Rhine castles, Nuremburg, Dachau

Anne and I had just returned day before from our 3 –day train tour beginning with the BD Shipping boat ride on the Rhine from _____ to Bacharach with a wonderful stop at Marksburg Castle for 3 hours -- the only medieval ages castle in Germany that is still as it was when built and improved over those years. It sits atop a high, wooded hill commanding a long curve in the river. Its floors, ramps, and multi-stairways are mostly carved right out of the rock of the mountain. One room has a collection of some eighteen full suits of armor used from 400 BC to 1500 AD and the guide popped one can-shaped helmet on the head of a boy and asked how he would like to fight from that.

The castle has a knights dining hall where a whole ox can be roasted with a notched wheel to turn it with – giving rise to the German expression “turn it up a notch”. It never suffered was capture, Napoleon and other armies passing it by rather than try to attack such a well-fortified castle on a high hill. The dungeon has a torture room with all the old devices you have nightmares about, including neck/wrist clamps, stretching bed with weights and chains, an iron mask and stocks, The toilet jutted out from the wall near the chapel, had a lock-able iron door because it was open beneath for the sewage to fall into the woods and was a weak spot for attacks. One could get stuck in there for some time if enemies were around, and they had a special knock signal to unlock the door.

The Rhine was the chief center of all commerce, and the multi-castles built along it testify to the greed of the various families contesting control. The city of Pfalz laid a huge chain across the river which prevented ships passing until they had paid the taxes. They became very wealthy from the taxes, Pope Pius the II demanded they be destroyed and inspired army to try, but Pfalz prevailed. We stayed the 1st night at Bacharach which has a seven tower Roman wall and vineyards on the steep hill surrounding it. Wine making and transporting dominated their economy then and now.

How different does Germany appear? Stuttgart stay.

GERMANY: most populous, largest economy of all the Eruo nations; What differences manifest in shor stay getting acquainted with the place & people:

a) not so friendly/outgoing as the Italians & Spanish

b) asking directions: some simply ignore you. Und ich spreche Deutsch fur fragen.

b) absence of chlldren and presence of smokers

c) highways better designed, maikntained -- more needful, more densely populated
Surprising when so many eschew auto owning, and bike.

d) subways/trains likewise generally superior.

e) restaurants: more pricey, smaller portions, rely on long stays many drinks

f) traffic, pedestrians more heavily regulatedm e,g.fines for standing w/ motor going, more tickets for not getting out of fast lane.

g) recycling like a religion. More critical w/ dense population.

h) houses (private, this neighborhood) sturdier, tighter, securer. Not nearly so convenient, many stairs - due to high land values.

i) racial diversity -- much more than formerly, still not approaching U.S.

"Visiting Solitude Schloss, Ludwigsburg, Germany

Carl Eugen's hunting lodge-become-palace circa 1750, overflows with real gold filigree, trim, brocade & furbelos. Huge; housed hundreds of guests, stabled 300 horses with hounds; separate ornate bedrooms for mistresses and for wife; heroic size paintings of family members, busts, ornate vases filling every room, wall and ceiling. Special rooms for gaming, sculpture, vases, throne, ladies' powder, balls, concerts, receptions, rallying the hunt, banquets. Duke Carl no doubt proud of his multi-million mark patronizing the arts. Notorious diletante, philanderer, horseman, dandy, who essentially bankrupted the dukedom with his extravagance. He had hidden passages opening inside the fireplace to hide the servants from view of the anointed.

This one of the largest and most famous roccocco style palaces in the German countries. Breathtaking its exterior beauty and setting atop a high hill; sweeping grounds and then the deep, luxuriant German woods. But not a room in which one could relax or feel comfortable -- too busy, bright, mirrored, golden, for the eye or spirit to find rest. For solitude, the woods alone far superior.

How would such an one report back to his maker -- what he did with what he was given, considering the poverty, disease, and starvation suffered regularly by thousands of his subjects.

Time's Tali Sharot on man's brain . . .woefully short.

Time magazine chimes in with another attempt to explain man’s character and tendencies by the physical structure and chemistry of brains. This and most of the popular science articles analyzing brains to understand man’s nature and tendencies, remind of the nothing so much as the ancient alchemists – each convinced that he could or would discover secrets of gold and how it is made.

Someone already made all these things, with unique attention to man, and the accounts of the making he has provided are so devoid of chemistry, physics or physiology as to put the thoughtful person on notice that the most important origins, elements and purposes of man do not appear in the test tube, the microscope, or the space probe.

Perhaps William Cowper said it best: “Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan his works in vain. God is his own interpreter and he will make it plain.” “Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” — I Corinthians 2:9.

Salt Lake County didn't play fair.

SALT LAKE COUNTY people led on a man who fell on their ice by helping him to an anambulance, and paying his medical bills for one year. At year end he had failed to give written notice of claim, relying on their promises, and they cut him off, just when he needed surgery. When we filed in court for him, they then moved to dismiss for failure to make the timely written claim. The judge ruled no dismissal, saying "The county cannot behave this way." See Website: mysandylawyer.com for more about personal injury recoveries.
Moral: It makes no difference whether you're a county or business, if you cheat a claimant, the court can set you straight.

JUST FOR FUN: IN Africa, every morning a gazelle awakens knowing that it must outrun the fastest lion if it wants to stay alive. Every morning a lion wakes up knowing it must run faster than th slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
Moral: It makes no difference whether you are a gazelle or a lion: When the sun comes up you had better be hauling booty.

No difference whether you're a gazelle or a lion . . .

IN AFRICA, every morning a gazelle awakens knowing that it must outrun the fastest lion if it wants to stay alive. Every morning a lion wakes up knowing it must run faster than th slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
Moral: It makes no difference whether you are a gazelle or a lion: When the sun comes up you had better be hauling booty.

IN SALT LAKE COUNTY We won $26,000 for a fall on ice and torn rotator cuff, despite our client's failure to make written demand within one year as the law requires. The County had paid medical expenses until the year expired, then said the claim was barred. The judge disagreed, castigating the county’s attorney for their trickery. See Website: mysandylawyer.com for more examples.
Moral: It makes no difference whether you're a county or an individual, if you cheat a claimant, the court can set you right.

How is your religious freedom being threatened?

We Americans rely firmly on the Freedom of Religion protected by the Constitution -- First Amendment, but that freedom (for the Judeo-Christian religions) is being threatened in insidious ways . . . even in the name of religous freedom.

"We are now entering a period of incredible ironies. Let us cite but one of these ironies which is yet in its subtle stages: we shall see in our time a maximum if indirect effort made to establish irreligion as the state religion. It is actually a new form of paganism that uses the carefully preserved and cultivated freedoms of Western civilization to shrink freedom even as it rejects the value essence of our rich Judeo-Christian heritage." -- —Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Meeting the Challenges of Today. October 10, 1978

Website: mysandylawyer.com

Time Magazine's Joe Klein -- on whose payroll?

Reading Joe Klein's current comment page in Time it occurs to me to wonder whose payroll Mr. Klein is on. He is always on the attack or the defense for President Obama. In this issue: against Israel PM Netanyahu for demurring from Obama's foot-in-mouth trial balloon that an Israeli solution should go back to the 1967 boundaries before the six days' war.
Whether the person is black, white, or Hispanic; domestic or foreign, Deomcrat or Republican, if he differs from Obama then Joe Klein is on his case. Is he discussing Republican possibles to run for president? -- It's all about what a poor field they have to choose from, comppared to Obama.
If Mr. Klein is not on the White House payroll he should be.
For more about Beus Law office check out the Website mysandylawyer.com.

In sea of Glass . . . a place for woods.

THE WILDERNESS

The ancient maple stands defrocked
a gatepost to the wildeness.
Strewn down the slope behind,
its leaves still patch the dying grass.

The hills crowd in, their bulk and dark
surround the canyon's winding way;
and autumn, timeless, coming here
creates its own unique display.

The fall - of leaves and temperatures
came here two thousand years or three,
while tree and owl and rabbit ruled,
and men came only fleetingly.

Yet since a Man created this,
and saw these hills and called them good,
I trust somewhere in sea of glass,
is place for rabbit, owl and wood.

--Edwin H. Beus

Obama -- Pusillanimous Pussy Footer of the year

What a strange mixture of cowardice and courage is President Obama. First he cowardly-wise does absolutely nothing at all about the immigration crisis for two years, even with his party in control of both houses, and he sues both Arizona and Utah for their efforts to fill the void. But then he has the courage to order the high-risk attack to kill Bin Laden.

Now, with his political equity soaring from the Navy seals’ success, he has the nerve to stand at the border with Mexico and claim credit for decreased border crossings which everyone should know are chiefly due to decline in available jobs from our limping economy. He mocks Republicans for what he terms a “moat-with-alligators” attitude, and says the public must pressure Congress for a worker-pass system.

What a stark contrast to President Bush who proposed, and labored long and hard for immigration reform including both a re-enforced border and a worker-pass system. No such hard labor for Obama – it’s up to the people and the Congress. I nominate Obama for the Pusillanimous Pussy Footer of the Year award.

What you should know about frog eggs in space

Fascinating article in the 5/8/11 DesNews about Hillcrest High’s “Scramble to get [African claw] frog eggs into space” raises again the critical citizenship questions. Will the tadpole be a U.S. citizen, a natural born citizen, a possible future president frog? Is the spacecraft under U.S. jurisdiction to make him a citizen automatically? What kind of birth certificate would he have, and could we trust it? Only Donald Trump knows for sure.

Is he a “natural born” citizen eligible to be president frog by reason of citizen parents? His family being African frogs raises serious questions of his parents’ citizenship. But perhaps the highest hurdle of all for him to clear is that his parents were undoubtably wetbacks. A large segment of the local population would never stand for a wetback-born president frog. My advice to Mr. Frog: forget about tangling with all these knotty American issues and run for president of the Solar System

I believe in Music – Swanees Concert

The Swanee Singers male chorus founded in 1948 will be in concert at 1750 E. Spring Lane, Salt Lake City, on our lucky Friday the 13th of May, 7:30pm -- admission free. Come enjoy the power and excitement men’s voices raised in song – jazz, spirituals, anthems, songs of the 20s; and my daughter Annalyn Beus Osborn’s soaring soprano in serious and comic performance. The Swanees directed by Dr. Jay Campbell and Bill Hesterman, continue a great choral tradition which included performing at LDS General Preissthood Meetings,and J. Sencer Cornwall among early conductors.

Global Warming crowd resemblels Galileso's persecutors

Mr. Gale (4/2/11 Des News) means well, but he errs when he concludes that man causes climate change (he means global warming), claiming that all scientists believe and only self-serving politicians don’t. He ventures far beyond his literary area of expertise. Many reputable scientists believe any global warming represents earth’s own cycles, not man’s actions. The know-it-all so-called scientists clamored in the ‘50s that we were suffering a disastrous global cooling trend – beginning a new ice age. They were wrong then too. Ironic how the man-is-central attitude of these supposedly enlightened ones resembles the attitude of those who persecuted Galileo for stating that the sun rather than the earth was center of the solar system. Both crowds dangerously over-inflate the place of man in affairs of the heavens.

A mother's day poem

MOTHER'S DAY OF HOPE
(For mother: Hope Beus)

To Mother on this mother’s day:
Where you have gone I cannot go,
send flowers, cards, or telephone.
It’s been foretold you see and know -

and often wince at our mistakes.
And I will add from knowing you,
you smile and pray for all our sakes.
For those are part of what you do.

You’re reverenced still in countless ways
To you this day I raise pean,
look forward to your charm again,
and cherish days with you – long gone.

Edwin

So, government shut-down coming up.

Martin and Buehner won't give in, Reid and Senate Demos won't either. Even our favorite Eloquent Ditherer Obama has gotten involved. Still little progress.
Republicans hope the monster national debt is so frightening even the general electorate will see need to hold firm until Dems agree to real cuts -- even with shut-down. Dems hope for shut-down and for public to blame the Repubs for it as being too extreme to justify, like they did last time -- even if the nation's finances go to hell in a handbasket.

Mohammed the last prophet?

In my recent visit with a Muslim believer from Jordan, he explained that he belileved Jesus was a prophet and that Mohammed was the last prophet. When I asked whether we needed prophets today, he said no, becaus Mohammed was the prophet for all people and for all time.
However, it has been pointed out that if one who lived in Noah's day satisfied himself he knew the law and the prophets before and therefore had no need to listen to Noah, that would not have saved him from the flood.
Similarly we must cope with floods of Satan's insidious attacks by way of drugs, pornography, abortion, and denigration of marriage, etc. Without the warning voice of a prophet we risk being overcome by the flood as were the people who would not listen to Noah.
You can have the very present comfort and guidance of the prophets of the living God by the simple flick of your remote today, on KSL Channel 5 at 10 am and 2 pm

Come listen to a prophet's voice

In my recent visit with a Muslim believer from Jordan, he explained that he belileved Jesus was a prophet and that Mohammed was the last prophet. When I asked whether we needed prophets today, he said no, becaus Mohammed was the prophet for all people and for all time.
However, it has been pointed out that if one who lived in Noah's day satisfied himself he knew the law and the prophets before and therefore had no need to listen to Noah, that would not have saved him from the flood.
Similarly we must cope with floods of Satan's insidious attacks by way of drugs, pornography, abortion, and denigration of marriage, etc. Without the warning voice of a prophet we risk being overcome by the flood as were the people who would not listen to Noah.
You can have the very present comfort and guidance of the prophets of the living God by the simple flick of your remote today, on KSL Channel 5 at 10 am and 2 pm.

Who pays to rescue skiers living/dying near the edge

Big story about back country skiers caught in avalanche, one dies. Rescue with helicopters and teams considered one of the most difficult ever by rescuers – high winds, snow blowing, unstable surface, helicopter unable to land, etc.

For rescue of these who like to live on the edge – back country skiing after big snows, with known avalanche risk – who pays the bill? Shouldn’t these folks be charged with the thousands it no doubt cost to rescue them? Most of us are too sensible, too old, or not rich enough to engage in such high risk adventures. Should we be paying their rescue bills when they go too near the edge?

Tsunami in Miami?

Strange how the once-in-ten-thousand-years quake/tsunami disaster in Japan and the nuclear reactor damage, has people ramping up the near-superstitious fears of nuclear reactors. Isn't this once-in-ten-thousand-years risk worth taking for an mply available energy source that would bring some freedom from Arab oil dependancy and eliminate a great deal of our coal burning pollution?

Amanda Dixon wants help to retain government benefits.

Amanda Dixon (3/18/11 - DesNews family section) advocates everyone telling her neighbor how adversely certain government cuts will affect her family. That, of course, is exactly why our Federal budget is out of control. Congressmen quail before the prospect of the angry constituents back home, who are hurt by budget cuts. If we cut the budget enough to come anywhere near balancing it then everyone’s bull will be gored one way or another.

If one reads on in the letters section, same paper, he will see Beth Evans expounding on our need for more self-reliance and less dependance on entitlements. But where is the congressman who will vote for such drastic cuts, knowing he risks being booted out next election? Perhaps Senator Hatch (a sponsor of the balanced budget bill) who is past retirement age anyway? Just try to get new Senator Lee (who is hot for budget cuts) to make a list of the Utah benefits from Federal programs that he would be willing to forego to make up Utah’s share. You will get no list, because he wants re-election more than he wants a balanced budget.

Why such a glaring lack of discipline in our classrooms?

A Wasatch High coach/teacher handled a sassy, rude student by pushing him up against the wall and telling him he wasn’t needed in the class. The student was apparently not injured in any way and personally made no complaint. But parents or someone got wind of the matter and now he’s been suspended and charged with a class A misdemeanor. Under current practices in Utah he will lose his job and be blacklisted and never hired again to teach. A man’s whole career down the drain because one student got what he deserved.

It is outrageous how far overboard our legislature, police, and prosecutors have gone on child abuse matters. In Idaho in the 1950s I had a coach who regularly required misbehaving students to “grab their ankles” while he whacked them with a big wooden paddle. He never injured anyone, had few discipline problems, no one made complaint; and he succeeded well as a teacher. Now in Utah he would jeopardize his whole career with such a practice.

We cannot go on with this ridiculous coddling of our students. Used to be when a student, parents and teacher were seen entering the principal’s office, you knew the student was in trouble. Now, you know the teacher is in trouble.

How you can make a difference in your cummunity

One very present and lively way in Sandy, Utah, is to join in with Sandy Pride Day this May 14th. Some 700 volunteers will pitch in to weed and plant, paint, clean-up, and improve public and private properties in Sandy. You can check out the many projects needing volunteers on that day on the City’s website at sandycity.gov and click on Sandy Pride Day 2011. The day’s work will include Several Eagle Scout projects; and volunteers will put in a lawn and sprinkler system for one resident whose health prevents him doing the work; and will do landscaping and shed replacement for other neighbors in need.

Exchange Club in your city wherever you are in the U.S. is a service club focused on patriotism, child safety and youth awards, and community service. The Sandy Exchange Club has sponsored Sandy Pride Day with the city each spring since 1984 and has been awarded the National Exchange Club’s Community Service of the year award. Make a difference with Exchange! I am glad to be chair of the Sandy Pride Committee for this year.

The Know-Nothings of 1856 are back again.

Utah’s new immigration bill (not yet signed by the governor) has stirred up a hornet’s nest of opposition, chiefly among what looks like a modern version of the Know-Nothings party of Lincoln’s day. They feared German and Irish Catholic immigrants, wanted repeal of all naturalization laws and the sending of back pauper immigrants. They allowed only protestant males of English descent as members, and gained their name by answering “I know nothing” when asked what their intentions were.

Joe Klein of Time Magazine and Huckabee, on Obama

Joe Klein’s “Huckabucking” column (Time Magazine) illustrates well that both he and Mr. Huckabee excel at distorting small truths into big misrepresentations. He pretends that President Obama’s worst lack of patriotism is that he said: “I believe in America’s exceptionalism just as Brits believe in Bitish exceptionalism”. In fact he has presumed previously to apologize for America to the Arab world in mea culpa terms, and his wife openly confessed she had never felt proud of her country until it elected him. He has declared America not a Christian nation, and the “church” he attended long-term in Chicago is far more into socio/political rallies than worship – including the infamous “God damn America” sermon. One wonders on reading Klein’s piece, when he first signed on as a political flack for Obama.

Snowy Spring escape to granda's cabin - a poem

GRANDPA'S CABIN

(A Weber Winter Day)

Some steps find frozen crust that bears the load.
Some sink to laboring in knee deep snow
and make us work for way along the road
to grandpa’s cabin – days of long ago.

He pondered well the tree-filled site he chose.
The river, bridge and grove his plan embraced.
With family camped in tents, the cabin rose.
He found here rest from city life fast paced.

We light the fireplace with failing flame.
The wood we brought too green, the woodpile wet.
Freezing, must we retreat the way we came?
With bark and twigs at last a fire is set.

O glorious, sylvan, sun-splashed afternoon!
E'en birds keep silence here, or else have flown.
High windowed seat surveys a world in tune.
The silent wood speaks peace but seldom known.

The river winks and ripples in its flow.
Nature awakens awe at God's display.
Waters, escaping bars of ice and snow,
on ceiling cast reflections through the day.

Is Grandpa here or can come here still,
to see his children’s children in our play?
To feel God's gifts bestowed through his good will,
and share the flashing sunlight's bright display?

“Government [Obama’s] isn’t the solution, it’s the problem.”

BARRING OIL EXPLORATION/DRILLING. This aggravates the oil-price impact on our economy when riots in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, etc. threaten foreign oil supply. We’re told our oil reserves off-shore, in Alaska, and (potential) in shale could replace the Arab oil for years, but the EPA and other agencies bar the way. Further, the gulf oil spill resulted from government forcing off-shore drilling out to deep sea to “avoid environmental problems”.

PROFLIGATE SPENDING money we don’t have, bloating the national debt at record rates – which threatens our Treasury bonds rating, our economy, our currency.

MORAL DECADENCE: Will not defend marriage protection act in courts, will not support limiting use of taxpayers’ money for elective abortions.

COWARDLY AVOIDANCE OF IMMIGRATION REFORM. Obama completely refuses to take the lead in this, although willing to sue states (Arizona) that attempt to address it. Bush worked strenuously to get immigration reform, then was undercut by his own party’s ultra-conservatives’ crying “Amnesty!". At least he had the guts to try.

We'd wish for ice and snow... and death for some relief

FEBRUARY’S CONTRASTS

The February winds sweep through these hills.
Each bough of spruce gracefully genufluncts,
while leafless kin, the honey locust and the plum,
sway tree by tree to give the wind its way.

Few clumps of snow remain -- where once piled high
by shoveling, or being pushed from cars.
And yesterday’s warm sun, though premature,
reminded spring, and summer sun are on their way.

My ten-year-old delightedly declared her love
for spring, the summer warmth, and no more school.
How much her joy depends on contrasts, opposites.
Release from classroom discipline and cold’s harsh rule.

If God were to create the earth again by poll.
By wish for comfort, warmth, youth not so brief.
I think it would become so bland and boring here.
We’d wish for ice and snow and death, for some relief.

So everybody's got to go to college?

So now Mr. Shumway (Des News 3/1/11) opines that "By 2020 every graduate in Utah needs to obtain a post-high school credential." Citing that old bugaboo “global economy” he seems to think we won’t need plumbers, carpenters, mechanics, landscapers, pipe-fitters or auto salesmen any more. His ideal, as CEO of Cicero Group, matches those of other big business people: the ideal graduate to be aimed for is one trained for employment in high-growth industires [like Cicero Group].

Why can’t we get off this horse of imagining that everyone must go to college? New York and California undertook years ago to admit and fund college for every HS grad. They gave it up with the budget crunch years and the milserable graduation rates that followed.

My friend who attended CCNY at the time said many of his state-funded classmates enrolled to get away from home and enjoy the beer parties and could care less about studies. Every one of my siblings got a college degree – four doctorates, and every one of us had to work summers and part-time in the school year to make it. Mother said she watched kids whose parents [or state] funded their way and they had less appreciation for the privilege of attending and did less with their schooling. Let our college graduates earn their way and their admission; and let those with other bents pursue their ways too. One size does not fit all.

The DEFICIT: It's all about whose bull is being gored.

An old saying from law school: When youre trying to decipher why a court decided in the quirky way courts sometimes do it helps a great deal to examine whose bull is being gored. "Yes, yes, we must cut, but don't cut the things my constituents will be angry about."

That's what most Congressmen/comen are saying now about the hudge deficit crisis. Ane Obama's budget him totally unwilling to take the lead, or the same reasons. Everyone knows broad, deep cuts must be made -- to include adjustments for means-tested social security and raising retirement age. A few are stepping forward with concrete roposals for big cuts; but most are cowering from such things becaue they might make then un-electable next time around. House repos more than senators, becuse most senators can wait 4 to 6 yrs before they have to run agian.

Where, when we need them, are the statesmen -- men/women who will do what they know must be done for the nation's good and then let the devil take the hindmost in the next election cycle. Sacrifice for the good old USA?

Destruction, Deliverance, Death – on the same page

Striking sign of our times in DesNews this morning – three articles side by side: 1) Brothers charged in sex with teen; 2) LDS. El Salvador temple dates; 3) Man . Killed by police. Spiritual death, way to life eternal, and physical death, side by side by side in the news.

Hasn’t your state got a state gun?

Many great things about Utah, including that our legislature sits only part time. Even so, one finds time to propose naming a pistol designed by the state’s famous John Browning, the STATE GUN.[?] Mr. Browning’s amazing talents created many fine guns, several of them of great use to our men in war.

But do we, would you, want your state’s reputation “enhanced” by anointing a state gun – best used to shoot people? For Utah, the Sego Lilly reminds of survival food in famine; the seagull reminds of answer to pioneer’s prayers. But what would the state gun remind us of? That men need weapons to kill each other? Don’t we have enough reminders of that?

Goodbye to the old yellow school bus?

Yes, money scrabblers now advocate covering our school buses with ads. I’ve had the displeasure of riding Utah Transit buses covered with ads. They covered the windows as well, and although translucent, they gave the feeling of riding in a semi-truck like a load of inmates. Saints deliver our kids from riding in such a vehicle!

National budget crash . . . or Congressional grit?

Confronting the aproaching demand to raise the national debt ceiling, your congressman will have to make a difficult choice -- is he coward or chicken? He will either require serious budget cuts ($860 Billion is one proposal), or chicken out in fear of losing re-election from constituents hurt by cuts. Summon the grit to do right by the country, or cover his own bottom.

If he argues for 3 months while the government lives on accounting tricks, our foreign debt holders will see us edging into insolvency and may demand much higher interest return before buying U.S. bonds. Our government's economy could crash. Washington burn while Congress fiddles, so to speak. So who has the grit to step up now and vote for substantial cuts?

Like to be an MD forced to perform abortions?

That’s where regulations said to be pending from the Obama administration are going to place many MDs as per yesterday’s news reports.

The Euro Union even has express provisions that no health care provider may be liable or subject to any discipline for a matter of conscience by which he or she declines to participate in abortions or euthanasia. Our own Congress has repeatedly passed lanlguage desisgned to prevent this happening.

These people are bad to the bone on some issues.

Grandma and Grandpa . . . Retarded or Retired ?

After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their holiday away from school. One child wrote the following:

We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa. They used to live in a big brick house, but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Arizona . Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass. They ride around on their bicycles, and wear name tags, because they don't know who they are anymore. They go to a building called a wreck center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, they do exercises there, but they don't do them very well. There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on. At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape. Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts. Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And, they eat the same thing every night - early birds. Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck. My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and, says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too. When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.