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As often happens in the course of human events, 2014 was about as predictable as the time and place of the next meeting of the Galactic Federation of the Parallel Universe.

 

The New Year, 2015, is now upon us and we’re all along for the ride. The journey may be a pleasant one or a hundred miles an hour down a dead-end street, often depending on your point of view.

 

Although every year is the same duration, they actually seem to go faster as you grow older. When you’re ten years old, one year is ten percent of your life. When you’re fifty, one year is only two percent of your life -- thus, the illusion of faster time as you get older.

 

Every year, life seems to get easier and more complicated at the same time.

 

I can remember when my grandmother had an actual icebox on her back porch and a man would stop by every couple of weeks to deliver a huge block of ice. My grandmother lived in a large two-story house, in Wisconsin, and her only heat came from an oil furnace in her living room and a wood-burning stove in her kitchen. She had running water but no water heater. A Saturday night bath was a major project that included heating water on the wood-burning stove and toting it down the hall to the tub.

 

A hundred years ago, things were quite a bit different.

 

• The United States of America had only 45 states. Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Alaska and Hawaii had not yet been admitted to the Union. Texas was a state but it was too late to do anything about it.

 

• Life expectancy in the United States was 47 years. Pneumonia, tuberculosis and diarrhea were the three leading causes of death. Then as now, women were the leading cause of headaches.

 

• The average wage in the United States was 22 cents per hour and the average worker made less than $400 per year. On the positive side, there was no income tax.

 

• There were only 8,000 cars in the United States and less than 150 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed in most cities was 10 miles per hour. The only drag race was a foot race between transvestites.

 

• Drive-by shootings were a major problem in Denver and other cities in the west. Apparently, teenage boys would gallop through town on horseback, randomly shooting pistols at whatever caught their fancy.

 

• Only six percent of Americans graduated from high school. One in ten adults couldn’t read or write. These days, many more people graduate from high school but they don’t necessarily know how to read or write.

 

• Marijuana, heroin and morphine were all available over-the-counter at corner drugstores. Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of caffeine. Freedom of individual mind and body once actually existed before the government decided it had a right to control what mood we’re allowed to enjoy.

 

• The closest thing to a computer was an accountant with ten fingers and ten toes, or a Chinaman with an abacus.

 

It’s hard to predict what the New Year has in store for us. The human race is a work in progress. We take two giant steps forward and a giant step backward. Whenever we get to a crossroad, we occasionally chose the wrong direction.

 

 Perhaps someday we’ll reach the Promised Land. Until then, the best we can do is to savor the journey.

 

May the New Year bring joy to all and Peace on Earth.

 

But if we must endure more hardship, that’s okay too -- after all, suffering builds character.

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Quote for the Day -- “The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.” Horace Walpole

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Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a couple of dogs and where building character is a daily task

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Dr. George Goodheart (1918 - 2008) was a chiropractor who founded applied kinesiology.

 

In 1964, Dr. Goodheart discovered a correlation between muscles reacting in a strong or weak way when his patients came in contact with certain foods, nutrients or chemicals, regardless of their age or gender.

 

For example, when he asked a patient to hold a chemical-based sugar substitute in one hand and extend the opposite arm at a right angle to the body, no matter how hard the patient tried to hold the opposite arm in position, the muscles would become inexplicably weak.

 

This discovery, whereby the body inherently knows what serves its needs and what is harmful, became known as "Applied Kinesiology."

 

The International College of Applied Kinesiology was founded in 1975 to provide information and instruction on Dr. Goodheart's research to health care professionals. Dr. Goodheart served as chairman of the Research Committee for 32 years.

 

The following information was formulated from Dr. Goodheart's research.

 

When we eat what we eat is directly related to how much benefit we receive from it.

 

Inadequate absorption of food causes degeneration of tissue -- a combination of high protein and high starches inhibits the absorption of nutritional factors of foods and creates an unnecessary burden on the entire digestive system. Consequently, consuming large quantities of nutritious foods will yield little or no benefit if other foods consumed at the same time interfere with the proper digestion of vitamins and minerals of the nutritious foods.

 

Carbohydrates are digested mostly in the small intestine -- proteins are digested mostly in the stomach. Thus, it becomes problematic when combining carbohydrates and proteins.

 

For example, consuming a food rich in calcium (such as cheese) that reaches the small intestine when an alkaline digestive process is present, then very little of the calcium will be available. The calcium will have a chemical reaction with the alkali making it unable to be absorbable, thereby passing through and out of the body unused. No matter how much cheese is consumed, a calcium deficiency will occur because the calcium is not absorbed. However, if foods rich in calcium reach the small intestine when an acid condition is present, much of the calcium will be utilized.

 

When we consume carbohydrates (sugars and starches) the small intestine becomes alkaline, creating a condition whereby essential factors in other foods yield no benefit. Plus, the carbohydrates may also interfere with the digestion of certain proteins in the stomach area, thereby potentially causing partially digested protein foods to become toxic.

 

Conversely, fats leave the stomach largely unchanged and upon entering the small intestine cause the gall bladder to empty bile into the small intestine. The bile emulsifies the fat and releases fatty acid, thereby neutralizing alkaline secretions in the small intestine.

 

What to Eat When -- If consuming mostly carbohydrates, do not eat fats and if consuming mostly fats, do not eat carbohydrates. Do not combine high fats (butter, cream, bacon fat) with high starches (bread, potatoes, sweets, cereal, pasta) at any one meal. If consuming bacon and eggs for breakfast, do not include toast or cereal.

 

What to Eat When -- Do not combine carbohydrates and acids. Do not consume high starches and sugars with acids (orange juice, lemon juice, vinegar, etc.). When you consume orange juice with cereal it causes stomach acid but when combined with high protein (bacon and eggs) the digestive tract works fine.

 

What to Eat When -- Do not combine high proteins (meat, fish, eggs, cheese) with high starches (potatoes, cereal, breads, sweets) at the same meal. According to a study at the Mayo Clinic, sugars inhibit the secretion of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, thereby interfering with the digesting of proteins which require this acid for proper digestion.

 

Do not fear eating too much protein, unless you have no control over your appetite or have a medical condition that dictates otherwise. Any excess protein above your body's requirement for growth or tissue repair will be utilized as energy and body heat.

 

Dr. Goodheart's Rules (listed below) for good health involve eating enough of the essential foods and eating them in the right combinations:

 

1) Eat all kinds of meats, fish, eggs, leafy vegetables, citrus fruits as the safest way to avoid deficiencies.

 

2) Do not combine pure fats with high starches in any one meal.

 

3) Do not combine acids with high starches in any one meal.

 

4) Do not combine high proteins with high starches in any one meal.

 

5) Eat fats freely with proteins and acid solutions.

 

6) Be sure to get enough of each essential nutritional element as follows:

 

>> Meat, fish, fowl, eggs -- one serving of each or two servings of one per day with butter or other fat

>> Milk, buttermilk or cheese -- two glasses of raw organic milk or buttermilk, or two and one-half ounces of cheese per day (or one glass of milk or buttermilk plus an ounce or more or cheese)

>> Raw, low-starch fruits, and raw green and yellow vegetables -- two servings per day or one large salad bowl per day

>> One or two tablespoonfuls of a plain cod liver oil, or its equivalent in other fish liver oils, or their concentrates in capsules -- but if you use capsules, then be sure to take plenty butter fats and cream -- your liver must have fats, if it is going to make bile for you

>> If you are a carbohydrate eater, supplement with yeast or other equivalent Vitamin B Complex -- other natural fats and oils may also be necessary as the fact remains that natural fats and oils are absolutely necessary in ample quantities for natural, healthy metabolism.

 

I am not an expert in this area -- do your own research. I suspect we all have a different physiology and requirement for proper health maintenance. But if Dr. Goodheart's research is valid, then perhaps we should pay close attention to food combinations.

___________

 

Quote for the Day -- "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food," Hippocrates

___________

 

Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a couple of dogs and where proper nutrition also requires peace of mind.

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The new year of 2015 is upon us -- how did it get so late so soon??

 

The following events took place in 100 years ago -- in 1915:

 

Jan 9 -- Pancho Villa (Mexico) signed a treaty with the USA halting border conflicts.

 

Jan 12 -- The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote.

 

Jan 13 -- Am earthquake in Italy killed nearly 30,000 people.

 

Jan 15 -- Japan claimed economic control of China.

 

Jan 18 -- A train crashed in Guadalajara, Mexico, killing 600 people.

 

Jan 19 -- The first neon tube sign was patented.

 

Jan 25 -- Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, inaugurated transcontinental USA telephone service by placing a ceremonial call from New York to his former colleague Thomas Watson in San Francisco. -- “Leave the beaten track behind occasionally and dive into the woods. Every time you do, you will be certain to find something you have never seen before.”

 

Jan 28 -- The U.S. Coast Guard was founded by an act of Congress to assist distressed vessels at sea and halt contraband trade.

 

Jan 31 -- During World War I, the Germans used poison (chlorine) gas for the first time against the Russians and German U-boats sank two British ships in the English Channel.

 

Feb 4 -- The Germans declared British waters to be part of the war zone whereby all ships would be sunk without warning.

 

Feb 8 -- The premier of "The Birth of a Nation" -- D. W. Griffith's silent movie about the U.S. Civil War.

 

Feb 10 -- The Germans captured 100,000 Russians in Lithuania. U.S. President Wilson denounced Britain for using U.S. flags on merchant ships to deceive the Germans.

 

Feb 12 -- Actor, Lorne Greene (Bonanza) was born in Ottawa, Canada.

 

Feb 12 -- The cornerstone for the Lincoln Memorial was laid in Washington, D.C.

 

Feb 20 -- President Wilson opened the Panama-Pacific Expo in San Francisco to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal.

 

Feb 21 -- The 20th Russian Army Corps surrendered to Germany.

 

Feb 22 -- Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare.

 

Feb 23 -- Germany sank two U.S. ships and a Norwegian ship.

 

Feb 26 -- The Germans utilized the first flamethrowers in World War I.

 

Feb 28 -- Actor, Zero "Samuel" Mostel was born in Brooklyn.

Mar 2 -- A Jewish military force was organized to fight in Palestine.

Mar 13 -- The Brooklyn Dodger baseball manager, Wilbert Robinson, attempted to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane, but the pilot substituted a grapefruit.

 

Mar 14 -- The British Navy sank a German battleship.

 

Mar 16 -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission was formed.

 

Mar 22 -- A German Zeppelin made a night raid on a railway station in Paris.

 

Mar 25 -- A U.S. submarine sank off the coast of Hawaii, killing 21 sailors.

 

Apr 4 -- American blues musician, McKinley Morganfield, a.k.a. Muddy Waters, was born. -- "I been in the blues all my life. I'm still delivering 'cause I got a long memory."

 

Apr 5 -- Jack Johnson, U.S. heavyweight boxing champion since 1908, lost the heavyweight title to Jess Willard in Cuba, in the 26th round. -- “You don't always have to hold your head higher than your heart.”

 

Apr 7 -- Jazz singer, Billie Holliday, was born. -- "If I'm going to sing like someone else, then I don't need to sing at all."

 

Apr 10 -- Actor, Harry Morgan, was born in Detroit, Michigan.

 

Apr 21 -- Actor, Anthony Quinn, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico. -- "On stage, you have to find the truth, even if you have to lose the audience."

 

Apr 25 -- Australian and New Zealand troops landed in Turkey in a failed attempt to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war.

 

May 1 -- The luxury liner Lusitania sailed out of New York harbor on a voyage to Europe.

 

May 1 -- A German submarine sank a U.S. ship (Gulflight I).

 

May 5 -- Actress, Alice Faye, was born in New York City.

 

May 6 -- Actor and director, Orson Welles (Citizen Kane) was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. -- “Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.”

 

May 6 -- Writer and historian, Theodore H. White was born. -- “To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can have.”

 

May 6 -- Baseball player, Babe Ruth, made his pitching debut with the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees, losing 4 to 3 in 15 innings -- he also hit a home run. -- “It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.”

 

May 7 -- The ocean liner, Lusitania, was struck by a torpedo fired by a German U-boat and sank off the coast of Ireland, killing 1,959 people, including U.S. millionaire, Alfred G. Vanderbilt.

 

May 12 -- Mary Kay Ash of Mary Kay Cosmetics was born. -- “The greatest pollution problem we face today is negativity.”

 

May 12 -- Croatians attacked and plundered Armenia, killing 250 people.

 

May 15 -- In Germany, chemist Clara Immerwahr, wife of chemist Fritz Haber, shot herself in the heart with her husband's revolver in their garden -- her husband had personally supervised the use of chlorine poison gas by the Germans in the battlefield against the Russians.

 

May 20 -- Moshe Dayan, Israeli general and Minister of Defense, was born. -- "Freedom is the oxygen of the soul."

 

May 23 -- Italy declared war against Austria and Hungary.

 

May 24 -- Thomas Edison invented a devise called the telescribe to record telephone conversations. -- "I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

 

May 27 -- Author, Herman Wouk (The Caine Mutiny), was born. -- “When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.”

 

May 31 -- A German Zeppelin made an air raid on London.

 

Jun 8 -- Woodrow Wilson's Secretary of State, William Jennings Bryan, resigned in a dispute of the U.S. handling of the sinking of the ocean liner Lusitania.

 

Jun 10 -- The Girl Scouts of America was founded.

 

Jun 12 -- International banker, David Rockefeller, was born. -- "We are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States…. If that's the charge, I stand guilty and am proud of it."

 

Jun 14 -- An excursion steamer capsized at Chicago's Clark Street dock, killing more than 800 people.

 

Jul 10 -- Author, Saul Bellow (Pulitzer Prize & Nobel Prize) was born in Montreal, Canada. -- “I love solitude but I prize it most when company is available.”

 

Jul 24 -- An excursion ship capsized in Lake Michigan, killing 852 people.

 

Jul 28 -- By the authority of President Wilson, U.S. Marines landed at Port-au-Prince on the island of Haiti to safeguard the interests of U.S. corporations.

 

Jul 28 -- Some 10,000 blacks marched on 5th Avenue in New York City to protest lynchings.

 

Jul 30 -- A homemade bomb, made by a former Harvard professor who was upset by the private sales of munitions to the allies during World War I, exploded in the U.S. Senate Reception Room.

 

Aug 14 -- A German U-boat sank a British transport ship, killing some 1,000 people.

 

Aug 16 -- A hurricane hit Galveston, Texas, killing `12 people and causing an estimated $8 million in property damage.

 

Aug 17 -- In Cobb County, Georgia, a Jewish factory manager, Leo Frank, was lynched by a mob seeking justice for the killing of a 13-year-old girl who worked in his pencil factory. Although Leo Frank had been convicted of the crime, the governor of Georgia believed in his innocence and had commuted his death sentence in June.

 

Aug 19 -- A British ocean liner was sunk by German U-boats. Following this incident, Germany promised it would no longer torpedo merchant ships without warning because of fear the USA would be brought into the war. Some 16 months later, Germany once again announced it would "sink on sight" thereby bringing the USA into the war.

Aug 21 -- Italy declared war on Turkey.

 

Aug 27 -- Economist, Walter W. Heller, was born in Buffalo, NY. He would become the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors in 1961-1964 under President John F. Kennedy. Later, he was also a professor of Economics at the University of Minnesota where I was in one of his classes many moons ago.

 

Aug 29 -- Actress, Ingrid Bergman, was born in Stockman, Sweden. -- “I was the shyest human ever invented, but I had a lion inside me that wouldn't shut up.”

 

Sep 4 -- The U.S. military placed Haiti under martial law to quell a rebellion.

 

Sep 21 -- Stonehenge was sold at auction for 6,600 pounds sterling ($11,500) to a man who bought it as a present to his wife. Three years later, he presented it to the British nation.

Sep 30 -- Lester Garfield Maddox was born. He would become Democratic governor of Georgia in 1967 to 1971. As a rabid segregationist, he gain his popularity as a restaurant owner who passed out axe handles to his white customers in an effort to prevent black customers from entering his establishment. Incidentally, I lived in Atlanta in 1966 to 1968 when I was a draftee in the U.S. Army at Third Army Headquarters during the Vietnam Era and Maddox was in the local governor's mansion -- his strange antics were often great fodder for daily TV news. -- "That's part of American greatness, is discrimination."

 

Oct 8 -- During World War I, the Battle of Loos ended with virtually no gain on either side. Over 100,000 French, British and German men lost their lives in this encounter.

 

Oct 9 -- Woodrow Wilson became the first U.S. President to attend a World Series baseball game.

 

Oct 16 -- Great Britain declared war on Bulgaria.

 

Oct 17 -- Author, Arthur Miller (Pulitzer Prize) was born. He married actress Marilyn Monroe in 1956 and they were divorced in 1961 -- “Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets.”

Oct 21 -- The first transatlantic radio-telephone message was transmitted from Arlington, Virginia, to Paris, France.

 

Oct 23 -- Tens of thousands of women marched in New York City, demanding the right to vote.

 

Oct 30 -- The U.S. Secret Service captured two former Oakland policemen in Utah and Ohio after a 12,500 mile chase, and charged them with counterfeiting $100,000 in bogus $5 gold pieces.

 

Dec 12 -- Singer and actor, Frank Sinatra, was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. -- "The big lesson in life is never be scared of anyone or anything -- I'm gonna live till I die.”

 

Dec 16 -- Albert Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity -- “When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity.”

 

Dec 18 -- Widowed the previous year, President Woodrow Wilson married Edith Rolling Galt.

 

Dec 22 -- Yuan Shikai proclaimed the Empire of China and named himself the Emperor of China

 

Dec 31 -- The Germans torpedoes a British ocean liner without warning, killing 335 people.

 

World War One was originally called "The War to End all Wars" -- but once it became apparent that mankind was not exactly enlightened as a collective species, they began numbering future World Wars.

 

Life can be understood by examining the past, but it must be lived forward -- we are the products of our past, but we don't have to become prisoners of it.

 

Yesterday is just a memory -- tomorrow is never what it's supposed to be.

 

All we have is now.

___________

 

Quote for the Day -- “If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience.” Woodrow Wilson

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Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a couple of dogs, where all the beautiful people live and time stands still.

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In 1999, I tracked down a couple of guys I spent two years with in the Army back in the late 1960s. One (a former New York City slicker) lived in rural Georgia and the other (originally from Columbia, Missouri) lived in Austin, Texas.

 

Since my place was approximately an equal distance from the two guys, I invited them to northern Arkansas for a weekend visit. They’ve been coming here on occasion ever since to participate in our impromptu Army reunion.

 

For them, it’s an opportunity to get away from the wife and let off some steam. For me, it’s a reason to vacuum the rug and hide breakable objects.

 

The past couple of years, due to scheduling problems, they've been unable to venture this way for the gala event. It’s hard to imagine that you could have a scheduling problem with just three guys but we often do.

 

All three of us were drafted during the Vietnam Conflict. The government preferred not to call it a war. They didn’t want it to burden the American public with the knowledge that some of our military men and women were dying in swamps halfway across the world for reasons they couldn’t easily explain, but word got out anyway.

 

The three of us spent our two years at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia, in the Third Army Data Processing Company at Third Army Headquarters. Compared to what most had to endure during the Vietnam Era, it was easy duty, shuffling paperwork in an air-conditioned building near the golf course.

 

Now we meet on occasion and swap tales about our military exploits. Being three northerners in Georgia in the 1960s wasn’t exactly a picnic. Some of the locals were still upset about losing the Civil War and didn’t care to have a bunch of Yankee carpetbaggers residing in their southern midst.

 

The New Yorker who now lives in Georgia has three grown sons. The oldest and youngest boys have proven to be levelheaded enough to have found suitable employment and appear to be surviving in the real world. His middle son, Jeff, who seems equally sane, had opted for a 20-year career in the military.

 

Jeff enlisted in the Navy many moons ago and spent 20 years in the service as a welder in the Seabees. He was in the initial assault into Iraq. He has also seen duty in Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, Kuwait, San Diego, Seattle and Biloxi, Mississippi.

 

Life in the military isn’t for everyone. Once you’ve joined, you’re locked in for your enlistment period that is anywhere from three to six years depending on various factors. You can’t quit and walk away. You wear what they give you, live where they tell you and do whatever task you’ve been assigned to do. Nonconformity will be severely discouraged. You’re basically a small cog expected to function smoothly within a giant machine. And if you don’t function smoothly, you’ll be engineered and re-tooled until you do.

 

On the positive side, there are certain advantages to military life. The pay is reasonable and the job security is unrivaled. You’ll get free housing, meals, clothing, medical treatment and so forth. You’ll also have the opportunity to travel to foreign lands. And you can retire with full benefits after 20 years.

 

November 11 is Veteran’s Day. Everyone should take a few minutes that day to silently praise our military people for their valiant efforts. It’s fine to criticize the leaders who put our forces in harms way, but our troops deserve our support.

 

Stopping evil by force is a thankless task. Let our troops know we appreciate their sacrifice.

___________

 

Quote for the Day -- "Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion." Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf

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Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a couple of dogs and has a deep appreciation for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

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According to Chinese Astrology, 1955 was the Year of the Goat -- sixty years later, 2015 will also be the Year of the Goat.

 

Those born in the Year of the Goat are serene, mild-mannered and shy -- most likely because they like spending much time in their own thoughts. 1955 was the year Steve Jobs (Apple Computer founder), Bill Gates (Microsoft founder), Mark David Chapman (killed John Lennon) and John Hinckley (attempted to assassinate President Reagan) were born.

 

We all come into this world with a clean slate -- some choose to make things better and others choose to tear it all down. 

 

Sixty years ago, in 1955, at age 11, I began to notice that girls were different than boys. Actually, I had noticed it much earlier but paid little attention to it.

 

In 1955, life was a roller-coaster ride of joy and sorrow, much like today. The following events took place that year.

 

January 3: MR. SANDMAN by the Chordettes was the number one song.

 

January 15: In Sudan, Muslims attacked Christians and Animists; the killings continued until 1996.

 

January 28: Congress passed a bill to mobilize the military if China invaded Taiwan.

 

February 9: American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (ALF-CIO) was formed.

 

February 12: President Eisenhower sent U.S. military "advisors" to South Vietnam to aid the government.

 

February 17: Britain announced its capability to make hydrogen bombs.

 

February 24: Under political pressure, Eisenhower resisted committing American troops to Vietnam.

 

March 1: Israel conducted a raid on Gaza killing 48 Palestinians.

 

March 3: Elvis Presley first appeared on TV on a show called "Louisiana Hayride."

 

March 4: The first facsimile transmission (fax) was sent across the continent.

 

March 18: The University of San Francisco, led by Bill Russell, won the NCAA basketball championship.

 

April 5: Winston Churchill resigned as British Prime Minister.

 

April 12: Salk vaccine shots for polio were given to the first American school children.

 

April 18: Albert Einstein, physicist, died.

 

April 22: Congress ordered the motto "In God We Trust" to be included on all U. S. coins.

 

May 2: Tennessee Williams won a Pulitzer Prize for his play CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF.

 

May 5: West Germany became a sovereign state and promptly joined NATO.

 

May 11: Israel attacked Palestinians in Gaza once again.

 

May 13: Mickey Mantle hit three consecutive home runs.

 

May 31: The U.S. Supreme Court ordered states to end racial segregation.

 

June 29: The USSR sent tanks into Poland to put down an anti-communist uprising.

 

June 30: THE JOHNNY CARSON SHOW made its TV debut on CBS.

 

July 2: THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW made its TV debut on ABC.

 

August 3: Hurricane Connie devastated the U.S. for 11 days.

 

August 4: Funding for CIA headquarters was approved.

 

August 8: Fidel Castro formed his movement to rid Cuba of a dictator.

 

August 12: The minimum wage was raised from $0.75 to $1.00 per hour.

 

August 17: Hurricane Diane caused massive flooding along the east coast, killing 200 people.

 

August 20: An anti-French uprising by Muslims in Morocco and Algeria resulted in hundreds of deaths.

 

September 22: Hurricane Janet hit Grenada, killing 500 people.

 

September 30: Actor James Dean died in a two-car, high-speed collision in California.

 

December 1: Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Ala., for sitting in a seat on a bus reserved for whites.

 

December 9: Sugar Ray Robinson won the middle-weight boxing crown for the third time.

 

* * *

 

Sixty years later, hurricanes are still battering the continent, Israel is still conducting raids into Gaza, Muslims are still attacking non-Muslims and I'm still noticing women are different than men.

 

May the Year of the Goat bring peace and happiness to this troubled world.

 

Life goes on.

___________

 

Quote for the Day -- “From sunrise to sunset, I was in the forest, sometimes far from the house, with my goat who watched me as a mother does a child. All the animals in the forest became my friends, even dangerous and poisonous ones. Thanks to my goat-mother and my Indian nurse, I have always enjoyed the trust of animals.” Diego Rivers

___________

 

Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a couple of dogs and where all the animals in the forest are his friends.

___________

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In 2001-2007, I wrote a weekly column for a couple of newspapers in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri. In December of 2005, I wrote a column titled "Black Gold" pointing out that global warming may or may not exist, and if it does exist it may or not be caused by human beings (greenhouse gas emissions), depending on which scientific study you believed. I remained neutral in the presentation and didn't endorse one side or the other.

 

Soon thereafter, I received a series of e-mails from a fellow on the West Coast who tried to convince me that global warming was primarily caused by humans whereupon I responded with many studies that disputed this contention.

 

His response was always that his experts had impeccable credentials and my experts were quacks.

 

After much correspondence, which included other subjects as well, he went into a profanity-laced rant and abruptly ended our e-mail debate by writing that I should "eat dirt and die."

 

This piece is dedicated to him.

 

Steven Milloy has a B.A. in Natural Science and an M.S. in Biostatistics from Johns Hopkins University, and a Juris Doctorate from George Washington University. He was on the judging panel for the American Association for the Advancement of Science Awards and has testified before the U.S. Congress on environmental issues.

 

In other words, he's a man of superior credentials, although I'm certain the West Coast critic would disagree. 

 

Milloy is also the publisher of JunkScience.com, an online website where he refers to the global warming controversy as the "mother of all junk science." He contends that climate varies naturally and the ongoing climate change is within the natural variation.

 

In his online piece on the subject in 2005, he made several compelling arguments.

 

The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement among nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent, from the 1990 levels, by 2012. The USA and most of the European Union signatories have been ignoring it.

 

Using data provided by those who promote the Kyoto Protocol, if every country complied with the agreement, the average global temperature would be reduced by 0.0015 degrees Centigrade. At this rate, it would take 667 years (at a cost of $100 trillion) to hypothetically forestall global warming by one degree Centigrade.

 

A Russian study showed that the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is approximately 370 PPM (parts per million) and compliance with Kyoto would result in a difference of only one or two PPM by 2012.

 

Former Vice President Al Gore is an ardent global warming prevention advocate. At a political event on January 4, 2006, he was asked if he thought the Kyoto Protocol would work. His response was, "Hell no!" He went on to explain that the main point of Kyoto was to generate international support for environmental concerns.

 

Gore had produced a documentary filled with inconsistencies to promote his alarmist view of global warming.

 

In it he shows some glaciers that are receding but fails to even mention that other glaciers are actually growing as well. Also, certain glaciers in Alaska have been receding ever since famous outdoor photographer John Muir photographed them back in the 1800s, long before the onset of manmade greenhouse emissions.

 

The documentary also implies that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide have historically preceded increases in global temperatures.

 

However, a 2005 study in the journal Science reports that the opposite may have been true in the past -- that higher temperatures may actually precede increased carbon dioxide levels.

 

Scientists also point to volcanoes under the oceans, increases in solar activity and other factors to explain global warming.

 

Science is like beauty; the truth is always in the eye of the beholder.

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Quote for the Day -- “All weather is sin-related. Lust causes thunder, anger causes fog, and you don't want to know what causes dew.” Stephen Colbert

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Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a couple of dogs and to alleviate global warming he has vowed to stop farting.

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Forbes Magazine published a list of the 15 richest fictional characters -- if this is important to you, you need to get a new life.

 

1) Santa Claus – This fat, jolly toy maker lives at the North Pole with a wife, a bunch of elves and some flying reindeer. He is believed to be 1,651 years old with an unlimited surplus of wealth. He spends an entire year making toys; then distributes them in a single evening, via unlawful entry, to children throughout the planet. He also conducts covert surveillance on every boy and girl on the planet to determine who has been naughty or nice.

 

2) Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks – Age 52, net worth = $27.3 billion. He's a defense contractor from New York City who is rarely seen in public. Although he's divorced, he adopted an orphan named Annie and her Airedale terrier named Sandy. He has two bodyguards, Punjab and Asp, who have mystical powers and great strength.

 

3) Richie Rich – Age 10, net worth = $17 billion. This poor little rich kid inherited his father's fortune. He attends Richville Elementary School in Richville (U.S.A.). While sharing his fortune with underprivileged kids, his more sinister escapades include genetic engineering of "dollarmation" dogs and excessive use of robotic maids.

 

4) Lex Luther – Age 36, net worth = $10.1 billion. He's the CEO of LexCorp (defense contracts, computer software and real estate). As a resident of Metropolis (U.S.A.), he's often peeved at a Daily Planet newspaper reporter named Clark Kent. Although generally mild-mannered, Kent occasionally cross-dresses into an outfit of blue tights with a red cape whereupon he fights for freedom, justice and the American way.

 

5) Charles Montgomery Burns – Age 104, net worth = $8.4 billion. As owner/operator of a nuclear plant in Springfield (U.S.A.), he has every disease known to man. The diseases counteract one another, allowing him to live a long life. He credits his longevity to Satan. One of his employees is a fellow named Homer Simpson.

 

6) Scrooge McDuck – Age 80, net worth = $8.2 billion. He lives in the world's largest repository of gold coins; a five-story tower in Duckburg (U.S.A.). He amassed his fortune in gold and copper, and spends his free time swimming in money. His heirs include his nephew Donald, and grand-nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie.

 

7) Jed Clampett – Age 51, net worth = $6.6 billion. As a hillbilly in Tennessee, he accidentally stumbled upon a huge oil deposit that made him rich. So he moved his mother (Granny), his cousin (Jethro) and his daughter (Elly May) to Beverly Hills where they scared the neighbors and got even richer through banking.

 

8) Bruce Wayne – Age 32, net worth = $6.5 billion. He's a wealthy playboy who inherited the family business. His stately mansion near Gotham City (U.S.A.) sits atop a complex of bat caves. He has a fetish for thwarting criminals by dressing up as a winged rodent (a bat) and putting an end to their dastardly deeds.

 

9) Thurston Howell III – Age 60, net worth = $5.7 billion. A Harvard man with a snooty attitude toward commonness, he founded Howell Industries (plastic and chemicals). He and his wife went on a three-hour boat tour and never returned. He is thought to be in seclusion on a private island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

 

10) Willy Wonka – Age 57, net worth = $2.3 billion. He lives in Kent, England, and owns a chocolate factory. Apparently, he was the son of a dentist and forbidden to eat chocolate as a child. Dentists can be very cruel.

 

Rounding out the top 15 richest fictional characters in the world are Arthur Bach (womanizing playboy, drunkard), Ebenezer Scrooge (rich miser, haunted by ghosts), Lara Croft (daughter of wealth, archeologist), Cruella De Vil (fashions fur coats from 99 Dalmatians) and Lucius Malfoy (wizard, enemy of Harry Potter).

 

Rich characters, fictional or otherwise, are just like the rest of us -- they're often a bit weird. The only difference is that regular weirdos are considered to be unbalanced while rich weirdoes are merely eccentric.

 

I always thought Donald Trump was one of the richest fictional characters in the world but I was wrong.

___________

 

Quote for the Day -- "The average millionaire is only the average dishwasher dressed in a new suit.” George Orwell

___________

 

Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a couple of dogs and where his riches are his memories.

___________

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According to Chinese New Year tradition, 1967 was the Year of the Sheep.

 

Looking back on it, it seems appropriate for my ordeal at the time.

 

In April of 1966, I was drafted into the U.S. Army, for compulsory two years of military service, during what was referred to as the Vietnam Conflict.

 

After basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri, I became a member of the Third U.S. Army Data Processing Company at Third Army Headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., where I had been issued a pencil, assigned to a desk, and analyzed classified documents, reducing information to codes for computer processing.

 

In 1967, as it is today, the world was in a bit of turmoil.

 

Jan 15 – The Green Bay Packers won the first Super Bowl, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.

 

Feb 28 – Seven men in Meridian, Miss., were convicted of the 1964 slaying of three civil rights workers.

 

Mar 7 – Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa began an 8-year prison term for fraud and jury tampering.

 

Apr 14 – U.S. planes bombed North Vietnam for the first time in the Vietnam War.

 

Apr 28 – Mohammad Ali, heavyweight boxing champion, refused to be inducted into the Army.

 

May 1 – Elvis Presley, 32, and Priscilla Beaulieu, 20, were married at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. They met when Elvis was stationed in West Germany during his military service. She was only 14 at the time.

 

Jun 1 – The Beatles released their classic album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

 

Jun 5 – The Six Day War broke out in the Middle East. Israel raided Egyptian military targets. Syria, Jordan and Iraq entered the conflict. Jordan lost the West Bank (2,270 sq. miles). Israel annexed Arab East Jerusalem.

 

Jun 8 – Israel mistakenly attacked the USS Liberty (in the Mediterranean), killing 34 U.S. servicemen.

 

Jun 11 – The Six Day War ended when the U.N. brokered a cease fire agreement. Israel had taken Gaza and Sinai from Egypt, Old Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.

 

Jun 17 – China exploded its first hydrogen bomb, becoming the fourth country with nuclear capabilities.

 

Jul 12 – Four days of race riots erupted in Newark resulting in 27 dead, 1,500 injured and over 1,000 arrests.

 

Jul 17 – Race riots took place in Cairo, Ill.

 

Jul 19 – Race riots took place in Durham, NC.

 

Jul 20 – Race riots took place in Memphis, Tenn.

 

Jul 23 – One week of race riots in Detroit left 40 dead, 2,000 injured and 5,000 homeless.

 

Jul 24 – Race riots took place in Cambridge, Md.

 

Jul 30 – General Westmoreland declared we were winning in Vietnam but needed more troops.

 

Aug 3 – President Johnson announced plans to send 40,000 more troops to Vietnam.

 

Sep 22 – After 17 months of my 2-year military obligation, I was promoted to Specialist E5 -- apparently, the Army considered my MOS (military occupation specialty) to be vital and assumed I was worthy of re-enlistment.

 

Oct 9 – Che Guevara, Latin America guerrilla leader, was captured and executed in Bolivia.

 

Oct 26 – U.S. Navy pilot John McCain (U.S. Senator from Arizona) was shot down over North Vietnam. He would spend 5.5 years in prison, including two years in solitary confinement, where he was subjected to torture.

 

Nov 22 – The U.N. Security Council called for Israel to withdraw from territories it captured during the Six Day War and called on adversaries to recognize Israel's right to exist. The world is still waiting for compliance.

 

Nov 29 – Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara resigned to become president of the World Bank.

 

Nov 30 – Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota announced his intention to run for president in 1968.

 

Dec 3 – In Cape Town, South Africa, Dr. Christian Barnard performed the first human heart transplant.

 

Dec 20 – With the arrival of more troops, there were now some 474,300 servicemen stationed in Vietnam.

 

Dec 31 – At midnight, New Years Eve in the Year of the Sheep, 1967, my military obligation was down to 100 days remaining before I would be discharged from military service and return to the wonderful world of civilian life. It was a night for heavy celebration -- I awoke the following morning in the new year of 1968 with a hangover and 99 days to go.

 

For the emerging hippie generation, 1967 was a psychedelic trip into the mystic. The number one song that year was "White Rabbit" by the Jefferson Airplane.

 

 "One pill makes you larger...

And one pill makes you small...

And the ones that mother gives you…

Don't do anything at all...

Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall."

 

For me, the Year of the Sheep was a tedious year of pushing pencils and saluting brass -- I do not nostalgically yearn to repeat it.

___________

 

Quote for the Day -- "In order to be an immaculate member of s flock of sheep, one must above all be a sheep oneself." Albert Einstein

___________

 

Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a couple of dogs and where civilian life often consists of trying to figure out what to do next.

___________

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“The only creatures that are evolved enough to convey pure love are dogs and infants.” Johnny Depp

 

In July of 2014, a friend of mine in Canada sent me some information on an animal shelter in Roswell, New Mexico, where "the police have now taken over the animal shelter and every day at 8 am, they are randomly selecting 6 or 8 dogs to kill, Because they can. Not because they are sick, or old,, or anything..no criteria, puppies,"

 

In October of 2014, a friend of mine in southern California posted some photos on my Facebook timeline of dogs in incredibly poor, starving, sickly conditions being held in an animal shelter in Brinkley, Arkansas, where "the Conditions in the Shelter are downright disgusting and inhumane and every animal there is in danger…All of the animal are in dark damp cages and some don't see the light of day."

 

In both cases and many others, these situations are deplorable and unacceptable.

 

“Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made. ” Roger Caras

 

According to the APPA, there are about 80 million dogs owned in the United States, with somewhere between 37% and 47% of all households with a dog.

 

“The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.” Andy Rooney

 

There are some 13,000 independent animal shelters nationwide with no national organization monitoring them.

 

Approximately 4 million dogs are interned into animal shelters nationwide every year. Only about 10% of those received by shelters have been spayed or neutered. About 26% of those turned in are returned to their owner -- 35% are adopted and 31% are euthanized,

 

“If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience.” Woodrow Wilson

 

I have had many dogs in my life -- Shadow, BlueJean, Clipper, Blackjack, Bummer, Scout, Poco Loco, Gypsy, Hobo.

 

“Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one, is a life diminished.” Dean Koontz

 

My current dogs are Buddy Lee and Donner. I rescued Buddy Lee from the animal shelter in Horseshoe Bend in 2005 when he was 4 years old. He likes to sit on my front stoop and eyeball the driveway for incoming vehicles. Donner was rescued by my Nephew a couple of years ago but he was unable to keep him when he moved back to Colorado, so I took Donner in and have zero plans to part with him. Donner likes to wander off on his own and explore, and take long naps when he returns back to home base.

 

“Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in your ear." Dave Barry

 

It breaks my heart when dogs, or any animals, are neglected or mistreated. A dog's mission in life is to please their human companion. They give unconditional love and deserve our devoted care in return.

 

“For people with patience, time with a dog is a little slice of heaven.” J.J. Brown

 

I salute all of those who give of their time and energy rescuing animals -- you help to make this world a better place.

 

“If I could be half the person my dog is, I'd be twice the human I am.” Charles Yu

 

Always remember -- dogs are people too.

___________

 

Quote for the Day -- "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi

___________

 

Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a couple of dogs and sweet memories of dogs gone by.

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