Thursday, October 27, 2011

Losing Track of Billions...Only in America!

I must confess that I'm still smiling. I've been following this story for some time..."US loses over 9 billion dollars in chaos of war." http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/30/iraq.audit/ The reason I'm smiling so much? I just can't believe that someone could be in charge of so much money and then lose it. I don't make big money. All of my life I've lived from week to week, month to month. Please don't think I'm complaining because I'm not. I'm just flabbergasted that so much cash could go missing without a logical explanation. I mean...I lost $20 once and grieved over it for weeks. I never found it but I did eventually find $10 in the Walmart parking lot...so I'm just ten bucks down. I'm still looking. But really? I mean really? Nine billion? Yikes!

The Drachma
 As a boy in Sunday School I learned about the parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10). This woman had ten silver coins but lost one of them. She didn't grieve...she broke out into action and looked the house over. She cleaned, swept, looked and searched until she found that coin. She then called her friends in and threw a party. The coin specified by Luke was a Greek drachma, which was almost the equivalent of a Roman Denarius. It was a silver coin, and although worth by our standards less than twenty cents, it was the common wage for a day's labor. Some scholars have suggested that in this case the coin was especially valuable to the woman since it formed an ornament for her head. It was customary for Jewish women to save up ten coins and string them together for a necklace or headband. The ornament became a treasured possession worn as the sign of a married woman, very much like a wedding band is worn today. At any rate, whether as a part of her cherished jewelry or simply as something of monetary worth, the coin was of priceless value to the woman. That is evident from her diligent search. On missing the coin, she at once lit her little oil lamp and began to sweep. A lamp was necessary for the search even in daytime. In those days, most houses then were generally built without windows and with only one door. In the house there was no wood or stone flooring, only the packed earth covered with dried reeds and rushes. With a floor like this there were many places where a coin could be lodged. All of this made the search a difficult and trying experience and helps explain why the woman was overjoyed when she found the silver piece that had been lost. She wanted her headband back.

Good news! We found 6 billion of our money. Imagine...it was in the bank...er banks...all along. We shipped it over to Iraq and put it in a couple of banks over there so we could do the business of war. I'm so happy we've found the mysteriously missing money! I have this big smile on my face because we found that which was lost. I have a question though. When's the party? Oh...I forgot. We have separation of Church and State so we shouldn't follow the example of the the woman with the lost coin. I was just thinking how cool it would be to have a big, national party to celebrate the money that we found. You know, we could give everyone a couple of bucks and tell'em to have a coke or sweet tea. I mean...think about it...we could pass around some cool drinks for the Occupiers and then give something to quench the thirst of the Tea Party folk too. This party would be a unifier not a divider. We'd celebrate the discovery of the missing money. It is simple! It was in the bank all the time. No worries. We should all get headbands that read: We Got Billions Back!
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/once-feared-lost-now-accounted-iraq-inspector-says-153935856.html

Hey...wait a minute. We lost nine million? We found six million? I wonder if I should ask about the three million or just assume that it is OK to lose a little in the translation? I should have known...three million is chump change. We're not worried about that small amount. Look I have to say this...someone should really be embarrassed. Really. We have high unemployment; poverty on the rise; children going hungry and job loss every day (not to mention those crazy gasoline prices)...we could have sure used that money around here about now. Even the three billion would be a welcome asset to our struggling economy. Even Greece seems to have reached a way to have a fresh start! http://news.yahoo.com/greece-stocks-opposition-blasts-debt-deal-125444465.html We need fresh start too!

No one seems embarrassed. Everyone keeps running their mouths on the cable news and no one seems the least bit concerned that we just misplaced six to nine billion dollars. It all seems surreal to me. That's why I'm smiling...we just can't keep this up. We've got to get our country back in order. If not...we're gonna end up just like Greece...begging others to help us get out of a seemingly impossible set of circumstances. We have to be more like that woman with the drachmas...let's redeem what we've lost before it is too late!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Little Sisters of Liberty: Boy Scouts of America...And We Have One!

"In order to help promote the BSA’s 40th anniversary theme of Strengthen the Arm of Liberty, 200 small versions of the Statue of Liberty were placed in communities across the country in the early 1950’s. A recent campaign has helped restore many of these long-neglected statues."
"http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0710/d-wwas.html

Only four of these replicas of the Statue of Liberty found there way to Ohio. Scouts erected one in Cleveland, one in Toledo, another in Youngstown and one in Ironton. The one originally placed in Youngstown disappeared. Now only three exist in Ohio and Ironton has one of the three. We stand at the precipice of an historical moment. Sixty years ago this year, Boy Scouts of Southern Ohio made a stand for Liberty and left us a legacy that we must embrace. We have a responsibility to pass this torch of Freedom to a new generation of Scouts.

Between 1949 and 1952, in town after town across America, community celebrations took place as Scouts dedicated more than 200 of the now historic Little Sisters of Liberty.


Shawnee Mission North High School in Overland Park, Kan., is home to this replica of Lady Liberty.
The statues were located on capitol grounds, courthouse lawns, and main streets; in city parks, schoolyards, and libraries; and at Scout camps — all as part of Scouting’s 40th anniversary theme, Strengthen the Arm of Liberty.

Jack P. Whitaker, a Kansas City businessman and commissioner for the local Boy Scout council, originated the project after seeing a dedication of a Statue of Liberty replica made of chicken wire and concrete in Spirit Lake, Iowa. He decided that Scouts should endorse the prospect of Liberty by erecting the small replicas throughout America. Whitaker paid for the mold, promoted the project and helped Scout groups arrange fundraisers and dedication programs. The campaign enjoyed national success.

Local communities provided pedestals, which were often quite elaborate and added several feet to the overall height of the statue. Landscaping, too, sometimes graced the statues.
No official count or record was kept on the project and, as the decades wore on, many of the little Statues of Liberty suffered the effects of time. Eventually, weather and vandalism took a toll. Spikes were broken from the crown and the torch-carrying arm often was damaged. While some cities faithfully restored the statues, others simply junked them.


Little Sister  at Southwest Corner
of Lawrence County Court House
Lawrence County, Ohio
 During a recent research project conducted by one of my classes I teach at Ohio University, I snapped some photos of the various commemorative monuments located on the Lawrence County Courthouse lawn. The displays include an old jail cornerstone, a model of the pyramid type iron furnace, some battle cannon and the small replica of the Statue of Liberty. The plaque on the base references Boy Scouts of America and, being an adamant fan of Scouts, I began a second avenue of research concerning these Little Sisters. I'm glad I did! I'm astonised that we have one of only three of these replicas right here in our county seat.

After some deliberation, I felt moved to request special permission from the Lawrence County Commissioners to clean, restore and repair the Little Sister of Liberty that stands on our courthouse square. Our Boy Scouts stand ready for the challenge. We have sought donations from several of our supporters (if you'd like to help, please contact us today) and we have permission to restore the statue on November 12th, 2011 and we will rededicate the Little Sister of Liberty on November 19th, 2011. The local newspaper in Ironton has already begun to cover the progress of the project. http://www.irontontribune.com/2011/10/14/putting-the-shine-back-in-lady-liberty/

So now, at this moment and time in our history, let us once again gather as a people, as a community and as faithful Scouts to embrace our cherished liberties and freedoms. Join with us as we rededicate ourselves to the task of reaffirming our commitment to liberty, freedom and the American Way! Take the hand of the Little Sister of Liberty and walk together with us into the future with hope, promise and confidence that we, We the People will lift the Torch of Freedom from this day forward...Forever! God Bless America!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Occupy This! The Pendelem Swings Back

I've always heard that if you live long enough you'll see the pendulum of life swing back to a place you remember. The pendulum swings back and forth...but always returns. The last few days I've reflected about my hippie days. Yes...I admit it...I embraced the hippie philosophy. Let me quickly add that I lived as a hippie-wanna-be. I never took drugs...my dad would have put me in the hospital! I took baths...my mom taught me that "cleanliness is next to Godliness" and I wanted to stay close to God. I just wore long hair, big bell-bottoms and yellow tinted sunglasses. I played the drums. I know, I know...that doesn't sound like the glamorous counter-culture revolution, but that stood as the best I could do at the time. Actually, after some time, I became a Jesus Freak. That's a whole different blog story.

The recent Occupy Movement reminds me of the 60's. I'm telling my age here but I lived it so I might as well recount it. We suffered from general dissatisfaction with the establishment...The Man! (Wall Street today), we wanted out of the War (Vietnam then...Afghanistan and Iraq today). We didn't have jobs (we really didn't want them) and the Occupy folk don't but say they do. I'm not sure. They've got a blog asking for food to be shipped to New York to help them continue their Occupation. I've listened carefully to the rhetoric of the Occupy People and I hear some similar themes: down with The Man; Power to the People, and We are the world. The more things change the more they stay the same. I'm thinking of a new soap opera...As the Pendulum Swings. I'm thinking of a new moving script: Occupy This!


Occupiers
 I've truly listened to the messages coming out of the protests (man do I miss those days!). One young man said, "We're going to change history. We're not putting up with this anymore. You watch...we will change the world." I didn't see a peace sign though. I have a close friend who went to Woodstock. That was love, peace and music...with some nakedness thrown in for good measure. I think the Occupiers will get too cold to go naked...although I did see a snap shot of a woman walking down Wall Street who almost made it. Naked I mean. There's something liberating about sleeping in tents pitched on the ground, eating communal meals and going without a shower. In my hippie days (I never went naked, mind you) we called those moments an Air Shower or Air Bath. I'm sure it didn't work. I see American flags too. That's nice. I wonder why they want to bring down the government but wave American flags? Seems counter productive.

In the 60's we had a unified message. Peace, love and end the War. The Occupiers can't seem to find their place or their voice. Unions have co opted the movement, too. Multiple messages come from various factions. One boy said, "I live with my Mom so this provides me a break from my routine." I wonder what routine that would be? Probably eats Mom's cooking, sleeps in her house and plays X Box on her TV. He had a BA in English. He should look me up...I could get him a job teaching English in any one of several countries. I forgot. He's busy occupying. I don't think he really wants a job. I've said all along that I wish I had time to protest. I loved it. I remember sitting in the shade of a big tree down at the court house protesting against the Establishment. I can't do that now. I have to go to work...for The Man. He pays for my home, food and vehicle payments. So unless you want to pay me to hold signs (and some pay for sign holders) I can't make the protest. I have to pass the opportunity to wax nostalgic. And by the way...Wall Street actually belongs to the City of New York. Why not come and Occupy Ironton. We could use the infusion of  cash that would come from the many visitors and protesters. Occupy This!


Peace Baby!
 I'm anxious to watch the outcome of all of this. Some have likened this movement ti be similar to the Tea Party. Nah, I don't buy it. I think this is a retro-fit of the hippie movement of the 60's. These folk don't drive micro buses. They take the train. But I must admit that the videos, the still shots, the messages and the protests take me back to a more innocent time. The hippie movement was all about getting out of the war and bringing down the Establishment. I suppose the aims are not too far apart after all.

Occupy Wall Street claims to be a leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and various political persuasions. The one message they claim to have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants. And yet, as I think about it, there's no way the crowd they had walking the Brooklyn Bridge represented 99% of the people. Come on...we're not stupid! We did the math. So let me leave you with one of my favorite expressions: Peace Baby! Where's Telly Savalas when you need him? Pass me a lollipop. I'm ready for the show.