Dear Jackson County Friends:

I want to tell you about a wonderful organization which I have been supporting for many years. It is the national World War II Museum. In fact, I am a charter member of this organization, and have seen it grow from humble beginnings to an impressive, memorable experience for visitors. The museum is located near downtown New Orleans.

Remembrances of an Old Friend

As we age we seem to become more accustomed to death. As the years pass the list of people we knew, appreciated, cared for, and in many instances, loved, who have passed away becomes longer and longer. The memories of those people are usually enduring and the recollection of our experiences with them evokes a feeling of sadness and regret, mixed with fondness.

Dear Editor

Conservatives, it's not quitting time yet! The recent Romney sweep on the April 24th primaries did not indicate a win for him but rather a call for us to WAKE-UP! In New York 162,994 came out to vote out o...f 2.8 million registered republicans - 5.8% turnout, he got 103,144. In Pennsylvania 797,912 came out to vote out of 3,125,079 - 25.5% turnout, he got 462,645. In Connecticut 59,663 came out to vote out of 415,725 registered republicans - 14.3% turnout, he got 40,267. In Rhode Island 14,530 came out to vote 72,613 - 20% turnout, he got 9,158. In Delaware 28,595 out of 178,700 registered republicans - 16% turnout, he got 16,145.

This column presents a non-partisan, conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions.

Will America Still Be the Land of Opportunity for Today's Grads?

This year I have two grandsons graduating from high school. Additionally, I have two granddaughters who are currently enrolled in college. Each of these loved family members is about to leave the world of self preparation and development, and enter the world of work, competition for advancement, and career direction. Before long they will also be involved in accepting the responsibility for yet another generation of our family as they have babies and form families of their own.

As I look at the direction our nation is heading, I can not help but fear for their opportunities to succeed, prosper, and advance. It seems not long ago that I was also a new graduate, facing the world with eager anticipation and self assurance. The question is, does the world faced today by my grandchildren offer the same potentials as did the world I faced fifty years ago? I fear not.

The problem does not lie with the quality of the student who is graduating. True, there are those among the new graduating classes who have no work ethic, no ambition, have been victims of the "dumbing down" of America's youth by involvement in drugs, destructive liberal ideologies, and unionized, unproductive school systems. But there were also "cast offs" and developing failures among the students of my era. A large percentage of today's student population is comprised of smart, hard working, focused, and dedicated students who are doing everything possible to make themselves as qualified and good as possible. Those gifted students deserve a "Land of Opportunity" to be waiting for them.

But if America is embarking on a path of restructuring which involves a reduction in industrial, retail, and business activity as our standard of living endures decades of decline until it evolves down to some point of "international equivalence", what opportunities will the children of today and tomorrow have? What good does it do to be a smart, well educated engineer, business manager, banker, insurance executive, sales executive, marketing expert, real estate specialist, estate planner, industrialist, or other business related expert, ..... if there are no factories, no growing businesses, no opportunities, ... no jobs?

About ten years ago I was involved in helping a New York based apparel company find factories to produce for them around the world. A man who owned a big, modern, well equipped factory in Jordan made a presentation to me, hoping to get a contract to produce. He bragged that of his 500 sewing operators, almost all where men, and 90% had college educations. "Why are college graduate males working as sewing machine operators in your factory?" I asked. "Because there are no other jobs in Jordan," he responded. Is this were our nation is headed? The situation described by this man in Jordan made it clear that education alone will not solve the problem, as many politicians are professing. There must also be industry, economic commerce, and growth where those educational skills can be put to work.

America is now faced with a giant, unsustainable national debt which our political leaders have allowed our nation to create as they foolishly spent more than was coming into the government. They "Let the good times roll", for far too many years. At the same time, as Donald Trump puts it, "They have foolishly given away the farm (our industries) and allowed China to eat our lunch." I see little immediate hope. I can see no solution ahead for America which does not involve sacrifice and dramatic changes in our vision of government, the American society, self responsibility, social responsibilities, priorities, spending habits, our standard of living, and national lifestyle.

I do not believe today's population or our elected officials are prepared to do what must be done without being forced to take corrective actions because there are no alternatives. This will only happen because of absolute failure of the American economic system. I can see no way to avoid a destructive era of great social unrest within our nation as all citizens realize that personal, economic sacrifices are in store for them. Where will that situation leave these graduating grandchildren of mine? May God provide them grace and guidance. Eighty three years ago, as an infant my older sister lived with my Mother and Father in a tent with a dirt floor during the Great Depression. I hope the same experience does not await my great grandchildren when they are born.

In this instance, I hope that I am not "Getting It Right", but I fear I am. Please become politically active this election and help this nation restore its morality and sanity.

Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-

(Say something Nice) – Congratulations to those who are leading the way in the development of a meaningful Farmers Market in the new Madison Street Park in Marianna. It looks like they are going to have another banner year.

You can get arrested for having expired tags on your car or not fastening your seat belt, but not for being in the country illegally. Please explain that to me.

Our administration in Washington has apparently developed a clever solution to the illegal immigration problem. By making conditions of freedom, overregulation, and lack of opportunities so bad in the United States, we now have those illegal Mexicans fleeing back across the borders into their homeland. Some politicians are now proposing we build fences to keep them here. These politicians were apparently hoping to get their fraudulent votes this November.

The administration is also working on a clever solution to those negative unemployment statistics. If they can just convince all of those who are unemployed to quit looking for jobs and to instead just go on welfare, by the way the statistics are calculated, that reclassification step would return our nation back to full employment. Our real national unemployment calculation is well over 10%, and our inflation rate is also much higher than depicted by their politically contrived method of calculation.

Note: The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily represent the views of the Jackson County Times newspaper.