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The purpose in life is to discover the purpose in life, thereby expanding your wisdom in a quest for eternal bliss.

 

Ascension is the raising of your consciousness -- a change in vibration (electromagnetic frequency) in terms of your being (atomic structure).

 

The ascension process is the sole purpose of life in the cosmos. It involves descending into the lower dimension of matter (reincarnating into a carnal world over and over again) and rising into the upper dimension of spirit -- integrating the duality of good and evil into a realm of oneness of blissful contentment.

 

There is no good or evil, no imperfection. The totality of everything (known and beyond) is a Supreme Oneness, and as such it is as it should be (perfection). The micro may seem highly flawed, small pockets of imperfection within an unfathomable universe and beyond, but the macro (Supreme Oneness) is a collection of flawed micros that become portions of an ultimate perfection.

 

Earth is an orb of ignorance, suffering, injustice, pain and materialism in a 3-dimensional plane of existence (3rd Density). Ascension will allow the eternal soul of individuals to rise to the 4th or 5th Density -- higher astral planes of existence where harmony in spirit resides.

 

Reincarnation is the passage of the soul through many carnal lives. We are spiritual beings experiencing a carnal existence of pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow. Our true soul remains in a higher astral plane of existence while our projection of self cycles through incarnations to help the soul grow to the full potential of a unity consciousness (benevolent cooperation versus selfish competition).

 

The earth is a training ground for the soul -- the earthly body expires -- the soul resides in an astral state of review -- the soul must choose between seeking earthly desires or accepting eternal bliss as an individual consciousness of love and benevolence. It is also a choice between a "physical" body (in a potentially hostile environment) capable of experiencing carnal pleasures versus a heavenly body (pocket of energy) with an individual consciousness of compassion and love (a heavenly angelic spirit).

 

Since desires are difficult to satisfy, the temptation is to return to a carnal existence once again. And when desires are granted, the temptation is to repeat the experience.

 

Thus, the cycle of reincarnation becomes a trap -- seeking excitement and repeating the pleasure of excitement.

 

Reincarnation is a series of necessary steps for individual souls, a learning experience, to progress in spirituality to attain enough patience and grace to be able to merge with the Supreme Oneness and add to the perfection of the Supreme Oneness.

 

Time is accelerating like a bullet train.

 

Mother Earth is about to experience a great change, a massive cleansing.

 

An individual choice must be made -- benevolence versus materialism -- Service To Others (STO) versus Service To Self (STS).

 

The Journey of the Soul through Eternity includes overcoming carnal desires and ego gratification.

 

Reincarnation is part of that journey, a learning/growing experience. It is not you versus the universe -- it is you versus you.

 

Eternal damnation is for those who cannot rise above earthly desires (who cannot become STO) and are doomed to recycle (reincarnate) into a 3rd Density existence forever.

 

Eternal Bliss is for those who realize no one succeeds unless everyone succeeds.

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Quote for the Day -- "Your own positive future begins in this moment -- all you have is right now." Lao Tzu

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Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books, including ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS, PATH TO FOURTH DENSITY and 11:11 EARTH TIME. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and occasionally talks to trees.

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In December of 1980, a number of U.S. military personnel, including airmen Jim Penniston and John Burroughs, were stationed at the Woodbridge Royal Air Force base in Britain. At the time, the installation was being used by the U.S. Air Force.

 

On December 26, military personnel spotted strange lights in the Rendlesham Forest, just outside the base's boundary. Some 40 military personnel and area residents witnessed the lights. It was initially assumed that an airplane had crashed in the forest. Penniston, Burroughs and others were sent into the forest to investigate the lights.

 

Penniston and Burroughs spotted a 9-by-6 foot triangular craft with swirling yellow and blue lights, hovering a couple of feet off the ground. Their radios malfunctioned and they could feel static electricity emanating from the craft.

 

They approached the object and took detailed notes of symbols etched on the surface of the craft, which appeared to resemble Egyptian hieroglyphics.

 

Penniston also touched the craft, causing him to receive subliminal coded messages.

 

After about 45 minutes, the craft "brightened" and began to rise above the trees, then took off at an "impossible" speed and disappeared.

 

When they returned to the base, both of their watches were off by 45 minutes.

 

Later, Burroughs attached sketches of the craft, and Penniston attached sketches of the strange markings displayed on the craft, to their official U.S. Air Force witness statements.

 

The following night, the mysterious light returned to the forest area whereupon a female base security officer and her partner entered the area to investigate. The craft shot a beam of light at their vehicle, disabling it, then flew off

 

The strange lights returned for a third night in a row. The Deputy Base Commander, Lt Col Charles Halt, was informed and together with a small group of men went out into the forest to investigate. As they entered the area, radio communications were subjected to interference and mobile generators that the group had brought to illuminate the forest began to black out. Halt and his team then encountered the UFO craft, which at one point fired beams of light down at his party and at the Woodbridge facility.

 

Lt. Col. Hall had initially assumed he would be able to debunk the reports of a UFO craft, but wound up in a situation he was unable to explain.

 

Follow-up investigations revealed three small soil imprints in a triangular pattern beneath where the craft had hovered and possibly landed. Plus, radiation levels in the area were high.

 

Three weeks after the incident, Penniston and Burroughs became seriously ill from what appeared to be radiation exposure.

 

During this period, Penniston felt compelled to write out the coded message he had received, which consisted of an extensive series of ones and zeros, in a notebook. Once he had recorded the entire string of ones and zeros he was somehow mysteriously able to recall, he was then finally able to sleep well. The notes made no sense to him but he kept them anyway.

 

Some 30 years later, as the History Channel was making a documentary of the UFO incident in Rendlesham Forest, Penniston's notebook of ones and zeros were discovered to be a message in binary code (commonly used by computers) and was deciphered by submitting the sequence to a binary code interpreter through Internet programmer Nick Ciske.

 

With very few minor flaws, part of the message reads:

 

EXPLORATION OF HUMANITY

 

52^ 09' 42.532" N

13^ 13' 12.69" W

 

CONTINUOUS FOR PLANETARY ADVANCE

 

 It was soon determined that the two lines of "numbers" in the message were global map coordinates.

 

Ironically, this is the map coordinate of the "lost" island of Hy Brasil, an island west of Ireland that seems to mysteriously exist and disappear over time.

 

The accounts of Hy-Brasil are similar to those of Atlantis but whereas Atlantis was reported by one or two ancient historians, Hy-Brasil has been documented in many first person accounts. Thought to be the home of a highly advanced civilization led by an enclave of high priests, accounts of Hy-Brasil tell tales of advanced technologies, giant cattle, and city towers. Led by priests who proclaimed to have a universal knowledge, the citizens of Hy-Brasil were reported to be highly intelligent and wealthy beyond imagination.

 

That the island was difficult to find is not hard to envision.  Legends of Hy-Brasil tell of an island that was shrouded in fog for much of the time.

 

The book, IRELAND -- A JOURNEY INTO LOST TIME, by P.A. O'Siochan, refers to knowledge of a lost island inherent throughout Celtic history and literature, off the west coast of Ireland, called Hy Brasil -- Hy meaning "island" and Brasil meaning "mighty" in Gaelic.

 

Hy Brasil has appeared on maps as early as 1325 when Italian mapmaker Angelino Dulcert, included the island of Hy Brasil some 200 miles west of Ireland, southwest of Galway Bay. The island was circular, with a river (or strait) running east-west across the diameter.

 

Hy Brasil had appeared on maps in the 15th century. The island has been documented by many first-person accounts over the course of time.

 

In 1480, men from Bristol, England, searched for the island.

 

In 1497, explorer John Cabot found the island and reported that the island had been discovered in the past men from Bristol.

 

In the 1500s, famed navigator Pedro Alvarez Cabral claimed to have reached the island during one of his voyages.

 

In 1674, Captain John Nisbet claimed to have seen the island on a voyage from France to Ireland.  His ship was in familiar waters when a fog rolled in. As the fog lifted, the ship appeared to be dangerously close to some rocks, so they anchored in three fathoms of water to get their bearings, whereupon four crew members rowed ashore to visit Hy Brasil They spent the day on the island and returned to the ship with gold and silver, claiming an old man who lived on the island had given it to them as a gift.

 

Upon return to Ireland, Nisbet reported that the island was inhabited by large black rabbits and a magician who lived alone in a stone castle whereupon a second ship, under the command of Alexander Johnson, sailed to Hy Brasil and returned to port stating they had also found the island, confirming the reports from the Nesbit experience.

 

In 1872, author T.J. Westropp and several friends claimed to have seen the island appear, then disappear.

 

According to local legend, Hy Brasil is shrouded in fog and the mist lifts for only one day every seven years. It is believed to be occupied by a highly advanced civilization of priests and monks.

 

In February of 2012, A private pilot named Niger Gosseur filed a report that there was a huge blanket of fog over the ocean off the western side of Ireland. As he flew over the area, his flight instruments became eratic for a period of three minutes. When he looked below, he observed a green land mass, where there should not be a land mass. The fog then engulfed the land mass as he continued toward Ireland. He believes he saw the island of Hy Brasil.

 

There were a total of seven global map coordinates deciphered within the binary coded message that Penniston had recorded -- the other six coordinates pinpoint a location in South America, a location in China, an island in Greece, an ancient city in Central America, Giza in Egypt and Sedona, Arizona.

 

All six of these additional locations are considered by many to be global grid energy vortexes -- perhaps Hy Brasil is also a global grid energy vortex.

 

Perhaps it may be a key to the lost island of Atlantis or perhaps it is some sort of base for extraterrestrial activity or perhaps it's simply a mysterious island that appears one day every seven years.

 

Or perhaps all of the above.

 

Very mysterious, indeed.

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Quote for the Day -- “Under the thinning fog the surf curled and creamed, almost without sound, like a thought trying to form itself on the edge of consciousness.” Raymond Chandler (THE BIG SLEEP)

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Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and occasionally disappears in a thick fog even when no fog is present.

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On June 4, 2014, Chester Nez passed on to the Great Beyond at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at age 93. He was the last remaining of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers.

 

He had been recruited as a teenager in 1942 by the U.S. Marine Corps and assigned to the 382nd Platoon at Camp Pendleton on the southern California coast during World War II.

 

The U.S. Military chose Native American Navajo as a "code" language because it was determined that the Navajo language had a certain syntax quality that was almost impossible for a non-Navajo to learn and it also has no written form.

 

Nez and other Code Talkers were shipped out to Guadalcanal in 1942. They worked in teams of two -- one Code Talker relaying the messages and receiving the messages, while the other Code Talker would listen for errors as he was turning the crank on the portable radio. The Japanese enemy was unable to break the code of transmitted messages to and from the field,

 

"That was my first combat experience, and there was a lot of suffering and a lot of the condition was real bad out there," Nez told Larry King on CNN in 2002 while promoting his book titled "Code Talker."

 

The Code Talkers were forbidden to tell anyone about their mission, including family and fellow Marines. At first, their Marine comrades didn't know what the specialized Navajo Indians were doing, but that changed over time when the importance of their task became apparent.

 

Later, Nez also saw action in Peleliu and Guam.

 

Nez wrote in his book, "When bombs dropped, generally we Code Talkers couldn't curl up in a shelter. We were almost always needed to transmit information, to ask for supplies and ammunition, and to communicate strategies."

 

Even though the Japanese could not break the code, they were able to pinpoint the position of the transmission, causing Code Talkers to be on the move to avoid Japanese fire.

 

The Navajo Code Talkers were one of the most important military secrets of World War II.

 

Nez was discharged in 1945, but later volunteered to fight in the Korean War.

 

In 2001, the original 29 Code Talkers were awarded the Congressional Gold Metal by President George W. Bush

 

I'm writing this piece on June 15, 2014 -- Father's Day.

 

My father was drafted during World War II. He became an officer and flight instructor at the U.S. Army Air Force Base in Blytheville, Arkansas, where I was born. After the war, my parents moved back to their hometown of Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

 

Weston K. Burquest passed on to the Great Beyond on December 8, 2011, at age 92.

 

Happy Father's Day -- Rest in Peace

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Quote for the Day -- "The recognition of the Code Talkers came late, but it has been good for my Navajo people." Chester Nez

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Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and occasionally talks to trees.

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According to Tequila Mockingbird, my imaginary girlfriend, the book of Genesis is missing a few details.

 

When Adam was hanging around the Garden of Eden, feeling a bit lonely, God decided to create a companion for him called woman.

 

“She will be very pretty and eager to please you,” God told Adam. “She will gather food, cook for you and wash your clothes when you finally get around to wearing some. She will always agree with everything you do or say and always admit she was wrong when you’ve had an argument. She will freely give you love and passion whenever you wish and always praise you.”

 

Adam asked God, “What will this cost?”

 

“An arm and a leg,” God replied.

 

Adam paused for a moment, then asked, “What can I get for a rib?”

 

And the rest is history.

 

It may take a few years, but sooner or later most men finally figure out that women are different. Women somehow know this from birth and look forward to spending their entire lives molding a man into something they imagine would please them.

 

But creating a diamond from a chunk of carbon rarely works, except under extreme pressure, because men are from Mars, a planet where football is on TV every day of the week, and women are from Venus, a planet where toilet lids are always down.

 

Understanding women is a lot like trying to understand a pile of rocks. You’ll never know what they’re thinking, even when they tell you what they’re thinking.

 

Over the years, I’ve picked up a few clues along the way that I’d be happy to share with you.

 

If a woman says “Maybe” it means “No.”

 

"We need to talk” means “I need to complain.”

 

 â€œI’m sorry” means “You’ll be sorry.”

 

“Do what you want” means “You’ll pay for this later.”

 

“You have to learn to communicate” means “Just agree with me.”

 

“It’s your decision” means “The correct decision should be obvious by now.”

 

“We need” means “I want.”

 

“You’re so manly” means “You need a shower and a shave.”

 

“I’ll be ready in a minute” means “Kick off your shoes and find a good game on TV.”

 

“Do you love me?” means “I’m going to ask for something expensive.”

 

“I’m not upset” means “Of course I’m upset, you jerk.”

 

“Is my butt fat?” means “Tell me I’m beautiful.”

 

“How much do you love me?” means “I did something today you’re really not going to like.”

 

Now you know about as much as I know about women -- which is about as much as I know about performing brain surgery with a box cutter and a spoon.

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Quote for the Day -- “If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant’s life, she will choose to save the infant’s life without even considering if there is a man on base.” Dave Berry

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Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and loves women even if he doesn't understand them.

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On June 23, 2005, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled, in a 5 to 4 decision, that the government has the right to condemn private property and transfer title over to other private individuals or private corporations simply to stimulate economic development and/or create a larger tax base.

 

The city council of New London, Conn., had decided to confiscate some acreage within its boundaries and turn it over to a group of private business owners called the New London Development Corp. whereupon 15 existing private homes would be demolished and replaced with a hotel complex, offices and other structures.

 

Naturally, the owners of the 15 existing homes were outraged.

 

The structures were in excellent condition, in a quiet neighborhood, with an ocean view. Some of the homes had been in the family of the residents since 1901.

 

The four most conservative justices on the Supreme Court (William Rehnquist, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas) all sided with the homeowners.

 

Sandra Day O'Connor wrote a strongly worded dissent, noting that "the specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the State from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory."

 

While the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution allows government to seize private property and convert it into "public use," Supreme Court Justices David Souter, John Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy believed transferring property to a private individual somehow constituted public usage.

 

Presently, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, South Carolina and Washington all have laws forbidding the use of eminent domain for economic development. 

 

Much of the public disagreed with the overreaching of the government in the usage of eminent domain, including a Libertarian named Logan Darrow Clements of Los Angeles.

 

Clements ran for Governor of California in 2003. His philosophy of a voluntary society and free-will capitalism was based on the 1957 novel ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand.

 

Clements received 274 votes.

 

A Libertarian is a person who is concerned with the fundamental protection of individual rights.

 

Libertarians believe that individuals have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose.

 

Therefore, if individuals are not initiating coercion against others, government should leave them alone.

 

Libertarians oppose the criminalization of victimless acts (drugs, prostitution, censorship, etc.) and believe in reducing the size and scope of control of the government.

 

Both liberal and conservative ideologies have civil libertarian adherents. Plus the Libertarian Party has become a noticeable national political movement, an alternative to the two-party stranglehold of control.

 

FREE STATE PROJECT

 

The Free State Project was a proposal in 2001 by a group of Libertarians whereby 20,000 of them would settle in a localized area within one of 10 states by 2006 and create a society where the role of government is the protection of individual freedom.

 

The original 10 target states were Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming.

 

 New Hampshire was selected (by a vote of participants) as the common destination.

 

New Hampshire's state motto is "Live Free or Die."

 

1) It has the lowest state and local tax burden in the continental USA

 

2) It has the second lowest level of dependence on federal spending

 

3) It has a state house "citizen" legislature where representatives haven't raised their $100 per year salary since 1889

 

4) It has a culture of individual responsibility -- for example, no seatbelt or helmet regulations for adults

 

5) It has the lowest crime rates in the country -- less regulation inherently means less crime

 

The mission statement of the Free State Project: “The Free State Project is an agreement among 20,000 pro-liberty activists to move to New Hampshire, where they will exert the fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of government is the protection of life, liberty, and property. The success of the Project would likely entail reductions in taxation and regulation, reforms at all levels of government to expand individual rights and free markets, and a restoration of constitutional federalism, demonstrating the benefits of liberty to the rest of the nation and the world.”

 

In 2006, Logan Darrow Clements was one of the Free State Project participants, on his way to a better life in New Hampshire.

 

It also turned out that Supreme Court Justice David Souter owned a 200-year-old farmhouse on eight acres near Weare, New Hampshire.

 

Thus, a collision was about to occur.

 

Clements soon declared he wanted to build a hotel, similar to the one Justice Souter voted in favor of allowing private individuals to build after confiscating private homes in the court case, on Justice Souter's New Hampshire property.

 

Accordingly, Clements notified the local Weare township council, requesting that they initiate eminent domain proceedings against Justice Souter's property thereby promoting economic development for the area.

 

Eventually, the township of Weare held a town meeting and rejected Clements’ request for eminent domain to acquire Judge Souter’s property.

 

As of March 14, 2010, there were 10,000 participants in the Free State Project.

 

Nearly a thousand of them had moved to New Hampshire from elsewhere.

 

In 2006, a Free State Participant was elected to the New Hampshire General Court.

 

In 2008, six Free State Participants were elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

 

In 2010, the so-called Tea Party Movement has blossomed into a national force.

 

This “grass roots” organism is primarily concerned with today’s excessive government spending and increased control over every aspect of American life, seeking similar solutions to the Libertarians of the Free State Movement.

 

The national debt is nearly $16 trillion in July of 2012 and expected to rise as far as the eye can see.

 

Government is becoming larger, more powerful and less manageable.

 

Yet people continue to vote to obtain self-serving goodies from a government that always over-promises and under-delivers, without any consideration to cost or inevitable unintended consequences.

 

More government means less individual freedom.

 

Voting for less individual freedom is a form of insanity.

 

"The obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people." Ron Paul

 

I belong to a similar organization of Libertarians called the Get Outta Here Project -- a bunch of grumpy hermits who have settled in northern Arkansas and discourage visitors.

 

We believe in life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and bathing during full moons.

 

Live free or die.

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Quote for the Day -- "If we must die, we die defending our rights." Sitting Bull

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Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and an imaginary girlfriend named Tequila Mockingbird

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The year 1964 was an eventful time, including the Beatles & Rolling Stones arrival in the USA and triggering of the Vietnam War.

 

The following events took place in 1964.

 

Jan 10 -- Panama broke ties with the U.S. and demanded a revision of the canal treaty.

 

Jan 30 -- The USA launched Ranger 6 from Cape Canaveral. It was an unmanned spacecraft carrying six television cameras that was programmed to crash-land on the moon.

 

Feb 1 -- President Lyndon Johnson rejected Charles de Gaulle's plan for a neutral Vietnam.

 

Feb 6 -- Cuba blocked the water supply to Guantanamo Naval Base in retaliation of the USA seizure of four Cuban fishing boats and fines on Cuban fishermen near Florida. In response, the U.S. imposed water rationing and built desalination plants.

 

Feb 6 -- Paris and London agreed to build a rail tunnel under the English Channel.

 

 Feb 7 -- The Beatles began their first American tour, arriving at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, where they were greeted by 25,000 screaming fans.

 

Feb 7 -- Baskin-Robbins introduced Beatle Nut ice cream.

 

Feb 9 -- The Beatles made their first live American television appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

 

Feb 9 -- The U.S. embassy in Moscow was stoned by Chinese and Vietnamese students.

 

Feb 25 -- Cassius Clay (later changed his name to Muhammad Ali) became world heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Sonny Liston in Miami Beach.

 

Mar 4 -- Jimmy Hoffa was convicted of jury tampering.

 

Mar 9 -- Five Lakota Sioux (Native Americans) occupied Alcatraz Island in a peaceful protest. They declared that it should be a Native American cultural center and university.

 

Mar 9 -- The first Ford Mustang rolled off the Ford assembly line.

 

Mar 14 -- A jury in Dallas found Jack Ruby guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kenned.

 

Mar 15 -- Actress Elizabeth Taylor married actor Richard Burton in Montreal; it was her fifth marriage.

 

Mar 15 -- President Johnson asked for a War on Poverty and for Congress to ensure voting rights.

 

Mar 27 -- Valdez, Alaska, was hit by an 8.6 earthquake, the largest ever recorded in North America.

 

Apr 7 -- IBM introduced its System/360, the company's first line of compatible mainframe computers.

 

Apr 13 -- At the annual Academy Awards "Tom Jones" won Best Movie, Sidney Poitier won Best Actor and Patricia Neal won Best Actress.

 

May 19 -- The U.S. State Department announced that the U.S. embassy in Moscow had been bugged by a network of more than 40 microphones embedded in the walls.

 

Jun 1 -- The Rolling Stones arrived in the USA for the first time, landing at Kennedy Airport in New York.

 

Jun 12 -- In South Africa, Nelson Mandela (convicted of treason) was moved to a prison on Robben Island where he remained until Apr 1982.

 

Jun 20 -- General William Westmoreland succeeded General Paul Harkins as head of the U.S. forces in Vietnam.

 

Jun 21 -- Three civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman 20, Michael Schwerner 24, and James Chaney 21, disappeared near Meridian, Mississippi -- 40 days later their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam near Philadelphia, Miss.

 

Jun 24 -- The Federal Trade Commission announced that cigarette manufactures would be required to include warnings on their packaging about the harmful effects of smoking.

 

Jul 2 -- President Johnson signed into law a civil rights bill passed by Congress, .guaranteeing voting rights and equal access to public accommodations and education.

 

Jul 11 -- Queen Elizabeth ordered The Beatles to her birthday party, whereby they attended.

 

Jul 15 -- The Republican National Convention was held at the Cow Palace in Daly City, Ca. It elected Barry Goldwater as its presidential candidate. Goldwater proclaimed "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

 

Jul 18 -- Race riots erupted in the black areas of New York City and Rochester, NY, where 4 people were killed.

 

Jul 26 -- Teamster Union president Jimmy Hoffa and six others were convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the handling of a union pension fund.

 

Jul 27 -- President Lyndon Johnson sent an additional 5,000 "advisers" to South Vietnam.

 

Jul 28 -- American space probe Ranger 7 was launched toward the Moon, eventually sending back 4,308 pictures.

 

Aug 1 -- Arthur Ashe became the first African-American to play on the U.S. Davis Cup tennis team.

 

Aug 2 -- The Pentagon reported the first of two attacks on U.S. destroyers by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. Subsequent evidence supported claims that the Tonkin Gulf incident was deliberately provoked by U.S. Forces (thereby giving the USA a justification for escalating the conflict with North Vietnam).

 

Aug 2 -- There was a race riot in Jersey City, NJ.

 

Aug 4 -- President Johnson ordered an immediate retaliation for the Aug 2 attack on the U.S. destroyer Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin off North Vietnam.

 

Aug 4 -- The U.S. Navy destroyers Maddox and Turner Joy allegedly exchanged fire with supposed North Vietnamese patrol boats. NOTE: In 2005, it was reported that NSA officials deliberately distorted the Aug 4 data to support the belief that North Vietnamese ships had attacked American destroyers.

 

Aug 4 -- The bodies of missing civil rights workers Michael H. Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James E. Chaney were found buried in an earthen dam in Nashoba County, Mississippi. Schwerner and Goodman were Jewish-Americans from Pelham and New York City respectively, and Chaney was a Black from Meridian, Mississippi.

 

Aug 5 -- The U.S. began bombing North Vietnam.

 

Aug 7 -- The U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Johnson broad powers to use unlimited military force to prevent attacks on U.S. forces.

 

Aug 11 -- There was a race riot in Paterson, NJ.

 

Aug 12 -- There was a race riot in Elizabeth, NJ.

 

Aug 15 -- There was a race riot in Dixmoor, a suburb of Chicago, Ill.

 

Aug 18 -- South Africa was banned from Olympic Games because of apartheid policies.

 

Aug 26 -- President Lyndon Johnson was nominated for a full term of U.S. President at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, N.J.

 

Aug 28 -- There was a race riot in Philadelphia.

 

Sep 3 -- U.S. attorney general Robert Kennedy resigned.

 

Sep 12 -- Typhoon Gloria struck Taiwan killing 330, causing $17.5 million of damage.

 

Sep 27 -- The Warren Commission, investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, announced that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

 

Oct 12 -- Mary Meyer, one of John F. Kennedy's secret lovers up to his assassination, was brutally murdered on a walking path by the Potomac River.

 

Oct 14 -- Civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advocating a policy of non-violence.

 

Oct 15 -- St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Yankees in seven games to win the World Series.

 

Oct 15 -- Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was removed from office, to be succeeded as premier by Alexei Kosygin and as Communist Party secretary by Leonid Brezhnev.

 

Oct 16 -- The New York Yankees fired manager Yogi Berra one day after their World Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

 

Oct 16 -- Red China detonated its first atomic bomb to become the world's 4th nuclear power.

 

Oct 27 -- Singers Sonny and Cher were married.

 

Nov 2 -- Faisal ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud succeeded his older brother Saud bin Abdul Aziz as king of Saudi Arabia.

 

Nov 3 -- President Johnson defeated Republican challenger Barry Goldwater to win a White House term as the 36th president by winning 486 electoral votes to Goldwater’s 52.

 

Nov 3 -- Robert Kennedy was elected senator from New York.

 

Nov 5 -- The Mariner 3 was launched but failed to reach a trajectory around Mars and ended up in distant orbit around the sun.

 

Nov 10 -- Australia began a draft to fulfill its commitment in Vietnam.

 

Nov 14 -- The U.S. First Cavalry Division battled with the North Vietnamese Army in the Ia Drang Valley, the first ground combat for American troops.

 

Nov 23 -- The Vatican abolished Latin as the official language of Roman Catholic Church.

 

Nov 24 -- Residents of Washington DC were permitted to vote for the 1st time since 1800.

 

Nov 28 -- Willie Nelson made his debut performance at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

 

Dec 3 -- Police arrested 824 students at the University of California at Berkeley, the largest mass arrest in U.S. history, after the students stormed the administration building and staged a massive sit-in as part of the Free Speech Movement.

 

Dec 4 -- Some 10,000 people attended a protest rally at the University of California at Berkeley

 

Dec 11 -- Frank Sinatra Jr. was released after being kidnapped for the ransom amount of $240,000.

 

Dec 13 -- In El Paso, Texas, President Johnson and Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz set off an explosion that diverted the Rio Grande, reshaping the U.S. & Mexican border, ending a century-old dispute.

 

Dec 24 -- The U.S. Headquarters in Saigon, South Vietnam, was hit by a bomb. Two officers were killed.

 

Dec 31 -- Syrian-based guerrillas of Yasser Arafat launched their first raid on Israel, attempting to provoke an Arab war against Israel.

 

The Top Ten songs in 1964:

 

1) I Want To Hold Your Hand -- The Beatles

2) She Loves You -- The Beatles

3) Hello Dolly -- Louis Armstrong

4) Oh, Pretty Woman -- Roy Orbison

5) I Get Around -- The Beach Boys

6) Everybody Loves Somebody -- Dean Martin

7) My Guy -- Mary Wells

8) We'll Sing In The Sunshine -- Gail Garnett

9) Last Kiss -- J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers

10) Where Did Our Love Go -- The Supremes

 

In the spring of 1964, I completed my sophomore year as a math major at the University of Minnesota.

 

I spent the summer working on a survey crew for the Minnesota Highway Department where we were laying out marker stakes for the new Interstate Highway 494 around Minneapolis.

 

In August, on my 20th birthday, I headed down to Miami, Florida, in my 1953 Chevy to enroll at Miami-Dade College in their computer science program. I spent one full year in Miami -- it was the best 5 years of my life.

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Quote for the Day – "Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth… A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have." Barry Goldwater

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Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where heaven on earth is a state of mind.

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In 2001, I began writing a column for a weekly newspaper in Salem, Arkansas. When I first started, I tried to do mostly humor items and won several annual awards for humor columns through the Arkansas Press Association. However, my attempts at humor initially offended some of the readers. The newspaper even received a few threats of subscription cancellations if I wasn't immediately removed from uttering my gibberish in print.

 

Yes, I can be a smartass at times -- it's my way of dealing with the insanity of the world.

 

Thus, I wrote the following newspaper column, published in May of 2001, as a response to those who wanted me tarred and feathered, and expelled from the human race.

 

HUMOR WARNING

 

Recently, I noticed a couple of letters to the editor written by people who expressed their intolerance for what they perceived to be my lack of tolerance.

 

I’ve tried real hard to inject some humor into my columns. Obviously, I’ve failed.

 

I was born in Arkansas. Six months later, my parents moved to Ohio. I decided to tag along.  At age three, I found myself living in Wisconsin. Fourth and fifth grade were in Kansas and sixth grade through college in Minnesota. I also lived in Miami for a year, two years in Atlanta, twelve years in Los Angeles, six years in Arizona, about a year in Memphis, another ten years in Arkansas, plus several other places in between. All in all, I’ve lived at 52 different addresses in 12 different states.

 

When I wrote the line “…keep those pesky northerners from moving down here and spoiling the scenery” I was not speaking of a breed of folks of whom I disapprove. I’m just as much northerner as anything else.

 

I love this area and hope I never have to move again. My point was that I didn’t want to see a whole lot of people moving here and ruining the place. Scenery, by the way, is what was here before people came along and built roads, houses and strip malls.

 

In retrospect, I should’ve said Texans instead of northerners. Nobody wants a bunch of Texans moving into their area. They are loud and obnoxious; all hat and no cattle.

 

NOTE: The above comments about Texans were meant to be humorous. I even have friends from Texas. Of course, they’re loud and obnoxious but they all can’t possibly be that way.

 

I don’t mind criticism. When you go through life as a wisecracker, you expect to take some flak.

 

What bothers me is that a newspaper subscriber would threaten to cut off their subscription simply because they didn’t appreciate one tiny column in the lower left-hand corner of an inside page. Would you throw your TV set away just because you came across a program that offended you?

 

If you don’t like my column, simply don’t read it. To ignore the rest of the paper is ridiculous and to demand that your subscription be terminated is an insult to all the outstanding people who work very hard to put the paper together. Don’t punish them just because you think I’m a jerk. After all, there are lots of jerks out there that need a voice too.

 

In order to avoid future mishaps, I’m considering placing a warning at the beginning of my columns. Some under consideration are as follows:

 

WARNING: The following was written by a person who is attempting to be humorous – read at your own risk

 

WARNING: If you don’t understand or appreciate the following sense of humor, feel free to place it at the bottom of your bird cage or bury it in your garden – it’s biodegradable

 

WARNING: There may be references to the author’s ex-wife that seem derogatory – in reality, the author’s ex-wife considers them to be funny and enjoys reading them

 

WARNING: The author of the following is often considered to be a moronic jerk – if you find it amusing, you may also be a moronic jerk

 

We all don’t have the same sense of humor. Believe it or not, some people actually find my columns amusing. Many of them even appear to be normal.

 

Censoring me will get you nowhere. The world is full of wisecracking jerks standing in line to take my place. Your best alternative is to just lighten up. Who knows, you might even enjoy it.

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Quote for the Day -- “I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me.” Dave Barry

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Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and an imaginary girlfriend named Tequila Mockingbird.

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In 2001-2006, I was a part-time adjunct instructor at the Ozarka College in Melbourne and Ash Flat, Arkansas. One of my students once asked me what the difference was between Democrats and Republicans and regular people. This seemed like a strange sort of question, especially since I only taught computer courses.

 

I don't quite remember my answer, but it was short and got a laugh from the rest of the class.

 

Of course, there really is a difference between Democrats and Republicans and regular people.

 

Democrats depend on government to care for them from cradle to grave. They think of government as a charitable welfare organization and feel they are entitled to a redistribution of wealth, which includes plundering those who prosper and rewarding those who don't (through a progressive income tax, estate taxes, etc.).

 

Republicans believe government's main purpose is to stimulate economic growth (by supporting corporate interests), and anyone not contributing to the economy should be rebuked or incarcerated. They also believe in maintaining a superior (expensive) military force to protect their global economic interests, by force if necessary.

 

Democrats think of Republicans as greedy money-grubbers who don't care about the welfare of others. They see themselves as champions of the common people and don't consider stealing from the rich to be stealing.

 

Republicans think of Democrats as a drain on economic resources. They see themselves as champions of the greater good, by prospering from the labor of others and by being a self-appointed global police force. 

 

Between them, the Democrats and Republicans have continually spent more money than they have taken in and have driven this country into a deep financial hole. We now have a national debt exceeding $17 trillion that keeps growing with no end in sight. Future generations will be required to pay for our current exorbitant, reckless spending habits.

 

Regular people try hard to ignore Democrats and Republicans, but every four years they're forced to endure months and months of campaigning by the two political parties that have each selected one of their own to be one of two choices they will bestow on the public to become our next president. To regular people, a choice between two candidates doesn't seem like much of a choice but they go along with it because they understand they're only one voice in a country of several hundred million people and assume their voice will not be heard.

 

So the Democrats and Republicans fight it out while masses of regular people bang their heads against the wall and wonder if there isn't a better way of doing things rather than being overpowered by those in control. Most regular people figure there probably is a better way of doing things, but they also realize that the Democrats and Republicans have a stranglehold on a power structure that they will never relinquish.

 

Some regular people take a more realistic approach. They don't bother to bang their heads against the wall because they don't allow themselves to be affected by the system. They've resigned themselves to the notion that the world isn't exactly fair, and probably never will be fair, so they'll just try to make the best of it without getting involved. If you mess with it, it will mess on you -- if you ignore it, maybe it will go away.

 

Democrats and Republicans don't respect regular people. They believe everyone should be involved in the political process and fail to understand that excessive government is often the problem rather than the solution.

 

Regular people don't respect Democrats and Republicans either. They would rather go through life without being monitored by a gaggle of lawmakers (mostly lawyers) in Washington; most of whom are so far out of touch with regular people that they actually believe they deserve every salary increase they vote for themselves.

 

Regular people just want to go through life without too many hassles. Getting an education, earning a living, raising a family and putting food on the table is hard enough without interference from a system that seems to be dominated by special interests and maintained by people who create more problems than they're able to solve.

 

If it weren't for regular people, I'd move to another planet.

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Quote for the Day -- “I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” Thomas Jefferson

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Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where more government always means less freedom.

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There is a remarkable set of coincidences between President John Kennedy and President Abraham Lincoln.

 

Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.

Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

 

Lincoln was elected President in 1860.

Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

 

Lincoln’s secretary was named Kennedy.

Kennedy’s secretary was named Lincoln.

 

A week before Lincoln was assassinated -- he was in Monroe, Maryland.

A week before Kennedy was assassinated -- he was with Marilyn Monroe.

 

Both Presidents were shot in the head on a Friday.

Lincoln was assassinated in a theater named Ford.

Kennedy was assassinated in a limousine made by Ford.

 

Both Presidents were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.

Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

 

Both assassins were known by three names composed of 15 letters.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.

Lee Harvey Oswald, who (purportedly) assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.

 

Booth ran from a theater and was caught in a warehouse.

Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.

Both were assassinated before their trials.

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Quote for the Day -- “Coincidences are spiritual puns.” G.K. Chesterton
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Bret Burquest is the author of 10 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where what you resist, persists.

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