“The Way I See It” is an attempt by the columnist to enlighten readers on a subject as he views it, and does not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

Party Meltdowns?

We are watching the most contentious and dishonest primary elections in decades, perhaps even ever. While the Media has loved the 17 candidate GOP ‘mass dog-fight’ while simply assuming Hillary is the Anointed One for the Dems, everything is imploding.

The Socialist, nee ‘Democrat’, Party has the Criminal Corruptocrat Hillary losing votes to the Cranky Old Communist Bernie Sanders. Sanders is not even a “Registered Democrat”, but an “Independent-Socialist”. His Platform of Promises, Free Stuff, and non-enforcement of Laws, has forced Hillary into moving even further to the Radical Left of her normal Alinskyite Agenda of incremental destruction of our economy, culture, national sovereignty, and Constitutional Govt. But she lost her first “Slam-Dunk” Primary to Barack Hussein Obama in 2008, who simply “Out-Marxist-ed” her with false promises and outright lies, so why won’t the same tactics work for Ole Bernie? Hillary has the added burdens of foreign policy failures as Obama’s SecState – The Arab Spring, Benghazi Massacre & lying cover-up, Syria and the rise of ISIS, her criminal and intentional lack of proper security on her Emails, selling favors to foreign, even enemy, competitors for contributions to the Clinton Foundation, and constantly lying to the Media and the people. She has been forced to run in this Primary even further to the left of “Crazy old Bernie” while taking in millions in Campaign Contributions from Wall Street, Hollyweird, George Soros, and others of the “Evil Idle Rich”. Bernie comes across as sincere (even if demented) and somewhat likeable in a ‘well-meaning village idiot’ kind of way; while Hillary comes across as a frustrated and exhausted harridan, hoarsely shouting the same old promises, lies, & worn-out Talking Points. But she should be the First Woman President, it’s her turn!

Regardless of the votes in the primaries, the Democrat Super-Delegates are all ‘pledged’ to Hillary and she might win in a Party Elitist controlled convention, but at what cost? The Bernie-ites are loyal to him, not the “Party”. Also the Obamas and Valerie Jarrett despise the Clintons and want to destroy them, politically and financially. They could drop the ‘Indictment Bomb’ just before the Convention, declare Hillary ineligible and take her delegates, declare Bernie as ineligible because he is not even a ‘Registered Democrat’, and have a completely “Brokered Convention” run by the Party elite.

The GOP Establishment fears Donald J. Trump so much that the Party leadership is supporting Ted Cruz (whom they loath) just to try and stop Trump. Trump is not a politician, and is seriously “flawed” in how he has run his campaign, but the fact remains Trump tells it like he sees it, and it resonates with millions of voters all across the political spectrum except the Political Elite of the “Uni-party” or The Washington Cartel. These are the Permanent Political Class, the New World Order crowd, the Internationalist Progressives, the Financial Manipulators and International Banksters. They despise and fear Trump because he really wants to “Make America Great Again”, and might succeed by sealing the borders, re-industrializing, reducing debt and the welfare state, and restoring a growing economy by stopping the ridiculous concept of “Free Trade” that imports cheap foreign products tax-free while destroying jobs here with bureaucracy, taxes, and idiotic “Social Engineering”.

But why would they support Cruz when he says he is a Conservative, Christian, Constitutionalist, Pro-American, Capitalist and against all this Elitist manipulation of the economy and Big Govt? Easy answer – they think Cruz is the best way to destroy Trump, and they can easily destroy Cruz if they can’t ‘buy’ him. Ted Cruz is not a “Constitutionalist” or he would not be running for President, but exposing Obama, Rubio, Jindal and others for being ineligible by the true definition of “natural born Citizen”. Even if Cruz could get the delegate votes to win the nomination on the first ballot, I don’t think the GOP Establishment will let him be the Nominee because they know he will be challenged by the Dem-Socialists if he won because it is public record that Ted Cruz was born in Canada, his father was a Naturalized Canadian citizen, and probably so was his mother by Canadian law. Ted is “nbC”, but of Canada!

Also his wife Heidi is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and as a member and probably a paid employee of the CFR wrote a ‘paper’, Building a North American Community that supports the ‘North American Union’ (NAU). The NAU is patterned after the European Union where Canada, Mexico, and the USA will become a ‘Political Unity” with totally open borders, one currency, and a “supra-national govt” with bureaucratic powers to “oversee” (rule) all the normal functions of govt for all 3 countries. Heidi was rewarded for her efforts with a ‘Big Money’ job at Goldman Sachs, who also opened their coffers to supporting Ted’s political ambitions. Ted has called the CFR “A nest of snakes” in speeches to Conservatives, but takes the money from PACs controlled by CFR members. Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News, is a CFR member. Perhaps that will clarify some confusion of their shifts in reporting. Ted Cruz may already be a “wholly owned subsidiary” of Goldman Sachs, CFR, and the New World Order, both he and his wife Heidi spent their early careers working closely with CFR Neo-Cons & internationalists in the Bush administration. Again these facts are part of the public record, but widely ignored, at least so far.

So with no clear winner on the first ballot, the GOP Convention may also be a “Brokered” Convention, with delegates assigned by Party Elites to vote for whomever the “Inner Circle” chooses to have as the Nominee.

Who will be the Nominees of the Major Parties? “Uncle” Joe Biden, and Elizabeth Warren as VP for the Dem/Socialists and Paul Ryan with Carly Fiorino as VP for the RINOs? Who knows?

What if Trump did run as an Independent? He might just pick up many of the disgruntled Bernie supporters, the rest of the Precious Little Snowflakes will probably vote Green Party, especially if Hillary gets the Dem nomination. Depending on who he had as a running-mate, Trump might win! Even if Trump lost to the Dems, I think the GOP would be third! Maybe even 4th, if Bernie ran as independent, too! If Cruz is on the GOP ticket, I’ll hold my nose (like usual GOP elections) and vote for him, just to see the Dems challenge his eligibility if he wins. If they do, Cruz will lose any court trial, and then what happens? …. Gonna be verrry interesting.

“There is no way to be a perfect mother, but a million ways to be a good one.” I do not know who came up with this saying, but I like it. when kids are under foot every day, perfection as a mom is not realistic. There are too many ways imperfections can show up.

I still remember when I was five or six my parents left me at church one Sunday morning. Of course, we had a small car and there were always seven of us packed in, so missing one kid would have been easy. Of course, it was Mom’s fault – at least in her mind and she apologized many times over the years. I hope I have forgiven, but I guess I have not forgotten!

Good mothers laugh…a lot!
Mom always wanted the day to begin right. Yes, after I got into grade school, I had morning chores to do. When in Jr. High, I remember that there were cows to milk, chickens to feed, and water to fetch before school. Of course, there was the normal “make up your bed as soon as you hit the floor,” but mom did not want us to ride the school bus in anything less than a jovial mood. Now Mom was not the joking kind, but she could always find reasons to make us smile. I remember someone asking Mom, “Who invented stairs?” and our answers cracked us all up!

Being able to laugh – with your kids and at yourself – will turn around many tense moments in the home. There was the new red crayon that got lost in the foot of the bed and showed up in the dryer with a new, white sheet. The sheet looked like someone had been murdered on it. Mom had a choice: cry, blow up in anger (which was not her style), or laugh. My sister was thrilled that she chose to laugh. Sheets get old and ragged and are tossed out as rags when Dad worked on the car. But the memory of a laughing mother will linger in the hearts of children. That’s good, mothers!

Good mothers pray!
Sadly, there are plenty of times when motherhood is no laughing matter. Our baby sister went through a time when she would just “keel over.” She would be singing in our youth choir and just drop to the floor. Anxiety filled our mother’s heart as the doctor sought the answer, but mom, knowing the power of prayer, began bombarding Heaven for Elaine.

I can not begin adding up the hours I have heard my mother pray for us kids. I remember hearing my name called out and truly did not like to hear that because I was doing wrong! When we kids were sick, Mom prayed. When we boys went off to war, Mom prayed. When we got new girlfriends or boyfriends, Mom prayed. When we were late getting home at night, Mom prayed.

Mom knew that she could not fix all the brokenness of a fallen world, but she knew that she could pray and talk to God who can easily fix brokenness. That’s good, mothers!

Good mothers capture moments!
I am constantly telling young parents to “put a rock on those kids heads to keep them from growing up so rapidly!” I am sure mom believed she would be changing and washing diapers forever. She had six kids in nine years, all before the plastic diaper age, so diapers were her constant companion.

But, kids do grow up and there is that desire to “freeze-frame” certain moments in our kids’ lives, just suspend time and make things stay the way they were for a while. This is what I call capturing the moment.

When we were playing dominoes and Dad got beaten, we would laugh hysterically together – this is a moment. When we were eating homemade ice cream on a hot summer night and watching for falling stars … this is a moment. The first night we got a television and watched Shirley Temple’s “Heidi” and all cried… this is a moment. When we celebrated a birthday with cake and told stories about each other … this is a moment. When one of my sisters made corn bread and it was so awful the chickens would not even eat it … this is a moment.

There is no “pause” button when it comes to being a mom. But good mothers learn to savor the everyday moments with the children instead of wishing away the fleeting years of childhood.  It is vitally important in the home, even through the “daily-ness” of family life that can leave us without a sense of urgency and trick us into thinking we have all the time in the world. We do not! We need to watch for those sweet moments of joy in everyday living where we can say, “This is a moment.” That’s good, mothers!

Good mothers look to God for their “goodness.”
Since we have already established that the perfect mother has not yet been created, we need to realize that not only can our sins be forgiven, but also we can parent by God’s grace and mercy. When moms fail, God provides a merciful heart for forgiveness and a new start. In the “lacking areas” of patience, wisdom, and strength, moms can rely on God’s grace to develop wheat is needed day by day. In the attempt to be a good mother, there is that confidence to know that there is opportunity to grow as we stay attached to Him. That is really, truly good — and that is God!

Nicholas Ragusin took it upon himself to write a letter to Goose Island State Park to volunteer his services to help preserve “The Big Tree.”
The Big Tree is located near the old town of Lamar, in Goose Island State Park. During the Civil War, the town of Lamar was bombarded and destroyed by the union navy. All that remained were the ruins of a few old shellcrete (oyster shell concrete) homes, a Catholic chapel, and the Big Tree.
According to climatologists, the Big Tree has survived from anywhere between forty to fifty major hurricanes, numerous floods, droughts and wildfires.
“The Big Tree” wrote back to Nicholas and awarded him a Ranger Kid Level 1.

Small-town libraries create an environment for learning and sharing

Don’t miss the article in TEXAS CO-OP POWER April, 2016 edition that gives a nice update on how small-town libraries are serving their communities.

The article relates how Silverton, a small community in the Texas Panhandle, recently remodeled and reopened their library and changed it from a hushed and dusty quiet zone to a hive of community activity with seniors and students alike occupying the well-lit rooms, relaxing in comfortable chairs, scanning freshly installed shelves filled with books and taking advantage of the high-speed wireless internet at computer terminals. In other communities the libraries “double as community centers, not just offering an educational setting for youths, but also providing employment resources and skills training for adults, and in some cases, even health screenings. The goals is to update them for 21-century use.”

Patricia Smith, executive director of the Texas Library Association says, “The modern library is a little bit of everything. In small towns, they are the intellectual hub, community center and a major resource for social services.”

The Tocker Foundation, credited in the article for helping many Texas rural libraries, has written a letter of support for our POC project. We look forward to their support when we reach the ground-breaking stage. For more information contact: friendsofpoclibrary@gmail.com