VETERANS DAY 2023

 

November 11 is Veterans Day. We set aside two days each year to celebrate our veterans. Memorial Day is primarily dedicated to fallen veterans while Veterans Day is dedicated to celebrating all veterans of military service. 

 

I, along with many others in my age group, am a veteran. When I was a teenager the draft was a very real probability. So, you either joined or you got drafted. There was no particular patriotism involved with my joining. I joined to keep from being drafted. 

 

The rest of the story is joining the Army was the smartest thing I did as a youngster. I was a seventeen-year-old redneck country boy, with few to no options for a future. College was not a financial possibility for me or for people like me. 

 

So, here I was. Completely bewildered. The army fixed that. They gave me training. I learned things I never knew. I went from East Tennessee to Georgia, to Seattle, Washington, to my final duty station in Germany. I got to see the world. Had I not been in the service, I would never have been able to travel the world. Let me tell you, the world is a lot different from the hills in East Tennessee. It was all an eye opening experience for me. 

 

Now here many years later, I am truly grateful for my time in the Army. I went in as a kid and came out as a full grown man. Today I am enrolled in the VA healthcare system. It may not work for some, but it absolutely works for me. During my recent illness, they couldn't have been more helpful and generous. My every need was taken care of. 

 

I also have a VA loan on my home. That was handled with the utmost professionalism. We couldn't be happier. 

 

People often say to me, "Thank you for your service." My response continues to be, I got so much more from my time in the service than I gave. It is me who is grateful for all that the military has given me. 

 

Of course we don't have a draft now, but I wish we did. I guarantee you, young people would face the world a lot differently if we had a draft. I also recommend today's kids should join the military. You can play video games with real guns and you can contribute to the world. Sounds like a win win to me.

 

Something I read a few days ago is so true, who knows how many wars didn't happen because of the mighty peacetime military we have. Thank you, current service members and all veterans, for that powerful deterrent. And Happy Veterans Day.

 

Ron Scarbro November 7, 2023

 

COLLATERAL DAMAGE

Watching the news out of the Middle East has been heartbreaking. I was recently watching a video of people trying to get out of Gaza and saw little children running for safety. That is sad as well as heartbreaking. It is even more sad for the people of Israel. They have suffered pain and death from the unprovoked attack by Hamas. 

 

Israel has said that they are fed up with the insurgence of the thugs and criminals known as Hamas and will probably eliminate them from the earth. Being the cowards that they are, they hide behind women and children. They set up their weaponry in schools and hospitals. In so doing, they put thousands of innocent people at risk. They don't care.

 

Let's be clear. There is no Palestine. There are many people who claim to be Palestinians. They actually are itinerant Arabs looking for a home. The area they have selected for a homeland is actually Israel and has been Israel for thousands of years. They have been tolerated since Israel became a country. 

 

The problem is simple. Hamas, under the ruse of protecting Palestine, is actually putting all the residents of Gaza at risk. That risk is only going to increase. Hamas is going to be eliminated, and soon. 

 

Another problem is the liberals in this country all seem to be antisemitic. Shame on the student groups at Harvard and other so-called progressive schools. You obviously don't have a clue of how the real world functions. You would do well to pay attention to what is really going on and not just what the antisemitic liberal media and some of your professors are spewing. 

 

We are told that in any shooting war there is going to be "collateral damage." Hmmm. Sounds like a lot of death and destruction to me. When babies and their mothers are butchered, it isn't just collateral damage. It is murder pure and simple. 

 

When is the Arab world going to realize that they will never defeat Israel? Israel and her people are protected by none other than Almighty God. We also assist in that protection.

 

There has been talk about a two-state solution. The problem with that solution is the fact that Hamas and Hezbollah, with the financial assistance of Iran, want to kill every Jew on the planet. They are committed to that end. Therefore, any peace will only happen when these maniacs are gone. You cannot negotiate with evil. You cannot trust evil. When you confront evil, you must just kill it. 

 

Netanyahu has said if Hamas laid down their weapons, there would be peace. If Israel laid down their weapons, they would be wiped out. That makes it crystal clear. Under the present situation, peace can only happen if Hamas is gone. 

 

Ron Scarbro October 24, 2023

 

WE ARE A BLESSED NATION

It's been a very interesting few days. Our Congress has been behaving like a kindergarten class. As a matter of fact, their behavior is worse than an average group of children.

 

It all reminds me of back when I was a child, I used to play marbles. The rules were simple. You drew a circle on the ground and put your marbles in the middle of the circle. From outside the circle you shot your taw, your shooter, and tried to knock the other people’s marbles out. When you did, you kept them. We called that playing for keeps. By the way, my mother didn't approve of playing for keeps, but that's another story. Anyway, I remember once my opposition player wanted to change the rules. I objected. Well, he picked up his marbles and went home. Sound familiar?

 

A group of conservative Members wanted the entire Congress to agree to their program, and when they didn't, the petulant Congressmen decided they would create havoc. And they did. Their actions cost the House Speaker his job. It is similar to taking your marbles and going home.

 

This world and this country need adults in charge. Today Israel is under a terrorist attack from Hamas. The whole world needs sound, solid leadership from us.

 

The news today is that Israel has hit the Gaza Strip hard. So hard that they may not survive. Their electricity has been cut off and no food or water is allowed in.

 

Of course Hamas is going to retaliate. Their forces in Lebanon have now fired missiles on Israel. The Lebanese would do well to read Genesis chapter 12 verses 1 through 3. God warns nations not to mess with Israel. If they do, it won't end well for them. 

 

We and the free world will come to Israel's aid. Our problem is we have an idiot in the White House. It is going to take a strong Congressional action to deal with this. Sooner or later we will show up. Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East and we need them. 

 

We are a blessed nation. We have an obligation to protect Israel. It is a part of our debt for being the blessed nation that we are. 

 

The time has long passed for talk. The time has passed for deliberation. It is time for action. We need to help Israel eliminate Hamas from the face of the earth. We and they have put up with this for too long. 

 

Our Congress needs to get off their pompous rear ends, elect a new Speaker, and make sure Israel is secure. 

 

Ron Scarbro October 10, 2023

 

IT'S FALL Y'ALL

It's Fall y'all. That's what our TV weatherman announced recently when he came on to give his weather report. Some of us are really looking forward to fall and cooler weather.

 

There is no doubt that most of us have experienced a hot summer. Some say even hotter than normal, whatever normal is. A very cursory look at our summer weather uncovers a villain. El Nino. That's right. It wasn't global warming or even climate change. It was just a fairly normal phenomenon that happens occasionally. 

 

Well, guess what. We now should expect a visit from another phenomenon known as La Nina. Those among you with foreign language skills will recognize El Nino as little boy and La Nina as little girl. Generally El Nino brings hot weather and La Nina brings cooler, wetter weather. 

 

We have weathermen and women ready to tell us what to expect from the weather. These people are scientists known as meteorologists.  They are highly educated but, sadly they seem to miss about as often as they are correct. I have often believed they just stick their thumb into the air to see what is going on.

 

So then, here comes The Farmer's Almanac which has been the standard many in this country have depended on for weather information for years. They now predict a colder, wetter winter than normal. There's that word normal again. Oh well.

 

Here is what I expect and predict. I am a staunch believer in "climate change." Not the climate change preached by the global warming crowd, but actual real climate change. It happens every year and human activity has nothing to do with it. For most of us it occurs four times a year. It's called spring, summer, fall, and winter. 

 

In my eighty plus years on this earth we have seen these climate changes. I love the fall. I love winter. Spring might be my favorite because everything seems to be reborn and come alive. Since my earliest memories, summer has been the hot season. That's when tomatoes get ripe and fruit trees bear their delicious offerings. 

 

When God created all this, he had a plan that still works today. I for one am grateful for His plan. In the meantime, all I can say is, relax because it's Fall y'all.

 

Ron Scarbro September 27, 2023