We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 26
I don’t remember March 5, 1944. I am sure my late mother Katherine would have. It is the day I entered this world. It doesn’t take a mathematician to realize that was 80 years ago. I’m now operating completely by the late Toby Keith song “Don’t Let The Old Man In.” Apparently, his inspiration for that song was from Clint Eastwood, age 93, and still a favorite Hollywood actor and director. I truly recognize how blessed I am. So many contemporaries have passed to the “great beyond” and m...
I say “my” FBI as for 28 years of my 30 years in law enforcement it was my home. Nothing made me prouder than being a Special Agent in the FBI. When I retired in 1997, I wrote a book about those years, “Not In My Wildest Dreams”, sharing with you the magnetism and pride of those years. Not many professions could leave someone with such deep pride. When I was hired in 1969, J. Edgar Hoover was still the Director. Yes, he ruled with an iron fist, but even after his passing in 1972 and through...
Over the Christmas season, it is shown over and over on all prominent TV Channels. Every time I see the commercial, I become angrier!! (Silent Night plays softly in the background.) I’m referring to ASPCA – American Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals. The photos break your heart, shivering, emaciated, chained up dogs next to empty water and food containers. The starving abused horses, the stumbling near blind kittens ... How can people be so cruel? A noted actress appeals to you...
In 1945, WWII was winding down and Hitler’s concentration camps were exposed. What was seen became known as the Holocaust. The world could not believe the atrocities committed against Jews and anyone Hitler declared “undesirables.” Supreme commander of all Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, ordered photographic evidence be created of these unbelievable atrocities as he knew, as time went on, there would be unbelievers who would say it never happened. 6 million Jews and 5 million undes...
The lady could not have been more pleasant. I saw her interview on Sunday, Jul 23, 2023. Just the day before, on Saturday, July 22, as many of us in the Pecatonica area were enjoying our yearly car show, “Cars On Main,” Donna Hansbrough, age 68, a 13 year employee of Lowes, a nation-wide chain of hardware goods, was attempting to stop thieves leaving her store with over $2,000 worth of merchandise. She got busted in the eye and knocked to the ground. That was humiliating enough. As fellow employ...
Mark Mills, Senior Fellow at The Manhattan Institute, shares some eye-opening realities dealing with wind and solar. He contradicts many, including our own current administration, who believe whole heartedly that it is our future. There are some Mark Mills haters and critics. Do your own research before you buy into their hatred and criticism. I am far more in Mr. Mills camp than the current administration’s camp. Certainly not a scientist, but arguably an educated observer, I cringe with e...
Not much scares me. What does is the deafening silence of good people doing nothing. I have no idea who to credit with that saying. I do know that is what is happening at our southern border is an abomination and makes absolutely no sense. Where are our politicians and professional organizations putting pressure on the Biden administration to get it under control!? The figures are staggering. 300 overdose deaths every day in America from the fentanyl manufactured in China and smuggled across...
With an election looming, I marvel at the rhetoric and actions of many. They tell me that it is because of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe V Wade that pregnancy crisis centers are being bombed and attached in a variety of ways. Typically, a scared young woman carrying an unplanned fetus would seek one of these centers to help her evaluate her options. Why would we try to destroy these centers? Please help me understand. By virtue of the name of the organization “Planned Parenthood”, that...
In my quest to send out timely topics, I love it when I find something said that is so much better than anything I could come up with. You would be hard pressed not to love these: Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. Capone wasn’t famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze, and prostitution to murder. Capone had a lawyer nicknamed “Easy Eddie”. He was Capone’s lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good!! In fact...
In the 21st century it is hard to imagine a civilized country openly invading a neighboring democratic country with no provocation. We are seeing it happen with Russia invading Ukraine on numerous fronts. We have all watched in awe for months as Russia continued to amass troops all along the Ukrainian border under the guise of “training exercises”. Then on February 24th all hell broke loose. I think we all, at least down deep, suspected that Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin recognized that now i...
Growing up on a 32 -cow dairy farm in Wisconsin, one of 10 children, working hard was a given. We all pitched in. We all did our part. I could not have been blessed with greater parents. There never was excess but they saw to it that there was always enough. We learned early on to make do with what we had. Along the line, I developed a strong work ethic. Reflecting, I'm sure it was seeking parental approval. Nothing made me prouder than being complimented for "a job well done." In our little...
"Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their country". In 1961 my typing class teacher, Mr. Walks, had us type that sentence over and over on our new Royal manual typewriters. The phrase and its meaning never sank in. Today I see it as the most prophetic of comments. On January 20, 1961 President John F. Kennedy delivered his Inaugural Address. Near the end of his 1355 word address he stated: "And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you...
President Biden has declared that the world has witnessed the greatest airlift in American history as 120,000 people were flown out of Afghanastan in the last days of August 2021. The mainstream media are all in on heaping praise on this president on what many others are calling "the greatest debacle in American history". I am among this group of "many others". Thirteen Americans dead at the hands of a suicide bomber. 85 billion dollars worth of military equipment abandoned and left to the...
As the leader of the free world, I marvel that he was elected. I firmly believe that many who voted for him, simply hated "The Orange Man", Donald Trump, so much that somehow, Joe was elected. I have never feared more for our great country. In a short six months America has turned upside down. Our southern border is certainly a humanitarian disaster, caused directly by this administration. An administration that promised transparency and is giving us anything but. A large part of the reason we...
I’ve had the privilege of being born and raised in the greatest country in the world. A country where, if you dream it, you can achieve it! I’m blessed many times over thanks to a capitalistic society which allowed me to pursue many endeavors and take risk. Where else in the world could I have been so blessed? Sadly, our current leadership is working overtime to eliminate capitalism and give us socialism. Hasn’t history taught us better? Our country is one that is rapidly deteriorating into...
I’m frustrated. My frustration has been deepening for at least a year. No, I’m not becoming jaded, I am becoming disheartened. The tragedy of George Floyd created the death of a city, namely, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mayor Jacob Frey ordered the Minneapolis Police Department to “Stand Down” and allow protestors to burn a police precinct to the ground. Nowhere in my 30 years in law enforcement did I learn how to understand that. Had I been one of those officers ordered to “Stand Down”, I...
I truly want to give President Biden the benefit of the doubt. Sadly, from where I sit, watching over 40 Executive Orders, the benefit of the doubt is slipping. Among the very first he signed closed down the Keystone XL Pipeline, eliminating 11,000 jobs, 8000 of them union jobs. And yes, that union had endorsed him. Welcome $4.00 gas real soon. He immediately stopped the erection of the southern border wall even though millions of dollars are already committed to guaranteed purchases and...
I’ve searched every available outlet. I am without success anywhere to find a sensible reason to close our restaurants and bars. They have a ridiculously low infection rate for COVID. It’s 1.4 percent. For home gatherings it’s over 70 percent. Governor Pritzker assures us the science is being followed. Governor Cuomo of New York just ordered all New York dining facilities closed to indoor dining. They are facing a huge snowstorm forcing them to remove all of their outdoor canopies. As a small bu...
No, I’m not a conspiracy theorist. Quite the contrary. I love listening to all sides of a discussion. I’m writing this on the 24th of November, just 21 days after arguably the most controversial election any of us can remember. There is little doubt that each presidential candidate got in excess of 70 million votes. Though the electoral college has not yet met, that will be mid-December, to formally elect the President. Of course, the media has declared Joe Biden the winner, the Trump Team cli...
I received a letter from a very nice lady scolding me for my continued support of President Trump. Her letter to me merits an article, as I’m sure others have similar views which is shocking and scary. Her letter, and obvious hatred for our President, reads like MSNBC and CNN Evening News. I marvel at the folks who have drunk their Kool Aid and it scares me that people listen but don’t think about what was said. The gentle lady started by assuring me that in the President’s 1,278 days in offic...
Having had the honor and privilege of serving thirty years in law enforcement, I have often reflected on the amazing changes that occurred throughout that time. Changes not only in the law enforcement community but how law enforcement is and has been perceived throughout those many years. Recalling a situation in Rockford, shortly after my transfer here as a young FBI Agent in 1970. My then young bride, Jenny, was perplexed when a crime against a police officer was responded to with nearly unbel...
Are we not the land of the free and the home of the brave? Since May 25, 2020, the day George Floyd, a hand cuffed, totally compliant black man was murdered by Minneapolis Police Officer Derrick Chauvin, I’m not sure what we’ve become. Everyone, I do mean everyone, not only police officers but everyone, not only in our country but throughout the world was sickened by the video showing Mr. Floyd plead for his life for nearly nine minutes as Officer Chauvin kept his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck....
I truly marvel at the continuing and “stepped up” efforts of the far left to do all they can to destroy not only the Presidency of Donald Trump, but to destroy him personally as well. It doesn’t seem to matter to them if supporters or surrogates of the President are involved, this effort is all consuming and they will get him no matter if other lives are ruined as well. Enter Lieutenant General Michael Flynn. In late 2016 he was appointed by newly elected President Donald Trump to be his Natio...
When we first started hearing about the Wuhan Virus, which has transitioned to Covid 19, projected deaths were over 2.5 million. These projections were based on models which, since early March, have been continually adjusted downward. Now we believe the death rate from the virus will be somewhere under 100,000 per year. These early projections caused us to literally shut down a country. Influenza, or the flu, kills approximately 60 to 70 thousand per year. Daily we are told of the Covid 19...
Impeachment For What?? You must ask yourself that question. In a phrase, the far-left side of the democratic party and the majority of any main steam media CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and CBS, simply put, “despise this President” to the to the point that they can’t even remotely be objective. They are obsessed with hatred. They have dominated the airways. They leave no room in print media for anything other than a venomous vitriol that is all consuming. The 89th district’s only daily newspaper proves my po...
