10)  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.


(Luk 2:11)  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.


(Luk 2:12)  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.


(Luk 2:13)  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,


(Luk 2:14)  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.


(Luk 2:15)  And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.


(Luk 2:16)  And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.


(Luk 2:17)  And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.


(Luk 2:18)  And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.


(Luk 2:19)  But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.


(Luk 2:20)  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

WELCOME NEW BLOG READERS

I HOPE YOU ENJOY READING THIS BLOG. YOU MIGHT WANT TO START AT THE BEGINNING AND THEN JUST "PICK AND CHOOSE." 

A COUPLE OF NEW FEATURES ARE PLANNED FOR 2014!!!!

STAY TUNED!

MAJOR ICE STORM HITS OKLAHOMA !!!!!!!

 

THOSE DREADED CHRISTMAS LETTERS !

CONTENT REMOVED BECAUSE POST WAS SUSPECTED OF BEING HACKED. GUESS SOME FOLKS CAN'T TAKE A JOKE !!!

AN OLD GI SPEAKS

I TAKE NO JOY IN WRITING THIS POST. THE BASIC MISSION OF THE US MILITARY IS TO BREAK THINGS AND TO KILL PEOPLE. IT IS THE CONDUCT OF US INTERESTS BY VIOLET MEANS. IT IS DANGEROUS, BLOODY AND COSTLY IN MANPOWER AND MATERIAL RESOURCES. 

TODAY IT IS HARD TO FIND A PLACE ON PLANET EARTH WHERE WE ARE NOT FACING WELL TRAINED, WELL FINANCED, AND FANATICALLY INDOCTRINATED ENEMIES. ALL OF THIS GROWING INVOLVEMENT IS BEING PLAYED OUT AGAINST A BACKDROP OF   RAPIDLY DWINDLING RESOURCES.

SIMPLY STATED: TO QUOTE GEORGE CLOONEY IN "O' BROTHER WERE ART THOUGH."  D&*N, WE'RE IN A TOUGH SPOT!

Healthcare, budgets, and appointments do not matter if we are not free.  Get informed and vote for officials who understand this  is our last turn off to freedom!

Glenn <><

A sample of one does not a theory make

WHERE'S THE LINE TO SEE JESUS ?

GUESS I AM THE LAST TO SEE THIS:

IT IS POWERFUL !!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OExXItDyWEY

HELP! I AM CAUGHT IN A VENTURE TIME WARP !!!!!

OK! YOU'VE WANTED TO CRANK THAT 3k WATTS MUSIC MONSTER UP TO 9.9! PULL THE SHADES. TURN OUT THE LIGHTS! TAKE THE PHONE OFF THE HOOK!

DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN MUSIC WAS NOT DROWNED OUT BY SHOUTING AND SCREAMING?

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET'S GIVE A PCHS SIZE WELCOME TO THE VENTURES!!!!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzmSaMnQr5A  

MY GOSH THEY WERE AND ARE GREAT!!!

OLD GUYS CAN STILL GET IT DONE ! VENTURES IN JAPAN !

INVITE THE GRANDKIDS TO CHECK THIS OUT!  (ESP... "I GOTTA A WOMAN")



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjLFMCj82PI


MICK, MY MAN, EAT YOUR HEART OUT.

JINGLE BELLS---Ventures----Ya Gotta Hear It !

ROLL BACK THE CLOCK AND CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR_lI9OgHQ4




33 1/3 LIVES ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Lovely Legend Of Love

               The Lovely Legend Of Love

At age ten he first heard of that beautiful secluded valley

Where rivers of eternal and mysterious joy freely flowed

Two years later he would awaken with legends made real

He could explain stars and planets but not the valley of truth

 

For several years he sought to find that lush valley of love

Several female sojourners delightfully aided his search

Only one special female searcher could sense his desire

Her heart and soul would engulf him to produce weakness

 

Fear of losing the future depleted the need winning now

His selfish presumption of  her waiting proved so very false

He found another fellow searcher clothed in orthodoxy

Faithful and true she lacked spontaneous abandonment


 

 

 

 

USA----An Exceptional Nation---Founded By Exceptional People

This is part of a message I preached the Fourth of July weekend in 2010 at the First Baptist Church in St. Louis, OK.

"Till Death Do Us Part"

What follows is a brief story of high school sweethearts who were married against the bride's parents wishes. age. Since both were of age and little could be done.

The newlyweds received an envelope from the bride's parents that invited them to come over for a dinner next Saturday night.

The newlyweds viewed the invitation as a mellowing of the bride's parents attitude. The evening produced different result.