Dave of the Woods

Now what word do you think is missing from the header? I suppose it is open to a lot of adjectives that could be inserted here, but the one that I am thinking about is…………….SHAME!!!!…………..yes, shame. Our society, like the header is sorely missing this very important element. That’s not so in many other societies around the world, but it certainly is here. Why is that so, where did it go, and when did it go? The fact that it is missing can hardly be disputed. Do you miss the effect that “shame” plays in a society? To me it seems that shame has been replaced with “bogus remorse”. How can you tell if someone is really sorry, or if they are saying so for dismissal of their offense, whatever that offense might have been, up to and including murder. The showing of remorse seems to be having a tremendous impact on the consequences of “bad actions” be they immoral, illegal, or both. “I’M SOOOOOOO SORRRRY!!!” seems to hold more weight than the law itself. If the situation is dealing with a 5 year old with his hands behind his back holding too many cookies, and his Mom just caught him, thats one thing. Mom says, “shame on you, I said no more cookies!” Her son hangs his head, shuffles his feet, sheds a tear, and feels the shame of not only being caught , but worse feeling the disappointment he created in his mother. Although his act is forgiven he will most likely be given some form of punishment for his actions…….. and so it should be. As he gets older and the infractions get a little more serious he will probably hear a, “wait till your Father gets home!!” How many kids have hated to hear those words? That brings yet more punishment and yes….. shame. Under most circumstances kids want their parents to be proud of them. They really want the parental approval that comes from following the boundaries set by the parents. These “set boundaries” really relieve a lot of pressure from kids, but it usually takes a few years before kids appreciate them. They don’t always stay within those boundaries and when they don’t, it brings them “SHAME”! Shame for what they did and for shame that was brought to their parents for their actions. I think that feeling is a tremendous motivator for improvement. Not all kids have this same kind of structure growing up so a lot of the shaping and guiding at home is missing. I am not going to go into the reasons, or causes, for the various life styles. Some are voluntary and some are others just trying to get by doing the best that they can. So let’s elevate this to a station above the parental control to the next level. What level is that?? It used to be the schools. Teachers used to provide structure and discipline along with the three “R’s”. If a student was disciplined for something in class (I got a pointer broken over my knuckles deservedly), and brought the news home along with the note the kids also brought some shame. Most of the time parents would stand with the teacher creating a seamless flow of authority. Parents would be a bit ashamed that they had to be called and again some punishment was in store. That is no longer the case. The next step was the civil authorities be it the city police, sheriff, or constable being called. Now we are talking about more serious bad behavior. Behavior that can be considered illegal, and bring with it punishment that is out of the parents control. At this point the amount of SHAME is increased dramatically because there are more people that feel the shame of the acts committed. After all won’t the parents, teachers, friends, clergy, scout leaders and anyone else involved in this persons life feel SOME SHAME???? One would think so, but alas, things have gone the other way. Parents not only don’t stop kids bad behavior at home they will defend it when the kids get to schools. By defending the bad behavior they are encouraging more! Having not only removed the shame from their actions, they have encouraged the escalation of it because it has brought the parents approval, just what every child wants. It is a downward spiral. It starts at home for various reasons. Not only have the schools been neutralized as far as discipline goes, the staffs are now subject to physical abuse from out of control kids. How many teachers are just counting the days to retirement? Proceeding from the classroom to the courtroom maybe we can find some “shame” there. Well what do you know! We have…. we have found some shame!!!! We just heard a Judge not only SAYING “SHAME”…… no….. they are repeating it over and over…….. louder and louder…..SHAME.. SHAME.. SHAME!!!!!!!!!!! That certainly brings us some hope until we realize that they are not yelling at the offender! No, the judge is yelling it at anyone that will not accept the offenders REMORSE!!! “What’s is wrong with you??? He said he was sorry.” The response of the parents is to jump up (this is the first time in 15 years the parents have shown up to one of their kids events and now it is because they may be able to bring a law suit against some authority), and say that you are just picking on my son because he is………………………… you wouldn’t do this if he were………………….! He really didn’t mean to rob those 42 people, drive drunk, kill that guy, (he only wanted to wound him) cuz he is really a good boy trying to turn his life around! If any of this sounds to you, like the way it is and you don’t like it either, what can we do? Lets try to stay focused on the root causes of this mess. We are fighting for what is right. Good vs Evil. That seems to be an ongoing struggle that is under assault on many fronts. Our education system has been under assault for decades. School boards have to be taken back. Bill Bennett said that conservatives made a big mistake long ago turning the education system over to the liberals, and I believe that wholeheartedly. We also have to pay attention to local judgeships come election time. Pay attention to their records. I guarantee they will pay attention to yours if you ever have to go into their court. Well elections are YOUR court! Hold them accountable for THEIR decisions. I think that the best thing that we can do to right our “wobbling ship”, (I do not think it is sinking), is to bring back a sense of shame to bad actions. Shame that is shared by anyone that had a hand in creating the problem. Be it kids or criminals, if “you do the crime you are going to do the time,” remorseful or not. Support the good. Dave of the Woods

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That is always a good idea regardless of the occasion. The problem comes in figuring out just what the occasion is. Do you wear your body armor or do you wear your bikini? If you know in advance what the event is, your choice becomes easier, but that is not always the case! If you are going to the beach with friends and a bully shows up how do you react, and when does your reaction turn into action? Here you are in your swimsuit and the bully has motorcycle boots and brass knuckles………… do you try to talk with him (compromise) or do you punch him in the nose and be done with him. That action is going to come with a price. Maybe we should see what he is after? If his demand isn’t too bad, say he is just looking for a can of soda, you can just sacrifice a soda and the problem is solved…………. or is it? How much bad behavior is acceptable before action seems like not only the best option, but the only option? The one thing that is certain is that the bad behavior will not go away by appeasement. It just means the bully will be looking for you again tomorrow, and this time he will want your lunch too. Any action yet? But……but….. I’m in my swimsuit! I know…… lets compromise!! We can give him a soda and tell him that tomorrow we will pack an extra sandwich for him because he obviously is underprivileged and needs a friend. We can be his friend! Good deal, problem solved…… as if……..! He is not looking for a friend, he is looking to bully!! To dominate, humiliate, and exert his will even if it means taking your ice cream too. Yes, but what if he says he doesn’t want all that, he just wants to get along? Are you going to be disappointed next week when the bully says that he really didn’t mean that compromise thing, the rules have changed…. and “you are going to have to agree or I’m going to use my brass knuckles”. “Wait…….. you say……. we had a compromise!!!!!” His reply of course is, “yeah well that was then and this is now!” Do you go from compromise to action yet? You are still in your bathing suit and he still has his brass knuckles, AND he is a bad guy! If not evil he at least represents it. The point is there is no giving in to the Evil that exists even if it is disguised as only thuggery. You knew when you first encountered him that he was a bad guy, but you ignored the signs and sense that he was……. but…….. look how I’m dressed!! With EVERY bad guy that has domination plans there is only ONE thing you can count on……… THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS COMPROMISING WITH HIM!!!!! JUST ELIMINATING HIM!!!!! I say him because he is a representative of evil, but by no means the sole proprietor of it. Of course I’m referring to Putin. His tentacles run very deep into our government, and why is that? He has made no secret of his intentions………ever!! He has been delayed and beaten down, but he has never wavered in his direction. Why is it that no one has taken his stated goals to heart and absolutely crushed him? After years of Putins planning and sewing seeds of cooperation with money and promises I think the Biden crime family has presented him with what he believes is his best shot. How deep does this corruption in OUR government go? “CONSPIRACY THEORISTS” people shout at anyone connecting the dots. I would hope that people would really look at what has and is going on. This is not the final goal for Putin! Whatever that goal is makes very little difference to tho people presently in his cross hairs. Just be assured he can NOT BE APPEASED, ONLY ELIMINATED!!!! PUTIN IS EVIL!!!! He doesn’t give a whit about any of the carnage he causes, even the Russians, because carnage creates fear and scared people are easier to control. (Corona virus ring a bell?) He has given ultimatums to the world. “Interfere with my assaults and I will release the most terrible consequences you have ever seen!” The danger of an ultimatum is that it may have to be acted on if one is backed into a corner, and I think he would carry out his threat. Ignore what Putin says and it wont be eliminated so it has to be fought each time and every time it raises its head. Dress appropriately and keep your powder dry. Dave of the Woods

Say a man is going about his normal routine and somewhere along his path he is presented with a situation that has a good chance of being a life or death situation and he is the only chance for a good outcome. The situation is that if he does act he could very well end up dead. Here is his hero moment. He didn’t plan it. He didn’t volunteer for it. He didn’t even think about it…. but he ACTED!! What did he show at that moment? That he was brave? Well he was, but no not that. That he wasn’t scared? No he was most likely scared yitless, but he not only overcame it….. he never even considered not acting because of it. No……… he didn’t show bravery. What he did show was, “what he was made of”!! He is a man that does what he knows is right without basing his actions on the possible consequences to himself, without even thinking about it. He is the kind of a man that is willing to take the chance knowing that he might die. He would rather die doing what is right than live knowing that he didn’t act . He is a good honorable man. Do you think that that kind of a man is a rarity? I do not. I think there are a lot of good men out there. Most of these men are never called on to be tested. The life and death instances are rare enough that few men are called on to step up, but most of the time that life threatening disasters do crop up some HERO steps into the breech without hesitation. These people (some are women) are not like the trained professionals such as firefighters and police. For the pros it is a “career choice” not an unexpected occurrence. These people are trained for disasters. Trained in procedures for the various possibilities, and although their ranks are filled with brave people they are in a different category. They have taken on a profession. They have chosen to be put in a situation where danger can be a part of a days work. Sometimes they work their whole career without having to answer the hero’s call. Sometimes they are called on more than once to answer the call. These professionals put themselves in harms way in the course of their daily duties, and sometimes they do heroic things doing these duties. Duties that have inherent risk, but there is no question “do I take this risk or not?” Training has reduced the risk as much as possible, but risk is always there. Still they are going to answer the call. These professions too have special recognition for acts of bravery above and beyond the normal scope of their job.

Now when you talk about bravery in the military it is a whole different ballgame. A lot of billets have very little chance of putting men in any danger at all (I was a machinist on a destroyer tender almost as safe as shore duty). Day to day combat is the other end of the spectrum. That can present situations that could “qualify” as acts considered MOH worthy, but they sometimes aren’t even reported. If you consider the recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, (this countries highest award for selfless acts of bravery) almost to a man they were men stepping up to do all that they could to do what is right with no consideration for their own safety. Some of these men acted because there was no other choice. All the recipients that I have listened to were humble men praising their brothers in arms not themselves. I knew one of these men in the 1980’s while living in Montana. This man (I don’t have permission to use his name), was a sheep herder and spent a lot of his time alone. It was the Korean war, he was a battlefield commissioned officer in charge of a group of men on a ridge that I don’t know the name of. What I do know is that it took quite a few beers before he would start talking about IT. “He was on a ridge with a squad or more of men and they were dug in a fierce fire fight. The ammo was running low and his troops were being killed one at a time. Then his fox hole was overrun. He said that he would have been killed too had he not been the officer. He and one other man were all that remained, they were the only ones still alive. The enemy wanted him for interrogation (he never did tell me what that entailed). The one man that was still with him (he said he was a black man but I don’t know if that had any significance) also lived to report the action that day. All of these people are brave just to assume the responsibilities of their positions, but………. one that is willing to risk his life and limb for a stranger in a situation that they themselves may not survive……….. THEY are HERO’S!!! INDEED……. they are miles above what is classified as a “hero” today. Doctors, nurses, truck drivers, store clerks, and just about any profession that worked through our recent pandemic have been called “hero’s” for working through difficult times, (I was there with them). Everyone that worked and answered the calling of their “chosen” profession through the pandemic should be appreciated, BUT…………. HERO’S they are NOT!!!!! God bless every dedicated worker and a special thank you for the few who have been called to be a “HERO” and for those that will be called on to stand up in the future. Dave of The Woods

As a P.S. to this thought. I was looking at youtube posts last night and I came across this video of a TRUE HERO !! This is amazing video! Most heroic acts are related to others by witnesses because of their spontaneity, but thanks to dash cam you can see a great example of a “HERO”

Now that sounds like an unnecessary comment in todays world. With everything going on and all of the “experts” ready to jump on any TV program that will have them, it seems that we can’t get away from “listening” to somebody, but I don’t mean listen to just anybody. What I mean is “LISTEN” to yourself first. All the experts and all of the “well educated” and “trained” people out there are the very ones that got us into this mess. I believe that it is almost impossible to take the information that they put out there as the unvarnished, unbiased truth. About the time you figure that one of the “experts” is giving you good information about what national crisis we happen to be facing and should be relying on for accurate guidance, out comes the details about payoffs or agendas or affiliations that give this expert more than enough reason to slant his opinion. Maybe even outright lie to get some result even if it is against your best interest. Now certainly anyone that would do such a thing would never be a spokesperson for the Government……… RIGHT??? Yea……… as if!! Was there really ever such a time as that? Probably not! When you DO figure out that the information was false where do you turn? Whenever you hear the term “it’s for your own good” it probably isn’t…… or maybe this one, “you should do your part for the good of everyone”………. Everyone?????…… well yes everyone except those being asked to sacrifice, and the ones with the “plan” are usually not the ones doing the sacrificing…….. you are!! Just because it hurts doesn’t mean it helps. We all want to do what is best for our family and ourselves so how do we go about it? Listen…… REALLY listen to what they are telling you. Then use your own “common?” sense to assess what is being promoted. If whatever solution they offer flies in the face of reason or brings with it pain for you, shouldn’t you be doubtful? With people being human I think it is safe to think that people will always try to leverage their position whatever that leverage might happen to be. Cops used to get free apples (you have seen the old movies). You know…… every job has its privileges…. that is just the way it is, people want an edge. That whole undercurrent used to be on the Q.T. and it really didn’t affect anyone but the buyer and the seller regardless of the commodity. People would talk about their great deal and that was it. NOW things have changed and in a very big way. Is it the technology that has caused the change or that there is so much corruption that it just depends on who is in on the rotten deals? We go from the beat cop to the national “leaders” and it is no longer how horrific, disgusting, or even illegal their actions are. It depends on what political side they are affiliated with weather or not they are going to be boiled in oil of if their actions are going to be overlooked, even justified. With the party leaders, and the money people behind them, you can understand the attempts to purify putrid actions. None of them want to lose power. Shame has been pushed aside by ambition. When is the last time you heard any one of these peoples experts say that he, or she, is “ASHAMED” of their actions and begged for forgiveness. Then resigned their post and slinked off into anonymity in complete shame, dyed their hair, unlisted their phone, and were shunned by their family because of the disgrace that they had brought to their family? Yea…. I don’t remember the last time either. So when was the big change? Who started it? Better yet is why do we as a people tolerate it? I think there is more than one reason. Think of some of these:

1. People have come to rely on the government to relieve them of some of their responsibilities, they like that, and they don’t want them back. (like feed or watch their own kids.)

2. “Everybody” does it!! We are in and now it’s our turn.” Remember elections have consequences….. unless your opposition wins of course.

3. Ignorance of whatever the issue happens to be. People know what their favorite sports team is doing, even made up teams, (fantasy teams), and yet they have no idea of the issues being discussed that will effect their own wallet.

4. Why should I pay attention? There’s nothing I can do to change things anyway.

5. My union will keep me informed on what party is best for me.

There are more reasons that people use and what they ALL add up to is “ I don’t have to listen……..__________ will tell me whats best “, all I have to do is donate to them and vote like they say. Remember Boss Tweed? Same thing, just improved and updated. This has put our country in a position of incredible vulnerability. Ignorance is our enemy and our constitution is our salvation!! Our founders had no way to fortel the future, but they DID understand the human condition. The “convention of states” option is in the constitution for just the situation we now find ourselves in. I encourage everyone to learn about it and let your state know what you think. LISTEN!!!!!!!! Our constitution is more than an inspired document. I believe it was directed by God to be shared with the world for the betterment of mankind. We are all being pressured by EVIL and it will not let up nor will it quit. LISTEN………LISTEN!!!! Do not voluntarily give up the way of life so many have died to preserve. Dave of The Woods

             Y

Remember when you were a kid and that was the ultimate insult?  That usually meant the talking just came to an end.  Bullies liked to use that insult to push another to the point of no return……. somebody is going to get a bloody nose!  Did we just hear a modern version of that taunt!

If you look at the world stage as a playground WE have Putin as the playground bully.  He has been pushing his weight around for decades.  He is what he has always been, an evil scourge to humanity that countries and leaders have tried to placate so that he would not pick on them.  IT WON’T WORK!!  It hasn’t worked…… ever!!  Putin’s evil actions have no limits.  He has no regard for destruction he causes to any people or country…..he never has.  How often does he have to prove that before the world believes it?  He is a wolf in wolves clothing.  The true scope of his ambitions only he knows but so far all we have seen are the increments that he has advanced without any end in sight.  We have just listened to his excuses as to why the world should think of his brutal attacks on “peaceful” countries as reasonable objectives of restoring his one time Eden, the U.S.S.R.!!   Are we far enough away from the oppressive life that the U.S.S.R. was for people to think that it would be a desirable outcome for the Russian people and the rest of the world?  The answer to that, of course is a resounding no!  Most of the civilized world believes that even though our leaders try to negotiate with him.  Why they try this route is the real question.  Do they believe that after the economic defeat of Russia would have become a believer in freedom and commerce to become a beacon of hope for the downtrodden?  That he learned that cooperation with the world would work better than conquest? 

Does the name Nevill Chamberlain ring a bell?  If only he were alive to negotiate with Putin like he did with Hitler!  I’m sure this time he would be successful! FAT CHANCE!!!!  Hitler, Putin, and every other despot are after nothing but power and conquest.  They not only don’t regret the destruction and human misery they cause in their pursuit of that…….. THEY RELISH IT!!!!  The more ruin they can cause the better the lesson is to those that would challenge him. 

How is it that after all the history of the track records of these diabolical men that world leaders can still fall for their lies? There are only three reason I can think of: 

1.The first is that they themselves are not strong leaders and are afraid of the consequences of standing up to him.

2. Second, is the Despot will look kindly on them and insulate them from their evil plans.  (They are always wrong here!)

3. They are on the take!!!  They have sold their souls to the Devil for personal gain.  Their honor and integrity was traded for….. who     knows what.

     It is possible to have a combination of any or all of the three.  Pick your choice.  I know what I think.

That’s IT!  Those are the only possible answers.  You pick the one that you think applies.  Which of the three do we have   negotiating for us?

Getting back to the playground we have put up with the shoving, the bloody nose, the black eye, and even the dirty muddy clothes!  Now we find ourselves facing, “YOUR MOTHER WEARS COMBAT BOOTS” !!  This was said with a bombing or missel attack on a nuclear facility. One designed to cause great harm to not only Ukraine but all of Europe, even the whole world.  Make no mistake this WAS a nuclear attack warning as subtly as he could make it.  The question is how long will he be allowed to escalate without meeting his demise?  He will….. it’s coming the only question is where is it going to come from?  An outside force, his inner circle, or a natural cause. It really doesn’t matter. The thing that matters is time.  SOMEBODY has to make it happen and the sooner the better.

Selecting from the world leaders presently available I can only see two with real fortitude and they are presently going head to head in Ukraine. One is good and one is evil, but they both are committed to their cause. We need help,

                                                                 QUICK…….. EVERYBODY CHECK THE PHONE BOOTHS!!!!!

Four words……… what do they mean? They are not ambiguous words, and yet they seem to have a very wide range of interpretations. I think that they are supposed to mean the ultimate sincerity to whatever they are being applied to. Every serviceman, Congressman, Senator, President, and Judge use these words at the end of their oath of office. They all seem to say these words with sincerity yet after the ceremonies are over, and their tenure begins, at whatever level, the oath seems to be forgotten. Not only by the person taking the oath, but also by all the witness. Aren’t these witnesses the same people that are supposed to hold them accountable? Well they don’t keep their oaths, and they suffer NO consequences, or even shame for their actions.

To “defend our constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic” is a part of every swearing in ceremony. Again this is not an ambiguous statement. The constitution is the “holy grail” of our legal system. It is a beautifully written, and I believed an inspired document that can withstand the changes of the ages. Changes were anticipated and procedures were included to accommodate any changes that progress would necessitate. The changes are not easy to make, nor should they be. The nature of man was considered too. Man likes power! Men like to get power, they like to hold onto power, and they like to expand their power to keep from losing their control over whatever area that they control. Our founders understood that fully and did all they could to provide relief for the challenges that they knew were going to come and come they did, but never in the frequency or with the voracity that we are facing now. One of the reasons for this is that Supreme Court used to be more concerned about to adherence to the constitution. Today the Supreme court is more concerned about finding a way to twist the founders “intents” to accomodate a point that was never in the constitution. This has given way for the politicization of the rule keepers. This gives us a system that insures that the rules mean nothing. Instead the rules of the constitution become mere suggestions to be followed, unless the majority of judges feel things should be a certain way. This reduces the high court to a rubber stamp for the agendas of whatever party holds the power. Adherence to the rules AND THEIR OATH mean nothing. This was anticipated by the founding fathers too. Impeachment is supposed to be the remedy, but it has been replaced by a system of, “when its your turn you get to appoint and we have to put up with it, and you have to put up with ours.” Not only is this system wrong it is the nuclear bomb to our way of life. It means that there are NO hard and fast rules to govern or live by. The Judges began ruling by what they think the law should be, not what the constitution actually says. Case in point is Roe vs. Wade. There is not one mention of abortion in the constitution yet it is indeed the current law of the land. I believe that is certainly agenda driven. The question becomes by and for who? We are back to the premiss that life itself is a battle between good and evil. If you accept that premiss then which side is which? Of course there are more examples of interpretation and of regions of authority that the high court decides so their mental make up and biases are supremely important.

So the enshrining of these judges for life could not be more important. Since it is impossible to get into anyones head as to how well they will adhere to the constitution it is vitally important to look at their history. Have their judgements ever been overturned, and if so why? What have their stated affiliations been? What have their publicly stated stands been? Whatever they are they represent a look inside of their head no matter what they claim.

The selection process of seating a new judge should be blind to everything but qualifications. By starting with a slot that someone must fit into is the death knell to an unbiased judicial system. If preset criteria for any selection isn’t illegal it should be. Does “equal rights” apply here?

SO HELP ME GOD!!

Do you suppose any of the liberals are viewing the assault on Ukraine with a perspective of reality?  Why did it happen?  How will it end?  Were there any signs that it was coming?  Does everyone agree that Putin not only instigated it, I think that he has planned and worked for it since the end of the Cold War.  Putin has made no secret that he wanted to reconstruct the U.S.S.R. ever since its demise. Regardless of the fact that most of the breakaway countries citizenry believe that same demise was no less than an answer to years of prayers. But how to go about it?  Maybe like this:

1. Befriend those that vanquished you.

2. Enter into agreements with them promising anything that they want, arms limiting agreements, treaties with previous hostile nations, enter into trade agreements, infiltrate their colleges, supply former adversaries with necessary services (sometimes at lower prices), build infrastructure to facilitate delivery of goods, rebuild your military, supply your former foes enemies with whatever they want or need to attack your new “FRIENDS”.    

3. Make agreements to eliminate nukes in surrounding nations no matter what the conditions you have to accept.  He didn’t figure on living up to them anyway.  Now the biggie!         

4. Start lobbying the politicians of your former enemy.  Advance the lobbying to campaign contributions and then into full blown pay-offs.  Start small and increase the payoffs until you have heavy leverage.  Bestow as many of their  family as possible with advisory positions offering over the top salaries regardless of having ANY pertinent experience.  Generate blackmail-able material.   Categorize and store all such info, and get exaggerated testimonies from anyone that can support such claims.

5. Make arrangements with other despots that have plans to infiltrate and bring down the FORMER enemy.

6. Promote Socialism at every opportunity to show all of the, DOWNTRODDEN, (non self sufficient people) living on the largess of your former enemy that their world would be so much better with Socialism.  It would be more  “FAIR”

The world has seen other Putins. Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Castro to name some of the most recents. They all espoused the same ideas and they all ended up the same way. Their nations in ruins. Millions of people dead both from wars they created or by their “necessary” ethnic cleansing. Nobody was safe, even their closest allies. In fact they are probably the most at risk because they had, (sometimes), honestly joined the despot with the idea of improving peoples lives.  Even if that meant killing 3 million innocent “bad people”. The pattern seems to be the same no matter what time frame they live in. These “insiders” start as trusted advisors and are benefactors of an elevated lifestyle because of their position. SURELY they are important parts of a very nobel plan. History will surely will regard them kindly. Looking back though, that doesn’t seem to pan out.  Rommel, and hitlers advisors are a couple of examples. That is because when things start going badly these despots blame the people in advisory positions, even if they themselves ignored the input given them.  We will see.  Two days in and already things are not going as planned.  My heart and prayers are with the people of Ukraine.  As for Putin…… “BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH”!!!!!!!!    

Dave of the Woods

Wether you have been in real combat or not you have an idea of what the sounds of war are like. If not from first hand experience then for sure everyone has seen war movies or listened to the news. The news brought the war to us via embedded correspondents until recently. That news had the sounds as well as the video of whatever the reporters could cover. That all changed with the modern tech world that we are living in. Ukraine has brought us all closer to the sense of being “IN” the battles right from our living room. There are a lot of sounds that never make the news. Let me explain.

Every citizen of any country at war experiences some effects and sounds of war. From the G.I. in the fox hole to the house wife at the grocery store, everyone will hear that to them represents war. Me too.

I was in the Navy in the 60’s. I was on board ship from 1962 thru most of 1965. My ship was a destroyer tender and it was equipped with every kind of shop you can think of from a foundry, a boiler repair shop, sail shop, optical shop, and on and on. I was a machinist on active duty after which I went on temp active duty in Grand Rapids as a recruiter for the SeeBees at the reserve center. This span covered the Cuban Crisis, The Viet Nam War, and the Detroit riots. I got to witness a LOT of the sounds of war, but nothing that sounded like a live battle. I was a machinist for crying out loud.

The first sounds of battle I heard during the Cuban crisis I was in California but when we went to high alert the sounds on board, even a tender, changed. The feeling was that a Nuclear attack was imminent, but it wasn’t, thankfully. The next was Viet Nam. The Gulf of Tonkin happened shortly before my discharge date. We were in Long Beach at the time. We knew that we had a presence in Viet Nam via special forces for some time, but again I was a machinist not involved with what that presence involved. An attack on one of our ships was felt on all of our ships. The angry words and calls for retaliation from my shipmates were indeed sounds of war (we had no idea that the Gulf of Tonkin was a lie). My ship was scheduled to deploy, but I was discharged early just because of timing. Returning to Grand Rapids, I took a temporary active duty post at the reserve center, a long way from S.E. Asia, but not as far away from the sounds of war as you might think. My duties took me to color guard duty for funerals for the return of the fallen. Dealing with their families not only brought different sounds of war. As many years as it has been I can still see the face of the sister of the 18 year old boy that just received his final salute. I can still heat her sounds of war as she threw the folded flag back at the officer that presented it to her. My duties also included ongoing training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. On my two weeks there I visited a childhood friend that was in the Naval hospital. He was in a rice patty part of a squad of marines, (10 men I believe) that came under heavy automatic arms fire. All I know about the event is that he took a round through both hips, (almost castrating him). After the shooting stopped and he became aware of his condition he had no idea that he was the only survivor nor did he know if he even still had legs left. He did not think that he would make it out alive. On my visit he told me that it was by the grace of God he survived, but he was not sure he was glad that he did. I heard some sounds of war that do not make the news, but believe me they are real. He was told that he would most likely never walk again. They were wrong! He did and does walk, but he still hears sounds of his war. There are others that carry not only physical scars, but also the recurring sounds that come at night. Those sounds are not 50 years away for them, they are reliving then each time they arrive. My wife’s father served in New Guinea WW ll. My wife says that he relived his battles at night with all the horrors and sounds of war that the Red Arrow Division suffered through.

Civil riots,(is that an oxymoron), bring a different kind of battle. I was in Long Beach when the Watts riots broke out. A friend of mine and I just happen to be driving thru Watts at the onset of the rioting. The sounds of these battles are very different because they are sounds of hatred, not just battle, but sounds none the less. Citizen against citizen…….. they were real ugly sounds of war.

While on duty at the reserve center the Detroit riots broke out. A lot of disruption broke out in a lot of locations besides Detroit. Our Naval district was concerned about the arsenal being a target for the rioters. Orders were issued for us to be prepared with automatic weapons to defend our location. We never did have any issues with security, thankfully, but we did deal with different sounds of war. War is ugly, and it carries with it as many different casualties, and sounds, as there are people that go through it.

The latest sounds of war are screaming at us now every day on television live. The innocent people of Ukraine are going through an unjust and illegal war right now. Putin is openly and blatantly committing CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY in complete defiance of international law. The surrounding countries are starting to come to their aid I pray that it will be enough. We here at home are in sad need of a LEADER!!! One that is able to show some strength instead of sending Putin our plans.

This is still a battle of good vs evil. Pray for good and pass the ammo to its defenders.

Dave of the Woods

When you turned on the T.V. today to get the news of your favorite interest, be it sports, news, weather  or local information you may have really been getting previews of upcoming events.  Almost every channel is covering the war going on in Ukraine.   When you watched the unfolding events what did you think about?  Were you in disbelief that this could really happen?  If so, why?  Putin has made his plans very plain and unabashedly stated his desire to reunite the U.S.S.R.  What you are now seeing is the ugly conversion  of desire with opportunity.  He is capitalizing on the assumption that NO-ONE will want to step up to offer much resistance, and it seems as if he was correct. 

As you watched the destruction going on did you see that it was in Kiev…… OR…….  was it Miami, Seattle, Detroit, New York, Billings, or any other cities in the U.S.A.?  Silly question?  Think so? The things that have been going on in our country are following the VERY same path that all of the despots use. It is not a new plan.  Look at the disruption that has been caused right here over a virus.  Warranted or not people were not only WILLING to give up their rights, they were, and are, willing to report non-complying neighbors to the authorities and even have them locked up for not OBEYING. The surprising thing to me was how quickly people were to disregard common sense and turn over their families and indeed their whole lives, to the EXPERTS….. “we can trust our government, we must do OUR PART” to defeat this horrible scourge! Never mind the governments history of dishonesty for the sake of desired results. The special interest groups, (big pharma), Nor the EXPERTS that we relied on admittedly lied to us for a means to an end. That and they were financially influenced by the originators of the virus. 

Anti-social groups, that I would more accurately refer to INSURRECTIONISTS, were dismissed as mainly peaceful citizens with reasonable motives. The destruction and physical assaults were described as understandable and therefore excusable by the news, and the JUSTICE Dept.  Did the thugs that were on camera doing the looting, beating, and burning look like Robin Hoods band of merry men to you?  These things that were allowed to happen were a part of a larger plan. Pit one group of people against another.  Eliminate as much law and consequence as possible and come down on the population that has nerve enough to complain about their actions. The actions of both the people committing the CRIMES and the politicians that protected them.  All of these disruptions, riots, or whatever you want to call them take money. How much does it take and where does it come from?  It comes from organizations, yes they are organized, who’s goal is to destroy our way of life. I think they are well on their way to getting it done.

     Worse than their EVIL plan is the number of Americans not willing to even look at the signs of what is trying to be done, or even admit that it is happening. 

We were blessed with a CONSTITUTION that was divinely inspired and has insured our freedoms, so far that is. Now the very thing that has insured our freedom is under serious attack. How anyone can be considered for the Supreme Court that is NOT an “originalist” is beyond comprehension for me. They SWEAR to uphold the very thing that so many of them want to destroy!  People look at the court as though it is a sports competition. They are willing to give and take as long as their “compromises” get them what they want.  The constitution be damned, really.  I do not understand why these representatives that swear an “oath” to uphold the Constitution and then PUBLICLY make every effort to ignore and dismantle it are not automatically removed from office for dereliction of duty.

    Our Constitution gives us a remedy for where we are it is called the “Convention of States”.  I pray that the states take this action AND our country back.  If not l believe that you watching our future in Ukraine right now.  Our Constitution was divinely inspired and represents GOOD.  The forces amassed to destroy it represents EVIL.  Pick your path.

Dave of the Woods