259- GRADE YOUR U.S. REP and/or YOUR U.S. SENATOR......

Go to....www.gradegov.com.....

258- MY PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY II......

"Trust...but verify!" (Pres. Ronald Wilson Reagan)

(Was highly impressed, once upon a time, when hearing then Gov. Reagan speak to a packed house at the Hall in C-Ville...that's Charlottesville. He was genuine, witty, intelligent and, above all else, was motivating, inspiring! Ha, and he used NO 'prompters! He also didn't constantly get on our nerves with "ahs" and "uhs.")

257- MY PERSONAL PHILOSPHY I........

This personal philosophy has been a bud of mine since my kidhood days of 1907...or was that 1807?

"The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.

Creeping, crawling bit by bit
That tiny spider would not quit
Kept on climbin' and it kept on tryin'
'Til the sun came shinin' through."

(Whenever you sing this song, don't forget the hand motions. If you believe they are silly, shame on you! Would you call a neat widdle kid, silly?)

256- MY SECOND BLOG IS FORMULATING NOW!.....

Yes, "The Squire's Political Views" is being created this month. As a philosophy major, U.S. Government and sociology educator for some time, this guy has spent long personal hours, and enjoying it, researching historical data, original material, listening and talking with public thinkers and doers and especially pondering major issues for some time. Now it's my turn to think and WRITE about what I "see", politically speaking.
Civic conscientiousness is my game!

http: theSquiresPoliticalViews.blogspot.com/

My popular first blog, this one, is about "social commentaries" and feeds across my America. This blog and bio also are read by over 200 persons in 39 countries, like Ecuador, Japan, India, Nepal, Albania, Greece, Costa Rico, Kuwait, Cyprus, Macau, Argentina, South Korea, the Phillipines, Peru, Portugal, Hong Kong, Australia and 20 more countries! I find it amusing that this guy was, once upon a time, poked fun of by some teachers for being so far behind in computer technology. That was then, and this is now, however, being a handful of years ago. Guess who has far outpaced "those nice sophmoric persons", leaving them all behind in a trail of 'puter dust? This author doesn't have time to settle for second-best. External validation is high at the top of the list!

255- AUTISM BREAKTHROUGH?....STAY TUNED!....

YOU, please, keep up with this latest important possible breakthrough! This guy, by far, is not a medical kinda thinker! This just may be one of those all-important revolutions that many of us keep hoping for today.
Three major concentrated studies now pinpoint genetic mechanisms dealing with the basics of understanding autism, knowing that nearly all of us, you, have someone or ones around you with autism. Scientists are on the path to unraveling those previously "secrets" of the disease.
Stats say that 1 out of 150, mostly males, are born with autism. And basicly what is it: lack of communication and interaction skills are impaired. Attention is focused, with behavior beset with repetition.
The difficulty in uncovering these mysteries keys is its complexity. Scientists know that there is aconenction, but.....?
So, they're been concentrating on the DNA of thousands of subjects, working on the therory of uncovering commonalities! They think that it involves cell adhesion molecules, helping to shape brain "wires" and how they communicate with each other. And what does mean? Proteins or the genes that provide needed instructions, secrets missing, will be finally uncovered.
I remember, back a spell, talking in class about our "government" and or the private sector, providing $$$$ and support and placing a group of brilliant scientists into a laboratory....and not letting them come out until they solve autism....or the common cold...or............

254- THIS SOCIOLOGIST SIMPLY DOES NOT RECOGNIZE MUCH OF "MY" AMERICAN SOCIETY ANYMORE!.....

Within the past few month's time, this author, educator, researcher, commentator and historian DOES NOT recognize our American society...anymore! What's happening?

1- Today (April 27th), it's unbelievable that a 747 Air Force airplane, with 2 small escorts, were given permission by the Feds to buzz ("practice run") buildings in Manhattan. We now know that the 747 was after a PHOTO OPT. Hundreds of workers looked out of their office windows and saw the HUGE 747 coming mighty close....and ran, terrified, down to the streets of New York City! Feds: "Oh, we apologize...." Latest? The 747 WAS one of the two White House Air Force One airplanes, with Prez seal on front.... "We apologize." That makes it OK right away. (The latest FAD in America society, remember, is to immediately apologize for anything...that, then, makes "it" OK, without any fallout.....NOT")
The strong, savy Mayor Michael Bloomberg, was never notified and was furious! I respect him, by the way, for his strong, constant leadership as Mayor of New York City!

2- Bye-bye, Pontiac....

3- A "pandemic" is HERE, in some American towns and cities?....how long will it take our country to get through this new dilemma? How much more will confront us? This latest national problem, this "flu", requires that WE ALL stand firmly united in our resolve to help our fellow citizens....do YOUR part by washing those hands over and over....leadership!!!!!

4- Tens of millions ($$$) swindled out of Americans by one "man"?....how could he have not been spotted?....

5- Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Baily Circus....they now go by train, three (3) separate units. I got up early this morning, Monday, April 27th, to photograph the train coming back through Williamsburg, Va., hoping that the adventure would be rewarding and revealing for this CIRCUS aficionado...WRONG! The entire SMALL train was self-contained. The only revelations? Labels on the generic cars announced the RBBBC as they slipped by quickly along on the rails....clickety clack. Is there any "there" left in our society?

6-

253- HMMMM, THOSE TINY BURGERS!....WHITE CASTLE And KRYSTAL BURGERS!.....

These tiny burgers and cheeseburgers have been out and about for decades! And I'm not talking about the ones you now can find in the freezer section of your local supermarket. I'm talking about the FRESH tiny burgers! Are they really TINY? Do you have to purchase a bag of 'em for a meal? Is it true that one hails from the South and the other one from the Midwest?

a- White Castle is the first fast food burger chain and began in 1921 in Wichita Kansas. The original small restaurants were shaped like a castle with a tower at one end...still a private company, too...no franchises. They generally make a home in the Midwest over to New York.
"White" was used to signify "purity." After a time, the company created the Trademark of "Slyders", simply a burger. The burgers are "tiny" square ones that are steamed a special way, with chopped onions.
And the original price?...5-cents! They still are sold by the the sackful, too. "The Crave" expression was added much later for an advertising ploy. Crave them White Castles!

b- The Krystal Burgers, corportation, began in Chatanoogna, Tennessee and reside generally from Virginia down through to Texas. They are steamed with onions and are popular with college students, who enjoy sompetitive eating contest often. They too are tiny square burgers..."Pups" (hot dogs) and "Krystal Chik." Breakfast is on their menus, with a popular "Scramble" dish. The name coems from "Clean as a crysal"...using the "K" back in the 1930s gave the restaurants a little twist of originiality.

c- In the frozen food sections, too. Both take advantage of their respective markets by selling boxes of frozen Krystal burgers and White Castle's. This guy likes the White Castle ones. My first ever fresh White Castle was in Georgetown....D.C., as a kid.

252- OUTSIDE GAMES WE USED TO PLAY....AS KIDS!.....

Remember, this researcher and historian composes "Social Commentaries", and soon will begin a separate blog, "the Squire's Political Commentaries!".....

a) my absolute fave game, as a kid, was..."KICK The CAN!.....(more)....
b) Rosemary, TNT (Toano-Norge Times), liked "Mother, May I", "Redlight" and "Ghost In The Graveyard!"....
c) simply "Tag!"....
d) "Capture the Flag!".....(played it!)
e) "Heads Up Seven Up!"....(played it!)
f) "Red Light Green Light!"....
g) "Simon Says!"....(played it!)....
h) "Rover Red Rover, ______, C'Mon Over!"....(played it!)....
i)


(Help me, please....need more!)

251- WHEN A HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR DECIDES TO AND DOES END A SACRED LIFE......

a- Should the school administrator pretend that the suicideS didn't happen, when announcing it over the school P.A.?

b- When in high school myself, a friend in my church came up to my room at home one evening, and began to talk about wanting to end it all. His girlfriend had tol him to take a hike. I didn't have the experience, period, at that time to know what to do or say, BUT, did come up with the idea to get him to remember and laugh with me as I smilingly begin to talk about many of our shared silly escapades and adventures. Once three of us hitch a ride on a slowmoving freight train way out into the country and decided to get off, easily, and catch the next freight train back to town. And we did jump on the next one going back towards our town! However, we didn't reallize for a time that that freight train was going DOWNHILL to town and at a really fast clip. WE HAD TO JUMP OFF or wind up in Ohio. He jumped first and flipped on the side of the tracks. I jumped next and landed, PLOP, into the fine black gravel. And the third bud kept on going 'round the bend, literally (jumped later). Up in my attic room, my friend and I laughed and laughed at that adventure! I kept on bringing up more "stupid" things that we did in high school, TOGETHER.
It was dark outside, by then, and he decided to go on home to supper, smiling, to his family.

c- OK, what do YOU see that happened here?

d- Helping someone who is suicidal.....take it seriously, NO MATTER WHAT, but YOU have to pay attention to someone besides yourself!

e- Sucide hints are a cry for help!....pay attention.

f- Be willing to get involved!....to take the initiative to GET HELP sooner than later, after the fact! To care for someone else who is suicidal, the only goal is to REDUCE the PAin, not prolong or increase PAIN!

g- LISTEN...LISTEN...LISTEN! Listen to the person, to talk, no matter what! DON'T argue!....be PATIENT....SYMPATHETIC....CARING...they need to TRUST you!

h- Back to (a) above...NO!...that's exactly what an administrator did at a high school I'm familiar with, recently. But knowlegeable and caring professionals did come to the school the next day to quietly help with many students who cared! By the way, there was another suicide before this one.

i- Another example when first teaching: someone who lived in my now former neighborhood in another town came running down the street and pounded on my front door way past midnight. The guy was crying and saying that his father was drinking and waving a pistol around upstairs, and fired it into the floor, wanting to kill himself....."Please stop him...please."
Again, this guy had never experienced this behavior before but went up to the house...the family was crying and scared downstairs, begging me to help. I slowly walked up the steps to the father's bedroom. He was sitting on the side of the bed, having already shot into the floor. I sat down beside him, quietly reminding him who I was, a friend, and not to hurt me as his friend.
My "plan" was to listen to him "rant" about life being so unfair. I did ask him about his "sweetheart" (wife)...he smiled. Then I asked him about how they had met....he went into detail, laughing and smiling with me. After some time, I quietly told him that I was scared of guns, and could I set it aside...he handed it to me....TRUST. Then I asked him if I could invite his wife upstairs. She did and immediately shared a hug with him. I spent more time getting them to talk about their neat memories together, and they did....
I slipped away and downstairs, with the gun, and went home, unloaded it carefully and to tried to sleep...eventually sleep and peace did arrive. That's one of my many true stories and yam stickin' to it!!!!...ron rascal

j-

250- "KICK THE CAN!".....

"KICK THE CAN!"....
What an after-dark game! Ever played it? The rules are universal.......

a) find a can!
b) gotta be dark, in the spring, summer or fall!...snowing or snow on the ground won't do!
c) one person, kid, is "IT"...all of your chums huddle at "IT"...when "IT" kicks the CAN, everyone else scatters, defined as HIDE!
d) "IT", during this scatter, covers her/his eyes and NO PEEKING! And then counts to 100 slowly....then goes to where the CAN lands.
e) that, then, becomes BASE.
f) "IT'S" assignment, then is to go looking for the playees...NOT standing on the CAN...
g) a playee oh so cleverly tries to race to the CAN and kick it before "IT" gets to the CAN.
h) if "IT" kicks the CAN before the playee does, that playee is CAUGHT and remains at the CAN....if the playee does kick the CAN first, then "IT" remains "IT"and all CAUGHT playees are FREE!
i) NO cheating!....nothing is worse for a kid to be called and labelled a CHEATER...

***WAIT one darn moment...this game is not that easy, but every kid in America knows the universal rules...just ask them. And never, ever break the rules. Know what I mean?

Forgot one ingredient...the yard where "Kick the Can" is played? Parents are "invited" to supply some snackaroos after the game ends....and we're not sure when and how the end of the game is decided...comes under the heading of "Rules-Made-Up-On-The-Spur-Of-The-Moment"...check your official manual, please!

249- ARE Y-O-U PASSIONATE ABOUT ANYTHING?....

This researcher and author likes AND WILL USE the (2.a) American Heritage Dictionary defintion that pops up for passion...."Ardent love...."

a- This researcher and author has a passion for the TRUTH...a passion against SICKO PISSANTS WHO GOSSIP BEHIND A COWARD'S CHICKEN-SHIT MASK!
b- ....a passion for education and curiosity that takes me far byond the average Yogi Bear in society!
c- ....a passion for the art uncovered in Nature with my trusty Nikon 8008s!
d- ....a unique passion for adventure, like old barns....climbing lighthouses...."ghost farms"---abandoned farms, abandoned once proud farmhouses, old diners, swinging bridges across mountain streams, creating my original drawings of my "BlueButterCups", "PersimmonsWoods", "Nutmeg Quarter"(tm), "SillyCats")tm), "JustPlainFishin'")tm) and "Signed: God!"(tm)
e- A passion for my totally, originally created "Skelli---The World's Oldest Living Unicorn!"(tm), who lives in a treehous and has a hot tub on the second floor!
f- ...a passion for physical exercising at my Rec Center!
g- A passion for creative writing....and rewriting and rewriting until an essay or book or mag article is right on target for me!
h- ...a passion for listening!!!!
i- A passion for being considerate to those who are polite and civil and respectful!
j- ...a passion for those who ask for advice for their own creative writing tries!
k- Yes, a passion for being sensitive to caring persons. Today, at the Rec Center, an older guy told me about his tour in the Korean (Conflict) War, and how a Lt. yelled at him to hit the dirt and in a second's time saved him from being killed!...he NOW has 12 grandchildren up in Jersey!
l- ...a passion for writing this "the squire's way" blog....with another blog just created for political views!
m- A passion for watching a Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, under a REAL TENT!...once, as a kid, rode a bike way out in the country in the Shenandoah Valley early to watch the circus unload along the railroad tracks...and then getting a temp job helping set up a tent!....WOW! Oh, coming back for the evening circus performance with my girlfriend.
n- ...a passion for singing, yeah singing!
o- ....OK, a passion for goooooood pizza...thin crust...fresh mushrooms...Italian red sauce and fresh mozzerella!
p- A passion for spelunking and exploring those neat "Kissin' Bridges"....covered bridges!
q- An ardent like for manners and those persons with tried and true customary American manners...at the Post Office recently, this guy waited for an older lady to walk through...she was smiling and so happy that chivalry was alive that she paused and shook my hand.
r-

248- ON MEETING A VIET NAM VET THIS WEEK IN A GROCERY MARKET!.....

And PROUD of this vet!
Noticed his cap that read "Viet Nam Vet" in the cereal aisle and stopped to shake his hand and express my appreciation for his service...asking him about what it was like. He took some time to share a couple of experiences about some fellow soldiers who had died around him, and a lieutenant who, while wounded several times, was a hero and especially a leader of his men. He explained how there were so many stories in Viet Nam that Americans back home would never know and understand about heroism.
When I asked him about enough Americans who vocally denounced the war (conflict), the vet made sense...they weren't in the Viet Nam jungle with us, in battle! "It was our job, duty!"
He shook my hand in the store and thanked me for recognizing him and thanking him.....

247- AND WHAT IS THE GREATNESS Of Our AMERICAN SOCIETY?...

This historian and social commentator definitely sees it as our private sector of society, especially rural towns! Don't allow that point to be lost...period...ever!!!!!

246- MOTHER'S DAY...SOON......

Things I wish I could tell her that:
a- This son is sorry for, at times during my college years, of thinking and acting like I was better than she with more "education."
b- This son would like for her to know (she has passed) that I do admire her for her resolve to stick with her convictions and stand strong for them!
c- That she was the strongest and most energetic person, physically, in our family! d- That she understood and practiced, consistently, the value of her work ethics! I can "see" in my memory bank, as a child, her getting out there on the Steffey Street property, in the spring, and "grubbin'" (she called it) for the garden planting, beside my father! She would voluteer to paint and clean at her church, too, to get it ready for Sunday....and be back on Sunday morning in the choir, in her Sunday-go-to-meeting" clothes.
e-

245- A PONDERABLE From A CENTENARIAN!.....

She was a spry centenarian from up in the mountains of Virginia, raised goats and kept a full garden and was sooo wise. She once said that, "If'n you don't try...you won't receive!" Oh, she mentioned once hearing a "critter" (mountain lion) walking around on her roof. "Got my shotgun out...."

244- "A-M-E-R----I----C-A-N!...

No explanation needed...it's all there in that ONE word!

243- WHY DARK CHOCOLATE SHAVINGS SPRINKLED ON A CHOCOLATE MALT SHAKE MAKE YOU MORE INTELLIGENT!..OR WHY SMASHED POTATOES ARE BETTER THAN MASHED ONES!

Hey, life sometimes is just too darn serious. I'll have an ounce of levity, thank you!

a- Chocolate malted milk shakes are known to increase your wisdom by 27%, according to one of the latter Harry Potter's films! But you have to use fresh milk straight from a Guernsey cow that was milked before 7:30 on a Friday morning...that's what oldtimers call fresh moo juice! Shaving the chunk of dark chocolate, also, requires a bit of skill, using an old-fashioned cheese grater while you hold it steadily over your glass full to the top with the bubbly delight. NO STRAWS, too, meaning NO slurps. Simply lift your shake filled glass and drink, leaving that neat ring around your eager lips. And NO one ever forgets to add the powdered
malt into the shake before inserting up into the mixer at Baskin-Robbins...never! I really believe that those dark chocolate shavings can add at least 27% more wisdom to your....

b- Real men, and women, dine on smashed potatoes! Smashed potatoes are the ones mashed with that "batter-up" kind of utensil with that round mesh-top end. Mashed potatoes are whupped up by an electric mixer. Smashed are not perfect, like most of us! They have bits and pieces, tiny lumps, of still hot potato mixed in. One secret, I'm told to smashing them, is to be sure to drain off the hot potato water from the pan and letting it sit for a moment or three for the steam to rise and get the heck out of the pan before smashing. Use WARM milk to add to the HOT potatoes, and NOT the COLD milk straight from the fridge.
Why go to these little extra details, you ponder? Hey, the smashed potatoes on your plate, next to the homemade baked meat loaf, make a neat place to spoon in a puddle of gravy! And when was the last time you had a nice puddle of hot gravy in the middle of your smashed spuds?

c- Peepers! Yes, those tiny toads that all sing in unison at night around the pond and woods entertain. The chorus is like music to my ears and memory bank. They were invented to remind us that spring is here. And, when you slowly move towards them, they shush, somehow knowing that you're not supposed to be a member of their chorus. Oh, I did read what their loud nightly sound's sole intent was....can you say M-A-T-I-N-G?

d- How to prepare a grilled cheese the collegiate way? Take two slices of your fave store-bought bread (my late maternal grandmother used to call it that)...a healthy slice or three of sharp cheddar cheese...butter for spreading over outside slices...waxed paper...AND a trusty IRON. If you forget to carefully place the waxed paper on top of your upper piece of butter-slathered bread before you iron, I suggest that you'll need to go to Walmart* and purchase a new iron. Ready? Iron both sides WITH the waxed paper on top! Add a COLD glass of moo juice to accompany.

e- Yes, I admit as a kid, to cleverly figuring how to tell which candy pieces were my bestest favorites in those large boxes of Christmas candy we always received at Christmas. Wanna know? Took a straight pin, turned a piece of candy upsidedown and drilled a tiny hole ever so craftily in its bottom. Came up white or pink? Back into the box! But when I drilled into a jelly, chocolate or nutsy one, "gold" was struck! My father was a quiet but brilliant guy...I always figured that he knew my dastardly deed at Christmas....hmmmmm, but he never squealed.

f- How to get a beautiful coed in the 7th-grade to fall in like with you at the movies? I bought one box of popcorn...we shared. At times, when our hands met inside the box of popcorn, "by accident", I KNEW then that she was electrified by that salty touch of popcorn inside that box, in the dark, during a movie, in front of the big silver screen...know what I mean? Oh, her name was Ruth! I can 'member her last name, but I'm not gonna tell you.

g-

242- THERE WERE FOUR (4) HEROES on EASTER SUNDAY!.....

A) Captain Richard Phillips and the three nameless Navy Seals in the ocean! BRAVO, AMERICA. Capt. Phillips bravely gave himself up as a hostage instead of the ship's crew, jumping once overboard to escape later, being caught, and then jumping into the ocean again setting up for the Navy Seals.

B) Did anyone read about the "brave" New York MTA subway ticket agent, safe inside his little cubicle, watching a woman screaming, crying for help and being raped in front of him one night on a NY subway platform?....and the stopped subway driver who saw her being raped, also, a second time and hurried off driving down the tracks, leaving her to the slimebucket? ("Hey, not my job!")

C) Reminds me also of episodes of someone ready to jump from a bridge, and a growing group nearby chanting for the person to JUMP! What about the group standing around the roadside scene of an accident, like vultures? BUT, there are still enough of us who immediately wade in to help, no matter what! Who, then, is a pinhead or patriot?

241- peeps...PEEPS....P-E-E-P-S!.....

Those little gooey yellow Peeps...like them when you were a kid? Maybe even stuffed one or three in your mouth at once? And what about those handmade chocolate Easter eggs that were sliced? Easter egg hunts? Solid chocolate bunnies?...did you bite off the ears first?
Memories, good memories are worth their weight in jelly beans!

240- L-I-S-T-E-N...LISTENING is........

....a virtue worth it's weight in homemade baked macaroni and sharp cheddar cheese, with crumbled saltines across the casserole top before baking!
a- When was the first time you took a hike in the country, by a stream and woods, and simply listened? b- When was the first time you listened to a friend, or child...or significant other?
c- As a child, I began discovering listening while on a Saturday adventure behind my grandfather's small farm past his woods....a fox barking...bluebirds...the last of the steam locomotives working its way up a long valley hill on its way to the Ohio Valley...a hound dog baying, past those woods...insects....a cashier at my local Wall*Mart who always HUMS while checking at the register....those first birds who wake you up each morning EARLY in the spring.... d- I like the faint humming and "fan" of a hummingbird (miniature 'copter) as they approach one of my dining hall feeders....... e-

239- WATERFALLS....CLASSIC FOUNTAINS In A PIAZZA!....

"Beauty is in the ear of the Beholder....." This ponderable is for you!

238- "REMEMBER THE ALAMO!".....

A social movement, "Tea Parties", is moving across our country...agree with it or not.
BUT, this historian and sociologist brings up the patriotic (remember that word?) theme of "Remember The Alamo!" "Piracy" has become rampant off the coastal area of Somalia, raking in millions and millions of $$$$...and no one has done one iota of combating it, internationally. And now, for the first time in 200 years, an American ship was "attacked", our American ship's captain is being held captive at this very moment!
What did President Jefferson do when pirates, thugs, attacked an American vessel back 1802? he refused to pay!!! And sent the "Marines."
Are we, a country, appeasers?...let's sit down and "talk," pirates?
I vote for "Remember the Alamo!" Oh, know your history?

It's time that our country, Americans, wake up and "REMEMBER THE ALAMO!" The UNITED States of America has apologies to no other country! Hey, that's my ponderable for the year....

"AMER-I-CAN.....!"

GUESS WHAT, America? Here's an update on this blog. This Sunday, EASTER, our Navy Seal team SAVED, took out, 3 of the 4 thugs holding our American ship's captain hostage. "Don't tread on me!"

237- CUBA and U.S.A. RELATIONS....OCTOBER 1992....

I found it interesting, this week, to hear about an American goup being sent to Cuba to begin, possibly, TALKING with our country and Cuba! Let's see...it's now April of 2009. When this historian began the process of bringing our country and Cuba, just 90 miles away, to the table to at least talk---Squire started that in October of 1992---Pres. Clinton refused to talk with me about it, but a Clinton aide, Leon Panetta, did send me a letter.
(Much more coming...letter from Pres. Findel Castro...boxes of letters from average Cubans)...and what I still believe is the best solution!

I uncovered a letter in the National Archives in D.C. dated Nov. 6, 1940, and sent to Mr. Franklin Roosevelt, President of the United States and signed Sr. Fidel Castro.
Quoting parts of it: "My good friend Rossevelt. I don't know much very English, but I know as much as write to you. i like to hear the radio, and i am very happy, because i heard in it, that you will be president for a new (periods). I am twelve years old. I am a boy but I think very much but I do think that I am writing to the President of the United States. If you like, give me a ten dollars bill green american, in the letter, because never, i fave not seen a ten dollars bill green american and i would like to ahve on of them. My address is:
Sr. Fidel Castro
Bolegiv de Dolores
Santiago de Cuba
Oriente. Cuba
I don't know very Engish but I know very much Spanish and I suppose you don't know very Spanish but yoi know ver English because yo are American but I am not American."

I did write a letter to Pres. Castro, dated october 26, 1992, and asked if he indeed was the little boy who had written to Pres. Roosevelt and asking on of my American government classes if they wanted to "join me" in my quest to bring two nearby countries to the table to at least talk, NOT ignore as has been done for tens of years.
I did keep receiving calls at school, in Spanish, a few weeks after that letter, and finally asked a Spanish teacher friend to interpret the calls. The Cuban "consulate" (the American govt. does not recognize Cuba...all communications had to go through another country) was calling me to tell me that they had a hand-delivered letter for me from their Pres. Fidel Castro!!
Remember, my only purpose was to think outside that "box" and bring the two countries together...to meet and talk!
Oh, I sent a fresh ten dollar bill along with that October 26, 1992 letter. You're invited to read my entire letter sent AND the letter from Pres. Castro (Spanish) and his English translation.

I only wish that you could read his loooong letter to me.
Two Cuban representatives did come to meet and that one class and hand-deliver the Castro letter to me. I escorted the two, and their families, around Busch Gardens, as a gift because one had mentioned that his children were excited about them being in Williamsburg and near Busch Gardens! Ha, the afternoon before the BG trip, the FBI came to my school and asked what car I would be driving, times and anything extra they would be doing....hmmm. ABC, CBS and NBC did go on a frenzy overnight to send a TV crew down to Williamsburg the very next morning for a live international interview. Two of my students were chosen to sit with me. NBC, Katie Couric and crew, did not quit to "win" the interview. And what an experience!
Also, CNN News during the same period set up an interview debate on live TV in Williamsburg with my students doing like we did in class, using the Socratic-style of debate...on national TV.
Shortly afterwards, Cuban TV came to my class for another debate, with my students looking at both sides of the issue of Cuba and American meeting. A Florida Representative came to represent the other view opposing the meeting!

I received boxes and boxes of letters from Cuban citizens from all branches of society! Every one expressed sincere "like" for me and my fellow Americans. It was exciting to receive a call from Brussels asking for views on bringing Cuba and American together at the table....a call from Cincinnati for a live interview. I also received, a time or three, calls at the school calling me a communist and threatening me.

I was ignored, on the issue, by Pres. Clinton, but did, as mentioned earlier, get a communication from Clinton Aide Panetta. I received NO support from the then-Supt. of Schools and NO support in any way from 97% of my education "friends." Now...again, it's amusing to see the wheels moving in the direction of meeting with Cuba. Where was everyone back in 1992?...huh?

Yes...I am proud to call myself a visionary!!!!!

236- IN SUPPORT And LOVING MEMORY Of OUR ITALIAN COUNTRY FOLK WHO PERISHED In The DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE.....

The older region of Italy, made up of ancient homes and villages, didn't have a chance during the darkness. People came, immediately, from all over Italy and Europe to help, to dig with even hands searching for anyone! I am proud of the Italian nation's people!!!!

235- "G-20".......

"G" stands for "G-roup" of 20 countries that gather once a year, since 1999, to discuss openly issues! Previously, there was the G-8 and so on. And the "mess" outside wherever they meet, over the years, keeps building because the "demonstrators" are intent upon disrupting, anarchy! It's now become the "thang" to do every year. Once again, reminds me of the yearly lemmings parade to the sea.....
This sociologist feels that the concept of the G-20 is excellent...to meet with 20 countries' reps and all, equally, take the opportunity to tell it the way it is and discuss possible solutions...rationally.
Next year it probably will be called the G-25?
Isn't it strange that North Korea "grabbed" the world's spotlight during the same time?

234- IN LOVING AND RESPECTFUL MEMORY OF THE 13 WHO WERE KILLED IN BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK, APRIL 3rd.....

The immigration community center was holding a class for "those who wanted to become citizens of the United States, who wanted to be a part of the American Dream...." May their spirits live forever....we celebrate their lives.

And a special blessing, also, for the dear group of seven elderly rehab nursing home residents and one nurse killed Sunday, March 30th in Carthage, North Carolina.

233- A STUDENT ON THE LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD?......

Non-voting member, of course....
But this plan has been brewing for some some time, all the way back to 1993/1994. It is a BOLD consideration, locally, and will be sketched out with more details soon. A thick file was accumulated back in the early '90s. This idea has stuck around with me for some time. It's time to proceed with an introduction. The plan includes a "constitution" and how to choose that student rep to sit with and become a liaison between the older, wiser School Board members and an actual public school student. During the meetings, the Board could, in public, ask the student rep concerns and questions and LISTEN!...a go-between the generation gap now presently existing.
Yes, the concept is bold and doable!

Fairfax County Public Schools, since 1972, does have a Student Advisory Council with Bylaws. Their Preamble sets up three Articles in detail: the Fairfax County Student Advisory Council (SAC) of the Fairfax County Public Schools. Each high school in the system shall elect a maximum of five (5) members and a first and a second alternate. Members serve a one-year term and prior to May 1st of the coming school year, with the final meeting in May of that spring. A chariperson is elected within each high school delegation.
The students "run" the membership. And, the county SAC has the elected chairperson joining together to form a countywide SAC.
I have a copy of the constitution, and copies are also available in Fairfax County. Their constitution spells out exactly how the SAC operates and is a tried and true operation over time.
Student reps are non-voting members of the Fairfax County SAC, but they may speak at any meeting. They represent the students as a liason with the School Board and provide an excellent
opprtunity for all students to be heard. The SAC Constitution goes into detail as to how this is accomplished.
A small group of seniors in a 1994 government class actually created a resolution and constitution! "...the need for a student voice on the School Board...We the senior class feel that open communication is vital between the School Board and us, directly affecting the students. The objective of a student on the School Board is to establish a better rapport between educators, parents, School Board and students, and a stronger educational climate for learning."

Since any bold idea takes more than a small few originators to jump in to support and help forulate, 1994's innovative idea and plan to create a student SAC to sit with and advise the local School Board vanished....what a shame!

232- "the SQUIRE'S WAY" PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT...ONE MO' TIME!...

"Tell me what's wrong with me, and I'll listen to the end of my nose.
But tell me what's right with me, and I'll listen to the end of my mind!"
-ron squire steffey-

231- TOASTMASTERS CLUB!!!...TOP Of The LINE GROUP!....

The Toastmaster Club in my home town was THE BEST "educational group" ever in my learning life!
Toastmasters International has clubs all over America and the World, and these leaders and members, meeting after meeting, year after year, are changing the way our society thinks. And what is their only problem? By far, not enough persons who should be taking the course are not members.
And this historian, researcher and educator is soooo glad to have been a Toastmaster once upon a time. I learned by doing, how to say exactly what was needed to get a point across in a brief amount of time. Someone timed us, too! Our course had a series of different types of speeches, becoming more involved as we progressed. Oh, we graduated, with a ceremony!

BUT...now that I think back over my excellent experiences, THE most important lesson learned was----NEVER, EVER use an "uh...ah...er...like...you know" in our everyday conversations and especially in talks!...NEVER! Why?...you'll lose your "audience" with highly "irigating" words and thoughts.
This U.S. government prof taught that subject for some time and like to keep up with current information and people. And have come to either mute the sound or switch "news" channels when certain current "leaders" speak. I now, uh, cringe, er, when the White, uh, House Secretary TRIES to, uh, explain and, ah, answer questions during a, a, a Press Confer-, ah, rence. He stands in front and grins the entire episode, not realizing his, ah, ah, er ignorance
In Toastmasters there was and is an "AH counter" who quietly tells each speaker the number of "Ahs" used. I feel sorry for the current President, even with the use of 12 teleprompters whenever he speaks. If the "ahs" were counted during a Toastmasters Club meeting, his number would be off the board. I'm suggesting that he take the course.

And, yes, it was so refreshing this week to listen to the British Prime Minister at the G-20 speak, and other world leaders, without any need for an "AH COUNTER!" or teleprompter!!

Another excellent class taken in college, being a philosophy major, was LOGIC and taught by the best professor I've ever known---Prof Willoughby! We studied a prescribed LOGIC text and learned to, practiced listening to speeches, preachers and TV newscasters, scripting out exactly whether that person speaking was telling the truth, and even more so, making logical sense. That class and that professor was sorely missed the day classes concluded!

230- K-O-K-O-P-E-L-L-I....The SOUTHWEST DANCING MUSICIAN?....

Ha, over the years it's surprising how some people have "read" so much into what this little character represents!
The first inclination? He has a headdress on, a flute-like instrument and is happily into playing it AND dancing...what do YOU think? Some think he's high on peyote (herb). Some believe that's he's a fertility god.
Now, Kokopelli is recognized by many across America and even the world and was originally found in the Southwest on pictographs (picture representing a word) and petrogyphs (carving or line drawing on rock). When the early Spanish missionaries saw the Hopi crafts people creating dolls with a sexy Kokopelli, to tease, the fathers persuaded them to delete the sexual nature.

Want to know more about this early Southwest figure? There are many directions and possibilities to explore...I'm not sure which was original. And who cares....character is in front of us!

229- THE WORLD'S MOST FASCINATING HISTORY MYSTERIES #9...."CROP CIRCLES....!"......

Absolutely...excitingly...fascinating history mystery CROP CIRCLES!
WE long for anything that is magical in nature, unexplainable, especially these unique works of art inscribed in...in fields of crops like wheat and corn. They, whoever or whatever, pushed their creative accomplishments far beyond our ability to comprehend their actual creation simply deserve the highest artistic merit! Are the "artists" from "another world?"....PLEASE google to CROP CIRCLES/PICTURES as soon as you can, to "see" some fascinating pics from an airplane, before we go any farther here.

HOAX?...or the McCoy, whatever that may be.

Back in 1991 two retired landscape painters, Englishmen, admitted to their hoax! They claimed to use a board attached to a rope hanging from their necks by one of them holding on to the cord to determin the radius and the other one had the other end. And they would stomp the crop down with that 1+ meter board. The wheat or oats were bent over not crushed. Later, however, when pressed for details, the two could not even draw a proper complex design from memory, not could they tell exactly where the field designs were located! Hoax?
We could label them "the croppies."
The crop circles were not found just in Great Britain but around the world, like China, Russia, Australia and South Africa and often close to ancient sacred sites. People began visiting the new art creations to meditate, pray and even dance. Farmers began, also, to charge a bit of change to view. An "energy recorder" was brought in, checking to see if the fields possessed a natural aura of special energy, being the supernatural reason for the intricate designs appearing overnight in fields.
History records a woodcut back in the laate 1700s showing the devid mowing a field into an intricate geometric pattern. More and more complex patterns were revealed with multiple circles and elaborate pictograms. Later, complex mathematical complexes, with precisely executed shapes appeared, especially in Great Britain.
Anyone seen Mel Gibson's movie "Signs"?

So...anyone want to secretly create your own crop circle in your area?
1) secure a stake...hammer it into the field in the the center of your crop circle. Oops, first you have to figure out how to walk out into the firld without leaving any traces of being there and getting back...has to be late at night, too!
2) bring along a rope to tie to the stake...stretch to the end of the circle plan.
3) need, of course, a pal at the end of the rope to make a perimeter by walking in a circle around the stake.
4) drag a 1+ meter flat board or heavy pipe over the crop to flatten the plants in your design.
5) you can be artistic by leaving sections of the wheat or oats undamaged outside your first circle.

WAIT a freaking minute! All of this activity has to be accomplished on the ground, no airplanes allowed...AND completed before the sun even thinks about rising, too, in ONE nigh. I do know of a couple of guys who pondered the plan of executing a CROP CIRCLE along Ironbound Road in Williamsburg, Va. before New Town was built...they abandoned the project as not being, uh, feasible.

My suggestion is to let the "spirits" take over, using some type of gravitational energy system! Anyone know, right off hand, the toll-free number to call home to that ET guy?