Posts Tagged ‘The Factor’
Well, it’s back to work and back to writing about conservative values on my blog. All of this Christmas holiday cheer and food has caused me to gain a few pounds and have more than one case of indigestion. Many people are suffering from poor eating decisions during this special time of year, resulting in soaring sales of products such as Pepto Bismol to help with such things.
Such is the case that during a recent trip to go shopping…or shall I say, “Returning”…I was in the men’s room when one of the many shoppers in that facility had a dire emergency. This poor guy was in a stall that was insufficiently stocked with tissue. After asking for help from others in adjoining stalls, it was soon discovered that each stall had a lock box around the individual tissue supply, preventing anyone from extracting a roll of tissue and sending it to the man in need.
After having finished washing my hands, over-hearing the call for help I sprang into action and left the men’s room in search of a suitable alternative. Not able to find any maintenance personnel for the facility, I thought about a story my father told me about depression-era necessities, one of which was the Sears catalog. It seems that many of poor folks in that time (Dad included) had a secondary use for the giant Sears catalog, of which use was in lieu of toilet tissue. This gave me an idea.
I proceeded to the news stand in the mall in hopes of finding a suitable solution to the problem had by the man in the stall. After all, I told him that I would return in short order, and the clock was ticking. As I approached the news stand in the mall, I eyeballed a copy of a merchandise catalog. Thinking this would do the trick, I picked up a copy and saw a modest price of one dollar for the catalog, refundable with the first purchase from the store represented. Reaching into my pocket, I looked down and noticed that, alongside the catalog, was a copy of The Washington Post. I paused for a minute then picked up a copy of the post before paying for the catalog. I thumbed through the pages quickly, with the goal of keeping up on the latest in political events.
To my surprise, I saw an op-ed piece from one Professor Colman McCarthy, an adjunct professor at Georgetown and several other schools. In it, he criticized Ivy League schools for allowing ROTC and military recruitment on campus. He boldly states his thoughts on our military and the brave men and women who are in it. He states,
“To oppose ROTC, as I have since my college days in the 1960s, when my school enticed too many of my classmates into joining, is not to be anti-soldier. I admire those who join armies, whether America’s or the Taliban’s: for their discipline, for their loyalty to their buddies and to their principles, for their sacrifices to be away from home. In recent years, I’ve had several Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans in my college classes. If only the peace movement were as populated by people of such resolve and daring. “
I quickly put down the merchandise catalog and paid instead for the copy of The Washington Post. Realizing that I had been gone for some time and the clock was ticking on my commitment to the man in that men’s room stall, I quickly rushed back to the store and charged into the men’s room, proudly proclaiming to all who were in there that I had a solution to the man’s problem. After explaining to the man my idea, he agreed that a newspaper would indeed work. Having folded back the paper to read McCarthy’s article, I slipped the paper under the stall door. The man inside yelled, “Thanks!”, and I proceeded to leave the men’s room.
Standing in a nearby checkout waiting to return some merchandise, I noticed a man exit the men’s room. As he walked by I said to him, “Excuse me, are you the man I handed the newspaper to?” He replied, “Yes, I am. Thank you for being so helpful.” Thinking he may have the same interest in McCarthy’s article that I had, I said to the man, “Did you take a moment to read the article that I had the paper folded to?” He replied to me, “Yes, I did”.
“In fact”, said the man in his perfectly pressed Service Alphas, “It was the first page I used.”
Tomorrow, while celebrating with friends and giving thanks for all that He has given, please…don’t drink and drive.
This video is the message America needs to see, but the alcohol lobby won’t allow you to see. So, I present it here:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Thank you to all of our veterans for your sacrifice. I and our country will never forget you!!
Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day. Although many people confuse Veteran’s Day with Memorial Day, they are distinctly different in many ways. One thing is for certain…it causes a great problem for me. First a little history, then we’ll get to my problem.
At the end of World War I, prior to the signing of the peace treaty at Versailles, fighting ceased when an armistice went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918. In 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11th as the first official commemoration of Armistice Day. After some changing dates and different laws recognizing this day, President Ford signed into law the return of Veteran’s Day to its original day of November 11th, with said law going into effect in 1978. Now to my problem, for which I have no solution.
Veteran’s Day always falls on November 11, regardless of the day of the week. This year it’s on Thursday. Although some schools will be closed, many will be opened. Schools choose to stay open because of legal requirements that force them to teach a certain number of days, and giving up a Christmas vacation day or summer vacation day to take off on Veteran’s Day is something that most teachers’ unions won’t tolerate. Never mind our veterans, this is the union we’re talking about and we all know how important they are.
Most government offices will be closed. Presumably it’s so the employees can attend Veteran’s Day celebrations in cities nationwide. In reality, the government employees union better known as the AFL-CIO, has used its leverage over the years to bargain the government for a certain number of paid holidays, and Veteran’s Day is one of them. It matters not the significance of the day, what matters is the time off. How they spend that time off is not mandated, so don’t be looking for the AFL-CIO to be marching in a parade near you.
Private business has chosen a unique way to celebrate Veteran’s Day. Knowing that many people will be off from work that day with presumably nothing to do, most retail outlets will have special sale fliers, hoping to fill their stores with shoppers looking for bargains. I’d like to think that some of those bargain hunters will be visiting the local veteran’s hospital with some of their cheaply acquired booty, bringing cheer to all the patients that need some.
Looking around, one would think that the people who have profited most by the sacrifice of veterans would observe this special day. Since banks are closed on Veterans Day, my first reaction is to jump for joy that someone in the private sector recognizes those sacrifices. But a closer look reveals that the New York Stock Exchange is still open. The excuse they use is that we have to consider the global markets and our global trading partners, forgetting that most of our global trading partners are not marching the goose step down Main Street because of the sacrifices our veterans made during World War II.
If you think you’ve guessed my problem, you’re probably wrong. I’m not demanding that people change their ways and celebrate Veteran’s Day in a manner which I and many other may prescribe. I’m not demanding that the stock market close, government employees attend a parade near you, or stores stop offering sales and shoppers stop shopping. I’m not demanding that peoples of foreign nations stop to recognize the contributions of our veterans to their freedoms, or that the world stop rotating on its axis because it’s Veteran’s Day. I’m not asking for anything like that.
My problem is this: Tomorrow, I will tell all the veterans I know how thankful I am for their service. I will tell them how thankful I am for the freedoms which we all share. I will tell them how much their sacrifices mean to me. For some of them, I will simply say “Thank you”. In saying that, I feel as though I am falling horribly short of what is owed for their sacrifices. Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and entire communities have sacrificed their sons and daughters for my freedoms. Those sons and daughters of our nation have given their all, at a cost that I cannot fathom, much less measure.
How is a man of modest means such as myself to repay such great acts of service to one’s country by so many people? How do I make it known to these fine Americans how much I appreciate what they have done for me and my family? How do I pay this debt of gratitude? I have no answer.
I hope that tomorrow, Veteran’s Day, will bring peace and happiness to all of our veterans. I hope that this day will be celebrated by many. And at the least, I hope that all veterans everywhere will accept my most gracious thanks for all they have done, because my thanks is all I have to offer.
