Musing of one thinking about the guy trying to paint a picture of a hiccup.

I'm sticking with Merry Christmas because that's what the word means. And happy holidays to those who don't celebrate Christmas. My own memories go back to the time when Christmas trees had lighted candles on them. It is a wonder there were not more fires.

Musing of one thinking about social customs.

More and more during the month of December we hear the expression "Happy Holidays".  December 25th is Christmas and has been celebrated as such for a couple of millennia and so my own greetings to everybody will be "Merry Christmas"! I guess that makes me a member of the crotchety old curmudgeons club.

Musing of one wondering who wound up with Al Capone's wealth.

Our sympathy goes to the French people as they recover from the terrorist attacks of the other day. They seem to be taking firm action against the perpetrators and that is a good thing.

Musing of one wondering what Obama has in mind about future activity once he leaves office.

I was reminiscing the other day about when I inadvertently bribed a government official.  I had been stationed at Fort Bell Bermuda and was ordered back to the US.  Mary Kay and the kids had joined me and they were authorized to accompany me.  So we flew to NY on one of the largest and most luxurious aircraft of the time, a Lockheed 4 engine aircraft whose model number I cannot recall.  So we flew to NY and were housed somewhere. The next day I went to  Fort Hamilton to get a TR to get a ticket home. At that time, Jack Daniels whiskey was completely unavailable in the US but could be had outside the country. I had a small cardboard box of 5 bottles in my bag which I intended to give to my father-in-law. 

My request for a TR was handled by a civilian who was about as negative as one can get. He said it would take at least a week to get us out of NY, and as he was discussing the problem, I open my barracks bag to get something. He saw the box of Jack Daniels. He said, "Is that Jack Daniels?" and I said, "Yes".  And with a burst of generosity and without thinking I asked if he wanted one. He said,"Yes" and locked it away in his desk.  Then he said I think I know a way to get you out of here tomorrow and that was a switch to what he had been saying about taking a week. So the next day we were on a train headed west. It did not occur to me until some time later that I had bribed a government official. The matter never came to light and I am duly grateful for that.  Any way the incident got us tickets home, starting the next day. So it goes.

Musing of one wondering what people did before the advent of the IT age ( I can't remember.)

I am entering by 99th year and to paraphase Kermit the frog, "Being 98 isn't easy".  But time marches on.

Musing of one wondering why so many people want to be President.

I don't know why so many people are in the race for President. A couple of them Ben Carson and Mike Huckaby have some qualifications, otherwise I am not sure. Not that my thoughts make a difference anyway.

Musing of one wondering about the practical effect of raising the national debt.

I've been reminiscing about my great uncle, James B. Dent who died in 1907.  He served in the Union army in the Civil War and after the war acquired several thousand acres in NE Arkansas. (He apparently came from a wealthy family in Illinois.) He built the Dent family home near Augusta and called it Brentwood. It developed into its own little settlement because a number of people (farm hands, sharecroppers, etc.) lived on that acreage. Brentwood was a large house and it was home to uncle Ben's brother who was my grandfather and his family.

Uncle Ben never married. The family story was he was engaged to a girl in Illinois and they were both very devoted to each other. Tragically, she contracted one of the common diseases of the the day and passed away. The story goes on to say he was so devastated that he never considered marrying anyone else. After he built Brentwood, he lived in one wing of the house until he passed away in 1907. Brentwood survived many years until some time in the late 20th century it caught fire and burned to the ground. Only a few pieces of debris remain on the site where it stood.

Musting of one wondering about Obama's plans for running the country once he leaves offiice.

As I interpret it, children born in the US of non citizen parents are not citizens of the US. Way back in the 1890's the Supreme Court made an observation "that subject to the jurisdiction thereof"from the 14th Amendment means that at least one parent must be a citizen. Otherwise, the child is a citizen of the country from which its parents came. I think that sometimes we are too lax in applying our citizenship.

Musing of one wondering if Vladimir Putin is married and if so Why?

The minimum wage in my opinion is a farce.  A raise in the minimum wage will help some people, but it does not leave everything else unchanged.  People who were making somewhat more than the minimum wage promptly want a raise. Small businesses which cannot afford it because they can't raise prices are forced either to lay off people or go out of business. Besides that the price level goes up. To illustrate, when I had my first full time job some 79 years ago, I made the princely sum of about 39 cents per hour which would have been the minimum wage if it were set by law. Since then the general minimum wage has risen to about $8 or about 2000%, so has the general price level.  And it will continue that way so long as we continue the present approach. We need something else such as an incentive pay program. Basically the entire cost of any item represents compensation of people and so it is inevitable that wage raises will result in price raises. I also admit that these observations do not address the disparity in income between the upper 10% and the rest of the population. I have no solution other than wage freezes tied in with an incentive pay program whatever that may be.

Musing of one thinking about the elderly man who developed a familial tremor and finally trained the offending forfinger to tap out jingle bells on the table top.

Back in the days when Mary Kay and I were going together it was considered a disgrace for an unmarried couple to spend the night together, but we did.  At the time Mary Kay's father was in the hospital and we had been going out so much that we were pretty well exhausted, so one night when I went out to see her we decided to stay right there and talk. There was an englenook at one end of the living room and I sat down and leaned against the end panel. She sat down next to me and I put an arm around her and we just talked. We both dozed off and awhile later I woke up and started to fish around for my watch which was in my pocket. I tried to get it out without disturbing Mary Kay who was sleeping peacefully on my shoulder . I finally got it out and the hour hand pointed to five.  I nudged her and whispered "Hey wake up! It is 5am". She woke up with a start and said, "Oh good Lord!." We tiptoed to the front door and opened it and without making any noise. I got in my car and coasted down the street. After about a block I started the engine and drove home. So far as  we were aware no one knew of the episode and we never mentioned it. So I guess we got away with it!

Musing of one thinking about the elderly man who took his deluxe walker and went for a walk only to stray into the street and be ticketed by a police officer for driving at an unsafe speed.

I am happy to welcome to my humble abode Luke and Sandy Anker and three of their children, Ben, Ellen and Lydia.  Their presence provides a great lift to the activities here. Since their arrival the household has run much more smoothly. I suspect we will be providing an increase in population at church on Sunday.

Musing of one thinking about the super salesman who telephoned a company in Moscow, was accidentally connected to Vladimir Putin and sold him outer Mongolia.

From the stand point of 97 years of age, I look back and see how history repeats itself. Particularly with regard to military build up and cuts.  It is also true in political operations, many of which have a title, such as "New Deal", "Fair Deal", "Great Society" and so forth. I don't know what they will come up with next but it will probably be a repetition of something.

Musing of one wondering if either political party will be able to come up with a single presidential candidate even after primary elections.

Contemplating the situation in the middle east, I have decided that policies are so confused that nobody knows what is going on, but then that's just me.   I just don't seem to be any more confused than anyone else.  Maybe it is hopeless and someday they will have to start all over again.

Musing of one wondering who built the first Christian Church Ediface and where.

There seems to be a pervasive perception that government is some big separate entity with its own source  of revenue. Wrong. The government is an artificial being invisible and intangible and its affairs are conducted by a group of fallible human beings who in general are no smarter than the rest of us. This a good thing to keep in mind.

This observation is not meant to disparage the efforts of many hard working people- civilian and military- who get their paychecks from the government.

Musing of one thinking about the Chinese Zillionaire that went to NY on vacation and was so taken with the Brooklyn Bridge that he advertised for an achitect that could build one in China.

We have a plethora of candidates and potential candidates for the office of the President of the U.S.  In my opinion, they all promise too much. and so one of the criteria to us in voting in the primary is to vote for the candidate who poses the most realistic policy.

Musing of one thinking about the newly wed who went into a coffee shop, saw his wife sitting in a booth with another man, went over and told her not to bother coming home, only to have her introduce him to her brother.

I've been struck by the fact the very few young people know any thing about WWI and WWII. From inquires I've made it seems that history professors only want to teach things that have great social significance so most young people know about the civil rights movement. My reaction to this is to remind people that both of those wars had Huge social significance.  In each one of them some 50 million people died and the maps of Europe and Asia were redrawn. How much more social significance can anybody want?

Musing of one wondering what cave men did to cut their hair before they discovered flint knives.

Some time ago when Obama Care was being forced on a compliant public, I wrote a plan of my own which accomplished the same thing.  The difference was my plan was entirely voluntary and did not involve any policing by taxing authorities. But it contained enough incentives positive and negative that everyone would have been motivated to join. I submitted the plan to governmental authorities and nothing happened. So what else is new?