LET'S REQUIRE AN IQ TEST

There is just so much to talk about I hardly know where to start. It seems ignorance reigns. So, that is where I am going to start.

Maxine Waters, Democrat from California, displayed her ignorance of, or maybe just total disregard for the law by threatening to kill the President of the United States. What a complete moron. She told a gathering, which was recorded and televised, that she may just go and take out President Trump herself. If she isn’t brought before the courts to answer for this there truly is no justice. Imagine if any Republican had said the same thing about Obama. The entire mass media would be apoplectic.

Then we have this cowboy hat wearing clown congresswoman from Florida running her mouth in an effort to gain some publicity. She is an embarrassment to the entire country. Voters in Florida should be ashamed. Through her self-serving efforts to gain notoriety, she has defamed a fallen serviceman, his family, and the entire military. She is no friend to veterans. She and the people who voted for her should be ashamed.

Lest you fear that I am picking on one particular race or gender, remember the Congressman from Georgia who believed the Island Nation of Guam was floating? He opined that to put more service personnel on that island might cause the island to tilt over and spill everyone into the ocean. And this clown is serving in the House of Representatives? Did he even attend school? How could any adult in this country be that stupid? Worse yet, how could any voter in this country vote for such a moron?

Next we have Nancy Pelosi. At seventy-seven and with over thirty years in the House to torment the citizens of this great country, surely she can find a better way to spend her senior years. She told a national audience, if you can believe anyone actually watches “The View,” that since Hillary lost it is imperative that she, a woman, stays at the top of the table. After all, she says, she is a “master legislator” and this country needs a woman in charge. To me and to many in her own party, she is the master of nothing and the sooner she is gone from the national spotlight, the better.

And speaking of people who should avoid the national spotlight at all costs, how about Hillary? Her whole mess is soon to hit the fan. The uranium deal with the Russians and the millions paid to the Clintons is going to get re-examined and believe me, it will not stand up to legitimate inquiry. Doesn’t she understand that everything she has ever said has been recorded and for the most part televised? She is on record and there is no escape. For a person who has been described as the smartest woman in politics, she appears a little dense to me.

I could go on and on about the stupidity of some people who serve in elected office, like the Congresswoman who thought we had landed a man on Mars, or Congresswoman Corrine Brown who was convicted of starting a phony charity to create a slush fund for her personal use. She stole hundreds of thousands of dollars. Her sentencing is scheduled for November.

Therefore, here is my thought. I propose a required IQ test for all sitting members of Congress and for any candidate for public office in the future. Their score should be a part of their resume. Dull witted morons need not apply. Of course there are some on the left who believe an IQ test is irrelevant. If I were a dull witted moron, that’s what I would think also.

Ron Scarbro

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER

I have recently been wondering how it would be if I could invite a true, hard core liberal to dinner. Now mind you, this liberal would have to be brutally honest and deal with my questions truthfully. Already you can see my problem. What I would like to understand is just how any true American could believe the way they do. This column is speculation of what my questions would be.

Initially, I suspect the meal itself could be a problem. It would probably be fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans cooked in bacon grease. Dessert would be banana pudding. That might be off-putting for some of the liberals I have seen on TV and out in public. Many of them appear a bit under-fed. Oh, and we may well say grace before our meal. That could create indigestion before a bite was taken.

So, on to the reason for the meeting. First, I wonder why do liberals hate America and her traditions? What is so wrong with patriotism? Why is the flag and our national anthem so offensive to them? One of our traditions is making certain that we have a strong, well equipped military. A military so strong as to discourage any attack from anybody. It is no accident that we are a free society. Our way of life has been earned by the blood and courage of our military. We remain free because of this country’s unfettered support of our military. Why is having a strong military so offensive to liberals? Very puzzling.

My next issue of inquiry has to do with responsibility. Why do liberals have a problem with individuals being responsible for themselves and their destiny? Oh, pass the gravy please. Traditional Americans believe if a person wants to live with another person of the same sex, they have every right to do so. Liberals seem to think that if that situation should exist, everyone should bless their choice and regard it as normal. Well, it’s not normal and no amount of whining is going to change that. That having been said, free Americans have the right to choose their own style of living. They do not have the right to expect me to bless their choice or bake them a cake for their wedding.

As Americans we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We have the right to travel as far as our legs, and talent will take us. We all have equal opportunity. We do not and have never had the right to an equal outcome. That is based on a number of factors, maybe even including luck. But regardless, our destiny is and should be in our own hands. There is no situation where all wealth is divided up and everyone is given an equal share. Even if that could happen, it would be just a matter of days before that wealth would return to the original holders anyway. Sorry, liberals, but success is based on initiative not government handout. So, how’s your chicken?

I would ask my dinner guest, why do you object to requiring voters to prove who they are before they vote? Traditional Americans like the idea. Is it because liberals know they could never win an honest election? Sure seems fishy that liberals are the only ones who find identity verification so offensive.

Before we tear into the banana pudding, there are just a few points that I want to make. Declaring yourself a sanctuary city, county, or state, is declaring that you refuse to obey the law. There is nothing noble about lawbreaking. And, California, there are only two genders of humans, male and female, and no amount of weenie whining is going to change that. And to the NFL. If you think traditional America is going to forgive you and look the other way, you are sadly mistaken. If you don’t like it here, see the last paragraph.

No, we are not perfect, but we are as close as I have seen. And one more great thing about being an American is, if you don’t like it, you can always leave. The door swings both ways.

Ron Scarbro

SATISFIED MIND

“How many times have you heard someone say,

If I had his money, I could do things my way,

But little they know that it’s so hard to find,

One rich man in ten with a satisfied mind.”

To those who aren’t familiar with it, those are the words that start the song, “Satisfied Mind.” It was originally recorded by Faron Young in 1955.

I have always liked the song because it has such a deep message. But this is not about traveling down the memory lane of classic country music. No, this has more meaning.

Ever since the tragic mass shooting in Las Vegas many have been trying to make sense of the act. They have been looking for a motive, a reason. What would possess an individual to commit such a senseless, heinous act? Did he just snap? How long had he planned this massacre? Did he have an escape plan? Was he just a nut case?  

From all published information, it appears this particular nut case was a millionaire. He owned at least two private airplanes, had a pilot’s license, owned as many as five different houses and had a lot of money in the bank. He had been a very successful real estate investor as well as a lucky high stakes gambler. It has been reported that he made five million dollars last year gambling. He had a girlfriend of many years. I don’t know if he ever had children but from all indications he was an extremely successful man. So, what happened? Why did he snap?

Over the next few weeks and months we are going to hear opinion after opinion from expert after expert as to why. There will probably be long drawn out discussions of psychological explanations to try and put a cause to this causeless action.

Well I, being no slouch and given as I am to wild opinion, have developed one of my own and I offer it here for your consideration. Mind you I do not bring to this discussion degrees in psychology. I do not bring in years of experience in dealing with the criminally insane. No, I just bring common sense.

What if this killer was nothing more than just bored with his worthless life? What if he just found no challenge in anything? He obviously had achieved success in most of his endeavors. Maybe he was just dissatisfied with his meaningless life and wanted to put an exclamation mark on it. Some call it going out with a bang. It is also obvious that he had much more death and destruction in mind before he was interrupted by his own cowardly suicide.

There was material in his car that could have easily been turned into a bomb capable of blowing up thousands more depending on where he drove the car.

So far, the people who knew him could offer no motive. They never saw anything like this in him. His brother said he was just a regular guy. Well, inside this “regular guy” was an evil brewing that would most certainly record his name in the history book of mass murderers. He will have achieved at least one of his objectives, notoriety.

This could be nothing more than an individual who, having lived an unchallenged life, sought satisfaction and couldn’t find it as normal people do. So, he does the unthinkable.

The song finishes this way.

“The wealthiest person is a pauper at times,

Compared to the man with a satisfied mind.”

Ron Scarbro

THE END OF THE WORLD

This month, October, will mark my 77th year on this earth. It has been an amazing time to be alive. So much has been discovered. Diseases have been conquered, communications have been perfected to such a degree that one can speak in real time across the world at will. Lifetimes have been extended and improved. And the most amazing of all is that we have only just begun to discover. The next 77 years will probably be even more amazing. It boggles my mind.

As I write this, I recall events from my life. As a very young child I remember sitting in church with my mother and listening to the preacher scare me to death with his predictions of the “end of the world.” He wasn’t the only one with such grim predictions. There were people walking on the street with signs claiming the world was coming to an end.  A Stanford professor wrote a book declaring that the world was overpopulated and could not sustain itself. He called for ZPG, zero population growth. That was about forty years ago. He stated unequivocally that the world would end in ten years. Didn’t happen. Today, those predictions continue. Just last September 23, according to a so-called Christian numerologist, our world would collide with an alien planet and we would be destroyed. Oops, that didn’t happen either. Oh well, back to the drawing board and the calendars.

The point of all this is that the world ends every day for some. Several people, whose only crime was to attend an outdoor concert in Las Vegas, saw their world come to an end when a nut case with automatic weapons opened fire on them. In reality all of us will face the end of our world eventually. Some sooner than others. Christians, like me and most of you, know that this world is not our home, we are just passing through. So, when this world ends, a new and better world awaits. But this world will end for all of us.

The next point of this piece is a suggestion. People in my age group are much closer to the end of our earthly lives than to the beginning. So then my suggestion is this. If you aren’t happy, get happy. If you aren’t loved, find someone to love you. If you don’t love, find someone to love. We only get one shot at this. If you want to travel, travel. If you don’t like the weather where you live, move to where you would be more comfortable. Don’t be the one sitting in his rocker saying “well I could have, or I should have.”

If you are lucky enough like me to have a loving life partner, ask that partner, are we where we are supposed to be and are we doing what we are supposed to be doing? Is there anything else that would make us happier and more fulfilled? If our world came to an end today, would we leave this world happy and satisfied? I believe these are fair questions.

A number of my very close relatives and friends have recently been given some tough news by their doctors. They have had diagnoses of challenging diseases. The good news is that there are new and vastly improved remedies and even some cures available. While the diagnosis is negative, the possibilities of cure are very positive. We are all hopeful. As they read this they know we are with them in spirit and prayer.

This is not, and has never pretended to be, a sermon or a church service. To me it is just common sense. None of us know when our world will end. For me and mine, we plan to live as if the end is truly at hand. We plan to live and love until we cannot any longer and we hope the same for you.

Ron Scarbro

THE END OF PRO FOOTBALL???

I am a sports fan. I guess I always have been. As a young adult I began to watch the LA Rams. I was enthralled with the skill of the players. I remember, what seemed to be every year, when the Super Bowl came around the Rams would have to travel to places like Green Bay or Minneapolis where the weather was freezing to play their championship games. It all seemed so unfair, but I and they persevered.

I also watched and attended pro basketball games. When I lived in the Northwest, I was a fan of the Seattle Sonics and the Portland Trailblazers. The game was beautiful. It required skill. Shots were made from the floor and “dunks” were quite rare. In other words, the game was played below the rim. Something happened though. The uniforms changed and so did the attitude of the players. The tailored uniforms of old became what I called “thug” clothing. It became a game of showboaters and braggers. The team concept gave way to individuals. “Slamma Jamma” became the order of the day. It seemed the only talent one needed was the ability to grow to seven feet tall. It left me cold. I no longer pay any attention to pro basketball. It is not a game for me.

I have stayed with pro football so far. Over the years I have enjoyed many teams and the game itself. I know it is a brutal sport, but it usually is played with respect for each other and the opposition.

Lately, however, I have been aware of the creeping individuality and showboating that has become a part of many of the games. Then, to cap it all off, a mediocre quarterback named Colin Kaepernick decided to make a fool of himself in order to get attention. I think he knew he was in trouble with his team and that his future was in jeopardy so he decided to draw attention to himself in the most disrespectful way imaginable. He refused to stand up for our National Anthem. Had the NFL done what should have been done and sent him to the locker room, all this nonsense would have ended. But, no. They tried to ignore the whole thing. Now the entire league is participating in some way. Most of the players don’t even know why. It just appears to be mob rule.

Kaepernick explained that his protest was because he believed black people were being abused by police officers. Total B.S. Here’s a simple way for black people, or anyone for that matter, to get along with police. Number one, obey the law. Number two, respect the law and law enforcement officers. Number three, don’t resist arrest. Pretty simple, huh?

The NFL has apparently decided to bow to “political correctness” and give in to some of the players and their disrespect.

I, along with many others, believe this is a crucial mistake. I think it is just stupid to alienate over half of your customers by allowing an act which could be ended with a simple order from the commissioner. I just heard a poll which concluded that over 96% of Americans object to the players kneeling during the anthem. I know the NFL is a money machine, but it can be brought down just like any other business which does stupid things.

As for me, I will be watching college football. It is refreshing and more fun than the pro game anyway. I have lived quite comfortably without pro basketball and I am certain I will be fine without pro football.

What a sad obituary. Here lies the NFL. They didn’t have the courage to enforce their own rules and they disappeared without a whimper. But they were politically correct.

Ron Scarbro

KILLING YOUR GOOSE

Let’s say you had this goose. The goose seemed normal, just waddling around and eating and doing what geese do. Then one day you discover that this is no normal goose. This goose lays golden eggs. You begin to gather up these eggs and you know you are going to be very rich. You decide if you just increase the feed and push the goose a little more, she will lay more eggs. So you feed and you push until you reach a point where the goose is exhausted. Then, sadly, you go out to gather eggs and you find your goose dead. Graveyard dead. Your steady supply of wealth has come to an end.

As I look around me, I can see a number of golden egg-laying geese. One might be the medical industry. The entire conglomerate has priced themselves out of the market. If it were not for insurance, that industry would collapse. Obama tried to salvage it all with his “Mickey Mouse” scheme known as Obamacare but that is failing. Collapse is imminent.

Never fear, avowed Socialist Bernie Sanders has the solution. Single payer government-controlled “free” medical care for everybody. Estimates are that the ten-year cost of such a “free” program would be in the trillions of dollars. Guaranteed bankruptcy for America. So much for free medical care. This golden goose is being strangled and it won’t last long.

A number of other entities are working at killing their goose as well. Consider ESPN. In their wisdom they have decided to become a political action sports network. It is not enough to broadcast sporting events, no, they must also offer political commentary on events whether they are related to sports or not. I, like many others, tune in ESPN now only when I have no other choice. Very soon other networks will take up the slack and ESPN will be history. Another dead goose.

How about the National Football League? A few of the players, millionaire spoiled brats, have decided to disrespect this country, our military, and our flag be sitting or kneeling during the playing of our national anthem. The NFL says they have that right to self-expression. This is the same league that dictates how long their socks must be, but they have this other right to be disrespectful to their country. Their ratings are down, down. Their goose is teetering on the brink. They have a choice. Either get a handle on their disrespectful punks, or watch their audience, and incidentally their billions in revenue, disappear. Another one bites the dust.

Not to be outdone in the killing of geese department is the US Congress. For years they have catered to special interest groups and to big money donors passing laws to benefit them at the expense of the country as a whole. What they euphemistically call campaign donations turn out to just be bribes to get special consideration for pet legislation. Their practices and actions have turned our nation’s capital into a swamp and as it turns out, golden geese cannot live well in a swamp. Our Congress is well on their way to killing their goose as well.

There is no doubt that others are busy working on their own geese. It happens every day. Greed seems to take over and good common sense goes out the window. The election of Donald Trump should have been an alert to the  greedy everywhere that the people are fed up. The swamp is going to be drained. Time will tell who will survive the drainage.

America is going to return to her earlier greatness and Hollywood, Emmy Awards shows, the national media, and higher education are just going to have to get used to it. You are killing your golden goose.

Ron Scarbro

BEFORE THE STORM AND AFTER

It’s Friday and here I sit. I am watching weather reports. I’m trying to make the best decision I can in light of what information is available.

We have been warned of an impending hurricane named Irma. Cute name, huh? We have further been told by the weather wizards and prognosticators that Irma is the largest hurricane in recorded history. This storm is scheduled to hit southern Florida as a Category five hurricane. At that point, and this is where it gets a little iffy, the storm will travel up the center of the state of Florida and hit southern Georgia as a Category one or possibly Category two hurricane.

For those of you who don’t know, I live on St. Simons Island which is approximately ten miles east of Brunswick, Georgia. It is basically a barrier island. This is truly a beautiful place with huge oak trees which are hundreds of years old. This island has seen many, many storms over the years and so have these trees. Today, however, we are in the target area of Irma.

Now it’s Saturday and we have been ordered to evacuate the island today. In fact, our local emergency management people have ordered the evacuation of our entire county which includes Brunswick. Incidentally, there are no available rooms in the entire state or even in surrounding areas. Many Floridians have reservations with hotels in this county but these will be cancelled and those people will have to just find someplace else to hunker down. Our son-in-law’s mother has invited us all to her house on the extreme west side of the state which should give us safety. That will be a four to five hour drive which we will probably undertake tomorrow.

The latest update just came in. The storm is now due to hit Georgia about 150 miles west of my home. Winds are forecast for the island of about 50mph at their strongest. That is barely a tropical storm. Now the dilemma, what to do? This storm could move even further west and miss us entirely, or, it could go the other way and smack us right in the face. What to do?

This is the dichotomy. As I look outside, it is a beautiful day. Our temps are in the low eighties with gentle breezes. It is a postcard day here on the island. No one could know what is bearing down on them without modern weather tracking equipment. In a couple of days, southern Florida could be under water. Much of the state could experience catastrophic damage. People could be killed. But today it is beautiful.

I am going to close this column for now and re-visit it after the storm, which should be in three days. We shall see.

We decided to ride out the storm at my daughter’s house which is about twenty miles from the coast. It hit Sunday night. We were wakened at 3:00 AM by extremely high winds, probably 75 mph or greater, and torrential rains. We also had a power failure. Sadly, because my daughter’s home is served by a well, we also lost water. So here we were. No power, no water, and what turned out to be five inches of rain in twelve hours. We were by a small lake which continued to grow. The road out front flooded. By Monday afternoon, the storm moderated but our situation didn’t.

Both we and our hosts had prepared by buying water so we had plenty. Showers were accomplished by pouring bottled water over ourselves while standing in the shower. Cold sandwiches were the order of the day. On Tuesday we ventured out to see if anybody was open. We found the Waffle House who served hot sandwiches and coffee. It was a Godsend.

Finally, on Thursday we were allowed to return to our home on the island. You can only imagine the trepidation we felt as we drove past huge downed trees to get to our home. And then we were in front of our home. We looked but saw no structural damage. Trees and limbs covered the yard but they all missed the house. I pressed the garage door opener and it opened. Power! We raced inside and the water worked. Hooray! Our freezer food survived. We immediately took real showers and had a hot meal. We were safe. Our home had survived.

So today I sit here and consider how important the little things are. Power, water, hot food. I hope I never again take these things for granted. We are indeed blessed and thankful.

Ron Scarbro