Dime Stores

When I was a kid, going downtown was an event.

We'd dress up, eat lunch at Ayre's tearoom or Block's or sometimes at the dimestore counter.

Murphy's used to be right on the Circle. It moved over a block to give the center of town a more dignified look lol.

Nearby on Washington Street, there was a row of dimestores.

They were places where cheap but good things could be had.

My big deal was to hit them all hunting for the lastest toy guns and soldiers especially.

Toy guns back then were very realistic. I had a Tommy gun that had a bolt and fired caps as well as a rattattat noise. It was actual size and color. I owned a pump shotgun that fired caps and ejected plastic shells. All manner of pistols modern and Western as well as Davy Crockett gear and Indian bows and arrows were all over the house. There were holsters and other gear.

It was quite a collection. I suppose the libs etal would call it an 'arsenal'.

There is a particular I want you to know.

We had quite a collection of real guns thanks to my brother.

Military and they were current for the Armed Forces at the time. Sporting/hunting weapons as well as several revolvers including a Model 29 SW 44 mag.

For things that go bump in the night, we had a Chief's Special and a 1911 45 in the desk drawer right by my bro's bed.

When he was gone, I was capable of using and defending.

These guns were all in the bedroom that we shared when I was in grade school and he in high school/college.

I grew up and slept in a room full of guns.

The core of this is simple. I knew the difference between my toys and the real thing.

We went shooting many a weekend at a gravel pit off of Keystone Ave. It's now a bunch of condos.

No one disturbed us and the cops who stopped by would shoot with us.

Imagine what most cops would do now.

Things have eroded since then to say the least.

Dime stores are gone. Those great emporiums full of American goods and dreams have given way to 'dollar shops' that feature all the foreign junk you could not want.

There are no places to shoot immediately available in Marion County except for very few private lands. You have to go outside the area and it helps to know folks with land or farms.

Toy guns are now crap if you can find them at all.

My kids grew up without them mostly and listened to my tales of the halcyon days of yore.

But my son would make guns from Duplos and other materials. He was a master of American ingenuity.

We have BB guns and found out it's a nono to fire them in the city. Oops. We always did and I taught the kids responsibility inherent so that they were safe handling them.

We did and do however have a sizeable collection and an ever growing one of real guns.

My kids know how to use them too.

We have a crumbling Republic in need of repair.

The kids have been taught what it may take to do so.

Some things never change.

Statehouse Redux

Many moons ago, I published a series of articles about my experiences at the Indiana Statehouse particularly concerning my efforts to stop a fiat 'no guns in the Statehouse' rule.

I don't regret writing them nor one word that I said. Please read them. It begins with Lying Low (http://whatmcauliffesaid.blogspot.com/2007/10/lying-low.html) on through Lying Low 4.

They are a bit dated concerning some details such as the Mayor and marriage, but they hold a lot of info about duplicity in government. There will be a piece about our current Mayor soon. MOS.

Thinking about it now, and with info carefully delineated, I have some conclusions to share.

First, I have no doubt that the people responsible for instituting no carry in the Indiana Statehouse had no intention of ever rescinding it.

It was an insidious step in disarming us.

The CTASC or antiterrorism committee, was and is populated with liberal wretches who are either naive or are calculating re obstructing our rights. In spite of those with 'best intentions', it is an apple rotten to the core.

Despite my attempts to launch an effective campaign against this unconstitutional fiat rule, I was only given lip service and a meeting arranged so those complicit in this travesty would say they gave gunowners a chance to present their side.

Those who initially sided with me withdrew support aka turned their backs on me and any chance for repeal. Not one person remained. I was alone pi$$ing in the wind.

There was an effort by certain people within Indiana Homeland Security, including a rep from the CIA to discredit me and get people to withdraw support.

I realize this could sound fantastic, except that I witnessed an IDHS official spreading the word to ignore me as well as other people who simply saw me as a gadfly.

I have no concrete proof unfortunately save for the fact those who said they would help finally did not. How convenient.

I was obstructed from contacting certain people who could have been effective in getting this rescinded. All efforts in this regard ended up in the email 'circular file'.

I witnessed certain indications re references to said supporters from reps of IDHS.

Some of these supporters actually removed and replaced emails and failed to continue taking calls from me for any reason.

As for how I presented myself, let me say I was gentlemanly, yet businesslike. At no time did I agitate nor approach anyone rudely. I was rational and straight forward.

If there are any doubts of this, I have every piece of email and correspondence from this incident and time.

Imagine, this intrigue and guile for something small in the scale of things. Then again, look at the crimes committed by ATF etal every day against Freedom loving folks who seek to merely live unmolested and seek to speak on behalf of Freedom.

Though much of this is corroborated by contacts who still exist at the Statehouse, it boils down to JMHO as all of this is circumstantial.

Why talk of this now?

It was on my mind and I don't forget.

I offer it as evidence of how government and its organs seek to control us instead of serving us.

Recreation

Recreating.

Gaining strength through exercise, sporting activities, painting, singing etc.

It can also be having a few after work or watching a game.

I prefer physically active stuff and something that adds to my skills/toolbox.

Though, I don't turn down a bit of relaxing whiskey lol.

A balance is best.

Nothing like watching a new or favorite movie or tv show.

I love to do that in the bedroom. I do some of my best thinking prone as well -s-.

And as for that other thing in the bedroom (besides sleep), I'm all for that too.

Again, I can suspend my disbelief but I confess, I often watch how it's done, since it's my bailiwick now.

All the talk about sports being a panacea can be true. It can also be just what it should be, to wit, a little r & r.

Go ahead and watch the Super Bowl. Go Colts!

I do think some of the hype is excessive and geared for mindlessness.

So how about watching the game, cleaning some guns and sipping a couple of brews?

Get rested up (in shifts -s-), for the fight continues.

Be refreshed for the fight never ends.

Faith

It's not a dirty word. Nor is it uncommon, even for those who claim not to have a 'faith' aka system of belief (In that regard, we all have something whether it's God or man etc.).

Allegiance, trust, loyalty, fidelity are hallmarks of faith.

The kind of faith we all share at least among some such as 3pers, is a resolute belief that we will restore the Republic.

And that belief is more founded on what has come before.

There is no blind faith here.

Experience, history and trial and error all converge.

Faith is the fuel that makes knowledge function.

I can have faith in something invisible. Yet I feel it, sense it coursing through my life.

Vision.

Semper Fidelis. Always Faithful.

Dedication to duty and to a cause that will triumph because we have that very faith the enemy lacks.

Sure, many of them have a zealot's fire, but that fire blinds.

They have no heart, just raw emotion and a stilted intellect.

They have no leeway, except a kind of long suffering patience to conquer.

They cannot balance heart and head.

We have no choice but to stop them.

Get out there in the streets and spread the word.

Light a candle. Spark a flame.

Share the faith and watch it become a fire that consumes our enemies.

We will not stop. Our children will not stop. Their children will not stop.

We will keep the faith.

Mistakes

My life is rife with them.

Some zigging instead of zagging, outright stepping in traps, and occasional saving from jaws of defeat.

All a result of mistakes.

Some of my greatest triumphs are the result of mistakes.

Yes, it can be a relative term, as can most things.

And there are mistakes on all levels.

Kind of like 'if only' (I had a gun etc) there are frequent regrets as a side dish to the blunder.

There is resolutely going on no matter what .

There is giving up.

Misunderstanding has its way and some live a lie without knowing it.

Some wonder and dig deeper, finding something shiny in the muck.

Others learn from a mistake and never make the same one again.

Yet more never learn and live in a cycle of repetition, the vicious circle.

I remember a gal in local theater who was a stickler for certain ways of doing things re acting and production in general.

She saw a well known actress perform locally. Apparently this actress 'did all the wrong things' but performed brilliantly anyway. Uhuh.

Mistakes may simply be a new or different way of operating.

Finding what works can be trial and error.

Thus, learn from mistakes.

You may be instituting something that works beyond the ken.

Evil

Mayhap too broad a topic.

I'll try to be succinct.

It wends its way through life, often with a still, quiet voice. Sometimes with a shout, it tears open and apart.

Or it slowly degrades, like steady corrosive acid.

Perhaps the most subtle is the compromising of principles.

Maybe it surfaces as 'let the other guy do it'.

Or it's manifested as 'I'll do it', then nothing gets done.

I have constantly talked of the battle between good and evil here and elsewhere, particularly face to face with, well, both good and evil people.

Yes, it does take the form of spiritual fighting re possession and exorcism. Dynamic and brash, such events rise and wiggle their ugly heads.

I cannot tell the details, but I know this exists. It is your choice to believe such things or not or to find another explanation for them.

I think evil is most often just quiet, bland and an every day nuisance.

It is a whimper, not a bang.

Like the machinations of the collectivists (surely evil), it's a slow steady decline leading to defeat and fall.

Meeting such evil is just as hohum. It's as simple as walking past it on the street and nodding.

Meeting it is essential to defeating it. Nip it in the bud, for such grows and can become seemingly insurmountable.

Ignore the leak in the roof while it's a trickle and one day the ceiling caves in.

Yes, the ceiling can be fixed, if again done in time.

But, there comes a time when corrosion damages so thoroughly that the house can be condemned.

Then, a new house could be built, but if so, learn from the past so that in building, the future is secured.

This is not the first time I've spoken of evil, as I said. This whole blog comes down to that very battle between good and evil.

It is far from the last time I will speak of it.

Cultural Bleeding

It's as old as people having met one another.

Cultural interchange.

It's what America is all about re E Pluribus Unum-from many one.

Simply put, we are the sum of our experiences and of the backgrounds of folks wherever they come from. Yet America is unique re our Freedom.

Though, bleeding indicates a phenomenon, yes just one, that encompasses the world.

Ever find it funny that baseball is popular in Japan and Cuba, while one, is still a fascist police state and the other a communist dictatorship?

Sports are the great panacea. After all, for those who set up societies that either outright eschew religion or use it as a tool to suppress, healthy physical activity assists the state in keeping the people in check.

If one's mind is off the real matters of the day, then one's mind is placated and each day is sufficient unto itself vis a vis such mundane happenings as who scores and wow 'our' team is going places.

Going places while the Republic is stagnating. Going nowhere.

Still, while mindful of more important details such as the loss we have suffered in Freedom at a great expense re safety, we share cultural traits that become uniquely American.

And that American principle of one from many circles the world. That is what is meant to be.

But baseball etc is not what the world needs.

Hey, it's fine the Indy Colts won btw. It's just too bad that American sports can't 'bleed' into other cultures bringing Freedom and all that we stand for.

And, a note about players comes to mind.

There are all kinds of folks who play ball etc. Like any other pursuit, there are good bad and in between.

Some are Freedom minded and I have met some genuinely decent sportspeople.

All the bs about diversity is like a vapid steam cloud that dissipates into the cold.

Cultural bleeding will bleed us white unless we share that greatest of gifts from our unified culture.

Freedom is the gift that keeps on giving and nothing better exists.

Dead Of Night

Sounds like one of those spooky stories I turn out.

The wee hours.

I like writing at night. No one is around, except for Carmen, keeping silent company and sentry duty.

It's quiet. Nothing but me and my thoughts.

Dead of night, still of night, all is calm but not balm.

In fact, it's not always calm.

Sometimes, in the dark of night, doubts come like ghosts that haunt the soul.

They threaten to choke creativity. They stultify reason and there is a moment where the tide of emotion could paralyze.

But, it is also that time when clarity is company and comes to the fore.

The battle of wits ensues.

Press on, press on, there is more to write the muse ensures.

And press on I do.

For, the need to teach, to share, overcomes those whispering wisps of waffling distrust.

The need to learn comes to bear and answers me with my wandering words as I seek to study and research my work. And those who care to comment and answer are witnesses to my efforts.

So, the dead of night is not dead at all, but a very lively time when much that I do gets done.

Easy

Easy does it.

I suppose it's not a bad thing, particularly when it comes to stress.

I find some meditation works and thoughts floating a bit then focussed.

AA mentions easy does it. They use a day by day approach to dealing with addiction.

Unfortunately too many people take an easy road instead of easy does it.

Like just about everything, easy is a two sided coin.

There is a scene in The Greatest Story Ever Told where Jesus is fasting in the wilderness. He climbs to a cave where Satan is eating from a big pot of stew (?).

Donald Pleasence gives a boffo performance. Satan is portrayed as a smarmy, softspoken peddler of surrender.

He offers Jesus some food. Jesus says he's fasting.

How tempting when tired to toss a regimen and perhaps become self indulgent.

Breaking once in a while is ok, but it can be a slippery slope.

Take time out then get back on.

Satan talks of an easy life and that many say an easy life is a sinful life. Not so he says. It can be easy if a man knows the way to power and glory in 'this' world. Here, he distorts those terms.

Jesus does not respond to this. Power and glory are a different thing to him and for that matter to us.

It's not self aggrandizement. It is doing what is right.

As he's tempting Jesus, Satan is smacking his lips and talking with food in his mouth. Reminds me of some unrefined buffoons of my acquaintance.

If it had been me, I'd have smacked the crap out of him and thrown him over the cliff. Disgusting pig.

Satan then kicks a stone off the very steep cliff, trying to incite fear and then asks if Jesus would like to have the world and its kingdoms to rule.

Kinda redundant, since J is known to Christians as Lord of all in both worlds ie flesh and spirit.

S is appealing to the lowest common denominator. It's trying to sell the short side, again the easy way.

J replies that homage is due to God only.

The whole thing about what is right and wrong is here.

Rewards are not always what we might even expect.

Like many of the Founders, we may sacrifice all in this world to bring the Republic back. That is the opposite of this 'what's in it for me' style that many embrace.

It might be easy to let others do it then even claim some of the credit later. Or it might be easy to just sit it out or retreat into the bosom of the beast of big gov.

Doing the work is its own reward. That's homage, worship to me.

Anything beyond that might be gravy. But certainly in our case, Restoring the Republic is reward beyond price.

Back at the movie, Satan tempts Jesus to jump because if he is the Son of God, the Angels will protect him. I like the bit where Max Von Sydow as Jesus looks down and seems to suffer a touch of vertigo -s-.

He simply says not to tempt God.

Yep. Sacrifice, when made, should be done right.

And sacrifice there will be. The cost of Freedom is high.

One last bit was the idea of turning stones to bread. Perhaps to feed the hungry in a false sense of altruism? Satan is not very giving. Gotta be a trap.

A false show of power is hollow and is the lot of the dark side.

Collectivism tries to ensnare stomachs as well as minds. Thus, it's a gimme gimme state, instead of learning to work for oneself. The gifts we bear are hijacked if we surrender to that old line of crap.

In the film, Jesus walks off as Satan continues smacking his self satisfied lips, biding his time, plotting how to suborn and undermine the Light.

He walked off to do his work just as assuredly as we will trod our path and follow the work we must do.

All the time the enemies of Freedom will continue to try undermining us.

We must decide what is easy or hard.

How easy is that?

Reality

I am not a fan of 'reality tv'.

Then again reality seems to have a rather ephemeral connotation regarding these shows.

The airwaves are inundated with losing weight, wife swapping, dating, cooking, eating, how a gets along with b in some idiotic preconceived 'house' or how someone allies with others to suborn.

I'm a student of history, so I see plenty of what brought us to where we are. That's reality.

I'm interested in what makes us tick. How we solve our personal and interpersonal problems. That's reality.

I want people, including myself to learn to help others as well as teaching them to help themselves. And not helping themselves to public trust etc. I want folks to become selfsufficient. That's reality.

Showing people awareness of what is happening re our Republic's deterioration and how to restore it. That's reality.

As for tv, I prefer watching some fictional dramas and a few comedies to see what the message in the ravioli is, whether it's pro state or pro Freedom.

I also watch what our enemies are doing, both in front of us and mostly behind our backs.

My instinct and enlightenment about our current situation serves me in this way.

Instead of obfuscating reality with poorly programmed methods of dealing with problems, or dead ends that are intellectual junk food, we can and will seek true solutions to what ails us and what will truly nourish.

Whether it's weight or poor government or anything else, we must be discerning and choose that which is healthy and refreshing/restorative for ourselves and ultimately our country.

Reality is rough. It bites.

It's how we respond and what we do that will determine our future reality.

Truth hurts. Then it begins to heal.

Silent Night In A Diner 4

That surprise was a boy, similarly covered.

Buzz had the kitchen sink ready and the babies were bathed and blanketed.

Mrs Gaines cleaned BB up and soon she rested with her two babes.

'What are you gonna call em?', I asked.

BB tiredly said 'Catherine for the girl. Collum for the boy.'

Her voice was bittersweet.

She was, of course, exhausted.

Alice, under the direction of the Gaines' prepared formula as best could be done.

It was imperative to get them all to a hospital as soon as possible.

Mom and kids slept, as did the Holland's two.

The Gaines were similarly spent.

'Get some rest Doc. It's been a while eh?'

'Almost five years. I just don't cotton to complete retirement.'

'Good thing for BB. She's been through a lot. What do you think?'

So young, holding two newborns. Christmas Eve swept into Christmas Day.

The futures of everyone at the diner lay before them.

For weal or woe.

Not the end.

Each day has its end.

And beginning.


PS: I could draw this out. There is much more to this story as there is to all of life, real or fiction.

What happens?

Does BB survive?

How does she respond to being a mother after carrying these kids?

Do all the characters have a moment? Do they tie in?

I believe that all the good stories leave that up to the individual.

All good fairy tales make you wonder what happens after something is resolved.

They don't draw out and repeat for 'Cinderella 2, 3, 4 ad nauseum'.

OTOH, some stories demand more telling.

This was meant to tell a simple tale.

Birth of children in a snowswept diner on Christmas Eve.

There is more that could be told.

Perhaps it will be.

Resolute

I feel crappy today.

Not a hangover.

Not a residual or even a continued buzz.

I have a case of the awful awful, bonkus on the conkus.

Yet here I sit typing Happy New Year to all Freedom lovers.

Not for long, as I will retreat to my bed for a while.

I wanted to talk briefly about resolutions. Being resolute.

It's that time when many make resolutions such as losing weight, quitting smoking and dozens of others.

People feel top heavy perhaps literally. They want to start over.

Few make it. Most ditch the resolution in days or weeks. I believe that is because they try to take on too much at a time. They should attempt a gradual resolve.

As for me, I decide all year about what I want to do to improve my life and to make life better all around.

My success rate has improved in the last several years.

I enjoy a good cigar and a good glass of whiskey. I made the decision that was the way to go rather than hide from my problems in a bottle or habitually puff away.

I exercise. I try to eat sensibly and therefore can enjoy sweets now and then.

In other words, I don't deny myself, but I don't drown myself.

My greatest resolution though, is constant and gradual as well.

It is to Restore the Republic. A tall order, but I know I'm not alone.

I have found the way to make a resolution work is to DO it.

I can find plenty of reasons NOT to do something.

I will not falter and my resolve is to see this Freedom thing through.

May it be so for all of you.