Respect for Authority

Respect for the Authority

Human nature always wants to live by its own will. If not curbed it’ll destroy all that is in its way to achieve what it desires.

When does this selfishness start, and when does the need to curb it begin?

We are all born with it. A baby may cry because it is hungry, but a toddler will whine to get what it wants. Soon the child will scream and stomp, snort and backtalk to try to get what it wants. Once in school the child now needs the latest styles in clothing and footwear and has a hard time taking orders from the teacher.

You may say that kid is just spoiled. I say that kid is destined to despise authority because eventually someone will say “No.” “No, you are not allowed to do that.” Or, “No, you cannot have that.” Now that child begins to show animosity and hate toward these authorities that are anchored in law and have been given the power to control unchecked behavior.

Soon the adults are disliked. Then the teacher is hated. Then the principal. Then the boss. Then the police. “All are against me” is their cry.

The earlier a child hears the word “No” the easier it is for him or her to understand that there are limits and that there is always an authority higher than oneself. The word "No" must stick. No means: no, period. No arguing, no deals, no capitulation. To disobey must always bring consequences.  

That is why the traditional family structure is so important. A strong and loving father figure, anchored together with his wife, can curb the natural desire of the child who always wants.

When a young person has total disregard for authority, life becomes a constant confrontation. Respect for others is secondary.

Trayvon Martin, if he had simply continued to walk through the guarded community, he would be alive today. Michael Brown if he had had total respect for authority he also would be alive today. Both cases had nothing to do with race.

Say “No” to your kids, it's good for them.

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America Is Good

When I think back to when I came here in 1955 my heart glows within me. Everything was so new, so different, so challenging. America lay before me like a picnic blanket full of good. 

When Jafar Musa came from Nigeria to stay with my son and his family to receive his schooling from Liberty Christian Academy, he also was overwhelmed by America.

He calls my daughter-in-law and my son "Mom and Dad." And their two daughters and son are his sisters and brother.

Jafar is 6'4" tall and is a super-quick forward on his school's basketball team. At only 17 years old, he is, you may say, still growing.

He felt like a king getting to play basketball on a hardwood floor. The best he ever played on was a concrete slab.

He has never had a white egg before. All he ever saw were brown ones. 

He never had peanut butter before in his life. (I can relate to that. I never had peanut butter either before I came here.)

He never had real coffee or tasted ketchup before.

The first words he uttered when he rode in a car in this country were, "smooth roads."

After he witnessed the fancy washing machine and dishwasher at my son's house he was amazed. So, when his new Mom asked him to wash the car, he sheepishly looked for a car-washing machine in the garage.

Can you imagine, Jafar had never tasted french fries before he came here!

Jafar's goal is to get a good education and hopefully receive a scholarship to play college basketball. That is the way he is able to stay in this country. He often quietly slips from family gatherings to study. He is on a mission to do well and not disappoint his new family and his own back in Nigeria. He is a gentle giant, and we all have grown to love him.

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AMERICA

We just came home from seeing the movie AMERICA. As an immigrant I could not help but cry on several points that were brought to light.

I've been here almost sixty years. In those years our country has changed. Has it changed for the better?

I'm not a scholar on history, but I've lived long enough to know that this country is dying. Not only is it dying spiritually but also in heart. So many folks are clueless about their own history. Clueless as what is going on, and what is pushed in the media, and in their schools and universities.

There is a pervasive underhandedness in our Government that Hitler would have been proud of. A slow dismantling of the free spirit so vital to the building of this country. This dumbing down, and the culture of dependency, is now after 50 years coming to fruition.

God has become Santa Clause. The worship of self is supreme. Freedom has become to mean free stuff. Capitalism is now a dirty word. Economics (not taught anywhere, except as an elective in college) is a non issue. Who needs economics when there is no downfall of spending more than you make. Why make a budget? Government is there to send you a check when you get in the hole. For that matter, why work at all? There are too many millionaire that need to cough up more.

Even my own family has no time for factual documentaries like the film "2016". Or the movie "The Last Once Of Courage". I will recommend to see the movie AMERICA. But, I know what I will hear, "No time, too busy, everything is fine."

Everything is not fine. We have been dumbed down for too long. Our last Great Hope is still alive. One country, under God, indivisible, with justice for all. . . Is it?

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My Old Horse

I put my old work truck out to pasture. A sad day for any old thing. 

That old truck used to rear-up when he saw a new, cute F150 prancing down the road. To greet those prissy chicks, the old boy did a wheelie to show his stuff that was packed into his undercarriage. 

The old boy used to rev his power waiting for the red light to give the go-ahead. My pal carried mulch, sand, fertilizer, lime, bricks, cement, blocks, pavers, and gravel. He lugged timbers of all sizes. He was not ashamed to have hauled 12 foot 2x10s that proudly stuck out the back of the old boy. The more weight the better. Often the stuff was held down with a dozen 3/4 inch 4x8 sheets of plywood. The old boy didn’t mind getting his lid scratched transporting 16 foot boards on his roof. He would schlepp, pull, tug, push, drag, and never worry about his factory chrome decorations. Those add-ons were once to entice the buyer and the ladies.  

My friend dragged many-a-loads of brush and sticks to the gully. He dragged trailers, trees and stuck cars. He pulled himself out of ditches like a wild stallion. 

A scratch here and there, a ding or dent didn’t make him sob and pout. He is tough. He didn’t need a garage to protect his sturdy and muscular shape. “Pine sap, rain, ice and snow gives a guy character––window dressing,” the old boy called it. 

Now he’s old. He still has good lungs and torque. Poor thing got pushed aside. A new power horse has entered the family. Much younger, shiny, without dings or scratches. The new stallion is “equipped.” Whatever that means. Auto this, and auto that. It even has a well spoken female hiding somewhere under the hood that occasionally spouts of and leads the gullible driver around like a piglet on a leach.

“My manhood may be dried up,” the old boy says. “I’ll show them. I’ll be hauling firewood, logs and other stuff that the new and prissy thing will frown on doing. I’ll show them. I may be old, but I’m still a horse.”

Beaver Attack

Carol and I have worked hard to settle the cold and stormy depths of our Floyd County woods. Our beautiful pond is man-made which apparently upset one of the native inhabitants.

As you can see, last year we added a dock, a ramp by which to walk into the water, a patio to sit around the fire pit, and a weeping willow to eventually shade most of the patio.

Two days ago, as we pulled up to the cabin Carol hollered, "Look, look! What has happened to our willow?" The trunk of the tree was chewed in half making the top topple over. Only the middle was still tied to the post that kept it steady when the harsh winds blew.

As I snuck up to the situation a large critter took off and swam under the dock.

The monster temporarily left its dinner behind. You can see the tree did well and had several nice branches, now just nubbins. The white stick in the water is part of the tree. Its bark was all chewed off. White sticks littered the water all around. The bark must have tasted pretty good to the pig.

Mad at me, the creature circled his fallen prey telling me to get lost. At one time he smacked the pond with his tail to send a sound like a shotgun blast.

I got a couple of movies of the beast before darkness took over.

The next morning the remnant of the tree laid on the ground. Obviously he wasn't happy with part of his catch still hanging in the air. It must have taken quite an effort to yank the thicker than two inch trunk of the T-post stake. He even chewed more of the branches before his gut filled.

Well we heard coyotes howl and yap during the night, seen bear track, saw red foxes, fox squirrels, a bald eagle, dozens of turkeys. Now a four-foot long beaver.

Never a dull moment in Floyd County.

Remember Safe and Free?

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REMEMBER SAFE AND FREE?

Do you remember when the words safe and free could be used interchangeably?

Remember when children went out to play for the afternoon and the only instruction they were given by the parent was to be home by supper time.

Those were the days when child molesters and perverts understood their position in society. When our culture found such behavior repulsive. When it wasn’t a joke or fashionable to step out of the closet and swoon with likeminded beings.

Yes, children could play all day and be free. Free of predators who have sunk so low in their lust to carry off children.

Remember when the truth didn’t depend on the situation?

Remember when stealing was an understood act and not an available item to rip off?

Remember when adultery was the destruction of ones integrity and not a fling or an affair?

Remember when gay meant having a joyous and merry time?

Remember when a relationship was among businesses? Now relationships start innocently in middle school, but the term also includes devious behavior, such as same sex, groups, and your cute potbellied pig. 

Coming back to my point.

We are now a society where not only our possessions are no longer safe, but our children are subject to being snatched from us at any moment. We hold on to them tight. Our eyes never leave them. We bolt the door, check on them during the night.

Yes, we are no longer free, weather child or adult. The child is not free although it does not know it. The adult is not free because they know it.

The fact of my lament here was driven home to me in a recent visit to my local gas station. 

I was pumping gas when another car pulled up to do the same on the other side of the pump. A lady in her late twenties pumped ten dollars worth into her tank. After she hung up the nozzle, she opened the rear door and unbuckled her child from the safety seat. She picked the two year old up and carried him into the convenience store. Within seconds she returned, having paid her bill, placed the child back in his seat, latched the boy tight, slid into the driver’s seat.

Before she drove off I asked her if she unlatched the child because she felt it was not safe for thirty-seconds while she stepped into the store. She said, “Yes, I didn’t want to leave him out here alone.” 

The young mother and I agreed that we are living in a wicked world.
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Evil, What is it?

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Our inner being, our human spirit, can perceive, analyze, and make a willful decision.

By nature we can conclude extremes and total opposites.

We live with light and darkness. We know light dispels darkness.

We know there are undisputed truths, not situational ethics, that can never be overcome by lies.

We know instinctively hate can never eliminate love, but expressed love can, and always overpowers hate.

We use the word Evil, but what is it?
What defines something as evil?
What is the basis of our judgement to call something evil?
What do we have to compare to make evil so repugnant?

If we just throw the word evil out there, and don't know the absolute opposite, we ourselves, are in the realm of evil. Our human spirit is willfully excluding the absolute opposite of evil––which is Holy.

At this point God is rejected.

The world admits to "Intelligent Design" because evolution admits it has no beginning. The world however, does not admit A Beginning who is Holy. The Word says He is Holy, Holy, Holy. God is all powerful, all knowing, everlasting. He is Truth, Love, and Justice. He is the opposite of absolute Evil.

Don't call something or someone evil unless you know the true God. What you are doing is admitting your own capabilities and dominance of the evil in you.

Choose today whom you will serve. We all have a Master. We cannot serve both. We will either love the one and hate the other!
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Are You Thankful Yet?

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What are you thankful for?

Would you be thankful if you could walk to an open market and afford one of these family meals?

If you had the money, the deluxe Thanksgiving meal is offered with or without the gizzard, heart, and liver. The basic meal is two chicken legs, two wings, and two pairs of scrubbed white chicken feet.

Or, if such a treat is beyond your budget, you can bargain for a live rat recently trapped in the muck of the receding Amazon.

With your holiday meal in the bag you can trek back to your hovel on stilts. These living quarters give homes to tens-of thousands.

The reason for the elevated structures is to allow for rising waters when once more the rainy season begins.

Would you be thankful to have a home? A home where oozing waste from the city on higher ground meanders among the neighborhood.

Are you thankful for a safe and cozy home with indoor toilets and a tub filled with soothing warm water to soak in? If you are, turn your heart toward this young girl who is happy simply because she has never experienced any of the comforts and material gratifications we have.

"Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth."

BE YE THANKFUL

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Economics Extended

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The reason I feel compelled to harp on economics is not because I want to lecture on your personal budget, but set in motion a thought and a scenario which has happened in history over and over again.

When we as a country move away from free enterprise, upon which this country was founded, we can move in two directions: to the right, or to the left.

We can move to the right of the political spectrum with less government and less taxes, less intrusion and fewer dictates. We could go further to the right until most of the laws of the land are removed. And even more to the right until all the laws to govern the people have disappeared and all government is gone. At that point, knowing the basic wickedness of humankind, we would wind up in anarchy and undoubtedly be suppressed by the most brutal force or person. Simply, some individual or a power will always find a way to viciously dominate.


We can also move to the left with more government, more laws and dictates to ever more squash and suppress the free enterprise system. This path is sly and deceptive. It first begins with taxation and redistribution. High taxation stifles the free spirit to take chances and get ahead, create self reliance and personal wealth. Taxation also funds welfare to tease and hook the idle. (By all means, I'm not talking about Social Security or other safety net funds.) By hook I mean masses will become dependent on government. We all know human nature, it is always nice to get free stuff.

The second part of this deceptive drift is the suppression of job creators by dictating rules, in the guise of a cleaner and greener environment. This decrease of jobs adds more folks to the unemployed and under-employed count, and you guessed it, more folks looking for help from the government. Then the progressives also add massive amounts of government jobs. To add even more folks on the take, they remove the requirement to prove recipients actually are looking to get a job. They make work disability benefits more easy to receive, and therefore add tens of millions more on the dole. The deception continues. Now add all these programs together and you have masses that will suckle from the government until the milk runs dry.

However, to the smiles of the Socialists, dependency translates into votes. When dependent people outnumber the ones that generate the wealth which pays the taxes, you have a Socialist in power. And with the dependency voters in the majority, who of them would elect a leader who promises to reduce the freebees?

The problem with this setup is that soon the supply of moneys taxed will not be enough to support the idle. So, the government has to do one or two things, print more money, or borrow it. Both are bad. Printing more money reduces the worth of it. It reduces the buying power of the money you have earned and or saved. It buys less, because inflation has eaten up its value.

The government then is also forced to borrow money to keep the piglets fed. This is more cost to the folks that pay taxes. (We all have heard of the $16,000,000,000,000 debt we now have) This debt, owned a lot by the Arabs and Chinese, amounts to around $50,000 for each person living in the USA. Including every baby, man, woman and senior citizen. (It also counts the ones who do not pay any income taxes. . . your share of the debt just doubled.) Just think, we have to pay this debt back! Most likely our children will suffer for that.

Reasonable people know this trend can not be sustained. In the end the government collapses. Riots and thievery takes to the streets. Chaos and anarchy looms. The Socialist is now relegated to clamp down and suppress. This is called Communism.

Communism is responsible for well over 100 million corpses in the last century. Starting with the Bolsheviks in 1917. The latest research claims that Mao Tse-Tung was responsible for over seventy million deaths, and Stalin alone may have killed 60 million people in the USSR alone.

Like I said, the pendulum of basic economics can swing either way. The country was founded on a careful balance of it being at the 6 o'clock mark. (After all, this is why there is hardly anyone in the world that would not want to come to this country.) The closer we can stay at that 6 o'clock point, the longer this country will last.


See previous posts with the American flag as the symbol.

Also, please consider down loading my novel RED SOLSTICE on Kindle, or go to my website fxbiii.com to purchase a hardcopy. The novel exposes totalitarianism during the post WWII era.





  

Deceptions

I recently gave my grandchildren a quick quiz. I said:

"In an athletic competition runners are competing in an event that requires the participants to run around the track for ten laps.

"At a point in the race the lead runner just crossed the point to start his seventh lap. How many more laps has he left to finish the race?"

Knowing that all my grandchildren want to prove how smart they are, they all spouted, pretty well at the same time, "He had three laps to go."


Now let us look at this in another way.

If I had asked the children the same question differently, the obvious answer would have been different.

Here is the same race, but worded differently:

"In an athletic competition runners are competing in an event that requires the participants to run around the track for ten laps.

"At a point in the race the lead runner had just completed his sixth lap. How many more laps has he left to finish the race?"

I know all would have said, "He had four laps to go."

Did I deceive the children with the first question? You bet I did.


A while back our president said he wants to end the Bush tax cuts for the rich, and extend it for the middle class for another year.

I'm amazed that no one asked the president, "What happens to the middle class taxes after that one year extension?"

In every statement by politicians there is wording that can be interpreted and expounded on to arrive at different conclusions.

A smart voter can pretty well see through the muck.

As an American that has gotten a hold of the American dream I'm leery of terms like "Hope and Change."

As a Christian I know where my hope is; it is not in government. The term "Change" pricks my interest and I immediately begin to question. 

As I analyzed the deeper meanings of "Change" during the last three or more years, I found exactly what I feared. I found that I do not like the "Change" that has deceptively been promoted. I have sensed a sly plan to dismantle the dominance of the United States of America in the world, toward a nation which flows and dissolves into an equalized partner among the other nations of the world. In other words, a underhanded move toward a One World Power with one currency, one religion, and eventually one Ruler over all. A world where all wealth is equally distributed, all revolts are crushed, and free speech is squashed. After all, isn't that the aim of the United Nation?

I'm not saying this will happen within a couple of years, I'm simply warning to look at the direction the country is moving under the current administration.

Now that the "Change" has been exposed, the term "Forward" has arisen to sweep along the masses that have become accustomed to the bait (benefits).

Deception is as old as the devil himself. Deceptions are continually at work, but one can not readily perceive them. They are like the termites which are eating away at the mighty oak of our freedom, the one last hope of mankind to be a free people.
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Scarlet O'Hara

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My Symbol Of Wisdom

Scarlet O'Hara-Hamilton-Kennedy-Butler, -- quite a name, quite a woman!

I just finished reading the epic story, "Gone With The Wind",  based around the time of the Civil War. The book, and its more than 1000 pages, brought to life people and their human traits. It also depicted a time in history to which most folks can not relate or even imagine.

The focus in the book is on Miss Scarlet. A prissy, flirting, and exceptionally enticing young maiden to whom the young men are drawn like flies to honey.

From this young maiden begins to flow a spirit and a determination, coupled with deception and underhandedness, which equals only the strongest willed human character.

Miss Scarlet's resolve and perseverance reveals a mindset, one that I as a man can hardly fathom. I have been around women, beginning with my mother, all my life. Although my mother was, and had to be, a strong minded woman. She or anyone else in my life could not be compared to Scarlet.


I like to read classic literature. Literature which uses the english language in a picturesque and descriptive way. Although the newer writings flow much more rapidly, like the staccoto rhythm of rap music, they often fail to reach the soul of human emotions and value.

By trying to understand why I prefer the classic writings, I came to a sentimental conclusion. I deeply believe that the love I have for this country makes me want to grow ever closer to its values and freedom by ever learning and comprehending more of its language.

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Big Bird = .oo1%

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Big bird, the lovable character of the government funded radio and TV corporation, politely has asked to be removed from the political fray.

Good for Big Bird.

What started it all was the statement the presidential challenger made during the debate. Mr. Romney simply stated that he would remove the government subsidy to the above mentioned corporation. His premise, the American government should not be a sponsor, or have control over the free flow of news and information. History has proven that the first step to establish a dictatorship is to take over the airwaves. There is a long list in recent history that proves this process was accomplished by Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Saddam Hussein . . . and as recently as Hugo Chavez.

The whiners on the left, as well as the clueless media, chuckle because the percentage of the subsidy is only .001% of the total government's budget. The point still is, the government should not have its fingers in the free enterprise system.

Of course the left don't get it. They think that government can do the job better than private enterprise.
Just like they think they rescued Government Motors by loading them up with a $29,000,000,000.00 debt. Just like they think that Amtrak, as well as the Post Office can run forever on an ever increasing annual shortfall. Just like the government's new health takeover will never run in the black.

The sad thing is, nothing run by the government has to be profitable; efficiency is not a requirement.

Only competition improves efficiency which translates to lower costs to the consumer.
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We Built It From Scratch

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Only in America.
I'm overwhelmed how our business has grown. Our sons have hung in there during these tough years of an economic slowdown. They were wise not having extended themselves to a point were payments could not be made. We had to cut some labor force and reduce hours to stay solvent and strong. 

Gradually though, things are starting to look up. Still, it is wise not to jump into investing in new equipment at this time. The healthcare situation is very unsettling. The never ending new regulations and pending tax increases will keep the lid on major expansions.

We have begun to hire workers with specific skills. Yes, skills! We do not care how many college degrees one has, it is the skill in a trade that is marketable right now.

Tens-of-thousands of jobs are waiting to be filled with skilled people. When will it sink in that vocational education and apprenticeship programs is what industry needs? 

Below, I will show some photos of our plant I took recently. You tell me if good looks and knowledge in astrology are a necessity to run a plant full of machines and equipment.

Who is going to learn to run these multi-million-dollar printing presses?

Who is going to cut, fold, stitch, bind and mail these hundred of thousands sheets of printed paper?
  

Who is going to set-up, maintain and repair the equipment?

Who is going to learn and master the communication between computers and machines?

Thousands of skilled tasks are under the roof this massive industrial building called Bison Printing.

When will Moms and Dads realize that over 70% of all the young folks in this country do not graduate with a (marketable) college degree. 

Look the kid in the eye. Maybe he or she would like to learn a skill and save you from the college loans hanging on your back for the next ten years.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

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Economics Or Brainwashing

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I venture to say there are millions of people who do not know what economics is. - Maybe some science about the eco system, maybe even a theory that talks back to you. . .

It is obvious that the progressive thought in academia over the past thirty years has purposely chosen to keep the public uninformed or outright dumb on the subject of economics.

Some may say we teach budgeting in middle school . . . great, give me a break!

Nowhere in the twelve years of public schooling is economics, as a subject, taught in a substantive manner. Why? Because, capitalism, or a free society, when unleashed is a powerful self-driving force. This force steers a person to independence, at which our current climate scoffs.

You may say I'm far out on the matter, but I say a lack of spirited drive toward freedom and self enrichment generates a populace who is more easily led and more dependent on a social network for help, or even total support.

What are the world's economic systems? Communism, Socialism, and Capitalism. Ah, but the word capitalism has been demeaned to refer to excesses, greed, and the taking advantage of the middle class.

Even 40 years ago in my college days, when I took several economic courses, capitalism was relegated to be a byproduct in back of socialism and communism. I remember questioning the over emphasis on the worlds failing systems, when I, an immigrant, wanted to hear and learn about the new world and how it came to be the driving force of freedom and personal achievement . . . the envy of the world.

I have seen totalitarianism. I have lived under socialistic rules. I have witnessed the masses fleeing communism. So why are we not proud of capitalism? Have you also been brainwashed by a left-leaning education system and liberal media?

I hate it when reporters stand to interview the so-called average person about an economic or social matter and then proudly report on the evening news the different opinions. Note! They never say they had to interview thirty folks to get one opposing view. But during the news-hour they let us assume the country is divided down the middle by simply presenting both views.

One can see all around what the dumbing-down of the masses has done to the American Spirit. It makes me want to cry to see how the mindset of "I have it coming to me" seems to grow at such an alarming rate.
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We Built Our Business

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   History of B&B Printing and Advertising, now Bison Printing, Inc.

   A 40 step history on how one can achieve success in the USA.

  1)  Started the business in our home basement.
  2)  Put up sign in cow pasture five miles outside of town.
  3)  Sought churches as our first customers.
  4)  Went to Harris Printing to borrow his folding machine.
  5)  Went to Harris Printing to borrow his stitching machine.
  6)  GROSS income the first year: $8,000.
  7)  Lived on savings.
  8)  Got a part-time job as a mail carrier.
  9)  Started to do negative work for Piedmont Label Co.
10)  In 1980 bought Depot Street building. Made payments with savings.
11)  Began renovations on Saturdays.
12)  I became a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter, a sheetrock guy, and a painter.
13)  Moved business to town.
14)  Got a loan to brick the exterior of the building.
15)  Started office supply business to draw people to printing.
16)  Bought larger presses. Made payments with savings.
17)  Bought adjoining Locker Plant (defunct frozen food storage place).
18)  Gutted and renovated the new space on Saturdays.
19)  Sharpened my plumbing, electrical, carpentry, wall hanging and painting skills.
20)  Moved equipment into renovated Locker Plant.
21)  Renovated a portion of the first building to lease to Arthurs Business Service.
22)  Bought four-color press and more binding equipment. Made payments with savings.
23)  Each of the 7 people working for B&B Printing earned more than we did as owners.
24)  More of our capital pumped into equipment and delivery trucks.
25)  My wife and I packed a lunch EVERYDAY.
26)  First son joined the business straight out of Virginia Tech.
27)  Bought adjoining building to Locker Plant.
28)  More renovations on Saturdays.
29)  Moved heavy equipment again to new building.
30)  Second son joined the business two years after graduating from VT.
31)  All aspects of business upgraded to new digital technology.
32)  Now three buildings jammed with employees and equipment.
33)  Third son joins the business, graduate of Radford University.
34)  Together, the whole family eats their daily sack lunches.
35)  My wife, Emily, died.
36)  We purchased 40 acres of industrial land on the outskirts of Bedford.
37)  My sons and I designed layout of a new 50,000 sq ft industrial plant.
38)  Three families mortgage their assets to make payments on this $1,000,000 project.
39)  Over the last ten years, over $3,000,000 worth of  new equipment has been added.
40)  Nearly 50 families depend on their income from  Bison Printing, Inc.

After twenty years of practically taking no time off, our sons insisted we take a lengthy vacation.
Did the business fall apart while we were gone? No.

We built our business, because this is America!  Praise God!

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Trash Becomes Art

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The concrete sidewalks in foreign countries are a lot cleaner than here in the US. I'm not talking about litter. I want to point out the thousands of black blobs on our sidewalks around the country.

Those black blobs are, as you know, the result of flicking ones chewed gum. Now I'm sure you don't do that. But millions of slobs do. I'm sure when they spit out their gum, none of them will step into it. But what do they care? They probably threw the wrapper on the sidewalk as well.

I hate it when I step in one of those little buggers and drag the sticky strings along with me. You find people dragging the blobs into restaurants. You see them ground in the foyers and in the facility's carpet.

I'm sure to clean up such muck costs the establishment plenty of money. Of course, it is passed on to your bill.

When in a restaurant, how many times have you reached to move your chair closer to the table and stuck your finger into one of those buggers? I have encountered them under tables and even church pews.

When I was a kid we couldn't afford gum. After coming to this country, I stuck mine behind my ear until I again gave the thing more of a workout.

By now you say, "Get to the point Beisser!" . . . here is my point. Look at this great work of art found in a very interesting city.

I took this picture in Charleston SC. It is very obviously a community effort. Not only an effort not to gum-up the city's sidewalks, but to create beauty while doing it.

This wooden telephone pole is right at an intersection in the town's most visited area, the downtown market. Remember, this is the city where one is not allowed to spit or blow your nose on the sidewalk either. (See a previous post: "The Law Of Local Folks")

A novel idea, don't you think?

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Methane Gas

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It has been reported that a lot of the problem with the earth's ozone layer is the result of excessive bovine flatulence.

The world peoples, other than the Hindus, eat a tremendous amount of beef. Is it expedient then for mankind to find an alternative food source? Certainly, all warmblooded creatures basically have the same digestive systems, including us. What meat, or other rich protein source should we then put on our backyard grill?

According to the "Save The Earth" people, the answer is none. No more hotdogs at the ballpark. No more burgers on the grill. All dogs and cats need to become vegetarians as well. Carrots and celery sticks would be the feature items at all the fast food chains.

We would be a healthier people, and the ozone would help slow down the melting of your ice cubes in your tea. Isn't that wonderful? No more UV protection needed in you sunscreen.

This year, I once again did my part on Earth Day. I fixed me a large bowl of pinto beans, decorated with an organically grown chopped onion, I sacrificed the usual country ham in my beans in honor of this holiest of environmentalist's day. I started to savor this treat a little after eight in the evening. I watched a program that showed the mistreatment of chickens. (Poor things they really don't have any rights.) All the while washing down my beans and onions with organically squeezed soy milk.

I started this annual ritual late in the evening, because I'm well aware of my body's reaction to legumes. I didn't want to pollute the sacred day by having contributed to the destruction of the ozone before midnight.


Now, methane gas is flammable. Naturally, a natural source of energy. I can very well see a future of sticking a pressurized bottle of methane into ones vehicle and drive off to work. I can also see each homeowner, with their own septic system, utilizing this natural emission to heat their hot water tank. Why not? It is free. Or we could stick a pipe down to the septic tank and light the gas coming off and have an eternal flame to soothe the ozone gods.

I have heard stories of pining engineers at most universities have personally experimented with the combustibility and potential use of methane. I've heard stories of these tests being performed not in the lab, but by sitting around in their skivvies, playing with matches.

Funny or not, we do need to consider our environment. It is our job to protect and preserve what has been entrusted to us.

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Is Someone Trying To Tell Me Something?

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We live in a land of plenty. We also live in our own world. By that I mean, we live to ourselves and for ourselves. We only choose the people we want to associate with to create our own world.

Several years ago, around Thanksgiving time, a lady in our church stood up and announced that a local charity group had two dozen food baskets ready to give to needy families. She said to come and see her after church if we knew of a family in need.

I searched my heart, but could not think of anyone in need. I simply did not know any family in need. How sad. In my cute little world there are no poor people. In my selfish little cocoon there are no dire needs. I even get into a mental tirade about that there are no needy people in this great country of plenty. All these so-called needy folks are just a bunch of piglets sucking on the government sow.

What a wretched man I am.

I recently followed an older lady at the meat counter in the grocery store. She had very little in her cart. She kept on picking up small packages of meat, looked at the price and then placed them back in the rack. I saw her later pushing her cart through the isle with no meat in her cart. It wasn't until the woman went around the corner and out of sight, that a strong conviction pulled at my heart and asked, "Why didn't you give the old lady a twenty dollar bill so she could buy herself some meat?" You know what, even after that conviction I didn't search for her in the store to do what the Spirit told me to do.

My wife and I were behind a young couple at the Walmart checkout. They had bought a few groceries and were in the process of paying for them. The cashier patiently waited for the young lady as she dug in her pocketbook for a few more small coins to make the total owed. She dug and dug, having already doled out the last dollar bill. I started to become impatient. Then, she finally found the few pennies, in the bottom of her purse to make the total. Again, after the young couple had pushed their cart out the door, my wife and I looked at each other and both said the same thing, "Why didn't we give them a five or a twenty?" They were obviously broke. I mean broke; without cash.

How many more times will the Lord have to smack us, me, before we learn to love people outside of our circles. To see beyond our own little world that there are people struggling. To see that my plenty that the Lord gave me doesn't flow on its own to someone in need.


Carol and I have seen, and been among abject poverty on other countries. Our willingness to share in those places often includes our last dollar.

Let me tell you this true story.
There is one face of a boy that will never leave my mind. I see that face often in my time alone.

It was in Cusco, Peru. After two weeks in the jungle on a mission to build a church, our group took a break and became tourists. The group was led to an exclusive restaurant for a lavish meal. As we entered the establishment, a boy, about eight years old, stood at the door, looked me straight in the eyes, and pointed at his open mouth. The boy, obviously hungry, knew we were foreigners. He knew we came to get fed. He knew there would be plenty of food eaten and plenty left over. We ate for more than an hour. We listened to local music and singing for more than another hour. All full and smiles, we finally left the restaurant. When I got to the entrance door to get out, there still stood the boy, imploring my eyes to see if I brought him some morsel to eat. I hadn't. I forgot. What a wretched man I am.

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2 plus 2 equals 4 . . . Maybe?

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I recently was at Liberty Lake Park in Bedford. Since I wore my dapper hat, three young folks, about twelve years old, thought I'd be a sucker to buy a raffle ticket.

Well, I've never bought a lottery ticket in my life, I did bend for their effort however, and bought one ticket for a local cause.

The ticket's cost was three dollars. I had only two singles on me and didn't want to challenge the kids to change a larger bill. So, I hollered to my son and had him cough up the additional dollar.

I held the three single dollar bills in front of the kid's noses. They had seen me bum a dollar from my son. I asked them a simple question:

I said, "What if I win, how would I split the $100 prize?"

Right off the tall boy simply said, "You split it in half."

I reiterated the point, holding two dollars in one hand, and just one dollar in the other, and said, "But I put in two dollars and he only put in one dollar."

Then the girl piped up and said, "You keep $75 and he gets $25."

I said, "Hey you guys, that is not fair to him he would only get one forth and me three forth."

Still holding the three dollars in front of them I said, "Shouldn't he get one-third and I keep two-thirds?"

"Yes," said the younger of the three, "he gets ten dollars and you get ninety."

"Yo, listen!" I said. "One third of a hundred is $33. So, how much should I get if I win?"

Duh . . . none of the three had a clue.

Could it be that I intimidated those freckle-faced kids with my dapper hat?

Hat or no hat, WHAT DO THEY TEACH THE KIDS NOWADAYS?

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A Shuttle Launch. . . and the Rocket's Great Glare.

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With the launch of the Sputnik spacecraft by the Russians, and then followed by orbiting the first human, Yuri Gagarin April 12, 1961, (my 21st birthday), the Russians put the American's get-up and know-how to the test. The embarrassment of us, the USA, not being first, prompted President John F. Kennedy to vow to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade (1969). AND WE DID. The Russians were left behind and we roared into the lead and stayed there.

It saddened me to hear our shuttle program has been disbanded. The entire space program always was a point of highest pride to us Americans. Now, if we want to send a man into space, we have to ask the Russians to let us hitch a ride. Something not right here.

We had the privilege of witnessing a shuttle launch.

Booster rocket separation. . .

Booster drifting, on parachutes, into the ocean, to be reused.

Since president John F. Kennedy, PATRIOTISM was the glue. In order for this country's glue to stick again we need to pull together as a people. When we tear each other up, the enemy just smiles.    


If you don't like this country, . . . LEAVE.    I dare you to find a better one.



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